of notable J^pisropfll (^gnprgps 3n tl)c Enitcb States )S tf)e Eeb. (George fillolfe ^l^inn, ®.2^, l^ECtor of ©rare Ct)urd), NeiDton, Jflass. One ^unbre^ v\\ 3ffu0fraiion6 )15o0ton, Sr9asf0, !3r^o^cisf liing Corporation 1889 Copyright, 1889, by Moses King Cori'oration. Jillustratious UNDER SUPERVISION OF A. LEIGHTON DONNELL, CHIEKLV BY BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE CO., of Boston; ALSO BV LEWIS ENGRAVING CO., of Boston, PHOTO-ENGRAVING CO., of New York, BOSTON ENGRAVING CO., of Boston, AND OTHERS. BUFFALO. N. V. Matthews, Northrip & Co., Art-Printing Works Office of tkt "Buffalo Morning Express " pttiatt. THERE are four classes of Churches represented in this book: — First, Old Colonial buildings erected before the American Revolution. Second, Buildings illustrating the period of recuperation and growth, in the early part of this century. Third, Parish Churches in cities and towns, in many cases with Chapels and Parish Buildings attached, designed to meet the new conditions of American life, and to bring the Church into more direct contact with the people. Fourth, The Cathedrals, illustrating the efforts to provide, in some of the see cities, Churches presided over by bishops, with congregations ministered to by clergymen under the immediate direction of the bishops ; and to adapt, as far as possible, to the .life of this new country, that mode of organized Christian labor usually known as " The Cathedral System." In making this classification, two facts are, of course, obvious : — One fact is, that a book of this size can contain only a small number of illus- trations of a class. If, for example, an effort had been made to bring together pictures of all the interesting Colonial buildings, there would have been but little space for any thing else. Not many of those old structures were graceful in architecture or elaborate in their fittings and adornments ; but in them resounded the voice of prayer and praise, in them His Gospel was preached, and in them the Sacraments of Christ's appointment were duly administered The illustrations of Colonial buildings which this book contains, although limited in number, will be sufficient to bring before the mind of the reader visions of a past which was the sowing-time of the harvest now growing The other fact that becomes obvious, as one looks over this book, is, that there are buildings left out of each class, which are quite as worthy to be brought in as those which are represented. It is no disparagement to a parish, that its building is not given here. In some cases it was impossible for the editor to secure the needed materials, and in others a choice had to be made of such as would repre- sent a different style of architecture, or a different locality. It would have been easy, for instance, to fill the book with accounts of the large Churches in our great cities, but it was thought better to extend the view so as to take in representative buildings from many sections. rKIU'ACE. Hesides all this, \vc have entered ujion a building era in which many of the l)rescnt structures, erected twenty or forty years ago, are likely to be superseded by elaborate buildings, which will be more worthy of notice than those now stand- ing. In many cases. Churches which were built to meet the needs of congregations in their formative periods are found to be inadequate for present purposes. The growing earnestness, and the increasing numbers and resources in these congrega- tions, will ere long make it possible to call to their aid the greater taste and skill of the architects of our day, and thus to substitute more commodious and more beautiful houses of worship. It is not an uncommon thing to find a very large and flourishing congregation occupying a building far inferior to that which has been more recently secured by another parish that is by no means so strong or so influential. The explanations now given may meet some of the criticisms which this book will call forth. Perhaps one more statement may meet other objections. It is this : that the limit put upon the size of the book to make it uniform with the series of " King's Handbooks," of which it is a part, has led necessarily to the omission, in this first volume, of what may constitute a second volume at some future day, and has led also to the shortening of histories and descriptions which were worthy of larger space. This Handbook will be useful in various ways. First, to illustrate the progress which has been made by the Episcopal Church in this country during the past century. No one can look through these pages, and examine these pictures, without seeing that a wonderful advance has l)een made. It is a history of the Episcopal Church in a new form. Then too the book may revive pleasant associations for people who have been, or are now, connected with parishes here mentioned. The children baptized in the old parish Church, in one of our Atlantic cities, may to-day be actively connected with some new parish in the West. The young couple married before the altar of a Church in one section, may have found a home in some far-distant city. And so with all of these parishes there arc hallowed associations, which may thus be revived and cherished. Another use of the book is for tourists, who, in going from city to city in the United States, wish to see the Church buildings. It will be a convenience to know which possess features of interest, and to have in hand a guide that will set forth such features. And, finally, this Handbook may furnish many a suggestion to the parishes and individuals who contemplate building houses of worship for the glory of God. It is often a help to those who are about to build a Church or Chapel or Parish House, to know what other people have done. It is no unusual thing for committees to make long journeys to view buildings which they have heard would answer needs similar to their own, or which have features they wish their architects to introduce. It will be very gratifying to all who have had any thing to do with the prepara- tion of this book, if, in any or in all of these ways, it shall prove to be useful. CONTENTS. PAGE The Colonial Churches 9-40 From the First Church of the Jamestown Settlers to the Revolution. The Second Period 41-56 Some of the Churches built more than half a Century ago. The Third Period S7--3S Parish Churches and Parish Buildings. The Cathedrals and Pro-Cathedrals 239-27S The Bishop's Church in the See City. The Development of the Cathedral System. Index 279-2SS A minute index to the whole volume. CHURCHES REPRESENTED. STATE. California . Colorado . Connecticut Delaware . CITY. San Francisco Denxer . Hartford . Wilmincrton District of Coknnbia Washiniiton Florida Jacksonville Georgia Atlanta . Illinois Chicasjo '' Springfield Iowa Davenport Kansas Topeka . . Kentucky .... Louisville . Louisiana .... New Orleans Maine Bar Harbor " Kennebunk " Portland . Maryland .... Annapolis. " .... Baltimore . church. PAGE . St. Luke's ii3 . St. John's Cathedral .... 254 . Good Shepherd i23 . Old Swedes' (Trinity) ... i^ . St. John's 123 . Ascension 15? . Epiphany 64 . St. John's 4^ . St. Luke's 178 . St. Andrew's 22^ . St. Luke's Cathedral . . . 26S . Cath. St. Peter and St. Paul . 24O . St. James' 153 . Trinity 151 . St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral . . 252 . Davenport Cathedral . . . 241 . Grace Ch. Cath. and Guild Hall 265 . Christ 52 • Trinity 74 . St. Saviour's 176 . St. Ann's 21S . St. Luke's Cathedral . . . 249 . St. Anne's 90 . St. Paul's 8=^ . St. Peter's loS cm NC//E.S inil'liESENTED. .STATK. Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New llainp New Jersey New Vo rk tiTY. CHURCH. IJrooklinc . . . .St. Paul's Boston Advent Christ St. Andrew's .... St. Paul's •' Trinity Cambridge . . . Christ Lynn St. Stephen's .... Marblehead . . . St. Michael's .... Mattapan .... Holy Spirit Newton .... Grace Worcester .... All Saints' Ann Arbor . . . Ilobart Hall " St. Andrew's .... Detroit St. John's Minneapolis . . . Gethsemane St. Paul .... St. Paul's St. Louis .... Christ Church Cathedral Omaha Trinity Cathedral Conconi . .St. Peter and St. Paul . Hanover . . . .St. Thomas' Portsnioutli . . . Christ liurliui^ton . . .St. Mary's Elizabeth .... Christ ." Morristown . . .St. Peter's Albany All Saint's Cathedral " ■ St. Peter's Astoria Redeemer ]?rooklyn . . . .St. ;\nn's Burtaio" Good Shepherd . . . St. Paul's Cathednil . . Cohoes St. John's Garden Cit\ . Cath. of the Incarnation Herkimer .... Christ Newburgb . . . St. George's .... New York .... Cahary " Grace " Holy Spirit " Holy Trinity .... St. .Augustine's '■ St. George's .... St. James" St. Thomas' .... Transfiguration Trinity Ogdensburg . . .St. John's Olean . . . . .St. Stephen's .... Oswego .... Christ Portchester . . .St. Peter's Poughkeepsie . Christ Rochester .... Christ '• St. Luke's Saratoga Springs . Hethesda Schenectady . . .St. (ieorge's .... Troy St. Joiin's •.\GE IV i7.i ■?7 170 Y> 190 16 212 146 164 1^3 97 -o.S 88 -59 -43 1 68 194 77 80 --9 -'73 91 1 10 -19 ->1 ^.36 45 '3- 6 1 •93 106 179 13S JOJ »-9 63 ■ 57 \\\ ^1 -'7 -•3 -34 54 JIG 31 S6 CHURCHES REPRESENTED. STATE. New York . . North Carolina Ohio . Oregon . Pennsylvania Rhode Isla Texas . Utah . . Verniont Virginia Wisconsin nd CITY. Utica . . Raleigh Cincinnati Cleveland . Toledo . . . Portland . South Bethlehem Brjn Mawr Bustleton . Danville Frankibrd . Germantown . Gettysburg Lebanon . Mauch Chunk Philadelphia . (Frankibrd) ("Germ 'town) ' (West) Pittsburg . Rad nor . . Towanda . Wilkes Ban Newport . Providence Wick ford . San Antonio Salt Lake Cit Bellows Fall Alexandria Jamestown Norfolk . Sniithfield . White House Fond du Lr.c Milwaukee Grace 94 Christ 82 St. Paul's 71 St. Paul's 162 Trinity 103 Trinity 225 Packer Memorial 216 Redeemer 1S6 St. Luke's 96 Christ 188 St. Mark's 65 St. Luke's 160 Prince of Peace 227 St. Luke's 182 St. Mark's 118 Advocate 2t,t^ Christ 25 Gloria Dei 13 Incarnation 127 St. Clement's 88 James' 137 Mark's 65 Luke's 160 Mary's 141 Peter's 33 Stephen's 49 Trinity 143 St. David's 19 Christ 237 St. Stephen's 195 'Jrinity 23 All Saints' 1 16 St. Stephen's 99 St. Paul's Is St. Mark's 148 St. Mark's Cathedral . ... 247 Immanuel 107 Christ Church 37 F^irst Church in \'a 10 Ruins 10 St. Paul's 28 St. Luke's II St. Peter's 14 St. Paul's Cathedral .... 263 St. Paul's 207 St. St. St. St. St. St. ARCHITECTS MENTIONED. Hkown, a. I* I'ortclustci, \. ^'., .S7. I'tt.i's 21; Hkown, a. I* Saralona Sprinjj.s, \. \ ., Uethesdu 310 lU HNS, t iiAUl.iis M., Ir Jirvn Mawr, 1^1., The lifJeemer 1S6 lU'KNs, tiiAiu.KS M.,lr I'li'iladclphia, I'a., Thf Advocate 233 lU'KNs, tiiAKLES M., Jr Wilkcs-Harrc, I'a., .S7. .S'/f/'/KV/'.? li;5 Carson (Dixon & Carson) \Vasliinj;toii, O. C., The Ascension 157 Cl.AKK, II. I' Kcnncbiink, Mc, .S7. Ann's 21S CoNDiT, C. II Annaj)olis, Mil., SI. Ann's 90 CoNCDoN, IIknky M Danville, Pa., Christ 18S CoNGDON, IIknkv M Geruiantown, I'a., St. Luke's 160 CoNr.iioN, IIknkv M Portsmouth, N. II., Christ 194 CoNGijoN, Henkv M Topeka, Kan., Grace Church Cathedral . . . 265 CoNGDoN, IIenkv M Lebanon, Pa., .SV. Luke's 182 Ckam, a. H Detroit, Mich., St. John's 97 Dixon & Cakson Washington, D. C, The Ascension 157 Dkkssek, Henry Springfield, 111,, St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral . . 252 Karle A: I-'i'r.LER Worcester, Mass., yill Sainl.<:' 164 E1DI.ITZ, Leopold New York. N. Y., St. George's Memorial House 140 KiDl.iTZ, I,fc.oi'Oi.D St. Louis. Mo., Christ Church Cathedral ... 259 EsTV, A. K Newton, Mass., Grace 146 (iEitqyiKK, T. Buckler Baltimore, Md., .SV. /'.ftt/V 85 GlnsoN, U. W Albany, N. Y., All Saints' Cathedral .... 273 Gibson, H. W Vi\xVi:\\c,,fi.\ ., St. Pauls Cathedral 271 Gibson, K. W Herkimer, X. Y., Christ 236 C.insoN, K. W Olean, .N. Y., Si. Stephen's 230 Gibson, U. W Rochester, N. Y., Christ 234 Haight, C. C New York, X. Y., .SV. Thomas' 129 Haigiit, C. C Vox\.\MvS,'^\\i., .St. Luke's Cathedral 249 Hai:kison, II. G Omaha, Neb., Trinity Cathedral 243 Harrison, Peter Boston, Mass., King's Chapel 35 Harrison, Peter Cambridge, Mass., Christ 35 Harrison, Peter Newport, K. I., Trinity 23 HliTON, Addison South Bethlehem, Pa., "/V/rX-c/- J/./ho^vw/ . . . 21(5 loRDAN i\r Anderson Detroit, Midi.. .S7. yo//«'.« 97 I.atrobe, B. H Washington, D. C, St. John's 42 Littell, KmlenT Ogdensburg, N. Y., St. fohn's 133 Llovd & Pearce Cleveland, Ohio, .SV. Paul's 162 Li.ovdA: Pearce Denver, Col., .SV. John's Cathedral 254 Mc Kim, Mead & White Morristown, N. J., .SV. P(7«/"5 229 Miller, C.C Toledo, Ohio, Trinity 103 Mix, E.J. ,& Co Milwaukee, Wis., .SV. 7'<;«/V- 207 Notman, Mr Wilmington, Del., .SV. John's 123 Pierce & Dockstader Towanda, Pa., Christ 237 Potter, Kdward T D:\vcn\ton, low.i, Davenport Cathedral ... 241 Potter, Edward T Providence, R. I., , I// .SV?/;;/.*' 117 Potter, William A. ....... Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Christ 213 Richards, Prof. T. W West Philadelphia, Pa., .SV. y»/ar>'V 141 Richardson, Henry II Boston, Mass, Trinity 170 Robinson, R. H New York, N. Y., The Holy Spirit ....". 