USA > Connecticut > Diocese of Connecticut : formative period, 1784-1791 > Part 4
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I wrote you sometime since and amongst other things men- tioned a matter of business I wished you to transact for my little Church, viz. the procuring for it an Organ.
In an application of this sort I would much sooner consult my friend y" a mere Stranger, partly impelled by necessity to procure an organ we wish it may be a well toned and well made one with such a number of stops as will make it proper for excellent Church musick from the common Psalm tune to the Anthem-Voluntary &c. & we wish you to get an honest unprejudiced organist in London or Westminster to play on this organ and determin whether it will answer our purpose or not before it is sent over.
You know the Church building is but small the inside 40 by 60 feet, the Arch &c but what the maker need to know
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about this will appear by the little plan of the space of the Church that is to contain it-which is enclosed-150 guineas will be paid for the first cost to the maker of the organ & the case, my meaning is that the organ case & shipping expenses. without the freight should cost 150 guineas, and the case we wish a neat Oak case, neatly varnished, but would have no extravagant work put on it and my good friend MT. Isaac Beers who forwards this business from N York sends you £100 pounds sterling & the remainder will be compleated in smaller sums in six months, at furtherst-a very able gentleman has prom- ised us that as soon as advice is received of its being shipped he will advance us as far as £50 sterling immediately so that we are sure of the money at all events without the aid of the Churches property or rents which also hatlı secured us the ballance .-
Further, we should wish to have a full direction in writing describing the members & parts of the organ, & how they are to be put together as such an instrument is new to us, also a book containing such instrumental music as is necessary for Churches, & the whole if got ready soon enough to be shipped & sent out by one of the autumn ships to N York that we may hear the sound by Christmass .- and now when our Church in these goings down of the sun shall rise in importance & flourish our free City & port may be the seat of an Archbishop should it be his grace Samuel not Hugh-pray remember your friend the underwriter & let him be an Archdeacon and let this self same organ do your Grace's choice do your Grace much honor- and further if you should happen to stumble on some poor but yet honest English lad that would come out & bring with him a small venture in Books of Psalms, & that could play skilfully the organ & hath an English School & Musick altho I dare not promise or engage any thing yet I think he might procure a decent support here, think of this my friend and be not backward in this whole business & you may depend upon it that myself and all your musical friends will love & thank you.
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Pray let me know what is said & all that is said about an American bishop in these times of unhappiness on your side of the water in my next letter which I intend to write you from N Milford where a meeting of your brethren in Trinity week will be held I shall give you a picture of our present State & condition both in Church & State till then I must take my leave and beg you to believe me, with Mr. Hub- bards best love & to Miss Hannah yours faithfully & most affectionately
Bela Hubbard.
N.B. Since the writing the above our good friend & Brother MT. Leaming came to my house from Stratford (where he is building up the ruins of that Church) and brought in with him your little Son who is in perfect health & looks as you did when you was 16 years old-MT. Birdseye wishes you & daughter to send over to him or any other person a power of attorney to take possession of your & her interest which is not confiscated & is safely yours, but is at present let out by the high Sheriff of Hartford.
. Yours as before
B. H.
Revd S. Peters.
COPY.
No. Exch. £100 " -" - Sterling, New-York, June 10th, 1784 Forty Days after Sight of this draft per Exchange, (second and third unpaid)
pay MT. Isaac Beers or Order,
One Hundred Pounds
Sterling Value received, and charge the same to Account, with or without advice from
To
John Rivington Esq. James Rivington & Sons
London.
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New Haven November 25th. 1784.
Reverend & dear brother,
I am sincerely obliged to you for your letter of the 21st. of July handed to me by M'. Townsend & for your polite & kind attention to him he speaks of it with gratitude-your ideas of Dr. Ezra Stiles & his piece which his Son called pop-robin perfectly agree with those generally entertained on this side the water.
The reception his piece met with from the public is a sufficient mortification to the poor man.
