USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Annals of Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1698-1821 > Part 2
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JAMES HONYMAN NICHOS LANGE } Wardens.
Church THOS. LILLIBRIDGE
To yo Righ Reverª Father In God ye BisP of London.
20
ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
At the same time a letter was addressed to Queen Anne.
To ye Queen's Most Excellent Majestic The Humble Address Of the Minister & People Belonging to ye Church in Rhoad Island In America.
Most Sacred Sovereign
Amidst the Acclamations of Dutifull Subjects Attending your Majes Glorious Reign Adorn'd with ye Bright Carracters reducing Tyrants to Reason & uniting Mankind in Interest & Affection we Beg Leave to Appear before your Maje With our Most Loyal Regards And Most Humble thanks for ye Design your Majy has been Pleased to Encourage of Adding ye Conquest of Cannada to ye Glory of the British Empire In America this is a Design so Wise in ye Contrivance, Carrying so benefitial A Prospect in its Conse- quences And Above all so Admirably founded upon ye Noblest & Most Perfect Principall Your Majes Most Ardent Zeale of making your Religion Eaqually with your trophies that we think ourselves In Duty Bound upon ye Illustrous Occation to testify both our gratitude and Just Esteem of your Sacred Person & Administra- tion May Conquests & Laurels Incircle Your Head & triumphs Attend your Glorious Arms till ye King of Kings translate your Victorious Soul & seat it upon An Immoveable throne as ye Re- ward of Your Vertuous Person While Incence is offered Your Memory upon Earth to Perfume & Preserve It fragrant During ye succession of time
Your Majesties Most Dutifull &
obedient Subjects.
JAMES HONYMAN, Minister.
NICHOS LANGE
Church
THOS LILLIBRIDGE S Wardens
WILLM BRIGHT
WILLM GIBBS
Vestry.
Newport Rhoad Island
June y® 20th 1709
( Je & Queens Mode quement M'apestie) The Humble Addres Of the Ministers ple Belonging to y Church In Broad Mand America
Mit Sacred Sovereign
Amidst The Acclamations of Julifue Subjects ing (your Major Glorious Joign Room with Vo Tright parrachos wong tyrants to goafor an antitoing Markin ia and ing (literals and ré faction Per louve to Appear before you May" With ou ml An Holt thumbs franks har & Design your Mail has been Wanted to Incordage of din Conquest of fame to y Glory of the hill In Africa While is at Intrivacances, Carrying do comp. Ros Lolcats and Mor Tarfact Principal? your Major anoff ardant reais Making your Colision Jaqually Conceive with lyder trophies that we trust He Found Apony Clubbrous Occation in Politics with our? Gratitude Can Just Deloom of thought ideres Conson and orderilations liny Podero offs and favorals ineiras your Head and triumph afford your Glorious chung 76 ing of lings Grantlet your Victorious jou lan) vous in legaom, An Umnovolubi Throws as i Chowar of Your Cortar Golo VinCo Infine is offered your Momany Copon Earth to Gorfuma on before agrant wrong & ouelation of Cima
Kern! Shoad Grand June 9 020 1709 full & Pacient Subjects L
A PAGE FROM OLD RECORD.
21
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Newpt Rhoad Island June ye 30th 1709
Honb St
We beg Leave to Embrace this Occasion Most Humbly to thank your Honb for all your Kind Donations to our Church &, more Espetially for ye last because it is Most seasonable to Assist us in setting up our Bell Given by Her Majy & safely brought to our Hands We most Hartily Say ye Continuance of your favour & Encouragement to us Hopeing & Praying that Providence may Again Establish you in a capasity Eaquall to your Inclinations to Advance ye Interest & Hon" of these Infant American Churches which Already owe so much to your bounty & Charity. We pre- sume to transmit you ye Inclosed Address to ye Queen of Which we Intreat your Hon's. Care as well as Conveyance of this Letter to y® Lord Bishop of London which we have sent open to your Peru- sal to Inform your Honour of ye Resolution we have taken to Pre- vent all future Differences we are now to ask Pardon for this trouble & leave to subscribe,
May it Please your Hon" Your Hon's Most Obedient & Obliedged Servants
JAMES HONYMAN NICHOS LANGE
Church THOS. LILLIEBRIDGE 1 Wardens.
