USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 2 > Part 2
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" The Corporation do therefore accept of the resignation of the said Doctor Charles Inglis, and the Rectory thereby becoming vacant, this Corporation came into a resolution for the choice of a successor, when it was unanimously resolved that the Reverend Mr. Benjamin Moore be and is hereby elected and chosen to succeed the said Reverend Dr. Inglis as Rector of Trinity Church in the Parish aforesaid. Resolved
that Mr. - - 1 wait on Mr. Moore, and acquaint him with the above resolution, and know if he will accept the appointment ; which they accordingly did, and Mr. Moore being introduced, and declaring his assent to accept the said appointment, it was therefore further resolved that Mr. Moore be presented in a convenient time to his Excellency Governor George Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, for his approbation ; and presentation being prepared for that purpose, the same
1 A blank in the original.
3
Election of Benjamin Moore
1783]
was read in the words following." (Here follows the formal presenta- tion, liber i., fol. 436, 437.)
The election of Mr. Moore was promptly challenged. The struggle through which the colonists had passed, and out of which they had emerged, no longer colonists, but citizens of an independent nation, had affected things eccle- siastical as well as things political. Broadly speaking, there were now, at the conclusion of the war, two great parties in the church : the " Whig Episcopalians," as they called themselves, representing the triumphant side, and the Conservatives, who, doubtful of the permanence of the new order of things, desired, in matters Ecclesiastical, to maintain as much as possible the old traditions and customs of the Church of England.
The "Whig Episcopalians" viewed with suspicion those church people who had stood by the Royal Government. They had been loud in their denunciations of Dr. Inglis and his friends ; and when they heard that Mr. Benjamin Moore had been elected, they expressed their dissatisfac- tion with the choice ; alleging nothing against Mr. Moore's character or fitness for the position, but basing their ob- jection to him on his avowed sympathies with the British cause and his dislike of the new government.
Accordingly, on Saturday, December 6th, they issued the following notice :
"The Whig members of the Episcopal Church are requested to meet this evening at seven o'clock at Simmons' Tavern, near the City Hall, on matters of Importance relative to the Church which require immediate attention." 1
The principal persons present at that meeting were Messrs. R. R. Livingston, James Duane, Marinus Willett, Robert Troup, and John Lawrence. A resolution was passed unanimously, declaring
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany.
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History of Trinity Church
[1783
" that the late nomination to the Rectorship was improper and un- warrantable,"1
and a committee was appointed to confer with the Cor- poration, whom they cautiously designated as " the Gentlemen exercising the office of Church Wardens and Vestrymen."
This was the first declaration of war in that contest for the Rectorship which ended in the triumph of the Whigs and the election of Samuel Provoost as fifth Rector.
The Whig Episcopalians, in maintaining their position and endeavoring to secure the rights of which they con- sidered themselves to have been unjustly deprived, appear to have relied, first, on the results of a conference with the Church Wardens and Vestrymen ; and, secondly, on a petition to a local body known as the Council for the Tem- porary Government of the Southern Parts of the State of New York. We shall consider these lines of attack in order. Among the State papers preserved at the Capitol at Albany is a series of documents giving the whole inner history of this struggle for the Rectorship, and from these Our account of it is made up.
The committee appointed at the meeting at Simmons's Tavern to confer with the Church Corporation consisted of Messrs. R. R. Livingston, James Duane, Marinus Wil- lett, Robert Troup, and John Lawrence. Of these gentle- tlemen the reader may be glad to have a brief account. They were all famous for the stand they had taken in the war, and of commanding influence in the State and City.
Robert R. Livingston was born in New York, Novem- ber 27, 1746, admitted to the bar in 1773, and for a short while was associated in partnership with John Jay. He was appointed Recorder by Governor Tryon in 1773, but owing to his strong sympathies with the Revolutionary
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany.
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The Whig Episcopalians
1783]
Cause was deprived of that office in 1775. The same year he was elected to the Provincial Assembly as a delegate from Dutchess County, and sent as a delegate to the Con- tinental Congress. He was appointed one of the Com- mittee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence, and was also one of the committee who drew up the Constitution for the State of New York. In 1777 he was made Chancellor. As Chancellor he administered the oath to Washington on his inauguration as first President.
