A church was erected in 1727 on land given by Mr. Walton, on the spot where the present church stands. In 1728 Mr. Walton was succeeded by the Rev. Edmund Ward, also a graduate of Yale College, and a native of Killingworth, Connecticut.

Mr. Ward remained but two years, when he removed to Guilford, Connecticut, and the pulpit was vacant for several years after his departure, during which time occasional preaching was had by ministers from Connecticut.

On the 30th of December, 1742, a council of the Eastern Consociation of Fairfield County met at Rye and ordained the Rev. John Smith as minister. We are under great obligations to Dr. Baird for procuring^ and giving us a particular account of that occasion, and of the life and services of this eminent man.

Mr. Smith, like his predecessors, was a graduate of Yale College. His father, Mr. Thomas Smith, was one of the little band of Christians who organized the first Presbyterian Church in New York City. His ' brother, William Smith, and his nephew, William 1 Smith, Jr., were leaders among the Sons of Liberty in New York City, and organizers of the "Whig Club," from which came the first utterances in favor of liberty, i Previous to his coming to Rye, Mr. Smith had married a daughter of ^Ir. James Hooker, a grandson of the famous Thomas Hooker, the founder of

» Dr. Bair.rs "Rye," 32-2. 2 Bollon's " ChurcIi|History," 246.

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the colony of Connecticut. After a few years' residence in Rye, Mr. Smith removed to White Plains. The house in which he lived and died is still standing.