To ye Honble Collª Francis11 Nicholson Att New York.
11
fr : Nicholson
Sir Francis Nicholson is credited with being " the original founder and first principal patron of Trinity Church." He certainly was active and prominent in establishing the Church, and there is ample evidence that he was liberal in his gifts. In this respect, so far as is known, he quite surpassed all of its other benefactors, and the Min- ister and Church Wardens showed their grateful appreciation, not only of his gifts, but also of his ready aid, when they wished to reach the ear of the Queen, or of the Bishop of London.
The bell referred to hung in the tower from 1709 to 1740, when it cracked and was sent to London to be recast.
22
ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Newpt on Rhoad Island. June 30th 1709.
Revrª Sir.
We having Present Occasion for that Money which was Left By Collet Nicholson In your Hands some years since for ye use of our Church, We Desire you will order y® Payment of It as soon as Possible & when we know what it is & how & when Paid we shall transmit you a Receipt under our Hands.
We Expect your order this Post, & subscribe ourselves.
Your Very Humble Servants
JAMES HONYMAN NICHOS LANGE 1 Church THOMS LILLIBRIDGE. Wardens.
To ye Reverend Mr. Sam11 Myles,12 Minister of Boston.
The desire to conquer Canada was not checked by the previous
Samuel Mylos 12
Rev. Samuel Myles succeeded Rev. Mr. Radcliffe as minister of King's Chapel, Boston, June 29, 1689. He graduated at Harvard in 1684, officiated in King's Chapel for nearly thirty-nine years, and died in March, 1727-8. His father was Elder John Myles, who came from Wales and was a Baptist preacher. An Assistant, who was sent out to Mr. Myles from England, named Dansy, died on the passage, and Mr. Myles comforted the widow by marrying her.
" He was the oldest Episcopal minister of the town [at the time of his death]. The Rev. Mr. Honneyman, of Rhode Island ; Mr. Plant, of Newbury ; Mr. Piggot, of Marblehead ; Mr. McSparran, of Narragansett ; Mr. Miller, of Braintree; and Mr. Watts were bearers. The Rev. Mr. Cutter led the widow, the Rev. Mr. Harris walked before the corpse and buried it. The corpse was also followed by his Honor the Lieut .- Gov- ernor, and Council, the Justices and the Dissenting ministers of the town, with a vast number of gentlemen and merchants."-The New England Weekly Journal.
23
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
wants of success, and with enthusiasm a new expedition was fitted out under Sir Francis Nicholson. It sailed for Port Royal September 18, 1710, and was crowned with success. Letters of congratulation were addressed to the Queen, and the commander of the expedition ; and the Minister, and Church Wardens and Vestry were not behind- hand in this grateful office. They at once sent the following letter to her Majesty :
To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty
The Humble Address of the Minister & Vestry of the Church of England In Newport on Rhode Island In America
May it Please Your Majesty
To Suffer us Your Majesties Most Loyall Subjects to Press the throng of those who Dutifully Approach Your throne, With Ex- ultations of Joy upon that uninterrupted series of Glorious success Wherewith Heaven Has Crowned Your triumphant Arms Against ye Common Enemy & Oppressor By Congratulating your Majesty upon ye Reduction of Annapoles Royall to your Majesties Obedi- ence Which as it is A very Great Enlargement of your Majesties territories Abroad so it is so Valuable in itself that not so much the Present Generation as unborn Posterity will Reap ye Happie Ad- vantages of it, this new Conquest However Great In itselfe or Con- siderable with Regard to future Prospect Is Under ye Blessing of Heaven in A Particular Manner Owing to ye Conduct & Resolu- tion of ye Honble Collet Francis Nicholson Whom Your Majestie Wisely Chose to Command your troops on that Expedition For as his very Name was ye Hope & Encouragement of His Followers so His Presence & Wise Management struck such A horror in ye Enemy as Made them Bow & tremble before Your Majes Victorious Arms & Make A tame Surrender of so Strong A fortress as Ren- dered all former Attempts Against it Fruitless & Unsuccessfull We Desire Humbly to Adore ye Goodness of God In Blessing your Majesties Forces With this success and Also to Acknowledg it ye Peculiar Favour of Divine Providence to that Worthy Gentleman
