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 39
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 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
470
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
The Rev. Mr. John Graves, the Society's missionary at Provi- dence, in a letter dated May 5th, 1761, writes, that his constant communicants are almost double, and his stated hearers more than proportionally increased, with persons who practice as well as pro- fess religion. As to his particular charge he never leaves it, except when he visits his relations, spring and fall, at New London. He has kept together the three last years the little church of Warwick, ten miles from Providence, and given them constant attendance, preaching, administering the Lord's Supper ; taking into the church both infants and adults; catechising their children, visiting their sick, and burying their dead. For this extraordinary attendance on the church of Warwick, the Society have ordered Mr. John Graves a gratuity.
1763. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport in R. Island, £50 " Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
The Rev. Mr. Fayerweather, the Society's missionary at Narra. gansett, in his letter dated August 10, 1762, writes, that he has his dwelling in the midst of persons who take too many occasions of ex- pressing great bitterness against the church of England. Thus situated, he finds it best to be mild and gentle, peaceable and for- bearing, which the Society earnestly recommends to him and all their missionaries. In consequence of this behavior, Mr. Fayer. weather says, several have lately conformed to the church from the Anabaptists and other persuasions. He has baptized five adults and eight infants within the year. In this part of America he finds im- mersion preferred, among persons in adult years, to sprinkling-and whenever it is required, administers it in that way, as the church di- rects. When he first opened his mission his congregation consisted of a very small number, but is since enlarged, and in the summer season appears numerous. His communicants have increased from twelve to twenty and upwards; and with those from Warwick, where he frequently officiates, and where there is a great appear- ance of piety and seriousness, make upwards of thirty-five.
The Society have received a petition from the Church of War.
1
471
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
wick, dated June 17, 1762, praying that they may have the benefit of Mr. Fayerweather's ministry, and that of Mr. John Graves, of Providence, who has been exceeding kind to them.
The Rev. Mr. John Graves, the Society's missionary at Provi- dence, in a letter dated July 13, 1762, writes, that he should have seconded the church of Warwick's petition, but that he would avoid every thing that looks like covetousness in things sacred ; however, thinks it his duty to observe that, till that people enjoy the blessing of a resident minister, they cannot hope to reap the same advantages by being annexed to any other mission, as to that of Providence .--- They lie within ten miles of Providence, and twenty from the near. est other Episcepal minister, and therefore, often partake of the word and sacraments of this church, from whence arises a spiritual friendship and union between them. But if the Society can more effectually provide for the spiritual welfare of that people, he is far from desiring the additional and awful charge.
The Society, taking the case of the church of Warwick into their consideration, have agreed to desire Mr. John Graves to officiate at the church of Warwick once a month on Sundays, and as often as he can conveniently on week days, and to make an addition of fifteen pounds to his salary for his services at Warwick.
1764. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport, £50
Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
66 66 for officiating at Warwick, 15
Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
The Rev. Mr. Marmaduke Browne, the Society's missionary at Newport, in the colony of Rhode Island, in his letter dated January 9th, 1763, with pleasure informs the Society, that his mission is in so flourishing a way, that several gentlemen have come to a resolu- tion to enlarge the church very considerably, at the expense of at least five hundred pounds sterling. He adds, that at the instance of the associates of the late Dr. Bray, and with the hearty concurrence of the Society, he has opened a school for the instruction of negro children, to consist of fifteen of each sex, which is to be under his inspection, and which he trusts will answer the intentions of the charitable persons concerned in it. In the preceding half year he
472
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
had baptized one black and fourteen white children, one white and one black adult, and had an addition of five communicants, making in the whole one hundred and nine.
