USA > New York > Nassau County > Hempstead > History of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y. > Part 9
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And doubtless it was thought that the Vestry had greatly strengthened itself by the acquisition of a per-
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St. George's Church.
son of such standing and influence. His refusal to join in a protest against the impious acts of the. young British officers must therefore have been an unpleasant surprise to his associates; and it can be accounted for only on the supposition that he was afraid that his position as an adherent to the British cause would be endangered if he made any opposi- tion to the acts of any member of the British army. He had a high and lucrative office, and was anxious to keep it. He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of New York. And when martial law supplanted civil law in the State, Mr. Ludlow was appointed by Gov. Robertson, in 1780, the Master of Rolls or Superintendent of Police of Long Island ; this Police, as it was called, taking the place of all courts and proceeding in a most summary-and, not infrequent- ly, most arbitrary manner to dispense justice accord- ing to rules of its own making. Mr. Ludlow freed himself from all suspicion of being half-hearted in the Loyalist cause or of being too lenient towards the aiders and abettors of the rebel Washington and his companions in arms. Mr. Ludlow therefore shunned. to appear to side against Capt. Archedale and for the parish of which he was a member and an offi- cer.
Mr. George Duncan Ludlow's name appears in the list of those affected by the Act of Attainder passed by the Legislature of New York, Oct. 22, 1779, and. by which his estate at Hyde Park, as now called, was confiscated and himself outlawed. And when, by the issue of the Revolutionary War, the rebels took pos- session of the land, Mr. George D. Ludlow went into.
I33;
Rev. Leonard Cutting.
exile and died in Frederickton, New Brunswick, Feb. 1808.
But to return to the case of Capt. Archedale.
On the 3Ist May, 1782, the Church Wardens re- ported, at a meeting of the Vestry, that they had waited upon Capt. Archedale with the complaint they were directed to make, but that their reception was by no means satisfactory. The Rector stated that Capt. Archedale had met him on the road and told him he had given the young officers a severe lecture. But the Vestry were naturally disinclined to accept of this declaration as a proper answer to their formal complaint, and so-
"The Vestry unanimously declare that they are dis- satisfied with the ungenteel behaviour of Capt. Arche- dale, and defer the consideration of the affair till a future day."
That day never came. The tide was turning in favor of the Continental arms and the British troops. were ere long to abandon this land. Besides the above-mentioned annoyances and troubles to which the members of this parish were subjected during the Revolutionary war, although it was exceptionally fa- vored in having among its members persons of great influence and authority with the English Government, there were many others, to which allusion is made in the correspondence of the Rector.
In a letter to the officers of the county whose duty it was to collect and pay over the stipend which the law assigned to the minister of this parish, the Rev. Mr. Cutting complains that they had not paid him what was due him for several years' service at Oyster
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St. George's Church.
Bay. "You must think it hard," says he, " for ser- vices thro' all weathers for so long a time, attended with fatigue to myself and expense in horses, should pass unrewarded."
The following letter, dated December 9, 1781, and probably intended to reach the Venerable Society, details some additional troubles which Mr. Cutting encountered, together with his efforts to obtain recom- pense for losses which he had sustained.
" My situation obliges me to trust my letters to a friend, generally to the gentleman who takes my bills. In respect to the schools, Mr. Timothy Wetmore is at present provided for. Mr. James Wetmore I know not ; and if I did, it would be to no purpose, as the rapacity of an officer of rank [Col. Birch] has put an end to all hopes of that kind. When the 17th Light Dragoons came to Hempstead in 1778, the command- ing officer, after various acts of violence and oppres- sion too tedious to mention (and by which I suffered considerably in my property), at length moved a public building [the cage] which he had used as a guard-house, and joined it to a house he had seized with some land (the owner [Mr. Samuel Pintard] being then in England), converted the school to a guard-house, and appropriated to his own use three acres of land allotted for the benefit of the school- master. In 1780 this officer was removed to a very high command in New York. We then had assur- ance that the school and land should be restored. In this expectation I wrote to the Society; but as [yet] his worse than useless regiment has been scarce out of the smoke of Hempstead since its first arrival. He still keeps possession of all. This is one, and perhaps the most trifling instance of a thousand, that might be produced of the tyranny we groan under.
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Rev. Leonard Cutting.
