Ecclesiastical records, state of New York, Volume I, Part 4

Author: New York (State). State Historian. cn; Hastings, Hugh, 1856-1916. cn; Corwin, Edward Tanjore, 1834-1914, ed. cn; Holden, James Austin, 1861-
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Albany, J. B. Lyon, state printer
Number of Pages: 812


USA > New York > Ecclesiastical records, state of New York, Volume I > Part 4


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On March 27, 1841, he received specific instructions from Gov- ernor Seward :- In these, reference was first made to the Act appointing an Agent and its design, and that the "Instructions " now given were only advisory. Reference was made to the benefit of possessing such documents; to the fact that there must be a great quantity of official material relating to America, in Holland, England and France; that copies of the Instructions to the Eng- lish Governors would be of great use, as well as those to the French Governors of Canada; indeed, that all papers in the Euro- pean Archives relating to New Netherland or New York should be secured. He was first to visit Holland, then England, then France, and to report to the Governor, and ask further advice.


Brodhead sailed on May 1, 1841. On February 1, 1845, he made an elaborate report to the Governor, Silas Wright, who transmitted it to the Legislature, the substance of which is as follows:


BRODHEAD'S REPORT.


Brodhead's report to the Governor first refers to the anti- quarian spirit which led to the formation of the Historical Society, and to his appointment; of his interviews with Mr. Steven- son, the American Minister in England; of the difficulties of


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INTRODUCTION.


obtaining access to the documents in England; and of the neces- sity of temporarily leaving England without success, and pro- ceeding to Holland.


In Holland he was cordially received, and through Mr. Bleecker, the American Chargé d'affaires, the King became interested, and secured him every facility to the Archives. Reference is then made to the riches of the Holland Archives, and their convenient arrangement, as well as the excellence of the indexing. He refers to the difficulties of the early chirography. He was greatly dis- appointed, however, to find that the Records of the West India . Company had been sold in 1821, for old paper. In Holland, he obtained about four thousand pages of transcripts.


In December, 1841, he returned to London. He now found Mr. Everett there as Minister of the United States, who had instructions from the President to apply to the British Govern- ment to secure facilities for Mr. Brodhead to make searches in the English Archives. Lord Aberdeen was Secretary of State. Upon Mr. Everett's stating the general object of Mr. Brodhead's mission, success finally crowned his efforts, April, 1842, yet not without embarrassments and delays.


Mr. Brodhead in his Report here gives an account of the super- vision of the State Paper Office from 1660 onward, and of the Records of the Board of Trade, which relate chiefly to the Ameri- can colonies. This "Board of Trade " was organized May 15, 1696, by William III, and was continued until 1782. Its Rec- ords make two thousand volumes. This Board had general charge of the Plantations, nominated the Governors for the Colonies, and reported on their respective administrations, upon the Colonial Acts, and examined the Instructions sent to them. Brodhead here describes the various sets of Records. He examined over five hundred volumes. He also describes his visits to the British Museum and other Libraries. He obtained in England about seventeen thousand pages of transcripts. The documents relat- ing to New York are only full and complete after 1696.


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INTRODUCTION.


He then describes his going to Paris, and the facilities secured to him through Mr. Cass, American Minister in France. The French Government, from the first, showed every courtesy that could be desired. He describes the French Archives in part. He there secured six thousand pages of transcripts.


He embarked for home on July 7, 1844. He states that he was obliged to limit his researches from lack of funds. He at once reported to the Governor, on his arrival, and spent the rest of the year in making a Calendar of the papers secured. He used the dates of the Historical Year, beginning January 1, rather than of the then English Legal Year, beginning March 25th, and also so as to avoid the confusion of Old and New Style.


He expended in all twelve thousand dollars, not to speak of considerable private expense incurred besides.


ACTION ON BRODHEAD'S REPORT.


This Report with the Governor's message was referred to a special Committee, who reported on May 5, 1845 :


They said, in substance :- A respect for the memorials of the past was a mark of advanced civilization. Savages and irrational animals care only for the present, and are indifferent to the past and the future. With the growth of intelligence there comes solicitude for the future; but it requires a still higher degree of progress to develop an interest in the past. The monuments of antiquity are passed by as rubbish, until an enlightened desire is awakened to understand the foundations of society, and the sources of national greatness. America was long reproached because she took no pains to preserve her ancient records. This was no longer true.


