Text Box: Jean Carmichael 1913—2006 Memorial Fund ~~~~~~~ Your tax-deductible contributions may be sent to: Church of the Good Shepherd St. Hubert’s Isle HC02 Box 237 Raquette Lake, NY 13436 Text Box: Seneca Ray Stoddard 1880 In 1879 William West Durant and John Boyd Thacher (future mayor of Albany) approached William Croswell Doane, Episcopal Bishop of Albany, with a proposition. Why not build a church on Raquette Lake - there were none within 25 miles. The Bishop agreed, writing that “the Raquette region is an important point...because the railroad will soon open it for settlement.” Pledge cards were sent to all summer residents, listing Durant as Warden of the new church and Thacher as Treasurer. On Sunday 12 September 1880, after the 12-hour journey—first by train from Albany to North Creek, stagecoach to Blue Mountain Lake and the final three and a half hours by steamer to Raquette Lake— Bishop Doane consecrated the Mission of the Good Shepherd. The first priest-in-charge of the Mission was the Rev. Montgomery H. Throop II whose descendents still have property on Pine Island on Raquette Lake. Mr. Throop was here for five years and was instrumental in founding the Mission of the Transfiguration in Blue Mountain Lake. Text Box: In 1880 Durant donated the font, the bell and the pump organ. He also constructed the first rectory in 1882. Sadly, it was destroyed by fire in 1914 along with all the church records. The Brown-Sermans built the Guest Cottage in 1917 and the present house in 1918. Services were held each Sunday during July and August. Members of the Stott family of Bluff Point played a major role in the property's upkeep. In 1894 their minister, the Rev. William Brown-Serman, became priest-in-charge and his family would remain the driving force here for 47 years. Each Sunday morning the Misses Stott fired a small cannon on Bluff Point to let everyone know that the "church boat'' was approaching. After services, folks waited in the gazebo for the return trip. From 1880-1900 the annual fund-raiser for the church was held at Camp Stott, in later years on Church Island. In 1921 Alfred L. Donaldson’s A History of the Adirondacks included this entry: “The scene of a bright Sunday morning, when the boats gathered from far and near, filled with worshipers in gay apparel, was highly picturesque and gave church-going the novel charm of a devotional outing to a shrine of God-tinged beauty.'' In 1959 services were resumed by the Rev. Ralph M. Carmichael and his wife Jean, who purchased the Island from the Diocese. Upkeep is by volunteers and through the kind generosity of contributors to the Building Fund. Text Box: Church of the Good Shepherd (1880)