193 RoTCii & TiLDEN . Mattapan, Mass., The Holy Spirit 212 Sciii'VLKR, R. L Jacksonville, Kla., .SV. Andrew's 221 Strickland, William Philadelphia, Pa., .SV. Stephen's 4C1 Stl'r<;is, yoHN H. . . Boston, Mass., Advent ly'i Cl-joHN, i{. M., & Co Albany, N. Y., St. Peter's 91 I'pjoiiN, R., & Son Bellows Falls, V^t., Immanuel 107 I'l'jOHN, R., & Son Bustleton, Pa., Memorial St. Luke 90 I'PJOIIN, Richard Elizabeth, N. j.. Christ So I'pjoHN, Richard Maucli Chunk", Pa., .SV. J/arX-V 118 I'pjoHN, Richard Brookline, Mass., .SV. /"(jw/'i 76 rpjoiiN, Richard New York, N. Y., St. Thomas' 129 L/pjoHN, Richard Providence, R. I., .SV. .SVi. II., St. Peter's J- St. Paul's Chapel. 222 WhNTWORTH, William P Newton, Mass., Grace Parish Jfouse .... 146 \\'itmeks. Frederick C Hanover, N. IL, .SV. Thomas' itvS Wrin, James .Mex.iiulria, \'a., Christ 3: '"r^HE organization known now as "The Prot- J- estant Episcopal Church in the United States " owes its origin to the Church of Eng- land. Church and State went hand in hand in efforts at discovery and settlement in this new continent. John Cabot, an English explorer, was accompanied in his ship "Matthew" by a chap- lain of the English Church. Later exploring expeditions, led by others, included among their numbers the ministers of religion. One pro- vision in the earliest charters and grants was that efforts should be made for the conversion of the Indians, and for the establishment of the Christian Faith in the New World, after the manner of the English Church. The earliest buildings for the religious uses } of English Churchmen, of which we have any record, were the one \ erected on Roanoke Island in Virginia, and the other at Sagadahoc at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine. The date of Raleigh's settlement on Roanoke Island was 1585. The colonists erected a fort and a tillage; but these crumbled to decay many vears ago, and nothing remains now but the traces of the old intrenchments. 9 lO A/A(J'S J/AXDMOOK OF EPISCOPAL CJILRCl/ES. The Popham coli)iiists on the coast of Maine in 1607, we are told, "erected five houses, a Church, and a storehouse;"' but the colony did not become permanent. The first permanent settlement made by English colonists on these shores was at Jamestown, fifty miles above the mouth of the James River, Virginia, in 1607. The settlers brought out with them the Rev. Robert Hunt, who had been the rector of Reculver in the county of Kent, England. He was spoken of by Capt. John Smith as "an honest, religious, and courageous divine, during whose life our factions were oft qualified, our wants and greatest extremities so comforted, that they seemed easy in comparison of what we endured after his memorable death."' THE FIRST CHURCH STRUCTURE of the Jamestown Colonists is thus descril)ed by an old document of the time : " When I first went to Virginia,"' says the chronicler, *' I well remember we did hang an awning, an old sail, to three or four trees to shadow us from the sun ; our walls were rails of wood, our seats unhewed planks until we cut planks, our pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two neighboring, trees. This was our Church till we built a homely thing like a barn, set upon crotchets, covered with rafts, sedges and earth, so were also the walls. Yet we had daily Common Prayer morning and evening, every Sun- day two sermons, and every three montiis tiie Moly Communion, till our .Minister (lied. Ikit our Prayers daily, with an Homily on Sundays, we continued two or three years after till more Preachers came." The view above given is of the ruins of a later brick structure, which was built on or near the site of the first Church. The picture is. taken from a recent photograpli, and shows the condition of the ruins at this time. The Rev. Dr. Philip Slaughter, the historiographer of the Diocese of Virginia, remarks, "The picturesque ruin at Jamestown marks the site of the first fort, the first town, the first Church, and the scene of the first Legislature, the first baptism, the first Holy Communion, and the first mar- riage in the first colony permanently planted by the Englishmen on the continent of .America." Rum at Jamestown, Va. KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. II This brick Church, on or near the site of the one in which Robert Hunt officiated, was begun in 1640, and was the first brick Church in Virginia. " To-day," as one sa3S, "the river is nearing the ruin, and soon the metrop- ohs of the ancient Colony and Dominion of Virginia will live only in story and song." ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, Smithfield, Va., is, with one exception, the oldest religious edifice on this continent. There is an old adobe Roman- Catholic Cathedral at Santa Fe which is older, but here is the oldest Protestant Church m North America. It dates back to 1632, and is con structed chiefly of brick. In a description given in " The American Magazine ' foi February, 1888, Mary Gay Humphreys says, '■ The Church stands in the centre of a ro- mantic grove of oaks, walnuts, and syca- mores, like a faithful guardian over the si- lent population sleep- ing at its feet. The tower is dispropor- tioned to the nave in its massiveness and strength, except in the rear, where the peaked roof climbs up half its height, taking off somewhat from the size of the tower. Its dimensions are fifty feet high and nineteen feet square, the walls being two and one-half feet thick at the base, losing as they ascend. It is entered by a round-arched opening. Two round port-holes on either side add to its fortified aspect. Above was the old vestry-room lighted by double lancet windows. Still above were lookouts of similar form and crowned by a weather-vane. "The nave is buttressed between the double windows, and the buttresses retire in two divisions marked bv steps. The glory of the Church is its great east window, twelve by eighteen feet, crowned by a semicircular arch St. Luke's Church, Smithfield, Va. 12 A'/ AC'S llAXDBOOK OF EJ'ISCOrAI. C//C'A'C//ES. and subdivided by l)rick moulding into two sections. Tlie window was originally filled with stained glass representing scriptural subjects, but at a later period was all bricked with the exception of two lights. But this cannot hide its beauty of proportion, nor prevent us from imagining what it must have been to the Church." " Notwithstanding the assaults of man and of time, the old Church still stands with its sturdy tower an enduring monument of the stout-hearted men who reared it." A movement lias been started by the Rev. David Harr,the rector of the parish, for its restoration; and ere long old St. Luke's will be re- trieved from the desolation into Old Swedes', Wilmington, Del which it has fallen. Its windows will receive memorials of the de- parted worthies ul the faith, and tablets will recite the chapters of its long history. Order and beauty will be brought liack out of long neglect; and not only to Episcopalians, but to all I'rotestant Christians, this the oldest monument of tlieir religion will become an object of interest. OLD SWEDES' (TRINITY) CHURCH, Wilmington. Del. — Two old Churches erected originally by .Swedish congregations became, after the Swedish language was disused in later years, identified with the Episcopal Church, and are now used by congregations in communion with this faith. The first of these is in Wilmington, Del. Its corner-stone was laid on the 28th of May, 1698. and it was formally set apart for its sacred uses on Trinity Sunday. 1699. KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 1 3 However prominent the Swedes were in Wilmington at one time, nothing of the Swedish life remains now but this old Church. The building which cost ^91 to build, and one year to complete, has lasted for nearly two hun- dred years in almost as perfect condition as when first erected. Some of the Swedes who were too poor to contribute ready money assisted in the erection of the Church, and tradition speaks of the women carrying mortar in their aprons to help the men. Some additions were made to the build- ing in 1762, but it stands now essentially the original Church. In old times the Church stood outside the borders of the town of Wil- mington, in an open meadow that sloped gently to the Christiana River. Now it is on a little rise of ground, the surrounding territory having been lowered, and looks down upon the railroad that runs around the foot of the graveyard. It seems, as it were, to draw itself together from contact with the surrounding houses that crowd up to the very edge of the churchyard. Around it are many ancient graves, some of them antedating the building of the Church. It is here, too, that Peter Minuit, the Swedish governor, lies buried. GLORIA DEI, Philadelphia. — Another old Swedish Church, now an Episcopal Church, was originally known as the " Church at Wicaco.'' Before the construction of this brick building, services had been held for fourteen years by the Rev. John Fabritius, a Swedish minister, in a log building. For nine of these years the minister was totally blind. After his return home, three other Swedish ministers to the Swedish colonists on the Dela- ware were sent out ; and on the first Sunday after Trinity, 1700, this new Church was dedicated to the service of God. " The old Church stood upon a green bank of the quiet river," says R. H. Davis ; " and on Sunday mornings the men came tramping on foot beside the women's horses from Kingsessing, Passajungh, and even far- away Matzough, hanging their muddied outer leggings or skirts of wolf- skin on the branches of the trees before they went in." " Now and then a pirogue brought a chance worshipper up the lonely river, or a solitary Indian stood in the doorway, half believing and wholly afraid. " Now the little Church is crowded out of sight on the wharves of one of the world's great harbors, and its feeble Te Deum is often silenced by the cannon of incoming steamers. " The Church itself was built in a fervor of pious zeal ; carpenters and masons giving their work, and the good pastor selling or pawning the best articles out of his house when money did not come in fast enough, and carrying the hod every day himself." The main body of the building is unaltered to the present day. The tablets in the chancel record the sacrifices and sufferings of the early 14 A'/A'G'.S IfAXnnOOK OF EP/SCOPAl. Cin'RCHES. missionaries who sleep below, and the gilt cherubs in the choir sent out from Sweden still sustain the open Bible, with the significant inscription: "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light." Wilson, the ornithologist, worshipped here, and is buried in its little cemetery. He begged to be buried here because it was a silent, shady place, where the birds would be apt to come and sing over his grave. Here also lie .-^ buried the remains of Hannah, wife of the Rev. Nicholas Collin, the last of the Swedish mission- aries, whose epitaph written by her husband, runs : "In memory of her piety, neatness, and economy, and of the gentleness of the affec- tion with which she sustained him througii many trying years, and of his grief for her which shall not cease until he shall meet her i n the ,li land of the liv- ing." The great bcech-wodd trees which once sur- rounded the Churcii have disappeared, and the Church is surrounded now with the graves of those who worshipped within its walls. The parish is actively useful among the descendants of the Swedes and the neighborhood people, under the leadership of its present rector, the Rev. Snyder B. Simes. Gloria Dei, or Old Swedes', Philadelphia. ST. PETER'S CHURCH, White House, Va., is spoken of in American history as the Ciiurch in which Washington was married. About fortv miles from Richmond, on the Pamunky River, is an estate of many acres still known as " the Wasliington estate," from the facts that Washington came into possession of it by his marriage with Mrs. Martha Custis, and that he lived there at the " Wliite House " for a short time after his marriage, before he removed to Mount Vernon. The name, the "White House," was given to the region around, the building being a landmark. During the civil war of 1S61-65, the "White House" district was the scene of important military movements. St. Peter's Church is three miles distant from the old White House. KING'S HANDBOOK' OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. >5 Before the altar of this Church, Washington plighted his troth to the young widow Custis. Says Mr. F. S. Daniel, — "The Church was built in 1703, at a cost of 146,000 weight of tobacco, then the currency of the locality. Its steeple was put up twelve years afterward. " Both on account of its record, and its simple, pleasing Old English architecture, it is the most attractive colonial church still standing in \'ir- ginia. It is built in the form of a parallelogram, with tower and surmount- ing steeple connecting at one end with the body of the edifice, all ^ the proportions, fineh haimonizm. The walls of red bricks are three feet thick; the windows are small with rounded tops ; the tower is quite large with four rising proj e c- tions, capped with spheres, and is sur- mounted with a low steeple, hold- ing on its extremity the cross-keys of St. Peter as a weather-vane." Following is the traditional account of Washington's wedding : Wash- ington and Mrs. Custis rode to the Church in a gorgeous chariot, and the invited persons followed them in vehicles of various shapes. When they stood up before the minister to be married, Washington towered beside his betrothed, who looked unusually small and low in stature ; and the difference was remarked by all who were present. Washington was in uniform, and Mrs. Custis was arrayed in a fine white-silk dress. As they came out of the Church, the newly united couple had a joyful appearance, Washington himself smiling upon and chatting with several of the attendants. All the servants on the White House estate were given a holiday, and all in holiday attire joined in the general merry-making that followed. St. Peter's Church, White House, Va. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, near Wickford, R.I., also known as " The Old Narragansett Church," is an old building still standing, although not in regular use. Occasional services are held in it. and it is carefully kept from decay. 1 6 A/.\(,.\ //.I.\/)A'(>(JA (>/■ Er/SCO]\ll. CHURCHES. It was erected on a site five miles from where it now stands, and was moved to the present spot in 1800. The date of its erection was 1707. The chan- cel, which was originally eastward, was removed at a later time to the north side, where the pulpit and reading-desk stood. There was originally a gallery around three sides of the interior, and the seats were clumsy and uncom- fortable. Says the Rev. D. Goodwin: "On a bright .Sunday 150 years ago this quaint Church must have been the centre of a scene most pleasant to behold, and of a character of which the memory has almost van- ished. There were then no carriages of any consequence owned in Narragansett, the narrow roads being little fitted to their use ; and almost every one depended upon the saddle as a means of conveyance. Gay cavaliers in scarlet coats escort richly dressed dames, and in the gallery are groups of ebony-skinned servants. . . . The old Church has now become a shrine, whither the eager feet of manv a pious pilgrim are wont to hasten. It bids fair to stand for half a century, or even a cen- tury, longer, as a witness of the zeal of the fathers for the worship of the living (lod.'' Bishop Clarke says," Several distinguished clergymen officiated there from time to time. Among them may be m e n t ioned Dr. McSparren, author of a book on the Colonies entitled ' America Dissected ; ' the Rev. Mr. Fayerweather, who died in 17S1 : and the Rev. William Smith, from whose pen we have the Office in the Book of Common Prayer for the Institution of Ministers into Parishes and Churches, and who perhaps did more than any one else to introduce cliantinf its liistory, or simply to stand witliin tliest: time-honored walls, where prayer and praise have ascended from earnest and loving hearts to the Father of all for nearly a century and three-quarters. To-day we make another most interesting epoch in its history by assembling here to commemorate its handsome restoration and preservation. In this great work more than three hundred persons, living here in Marblehead and in various parts of the country, have given liberally and cheerfully towards its accomplishment. It will add greatly to its history in years to come, that the members of the Senate of Massachusetts of tSS.S came to-day to present a stained-glass window to the parish, thus honoring this parish as no other was ever honored before in this country." After the rector's address, the Hon. H. J. Boardman, President of the Massachusetts Senate, made an ad- dress, formally presenting the beautiful window called " The Senate Win- dow," representing Moses giving the Law on Sinai. In his address he said, " It is remarkable that to-day Massachusetts senators, largely descendants of the Puritans, have assembled to pay their homage and tribute to the iden- tical temple their forefathers denounced and opi^osed. We can do little more than repeat that the times have changed, and we have changed with them. The spirit of toleration has kept pace with the development of civilization and progress."" The historical address was delivered by tiie Hon. Samuel Roads, jun., in which the origin and progress of the parish were minutely recounted in a most interesting manner. The petition for a minister sent in 1714 recited that "the town of Marblehead, next to Boston, is the greatest place of trade and commerce within this province, daily adding to its numbers persons chiefly of the Church of England ; and by the blessing of God we have a certain i)rospect that the Church here will be every day increased, and flour- ish more and more."" In response to this petition, the Rev. William Shaw was sent here as the first rector, and began his duties July 20, 1715. At the time of the Revolution the rector was the Rev. J. W. Weeks, who, being a decided loyalist, advised his people to have nothing to do with the " rebel- lion."' Despite the remonstrances of manv of his congregation, he continued to declare his sentiments publicly ; and as a »result the hostility to the Church grew strong and bitter, for the people of Marblehead were patriotic, and were willing to sacrifice life and property in the great struggle for inde- pendence. Finally the Church was closed. When the news of the Declara- tion of Independence was received, a body of men entered St. Michael's, tore down the royal coat-of-arms from the walls, and rang the bell until it cracked. The rector, after holding services in private houses for a time, went to N'ova Scotia. During this trying period, manv of the parishioners became noted for their devotion to the Church. One of them, fearing that eventually all the Praver Books would be destroyed, copied the entire volume with his own A'/iVG'S HAA'DBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 19 hand. The Churcli was not re-opened until 1780, when Mr. Woodward Abraham read service and prayers. Tliis he continued for six years. Among the rectors were the Rev. Dr. William Harris and his grandson the Rev. William R. Harris. The former served for eleven years from 1791, and then became president of Columbia College, New York. His grandson was rector from 1878 to 1886. Bishop Smith was rector for a vear, and Bishop Henshaw for four years. The Rev. Julius H. Ward, well known as a writer and editor, served the parish for three years. The interior of the new, handsomely decorated and refitted Church has a number of objects of interest. Among them is the chandelier, about two hundred years old. and some memorial and gift windows. One window of Venetian and an- tique glass is in memory of Mrs. Thomas Apple- ton. It represents Dorcas giving garments to the poor. Another, the Ascension window, is in memory of Wil- liam Haskell and wife. The Sen- ate window has been before de- scribed. The Parish window represents St. Michael casting out Satan. It is a memorial of Thomas Evans, a former warden. The Good-Shepherd window is the gift of the Sunday school. The recent changes and renewals cost about S5,ooo, and the building to-day has not only its antiquitv but its comeliness to make it attractive to its own people and to strangers. St. David's, Radnor, Penn. ST. DAVID'S CHURCH, Radnor, Penn., has been made known far beyond its own neighborhood by the poet Longfellow in his poem " Old St. David's at Radnor." Relating the story of the poem, he says, " One day i drove over to Radnor. Old St. David's Church, with its charming and pictur- esque surroundings, attracted my attention. Its diminutive size, peculiar architecture, the little rectory in the grove, the quaint churchyard where Mad Anthony Wayne is buried, the great tree which stands at the gateway, and the pile of gray stones which makes the old church, and is almost hidden by the climbing ivy, all combine to make it a gem for a fancy picture." 20 A-/.\G\S JIAXDIWOK' OF EPISCOPAL CIILRCHES. OLD ST. DAVIDS A 1 RADNOR. What an image of peace and rest Is this little church among its graves ! All is so quiet : the troubled breast, The wounded spirit, the heart oppressed, Here may find the repose it craves. See how the ivy climbs and expands Over this humble hermitage, .And seems to caress with its little hands The rough gray stones, as a child that stands Caressing the wrinkled cheeks of age. You cross the threshold, and dim and small Is the space that serves for the Shepherd's fold The narrow aisle, the bare white wall. The i)ews, and the puljjit quaint and tall. Whisper and say, " .Mas ! we are old." It is not the wall of stone without That makes the building small or great. But the souTs light shining round about, .And the faith that overcometh doubt. And tlie love tliat is stronger than hate. Here would I stay, and let the world With its distant thunder roar and rcjll ! Storms do not rend the sail that is furled. Nor like a dead leaf, tossed and whirled In an eddy of wind, is the anchored soul. St. David's Cluircli, commonlv called •• Old Radnor,'" is situated fourteen miles from Philadelphia, about two miles south of Wayne. The Ciuirch, built of native stone, and, where not concealed by ivy, look- ing as if h\\\\\. but yesterday, stands facing the south, on a long, gently sloj)- ing hillside, in its quiet graveyard, surrounded and embowered by trees. Although there are in the graveyard interments of an older date, the oldest monument is a slab of soap-stone brought from Wales, and bearing date of 1 716. Scattered here and there are stones bearing quaint and curious epi- taphs. Here also is the monument erected by the Society of the Cincinnati to the memory of Cien. Anthonv Wayne, sometime commander-in-chief of the army of the United Stites, whose body was brought from Krie. and placed beneath the stone in 1S09. The exact date when the Church was KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 21 organized is not known : hut it is certain that a congregation was established here as early, at least, as 1 700. A local historian tells us that the corner-stone of the present Church was laid on the 9th of Ma)', 1715, and, describing the ceremon)-, sa'ys, "First, a service with preaching was held in a private house ; then they went to the place where the Church was to be built. There a prayer was made, after which each one of the clergymen present laid a stone according to the direction of the master-mason."' The rector of the parish in 1888 is the Rev. George A. Keller. CHRIST CHURCH, Boston, Mass., is the oldest existing place of worship of any kind in IJoston. It is situated on Salem Street, at the North was laid April 15, the 29th of De- 2:i- feet thick. Its End, in the vicinity of Copp's Hill. The first stone 1723; and the building was opened for services on cember, 1723. The structure is of brick, with walls dimensions are, 70 feet long, 50 feet wide, 35 feet ---=- ^ ^ ^. high, with a tower 24 feet square, and terminat- ing in a steeple whose top is 175 feet from the ground. The architect is not known, but the plan was after the well-known Churches erected by Sir Christopher Wren in England. The present pulpit, desk, and pews are of more recent date, but the general appear- ance of the Church inside and out is about as it was originally. The tower contains a chime of eight bells. "The first ring cast for the British em- pire in North America. 