James Duane, born in 1733, was by nature a strong Conservative. Up to the time of the Declaration of Inde- pendence he favored every measure that would tend to prevent the final separation of the Colonies from the Mother Country, though anxious that their just claims should be granted by England. When the separation came, he was loyal to the new order of things, and served as a member of the Continental Congress during its whole period. He was also a member of the Provincial Con- gress in April, 1775, and from June, 1776, to April, 1777. In 1776-7 he was a member of the Committee of Safety. Under the new Charter, he was chosen, in 1784, the first mayor of New York.
Marinus Willett, born in 1740, was, unlike Duane, an ardent patriot, and strong in his espousal of the Revolu- tionary movement. A soldier by instinct and profession, he served in General James Abercrombie's expedition against Fort Ticonderoga, in 1758; was one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, and on June 6, 1775, directed the brilliant movement which prevented the sending of arms from the arsenal in New York to the British troops at Boston. After participating with distinction in several engagements, he joined Washington's army in New Jer- sey, in June, 1778. From 1780 till the close of the war
0
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History of Trinity Church [1783
. he commanded the forces in the Mohawk Valley. From 1784 to 1792 he served as Sheriff of New York.
Robert Troup, born in 1757, studied law under John Jay. Early in 1776 he became a lieutenant in the Revo- lutionary army on Long Island. At the battle of Long Island he was taken prisoner, and confined in the prison ship Jersey. In 1777 he was liberated, an exchange hav- ing been effected, when he immediately joined Washing- ton's forces in New Jersey. He became Secretary of the Board of War, and after the peace was appointed Judge of the United States District Court of New York and member of the Assembly.
John Lawrence was born in England, in 1750; came to New York in 1767, and was admitted to the bar in 1772. In 1775 he was given a commission in the Ist New York regiment. In 1777 he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Washington, and presided as judge advocate at the trial of Major Andre. At the close of the war he re- sumed the practice of law, was elected a delegate to Con- gress, and first representative from New York City in 1789 to the first U. S. Congress. He was strongly in sympathy with the Revolutionary Cause, and a personal friend of Washington and Hamilton.
These were the men appointed to communicate with the Corporation of Trinity Church. Their first step was to address the following letter to
" The Gentlemen exercising the office of Church Wardens and Vestrymen." " GENTLEMEN
"A respectable number of the Congregation of the Episcopal Church, apprehending that your late proceedings, as Church Wardens and Vestrymen, may be attended with the most serious consequences to the Church, met, on Saturday Evening last, to consider the Means of preventing the Evils they dread. At which meeting they unani- mously voted that the late nomination to the Rectorship was improper
تك شفه القلادة له فى البندول دايما
7
Request for a Conference
1783]
and unwarrantable and appointed us a Committee to confer with you on the Subject, and to Endeavour to prevent any divisions in a Church which they highly respect and Earnestly wish to support.
" For these purposes we are desirous to meet and confer with you at Capes Tavern at six o'clock on Tuesday Evening next.
"We are Gentlemen your very humble servants
(Signed) R. R. LIVINGSTON JAS. DUANE MARINUS WILLET
ROBERT TROUP JOHN LAWRENCE "
"The Vestry and Church Wardens, objecting only to the proposed Place of meeting (it being a Tavern), returned the following Answer : " GENTLEMEN,
" The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the Corporation of Trinity Church have received a letter Signed by you, and being anxious to pre- vent all divisions in a Society for which you profess so high a regard, are willing to meet you, for the purpose of conferring on any Subject which may conduce to the Harmony of the said Church, at the Vestry Room, No. 87 Broadway, on Tuesday Evening at six o'clock.
" We are Gentlemen
" Your very humble Servts JAMES DESBROSSES ROBERT WATTS Church Wardens." (Signed)
directed to
"R. R. Livingston, James Duane, Marinus Willet, Robert Troup and John Lawrence Esquires."
"On Tuesday Evening the Church Wardens and Vestrymen as- sembled at the Vestry Room where they received the following Letter: "CAPES TAVERN 9th Dec. 1783.
