USA > New York > New York City > History of St. Stephen's parish in the city of New York, 1805-1905 > Part 4
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Again, November 14th, we have the baptism of
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PARISH RECORDS.
"_ Carter (adult)," Very interesting, no doubt, and sufficient to identify the party if there were no other of that name in existence. But John (?) or Mary (?) Carter, as the case might be, could hardly expect to prove either baptism or Christian name on such a record alone.
December 24th: " Mrs. Wilson and child " were bap- tized. Was the child male or female? Had it no name, as well as no father?
January : " Mrs. Leader's child " is the only record. Did the child wander in and get a name all by itself ? and was the mother not living and the father a non- entity?
Again, when Reuben Bartow was baptized, for all that we can gain from the record, it can not be learned whether he was an infant or an adult, or who were his parents.
In a time when there were two thousand free negroes and three thousand slaves in the city, it is not surprising to find a list of colored parishioners kept separate from the whites. Therefore when Benjamin Brooks and Diana Onderdonk were married, they were very natu- rally bracketed as " blacks."
On December 25th we find the marriage recorded of Woopindale." We hope the groom had a blush- ing bride, or that Miss Woopindale found a worthy swain waiting for her at the altar; but just " who is who," it would be difficult to determine from the record of this nuptial ceremony.
54 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
Passing from the record of the living to that of the dead, we find a deplorable state of things. In the grave- yard adjoining the church there were buried nearly two thousand dead of whom no record can be obtained. Again and again application has been made to the au- thorities of the church, by friends seeking information of those believed to have been buried in St. Stephen's graveyard in earlier years, but without success ..
It was formerly the custom in America, as in the old country, to bury the dead in the yard attached to the parish church to which they belonged. In consequence we find that, in New York, all churches of prominence had connected with them cemeteries, containing family vaults in large numbers. This was the case with St. Stephen's, and a plot of ground on Chrystie Street, south of the church, was laid out as a place for burial. Quite an addition to the income of the parish was ob- tained from this source.
Burials within the city limits were permitted until 1822, the year marked by the second terrible scourge of yellow fever. After that date burials in private grounds were forbidden by a city ordinance, and public cemeteries were established in the northern part of the city.
Several correspondents allude to the graveyard in Chrystie Street, its many white marble headstones, prom- inent day and night, making it a noticeable feature. For more than fifty years it received the dead of the city ; and probably more than 3,000 interments were made therein, not including those in family vaults.
Long Island became largely the burying ground of
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PARISH RECORDS.
the New York dead, on account of its extensive fields and its ease of access.
The Rev. Dr. Feltus and his wife were buried beneath the chancel of St. Stephen's Church, in 1828. In Octo- ber, 1866, their bodies were transferred to Greenwood Cemetery, where they were re-interred, in Lot No. 5518, Section No. 45.
When, in 1866, the property in Chrystie Street was sold, St. Stephen's vestry attended to the removal of all the bodies from the church graveyard which had not been claimed by friends.
Through the generosity of William Miles, 136 Keep Street, Brooklyn, a vestryman of St. Stephen's, a gift of lots for the re-interment of the bodies was made to the parish. These lots were in Cypress Hill Cemetery, Long Island.
Four of these lots are designated by deed January 21st, 1866, viz., Section 14, Nos. 265, 266, 267, and 268.
Two lots are shown by deed January 15th, 1867; Section 14, Nos. 263, 264.
The only known separate interment is that of Joseph Titus, aged 72, May 21st, 1868, in Lot No. 263.
The record of 234 names given in the Appendix is taken from the books of the Cemetery. In addition to this number, two thousand unrecognized bodies were buried there in a common trench, in 1867.
The large number of burials in St. Stephen's church- yard of which no names are recorded, is doubtless due to the fact that the city was early swept by scourges of Asiatic cholera and yellow fever, and the dead were
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HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
buried as quickly as possible and without due care or formality. Yellow fever raged in 1819 and again broke out in 1822. The lower part of the city was fenced off, and families fled in large numbers to the villages of Chelsea, Greenwich, Bloomingdale and Harlem, leaving the dead in the city to be buried by hirelings.
Henry James Feltus.
The Third Reitor: Reb. Henry J. Feltus.