1744," is the inscription upon one of them. The chime is still remarkable for its purity of tone, sweetness, and harmony. The first organ was brought from Newport in 1736, and the second was built in 1759. The one now in use is believed to contain portions of these old ones. The parish possesses some extremely old gifts, such as silverware fo»" Christ Church, Boston, Mass. 22 A/\U'S IIAXn/HlOK OF Er/SCOl'AL CIU'RCIIES. the altar, Bibles and J^rayer Books, contributed by (".corj^e II. ol England, and by others. The ti<^ures of the cherubim in front of tlic oriilar among tlu-m has been old Trinity, at all times, but in summer its Sunday greatly increased. This old parish dates the Rev. Mr. Lockyear, a clergyman of the English Church, gathered a con- gregation. A building was erected before 1 702, but growing too small wAs removAl and given to the people of Warwick. A new build- ing was erected on the site of the old one, under the rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Honeyman. It cost about ^2,000. lis dimensions are, 70 feet long by 46 feet wide. It has two tiers of windows, and has galleries on three sides. This building, still standing, was completed in 1726. The architect was I'eter Harrison of Newport. He was the recog- nized head of his profession in that time ; and, as a writer said of him, " he did what he could to drag architecture out of the mire of Puritan ugliness and neglect." Notwithstanding the frequent changes that have been made in the old Church since the day the first service was held within its walls, it still retains many of the features with which those who built it were familiar. Upon its spire is fi.xed the crown which typified the sovereignty of (ireat Britain. Below the crown tlie clock which Jaiileil Brcnton gave holds an honored place. Within the Church the organ Bishop Berkeley pre.sented, and the pulpit from which the famous philosopher preached, still greet the eye. The old organ has of course been repaired and added to. but it is still the Berkeley organ. A crown surmounts it. sui)ported by a mitre on either Trinity Church, Newport, R.I. KING'S HAA'DHOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 2$ side. A huge old-fashioned sounding-board over tlie pulpit, and square high-backed pews with their seats facing in four directions, quickly remind the visitor that this is not a Church of modern construction. In the time of the Revolution all the other places of worship were converted into riding-schools or hospitals when the English troops held possession of the town. They did not desecrate this old Church, and its congregation continued to occupy it during all the Sundays the British stayed in Newport. The greater portion of the Church-of-England people, being royalists, followed the troops to New York ; and then the hot-headed young patriots hastened to despoil the edifice that had been cherished by their hated foes. They were unable to reach the emblems of royalty upon the spire and over the organ ; l)ut the carved coat-of-arms back of the altar was easily reached, and that they tore from its place, and trampled under their feet. It consisted of a representation of the lion and the unicorn. The building was then closed, and not re-opened for services for sev^eral years. One of the most prominent persons connected with Trinity was Mr. Nathaniel Kay, who was collector of customs. He was a liberal contributor to the funds of the parish, and left money by will to construct a schoolhouse, and to support a school for ten jjoor boys. The school was kept up except at intervals for many years, and finally, upon the opening of the public schools, was abandoned. The remains of the fund were used at length in constructing tlie brick chapel, called " The Kay Chapel," in a street near the Church. It is used for Sunday school and other purposes, and in effect, although not in precise form, under changed conditions, carries out the purposes of the Kay bequest. Among the persons who have served as rectors of Trinitv are the following : — The Rev. James Honeyman served fifty years, and died in 1750, at an advanced age, having lived to see the parish large and flourishing. The Rev. Theodore Dehon, afterwards Bishop of South Carolina, served from 1797 to iSro; the Rev. Salmon Wheaton, from iSio to 1840: the Rev. Dr. Francis \'inton. from 1840 to 1844; the Rev. R. B. Hall, from 1844 to 1846: the Rev. D. R. Brewer, from 1846 to 1855; the Rev. Dr. A. G. Alercer, from 1855 to i860; the Rev. O. H. Prescott, from 1861 to 1863 : the Rev. J. H. Black, from 1863 to 1866: the Rev. Dr. J. P. White, from 1866 to 1875. Canon White died in office. — a man greatly beloved. The present rector, the Rev. G. J. Magill, began his duties in 1876. CHRIST CHURCH, Philadelphia, Penn. — " Among all the buildings in this countr}-," says Dr. Foggo. "around which sacred and national asso- ciations cluster, and connected witli events on which the mind of the thought- 26 A/.\(,'S /l.\XJ>nOOk' OF JiriSCOPAL ClfUKCHES. fill American desires to (lucil, tlurt- is iiom.', periiajis. more interesting than old Christ Church." The Kev. .Mr. Diichc, its rector, made tiie tirst jirayer in Congress; Bishop White was the tirst chaplain: Washington and many of his generals and statesmen worshipped within these walls: Benjamin Franklin was a member of the vestry ; Francis organist. On the day Indepen- this Church were rung, and the from the wall. The rector, bishop of English consecration building was held the first gen- Church. Here the American Hopkinson was the volunteer dence was declared, the bells of bust of King George was taken William White, was the first in the L'nited States. In this eral convention of the .\merican Prayer-Bogk was adopted. Its bells have pealed for many hun- dreds of wed- dings, and tolled for many more funerals. •• The babe who was baptized in its font has been carried back in old age and laid before its altar, and then taken to rest in its c h u r c h y a r d. There are feu- old families in the city who have not some link with this o 1 (1 parish; and families not so old. and many living elsewhere, have felt the benefit of this pious foundation." The first building was erected in 1695 of bricks and wood: imt it became too small for the needs of the congregation, many of whom were converts from Quakerism. The i)rogress of the parish under the Rev. .Mr. Clayton and Dr. Evan Evans was so considerable, that the older members ot the Society of Friends grew alarmed, and forbade their young peojile to enter the building. The young i)eople obeyed the letter of the law, but not its spirit; for they stood around the windows, and heard the service and the preacher. "The country Friends coming into the market," says Louise Christ Church, Philadelphia, Penn. A'/NG'S JIAXDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 2J Stockton, '• had their own curiosity about this new vanity, and were moved to go and see what it was like; and behold! it was nothing new. What they heard was simply the old service familiar to so many of them, and tliey liked it. It brought back memories of their childhood, of England, and of the fathers who had died content in the old faith ; and as they listened to the prayers and chants they knew so well, but in which they now dared not join, old affections fought with new doctrines, and many went home dis- turbed and discontented, to return again and again to the little brick church, and at last to come for baptism. This went on until new members were numbered by the hundreds, and Dr. Evans's zeal grew stronger and stronger."' In 1727 the present edifice was built ; and during the nine years that the work was in progress, the congregation worshipped in the old structure around which the new one rose. Copied after the old English type of church architecture, built of bricks from the Old Country, it rose a monument to the skill which designed it, and an ornament to the city in which it then stood as a centre of attraction. As we look now upon its graceful outline and beautiful proportions, we cannot fail to see, that, for the time in which it was built, it is remarkable. In 1754 the tower and steeple were built, and a chime of eight bells was ordered in London. A portion of the money to defray the expenses was secured by a lottery of which Benjamin Franklin was one of the managers. Lotteries were not then considered inconsistent with religious work. The chime of bells was brought from England by Capt. Buddon in the ship " Myrtilla." He would accept no payment for bring- ing them, and so the bells were rung ever after when the •' Myrtilla '' was sighted down the river. The bells soon became a source of great pleasure to the people. " Every one wanted to hear the chimes, and it was ordered that they should be rung on market-days as well as Sundays. The people would walk over the meadows and through the woods from Germantown and other villages, until they could hear the sweet music of the bells. '• Their rich tones have extended into the rapidly growing city, and reminded men in the midst of their daily avocations, and in the quiet of their homes, of the service of Him who made them and will judge them." The visitor who enters the Church to-day finds it, in all essential par- ticulars, as it was a century and more ago. There seems to be no limit to the many interesting objects which attract the attention. Monuments, tablets, inscriptions, books, manuscripts, pictures, furniture, silver vessels, stained glass, — all have their story to tell. The liberality of past memliers has provided for the needy, and that of recent members has made pro- vision by endowment funds for the continuance of religious ministrations. Dr. John Kearslev is the 'founder, by will, of Christ-Church Hospital. He left his property to the Church for the benelit of ten poor and distressed 28 A'nVG'S J/AXDBOOK OF EPISCOPAl. CHURCHES. women of tlie comnuinion of tlie Church of Enj^land. In 1789 Joseph Dobbins gave somcthinjf to the same charit\ ; and so great has been the increase in the value of these l:)equests, that the managers were able to buy a large plat of ground, and build Ijuildings to shelter fifty aged members of the K|)iscopal Church. The Rev. William White was the rector from 1779 to 1S36. The Rev. Dr. IJenjamin Dorr served from 1837 to 1S69. The present rector, the Rev. Dr. Edward A. Foggo, has been in charge since 1869. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, Elizabeth River Parish, Norfolk, Va.— Among the old Churcli homes wiiicii have known many vicissitudes, but which still live on to do Christ's work, is the venerable Church which is pictured here. " On it. Time his mark lias hung ; On it, liostile balls have rung ; On it, green old moss has clung ; On it. winds their dirge have sung ; Let us still adore thy walls, Sacred temple, old .St. Paul's ! " The borough of Norfolk was incorporated in 1736, but as early as 1680 the town was established by .\ct of Assembly on fifty acres of land pur- chased for the purpose. No trace of the original Church remains, save in the record of the vestry granting the bricks and timbers of the old Church to James Pasteur to build a house. The present Church was erected, as the date in raised bricks on the south wall testifies, in 1739. ' '^^ building, which has many facsimiles in Virginia, is cruciform in shape, with arched windows and doors. The walls are of unusual thickness, and ornamented with glazed bricks placed at regular intervals. They are almost entirely concealed by the lu.xuriant ivy which also covers the walls surrounding the chinchyard. In the year [761 the parish of Elizabeth River was divided into three, — Portsmouth, St. Bride's, and Elizabeth River. In 1766 the Rev. Thomas Davis was rector. He was an ardent i)atriot, and chairman of the town-meeting which in .March. 1 7W), denounced the Stamp Act. The Church, as well as the Ixirough. had now to encounter the brunt of war. On New Year's Day, 1776, Lord Dunmore. enraged at the signal defeat of his forces at Great Bridge, opened a heavy cannonade upon the town. The town was entirely destroyed by the fire, the walls of St. Paul's alone remaining standing, though all the interior was destroyed in the flames. The cannon-ball, which has been cemented in the place where it struck the southern wall, still remains to tell the story of the bombardment. The cummunion-plate was carried by the enem}" to Scotland. A'/NG'S IIAXDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 29 Passing over much interesting history, we reach the year 1855, when the yellow-fever devastated the city. The rectorship was filled then by the Rev. William Jackson, for whom God had reserved a work which only a faithful servant of Christ could do. In this year the yellow-fever raged in Norfolk; and Mr. Jackson, with other Christian ministers, stood by his people. Men and women still speak of St. Paul's Church, Norfolk his gentle and untiring devotion to the sick and the atHicted ; but the parish register tells the story even more pathetically, with its list of seventy-nine burials, five and seven a day. The last burials at which Mr. Jackson officiated were three on Sept. 4; and he himself was laid to rest by his faithful brethren, the Rev. Aristides Smith and the Rev. Lewis Walke. His is the last interment from yellow-fever. It would seem that the Master spared him until his work was ended, and then said, '• Well done, good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."' It was no easy task to take charge of the decimated and impoverished congregation, and to make the Church once more a power for good in the community. But a man of God was sent, whose consecrated faith was only equalled by the unflinching courage which he brought to the task, and with 30 A/XG\S I/AXDIWOK Ol- E/'/SCOJ'.l /. C/ICRCHES. which lie met tlie still greater trials which tiic near tutiire had in change for old St. Pauls, — Nicholas Albertson Okeson, a man ol stronj^ individuality, unsjiarinfi in his judgment of sin, but full of womanly sympathy and ten- derness for the poor and sinful. As a preacher, he was strong, original, incisive, blunt at times, like I.atimer. He took such hold of the people, not only of his own congregation, but of the community, that it will not soon lose the impress of his character. Blessed with such a minister, the Church was beginning to revive and flourish, when war once more thundered in Norfolk liariwr, and the flock was again scattered. When