USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston : the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame : historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723-1775 > Part 8
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"The Bay Pew"
This Pew for the use of the Gentlemen of the Bay of Honduras 1727
-
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THE CLERK AND HIS DESK
H AVE you ever seen a three-decker pulpit? If not and are interested in this bit of colonial church architecture, you will find the only one extant in New England in Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island. There are also several in the Diocese of Virginia, about some of which there are many interesting stories. But what is a three-decker pulpit? you say. The answer to this question is part of this story.
When Christ Church was built, the pulpit was on the north side of the chancel as it is now, practically on a level with the gallery; below it was the reader's desk where the psalms and lessons were read; and below that, the clerk's desk from which announcements were made by the clerk of the parish. This is the arrangement you will still find in Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island, which was built only two years after Christ Church. Ow- ing to the great similarity of the two churches, Christ Church plans may have been used at Trinity.
The pulpit in Christ Church has been shifted back and forth from one side of the chancel to the other, even to the center. It was changed from this position to give a better view of the painting1 which now hangs in the chancel; but in the restoration of the church in 1912, the pulpit was restored to its original position-but the clerk's desk was omitted, thus lowering the pulpit to bring it nearer to the congregation.
As for the present pulpit, it is copied from the one in Trinity Church, Newport, as the architects decided that the pulpit now in St. Paul's Church, Otis, Massachusetts (which was given to that church in 1830), while it was the original pulpit, had been so reduced in size that it
1 By John Ritto Penniman.
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would no longer conform in design to the rest of the church.
One of the important officers in a church organization is the clerk. He must be present at every meeting, record all transactions, keep the votes on matters under dis- cussion and record them in writing in books provided for this purpose. In Christ Church, there were two clerks, one for the proprietors and one for the vestry, both being paid for their services whereas wardens and vestry- men served without remuneration.
When Christ Church was organized on April 6th, 1724, no clerk was elected but records show that Thomas Bennett, co-builder of the church with Thomas Tippin, and John Bright were paid at intervals for "services as clerk."
The first duly elected clerk of the church was Powers Marriot, probably a Huguenot immigrant. On Easter Monday, April 19th, 1731, at a meeting of the "Con- gregation" it was voted
That the Church Shall Support a Clerk to be paid at the discression of ye Vestry for the Time being.
His compensation was at the rate of £30 per year.
Marriot was a barber and sold wigs, a natural corol- lary to his trade. For some years before he became clerk of Christ Church, he advertised in the Boston News Letter of July 31, 1729, regarding a theft from his shop. It was a parti-colored wig thus described in the adver- tisement :
" a light Flaxen natural Wigg - parted from the Fore- head to the Crown the narrow Ribband is of a Red Pink Colour, the Caul is in Rows of Green, Red & White. Twenty shillings reward."
Can you visualize the effect on a Boston citizen of such a contraption ?
Marriot did not contribute to the building of Christ Church, but joined the Boston Episcopal Charitable So-
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ciety in 1726. His services as clerk lasted until February 16, 1738/9, when he was offered by Mr. Commissary Price fifty pounds per annum to become clerk of King's Chapel. Signalized by Dr. Foote in his Annals of King's Chapel as one of the important members of that parish, he gave liberally to the rebuilding in 1749, including a subscription to the organ. He died October 8, 1768, aged 63 years. He is only remembered in Christ Church be- cause he was the first regularly elected clerk of the parish.
In 1733, two years after Marriot had been elected clerk of the parish, ten years after the church was opened for services, the accumulation of papers, bills, votes and monies received and paid out was badly in need of classification. This brought about the following vote from the vestry :
15(th January 1732 1
VOTED That Francis Beteilhe be Clerk of the Vestry untill Easter next, for which Service he is to have at the rate of Five Pounds p Annum.
Presumably after Beteilhe's election, he found the papers in such condition that the matter was called to the attention of the vestry; and at the end of the term for which he had been elected, the following vote was passed :
March 19, 1732
WHEREAS by a Vote at a Vestry Meeting held at Mr Patten's the 15th January last Francis Beteilhe is appointed Clerk to ye Vestry And perceiving the irregular Order in keeping Rec- ords of our Meetings (as it too plainly appears by the foregoing pages) It is now
VOTED That all the Subscriptions Books & Papers be deliverd to Said F. Beteilhe to make a faithfull & Exact Copy of all our Votes and Also make a Sett of Books of Accompts that we and our Successors, might for the future transact & manage the Church-
1 According to present reckoning January 15, 1732, was January 15, 1733, as until 1752 the year began on March 25th. This accounts for dates marked "o. s. " (old style).
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Affairs with more Ease, Satisfaction and evident benefitt to Christ Church.
VOTED That the Sum of Forty Shillings - be paid to Frans Beteilhe for his trouble in Entring the foregoeing Votes and exe- cuteing Severall writings for the Use of the Church.
