USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
88
History of Trinity Church
[1692-
Wardens :
Capt. Stephen Van Cortlandt, William Pinhorne.
Vestrymen :
Capt. Ebenezer Wilson, Mr. John Crooke,
Capt. Lawrence Reade, Mr. Giles Gaudineau,
Capt. William Morris, Mr. John Van Cortlandt,
Mr. Samuel Burte, Mr. Dirck Vanderburgh,
Mr. James Evetts, Mr. Nathaniel Marston.
In concert with the justices, this Board unanimously agreed to levy and collect a tax for a good and sufficient Protestant minister, in accordance with the Act, and it was voted to raise one hundred pounds of New York money to maintain a minister for one year.
We come now to a turning-point in this somewhat tiresome story. Among the members of the Church of England in the colony were many stanch advocates of her cause ; that they had followed with impatience the movement of events during the unseemly struggle against the law, is evident from the course they now pursued ; the time had come to organize for the promotion of the interests of the Church, and in support of the authorities. Governor Fletcher, weary of the fight with the City Vestry, had taken a step of practical importance. Finding the old church in a dilapidated and ruinous condition, he caused it to be pulled down and applied to the Assembly for help to rebuild it elsewhere. A grant of four hundred and fifty pounds was made for that purpose, and the work was commenced. And now, delays occurring for want of funds and decided action of some kind being evidently in request, there appeared upon the scene a body of citi- zens, residents of the province, and freeholders, announc- ing themselves as devoted to her cause, and resolved to take matters into their hands, and see justice done in the premises. There was substantially an end to the dilly
.
89
Petition to Build a Church.
1698]
dallying, prevarication, and resistance of the Assembly and the City Vestry, when the petition of these represen- tative Churchmen came before the Governor, as follows :
"To his Excell. BENJAMIN FLETCHER, Capt. Generall and Govern' in Cheife of the Province of New York Province of Pensilvania County of New Castle and all the Tracts of Land Depending thereon in America and Vice Admirall of the Same &c. :
The Petition of Sundry Inhabitants of the Citty of New York, Members of the Church of England-
HUMBLY SHEWETH
That Whereas yr Petitioners are Desirous to build a Church within this Citty for the use of the Protestants of the Church of England and haveing mett with great Encouragem't from severall good Protestants in order to the Carrying on of the same,
Therefore yr Excell Petition'rs do humbly pray that yr Excell. would be pleased to grant a Lycence to yr Petition's to purchase a small piece of Land Lyeing without the North gate of the said Citty betwixt the King's Garden and the burying Place and to hold the same in mortmain and thereon to build the said Church as also to take and Receive all Voluntary Contributions and to do all other Lawfull acts and things for the Effecting the same and yr Excell. Petition's as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
Tho : Clarke Will : Morris
Robt. Lurting Ebenez Willson
Jeremiah Tothill Will Merret
Caleb Heathcote Ja. Emott
James Evetts R. Ashfield
[19 March 1695.]" GRANTED.
-Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 247.
This petition was granted, and on the 23d of July they were empowered to collect funds to carry on and finish the church which they had already begun to build.
The action thus taken appears to have acted as a tonic and stimulus to the City Vestry. On the 2d of November they met, and, all the members being present excepting Mr. Samuel Burte, they passed and recorded the follow- ing :
90
History of Trinity Church
[1692-
"Wee ye Church Wardens and Vestry men elected by virtue of ye said Act having read a Certificate under the hands of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Myles, Minister of ye Church of England in Boston in New England, and Mr. Gyles Dyer and Mr. Benjamin Mountfort, Church Wardens of ye said Church of ye Learning and Education, of the Pious, Sober and Religious behaviour and conversation of Mr. William Veasy and of his often being a Communicant in the Receiving ye most holy Sacrament in the said Church have called the said Mr. William Veazy to officiate and have ye care of Souls in this Citty of New York. And ye said Mr. William Veazy being sent for, and acquainted with the Proceedings of this board did return them his hearty thanks for their great favour and affection shewed unto him, and Assure him that he readily Accepted their Call and would with all Convenient Expedition Repair to England and Apply himself to the Lord Bishop of London in order to be ordained according to the Litergy of ye Church of Eng- land, and would return to his Church here by the first Convenient opportunity."