Where the army is, oppression (such as in England you have no conception of) universally prevails. We have nothing we can call our own, and the door to redress is inaccessible. What a state must that people be in who can find relief neither from law, justice nor humanity, where the military is concerned ! This is the case of the inhabitants within the King's lines. In regard to myself I have often applied for redress ; first in 1778, to Mr. Eden, one of the Com- missioners, from whom I had a letter to head-quarters, which, however, was ineffectual. On other occasions I tried memorials to as little purpose. Necessity obliged me to apply more attentively to the earth for subsistence, and an advantageous purchase present- ing, a friend kindly lent me the money to secure it. I now hoped to provide for my family in spite of oppression. How I was disappointed the enclosed memorial [to Governor Robertson] will show. It had no effect. Whether it proceeded from want of power or something else in the Governor is not for me to determine. Hospitals and everything of that kind are, I know, fully charged to governments, and when private property is thus violently seized, it is only to fill the purse of the oppressor."
"The memorial of Leonard Cutting humbly show- eth that the means for subsistence for my family having been much impaired by the present times, I some time since made a purchase of a dwelling-house and about twenty-five acres of land near the town- spot of Hempstead. During the last winter, while I was a proprietor of it, the house was occupied as a hospital for the 17th Regiment of Light Dragoons ; that no rent being allowed by them, I applied to Your Excellency for allowance of rent, or for the re- moval of the troops; that the troops continued in it till July or August last, and then left it in a ruinous condition, saying they had no further use for it.
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St. George's Church.
Wishing since to make the most advantageous use of it for the support of my family, I have been at con- siderable expense in repairing the house, and have let it to a tenant for the ensuing winter, who was put in possession of it. I have also on the land upwards of fourteen acres of winter grain, and have contract- ed to let the house and one acre of land for a year from next spring at a rent of £50. On October 28th, by order of the commanding officer of the above-said regiment, said house was broken open and entered into by violence, and possession taken of it for the purpose of a hospital ; and I am the more astonished at a measure so injurious to me, after sustaining last winter the burden of having the same house employ- ed for the public use without receiving any compen- sation for it. At present my winter grain, in the midst of which is the house, will be exposed to destruction if the hospital is continued in it. I beg leave to complain of an unjustifiable violation of my property and of an unreasonable imposition on me; nor can I help feeling the distresses to which my family must be exposed when stript of so considerable a part of the slender means I have for their support. I hope for redress from your humanity and your well known justice, and pray Your Excellency will order the house to be restored to me or rent given for the use of it."
The parish records bear testimony of the presence of the British forces in this neighborhood during the war in numerous entries of the marriages of officers and privates by Mr. Cutting, and of the baptism of children whose parents are designated as being connected with some British regiment, of De Lancey's Brigade. In some instances those who formed alliances here either remained after the disbanding of the army, or returned
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Rev. Leonard Cutting.
afterwards, and are the progenitors of a number of influential families on Long Island.
When the war terminated favorably for Congress. and the Continental forces, Mr. Cutting could not comfortably, nor, perhaps, safely remain in the Rector- ship. He left the parish probably quite informally, as there is no record of his resignation or the time of his departure, and only this reference to it, viz. :
" Dec. 1784 .- Rev. Mr. Cutting having acquainted the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of his resolution to leave the Parish, it was agreed Mr. Stephen Carman should wait upon Mr. Moore and acquaint him it was their request he should appoint some day on which to preach at Hempstead." *
From Hempstead Mr. Cutting appears to have retired to Maryland, for among the names of the clergy of that State who signed a recommendation for Dr. William Smith for the office of a Bishop, and which is dated Annapolis, Aug. 16, 1783, is that of " Leo. Cutting, All-Hallows Parish, Worcester Co."t Yet again, in the list of clergymen mentioned by Bishop White,¿ as attending the Preliminary Con- vention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Oct. 6. and 7, 1784, is that of " Cutting."
He officiated first at Snow Hill, Maryland, and was called thence to the charge of Christ Church, New- berne, North Carolina, where he officiated for nearly eight years. He is thus referred to in the minutes of the Committee appointed to forward an address to
* Records of Vestry, p. 106.
+ Per y's His. Notes and Doc., vol. 3, p. 338.
# Memoirs, second edition, p, 79.
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St. George's Church.
