USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 18
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O N the 19th of July, 1719, Governor Hunter's admin- istration ended, and on the 19th of April, 1720, it was announced in London that William Burnet, son of the Bishop of Salisbury, had been designated by the King as Governor of New York and New Jersey. Before the arrival of the new Governor, the necessary functions were performed by Peter Schuyler as President of the Council.1 Governor Burnet arrived at Amboy, N. J., September 16th, and on the following day published his commission in New York. His instructions were similar to those of his immediate predecessor .?
During this administration, the Church and rector were in amicable relations with the civil authority. The Gov- ernor attended the services regularly, gave a suitable measure of his time to the transaction of public business, and spent the rest of it among his books, of which he had a great number, and in which he took delight, like an honest bibliophile. After all that we have read of disa- greeable and vexatious in the career of Hunter, Bellomont,
1 N. Y. Col. Docs., v., 537.
Ibid., v., 541, and N. Jersey Col. Docs., S. I., v., I.
197
198
History of Trinity Church
[1720-
and others, it is most refreshing to meet with this worthy and cultivated gentleman.
The year after his arrival in New York he married a Miss Van Horne, and in 1727 he removed to Massachu- setts, having been appointed Governor of that province. Dunlap says that
"Burnet was free from the vices of his military predecessors ; he was not infected by the petty pride derived from a red coat and laced epaulettes ; neither had he the desire to accumulate money. His conversation was the delight of men of letters ; and he carried little with him but the love of his associates and his books. There were some who thought the higher of him, that he inherited a portion of his father's propensity to the study of divinity, and valued him for (that which produced a smile of derision in others) his exposition of the prophesies." 1
Mr. Vesey's relations with him were amicable, espe- cially as the former had had his fill of contention with the
1 History of the New Netherlands, i., 290, 291. Upon Burnet's death at Bos- ton, 1728, the Gazette of that city had a most appreciative notice, September 15th, and said, " His Library which was his chief delight and pride is one of the noblest and richest collections that America has seen." Regarding his interest in the Collections of New York City we have a letter written by Burnet in New York, May 30, 1723, in which, addressing the Secretary of the Venerable Society, he mentions, among other things, that Chaplain Sharp wants to be paid for his donation of books made some years before. He says : " I have yours of the 15th June and 30th August last and at the Ven- erable Societys desire I have reced the Books that were in Mr. Neaus hands and find some wanting and some that are not in the Society's Catalogue of what Mr. Sharpe gave. There is another parcel of Books left by Mr. Sharpe with another per- son which I shall have brought to me and if there are any among them mentioned in the Society's Catalogue I will take care of them as they desire till such an Act of Assembly can be passed as is conformable to the Act of Parliament transmitted to me it will take some time to bring the Assembly into the notion of a Public Library but when I have found means to make some addition to this Gift of Mr. Sharpes I will endeavor to establish a public Library and to get to secure it, Mr. Orem has been at the pains to make a new Catalogue and when I can get the new parcel I will give you a further account of the condition of the Books. I hear that Mr. Sharpe has writt to several persons here that he is very poor and that he wants those books to get a little money to subsist on, if so I believe the Society will think it reasonable to make him some gratification in consideration of his present if he is now reduced to a state of misery." N. Y. Gen. Con. MSS., i., 602. See List of his Books and Proposals for Erecting a School, Library, and Chapel at New York. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1880, p. 339-363.
1
199
Address to Governor Burnet
1728]
royal authorities, while public officers themselves had learned that Mr. Vesey was not a man to be overlooked or ill-treated with impunity.
An address in the usual form was presented to Gover- nor Burnet, September 27, 1720, in which the Wardens and Vestry say that
"it is with pleasure and gratitude we reflect on the early instances of his Majesty's paternal care to the Established Church at his first acces- sion to the Throne and which he has been graciously pleased to con- tinue to our Infant Church here in your Excellency whose Descent from an eminent Prelate of our own Church and your excellincys pious education and virtues give us the greatest expectations of protection and countenance in the enjoyment of all our religious rights," 1
in all of which they were by no means disappointed.
