USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Annals of Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1698-1821 > Part 11
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a minister, until the return of his son, the Rev. Marmaduke Browne, either by coming up to Newport himself, or sending up the Rev. Mr. Badger.
Voted : that the above gentlemen be also requested to write to the Rev. Dr. Miles Cooper, of King's College, in New York, and to the Rev. Dr. Smith, Provost of the Academy at Philadelphia, and enclose a paragraph of Mr. Kay's will respecting a school-master and assistant, and request those gentlemen to make inquiry for a suit- able young man to go to England for orders, to supply Mr. Bisset's place.
March 8, 1770. Abraham Redwood, Jr.,153 was married to Susannah Honyman.
Easter Monday, April 23, 1770. Mr. Peter Cooke and Mr. Thomas Wickham, Jr., chosen Church Wardens. John Grelea, Clerk; Charles Bardin, Organist; and Richard Durfee, Sexton, during his good behavior.
Voted : that the Church Wardens be requested to sue imme- diately all persons who are delinquent in paying the pew tax, and money due to the Church by subscription.
Voted : that the house in the school-house yard be put in tenant- able repairs, and delivered to the Rev. Mr. Bisset for his use, and that he keep the same in repair.
April 30, 1770. Mr. Thomas Wickham, Jr., having refused to accept of the office of Church Warden, Mr. John Bours was unani- mously requested by the congregation to accept of the office of Senior Warden, which, to oblige the Church, he agreed to; Mr. Peter Cooke agreeing to act as Junior Warden under him for the year ensuing.
153 Abraham Redwood, Jr., was the eldest son of Abraham Redwood, the founder of the Redwood Library ; born January 8, 1728, and died in 1 788. Susannah Honyman was the daughter of James Honyman, and grand- daughter of Rev. James Honyman.
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Voted : that the Wardens pay to the Rev. Mr. Bisset £8 sterling per annum for the hire of the house in the school-house yard, which, it is the opinion of the congregation, he is entitled to, and that the Church Wardens warn Mrs. Knotchell to leave the same imme- diately, and that they hire it out on the best terms they can.
Voted: that the Rev. Mr. Bisset's154 demand of £8 per annum sterling, for the hire of the house in the school-house yard, for two and a half years past, be deferred to the consideration of the con- gregation at the next meeting.
June 25, 1770. At a meeting of the Church Wardens and Vestry, specially called. Present, James Honyman, Esq., Thomas Cran- ston, Esq., Mr. Charles Wickham, Col. Joseph Wanton, Mr. Stephen Ayrault, Mr. William Mumford, Mr. Frank Brinley, Mr. Thomas Wickham, Mr. Philip Wilkinson, Mr. Evan Malbone, John Mawds- ley, Esq., and John Bours and Peter Cooke, Wardens.
Voted : that the house belonging to the Church, part of the estate of Nath1 Kay,155 Esq., be disposed of for $3000, and the first offer be given to Mr. Brinley.
July 9, 1770. The congregation voted: that Dr. Edward Evans156 be chosen organist of the Church, at the annual salary of £30, sterling, to commence on his return from England to Newport,
154 Rev. Mr. Bisset was a bachelor, and not wanting a house, the one in the school-house yard, the use of which he was entitled to as school-master, was rented for his benefit ; but he claimed that he should receive a rental for it from the time that he entered upon his duties. Mrs. Knotchell, widow of the organist, had been living in it rent free. How his claim was met by the congregation does not appear.
155 This was the Kay house. The ground for this action is only con - jectural-that the expense of keeping it in repair, and the difficulty ex- perienced at times in finding a good tenant, led to the wish to convert it into money, which could be put out to interest. Later, as will be seen, the Vestry thought better of this.
156 Dr. Edward Evans never returned from England.
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and that he be requested to purchase in London the vox-humane stop and other necessary additions for the organ, for which the Church will be accountable to him at his return.
Voted : that a vote passed by the Vestry at their last meeting, respecting the selling the house Mr. Brinley lives in, be reconsidered and that the said house, together with all the estate belonging to Nath1 Kay, Esq., the house in the school-house yard included, be leased to Mr. Francis Brinley for the term of seven years, at the rate of £62, sterling, per annum, and that he be obliged to lay out $100 in repairing the house he lives in, and that he keep the said · estate always in good repair, at his own charge, and that the said house be painted at the expense of the Church, as soon as oil and colors can be procured.
October 29, 1770. The congregation voted : that the Church Wardens be desired to employ proper persons to take down the spindle and scroll-work from the top of the spire, which was broken off in the great storm on Saturday last, and that they inquire at the same time whether it is practicable to have the same repaired this fall, and make report to the congregation at a future meeting.
