USA > New York > Nassau County > Hempstead > History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 2
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Rev. Wm. Vesey.
ffavor, and affection showed him, and did assure them that he readily accepted of their call and would with all convenient expedition repair .to England and apply himself to the Bishop of London in order to be ordained according to the Liturgy of the Church of England, and would return to his Church here by the first convenient opportunity."
Assisted by the Vestry with funds to the amount of £90, Mr. Vesey sailed for England in the Spring of 1697. July 8 of that year he received the degree of M. A. at Oxford. August 2, he was ordained- both Deacon and Priest it is thought-by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Henry Compton, Bishop of London.
He returned promptly to New Yor !: , and on De- cember 24, Gov. Fletcher issued the order for his induction into Trinity Church, which act was per- formed the next day-Christmas-being Saturday. In this Rectorship-the first in Trinity. Church's honored line-Mr. Vesey continued for 51 years, even until his death, in July, 1746. His. whole career fulfilled the bright promise of his youth. Mr. Vesey had as his Assistant, in 1715, the Rev. Mr. Jenney, who in 1722 was transferred to Rye, West- chester Co., and thence, in 1728, to Hempstead. Mr. Vesey's widow married Judge. Daniel Hors- manden .*
The next person of whom we have any record whose ministrations prepared the way for the estab- lishment of the Episcopal Church in Hempstead, was the Reverend George Keith, who had been ap- pointed by the Venerable Society with the approba-
* H. Onderdonk, Jr. Esq.
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St. George's Church.
tion of the Bishop of London, to make a tour of observation through the colonies and ascertain where the services of the Church could be usefully intro- duced. In his Journals of Travel we find these entries of his visits to Hempstead :
" September 27, 1702, Sunday .- I preached at Hampstead on Long Island, in the afternoon, where was such a multitude of people, that the Church could not hold them, so that many stood without at the Doors and Windows to hear; who were generally well affected, and greatly desired that a Church of England Minister should be settled among them ; which has been done, for the Reverend Mr. John Thomas, is now their Minister. My text was, Luke IO : 42." "-p. 30.
" November 26, Thursday .- I preached at Hamp- stead on Long Island, on Acts 26 : 18."
" November 29, 1702 .- I preached again at Hamp- stead, on Heb. 8 : 10."
" November 21, [1703], Sunday .- I preached at Hampstead Church on Long Island, on I Peter 2 : 9, and Lodged that Night at Isaac Smith's House, four Miles distant from the Church, and there I Baptised a Young Woman of his Family, and a Boy and a Girl of his relations, and a Neighbour's Child, a Boy. This Isaac Smith had been formerly a Quaker, and was Scarce then fully come off, but came and heard me Preach, and was well affected, and did kindly entertain me."-p. 45.
Mr. Keith had been a Quaker, and a man of re- nown among them. After his conversion and ordination he used his rare gifts most effectively to advance the cause of Christ's holy Church; and there was great curiosity felt to see him and hear him
23.
Rev. Geo. Keith.
" preach the faith which once he destroyed."* He was peculiarly effective among the Quakers, who greatly dreaded his addresses, and often violently interrupted them. It is to be recollected that the Quakerism of that day, and particularly in this region, was by no means of a quiet and inoffensive form ; but was of an obtrusive and often abusive and very trenchant char- acter. It openly assaulted those whose views and ceremonies it disliked. It ceaselessly fretted about a ' hireling ministry ;' denounced liturgical services and the sacraments as ' carnal ordinances,' and denomin- ated responsive worship, in peculiarly elegant language, as 'geese-gabbling.' The members of the Society thought themselves bound to bear their 'testimony," as they termed it, against their neighbors' religious views, and they did this sometimes in such a manner as to interrupt their worship and dissolve the congre- gation. Their contentiousness and annoyance are frequently mentioned by the ministers of this parish for the first fifty years of its existence.
The efforts of Vesey and Keith fostered the desire which a small number of persons in the town had already felt to have the Church services permanently established here; and both of them exerted their influence to have this wish gratified. What Mr .. Vesey had done when he was in England to be or- dained, may be inferred from the evident gratification with which he wrote, June 9, 1702 :
" I have received letters from my good Lord Bp. of London. His worship does now assure us six good men shall be sent to supply the vacant livings in our
* Gal. 1 : 23.
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St. George's Church.
