USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Narragansett > A history of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island, including a history of other Episcopal churches in the state, Volume III > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
The Rev. Mr. Honyman, at Rhode Island, and Mr. Mac- Sparran, at Narragansett, have each of them wrote to the So- ciety that their congregations were in a flourishing condition.
Mr. Honyman, at Newport, £70; Mr. MacSparran, at Narragansett, £70; Mr. Browne, at Providence, £60; Alr. Usher, at Bristol, £60.
1731. The Rev. Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragan- sett, writes, that he proceeds with good success on the labours in the duties of his mission ; that besides children, he hath lately baptized one adult and a negro; that it is his common practice to expound the Church Catechism to children one Sunday in each month, in the hearing of the congregation, to the great improvement of the elder people, as well as of the children.
69
Appendices
The Rev. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Newport, writes, that the church under his care is in a growing state; that in less time than the last two years he had baptized eighty-four, sixteen of whom were adults. He also constantly observes his stated lectures at Tiverton, where he hath often a consider- able audience, and assures he will exert himself to the utmost in the discharge of every branch of his duty.
Salaries the same.
1732. The Rev. Mr. Honyman, an ancient missionary at Newport, in a letter dated September 20, 1732, acquaints thus : "I take the pleasure of telling you this known truth, that betwixt New York and Boston, a distance of three hun- dred miles, and wherein are many missions, there is not a congregation in the way of the Church of England that can pretend to compare with mine, or equal it in any respect; nor does my church consist of members that were of it when I came here, for I have buried them all; nor is there any one person now alive that did then belong to our Church, so that our present appearance is entirely owing to God's blessing upon my endeavours."
1733. The Rev. Mr. Arthur Browne, missionary at Provi- dence, in his letter dated September 29, 1733, acquaints : "That upon his first coming to the mission of Providence, he found the number of persons attending divine service was small, and the communicants only twenty-seven; but that now there is a great alteration, for the communicants amount to forty-six, and his congregation is seldom less than a hun- dred in number; and he hath baptized fourteen adults and fifty- four infants."
1734. The Rev. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Newport, in his letter dated November 27, 1734, acquaints the Society, that his church continues in a flourishing condition, so that there is none in those parts to be compared to it. Last sum- mer, he went to preach at Tiverton in excessive hot weather, which occasioned him a violent and dangerous fit of sickness; but notwithstanding that, as long as he was able, he performed his duty in the church, so that his people were not without public worship during the whole sickness, except one Sun- day, and that, through God's blessing, he is perfectly recov-
70
Appendices
ered. He says, Barclay's Apology for the Quakers hath been lately reprinted there, and he therefore thinks a number of Keith's Answer to that book might be distributed with great advantage among the people of those parts, and he could also dispose, to very good purpose, among many whose wants re- quire them, a number of Bibles, Common Prayer Books, Bishop Beveridge's Thoughts on Religion, Whole Duty of Man, and other tracts.
The Society last year appointed the Rev. Mr. Punderson to be Itinerant Missionary in New England.
1735. The Rev. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Newport, writes an account, that the Church increases in those parts; that his own labours are attended with success; that since his last let- ters he hath baptized ninety, whereof seven are adults, one an Indian, and three negroes.
From 1736 to 1737. No report. Salaries the same.
From 1738 to 1739. The Rev. Mr. Honyman, of Newport, senior missionary of the Society, acquaints them by letter, dated July 6, 1737, that he had been very much weakened by a long indisposition, but he had not omitted his duty in preaching twice every Sunday; in observing every festival; in reading prayers and catechising twice a week in Lent; and he may affirm with great truth, that his congregation is the largest and most flourishing of any in those parts. And by a letter dated the 8th of November, 1737, he writes that he had bap- tized ninety persons that year, of whom fifteen were of riper years, two negroes, and two Indians; that he found his work growing on his hands as he grew in years, but he would go on with the divine assistance, to promote, to the utmost of his endeavours, the interest of religion, according to the designs and expectations of the Venerable Society.
