USA > New York > Dutchess County > Poughkeepsie > The records of Christ church, Poughkeepsie, New York, Vol I > Part 7
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As a means of removing this incumbrance, it was proposed to raise money, either by selling or mortgag- ing the glebe. The glebe-house had had a succession of occupants since Mr. Beardsley's departure. John Davis, Colonel Bostwick and Colonel Hay, from 1777 to 1784, were followed by John P. Vemont from 1784 to 1785; then, for a year, while the congregation were waiting for Mr. Van Dyck's arrival, the place was farmed for his benefit; growing doubtful of his coming, it was let for a year to Zopher Weeks (1786-1787), and, finally, Mr. Van Dyck took possession as Rector in May, 1787.
It would be interesting to know more of the identity of the fourth tenant. His full name, given on the register of the Dutch Church, at the time of his marriage in 1782, to a member of that congregation, was "Charles Martin John Peter De Vemont," and the United States Census of 1790 enrolls him as "Jean Pierre Vemont." Usually, he was mentioned as "John P. Vemont," and he is known
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to have been a merchant at Poughkeepsie, and captain, major, etc., of a local troop of horse, 1786-1803. Two other men of distinctly French names are at this time mentioned in the parish records, and as these names are not found among the familiar Huguenot patronymics of the Hudson River valley, they excite a bit of curiosity. Were their owners flotsam and jetsam of political troubles in France, or did one or two of them cross with the French allies during the war? Francois Chandonet was at Poughkeepsie in 1779 as an Assistant Deputy Quartermaster-General in the Army; he remained here, married a daughter of Richard Davis, joined in the river trade, and was a parishioner of Christ Church. Richard De Cantillon was established at Hyde Park by 1770. He conducted the business at the Upper Landing there, and his sloops brought cargoes of sugar and rum from the West Indies in exchange for great quantities of Dutchess County corn, shipped from his storehouse and landing. He must have been an Episcopalian at heart, for, although he lived seven miles away, he was a pew- holder in the Poughkeepsie church.
From the spring of 1787 to that of 1791, the glebe- house was occupied by the Rector, the Rev. Henry Van Dyck, and, during his incumbency, it was planned to mortgage the property. On April 12th, 1790, a meeting was held at Poughkeepsie by the vestry of the Fishkill Church and that of Christ Church, at which was passed the resolution "that Peter Mesier is hereby empowered by the respective Corporations to Negotiate a Loan for them of £200, for which they will give good landed Security, namely the parsonage house and old Glebe lands." The instructions given Mr. Mesier were:
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Sir
You will make application to the Corporation of Trinity Church in New York for that purpose. We flatter ourselves they will not be unconcerned spectators at what may be the ruin of two of their sister Churches, when it is in their power, without hazarding their Interest, to prevent it.
Be pleased to inform them wherein the necessity of the measure is founded. It arises from these circumstances,- the late war eventually shut up our Churches, our Clergyman was removed, and our respective Congregations greatly im- poverished and dispersed, previous to which period we had in- curred a very considerable debt in purchasing a Glebe and erecting two churches.
The payments not being all completed, the Confusion of the Times occasioned great losses in our outstanding debts, be- sides the depreciated currency paid in to us, which remained on our hands, and, Mr. Desbrosses and others residing in New York at the time, it was Impossible to make payment to them.
At the commencement of the peace we Settled a Clergyman, but, being deprived of the Society aid, reduced as we found ourselves in point of numbers and ability, it required our whole attention, and left arrearages unprovided for.
The increasing reputation of the Churches here, and the pleasing prospect of their increase, give us every reason for hope. Our embarassment arises from this source,-our Creditors here, many of them for inconsiderable sums, have become Clamorous for a mortgage on the parsonage, and not having it in our power to satisfy all, are reduced to the alter- native either to borrow money to pay them off, or Comply with their request; the danger of which must be obvious, upon this ground,-Should any person among them be Ill-inclined, or straightened in their circumstances, we shall be at their mercy in having the mortgage foreclosed, accumulated Cost to de- fray, the Glebe sold for an inconsiderable sum, our Pastor ob- liged to leave us, and the Churches annihilated.
