USA > New York > Westchester County > History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the county of Westchester, from its foundation, 1693, to 1853 > Part 30
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" There the weary are at rest."
The inscription on the tombstone of Mrs. Avery is as fol- lows :-
* Mr. James Wetmore writing to the Secretary from New-York, January 10th , 1777, says :- " Our unfortunate minister, Mr. Avery, was found dead near his house, the beginning of November last."-New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. p. 609. (Hawks'.)
New-York MSS. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 614. (Hawks'.)
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
SACRED to the Memory of Mrs. Hannah, late Consort of the Rev. Ephraim Avery,
who having lived greatly beloved, Died universally lamented, after six weeks excruciating pain on ye 13th Day of May, A. D. 1776 in ye 39th year of her Age. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
The Mission of Rye, (say the Society's Abstracts) being va- cated by the death of Mr. Avery, the
REV. ISAAC HUNT, A. M.,
who had been lately ordained by the Lord Bishop of London, as a missionary to 'Trinity Bay, Newfoundland,a was in the month of March, 1777, appointed missionary to Rye, with a salary of £40 per aunum."b He was the son of the Rev. Isaac Hunt, Rector of St. Michael's, in Bridgetown, Barbadoes, where he was born in 1752. On his father's side, his ancestors were Cavaliers, who fied from the tyranny of Cromwell, and settled in Barbadoes. For several generations, they were clergymen. He was intended for the same profession, but being sent to col- lege at Philadelphia, he there commenced, on the completion of his studies, as a lawyer, and married. He took the degree of Master of Arts, both in Philadelphia and New-York.c It was, again curious, that the Revolution breaking out, the conserva- tive propensities of the family broke out so strong in him, as to cause him to flee for safety to England, as his ancestors had formerly fled from it. He had been carted through Philadel- phia by the infuriated mob, only escaping tarring and feather- ing by a friend taking the opportunity of overturning the tar
a He was licensed for Trinity Bay, on the 4th of March, 1777.
৳ Printed Abstracts of Ven. Prop. Soc.
e He was graduated A. M. at Kings College, (now Columbia) in 1773.
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AND CHURCH OF RYE.
barrel set ready in the street, and being consigned to the prison, he escaped in the night by a bribe to the keeper. a
In 1777, he was ordained deacon and priest by the Rt. Rev. Robert Lowth, D. D., Bishop of London, and in the month of March of that year, appointed missionary to Rye. Whether he ever visited his mission, we have no means of ascertaining ; prob- ably the troubles of the Revolution prevented his doing so. His name appears, however, on the Society's list of missiona- ries, until February 20th, 1778.
" Mr. Hunt," says Howitt, " seems to have been one of those who are not made to succeed in the world. He did not obtain preferinent, and fell into much distress. At one time he was a very popular preacher, and was invited by the Duke of Chan- dos, who had a seat near Southgate, to become tutor to his ne- phew, Mr. Leigh. Here he occupied a house at Southgate, call- ed Eagle Hall; and here his son, the poet, was born, and was named after Mr. Leigh, his father's pupil."b His wife was Mary, daughter of Stephen Shewell, merchant, of Philadelphia, whose sister was the wife of Benjamin West."c
The Rev. Isaac Hunt died in IS09, aged 57 years, and was buried in the church yard in Bishopgate street, London.
