USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Annals of Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1698-1821 > Part 5
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[L. S. ]
JNO. CHACE,
[L.S.]
JNO. BROWN, [L.S.]
GEORGE WANTON, [L.S.]
JONN. THURSTON, [L.S.]
EDWARD SCOTT, [L.S.]
J. HONYMAN, [L.S. ]
RICD. MUMFORD,
[L.S.]
X
Signed & sealed in sª meeting, in the presence of us. WILLIAM JONES, JUNR. JOHN LANCE.
Recorded, June 27, 1733, per WN. CODDINGTON, T. C. K.
56 The gift of an organ to Trinity Church from Dean Berkeley quickly followed his departure from Newport, and the receipt of it must have filled the hearts of the congregation with joy. Some change had evidently to be made in the gallery at the west end of the church, to receive it, but to what extent cannot now be shown. The pipes, etc., were long since so worn as to make it necessary to replace them, but the case of English oak, beautiful in design and as beautifully made, remains as of old ; sur- mounted in the centre by a crown, and on either hand a Bishop's mitre.
To meet modern demands and to secure a larger compass, the organ has
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
The Rev. Mr. Honyman is desired to draw up a letter of thanks to the Rev. Mr. Dean Berkeley, for his generous present of an organ to this Church, and likewise a letter of thanks to Mr. Henry Newman, for his care about and shipping the same; in order to be sent to England as soon as conveniently may be.
Voted: that Capt. Jonathan Thurston and Capt. Richard Mum- ford are appointed to go about to get subscriptions for £250 to defray the charges of setting up the organ and satisfying Mr. Per- 'chival and Mr. Munday for their assistance in said affair, painting ye Church and securing the tower from injury from the weather.
Adjourned till the arrival of Mr. Perchival.
March 8, 1733. Voted : that the letter of thanks to the Rev. Mr. Dean Berkeley for the present of the organ to this Church, and likewise the letter of thanks to Mr. Henry Newman for his care and trouble in getting the same done, and shipping thereof, drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Honyman, is approved of and signed in the Vestry, and ordered to be sent home forthwith.
At a Vestry held at Trinity Church, in Newport, on Easter Mon- day, being ye 26th day of March, 1733 :
Capt. Jonathan Thurston, having served as Church Warden for two years, was dismissed with the thanks of ye congregation, and James Martin elected in his room as eldest Church Warden, and Jahleel Brenton, Esq., chosen in ye room of said Martin to serve for ye ensuing year.
Mr James Honyman is admitted a vestryman, and Capt. Richard Mumford is admitted another.
Voted : that John Lance is allowed his pew that he sits in, in the gallery, for his past service done the Church, upon the same footing of those who purchased it.
in recent years been greatly enlarged, by adding wings, attached to the old case, which latter is made the central portion.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Voted : that John Grelea is allowed £10 for his past services when he went to sea, and is chosen clerk for the year ensuing at the salary of thirty pounds.
John Grelea paid the fio in the Vestry.
Voted : that for the ensuing year the Church Wardens receive the contributions and the money collected for the subscriptions, and to pay the Rev. Mr. Honyman £20057 for ye ensuing year by quarterly payments of £50, and the subscriptions to be gathered in by Mr. Richard Mumford for the two first quarters, Mr. Edward Scott the third quarter, and Capt. Jonathan Thurston for the last quarter.
Voted and ordered : that the poor's money be put out at lawful interest for the benefit of the poor, except £10, to be left in the Church Warden's hands.
Ordered : that Jahleel Brenton, Esq., and Capt. Godfrey Malbone be empowered to purchase oil and colors for the painting the Church without and [illegible] within, as soon as they conveniently can, and they agree with a workman for that purpose; and likewise to get a frame for an altar piece.
Voted : that John Barzee be allowed £20 for the ensuing year, and to ring the bell at 9 o'clock at night, and for ye same to get what subscriptions he can.
