USA > New York > Westchester County > History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the county of Westchester, from its foundation, 1693, to 1853 > Part 15
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F. FAND CHURCH OF RYE.
me, but I shan't give occasion to my Lord of London to be dis- pleased at me. I'll rest contentedly here, so that the Society be pleased to allow me €50 per annum as is allowed Mr. Bartow, who is minister in the same county. The county is divided between Mr. Bartow and myself by an Act of Assembly, he having the care of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers, and New Rochelle, and I the care of Rye, Bedford, and Mamaro- neck.
I am, Honoured Sir, Your most obedient, And most humble servant, THOMAS PRITCHARD. "a
The following letter, written nearly four months after the fore- going, shows how much the infant parish was suffering through the imprudence and neglect of the Rector ; who resided in New Rochelle, six miles from Rye :-
COLONEL HEATHCOTE TO THE SECRETARY.
Manor of Scarsdale, Feb. 26th, 1704-5.
SIR,
" I gave you the trouble of three letters, one by the Virginia Fleet, and two direct from this Port, one whereof went by Capt. Davison, and the other by Capt. Rogers, and shall hope they have all reached your hands, which I should be glad to hear. I did therein give you the trouble of so full an account, concern- ing Church affairs, in this part of the Government, that I have nothing now to add, save taking the freedom to give you my opinion concerning Mr. Muirson ; who was schoolmaster at New- York for some time, and went home in the Jersey : in order to qualifie himself to be an assistant to Mr. Vesey, and to return into his former station. As to that gentleman, according to my best observation of him, his behaviour was exceeding well : but how it has happened I know not, most of the leading men in the
· New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. i. 59. 60. (Hawks'.)
10
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
city are violently bent against him ; that in my opinion it will by no means be adviseable to send him there, but if he returns to this Province, the best service he can do the church, will be to go to Staten Island, where there is an establishment of £40 a year, by Act of Assembly. I did in my last, which went by Capt. Rogers, acquaint you how uncommonly unhappy and unfortunate we were in Mr. Pritchard, who had during his stay, totally ruined the interest of the church in this Parish ; his management is so strange and unaccountable, that but barely to relate what that Gentleman does not blush to do, looks more like malice than a true account of things. I do assure you he has not for near a quar- ter of a year now past, preached four sermons in any part of his Parish, nor scarcely been there in all that time; he living at a public house in a french town called New Rochelle, about 6 miles from his church, that being so intolerably careless of his flock, the people some not knowing of it, and others being enraged, that when he preaches, nobody will come to hear him. I am extremely concerned for this great misfortune, and I hope God will in his due time make better provision for us. Sir, I most heartily beg pardon for all the freedom I have taken in this and my former letters, and that you would believe that I am firm and zealous, for the service of the Church, and
Sir, Yours, &c., &c.,
CALEB HEATHCOTE."8
The unfortunate Mr. Pritchard, terminated his earthly career some time in March or April, 1705, about a year after his set- tlement at Rye. In June, 1704, he had married Anna Stuyves- ant, daughter of Nicholas William, and grand-daughter of the illustrious Peter Stuyvesant, but died without issue and intes- tate, leaving his wife his heir at law. Mrs. Pritchard died in 1759, at the age of nearly 74 years.
* New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. i. 71. 72. (Hawks'.)
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AND CHURCH OF RYE.
LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION FROM GOVENOUR CORNBURY TO ANNE PRITCHARD, WIDOW AND RELICT OF THOMAS PRITCHARD, CLERK.
