Right Honble & Right Revd Worthy Gentlemen
We The Churchwardens & Vestry of St Phillips Parish ∗ ∗ in New Hanover County, on Cape Fear River, in the Province of No Carolina, humbly beg leave to recommend to your Society for a Mission the Revd Mr. John Macdowell as a very good minister of the Church of England who has been in this Province since the year 1754 & has officiated in our neighboring Parish of St James from the time of his arrival until May 1757 & for the next year did officiate in the towns of Brunswick & Wilmington and from that time has been our Minister in this Parish, and hath always behaved himself as became a worthy Minister of Jesus Christ; he hath also officiated by the liberty of the Vestry many times in distant Parishes, and hath been very well liked by all the Vestries of every Parish, where he hath officiated.
We therefore humbly pray to recommend him to your favor for a mission.
We are building of a very large brick Church which is near done & soon hope to have a Glebe but at Present we are obliged to hire a house, for him to live in, till we can do better, at present we are a poor parish, very heavily taxed on occasion of the present war with the French & Indians, therefore can't afford to give a competency, so as to maintain him & his young family in a decent good manner
and we shall, as in duty bound, ever pray for a blessing on your most religious endeavours. We are
By his excellency Arthur Dobbs Esqr His Majestys Captain General. Governor & Commander in Chief in and over the Province aforesaid.
These are to certify, that Richard Quince, John Davis Junr, Robert Snow, Richd Eagles, Roger Davis, Thos Neale, Jno Davis Junr, James Murray, John Watters, Joseph Watters & Willm Dry, who subscribe the foregoing recommendation, are the Churchwardens & major part of the Vestry of St Phillips' Parish in New Hanover County in the sd Province & that the Revd Mr. John Macdowell Minister of the sd Parish is a person of unblamable life and conversation & deserving of the recommendation given him by the Churchwardens & vestry aforesaid
In testimony whereof I have hereunto caused the Seal of the said Province to be affixed at Brunswick the 14th day of April. In the year of our Lord 1760.