USA > New York > Nassau County > Hempstead > History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
* Records, p. 217.
+ Records, p. 219.
215
Rev. Seth Hart.
and to be taken by the Vestry at its appraised value, less $43 which he owed the Vestry, when he ceased to occupy the farm.
To Thomas Weeks was sold this year, so much of the Greenfield Parsonage lot as should be necessary to straighten the road from said Weeks' house to the eastern bounds of said parsonage land. The Vestry also 'Ordered,' that "window blind shutters be placed on all the windows on the west side of the church."
December 19, 1825, the Vestry being informed that the Vestry of Trinity Church, New York, would take as a loan the avails of the Parsonage South, if sold, it was by them
" Resolved, That the said South Parsonage be offered for sale, and be sold, if a satisfactory price can be obtained for it."
Messrs. Richard Hewlett, Thos. W. Weeks, and D. R. F. Jones, were appointed a committee to advertise the property for sale at public auction on the Ist day of February, 1826, and to superintend the sale.
" February 1, 1826 .- The Parsonage being put up for sale at auction, and no person bidding more than $2,150, the sale was stopped."
" March 28, 1826 .- The Vestry met and com- pleted the sale of the parsonage * at South to Mr. James Pettit, by executing a deed to him for the same, and receiving from him therefor two thousand two hundred and thirty-five dollars, cash in hand. Two hundred and fifteen dollars of which was paid to
* A part had been sold already. See page 173.
216
St. George's Church.
Mr. Wm. Rhodes, for his house, which he had built on said parsonage, leaving $2020 to be loaned to Trinity Church, New York."
This sum of $2020, together with a gift of $1000 from Mr. John Lefferts, were loaned to Trinity Church on a bond for forty years, at five per cent per annum, interest payable semi-annually.
The time would have expired in 1866. Frequent requests were made to Trinity Church to repay the amount before the term expired, but were not suc- cessful until after the breaking out of the war of the rebellion in 1861, when it was considered a loyal duty for every one to assist the Government by purchasing its bonds. Under these circumstances the request was renewed and granted, and the amount invested in United States Bonds.
In connection with the loan and the benefaction of Mr. Lefferts, the Vestry,* on the 14th October, 1826, adopted a preamble and resolutions stating that whereas the sum loaned to Trinity Church was de- rived from the sale of the parsonage south, and a gift from Mr. Lefferts, for the special purpose of aiding in the support of a minister or ministers in this Church, the sum thus loaned "be and remain a fund, the avails of which shall, at all times, be appropriated only to the support of such duly authorized minister or ministers, Episcopally ordained, as shall, from time to time, be employed to minister in this church and congregation."
" And whereas Mr. John Lefferts, with commen dable and evidently pious zeal for God's glory and
* Records p. 223.
217
Rev. Seth Hart.
the prosperity of His Church, hath made a donation of one thousand dollars to the corporation of St. George's Church, Hempstead, for the special purpose of aiding, from time to time and forever, in the support of a minister or ministers in this church, &c. Now there- fore, resolved, that this Vestry do with heartfelt gratitude and joy, acknowledge the receipt of the said one thousand dollars from Mr. Lefferts, and for them- selves and in behalf of the church and congregation, tender him their sincere thanks for his liberal gift, and their best wishes and earnest prayers for his prolonged life and health and comforts, in this world, and his eternal well-being in the world to come."
Two years after this, viz., in May, 1828, the Vestry had the privilege of acknowledging a further addition to its fund for the support of its Rector, from Mrs. Abigail Smyth, a sister of Mr. Lefferts; and they adopted the following minute respecting it :
" Whereas Mrs. Abigail Smyth, lately deceased, did by her last will and testament, give and bequeath to the Corporation of this Church, One thousand dollars, to be funded for the use and maintenance of the Rector for the time being, of this church forever, and applied to no other purpose whatever-with this proviso, that the interest or income of dividends of the said sum of One thousand dollars, should be paid to our present Rector, the Rev. Seth Hart, and his present wife, Ruth Hart, during their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them, to their own use ; and after their death and the death of the longest liver of them, that then the said interest or dividends should forever thereafter be paid towards the support and maintenance of the Rector for the time being of this Church .- And whereas the said legacy of One thousand dollars has been paid to us by Mr. John
10
218
St. George's Church.