Province and also that communion plate, furniture and books shall in a short time be obtained for us."
We are presently to see that this promise was kept.
And the Rev. Mr. Keith directly besought the Venerable Society to send a missionary to Hempstead. A few months after he had officiated here, he thus wrote the Secretary of the Society :
" Philadelphia, Apr. 3, 1703 .- The main thing of importance I have at present to write to you is to tell you of the extreme desire that people have in several parts where I have travelled to have the Church of England ministers sent to them, particularly in East Jersey, at Amboy ; at Burlington in West Jersey ; also. at Oyster Bay in Long Island, and at Hempstead."
Dr. Humphreys, in his History of the Venerable. Society, says : "Earnest memorials were sent from the inhabitants of New Rochelle, from those of Jamaica and Hempstead towns of Long Island."
In Nov. 1702, according to Keith, a meeting of the clergy-seven in number-was held in New York, at. which an account of the state of the Church in Penn- sylvania, New Jersey and New York Province was. drawn up and a copy sent to the Venerable Society .*
Besides these representations of the desire of people in Hempstead to have the services of the Church of England, like memorials were forwarded by Gov- ernors Dudley, Morris and Heathcote.+
In answer to these petitions the Venerable Society selected Hempstead as one of the stations to be im- mediately occupied. Before this decision was known
* Keith's Journal, p. 33, Vol. I, Prot. Ep. His. Colls.
+ Anderson's Church of England in the Colonies, Vol. iii. p. 221.
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Rev. John Thomas.
on this side of the Atlantic, the Rev. Mr. Bartow of Westchester wrote to the Secretary of the Society.
" May 24, 1704 .- The town of Hempstead upon Long Island have long expected a missionary from the Society. I hope they will soon be answered." *
And Mr. Vesey, in renewedly urging the attention of the Society to the spiritual needs of Hempstead, writes in October of the same year-" In Hempstead there is a Church, a house and lands for the minister ; the people are generally well affected to the Church of England and long for the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Thomas."+
Mr. Vesey was thus aware of the fact that the So- ciety had already fixed upon the Rev. John Thomas as a fit person to be entrusted with this station. Mr. Thomas, thus designated to the honorable position of laying the foundation of the Parish and to be its first Rector, was at the time of his appointment, residing in Philadelphia, acting as Assistant to the Rev. Evan Evans, in Christ Church, and the head of its Parish School. He was still a Deacon, having been ordain- ed in 1700 by the Bishop of London. On receiving his appointment to Hempstead, he left Philadelphia in April, 1704, to be ordained presbyter by the Bishop of London, bearing with him letters of commendation to the Bishop of London from Lord Cornbury and the Rev. Messrs. Evans and Keith, as follows :
" Burlington, 23 August, 1703.
" MY LORD :- I trouble your Lordship with these
* MSS. N. Y. His. p. 29, and Bolton, p. 32.
t Doc. His. N. Y., Vol. iii. p. 115. ¿ Penn. Hist. Coll. p. 17.
2
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St. George's Church.
lines in behalf of the bearer, Mr. Thomas, who is a very sober, ingenious Gentleman. He has served in the Church at Philadelphia as Lecturer upwards of three years. The minister of that church (one Mr. Evans), who is a very sober, pious man, gives Mr. Thomas an excellent character, and so do all the Gentlemen of that Church, where, through the blessing of God upon. those two Gentlemen's endeavors, there is now a con- gregation of near 500 persons. Mr. Thomas has like- wise set up a school at Philadelphia, where he has, taught with very good success. The occasion of his. going to England now is in order to be admitted into Priests' orders. I hope your Lordship will grant him his request, and that you would send him to be min- ister either of Jamaica or Hempstead, in Long Island, is the request of,
" My Lord, " Your Lordship's most humble serv't, " CORNBURY."
The Rev. Mr. Evans, for himself and Vestry, wrote :
" Philadelphia, Aug. 31st, 1703.
" May it Please your Lordship: "Mr. John Thomas, the bearer, returning to your Lordship for- Priest's orders, we think ourselves in Justice obliged to certifie your Lordship that for the time he remained. among us (which was about 3 yrs.), he demeaned himself very soberly and unblameably, and gave the enemies of the Church not the least occasion of cen- suring his actions, but by his discreet and prudent be- haviour carried himself inoffensively towards all peo- ple, and by using more than ordinary industry has been instrumental of doing very good service to the Church of God in this Province, particularly in this Church of Philadelphia, and Trinity Church, nine miles distant from this city. As also his sedulity and good man- agement of the school, which he has performed to the
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Rev. Fohn Thomas.
satisfaction of all concerned, both children and Parents.
