USA > Connecticut > Diocese of Connecticut : formative period, 1784-1791 > Part 2
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Mr. Andrews published several sermons which in style and matter are superior to many of those printed by his contemporaries.
Wallingford May 17th. 1785.
My dear Sir,
I have received your very friendly and obliging Letter of the 27th. of last March by Mr. Killbey-I am very glad to hear of your Health, and that you are settling at Cape Breton, as it is near to Milford Haven on Chielabueto, where the Company I represented last Summer are going to reside- Should they meet with Disappointments with Regard to that Place, your Patronage would probably lead them to Cape Breton, could they obtain a Settlement there.
With regard to myself, I think it probable that I must soon seek other Quarters, as well thro' a want of Support, as a Wish to enjoy Brittish Government-should this Event take place, Nothing could be more agreeable to me than what you Suggest in a frollie indeed, concerning a Clergyman in your Settlement, as it would restore me to the Company, and place me under the Protection of an old Friend and Classmate- Should you desire it, you will doubtless be able soon to pro- cure the Clerical Appointment you mention, and you will Essentially Oblige me, if you will Correspond with me upon the Subject, and inform me what Encouragements are to be
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Expected by a Clergyman both from England and the Settle- ment itself-is the Country where you Settle all together in its Natural State, or is any part of it Cultivated ? will it pro- duce any Grane or Grass ? in a Word it is a Land which will eat up its inhabitants, or must they eat that for want of other aliment ? Excuse these Freedoms, and
believe me to be dear and Respected Sir your antient and Sincere Friend and very Humble
Servant. Sam1. Andrews.
Col1. John Peters.
WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON.
William Samuel, the eldest son of the Rev. Samuel and Charity (Floyd) Johnson, was born at Stratford, Connecticut, October 7, 1727. His father was the well-known Rector of Christ Church, Stratford, justly called "the father of Episcopacy in Connecticut," missionary, theologian, educator. He trained the boy very carefully both morally and mentally and at the age of thirteen sent him to Yale College, where he attained a high rank and gradu- ated in 1744 as a Dean Berkeley scholar. Upon leaving College his father directed his further studies. He served for some years as lay reader in St. Paul's Church, Ripton, now Huntington. Determining that his vocation was not the ministry Mr. Johnson turned his attention to the law. He soon became one of the most skilful lawyers in the colony and his reputation went beyond its borders. He served in the General Assembly in 1761 and 1765 and was a member of the Stamp Act Congress which met in New York in 1765. He was made in 1766 a member of the Upper House, known also as the Governor's Council. In October, 1766, he was chosen by the General Assembly as the special agent of the colony at the British Court in the famous Mohegan Case, which involved the legality of its title to the land held by the remaining members of the Mohegan tribe of Indians. The matter had been in controversy for seventy years and involved some very abstruse and knotty legal problems. Dr. Johnson, during his agency, wrote many letters to the Governor of Connecticut, which are models of good English and lucid statements of the difficulties encountered by him as well as vivid pictures of the political state of England. The final hearing was on June 11, 1771, and the decision was given in favor of the colony. Dr. Johnson returned home in the fall of that year and resumed his seat in the Council. In 1772 he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Colony but served only a few months. He was appointed a delegate to the Congress of 1774 but declined on account of professional engagements.
He lived in retirement at Stratford during the Revolution and was unmolested, although opposed to a war with England. At the return of
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peace he resumed the practice of law. He was a member of the Con- tinental Congress from 1784 to 1787. He was placed at the head of the delegation to the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in October, 1787. In that brilliant assemblage of statesmen and men of affairs, Dr. Johnson was considered as the ablest lawyer and was always accorded a respectful hearing. In several disputed matters his voice was potent. It is largely to his exposition of the Connecticut system that the plan of equal representation of the states in the Senate is due.
The reorganization of King's College, New York City, of which his father was the honored first President, took final shape under the name of Colum- bia College in the spring of 1787 and Dr. Johnson was in May of that year elected as President. Under his wise administration a university plan was adopted and carried out as far as circumstances would allow. Dr. Johnson was again a member of the Connecticut Assembly from 1787 to 1789 when he was elected the first Senator from Connecticut to the Congress of the United States, his colleague being Oliver Ellsworth, afterwards Chief Justice of the United States.
He resigned the presidency of Columbia College in July, 1800, as his health was seriously impaired. He then went to Stratford where he received with cordial and gracious hospitality in his spacious mansion his friends and all who sought him out. He was consulted by many and his advice was both sensible and sound.