1814-1828
HE Rev. Henry James Feltus was elected rector upon the resignation of Dr. Moore. He de- clined the call, and was a second time elected, with the offer of increased salary. On June 8th, 1814, he signified his acceptance, and later was duly instituted. Mr. Feltus was, at the time, rector of the only Episcopal Church in Brooklyn-St. Ann's. He was an Irishman, and was held in high esteem by his people, both on account of his genial and social manner, and his devo- tion to parish duties. He is described as a gentleman of the old school, possessing beauty of person, as well as benevolence of character.
Mr. Feltus was born in Dublin, 1775, and emigrated to America, in 1795. His father having died some years before, his mother, to support her children, taught a school for young ladies. Whilst a young man Mr. Feltus became a member of the Methodist communion, and was brought under the influence of Rev. John Wesley, Dr. Coke and Adam Clarke-the last his par- ticular friend. Referring to this connection with the Methodists, Mr. Feltus says in a published pamphlet entitled "Historical Documents and Critical Remarks" (1820) : "The writer himself in early life (while a lad)
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58 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
experienced in some degree the force of sectarian prin- ciples (not of dangerous error), abstracting him for a short time from the bosom of his parent church."
In 1794 he married Miss Martha Ryan, and the fol- lowing year emigrated with his bride, arriving in New York July 4th, 1795.
Soon thereafter he settled at Elizabethtown, N. J., and was engaged in teaching school, and preaching among the Methodists. Later, he moved to New York, and took charge of the Academy belonging to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, in the upper part of New York City.
Mr. Feltus was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church by Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, in 1801. By invitation of the vestry of Trinity Church, Swedesboro, N. J., the Rev. Mr. Feltus officiated for them on Christ- mas Day, that same year.
The records of the vestry say that they communicated with Mr. Feltus, " who promised to settle with us towards the latter part of April or first of May next." His first recorded ministerial act in that parish was a bap- tism, May 2d, 1802.
The present rector of Trinity Church, Rev. George S. Sutton, writes: " His rectorship seems to have been a very successful and happy one, and the parish gave him up very reluctantly. The list of baptisms, mar- riages, and funerals is a long one. There is nothing to indicate what services were held in the church outside of the Holy Communion, which was celebrated at Easter, Whitsuntide, in the Autumn, and at Christmas. Con- firmation was never ministered in the parish until the
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THE THIRD RECTOR.
time of the Rev. Simon Wilmer (May 20th, 1809), when Bishop White confirmed 251 persons. Mr. Feltus thoroughly repaired and repainted the church inside and outside, and left the parish in much improved condition, materially and spiritually."
In 1807 the Rev. Mr. Feltus accepted a call to the vacant rectorship of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.
From a history of St. Ann's Church (F. G. Fish), published in 1841, we derive some particulars of his ministry.
" His administrations were greatly to the satisfaction of his flock. His unremitting attention to parochial duties, and his cheerful attendance upon, and affection- ate demeanor towards, the sick and dying, together with his popular talents as a preacher, obtained for him, in a large degree, the esteem and love of his people. He had the happiness of forming a close intimacy with, and a strong attachment for, many of the congregation and others, which continued to the end of his life."
In 1812 the New York Diocesan Convention debated the question as to the right of Bishop Provoost (who had resigned in 1801 his jurisdiction as Bishop of New York) to exercise Episcopal authority, after the conse- cration of his successor (Bishop Benjamin Moore). Mr. Feltus, Dr. Harris, and Dr. Moore were excused from voting upon the preamble and resolutions, which rejected Bishop Provoost's claim; and they always ad- hered to the opinion that Bishop Provoost was their lawful diocesan.
The Rev. Dr. Price, in his historical sketch of St. Stephen's Parish, delivered at the closing services in the
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old church, on the first Sunday in July, 1866, thus alludes to his predecessor.
" Dr. Feltus was held in deservedly high estimation by all who knew him. He had all the better qualities of an Irish gentleman. He had the national vivacity, wit, quickness of apprehension, readiness in retort, enjoy- ment of a good joke; and, at the same time, a most de- voted attachment to his clerical duties, and a most popular method of discharging them.
" He was fond of his books, but no less fond of social life ; so that he was equally interesting in the pulpit and out of it. I am more and more persuaded every day that he was not taken from this parish before he had made a mark upon it, never to be effaced. If it were lawful to envy, then such a life, and such a death, might well be the subject of envy. On the whole, he was a man distinguished for the blessings he had instrumentally conferred on others, and for the blessings divine Provi- dence had conferred on him."
Dr. Price also relates an anecdote of Dr. Feltus which illustrates the humorous side of his character.
