USA > New York > New York City > Old New York : a journal relating to the history and antiquities of New York City, Vol. I > Part 35
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Sixthily : I will & require in case any of my children shall come to dye not being married. or dyeing a widower or widow, leaving no children. then ye inheritance of their share equally devolve to ye survivant children. or their Lawfull Issue by representation.
Seaventhly : I doe make all my children Executors of my Estate to act & performe all things required according to Law and my cousin. Peter de la Nov. to be their assistant.
The premises I declare to be my last will & require ye Same may be performed in all points & accepted in ve law.
In witness whereof I have hereunto sct my hand & affixed my seale ye year, day & month as above said.
CORNELIA DE PEYSTER.
Sealed & Delivered in ve presence of
P. D LA NOY.
ISAAC VAN VLECQ. - JACOBSEN. WILLEM JACOBSEN. A. DE LA NOY.
THE INDUCTION OF THE REV. WILLIAM VESEY.
During the more than fifty years of the ascendancy of the Dutch in this city, the affairs of their church moved with a tran- quil current and their schools were carefully fostered ; nor was there any radical change a> to these under the early English Governors of the Province from 1664, when the Dutch control was destroyed. until the coming here as Governor in August.
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1692, of Benjamin Fletcher. All the early English Governors. except Dongan, who was a Catholic. were Episcopalians, but were either indifferent as to the condition of religious affairs, or too deeply immersed in their private speculations and public duties to give attention to them. Not so with Fletcher: on his advent the quiet was disturbed, and peace was followed by turmoil. Fletcher was not a man of ability. An early historian describes him as a man of sordid disposition. violent temper and shallow capacity. He was an arrogant and overbearing soldier who bitterly resented opposition to his purposes, and who expected to be unhesitatingly obeyed whenever he commanded.
It will be historically interesting to trace the legislation he in- itiated before the Assemblies of the Province of New York for effecting the establishment of the English Church in the colony, and the means by which he secured that result. There had been worship according to the Church of England in the Fort. where the steamship offices are now, opposite the Bowling Green. The Dutch had erected a building there, and in the days of the government from Holland had worshiped there alone. But in 1664 services were held by the chaplain of the English forces alternately with the Reformed Church of Holland. With the growth of the town. however, this had become too small for the latter society, and they erected a new building in Garden street. now Exchange place, just where the eastern end of the Mills building is now to be found. This was in 1693. The building in the fort was abandoned to the garrison and such few others as adhered to the Church of England. No record exists as to who the earlier chaplains were, or by whom the Anglican services were celebrated. The Rev. Charles Wolley appears as the first chaplain whose name is recorded.
Soon after Fletcher's arrival here. he caused application to be made to the Assembly for the passage of an act for the building of a church in the City of New York and the settlement of a Protestant minister. This in his view would undoubtedly be an Episcopalian one. The Assembly stood by the faith of their fathers, and refused to pass the enactment. This refusal brought upon the Assembly all the wrath of the Governor. In 1693 he was somewhat more successful. He secured from the new
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Assembly, grudgingly, as will be seen later on, and not without expectation that its phraseology would defeat its execution accord- ing to the Governor's intent and meaning, the passage of an act, "Providing for the building of a church in the City of New York, in which was to be settled a Protestant minister." This bill. known as the " ministry act." was urged through by Fletcher, after the Assembly had lopped off many of its provisions as pro- posed to them. When passed, it read as follows :
An Act for settling a ministry and raising a maintenance for them in the City of New- York. County of Richmond. Westchester and Queens County.
Whereas Prophanene-s and Li-centiousness hath of late over- spread the Province for want of a settled Ministry throughout the same. To the end the same may be removed, and the ordi- nances of God daily administered, Be it Enucted by the Govern- our and Council, and Representatives convened in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That in each of the respective Cities and Counties hereinafter mentioned and ex- pressed. there shall be called. inducted and established a good sufficient Protestent Minister, to officiate and have the care of souls. within one year next and after the Publication hereof. That is to say. in the City of New- York One, in the County of Richmon. / one. in the County of Westchester two : one to have the care of Westchester. Bustchester. Yonkers, and the Manner of Pellets. the other to have the care of Rye. Manironed and Bulfund ; in Quen County two. one to have the care of Jamie and the adjacent towns and farms, the other to have the care of IL mpstend, and the next adjacent towns and farms.