Several days after the election, it was voted to advance money to Mr. Vesey to defray the expenses of his voyage to England, whither he was now to proceed to obtain Holy Orders.1 During his absence, the friends of the
1 "Ordered that the Justices and Vestrymen doe direct a Warrant to the Church Wardens for to pay Mr. William Veazy (called to officiate as Minister of this Citty) the sum of Ninety-five pounds, Currt. Money of New Yorke, itt being Money now in their hands Raised by virtue of an Act of Genl Assembly for ye Maintenance of a Minister, and itt being to be lent to the said Mr. William Veazy towards the Defray- ing of his Expenses in his Voyage for England for ye procureing his Ordination ac- cording to ye Liturgy of ye Church of England and that he give bond for the same." A letter of Col. Heathcote forms a part of the history of the call of Mr. Vesey ; he writes under date of June 13, 1714, as follows: " We had no sooner begun the Sub- scriptions of our Church, but our next care was to get us a minister while we had a Vestry in our ffavour, and being at that time no Gentlemen in Orders except one Mr. Smith, a Person but of an Indifferent Character our Vestry had nevertheless (I hap- ning to be out of Town) Resolved to call him to the Living in which they were only opposed by one Gentleman, but he did it with so much Warmth that he prevayled with them to adjourn their meeting till my Return, ffor the dispute betwixt him, and the Rest of the Vestry was not whether Mr. Vesey or Mr. Smith was fittest for the Place, there being unanimous in their Opinion for the fformer, but Cold fletcher had so passionate a desire to have Mr. Vesey for his Chaplain that he had influenced the Vestry to make choice of Mr. Smith telling them that the other could not be called to the Living. after my Return to Town having a very good Interest with the Governr. I was not long in making him sensible of his mistake, and the inevitable Ruin that he
91
Petition for Incorporation
1698]
Church, who had now apparently completed their organi- zation and described themselves as the "MANAGERS OF THE AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND," appeared again upon the scene, addressing the Governor and ask- ing for an act of incorporation in conformity with the Ministry Act of 1693, the exclusive benefit of which they desired to have applied to the Church of England. This petition, dated May 6, 1697, was signed by Caleb Heath- cott, William Merritt, John Tuder, James Emott (Henry Willson), Thomas Meahan, James Evetts, John Crooke, Robert Lurten, Samuel Burt, William Morris, and Na- thaniel Marston. This very interesting document is pre- served at Albany, though badly damaged and in places almost illegible ; it will be found in the Doc. Hist., vol. iii., p. 248. They say :
"Whereas at the same time that the said Act was made there was noe Publick Church or building [for the] said Minister to officiate his said duty in the Publique Worship and Service of God According [to the practice of the] Church of England Established by Law whereby the Intent of the said Law was likely to be ffustrated [as well as the will] bounty and Encouragement of yr Excell:'cy who by yo' Excell:'cys
would bring upon the Church by it, whereupon he Yielded to my Proposals which was, That the Vestry might have leave to call Mr. Vesey, he solemnly promising and oblige- ing himself to go for England and receive Orders without Loose of time, and that on his Return he should be Inducted. this piece of News was very welcome to the Ves- try, who received it with an uncommon satisfaction and proceed immediately and unanimously in their Choice, by this means was the Church Established in this City and Mr. Vesey settled in it, who hath ever since continued with great faithfulness in the discharge of his Duty. His life and conversation has likewise been very Regular, and without the least stain or Blemish as to his Morals ; He is not only a very excel- lent Preacher, but was allways very carefull never to mix in his Sermons any thing Improper to be delivered out of the Pulpit. and the Good Providence of God having continued him so long amongst us for a Thorough settlemt of the Church in this Place, where, although the Presbiterians have made several attempts they have not been able to break in upon us a Happiness no City in North America can boast of besides ourselves. The Account I have herewith given you of Mr. Vesey is not grounded on Reports having said nothing but what I very well know and have observed from a 16 or 17 years Acquaintance with and knowledge of him."-Archives of the S. P. G., vol. ix., No. 19. Also, The Church Press, March 27, 1886.