November 5, 1770. The Church Wardens reporting to the con- gregation that they had employed persons to take down the scroll- work, &c., from the top of the mast of the steeple, and had con- sulted about repairing the same this fall, voted : that the spar which is now fixed within the tower for doing the above-mentioned work, remain, and that the necessary repairs be put off until the next spring, for more suitable weather to do the same.157
Monday, March 18, 1771. At a meeting of the Vestry at the parsonage house, the Rev. Mr. Browne having departed this life on
157 In a severe blow from the north-east, the spindle broke off just below- the upper ball, and was only prevented from falling by the lightning-rod.
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Saturday morning last, the 16th inst., it was voted unanimously : that he be buried in a decent manner, at the expense of the Church, and every mark of respect in their power shewed to his memory ; and the Church Wardens were requested to wait upon the Rev. Mr. Bisset, and desire him to preach a funeral sermon on the day he is buried, and to officiate till after Easter.
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CHAPTER IX.
1771-1780.
[" ON Thursday the 21st of March, 1771, Mr. Fayerweather being invited by a letter from the Church Wardens of Trinity Church, New- port, he attended as a. pall-bearer the funeral of the Rev. Marmaduke Browne,157ª pastor of said Church, when a sermon was preached by
157a Rev. Marmaduke Browne was a native of Ireland. In 1730 he was sent to America, as missionary, and was settled at Providence for a time. From there he removed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his father, also a missionary, had a parish. In 1760, on the withdrawal of Rev. Mr. Pollen, as already stated, he was elected minister of Trinity Church. His wife died in 1767, of which event the following minutes was made in the records of St. Paul's, Narragansett, under date of January 9, 1767 :
L" Mr. F. [Fayerweather ] was sent for to attend the funeral of Mrs. Browne, the consort of the Rev. Mr. Browne, over whom he performed the funeral service in Trinity Church, Newport. An exceedingly large concourse of people attended, but no sermon, as both the lady herself, and her hus- band, too, had an utter aversion to pomp and show on those occasions, and utterly against all parading."
Rev. Mr. Browne left a son, Arthur Browne, who became a distinguished man of letters. Immediately following his father's death, then a lad, he wrote to Mr. John Bours, Senior Warden of the Church :
" Portsmouth, May 16th, 1771.
" Dear Mr. Bours :
It seems to me most proper to write to you concerning the follow- ing affair, both as Church Warden, and as being one of my best friends. My Grandfather declines drawing upon the Society, and thinks it would be best for the gentlemen who are Church Wardens, not to draw, but to write to the Society, informing them of my father's death, of his leaving me wholly unprovided for, by which means there was a great chance of my losing a liberal education at home, whither my father
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the Rev. Mr. Bisset, colleague of the Rev. Mr. Browne, to a very . numerous and weeping congregation."-Records of the Narragansett Church.]
Easter Monday, April 1, 1771. John Bours and Isaac Lawton were elected Church Wardens, John Grelea, Clerk, and Charles Bardin, organist, until the arrival of Dr. Evans from England. Geo. English elected sexton.
Vestrymen : Joseph Wanton, James Honyman, William Mum- ford, Thomas Wickham, Evan Malbone, Philip Wilkinson, Stephen
designed to send me. He says I may be pretty sure, if those gentlemen would be so kind as to write [obliterated] of the Society's doing something handsome for me, especially if they would represent me in as favorable a light as they think proper, as a lad of some merit, who, if properly en- couraged, might turn out something.
These are his words, not mine; for not all the vanity natural to man should induce me to write thus of myself, were it not his direction. I know your friendship will excuse this trouble, which, notwithstanding after having troubled you so often, I am to give you, and I hope poor Peter was recovered before you got home. My love to Mrs. Bours.
I receiv'd Mr. Sam Bours' kind letter, and found that I must chuse a guardian as he says. I hope poor Mrs. Bours has had no more ill turns. My compliments to all friends. My Grandfather and all the family join with me in love to you and Mrs. Bours, and believe me always, your affectionate,
humb Servant,
The above Arthur Browne was sent to Ireland, where he was educated and attained to a distinguished position. He was a man of marked charac- ter and high attainments, was made Fellow and Senior Proctor of Trinity College, a Doctor of Civil Law, King's Professor of Greek, &c. In his " Miscellaneous Essays and Dissertations," long out of print, he gives an entertaining account of society and manners in Rhode Island, and makes mention of many of the prominent men of that day. He also wrote a
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Ayrault, John Mawdsley, Jahleel Brenton, Andrew Hunter, Simon Pease, John Bours and Francis Brinley.