"EDWARD VISCOUNT CORNBURY, Captain General, and Governour-in-Chief of the Provinces of New-York, New-Jersey, and of allthe territories and tracts of land depending thereon in America, and Vice Admirall of the same, &c. to Anne Pritchard, widow and relict of Thomas Pritchard, late of the province of New- York, Clerk. deceased, sendeth greeting. Whereas ye said Thomas Pritchard so as aforesaid deceased, lately dyed intestate, having while he lived, and at the time of his death, goods, chattles and creditts in divers places within this province : by means whereof the full disposition of all and singular the goods, rights, and creditts of the said deceased, and the granting the administration of them; also, the hearing the account, calculation or reckoning of said administration, and the final discharge and dismission from the same, unto me solely, and not unto any other inferior Judge, are manifestly knowne and belong. I desireing that the goods, rights, and creditts of the said deceased may be well and faithfully ad- ministered, and converted, and disposed of to pious uses, do grant unto you, the said Anne Pritchard, in whose fidelity in this behalfe I very much confide, full power by the tenour of these presents to administer the goods, chattles, and creditts of the said deceased and faithfully to dispose of them ; also to ask, collect, levy, recover, and receive the creditts whatsoever of the said deceased, which unto the said deceased while he lived and at the time of his death did belong, and to pay the debts which the said deceased stood obliged, so far forth as ye goods, rights and creditts of the said deceased can thereunto extend, according to their rate, chiefly of will, and truly administering ye same and of making a true and perfect Invent- ory of all and singular the goods, chattles and creditts of the said deceased, and exhibiting the same unto ye Registry of the Prerogative Court of the said pro- vince of New-York, in the Secretary's Office, at or before ye thirteenth day of August next ensuing, and of rendering a just and true account of said adminis- tration att or before the thirteenth day of February then next following, being duly and lawfully sworne upon the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God; and I do or- daine, depute, and constitute you, the said Anne Pritchard, administratrix of all and singular the goods, rights, and creditts of the said deceased.
IN TESTIMONY whereof, I have caused the Prerogative Seale of the said pro- vince of New-York, to be hereunto affiixt att New-York, this 13th day of Febru- ary, 1705-6."'ª
The rectorship having become vacant by the death of Mr. Pritchard, was filled by the appointment of the
REV. GEORGE MUIRSON, A. M.
This individual was a native of Scotland, and descended
· Record of Wills, Surrogate's Office, N. Y., vol. vii, p. 227.
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from the Murison's of Anchorfield, a branch of the ancient family of the Mures of Caldwell, who were originally seated at Polkelly, near Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire.& The name occurs, written at various periods, More, Mure, Muir, Moor, &c. The termination son being an addition to the ancient pa- tronymic. Mr. Muirson was born about the year 1675, and educa- ted most probably, in one of the colleges of the north part of Scot- land. He appears to have commenced his career of usefulness as a teacher ; for in 1703 he was sent over to this Province, by the Venerable Society, as their schoolmaster at Albany. When Lord Cornbury established a latin free school in New-York, he appointed Mr. Muirson master, " who for some time discharged that function with approbation and success."b Jn 1704 he was spoken of as assistant to the Rev. William Vesey, rector of New- York. He was also a candidate for the office of catechist in that city. The Rev. Evan Evans, of Philadelphia, thus recommends this valuable and zealous man, in a letter to the Bishop of Lon- don, from which the following is an extract :- ": October 17th, 1701, this comes by the hands of the ingenious Mr. George Muir- son to receive holy orders from your Lordship, by the approba- tion of his Excellency, my Lord Cornbury. I find that he is very well beloved and esteemed by all sorts of people, a man of a very sober and blameless conversation. He seems to be endued with great humility of mind, and has the character of being very pru- dent in his conduct. I give him this recommendation not to gratify himself, nor any body else, but because I sincerely be- lieve he may be very instrumental of doing much good in the church." Lord Cornbury writing the same year says of him :- " he was sent over to be schoolmaster at Albany"-" he is now
· Sir Reginald More or Mure, of Abercorn and Cowdams, appears to have been Chamberlain of Scotland, as early as 1329. The lands of Cowdams, in Ayrshire, belonged to him previously to 1328, as shown by an agreement concerning them, between him and the Monks of Paisley, dated in that year. The arms of the Murison's of Anchorfield are :- Ar. three Moor's heads, couped sa, banded az. a bordure, engr. gu. Crest-Three Moor's heads conjoined in one head, ppr. banded az. Motto-Mediocriter.
b Mr. Muirson's License to keep school in New-York, bears date 25th of April, 1704. Albany Rec. vol. x. 5.
