USA > New York > New York City > An historical sketch of Trinity Church, New-York > Part 1
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Gc 974.702 N422be 1200324
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02210 3425
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00berr 1
fuel 'Upjoliv. del
J.N Gambrede. Sc
AN
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF
TRINITY CHURCH.
NEW-YORK,
BY THE
REV. WILLIAM BERRIAN, D. D.
THE RECTOR OF THE SAME.
Ac 974.702. N422 DE
Nem Dork : STANFORD AND SWORDS, 139, BROADWAY.
1847.
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by WILLIAM BERRIAN, D. D. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.
JOHN R. M'GOWN, Printer.
-
1200324
PREFACE.
THE present volume will have, perhaps, but slight claims to general attention, while, at the same time, it may be by no means deficient in local interest. The minuteness of detail into which it was thought expedient to enter, in order to give a full and perfect history of 'Trinity Church, may make it wearisome to those who are altogether uncon- nected with it. This very circumstance, however, will probably render it still more acceptable to the actual members of our ancient Parish ; to those who have been nurtured in it, but who are now scattered abroad among the churches which have sprung from it; to the descendants of those who formerly belonged to it; and to such others also, as delight in antiquarian research, and take pride in the growth and improvement of their native place. It is only necessary to add, that the materials for this work were derived from a great variety of authentic sources, but principally from the Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Smith's History of New-York, Hawkins' Missions of the Church of England, the Minutes of the Vestry from the foundation of the Parish to the present time, and from my own recollections for nearly half a century.
PTER
سعر
HISTORY
OF
TRINITY CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE opening of the new edifice for public worship, shortly after its consecration, seemed to me a suitable occasion for giving an historical sketch of Trinity Church. In rising, for the first time, to address the vast multitude, with which this solemn and stately temple was thronged, I was affected with feelings which I could not express. That I had been spared to see that day, I regarded as an especial reason for thankfulness to God; for how many, who desired it, had looked forward impatiently for the completion of the work, but died before it! This spot was to me, as to them, endeared by the holiest and tenderest recollections. There I had worshipped in youth, there I had ministered in manhood, and there I ap-
1
10
HISTORY OF
peared again before the congregation, on the verge of old age. There the few of the scanty remnant which was left when I began my ministry among them, and whose recollections in some cases went back much farther than my own, had once more presented themselves amidst a new generation, and may have felt on the occasion more deeply than myself.
With such associations and feelings, it may well be supposed that the work in which I was engaged was to me a labour of love, and in the course of my inquiries it grew upon my hands, both in interest and extent, far beyond either my thoughts or my designs.
It is well known to those who are familiar with our colonial history, that the province of New- York was settled by the Dutch, shortly after its discovery by Hudson, in 1609. In the following year, a few stations were formed in various parts of it, and in 1620 a settlement was made on a larger scale, when the district was called New Netherlands, and the principal cluster of houses, on the site of a town which now contains nearly 400,000 inhabitants, was named New Amsterdam. In the reign of Charles the Second, 1664, and during the war with Holland, the province was taken possession of by the English, while under the administration of Governor Stuyvesant, and being granted to the Duke of York, received the name which it has since borne. In 1673, however, through the treachery of Manning, an English officer, it was
11
TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
delivered up again to the Dutch. But the new governor only enjoyed his office for a very short season, for the province was finally ceded to the English by the treaty of peace between England and the States General, in 1674, and Sir Edmond Andross was appointed governor. Wherever the conquests and settlements of our mother country have extended, she has at all times shown a laudable anxiety that the religion of the country should go with them. "The members of the Protestant Episcopal Church (then known as the Church of England in America) first held stated religious services in this city in a chapel erected in a fort which stood near the battery. In this place, under the Dutch administration, the service of the Church of Holland had been performed. On the first surrendery of the colony of New-York to the British, in 1664, the service of the Church of England (it being a government establishment) was of course introduced."* The congregation, how- ever, increasing, a larger edifice was needed, but no steps were taken towards the erection of it for several years. Colonel Fletcher, the newly appointed governor of the colony, was one of the first who moved in this business. As the greatest part of this province consisted of Dutch inhabitants, all the governors thereof, as well in the Duke of York's time as after the revolution, thought it good policy to encourage English preachers and school-masters
* Christian Journal, Vol. ii. p. 249.
