USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Annals of Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island, 1821-1892 > Part 2
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April 4, 1827. Voted: that the Vestry recommend to the Congregation, at their next meeting, to contribute as much as
8 DR. CHARLES COTTON was born in Plymouth, Mass., and graduated at Harvard. In the war of 1812 he entered the navy as a Surgeon's Mate, and saw considerable service. June 8, 1817, he married Mary Cotton, daughter of Captain Stephen T. Northam. He retired from the service in 1823, en- tered upon a professional career in Newport, and here resided up to the time of his death.
9 NICHOLAS GARDNER Boss was the son of John Lascom Boss. He held the office of Cashier of the Rhode Island Union Bank for several years, and died in the West Indies, where he had gone with the hope of recovering his health. He married Abby Bradford D'Wolf, daughter of Charles D'Wolf, of Portsmouth, R. I., September 30, 1821, and died without issue.
101/2 BENJAMIN B. MUMFORD, son of Benjamin Mumford, was early en- gaged in business in New York, in the house of John P. Mumford & Co., 1790, and Murray & Mumford in 1796, shortly after which date he took up his residence in Newport. He suffered severely from French depredations. In April, 1813, he was appointed Postmaster at Newport, and held the office. up to the time of his death in 1827. In the affairs of Trinity Church he took an active part; and for a number of years served as Secretary of the Vestry.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
they may think proper, towards defraying the expense of paving the street north of the Church.
April 16, 1827. Annual Meeting of the Corporation; 57 Cor- porators being present, besides the Rector.
Voted: that the Vestry be directed to pay to the Street Commissioners such sum of money as they may deem expedient towards repairing Church street.
Voted: that the Wardens are directed not to sell any gallery pew for less than $25, nor let any the ensuing year.
The tax on the lower floor was fixed at $5.00.
Eliza Davis and Maria Burdick were each nominated for or- ganist. [For some time there had been a rivalry between these ladies, who were sustained by their friends. When the house was called, there were 28 votes for Miss Burdick, an equal num- ber for Miss Davis, and I for Miss Moore. That the contest was lively is shown by the large number of Corporators (57) present; at the annual meeting of the previous year there were but 15 persons present, including the Rector.] There being no choice, a motion was put and carried, postponing the election to the following Easter.
May 3, 1827. A communication was received from Miss Eliza Davis, addressed to the Wardens, and by them laid before the Vestry: whereupon it was
Voted: that the services of Miss Davis be accepted until the Congregation see fit to appoint an organist; and in the mean time, if Miss Davis should think herself unable to officiate, that she give due notice thereof to the Wardens: provided, never- theless, that she serve gratuitously.
May 24, 1827. Voted: that the Vestry deem it inexpedient to admit the Union Sunday School into the Church School House, and that the Rector be requested to communicate the same to Mr. Brown.11
11 THE old Mill Street School House stood on ground now occupied by
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ANNALS OF TRINITY CHURCH,
June 25, 1827. An application having been made to the Rector, by the Town's Committee, for the use of the Church for the ensuing 4th of July celebration, and by the Rector laid before the Vestry, it was
Voted: that the Vestry will allow the Church edifice to be used on the coming occasion.
June 26, 1827. Meeting of the Corporation.
The Committee appointed on Easter Monday, April 1, 1825, to inquire into the measures necessary to be adopted for the better security of the Permanent Fund; reported, that it is nec- essary to apply to the General Assembly of the State, for the purpose of obtaining the passage of the Act, which follows:
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE INVESTMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS, BELONGING TO TRINITY CHURCH, IN NEWPORT.
Be it Enacted by the General Assembly, That the fund heretofore raised by subscription, donations, legacies, or otherwise, and intended by the subscribers, donors, &c., to be a Permanent Fund for the better support of Trinity Church, in Newport, and now, with the interest thereon amounting to the sum of ten thousand five hundred dollars (par value) being invested in some safe and profitable stock or stocks, or real estate, in the Name and right of the Minister, Church-Wardens, Vestry and Congregation of Trinity Church, in Newport, shall remain so
the Coddington school house. The corner stone was laid by Lieutenant Governor Collins, July 14, 1826, prayer being offered by Rev. William Gam- mell of the Second Baptist Society. This was the outgrowth of a move made in 1825, when, at a Town Meeting in March of that year, a report on the subject of free schools, drawn up by Rev. Dr. Patten, of the Con- gregational Church, was read; and on motion of Hon. Dutee J. Pearce, it was voted that it is expedient and just to establish free schools in the Town of Newport, to be maintained at the expense of the Town. Messrs. Richard K. Randolph, Dutee J. Pearce, Dr. Charles Cotton, Dr. Benjamin Case, David Melville, George Tilley and John Sterne were appointed a com- mittee to digest and present a plan.
