USA > New York > Suffolk County > Huntington > Annals of St. John's church, Huntington, Suffolk County, N.Y., also historical and descriptive notes > Part 4
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
Rectors of this Parish
And others who have bad definite official relation as Missionaries, &c.
1745 to 1764. Rev. Samuel Seabury, Rector of St. George's, Hempstead, Missionary and Founder.
1748 to 1752. Mr. Samuel Seabury, afterwards Rt. Rev. Bishop Seabury, Catechist or Lay-Reader.
1764 to 1765. Mr. Ebenezer Kneeland, (subsequently ordained) Reader.
1769 to 1773. Rev. James Greaton, Rector.
1789. Rev. Andrew Fowler, Missionary.
1805. Rev. John C. Rudd, Missionary.
1814 to 1823.
Rev. Chas. Seabury, of Caroline Church, Setau- ket, in charge.
1823 to 1826. Rev. Edward K. Fowler, Deacon and Mission- ary.
1826 to 1827. Rev. Samuel Seabury, Deacon and Missionary. 1834 to 1838. ( Rev. Isaac Sherwood, of St. John's Cold Spring 1838 to 1843. Harbor. In first period, Missionary, subse- quently Rector.
1843 to 1844. Rev. Moses Marcus, Rector.
1845 to 1847. Rev. Chas. H. Hall, Rector.
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
1847 to 1848. Rev. C. Donald Macleod, Rector.
1848 to 1850. Rev. Fred W. Shelton, Rector.
1852 to 1856. Rev. W. A. W. Maybin, Rector.
1856 to 1858. Rev. Wm. G. Farrington, Rector.
1858 to 1859.
Rev. J. H. Williams, Rector.
1859 to 1860.
Rev. Wm. J. Lynd, Rector.
1860 to 1870.
Rev. Caleb B. Ellsworth, Rector.
1871 to 1 877.
Rev. A. J. Barrow, Rector.
1877 to 1878.
Rev. Thaddeus H. Snively, Rector.
1878 to 1885.
Rev. N. Barrows, Rector.
1885 to 1891.
Rev. Theo. M. Peck Rector.
1891. Rev. Chas. W. Turner, Rector.
The fact that the REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, of Hempstead, was the Founder of this parish, and that successive sons in one line of his distinguished descendants to the fourth generation have all officiated here, three of them having been also, at some time in their ministry, in direct official relation with the parish, renders it fitting that some detailed notice should here be given of his life and missionary labors ; as also, afterwards, of those of his venerated son, the first Bishop of the American Church.
REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, the elder, was born in Groton, -now Ledyard, -Conn., in 1706. His ancestors were of Port- lake, Devonshire, Eng. It has been affirmed that the ancient form of the name was Sedborough or Seaberry. He was a grandson of Samuel Seabury, a noted physician and surgeon of
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
Duxbury, Mass., and the son of a man of prominence among the Congregationalists of New London.
In Mr. Seabury's early manhood he officiated as a licensed preacher to the Congregationalists, but says Sprague, (in Epis. Pulpit p. 149) was never Congregationally ordained. He had been a student at Yale College at that memorable period when the Congregational " standing order " were astonished and an- gered by the announcement of Dr. Cutler, the President of the College, that he had become an Episcopalian. In the strife and confusion which arose in consequence of this avowal, Mr. Sea- bury found his studies interrupted, and therefore transferred himself to Harvard University, where he graduated in 1724.
He married Abigail Mumford, a relative of his Episcopal neighbor, the Rev. Dr. McSparran, Rector of the Episcopal Church at Narragansett, R. I. This lady was the mother of Bishop Seabury. She died in 1731, and in 1733 Mr. Seabury took as his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of Adam Powell, a merchant of Newport, R. I. She survived her husband many years and attained a venerable age, dying at Hempstead in 1799. Mr. Seabury's grandmother was Elizabeth Alden, a descendant of John Alden, said to have been the first man that landed on Plymouth Rock.
In the spring of 1730, Mr. Seabury, leaving his family at home, took passage for England for the purpose of seeking Epis- copal ordination. He carried with him letters of commenda- tion from the Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, of Christ Church, Boston, and from the Rev. Dr. McSparran, of Narragansett.
