USA > Delaware > New Castle County > New Castle > Sketch of early ecclesiastical affairs in New Castle, Delaware, and history of Immanuel Church > Part 4
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Few or none of them had estates to support them without being obliged to their Trade Labour & In- dustry. Their sentiments in matters of Religion-I mean of those who were my first hearers-were pretty uniform, & framed upon Church principles. Most of them lived together, like Towns in England, while
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
others, who manured the Ground, lived dispersed, up & down a large compass of Ground, all of them so far distant from any other Church that the healthiest and strongest amongst thei could not, without great appli- cation & going on Horseback, attend Divine Service there. Travelling is easy in these parts, both summer & winter, except in the extreme heat of the one & when the Frost breaks up in the other. What renders travelling so easy here, besides the serenity & agreeable- ness of the climate, is that the people generally make use of pacing Horses, and the Roads are far better than those of England. The present number of Inhabitants, professing themselves members of the Church under my care, are about one hundred Families, & most of them much improved in their Fortunes & conditions, having for the number of people as great plenty of Bread & provisions of all sorts, as Beef, Pork, Veal, Mutton & Dung Hill Fowl, as most other parts have in the King's Dominions, either at home or abroad.
There are seven meeting Houses used by Dissenters, besides a Lutheran Congregation, within the limits of what I call my Parish: whereof four belong to the Presbyterians, who are generally Scoth Irish, one to the Anabaptists, being Welsh by nation, and two to the Quakers, a mingled generation of English and Irish. So that by a modest computation there are at least six to one conformist who dissent from the Church of England. The true ground of this surprising inequality is that the country was first peopled with Dissenters, whose number is greatly increased of late, by their having fresh supplies sent them from the North of Ireland. All their Meeting Houses save that at New Castle, where a Dissenting Preacher cannot get bread,
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are provided with Teachers, who owe their support wholly to the voluntary contributions of their people & their own industry, in planting & farming. They have sufficiency to live, rather than decency in living. There are some private schools within my reputed district which are put very often into the hands of those who are brought into the country & sold for servants. Some schoolmasters are hired by the year, by a knot of Families, who, in their turns, entertain him monthly, & the poor man lives in their Houses like one that begged an alms, more than like a person in credit & authority. When a ship arrives in the River, it is a common expression with those who stand in need of an Instructor for their children-Let us go & buy a School Master. The truth is, the office & character of such a person is generally very mean & contemptible here, & it cannot be other ways till the public takes the Educa- tion of children into their mnature consideration.
Among the Donations inade to the church here, her late Majesty's (Queen Anne's) Gift of a Pulpit and Altar Cloaths, with a Box of Glass, I must name in the first place, both for the dignity of the Royal Donor and priority of time in which it was bestowed. Col. Charles Gookin, late Governor of Pennsylvania, distinguished himself in this particular from all those who went be- fore him in the Government, as well as those who have hitherto succeeded him, by his present of a valuable piece of plate, a damask Table Cloth and two Napkins, for the inore decent administration of the Holy Sacra- ment. I can't tell whether, under this, I ought to specify and relate the several sums given to repair and beautify the church. It may suffice to say that the list of Benefactors in this respect is no less venerable than
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that of the first contributors towards its building. As to Benefactions made to Minister and School masters I know of none made to the former but a Plantation and Meadow, bequeathed for his use by the last will and Testament of Capt. Rd. Halliwell, who in his day signal- ized himself in the defence and support of his church and country, and who, next to the Hon'ble Society, is justly accounted the prime patron of Emanuel Church at New Castle. There is no settled School Master here, a thing not to be wondered at, since to this time there are no benefactions made or encouragement given to a person of that charater by the Government or to my knowledge, by any other considered in a private capacity, the consequence whereof is not to be expressed. The Library here consists of those Books only which were sent to remain in the Parish, by the society for propa- gating the Gospel, and is now in the hands of their Missionary there. The number of Negroe Slaves in this Parish is, as far as I can compute, about 50, con- cerning whose Instructions very little care is taken. Some of them are in the hands of Quakers, who leave them to their common principles, the natural light. Others are in possession of Protestant Dissenters, who are so taken with the doctrine of absolute decrees, that no great stress is laid on the outward ceremony of Bap- tism. Those few that are baptized belong to Church- men. The truth is, there is a general indifference in Churchmen, as well as in those of other sentiments, to make proselytes of their Slaves, the true cause whereof is the want of zeal in masters, and the untoward haughty behaviour of those Negroes who have been admitted in-
to the Fellowship of Christ's Religion. But it is to be hoped the frequent warnings and excellent admonitions the Colonies in general have from the Venerable and
4
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IMMANUEL CHURCH,
Charitable Body Incorporated for promoting the Chris- tian Faith will, by degrees, rouse and awaken them, and put life in their endeavors to save those souls, for whose loss few seriously consider who must be account- able.