If the Church in New York will reach forth her helping hand in Complying with our request, we shall escape these serious difficulties, and she be perfectly secure.
This application may be considered by some gentlemen as extraordinary-our situation is peculiar-but, to avoid pro- lixity, we shall only add that our Confidence is such in your
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knowledge of the state of our Churches that you will be able to vouch for most of the Facts herein Contained.
We are with Friendship and esteem Sir Your humble servants Ebenezer Badger, Sec'y, in behalf of Christ Church. John Cooke, in behalf of Trinity Church.
To Peter Mesier, Esq.
Peter Mesier, thus appointed to negotiate a mortgage loan from Trinity Church, had been a prosperous mer- chant in New York City before the war. He was an ardent Tory, and after the war his property in New York was confiscated; he therefore came to Dutchess County and made a new home for himself. The house he built is still standing in the village of Wappingers Falls, in Mesier Park, opposite Zion Church, and, as this point was midway between the Poughkeepsie and Fish- kill churches, and he was a staunch Churchman, he gave valuable support to both parishes until his death in 1805. He rented a pew in Christ Church at almost every auc- tion from 1788 to 1805, and frequently served in the Fishkill vestry.
The application of the Churches to Trinity was, on this occasion, unsuccessful, and in April, 1791, upon the departure of Mr. Van Dyck, the glebe-house and a few adjoining acres were leased to Christian Forrey, who remained a tenant until the autumn of 1792. Then, on November 14th, the Corporation of Christ Church sold the house and two hundred and fifty acres of land to John and Andrew Dunn, under a mortgage for £1000.0.0. One half of the principal of the mortgage was to be paid July 1st, 1793, but the Dunns failed to meet this obligation and left Poughkeepsie. The place was there- fore rented again, and occupied for sixteen months by
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William Davis. July 22d, 1795, an auction was held and the glebe sold for £1000.0.0 to Nathaniel Bosworth, who had been in actual possession since April 1st. By the terms of the sale, payment was to be made in three installments; Bosworth, however, on January 20th, 1796, transferred his recent purchase to Peter De Riemer, and the latter completed the payments to the Corporation, all together, two days later.
With part of its share of the cash received from De Riemer, Christ Church paid the principal and interest of its bond to Richard Davis, and thus, in April, 1796, some twenty years after its erection, the church building stood free and clear of debt.
In the proceeds of the sale of the glebe, the Church at Fishkill had a joint interest with that at Poughkeepsie, and the disposal of the property brought to a close the indeterminate negotiations which had intermittently taken place between the two vestries ever since the arbitration of 1785.1 Articles of union had been drafted by each, and proposed for adoption, in order that the progress of the parishes might be accelerated; but no agreement could be reached, because Trinity made the conveyance to them of one-half of the glebe a first con- dition to their assent to any other articles, and that course the Poughkeepsie vestry believed to be inconsis- tent with the charter.
With gratitude be it said that this tedious entangle- ment came to a happy ending on January 2d, 1797, amidst the utmost harmony and good will, and with all disagreements wiped out and forgotten. A meeting was held at Poughkeepsie on that day, at which Trinity Church was represented by Daniel C. Verplanck, James
1 Appendix, Fishkill papers.
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Cooper and Peter Mesier, and Christ Church by William Emott, Robert Noxon, Ebenezer Badger, Thomas Mitchell, Archibald Stewart and James Bramble. All accounts between the two Churches were audited and settled, and the Vestry Minutes of Christ Church add that "the whole of the foregoing business was conducted with the most perfect unanimity; not a dissenting vote appeared on any question agitated by the representa- tives of either of the Churches in the above settlement."