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going into England in hopes of being admitted into holy orders. I shall be glad he might be dispatched hither early in the spring." a He was also bearer of the Governour's dispatches. The church- wardens and vestrymen of Braintree, in New England, by letters also to the Bishop of London, October 19, 1704, give their testimo- nials to Mr. George Muirson, returning into England to receive holy orders."b Mr. Vesey writing to the Bishop of London, on the 26th of October, says :- " Mr. George Muirson, a sober, ingenious man designs, God willing, to receive holy orders, and is recom- mended by my Lord Cornbury, and the Rev. Clergy conven'd at New-York. "c
Furnished with such credentials, Mr. Muirson embarked for England, and readily received ordination from the hands of the Right Rev. Henry Compton, D. D., Bishop of Lon- don. In the spring of 1705, he once more sailed for America, and arrived in New-York on the 19th of July, following. Scon after his arrival, he was appointed by Governour Cornbury to Rye, and the following mandate issued for his induction.
MANDATE FROM GOVERNOUR CORNBURY TO INDUCT THE REV. GEORGE MUIRSON INTO THE RECTORY OF RYE.
" Edward's Illustrissim's Vice Comes Cornburie provincia Novi Eboraci nec usu Novæ Cesaria in America strategus & Imperator, ejusdemq's Vice Thalassiar- cha &c. Universis & singulis Rectoribus Vicar' & Capellas, Curat'. Clericis & ministris quibuscumq's in pr totam provinciam, ubilibet consitutis actiam Ecclesia parochialis de Rye, Mamerenock & Bed- ford pro hoc Tempore Elilibus salutem.
Cum Dilect, in Christo Georgium Muirson Cleric', ad Rectoriam, sive Eccle - siam parochialem prædict Paroch' de Rye Mamerenock & Bedford in Dic. Provinc. Nov. Eborac. in America. Jam vacantem, præsentatum, Rectorem ejusdem Rectoriæ, sive Ecclesia parochialis in & de cadem Institus, vobis con- junctim & Divisim Com'itto, & fermiter Injungendo, mando, quatenus eun- dem Georgium Muirson Cleric. Sive procuratorem suum, Legitimum ejus no- mine, & pro co, in realem, actualem & Corporalem possessionem ipsius Rec- toriæ sive Ecclesia parochialis de Rye, Mamerenock and Bedford, Predict.
ª Printed Abstracts of Ven. Soc.
b New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. i. 50. (Hawks'.)
. New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham. (Hawks'.)
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Glebarum, Jurumq's & pertinentium suor' universor', conferatis, Inducatis Inducive faciatis, & defendatis Inductum, & quid in pr. missis me aut ali- um in hac parte Competent', quemcunq's debite (cum ad id congrue' fueritis requisti) certificetis, sui sic, certificet, ille vestrum qui præsent hoc mandatum erit Executus. Dasub sigil Prærogat's. Dict Provincia Nov. Eborac Tri- cesimo primo die Juli, salutis millesimo sept. ingentesimo Quinto Anno.
CORNBURY.
By His Excellency's command.
WILL. ANDERSON, Dep'y Secretary."
CERTIFICATE OF MR. MUIRSON'S INDUCTION.
Aug't 20 mo. Dec. 1705.
" Virtute suprascripti Instrumenti ego Gul. Vesey Induxi Rev'um Dom' Muir- son in Eccl'am. Paroch'em. de Rye, Maranock & Bedford &c. Gul. Vesey, Wit- ness, Caleb Heathcote, Joseph Theale.""