The Rev. Mr. Fayerweather, the Society's missionary at Narra- gansett, in the colony of Rhode Island, in his letter dated March, 10th, 1763, writes, that his parish church is well filled in the warm and moderate seasons of the year, but in the winter his congrega- tions are small on account of the extreme cold. To remedy this in- convenience, he has been urged, in imitation of his predecessor, to officiate in his own house in the severe weather ; but has refused to comply till he has obtained the Society's leave. In answer to which, he was desired, if possible, to make his church warm and comforta- ble in the severest weather ; but if that cannot be done, and his house is large enough for the reception of all who are willing to at- tend, the poor as well as those of better rank, he may have leave to perform divine service in his own house when it is absolutely neces- sary, and not otherwise.
The Rev. Mr. John Graves, the Society's missionary at Provi- dence, in the colony of Rhode Island, in his letter dated March 19, 1763, returns thanks for a gratuity given him for his former servi- ces at Warwick. And the Society having since committed the church of Warwick to his care, that people, in a letter dated July 16, 1763, express their grateful sense, of the happy provision made for their spiritual welfare, by appointing Mr. Graves to that office, of whose faithful labors they have had so much experience. And Mr. Graves, in his letter dated June 4th, 1763, declares his inten- tion, God willing, to visit the church of Warwick at least six times a year on Sundays, which is the most he can do, without neglecting his own proper mission; the rest of his visits he purposed to make on week days, statedly and occasionally ; and in the whole, pay them double the visits they were used to have from his predecessor in that charge. In the half year preceding his first letter, he had baptized nineteen infants, one white and two black adults. Of the adults the two survivers are in full communion, and walk agreeably to their holy profession. The populous and growing town of Providence con- sists of Presbyterians, Baptists, New Lights, and Quakers, besides the members of the Church of England, with all of whom he lives
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH. 473
in peace and charity ; and there are none of them but will, and often do, occasionally come to hear him.
1765. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport, £50
" Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
66 66 for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
The Rev. Marmaduke Browne, the Society's missionary at New- port, in the colony of Rhode Island, in his letter dated Feb. 29, 1764, writes, that notwithstanding the great enlargement of Trinity Church, there is still room wanting to accommodate all who would willingly attend. In this colony, he observes, a good harmony sub- sists between churchmen and dissenters. The Quakers in particu- lar express their regard for the church, from the experience they have had of the mildness and lenity of its administration. And his parishioners are constant and decent in their attendance on public worship, and unblamable in their lives. In his letter dated Sept. 19, Mr. Brown gives a particular account of the rents of the lands and houses left by Mr. Kay, for the use of a grammar master at New- port, which, from the 1st of April, 1765, will amount to the sum of £64 5s. sterling, from which deducting ten pounds to keep the house in repair, the estate will produce near fifty-four pounds sterling per annum, besides a small house for the school-master to reside in, which will rent for eight pounds sterling per annum. The Society are desired to recommend a grammar master for this school, as soon as a proper person can be procured. Mr. Browne has baptized in the preceding year forty-five infants, two white and one black adult, and has from 112 to 120 communicants.
The Rev. Mr. Usher, the Society's missionary at Bristol, in the colony of Rhode Island, in his letter dated Nov. 21, 1763, incloses his Notitia Parochice, by which it appears that there are in Bristol about 150 families, 50 of which are of the Church of England, and 100 dissenters, none of them Baptists. In the preceding year he had baptized twelve infants, and had forty-three communicants ; be- sides the above, he has thirty heads of families in the neighboring towns, fifteen of whom are communicants. They have been already favored with a deed of gift of a piece of land for a church and
55
1
474
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
· church-yard, in a small flourishing town about five miles from Bris- tol church ; and have likewise, with the assistance of some dissen- ters, subscribed about five thousand pounds, this poor currency, to- wards building a chapel of ease, hoping to obtain leave for some neighboring missionary to officiate among them once a month, that the aged and children may attend. Mr. Usher has occasionally of- ficiated in these towns to large societies, in private houses, for want of a church.
