Metadata
Title
Christ Church correspondence and records concerning clergy compensation and a marriage, 1811
Date
1811
Digital Identifier
ChristChurch.CorporationCorrespondence_4-2-0-27
Call Number
4.2.0.27; F515
Description
This file contains three documents related to Christ Church, Philadelphia. 1) A letter from Robert Blackwell to Thomas Cumpston (March 22, 1811) requesting settlement of his salary arrears. 2) A letter from James Abercrombie to Thomas Cumpston (March 19, 1811) explaining the circumstances of a marriage he recently performed between John Cooper Seckel and Eliza Farrel. Abercrombie defends himself against accusations of impropriety, detailing how the couple and the bride's reputed aunt, Mary Golson, deceived him about their ages. 3) A copy of a letter from James Abercrombie to the Vestry (October 23, 1811) requesting a salary increase following the resignation of Rev. Dr. Blackwell, noting his past financial struggles, his reliance on income from teaching, and the loss of revenue from his past service at Oxford and All Saints churches.
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA
Extent
3 documents
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
This group of three letters, dated 1811, documents financial and disciplinary matters within the Christ Church (Philadelphia) clergy and vestry. In the first, Robert Blackwell writes to Church Warden Thomas Cumpston requesting that the Vestry settle an outstanding debt, noting that for the previous four years the Vestry had been continually indebted to him by at least two thousand dollars, and calculating a settlement figure of $2,899.99 as of the 25th [p.1].
The central document is a letter from Rev. James Abercrombie to Cumpston (March 19, 1811), written to preempt or answer a complaint brought before the vestry concerning a marriage he had celebrated. Abercrombie recounts that on or about January 12-13, a genteel-looking young man asked him to perform a marriage and assured him he was of full age, above 21 [p.2]. When Abercrombie learned the bride, Miss Eliza Farrel, was only turned 19, he explained she was not of legal age to marry without consent of parents or guardians. The young man stated she had no parents but lived with an aunt who approved [p.3-4]. At the ceremony, a respectable-looking woman identifying herself as Mary Golson, the bride's aunt, confirmed her consent, and Abercrombie married them, entering the bridegroom's name as John Cooper Seckel in his register [p.3-4]. Abercrombie asserts he was grossly imposed upon by deliberate lies, and complains that the defective marriage act throws the whole responsibility onto the clergyman [p.5]. His son John, present in the study, confirmed the account, including that Seckel had declared himself above 26 and that Golson corroborated this [p.6]. A postscript addresses a separate matter concerning the exchange of a pew involving Mr. Meredith [p.6].
The third letter, addressed to the Vestry (October 23, 1811), was occasioned by the resignation of Abercrombie's associate, Rev. Dr. Blackwell, and appeals for an increase in salary [p.7]. Abercrombie recalls an earlier application in 1798 or 1799, when the Vestry resolved to raise an additional 1,200 dollars from pew rents, 600 for the Bishop and the residue for himself, but Dr. Blackwell's displeasure led to a division of the 600 dollars [p.8-9]. He describes eighteen years of faithful service on an incompetent salary, his mounting debts, his teaching in the academy with Dr. Magaw, the fatigue of running a school, and the loss of income from the Oxford and All Saints congregations following the building of St. James Church [p.8-9, p.10]. Citing the depreciation of money since his appointment, he trusts the Vestry will not consider his request unreasonable [p.10].
The central document is a letter from Rev. James Abercrombie to Cumpston (March 19, 1811), written to preempt or answer a complaint brought before the vestry concerning a marriage he had celebrated. Abercrombie recounts that on or about January 12-13, a genteel-looking young man asked him to perform a marriage and assured him he was of full age, above 21 [p.2]. When Abercrombie learned the bride, Miss Eliza Farrel, was only turned 19, he explained she was not of legal age to marry without consent of parents or guardians. The young man stated she had no parents but lived with an aunt who approved [p.3-4]. At the ceremony, a respectable-looking woman identifying herself as Mary Golson, the bride's aunt, confirmed her consent, and Abercrombie married them, entering the bridegroom's name as John Cooper Seckel in his register [p.3-4]. Abercrombie asserts he was grossly imposed upon by deliberate lies, and complains that the defective marriage act throws the whole responsibility onto the clergyman [p.5]. His son John, present in the study, confirmed the account, including that Seckel had declared himself above 26 and that Golson corroborated this [p.6]. A postscript addresses a separate matter concerning the exchange of a pew involving Mr. Meredith [p.6].
The third letter, addressed to the Vestry (October 23, 1811), was occasioned by the resignation of Abercrombie's associate, Rev. Dr. Blackwell, and appeals for an increase in salary [p.7]. Abercrombie recalls an earlier application in 1798 or 1799, when the Vestry resolved to raise an additional 1,200 dollars from pew rents, 600 for the Bishop and the residue for himself, but Dr. Blackwell's displeasure led to a division of the 600 dollars [p.8-9]. He describes eighteen years of faithful service on an incompetent salary, his mounting debts, his teaching in the academy with Dr. Magaw, the fatigue of running a school, and the loss of income from the Oxford and All Saints congregations following the building of St. James Church [p.8-9, p.10]. Citing the depreciation of money since his appointment, he trusts the Vestry will not consider his request unreasonable [p.10].
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