92
History of Trinity Church
[1692-
Pious Example has Influenced many to contribute severall sumes of money for the Erecting A Publique Structure and Church for the Pub- lique worship [which have been em] ployed by yo' Excellencys Petion's who have within this Citty built A Church and Covered the same but [still need yo' Excel. countenance] and Pious fauour Continued to it .- Therefore yor Excell:cys Petition:'s most humbly pray that yor Ex- cell:"y would be [pleased to grant the same] vnto yo' Excell:cys Petition:rs in trust for all those that now are or hereafter may be in the [Com- munion of the Church of] England as now Established by Law. And that yo' Excell:"y would be pleased to order the same [to be one Body] Politick in deed fact and Name, by Name of the Members in Com- munion of the Church of England Established by Law. And that such as they and their Successor:s may have hold use occupy [& possess all the] Advantages. Priviledges Immunityes Mortuaryes and Appurte- nances as are vsually held [used occupied & possessed by] Churches of the Church of England within his Majties Realme. And allso that yor Excell:"y [will grant the Said] Church Aforesaid yearly Maintenance by the Aforesaid Law Established, [and ffor the benefit &] ffor the Charitable and Pious vse of the same what Quantity of Lands there- vnto [neer or adjoining that to yor Excell &] the Council shall be thought ffitt."
From this document we see distinctly how the men of the Church of England regarded themselves, and what they wanted ; while the charter granted the same day shows that they received what they asked for, and had the full recognition of an Establishment.1
By that charter, duly drawn and executed under the seal of the province, the parish of Trinity Church was constituted and established. A copy of the charter in full will be found in the Appendix : its provisions are briefly as follows :
The preamble sets forth the Act of 1693 providing for the settlement of a Protestant minister in the City of New York, and states that there was then no public church
1 " The Petition of the managers of the English protestant Church called Trinity Church was read and granted : Ordered a warrt issue for the drawing of their Charter of incorporacon, the quitrent to be one pepper corne as desird."-N. Y. Doc. Hist., iii., 249.
1
93
1698]
The Charter of Trinity Church
or building within the city ; that Gov. Fletcher had procured the erection of a church and steeple since the passage of the Act ; that a grant and confirmation had been made to certain persons, of the ground on which the church had been built and of the church itself ; that it was the design to dedicate and consecrate the said church and grounds adjacent to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and to make the same a parish church ; there- fore the Royal will and pleasure is that the said church, together with the said grounds inclosed and used as a cemetery, shall be the parish church and churchyard of the parish of Trinity Church within the said City of New York ; that the same is declared to be forever set apart and dedi- cated to the service of God and to be applied to the use of the inhabitants of the City of New York in communion with the Church of England ; that the Bishop of London be made the first rector of the same and his successors in office act as such thereafter ; that the Bishop of London and all persons in communion with the said church be a body corporate and politic; and that on Easter Tuesday an election be held for two Wardens and twenty Vestrymen. To the rector the usual rights and privileges are granted, according to English Church law ; it was also provided that he should have an assistant in priest's orders, together with a clerk. Provision was made for completing the church by assessment on the inhabitants of the parish, and it was further declared that the church thus provided for should be the sole and only parish church of the City. Further- more, the benefits of the Act of 1693 were to accrue to the parish church they established ; the rector of Trinity Church was declared to be the "good and sufficient Protestant Minister " designated in the said Act ; the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the City of New York were required to pay to him the sums which, accord-
94
History of Trinity Church
[1692-
ing to the provisions of the said Act, they were required to raise for the support of the ministry in the city, and in case of their failing to do so, the rector for the time being was authorized to bring an action against them in any Court of Record within the province. The charter also declared the following-named persons to be Church War- dens and Vestrymen of the new parish :
Wardens :
Thomas Wenham, Robert Lurting.
Vestrymen :
Caleb Heathcote,
Michael Howden,
William Merritt,
John Cooke,
John Tuder,
William Sharpas,
James Emott,
Lawrence Reade,
William Morris,
David Jamison,
Thos. Clarke,
William Huddleston,
Ebenezer Wilson,
Gabriel Ludlow,
Samuel Burt, Thomas Burroughs,
Jas. Evetts,
John Merritt,
Nathaniel Marston,
William Janeway.