Ordered: that the legacy of James Cranston, deceased, of $100, be paid to Mr. Daniel Ayrault, and that the same be in his hands till further orders of the Vestry.
August 27, 1733. Jahleel Brenton,58 Esq., having presented the
57 Paper money was then so depreciated that it was not worth more than three to one of silver.
58
Jableel Brenton the donor of the clock, was a staunch friend of the Church. He married, May 30, 1715, Frances Cranston, daughter of Governor Samuel Cranston, who bore him fifteen children: His second wife, to whom he was married April 25,
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Church with a clock,59 the Vestry, in behalf of the Church, do return him thanks for so generous a donation.
Voted : that the Church Wardens have a case erected over said clock forthwith, to secure it from the wind and weather.
Voted: that the one hundred pounds given to said Church by Mr. James Cranston, and now in the hands of James Martin, be put out to interest till the Vestry calls for the same, and the Church Wardens are hereby empowered to do it.
May 14, 1733. Voted : that Captain Richard Perkin's legacy to the Church be appropriated for the purchase of a flagon for the communion table.
Nathaniel Kay, Esq., agreed to purchase another of the same value.60
Voted : that James Martin forthwith draw up a proper instrument, in order to collect by subscription money sufficient to defray the charge of painting the Church, and that Mr. Peter Bours and said Martin go about therewith.
September 10, 1733. Benjamin Wanton was baptized.
1744, was Mary Scott, daughter of Stephen Ayrault, and widow of George Scott, by whom he had seven more children. His son, Sir Jahleel Bren- ton, who was the author of a number of books, died an admiral in the British navy. One of his nephews also became an admiral. One daughter, Susannah, married Dr. John Halliburton, January 4, 1767, and went with him to Halifax, and another daughter married Rev. John Eliot, of Gilford, Conn., son of the Indian apostle. Mr. Brenton died in 1767. He was an original member of the artillery company, and one of the committee to build the State House, 1739.
59 The clock was made by cian and friend of Franklin. successful experiments with were remarkable. He died December 15, 1736, aged 75 years.
the electri- Hisearly and electricity in Boston,
60 These two flagons have been in use until a very recent day. They are massive, are alike in design, and are eleven and a half inches high.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
November 25, 1733. Mary Honyman, daughter of James Hony- man, Jr., was baptized.
At a Vestry held at Trinity Church in Newport, on Easter Mon- day, the 15th day of April, 1734:
Jahleel Brenton, Esq., and Mr. John Gidley were chosen Church Wardens. Vestrymen : Col. William Coddington, Capt. Godfrey Malbone, Capt. Henry Bull,61 Mr. Peter Bours, Mr. John Gid- ley, Col. Daniel Updike, Capt. Samuel Wickham, Capt. Richard Mumford, Mr. James Allen, Mr. James Honyman, Jr., Mr. Edward Scott and Mr. George Dunbar.
Voted : that £200 be allowed the Rev. Mr. Honyman for the ensuing year.
That given by Mr. Kay appears, from the date upon it, to have been made first. The inscription in each case is on a mantling.
The flagon given by Mr. Kay bears this inscription :
An Oblation from Nathaniel Kay a Publican for the use of the blessed Sacra- ment in the Church of England in Rhode Island. 1733. Lux perpetua Credentibus Sola.
61
Howry Bull grandson of the first settler of that name, was born No- vember 23, 1687. He was a man of strong character and attained to an influential position-a Repre- sentative to the General Assembly, Attorney-General in 1721, Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1728-9, and one of the Commissioners to settle the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. And when the Court of Common Pleas was established, he was appointed Chief-Justice for Newport County. He died December 24, 1771, aged 85 years.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Voted : that £40 be allowed Mr. John Grelea as clerk for the en- suing year.
Ordered : that Robert Oliver and Miller Frost have the pew No. 20 in the gallery, in lieu of the pew that was formerly said Oliver's and Alexander Brown's, taken up for placing the organ.
