72. The Village Smithy

4.O5 HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

at Greenbush, during the war of 1812. Lewis was Commissary General of the troops quartered there. Russell was a member of the Board of Supervisors cotemporaneous with J. M. Ketcham, of Dover, James Duane Livingston, of Hyde Park, Henry A. Livingston, of Poughkeepsie, and Daniel Toffey° of Pawling.

The Yhlage Smithy.

r

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STXN F ORD.

POPULATION, 2,209.-SQUARE ACRES, 31,,551,

, ' TANFORD was formed from Washington, March 12th, 1793. This town was included in the Great Nine Partners Tract. Its surface is a broken and hilly, upland. . The hi11s generally admif of being cultivated to their 'summits. Slate crops out in numerous places along their declivities, and boulders and water-worn pebbles are thickly strewn over a considerable portion of the surface. Hunns and Uptons Lakes, are the principal bodies of water. Wappingers Creek is the principal stream. The soil is a good quality of gravelly and slaty loam. Stanfordville, Bangall, Stissingville, and Attlebury are hamlets. An immense spring of pure cold water near the latter place has considerable local notoriety. Smith Thompson, U. S. Circuit Judge, was a native and resident of this town.

Bangall is a station on the line of the Duchess and Columbia Railroad. It has several stores and factories, post-office, flour, feed, aiid saw mills; also three neat and comfortable churches. The origin of its name is thus given; A Yankee pedlar was traveling through here in the prosecution of his

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ba3iness. His goods consisted of a stock of tin ware, which he carried about the country in a rickety cart, drawn by a superannuated horse. This vicinity was at that time noted for its roystering lads, whose mad-cap pranks kept the community in a continual uproar. Our pedlar unfortunately fell into their hands. After tantalizing him to their hearts' content. they ended by knocking the poor old horse in the head, leaving the animal dead in the road. The pedlar was now in a. dilemma. His horse was dead; he was far from home, with no means to buy another. He contemplated the fallen beast a moment, and then broke out in a Yankee phrase "That bangs all!" From that expression the place is named. We may add that the mischievous fellows who killed his faithful animal, and who were connected with the best families of the vicinityy made amends to -the 'poor . pedlar by presenting him with another horse, and a much better one than he had before.

Bare Market—incorrectly spelled Bear Market on some of the maps, is a cluster of houses located near the west borders of the town. The name was given it from the following circumstance: An old gentleman formerly kept a grocery here, and also disposed of considerable liquor. One night a company assembled at his place of business, drinking and carousing, and prolonged their stay until a very late hour. They imbibed so freely that they drank up all the liquor the old man had; but not yet satisfied, they besought him to go off and get some more. This he told them he could not do, as he was very lame, and unable to travel. This was to them a sole: disappointment, thus to have their joy nipped off without warning. They therefore named the place "Bare Market," the place was "bare" of liquor—a cognomen which it has retained to this day. As the history of the First Baptist church of this town dates back to a very early period, we may as well give it a notice here.

In 1755, a few Baptist brethren, who were settled in this wilderness, thought it needful to meet together. Others joined them; and in October, 1759, a church was constituted by

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Elder Jabez Wood and Robert Wheaton, of "Swansea, County of Bristol, Massachusetts Bay." Ephraim and Comer Bullock were chosen to administer the ordinances of the Gospel to; them,. and Richard Bullock, Jr., was elected deacon. There iS: no further record of them until 1770-2, when we read on the church minutes : "Just at this time we were informed that our mother church sang by rule, and used Watts' Hymns, and we labored with them some time to forbear; but they continued,, and we withdrew ourselves from them. Then sometime after that some of us grew uneasy, because we had broken union: with them about singing, viz: Richard and Ellis Bullock; and. some time after, Elder Comer Bullock grew so much uneasy, that we thought it our duty to make our recantation to that church for what we had done, believing that the psalm, or.: tune, was not a sufficient thing to break union upon. Some of the brethren made a request that they might sing Watts' Psalms, and were denied altogether." Twenty-four of the brethren dissented from the church and did not meet with them for some time. In 1778, another organization was effected of those "willing to walk together in the order of the Gospel, with singing of psalms and hymns as a part of Divine worship," with Comer Bullock as pastor. He continued to preach for them until his health failed, and is said to have baptized over one thousand persons during his ministry. Elder Luman Burtch became pastor in r8o6, continuing with them about fifteen years; then, after an absence of about four years, returned, and again preached to them.

