USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 2 > Part 3
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" That Every Vacancy in the Vestry be supplied with such persons as shall be agreeable to those who denominate themselves the Whig Members of the Episcopal Church.
1 For the rest of the names appended to this Petition see Appendix I.
? The following notice appeared in Rivington's Gazette for December 10, 1783 :
" Meeting of Whig Members called."
" Notice is hereby Given, in Pursuance of a Resolution of the Whig Members of the Episcopal Church, who met last Saturday Evening at Simmons' Tavern, That the said meeting is adjourned to the Long Room in the Coffee House, on Friday Evening next, at nine o'clock, at which Time and Place all Persons professing themselves Episcopalians, are requested to attend.
" JAMES DUANE, Chairman."
There is no allusion to this meeting in the above correspondence.
15
Proposals of Vestrymen
1784]
"That this be considered at present as a conciliating expedient till the next General Election of Church Wardens and Vestrymen, when Every Member of the Church in Communion will have a free Vote.
" That if a Coalition can be brought about, the Vestry will immedi- ately proceed to call such a clergyman as shall be pointed out by the Whig Members, as the Person most agreeable to them.
"That the clergyman so elected shall be placed precisely upon the same footing with Mr. Moore - the sallary from the Church being allowed to both, and as to the perquisites arising from the parochial Duties, the Clergyman who performs the Duty to receive the Emolu- ment.
" The office of Rector being thus abolished, and all precedence and superiority done away, the Clergy of the Church for the time being, to be considered as Members of the Corporation, and that, at least one of them be always present, in order to constitute a Board.
"That if these Propositions are acceded to, then the whole Interest of the Episcopal Church to be united to prevail upon the Legislature to remove any doubts that may arise from the Ceremony of inducting the Rector heretofore practiced, by declaring the advowson donative, instead of presentative in the Church Wardens and Vestrymen.
" Also to declare, that instead of a Rector with Peculiar Privileges the officiating clergy be upon a footing of Equality, and to make any alteration in the Stile which the change of Government may render proper." 1
These startling and subversive propositions were at once rejected by the Whig Episcopalians who, to their great credit, took this action upon them :
"At a meeting of the associated Episcopalians at the Long Room in the Coffee House on Monday Evening 5th Jany 1784 Resolved- That the Propositions from the Persons Stiling themselves the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church for the purpose of accom- modating the differences among the Members of the Episcopalian Church, are wholly inadmissible.
(Signed) " JAS. DUANE, Ch. " Ordered that the above resolutions be delivered to Mr. Bache." ?
On reading this part of our story, one fairly draws his breath with profound gratitude that such a danger was
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany. 2 Ibid.
16
History of Trinity Church
[1784
happily escaped. Indeed, it is hard to believe that a pro- ceeding, revolutionary in its nature, and involving the complete overthrow of the Parish, could ever have been seriously entertained by its custodians. It is, I think, the only instance in two hundred years in which the judgment and good sense of the Corporation were in fault; there may have been something behind the scenes which, if known, would form a partial excuse for their error.
While these negotiations were in progress, the Council had acted on the Petition presented to them, by the adop- tion of an Ordinance, dated January 12, 1784, and relating to the position of the Parish. A copy of this Ordinance has not yet been found, but its effect appears to have been to vest the control of the Estate in the hands of nine Trustees, until the further action of the State Legislature, if not to place the said Trustees in full power in the con- cerns of the Parish. The persons named as Trustees in the said Ordinance were James Duane, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Isaac Sears, William Duer, Daniel Duns- comb, Anthony Lispenard, John Rutherford, and William Bedlow ; and, according to its terms, "the possession of all and Every the Estate of the Corporation of Trinity Church was delivered to the gentlemen appointed for that purpose." Acting under this authority, the Trustees, hav_ ing received the keys of two Chests of Plate belonging to the Church, returned them to the Rev. Mr. Moore, in- forming him at the same time that it was their wish and desire that he should continue to officiate in the Church as usual.
A sudden change was, however, soon to come; and a great surprise for Mr. Moore, involving the complete triumph of those opposed to his induction.
As if commissioned to effect a solution of the difficul- ties in which the Corporation were involved, the Rev. Mr.
17
Appointment of Samuel Provoost
1784]
Provoost arrived in town on the second day of February. His appearance seems to have been welcomed as that of an opportunist harbinger of peace ; even though the mild and gentle Mr. Moore should go down before the vic- torious adversary. Prompt to act, on the evening of the 5th, the Vestry favored him with this polite though rather abrupt communication :
NEW YORK, 5th Feby 1784.
