USA > New York > The earliest churches of New York and its vicinity > Part 18
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In 1763, M. Houdin writes that the Calvinists used unlawful methods to obtain possession of the church glebe. These Calvinists were the few old Protestant French families who had not conformed to the Church of England, and Houdin says plainly of them : " Seeing the Calvinists will not agree upon any terms of peace proposed to them by our Church, . . . we are in hope the strong bleeding of their purse will bring them to an agreement after New York court."
The French Protestant preacher continued his pious labors among the people of New Rochelle until October. 1766, when he rested from them by death. He was a man of considerable learning, irreproachable character, and esteemed a worthy Christian missionary. . The last
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of the Huguenot preachers in New Rochelle, he was interred under the chancel of the old French church there, by the side of his faithful and pious pre- decessors in the sacred office, Bondet and Stouppe. Since the removal of this sacred edifice, long ago, the dust and ashes of these early French missionaries to our land have reposed beneath the public highway "to Boston," but not a stone tells where they lie, or com- memorates their usefulness, excellence, or piety. This is a disgrace to the living, and a neglect of the pious dead. Their silent graves ought not to remain thus neglected and unnoticed. Some cenotaph or monument should point out the hallowed spot where these first. Huguenot preachers were entombed.
M. Houdin's funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Henry Munro, A. M .. of Yonkers, from Hosea iv. 12: "Prepare to meet thy God."
In the rear of the church was the old French burying- ground, and here repose many of the departed exiled Huguenots, till the resurrection of the just. On the earliest tombstones the epitaphs are illegible, but among those preserved are the following :
VOICI LE CORPS DE ISAAC COUTANT, AG. DE 50 ANS.
VOICI LE CORPS DE SUSANA LANDRIN, AG. DE 18. M. LE G D. S. L. 1750.
HERE LIES THE BODY OF ANDRE RANOUD, WHO DEPARIED THIS LIFE ON FRIDAY. YE 2 DAY OF DEC., A. D. 1758, AGED 25 YR.
The Baptismal Register does not commence until the year 1724, and for the information of the curious in olden times we copy an entry :
" C'e Dimanche, 11 Mars, 1721, a été baptis ; sortie service du matin, tils de Thomas Wallis et Madeleine sa femme. Le Pere a ute prosent, au saint bap- 18
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teme, par Denys Weertman et Elizabeth sa femme, Parrain et Marraine : le dit Peter est né le six du dit mois.
" THOMAS WALLIS, PETER STOUPPE,
" DENIS WOERTMAN, her . " ELIZABETH M WOERTMAN. marque.
ISAAC QUAINTAIN, Ancien."
The old church glebe was sold in 1800-180-1, and the funds loaned on the present parsonage, and which fell to the church by foreclosing the mortgage in Chancery, 1821.
From M. Houdin's death until the Revolution, divine services were performed in the French church by the Rev. Mr. Seabury, the rector of the parish. In his first report, he says : "The congregation consists of nearly two hundred people, decent and well behaved, part English and part French. The French all understand English tolerably well, and, except half-a-dozen old people, in whose hands is the chief management of affairs, full as well as they do French. The greatest part of them would prefer an English to a French min- ister, and none are warm for a French one but the half- a-dozen above mentioned."
"They had a globe of near one hundred acres of land left them formerly, thirty acres of which they have ro- covered. The rest is kept from them under pretence that it was given to a Presbyterian or Calvinistic French Church. They have also a parsonage-house : but whether these endowments are so made that an English minister could enjoy them, Leannot yet learn. I have been thus particular, that the Society may be able to judge whether it is expedient for them to send another missionary to
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New Rochelle or not." At this period in the history of New York, it must be remembered that the " Venerable Society " of England supplied the colony with ministers of the Gospel-missionaries.
Mr. Seabury, in another letter of October 1st, 1768, says of the New Rochelle French Church : "As there is a number of strolling teachers, especially of the sect of Anabaptists, who ramble through the coun- try, preaching at private houses, for the sake of making proselytes and collecting money, I have thought it best to visit them occasionally, as well to prevent any ill effects that might arise, as for the sake of a num- ber of well-disposed people who live there. I shall, however, carefully attend to the caution you give, not to neglect any particular case of East and West- chester.""
