USA > New York > Westchester County > History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the county of Westchester, from its foundation, 1693, to 1853 > Part 7
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
point, westerly to the land late of Robert Barclay, thence southwest to the said River, where said Mount-brook falls into said River, thence up the stream of said brook to where it began ; also that tract of my Indian purchase land joining on the south to my son Thomas's land herein before given him; also two-eighths of a moyety of a sixteenth part of a twenty-fourth part or propriety of East New Jersey, granted by Gowen Drummond to John Read, senr., and by him to me, and a new English Bible in Quarto. Item, I give unto my son, Basil Bartow, his heirs and assigns forever, all my tract of land in the County of Middlesex, in East New Jersey, on South River, being four hundred and fifty acres, and sixty acres of salt meadow in the round about meadow, also two-eighths of a moyety of a · sixteenth part of a twenty-fourth part of a propriety in East New Jersey, granted by Gowen Drummond to John Read, senr., and by him to me, also my tract of Indian purchase land, called Price Hill, and a new English Bible in Quarto. Item, I give all my lands, buildings, and meadows, and the twenty-five pounds priviledge hereby granted, to my wife during her natural life ; from and after her decease, to my six sons, Thomas, Theophilus, Theodosius, John, Anthony, and Basil, to be divided equally between, for the use of them and their several heirs and assigns forever. Item, I give all my other English books equally between my wife and my six sons aforesaid, each of them to have an equal part. Item, I hereby will and order, that if one or more of my sons should depart this life and leave no law- ful begotten issue, that the lands, the meadows, and all other the premises hereby given unto such son or sons, shall be equally divided between my other sons, and the issue of such of them as may be deceased ; that is to say, I will that the law- ful issue of any of my sons which may be de'ed, shall inherit in the stead of their de'ed Father one equal part among them, (if more than one) with my surviving son or sons of such estate or estates as I have hereby given unto such son or sons as may and shall dye under age, and without lawful begotten issue as aforesaid. Item, I hereby order, that whereas one James Miller, lays claim to some part of my lands and meadows in East New Jersey, and that the said Miller has proposed to convey unto me all his right and title whatsoever, of, in and to all and any part of my said lands and meadows, on consideration of my paying unto him one hundred pounds, Proclamation money : if the agreement be not compleated before my de- cease, my ex'tors shall, upon the said James Miller, or his heirs, or any others by him lawfully authorized, executing sufficient deeds in the law for all the right title and demand of him the said James Miller, his heirs or assigns, of, in, or to all or any of my lands, meadows, and rights in the Province of East New Jersey, by which deeds the same shall be confirmed pursuant and agreeable to this my last will and testament : and for, and to the use and uses of such of my children to whom I have given the same, pay unto the said James Miller, his heirs, ex'tors, adm'rs, or assigns, one hundred pounds proclamation money, to be raised out of my personal estate. Lastly, I hereby nominate and appoint my beloved wife, and William Forster, of Westchester aforesaid, to be ex'tors of this my last will and testament.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year abovesaid.
JOHN BARTOW.
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AND CHURCH OF WESTCHESTER.
Signed, sealed, published, pronounced and declared by the said John Bartow, to be his last will and testament, in the presence of
THO. HADDEN, WILL. THOMPSON, &
DANIEL TURNER.
Mr. Bartow was succeeded in 1727 by the
REV. THOMAS STANDARD, A. M., M. D.,
a native of Taunton, Somersetshire, England, and descended from an ancient family of that name, formerly seated at White- hill, in Oxfordshire.ª He appears to have been brought up as a physician, but changed his profession and entered the ministry. In 1725 he was appointed by order of the Venerable Society, their missionary at Brookhaven, upon Long Island. From his first letter to the Secretary of that body, we take the following extract :-- " October 5th, 1725,-It is with satisfaction on all sides, yt I can now tell you that I am safely arrived at New-York : a country both pleasant and plentiful, where I landed the 10th of the last month, and where I believe I shall take up my abode for the poor remainder of my life ; and let me add, that it is a pity that some clergymen who are starving at home, and who, to my knowledge, have sometimes been so hard put to it, as not to be able to tell where to get a Sunday's dinner for themselves and family; should show so much unwillingness to transplant themselves to our plantations, where their ministrations are so much wanted; and where there is a people speaking their own language, and who are ready to receive them with all marks of respect and affection, even here in York, which I take to have a serene and healthful air above any other of the plantations .- P. S. October 19th-I am now at the City of New-York, where I am collecting, among the church friends, for the building of a church at Brookhaven, &c .- Designing to set up catechising in my parish, I have borrowed a few catechisms of Mr. Wetmore,
¿ The arms of this family were :- vert, an arrow, in pale, or, feathered and head- ed arg .- Crest, a cubit arm, erect, vert, cuffed arg, holding in the hand ppr, a bow, strung. . . .