"REVEREND SIR,
" The Reverend Mr. Provoost has been pleased in compliance with our Invitation, to take the charge of the Episcopal Churches in this City, and we have delivered him the Keys.
"We by no means wish to abridge your usefulness in a Congre- gation where you have many friends. The object of this Letter is only to apprize you that Mr. Provoost in future will have the direction in the same manner as it was exercised by former Rectors.
" We are Reverend Sir " Your most humble Servts. (Signed) JAS. DUANE WM. DUER LEWIS MORRIS DANL. DUNSCOMB WM. BEDLOW JOHN RUTHERFORD
"Rev. MR. BENJ. MOORE."
The reply of the Rev. Mr. Moore, calm and dignified, did him great credit.
"NEW YORK 7 Feby 1784.
"GENTLEMEN
" I have received a Letter from you, in which you inform me 'that the Rev'd Mr. Provost, in compliance with your Invitation, has taken the Charge of the Episcopal Churches in this City, and that you have delivered him the Keys.' Upon looking at the ordinance of Council of 12th Jany last, I find that nine gentlemen (whose names are there mentioned) or any five of them, are authorized to take possession of all and Every the Estate of the Corporation of Trinity Church in the City of New York, to be by them retained and kept until such Time as further legal Provision shall be made in the Premises.
" As your Authority is confined to this Business Solely, I am at a VOL. 11 .- 2
18
History of Trinity Church [1784
loss to know whence you derived the Power to introduce a Clergyman into this Parish, and to invest him with a right 'to have the direction in the Same Manner as it was exercised by former Rectors.'
" It is indeed true, and I speak of it with gratitude and pleasure, that I have, in the Congregation, many friends. For near Ten Years past I have discharged my duty among them faithfully, I hope advan- tageously ; and could I be treated with the same degree of Respect and Confidence that these men are, should be most happy to continue my services.
" Not being permitted to go into the Church but under the direc- tion of the Rev. Mr. Provost, and not being inclined to do anything that may be construed into an implied acknowledgment that my Claim to the Rectorship is annulled, I shall beg leave, for the present, to decline officiating in the Churches until Some further legal Provision is made.
"I am gentlemen
" Your most humble servt.
(Signed) BENJ. MOORE." " James Duane, Wm. Duer, Lewis Morris, Danl. Dunscomb, Wm. Bedlow and John Rutherford, Esquires."
"Since the above Letter the Rev. Mr. Provost has exercised the Powers vested in him by the Committee, and the Rev. Mr. Moore has declined officiating.
" It ought to have been mentioned before, that when the debate before the Council was finished and before their decision was pub- lished, Coll Hamilton, who had supported the cause of the Vestry at their desire waited upon the Chancellor with the proposal ' That if the Gentlemen in opposition would consent to accommodate the Matter, one Church Warden and Ten Vestrymen would immediately resign their Places and proceed to elect others who might be unexcep- tionable.' " 1
Thus ended a very embarrassing and perilous compli. cation. The Rev. Mr. Provoost accepted the call to the
1 Document 2404, State Papers, Albany. It bears the following endorsement :
" A Petition of John Charlton, Thos. Moore, and others, who Stile themselves Vestrymen, with a State of Facts relative to the Episcopal Congregation in the City of New York
" In Assembly 21st Feby 1784 Read and committed to a Committee of the Whole House to be taken into Consideration with the Bill for making alterations in the Charter of the Corporation of Trinity Church.
" In Senate 24 Feby 1784 Committed with the Bill for the Corporation of Trinity Church."
19
1784]
Rectorship Accepted by Provoost
Rectorship, and Mr. Moore withdrew, to return, however, as we shall see, after the lapse of fourteen years. It was a fortunate thing for the Parish, at that moment, that its head should be a man, not only of high repute for learn- ing, culture, and knowledge of affairs, but also identified from the beginning with the cause of the American Revo- lution, and enjoying the full confidence of the State Government and the patriotic citizens of New York.
CHAPTER II.
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PARISH.
A Great Danger Averted-Results of the Proposal to Abolish the Rectorship -- Ordi- nance of January 12, 1784-Act of February 17, 1784-Petition for Confirmation of Wardens and Vestrymen-Names of Petitioners-Election and Induction of Mr. Sam- uel Provoost-Strong Opposition to Legislative Action-Attempt at Secession-Peti- tion for the Separate Use of One of the Chapels of the Parish-Failure of the Movement.