Ordered : that the pew in the gallery, No. 23 (that was Nathaniel Norton's) be for Mordecai Dunbar, in lieu of his pew that was taken up for the placing of the organ, and the Church to pay the said Norton the money he gave for the pew.
Ordered : that Capt. Samuel Wickham, Capt. Jonathan Thurston, Mr. Peter Bours and Mr. Edward Scott, are appointed to get in the subscriptions for the Church officers, and Mr. Charles Theodore Perchival, as the same shall come due quarterly.
June 24, 1734. Lawrence Langworthy@2 was married to Mary Lawton.
July 8, 1734. Mr. John Gidley has complied with the legacy left by Capt. Richard Perkins to Trinity Church, in full as executor.
Ordered : that the Minister and Church Wardens receive of Mrs. Ann Kay, the £200 left Trinity Church by her late husband, Nathaniel Kay, Esq., deceased : viz. £100 to and for the poor of said Church and the other £100 for the use of said Church, and that the same be applied accordingly.
James Martin paid the sum of one hundred pounds (which he received of the executors of James Cranston, deceased, and passed by his receipt to the same) to Jahleel Brenton, which was paid by said Brenton to Mr. Charles Theodore Parchival, for his services, &c., in setting up the organ in the Church.
62 Lawrence Langworthy was of Ashburton, County of Devon, and died here October 19, 1739. His wife, from the same county, died before him. The name was perpetuated in Newport for some time. Jonathan Langworthy died here April 13, 1800, aged 84 years.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
April 7, 1735. At a meeting held in Trinity Church ; present, the Rev. Mr. James Honyman, Rector; Jahleel Brenton, Esq., and Mr. John Gidley,63 Church Wardens, and some part of the congre- gation.
Mr. John Gidley chosen eldest Church Warden, in the room of Jahleel Brenton, Esq., and Capt. Samuel Wickham chosen younger Church Warden, in the room of Mr. John Gidley, for the year ensuing.
Mr. John Grelea chosen clerk for the year ensuing at his former salary.
John Barzee chosen sexton for the year ensuing at his former salary.
Ordered : that the widow Norton have the south pew in the upper gallery at the west end of the Church, in lieu of the pew that her son formerly purchased, which was taken from her by the placing of the organ.
April 8, 1735. The Vestry made an offer to Mr. Charles Theo- dore Parchival of the same salary that he had for the preceding year, which he declined to accept of, whereupon he was desired to officiate in the service of the Church as organist during his stay in this place, and agreed that he should be paid for the same in pro- portion to the allowance made him for the last year, for the time he
63 John Gidley was a prosperous and enterprising merchant at the time that he was killed by a gunpowder explosion in 1744. In the church- yard there are monuments to the memory of a number of the Gidley family. The first is that of John Gidley, " of Exon, in Devon, Great Britain," a " Fuller," who died April 28, 1710. In the same grave rest the remains of his wife, Sarah, who died May 9, 1742, and of Sarah, his daughter and wife of John Vine. On the stone there is this further inscription :
" This tomb I desire may not be opened until it is demolished by time, it being filled up."
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
shall perform such service; and that the Vestry did then agree to take proper methods for the supplying the said Church with an organist.
May 14, 1735. Elizabeth Martin, wife of James Martin,64 died, in her 33d year.
September 18, 1735. Charles Bardin65 was married to Ann Carr.
Ordered : that the pew in the northwest corner, in the gallery, the property thereof is invested in Mr. Thomas Huxham, according to the rules of the Church, he having paid £20 for the same to Mr. John Gidley, Church Warden.
December 26, 1735. Ordered : that the two Church Wardens and James Martin be appointed to write (with the assistance of the Rev. Mr. Honyman) to Mr. Henry Newman, in London, to procure an organist for said Church, and that he be empowered to offer to a proper person for such a purpose the sum of twenty pounds sterling per annum.