" And now, my Lord, considering the good service he has performed in this Infant church, and his sober deportment, suitable to the sacred character he bore, we humbly recommened him to your Lordship's im- mediate Favour and Patronage, not doubting but your Lordship, out of your usual candor and benig- nity, will look upon him with a favourable aspect ; which, with our hearty Prayers for your Lordship's Temporal and Eternal happiness, is all from
"My Lord, Your Lordship's " Most dutiful sons and Servt's,
" EVAN EVANS, " Rector of Philadelphia, et al."
The Rev. Mr. Keith's attestation was :
" Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2 April, 1703.
" MY LORD: The present occasion of my writing these few lines. to your Lordship is to recommend to your favour Mr. John Thomas, the assistant to Mr. Evans here in the ministry, and schoolmaster in the town of Philadelphia. He received the ordination of a Deacon from your Lordship a little before he came into this country, and has been here above two years. About a year hereafter he informs me he intends to come for London to receive from your Lordship the ordination of a Presbyter, that he may be further serviceable to ye Church of Christ either here or else- where, as divine Providence shall order him.
" I certifie to your Lordship that he is a person of very good repute among all and a very good charac- ter among the people here, both from those of the Church, and also from others for his good behaviour and his great diligence in attending the school, and his extraordinary pains in preaching in sundry country places who (sic) have no settled minister among them,
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St. George's Church.
which as also the like extraordinary pains of Mr. Evans in his preaching in country places, have had very good effect.
" My worthy Lord, I remain " Your most humble servant, " GEO. KEITH."
The application of Mr. Thomas, thus seconded, was successful, and he returned to this country in October, 1704, and in the following December he came to Hempstead, bearing the following mandate for his induction :
"EDWARD, the most noble Viscount Cornbury, Cap- tain General, Governor of New York in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c.
" To ALL and singular the Rectors, Vicars, Chap- lains, Curates, Clergymen and ministers whatsoever and throughout the Province aforesaid wherever estab- lished, and also to the present Church-Wardens of the parochial Church of Hempstead, Greeting :-
"WHEREAS I commit to you jointly and severally our beloved in Christ, John Thomas, Clergyman, presented to the rectory or parochial Church of Hempstead, (now vacant) to be instituted as rector of the same rectory or parochial Church, in and of the same ; and firmly enjoining I command that you col- late and induct, or cause to be inducted, the same John Thomas Clergyman (or his lawful Proctor in his name and for himself,) into the real, actual and corporal possession of the rectorate or parochial Church of Hempstead, of the glebes and all its rights and appurtenances, and that you defend him so in- ducted ; and what you shall have done in the premises you will certify me or some other duly competent judge in this behalf, or he will certify whoever of you
Rev. John Thomas. 29
being present may have executed this mandate (when thereunto duly required).
" GIVEN under the prerogative seal of said Prov- ince, the 26th day of December, Anno Domini, 1704. "CORNBURY. " GEO. CLARKE, Sec'y."
The Return (or Certificate. of Induction.)
"We whose names are subscribed, by virtue of the above instrument, have inducted the Rev. Mr. Thomas into the real, actual and corporal possession of the rectorship or Church of Hempstead, this 27th day of December, Anno Domini, 1704.
WILLIAM VESEY, THOS. JONES,
WILLIAM URQUHART,
THOS. GILDERSLEEVE, Church Wardens."
In the early settlement of the colonies many of the clergymen who came from England were very un- worthy persons, who retained their office simply because they were so distant from the sources of ecclesiastical discipline. The organization in 1701 of the Society for Propagating the Gospel effected a benificent change in this respect. They used great care in selecting persons as their missionaries, and their endorsement was a passport to confidence not readily given to those who had not received it. It is but a just and fitting tribute to the Venerable Society to say that all the missionaries they sent to Hempstead-five in number-were men of real piety, and faithful in discharging the responsible duties of their sacred office.