I acknowledge with the same gratitude likewise yours of July 14th. via N York enclosed in which was a letter for your friend Dr. Sutton which I forwarded to brother Abraham and doubt not but he hath carefully forwarded it to the Doctor, by the way brother Abraham hath been the Father of one child · by Sister Nancy but deceased from after its birth whither this took place before, or since your departure from America I forget, the good old man remains rector of Christ Chh in the City of Middletown & hath the satisfaction of seeing his con- gregation grow in numbers & importance-tis pleasurable fur- ther to tell you that I have been highly delighted with yours of August & the pamphlets and 30 odd pages in manuscript .- you have bought an Organ for £157. Ster: & endorsed the £100 bill to M'. Henry Holland, we hoped to have had it at Christmass but by Mr. Austin's arrival without it which was at N York on the 14th. of the present month & who left London about the 24th. of September we think whether it will not be too late to send it out this winter, he saith about ten days previous to his sailing he called at your house to see you but did not find you at home, I had been flattered with an expectation of receiving by him a fresh packet from you-your letter by ye way of Rhodeisland to MT. Isaac Beers hath not as yet come to hand-I think we mentioned a wish to you to get the Organ ensured out you will be kind enough to do it when you send it. you mentioned in your last to me that there remained due to the late MT.
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Kneeland from the Society £25. Ster. enclosed I send a bill of exchange endorsed to you with Letters f" Dr. Johnson & Leaming if the bills are honoured by the Society as I trust they will be, wish you to be so good as to pay the contents to M'. Henry Holland for the organ, & what further will remain due to him, we shall endeavor in the course of the Winter to col- lect & transmit to you, mean while I hope M". Holland will be under no uneasiness for the rest due as he may depend on it shortly, although Church work as old St. Roger said, is slow-work-your humane and polite attention we do not forget but you will hear further on these matters.
I was much surprised to hear that the late Mr. Kneelands character as a Loyalist had suffered with the Society, wish I could know from what quarters the accusation came, to his death you may depend on it he remained a loyal & firm friend to his Majesty & government, no suspicion to ye contrary was ever hinted here.
Brother Bostwick was here in September last he never hinted ye least suspicion of his entertaining a thought of your unfriendliness to him-I doubt on your side the water you have too many stirrers up of difficulty-and with regard to the information you had of the conduct of your brethren here in the late distracted times it was unjust & cruel-when your letters were Seized they were brought to N Haven by Hosmer now no more, who called on me & pretended friendship, I sent for several of the brethren & they were met at my house by more than 60 I believe of ye lower house of Assembly who were clamourous to get us publicly to condemn your conduct & to say that we did not think ys was a necessity for your going away, we persisted in it to ye last yt you could not get pro- tection from Gov. Trumbul after an application to him for it, and that therefore we did think you justified before God & man in going away & that we shod have done the like in the like situation, and all that we did in effect say ultimately was that we did not at that time know of it, a short piece of this tenor & importing in short our political creed was inserted in the newspapers wch I have taken pains to get & send you- Mr. Isaac Beers told me sometime since that he had seen it
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among his papers & would hand it to me, but upon a further search he was not able to find it, but I hope yet to procure it & I will send it you & our conduct will then appear to you in a very different point of light from the representation of it on your side of water possibly by some members of the then Gen1. Assembly, t'was but lately we had any hints of foul play in this matter, but if you have any remaining uneasiness, I can assure you with great sincerity that at that time, & at all times your character stood high & altogether unempeached by any of your Brethren of the clergy or laity on our side of ye question & still doth, but enough of this for ye present.
MT. Leaming has placed himself at Stratford & doubtless gives you information of the condition of your son .-
I send you likewise the doings of a convention & premising that the Connecticut Clergy are no friends to the lay represen- tation, & if we are ever so happy as to have a bishop at our head we shall be able I trust to preserve our Church in Con- necticut decent-D'. Smith always busy hath published a Sermon & written some remarks on the proceedings of the clergy & laity of Maryland for the establishment of a bishop in that Province I will try to get & send it you.
