USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Oxford > Two discourses relating to the early history of Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadelphia : with a compend of its history between September, 1854, and October, 1882, with an appendix > Part 2
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In 1732 or 33, the congregation lost the valu-
* The amount left by Mr. Griffith was in three distinct bequests. The first was one of £200; the money to be "let out on land security," and the "interest to be paid yearly to the rector of Oxford Church, for the time being, forever." The second was of £50, to be "let out" in the same way, and the interest to be appropriated to the "repairs of the Parsonage lands." The third was of the same amount, and to be put on the same security; the interest to go annually toward "the support of the poor members that prop- erly belong to Oxford Church, forever." In addition to these bequests, he left £10 to the Rev. Æneas Ross, then rector of Oxford Church, and also his interest in the "Fishery at Fort St. George," on "Schoolkill." To the overseers of the poor of Bristol Township, he left £50; the interest of it to be paid yearly to "the support of the poor, not on the poor-book" of said Township. The will itself is curious and interesting. It is now in possession of Mr. Thomas Drake, the present owner of the place on which Mr. Griffith lived. Its date is Sept. 6th, 1754.
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able services of Mr. Weyman, he going elsewhere. At a still earlier date, the congregation of Radnor had, it is thought, lost them; they probably hav- ing obtained a minister able to preach to them in Welsh, and Mr. Weyman confining his labors prin- cipally to Oxford and Whitemarsh; two congrega- tions, which, from that time, continued to be asso- ciated under one minister, until a comparatively late period. He was succeeded in these two churches on "St. John's Day, 24th of June, 1733," by the Rev. Alexander Howie.
Of the Parish, during his ministry of nine years, very little is known, as there is almost an entire ab- sence of Parochial Records; from that time down, almost the only accessible source of information. There is no record, even of the appointment of ves- trymen, between the years 1733 and 1741-2. In the latter year, a vestry was appointed, consisting of Philip Tillier, Jacob Hall, of Tacony, Edward Col- lins, Jacob Leech, Dr. Samuel Swift, and James Morgan. At the same time, a subscription of £10, payable to John Addis and Jacob Hall, was made, for "fencing, ditching, and repairing the glebe-land." Mr. Howie left in the same year for the West Indies, expecting to return in a few months. But there is no evidence that he ever did return. From a mem- orandum left by him in reference to the library be- longing to the church, and to services during his
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absence, it is evident that he was a conscientious, careful, and good man .*
After him came, in the year 1742, the Rev. Æneas Ross. He had officiated for about a year in Christ Church, Philadelphia, during a vacancy in the rec- torship, and "with great acceptance," "commending himself to all persons by the excellence of his char- acter and deportment." He continued to officiate there for a time, after his removal here, as the assist- ant of Dr. Jenney. He seems to have been highly respectable as a scholar.
Of this church, and St. Thomas's, Whitemarsh, he had the charge for sixteen years, or until 1758. He was no doubt here, as he had been. in Philadel- phia, faithful and earnest in the performance of his duties. A large number of baptisms left re- corded by him in the Vestry Book, attest his dili- gence in at least this particular. He also solemnized a great number of marriages; and he was the first of all the ministers here to make anything like a regular record of even these important services. He was, unfortunately, almost the last to do it, for upwards of half a century.
In the Vestry Minutes of Mr. Ross's time, there are very few entries of any importance-indeed, very few entries at all, beyond the mere appoint-
* Portions of two or three communications from him will be found in Supplementary Sermon, pages 5? and 60.
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ment of wardens and vestrymen. One of the few, is an order in vestry, on March 26, 1744, that "Mr. Swift alter the Reading Desk and Clerk's Pew, at his own expense, for the benefit of his family, sit- ting in the pew below the Reading Desk." This pew was, most probably, the only one in the church. In 1746, there is an entry which indicates a good state of both moral and church-feeling in the con- gregation. It is as follows: "The vestry and wardens having taken into consideration the ill- behavior of George Forster, schoolmaster, Ordered, that he should be immediately dismissed from teaching school, and that no other person should be admitted to teach school in the house belonging to Oxford Church, unless he bring with him ample testimonials of his good behavior from the people where he last taught school, and also of his being well qualified for the same. And likewise that he be a regular member of the Church of England." On Easter Monday, 1751, it was "Ordered, that a new back door be made for the church," "with con- venient speed;" the place, as I suppose, for it, being the middle of the north wall, and opposite to the south door and porch.
