USA > New York > Nassau County > Hempstead > History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 13
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After a brief consideration, the consent of the Vestry was given to the request, and a committee from that body appointed to collect the funds neces- sary, which were to be expended through their treasurer. But on further consideration of the subject, this plan was abandoned and the matter was left entirely in the hands of the promoters of the enterprise. These gentlemen promptly solicited the funds necessary for building, and met with liberal re- sponses. The application for leave to build was made and granted in June, and by December, the sum of $3,725 had been obtained by the subscription of 173 persons-an average of over twenty dollars for each subscriber. Nearly all the subscribers re- sided in the neighborhood of what is now called Manhasset ; but particularly the territory formerly called Cow-Neck, lying between Hempstead Harbor Bay on the east, and Manhasset or Cow Bay on the west. To the amount raised by private subscriptions, Trinity Church, New York, generously added a dona- tion of $2,000. From the sum thus obtained, a lot of
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land of two acres and ninety-seven square rods was purchased of George Onderdonk, and Sarah his wife, for $195.47, and the building was begun. The ladies of the congregation, entering into the spirit of the matter, undertook a measure at that time unusual if not altogether unprecedented, of raising among themselves the money for the necessary furniture of the church.
The church was consecrated by the name of Christ Church, on Sunday, Nov. 20, 1803, by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, D. D., who also, at the same time, confirmed fifty persons. The rector of the parish, the Rev. Seth Hart, read the service, and Bishop Moore preached. In 1808 Mr. Adam Empie-a candidate for Holy Orders, was licensed a lay-reader by Bishop Moore, and officiated as an assistant to Mr. Hart, principally at Christ Church. Being or- dained Deacon in 1809, the Rev. Mr. Empie was; made assistant minister to Mr. Hart, in which position he continued until 1812, when he removed to North Carolina .* He was afterwards Chaplain at West Point-returned again to the South, became Rector of St. James' Church, Richmond, Virginia, President of William and Mary's College in 1829, and died 1860.
To him succeeded the Rev. Birdsey G. Noble, who officiated there about a year. From 1814 the Rev. Eli Wheeler occasionally officiated in Christ Church. In 1818 Christ Church Academy was erected by the Vestry on the church grounds, and then the Rev. Mr. Wheeler, in a letter to the Rector, Church
* Jour. N. Y. Conven., 1812.
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Wardens and Vestry of St. George's Church, Hemp- stead, accepted the appointment of assistant minister, and also took the office of principal of the Academy. In this capacity, as well as the minister of the church, after it became a separate corporation, he continued till Nov. 1, 1823. He had as assistants in his Acad- emy,* James P. Cotter, William Shelton-afterwards Rev. Dr. Shelton, more than fifty years Rector of St. Paul's, Buffalo,-and Harry Finch, candidates for Orders. The Rev. James P. F. Clark succeeded the Rev. Eli Wheeler as minister of Christ Church and as principal of the Academy, in 1823, and continued till June, 1832, when he resigned. Mr. Clark had among his assistants in conducting the academy, William J. Barry, Frederick Craft, Henry Onder- donk, Jr., and the Rev. William Ernenpeutch. The Rev. Mr. Clark was recalled in 1837 and continued in charge till Oct. 17, 1849.
Through the employment of an assistant minister for North Hempstead, it was possible to have services in Christ Church every Sunday, the Rev. Mr. Hart, the Rector, officiating there alternately with the assistant. After a time it was felt that the condition of Christ Church would warrant its separate and in- dependent existence, and the proper steps were taken, agreeable to act of assembly of April 5, 1813, to effect this purpose, of which the following account is given in the Parish Records :
"At a meeting of the congregation of Christ Church, North Hempstead, held pursuant to public notice, in Christ Church Academy, on Monday, 29th
* Notes of Henry Onderdonk, Jr.
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March, 1819, for the purpose of incorporating said church, Wynant Vanzandt was appointed Chairman, and David Kissam Secretary.
" On motion made and seconded, It was unan- imously resolved, that this meeting now proceed to organize said church by appointing the Wardens and eight Vestrymen.
" Resolved, That Messrs. George Hewlett and John Kissam be appointed Wardens.