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
&c. : I hope the next time you will put me into a condition to repay the same."a
October, 1726, he writes to the Secretary, thus :- " Rev. sir,- I humbly beg you would use your interest for me with the Honor - able Society, for my remove to Westchester, and that the person assigned for Westchester, (if any such there be) may be ordered hither : such a remove would be a very great favour to me in my present circumstances, in that Westchester is between four or five hours ride from York, where I may be abundantly supplyed with any convenience of life."b
The following mandate was issued by his Excellency, Wil- liam Burnet, on the Sth of July, 1727 :-
MANDATE FROM GOVERNOR BURNET TO INDUCT THE REV. THOMAS STANDARD TO THE REC- TORY OF WESTCHESTER.
WILHELMUS BURNET Armiger Provincia Novi Eboraci, necnon Nova Cæsaria in America Strategus et Imperator ejusdemque Vice Admiralis, &c.
UNIVERSIS et Singulis Clericis et Ministris Ecclesia Anglicana quibuscumque in et per totam Provinciam Novi Eboraci Ubilibet Constitutis Sive Ædilibus Ecclesia Parochialis de Estria Occidentalis in Comitatu Estric Occidentalis infra provinciam predictam prolix Tempore Salutem Cum dilectum in Christo Thoma Standard Clericum ad rectoriam sive Ecclesiam parochialem predict Estriæ Oc- cidentalis in Comitatu in dicta Provincia Novi Eboraci in America, Jam vacan- tem Ipsium que præsentatum Rectorem Ejusdem Rectoriæ Sive Ecclesiæ paro- chialis in et de Eadem Admissam VOBIS Conjunctim et Divisim Comitto et firmiter injungendo mando, Quatenus Eundem Thoma Standard Clericum Sive procuratorem suum Legitimum Ejus Nomine et pro se in Realem Actualem Cor- poralem possessionem Ipsius Rectoriæ et Ecclesiæ parochialis de Estriæ Occiden- tali predict. Glebarium, Juriumque : et pertinentium Suorum Univer sorem. Conferatis Inducatis Inducive faciatis et Inductum defendalis et quid in premissis feceritis me aut alium Judicem in hac parte Competentem quemcumque ; debite (cum ad id congrue fueritis requisiti certificetis seu sic certificet ille vestrum qui) præsens hoc mandatum fuerit executus. Datum sub sigillo prerogativæ dictæ Provincia Novi Eboraci viii, die Junii Anno Salutis MDCCXXVII.
W. BURNET.
By His Excellency's Command.
Js. BOBIN, D. Sec'ry.c
* Hawks' New-York M. S. S. from archives at Fulham, vol. i. 668, 671.
b Hawks' New-York M. S. S. from archives at Fulham, vol. i, 674.
e Albany deed book, xii. p. 160.
1
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AND CHURCH OF WESTCHESTER.
In his report for 1728, Mr. Standard says :- " That he preaches one Sunday at Eastchester and another at Westchester, twice a day, for the summer half year, and that he catechises the chil- dren publickly at Eastchester : and has baptized since he came to Westchester, about fifty children, besides two grown persons ; and that the number of his communicants are about thirty."a
" At a meeting of the trustees and freeholders of the borough town of Westchester, held the 14th of March, 1729, present, Miles Oakley, president, and Thomas Hadden, Nathaniel Underhill, Underhill Barnes, Thomas Baxter, John Palmer, Thomas Hunt, Joseph Hunt, and James Baxter, trustees :- ordered, that Na- thaniel Underhill, treasurer, pay Ebenezer Haviland,
For a spindle for the church, £3 7 6
To Justice Hadden, for lath and service done, 2 8 0
To Captain Oakley for service done, 0 60
Allowed the treasurer for four white oak plank,
Carting ditto, and for the weathercock,
110
To Wm. Oakley for bringing the weathercock from New-York,
030
To Israel Honeywell for 4500 shingles and carting: and paid for mending the windows, 12 1 0
To Mr. Gillaim for work done above his articles,
9
2 3
To Mr. Gillaim for work as per articles,
42 0 0
To expenses at making the agreement,
200
To Mr. Barnett, expenses at this meeting,
090
To Jeremiah Fowler's expenses,
.