During the subsequent years, the Parish of Rye suffered con- Siderably from the confusion that attended the Revolutionary War. The Church was burned, the glebe lands hired out on terms which produced but a small income, and the parishioners scattered.d
" The Revolution, (observes the late Right Rev. J. P. K. Hen-
. Howitt's Homes of the Poets, and Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.
b Ibid. Vol. ii. p. 399, 340. See Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, published in 1810.
c Sabine's Hist. of American Loyalists.
d The last meeting of the Vestry took place in the house of John Doughty, in Rye, April the 5th, 1776, present-Lewis McDonald, Jun., and Gilbert Merritt, Esq'rs., Justices, Joshua Purdy and James Horton, Jun. Churchwardens, Gilbert Bloomer, Stephen Baxter, Israel Lyon, Gilbert Horton, Joseph Owens, John Haight, Joshua Hunt, and Zene Carpenter, Vestrymen.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
shaw) glorious as it was in its results upon our civil and politi- cal interests as a nation, was, for a time, most disastrous to the interests of our Church. After the storm of war had swept over our country, it was found to have left in its train, not only scepticism in religion and looseness of morals as a common ca- lamity to our people, but as most of the clergy of our commu- nion were obliged to flee on account of their attachment to the cause of a sovereign for whom they had been bound to pray, the Episcopalians were left with a few scattered flocks, wander- ing as sheep without a shepherd ; with churches deserted and altars desolate; with only here and there a man of God who dared to put on the sacerdotal garments to lead their devotions and break to them the bread of life.
Although Washington and Lee had fought our battles, though Duche made the first prayer in Congress, and White was its reg- ular chaplain, and though many other of the leading spirits who guided the Revolution, and laid the foundation of the Re public, were sincere Churchmen ; yet in the view of the multi- tude, Monarchy and Episcopacy were inseperable, and such was the bitterness of opposition to the former, that the latter was scarcely allowed toleration.
As there are some, in our day, weak or wicked enough to re- peat this worn out appeal to vulgar, political prejudices, it may not be amiss to notice, that Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, and Taylor, among our Presidents ; Henry, Jay, Hamilton, Marshall, and others, among our departed revolutionary worthies, were atten- dants upon the services of our Church ; and Clay, Webster, Badger, Woodbury, Kent, Berrian, and others, among the most distinguished statesmen and jurists, the nation has ever known, became Churchmen as the result of patient inquiry and exami- nation. The late Rufus King, of New-York, on his death-bed, speaking of the great good effected by the Propagation Society, said, ' It is the brightest light shining in the candlestick of the Reformation.' It seems almost a marvel that the Church was saved from extinction. In the mercy of God, it was so saved ; and towards the close of the last century, in the consecration of three
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AND CHURCH OF RYE.
Bishops for the United States; we received as an independent nation, that boon which had been denied to the Colonies for more than one hundred and fifty years. Thus made an inde- pendent branch of the Church of Christ, and having organized an ecclesiastical union, under a Constitution and Canons closely resembling the fundamental laws of the Federal Government, our Church began to 'lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes.' The dominion of ignorance and bigotry over the pub- lic mind gradually subsided. The Church, freed from alliance with all human sovereigns, and acknowledging no king but Him ' whose kingdom is not of this world,' having struck its roots into the soil, and demonstrated its congeniality with our free institutions-took an attitude to demand notice, and chal - lenged an examination of her claims."a
For six months, at the close of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Andrew Fowler read prayers and sermons in the parsonage every other Sunday, and collected the congregation here and at White Plains. b
Upon the 27th of April, 1785, a meeting of the congregation of the Episcopal Church of Rye, was called at the house of Mrs. Tamar Haviland, when the following persons were cho- sen trustees to take charge of the temporalities of the Church, -John Thomas, Esq., William Miller, Esq., Col. Gilbert Budd, Mr. Joshua Purdy, Mr. John Falconer, and Mr. Isaac Brown. William Miller, Esq., was chosen clerk.
The same year, the trustees hired out the Church glebe, con-
· Discourse delivered in Grace Church, Providence, on the occasion of the Third Jubilee of the Soc. for the Prop. of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, on the First Sunday after Trinity, June 22d, 1851, by J. P. K. Henshaw, D. D., Rec- tor of said Church, and Bishop of Rhode Island.
b " At the close of the war, (says Mr. Fowler) I collected the congregation there and at the White Plains, where I read prayers also, every other Sunday. Began at Rye the 1st Sunday in April, 1784, (4th of April,) and at White Plains the next Sunday, (11th of April.) The Church was burnt by the British in the war."-Fowler's MSS.
