St. Mary's Church, Scarborough and the Perry Bell. Notebook 2023-7
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Date Unknown)
“The first Church in what is now Briarcliff Manor was incorporated in 1883 as "St. Mary's Church, Beechwood," and reincorporated in 1945 as "St. Mary's Church of Scarborough," an Episcopal Church receiving its name from St. Mary's Church of Scarborough, England. Its architecture was in large part inspired by that same ancient English Church. Founded by Rev. William Creighton, D.D., in 1839, its original property was an acre of land and a "glebe lot" from his estate, Beechwood. The first service was conducted by his son-in-law, Rev. Edward Nathaniel Meade, in a small schoolhouse, originally built to serve the children of workers on the Croton Aqueduct, at the corner of Sleepy Hollow Road and the Albany Post Road, the year being 1839 and the place later the site of the first rectory. The present edifice was built in 1850, principally at the cost of Dr. Creighton and Dr. Meade, and first used by services September 21, 1851; so that for twelve years the congregations met in the unadorned schoolhouse, changing thus into the noble and beautiful Gothic type of Church with, among other special features, the stained-glass windows manufactured by John Bolton of Pelham and being the only Church in existence which has a complete set of such Bolton windows by that master of his art. “
The Rectory today
“Houses of Worship began integrating the stories and symbols of their faith into colorful stained-glass windows during the Middle Ages in Europe in order to teach and enlighten the public. As Christianity spread, so did its style and form, as churches in America copied the gothic architecture and window art of the older European churches. One of the earliest stained-glass enterprises in the Unites States was that of John Jay Bolton (1818-1898), who with his brother Willam Jay Bolton in their studio in Pelham Manor, New York, created windows for several Episcopal churches in Manhattan and Westchester County in the mid nineteenth century. The Bolton brothers were the vanguard of gothic revival in America and were considered to be the only serious stained-glass artists at work in the United States at the time.
Today, St. Mary’s holds the only complete set of John Jay Bolton windows in America. The entire set of widows was stained by Bolton in his Pelham Manor studio and finished n 1851. A son of the Rev. Robert Bolton, the founding rector of Christ Church, Pelham Manor, John Jay created windows that are a testimony to his refined artistic abilities as well as to his deep Christian faith. He also designed the windows for the original church of St. James the Less in Scarsdale in 1851. These were destroyed by fire in 1882. John Bolton was an architect and a craftsman, and his other accomplishments include the design of the Bartow-Pell Mansion, Christ Church and the Priory, all in Pelham. One of his windows was installed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1986. John Bolton became an ordained minister in 1862 and served for many years as rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Willene B. Clark, a leading authority on early stained glass of the Boltons, described the East Window: “There are no finer Victorian grisailles anywhere than John’ five slender lancets in the west façade of St. Mary’s Church, Scarborough, New York. (Wilene B. Clark, The Stained Glass Art of William Jay Bolton. University Press, 1992.)
From “The Windows of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church”, Scarborough, New York. Copyright 2000 St. Mary’s Church of Scarborough. 8
Much of the equipment of the Church and many of its religious ornaments are memorials, in which it resembles some of the noblest in Europe. Some of the nation's best names of a military character are closely associated with this Church. The ivy which covers nearly the whole Church was brought and planted by Washington Irving, to whom it was given by Sir Walter Scott, from Abbotsford, Scotland. The ivy of the Parish House was brought from the Argonne battlefield, after World War I, by Mrs. Frank A. Vanderlip. Much of this history in this setting was portrayed vividly in the movie celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Church and called "The Birth of St. Mary's." 1
A Peal of Bells.
“In the meantime, the church property grew. The parish house and cloister were built in 1897, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Kingsland, in memory of their son. The present rectory, built in 1931, is a memorial to the first two rectors, Drs. Creighton and Meade. The first bell, given by Commodore Perry hung in a bell tower, as Marion Dinwiddie remembered, and was replaced, when it cracked, by a new bell, given by August Belmont. The bell tower was taken down and replaced in 1937 by the peal of bells, given in memory of Mason B. Starring by his two sons. In 1956 and 1957, the church was completely restored and the walls of the all buildings repointed and water-proofed. In 1960 an addition to the parish house was built, containing a sacristy, a room and facilities for the kindergarten and other church school classes, vestment cupboards and restrooms. In the widows of the addition are four stained-glass medallions from the V. Everit Macy mansion, given by the Ossining Historical Society. The architect was Paul L. Wood of Scarborough. 1956-1957 and again in 1985-1989, the priceless Bolton windows were removed, section by section, re-leaded and restored. Land was obtained from the Sleepy Hollow Country Club for a parking lot, and a memorial garden was created. An office building was built in 1988. Paul Moore, Jr., Bishop of the Diocese of New York, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for this latest addition. He spent the day performing worship services and confirmations for both children and adults.