To remove this reproach, it was only necessary to show the char- acter of its early founders, whose Fatherland was a model of free- dom and prosperity. The Report then referred to the action of the Historical Society and to the Act of the Legislature appoint-


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INTRODUCTION.


ing an Agent to go to Europe to procure copies of all important documents; of the successive appropriations aggregating twelve thousand dollars; of the appointment of Brodhead, and of his efforts, with the voluminous results. Certain of the early inter- esting documents were referred to. It was recommended that the documents in foreign languages should be translated. The Report referred to the great lack of documents and even of any proper knowledge of New York before 1638, until these docu- ments were brought over. A letter of Bancroft was also referred to, expressing his deep sense of their importance.


FURTHER ACTION ON THE BRODHEAD DOCUMENTS. 1


The Brodhead documents remained for several years in the condition in which they were, when deposited in the Secretary's office. They were subsequently removed to the new State Hall at Albany. Secretary Morgan then had all the other records arranged and bound, making two hundred large folio volumes. It was now suggested that a general Calendar of the entire Archives should be made.


In 1848 an Act was passed for translating certain of these Dutch and French documents. This was done by Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, and on January 5, 1849, these were ordered to be printed. In April, 1850, a second volume of Documentary History was printed, containing some of the Brodhead documents. On March 30, 1849, another Act was passed to provide for the further publication of Colonial Documents.


It was finally determined to print all the documents, and Dr. O'Callaghan was appointed General Manager. In Assembly Document 66 (1851), and Senate Document 24 (1853), and the annual reports of the Comptroller, may be found detailed state- ments of the progress of this work. The publication was to consist of ten quarto volumes. Volumes 1 and 2 were to be Hol- land Documents ; volumes 3 to 8, London Documents ; and volumes


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9 and 10, Paris Documents. Volume 3 was first issued. This was in 1853, and the others rapidly appeared.


THE USEFULNESS OF THESE DOCUMENTS.


Accurate histories of the Empire State in part or in whole, have greatly multiplied since the State has possessed this material. We need only refer to O'Callaghan's History of New Netherland, coming down to 1664; Brodhead's History of New York, coming down to 1691. Mr. Brodhead died in 1873. We need not speak of many others. Scores also of local histories have been written, drawing chiefly, or largely, from this material. Histories also of Religious Denominations and of individual churches have multi- plied : as Perry's History of the Episcopal Church; Shea's History of the Catholic Church; Corwin's Manual of the Reformed Church ; Briggs' History of Presbyterianism, and many others ; be- sides the thirteen volumes of the American Church History Series, embracing all denominations. Almost every one of these histories resorted to this great storehouse of facts - the Documentary His- tory and Colonial Documents - furnished by the State of New York, for much of their material.


The further history of the procurement of Ecclesiastical Docu- ments by Mr. Brodhead in 1841-4, and of the subsequent addi- tions to the same, may perhaps be best given by extracts from a Report made by the writer, who recently spent fifteen months in Holland on a similar business :


When Mr. Brodhead started on his mission, the Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt, one of the pastors of the Collegiate Church of New York, requested him to seek access also to some of the Eccle- siastical Archives in Holland, (See Brodhead's Address, 1844, p. 8,) to ascertain whether there was not material to be found therein which would throw light on the early history of the churches of New York and New Jersey. This request was in


12


INTRODUCTION.


perfect harmony with his main enterprise, and he cheerfully consented. His letter, making application to the ecclesiastical authorities in Holland, in 1841, for permission to search their Archives, was found by the writer in his recent researches, as well as several letters of Rev. Thomas De Witt bearing on the same subject. Mr. Brodhead's application begins as follows:


" The undersigned, commissioned by the Governor of the State of New York, as Agent, for the purpose of procuring in Holland, England and France, documents illustrating the early history of the State, begs leave to submit a few observations to your Rev. body ". He then briefly refers to the early planting of the in their (Holland) Archives for the elucidation of the social and religious history of the State. He adds: "The Revolutionary War was no doubt the cause why so many of our precious records and memorials, which were deposited with the different churches and ministers, are not now to be found. Great exertions have been made, and are now making, to recover what- ever is possible of these papers. . Unless the requisite material can be procured, it is obvious that we can never hope to have a full and perfect history of our church written, which is now an object of such great interest. The documents and papers in the Archives of the Classis " (of Amsterdam) " relat- ing to the churches in New Netherland are of the high-


est importance to the historian in New York. . They would furnish a rich treasure from whence to draw materials for the contemplated history and would perpetuate the remembrance of former times, and of the gratitude due to our ancestors of the Fatherland. ".