The school was opened to all comers, May 21, 1827, and one hundred
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invested, together with all sum or sums which may hereafter be raised in the way or manner aforesaid, permanently and untransferable, except by the act of the Corporation, at a regu- lar meeting, with notice of the business to be transacted; which act, to be valid, shall require the presence and the concurring vote of at least three-fourths of the whole "Male members of said Corporation, who shall at the time be owners of pews in said Church, or part owners, with authority in writing from a majority of all the part owners, to act in their stead. And the said Fund, in whatever manner the same may at any time be invested, shall remain unimpaired and undiminished by any act of said Corporation; and the accruing interest, dividends or profits thereof only, shall be at the disposal of said Corporation, agreeably to the terms of the original subscriptions.
Whereupon it was Voted and Resolved: that Benjamin Haz- ard, Samuel Whitehorne and N. G. Boss, Esquires, be appointed a Committee to apply to the Legislature, to obtain the passage of the foregoing Act.
December 5, 1827. Voted: that the Senior Warden be au- thorized and directed, to request Miss Easton and Miss Burdick, to officiate on the organ alternately, on Sundays and Holy Days, at such times as Mrs. Lee may not find it convenient to attend.
[Mrs. Lee was the Miss Davis who had had the contest with
and twenty boys presented themselves for admission. The building had a seating capacity of two hundred. The school was placed under the care of Mr. William Guild, a most estimable man and a successful teacher.
Trinity Church Vestry had agreed to comply with the request of a Town's Committee, October 6, 1824, to put at their disposal the Church School House, to try the experiment of organizing a free school; as will be seen on page 17. But when application was made to the Vestry by a like com- mittee, May, 1827, for the School House, for the use of the Union Sunday School, then organized, it was thought best, both by the Vestry and the public, that the school should be located in the new Mill Street building. This was carried into effect, and Mr. Guild was made Superintendent. Both teachers and scholars were drawn from the different denominations in the town.
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Miss Burdick for the position of organist, as noted under date of April 16, 1827. In the meantime she had married Robert P. Lee; and it was evidently supposed, or understood, by the Vestry, that after that event she could not be counted on to fill the position of organist regularly: hence the above election. The old rivalry on the music question still existed in the Church, and as neither faction was willing to give way, the honors were divided between the two ladies who sought the position.]
January 2, 1828. Voted: that the Wardens be authorized to hire a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars for sixty days, to meet the current expenses of the Church.
Voted: that Captain Stephen T. Northam and Captain Rob- inson Potter, be a committee to witness the transfer of the stock of the Permanent Fund, from Samuel Whitehorne, Esq., Trustee thereof, to the Minister, Church Wardens, Vestry and Congre- gation of Trinity Church, agreeably to an Act of the General Assembly, passed at the June Session, 1827, and that they report their doings to the Vestry.
April 2, 1828. Voted: that the copy of the receipt given by Joshua Sayre, Treasurer, to Samuel Whitehorne, Senior Warden, for the bank stock belonging to the Permanent Fund and Poor Fund, and other stocks, be recorded on the books of the Cor- poration.
Newport, March 6, 1828. Received of Samuel Whitehorne, late Trustee to the Permanent Fund of Trinity Church, the fol- lowing certificates of Bank Stock belonging to said fund, agree- ably to the vote of said Church, passed the 5th inst.
I Certificate, 78 shares in Rhode Island Union Bank. .
I Certificate, 14 shares in the Newport Bank.
I Certificate, 10 shares in Bank of Rhode Island.
I Certificate, 10 shares in the Merchants Bank.
JOSHUA SAYRE, Treasurer.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Newport, March 6, 1828. Received of Samuel Whitehorne, Senior Warden of Trinity Church, the following certificates of Bank Stock belonging to said Church, agreeably to the vote of the Vestry of said Church, passed the 5th inst. Thirteen Cer- tificates for 14 shares in Rhode Island Union Bank. One ditto for 2 shares in Bank of Rhode Island. One ditto for 8 shares in Rhode Island Union Bank, for the Poor Fund of said Church. [Not signed.]
April 7, 1828. Annual Meeting, the Rector and 37 Corpo- rators being present. The following officers were elected:
Edward Brinley, Senior Warden.
Stephen H. Cahoone, Junior Warden.
