The Churches 257 



the church at a cost of £17, "in good and current money of 

 New York . . . the justices and vestry to find boards, and 

 nails and hinges." During the ministry of Mr. Bartow, he 

 acquired considerable land in Westchester, and also several 

 thousand acres in East New Jersey, in the counties of Mon- 

 mouth and Middlesex, which he devised by will to his widow 

 and six sons. The careers of the sons and their descendants 

 show that the rector was the ancestor of a line of clergymen 

 of the Church of England and of the Episcopal Church of 

 today. 



Mr. Bartow was succeeded in 1727 by the Reverend Thomas 

 Standard, A.M., M.D., a native of Taunton, England. The 

 Society had appointed him their missionary at Brookhaven, 

 Long Island, in 1725, and assigned him to Westchester at his 

 own request, backed by that of those in authority. He was 

 rector of the parish over thirty-four years, dying at an advanced 

 age in 1760. In 1735, he had a difference with Mr. Forster, 

 the schoolmaster, and charges were preferred against him 

 by some of his parishioners. The Reverend Mr. Vesey in- 

 vestigated the difficulty and reported to the Society; but the 

 affair seems to have adjusted itself, for Mr. Standard remained 

 as rector. During his incumbency, the church building was 

 made more comfortable by putting backs to the pews, and 

 £70 were raised for the repair of the church. In the rector's 

 report of 1728 to the Society, he states: "I preach one 

 Sunday at Eastchester and another at Westchester, twice a 

 day, for the summer half year." 



The Reverend John Milner, a native of New York, was 

 installed as "Rector of the Parish Church at Westchester, 

 commonly called St. Peter's Church, including the several 

 districts of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers, and the Manor 

 of Pelham, " under orders from Lieutenant-Governor Cadwal- 



