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 > Part 29
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" Sept. 14, 1774. This day Mr. Fayerweather met the Reverend Convention of the Episcopal clergy in Boston ; went to Kings Chapel, and heard the Rev. Mr. Sergeant, of Cambridge, preach from these words -' If you know these things happy are ye, if ye do them.' General Gage present, and dined with the clergy at Dr. Caner's house. Convention sat again, and unanimously made choice of the Rev. Mr. Fayerweather to be their preacher on the second Wednesday of the next Sept. 1775-the Rev. Mr. Baily to read the prayers on that annual and much to be esteemed occasion.
" On Sunday 16th, past Trinity, and 18th of the
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month, Mr. Fayerweather preached at Kings Chapel for the Kings chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Frontbeck, before General Gage and his officers at Boston, and before a very numerous and polite assembly, from these words -' Be kindly affectioned one towards another in brotherly love.'"'
" October 2, 1774. The Rev. Mr. Parker, Assistant Minister to Rev. Mr. Walter, of Trinity Church, Bos- ton, preached at St. Paul's Narragansett, by a proposal of an exchange. On the 23d, the Rev. William Clark, of Dedham, exchanged with Mr. Fayerweather, and preached at St. Paul's."
The May number of the Evergreen, contains an interesting sketch of the life of Bishop Parker, the second Bishop of Massachusetts, the materials of which are taken chiefly from the Gospel Advocate, for- merly published in this city, and the funeral sermon preached at the interment of the Bishop, by the Rev. Dr. Gardiner. Dr. Parker was born in Portsmouth in 1744, ordained in London in 1774, having been previously appointed assistant minister of Trinity Church upon the Greene Foundation, and entering upon his duties on his return from England ; was appointed rector of the same Church in 1779, and succeeded Bishop Bass in the Episcopate in 1804. He died three months after his consecration, and before he had performed any Episcopal services. .
' As a clergyman of the Episcopal Church Bishop Parker was equalled by few. He read with propriety and impressive solemnity, our excellent Liturgy, and performed all the ordinances of religion in a manner best calculated to impress the heart with their im- portance. In the pulpit, his voice was clear and sonorous, and his delivery energetic ; nor, when occasion required, was he ignor- ant of that touching pathos which moves the strings of sensibility.
His discourses were serious and solid, explaining some impor-
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tant doctrine, or enforcing some moral virtue. He was deeply im- pressed with the necessity of inculcating the essential doctrines of Christianity, which peculiarly distinguish it from other religions, and from a mere system of ethics. The divinity of the Saviour, the doctrine of the atonement, faith in the holy trinity, were, he conceived, essential parts in the Christian system.
' In his person, Dr. Parker was tall, robust, erect, and well pro- portioned ; cheerful in disposition, and amiable in deportment. As a husband and parent, loving and beloved, he enjoyed, for many years, the endearments of domestic life, amid his large family, and surrounded by very numerous friends, industriously spending his time in the alternate discharge of personal and parochial du- ties, in the performance of the latter of which, he was always re- markably distinguished. We may, perhaps, safely conclude, that his highest style of excellence was in that most respectable, most honorable, and most useful character, a conscientious PARISH PRIEST .- Christian Witness.
Sunday, November 6. 1774, is the last entry made by Mr. Fayerweather on the parish record. The contro- versy between the colonies and the mother country had at this period assumed a serious aspect. The majority of the society of which Mr. Fayerweather was pastor being whigs, they objected to the use of the prayers for the King and royal family, and for the success of His Majesty's arms. He felt that he could not conscientiously dispense with them without a violation of his ordination vows, although he was personally esteemed as a friend of the American cause. The church was consequently closed. He occasionally preached at private houses un- til his death, which occurred in the summer of 1781. He was buried under the communion table of St. Paul's, beside the corpse of Dr. McSparran.
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Mr. Fayerweather was popular in his parish. He was an able and industrious preacher, and left several manu- script volumes of sermons, which are reputed by those who have perused them, to be productions of talent and piety. He read the Church service with great effect, and those who have survived him, speak of the solem- nity and pathos with which he performed those devo- tions as impressing them even to this day.