"A contested election on some point supposed to in- volve materially the interests of the rector was expected at Easter. The feeling in the parish was at boiling temperature. The ladies, as usual, did not fail to sym- pathize. Accordingly the mass of females, with more zeal than order, presented themselves at the polls and offered their ballots. Dr. Feltus, as presiding officer, was embarrassed; on a moment's thought, however, he saved his gallantry by accepting the ballots, and his sub- mission to law, by quietly putting the ballots under the table."
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THE THIRD RECTOR.
It was during his rectorship, in 1823, that a scheme to build a new St. Stephen's Church in the Bowery was considered, but was finally abandoned. The same year we find that a lot adjoining the church was purchased by Philip Hone, Esq.
Mrs. Feltus was a woman of uncommon excellence and filled most satisfactorily her station as a minister's wife. She died in 1816, having been the mother of fourteen children. Her funeral took place from the church and her remains were placed in a vault under the chancel ; and in 1866 were re-interred in Greenwood Cemetery.
Mr. Feltus was prominent among the clergy of the diocese, and was for many years a member of the "Com- mittee of the Protestant Episcopal Church for Propa- gating the Gospel in the State of New York." He was also the preacher of the sermon before the Diocesan Convention in October, 1809.
In 1817, October 31st, Mr. Feltus assisted in the grand service at St. Paul's Chapel in commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the German Reformation.
It is a pleasure to note the high esteem in which Mr. Feltus was finally held by the Bishop, and his clerical brethren, for he had very much to contend with when he came into the diocese. Among a certain class in the city the prejudice against Evangelical Churchmen was very strong, and some hard things were said about Mr. Feltus, which were designed to prevent his settling in Brooklyn; as also there had been like opposition to Dr. Moore, on the ground of churchmanship.
A petition from some of the clergy was addressed to
62 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
Bishop Hobart that Mr. Feltus be not received into the diocese. One of the charges was that he declined an invitation to become an " assistant minister " of a cer- tain parish, unless he were made "associate rector," and by so doing it was thought that he disparaged the dig- nity of the former office. He was also accused of " hav- ing been violent in language and abusive of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church, whilst he was a Methodist; and after ordination he was accused of mutilating the liturgy and using extemporaneous prayers." Notwithstanding this opposition of his brethren, the vestry of St. Ann's, Brooklyn, insisted upon his coming to them as their rector.
Mr. Feltus was much beloved by his parishioners, gained the respect of his clerical brethren, and a friend- ship formed with Bishop Hobart steadily increased, so that he became one of his warmest admirers and sup- porters.
In 1815 the vestry found themselves again embar- rassed by a debt of $11,000.00 and the necessity of raising $3,000.00 annually to pay current expenses. Whereupon a Memorial was addressed to Trinity Church Corporation asking their further assistance. This Memorial was signed by Henry J. Feltus, James Smith, John Drake, Moses Jarvis, James Scott, Daniel Mersereau, David Marsh, Abraham Van Boskerck, Eliud Davis, Teunis Bergh, Andrew Yelverton. After stating the financial condition the Memorial continues : "The very ground upon which our church stands is not our own. It has never yet been deeded to us, because it has never yet been paid for; and the pent-up situation
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THE THIRD RECTOR.
of the building with a common stable behind within arm's reach of the altar-window and sloping roof of the vestry room and altar recess, threatens the whole with destruction by fire."
There is no record as to the action taken upon this Memorial.
Under date of April 19th, 1819, Mr. Mersereau ad- dressed a letter in behalf of the vestry, to the Comp- troller of Trinity Corporation in which he says: "The building of St. Stephen's was put up in such haste and with such poor material, that six years ago the ceiling was dangerous from the rapid decay of the timber, and was attached to the roof by iron clamps at an expense of £500. During the last winter the whole mass has given away, and the frame of the ceiling so sunk by decay from the walls, that part of the plaster has fallen, and the timbers so gone that it must be taken down. The lower floor is so rotten in many places that boards have been laid over to enable families to use their seats, and many pews are kept up by temporary wedges. Such was the utter decay of the chancel, the foundation of the pulpit and desk and the floor about the altar that in the last year we had to make them entirely anew."
The year following (1820) the church was in such bad condition that the alternative confronted the vestry of abandoning the old church and building a new one, or spending considerable money in repairing the old building. An effort was made to build a new church in the neighborhood, and sell the old church and lots, provided that some assistance could be had from Trin- ity. Three lots in the Bowery had been offered by Mr.