He died November 14, 1819, in his ninety-third year.
Dr. Johnson married November 5, 1749, Anne, a daughter of William Beach of Stratford. She died at New York, April 24, 1796, in her sixty- seventh year. He married December 11, 1800, Mrs. Mary Beach of Kent, Connecticut. She died in April, 1827.
New York Sept. 22ยช. 1788
Revd. & D'. ST.
At length your Son, after many delays is embark'd with Capt. Woolsey & is to sail tomorrow. I most heartily commend ing
him to the divine Protection, wish him a safe & agreeable Passage, & that you & he may soon have a happy meeting together. The Capt". did not wish me to pay for his Passage, as I should readily have done, but will receive it of you at his arrival in London. He goes off cheerfully, but while he has resided with me here at the College he seems to have contracted some affection for the place, & to wish that it may be agreeable to you that he may return again ere long & receive part of his Education, at least, in this Country. He has asked me very many questions upon the subject, I have constantly referred him to you, assuring him that he may rely upon it that you
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will certainly do what is best for him. But when he repeatedly pressed me for my Opinion, I could not avoid telling him, as I really think, that if he is to spend his Days here, that it is best he sho'd be chiefly Educated here, & this he earnestly desires me to mention to you, which I accordingly do merely in compliance with his wishes, knowing very well at the same time, that you need none of my suggestions upon the subject.
Eleven States, having adopted the proposed Constitution, our Congress have now published their Ordinance directing the necessary steps towards the Organization of the new Govern- ment, & that it commence its Operations in this City on the first Wednesday of March next-Very many are extremely sanguine in their Expectations that we shall derive great Blessings from it, while many, on the other hand, are aiming at, & expecting soon to obtain great alterations & emendations of the plan- ' Both sides will as usual, probably be in some measure, disap- pointed, & how it will finally operate is known only to the allwise disposer of all Events.
As MIS. Kneeland is not now with me, I cannot at present pursue the directions you have favour'd me with, to write to the Abp on her affair. It must therefore be deferr'd to another Opportunity, but indeed, so inattentive are they grown to the calls of Justice, that it seems to little purpose to make any application to them. I am with the sincerest wishes for your welfare
Revd. & Dear ST. Your most obedient humble Servant Wm. Sam1. Johnson.
Revd. M. Peters.
Revd. M. Samuel Peters Pimlico Westminster. Johnson Dr. Wm. S- Sept. 22-1788 recd. Nov-16- Ansd. Nov 17-
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New York May 5th 1791.
Revd. & Dear ST.,
The Trustees of Columbia College are delicate with respect to granting the higher Degrees, & conceive that many Colleges both in Europe & America, have injured their own Reputation, and done disservice to Literature, by the facility with which they have conferr'd them. They declined granting the Degree of M.D. to Dr. Stearns,
11y. Because I could give no Information with respect to the Medical Doct" who signed the Certificate transmitted to me, & you not being of that Profession, your signature alone, they considered, would not be a ground upon which they could determine that he had Medical Knowledge sufficient to entitle him to that Degree.
21y. Two of the Gentlemen had seen a Publication (which I had not heard of, nor have yet seen) by the D'. of a Tour to France, of which they had conceived a very indifferent Opinion. 3ly. One of the Corporation, himself a Phyfisian of Character, declared that he had known Dr. Stearns where he resided during the late War on Long Island, & that neither his Knowl- edge in that Science, nor his conduct at that time, did in his Judgment by any means qualify him for that Degree. It is highly probable that these Objections might have been obviated, but I had no Information or means, not being aware of them, by which I could do it effectually.
The Georgian & Jacobite Bishops will I trust amicably coalesce, & occasion no Discussion or Controversey in this Country.
I am happy to hear of your Son's health, & that he is to pursue his Studies at Oxford or Cambridge. I pray God he may become an accomplished Scholar, & a good Man, & am with affectionate Compliments to him.
Revd. & D'. St. Your most obedient & most humble Servant Wm. Sam1. Johnson.
Revd. Dr. Peters.
The Revd. Dr. Samuel Peters, Grosvenor Place
London-
Johnson Dr. May 5th 1791 red. June 28-
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WILLIAM ABERNETHY DRUMMOND.