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sisting of the lands called the old parsonage, the parsonage house, and the lands on the west side of Blind brook.
The following year, the congregation received a letter from the Rev. Samuel Provoost, rector of Trinity Church, New- York, Abraham Beach, and Benjamin Moore, dated April 17th, 1786, enclosing the journals of the convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held in Philadelphia, September, 1785. Upon the reception of this letter, a meeting of the congregation was called, which assembled at the house of Mrs. Haviland, in Rye, on the 5th of May, 1786. Mr. Joshua Purdy, (the last senior warden of the Parish, prior to the Revolution) was unanimously elected president of the meeting. " On motion, it was resolved to take the sense of the congregation, whether they would com- ply with the request of the letter, and send delegates to meet in convention at St. Paul's Church, in New-York, upon the third Tuesday in May next. The sense being taken, it was unani- mously agreed to send delegates, whereupon, William Miller, and Alexander Hunt, Esq'rs., were chosen for that purpose."
Upon the 5th of September, 1787, the
REV. RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, A. M., M. D., was elected to the rectorship, the first since the close of the war. He was the son of Thomas Moore, and grandson of Colonel John Moore, of Whitehall, in the city of New-York, where he was born on the 21st of August, 1762. After completing his preparatory education, he studied medicine, and engaged in the practice of the healing art till July, 1787 ; at which period, a desire that he had for some time indulged of entering the sa- cred ministry, was gratified, by his receiving ordination from the hands of Bishop Provoost, as deacon, on the 15th of July, and priest, on the 22d of October, 1787. He was admitted at Columbia College, M. A., in 1794, and D. D., of Washington, now Trinity College, Hartford, in 1829.
The following is a copy of the call given to the Rev. Richard C. Moore, September 5th, 1787 :-
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REV. SIR,
" We, the Trustees and Members of Grace Church, in the Parish of Rye, and County of Westchester, stimulated by mo- tives of sincere affection for the advancement of true religion and piety, have raised a sufficient sum of money by subscrip- tion, to afford you a comfortable maintenance, and have thought proper to adopt this mode, by which to solicit your acceptance of the Rectorship of the said Church, formerly relying upon your integrity as a minister of that sacred gospel, through which we hope for the attainment of eternal joy and happiness, and duly sensible of the important duty required of us, we find ourselves inclined to submit the care of our spiritual concerns to yon as shepherd of this flock, and sincerely hope that by lives of virtuous obedience to the commands of the Bishop and shepherd of our souls, you will be enabled through divine as- sistance, to present us withont spot or blemish, into the arms of the Master of our salvation.
The amount of the salary which we have been enabled to raise, is £120 per year, which for your convenience we have engaged to pay at different periods. Believe us, Rev. Sir, with the most sincere wishes for your present and future happiness.
Trustees.
JOSHUA PURDY, ELISHA PURDY,
WILLIAM MILLER, THOMAS HAIGHT.
Members.
PETER JAY, Esq., a
ALEX. HUNT,
JOHN THOMAS, b
BEN. GRIFFEN,
JOHN FALCONER,
SAMUEL PURDY,
JOSEPH BUDD,
JONA. HUNT,
ISAAC PURDY.
ROGER PURDY,
MOSES PURDY,
DANIEL PARK,
JONATHAN PURDY,
JOSHUA SECOR,
JAS. WETMORE,C
› Son of Peter Jay, and great grandson of Pierre Jay, the Huguenot.
৳ Sheriff of Westchester County, and grandson of the Rev. John Thomas, one of the Ven. Soc. Missionaries.
c Second son of the Rev. James Wetmore.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
HENRY BUDD, TAMAR BARKER, THOMAS THOMAS."a JOHN PURDY.
