USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 30
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History of Trinity Church
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up a class fitted to guide public opinion and furnish well- equipped leaders of affairs.1
On their manors, gentlemen lived in dignity and ele- gance ; not with the vulgar show of nouveaux riches, nor with the reckless irresponsibility of those who have neither root in the past nor outlook on the future, but as to the manner born .? There were fine old houses in those days, with the family coat of arms above the entrance and good store of beautiful things within ; beneath those roofs suc- cessive generations were born and passed away.3 The
1 " There was one remarkable feature in which our State differed from every other British-American dependency. A conquest from Holland, she became for twenty-one years a Proprietary Dukedom, and then, for nearly a century, she remained a Royal Province. Without a charter, like those of Maryland and Pennsylvania, New York resembled none of the New England colonies, except, perhaps, New Hampshire. It was not until after the accession of the Dutch Stadtholder to the English throne that she permanently obtained the privilege of an Assembly elected by her freeholders. Even then, her Governor and her Counsellors were appointed directly by the King. This circumstance, in connection with others peculiar to her original colonization, fastened upon New York a distinctive quality of social aristocracy, which survived the period of her independence. It was perhaps owing to these causes that so few com- paratively of her Puritan neighbors came to add to her colonial population." Oration on the Conquest of New Netherland, delivered before the New York Historical Soci- ety, October 12, 1864, by John Romeyn Brodhead, p. 51.
? " Hereditary landed property was in that day invested with the same dignity in New York which it has now in Europe ; and for more than a century these families retained their possessions and directed thie infant colony. They formed a coterie of their own, and generation after generation married among themselves. Turn to the early records of New York, and you will find all places of official dignity filled by a certain set of familiar names, many of which, since the Revolution, have entirely disappeared. . . Their position was an acknowledged one, for social distinctions were then marked and undisputed. They were the persons who were placed in office in the Provincial Council and Legislature, and no one pretended to think it strange." -- "New York Society in the Olden Time," by Bishop Kip in Putnam's Magasine, Sep- tember, 1870, p. 243.
3 " About many of their old country-houses were associations gathered, often com- ing down from the first settlements of the country, giving them an interest which can liever invest the new residences of those whom later times elevated through wealth. Such was the Van Courtlandt manor-house, with its wainscoted rooms and its guest- chamber ; the Van Rensselaer manor-house, where of old had been entertained Talley- rand and the exiled princes from Europe ; the Schuyler house, so near the Saratoga battlefield, and marked by memories of that glorious event in the life of its owner -[alas that it should have passed away from its founder's family!]-and the residence of the Livingstons, on the banks of the Hudson, of which Louis Philippe expressed such
345
Colonial New York
1771]
dames and gentlemen who dwelt there would have moved with ease and dignity in foreign courts ; assured of their position ; not ashamed of their name and lineage ; nor unfamiliar with the usages of the most cultivated of their time. The very costume marked the difference of rank ; a difference of which the inferior did not complain, and of which the superior made no offensive or insolent display. Of such as these were the De Lanceys, Morrises, Living- stons, Kips, Phillipses, Van Cortlandts, Van Rensselaers ; the Beekmans, Johnsons, and Stuyvesants. Of such as these was he, the splendid gentleman, who, from his Vir- ginia home at Mount Vernon, went forth to head the for- lorn armies of the Revolution, and returned to it, after many years of darkness and tribulation, with a halo of im- mortal lustre about his serene brows. Of such as these were many of the foremost leaders in the seven-years struggle, the pride and flower of the colonial aristocracy.
The destruction of the gentry gave tremendous impe- tus to the progress of the democratic avalanche ; among the victims were some who were forced into it by resent- ment, indignation, and despair. They saw that the home government cared nothing for them ; it appeared to have forgotten their existence ; it dealt with them in such wise that they turned against it; they struck their blow, and struck it home, straight and true, but in doing so they gave, unexpectedly, the coup-de-grace to their own exist- ence.
Nor was the colonial aristocracy alone in peril ; the Church also was threatened with destruction. It is diffi- cult for us, at this day, to realize the intensity of the hatred of the Church of England by the Independents and
grateful recollection, when, after his elevation to the throne, he met, in Paris, the son of his former host." Ibid. This article has been reprinted in Stone's Hist. of New York City, Appendix, xvi.