Mr. Thomas, now duly settled, found ample field for the exercise of all the excellencies which had been attributed to him, and he proved him- 2*
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St. George's Church.
self worthy of all the encomiums which had been passed on him. He soon encountered stur- dy opposition. The few persons in the town who were favorable to the Church had excited pleasant anticipations which Mr. Thomas' experience did not sustain. A large part of the population entertained strong prejudices against the Church, which were actively exhibited as soon as a positive effort was. made to establish her services among them. Abun- dant testimony of an unfriendly temper, and of the: admirable spirit in which Mr. Thomas met and com- bated it, is afforded us in his correspondence with the Venerable Society at this period ; the following ex- tracts from which will be found interesting and in- structive :
March 1, 1705 .- Mr. Thomas thus writes to the. Venerable Society: " After much toil and fatigue, I am through God's assistance safely arrived, and have been two months settled at Hempstead, where I met. with civil reception from the people. They are gen- erally Independents or Presbyterians, and have hith- erto been supplied, ever since the settlement of the: town, with a dissenting ministry.
" The prejudice and bias of education is the great -. est difficulty I labor under. The country is extreme -. ly wedded to a dissenting ministry, and were it not for His Excellency my Lord Cornbury's most favora- ble countenance to us, we might expect the severest entertainment here that malice and the rigor of preju- dice could afflict us with. All we of the clergy need. the influence of His Lordship's most favorable aspect.
" Government is our great asylum and bulwark which My Lord exerts to the utmost when the ne- cessities and interests of the Church call for it. His;
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Rev. John Thomas.
countenance, next to the Providence of Heaven, is my chiefest safety. I have scarce a man in the par- ish truly steady and real to the interest and promotion of the Church, any farther than they aim at the favor or dread the displeasure of His Lordship. His Lord- ship's extraordinary respect to the clergy has set them above the snarling of the vulgar and secured to then respect and deference from the best of the people. The people of Hempstead are better disposed to peace and civility than they are at Jamaica. This is the face of affairs here according to the best observa- tion I could make in the short time I have lived here.
" The gall of bitterness of this Independent kidney is inconceivable-not unlike that of Demetrius and his associates at the conceived downfall of the great Diana of the Ephesians. We have a great work to. go through, unruly beasts (with Daniel) to encounter, but we trust that the great God whose cause we stand for will enable us to go on.
"The fathers of these people came from New England, and I need not tell you how averse they of that country are to our Church discipline. The people here being generally very poor, and utterly averse to the service of the Church of England. The inhabitants transported themselves here from New England, and have been ever since their first settle- ment supplied by a ministry from there.
" I have neither pulpit nor any one necessary for the administration of the Holy Eucharist, and only the beat of a drum to call the people together. His Excellency Lord Cornbury is a true nursing father to our infancy here ; his countenance and protection is never wanting to us, his being by inclination a true son of the Church moves him zealously to sup- port that wholly. If it had not been for the coun- tenance and support of Lord Cornbury and his Govern-
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St. George's Church.
ment, it would have been impossible to have settled a Church on the Island."
1705, May 26 .- " My path here is very thorny; all my steps are narrowly watched; I am obliged to walk very singuly. I have brought some few of the honestest, best-inclined, to religion, and the soberest to the holy communion, and hope in time (if God enable ine) to have a plentiful harvest among them."
1705, June 27 .- " The people here are all stiff Dissenters-not above three Church people in the whole parish-all of them of the rebellious offspring of '42. Brother Urquhart, of Jamaica, and myself belong to one county, and the only English ministers on the Island. We are the first that brake the ice amongst this sturdy, obstinate people, who endeavor what in them lies to crush us in embryo; but, blessed be God, by the propitious smiles of heaven and the particular countenance of my Lordship's Government, we keep above water, and, we thank God, have added to our churches."
" The inhabitants of this county are generally Inde- pendents, and what are not so are either Quakers or of no professed religion at all. The generality are averse to the discipline of our Holy Mother the Church of England, and enraged to see her ministers established among them. Their prejudice of educa- tion is our misfortune, our Church their bugbear, and to remove the averseness imbibed with their first principles must be next to a miracle."
" I am very pleasantly situated here, upon an even, delightsome plain, sixteen miles long, richly furnished with beef, mutton, and fowls of all sorts; the air sharp and severe, and not subject to those fulsome: fogs so natural to the English climate. The place is sweet and pleasant. I have two distinct churches,
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Rev. John Thomas.
fifteen miles asunder, where I preach by turns, but have neither Bible nor Common Prayer book in either, so I am necessitated to carry small ones of my own about with me for to read Divine service. I know of no place upon the main that is a truer and more real object of the Honorable Society's charity than this."