the war was over, the minister and congregation lient their ener- gies to the work of restoration and repair. Money had to be raised to make the church habitable, and money in such a community was scarce: but love for tiie old Church, and devotion to the Lord, accomplished much, and a few years saw the parish prosperous as it had never been before. Dr. Okeson resolved to make the churchyard, which comprises nearly two acres, equal to the fairest he had seen in the mother country. The grand old elms and willows were there already ; but it is to his skill and labor that we owe the wealth of evergreen, the preservation of the monuments, whose scars he taught the kindly ivy to hide, and the flowers and shrubbery which make St. PauTs Churchyard so fair and restful a place. There, when his work was finished, he was laid to rest, by special consent of the city authorities, among the dead whose graves he had saved from desecration, and under the sliadow of the wall which echoed to his faithful preaching of the gospel of Christ. This old parish has been safely brought through all the changes and chances of time. War and division, fire and pestilence, have failed to close her gates. To-day, under the rectorship of the Rev. Beverly Tucker, she numbers nearly four hundred communicants, and ministers to as many as her time-honored walls will contain. Siie sees ten daughter Churches carry- ing on the work and spreading the i)iessecl gospel. But she is not only the Church of her own loyal congregation : she is the old parish Church, the borough Church, witnessing to the time when there were no divisions among Christ's flock in the old Colony, dear to all who dwell in Norfolk town, to all whose fathers sleep in her quiet shade. As the crowd hurries along the busy street where the old Church, built before there was a street, stands surrounded by her sentinel elms, many an eye rests for a moment upon the sacred spot, and many a heart is re- freshed by the glim])se of peace and quiet which the open gates afford. It is a restful contrast to the hurrying world without, — the green grass, the wide-arching trees, the water sjjlashing in the fountain, the fragrance of magnolia and hawthorn, the scarlet masses of the crape myrtle, the many- hued flowers, tlu' ciuaint old toml)s. the ivv-covered house of Gcxl. where A'/A'G'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHCRCIIKS. I so many generations have worshipptd and heard the benediction of peace, where so many weary souls have found the blessed Lord and laid their burdens at His feet. Many a passer-by has stopped to look, and breathe a silent " God bless old St. Paul's ! '" ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, Schenectady, N. Y., is not the oldest parish in Northern New York, but it lias the oldest Church building. The building so well known to so man) students from all parts of the country who tended Union College, and to many was begun in 1759, ^^^ ^^^^ gone manv changes, additions, and subti since. The stone walls of the nave roof are preserved in their oiigmal The last alterations, except some decorations, were completed in i8cS2. withstanding the changes and mipro\ rendered necessary by the progress it is the same old Chuich still, though it does, much of the piopoitior and elegant fur- nishings of an expensively built modern s t r u c- ture, it yet is rich in the time- woin gifts of af- fection, beautiful with the moss of age, and ivied all over w i t h the holiest memories and associations. ... In tracing out the history of the building, we must go back nearly to the beginning of the preceding century. The memories of the Old French War, in which the inhabitants of this town suffered severely, had hardly begun to fade away, and there was not the first thought of that Revolution which, seventy years afterwards, resulted in our independence of the mother country. The smoke of the Indian wigwam still arose all along this Mohawk \'alley, and the cry of the wolf and the panther could be St George s Church, Schenectady, N Y 32 A/\GS UA\J)BOOK' OJ- EPISCOPAL C/ICRCHES. lieard on its hillsides and in tiie forests. Tlioiigh fears of anotlier savage invasion had mostly subsided, yet the old fort, near by the spot where we are now assembled, was still staniling stocked with arms, and surrounded by the pickets or palisades within which the earlier settlers had been accus- tomed to find refuge in case of alarm. At this early period, the Rev, Thomas Barclay, missionary of the English Church at .Alljany, visited Schenectady, and was the first Episcopal minister who held services in the place." In 1748 there came to Schenectady a layman, Jolin W. Brown, whose memorv is now preserved on a tablet on the wall. He was only twenty-one years old when he reached here, and for sixty-six years he was the friend and unwavering supporter of this parish. It is probable that the name St. George was given the Church through him. Another of its early friends was Sir William Johnson, a major-general in the British service, and super- intendent of Indian affairs in North America. He contributed generously to the erection of this building, and induced his friends to do so. The building was begun in 1759. The first resident minister was the Rev. William Andrews, who stayed three years. The Rev. John Doty was in charge when the sounds of war echoed throughout the land. Mr. Doty, being a Loyalist, was arrested, and im- prisoned for a while, but upon being released went to Canada. The services were then suspended in the Churcli for the rest of the period of the war. When the independence of the States was acknowledged, and peace had been declared in 1782, the Church edifice was found to be in a dilapidated condition: the windows were broken, and desolation reigned without and within. .As soon as the little remnant of the Church people came together, and had received some courage and strength, they restored the building to its former condition, and re-established services. For a while they could not have a settled minister, but de])ended upon the clergy of Albany and sur- rounding towns. In 179S the Rev. Robert Whetmore took charge, and from that day onward its affairs moved on in uninterrupted order and with increasing success. The building then was al)out half its present length, measuring fifty-six bv thirtv-six feet, with three windows on each side, and in front a small wooden steeple surmounted by a cross. The pulpit with a long flight of stairs was against the east wall in the centre, with a reading- desk in front, and a clerk's pew in front of that. The altar with railing before it was on the north side. For a year or two about 1825, in the absence of a rector, the services were kept up, with much acceptance to the congregation, by .Alonzo Potter, tlien tutor in L'uion College, and in later years the great-hearted Bishop of Pennsylvania, A tablet in his memory has been placed by the trustees of the College on the wall of the Church. During the ministrv of Rev. Albert A'/iVG'S HAA'DBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 33 Smecles, the question was debated whether to pull down the old building or to enlarge it. Happily the latter course was adopted, and so in 1838 two transepts were added to the old nave. "But alas!" says Dr. Payne, "the former chancel arrangement was discarded, and in lieu of it arose a huge three-decker, — a pulpit large enough for several, and a desk of correspond- ing size, with a communion-table in front. Under the pulpit was a hole where the clergyman could go and change his surplice for a black gown between the service and the sermon." Since those days a proper chancel has been added to the east end, and various other improvements have been made. St. George's Parish was the first cure of John Williams, who is now the presiding bishop; and here the Rev. Dr. William Payne has served for forty years with singular fidelity, commencing his rectorship in 1848. The present rector is the Rev. J. P. B. Pendleton, Dr. Payne retaining his connection with the parish as rector emeritus. ST. PETER'S CHURCH, Philadelphia. — The needs of the Church folk in Philadelphia were met by Christ Church until about 1754, when the project of building a second Church was rigorously pressed by those living in what was then known as " the southern part of the city." The vestry of Christ Church were warmly interested in the scheme : and the proprietors of the Colony, the sons of William Penn, gave a lot of ground between Third and Fourth Streets, and extending from Lombard to Pine Street. Although William Penn was so active a Quaker, he and his two wives were the only Quakers in the family: his sons had become Churchmen. On the land thus given, the building known as St. Peter's Church was begun in 1758, and completed in 1761. "On the 4th of September, 1761," says Louise Stockton, in a chapter in "A Sylvan City," "the people met at Christ Church, and went in procession down to St. Peter's ; clerk and sexton at the head, then the quest-men, and then the vestry two by two : the governor and the wardens, the officiating clergymen, the governor's council and attendants, and, finally, the attend- ing clergymen. The youngest minister, the Rev. Jacob Duche, a deacon, read all the service except the absolution ; there was a baptism at the font ; and Dr. Smith, provost of what is now the University of Pennsylvania, preached the sermon. It is not difficult even now to picture this service. The old dignitaries with queues and ruffles all are gone ; but the high pews, the stone aisles, the pulpit with its sounding-board, the green and grassy churchyard, still remain, and St. Peter's is, in effect, to-day, what it was over a hundred years ago, when Gov. Penn had his pew in the south gallery, and Benjamin Franklin came with other worshippers from the North Church." 34 A/.vG's riAxn/iOOK or F.r/scorAr. criURCi/Es. For a long time Clirist Cliurcli and St. Peter's and then St. James were united under one vestry, and were served by the same clergy. At first when there were but two parishes, Dr. Peters and Mr. Duchd served the two, but in 1772 Messrs. White and Coombe liecame assistants. " When 1776 came, the political excitement was general, and the Churches were full of it. Dr. Peters had grown old and weak. Mr. Duchd had suc- ceeded him. with Messrs. Connihe and White as assistants. When Congress set aside May 17 as a day of fasting and prayer, there was ser- vice in both Churches, and fer- vent sermons were preached. Then came the 4th of July, and it was then that the vestry met. St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, Penn. (EAST ANO WEST INTEKIORS.) and struck tiic name of tin- King from the liturgy, and took down his portrait from the wail. Mr. Duchd had acted as chaplain to Congress, and his people were full of patriotism. But as the war went on, and reverses came, he lost heart, and wrote a famous letter to Washington advising him to come to terms with the English Government while yet there was time. He possibly had more influence over .Mr. Coomljc than over Wasiiington, for the former soon followed him to England. Thus Mr. White was left the only patriot of the three Philadelphians. That he still loved his old associates, is proved by his making the condition when electetl rector in 1779, that, if Mr. Duchd returned, he should be allowed to resign. But although .Mr. Duchd came back after the war was over, he never had any official connection with the ])arish again, but lived in the house his father had built for him; and in 1798 he died, and was buried at the east end of St. i'eter's." A'/A^G'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL C//CPC//ES. 35 Dr. White lived in a house on Front and Lombard Streets, where St. Peter's House now stands ; arrd here all the preliminary steps towards organizing the American Church and preparing the Prayer Book were taken. "Christ Church and St. Peter's clung together until 1832, when there was a formal and legal separation and division of propert)-, and all in a spirit of harmony and perfect good-will, and with the express condition that Bishop White should remain rector of the three parishes as long as he lived." He departed this life in 1836. St. Peter's has had its long period of steady prosperity. It has been under the care of men eminent in their profession. Bishop De Lancey was rector until 1839. Then came the ministry of Bishop Odenheimer from 1839 to 1859. After this Dr. Leeds served for eight years ; and then came Dr. Thomas F. Davis, Feb. 22, 1868, whose rectorship still continues. During Dr. Odenheimer's period, the daily service of Morning and Evening Prayer, and the celebration of the Communion every Sunday and holy day, were established. The only architectural changes in the building have been the erection of the tower and spire, and placing an organ-gallery over the chancel. "St. Peter's is the only building of the last century in Philadelphia that retains its original features. The square j^ews with their high straight backs, the