W ITH the termination of the contest between the " Whig Episcopalians" and the Corporation of the Parish, and the election of Dr. Provoost as Rector, the first danger-line was safely passed. It was next in order to take measures against the possible recurrence of conditions tending to reconstruction of the system, if not to a demoli- tion of it from base to top. For what course can be con- ceived which would have made greater confusion or wrought more serious detriment than that of abolishing the office of Rector, and committing the Church to the government of clergy of equal rank, associated as a board of ecclesiastical administration ? The Vestry would have become a body of Elders ; the Clergy their official servants. Men of con- flicting views would have striven together, and taken appeal to the Vestry when unable to settle their quarrels. The Vestry, carefully chosen to represent the political views of the day, one Warden and ten Vestrymen being selected from the Whigs, and an equal number from the opposite party, would have lived in a state of continual ferment, factions of parishioners and clergymen being left with- out a head to rule and direct with power. No scheme
20
2I
Act of 1784
1784]
could have been more cunningly devised to secure the rapid disintegration of the Parish, misuse of its property, and the loss of its moral and religious hold on the commu- nity. It was by a strange irony of circumstances that the Conservatives stood at that crisis as Radicals, while the Whigs were the Conservatives ; to them we do honor, for their immediate rejection of the revolutionary propos- als submitted to them, and their censure of them as "wholly inadmissible."
We come now to the well known and memorable " Act of 1784," by which such modifications were made in the Charter of the Church as were necessary, not only to give it full recognition by the State Authority, but also to secure it from the possibility of radical reconstruc- tion under influences from within the pale of church mem- bership, which, at that time, took in all the "inhabitants of the City of New York in communion with the Church of England."
The " Council for the Temporary Government of the Southern part of the State " had already, as we have seen, passed an ordinance, January 12, 1784, vesting all the estate of the Corporation of Trinity Church in the hands of nine trustees,- James Duane, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Isaac Sears, William Duer, Daniel Dunscomb, Anthony Lispenard, John Rutherford, and William Bedlow.
This ordinance was revived and kept in force by a special Act of the Legislature, dated February 17, 1784, which states that
" sufficient legislative provision hath not nor can immediately be made for the government of the said Southern parts of this State other than by enacting that the several ordinances hereinafter mentioned be revived and continued in the manner hereinafter mentioned."
Included in these "several ordinances" is the one relating to
22
History of Trinity Church
[1784
"the estate of the Corporation of Trinity Church which was thus revived and continued in full force and virtue until the rising of the Legislature at this their present meeting." '
A bill was next introduced into the Legislature relating to the Charter of Trinity Church, and thereupon a peti- tion was drawn up in this city, intended to aid in the effort to obtain the sanction of the State Authority to the acts of the Corporation, and to obtain such additional relief as might be necessary for the security of the Parish. The petition took the form of a request for the confirmation of a recent Vestry election ; it was presented to the Assembly February 21, 1784, and to the Senate three days later, and it ran as follows :
"PETITION FOR CONFIRMATION OF CERTAIN WARDENS AND VESTRYMEN.
" To the honorable Senate and Assembly of the State of New York in Legislature convened :
The Petition of the Subscribers Members of the Episcopal Church in the City of New York ?
Humbly sheweth
" That your Petitioners have elected to be Churchwardens James Duane Francis Lewis
Robert R. Livingston } and Lewis Morris Isaac Sears
Anthony Griffiths Hercules Mulligan
Daniel Dunscomb
Marinus Willet John Stevens
William Bedlow William Duer John Rutherford
Robert Troup Anthony Lispenard
Thomas Tucker Thomas Grenell
Joshua Sands Thomas Tillotson
Richard Morris Christopher Miller
to be Vestrymen of the said Church.
"Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Legislature will be pleased to insert the names of the persons above mentioned as the
1 Cap. 3 of Seventh Session, 1784, vol. i., p. 589.
" Document 2405, State Records, Albany, 1780-1803 Taxes - Whaling.
-
23
Signatures to Petitions
1784]
Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the said Church in the Bill now depending before your honorable Houses respecting the Charter of the said Church.
" And your Petitioners shall ever pray etc.