During the American Revolution the French church at New Rochelle appears to have been closed, and its con- gregation much scattered. After the treaty of peace. the parish was regularly organized, and the royal charter granted to Trinity, in 1762, confirmed by Governor Clin- ton, in 1793. What was left of the French congregation mostly became Episcopalians; and from 1781 to 1786, Mr. Andrew Fowler read prayers and sermons to the people. He was succeeded by the Rev. Theodosius Bartow, as a lay-reader, until he obtained holy orders. Mr. Bartow was the first rector of Westchester parish. and, by his mother, Bathsheba Pell, descendant of John Pell, the second proprietor of the manor of Pelham. At this period, his salary was thirty pounds per annum,
* N. Y. MSS., Dr. Hawks.
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and Lewis Pintard, Esq., appears to have principally paid it for a long time.
For thirty years Mr. Bartow labored in this church, " resigning his sacred office in the year 1819. He died the same year, and his remains sleep in the graveyard of Trinity, New Rochelle, not far from the site of the old Huguenot church and the graves of his predecessors in the Gospel ministry-Bondet, Stouppe, and Houdin. His age was seventy-two. The late John Bartow, of Baltimore, the Rev. Theodore Bartow, with the Rev. Henry B. Bartow, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, are his grandsons.
By adding a few more names we can complete the list of Episcopal clergymen in New Rochelle to a modern date. The Rev. Renaud Kearney, A. M., was elected minister in 1819, and resigning in 1821, the Rev. Lewis Pintard. A. M., became the rector of this parish in 1821. He was born at the residence of his great unele, Elias Boudinot, LL. D., at Frankford, Pennsylvania. His father was the Hon. Samuel Bayard, of Philadelphia, and his mother the only daughter of that excellent citi- zen, Lewis Pintard, LL. D.
During the ministry of Mr. Bayard the present Trinity was erected in New Rochelle. In 1827, he changed the field of his ministry to Genova, New York, and then to Genesee; and during 1830, reorganized St. Clement's, New York. In 1840, he made a tour through Europe to Syria and the Holy Land. for health. After four months' absence, and on his return, he died at sea. September 2d, that year. In 1827, the Rev. Lawson Carter, A. M., was called to fill the vacant parish, resigning 1832.
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when the Rev. Thomas W. Coit, D. D., became rector ; and in 1849, the Rev. Richard U. Morgan, D. D., assumed the duties of the parish, who continues the excellent pastor of this time-honored flock. In a visit to New Rochelle, we found the original bell presented to the French Church du St. Esprit, New York, by Sir Henry Ashurst, of London. It now calls the people to the Lord's house, as it did more than a century ago in our city. It bears this legend :
"SAMUEL NEWTON MADE ME, 1706."
The communion plate, a large silver chalice and paten, was the gift of "Good Queen Anne."
There are many descendants of the Huguenots in New Rochelle and its neighborhood, and such should von- crate and imitate the piety of their pious ancestors, who were providentially Jed, like Moses and the Israelites, from oppression and bondage to this land of deliverance -- the Canaan in the Western World !
Pennsylvania, too, as well as Massachusetts, afforded an asylum to many hundreds of French refugees, or Huguenots. These, at first settling in England, did not find that kingdom a refuge against intolerance, as it was then governed by the bigot James HI. In the year 1690, Maryland also received a large number. We doubt not that these French emigrants, as was always the custom, had their own pastors with them; but in all our ro- searches we have discovered no such fact. Claude Philippe de Richebourg. driven from his native land by the Ediet of Revocation, came with the first French colonists to Virginia. Lands were given to them on the
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southern bank of James River, some twenty miles above Richmond, near an Indian town called "Mannikin," and hence the name of the "Mannikin Town Settle- ment," afterwards the "Parish of King William." A Methodist Episcopal Church still occupies the spot, and retains its Indian name.
In the year 1690, about three hundred more French refugee families increased the force of this young colony. The next year, two hundred more arrived, followed shortly by one hundred other families. Virginia, in 1674, decreed them the title of citizens ;" and by an act of her Legislature, in 1700, all who had built houses near the settlement were constituted a distinet commu- nity, under the title of " King William's Parish." Privi- leges were conferred upon them to remain in one body ; they were enfranchised from all the parochial contribu- tions which were levied upon the English colonists. So they also became exempt from all the general taxes of the province. At first, this last favor extended only seven years, but at the expiration of the term it was again renewed. De Richebourg remained long the guide and spiritual counsellor of these expatriated French Protestants. Dissensions, however, arising among them, he restored peace by conducting a part of his flock into North Carolina, and establishing them somewhere upon the banks of the Trent River. Here, the Indians rising and massacring the whites of the neighborhood, the refugees were again compelled to abandon the lands they had cleared, and emigrate to South Carolina.