64 William Gardiner was a descendant of Joseph Gardiner, one of the first settlers of Narragansett. He married Elizabeth Gibbs, daughter of William Gibbs, April 16, 1719, and his sister, Hannah, became the wife of Rev. Dr. McSparran. Gibbs's widow married James Martin April 9, 1732, and died as above stated. Martin was born in Houston, Devonshire County, England, and was a man of some prominence. He was Secretary of the Colony from 1733 up to the time of his death, in February, 1746. His second wife was Mary Kennedy, to whom he was married December 28, 1741, by Mr. Honyman. William Gibbs was not connected with the family of George Gibbs.
65
Charles Jardin was born in London, July 13, 1700, and died in Newport June 3, 1773. Ann Carr, his wife,
died August 29, 1805, aged 92 years.
Capt. Bardin had some knowledge of music, was competent to play on the organ, and occasionally served as organist, as will appear.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Ordered : that Capt. Charles Bardin is ordered to assist Robert Mason in instructing him in playing on the spinnet.
Ordered : that the Church Wardens are desired to advise with John Proud66 about the clock, in order to have it in better order.
Easter Monday, April 26, 1736. At a Vestry, Capt. Samuel Wick- ham and Mr. Edward Scott were chosen Wardens.
May 10, 1736. Adjourned meeting. Voted : that Capt. John Brown and Capt. Godfrey Malbone be desired to agree with Mr. David Wyatt, or some other person, to paint the Church, and that Capt. Samuel Wickham and Mr. Edward Scott get subscriptions for discharging the same.
Voted: that Messrs. George Scott and Daniel Ayrault be desired to collect the subscriptions for the Minister, &c., for ye ensuing year.
Ordered : that there be lent to Mr. John Grelea the sum of £40, without interest, for one year, out of the poor money, he giving a note for the same to the Church Wardens, and to serve for the ensuing year, or to return the money again ; and in case of any accident the Vestry to make good the money to the poor at the year's end.
May 22, 1736. William Tate67 was married to Mary Iverson.
June 24, 1736. Adjourned meeting after prayers.
Voted : that Mr. John Owen Jacobi [who had been induced to come out from England as organist, and had just arrived] be allowed the sum of £25 sterling, as organist for the Church, for the year ensuing if he thinks proper to accept thereof, and that the Church Wardens wait upon him to acquaint him with the result of this Vestry.
66 John Proud was a clockmaker. He was succeeded in business by his son Robert, who eked out a living by adding to his calling the extracting of teeth.
67 William Tate was a blacksmith, who, in his will, gave his estate, after the death of his wife, to the Church, and which will be noticed in place.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Voted : that the two east doors,68 on the north and south side of the Church, be shut up and pews made there, and that two pews be made of each side of the steps of the altar, and that any person that purchases the side pews shall pay for the ground-rent £50 each, and build the pew and make the window at each of their respective charges ; and the other two end pews to be valued at £50 each like- wise, and the purchasers to build their own pews.
September 21, 1736. An account of £18.15 exhibited by Mr. John Owen Jacobi, for the amount of his passage and expenses more than the 10 guineas advanced by Mr. Hay in London, is allowed and ordered to be paid out 'of the money arising from the new pews.
Ordered : that the £10.10 sterling, advanced by Mr. Hay in London for Mr. John Owen Jacobi, be paid to the Rev. Mr. James Honyman, at the rate of four hundred and fifty per cent., for the use of said Hay.
Ordered : that an abatement of £10 be made to Capt. Robert Oliver, his pew being smaller than that on the north side of the altar.
68 There was at that time no vestry room where the vestry room now stands, but a door leading directly to the street, with a similar door on the south side of the chancel, also opening upon Spring street. These were the doors ordered to be closed up. Windows were set in their places and new pews were made there. The two pews at the side of the chancel steps are the ones there now-one under the monument to Rev. Mar- maduke Browne, and the other under the one to the Rev. Salmon Wheaton, D.D.
68
ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
CHAPTER IV.
1737-1745-
EASTER MONDAY, April II, 1737. Mr. Edward Scott and Mr. Daniel Ayrault, Jr., elected Wardens.