April rst, 1780, the church being together at the house of Comer Bullock, were called upon to confer in respect to things special, when two of the brethren said they had made a new discovery, viz: "That there should be an equality in the church in the payment of taxes."

The following is from the records: "April 28th, the church being assembled at the house of the pastor, one of the brethren gave his new discovery of duty, which he proposed to carry out the more easily by the following method: "To plow,

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410 HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

plant, and hoe the Elder's corn, mow and secure his hay; plow and prepare the fallow ground for sowing wheat for him, judging it most convenient for us, in our low circumstances, to redeem what time we can in order that the Elder might dedicate to the Lord all such redeemed time in work pertaining to his ministerial functions." "At the request of brethren at Dover, and places adjacent, Elder Bullock and the messengers of the church visited these quarters, and preached the Gospel there, baptizing both men and women." September 29th, 1787, -there was an invitation sent to the church from the neighborhood of Mabbettsville, for the Elder to come and administer the ordinance of baptism. He went and baptized nearly, forty, and the following year they were constituted a branch of his church A branch at Kinderhook, another at Noble Town, and still another near Jacob Lawrence's," are spoken of in the records. "Deacon Canfield expressed a dissatisfaction that the church consisted of so -many branches that the mother church was destitute of preachlug the greater part of the time." In June, 17,o, the people at Hudson sent a messenger to the church, asking them to send their Elder to administer the ordinance of baptism.

Notwithstanding the great amount of pastoral and ministe-. rial work performed by Elder Bullock ih those primitive days, no record can be found of his ever having received even so much as a penny by way of salary. He did, on one occasion, . receive a contribution, and for so doing he was called an hireling; whereupon the church very promptly voted that , be had a perfect right to receive any gift the people were disposed to make him.

O i the 28th of August, 17o, the church voted that the Elder and a licentiate should attend meeting at Oswego at the house of Bro. Fowler, once'' every month for twelve months. Soon afterward, the church voted that the Elder should preach for them three Sabbaths in each month for one year; the fourth Sabbath at the village and at the branch east of Mabbettsville ; and when there were five Sabbaths, he might go

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wherever he thought best. In 1798, a messenger presented a request from some candidates in Rhinebeck, wishing baptism, • aiid asking the church to send an administrator. Accordingly, May 19th, Elders Bullock and Hopkins, and Deacon Canfield, met at the house of Robert Scott, at Rhinebeck Flats, and heard the experience of four candidates. On the following Sunday Elder Hopkins preached and afterwards baptized them.

In 1799, a proposition was made to have a stove in the meeting house, which was voted down. It appears from the records that nearly all the meetings were held at the pastor's house, especially in cold weather. The dwelling house then owned by the Elder, and for many years the rallying point of the Baptists in this section of the country, is still standing we believe, having at a recent period been rebuilt, and is located about three miles north of the present church edifice.

The last recoid of Elder Bullock is that he presided at a church meeting held in his own house, Feb, 29th, 1804. Two years previous, the church had called Elder Hopkins to pre ich for them one half of the time for three n:on'ths, and voted to give him twenty shillings a Sabbath. Elders Petit and Arnold are spoken of as supplies. Such is the history, for the first fifty years, of the early gathering of the Baptists in this town, while it was yet a wilderness. Up to this time they hid established branches at eight different places, viz: Kinderhook, Oswego, Noble Town, Dover, the branch east of Mabbettsville, known as Daniel Jones's, West Branch, Southwest Branch, and Rhinebeck.

June 14th, i8o6, a Baptist Council was convened, consisting of Elders Leland, Wood, and Johnson. The day following they ordained Brother Luman Burtch. Among the first that the latter baptized were Samuel Sackett and Asa Thompson. A new house was raised in July, 1814; in August the fallowing year, the church first met in this house, which is located about one fourth mile south of the first. The following Elders are men'ioned as having been pastors over this church: D >ty, D:i.vid Fradeaburgk, Elijah Lucas, J. Holman, and E. C. Ambler.

Dutchess County Historical Society