On the 26th of March, only a week after the vote was passed, Beteilhe signed for the forty shillings or two pounds "in full Satisfaction for Copying the Congrega- tion and Vestry-meeting Votes in the New Book." But the work on the books and papers was carried on, for on April 5, 1735, Beteilhe receipted for "Twenty pounds being in full for assorting the papers and making a Waist book & Ledger in form of all the accts arissing in the Building of Christ Church and Entering all the Church Wardens' Accts together in a Large Book to this Day."
This is the beginning of the remarkable set of books 1 which for over two hundred years has been kept in ob- scurity, only consulted from time to time when some especial subject came up for consideration. To Francis Beteilhe, the competent clerk whose handwriting is as easily read today as it was two centuries ago, we owe the beginnings of these valuable records which deserve to be printed as they cover a period of our national his- tory, and especially that of the City of Boston, which would add much to our knowledge of the colonial period.
I am indebted to Mr. Herbert P. Hollnagle of Water- town, Massachusetts, for what little is known of Francis Beteilhe, and I quote from correspondence.
" Beteilhe was one of the Huguenot immigrants who added so much to the civic life of Boston in the early 18th century. He was chosen constable in the year 1737 but had to decline, and in 1739 was again chosen and served.
"It appears that Francis Beteilhe was a Mason of First Lodge (St. John's) as early as July 1734; that he
1 The Christ Church record books are now deposited with the Bos- ton Athenæum.
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was its secretary as well as that of Masters' Lodge, and that he is responsible for some of the finest and earliest records of Masonry in this country. He had written a very fine manuscript covering the first meeting of St. John's Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts.
He was in charge of the tailoring activities of a business in which he was a partner with Henry Price (with whom he was closely associated in Masonry), at the Sign of the Brazen Head on Cornhill (now Wash- ington Street), opposite Williams Court, now colloqui- ally known to the street as "Pie Alley." In 1739 they had given up the tailoring business and were then known as shopkeepers. In 1741, that partnership was dis- solved and Mr. Henry Price assumed complete control of the business.
" After August 7, 1739, there is a lapse in the records of First Lodge-at this time Francis Beteilhe became incapacitated. While the business was not dissolved until 1741, the years 1739 and 1741 give the limits within which, I think, he died."
Beteilhe's last record as clerk of the vestry of Christ Church was on July 30, 1739. There are no records of births or deaths1 in the name of Beteilhe; but there is an entry that the "Wd Betterly," the Anglicized form of the French name, had "one fourth part of pew 66" in King's Chapel.
It is probable that Francis Beteilhe came from Eng- land to America, for his work on the books of Christ Church and of the Masonic Lodges shows his English training. In any event, his work bears out the well- known proverb, "Well begun is half done," for the impetus which he gave to these priceless records has continued through two centuries.
1 Records of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials have always been kept by the rector. These statistics from 1723/4 to 1775 are now (1945-6) in the course of publication by the New England Historic Genealogi- cal Society.
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Francis Beteilhe was succeeded as clerk by John Legg,1 " housewright from London." He was admitted to residence in Boston on May 3, 1727, on "One Hun- dred Pounds security to Indemnifie the Town." Three days later, he was warned to depart, but evidently got security to permit remaining in Boston. On April 10th, 1740, he became clerk of Christ Church and faithfully served both as vestry and proprietors' clerk until 1749, as shown by his accurate and legible records. His trade of carpenter enabled him to be of great service during the building of the spire in 1740. The Christ Church records give the date of John Legg's death in 1762 and that of his wife, Sarah, in 1738.
There are many breaks in the church records about this time, none of the vestry entries between 1749 and 1760 being signed until Thomas Ivers, senior warden, signed, both as vestry and proprietors' clerk, from that time until January 1772. He was baptized in Christ Church, February Ist, 1730, and was twice married. In 1764, when the question of duty on loaf sugar came up along with other burning questions of the day, he ap- peared for the merchants protesting the duty of five shil- lings per hundred. They won the case.
In the Diocesan Convention of 1785, the first one in which there were lay delegates, he, with James Sherman, represented Christ Church. This Convention was held for the purpose of determining a method to preserve uniformity in divine worship. Mr. Ivers served on a committee on proceedings which sent a report to the General Convention at Philadelphia held that same year. He was Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts from 1783 to 1787, in which year he died. This is the first time that any distinguished public service was performed by a clerk of Christ Church.
1 The John Legg whose history is in Sibley's Harvard Graduates is not the same John Legg who was clerk of Christ Church.
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The clerk who succeeded Thomas Ivers was James Sherman, born in Charlestown and baptized at Christ Church, July 22nd, 1717. His mother, Margaret, was a sister of the Reverend Timothy Cutler, and he, there- fore, belonged to the inner circle at Christ Church, as we shall see. He was married by Dr. Cutler to Rebekah Starkey, November 18th, 1742. By trade he was a painter and stainer and called "a fine penman" by one biographer, which is borne out by his neat and careful records in the Christ Church books.