Reverend Sir :
I have been as particular and exact in these, my enquiries, upon the heads you sent me, as my ability and a due sense of my obligation to my Hon. Patrons could possibly qualify or prompt me to do, and, as a specimen of my obedience and diligence, I transmit them to you, assuring you that the Rivers being shut up sooner and longer than ordinary, is the true reason why this paper has not, for some months pas'd, escap- ed your approbation or dislike.
I am, Rev'd. Sir, Your most humble Servant Geo. Ross. "
It will be observed that August 11, 1703, is the date given in the above letter for the commencement of the building of Immanuel Church, and 1706 as the date of completion. There is a conflict in the testimony as to the time when the Church was built. George Keith in his "Journal of George Keith Missionary" under date of August 1, 1703, Sunday, says, "I preached at New Cas- tle on Hebrews v. 9, and had a large auditory of Eng- lish and Dutch. They have had a Church lately built, and the Rev. Mr. Ross a missionary from the honorable society, has lately been sent them." And the Rev. John Talbot writing to Mr. Gillingham from Virginia, May 3, 1703, says * * "The Governor of Virginia is building several inore churches. Two at North Caro-
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
lina, where we are going next week, and one at New Castle where in all appearance we shall have a consider- able congregation of Christian people. The place is very well planted for trade, both by sea and land. It being almost in the midway between Philadelphia and Maryland upon Delaware River, where God willing, I intend to spend some labor and pains." (I) So here, including Mr. Ross' letter, are three apparently reliable statements, yet each differing. One fixing the date of commencement of work as August 11, 1703; another the completion before August Ist of that year, and the last showing that the work was in progress May 3d of the same year. The letter of Mr. Talbot may probably be taken as confirming Mr. Keith's statement. There is also a discrepancy in the documents as to the time of Mr. Ross' arrival. Mr. Ross in a letter to his son John Ross in 1750, which is given in full on page 51 of "The Life of George Read" by William T. Read, Esq., says that he arrived at New Castle in 1703, which agrees with Mr. Keith. But on February 24, 1704, the same Mr. Keith wrote to Rev. Mr. Bray that "at New Castle, 41 miles from Philadelphia, there is at present no minister; they had a Presbyterian minister called Wilson, but he has been gone about half a year. Could a minister of the Church of England be sent them, it is thought they would gladly receive him, and it would be of mighty service for advancing the Church in this province, it being, as it were, the Frontier". (2) Other authorities fix the time of the arrival of Mr. Ross in 1705, and this is probably correct; at all events it is certain that he was in charge in that year, not later than August, as Rev. Mr. Evans wrote to Mr. Stubbs under date of August
(1) Hill's History of the Church in Burlington.
(2) Hill's History of the Church in Burlington.
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IMMANUEL CHURCH,
23, 1705, "Just now I received another favor by yours of 18th April, by Mr. Ross a missionary to New Castle, with Mr. Crawford to Dover Hundred". (I) And he is named among those who were present at a meeting of the clergy at Burlington, Nov. 2, 1705. (2)
At the time of the arrival of Mr. Ross and for some years thereafter a large number of the congrega- tion were from the country, many "coming twelve iniles," from the locality where St. James' Church now stands, near Stanton. Among the first vestrymen was one James Robinson, who was afterwards a liberal bene- factor of St. James' Church. There was a large settle- ment of Church of England people in that neighbor- hood who attended church at New Castle and as the only means of progress from place to place in those days was either on foot or on horseback, the good peo- ple were indeed earnest and zealous Christians to attend so regularly the services at the distant church. The two following letters from Mr. Ross to the secretary of the Society contain interesting information :
Mr. Ross to the Secretary .
