FLY-LEAF OF HIS MANUSCRIPT SERMON PREACHED IN THE ORIGINAL MEETING HOUSE
ON SHELTER ISLAND, N. Y., SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 1798

lution passed by the society this year voting the interest of the monies in the hands of the Trustees to the securing of a preacher was repeated in 1795 and 1796.

From the treasurer's accounts we learn that in response to these resolutions the Rev. Whitfield Cowles preached on four Sabbaths in 1796, for which he received £4; and in 1797 the Rev. Jacob Cram preached one Sabbath, for which he was paid £1 4s. In 1798 the Rev. Whitfield Cowles preached again for the society twenty-four Sabbaths, for which he received £9 12s. The Rev. Jacob Cram was the son of Jonathan Cram, of Hampton Falls, N. H., born Oct. 12, 1762, a graduate of Dartmouth College, in 1782. After preaching here he became the pastor of the church in Orient. He died in Exeter, N. H., Dec. 21, 1833. The Rev. Whitfield Cowles was the son of Capt. Josiah Cowles, of Southington, Conn., born June 3, 1764. He graduated from Yale College in 1788, and in 1793 received the degree of A. M. The next year, 1794, he was ordained at East Granby, Conn. The same year he married one of Shelter Island's fair daughters, Miss Gloriana Havens. She died in 1802. The following year he married again, choosing for his second wife Miss Desire Brown, also of Shelter Island. Mr. Cowles' picture is given on the next page, together with a fac-simile of the fly leaf of one of his sermons preached in the meeting house on Shelter Island, Aug. 21st, 1798.

Besides the clergymen already mentioned there were others who are known to have occasionally preached here, among them being the Rev. Dr. Buell, pastor of the Easthampton Presbyterian Church from 1746 to 1798. In 1799 and 1800 Mr. John Rudd taught school on this island. While here he boarded with Gen. Sylvester Dering, who became strongly attached to him. He was a young man of good promise, and after leaving this place he opened a school in New York City, where he gained the good will of Bishop Moore, who instructed him in divinity, after which he became an Episcopalian minister, subsequently receiving the degree of D. D. and becoming the editor of a religious paper called the "Christian Messenger." The next year the Parish sought to gain a resident clergyman in the person of the Rev. Herman Daggett as preacher and teacher. Mr. Daggett had labored at Southampton for a number of years, leaving there in 1797 and going to Westhampton, where he labored until 1801. The action of the parish in seeking to gain the services of Mr. Daggett was the following: "Voted that the

Trustees be requested to make application to the Rev. Herman Daggett to come and reside with us as a preacher of the Gospel and a Teacher of our school for the term of ten years. Voted that we will give the Rev. Herman Daggett for Preaching to us on the Sabbath, and for Teaching our school during the time before mentioned, Three Hundred and fifty Dollars per annum, to be raised in the following manner:

"The Trustees annually to open a Subscription and present it to all the Inhabitants to sign what they will give for preaching each Sabbath for one year or during their residence on Shelter Island, the money raised by this Subscription together with the Annual Interest of our Public monies to be appropriated as far they will go towards the payment of Two Hundred Dollars of the before mentioned Salary-and in case the Subscription for the support of the Gospel and the Interest of the Public monies does not amount to the sum of two Hundred Dollars, it shall then be lawful for the Trustees and they are hereby authorized and required to make up the deficiency out of any monies in their hands belonging to the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Shelter Island and given for the support of the Gospel-leaving the remaining part of the salary, viz., one hundred and Fifty Dollars to be raised by the Proprietors of the School-a true record of the votes.

(Seal)

"SYLVESTER DERING, Clk."

About the same time Mr. Daggett received this call or proposition, he also received a call from the church at Middletown, now known as Middle Island, whither he went and was installed Oct. 20th, 1801. There he remained until 1807 or 9, when he removed to Connecticut. Dr. Prime in his history speaks of him in the highest terms as "a man of sterling talents, respectable acquirements and peculiar excellence of character." What the parish did upon failing in their efforts to bring the Rev. Herman Daggett in their midst we cannot tell. In 1804 they made application again to the Presbytery of Long Island, with this result: "Supplies were requested for Shelter Island, and Messrs. Lyman Beecher, Joseph Hazzard, Daniel Hall and Zachariah Green were appointed for the purpose. Mr. Foster also offering to supply, it was agreed that he should take one Sabbath on Shelter Island." These men doubtless discharged their appointment. Among them are the names of two men who have left behind them an illustrious record, one, the Rev. Dr. Lyman

Beecher, as an able theologian and the father of a family noted for great preachers, among them the world-wide famous Henry Ward Beecher; the other, Zachariah Green, who is best known as an intense patriot during the Revolutionary War, though at the time of its commencement but sixteen years of age. Of another of these brethren, Daniel Hall, I shall have much to say presently. The following year, or 1805, the parish passed a resolution inviting the Rev. Benjamin Bell to preach to the inhabitants for one year, he to receive for his services three dollars per Sabbath. Mr. Bell responded to this call and preached for the society, as is seen from the treasurer's accounts. At the same meeting in which the parish invited the Rev. Mr. Bell, it was voted that "the Trustees repair the meeting house and pay for the same out of the Public monies in their hands for Religious purposes." That this was done the following entry will show: "To cash paid the Bills for shingling the Porch and repairing the Meeting House, £31.0.22." Another preacher who served during one Sabbath was the Rev. Mr. Boge.

About this time the Rev. Dr. Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, made a visit to this island during one of his vacation trips through Long Island. His experiences, observations and impressions of these various journeys he fully describes in a series of volumes entitled "Travels in New England and New York." In one of these letters Dr. Dwight speaks very fully of his visit to Shelter Island. In those days the ferry ran from Stern's Point to the narrow neck of land just opposite on the northern arm of Long Island. The ferry was known as "Bushe's Ferry," so called because the owner's name was "Boisseau," which was pronounced "Busche." Not having the patronage in those days that the ferry enjoys now accounts for the poor or meagre accommodations that Dr. Dwight found, for he says: "We found the ferry had neither wharf nor ferry stairs on either side. The shore was a gradual slope. We were therefore obliged to ride to the boat, and with much difficulty to force our horses into it by leading them over the gunwhale."

Of the island itself, after describing its formation, soil products, etc., he says: "To the credit of the inhabitants, especially of the principal proprietors, it ought to be observed that they have customarily made considerable exertions to support schools and obtain the preaching of the gospel."

In 1806 the Rev. Daniel Hall, of Sag Harbor, where he had been pastor of the Presbyterian church for eight years, was asked to