As vestryman, junior warden and senior warden, as well as vestry and proprietors' clerk, he served Christ Church faithfully. He was delegate to the Diocesan Convention from 1790 through 1794, serving on its standing committee from 1791 through 1794. When the church had to mortgage the Communion silver, he was one of the first to offer assistance by a money loan. He lived on the street with the picturesque title of Black Horse Lane (now Prince Street), so named for a famous tavern. In Dr. Cutler's will he was left a ring which we hope may still be in possession of descendants of one of his five children; his mother, Dr. Cutler's sister, re- ceived a mourning ring.
His services to the Town of Boston were varied, Hay Ward and Assay Master being among the offices he filled. He died April 4th, 1801.
The next clerk was Jonathan Farnham; but when he began we can only judge from the receipt dated October 13, 1769, "for six pounds thirteen shillings and four. pence lawful money on account of my Sallary from said church." This he signs as "Jonan Farnum, Clerk." He continued to sign for services during 1769 and 1770 until April 22, 1771, when he signed for "seven pounds nine- teen shillings & four pence-it being the full ballance of my salary to Easter last." He was a barber by pro- fession and is listed by Porter as one of the prominent
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1
early residents of North Square. To that inimitable diarist, the Reverend William Bentley of Salem, himself a North-ender, we are indebted for the following nota- tion in his diary under date of December 7, 1804:
The news of the d[eath] of Mr. Jonathan Farnham at Boston, aet. 64 was sorrowful to me. He was a Barber whose Shop I frequented for 30 years & never was in any other in Boston. He was formerly Clerk at Christ Church & supported a good character till the death of his wife, a few years ago. Since, he has been indiscrete & finally was seized by apoplexy in the street & died the next day which was Thursday last. The respect & attach- ment I had was great & I shall miss him.
About one other clerk we know only what is con- tained in the vestry records of August 12th, 1773:
The Revd Doct" Byles having signified to the Vestry his ap- probation of Mr John Davis to serve as Parish Clerk and we hearing a good Character of him
Voted that he be allowed after the Rate of Eight pounds thirteen shilling and four pence p annum from the time of his begining to officiate untill next Easter.
No vestry records exist after September 6, 1774, when the books were turned over to Dr. Caner of King's Chapel for inspection on account of financial difficulties with Dr. Byles. The vestry records are not resumed un- til November 6th, 1778, after the arrival of the Rever- end Stephen Christopher Lewis.
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THE KING'S GIFT
U NDER the above title, the late Percival Mer- ritt told the story of the gift of a silver Commun- ion service to Christ Church by King George II in 1733. To his usual competent use of Christ Church records, Mr. Merritt added an illuminating sidelight on Colonial Church politics; and a description of the books, including the Vinegar Bible, which were part of the royal gift.
The story begins with the arrival in Boston of the newly appointed Colonial Governor, Jonathan Belcher, in 1730, who brought with him among other objects of royal bounty a silver Communion service for King's Chapel. It was not long before the wardens and vestry of Christ Church began to plead their need of a Com- munion service.
The vestry book contains the following record :
At a Vestry Meeting 18th of Novr 1730:
In consideration of late Donation of his present Majesty our most Gracious Sovereign King George the Second to his Majty's Chappel in this Town at the desire of his Excellency Jona Bel- cher Esq' our Govern' and under the Promising Views of obtain- ing the like Benevolence from our said Sovereign by the good Interest and Encouragement of our Govern' aforesd Voted That the Minister, Church Wardens and Vestry do Concur with his Excelly Jona Belcher Esq" in a due Application for getting plate and other Utencills for ye Altar of Christ Church and for a Bible, prayer book &c. for the Use of the Said Church like as his Majesty's Chappell in this Town has lately been given by the Interest of the said Govern". Voted That the Church Wardens for the Time being, Shall pay out of the Church Stock all the Expences of getting the Sd Utencills out of the proper Offices in Great Britain amounting to about Seventeen Pounds sterling. Voted That a letter be Sent by the Said Minister Church War-
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dens and Vestry To Edmund Lord Bishop of London to that End.
The obliging governor, playing up his dislike of the Bishop's Commissary, the Reverend Roger Price, rector of King's Chapel, pleaded the cause of Christ Church to the Bishop of London and wrote " it is hard that this infant chh shou'd not enjoy the royal smile," and else- where stated in a letter to the secretary of the Lord Chamberlain: "The people of this chh have done great service & honour to the Chh of England in gen11 in this country by exerting themselves in building so good & handsome a house."
