USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 4 > Part 21
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The Rector sought from several eminent canonists of the Church their opinion upon the meaning of Canon LII. The answers are clear and uphold the obvious intent of that Canon. As the principles upon which it was based are not obsolete, these words of our worthy Church fathers might well serve as a contemporary interpretation of the Canon.2
1 Records, liber iii., folio 366.
9 The opinions are by Bishops B. T. Onderdonk, Ives, and DeLancey, and Dr. Samuel F. Jarvis. They are dated early in July, 1841, and concur in their conclu- sions. They are in the Berrian MSS., General Theological Seminary.
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1841]
Corner-Stone of New Church Laid 227
A letter was read in the Vestry June 14th, from Mr. John Henry Hobart, for whose education the Corporation had provided, thanking the Vestry "for the favour con- ferred on him," and announcing that he would soon be made a deacon.
It is well known that after his graduation Mr. Hobart, with his classmates, James Lloyd Breck, and William Adams, of pious memory, went to the wilds of Wisconsin to found in that spiritual desert the associate mission which grew into the noble institution called Nashotah House.
Mention has been made of the dangerous condition of the parish church building, of the alarm felt upon the subject, and of attempts made from time to time to repair it and ensure its safety. It became evident that nothing effect- ual could be done, and that a new edifice must take the place of the old one. The architect selected was Mr. Richard Upjohn ; the structure then upon the ground was removed, and the corner-stone of the new church was laid, Thursday, June 2, 1841, the structure being by that time sufficiently advanced to proceed with that ceremony. It is uncertain whether the Bishop and other clergymen were present, and whether the Office of the Laying of a Cor- ner-Stone was said; if any was used, it must have been that set forth by Bishop Hobart for the Diocese of New York.1
The stone was "in the northerly buttress of the tower of the new edifice." The Building Committee in its report
1 The earliest printed form for the Laying of a Corner-Stone known in the Ameri- can Church is that used at the laying of the Corner-Stone of Trinity Church, New Haven, Connecticut, on May 17, 1814. It was compiled by the Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis of St. Michael's, Bloomingdale, New York. He acknowledged that the actual words for the laying of the stone and the use of the 118th Psalm were suggested by the Rev. Philander Chase of Hartford. The New York service is substantially that of Dr. Jarvis. The New Haven service was reprinted by Mr. Edward C. Beecher (Parish Clerk of Trinity Church, New Haven), Easter, 1886.
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mentions only "the presence of the Rector and several members of the Vestry."
A leaden box was placed within the stone containing the following documents and memorials :
A printed copy of the Charter of Trinity Church.
The Holy Bible, 1841, 12mo. bound.
The Book of Common Prayer, 1841, 12mo. bound. Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
U. S., by William White, D.D., 8vo., calf, bound. Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1838. Journals of the General Convention of 1829, 1832, 1835, 1838.
Journals of the Annual Convention of the Diocese of New York for :
1792, 1793, 1794, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839 (with a copy of the Canons), and 1840 with the Journals of the special Conventions of 1811 and 1838.
Church Almanac for 1841, gilt-edged and orna- mented, presented by the Protestant Tract Society. Swords' Pocket Almanac for 1841.
A wood engraving of the perspective view of the Church.
Church edifice as designed to be completed.
A lithographic engraving of the last edifice.
The Churchman, newspaper of 8th of May 1841.
One each of the silver coins of the U. S. of the latest coinage, all except the quarter-dollar being of 1841. The lid of the box was engraved with this inscription :
" LAUS DEO :
The Corporation of Trinity Church in the City of New York Commenced the Erection of this Edifice in the Au-
oolf anT
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Contents of Corner-Stone
1841]
tumn of the Year of our Lord 1839 : in the ninth Year of the Episcopate of
BENJAMIN TREDWELL ONDERDONK, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of New York,
upon the site of a former Edifice then Become Decayed and Insecure in front of which was a tablet with the fol- lowing inscription :
D. O. M. TRINITY CHURCH
was first Founded in the year 1696 was Enlarged and Beautified in 1737
and entirely Destroyed in the great Conflagration of the City, 1776. This building was Erected on the Site of the former Church in the Year 1788.
The Right Revd. Samuel Provost, D.D., Rector.
James Duane, Esq., · Church-wardens." John Jay, Esq.,
On one side of the box was inscribed :
" This box was here deposited 3rd. June 1841. William Berrian, D.D., Rector.
Jonathan M. Wainwright, D.D. ~ Edward Y. Higbee,
Assistant Ministers.
Nehemiah Rogers and Thomas Ludlow Ogden, Church-wardens, James Bleecker, Teunis Quick, Jonathan H. Lawrence, Thomas Swords, Edward W. Laight, Peter A. Mesier, William Johnson, Anthony L. Underhill, Philip Hone, William E. Dunscomb, William H. Hari- son, Adam Tredwell, Robert Hyslop, Henry Cotheal, John D. Wolfe, Thomas Clarke, William Moore, William H. Hobart, Henry Youngs, Alexander L. McDonald.
Vestrymen."
230 History of Trinity Church [1841
Upon the other side of the box was this inscription :
" Thomas Ludlow Ogden Jonathan Lawrence William E. Dunscomb William H. Harison
Building Committee.
Adam Tredwell Robert Hyslop
Richard Upjohn, Architect,
James Thom, Sculptor, James Vandenbergh, Master Mason,
Samuel Martin, Master Carpenter."
CHAPTER X.
GROWTH AND INFLUENCE OF THE PARISH.
Recurrence of the Question of the Bishop's Salary-Remarks on the Outlook-The General Convention of 1841-The Archives of the Diocese of New York Cared for by the Vestry-St. John's Park-Resignation of William Johnson as Comptroller-Elec- tion of W. H. Harison-Paintings and Portraits Belonging to the Corporation-The Action of the Vestry in Regard to a Rural Cemetery-Purchase of the Cemetery at 155th Street-Improvements in Church Music under Dr. Hodges-Establishment of Musical Scholarships-Repairs on St. Paul's Chapel-New Organ for Trinity Church -Memorial from St. John's Chapel for its Erection into a Separate Parish-Petition Refused by Vestry-Judge Furman's Report on the Bogardus Claims-Party Feeling in the Diocese-Ordination of Arthur Cary-Stormy Scene in the Diocesan Convention.
T HERE is a painful and dreary monotony in the Records of our Parish whenever we strike the subject of the maintenance of the Episcopate in the Dio- cese of New York. It is a humiliating fact that this Diocese, the first, the largest, and the wealthiest of all, has never had, and has not to this day a fund adequate to the decent and dignified support of its head. For this culpa- ble negligence there is, in later times, no excuse. So long as the Bishop of New York was also the Rector of Trinity Church, it was right that the Parish should provide for him; but when the double relation ended, the Diocese should have taken the lead in the maintenance of the Episcopate. To this duty it remained indifferent for many years ; and the record is one of incessant and humili- ating petition to the Vestry for help to do what Churchmen throughout the State were able to do and ought in con- science and honor to have done. These petitions, almost abject, and the responses to them, often sharp and justly
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History of Trinity Church
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reproachful, are strewn profusely on our records. An instance occurs during the summer of 1841, when fresh appeals were made, backed by the admission that out of 148 parishes only 36 had contributed to the salary of the Bishop, and when the Vestry, perceiving the indifference of the people to their duty, determined "that the conven- tion of this Diocese having failed in the performance of the condition on which the annual appropriation for the support of the Episcopate in the Diocese was made by the Vestry and assented to by the Convention, it is no longer obligatory to contribute to the said fund," and ordered that the appropriation should cease at the ex- piration of one year from the adjournment of the next Convention.1
Here this painful subject shall be dismissed : the reader shall not be annoyed by further details. But, to sum up all, let this be observed, that at the period now reached in this history, there is ground for a suspicion that something worse than mere inertia was at the bottom of the neglect of duty. Dark days were coming fast : the Oxford Move- ment had been felt on this side of the water; it had attracted and repelled with a force proportioned to the power and vital issues of that glorious and salutary revival. Party spirit had been kindled to flaming point; it grew ever stronger and more bitter ; high church and low church joined in mortal conflict; it was well known that the Bishop, the Rector of Trinity Church, and many of the clergy and laity of the Parish were in sympathy with the cause of catholic recovery and restoration ; and per- haps, for that very reason, under the influence of vague alarm, and theological views, many had become alienated, the sense of obligation to the chief office in the Church
1 Records, liber iii., folio 300. Journal of the Diocese of New York, 1841, pp. 34-36.
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General Convention of 1841
1841]
being dulled by personal dislike of its incumbent for the time being. And so things drifted on; perilous times were at hand ; times of sharp controversy and mutual de- testation ; and the hour was not far off when the venerable head of the Diocese, assailed with vigor by his foes, and borne down by what we believe to have been unfounded calumny and false accusation, was brought to trial, and received a cruel and intolerable sentence of "indefinite suspension from the exercise of his Episcopal office," and so, when at the zenith of his power and influence, was suddenly dragged from his chair and buried alive.
Let us pass on. The General Convention met in St. Paul's Chapel, on Wednesday, October 6, 1841. It was attended by twenty-one bishops, seventy-nine clerical, and fifty-seven lay deputies. The venerable Bishop of the East- ern Diocese, Dr. Griswold, although feeble, presided in the House of Bishops with the dignity which distinguished him. Dr. Wyatt was chosen President of the House of Cleri- cal and Lay Deputies, and Dr. Henry Anthon, Secretary. The deliberations were animated, the special topics of con- sideration being the expediency of extending the Episco- pate to the Republic of Texas and the Maryland Colony on the West Coast of Africa, the increase of the term of probation of ministers from other Christian bodies, and the regulation of clergymen Episcopally ordained remov- ing into the United States from a foreign country.
A protest against the legality of the election of the deputies from New York and Delaware was referred to a special committee,1 of which the Rev. Dr. Wm. Cooper Mead, of Connecticut, was chairman. The report lucidly explained the rights of a diocese in the passage of Canons, and declared the legality of the elections.2
1 The deputies from New York were Drs. Lyell, Anthon, Berrian, McVickar, Messrs. Thomas L. Ogden, Peter A. Jay, James Emmett, and Stephen Warner.
2 Journal of General Convention, 1841, pp. 9, 18, 22.
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History of Trinity Church
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On Tuesday, October 12th, the Rev. Alfred Lee, D.D., Rector of Calvary, Rochdale, Pennsylvania, was conse- crated Bishop in St. Paul's Chapel. The Presiding Bishop, Dr. Griswold, was Consecrator, assisted by Bishops Moore, of Virginia, Chase, of Illinois, Brownell, of Con- necticut, and Onderdonk, of Pennsylvania. Morning Prayer was read by the Rev. Stephen W. Prestman, of Emmanuel Church, Newcastle, Delaware, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Harry Croswell, of Trinity Church, New Haven, Connecticut. The Testimonial from Delaware and the Consent of the House of Bishops were read by the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, Secretary of the House ; the Testimonial from the Lower House by the Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Mead.1 The presenters were Dr. Meade Assistant Bishop of Virginia and Dr. Onderdonk Bishop of New York.2
Dr. Lee had been elected on May 26, 1841, as Bishop of Delaware, a diocese which, although organized in 1791, had previously, on account of financial weakness, been under the charge of the Bishop of Pennsylvania. The first Bishop of Delaware lived to become the ninth Pre- siding Bishop of the American Church.3
The sessions of the Convention after the opening ser- vice were held in St. John's Chapel ; the House of Bishops occupying one of the Sunday-school rooms. The closing service was held in St. John's Chapel, on Friday morning, October 19th. The pastoral letter was read by the Pre- siding Bishop. The subject was the "Doctrine of our Church on the Article of Justification by Faith in con- nection with that on the necessity and place of good works." 4
1 The Rev. Dr. Anthon, owing to illness, had resigned early in the session the office of Secretary, to which Dr. Mead succeeded.
" Journal of the General Convention, 1841, p. 95.
8 Bishop Lee died April 12, 1887, in the eightieth year of his age.
4 Dr. Stone's Life of Bishop Griswold, p. 423.
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St. John's Park
I842]
This was the last appearance of Bishop Griswold at any general gathering of Churchmen. It will be remembered that he was consecrated in Trinity Church with Dr. Ho- bart in 1811, whom he survived nearly thirteen years.1
In the Diocesan Convention of 1841, it was made known that there was no proper receptacle for the ar- chives of the Diocese of New York. They were too important to be allowed to suffer from neglect, or to remain in private houses ; it was suggested that Trinity Church might provide a place for them.2
Acting upon this suggestion the Vestry offered "to allow the records and papers of the Convention to be deposited for safe keeping in the safe belonging to the Vestry offices." 3 The offer was made known to the Con- vention of 1842, and gratefully accepted. The Rev. Dr. Benjamin I. Haight, Secretary of the Diocese, Mr. Charles N. S. Rowland, and Mr. William H. Harison were ap- pointed a committee to arrange details.4
It is pleasant to make a brief digression into a region of trees, flowers, and song birds, and so to lighten the dulness of parish annals. St. John's Chapel, a stately and noble edifice, faced a great garden spot, known to church people as St. John's Park, but called by the common folk Hudson Square. That was the aristocratic quarter of the town. Next to the Church was the Rectory, No. 50 Varick St., in which Bishop Hobart once dwelt, and which was then occupied by Dr. Berrian. The Park was one of the finest, if not the finest, in the city. It contained speci- mens of almost every American tree, with others of for- eign sorts, as for example some Chinese mulberry trees, the
1 Bishop Griswold died February 15, 1843, in his seventy-seventh year.
* Journal of the Diocese of New York, 1841, p. 41.
· 8 Records, liber iii., p. 316.
4 Journal of the Diocese of New York, 1842, p. 36.
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History of Trinity Church
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gift of Mr. Richard H. Haight, accepted with thanks by the Vestry, May 13, 1833. Dr. John W. Francis mentions, in his work on Old New York, that St. John's Park had in it "a greater variety of trees than any other plot of ground of its size in the world "; in short it was the pride and glory of the city, surrounded on all sides by private dwellings, the residences of the best people of the town. In the Parish records mention is made of "the privileges of the square"; the Standing Committee presented a re- port upon it, based upon official documents and "a declar- ation and agreement executed by the Corporation and bearing date on the 22d of May, 1827." There were "proprietors," comprising the owners of property facing on the square. Trinity Church was entitled to grant the privileges of the square to five persons and their families, so long as the land occupied and annexed to St. John's Chapel should continue to be owned by the Church, in addition to the privileges appurtenant to lot No. 27, the Rector's house. It had the right of representation at meetings of the proprietors, and five votes ; one twelfth of the cost of maintaining the Park was chargeable to the Corporation. At that time the Rector and his family had the privileges of the square; they were extended, at a meeting of the Vestry, to the Assistant Ministers, the Comptroller, Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. Dunscomb.1
The further history of that beautiful spot was a melan- choly one. As time passed on and the character of the neighborhood changed, the owners of the property front- ing on the Park were filled with the usual desire to sell for business purposes. This could not be done without the consent of the Church, which consent the Corporation re- fused to give. Dr. Berrian, then old and ill, plainly told the applicants that the Park should not be sold while he
1 Records, liber iii., folio 314.
الجار
1842]
Resignation of Mr. William Johnson 237
lived, and there is little doubt that the horrible sight of its destruction would have broken his heart. The present Rector had not been in office forty-eight hours before the people who had tormented his predecessor came throng- ing about him, to ask whether he would follow the example of the old man, and likewise withhold his consent. To him, not yet resident in the Rectory, it seemed that it would have been unwise and selfish to oppose the general wish, and so the Corporation consented. Then followed a shocking scene : the felling of the trees, the uprooting and upturning of the whole place, and the erection of an unsightly and vast freight depot, covering the whole ex- tent of the square. And so before the rolling car of the Busi- ness-Juggernaut, the grace and beauty passed away forever.
The Standing Committee, in reporting upon the appli- cation of two city parishes for aid, commented on the de- ficiency of income, and the great expense incurred in rebuilding the Parish Church. A resolution was adopted that "until the completion or suspension of that work, no grants to any outside object be made." The permanent allowances were, however, continued.
Mr. William Johnson, who had been for nearly fifteen years Comptroller of the Corporation, presented a letter March 14, 1842, resigning that office. This action was "compelled by the state of his health for the year past." He requested that this resignation might take effect as soon as it should be practicable for the Vestry to appoint a successor. In conclusion he says : "On resigning the im- portant trust so long reposed in me, and which I have en- deavored faithfully to discharge to the best of my ability, I cannot refrain from expressing my warmest thanks to the Vestry for their continued confidence and kindness." 1
1 Records, liber iii., folio 309. Mr. Johnson remained an honored member of the Vestry until 1847.
1
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History of Trinity Church
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The Vestry accepted the resignation, to take effect April 30th.
Mr. William H. Harison was on April 11th elected Comptroller.
On the 9th of May, Mr. Johnson's Annual Account and Report as approved by the Standing Committee was presented and read; upon accepting the report it was " Resolved, that the Vestry on receiving this last official communication from the late Comptroller, as contained in his annual report just read, take occasion to express their unanimous sense of the fidelity and ability with which he has uniformly discharged the important duties of his office." 1
It is not generally known that the Corporation of Trinity Church are the possessors of a small but very in- teresting collection of pictures and engravings illustrating the history of the Parish. The series of portraits of the Rectors is now complete ; and in addition to these there are other portraits of value. Among the artists repre- sented by these works are Wollaston, West, Copley, Paradise, Inman, Huntington, and Wenzler. The latest additions are the work of Mr. James L. Reilly, an artist of very remarkable merit, to whom commissions were given to copy a portrait of Bishop Charles Inglis in the National Gallery of Portraits in London, a portrait of Bishop Henry Compton from the orignal in Fulham Palace, and another of the same Bishop from a full-length picture in Castle Ashby, the residence of his descendant the Lord Marquis of Northampton. A full account of the portraits referred to may be found in the Year Books for 1900 and 1902. As to the water-color sketches and engravings, they have been coming in from time to time for many years. In December, 1841, Mr. James Barrow, who had long been connected with the Corporation as Clerk to the
