USA > New York > Suffolk County > Huntington > Annals of St. John's church, Huntington, Suffolk County, N.Y., also historical and descriptive notes > Part 2
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
"by land laid out for the churchyard and the land of.
" Capt'n Davis, deceased. This parcel seems to have "extended north of the present church ground to Mill " Dam lane. The glebe had upon it a house which was used " afterwards as a rectory, and is stated in a letter by Mr. Sea- "bury to have been worth £200. The land as early as 1680 " had been owned by Joseph Wood, and was afterwards sold by " him to Thomas Jarvis. It stood in Mill Dam Lane " (i. e. I suppose, the house so stood.) "Thomas Jarvis, it is "thought, either donated or sold this property to the church."
"In 1770 the deeds of the glebe were annulled, and the " title vested in the church-wardens for the use of the society, " but the precise way in which it was done is not clear. After " the death of the Rev. James Greaton, the first resident minis- " ter of the Episcopal church in Huntington, his widow contin- "ued to occupy the rectory on the glebe lands. She married " Dr. B. Y. Prime in 1775, and lived for thirty years thereafter. " Mr. Greaton had no successor in the vacant rectorship until " 1805, when for a short time the Rev. John C. Rudd took "charge. Only a small part of the ancient glebe remains " to-day, the rest having been alienated, but how and by whom "is a question."
A. D. 1763. . Jan'y 23d. Two baptisms. (For names &c., see entries &c.)
April 10th. Three baptisms. (See entries &c.) One of these baptisms is thus recorded :- " Boston," negro male child "of estate of H. Lloyd."
Sep't. "Four infants."
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
"In 1763, Mr. Kneeland was appointed reader to the " church at Huntington by the Society. Mr. K. was then Cat- " echist at Flushing." (Note No. 4 in Parish Register.)
He went to England for Holy orders in 1764, but appar- ently, judging from a letter written to Mr. Lloyd in 1765, did not return to Huntington.
A. D. 1764. Three baptisms. (For names &c., see en- tries &c.)
" Rev. Samuel Seabury departed this life, Friday morning " the 15th June, 1764, in the 58th year of his age, and is bur- "ied at Hempstead. The next in order at Hempstead are rec- " ords of Rev. Samuel Seabury (his son) who was at the time "at Jamaica." (Note by Rev. Chas. H. Hall, D. D.)
"Between 1764 and 1766, the Rev. Sam'l Seabury, after- " wards first Bishop of the country, and in those years settled " at Grace church, Jamaica, occasionally ministered at Hunt- "ington." (Note by the late Mr. Henry Lloyd.)
The deed conveying the five acres of land before referred to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was executed Aug. 21st of this year, It contains a " proviso " that Mr. Ebe- nezer Kneeland be admitted to Holy orders to serve as Rector or Missionary at Huntington.
· Feb. 17th. In Huntington, which Dr. Johnson recom- mends for a mission, there are about forty families, and if Oys- ter Bay was annexed, thirty or forty more : but on the south side of Long Island, to which they extend, there are not less than one hundred who have no teacher of any sort. (Extract. from the Scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk.)
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
A. D. 1765. Feb. 10th. A salary of fro allowed to Mr. E. Kneeland, catechist at Huntington.
A. D. 1767. "In 1767, the Rev. Mr." (James) "Greaton was settled as Rector at Huntington : died in 1773." (Note No. 5 in Parish Register.)
The Rev. Leanord Cutting, settled at Hempstead from 1766-1784, visited Huntington as follows, for the office of baptism, &c." (Note by Rev. C. H. Hall, D. D.)
Here follow the records of thirty baptisms by Rev. L. Cut- ting, viz .: four in 1767, two in 1768, one in 1772, one in 1773, and the others in the years following, as hereafter given.
A. D. 1768. Nov. 30th. The church wardens and ves- try of Huntington lay before the venerable society "their un- happy circumstances." In Huntington, and Queen's village, five miles distant, are upwards of thirty heads of families, pro- fessors of the church of England, who are destitute of the ad- ministration of God's word and Sacraments. Mr. Kneeland was employed to read prayers and sermons, and subsequently sent to England for Orders. Henry Lloyd of Boston recommends Mr. Greaton of Boston, at a salary of £20, with firewood, a 'house, and glebe. His services to include Islip and Queens village. (Extract from the scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk).
The statement, then, in Note No. 5 in the Parish register, that Mr. Greaton was " settled as Rector in 1767" is incorrect. He began work in 1769, and received appointment as one of the Society's missionaries in 1770, with an allowance of £40. The information as to date of missionary appointment and amount
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
of allowance is from Mr. Henry Onderdonk's Scrap-book. (Edi- tor).