" Resolved, That Wm. Mitchell, Benj'n Hewlett, Daniel Kissam, Benjamin Platt, John Sands, Daniel Cornell, Benjamin Treadwell, jr., and Lewis S. Hew- lett be appointed Vestrymen.
" Resolved, That the next election for officers shall take place on Monday of Easter week.
" Resolved, That the style and title of this church shall be Christ Church.
WYNANT VAN ZANDT, Chairman.
Subscribing witnesses,
John Thorne, jr., William Hewlett, Stephen Sell.
Benjamin Tredwell,
" Qucens County, [ss.] - On the 29th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, came personally before me, Singleton Mitchell, one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for said County, Wynant Van Zandt, Benjamin Tredwell and Stephen Sell, persons well known to me to be the same as herein mentioned, and acknowledged severally that they signed, sealed and delivered the within instrument for the purposes therein mentioned, and do therefore allow it to be re- corded.
" SINGLETON MITCHELL.
" Queens County, Clerk's Office, Jamaica, April 15th, 1819 .- Recorded the within proceedings and
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the certificate of acknowledgment, in Lib. 2 of Deeds, page 128-129.
EDWARD PARKER, Dep'y Clerk."
" Resolved, By the Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church, North Hempstead, that their Treasurer, Mr. Stephen Sell, be authorized to receive from the Ves- try of St. George's Church, Hempstead, the Legacy of £100 left by Whitehead Daniel Hewlett for the benefit of said Christ Church.
" Fune 19th, 1819,
" John Kissam, Wardens. Wynant Van Zandt, Daniel Kissam, Secretary."
Thus Christ Church, Manhasset, entered upon its independent career, and its history since has vindicat- ed the opinion entertained and urged at the time that the friendly dissolution would tend to extend the influ- ence and blessings of the Church. Christ Church was the first offshoot of the old Parish-since then Rock- away and Glen-Cove and Roslyn, and South Oyster Bay have taken the same step. with the same gratify- ing results .* There were other parts of the southern boundaries of the parish, where a tabernacle might have been set up to grow into a temple, if there had but been zeal and a self-sacrificing spirit. Others have profited by our neglect and covered the ground with their places of worship.
To complete the record of the parish, once part of St. George's. After the Rev. Mr. Clarke's first resig- nation, in 1832, the Rev. Joseph F. Phillips, a deacon, was called in August, 1833, and ordained Priest in that
* The parish of Oyster Bay has a history of its own, see p. 176.
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church by Bishop Onderdonk, in October of that year. To him, Nov. 30th, 1835, succeeded the Rev. Moses Marcus, who left in 1837, and the Rev. J. P. F. Clarke was recalled and remained till Oct. 17, 1849. The Rev. Samuel Cox became Rector in 1849; the Rev. George W. Porter, 1854; Rev. George F. Bugbee in 1865, and the Rev. James E. Homans in. 1869.
Up to 1805, the financial statements of St. George's. parish had been made in f. s. & d .- from that date they were made in federal currency.
In 1801 the Rev. Mr. Hart began recording the burials at which he officiated. Previous to that date record was made only of baptisms and marriages. It is not easy to account for this, because the early Rectors were law-abiding men, and yet the 70th. Canon of the Church of England enjoins that in every parish a book shall be provided at the charge of the parish-" wherein shall be written the Day and Year of every Christening, Wedding, and Burial."
In May, 1807, The Vestry*
" Resolved, That a certain neck of meadow land, being part of the South Parsonage, formed by the bending of the creek a little below the net-house, so called, containing about one acre, more or less, now cut off by a canal dug last year by Messrs. Isaac and Abraham Snedeker, be sold to the said Isaac and Abraham for the consideration of fifty dollars-and that $25 of the same be appropriated by the Rector for the improvement of the other church lands."
In 1817, Capt. Stephen Hewlett bequeathed one
* Records, p. 182.
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hundred pounds to the Rector, Wardens and Vestry- men of St. George's Church, Hempstead, in their cor- porate capacity, to be by them put into the commu- nion fund for charitable uses, the interest to be used by the Rector at his discretion for the relief of the poor.