0 10 0
Total,"b £73 7 9
" At a meeting of the trustees, &c., had on the 6th day of May, A. D. 1729, present Miles Oakley, president, John Palmer, Thom- as Baxter, Joseph Hunt, Thomas Hadden, Thomas Hunt, Na- thaniel Underhill, John Cromwell, Underhill Barnes, and Miles Oakley, jr., trustees ; pursuant to an act of general assembly of
* Printed abstracts of Ven. Prop. Soc.
b Westchester Town Rec. vol. ix. 212.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
this province, passed in the tenth year of the reign of our late sovereign lord, King William the Third, of glorious memory, entitled an act to enable the respective towns in this province to build and repair their meeting houses and other publick build- ings :- Resolved, nemine contra dicente, that the sum of £70 shall be raised, and also the collection for the same sum, for the repairing St. Peter's Church in said Westchester, and for no other use, and that they will make a rate accordingly, agreeable to ye next assessments to be made and taken of the town sworn assessors, and that they will meet on ye 22d inst., to agree with workmen for that purpose."a
At a subsequent meeting of the trustees, " £16 was ordered to be raised to finish the seats of the church, secure the frame, and to pay off the arrears, the seats to be made with backs, including the collector's fees : and Underhill Barnes, and Thomas Hunt, are appointed overseers of the work, and to employ workmen. It was further ordered that a warrant be issued for raising said money according to law, to be paid at ye same time with the county tax. Also ordered, that the overseers now chosen require Henry Gillaim to compleat his work, especially the front of the gallery, and to make it secure and substantial."b
MR. STANDARD TO THE SECRETARY.
Westchester, Nov. 5, 1729.
REV. SIR :
"The difficulty of the undertaking has hitherto discouraged me from attempting an answer to the letter of enquiries which was sent me long ago ; but am resolved to send you the best ac- count I can with relation to those heads of enquiry you were pleased to send me.
As to the first, in my parish are three churches, the first of Westchester in the town so called, deemed the mother church, in that the presentation from the Governour runs thus :-
a Westchester Town Rec. vol. ix. p. 206.
b Ibid vol. ix. 213.
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AND CHURCH OF WESTCHESTER.
'To the rector yof Westchester, the glebe thereof, and to all the rights and appurtenances of the same : in which is supposed to be included the church of Eastchester, which my predecessor died possessed of.'
The church of Westchester is a square of twenty-eight foot of a side, about eighteen feet to the eaves, and near of the same dimensions and form as the church of Eastchester, save that the church of Westchester hath a sort of cupulo in which is hung a bell, so that the whole resembles much our pigeon houses in England.
The churches both of East and Westchester, and indeed most of the buildings of this county, are made after the following man- ner, viz : they make a frame of certain dimensions which they raise by piecemeal ; first, placing the under post upon stones placed here and there to support it, when the whole frame is put together they fill up the vacancies under the said frame, which they call underpining, then they raise the top part or roof in like manner as we do with rafters, applying upon them laths, and upon them they nail some split wood, commonly cedar, that being the most in esteem, of about half an inch thick, and half a foot wide, and sometimes two, sometimes three foot long, ac- cording to the intention of the builder, of being either more sa- ving in charge, or more secure against the weather. The wall part is likewise covered with laths, and upon them are nailed, as on the roof, split wood which they call shingles, and they are placed perpendicularly, but then not so thickly placed one by the other as on the roof, where they resemble our tiles.
The Church of Westchester was built by the Quakers, (who were the first settlers in this place, and are still the most numer- ous party in and about it, and indeed the whole parish, as to their manners, are somewhat Quakerish) and by them was given to Colonel Heathcote, for the use and service of the Church of En_ gland.a
* These statements are certainly incorrect ; for we have shown, 1st, that the early inhabitants were Puritan Independents; 2d, the church was built by a public tax, levied on all the inhabitants ; and 3rdly, all public property became vested in the church establishedgby law. Editor,
60
HISTORY OF THE PARISH
The church is endowed with thirty acres of land at £3 per annum, besides which the minister hath a salary of £50 of this currency, raised yearly by virtue of an act of Assembly, of and for this Province. The second church is that of Eastchester, built by the Independants, and by them delivered up to Mr. Bartow, who was formerly inducted into the same, and kept quiet possession of it all his time, permitting the Independants sometimes to assemble in it.
