USA > New York > Nassau County > Hempstead > History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 16
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* Records, p. 286.
+ Records, p. 333.
249
Rev. William M. Carmichael.
yard, St. George's, Hempstead,"* which is esteemed by many as the sweetest in the collection of "Chris- tian Ballads." In a note to this ballad, Bishop Coxe says :
" The parish of St. George's, Hempstead, is the oldest in the State of New York; and its church- yard, though not a model cemetery, is dear to me as containing the remains of my kinsman, Edward Henry Hyde, sometime a member of the University of New York, and at the time of his death intended for Holy Orders. This ballad was suggested by a moonlight visit to his grave, in 1840."
Strangers often inquire after this grave, but it seems not to have been marked by a grave-stone.
The Vestry, at a meeting, July 5, 1842, informed the Rev. Dr. Carmichael, that in consequence of the insufficient income of the parish, they would be una- ble to give the increased salary they had promised, and proposed that it should recede to its previous limits. Dr. Carmichael did not feel that he could accede to this proposition, and after various ineffect- ual efforts to find terms mutually agreeable to the Vestry and himself, he finally, on the 30th of Sep- tember, 1843, sent to the Senior Warden a note authorizing him to convene the Vestry and to lay before it his letter resigning the parish, the resigna- tion to take effect " after six months " had expired ; " upon the condition, of course, that all moneys due, or to be due, be punctually and fully paid."+
Dr. Carmichael published the following works : "The Christian Fathers-a Memoir," 1844; " Three-
* See Appendix, A.
+ Records, p. 317.
250
St. George's Church.
fold Ministry of the Church," 1844, 12mo; "Rise and Progress of St. George's Church, Hempstead," 1841, 8vo.
The latter production had its motive in consequence of a discourse preached at Raynor Town, now Free- port, Nov., 1840, by the Rev. Sylvester Woodbridge. In that discourse Mr. Woodbridge represented that the church property belonging to St. George's was not rightly theirs, but had been wrested, by the men of early times, from the Presbyterians, most unjustly.
This assertion having often been made privately before, and now finding an open avowal from a bold advocate, it was thought best to recite the facts con- cerning the source of the church's claim, and to remove the misapprehension which some, doubtless quite innocently, had entertained, that the property had really belonged to the Presbyterians ; and that they had been ousted in some way, and others were enjoying those fruits which belonged to them.
Some of the facts, which we have recorded in the preceding pages, were a surprise to many, who had been prejudiced against the Church, and the pam- phlet of Dr. Carmichael, which was published at the re- quest of the Vestry-served to inform and disabuse the minds of all unprejudiced persons. For it is now evident that the Presbyterians did not own the prop- erty, which was ceded to the Episcopalians ; that, in fact, neither they nor the Congregationalists or Inde- pendents, nor any religious body held the title in fee- simple to the church, or any of the lands and build- ings connected with it; but that it was the property of the town, appropriated to certain purposes, but
251
Rev. William M. Carmichael.
not alienated. It is further clear that when the Epis- copalians came upon the ground, the minister who had been here (and who it is most probable was not a Presbyterian, but an Independent or Congregation- alist), had left because he could not get a support, and therefore there was no minister of any kind in the town of Hempstead, whose rights could be in- truded upon. The Episcopalians came upon unoc- cupied territory : and when, at length, the town parted with its right to church, parsonage and glebe, they released that right to the Episcopalians. There was, therefore, by the Episcopalians, no intrusion, no wresting of property belonging to others. What they obtained they obtained by the grant of those to whom the property belonged; and their vote to make over the property to the Episcopalians is con- clusive proof that they had not previously given it to any other party.
These points are recited, not because the matter is of the least practical importance, but for the truth of history.
In January, 1844, the parish being again without a Rector, the Vestry appointed the 22d of January for a meeting of the Vestry " and congregation," for the purpose of calling a Rector. The meeting was held at the date proposed ;* and while the names of the Wardens and Vestrymen are given-all of whom were present except Samuel Hewlett-neither the names nor number of the congregation who attended are recorded. Yet those who were present " unani-
* Parish Records, p. 319.
252
St. George's Church.
mously resolved to proceed to elect a Rector, by ballot.
As the result of this suffrage, it was found that the Rev. Orlando Harriman was almost unanimously elected. But that this election was not to be taken as absolute, is made evident by the fact that it was immediately proposed that " said Mr. Harriman be invited to come and preach, that further arrange- ments be made in the matter."
