Historic Pelham: Address Delivered by Reverend Robert Bolton on April 28, 1843 at the Laying of the Foundation Stone of Christ Church

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Recently I wrote a little about the creation and consecration of Christ Church, the first church built in the Town of Pelham. See Thu., Oct. 15, 2015: The Creation of Christ Church and its Consecration on September 15, 1843. In that article, I noted that "research has not yet revealed to this author an account of the laying of the cornerstone of Christ Church" on April 28, 1843.

Following this posting, I learned from The Reverend Matthew Hoxsie Mead, Rector of the Parish of Christ the Redeemer, of the existence of the remarks prepared by Reverend Robert Bolton and delivered during the laying of the foundation stone of the church on April 28, 1843. Reverend Mead not only was able to provide me with a digital copy of the remarks, but he also was able to secure the magnanimous permission of the Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of New York to permit me to share this historic document with the residents of our Town.

I have transcribed the ten-page address and have included the text below. In addition, I have embedded images of each of the ten pages after the transcription to permit inspection of each page by those studying the history of Christ Church.

Undated Oil Portrait of Rev. Robert Bolton.

Original in Collection of Elizabeth Bolton.

Source: Image from the Owner of the Painting.

Reverend Bolton's remarks during the laying of the foundation stone help us better imagine the ceremony on that early spring day in 1643. Rev. Bolton tells us in his copy of the address that it was delivered in the presence of "family and Friends." Late in the address, he also acknowledges a few of those present saying "And now Right Rev. Sir & you my Brethren in the ministry & friends." With such clues we may surmise that it is at least possible that The Right Reverend Benjamin Tredwell Onderdonk, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at the time, may have been in attendance together with Robert Bolton's extensive family. Included among the "Friends" who were present likely would have been some, if not all, of the first church wardens and vestrymen of the new church including Richard Morris, Henry Grenzebach, Isaac Roosevelt, George F. Mills, Peter V. King, Jacob Le Roy, and members of their various families.

The ceremony was held in what likely was a lightly cleared wooded area where a little cow path extended inland from Pelham Road (today's Shore Road). That cow path eventually became today's Pelhamdale Avenue. In addition to the address delivered by The Reverend Robert Bolton, there is at least a chance that the lovely poem written by William Jay Bolton, one of Rev. Bolton's sons, entitled "The Foundation Stone" was read to those attending the ceremony.

The address prepared by Reverend Bolton is fascinating in a number of critical respects. It sheds important light on the reasons he chose to establish the church in Pelham. It also confirms that the Bolton family hosted worship services for the community in their private residence known as the Priory for the previous three years. Thus, Reverend Bolton states in his address:

"I suppose it is known to every person here present that there is not a building of any description devoted exclusively to the public worship of God in Pelham. There are I know private dwellings in it where he is feared & served by his people but there has been no place where these families could congregate without going to some distance & as the population has increased this want has been increasingly felt.

When in the Providence of God, I was brought into this neighborhood, the duty of providing such a place seemed to devolve on me & every day tends to confirm my conviction of its importance & necessity -- Indeed so sensible was I of the destitution of my own immediate [ED. NOTE: the word "neighborhood" is struck through at this point] vicinity that as soon as I entered my own dwelling, as is known to many of you, I commenced a public service in it which has been continued for the space of about 3 years. For I felt something as David did when he said 'Surely I wil not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to [ED. NOTE: the word "my" is struck through at this point] mine eye-lids, untill I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.' And we have felt that it was indeed a high honor to which we were called in having our house thus employed for his service -- And as was the case with Obededom, in whose house the ark continued 3 months 'the Lord blessed Obededom & all his household, because of the ark of God,' so we have found it -- God has greatly blessed me & mine -- I feel a holy jealousy of the Church about to be built here & should by no means have consented to the loss if I had not believed that by bringing the service into a suitable Church we were likely to gain & to do still more good". [Page 5 of the Address].

At the time Reverend Bolton delivered his address and laid the foundation stone for a new Episcopal Church on a corner of his estate in Pelham, Reverend Bolton was the Rector of the Parish of St. Paul's Church in the Village of Eastchester adjacent to the border of the Town of Pelham. Given that Pelham residents, who had no church of their own, attended churches (including St. Paul's Church) in neighboring communities such as Eastchester and New Rochelle, Reverend Bolton seemed to feel some discomfort as to how his motives in establishing what some might perceive as a "competitor" church might be viewed. He devoted nearly a page and a half of his address to professing pure motives in establishing the new church with no intent to poach parishioners from other churches in the region and stating that he hoped other churches would not view the move as an "act of hostility towards them."

