Like many early settlements, the history of Scotchtown officially began with the creation of a church. Soon after the arrival of the earliest settlers around 1760, the residents of this area were forced to travel far and wide to attend religious services. Churches at the time were fewer and the population was sparse so a congregation usually covered a large extent of territory. [1] Jacob Mills and his family, for example, attended church in Goshen, which required a daylong trip by ox cart. [2] Some families, like the ancestors of George Houston, had been associated for many years with the Goodwill Presbyterian Church in the Town of Montgomery – a church that was founded sometime before 1729 by Scotch-Irish colonists. [3] A few, like Mr. Shaw, Mr. McWilliams and Mrs. Wilson, were attending the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church at Neelytown, in what is now the Town of Hamptonburgh, which was formed from the Goodwill Church sometime around 1765. [4]

The settlers quickly realized the need for a more local church. A number of inhabitants of the Town of Wallkill met at the home of George Houston on December 10, 1795 for this purpose. They unanimously agreed “that a general invitation be given to the inhabitants residing between the Wallkill River and the Great Pine Swamp to meet at this place on the 24th of this month in order to consult upon and devise proper means for building a Meeting House some where in this neighborhood or the vicinity thereof; for the Public Worship of God.” On Christmas Eve 1795, a “large and respectable number of people” again gathered for a public assembly at the home of George Houston. The purpose of this holiday meeting was to organize a congregation and make arrangements to build a house of worship. First and foremost, Col. William Faulkner Jr. was appointed chairman, [5] no doubt in reverence of his stature in the community as a war veteran, a religious leader and a former town official.

Col. Faulkner lived at a place called Stony Ford, in the southeastern corner of the Town of Wallkill. His father William Sr. was a member of the Wallkill militia back in 1738, and may have served as a captain in the French and Indian War when, in 1756, this unit was divided into two companies. [6] In 1763, William Faulkner Jr. was serving in a militia company charged with protecting the western frontiers of Orange and Ulster County. Captain James Clinton of New Windsor was the commanding officer. [7] During the Revolution Faulkner again served in the militia under the command of James Clinton, whose brother George was now the first governor of New York. Faulkner was then a captain of the 2nd Wallkill Company, and Clinton was a colonel. [8] Faulkner and a small portion of his regiment under the command of Lt. Col. James McClaughry were at Fort Montgomery on October 6, 1777 when British, Loyalist and Hessian troops attacked that fort and nearby Fort Clinton. The outnumbered militiamen and continentals at the battle fought bravely, but were eventually forced to retreat against superior numbers. Many of the poorly armed farmers were killed, injured or taken prisoner and some were bayoneted after the fort had been taken. [9] Faulkner himself received a bayonet wound in his side when the British captured the forts and, although the injury affected him for the rest of his life, he lived to be an old man. In the words of Samuel Eager, “He was brave, fearless, and a true patriot.” [10] He went on to serve as supervisor of the Town of Wallkill in 1780 and 1781. [11] He was an elder of the Goodwill Church from about 1786 until 1831 and so was the most obvious choice to preside over a meeting to establish a new church within the boundaries of the congregation. His presence makes it clear that the members of the new church were not breaking away from their former congregation through some bitter controversy but by the natural order of growth. [12]

One result of this meeting was the passage of a resolution to collect money for the construction of a meetinghouse at the corner of the roads above Houston’s home. The group also decided that the new congregation should be under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, at the suggestion of Jacob Mills. [13] Presumably Houston and Faulkner, as members of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church, favored this idea, but even with their support the decision was not a unanimous one since there were other associations of the Presbyterian faith at the time:

There being some difference of opinion respecting the ecclesiastical connexion which should be sought for the congregation, Mr. Jacob Mills offered a resolution that it should be under the care of the Presbytery of Hudson, connected with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which resolution was adopted. [14]

Those who favored another connection withdrew from the meeting and subsequently assisted in forming the Associate Reformed Church at Bloomingburgh. [15]

