Adapted from a 1985 account by Arthur Johnson
Of Crowns and Clarksons | Early Priorities & Identity (early 1800's) | Episcopalian Beginnings in Potsdam (mid 1800's) | Building a History (late 1800's)
The Episcopal Church, though ceremonially austere at the time, was suspect to the Yankee Puritans for its Catholic doctrine and structure (bishops) and perhaps for the taint of loyalism left over from Revolutionary times. The attachment of so many priests to the Crown and the subsequent departure of so many Anglican loyalists in 1784 nearly did Anglicanism in in America. A faithful remnant had rebuilt the church as the Episcopal Church, in communion with the Church of England but with its own presiding bishop, no longer subordinate to the Bishop of London.
The history of Trinity Parish is bound up with the history of the Clarkson family. After the Revolutionary War, the state put its public lands up for sale. This had already been done down in the Mohawk Valley under the British provincial government, but the North Country had been part of the Province of Quebec and remained so until the Treaty of Paris drew the present border line in 1763. Even then (as now), the short growing season and harsh winters deterred settlers.
The Clarksons were among the early purchasers of North Country lands, part of the proprietors of the township of Potsdam, incorporated in 1806. John and David Clarkson, the proprietors, were descendants of Matthew Clarkson, who had come from England as Secretary to the Province of New York for their Majesties William and Mary of England. The main family remained in New York City where they were parishioners of Trinity Parish, Wall Street, which became a model for Trinity Church Potsdam.
The history of Trinity Parish is bound up with the history of the Clarkson family. After the Revolutionary War, the state put its public lands up for sale. This had already been done down in the Mohawk Valley under the British provincial government, but the North Country had been part of the Province of Quebec and remained so until the Treaty of Paris drew the present border line in 1763. Even then (as now), the short growing season and harsh winters deterred settlers.
The Clarksons were among the early purchasers of North Country lands, part of the proprietors of the township of Potsdam, incorporated in 1806. John and David Clarkson, the proprietors, were descendants of Matthew Clarkson, who had come from England as Secretary to the Province of New York for their Majesties William and Mary of England. The main family remained in New York City where they were parishioners of Trinity Parish, Wall Street, which became a model for Trinity Church Potsdam.
Potsdam enjoyed a certain isolation from the storms of the young Republic- tensions over slavery, Texas’s short-lived declaration of independence from a young United States, and open rebellion in Canada’s nearby Provinces had little impact on a quiet town life. Indeed, Potsdam enjoyed a certain isolation from everywhere at a time when a trip to Canton and back was an all-day project. The handful of farmers, millers, storekeepers and developers (speculators from New York City) had their own concerns. They agreed on two: Education and the Christian Faith must shine out in the North Country.
In the early years, one building, the “Old Academy,” served both purposes. Episcopalians, Presbyterians and others met on Sundays for service in the school building. In 1818, they formed the Trinity Church Society, a name chosen to distinguish themselves from the Universalists in Canton (the founders of St. Lawrence University).
Episcopalians, mostly the group from New York City, retained their identity, and in 1818 they welcomed visiting Father Daniel Nash, the missionary to the North Country from the Diocese of New York, which then covered the entire state. Father Nash rode his circuit on horseback, bringing sacraments and preaching in the villages. His visitations helped keep the church alive in the Valley of the St. Lawrence.
In the early years, one building, the “Old Academy,” served both purposes. Episcopalians, Presbyterians and others met on Sundays for service in the school building. In 1818, they formed the Trinity Church Society, a name chosen to distinguish themselves from the Universalists in Canton (the founders of St. Lawrence University).
Episcopalians, mostly the group from New York City, retained their identity, and in 1818 they welcomed visiting Father Daniel Nash, the missionary to the North Country from the Diocese of New York, which then covered the entire state. Father Nash rode his circuit on horseback, bringing sacraments and preaching in the villages. His visitations helped keep the church alive in the Valley of the St. Lawrence.
On March 23, 1835, a small band of Episcopalians met in our mostly Presbyterian frontier village, organized a parish dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and requested the services of a priest, Richard Bury. It was a different town then. The river ran without hydroelectric dams. Route 11 was the Canton turnpike; a dirt track which crossed the river on two wooden bridges. It was a horse-and-buggy world of farmers and lumberers, in which clocks were not very important. People lived by the sun and the seasons. There was hard work, but few pressing engagements. Railroads had been invented, but Potsdam would not see one until the 1850’s. It was quiet world of hard work and a very dark one at night.
Most Potsdam people were of New England origin and recently so. After the American Revolution, a tidal wave of New England pioneers had left their native hills for promising lands along the Mohawk river and its tributaries. After 1800, a small branch of that tide began washing into the North Country (I’m using the term to mean the area from the Eastern shore of Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence Valley, and around the Adirondacks to Lake Champlain). The Mohawk Valley was the scene of great revivals spearheaded by the famous preacher Charles Grandison Finney. The revivals sometimes spilled over into bizarre cults and enthusiasms well outside the ordered liturgical spirit of Anglicanism.
These movements made few ripples in the North Country. Universalism, the popular variant of Unitarianism, was taking root over in Canton, but this was relatively sedate and intellectual.
Most Potsdam people were of New England origin and recently so. After the American Revolution, a tidal wave of New England pioneers had left their native hills for promising lands along the Mohawk river and its tributaries. After 1800, a small branch of that tide began washing into the North Country (I’m using the term to mean the area from the Eastern shore of Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence Valley, and around the Adirondacks to Lake Champlain). The Mohawk Valley was the scene of great revivals spearheaded by the famous preacher Charles Grandison Finney. The revivals sometimes spilled over into bizarre cults and enthusiasms well outside the ordered liturgical spirit of Anglicanism.
These movements made few ripples in the North Country. Universalism, the popular variant of Unitarianism, was taking root over in Canton, but this was relatively sedate and intellectual.
The Clarksons financed several changes in the church building during the 1800’s. By 1867, the recessed “Hobartian” chancel had been added and a high gothic roof replaced the original. A furnace and central heating replaced the four wood stoves. The stone wall out front was finished in 1870. The chapel wing was built in 1883. The present façade and clock tower was a Clarkson donation (Thomas S. and sisters, Frederica and Lavinia) in 1885. The red sandstone façade, with its unique disregard of classical symmetry in favor of romantic elaboration, is a period piece. On foggy or snowy evenings, it seems to brood on the passing traffic like a bit of old England, and a reminder of the eternal amid the “changes and chances” of life.
Numbers increased and the parish flourished. It was not so far north as to be untouched by the controversy over the Oxford Movement, which led to the restoration of Catholic thought and practice within the Anglican Communion. Bishop Onderdonk faced charges in the House of Bishops and was actually removed for his high church views. Nathan Monroe, rector of Trinity, Potsdam, resigned because of hostility to his high church views. The widespread and pervasive Protestant suspicion of Rome caused a determined resistance by some to any restoration of Catholic practice and piety beyond what already existed in bare bones form in the Prayer Book. A two-party system arose within the church which has only recently faded as new issues divide along different lines.
Numbers increased and the parish flourished. It was not so far north as to be untouched by the controversy over the Oxford Movement, which led to the restoration of Catholic thought and practice within the Anglican Communion. Bishop Onderdonk faced charges in the House of Bishops and was actually removed for his high church views. Nathan Monroe, rector of Trinity, Potsdam, resigned because of hostility to his high church views. The widespread and pervasive Protestant suspicion of Rome caused a determined resistance by some to any restoration of Catholic practice and piety beyond what already existed in bare bones form in the Prayer Book. A two-party system arose within the church which has only recently faded as new issues divide along different lines.