Lefferts, one of the Executors of the said Mrs. Smyth's will, and has been loaned to the Corporation of Trinity Church, New York, as a permanent fund for the use and purpose above mentioned, for which we hold their bond, dated the first of May instant, now in the hands of our Rector, and payable the first of May, 1866, with interest half yearly at five per cent. per annum :- Now therefore, we do hereby discharge the said John Lefferts, and the other ex- ecutors of said will, from all claims on them for the said legacy ; and with grateful hearts acknowledge our obligations, in behalf of the church, to the benev- olent and pious giver :- And resolve that the said One thousand dollars, with its interests and divi- dends shall forever be applied to the use and pur- poses for which it was given and bequeathed."
The Rector stated* to the Vestry at this meeting that he had lately appropriated $150 of the Com- munion fund to the purchase of five shares of the Hempstead Turnpike stock, in addition to fifteen shares of the said stock owned before : whereupon the Vestry resolved that the said stock shall always be kept sacred for charitable and pious uses, as a fund, whose interests and dividends shall always be so appropriated, and applied, and to no other uses or purposes.
Thus within the space of three years the parish received lasting testimonials from two of her children, expressive of their love for her, and desire to perpet- uate the offices of the Church among sinful men for their eternal benefit and to the glory of God.
Mr. Lefferts for many years held the office of
* Records, p. 228.
219
Rev. Seth Hart.
Treasurer of the parish ; was a delegate to the Diocesan Convention many times, and was an active, zealous Churchman, and a citizen of much influence. His sister partook of many of his excellent traits. Their names are worthy to be had in remembrance before God. By their pious deeds, though being dead, they yet speak; their memorial is NOT perished with them. Their benefactions, while nought impoverishing themselves, are destined to benefit all the generations to come after them, as they have already accomplished immeasurable good.
To the names of Lefferts and Smyth there have since been added to the honored roll of benefactors of the parish those of Mrs. Abigail Clowes; the Misses Sarah and Elizabeth Wooley ; Samuel Hew- lett ; Mrs. Sarah Ann Berrian, and Abraham and Samuel Wood. Their gifts, although none of them of large amounts, will preserve their names better than any monumental marble.
Mr. Hart had a stroke of paralysis about the be- ginning of the year 1829. Finding himself unable to perform the duties of his office, and unwilling to retain a position whose obligations he could not ade- quately discharge, Mr. Hart suggested to the Ves- try that he thought it to be his duty to resign the rectorship. The Vestry thereupon adopted the fol- lowing action :
" Whereas, it has pleased the Almighty Disposer of events to visit our beloved pastor with severe bod- ily infirmities, insomuch as to render him incapable of performing the active duties of his parish : and
" Whereas, it is his wish to resign his charge, with
220
St. George's Church.
such provision as may be necessary toward his sup- port during the remaining years of his life : therefore,
Resolved, That should the Rector of this Parish see fit, on or before the next Whitsun-Tuesday, to tender to this Vestry the resignation of his office ; then and in that case he, the said Rector, shall be entitled to receive the interest due from Trinity Church, New York, on their bond for $3020, and payable on the first day of May next.
" And moreover, we pledge ourselves to use our best endeavors to collect all moneys due on the usual annual subscriptions, for salary up to said Whitsun- Tuesday next, amounting last year to about $275, and pay over the sum so collected to him the said Rector.
" Also, we do in our corporate capacity, promise to pay to him, the said Rector, forty dollars half yearly from and after the first day of May next; that is to say, forty dollars on the first day of November, 1829, and forty dollars on the first day of May, 1830; and the said sum of forty dollars on every first day of November and May thereafter following, during his natural life.
Signed, James Gildersleeve, Richard Hewlett, Richard Pine, John J. Hewlett, William Rhodes, Samuel Valentine, Edward A. Clowes, T. W. Weeks,
Wardens.
Vestrymen.
" Done in full Vestry, Feb. 16th, 1829, and record- ed.
JOHN LEFFERTS, Sec'y."
" The Rector then presented to the Vestry the fol- lowing letter of resignation, which was received and accepted :
22I
Rev. Seth Hart.