" Submitting most respectfully these observations to the Rev. Classis,


The undersigned has the honor to be, Reverend Gentlemen, Your obedient servant,


Amsterdam,


J. Romeyn Brodhead." .


6th Sept. 1841.


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INTRODUCTION.


His request was cheerfully granted. Mr. Brodhead, however, could not make these particular searches himself, but he employed Mr. Prins, then Stated Clerk of the Classis of Amsterdam, and a Mr. Vander Broek, an elder of the church there, and who had also been the United States Consul in Amsterdam, to make these searches for him. They did not, however, make their investigations exhaustive.


They examined FIRST, as the Documents then obtained, show, the seven volumes of the Correspondence, in which the letters of the Classis of Amsterdam to their Colonial Churches in all quarters of the world, were recorded. Transcripts were made from these volumes, of much of the material relating to America, amounting to about nine hundred pages.


In the SECOND PLACE, the parties employed to make these searches, sought out the letters sent from America to the Classis. For while the Classis kept copies of the letters which they sent to the churches abroad, the letters from the Foreign Churches to the Classis, were kept on file. At the time of Mr. Brodhead's visit, (1841), they were stored away in bundles, according to some method of classification, not now exactly understood. Out. of hundreds of such bundles, only seven were then found relating to America. Five of these bundles related to the Dutch Churches of New York and New Jersey, and two of them to the German Churches in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. These seven bundles were placed in Mr. Brodhead's hands as a loan to the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church in America, for the term of four years, 1842-46. It was supposed at the time, that these embraced all the letters, which had been written in America, and sent to the Classis. At the end of the four years, upon the earnest and repeated request of Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt, the ownership of these original letters was transferred ab- solutely to the General Synod of the Dutch Church in America.


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INTRODUCTION.


TRANSLATION OF THE BRODHEAD ECCLESIASTICAL MATERIAL.


Now most of this Correspondence then obtained,- both that of the Classis to America, and that of the American Churches to the Classis - was translated about 1875, under the auspices of the Synod's Committee for the selection of books for the Sage Library (in New Brunswick, N. J.)1 This work was done by students of Dutch descent, then in the Theological Seminary at New Bruns- wick, N. J. But these translations did not always prove to be in the best English idiom. They have, therefore, been revised by the writer, as opportunity permitted during the intervening years. This material which was secured by Mr. Brodhead, approximates to a couple of thousand pages and was largely utilized2 by the writer in his Article on " The Church in the Colonial Period ", in the volume known as " The Centennial Discourses," 1876 ; and also in the Third Edition of his " Manual of the Reformed Church in America, 1879."


CALENDAR OF THE BRODHEAD ECCLESIASTICAL MATERIAL.


But while engaged in the preparation of the works just alluded to, the writer gradually made for his own use a " Calendar " in Chronological order, of all the ecclesiastical material obtained by Brodhead, as well as of other similar material in the possession of the Synod. He also included in this Calendar the titles of other


1 This Committee consisted of the Faculty of the New Brunswick Seminary - Rev. Drs. S. M. Woodbridge, John De Witt, David Demarest, Abraham B. Van Zandt, together with a Committee of co-operation - Rev. Drs. Talbot W. Chambers, Chester D. Hartranft and Edward T. Corwin. In 1878 Dr. Hartranft removed to Hartford, Ct., and Rev. Dr. Jacob Cooper, of Rutgers College, was appointed in his place. Meetings were held monthly for ten years, 1875-85, and books amounting to sixty thousand dollars were added to the Sage Library. This Library contains the best collection on Holland, civil and ecclesiastical, in America.


2 Broadhead in his history of New York, which unfortunately only extends down to 1691, constantly quotes from these letters. A third volume of his History of New York, 1691-1705, was almost ready for the press in 1873, when he died. Could not this portion of his papers yet be recovered and edited? They cover a very important period, 1691-1705, in the history of New York. O'Callaghan also quotes from these same documents.


