“Found Dead in His Study With Heart Riddled With Shot” – The Death of Rev. Milligan

On August 28, 1908, Rev. O. Brown Milligan “was found dead in his study…with his heart riddled with bullets from a shotgun.” Rev. Milligan has a Bovina connection, though a relatively brief one. In June 1887, he was hired as the pastor of the Bovina Reformed Presbyterian Church, where he served barely a year before leaving in September 1888 for Pittsburgh.

He made news a couple of years later in 1890 when, with four other clergymen, he was suspended by the Pittsburgh Reformed Presbytery. The Delaware Gazette for December 17, 1890, reported on the case: "Five young clergymen, of whom the Rev. O.B. Milligan, recently of Bovina, seems to be a leader, were suspended by the Pittsburg[h] Reformed Presbytery last Friday. Their offense is in the setting forth their belief that the exercise of the right of suffrage is not sinful, and that they will not forbid members to vote. They made a powerful defense and will appeal to the synod. They claim that they will be supported there by about one third of the clergy. If they fall they will join the U.P. church, and claim they can take their congregations."

The Reformed Presbyterians believed that because the U.S. Constitution had no mention of God that members should not participate in any government activity, including voting. Milligan and his clergy colleagues continued their fight to allow members of the denomination to vote. In January 1891, members of his former congregation in Bovina presented him with $500 in gold to help him in his appeal of the suspension. He ultimately was not successful and after his appeals and two tribunals, he was expelled from the church in June 1891. Milligan carried out his threat and became a minster in the United Presbyterian church. At his death was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Canton, Ohio. The local paper noted he was “an intimate friend of the late President McKinley.”

The Ohio Courier Crescent for September 1 reported his death. When Milligan was found, “he was seated in an easy chair with his feet resting on a child’s wicker chair. The butt end of the gun was braced against the back of the child’s chair, and the muzzle of the weapon pointed toward the dead man’s heart.” The circumstances were investigated to determine whether or not this was suicide, murder or an accident. “Just before noon Mr. Milligan told the maid to take care of the children in the afternoon, as he intended going to the Country club. Ten minutes later he lay dead in his study….” The maid noted that Dr. Milligan “had spent most of the morning cleaning his shotgun and that she supposed the shooting was accidental. Coroner March inclines to the same opinion.”

Notice to Church Builders

155 years ago this month, a building committee of the Bovina Reformed Presbyeterian Church posted this ad looking for proposals for the construction of a new church building. The congregation had been using their stone church in the Mountain Brook area of Bovina since it's construction in the 1820s, but decided they needed a new structure. They posted the following notice in the Delaware Gazette (and maybe in a couple of other area newspapers)

Here's the text of this notice:

The undersigned, a building committee appointed by the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation of Bovina, will meet at the house of Mrs. D. Hamilton in said town, on the 13^th day of October, inst., at 11 o’clock A.M. for the purpose of receiving and determining upon the various offers that may be presented to erect a Church for said congregation at Brushland. Sealed proposals will be received till 1 o’clock, P.M., of that day. The committee will be left free to select – they will pay special attention (but will not be bound) to the lowest bid. The building will be 34 by 50 feet; there will be no steeple; three windows at each side and two at front end; posts to be 21 feet between shoulders; gallery in front, only; to be finished by the 1^st of September next. Plans, together with all the material part of the specifications, can be seen at the store of Mr. Robert Sloan, in Brushland. The committee will require security for the faithful performance of the contract.

Thoms. Arbuckle

Joseph Alexander

David B. Russell,

Andrew Thompson,

James G. Russell,

Committee

Dated Bovina October 1^st, 1860.

I have yet to find whether or not the building was done by September 1861 but the building that was constructed is believed to date from around that time. This is a picture of the church, which stood about where the Fire Department is located, until its demolition in 1943.