" GENTLEMEN,
"We are now assembled at this place, where we are ready to confer with you on the Subject mentioned in our Letter of yesterday. As you have not thought it proper to assign any reason for declining to meet us at this place, we see none for changing it to that you propose ; nor do we feel disposed to take a step which may be considered as an . implied acknowledgment that you are legally the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, a question on which we think it improper at present to decide, whatever our Sentiments may be. As
8
History of Trinity Church [1783
we supposed you, in your private Characters animated with the Same desire to assure the Prosperity of the Church and establish it upon a broad and liberal foundation that influences our Conduct, we Expected that you would have rejoiced at an opportunity to unite with us in healing any divisions which may have originated through your precipi- tation ; as well as in examining how far the Charter may in itself be questionable by militating against the Spirit or Letter of the Con- stitution, and whether the Circumstances under which it has been attempted to be preserved, by those who submitted to or concurred in the British Usurpation, may not call for the Interposition of the Legis- lature. Should you decline this opportunity of conferring on these Subjects, we shall proceed to take such Steps, for the prosperity of the Church, and the security of our own Rights therein, as those we have the honor to represent may deem expedient, without giving you any further trouble.
"We are Gentlemen,
" Your very Humble Servts., (Signed) R. R. LIVINGSTON JAS. DUANE MARINUS WILLET
ROBERT TROUP JOHN LAWRENCE "
directed to
"The Gentlemen exercising the Office of Church Wardens and Ves- trymen of the Episcopal Church in the City of New York." 1
It seems that the Church Wardens and Vestry finally decided to meet the above-mentioned gentlemen at the place which they had fixed upon. At this conference it was proposed that, in order to accommodate matters, the Vestry should advise Mr. Moore to resign his appoint- ment to the Rectory, and then proceed to call some other Minister who might be agreeable to what were called the Whig Members, who in turn would prevail on the Legis- lature to confirm the Acts of the Vestry.
These propositions having been laid before the Vestry, after deliberation the following message was sent to Mr. Duane :
1 Petition of Vestrymen. Document 2404, State Papers, Albany.
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9
Result of Conference
1783]
" The Church Wardens and Vestry Men having taken into consid- eration the Propositions made to them last Evening, are of opinion that they are of too important a Nature to decide upon in the short time proposed and wish to defer their answer until Tuesday next." 1
To which this answer was received :
" Mr. Duane's compliments to Mr. Bache and acquaints him that he repeats to the Committee assembled at this place the message with which Mr. Bache was charged by the Gentlemen exercising the office of Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church. It is their opinion that as there will be a general meeting of those, whom they have the honor to represent to-morrow Evening, and no reason having been assigned for this request, they are not authorized to consent to the proposed delay, and that an answer will be expected to the propo- sitions of the Committee to the Consideration of the General Meeting as advertised previous to Mr. Bache's communication.
"CAPES TAVERN, Tuesday " Evening, Decr. 11th."
"The Vestry being thus pushed for an Answer came to the following resolutions which were sent the next morning, as the Committee would not allow that any Reason had been assigned for their wishing to delay their answer, tho' they suppose they had given a very Sufficient Reason when they said
" The propositions were of too important a Nature to be decided upon in the Short time afforded them."
"The Church Wardens and Vestry Men of Trinity Church hav- ing maturely considered the Conversation which passed on Tuesday Evening, the 9th instant, between them and a Committee of respecta- ble Gentlemen appointed to confer with them on a Matter relating to the Church, and having weighed with the utmost candour and atten- tion the propositions which were then made to them (with all due def- erence to the opinion of others, and at the same time with that honest steadfastness of perseverance which becomes men acting in a public and important Station) beg leave to declare,
" That they are desirous Every man Should have a free voice in the Election of Church Wardens and Vestrymen who appears at the time and with the Qualifications which the Charter requires.
" That they look upon themselves as the only legal Representatives of the Members of the Episcopal Church in this City being regularly
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany.
2 Ought not this to have been Thursday (see p. 7), or the date Dec. 9th ?
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History of Trinity Church
[1783
appointed to the Office which they now Sustain, according to old and Established Usage.
"That in all Ecclesiastical matters which have come before them, and in all their Actions, relating to the Business of the Church, whether in a private or Corporate capacity, they have most faithfully endeav- oured to promote its Interest and preserve its Constitution.
" That under their Management, in the course of six or seven years it has been retrieved from Many and great Difficulties and raised to a very flourishing condition.
