City: Yorktown
County: Westchester
State: NY
Description
Cemetery notes and/or description:
The East yard Cemetery of the
The Yorktown First Presbyterian Church was formed and created by a breakaway group from the original congregation in 1806
The church was organized in 1730 "for the worship of God". There were only two Protestant churches in Northern Westchester in Bedford and Tarrytown.
It was located on the Kings Highway or Kingston Street and was the main road and the center of town. In 1758 it was formally organized with itinerant preachers. The church congregation was politically radical and was a meeting place for patriots prompting the British to burn it in 1779.
In 1785 a second church was built.
In 1806 it was incorporated as the First Presbyterian Church and accepted the congregational form of government leading to a great split led by Rev Silas Constant.
