Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/122

 CHAPTER V.

, Mr. Carter’s father-in-law, died at his country residence on the Hudson, June 10, 1850, leaving behind him an honored name and a place in many hearts which never could be filled. He was possessed of remarkable physical beauty, a presence which made an impression wherever he went. He was a man of incorruptible integrity and large benevolence, his tender heart making him ever the friend of the widow and the fatherless. He had been for many years an elder in the Scotch Presbyterian Church in New York. Some ten or fifteen years before his death, he had made himself a beautiful country home on the northern end of New York Island, at a place which is now known as Inwood. When he took up his residence there, there was no church within several miles, and he used to drive with his family to church at West Farms. Many of the people in the neighborhood were utterly irreligious, and as the family drove to church they could see the farmers at work in their fields. By and by they began to be ashamed of their Sunday work, and would run and hide themselves as they saw the good man’s carriage approaching. Mr. Thomson cared for their souls, and lost no time in building on his own grounds a pretty little church, of which he was the first ruling elder, and for many years the main support. This church, happy and prosperous,