Lizard Peter, the rector of pauls hath received yours in answer to one written by deacon Scovel & himself f™ Nova Scotia-M. Bowden I think will settle himself at Norwalk where y remains still a respectable body of Chh people but my dear Sir this country is really poor and will remain so at least through the present generation. I think with you that our best days are gone, I shall endeavor for myself to get through life with as much ease to myself with respect to any Govt. as possible. I have been heretofore anxious & distressed I leave it all & hope to meet you where good govt. obtains & where friendship will by no means be interrupted-in the mean season I shall always be happy to hear of any good that awaits you & yours & as to support &c., all that I am able to collect is that the Revd. M. Peters resides at Pimlico in his own hired house & that he entertains all that call on him with much hospitality & elegance-you are not married nor your dear Hannah it shod seem, I wish when that event takes
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place you & she may be as happy as you wish & that your hap- piness may increase & multiply upon you continually as long as you wish it, & that at last the fervent St. Peter may open to you a gate which will let you in to a scene of happiness too great for description-Grace D. Hubbard my good Spouse yet lives & hath been ye mother of 9 children of which 6 are now living 4 sons & two daughters viz. John James, Nancy, Bela, Elisabeth, Frederic, & Thomas Still, James & Nancy begin to remind us of our old age, this comfort of mine doth not forget you & yours & wishes to see & tell you what a sense she hath of the very kind notice you take of her, she begs her best love to you & Miss Hannah De ve Peters, & like- wise we present our love to Mr. & Mrs. Cargel whom we wish happy, pray is old M'. Harrison her uncle yet alive ? I wish I could see your daughter touch ye chord of a musical instru- ment & her feet & fine shape in a minuet tell her still to dance & rejoice! I believe we shall see one-another yet on this side ye grave ! Grace wishes you to tell her how Miss Hannah came by her new name she supposes it was given her in her travils abroad you must let her know in your next, we are all as we were poor & if ye Society drops us we are ruined,- I will endeavor soon to write you again, my Brother & Sister Hubbard drove from Guilford in ye fury of ye late times lives here and loves you & N Caldwell who calls ready to laugh & Bless you and your Letters.
Yours affectionately,
B. Hubbard.
New Haven January 29th. 1785.
My dear brother,
I take this method, to introduce to you, my friend & parish- ioner Mª. Jared Mansfield, a young Gentleman of a liberal education & of a mathematical genius a Son of the late M". Stephen Mansfield a quondam faithful Church Warden of mine, now in Heaven, & when on Earth as loyal a subject of his King as he was a faithful one to his God-he is in company with Capt. French another worthy character & excellent
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parishioner of mine, these men will probably stay in your overgrown City 8 or 10 weeks, and any civilities shown them will be gratefully received by them & not easily forgotten by the underwriter your ancient & present old fashioned friend.
They will I presume be very able to answer any questions you may be disposed to ask them, about pil-garlie in particular, and your own bamboozled brethren in general, in the States in general-bamboozled by both countries-Our affairs are in a very narrow circle, we are considered as of no conse- quence, as nobody, are poor, contemptible & forgotten-your world is mad !- wish they would recover their senses, but I presume however they will take th" own way & they must. For myself I intend to meet you in heaven, short of that Coun- try I expect nothing .- But why doth England refuse to meet us on the ground of religion ? Why will she not give us a bishop, did they once but open y" eyes they would certainly see it just & very political, but if they will keep y eyes closed we cannot help it !- Your premier I do not like, he appears to be an unfeeling boy, & let Dr. Price be hanged, & go where he belongs, I like him not-as a politician I am afraid he is too much listened to & that the Presbyterian interest is a grow- ing interest-tell me how that is and tell me every thing proper for me to know by ye return of my friends-I believe in my last I told you of the reception of your pamphlets & Lucuba- tions they have afforded me much pleasure & your friends in this part of the world .-
MT. Leaming I told you was setled at Stratford & M" Boding at Norwalk, MT. Leaming hath resided principally with M". Birdsey where of course your little Son hath become an object of his attention, he is really a fine child & when I see him brings you to my mind as you looked at the age of Sixteen- I have heard nothing from him some weeks although I presume they are all well as lately I have had a line from M'. Leaming.
MT. James Sayre hath settled with the people of Guilford & Branford with a Salary of £80 p" annum & last Saturday I had a letter from our Brother M' John Graves signifying a wish to come into Connecticut, so that the old missions are filling up & if we had a bishop at our head the Church would
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soon be numerous & respectible. I shall add no more at the present but a wish for your & the happiness of your amiable daughter whom God long preserve to you .- Mrs. Cargel perhaps hath ere this been told of ye decease of her good mother Mrs. Harrison at Rhodeisland which happen'd a few weeks since our compliments of condolence to her & partner, and accept Mrs. Hubbards & my familys best love to you & Miss Hannah, which concludes me dear Mr. Peters your affectionate Brother & obliged humble Servant.