William Crooke, John G. Whitehorne, Stephen T. Northam, Robinson Potter, Robert Robinson, Thomas W. Brown, Levi Tower, Stephen A. Robinson, William Littlefield and George Irish, Vestrymen. Joshua Sayre, Treasurer. and John B. Newton, Secretary.
Voted: that the Senior Warden be authorized and directed to pay to the Street Commissioner the sum of $100, whenever the Commissioner shall cause Church street to be re-paved, with a good sidewalk on the north side, from Spring to Thames street, provided the Church shall not be assessed for the same.
Voted: that Mrs. Lee, Miss Easton and Miss Burdick be allowed $30 each, for their services as organist the past year.
Voted: that the pew tax on the lower floor be $5, and that the price of the gallery pews be reduced to $18.00.
Voted: that Henry Bull, Stephen T. Northam and Samuel Whitehorne be a Committee to examine the Parsonage and ascer- tain if it is worthy of repairs; and if not, that they endeavor to make an estimate of the probable cost of a brick building.
[The subject of needed repairs, or the building of a new parsonage had evidently come up before, although no mention of it is made in the records, nor is there anything to show that
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the following letter from the Rector was laid before the Cor- poration. The building was old and inconvenient, and but little had been done to keep it up beyond what was absolutely neces- sary to make it habitable.]
To the Corporation of Trinity Church:
Gentlemen: Being requested by you to state in writing my views respecting a parsonage, &c., I am disposed to comply with your wishes, though I feel it a delicate subject for me to say much about.
My first ideas correspond with those of the late Senior Ward- en, by whom the subject was first brought forward, to remove the present parsonage house, and erect a new one on the same lot. And this I should still wish, would circumstances admit.
But finding from the estimate of the Committee and others, that the expense of erecting a suitable house would exceed what was first expected, and might embarrass the funds of the Cor- poration, it is my opinion that it would be better to postpone building until the resources of the Church will fully warrant the commencement of such an undertaking.
In the meantime, it would be agreeable to me to accept the proposed sum of two hundred dollars additional salary, in place of a house, until a suitable and permanent parsonage house can be built or procured; provided I may be allowed to retain the house I now live in, at a fair rent, until some other can be ob- tained that I should on the whole prefer. At present I know of no eligible house, at a convenient distance from the Church, to be rented.
Thus, Gentlemen, I have, at your request, stated to you with candor, what has appeared to me would be the best for the welfare of the Church, under the circumstances in which we are at present placed. Should you, however, according to the wisdom given you, think of any plan more beneficial for all parties concerned, it will afford me pleasure to confer with you on the subject.
I remain, Gentlemen, very sincerely and respectfully
Newport, June 23, 1828.
yours,
S. WHEATON.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Voted: that a committee of three, Messrs. Bull, Potter and Tower, be appointed to repair the parsonage.
The expense attending the repairs appears to have amounted to $568.59.
April 1, 1829. The Senior Warden was requested to direct the Sexton to take the keys of the Church home with him, and not to deliver them to any one except the Rector, Wardens, Vestrymen and Organist; and the Organist was directed not to deliver the keys of the organ to any one except a member of the Vestry.
April 20, 1829. The annual tax was fixed by the Corpora- tion, at $5.00 on pews on the lower floor, and the gallery pews were assessed $1.00.
May 7, 1829. Voted: that the sum.of $192.88 received from the sale of the Banister lot, belonging to the Poor of the Church, be loaned to the Society; they paying the interest thereon an- nually until the amount is reimbursed by them.
March 3, 1830. Voted: that Messrs. Potter and John G. Whitehorne be a committee to appraise the pews belonging to the Church, and sell those they think proper to dispose of at auction, or otherwise.
March 22, 1830. Voted: that Captain Robinson Potter be authorized to call on the executors of Mr. [Richard] Harrison and ascertain if they mean to pay the yearly interest, as it be- comes due, to Trinity Church-if not, to get the opinion of a lawyer. Edward Brinley, the Senior Warden, wrote to Captain Potter, as follows:
Newport, April 14, 1830.
Robinson Potter, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
I received your letter of the 7th inst., referring to the Harrison lease, the day before our annual congregational meeting, on Easter Monday. I considered it my duty to lay it
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before the Congregation, by whom (after some conversation on the subject) it was referred to the Vestry. Mr. Hunter was present at Church, and he was invited to meet the Vestry the next evening, to assist with his professional advice. It seems to be the general idea that nothing can be done before we get Mr. Slosson's opinion, which will influence, and perhaps deter- mine, all future measures. We are, however, not without our own suggestions on this subject, and the Church, upon the ad- vice they have taken, deem it their duty:
I. To demand such a payment as would make up the interest on the agreed value of the land-that is, $3,000 principal, $180 interest. The Harrisons have let the land for $60. If by a new contract we rescind the lease and take back the land (for there is no obligation to re-enter) the payment to the Church ought to be $2,000.