On September 30, 1989, Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church celebrated its 150th anniversary. During its first century the Parish had only six rectors. In all it has had ten (eleven with Dr. Hillary Bercovici, who came to the parish in 1989), with the average tenure of 10 years. As Marion Dinwiddie remembered, when expressing her regret at the 1904 resignation of the Reverend Thomas R. Harris, B.D. to accept another call, “We’re the kind of church where they stayed-and stayed and stayed, and we like to have them stay.” For the first forty-three years the parish was presided over by the founder, Dr. William Creighton, and his two sons-in-law, Dr. Mead and General Morell. They were followed in 1882 by the Reverend Abraham Gesner, in 1895 by the Reverend Harris and in 1904 by the by the Reverend Berry Oakley Baldwin, B.D. When Baldwin contracted tuberculosis, his brother the Reverend Charles Warren Baldwin, “who had been in Tiffany’s Studios and had joined the church as a minister out of devotion to his brother,” came up and took a great many of the services while Oakley (as Marion called him) was ill. When Oakley died “the entire congregation unanimously called for Charley,” and he was the rector for thirty-seven years, followed in 1951 by the Reverend Leland Boyd Henry, D.D., who resigned on doctor’s orders, in 1965.
When the Reverend Paul Zahl became rector of Saint Mary’s in June of 1982 there were 110 members of the church. In March 1988, at a time of nationwide decline in the membership of Episcopal churches, the congregation had more than quadrupled, to 450 members. State figures in a report issued by the Episcopal Diocese of New York indicate membership at 76,969 in 1977 and 64,486 in 1986. But as Saint Mary’s senior warden John Nolan put it, “Last year we reached the choke point and began turning people away in the parking lot and in the pews…When you walk through those doors you get the message of personal redemption through forgiveness. That simple message communicated by the Reverend Zahl effectively is what packs the pews”. Even with the assistance of the Reverend Nancy Hannah, starting in 1986, and the committees of the laity, the Reverend Zahn’s schedule was exhausting. Trying to “build a parish into a family of people” included attendance with his charming wife at forty cocktail parties during their second Christmas in Scarborough, as well as at innumerable parent-teacher functions, and social and community events throughout the year. Zahl also made it a habit to respond promptly to phone calls and to visit the homes of members and nonmembers alike, including sick people, elderly people, single parent families, people suffering grief of hardship and people in need of spiritual comfort. In the fall of 1988, the Reverend Zahl announced his resignation. The Reverend Nancy Hannah served as interim rector during the nine-month search for the new rector, the Reverend Hillary Bercovici.” 2
Commodore Matthew Perry and the Perry Bell
Tucked away in a exterior corner is a small bell and a plaque. It reads: “Commodore Matthew C Perry 1794-1856, Father of the Steam Navy and opener of Japan who made his home here for many years in “The Moorings”. A founder of this church and donor of the bell used until 1910.”
“PERRY MEMORIAL UNVEILED.; A Bell Captured by the Commodore in Mexico in Scarborough Church.
OSSINING, N.Y., Nov. 13 -- The memorial tablet and bell given by August Belmont in memory of the late Matthew C. Perry was unveiled at evening song at St. Mary's Church, Scarborough, this afternoon. The Rev. B. Oakley Baldwin, pastor of the church, officiated, and preached the sermon, in which he referred to the work of Commodore Perry in the navy and to his treaty with Japan opening that country to the world. At the conclusion of the sermon the flag which had draped the bell and table which are the memorial was drawn away. The bell was captured by Commodore Perry at Tabsco, Mexico, in the war with that country.
Among those present were Mr. and Mrs. August Belmont, the former a grandson of the Commodore; Mrs. George Tiffany, a daughter of Commodore Perry; Miss Jane Tiffany, and a Mrs. G. Merrill, a granddaughter. Morrell Post, G.A.R., the local post of the Sons of Veterans and delegation of the Grand Army of the Republic were present also. “ 3.