The application for Orders was successful : Mr. Seabury was ordained Deacon, and shortly afterwards, Priest, probably
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
by the Bishop of London. And on the 21st of August, 1730, he appeared before the Venerable Society, and after due examination and enquiry, was appointed Missionary to New London, Conn. Soon afterwards he preached in St. Michael's Church, Cornhill, from the Ist Ep. to the Thess., v. xvii, "Pray without ceasing. "This sermon, still in the posses- sion of his descendants, shows Mr. S. to have been a preacher of great earnestness, directness of address, a devout spirit, and an excellent logician. These traits are manifested perhaps still more forcibly in another sermon preached by him at this period, in which he maintains, with great lucidity in the arrangement and statement of his argument, that the use of a Liturgy and prescribed forms of prayer are both 'Scriptural and best adapted to the spiritual needs of men in public worship.
Returning to this country in 1732, Mr. Seabury com- menced his labors in New London, as the first minister of St. James' Church where, for the succeeding ten years, he prose- cuted the duties of his calling with assiduity and with an en- couraging degree of success. Before leaving New London for St. George's, Hempstead, he preached a sermon which was "published at the desire of some who heard it."
The few productions of Mr. Seabury's pen which have been preserved make us regret that he did not publish more. They show that he was a man of no ordinary mental capacity. He took hold of subjects with a firm grasp, and treated them with vigorous common sense, and was able to convey the im- pression that he was himself thoroughly convinced of those things of which he sought to convince others.
Of Mr. Seabury's personal appearance an aged parishioner of St. George's Church gave to his rector ( Dr. Moore ) the fol-
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
lowing representation : " My father described him to me as, " seated upon a strong sorrel horse he made his way to Oyster " Bay and Huntington, with his saddle bags strapped to his "saddle. He was strongly built, but not tall, and he had "a countenance which was intelligent and kindly, and showed "decision and firmness. He wore a three-cornered hat, and " small clothes and top-boots. He rode well, but sometimes " could not make the journey in time to have service and re- " turn the same day."
At the time Mr. Seabury became the minister of Hemp- stead, the labors and influence of his predecessors, Thomas and Jenney, had begun to bring forth increasing good fruits, a re- compense to their devoted efforts. Prejudices and enmities has nearly expended themselves. Most of the inveterate opposers had died. A more tolerant and intelligent generation occupied their places ; and the services of the Church were not only ac- cepted but even sought after in all directions.
Mr. Seabury, who evidently possessed a most vigorous constitution, endeavored to improve every opening : and the church records show that his ministrations were extended not only to all parts of Queen's County east of Jamaica and to Hunt- ington township in Suffolk, but also to many places in West- chester and even in Dutchess county. Having visited the lat- ter, in response to an appeal from residents there, and finding the people very eager for the services of the Church, he repeated his visits, and after a time, by the direction of the Venerable Society, formally took them under his pastoral care, although one might think he was already well burdened. Among the places in which official acts are recorded as having been done by him in that county mention is made of Poughkeepsie, Fish-
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
kill, Phillipsborough, Nine-Partners, Rumbout, Bateman's Pre- cinct and Crom-Elbow.
Mr. Seabury, like every minister of the Church in North America, became increasingly sensible of the evil and anomaly of the Church not being provided with a Bishop ; he felt con- strained to address a letter to the Bishop of London in 1753, urging that a Bishop be consecrated for the American Colonies. But the Church was hindered by politicians, and these cared not if three out of every ten candidates for ordination who sailed for England died either of small-pox or by shipwreck.
Faithful and unremitting in his labors as Mr. Seabury was, the people did not very generously support him, and therefore, in addition to his " care of all the churches," he was compelled to resort to teaching. He built a school house in the rear of the Parsonage, and boarded some of his pupils in his own house "at £30 per year, schooling, washing, and wood for school fire included." The school obtained much repute, and was at- tended by the children of many prominent families whose names have become historic.
Mr. Seabury had marked success in bringing persons to baptism. He reported on March 26th 1762, the baptism of eleven adults, who all appeared properly affected on the occa- sion. "One of them, particularly, Joseph Cheeseman, de- "clared publicly, that it was after considering most other pro- " fessions, and upon mature deliberation, he had determined to "make the solemn confession of his faith in the Church of "England; and accordingly, himself, his wife, and eight " children were baptized."
