USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 28
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319
The Rev. Samuel Provoost
1767]
"ordered that the Rector and two Church Wardens be desired to wait upon his Excellency and in the Name of this Corporation return him their Thanks for his Kind offer and acquaint his Excellency that they would inspect and examine their present Charter, and if they thought it necessary to apply for a New one they would take the liberty of mak- ing a Proper application to his Excellency for that purpose. Resolved, also, that the Rector, two Church Wardens, Mr. Justice Livingston and Mr. Kissam be a committee to examine the present Charter and that they apply to the Attorney General and beg the favour of his assistance for that purpose, and that if upon such examination they find it defi- cient or that it is necessary to make any alteration that they then draw the Draft of a new Charter and lay it before the Vestry as conveniently as they can." '
The work of the parish continuing to increase, an ad- ditional assistant minister was needed, and, at a meeting held December 23, 1766, the Rev. Samuel Provoost was duly called, "to officiate in his turn at the several churches on the Lord's Day and at Prayers on Week Days when requested by the Rector," and his salary was fixed at {200 per annum.2
February 6, 1767. Dr. Auchmuty acquainted the Board that
"his Excellency Sr. Henry Moore had made him an offer that if this Corporation would Petition him for a tract of land to erect a Township that he would do all in his power that it should be granted. Where- upon it was Resolved that a Petition be proposed Praying a grant for a tract of Land for that purpose, and that the Rector, with Mr. David Clarkson and Mr. Kissam be a Committee to Prepare the said Petition and that the Church Wardens affix the seal of the Corporation thereto." 3
The grant, as we shall see further on, was eventually ob- tained, but the land was soon after lost by transfer of the whole region in which it was situated to Vermont.
The journals of the day contain some dismal statistics showing the clergy of the parish in their painful relation to the criminal class, to whom they were obliged to minis-
1 Records, i., 327. º Ibid., i., 328. 3 Ibid., i., 328.
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320
History of Trinity Church
[1767-
ter prior to their suffering the extreme penalty of the law. To us, the administration of justice at that period seems brutally severe, and the function of the clergy must have been most distressing ; but such was the custom of the time. What good could result to a condemned criminal from preaching a sermon to him prior to execution it must be left to the imagination to decide; but this is a part of the picturesque history of the day, as drawn in the Hogarthian style.
Four criminals, Philip McCarroll, Isaac Crawford, John Williams, and a poor creature merely described as "a Negro Wench," only seventeen years of age, her name be- ing considered as of no consequence, were condemned to death in the Supreme Court ; the girl was to die for steal- ing sundry articles out of a private house.
"On Monday last, the four condemn'd Criminals mentioned in our former Paper ; were executed, pursuant to their Sentence, on a Gallows Erected for that Purpose, near the Fresh-Water. Their Execution had been suspended a Week, at the Intercession of the Rev. Doct. Auch- muty, who finding them all remarkably ignorant, even of the first Principles of Religion, had, ever since their Condemnation, and especi- ally the last Week, been very assiduous, as have also the other Ministers of this City, in giving them such spiritual Assistance as their unhappy Case required.
"Friday last, Doct. Auchmuty preach'd a Sermon to them on the 13th Verse of the 103d Psalm,- Yea, like as a Father pitieth his own Children ; even so is the LORD merciful unto them that fear Him. The Sermon concluded with an Exhortation suitable to the Occasion .- To guard against Sin in general, since, in whatever Shape it may appear, it has a natural Tendency. if indulged, to lead to the most enormous Crimes, the least Sin differing only in Degree, not in Kind from those for which these poor Criminals were condemned to die,-for the Wages of (all unrepented allow'd) Sin, is Death."
"On Sunday last the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie, Curate of Trinity Church, gave them a very affecting Exhortation, concluded with a Prayer and Hymn, adapted to their melancholy Circumstances. Many of the In- habitants of this City, attended these Discourses, and from their Obser-
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321
Ministrations to Criminals
1767]
vations of the calamitous Situation of the poor unhappy confined Debtors, immediately sent Wood and other Necessaries for their Relief, which were received with the utmost Gratitude, and will probably excite others to follow so laudable an Example.