Revd. Mª. Peters.
Bela Hubbard.
Dear Sir,
Yours of the 6th of September via Boston came to hand, and I wrote you a long letter in answer which I expected to have sent by M'. Samuel Broome, and after having sealed it & got a bundle of pamphlets & a letter from M'. Trumbul N Haven which are now on hand to go still I hope before winter is ended perhaps by Wm. Hillhouse, I was disappointed in Broomes failing-if God Spares my life I will add many more words & pamphlets to those already Sealed up which are by me, but of this hereafter-at present I must trouble you with the Postage of this on my own concerns. I have this day a
M. Whitlock letter from one of the wardens of St. Johns Church Cap".
by the way poor Camp left this world eleven days after his arrival at St. Johns-I am behol" with a hint you furnished some one at St. Johns that Bayley would not be appointed to that living & that I could have it for asking for it-I am here as poor as Jobs hens or Turkeys, but if all other difficulties were removed, how am I to get my expenses paid in removing my family to that country and will the Society continne the £50 for certain during my life-If I could support my great family at St. Johns as I think I cannot here if the Society would be pleased to appoint me their missionary there why I
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think I would if too, in pity to my moneyless state bare my expenses to the parish, venture to go to that cold country-you know I love and allways shall continue to love that country from which I am now seperated-but M". Whitlock says he under. stands that Bishop Inglis hath wrote a Second letter in favour of Dr. Bayley but if you will try to hold ye parish for me, I will as early as possible, write to D'. Morice & lay my dis- tressed condition before ye Society & beg an appointment of me to St. John-what you wrote about M'. Dibblee being at St. John is altogether a mistake-he has never been there old Mr. Dibblee, and I never learned that he had any thoughts of going there, he has not been there,-my eyes are Sore I cannot write and my thoughts are I know not where,-pray good Doctor Peters will you think Still of Bela & Grace & Nancy & James & Bela 2ª & Frederic & Thomas & Betsey & Wm. Henry &c .- of Grace & all her children-& help the old couple to be in a situation to scramble for them-pray do know of Dr. Morice too, whither the Government Salary will be continued & whither any chaplinships can be tacked to that parish-in short help me if you can, & I will write soon to the Society meanwhile I rest your humble admirer altho' in the State of Connecticut-with Graces love to you MT. and Mrs. Jarvis your own & your Grandson I am as ever your real friend & very humble Servant.
Bela Hubbard.
New Haven four days before Xmas- be the blessings of that Season yours- I shall write you soon-
Write me by ye first packet.
Revª Dr. Peters.
Reverend Doctor Samuel Peters Charlotte Street Pimlico London-
Hubbard Bela 21 Dec. 1788 recd. March 2-89-
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New Haven December 27th 1788
Dear Sir,
A few days since I wrote to you, but as a Vessel sails to morrow for England I must still trouble you with another line on my concerns only, I have weighed as well as I am able my going to St. John-and by this conveyance tell Dr. Maurice that I will if the Society say so-and will render permanent the Salary of 150, from Gov"t. & them, and will be at ye expense of removing me but will you dear Sir, be so good as to trouble yr self further, & know if there is no chaplinship obtainable to add to ye comforts of a Mission as cold as Green- land, if there is any thing in that way pray help me if you can & I will pray for you & wish you well untill you shall have no need of prayers & wishes,-Grace thanks you,-I shall send you Trumbuls pamphlets with others soon, I can now add no more as the Vessel I now find is going off only that I am yours affectionately,
B. Hubbard
Your kinsman in College Dined with me yesterday is clever- God bless you all- Revd. Dr. Peters-
SAMUEL (ANDREW) PETERS.
Samuel (Andrew), a son of John and Mary (Mark) Peters, was born at Hebron, Connecticut, November 20, 1735, O. S.
He was educated in the common country school of the village and pri- vately prepared for College. He graduated from Yale College in 1757.
He had conformed to the Church of England and studied theology under Dr. Samuel Johnson of Stratford. He went to England in the fall of 1758, bearing letters of commendation from Dr. Johnson and others. Soon after his arrival he had a severe attack of small pox. The Archbishop of Canter- bury and the Bishop of London saw that he was well cared for and per- sonally visited him when the possibility of infection was past. He was made deacon and ordained priest in the summer of 1759. His license to officiate in Plantations was given by the Bishop of London, August 25 of that year.
