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 33
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
to fire at. The other emblems of royalty being out of reach, were suffered to remain. They consist of one royal crown on the spire, and another on the top of the organ. However little the present generation may care for baubles of that kind, still the antiquity of those ornaments, and the propriety of them in the day when they were put up, make them still interesting-as indicating, at the first view, to the most perfect stranger, the antiquity of the structure. which contained them-splendid for the days and country in which it was erected. This structure has never been subjected to the hand of modern vandalism. The interior is now the same as when Dean Berkley preached in it, with the exception of the longitudinal en- largement, and the pulpit is now the only one in America ever graced by the occupancy of that distinguished prelate. The church was, at the time we are speaking of, without a minister. As it had been nursed by the high church party in England, it was unpopular with the mass of the people, who were writhing under the scourge inflicted by that very party. . The'church edifice, too, had been spared by those invaders who worshipped in it, while the other places of worship in the town they had desecrated-by converting them into riding-schools or hospitals-and every part of them but the shells they had demolished.
There was no service in the church immediately after Mr. Bisset left, and the minister of the "Six-Principle-Baptist-Society" of this town, was allowed to occupy the church with his numerous congre- gation for several years, until their own place of worship was repaired. From 1781 to 1786, service was performed in the church by Mr. John Bours, a lay reader, who, in 1784, was requested by . the church to receive orders, and become their minister, which he declired.
In 1786, the Rev. James Sayre was engaged, and settled as minister. He took upon himself the duties of that office on the first of October. In 1787, the pews built in the west aisle of the church were taken down, and the passage from the north to the south doors again laid open.
In 1788, Mr. Bours, and a majority of the congregation, came to an open rupture with Mr. Sayre. They charged him with " refus- ing to put a vote in the vestry which he had previously agreed to do." They apprehended from conversation had with him, "that
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he would never be brought to conform to any form which might be agreed on for the establishment of union in the Episcopal church of America, and which was then supposed to be in agitation, if it differed in any manner from the forms of the Church of Eng- land, excepting the prayers for the king." That on being asked " if the church in Pennsylvania had been consecrated, he replied that they were not churchmen there." That "he received to the altar, and administered the communion to a vagrant Portuguese, who was an entire stranger to him, until he saw him approaching with antic postures and gesticulations, beating his breast and cross- ing himself." That " he refused to administer the sacrament to three or four persons, of as good reputation as any among us, who on their sick beds were desirous of partaking of it." Finally, they say, " Mr. Sayre having been chosen our minister, on the condition that he would retire when any division should take place on his account, he having in the clearest terms resigned his charge, and since declared that he did not depend on his re-election, we no longer acknowledge him as minister ; and should he still persist in officiat- ing as such, we can view him in no other light than as an invader of our rights, an intruder and usurper in the church, and will exert our utmost abilities to dispossess him, in which we are confident of being joined by a respectable number of the congregation."
It appears Mr. Sayre soon left the church, but by what means they got rid of him-whether through the means of Bishop Seabury, whose mediation had been requested by a portion of the congrega- tion-by his voluntary relinquishment of his charge, or by compul- sion, the records do not inform us.
By a vote of May 5th, 1789, the Rev. William Smith, of St. Paul's church, Narragansett, was invited to visit this church every other week, which invitation he accepted, with the consent of his own church ; and in December following, he was called to become the minister of Trinity church, which he accepted.
This church was represented by Mr. John Bours in the Conven- tion which met at Boston in 1785, by which Convention the union of the churches in this and the neighboring States was settled, and the liturgy and forms of worship to be used in future, agreed upon. When Mr. Bours returned, a corporation meeting was called which agreed to all the alterations adopted by the Convention, but at the
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Easter meeting 1789, said vote was rescinded. These two adverse decisions show that the parties in the church were about equal as to numbers. In 1790, the churches of Newport, Providence, and Bristol, met in convention, and declared the Right Rev, Samuel Seabury, D.D., Bishop of the church in Connecticut, Bishop of the church in this State.
The Rev. Mr. Smith was not agreeably settled, inasmuch as the society were divided. The feuds which originated between Mr. Sayre and Mr. Bours had not been healed, and many of the minority refused to attend church under the preaching of Mr. Smith, but preferred holding meetings of worship in their private houses. Mr. Smith received a call from the church at Norwalk, Conn., which he accepted, and embarked for his new station April 12th, 1797.
