William Vesey

Rev. William Vesey (August 10, 1674 – July 11, 1746) was the first rector of Trinity Church in Manhattan. Early life and family Vesey was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1674 , the son of William and Mary (Saunders) Vesey. The Vesey/Veazie family was established in Braintree about 1643. Though Vesey's immediate family outwardly conformed to the established Congregational church (where William was baptized), they were of a small group that held with the Church of England. At that early date, there was no church building, and no minister, and a small group of Anglicans held quiet services at his father's house. Nonetheless, his father was firm in declaring himself as a member of the Church of England. Vesey (the father) was elected to represent Braintree to the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1702, but was expelled following a conviction for plowing on a day of thanksgiving set aside (by Puritans) for the escape of King William from assassination. In that trial, Vesey declared that "King James was his rightful Prince," not King William. His father was one of the organizers of Christ Church (Quincy, Massachusetts) in 1704, giving land for the site of an edifice in 1727.