May 23d, 1820,* the Vestry authorized the Rector to invest this sum, together with any other moneys be- longing to the sacrament fund, in the Hempstead Turnpike stock. Fifteen shares, at $24 a share, were thus purchased, and still remain the property of the corporation, though of late years,-and especially since the advent of rail roads, they have not been very productive.
NEW CHURCH.
In February, 1822, the dilapidated condition of the church received the consideration of the Vestry, and it was
" Resolved, That it is thought necessary and expe- dient either thoroughly to repair the old church, or to build a new one as soon as possible."
The church built in 1734 had then stood 88 years.
A Committee, consisting of Samuel Wood, Stephen Hewlett, John Lefferts, Stephen Wood, and William Rhodes, was appointed to examine the old building, and report whether it would admit of being repaired with advantage. The Rector and Mr. Stephen Carman were appointed another committee to ascertain what it would probably cost to build a new church, and to ascertain if Trinity Church, New York, would give a donation for that purpose.
* Records, p. 205.
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St George's Church.
The reports of these committees were not recorded, but the tenor of them is manifest by the action of the Vestry, April 30th, 1822; when it was resolved, that although Trinity Church had declined to give aid to rebuild a church, yet as the sum of $1500 had been obtained in New York and Brooklyn by private sub- scriptions, and $3000 more had been subscribed by members of the parish and friends of the church in the vicinity,- the erection of a new church building should be proceeded with without delay.
The following persons were appointed a building Committee : Samuel Wood, John Lefferts, William Rhodes, Gideon Nichols and Thomas W. Weeks.
The site for the new building, it was determined, should not be that which was occupied by the old one, and it was finally ordered that it should be "about four rods east of the old one, with about two- thirds of its length on ground to be had of David Bedell."
And it was also determined, whether by the Vestry or the Building Committee is not now known, that the new church should face to the south, whereas the old one faced to the west, and the chancel was at the east end, after the ancient custom.
Here may be introduced from the Parish Records what on page 211 is termed,
" MEMORANDA."
"In May, 1822, began framing the new church, Mr. Wm. Rhodes head carpenter.
" Fuly 4 .- Began laying the foundation, Mr. Shep- herd Lewis chief mason.
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Rev. Seth Hart.
"Aug .- Began to raise and finish on the * without any misfortune attending the work. Carpen- ters proceeded immediately in covering, &c., and by beginning of winter it was finished outwardly and the lower floor laid.
" March 24, 1823 .- Carpenters began work again, putting in the window sashes, which had been made by Mr. Henry Covert.
" April 3 .- Pulled down the steeple of the old church. Carpenters' wages last year were one dol- lar per day, and six cents in place of spirits, they boarding themselves."
Services were held meanwhile in the Presbyterian church, the use of which had been granted at the request of the Vestry, one Sunday for morning ser- vice, and the next for evening or afternoon service, alternately.
The land on which to place the church was bought of Mr. David Bedell, for the sum of fifteen dollars. His receipt in full is dated June 15, 1824.
The old building was found, when taken down, to have been stoutly framed, but indifferently covered ; and the steeple, whose rocking and swaying in storms had for some time excited apprehension, resisted for a long time the exertions made to overthrow it. The spindle and vane were first carefully removed, and in due time transferred to their present position on the new steeple.
The new building was constructed in its general plan after one near Mr. Hart's former parish in Connec- ticut. Remembering how little was known at that
* Omission in original.
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time of ecclesiastical architecture, one may be glad it is so little misshapen. The frame of the building is of large hewn oak timber. The construction of the roof frame is peculiar. The galleries are supported by pillars, each of which is one stick of oak, fourteen inches square and about thirty feet long, reaching from the foundation to the rafters, into which they are solidly framed. To shape these huge sticks into their present form, a ponderous lathe was built, on which they were turned.
It is a remarkable and praiseworthy fact, that when the building was finished, the whole amount of defi- ciency in the building fund was found to be but $250 .*
All things being now ready, the church was con- secrated on the 19th of September, 1823, by the Rt. Rev. John H. Hobart, D.D., and the act was thus duly noted in his Address to the next Convention of the Diocese :
"On Friday, September 19, 1823, I consecrated St. George's Church, Hempstead. This building has been erected near the site of the former church, which was built about eighty years ago, and the decayed state of which rendered it necessary to take it down. The present church is of larger dimensions than the former, very neat in its style, and commodious in its arrangements, and reflects great credit on Mr. Hart, the rector, and the parish, by whose exertions and liberality its erection has been accomplished."
