A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 2, Part 12

Author: Dix, Morgan, 1827-1908, ed. cn; Dix, John Adams, 1880-1945, comp; Lewis, Leicester Crosby, 1887-1949, ed; Bridgeman, Charles Thorley, 1893-1967, comp; Morehouse, Clifford P., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: New York, Putnam
Number of Pages: 752


USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 2 > Part 12


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


The Convention of August, 1789, had entrusted to a Committee the task of drafting an address to the President of the United States, which Committee having reported, the address was ordered to be engrossed for signing.


At the Convention of October, a copy of the address, with the signatures attached, and of the President's reply were laid before the house.


Part of the address read as follows :


"To these considerations inspiring us with the most pleasing expec- tations as private Citizens, permit us to add, that, as the representatives of a numerous and extended Church, we most thankfully rejoice in the election of a Civic ruler, deservedly beloved, and eminently distinguished among the friends of genuine religion ; who has happily united a tender regard for other Churches with an inviolable attachment to his own."


In 1789, Bishop Provoost had been chosen the first Chaplain to the Senate of the United States, under the present Constitution. When, therefore, Washington was sworn in as President on April 30th he proceeded on foot with the whole assemblage of notabilities, from the spot in Wall Street now marked by his statue, to St. Paul's Church, where special prayers were read by the Bishop of New York, and thus closed the ceremonies of his inauguration.


132


History of Trinity Church [1787-1797]


A panel on the bronze door of the south porch of Trinity Church commemorates this event. The pew in which Washington worshipped during his stay in the city is still in existence, on the north side of St. Paul's Chapel.


The General Convention of 1792 met in Trinity Church. Bishop Provoost presided, the other Bishops being Seabury, White, and Madison. He was the conse- crator of Dr. Claggett to the See of Maryland during the session of that Convention. In 1795 he united with Bishops White, Madison, and Claggett in the consecra- tion of Dr. Smith as Bishop of South Carolina, in Christ Church, Philadelphia, and two years later in the same church he joined in the laying on of hands on Dr. Bass, first Bishop of Massachusetts. On October 18th of the same year (1797) he joined Bishops White and Bass in the consecration of Dr. Jarvis as second Bishop of Con- necticut. His last participation in this Episcopal act was at the consecration of Bishops Hobart and Griswold, May 29, 1811.


CHAPTER XII.


THE REBUILDING OF TRINITY CHURCH.


Rebuilding Decided on .- Lots to be Sold-Suggestion to Raise Funds by Way of Annuity-Proposals for Rebuilding Advertised-Laying of Foundation Stone-Inscrip- tion on Stone-Comments of the Press-Description of the Church-Pews sct Aside -Sale of Pews-Terms of Purchase-Permission to Transfer Pews-Purchase of Font, Prayer-Books, Bell, and Organ-Consecration of Trinity Church-Erection of a Commemorative Slab-Gift of Lustres-Gift of Sounding-Board to St. Peter's, West- chester-Clock and Bells Ordercd-Their Arrival.


T HE rebuilding of Trinity Church, begun in 1788 and completed in 1790, appears to have given great pleasure to the citizens of New York whose attention was occupied by the proceedings. One cannot but be grateful to the leading journal of the day for the suggestion that the erection of a spire, well provided with lightning rods, would be a protection to the neighborhood and serve as a prophylactic in case of thunder-storms. The imagi- nation of the newspaper man of the period was lively and diverting in its flights, as becomes that faculty in every age. The new Church was built upon the same site as the old, but it was, in all respects, a much finer, as well as a larger building.


As early as 1785 the Corporation decided to take steps for securing the necessary funds for the rebuilding of the Church; ordering that subscriptions for that purpose should be solicited, and providing for the sale of certain designated lots if the money required could be raised in no other way.


A suggestion subsequently made to raise the necessary


I33


134


History of Trinity Church


[1788-


funds by way of annuity did not meet with favor; and it was finally resolved to borrow whatever was needed be- yond the amount of the subscriptions.1


In June, 1788, the following notice appeared in the public press :


"PROPOSALS IN WRITING


will be received on or before the 23d inst. For taking down the Walls of TRINITY CHURCH, as low as the sills of the windows all round :


"Taking down the walls of the CHANCEL, to a level with the ground :-


"Cleaning the STONES in the best manner, and laying them in heaps within the walls :--


"Removing and carrying off all the RUBBISH that may be judged useless.


R. Watts M. Rogers N. Cruger N. Carmer G. Dominick


Commissioners for re-building Trinity Church.


"New York June 18, 1788."?