We close the ministry of the Reverend Mr. Fayer- weather, by transcribing the following item from his will :
"I give all my library and books to King's (now Columbia) Col- lege, New York, and ten pounds sterling, and my large picture of myself. And my desire is, that the corporation may suffer said pic- ture to be hung up in the library-room of said College forever .- Also, my silver-framed square picture of myself, to my sister Han- nah Winthrop, of Cambridge. My wife's picture of herself, to her niece, the wife of John Channing. My oval picture of myself framed with silver, to my nephew, John Winthrop, of Boston, merchant."
The executor of his will, Matthew Robinson, Esquire, received Mr. Fayerweather's effects, and being aged and infirm, neglected the injunctions of the testator. He died ten years afterwards at an advanced age, and insol- · vent, and the pictures bequeathed by the Rev. Mr. Fayer- weather were sold at auction as Mr. Robinson's property, there not being any legatees or friends in this quarter to claim them. The large picture painted by Copley in his academical honors at .Oxford, is now in my house ; the others were in the town some few years since.
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His library was also sold, and is now lost, except a few volumes in the possession of the church in Narragansett.
The Rev. Mr. Fayerweather, while rector, baptized forty-five persons.
The church of St. Paul's was used during the Revolu- tionary war, as a barrack for the American soldiery, and the parish record contains no entry from 1774 to April, 1784, when it would seem nine persons met together, and a committee was appointed to invite the Rev. Mr. Fogg, the rector of the Episcopal church at Pomfret, in Connecticut, to become the pastor of said parish. Mr. Fogg declined the invitation. The society did not meet again until July, 1787, when the Rev. William Smith,*
* William Smith was by birth a Scotchman, and received his education in one of the Universities of his native country. The history of his early life is of course lost to us, and we only know that he was studious in his youth, and left College with the reputation of an excellent scholar. He came to this country as an ordained minister, in 1785, and soon after his arrival, assumed the charge of Stepney parish, in the State of Maryland. On the 7th of July, 1787, he entered upon the duties of rector of St. Paul's church, Narragansett, where he continued to officiate until the 28th of January, 1790, when he left, having accepted the rectorship of Trinity church, Newport. He was instrumental in organizing the church in Rhode Island, and preached the sermon at the first Episcopal Convention held in this State, in November, 1790, which was printed and is now extant.
In a note appended to Mr. Ross' century sermon, delivered at Newport, in 1838, speaking of Doctor Smith, the late Rev. Doctor Wheaton, rector of Trinity church, said-"Had Mr. Smith's prudence been equal to his talents and learning, he might, with the Divine blessing, have been instrumental in healing the unhappy divisionsamong his people, and restoring the church to its former prosperity. The time, however, had not come for the church to rise from her depression, and put on the garments of glory and beauty. Mr. Smith's pastoral charge in Newport terminated April 12th, 1797, when he informed the congregation that he had accepted the call of the church
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upon invitation, accepted the rectorship. Mr. Smith officiated here until January, 1790. During his resi- dence he baptized thirty-nine persons.
at Norwalk, Conn. He embarked with his family to enter on his new charge." The Rev. Mr. Beardsley, in his Historical Discourse delivered at Cheshire, says-" In the spring of 1797, Mr. Smith took charge of St. Paul's at Norwalk. An unhappy disagreement arising between him and his people in regard to the permanency of a settlement, he relinquished the parish in 1800, and went to New York. He opened a grammar school in that city, and acquiring the reputation of an able teacher, he was selected the successor of Doctor Bowden, as principal of the Episcopal academy of Connecticut, in 1802, and entered upon his duties in the spring of that year. He resigned his office of principal of the institution in 1806, and left Che- shire and returned to New York, and the remainder of his days were passed between that city and Connecticut. He had no permanent cure, though he officiated for several years in the parishes of Milford and West Haven. He occupied his time principally in writing on theological subjects, and was the author of a series of essays on the Christian ministry, addressed to the Rev. Dr. Blatchford, a congregational divine, who had an especial dislike of Episcopacy. He compiled and published a book of chants, and a large work in the form of dissertations on primitive psalmody, designed to show the impropriety of singing metre psalms in public worship, and the wisdom of returning to the ancient practice of chanting. After a life chequered by much trouble and suffering, he died in New York, April 6th, 1821, in the 69th year of his age. At one period of his ministry, Dr. Smith enjoy- ed, in an eminent degree, the confidence of his brethren. Great respect was paid to his opinion and learning. His intimate acquaintance with ecclesiastical history, and his accurate retention of knowledge, enabled him, on all occasions, to give with readiness