USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 10
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 10
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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON LONG ISLAND
The first Sunday School was started in 1828 by the Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine, the rector at that time. Five years later a schoolhouse was built under the rectorship of the Reverend Benjamin C. Cutler. Five rectors of St. Ann's subsequently became bishops. The Rev. John P. K. Henshaw was made Bishop of Rhode Island in 1843; the Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk became assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania in 1827; the Rev. Charles P. MeIlvaine became Bishop of Ohio in 1832; the Rev. George Ashton Oldham became Bishop of Albany in 1929; the Rev. Frank Whittington Creighton became the Missionary Bishop to Mexico in 1926, then Suffragan Bishop of Long Island in 1930, and later, in 1937, the Bishop of Michigan. The rectors were as follows: George Wright, 1784-89; Elijah Ratoon(e), 1789-92; Am- brose Hull, 1792; Samuel Nesbitt, 1793-98; John Ireland, 1798-1807; Henry J. Feltus, 1807-14; J. P. K. Henshaw, 1814-17; Hugh Smith, 1817-19: Henry U. Onderdonk, 1819-27; Charles P. McIlvaine, 1827- 33; Benjamin Cutler, 1833-63; Lawrence H. Mills, 1863-67 ; Noah Hunt Schenck, 1867-85; Reese F. Alsop, 1886-1906; Rev. C. Campbell Walker, 1907-17; Rev. G. Ashton Oldham, 1917-22; Rev. Frank W. Creighton, 1923-26; Rev. Samuel Dorrance, 1926-44; Rev. Melville Harcourt, 1945 -.
Throughout the colonial period and up until November 18, 1868, the Episcopal churches on Long Island were connected with the Diocese of New York. Since there were at least fifty-three independent churches on Long Island already admitted to the Diocese of New York and several missions almost ready to apply for the standing of regular parishes, and with many missions in this vast area which needed constant attention, together with the opportunities constantly arising for the establishment of new missions on the island, it was deemed both proper and fitting that a new diocese to be known as the Diocese of Long Island be formed.
On the above appointed date in 1868 sixty-one of the clergy from Kings, Queens, and Suffolk Counties, together with one hundred eighteen lay delegates from fifty-three parishes, assembled in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, according to the notice issued by the Right Reverend Horatio Potter, the Bishop of New York, who acted under the resolution of the General Convention of 1868. The diocese was duly organized and on the following day, the Rev. Dr. Abram Littlejohn, the rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, was duly elected as the Bishop of Long Island. His consecration occurred on Wednesday, January 27, 1869. Bishop Horatio Potter of New York, the Bishop of New Jersey, the Bishop of Western New York, and the missionary Bishop of Nebraska were the consecrators in the Church of the Holy Trinity, of which he has been the rector for eight years.
A most gratifying growth marked Bishop Littlejohn's tenure of Bishopric which comprised thirty-three years. At the Diocesan Con- vention in 1901, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City, the churches and missions numbered one hundred twenty-six, and the clergy, one hundred fifty-four, and the money raised for all purposes. $775.000, as compared to the year 1869 when the total amount raised was $285,000.
L. I .- II-6
The Cathedral of the Incarnation at Garden City
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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON LONG ISLAND
The diocese has ever been of a missionary mind, giving more than one-half of the amounts collected to its initial work in the diocese and to the missionary work of the National Church. The Women's Auxiliary, of which too much cannot be said in praise, has always been a most important adjunct in raising missionary funds, especially for the program of the National Church.
Bishop Littlejohn's Episcopate will be remembered by the estab- lishment at Garden City of the cluster of Diocesan Institutions. It was in September, 1869, that Alexander T. Stewart purchased from the town of Hempstead for $400,000, somewhat over 7000 acres, form- ing a part of what was known as "The Plains". Before Mr. Stewart's death in 1876, he had conceived the idea of a great foundation for religion and learning at Garden City, but it was left to Mrs. Stewart to carry out his wishes. On June 28, 1877, in a very impressive cere- mony, Bishop Littlejohn laid the cornerstone of the Cathedral of the Incarnation. In the following autumn the two schools, St. Paul's for boys and St. Mary's for girls, were opened in temporary quarters on the estate. In the next few years Mrs. Stewart diligently prose- cuted the building operations and in 1883 the large and then magnifi- cent building for St. Paul's School was finished and occupied. In 1884 the Bishop's residence was ready for occupancy and, in 1885, the Cathedral itself was completed and consecrated. When, shortly after this Mrs. Stewart died, it was stated with authority that she had expended on the Cathedral and schools, together with the improve- ments therewith, over two millions of dollars.