On the Sunday after the consecration, the Rector, the Rev. Mr. Hart, preached from the text, Genesis 18, part of the 17th verse: " How dreadful is this
* Parish Records, p. 216.
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place ! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
In the course of the sermon he thus speaks of the particular matter which had suggested the text:
" As it was in the heart of David to build an house unto the Lord, so it was in your hearts to rebuild the temple which your fathers erected almost a century ago, and which was crumbling to ruins through the perishable nature of material things and the unavoid- able waste of time. And as the Lord said unto David, ' Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart ;' so it may be said of you, my brethren ; you did well that it was in your hearts to rebuild your church. The design was praiseworthy, and well pleasing in the sight of God. And although David was not permit- ted to execute his design, yet you have been more fa- vored. And as Solomon his son was blessed with wisdom from above, and strengthened to the work, until he saw the temple in Jerusalem in a finished state of strength and beauty, and had dedicated it unto the Lord; so have you, my brethren, been blessed with wisdom to persevere in the noble work, and been strengthened by the spirit of zeal for God's glory, and of union in your exertions, until you have seen this new building finished in all its essential parts, firm on its foundations, strong and durable in its structure and materials, and beautiful in its form and proportions, and in the simplicity of its most orna- mental workmanship. And you have beheld it con- secrated and set apart, in a solemn manner, for the worship of God, and separated from all unhallowed, worldly and common uses, in order that our minds. might be filled with greater reverence for His glorious. majesty, and our hearts be affected with more devo- tion and humility in His service.
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"My brethren, you have thus far repaired the waste places of our Zion, and in planning and project- ing the work, have discovered such zeal for the Church and such harmony of feeling and conduct, as is highly creditable to you, as men and as Christians. But if you would reap the rewards of well-doing in the sight of God, you must go on and do more. Rest not satisfied with having erected this superb building, as a monument of your liberality, your pride and ambition ; or of your concern for your own ac- commodation and convenience ; but by your uniform attendance on the public worship of God within these consecrated walls, and by your humble deportment, and serious attention to the solemn services of the sanctuary, the offering up of prayers and praises, and the ministration and reception of the word and sacra- ments, give evidence that you have not been actua- ted by worldly motives, but by pious zeal for the cause of your Redeemer. It will be your bounden duty at all times, to see that nothing be wanting to maintain and support the honor and respectability of His Church; to impart, from time to time, of the worldly substance which God may give you, what may be necessary to the decent and orderly services of His house, and the regular ministration of His Word and sacraments. Consider that, if favored with abundance of this world's goods, or even a competent supply of worldly comforts, it is all the gift of God. And while duly mindful of the curse pronounced by God against the Jews, in the third chapter of Malachi, for robbing Him in tithes and offerings; that is, for neglecting to contribute their due proportion for re- ligious purposes ;- be encouraged to perseverance in your united and individual exertions for the welfare and respectability of the Church of Christ on earth, by a hope of obtaining for yourselves that blessing which God promised to the Jews, if they would do
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Rev. Seth Hart.
their duty : 'Bring ye all the tithes into the store- house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.'"