A letter of Mr. Vesey, written in 1722 in reply to a set of questions sent to him by the Bishop of London, pre- sents a good view of the state of the parish. The rector, after giving the date of his ordination and of his licence, and speaking of the regularity of his ministrations, says, "the extent of my parish is 14 miles in length and in it are sup- posed to be 1600 Familys of English Dutch and Jews." There were also "1362 Indian and Negro Slaves, and for their Conversion the honourable Society appointed a catechist to instruct them in the principles of Christianity." He adds, "Many of them frequent our church and have been baptised, and some of them admitted to the Lord's Table." Services were held "every Sunday, holiday, Wednesday and Friday in the year. Divine service is performed in the Church, and the members of the Church ordinarily attend it, and on Sundays there is a great con- gregation." "The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper," he continues, is administered "once in six weeks, and the usual number of Communicants is One hundred and up-
' Records, i., 122.
200
History of Trinity Church
[1720-
wards, but on the three great festivals Christmas, Easter & Whitsuntide more than two hundred." He says that he gave his personal attention to catechising the youth in church on Sundays, until the Society appointed a Cate- chist, and that work was done by Mr. Wetmore, whose labors were "attended with great success." All things, he said, were duly provided for the decent and orderly performance of divine service, while the value of the liv- ing was a hundred and sixty pounds of New York money, " lev'd by Act of Assembly on the inhabitants of this city, and put into the hands of the Church wardens who pay the same to me by warrant quarterly, and it amounts to near {100 sterling." He had no house or glebe, but the rental of the farm afforded a sum of twenty-six pounds annually, which was to be made a special payment until the parish could provide him "a convenient dwelling house." He also gives a brief account of the parish school under Mr. Huddlestone, who taught forty poor children ; while he reports as under his care a "small parochial library," which, though he had never received any particular orders concerning it, was nevertheless care- fully preserved.
May 14, 1724, a committee was appointed "to inspect into the Boundarys of the Church's ffarme and Endeavor to find out what Encroachments have been made thereon and by whom and that they make their report thereof to this Board in a month." 1
The watchful guardians of the Church's estate, on May 31, 1724, reported that they had seen the deeds of persons supposed to have encroached upon the "Church ffarme," but find that no encroachment had taken place .?
At a meeting of the Vestry held August 21, 1724, a letter from the Venerable Society was read, in reply to
' Records, i., 132.
9 Ibid., i., 133.
201
James Wetmore
1725]
the communication sent by the parish December 18, 1722 ; it gave the intelligence that the Rev. James Wetmore had been appointed Catechist in the place of Mr. Neau, and that he was to assist Mr. Vesey "in his parochial duties." This gentleman was the son of Ezrahiah Wet- more of Middletown, Conn., where he was born Dec. 25, 1695. He graduated at Yale in 1714, became a Con- gregational minister, and was settled over a church at North Haven. In 1721, declaring his adhesion to the Church of England, he went to London, and was there or- dained in 1723, returning immediately to New York. The Society, in announcing his appointment, adds that it expects that the parish will make "a sufficient allowance for his decent and Commodious support," in accordance with its engagement. Secretary Humphreys wrote Mr. Vesey to the same effect, saying that he had notified Mr. Wetmore, who probably would soon wait upon him. The Society had also appointed Mr. Huddlestone School- master. This was followed by the reading of a letter addressed to Mr. Wetmore by the Secretary. It was thereupon ordered that the subscription paper now before this Board and subscribed by the most of them be " carryed round to the Inhabitants of this City to receive their subscriptions towards supporting the said Mr. Wet- more." 1
This matter being happily adjusted, we pass on over a period of nearly two years without finding anything that demands special notice. The enlargement of the church seems to have been attended with great satisfaction : whether the services were suspended during the enlarge- ment, the Records do not say.
About this time, however, the local news began to ap- pear in print. In the year 1725, Mr. Bradford began his 1 Records, i., 134.
202
History of Trinity Church
[1726
weekly publication, The Gazette.1 His gleanings, how- ever, were scanty, and down to 1730 there is little or no reference to any of the religious affairs of New York. The foreign news, however, was given very fully ; arriving and departing ships were reported ; Mr. Bradford had for sale some " very good coffee "; there is " a Negro man and Negro boy to be sold, also the house commonly called the Dancing House," which Mr. John Barberie wants to dis- pose of ; while another negro wearing a " Cinnament col- oured Waistcoat," and speaking Dutch, is called for by his master.