The new names among the officers of the Parish in Mr. Ross's time, are John Rush, John Taylor, Joseph Ashton, Jr., Edward Tillyer, Joseph Walton,
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Isaac Ashton, Jacob Duffield, John Boutcher, and Jonathan Bavington.
On the transfer of Mr. Ross, in 1758, to the Mis- sion in Newcastle, Delaware, the care of this station was assigned to the Rev. Hugh Neill, of the Mis- sions in Kent Co., Delaware.
At the first meeting of the congregation after his arrival, viz., on Easter Monday, 1759, a "subscrip- tion was opened for repairing the glebe, and a hand- some sum was obtained from those present." It was also ordered, that "Mr. Collins's legacy," which was £2 14s., "in the hands of Mr. Carvell,* and Mrs. Leech's, in her son's hands, be immediately appropriated to floor the church." At a meeting in August of the same year, a Committee, consisting of Jacob Hall, John Hall, and Samuel Swift, was appointed to receive these legacies, and out of them not only to floor, but "pew with double pews " the church; "both to be completed before the fall fair, and the Committee to have the first choice of pews, they charging nothing for their trouble." On March 6, 1760, the congregation having considered whether it was best to rebuild the parsonage, which had been burned down by accident, or sell the pres- ent glebe and buy another, decided on the latter
* Mr. Carvell seems to have been at this time the only surviving member of the congregation of 1718. He had been until now, for many years, a church-warden.
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alternative,* and appointed a Committee to obtain authority from the House of Assembly to do so. In the same year, on October 13th, another import- ant resolution was adopted, viz .: "That the church of Oxford be enlarged, and that a subscription be opened for the purpose."
Whether this last resolution was carried into effect, does not appear. It most probably was not. All, apparently, that was done at that time to the church, was to floor and pew it, and to furnish it with a "Pulpit and Morning Cloath;" the cost of these last being £5 10s. It was, moreover, only a part of the church-most probably the pews-that was floored at this time. It was not till 1807 that the floor was extended over the whole church, aisles as well as pews.
Of the church as newly pewed and furnished, a draught is on record in the Vestry Book, with the names of the persons who first occupied the pews. There were three aisles-a broad one from north to south, and two narrower ones, from east to west. The communion table was in the middle of the east end, as now. The pulpit was in the northeast cor- ner. Immediately before it was the clerk's pew, and before it the minister's. Besides these, there
* Since writing the above, a little book has been put into my hands by Joseph Swift, Esq., which shows the intention of the congregation to have been different, only two months before. (See Appendix.)
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were twenty other pews, and they were occupied by persons or families bearing the names of North- rop, Rambo, Finney, Todd, Ingram, Leech, Jackson, McRay, Taggert, Ashton, Carvel, Duffield, Clift, Boutcher, Hall, Huston, McGargee, McVagh, Swift, Bavington, Bishop, Dilworth, Keen, Martin, Smith, Cotman, Whitman, Taylor, Harper, and Grandine. The additional names of Fairbottle, Pegg, Lydert, Finch, Roos, and Neal, are to be found in a list of twenty-three persons who received the Communion on Whit-Sunday, May 25, 1760-the first occasion, probably, on which it was administered after the improvements made in the church. Besides these, and that of Timmons, there were, it is thought, few or no other names in the congregation at that time.
The resolution in reference to the purchase of a new glebe was carried into effect soon after its adop- tion; and the old glebe being sold for £4 an acre (or, in all, £252), sixty-five acres and sixty perches on Tacony Creek, beginning at the present village of Cedar Grove, were purchased, in 1761, for £540 .*
* In the deed of trust for the new glebe, there was an omission, which seems to have been regarded by Mr. Neill as an unfortunate one. It was that of a clause which would have exempted his successors, as well as him- self, from liability to "impeachment of waste" in their use of the property. He hence placed on record a curious document, which begins thus: "Be it remembered, for the good of all my successors, ministers of Oxford Church, in the county of Philadelphia, that if any controversy arises between the minister and congregation about committing waste on the glebe, that the
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It was probably to obtain funds to meet the excess of this outlay over what was realized from the sale of the old glebe, and from subscriptions, as well as to defray the expense of putting the new parsonage and glebe in order, that a lottery was soon after this resorted to. This expedient, however, proved to be an unfortunate one; for, whilst it does not seem to have been very profitable, it occasioned much trouble, and gave rise to not a little ill-feeling in the congregation.