The " communicants and pewholders " then re- turned thanks to the Vestry for the very liberal man- ner in which they waived their chartered rights, by giving them an equal voice with the Vestry in the choice of a Rector .* The Vestry appear to have seen, on reflection, that, despite the thanks given them, they could not "wave " obligations imposed by the char- ter, and which, by their acceptance of office under it, they had promised to observe ; for the week following, viz., Jan. 29, the Vestry met and corrected their pre- vious error. Samuel Valentine, Senior Warden, being in the chair, it was unanimously
" Resolved, That the Rev. Orlando Harriman be called as Rector of our church and parish."
"We the undersigned, Wardens and Vestrymen of said church, do hereby call the Rev. Orlando Har- riman to be Rector of said parish, as long as the said Rector and said Vestry and said congregation shall agree, at an annual salary of six hundred dollars per year, payable half yearly, to commence with his. regular services in said church ; together with the use
* Parish Records, p. 320.
253
Rev. Orlando Harriman.
of the parsonage house and barn, and the adjoining lands and garden.
Samuel Valentine,
Lewis Pettit,
tine, } w.
Wardens.
John Bedell, Samuel L. Seaman, Vestrymen."
George Vannostrand,
The other Vestrymen at this time, who, it would appear, were absent from this meeting, were Benja- min Tredwell, Lewis Rushmore, and Samuel Hewlett.
A letter of invitation, after the form of previous ones, was forwarded to the Rev. Mr. Harriman, who accepted the call in a letter to the Senior Warden, bearing date Feb. 3, 1844 .*
Mr. Harriman presided at a meeting of the Vestry held ASH-WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20, 1844, which, at his request, made application to the Bishop of the Diocese for the Institution of the Rector elect. This ceremony was performed by the Rt. Rev. B. T. Onderdonk, D.D., on the following Easter-Day, April, 7, Mr. Valentine, the Senior Warden, presenting the keys of the church to the Rector elect, after the pre- scribed order of the Office of Institution.
The Rev. Mr. Harriman had graduated from Co- lumbia College, New York, in 1835, with exceptional honors. He ministered for a time in the Reformed Dutch Church. In 1842 he was principal of Mount Pleasant Academy, Sing Sing, and in 1843, having entered the Church, he became assistant minister at Christ Church, Tarrytown. He was ordained Deacon
* Records, p. 325-
254
Grace Church, South Oyster Bay.
by Bishop B. T. Onderdonk, May, 1841, and Priest, Aug. 13, 1842.
June, 1844, Wm. L. Laing, Esq., was appointed secretary-" clerk," is the title given by the Charter. In this office he served for many years afterwards, with the heartiness and zeal which marked the man, who delighted to help in any way the church he loved so well, and which he was always ready to aid by his generosity.
For several years prior to 1844, the Rectors had performed the duties of parish clerk, rather incongru- ously with their position as presiding officers of the Vestry and Corporation.
Nothing of especial moment occurred during the rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Harriman with the excep- tion of the setting off of another and the fourth par- ish from the old mother. As Manhasset, and then Rockaway, and then Glen Cove, had found it necessary to set up for themselves, so, in 1844, the Churchmen who lived in the South-eastern limits of the parish felt that the time had come when they too should form a separate household, and the proper steps were taken, which resulted speedily in the organizing of the parish of
GRACE CHURCH, SOUTH OYSTER BAY.
In this portion of the parish resided several branches of the family of the Floyd-Jones, who for generations had been strong adherents of the Church, and attended services at St. George's as frequently as the distance, twelve miles, would allow.
At a meeting duly called for the purpose, the par-
255
Grace Church, South Oyster Bay.
ish was organized and the following persons were elected Vestrymen :
Gen. Thomas Floyd-Jones, Wardens.
Thomas Lawrence,
Vestrymen.
Gen. Henry Floyd-Jones, Henry Hone,
I. S. Jackson Jones, James Meinell,
Samuel. Jones,
Elbert Floyd-Jones,
Fred. Z. Carman, Thomas Jones.
Land for the church site and a cemetery was given by Gen. Thomas Floyd-Jones, and funds to erect the church by the members of the parish. The church was completed in 1845, and the same year the parish was admitted into union with the Convention of New York.
The church edifice was consecrated on the 13th of April, 1847, by the Rt. Rev. Wm. Heathcote Delancy, the great grandson of Col. Caleb Heathcote, who in 1702 and 3 strenuously befriended the Churchmen of Hempstead, and sought the aid of the Venerable So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel to establish the Church among them.
Rectors and Ministers of Grace Church, South Oys-
ter Bay :
Rev. Wm. A. Curtis, June, 1846, to May, 1849.
