USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 10
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The Ber William'Lesey, Q ... Appointed Rector February 6th, 169. Died July 11th, 146.
99
Parentage of William Vesey
1697]
charges are, from first to last, without foundation in fact, and contradicted by direct and indirect testimony, it seems a duty to display them in full, with a view to the vindication of a consistent and loyal member of our Church, who was born and bred in her communion, had served her many years before he ever set foot in New York, and was in all respects worthy of the confidence reposed in him by the Churchmen of New York, and the high honors to which he was called. On this point some- thing has been already said in the preceding chapter ; it is now in order to present the facts in full.
William Vesey, son of William and Mary Vesey, was born at Braintree, in Massachusetts, October 10, 1674. The family had been established there for some time. Few details of his early life are known, but they are suffi- cient to establish the Churchly character of his people, and to indicate the nature of his training. A letter of September 1, 1710, from William Vesey and others, states that " Mr. Vesey, Minister of the Church in New York, when he was a youth can say that he with his parents and many more were communicants of the Church of England, and that in their family at Braintree divine service was daily read."1
At the age of fifteen he entered Harvard College, be-
were not wanting in his lifetime those who could impugn his motives of action, and the violence of party charged him with inconsistency, a base regard for temporal inter- est, and want of fidelity to the principles to which he was supposed to be pledged by his birth and training among the Independents of New England ; but a generous spirit cannot fail to sympathize in his emancipation from narrow prejudices and to applaud as judicious a conformity so amply vindicated by the success of his prolonged and sub- sequent ministry."-Hist. Mag., July, 1867, p. 12. The writer himself, being influ- enced by Dr. Moore, took the same view in his article on Trinity Parish in Bishop Perry's History, vol. ii., 474.
1 On the Church in Braintree, consult Adams's Three Episodes in Massachusetts History, vol ii., 621 ; the Records of Christ Church, Quincy ; the Records of the First Church, Quincy ; the Braintree Records ; Potter's History of Quincy, etc. The Vesey family will be found there in many relations.
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History of Trinity Church [1697
ing then, as he wrote at a later period, a communicant of the Church of England. He graduated at the age of nineteen, in a class numbering fifteen, of whom ten be- came clergymen.1 There is no evidence to show that he ever swerved from his allegiance to the Church or forsook her communion. After graduating, he went to Sag, a village on Long Island south of the present Sag Harbor, and preached there for six months, having, no doubt, as was the case with the Rev. Mr. Eburne, at Brookhaven, in 1685, the support of members of the Church of England. After that, he went to Hempstead and remained there two years, preaching as before. This episode in his life has been misunderstood, from want of attention to his own statement on the subject. A letter of his is preserved, in which he says, that, " not being of age to receive orders," at the time of his graduation,? he undertook work as a layman, "by advice of some of our Churches"; a state- ment which shows that he entered on his work at the sug- gestion, not of Mather and the New England Congrega- tionalists, but of Churchmen, who thought that under the circumstances he might well exercise his gifts for the good of the Church in which he had been born and bred.
The people of Hempstead were made up of friends of the Church of England and Dissenters. No religious de- nomination ruled. Miller writes that Mr. Vesey "with- out any Orders, is at Hempstead," where there were some "300 or 400 English, most Dissenters, and some Dutch." 3 It is clear that Mr. Vesey's work was that of a lay reader and preacher in a missionary field. He performed no
1 See reprint of Catalogus Harvardiarni, Cambridge, 18So, p. 6. "Guilielmus Veazie, Mr., Oxon., 1697," is twelfth in the list, which seems to have been arranged with reference to the social status of the students.
? It is well known that in the Church of England no man can be admitted to Deacon's Orders who is under 21 years of age.
' Miller's Description, Gowan's edition, p. 37.
IOI
Vesey as Lay Reader
1697]
priestly function, and served no otherwise than as many laymen are now serving the Church in neglected portions of this country. The Rev. J. Thomas, who came to Hempstead as the missionary of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1704, wrote five years later that in this district the people had been "wholly un- acquainted with the Blessed Sacrament for five and fifty years together." As they had "been so long in the dis- use of it,"1 this worthy missionary may be regarded as the true successor of young Vesey, who doubtless pre- pared the way for him ; he officiated in the building which was used by Vesey. That the latter, his forerunner, did good service to the Church, is the opinion of a learned and competent annalist, who says, referring to Mr. Vesey's services, "We have abundant reason for claiming that it was greatly owing to him that St. George's parish [Hemp- stead] came into existence." ?