Among the many other achievements during the tenure of office of Bishop Littlejohn, the Church Charity Foundation, founded Feb- ruary 6, 1851, through the indefatigable work of several people, notable among them Mrs. Sarah Richards, Mrs. Henry E. Pierrepont, Mrs. George Hastings, Mrs. Sarah Gracie, and Mrs. S. N. Burrill, together with the Rev. Dr. Vinton, the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Cutler and Mr. Conklin Brush, then the Mayor of Brooklyn, was greatly enlarged both as to its scope and intensity of work in charities, which included the care of the aged and the sick and later, for the orphans and the blind. Bishop Littlejohn, in 1871, began a building program to house these various activities on the land situated between Atlantic Avenue and Herkimer Street and bordered by Albany Avenue, in Brooklyn. On June 23, 1871, he laid the cornerstone of St. John's Hospital. It was in February, 1869, that the Helping Hand paper-now Tidings- was founded. The training school for nurses was organized in 1896. The home for the blind was also established in 1896.
Among the many valuable workers and supporters of the Church Charity Foundation has been Mrs. Divine F. Burtis, who for fifty- four years has served on the Board of Managers and for thirty-nine years has been the able president of this board. In season and out of season Mrs. Burtis has been most devoted and consecrated to this great work of the hospital, the school of nursing, the homes for the aged and the blind and to the orphanage, and also to the splendid work of St. Phebe's Convalescent Home.
Bishop Littlejohn also inaugurated the "Blessed Work" of the "Sisters Community of St. John the Evangelist", who in turn have
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labored most faithfully in both the hospital and the homes for the aged, the orphans, and the blind. The house of St. Giles the Cripple, organized in 1891 by Sister Sarah for the care of crippled children, must be mentioned as one of the accomplishments under Bishop Little- john's administration.
On Saturday, August 3, 1901-at the age of seventy-seven years- God in his great wisdom called this beloved Bishop Littlejohn, whose masterly hand and intellectual ability developed the diocese on such safe but still progressive lines that its influence at the present is among the greatest of all the dioceses in the National Church.
The Reverend Frederick Burgess, D.D., who had served for four years as the rector of Grace Church on the Heights, was elected at the Thirty-sixth Annual Diocesan Convention, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, to succeed the Right Reverend Abram Littlejohn. Bishop Burgess was consecrated on January 15, 1902, in Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights. His consecrators were Bishop Henry C. Potter, Bishop William Croswell Doane of Albany; Bishop John Scarborough, New Jersey; Bishop William David Walker, North Dakota and Western New York; Bishop George Worthington, Nebraska; Bishop Thomas Frederick Davies, Michigan; Bishop Junius Moore Horner, Asheville, North Carolina, and Bishop Du Moulin of Niagara.
During Bishop Burgess' administration of twenty-three years there was continued growth and development of the suburban sec- tions of Long Island, which afforded a vast opportunity for the expan- sion of the Episcopal Church. His work is outstanding because of his conservative and scholarly training and his intense desire to see the diocese progress. He was greatly beloved by the clergy and all who came in contact with him. During his administration he built upon the sure foundations of those already laid by his predecessor, emphasizing the spiritual cure of souls and the establishment of churches and missions throughout Long Island. Before his death on October 15, 1925, he felt his health was failing and, therefore, asked for a Co-adjutor Bishop. His was truly a great work in God's vine- yard-"lengthening the cords and strengthening the stakes". Truly he merited the reward of God's elect, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant-enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
In accordance with Bishop Burgess' request for a Co-adjutor Bishop, the Reverend Ernest Milmore Stires, D.D., was elected at the Annual Diocesan Convention in Garden City on May 26, 1925. While he was the Co-adjutor Bishop-elect, Bishop Burgess died and, therefore, his election became that of the Bishop of Long Island, rather than the Co-adjutor Bishop. The consecration of Bishop Stires took place October 15, 1925, in St. Thomas' Church, Manhattan, where he had been the beloved rector for nearly twenty-five years. The consecrators were Bishops Talbot, Murray, Manning, Brown, Slattery, Brent, Lawrence and Lloyd. Bishop Stires' tenure was marked by his masterly practice of spirituality, kindness and diplomacy.