" To the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church, Hempstead :
" Gentlemen : It having pleased the Almighty Dis- poser of human events, in his all-wise Providence, to visit me with severe bodily infirmity ; and feeling my inability any longer to discharge the various duties of my station in a manner conducive to the good of the Church and to the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom, I am constrained to resign into your hands. the office which for the last twenty-eight years I. have held among you. In doing this, allow me to, express to you my thanks for the kind attention and. assistance that I have heretofore received from you ; and to add my sincere prayers for your temporal and spiritual welfare, and for the future prosperity of our Zion. In taking leave of you and of my people gen- erally, I tender to you my paternal blessing. May the God and Father of us all, have you in His holy keeping, and grant you the aid of his unerring coun- sel in the choice of a successor ; and may he prove a successful instrument in the hands of God, in turning many to righteousness, and of widely spreading abroad the truth as it is in Jesus. With sentiments of respect and with feelings of true Christian love, " I remain, your brother in Christ,
" SETH HART,
" Rector of St. George's Church, Hempstead."
With this action the Rev. Seth Hart's long connection with St. George's Parish as its rector ended. He lingered on feebly for three years after his resignation, but died March 14, 1832, in the 70th year of his age. The service at his funeral was per- formed by the new Rector, the Rev. Richard D. Hall, and a commemorative sermon was preached by Mr. Hart's old friend, the Rev. Evan Malbone Johnson, 10*
222
St. George's Church.
Rector of St. John's Church, Brooklyn. The remains were laid in the churchyard, near where the chancel of the old church formerly stood.
Mrs. Ruth Hart, who had been a faithful and excel- lent companion and counsellor to her husband, sur- vived him nine years, dying in November, 1841, and was laid in the earth by his side.
One of Mr. Hart's children was the Rev. Wm. Henry Hart, who was born in 1794; graduated at Columbia College, New York, 1811 ; ordained Dea- con by Bishop Hobart, in 1814, and Priest by Bishop White. He became Rector of Christ Church, Rich- mond, Va., from 1815 to 1828. Was for a while minister at Fishkill, and twice Rector of St. Andrew's, Walden, Orange Co., until 1851. He died of para- lysis, as his father had done, July 28, 1852, aged 62 years.
Besides the sermon of the Rev. Seth Hart, which he preached the Sunday after the consecration of the new church, he also published " A Sermon to Free- masons," delivered in St. George's Church, Hemp- stead, in 1801.
A building in the rear of the parsonage, which had been built by Rev. Mr. Seabury, and used for a school, was sold and removed in the closing year of Mr. Hart's life-a part of it being removed to a plot now occupied by Liberty Hall, opposite the church, and used for a Methodist meeting. Another portion of it was removed to Greenwich Street, on land of Mr. Henry Eckford.
The first parochial report by Mr. Hart, in October, 1805, gave these statistics :
223
Rev. Seth Hart.
Baptisms. 49
Marriages 25
Burials. II
Communicants .100
His last report, made Oct. 16, 1828, gave :
Baptisms. IO
Marriages. ยท9
Burials.
23
Communicants
IIQ
CHAPTER VII.
1829-1849.
T HE Rev. Seth Hart resigned St. George's parish, February 16, 1829. The resignation having been determined upon by him and announced some time before the final arrangements were made, the Vestry had anticipated the vacancy, and on the same day gave the following "call " to the Rev. Richard D. Hall, of Pennsylvania.
" Call of the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, to the Rev. Richard D. Hall :
" To all whom it may concern :
" Whereas the Rev. Seth Hart having resigned the rectorship of St. George's Church, Hempstead, through his incapacity to perform any longer the duties of the same, from bodily infirmity, We the undersigned, Wardens and Vestrymen of the afore- said parish, do hereby call the Rev. Richard Drason Hall to be his successor, and the Rector of the said parish, he having been unanimously elected and ap- proved of by said congregation at a meeting called on Thursday, the 12th of February; and also on Monday the 16th instant, 1829; and that he be the Rector of said parish as long as the parties, i. e., the congregation and Vestry and Rector shall agree ;
225
Rev. Richard D. Hall.
and that when a dissolution of the connection shall be requested, due notice of the same shall be given, not less than six months beforehand. Farther, it is hereby declared that the salary, be it more or less, shall commence to be due from the first day of May next ensuing, and shall be paid in half yearly pay- ments. We also promise to the said Rector the use of the parsonage house, the lot of ground adjoining thereunto, and also the tract of land lying and being situated near the village of Hempstead, commonly called 'Greenfield.'
In testimony whereof we, the Wardens and Vestrymen, in the name and behalf of the aforesaid Church, have hereunto set our names, this 16th day of February, Anno Domini, 1829.