2. As to the difficulty of collecting the rents after the division and distribution of Mr. Harrison's estate, we foresee no difficulty that cannot be prevented by seasonable measures.
3. Our true remedy would be, to bring a suit in chancery against the heirs, executors, &c., praying an injunction against any final distributions, until out of the confessed assets a fund was set apart for the regular payment of this rent; and this application to chancery would be sustained, not only by the future obstructions to our legal claim with which we are threatened by the heirs, but by a serious obstruction to a prompt and entire legal remedy already imposed by their ancestor, viz: a sublet- ting for a considerable unexpired term.
But our inclination at present is, to do nothing without Mr. Slosson's opinion, and whether that is for or against us the Vestry mean, in their duty as trustees of the Church, to do nothing that ought to be deemed improper or illiberal to the heirs, &c., of Mr. Harrison.
Hoping that our meaning cannot be misunderstood, and in the name of the Vestry, thanking you for your attention and services.
I remain respectfully your Obt. Sv't, EDWARD BRINLEY,
Senior Warden of Trinity Church.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
June 2, 1830. Captain Potter was requested to write again to Mr. Slosson, New York, requesting his opinion on the busi- ness between Trinity Church and Mr. Harrison's executors.
Moved: that S. A. Robinson and William Littlefield be a committee to see that the steeple is put in a perfectly safe con- dition.
June 16, 1830. It was reported to the Vestry that an opinion from Mr. Slosson, as above called for, had been received: where- upon it was Voted: that Messrs. Robinson Potter and Edward Brinley be a committee to correspond with Mr. William H. Har- rison, of New York, on the subject of the lease of the Kay estate.
No copy of Mr. Slosson's letter has been preserved: but the following letter [an unsigned copy] was sent to Mr. Harrison by the Committee.
Newport, June 21, 1830.
William H. Harrison, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
At a late Vestry meeting of the Minister, Wardens and Vestry of Trinity Church, Captain R. Potter met and re- ported a conversation he had with you at two separate times, in March and April last, respecting the Kay Estate, which was leased to your Hon'd. Father. He also states that you mentioned something on the subject of a compromise with the Church, but that you should not be prepared to make any until you had a reply to a letter that you had written to Newport, but which we presume is received ere this. As the Minister, Wardens and Vestry are the only Trustees to the Kay donation, and desirous of doing their duty towards the Church, and as they have always received punctual payments and good feeling from your late father, which they hope may continue with his heirs, and pre- suming that it must be the wish of those heirs to close the estate, are perfectly willing to receive any proposition for an amicable arrangement whereby the Poor of the Church cannot be injured; and as the time is approaching when the next half
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yearly rent will be due: for our future government will you have the goodness to state your proposition of amicable arrange- ment, or say if the half-yearly rent will be duly honored, as heretofore, when due. An early reply will oblige
Yours Respectfully,
An application having been made by the Town Committee, for the use of the Church on the Fourth of July, it was unani- mously voted, that it be not expedient to grant it.
June 28, 1830. The Vestry received the following letter from the Town's Committee, which was read and received:
Newport, June 25, 1830.
Rev. S. Wheaton, Dear Sir:
It has been intimated to the Committee of Arrange- ments, from respectable authority, that under the existing diffi- culty in obtaining a church, for the usual ceremonies of the approaching anniversary, the Vestry would probably recede from their vote, if a second application should be made by the Com- mittee. With a view to ascertain the truth of this suggestion, and to gratify the wishes of Dr. Moore on this subject, [the orator of the day] I have taken the liberty to address you this note in behalf of the Committee, and to request that a meeting of the Vestry may be called as early as convenient, if consistent with the usual proceedings of that body. I will take the liberty at the same time to suggest, that it would meet the views of the Committee, if the Vestry would decide on the application tomorrow.
Your Obt. Servant, CHRIS. E. ROBBINS.
Mr. J. G. Whitehorne having receded from the vote respect- ing the same subject, passed at the last meeting: the business was opened, and after a long discussion, the following resolution was passed: yeas 6, noes 5.
Whereas, at the last meeting of the Vestry, on application
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being made by the Committee of the Town, for the use of Trin- ity Church on Independence [Day] it was considered inexpedient to grant it; and whereas, further application is made by said Committee, they not being able to obtain any other house there- fore :
Resolved, that the vote of the last Vestry, refusing the same be, and the same is hereby, repealed.