The church, on the 14th May, invited the Rev. John S. J. Gard- ner, assistant minister to Trinity Church, Boston, to come to Newport and spend a few Sundays ; on which acquaintance Mr. Gardner was, on the 5th of August, appointed minister, after having spent two Sundays with them. In Mr. Gardner's answer to the church, dated September 17th, he calls it " a scattered church, and a divided people." For these reasons, and because his own church, rather than part with him, had raised his salary to $800, he declined the invitation, and recommended to the church a young man named Theodore Dehon.
Mr. Dehon was invited by letter to come to Newport for a few Sundays, and preach to the congregation, when the same might be most convenient to himself. In the meantime, the services of the church were performed gratuitously by the Rev. Mr. Moscrop. On the 8th of October, 1797, Mr. Dehon was chosen minister, and re- quested to obtain orders. Nov. 19th, his salary was fixed at $700 per annum, with the use of the parsonage and lot, and the other perquisites of said office. On the 7th January, 1798, he entered upon the duties of his ministry. Mr. Dehon proved very acceptable to the society, which again united in the bonds of harmony and christian fellowship-flourished and increased to an overflowing congregation. The pews were again all occupied to a degree almost equal to what they had been in the days of Mr. Honyman. In 1798, a vestry was built on the north-east corner of the church. In 1799, a new school-house was erected on the lot where the old
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one formerly stood. The old one had been pulled down, as we have reason to believe, in the hard winter of 1780, and given to the poor of the church for fuel. The Rev. Abraham Bronson took charge of the school, in the new school-house, in 1800, but resigned in 1801, upon which the Rev. Clement Merriam was chosen assistant minis- ter and school-master, and entered upon the duties of his office the same day his predecessor resigned-April, 1801. In 1801, a com- mittee was raised to " draw a plan for establishing a fund for the support of the rector of the church."
In December, 1802, Mr. Dehon, in consequence of ill health, asked and obtained leave of absence during the winter. Mr. Mer- riam gave up charge of the school, and officiated in the church ; and Mr. Whitaker took the school in Mr. Dehon's absence. Mr. Dehon returned in May or June from Charleston, S. C., where he had resided during the winter.
In the winter of 1803-4, Mr. Dehon was again absent, and as there was then no assistant minister, Mr. John Ward, of Harring- ton, Conn., who had charge of the school, officiated in the church as lay reader. Mr. Ward was invited to take orders and become assistant minister, but declined.
In 1804, the church bell which had been in use sixty-three years cracked, and was again cast over. In November of the same year, the new bell cracked, and was still again re-cast. In Nov. 1805, Mr. John Ward having obtained holy orders, was elected assistant minister and school-master, and accepted.
The affairs of the church having become settled under the pas- toral care of Rev. Mr. Dehon, but little worthy of notice took place until 1809. For about ten years previous to that time, many members of the corporation had been anxious the church should possess a fund, to be invested, and the interest arising to be exclu- sively appropriated to the minister's salary. This year they set themselves to work in earnest to accomplish this desirable purpose. On the second of June, the vestry appointed a committee to report a plan to raise a permanent fund ; and in August the said committee made a report, which was not adopted. A new committee was ap- pointed, which reported in December, 1810, whose report being adopted, measures were taken for carrying it into effect. The members of the congregation were solicited to subscribe such sums
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as they were willing to contribute toward the fund-no one being obliged to pay until the whole sum subscribed should amount to six thousand dollars. In a short time, a list of six thousand and fifty dollars was obtained.
The subscribers being thus held for the amounts subscribed, agreeably to the terms of their subscriptions, the money was col- lected and invested in bank stock ; the dividends on which was to be regularly invested until the capital should amount to ten thousand dollars. After which, the yearly income was to be applied toward the payment of the minister's salary, and for no other purpose. This was fully accomplished, in due time, and one thousand dollars added by the bequest of Mr. Samuel Brown, of Boston, (a native of Newport,) making the permanent fund eleven thousand dollars, at the original cost of the stock.
