USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Annals of Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1698-1821 > Part 6
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January 12, 1741. Ordered: that the Church Wardens collect
75 Shilys Wilkinsong was a merchant, and was en- gaged with Daniel Ayrault, Jr., in many commercial transac- tions. Updyke, in his "History of the Narragansett Church," says he was a well-educated and intelligent gentleman, who emigrated from the north of Ireland to this country, and resided in Newport, and that " his first wife died after migrating to this country." Of her death I find no other mention. Capt. Wilkinson married Elizabeth Freebody, daughter of John Freebody, April 26, 1736. She died October 24, 1759, aged 46 years, and lies buried, with members of her father's family, in the common ground. October 30, 1763, he married Abigail Brenton, daughter of Jahleel Brenton. He died in 1782. June 24, 1787, his widow married Capt. Charles Handy, and died September 10, 1809. She was distin- guished for her beauty. Her portrait, greatly admired, long adorned the walls of the Redwood Library, where it was deposited. It is now in California.
6
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
the interest due on the bonds for the poor money, and that their successors do the same every year hereafter.
Ordered : that the money belonging to the poor, in the hands of Mr. William Mumford, be delivered to Joseph Wanton, Esq., in order to be distributed.
Ordered : that the committee appointed to discourse Capt. Ezbon Sanford about building a school-house do agree with him, or some other proper person, to build the same, and call in the money that was left for the poor to do it with.
Easter Monday, March 30, 1741. Mr. John Bannister and Mr. Peleg Brown chosen Wardens. The Vestry remained the same as last year.
April 5, 1741. Peter James [a successful shipmaster] was married to Sarah Harding.
April 6, 1741. Ordered: that the Church Wardens collect the rent due for the house, &c., left to the Church by Nathaniel Kay, Esq., and that they repair said house as far as it is requisite, and rent the lands.
September 2, 1741. Voted : that the old subscriptions be gath- ered in, to defray the charges of hanging the bell and repairing the lead of the tower, and that Messrs. Peleg Brown and Richard Mumford collect the same and make report to the next Vestry, to be held on Friday, the IIth instant.
September 9, 1741. Thomas Vernon was married to Jane Brown.
September 1I, 1741. Voted : that the Church Wardens imme- diately employ proper persons to repair the tower and leads, and that they speak to John Proud to enlarge the hammer of the clock.
Voted: that the Church Wardens inform Capt. John Rouse that it is the desire of the Vestry that he take the lock off his pew, and admit some person to sit therein, who will allow him something for it, and also contribute weekly.
Voted: that Messrs. Peleg Brown and Stephen Ayrault be de-
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
sired to go about with a subscription, in order to see what they can raise towards paying an 'organist.
Voted : that Major Lockman be allowed £10 out of his rent towards hanging the great room of the house where he now dwells [the Kay estate], he leaving the hangings when he quits the house.
September 21, 1741. Capt. Charles Bardin is chosen organist for the year ensuing at £120 [inflated paper currency] per annum, to be paid half-yearly.
October 1, 1741. Matthew Robinson77 was married to Bathsheba Johnston.
October 19, 1741. The Rev. Mr. Honyman is desired to acquaint Mr. Cornelius Bennett that if he is willing to take the school upon the following terms, he may enter as soon as the school-house is finished, viz., upon the donation given by Nathaniel Kay, Esq., de- ceased, amounting to - per annum, upon condition of school- ing ten poor children, and that the gentlemen belonging to the Church will put their children to him for his further encouragement, and the same to continue until a school-master, Episcopally ordained, shall be admitted, according to the intent of said will, which is pro- posed to be done as soon as conveniently may be.
77
was born in New- port in 1709. He was the only son of Robert Robinson, Searcher of Cus- toms in Newport. He studied law in Boston, and opened
an office in Newport about 1735. He was a prominent member of the Bar. He removed to Narragansett in 1750, and died at South Kingston November 4, 1795. Bathsheba Johnston was the widow of Augustus John- ston, and daughter of Augustus Lucas. She died soon after their removal to Narragansett.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Messrs. Scott and Bours are desired to speak with the gentlemen belonging to the Church, and endeavor to procure as many scholars as they can for the school-master that shall be admitted into the new school-house.
January 7, 1742. The Vestry agreed that the Church should make application to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to procure a school-master according to the tenor of the will of Nathaniel Kay, Esq., and send them home a copy of the said will; and likewise what encouragement he may expect for said service ; and likewise to request said Society to make some addition towards ye support of said school-master.
Meeting of the Congregation and Vestry, Easter Monday, April 19, 1742. Mr. Peleg Brown and Capt. Philip Wilkinson chosen Church Wardens.
