three were ordained together. Rev. Mr. Harries has left an extended biographical sketch of Mr. Havens and of a number of his successors, from which I shall quote freely. Speaking of our present subject he says: "Mr. Lodowick Havens was born on Shelter Island on the 17th of January, 1774, two months after the passage of the Boston Port Bill by the British Parliament, and two years and a half before the Declaration of Independence. Like Timothy, he had been favored with the instruction and example of a godly mother and a remarkably pious grandmother, Mrs. Mary (Budd) Parker. The sacred truths they instilled into his tender mind, gently and habitually as the descent of nightly dew, leavened his entire spiritual being and exerted a plastic influence upon his whole life of eighty years. At thirteen years of age he prayed regularly in secret, and at eighteen obtained, as he then thought, a saving interest in the oblation of Calvary. But after a season adverse influences abated the fervor of his love and obscured the lustre of his hallowed light. In the closing year of the last century, when about twenty-five years of age, he was wedded to Miss Mary Annable. Soon after that event their attention was called to the subject of personal salvation by a peculiarly solemn and impressive providence. As his impenitent father lay in the agony of remorse upon the margin of the tomb, he summoned his children around his dying couch and warned them of the fearful consequences of deferring a preparation for death until a dying hour. He besought them with tear-bedimmed eyes and all the tender yearnings of a fond parent not to follow his example, but to seek an interest, without delay, in the Friend of Sinners. His spirit then took its flight to its eternal destiny, but his warning failed not of its gracious purpose. A younger son began at once to secure a preparation for a life of union and felicity with God. In fourteen days after his father's death that son followed his steps through the portals which admit us to an eternal state. The fearful manner in which the father died, together with the sudden and unexpected death of the younger brother, were blessed by the Holy Spirit to the quickening and saving of the elder. His conviction of the evil of sin and of his own ill deserts was so deep and overwhelming as to compel him to deprecate unceasingly his self-righteousness and to abandon forever his former hope, and at times to discontinue his secular pursuits. While digging clams in West Neck Creek he was so tortured with remorse, with a sense of approaching judgment and of his own eternal ruin, that he abandoned his work. Prostrate in his boat he cried with trembling and tears for mercy. God heard his pleas and filled his soul with the raptures of pardon as he drank of the cup of salvation. He thus describes his delightful experience in that glorious hour: 'Oh what immortal joys I felt, and raptures all divine, When Jesus told me I was his and my beloved mine.' "This change produced the ripened fruits of genuine piety for more than half of a century. During the first eight years after his conversion his religious privileges were exceedingly limited, for the ministrations of the sacred word occurred only occasionally on the island. His golden opportunities were like angels' visits to our earth, few and far between; still he held on to the even tenor of his Christian course. The organization of this church in 1808 deeply interested him. From that period he was favored with the means of grace, aided in their maintenance, enjoyed their luxuriant spiritual benefits and developed their golden fruits in a life of unblemished piety and Christian activity. For many years he was as metal in the crucible, and subjected to the fiercest fire of affliction. Thirty years before his death he was crippled by the incision of an axe into his right ankle. During the last sixteen years of his pilgrimage his sufferings were intense, so that he was confined like a caged bird to his domicile. Still he aspired with almost impatient longings to visit the Lord's house. His heart would devoutly exclaim, 'Oh, God, my soul thirsteth for Thee, to see Thy power and Thy glory in Thy earthly habitation so as I have seen Thee in Thy sanctuary in days of old.' But this priceless immunity was denied him until his remains-weighed down with the infirmities of fourscore years were brought here to be committed to 'the house appointed for all living.' He was eminently a man of Christian. devotion. It seemed as if he made but one prayer in his life, which began at the time of his espousal to Jesus and ended as his spirit winged its way to nestle in His bosom. Christ was his only hope. His presence was his delight. It made his humble abode appear as the vestibule to his celestial mansion. His death was as peaceful as his life was happy. He fell asleep in Jesus on the eleventh of November, 1854. He was a Town officer for many years, serving in various capacities, mostly as Town Clerk, which position he discharged from 1828 to 1849, a period of twenty-one years. The fourth person to be elevated to the office of elder was Mr. Abraham Sherril. He came to this place from Easthampton and was received by letter from the Presbyterian Church in that locality on the 27th day of March, 1814, just two years after the election of our first elders. The same day he was received he was chosen and ordained an elder over this church, something rather unusual, and implying high esteem and great appreciation on the part of the church for the new comer. Doubtless his fidelity and usefulness had preceded him. His former pastor, the Rev. Ebenezer Philips, had the great pleasure of ordaining his departed member as elder in this house of God. Mr. Sherril was a man of sterling qualities, for which he was usually styled by the people "a good old man." He continued as elder in this church for seven years, to the edification of the church and the glory of his God, after which he returned to Easthampton, where he resided until called to serve in the upper and more glorious sanctuary where they worship unceasingly Him that sitteth on the Throne and the Lamb once slain. Our fifth elder was Richard F. Nicoll, he being elected on June 30, 1816, and ordained at the same time. It was that memorable Sabbath when so many united with the church who were the fruits of that first