[J. Thomas Scharf (1886)] H. Purdy. In July, 1852, the building was com-pleted, and on the 10th day of December, 1852, it was dedicated by Bishop Foster. The cost of the build-ing was three thousand dollars. Rev. C. F. Pelton was the preacher in charge. After the church was secured it was deemed advisable to provide a suitable residence for the preachers, in order that their home might be at a railroad station. Consecn ntly funds were raised during the intervening six years, and in 1858, during the pastorate of Rev. I. H. Lent, a com-fortable house was built for a parsonage at a cost of two thousand dollars. Previous to, and at this date, these two points were included in Cortlandt Circuit, and the preachers who officiated at Purdy's and North Salem were the same who preached at Mount Zion, etc. About 1860, however, the circuit was divided and ceased to exist under its former name, and Purdy's and North Salem thereafter appear on the church records as the designated charge. Rev. J. Z. Nichols appears to have been the first pastor, having charge of these points in 1861. He was one of the veteran ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having entered the ministry in 1823. He was an active preacher for fifty-eight years, dying August 14, 1881, at eighty-one years of age. He is buried at