At a meeting held June 24, 1726, the Board was noti- fied by the Rev. Mr. Wetmore that he had been called to be the minister at Rye, in the room of the Rev. Mr. Jenny, who had been sent to Hempstead, and that with the approval of the parish, he would accept the position at Rye, as it gave him " more certain support and main- tenance for himself and Family."?
July 1, following, the Board voted to address the Society respecting the appointment of a successor to Mr. Wetmore. They also voted to "pay Mr. Thomas Noxon for carrying a letter to Stratford to the Reverend Mr. Samuel Johnson "; but they do not say what the letter referred to, though possibly it related to some plan then in view for securing him as Assistant in the parish, which many years later, in connection with his duties as Presi- dent of the college, he ably served.
July 3, 1726, Mr. Vesey reported a draft of a letter he had prepared to be forwarded to the Society in support of the request for an Assistant in the place of Mr. Wet- more, which he says is necessary on the ground of there
1 The New York Society Library has the only known file of the Gazette between March 21, 1726 and November 17, 1729. The Lenox Library has the best file after 1729.
9 Records, i., 39.
:
203
Work among the Negroes
1726]
being "about One thousand and four Hundred Indian and Negro slaves, and the number daily increasing by Births and Importations from Guiney and other parts."
He goes on to say :
"A considerable number of these Negroes by the Society's charity have been already instructed in the principles of Christianity, have received holy Baptism, are communicants of our Church and frequently approach the Alter : We doubt not but that the Society has received from Mr. Neau their former Cathechist repeated accounts of the great success of his mission. And since Mr. Wetmore's appointment we have with great pleasure observed on Sundays upwards of an hundred English children and Negro servants attending him in the Church and their Catecheticall Instructions being ended singing of Psalms and praising God with great devotion."
Mr. Vesey again refers to his "declining age," and the need of " a good English preacher of such a clear audible voice as may reach our large Church and the ears of the numerous hearers." An "afternoon sermon " by such a preacher he considered absolutely necessary "in this pop- ulous city, a place of considerable trade and resort and the center of America." If such a pious and learned man "has an inclination to teach a Latin School he will also find a very good account in the discharge of his duty." He adds that "were it possible for the Society to have a perfect view of this Infant Church planted among many different nations & several meeting houses," there would be a large increase of interest in the work.1
This appeal was accompanied by a letter to the Bishop of London styled "the Great Shepherd and Bishop of these American Churches." It was also ordered that Mr. Vesey join with the wardens in writing to " some friend in England to solicite their letters to the society and the Bishop of London."
1 Records, i., 142. Five guineas were afterward paid to Thomas Moon, Under Secretary of the Society, for this service. Ibid., i., 149.
204
History of Trinity Church
[1726
On the 4th of September it was announced
"that the Society had been pleased to appoint and send over the Rev. Mr. Colgan for the Parish of Rye into which the said Mr. Wetmore had already been called and inducted ; and that inasmuch as he was willing and desirous to officiate in said parish until the Society's further pleasure should be known therein, he and Mr. Colgan had agreed that Mr. Colgan should officiate in Trinity Church in his stead untill such time as they should receive farther orders from the Society ; and the said Mr. Colgan also appearing before this Board and declaring his assent thereto it was consented to and approved of accordingly, and it was thereupon ordered that a letter be writt to the Venerable So- ciety desiring them to appoint the said Mr. Colgan to officiate here in the stead of Mr. Wetmore if they had not already been pleased to appoint some other person,"
while a subscription paper was to be "carryed about for Mr. Colgan."1
October 17, a letter to the Society was reported, and ordered to be sent ; in which it was stated that Mr. Wet- more was much desired at Rye, having been "born in the country and best acquainted with their temper," and be- sides, could not be soe well heard and understood in our large Church." Still further " we are not sure of raising a sufficient support for his family * whereas Mr. * Colgan's clear distinct and loud voice can reach the re- motest hearers in the church where he has read divine Service and preached with great applause."?
November 14, 1726, a subscription paper in favor of Mr. Colgan was reported, while it was voted that persons who had subscribed to the building of the church might have the amount allowed in connection with the purchase of pews.
It was also resolved that the Wardens wait upon the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the City, and acquaint them " that the vestry will readily appropriate either the
' Ibid., i., 144.
? Ibid., 145.
