Rev. Thomas James
(1620-1698)

FIRST MINISTER OF THE EAST HAMPTON CHURCH
1650-1698

The early settlers of East Hampton came in 1648.   Most of them had come from Maidstone, in Kent, England.  They stopped in Lynn, Massachusetts and then were in Connecticut.   From there they came to eastern Long Island.  They had come to America because of religious persecution and governmental rules.  These people wanted civil liberties as well as religious freedom.

When the town was established, the Town Trustees were the governing body and took care of everything.  (There were a lot fewer problems then than there are today.)  One thing they had to deal with was worship.  It was important to them.  The people were Puritans and wanted to worship without being told how and what to do. It became the Trustees problem of finding a place for worship and then a minister.  In the beginning, there was one place that was big enough to hold a large number of people.  Early in the establishment of the Town, the “Ordinary” or public house was located at the home of Thomas Baker.  It is known as the Baker House to this day.  This would become their first Meeting House, and Mr. Baker was paid so as to allow the people to worship there on Sundays.  They soon realized they would have to build a new Meeting House and to find a minister to lead them.  The Town Trustees ordered a new Meeting House to be built in 1652. It was to have boarded sides with a thatched roof.    It was enlarged in 1678 and added on to in 1682.  A completely new church was built in 1717 when the second minister was here.  It was near where Guild Hall is today.  At first, worship was non-denominational and later it became Congregational. 

The Town Trustee felt comfortable with Governor Winthrop of Connecticut and had gone to see him about a minister.  Lion Gardiner had invited Rev. Thomas James Jr. to be a chaplain on Gardiner’s Island.  In August of 1651, Rev. James was hired by the Town Trustees to become the first minister in East Hampton.  He was the son of a minister by the same name and had been living in New Haven, Connecticut.  Rev. Thomas James Sr. had emigrated from Lincolnshire, England with his son and the rest of his family.  He was first in Boston, Massachusetts in June of 1632.  He was at the Charlestown, Massachusetts church for 3 ½ years before moving to New Haven, Connecticut.  He was not well liked by his congregation in New Haven so he returned to England.  His son remained in America.          

According to Judge Henry P. Hedges in “A History of East Hampton, New York”, Rev. Thomas James was “learned, resolutely just, sincere, fearless, active and had a powerful personality.”   He was “small of stature, sprightly and undaunted in step and bearing.”   Since his father had been educated as a minister, he was probably concerned that his son should have a good education as well.   Rev. James Jr. was also considered a “feisty Puritan”.  He had a strong mind and was well versed in public affairs.  As a minister, he was expected to be a guide in politics, in laws, in morals and in religion.  He was also expected to give two hour sermons on Sunday mornings.  In those days, what else did people have to do on Sundays, a day of rest?  In early East Hampton, there was a fine of one shilling levied on a person who did not attend the Meeting House.  A fine of 10 shillings was levied if someone was caught working on the Sabbath and anyone refusing to pray would go to the stockade. 

When Rev. Thomas James was hired in East Hampton, his salary was 45 English pounds per year.  It was twice what Lion Gardiner had offered him.   The next year it went up to 50 pounds.  The money came from the taxes paid by the citizens, and the minister became the first to be paid from the governmental funds.  The minister was exempt from taxes.  He was given a home and 12 acres of land including some woodland for fuel and the rest for farming.  On the second day of the week, Monday, he would be the first person to grind grain at the mill.  The house that was built for him was next to the Gardiner house on what is now James Lane. James Lane was put through much later.  The minister’s house was on the same property as the Meeting House which was on part of the property now the South End Cemetery.   The cemetery was originally the South End Burying Ground as the church or Meeting House was on the same property and the cemetery and the church were connected.  The whole area was fenced in for protection.  When the colonists came to Maidstone, as East Hampton was first known, they were met by friendly Indians.  There were no problems.  When Rev. James arrived, he learned the Indian language and taught them the English language.  The Indians sometimes even worshiped with him. 

