Stained Glass Windows Series – Reverend B.R. Gabriel & Family

This is the second in a series of historical articles about the church on Grindstone Island. Over the next few months, we will introduce the families who are commemorated in beautiful stained-glass windows. Their history will live on and hopefully many islanders will assist to ensure the Church will be rebuilt for future generations.

Basil R. Gabriel served as the minister of the church on Grindstone Island from 1935-1945. He was born in Armenia in 1875 and married Ethel Mae Edwards in 1906 in Waterloo, NY. They had an adopted son from Turkey, Azad Howard Gabriel, who grew up to become a minister as well.

Mrs. Gabriel was incredibly involved in the church, especially with the Ladies Aid Society and the Sunday School. Grindstone Island resident Erma Slate fondly recalls that Mrs. Gabriel bought her a polka dot dress when she was a little girl, and another Island resident, Doreen Meeks, remembers Mrs. Gabriel leading the Sunday School plays.

According to Stanley Norcom’s book “Grindstone, An Island World Remembered,” the church became the main social scene on the island because of the Gabriels and the Ladies Aid Society. There were regular church suppers, quilting parties, baby showers, and ice cream socials held on the lawn of the church every Saturday night.

The makeshift church, which had been built in 1890 from the ruins of another church on Hill Island, was in desperate need of restoration when Rev. Gabriel arrived in 1935. He was involved in restoration of the church building and had the first well dug on the property. According to Audrey Lashomb’s book, “Going Home, Grindstone Island,” Rev. Gabriel tells his story in the church records. “We studied the problem of mending the building rather than ending it. But the cost of $3,000 or more for this work looked too big for those who were interested; it seemed an impossible task. The island population of 1000 granite workers and their families had dwindled to 200 farmer-folk, very few of them owning their own farms. The membership of the church was mostly nominal rather than real. Could anything like a substantial edifice come out of a heap of dry timber when there were so few to help? That was my big question.”

After much thought, a five-year plan was devised to tackle the daunting project. The Methodist district superintendent, Rev. Charles T. Holcombe, secured the initial $500 needed to begin the project and the summer residents collected another $500. The congregation, along with the active Ladies Aid Society, was able to raise the additional money needed to save the church building and the men of the island donated labor and materials. The beautiful stained-glass windows and the unique curved wood pews, which still exist today, were installed in the church. The pews were obtained from the Pillar Point Methodist Church in Dexter, NY, which was built in 1838 and torn down in 1940. The first memorial panes were inserted in the stained-glass windows honoring island residents and church patrons Elizabeth Brown and David Black.

A much-needed church well was dug during Rev. Gabriel’s tenure. The well required drilling to 95 feet through the granite to obtain some of the cleanest water available. Doreen Meeks remembers her grandmother walking to the church well and hauling her water home in buckets. This well is still in use today and called “Gabriel’s Well” in honor of Rev. Gabriel. The church still allows the residents of the island to use the water; many people on the island do not have a source of clean water in their cottages. The well water is tested each year and has a UV filter installed.

Rev. Gabriel wrote in the church records, “So we take off our hats to these helpful and devoted people who have cooperated to complete the work that actually amounts to over $5000. Not such a big sum for the large city church, but a big sum for this small community on Grindstone Island.” The $5000 that was raised in the mid 1930’s is equivalent to $118,000 today.

Today’s Problem

The church is facing another crisis with necessary reconstruction and is currently raising money for a Capital Campaign to have the walls and roof rebuilt. It was recently determined by a structural engineer that the church building is unsafe. The scope of the project will include removing the stained-glass windows, removing the existing roof, reinforcing the walls, and installing a new roof to stabilize the entire structure. Without these repairs, the church faces an indefinite closure that would be devastating to the Grindstone Island community.

There are eleven beautiful stain glass windows in the church, with ten of them etched with dedications to people who made a difference on Grindstone Island. Those names include Walter Atherton; David Black; Elizabeth Brown; Mr. & Mrs. W.R. Cummings; Mr. & Mrs. Ambrose Dano; Emmet Dodge; Rev. B.R. Gabriel; Leon & Marjorie Rusho; Manley A. Rusho; and Rev. Alexander Shorts.

Save our Sanctuary Campaign

Please consider sending a donation to the Grindstone Island Capital Campaign to help “Save our Sanctuary.” Please indicate “Capital Campaign” on your donation. Send online donations to: https://www.giumc.org/donate or by mail: P.O. Box 411, Clayton, NY 13624.

By Cindy Rusho Hagemann

Cindy Rusho Hagemann was born in Alexandria Bay, NY to Manley and Mary Lou Rusho - she is the third of their four daughters. The family moved to Sanford, Florida in 1969 where she grew up, but she was still lucky to spend her summers on Grindstone Island with her grandparents. Cindy has been married to USN Commander (Ret) Jon Hagemann for 38 years and they have four grown children and three grandchildren. They live in the mountains of Tennessee on a hobby farm with alpacas, goats, pigs, dogs, and chickens. Cindy is a marketing professional and serves on the board of the Grindstone Island Church and is a committee member of the Grindstone Island Heritage Museum.

Cindy helped her father Manley Rusho, a long-time resident of Grindstone Island, write his many stories of growing up on Grindstone Island. We’re grateful to Cindy for encouraging her Dad to write these stories, to help him edit them, and send them to us to publish.