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those whom they were able to influence.1 Religious and political prejudice and hostility went hand in hand; the Church of England was regarded as worse, if possible, than the Church of Rome ; war on the Crown meant war on the Establishment as a matter of course. The clergy in New York were, almost to a man, loyal to the Crown ; to them the line of duty seemed clear, and they followed it, regardless of consequences. We owe them the honor due to all who brave outrage, violence, persecution, and the peril of death, rather than commit what seems to them a wrong and a sin.
And so the landed gentry, for a long time, and the clergy of the Church of England were faithful to the "powers that be" as ordained of God, deeming it their duty not only to " fear God and love the brotherhood," but also to "honour the King." On the other side of the water these natural allies of the Government were practi- cally forgotten. In vain, year after year, did Churchmen in America request the gift of the Episcopate by transmis- sion from the ancient line? ; refusal, cold and persistent,
1 See on this point Peters's Hist. of Connecticut, 1781, recently reprinted by Ap- pleton & Co., New York. Whatever may be thought of this curious work, there is no reason to doubt its correctness on this question. "The fanatics of Massachusetts-Bay hated every part of the Common Prayer-Book worse than the Council of Trent " (page 45). " The Church, however, increased, though oppressed by more persecutions and calamities than were ever experienced by puritans from bishops and pow wowers. Even the use of the Bible, the Lord's prayer, the litany, or any part of the prayer- book was forbidden ; nay, ministers taught from their pulpits ' that the lovers of Zion had better put their ears to the mouth of hell and learn from the whispers of the devil, than read the bishops' books' " (page 165).
' " Had the bishops shown as much concern for the welfare of the Church of England in America as the Society have done, they would have prevented many re- proaches being cast upon them by the Dissenters as hireling shepherds, and have se- cured the affections of the American clergy in every province to themselves, to the King, and the British Government. If the religion of the Church of England ought to have been tolerated and supported in America, (which, considering the lukewarm- ness of the bishops in general, even since the Restoration of Charles II., seems to have been a dubious point,) policy and justice long ago should have induced the King and Parliament of Great Britain to have sent bishops to America, that Churchmen at least
347
Folly of the Home Government
1771]
discouraged them, and equally gratified the Dissenters.1 As for the gentry, no effort seems to have been made to. attach them to the home government or knit their for- tunes closer to the monarchy; in the whole history we find but two who received the honor of knighthood .? Meanwhile, nothing was left undone which could alienate the colonies. The rights of English subjects were ig- nored ; they were talked to as if they were children, and threatened as if they dared not strike back ; they were treated as mainly valuable for the revenues which could be extorted from them ; brow-beaten by the civil, and in- sulted by the military, authorities. Even upon such of the provincial aristocracy as the sensitive De Lanceys, rough soldiers were billeted ; and when remonstrance was made, the commanding officer met it with a jeer and a threat to send more, and worse. A judicial blindness had fallen on the managers of colonial affairs ; if their intention had been to discourage and exasperate their best friends in America, and incite them to revolt, they could not have acted more directly to the point. All this must be taken into account in forming a just estimate of the loyal people and clergy in New York, under the severe trials to which they were subjected during the time of which we are now writing.
might have been upon an equal footing with Dissenters .. Of all the wonders of the English Church the greatest is that the rulers of it should hold episcopacy to be an institution of Christ, and that the Gospel should be spread among all nations, and, at the same time should refuse the American Churchman a bishop, .
. If bishops are necessary, let America have them ; if they are not necessary, let them be extirpated from the face of the earth ; for no one can be an advocate for their exist- ence merely for the support of pomp, pride, and insolence, either in England or Amer- ica."-Peters's Hist. of Connecticut, 172.
1 Dr. Chandler, in a letter dated Jan. 15, 1766, refers to an assertion that an American Episcopate would be utterly disagreeable to more than nineteen-twentieths of all the people in America. This he indignantly denies ; but it is notable that the statement was current, and, no doubt, believed by many in England.
9 Sir William Johnson received his title for his services in the French and Indian wars ; Sir William Pepperell for his part in the capture of Louisburg.
