Elias Neau, a successful colonial New York "missionary vestryman," was born to Huguenot parents in France in 1662. He later became an English citizen and came to the colony of New York. However, in 1692, his ship was seized by the French, and he was made a slave and put in a chain gang. He was eventually freed in 1698, after which he raised money for the Huguenots in Europe before returning to New York. Neau was licensed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) as a catechist in 1704 and became a missionary to the slaves in New York, despite still being a Presbyterian at the time. He later joined Trinity Church, New York City, in October 1704 and served as a member of the vestry from 1705 to 1714. Neau's school for slaves began in the belfry of Trinity Church and later moved to the third floor of his house, where he had 154 slave pupils over ten years, presenting 44 for baptism. His regard for the Prayer Book was a significant factor in his conversion to Episcopalianism. Neau died in New York City on September 7, 1722.
