History of the Chestnut Ridge Church

The following was copied from J. Thomas Scharf's History of Westchester County, Volume II (1886), by Glenette Forgea in her 1940 scrapbook. Glenette's mother Lavenia Brundage played the organ at the Chestnut Ridge Methodist Church. The asterisks in the text were added by Glenette and mark her ancestors.

In 1806, chiefly through James Fountain, an ardent and able Methodist exhorter, a church of that denomination was built at the “Four Corners” two miles west of Bedford on the road to New Castle. It was known as the Bedford Methodist Church and for several years doubtless belonged to the New Rochelle circuit. In 1826 the Mount Pleasant circuit was formed and included this church and in 1833 the Bedford Circuit was set off. The appointments in the Bedford Circuit for that year and the amounts assessed to them for the finance of the circuit were as follows:

Round Hill $68.28
North Castle 39.70
Drake Waterbury’s 13.87
John Waterbury’s 14.37
New Castle 77.82
Middle Patent 82.17
Bedford 34.82
S. Moseman’s 21.50
Cherry St. 44. 68
Chestnut Ridge 48.91
To be raised by quarterly collections $58.34

It would appear from this table that the class or organization at Chestnut Ridge, two or three miles to the southwest, was stronger in membership than the one at the “Four Corners.”

In 1837 the church edifice was removed to Bedford Village and erected at the west of the Old Burying Ground, at the foot of the rocky hill. The Chestnut Ridge people were disposed to complain on account of the increased distance to the church in its new situation and set plans on foot for having a church of their own. This was accomplished after a few years and in 1846 the Church in Chestnut Ridge was erected. It was dedicated July 19, 1846. Bedford and Chestnut Ridge, together with Middle Patent, became a separate pastoral charge in 1856, being set off from the Bedford Circuit which was probably divided up about that time. The preachers to the united charge since that time have been:

1856 William Stevens
1857-58 John W. Jones
1859-60 Ira Ferris
1861-62 George Daniel
1863-65 N. S. Tuthill
1866-68 J. H. Champion
1869-71 J. H. Hawkhurst
1872-74 Edmund Lewis
1875-76 William Blake
1877-79 J. M. Burger
1880-82 R. M. Roberts
1883-85 E. H. W. Barden

A record which describes the efforts of the Chestnut Ridge people in securing their own place of worship reads as follows:

“Bedford, January 17th, 1828. Whereas the numbers of the Methodist Society and others think it necessary to erect a house for public worship in the place commonly called Chestnut Ridge in the town of Bedford to be termed or called a Methodist Chapel, yet free for others, as a house for the worship of God. They, therefore, solicit the assistance of the brethren and others. Whoever may feel disposed to contribute will confer a favour which will be thankfully received and which may possibly be attended with a blessing to themselves and many others.”

The following are among those who contributed money to help build this church. “We, the subscribers, promise to pay to the trustees the several sums annexed to our respective names.”

James Jerman $5.00
Polly Jerman 5.00
Charles Daniels 10.00
*Sally Ann Zarr 5.00
Isaac Zarr 7.50
Abraham Zarr 5.00
Jacob Zarr 4.00
*Robert Zarr 10.00
James Mosher 3.00
Benjamin Williams 2.00
Isaac Daniels 1.00
Moses Shelly 1.00
Jonathan Mosher 3.00
Sarah Mosher 3.00
James Williams 2.00
James Williams (Jr?) 2.00
Rhuben Sniffin 1.00
Samuel Lyons 10.00
Nathaniel Lockwood 2.00
William Marshall 2.00
William Wells 1.00
Nathaniel Harris 1.25
Robert Flewellin .75
Mary Shelly 1.00
Eleanor Graham .25
Abigail Elias .26
Anna Feeks .25
Joseph B. Woolsey .25
John Zarr 2.50

On same record: “At a meeting held at the home of the *widow Sarah Zarr on the 8th of March 1828 it was voted and carried that *Elias Zarr, Robert Zarr, Hezekiah Sarles, *Isaac Reynolds, and Charles Daniels should be the trustees to erect the Methodist Chapel in Chestnut Ridge.”

The land for the church was given by Richard Mosher. The church was first under the jurisdiction of the Middle Patent M. E. Church, later Bedford Village, and lastly the Methodist Church in Mount Kisco. *Miss Lavenia Brundage was the organist of the church for a number of years and helpful in the Sunday School until her marriage to Clarence White in June 1895. When the church was no longer in use, the seats or benches were removed to the Methodist church in Mount Kisco and are still being used in the Sunday School rooms. The church was torn down around 1925, also the sheds.