Metadata
Title
Vestry correspondence, 1832-1836
Date
1832/1836
Digital Identifier
ChristChurch.VestryCorrespondence1832-1836_1-7-0-5
Call Number
1.7.0.5; F62(b)
Description
Folder holds continued discussion between the Resolution Hose Company and the Vestry, church and organ maintenance, and a printed circular from the "Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergymen in the Communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Also includes correspondence regarding investments in South Carolina, tuning and repairing the organ, proposals by architect Thomas U. Walter for the alteration and replastering of Christ Church, and a bell inquiry to the Revere Copper Co.
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA
Extent
12 documents
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
The folder contains correspondence and vestry records of Christ Church (Philadelphia, Pa.) from 1832 to 1836. It opens with a printed circular letter from Rev. James Montgomery, Secretary of the Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergymen, dated 14 May 1832, urging vestries to subscribe to the relief fund on behalf of their pastors and explaining the difficulty posed by clergy changing parishes [p.1].
A letter from Corrie and Hubie (19 September 1832) addresses the tuning and repair of the Christ Church organ, defending their work, noting a six-dollar charge to fix the pedal put out of order by laying the floor, refusing to have the organist sign their bill, and offering to resign the charge to "more competant hands" [p.2r-2v].
Records from November 1832 concern Christ Church Hospital and the Joseph Dobbins legacy of 200 shares in the Bank of South Carolina. The committee, alarmed by "public agitation in the State of South Carolina of a spirit of opposition to the laws of the United States," recommended selling the stock; the vestry passed a vote of thanks to Henry A. De Saussure of Charleston and directed the sale [p.3r-3v].
Correspondence from the Resolution Hose Company (10 July 1833) requests a ten-year lease renewal for ground occupied at the burial ground, hoping the vestry would not charge rent given the company's expense in erecting the building and vaults [p.4]. A subsequent letter (15 October 1833) records the company's agreement to pay an annual rent of twenty dollars, commencing 2 October 1833 [p.5].
A letter from the Revere Copper Company (J. Davis & Co., Boston, 14 February 1835) to Moses Humpton discusses the difficulty of recasting a bell to match a chime, offering instead to select an existing bell at eight cents per pound difference, with accompanying cost calculations [p.6r-6v].
Several 1836 letters from architect Thomas U. Walter to Moses Kempton concern alterations to Christ Church. On 8 January 1836 Walter estimated the total improvement—including two furnaces, new pews, a western vestibule, stairways, new galleries, and removal of eastern stairs—at about $5,500, with new galleries and modern pews alone costing about $1,500, and declined to contract for the work owing to uncertain labor prices [p.7r-7v]. On 21 March 1836 Walter sent apologies for missing a committee meeting due to illness [p.8]. On 21 July 1836 he estimated replastering the entire interior (except the chancel) at $675 above the contract amount, requiring about one additional month [p.11], and Kempton replied on 22 July 1836 endorsing replastering the whole interior for a "finished & complete whole" and noting a possible mistake in the amount named [p.12r-12v].
Other items include an inquiry from Jacob Ridgway to William Meredith, chairman of the committee of the vestry of St. Peter's Church (10 March 1836), about buying or leasing a church house on the south side of Mulberry Street near Front Street [p.9r-9v], and a letter from William Smith (7 May 1836) tendering his resignation of an appointment because he could not attend the approaching Convention of the Church [p.10].
A letter from Corrie and Hubie (19 September 1832) addresses the tuning and repair of the Christ Church organ, defending their work, noting a six-dollar charge to fix the pedal put out of order by laying the floor, refusing to have the organist sign their bill, and offering to resign the charge to "more competant hands" [p.2r-2v].
Records from November 1832 concern Christ Church Hospital and the Joseph Dobbins legacy of 200 shares in the Bank of South Carolina. The committee, alarmed by "public agitation in the State of South Carolina of a spirit of opposition to the laws of the United States," recommended selling the stock; the vestry passed a vote of thanks to Henry A. De Saussure of Charleston and directed the sale [p.3r-3v].
Correspondence from the Resolution Hose Company (10 July 1833) requests a ten-year lease renewal for ground occupied at the burial ground, hoping the vestry would not charge rent given the company's expense in erecting the building and vaults [p.4]. A subsequent letter (15 October 1833) records the company's agreement to pay an annual rent of twenty dollars, commencing 2 October 1833 [p.5].
A letter from the Revere Copper Company (J. Davis & Co., Boston, 14 February 1835) to Moses Humpton discusses the difficulty of recasting a bell to match a chime, offering instead to select an existing bell at eight cents per pound difference, with accompanying cost calculations [p.6r-6v].
Several 1836 letters from architect Thomas U. Walter to Moses Kempton concern alterations to Christ Church. On 8 January 1836 Walter estimated the total improvement—including two furnaces, new pews, a western vestibule, stairways, new galleries, and removal of eastern stairs—at about $5,500, with new galleries and modern pews alone costing about $1,500, and declined to contract for the work owing to uncertain labor prices [p.7r-7v]. On 21 March 1836 Walter sent apologies for missing a committee meeting due to illness [p.8]. On 21 July 1836 he estimated replastering the entire interior (except the chancel) at $675 above the contract amount, requiring about one additional month [p.11], and Kempton replied on 22 July 1836 endorsing replastering the whole interior for a "finished & complete whole" and noting a possible mistake in the amount named [p.12r-12v].
Other items include an inquiry from Jacob Ridgway to William Meredith, chairman of the committee of the vestry of St. Peter's Church (10 March 1836), about buying or leasing a church house on the south side of Mulberry Street near Front Street [p.9r-9v], and a letter from William Smith (7 May 1836) tendering his resignation of an appointment because he could not attend the approaching Convention of the Church [p.10].
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