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Rev. C. Winter Bolton's Approaching Jubilee --
Interesting Sketch of His Life and Work,
The Pelham Press, Mar. 13, 1897,
Vol. II, No. 52, at 1, col. 1.
REV. C. WINTER BOLTON’S APPROACHING JUBILEE.
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Interesting sketch of His Life and Work.
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In view of
the approaching jubilee celebration at the Church of the Redeemer, we
deemed it a matter of local interest to gather a few facts connected to
the history of the Redeemer. Purely personal information was courteously
furnished to a ‘Press’ representative by the Reverend gentleman himself.
The general information has been gathered from public records, and also
from several New York gentlemen conversant with the history of the work
done at St. George’s Mission chapel. The details thus learned were so
voluminously interesting, and striking, that it was impossible to deal
properly with them in the space at our disposal. In each case the
information was accompanied by warm and affectionate commendation of Mr.
Bolton’s work.
The Rev. C.
Winter Bolton is the fourth son of the late Rev. Robert Bolton. He is the
grandson of the Rev. Wm. Jay, a celebrated English Divine who for over
half a century, officiated at Argyle chapel in the once altra-fashionable
[sic] city of Bath, England, and it may be here noted, as a coincidence,
that on January 31st, 1841, Mr. Jay kept his jubilee of 50
years continuous ministry in Argyle chapel, Bath, the only call he ever
had. Mr. Bolton was born June 3, 1819, at Bath, England, and named after
the Rev. Cornelius Winter of Painswick, Gloucestershire. He was educated
at Mill Hill, near Harrow, and left England in the year 1836, settling as
a farmer, at Bronxville, Westchester Co., N.Y. He studied Divinity in the
Theological Seminary at Alexander, Va., under Bishop Meade. Was ordained
to Deacon’s orders, March 21st, 1847, by the Right Rev. John
Johns, Assistant Bishop of Virginia, and was ordained Priest in St.
Peter’s church, New York City, by the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop of
Pennsylvania, father of the present Bishop of Pennsylvania, father of the
present Bishop of this Diocese, and was called to assist his father, March
29, 1847, at Christ church, Pelham. He resigned in 1850 to accept a call
as Assistant to Christ church, Baltimore, Md., under the rectorship of the
Rev. Henry D.V. Johns. In 1855 he was recalled as Rector of Christ
church, Pelham. On the first of May he was elected Rector of the
Redeemer, South Yonker, from whence he was called as minister of St.
George’s Mission chapel, New York. He was afterwards called to St. Mark’s
Church, New Castle, and later to St. Stephen’s church, Armunk [sic], North
Castle; St. John’s, Pleasantville; and Calvary, Round Hill, Conn. In 1880
he accepted a call to the Church of the Redeemer, Pelhamville. His labors
there (including the erection of a handsome stone church and rectory) are
well known to our readers. Mr. Bolton is the author of several children’s
books, and a Sunday school prayer book. In 1854 he edited Jay’s Scripture
Characters, Jay’s Autobiography and Reminiscences, and afterwards Bolton’s
Revised History of Westchester County, N.Y.
Mr. Bolton’s
father built Pelham Priory, where Miss Bolton conducted a Young Ladies
School for many years. His father also built Christ church, Pelham, and
the stone parish school house, and presented the church to the
neighborhood on his leaving to reside in England, where he subsequently
died. Miss Bolton presented the stone school house to the parish for a
rectory, altering, and fitting it up at her own expense. All Mr. Bolton’s
brothers entered the ministry, James, his youngest brother, in 1848; Mr.
Jay his second brother, in 1853; John, his third and only surviving
brother (now in his 80th year) in 1862, and later his oldest
brother, Robert. Mr. Bolton’s family was quite an educating one, he
himself taught a boys’ school in New Rochelle and afterward took charge of
the Priory school for his sister, during her two years’ absence in
England. His brother Robert, kept a Young Ladies Institute at Bedford,
Westchester County, N. Y.
Of Mr.
Bolton’s ministerial work, (with one exception) it is not possible within
the limits of this brief sketch, to say more than that it bears a record
of uniformly faithful service. But the exception noted, contains so much
that lifts it above the ordinary level, that it calls for special notice.