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The gossipy and false story that Mr. Vesey was sent to Hempstead by the Congregationalists to promote the cause of Dissent was an invention of his enemies. It ap- pears to have been first put in circulation about the year 17148; and it is only in consequence of want of access to the original records that it held its ground so long, and deceived men of such learning and critical skill as Dr. George H. Moore. Every addition to our stock of known facts relating to the Veseys makes its refutation more easy. For example, it has been ascertained that Vesey's father was a Jacobite, and that the son was accused of
' Digest of S. P. G. Records, 1701-1892, p. 58.
9 History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N. Y., by the Rev. William H. Moore, D.D.
3 The slander appears in a paper entitled " An Address from Governor Hunter's Friends to the Bishop of London against the Rev. Mr. Vesey." It is printed in full in the Documentary History of New York, vol. iii., 264-8, where any one may read the choice morceau.
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History of Trinity Church [1697
the same tendencies. Jacobite and Dissenter were not convertible terms ; and nothing can be more unlikely than that Mather would have sent a mere youth of that reputa- tion on an important mission. The father was bitter in his opposition to Mather and the Congregationalists, and Sewall writes, June 20, 1696, "Wm. Veisy is bound over for plowing on the day of Thanksgiving."1 They read the daily prayers from the Book of Common Prayer, and the father, Lieutenant Veasey, contributed towards "erecting a church for God's worship in Boston accord- ing to the Constitution of the Church of England." "In 1704, Christ Church, Braintree, was fully organized, sev- eral of the names found earliest in the town records, such as Veazie, Saunders, and Bass, being those of its wardens and vestrymen."?
In 1696, Lieutenant William Veazie was Church- warden, and it was during his term of office that, for deliberately ploughing on Thanksgiving Day, as a protest against the appointment of days of fasts and thanks- giving by the Puritan party, he was punished by being put in the pillory.
The Braintree organization lay dormant till 1726, "when the matter was revived and a site for the proposed edifice was conveyed by deed bearing date of August 25, 1727, as the free gift to the Society [i. e., the S. P. G. ] by William and Benjamin Veazey, 'for the building of a Church of England and no other purpose.' " 3
The donors and the members of the congregation further bound themselves to send over young Ebenezer Miller, then a student of divinity, to England, to receive Episcopal ordination.
1 Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. v., series v., 428.
' Adams's Three Episodes in Massachusetts History, vol. ii, 621, 622.
3 Ibid., p. 628.
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103
Samuel Myles
1697]
Young Vesey, the son, clearly suffered on account of the father's known views, for which the latter stood so firm. The father had been firm in declaring himself a member of the Church of England, refusing to be taxed for the support of Dissent.1 The statement that Mr. Vesey went from Long Island to New York is not true ; on the con- trary he was in Boston, and connected with King's Chapel in that town, when elected by the City Vestry of New York. Of the facts on this point we must next take notice.
In the year 1692, the Rev. Samuel Myles had charge of King's Chapel, at Boston. Mr. Myles was the son of the Rev. John Myles, an amiable Baptist minister of Rehoboth. He graduated at Harvard College in 1684, and received pay for teaching school in Charles- town from July 17 of that year until October, 1687, and perhaps longer. He appears to have had some trouble about his ecclesiastical views ; two years before his gradu- ation he, with two others, was "publickly admonished for speaking irreverently before ye Corporation."? What took place after the close of his services at Charlestown does not appear ; but the records of King's Chapel show that Mr. Myles officiated there July 1, 1689. There is no convincing proof that he had ordination until he went to England in 1692 ; the times were trying, and it was neces- sary to make an expensive and perilous voyage to England
1 Bellomont wrote from Boston to the Lords of Trade, July 22, 1699: " Vesey's father lives near this town, is a most violent Jacobite and perhaps the boldest and most avowed one that has been known anywhere. The indictment (for he was try'd convict and sentenced to stand in the Pillory for uttering desperate words against his Majesty) is worth your Lordship's reading, a copy whereof goes (No. 4) tho' it be not a constant rule that the same principles descend from father to son, yet it must be granted that where a son is bred up to the age of a man under an ill father, 'tis ex- traordinary if the son do not imbibe ill principles from the ill man his father." This is the kind of a son said to have been selected by Mather for an important mission ! N. Y. Col. Docs., iv., 534. The Boston " Records" confirm this, and show that he was held in £500 bail. He maintained that King James was his lawful prince.