1766. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport, £50
" Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
66 do for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
1767. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport, £50
" Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
The Rev. Mr. Marmaduke Browne, the Society's missionary at Newport, in Rhode Island, in his letters dated Jan. 2nd, and July 1, 1766, writes, that he is constantly engaged in a succession of paro- chial duty, as much as he is well able to struggle with, and has the comfort to observe, that much good is done here, notwithstanding the many disadvantages they labor under in this colony. Within the year he baptized 43 infants, 2 white and one black adult, and has 120 communicants, 7 of whom are blacks, who behave in a manner truly exemplary and praiseworthy.
1768. Mr. Browne, missionary at Newport, £50
" Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, 50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
1769. The same missionaries and salaries.
1770 The same missionaries and salaries.
1771. The same missionaries and salaries.
475
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
By a letter received from the Rev. Mr. John Graves, missionary at Providence, Rhode Island, New England, of Sept. 25, 1770, the Society are informed, that in the last half year he had baptized nine infants and one adult-buried five, and married three couple. That he goes on as usual, both at Providence and Warwick, where he had preached twenty times, besides occasional duties, within the year. That his particular friend, Mr. Merritt, is lately deceased, and much lamented, having always supported a very amiable and exemplary character. He was a firm friend to religion and virtue. Among other valuable legacies, he has bequeathed £100 to the Society, and the same sum to the church at Providence.
1772. Mr. Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, £50
" Usher, missionary at Bristol, 60
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
66 for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
Advice has been received of the death of the Rev. Mr. Marma- duke Browne, the Society's worthy missionary at Newport, in Rhode Island. The people have chosen Mr. Bisset, who used to assist the missionary, and kept the school founded by Mr. Kay. But the flour- ishing state and opulent circumstances of that parish having been fully represented, the Society do not think it consistent with their trust, to give any longer a salary from hence, as it would prevent their bounty where it is more wanted, to other churches, which can- not be supported without their assistance.
1773. The same missionaries and salaries.
The Rev. Mr. John Graves, missionary at Providence, R. Island, hath baptized five children, buried three adults, and hath forty com- municants.
1774. The same missionaries and salaries.
The Society have received letters from each of their missiona- ries in Rhode Island. The Rev. Mr. Fayerweather writes, that the church of St. Paul's, in North Kingstown, is repairing. The Rev. Mr. Usher, though a cripple, constantly preaches every Sunday, in the summer season, to a congregation that declines indeed from con- stant emigration ; though such as are within distance, still continue their attendance. And the Rev. Mr. Graves within the year end- ing at Michælmas, 1773, hath baptized thirteen infants and two adults
476
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
-married four couple, and buried two adults. His communicants at Providence are about fifty, and at Warwick ten ; and he hath the great comfort of living in much peace and love with all his people in both places.
Mr. Taylor, the Society's school-master at Providence, teaches fourteen children, including one negro, on their account ; is constant in his attendance, as having no other employment.
1775. The same missionaries and salaries.
The Rev. Mr. John Graves, missionary at Providence, R. Island, administers the sacrament on the first Sunday of each month through- out the year. On every Sunday during the summer he catechi- seth the children, and in a sermon explains some part of the church catechism, and hath continued this practice for eighteen years. In the last half year ended at Lady-day 1774, he baptized six child- ren, married six couple, and buried five adults. He has about fifty communicants as before at Providence, and fifteen at Warwick ; at which place he hath in the year preached twenty times, and four times administered the holy communion.
1776. Mr. Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, £50
" John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
.
66 66 for officiating at Warwick, 15
" Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
By a letter from the Society's late missionary, Mr. Usher, dated Oct. 1774, it appears that in the preceding half year he had bapti- zed seven infants, administered the sacrament to thirty communi- cants-and though aged, lame, and infirm, had performed the usual service twice on every Sunday without any assistance. Since that time the Society have lost that venerable and worthy missionary, af- ter a period of fifty years diligently employed in their service .- Two letters have been received from the Rev. Mr. John Graves, from which it appears that in the last year ending in March, 1775, he hath baptized thirty infants, married six couple, and buried seven corpses. At Warwick he hath fifteen communicants ; hath preach- ed there seventeen times.