The walls having been taken down, proposals for lay- ing the new foundation were called for.


"PROPOSALS IN WRITING


"Will be received on or before the 20th inst. for workmanship only.


"For digging a Trench for a new foundation for Trinity Church :-


"Taking up the old foundation from the surface of the ground down- wards : -


"Cleaning the Stones, laying a new foundation, and carrying up the walls as high as the sills of the windows.


" In giving in the proposals, calculations are to be made by the perch, and the depth of the new foundation to be ascertained by the depth of the old."


(Here follow the same signatures as in the other notice.)


' Records, liber folio. 513.


? Daily Advertiser, June 18, 1788.


135


Foundation Stone Laid


1797]


"N. B. The ground plan of the Church to be seen at Mr. Cruger's office, No. 5, Stone Street.


"New York, July 8, 1788." 1


In August the notice for carpenters' work appeared.


"To all CARPENTERS.


"Proposals in writing will be received for Carpenters' work and ma- terials.


"For bringing under cover, inclosing and finishing the outside of Trinity Church compleat, including the porch, in front, the columns, and arch, within the Church


ALSO


"For building the Steeple, on a base of twenty-five feet square, as described in the plan. Considered as a separate article


ALSO


"For cutting the Stone that may be wanting for the above building.""


Here follow the signatures of the same Commissioners as above, and the notice that the plan can be seen by ap- plying to Mr. Rogers, 35 Queen Street.


In the issue of the same paper of the 23d appears a notice of the laying of the foundation stone.


"On Thursday at 12 o'clock, the foundation Stone of Trinity Church, was laid by the Right Reverend Samuel Provoost D.D. Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the State of New York.


"On the Stone is the following Inscription


"To the HONOR of ALMIGHTY GOD and the advancement of the Christian RELIGION


"The first Stone of this Building was laid (on the site of the old Church, destroyed by fire in 1776)


"On the 21st day of August A. D. 1788. In the 13th year of the INDEPENDENCE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


"The Right Reverend Samuel Provoost, D.D. Bishop of New York, being Rector,


"The Honorable James Duane Esqr. 1 Church


" The Honorable John Jay Esqr. Wardens " 3


Ibid., August 7, 1788.


1 Daily Advertiser, July 8, 1788. 3 Ibid., August 23, 1788.


I36


History of Trinity Church


[1788-


The Daily Gazette becomes eloquent in relating the improvements then in progress in the City :


"Considerable progress has been made this season in the works at the Battery, one half of which are already compleated and formed into excellent wharves : the other half must lie over until next spring, but when finished will connect the whole into a most beautiful circuitous street around three-fourths of New York, from Greenwich Street along the North River until it comes to White-Hall, and from thence by the East River along Albany Pier, etc.


"But amongst all the numberless improvements carrying forward there is none that deserves approbation more than the New Church in Broad-Way ; the Spire of which, by help of good Conductors, will be a great preservative against lightning, to all the houses situate within the distance of Several hundred paces, and particularly so to the Fed- eral Hall, where Congress meet." 1


The New-York Magazine for January, 1790, gave an excellent woodcut of the new Church, as a frontispiece to the account of the destruction of the old one.


"Trinity Church was founded in the year 1696, in the reign of Wil- liam III while Mr. Fletcher was Governor of the Province ; and divine service was first performed in it on 6th February, 1697 by the Reverend Mr. Vesey, Rector of the Parish.2


" The original Church was a small square edifice, large enough how- ever to accommodate the Episcopal Congregation till the year 1735, when an addition was made at the East End, and in the year 1737 it was augmented, on the north and south sides, to the noble size in which it appeared at the time of its destruction.


"In the summer of the year 1762, the steeple was struck by lightning, and set on fire just below the ball ; but the fire was soon extinguished by the activity of the Citizens, and no damage sustained but the loss of some shingles torn from the rafters by the violence of the Stroke of lightning.


"In the great conflagration of the city, on the 21st September, 1776, the Church was entirely destroyed, and the burning of it made one of the most awful parts of that dreadful spectacle. It was a spacious and


1 New- York Daily Gazette, November 12, 1789.


? This is an error. The Church was first occupied on March 13, 1698. See Part I., p. 115.


I37


Sale of Pews


1797]


venerable edifice, 146 feet long, including the tower and chancel 72 feet wide, and ornamented with a steeple 180 feet high. The inside of the building was decorated with a fine organ, and several pieces of handsome paintings, and some very beautiful marble monuments.