Voted : that a letter be written to the Society, informing them of the death of our worthy minister, the late Mr. Browne, and solicit- ing a continuation of the mission, and that the Rev. Mr. Bisset be particularly recommended as a suitable person to succeed Mr. Browne, and that Mr. Honyman, with the Church Wardens, draft the said letter.
Voted : that the Rev. Mr. Bisset be requested to officiate as Minister of the Church, and that he be paid £50, sterling, per annum by the congregation, the sum that was paid to the Rev. Mr. Browne, and that he have likewise the use of the parsonage-house until we hear from the Society; and that Mr. Dudley, with the Church Wardens, be desired to acquaint Mr. Bisset with these resolutions of the Church.
work on Civil Law, which is still valued by the profession. He died in 1805. In 1795 he caused a mural tablet, bearing a likeness of his father, in relief and the family coat of arms, with the following inscription, to be placed by the side of the Chancel in the Church :
To the memory of the Rev. MARMADUKE BROWNE,
A man eminent for talents, learning, and religion, who departed this life on the 19th of March, 1771, and of ANN, his wife, a lady of uncommon piety and suavity of manners, who died the 6th of January, 1767. This mon- ument was erected by their son, ARTHUR BROWNE, Esq., now senior fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, and representative in Parlia- ment for the same: In token of his gratitude and affection to the best and tenderest of parents, and of his respect and Love for a Congregation among whom, and for the place where, he spent the earliest and happiest of his days.
Heu ! Quanto minus est, Cum aliis Versari, Quam tui Memisse, M. D. CCXCV.
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Voted : that the gentlemen who draft the letter to the Society, be requested to mention to them, in the same, the sending of a suit- able person for a school-master and assistant, provided they should appoint Mr. Bisset our minister.
Voted : that Capt. Mawdsley,158 Capt. Charles Wickham and Capt. Keith be a committee to repair the steeple, by having the spindle and vane put up again, in such manner as they shall judge best, as soon as the weather will permit.
Voted: that an account exhibited to the Church for attendance and medicine for negro Markadore in his last illness, by Dr. Thomas Eyres, be paid by the Church Wardens.
April 8, 1771. Mr. Stephen Ayrault and James Honyman, Esq., were appointed a committee to visit Mr. Bisset's school from time to time, as often as they judge necessary, in order to see that the number of charity boys be always complete; and if there be any va- cancy at any time, they are requested to look out a proper boy to fill it.
Voted : that the Church Wardens have the house Mr. Brinley lives in painted, agreeably to a former vote of the Vestry, in the best and cheapest manner they can, and the expense of the same be paid out of the money due to the Church.
Voted : that the Rev. Mr. Browne's salary be paid up to Easter.
[June 3, 1771. the Rev. Mr. Bisset preached a funeral sermon on the death of Mrs. Abigail Wanton, wife of Gov. Joseph Wanton, to whom she was married January 26, 1756. ]159
158 John Mawdsley at one time had a large capital, which he employed in navigation. In 1776 he was one of a committee of safety, but taking sides with the crown, his property was confiscated. His first wife was Sarah Clarke, to whom he was married April 20, 1746. She dying, he married Mary Bardin, August 3, 1766. He died February 21, 1795, aged 71 years.
159 " A sermon preached in Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island,
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June 25, 1771. Voted by the congregation : that Mr. William S. Morgan be chosen organist of the Church for three months, provided Doct" Evans should not arrive from England within that time: But whereas Capt. Charles Bardin was chosen at Easter last, to officiate as organist until the return of said Dr. Evans from England, it is voted that said Bardin be paid one dollar per Sunday, out of the salary of £30 per annum, formerly voted by the congregation for the support of the organist, until Easter next, and that said Morgan be paid at the rate of £30 sterling per annum, after deducting said sum of one dollar per Sunday.
July 1, 1771. Voted : that a tax of $1000 be immediately assessed on the pews, in order to discharge so much due from the Church on bond : being for money borrowed for the repairs of the Church, and building the steeple ; and that those persons who are unable to pay the said tax be excused paying it, and the deficiency be made up by a subscription ; and that Mr. Simon Pease, Mr. James Keith, Mr. Thos. Wickham, Jr., and Mr. Samuel Freebody be a committee to apportion said tax, to judge what persons ought to be excused, and make a report to the congregation on Monday next.