Capt. Charles Bardin, Dr. John Brett69 and Capt. Caleb Godfrey are admitted Vestrymen of the Church.
Voted : that the officers of the Church be continued for the ensuing year at the same salaries.
Mr. Ninyan Chaloner, Peleg Brown, Esq., and Capt. George Scott are admitted Vestrymen.
At an adjourned meeting, the following day. Ordered : that the tower be repaired, for the preservation of the clock, and that the account of Mr. Claggett, amounting to £5, be paid.
Mr. John Grelea and John Barzee, refusing to serve this year for their former salaries, ordered that the Church Wardens speak to Mr. John Lance, in order to agree with him to officiate as Clerk, and to Mr. Jeffers to officiate as sexton.
Capt. Charles Bardin is desired to go about with a subscription, to raise money to make up what was borrowed of ye poor money, repair the steeple and make up the fence, being about £100.
May 2, 1737. Ordered : that Mr. John Lance be continued as clerk for this year, 'till next Easter Monday, unless he of himself declines in the meantime.
69 But little is known of Dr. John Brett, other than that he was a native of Germany and a graduate of the University of Leyden. He was a scholarly man and early contributed to the collection of books for the Redwood Library. He was married, by Mr. Honyman, to Mary How- land, February 10, 1739.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
[Rev. Mr. Honyman began now to show signs of failing health. In a letter to the Society, under date of July 6, 1737, he made it known "that he had been very much weakened by a long dis- position, but he had not omitted his duty in preaching twice every Sunday ; in observing every festival ; in reading prayers and cate- chising twice a week in Lent; and he may affirm with great truth, that his congregation was the largest and most flourishing of any in those parts."]
Easter Monday, April 3, 1738. Mr. Daniel Ayrault [Jr.] chosen eldest Church Warden, and Mr. William Mumford the other Warden.
George Dunbar, Esq., and Mr. Lawrence Langworthy are ad- mitted Vestrymen.
Voted : that the salary of the clerk, Mr. John Grelea, be £30 and Mr. John Lance was allowed £30 for his last year's service,
April 7, 1738. Ordered: that the Church Wardens advise with Mr. Munday about making a pew in the northeast part of the gal- lery, for Capt. Nichols White, and that they agree with the said Mr. White for the value thereof; and in case they can't agree with him, to accommodate any other person therewith that has a mind to purchase.
Easter Monday, April 23, 1739. Mr. William Mumford and Mr. Joseph Wanton chosen Wardens. The Vestry remains the same as last year, with the addition of Mr. Jonah Bailey.
The organist, clerk and sexton are continued for the ensuing year upon the same salaries.
May 8, 1739. Ordered: that the Church Wardens, with the as- sistance of Capt. John Brown, agree with Mr. John Allen to finish the painting of the Church on the outside, and that the Church Wardens collect the subscriptions in that are signed for that end.
Ordered : that the Church Wardens advise with Mr. Munday and
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
desire him to inspect into the state of the tower, and that the same be repaired forthwith.
Ordered : that there be a pavement of flat stones, from the west- ernmost gate to the Church door opposite to it [the present walk from Church street to the north door] and that Mr. George Gould- ing be desired to speak with Mr. Johnson, of Connecticut, about the stones.
Ordered : that £10 be added to the salary of Mr. John Grelea, for the year.
August 14, 1739. Ordered : that the subscriptions be continued, and that the Church Wardens carry the boxes round to receive the contributions below stairs, and that Capt. Charles Bardin, and Mr. James Gould be appointed to do the same above stairs in the gal- leries.
August 18. Penelope Honyman70 was baptized by her grand- father, Rev. Mr. Honyman.
December 23. Isaac Stelle71 was married to Penelope Goodson.
[Towards the close of this year the bell, the gift of Queen Anne, that had hung in the tower since 1709, and which was prized not only by the congregation, but by the whole town, was found to be cracked and no longer fit for service. Measures were at once taken to replace it.]
