May Memorial

Unitarian Universalist Society

Our Glorious History

[For more information click here]

Our Various Names

May Memorial has had four names in its nearly 170 years. The first was the Unitarian Congregational

Society. The second was the Church of the Messiah. Our third was May Memorial Unitarian Society

in honor of our second minister, Rev. Samuel May. Finally, we became the May Memorial Unitarian

Universalist Society after the Unitarian and Universalist organizations merged.

May Memorial Settled Parish Ministers

We have had eleven settled male ministers and one settled female minister [this does not include our

religious education leaders/ministers, assistant ministers, or interim ministers]. Following is a brief

bio on each of the settled ministers (the years in parentheses after each person’s name represents their

years of ministry in Syracuse). Click here for a bibliography of material written by or about some of our

ministers. [Photos of settled ministers are courtesy of Bob Burdick.] A beautiful display of these

photos now resides in the Memorial Room of our church between the two large marble busts of Sam

Calthrop and Sam May, along with descriptive information, past church religious and music leaders,

past church presidents, and annual award winners.

This “memories wall” was formally dedicated on August 12, 2007.

Rev. John Parker Boyd Storer (1838-1844)

Rev. Storer was our first minister. He was born in Portland, Maine, in 1794. He graduated from

Bowdoin College in 1812. He next became a theology student at Bowdoin College that same year.

He became a Tutor at Bowdoin College in 1816. He was ordained a minister in the Unitarian Church

at Walpole, Massachusetts, in 1826. He moved to Syracuse in 1839 to become minister of the Unitarian

Congregational Society (our first name). He worked tirelessly to build the Syracuse congregation and

was so successful that it quickly outgrew the first church, a small chapel known as the Little Tabernacle,

and this led to the building of a larger church. His exertions in these efforts led to poor health and he

died in Syracuse in 1844.

Rev. Samuel Joseph May (1845-1868)

Rev. May was our second minister. He was born in Boston in 1797. He was educated at Chauncey Hall

School and graduated from Harvard College in 1817. He then taught school while attending Harvard

Divinity School, graduating in 1820. He was ordained at King's Chapel in Boston, in 1822. He became

minister of the Unitarian Church, Brooklyn, Connecticut, in 1822. Next he was Minister of the Unitarian

Church, South Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1836. He became Principal of the Female Normal School,

Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1842. Here is a very early photo of Sam, without his trademark beard and a

description of this role. He moved to Syracuse and was minister of the Church of the Messiah (our second

name) in 1845. He retired in 1868 and died in Syracuse in 1871. Here is one of his famous writings

entitled, What Do Unitarians Believe? Here are some of Rev. May’s views on the death penalty. Read one

of his sermons entitled The Rights and Conditions of Women. Here is a paper written about Sam May,

Heretic in Syracuse, a speech about him entitled, “The Remarkable Mr. May,” and a 1964 master’s thesis

about his educational efforts entitled Saint Before His Time: Samuel J. May and American Educational Reform.

All three were by Dr. Catherine L. Covert. Permission to include them here were given by her estate executrix,

Carolyn Stepanek Holmes. Here is a manuscript entitled, God’s Chore Boy by Dr. W. Freeman Galpin.

Permission to include it here is given by his daughter, Harriet Galpin Hughes. Here is an interesting sermon

about Sam May, Rev. May Has Shown Me the Way by the Rev. Richard (Rick) R. Davis, First Unitarian Society

of Salem (Oregon). Here is a second sermon about Rev. May, Samuel J. May: The Peaceful Warrior, also

by Rev. Richard (Rick) R. Davis. Here is a paper by another minister, Rev. Armida Alexander entitled,

Abolitionist Minister: Samuel J. May Opposes the Fugitive Slave Law. Click here for information on the

Sam May marble tablet memorial and a pictorial display of the hanging of the repaired tablet on our outside

east wall. Here is a brief tribute to Sam May. Click here for information on 12 letters (eight of them by Sam May)

written in 1852-1858 and now residing in the Syracuse University Archives. They pertain to Rev. May’s efforts

to develop a school and farm for the benefit of youth on the Onondaga Reservation. They are worth reading. See

the May Memorial web page for more information on Sam May. Finally, read a wonderful tribute to Sam May

written about his death, funeral, and burial: In Memoriam. Samuel Joseph May.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Robert Calthrop (1868-1911)

Rev. Calthrop, our third minister, was born in Swineshead Abbey, Lincolnshire, England, in 1829. He was

educated at St. Paul's School in London and at Trinity College in Cambridge. He moved to the U.S. in 1853.