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York : " The let- ter to the Clergy of North Carolina, addressed to the Rev. Mr. Cutting, to be communicated, was," &c .*
In 1792 he was appointed Secretary to the House of Bishops, on the resignation of the Rev. Samuel Keene.t In 1793, as appears by the Journal of the Diocese of New York, (p. 67, Onderdonk's reprint,) a deed of gift of Christ Church, Duanesburgh, is attested by " Leonard Cutting, Minister of the Pro- testant Episcopal Church, United States." From the assertion of this attestation it is evident that Mr. Cutting had submitted fully to the change in the ecclesiastical relations which had resulted for him by the issue of the Revolutionary struggle. After residing in New York city for about two years after he removed from Newberne, he was prostrated by an apoplectic fit, from which he died, January 25, 1794, in the seventieth year of his age. The following notice of his death appeared in the Daily Advertiser of January 28, 1794 : ±
" Died, on the 25th inst., after a very short illness, Rev. Leonard Cutting, aged 69 years ; formerly Pro- fessor of Greek and Latin Languages in King's (now Columbia) College; then Rector of St. George's Church, Hempstead, Long Island, and late Rector of Christ Church, Newbern, North Carolina. For learn- ing, probity, unaffected piety, and a generous spirit of independence, respected, esteemed and beloved, equally by his pupils, his parishioners, and his friends."
* Perry's Hist. Notes, &c., Vol. 3, p. 398.
+ Perry's Journal, Vol. 1, .p. 163.
# Sprague, Epis. Pulpit, p. 226.
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Rev. Leonard Cutting.
Mr. Cutting left two children, William and Charles Spencer. The record of their baptisms is as follows :
"$1773-Sept. ye 5th-Baptized at Hempstead, William son of Leonard and of Hempstead.
Ann Frances Cutting Sponsors. Rev. Dr. Cooper, President of King's College, Capt. Samuel Pintard, Frances Ludlow."
" 1782, May the 19th .- Baptized at Hempstead,
Charles Spencer, son of Leonard ) and Cutting,
Ann Frances
of Hempstead.
Sponsors. Rev. Mr. Cooke, Dr. Samuel Martin, Mrs. Mary Pintard."
William became a lawyer. In 1800 he married. Gertrude, daughter of Walter Livingstone. A sister of Mrs. Gertrude Cutting married Robert Fulton. William died in 1820, leaving six sons and two daughters.
Mrs. Cutting continued to reside in Hempstead after her husband left the parish, and held possession of the parish plate and books until urgently requested by the Vestry to deliver them up. She died in Phil- adelphia in 1803 .*
Mr. Cutting is represented to have been short in. stature and of a slender frame ; amiable, cheerful and. agreeable in manners, and fond of social intercourse. His costume, after the fashion of that day, was a. black velvet coat, small clothes with buckles at the
* Sabin's Loyalists, p. 239.
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St. George's Church.
knee and in his shoes. His hair was powdered, and he wore a three-cornered hat. His venerable and dignified appearance made an impression on the memory of persons who saw him in their youth, and who have given me this description, which they vividly retained, after a lapse of more than seventy years.
.
CHAPTER V.
1784-1799.
W ITH the close of Mr. Cutting's Rectorship a new era opened in the history of St. George's Parish.
By the changes wrought by the recognition of our country as an independent nation, the Church fol- lowed the fortune of the State in being sundered from the mother country. The connection of the Mission- ary parishes with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which, for near a century, had been a nursing mother to this and other parishes, was broken, and the people were henceforth obliged to tax their own resources for the support of their ministers, and to act in all things according only to the dictates of their own discretion and wisdom.
The parish had so decidedly favored the Royal cause that it would have been a matter of little sur- prise if, at the turn of affairs, it should have been well-nigh extinguished ; for such was the fate of many a parish in other parts of the land. It was weakened by the departure of some of its families to Nova Scotia and other of the British Possessions, and it felt especially the loss of such prominent and influ-
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St. George's Church.
ential members as Judge Thomas Jones, the author of the recently published history, from the Tory point of view, of New York in the Revolutionary war; George Duncan Ludlow and Daniel Kissam.
But in God's good providence it suffered less than might have been reasonably expected. The articles of its Charter made adequate provision for the exigency which had arisen, and enabled it to enter readily on an independent course of life. And the Vestry which was in existence at Mr. Cutting's departure, promptly assumed the responsibilities devolved upon them, and sought at once to fill the vacancy in the Rector- ship. And yet their proceedings indicate a measure of inexpertness and indecision for a time, as that of persons unaccustomed to the helm. This becomes apparent in the following record. First, on the 9th of January, 1785, the congregation were notified to assemble the next day. On the 10th of January they assembled accordingly, and "agreed unanimously to call Mr. Moore, and allow him for two-thirds of his ministerial services at St. George's Church, the sum of One Hundred Pounds New York currency, and also to put him in possession of all and singular the Privileges belonging to said Church." This call, it will be perceived, was not-as heretofore-by the Vestry, but by the congregation : and that although the Charter expressly " declares and grants that- the presentation of and to the said church and parish -shall appertain and belong to and be hereby vested in the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Saint George's in the parish of Hempstead aforesaid, for the time being, and their successors forever, or to
143
Rev. Thos. Lambert Moore.
the major part of them, whereof one Church Warden always to be one."