The Rev. Mr. MacSparran, minister at Narragansett and Warwick, writes, September 21, 1738, that he had baptized twenty-eight persons, of whom ten were adults, the last half year, and one of them, the lady of Mr. Abraham Francis,2019 a person of some consideration at Warwick, and he since hath received her to the Communion.
The Rev. Mr. Usher, at Bristol, writes, September 22, 1738, that in obedience to the orders of the Venerable So-
71
Appendices
ciety, he sends a true and faithful account of the spiritual state of his parish. There are in it one hundred and fifty families, reckoning about four to a family, and fifty of these families are of his congregation, and he hath fifty communicants; and he hath baptized one person of full age, besides several chil- dren the last half year. The other hundred families consists of dissenters of various names.
George Taylor, 5+ of Providence, writes, October 18, 1737, that he teaches twenty-three white and two black children, and catechises them on Wednesdays and Saturdays, explains to them the principles of religion, which they have learned by heart; this, with Mr. Taylor's good life and conversation, comes attested by Dr. MacSparran.
From 1739 to 1740. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Is- land, £70; Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10.
The Rev. Mr. Honyman, of Rhode Island, senior mission- ary of the Society, acquaints them by a letter dated the 27th of September, 1738, "that it had pleased God to visit him with a chronical distemper, which had for several months dis- abled him from public service, but he had taken all due care to have his church regularly supplied by the Rev. Richard Watts, late the Society's school-master at Annapolis Royal, and now settled in his neighbourhood at Bristol. But the charge of this, and his long illness, had laid so heavy upon him, that he was obliged to become a petitioner to the Society for their kind assistance, which he humbly hoped would not be denied to him who hath been more than thirty years in their service at Rhode Island, and made it his constant endeavour to behave himself worthily, and not without some success, his church being the largest in those parts, and yet not sufficient to contain his congregation." The Society, out of regard to Mr. Honyman's long and faithful services and his pressing circumstances, hath given him a gratuity of £20, for which, by a letter of 7th of August, 1739, Mr. Honyman returned his most hearty thanks, and wrote, that he had been for some months back in his desk and pulpit again, and since his illness had baptized fifty persons, four of whom were adults, and two
72
Appendices
of them negroes; and he concludes, that he is determined to spend the remainder of his days in the service of that church, and will endeavour, through the divine assistance, to deserve the favours of the Venerable Society.
The members of the Church of England in the town of Providence, by a memorial dated the 4th of May, 1739, re- turn their most unfeigned thanks to the Venerable Society for reviving the mission among them, by the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Checkley, to officiate to them, than whom, no man, they say, was more desired, and they do not doubt but that he will answer the expectation of all good men concerning him. And Mr. Checkley, by a letter dated November 1, 1739, acquaints the Society, that his congregation received him with joy, and that, as the most steady application to his duty is re- quired, he can with truth affirm, that he hath not been ab- sent one Sunday since his arrival, and hath baptized thirteen persons, one of them a woman sick in bed, and is preparing some Indians and negroes for that sacrament ; but, at the de- sire of the Rev. Mr. Commissary Price, he hath sometimes performed divine service and preached on a Wednesday at Taunton, twenty miles distant from Providence, where the congregation consists of more than three hundred persons, many of whom were never before in any Christian church; and he requests a large Common Prayer Book for the church of Providence, and some small ones for the use of the poor. The Society hath sent him a folio Common Prayer Book for the church, and two dozen small ones for the use of the poor at Providence. Mr. Checkley likewise certifies to the good behaviour of Mr. Taylor, the Society's school-master at Pro- vidence, and that the number of scholars is twenty-nine.
From 1740 to 1741. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Is- land, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSpar- ran, for officiating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Checkley, mission- ary at Providence, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Pro- vidence, f10.
The Rev. Mr. Honyman, of Rhode Island, the senior mis- sionary of the Society, writes, by a letter dated March 10, 1739, that he had nothing extraordinary with which to ac- quaint the Society, and therefore he must repeat, what he
73
Appendices
hopes he shall be in a capacity of repeating as long as he lives, that his church is in a very flourishing condition.
