Honoring a Forgotten American Hero

On Saturday on June 14. 2014 several dozen people gathered at a place  in the Village of Ossining, known as "Duers Circle" to pay homage to an unsung hometown  hero whose deeds in war and peace have almost vanished  from the community's collective memory. However at this gathering  the amazing history of the Reverend Henry E. Duers was told by one of his descendants,  The Reverend,  Doctor. Myrtle O  Smith and Public Historian, Miguel Hernandez.  They told how young Henry Duers escaped from enslavement at a plantation in the Town of Windsor in Bertie County, NC  in February of 1865 and at great risk to his life, passed through Confederate lines to enlist in the Union Army.   Following  the war he settled in Richmond VA and studied for the ministry at the “Richmond Seminary For the Education of Teachers and Preachers among the Colored Freedmen of the South.” Ironically, 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 participated in the 100th year celebration of the First Baptist Church of Sing Sing, 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 his 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 and in 1997 a new Star of Bethlehem Missionary Church was built at 304 Spring Street on the grounds of the old Ossining Hospital.

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. At that time, he was the last  Westchester veteran who served in the Civil War. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers.

This tribute to a forgotten American hero who broke his chains of slavery, served in the Union Army and founded the Star of Bethlehem Church in Ossining could not have happened without the active support of the Ossining Lions Club and the Ossining Parks and Recreation Department. They also  helped turn a long-neglected "vest-pocket park" into an asset for the community. In addition to the commemorative plaque, that was placed on a block of historic Sing Sing Marble, there is a flagpole with a solar light to illuminate the replica 34 star Civil War era flag at night and soon, flowers will be planted as well.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to help defray the cost of the plaque and other related expenses should make a check out to the Ossining Lions Charity Fund, PO Box 708. Ossining NY 10562 and write "Duers" in the memo space.