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HISTORY OF
in the colony. For this commendable zeal, Colonel Fletcher has been reviled and denounced by Smith, one of the earliest writers of the history of New- York, as a bigot to the Episcopal form of Church government. But as he had declared, at a meeting of the Colonial Assembly, that he would take care that neither heresy, sedition, schism, or rebellion should be preached among them, nor vice and pro- fanity encouraged ; so he earnestly laboured to carry out his purposes to good effect. His measures were violently opposed by many of the members, and even by some from whom a different course might have been reasonably expected. For it was at this session, on the 12th of April, 1695, that, upon a petition of five churchwardens and vestrymen of the city of New-York, the house declared it to be their opinion, that the vestrymen and churchwardens have power to call a dissenting Protestant minister, and that he is to be paid and maintained as the act directs. This was a looseness of opinion, on the part of the Episcopalians concerned, which must astonish sound Churchmen, and which would have been abundantly lax for the most latitudinarian among us at the present day. But through the juster notions of others, and the persevering zeal and firm- ness of the governor, things were soon put in a better train .*
* It is very possible, however, that the five wardens and vestry- men of the city of New-York referred to, might not have been members of the Church of England. For it appears, by the following act of the Colonial Assembly, for settling a ministry, 1
13
TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
In the fifth year of the reign of William and Mary, 1697, by an act of Assembly, approved and
and raising a maintenance for them in the city of New-York, County of Richmond, Westchester, and Queen's County, passed the 22d of September, 1693, that there were other persons in New- York bearing the titles of Churchwardens and Vestrymen, besides those of Trinity Church.
" Whereas, profaneness and licentiousness hath of late over- spread this province, for the .want of a settled ministry throughout the same : To the end the same may be removed, and the ordinances of God duly administered ;
I. Be it enacted, by the Governor, and Council, and Repre- sentatives convened in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That in each of the respective cities and counties hereafter mentioned and expressed, there shall be called, inducted, and established, a good sufficient Protestant minister, to officiate, and have the care of souls, within one year next, and after the publication hereof, that is to say: In the city of New-York one, &c. &c.
II. And for their respective encouragement, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be annually, and once in every year, in every of the respective cities and counties afore- said, assessed, levied, collected, and paid, for the maintenance of each of their respective ministers, the respective sums hereafter mentioned ; For the city and county of New-York, one hundred pounds, &c. &c.
III. And for the more orderly raising the respective maintenances for the ministers aforesaid, Be it further enacted, That the respec- tive justices of every city and county aforesaid, or any two of them, shall every year issue out their warrants to the constables, to summons the freeholders of every city, county, and precinct aforesaid, together, on the second Tuesday of January, for the choosing of Ten Vestrymen and Two Churchwardens ; and the said Justices and Vestrymen, or major part of them, are hereby impowered, within ten days after the said day, or any day after, as
14
HISTORY OF
ratified by and with the consent and authority of the governor of the province, a royal grant and confirmation were made of a certain church and steeple, lately built in the city of New-York, together with a certain piece or parcel of ground adjoining thereunto, being in or near to a street without the north gate of the said city, commonly called and known by the name of Broadway. The title which was given to the church by the original charter, is the same which it bears at the present day-the Parish of Trinity Church. Means were appointed by it for the support of the Rector. The Wardens and Vestrymen were duly consti- tuted, and particularly named ; comprising several members of his majesty's council, and as it would seem, some of the most respectable inhabitants in the province.
Among them were the names of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, an ancestor of Dr. Delancey, Bishop of the Western Diocese of New-York; of Emott, Clarke, Morris, Read, and Ludlow, so familiar to our ears at the present day. These, with the Bishop of London for their Rector, were established a body corporate and politic, with all the privileges and
to them shall seem convenient, to lay a reasonable tax on the said respective cities, counties, parish, or precincts, for the maintenance of the minister and poor of their respective places ; and if they shall neglect to issue their warrants, so as the election be not made that day, they shall respectively forfeit fire pounds current money- of this province," &c. &c .- Laws of New- York, Vols. 1 and 2, folio ed., 1774, pp. 18, 19.