a full and instructive answer to any question in the line of his profession. One memento of his genius is to be found in the book of Common Prayer. The 'OFFICE OF INSTITU- TION OF MINISTERS INTO PARISHES OR CHURCHES,' was the production of his pen. He prepared it at the request of the Annual Convention for 1790, and presented it in form to the convocation of the clergy in Derby, in Conn. November 25th of the same year, by whom it was adopted under the title of the 'office of Induction,' and ordered to be printed. It was prescribed by the General Convention of 1804, and finally established by the Conven- tion of 1808, the name being changed from 'INDUCTION' to ' INSTITUTION,' and its use made to depend upon recommendation and not upon requisition. Dr. Smith had a great fondness for preaching extemporaneously, and (ex-
A45
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At a meeting of the society of St. Paul's in April 1791, Walter C. Gardiner was appointed lay reader. He after- wards became rector of the church, and continued as such until 1794, when the Rev. Joseph Warren was elected rector, and officiated until the autumn of 1805:
At a meeting of the society, on the third day of De- cember, 1799, while the Rev. Mr. Warren was pastor, it was voted, nine to two, to remove the edifice of St. Paul's from the site where it was originally erected, in 1707, five miles further north, to the village of Wick- ford. It was also voted to build a new church on the site given by Dr. McSparran for that purpose, on Mc- Sparran Hill, so called, for the accommodation of the part of the parish residing in South Kingstown, and that the rector preach alternately in Wickford and South Kingstown. The church edifice was removed to Wick- ford, where it now stands, but none was ever built on the lot given by Dr. McSparran. The site on which the old church stood, and the burial-ground attached, where the ashes of so many of its members repose, still belong to the Episcopal Church.
cepting his Scotch accent,) he was always interesting, instructive, and fre- quently eloquent. His remarkable colloquial powers made him an agree- able companion-the rapidity of his thoughts oftentimes being as surprising as it was felicitous. He possessed a singular versatility of talents, and was both a theologian and a scholar, a composer of church music, and a constructor of church organs; and but for the peculiarity of his tempera- ment, and the infirmity of his constitution, he might have been more use- ful in his day and generation.
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Mr. Isaac B. Pierce, of Newport, was chosen lay rea- der of St. Paul's, in Wickford, and officiated in that character from 1809 to 1813. The Rev. James Bowers was elected rector of the same church in 1812, and con- tinued to perform services in the same parish, but most- ly in the South one, until the year 1814. The church again became vacant until 1817, when Lemuel Burge was chosen lay reader, and officiated two years. The parish was then supplied by the Rev. Patrick H. Folk- er, for about one year. The Rev. Mr. Burge having obtained orders, returned and continued rector from May 1820 to Easter 1834. The church at Tower Hill in South Kingstown having been built when Mr. Burge was lay reader, and consecrated in November, 1818, he per- formed services in the North and South Kingstown churches alternately. In June, 1834, the Rev. Francis Peck became rector, and continued to officiate up to
September, 1836. In 1837, the Rev. Mr. Burge was again elected rector, and officiated until Easter, 1840, when, on account of ill health he resigned. In the Au- gust succeeding, the Rev. John H. Rouse was elected rector, and now remains the incumbent of St. Paul's, at Wickford, in North Kingstown, the parish having been divided in the year 1832. Since the division, services have been performed in the Wickford and Tower Hill churches by their respective pastors, as separate parishes.
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TOWER HILL CHURCH.
The church of St. Paul's in Narragansett, (in which Dr. McSparran preached,) was erected before the divi- sion of the old town of Kingstown into the two towns of North and South Kingstown, in 1722. The church, upon that division, fell about one mile over the North Kingstown side of the line. In 1791, it was incor- porated by the name of St. Paul's, in North Kingstown, and the purchases and donations, both in real and per- sonal estate, were made to St. Paul's church, in North Kingstown, in its corporate name .* The location of the . building having become inconvenient for both parishes, it was, in 1800, removed to Wickford, at that time a large village, and the parish divided. Services were performed by the same rector in both parishes, on alter- nate Sundays, at the Wickford church and at the glebe house in South Kingstown. Through the exertions and enterprise of the Rev. Mr. Burge, a church was erected . on Tower Hill for the accommodation of the South. Kingstown parish, and consecrated by Bishop Griswold in Nov. 1818. This parish in June, 1834, was incor- porated by the name of St. Luke's church, afterwards in Oct. 1838, the corporate name was changed to St. Paul's, and services were performed in the new church instead of the glebe. In 1833, the church at Tower Hill ob-
* The church of St. Paul's was first incorporated in October, 1791. In Feb. 1794, upon their petition, the old charter was repealed, and a new one granted.