On the 22nd of November, 1705, Governour Cornbury writes to the Secretary, that :- " Mr. Muirson is settled at. Rye, in ye room of ye unfortunate Mr. Pritchard, deceased, where I hope he will do a great deal of good for ye people, and he agree very well." b
The day previous to the above date, Mr. Muirson closed his first report to the Venerable Society.
MR. MUIRSON TO THE SECRETARY.
New- York, Rye, Nov. 21st, 1705.
MUCH HONOURED SIR,
" The vessel in which I sent my last being taken, I presume (according to your desire) to give a brief account of my own cir- cumstances, with ye state of my Parish, viz: when I arrived at New-York with a resolution to settle in the city, my Lord Cornbury, for the good of the Church, ordered me to supply the place of Mr. Pritchard, minister of Rye.
I have officiated in this Parish ever since my arrival, ye 19th of July, and blessed be God, have had happy success in my
· Surrogate's Office. N. Y. H. Lib. vii, 210.
New-York, MSS. from Archives at Fulham. vol. i. 83 to 86. (Hawks'.)
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ministry, for notwithstanding the Parish lies bordering upon New England, where the enemies of the Church are numerous ; yet I have a very great congregation every Sunday, and they are my constant hearers, who never were in a church of England con- gregation before, and tho' they are a people made up almost of all persuasions, I thank God who hath made me an instrument of admitting eighty persons, young and old into ye Church by baptism. There are some hundreds in this Parish that are not yet baptized, some of whom I have, and ye rest in time I hope I shall persuade to consider ye necessity of that holy sacra- ment. It is divided into three towns, Rye, Bedford and Mama- roneck, mostly of ye Independent pursuasion, lately an Inde- pendent minister hath removed out of it, which I am assured will be of great advantage to ye Church. By the aid and assistance of ye good Colonel Heathcote, I have pursuaded the Parish to build a stone church, which will be finished next spring, so that we shall want pulpit cloaths and furniture for ye communion table. Common prayer books and expositions upon ye church catechism, with other small useful books, are very much want- ed ; in this we humbly address the Honourable Society for supply.
I have lately been in ye Government of Connecticut, where I observe some people well affected to ye church, for those that are near, come to my parish on Sabbath days, so that I am as- sured an itinerant Missionary might do great services in that . Province, some of their ministers have privately told me that had we a Bishop among us, they would conform and receive Holy Orders, from which as well as on all ye Continent, ye ne- cessity of a Bishop will plainly appear.
Yours, &c., &c.,
GEORGE MUIRSON."&
This letter shows how early the spiritual condition of the province of Connecticut had attracted Mr. Muirson's attention ; and we shall see by his subsequent reports, that he was frequent.
· New-York, MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. i. 81. 82. (Hawks'.)
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ly in the habit of going there, " holding services, preaching, bap- tizing, and distributing prayer books, and devotional works. On these expeditions he was invariably accompanied by Col. Heath- cote, they rode on horseback with their saddle-bags full of books ; and the Colonel always went fully armed, as in those tolerant times it was as much as a man's life was worth even to talk of the Church in Connecticut, without the means of self defence.
Col. Heathcote was the leading man at that time in Westches- ter county, and one of the most influential persons in the Prov- ince. His manor comprehended a great part of Mr. Muirson's parish, of which he was one of the first wardens, and for a time its chief supporter .- He was the richest man in the county, and an ardent churchman. To his efforts and to his means, does Westchester county owe nearly every one of her ancient parish- es, now among the oldest in the United States. He was one of the petitioners for the charter of Trinity Church, New-York, in 1697, a liberal contributor to its construction, and his name heads the list of its first vestry.
He was elected a member of the Venerable Society, for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1704 ; and he and his friend, Col. Morris, Governour of New Jersey, were, it is believed, the first persons in America who received that hononr.