A. D. 1769. August 8th. Mr. Greaton, at Boston, (on a visit) writes :
" At Huntington I have a very decent congregation who "almost constantly attend. Frequently a number of dissenters " come to hear me, who behave with the utmost decency, and " seem much pleased. Several times I have had the church so " full that it could not conveniently hold more, and many were "obliged to go away for want of room. I flatter myself that in " time a flourishing church may be raised up there, if the peo- " ple are so happy as to continue to enjoy the smiles of the So- "ciety. The people have purchased a new glebe, with a good "house, at a cost of £344, currency, which they propose to " make over to the society in lieu of the old glebe, which cost "only £120." (Extract from scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onder- "donk).
The records and notes preceding had all been written or compiled before the important statement in Mr. Greaton's letter concerning the purchase of a " new glebe and house " came to notice.
Nothing is said as to the location of the new house and glebe : and I may cite in this connection a statement made to me. by an esteemed former parishioner and vestryman, whose time of residence in Huntington covered many years, that he had the impression, from tradition derived, he thought, from descend- ants of Mr. Greaton, that the house in which Mr. Greaton died, and from which his body was brought for interment, was not
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
near the church, but down in the valley near the present vil- lage, on what is called Spring street.
However this may be, there are expressions in a letter written in 1780, and given hereafter in full under that date, which show that what was then the parsonage was, with its grounds, near the church. "The parsonage house," the writer states, "is in tolerable repair, but the barn has suf- fered in common with the church; i. e. from their use, or rather abuse, by the British troops; having been "taken for barracks."
We have to conclude, then, either that the purchase of the new house and glebe was not finally consummated, or else that that house and glebe was, like the old one, near the church. And it is evident from the value stated that the house was a better one, and the glebe of larger extent, than those obtained by the original purchase, which according to Mr. Greaton, was effected for £120, although valued by Mr. Seabury at £200.
In the year following (A. D. 1770) Mr. Henry Lloyd sent from Boston to Joseph Lloyd at Queen's village deeds for this new house and glebe, (see appendix on deeds &c., relating to the glebe) executed to the church wardens, with a request that the wardens execute a deed (also enclosed) " to the society;" i. e. to the S. P. G. This letter has evidently been a puzzle to the writers of precedent notes on the glebe, but when read in connection with Mr. Greaton's letter, above given, its wording and purpose become clear.
Much, however, as to the details and consummation of this purchase, and the subsequent loss or alienation of all the proper- ty except the narrow strip on which the old church stood, re-
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
mains uncertain. All that we know is this,-that the parish possessed, and had in use, either the old or the new house and glebe, as late as the year 1780, and probably at the close of the war : that in 1787, two deeds of "the old glebe " were sent back from London by Mr. H. Lloyd, and that at that time and for at least twenty years afterwards, the corporate existence of · the parish was maintained.
A. D. 1770. " This same year Mr. James Greaton is ap- " pointed Missionary at Huntington with an allowance of £40, "having been licensed January 28, 1760, by the Bishop of Lon- "don." (From History of St. George's, Hempstead, by the " late Rev. Dr. Moore.)
A. D. 1773. The Rev. Jas. Greaton, first settled Rector, departed this lite.
Jan. 13th. Mr. Greaton's account of his mission at Hunt- ington was a very acceptable one to the society. They lament his death, which, has since happened, and the circumstances of his family, which have been represented to them as necessitous.
April 17th. Died, at Huntington, after a short illness (said to have been attended with fits,) the Rev. James Greaton, Episcopal minister at that place, and formerly of Christ Church, Boston. (Extract from the Scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk. )
A. D. 1774, Dec. 29th. Two baptisms by the Rev. L Cutting. (For names &c., see entries &c.)
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
Dec. 29th. "Admitted into " the church " * James and Mary Greaton, Richard, son of Obadiah Hammond, slave of Mr. Loyd, Rachel, slave of Dr. Platt.
Dec. 29th. Last Sunday sennit, at Huntington, B. Y. Prime, M. D. was married to the amiable Mrs. Mary (Wheel- wright), relict of the Rev. James Greaton. (Extract from the scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk.)