Bovina Reformed Presbyterian Church

It has been 200 years since the second church was created in Bovina, the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Created in September 1814, the church's first location was near Mountain Brook, where Bovina Road and County Highway 6 meet - the church's cemetery still exists). In 1861, the congregation built a new church in the Bovina Center hamlet, where the Bovina Fire Department building stands today. In April 1914, the church observed its centennial with a day long celebration that included the installation of a new pastor, Thomas Graham. This celebration, in many ways, was also the congregation's swan song. Within a few years, the congregation was inactive and by 1942, the church building and parsonage were sold. The church was demolished in 1944.  [More of the church's history can be seen on this blog in the entry for October 7, 2010: http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/brief-history-of-bovina-churches.html]

Below is a photo I scanned several years ago of a picnic gathering of the Bovina RP Church. A date was not provided, but it appears to be from around 1900, based on the ages of some of the children in the front. The names are id'ed on the back, with numbers written faintly on the people. Not all the numbers are legible, but I created a copy with numbers more clearly marked for the ones I could id.

Here are the names and numbers from the back of the photograph:

1. Arch. Thomson
2. Mozelle Hafele
3. David Russell
4. Hazel Russell
5. Everett Russell
6. Ralph Thomson
7. Anna Scott
8. Rev. A.I. Robb
9. Rev. J.K. Robb
10. Calvin Russell
11. Mrs. A.I. Robb
12. Mrs. Hamilton Russell
13. Addie Thomson
14. Rev. T.M. Slater
15. Clarence Russell
16. James A. Russell
17. Mrs. Will S. Thomson
18. Mrs. Andrew Gilchrist
19. Mr. Andrew Gilchrist
20. Libby Taylor
21. Mae Tweedie
22. Rosenna Faulkner
23. Orlena Robb
24 Thom. Russell
25. Geo. Russell
26. Rose Rusell
27. Herman Russell
28. Mrs. Stephen Russell
29. Stephen Russell
30. Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Thomson
31. Mrs. James B. Thomson
32. Mrs. Fred Johnson
33. Will S. Thomson
34. Mrs. John A. Russell
35. Mr. John A. Russell
36. Dixon Thomson
37. Andrew Gilchrist
38. Mrs. Andrew Gilchrist
39. Charles Thomson
40. James Russell
41. Margaret McKee
42. Ella Gilchrist
43. Emma Laidlaw
44. Fannie Bell McDivitt
45. Nancy Campbell
46. Mary Campbell
47. Will. T. Russell
48. Fred Johnson
49. Elmer Russell
50. Will Adee
51. James B. Thomson
52. Hamilton Russell
53. Martha THomson
54. Irene Russell
55. Mrs. James Russell

Kennedy vs. Lee - Part II - The Bed Was Badly Tumbled

In part one of this story, presented in the March 18 entry for this blog, I reported on the development of a slander case between the two Presbyterian ministers in Bovina:  Rev. Joshua Kennedy (Plaintiff) from the Reformed Presbyterian Church and Rev. James. B. Lee (Defendant) from the United Presbyterian Church. The case finally went to trial in February 1870, starting with testimony as to how the whole slander issue started.  Then the defense brought in some of the more salacious elements of this story, starting with the story of Augusta Hamilton.

Hamilton was the daughter of Parmelia Dorcas Hamilton, who owned the hotel where the Jardine residence is now located.  She was about 20 when Kennedy came to Bovina.  Witnesses reported that Hamilton worked for Kennedy and that she had a bastard child in the fall of 1866.  Rev. Lee had stated that he did not believe the rumor that the child was Kennedy’s, but then Miss Louis Helsinger testified.  She lived in Croton in 1866 at Figgar’s Hotel.  She reported seeing Kennedy there with Augusta Hamilton and that he called her his wife.  He wanted a room for his wife to wash in.  When she came back after showing her the room, Kennedy was tip-toeing up the stairs and asked in which room she had put the lady.  Helsinger saw him go in and said that he remained about an hour.  She was in the room below and "heard a sound as of the putting down of boots."  When they left, she went to the room and found that the pitcher of water and towel she had brought for the lady to wash with had not been used but that “the bed was badly tumbled.”  The wife of the hotel keeper testified along similar lines.  Also testifying about the incident was Helen Dennis.  She had lived in Bovina but was living in Croton in the summer of 1866.  She went to see Kennedy to find out about things in Bovina and saw that he was with Miss Hamilton.  Kennedy called on her later and when Dennis asked if Mrs. Kennedy was with him, he said no but that Miss Hamilton was and that he had been taking her to Unadilla.  He had expected her to stay there, but when he was ready to leave Unadilla, she was ready to come back with him.Given that the incident in Treadwell happened in the summer and she had the child that fall, it would seem that Kennedy was not the father - unless any relationship between Kennedy and Hamilton started early in the year or before.  