In February, 1810, the Rev. Theodore Dehon resigned the rector- ship of the church, but tendered his services until the ensuing autumn. On the 28th October, he preached his last sermon to this congregation, and proceeded to exercise the Episcopal offices of rector of St. Michael's, Charleston, and Bishop of South Carolina.
When Mr. Dehon retired, the Rev Salmon Wheaton (who mar- ried the sister of Mr. Dehon, and who had been previously engaged to preside over the church,) arrived here from New Haven, and took charge of the parish. The Rev. Mr. Wheaton presided over the church for thirty years, when he resigned, and the Rev. Francis Vinton was chosen rector, and entered on his duties at Easter, 1840, and was instituted rector April 14th, 1841, by the Right Rev. Alex. V. Griswold, Bishop of the Diocese.
The following statistics are added as interesting proofs of the divine blessing :-
Persons baptized, (from 1698 to 1750,) 1579 ; marriages, 455 ; burials, 731. From 1750 to 1785, persons baptized, 1143 ; mar- riages, 30 ; burials, 130. From 1785 to 1797, persons baptized, 246 ; marriages, 72; burials, 116. From 1797 to 1810, persons baptized, by Rev. Mr. Dehon, 212; marriages, 70; burials, 129. From 1810 to 1840, persons baptized, by Rev. S. Wheaton, 568 ; marriages, 120; burials, 448. From 1840 to 1842, persons bap- tized, by Rev. Francis Vinton, 147 ; marriages, 16 ; burials, 40.
Total persons baptized, 3895; marriages, 763; burials, 1594.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, R. I. As gathered from the Records, by WM. T. DORRANCE, Esq.
On the 4th of March, 1754, the congregation of King's Church, (now St. John's,) voted " that all transactions of the congregation, and of the church-wardens and vestry, be from henceforward written fair on a book !" From that time to the present, a record of the proceedings has been regularly kept. In the first volume of the records is a short memorandum of the history of the church previ- ous to 1754, without date or signature. The following is an extract, viz., " The Rev. Mr. David Humphreys, D. D., Secretary to the honorable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," in his historical account of the foundation proceedings and success of their missionaries in the colonies of America, to A.D. 1728, says-The Rev. Mr. James Honyman was the first mission- ary for Newport or Rhode Island, and that he preached* several times in Providence ; and at one time, to wit, anno 1722, in the open fields, to more people than he had ever before seen together in America ; and that the people of Providence then begun and gathered money to build a church, he says, to the value of £770; that Col. Joseph Whipple gave them £100, and victualled the laborers, who began to build said church on St. Barnabas day, being the 11th day of June, A.D. 1722. And he says the Rev. Mr. George Pigot was appointed the first minister to their church, A D. 1723. Mr. Pigot was of a roving disposition, and soon moved away from them.t Then Parson Charro was appointed, but he behaved unworthily and was dismissed. The Rev. Mr. Arthur Brown was the third rector, and was highly esteemed among them, so that they purchased a glebe In Providence Neck, and gave him a deed in fee simple for the same. He was after some time persuaded away from Providence to the church in Portsmouth, N. H., by Gov. Dunbar. The people parted reluctantly with him, and he nobly and generous-
* According to a pamphlet published by the United Society of St. John's Church, Mr. Honyman preached in Providence as early as 1720. Mr. Pigot removed in 1725.
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ly gave back the glebe* and house thereon, by deed, to Messrs. Col. William Coddington, Charles Bardine, Esq., and Capt. John Brown, in trust, for the use of any officiating or settled minister in said church and congregation of Providence .; The Rev. Mr. John Checkley was appointed fourth minister, and came here May, 1739. He presided here, and was steadily in duty, and lived at the glebe land in the parsonage, until the year 1753, when, after a long and lingering illness, he there died. During his sickness, and after his decease, many of our Episcopal clergy visited us, and the Rev. Mr. Orem, chaplain to the king's ship Jason, served our church several months. This memorandum continues down to the ministry of the Rev. Abraham L. Clarke. But the records now commenced, and in them we find the following vote, March 4th, 1754. " Voted, That the worthy Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, be acquainted of the death of our late reverend minister, their missionary, and to entreat their charity to send us another." The following letter was, in consequence of the above vote, written to the Rev. Dr. Bearcroft, secretary of the Society :-
" PROVIDENCE, March 4th, 1754.