* Dr. Baird, vol. i. p. 171.
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Claude Philippe De Richebourg appears to have been a minister of deep and fervent piety, resigned in the midst of his persecutions, and, at the same time, of a serious character, strongly modified by the misfortunes and poverty of his lot in the land of exile. His will was written in the French language, and is preserved in the public archives of Charleston. It is imbued with the genuine spirit of a true Christian believer, submitting to the great law of Providence, steadfast in the faith, and triumphant at the prospect and approach of his last foe.
Among our researches, we have discovered a curious relic of the Virginia Huguenots. It is a manuscript of some twenty-five pages, written in French, the register of the baptisms in the "Manakin Town" Church, 1721, "Done by Jacques Soblet, Clerk." The curious docu- ment remains a standing evidence of the fidelity of these French Protestants to their Christian duties and ordi- nances. We copy literally a few of the entries :
"Le 1 Avril, 1740, est née Mario Wottkins, fille de Stephen Wottkins et do Judith sa femme, a eu pour parrain William Hampton, pour marraines Magdelaine Chastain et Mario Farsi.
JEAN CHASTAIN." April Ist, 1740, was born Mary, daughter of Stephen Watkins, and Judith, his wife. She had for godfather William Hampton; for godmotherz, Magdalen Chastain and Mary Farsi.
JEAN CHASTAIN.
" Le 29 de Janvier. 1723-1, mourut le Sieur Antoine Trabne, âgé auprès do cinquante six à s pt ann es: fut enterr : le 30 du même mois.
".T. SOBLEr, Clerk." January 29th, 1723-1, died Sir Andony Trabne, a el about fifty- ax or seven years. He was buried the 30th of the same month. J. SUBLET, Clerk.
Some of the Huguenot names extracted from this register are : " Monford. Dupuy, Martain, Harris, Flour- noy, Ford, Bernard, Porter, Watkins, Cocke, Robin-
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, son,* Edmond, Stanford, Sumpter, Jordin, Pero, Deen Smith, " Williamson, " Brook," &c., &c."
NEGROES' NAMES. - Jaque, Anibal, Guillaume, Jean, Pierre, Olive, Robert, Jay, Susan, Primus, Moll, Pegg, Nanny, Tobie, Dorote, Agge, Pompe, Caesar, Amy, Tom, Cipio, Bosen, Sam, Jupiter, Tabb. Cuffy, Essex, Orange, Robin, Samson, Popa, Dina, Fillis, Ester, Judy, Adam, &c., &c. The historical reader may find, in Bev- erly's History of Virginia, a very interesting account of these Mannikin refugees. "I have heard that these people are upon a design of getting into the breed of buffaloes, to which end they lay in wait for their calves, that they may tame and raise stock of them ; in which, if they succeed, it will, in all probability, be greatly for their advantage ; for these are much larger than other cattle, and have the benefit of being natural to the climate. They now make many of their own clothes, and are resolved, as soon as they have improved that manufacture, to apply themselves to the making of wine and brandy, which they do not doubt to bring to perfection."
From the early Huguenot stock. in Virginia, have descended hundreds of the best citizens of the Old Dominion-legislators, pablie officers, and ministers. From one family alone, the Rev. John Fontaine, the Rev. Dr. Hawks estimates the descendants and rela- tions at not less than two thousand !
Ile was a Calvinistie clergyman, and, expelled from France, first preached to his refugee brethren in Eng- Jand and Ireland. Dr. Hawks has published the life of * English vames doubtless introduced by intermarriage.
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this remarkable, energetic man, a small volume full of interest." He was a true sample of a true Huguenot. An exile in England, ignorant of its language, and un- accustomed to labor, he soon accommodated himself to new circumstances-by his own genius soon became a skilful artisan. He opened a little store, with a school also, at the same time continuing to preach in French. In 1605, he removed to Cork, to unite with some refu- gees, who had formed a church in that Irish city. And here he set a bright example to the flock of the most exemplary piety and good conduct.
