REVOLUTIONARY ANGLICANISM
Also by Nancy L. Rhoden THE HUMAN TRADITION IN COLONIAL AMERICA (co-editor) THE HUMAN TRADITION IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (co-editor)
Revolutionary Anglicanism The Colonial Church of England Clergy during the American Revolution Nancy L. Rhoden Assistant Professor of History University of Southern Indiana Evansville Indiana
Nancy L. Rhoden 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 978-0-333-72487-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-40556-5 ISBN 978-0-230-51292-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230512924 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
To Raymond Harold Porter and to the memory of Maud Christina Porter
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Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xi 1 Introduction 1 2 The Pre-Revolutionary Colonial Church of England 10 3 The Bishop Controversy 37 4 The Political Philosophies of the Two Extremes 64 5 The Depoliticization of the Colonial Anglican Clergy 88 6 Divided Allegiances and Disestablishment 116 Epilogue 144 Appendix: Colonial Church of England Ministers, 1775 83 148 Notes 153 Index 198 vii
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Acknowledgments With great pleasure, I acknowledge the many people who assisted in the research and writing of this book, at its various stages. In many centers, the library staff aided my search for materials. At Firestone Library, the staff of Interlibrary Loan, Microforms, and Reference were particularly helpful, especially Mary George. I also wish to thank the staff at many other research facilities, including Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, the Archives of the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Archives of the Diocese of Connecticut, the Episcopal Diocesan Library of Maryland, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Maryland Historical Society, Maryland State Archives, North Carolina Archives, South Carolina Historical Society, South Carolina Library, Swem Library at the College of William and Mary, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Virginia State Library and Archives. I am also grateful for a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and other financial support from the Department of History at Princeton University. A Faculty Research and Creative Work Award from the University of Southern Indiana financed a later research trip to the Archives of the Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. Formally or informally, I have shared my research with a number of generous scholars. As a graduate student at Princeton, many colleagues provided practical suggestions, including the members of the Dissertation Writers Group, especially Jacob Cogan, Gary Hewitt, and Geoffrey Plank. At formal conferences or presentations, including the Institute of Early American History and Culture First Annual Conference at Ann Arbor, the Newberry Seminar in Early American History and Culture, and the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, commentators and other interested scholars offered persuasive criticisms. On these occasions, I especially appreciated the valuable comments of Jon Butler, Alfred Young, and Margaret Kellow. At a late stage in this project, I also shared my findings with members of the NEH Summer Seminar Social Historians Write Biography at the Newberry Library. Additionally, Ian Steele and Thad Tate each provided a careful and timely reading of a chapter in progress. For his early and continued encouragement, I would like to thank Ian Steele, for it was in his undergraduate seminar at the University of Western Ontario that I first became interested in the trials and tribulations of these Anglican ministers. At Princeton University, Professor John Murrin proved an excellent teacher and dissertation supervisor. His insights into this ix
Acknowledgments x project and the colonial world were always thought-provoking. It was both a privilege and a delight to work with him. For their thorough advice and interest, I also thank my dissertation readers: the late Eugene R. Sheridan, John F. Wilson, and Peter Lake. The suggestions of these readers improved both my clarity of thought and my prose. Any errors or omissions which remain are, of course, entirely my own. To my husband Brian I owe a special thanks. His constant encouragement and practical assistance has made a great difference to both my work and my life. Other family members also shared in this project in their own way, including my sister, Linda, and my parents. To my father, Raymond Harold Porter, and to the memory of my mother, Maud Christina Porter, this book is lovingly dedicated.
List of Abbreviations AEC Archives of the Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas AEH Anglican and Episcopal History AHR American Historical Review AL Alderman Library, Special Collections, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia Appletons Cycl. J. G. Wilson and John Fiske, eds, Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography, I VII (New York: Appleton, 1894 1900) CH Church History DAB Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds, Dictionary of American Biography, I XX (New York: Charles Scribner s, 1956; orig. publ., 1928) Doc. Hist. Francis L. Hawks and William Stevens Perry, eds, Documentary History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the United States of America. Containing Numerous Hitherto Unpublished Documents Concerning the Church in Connecticut, I II (Hartford, CT: The Historiographer, 1959; orig. publ., 1863 4), II EADC Episcopal Archives of the Diocese of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut EDLM Episcopal Diocesan Library of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland Fulham Papers Fulham Library (Lambeth Palace) Papers, Microfilm, Firestone Library, Princeton University Hist. Coll. William Stevens Perry, ed., Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church, I V (New York: AMS Press, 1969; orig. publ., 1870) HMPEC Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church HSP Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania JAH Journal of American History JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History Lambeth Palace Misc. Lambeth Palace Library Miscellaneous American Material, 17th 18th Centuries, Microfilm, New York University, New York xi
xii MHS MSA NCSA SCHS SL SPG Journals SPG Ser B, C VHS VMHB VSLA WMQ List of Abbreviations Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, South Carolina Swem Library, Special Collections and University Archives, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Journals, Microfilm, Firestone Library, Princeton University Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Series B and Series C, Microfilm, Firestone Library, Princeton University Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Virginia State Library and Archives, Richmond, Virginia William and Mary Quarterly