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To return from this digression, and resume the narra- tive of affairs in the parish and the city, which were then co-terminous : the year 1771 was memorable for the found- ing of the New York Hospital. The first meeting of the governors was held at Bolton's tavern, the "Delmon- ico " of the period, July 24th, John Watts, the last of the Royal Recorders, being in the chair. A charter already executed by John, Earl of Dunmore, was then read. The city contained at that time about 21,000 inhabitants. The administration of King's College had established a medi- cal school, September 17, 1767, and to two of its profess- ors, Dr. Samuel Bard and Dr. Jones, the hospital owes its origin. The Dutch had a hospital in 1658.1
It appears likewise that, during the following January, the subject of a grant of land for the hospital was brought before the authorities of the parish.
" The Board taking into consideration the requisition of the Gov- ernors of the Hospital or Infirmary for two acres of ground on the north side of John Keating's Paper Mill. It is hereupon resolved that this Corporation will lease to said Governors two acres of ground for the term of ninety-nine years for the sole purpose of building a hos- pital at the annual rent of Twenty pounds." ?
The terms were fixed later at fifteen pounds per an- num. The managers of the hospital, however, eventually bought land near the Collect Pond, and established the institution at a position near Pearl Street and Broadway.
With the opening of this year, 1772, a very important matter came before the Vestry in the shape of a proposal for an addition to the number of the churches of the par- ish. The record runs thus :
" At a meeting of the Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, in the City of New York, on Tuesday, the 31st day of January, 1772.
1 Centenary Address Delivered before the Society of the New- York Hospital by, James William Beekman, July 24, 1871. 9 Records, i., 362.
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349
Plans for New Church Buildings
1772]
" Present-The Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty, Rector.
" Mr. Nathaniel Marston and Mr. Elias Desbrosses, Church War- dens.
" Messrs. Charles Williams, David Clarkson, Andrew Barclay, Theo- phalact Bache, Adrien Renaudet, John Griffith, Edward Laight, Anthony Van Dam, John Charlton, John T. Kemp, Miles Sher- brooke, Gabriel H. Ludlow, Vestrymen.
" A copy of an order of the Common Council of the City of New York, writing a report of a committee of that Corporation founded upon a petition of James DeLancey, Esqr., and others, praying a grant of a piece of land in the out ward of this city, in trust to this corpora- tion, for the erecting and building a school house, church and parson- age house, and for the use of a burying ground, being produced and read, and the same being taken in consideration by this board, it was thereupon resolved and ordered that Mr. Kempe, Mr. Laight, and Mr. Bache be a committee to confer with the Common Council of the City of New York upon the subject of the said order, and to apply for a plan of the proposed building, and finally to agree with the said cor- poration upon the terms and conditions upon which this corporation will accept of the proposed trust.
" New York, 27th November, 1787. I do hereby certify the above written to be an extract from the minutes of the Corporation of Trinity Church, agreeing in every respect with the original entry.
"RICHARD HARISON, " Clerk of the Vestry."
January 31st.
"A copy of an order of the Common Council of the city of New York reciting a Report of a Committee of that Corporation founded upon the petition of James De Lancey, Esq : and others praying a grant of a piece of Land in the Out Ward of this city in Trust to this corporation for the erecting and building a School house, Church and Parsonage House and for the use of a Burying Ground, being produced and read, the same being taken into consideration by this Board." It was thereupon Resolved and Ordered " that a Committee confer with the Council, apply for a plan of the proposed buildings and agree upon the terms & conditions of the proposed trust." 1
The clergy of New York and New Jersey assembled in convention, May 25th, and through their Secretary, the
1 Records, i., 363.
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History of Trinity Church
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Rev. Samuel Seabury, presented an address to Governor Tryon in which they say that
"Amongst the numerous religious denominations in this Province (with all which we are desirous of living upon the most friendly Terms) the Church of England, we presume, has an equal Claim with any others, to the Protection and Countenance of Government. Loyal to the King, and Submissive to the Laws, her Fidelity has never been im- peached, nor worn a suspicious Appearance."
The governor said in reply,
" My Endeavors to advance the established Church of the Mother Country will not leave you in Doubt of my Zeal and cordial Attach- ment to her interests ; the Representation of her Clergy in this Govern- ment and ourselves as under inviolable Obligations, to exert our utmost Influence, and ardently to pray, that your Administration may be as happy to yourself, as it is to the Province over which you preside."