James Gildersleeve, ? Wardens. r
Richard Hewlett,
Richard Pine, Samuel Valentine, William Rhodes, T. W. Weeks,
Vestrymen.
Mr. Hall being in Hempstead at the time, signified his acceptance of the call.
Mr. Hall was born in Philadelphia, in 1789; stud- ied theology under Dr. Joseph Pilmore, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia ; and was ordained Deacon Oct. 9, 1812, by Bishop White. His first parish was at St. James, Bristol, Pa. In 1820 he was Rector of Trinity Church, Wilmington, Delaware, and a deputy to the General Convention from that diocese. He was in 1826 Rector of St. John's Church, York, Pa., and from thence to Hempstead.
In the call given to the Rev. Mr. Hall, two novel features were introduced, which demand remark.
226
St. George's Church.
One is that there was no stipulation made in it for a salary. The matter is mentioned in this indefinite language :
" It is hereby declared that the salary, be it more or less, shall be paid in half yearly payments."
This indefiniteness of stipulation as to salary afforded but an uncertain basis for a minister to arrange to live upon, and in a very short time caused serious embarrassment to the Rector.
Another noteworthy feature connected with the call of the Rev. Mr. Hall is, that the election is de- scribed as having been made by "the congregation at a meeting called on Thursday, the 12th of Feb- ruary, and also on Monday, the 16th." And the Vestry appear to have acted only as indorsers of their action.
We have seen that a similar mode of proceeding took place when the Rev. Thomas Lambert Moore was called ; and we have but to repeat what was said in connection with that instance, that the pro- ceeding was not in accord with the requisitions of the Charter, which gives to the Church Wardens and Vestrymen alone the authority to elect a Rector. Besides being irregular, the results of such a depart- ure from the organic law of the parish, have not been
favorable. If such departure was resorted to, in the hope that thereby a greater degree of unanimity between pastor and people would be secured, that expectation was not realized, neither were distrac- tions prevented. It is hardly likely that any future Vestry will violate its duty in this matter, and re-
227
Rev. Richard D. Hall.
sort to a measure which conflicts with the terms of that instrument which is the source of their authority.
Mr. Hall was instituted Rector on Saturday, the 8th of August, 1829. Bishop Hobart being indis- posed, deputed the Rev. W. H. Hart-son of the former Rector, and who at that time was an instructor in Trinity School, New York city-as institutor. Morning service was conducted by the Rev. James P. F. Clark, of Christ Church, Manhasset ; and the Rev. Peter Van Pelt-half brother of Mr. Hall and minister of St. Thomas' Church, Philadelphia, preached the sermon from St. John 18: 36-" My Kingdom is not of this world." The Rev. Seth Hart, former Rector, and the Rev. Gilbert H. Sayre, Rector of Grace Church, Jamaica, being also present. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered by the instituted minister .*
In order to obtain the salary which was to be "more or less," collectors were appointed " to solicit subscriptions for the support of the Rector," and the several parts of the parish were distributed thus :
For Merrick,
South,
Near Rockaway,
" Far Rockaway,
Foster's Meadow,
Stephen Hewlett, Samuel (L.) Seaman,
Abraham Wood,
Thomas Hewlett, George Vannostrand, Esq.,
West of Hempstead, Jacob Stringham,
Village of Hempstead John Clowes,
" North Side,
Samuel Valentine.
This resort having produced but about $400 per
* Records, p. 241.
228
St. George's Church.
annum for the support of the Rector, it was felt that the plan of free pews was not working as successfully as had been hoped, and that in order to retain the services of a clergyman and continue to enjoy the privileges of the Church's services, it was imperative that some more effective plan should be adopted ; and without opposition it was determined, in March, 1831, that from and after. April I, the pews should be rented .*
A temporary excitement in the community was caused at this time in connection with a request that the usual Fourth of July celebration should be held in St. George's Church. The ceremonies were cus- tomarily of a secular rather than a religious character, and sometimes, with features which the Rector did not deem compatible with a consecrated place. But the idea of any place being consecrated was foreign to the views of many persons in the community, who deemed all places alike common.