A. D. 1775. June 15th. Five baptisms by Rev. L. Cut- ting. (See entries &c.)
" Under date of Feb. 17th, 1775, Mr. Cutting mentions " that a petition had been received from the church wardens " &c. in Huntington, Brookhaven, Islip and Queen's Village" (Lloyd's Neck) " for a missionary in the place of their late " worthy pastor, Mr. Greaton, with the former allowance from " the Society, to which they hope they shall be able to add £20. " But the Society, considering the proposed subscription as in- " sufficient, nor properly engaged for, on the part of the peti- " tioners, have thought it advisable for the present to postpone " the application." (From Dr. Moore's History of St. George's, Hempstead.)
A. D. 1777. Six baptisms by Rev. L. Cutting. (See en- tries' &c.)
"I have not attended the vacant church at Huntington ." this last year, as the principal persons of my congregation "thought it by no means advisable for me to go out of my own
* Probably James, són of Mary Greaton, widow of Rev. J. Grea-
ton." Note by Rev. C. B. Ellsworth.)
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
"parish," (Extract from letter of Rev. L. Cutting to S. P. G. Jan'y 6th, 1777.)
A. D. 1779. Nov'r 26. Rev. Chas. Inglis writes from New York, (to the S. P. G.)
" The only vacant mission on Long Island is that at Hunt- "ington, but no loyal clergyman dare settle there ; that part of " the island is infested by Rebels who are constantly making " excursions across the Sound, plundering the inhabitants, and " carrying many of them off captives." (Extract from Scrap- book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk. )
A. D. 1780. Eleven baptisms by Rev. L. Cutting. (See entries &c.)
May 18th. Rev. Mr. Waller writes from New York, (to the S. P. G.)
" I was last Sunday at Huntington, and officiated for the " first time this season at that church, to a small but attentive " congregation. The church which till last winter had remained " untouched amid the desolations of war, was then taken by ." the (British) army for barracks, and according to custom, · "greatly abused and damaged. The parsonage house is in tol- " erable repair, but the barn has suffered in common with the "church. Several of the principal families have gone into the " rebellion, but their places are supplied by a number of refu- "gees from Connecticut, who, uniting with the remaining fam- "ilies, are desirous, notwithstanding their discouragements, to " keep the service among them. I have promised to visit them " once a month till winter, and I hope to prevail on some of
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
"our refugee clergy here to do the same." (Extract from scrap-book of Mr. Henry Onderdonk.)
A. D. 1782. Twelve baptisms by Rev. L. Cutting. (See entries &c.)
A. D. 1783. One baptism &c. After this date until 1838, a period of fifty-five years, we know of but one baptism, viz .: by the Rev. Seth Hart, of Hempstead, in 1804.
Also, in 1783, married, "per license," Adam Lefferts, of Oyster Bay and Rebecca Conklin of Huntington.
" Year of Peace and end of Colonial times. This year Rev. L. Cutting "removed to the South." (Note by Dr. Hall.)
" Rev. - Rowland, father of N. S. Rowland of New " York, accepted the care (of the parish) during the Revolution- "ary war, but as his household goods and library were captured " by the British on their way out, he soon became discouraged, "and went to Nova Scotia." (Note in a list Mss. of Rectors compiled by Mr. Oscar Egerton Schmidt.)
" During the Revolution, occasional services were held at "Huntington, e. g. in: 1780 by the Revs. Wm. Waller and "John Sayre, and also by the chaplains belonging to English " forces who were from time to time stationed there . ... In " 1782, the Rev. T. L. Moore, afterwards rector at Hempstead, " officiated at Huntington, Setauket and Islip ; as did also the "Rev. Andrew Fowler in 1789. From that time on until 1806 "the priestly functions were generally suspended throughout " the county." (i. e. of Suffolk.) "An occasional service may
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
" have been held, but it must have been exceptional." (Note in Rev. A. Whitaker's Parish Record, Feb. 1886.)
" The Rector or Incumbent seven years before the Revo- "lutionary war is buried under the Altar." (Extract from a letter from the Rev. N. Barrows.) The reference is to the body of the Rev. James Greaton, of whom also the large east window is in memory.
A. D. 1788. March Ist. The earliest original record in our possession begins with this date. This, and following records, dated 1789 and 1790, and also two brief entries dated 1797 and 1800, are on two discolored sheets of paper, letter size, stitched together but unbound, forming eight pages ; the greater part of the half sheet which makes the first and second pages being torn away. The said records relate chiefly to meetings of " the Episcopal congregation " for election of wardens and vestrymen, (the latter, like the former, being but two in number,) held on March Ist in each year. In 1788 a vestry meeting was held, and another in 1790. Resolutions passed at the former are sub- joined, as a matter of curious interest.
" Resolved, That the church Be Repaired so far as to Shingal the south side of the Ruff & seet the Body and glaze it."