JOSIAH BROWN,
" At a meeting of the members of Grace Church, in the Parish of Rye, on the Tuesday of Easter Week, being the 25th of March, 1788, and the day appointed by CHARTER for the elec- tion of two wardens, and eight vestrymen, to take into charge the temporalities of the said Church, the following persons were unanimously chosen :-
PETER JAY, ISAAC PURDY.
Churchwardens.
JOSHUA PURDY, SEN., JESSE HUNT, EsQ., ANDREW LYON,
Vestrymen.
THOMAS THOMAS, ELIJAH PURDY, JOSHUA SECOR, MOSES FOWLER."
THOMAS BROWN,
FAY
CHRIST CHURCH, ERECTED IN 1788.
During the period of Mr. Moore's incumbency, and owing principally to his unceasing exertion, the present church was erected in place of the old stone edifice. At a vestry meeting
a Major General Thomas Thomas, son of the Hon. John Thomas, a distin- guished officer of the Continental army, and a member of the Legislatue of the State of New-York.
" See the Charter of 1764.
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held in the month of March, 1788, it was determined by that body to erect a new church, and to place it upon the hill, on or near the place where the old ruins stood, at a cost of $5,500.a The following items are taken from the vestry book :- " May, 1788, for one day giting boards and puling down the old church, 5 shillings-To one day clearing rubbish from the old church, &c." It was designed at first to have erected a steeple in place of the present tower, as appears by an act of the vestry, dated Sept. 17th, 1791, " wherein it was ordered to remove the works projected for a steeple on the top of the roof, at the west end."
Subsequently the pulpit and reading-desk were removed from the north wall of the church to the east end, and the southern door closed.
Under Mr. Moore's animated exertions for the benefit of his cure, the languid hopes of the people began to revive, and the deranged state of the Parish resumed the appearance of order and prosperity, but as he continued his labours here but one year the people were again left destitute and very much dis- couraged.
At a vestry meeting, held Friday, August the first, 1788, " The Rev. Mr. Moore laid before the house, the particular ad- vantages arising from a call, which he had received on the 17th inst. from Staten Island, in consequence of which, Mr. Jay re- quested him to leave his papers and to withdraw, in order to afford the wardens and vestry an opportunity to attentively con- sider the business, when after an hour spent in deliberating upon the subject, Mr. Brown requested Mr. Moore to attend, at which time Mr. Jesse Hunt informed him, that the vestry was willing to give him a dismission, but at the same time requested
. " On the 28th of March, 1788, it was resolved unanimously, that the Church be built of wood, that the length thereof be 50 feet, the width 38 feet, and the posts 20 feet high. On the 16th of April, 1788, it was determined by the Vestry to allow Mr. James Ford, carpenter, from New-York, the sum of £120 for erecting and en- closing the church without a steeple. At a subsequent meeting it was resolved to omit the gallery on the east, by which means the church will be rendered lightor, and the altar more solemn and grand."
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
him to continue until the expiration of the year, commencing on the 1st of Oct., '87-and ending the 1st of Oct., 'SS-which proposal Mr. Moore readily assented to."
The following notice of Mr. Moore's subsequent career, ap- peared in the Churchman for November, 1841 :-
" His first spiritual charge was the Church in Rye, Westches- ter, New-York; at the expiration of two years he removed to Staten Island, where he resided twenty-one years and where his faithful and zealous labours were most remarkably blessed in the conversion of sinners. In 1809 he was invited to the rec- torship of St. Stephen's Church, in the City of New- York, a small Parish, and presenting but few encouragements to useful-
ness. So signally prospered, however, was his ministry, that when at the close of five years he left New-York to enter on the duties of his Episcopate in Virginia, the communicants added through his instrumentality, numbered between four and five hundred.
Bishop Moore was the cordial choice of the convention, which on the 5th of May, 1814, with so much unanimity invited him to the Episcopal charge of this diocese, and was consecrated in New-York, on the 18th of May, 1814, by Bishop White, assisted by Bishop Hobart, Griswold and Dehon.