As soon as the sale of the glebe to Nathaniel Bosworth had been effected in the summer of 1795, the vestry of Christ Church appointed the Rev. Mr. Spierin, Archi- bald Stewart, Cadwallader D. Colden and John Davis a committee "to Sollicit in behalf of this Corporation, by Petition, from the Corporation of Trinity Church, some pecuniary assistance," which committee lodged the following with the New York vestry:
To the Rector and Inhabitants of the City of New York in Communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York.
The Petition of the Rector and Inhabitants of Poughkeep- sie in Communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York,
Respectfully Sheweth
That your Petitioners, about the Commencement of the late Revolution, built their Church, Relying, to pay for it, on Sub- scriptions which had been obtained for the purpose.
That, war coming on, most of the Subscribers forsook their Country and left your petitioners loaded with a heavy debt, which, with the accumulated Interest of many years, they have lately been oblidged to Sell their Parsonage to discharge.
That the Embarrasments of your petitioners have been Increased by the great Expences of Several Law Suits in which they have been involved by persons who pretend a Right to their property.
That these persons, it is believed, were encouraged to renew
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their Suits, Notwithstanding the Repeated Decisions of the Courts of Law against them, not only by their Enmity to the prosperity of the Episcopal Church, but, knowing the Low State of the Finances of your Petitioners, by a hope, not with- out some Foundation, that your petitioners will be oblidged to Sacrifice their Right to a want of means to defend it.
That their Circumstances Render it Extremely difficult for your petitioners to afford a Clergyman Such a Support as will be an inducement for him to Remain with them.
Your Petitioners, knowing the prosperity and wealth of your Corporation, and hearing of the Liberality you have so Generously Extended towards others, are induced to Solicit that your Bounty may be extended to assist a Church as much in want as any other Can be. Which, being the only one in so populous and Respectable a County, is better Calculated than most others to Cherish the Episcopal Interest and to Extend its Influence, and which, without some assistance, is in great danger of Declining.
And your Petitioners will ever pray &c
Septemb 5, 1795.
By Order of the Corporation Arch Stewart Sec'ry.
This petition describes a source of anxiety to which the Corporation of Christ Church had been subjected, second only to that of the debt on the church building. There are endless references in the Vestry Minutes, and in the loose manuscripts of the parish, to the annoyances suffered from the lesser tenants of the glebe-lands, who failed to meet their rent, and from the squatters and trespassers with whom the vestry was forced to go to law. The Court always upheld the title of the Corpora- tion, but the expense of these recurrent suits became a serious drain upon the resources of the congregation. Samuel Curry occasioned the most trouble; the first suit against him he allowed to go by default in 1787; the vestry then ejected him under a writ issued by the Superior Court, and he retaliated by bringing an eject- ment suit against the Corporation. The vestry had the
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counsel of Egbert Benson and Cadwallader D. Colden, and when Curry's attempted ejectment came before the Supreme Court in June, 1795, it was non-suited.1 Some of the lesser trespassers were John Copeman, John and Joseph Seabury and Elias Du Bois, against whom judg- ments were obtained in the Court of Common Pleas in favor of the Corporation.
In a letter,2 to Mr. Beardsley, about this time, William Emott described Christ Church as "in reduced circum- stances from the falling off of the Fishkill congregation which is nearly extinct," and this decrease in the num- ber of those contributing toward the support of the Rector was undoubtedly one of the causes which led to the brevity of the rectorates of Mr. Spierin and Mr. Sayrs, who were Mr. Van Dyck's successors; another cause was that no parsonage was provided for their use; George Hartwell Spierin was Rector from November 13th, 1792, to December 9th, 1795, and John Johnson Sayrs from December 25th, 1795, to February 14th, 1798. Mr. Spierin arrived just as the glebe was sold to John and Andrew Dunn, and Mr. Sayrs just after it passed to Nathaniel Bosworth, and neither of them had the use or benefit of house or land. Also, the Dutch Church had acquired a pastor, and it is to be supposed that those of its members who had attended the English Church only temporarily had now withdrawn their support.