At least two women in Bovina also reported being on the receiving end of inappropriate behavior by Kennedy.  Kennedy rented part of the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Thomson in December 1864, occupying the lower story while Mrs. Thomson had the upper one.  While Mrs. Kennedy was away in May 1865, Mrs. Thompson was passing through Kennedy’s part of the house when he came out of a bedroom and put both arms around her waist.  When she raised her arm to strike him, he let go.  Kennedy put his arm around her again when they were riding in a buggy.  She threatened to ‘put him out of the wagon’ if he didn’t behave.  He said she couldn’t do it.  Another widow, Mrs. Mary Huggans, provided board for Kennedy in the summer of 1866, when Mrs. Kennedy was again absent.  She was making his bed when he came in from harnessing his horse, put his hand on Huggans’ shoulder, and said “Mrs. Huggans, as young a woman as you ought to think about getting married.”  She responded “I thought I knew my own business.”  He took her hand, looked into her palm and said “You have a great many crosses in your hand but no lovers.”  Mrs. Huggans also reported that Kennedy said he “had passed himself off as an ‘old bach’ at Saratoga, and that he had exchanged likenesses with young ladies and it was not unusual to do so.”

Next came the testimony of a number of people who knew Kennedy in Pennsylvania.  This testimony had been collected previous to the trial and was read in court.  A number of witnesses reported that Kennedy’s “character for chastity was bad.”  Several women from the school that Kennedy created reported incidents.  Samantha French was the daughter of a neighbor of the Kennedys when they were in Pennsylvania.  Kennedy suggested to Mrs. French that she send her to Miss LeConte’s school in Harrisburg and that he would be happy to accompany her.  They went by buggy to Shippensburg then by train to Harrisburg.  She reported that during the buggy ride his conduct was ‘ungentlemanly.’  They arrived at the school at dusk.  When it was time to retire and Miss LeConte and Miss French got up, Kennedy asked if Miss LeConte could leave him and Miss French alone for a few minutes.  French reported that Kennedy tried to kiss her and when she took offense, he said he meant it kindly.  He apologized while closing the blinds and turning down the gas in the parlor, then took hold of her again, suggesting that she should get married instead of attend school.  He pulled her onto his lap and she struggled free and left the parlor.  She was “astonished, angry and excited” as she “considered his intentions towards me dishonorable.”

When Kennedy spoke in his defense, he denied every allegation made against him.  His wife also rose to his defense, as did Augusta Hamilton and her mother.  Augusta specifically denied any wrong-doing at the hotel in Croton.  Yes, she did ask for a room in which to wash and she did so, but both she and Kennedy denied that he went into the room.  A number of witnesses also testified that Kennedy’s ‘character for chastity was good.’ 

The lawyers for Lee and Kennedy summed up their cases.  The judge charged the jury, spending nearly an hour doing so.  The jury got the case at 4 pm on February 5 and an hour later came out with their verdict for Kennedy.  They awarded Kennedy the sum of six cents.  It appears that while the jury agreed that Kennedy had been slandered, there was no real damage to his career.  Kennedy was pastor of the Bovina Reformed Presbyterian church for another 15 years, so certainly his congregation did not hold it against him.  Kennedy’s lawyers had asked for $5,000 plus costs. 

Within a couple of weeks, both ministers held ‘donation parties’ at their homes.  These were often held by ministers to help bring in the dollars they needed to serve as pastors.  Lee’s party brought in $1900.  The newspaper noted that “his parishioners must be not only wealthy but liberal, and hold their pastor in high estimation.”  Kennedy’s party did not bring in quite as much, but he did collect $1400.  Given that the Reformed Presbyterian Church congregation was substantially smaller than that of the United Presbyterian Church, the amount collected is impressive. 