The new names that appear among the officers of the Parish in Mr. Neill's time are, John Hall, Matthias Keen, James Dilworth, Richard Finney, Amos Grandine, Thomas Leech, Richard Timmons, Nathan Whitman, Matthew Ingram, Jacob Laugh- lin, Benjamin Cotman, Jr., John Nice, and John Keene.
matter stands thus, etc." Further on, he says: "The old deed"-to which, according to him, the new deed ought to have been strictly conformed, the Act of Assembly requiring it to be so conformed-"The old deed says that the minister for the time being shall be clear of any impeachment of waste; the new deed says, that I shall be clear of any impeachment of waste, but does not repeat this privilege to my successors, which they ought to have done." Some gentlemen of the legal profession, however, seem to have succeeded in quieting his apprehensions as to the possible consequences of this omission, for he adds: "Taking council upon this point in behalf of my successors, the lawyers told me that all my successors had the same right as I had, by the Act of Assembly, as long as the old deed of trust could be come at to know what right was contained therein."
The event alluded to in the beginning of this document as one that might happen, most probably never did happen; and as the glebe has long since been sold, cannot now occur.
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A few months after the removal of Mr. Neill, in 1766,* the Vestry invited the Rev. Dr. Wm. Smith, of the "College of Philadelphia," and a gentleman eminent for his learning and abilities, to accept the charge of the congregation; and he, "in con- sideration of the difficulties they were laboring under," consented to do so for a time, or until they could obtain another minister. He continued to officiate here, certainly till 1770, and, most probably, for several years longer.
In 1770, the church-wardens and vestrymen, in a communication addressed to the Society in Eng- land, thus write concerning him: "We are likewise to acknowledge, that since Mr. Neill's removal, the Mission hath been supplied, with the approbation of the Society, by the Rev. Dr. Smith, who, notwith- standing his many other engagements, hath been constant in his attendance upon us, and zealous for the good of the congregation."
In the remainder of the letter, as they speak of a fact much to his credit, and of a change and im- provement in the church building, which was, pro- bably, soon after made, I shall make a further quo- tation from it: "We are now about putting a new
* Mr. Neill, on his leaving Oxford, officiated for a time in St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia, where, on his departure for Maryland, he was pre- sented with a handsome piece of plate, for his "disinterested services" in that church.
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roof on the church, and propose erecting a gallery ; for defraying the expense of which, as it would be too great for us at present, Dr. Smith hath gener- ously agreed to appropriate (with the Society's leave) one-half of the two years' rent of the Glebe due to him, and also one-half of the present year's rent."
Dr. Smith probably continued to officiate for them, at least occasionally, until his removal from Philadelphia to Maryland, about the year 1779. Nothing, however, is known in reference to the point; for, from the year 1770 till 1782, there are .no entries in the only Parochial Records now in possession of the vestry. We are left, therefore, in entire ignorance as to the affairs of the Parish, dur- ing the whole of the eventful period of the Revolu- tion.
At the date of the last entry of the previous book, viz., in 1770, the church-wardens were Joseph Thornhill and Nathan Whitman. The vestrymen were Jacob Hall, Esq.,* Benjamin Cotman, John Boutcher, Joseph Jackson, John Chappel, Matthew Ingram. Other persons who had been vestrymen for the first time between 1766 and 1770, were John
* Mr. Hall had now been in the vestry near thirty years, as had also Dr. Samuel Swift, whose name disappears with the minutes of 1769. These two gentlemen, with John Hall and Isaac Ashton, Esq., appear to have been the principal persons in the congregation for most of this long period.
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Swift, John Cotman, and John Hafty. But few of these, or of any of the names already mentioned, occur again in the Parish Records. That of Ben- jamin Cotman is a striking exception. Not only does his name appear again after the Revolution, but he continued to be either a warden or vestry- man, and a leading one, too, till his death in 1812.