" From the size and height of this noble structure ; the simple stile of its architecture ; the Gothic arch of its windows, the glass of which was set in lead ; from the lofty trees which embosomed it and the graves and monuments of the dead that surrounded it on every side, it presented to the passenger a striking object of contemplation, and im- pressed him with pleasure, corrected by reverence.


"The new Church was built by Mr. J. Robinson, carpenter, and Messrs. Moore and Smith, masons ; is 104 feet long and 72 wide, and the steeple 200 feet high : but as it is not yet complete, a description in its present form would convey to our readers but an imperfect idea of the whole Edifice." 1


The Vestry set apart special pews for the President of the United States, the Governor of the State, and members of Congress. It was further ordered that the President's pew be " properly ornamented " and have a canopy over it,? and the Bishop was requested to wait upon the President and acquaint him with the offer of the Corporation.


After these pews had been thus set apart, it was or- dered that the rest should be sold. Notices of the sale appear in the newspapers of the period.


" TRINITY CHURCH. The Commissioners for rebuilding Trinity Church, give notice, that the first Monday in March next is the day appointed for disposing of the Pews in the said Church.


"February 3, 1790." 3


" The Pews in Trinity Church will be disposed of on Monday the first day of March next, by order of the Vestry, and pursuant to the notice published by the Commissioners.


" Richard Harison.


" Clerk of the Corporation of Trinity Church.


"New York, February 16, 1790."'


1 New- York Magazine or Literary Ropository, January, 1790, vol. i., p. 3.


? Records, liber i., folio 525.


3 New- York Daily Gazette, February 3, 1790.


4 Ibid., February 17, 1790.


138


History of Trinity Church


[1788-


"The Pews in TRINITY CHURCH were yesterday sold at public auction. The number of persons that attended the Sale was very great, and such was the desire of having seats in the Church, that many of the Pews produced more than FIFTY POUNDS. The whole amount of the sale was THREE THOUSAND POUNDS." 1


From the minutes of February 15, 1790, we learn the terms on which purchasers could hold and retain the pews. They were to hold them for themselves, their wives, and descendants only so long as they paid their rents and re- mained members of the Church. The pews were non- transferable. 2


Nevertheless we find that after the opening of the Church permission was requested to transfer certain pews. The Vestry accordingly, after deferring the consideration of the matter several times, finally came to the following conclusion, November 14, 1791 :


"That this Board will allow the Pews in Trinity Church to be trans- ferred for the space of three years next ensuing ; provided that the Committee of Pews for that Church approve of the Persons to whom such Transfers are to be made-But upon every such Transfer the Person making the same shall deliver up the Certificate under the seal of this Corporation before such Transfer is confirmed, and in all such Cases new Certificates shall be granted."


The Building Committee were authorized to erect a font near the pulpit, to purchase a Bible and two Prayer- Books, and four folio editions of the Prayer-Book and two small ones, two new surplices, and a suitable bell. For the purchase of the organ, a special subscription was opened.


In the matter of the bell, the Lutheran congregation kindly came forward in the following year with the offer of the use of a bell ; it was gratefully accepted.3


1 Daily Advertiser, March 2, 1790. ? Records, liber i., folio 525. 3 Ibid., folio 540, March 14, 1790.


.'The second church was built in 1988 and torn down in 1839.


Li .


-


1797]


Consecration of New Church I39


The new Church was consecrated March 25, 1790, the order for its consecration having been given on February 15th preceding. Notices of the event appear in the jour- nals of the day, of which the following is a specimen :


" The new Church lately built in Broadway, on the site of the old Trinity Church was yesterday solemnly consecrated and dedicated to the service of God, by the Right Reverend Father in God, SAMUEL, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York ; assisted by the several gentlemen of the clergy belonging to the Church. A respectable number of people were assembled on this occasion. The President of the United States, together with the Rev. Clergy of the different denominations in this City, and many other persons of dis- tinction were present. After the ceremony of consecration, a sermon was preached by the Rev. Doctor Beache, suited to the occasion, from the following verses of the XXVIII Chapter of Genesis :-


"'And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place ! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.' " 1


Although the Church was now consecrated, much re- mained to be done for its completion. From the minutes of June 13, 1791, we learn that a marble slab, with such inscription as the clergy should direct, was to be placed over the front door of Trinity Church, and a desk for the Clerk set up where the font then was, which was to be removed ; from those of December 12, 1791, that gal- leries for the Charity Scholars were to be erected on each side of the organ ; and from those of January 9, 1792, that Mr. George Knox had presented a set of lustres for the Church.


