[J. Thomas Scharf (1886)] August, 1853.— Rev. John B. Steele " August, 1859. — Rev. John St. John " August, 18fi". — Rev. Polhemus Van Wyck " August, 1870. — Rev. John C. Garretson " August, 1874.— Rev. John B. Thompson " May 25, 1875. — Rev. Joseph Alexander Harper present pastor. In 1831 the Congregational Church at Peekskill became united to the Reformed Church of Cortlandt-ii.-3-j town, and so continued until 1850, when it became a separate congregation. A mission was begun at Verplanck's Point by the Rev. John A. Harper in 1876, and for two years services were held in the old school building on the corner of Sixth Street and Broadway. In the year 1878 a little frame building was erected at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars, which is used at present. In 1883, the last dollar of indebted-ness upon it having been paid, it was dedicated. It is known as " The Free Reformed Church at Ver-planck's." In 1884 th« number of families in both congrega= tion was eighty, and the number of communicants eighty-five. There were two Sabbath-schools, with a total membership of one-hundred and twenty-five. St. Peter's Episcopal Church — The first knowl-edge possessed of the endeavor to propagate the Episcopal faith in the town of Cortlandt is derived from the report of the English Society, known as "The Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." From them it is learned that as early as 1744 the Rev.