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Rhinelander for the building of the new church. This project did not meet with favor from Trinity, and otherwise it was impossible to raise the money requisite to buy the lots and build. The only alternative was to repair the old church, which was accordingly done; and the building was again occupied in the Fall of 1821. A public sale of pews took place that year, and the two years following; so that few pews now remained in the hands of the vestry.
Added to their other misfortunes, new streets were laid out in that part of the city and the burying-ground was cut in two, so that it became necessary to buy addi- tional lots in the neighborhood and remove some of the bodies from their resting place. This entailed consid- erable expense upon the parish, and in 1829 the parish found itself again in debt to the amount of $10,000. A committee of the vestry consisting of W. N. Chad- wick, Clerk, and Foster Nostrand, Treasurer, laid their sad condition before Trinity Church, and stated that the present income of the parish was $2,825.00, their expenses $3,613.00, leaving a deficit of $788.00 for the year.
It was about this time, because St. Stephen's Church had no free sittings, a movement was made by Mr. Christian Bergh a wealthy shipbuilder to found a "Free Church" on the East side of the city. Although he re- ceived warm expressions of sympathy at this attempt, it is probable that sufficient financial support was not forthcoming, as the church was not built. The Church of the Epiphany, Staunton Street, erected in 1833, was the first to have its sittings permanently free.
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THE THIRD RECTOR.
That Mr. Feltus sometimes courted the Muses is evi- denced by the following acrostic, which he composed and sent to Bishop Hobart on New Year's Day, 1821 .*
I wish you happy ; free from care your mind, O r only for the Church to feel concern. H ere, while on earth, in this your pleasure find N or other hopes, nor other fears alarm.
H is constant love that watched your early days, E ach painful, trying hour shall still attend. N or doubt His faithfulness ; tho' dark His ways, R esign your cause to Him, and He'll defend, Y our path shall thus be peaceful to the end.
H ow great the trust! to feed the Flock of God, O 'er which the Holy Ghost has fixed your care. B lest charge! The Church He purchas'd with his Blood. A nd still her cause defend, and in her honor share. R est in the confidence of your brethren here,
T ill, in that brighter world, we all appear. January 1st, 1821. H. J. F.
In the Journal of the New York Diocesan Conven- tion of 1822 and thereafter in all public documents, we find that Mr. Feltus is recorded as having received the degree of Doctor in Divinity. We have not, how- ever, been able to ascertain which college so honored him.
The Divinity School of the "Protestant Episcopal Theological Educational Society in the State of New
* History of the Parish of Trinity Church, Dix. Vol. III, p. 191.
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HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
York" was opened in New York City, May 18th, 1821, with four students in attendance. Henry J. Feltus was appointed its librarian.
Dr. Feltus never lost an opportunity of expressing his loyalty to, and affection for, his Bishop. When, on September 24th, 1823, Bishop Hobart sailed for Eu- rope, in the packet-ship "Meteor," Dr. Feltus was among the number of clergymen who signed an address bidding the Bishop farewell and God-speed; and with others accompanied him to the ship.
On May 27th, 1824, the parish of All Saints was organized, and services were held in a small wooden structure in Grand near Pitt Streets, October 10th, 1824. It accommodated about four hundred people.
Three years later the corner-stone of the present building in Henry Street was laid by Bishop Hobart. This church was so near St. Stephen's, and in the neighborhood where many of its parishioners had their residences, that Dr. Feltus reported to the Diocesan Con- vention that it was necessary to revise his list of com- municants, " as many who had been attendants at St. Stephen's would unite with All Saints' Church."
Governor Clinton died in February, 1828. He had been Mayor of New York and Governor of the State. It was proper that the city where he made his home should do him honor. The Common Council of the city passed a resolution requesting the clergy "to notice the event in an appropriate and solemn manner in their respective churches," on Sunday.
The Rev. Dr. Feltus voiced the strong feeling of the people in a letter to Bishop Hobart .*
* History of the Parish of Trinity Church, Dix. Vol. III, p. 448.
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"Friday evg., 15, 1828.
" MY DEAR BISHOP :- Permit me to suggest in private confidence to you, whether it would not contribute much usefulness, should you think proper, publicly by the pa- pers (say on the morrow), to call your clergy together on Monday, for the purpose of adopting measures to express our deep regret for the loss of that great states- man and scholar, Governor Clinton. In my opinion the nation has lost no such man since the death of Wash- ington.