A proposal to remove the pulpit was referred to a committee, February .13, 1792, and at the close of that year, December 10th, we find that the congregation of St. Peter's Church, Westchester, asked for the sounding-board which had but lately been removed from the pulpit. The


1 New- York Magazine or Literary Repository, vol. i., p. 192. See also Daily Ad- vertiser for March 26, 1790, and New- York Packet for March 27th.


140


History of Trinity Church [1788-1797]


Vestry passed a resolution authorizing that the board be given them,


" with as much of the Iron work belonging to it as they may judge proper." '


It had been originally intended that the steeple of Trinity Church should be surmounted with a ball. This was, however, not carried out and the ball was sold.2


On February 8, 1796, the advisability of procuring "a clock and Bell for St. Paul's Chapel and a Ring of Bells for Trinity Church " was discussed, and on the following IIth of April the Vestry ordered that the same be pro- cured.3


On August 14, 1797, it was reported to the Vestry that the " Ring of Bells" for Trinity Church had arrived by the good ship Favorite.


1 Records, liber ii., folio 15.


2 Ibid., folio 13. (July 9, 1792.) 3 Ibid., folio 53.


CHAPTER XIII.


GLEANINGS FROM THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION


AND CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS.


Monument to General Montgomery - Alterations in St. Paul's Gallery- Subscrip- tion for Payment of Assistant Clergy - Clerk at St. George's Deficient in Psalmody -- Naming New Streets - Proposal from S. P. G. to Convey Lands at Fort Hunter to Corporation - Cost of Sinking a Well -Copies of Ogden's Antidote to Deism and Watson's Apology for the Bible Purchased for Distribution - Arrival of the Church Bells - Forbidden to be Rung - Gift of Small Bell to St. Mark's - Fire on St. Paul's Steeple - Reward for Extinguishing it - Ways and Means against Fire- Regulation of Clocks in the City - Minutes of the Vestry on Washington's Death - Charity Sermons - Corporation for Relief of Widows and Children of the Clergy - Marriage Notices - Notable Funerals - Subscription for New Organ for St. Paul's - Parade at the Burnt Church - Musical Performance by Mr. Blagrove - Yellow Fever in New York - Discovery of Vault at Fort Hunter - Anniversary of In- dependence, 1790- Arrival of Bishop Madison - Ordination by Bishop Provoost- Medical Graduation, Columbia College - Marriage of Dr. Pilmore - Dr. Provoost Appointed Chaplain of the House - Georgite Bishops Criticised - Buonaparte a Connecticut Man.


TO O skim the Records of the Parish, selecting for our narrative incidents likely to prove interesting, and illustrative of the old times, is the object of the author in this chapter.


To begin with the monument to General Montgomery in the portico of St. Paul's Chapel, in front of the great window, -- that monument was ordered by the Vestry, and made in England. Upon its erection, it was found necessary to devise some means of concealing the rough stonework at the back, which was visible inside the Church. The Vestry invoked the assistance of Colonel L'Enfant, a person of reputation as an artist and a man of taste and invention, who happened to be residing in the city at that


141


142


History of Trinity Church


[1787-


time. Visitors to old St. Paul's are generally struck with amazement at sight of the remarkable decoration over its altar, displaying thunder-clouds and solid streaks of light- ning, with the two tables of the Mosaic Law, above which, in a triangle, are the Hebrew letters of the name Jehovah. This was the outcome of the study of the situation by Colonel L'Enfant, whose design "to ornament that part of the great window of St. Paul's Chapel which will be obscured by the monument of General Montgomery " was highly commended by the Board. In due time the work was completed, and the artist received the thanks of the Corporation.1 And this explains the perpetual exhibition of the scene on Mount Sinai in symbolic form, to the eyes of the worshippers in our oldest church, whenever they are directed towards its venerated altar.


On the 29th of October, 1787, the Committee on Repairs were requested to have


" a stair case erected on the South Side of St. Paul's in Front and to make such alterations in the Gallery on that side as well as where the Charity Scholars sit, as they may judge proper in order to accommodate the members of that Church with Pews in the most convenient manner." 2


Dr. Charlton complained to the Vestry that the clerk of St. George's Chapel was "deficient in Psalmody." The Vestry therefore delegated to the members of the Corpo- ration who attended at St. George's Chapel the unpleasant task of informing that luckless official that he should no longer officiate,


"but that his salary shall be paid to him to the end of the year for which he is engaged, provided that he officiate until another is ap- pointed and that the said Committee procure another person to officiate in his place on trial." 3


Here we come upon a record, bearing upon the names I See Records, liber i., folios 489, 492, 512. 2 Ibid., folio 498.


