One of the Anglican priests stationed in New Jersey by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) in the early eighteenth century was the Rev. Thomas Haliday. He served several congregations including those at Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, Freehold, Elizabeth, and Piscataqua. Not unlike many of the other priests sent to New Jersey in the colonial era, He found his stipend inadequate to his needs. In response to this difficulty, in a letter[1] dated October 9, 1717, he proposed a scheme to the SPG to allow for a “more comfortable subsistence.” Below is the text of his proposal.[2]
There is [something], which I hinted [at] in my last [letter], that further consideration [confirms] me still in the Opinion. That is, that if the society would procure a donation of 200 acres of land from the Proprietors of the soil for the use of the Church in each place where they send a Missionary, and if the Society could spare for some time a dozen of good Negroes from [Barbados] who might clear the land, fence, dung, Plant, Orchard, Make Clover Pasture, burn brick Kilns, build Parsonage houses, and not only so, but with a [little] [expense] they might build Churches. This Plantation, so improved, would afford a Missionary a more creditable, [Plentiful] subsistence [than] the remittance of 70 or 100 £ Sterling from England. From this, with [Labor] by his servants, he might be [supplied] with [what] is necessary for the Maintenance and [support] of a family. And such a Plantation would be a freehold in Property of the Church in the Presentation of the society, or on [whomsoever] they should devolve it to, [on] which the Missionary should be legally instituted and Inducted, and this would remain to the Memory of the Pious [endeavors] of the Honored society in all future Ages.
This would be a more sure, certain, and [Perpetual] [subsistence] [than] the remittance of fifty or sixty pounds from home. And it prevents the inconvenience of a Missionary’s running before his allowance, and so, all mercy, to have his bills protested or otherwise imposed upon with the merchants [he] deal[s] with.
As it would be a surer and more comfortable subsistence to the Missionary, so it would be cheaper to the Society. It requires the Interest of 1000 £ sterling to the Maintenance of Every Missionary in this Province. But such a plantation, both as to the purchase and improvements needed, [would] not amount to much more [than] 200 £ sterling principal, and this, once done, all remittances from home might cease, for the plantation might be improved so as it might yield better [than] 100 £ yearly produce. If the society were to make a purchase of the Land they could do it for less [than] 100 £, and if they sent over Negroes of their own the [Expenses] of improvements, and even building Churches and [Parsonages], would be inconsiderable. Some Masons and Joiners would be wanted, and several may be found in London who would come over and serve here for 4 [years], the society paying their passage. Whatever [others’] Opinion may be, I am sure I would sooner choose such a Plantation for life and family [than] the [remittance] I have [at] present. Lands increase [daily] in their value and the plantation would, still the longer, be the better.
As can be seen from the proposal, Haliday is well aware that the SPG held Blacks enslaved in Barbados at that time.
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| An early depiction of Codrington College, Barbados, founded on the site of and with funds derived from the operation of Codrington Plantation. Image courtesy of the British Library HMNTS 1303.l.5; From Robert Hermann Schomburgk, The History of Barbados, Pg150 Codrington College, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons. |
He is also aware that the most straightforward means to a comfortable living in New Jersey involved benefiting from the nascent plantation economy, which was very dependent on enslaved labor. He sees no problem with the enslavement of Blacks and, on the contrary, views their enslavement as a useful means to beneficial ends. The letter is indicative of the general attitude of Anglican priests in the colony at the time. Though Haliday’s proposed scheme was never universally implemented, many priests in New Jersey acted on the general principle of the proposal through their local parishes or their own private dealings.[3] A number of churches acquired glebes[4] which were rented out to plantation owners (enslavers) in order to support the clergy, or which the clergy managed directly for their own profit via their own enslaved labor. Several priests acquired plantation holdings and enslaved Blacks through advantageous marriage, and in general, the best-established churches and most influential priests in colonial New Jersey managed to attain financial success and stability as a result of profits derived from enslaving Blacks in the New Jersey plantation economy.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] Courtesy of the British Online Archives, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.) Correspondence Collection: “American in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1635-1928” A Series Letter Book Vol. 12, pages 301-307. Manuscript copy scans at:
https://microform.digital/boa/collections/11/volumes/37/the-a-series-letter-books-1702-1737
[2] Transcription edited for clarity according to modern language conventions. Alterations to the original text (largely spelling) made for the sake of clarity appear in [brackets]. Of these alterations, spelling changes appear as [plain text], while slightly altered or added language for the sake of clarity appear in [italics]. Very brief omissions from the original text for the sake of clarity appear as ellipses. Punctuation changes, expansions of abbreviations, and updated archaisms (e.g. substitutions of “you” for “thee” or “thou”) are not noted.
[3] Among these priests were at least Abraham Beach, Robert Blackwell, Samuel Cooke, William Frazer, Alexander Innes, William Lindsay, Jonathan Odell, Uzal Ogden Jr., Samuel Seabury, William Skinner, John Talbot, Thomas Thompson, and Edward Vaughan. Well over fifty percent of the years of service performed by colonial-era priests in New Jersey was supported directly by profit from the labor of enslaved Blacks in New Jersey (to say nothing of the stipendiary support nearly all these priests received from the SPG, which was funded significantly through SPG enslavement of Blacks on the Codrington Plantation in Barbados).
[4] A technical term for church-owned agricultural land used for the support of the parish or parish clergy.