In regard to the manner in which he discharged the responsi- ble functions of his high and dignified office as chief pastor of this diocese, we do not propose to dwell. It is generally known how entirely he possessed the respect, confidence and love of his clergy and what an object of veneration and filial affection he was universally among the whole people of his Episcopal charge. At his decease, (11th Nov., 1811) Bishop Moore was in the eightieth year of his age ; in the fifty-fifth of his ministry, and the twenty-eighth of his Episcopate."
From the month of Oct., 1788, until Nov., 1790, the Parish re- mained destitute of a settled minister, although not without occa- sional services; when the
REV. DAVID FOOTE, A. M.,
accepted an invitation to the rectorship. He was the son of Asa,
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and grandson of Nathaniel, the fourth in descent from Nathaniel Foote, one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, Conn.a He was born at Colchester, now Marlborough, Oct. 5th, 1760, and was graduated M. A., at Dartmouth, in 1778.b Mr. Foote was or- dained deacon by the Rt. Rev. Samuel Seabury, D. D., Bishop of Connecticut, on the 11th of June ; and priest on the 22nd of October, 17SS. In 1790 he was called to the rectorship of this Parish. At a meeting of the wardens and vestrymen of Grace Church, Rye, Dec. the 15th, 1790, it was resolved,-" that we make choice of the Rev. David Foote, to act as rector of this Parish, and agree to pay him £100, in half yearly payments, to- gether with the profits of the globe, for his services, one year from the seventh of last November," which proposal was accept- ed by Mr. Foote. Mr. Foote seems to have retained his con- nection with Bishop Seabury ; always attended the conventions of Connecticut, and was a member of the Connecticut Conven- tion in 1792. His name is entered there as Daniel Foote, and the same mistake occurs in the register of the clergy, in the Journal of New- York, in 1791, and also in the Journal of the General Convention of 1792.º He continued rector of this church till 1793, when, after many judicious efforts to restore order and promote both the spiritual and temporal prosperity of the Parish, in the morning of life and the midst of his usefulness, he was called from the field of labor to reap an eternal reward. His tombstone bears the following simple inscription :-
In memory of the Rev. Mr. DAVID FOOTE late Pastor at Rye & White Plains, who departed this life the 1st of Aug't, 1793, aged 32 Years. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
. See History of the Foote Family, by Nathaniel Goodwin, Hartford, 1849.
› Historical notice of the Clergy ordained by Bishops Seabury and Jarvis, from Appendix to Coun. Journal of Convocation. No. xxxiii.
· Historical notice of Clergy ordained by Bishops Seabury and Jarvis, Appendix to Conn. Journal of Convocation. No. xxxix.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
Upon the 14th of June, 1792, Mr. Isaac Purdy and Captain Joshua Purdy, were empowered to receive of the executors of Miss Anna Maria Jay, deceased, a legacy of £100, given by her in her last will to the corporation of the church in Rye, and put the same at interest on good security, payable in one year. This sum was judiciously appropriated towards enlarging the Slebe lands belonging to the Parish. Miss Jay, who died on the 4th of September, 1791, was the daughter of Peter Jay, Esq., first senior warden of the Parish under the charter of 1761.
Upon the death of Mr. Foote the
REV. JOHN JACKSON SANDS, B. A.,
was called to, and accepted the rectorship in 1793. He was the son of John Sands, by Elizabeth Jackson, and grandson of Col. John Sands, of Cow Neck, L. I., a descendant of Capt. James Sands, who emigrated from Berkshire, England, to Plymouth Mass., in 1658.a He was born at Cow Neck, 25th of December 1760, and was educated at Hempstead, under the tuition of the Rev. Leonard Cutting, A. M., the rector of that Parish. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Provoost, in 1792, and soon afterward appointed minister of the churches at Eastwood and Islip, L. I. from whence he removed to this Parish.