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Who had ye Honour to Command who has not Only Been ye Pious founder of our Church but ye Most Generous & Munificent Patron that Ever Religion Had In America May ye God of Peace Crown all Your Majesties Designs With such success & Honour that the universall Peace of Europe may Acknowledg You its umpire & Its Guardian May ye Hosts of Heaven Encamp As Guards About Your Majesty May ye secresie of ye Divine Presence be your Pro- tection & Pavilion & May your Hands be Adorned with Eternall Palms of Victory these are ye Incessant fervant supplications of May it Please Your Majesty
Your Majesties Most Loyall Most Dutifull & Most obedient Subjects.
JAMES HONYMAN, Min"
NICHOS LANGE Churchwardens.
JOHN BROWN
WILLM BARBUT JOHN BARKER
Newport on Rhoad
Island in America Dec™ 12th 1710
There is nothing to show to whom the following letter was ad- dressed, but there is internal evidence that it was to Sir Francis Nicholson. The Altar Piece asked for was obtained, and had a place in the Church. When the new church edifice, the present structure, was raised in 1725, the altar piece was transferred to it, and it remained within the chancel till after the evacuation of the British, 1779, when some young men of the town, to whom the arms of Great Britain (woven in with the design and made a part of the carving) was an offence, tore it from its place, and took it to the north part of the town, where it was set up for a target and demol- ished. -
25
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Newpt on Rhoad Island Decb 12th 1710
Honble Sr
The Reflection on Your Former favors to us who Could Never Either Claim or Deserve them and ye unwearied Delight you Have of Doing Good forbid us to Doubt of Being forgiven for ye trouble we now Presume to Give You of Laying the Inclosed Address before Her Most Sacred Majesty With our Most Dutifull Regards for Her Person & Government. It is not any Flattering Panegy- rick on Your Virtues but A tribute Due from us unto your Merit & ye only Monument of Gratitude we can Erect unto It.
to your other Kind Appearances for ye Interest & Honour of our Church we Also Most Humbly Intreat that this may be Added Namely that you Would Interceed with ye Honble Society for an Altar Piece for it [is] ye Only Ornament thats Wanting to finish & Compleat its Beauty we have Already sent ye Dimentions to Mr Chamberlain who It seems has Either Neglected or forgotten both it And us Which If you Will Procure & Assure us that you Con- tinue your Favour to us as it Will be such A Durable Instance of your Piety as no time shall ever be Able to Efface so will it impress ye Most Sensible & Most Lasting Signature of Esteem & Respect upon ye Minds of
Honble Sr Your Hon® Most Obedient Humble Servants
JAMES HONYMAN NICHOS LANGE J& BROWN WM BARBUT JOHN BARKER
July 26, 1713. John, Walter and Mary Cranston were baptized.13
November 29, 1713. Richard Munday14 was married to Martha Simons by Rev. Mr. Honyman.
13 They were the children of Governor Samuel Cranston.
14 But little is known of Richard Munday other than that he was a most excellent builder. He built the Colony House (now State House) in
3
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
[The Church in Rhode Island in common with other offshoots of the Church of England in America, desired to have a Bishop settled in the Colonies, and early addressed both the Crown and the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts on the subject. November 16, 1713, they wrote to the Queen :]
To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, the Humble Petition & address of the Minister & Church Wardens & Vestry of the Church of England in Newport on Rhode Island in America.