On the 18th of April in this year the parish lost a strong friend in the person of Mr. George Harison. Riv- ington says of him :
" On Sunday Evening last, departed this Life, after a short Illness GEORGE HARISON, Esq ; of this City ; a Gentleman of good natural Abilities and strict Probity. He was Son to the Honourable FRANCIS HARISON, Esq ; formerly one of his Majesty's Council for this Pro- vince, and descended from an Antient and respectable Family in Berk- shire. In the various Relations of Husband, Parent, Brother, Friend and Master, he was Exemplary. By the honest Candour and unaf- fected Humanity of his disposition, the Rectitude of his Principles, and the Integrity of his Conduct (which was ever directed by Honour, Virtue and Religion) he had acquired the general Esteem and Regard of all who knew him. Sincere himself, he look'd with Contempt on all dissimulation in others ; and as his Attachments were warm, so his Re- sentments were free from Perfidy, for they were undisguised, tho' not implacable.
" The day after his decease the Colours of the several Vessels in the Harbour were hoisted at half mast ; and on Tuesday last, his Re- mains, attended by a great number of the principal inhabitants of the City, were interred in the Family Vault in Trinity Church Yard." '
1 Rivington's Gazetteer, April 22, 1773.
35I
Marriage of Rev. Mr. Inglis
1773]
Among those laid to rest at this period in the church- yard of Trinity was the granddaughter of the celebrated poet Colley Cibber.1
On Monday evening, May 31, the Rev. Mr. Inglis and Miss Crooke were married by the Rev. Dr. Auchmuty. The bride was the daughter of John Crooke, Esq., of Ulster County, a lady of amiable disposition and ample fortune.
Persons interested in church music will read with pleasure the following announcement :
"READY for engraving, and to be published by subscription, the following select pieces, consisting of a compleat sett of Church service, viz. A Te Deum laudamus ; Jubilate Deo ; Benedicite omnia opera Domini ; Cantate Domino ; and Deus misereatur ; a burial service, and an anthem for any grand funeral ; a compleat and well adapted anthem to be sung at the time of any charitable contribution ; a grand chorus, Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, &c. proper to be sung at any meeting, or convention of the clergy, of any denomination ; as also an anthem 133d Psalm, for any grand meeting of Free and Accepted Masons : The whole to be published in Score, which will contain, according to the best calcula- tion, sixty folio pages, to be engraved and worked off in the neatest manner, and on the best paper, the work will receive the greatest dis- patch as soon as a sufficient number of subscribers offer, who are re- quested to be as speedy as possible to deliver in their names and places of abode. The price to Subscribers will be One Dollar and an half ; one half to be paid at the time of subscribing, and the other half on the delivery of the book. Subscriptions are taken in by Messieurs Riving- ton, Gain and Holt, printers in New-York; Michael Hillegas, Esq. ; and J. Dunlap, printer in Philadelphia ; Mr. R. Draper, printer in Bos- ton ; Mr. Southwick, in Rhode-Island ; Mess. Purdie & Dixon, print-
1 On Thursday last died in the 43d year of her age, Mrs. CATHARINE MARIA HARMAN, granddaughter to the celebrated Colley Cibber, Esq., poet laureat, she was a just actress, possessed of much merit in low comedy and dressed all her characters with infinite propriety, but her figure prevented her from succeeding in tragedy, and in genteel comedy. In private life, she was sensible, humane and benevolent, her lit- tle fortunes she has left to Miss Cheer, and her obsequies were on Saturday night at- tended by a very genteel procession to the cemetery of the Old English Church. -Rivington's Gazetteer, June 3, 1773.
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ers in Williamsburg, J. Hamilton, Esq ; for Baltimore and Charlestown, in Maryland, and Mr. Green, printer in Annopolis. All the subscrip- tion money is to be sent and deposited in the hands of Messieurs Riv- ington, Gain and Holt, or either of these Gentlemen, in New-York, who will take care that no money shall be paid to the compiler, till they have inspected the manuscript, and seen it despatched to the engraver ; and in case a sufficient number of subscribers should not offer they will return the subscription money they have received.
" N. B .- There never was any compleat set of church service made public, nor can any be procured but by friendship and a great expence ; neither is any burial service of the kind to be purchased, unless it be that in Dr. Croft's anthems, which is sold for Two Guineas." 1
Upon the departure of General Gage, the following address was presented to him :
To his EXCELLENCY the HONOURABLE THOMAS GAGE, Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Forces in North America. " May it please your Excellency.