Mr. Taylor, the Society's school-master at Providence, writes,- that notwithstanding his advanced age he gives constant attendance to his school ; and that in the preceding severe winter, he supplied ten poor children with firewood, and taught them gratis ; and in the
477
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
spring and summer following, taught eleven poor children on the Society's account, besides two poor boys that were not entitled to that charity.
1777. Mr. Fayerweather, missionary at Narragansett, £50
Dr. Henry Caner, missionary at Bristol, 60
Mr. John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
for officiating at Warwick, 15
Taylor, school-master at Providence, 19
The Society have received one letter from Mr. John Graves, mis- sionary at Providence, Rhode Island, dated Nov. 19, 1776, who con- tinueth to baptize, visit the sick, bury the dead, and attend his peo- ple at their houses, although his two churches are shut up. Since September, 1775, he hath baptized twenty-two infants and three adults ; married six couple, and buried twenty-one corpses.
Mr. Taylor, the school-master, continueth to teach eleven child. ren on the Society's account, instructing them in the church cate- chism, and endeavoring to imprint on their tender minds a sense of the amiableness and rewards of, virtue, and the odiousness and bitter fruit, sooner or later, of vice in general, and enlarging on such as children are naturally most addicted to.
1778. No report this year.
1779. The same missionaries and salaries.
1780. The same missionaries and salaries.
1781. Dr. Henry Caner, missionary at Bristol, £60
Mr. John Graves, missionary at Providence, 50
66 for officiating at Warwick, 15
Taylor, school-master at Providence, 10
1782. The same missionaries and salaries.
1783. Dr. Henry Caner, missionary at Bristol, £60
Mr. John Graves, Providence, 50
for officiating at Warwick, 15
In the general it is to be collected from the missionaries letters (from New England), that the times, were grown more mild, and happier prospects seemed to be breaking forth; the church people being suffered to live more quietly ; the churches again opened, and divine service performed wherever there are clergymen to officiate ; and the clergy themselves increasing in esteem for their steady con-
478
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
duct in diligently attending to the duties of their calling, and preach. ing the gospel unmixed with the politics of the day.
The Rev. Mr. Graves, missionary at Providence, has given an account of himself, which seems to be an exception to the foregoing observations : for he has acquainted the Society, that though most of the churches which five years ago were shut up, had lately been opened, he could not be prevailed upon, either by threats or prom- ises, to open his church in the present situation of affairs. That he had therefore quitted his parsonage-house, and the people had for- mally dismissed him,
NOTE .- The following tribute to the memory of the late Hon. Benjamin Hazard, from the pen of the Hon. William Hunter, of Newport, late our Ambassador at the Court of Brazil, was intended for insertion in the account of the Hazard family, but was received too late to be printed in its proper place :
" There is one individual belonging to this numerous, wide-spread and highly respectable race, who is deserving of particular notice and regard. We refer to the late Hon Benjamin Hazard. His por- trait has already been sketched by the skilful hand of Professor God dard. See " Address to the People of Rhode Island," &c., p. 62. Mr. Goddard's remarks need no correction, and but little of addition. The ancient constitution of Rhode Island, formed out of the pro- visions of its admirable charter, was the most democratic perhaps that ever existed. It required a semi-annual election of Represen- tatives to the General Assembly. Mr. Hazard was a Representative from the town of Newport in the General Assembly for thirty-one years, and of course, " was subjected to the ordeal of sixty-two popular elections ;" a singular proof of the enlightened stability of his con- stituents, of his general high desert, and his peculiar fitness for this important office. This fact, independent of all others, entitles him to claim rank as a distinguished man, and as it were, demonstrates the possession of those impressive and useful qualities, whose com- bination render character at once eminent and enduring. Mr. Haz- ard's course of reading and study operating upon a mind of genuine
479
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
native strength, and confirming and justifying a native sturdiness of will, (the germ and guaranty of greatness) gave to all his literary efforts and political proceeding an air and cast of originality. He read and dwelt upon such books as Rabelais, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Hobbes' Leviathan, Swift's Gulliver, Berkeley's Que- rist, and latterly, the dramas of Shakespeare and the romances of Sir Walter Scott. In the middle and latter periods of his profes- sional career, he was employed in most of the important law-suits of the day, both in the courts of the State and the United States. In politics, though his agency in the conflicts of parties, if examined in the nicety of details, might betray some seeming inconsistencies, he was in the main true to himself and the system of conservatism.
