It is believed by those who have prepared this book for the benefit of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Bingharoton, New York, that all who are interested in the parish will be glad to preserve a history of the beginning and progress of the work up to the present time. A brief account ha«, there-fore, been compiled principally from documents kindly loaned for that purpose by the earnest woman whose heart the Holy Spirit warmed with an earnest desire to benefit a part of the city which at that time had no place of worship of any kind. The original plan of Mrs. Helen S. Wright was to erect with her own money a Church whichshould be forever free to all who would come to join in its services. This purpose she delayed, acting upon the advice of the Rev. Wm. A. Hitchcock, then rector of Christ Church, who believed that if a house for charitable work was first provided, a more general interest would be aroused.

The work was therefore inaugurated and afterwards incorporated under the combined title of the "Chapel and House of the Good Shepherd," in the presence of the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Frederic Dan. Huntington, and the incorporating clergyman, whom Mrs. Wright chose as trustees, and other friends of Mrs. Wright who had become interested in the success of the undertaking. This meeting took place in Christ Church Rectory on January 25th, 1869.

The trustees selected by Mrs. Wright were Bishop F. D. Huntington; Rev. Wm. A. Hitchcock, Rector of Christ Church, Binghamton, N. Y.; Rev. Walter Ayrault, D. D., of Oxford; Rev. Amos B. Beach, of Oswego; Mr. Frederic Lewis and Mr. Wm. R. Osborn.