The third, is New Rochelle, where Mr. Stoup officiates, and where a certain number of the French nation have divine ser- vice according to the form and manner of the Church of England, , but the greatest number of that nation flock to a meeting house of their own erecting, who are particularly fond on the Mahom- etan doctrine of absolute decrees, as the Dutch likewise of this country are, who, where they have no minister of their own, will establish a reader in order to hinder their people from as- sembling with the English.
To the second enquiry, I answer, that the number of those well affected to the Church of England, were not above three or four families at the utmost, those that now frequent the church at West and Eastchester in the summer-time, and especially at the afternoon service, are about one hundred, but in the winter, not half that number, though the number of inhabitants in my parish are computed to be about six thousand. Their employments is husbandry, even innkeepers, shopkeepers, smiths, and shoe- makers not excepted ; so that we pray, pay and wait too, for everything done in this country.
As to their religion, those who first settled in Westchester town, some were Quakers, those in Eastchester were New En- gland Independants, who were in love with extemporary prayers, and who remain so in some . degree after they are reconciled to our church, so that the chief hope of making proselytes, lyes amongst the younger sort, and in order to this, I believe the reading of some of our defences to the objections of the Dissent- ers particularly, and especially the London cases abridged by Bennet, would be of singular use.
As the people of this country are all farmers, they are dis- persed up and down the country : and even in towns, every one
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AND CHURCH OF WESTCHESTER.
has a plott of at least ten acres, which distances his neighbour from him, but then they make up for the rareness of their build- ings by enlarging the compass of their towns, in that they gene- rally make their townships many miles in length, it may be twenty or thirty.
In my parish are two meeting houses, one of which is of Quakers, built within a stone throw of the Church of West- chester, and is indeed a better building than that. The other is at New Rochelle. The Church of Eastchester is about four miles east of that of Westchester, and the Church of New Ro- chelle is about four miles east of Eastchester. In New Rochelle, besides the church, there is a meeting house of French Protest- ant Dissenters ; no such meeting house being in Eastchester, ' they supply that want by an intrusion into the church : to which they plead a right, as being the chief builders thereof. But I being legally presented and inducted, as was likewise my pre- decessor, I laid claim to it as my own proper right, exclusive of them ; and so kept them out of it for a time, but they but rarely meeting in it, and threatening a law suit, I permitted them to do as they had done in my predecessor's time : being somewhat at a loss how to behave in that affair ; I should be glad to have the Society's direction therein.
" In the winter time we have severely cold weather, with very hard frost and deep snows, which hold us at least four months, beginning generally about the middle of November, and ending about the middle of March, but we have very cold winds some- time before, and likewise sometime after the time aforesaid, so that we reckon, six months of cold and six months of hot weath- er, four of these being extremely cold, and four extremely hot. It is the business of the summer here, to provide for the winter, by which means few of our farmers rise, or are so much as be- forehand with the world : but the far greatest number are in- volved in debts and difficulties by means of the intemperature of the climate, and the indolence and restiveness of the inhabi- 'tants, but few here improve in their fortunes, so that for ought I could hitherto learn by any observation I could make in my parish, the number of those that die in it exceeds not the num ber of those that run out of it.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
To the third head of enquiry I answer, that there are three meeting houses in my parish, one of the Quakers of Westchester, one of the Dutch, from it three miles west, and one of the French at New Rochelle. The Dutch Church has no settled teacher, but is supplyed once a quarter from New-York, at other times it is supplied only by a reader. The Quakers preach against hierling priests, and pretend to give nothing to their teachers. The other Dissenters support their teachers by a free contribution raised amongst themselves.
To the fourth head of enquiry, I say, there are three schools and three schoolmasters. The first school is at Westchester, William Forester, master, who has a salary from the Venerable Society, whom we have the honor to serve. The second is at Eastchester, one Delpech master, who is very well adapted and fitted for that business, and is well spoken of as being diligent in it: the third is at New Rochelle, where both French and English are taught. The two last have no other encouragement than what the parents of the children taught, do give.
