NIAGARA COUNTY CHURCH HISTORY 1800 - 1900

Its church history begins with its earliest history—French Missionaries blazed the way, and father Hennepin, One of them, is generally credited with being the first white man To view Niagara Falls the Tuscarora Indian church had eleven members in 1806 Lewiston has the oldest church building which is nearly one hundred years old, the Society being formed in 1817, Reverend David Smith was a Real pioneer, both as a preacher and a teacher at Lewiston and Lockport, the Indian and the Lewiston church are Both Presbyterian other denominations soon followed. The Niagara Presbytery is nearly one Hundred Years old

The church history of Niagara County began with the earliest history of the locality. In fact it was the French missionaries who blazed the way. They were emissaries of the Catholic Church, but when the settlement of the county began Protestant Churches were frst established. Father Hennepin, in 1678, is generally credited with being the first white man to view Niagara Falls, as previously stated in this history, but it has recently been claimed that LaSalle, who was not a priest but who was associated with Father Hennepin and spent the winter of 1669-1670 at the mouth of the Niagara River, may have seen the Falls. They are so close to the great cataracts; it would seem that he must have heard of and visited them at that time as he did later when he built the Griffon at LaSalle in 1678. The first Churches to be established in Niagara County were of the Presbyterian denomination. The church on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in the Town of Lewiston is the oldest Presbyterian Church in Niagara County . As long ago as 1806 it had seven members. Samuel Jacobs a worthy representative of the noble Red Man, was for many years the most predominant member of that church as preacher and leader.

Next in the church list is the Presbyterian Church of Lewiston, whose church edifice was commenced nearly 100 years ago, and the society was organized in 1817. In 1818 Reverend David M. Smith was installed as Pastor, and remained as such for eleven years. He was a real pioneer and forceful leader, both as a preacher and as a teacher, for it has already been noted in the chapter relating to the schools that he helped establish the Lewiston Academy , and became its principal, and that he was later principal of the Lockport Union School . He was also the first to occupy the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls that was organized in 1824. He was also a leader in the organization of the Wilson Church and the first church of Lockport . Reverend Mr. Smith was a leading spirit in the Niagara Presbytery which was organized in 1817, the same year that the Lewiston Church was. These Niagara Presbyterian Churches were planted by missionary labor under the auspices of the Connecticut Home Missionary Society which was the oldest organization of its kind on the continent, being formed in 1774. It was essentially Congregational but stated to be more than half Presbyterian. The Niagara Presbytery originally embraced all of the territory known as Western New York . It included the churches in Buffalo , Rochester and Genesee . Rochester and Genesee were separated from it in 1819 and Buffalo in 1823. It has ever since included Niagara and a part of Orleans County, Holley in that county being the eastern most parish until recently when it was transferred to the Rochester Presbytery. The Presbytery was set off from Geneva in 1817.

The first meeting of the Niagara Presbytery as now constituted was held at Gasport, January 27, 1824. At that time there were eleven churches in the Presbytery and four ordained ministers. Now there are eighteen churches in it. The Somerset Church, one of the oldest has been consolidated with the Methodist Church there. These churches are as follows: Albion, Barre Center, Knowlesville, Lewiston, Lockport First, Lockport Second, Lockport Calvary, Lyndonville, Mapleton, Medina, Middleport, Niagara Falls First, Niagara Falls Pierce Avenue, North Tonawanda North, North Tonawanda Third, Wilson, Wright's Corners and Youngstown.

At that first meeting at Gasport, Reverend David M. Smith was the moderator and preached the inaugural sermons. None of the churches in the Presbytery were self-sustaining at that time. Some Twenty-two years later these churches had a membership of over two thousand five hundred, and this membership had not increased much thirty years later although there were then twenty-three ministers and eighteen churches. Of course the membership at the present time is much larger, the First Presbyterian Church at Niagara Falls now having 729 members, and is next to Lockport Church, the largest in the Presbytery.

The next Presbyterian Church to be established in Niagara County was at Wilson , the date of its organization being January 18, 1819. It was formed at the home of John Holmes, with six members. Services were first held at a schoolhouse, in 1817. The first church office was erected in 1834, twice enlarged and burned in 1894. The Woman's Mission Society was organized about ninety years ago, and is the oldest in this part of the state. The present handsome church office was dedicated in 1898.