William Abernethy was born in 1719 or 1720 at Saltoun, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, where the family had long been established. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and after practicing for some years took a theological course, was ordained, and took charge of a Chapel of the Episcopal Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. He was consecrated Bishop of Brechin at Petershead on September 26, 1787. He was soon after elected Bishop of Edinburgh. His Episcopate was remarkable for its energy and the part he took after the death of Charles Edward Stuart in causing the removal of the disabilities of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. He resigned his see of Edinburgh in 1805 in favor of Dr. David Sanford.
He died at his seat, Hawthornden, August 27, 1809, in the ninetieth year of his age.
Upon his marriage with Mary Barbara, the widow of Robert MacGregor, and heiress of William Drummond of Hawthornden, he took the name of Drummond.
Revd. Sir
Your obliging letter of the 5th came safe to hand, & I take this opportunity of returning my hearty thanks for your kind communication anent our friend Bishop Seabury. The consecration of Madison & the other two Bishops refusing to unite with him in the promotion of Mr. Bass, behoved to make him uneasy; but I trust in God, that these gentlemen will soon open their eyes, & see it to be their Duty to promote the peace of their Jerusalem, by a happy agreement with their worthy Brother. Indeed, I think the ArchbP. of Cny's answer cannot fail to have that effect: or if not, they must be blind beyond the possibility of seeing, & much will they have to answer for at the Great Day of Accounts-The Chancellor, thro the good Bishop of St. David's means, has at last agreed that a bill be brought into Parliament for the relief of the Scotch Episcopal Clergy, & I expect to hear immediately after the Easter recess, that the Lord Advocate has apply'd for leave to bring One in accordingly. I give you joy of Mr. Jarvis's success, and heartily wish you & all your friends health & with the blessing of the approaching high Festival :
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happiness commending you & them to the Grace & protection of God's Holy Spirit, I am
R. Sir
your affect. Brother Wm. Abernethy Drummond.
Ednr. 20th April 1791. The Revd.
Samuel Peters Grosvenor Place near London. April 20th 1791 recd. 23d-
Thurs.
JOHN TYLER.
John, a son of John and Mary (Doolittle) Tyler, was born in Walling- ford, August 15, 1742. The family had been prominent in the town, as Roger Tyler, its ancestor, had been one of the original proprietors in 1638.
As a young man Mr. Tyler conformed to the Church of England. He graduated from Yale College in 1765, having the high honour of delivering the valedictory oration. He pursued a post-graduate course at King's College, New York City, now Columbia University. This procedure was then almost unknown. Its president was the witty and brilliant Myles Cooper. The young scholar then studied theology under the Rev. Dr. Johnson at Stratford and became lay-reader in Christ Church. Some of the congregation were in favor of making him assistant to the Rector, the majority, however, thought him unfitted for such a prominent position. He was recommended by Dr. Johnson to the churchmen in his native town, Guilford, as a suitable successor to Bela Hubbard, the minister who had been reader in Christ Church for some years previous to his ordination in 1764. Mr. Tyler was acceptable and permission was sought for him "to go home for orders." He sailed May 10, 1768, bearing with him a petition for the erection of Guilford into a mission by the Venerable Society. He was made deacon June 24, and ordained priest June 29, 1768, by Dr. Richard Terrick, Bishop of London. The request of Guilford was refused, as the Society had determined to erect no new missions in New England.
Mr. Tyler was appointed to Norwich, from which John Beardsley had removed to Poughkeepsie, New York. Mr. Tyler commenced his work at Norwich, November 1, 1768. Without the brilliance of some of his con- temporaries, there was a sweet earnestness and inflexible purpose in all he said or did. He had a most musical voice and in his intercourse with his parishioners and others was mild and benevolent. His knowledge of medi- cine was freely given to the poor and gained him many warm friends. During the Revolution although threatened by the Committee of Safety and others he was practically unharmed. Traditionally his well was poisoned or
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attempted to be. The Church was closed from 1776 to 1778 but the Rector of Norwich continued his pastoral work and held some informal services in houses of parishioners.
He fell into disfavor with some of his brethren because of the report that when John Murray, the advocate of universal salvation, visited Nor- wich in 1778 he declared his acquiescence in his views. Such startling reports of his views and their advocacy by him in sermon and conversation reached the clergy in other parts of the Diocese, that he was in August, 1786, formally cited by Bishop Seabury to appear before the Convocation of the Clergy "at the house of the Reverend Mr. Richard Mansfield, on the twentieth day of September next, to see whether mutual explanations may not remove that offense which your proceedings at Wallingford and Norwich have, we conceive justly given to them and myself." He could not attend at Derby but was summoned to meet the Bishop with Dr. Abraham Jarvis and Dr. Bela Hubbard at New London in October. He appears to have satisfied them that he had not transgressed the authorized liberty of opinion on a matter upon which there was no formal declaration.
