Born: 1841 in Troy, NY
Died: 1909
Married: yes
Children: a son and a daughter, Mildred Roland
Reverend Richard G. McCarthy was the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church, serving from 1890-1893. He lived in the manse at 24 Front street. In 1896 & 1897 he was pastor of the Lake Clear Church when he retired because of his age. He died in 1909 in Brooklyn.
Rev. McCarthy's extensive career in building churches is outlined in Sally E. Svenson's book, Adirondack Churches: A History of Design and Building. "Between 1889 and 1904, he set in motion the successive formation of 17 congregations and the building of churches for them at Saranac Lake, Brandon, Chapel Island in Upper Saranac Lake, Childwold, Indian Carry, Lake Clear Junction, Waverly, Benson Mines, Cranberry Lake, Star Lake, DeGrasse, Clare, Hannawa Falls, Newton Falls, Stark, Wick and Wanakena. . . . Seven of the Presbyterian congregations initiated by McCarthy still exist, as do eight of his edifices." (page 16)
In her article titled "Missions Accomplished: Richard McCarthy's Church-Building Spree" in Adirondack Life, August 2004, Sally E. Svenson writes that Margaret Vanderbilt Shepard, Colonel Elliott F. Shepard's wife "outfitted a large new parsonage, from carpet to curtains. According to [Mildred] Roland, the deed to the place was made out in her mother's name and was meant to be a personal gift. It was a gift the reverend would not accept, and the ownership of the parsonage was eventually transferred to the church. Mrs. Shepard, somewhat miffed at this misappropriation, presented Mrs. McCarthy with a private gift of six hundred dollars. This money paid for a plot of land in Saranac Lake and built the McCarthy family home, where Mrs. McCarthy lived until her death in 1928." Presumably, the parsonage mentioned was the manse at 24 Front Street. According to a Saranac Lake telephone directories of 1917, 1921 and 1922 in the Adirondack Research Room, Mrs. R. G. [sic] McCarthy lived at 8 McCarthy Terrace in those years. The lot was purchased in 1899, and the street was apparently named for the family by Fred Isham, who developed residential lots on Helen Hill (this from Carol Poole's book on Adirondack names).
Plattsburgh Sentinel, March 12, 1909
Rev. Richard G. McCarthy, who died at his home in Brooklyn Feb. 24, was a Presbyterian minister, and was employed for a number of years by the St. Lawrence Presbytery as a missionary in Adirondack sections of St. Lawrence county. At that time he made Canton his [home]. He raised a considerable amount of funds annually by solicitation from wealthy members of the church in the cities and was enabled to found many small churches in the Adirondack wilderness.