204a,
NewYork Ourobor 17th 1726
Te the Doctor Church wardon & Terry of Finity Touch in the City of Newyork in America Did fornotime agoe in a soft bible Manner Pray No More" Sonotyto ford a faitochift in profil Corders to officiate fioro, if they Should bepleased to order 2; the Show In? telmore to fatto in 22ge , where he had been legally miller & Inducted Muywant to an Act of Ofsoulfly of thisprovince, But finco But Odtr of the Route 91 Colgan is anived with order to officiate a To Picoty's Infusionaryah Biyo, but finding that Me Wol moro had a great define to live here, and the Profy of that Town very much inclined that he Should Sotelo among from Be Going calor by house, Bagn in the Country and best aurquanto i will their Timport, haagnos foran Exchange if to fourty Should bepleased to approve of it.
We Therefore haarlily contun with them and the boffy of Room addressing Hat bonerablo body frunbly to define They would ploafe to confirmthat dopoom? nd to order the 200? In Medgan to officiate here if they have not all ody up portor other Catorfift. for Such an Exchange, as we humbly sousawo, willin the present proflure of Affairob prevent forno trouble and confusion and most Effectually promoto the great End and Design of the fouet ji proufand Charitable Endeavour Thopraco and profpority of the Churches and The futureft of Religion in Vioforan . And the' to have a great Regard for the Rev In. "Wetmore, whole life and Conversation is unovroptionable, and have hitherto expressedit by our furfrigiony according to our Abilitys, Yol inasmuch as ho sanit to fowelt heard and under foot His ownlargo Punti , und finofino all and function to 2010, woarenot / mo of raigoing a Sufficient Support for his fourly by voluntary lubferiptions, tofiorea In. "Elgan doar diffinet and loud bono ran wach the Against oft Hearone in the Church , where he has road divine formine and proaction with great Option for And This with his Recommendation from England googlem & Srapport of", doing moro Good here, than in frat Tariffe to w liul fo was font, and leaves us ho Room to doubl of raising formach Gy lub Cription. wwith Profondtip Annuale Blowano may be a Suitable Euronagement to fina to continue among us, all which is hover Proto? moje humbly Submitted to the re 1 Configuration of the How fourty by us who fimerely pray for then Jenneratt and Elorwall Happisoft and Jubfizibe Gur folver Their and your
Ready.
trento abolição and. " mofl obedient irmarble .
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John Waldron James Searte John Scarle
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REQUEST FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. COLGAN, OCT. 17, 1726.
205
1 John Montgomery, Governor
1727]
pew in the East Gallery in which the former Mayors used to sitt or the pew in the West Gallery of the Church in which his Excellency the Governor lately satt, for the use of their Corporation."1
November 21, the petition for the appointment of Mr. Colgan being not yet granted, the Wardens and Vestry made the request that when the minister of Rye came to town he might have " the liberty of reading prayers and preaching in the afternoon," which request Mr. Vesey readily granted .?
The people were evidently more and more pleased with Mr. Colgan, and continued efforts were made to obtain his appointment to the parish. This persistence had the de- sired effect, and, April 11, 1727, a letter was read in the Board, announcing the appointment of Mr. Colgan ; so that this matter was finally settled.
A change now occurred in the government of the Provinces, John Montgomery taking the place of Gover- nor Burnet. His commission as Governor of New York and New Jersey bore date October 4, 1727 ; he reached New York, April 15, 1728. The records of his administra- tion contain little of importance to the Church; it was terminated by his death, June 30, 1731. It is memorable however, for the new Charter granted to the City, and referred to by his name. The customary address is found on the Church Records, congratulating the new official on his safe arrival, and referring to his " noble descent, per- sonal merit, and great abilities," in the usual lofty style.
In the autumn before Montgomery's arrival the coun- try was dreadfully alarmed by an earthquake.
The news from Boston, November 13, 1727, says : "The late dreadful earthquake [Oct. 29] was felt at Guilford, in Connecticut Colony, 160 miles from this place, where it 9 Ibid., i., 146.
1 Records, i., 146.
206
History of Trinity Church
[1728
was so violent that it shook down a chimney, threw open the door of the minister's house. * * * The shock lasted about a minute. A considerable town in this Prov- ince has been so awakened by this awful providence that the women have generally laid by their hoop petticoats." Another earthquake took place November 18, 1755, which was felt all over the Province of New York. On that same day Lisbon was destroyed.