To Col. Heathcote's influence, cordial cooperation, and perso- nal participation in his labours, did Mr. Muirson owe, under God, the success he met with in Connecticut. In fact, the method adopted by Mr. Muirson, in building the Church in that Colony, originated with Col. Heathcote ; whose object in establishing Churches in Westchester was two-fold, first: to ground the Church well in that county : and secondly, to act upon Connec- ticut.
The following letter of the Colonel, to the Secretary of the Venerable Society, not only proves these facts, but gives a lively picture of Connecticut and its inhabitants, nearly a century and a half ago, and of the spiritual darkness which then enveloped that Colony."
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AND CHURCH OF RYE.
COLONEL HEATHCOTE TO THE SECRETARY.
Manor of Scarsdale, Nov. 9th, 1705.
SIR,
"I am indebted to you for yours of the 11th Jan. and 9th of April, and am wonderfully surprised that the Society should make choice of me for one of their members. It was a very great satisfaction to me, that any thing I could offer was accep- table to them, and should very joyfully embrace any opportu- nity of doing service to the church, and I bless God for it I am not conscious to myself of ever having slipt one fair occasion therein, when government would give me leave. I beg of you, sir, to present my most humble duty to that honourable body, and thank them for the honour they have been pleased to do me, and may assure them that I shall not only endeavour to give them satisfaction as to any thing they shall desire of me; but if any new matter occurs, which I believe may be of service to the Church, I will not fail laying it before them for their considera- tion. If I mistake not, the several heads you desire satisfaction of, in both your letters now before me, are, first : an exact and impartial account of all your Ministers. Secondly : what fruit may be expected from Mr. Moor's mission. Thirdly : what my thoughts are of sending Mr. Dellius into those parts again. Fourthly : my opinion of the Society's having appointed that good man, Mr. Elias Neau, as Catechist to the Negroes and In- dians, and the cause of misunderstanding betwixt him and Mr. Vesey.
As to the first, I must do all the gentlemen which you have sent to this province, that justice as to declare, that a better clergy were never in any place, there being not one amongst them that has the least stain or blemish as to his life or conversation, and though I am not an eye witness to the actions of any, save those in this county, yet I omit no opportunity of inquiring into their behaviour, both of the friends and enemies of the Church, and they all agree as to the character of the gentlemen; and that they use their best endeavours to gain over the people : and as to their diligence in the faithful discharge of their trust, the So-
1
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH.
ciety, I hope, will, in their instructions, have laid down such rules as they won't fail coming at it without being imposed on. Mr. Urquhart, minister of Jamaica, has the most difficult task of any missionary in this government, for although he has not only the character of a very good man, but of being extraordina- ry industrious in the discharge of his duty ; yet he having a Presbyterian meeting house on the one hand, and the Quakers on the other, and very little assistance in his Parish, except from those who have no interest with the people, that his work can't but go on very heavily, as I understand it does : but Mr. Thom- as, of Hempstead, having better assistance, the leading men in his parish not being disgusted, are helpful in the work; and having no other sectaries to oppose him by their meetings but the Quakers, makes very considerable progress, as I have been told by some of the most sensible of his parish. As for Mr. Mackenzie, he has a very good report from the people of Staten Island, and I shall not fail making further inquiry concerning him, and let you know it in my next.
But when all is done, what I can tell you concerning any minister, except in this county, is only by information from others, which is often very uncertain ; for some gentlemen may many times, and very deservingly, have a fair and good character by the generality of their neighbours, and yet at the same time, by one misfortune or other, not perform much of the service of the Church, in which I will give you this plain instance.
There is not any gentleman whom the Society have sent over, that is clothed with a fairer character than Mr. Bartow, of West- chester, and truly he is a very good and sober inan, and is ex- tremely well liked and spoken of by his parishioners in general ; yet although he has been three years in that parish, not many are added to the communion, nor baptized, and few catechised ; , and if he is directed to send an account how he has advanced on each of these heads, annually since his coming there, it will be found accordingly. For this and many other reasons, I can't help still to be pressing that the Society should lay the gentlemen which are sent over, under exact rules, and methinks it is no difficult matter to have it ordered so as to know almost as well what is done as if they were present in every parish.