The Rev. Mr. Hall did not refuse to open the church, but he embraced the favorable opportunity to assert more correct and scriptural views. He offered the use of the church for the delivery of the oration and the singing of national anthems, if the exercises were preceded by the religious service befitting the sacred place. He felt conscientiously bound to give prominence to the fact that the church was the house of God, and distinguished from an ordinary place of assemblage, both from the terms of the rite of consecra- tion which had been used when the building was
* Records p. 247.
229
Rev. Richard D. Hall.
devoted to God, and by the following resolution of the Convention of the Diocese of New York, of which he was a member, and by whose action he was bound, and which was passed in 1808.
" Resolved, That the office of Consecration of Churches and Chapels implies, that the buildings set apart for the service of Almighty God, are appro- priated solely to Divine Service, and therefore, they shall not be used for any secular purposes whatso- ever." *
But in vain did Mr. Hall attempt to justify him- self by an appeal to the laws of the Church. In the view of the " Committee of Arrangements," it rather served to excite their disfavor to his proposition. Several persons of prominence in the community, whose prejudices through their education and associ- ations outweighed all the liberalizing and rectifying influences of their intellectual acquisitions, were pleased to regard the suggestion of a religious service as equivalent to a refusal of the use of the church, and to attribute that refusal to an evil cause. The opportunity was too good to be lost to cast an impu- tation upon the loyalty of Episcopalians towards re- publican principles. And the opportunity was im- proved. A great clamor arose, and Churchmen- who alone of all those in the land who called them- selves Christians, never had a Sunday service without prayer for President and Congress and all in
* Hoffman's Ecclesiastical Laws, &c., p. 88, declares all use of churches but for " Strictly prescribed church purposes," is clearly for- bidden.
230
St. George's Church.
authority-found themselves suddenly called upon to defend themselves from the charge of disloyalty.
To us now all this seems very ridiculous. But it was a serious thing then. And it was by no means
an uncommon imputation. Often aforetime was it found necessary to silence this aspersion by showing that this same Church was the spiritual and much loved mother of Washington, and Jay, and Marshall, and other noble patriots-that the first Chaplain of Congress and the bosom friend of Washington- William White-was also a Bishop in the Church.
The Rector of St. George's was a man of stout heart and conscious of right. But it seemed for a little time that he would be overwhelmed by the tempest that was stirred up round about him. But it spent its fury. His course was vindicated, and the Church had new evidence that her Divine founder's promise is still ef- fective, that evil powers shall not prevail against her.
The Committee sought another place for the cele- bration, and the oration was duly delivered by Ed- win Webb, M. D .- in after years a Warden of the church which had been so maligned. The Declara- tion of Independence was read by Timothy Clowes, LL.D.
The writer remembers that a like experience to Mr. Hall's was shared on similar occasions and from the same cause by the clergy of the Church in other parts of the country, with similar temporary offence to those persons who revealed their unfriendliness to the Church, or who could not comprehend the scruples of Churchmen, nor understand how a place or person or thing, once devoted to God, was hallowed.
231
Rev. Richard D. Hall.
For the first and only time in the history of the parish, we find it recorded that the annual meeting of the corporation on Whitsun-Tuesday, May 24, 1831, was " postponed" to the following week, because " of there not being a sufficient number present for busi- ness." No such postponement had taken place even in the turbulent and distracting condition of things hereabout in the Revolutionary war. And it is a question whether such postponement was legal; the charter expressly requiring that "yearly, once in the year forever hereafter, that is to say, on Tuesday, in Whitsun-week, in every year, at the said church, the communicants of the said church for the time being, or the major part of them present, shall elect, choose, and appoint two of the communicants of the said church to be Church-Wardens," &c.
There is thus no provision for a postponed elec- tion : no requisition as to numbers, and no restric- tion other than that they must be communicants, and that the major part of them present shall elect, &c. It would have imperilled the exist- ence of the corporation if it had been required that a majority of all the communicants of the parish, or any specified portion of them, should be necessary for a legal election. For then it would have been in the power of a faction, by voluntarily absenting them- selves, to prevent an election. But now-the day being known-and it being the privilege of all enti- tled to vote to be present if they will, it is to be con- cluded that those who do not attend, voluntarily waive their right, and so indicate their consent to be bound by the action of those who do attend, and who may
232
St. George's Church.
proceed with the duty enjoined by the charter. Hoff- man* states that while in the English Church the Rector may adjourn the poll if he see fit, " Under our law fixing a day for an election, there can be no ad- journment to any other day. It may be from one hour to another on the same day."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.