The map of the City of New York as it was at the time of the granting of the Montgomery Charter, is a document of great value and interest. It was made from an actual survey by James Lyne, about the year 1728, and dedi- cated to Governor Montgomery by William Bradford, the publisher. This is the earliest known map of the City. Mr. William Loring Andrews, in a volume printed at the De Vinne Press, 1893, has given a fac-simile of the map with much information relating to the City at that period. There are only three streets between Trinity Church and the Fort, and four to the north ending with Windmill Lane. Beyond that appears the King's Farm stretching away to the northward and west of the Common. In the left-hand top corner of this map are the Governor's arms, with an inscription running thus :
"To His Excellency IOHN MONTGOMERIE, Esq., Cap! Gen! & Gov in Chief of His Majesti's Provinces of NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, etc. : This Plan of the City of NEW YORK is humbly Dedica by Your Excellency's obet and most humble serv Wm BRADFORD."
In the right-hand corner at the top are the arms of the City of New York with the name of Colonel Robert Lurt- ing, Mayor. The " Ledge of Rocks," the "Swamp," the " Collect," and other noted features of the town are all shown in their places. The Collect Pond was very deep ; on its waters was tested the steamboat constructed by
207.
Bradford's Gazette
1730]
John Fitch and exhibited in 1796 ; the vessel was after- wards left to decay on the shore of the pond. A view of this boat is given in N. Y. Doc. Hist., ii., 602.
At this period New York was supplied not only with all sorts of nationalities, but all kinds of coin. May 25, 1728, Mr. John Chambers, one of the members, "brought into the vestry a parcell of brass and mixt money which he found among the papers that were in Mr. Bickley's custody while he was a church warden, and Captain Rob- inson also at the same time brought in a small parcell of the like sort of money." Whereupon it was ordered that Mr. Soumaine " be desired to melt the same down and ab- stract the silver thereout for the use of the Church." 1
On reaching the year 1730 Bradford's Gazette 2 begins to render some service in connection with Church affairs. One of the first items forms an advertisement by the side of Benjamin d'Harriette's notice that he has for sale "a Negro Man named Scipio, a cooper about 22 years old," and some " very good pitch and Rosin." A churchman advertises for a lost book : 1
"Taken out of Trinity Church in New York between Wednesday the 25th August and Sunday the 30th Instant 1730, a new Common Prayer Book, cornered and clasped with Silver marked L. R. and in the Book written Wm. Ricketts. Whoever has taken the aforesaid Book, are desired to return it again, and no Questions shall be asked ; and whoever shall discover the said Silver or Book and give Notice thereof to said William Ricketts, or to the Printer hereof, they shall be well awarded for their pains." 3
The archives of the Propagation Society for this year
I Records, i., 153.
" See Thomas's " History of Printing," vol. ii., 286. See the series of extracts from the papers beginning with this year in the Collections of the N. Y. Historical Society, 1870, pp. 145 to 408, and collected by Mr. William Kelby, the assistant librarian. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Col., 1870, 174.
3 The New York Gazette, September 21, 1730.
208
History of Trinity Church
[1731
contain a letter from Mr. Lurting, member of the parish and Mayor of New York, who writes about the " Library " and twenty-three " cases of books " sent out by the Society. Later the City Corporation ordered a room for the books, which indicates that the Society was pursuing its work in furnishing a public library to the people.
Governor Montgomery died June 30, 1731, at Fort George, and was interred "in the King's Chappell on the evening of the Friday following," as we are informed by the New England Journal July 21, 1731, the files of Brad- ford's Gazette being incomplete at this date. Upon his decease, Rip Van Dam, Chief of the Council, assumed the authority. An interesting monumental tablet in memory of the last-named functionary is in the chancel of St. Paul's Chapel.
CHAPTER XIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR COSBY.
Succeeds Montgomery in Office, Sept., 1732-Rev. Mr. Charlton Appointed Catechist- Thomas Noxon Appointed Schoolmaster-Small-pox in New York-Alexander Camp- bell Disciplined for Immorality-Mr. Vesey's Residence-The Church Farm-The Zenger Trial-Additions to the Church.
C OLONEL WILLIAM COSBY succeeded Mont- gomery in office. Appointed January 12, 1732, he did not reach this city till September following.1 His chief difficulties were with the politicians of the period, whose actions, however, do not concern the Church, and have no bearing on the parish history.
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