REV. SIR,
The congregation of King's Church acquaint the worthy Society of the death of our minister, their late missionary, the Rev. Mr. Checkley, the 15th of last month.
The church-wardens and vestry having informed the Society of his long indisposition, and the consequence of it, with humble requests for their thoughts of us, we have only to hope in the con- tinuation of their charity in providing us a minister as soon as they think convenient. In the meantime, we shall continue to beg the favor of the several reverend clergy, their missionaries, who can oblige us. It being now above two years since Mr. Checkley did
* This glebe contained 18 acres, with a dwelling-house, &c. This estate is now owned and occupied by Thomas Sessions.
t According to the deeds in the town records, Joseph Whipple, and others, sold the estate to Arthur Brown, in 1734, for £250 lawful money, New England currency ; and in 1737, Arthur Brown conveyed it as above-mentioned for the same consideration, namely £250.
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officiate, we are not in that form and order we could wish, and which, no doubt, a worthy successor to him would soon bring us into.
Though the late gentlemen made several small improvements to the glebe and house, yet its fences being out of repair, as well as the house, which will be expected by his successor to be put into order, and the church likewise wanting a great deal of repair, and there being few among us all to contribute toward such charges, we are very sorry we cannot promise any certain sum to our minister per annum, until, please God, the present congregation is not only in better order or condition, but that it is increased. In the mean- time, we can only assure the worthy Society we will do our best, and we hope will no way fall short of what the late incumbent re- ceived. We pray for the blessing of God, that through the worthy Society's kind and good intentions in their charity, we may be pro- vided with a suitable gentleman of ability and address to regather our flock and increase it, by having a due influence on the variety of sectaries and unbelievers we are unhappily situated among. Though as the poor encouragement we give, besides the worthy Society's charity, does not entitle us to what we so wish, and as to be longer without a minister will hurt us more and more, we humbly entreat their regard to favor us, as soon as possible, with a gentle- man who may offer, they think, the most suitable; and we promise, whoever, please God, may be, to endeavor to make all things in our power agreeable to him, with a just sense of our dependence, grati- tude, and duty to the worthy Society. Remaining, with all due acknowledgements and respects, theirs and, Rev. Sir, your obliged and humble servants,
Signed, JAMES ANDREWS, } Church DAVID BROWN, Wardens.
John Merritt, William Astor, George Taylor, Samuel Chace, Henry Paget, Benjamin Brown, Joseph Brown, Peter Brown, Henry Sweeting, Joseph Sweeting, Joseph Field, Gideon Crawford, Robert Magell, William Hopkins, Benjamin Whipple, Charles Brown, Daniel Brown, Israel Bullock, John Brown, John Burlcit, John Bardine, John Cole."
At this meeting an annual tax was laid upon the pews, which, says the vote, "was a new thing." The tax was to be eighty-two shillings a year, old tenor. If not paid, the pews were to be for-
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feited, and " sold to such members of the Church of England who will be subject to needful taxes."
In January, 1755, the Rev. Mr. Frontbeck, missionary at Hop- kinton, expressed a willingness to quit that station to take charge of King's Church, provided the Society's consent could be obtained. A letter was accordingly written by the wardens, requesting the appointment of that gentleman.
In the meantime, the Rev. Matthew Graves, of New London, offered his services to the church, provided repairs could be put upon the glebe, and the expenses of his removal paid. The congrega- tion, however, concluded that " in honor to Mr. Frontbeck, they must now wait the resolves" of the Society. In December, 1755, an answer was received to their letter by the hand of the Rev. John Graves, of which the following is a copy :-
GENTLEMEN,
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts had, some time. before the receipt of your letter, in favor of Mr. Frontbeck, appointed the bearer, the Rev. Mr. John Graves, to be their missionary to you, a most pious and worthy clergyman of the Church of England, who has resigned his preferment in England to promote Christ's true religion among you. He will, I am firmly persuaded, administer richly to you in spiritual things, and I hope you will not be scanty to him in carnal things,-and, therefore, the society expects and requires of you, that you put your church in good and decent repairs, and purchase a good and decent house, with a good glebe annexed thereto for a missionary, if not done al- ready, and pay him at least £20 sterling per annum. These are the conditions without which no new missions are granted, and may .with the greatest reason be insisted on by the old one, and must be complied with, as you hope for a continuance of a missionary among you. Recommending you and Mr. Graves to the divine blessing, I am, gentlemen, your very faithful servant in Christ,
PHILIP BEARCROFT, Secretary.
