Asbury
Methodist Church of Crestwood - 167 Scarsdale Rd1
The Asbury Church,
one of the oldest in this Country, was named for Francis
Asbury2, the pioneering Methodist Minister
who came to America (and what is now Crestwood) in 1771. Two years
later, under his guidance, a local Methodist Society was formed. The
homes that first sheltered his ministry were those of the Bonnet’s,
the Devereaux’s and the Sherwood’s. In 1797 the Sherwood Chapel was built on the land of Moses and
Tamer Sherwood. Silas Crawford, a builder, constructed the original
Chapel. It was moved across the street in 1865 and served a
community that included parts of Turkey Hoe (now parts of Tuckahoe
and Yonkers), New Rochelle and Eastchester. The population in this
area at that time consisted of a school, the Underhill Tavern and a
blacksmith’s shop. The cemetery adjacent to the Asbury Church
contains the remains of most of the early Church members who paid $5
per plot. Some non-members and strangers were buried there at a cost
of $7 each.3 The oldest grave stone bears
the date 1800.4
The Church kept no written
accounts of meetings prior to 1818, but at that time a "minutes" was
first initiated and has been subsequently continued to this day. In
1835 the Church was incorporated as the First Methodist Church of
the Town of Yonkers. This name remained until 1942 when official
action was taken to change the name to Asbury Methodist Church of
Crestwood, New York. The present structure was dedicated February
20, 1867, on the 100th anniversary of Methodism in America. It was
built using marble from the quarries in Tuckahoe, under the
supervision of Isaac B. Lent. It should be remembered that while
Crestwood was added to the Church name in 1942, it is still part of
Yonkers and of the original Philipse Manor holdings.
In
dedicating the statue of Francis Asbury that stands today in
Washington, D.C., President Calvin Coolidge described the Minister
as "one of the most influential men in America during the
Revolution." Adding "that during this period he, more than any other
person, united the Colonial settlers in the struggle for civic,
personal and religious freedom."
Between arriving in New York
in 1771 and his death in 1816, Francis Asbury traveled an estimated
275,000 miles to bring the teachings of Methodism to the early
colonists of what was to become The United States of
America.
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1. Research and text by Stephen
Rubino; Edited by Marguerite Aumann
2. Click on
Asbury's name in the text to link to more information about this
fascinating man on our Historic
People page
3.
Researcher relied heavily on "Pillars of Yonkers" by Frank L.
Walton, c.1951, for this information.
4. The most famous grave is
that belonging to Abigail Sherwood, with whom, it could be said,
Crestwood's history began. It was Asbury's Abigail, aka "The
Widow Sherwood" who purchased the 125 acres of land, under the
Articles of Forfeiture in 1786, which forms the basic part of old
Crestwood. It extended from just beyond Margaret Street and ran from
Scarsdale Road to the Bronx River
5.Click on Philipse in text to link to
more info on Philipse land grant, Philipse Manor, Philipseburgh,
etc.