His legislative reports on banks, currency, &c., and on the exten- sion of suffrage, are marked by sterling thoughts and true and pro- found principles. In his style, as may have been anticipated from what has been here said, there was nothing gaudy or flashy ; he aimed at and hit the mark of a plain, pure, anglo-saxon diction. He disdained the ordinary garden flowers and the glittering, though far from precious stones of the surface, to refresh and surprise us occa- sionally with flowers of native forest birth, culled in an extensive range, and with gems " of native hue serene," discovered by explo- rations in the depths of thought and meditation."
APPENDIX. -
55*
483
AMERICA DISSECTED, &C.,
IN SUNDRY LETTERS FROM A CLERGYMAN THERE.
LETTER I.
TO THE HON. COL. HENRY CARY, EsQ.
NARRAGANSETT, in the colony of Rhode Island, in New England, August 20, 1752.
SIR,
By the hands of Mr. Robert Hamilton, son of Bellyfattan, near Strabane, I did myself the honor, a few years ago, of writing you a letter, giving an account of myself, with a short sketch of the coun- try where I have resided so many years. But as I am equally at a loss whether that letter reached your Honor, or was acceptable, if it did, I have presumed once more to put my pen to paper, to give you as curt an account as I can, of the English American Do- minions ; which, if it does not minister to your entertainment, will, nevertheloss, from its intention, entitle me to your pardon.
The Island of Bermuda, lying in latitude 32 1-29, and so without the Tropics, is the first place I shall mention as belonging to the Crown of England in America. This is but a small island, or rath- er a congeries of smaller islands, whose Governor and Council, ap- pointed by the Crown, with the representatives of the Nine Tribes, whereof it consists, make up the Court of Legislature, or General Assembly. The inhabitants are about 15,000, and all (except an inconsiderable few) members of the Church of England ; and their clergy maintained by tax on the inhabitants, (as all the clergy with- in the tropics are) without any assistance from England. Its pro- duce (except the plat wherewith womens hats and bonnets were
1
484
APPENDIX.
wont to be made) is inconsiderable ; so that with the red cedar, grow- ing on the island, they build small vessels for fishing, and larger em- ployed in carrying freights to and from all places accessible to Eng. lish bottoms. The inhabitants are an industrious and religious peo- ple, and, perhaps, retain more of the ancient British probity and simplicity than any other of our English Colonies ; which, as it may be owing to its being less accessible to strangers, verifies the obser- vation, that Religion and Industry go commonly hand in hand.
This Island is remarkably healthy, not only on account of its cli- mate, but because also luxury and indulgence are greater strangers to the inhabitants than in some other places ; and many (born there) live to a great age.
Barbadoes is the windermost of all the English intertropical Su- gar-Islands ; as Antego, Monserat, St. Christopher's, Nevis, Jamai- ca, with many other lesser ones, are called the Leeward Islands.
Your Irish trade furnishes you with so distinct a knowledge of the religion, government, trade, and commerce, of those Islands, that it would be but holding a candle to the sun to interrupt you with a de- tail of them.
As to the Islands of St. Vincent's, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Toba- go, called Neutral Islands, and about which there have been so many things said since the peace ; they are actually settled, and so well im- proved by the French, that one must be very sanguine and credulous to believe that any thing under an actual war and conquest can wrest them out of their into our hands. How unequal, at this time of day, we are to such an undertaking, and at so great a distance too, a gentleman of your Honor's penetration, and acquaintance with the public state of things, is better adapted to determine than I am.
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.