The Rev. Dr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett and Warwick, acquaints the Society, by a letter dated October the Ist, 1740, that he continues to discharge his parochial duties at both his churches with diligence and fidelity, well know- ing that he is to give an account of his ministry, not only to the Board of the Society, but also to a much higher tribunal. He blesses God that he hath reason to think that he doth not labour in vain, but that both the knowledge and practice of Christianity increase and gain ground in his parish; he had received lately six new communicants, and baptized three well-instructed serious adults, of whom two he had already admitted to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and should soon admit the third, through God's blessing.
The Rev. Mr. Usher, missionary at Bristol, writes, by a letter dated July 13, 1740, that he hath lately baptized two adults, after full instruction, the one a white, and the other a black ; and that he hath one remarkable convert from drunk- enness whom God hath been pleased to pluck like a brand out of the fire, when, through that filthy vice, he was fallen into it: and upon this accident he had taken some pains with him, who, thus awakened to a sense of his sins, hath been for two years an example of sobriety and virtue. The number of Mr. Usher's communicants is forty-eight, and he is now pre- paring three white adults and one black for the holy sacra- ment of Baptism.
The Rev. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, in New England, by a letter dated November 6, 1740, complains of his being hardly beset by several Romish missionaries, and par- ticularly by one in the shape of a Baptist teacher, but that he was at last gone away, and notwithstanding all their pains his congregation increased. He hath been visited by some of his old Indian acquaintances from distant places, and they have promised to send their children to him for instruction; and he hath himself visited the neighbouring Indians and performed divine service, and baptized three children, at the distance of fifty miles from Providence, without having been absent one Sunday from his church. He hath baptized within the year twenty-six persons, one a mulatto, and two negro boys, and
74
Appendices
four white adults, two of them a man and his wife, whose be- haviour at the font much moved and edified the congregation ; and they received with great devotion the sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the Sunday following, and have been con- stant communicants from that time.
From 1741 to 1742. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Is- land, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Alr. MacSparran, for othi- ciating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Pro- vidence, £10.
The Rev. Dr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett and Warwick, acquaints the Society, by a letter dated May 4, 1741, that he had baptized seventeen children and three adults, bred in Quakerism, who, together with four other persons of competent knowledge and of a good life, had increased the number of his communicants to forty-eight persons; and that he continues his usual visits to Warwick, and doth duty there twice in a month, when health and weather permit, and some- times in several distant corners of Narragansett. He thanks God that religion gains ground both among white and black people; and he intends to devote Sunday mornings early for a catechetical lecture to the negroes, as he doth the interval between prayers and sermon, once a month, for catechising the white children. And, by a second letter, dated Septem- ber 22, 1741, the Doctor writes, that he had baptized four children and one Indian adult, and admitted two new mem- bers to the Communion; and he had begun the catechetical lecture for the negroes, and spends one hour immediately pre- ceding divine service, in catechising and instructing these poor wretches, who, for the most part, are extremely igno- rant; and whether from the novelty of the thing, or, as he hopes, from a better motive, more than fifty slaves give their attendance. He writes further, that in the middle of the arm of the sea, which divides Rhode Island from the Narragan- sett shore, lies an island called Conanicut, about eight or nine miles long, and two wide, containing about four or five hun- dred inhabitants, who had never had Christianity preached to them in any other shape than Quakerism, until he preached to them on the 4th of August and 9th of September last, upon
75
Appendices
express invitation from them; and the appearance of doing some good among them is so promising, that he is determined to visit them once a month. The Society, well pleased with the foregoing accounts, hath sent the Doctor a folio Bible and Common Prayer Book, and some small tracts proper to promote true religion.
From 1742 to 1743. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Is- land, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Ar. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for offi- ciating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Pro- vidence, £10.
