USA > New York > Queens County > Flushing > History of St. George's Parish, Flushing, Long Island > Part 3
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A spire, or steeple, was considered almost an essential to a church belonging to the Church of England in those days. It distinguished it as such. "The steeple house ' was the common name given to a church by the Puri- tans. But the spire or steeple, was not at first built. The Church stood about ten years without it.
Mr. Colgan died in December, 1755, "lamented and respected by all who knew him," after a ministry of more than twenty-three years in the united parishes. Three churches were built during his rectorship; viz., at Jamaica, Newtown, and Flushing. He found the churches in a depressed state, but from no fault of his persecuted and enduring predecessor. The tide had reported encouraging progress. He wrote at the same
reached its ebb when he came. In his second year he time : "We are at peace with the sectaries that are round about us, and I hope that by God's help, peace will subsist among us. To sow the seeds thereof shall be my endeavor ; to be of a loving, charitable demeanor to all, of whatever persuasion in matters of religion, shall be, by God's help, my practice, that so discharging my duties herein, I may contribute my mite to the good of the Church of Christ." Unwittingly, Mr. Colgan in
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THE REV. THOMAS COLGAN.
this, drew the portrait of his ministry. We are ready to exclaim, " O si sic omnes!" The result of his labors shows us his Christian spirit. His prudent bearing did much to soften the asperities of the sects among them- selves, to allay prejudice against the Church, and to gain the good will of all.
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CHAPTER VI.
RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. SAMUEL SEABURY- BUILDING THE CHURCH SPIRE-A BELL GIVEN BY MR. JOHN ASPINWALL-THE CHARTER OF THE PARISH-A. D. 1755-1765.
A GREAT danger threatened the united parishes of Jamaica, Newtown and Flushing after the death of Mr. Colgan.
The dissenters had a majority in the vestry at Jamaica and the old feud between them and the Churchmen re- vived. They made choice of a Presbyterian minister to succeed Mr. Colgan, and presented his name to Gov- ernor Hardy for induction. This action, if successful, would have been destructive to the struggling parishes, and would have left them without the service of the Church. But Governor Hardy, "in obedience to instruc- tions from his Majesty," could not admit the minister presented because he could not procure a certificate under seal from the Bishop of London, of conformity to the Church of England. The vestry would present no one else. So the matter stood. After waiting half a year, Gov- ernor Hardy took matters into his own hands, and " his Excellency was pleased to collate to the cure of the parish, the Rev. Samuel Seabury, Jr., in 1755." He afterwards became the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. During Mr. Seabury's rectorship, Mr. John As- pinwall, a retired merchant, removed from New York to
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THE REV. SAMUEL SEABURY.
Flushing. He is described in a letter of the time, as " a zealous Churchman, and a man of great public spirit and large fortune." The presence of an earnest, energetic, open-hearted Christian layman, of enlarged views, was a new and disturbing element in the sluggish life of a rural community.
From Perry's History. THE RT. REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D.
Mr. Aspinwall's residence still stands as one of the landmarks of older Flushing. It was long known as the " Bloodgood mansion," and is now the residence of Mr. Paul De Lacy Lieberman. Associated in Mr. Aspinwall's good work was Mr. Thomas Grenell, a loyal and active Churchman, whose name is worthy of a place among the
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
zealous workers of St. George's Church. Mr. Aspinwall did not find the religious state of Flushing to correspond with its advantages and beauty of location. A contem- porary, in a letter still extant, gives a gloomy picture. He writes : "Mr. Aspinwall found the inhabitants almost devoid of all sense of religion, with a total dissolution of all manners, and a horrid contempt of the Sabbath." Fain would we tone down this rugged picture. But the reports of Mr. Seabury to the Society, confirm the state- ment. In 1759 he wrote this pregnant sentence : "Flush- ing, in the last generation the grand seat of Quakerism, is in this, the seat of Deism and infidelity. Bred up in entire neglect of all forms in worship, in contempt of the ministry and sacraments, and the practical denial of the need of any redemption, it seems a natural transition, and hard is their conversion ! Even among the members of the Church there is a great backwardness in attending her services and sacraments, growing out of the prevail- ing religious indifference." * * * " Preaching once
in three weeks at a place, I find by experience, will do little more than keep up the present languid sense of religion, and were it not for the steady though slow in- crease in Newtown I should be quite discouraged."