Lee and Kennedy lived in Bovina for another 15 years.  How did they get along?  Unfortunately, there is nothing in subsequent records or newspapers that demonstrates how these two men managed to continue working as ministers in the same town - and in churches almost across the street from each other.

Kennedy left Bovina first, moving back to Pennsylvania in 1885 and living in Greencastle as a retired minister.  He suffered a stroke within a couple of years of returning to Pennsylvania.  He died in October of 1891 at the age of 76 and is buried in Greencastle.  His wife Mary moved to Denver, Colorado to live with her daughter Catherine and her family.  She died there in September 1905.

Lee left Bovina three years after Kennedy, accepting a call as the pastor for the Presbyterian Church in Franklinville, NY in the spring of 1888.  He stayed there until 1904 when age and ill health forced him to step down as pastor.  His wife Jane died in Franklinville in 1897.  Lee was remarried to a woman he met while traveling in Scotland in 1899.  When Lee stepped down as Franklinville’s pastor, he came back to Bovina to spend his remaining years.  He died in July of 1914 at the age of 81 and is buried in Bovina. 

This story was fun to put together, partly because of its sensational nature, but we must remember that Kennedy was found to have been slandered.  The testimony of the people against Kennedy is more sensational, but there were people ready to step up to contradict it. We also have to remember that about the only source for this story is one newspaper, the Bloomville Mirror. I will continue digging to find other perspectives on this case and its aftermath. 

Kennedy vs. Lee - Part I - Libel of Slander

Reverend James B. Lee, a native of Cadiz, Ohio, came to Bovina in the fall of 1856 as pastor of the Associate Presbyterian Church of Bovina.  Twenty three when he came to Bovina, Lee was the longest serving pastor in the church, staying for 32 years.  In January of 1865, the Reformed Presbyterian Church installed Joshua Kennedy as its pastor.  Born around 1815, Kennedy was a native of Ireland.  He stayed for 20 years, having the distinction of being the longest serving pastor of that church.  Kennedy had lived previously in Pennsylvania and was a pastor there for about 20 years.  During his time in Pennsylvania, he was instrumental in establishing the Fayetteville Academy in 1852 and, like Rev. Lee, spent some of the Civil War as a missionary and chaplain.

In their early history the two Bovina Presbyterian Churches were at loggerheads.  In 1837, several members of the Associate Presbyterian Church were brought before Session to answer charges of having gone to hear the Reformed Presbyterian minister preach.  By the 1850s and 60s, however, the churches became more cordial to each other and started having joint social events, including a summer picnic.

So it is likely that Reverends Lee and Kennedy started on friendly terms, but about a year and a half after Rev. Kennedy came to Bovina, this started to unravel.  In July of 1866, Lee reported to Robert Sloan of Walton that there were unfavorable reports from a Rev. Woodburn of Kennedy’s behavior while in Pennsylvania, including the fact that Kennedy’s hired girl had a child and that he took liberties with a female pupil in the school he established.  Later that same month, Kennedy went to a hotel in Croton (now Treadwell), accompanied by someone other than his wife, namely Augusta Hamilton.  Over a year later, Lee signed a statement about what he had been told about Kennedy’s behavior by Rev. Woodburn.  The statement, which appears to have been read in the pulpit, is as follows:

“I hereby certify that Rev. J.S. Woodburn did make the following statements to me about Rev. Joshua Kennedy, viz; - ‘Mr. Kennedy’s hired girl had a child while at his house, and he retained her in his service after the child was born. This gave rise to reports and suspicions among those acquainted with Mr. K. Mr. Glenn informed Kennedy of these reports, and urged him to clear up these things.’

“Miss Brown, of Philadelphia, said she rode in a buggy with Mr. Kennedy from Chambersburg, Pa., and he kissed her until she was perfectly disgusted with him.   Miss Brown said to Mr. Kennedy, ‘what would Mrs. Kennedy say if she should see you?’  Mr. Kennedy said, ‘Oh, she don’t care.’  Mr. Kennedy offered to join the U.P Church, if a certain one of our congregation would give him a call.”