" Such a measure coming from you, directing your clergy to this subject in their churches on Sunday week, will secure to you an honour which I think your own, but which may be claimed or directed from some other quarter.
"Affecty. yrs., " H. J. FELTUS."
Bishop Hobart, however, was inflexible in his determi- nation that the clergy under his charge should not comply with such request of the Common Council, or any other secular body ; giving as his reasons that "the studious separation of the church from the state, which characterizes our republican constitution, is designed to prevent religion and its ministers from being made sub- servient to the views of those who, from time to time, may administer public affairs."
During Dr. Feltus' rectorship St. Stephen's was in a flourishing condition, and maintained its position as one of the leading parishes in the city. He was indefati- gable as a pastor, fond of children, and beloved by all.
After having given the best years of his life to the
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work in St. Stephen's, he was taken away in the full vigor of manhood.
His official parish record shows 1432 baptisms, and 501 marriages.
Dr. Feltus died after a brief illness, on Sunday even- ing, August 24th, 1828, having been fourteen years rector of St. Stephen's, and was buried at five o'clock, in the afternoon of Monday, August 25th. His funeral took place from the church, and was attended by a large number of clergy and people. The Rev. Dr. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, of Trinity Church, delivered an impres- sive address.
The pallbearers were the Rev. Drs. Harris, Lyell, Barry, Wainwright, Berrian, Milnor, and Creighton ; and the officiating clergy were the Rev. Drs. Wain- wright, Lyell, and Milnor.
The interment was beneath the chancel of the church. The Christian Journal of September, 1828, says :
" In constant spiritual communion with his God and Savior, and in constant manifestation of the faith and hope and charity of the Gospel, he bore with exemplary patience and resignation, unusually protracted debility and suffering, and waited with calmness for the hour of his release. At length that hour came. God's holy day, which had nearly all been spent by him on earth, was closed in Paradise. It was made for him indeed a day of rest-rest from the labors of the church below, and a call to the blessed services of the church in Heaven.
" On the following day, his mortal part was deposited with the appointed hallowed rites, and in the presence of an immense concourse of weeping brethren, parishioners, ‘
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THE THIRD RECTOR.
and friends, beneath the chancel of his own church, and in the same grave which twelve years before had received the remains of the wife he dearly loved."
The following obituary is taken from the New York Evening Post, August 27th, 1828: " The funeral was attended with unusual solemnity. The clergy of the city, the congregation of St. Stephen's Church, and his num- erous acquaintances and the citizens generally, walked in procession from his house in the Bowery, corner of Hester Street, to the church, where the service was per- formed by Dr. Milnor, assisted by Dr. Lyell, and an excellent address delivered by Dr. Onderdonk. A fune- ral anthem was performed by the choir, and the chants delivered by the organ, the church being dressed in black, and the muffled bell tolling mournfully while the long train of lamenting friends was following the corpse to the house appointed for all flesh.
" Dr. Feltus had risen to considerable eminence as a preacher, from the vigor of his native genius, and un- assisted exertions, having commenced his arduous calling in the city of Dublin, at the early age of eighteen, in the Methodist persuasion.
"A severe attack of cholera morbus, with a relapse, had produced inflammation beyond the reach of human art.
"At the election this spring he was chosen Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free Masons in this State, but declined, preferring the station of Grand Chaplain, which he had filled many years."
In the Morning Courier of September 1st, 1828, is this poetical tribute to Dr. Feltus :
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" Still be thy step, nor speak above thy breath, For here, relentless, reigns the tyrant-Death ! See, on yon couch, that venerated form Is bowed by sickness' overwhelming storm. What shriek is that? 'T is of his kindred dear, Who shriek to find the bolt, they knew so near, Already fallen. And is that spirit gone, Which here so lately and so brightly shone? Alas, it is! It takes its heavenward flight, And leaves us shrouded in the gloom of night. The voice which we so often gladly heard Expound the truth of God's own heavenly word- That voice which oft in benedictal prayer We've heard; that voice which warned us to beware The depths of sin ; that oft the mourner's tear Has wiped away-we ne'er again shall hear! What pangs the bosoms of his offspring rend ; They in their father, lose their kindest friend. Poor orphans! Subjects of a father's care, No mother have, their woes, their joys to share. His little flock now cry, 'Our shepherd's gone '! And they his loss will ever sadly mourn. His presence here was but from heaven a loan, And now it claims from us naught but its own." -Arbaces.
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