Methodist History of Troy, NY – Page 2

The Methodist Episcopal Churches of Troy, NY: East Side Church/ Pawling Avenue.

Extended notes on the Methodist congregations associated with the State Street Methodist Episcopal Church (now Christ Church, United Methodist.)

Pawling Avenue/ East Side Methodist Episcopal Church

“The first Methodist meeting house at Albia, in the fifth ward of the city, was erected by the trustees of the State street society, for the purpose of providing its members with a convenient place for hearing preaching and for holding prayer -meetings, when they were precluded from attending religious services at the State Street Church.“ The trustees of State Street formed a committee to build a meeting house in Albia, on August 15, 1826. The first reported sermon was preached there in 1829 (Hillman. p 83.)

This Methodist “society” – congregation- was not only the the first satellite church of the State Street church, but of all of those churches, is the only one still in operation today, in a building within sight of the location of the original one. It was needed because the mill workers would have had a xxx mile work to downtown Troy, and then walking back up a steep valley side, not only taking a lot of time and effort, but on unpaved roadways and in all weather, it must have been a dangerous and difficult journey. It is remarkable that up to this point some actually had made it!

The original building was made of wood, and Hillman reported that the stone tablet above the door read that the church was erected in 1827, and rebuilt in 1858. Maps show it as being a little smaller than the still-standing original Presbyterian Church, now labeled as a Church of Christ, though not in use, just a hundred yards away at the junction of Pawling Avenue and Winter Street. The site of the East Side Methodist Church became home to the Oddfellows Society, and the structure still visible at the site does have the appearance of a chapel, but one made of brick, not wood. It now appears to be a home.

The site of the original East Side Methodist Episcopal Church on the east side of Pawling Avenue.

The view from the junction of Pauling Avenue and Winter Street, with the Wynantskill immediately behind the photographer. These banks were lined with mill buildings, and some remains are visible looking over the bridge as well as on adjacent properties.

The congregation adopted the official name of the “Pawling Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church” in 1868, and in 1888 Hillman reported a membership of 166 persons.

A few years after the publication of Hillman’s book, the current brick church, known locally as “The Welcome Church,” was constructed on the western side of the road, less than half a mile to the north. This congregation continues to welcome neighbors and friend to worship and community meals, and can be contacted on Facebook and the web. If your genealogical search leads you to this congregation, you should start by asking what records they have, as operational UMC churches usually hold their records.

Many of the imposing brick structures of the mills, including those first erected by Mahlon Taylor not long after his arrival in Troy in 1789, and their successors, were still standing beside the Wynantskill into the 21st Century.

Line drawings and quotations are from “The History of Methodism in Troy” by Joseph Hillman, 1888, available as a PDF, free of charge, at a number of online archives, including the Library of Congress. Photographs are the author’s.

The Methodist Episcopal Churches of Troy, NY: Third Street Church.

Extended notes on the Methodist congregations associated with the State Street Methodist Episcopal Church (now Christ Church, United Methodist.)

Third Street Methodist Episcopal Church, corner 3rd and Monroe Streets, South Troy.

In March 1844, trustees were elected for a separate congregation named “the Third Street Methodist Episcopal Society of the City of Troy” and a Sunday School was organized. The following year “a lot on the northeast corner of Third and Monroe Streets was purchased by the society to build a church. “ (Hillman, p.96) “The small society which had organized in 1843, began its erection in 1847(…) On Christmas day, that year, the building was dedicated.” (Hillman p. 66)

“The origin of the Third Street Methodist Episcopal Church can be traced to a statement made by William Barrett, a class-leader of the State Street Church, at the leaders’ meeting held on May 2, 1842 (…) he suggested the suitableness of the house belonging to him in that part of the city for preaching.” “ In1873, the church was enlarged by the construction of a lower story of brick, on which the wooden structure of the first edifice was placed.” (Hillman, 96-99)

Prayer meetings had been conducted in William Barrett’s house for a while, and when Daniel Hudson, an experienced Sunday School Superintendent, moved “from the northern part of the city,” a class of Methodists was formed. A “class” was the usual Methodist term for a neighborhood group of adults and families with children. The Trustees of the State Street congregation, seeing the success of the class, started to look for a building in earnest, meanwhile paying William Barrett for the use of his house for prayer meetings, preaching and a Sunday School. This saved South Troy participants from trudging the one mile each way to the State Street church, or not quite as far a walk for many – but up a steep hill – to Levings Chapel.