S. S. Stocking, supplied in the summer of 1849. Joseph N. McIlvaine, Nov. 1849 to April, 1851.
$6 David E. Barr, July, 1851, to Oct. 1852.
S. Chipman Thrall, July, 1853, to March, 1855.
H. C. Stowell, Nov. 1856, to April, 1862.
" S. S. Stocking, May 4, 1862.
:256
St. George's Church.
It was the misfortune of the Rev. Mr. Harriman that he came to the parish at the time when the Ox- ford Tracts and the Carey ordination had greatly disturbed many minds, and excited a fear of the pre- valence of Romish customs and doctrines. Clergy- men were anxiously regarded by their people, and acts and expressions which at other times would have been considered of no evil significance, caused alarm. Possibly Mr. Harriman did not duly regard the temper of the times, nor reflect that to carry out with unusual vigor the ecclesiastical system of the Church, or to urge her claims with much strenuous- ness, under such circumstances, might easily beget contentions. At any rate, differences did arise be- tween the Rector and some of his parishioners, which, after a time, led the Vestry to appeal to the Standing Committee of the Diocese-there being then no Bishop who could act-to dissolve the pas- toral relation. But they refused to interfere." As the difficulty was finally felt to admit of no adjust- ment, Mr. Harriman authorized the Senior Warden to call a meeting of the Vestry, and lay before them the following communication :
" To the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church :
" Gentlemen-I herewith resign the office of Rec- tor of St. George's Church, Hempstead, on the con- dition of your paying up all arrearages of salary to May 1, 1849, and an additional year's salary to May I, 1850, and also of my being allowed to occupy the
* Jour. N. Y. Convention for 1849, p. 72.
257
Rev. Orlando Harriman.
parsonage house and land free of expense until the first day of November next.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " O. HARRIMAN, JR.
" Hempstead, Fune 9, 1849."
To this communication the Vestry sent the follow- ing reply :
"Rev. O. Harriman, Jr. :
" Dear Sir-At a full meeting of the Board of Vestry of St. George's Church, Hempstead, convened at the Sunday-school room of said church, on the 9th June, 1849, as per authority from the Rector, we have unanimously accepted your resignation of St. George's Church, Hempstead.
" Respectfully yours, " JOHN BEDELL, Senior Warden."
With Mr. Harriman's resignation, he submitted a statement of his claims, which amounted to $960 08. Towards meeting this, the Vestry obtained a loan of $600 from Valentine Smith, at six per cent., on their note.
Mr. Harriman and his family remained in the rec- tory until the following October, when he courteously yielded it up to his successor in the rectorship.
NOTE .- The Rev. Mr. Harriman and the Rev. Dr. Carmichael have both died while these sheets were passing through the press.
CHAPTER VIII.
1849-
O UR historic sketch has now been brought down to the period when the rectorship of the com- piler himself began.
As some events of importance to the parish have taken place during his unusually protracted rector- ship, of which no full record is preserved by others, and which those who come after us may feel an inter- est in, he believes it proper to continue the narrative.
A native of Newport, Rhode Island, on graduat- ing from the General Theological Seminary, he was ordained deacon by the Rt. Rev. B. T. Onder- donk, D.D., Sunday, June 28th, 1840, in St. Peter's Church, New York, and Priest at St. Ann's Church, Lowell, by the Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold, D.D., Sun- day, March 13th, 1842.
From July, 1840, to October, 1841, he had charge of St. Luke's Church, East Greenwich, Rhode Island. December, 1841, being invited to the city of Man- chester, New Hampshire, he organized the parish there and a church was built and paid for by subscriptions from the people of the parish and owners of the man- ufactoring property who resided in Boston. That
THIE REV. WM. H. MOORE, D.D.
- 1892
259
Rev. William H. Moore.
city, now become so populous, was then but recently founded. After laboring in Manchester for nearly seven years, he resigned the parish in consequence of prolonged sickness from typhoid fever. When, after several months, he had sufficiently recovered his health, he accepted a request to organize a parish at Ballard- vale, in the town of Andover, Massachusetts.
ยท
While engaged in that work, he received, through the Rev. Dr. B. C. Cutler, of St. Ann's, Brooklyn, a request to supply for a Sunday the vacant pulpit of St. George's, Hempstead, a parish of which he had then no knowledge. Desiring to gratify Dr. Cutler, and at the same time visit friends in Brooklyn and New York, he complied with the request, and officiated in St. George's, Sunday, August 12th, 1849. Much to his surprise, before leaving to return to his parish in Massachusetts, he received from the Vestry of St. George's the following communication :
" We, the undersigned, Wardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church, Hempstead, do hereby call the Rev. Wm. H. Moore to be Rector of said parish, as long as the parties, (that is,) the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen, shall agree ; and that when a dissolu- tion of the connection shall be requested, due notice shall be given, not less than three months beforehand. And it is hereby declared and agreed, that the salary shall be six hundred dollars per annum, in half-yearly payments, to commence with the Rector's regular ser- vices, together with the use of the parsonage-house, barn, garden, &c.