"THE Rector and Clergy, with the inhabitants of the City of New York in communion of the Church of England as by law established, beg leave to wait upon your Excellency, and to express the deep con- cern they feel at your departure from America.
" In your arduous important station your measures have been al- ways directed by the most consummate prudence, unshaken fidelity to our gracious Sovereign, and a just regard to the peace and welfare of the colonies, whilst such conduct reflects the greatest honour on your- self, we doubt not but it will secure the approbation and smiles of the best of Princes.
." Your affable polite deportment-your easiness of access-your nu- merous acts of charity and generosity your exemplary behaviour in a re- ligious view, during your residence in this city have greatly endeared you to us, and leave the strongest impressions of gratitude and esteem on our minds.
" From hence, Sir, you carry not only the good wishes, but the warmest affection of every good man, and loyal subject ; and be pleased to accept in particular our sincerest thanks for that countenance you
1 Rivington's Gazetteer, June 24, 1773.
353
Address of Clergy to Governor Gage
1773]
have shewed to the respectable congregation which we have the honor to represent.
"Permit us to wish your Excellency, lady, and family an agreeable passage to your native country, and that you may be rewarded with honour, happiness, and every other blessing in this life, which is due to exalted merit ; and finally admitted to that unfading felicity which is the portion of the just.
"Signed by order of the Corporation,
"SAMUEL AUCHMUTY, Rector. " 8th June, 1773."
To which his Excellency made the following answer :
" To the Reverend the Rector and Clergy, and the inhabitants of the City of New York, in Communion of the Church of England, as by Law established.
"GENTLEMEN,
"I RETURN you my unfeigned Thanks for the very obliging Ad- dress you have been pleased to present to me, the Approbation you have thought proper to testify of my Conduct, and the concern you are pleased to express at my Departure from America, when I consider the very respectable Body they come from, cannot but be extremely flatter- ing to me.
" Your expressions of good will towards me and my Family claim my warmest acknowledgements, which no time can obliterate the re- membrance of, and I shall ever retain a lively Interest in all Matters that concern the welfare of the Church of England."
Among notices of the day occur the following :
" Last night, at the House of Mrs. Barclay, in this City, was cele- brated a Marriage between Stephen Delancy, Esq. ; Son of the Hon. Col. Oliver Delancy, and Miss Barclay, eldest Daughter of the Rev. Doctor Barclay the late revered and beloved Rector of Trinity Church. This amiable Couple have the most rational Prospect of all the Happi- ness the marriage State can afford." 1
"Saturday Morning last departed this life in the 39th Year of her Age, Mrs. Mary Goellet, the amiable Consort of Mr. Peter Goellet of this City, Merchant and daughter of Mr. Henry Ludlow, of this Place ; a Lady whose death is universally lamented, and is an irreparable Loss to an inconsolable Husband and eight Children, the former having lost . 23 1 The New- York Journal, June 17, 1773.
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the best of Wives, and the latter a Mother scarce to be equalled : Her remains were deposited in the Family Vault in Trinity Church Yard last Sunday afternoon." 1
In turning over the records for this year, the eye is caught by entries relating to a particularly outrageous per- formance on the part of the so-called heirs of the famous Anneke Jans Bogardus. These people, it will be remem- bered, had tried without success to upset the title of the Church to the " farm," as it was called ; the decisions were always in favor of the Church and against the claimants, as they have invariably been during the past two hundred years whenever the question has come before a court. Enraged at their failures, and, perhaps, influenced by the restless spirit which was in the air, they appear to have come to the decision to make an attempt to wrest from the Church vi et armis what they could not take under process of law. Accordingly, they concocted a scheme to take possession of a portion of the land in question. Reference to this is found in the Records, i., 377.
"Whereas, The Board is given to understand that Cornelius C. Bogardus, or some other person or persons, are now attempting to take wrongful possession of part of the land belonging to this Corporation. It is ordered that a power of attorney be given under the seal of this Corporation to some person or persons to oppose the said Cornelius C. Bogardus and to defend the possession of this Corporation and to re- move the fence he shall have put thereon, if any such there be " (July 8, 1773).
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