9 N. E. Hist., Gen. Register, vii., 53.
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History of Trinity Church [1697
in order to obtain Orders 1; and this led to loose views on the subject. There were indications of the same practices in Virginia. Mr. Myles probably preached without ordi- nation ; but there were no irregularities in connection with the Holy Communion, as appears from the fact that while the weekly collections of the church are recorded, there is no mention of the purchase of sacramental bread and wine during the period from July, 1, 1689, to July, 1692 ; while, immediately after his departure to England, and on the entrance of the Rev. Mr. Smith as officiating minister, there comes the entry of money "gathered at the sacra- ment." 2
In Rapelye's sketch of the Rev. William Vesey it is stated that he " pursued his theological studies under the direction of the Rev. Samuel Myles, Rector of King's Chapel, Boston." In an unpublished letter of his, Mr. Vesey says that he " preached three months in the Church at Boston at the request of Mr. Miles and the Church Wardens." Sewall writes in his diary, July 26, 1696, "Mr. Veisy preach'd at the Ch. of Engl'd ; had many Auditors" 3; while the "Records of King's Chapel " show what he received for the sermon: "July 27 pd. Mr. Phesy for sermon 1. 00. 00." Practically he was the as- sistant minister, and though as yet without Orders, was in regular training for the coming work. He states in the letter referred to, that he was at King's Chapel when called to the City of New York. Thus at every point the case is complete, and the falsehood of the statement
1 The first two persons appointed assistants at King's Chapel failed to reach their destination. Dansy died on the passage out, and White's ship was blown to Barbadoes, where he died. See Greenwood's History of King's Chapel, p. 54; also Foote's Annals of King's Chapel ; likewise Beardsley's Life of Bishop Seabury, Appendix A., PP. 463-4.
9 Foote's Annals of King's Chapel, i., 9.
a Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. v., series v., 430.
IO5
Vesey Always a Churchman
1697]
that he was a Dissenting minister on Long Island at the time of his election is apparent. Let us hear, in conclu- sion, the man's account of himself, given in the letter of which mention has been made :
" I have been a communicant of the Church of England ever since I was 15 years old, and after I had my degree in the College of New England, by advice of some of our Churches (not being of age to re- ceive Orders) I preached 6 months at Sag and 2 years at Hempstead in this Province, where, I presume, my Life and Doctrine were no disservice to our Church, and after 3 months in the Church at Boston, at the request of Mr. Miles and the Church Wardens ; and then, being in the 24th year of my age, I was called, November 2d, 1696, by the Church Wardens and Vestry of the City of New York to officiate as minister pursuant to an act of Assembly, as will appear by the inclosed minute of said Assembly and Vestry. Accordingly, I departed hence for England, there was honored by the University of Oxford with the degree of Master of Arts, July 12, 1696. Ordained Priest ye 2d of August following, and the same year I returned to the City of New York."
(Letter of Mr. Vesey in Letter-Book S. P. G., vol. 24, p. 461, part of original, bound up with N. Y .- N. England, 1702-99, No. 28.) 1
1 The statements found in American Presbyterianism (New York, 1885) are grossly erroneous, especially on pages 144-7. Mr. Myles's letter may properly be given here as one of the many testimonials to the honesty and consistency of Mr. Vesey's purpose and character.
BOSTON, June ye 25, 1714.
Sr-I should be wanting in my Duty to religion, and ye Rev'd Mr. Vesey, whose conversation and manner of life I have had certain knowledge of, from his Youth should I not embrace this opportunity of recommending him as a very worthy person to ye venerable Society, whose behaviour has been circumspect and unblamable, his conduct grave and prudent ; his diligence unwearied in his ministerial function, and in a word thro'out his whole Course has been a pattern of the Christian Life and an honour to our Church. I therefore hope and pray that no misrepresentations and as- perssions of such who to serve a turn make fair pretences, and Cover their abominable intentions with the most artfull dissimulation, may sully his reputation or prejudice his Interest in ye least. And in good hopes yt he shall receive all necessary encourage- ment and obtain a safe and quiet settlement for ye time to come I remain your most humble, most obedient, most faithful serv't.
(Manuscripts of the S. P. G., vol. ix., 360.)
SAMUEL MYLES.
