View source for Richard McCarthy



'''Born: '''1841 in Troy, NY

'''Died: '''1909

'''Married: '''yes

'''Children:''' a son and a daughter, Mildred Roland

'''Reverend Richard G. McCarthy''' was the first pastor of the [[Presbyterian%20Church|Presbyterian Church]], serving from 1890-1893. He lived in the manse at [[24%20Front%20street|24 Front street]]. In 1896 & 1897 he was pastor of the [[Lake%20Clear%20Church|Lake Clear Church]] when he retired because of his age. He died in 1909 in Brooklyn.

Rev. McCarthy's extensive career in building churches is outlined in Sally E. Svenson's book, [[Adirondack%20Churches%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Design%20and%20Building|Adirondack Churches: A History of Design and Building]]. "Between 1889 and 1904, he set in motion the successive formation of 17 congregations and the building of churches for them at Saranac Lake, [[Brandon|Brandon]], [[Chapel%20Island|Chapel Island]] in [[Upper%20Saranac%20Lake|Upper Saranac Lake]], Childwold, [[Indian%20Carry%20Chapel|Indian Carry]], [[Lake%20Clear%20Church|Lake Clear Junction]], Waverly, Benson Mines, Cranberry Lake, Star Lake, DeGrasse, Clare, Hannawa Falls, Newton Falls, Stark, Wick and Wanakena. . . . Seven of the Presbyterian congregations initiated by McCarthy still exist, as do eight of his edifices." (page 16)

In her article titled "Missions Accomplished: Richard McCarthy's Church-Building Spree" in ''Adirondack Life'', August 2004, Sally E. Svenson writes that Margaret Vanderbilt Shepard, Colonel [[Elliott%20Shepard|Elliott F. Shepard]]'s wife "outfitted a large new parsonage, from carpet to curtains. According to [Mildred] Roland, the deed to the place was made out in her mother's name and was meant to be a personal gift. It was a gift the reverend would not accept, and the ownership of the parsonage was eventually transferred to the church. Mrs. Shepard, somewhat miffed at this misappropriation, presented Mrs. McCarthy with a private gift of six hundred dollars. This money paid for a plot of land in Saranac Lake and built the McCarthy family home, where Mrs. McCarthy lived until her death in 1928." Presumably, the parsonage mentioned was the manse at [[24%20Front%20Street|24 Front Street]]. According to a Saranac Lake telephone directories of 1917, 1921 and 1922 in the [[Adirondack%20Research%20Room|Adirondack Research Room]], Mrs. R. G. [sic] McCarthy lived at [[8%20McCarthy%20Terrace|8 McCarthy Terrace]] in those years. The lot was purchased in 1899, and the street was apparently named for the family by [[Fred%20Isham|Fred Isham]], who developed residential lots on [[Helen%20Hill|Helen Hill]] (this from Carol Poole's book on Adirondack names).
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''Plattsburgh Sentinel,'' March 12, 1909

<span>Rev. Richard G. McCarthy, who died at his home in Brooklyn Feb. 24, was a Presbyterian minister,<span> and was employed for a number of years by the St. Lawrence Presbytery as a missionary in Adirondack sections of St. Lawrence county. <span> At that time he made Canton his <span>[home]. He raised a considerable amount of funds annually by solicitation from wealthy members of the church in the cities and was enabled to found many small churches <span> in the<span> Adirondack wilderness.

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