Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church Had a Special Celebration of its 46th Anniversary in 1922

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On Sunday, October 22, 1922, Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church celebrated its 46th anniversary.  While it might seem to some unusual to celebrate a 46th anniversary rather than a 45th or 50th, there was method in the madness.  The 46th anniversary of the church happened to coincide with the fifteenth anniversary of the pastorate of Dr. Lewis Gaston Leary, one of the most influential pastors in the long and storied history of the church.

The Church also celebrated the final completion of the Sunday School portion of the massive church structure built to replace the Little Red Church that once stood at Red Church Corner (known today as "Four Corners," the intersection of Pelhamdale Avenue and Boston Post Road).  

The celebration included organ selections by George H. Shackley as well as music by famous baritone Knight MacGregor and tenor Judson House, including a duet by the pair.  Reverend Leary delivered an address on the history of the church.  

Dr. Lewis Gaston Leary oversaw unprecedented growth in the size of the congregation and the Sunday School of the church.  He addressed the fact that the church, first known as "The Huguenot Memorial Forest First Presbyterian Church of Pelham Manor, New York," was formally incorporated on October 22, 1876.  It held its first service in the newly-completed Little Red Church, however, on July 9, 1876 -- the Sunday closest to the nation's centennial on July 4, 1876.  The Church was dedicated as the nation's only centenary church opened on July 9, 1876 to honor the nation's centennial.  The Little Red Church could seat 200 in its sanctuary.  It had plenty of room for the growth of its initial congregation of a couple dozen members.  The first Sunday School was held the following Sunday, July 16, 1876, with 13 teachers and scholars on the roll.  

Reverend Lewis Gaston Leary, Ph.D., came to the church in 1907 from the Presbyterian Church at Blauvelt, New York.  By 1922, Reverend Leary had grown to 340 by late October, 1922.

On October 20, 1922, The Pelham Sun published a wonderful news story about the history of the church.  It included a biography of Reverend Leary and is recommended reading for students of Pelham history.  The article is transcribed below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

A Glass Lantern Slide Created by Pelham Town Historian

William Montgomery Between December 10, 1916 and June 10, 1917.

It Depicts the "Little Red Church," the Predecessor Building to

Today's Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church Sanctuary.

The Little Red Church was a "Centenary Church" Opened in

July 1876 in Part to Commemorate the Centennial of the

Signing of the Declaration of Independence.

"Dr. Lewis G. Leary" in a Photograph Published in 1922

With the Article Transcribed and Cited Below with a Link.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.  

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"Huguenot Memorial Church Celebrates Forty-sixth Anniversary With Special Service on Sunday
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Celebration Will Also Commemorate the Close of the Fifteenth Year of Service By Dr. Lewis G. Leary As Pastor of the Church.
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Special Music at All Sunday Services
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Under Dr. Leary's Pastorate Church Has Grown In Membership From 46 to 333.

Huguenot Memorial Church will celebrate at its service next Sunday morning the forty-sixth anniversary of its organization and the completion of the fifteenth year of the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Lewis Gaston Leary.  A further interesting feature will be on the public recognition of the complete fulfillment of the plans of the new church building.  While the beautiful structure has been in use for some time and was formally dedicated with appropriate ceremonies over a year ago, it is only recently that the opening of the enlarged Sunday School room marked the end of the work of the Building Committee.  The completion of this fine addition to the architectural beauties of the Pelhams forms a fitting climax to the forty-six years of the church's existence and to the fifteen years of faithful service of Dr. Leary.

The services in the church at 11:15 a.m. Sunday will be worthy of the oc-

(Continued on Page Four)

Celebrating Forty-sixth Anniversary of Church
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(Continued from Page One)

casion.  In addition to solos by Knight MacGregor, the well-known baritone of the church, and the special organ selections by George H. Shackley, the musical program will include solos by Judson House, formerly of St. Bartholomew's Church and one of New York's leading tenors.  Mr. House will sing at the versper service also.  There will also be a duet by Mr. MacGregor and Mr. House.  Dr. Leary's address will deal with the interesting development of the church during its forty-six years' existence, and particularly during his pastorate.  The history of the Huguenot Memorial Church is closely associated with the history of the Town of Pelham in the period of its greatest growth.

The organization that we know as the Huguenot Memorial Church in the Town of Pelham was originally incorporated as 'The Huguenot Memorial Forest First Presbyterian Church of Pelham Manor, New York.'  This unwieldy title was quickly dropped by common consent and the latter name adopted as being more descriptive of its activities.  The first building, the old Red Church, which gave its popular name to Red Church Corner, was erected in 1876, largely through the generosity of Mr. Silas Witherbee, the father of Mrs. Robert C. Black.  At that time there were but nineteen houses in Pelham Manor and one in the section now known as Pelham Heights.  The little building, with its seating capacity of two hundred, would hold more than the entire population of its parish and have lots of empty pews.  In those days a traveler by rail from New York could reach Pelham Manor only by going to New Rochelle and coming back from there.  The station on the main line was called Pelhamville.