Like other new congregations, the decision came at a time of dissension that pew rentals were being charged in the State Street building, usually reported by Hillman as temporary fees to pay for new buildings, but always mentioned with hints that the decision was not universally approved. Certainly the cost to rent a pew could have dissuaded attendance by the workers of South Troy, many of whom worked in the steel mills and foundries of the area. In fact, Hillman tells us this would-be congregation decided not to accept State Street’s appeal for money for their building, but to create its own Board of Trustees and become a separate church.

In October, 1844, the Sunday School reported having 15 teachers, in addition to two superintendents – one for males and one for females – and a secretary-librarian, even though Hillman estimates membership of the society being around 35, with 75 students in the Sunday School. The first sermons were preached on the steps of the partially-built church, and the sanctuary was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1847.

After a time as a separate charge, the congregation reunited with State Street and operated under the name of Wesley Chapel. When attendance climbed again, peaking at 151, under the able leadership of its superintendent, Daniel Klock Jr., they once again took a minister and revived their Third Street name. The Sunday School had 288 members in 1888, and the school rooms were enlarged. Sadly, it was not to last.

The congregation which had struggled, revived, and struggled and thrived for a few years, then struggled again, closing its doors at the end of the19th century, not so long after its best years.

Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with a similar shaped, but brick, building now occupies the lot.

The Methodist Episcopal Churches of Troy, New York: N.Troy/ Vail Ave/ Grace

Extended notes on State Street Methodist Episcopal Church (now Christ Church United Methodist) and the buildings and congregations that came from it.

1852 – North Troy Methodist Episcopal Church: Grace (Vail Avenue) Church, Troy.

“… a number of Methodists began holding meetings of prayer and exhortation in the school-house in the tenth ward of the city, and they organized themselves on May 15, 1852, as a society known as ‘the Methodist Episcopal Church in North Troy’. The schoolhouse was on Glen Avenue (...) The first meeting-house of the society was erected in 1858 on the west side of Vail Avenue, between Douw Street and Turner’s Lane, and was dedicated on December 10th of that year.” (Hillman, p.112)

The third sanctuary of the “mother” church on State Street (now Christ Church, United Methodist) still stands, the same site being used for all 3 buildings. In South Troy, the church currently standing where members from State Street Methodists seeded a congregation, bears similarity in layout to the original church, but brick replaced wood long ago. In the case of Vail Street we can still see the original brick building of 1858 – once you know what to look for…

Grace Methodist Church, was the final name of several names for this congregation, and the final name came with its construction of a large brick church and parsonage complex half a block south of the 1858 building. This imposing structure was being built, but not yet opened, at the time of publication of Hillman’s book. The corner-stone was laid on August 16th, 1888, and the church was dedicated on Sunday, June 2nd, 1889. It stood on the corner of Douw and Vail Streets (now 6th Avenue) half a block north of the (now closed) St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church.

The origins of the congregation go back to a Sunday School class in 1843 in unknown premises but in the 1840’s moved into the district school house on Turner’s Lane ( now Glen Avenue.) In 1852, Hillman records that some of the Methodists who had been worshiping moved form a congregation at the site, and elected trustees, including Titus Eddy and Oliver Boutwell.

By 1888 this congregation had 506 members, and was about to move to its new building, build a second and larger parsonage and later had plans to expand upon the site behind it to create community rooms.

In the 20th century, the church became known for a walking club started by one of its more popular pastors, and it received publicity for their various climbs of the Adirondack Peaks. If you have family history in the congregation, this club especially made the newspapers on a number of occasions.

Sadly, the building was gutted by fire shortly after it had celebrated its 75th anniversary. Some of the members came back to State Street, others choosing to attend the Methodist Church in Lansingburgh, then known as St. Mark’s. The lot where it stood remains empty, to this day.

However, the 1858 building, photographed below in 2024, can still be seen at 3165 Sixth Avenue, and its original purpose glimpsed above the facade and down the side of the building. These photographs shows the 1852 building, in use by the current family business for over 60 years, and secondly, its proximity (extreme right) to the 1888 building which was – not as previously stated – on a large empty lot behind a man in a bright orange top, but across the road from him, on the east side of the road, behind a large garden fence, just north of the junction of 6th Avenue and Douw Street.. The towers of the former St. Patrick’s RC Church are beyond the location of Grace Church and on the opposite side of the street: south and west of the Grace lot. I am gratefl for people helping me correct the post

This congregation also used the following names: Batestown Mission; Methodist Episcopal Church of N. Troy; North Troy ME Church, Vail Avenue ME Church before becoming Grace Methodist Episcopal Church of Troy, N.Y. in 1888 (Hillman, p 112).

Turner’s Lane is now known as Glen Avenue, and Vail Street is Sixth Avenue, Troy.