VESEY, William, clergyman, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1674; died in New York city, 18 July, 1746. He entered Harvard, and was graduated in 1693, after which he began the study of theology in Boston. He officiated as lay reader in Hempstead, Queens County, New York, during 1695-'6, and was invited by Governor Fletcher and the magistrates, vestrymen, and wardens to become rector of the new congregation in New York, known as Trinity church, and "to have the care of souls in the city of New York" so soon as he took orders. The vestry engaged to pay his expenses, and he embarked for England early in 1697. He was ordained in August of the same year, and returned immediately to this country. He was inducted into the new church as soon as it was finished, 13 March, 1698. Governor Fletcher made a grant to the church of a tract of land for a term of years, known as " The King's Farm," subject to rent, which, however, was not exacted. Fletcher's successor, the Earl of Bellomont, by requiring the rent, stirred up a violent controversy with Rector Vesey; but Lord Corn-bury, who succeeded as governor in 1701, restored the farm to the church. About 1712 the bishop of London, Dr. Compton, appointed Mr. Vesey his commissary, which proved to be a laborious and troublesome office, and led to several protracted and unpleasant controversies. He discharged his various duties with zeal and earnestness, and as the Venerable society for the propagation of the gospel furnished him with assistant ministers, school-masters, and teachers, he was able to give an impetus to the Church of England in New York city, which placed it in the foremost rank, and secured to its successor, the Protestant Episcopal church, the strong position that it holds to the present day. His last report as commissary to the Venerable society in 1746 showed the result of long and faithful labors, and spoke of "twenty-two churches flourishing and increasing in his jurisdiction." Mr. Vesey was an able preacher, but he left nothing in print. His portrait is among the collections of parish rectors in the vestry-room of Trinity chapel, New York city. Vesey street, in the same city, was named in his honor.