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Esperance in Schoharie County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

The Presbyterian Church Esperance, NY

(Old Stone Church)

— American Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Site —

 
 
Old Stone Church, Esperance Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, August 19, 2007
1. Old Stone Church, Esperance Marker
Inscription.
The Presbyterian (Old Stone)
Church, Esperance, N.Y.
Organized May 2, 1823
Edifice Dedicated July 4, 1824
Sheldon Jackson Received As
Member Oct. 2, 1853. Remodeled
And Rededicated Jan. 14, 1897

 
Erected 1932 by New York State Education Department. (Marker Number 15.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Churches & Religion. In addition, it is included in the American Presbyterian and Reformed Historic Sites series list. A significant historical date for this entry is May 2, 1905.
 
Location. 42° 45.621′ N, 74° 15.611′ W. Marker is in Esperance, New York, in Schoharie County. Marker is at the intersection of Main Street (U.S. 20) and Church Street, on the right when traveling west on Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Esperance NY 12066, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Chocolate Jumbles (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Methodist Episcopal Church (about 700 feet away); Esperance Witch (approx. 0.3 miles away); Tory Tree Site (approx. 2.8 miles away); Grist Mill (approx. 3.1 miles away); Amos Clayton (approx. 3.1 miles
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away); Mill Stones (approx. 3.1 miles away); Burtonville (approx. 3.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Esperance.
 
Regarding The Presbyterian Church Esperance, NY. The Esperance Old Stone Presbyterian Church was built in 1824 to accommodate a society that began in 1815. On October 2, 1853 Sheldon Jackson was received as a member of that church. He went on to serve as a missionary in Alaska and is remembered there by the Sheldon Jackson College and the Museum of Sitka. This church is still in active service. The church also one of 445 American Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Sites registered between 1973 and 2003 by the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS), headquartered in Philadelphia. Approved sites received a metal plaque featuring John Calvin’s seal and the site’s registry number (PHS marker location unknown).

The following text is taken from the Presbyterian Historical Society website:

The Esperance Presbyterian Church was the first Christian congregation in the village of Esperance, organized in 1823. The Old Stone Church, the congregation's present building, was erected in 1824. Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909), Presbyterian missionary and church
The Presbyterian Church Esperance, NY Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Doda, April 9, 2023
2. The Presbyterian Church Esperance, NY Marker
organizer in the West and in Alaska, was baptized and grew up as a child in this congregation. The church's Christian education building is named in his honor.
 
The Prysebyterian (Old Stone) Church, Esperance, NY Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, November 5, 2011
3. The Prysebyterian (Old Stone) Church, Esperance, NY Marker
Located at Main Street and Church Street in Esperance.
The "Old Stone Church" Marker @ Church Street in Esperance image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, April 29, 2012
4. The "Old Stone Church" Marker @ Church Street in Esperance
Main Street, Esperance, NY image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, May 28, 2012
5. Main Street, Esperance, NY
Even during the 2012 Memorial Day Parade on Main Street in Esperance, (US Rt 20), one can still spot the "Old Stone Church" marker, shown here on the front lawn of the house, to the right of the band leader, and below the American Flag on the House.
Church Steet in Esperance image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, November 5, 2011
6. Church Steet in Esperance
The marker is on the left in this view which looks across Main Street (Route 20) and up Church Street toward the Esperance Presbyterian Chuch, seen in the background.
The Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, March 29, 2008
7. The Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, November 5, 2011
8. The Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, March 29, 2008
9. The Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, May 13, 2009
10. The Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, May 21, 2009
11. The Esperance Presbyterian Church
Main Entrance - Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, November 5, 2011
12. Main Entrance - Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Bell Tower of the Old Stone Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, April 29, 2012
13. The Bell Tower of the Old Stone Church
Sanctuary of the Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 8, 2011
14. Sanctuary of the Esperance Presbyterian Church
Sanctuary of the Esperance Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 8, 2011
15. Sanctuary of the Esperance Presbyterian Church
The Stained Glass Window behind the Pulpit image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 8, 2011
16. The Stained Glass Window behind the Pulpit
The window includes the names of Angus Kelly and Helen Reagles
The Rev. Sheldon Jackson Plaque image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 8, 2011
17. The Rev. Sheldon Jackson Plaque
This plaque is in the Narthex of the Church:

In Memory Of
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D.D.
Pioneer Missionary and Educator
Born Minaville, N.Y. May 18 1834 Baptized in This
Church, December 11, 1838; Died , Asheville, N C May 2
1909. Buried, Dhuctanunda Cemetery, Minaville
Graduated From Union College, 1855 and From
Princeton Theological Seminary April 27, 1858
Ordained May 5, 1858: Missionary to Choctaw
Nation, Indian Territory, 1858, Transferred
To Frontier Mission in Minnesota, 1859.
And Later to other Western States Where
He Established Scores of New Churches:
Member of Christian Commission of Civil War.
August 1863. Missionary to Alaska (Fort Wrangell)
August 10, 1877, Where He Established Schools
And Churches and Succeeded in Abolishing
The Slave Trade in Native Girls and Women.
Established Mission at Sitka, July, 1881
And at Point Barrow 1890, Appointed First
U.S. Superintendent of Public Instruction For
Alaska, April 11, 1885 and Served Until Death
Introduced Reindeer From Siberia Into Alaska
1891 To Relieve The Starving Condition of The
Eskimos. Moderator of General Assembly
Of Presbyterian Church In U.S.A. 1897
* * * * *
Erected By State Of New York And
Schoharie County Historical Society
1934
The Presbyterian Church Plaque image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 8, 2011
18. The Presbyterian Church Plaque
This plaque is also in the Narthex of the Church:

The
Presbyterian Church
Esperance, New York
Organized May 2, 1823.
With Seventy-Six Charter Members
Edifice Dedicated July 4, 1824.
Sheldon Jackson Was Publicly
Received As A Member Of This Church
October 2, 1853. The Church Was
Remodeled And Rededicated
January 14, 1897

--------
Roll of Ministers
Luke Lyons 1823-1827
Jared Dewing 1832-1833
Charles Tappan 1834-1835
W. E. Dixon 1836-1837
B. H. Pitman 1837-1841
W. E. Dixon 1848-1851
C. H. Taylor 1853-1854
A. Craig 1854-1857
A. H. Seeley 1858-1872
J. D. Countermine 1876-1880
W. J. Blain 1880-1886
D.J. Many, Jr. 1886-1891
W. J. Westernvelt 1892-1902
J. H. Colbourne 1902-1904
Norman McLeod 1906-1909
J. W. Dennis 1911-1912
W. J. Whiffen 1903-1919
C. R. Beach 1920-1922
Harry G. Brown 1925-1929
Alfred M. Eells, D.D. 1932-
* * * * *
Erected By State Of New York
1934
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D.D. 1834 - 1909 image. Click for full size.
19. Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D.D. 1834 - 1909
Photo from the book, Alaska, and Missions on the North Pacific Coast by Sheldon Jackson, 1880
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 22, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 17, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. This page has been viewed 929 times since then and 16 times this year. Last updated on August 22, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Photos:   1. submitted on November 17, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   2. submitted on April 16, 2023, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio.   3. submitted on November 17, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   4. submitted on May 1, 2012, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   5. submitted on May 29, 2012, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. submitted on November 17, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   13. submitted on May 1, 2012, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.   14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. submitted on November 17, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024