The Perrys
Commodore Matthew C. Perry.
“Matthew Calbraith Perry was born in 1794 in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Perrys were a seafaring family and Matthew's older brother, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, became the most celebrated American Naval hero of the War of 1812, coining the phrase, "Don't give up the ship!"
In 1814, Matthew Perry married Jane Slidell, the sister of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. I have written about Mackenzie in this column. The Perry family lived in various places as Matthew Perry rose through the ranks and was promoted to increasingly responsible commands. About 1840, the Perrys moved their growing family from New York to the banks of the Hudson River at the northern border of the Beekman farm. Perry's brother-in-law, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, lived on the south end of the land we know today as Rockwood Hall; Matthew Perry and his wife (Mackenzie's sister) lived on 120 acres at the north end. It appears that Mackenzie bought the whole parcel from the widow Beekman and almost immediately sold the northern section to Perry.
Neither the Perrys nor the Mackenzies built ostentatious homes; they had cottages or farmhouses built in keeping with what a naval officer's salary could afford—although the Perrys did give their estate a name, "The Moorings." This was not the first time the Perrys experienced the Sleepy Hollow-Tarrytown locale; according to a Perry biographer, S. E. Morison, they had been accustomed to summering in the area when they previously lived in New York—possibly during the period of 1816 to 1821.
The 1840 move to Rockwood was the brainchild of Mrs. Perry, who had been minding the family in New York City. Washington Irving had only recently settled in Tarrytown, heralding the imminent migration of wealthy and influential newcomers to the community. Perry and Irving met and conversed on the long sloop rides from New York to Tarrytown and became friends. Irving and Mackenzie were already friends from twenty years earlier in Spain.
By 1848, the Perrys and the Mackenzies had two prominent immediate neighbors—Anson G. Phelps, Jr., who built what we know today as the James House, and Colonel James Watson Webb, a prominent newspaper publisher, who lived south of Phelps at Pokahoe. These last two residences are unique in that, today, they are the only gracious Sleepy Hollow homes of that era still standing.
At the north end of Perry's former estate is the small, picturesque brook (nameless, as far as I can tell) running from Archville to the Hudson. His stone cottage stood on a knoll overlooking the Tappan Zee, with a dock just below at the water's edge. Like the Mackenzies, the Perrys set about to improve their "farm" establishing bushes and trees and planting a garden. They managed to pay for their new home through Jane Slidell Perry's inheritance and by borrowing from friends and family.
Although Perry was often away from home on sea-duty, he was frequently at The Moorings from 1848 to 1852 due to his service in New York as commodore of the Home Squadron and General Superintendent of Mail Steamers. Previously, while serving in the Mexican War, he considered selling The Moorings in the face of mortgage and upkeep costs. Soon, thanks to the prize money he received from the Mexican War and $7000 paid to him by the Hudson River Railroad for a right of way through his land along the riverside, he was able to pay off much of his debts.
In 1849, Perry's daughter, Caroline, married August Belmont, one of the wealthiest men in New York. This was the climax of a series of financially beneficial social connections made by the Perry children.
Shortly after his appointment to command the Japan expedition, Perry sold his Rockwood land. It was purchased by George H. Swords of New York City for $25,000 on March 3, 1852. When Matthew Perry returned to New York from his successful mission, he purchased a house in New York at 38 west 32nd Street.
The family was now among New York's social elite, but Perry was not destined to enjoy that for long. He saw the "Narrative" of his historic mission to Japan published in December 1857 and died unexpectedly in March 1858. At the time of Perry's death, the impact of the Japan expedition was overshadowed by the Panic of 1857 and the gathering clouds of the approaching Civil War. It was not until later that the benefits of Perry's achievement were fully recognized in the United States.” 4
The Story of the Bell
The Perry Bell
According to an online article entitled “The Bells of St. Mary’s. From Villahermosa, Tabasco, to Scarborough, New York: The Mysterious Journey of a Mexican Church Bell”:
One Hundred and seventy-three years ago the United States and Mexico were at war and in the end; vast amounts of Mexican territory became American property along with other things once owned by Mexicans. As happens in every war American soldiers carried home war trophies such as photographs, uniforms, medals flags, rifles, pistols and even cannons that once belonged to the former enemy. This is the story of one of those trophies, a church bell that once hung in the belfry of a Roman Catholic Church called “Iglesia de la Virgen de la Concepción” in the City of Villahermosa, the capital of the State of Tabasco, in the Republic of Mexico. It seems that this church was the successor of several church buildings (known by various names) that have stood in the central square of Villahermosa (once known as San Juan Bautista) since 1614. The “Iglesia de la Virgen de la Concepción” no longer stands as it was shelled by American naval artillery during an engagement between the American and the Mexican forces in mid June of 1847, known as the “Second battle of Tabasco.” The Iglesia was subsequently replaced by several other churches in this site since then the latest being the Catedral del Señor (Cathedral of the Lord).
