the 16th November. Sermons were preached at St. Paul's by the Rev. Mr. Moore, at the Chapel by the Rev. Dr. Rogers, and at the Old Dutch Church by the Rev. Dr. Livingston. "Mr. Moore's text was from Zachariah, chap. viii, verses 10, 11, 12. 66 Dr. Rogers from the 126th Psalm, verse the 3d. "Dr. Livingston's from Jeremiah, chap. xxxii, verses 37, 38. 39, 40. "The Congregations were very numerous, and the severall Discourses, immediately applying to the happy events celebrated on the day, were felt by every auditor with most grateful sensibility and the warmest approbation. "The Clergy of the several other Congregations acquitted themselves on the occasion to the perfect approbation of their hearers." The distressed condition of the Presbyterian churches at the close of the Revolution is indicated by their petition to the Common Council, a few months after the evacuation of the City by the British, for a remission of the rent due the City on the Brick Church land for the period of the war, and a reduction of the future rental. On March 24, 1784, Dr. Rodgers prepared the following memorial, the original manuscript of which is in the document room of the City Clerk in the Municipal Building: To the worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, in Common Council Convened. The Petition of the Minister, Elders, and Deacons of the United Presbyterian Congregation, in the City of New York-Most Respectfully Sheweth. That the old Presbyterian Church in this City being too small for the Congregation, a Grant was obtained in the month of February in the Year, 1766, from the Corporation of this City. in the name of John Rodgers and others, for a Lott of Ground situate in the North-ward, for the purpose of Erecting a new Church for the Worship of God, subject to the Annual Rent of Forty pounds. That your Petitioners, assisted by the Generous Contributions of the members of their Society, and the Liberal Donations of others, after many Difficulties and Exertions, were enabled to Compleat the Building of their new Church; and from time to time with Great Difficulty, have paid up the Rent reserved by the said Grant untill some short time before the War. That the members of their Congregation in General took an Early Active and Decided part in favour of the Liberties of their Country, and upon the approach of the Enemy, Chose to abandon their property and Habitations, and encounter all the Hardships arising from Poverty and War, rather than Submit to the Oppressions of the Enemy; in Consequence of which, not only their private property, but their Churches, which have ever been held sacred by all Civilized Nations, were marked out for Destruction, and both their places of Public worship during the whole of the late War, have been made use of by the British Army, as Barracks or Hospitals. In addition to the Destruction of their Churches to repair which several thousand pounds must be expended, Your Petitioners think proper to Remind this Honourable Board that their Parsonage House, was Consumed in the great fire in the Year 1776; and the Lott on which the House Stood, at this Time. is not of Sufficient Value to discharge the Debt, now due from their society, for the Original Purchase of the said Parsonage — that many of the members of the said Church, who before the Commencement of the late Troubles, were in easy, and some in affluent Circumstances, are now so Reduced by the Calamities of the War, as to be scarce able to Support their Families, that others have Remov'd out of the State, and those who remain are unable to repair the Churches and provide for the support of Divine Worship, unless assisted by public Contributions. That the said Congregation have no real property from which they can raise an annual Revenue, nor have they one Shilling at Interest, so that the repair of their Churches, and the Support of the Gospel among them, must wholly depend on private Subscriptions and Voluntary Contributions. And altho' your Petitioners have no ambition to accumulate wealth for their Society, yet they conceive it their bounden duty as Christians, not only to acknowledge the Divine goodness in the Accomplishment of the late happy Revolution, by which our Liberties civil and Religious are secured; but also to Testify their Gratitude to their great Deliverer, by Exerting their utmost endeavours to repair their desolated Churches, and provide for the decent support of Divine Worship. From this state of Facts (for the Truth of which they appeal to Several members of this Honourable Board) your Petitioners urged by Necessity, and Constrained by a sense of Duty, Humbly pray That the Rent reserved in the Grant of this Corporation to the said Congregation, and now in arrear, may be remitted; and that they may be permitted to hold the said Lott in future, only at the payment of a small Acknowledgement, as they are Rendered unable, by their Losses and Sufferings, to discharge the rent Reserved by the said Grant; and they are the more Encouraged in this application, as they are informed that the Corporation of Trinity Church, now hold, and for many Years past have held a great part of their Burying Ground, under the Grant of this Corporation, without being subject to the payment of any rent; and that the Corporation of the low Dutch reformed Church hold a Piece of Ground in Montgomery Ward by a Grant of a later date than that made to your Petitioners of at least three times as large as that held by them, subject to the annual Rent of Seventy pounds;- Your Petitioners beg not to be understood as suggesting the Idea of Censure on the Grantors or Grantees in either of these Cases; they highly approve the Measures as a wise encouragement to Religious Bodies; but only as placing before this Honourable Board, in a proper point of light, the Comparative Greatness of the Rent reserved for the Lott granted to your Petitioners, and the abatement of which they pray,- And they Humbly Conceive their Zeal in the Public Cause, and the great Sacrifices they have made made in its defence, and their present Distressed Situation, entitle them to the attention of this Honourable Board. And your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. March 24th, 1784. The petition was presented to the Common Council March 30, 1784, and laid over until September 8, when the committee of the board reported their unanimous opinion that the rental of £40 a year be remitted for the period from May 1, 1776, to November 24, 1783, inclusive; "and the Committee are further of Opinion that the Rent of forty Pounds per annum reserved in the said Grant is too high for the quantity of Land contained therein that therefore the sum of eighteen Pounds fifteen shillings of the said forty Pounds be annually remitted to the Grantees." (Minutes published in 17th Annual Report of Amn. Scenic & H. P. Socy, pp. 473, 538.) Nearly a year elapsed before the release was formally granted and on August 10, 1785, the First Presbyterian Church memorialized the Common Council to execute the release. A resolution to that effect was passed on that date and on September 15 the engrossed draft was presented and approved. (Minutes in 18th Annual Report, A. S. & H. P. Socy, pp. 682, 692.) On August 10, 1785, Rev. James Wilson was ordained as colleague with Dr. Rodgers and remained until January 1788. VIII AFTER THE WAR The Rutgers Street Church As the 18th century neared its end, the mother church found it necessary to make still further provision for the increasing number of Presbyterians and in 1797-8 a new edifice was erected on the corner of Rutgers and Henry streets on land presented by Henry Rutgers. It was called the Rutgers Street Church. It measured 64 by 86 feet and was first opened for service on May 13, 1798. The Rev. Philip Milledoler was pastor. There were now three congregations the Wall Street Church, the Brick Church, and the Rutgers Street Church in one common organization. The Separation of the Churches On February 17, 1809, the Legislature passed "an Act for the Separation of the First Presbyterian Church of the City of New York" into two or more distinct corporations. At a meeting of the pewholders and stated hearers of the Wall street and Brick Churches held in the Wall street church April 12, 1809, presided over by Rev. Philip Milledoler, it was voted that the two congregations should separate. The Charity School and lot remained in common. The Wall street property went to the Wall street church; the Brick Church property to the Brick church; "the 24 lots of ground purchased of James K. Beekman for a burial ground shall be equally divided between the Wall street and Brick churches and the church in East Rutgers street; " the lot in Hester street and any other real estate to remain in common; the personal estate to be equally divided between the Wall street and Brick churches; Dr. John McKnight was assigned to the parochial charge of the Brick church, and Dr. Samuel Miller to the Wall street church. Each church was to pay half of Dr. Rodgers salary, while Dr. McKnight's was to be paid by the Brick church and Dr. Miller's by the Wall street church. The foregoing and much other interesting history is recited in a long indenture dated May 29, 1809, recorded in Liber 86 of |