Most Sacred Sovereign.
As Religion is your Majesties Greatest Ornament & Greatest love, so you have given the World the most convincing Demonstra- tions, that the advancement of it is your greatest care: which Happy thought encourages us in these remote parts of your Dominions, to the promoting the Great Interests of Which nothing can have a Greater tendency than the Establishing among us that primitive form of Church Government by Bishops, for were we so Happy as to have them they would be of the Greatest Service to Religion, not only by the necessary exercise of their sacred functions, in Confer- ring Holy Orders, Confirming our Children, Settling of Churches & blessing us all in their master's name & by His Authority, but by their presence influencing the Several Governments into the faithful discharge of that part of their office, the Restraining of vice, & encouraging virtue, awing the multitude into an observance of Re- ligious duties, & Giving a Check to those licentious practices that are so frequent abroad & which by reason of their distance are so seldom observed and Condemned at Home, and therefore since Re- ligion & virtue seems to languish in these Countreys, for want of Bishops, We hope your Majesty in your Royal Wisdom & Goodness will provide the proper Remedy, whereby it may revive & flourish. We also embrace this opportunity of expressing our satisfaction &
1739, and a number of other buildings ; and, as his name frequently ap- pears in the records of the Church in connection with the care, repairs and alterations of the present Church, erected in 1725, we may reason- ably conjecture that he was its måster builder.
27
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
returning your Majesty our most humble thanks for Giving it in Commission to the Honble Francis Nicholson Esq .- to enquire into the state of these American Churches. For, as many of them owe their very foundation to his pious Generosity, so we in a peculiar manner must with a very deep sense of Gratitude acknowledge Him our Chiefest Benefactor. We beg to assure your Majesty that we are with the most profound esteem
May it please your Majesty Your Majesties most dutifull most loyall & most obedient subjects.
JAMES HONYMAN
NATH : KAY
WILL : BARBUT
NICH : LANGE
THO : LILLIBRIDGE
DAN : AYRAULT
WILL: GIBBS.
Trinity Church in Newport, Nov 16th 1713.
[The same day the same committee addressed the following letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts :]
Right Honble & Right Reverend.
" Since our Church receives no Countenance or encouragement from the Civil Government in this place, it's in vain to expect that it will arrive at its Wished for Happiness without the Superintendency of a Bishop in these parts, & therefore we join the other American Churches, in their earnest desire for so Great a Blessing to us.
We return our most humble thanks for the care that is taken of this place by the Supporting Religion in it.
"We shall pay the utmost deference to the power committed to the Honble Francis Nicholson, Esq, Our most Generous Benefactor & that not only in Obedience to your Commands, but out of a Re-
28
ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
gard to that Gentlemans merit, which the Churches in these parts are so much bound to value.
" We are with all possible respect & esteem
Right Honble & Right Reverend Your most obedient humble servants
JAMES HONYMAN
NATH : KAY15
WILL: BARBUT
NICH : LANGE
THO : LILLIBRIDGE
DAN : AYRAULT
WILL: GIBBS
Trinity Church in Newport, Nov 16th 1713.
Subscribed To the Right Honble & Right Reverend The Society for propagating the Gospel in foreign parts.
15 At the accession of Queen Anne Nathaniel Kay was sent to Rhode Island as Collector of Customs, and took up his residence at Newport. Here he built a house (on the lot next east of the Jewish Cemetery and ex- tending to Catharine Street) and here he passed the remainder of his days, dying in 1734, greatly beloved and deeply regretted. He was a benefactor of the church while he lived, and at his death he made the following bequest :
I give and bequeath my dwelling house and coach house to my wife dur- ing her natural life : after which I bequeath both with my lots of land in Rhode Island, and £400 in currency of New England, to build a school house, to the Minister of the Church of England (Mr. Honyman) and the Church Wardens and Vestry for the time being-that it is to say, upon trust and confidence, and to the intent and purpose, benefit and use of a school to teach ten poor boys their grammar and the mathematics gratis : and to appoint a master at all times, as occasion or vacancy may happen, who shall be Episcopally ordained, and assist the Minister, Episcopal, of the Town of Newport, in some proper office, as they shall think most useful.