All the vestrymen remain as before, and the organist, clerk and sexton are continued for the ensuing year upon the same salary.
April 22, 1742. 'Ordered : that the money belonging to the poor, now in the hands of Capt. George Wanton, he be desired to pay the same ; and that it be appropriated towards repairing the dwelling- house for the school-master, and bonds to be given to the Church Wardens for the payment of the same, with interest.
[The following is from the Abstracts of the Society for the Pro- pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1742-3-4:]
" By letters from Rhode Island government, we are informed that the Church continues to flourish at Newport, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Honyman, and at Narragansett, under the care of the Rev. Dr. McSparren, where seventy negroes and Indians attend on it in public, whom the Doctor frequently catechises and instructs for an hour before divine service begins; and by him the people of Conanicut, mentioned in the abstract of last year, return their thanks to the Society for a folio Bible and Common Prayer Book for the public, and the pious tracts sent them for
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
their private use; and propose the building of a church for the more decent celebration of divine worship.
" The Rev. Mr. Honyman, by his letter of June 13, 1743, blesses God that his church is in a very flourishing and improving condi- tion; there are in it a very large proportion of white people and an hundred negroes, who constantly attend the public worship of God. Mr. Honyman hath eighty regular communicants, and he hath bap- tised within the preceding two years one hundred and fifteen per- sons, of whom twenty were adults and seven were negroes-while seventy negroes and Indians, with a large congregation of our own people, fill the neighboring church of Narragansett, under the care and administration of the Rev. Dr. McSparran."
Easter Monday, April 4, 1743, Capt. Philip Wilkinson chosen ye Elder Church Warden, & Mr. Stephen Ayrault chosen ye Younger Church Warden. Mr. John Grelea, Clerk, Thos. Jeffries, Sexton.
Voted : that the money now resting in the hands of Mr. Peleg Brown,78 of the rent recd and what will be due the 25th day of July next, on the house where lived Nathaniel Kay, Esq., with the money due on a note of hand from Messrs. Joseph Wanton and William Mumford, and £30, due from Edward Perkins, and what is due from John Whitehorne and Thos. Vickers, the whole amount- ing to £239.5, be applied towards discharging the debt contracted in repairing the dwelling-house belonging to the school.
Voted : that a record be made, that the pew No. 10, in the south gallery, which formerly belonged to Mr. Joram Place and returned to ye Church on the removing of said Place to Bermudas, is now given to Mr. John Grelea, in consideration of his good service to the Church.
78 Peleg Brown, son of Capt. John Brown, was born in 1709, and died in 1756. His wife was Sarah Freebody, daughter of John and Sarah Freebody, to whom he was married February 20, 1745-6. She was born in 1721, and died in 1806.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
May 22, 1743. Walter Chaloner79 was married to Ann Almy. October 10, 1743. Voted: that Mr Cornelius Bennett, the present master of the school founded by Nathaniel Kay, Esq., be allowed £60 per annum out of the revenue of the estate left for the support of sd school, to commence from ye 24th of July last, in con- sideration of his schooling ten poor children, and the remainder of the income of the said estate be appropriated to the repairing the buildings belonging to said estate, until the same be completely repaired.
December 25, 1743. Benj. Wickham was married to Mary Gardner.
January 10, 1744. Voted : that the Church Wardens request the several persons indebted to ye Church for the rent of the house and land left by Nathaniel Kay, Esq., to pay their respective debts forth- with, and acquaint said persons that unless they comply therewith, they must expect to be sued.
79 Walter Saloner, was one of the committee to run the lines between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In 1747 he was in command of Fort George. The commissioners sent to the council called in Boston, in 1756, by Lord Loudoun, "were instructed to recommend to his Lordship, Capt. Chaloner, who had held a commission in the expedition against Carthagena, as a person deserving favor."
On his tombstone at St. John's, New Brunswick, are these words :
" Beneath this stone lie interred the bodies of Walter Chaloner, Esquire, formerly High Sheriff of Newport, the then British Colony of Rhode Island, and afterwards one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for Kings County, in the Province of New Brunswick, who departed this life on the 16th day of November, 1796.
" Also of Ann Chaloner, his wife, who died on the 16th day of April, 1808.''
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Voted : that George Gibbs80 be invested with the property of one- half of the pew he commonly sits in, he paying the Church Wardens for the same the price that Capt. Nicholas White gave for the other half.
Easter Monday, March 26, 1744. At a meeting of the Congrega- tion of Trinity Church, Mr. Stephen Ayrault was chosen eldest Church Warden, and Capt. Thomas Wickham, younger Church Warden.