And for their respective Encouragement. Be it further En- acted by the Authority atoresand. That there shall be annually and once in every Year in every of the respective Cities and Counties aforesaid. assessed. levyed, collected at paid for the maintenance of each of their respective Ministers the respective Siuns hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, For the City and County of War- Fork. One Hundred Pounds: for the two pre- cinets of Westchester. one hundred Pounds, to each fifty Pounds. to be paid in Country Produce at Money price. For the County
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of Richmond forty Pounds, in Country Produce at Money price. And for the two Precinets of Queens County one hundred and twenty Pounds, to each sixty Pounds, in Country Produce at Money price.
And for the more orderly raising the respective maintenances for the Ministers aforesaid, Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the respective Justices of every City and County aforesaid, or any two of them, shall every year issue out their Warrants to the Constables, to summon the Free-holders of every City, County, and Precinct aforesaid, together on the second Tuesday in January, for the chusing of ten Vestrymen and two Church-Wardens, and the said Justices and Vestry-men, or major part of them. are hereby impowered, within ten days after the said day. or in any day after. as to them shall seem convenient, to lay reasonable Tax on the respective City, County, Parish. or Precinct, for the maintenance of the Minister and poor of their respective Places. And if they shall neglect to issue their War- rants, so as the Election be not made that day. they shall respec- tively forfeit five Pounds current Money of this Province. And in case the said Free-holders duely summoned. as aforesaid. shall not appear, or appearing do not chuse the said ten Vestry-men and two Church-Wardens that then in their default, the said Justices shall within ten days after the said Tuesday. or in any day after, as to them shall seem convenient, lay the said reason- able Tax on the said respective Places, for the respective mainte- nances aforesaid. And if the said Justices and Vestry-men shall neglect their Duty herein. they shall respectively forfeit five Pounds current Money aforesaid.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority afor said, That such of the Justices and Vestry-men that shall not be present at the time appointed. to make the said Tax, and thereof be Convicted. by a certificate under the hands of such as do appear. and have no sufficient Excuse for the same, shall respectively forfeit five Pounds current Money aforesaid. And a Roll of the said Tax, so made, shall be delivered into the hands of the respective Cousta- bles of the said Cities, County. Parishes and Precincts, with a Warrant signed by any two Justices of the Peace, impowering him or them to levy the said Tax, and upon Refusal, to distrain.
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and sell by Publick Out-ery, and pay the same into the hands of the Church-Wardens, retaining to himself Twelve Pence per Pound, for levying thereof. And if any Person shall refuse to pay what he is so assessed, and the said Constables do strain for the same, all his Charges shall be paid him, with such further allowance for his pains as the said Justices or any of them shall judge reasonable. And if the said Justice or Justices shall neglect to issue the said Warrant, he or they respectively shall forfeit five Pounds current Money aforesaid. And if the said Constables, or any of them fail of their Duty herein they shall respectively forfeit five Pounds current Money aforesaid. And the Church-Wardens so chosen shall undertake the said Office, and receive and keep a good Account of the Moneys or Goods levyed by virtue of this Act. and the same issue by order from the said Justice and Vestry-men of the respective Cities, Counties. Precincts and Parishes aforesaid. for the purposes and intents aforesaid, and not otherwise. And the Church-Wardens shall as often as thereunto required. yield an Account unto the Justices and Vestry-men of all their Receipts and Disbursments. And in case the Church-Wardens or any of them shall neglect their duty herein. they shall respectively forfeit five Pound current Money aforesaid. for every refusal.
And be it Party Enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That the said Church-Wardens in their respective Precinets aforesaid, shall by warrant as aforesaid pay unto the re- spective Ministers the Maintenance aforesaid, by four equal and quarterly Payments, under the Penalty and Forfeiture of five Pound current Money aforesaid. for each neglect, refusil or default : The one half of all which Forfeitures shall be disposed of to the use of the Poor in each respective Precinct where the same doth arise, and the other half to him or her that shall prosecute the same.