" Resolved, That John Johnson be appointed to get the meterals and oversee the Bisiness."
" Resolved, That all Parsons that have any Wrights In the Pues that Do Not Repair the same Within Six Months from this date shall Bee as is forfeited to said church."
JOHN JONES,
Wardens.
ADAM LEFFORD,
JOHN JOHNSON,
ISAAC YOUNGS, Vestry.
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
In 1788, the parish was represented in the convention of the diocese of New York by Isaac Youngs, who joined with the representatives of Brookhaven and Oyster Bay in asking that Mr. Andrew Fowler be recommended to the Bishop for Holy Orders.
In 1789, Nov. 5th. "Rev. Mr. Fowler, of Huntington, "appeared, and took his seat in convention." In 1790, Mr. Fowler is noted as " Rector of Christ church, Oyster Bay." In 1806, St. John's church, Huntington, was represented by Shu- bael Smith.
A. D. 1793. On March 21st, this year, and on the same date in each following year to 1805, inclusive, a meeting was held for the election of wardens and vestrymen. Brief records of these meetings, also certain church accounts for the same time, are entered in a long narrow book which had been partly used as the " Account Book " of a Military Company in the Revolutionary Army, and for which the vestry in 1801 paid to Shubael Smith "by agreement of the wardens " the sum of eight shillings. The original minutes of Vestry meetings from 1838 to 1856 were also written in the same book.
A. D. 1804. July 29th. One baptism by Rev. Seth Hart. "David Smith Conklin, son of Elkanah and Rebecca Conklin." (Extract from Register of St. George's, Hemp- stead. )
A. D. 1806. "In this year, the Rev. J. C. Rudd was "sent as Missionary into Suffolk County by the Bishop of New
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
" York. He succeeded in stirring up anew the interest of the "few remaining Churchmen, but it was only for a short time.
" He withdrew to more inviting fields." (Note in Rev. A. " Whitaker's Parish Record, Feb. 1886.)
The following is an extract from the Missionary Report, printed in the Journal of the N. Y. Convention :-
.
" In Huntington, Mr. Rudd found it difficult for some time " to rouse the dormant zeal for the church of the few scattered " families who still professed themselves its members. By the " blessing of God upon his labors, he at length happily suc- '" ceeded. The ministration of the excellent worship of the " church revived the former attachment of its former members to. "it: and before Mr. Rudd left them, they made arrangements " for repairing their place of public worship, which was in a " very decayed state. The Committee are happy to be assured " that the zeal which has been excited still continues, and that " the congregation look forward with earnest hope to the time ·" when the blessing of God upon their exertions will enable "them to restore the church among them in "the beauty " of holiness.".
A. D. 1807. About $100 were subscribed and paid for a · new roof and plastering walls. Another item mentions the payment to Mr. - of £5,16,0, for fourteen years' service in keeping records, sweeping church, &c.
A. D. 1809. April 8th. "Rev. Feltis" (probably the Rev. H. J. Feltus, rector of St. Ann's Brooklyn, from 1807 to 1814) "administered the Sacrament : there were five commu- " nicants : a young gentleman, Elkanalı Conklin, Abby Hew-
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
·
" lett, Shubael Smith, Freelove Smith." (Note in Parish Reg- ister.)
A. D. 1814. " Rev. Chas. Seabury, of Setauket, offici- " ated twelve times." (Note in Parish Register.)
He probably visited Huntington at intervals from 1814 to 1827.
" Rev. Chas. Seabury, son of the Bishop, was appointed " to care of Setauket, with charge also of Huntington and "Islip." (Note in Rev. A. Whitaker's "Parish Record ".)
A. D. 1823. " The last Sunday in September, Rev. Ed- " ward K. Fowler took charge of the parish, in which no reg- " ular service but the above" (i. e. those mentioned under dates preceding,) " was held for sixteen years. He remained until " towards the close of 1826." (Note in Parish Register.)
What the writer of the foregoing note means by "regular service " is not clear : for even those services to which he re- . fers as exceptions to his main statement were themselves but occasional; i. e. they were not continuous or periodical. He probably means, however, that during the sixteen years, none but occasional services had been held. In fact, with the possible exception of those incidental to the brief ministry of Dr. Rudd in 1805 or 1806, none other services had been held for fifty years. For exactly that number of years had passed between the death of Mr. Greaton in 1773 and the settlement of Mr. Fowler in 1823. But all through this long time, apparently, at intervals of but a few years at most, there were such services, some of them held possibly elsewhere, but most of them doubt- less in the church. And for a number of years, -probably in
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
those preceding the war, (during which years, as appears from the Lloyd letters, attempts were being made to secure a succes- sor to Mr. Greaton,) and certainly from 1788 to 1807, at least,- the parochial organization seems to have been carefully main- tained. From 1807 to 1837, elections of parish officers may possibly have ceased : and it is evident that the work became dependent, during that period, upon such missionary effort as could be put forth by the diocese of New York.
