For God and Country: Reverend Henry E. Duers, Founder Star of Bethlehem Colored Baptist Church Miguel Hernández At an undetermined date during the American Civil War, a young black man, held in bondage and named, Henry Edward Duers ran away from his master. His Civil War Pension Records do show however that he was born on October 15, 1846 in the Town of Windsor in Bertie County, North Carolina and that on February 17, 1865 he enlisted in the Union Army as a Private in Company F, 14th Regiment, U.S Colored Troops (Heavy) Artillery. It was an incredible act of courage for it was well known that any black man who enlisted would not be spared his life if he were to be captured wearing the uniform of the Union Army. In any event Henry Duers was discharged at Fort Macon, North Carolina on the 11th of December of 1865, a few months after the end of the Civil War. Like many former slaves, young Mr. Duers became a depositor of the U.S. Freedman’s Bank and his application filed on February 1, 1873 reveals that he was residing in Richmond, VA. In that year he entered the Richmond Society “for the education of teachers and preachers among the colored freedmen of the South.” He received his license to preach in 1877. Ironically enough, the Institute was housed in a building that was once a jail for runaway slaves. Sometime after he completed his studies he came north and began the work for which he had trained and been called to perform. In 1884 he was the pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Newburgh, NY. Subsequently in 1890, he came to Yonkers, NY where he was the Superintendent of the Sunday School at the Messiah Baptist Colored Church in Yonkers, NY. In that year he also came to Ossining, NY (then called Sing Sing) and started a mission with a Sunday Bible class and a Wednesday evening prayer service. On November 23, 1890, Reverend Duers along with the members of his little congregation in the 100th year celebration of the First Baptist Church of Sing Sing which had been incorporated in 1790. Noting this anniversary and the approaching Christmas holidays, Reverend Duers was inspired to call his growing congregation, the “Centennial Star of Bethlehem Colored Baptist Church.” In 1892, he oversaw the construction of the congregation’s first building at 148 Spring Street. In 1932, it was torn down and a new and larger building was put on this same site. In 1977, a new Star of Bethlehem Missionary Church was built at 304 Spring Street on the grounds of the old Ossining Hospital. At that time, the old Star of Bethlehem Church became the home of a Spanish-speaking congregation named Trinidad De Dios. Over the years of his of his active pastorate Reverend Duers increased his flock and assured that the mortgage on the church building and other church debts were paid off. He was well-known for his insistence on equal rights and was not hesitant to speak out when members of his church and others were not treated fairly. He retired in 1924 but remained active in the church and his community until his death in 1940 at age 94. He is buried Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers. At some time after his death, a plaque inscribed with his name was placed at the intersection of Brandreth Street and Broadway at a spot that came to be known as “Duers Circle” Later this commemorative plaque was moved to Nelson Park next to Ossining’s Civil War Monument. Reverend Duers was married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth Petersen. They wed circa 1848 and they had a son named William Henry Duers. She died in 1878. Subsequently he married Margaret Jane Bundie on October 15, 1891. She died in 1901 and in 1908 He married a widow, Maria A. Wilson, of Poughkeepsie, NY. Census Tract records show that they lived at 46 Spring St in 1910 and at 59 Durston Avenue/Hunter Street in 1920. More detailed information on Reverend Duers is on file at the Ossining Historical Society. It includes: his Civil War Pension Records, Freedman’s Savings Bank Application, news articles, U.S Census tract records, marriage information, death certificate and several photographs. Reverend Henry E. Duers was just 5’ 4 “in height but by any measure and despite all adversity, he stood tall in the service of God and Country.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 02:55:08 +0000
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