aisles paved with stone and marble, the lofty pulpit with the sounding-board above, and the reading-desk beneath, — all endeared to the congregation by unnumbered and most hallowed memories, remain as they were in the beginning. The prosperity of the parish has suffered little abatement from the lapse of time ; and its future maintenance is secured by an endowment fund, the plan of which was prepared by the Hon. Horace Binney, in April, 1872." CHRIST CHURCH, Cambridge, Mass. — The original subscription- list is dated April 25, 1759. The architect was Peter Harrison, then re- siding in Newport. He was also the architect of King's Chapel, Boston. Christ Church cost, not including the land, ^1,300, and was long regarded as an edifice of superior elegance. The building was opened for public services Oct. 15, 1761. A traveller who wrote an account of it about that date said, " A Church has lately been erected at Cambridge within sight of the college. The building is elegant, and the minister of it, the Rev. Mr. Apthorpe, is a very amiable young man of shining parts, great learning, and pure and engaging manners." The minister himself, addressing the congregation on the opening day, said, " Much has been done already by your munificence towards completing a structure, the least merit of which is the honor it does our country by adding to the few specimens we have of excellence in the fine arts." A /AG'S 1/ A \ J) HOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. However it may Iiave Ijeen outdone l)y the beautiful stone edifices wliich have grown up around it, it must have been a vast improvement upon the ordinary meeting-houses of tiiat day. Later enlargements and changes in tiie interior have not destroyed its quaint simplicity and attractiveness. Under the wise direction of the rector, the Rev. Dr. Spaulding, and the assistance of the architect and decorators, there are few old Churches whose interior arrangements, coloring, and appointments are so harmonious and pleasing. Being near Harvard University, it becomes one of the familiar feature^ of the neighborliood to the tiiousand or more of students who throng that great insti- tutiorv The mis- sion was estab- lished and the Church built, as expressly stated, to provide for the spiritual I e e (1 s of the members of the Church of Eng- land resident in Cambridge, as also for such students of Harvard College as are of that Church. Special provision, there- fore, has always been made for the Harvard students. The ministrations of its rectors have been freely offered, and the doors of the Church have always been opened to the young men of the university. "The history of Christ Church is an interesting and eventful one. Prior to the Revolutionary war it was the spiritual home of many of^he leading families then resident in Cambridge; but when the war broke out, rector and congregation being loyal to England were scattered before the popular fury of the times. A large body of the tumultuous and unorganized Provin- cial forces which crowded into the environs of Boston took possession of the Church, the colleges, and private houses in Cambridge. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, a Connecticut company of militia was quartered in the building." When Gen. Washington took command of the army in Cambridge, he removed the troops from the Ciuucii, and had it cleansed. On Sunday, y«^';.t!i?.y;;^^- -.vv.- ' w : :f?a^ ^\J5s?.^^^ Christ Church, Cambridge, Mass. A'/NG'S HANDBOOK' OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 3/ Dec. 31, 1775, it was re-opened for services, Col. Palfrey of the general's staff reading portions of the Morning Prayer. Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Gates, Mrs. Curtis, and a number of the officers and others were present. There is a tradition that Washington on other occasions worshipped in this building, and a pew used to be indicated as the one occupied by him. For fifteen years after this the Church was neglected and disgraced. The doors were shattered, the windows were broken, and it was almost a ruin. No effort seems to have been made for repairing it, and for renew- ing services, until 1790, when clergymen from Boston and elsewhere began to officiate in it. It was fifty years, however, before the parish had a settled rector of its own. Twice it was closed, and the services suspended; and for part of the time its small congregations were content with lay-reading by students from the college. It was supervised, when it had any clerical oversight, by some one of the Boston clergy. In 1825 the building, which had fallen into decay, was put in good order, and regular services were resumed under the charge of the Rev. George Otis, then a tutor in the college. His successors in the rectorship have been many, and some have achieved great distinction. Among them are named Bishop Southgate, Bishop Vail, and Bishop Williams, Drs. Coit, Leeds, Hoppin, and Langdon, and others. The ministry of Dr. Hoppin extended from 1839 to 1874, thirty-five years. The present rector, the Rev. Dr. James F. Spaulding, entered upon his duties in 1880. Among the important events in his ministry have been the improvements to the interior of the Church, and the formation of the vested choir of men and boys. The chime of bells, thirteen in number, was the gift of alumni of the college upon the completion of the first hundred years of the Church, 1861. Some of the silver altar-vessels were given by William and Mary to King's Chapel, Boston, but were afterwards transferred to Christ Church by Gov. Hutchinson. CHRIST CHURCH, Alexandria, Va., celebrated its centennial anni- versary on the 20th of November, 1873. The parish itself was organized out of the parish of Truro, Feb. r, 1765, and was called Fairfax. March 28, 1765, a vestry was chosen, consisting of twelve gentlemen, one of whom was Col. George Washington. There were two Churches then in the parish, one at the Falls of the Potomac, and the other in Alexandria. The plans for the new Church in Alexandria were prepared in 1767 by James Wren, but the building was not completed until Feb. 27, 1773. On that day, ten of the pews being offered for sale, Washington bought pew No. 5. The first minister of the Church was the Rev. Townsend Dade ; his salary was 17,280 pounds of to- bacco. After the Revolution, the Episco]3al Church in this country was greatly 3^ A'/AO'S HAXDBOOh' OI- EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. depressed. One ot the first persons to set an example of liberality for the support of this i)arisli was George Washington. A formal document appears upon the vestr3-book in which he and seven other gentlemen agree that the l)e\vs owned by them shall be charged with an annual rental of five pounds sterling. In i8i i the parish. Among to the episcopate Rev. (jcorofe (iris- -"'•'- Rev. William Meade became rector of the those who followed him after his consecration were the Rev. Oliver Morris, Dr. Reul Keith, wold. Rev. John .McGuire, Rev. Charles .Mann, Rev. Dr. Dana, Rev. Dr. Walker, Rev. Dr. Ran dolph, Rev. Dr. .McKim, Rev. William M. Dame, and the present rector. Rev. Henderson Suter. Mr. Suter has been in charge since Sept. 15, 1878. The building is one of a pattern (juite common in Colonial times. It is built of bricks, the walls being very thick. It has galleries in the interior; but these, how- ever, are of later construction. The steeple was finished in 1818. Various additions and alterations have been made; but even as it is to-day, we get some idea of how it appeared to the eyes of George Washington when he worshipped within these walls. In 1S70 twin tablets were erected in the eastern wall of the Church to the memory of George Washington and Robert Edward Lee. Besides the Churcli building, the parish owns a ])rick lecture-room and a rectory. Christ Church, Alexandria, Va. THESE AND OTHER OLD-TIME CHURCHES. — "Very few communities built substantial Churches at the outset; but as soon as the pioneer struggle was over, better places for worship were provided," says Edward Eggleston in his article on "Church and Meeting-House before the Revolution," published in "The Century Magazine," April, 1887. "In Virginia the first Churches were rudely built; but when the primitive build- ing of mud-daubed logs and sedge-thatched roof fell into disuse, they surrounded it with a ditch to protect the ruins from profanation by the beasts of the field. This was an act of pure sentiment, for no Colonial i)uil(lings ever received consecration from a bishop. "The Anglican body in America had its roots in England; and wherever there was wealth enough, efforts were made [later on] to follow the prevail- ing fashion in English ecclesiastical architecture. Some of the early Churches succeeded in attaining considerable beauty of an imitative sort." Usually, A'/.VG'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 39 however, the buiklin;; was very simple, — a rectangle with gabled or hipped roof. Gothic architecture was not in vogue, nor was it in favor, in Colonial days, nor for many years after in this country. The Colonial architects were often the civil engineer, the retired military and naval officer, who, having seen more of the world than their neighbors, were thought to be better able to say how the new Church should be built. Mr. Eggleston says of the interior of these old buildings, '' Within, the Churches of the Establishment often had upon the walls tablets containing the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, usually in gilt letters on a sky-blue ground. There was also erected, according to law, a table of [forbidden degrees of] marriage to keep the [unmarried] parishioners in continual remembrance of whom they might not marry. Stone bap- tismal fonts were erected in some of the Virginia parishes. Church-bells were few in the early days of the Colonies, and the custom was in vogue of calling the congregations to service by beat of drum." The Southern parish Churches were probably not warmed at all, and but scanty provision was made for heating the buildings in the North. Foot- stoves were used in the pews, and a large stove in the vestry-room ; but in very many buildings the temperature in winter-time was low enough to dis- courage and scatter any modern congregation accustomed to steam-heat and the other luxurious appliances of the buildings of to-day. Tlie musical abilities of the Colonists do not appear to have been equal to much ornamentation of the services. In many parishes, nothing was attempted beyond a few hymn-tunes. In some there was chanting, and a few had some instrumental accompaniments. In 1700 there were probably not more than si.x organs in Maryland and Virginia, and there were Churches in which there was no singing at all. The use of the black Genevan gown and bands was common to all the Episcopal ministers while preaching, and some went thus attired through the streets on official occasions. The white surplice and black stole, how- ever, were not then worn by all in conducting services, there being curious prejudices against such a usage, especially in Virginia. In some of the Colonial Churches, there was a great deal of stately cere- mony. Speaking of King's Chapel in Boston, the Rev. Henry W. Foote says, " A fragment of the Old World in the New, and taking their tone from the echoes of English society iiT the numerous body of king's officials who worshipped there, they constituted a unique feature of life in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, gathering, as it were, into a focus all the influences from the English Church and Crown." On an occasion of public worship, one could see in that Church the rich costumes and striking groupings of that picturesque age. ^ 40 A/XG'S IIAXDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL C/fURCf/ES. " Chariots witli liveried black footmen brought thither titled gentlemen and tine ladies, and the square pews were gay with modes of dress which must have brightened the sober New-England life, as the ruffled sleeves and powdered wigs and swords, the judges whose robes were thought to give dignity and reverence to their high office as they sat upon the bench, the scarlet uniforms of British officers in army and navy, — all mingling with the beauty and fashion which still look down from old family portraits, the special flavor of an age very different from our own." NOTES. 1. King's Chapel here spoken of was erected in 1749 to take the place of a building which iiad been long used and often enlarged and repaired. The organization dates back to 1689. It continued in communion with the Church of England until 17S5, when the proprietors, at the suggestion of their minis- ter, Mr. Freeman, voted to alter the Prayer Book by ^^ striking out such portions as involved the doctrine Kne's Chanel °^ '"^^ Trinity. Ordination being refused to Mr. Free- man, King's Chapel became a Unitarian society, and ceased to be an Episcopal Church, although using parts of the old Liturgy. 