Mr. Aspinwall speedily attempted a reformation. His first step seems like a prophetical one. He established a school. This was the beginning of Flushing schools. He induced Mr. Treadwell, of New York, to settle in Flushing and establish a Latin school. His next step was to finish the church, and provide the decent appoint- ments of public worship. The letter quoted above, says: "He found the church an unfinished shell." His first move was to finish it, and make it comfortable and attrac- tive. The good people had grace enough, and sense enough, to let him take the lead. He finished and fur-
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THE REV. SAMUEL SEABURY.
nished the interior, and "built a handsome steeple, and gave a very fine bell." All this was "at his own cost amounting to {600." "It is now," adds the enthusiastic writer, "one of the neatest churches of its bigness in America." The vane on the present chapel is the same one placed on the completed church at that time. This was in A. D., 1760.
The bell of the first church had on it the inscription : "The gift of John Aspinwall, Gentleman, 1760." It weighed about 400 pounds. When, in 1853, the present church was building and a larger bell was required, Mr. William H. Aspinwall, and his brother John, generously claimed the right to give the new bell, on condition that the old one should be recast in the new. This was care- fully complied with. The old bell was taken to the Troy foundry, broken up and put into the melting pot in the presence of a member of the vestry, appointed for that purpose,-the late W. H. Schermerhorn, Esq. The old inscription was cast on the new bell, with an appropriate addition of the names and date of gift of the original donor's descendants.
Before the advent of Mr. Aspinwall, service had been held but once in three weeks, in Flushing, roads and weather permitting. Mr. Aspinwall induced Mr. Tread- well to become a lay reader, and hold a service every Sunday. The effect of this was soon visible. In the letter from which we have quoted, it is said : "He (Mr. A.) and Mr. Treadwell by their own good ex- ample and pious labors, brought together a numerous congregation, where for the last four years seldom more than ten persons assembled. Such has been the happy effect of example." And such we may add, were the happy results of lay work in the early days of the parish.
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
Mr. Seabury, during his earnest pastorate, moved to obtain a charter for each of the three parishes. We judge that its inception was his because the petitions for the charters were similar, and made in the same year. The petition from Flushing, dated the 27th of May, 1761, was made to the Hon. Cadwallader Colden, President of the Council of the Province of New York. It set forth that the petitioners and the rest of the inhabitants of the town of Flushing, in communion of the Church of England by law established, had long labored under great incon- venience because of the lack of regular Divine service, and had found it very discouraging to the cause of religion ; that they had at great expense erected a decent place of worship in the name of St. George's Church, and obtained half an acre of land adjoining for the use of a cemetery, and had determined to make suitable provision for the support of a minister to be called to the care of the church ; but that the petitioners and the rest of the inhabitants of Flushing could not carry on the good design without being incorporated, so as to receive donations and dispose of the same. Therefore they asked for Letters Patent to create them a body politic and corporate.
This petition was signed by twenty-one persons. The petition from Jamaica, sent ten days earlier, had twenty- four signatures ; that of Newtown, sent four months later, had thirty-four. These lists show the names of the old Church families in the respective parishes, at that date. We subjoin those from Flushing :
John Aspinwall, Thomas Grenell, Daniel Thorne, Joseph Bowne, Joseph Haviland, Jacob Thorne, Francis Brown, Foster Lewis, William Thorne, Charles Cornell, John Morrell, Benjamin Thorne, John Dyer, Jeremiah Mitchell, Nathaniel Tom, Benjamin Fowler, John Mars-
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THE REV. SAMUEL SEABURY.
ton, Charles Wright, Isaac Doughty, Christopher Robert, John Wilson.
Few of these venerable names are now found among us. They represented families scattered over the large town of Flushing. The vestry appointed by the charter, had for Church Wardens, John Aspinwall and Thomas Grenell ; for Vestrymen, John Dyer, Christopher Robert,
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PS. Jeunter
From Perry's History. SITE OF BISHOP SKINNER'S CHAPEL, ABERDEEN.