Reverend Bolton began his address with a brief history of the construction of houses of worship informed principally by the scriptures. He then proceeded to a statement of the reasons for building a church in the Town of Pelham. Significantly, he next paid homage and expressed gratitude to those who helped with the founding of the church and noted that it would not have been possible to found the church "by my own means." Next Reverend Bolton professed pure motives in establishing the church and denied any suggestions of any intent to poach parishioners from other churches in the region. He then summarized the doctrines that would be preached and the sacraments that would be celebrated in the new church once it was built. He closed with an acknowledgement of those who were present for the ceremony and, of course, a request for diving blessing.

Reverend Bolton's address provides a fascinating and important glimpse into the mind of the man who founded Christ Church and is well worth a careful and thoughtful analysis, hopefully made a little easier by the transcription that appears below.

* * * * *

Immediately below is the transcribed text of the address delivered by The Reverend Robert Bolton at the laying of the foundation stone of Christ Church on April 28, 1843.

[Page 1]

"Address delivered Monday 28 April 1843 at the laying the foundation stone for a church in Pelham in the presence of his family & Friends. by Robert Bolton

The practise of building a house for the worship of God is of great antiquity. In the time of the Patriarchs, when his people were very few in number & much scattered, his service was conducted in their own dwellings. They were in the habit, indeed of raising altars in particular places to commemorate some great event of their lives for which they presented their various offerings. As when Noah went forth from the ark Gen 8.18 &c And when Abraham left his Fathers house at Gods command and came into the land of Canaan Gen 12.7 &c When Isaac after various removals came to Beersheba Gen 26.24. And you remember the instance of Jacob on his journey when he fled from his Brother Esau alighted upon a certain place where he lay down to rest & was favored with that remarkable vision & when awaking he exclaimed 'Surely the Lord is in this place' Gen 28.16 to end -- Thus were all their journeying temporary residences marked by some devotional exercise which while"

[Page 2]

"it served to impress the event on their hearts and stressed their holy sense of their dependence on God & gratitude to him --

But the regular services of religion were performed in the midst of their families, at the domestic altar. Here they acknowledged & worshipped their common Father in heaven with a daily service -- Here they remembered his holy day by resting from all their labors & engaging in suitable exercises. Here their children & servants were taught the truths of their holy religion and especially to believe in the promised Messiah. In all these services the Patriarch was the Prophet Priest & King in his own house. In this domestic piety Abraham was an eminent example as he was in his faith Gen 18.19 It was the renunciation of this character by Esau & the consequent abandonment of his domestic piety which causes the Scripture to call him a profane person. And it would be well for all heads of families who are living without the worship of God in their houses to ask themselves whether they are not acting over again this profanity & exposing themselves to a still more awful rejection by 'the God of all the families of the earth,' who 'will pour out his fury upon the heathen that know him not & upon the families that call not on his name.' It was in this way too, doubtless, that"

[Page 3]

the descendants of Jacob maintained the knowledge & worship of the God of their Fathers during their long sojourn in the land of Egypt. When they were rescued from the house of bondage & entered the wilderness they could assemble together as a congregation & in the whole of that wonderful & instructive journey we see the regular service of God carefully provided for & sustained --

But it was not untill long after their settlement in the promised land that they had rest & leisure from their wars to build an house for the Lord. This honor was reserved for Solomon who as the Prince of Peace & the builder of the Temple was an eminent type of a far greater who is giving peace to the hearts of his people & building 'an habitation of God through the Spirit' --

The accounts the sacred writers have given us of the laying the foundation of the Temple of Solomon, its form, structure & ornaments & of its dedication all so full of magnificence is calculated to impress our minds, as it was intended to do theirs, with the peculiar features of that dispensation, which was by sensible objects to lead them forward & upward to the still higher things of the spiritual dispensation of the gospel & their final consummation in the things of the heavenly world itself. When that temple became desecrated by the introduction of Idolatry it could no longer be honored by the presence of the only living & true God & must therefore"

[Page 4]

"be destroyed, while at the same time the infatuated people were carried into Captivity.

