Metadata
Title
Christ Church and St. Peter's correspondence and records concerning bell ringers and burials, 1801
Date
1801
Digital Identifier
ChristChurch.CorporationCorrespondence_4-2-0-17
Call Number
4.2.0.17; F501
Description
Includes a letter and draft copy from bell ringer Joseph Dolby to the Vestry of Christ Church and St. Peter's, defending himself against accusations made by the Governor of Pennsylvania regarding his Revolutionary War allegiances and his refusal to ring the bells on July 4th. Dolby asserts his Philadelphia birth, militia service, and oath of allegiance to the United States.
Also includes a committee report signed by the bell ringers agreeing to ring the bell on July 4th annually, and a letter from James Abercrombie requesting a burial order for the infant son of John Martin Baker. See also object ID: 1.4.0.1 for related documentation.
Also includes a committee report signed by the bell ringers agreeing to ring the bell on July 4th annually, and a letter from James Abercrombie requesting a burial order for the infant son of John Martin Baker. See also object ID: 1.4.0.1 for related documentation.
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA
Extent
4 documents
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
Committee minutes and related correspondence concerning Christ Church bell ringers and Joseph Dolby, Head Bell Ringer. On 8 July 1801, a committee met with bell ringers Joseph Dolby, Charles Hollick, Richard Thornhill, John Tister, and Caleb Offley; all except Dolby declared they were unaware until April 1801 of any existing contract obligating them to ring the bell on 4 July, and they agreed to ring annually in accordance with vestry resolutions of 5 July 1782 and 27 May 1801 [p.1].
Dolby addresses Bishop White and the Rector, Church-Wardens, and Vestrymen of Christ Church and St. Peter's, responding to a letter from the Governor of Pennsylvania alleging that Dolby, out of disaffection to the independence of the United States, refused to allow the bells to be rung on the late 4 July, and further alleging he was an Englishman and had been a Tory during the Revolution. Dolby asks, as an act of justice to a man who has been their Head Bell Ringer for 36 years, that his statement be entered on the minutes. He asserts he was born in Philadelphia (as shown in the baptism register), that his father was also a native and a respectable member of the churches, that he served in the militia artillery from the beginning of the Revolutionary War until disabled by a nervous fever affecting his limbs, and that on 4 July 1776 he was carried into the bell-room in the arms of John Williams and John Field to be present at the exhibition of public joy despite his infirmity [p.2r-2v]. He states that in the summer of 1777 he took the oath of allegiance to the United States within the time limited by law, retiring to New Jersey with his family upon the approach of the British army to the city and not returning until after the evacuation [p.4].
Additional records include a request (11 Aug. 1801) from James Abercrombie to Thomas Cumpston for an order admitting the burial of John Martin Baker's 13-month-old infant son in Christ Church burial ground, to be carried to Dolby, noting Baker is an English gentleman residing a few miles out of town [p.3]. A later note records the birth (19 June 1800) and baptism (31 July 1808) of John Martin Baker, son of John Martin and Harriet D. Baker, with assurance that Baker, being a stranger unacquainted with the regulations, will cheerfully pay all charges when the funeral is over [p.5r-5v].
Dolby addresses Bishop White and the Rector, Church-Wardens, and Vestrymen of Christ Church and St. Peter's, responding to a letter from the Governor of Pennsylvania alleging that Dolby, out of disaffection to the independence of the United States, refused to allow the bells to be rung on the late 4 July, and further alleging he was an Englishman and had been a Tory during the Revolution. Dolby asks, as an act of justice to a man who has been their Head Bell Ringer for 36 years, that his statement be entered on the minutes. He asserts he was born in Philadelphia (as shown in the baptism register), that his father was also a native and a respectable member of the churches, that he served in the militia artillery from the beginning of the Revolutionary War until disabled by a nervous fever affecting his limbs, and that on 4 July 1776 he was carried into the bell-room in the arms of John Williams and John Field to be present at the exhibition of public joy despite his infirmity [p.2r-2v]. He states that in the summer of 1777 he took the oath of allegiance to the United States within the time limited by law, retiring to New Jersey with his family upon the approach of the British army to the city and not returning until after the evacuation [p.4].
Additional records include a request (11 Aug. 1801) from James Abercrombie to Thomas Cumpston for an order admitting the burial of John Martin Baker's 13-month-old infant son in Christ Church burial ground, to be carried to Dolby, noting Baker is an English gentleman residing a few miles out of town [p.3]. A later note records the birth (19 June 1800) and baptism (31 July 1808) of John Martin Baker, son of John Martin and Harriet D. Baker, with assurance that Baker, being a stranger unacquainted with the regulations, will cheerfully pay all charges when the funeral is over [p.5r-5v].
Thumbnail
IIIF Manifest
https://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/iiif.cfm/ChristChurch.CorporationCorrespondence_4-2-0-17/manifest