John Morrell, Joseph Haviland, Francis Brown and Jeremiah Mitchell, to serve until their successors were chosen, which would be on Easter Tuesday, 1762. The charter is dated June 17, 1761-the first year of George the Third-and St. George's Church took its place among the few incorporated parishes in the Province of New York.
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
During Mr. Seabury's rectorship, Flushing and New- town became dissatisfied because they had but one service in three weeks, and resolved to make better provision for themselves. After consultation, they asked the Society's permission to separate from Jamaica and to be united under the care of one clergyman. As the two parishes, unaided, could not support a minister, they applied for an appropriation. They asked that Mr. Treadwell, the school-master and lay-reader, might go to England for Holy Orders, and return as their missionary. Jamaica consented to the arrangement. Mr. Treadwell went abroad and was ordained. On his return he was to continue his school in Flushing, "as the nursery of our infant college"-King's, now Columbia, College.' He returned, but not to live in Flushing. The Society was moved to decline the appropriation asked for. Mr. Treadwell was sent by the Bishop of London as mis- sionary to Trenton, N. J. A letter to the Society from Mr. Seabury may explain this. He speaks of the unquiet of the Church in Flushing, and complains of Mr. Tread- well's intrusion in holding a service and administering baptism there, after his return. He says: "All this was done through one Mr. Aspinwall, who wants New- town and Flushing set off from Jamaica and to be under the care of Mr. Treadwell ; but the growing expenses of an increasing family will not permit me to relinquish any part of my salary." He received twenty pounds from each of the two parishes.
The former friendly relations between Mr. Seabury and Mr. Aspinwall became strained, and the harmony be- tween the parishes was broken. Perhaps it was the sign of life. A peace was temporarily made, but it has been well said that a Church's dissention is the devil's seed- time. The reaping soon came. In their disputes, the
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THE REV. SAMUEL SEABURY.
parishes forgot their promises to their overworked Rec- tor, and made no provisions for his salary. The climax came at length : Mr. Seabury, in 1765, asked to be re- lieved of his restless charge, and removed to Westchester.
The resignation of Mr. Seabury was a great loss to the three united parishes. Their neglect of him during his rectorship was not because of any dissatisfaction with him, but because of their mutual jealousy. Each feared the others were not bearing their proper share of the gen- eral expense, and Newtown and Flushing seemed united against Jamaica in the feeling that the latter received more than its due share of the rector's time and attention.
During the disputes with England, which resulted in the War of Independence, Mr. Seabury-who had taken an oath of allegiance to the Crown-felt constrained to take the side of the mother country. He was seized at his Westchester home by a band of soldiers and taken a prisoner to Connecticut. After regaining his freedom he supported himself by his skill as a physician-having studied medicine when a young man at Edinburgh-and exercised his sacred functions as a priest whenever op- portunity offered. At the close of the war, March 25, 1783, he was elected Bishop of Connecticut. On Sunday, November 14th, of the following year, he was conse- crated in the private chapel of Bishop Skinner, in Aber- deen, by three "non-juring" bishops of Scotland. He returned in 1785, the first bishop of the American Church. In addition to his duties as Bishop of Connecticut, he un- dertook the rectorship of the parish of New London. Bishop Seabury died on February 25, 1796.
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CHAPTER VII.
THE PARISH CHARTER.
T HE charter is dated June 17, 1761-the first year of the reign of King George III. It is quite a lengthy document, written on parchment. To it is attached the great seal of the Province of New York. It is drawn up with great care : the duties by it prescribed and the priv- ileges granted are all accurately defined. So wise and judicious did its provisions appear that the parish of St. Peter's, Westchester, a year after, petitioned for a charter "with such rights, privileges and immunities as were heretofore granted to the inhabitants of Flushing."