29
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
[The first volume of the Records of the Church is missing. The record of baptisms and marriages from 1709 has been preserved. On the first pages of that book the preceding letters have been recorded. From this point there is a break, with the exception of here and there an item of interest, down to 1731, when the records, though often scanty, appear to have been regularly made.]
December 1, 1716. Dr. Henry Hooper 16 was married to Mrs Remembrance Perkins.
December 20, 1716. Daniel Updike 17 was married to Sarah Arnold.
June 3, 1717. Franklin Morton 18 was married to Bathsheba Hunt, by Rev. Mr. Honyman.
Mr. Kay lies buried in the churchyard. On the side of the slab of slate that covers his remains are these lines :
"Joining to the south of this tomb lies Lucia Berkeley daughter of Dean Berkeley, obit the 5th of September 1731." 16 This was Dr. Hooper, senior. He was a surgeon on board a privateer in the French War, and died February 17, 1757, aged 70 years. His son, of the same name and also a physician, died October 15, 1745, aged 29 years. 17 Dan: Updike was of Narragansett. He was Attorney-General of the Col- ony from 1722 to 1732, and King's Attorney for Kings County (now Washington County) from 1741 to 1743. Attorney-General from 1743 to 1757, and died on the 15th of May in that year. Updike in his " History of the Narra- gansett Church," says he married the daughter of Richard Smith, the first white person who settled in Narragansett ; but does not give the date or say whether it was a first or second marriage.
Col. Updike studied law and began to practice in Newport. He was the first signer of the constitution of the society out of which grew the Red- wood Library.
18 Dr. Frankland Morton, as his name should be written, was a physician in successful practice when he died, July 25, 1720, at the age of 34 years.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
At a Vestry held at Trinity Church, in Newport, on the 18th day of September, 1719, present :
The Reverd Mr. James Honyman, Minister.
Mr. Daniel Ayrault,19
Church Wardens.
Mr. William Gibbs.
Mr. Adam Powell,20
Mr. Nathaniel Newdigate,21
Mr. John Brown,
Vestrymen.
Robert Gardner,
The underwritten instrument was presented and received.
Whereas, there has been no record made of the disposition of the pews in the above-mentioned church, which has been the cause of some misunderstanding among the members thereof, and to the end that all heats and animosities might be prevented for the future, and that we might keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace, it is thought fit by this present Vestry, that there be due regulation made of all the pews in the said Church that are already taken up
19 Daniel Ayrault son of Dr. Pierre Ayrault, was born about 1 676-7, and, with other members of the family, came to Rhode Island from Rochelle, France. He was one of the settlers of French Town, East Greenwich, and from there removed to Newport. He married Marie Robineau, and the following is a copy of their marriage contract :
"Saturday, the seventeenth day of April, 1703, We the subscribers, Daniel Ayrault and Mary Robineau, do certify in the presence of the un- dersigned witnesses, that we are promised and do mutually engage each other the faith of holy matrimony. And to that end we engage all that we have or hope to have in this world, for the performance of our promise ; desiring that God Almighty will give his blessing on our design, which is for His glory and the edification of our neighbors. Wherefore we are de- termined to consummate our marriage as soon as possible, according to the order of our Holy Discipline, and to be published the first time to- morrow in our church, according to custom, that all the congregation may
3I
NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
and disposed of ; and also a standing rule for the disposition of those pews that are not yet disposed of, and in order thereunto it is voted and ordered as follows :
That there be a due record kept in the Church book of all the
be witnesses of the promise which we have made in the presence of Elias Neau, Mary Paré, Judith Robineau, the mother and daughter, Susannah Neau and Ezekiel Graziellier, the day and year above written.