1705, November 9 .- " Our parishes here are widely extensive (being eighteen miles one way and sixteen the other) and the people much scattered. Besides, two sermons a Sunday make my private visits and familiar conferences with them at their own dwellings fewer than I could wish. However, I embrace all occasions of converse with them, that are consistent with my studies."
1709 .- "Though Hempstead had been settled above sixty years before my coming, and the people had some sort of Dissenting ministers, yet for above fifty-five years the sacrament had never been admin- istered here. The oldest here could not remember to have seen or heard of its being celebrated. I have brought thirty-three to full communion of the Church, though at the first time of administering I could per- suade but three to receive. The young grow up in miserable ignorance, and I can't catechise for want of a schoolmaster to teach children to read."
Mr. Thomas, by his prudent and zealous efforts, was successful in his ministry to a very large degree, when the hindrances in his way are considered. This will become apparent from the following extracts from his correspondence :
"1705, April 23 .- The Church is not only better attended now than it ever was before, under the Dis- ·senters, according to their confession, but I have ad- mitted to the communion at one time three, at another four of the most rigid of the Independents,
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St. George's Church.
while twelve have just received the holy ordinance of baptism, among whom were several adults."
1706, April 7 .- " I have by God's blessing ad- vanced the number of my communicants from three to twenty-one, all of them rigid Dissenters, influenced against conformity to the Church by the strong bias of deep prejudice, inveteracy, and a contrary educa- tion. I have the prospect of a plentiful harvest among them, having already waded, I hope, through the most formidable difficulties."
"I want Common Prayer books and some small tracts of controversy between us and the dissenters. ' Bonnet's Abridgement,' and 'The Faith and Prac- tice of a Church of England Man,' would do very great service, and help blunt the knees of their bias and prejudice. The people are highly sensible and gratefully accept of the charity of the Honorable Society. The £5 worth of books which you gave me in trust have been distributed to the best advantage."
1710, January 16 .- " The Vestry pay Job Be- dell Ios. a year for beating the drum on Sundays and other Church days, and to Daniel Bedell 20s. for sweeping and cleaning the church, taking care of it, and opening and shutting the doors."
1710, December 3 .- "Nothing new or very memo- rable since my last. All is well in my parish in gen- cral, and a happy continuance of mutual accord and affection between me and my parishioners."
1712 .- Mr. Thomas says, "The children of Hemp- stead, for want of letters and education, are as wild, uncultivated and unimproved as the soil was when their forefathers first had it, and requests that Mr. Thomas Gildersleeve be appointed catechist and schoolmaster. The Society grant him fio yearly to teach the poorer children (with several others) reading, writing and to
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Rev. John Thomas.
cast accounts, at under 20s. yearly a head each. The Society also send paper for the use of the school. The Vestry write to the Venerable Society that : ‘With- out your bounty our children would have no educa- tion. Our people are poor and settled distantly from one another.'"' ·
1715, February 17 .- " The Church is in a tolerably thriving condition thow powerfully opposed by its adversaries, dissenters of all denominations !) chiefly through the prayer books sent by the Venerable Society, whose charity was well answered in that benefaction, consisting of two dozen prayer books, two dozen · King's Inventions of Man,' two dozen ' Dean of St. Asaph's Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man,' and one 'London Cases Abridged.' "
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1723, February 21 .- " Mr. Thomas, within eigh- teen months, has baptized at least one hundred and sixty, many of whom are adults. He in- culcates in the people a sense of the benefit and privileges of the sacraments, and finds them in the main convinced of the wholesomeness and necessity of these ordinances."
1723, April I .- Mr. Thomas writes that he has baptized ninety children and adults, thirty-seven whereof at one time, 18 of whom were adults, upon which occasion (it being performed in a distant pri- vate house) he discoursed at large, ex tempore, upon the subject and great necessity of the sacrament of baptism. " I have all along inculcated into the people here a sense of the benefit and privilege of the sacra- ments, that particulary of the Lord's Supper. The word ' damnation,' so rendered in our English transla- . tion, is a mighty bugbear to weak scrupulous con- sciences, which by public preaching and private conferences I have endeavored to explain.
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