Alrays Provided, and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That all & every of the respective Ministers that shall be settled into the respective Cities. Counties and Precinets aforesaid, shall be called to officiate in their respective Precincts, by the respective Vestry-men and Church-Wardens aforesaid. And always provided. That all former agreements made with
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Ministers thro'-ont this Province, shall continue and remain in their full force and virtue, any thing contained herein to the contrary hereof in any ways notwithstanding.
Confirmed the 11th of May, 1697.
As will be seen, two wardens and ten vestrymen were to be chosen by the freeholders of the City of New York, by a majority vote, whose duty. aided by two justices, was to be to create and col- lect a poor-tax and $100 yearly for the maintenance of a good and sufficient Protestant minister to officiate in this city. Nothing was said about what kind of a Protestant minister he should be. Fletcher construed it as meaning one in the establishment of the Church of England. while the Assembly intended that he should not be, but that the freeholders might call any dissenting minister of good character to officiate. In respect to this, the writer above quoted says : " But the vigor of Governor Fletcher was more fre- quently and strenuously exerted in contentions with the House of Assembly. A bigot himself to the Church of England, he labored incessantly to introduce a model of her establishment in New York, and naturally encountered much resistance to this project from the opposite predilections of the Dutch and other Pre-by- terian inhabitants. At length his efforts succeeded in procuring a bill to be carried through the lower house. or Assembly of Rep- Presentatives, for settling minister- in the several parishes; but when the Council (meaning Fletcher's council of State) adjected to the clause which gave the people the privilege of electing their own ministers a proviso that the Governor should exereise the episcopal power of approving and collating the incumbents, this amendment was directly negatived by the Assembly. The Gov- ernor, exasperated at their obstinacy, called the house before him. and prorogued their sitting with a passionate harangne. . You take upon you.' said he. . as if you were dictators. I sent down to you an amendment of but three or four words in that bill. which, though very immaterial. Net was positively denied. I must tell you it seems very ummannerly. It is the sign of a stub- born, ill temper. You ought to consider that you have but the third share in the legislative power of the government ; and ought not to take all upon you, not be so peremptory. You ought to
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let the Couneil have a share. They are in the nature of the House of Lords or upper house ; but you seem to take the whole power in your hands, and set up for everything. You have sat a long time to little purpose, and have been a great charge to the country. Ten shillings a day is a large allowance, and you punctually exact it.' The members of Assembly endured his rudeness with invinci- ble patience ; but they also obstrueted his pretensions with immovable resolution. In the following year (1694) their dis- putes were so frequent that all business was interrupted, and the Governor seemed to have embraced the determination of convok- ing the Assembly no more."
He prorogued the Assembly in September, 1693, and an election was held January 9th, 1694. At a meeting of the persons chosen, with the justices. held February 12th next following, the act was read. Discussion followed of the question, " Of what persnasion should the minister be who was by them to be called to have the cure of souls and officiate in this city ?" The discussion was ended by the adoption of a resolution by a majority vote " that a dis- senting minister be called."