2. The number of the Colonial Episcopal Churches is a surprise to any one who has not paid especial attention to the subject. Some of them, too, were of great size. One in Virginia, which has somehow gone into the possession of a different religious body, seated over twelve hundred people. There are others which were ornamented with artistic carvings and statuary, erected in memory of departed ones by families of means and culture. Many of these old churches have crumbled into ruins, some have been modernized, and a few have been renewed in the exact style in which they were built. 3. Persons who desire further information respecting the Colonial Cluirch can consult such volumes as the \'en. Dr. Hill's '■ History of St. Mary's, Burlington, N.J.:" Bishop .Meade's '-Old Churches and Old Families in \'irginia:" Batchelor's "History of the Eastern Diocese:" Perry's " His- tory of the American Church : " and the local histories of tlie counties in the different States, found in most public lii)raries. KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 41 €l)c J)Cconti J^cnoti» SOME OF THE CHURCHES BUILT MORE THA.V HALF A CENTURY AGO. Burd Monument, St. Stephen's, Philadelphia. HE War of the Revolution was almost a death-blow to many parishes and missions of the Church of England in this country. Only a few of them came through that long period of trial as prosperous as they were at the beginning. The great ma- jority suffered loss of property, member- ship, and reputation, and some of them were well-nigh swept out of existence. So great was the disaster to the Church in one of the Colonies, that when a question was asked of a leading government official at the end of the war, he replied, " I do not know if any remnant of Episcopacy is still alive in this Colony. My opinion is that it was all destroyed by the fires of the Revolution." The missionaries of the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel were in nearly every case loyal to the Crown. Many of the lay people were opposed to war because they hoped the oppressive measures of the home government would be relieved by a change of policy on the part of the King and his ministers, and because they dreaded the principles of many of those who were most vehement in their advocacy of strife. Not all, however, of the clerical and lay elements in the Church here sided with the King. In fact, the success of the Revolution is largely due to the patriot- ism of American Churchmen. Of the Virginia clergy, Madison, afterwards bishop, and some others, were decided partisans of the American cause. The majority of the South-Carolina clergymen, fifteen out of twenty, clung to their parishes. Dr. William White, the first chaplain of the American Congress, and afterwards Bishop of Pennsylvania, was faithful from begin- ning to the end. Dr. Croes, afterwards Bishop of New Jersey, was an officer in the war. Parker, Provoost, and Bass, three of the later bishops, were on the side of the Colonies. 42 A'/iVG'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL C//CKCIIES. Other cler'fymcn and many laymen of the Church, who at the first took no active part with the Colonists, afterwards finding that every means of conciliation had failed, and every hope of redress had been disappointed, threw themselves in with the fortunes of the patriots. But the general results of the struggle were at first disastrous to the Church ; and, as has been before remarked, only a few parishes held their own during the war. IJut, as Bishop Perry remarks, "The issue of the war brought independence to the Church. The Episcopate, so stoutly opposed before, so bitterly assailed, and so persistently denied, was among tiic first-fruits of the happv peace." In 1784 the first American bishop, Dr. Samuel Seabury of Connecticut, was consecrated at Aberdeen in Scotland, by the non-juring bishops. In 1787 Dr. William White and Dr. Samuel Provoost were consecrated at Lambeth by the English bishops, the former for Pennsylvania and the latter for New York. In 1789 the '■'■Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Clntrch in the United States of America'" was adopted by representatives of the different portions of the Church : and in 1790 " The Book of Common Prayer,'" substantially as we now have it, and taken almost entirely from the English Prayer Book, came into use. Thus " when in the course of Divine Providence these American States became independent with respect to civil government, their ecclesiastical independence was necessarily included ; but," continues the Preface to the Prayer Book, " this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or further than local circumstances require." Thus newly organized, and adapted to the changed political conditions of the country, the Episcopal Church licre took up its work. It made but slow progress for many years ; it was weak in numbers and in resources ; it was confronted by obstacles of every kind ; it had to overcome prejudices of the most bitter character. For a long while all it could hope for was simply to live. We must not look for much Church-building or for much missionary work from the end of the Revolution to 1832, fc- that interval was the period of recuperation. By degrees, however, new strength came : and we see efforts made to re-open some of the abandoned Churches, and to build new ones, to take hold of new opportunities, and to use old ones. As population increased, as emigrants arrived, and as new settlements were opened, the Church slowly grew in vigor, and sought to adapt itself more and more to the needs of the day. The following are a few of the Churches built in the early part of this centurv, and may serve as illustrations of styles of architecture once in favor. ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, Washington, D.C. — Said a gentleman well known as an miiuLnt lawyer, and an anient member of the Unitarian liody, " I am surjirised as I notice the large numi)er of men, distinguished in KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CIliTKCIIES. 43 public life, who are in some way identified with the Episcopal Church.'* It would certainly excite still more surprise in one not acquainted with the facts, were he to study for the first time the history of old St. John's Church, Washington. It may well be said " that most of the noted men occupying place and power in civic life, during the past half-century, have usually worshipped w i t h i n its -alls. It was an es- tablished usage from the days of Madi- son to the Presi- dency of Lincoln, that the execu- tive magistrate should stated- ly attend ser- vice there. Befor? the war it was St John b Church, Washington, D C then, strictly speaking, the President's Church."' Tin w w dens of the parish have usuall} been the superior officers of the army and navy, and the stanied- glass windows perpetuate the memory of many an officer distinguisiied in the service of the Government. Other persons prominent in the management of the parish have occupied high social and civic positions; so that old St. John's has been quite inti- mately associated with the best portions of the life of the capital, and so has had an influence radiating to all parts of the country. The parish dates back to 1815. The corner-stone of the Church was laid February, 18 16. The architect was Mr. B. H. Latrobe. Subsequently the building was somewhat altered, and the tower and porch erected. The most important changes were made in 1S83, when a sanctuary was added^ 44 A'/.\'6'.V HAXDIiOOK Ol- EP/SCOI'AL C//L'RCHES. the interior remodelled, and many fine additions put in place. The eye cannot glance in any direction without seeing some memorial. Over the altar is a brass cross commemorating President Arthur. The chancel window is in memory of Mrs. Arthur. The altar and reredos commem- orate Mr. and Mrs. James S. Thayer. In the west wall is a window in memory of Presidents Madison, Monroe, and Van Buren. In the east wall another commemorates Tyler, Harrison, and Taylor. Over the south gallery is one to Gen. Winfield Scott, and in the north transept is another to Hishop Pinkney. A number of other windows commemorate persons whose names are well known to large circles. The Year Book gives some idea of the great activity of the parish. The buildings included in the parish are St. John's Church, St. John's Chapel, St. Mary's Chapel, the Cliurch Orphanage, Workingmen's Club, and the Parish Hall. In 1887 there were over nine hundred communicants, and the offerings for all purposes came to 550,416. The rector, the Rev. W. A. Leonard, D.D., is assisted by the Rev. J. M. E. McKee, the Rev. C. M. Pyne, and the Rev. William Holden. The following is taken from the report for 1S87 : " Fidelity in every department of our busy parish is grate- fully noted, and affectionate lay co-operation during the year has encouraged and sustained the clergy in their endeavors. V^ery liberal gifts have been made by individuals to several branches of the work, and valuable real estate has been accumulated. The Parish Hall was completed last Lent, and its cost of $10,500 paid from the offerings of the congregation and Sunday school. In it we hold our various meetings of guild, au.xiliary, Sunday school, choir rehearsals, and Bible lectures. Here, too, entertainments of a suitable character are permitted. It is, in a word, our parish workshop. St. ."Marv's Church and schoolhouse, for our colored i)eople, were finished, and dedicated to God by the Bishop last winter. They are monuments of liberalitv and zeal. Most munificent gifts have been made to this effort by nameless friends, and the vestry and congregation of tlie parish have supplemented the same very willingly. A beautiful Church, with full appointments, now stands to do the work of grace as Christ hath appointed ; and we are humbly thankful for this noble and attractive house of worship. Through the subscriptions of the brotherhood, we have enlarged our Workingmen's Club, and have, at pres- ent, attractive rooms where much good is being accomplished. X'aluable land adjoining the Church Orphanage was presented to us, as a gift memo- rial of Capt. Gustavus V. Fox, U.S.N., by his widow; and on it a commodi- ous building has been erected at a cost of $S,ooo, of which sum $6,000 was donated by the Government. For the maintenance of the orphans, $1,500 is also granted annually by Congress. A thoughtful and loving presentation of a country home for the orphans, situated in \'irginia, near Arlington, was made to the institution last spring. Here is a good house, with ten acres A'LVG'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 45 of land, and in a healthy location; and here the children enjoy a summer freedom from the city heats. Thus have we been blessed ; and for it all, with the sum of statistics hereafter appended, we render hearty thanks to our adorable God." St. John's Church is open all day for private devotions. Daily public prayers are said at 4 p.m. The Holy Communion is celebrated every Sunday, and on festival days in the week. On Sunday afternoons the Even- ing Prayer is chorally rendered, the music being led by the vested choir of the parish. ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, Newburgh, N.Y., is one of the oldest church organizations in the Diocese of New York. The earliest notice of it is an application made to the Propagation Society in England for help towards the support of a missionary in 1728. In 1753 there is the record of the grant of five hundred acres of land for a glebe ; and at various other dates reports were made by the missionaries sent here, of their services and successes. The Revolution was a period of great adversity for the Church throughout the country, and this parish suffered severely. In 1805 the parish was re-incorporated. In the year 1S15 the Rev. John Brown, then but in deacon's orders, commenced his ministerial labors at Fishkill. For many successive Sundays he held a third service in Newburgh, and later removed there at the solici- tation of Bishop Hobart, as affording him a larger field of usefulness. Deeply imbued with the true missionary spirit, possessed of untiring energy and an enduring constitution, he then entered upon "a vigorous, successful, and almost unprecedented ministry of sixty-two years." Speaking of the time when he began his work in this parish, he said, " I stood alone, the only clergyman of the Church between Yonkers and Poughkeepsie upon the eastern side of the Hudson, and between the city of New York and the town of Catskill on the western." The labors of Dr. Brown were not confined to St. George's Parish. He was most helpful in organizing new parishes in the neighborhood, and in keeping weak parishes alive. The services of St. George's Church were first held in the edifice known as " The Old Glebe Schoolhouse." It is not known when it ceased to be used for this purpose, but probably at the time of the Revolutionary War. When the Rev. Dr. Brown came to the parish, a building was temporarily fitted up as a chapel. In the following year the increase of the congrega- tion made it expedient to provide for their accommodation by the erection of a Church edifice. This work proceeded slowly, but steadily, until it was finally completed, and solemnly consecrated by the bishop of the diocese, Nov. 10, 1819. In 1826 its capacity was increased by the addition of a KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 47 gallery, and an organ was procured. In 1834 it was again enlarged, and the tower was erected, in which a bell was hung. Again, in 1853, it was further enlarged and beautified, and a commodious Sunday-school building and vestry-room were added. The Church, as originally built, was a substantial stone structure, rectangular in form, according to the usage of that early period ; but at this time a recessed chancel was added, giving it a more ch-urchly appearance, and in this year, also, the old organ was replaced by a new one. The' Rev. Dr. Brown resigned Feb. 16. 