"Pensila, Newcastle, May 17th, 1706,
Hon'd Sir :
You'l easily pardon iny freedom in writing to you when you consider that it is no more than what you enjoyned me before I came from England.
To present you with a general view of the state of the Church in this Provence is that which I think you have from better hands and Persons who have lived here longer than I have done. However, I would ven-
(1) Bh. Perry's Church in Penna.
(2) Hill's History of Church in Burlington.
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
ture to deliver my mind on that Subject too, were it not that my Reverend Brother Mr. Evans (whose fidelity in his Ministry, and good reputation in those parts has rendered his acco't very authentic) is able by word of Mouth to give you clearer and more succinct relation than my weak Judgment can pretend to. We have many Opposers, both from without and from within ; yet, blessed be God, we faint not, neither are we dis- couraged. There are but few Church people here, I mean in this town, many hereabouts being of a long time led away by dissenting ministers. The Presbyterians have a meeting in Town and the Anabaptists have another in the Country. I hope the hon'ble Society will see how necessary it is to see this place provided with a fixed ministry. I delivered my mind in what partic- ularly relates to myself in my letter to Mr. Hodges, and likewise I have reccomended to iny Brother Evans to show the Society my present circumstances. I shall . not trouble you with an acco't of this matter, since Mr. Evans can do it perhaps to your Greater Satisfaction, and I firmly rely on your kindness, that you will fur- ther whatever may tend to my quietness and encourage- ment in this place.
Wishing your prosperity, I am,
Honoured Sir, .
your humble Servant GEO. ROSS."
Revd. Mr. Ross to the Secretary,
(Extract) "New Castle, July 19, 1708. You signify in your postscript that the Society expects an account of the contributions that I receive from the Government or Inhabitants of the place
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IMMANUEL CHURCH,
where I am settled. There is nothing provided by law for the maintenance of the Clergy in this province, and as to the Subscriptions of my hearers, I received about £15 Sterling yearly since I settled among them, which is so far from being any considerable encouragement where a Minister pays £30 a year for his accommoda- tions besides his accidental charges, that were it not for the benevolence and bounty of a certain Gentleman whose Son I teach in the Latin tongue I could hardly live in the place so long. I find by your second letter that my apologetick Letter of 17th, May 1706, gave offence, in that I apoligised for mny freedom instead of excusing my silence ; if I have addressed you without a due sense of my distance, I am sorry for it ; and as to my silence, I do not remember that I neglected to write home as of- ten as an opportunity offered from Pensylvania. As to my deputing Mr. Evans to inform you of the state of my flock by word of mouth, I intended no more than a relation of those minute things which might have escaped my expresentation in my letter, and you might be desirious to be satisfied about. The best apology I can make for this oversight is to give you the following account of the present state of the Church in this place. The congregation here is not now so large as before, through an Epidemical sickness that has of late been very rife in this place ; the distemper being so mortal that few escaped that were taken ill of it. There are not a few, blessed be God, that adorn their profession by a suitable deportment, that do "worthily in Ephratah" zealous sons of the Church and constant frequenters of the Holy Communion ; to which to persuade men, is the hardest task of the Sacred Minis- try in these parts. The country people that live back from the town of New Castle inake up a considerable
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
part of this church, who though they are a great way off from the Town, some above 12 miles, yet they sel- dom miss to come to Church when there is no Sermon in the Country. They are generally zealous men and of substantial piety. The Church is quite finished, by the unwearied diligence and liberal contributions of several gentlemen in the place, particularly Mr .Rich'd. Hallywell, Mr. Jasper Yeats, and Mr. James Coutes, men of good note. It is a fair and stately building, and one of the largest in this Government, and what con- tributes very much to its beauty, it is adorned with Her Majesty's Bounty as well as other Churches in these parts, namely, a fair pulpit Cloth and Communion Ta- ble Cloth.
The Dissenters in Town, being for the most part Presbyterians, are of late better reconciled to the church than they were when I first settled here. Several persons of that persuasion, who sent for me in the sickly times, declared their sincere love for the church, and firm reso- lutions to continue in its communion if God should be pleased to restore them to health. It were to be wished that the judgement of dying men in the case of separa- tion from our communion might move others thoroughly to examine the grounds of their division, and so live as many wish they had done, when they come to die.