It was during Bishop Stires' administration that the new St. John's Hospital and the beautiful "Walter Gibbs Memorial Chapel"
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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON LONG ISLAND
were built, facing on Herkimer Street, adjacent to the old St. John's Hospital and the Home for the Aged and the Blind. Many new churches and missions came into existence during his administration. His work became so heavy that he found it necessary to have two Suffragan Bishops and hence, the Rt. Reverend John Insley Blair Larned, D.D., who at the close of World War II became the Bishop in charge of the European churches, and the Rt. Reverend Frank W. Creighton, S.T.D., who later became the Bishop of Michigan, were elected in 1929 and in 1933, respectively.
Bishop Stires, at reaching the retirement age, realizing the great possibilities of the work on Long Island and feeling that a younger man could better accomplish the work, resigned in 1942. The diocese regretfully accepted his resignation, for, indeed, he had been a real father in God and had given unstintingly of his life for the upbuilding and progress of the Diocese of Long Island.
At a special convocation of the clergy and laity of this diocese on February 10, 1942, the Rev. James Pernette De Wolfe, D.D., was elected the fourth Bishop of Long Island having, from June 23, 1940, served as the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. He was consecrated May 1, 1942, in the Cathedral of the Incarnation. The consecrators were the Rt. Rev. Henry St. George Tucker, D.D., S.T.D., LL.D., Bishop of Virginia and Presiding Bishop of the National Church; the Rt. Rev. William T. Manning, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D., Bishop of New York; the Rt. Rev. Ernest Milmore Stires, D.D., L.H.D., D.C.L., LL.D., the retiring Bishop of Long Island; the Rt. Rev. Harry Tunis Moore, D.D., LL.D., the Bishop of Dallas; the Rt. Rev. Clinton S. Quin, D.D., of Texas, and the Rt. Rev. Robert M. Spencer, D.D., of West Missouri.
Bishop DeWolfe's administration has been marked with unusual success for he possesses to an exceptional degree the gifts of a real servant of God, the intellectuality of a theologian, the acumen of an administrator and the fine qualities of a very excellent preacher. He came to the diocese when the change in population, both in Brooklyn and Long Island, was marked and when the exigencies of World War II offered greater opportunities and necessities for an expanding work. He has at all times proved himself to be of self-sacrificing service to both his clergy and the many congregations on the island.
It is interesting to note that in 1868, when the diocese was formed, there were canonically resident ninety clergymen, and in 1946 there were canonically resident 207 clergymen; and that while in 1868 there were 75 churches and missions, in 1946 there were 169 churches and missions; and that the missionary gifts in 1946 were $140,897.75, of which amount $46,305.00 was given for missionary pur- poses to the General Church and the balance used for missionary work in the diocese.
It seems most fitting to speak of Dr. Raymond F. Barnes, the Treasurer of the Diocese of Long Island, who began to make his con- tributions to the Episcopal Church in Long Island in 1919 when he was made the treasurer of the nation-wide campaign. From that time on he has served on the Diocesan Council, has been a delegate to
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eight consecutive General Conventions, served as a member of the Program and Budget Committee of the General Convention, and the treasurer of this diocese and its various funds since 1926. In 1929 he was elected the Treasurer of the General Convention, which office he has filled ever since. In 1930 he was elected a trustee of the American Church Building Fund Commission; in 1931 he was made the agent of the General Properties Fire Insurance Corporation and, in 1939, he was made a superintendent of Construction of the City of New York, Department of Housing and Building. Besides the many Diocesan and National Church offices which he has faithfully filled, he has been a director of the First National Bank of Jersey City, a trustee of the South Brooklyn Savings Bank and a member of the firm of Marsh and Barnes Servicing Unit (real estate and mortgages). On June 9, 1937, Hobart College, in recognition of Dr. Barnes' inesti- mable services to the Church at large, conferred upon him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
Dr. Barnes will long be remembered for his indefatigable work in organizing the finances of the diocese and in the systematizing of the many diocesan endowment funds and investments. Largely through his efforts the histories of the various parishes, as well as the parish registers of many of the extinct churches, have been collected and placed in the archives of the diocese. His work has been of far- reaching value to the diocese and to the National Church.
