Sep 30, 2021 - Sale 2580

Sale 2580 - Lot 187

Price Realized: $ 2,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(NEW YORK CITY.) Early manuscript record book of the Ancient Lutheran Trinity Church in Manhattan. 40, [16, 2] manuscript leaves, in Dutch, English, and German, plus many blank leaves. Folio (12 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches), original vellum-covered boards, rebacked in vellum at an early date, moderate wear; later pencil doodles on leaf 72, minor wear to contents. New York, 1705-84
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

This congregation was founded by Dutch Lutherans in Manhattan in 1643, and was officially chartered in 1664 after the English took control of the island. They were later known as Trinity Church. Their increasing number of German-speaking members broke off to form Christ Church Lutheran in 1750, reflecting a transition in the church's membership from its Dutch origins to an increasing number of German members, as the descendants of the founders assimilated into late-colonial society. The two groups reunited in 1784. They remain active today as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Matthew, considered the oldest extant Lutheran congregation in America.

The earliest entries in this volume are in Dutch, consist of fairly sporadic financial memoranda, and date from 1705 to 1754, covering leaves 1-12 and 181-194. Of particular interest is a long memorandum on church articles bought in Hamburg including books and a silver chalice (page 6).

The remaining records resume from 1767 to 1784, and consist mostly of semi-regular financial reports on leaves 13 to 40 summarizing moneys received (alms, rent, collections) and cash disbursements (minister's salary, building maintenance, charitable works, "bread & wine for ye Lord's Supper"). On leaf 21 is a meeting report discussing the removal of a chimney and other work done on the parsonage house in 1772. In November 1783, the church paid 18 shillings "to the Negro for schlaipin the church," German-born tinsmith John Balthus Dash appears frequently from 1769 onward as bringing in cash receipts or handling disbursements, although he is not named as a treasurer. The records in this period are mostly in English, often with curious spellings reflecting a German background, such as "graff" for grave on leaf 31. However, the pastors named in this section, Weygand and Houseal, were from the portion of the congregation which remained as the "Ancient Lutheran Trinity Church" rather than the breakaway German group. As a reminder that Manhattan was under military occupation from 1776 to 1783, the February 1780 report shows that the church received 8 shillings from the "Hessian Artillery" (verso of leaf 32). Near the rear of the volume is a 4-page essay regarding the church, written in German by John Balthus Dash on 18 April 1770. The last two pages of the record book list fees charged for several burials from 1774 to 1778: "Jacob Housser child," "Tobias Heim son," "Mr. Wheten wife," etc., along with a list of standard rates charged.

Provenance: John Balthus Dash (1727-1804), who made entries in the volume from 1770 to 1784; great-grandson Balthus Dash (1834-1894), who loaned the book for an unknown exhibit per an inscription on his calling card (laid in); in the Dash family until sold to the consignor in 1983.