" Hempstead, August 15th, 1849.
John Bedell, 1 Wardens.
Lewis Pettit, S
260
St. George's Church.
Samuel L. Seaman, r
Lewis Rushmore,
Samuel Hewlett,
Vestrymen.
Harry H. Marvin,
Wm. Rhodes,
Jonathan Gildersleeve,
To which communication the following reply was made.
" To the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. George's Church, Hempstead :
" Gentlemen-I have taken into prayerful conside- ration the call to become your Rector, which you have extended to me with such pleasing unanimity. And I am guided, I trust, by the Spirit of Divine wisdom to accept it.
" The more I have reflected upon the spirit of con- cord in which you were enabled to act, and by which diverse minds were so quickly brought to entertain the same preference, the more I am disposed to re- gard it as a token of God's pleasure, and a presage of good for your parish. I devoutly trust that this same spirit may mark all our counsels and inter- course ; and that the sacred connection into which we have been led will be sanctified and sealed by the increasing holiness of believers and the conversion of the impenitent to God.
" My expectation and purpose is to be with you, God willing, on the first Sunday in September.
" I remain sincerely, " Your friend and brother in the Gospel,
"W. H. MOORE." " Andover, Aug. 21, 1849.
The promptness and unanimity with which this in- vitation was given by the Vestry, is to be attributed to kindly recommendations made, unsought, by the
261
Rev. William H. Moore.
Rev. Dr. Cutler, Thos. Wm. C. Moore, Esq., and Mr. Thomas Stanford, the then Church bookseller of New York : and to the fact that the very name "Moore " was cherished by the aged members of the parish, from being connected with a former Rector, who had endeared himself to them by his attainments and vir - tues. And it is but duly reverent to record-after a lapse of more than thirty years-that the conviction of a divine leading in the determination made in 1849, is abiding with increased strength in the writer in 1881. And while all but three of those who called him to the parish are dead, it is due to their memo- ries and to the yet living to make the grateful decla- ration that the harmony of the beginning has not been disturbed for an hour since ; and that with every member of each succeeding Vestry, he has, by God's blessing, maintained unbroken affectionate intercourse. Some of those who have gone were, like other men, persons of rigid will and strong prejudices, but they were all accessible to reason, and would readily re- spond to a respectful and patient approach.
The following prominent events in the history of the parish since 1849, are recorded.
In October, 1849, another and the final enlarge- ment of the churchyard was made, by the purchase of the land at the north and west of the Sunday- school room, from Coles Carman and Benjamin T. Smith, for $400, and the money hired of Samuel Hewlett with which to pay for it. This amount Mr. Hewlett bequeathed to the church in 1869, on the condition that his grave plot in the yard should be kept always in good order.
262
St. George's Church.
In 1850 the now stately row of trees outside the churchyard were set out, under the direction of the Rector and Messrs. Laing and John Harold. The trees were a gift from William Horace Brown, Esq. ; a member of the parish, then residing at Foster's Meadow.
The same year the Treasurer's account showed :
Receipts. $1184 97
Expenditures. 1096 46
Balance 88 51
In 1852 :
Receipts were. $1673 39
Expenditures 1661 00
Balance 12 39
One hundred dollars was added to the Rector's salary, and the thanks of the Vestry were given to Miss A. E. Angevine for her acceptable and gratui- tous services as organist.
The rent of the pews was advanced.
In 1853 the Treasurer's account showed a balance of cash on hand of $311.91. The Rector's salary was made $800.
In 1854 the clock now in the church tower was bought of the makers, Sherry and Byram, of Sag Harbor, for the sum, including dials, &c., of $638. This amount was raised by general subscription, the names of the donors being engrossed on parchment ; and by a ladies' fair, which yielded $240. By a vote of the contributors, it was placed in St. George's Church.
263
Rev. William H. Moore.
In 1855, the piazza on the south side of the par- sonage was built, and also a new kitchen, at a cost. of $400.
In 1856 the recess chancel, twenty-five feet wide by seventeen feet deep, with robing-room adjoining, was built, at a cost of $1300-this sum being raised by the subscriptions of the members of the parish.