"That in the late Transactions, which (with unfeigned sorrow and regret) they find have given dissatisfaction to many, they assumed no new Power, their only aim was the Public good, they literally adhered to their Charter, which they knew was confirmed by the Constitution of the State, and that great numbers of the Congregation concur with and are ready to support them by all fair and legal means, and therefore,
"That they cannot advise any change in the Measures which they have advised, without contradicting their own opinion, without sacri- ficing the Rights with which they deem themselves to be duely invested, and without forfeiting their claim to an uniform and consistent Char- acter, which they wish Ever to preserve." 1
No further communication was held with the Church Wardens and Vestry on the foregoing subject by the Committee.
The Committee, having thus failed in their attempt to make an impression upon the Church Wardens and Ves- trymen, decided to address that "Council," already referred to, created by the Acts of October 23, 1779.2
"An act to provide for the temporary government of the Southern parts of this State, whenever the enemy shall abandon or be dispos- sessed of the same, and until the legislature can be convened."
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany.
? The historians of the State or City of New York have all passed over the pro- ceedings of this Council, some even ignoring its existence. In their excuse it may be said that the official accounts of the proceedings of the Council seem to have disap- peared completely. Governor Clinton, in his message of the 21st of January, 1784, states : " I shall now leave with you my correspondence with Sir Guy Carleton : The Proceedings of the Council constituted for the temporary government of the Southern District," etc. These Proceedings cannot be found either in New York or Albany.
II
Petition to the Council
1783]
A proviso as to time was inserted as follows :
" That the powers and authorities of the said Council, with all and every their ordinances, shall cease determine and become void on the sixtieth day after the first day on which they shall meet." 1
On March 27, 1783, a Supplementary Act was passed, extending the time limit until the British troops shall actually leave the State .?
The petition to the Council runs as follows :-
"To the Honorable the Council appointed by the Act of the Legis- lature for the temporary government of the Southern District of this State etc.3-
The Petition of the Subscribers humbly sheweth :-
"That your Petitioners are by Education and Principle attached to the Mode of religious Worship used in the Episcopal Church commonly known and distinguished by the Name of the Church of England. That they formed a Part of that Church in this City, and were as such entitled to a Participation in the Rights and Property held for the benefit of the Said Congregation by the Corporation of Trinity Church. That your Petitioners attached to the cause of Freedom and conceiv- ing that Personal Interests could not in any case be placed in Compe- tition with their duty as Citizens, for the most part left their native Homes, and relinquished their Property and their occupations, and went into voluntary Exile, that they might as good Citizens, according to their respective Abilities, promote the Interest of their Country.
"That your Petitioners think it unnecessary to recapitulate the hard- ships they suffered during their Exile, the Distresses to which many of their Families have been reduced ; the Hazards to which they have been Exposed ; their loss of Property ; and the more affecting Loss of brave and worthy Relations and Connections that have fallen in the
1 See Chap. 289 of Third Session, 1779, Laws of the State of New York, vol. i., 192.
2 Chap. 54 of Sixth Session of 1784, p. 583.
3 Document 2403, State Records, Albany, " Whales and Taxes." The endorse- ment on this document reads, " The petition of James Duane, R. R. Livingston, and Francis Lewis, Esqs., and others to the
1783
Council for the temporary government of the State."
I 2
History of Trinity Church
[1783
Field, or died in the Prisons of their Vindictive Enemy. They num- bered Private losses among the Hazards they were to run ; and they submit to those they have sustained. But while your Petitioners acquiesce in these, they cannot consent that Rights to which they are entitled as Members of a Religious Community, should be wrested from them, while they were endeavoring to establish the Civil and Religious Privileges of every Citizen of the State ; more especially that they should be surrendered to Persons who have preferred their own Interest to that of their Country ; and by their Submission to, in some sort encouraged the Attempt of Britain to Establish her Oppression.
"Your Petitioners therefore humbly looking up to this Council for Relief, beg Leave to Shew to your Honors, that a Number of Persons were elected under the Influence of the British Government to places in the Corporation, while your Petitioners and others entitled to vote at such elections were, by an armed Force Prevented from Exercising such Right and others of your Petitioners who were unavoidably detained within the British Lines, and whose Attachment to the Inde- pendence of this State was avowed, were deterred by Threats and other Means from the free Enjoyment of their Religious Privileges.