Rev. James was on the Town Trustees as well as being the Town minister.  He was elected over and over again.  He was the Clerk of the Trustees, probably because of his skill at writing.  Most of the early settlers were educated but maybe not as much as the minister.  He had to keep the Town Records.   Unfortunately, he did not keep good records of births, deaths and marriages for the church or the town.  These dates are lacking in the records.  Some say he was too busy with other things or possibly there had been a fire.   The Trustees also took care of hiring someone to ring the church bell, renting the church pews and getting a leader for psalm singing.   The Trustees also made laws against slander and personal violence.   These were based on the same laws as in Connecticut. 

 The Puritans of East Hampton wanted home rule.  Everything was going fine in East Hampton until the state government stepped in.  The colonists protested against being part of New York.  They were much more like the people in Connecticut.  The Governor of New York at the time did not want the colonists to just take the land for themselves and collect their own taxes. The East Hampton colonists were also selling whale oil in Connecticut but not paying taxes on that either. Rev. James was behind the citizens and helped write petitions to the Governor against the state’s rules.  Eleven East Hampton citizens were arrested because of their petitions which were directed to the Governor and against the State.  Names on these petitions in October 1686 included Parsons, Dayton, Sherrill, Baker, Conklin, Mulford and others.   On the following Sunday, October 17, 1686, Rev. James preached a fiery sermon supporting his parishioners who were stirring up the rebellion.  They were only protecting their rights.  The next morning there was a warrant out for the minister’s arrest.   He spent 3 weeks in jail and was released only after he petitioned the State on the grounds he was a loyal subject of King James II.  Since he did everything he could to help his congregation, they supported him fully.  He was well liked and well respected.   He stood up for them.

In the mid 1690’s Rev. James was not able to do all that he had been doing so the Trustees hired an assistant for him, Rev. Nathaniel Huntting.  Rev. James did, however, continue with some of his duties.  Rev. Huntting had the property where the Huntting Inn or The Palm is today. 

When Rev. James died on June 16, 1698, he was buried in the South End Burying Ground.  He had been preaching for close to 50 years and had never been criticized by any of his parishioners as he always had them and their rights in mind.   Some have considered him egotistical.  He made his own funeral arrangements and his only request was that he be buried “so as to rise up facing his people on the resurrection morn.”  His gravestone reads: 

MR. THOMAS JAMES DYED THE 16 DAY OF JUNE IN THE YEARE 1696 HE WAS MINISTAR OF THE GOSPELL AND PASTUR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

             Rev. Thomas James’s first marriage was most likely in Connecticut to someone whose name is not known.  He married a second time on September 2, 1669 to Katherine Blux of Southampton. From various documents, it is said he had 10 children.  No one knows which wife all of the children were by.  The dates of their births are unknown.  Several of his children married into local families.  His daughter Sarah married Peregrine Stansborough of Sagaponack on December 15, 1664 so she was most likely by his first wife.

—by Harriet Edwards, as presented to the East Hampton Ramblers on November 8, 2022

Preacher Came to East Hampton in 1650, Rev. Thomas James Left Written Sermon Now First Published
East Hampton Star Article, written by Morton Pennypacker, June 30, 1933

Eells, Ernest E., Rev. Pastorate and Preaching of Thomas James, East Hampton Star, East Hampton, NY (1934, Jul 26, p.6 & Aug 2, p. 6 (Con’t))

Boulder Found , “Thomas James Dwelt Here 1652-1692” was found inscribed on a boulder unearthed on the site of Rev. James Home in 1955. East Hampton Star, September 29, 1955, front page.

Rev. Thomas James (Puritan), Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Jan 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rev._Thomas_James_(Puritan)

For more information on Rev. Thomas James visit the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection. A special collection and archive dedicated to the history and people of Long Island. What was once a room specially built in 1930 to house the personal collection of historian Morton Pennypacker, is currently a 5-room research and study area, containing a vast array of original, historic, as well as contemporary, materials that chronicle life on Long Island from the seventeenth century to the present day.