Mr. Black and Mr. Jenkins have been here to wait upon the Governor. They are very deserving persons, and will, I hope, answer the expectations of the Honor- able Society. Mr. Nichols has left Chester and gone to settle in Maryland, upon what motives is best known to himself. 'Tis a pity the place should be left desolate. I shall not be wanting in what I am able to supply it until there is care taken of it at home. I have nothing
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further to offer to the consideration of the Society, but my hearty request for their prayers that the glory of their noble undertaking may never be sullied by the miscarriage of any of those weak instruments that they are pleased to employ on so great a design as the Salva- tion of men's souls. I am, Sir,
Your most humble serv't.
GEO. Ross."
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
CHAPTER IV. 1709.
Mr. Ross' Removal from New Castle. Letter from Rev. Mr. Evans objecting to his Removal. Extract from letter from Rev. Mr. Talbot. Mr. Ross' Defence. Action of London Society. Letter from Mr. Ross. Rev. Thomas Jenkins takes charge. Inter- esting Letter from Mr. Jenkins.
Within a few days after the date of the last letter Mr. Ross removed from New Castle to Chester and took charge of the Church there in place of Rev. Mr. Nicholls who went to Virginia. As there is no intima- tion in Mr. Ross' letter of any desire or intention of making such removal, it is likely that his determination was arrived at hastily and without much consideration, at all events, within five weeks from the date of the letter he was settled at Chester.
This movement of Mr. Ross was the cause of much irritation on the part of the congregation, and soon caused an estrangement between him and Rev. Mr. Evans rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia. Mr. Evans wrote upon the subject as follows, to the Secretary :
"PHILADELPHIA, 16th June, 1709.
Honored Sir.
By a Brigatine that sailed from this place in March last I gave you an account of the Deplorable state of all the Churches from Appoquinimink to this
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place occasioned by the ill conduct of Mr. George Ross, whom I formerly represented to the Honourable Society as a person of a laudable character, which to the great grief of all his Brethren, and all good men in this province, he hath unhappily forfeited by quitting his cure at New Castle and removing to Chester, which he is going to leave with a design to possess himself of the School of Philadelphia, and a Lecturer's place in my Church, and he hath proceeded so far already as to be able to make a faction in this Church, willing to make subscriptions for his maintenance, who have contributed nothing towards my support since my return in Decem- ber last.
The Glory of God and the good of His Church, and the sense of my duty oblige me to oppose the unwar- rantable measures taken by Mr. Ross, using all the means in my power to persuade him to return to his own cure where the people offered him £60 per annum and a house, and in order to that I made a journey to Chester, where he lately resided, and admonished him to return to New Castle where the Honorable Society had first placed him; his answer was, that they were hard taskmasters, and that he intended to disengage himself from their service, and since he had an account from Colonel Nicholson that his salary was withdrawn, he is gone for Maryland, in order to offer his services there to one of their parishes vacant by the death of one Mr. Liliston, and, if he cannot make a better penny- worth, is resolved to return and to pursue his design upon the Church and school here. But I am resolved not to admit him to preach in my Church unless he be appointed my assistant by his superiors at home, which God forbid, for it would be a means to ruin this infant
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
Church (for the service whereof I have exposed my life to many dangers, and the divisions would last here; for what reason can I have to believe that Mr. Ross will take any directions from me about the management of this Church, who would not obey all the Bishops and supreme Governors of the Church of which your vener- able Society consists. If I can by exerting farther endeavors, put a stop to his career, yet the misunder- standing between me, and that party that espouseth his interest (one of which, though you may little expect it, hath had frequently the honor of sitting at your Board,) will, I fear, prove hurtful to this Church; though I behave myself with all gentleness and meekness towards him and his abettors. Now, Right Reverend Fathers, Honorable Lords and Gentlemen, I am resolved, as far as it lyes in my power, to prevent any encroachment that he or any other shall make upon this Church, and at the same time treat iny opposers with a Christian spirit, and by the Grace of God give thein no just advan- tage against me; make the glory of God, and promoting the salvation of souls committed to my charge, my chief aim, which will recommend me to the favor of God, and entitle me to your protection. Begging your prayers and directions for my future conduct I remain with all imaginable defference,
Your most highly obliged and devoted servant,
EVAN EVANS."