A second time was it built, & though under far less temporal prosperity, yet with a far higher design, it was destined to behold within its walls the Savior of the world. Thus 'the glory of the latter house was to be greater than that of the former as the Lord has said & in it did he give peace & the Lord whom his people sought suddenly came to his Temple.' We all know its end. Having subserved the great purposes for which it was intended, it passed away with the dispensation of which it formed leading feature --

With the coming of the Savior began the spiritual dispensation of the gospel & an order of services suited to it, which while their aim is to form the life of God within us & to teach us to walk by faith & not by sight, yet do not dispense with outward forms & acts of devotion. Since they can & do if rightly used aid us in worshipping God in the spirit --

Our Blessed Lord himself instituted the outward form of baptism & the Lords Supper which we acknowledge to be 'the outward & visible signs of inward & spiritual grace' & we believe that every act of devotion that is consistent with the spiritual dispensation is also acceptable to him. And such we conceive to be the building of a house for his worship, which is the object that has brought us"

[Page 5]

"together this day.

I suppose it is known to every person here present that there is not a building of any description devoted exclusively to the public worship of God in Pelham. There are I know private dwellings in it where he is feared & served by his people but there has been no place where these families could congregate without going to some distance & as the population has increased this want has been increasingly felt.

When in the Providence of God, I was brought into this neighborhood, the duty of providing such a place seemed to devolve on me & every day tends to confirm my conviction of its importance & necessity -- Indeed so sensible was I of the destitution of my own immediate [ED. NOTE: the word "neighborhood" is struck through at this point] vicinity that as soon as I entered my own dwelling, as is known to many of you, I commenced a public service in it which has been continued for the space of about 3 years. For I felt something as David did when he said 'Surely I wil not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to [ED. NOTE: the word "my" is struck through at this point] mine eye-lids, untill I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.' And we have felt that it was indeed a high honor to which we were called in having our house thus employed for his service -- And as was

[Page 6]

the case with Obededom, in whose house the ark continued 3 months 'the Lord blessed Obededom & all his household, because of the ark of God,' so we have found it -- God has greatly blessed me & mine -- I feel a holy jealousy of the Church about to be built here & should by no means have consented to the loss if I had not believed that by bringing the service into a suitable Church we were likely to gain & to do still more good --

To accomplish this great object but little effort has been necessary. If I could have effected it by my own means I should most cheerfully have done so. But Christian friendship & liberality have anticipated to a considerable extent our wants & the readiness with which we have been aided in this good work, has made the humble part we had to perform a source of pleasure -- I avail myself of this first public opportunity I have had to acknowledge their uniform kindness -- may they reap spiritual things both here & hereafter --

I sincerely hope that our motives in this undertaking will not be misunderstood by any one. I could have wished that the site had been more central, but as there was none such"

[Page 7]

"to be found, we must be thankful for what we have.

If your earnest desire and will be our study & endeavor not to interfere with other Churches in neighboring parishes. If in any single instance we appear to do so we hope they will feel assured that it must be a case over which we have no control. We aspire at no higher name than that which Isaac gave to his well, Rehoboth, & he said for now the Lord hath made room for us & we shall be fruitful in the land -- Gen 26.22 We ask no more than to be allowed to enter in the holy race of serving God & doing good to our perishing fellow Creatures --

We hope too that other Denominations of Christians around us will not look on this undertaking as an act of hostility towards them. Hostility among Christians! From whence could such a feeling arise! Out of the sacred word of God? No it is the word of the God of Peace & Love. Could it arise from the spirit of Christ? No his holy fruit is love & peace. It must be an enemy that could do this. The Lords command to his family is 'be at peace among yourselves;' & as much as lieth in us we will follow peace with all his people. Let [sic]"

[Page 8]

"Let them remember that preference is not exclusion, that while we are sincerely attached to our forms of worship it is only as to forms & not as to essentials, because we deem them important not indispensable -- & because that importance arises, in our estimation from scriptural authority & sanction -- But while we hold the unity of the faith it is in the bond of peace, & our motto & prayer is "Peace be to the Brethren & love with faith, from God the Father & the Lord Jesus Christ -- Peace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

