Trinity Church, New York
Overview
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
, is a historic, active parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York
Episcopal Diocese of New York
The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island in New York City, and the New York state counties of Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, and...
. Trinity Church is at the intersection of Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
, in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In 1696, Governor Benjamin Fletcher
Benjamin Fletcher
Benjamin Fletcher was colonial governor of New York from 1692 to 1697.Fletcher was known for the Ministry Act, which secured the place of Anglicans in New York. He was succeeded as colonial governor of New York by Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont.-References:*...
approved the purchase of land in Lower Manhattan by the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
community for construction of a new church. The parish received its charter from King William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
on May 6, 1697. Its land grant specified an annual rent of sixty bushels of wheat. The first rector was William Vesey
William Vesey
Rev. William Vesey was the the first rector of Trinity Church in Manhattan.-Early life and family:Vesey was born in Braintree, MA, in 1674, the son of William and Mary Vesey. The Vesey family had for a long time been established in Braintree...
(for whom nearby Vesey Street is named), a protege of Increase Mather
Increase Mather
Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
, who served for 49 years until his death in 1746.
The first Trinity Church building, a modest rectangular structure with a gambrel roof and small porch, was constructed in 1698.