The seal of the Diocese of Long Island was designed by the Rev. Beverley Betts. The heraldic terms may seem rather obscure in their significance, but are here given in the words of the designer: "The elegant and significant coat of arms, or, a chevron barry-wavy, argent and azure between three crosses, crosslet fitchy gules, which was devised by the present writer as episcopal arms of the Diocese of Long Island and as the basis of the corporate seal of the Cathedral at Garden City." "The shield is of gold and with the crosses is a part of the arms of the MacDonalds, ancestors of William Alexander, Earl of Sterling, first Lord Proprietor of Long Island. The chevron, with barry-wavy lines, blue on silver, is also part of his arms. These tinctures are the well-known Stewart colors, and contain a graceful allusion to the benefactions of Mrs. A. T. Stewart by whom the cathedral at Garden City was founded and endowed. The arrange- ment of 'barry-wavy' is the conventional symbol of 'waters' and with the Biblical motto below, 'I will set his dominion in the sea', indicates the insular 'jurisdiction'. The crosses, customary emblems of the Christian religion, are red. The mitre is of gold with lining and bands in red, indicating the episcopal character of the corporation."
"Much significance attaches to the jewels of the mitre. Of these the five rubies represent the five wounds of Christ, the three sapphires have reference to the Trinity, and the two emeralds are symbols of the dual nature of Christ, the human and divine. These precious stones were chosen as being especially significant and appropriate from the allusions made to them in the Scriptures: the ruby suggest- ing charity, dignity, divine power; the sapphire, constancy, truth and virtue; the emerald, immortality."
CHAPTER XXIII
The Quakers of Long Island ** JACQUELINE OVERTON
N O HISTORY of Long Island, religious or secular, would be com- plete that failed to record the part played by the steadfast, sturdy group of men and women whom Peter Stuyvesant and others of his day dubbed "the heretical and abominable sect called Quakers."
Some came to this country to gain material benefit but the majority of them came to win freedom and peace and to sow the seed of spiritual convictions. And their lot, like others in those early days who differed from the established church and had opinions of their own which they were not afraid to air, was a difficult and bitter one, especially under the rule of Dutch governors. But undaunted by persecution of the worst kind they kept serenely on their way, in step with their faith, increasing in spiritual strength, in influence and in numbers until they contributed a substantial element in Long Island's development.
The founder and inspiration of the Society of Friends (called Quakers) was George Fox, born in Drayton, Leicestershire, England, in 1624, the son of a poor weaver.
George Fox was apprenticed to a shoemaker and between whiles tended sheep but neither could hold him long. Deep down within him was a yearning for spiritual satisfaction, for an answer to many things that perplexed him and there was no answer nor little stimula- tion for such a restless, inquiring one in the little hamlet of Drayton.
One source of satisfaction he had : the Bible. A short time before his birth, 1611, it had been translated into the King James Version. There was no other book so splendid and reading and pondering over it, especially out of doors, was his one delight.
The established church offered him very little help though he earnestly sought an answer to his questions from first one priest and then another, even travelling as far as London. Most of those to whom he went for help evidently considered him just another strange and disturbing young man and they offered him all types of advice from "taking a wife to taking tobacco".
George Fox had no early ambition to become a leader, had no idea that a powerful religious society was to be born out of his own wanderings in search of truth. He was only a boy when he began his quest and it was only after he became convinced of the truth within himself, gained through years of doubt and sorrow and meditation,
* This paper was read before the New York State Historical Society at its meeting in Garden City, September 28, 1939.
It was later published in the Quarterly of the New York State Historical Society, April, 1940.
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that he began to share what he had found for his soul's comfort with many others rich and poor whom he discovered were seeking also.
William Penn described George Fox as "an original", "no man's copy". Certainly he must have had the ability to draw people to him through his quiet enthusiasm and earnestness. His message, as one has said, "like the man himself was clear, direct and simple." Religion for him, he had finally discovered, was a way of living. It must start within one's self.
In the midlands of England he began his ministry and those who gathered about him first called themselves "Children of Light", though happily they soon changed their name to Friends.