15
TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
powers usually pertaining unto the same. This appointment of the Bishop of London, as Rector, who could not actually fulfil the duties of the office, was a mere temporary arrangement, in order to provide the corporation with a head, essential to its due organization, if not to its existence .*
In 1705, in the reign of Queen Ann, a grant was made to the corporation of Trinity Church by deed patent, signed by Lord Cornbury, who was at that time governor of the province, of a tract of land then called the Queen's farm, now the Church farm, lying on the west side of Mannahata Island, and extending from St. Paul's Chapel northwardly along the river to Skinner road, now Christopher street. This property, which was then literally what it was called, a farm, and which was comparatively of little value, has long since become a compact part
* Wardens and Vestrymen appointed by the Charter of Trinity Church. - 1697. 'I he Lord Bishop of London, Rector.
Thomas Wenham and { The first Church Wardens of the said Robert Lurting parish.
Caleb Heathcote,
Michael Howden,
William Merret,
John Crooke,
John Tudor,
William Sharpas,
James Emott,
Lawrence Read,
William Morris,
David Jamison,
Thomas Clarke,
William Hudleston,
Ebenezer Wilson,
Gabriel Ludlow,
Samuel Burt,
Thomas Burroughs,
James Evets,
Nathaniel Marston,
John Merret, and William Janeway,
The first Vestrymen of the said parish.
4
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HISTORY OF
of the city. Even now, however, from a large pro- portion of it having been put out on long leases, at mere nominal rents, it is much less productive than has been generally supposed.
As soon as the charter was procured, the most active measures were taken for carrying on the building of the church. Provision had been made for this purpose in the instrument itself. It was there ordained and declared, that the Church War- dens and Vestrymen, or any eleven or more of them should make, or cause to be made, an estimate in writing, under the hand or hands of some sufficient person or persons qualified for the same, of the charge and finishing the said church and steeple, and providing a clock and one or more bells for the same, and other works necessary and requisite in and about the said church and steeple, and of build- ing a convenient house for the Rector. And such sum or sums of money as should appear to them, upon such estimate, to be in their judgment com- petent to accomplish the premises, were to be charged upon all and every of the inhabitants in the said parish to be by them paid in seven years, by twenty-eight quarterly and successive payments. And the said Churchwardens and Vestrymen were required and authorized to assess, tax, and rate all these quarterly payments, as they should think most reasonable, equal, and meet ; all which assessments should be confirmed and allowed by two justices of the peace within the said parish, and in communion of the said church as aforesaid, under their hands and
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TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
seals, and be collected by such persons as the said Vestrymen should from time to time appoint.
The estate of the Corporation, at that time, was totally unproductive. The English inhabitants, in the infancy of the province, were few in number, and scanty in means. But what was lacking in ability was abundantly supplied by activity and zeal. A committee of the Vestry was appointed, consisting of Major William Merret, Mr. Thomas Clarke, Captain William Morris, and Captain Tudor, (absent in the service,) who, on the 28th of June, 1697, made a return, that according to order, they had spent a day in getting subscriptions and in collec- ting money for erecting Trinity Church. The members of the corporation generally encouraged the good work also by their own example, not only in the cheerful payment of their lawful dues, but by their free will offerings. *
* Mr. James Emott presented four pistoles as a voluntary gift.
Mr. Benjamin Aske,
£1 19)
Capt. Thomas Wenham, Mr. Robert Lurting,
5 4
William Merret, Esq.
Mr. James Evets, . 1 66
Mr. Michael Howden,
3
Mr. Nathaniel Marston, . Mr. Thomas Burroughs, . Mr. William Janeway,
2 4
As free gifts.
Capt. William Morris, Mr. William Hudleston, Mr. Gabriel Ludlow, .
2 66
2 4
Mr. John Crooke, .
2
2 4
Mr. William Sharpas,
1 66
3 5
3 “
2 16
Capt. Ebenezer Wilson,
On two subsequent occasions several of these persons contributed respectively from three to five pounds.
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HISTORY OF
..
A special subscription was afterwards set on foot for the building of the steeple. The names of the subscribers, the most of which are familiar to us at the present day, and the amount of their contributions, are all recorded in the book of minutes. The sum total collected was £312 13s. 7d., together with £5 12s. 3d., a contribution from the Jews. This curious paper, which it is thought will be looked over by many with some degree of interest, will be found in the appendix A.