and mighty revival of which we have had occasion to speak at length: "When heaven came down their souls to greet And glory crowned the mercy-seat." Rev. Dr. Woolworth and the Rev. Stephen Tracey were in the pulpit, and the sacrament of the Lord was the joyous feast. Shortly after his ordination, as has already been stated, Mr. Nicoll began the study of theology, and in time was ordained to the gospel ministry. As a minister he served various churches. At one time he carried on a private school in the tenant house on the Horsford estate close by the creek. At the close of his public ministry he returned to this island, his native place, and there he continued to live until his death, in 1857. His earthly remains were deposited in the silent grave in the family plot a little north of this building. In 1809 he was married to Margaret S. Dering, daughter of Gen. Sylvester Dering. Their union was blessed with ten children. The sixth elder was John C. Chester. He united with this church. the same Sabbath that Mr. Nicoll was ordained to the eldership. As a church member he walked in the fear of the Lord to the great commendation of the church, who, beholding his good works, chose him to rule over them for four years after his union with them. namely, on the 6th of November, 1820, being ordained at the same time by the Rev. John D. Gardiner, of Sag Harbor. He greatly magnified his office. Though never abounding in wealth, it is said. he was proverbial for his hospitality towards God's servants, his house being called the "clergyman's tavern." One of the first missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, a Mr. Bingham, preached in this church on the Lord's day previous to the sailing of the ship which was to carry him to his far-off field of labor, and while here was entertained at Elder Loper's house. He sailed from Sag Harbor, according to our information, in the ship "Thomas," and reached the Sandwich Islands in a most providential time, when the natives, through the failure of their gods to respond to their cries for help and deliverance in a season of great drought and physical suffering, threw their idols into the sea, and having no gods, were eager to hear the glorious gospel of the only living and true God. Marvellous was the power of God upon them through the preached Word. Between the years 1845 and 1848 the son of Elder Chester, our brother in Christ, Charles T. Chester, visited those islands several times, remaining several weeks each visit. He attended their religious services and was impressed with the solemnity and reverence of the worshippers, no trifling being engaged in by any of the large congregations gathered to hear the precious inestimable news of Jesus and His dying love for sinners. And now those very islands are a part of our own national domain and those idolaters. transformed and in their right minds, our fellow citizens. One's thoughts, in view of such things, find fitting expression in the words of Cowper: "God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps on the sea, and rides upon the storm. He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will." Elder Chester was a man rich in faith and full of good works. In him there was no guile. Always open in action, honest in speech, frank in dealing and true at heart, his life was an epistle clear and eligible, so as to be read by all men. And in return he was esteemed and loved by all who knew him, who manifested their faith in him by actions of trust and confidence. The love of Christ constrained him to all faithfulness. Though in old age and weary with daily toil, his place in the sanctuary was seldom vacant. Distance did not hinder him in his weekly attendance at the service of prayer and praise. God's house was his delight, and when the church was strained financially, he would step forward to do the humblest work. Literally, he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of our God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. As "Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her," so Mr. John C. Chester served the church fortyseven years in the eldership, and it seemed to him but a brief period for the love he had to Zion. When fifteen years of age he turned unto the Lord, and for sixty-three years he was a worthy member of this church. He died July 10th, 1863, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a native of Rhode Island, from whence he removed to this place in his boyhood. He married Miss Nancy Cartwright, and to them were born a number of children, several of whom still continue with us. A son and a grandson, since his departure, have been called to serve as elders in this church, so that since 1820 there has been, without interruption, a Chester in the eldership of this church. The next brother chosen to be ruling elder was Jeremiah Case. He was born in the "city," on Shelter Island. While visiting the South on business in 1816, he obtained a hope in Christ. In a short time he returned home and united with this church. Some fifteen years after, on the 13th of November, 1831, he was appointed a ruling elder and ordained by the Rev. Jonathan Huntting. His contemporaries esteemed him as a devoted Christian, whose godly life everywhere exemplified the excellency of the gospel and commended it to the world "as a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." Though invested with the authority of a ruler in the church, he did not "lord it over God's heritage," but magnified his office by the exhibition of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of "great price." He was "clothed with humility." Modesty was his daily habitude and meekness beautified, like a polished gem in a coronet, his whole life. But though free from a self-asserting, vaunting, demonstrative nature, he was not a weak, negative character, nor easily turned from the line of Christian duty. Though conciliating, he was neither vacillating nor pusillanimous in the maintenance of his own opinions. Though ready to yield to the better reason, he was firmly wedded to his own convictions, when justified by such reason. While gentle as a lamb and amiable as the exile of Patmos, he was still an earnest, laborious, self-sacrificing Christian, and a prudent, efficient officer in the church of God. When well stricken in years and weighed down with infirmities, he |