On motion it was Voted: that the usual ceremonies of Inde- pendence may be performed in Trinity Church, and further, that the Committee compensate Mr. Springer [the Sexton] for cleaning the Church. 12
July 5, 1830. Special Meeting of the Vestry: the following action was taken. No copy has been preserved of the letter referred to.
"Whereas: on reading a letter from William H. Harrison, of New York, in behalf of the executors of Richard Harrison, Esq., of N. Y., deceased, to a Committee of the Vestry of Trin- ity Church, Newport, offering to said Church the sum of $1, 200, and a surrender of the lease of the Kay Estate, for a full release of all claims against them and the heirs: the lease to be taken back by the Church subject to any existing agreement with the present occupant of the land, therefore, on motion made and seconded :
Resolved: that the proposition of Mr. Harrison's executors be, and the same is hereby accepted.
12 THE Ceremonies in the Church, on the Fourth of July, were opened with prayers by the Rector, Rev. Salmon Wheaton; the Declaration of In- dependence was read by George W. Robbins, son of the late Asher Rob- bins, and the oration was delivered by Alexander Pope Moore, M. D. Dr. Moore had resided and practiced in Newport about ten years before his death, of smallpox, in 1836. November 7, 1831, he married Mary Easton, daughter of Nicholas Easton. At one time she was the organist of the Church. Dr. Moore was one of the original movers for the organization of Zion Church, February 21, 1833.
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Voted: that Messrs. Robinson Potter and Edward Brinley be authorized to complete the settlement of the business with the executors of the said Harrison, deceased."
September 1, 1830. Meeting of the Vestry.
Robinson Potter, one of the Committee to settle with the executors to the estate of Richard Harrison, Esq., of New York, deceased, reported verbally, that the said Committee had received $1,200, in consideration of the heirs of said Harrison's estate, being forever hereafter released from paying rent on the Kay Estate, and giving the executors a release-the Church re-enter- ing on the premises-as will more fully appear by referring to the Town and Church records.
It is also ordered that the Committee pay over to the Treas- urer of said Church, the money now in their hands.
Voted: that Levi Tower be our Secretary, during the absence of the present one, Mr. Joseph Metcalf Brown, and that he be authorized to receive the books and papers from said Mr. Brown.
January 7, 1831. Voted: that the Wardens be authorized to hire from the bank, a sum not exceeding $350, to pay for the repairs on the steeple.
April 4, 1831. Annual Meeting of the Corporation. Present, the Rector and 18 Corporators.
The following officers were elected:
Edward Brinley, Senior Warden.
Stephen H. Cahoone, Jr., Junior Warden.
John G. Whitehorne, Stephen T. Northam, Thomas W. Brown, Stephen A. Robinson, Isaiah Crooker, Samuel Whitehorne, Rob- inson Potter, Levi Tower, William Littlefield, John H. Easton, and S. Fowler Gardner, Vestrymen.
Joshua Sayre, Treasurer.
Archibald Munro, Secretary.
John Springer, Sexton, with a salary of $50.
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
Voted: that Miss Mary Easton, and Miss Maria Burdick, be organists, with a salary of $50 each.
Voted: that Stephen T. Northam, Charles Collins, Edward Brinley and Samuel Whitehorne, be delegates to attend the State Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Voted: that the tax on the lower floor be $5 and on the gallery pews $1 with the interest on those belonging to the Corporation added, according to their valuation.
April 25, 1831. Voted: that the Rev. Mr. Wheaton, or the officiating Minister, in future, announce funerals, as may be required by friends and relatives.
[It had long been the custom for the Sexton to announce funerals from the organ loft, as the congregation were retiring, after service. He, none to well versed in letters to read fluently but indifferent written notices placed in his hands, made frequent mistakes, some of a ludicrous nature. What gave rise to the above action of the Vestry, was the announcement of the funeral of the wife of William Miller on the following Tuesday. Miller, who was a bachelor, usually had a seat in the organ loft, and was seated close by the Sexton when he made the above an- nouncement. It created a smile, particularly as it was known that Miller had a tender feeling of regard for all who entered the marriage state. If he had abstained from marrying himself, he encouraged others to do otherwise; and for years he had been in the habit to present to every bride, whether he knew her personally or not, a white ash pudding stick of his own make: the handle in the form of a fish's head; the eyes, deep scores on each side, to designate the gills, and the mouth being clearly defined in red. It is more than probable that specimens of these pudding sticks may still be found in Newport.]
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