" That the Persons so elected calling themselves the Church-wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church have not only possessed themselves of the Estate of the Church, but in open Defiance of the Authority of this State, and in direct contempt of its Laws placed at the Head of the said Corporation, as Rector of the said Church, a Man since attainted for Treasons before that appointment committed, and caused him to be inducted into the said Church by Mr. Tryon, the pretended Gov- ernor of the State, even after His Excellency, the present Governor, was in the full exercise of his Office.
" That in Pursuance of the same System, and with Design to keep your Petitioners and Others, well attached to the Independence of the State, from a share in the Government of the said Church, the said persons calling themselves the Church-wardens, and Vestrymen, after the said Rector had left the State to avoid the Penalties of the Law, did, a few Days before the Evacuation of this City, unnecessarily and merely to prevent your Petitioners from being consulted in the Choice, proceed to choose the Reverend Benjamin Moore, Rector of the said Church, tho' it was well known that the choice would be disagreeable to your Petitioners ; the said Benjamin Moore having upon every occasion evinced a most decided attachment to the British Government,
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Petition of Whig Episcopalians
1783]
and an utter aversion to that of the State, as far as his Situation would admit. So that your Petitioners, without the Aid of your Honors, find themselves reduced to the disagreeable Necessity, either of abandoning the mode of worship in which they have been Educated, and of yielding up their rights in the Corporation, or of joining in Prayer with one whose Political Principles they detest, and whose Prayers for the Success of the British Army all good Citizens must, with Hearts overflowing with Gratitude, on every Solemn Occasion, thank the Supreme Governor of the Universe for having rejected.
"Your Petitioners omit at this time any observations upon the Inconsistency of some Parts of the Charter of Trinity Church with the Constitution of this State, as they humbly hope to obtain from the Legislature a Renewal thereof, with such alterations as may consist therewith.
"For the same Reason, your Petitioners do not think it proper to observe upon any non-user or mis-user thereof, by any Persons who have assumed to act as Members of the said Corporation, other than, that the Persons who at Present call themselves Church-wardens and Vestry-men, or the greater Part of them, are disqualified by a Law of this State from holding any Place within this State, or Voting at Elec- tions ; and that your Petitioners are now by an armed Force withheld from the free Exercise of their Rights. That sound Policy concurring with the Justice due to your Petitioners directs that a new Election be held by Persons qualified by Law to elect out of Persons Members of the Congregation of the said Church eligible by Law, and that they be vested with all the Powers heretofore granted by Charter to the Cor- poration of Trinity Church, till the Legislature can declare their Sense thereon, in like manner as it has pleased this honorable Council to direct in the case of the Corporation of this City.
"Your Petitioners beg leave further to assure your Honors, that in presenting their humble Petition, they are influenced by no other Motives than those that affect them merely as Members of the Congre- gation of the episcopal Church, being well persuaded that without Interposition of your Honors, the flagrant Violation of the Rights of your Petitioners, and the Early attempt at Power, by Persons who ought to deem themselves too happy in the Protection of Government, will greatly endanger the Peace of this City, and excite Tumults which it is the Earnest Wish of your Petitioners as Members of this Commit- tee to prevent.
"Your Petitioners therefore pray, that this honored Council would
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History of Trinity Church [1784
be pleased to take their Case into Consideration, and grant them such Relief in the Premises as to your Honors shall seem Meet.
" And your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever Pray etc.
JAS. DUANE R. R. LIVINGSTON FRANCIS LEWIS THO. TILLOTSON LEWIS MORRIS JOHN LAMB
CORNELIUS HAIGHT, et al.'' 1
This Petition, presented by the gentlemen styling themselves the Whig members of the Episcopal Church, was signed by less than one hundred persons, of whom about a dozen only were communicants. It went in on New Year's Day .? On the day following, the Vestry as- sembled, apparently with an impression that the aspect of affairs was alarming, and that it was desirable to fall upon some method of settling the dispute, although they do not seem to have known that the Petition had gone to the Council the previous day. The result of their delibera- tions was a very extraordinary proposal, involving the abolition of the office of Rector, and the settlement of at least two clergymen over the Parish, on the same footing and with equal powers and prerogatives ; the scheme is thus described :
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