DANIEL AYRAULT, [SEAL] L MARIE ROBINEAU. SEAL
" Signed and sealed in our presence,
ELIAS NEAU, SUSANNA NEAU, JUDITH ROBINEAU, JUDITH ROBINEAU, EZEKIEL GRAZIELLIER."
The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Mr. Peret, probably a careless spelling of the name of the pastor of the French Church in New York, Peiret, who died in 1706.
Elias Neau was a vestryman in Trinity Church, New York, from 1705 to 1714. In 1704 he was appointed Catechist by the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel, with special reference to the education of Indians and Negroes in New York. He and his wife, Susannah, lie buried in Trinity Churchyard in that city.
Daniel Ayrault died June 25, 1764, and Marie, his wife, born June 28, 1684, died January 5, 1729.
20 Adam Powell, a vestryman, was a merchant in Newport. He married, May 30, 1713, Hester Bernon, daughter of Gabriel Bernon In 1733 their daughter Elizabeth became the second wife of Rev. Samuel Seabury, who had been a Congregational minister, but who, through intercourse with Rev. Dr. McSparran, had become an Episcopal clergyman, and was appointed missionary to the church at New London, then in its infancy.
21 The name of Nathaniel Newdigate first appears on the records in 1709. In 1728 he was one of the commissioners to revise the laws of the Colony. On his tombstone, in the old burying ground, there is this in- scription :
"Here lieth Interred the Body of Nathaniel Newdigate Esq, late of Warwick in this Colony, who was born in Great Britain and died at War-
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
pews that are disposed of, to whom they are disposed to, for what sum they have been sold for, upon what condition they are disposed on, and that each pew be numbered and placed upon record, together with the person or person's name owning each pew, and the same method to be used for all pews that shall be disposed of in the said Church, from time to time ; and that there shall be a man appointed to keep the book of records, such as the Vestry shall think fit, and that he shall have the fee hereafter named, for his fidelity in the premises.
And to the end that all persons might be ascertained, on what account they hold their pews, it is ordered by the above said Vestry, that each pew that shall be purchased from the Minister, Church Wardens and Vestrymen, shall be his own right of inheritance, to him and his heirs forever, provided that him and his heirs are mem- bers of the Church and Constant Attendants on the services thereof : but if himself, or his heirs, should leave the Church, by any altera- tion of his or their opinion, or any other pretence whatsoever, for the space and time of seven years, then the said pew (at the expira- tion of the said seven years) shall return to the Church, and shall be disposed of as above said, for the benefit of the Church, and his, her, or their former right and property to the said pew, shall be wholly lost from him, her or them that were the former possessors thereof. Or if any family that is possessed of a pew, as above said, shall be wholly extinct ; in such case the right and property of the said pew shall wholly return to the said Church, and be disposed of as above said.
And if it should so happen that any person who is possessed of a pew in the said Church should die and leave an infant, whether son or daughter of his own, the executor or guardian of the said child, if he or they be a member of the Church, and has no pew of his own or their own, shall have the use of the said pew, for him or themselves to sit in till the child comes to the age of eighteen
wick the - day of January, Anno Domini, 1740, in the 83d year of his age. He was a Noted and Famous Attorney at Law in this Colony, and acquitted himself in said Profession like an able, skilled and learned Gentleman."
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
years : provided that the child is brought up and educated accord- ing to the principles of the Church of England ; but if the executor or guardian of the child has an pew of his or their own, then, on the death of the parent or parents of the said child, the said pew shall be hired out by the Vestry, and the profits thereof be to the use and benefit of the said Church till the orphan arrive to the age above said. And if the said orphan should not be educated in the princi- ples of the Church of England, and that he or she should arrive to the above said age, and then doth not declare him or herself to be a member of the Church of England, and attend constantly on the services thereof, or if the said orphan or orphans before he, she or they arrive to the aforesaid of eighteen years, then, and in all such cases, the right and property of the said pew shall return to the said Church, and be disposed of as the Vestry shall see fit, for the benefit of the Church.
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