In January 1796 another meeting was held at Houston’s home. At this meeting Jacob Mills, Patrick Bodle, Samuel Dunning, Edward McNeal, John McCarter, Peter McLaughlin, and George Houston were chosen as trustees. [16] These men were not strangers, and were for the most part well acquainted with each other. Peter McLaughlin, for example, was a highly respected elder among the early settlers. During the Revolution, McLaughlin joined the “Association of Exempts,” a group of former soldiers living in Wallkill who were, because of their age, not required to respond when the militia was called into action. On June 19, 1778 these men volunteered their services and promised to answer any call to arms despite being between fifty and fifty-five years old. They formed a company for this purpose and McLaughlin was recommended to the Council of Appointment to be their ensign. [17] Edward McNeal, another newly-elected trustee, had served with Col. Faulkner as a first lieutenant in the Second Wallkill Company during the Revolution. He was also the son of John McNeal Jr., who had served in the militia with Col. Faulkner’s father, William Faulkner Sr. [18]

The board of trustees agreed to employ Daniel Denton to build and paint a meetinghouse. Houston graciously donated three acres of land for the church and the graveyard. Denton began his work on June 1, 1797 and the meetinghouse was raised on July 1st. According to tradition, it was on this day that Cornelius McLaughlin named the place Scotchtown because so many Scotch people were in the congregation. By September 12 the building was enclosed and painted but the structure’s interior remained unfinished for the next nine years. [19] Despite these conditions the structure was used regularly for worship. Those attending services in these early years would sit on seats made of rough boards. The preacher likewise made due with a “rude platform and desk.” [20]

According to the records of the Presbytery of Hudson, on April 19, 1798, “Messrs. Jacob Mills and George Houston, commissioners from a Presbyterian Church in the town of Wallkill, who have lately erected a house of worship, appeared and requested that said church might be taken under the care of Presbytery, and that supplies might be appointed them.” [21] Their request was granted and Rev. Nathan Kerr of Goshen, Rev. John Joline of Florida, and Rev. Andrew King of Goodwill were appointed to “supply the pulpit” one Sabbath each. Rev. Kerr preached the first sermon in the new church. [22]

About a year later, on April 17, 1799, John White and Patrick Bodle appeared before the Presbytery at Newburgh as commissioners of the Scotchtown Church and requested that the Rev. Methuselah Baldwin be appointed to preach in their church one-third of the time until the next meeting of the Presbytery. Rev. Baldwin consented, their request was granted and he supplied the church part of the time until January of 1803. On April 4 of that year, a call upon Rev. Baldwin was made and signed by the trustees of the church and attested by the moderator of the meeting, Rev. Andrew King. George Houston presented the call to the Presbytery on April 20, and Rev. Baldwin accepted the very next day. [23]

Rev. Baldwin accepted the offer to become the church’s first pastor partly because George Houston was able to assist him in buying a nearby farm. He was installed June 30, 1803, when Rev. Jonathan Freeman of Newburgh preached and “gave the charge to the people” and Rev. Kerr gave “the charge to the pastor.” On the same day, Maj. John White, Dr. David R. Arnell, George Houston and Peter McLaughlin were elected to the office of ruling elder. All were ordained with Ephraim Everett, Adam Millspaugh, and Enos Ayers on June 16, 1804, with the exception of Mr. McLaughlin who appears to have died in March of that year. [24]

By January 1, 1805, the church had forty-four members. [25] In September 1806 the trustees reached another agreement with Daniel Denton to finish the interior of the church for the sum of $515. Plastering, stoves, pews, and pulpit were finally added to the meetinghouse. [26] Yet externally the church lacked blinds, cupola, or spire and from the outside there was nothing to indicate the purpose for which it was built. The entire interior of the structure consisted of one large auditorium with three aisles leading from three doors. Square box pews lined the walls and the gallery above. The gallery ran along three sides of the room. The pulpit was on the broad side of the building, facing the doors, high up from the floor and reached only by a winding flight of steps. In the corners of the gallery opposite the pulpit a section was partitioned off and furnished with elevated seats. These seats, the highest and the most distant from the preacher, were used by the African Americans who attended the church, separating them from the other worshippers. [27] Similar arraignments are found in other churches of the time, including All Saints’ Free Church (now St. Augustine’s) on Henry Street in New York City.

The process of establishing the new congregation had taken almost eleven years. A cluster of houses and businesses soon followed the construction of the meetinghouse and it wasn’t long before the name assigned to the church became the name of the hamlet that had sprung up around it. Scotchtown was now a community.

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