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INTRODUCTION.


documents, incidentally alluded to, in the documents already pos- sessed.3


As he proceeded in this work, it became increasingly evident that hardly half the Holland documents, which were certainly once in existence, were now in the possession of the Church in this country. This fact was confirmed by Rev. R. Randall Hoes, a chaplain in the Navy, and a devoted student of Colonial Church History, who visited Holland in 1885, and spent a month in the Church Archives. He found two portfolios containing more than three hundred documents written in America, mostly additional to those obtained by Brodhead. He also noticed that the Minutes of the various ecclesiastical bodies - those of the Classis and of the Deputies - had not been examined in 1841, at least to any great extent. He reported these facts to the General Synod of 1887, and that Body, understanding that Rev. E. T. Corwin was about to visit Holland for his health, authorized him to negotiate for the additional material. (See Minutes of General Synod, 1887, pages 440-2.) He could not secure a meeting of the Classis, as the minis- ters, with two exceptions, were out of Amsterdam on their vaca- tion; but he obtained access to the Archives, and he was abun- dantly confirmed in the belief that there was a large quantity of additional material. He, therefore, addressed a communication to the Classis, explaining the wish of the Synod; referring to the material before obtained in 1841, and of the loan and ultimate gift of the letters from America to the Synod; and of the desire of the Synod to translate and print all the documents relating to America, when the collection was complete. This communication was translated into Dutch and fifty copies printed for distribu- tion among members of the Classis. The Classis in due time replied, expressing their joy at the interest manifested in these historical studies in America, and their willingness to facilitate


* This Calendar was also made ultimately to include references to most of the similar material, both civil and ecclesiastical, relating to all phases of our colonial church history, of all denominations.


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INTRODUCTION.


them in any way in their power; but they could not comply with the Synod's request. They could not loan documents, and could not even consider the matter of selling them, as they be- longed to the " Universitas."


RESEARCHES BY DR. CORWIN, 1897-8 .- PREPARATORY AND GENERAL.


The above facts were duly reported to the Synod of 1888 (pages 685-6), but the matter remained in abeyance for several years. In 1895, however, Rev. Dr. T. W. Chambers requested the writer to furnish a copy of his Calendar of these ecclesiastical documents obtained by Brodhead, for the Library of the Collegiate Church, that renewed efforts might be initiated by that Church to secure the additional material. The Calendar would show what documents were already on hand, and avoid duplication in the new efforts. His request was complied with, but before the copy was delivered, Dr. Chambers died. Correspondence now sprung up among the remaining members of the Committee (Revs. D. D. Demarest, E. T. Corwin and R. R. Hoes), on this subject, and interest in it was revived. This led to the calling of a meet- ing of a number of gentlemen on June 1, 1896, to consider the whole matter. This inaugurated a new enterprise for the procur- ing of this material. Meantime Rev. Dr. Samuel M. Jackson of New York, Secretary of the American Church History Society, hearing of this movement, requested the writer to prepare a Paper, to be read before the Society in December, 1896 on " THE AM- STERDAM CORRESPONDENCE." This was done. The Paper was printed in the proceedings of the Society, and five hun- dred copies separately, for private circulation. A report of the Committee had also been made, to the Synod of 1896 (pages 499, 500,) which renewed the Synod's interest in the matter; and circulars were issued about the same time, asking for one hundred dollar subscriptions, or, lesser amounts, to raise five thousand


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INTRODUCTION.


dollars to carry the enterprise of securing those documents to success. 4


Financial arrangements having been partially made by the Com- mittee having the business in charge, the writer left New York on August 21, 1897, and was safely located in Amsterdam on the first day of September. Every facility that could be desired was soon accorded him by the Classis of Amsterdam, which received him most courteously. They gave him the use of their large ministerial chamber in the Consistory Building, erected in one of the angles of the New Church in Amsterdam, except when it was wanted for other purposes. Not only here did he have most excellent accommodations, in a large, well-lighted, airy-room, with extensive tables; but they also granted him as the representa- tive of the American Reformed Dutch Church, whose credentials he carried, free and unrestricted access to the rich Archives of the Classis. He remained in Amsterdam for nine months, occupied daily, with few exceptions, in the duties undertaken. The Synod of North Holland, whose Archives are in the same apartments as- those of the Classis, granted him similar privileges. In the early part of June he removed to the Hague, where equal facilities were accorded him in the Archives of the General Synod, which are there located. Here he remained for five months in similar occu- pation, except a visit to Great Britain in the month of August.