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E" AND CHURCH OF RYE.
The people of Westchester were very angry with me because I was for having this county divided into three parishes, and every minister to have 701 ; instead of 50l., and I had brought the county, except that place, to a willingness to have it so, as I formerly acquainted you ; and had they permitted that projec- tion to have taken place, it would have been a great ease to the Society : for first, what Mr. Bartow had more than the 50l., he now bath, might reasonably have been deducted at home. Sec- ondly, Mr. Bondet would have been provided for ; and thirdly, one Mr. Morgan, who was minister of Eastchester, promised me to conform : that there would not have been occasion of another being sent to us, and by that means have saved 50l. a year more at home, and wholly out of all hopes of any dissenting minister getting footing amongst us, and it will never be well until we are in three parishes ; and I shall not fail, when I have a fair op- portunity, to push for it again ; and to satisfy you of the reason- ableness in what I offer, I believe there has not six public taxes been laid on this county by the Assembly this fifteen years past, but I have been at the proportioning of, and when the places in Rye parish pay 50l. the towns in Westchester parish were allot- ted 120l. ; and there are two places more, which, both together, are one third part as big as Rye parish, which are now in nei- ther of them. And now I am on this subject, it comes in course to make out what I told you in my former letters, viz : that there is no parish in the government but what is able to pay twice as much as they do. For Rye parish which is not by one half so large as the least parish established by law in the government here, since my living here, maintained two dissenting ministers, viz : one at Rye and Mamaroneck, and one at Bedford, and gave the former 50l. and the latter 40l. a year, which I think makes it out very plain what I have offered on that head ; and you may be assured that I shall omit no opportunity of serving the Socie- ty therein ; but the work must be done, in a great measure by the minister's taking pains, and bringing the people into a good opinion of the Church, for though the reason hereof is very plain, it must be a business of time to effect it. We have had it report- ed that the Queen would be at the charge of maintaining a Suf-
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HISTORY OF THE PARISHI
fragan Bishop in these parts. If that was granted, I question not but a great many who have had their education in Boston College would conform, and would be content with the benefi- ces as settled by Assembly, without being very burthensome to the Society.
I have been so long wandering from one subject to another, that I had almost forgot to give you my thoughts of Mr. Muir- son, whom my Lord of London has sent for this parish. He has been here about three months, in which time he hath by much outdone my expectation ; having very fully retrieved all that unfortunate gentleman, Mr. Pritchard lost ; and if he continues so faithful in the discharge of his trust, of which I have not the least doubt but he will, he'll be able to give as large account of his services as any that has been sent over to this Province ; and I must do him the justice to own, that he is as deserving of the Society's favours. For as some of his parishioners told me, and which I know in a great measure to be true, that although they have had a great many ministers amongst them since the settle- ment of their town, yet Mr. Muirson did more good amongst them the first six weeks after his coming, than all they ever had be- fore ; and I question not, but when you have the particulars of his proceedings transmitted, you will find what I have said of him to be true. As for Mr. Brooks, whom the Society have sent to the Jerseys, he has an uncommon good character given him from those parts; and it is reported of him that he makes won- derful advances for the service of the Church, and I question not but Col. Morris will be very particular concerning him-that being properly his watch. For though that Province is not above 50 miles from my house, and Staten Island about forty, yet by reason of the difficulty of water passages, I have never been at either of them above twice since my coming to America ; and I am now more tied at home with a family and my private affairs than formerly, for which I humbly crave an allowance. My principles and natural temper lead me to do the Church all the service I can everywhere, but I dare not promise for more than this county at present, and my best endeavours in the westernmost towns in Connecticut colony, when the Church is well rooted here; and it has always been my opinion, and
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