" Solomon tells us, it is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Mirth .- It is certain, that People abounding in Riches, and sated with luxurious Enjoyments, are apt to forget the Distresses of their Fellow Creatures, or to form very faint, imperfect, unaffecting Conceptions of them .- Hence it is, that so little is done, by Persons who have the Ability, and are not destitute of Humanity, or Compas- sion, for the Relief of those unhappy Persons, who without any Crime but being poor and unfortunate, are excluded from Society, cut off from the Comforts of Life, and render'd useless to their Families and Country. It is therefore to be wished, that those whom Heaven has blessed with Affluence, and will Judge for the use they have made of it, would more frequently visit those dreary Abodes of Indigence, Fa- mine, and Wretchedness. We see, in this Instance, the good Effect of such Visits, tho' accidental ; the Impressions made upon the Mind by sensible Objects of so affecting a Kind, have that Force which is neces- sary to rouse our languid Virtues and call them into Action.
" At the Place of Execution the Criminals seem'd resign'd to their Fate. Crawford, Carrol, and the Negro Woman said little or nothing, and appeared much terrified at the approach of Death; but Williams spoke some Time to the People, advised them to shun the vicious Courses that had brought him to so shameful an End, and acknowledged the Justice of his punishment."- The New-York Journal, February 12, 1767.
Here is another illustration of the severity of the law in the case of a man who stole books out of St. Paul's Chapel and was condemned to death. The Journal of August 6th says :
"William Johnson, on an Indictment of Felony, for Sacrilege, in Stealing Books out of St. Paul's Church, was tried and found Guilty, and ordered to be executed on Monday the 17th Instant .- This Person, by the name of William Herring, was tried in the Term of October last, upon three Indictments for Grand Larceny, and found Guilty, but was allowed his Clergy ' and burnt in the Hand."
1 The benefit of clergy meant the sparing of an individual on account of his ability to read or write, those things being at one time the almost exclusive accomplishments of the clergy.
21
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History of Trinity Church
[1767-
This certainly was much worse than the stealing of " sundry articles " by the colored girl, yet the man found friends, so that in the Mercury of August 17th, it is said :
" We hear that William Johnson, who was to have been executed this Day pursuant to his Sentence, for Felony and Sacrilege, has ob- tained a Pardon from his Excellency Sir Henry Moore, Bart. at the Request of Doctor Auchmuty, and the Rest of his Brethren."
At the meeting of September 26th it was voted to bor- row "the further sum of six hundred pounds in order to finish the Portico and Fences of St. Paul's Church," then, as now, the cost of all such work exceeding the estimate. Also that
"Mr. David Clarkson and Mr. Barclay be a Committee to procure a Picture to be drawn of the late Rev. Doctor Barclay deceased, late Rector of Trinity Church in this city at the expense of this Corporation to be hung up in the Vestry Room." 1
March 25th.
"Whereas by the Charter of Incorporation to Trinity Church in this city, it appears to have been intended-That a convenient dwelling House should be erected for the residence of a Rector of the said Church, which has not hitherto been done. And whereas it is thought that the providing of such a Building will not only be complying with the original design of the Charter, but greatly redound to the credit and honour of said Corporation : It is therefore unanimously Resolved and Ordered that the present Charity School House be altered and made into a neat and convenient Dwelling House, and when finished that the same together with the yard and garden thereunto belonging be appropriated and set apart for the use and dwelling of the present Rector of the said Church and his successors forever, free from the payment of any rent for the same, and that a New School House be erected on some other part of the lands belonging to this Corporation to serve and be made use of for the Charity School instead of the present one." ª
1 Records, i., 330. A portrait of Dr. Barclay now hangs in the Vestry Room of Trinity Chapel. 9 Records, i .. 333.
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323
The Annual Convention of Clergy
1768]
Five hundred pounds were borrowed for the improve- ments.
April 18th.
" As the Lotts of ground fronting the Commons proposed for build- ing the New School on Can't at present be obtained for that purpose as Obadiah Well's lease for the same is not yet expired. Ordered that a temporary School House of Fifty feet in front and Thirty feet deep be erected and built on some of the Lotts behind Trinity Church, and that the same be built of brick and covered with Tile or Slate." 1
At this early period, paper making had become one of the local industries, and on May 3d, Abraham Mortier com- plained that John Keating was building a paper mill on the church lands adjoining his own improvements, and that the said paper mill would " be a nusance to him and greatly depreciate the value of his improvements." Keating also put in a communication calling for the performance of the contract, when the Board empowered a committee to arrange the matter with the lessee in a satisfactory way, and to persuade him to take some other ground 2 which was finally agreed to by all the parties.