Fox besought his followers to rid themselves of questions of dogma and turn their attention to the Spirit of Christ which had been put within their own souls. He gave a new meaning to silence as a part of worship, bidding them sit still and listen and let the Divine power work from within. Above all he preached sincerity and honesty both within themselves and in their dealings with others and likewise urged simplicity in living and in speech.
In the midst of the unrest and extravagance of the England of Charles the First, Fox wanted to spread a religion, a way of life, that would give everyone an opportunity to be what God intended him. He longed to change unfair systems, unjust laws that bound and hampered. A splendid ideal, a great vision that others had had before his day and since his time, but to change the world is a diffi- cult thing as he and his followers soon found.
George Fox was a fearless and tireless idealist and once his mission seemed clear nothing daunted him. He was ready to challenge whatever seemed wrong.
He and his followers met out of doors or in barns and one another's houses, refused to contribute to the established church and boldly challenged some of its practices which seemed to them meaningless or lacking in sincerity. A Friend's word must be enough; they refused to take oaths or support the army and they were imprisoned in consequence likewise for disturbing the peace by their preaching. "In the early days Fox and his followers were often put in jail not so much for teaching heresy as for breaking the peace. The absence of ecclesiastical organization made them seem like vagrant ranters and their refusal to pay tithes or to testify under oath or lift their hats before a magistrate kept them perpetually liable to punishment for contempt of court."
In 1650 George Fox spent a full year in a Derby prison for "declaring the truth" and it was in Derby that Friends were first called Quakers.
"The time has come for men to quake and tremble before the Lord" declared Fox when he was being questioned in the Court of Justice. Whereupon the judge said: "So you are Quakers" and the name clung to them thereafter.
Growth was slow and discouraging but despite hardship and bitter persecution Friends increased and preachers both men and women developed within their ranks to carry their message not only to other parts of the British Isles but abroad as well.
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In an age when women held a subordinate position, George Fox believed in every way she was man's equal and companion. As one historian has said: "He did not debate about women's rights, he proclaimed their equal privileges and responsibilities". Hence as years went on there were almost as many women as men who preached the message of the Society of Friends at home and abroad and when Quakers founded schools and colleges they were coeducational.
According to so distinguished an authority as Rufus Jones, "the first Quaker in America was Richard Smith of Long Island." He visited England in 1654, two years after the Society of Friends was born, met William Dewsbury (a disciple of George Fox), became "convinced" and returned to Long Island and was the lone Quaker here before the first of their missionaries arrived.
Three women were among the eleven Quaker preachers who sailed for America in 1658. The majority of these eleven went to Rhode Island, but three remained here and in the liberal settlement of Gravesend, Long Island, presided over by the redoubtable Lady Deborah Moody, the first Quaker meeting in America was held by Robert Hodgson and two associates.
Gravesend was called the "Mecca of Quakerism". No such reception awaited Hodgson when he and his co-workers tried to preach in Jamaica and Hempstead, both of which were strong in the estab- lished church and violently opposed "to Quakers or any such opinionists".
In Hempstead, Hodgson attempted to hold a meeting on Sunday in an orchard, was arrested, and locked up in the house of the constable. After which the constable proceeded to attend service in his own church and returning found Hodgson preaching to a crowd from one of the windows of his own house.
The following day Hodgson was driven out of Hempstead at the tail of a cart and imprisoned in New York, suffering horrible treat- ment on his refusal to work or pay a fine. The first of countless such cases to follow before Quakerism became established. "In the mean- time," says John Cox, "it spread like fire in the stubble through the untheocratic English townships of Flushing and Oyster Bay."
Certain names stand out in the establishment of Quakerism on Long Island. Among them are John and Hannah Bowne of Flushing.
Hannah attended the meeting of Quakers and became one of them. Shortly afterwards John, "deeply impressed by the beauty and simplicity of their worship" likewise became one of the Society offering his house as a place of worship. Friends met in the house of John Bowne for almost forty years before they built their own meeting house in 1694 and he was made to suffer for it.
In 1663, as an example to other Quakers, he was transported to Holland, but upon "manifesting his case to the West India Company in Amsterdam, they did not utter one word tending to the approval of anything that had been done by way of religious persecution and Peter Stuyvesant was advised to be more lenient with noncon- formists."
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