In his new home he was able to give his children excellent educations, three entering college, and one be- came a British officer. Peter received ordination from the Bishop of London, and with Moses, who studied law, both emigrated to Virginia in 1716. There were two daughters. The oldest, Mary Anne, married Mat- thew Mauray, a Protestant refugee from Gascony, in 1716, the next year joining his relations in this country.
His son was the Rev. James Mauray, of Albemarle, Virginia, and a very estimable and useful clergyman of the Church of England. Francis, another son. in 1719, was also ordained by the Bishop of London. on the par- tieular recommendation of the Archbishop of Dublin, when he sailed for Virginia. Hore he became a very eloquent and popular preacher, settling in St. Margaret's Parish, King William County.
The sacred office in this useful French family seemed, as it were, hereditary from father to sons. It is a well-
* " A Tale of the Huguenots ; er, Memoirs of a French Refugee Family: with an Introduction," by F. L. Hawks, D. D.
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known historical fact, that about the time of Louis XIV., there were formed, as among the ancient Hebrews, races of priesthood, sach as the Delprats, of Montauban, the . Saurins, of Nismes, " &c., &c.
What Vandal-like and entire destruction of the Re- formed Churches in France followed the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes! On the same day of its registra- tion, the destruction of the magnificent temple at Cha- renton, capable of holding fourteen thousand persons, was commenced. In five short days afterward, no traces of the immense edifice remained ! A frantie mob, armed with axes, mattocks, and levers, visited other places- Caen, Nismes, etc., and amidst the flourish of trumpets and shouts of joy, their Protestant churches fell in de- struction. Cheyron, the minister of the last-named, pro- nounced its final discourse, moving his hearers to tears when he affirmed before God that he had preached the truth according to the Gospel, and exhorted them to persevere in the faith unto death. Nismes' sacred tem- ple was soon a mere heap of ruins; and in the midst could long be seen a single stone with this inscription : "Here is the house of God : here is the gate of heaven."
Thus the Reformers of France saw the fall of eight hundred sacred temples they had possessed. Such severities bore their proper fruit, and the Reformed thought of nothing but quitting their native land. The ministers went first. But to simple laymen emigration was forbidden under most severe penalties. These pre- cautions, however, were vain and useless. The barba- rous cruelties did not diminish the emigration. All who
** Weiss's French Protestant Refugees.
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hated servitude hastened to flee from the soil of France. As we have already seen, thousands came to Massachu- setts, New York, and Virginia ; and now crowds flocked to South Carolina for a new, safe, and quiet home. . Their first arrival coincides with that of the earliest English colonists of Massachusetts and Virginia. In South Caro- lina they were placed on freeholders' rights, and a foot- ing of entire equality with the English settlers. From 1680 to 1687, from two to three thousand Huguenots emigrated to South Carolina ; some arrived after a short sojourn in New York, the warmer climate of the South presenting peculiar inducements to the numerous exiles of Languedoc, so that this region was called the " Home of the Huguenots in the New World."
They founded four congregations and churches-one at Jamestown, on the Santee ; one at St. John's, Berke- ley ; one at St. Dennis ; and one in Charleston. The first three ultimately conformed to the Protestant Epis- copal Church, while the last maintains its distinctive character to this day, excepting the use of the French language. One thousand French emigrants embarked for South Carolina from the ports of Holland alone. These expeditions left Rotterdam, touching in England, on the voyage to America. In 1687, the Lord Commis- sioner of James II., by the royal bounty, sent six hun- dred English and French emigrants to Carolina.
James Pierre Perry, of Neufchatel, also emigrated with three hundred and seventy-five Protestant families from Switzerland. To this company the British Gov- ernment liberally granted forty thousand acres of land, with four pounds sterling to each adult. During 1629,
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three hundred French Protestants left France for con- science' sake, at first settling in Virginia, but soon join- ing their brethren of South Carolina. In the years 1711-33 and '40, others came over from Holland ; and in 1752, sixteen hundred more landed at Charleston. Jean Louis Gibert arrived with a large congregation of Huguenots, having a church of two hundred members, settling in the townships of New Bordeaux, New Ro- chelle, in the Abbeyville district.". They named their settlement New Bordeaux, in remembrance of the capi- tal Guyenne, their former home. In 1705 three hundred acres of land were granted to Rene Ravenel, Barthelemy Guillard, and Henry Bueneau. It embraced one hun- dred French families and a church ; their first pastor was Pierre Robert, and from that period they became the most flourishing colony of French refugees in South Carolina.+
Some settled upon the western branch of the Cooper River, having for their first minister Florent Philippe Trouillart. In 1782, there were not less than sixteen thousand foreign Protestants in South Carolina, and most of them French. One writer adds: "They live like a tribe, like one family. Each one makes it a rule to assist his compatriot in his need, and to watch over his fortune and his reputation with the same care as his own."
