A wealthy merchant of the Revolutionary War era, American patriot John Vanderbilt, who died at the age of 57, was the donor of the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church's bell. Imported from Holland, it was taken to Halifax, Canada, after the ship which carried it was captured by the British during the war. One of Vanderbilt's relatives later recovered it, however, and it was installed in the church's steeple just in time to be rung for Vanderbilt's funeral in 1796. The epitaph on his slab-style gravestone reads:
"He was a merchant of distinguished probity, a real patriot, an affectionate relative, a sincere friend and a worthy man. Blessed with affluence, he displayed a spirit of munificence in promoting the welfare of his country, of religion and virtue. The moderation and conciliatory disposition which accompanied and conducted his virtues, secured him through life an esteem almost unrivalled, and rendered his death a great loss to the public and to his family irreparable."
"He was a merchant of distinguished probity, a real patriot, an affectionate relative, a sincere friend and a worthy man. Blessed with affluence, he displayed a spirit of munificence in promoting the welfare of his country, of religion and virtue. The moderation and conciliatory disposition which accompanied and conducted his virtues, secured him through life an esteem almost unrivalled, and rendered his death a great loss to the public and to his family irreparable."
A wealthy merchant of the Revolutionary War era, American patriot John Vanderbilt, who died at the age of 57, was the donor of the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church's bell. Imported from Holland, it was taken to Halifax, Canada, after the ship which carried it was captured by the British during the war. One of Vanderbilt's relatives later recovered it, however, and it was installed in the church's steeple just in time to be rung for Vanderbilt's funeral in 1796. The epitaph on his slab-style gravestone reads:
"He was a merchant of distinguished probity, a real patriot, an affectionate relative, a sincere friend and a worthy man. Blessed with affluence, he displayed a spirit of munificence in promoting the welfare of his country, of religion and virtue. The moderation and conciliatory disposition which accompanied and conducted his virtues, secured him through life an esteem almost unrivalled, and rendered his death a great loss to the public and to his family irreparable."
"He was a merchant of distinguished probity, a real patriot, an affectionate relative, a sincere friend and a worthy man. Blessed with affluence, he displayed a spirit of munificence in promoting the welfare of his country, of religion and virtue. The moderation and conciliatory disposition which accompanied and conducted his virtues, secured him through life an esteem almost unrivalled, and rendered his death a great loss to the public and to his family irreparable."
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