LEONARD LISPENARD, Jun. GROVE BEND, et al." 1
As these documents have never been printed before, the full list of names appended to these petitions will be found in the Appendix .? It is interesting to notice that the signers represented both sides, and included some of the most honored of our laity. We find the names of Cornelius Haight, T. Kemper and Daniel Kemper, Leon- ard Lispenard, William C. Bradford, Anthony L. Bleecker, John De La Mater, John Rutherford, R. R. Livingston, James Duane, - Claggett, Simon Schermerhorn, James Bleecker, Gerard J. Beekman, Arnout Cannon, William Leaycraft, representing the Whig interest, and on the opposing side the names of William Southgate, Isaac Gouverneur, Rem Rapelje, Peter Van Allen, Jonathan and Samuel Armour, William W. Ludlow, James Des- brosses, Peter and John Goelet, P. Stuyvesant, Andrew Hammersley, Theophylact Bache, Fred Jay, Albin Cox, J. Pierrepont, William Rhinelander, John Onderdonk, John De Lancey, Martin Crozier, David M. Clarkson, David Ogden, Martin Hoffman, Jun., John W. Vreden- burgh, Garrit Van Horne, William Kirby, Samuel Bayard,
1 Endorsement on Document 2405 :
" A Petition of Leonard Lispenard, Junior, Grove Bend, and others. Shewing that they have chosen the persons therein named to be Church Wardens and Vestrymen and praying that their names may be inserted in the Bill for making alterations in the Charter of Trinity Church.
"In Assembly 2Ist Feby., 1784. Read and Committed to a Committee of the Whole House with the Bill last mentioned. In Senate 24th Feb., 1784. Committed with the Bill for the Corporation of Trinity Church."
2 See Appendices I., II., and III.
24
History of Trinity Church
[1784
Joseph Kingsland, Thomas F. Kipp, Richard Channing Moore, and others. All these are honored names, and still borne in this generation by families loyal in their devotion to the Church.
On the 17th of April. 1784, the Legislature passed the well-known " Act of 1784," entitled " An Act for making such Alterations in the Charter of the Corporation of Trinity Church, as to render it more conformable to the Constitution of the State." This Act is found given in full in the Appendix to Part I. of this history.1
The first entry following that of November 1, 1783, which recorded the acceptance of the resignation of Dr. Inglis and the election of Mr. Benjamin Moore as his successor, is that dated April 17, 1784, and reads :
" By an act of the Legislature of the People of the State of New York passed the Seventeenth Day of April one thousand seven hundred and eighty four, entitled 'An act for making such alterations in the Charter of the Corporation of Trinity Church as to render it more conformable to the Constitution of the State.' The following gentlemen were appointed Church-wardens and vestry men of the said Church :
Robt. R. Livingston James Duane
Church Wardens.
Richard Morris Anthony Lispenard Christopher Miller
Francis Lewis Thomas Tillotson Thomas Tucker
Lewis Morris John Stevens Hercules Mulligan
Isaac Sears Marinus Willet Thomas Grennell
William Duer Robert Troup
William Mercier
William Bedlow Joshua Sands John Rutherford
Daniel Dunscomb
Anthony Griffith
Vestry Men."
The new Vestry then proceeded to legalize the posi- tion of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Provoost. It has been seen that Mr. Benjamin Moore had refrained from performing
1 P. 476.
1
25
Induction of Samuel Provoost
1784]
any official act after his letter of the 7th of February, and that Mr. Provoost had officiated since that time. Accord- ingly a meeting of the Vestry was held on April 21st. It is noteworthy to remark, that the minutes are not headed as formerly, " At a meeting of the Vestry of Trinity Church in the City of New York." No allusion or notice is taken of Mr. Moore-Mr. James Duane is the only Warden present.
The minutes read as follows :
" The Trustees entrusted with the care of the Temporalities of Trinity Church by the Council appointed by the act of the Legislature of the temporary Government of the Southern Parts of the State, when ever the enemy shall abandon or be dispossessed of the same, Informed the Board that agreeable to the Desire of the Whig Episcopalians they had requested the attendance of the Rev. Samuel Provoost in Town in order to perform Divine Service at Saint George's and Saint Paul's Chappells. That Mr. Provoost had accordingly arrived in town on the second day of February last and that he had very obligingly officiated from the day of his arrival to the present time.