At this point there seems to have been a lull in the proceed- ings under the act. The sturdy Dutchmen who had thus been elected, and who were in a majority, would not yield to Fletcher's imperious demands. There were then very few Episcopalians here. probably not one in twenty of the entire population. At a second election. held January Sth, 1695, the Dutch again tri- muphed. At their first meeting they declared their preference to be the same as that of their predecessors, and Fletcher was again defeated. Out of his bitter feeling he declared that an " open contempt was thrown on the act of Assembly in choosing such as refused to put the act in execution. His council thought the board should be prosecuted." Doubtless he employed other extraordinary and oppressive measures to compel the board to execute his will, inasmuch as the record shows that on JJannary 26th, 1695, a full board met. and, no member opposing, the Rev. William Vesey was called to officiate in New York. But even Mr. Vesey was a disenter. although inclined towards the Episco- pal church. He was then preaching in a Congregational church on Long Island, and had been instructed at Harvard. No bishop
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had laid hands on him. Fletcher had not yet succeeded. The board had trifled with him, and very diplomatically, to gain time, for on April 12th. 1695, it petitioned the Assembly for a construction of the Ministry act. As might well have been ex- pected, that body having in mind the action of the Assembly of 1692, and the carefully worded act it was called upon to construe, and being in entire sympathy with the dissenting freeholders who had appealed to it, voted that the persons chosen at the election had rightful power to call a dissenting minister. That vote, as might be imagined, did not placate the Governor. He immedi- ately dissolved the Assembly, assigning as his reason for doing so, " that the judges, not the law-makers, were the rightful interpre- ters of the law, and that no Protestant church but that of England admitted of church wardens and vestrymen." So he saw fit to designate those who differed from him. The defeat of Fletcher was complete. The Dutch stood firmly by their own religious methods and church, and did not withdraw their opposition to Fletcher's scheme until they had forced from him a liberal char- ter for their own church. They found. however, that it would be impossible to withstand the power of the British officials. The latter were determined to plant the Anglican Church here. and to give it a support by taxes, A number of the dissenting vestry- men therefore thought it would be inexpedient to stand in the way of the Governor, and were not again elected. so that the board, which originally was unanimous against the new establish- ment. and had later had two in favor out of twelve. now had nine out of the same number. Opposition was withdrawn. New York would in the future need more than one or even two churches, and one of these might be Episcopalian.
The views expressed above are not alone those of dissenters and persons ont of the pale of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Dr. Berrian, who gave very little space or investigation to this period of the church's history. is in an attitude of mild surprise that the vestry of Trinity should have extended a call to a dis- senting minister. It did not: it was the vestry of the city of New York. But Dr. Dix and Dr. Perry are in substantial accord. The latter declares it was against the evident intention and will of the Assembly that this act should be construed so as
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to favor the Episcopalians, and is surprised that it was carried through without a protest. Dr. Dix says that nearly all the mem- bers of the Assembly were dissenters. If they were dissenters they certainly never intended to help the English church.
Therefore it was that on January 19th, 1696, a new board of freeholders were elected; and at their meeting November 2d, 1696, having received a certificate from the Rev. Samuel Myles of King's Chapel. Boston, whereby it appeared that Mr. Vesey " was a man of religions behavior and conversation, and that he was an educated, learned, pious and sober man and a frequent attendant at the Anglican communion," the board gave him a call, and Mr. Vesey being sent for, agreed to its terms, thanked the board and informed them that he would go to England and apply personally to the Bishop of London for orders. The Board lent him 290. secured by his bond. to defray the expenses of the voyage.
The more than four years' bitter struggle between Gov. Fletcher, the Colonial Assemblies, and the Dutch was nearly ended. The Dutch had secured substantial advantages by char- ter for their own church. and the founding of the great and enormously powerful corporation of Trinity Church of to-day was begun.
A statement is attributed to the Rev. John Miller, who had been appointed by the Governor to the position to which Mr. Vesey had been called more lately, but whose appointment was not confirmed, that during the time of the long struggle . Gov- ermor Fletcher seems to have induced him ( Vesey) to conform to the Church of England so as to become rector of the new church." That Fletcher did so would seem to be reasonably clear, upon the authority of Governor Hunter, who said . Mr. Vesey was born a dissenter, and was formerly au Independent minister. At the time of this call he was officiating in the Independent Church at Hempstead. Long Island : but he seems soon after the call to have withdrawn from that connection, repaired to Boston and there conformed."
I am not informed as to the date of conformance; but it could not have been more than a very short time prior to his re- eviving the call of Nov. 20, 1696. We find in the diary of Sanmel Sewell under the date of July 26th. 1696. this entry: " Mr. Vesey
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preached in the Church of England in Boston, and had many auditors. He was spoken to to preach for Mr. Willard (Inde- pendent); but I am told this will procure him a discharge." Evidently, a profound struggle was going on in Mr. Vesey's mind. There were some convictions he was compelled to sur- render or suppress the expression of. He must have done one or the other, when he accepted the call. Soon after that date he took his departure for England. In December, 1697, he returned to New York, bringing with him his credentials of orders and several letters from the Bishop of London. Ile deposited four of these papers, three written in Latin and one in English, as well as the certificate of Governor Fletcher as to his entering on the dis- charge of his duties, in the Surrogate's office in this city for record.