But the call was accepted by Mr. Moore, and the Parish Records* state that "on Thursday, 20th of January, (1785) Mr. Moore removed to Hempstead, and on the 23rd of same Month gave Public notice to the congregation-' That Thursday, 8th February, was appointed the Day for choosing Trustees to take charge of the Temporalities of the Church,' which notice was continued for three successive Sabbaths."
" 8th February .- The Congregation assembled for the purpose above mentioned, unanimously made choice of the following gentlemen to fill that office- Namely-Messrs. George Hewlett, Andrew Onder- donk, Stephen Hewlett, Thos. Clowes, Jr., Israel Smith and Richard Thorne. A certificate of which Election wast- before Judge Smith, and registered a few days after by the County Clark."
The gentlemen thus chosen Trustees were not the same as the Wardens and Vestrymen at that time, as will be seen by comparing the names presently to be given, but were a distinct body of men.
Mr. Moore having accepted the invitation to the rectorship,-the next step was to give him formal in- troduction into the office. How should this be done? Heretofore the civil authorities had issued a precept to some one to see that this was done, and to certify to it. But the authority of those to whom this duty had fallen was now abrogated, and there was no Bishop in the country to assume the duty. There was no form then provided in the Prayer- Book for the Induction or
* P. 107.
{ Blank in the original entry ...
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St. George's Church.
Institution of Ministers. The Vestry were thrown upon the suggestions of their own judgment in meet- ing this exigency. And it is interesting to see what their action was. They wisely adopted a form of pro- ceeding, continuing the custom, instead of pleading the novelty of their position as an excuse for neglecting it ; and did the best they could under the circumstances, and that best could hardly have been bettered. The parish records, under date of Feb. 24, 1785, state that one of the Church Wardens, Mr. Haugewout, and sev- eral of the congregation assembled on that day at the church agreeably to notice given them the previous Sunday morning, the 20th inst., to Induct Mr. Moore; but as few of the Vestry were present, the weather ex- tremely stormy, and an error appeared in the call and certificate of Induction, it was postponed till Thurs- day, the 3d of March ensuing.
" 3d March .- The Church-Wardens, Vestrymen and Congregation being assembled, proceeded to In- duct Mr. Moore-when the Following Call and Cer- tificate of Induction being read, and Mr. Moore's letters of Orders examined-He was put in full pos- session of the Parish-with all, its rights, dignities, and appurtenances as formerly held and enjoyed by all former Rectors."
A copy of the Call given to Mr. Moore :
"[L. s.] Whereas the Rev'd Mr. Leonard Cutting, late Rector and Clerk of the Parish Church of St. George, in South Hempstead, has voluntarily vacated the said Church : We the Church Wardens and Vestrymen have by and with the consent of the Con- gregation of said Church, unanimously Called the Rev'd Mr. Thomas Lambert Moore to supply the
Rev. Thos. Lambert Moore. 145
Place of the Rev'd Mr. Leonard Cutting: and after Induction to enjoy all and singular the Rights, Priv- ileges, and Appurtenances to the said Church belong- ing or any way appertaining as heretofore held and enjoyed .- In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals, and affixed the seal of our Cor- poration, this third day of March, One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty-five.
Church Wardens.
Leffert Haugewout, [L. s.]
James Wood, [L. s.]
Sam'l Martin, [L. S. ]
Richard Hewlet, ـالـ
L. S.]
Vestrymen.
Cornelius V. Nostrandt, [L. S. ]
Martin V. Nostrandt, [L. S.]
George Watts, L. S.7
G. Beldwin (his X mark) [L. S.] " A true copy from original."
Then follows the form of Induction used in this, probably, first instance of the Induction of a Rector into an Episcopal Church in North America after the separation of the States from the mother country. We give it in full.
[L. s.] "By Virtue of Powers Vested in us by our Office as Church Wardens and Vestrymen duly elected, We induct you into the Real and Actual Possession of the Rectory of St. George's Church in South Hempstead, with all its Profits and Appurte- nances.