Voted : that the number of vestrymen for the ensuing year, to be chosen, be sixteen.
Vestrymen : Capt. Wm. Coddington, Jahleel Brenton, Esq., Mr. Godfrey Malbone, Capt. John Brown, Capt. Philip Wilkinson, Peter Bours, Esq., Samuel Wickham, Esq., Capt. Jonathan Thurston, Joseph Wanton, Esq., Edward Scott, Esq., Mr. Daniel Ayrault, Jr., Mr. William Mumford, Mr. James Honyman, Jr., Mr. Peleg Brown, Mr. William Paul, John Gidley, Esq.
Mr. James Martin chosen Clerk of the Vestry.81 Mr. James
80
George Gibbs
was the founder of the house of Gibbs & Channing, one of the most influential commercial houses in New England in the closing years of the last century. He was born in Newport, and died here October 11, 1803, aged 68 years. His first wife, Susannah Scott, daughter of Joseph Scott, died June 24, 1767, in her 22d year. His second wife was Mary Channing, daughter of John and Mary Channing, and sister of his partner, Walter Channing, to whom he was married, November 19, 1768. Their eldest daughter Elizabeth, became the wife of Thos. William Moore, at one time British Vice-Consul at New- port. Eliza married Luther Bradish, of New York, and in 1814 Ruth married her cousin, the Rev. William Ellery Channing, D.D. Sarah, who died single at an advanced age, erected in her lifetime St. Mary's Church, Portsmouth, and gave at her death, the glebe now improved by the parish. William Channing Gibbs, the son, was governor of the State from 1821 to 1824.
81 The Clerk of the Vestry kept the records of the Church, and served
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Wady chosen Clerk for the year ensuing, at the same salary that Mr. John Grelea had. Mr. Thomas Jeffries chosen sexton for the year ensuing.
April 17, 1744. Voted : that the Church Wardens call upon Major Lockman for the rent due from him for the house he lives in to the 24th of this instant, and in case he doth not pay that he be sued to May Court, and that he give security to pay the rent quar- terly as it shall become due, for the future, or be sued out of the house.
April 24, 1744. Voted: that there be a new fence around the churchyard; that Messrs. Thomas Wickham and William Paul go about with a subscription to raise money for that purpose, and that the Church Wardens employ a proper person to build said fence and mend the Church tower.
Voted : that Henry West and George Owen have a pew built in the southeast part of the gallery, they paying for the same £20.
Voted : that the Church Wardens let out at interest the sum of £120, part of the money in the hands of Mr. Stephen Ayrault for the use of the poor.
in that capacity, as did the Wardens and Vestry in their several offices, without compensation. The Clerk of the Church (" Clark," as he was called) held a more important position than the Clerk of the Vestry, and for his services drew a stipend. It was his duty to lead in the responses, from the small desk directly in front of and under the reading desk, and also to give out the psalms and hymns and to set the tunes. There were men at times who filled this office who were not always what they should have been, as will be shown further on. The Clerk's desk has remained unchanged in form and position since the time when the Church was built.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTER V.
I745-1750.
EASTER MONDAY, April 15, 1745. Messrs. Thomas Wickham and William Paul chosen Church Wardens.
Mr. George Wanton chosen Vestryman in the room of Mr. John Gidley, deceased, and Mr. Stephen Ayrault added to the Vestry. Mr. James Martin, Clerk of the Vestry. Mr. James Wady chosen Clerk for the year ensuing ; salary the same as before. Mr. Thomas Jeffries chosen sexton.
Voted : that the Church Wardens, with Mr. William Mumford, be a committee to repair the house belonging to Trinity Church, and that Mr. William Mumford be a tenant if said house, as soon as it is repaired, at one hundred and thirty pounds per annum, for ye house and lot belonging to it.
February 4, 1746. At a Vestry, held at the house of Mr. Hony- man. Voted : that there be allowed to Mr. John Jones the sum of £75, old tenor, being the prime cost of the pew82 that formerly be-
82 The above pew, as appears by a vote of the Vestry, May 19, 1744, was ordered to be sold for the benefit of the Church, the late owner hav- ing died, and there being no representative of the family willing to occupy it. By the rules of the Church, when the owner of a pew died, and no one member of his family came forward and expressed a desire to occupy it, it was to be sold and the proceeds were to go into the treasury. The order of sale, of May 14, 1744, was resisted by a brother of the deceased, and an attempt was made on the part of the Church to secure legally what was believed to be its rights. In this it was stayed by the opinion of Hon. Thomas Ward, set forth in the following letter ; hence the action of the Vestry on the 4th of February, 1746 :
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
longed to his brother, Mr. W. Jones, deceased, said Jones withdraw- ing his action commenced for said pew, at November Court last, and giving a discharge in full for said pew.