No records of the official acts of the first rector, Rev. James Greaton, (1769 to 1773) or of the Rev. Ed. K. Fowler, (1823 to 1826) have as yet been found. The latter is referred to in the Convention Journals of the diocese of New York as "Deacon, " and Missionary at Huntington."
A. D. 1826. From Nov. 1826 to April 1827, the Rev. Samuel Seabury was in charge. He was a son of the Rev. Chas. Seabury, of Setauket, and at this time was in Deacon's Orders, serving as Missionary at Huntington under the Mission- ary Committee of the diocese of New York. He was trans- ferred to work at Hallett's Cove in 1827, was afterwards Editor of " The Churchman," N. Y., Rector of the Church of the Annunciation, N. Y., and finally Professor of Biblical Learning · in the Gen. Theo. Seminary.
A. D. 1827. The Rev. Chas. Seabury reports visiting Huntington in the Spring, and administering Holy Communion, his son being in Deacon's Orders.
A. D. 1834. It is stated in one of the notes in "Annals of Suffolk Co." in the Rev. A. Whitaker's "Parish Record "
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
that the Rev. Isaac Sherwood was this year appointed to the charge of St. John's Huntington.
Mr. Sherwood also had charge of St. John's, Cold Spring, resided there, and probably served this parish for some years as missionary. But in the record of the Act of Incorporation (1838) which follows, he is styled " Rector."
A. D. 1838. The original records of Vestry elections and meetings, which were not carried beyond 1809, are resumed this year, and the first record is that of the Incorporation of the Parish. This was effected on May 7th, the names of the then Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen being as follows :--
Rector, REV. ISAAC SHERWOOD. Wardens, DAN'L W. KISSAM,
JOHN R. RHINELANDER.
Vestrymen, ABRAHAM VAN WYCK, WILLIAM C. STOUT,
NATH. BLOODGOOD,
WILL'M M. HAWTHORNE, JOEL PLATT, CHAS. P. STEWART, HIRAM PAULDING, WILLIAM HEWLETT.
A. D. 1843. On June 9th, a resolution relinquishing the aid of the Missionary Committee was adopted; and a few weeks afterwards the Rev. J. Sherwood resigned, and was succeeded by the Rev. Moses Marcus.
Twenty baptisms by the Rev. J. Sherwood are recorded.
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
A. D. 1844. On Oct. 22d., the Rev. Moses Marcus re- signed the rectorship.
In a long note in pencil in the record book, Mr. Marcus gives an account of the services maintained by him, and of the disposition of offertories, noting the Rector's right to dispense what has been offered as "alms and oblations at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper." He also states that in addition to the services at the Church, he has held a third service every Lord's day evening in the District School Room on East Neck ; that these services have been well attended, and that "the little flock gives promise of usefulness and increase to the church."
Mr. Marcus was evidently a faithful and earnest priest, but also a rigidly conservative and perhaps somewhat militant churchman of the old school. In the concluding paragraph of his note he thus frees his mind :-
" The church is probably the oldest in the diocese." (This is an error ; at the time of writing there were several older, and one of them, at Setauket in this county, is still standing, and in use. Ed.) "It was built by the Society for the Propagation "of the Gospel, and has had among its ministers the Rt. Rev. " Bishop Seabury, the Rev. Chas. Seabury and the Rev. Sam'l "Seabury, D. D., also Bishops Hobart and Onderdonk, the " Rev. Dr. Rudd, Rev. Ed. K. Fowler, &c., &c." .
" As a relick of the olden time, its general character should " have been preserved, and its venerable pulpit never removed "from its place : but this is the age of innovation, and so old " things have passed away, and all things are to become new ! " But, as Bishop Brownell, when here last year, very properly "observed, the old church ought to be kept entire, and a new " Church built in the Village (proper) of Huntington, where it
·
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Annals of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
"is needed, and where the Church would at once increase. " On the other hand, it is to be feared that the spirit of exclu- "siveness, which unhappily prevails throughout the parish, "will prevent any extraordinary increase where the Church "now is, let the Vestry do what they may. The rich and the " poor are equal in God's sight, and ought so to be treated by " all Christian men : but they have not been, and hence there "is the greatest prejudice against the Church among the inhab- "itants generally."
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