No opposition was made by the Dutch Church to the granting of this charter to the members of the Church of England, for the very good reason that the Dutch Church had received a charter previously. It was dated May, 1696, and, on many grounds was due to the Dutch, as they had special guarantees made them at the surrender, and needed an instrument of this sort to carry on their work and maintain discipline among themselves. Domine Selyns refers to this charter in his letter of September 30, 1696, and says : "The Title reads The Charter of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the City of New York."1 The charter is an extremely interesting docu- 1 Anthology of New Netherland, p. 125.
The original charter of Trinity Church covers three very large sheets of parch- ment written in the usual antique style, with the seal composed of a reddish wax
95
The Charter to the Dutch Church
1698]
ment covering almost everything that the lawyers could think of.
With the granting of this charter the cordial feeling between the Dutch Church and the Church of England was greatly strengthened, and that mutual respect and regard continue unabated to the present day. At this time, Governor Fletcher gave further important aid to the Church by granting it a lease of the piece of land known and covered with yellowish paper. It is in a fair state of preservation, and is kept in the vaults of the Corporation in Fulton Street. The Corporation also has two quite old copies in manuscript. It has been printed in the statement of " Levi S. Chatfield, Attorney General of the State of New York, at the relation of Nicholas J. Marschel," given in a volume entitled, History of various Litigations relating to the title of the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York, &c., &c., New York : S. W. Green, Printer, 1871. Svo. It opens by reciting that :
" William the third, by the grace of God King of England Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the faith &c. To all to whom these presents shall come sendeth greeting. Whereas wee have been informed by the humble petition of our Loving subjects Henricus Selyus, William Beekman, Joannes Kerbyle, Joannes De Peyster, Jacobus Kipp, Isaac De Foreest and Isaac De Reymer the present Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Dutch protestant congregacon in our said city of New York pre- sented to our trusty and well beloved Benjaim Fletcher, our Captain Generall and governour in chiefe of our province of New York and Territory's depending thereon in America. That the said Minister elders deacons and the other members in communion of the said Dutch protestant congregacon in our said city of New York have at their own charge built and erected a church within our said city of New York and the same together with the cemetery or Church Yard thereunto adjoining have dedicated to the service of God." It guarantees to the parties named and to their successors " the ffree exercise and enjoyment of all their civill and Religious Rights," and guarantees the "Liberty of worshipping God according to the Constitutions and Direcons of the Reformed Churches in Holland, approved and instituted by the Nationall Synod of Dort," and that no person in the communion of said Church shall at any time " be any wayes molested, Punished, Disquieted or called in Question, for any difference in opinion in matters of the " Protestant Religion." They were also to have " full Power and authority to make rates and assessments upon all and every of the members in communion of the said Church," for " raising of Money for the Payment of the yearly stipends and sallaryies of the aforesaid officers of the said Church, and also for repairing, amending and enlarging the said Church and Steeple, Belfry Coemetry or Church Yard," &c. They were to have and enjoy all those things on their estates usually connected with lands, " silver and gold mines excepted," and including " fish- ing fouling hunting and Hawking." The charter is extremely interesting and remark- ably full, while for all the privileges they were to pay the Crown " on the fcast day of the annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Mary, at our City of New York the annual rent of Twelve shillings."
96
History of Trinity Church
[1692-
as the King's Farm, once the property of Governor Love- lace, and since his fall and disgrace, a perquisite of the Royal Governor. The lease was dated Aug. 19, 1697, and was to run for seven years. The tenant who had been in uninterrupted possession for many years be- came the tenant of the Church.
All arrangements having now been completed, includ- ing the providing of a suitable church edifice and the obtaining of a proper and sufficient charter, it remained only to find a clergyman and settle him in the newly con- stituted parish. Happily the action of the City Vestry had made this an easy matter. Mr. Vesey was already in England. While there he received the degree of A.M. from Merton College, Oxford, July 8, 1697. On the 25th day of July, he was ordained deacon, and August 2, priest, by the Bishop of London1; and in December he returned to New York, happily escaping, on both voy- ages, outward and inward, the dangers of the sea. On his return the next step was to elect him minister of the new parish of Trinity Church, a parish which owed its existence, as we have seen, to the strenuous efforts of the Churchmen of the City of New York, in support of the position and official acts of the Governor. The honor of this final proceeding is due to the City Vestry. The Board having been convened, two Wardens and nine Ves- trymen being present, it was ordered :
"Pursuant to the directions of an Act of Gen'l Assembly of this province entitled An Act for the Settling a Ministry and Raising a Maintenance for them in the Citty of New York, this Board doe unani- mously Call the said Mr. William Vezey to officiate and have the care
1 " 25. July, 1697. Gulielmus Vesey Art. Mag. Universitatis Oxon in sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem fuit admissus."