February 10. James Martin died, aged 55 years, and was buried in the churchyard.
Easter Monday, March 31, 1746. Capt. William Paul chosen the
Sir, I will give you my sentiments concerning the case of Jones and Almy about a pew in Church as well as my Circumstances & Temper of mind will admit.
Ist. Trinity Church, altho' the Parson has recª Orders from the Bishop of London, altho' its Worship be according to the Forms &c. of the es- tablished Church in England, and altho' it has Church Wardens, a Vestry, &c. cannot in my opinion be looked upon as the Churches in England are, for there is no Patron nor Glebe Land, neither has Mr. Honyman ever been presented, instituted or inducted according to the Laws of Eng- land. And, in fact, this Church was built by private persons by way of subscription, as is notorious. So the Property or Fee remains vested in the first Proprietors, or their Heirs or Assigns.
2ª. Mr. William Jones, by the Consent of the Proprietors, shut up the north-east Door, put a Window in ye place of the door & erected this pew, whereby he became possessed of it in his own Right, & continued so till his death, for which you have the Evidce of Messrs. Bours, Mar- tin, Jos. Wanton & Capt. John Brown, who are summon'd. I expect they will say on the other side, Jones did not by these Things become seized in Fee. I say he did, because by the Articles he had it to him & his pew forever. Coke, lib, fo. I. N. B. There is no occasion to allow the Articles are binding, but to insist that from the Tenure of all other Pews in Ch'h., Jones had the Fee of the Pew sued for.
3ª. Wm. Jones, by his Will, made present Pl't. his Residuary Devisee & Legatee, as you see by the Devise in ye 3ª page of the Will, marked.
4th. This proceeding is ungenerous, because ye same Wm. Jones gave the Ch'h £150; see ye Article next Preceeding the Devise just referred to. And it is likewise repugnant to the Principles of Com'on Justice to take away a man's Right who hath committed no crime nor violated any Law.
5th. The Articles of the Ch'h are void in themselves, not being signed, &c., but had they been signed they would only oblige the Signers, for
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Elder Church Warden, and Mr. Walter Chaloner the Younger Church Warden. The Vestry remains the same as last year.
Voted : that Samuel Wickham, Esq., be, and he is hereby ap- pointed in behalf of the Church, to settle a dispute between the Church and Mr. Cornelius Bennett, the late school-master, and to meet with Mr. Peleg Brown, chosen by Mr. Bennett for this pur- pose ; and that if Messrs. Wickham and Brown cannot agree, they choose a third person, to settle the dispute, and that the parties give bonds to abide by the determination of the arbitrators; the Church Wardens to give bonds in behalf of the Church, and Joseph Wanton, Esq., offering to give bonds in behalf of Mr. Bennett.
Voted : that Mr. Nathan Coffin, the present school-master, be allowed £60 per annum, out of the rent of the estate of the late Nathaniel Kay, Esq., and also the rent of the dwelling-house in the school-house yard, from his first coming to the school.
May 19, 1746. Voted : that the note given by Mr. Joseph Wan- ton to Capt. John Freebody, for the sum of £36, in behalf of Mr. Edward Pigott, shall be discharged out of the money belonging to the poor of the Church.
July 14. Voted : that Nath1 Coffin be paid at the rate of $100 per annum, for teaching the ten charity boys at his school : the same to commence at this time.
altho' in England the parson has the Freehold of the Church, & he with the Vestry have power to elect Church Wardens, &c., yet they have no such right in this Country, & consequently their action cannot be binding on the whole.
6. By the 4th of the Ch'h Articles we have a Right to the Pew.
I have not referred you to any Authorities, knowing Jacob's Dictionary will be at Hand, and supply you with what is necessary. I am Sir your hum. Servant
Nov. 28th, 1746. For Mr. Robinson.
Thoward
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
Voted : that the cross alley, from the north to the south door, be shut up, and that four pews be built for some gentlemen whose families are destitute of pews.
Voted: that the Minister and Church Wardens forthwith address the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for a person capable of teaching school, and that they send over to them an exact state of Mr. Kay's donation, with an account of. the annual neat produce of the same, and request of them that such school-master be Episcopally ordained, and sent to act in the capacity of a catechist, and that they would be pleased to settle £20 or £30 sterling, per annum on such person; that the yearly income of Mr. Kay's dona- tion, with that settlement of theirs may be proper encouragement for such a person to reside among us : and that Messrs. Samuel Wickham and Peter Bours be a committee to draw up a state of the circumstances and annual neat produce of Mr. Kay's donation.