We shall not attempt to give more than an outline of the most important provisions of the charter. It begins thus :
"George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., to all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting : Whereas, our loving subjects, John Aspinwall, Thomas Grenell, Daniel Thorne, Joseph Bowne, Joseph Haviland, Jacob Thorne, Francis Brown, Foster Lewis, William Thorne, Charles Cornell, John Morell, Benjamin Thorne, John Dyer, Jeremiah Mitchell, Nathaniel Tom, Benjamin Fowler, John Marston, Charles Wright, Isaac Doughty, Christopher Robert, John Wilson, by their humble peti- tion in behalf of themselves and the rest of the inhabi- tants of the Township of Flushing, in communion of the Church of England, by law established, presented to our
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THE PARISH CHARTER.
trusty and well beloved Cadwallader Colden, Esq., Presi- dent of our Council and Commander-in-Chief of our Prov- ince of New York and the territories depending thereon in America, in council assembled on the 27th day of May, last past [1761], did set forth that they and the rest of the inhabitants of Flushing, in communion of the Church of England," [here follows the petition. ] "Which peti- tion having been then and there read and considered of, our said Council did afterwards on the same day humbly advise our said. President to grant the prayer thereof : Wherefore, we being willing to give all our encourage- ment to the pious intentions of our said subjects, and to grant their reasonable request, Know ye, that we of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion have made, ordained, constituted, granted and declared, and by these presents for us and our heirs and successors, do make, ordain, constitute, grant and declare that the said petitioners and the rest of the inhabitants of the Town of Flushing, in communion of the Church of England, and they and their successors for the time being, by the name of The Inhabitants of the Township of Flushing, in Queens County, in communion of the Church of England, as by law established, one body politick and corporate in deed, fact and name, really and fully, we do for us, our heirs and successors erect, make, constitute, declare and create, by these presents bind that by the same name they and their successors shall and may have perpetual succession, etc., as fully as any other corporation within that part of Great Britain called England."
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After granting all the powers and rights of a body cor- porate, it is provided that " for the better ordering and managing the affairs and business of the said corporation, there shall be one minister of the Church of England, duly qualified for the cure of souls, two church wardens
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
and six vestrymen elected and chosen for said church as hereafter expressed, which minister and church wardens, or any two of them, with the vestrymen, or major part of them, shall have and are hereby invested with full power and authority to dispose, order and govern the general business affairs of the said church ". . . "and to have a common seal to serve and use in all matters," .... "And for the better execution of our royal will and pleas- ure herein, we do assign, constitute and appoint the said John Aspinwall and Thomas Grenell to be the present church wardens, and the said John Dyer, Christopher Robert, John Morell, Joseph Haviland, Francis Brown and Jeremiah Mitchell to be the present vestrymen. And further our will and pleasure is, and we do establish, ap- point and direct that the said Tuesday in Easter week next ensuing and once every year thereafter forever on Tuesday in Easter week at the said church, the inhabi- tants of the Town of Flushing, in communion of the Church of England, or the major part of them, then and there assembled, shall elect, choose and appoint two of their numbers to be church wardens, and six other mem- bers to be vestrymen of said church for the year ensuing or until fit persons shall be elected in their respective places."
Another part of the charter relates to the calling of a minister. "And further, for us and our heirs and succes- sors, we do declare and grant that the patronage, advow- son, donation or presentation of and to the said church shall appertain and belong to, and is hereby invested in the church wardens and vestrymen for the time being, and their successors forever, or the major part of them whereof one church warden shall always be one."
The original corporate title of the parish was : "The Inhabitants of the Town of Flushing in Communion of
THE PARISH CHARTER A. D. 1761.
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
the Church of England as by Law Established." Noth- ing is said about a rector. The Rector of the three par- ishes resided at Jamaica and received his title from that parish.
When the Legislature of New York revised the Church charters of the State, in 1793, it changed the official title of the parish of Flushing from "The Inhabitants of the Town of Flushing in Communion of the Church of Eng- land as by Law Established," to " The Rector and Inhab- itants of the Town of Flushing in Communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York." The same act also changed the title Minister, to Rector, and gave him all the rights, privileges and powers of other rectors of the Church in the State of New York, and, as a consequence, gave to the vestry the power to call a rector.