By letters from Rhode Island government, we are informed likewise, that the church continues to flourish at Newport under the care of the Rev. Mr. Honyman, and at Narragan- sett, under the care of the Rev. Dr. MacSparran, where seventy negroes and Indians attend on it in public, whom the Doctor frequently catechises and instructs for an hour before divine service begins; and by him the people of Conanicut, men- tioned in the abstract of last year, return their thanks to the Society for a folio Bible and Common Prayer Book for the pub- lic, and the pious tracts sent them for their private use; and purpose the building of a church for the more decent cele- bration of divine worship.
From 1743 to 1744. The Rev. Mr. Honyman, of Newport, by his letter of June 13, 1743, blesses God that his church is in a very flourishing and improving condition; there are in it a very large proportion of white people and an hundred negroes, who constantly attend the public worship of God. Mr. Hony- man hath eighty regular communicants, and he hath baptized, within the preceding two years, one hundred and fifteen per- sons, of whom twenty were adults, and seven were negroes; while seventy negroes and Indians, with a large congregation of our own people, fill the neighbouring church of Narragan- sett, under the care and administration of the Rev. Dr. Mac- Sparran.
Salaries : Mr. Honyman £70; Mr. MacSparran, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Usher, £60; Mr. Checkley, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Pro- vidence, £10.
76
Appendices
1744. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Island, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; AIr. Checkley, mis- sionary at Providence, £60; AIr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at War- wick, £30; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10.
The Rev. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, says, that, notwithstanding all opposition, the Church increases and is likely to increase; that he found a greater number of peo- ple in the woods than he could have imagined, destitute of all religion, and as living without God in the world; and he had likewise visited the Indians upon Quinebaug River, and was in hopes of doing some good among them.
1745. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Island, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; AIr. Checkley, mis- sionary at Providence, £60; Mr. AlacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; MIr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10.
The church at Rhode Island, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Honyman, remains in its usual flourishing state; while in Bristol, several families have conformed, and many others frequent that church, whom the Rev. Mr. Usher, the Soci- ety's missionary there, has good hopes will become worthy members thereof.
1746. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Island, £70; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, £60; Mr. Checkley, mis- sionary at Providence, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at War- wick, £30; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10.
The Rev. Mr. Honyman, the Society's missionary, and the church wardens and vestry of the church of Newport in Rhode Island, by their letter dated August 2, 1746, peti- tioned the Society to send them over a proper person episco- pally ordained, to take on him the office of a school-master to teach grammar and the mathematics, pursuant to the will of the late worthy Mr. Nathaniel Kay, 54+ who bequeathed an house and lands to the value of about £25 sterling per annum in trust to them for that purpose. And that the So- ciety would be graciously pleased to appoint such person cate- chist to their church, under the direction of Mr. Honyman,
77
Appendices
and to be assistant to him in the care of that very numerous congregation. To this the Society, out of regard to the ad- vanced years of Mr. Honyman (who hath been more than forty years their faithful and diligent missionary there), have consented; and they have given him directions to consult the Rev. Dr. Johnson, of Stratford, and to choose out of the young gentlemen educated at New Haven, whom, upon their own request, Dr. Johnson hath recommended for employ- ment to the Society, a fit person for these offices; and to send him over to England for holy orders, of which, if he shall be found worthy, the Society, after his ordination, will ap- point him catechist and assistant to Mr. Honyman, in the care of his very large and increasing congregation, not of whites alone, but of blacks also; no less than twelve of the latter sort having been admitted members of it, by the holy sacrament of Baptism, within twelve months.
The Rev. Mr. Usher, the Society's missionary at Bristol, by his letter dated April 2, 1746, writes: " That besides read- ing and preaching twice every Sunday, and regularly admin- istering the holy Sacraments, and observing all the feasts and fasts of the Church in his own parish, he officiates also at Taunton, Swanzey, and other places, as opportunity offers and occasion requires; and that several who were dissenters had become conformists : to which is added the pleasure of his hav- ing about thirty negroes and Indians of his congregation, most of whom join in the Church Service very devoutly, and three of them are communicants."