The subscriptions, though small, were doubtless according to the ability of the donors, and they must also be regarded in reference to the relative value of money at that period and the present. While some gave of their means, for the promotion of this object, others, as it would seem, cheerfully bestowed their labour and their time. A curious instance of this is entered in the minutes of the Vestry :
Ordered. That Mr. Sam Burte do goe down to Huntington with all expedition, and purchase all the Oyster Shell Lime he can get there, not to exceed the rate of 8 or 9 shillings pr Loade for the use of the Church; and that his expences in travelling and horse be defrayed out of the Publick Stock, he desiring nothing for his time or trouble.
Colonel Peter Schuyler having subscribed five pounds to the church, to be paid in boards, it was ordered that Captain Thomas Wenham should write to him to send the same in such boards as Mr. Evets should direct.
The governor of the province sent to the church twenty-five pounds, and Chidley Brooke, Esq. thirty pounds.
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TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
Another singular expedient was adopted with a view to increase more effectually their limited means.
At a meeting of the Vestry, held on the 6th of August, 1697 :-
Ordered, That there be a petition drawn for the money that was collected for the Slaves in Sally, and in case that it was not disposed for that use, then to be dispos'd for other Pious uses as his Excellency and Council should think fitt; and the same to be delivered to his Excel. by Mr. Mayor and Capt. Tho. Wenham.
It was likewise
Ordered, That the following address should be signed by the Church Wardens in behalf of this Board, and forthwith presented to his Excelly and Council, viz.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY BENJAMIN FLETCHER, CAPTAIN-GENERAL AND GOVERNOR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW-YORK, ETC.
The humble petition of the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, in the city of New-York,
Sheweth,
That there is a certain sum of money raised by virtue of a Lycense from yr Excel, with advice of the Council, from the voluntary contribution of the Inhabitants of this Province and others, towards the relief of Christian Captives in Sally, wch did belong to this Province, and in case of their death, or other escape, or that it be impossible to relieve them; by ye said Lycense it is to be employed to ye like or some other pious use as yr Excel. ye Govr and Council shall appoint.
That it so happens ye said Captives are escaped, dead, or otherwise not to be relieved.
That ye Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church for and towards ye furnishing of said Church did, upon their humble application by Yr Excells favor, obtain from yr Excell in Council on ye 2d of Decembr 1697 an order for ye paymt of said money
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HISTORY OF
to the Church Wardens of said Church, towards ye finishing of said Church, upon condition that if any of ye said Captives be in captivity and to be relieved, ye Corporation of Trinity should procure their relief and redemption at their charge.
And as the persons intrusted by Yr Excel withe the managemt of said money towards ye redemption of Captives, viz. Col. Stephen Van Courtlandt, Peter Jacobs Morris, Doct. Kerfbyl, and Capt. John Kip, will not meet together at ye request of ye said Church Wardens, to deliver up ye accot of ye amount of ye said money and to assign the same ;
Therefore Yr Excells Petns humbly pray Yr Excel, to order that ye sd persons be summoned to appear before yr Excel. and give an accot of ye amount of the said money, and be ordered to assign ye said money, to the said Church Wardens, for ye aforesaid use of Trinity Church without further delay.
And Yr Excels Petns, as in duty bound, shall ever pray, &c.
In the following year-
Mr. Jamison reports to this Board, that ye petition ordered ye last meeting of this Board was read in Council Thursday last, and that Col. Courtlandt one of the Council and one of ye persons concern'd therein, informed ye Govr and Council, that they were ready to deliver up all papers relating to the money collected for ye redemption of Captives in Sally and to assign the same. Whereupon it is ordered, (Mr. Tho. Wenham being indisposed) that Mr. Robt. Lurting, Mr. James Emott, and Mr. David Jamison do waite upon the said Col. Courtlandt and ye other persons to whose charge the said money was committed, and demand all papers relating thereunto, and assignmt of ye same.
On the 10th of April, 1705-
Mr. Jamison presented to the Vestry a letter from Mr. Geilnick & Lodwick of London, dated the 12th of Septr. 1705, wch advised of one hundred and seventy pounds two shillings and threepence sterling, laid out in thirty eight half pieces of stroud waters, and shipt on the New York Mercht. Capt. Jeffors Comander, as per
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TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
Bill of Lading and Invoice, with an accot currt; being the net produce of one hundred and ninety pounds twelve shillings and twopence sterling, remitted from Mr. Hero May and Wm. Banker out of Holland, wch was Intended for Redemption of Slaves out of Sally ; failing that use, was assigned to Trinity Church in New York, wch were read, and Mr. Jamison owned the receipt of the said goods, and informed this Board that his Lordp was pleased on Mr. Vesey's application to him, to give a Bill of Store for the Custome of said goods, amounting to Tenn pounds.