If you think old bills have no atmosphere, just run over the 18th century document, the ink still black, the penmanship in his clerk's best hand as legible as print, and meticulous care bestowed on every item, and you will be transported to that part of London which might still have been seen by an inquisitive colonial visitor until 1940-41.
Procuring the royal gift proved a somewhat lengthy undertaking to Mr. Henry Newman of London. From the first time he took coach on February 12, 1730/31 until July 20, 1733, when he saw the chest of royal gifts on shipboard, his lobbying activities were carefully item- ized in his four foolscap page bill to Christ Church.
Seventy-three times he "took coach" in furtherance of the Christ Church business. The first call was Feb- ruary 12, 1731, on Governor Shute, then in London. There followed calls upon the Bishop of London, the Duke of Grafton,1 the Duke of Montagu,2 the Lord Chamberlayne and visits to Whitehall, the Great Ward- robe, Kensington, St. James's Palace and the Cockpit.3
1 Duke of Grafton - Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
' Duke of Montagu - Master of the Great Wardrobe.
3 The original cockpit was made by Henry VIII for his favorite sport of cock fighting, as an appendage of the Palace of Whitehall; and later it was built over so that it looked like a chapel from the outside. It stood on the site of what was later the Privy Council works. In it
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When this bill arrived in Boston, one does not need a great deal of imagination to think of Dr. Cutler reading these items and harking back to his year's sojourn in London, every one of these places familiar to him. To us, they revive 18th century London; but to Dr. Cutler it must have meant much in nostalgic reminiscence.
The Great Wardrobe which gave its name to the church, St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, was the deposi- tory from which gifts and other appurtenances were dis- tributed on warrant. It contained Communion silver as well as jewels.
Newman paid £4-9-0 for " 5 Pieces of Plate " and two shillings to the "Porter for going of several Mes- sages and bringing the Plate to the Coach." The next day there were more expenses at the Wardrobe, to the Deputy, his clerk and a porter. The last expenses were itemized as follows on the bill :
1733 July 6th Paid John Wood for a Chest to re- ceive His Majesty's Plate &c as p Rect
£1 - 6 -
9th Paid Mr Davies for a Case Cover'd with Calf's Skin for the Plate only I - IO -
13 Paid for 3 Matts to cover the Chest to receive his Majesty's Plate &c }
- - 2 -
Ditto paid for a Cord for the Chest to -
I - receive his Majesty's Plate
I
20th Paid for a Cart to carry the Chest for receiving his Majesty's Plate &c to Habadashers Porters Custom House key
- - 3 -
were suites of rooms or apartments inhabited by very famous people, and the whole building went by the name of "The Cock-pit. " Here, the Earl of Pembroke watched as Charles I walked to execution. As ate as 1760, Treasury letters and minutes were headed "Cock-pit."
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Charges at the Custom house &c vizt.
For a Cocket 1 &c - 7 -
Searchers - - 6
Wharfage and Porteridge - 2 4
Petitioning the Commissioners - I -
Wateridge on board - 2 - Primage and bills Lading - 2 -
At last the precious gifts were on board the New Cam- bridge Galley bound for Boston where they arrived Sep- tember 8th, 1733, as recorded in the church records.
Besides the Communion Silver, the royal gift included:
I Royal Bible bound in Turkey leather
2 Com. prayr books S wth gold fringe
Strung wth blue garter ribon & trim'd
12 Com. pray" books fol. bound in Calf gilt filleted and Strung wth blue ribon
2 Cusheons for the Readg Desk
I Large Cusheon & Cloth for ye Pulpitt
I Carpett & Altar piece
20 Yds. Damask Cloth for ye Communion Table
2 Large Surplices of fine holland.
The Bible is the one known as the Vinegar Bible, printed in 1717 by John Baskett. The name comes from the misprint in the title at the top of the first column of the page where the major part of the 20th chapter of St. Luke is printed, which reads "The parable of the vinegar " instead of "The parable of the vineyard." The Vinegar Bible and one of the five remaining Prayer Books are now in a case in the vestry room of Christ Church. Mr. Merritt gives a graphic description of the Bible :
It is ruled by hand with red ink throughout the book. On the outside of the front cover is the inscription: His Majesty's
1 Cocket, a " document sealed by the officers of the custom-house and delivered to merchants as a certificate that their merchandise has been duly entered and has paid duty."
Oxford English Dictionary.
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Flagon from the Congregation 1729
Baptismal Basin from Arthur Savage, Esq. 1732 Chalice and Paten from Capt. Thomas Tudor 1724
COMMUNION SILVER
Paten from Leonard Vassall, Esq. 1730 Bread Dish from Mrs. Hannah Smith 1815
Alms Basin, Chalice, and Paten from King George II 1733 Mote Spoon from H. N. Baxter, 1833
Flagon from King George II 1733
5. Luke.
The point of the thing
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