P. S. Mr. Graves is likewise to officiate at Taunton.
" Upon the public perusal thereof, the said reverend gentleman, Mr. John Graves, was cheerfully received by us."
' Mr. Graves,' says the memorandum before referred to, 'lived
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at the parsonage-house and attended the service until July, 1776, when he was pleased to absent himself from duty, though very earnestly entreated at sundry times to keep up the worship, saying, he could not, as prayers for King George were forbidden then through America. By reason of war's taking place between us and Old England, our church suffered very much, a long time, by this turn of Mr. Graves.'
In 1758, a difference occurred between Mr. John Merritt, a prom- inent member of the church, and the reverend rector, of which the the society in London appointed the Rev. Henry Caner, of Boston, to take cognizance.
At a meeting of the vestry, April, 1758-Present, Mr. Graves, rector, the church-wardens, vestrymen, and some members of the. church, Mr. George Taylor, Col. John Andrews, Mr. Henry Pagett, and Mr. Samuel Chase,-a committee chosen last Easter Monday to reconcile Mr. John Merritt to our church, make report, that they met him at Col. John Andrew's house, and used their best endeavors for that purpose, but that Mr. Merritt insisted that Mr. David Brown had publicly offended him, in giving the rector the contribution, and that the rector had publicly offended him in setting him aside (as he termed it) ever since, and that he would have public knowledge and satisfaction of each of said parties, before he would be reconciled. Voted, therefore, that we disapprove Mr. Merritt's censure of Mr. Brown for giving, and of the rector for receiving the contribution, and are so far from blaming either of them, that we entirely ap- prove of both their conduct herein, as not disagreeable to the intent and design of the vote* of the church, passed in the time of the va- cancy, respecting the contributions ; and as no offence whatever was intended against Mr. Merritt, Mr. David Brown, church-war- den, informs this meeting, that Mr. John Merritt has wrote, (without the privity of the church) an unhandsome letter to the society,
* The following is probably the vote alluded to: "That not only the money collected by contribution, but at the sacarment, be applied to the general use of the church, until, please God, we have a minister, when that collected at the sacrament or obla tion money, after the charges at- tending that divine service are paid, to be by the church-wardens applied to the accustomed charitable uses."
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wherein he boldly calls Mr. Graves a Methodist ; and also asserts, that the letter of thanks, wrote to the society by the church in Mr. Graves favor, was false, and that the signers of said letter were a weak people,-which action of Mr. John Merritt (if true) we disap- prove and highly discommend, as tending to great disorder and to- wards breaking up our church.' In 1760, this difference was ami- cably adjusted by the parties 'exchanging mutual forgiveness in presence' of the congregation. This reconciliation was principally owing " to the friendly interposition of Mr. Matthew Graves, of New London."
In 1761 or 62, a gallery was built at the west end of the church.
In 1762, it was voted that no proprietor of a pew be allowed to transfer his right thereto without the consent of the church.
This year the thanks of the congregation are voted to Mr. John Merritt for his generous donation of £50 sterling toward the repairs of the church, and also for his still further kindness in advancing most of the money to purchase a lot adjoining the church-ground, of Mason Wheeting. This year the church was extensively repaired.
1767. The thanks of the congregation were voted "to Captain Whipple, for his late benefaction of 160 feet of land, in order to en- large our church-yard."
1771. This year John Merritt left to the church a legacy of £100 sterling.
1772. King's Church was incorporated.
1774. " Voted, That the pew of Samuel Chase, Esq. be free from all taxes for his long and special services to the church."
1776, April. Voted, " That Mr. John Graves, our late pastor, as he has been pleased to leave this church destitute, be paid off for his past services, to the date of his letter of dismission, and that the leaders and such of the vestry and congregation as please, agree with some worthy clergyman of the Episcopal church, to keep up the service and worship of God in the best manner they can for a short time forward."
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