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tained an appropriation from the R. I. Convocation for a missionary to preach regularly in the Tower Hill church. The Rev. Erastus de Wolf, one of the mission- aries of the Convocation, accepted their call, and per- formed services in the Tower Hill church for about eight months. He was then sent as a missionary to Westerley. As soon as the two churches were supplied with separate services, the lands that had been given to St. Paul's in North Kingstown (the property having been obtained originally by the joint contributions of both parishes,) were satisfactorily divided, and from that time alternate services by the same rector ceased.
In the autumn of 1834, the parish of Tower Hill again called the Rev. Mr. De Wolf to become their minister, and he continued their rector until 1838, when he left. The Rev. Francis Vinton succeeded Mr. De Wolf. In 1840, the church of the Ascension, at Wakefield, hav- ing been erected and consecrated, the members of the church at Tower Hill joined the Wakefield church, and since there have been but occasional services at Tower Hill by the rector of the Wakefield church.
WESTERLY CHURCH.
In 1834, the Rev. Erastus De Wolf, as a missionary of the Rhode Island Convocation, preached at Westerly about seven months. A parish was not organized while he remained there. At the request of the Convocation, the Rev. Mr. James Pratt, in September, 1834, visited
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Westerly as their missionary, and held services. On the 24th of November of the same year, under his auspices, a church was organized, and a sewing circle, tract society, and a Sunday school of 60 or 70 scholars were established. In June, 1835, the Sunday school contain- ed 155 scholars in regular attendance-communicants 39. He also had obtained near $2000 by subscription in the village, to build a church. In 1835, a church was erected 57 by 38 feet, at an expense of about $6000, and consecrated as Christ's church. In 1836, a neat parsonage house was built at the cost of $2000. In 1837, his communicants had increased to 86, and in 1838 to 115.
Dec. 26, 1839. The Rev. Mr. Pratt received a call from the church at Portland, Maine, to become their rector, which he accepted, and until Easter, 1841, the church was supplied with only occasional services, when the Rev. Mr. Newman became rector, and con- tinued so until 1844, when the Rev. Thomas H. Vail was elected, and still continues rector. Communicants 135.
EAST GREENWICH CHURCH.
A church was organized at East Greenwich in August, 1833, through the missionary labors of the Rev. Syl- vester Nash. The church was erected and consecrated as St. Luke's church, on the 17th of April, 1834. Mr. Nash continued pastor of the church until April, 1840.
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He was succeeded on the 12th of July following by the Rev. William H. Moore. In December, 1841, the Rev. Silas A. Crane became rector, and the church is now under his pastoral charge. Communicants, 40.
KINGSTON CHURCH.
The Rev. Mr. De Wolf, missionary at Tower Hill, held clerical services at Kingston, during the winter of 1835; and, in the spring, a church was organized with nineteen communicants, and admitted into the State Convention of that year. In May, the Rev. William W. Niles, the missionary of the Convocation, officiated as pastor for about six months. Regular religious ser- vices were suspended, after that period, for the term of two years. In April, 1838, the Rev. Louis Jansen, a missionary of the Convocation, was elected rector. He reported to the Convention twenty-three communicants. He left in January, 1839, and was succeeded by the Rev. Francis Vinton, appointed by the Convocation missionary rector over the parishes of Tower Hill and Kingston. At their call, he continued to perform divided services in the two churches until he accepted of the rectorship of St. Stephen's, Providence. "Lay ser- vices were then commenced by Lieut. A. A. Harwood, of the U. S. navy, who was licensed by the Bishop of the Diocese for this object, and which he pursued with praiseworthy zeal." In January, 1840, the Rev. Mr. Newman officiated at Kingston, once a Sabbath, until the
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church of the Ascension was finished at Wakefield. On the 3 1st of May, 1840, regular services at Kingston church were closed, and the members have since attend- ed the Wakefield church. No church edifice was built at Kingston-the congregation worshipped in the State House.