At this period in our national history, at the close of the seventeenth century, English America had only a population of two hundred thousand, and the refugees formed a most important part. Their generous blood * Early Ilist., Rosby, S. C. f Dr. Ramsey.
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flowed in the veins of a multitude of families when the war of Independence broke out .* The enemies of politi- cal despotism and religious intolerance, they increased the love of liberty among the other colonies. Wrong as they now are, at that important moment they ran to arms, and supported the American Revolution with the energy and bravery of their noble and pious ancestors. None were more patriotic or ardently devoted to the cause of liberty, or more eloquent in the national councils, or more heroic on the battle-field, than these descendants of the French Protestants.
During the reign of James II., a number of English- men, fearing the restoration of the Roman Catholic reli- gion, emigrated to South Carolina, accompanied by many Huguenots. These had taken refuge in England, but wished to withdraw themselves from the uncertain, pre- carious protection of a king who was openly attached to the Popish Church. In our land, all found a home ; and although, at the moment, the English form of worship was the prevailing, still, the tolerance of Lord Shaftes- bury here opened a resting-place to all Christians. "Here it was," says Bancroft, "that the Calvinist exiles could celebrate their worship without fear. in the midst of the forests, and mingle the voice of their psalms with the murmur of the winds which sighed among the mighty oaks." Their first church was at Charleston. and they could be seen every Sunday repairing there, by families, in light canoes, from the plantations, to wor- ship God without any fear or molestation.
This church, erected at an early date, was burned in
* Dr. Ramsey.
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1740, and again during 1796, but rebuilt, and it has been the object of pious liberality, and well endowed by the French refugees scattered through South Carolina.
Its first pastor was the Rev. Elias Prioleau, the grand- son of Antoine Proli, Doge of Venice in 161S. Forced to leave France after the Revocation, he emigrated from the fertile region of Saintonge, with a part of his evan- gelical flock, to Charleston, where his descendants are still said to be found. Priolean was not only an elo- quent preacher, but also a writer of merit. Ilis descend- ants possess manuscripts of his works, which testify of an elegant style, vigor of mind, and purity of doctrine."
The Huguenots of South Carolina were distinguished, as they were elsewhere, for their sympathy to the suffer- ing. Gabriel Manigault, so well known in their history, and the creator of his own fortune, always exhib- ited charity to the poor, and he even refused to in- crease his wealth by the commerce in slaves, at that time so lucrative. At his death he bequeathed five thou- sand pounds sterling to educate indigent children at Charleston.+
Isaac Mazoeq, another refugee, donated a part of his patrimony to the religions and charitable institutions of that city, where he had taken up his abode, and, at his death, he left one hundred pounds to the Huguenot church there. Philip Gendron. also, bequeathed a part. of his fortune " for the use of the poor of that church, so long as it shall continue to be of the Reformed faith." We have visited this time-honored, saered spot, in the city of Charleston, and strolled among its venerable,
* Presb., Feb. 23, 1:00. + Ramsey
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heaped-up graves. many of which still remain. What hallowing associations linger around such an impressive place ! Long since have the early Huguenots to "La Carolina" ceased to occupy its humble open seats ; but in the day of which we are writing, this tabernacle was crowded with the prayers and melodies of faithful French Protestants, and in the same language used by Claude, Saurin, and their congregations a century before. More recently, the old temple has been taken down, and a beautiful new edifice erected in its place. But the congregation carefully preserves some of its evidences of the " olden time." The Rev. Dr. Rosser, of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church South, informed the writer that he was invited on one occasion to preach in this new house of Huguenot worship. He is himself an eloquent descendant of the Virginia Huguenots. When prepar- ing to enter the pulpit, from the vestry, the "anciens," or elders, robed him in an old, worn, threadbare clerical gown. Perceiving his surprise, they remarked that this venerable and sacred mantle had been used by their early Huguenot pastor, and, when placed upon any stranger, the congregation considered it as a mark of ' especial affection and honor.
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