“That each and all of the above statements were made by Rev. J.S. Woodburn, I do now certify and set my hand and seal, this 18th day of October, 1867.  J.B. Lee”

In December, Kennedy wrote to Lee after he had spoken with Woodburn about the allegations.  Lee drafted a letter the next day stating that Kennedy was free of scandal, with a couple of edits suggested by Kennedy.  A week later, Lee signed a further statement again stating that there was no evidence to support the allegations.  It also was read to the congregation:

“… I am free to say that I am fully satisfied there is no evidence for any of the reports made in relation to the character of the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, or of his standing in his church; and that I exceedingly regret any connection I have had therewith, and cheerfully and unreservedly say that anything I have said in regard thereto was based upon rumors that are now without evidence to sustain them.  Dec. 12th, 1867.  J.B. Lee”

Though seemingly settled, the story did not go away.  When Kennedy asked for Lee to sign a further statement, he said no and after some conversation, they decided to see Judge Murray in Delhi for his advice.  Murray drew up a document reiterating what Lee had stated and that he had not ‘signed a libel.’  He said this should be the end of it.  Meanwhile, the statement that Lee had signed in December was circulating around, with the words ‘Libel of Slander’ added at the top in Kennedy’s handwriting.  In early 1868, Lee attended a meeting at the Reformed Presbyterian Church at which Kennedy gave his version of events.  When Lee was invited to give his version, he instead asked for a letter from Judge Murray to be read.  This obviously did not settle things, for in May of 1869, the case of Kennedy vs. Lee went to trial in Delhi.  The trial drew large crowds, filling the courtroom to capacity. 

After only a few days, the case had to be adjourned when a juror became ill.  It was nine months before the case reopened, and in that period the complexion of the case changed.  Early in the proceedings, Lee was making the case that he had withdrawn the allegations and stated very clearly that they were false.  By August, it appears that Lee was working to prove the allegations.  It was reported by the Bloomville Mirror in August of 1869 that the Judge had been asked to arrange for the examination of 20 to 30 witnesses from Pennsylvania.  Kennedy served an amended complaint, which the newspaper said ‘virtually amounts to a confession of guilt.’  The paper was not impressed by either minister, suggesting that “the only wish that honest people have in the matter is that the shortcomings of these Reverend gentlemen will be thoroughly sifted.”

So when the case reopened in February 1870, the effort on the part of the defense was to substantiate the allegations, though the testimony started with more witnesses about the statement by Lee being altered by Kennedy to include ‘Libel of Slander’ at the heading.  Then came the story of Augusta Hamilton.


Part two of this story will appear on March 24 in this blog.

Brief History of Bovina Churches

As I continue to get settled full time in Bovina, I wanted to be sure to keep entries up with this blog. In checking to see what I had already written, I found this article I wrote last year for the Bovina UP Church Community newsletter that was never posted to the blog. So here it is now.

The oldest institution in the Town of Bovina, the United Presbyterian Church, started life as the Associate Presbyterian Church of Delhi. The families of Isaac Atkin, Walter Doig, John Elliott and William McGibbon submitted a request to the Presbytery for a pastor on February 5, 1807. That fall the Reverend Alexander Bullions from Cambridge, NY was appointed to preach at what is now Delhi for two Sundays. The congregation was officially organized in 1809 but it did not have a regular pastor until 1814, when Robert Laing accepted the call. In 1815, the name of the congregation became the Associate Presbyterian Church of the Little Delaware and after the creation of the Town of Bovina in 1820, it became the Associate Presbyterian Church of Bovina.

The first regular church building for the congregation was built at what is now Reinertsen Hill road. The cemetery for the church still exists. The open area of the cemetery with no tombstones is the likely site of the church. In 1849, the congregation built a larger church in the hamlet of Bovina Center, then called Brushland. It was expanded in 1859 to hold between 600 and 700 people. That same year, it gained its final name change, when the Associate Presbyterians nationwide joined with another Presbyterian group to become the United Presbyterian Church of North America.