The first minister of the Parish after the Revo- lution was the Rev. Wm. Smith, a Presbyter of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. He entered upon the charge of this church, and of All Saints' Church, Pequestan, now Lower Dublin, (officiating also, most probably, in St. Thomas's, Whitemarsh,) on the first day of January, 1785. He continued in charge of them but for a short time; for, in the next year, 1786, he was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Pilmore .* In February, 1786, measures were taken to have the two churches of Oxford and All Saints incorpo- rated. In the charter obtained, Whitemarsh was included. In May, 1786, these churches were all brought into union with the Convention by agree- ing to the "Act of Association of the Clergy and Congregations of the Protestant Episcopal Church
* Mr. Smith, like the previously named gentleman, of the same name and country, was also, subsequently, like him, a Doctor in Divinity. He re- moved from here to Maryland, and in after years had charge of important . Churches in Rhode Island and Connecticut. He was a man of ability and learning; and was the composer or compiler of the office in the Prayer- Book for "The Institution of Ministers."
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in the State of Pennsylvania," adopted in the Con- vention of 1785. Some time between this year (1786) and 1789, the church building was enlarged to its present extent, exclusive of the transepts or wings; that is to say, twenty-one feet were added to its length on the east end, making its dimensions to be twenty-five by fifty-six feet.
How long Dr. Pilmore continued to officiate in the associated churches does not appear. It most probably was till the year 1791, when there seems to have occurred a long vacancy, during which, or rather a part of which, the two churches of Oxford and All Saints, had occasional services from Dr. Smith, some time before returned to Philadelphia. In St. Thomas's, Whitemarsh, he does not seem to have officiated, as did none of the subsequent min- isters of Oxford and Lower Dublin; though the three churches continued to be associated in the same charter of incorporation.
In 1798, the Rev. John H. Hobart, afterwards Bishop Hobart, became the minister of Oxford and All Saints, and continued such one year. These were his first parishes, and he here commenced that career of zeal and usefulness for which his after life was so distinguished. Three years after his removal, Mr. Charles Cotton was chosen to suc- ceed him, and remained here between one and two years. After his withdrawal, in 1804, another va-
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cancy, of five years, occurred, during a part of which the Rev. Dr. Abercrombie, of Philadelphia, offi- ciated frequently. During the same vacancy, (viz., in 1807,) and probably at Dr. Abercrombie's instance, the church was "painted and repaired," the "win- dows" were "made uniform," "the door in the north side" was "walled up," "and a new one made in the west end," the "pews in the back" or old end, "made uniform with those in front, and the floor extended over the whole church." In 1809, the Rev. James Wiltbank became rector of All Saints and Oxford.
The vestry at this time was composed, as it had been principally for some years before, of Benjamin Cotman, Jacob Ashton, John Lardner,* Abraham Duffield, Serick Fox, and John Knowles; the two first-named being the wardens. The only other persons who had been in the vestry from 1785, were Joseph Thornhill, Matthew Ingram, Jacob Duffield, Nathan Whitman, Jr., Jacob Leech, Joseph Ashton, John Cotman, Demas Worrel, and William John- son. As to the number of families or communi- cants in the congregation, no information is to be gathered, even from the Journals of the Convention.
* Mr. Lardner was chosen a vestryman in 1793, and continued to be such till his death, in 1825, a period of thirty-two years. During a great part of this time, he was a warden and the treasurer. Mr. Duffield was in the vestry thirty-one years, and a great part of the time treasurer. Mr. Ashton was a vestryman twenty-six, and Mr. Fox twenty-one years.
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In 1811, the two vestries very properly erected a neat mural tablet in All Saints Church, in memory of Patrick Neal, who, though a member of this con- gregation, and interred here, had left a handsome legacy to that (All Saints) church. They also had a "head and foot-stone" placed at his grave. In 1813, the vestry judged it best to sell about thirty- eight and a half acres of the glebe land, and invest the proceeds in something more profitable. They obtained for them $4000. The remainder of the glebe was sold in 1838, for $3000. In 1816, Mr. Wiltbank resigned the rectorship.
At that time there were in the two congrega- tions fifty-five communicants. The new vestrymen in Trinity Church, from 1809, had been Samuel Swift, John Wilkinson, John Trump, Jesse Water- man, Charles H. Israel, and John Salter.
A short time after the resignation of Mr. Wilt- bank, he was succeeded by my immediate prede- cessor, the Rev. George Sheets. He continued, as you know, to be the esteemed pastor of the two churches, until their separation into distinct cor- porations in 1835; and afterward, of this church alone, until the spring of 1854; a period of near thirty-eight years .*
* Both in 1835 and 1854, resolutions were passed by the Vestry, expres- sive of high regard for Mr. Sheets, and of a grateful appreciation of his long and valuable services.