Discouraging as were all these circumstances, there were still occasional manifestations of better things. January 14th, 1789, "Vestry, impressed with a sense of the inconvenience the Congregation have long labored un- der for want of a bell, opened a subscription to enable
1 Appendix, Beardsley papers, No. 14.
2 Appendix, Beardsley papers, No. 14.
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MAP OF THE GLEBE IN 1787 Showing the trespass of Samuel Curry
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them to purchase a suitable one," with the result that £46.11.4 were pledged by:
B. Ebenezer Badger; Theodorus Bailey; Valentine Baker; Isaac Balding; Isaac Balding Jr .; William Balding Jr .; William Barber; Egbert Benson; Jacob Bogardus.
C. David Carpenter; Francois Chandonet; John Cooke; James Cooper; John Crooke.
D. John Davis; Richard Davis; Richard de Cantillon; Du Bois & Bailey.
E. William Emott; Richard Everitt.
G. John Gullen.
H. Stephen Hendricksen.
K. Jonas Kelcey.
L. Daniel Lefferts; Beekman Livingston; Robert H. Living- ston; Livingston & Kent.
M. Silas Marsh Junr .; Peter Mesier; Henry Mott; John Mott.
P. Thomas Poole; Nicholas Power; John Pride.
R. Capt. Rutgers.
S. Daniel Smith; Israel Smith; James Scott Smith; Samuel Smith; Stephen Stephens; Archibald Stewart.
T. Peter Tappen.
V. Myndert Van Kleeck.
A bell of three hundred pounds weight was purchased in September, 17901, of Doolittle & Goodyear, bell founders of Hartford, Conn., for £43.12.18. This acquisition was soon supplemented by a clock, the vestry, on December 21st, 1790, resolving "that the thanks of this Corporation be presented to Major
1 In 1789 John Davis negotiated for a bell for the church with David Ross, bell founder, of Elizabeth Town, N. J., which negotia- tions fell through. This correspondence (on file) shows that Davis . ordered of Ross, in June, 1789, a two hundred and fifty pound bell for the Poughkeepsie Court House.
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Andrew Billings for the elegant Time piece he has pre- sented to our Church."
As first built, the church had no spire, only the square wooden foundation for one, and in 1792 the vestry desired Henry Mott "to prepare a draft for finishing the Church steeple," but this lesser matter was crowded out for several years by pressure of greater, and it was not until April, 1797, that Captain John Mott was "appointed to view the situation of the steeple of the Church and or- der such repairs as are necessary." A few months later the vestry voted "to open a subscription for erecting a steeple," and, on December 7th, 1797, £251.4.0 was pledged. The lists contain the names of:
B. Ebenezer Badger; Theodorus Bailey; John Bailey; Isaac Balding; William Barber; John Beckwith; William W. Bogardus; Jabez Bosworth; James Bramble.
C. Matthew Caldwell; David Carpenter; Thomas Carr; John Cooke; John Crooke.
D. John Davis; Richard Davis; William Davies; Peter De Riemer; Samuel De Riemer; Lyman Dunning; Abraham
1 I. Duryea.
E. William Emott; Anthony Ernst; Richard Everitt; George B. Evertson.
F. John Forbus; Jacobus Frear; John Frear.
G. Abel Gunn.
H. Stephen Hendrickson; John Hobson; Anthony Hoffman; Abraham Hoffman; Stephen Hoyt.
J. Samuel Johnson; John Johnston Esq.
K. Benjamin Knower.
L. John Landers; John Laroy; John Lawless, (timber); Morgan Lewis; Gilbert Livingston; Henry A. Livingston.
M. John Manney; Levi Mckean; Thomas Mitchell; William Moore; John Mott; Henry Mott; Ebenezer Mott; Peter Myers.
N. Daniel Nash; Robert Noxon.
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P. William Palmatier, (cartage); John Patten; Abraham Pells; Hendrick Pells.