In April, 1859, Mr. Bolton was called to the charge of St. George’s
Mission, New York City. The district included in the Mission was a large
and densely populated one, being bounded on the North by Twentieth Street,
on the South by Fourteenth Street, on the West by First Avenue, and East
by the river. In that section were 623 large tenement houses, containing
over 4,983 families. The population was cosmopolitan, Germans and Irish
preponderating, and the social life was in the main, extremely low and
degrading. When Mr. Bolton commenced in May, 1859, the services were
conducted in a small room then rented, at the corner of 16th
street and avenue A. The attendance was very small and altogether the
conditions were such, that only a man of strong religious faith,
convictions and courage, could hope to make headway. That Mr. Bolton
fully possessed these qualifications was soon evidenced by the energy with
which he set about improving the material agencies to be employed. In
July, 1859, the services were removed to a larger and more commodious
Mission building, and an immediate improvement at once took place. To
quote from an utterance of a living witness. “The simple, earnest and
faithful teachings of Mr. Bolton, his daily work in the homes of the
people, was so effective that the Sunday services were often unpleasantly
crowded, and a great moral agency was thus set in motion that speedily
impressed itself upon the whole character of the district.” The evidence
of this in the published reports of the Mission, as well as the oral
testimony given to the “Press” man, is so ample and interesting, that we
would fain quote at length. But when it is recorded that in 1865 there
were 450 families belonging to the Mission, 370 communicants, and 709
scholars in the Sunday schools, we give figures which carry a commentary
on Mr. Bolton’s work more eloquent than mere words. This record is in
itself monumental, but it is when we take the records of the Mission work
during the eventful month of July, 1863, that the narrative assumes still
more striking and forceful character. The history of the draft riots in
New York occurring as they did during the most dark and troublous time in
the Nation’s history, assumes a livid aspect even when read in the cold
type of contemporary records. But listening to the narratives of eye
witnesses, localized and individualized, the horrors of that time are most
vividly accentuated. And it was in the midst of that horror that the
true nature and heroism of Mr. Bolton’s character and work was displayed.
To show how close he was to danger. At a meeting at Irving Hall, held
subsequently to the riots, Mr. Bolton publicly stated that 1,000 deaths
had occurred in his district. This statement being challenged, a
reference was made to Mr. Acton, the acting Superintendent of Police whose
sympathetic answer was: “that Mr. Bolton had under rather than over
estimated the number.” And the writer has it on unimpeachable authority,
that throughout the whole time when danger was most pressing, Mr. Bolton
remained at his post calm, amidst the turbulence surrounding him. A
striking proof of the impression his personality had made, is found in the
fact, that, when it was feared that violence might be offered to his
mission buildings, offers of help and defence, came from many, who,
opposed to him in religion, and, possibly in partial sympathy with the
rioters, out of sheer respect for the man, would have shed their blood in
his defense. Columns might be filled with incidents related to the
writer, but the following will serve the purpose of fully illustrating the
fullness of Mr. Bolton’s work.
Amongst the
families visited during the winter of 1862-63, was one where the wife was
a regular communicant, and the husband a drunkard. As a result of Mr.
Bolton’s visits the husband was induced to attend the mission church, and
ultimately became a temperance man and a God fearing church member. On
the second morning of the riots, this man (who was employed at night in
the Gas Works adjacent to the Mission) came to Mr. Bolton in great
anxiety, and asked his advice. He and his four fellow workmen had been
warned to keep away from the Gas Works the next night, so that the gas
supply might be stopped, thus adding to the horrors and dangers of the
situation. “Thomas” said Mr. Bolton, “Do your duty” “But” said Thomas
“they threaten to kill us if we go to work.” Again and again did the
minister urge him to stand firm to his duty, adding that God would protect
him. And such was the influence of this good minister that the man
ultimately left with the resolve not only to stand to his post, but also
to evoke in the minds of his co-workers the same faith and courage that he
had acquired. In this he succeeded, with the result that the gas supply
was not interfered with and what, might have been a great calamity, was
averted. The foregoing incident was narrated by Mr. Bolton at the meeting
at Irving Hall, and at the close of the meeting, Mr. Moses Taylor, the
President of the Gas Company (who had been an interested listener)
requested Mr. Bolton to give him the name of the man referred to. This
was done with the result that Mr. Taylor at once took steps to give the
man a position of greater responsibility, at an increased salary, as a
token of gratitude for the great service rendered. Bishop Potter has
placed on record his opinion “that no more heroic ministry adorns the
annals of the Church in the Diocese of New York, than that of Mr. Bolton,
whose brave and unselfish services during the tragic times of the draft
riots in 1863, ought never to be forgotten.” And in placing this sketch
before our readers, we express the earnest hope that this village and the
whole neighborhood will honor themselves in doing all honor at the coming
jubilee celebration to one whose life has been so perfect an
exemplification of “faithful service, nobly done.
Source: Rev. C.
Winter Bolton’s Approaching Jubilee – Interesting Sketch of His Life and
Work, The Pelham Press, Mar. 13, 1897, Vol. II, No. 52, at 1, col. 1.
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