His friendly relations with the Bishop and other clergy continued. The sudden death of the first great Bishop of Connecticut on February 26, 1796, brought to Mr. Tyler the sad duty of officiating at his funeral on Sunday, February 28, and burial in the public cemetery at New London.
Mr. Tyler continued his quiet, effective work until past his three-score and ten years. His young friend and assistant, the Rev. Seth Birdseye Paddock, the father of two Bishops, in his declining years took all care and anxiety from the old Rector. Mr. Tyler died January 20, 1823, in the eighty-first year of his age and the fifty-fourth of his ministry. He was the last survivor of the Connecticut clergy ordained in England.
Mr. Tyler married May 6, 1770, Hannah, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza- beth (Bushnell) Tracy of Norwich. She died at Norwich, January 19, 1826, in the seventy-fifth year of her age. A grandson, the Rev. Dr. Alfred Lee Brewer, established on the Pacific coast the well-known St. Matthew's School, first located at San Mateo, California, near San Francisco, now at Burlingame.
Mr. Tyler published several sermons, notably that at the opening of Trinity Church, Pomfret, in 1770, and one adapted from Bishop Secker on Peace. Six sermons on The Law and the Gospel, attributed to him by undoubted evidence, were published in 1798 and 1815, anonymously. They advocated universal salvation.
Norwich in Connecticut Jany. 9: 1784.
Revd. Sir,
I received your kind Letter of August 4, 1783, by M". Chandler Wattles; who expected to return to Europe in about six Weeks, and was to call on me for a Letter: but contrary to Expectation, he called I think, the very next Week, in Haste,
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and went unluckily I had no Letter written-I should have wrote long before, had I known where to direct: but now perhaps I may write again.
I have taken the whole Care that has been taken of Hebron Church ever since you left it: though I must confess that I durst not go there for some Time after you went away; so bitter was the Spirit of some People: but since, I have been three or four Sundays there every year .- Your Estate is not confiscated, as by your Letter I see you had supposed: and your Friends in Hebron since the News of Peace expected your Return ; and are not a little disappointed .- Strange Alterations have indeed taken Place since you left this Country We are in general become a poor People-the Episcopalians are most impoverished: but all groan under the Burden of heavy Taxes .- And I need not tell you that the Missionaries have suffer'd much most every Way, in Name, Person, and Estate. I have been obliged to sell Bills as low as twenty per cent under par, when I actually purchased Wheat at three Spanish Dollars per Bushel: and even now, the Necessaries of Life are on an Average, one quarter dearer than they were when you left the Country ; though Money perhaps was never scarcer than at present-New York was very full of money when the News of Peace came: but the Narrowness of our Policy drove from thence about thirty Thousand Refugees, and with them most of the Money; and the Remainder is gone to Europe for Goods. By this you may have some Idea of the Present State of the Country.
As to the Episcopal Church in America, it has Reason to expect an Establishment; nor can it be Prudence for her to subject herself to a Presbyterian Head: this, I am determined to oppose with all my Might, if any Proposal of this Nature should appear. No: the episcopal Church in America, like primitive Christianity, must be a Kingdom of its own-a religious Polity distinct from the civil. And if she can enjoy equal Toleration or Liberty with other religious Denominations in general, must think herself upon the best Footing she can expect. T'would be absurd to the last Degree, for the episcopal
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Church to look up to the sons of Jack Presbyter in the civil Chair, as to Nursing Fathers. There is good Reason to hope that the episcopal Church here will be tolerated, considering her Numbers on this Continent; and that civil Policy has so engrossed the Attention of America in general, for eight or nine Years past, that Religion has very little thought of; and the dissenting Clergy, by preaching little else but Politics, have lost their religious Influence past Recovery: and the leading People are now, I believe, much more bigotted to Money, than to any religious Denomination. But what fickle Mortals are a People, when once their Polity is unsettled !- First in Pre- tence, horribly afraid of Popery-then full of Candour towards it-at last rather indifferent to all Profession .- You can hardly imagine how the People here are altered.