During the Second Battle of Villahermosa the Americans under the personal command of Commodore Matthew C. Perry stormed ashore with a force of 1200 sailors and marines and took a defensive fortification known as Fort Acachapan manned by 600 troops under the command of Colonel Claro Hidalgo. Perry unlimbered his artillery and shelled the fort then ordered a charge. With his sword in hand, Perry personally led the troops that drove the Mexicans back and he briefly occupied the town and subsequently abandoned it when he realized that he did not have enough troops to hold it. It was probably at this time that he or one of his troops found the bell among the ruins of the bombed out church and decided that it was a worthy commemorative trophy and later took it back to the U.S. In those times church bells were considered legitimate prizes of war.
As it happened, Commodore Perry was a resident of the hamlet of Scarborough, NY where he built a home he called, The Moorings ” on 125 acres of land on the shores of the Hudson River near to where Rookwood Park (sic. should be Rockwood Hall) a section of Rockefeller State Park now stands.
At some point after he returned to his home, perhaps in 1851, Commodore Perry presented the bell to the church and had it inscribed as follows: ” Captured At Tobasco (sic) 1847″ and below that, “Presented by Commodore M.C. Perry, Recast.” The bronze bell is 20 inches tall and has a diameter of 18 inches at the bottom end. Most likely the bell was an alloy comprised of copper and other base metals that was locally mined and cast into bronze at a nearby forge. This historical bell was replaced by a larger modern bell in early November of 1910 , donated by the financier, August Belmont, Commodore Perry’s son-in-law. The old bell was placed on an outside corner of St Mary’s to the left of the main entrance where it can be seen today.” 5
The Closing of the Church
The parish of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Route 9 in Scarborough closed July 5, 2015.
The vestry—that’s the governing body of an Episcopal or Anglican church—voted June 16 to close the venerable institution, which was founded in 1859.
” The intention of the vestry, in making this difficult and yet courageous decision, is to ensure that the best care and stewardship of the sacred space be taken,” the Rev. Sandra Seaborn wrote on the church website. “With longstanding fiscal challenges and diminishing personal resources it was decided to end worship services in order that there be some means for future ministry when the time comes.”
Mother Sandra said that the vestry set aside $10,000 for the Prayer & Healing Ministry so that it could find a new home and continue.
Priest-in-charge for almost four years, Mother Sandra had resigned in May with plans to return to her native Canada.
St. Mary's Scarborough is Closing its Doors | Pleasantville, NY Patch 6
Endnotes:
Our Village: Briarcliff Manor, 1902-1952. Briarcliff Manor, 1952.
Cheever, Mary. The Changing Landscape: a history of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough. Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, 1990
PERRY MEMORIAL UNVEILED.; A Bell Captured by the Commodore in Mexico in Scarborough Church. New York Times, Monday, November 14, 1910.
Henry Steiner is the village historian of Sleepy Hollow.
“The Bells of St. Mary’s. From Villahermosa, Tabasco, to Scarborough, New York: The Mysterious Journey of a Mexican Church Bell”. Patch, Sat, Oct 5, 2019.
St. Mary's Scarborough is Closing its Doors | Pleasantville, NY Patch, June 21, 2015.
Wilene B. Clark, The Stained Glass Art of William Jay Bolton. University Press, 1992
“The Windows of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church”, Scarborough, New York. Copyright 2000 St. Mary’s Church of Scarborough. Well worth a look. Contains images of all of the stained-glass windows along with detailed descriptions of the meanings of each individual window. Copies available for consultation at the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, 1 Library Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY, 10510. We’re on the lower level of the library building.