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History of Trinity Church
[1697
If Mr. Vesey needed any further indorsement by way of showing that he was in every particular qualified for the rectorship of Trinity, and came into it in an easy and nat- ural way, without compromise of principle, he might have had it from one of the most interesting and admirable per- sonages of his time. Colonel Caleb Heathcote, his friend and warm supporter, was a man whose character and stand- ing as citizen, soldier, statesman, and Churchman cannot be impeached. Caleb Heathcote was the son of Gilbert Heath- cote, Mayor of Chester in Old England. He came to New York in 1691, bought lands in West Chester, and erected the Manor of Scarsdale. He was Judge of West Chester, Colonel of Militia, Councillor of the Province, and for three years Mayor of New York ; he was also Commander of the Colonial Forces from 1715 to his death in 1721.1 A well- read and intelligent Churchman, and an earnest and able advocate of Church principles, he was emphatically a mem- ber of the Church militant and full of missionary zeal. The Venerable Society was hardly organized before he put him- self in communication with its representatives ; his corre- spondence with that Society began as early, at least, as September 30, 1702, and continued for the remainder of his life, indicating throughout his ardent desire to extend the work of the Society and secure the Episcopate for the Colonies. The letters of this estimable man vindicate Governor Fletcher from the charge made by his enemies that he had perverted the Ministry Act from its original intention and forced an Establishment on a reluctant popu- lation by an unjust application of that Act to the Church of England. Colonel Heathcote was Mr. Vesey's stanch friend, not only before his call by the City Vestry, but afterwards, as long as he lived ; among the founders of
1 See Bolton's West Chester, vol. ii., 226 ; also History of West Chester County, . 1886, vol. ii., p. 609, n., and Index to N. Y. Col. Docs., under " Heathcote."
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Colonel Heathcote
1697]
Trinity Corporation, he was always loyal to its rector, and his strenuous defender against the enemies who never ceased to harass and annoy him by false accusations and unfriendly acts. The enjoyment of the confidence and support of such a man as this is a sufficient guaranty, if any was needed, of the rectitude and high character of one whose fame and honor are in the keeping of his de- scendants and successors in office, and of all members of the venerable parish which he served for nearly half a century.
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CHAPTER VII.
THE BUILDING OF TRINITY CHURCH.
Commencement of the Work by the " Managers of the Church of England "-Patent. Granted for Wrecks and Drift Whales-Building Contract-" Managers" become the Church Vestry-Collections and Supplies for the Work-Slaves in Sallee-Fletcher's Arms Set up-Appointment of a Sexton-William Huddleston Appointed Clerk- Opening of the Church for Divine Service, March 13, 1698-Marriage of Mr. Vesey- Subsequent History of his Wife-Farewell Address to Governor Fletcher-First Elec- tion of Parish Officers by the People.
T 'HE Charter of Trinity Church was signed at the Fort in New York, May 6, 1697, being the 9th year of King William III. ; it bears the signature and seal of Governor Fletcher and the Secretary of the Council. A brief memorandum of its principal provisions has already been given.
It will be remembered that the construction of a church had been commenced by the " Managers of the Affairs of the Church of England," as they styled themselves, before the charter was granted; that Mr. Vesey had gone to England; and that at the time of his ordination and in- duction, the church was not yet ready for use. As for the support of the rector, the law required that " £160 should be raised by the City Wardens and Vestry by warrant, and that they should pay him the maintenance aforesaid at four equal and Quarterly Payments, under the penalty of Five Pounds current Money aforesaid for every Re- fusal, Neglect or Default."
The work of building being now well advanced, the Governor granted to the "Managers" a patent for wrecks
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109
The Building Contract
1697-98]
and drift whales. This curious document, probably the oldest in the possession of the Corporation, is of unique interest.
It recites that the Wardens and other Managers con- cerned in the building of the church are authorized "To seize upon and secure all Weifts Wrecks Drift Whales and whatsoever else Drives from the high sea and is then lost below high water mark and not having a lawful Owner within bounds and limits of his Majesties Province of New York." They also are empowered "to tow ashore and then to cutt up the said Whales and try into Oyle and secure the Whalebone," applying the proceeds "towards the building of the Church aforesaid and to no other use whatsoever until the same be perfectly finished."1
The building contract, dated June 3, 1697, appears to be worth reproducing.
