Miscellaneous, Presbyterian Chruch History

Presbyterian Church, Bainbridge, NY

Church Recalls Historic Tangles

Closely Connected with Affairs of Village

 

Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY]:  Closely intertwined in the affairs of the village of Bainbridge, Chenango county, almost from the date of its foundation, February 16, 1791, have been the activities of the Bainbridge Presbyterian society.  The relations of the two always have not been the most friendly, however, spirited legal and diplomatic controversies, the origin of which were land grants exercised in the early days of the settlement, having developed.  These differences long ago were amicably settled and the present peaceful existence of the church and community effected.  The church is enjoying a prosperous career and ranks well with the other religious societies in Bainbridge.  The Rev. Henry D. Smith is pastor.

 

The first settler within the present limits of Bainbridge was Caleb Bennett who came from Pownal, Vermont, in the summer of 1786, with his brothers Phineas, Silas and Reuben.  Other pioneers soon followed by army trails or by going to Cooperstown, Otsego county, where are the head waters of the Susquehanna river, there embarked in canoes and floating down the stream thus reached the Bennett clearing and established themselves nearby.  The settlement soon after took the name of Jericho.

 

Less than a decade had passed after the advent of the Bennett brothers in the valley when the settlers at Jericho, under the leadership of the late Rev. William stone, a missionary of the Vermont Domestic Missionary society, met to consider the organization of a religious society.  The Congregational church of Silesia (sometimes recorded as Cillcea, Selicia and Cilicia), from which in later years has developed the Presbyterian church of Bainbridge, was the result.  This was April 30, 1793, and on the first page of the original records of that society, now carefully cared for in the town clerk's office in Bainbridge, the following is written:

Record of Organization

 

"Jericho, April 30th, A.D., 1793.  At a meeting of a number of inhabitants of the town of Jericho in the county of Tioga in the State of New York pursuant to notis givin for that purpose and by the direction of a law of this State in that case made and provided.  They did on Said Day form them Selves into Religious society by the Name of the Congregational Society of Cilicia.  Bounded as followeth beginning one mile up the Unidilla river from its junction with the Susquehanna thens running west on the South line of Fayette (now Guilford) eleven miles thens south nine miles to the North line or bounds of Warrin thens east to the old line of Property or east line of Tioga County thens following said line to the junction of Said Rivers thens up the Unidilla to the place of beginning.  And after forming Said Society, Israel Smith and William Guthrie were Chosen returning officers of Said Meeting and said meting then proceded and made chois of Israel Smith, Samuel Bixby, Abel Stockwell, Heth Kelsey, Hezekiah Stowel Esq and Orlando Bridgman trustees for Said Society in all cases as the Law of this State directs and then Adjourned to Tuesday the Seventh day of May at ten o'clock A.M."

 

For several years after this action had been taken the class thus organized met in private homes, barns and school houses.  The early records show that many of the meetings were at the home of William Guthrie.  The frame of the first meeting house, it is said, was laid at about the center of what is now the village park, September 10, 1799.  It was not enclosed at the time and was not used as a meeting house until September 30, 1802.  The building was without windows, the floor loosely laid and the seats of rough boards rudely blocked up.  It served as a meeting place only in summer, it is believed, and for years stood in a dilapidated condition.  It was burned in 1814, it is thought, and as the result of this act the name of Jericho, becoming odious from its association with the epithet "church burners," was abandoned by the settlement and the name of Bainbridge, in recognition of the bravery of Commodore Bainbridge, of the American navy, during the war of 1812, was taken.....

 

The land on which the first meeting house stood was originally owned by Major Henry Evans, one of the first of the Vermont sufferers to settle in Bainbridge (Jericho).  It was a part of lot 73 containing 640 acres, which he sold to Colonel Timothy Church in 1793, for eighteen cents an acre.  The parcel in turn came into the possession of Benjamin S. Carpenter who in 1802 donated the two acres on the tract now owned by the Presbyterian society of Bainbridge which includes the village park, the site on which stands the Presbyterian church facing the park, and the old Presbyterian burying ground at the rear of the church, to the organizers of the early society to encourage the establishment of a church and a school, and to provide a public parade ground.

 

Carpenter later complained that certain conditions under which the gift was made had not been kept and sought to again get control of the land.  He fenced the plot, but the villagers incensed at his action, tore down the fence and otherwise manifested such opposition that Carpenter abandoned his attempt to reclaim the property.  In after years many persons or organization sought to succeed to the ownership of the land without avail.  The village, through an agreement effected with the Presbyterian society has the right to use the land as a village park so long as it is kept in good order.

 

During the early days of the Presbyterian society, its parish was so extensive that it was necessary to establish two meeting places, one at Bainbridge (Jericho) and the other at South Bainbridge (now Afton).  Naturally some contention developed between the two factions, one in particular being the desire on the part of one society or the other to secure the residence of the pastor within its bounds.

 

Rev. Joel Chapin...was the first pastor to serve the Presbyterian society at Bainbridge. He accepted a call extended to him May 15, 1789, and served the church six years.  During his pastorate the society at South Bainbridge (Afton) became a separate organization.  Mr. Chapin continued to live in Bainbridge after relinquishing his pastoral duties with the church, until his death, August 6, 1845.  He is buried in the old Presbyterian burying ground adjacent to the church property and on the tombstone over his grave is this inscription:  "First pastor, Presbyterian Church, Bainbridge, Ordained September, 1798."  Another of the early pastors, the Rev. Ethan Pratt, is also buried in Bainbridge. 

 

A second church was raised in 1818 near the site of the ancient meeting house and this was used until in 1821 when the present edifice was erected.  This building at first had the high pulpit, high backed seats to which miniature doors gave access, and the galleries so customary in those days.  All evidences of these early furnishings were wiped out when the church was remodeled in 1868 and 1875 and in subsequent years when from time to time improvements have been made in keeping with the demands of succeeding generations.

 

The society has had a sort of seesaw existence between the Congregational and Presbyterian forms of government.  First, as the Congregational church of Silesia it so existed until late when it joined the Union association, and ten years later affiliated with the presbytery of Chenango.  the internal government of the affairs of the society, however, continued in accordance with the dictates of the Congregational church until 1833 when a board of elders was chosen and had its first meeting October 14 of that year.  In 1837 the Congregational policy once more was adopted though the church retained its relations with the presbytery of Chenango, but in 1864 untied with the Chenango association of the Congregational church, November 11, 1873, at an adjourned special meeting at which Elder Charles Bixby was chosen moderator, a resolution changing the church back to one of the Presbyterian faith was adopted. The church then joined Binghamton association with which it is still in relation.

 

At the conclusion of his seminary work, the Rev. Mr. Smith accepted his first appointment, being assigned to the Presbyterian church at Madrid where he remained until designated to work with the Bainbridge Society.  The Rev. Henry D. Smith, who located with the church in 1912, is a native of Syracuse, having been born in that city in March, 1883, son of S.G. Smith, an insurance writer.  He is a graduate of the Syracuse High school, class '01; of Syracuse university, class '05, and of the Auburn Theological Seminary, which course he completed in 1908. 

 

[Compiler note:  Rev. Smith was the pastor at this time this article was written.  Hence the article dates between June 1912 and December 1919 which are the dates of Rev. Smith's pastorate in the Bainbridge Presbyterian Church]