During the twenty-two years of Mr. Seabury's ministry in Hempstead, he baptized 1,071 persons. A number of
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
these are recorded to have been baptized "by immersion." He was, indeed, in the proper sense of the term "a Bap- tist." The parish records show that he remitted none of his labors to the very end of his life. He was constantly passing from point to point in his extended field of labor, seeking to win souls to Christ; and his utter forgetfulness of self cannot but have mitigated towards him the opposi- tion of which he had so often to make mention.
In the midst of his faithful endeavors his career was brought to a close. Having taken a voyage to England in June, 1763, probably to seek surgical aid, he returned in 1764, in the language of his wife "a sick-a dying man." In a newspaper of that day appeared the following notice of his death :- " Rev. Mr. Seabury died of a nervous disorder " and an imposthume in his side, June 15, 1764, aged 58 ; a gen- " tleman of amiable, exemplary character, greatly and generally " beloved and lamented."
His remains lie interred in St. George's churchyard, and the stone at the head of his grave has this inscription :-
Here lyeth interred the body of the REV. SAM'L SEABURY, A. M. Rector of the parish of Hempstead, Who with the greatest diligence And most indefatigable labour, For 13 years at New-London, And 21 years in this parish, Having discharged every duty Of his sacred functions ; Died the 15th of June A. D. 1764, Aet. 58. In gratitude to the memory of the best of husbands His disconsolate widow, Elizabeth Seabury, Hath placed this stone.
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
The foregoing account of the life and labors of the Rev. Samuel Seabury, the elder, is largely worded as given in the late Dr. Moore's History of St. George's Hempstead ; but is abridged and re-arranged, as events special to that parish stated there in order of their occurrence could here be omitted.
In order, however, that a fair impression may be given of * the mingled steadfastness and gentleness of Mr. Seabury's char- acter, as also of the circumstances attending the beginning of his labors here, one additional fact must be stated, or rather al- luded to, which is given more particularly in Dr. Moore's work, but which the present writer would willingly have passed over in entire silence if such silence had been consistent with justice.
Though prejudices against this Church still linger in many of our rural communities, and though misapprehensions as to her origin, her mind and ways are not uncommon, yet in our day her representatives receive as a rule nothing but kindness, and are accorded everywhere not only a free field but a wel- come. In Seabury's day it was different. To religious tolera- tion, as people understand it now, Dissenters or Non-conform- ists, as they were then called, ( and as they are still called, and call themselves, in England,) were no more inclined in reality than were Churchmen of the days of the Tudors and the Stuarts. The former conscientiously believed that they had the more scriptural system ; and they wanted " freedom to worship God " in that way. But they thought that others also should worship God in that same way ; and they had no notion of willingly al- lowing them to do anything else. The design of the Puritans and others was the settlement and maintenance here of a new and, as they thought, a better, ecclesiastical rule and system, purged of the taint of the old church; and therefore it is not
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
perhaps surprising that anything that threatened to interfere with that design was as far as possible resisted. Apparently Mr. Seabury was able even then to make this charitable allow- ance for the bitter words which were spoken, and even for the personal denunciations with which he was assailed. He rend- ered not "evil for evil or railing for railing," nor would he be drawn into acrimonious controversy. In calm and gentle terms he declared his purpose simply " to prosecute the com- mission and command " which he had received "to preach re- pentance aud remission of sins in the Master's Name."
We do not know anything as to the immediate effect of this answer, but its worthiness, so far at least as regards tone and temper, will cheerfully be acknowledged, doubtless, by all. And it is a fairly representative statement of the position throughout of the ministry to which Seabury belonged ; which regards itself, not as free to please itself or to conform itself to the demands of local public opinion as shaped by the influences and information of any particular time, but as being " under au- thority," with definite obligations and definite responsibilities. Its main and proper concern is simply to do the work of the Church to which it is responsible in her own quiet way.
SAMUEL SEABURY, son of the Missionary at Hempstead, was fourteen years of age at the time of his father's removal to Long Island-having been born in Groton, Conn., Nov. 30th, 1729. He was distinguished from his youth for soundness of mind and solidity of judgment; and gave early promise of future usefulness. When the elder Seabury extended his labors from Hempstead to Huntington, he requested the Missionary Society in England to appoint his son as Catechist and Reader. Such
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
was the modest commencement of a long series of services to the Church by the future Bishop of Connecticut. He had grad- uated at Yale College in 1748, was appointed to Huntington the same year, and, after serving for about three years under his father's direction, went to Edinburgh in 1751 to study medicine.