" Resolved unanimously
" That agreeable to the powers vested in the Churchwardens and Vestry Men of Trinity Church by the act of the Legislature, for making such Alterations in the charter of the Corporation of Trinity Church as to render it more conformable to the constitution of this State, the Reverend Samuel Provoost be Called and inducted to the rectory of Trinity Church, in the City of New York."
-
On the following day, April 22d, it was
" Resolved that Mr. Duane, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Morris be a com- mittee to wait on Mr. Provoost and to inform him of such his call and appointment and to request his acceptance thereof."
Mr. Provoost, having been informed that the Church Wardens and Vestrymen had unanimously resolved to call and induct him to the Rectory of Trinity Church, and
26
History of Trinity Church
[1784
having expressed his compliance with their request, was introduced to the Board; and a call and induction being prepared for the purpose, it was signed by the members of the Corporation and presented to Mr. Provoost in the words following :
" To all people to whom these presents shall come or concern,
" We the Church Wardens and Vestry Men of the Corporation of the Rector and Inhabitants of the City of New York, in Communion of the Church of England, as by law established, do send greeting :
"Whereas the Office of Rector of the Corporation of the Rector and Inhabitants of the City of New York in Communion of the Church of England became vacant,-And the Reverend Mr. Samuel Provoost hath some time since on the invitation of the Trustees appointed for the Care of the Temporalities of the Said Church by the late Council for the temporary Government of the Southern District of this State, and other members of the said Church associated with them, taken the charge and Care of the Episcopal Church in the said City, belonging to the Said Corporation, on an assurance that he should be with due solemnity invested with the said office of Rector thereof, as soon as it could be done according to law. And Whereas, by virtue of an act entitled :
"'An act for making such alterations in the Charter of the Corpora- tion of Trinity Church, as to render it more conformable to the Consti- tution of the State,' passed the seventeenth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four. We the Churchwardens and Vestry Men therein named and who have sub- scribed and sealed these presents are duly authorized to call and induct a Rector of the said Corporation and Church. And we having a high sense of the Learning, Piety, and Integrity of the said Reverend Samuel Provoost,
"BE IT THEREFORE KNOWN, that the said Churchwardens and Vestry Men, have called and inducted, and by these presents do call and in- duct the Said Reverend Samuel Provoost to be Rector of the said Corporation, To hold, exercise and enjoy the said office of Rector, with all the profits and emoluments thereunto belonging, as fully and effectu- ally, as any Rector of the said Corporation may, can or ought to hold the same, by virtue of the said Act and Charter of the said Corporation.
" In witness whereof the said Churchwardens and Vestry Men have hereunto set their hands and seals the twenty second day of April in
i
27
Status of Trinity Corporation
1784]
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of this State the eighth.
(Signed) JAMES DUANE,
Churchwarden.
Francis Lewis
William Mercier
Thomas Grennell
Daniel Dunscomb
Lewis. Morris
Isaac Sears
Christopher Miller
William Duer
Hercules Mulligan
Anthony Griffiths
John Stevens Jr
Thos. Tillotson
Joshua Sands
Robert Troup
John Rutherford
Marinus Willett
Richard Morris
Anthony Lispenard
William Bedlow
Vestry Men." 1
Thus the membership of the Corporation was com- plete, and the old Parish had once more a Rector at its head, acknowledged both by the Ecclesiastical and State Authorities, as its legal Superior. Trinity was now pre- pared to do its work in the community, without entangling alliances abroad or fear of disturbance at home. It went forth out of the old order of things into the new with the same Divine and Apostolic warrant as before, but holding its temporalities and legal powers from the Republican Government ; no longer an English but an American cor- poration ; a unit, not of the English Church, but of the Church in America in communion with the Church of England. To this change of status, however, there had been strong opposition, which continued for a while to express itself in a manner indicative of the depth of the feeling of discontent.
For there were those in the parish, many in number and including persons of importance, who disapproved of everything that had been done, and thought that their rights as Churchmen and citizens had been trampled on
1 Liber i., page 438.
28
History of Trinity Church [1784
and set at nought by the proceedings of the Legislature and the Vestry ; not only so, but some of them appeared to regret the separation of Episcopalians in this country from the Mother Church of England, and would perhaps have preferred that the Church here should continue as an annex or dependency of the Church across the sea. At all events, their feeling was so strong that they meditated a movement which, if carried out, would have caused a schism, in which two separate churches of our faith would have existed here face to face. The persons now referred to sought the relief to which they deemed themselves en- titled, by addressing a petition to the Legislature, which disclosed their plans.
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