It is the prevailing Opinion here, that the Missionaries now in their Missions, will have their Salaries continued to them during their Lives; though we doubt much of having the vacant Missions continued. But if the Salaries of the present Missionaries should be discontinued, after sacrificing every temporal Interest to their Fidelity, and being unfortunate in the Issue, their Fate would be hard indeed. All the episcopal Clergymen in Connecticut, have been uniform and persevering in their Fidelity, and have thereby kept a good Conscience, if no more; but the Consideration of having one's Virtues immortalized in historic Page, while he lives in Want of the very Necessaries of Life, and must die in Poverty, is but a poor Consolation. I much Question whether Hannibal, who after the Destruction of Carthage, was hunted from Nation to Nation, struggling with the Hardships of Poverty and Con- tempt, was much comforted by the Prospect of having his military Skill recorded in History. I know it is not uncom- mon for the World to neglect and despise the Unfortunate while alive, howsoever virtuous they are; and then to speak mighty well of them when they are dead and gone, and can receive no Benefit from it. So the Jews killed the Prophets, and their Sons built their Sepulchres, and decorated them with many ornaments.
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The false Papers, you say, we signed versus you, I believe you must be under a Mistake concerning them, if my Memory serves me. I never saw them but once, and that was about five months after they were signed. Either you must have been imposed on by a Forgery, or have drawn very remote Con- sequences. After you left the Country our Clergy were con- tinually threatened, and endured many Violences; and at a Session of the Assembly of Connecticut at New Haven, several of the Members told Parson Hubbard, that the general Opinion was, that our Clergy were in a Combination or Conspiracy with Mr. Peters, to rob the Country of their Liberties; which Combination Hubbard denied. Those Members then advised Hubbard to call in some of the neighboring Clergy, to sign a Denial of any such Conspiracy; and then the Members of the Assembly would use their Influence to pacify the People to desist from Violences towards the Clergy. Accordingly Hubbard called in several of the Clergy; who, in the Presence of many Members of the Assembly, at Hubbard's House, signed Papers the whole Substance of which was, that we, the episcopal Clergy of Connecticut, are in no Conspiracy with the Revd. MT: Peters against the Liberties of the Country. This was, to the best of my Remembrances, all that those Papers said concerning you, and as near as I can remember, in those very Words. I was not present; nor did I hear so much as a Word of it for near Six Months .- I saw your Letter to Doctor Inglis respecting this Matter, and from that strongly suspected that a very fallacious or forged Account of this Matter has been made use of against you. But if those Papers really did contain any thing more than I have said, it is my Mistake.
As to the Petition that Doctor Seabury may be made our Bishop; at the News of Peace, the Clergy suddenly met together, without notifying either Fogg or me, and did as you have heard; and no Doubt as they thought for the best; and I believe, without the least Idea of the Clergy of New York, or any other Place, having any party or personal Views to the Prejudice of the Connecticut Clergy; for you know, those who mean no evil, are apt to suspect none.
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As to our Convention signing Petitions by our Secretary, I have several times objected against it, because we are not a Body corporate in Law: but it has been answered that this is common to voluntary Associations; and that thus we have often done, when we have wrote to the Society, without any Appearance of their Disapprobation, and that the Society under- stand us: and I have replied, that there may be Occasion for showing our Petitions to Persons not acquainted with our Cus- ton of Subscribing, who may ask, how came these Clergymen to be a Corporation and the Explanation cannot be much to our Advantage, vis. that as Children ape the Adult, so we ape Bodies corporate .- I was not present when the Clergy petitioned for Jarvis, &c. to be made Missionaries .- I am not willing to petition our sovereign States to permit the Residence of Bishops here; because I think we have the same Right to Bishops as to Presbyters; and to ask Permission to enjoy our religious Liberties or Privileges, before we are forbid, looks too much like an Acknowledgment of our Subjection as a Church, to the Control of those civil Rulers who profess a different Religion : and if we seem to acknowledge, that presbyterian civil Rulers have a Right to say, whether the episcopalians shall have Bis- hops or not; can it be supposed that those Rulers will think that we need Bishops ? But if we procure Bishops, the civil Rulers here, cannot refuse their Residence, without a manifest Violation of religious Liberty; which would injure their Reputation in the Eyes of all Europe; and would divest them of all Pretence of patronizing religious Liberty, which is a Character they much affect, since the Alliance with France. So that the best way for the Episcopalians to preserve their religious Privileges, is, I think, to use them freely, without appearing to fear any Control .- But after all, I am of Opinion, that we shall not obtain a Bishop in Connecticut at present; but that there will be a Bishop sent out to Nova-scotia first.
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