December 26, 1739. The Church Wardens are desired to write to the Rev. Mr. Caner, of Fairfield, and inquire at what price the
70 Penelope Honyman, the daughter of James Honyman, Jr., became the wife of Rev. George Bisset, Minister of the Church, April 26, 1773, went with him to New Brunswick, and died there August 2, 1816, aged 70 years.
71 Isaac Stelle was engaged in commercial pursuits with John Mawds- ley and other merchants in Newport, and was one of the syndicate, 1761, that sought to control the manufacture of spermaceti, then largely carried on in Newport. Mr. Stelle was the owner of "the crewless vessel " that came ashore on the beach. See Bull's Memoir of Rhode Island.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
founder there will cast our bell for, of 800 lbs. wt, and likewise to the correspondent at New York, to inquire whether the new bell that was brought there from England sometime since, will be dis- posed of or not, and find out what it will be disposed of for.
Easter Monday, April 7, 1740. Joseph Wanton, Esq., and Mr. John Bannister, chosen Wardens. No change made in the vestry.
April 24, 1740. Voted : that the house and lot where Nathaniel
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Kay, Esq., dwelt, together with the lot of land let to Mr. John Ben- nett, be let out for the sum of £130 per annum, and that whoever shall have the same, shall give security for the payment of the rent quarterly.
Ordered: that the £400 given by Nath1 Kay, Esq., for the build- ing of a grammar school house, be let out to such persons as shall hire the same with sufficient sureties.
May 24, 1740. Oliver Beer72 was married to Mary Brownell.
July 17, 1740. Voted : that the bell, which is cracked, be taken down forthwith, and shipped by the Church Wardens, on board the ship Newport Packet, Wm. Jackson Bonfield, commander, con- signed to John Tomlinson, Esq., in London ; and that the Rev. Mr. Honyman and the Church Wardens write to him to dispose of said bell, and such money as shall be raised by subscription and remitted to him, shall be in order to purchase a new bell, of about one thou- sand pounds weight.
December 2, 1740. Sarah Robinson, wife of Robert Robinson,73 died, aged 56 years, and was buried in the churchyard.
December 23, 1740. Stephen Ayrault74 was married to Ann Bours.
12 Oliver Beer was mate of the brig William, Capt: Benj. H. Rathburn, captured by a letter of Marque, from St. Domingo, and was taken to France, where he died. For a long time it was supposed that he had been lost at sea.
73 Robert Robinson, Searcher of the Customs in Newport, held offices under Queen Anne, George I. and George II.
74 Stephen Ayrault, third son of the first Daniel Ayrault, was born at East Greenwich, December 11, 1709. His parents removed to Newport the next year, and here he continued to reside. Ann Bours, his wife, was the daughter of Peter Bours, by whom he had four daughters but no. sons. " A pious, Christian, upright merchant and honest man ; uniformly discharging the various official and relative duties," says the inscription on his tombstone, " through a long life." He died April 16, 1794, aged 84 years.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
December 29, 1740. Capt. Jonathan Conkling having agreed to leave the differences between the Church and him to men, and pro- posed Mr. Thomas Ward, whom the Vestry approved of; and they nominated Mr. James Honyman on their behalf, whom Capt. Conk- ling approved of. And it is further agreed between the Vestry and said Conkling, if Mr. Ward and Mr. Honyman cannot agree, that they shall choose a third man.
Voted : that the pew lately belonging to Nathaniel Kay, Esq., be hereafter the property of Capt. Philip Wilkinson75 and Capt. Jona Conkling, upon their paying for the same £125.
Voted : that Capt. Ezbon Sanford be employed by the Church Wardens to repair the tower where it is defective.
Voted : that Messrs. Philip Wilkinson, Daniel Ayrault, Jr., Peleg Brown and Edward Scott be a committee to inspect all accounts relating to the Church and to audit the same; to discourse with Capt. Ezbon Sanford about sashing the Church windows, and build- ing a school-house, and letting the lands belonging to the Church.
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