July 8, 1771. The report made by the committee was received, and it was voted : that Messrs. Stephen Ayrault, Thomas Wickham, Jr., and Capt. Isaac Lawton be requested to collect the tax, and that they have discretionary power to excuse, either in whole or in part, those persons whom they judge unable to pay the same.
Mr. Andrew Hunter, in consequence of the infirmities of age,
June 3, 1771, at the Funeral of Mrs. Abigail Wanton, late consort of the Hon. Joseph Wanton, Jun., Esq., who died in the 36th year of her age. By George Bisset, A.M. Printed by Solomon Southwick."
It is not clear who this Joseph Wanton, Jr., was. Bartlett, in his paper on " The Wanton Family," thinks it was the Joseph who was Lieutenant- Governor from 1764 to 1767.
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asked to be excused from longer serving as a vestryman; when it was voted unanimously that the thanks of the Church be given to Mr. Hunter for his past good services to the Church, and that the Wardens signify the same to him.
Mr. Francis Malbone was chosen a Vestryman in the room of Mr. Andrew Hunter.
October 14, 1771. Mr. William S. Morgan was continued organist of the Church until Easter next, upon the same salary as was voted him when first chosen.
October 16, 1771. Resolved : that James Honyman, Esq., be re- quested to draft a letter, to be signed by the Rev. Mr. Bisset, the Wardens and Vestry, to the Rev. Dr. Burton, Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, acquaint- ing him that the Rev. Willard Wheeler has offered to accept the school, provided there should be a vacancy, and to desire the So- ciety, if they have not already fixed upon a person to supply that place, not to give themselves any further trouble in the affair, as they would, in that case, accept of Mr. Wheeler.
October 28, 1771. Meeting of the congregation. Whereas : the venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in answer to a letter wrote them in April last, to inform them of the death of the Rev. Mr. Browne, and to solicit a continuation of the mission, entirely refuse to comply with our request to give any further salary to our minister; Resolved, unanimously : that a letter be wrote by the Rev. Mr. Bisset160 and the Church Wardens, to the
160
George Bifset Rev. George Bisset during the time that he had been connected with the Church, as school-master and assist- tant minister, had won the esteem of the people. His election as minis- ter opened the way for him to marry, and he made choice of Penelope Honyman, daughter of James Honyman, Esq., for a wife, and they were married April 23, 1773. His ministry was successful till the war broke
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Society, to return them their thanks for their past favors conferred upon the Church.
Resolved, unanimously : that the Rev. Mr. Bisset be our Minister, and that he be allowed and paid the same salary that was given to Mr. Browne, viz., £133.6.8 lawful money of this Colony ; said salary to commence on Easter day next, April 19, 1772, and that the same be collected by the Church Wardens and paid to him half-yearly;
up the congregation ; but he remained at his post, and when the British took possession of the town, it was not displeasing to him, for he was a Loyalist. The services of the Church were continued, and the pews that had once been filled by those who formerly worshipped there, were now occupied by British troops. A sermon that he was to preach on the Sun- day before the evacuation, had for its theme, " Honesty the best policy in the worst of times." It had for its text St. Luke, xviii, vs. 30, 31, and 32 ; but there was too much confusion preparatory to a hurried departure, to give heed to the Sabbath, and the sermon was put aside ; for Mr. Bisset, too, was among those who were about leaving. He went without his wife and little ones, who were left to the tender care of those who re- mained in the place. His furniture was seized by the State authorities, but was subsequently given up to his wife, who was allowed to go to New York by act of the General Assembly, June, 1780, under the direction of the Continental troops, where she joined her husband. While in New York Rev. Mr. Bisset preached the above sermon in St. Paul's, and also in St. George's. From New York he went to England, where, in 1784, the sermon was printed in London.
Two of Mr. Bisset's sermons preached in Newport, were published :
" A Sermon preached in Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., June 3, 1771, at the Funeral of Mrs. Abigail Wanton, late consort of the Hon. Joseph Wanton, Jr., Esq., who died in the 36th year of her age."
" The Trial of a False Apostle. A Sermon preached in Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., on Sunday, October 24, 1773. By George Bisset, A.M., Rector of said Church and Fellow of Rhode Island College."
Rev. Mr. Bisset resided in London till 1786, when he removed to St. John's, New Brunswick, where he became Rector of St. John's. There he died, March 3, 1788. Mrs. Bisset died at Frederichton, N. B., August 2, 1816, in her 70th year.
The Newport Herald, of April 24, 1788, in announcing the death of
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and that he enjoy the donation of Mr. Kay, with the £50 sterling voted him at Easter last, until said time, and that he also have the parsonage-house to live in.