Yet, although the Episcopal Church in Scotland was in very "low estate," caution having to be used even in attend- ing her services, which appear to have been held in upper rooms of obscure houses, Mr. Seabury was soon moved to de- vote himself to the ministry, entered upon his preparatory studies with all vigor, and was ordained by Dr. Sherlock, Bishop of London, in 1753.
On his return to America, Mr. Seabury was appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel as Missionary at New Brunswick, N. J., where he began his labors on May 25th, 1754. The young clergyman was received with a hearty wel- come by the people, and the stone church, which he found nearly finished, was soon filled. Here he remained until Easter, 1757, when he received an appointment from the Governor of the Province of New York as minister of Grace church, Jamaica, in Queen's County, a pastorate which then included Newtown and Flushing. Here he was rector from 1757 to 1766. He had married on Oct. 12th, 1756, Mary, daughter of Edward Hicks. He had " the more readily removed to Jamaica as it "brought him nearer to a most excellent father whom he "dearly loved, and whose conversation he highly valued."*
The elder Seabury died on the 15th of June, 1764, while his son was rector at Jamaica. Shortly before, Mr. Ebenezer
*From History of the Church in Jamaica, by the late H. Onder- donk, Jr.
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
Kneeland, Catechist, had been transferred from Flushing to Huntington, but after about a year's service went to England for Orders, and on his return settled at Stratford, Conn., where he died in 1777. So that Huntington as well as Hempstead was vacant, and it is not unlikely that Mr. Seabury, who writes in 1765 that he has supplied the vacant church at Hempstead as often as he could, may also have re-visited Huntington.
On Dec. 3rd, 1766, Mr. Seabury, with consent of the Ven- erable Society to his removal from Jamaica, was instituted rec- tor of St. Peter's church, Westchester. In the following de- cade, the revolutionary troubles began, and Mr. Seabury, with conscientious firmness, held fast to his allegiance to the mother country. He had to endure, therefore, with some others of the clergy, much odium and suffering for a course of conduct which, whatever may be thought of it by others, they themselves be- lieved to be right. In 1776, he was seized and carried to New Haven, Conn., where he was cast into prison. But the suspic- ion under which he rested could not be satisfactorily established and he was finally dismissed, and returned to his parish. Sub- sequently, however, his church was converted into a hospital by the American soldiers, and he with difficulty made his es- cape to Long Island, supporting himself and his family, during the remainder of the war, by the practice of medicine in New York.
.
When the final issue declared America triumphant, the Church which had been bound to that of the old country by so many tender ties was left impoverished and almost desolate. But her clergy and laity who in the face of popular odium re- mained faithful, and who esteemed their heritage in her as too precious to be lost, soon girded themselves to meet the new
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
needs, and before the British troops, with reluctant steps, had left New York, the Episcopal clergy of Connecticut held a pri- vate meeting in the city, and elected the Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, D. D., as their choice to be Bishop of Connecticut. When he de- clined, on account of advancing years, the Rev. Samuel Sea- bury, D. D. was, on the 21st of April, 1783, unanimously chosen.
The story of the fruitless negotiations with the authorities of the Church of England, who were hampered by the delicate political situation, as also of the appeal, finally successful, to the Scottish Bishops, of Seabury's memorable consecration and his fruitful Episcopate, are matters of general church history. All that can here be stated is that he was consecrated on Nov. 14th, 1784, by Bishops Kilgour, Petrie, and Skinner ; and that, returning to America in 1785, he settled at New London, Connecticut, where he soon after entered upon the double duty of the Rectorship of St. James' Church in that place, and of the Episcopate of Connecticut.
The most active and useful life must have an end, and the summons to cease from earthly labors sometimes comes suddenly. It was so with Bishop Seabury. He had entered upon his six- ty-sixth year, but continued to discharge the duties of his par- ish and diocese with all the devotion and zeal of earlier days. On the 25th of February, 1796, however, after an evening spent at the house of a friend, on returning to the parsonage, he was suddenly seized with apoplexy and expired. The first resting place of his body was in the churchyard of St. James', New London, but upon the completion of the beautiful church there, his remains were removed and buried beneath the chan- cel. The inscription on the tomb is as follows :
Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
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The Rt. Rev. Father in God, SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D. First Bishop of Connecticut And of the Prot. Episc. Church in the U. S. Consecrated Aberdeen, Scotland, Nov. 1784 Died February 25th, 1796, aged 67. The Diocese of Connecticut recorded here its grateful memory of his virtues and services.