WAKEFIELD CHURCH.
The Rev. Francis Vinton, missionary of the R. Island Convocation over the parishes of Tower Hill and Kings- ton, organized the church of the Ascension at Wake- field, on the 28th of February, 1839, with six com- municants. Wakefield is situated on the Saugatucket river, a few rods above the Point Judith Ponds, into which that river empties. Within the distance of a mile are four factories, and a dense population.
Through the liberality of Elisha Watson, Esquire, suitable lots for a church and parsonage house were obtained, and in a few weeks the required amount for Nº the erection of a church, and a large proportion for building the parsonage, were raised .* The building of the church was commenced in the summer of 1839. It was consecrated on the 3d of June, 1840. The Rev.
Rev. Mr. V. offered to procure $1000, provided the same amount should be raised in South Kingstown. The offerings were so liberal on the part of Mr. Watson and others, that it at once ensured the building of the church, and the next day Mr. V. started forth to redeem his pledge, which by God's blessing was speedily done, through the liberality of churchmen in New York and Providence.
.
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William H. Newman was the first Rector, (the Rev. Mr. Vinton having accepted the rectorship of St. Stephen's in Providence, before the church was completed.) Mr. Newman divided his labors between the Tower Hill and Wakefield parishes until the consecration. He continu- ed the rector of the church of the Ascension until Easter, 1841, when he accepted a call to Christ Church, Westerley. The rectorship of the Wakefield church ' was vacant, except occasional ministrations, until Feb., 1842, when the Rev. James H. Eames was elected minister of the united parishes of Tower Hill and Wakefield, in the church of the Ascension. Mr. Eames continued until January, 1846, when he was chosen Rector of St. Stephen's, Providence. In March, 1846, Rev. James H. Carpenter became Rector of the churches at Wakefield and Tower Hill, and still continues in charge of them.
THE WARWICK CHURCH.
Respecting the Warwick Church, in which Doctor McSparran, Dr. Fayerweather, and others, officiated once a month, I have been favored with the following letter from William D. Brayton, Esquire, of Warwick, a gentleman of antiquarian research :-
"WARWICK, JANUARY 22, 1845. DEAR SIR,
In reply to your enquiries relative to the old Episcopal church in which the Rev. Dr. McSparran officiated in Warwick, I send you A46
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the best information that I have obtained on that subject. On the 2nd of September, 1728, a lot of ground situated at equal distances from the present village of Apponaug and East Greenwich, and between the post road and the present Stonington Rail Road, was conveyed by the Rev. George Pigot 'to the Society in London for the Propogation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for erecting a church according to the establishment of churches by law in England." A church was accordingly erected-a wooden building two stories in height, with a steeple and spire, fronting the Post road. After re- maining unoccupied a long time, in a ruined state, it was taken down about the year 1764, by inhabitants from old Warwick, for the purpose of erecting a church there. The materials having been conveyed to the shore, were scattered and lost during a storm which arose soon after. A number of graves, probably of individuals connected with the church, are still to be seen upon the lot. The Rev. George Pigot- resided in Warwick a number of years, and owned a tract of land there. He probably obtained the means of erecting the church.
Yours respectfully, WILLIAM.D. BRAYTON."
The congregation of Trinity Church in Newport, when they built their new church in 1726, " gave their old church to the people of Warwick, who had no church of their own." It was by tradition floated from Newport to Coweset, (the Indian name of this part of Warwick,) and when taken down, it was never rebuilt in old Warwick, and there has not been any Episcopal church in that town since. Some Episcopalians remain, but most of the families of that denomination have removed to Providence and elsewhere.
We extract the following entries from the records re- lating to the Warwick Church :-
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" April 11, 1736. Babtized at Coweset (Warwick Church), by Mr. McSparran, two children, viz., Rebecca Pigot, daughter of Edward Pigot, and Chas. Dickinson, son"of Captain John Dickinson."
Edward Pigot was the brother of the Rev. George Pigot, and was a physician-came to Warwick soon after his brother, but remained but a few years after his brother removed to Salem.
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