A proposition to organize an Episcopal church having been made to Bishop De Lancey, his consent was secured Jan. 22, 1849, and on the 4th of February the notice to form a congregation was duly read by H. B. Whipple, lay legally formed, the Rev. J. M. Bartlett being rector. Henry B. Whipple and William Morton Johnson were chosen wardens; and John McCarty, David Gaylord, Hiram Salisbury, Philip R. Ward, John Wright, Justus Eddy, Charles W. Rogers, and Thomas Dobson, vestrymen. Steps were at once taken to erect a chapel in the Gothic style, to cost not more than $2000. This was so far accomplished, chiefly through the instrumentality of H. B. Whipple, afterwards and now a bishop of the church, that the corner-stone was laid Oct. 9, 1849. Justus Eddy, H. B. Whipple, and C. W. Rogers were appointed a building committee Jan. 8, 1850; a corporate seal was adopted, consisting of the words “Emanuel Church, 18th February, 1849,” with a cross in the center. The chapel was recorded complete, June 19, 1850, and Rev. William Heathcote and Bishop De Lancey requested to dedicate it. The building is a neat frame, surmounted by a spire, and was constructed within the limited cost.
The Rev. T. F. Wardwell succeeded the Rev. Bartlett as rector, and remained a year. The other rectors of the church have been the Revs. O. E. Herrick, William Paret, Jedediah Winslow, Daniel E. Loveridge, and H. Ormsby, who resigned Sept. 2, 1876. At present there is no, rector of the parish.
On the 28th of April, 1875, a rectory was purchased on Main street for $2300. The membership of the church is 60, and the members of the official board are Albert B. Watkins and S. A. Barney, wardens; M. D. Mannville, M. H. Fox, Henry Dodd, C. B. Gaylord, C. E. Segur, B. Ingraham, H. Haydn, and W. H. Little, vestrymen.
A Sunday-school was organized twenty-five years ago. A. B. Watkins is superintendent. It has 30 members, and 200 volumes in library.
Records Available for the Emanuel Episcopal Church of Adams Village, NY
The following items are available at the Flowers Memorial Library in Watertown New York.
- Emmanuel Episcopal Church
- Alphabetical membership roll 1862 — 1880, includes births, marriages, & deaths.
- List of marriages 1861 — 1889 (not indexed).
- List of burials 1859 — 1889 (not indexed).
Source: Durant, Samuel W. and Henry B. Peirce. History of Jefferson County, New York, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1878. p 261.