A. D. 1849.
The following is a part of the inscription upon the old mon- ument, which yet remains in the graveyard of St. James' Church :-
"Ingenuous without pride, learned without pedantry, "good without severity ; he was duly qualified to discharge " the duties of the Christian and the Bishop. In the pulpit he " enforced religion, in his conduct he exemplified it. The poor "he assisted with his charity, the ignorant he blessed with his "instruction. The friend of men, he ever devised their good ; "the enemy of vice, he ever opposed it. Christian, dost thou "aspire to happiness? Seabury has shown the way that leads " to it."-(Chiefly from the "Life of Bishop Seabury" by the Rev. John N. Norton.)
REV. JAMES GREATON, 1769 to 1773. Specially notable because he was the first rector or resident pastor ; because the parish when bereaved of him encountered trying times which deprived it of settled priestly functions for a period of fifty years ; and because his rectorship though brief, covering apparently, less than four years, was evidently happy and fruitful, his work re- ceiving the commendation of the Venerable Society, from which he held appointment as Missionary. Allusion to his earlier life
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
and ministry will be found in the Historical Note by the Rev. C. B. Ellsworth, page 72.
To those who at intervals ministered here as Missionaries during the fifty years following Mr. Greaton's rectorship, as also to the REV. EDWARD K. FOWLER, and the REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, serving in succession as Missionaries from 1823 to 1827, reference is made in the " Annals."
REV. ISAAC SHERWOOD Was rector at the time of the Incor- poration of the parish in 1838, resigned in 1843, when the parish voted to dispense with missionary aid. Continued in charge of the Church at Cold Spring Harbor until his death. "In the "church at that place is a neat mural tablet erected to his mem- "ory, a recognition of virtues and labors which deserve the "grateful remembrance of a Christian people."-(Rev. C. B. Ellsworth.)
REV. MOSES MARCUS. Resigned 1844. Became rector of St. George the Martyr, in New York. Died in England,
REV. CHAS. H. HALL, D. D. Made Deacon on the 12th Sunday after Trinity, 1844, at Tivoli on the Hudson. Tock charge here April 13th, 1845. Ordained to the Priesthood the same year. Left Huntington at Easter, 1847, for the Church of the Holy Innocents at Highland Falls, near West Point. Took charge of St. John's Church, John's Island, S. C., Nov. 27th, 1848. Rector of Church of the Epiphany, Washington, D. C,. from 1857 to 1869. Has been Rector of the church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, N. Y., since March Ist, 1869.
REV. C. DONALD MACLEOD. Resigned in 1848. After- wards became a Romanist. Date of death not known.
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
REV. FREDERICK WILLIAM SHELTON, L.L. D., was a native of Jamaica, L. I., his father being a Presbyterian Elder. Graduated at the College of New Jersey, and spent a year as teacher in the Episcopal school at Raleigh, N. C. Entered the Gen. Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1847. Was admitted to Deacon's Orders the same year. Became rector of this parish, resigning probably in 1850. Was subsequently rec- tor of Trinity Church, Fishkill, N. Y., and of Christ Church, Montpelier, Vermont. Honorary degree of L.L. D. conferred by Middlebury College, Vt.
The following works from his pen were published : The Trollopiad, a Satirical Poem, in 1837; The Gold Mania, and The Use and Abuse of Reason, Lectures, in 1850 ; Salander and the Dragon, a Romance, in 1851 ; The Rector of St. Bar- dolph's, a well known work, 1852, republished 1856; Up the River, 1853; Chrystalline, a Romance, 1854; Peeps from a Belfry, 1855. He was also a frequent contributor to the Knick- erbocker and other Magazines.
Dr. Shelton was an amiable, genial, lovable man ; a fine scholar ; his style was distinguished for its classic purity ; he delighted in the beauties of nature and of art, and was capable of appreciating them. He hated shams, and his satires were full of quiet scathing rebukes of mere pretension. As a pastor, he always won the love and respect of his people. He died at Carthage Landing, N. Y., June 20th, (year not named.)-(Ex- tracts from an Obituary Notice.)
.
REV. W. A. W. MAYBIN. Resigned in 1856. Became Rector of St. Paul's Church, Brooklyn, E. D. Died at Wil- mington, Del., July 18th, 1887, aged 62.
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Rectors of St. John's Church, Huntington, L. I.
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