The new church was in process of erection and a vestry had been formed. This vestry, however, was not the same one contemplated by the act of Assembly. It was an Episcopa- lian one, and was formed by the action of the persons of that faith who had despaired of getting an organization through legal means. The chapel in the fort was in ruins. or nearly so. and it would require a great deal of money to build it up again. The Governor, therefore, made a grant of £540 for its reconstruc- tion elsewhere, and the committee were granted leave to collect money from other sources. This committee were Thomas Clarke. Robert Lurting. Jeremiah Tothill, Caleb Heathcote. James Evetts. William Morris, Ebenezer Willson, William Merret, James Emott and R. Ashfield. In the fifth year of William and Mary an act of Assembly was passed by which a grant and confirma- tion was made of a church and steeple lately built in New York. together with the ground adjoining thereto. It was entitled the parish of Trinity. the bishop of London being its rector, and the wardens and vestrymen were named. The wardens were Thomas Wenham and Robert Lurting, and the vestrymen were Caleb Heathcote. William Merret. John Tudor, James Emott. William Morris, Thomas Clarke. Ebenezer Wilson, Samuel Burt, James Evetts, Nathaniel Mar-ton. Michael Howden. John Crooke. William Sharpas, Lawrence Read, David Jamison. William Ilndleston. Gabriel Ludlow, Thomas Burroughs, John Merret and William Janeway.
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At a meeting of this vestry held December 24th, Mr. Vesey's credentials and papers were submitted and considered, and he was unanimously called to the rectorate of the new church. He immediately appeared before the vestry and informed them that he was ready to enter on the discharge of the duties of the ministry so soon as he should be inducted.
The vestry then presented him to Fletcher for induction. The Governor did not waste time. Remembering, however, the long contest between himself and the Dutch clergy and Dutch citizens, in his vindictiveness he attempted to humiliate, in so far as he could, all these by compelling the chief of the Dutch clergymen in the city of New York, the Rev. Henry Selyns, and the Rev. Johannes Petrus Nucella, a prominent minister in the Dutch de- nomination, pastor of the Dutch Church at Kingston, New York, who was then in this city. to assist in the induction of a pastor who to them was an alien in race and creed. and to that end issued the sweeping mandate which is published herewith in its documen- tary order. Though no day was mentioned in the proclamation on which its terms were to be complied with, they were obeyed on the day of its date. as will be seen by the certificate of the Rev. Messrs. Selyns and Nneella. and the church wardens. The former were not to be permitted to escape from the city. They were compelled to yield to the Governor's behests. In view of Fletcher's course concerning the induction, it is rather amusing to read the naive suggestions of a late writer on the subject. Ile says : " The Governor seems to have requested the presence of these two Dutch ministers at the ceremony in order to have the most respectable and competent witnesses, who by their counte- nance of approval of the proceedings might conciliate and recon- cile the great body of the Dutch inhabitants to the establishment of a Church of England in their city."
The induction took place in the Reformed Dutch Church in Garden street, which had then been built only a short time. The exercices were probably chiefly in Latin, and Gov. Fletcher was the inducting officer. For three months after the Episcopalians held their services there once a day. the other service being in Dutch, but on the 13th of March. 1695. the new church (Trinity} was sufficiently advanced for divine worship to be held there.
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Mr. Vesey, as will be seen by the subjoined doemments, was not ordained in England, until August 2d, 1697, and as already shown, he did not return to this country until December of that year, and was not indneted until Christmas day. The certificate of Governor Fletcher, dated March 25th, 1698, a copy of which was published on page 271 of the November number of this journal. shows that Trinity church was first opened for service on Sunday, March 13th, 1698.
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