"2. Augusti, 1697. Gulielmus Vesey, Art. Mag. Universitatis Oxon in sacrum Presbyteratus Ordinem fuit admissus."
Register of the Diocese of London, 1675-1809. See, also, the Appendix to this work for the documents containing Mr. Vesey's declaration of conformity, taken from the files at the Hall of Records in this city.
97
The Induction of Mr. Vesey.
1698]
of Souls within this City of New York and the said William Vezey personally came before this Board and informed them that he was ready to exercise the Function he was called to when he shall be inducted into the same." 1
On the Feast of the Nativity, 1697, Governor Fletcher inducted the Reverend Mr. Vesey into his parish. The ceremony was performed in the new stone church belong- ing to the Dutch Congregation in Garden Street, the English Church being not yet ready for use. Among the subscribing witnesses were two of the Dutch ministers, Domine Henricus Selyns, of New York, and Domine Johannes Petrus Nucella, of Kingston, Ulster County .?
For about three months, until the completion of Trin- ity Church, Domine Selyns and Mr. Vesey preached alternately in the church in which the induction was held, the former officiating in the Dutch language, the latter in English. The Dutch were evidently in hearty sympathy with the English Church people at this period, and had shown their regard for the Governor by presenting him with a service of plate.3
It is now in order to speak of the personal history of Mr. Vesey, and to state what is known of his career and antecedents before his call to Trinity Church. These matters shall be considered in order in the following chapter.
1 The Bishop of London wrote two letters to the Board, August 10 and 16, 1697, heartily commending the choice of Mr. Vesey and promising aid towards the comple- tion of the church.
? Mr John Langdon Sibley, late Librarian of Harvard University, in a private letter Nov. 17, 1876, expressed the opinion, that as the appointments by the Governor and the return made to him by the inductor are in Latin, as the knowledge of the English language by the Dutch dominies was probably limited, and as the Classis of Amster- dam sent none but good scholars to this country, the ceremonies on this occasion may have been, in part at least, in the Latin tongue.
3 For additional information about the Induction see The Parish Record, Brook- lyn, September and October, 1885, also Bishop Perry's Memorial History, ii., 477, and Historical Magazine, July, 1867, p. 14. For the Letters of orders of Mr. Vesey, doc- uments relating to his first call, the Bishop of London's Letters to the City Vestry, and Governor Fletcher's Letter of Induction, see Appendix.
CHAPTER VI.
WILLIAM VESEY, FIRST RECTOR.
Parentage and Birth-A Member of a Jacobite Family Connected with the Church of England-Graduates at Harvard College-Lay Worker at Sag, Long Island, and after- wards at Hempstead-Origin of the Falsehoods about him-Refutation of the State- ment that he was a Presbyterian-Officiates, as a Layman, at King's Chapel, Boston- Called thence to New York-Autobiographical Sketch of Early Life and Work-A Churchman from his Birth.
T T is high time that the cloud of misrepresentation and misstatement affecting the honor and good name of the first rector of Trinity Church should be dispersed, and that charges against him, calumnious in their nature if not in intention, should be so fully exposed that they may never be repeated. The statement has been made, and down to the present day has obtained credence among respectable and fair-minded men, that Mr. Vesey was a Dissenting minister, and a special protégé of In- crease Mather's, when elected to the position of minister of the City of New York ; that ite betrayed the Presby- terians, in whose interest he had been chosen to that office ; that he allowed himself to be caught by Colonel Fletcher and the managers of the Church of England ; and that he turned coat and took Holy Orders in that Church, in order to secure the tempting bribe of the call to the rectorship of the parish in New York.1 As these
1 Even so learned and unprejudiced a man as my friend the late Dr. George H. Moore accepted this story as substantially true, while he attempted a defence of Mr. Vesey's cause, and apologized for him as follows :
" This is the earliest record of Mr. Vesey's adhesion to the Church of England. It is but just to infer that his course was dictated by honorable sentiments. There
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.