He made full proof of his ministry, was affectionately regarded by his parishioners and by the clergy of the colony was most highly esteemed. He did much missionary work, notably in the New Hampshire Grant, now
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Vermont. In a letter to the Venerable Society, he describes one visit when he took his clerk with him, and after prayer upon a hill top, from which an extensive view can be had, he named the region verd mont.
Mr. Peters was a thorough and consistent believer in a united British Empire; in conversation and formal argument and in newspapers of the day he showed his bitter detestation of any attempt at independence. So bitter was his pen that in the summer of 1774, when there had reached Hebron copies of the reports sent by Mr. Peters, as they thought, the Sons of Liberty called upon him defiant and angry and demanded the retraction of the malicious libels upon the cause of American freedom. Mr. Peters stoutly refused, was hooted, jeered at and his house and furniture damaged. After a second visit from the same persons he fled from Hebron to Boston after having on Sunday, September 4, 1774, while all men were indignant at the British troops for firing upon Boston. He sailed for England in October, leaving behind him house, land and children. His daughter Hannah joined him in London after some time.
Mr. Peters lived comfortably upon a pension from the Crown, engaging in literary and political work, receiving hospitably the friends who in those troubled times visited England. He hoped that he might be made Bishop of Nova Scotia and friends solicited the honour for him.
The circumstances under which he was elected Bishop of Vermont in February, 1794, were somewhat extraordinary, for Dr. Samuel Bass of Newburyport, Massachusetts, had been elected a few months previously and had not declined.
The efforts to obtain consecration for Dr. Peters in England were unavail- ing. No request appears to have been made to the American Bishops. The testimonials necessary could not have been furnished, for Dr. Peters seldom officiated anywhere. In the course of the correspondence he suggested a state ceremonial by proclamation of the governor and acknowledgment of him by the clergy, citing passages from ancient writers to prove its legality and feasibility In addition to an epistle to the Church in Vermont which has been printed, there are found among his manuscripts two charges and forms for letters of order and a device for the seal of the Diocese.
A difference of opinion and controversy with William Pitt, the Prime Minister, in 1804 caused that dignitary to strike his name from the pension list. Broken in health, but indomitable in spirit, he returned to the United States in 1805. He spent several years in Washington endeavoring to obtain from Congress a confirmation of a grant of land near the Fall of St. Anthony, now the site of Minneapolis and St. Paul, by the Indians to the famous traveler, Jonathan Carver, who gave it to Dr. John Coakley Lettsom and Dr. Peters. He failed utterly, but still persevered in his attempt to have the Indians ratify it. He commenced a journey to the Northwest for that purpose in 1817, but was taken ill and was tenderly cared for by Indians at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the winter.
He died in the City of New York, April 19, 1826.
Dr. Peters married, February 14, 1760, Hannah, a daughter of Silas and Elizabeth Owen of Hebron, Connecticut. Two daughters were born to them,
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Hannah, who died an infant, March 2, 1761, and Hannah Delavan, who was born January 2, 1762. She married, in London, England, William Jarvis, a son of Samuel and Martha (Seymour) Jarvis of Norwalk, Con- necticut. Her husband was an officer in the first American Regiment and served in Canada, where he held several civil offices, among them, that of provincial secretary in the administration of Governors Simcoe, Hunter and Gore. He died at York, Canada, August 13, 1817. Mrs. Jarvis died at Queenstown, Canada, September 20, 1845. They had seven children.
Mr. Peters married for the second time, June 28, 1769, Abigail, a daughter of Captain Samuel Gilbert. She died July 14, 1769.
He married for the third time at Stratford, Connecticut, April 21, 1773, Mary, the only daughter of William and Eunice ( Benjamin) Birdseye. She died at Hebron, June 16, 1774. They had one son, born at Hebron, June 16, 1774, and named William Birdseye. He was brought up until his fourteenth year by his grandparents and then completed his education in England and France under the supervision of his father. He graduated from Oxford University, studied law at the Temple, London, practiced in Canada and Mobile, Alabama, where lie died in 1817.
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