^ The pamphlet above alluded to, "The Amsterdam Correspondence," gives a pretty full history of the whole enterprise down to date. The Circulars issued add some information, as well as the Reports to the General Synod, 1896, pages 499, 500; 1897, pages 774-6; 1898, pages 250-2; 1899, pages 572-4. There were also not a few Articles on the subject, about that time in the Christian Intelligencer; e. g. on April 1, 1896; Sept. 29, 1897; Nov. 17, 1897; Jan. 5, 1898; Feb. 23, 1898; May 25, 1898; July, 1898; together with numerous other Articles by Drs. Suydam, Van Pelt. Good; as well as Editorials on the Subject.


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INTRODUCTION.


THE MINUTES OF THE (OLD) CLASSIS OF AMSTERDAM.


The Acts of the (Old) Classis are contained in eighteen large volumes, and extend from 1582-1816, as follows:


Vol. 1 from 1582-1605.


Vol. 10 from 1715-1730.


2 1606-1620.


1.730-1741.


66


3 1620-1631.


11 12 1741-1754.


4 66 1631-1645. 66


13 1754-1764.


66 5 1646-1656. 1656-1670.


14


1764-1774.


1775-1790.


6 7 66 1671-1686.


66


15 16 1790-1805.


8


1686-1701.


17


1805-1808.


9


66 1701-1715.


66


18


1809-1816.


Vol. 19, Extracts from Vols. 6-9 from 1655-1705.


They were generally very closely written, one of their pages making three or four of modern foolscap, when transcribed. Un- til about 1700, they were written in the old Gothic chirography, a peculiar script, unlike either the German or Latin script.


The writer did not think it necessary to examine Volumes 1 and 2, as they antedated the settlement of New York, but Vol- umes 3 to 185 were carefully examined, page by page, with the one object in view of securing everything relating to New York and New Jersey. References were kept to every item of this kind, and transcripts secured, amounting to three hundred and eighty-two pages. These Extracts the writer had bound in two volumes with dates and appropriate titles. They cover a period of one hundred and seventy-eight years from 1632, the date of the examination of Domine Everardus Bogardus, until 1810, when the last lament is recorded, " No news from New York and New Jer-


5 Vol. 19, consisting of Extracts relating to the Foreign churches, taken from Vols. 6 to 9, (1655-1705), was also carefully examined. Having been made later in another chirography, and no doubt for the convenience of the Deputies, it was often of great service when the Gothic chirography was very difficult to read.


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INTRODUCTION.


sey." It is believed that everything in the Minutes of the Classis, relating to the American Dutch Churches, will be found in these transcripts.


THE MINUTES OF THE DEPUTATI AD RES EXTERAS.


The Minutes of the "Deputies of the Classis on Foreign Affairs," consists of six folio volumes, running, as numbered, from twenty to twenty five, and cover a period of one hundred and sixty six years, or from 1639-1804, as follows :


Vol. 20 from 1639-1663.


21


1663-1720.


22 66 1721-1744.


23 66 1744-1751-1756.6


24 1751-1781.


25 1781-1804.


These Deputies were a sort of Permanent Executive Committee of Classis, having special charge of the Colonial Churches in all parts of the world. They corresponded not only with the Ameri- can Dutch and German churches, but with those in the West Indies, Guiana and Brazil; with those in Guiana and the Cape of Good Hope; with those in Hindustan, Ceylon, Borneo, Java, For- mosa and other islands of the Pacific, as well as with Japan; and with individual churches in several cities of the Russian and Turkish Empires, and other parts of Europe. They provided ministers and Comforters of the Sick for these churches or locali- ties; made various arrangements, financial and otherwise, in their behalf, with the Great Commercial Companies doing business with these lands; endeavored to settle difficulties which arose; gave advice, kept Minutes of their proceedings, recorded their


6 Vol. 23 carries on the Minutes from 1744-1751, when they are continued in Vol. 24. But the Extracts from Foreign letters found in all these Minutes, are con- tinued in Vol. 23, down to 1758; and these are then further continued in Vols. 33 and 34. Vols. 24 and 25 are supposed to contain " Minutes " only; but some letters have slipped in.


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INTRODUCTION.


letters, filed those received from abroad, made Extracts of the same for the information of the Classis, and reported monthly or oftener thereon. In writing to the churches abroad, they acted under general or specific instructions in each case. Their Minutes exhibited the same multitudinous variety of subjects as those of the Classis, and until about 1700 the same peculiar Gothic chirography. The writing is extremely compact, yet perfectly clear, although difficult to read.




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