To the fifth, there have been no donations that I know of, made either to the Church of West or Eastchester, nor any ben- efaction to the minister or schoolmaster of either place, nor is there any Library belonging to either church, save a few books Mrs. Bartow delivered to me.
To the sixth and last head of the enquiry, I answer, that in the Township of Westchester, there are seventy-five, in that of Eastchester, twenty-six, but few of these negroes are in the ser- vice of those belonging to our church; and then farther, the state of the negroes being servitude and bondage, all the week they are held to hard work, but only Sunday's excepted, when they fish or fowl or some other way provide for themselves. Their scattered position up and down the country some distance from the church, but have all the prejudices of the masters conceiving the worse for being taught, and more apt to rebel, (an unhappy instance of which we had fourteen or fifteen years ago, in the City of New-York, when and where there was an insurrection of the negroes in which several white people were destroyed, and it was observed, that the Catechumens of that kind or the most instructed of the negroes were the very leaders in that in-
63
AND CHURCH OF WESTCHESTER.
surrection,a) are almost an invincible bar to their christian in- struction.
But I had almost forgot one thing, which, however, is of great moment in this case, and it is that few of them are capable of being instructed. I have now two negroes, since marriage, one of which is a girl about nine years old, whom I have had above twelve months, and have during that time several times attempt- ed to teach her to read, but cannot yet make her know her al- phabet ; nor have any endeavours hitherto used with her, which have not been inconsiderable; been sufficient to make her num- ber ten, tho' she was born in this country : nor can a fellow that is at least twenty, whom I have lately bought, tho' he has been seven years in this country, count up that number, but notwith- standing what hath been said, I hope so far to initiate them in the christian religion as to fit them for baptism.
I have, in obedience to our principals, publickly exhorted those that have negroes to instruct them in the principles of the christian religion, and have offered my assistance therein, but hitherto with little success. I hope I shall succeed better in some future attempt.
It is, I am sensible, expected that I should acquaint the Honorable Society with my labours and the success of them. I preach one Sunday at Westchester, another at Eastchester, and this I do twice a day for one half year, but then during the season, (i. e.) when the days are short and weather cold, and the people are obliged in the morning to attend their cattle, we have divine service but once, and that is about the middle of the day. I catechize the children in the public church at Eastchester, and have moved for 'it at Westchester, but have not yet succeeded, the master there not encouraging of it.
" The " negro plot" of April, 1712. " The useful course of Mr. Neau's labours, (says Dr. Hawkins) was temporarily interrupted in 1712, by an insurrection of the negroes in the city of New-York. This, though soon put down, created a strong prejudice against the school, which the masters, who were for the most part averse to their being instructed, well knew how to turn to an account. There was no ground for it, however ; as it appeared on the trial that but one of all Mr. Neau's scholars, and that one unbaptized, had any connexion in the plot." Note inserted by Editor.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
Since I came here, I have baptized about fifty children, besides two grown persons. The number of our communicants are about thirty. You were pleased to tell me that the people of Setaucot, besides the allowance from the Society, would do something among and of themselves, but nothing being hitherto done, I desire if any subscription were by them sent to the So- ciety, and such I am told was sent ; that you would commu- nicate them to me, and in so doing you will much oblige,
Rev. Sir, Your very humble servant, THOMAS STANDARD." a
In the spring of 1735 occurred an unhappy difference between the Rev. Thos. Standard and Mr. Forster, the Society's school- master. It appears, from a letter of Governor Cosby's to the Bishop of London ; that when Mr. Vesey, the Commissary, " was last at Westchester, (30th of June, 1735) to enquire into this af- fair ; a complaint was exhibited inform against Mr. Standard, by the principal men of his congregation :"b to which Mr. Stand- ard gave in his answer, on the Sth of October following, "to- gether with certain testimonials and affidavits which he judged necessary to his vindication."c In transmitting copies of these proceedings, upon the 20th of October, 1735, to the Bishop of London, and through him to the Venerable Society, Mr. Vesey observes :- " I have not as yet served Mr. Standard's accusers with a copy of his answer to their charges against him, nor ex- amined into the truth of the allegations ; being determined to proceed no farther in a matter of this consequence, without my Lord's and the Hon. Society's express order and directions, as also hoping that they will be pleased favorably to accept his answer, seeing he has promised to reform himself and pursue the great end and design of his mission with more care and diligence for the time to come."c Here the matter seems, fortunately for both parties, to have ended, as no further proceedings were taken :
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