The formal organization of the church occurred on October 22, 1876, but services were held as early as July 9th of that year.  The first Sunday School was held on July 16, 1876, with 13 teachers and scholars on the roll.  The enrollment of the Huguenot Memorial Sunday School last Sunday, October 15, 1922, was 340.

Among those who signed the petition to the Presbytery for the organization of the church and thus became charter members was John M. Shinn, a well-known resident of Pelham Manor today and an active member of the church.  Mrs. Shinn was later voted a charter member and Mr. and Mrs. Shinn are the only charter members now on the church roll.  Among other early members of the church are the Robert C. Blacks, the Alfred L. Hammetts and the Secors.

The first annual report to Presbytery showed 20 members an in the Sunday School and the financial statistics included congregational expenses, $200, and benevolences of $35.  The report of the church filed in the spring of the present year shows a membership of 333, Sunday School 326, congregational expenses of over $25,000 and benevolences of over $10,000.  Three churches have grown from the Huguenot Memorial Church, the Swedish Church of New Rochelle, the old Congregational Church of North Pelham, now defunct, and the Presbyterian  Church of Gold Beach, Oregon.

Rev. Lewis Gaston Leary, Ph.D., came to the church in 1907 from the Presbyterian Church at Blauvelt, N. Y.  He is a graduate of Rutgers College with a degree of B.Sc. and Phi Beta Kappa, having won first scientific honor, first rhetorical honor and prizes in history, debate, orations and metaphysics.  He entered Union Theological Seminary where he remained for two years, winning the degree of M. A. at the Post Graduate School of New York University during the second year at the Seminary in addition to studying the necessary Greek and Latin in the summer.  He attended his final seminary year at McCormick Seminary, Chicago, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Elizabeth, N. J., in 1900.

From 1900 to 1903 Dr. Leary was instructor, chiefly in mathematics and senior English, at the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, now the American University of Beirut, during which time he studied Italian and Arabic and put on the stage at the college the first play in the English language ever presented in the Turkish Empire -- Julius Caesar.  His wide experience as a traveler includes extensive journeys by land and water in Europe, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, the Balkans, Egean Islands and Asia Minor.  In 1902 he traveled 7,000 miles during 100 days at a total cost of $200, and he has traveled in over 30 Mediterranean steamers and for thirty days in Mediterranean steerages studying human nature.  Returning to America in 1903 he spent a year in post-graduate work in Semitics at McCormick Seminary and in 1904 married Beatrice Knight, of Newark, N. J.

Dr. Leary's degree of Doctor of Philosophy was received from New York University after graduate work in 1904-5, the major subjects being Hebrew and Arabic.  He has won wide recognition as a lecturer on Oriental travel and the Old Testament, delivering lectures at many Chautauquas, besides about 500 lectures under the auspices of the New York Board of Education.  His articles on Near East, Travel and Old Testament subjects have been published in many magazines including Scribner's and the Christian Herald.  About 80 articles in the Standard Bible History are from his pen.  He is also the author of four books, The Real Palestine of Today; Syria, the Land of Lebanon; The Christmas City; and Andorra, the Hidden Republic.

Upon coming to the Huguenot Memorial Church October 24, 1907, Dr. Leary entered into the activities of the church and community with characteristic energy.  During his residence in Pelham he has served as a member of the Board of Education and was on the Building Committee which obtained the ground and secured the vote of the district for the Memorial High School Building.  During the war he was an active member of all the committees in connection with war loans, he prepared the illustrated lectures which were used by the Junior Department, American Red Cross, he was later a speaker for the Near East Relief Committee, a member of original committee and then of the Executive Committee for the drive for funds to rebuild the Pelham Home for Children.  He was a Moderator of Westchester Presbytery for two terms and is a chaplain of Winyah Lodge, F. & A. M.

During Dr. Leary's pastorate the Huguenot Memorial Church has grown from a membership of 46 to 333, while the Sunday School has increased from 83 to 340.  The money raised for congregational expenses has increased from $961, to more than $25,000, and for benevolences from $737, to more than $10,000."

Source:  Huguenot Memorial Church Celebrates Forty-sixth Anniversary With Special Service on Sunday -- Celebration Will Also Commemorate the Close of the Fifteenth Year of Service By Dr. Lewis G. Leary As Pastor of the Church -- Special Music at All Sunday Services -- Under Dr. Leary's Pastorate Church Has Grown In Membership From 46 to 333, The Pelham Sun, Oct. 20, 1922, Vol. 13, No. 34, p. 1, cols. 3-5 & p. 4, cols.  1-3.  

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