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During this time, the two churches of Holmes- burg and Frankford were built; in good part, as is supposed, through the instrumentality of Mr. Sheets. This church also received its two last enlargements. In 1833, the two wings, each of which is about seven- teen by twenty-one feet, were added; and in 1839, the tower, for a vestry and Sunday School Room, was built; the latter improvement being made at the expense of members of one family,-Mr. Joseph Swift, and the Misses Mary and Elizabeth Swift, sis- ters and son of a former vestryman of the Parish .* In the beginning of 1854, the interior of the church was changed to what it is now, the change being a vast improvement.
The number of families in the congregation at the time of the separation of the two churches in 1835, was upwards of thirty. That of communi- cants thirty. The number of the latter had in- creased in 1846-just before the organization of the church in Frankford-to sixty-two. This event re- duced it to twenty-eight. In 1854 it was twenty- five.
Between the years 1816 and 1854, the following persons, not already named, had been in the vestry : John Green, James Butland, Jonathan Bavington, Jonathan Clift, William Overington, Daniel Yon- ker, John Fox, Lynford Lardner, Edmund Green,
* Samuel Swift, Esq.
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Richard P. Lardner, Thomas W. Duffield, George Fox, Samuel S. Leech, Michael Hartley, Jacob Sny- der, Benjamin Rowland, John Lardner, Robert Whitaker, Harvey Rowland, John Cuckle, and James McMurtrie.
Of anything that has occurred in the Parish since 1854, it is unnecessary for me to speak. I shall only add, therefore, a few remarks suggested by the imperfect sketch of previous events just submitted.
The facts prominently brought before our notice this morning-that the Parish to which we belong is one of the oldest in the Diocese-the very oldest, indeed, but one-and that, even the building in which we worship is almost, if not quite, a century and a half old; these are facts of the deepest inter- est, especially to minds possessed of much venera- tion for the past. Ought they not also to be allowed. to have a decided effect upon our deportment while here, making those of us who are most serious and reverent, still more so? Is not the very place, with its surroundings and associations, well calculated to remind us of those words of God: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
Again, in the remarkable way in which this Parish, begun so long ago, has been not merely preserved alive, but gradually strengthened, in, at least, pecuniary ability, and now, in its old age,
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giving many signs of life and vigor; in this, is there not seen a cause for thankfulness to the Great Head of the Church-to Him to whose goodness this is in the end to be referred? And what shall I say of those good men and true, who were His instruments in each successive age of keeping it alive-who watched over it, prayed for it, and gave to it, deny- ing themselves, that they might have it in their power to do so more largely? What shall I say of that earlier generation, who, having come here and found a home for themselves in the wilderness, early sought to have the Church of God established among them, and to have a temple erected wherein they could worship in the hallowed forms to which they had been accustomed in the homes of their child- hood?
Oh! in the zeal which they thus manifested for the house and Church of God, and for the interests of religion, have they not set us an example, which it should be our ambition to follow? Ought we not, like them, wherever we may be, to seek as a primary object, and at whatever cost and labor, to have the Church established among us, and to promote its welfare? Can we in any other way do so much good, even temporally, to ourselves and to our de- scendants?
As for our own particular Parish, I take for granted, that the most of you will be ever ready to
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do what you can to promote its welfare. The vine, planted, and so long and so carefully nurtured, by your fathers, will surely not be permitted by you to die, or even to sustain injury, for want of care and attention. An object so near and dear to them, can never be otherwise than near and dear to you.
One point only more. For generation after gene- ration, we have seen, that our predecessors-of some of you, the ancestors- were dependent, in great measure, upon their brethren in England, for per- sons to preach to them the Word of reconciliation, and to administer among them the Holy Sacra- ments. Those brethren freely responded to their earnest calls, and, at a large expense, kept them, in common with many other congregations in a simi- larly feeble state, generally supplied with ministers. Can any of us consider these facts, and not become more interested in the sacred cause of Missions- that cause, the object of which is simply to do that for others which has been already done for us? Can we generally consider it, without becoming, as a congregation, eminent for our interest in it, and for our contributions to it? It is believed, that we can not. May we, then, think of them, until, owning and feeling our "debt of love" to others, we do all we can to discharge it.
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