NEW YORK, NEW ENGLAND, AND GENESEE CONFERENCES.
At the close of the General Conference Mr. Asbury and I left for Albany.
On the way we made Governor Van Cortland a visit at Croton. I wrote: “We
found the aged father in the possession of his faculties, and he loves
to hear of the prosperity of Zion.” He resided in the old Manor-house,
near the mouth of the Croton River. The governor was very rich, having
inherited a large part of Cortland Manor. The house was famous for its
antiquity, and for the distinguished guests that had been entertained
there, among whom were Washington, Lafayette, Franklin, and Whitefield,
who preached from the piazza to the multitudes who thronged to hear him.
It was a stopping place of Bishop Asbury, Garrettson, Moriarty, Hibbard,
Hutchinson, and others of the early Methodist fathers.
Governor Pierre Van Cortland was the first lieutenant-governor of New
York, and was re-elected eighteen times. He was the president of the
convention that formed and adopted the constitution of the State of New
York. In the City Hall in New York is a fine marble bust of him. He was
very tall, and of a commanding appearance. He wore breeches, and silver
shoe-buckles.
The governor was a Methodist, and gave the land for a church and
burying-ground. It was erected upon a hill, and commands a splendid view
of the Hudson. The old building remains, a relic of former days. He
married Joanna Livingston. They were both pure spirits. Their daughter,
Mrs. Van Wick, was a gifted woman, a shouting Methodist, who would
exhort with great effect. His daughter, Mrs. Gerard Beekman, was also a
Methodist, and her son, Dr. Stephen Beekman, at whose house the Rev. John
Summerfield died in New York on June 30, 1825.
Bishop Asbury greatly admired the old governor, and said he resembled
General Russel of Kentucky, who married the sister of Patrick Henry.
The governor, full of years and of honors, died on May 1, 1814, in the
ninety-fourth year of his age.
The next year, on May 13, the bishop in making his last tour through
his diocese went to the old mansion, and found its inhabitant gone. He
mournfully wrote: “The dear, aged man, Governor Van Cortland, has gone to
his rest, having attained his ninetieth year and upward.” He was buried
in his family cemetery, on a beautiful elevation a short distance from
the old Manor-house. On his marble tomb his portrait is drawn in full.
It concludes thus: “The simplicity of his private life was that of an
ancient patriarch. He died a bright witness of that perfect love which
casteth out the fear of death,” etc.
His son Philip was an illustrious man. He was brigadier-general during
the Revolutionary War, and distinguished himself in several battles,
and especially at Yorktown, where the crowning battle of the Revolution
was fought. He was the intimate friend of Lafayette, whom it is said
he strikingly resembled, and he made the tour of the country with him
in 1824. He was very friendly to the Methodists, and attended their
meetings; and when the minister failed to come, he would read a chapter
from the Bible. Great camp-meetings were held upon his land, and
multitudes were converted there. He died in 1831, and Noble W. Thomas
preached his funeral sermon.
From Croton we went to Rev. Freeborn Garrettson’s at Rhinebeck. The
bishop delighted to visit that model household. Fifty years later, long
after the death of Father Garrettson and his amiable wife, I went to the
old homestead. It stood as in the days when Bishop Asbury and I were
there, but where were its inmates? Melancholy reflections came over me
when I thought of the changes that had taken place; but I was kindly
entertained by their daughter Mary, as well as their nephew, Freeborn
Garrettson, Esq., whose friends I knew and those of his wife when I
traveled on the Peninsula half a century ago.
We tarried a short time at Poughkeepsie, where Methodism was then very
feeble. In the winter of 1861 I spent several weeks there, and was glad
to find three flourishing Churches, besides a German Church. In the
latter I was permitted to preach in my own vernacular, which I had not
done for years.
On Thursday, June 4, 1812, the New York Conference commenced its session
in Albany. Eleven were received on trial, among them William Ross, Tobias
Spicer, and Theodosius Clark. Mr. Clark is the only one remaining.
Fourteen remained on trial, including J. B. Matthias, Benjamin Griffen,
John B. Stratten, and Samuel Luckey. The latter is the only one living,
except Hawley Sanford, who located years ago. He is the father of Rev.
A. K. Sanford of the New York Conference. This was my last visit to the
noble New York Conference with Bishop Asbury. I attended its session at
Poughkeepsie in 1861, and looked in vain for the men I saw in 1812. But
four remained: Marvin Richardson, Phineas Rice, Benjamin Griffen, and
Theodosius Clark. Rice and Griffen have since departed.
Leaving Albany, we rode on horseback to Boston, and were the guests
of our old friend Otheman, father of Rev. B. Otheman, of New England
Conference, and grandfather of Rev. E. B. Otheman, of New York
Conference, and of the late Mrs. Stevens, wife of Rev. Abel Stevens, LL.D.
On June 20, 1812, the New England Conference began in Lynn. Both Asbury
and M’Kendree were present. On Sunday I preached at five in the morning,
Bishop M’Kendree at ten, and Bishop Asbury at three in the afternoon.
The session was exceedingly harmonious. The announcement that war was
declared by the United States against Great Britain produced the most
intense excitement. Of the eighty-four preachers present all are gone
except Joshua Soule and Daniel Webb.
Leaving Lynn, the bishop went to the Genesee Conference. We stopped in
Troy, and Bishop Asbury held forth from “If any man speak,” etc. We heard
Nathan Bangs on “Being made free from sin,” etc. It was the first time I
ever heard him. Samuel Merwin, then stationed in Albany, accompanied us
for a little distance. He was a noble looking man.
The Genesee Conference was to have been held in Niagara, Upper Canada,
but the war prevented, and it was changed to Lyons.
The 28th of July it commenced in Daniel Dorsey’s store-house or granary.
Here the ordinations were performed. I am told the venerable old building
is still standing. There was a camp-meeting held in connection with the
conference. I preached in German from Isaiah iii, 10, 11.
We missed the preachers from Canada. There was an increase of six hundred
on two districts. We could not hear from Canada. This was my last visit
to the Genesee Conference. What has God done for Methodism in Western
New York since that day!
We left for my mother’s, passing through the valley of Wyoming, and
arrived at the old mansion the 11th of August. Bishop Asbury wept for his
old friend, and I for my father.