He became minister of the Universalist Church in Southold (Long Island), New York, for three months. He

next ran a school for boys in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for six years. He was ordained as a Unitarian minister in

1860. First he was a minister at Unitarian churches in Marblehead and Newburyport, Massachusetts. He moved

to Syracuse and became minister of the Church of the Messiah in 1868 and then May Memorial after its

construction in 1885. He became Pastor Emeritus in 1911. He received the L.H.D. from Syracuse University in

June, 1900. He was an individual with many interests who contributed much to May Memorial and the Syracuse

community. Click here to learn more about this renaissance man and here to see one of his earliest photos when he

was the 1880 New York State chess champion. He died in Syracuse in 1917. Read some very interesting material

about Sam’s boyhood years written by his daughter, Edith Calthrop Bump, in 1939. Finally, read this very

delightful article written by a man who remembers Rev. Calthrop as a very important mentor, person, and

colleague: Recollections of the Old Master: Rev. Samuel Robert Calthrop. If you are interested in a book

celebrating the 35^th anniversary celebration of Rev. Calthrop’s installation at May Memorial, email Roger Hiemstra

for it to be sent. Click here to see Rev. Calthrop and his various family members’ burial headstones. Read two

of his interesting sermons entitled The Preacher of the Twentieth Century and

The Aid Given By Science to Religion During the Nineteenth Century.

Rev. Dr. John Henry Applebee (1911-1929)

Rev. Applebee, our fourth minister, was born in England in 1867. He moved to the United States with his parents

in 1878. He was educated at the Boston High School and the Meadville Theological School, graduating in 1894.

He first served the Parkside Unitarian Church in Buffalo for four years. Next he was in West Roxbury,

Massachusetts, until 1905. His next assignment was for six years at the Pilgrims Church in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

He was the minister at May Memorial from 1911 to 1929. During World War I the Applebees went on a leave of

absence, he to overseas service with the Red Cross and she to social service courses in New York City. He received

an honorary doctorate from Meadville (1924). In the spring of 1929 he officially retired, staying on as an active

member and settled down for a life of service in the community. He died in Syracuse in 1938. He was known as an

eloquent speaker. Read one of his these wonderful sermons entitled UNITARIANISM: What It is Not, and What It Is.

Another one that is very stimulating and well worth reading is entitled A Challenge to the Unitarian Church.

Rev. Dr. Wendelin Waldemar Weiland Argow (1930-1941)

Rev. Argow was our fifth minister. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1891. He was educated at the University of

Louisville in Kentucky and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received a Doctor of Theology from that

seminary in 1921. A fifth generation minister, the three Ws in his name stood for Wendelin, father of transcendental

philosophy, Waldemar, bishop of West Goths, and Weiland, father of spiritualistic or idealistic poetry. He was

ordained a Baptist minister in 1913. He served the Baptist church in Lorain, Ohio, from 1914 to 1919. He then

became a pacifist and resigned his ministry. Next he worked for two years at the 23rd Street YMCA (New York

City) while studying at New York University. He was accepted for Unitarian Fellowship in 1920. His first Unitarian

ministry was the People's Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1921. He became minister of May Memorial in 1930. He

became minister of the Unitarian Church in Baltimore from 1941 to 1961. He died in 1961 in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Read one of his sermons entitled When Is a Person a Unitarian. Another one is entitled The Challenge of an Inheritance.

Rev. Robert Eldon Romig (1941-1946)

Rev. Romig, our sixth minister, was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1908. He received the B.A. degree from the University

of Denver in 1929. His theological studies were at the Hoff School of Theology in Denver. He graduated from Meadville

Theological School in 1936. His first minister position was at the First Unitarian Church, Duluth, Minnesota, in 1936. He

became minister at May Memorial in 1941. Because of the wartime housing shortage Bob and Ellen Romig could not find

a suitable home, and the church bought a parsonage for them, a large colonial house on Comstock Avenue near the

university.There the Romigs entertained students interested in liberal religion and built up the campus organization that had

been started by Rev. Argow. Rev. Romig was United War Fund Area field representative for New York northern counties in

1944 and 1945. He resigned the ministry in 1946 to become an advocate for the United Nations. He returned to Syracuse in

1951 as Assistant to the President of the Davis Distributing Corporation. He died in Syracuse in 1986. Read one of his

sermons entitled Can Modern Man Believe in Immortality?

Rev. Glenn Owen Canfield (1946-1952)

Rev. Canfield was our seventh minister. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1907. He was educated at Texas Christian

University and then at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He became a Presbyterian minister in Woodstock

(IL), Tulsa (OK), and Hobbs (NM). He then sought a more free religion and became interested in social reform. He became a

Unitarian minister in Clinton and Berlin (MA) in 1945. He became the minister at May Memorial in 1946. In 1951 he

became Minister-at-Large in Atlanta, Georgia. He started a racially integrated United Liberal Church in Atlanta in 1954. He

was minister of the First Unitarian Church. Miami (FL) in 1956. He was Executive Secretary for UUA districts in New

England and the Southwest from 1959 to 1969. He died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1973. Read one of his sermons entitled

Man’s Deepest Needs.