" Articles of Agreement, made agreed and concluded on between Wm. Merritt, Jeremiah Tothill, Wm. Morris, Thomas Clark managrs for Trinity Church & Derrick Van D burgh mason viz It is agreed yt said Derick shall furnish said managrs with four good and sufficient masons such as said managrs shall like two whereof shall be Abra- & Petter Rissio for which said manags are to pay four shill and six pence per diem also said van de burgh is to furnish sd managrs for use of Trinity Church three labourers, viz Jack his own negro, Jack Jame's negro & ye negro belonging to ye french minister at three shills per diem and said Derrick to receive his money every Saturday night. Two masons must begin next monday and the two other to begin the mun- day comes seven night and the three labourers must begin on munday next to work and all said masons & labourers from the time they enter upon the work shall not desert ye same without ye leave of said manags and shall faith fully perform the several duties. In testimony of which said agreement wee have sett our hands this third day of June, 1697, in
1 This is engrossed upon a yellow and worm-eaten parchment in possession of the Corporation bearing date of September 9, 1696. The privilege was extended so as to give the Church Wardens and Vestry right to all such drift whales as should come on the Island of Nassau. See Records of the Vestry, i., ii., under date of October 25, 1697.
IIO
History of Trinity Church
[1697-
the ninth year of the reign of Wm the Third of England, Scotland, France & Ireland Kings &c.
WILL MERRETT JEREMIAH TOTHILL WILL MORRIS THOS. CLARKE D. BURGH." 1
The first entry in the first volume of the Records of Trinity Parish relates to
"A meeting of the Managers and Members of Trinity Church, in the City of New York ye 28th of June, 1697."
It was then ordered,
"That Capt. Lawrence Reed, Mr. Sam : Burte, Mr. John Crooke & Mr. Tho : Burroughs do Collect the arrears of Subscriptions for the carrying on of Trinity Church & make their return Munday next."
Overseers were appointed for each working day.2
Two days later, June 30th, the " Managers " were merged into the regular Vestry of the church, by a reso- lution :
"That the Minutes of this Board for the future be entred in the name of the Church Wardens & Vestrymen of the English Protestant Church of the City of New Yorke, Incorporated by the name of Trinity Parish." ª
1 Special MSS. No. 2.
9 Records, i., I. The Historical Magazine, 1872-4, contains what are called "Early Records of Trinity Church," being a portion of the contents of a manuscript covering minutes of the Wardens and Vestry from June 28, 1697, to July 1, 1717. It it stated that they were found among some papers belonging to Dr. John Clarkson Jay, of Rye, New York. "The manuscript, when collated, was found to cover one hundred and sixty-five pages of foolscap paper ; not numbered, but consecutive, and almost without a break. Some of the sheets are stitched together in their books, whilst others are detached. The numerous erasures, and insertions of words and sen- tences, as well as the orders taken for the transcription of the minutes, show that this was the rough draft of proceedings, to be copied into the Vestry Register. As such, it doubtless remained in the hands of the Clerk, as a paper of no particular value." See Hist. Mag., 1872, pp. 10, 73 ; 1873, pp. 218, 285, 351, and 1874, pp. 10, 101, 167, 267. The last portion of the printed matter ends with the proceedings of January 26, 1708, N. S.
8 Records, i., 2. The rough draft reads, " Incorporated by the name of Trinity Parish of the Citty of New Yorke in America."
III
The Building of the Old Church
1698]
It was also ordered,
" That the Address to be drawn to return his Excellency the acknowl- edgment of this Board for his Excellency's many Generous Gifts, &c., do run in the same stile."
Then comes the entry that
" The following Address was read & approv'd & ordered to be sign'd be ye wholl Board."
It was further ordered that
" Mr. Crook & Mr. Burrows & Mr. Burt Shall pay fourteene pounds fiveteene Shillings & Nine pence wch they have gathered in of Sub- scriptions to Mr. Wilson in order to pay for Stones & workmen." Also that " Mr. Mayor, Mr. Burt, Mr. Lurting, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Clark, Mr. Morris, doe call in all papers relating to the Church, and doe Settle the accotts that they meett on Monday next . . . att three the Clock and from time to time untill the accotts be finished to meett att the house of Mr. [the] Mayor." Again, that " Mr. Mayor, Mr. Tothill doe provid. an Engine to gett up Stones to the Steple, to take Mr. Evertt to Assistt them."
In further quotation from the Records, we shall simply give the date, with such extracts as it may seem desirable to make.
July 31, 1697. " The Church-wardens & Vestry men " met, nine persons being present, when overseers were ap- pointed, and it was ordered
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