It may be of interest to inquire, how far this charter was affected by the War of Independence, which changed the Province of New York into an independent State. The first Constitution of the State of New York provided that the acts and laws of the colony up to 1775, should be the law of the state, as far as they were not repugnant to the Constitution. This was in 1777. Some of these laws were construed to imply an establishment of the Church of England, as the religion of the Province. The Constitution met this difficulty by ordaining as the or- ganic law of the State, that "the free exercise and enjoy- ment of religious profession and worship without discrim- ination or preference shall forever be allowed," and that all acts and laws of the colony " which may be construed to establish or maintain any particular denomination of Christians or their ministers, are repugnant to this Con- . stitution, and are hereby abrogated and rejected." The Legislature, in 1784, enacted, that " to remove all doubts
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THE PARISH CHARTER.
as to the continuance, force and effect of certain acts of legislation of this State as a Colony, passed in 1693" [and enumerating every similar act, to that of 1745], "which do grant certain privileges to the Episcopal Church, or that mode of worship commonly called the Church of England, and which also declare or imply a preference of said Episcopal Church over all other churches, are hereby abrogated, abolished, rescinded and made void."
But when the constitution made the equality of all re- ligious denominations to be the fundamental law of the state, with equal justice it protected all charters and char- tered rights granted to churches. It ordained " that noth- ing in this constitution shall be construed to affect any grant made by the king or his predecessors, or to annul any charters to bodies politic made by him or them prior to October 14, 1775." The charter of St. George's Church was thus recognized and protected by the first Constitu- tion of the State, and has since remained unchanged by any statute of the Legislature, except in a technical en- largement of its corporate title. It is to-day therefore, as operative as it was in June, 1761, unaffected by civil and political changes in the State. The canon of the Diocese of Long Island, "On Parish Boundaries," de- clares : " The parish boundaries, as defined by the Laws of the State of New York, of the four parishes of St. George's, Flushing, Grace, Jamaica, St. James', Newtown and St. George's, Hempstead, are limited and established by the terms of their several charters." Article I., Canon 2, Section I.
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The question frequently arises, what are the qualifica- tions of a voter at our parish elections. We give the summary of a learned and exhaustive opinion of the late Judge Murray Hoffman : (1) The voters are corpor- ators, and as primary to every qualification, must be "in
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HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE'S PARISH.
communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church." "In communion of," is not, "communicants of," but im- plies a recognition of the doctrines and discipline of the Church, and conformity to its liturgy and worship. (2). They must be "members," that is, corporators, at the time of voting. The charter requires that "they,"- the corporators-" shall meet and choose from their members." None but a corporator can be a church war- den or vestryman. The voter must be an "inhabitant" of the Town of Flushing. A non-resident has no vote. (3) A minor can not be a corporator in law, and there- fore is not qualified to vote. (4) No vote can be given by proxy. The person voting must be present and offer
his vote. The terms of the charter are : "They shall assemble in their church and choose." (5) No one not conforming to the liturgy and worship of the Church, al- though he may hire or own a pew, is entitled to vote, be- cause such conformity is the ground upon which the charter was granted, and is the obligation assumed by
the corporators. (6) A woman can not be a corporator in general. At the date of the charter, it was not com- petent for women to vote in common law. In the ab- sence of any express provision in a charter, or act of in- corporation conferring the right, it is held that women are not legally qualified. Under the statutes of the state, only "males of full age" can vote at church elections.
Another question has sometimes arisen in the election of a vestry under the charter. Occasionally there has been a failure by the corporators to elect a full board. A majority of all the votes is required. But no provision is made by the charter to remedy such failure. In case of death or resignation, "the rector, together with the church wardens or any two of them may " call an election within twenty days. It was maintained that,. since the
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THE PARISH CHARTER.
charter made no provision for such a failure, the old board should continue in office-their term of office, as provided by the charter, being "until their successors shall be chose." This at first was Judge Hoffman's opin- ion. Subsequently, however, he rendered the following opinion : " As to failure to elect, the case of the Union Insurance Co. (22 Wend. pp. 592-600) has caused me to modify my views to this extent-that if four or five ves- trymen are elected-a working majority-and failure as to one or two, the elected members are entitled to their seats, and a new election called to fill the vacancy or va- cancies under the provisions of the charter as to how va- cancies arising from death or resignation shall be filled." This reasonable opinion has been followed since it was kindly given. The failure to elect "a working majority " has never occurred, and remains an open question which, it is hoped, may not often require an answer.
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