The Associate Presbyterians were not the only denomination in Bovina for very long. Another Presbyterian group and the Methodists were established not many years later. The Reformed Presbyterian, also known as the Covenanter Church, was created informally around 1814. Also known as the Cameronians, they held that Christians ought not to take any part in a government that was not conducted on religious principles. Because the United States Constitution had no mention of God, the Covenanters never voted or held elective office, though they were law-abiding citizens. In 1825, the congregation built a meeting house near the Butt End - the graveyard of the church still exists. The congregation built a new church in Bovina Center in the 1860s, where the playground and firehouse now exist.

The congregation was never as large as the United Presbyterian congregation. In 1865, the membership was at 40, with about 90 people regularly attending services. The numbers dropped as the new century dawned. The congregation was relatively inactive by the early 1920s, though services were still taking place on occasion and the church still had a membership roll. In September 1942, a meeting was held at Fred Henderson’s at which the congregation of 18 met and voted to sell the church property. The land and buildings were sold to J. Russell Boggs in October 1943. The church building was torn down that same month. Cecil Russell was the only one of the elders from the Reformed Presbyterian Church who officially joined the United Presbyterian Church, later becoming an elder of that church, too.

In the early days, Bovina’s two Presbyterian churches reflected some of the bitter divisions in the Church of Scotland. These bodies had separate organizations and maintained a rigidly distinct system of worship. In June 1837, the Associated Presbyterian Church session reported a “complaint was given in against Walter Doig, William Forrest, William Murray, and John Dunn for having gone to hear the Reformed Presbyterians.” In later years, these differences were put aside and the two congregations became more cooperative.

When Bovina’s two Presbyterian congregations had their differences, they also had differences with the Methodists. Methodism in Bovina was of long standing, though for many years, there was no organized congregation. They met in any available dwelling, schoolhouse or barn. The main name in Bovina Methodism in its early years was Alexander Brush, Bovina’s early settler. For years services were held in his house. He was blind, so his wife would read to him a passage of Scripture, from which he would then preach.

The Methodists finally built a church in 1849 on land given to them by Brush for that purpose. The building, located across from where the community hall is now, cost $1,397.50 to build. The trustees at the time of the building’s completion were James Seacord, Thomas W. Dennis, Sylvenus Bramley, Alphonso Lee and Edward McKenzie. The dedication took place August 22nd, 1849, though not without incident. The pastor of the Bovina Associate Presbyterian Church, Reverend John Graham, received a notice about the dedication and made his feelings known in no uncertain terms from his pulpit. He condemned the consecrating of churches as “heathenish and popish in its origin.” In his autobiography, he proudly noted that “some diseases need strong medicine at the beginning to prevent them spreading and injuring the whole system; and which, if used in time, prevents much trouble and perplexity afterward.”

The Andes and Bovina Methodist congregations comprised one charge until April 1871 when they were divided, each with its own pastor. In 1865, membership was at 50; by 1875 it was 63, with usual attendance of about 100. A parsonage, now the home of Chuck McIntosh, was purchased for $2,000 in 1871 and in 1877 the church was repaired and beautified on the inside, with a capacity to seat three hundred. As the new century dawned, however, the membership numbers for the Bovina Methodist church fell and in 1916, the church began sharing its pastor with the Andes congregation again. The last trustees of the church, John Blair, Charles Hafele and David C. Worden, sold the church building and parsonage in November 1921. William Archibald bought the church intending to tear it down and build a house, but it remained standing for almost five years. Jack Hilson remembered roller-skating in the church building and Celia Coulter recalls her sister Ruth having played basketball there. The church finally was torn down in April of 1926.

The last church created in Bovina was St. James, the Episcopal Church located at Lake Delaware by the Gerry estate. It started with Mabel Gerry holding a series of missionary meetings in the area in 1913. In the spring of 1914, a small house in "The Hook" was leased and prepared for use as a house of worship. In the early 1920s, Miss Angelica Gerry secured the services of the Boston church architect, Ralph Adams Cram, to design the present Saint James' Church. Work was begun in the spring of 1922, with the laying of the cornerstone on Saint James' Day, July 25th, 1922. On Christmas Day, 1923, the first service was held in the new Church building. It was consecrated the following year. The spire was added at the instigation of Miss Gerry. St. James is the only other active congregation in the Town of Bovina today.