After a very earnest . and faithful admonition against formality in worship, a craving after novel modes of presenting the old truths of the Gospel, a yielding to itching ears and wandering in strange pastures, and the allowance of envy, malice and all secret sins, as rendering forms of devotion really offensive to God, and harmful to man, and other practical suggestions, faithful and well put, Mr. Hart proceeds :
" That venerable Church, which after having stood for eighty-nine years, has at length disappeared, and given place to this new edifice, can surely not be soon forgotten. By those of you who, at her altar, were dedicated to God in the sacramental rite of baptism ; who, from her pulpit received the milk of the word, and were made to grow thereby in Chris- tian knowledge, and the stature of Christian holiness ; who, at her Holy Table, were fed with the spiritual manna, the consecrated emblems of the body and blood of our Redeemer; who, from your earliest years, were accustomed to assemble for your de- votions within her walls, as children of the same parentage, embraced in the arms of a dear Mother, and thus nurtured in her bosom ;- to you, my dear brethren, it must surely be a subject of interesting reflection and tender emotions, that after having long beheld her, tottering with age, you have at length seen her decayed fabric demolished, and levelled with the ground-a lively and affecting
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picture of human life and human frailty. To some of you I can look as to fathers and mothers in Is- rael; to many others, as to sisters and brothers: but after almost twenty-three years of my ministration in this place, and at the age of more than three-score years, I can address myself to much the greatest portion of professing Christians, or those who have been Christianized by baptism, in the congregation, as 'dear children in the Lord.' My heart is full even to overflowing ; and I want but words appro- priate to the subject, and to this interesting occasion, and time and strength to utter them, and I should perhaps weary your patience by a prolonged attempt to express the varied emotions which almost over- whelm my soul. But I must close for this time with a single observation. I have labored long in this part of the Lord's vineyard ; I have realized my own unworthiness, and the imperfection and inefficacy of my ministrations ; and I have seen the time when my heart sunk within me, with the fearful prospect that the venerable church of your fathers would go to decay, and there would be none to raise her up again. But I have lived to see the scene reversed. I have had the consolation of seeing that it was in your hearts, and have been permitted to aid and assist in your united exertions, to repair the waste places, and to rebuild the walls that were decayed and broken down ; and we have been blessed of God with strength and perseverance in our pious labors, until we now find our work so far completed, that we may again unite in celebrating His praise, and commemorating our Saviour's love, within this finished temple, and around this sacred altar: and praised be the God of our salvation."
It was a day of just rejoicing to Mr. Hart. But for him, humanly speaking, the church would not
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have been built. Others had counselled it, urged it,
but he acted. With inflexible purpose and indomi- table perseverance, he solicited the funds for the building, or as an old friend of his once said to the writer, " Mr. Hart tramped the city day and night, and scoured the whole country, and beset every man or woman who professed to love Christ and His Church-to give to Christ's cause for Christ's sake." The church is his monument.
To the sermon from which I have quoted, and which was printed by T. & J. Swords, No. 99 Pearl Street, New York, 1823, there is prefixed " A Short Historical Sketch of the most important events, rela- tive to the said Church for a century past." The " Historical Sketch " is given in a single page, and of course is very restricted in its matter. It states that the new church cost upwards of five thousand dollars, its length sixty-four feet, and breadth forty-two, with a vestry-room in the rear, and a steeple in front, rest- ing partly on the body of the building, with a cupola and bell, and a gallery in front and on the two sides. " Neither in the planning nor executing have the workmen confined themselves to any particular order of architecture. Being all natives of the town, their object has been only to make it substantial, conveni- ent, and elegant, without unnecessary expense or su- perfluous ornament." It gives the succession of ministers as has been stated in these pages ; notes the fact that St. George's Parish embraced originally the town and Parish of Hempstead, "then extending across the island ; " that in 1784 or 5 the town was divided into Hempstead and North Hempstead, the
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Parish of St. George's Church still embracing all the Episcopalians in both towns, etc. It states that " the oldest register of the Parish of Hempstead, kept in the church, begins in the year 1725, when the Rev. " THOMAS" JENNEY was missionary," etc. "But tradition," says Mr. Hart, " informs us that the Rev. Mr. Thomas had previously been a missionary to the same parish." So quickly had the facts of Mr. Thomas' twenty years of effective work in foundation laying, faded from men's memory ! So little, in Mr. Hart's day, had been done to gather and present even the little information we have been able to glean and present in these pages concerning that godly man, to whose memory and labors all his successors who are building on his foundation, owe gratitude and thank- ful mention.
In 1823, by an exchange of land with Mr. David Bedell, the Vestry added a strip of land to the church- yard, north of the front line of the church, which was laid out into burial lots which were sold some at $5, some at $6, others at $8 a lot .*
In May, 1825, the Vestry abolished the renting of the pews, and determined that for the ensuing year they should remain free to all the congregation to occupy as may be convenient.+ The experiment was found after a few years' trial not to work favora- bly, and under the Rectorship of the Rev. R. D. Hall, was abandoned.
The same year leave was given to William Rhodes to build a house 22 by 18 on the Parsonage South, to be occupied by him so long as he rented that land,
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