The most noticeable event of this year connected with ecclesiastical affairs was the holding of the convention in the City of New York. This gathering was better at- tended than any of the previous assemblies, an indication of the growing strength of the Church in the three prov- inces represented.3
1 Records, i., 334.
: Ibid., i., 335. Keating appears to have been one of the earliest paper makers in New York. In the Supplement to the Vew- York Journal of November 16, 1769, Keating "Between the Fly-Market and Burling's Slip," offers " Ready Money for clean Linen Rags," " All persons who have the Welfare of their Country at Heart are esired seriously to consider the importance of a Paper Manufactory to this Gov- ernment." "Save your rags," he cries, " for the Benefit which will accrue to the public in General."
3 " On Wednesday last, the Annual Convention of the Episcopalian Ministers of this Province, Connecticut and New-Jersey, was held in this City, on which occasion, a Sermon was preached, by the Rev. Dr. Cooper, President of King's College, on the
324
History of Trinity Church
[1769-
December 19, 1768.
" The Church Wardens having communicated to the Board that His Excellency the Governor in the Name and behalf of the Lodge of Free Masons had requested that a Charity Sermon might be preached in Trinity Church on the next St. John's [Evangelist] Day for the benefit of the poor of this city in general. It is therefore the opinion of the Board that the Rector give the Liberty of his pulpit for that purpose, as it is conceived such a charity will be very Seasonable and tend to the relief of many distressed and indigent Persons in this severe season of the year." 1
That the Church in New York at this period was prospering, appears from a letter written by Sir William Johnson, from Johnson Hall, January 25, 1769, to Dr. Auchmuty, in which he says :
" In Matters of Religion indeed, the Church of England is on so respectable a footing at New York that I hope & have reason to think it will now Succeed & that it will Extend itself and flourish, to which any Consistent endeavors of mine that might be at all deemed necessary should not be wanting.""
former Part of the first Verse of the 28th Ch. of Exodus .- A larger Number of Minis- ters were present, than ever assembled before upon the like Occasion .- The New- York Journal, May 16, 1768.
1 Records, i., 339. " On Tuesday last, being St. John's-Day, by Desire of his Excellency Sir HENRY MOORE, a Charity Sermon was preached at Trinity Church, in this City ; the Rev. Dr. Auchmuty Rector of Trinity, delivered a most excellent Dis- course upon the Occasion, to a polite and numerous Audience ; several Lodges of the ancient and honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, properly decorated, attended divine Worship : The Collection was very considerable, the Members of the Hiram Lodge only, having contributed One Hundred Pounds ; a seasonable Relief at this inclement Season to the Poor of this City, many of whom have been in the great- est Distress. The New- York Gazette, January 2, 1769.
º N. Y, Docs. Hist., iv., 254.
CHAPTER XX.
THE RECTORSHIP OF DR. AUCHMUTY, CONTINUED.
Steps Taken towards Disestablishment-Commencement of King's College, 1769- Death of Sir Henry Moore-His Funeral-Lord Dunmore-Auchmuty's Letter to Sir William Johnson on the State of the Church and Public Affairs-Efforts to Obtain an American Episcopate-Church Music.
W TE have reached the year 1771. The time was far spent ; one system was passing away and another coming in ; signs of change were in the threatening skies. To one of those signs we have now to give attention ; a presage of disestablishment was in the air. The Church of England had been established in the province. To the nonconformist part of the population this was a substantial grievance ; the support of the ministry of that Church, fell in great part on people not attendant on their ministrations. A movement now began which carried disestablishment with it as a direct consequence ; and be this noted and re- membered that it was begun by members of the Church, who were already persuaded that she would be more pros- perous if free from connection with the State. Colonel Lewis Morris, a communicant of the Church of England, and a grandson of one of the early supporters of Trinity Parish, opened the case in the New York Assembly, April 6, 1769, by bringing in a bill to relieve non-Episcopalians from taxes levied to support the established Church in the four counties of the Province of New York. A bill to that effect was passed ten days later, but the Coun- cil failed to approve it. Four other bills passed the As- sembly at a later time, the last going to a third reading
325
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History of Trinity Church
[1769-
January 26, 1771. The Governor and Council, however, refused assent to all of these measures, as inconsistent with the law of England, which made the Church the only legal ecclesiastical body. Nevertheless, disestablishment was begun, and in its proper place we shall see that it was completed in 1777, when the first constitution of the State of New York was established.