Rev. Dr. Robert Lee Zoerheide (1952-1961)

Rev. Zoerheide, our eighth minister, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1914. He received an A.B. from Western

Michigan College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated from Meadville Theological School in 1943. He was ordained in

1943 by the First Unitarian Church of Chicago. He did graduate study at Harvard and later received the D.D. from Meadville

Lombard. He was minister of the Universalist church in Hoopestown (IL). Next he was minister for Unitarian students in

greater Boston and worked with the Unitarian Service Committee. He ran a hostel for Japanese-Americans in Boston in 1945.

He was minister of the Unitarian Church in Peterborough (NH) in 1946. He became minister of May Memorial in 1952 and

helped facilitate tremendous church growth. He was minister of Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda (MD) in 1961. He

was minister of First Parish in Lexington (MA) in 1971. He became minister of First Unitarian Church in Baltimore in 1978.

He retired in 1985 in Baltimore and died there in 2003. Read one of his sermons entitled New Dimensions of Unitarianism.

Another one is entitled Unitarianism – An Opportunity.

Rev. John Channing Fuller (1961-1973)

Rev. Fuller, our ninth minister, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1921. He was a New Englander, related to our

first minister, John Storer and also, as his middle name suggests, to William Ellery Channing, one of the founders of the

Unitarian movement. He graduated from Williams College in 1943. He served in the Navy during World War II. He

graduated from Meadville Theological School in 1949. He also did graduate studies at the University of Basel in

Switzerland and Cambridge University in England. He became minister of the Unitarian church in New London,

Connecticut, in 1951. He was minister of the Unitarian church in Orlando, Florida, in 1953. He became minister of May

Memorial in 1961. Finally, he became minister of the Unitarian Church, Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1973. He died in

Scituate in 1974. Another minister known for his eloquence, you can read one of his delightful sermons entitled

Why I Am a Unitarian. Here is another one that delved into some of his interest in our church history entitled,

The Good Doctors Calthrop, Applebee, and Argow. Finally, here is one entitled Slavery, Dr. May, & Jerry.

Rev. Dr. Nicholas C. Cardell, Jr. (1974-1995)

Rev. Cardell was our tenth minister. He was born in Smith's Falls, Ontario, Canada, in 1925. He moved to New York

City in 1928. He had Army service in World War II, including time spent in a German prison camp. He graduated from

Columbia College, New York City, in 1952, and from Meadville Theological School in 1957. He received a D.O. from

Meadville in 1987. He was ordained a minister at First Unitarian Society, Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1957. He then was

minister of First Unitarian Society, Albany, New York, in 1962. He moved to Syracuse and was minister of May

Memorial in 1974 until his retirement in 1995. An activist in so many ways, he demonstrated standing up for his

convictions when, with other May Memorial members, he protested the detested School of the Americas at Fort Benning,

Georgia. It trained South American military in techniques that repressed citizenry. He was subsequently arrested and

served a six-month jail sentence. He was Minister Emeritus until his death in 2002. Read one of his sermons entitled

The Most Original Sin. Read another sermon entitled, Judas by Proxy. Here is another sermon (undated) entitled,

From POW to POC and the church newsletter article that describes the history of this sermon. Click here to read the

opening words he used for most Sunday morning services.

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth May Strong (1988-2001)

See the section devoted to Rev. Strong shown just below the information on Rev. Taylor.

Rev. Scott E. Tayler (1997-2004)

Rev. Taylor is a Midwesterner whose father was a minister. He often describes himself as a spiritual non-theist who

believes in grace. Scott's ministry emphasizes the importance of spiritual development and is shaped significantly by

his Christian upbringing which stressed the power of kindness, humility, and service. He became the minister of May

Memorial (his first church) in 1997 and served in that role until 2004. While in Syracuse he helped organize our

efforts with the Southside Interfaith Housing Corporation and facilitated numerous Soul Matters adult education

groups. Scott also has a family therapy degree. He and his wife, Kaaren, also a UU minister, now have a co-ministry

at First Unitarian Church of Rochester (New York). They are parents to three children, Nils, Solveig, and Neva.

Read his candidating sermon, The God In-Between.

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth May Strong, Minister of Religious Education, Our First Settled Female Minister; 1988-2001,

Rev. Strong is a third generation active UU. She began teaching religious education at the Old Stone Universalist

church in Schuyler Lake, NY when she was in the eighth grade. She is now a mother and grandmother. She became

involved professional and was named Director of Religious Education for First Unitarian of Rochester, NY, in 1978.