In 1823 and 1824, four Presbyterian Churches were organized in this county. The Lockport First Presbyterian Church was organized in January, 1823, with thirty members. It was for many years the largest in the Presbytery. Services were first held in a log schoolhouse. The original church office was erected where the Niagara County Courthouse now stands. In 1830, a brick church was built at the corner of Church and Ontario Streets, and in 1855 the present structure was built, with a chapel and Sunday School rooms added in 1876.

The Youngstown Presbyterian Church was organized in 1823, with only about a half-dozen members. The church building was dedicated in 1837. It was enlarged in 1843. In 1897 it was re-built. Five of its members have entered the ministry. The Methodist Church was merged with it recently.

On January 26, 1824, the Somerset Presbyterian Church was organized at the home of Stephen Sherwood. Over the general store of James Matthews, the pioneer merchant, and first postmaster, and in the schoolhouse, services were held until 1840 when the first church edifice was dedicated. The church was remodeled in 1860, and the Thayer Memorial Chapel added in 1878.About three years ago services were discontinued in this pioneer church, and the society merged with the Methodist Church in Somerset Village . It will be seen from the above that the churches in the villages of Lewiston , Youngstown , Wilson and Somerset were organized before those in the present cities of Lockport and Niagara Falls .

Several Niagara County Presbyterian Churches may soon celebrate their one-hundredth anniversary, as the Lewiston Presbyterian Church did in 1917. These include the ones at Lockport , Youngstown and the First Presbyterian Church at Niagara Falls which latter was organized in April 2, 1824. The first Board of Trustees included the first settler, Judge Augustus Porter, the first merchant, Judge Samuel DeVeaux, and the pulpit was first supplied by Reverend David M. Smith, that intrepid Niagara pioneer preacher and teacher of whom we have already spoken in connection with the first of all Niagara County Churches and the Academy at Lewiston. Now one of the largest, the Niagara Falls Church , was organized with only five members. The first regular Pastor was Reverend H. A. Parsons. There have been some long Pastorates in this parish including that of Reverend Thomas Doggett, Reverend John S. Bacon and the latter's nephew Reverend Albert S. Bacon, who has now been continuously Pastor of his church since 1890. The site for the church on First Street , near Falls Street, was donated by Albert H. Porter whose father Augustus Porter was one of the first Trustees. The manse on Buffalo Avenue was given by Miss Lavinia E. Porter. The stone church office was erected in 1849, and was enlarged and remodeled about twenty years ago. The seventy-fifth anniversary of the organization of the church was celebrated in 1899.

The Second Presbyterian Church of Lockport was organized January 29, 1832, with twelve members, and for many years had a hard struggle, the church edifice finally being sold under mortgage foreclosure in 1846. The same year saw reorganization under the name Second Ward Presbyterian Church, and many years of useful service have followed. The church has had some long pastorates, including those of Reverend Robert Norton who served about seventeen years, Reverend E. P. Marvin and Reverend E. W. Twitchell. Dr. J. H. Helmer's service of twenty-four years, as Superintendent of the Sunday school of that church, probably breaks all records in the county.

The next Niagara County Presbyterian Church to be organized was that at Middleport on June 11, 1833. The edifice was erected in 1845. During the Civil War the society diminished, no services were held, and finally the Presbytery sold the building to St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church. The society was reorganized in 1888, and a new Presbyterian Church was built in 1889.

The Presbyterian Church in Mapleton, Town of Pendleton , was organized in 1846, and a building erected soon after. Reverend H. C. Chadsey was the pastor for many years, but the church has no regular pastor as of this writing.

Next in order of organization is the Wright's Corners Presbyterian Church which was formed in 1872, and the present brick church building erected. Reverend E. P. Marvin was the pastor for sixteen years. Six years later the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Lockport was organized, and Reverend Marvin also served as pastor of that, ending his service as such in 1892.

The North Tonawanda Presbyterian Church was organized in 1891 and the church building was erected in 1898.