Voted : that the annual tax on the pews on the lower floor be raised to nine pence, lawful money, for every Sunday in the year ; or, thirty-nine shillings lawful money for the whole year ; and that the pews in the gallery be at half said sum, viz. : four pence half pence lawful money ; in order to defray the expenses of the Church, said tax to commence at Easter next, to be paid half yearly.
December 19, 1771. Samuel Whitehorne was married to Ruth Gibbs. [She was the youngest child of George Gibbs, and was born in 1748.]
[In Advent Mr. Fayerweather preached for the Rev. Mr. Bisset in Newport, by earnest request. On the 25th day of December, 1771, it being Christmas, attended Trinity Church again, and ad- ministered communion at the altar, above two hundred members present .- History of the Narragansett Church.
January 8, 1772. Rev. Alexander Keith, Jr., died, and was buried in the church-yard.
[Rev. Mr. Fayerweather, made the following entry in the records of St. Paul's, Narragansett :
" January 9, 1772. Received a letter from the Church Wardens of Newport to attend as pall-bearer to the Rev. Mr. Keith,161 my old
Rev. Mr. Bisset, said of him : " The style of his composition was remark- ably elegant, and his reasoning seldom failed to force conviction on the minds of his hearers. As a divine he was equally distinguished for the sanctity of his manners, and the liberality of his sentiments. As a scholar he was free from pedantry, and as a gentleman he possessed the social vir- tues in an eminent degree, and never once lost sight of his sacred functions." 161 Rev. Alexander Keith, Jr., born in Aberdeen, Scotland, was edu- cated at King's College. After his ordination he officiated for ten years
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friend, and once my predecessor in Georgetown, South Carolina, and to preach a funeral sermon on the occasion, which I did on the very day after the interment, in Trinity Church, to a full auditory."
February 18, 1772. At a meeting of the congregation, voted : that the Church Wardens be directed to make out a list of all those persons who are delinquent in paying, and whom they judge able to pay a tax of six and one-half dollars, assessed on each pew, July, 1771, and that they deliver the said list to William Brooks Simp- son, Esq., attorney-at-law, and desire him to put the same in suit immediately, unless paid ; the former to a Justice Court, and the latter to the Court to be holden in May next.
February 18. At an adjourned meeting of the congregation, voted : that John Brown, son of the late Peleg Brown, who is heir to } part of pew No. 89, which belonged to his sa father, have and enjoy the said § part of said pew, and also } part of said pew more, given him by Mrs. Elizabeth Gidley, said Brown paying 3 parts of all rates, and taxes unpaid on said pew.
February 29, 1772. Agreeable to a vote of the congregation, at their last meeting, the Church Wardens have hired of Messrs. William Vernon162 and Benj. Mason, the sum of $769, silver Spanish
in St. Paul's Chapel, Aberdeen, and when he came to America, he was placed in charge of the Church at Georgetown, S. C., over which he presided during a period of twenty-five years.
162
effing o
a was born January 17, 1719, and died December 22, 1806. His wife, Judith Harwood, daughter of Philip Harwood and great-granddaughter of Gov. Walter Clarke and Gov. Cranston, died August 29, 1762, aged 38 years. Mr. Vernon was a distinguished merchant, a public-spirited citizen and a
11
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milled dollars, at 6 per cent. interest, in order to pay Capt. Charles Handy his bond: and the over-plus, with what is collected of the taxes, be appropriated towards discharging Capt. John Tillinghast's bond.
April 9, 1772. Pew No. 22, belonging to Mrs. Frances Town- send, widow of Solomon Townsend, by consent of the Wardens and Vestry, was disposed of to Mr. George Rome,163 the arrearage hav- ing been first paid to the Church.
Easter Monday, April 19, 1772. John Bours and Isaac Lawton were elected Church Wardens. John Grelea, clerk, and George English, sexton.
Vestrymen : Joseph Wanton, Jr., Jas. Honyman, William Mum-
patriot. He was an original member of the Artillery Company, 1741, and on the death of Abraham Redwood he was elected the second Presi- dent of the Redwood Library. In 1773 he was appointed by the General Assembly one of a committee of three to prepare a letter on a bill pend- ing in the House of Commons on the fisheries prosecuted by the mer- chants of Rhode Island, in and near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The fol- lowing year he was one of a committee of correspondence of the Town of Newport with Boston, and in 1775 he was engaged with others (William Ellery being one of the committee) in collecting statistics of the losses sustained by Rhode Island at the hands of the British. As President of the Continental Naval Board (elected by Congress, May 6, 1777, ) he rendered able service to the country. The war over, he returned to New- port, and here passed the remainder of his days.
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