ST. ANN'S CHURCH. Brooklyn. The first religious society in Brooklyn was the Dutch Reformed, organized in 1660,-one hundred and eighty-four years ago,-under the pastoral care of the Rev. HENRY SOLINUS, (or Hendricus Selwyn,) and from which has emanated the present charge of the Rev. Mr. DWIGHT. Its limits were not confined to the village, but embraced much of the surrounding country, and its place of worship, for nearly a century and a half, was in Fulton street, some distance above the Military Garden. In 1810, it was transferred to its present site in Joralemon street. It is said that the Episcopal Church was established here in 1766; it is so set down in some historical publications upon Brooklyn and Long Island; but on what data or facts the statement rests, the writer of this, after much research, has failed to discover. From an examination of the printed reports of the English "Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts," it does not appear that Brooklyn was a Missionary Sta tion, although, for many years previous to the Revolutionary War, there were twenty-two such stations in the then Colony of New York. The Church here, then, if really established at the date referred to, must have been independent of the usual provision from abroad, and its records, if any were kept previous to and during the war, may have been carried off by the British with the civil records of the place. But the more probable opinion is, that Episcopal services were first performed in Brooklyn, and perhaps in the year named, by some of the clergy of New-York, and occasionally continued afterwards as circumstances rendered expedient or convenience allowed. There were, even at the close of the Revolutionary War, less than sixty houses in all the town, and not more than that number of families, and it is hardly to be supposed that nearly twenty years anterior to that time, persons preferring the Episcopal service were sufficiently numerous to support its regular administration, especially as a majority of the inhabitants were descendants of the first settlers, from Holland, and had for more than a century uninterruptedly maintained the worship of the Reformed Dutch Church. But, whatever conjecture may be, nothing is known; not even the name of any regular minister can be remem bered or referred to before the year 1784. It is true, a tradition has prevailed that the Rev. Mr. SAYRE, "a British refugee," preached here during the war; and this circumstance induced a further examination of the Society's reports above mentioned, with the following result : The Rev. JOHN SAYRE, employed as one of the Missionaries of this Society, was in the year 1774 transferred from Newburgh, New York, to Fairfield, in Connecticut, and there remained until the destruction of that town by the British forces under Governor Tryon in 1779, when he came to Brooklyn.* Soon after this, he went * The following incident is related by the Episcopal Minister in Fairfield (in a note to a sermon preached in 1842), on the authority of a communicant of his Church, then 83 years old, a daughter of the Mr. Piersons here mentioned: While the flames were still raging at Fairfield, Gov. Tryon and Rev. Mr. Sayre were observed walking together through the principal street by a Mr. Piersons, an ardent patriot, and probably one of the sufferers, who was a remarkably good shot with a rifle. Exasperated at the wanton and cruel conduct of the British commander, Piersons raised his piece three several times for the purpose of shooting him, but as often and finally desisted, lest he should endanger the life of his Minister also, whom, in respect to this outrage, he justly considered to be blameless. In passing through a field towards his home, Piersons encountered and captured a British soldier, but soon after falling in with a party of the enemy, he was captured in his turn. Preparations were instantly made to hang him; a rope was affixed to his neck, and then to a tree; but just as he was about to be swung off, a British officer. came up, cut the rope, and gave orders that Piersons should be retained as a prisoner. He was accordingly soon afterwards sent to the Brooklyn station, the knowledge of which coming to Mr. Sayre, he interceded successfully with the British authorities for his release, and had him |