With regard to the doctrines we hold & which by God gracious help will be preached in the Church, the foundation of which we are this day laying, we wish it to be clearly & distinctly known by all, that they are those alone which are served from Gods holy word -- which were taught & exemplified by our blessed Lord himself & which have ever been held most precious by Patriarchs Prophets & Apostles -- they are those for which the Martyrs shed their blood & which have been from those days of trial & purification of the church the doctrines of every sound Protestant I may sum them up in a few words"

[Page 9]

The total fall & corruption of our nature -- Our complete redemption through the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ & the renovation of our hearts & lives by the Holy Spirit 'the Lord & giver of life' -- From these every other Doctrine of the gospel radiates & in them it centres --

We presume not to go beyond the sacred bounds of scripture in our faith & practice -- for here only are we safe & here only are we invincible -- With 'The Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God' in our hands we go forth in the holy war against the works of the devil, which are sin ignorance self righteousness & superstitiion, to bring the lost sinner to ensconce himself & all creature dependence & to rest alone on divine grace for his salvation --

We maintain, therefore, supreme & inviolable, the perfect word of God & the right of private judgment, according to the same institution & authority 'search the scriptures' for in them ye think ye have eternal life & they are they which testify of me --' & shall claim for our church no higher distinction than that of a congregation of faithful men in the [sic] which the sure word of God is preached & the sacraments (Baptism &"

[Page 10]

"the Lords Supper) are duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all these things that of necessity are requisite in the same.' In these principles we hope too to instruct the children of our Sunday School, as we ever have done, that we may train them up in the way they should go -- 'in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.'

And now Right Rev. Sir & you my Brethren in the ministry & friends with such motives & principles we were emboldened to invite you to be present & to take part in the proceedings of this day. Actuated by these we can earnestly implore & can fervently hope for the divine blessing on our undertaking & we can & do entreat your prayers for us that the word of the Lord may here have free course & be glorified & that so there may ever be 'glory to God in the highest, on earth peace & good will toward men.'

The glory in excelsis was their song --"

Christ Church, Shortly After It Was Constructed,

as Depicted in the 1848 First Edition of Bolton's

History of Westchester County, Volume 1. NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

* * * * *

Careful observers will note that Reverend Bolton wrote his address on both sides of each page and that the first three pieces of paper (out of the five two-sided papers on which he wrote the ten-page address) bear what appears to be an embossed crest. Hoping that the embossed crest might shed a little light on the Bolton family and, perhaps, on the address, I undertook a little detective work.

Digitally-Enhanced Image of What Appears to be an Embossed Cress

That Appears on Three of the Pieces of Paper on Which Rev.

Bolton Wrote His Address. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

The crest shows what appears to be an American Eagle symbol above which appear the words "JOHN BUTLER" and "HARTFORD." The symbol, however, is not an American Eagle. Rather, it is a carrier pigeon in flight above olive branches. It was used as the crest of a paper manufacturer in Hartford, Connecticut between about 1839 and 1844 during which time, of course, Bolton wrote his address on this paper.

John Butler operated a paper mill in Hartford, Connecticut at the time Robert Bolton wrote his address for the laying of the foundation stone of Christ Church. An engraving depicting the tiny paper mill appears immediately below.

Undated Wrapper from a Letterpress Ream of Paper Sold by John

Butler, Hartford; On it is Printed an Image from a Wood Engraving

by Louis Fairchild. Source: Bidwell, John, American Paper Mills

1690-1832 -- A Directory of the Paper Trade with Notes on

Products, Watermarks, Distribution Methods, and Manufacturing

Techniques, p. 178 (Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press in

Association with the American Antiquarian Society, 2013).

For a brief history of the paper mill that manufactured the paper used by Bolton in writing his address, see Bidwell, John, American Paper Mills 1690-1832 -- A Directory of the Paper Trade with Notes on Products, Watermarks, Distribution Methods, and Manufacturing Techniques, pp. 177, col. 2 - 1788, col. 1 (Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press in Association with the American Antiquarian Society, 2013).

* * * * *

Immediately below are images of each of the pages of the address delivered by The Reverend Robert Bolton at the laying of the foundation stone of Christ Church on April 28, 1843.

[Page 1, Immediately Below. NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge]