USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 4 > Part 31
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After the adoption of the amended resolutions another series of resolutions was adopted. The first asserted that it is highly desirable to commence the erection of the chapel. The second approved and adopted the plan and elevation prepared by Mr. Upjohn "with such modifica- tions as economy or convenience may suggest." The third resolution directed the Committee to commence the work as soon as there shall be personal assets on hand to reduce the debt to three hundred thousand dollars. The expense of the work, as far as practicable, was limited to forty thousand dollars.
On the 14th of July, the Comptroller made the gratifying announcement that when certain sales were completed, the state of the finances would admit of pro- ceeding with the erection of the new chapel.2
The Church Extension Committee consisting of Messrs. Verplanck, Jones, Young, Harison, Livingston, Strong, and Moore were then made the Building Com- mittee of the new chapel and were empowered " to pur- chase additional grounds so as to increase the width to one hundred and twenty-five feet."3 They were also requested to construct the foundation during the present year.
1 Records, liber iv., folio 51.
2 Ibid., folio 54. B Ibid., folio 55.
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Trinity Chapel
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September 16, 1851, the Building Committee requested authority to make a contract "for all the brown or sand stone that may be wanted for the chapel, at certain specified prices from the quarry at Little Falls, New Jersey," and reported the purchase of " two additional lots, one on 25th and the other on 26th Street, known as lots number 12 and 60, adjoining the easterly side of the lots heretofore purchased for the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars for both."1
October 13th, proposals to furnish the brown stone for the chapel were accepted, and the plans and elevations were laid before the Vestry with an itemized estimate of the cost, which was to be $79,000. The plans were ap- proved and the Committee were directed to proceed with- out delay. So rapid was the progress, that at the March meeting in 1852, the Rector was requested to make ar- rangements for the laying of the corner-stone. It can- not be ascertained whether that ceremony was or was not omitted; no notice of such a service appears in the public press, nor is there any mention of it on the Vestry Minutes.
Notwithstanding the objection of the economically in- clined members of the Vestry the cost of the new chapel kept continually increasing. A change was made in the quality of the glass for the chancel window, at a cost far exceeding the original estimate. The intention was that the interior walls should be of light brick ; but it was decided to line them throughout with Caen stone. Thus step by step the expenses grew. The persuasive power of archi- tects and the docility of building committees must always be taken into account, when estimates for new structures are under consideration.
Dr. Edward Hodges, the distinguished organist of
' Records, liber iv., folio 57.
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Trinity Church, was earnest and indefatigable in his efforts to gather young men of ability about him and train them in the highest order of church music, and in methods largely the result of his own experience in Eng- land. To that end he formed a society, composed in great part of gentlemen in training for the ministry, and of pupils under his instruction in Trinity School. It was known as the Church Choral Society, and, to quote the words of one of the original members, "its object was the study of the Cathedral Music of the Church of England, and its ambition the public performance of the choral service in this city, if by any fortunate change of affairs and abatement in prejudice permission could be obtained to exhibit so fearful and startling an innovation on all uses then known among us."1 "Dr. Hodges," continues the writer, "was our drill master, Choragus and Coryphaus, and the Rev. John Henry Hopkins the enthusiastic secre- tary." The meetings of the Society were held in a room in the rear of St. John's Chapel, the use of which was granted for that purpose by the Rector.
"When the Society felt strong enough to appear in public they decided to sing a choral service, and, if possible, in Trinity Church. It was not easy to obtain permission, but at length consent was given, on condition that the performance should not take place at either hour of daily service, and should be conducted under careful observance and with due restriction. At 3 P.M., on the afternoon of Tuesday, in Easter Week, the service was held in Old Trinity. The Rev. Dr. John W. Shackelford, the Rev. William T. Webb, the Rev. John J. Elmen- dorf, and the Rev. John Henry Hopkins were the officiating clergy.
"The responses and choral parts were rendered by the Society with great beauty and sweetness.
"The effect upon the feelings of conservative churchmen was marked. The church was filled to overflowing, and the impression produced was profound. After that it was only a question of time
1 Letter of the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix to Miss Hodges-(Trinity Rectory, New York, November 6, 1882), in Edward Hodges, p. 250.
السحور
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Employment of Deacons
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how long it would be until the fulness of our triumph over the fears and dislikes of the crude and untaught people. To your father belongs a large share of the honors of that memorable occasion." 1
The deaths of Mr. Adam Tredwell, the Senior Warden, and General Edward W. Laight, formerly Warden, called forth, from a Special Committee, consisting of the Rev- erend Rector, the Comptroller, and the Clerk, a memorial minute which was unanimously adopted. It expressed the sincere love and veneration which they bore toward them, and testified to "the meekness and humility joined with firmness and justice in the one, the frank and benevolent impulses and sympathy of the other." Their "active life- long piety has set them as shining lights for the direction of our respective courses." Their associates
" bless GOD's Holy name that they were spared to long lives of use- fulness and honor, and that their bereaved families and friends have the consolation of a sure belief, that, after serving GOD in their generation they were gathered unto their fathers having the testimony of a good conscience, in the Communion of the Catholic Church, in the confi- dence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope, in favour with their GOD and in perfect charity with the world." ?
The question of increasing the number of clergy in the Parish was at this time engaging the careful consideration of the Rector and Vestry. One Deacon was at work most acceptably among the poor in the lower part of the city, but he felt a natural and proper desire to be advanced to the priesthood. A letter from the Rev. Sullivan H. Weston to the Rector asking advice as to his status in the Parish should he take priests' orders was presented by the Rector, laid over for consideration, and discussed; and it was resolved to refer the whole subject of the employment of Deacons in the Parish and "the necessity, or expediency
1 Letter of the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix to Miss Hodges in Edward Hodges, pp. 250, 251. ? Records, liber iv., folio 91.
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of a change in the Regulations heretofore adopted " to a Special Committee consisting of the Rector, Mr. Anthony J. Bleecker, Mr. Gulian C. Verplanck, Mr. William H. Harison, and Mr. William E. Dunscomb.
The Committee presented a report in which the plan adopted at the opening of Trinity Church of employing Deacons was mentioned, its usefulness considered, and the manner in which the new and important work of the Parish could best be accomplished set forth. 1 The conclusions reached were put in the form of resolutions, the first advis- ing the relinquishment of the system of the appointment of Deacons, without prejudice to the present incumbent ; the second substituting, for the plan established by the resolution of May 11, 1846, the appointment of " one or more presbyters, at a salary of twelve hundred dollars." As to their duties these clergy were to be under the direc- tion of the Rector .? No action was taken until March 8, 1852, when it was resolved to retain Mr. Weston at a salary of $1200, his duties to be assigned by the Rector.
The state and affairs of Geneva College came up once more, compelling the renewed attention of the Vestry. The grant of 1848, to take effect in 1866, had encouraged the friends of the College, but the lack of funds available for current expenses was so keenly felt, and the condition of the institution was becoming so serious, that a fresh ap- plication was now made for present rather than future assistance. At the meeting of the Vestry held November 10, 1851, a petition asking for immediate annual aid was presented, together with letters and communications from President Hale, N. B. Kidder, Esq., special trustee for the endowment of the Bishop Hobart professorship, and others, and petitions in behalf and support of the application of the College, signed by large numbers of the
2 Ibid., folio 78.
1 Records, liber iv., folio 76.
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Geneva College
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clergy and laity in Utica, Buffalo, and other places in the western part of the State. On the 14th of November, the Vestry took final action, by the adoption of this resolution :
" Resolved, that the promised endowment to Geneva College by this Vestry on the 12th of May, 1848, of $6000 per annum, to commence on the Ist of May, 1866, be so modified as to allow instead thereof $3000 per annum, in perpetuity, payable quarterly, to commence from the first day of the present college term; provided that the Trustees of Geneva College shall assent to such modification: And this grant being also upon the express conditions (in addition to the terms of the resolu- tion of May 12, 1848 aforesaid) that there shall be no charges against the students for tuition and room-rent; and further that the College shall hereafter be named the Hobart Free College at Geneva, and that a law for that purpose shall be obtained as soon as practicable." 1
The conditions of the endowment, in their final and completed state, included these items :
I. The Bishop, or Bishops of the Diocese of New York and the Rector of Trinity Church to be made official visitors of the College.
II. The College to report annually to this Corporation at the same time that it does to the Regents of the Uni- versity of the State of New York.
III. The President always to be a Presbyter of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
IV. The establishment of a professorship of Christian Ethics which may be held by the President or any Pro- fessor in conjunction with other duties or branches of learning.
At the meeting of January 12, 1852, a communication was received from the Board of Trustees of Geneva College, gratefully acknowledging the annuity granted to it, and acceding to the conditions imposed. The annuity has been continued to the present day.
1 Records, liber iv., folios 65, 66.
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The Diocese of New York, after looking in vain to the House of Bishops for the remission of the sentence of suspension inflicted upon its Bishop, had received partial relief by the passage of a Canon by the General Conven- tion of 1850, allowing a diocese, whose Bishop was unable by reason of a judicial sentence to perform his duties, to elect a provisional Bishop.1 At a Special Convention, held in St. John's Chapel, November 27, 1850, an at- tempt at an election was made, but it was not successful. The Rev. Dr. William Creighton, the Rev. Dr. Wain- wright, and the Rev. Dr. John Williams were the most prominent candidates. The attempt was renewed at the annual Convention, held on September 24, 1851. The contest was long and exciting. Upon the eighth ballot the Rev. Dr. William Creighton received a majority of the votes, Drs. Vinton, Taylor, and Wainwright being also among the prominent candidates. It was hoped that Dr. Creighton, who had been the President of the Convention for several years, and was cordially esteemed by all Church- men, would accept, and thus heal the divisions in the Diocese. Under this impression a committee was ap- pointed to make arrangements for the consecration in Trinity Church. 2 But to the great regret of his friends and the whole Diocese, Dr. Creighton was obliged, for urgent family reasons, to decline the honor.
The reader is already familiar with the history of the grant by the city Corporation of certain lots on Fifth Ave- nue, between 54th and 55th Streets, to the Anglo-Ameri- can Free Church of St. George the Martyr, and of the efforts of the Rev. Mr. Marcus to raise a sum of money sufficient to carry out his plans for the establishment of a hospital
iSee Journal, General Convention, 1850, pp. 41, 57, 60, 70, 90, 94, 126, 133, 137, 145. It is Canon III. of Canons of 1850, p. 57. "Constitutions and Canons " pended to the Journal. 2 Records liber iv., folio 69.
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St. Luke's Hospital
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and chapel on that site. Notwithstanding his devotion to the cause and his visit to England, his native land, in the hope of obtaining subscriptions, those efforts had failed. The situation was critical, as the trustees of St. George the Martyr were required as a condition to build upon the ground conveyed to them within three years, while there was no prospect of their being able to do so. Another man appeared at this juncture, with peculiar qualifications for accomplishing work on the same line but broader in its scope. The name of William Augustus Muhlenberg will be everlastingly remembered in the church. As a lover of humanity, an educator, a preacher of power and grace, a poet, a pastor, and an advocate of the free-church system and a practical demonstrator of its success, he had become a power in the community. No enterprise of the many which he undertook will carry his name and fame to future generations more distinctly than the foundation and com- pletion of St. Luke's Hospital in the City of New York.
The story has been well told by Dr. Muhlenberg him- self.1 Observing with pain that the poor had but a slender chance of obtaining ready admission to any of the existing hospitals, and were exposed in consequence to much suffer- ing and distress, he formed his plan for their relief. From St. Luke's Day, 1846, when the offering at the service in the Church of the Holy Communion was set aside toward the building of a free hospital for the poor under the auspices of the Christian Church, until the winter of 1849- 1850, when he began to plead in the city churches for St. Luke's, that plan was maturing in his mind.2
1 Sketch of the Origin and Progress of St. Luke's Hospital, New York, 1859.
' "In the following winter his earnest plea for a church hospital was written, con- sisting of two lectures which were delivered first before his own congregation and af- terwards in St. Paul's and St. John's and perhaps some other of the city churches."- Pp. 215, 216, The Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg, Doctor in Divinity. By Anne Ayres.
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Dr. Muhlenberg had the confidence, sympathy, and aid of all the church people and benevolent citizens of New York. He had also as his earnest helper and constant adviser Mr. Robert B. Minturn, a man of eminence in the city.
In May 1850 Saint Luke's Hospital was incorporated with Mr. Minturn as chairman of the Board of Managers. To find a site healthy, elevated, and large enough for the spacious buildings intended was a difficult task. After examining many plots of ground, the attention of the cor- porators of St. Luke's Hospital was called to the lots on Fifth Avenue which had been granted by the city to the Church of St. George the Martyr. They appeared to meet every requirement, and Dr. Muhlenberg and Mr. Minturn determined to make an effort to secure them, as the grant was about to lapse. For that purpose, a nego- tiation with the city authorities was begun, and also with Trinity Church, as an interested party, the plot having been conveyed to St. George the Martyr with the under- standing that no other transfer could be made without the consent of the Corporation. The matter came before the Vestry, December 8, 1851, in the form of a request for their assent " to a transfer by the Corporation of the City of New York of the block of ground on the Fifth Avenue from the Church of St. George the Martyr to the Incorporators of St. Luke's Hospital."1 The request was referred to the Standing Committee, which made a report in the shape of a preamble and resolutions, January 12, 1852. The pre- amble recited the history of the release and grant; the conveyance of the Fifth Avenue plot May 8, 1848, to St. George the Martyr, and the failure of that Corporation to fulfil the condition on which the conveyance was made notwithstanding an extension of the time to 1853. It fur-
' Records, liber iv., folio 67.
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St. Luke's Hospital
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ther set forth the proposal and negotiations for a new con- veyance by the city to the incorporators of St. Luke's Hospital, the assent of the Mayor and city authorities to the said transfer, and the need of the consent of Trinity Church to the change. The Committee recommended that consent to the proposed arrangement be given, on condition that the original intent of the grant should be preserved ; and that for this purpose there should be attached to the deed of transfer, or expressed in some other instrument, under the seal of the new hospital, a state- ment of the terms on which the assent of Trinity Church was given. The terms were to be as follows :
I. The land to be used only for a hospital and chapel with all necessary buildings, and for no other purpose.
II. No further release, modification, or discharge of the conditions by the city Corporation without the consent of this Corporation.
III. The head of the hospital, whether called Gover- nor, Warden, or Superintendent, to be always a communi- cant of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
IV. The religious services and instructions in the hospital to be always according to the forms, rites, ceremonies, and sacraments of said Church.
V. That there shall be at all times beds at least to the number of twenty appropriated in such hospital to the use of British emigrants arriving in the City of New York, being members of a Church in communion with the Pro- testant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, having no settled place of residence, who require medical or surgical skill, for which beds when vacant such emigrants shall be entitled to a preference.
The Vestry adopted the resolutions recommended in the report. A modification of the conditions of the trans- fer was subsequently made ; the fifth specification was so VOL. IV .- 24.
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altered as to reserve twenty beds at least for the use of emigrants, with a preference for them when the beds were vacant, and a proviso was inserted that the Corpora- tion of St. Luke's should have power to adopt regulations and by-laws concerning the terms of admission to the hospital.1
' Records, liber iv., folio 76.
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CHAPTER XVII.
EDUCATIONAL AND MATTERS AFFECTING THE CHURCH AT LARGE.
Appeal of Bishop Strachan to American Churchmen on Behalf of Trinity College, Toronto-Donation by Trinity Parish-Donation by Corporation to Nashotah-Sale of Church of the Holy Evangelists and Its Site Approved of by Vestry-Extension of Albany Street Again Defeated-Erection of Monument to the Revolutionary Patriots -Diocesan Convention of 1852-Election of Dr. Wainwright as Provisional Bishop- His Consecration-Sermon by Bishop of New Hampshire-Sermon by Bishop Fulford -Another Assistant Minister to be Appointed-Election of Rev. Morgan Dix as As- sistant Minister-He Declines Election-Claim of Christopher C. Kiersted as an Anneke Jans Heir Dismissed by Supreme Court - Dr. and Mrs. Berrian Go Abroad -Death and Funeral of Dr. Parks- The General Convention of 1853 - Delegation from S. P. G .- Admission of California as a Diocese- Deposition of Bishop Ives- Consecration of Dr. Atkinson as Bishop of North Carolina, and Dr. Davis as Bishop of South Carolina-Office of Registrar to Convention-Consecration of Dr. Kip as Bishop of California.
I N the city of Toronto, in Upper Canada, as the Prov- ince of Ontario was then called, a college existed before the year 1850, which was built by Churchmen and carried on as a church institution. The local government, unwarrantably and unjustly, laid hands upon and secular- ized it, in spite of the efforts of Dr. Strachan, the indefati- gable Bishop of Toronto. He, unable to prevent the spoliation, set himself to work to repair the mischief, and founded a new school of arts, to be known as Trinity Col- lege, in which it was intended to give both a secular and a religious training to students. It was to be a thorough church institution, with an influential council and the Bishop at the head. A partial endowment having been secured in Canada and England, it was hoped to obtain
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an increase of it from American Churchmen. The Bishop commissioned the Rev. William McMurray to visit the United States and obtain pledges for the endowment fund. He was cordially received in New York City, and preached in many of the churches upon the educational work of the Church in Canada. On Tuesday in Whitsun- week, June 1, 1852, a meeting was held in behalf of Trinity College, Toronto, in the Sunday-school room of St. Paul's Chapel. At that meeting, which was largely attended, Dr. McMurray explained Bishop Strachan's plan, and de- tailed the reasons why the College might appeal to the generosity of American Churchmen. At the conclusion of his address resolutions expressing sympathy and confi- dence in the work which he represented were adopted. An Advisory Committee of eleven clergymen and eight lay- men was then chosen, with Dr. Berrian as Chairman. In view of the fact that the closing of the Jubilee Year was to be celebrated by a service in Trinity Church, the Vestry resolved
"as an expression of the gratitude which the American branch of the Catholic Church owes to the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and of our sympathy with the Diocese of Toronto, that the wardens be authorized to contribute the sum of one thousand dollars for the benefit of Trinity College, Toronto, at the Collection to be made in the Parish Church on the 15th of June inst., the closing com- memoration of the Jubilee Year of the Venerable Society." 1
The Council of Trinity College sent a formal and hearty vote of thanks to the Vestry for their Jubilee gift to that institution.2
The noble venture of faith by four friends and fellow- students of the Class of 1841 in the General Theological Seminary, which planted an associate mission at Prairie
1 Records, liber iv., p. 91. For a brief sketch of Trinity College (now University), Toronto, see p. 778, Digest, S. P. G. ? Records, liber iv., p. 96.
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Albany Street Extension 373
Ville, now Waukesha, Wisconsin, and from that centre firmly established the Church in many villages and hamlets of the vicinity, resulted in the founding of a seminary for the training of young men for the holy ministry, known as Nashotah House. It was dependent upon the offerings of the faithful, having no endowment nor stated income from any source. The benefit to the Church in the whole Northwest was only partially realized by Eastern Church- men. The Rev. Dr. Azel D. Cole had become a member of the mission soon after its organization, and was then its head. An appeal from him to Trinity Church was re- ported upon favorably by the Standing Committee, which says that "aid in spreading the Church in the Western country cannot be more efficiently given than by assisting to support this college." The Vestry granted twenty-five hundred dollars " to be applied during the next five years towards the payment of the salary of the Rev. Professor of Systematic Divinity." 1
The Rev. Dr. William Adams filled that chair for nearly fifty years.
On the 8th of November, 1853, the Standing Com- mittee reported the agreement for the sale of the church edifice and lot on Vandewater Street, formerly occupied by the Church of the Holy Evangelists. The clerk and comptroller were authorized to sign a proper certificate of the satisfaction of the mortgage, or mortgages, on the premises held by the Corporation.2
The attempt to carry Albany Street through Trinity
1 Records, liber iv., folio 116, March 14, 1853. 2 Ibid., folio 97.
" The Church in Vandewater street was then sold by its own vestry, and, after paying off all prior incumbrances, the balance of $1200 was paid over to Trinity Cor- poration, who expended this amount, together with a much larger sum, in preparing St. George's Church for their accommodation."-Testimony of General John A. Dix before Senate Committee, February 23, 1859, p. 125, Testimony in the Matter of Trinity Church.
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