3 Ibid., folio 490.


143


Naming New Streets


1796]


of the streets, showing how they were witnesses, and still remain witnesses, to the men of old time, and to the im- portance of the Parish in that far-off day. It has already been observed that the Rectors and Clergy of Trinity were among the most conspicuous figures of the period, and that many of the streets were named after persons or objects connected with the Parish ; as, for example, Rector Street, Church Street, Chapel Street, Vesey and Barclay Streets.1 It would appear that the right to give names to the streets laid out on the Church lands was a preroga- tive of the Vestry. We find them passing a resolution to the effect that the streets on the Church lands north of Reade Street and at right angles with the river should be named successively Duane, Jay, Harison, Provoost, Moore, Beach, and Hubert Streets.2 Four years later they ordered that the four streets southwest of Hubert Street should be named Vestry, Laight, Desbrosses, and Watts3; the last being called after John Watts, the loyal Recorder of the City of New York, whose bronze statue now stands in Trinity churchyard.


All these streets with but one or two exceptions still bear their original names. And here let a protest be en- tered, or, where protest is no longer available, an expres- sion of unavailing regret, at the wretched, the indefensible habit of our city government in changing the names of streets which have historic interest. Chatham Street should always have remained Chatham Street ; it was renamed in deference to squeamish prejudice ; and now we are threatened with a worse offence in the case of White- hall Street, known as such from the day of the evacuation of this city by the British, and before that time. There


1 See Part I., Introduction xiv.


? It has been conjectured that Hubert Strcet may have been named after Mr. Hubert Van Wagenen.


3 Records, liber ii., folio 24.


144


History of Trinity Church


[1787-


is, unfortunately, no final remedy against the bad taste, the folly, the fatuity of persons entrusted with a power to expunge the records of the past, and efface memorials which they have neither the brains to appreciate nor the reverence to respect.


On March 8, 1790, a letter from Dr. William Morice, Secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- pel in Foreign Parts, was read to the Board. Therein the Society declared its consent to convey to the Board all its right to a farm at Fort Hunter, and requested that a draft of a deed for that purpose be transmitted to the Society.


It was therefore ordered that the Clerk prepare a draft of such a deed.1


The farm referred to was the three hundred acres of land granted to the Rev. Henry Barclay, situate on the south side of the Mohawk River near Fort Hunter .?


From the minutes of October 6, 1794, we find that the cost of sinking a well on the corner of Greenwich and Provoost streets was £10.3


On June 13, 1796, two hundred copies of Dr. Uzal Ogden's work, Antidote to Deism, were ordered to be purchased and placed at the disposal of the Rector and the Assisting Clergy.4


On the 9th of January following, five hundred copies of Bishop Watson's Apology for the Bible were ordered to be purchased and placed at the disposal of the Rector for dis- tribution as he should think proper.5 The New- York Four- nal informs its readers that " A complete Set of Bells and an Elegant Clock is received by the Favorite, Captain Drummond from London for TRINITY CHURCH." 6.


1 Records, liber i., folio 527.


2 Calendar of New York Colonial Manuscripts. Indorsed Land Papers, vol. i., p. 224. See also Hooper's History of St. Peter's Church, Albany, pp. 137, 138.


' Records, liber ii., folio 34. 4 Ibid., folio 54. 5 Ibid., folio 60.


6 New- York Journal and Packet Register, August 5, 1797.


145


Fire in St. Paul's


1796]


After the bells were hung, an order was made that they should not be rung on account of any public rejoicing ex- cept by express permission of the Rector.1 For their ser- vices on the 4th of July, 1798, the bell-ringers were paid $40.2


On December 6, 1799, the " small bell and its append- ages in St. Paul's Church " were ordered to be taken down and given to St. Mark's Church.


In the early part of 1799, St. Paul's Chapel caught fire. Dr. Berrian in his History of the Parish says :


" I have a vivid recollection of the circumstance, and also, unless my memory deceive me, of the occasion of it. It was communicated to the steeple of St. Paul's by some burning fragments, blown from the house occupied by Sir John Temple, in Greenwich Street, which was on fire at the time. I was an eye-witness of the coolness and daring of the persons by whose efforts it was extinguished." 3


The Vestry distributed $150 among the " Persons who were most active in extinguishing the late Fire at the Steeple of St. Paul's Church," 4 and thereupon pro- ceeded to take better precautions against fire. The fol- lowing directions to that effect show not only a careful consideration of the problem involved, but also illustrate the methods of a hundred years ago.




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.