Charitable Man Buried in the Most Charitable Church

     Alexander Turney Stewart was a great gentleman.  Due to his bountiful business ventures, he was nicknamed the Merchant Prince of Broadway.  As a wealthy New Yorker, he seemed the total opposite of John Jacob Astor and William Backhouse Astor, Sr. (who were living representations of Charles Dickens' character, Scrooge).  Recently, I blogged about his works.  Little did I know that he was buried in a ramshackle churchyard in Manhattan's Lower East Side.  Lewis and I walked past St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery many times.  (Bowery is from the Dutch word for farm: bouwerij.  When Manhattan was Dutch-controlled, the Dutch West India Company allocated land for farms).

     First, a bit of data about the charitable-hearted man.

     Born in 1803 and died in 1876, Stewart was one of the richest men in New York... just behind Vanderbilt and Astor.  Perhaps because he wasn't a "robber baron", he was forgotten by society.  If Charles Dickens based his open-hearted character, Fezziwig, on somebody, it might be Stewart (which is possible, since Dickens' A Christmas Carol was published in 1843).  Of the 24 clerks who entered Stewart's employment in 1836, 6 still worked at his company by 1876!  That is exemplary employee retention!  For their loyalty, he left them $6 million (in today's money) in his will.
     Thus, when Stewart was buried in "greedy Manhattan" soil, greedy grave robbers absconded with his body... to demand a ransom.  The recovered body was laid to rest in the Cathedral mausoleum that Mrs. Stewart built on Long Island.  The cathedral stands in the "garden community" that Stewart designed before he died (during the "City Beautiful Movement").  Growing up near there, I know the local legend: the tomb is rigged to chime the church bells, if robbed.  Mrs. Stewart lived quietly (just like Mrs. Vanderbilt) until 1886.

     Now, learn about the charitable-hearted church that held his body (the first time).
     On East 10th Street--where the historic roads are catty-cornered and aren't part of the city's grid--St. Mark's Church is a pretty sight.  A place of worship for 300 years, it is NYC's oldest religious site.   

     In 1651, the Governor of New Amsterdam (which was its name before the British conquered it and renamed it New York), bought the land from the Dutch West India Company. Governor Petrus Stuyvesant--famous for his wooden leg

--built his family chapel where the present-day church stands.  Modern-day Stuyvesant Street abuts the church property.  The cobblestone area around the church has historic grave markers, like the one below.

     Over the centuries, church construction/restoration added an amalgamation of architectural styles: Georgian, Greek Revival, and Egyptian Revival.  In 1861, famous architect, James Renwick Jr., built the Parish Hall.  

(See my blog entry about Renwick's lighthouse--which leads to my entry about 2 famed churches he built: http://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-lighthouse-with-celebrity-on.html )

     Since the 1800s, the church has supported the Arts.  Currently, it helps raise money for ballet, dance & poetry.  Without an Endowment Fund, it relies on donations to support its landmarked building, Food Pantry, and social justice activism.  

     One afternoon, after passing St. Mark's, I commented that it seemed a shame such a pretty church needed so much upkeep.  Researching its website, I was impressed to read that the church apologized for its appearance.  It explained that whenever it received large donations, it whole-heartedly gave them to needier causes.  The congregation didn't desire fancy upkeep, if they could sustain those who were less-fortunate.  Truly generous!  

     It's no karmic wonder that Mr. Stewart was buried in such a loving space--surrounded by people who loved humanity (and tried to improve it) as much as he did.  

See the great "garden community" that Stewart built before he died:

http://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2016/03/historic-village-of-garden-city-city.html