1 Records, liber iii., folio 331.
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The Collection of Portraits
1842]
Comptroller, presented a painting "Exhibiting a view of Trinity Church edifice and the Rector's house after the great conflagration in 1776."1 The Bishop of Nova Scotia, during a brief visit to his native city, presented two fine engravings of the Right Rev. Dr. Charles Inglis, one for the Vestry Room of Trinity Church, and the other for that of St Paul's Chapel ; they were suitably framed, and put in the designated places.2
The collection of portraits belonging to the Corpora- tion was enriched in the autumn of 1842 by a portrait of Bishop Hobart, painted by J. Paradise. It was the gift of Mr. Henry Cotheal, a member of the Vestry.3 This is the best known of the Bishop's portraits, and has been frequently reproduced.4
1 Records, liber iii., folio 331. This painting was drawn by J. Evers, and litho- graphed by G. & W. Endicott for Dr. Berrian's Sketch, opposite p. 144. A softened and improved reproduction is given in Part I. of this History, opposite p. 392. Another painting of the ruins, differing in some details from that of Mr. Barrow, has been more recently acquired ; this also is in the Vestry office collection.
2 Records, liber iii., folio 326. John, the second son of Charles Inglis, was born in New York City, on December 9, 1777. He was educated both in New York and in Nova Scotia, and was ordained by his father in 1801. He served as Rector of Ayles- ford, 1801-08, assisted his father in St. Paul's, Halifax, of which church he became Rector in 1816. He served as Commissary of the second Bishop of Nova Scotia, Dr. Stanser, 1817-24. He was consecrated at Lambeth March 27, 1825. His Diocese included the West Indies. He died in London, England, October 27, 1850.
8 Records, liber iii., folio 318.
4 Bishop Coxe preferred a portrait painted presumably by Jarvis, which repre- sented the Bishop in the early days of his Episcopate, with youthful features and a prematurely gray head. As the first Bishop of New York wore the full Episcopal wig, and the second had flowing white locks, many, and especially in Trinity Parish,
. did not like to see a young-looking Bishop. In deference to this feeling, Bishop Hobart followed the prevailing fashion and slightly powdered his hair. This portrait was long a treasured possession of the Rev. John M. Guion of Seneca Falls, N. Y. This portrait forms the frontispiece to Part III. of this History. Another portrait, "never a favorite of the Bishop's family," is in the General Theological Seminary collection. The Paradise portrait was engraved by W. Moir for Dr. Schroeder's Memorial of Bishop Hobart (New York, T. & J. Swords, 1833). It is also the frontis- piece of Posthumous Works of Bishop Hobart (New York, Swords, Stanford & Co., 1833). This engraving was by J. W. Paradise. In 1894, a copy was made by Mr. W. R. Hyde, of New York for the See House in Lafayette Place.
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The purchase of a site for a parish cemetery was made about this time. The subject had been under consideration for some years. There were those who desired that a plot in Greenwood Cemetery sufficiently large for the purpose should be subscribed for or secured by the Vestry ; but it was determined after full discussion that it was "inexpedient for this Corporation to connect itself with the Greenwood Cemetery by purchasing lots, or being in any way concerned in such purchase."1 A suitable plot was offered at Morrisania, by Mr. Gouver- neur, but the report of the committee to whom the selection had been confided was adverse to the proposal. Finally, on the 22d of September, 1842, the committee reported that they had purchased from Mr. Richard F. Carman "a piece of land in the 12th ward, bounded on the East by the middle of the Ioth Avenue, on the West by Hudson River, on the North by the middle of 155th street, and on the South by the middle of 153d street, containing 23 acres and 94/100 for $9570."
The Vestry approved the purchase, and in October appointed the same committee with the addition of the Comptroller (Mr. William H. Harison) and Clerk (Mr. William E. Dunscomb) to obtain plans for laying out as a cemetery that part of the land lying between the Ioth and IIth Avenues and 153d and 155th Streets. They were also to take the proper measure to ob- tain an alteration of the commissioners' map of the city "so as to abolish 154th St. between the Kingsbridge Road and the Hudson River, or between 10th Avenue and the Hudson River" and unite with the owners of the land on 153d Street in a like application for that street.2 This committee was, until further order of the Vestry, to be in charge of the Parish cemetery.
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