She was ordained a Minister of Religious Education there in 1983. She became Minister of Religious Education at

MMUUS in 1988 and served us until 2001. While minister here she was heavily involved with Planned Parenthood.

In addition, she coordinated a strong adult education program for May Memorial. Along the way she earned a doctoral

degree. Now retired, for years she was a UUA Religious Education Program Coordinator for the Massachusetts Bay

District. Her son, Douglas Taylor is a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Bingham, NY. Read

one of her wonderful MMUUS sermons entitled MMUUS History and Legends.

Rev. Elizabeth Padgham – An MMUUS Favorite Daughter

One of our own became a well beloved and respected Unitarian minister. Elizabeth Padgham was born on June 10,

1874. Her father, Amos Padgham, was very active in May Memorial, serving for many years as clerk and treasurer.

Professionally he was a County Supervisor in Onondaga County.

Elizabeth grew up in the May Memorial church and noted that Rev. Calthrop was her role model. She graduated from

Meadville in 1901 and was ordained at May Memorial on September 17, 1901. Delivering the ordination sermon

was Rev. Marie Jenney, who also grew up in the May Memorial church and who was a childhood friend of Elizabeth.

Rev. Padgham’s first church was in Perry, Iowa, in that same year. While there she overcame a life threatening

problem involving a cherry seed and her appendix. She moved to the Unitarian Church in Rutherford, New Jersey, in

1905. After her retirement in 1927 she moved back to Syracuse and once again became active at May Memorial.

Besides occasional sermons, she was a lay delegate 1928-1930 and became a trustee in 1933. She retired from the

Board of Trustees in 1946.

She died on December 4, 1952. In her will she bequeathed much of the furniture now residing in the memorial room

from her own home and also left significant funds to May Memorial.

Read her very interesting sermon delivered at May Memorial in December, 1929, entitled When Half-Gods Go.

May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society - Our Church Buildings - 1838-2006

“From East Genesee St. to East Genesee St.”

May Memorial’s first church building was on East Genesee Street in Syracuse, NY. After a couple of moves to

new buildings, the last move to our fifth and current building was back to a new location and new building on

East Genesee Street. Click here to find out more information or here to see information about the process of

building our current church. Here is a brief tribute to the May Memorial church buildings. Here is a beautiful engraving

of the Church of the Messiah from the 1853 Syracuse city director. On August 12, 2007, the History

Committee under the leadership of Rog Hiemstra and Harsey Leonard conducted the Sunday Service that focused

on the history of our church buildings. Here is a photo of the cornerstone for our James Street church. Click here

for the order of service and click here for the supplemental information sheet distributed that day. May Memorial’s

interesting place in the history of Syracuse. Finally, here is the story of a journey taken by our most famous James Street

church stained glass window.

Miscellaneous Information

Currently MMUUS has considerable information at the Syracuse University Library’s Arents archive and at the church,

itself. There is much research potential for scholars interested in church history. In addition, here an historical sketch of

the May Memorial church from 1838-1938, entitled A Backward Glance O’er Traveled Roads. There is a booklet on the

dedication, October 20, 1885, of the May Memorial Church on James Street. If you are interested in a delightful church

yearbook from 1897-1898, including an address by Susan B. Anthony, email Roger Hiemstra for it to be sent. Here is a

portrayal of our church history through 1988 in a web enhanced version of the book, May No One Be A Stranger. Check

here to find a list of the MMUUS annual award winners. The church has an annual meeting in which the awards are given

and officers elected. Here is a link to several past annual reports.

Check here for a list of past Associate Ministers, Interim Ministers, Religious Education Leaders, and Music Directors.

Here is a list of the tremendous men and women who have served as church president as representatives of all the

wonderful people who provide leadership in some way to May Memorial. To examine the archives of past Marvelous

History Corner newsletter articles, click here. Here is a peak at the repaired Sam May Marble tablet. Before Doris Sage

went to jail as a prisoner of conscience because of her protest pertaining to the School of the Americas, she created a

related book for her grandchildren. It is a touching portrayal of From Truth to Justice. Poignant and heart wrenching

are the testimonies of Doris and 24 others who went to jail. It is well worth reading and to feel pride in their bravery

and sacrifice. Email Roger Hiemstra if you would like that material sent. Many members of May Memorial were

involved in the Inter-racial Group of Syracuse some 60 years ago. Here is a 1947 document that includes some of their

contributions: Highlights of Negro History in Syracuse, NY. Finally, here is a marvelous book published by

Dorothy Keens Ashley, mother of David and Joann Ashley, many years ago. It describes her career as a portrait artist

and contains many of the portraits she painted over the years.

___________________

Created by Roger Hiemstra, Chair MMUUS’ History Committee.

Updated August 1, 2010