The Churches 279 



fire in the home of one of the members of the congregation, 

 in whose custody they were. 



The earliest settlers within the Borough, those coming from 

 Connecticut, were variously called Presbyterians, Congrega- 

 tionalists, and Independents; they may, for the purposes of 

 this article, be grouped under the first name. 



In 1692, at Eastchester, Samuel Casting was chosen "to 

 read the bibell and other good sermon-books, and so carion 

 [carry on] the sabath days Exercises as according to our 

 Honorable Col. Heathcuts order unto us"; for which he was 

 to receive a certain compensation to be contributed by the peo- 

 ple. The ministers, or readers, who officiated at Westchester 

 — Mr. Baly, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Fogg — were also Dissent- 

 ers ; and we have already read how Colonel Heathcote prevented 

 the induction of Warham Mather, also a Presbyterian. 



The act of 1693 "to establish a good, sufficient minister" 

 in each parish was construed by Governor Fletcher to mean 

 a minister of the Church of England, which thus became the 

 Established Church of the Province. The ministers at both 

 Westchester and Eastchester were turned out, and the churches 

 became Episcopalian with the Reverend Mr. Bartow as rector. 

 He complained to Lord Cornbury, the Governor, that he had 

 some difficulty at Eastchester in superseding the Reverend 

 Joseph Morgan in 1702. Mr. Morgan removed from East- 

 chester in 1708. 



William Tennant, a Presbyterian clergyman, between the 

 years 1718 and 1721, attempted to evangelize this section, 

 and spent several months at Eastchester. In the letters of 

 the Westchester rectors to the Propagation Society, there are 

 also references to the preaching of Presbyterian and Indepen- 

 dent ministers within their cure; and also to the activity of 

 some Dissenting preachers, who are called "new lights." 