R. Peter W. Radclift; John Reade; Henry Relay; John Richmond; Matthew Rothery.
S. The Rev. John J. Sayrs; Philip I. Schuyler; Paul Schenck; Abel Smith; James Scott Smith; John Smith, (5 days work); Josiah Smith; William Smith; Archibald Stewart; Solomon Sutherland.
T. Elizabeth Tappen; George Taylor; Smith Thompson; James Thorne; Thomas Tillotson.
V. Elias Van Bunschoten; Isaac Van Kleeck; James Living- ston Van Kleeck; Myndert Van Kleeck; John P. Vemont; William B. Verplanck.
W. John Wigg; Robert Williams.
In the summer of 1798 the work was carried out, and the bills and other treasurer's memoranda afford an excellent idea of what was done. There was a belfry, approached by a door and stairs, lighted by an oval window, and surrounded by a balustrade; the spire itself was decorated with scrolls, and surmounted by a lightning rod, a gilded vane, and a gilded copper ball that weighed nineteen pounds and a quarter.
August 14th, 1789, the vestry voted to give up the seal they adopted in 1773 when the charter was conferred, on which a ship was represented, and to substitute for it the one, now in use, bearing an ark, a dove with an olive branch and a rainbow. The resolution making this change offers no explanation for it, and we are left free to weave about the action a web of our own senti- ment. Did those matter-of-fact, practical men consider that their parochial ship had come safely through the storms of war to the harbor of peace, and did they wish to show their appreciation of the fact? Shall this seal of our Corporation stand, therefore, to this generation, as the symbol of the living faith of our forefathers? And
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as an earnest to us of our own faith that the parish we love will, in adversity and in prosperity, be preserved in the safety of the ark and the peace of the olive branch, to the hope and promise of the rainbow? 1
In 1791 the vestry requested James Kent, member of Assembly for Dutchess, to petition the Legislature to alter the name of the Corporation (as bestowed by the colonial charter) to conform to later political changes, which was done, the new title being "The Rector and Inhabitants of Poughkeepsie in Communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York."
James Kent, afterward the famous Chancellor, was a resident of Poughkeepsie from 1781 to 1793. He came here to study law in the office of Egbert Benson, and was admitted to the bar in 1785, entering into partnership with Gilbert Livingston. After Christ Church secured a Rector in 1787, he contributed to the support of the parish.
It may, perhaps, be traceable to the fact that the Rev. Henry Van Dyck was a lawyer before he entered the ministry that, during his rectorate, an elaborate set of by-laws for the vestry was drawn up. They were adopted February 19th, 1790, and throw some light upon the conduct of the ordinary affairs of the parish. For instance, quarterly vestry meetings were held, and a standing committee transacted business in the inter- vals; there was a collector for the Rector's salary, and his collections, and those of vestrymen on Sundays and Holy Days, were to be paid over to a treasurer appointed
1 On the Great Seal of the United States, adopted June 20th, 1782, the American eagle bears an olive branch in one claw. To what extent may the Seal of the Nation have served as a suggestion for that of this parish?
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by the vestry. The parish clerk, appointed by the Rector to assist in divine service, was exempt from salary dues, and had the use of a pew for his family; he was to receive two shillings for each baptism he recorded in the parish register, and the minister was to recommend to parents and others that they have baptisms recorded. The sexton, appointed by the Rector, was to be paid at the rate of two shillings for each Sunday and Holy Day when there was service; he was "to decorate the Church on Christmas according to ancient usage," "to put up and take down the hangings, open and shut the Church doors, regulate the time piece, sweep the Church as often as may be necessary, ring the bell, notify Vestry meetings, and prevent disorders in time of Divine ser- vice," and also to mark out and open graves and attend all funerals in the churchyard.