Early in the year 1760, the Rev. Samuel Provoost signi- fied to the rector his intention of going to England some time in May upon his own private business ; the question being proposed whether or no his salary should be contin- ued during his absence, it was unanimously decided in the negative. This decision seems to have been reached on a view of the financial condition of the parish. Mr. Reade, the Senior Warden,
"laid before the Board a state of the annual income and Expenses of the Church, by which it appears that the latter far exceed the former, and the same being taken into consideration it is thought absolutely necessary to retrench the annual expenses as much as possible."
The commencement of the college passed off this . year with spirit. The procession was " more solemn than usual " and the alumni already began to make a figure in the procession, which took its way from the college to Trinity Church. At the same place, a few days later, services were held in honor of the King's birthday, at which the governor was present.
"On Tuesday our last annual COMMENCEMENT was held in this City. The procession, which was larger and more solemn than usual, began to move at 10 o'Clock, from KING'S COLLEGE TO TRINITY CHURCH, in the following Order. Ist, The young Gentlemen belong- ing to the College-School. 2ndly, the Students of the College. 3dly, The former Graduates. 4thly, The President and Professors. gthly, The Clergy. 6thly, His EXCELLENCY Sir HENRY MOORE, Bart.
327
Commencement of King's College
1769]
with the Members of his MAJESTY's COUNCIL ; and many other Gen- tlemen, Military as well as civil, who attended on the Occasion." 1
Among those who received degrees we find the follow- ing names ; Rev. John Tyler, Rev. Ebenezer Kneeland, John Troup, James Barclay, etc.
" Yesterday being the Anniversary of his Majesty's Birth Day when he entered his 32d Year ; his Excellency Sir HENRY MOORE, our Gov- ernor, was waited upon to Trinity Church, by his Majesty's Council, the members of the General Assembly for this City, his Worship the Mayor and Corporation, the Clergy of the Church of England, and a very great Number of the principal Merchants of this Place. Divine Service being ended, they returned to Fort-George, where his Majesty's, and several other loyal Healths were drank, under a Discharge of 21 Cannon from Copsey-Battery.
We hear his Excellency General GAGE is to give an Entertainment this Day on the same occasion." ?
The same issue of the Gazette contains this advertise- ment :
"Just Published, and to be sold by the Printer hereof, Price 5s, 6d. The APPEAL DEFENDED. or The Proposed AMERICAN EPISCOPATE VINDICATED. The answer to the Objections and Misrepresentations of Dr. Chauncey, and others. By THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, D.D."
The Corporation having provided a commodious and convenient dwelling-house, yard, and garden for the resi- dence and accommodation of the rector and his suc- cessors, free from the payment of rent, it was therefore "unanimously Resolved and Ordered," that, instead of the
1 The New- York Gazette, May 22, 1769.
? Ibid., June 5, 1769.
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History of Trinity Church
[1769-
former allowance paid to the rector, there be allowed and paid to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty, the present rector, a salary of two hundred and fifty pounds currency p. annum. . It was also ordered that "the said house be papered and finished at the expense of this cor- poration in such a manner as the Committee appointed for altering the same shall approve." 1
In The New- York Journal of July 20, 1769, we read that
"On Tuesday Evening was examined and committed to Goal, a Man, who has called himself Hamilton, and says he is a Sailor, who con- fessed that he had in his Possession, and sold to different Persons the three Damask Covers of the Cushions, and three Prayer Books, lately stolen out of St. Paul's Church in this City, but says he found them, and had no Concern in stealing them."
The New- York Gazette of July 31, 1769 :
"Saturday last the Supreme Court ended here, when John Hennesey, for Felony and Sacrilege, in stealing the Sattin Covering of the Cushions of St. Paul's in this City. received Sentence of Death, and is to be executed the 23d of August."
The New- York Chronicle of August 24th says that
"John Hennesey who was lately tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hang'd yesterday the 23d. Inst., for robbing St. Paul's Church, has ob- tained a pardon from his Excellency the Governor."
This was probably done at the instance of the parish clergy.
To copy largely from the Church Records and the journals of the period, through the latter years of the rectorship of Dr. Auchmuty, seems hardly worth while ; it would amount to a mere repetition of acts of the Vestry, reports on men or matters, memoranda of disbursements, the preaching of charity sermons, and the like. The work of the Church, under its faithful clergy, went on as quietly and steadily as if the elements were not fast be-
1 Records, i .. 343.
329
Death of Governor Moore
1769]
coming charged with the material of storm and tempest. Considering the character of the times, there is something touching and attractive in these calm and unimpassioned details of duty well and quietly performed, as though whatever might befall the kingdoms of this world, the kingdom of our Lord would stand unshaken. It shall suffice then to note some of the more important matters which catch the eye as it skims the faded pages.