"This is to Certify to all whom it may concern that on Thursday, the third Day of March, in the year of Our Lord Christ, One Thousand Seven Hun- dred and eighty-five, at South Hempstead, in Queens County, and State of New York: We the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the Parish Church of St. George, in South Hempstead, County and State afore-
7
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St. George's Church.
said, did, as well by Virtue of powers derived to us from our Office, as by authority conferred upon and reposed in us by the unanimous voice and consent of the Congregation in general, Induct the Rev. Thos. L. Moore into the Real and Actual Possession of the. said Parish Church, together with all its Rights, Dignities, Immunities, and Appurtenances. In Wit- ness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals, and affixed the seal of our Corporation, the Day and Year above written-
Church Wardens. Leffert Haugewout, James Wood, [L. S.]
[L. s.]
L Cornelius Van Nostrandt, [L. S.]
Vestrymen. ? 1 Martin Van Nostrandt, [L. S. ]
Samuel Martin, L. S. ـالـ George Watts, L. S. ]
Richard Hewlet. [L. S.]
Witnesses.
A. Seabury, Andrew Onderdonk,
D. Brooks,
Benj. Hewlet,
Benj. Tredwell, Thos. Clowes,
Timothy Smith,
Israel Smith,
George Hewlet,
James Cornell.
" A true copy."
Duly considering the novelty of the position of the Vestry, that they had no ecclesiastical superior to direct them, for even the nominal oversight of the Bishop of London had terminated; and that the present office for the Institution of Ministers was not adopted until twenty years after this, viz., in 1804; and that the Vestry had no precedent to guide them in selecting a proper form for the orderly and digni- fied introduction of their new Rector into his charge,
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Rev. Thos. Lambert Moore.
it must be conceded that they proceeded in a highly becoming manner.
We have seen (p. 142, 143) that certain persons were elected Trustees-"to take charge of the Tem- poralities of the Church." This was to comply with the terms of an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed April, 1784, entitled, " An act to enable all the religious denominations in this State to appoint Trustees, who shall be a body corporate, for the purpose of taking care of the temporalities of their respective congregations ; and for other purposes therein mentioned." Whether this act rightly ap- plied to a parish already incorporated, and whose incorporation was recognized by the State,* it is not worth our while now to inquire. In the uncertainty of the times as to what rights survived the upheaval of the Revolutionary war, and what ones had been dissolved by it, it was doubtless wise for the Vestry to use " excess of caution." Their own perplexity is disclosed in the following resolution passed by the Vestry, Jan. 10, 1785 t in relation to this act :
"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Vestry, that as they cannot at present define the precise signifi- cation of the term Temporalitics, the Trustees had better take immediate possession of what can strictly be so called, viz .: The Parsonage House, Land adjoin- ing and Glebe at South, to which the Vestry are willing to consent, till Whitsun-Tuesday next, pro- vided They (the trustees) will leave in their hands and possession the Church, Church-yard and whatever Revenues may arise from the same, during that space of time."
* See p. 50.
t Records, p. 110.
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St. George's Church.
At a meeting of the Vestry, in May, 1785, it was " Ordered, That the two Church-Wardens and Dr. Martin be a committee to wait upon Mrs. Cutting and request to be informed by her when she imagines it will be convenient to give Mr. Moore possession of his house."
Of the response made to this inquiry there is no record.
The Rev. Thomas Lambert Moore, whose election and induction into the Rectorship of St. George's parish we have recounted, was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Channing Moore. He was born in the city of New York, Feb. 22, 1758. In his youth he served in the counting-house of Mr. Lewis Pintard, but his heart and mind were set on the work of the ministry ; and after acquiring due preparation under the private tuition of an excellent classical teacher, Mr. Alex. Leslie, he entered Kings-now Columbia Col- lege-with the class of 1775, and was thus an associate with Benjamin Kissam, afterwards Professor of the Institute of Medicine, and with Alexander Hamilton and other distinguished names. But on the 6th of April, 1776, the College buildings were taken for military purposes. The exercises of the College were interrupted, and were not resumed until the close of the war; and consequently Mr. Moore could not complete his course. He joined his family, who had removed to West Point. In the autumn of 1776, he went to his brother, John Moore, Esq., then an offi- cer in the Custom House, New York ; at whose re- quest he was received into the office of Daniel Car- nier, Esq., Commissary General of the King's army.
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