Soon after Mr. Van Dyck's settlement as Rector in 1787, the Vestry Minutes say, on September 4th, "that Mr. Sands attended with an application from a number of gentlemen of the Manor of Livingston for a part of Mr. Van Dyck's services, to the end that a Church may be set on foot among them. Vestry informed Mr. Sands that they agree to spare Mr. Van Dyck one-sixth part of the time if it suits his convenience to attend them."
Whether this group of Episcopalians were the same as one at Red Hook is uncertain; the Manor of Livingston is not mentioned again, but, on March 24th, 1788, Mr. Van Dyck notified the vestry that "the Episcopalians at Red Hook also have requested me in their name to apply to you for a further addition of every fifth Sunday if agreeable to you," and, on June 3rd, he reported that "his service at Red Hook has commenced already on Sunday 1st of June, 1788," the arrangement being that
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he was to give, there, one out of every three of the Sun- days he had previously pledged to Christ Church. This must have been an abortive attempt to found a parish where now is St. Paul's Church, Tivoli. The writer knows of no further efforts there until about 1816, when services were held by the Rev. Henry Anthon, and St. Paul's admitted into union with the diocese in 1817.
Faint flutterings of Church life are also seen again, at this time, in the town of Beekman. On June 10th, 1793 (under the Act of the Legislature of April 6th, 1784), Benjamin Snider, John Halstead, William D. Williams, Major William Clark, Major Bartholomew Van der Burgh and James Cornell were elected Trustees1 of the "Protestant Episcopal church assembled at Beekmantown in County of Dutchess," and agreed that the name of that Church should be St. Ann's. In the Diocesan Convention of 1794 Mr. Stephen J. DeLancey was present "for Beekmantown," and was recommended for Deacon's Orders in compliance with a request from the trustees and members of St. Ann's. St. Ann's was quickly lost to view, and has left no trace. About 1850, St. Mary's Mission, at Poughquag in the town of Beekman, was under the charge of the Rev. Homer Wheaton of Lithgow; but that also was short lived, and the Episcopal Church is not at present represented there.
The personnel of the congregation of Christ Church in this time of transition is a matter of some moment. Writing to Mr. Beardsley in 1796, William Emott said:2 "Few, very Few, of your old flock remain here; a new
1 Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 21.
2 Appendix, Beardsley papers, No. 14.
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set of men Supply their places;" a statement substantiat- ed by a study of the various lists of names provided by the parish records. Some families, of several households each, like the Baldwins, the Motts and the Noxons, and some ever faithful individuals held over from Mr. Beardsley's day, and William Emott and the Davises continued to be the controlling power; but new men supplanted most of those of the pre-Revolutionary period. Among these, Ebenezer Badger should have honorable mention, for as pewholder, vestryman, warden, he was a devoted member of the parish for fifty years. He owned a tannery on the northwest corner of Main and Washington streets, and "lived in a pleasant house, surrounded by a garden famous for its lilacs and other flowers, where the City Hall now stands."1 Captain Israel Smith of the Continental Line, one of the founders of the New York branch of the Society of the Cincinnati, was in partnership with Gilbert Livingston in the river trade, and belongs to these post-bellum days in the parish. In this time, also, were begun the years of service in the vestry of Archibald Stewart of Pough- keepsie, and of Daniel Lefferts of the town of Clinton, both prosperous merchants. Some of the well known men of the town were brought into relation with Christ Church by means of the fact that their wives were Episcopalians. Major Andrew Billings, Revolutionary patriot and expert silversmith, who lived in a house still standing on the northeast corner of Academy and Can- non streets, long held a pew in Christ Church for his wife, Cornelia Livingston; and her uncle, Gilbert Livingston, paid his wife, Catherine Crannell, a like courtesy. Two other men in this class were Quakers; 1 Platt's History of Poughkeepsie, pp. 84-85.
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