Sir Henry Moore's death, which occurred on August IIth, is announced in The New-York Chronicle of Sept. 14, 1769. That paper contains a long account of his funeral, which we condense :
"The Governor's remains were interred the evening of the next day, in the Chancel of Trinity Church. The corpse was preceded by the 16 Regiment, the Charity-School-Boys, and the Clergy of all perswasions. His Majesty's Council supported the Pall. His Excellency General Gage, and Lord Drummond, followed among the mourning Relations ; and in the suit were the Physicians, Judges, Mayor, Magistrates, and whole Corporation, the Members of the General Assembly, the Field- Officers, the Captains of his Majesty's Ships of War, and the General's Staff, the Commissioners for settling the line of partition between this, and the Colony of New Jersey, the Surveyor General, and Officers of the Customs, the Attorney General, and Gentlemen of the Law, the Faculty of King's College, and the principal Inhabitants of the city, the Artillery brought up the Rear .- From the moment he expired, all the Colours in the Harbour were half-hoisted, all the Bells tolled a great part of the day, Minute Guns were fired during the procession from the Fort to the Church, which was illuminated, the Military Honors were paid with a striking solemnity, and every mark of respect shewn, which the rank and station of the deceased required, and which became an AFFLICTED GRATEFUL and AFFECTIONATE People."
The first part of the Procession was as follows :
I.
" The 16 Regiment with their Arms Reversed. II. Twenty Boys belonging to the Charity-School.
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History of Trinity Church
[1770-
III. Twenty of said Boys with lighted Flambeaux.
IV. The Clergy of all Perswasions. V. THE BODY.
Supporters of the Pall,
Mr. D Lancey,
Mr. Watts,
Mr. Reade,
Mr. Apthorp, 1
Mr. Cruger,
Mr. Smith, Senior,
rs of th
Mr. Speaker of the Assem.,
Mr. White,
Supporters of the Pall,"
About a month after this time indications appear of great anxiety about the financial situation of the parish ; and, in consequence, a proposition was made to reduce ex- penses by diminishing the number of the staff of clergy. Mr. Provoost, as the last appointed, was to be dismissed, " on account of the insufficiency of the Corporation funds." It was, however, decided to retain him, but to depend on a subscription for his salary.1
The plan did not prove successful. The Records of May 27, 1771, state that, the effort to provide for Mr. Provoost having failed, he gave notice of his intention to leave the parish, and requested that the Vestry would pay him the arrears of two years' salary. The matter is of in- terest, because it shows that the retirement of Mr. Pro- voost was not the result of dissatisfaction with his political opinions, but of the financial difficulties in which the Board was becoming more and more involved.
Mention has already been made of the offer of certain tracts of land to Dr. Auchmuty by Sir Henry Moore for church uses. Under date of January 11, 1770, we come 1 Records i., 345.
331
Arrival of Governor Dunmore
1770]
upon this subject again. There were two tracts of land, the one to be granted to the Corporation of Trinity, the other to the Corporation of King's College. Unfortu- nately these lands lay in the disputed territory called Glou- cester County, which was afterwards conveyed to Vermont, in consequence of which transfer both the church and college failed to secure the benefit of the grant. The relations of New York and Vermont were very unsatisfac- tory at this period, and continued so for many years, the difficulties ending only with the admission of Vermont to the American Union.1
On the 9th of December, 1769, the Earl of Hills- borough informed Lieutenant-Governor Colden that John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, had received the royal appoint- ment as governor of New York. Lord Dunmore's ad- ministration commenced in October, 1770, and continued until July 9th following. On the Sunday after his arrival the governor proceeded to Trinity Church attended by his staff, the mayor and Council, the clergy, and others. The Journal says :
"On Thursday Morning last his Excellency the Right Honourable the EARL of DUNMORE, our Governor, arrived at Sandy Hook in his Majesty's Ship, the Tweed. . On the Sunday following, his Ex- cellency was attended by Sir William Draper, Lord Drummond, the Mayor, Recorder, and the City Corporation, the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Council, the City Members, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Episcopal Clergy, the Church Wardens and Vestry Men of Trinity Church, the Attorney General and a great Number of the most respect- able Gentlemen of the City, from the Council Chamber in Fort George to the Old English Church, where an excellent and well adapted Sermon was preached, by the Rev. Doctor AUCHMUTY, to a very crowded and most respectable audience." ?
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