To effect this addition there was necessarily dis- placed the old arrangement for conducting the service, which was neither convenient nor seemly. The chancel extended into the body of the church .. Within the rail was the communion-table. Directly over this was the reading-desk; behind, over the reading-desk, towered the pulpit, whose top was on a. level with the galleries: Access to the pulpit was had by winding stairs on either side of the chancel, though why two were necessary, unless for mere uni- formity of appearance, we cannot say. Behind the pulpit was a mock representation of a heavily pan- elled arched door, over the centre of which was perched a gilt dove, bearing a gilt olive-branch in his beak. Underneath the pulpit, and behind the read- ing-desk, was a door to the robing-room, a small building attached to the north end of the church .. This building, having been enlarged three feet, is the present Infant Sunday-school room, attached to the Sunday-school room, which was, at the same time,. lengthened thirteen feet, and the room painted, and a melodeon purchased.
By the erection of the recess chancel, space was obtained for the addition of eight pews.
In the designing and plans for the chancel, great
264
St. George's Church.
assistance was derived from the taste and skill of Mr. William H. Dannat, then a member of the parish. The work was done-and therefore well and hon- estly done-by Sands Powell.
In February, 1860, gas was introduced into the church.
In 1862, in consequence of leaks in the roof of the church, a portion of the ceiling having fallen, the church was new ceiled, and a slate roof put on.
In 1868 was purchased the organ of twenty-two stops, built by Alexander Mills, of New York, at a cost of $2300, including the appraised value of the old organ. This sum was raised by the generous subscriptions of the members of the parish, few of whom gave less than $10 each, and the larger num- ber of whom gave $25 each. Those who gave this amount and upwards to $100, were the following :
William Norton, Esq. Charles W. Mulford,
J. F. Oakley,
Peter C. Barnum,
Henry Walters,
Philip J. A. Harper,
Thos. W. C. Moore,
Thomas H. Clowes,
William Miller,
Lewis Angevine, Mrs. Prof. Docharty,
Edward Skillin,
Mrs. Whitman Matthews,
Robert S. Seabury,
George G. Waters, Esq. Benjamin F. Rushmore, Mrs. William Coles,
Henry P. Seabury,
Mrs. McBrain,
Samuel L. Seaman,
Jacob Valentine,
Miss Elizabeth Moore,
Daniel Clark, Esq. Gideon Nichols,
George N. Paff.
Many other expenditures were made at this period for carpets, furnaces, and other improve-
E. W. Breuninghausen,
Edwin Webb, M. D.
Charles Denton,
269
Trinity Church, Roslyn.
Subsequently, the Rev. Ralph Williston, being in feeble health, came to reside in Roslyn. He renewed the holding of services, and they were so well attend- ed, that it was determined to build a church. The corner-stone was laid by Bishop B. T. Onderdonk, in 1839, on a lot given by John R. Schenck. But the sudden death of Mr. Williston stopped the enterprise. Nothing further was done in the matter until the Rev. Samuel Cox, D.D., Rector of Christ Church, Man- hasset, (1849-1854,) with the purpose of reaching persons in that distant part of his parish who could not attend church, again began to hold services there. Inviting the co-operation of the writer, and one or two other clergymen occasionally, the services were held frequently and regularly, first in the public- school house, and afterwards in a room over a store in the village, which was appropriately fitted up for the purpose. Here a Sunday-school was begun and prospered. All efforts were heartily seconded by the Episcopalians then living in Roslyn, and many others. The prospect became so encouraging that in June, 1854, the " Convocation of Queens and Suffolk Coun- ties " adopted the place as a missionary station, and provided for the support of a missionary. The Rev. Charles E. Phelps was appointed to that office. In consequence of the removal of some of the most effi- cient Church families, the favorable current of affairs. was interrupted ; Mr. Phelps resigned and the services were again discontinued.
A few years afterwards, matters having again be- come promising, the effort to establish the church was
12*
270
Trinity Church, Roslyn.
renewed, and principally through the efficient support of Mrs. Ann E. Cairns, it was successful.
Mrs. Cairns in 1862 deposited with the Rector of Christ Church, Manhasset, (the Rev. G. W. Porter, D.D.,) the sum of $2,500, to be applied towards the erection of a chapel at Roslyn, which was to be held in trust for the Episcopalians of Roslyn until they should be able to organize and take care of them- selves. To the sum given by Mrs. Cairns there was added at least $1,500 more, contributed by the resi- dents of Roslyn and its vicinity, which sum was also placed in the hands of the Rector and Vestry of Christ Church, Manhasset.
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