It was thereupon
Ordered, That Mr. Jamison and Capt. Lurting, be Impowerd to dispose of the Thirty Eight pieces of strouds to the best advan- tage for the use of the Church.
Capt. Lurting and Mr. Jamison soon after acquainted this Board that they had disposed of Thirty pieces of strouds, part of the Cargo from England, at Twelve pounds per piece, wch money was ready to be produced, amounting to the sum of three hun- dred and sixty Pounds.
The Eight remaining peeces were subsequently sold at eleven pounds pr peece, amounting in all to £448.
Another singular method was devised, to increase the funds for building the Church, but the final success of which, however, unlike the last, remains unknown.
Capt. Wenham informd this Board, that notwithstanding the many signal gifts his Excel. had bestowed, for the encouragement of Piety and Religion amongst us, in the carrying on of the building of Trinity Church, his Excel. has been further pleasd, for the better effecting of the same, to grant to the present Church Wardens and Managers of the said building, a Commission for all Weifts, Wrecks, and Drift Whales.
And Capt. Clarke was commissionated to depute such proper per- sons on the Island of Nassau, as he should see meet, for the securing, cutting up, and trying of all such drift whales, &c. as should come
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HISTORY OF
on shoar on ye said Island; and that for their care and Labour therein, he should allow them reasonable encouragement.
After the appointment of various committees, for soliciting the benevolence both of citizens and stran- gers, and the most persevering diligence and activity in the discharge of their duties, there still appears, from the following entry on the minutes, to have been a deficiency in their means, and a necessity for bor- rowing money, in order to hasten the completion of the work.
Whereas, the Protestants of this City of the Communion of the Church of England, as by Law were Incorporated, and made a body Politic, Col. Caleb Heathcote, Major William Merret, Capt. Tho. Wenham, Capt. Ebenezer Wilson, Capt. Thomas Clarke, Capt. Wil- liam Morris, Capt. Jeremiah Tothill, and Mr. Derrick Vanderburgh, did become, and are still obligd by obligation, under their hands and seals in the sum of Four hundred Pounds current money of New York, on condition to pay two hundred pounds like money with the interest of six per cent unto the widow Hellegond Dekay, it being employed for the more speedy and better carrying on of the building of Trinity Church : It is therefore ordered, that the same be a corporation debt, and that the Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of the said Church for the time being, do indemnifie the said persons from the said obligations.
In a very short time after the grant of the charter, the nominal office of the Bishop of London as Rector, gave place to one that was actual.
"The choice of a clergyman was lodged in the Vestry, who, after having built the church, offered the appointment of Rector to Mr. Vesey, a gentle- man well known and generally esteemed in the city, provided he should be admitted to holy orders. Mr.
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TRINITY CHURCH, NEW-YORK.
Vesey accordingly went to England and was ordained, and his whole subsequent life fully justified the choice which had been made of him. For fifty years he continued to discharge the duties of Rector of Trinity Church, and for a great part of that time was entrusted with the general ecclesiastical oversight of the Church in this colony, as the Bishop of London's Commissary."* The new Rector first performed divine service in Trinity Church on the 6th of February, 1697. The Rev. Mr. Keith, one of the missionaries of the society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, thus quaintly notices it a few years afterwards. "At New York there was a brave congregation of people belonging to the church, as well as a very fine fabric, and the Rev. Mr. Vesey was very much esteemed and loved, both for his ministry and good life." This testimony is also most amply confirmed not only in regard to Mr. Vesey, but all the clergy of the province, by a letter from Lord Cornbury, who was a great upholder of the Church within his jurisdiction, and by another from Colonel Heathcote, written in the same year, on the 9th of November, 1705. The language of the latter is particularly strong: "I must do all the gentlemen the justice to declare, that a better clergy were never in any place, there being not one amongst them that has the least stain or blemish as to his life and conversation."
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