1747. "The Rev. Mr. Honyman continues his usual dili- gence in his mission at Newport, in Rhode Island, it ap- pearing, by his letter of May 14, 1747, that he had baptized eighty-three persons, eleven of whom were adults, and pro- perly instructed, sixteen negroes, and two Indians."
1748. Mr. Honyman, missionary at Rhode Island, £70; Mr. Leaming, catechist at Newport, in Rhode Island, {10; Mr. Usher, missionary at New Bristol, f60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for offi- ciating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Checkley, missionary at Pro- vidence, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10. 1749. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Nr.
78
Appendices
Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10; Alr. Honyman, missionary at Newport, in Rhode Island, 670; Alr. Leaming, catechist at Newport, in Rhode Island, £10; Alr. MacSpar- ran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Usher, missionary at Bris- tol, £60.
1750. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10; Ar. Usher, mis- sionary at Bristol, £60; Mr. Leaming, catechist at Newport, in Rhode Island, £10; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Nar- ragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, £30.
The church of Newport, in Rhode Island, hath sustained a very great loss by the death of their late worthy pastor, Mr. James Honyman, who departed this life there on the 2nd of July last, after a life well spent in promoting true religion and virtue, to a very advanced age; he having been upwards of forty years in the service of the Society, and by their sup- port done great service to the cause of religion, of which the church gathered at Newport by his pious labours is a very good, and it is to be hoped, by their perseverance in the paths of righteousness and truth, will prove a lasting monument.
1751. No sermon or abstract this year.
1752. The Society, at the earnest request of the church at Newport, hath consented to the removal of the worthy Mr. Beach, 853 their missionary at the church at Newtown, to that numerous congregation; and they will endeavour to provide the church at Newtown with a worthy successor, as soon as they shall be informed of Mr. Beach's removal thence.
Salaries: Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10; Ar. Usher, missionary at Bristol, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at War- wick, £30; Mr. Beach, £50; AIr. Leaming,533 catechist at Newport, £20.
1753. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, £60; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10; Ar. Beach, mis- sionary at Newport, in Rhode Island, £50; Mr. Leaming, catechist at Newport, in Rhode Island, £20; Mr. MacSpar-
79
Appendices
ran, missionary at Narragansett, £70; Mr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, $30; Mr. Usher, missionary at Bris- tol, £60.
1754. Mr. Checkley, missionary at Providence, E70; Mr. Taylor, school-master at Providence, £10; Mr. Usher, mis- sionary at Bristol, £60; Mr. MacSparran, missionary at Nar- ragansett, £70; MIr. MacSparran, for officiating at Warwick, £30; Mr. Pollen, missionary at Newport, in Rhode Island, £50; Mr. Leaming, catechist at Newport, in Rhode Island, £20.
The Rev. Mr. Beach, the Society's missionary at New- town and Redding, in Connecticut, having declined, through want of health, to accept of the great care of the church at Newport, in Rhode Island, which at the earnest request of the inhabitants thereof, had been offered to him, the Society hath appointed the Rev. Mr. Pollen, M.A., late curate of St. Antholin's Church in London, but then curate of the Epis- copal Church of Glasgow, to that mission, upon his own re- quest; and it is hoped that he is by this time safely arrived, and to good purpose employed in the duties of his holy func- tion there.
The Rev. Mr. Usher, the Society's missionary at Bristol, in New England, observes, in his letter of this year to the So- ciety, that he hath been employed above thirty years in their service, and continues to do his duty, though in an imperfect state of health; and hath the pleasure to officiate to a full con- gregation of sober, industrious persons, who perform the ser- vice of the Church in as regular order as any church whatso- ever, there being none among them but can read, except some few negroes; and he thanks God he lives upon a good footing with the dissenters, as well as with the members of his own congregation.And he had lately received into the Church three adults, bred among the Anabaptists, and was preparing four more for the holy sacrament of Baptism, and that when these four should be baptized, there would remain but part of two families unbaptized in his whole congregation.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.