February 9, 1747. Voted : that Messrs. Samuel Wickham and Peter Bours draught a letter to Mr. John Tomlinson,83 merchant in
83 The action of the Society is set forth in the following from the " Abstract of the Proceeding of the Society :"
" The Revª Mr. Honyman, the Society's missionary, and the Church Wardens and Vestry of the Church of Newport, in Rhode Island, by their letter dated August 2ª, 1746, petition the Society to send them over a proper person, Episcopally ordained, to take on him the office of school- master, to teach grammar and the mathematics, pursuant to the will of the late worthy Mr. Nathaniel Kay, who bequeathed an house and lands to the value of about twenty-five pounds sterling per annum, in trust to them for that purpose. And that the Society would be graciously pleased to appoint such person catechist to their Church, under the direction of Mr. Honyman, and to be assistant to him in the care of that very nu- merous congregation. To this the Society, out of regard to the advanc- ing years of Mr. Honyman (who has been more than forty years their faithful and diligent missionary there), have consented; and they have given him directions to consult the Rev. Dr. Johnson, of Stratford, and to choose out of the young gentlemen educated at New Haven, whom,
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
London, requesting him to use his interest with the Honble Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts to procure a school- master Episcopally ordained, with some annual allowance in addi- tion to the generous donation of Nath1 Kay, Esq., deceased, to assist the Minister of the Church and keep school.
March 26, 1747. Walter Cranston was married to Frances Ayrault, daughter of Daniel Ayrault.
April 19, 1747. George Wanton“ was married to Sarah Hazard.
Easter Monday, April 20, 1747. Capt. Walter Chaloner chosen Elder Church Warden and Capt. Evan Malbone chosen the younger Church Warden.
April 20, 1747. John Moldsley [Mawdsley] was married to Sarah Clark.
May 12, 1747. Robert Crooke~# was married to Ann Wickham.
upon their own request, Dr. Johnson hath recommended for employment to the Society, a fit person for these offices: and to send him over to England for holy orders, of which, if he shall be found worthy, the Society, after his ordination, will appoint him catechist and assistant to Mr. Honyman, in the care of his very large and increasing congrega- gation, not of whites alone, but of blacks also ; no less than twelve of the latter sort having been admitted members of it, by the holy sacrament of baptism. within twelve months."
Mr. Jeremiah Leaming was selected as the candidate for holy orders, and was sent to London. at the expense of the Church, to be ordained. 54 George Wanton, born May 10, 1724, was the son of the third George Wanton, and Sarah Hazard, his wife, was the daughter of George Hazard. 54a Robert Crooke came to Newport from Kingston, N. Y., settled here
and had an honorable career as a merchant. His son, William Crooke, was educated for the bar; but, under the advice of his physician. he found more active employment in mercantile pursuits. He built the large brick building recently razed on the corner of Thames and Pelham streets. From 1797 to 1801 he was the Senior Warden of the Church. July 25. 1796, he was married, by Rev. William Smith, to Mary Malbone, daugh- ter of Francis and Margaret Malbone. She died February 16. 1852, and he died in 1832.
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
June 17, 1747. there was a convention of the Episcopal Clergy at Trinity Church. The Rev. James McSparran preached the ser- mon from Romans I., 16.85
August 6, 1747. Rev. Dr. McSparran baptized Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkinson, wife of Capt. Philip Wilkinson, in Petaqamscutt Pond: Witnesses, the doctor, his wife and Mrs. Jane Coddington.
August 10, 1747. Voted : that Capt. Walter Chaloner have the property of the pew formerly belonging to Capt. Richard Mumford, he paying to the Church the sum of £70, old tenor, for the same, and giving up to the heirs of said Mumford all his right to the pew formerly belonging to Nath1 Newdigate, deceased, which right he acquired by purchasing said pew of Mr. Newdigate in his lifetime.
85 Rev. Dr. McSparran's sermon before the convention was printed in Newport the same year. In it he thus speaks of St. Paul :
"Learning was there [Rome] in all the glory and beauty of its fullest bloom, which must make every attempt to introduce a new and unadorned doctrine the more desperate and romantic among so inquisitive and discern- ing a people as the Romans were. In contrast to this, it has been observed of one Apostle (and as it should seem ) objected to him, that besides his hav- ing no grandeur of person, no gracefulness of air or mien to recommend him, his speech was also contemptible, rude and unadorned with the rhetorical paint, so taking at that time. How then could he expect to make a figure at Rome, where poets and orators vied with each other, whose speech should the most sparkle with the glistening drops of Grecian dew.
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