The sum of money raised, for the Rev. John J. Sands, as a salary for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at Rye and White Plains, was £93 per annum. The glebe lands of the church, at this time, appear to have been very unproductive, so that the rector was principally supported by public subscription.
In 1794, it was determined by the vestry, to change the name and seal of the church-accordingly, at a meeting of that body
" Capt. James Sands was born at Reading, Berks, A. D., 1622, and arrived with Sarah, his wife, at Plymouth, in 1658. Shortly thereafter, he, with fifteen others purchased Block Island, and removed thither from Taunton. He died, March 13, 1695. He had four sons and two daughters. The three elder brothers, John, James and Samuel, removed to Long Island, and purchased a tract of land on Cow Neck, since called Sands' Point.
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on the 26th of January, it was resolved to substitute the title Christ, instead of Grace, by which the church had heretofore been distinguished, and Mr. Peter Jay was requested to obtain a new seal."a
The old parsonage having been destroyed by fire this year, the Vestry resolved to purchase the house and land of Mr. Isaac Doughty, for the sum of £400. A subscription was accordingly set on foot for that purpose.
The names of the subscribers, and the amount of their contri- butions, are recorded in the book of vestry minutes. One half of the purchase money was subsequently paid by the vestry, and the balance in May, 1795. This purchase embraced the glebe, now owned by the church, on which the parsonage stands.
Upon the 4th of May, 1796, Mr. Sands, in consequence of some dissatisfaction, resigned his charge as rector of the Parish. He subsequently abandoned the ministry and died in Brooklyn, not long since, leaving issue, one sou, John Joseph, and a daughter.
He was succeeded in November, 1796, by the
REV. GEORGE OGILVIE, B. A.
He was the son of the Rev. John Ogilvie, D. D., of New- York, by his wife Catharine Sims, and grandson of William Ogilvie, youngest son of Sir Walter Ogilvie, Kn't, afterward Baron Ogilvie, of Deskford.b His grandfather who was a
· Church Records .- On the 11th of September, 1794, Mr. Jay presented a new seal to the Church.
b The noble family of Ogilvie has given rise to the Lords of Findlater and Sea- field, the Barons of Banff and other eminent houses of North Britain. Its descent from Dubican, the son of Indechtraig, Maormor, or Thane of Angus, who died in 939, is capable of proof. The more recent progenitor, however, was James Ogilvie, of Cardell, who was succeeded by his grandson, Sir Walter Ogilvie, knight, (son of Alexander, by Barbara, daughter of Walter Ogilby, of the Boyne,) who was elevated to the peerage of Scotland, 4th Oct., 1616, by tho title of Baron Ogilvie, of Desk- ford. His lordship married first, Agnes, eldest daughter of Robert 3d Elphinston,
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
native of Scotland, came to this country about the middle of the last century. He was born at New-York, October 16th, 1758, and was educated at King's College, where he graduated Batchelor of Arts, in 1774. During the Revolution he held a commission in a corps of loyalists ;ª and at the peace removed to England. He subsequently returned to his native country, studied theology under the Rev. Dr. Ogden, of Newark, N. J., was ordained deacon by Bishop Provoost, in Trinity Church, New-York, A. D., 1787, and priest by Bishop Scabury, October 3rd, 1790.b He was rector of Christ Church, New Brunswick, from his ordination to 1790, and of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, Conn., from 1790 to 1796, when he was called to this Parish.
At a vestry meeting held in the town of Mamaroneck, on the 26th of Oct., 1796, it was ordered :- " That a call be made out and delivered to Mr. Ogilvie. His salary to consist of £110, yearly, for three years, and all the sums of money over and above that amount, that shall be hereafter put in the subscrip- tion papers."c
Mr. Ogilvie died at Rye, April 3rd, 1797, and was buried by the side of his predecessors in the cemetery belonging to the
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