The Rev. John Talbot who was rector of the church at Burlington and a friend of Mr. Evans, wrote to the Secretary in reference to this matter, Sept. 27, 1709: "Ross is a wandering star, we do not know where he will fix. Meanwhile he does not well to supplant and
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undermine; let him be confined to some place where there is need and not stay altogether in the town to do more hurt than good: there's Mr. Evans, Mr. Ross and Mr. Club all at Philadelphia, and none else in that Province where the society have spent most: at Chester there's none, at New Castle none, at Appoquinimink none, at Dover Hundred none." (1)
The two following letters give Mr. Ross' explanation of his motives for his removal and other matters of interest.
"Rev'd Mr. Ross to the Secretary,
Chester, 28th Aug't, 1708.
Sir :
I wrote to you not long ago by Capt'n Hammerton of Pensylvania, and in my Letter endeavored to lay before you a full and succinct account of the State of the Church at New Castle, where the Rev'd Mr. Jenkins now serves, I having removed to Chester upon Mr. Nichols's going to Maryland. I acquainted you in my foriner letter of my design of leaving New Castle, but I expected that what in a great measure forced me to remove would have been redressed. But upon Mr. Jenkins deserting Appoquinimy, the place he was sent to, iny people took less notice of my grievances and grew careless of redressing them, in hopes that, if I should remove, Mr. Jenkins would settle among them, without insisting on such things, which I demanded in order to live comfortably in the place. All that I requested of the Churchwardens was this, that since the Congregation was pleased to subscribe some small encouragement for my maintenance in the place, and that now I had a family which I must take care to pro-
(1) Hill's Church in Burlington p. 93
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NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE.
vide for, they would be so kind as to allow ine a conve- nient house and to collect what hearers were pleased to subscribe and contribute towards my subsistance : the Church Wardens not willing to take that trouble upon them and understanding that my Brother Mr. Jenkins was fond to settle there, upon his abandoning his proper charge, they neglected and postponeed to give meZany satisfaction, being assured I would not insist upon any such thing. The principal mnen of the Church at Chester, hearing of my design to leave New Castle, addressed me to stay among them in Mr. Nichol's place, which I condescended at last to do, when the Churchwardens of New Castle plainly shewed they had no mind to do what was possible and easy for them to perform, and necessary for me in order to continue among them. New Castle is a place where everything is extraordinary dear, and a man that has a family can- not subsist upon the Society's Bounty of £50 per annum.
I know that the congregation there would have done anything for me that lay in their power, were it not that some who bore somne secret grudge towards me, for not conniving at their scandalous prac- tices, had too much influence upon one of the Church- wardens, and by their insinuations moved the gentleman to make no steps for any encouragement, but egg'd him to invite Mr. Jenkins, who was not so well acquainted with their manner of conversation. No man ever had, I thank God, the love and esteem of his people more than I had the affection and favor of those that loved goodness in New Castle, and I had not been obliged to leave, had it not been for the carelessness and indiffer- ence of some that were intrusted with the management of the affairs of the Church, and their unhappy easy tempers of being led away by those whose greatest
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calamity it is to hear the rebukes of a clergyman. I hope the Society will approve of my removal, consider- ing that it did not spring from choice but necessity. I have been forced to contract debts to maintain me at New Castle, and nothing but the contributions of the people or an augmentation of my salary would have saved me from contempt there, or running in debt which I should never be able to pay. What moved Mr. Jenkins to leave Appoquinimy I leave it to himself to inforin you about. I must confess, without incurring the censure of an Informer, that his conduct has few Vouchers here; his encouragement to settle there, and the large field he had of reaping a plentiful harvest being great and worthy of his consideration : however, I hope he may be very useful at New Castle, especially among his countryinen who are settled near to that place, but disaffected to the Church. I cannot pretend to give you any account from my own experience of the Church at Chester, only that the Congregation is but small, which is owing as far as I understand, to those unhappy turns of affairs that happened in Mr. Nichols's time. I shall take care to write home a full relation of the state of this Church per first opportunity, being obliged to close at this time through the impor- tunity of the Bearer. I amlı,
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