1878, but was made rector emeritus for life. He died Aug. 15, 1884, after a residence of sixty-nine years in^the parish. Feb. 26, 187S, the Rev. Octavius Applegate, who since Nov. 8, 1868, had been assistant minister, with full pastoral charge, became rector of the parish. In 1874 the ladies of St. George's Church projected a home and hospital, which was incorporated by the ladies of Newburgh and New Windsor. The former being a manufacturing town and a railroad centre, it was a much- needed institution, there being no provision on the part of the city for the sick and injured. In 18S0 the old-fashioned, narrow pews in the Church were replaced by more modern and comfortable ones, the chancel was dec- orated in a chaste and suitable manner, and a beautiful chancel window was erected. In 1884 a convenient rectory, in a good location, was pur- chased, and a new organ for the Church, of fine tone and quality, replaced the one hitherto in use. In 1886 the Sunday-school building was again enlarged, and other rooms were added, supplying long-felt needs. Dr. Applegate, after nearly two decades of untiring and zealous service, still continues as the rector of this parish. Part of his successful work has been the planting of a mission in the manufacturing part of the town, and the construction of a chapel. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, Boston, was built in 1820 at a cost of $83,000. One of the building committee was Daniel Webster. It stands in one of the most busy parts of the city, opposite the Common. It is in the Grecian style of architecture, a style quite popular in this country fifty years or so ago, and was thought to be a stately edifice in its early days. The walls are of gray granite, and the portico and columns are of Potomac sandstone. The interior is furnished with high-backed pews, not so high as in some of the older Churches, but short people when seated almost vanish out of sight in them. The ceiling is a cylindrical vault with panels which span the width. It is a great flattened arch, peculiarly well fitted for fine acoustic effects. Across the entrance end of the Church is a gallery, in which is placed a large organ and the choir. The chancel is partly a semi-circular extension for the altar, and a plat- 48 A'/A-G\S HAXDIWOK OF EP/SCOPA/. C//('A'C/fES. form j)r(»liiicling into the nave. Tlie cluincel window is of rich stained glass, representing St. I'aul preaching at Athens. To the right and left are paint- ings representing the Four Evangelists. The pulpit and lectern are of brass. In the rear of the building is the chapel, containing two stories; the lower rooms being used for meetings of the parish societies, and the upper room being the assembly-room for the .Sunday school, etc. The situation of St. Paul's makes it a convenient jjlace for special services, so that it is often open for missionary and diocesan gatherings. Under the rectorship of I3r. Courtney, its doors were thrown open daily for private prayer and meditation, and many services were held on week-days as well as on Sundays. Great interest has always been associated with the Bible classes held here by Dr. Nicholson, Dr. Courtney, and others. They were week-day gatherings, one each week, in the Church, open to all for the study of the Scrip- tures, and were largely- attended, not only by the people of the parish, but by strangers. Another feature of Dr. Courtney's ministry was the daily Lent and Advent lectures delivered by different clergymen in turn at noon. The time occupied by each service and lecture was about half an hour, so that busi- ness men and others could easily come. Very often the building, especially on the week-davs in Lent, would be crowded. Dr. Courtney's ministry was singularly successful, and ended here to the great regret of his friends. He was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia. April 24, 1S88. His predecessors were the Rev. W. W. Newton, the Rev. Treadwell Walden, Drs. Nicholson, Vinton, and Stone, Potter and Jarvis. Few names are so well known in the Church at large as the rectors of St. Paul's. Dr. Jarvis was the Church's great scholar and historian ; Dr. Potter became the grand Bishop of Pennsvlvania : Dr. Stone was at the head of the Episcopal Tiieological Seminary in Cambridge ; Dr. Vinton was a man of mighty intellect, and a superior preacher; and Mr. Newton has become widely known as a writer, and as an enthusiastic advocate of Church unity. Writing of Dr. \'inton's ministrv at .St. Paul's, the Rev. Dr. Phillips St. Paul's Church, Boston. A'/iVG'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 49 Brooks says: "Dr. Vinton's work may be considered as having done more than that of any other man who ever preached in Boston, to bring the Episcopal Church into the understanding, the sympathy, and the respect of the people. His vigorous mind, great acquirements, commanding character, and earnest eloquence made him an influential power in the city and in the Church." ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, Philadelphia. — In a letter to the Vestry, dated Jan. 17, 1825, the Rev. James Montgomery recites the origin of St. Stephen's in the following words : — " In the fall of 1821, having been providentially visited with a lingering indisposition, I found considerable satisfaction in employing my thoughts in the consideration of the best manner of turning my feeble talents to advan- tage in the promotion of the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. Aftei some time the idea occurred, that the meeting-house formerly occupied by the Methodist congregation, and standing on the site of St. Stephen's, and then vacant, might be procured ; in which case I was resolved, as soon as my health would enable me, to occupy it on the evening of the Lord's Day. " By the kind instrumentality of my friend Mr. Bancker, the house was obtained from the worthy owners, the Messrs. Kelly, who generously offered me the exclusive use of it. My first service in it was celebrated on the evening of Jan. 20, 1822. A considerable interest seemed to be excited on the subject, which was unequivocally evinced by the numerous and respect- able attendance with which I was favored. I did not calculate confidently upon the results which have been realized ; but I could not but flatter and encourage myself with the belief, that there was a possibilit}', at least, that the establishment of another Episcopal Church might be the consequence." The movement thus begun resulted in the purchase of the meeting- house and the land. William Strickland was engaged as the architect of the improvements needed. A corner-stone was laid by Bishop White on the 30th of May, 1822; and what was substantially a new building then arose, only a portion of the old building in the rear having been retained The consecration by Bishop White took place Feb. 27, 1823. The cost of the building was considerably more than was at first contemplated, but part of the debt was removed by selling off lots in the surrounding grounds for burial purposes. The parish immediately became a prominent one in the city. Its growth was steady all through Dr. Montgomery's rectorship of eleven years. It was regarded from the very first as a Church in the city where things were done in admirable order. The debt was gradually reduced. A new organ was built. The walls and windows were decorated. The congregation was steady and devout : and Dr. Montgomery lived to see the mission, A-/XG\S 1/ A:\DlWOh- OF E/'/SCO/'AL CHURCHES. to which he first ministered in the Metiiodist meeting-house, one of the foremost parishes in that city. During Dr. Montgomery's rectorsliip, there were baptized 450 persons. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. }lenry W. Ducachet of Norfolk, \'a., whose work began in October, 1S34. For some years the prosperity of the parish continued ; but the removals to other parishes, and many other drawbacks, made it hard to meet the expenses. After a little while, however, the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Shippen Hurd, especially of the latter, lifted the parish out of its financial difficulties, and helped it forward to its later career of usefulness St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia, Penn. and success. In 1848, upon the death of Mr. Burd, the provision of his will for the erection of a monument in St. Stephen's, to his children, was carried out. A small memorial chapel was built off the north wall of the Church, between the first and second windows, upon ground presented by Dr. Ducachet. In this chapel was placed Steinhauser's group, " The Angel of the Resurrection,'' probably the most exquisite piece of memorial art which has yet appeared in America. (See the initial letter on p. 41.) From this time forward for some years the history of the parish includes a number of munificent deeds and gifts by Mrs. Eliza Howard Burd. In 1849 she placed in tlie Church a mural monument in the shape of a recum- KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. $1 bent effigy of her late husband. In the same year shfe gave some silver altar-vessels. In 1850 she paid in full all the debts then resting upon the Church. In 1853 she gave the full chime of bells, and the bells were rung for the first time on Christmas Day. In 1859 she gave the font, sculptured in Italy by Steinhauser, representing three angels bearing the emblem of our Lord's Passion, and supporting by their wings a large marble bowl. The cover is of bronze, surmounted by a statuette of St. John the Baptist. When Mrs. Burd died in i860, it was found in her will that the orphan- age she had started in her lifetime was to be enlarged and carried forward by the parish, with resources amounting to about $700,000. In 1862 the noble buildings of the Burd Asylum in West Philadelphia were opened, and the institution began then its noble work of sheltering orphan girls. Up to 1888 it had received one hundred and seventy-one, and has now sixty in its care. Her interest in orphan children was no doubt intensified by the loss of her own children ; and as God had called her own to Himself, she would be a mother now to those who had no one on earth to protect and care for them with a mother's care. The Burd Asylum with its beautiful grounds, noble buildings, charming Chapel, under the management of the warden, the Rev. G. J. Burton, who has been in charge since 1872, is an object of special interest among the many noble institutions that are found in Philadelphia. The work done by Mrs. Burd for St. Stephen's Parish was unique ; for not only did she rescue it from great financial embarrassment, but she placed it upon a firm foundation, and intrusted it with the means of incal- culable usefulness in the future. But the success of the parish was also due to the ability of the clergy and the devotion of the lay people. During Dr. Ducachet's ministry of twenty-one years he baptized twelve hundred people, married four hundred couples, and buried seven hundred persons. His assistant for a time, and then his successor, was the Rev. Dr. William Rudder of Albany. Dr. Rudder was rector from 1865 to 1880. With the administration of Dr. Rudder, the parish entered upon a period of prosperity of a different kind. His marked ability as a preacher soon attracted an attendance at the services such as had not been seen before, so that the question of enlarging the Church building in some way became very pressing. In 1878 the much- needed enlargement of the Church was effected by breaking through the north wall, and building the transept and gallery as it now stands. At the same time the whole Church was decorated by Mr. Frank Furness, architect, of Philadelphia. In this transept was placed the, beautiful memorial window to Mr. James Magee, for many years a vestryman and warden, by his family. The prosperity of the parish continued uninterrupted under Dr. Rudder's rectorship, until the tinie when on Sunday, the 27th of January, 1880, he 52 AV.VG'S HANDBOOK- OF EPISCOPAL CIICRCHES. officiated for the last time, and on Tuesday tiie 29th he died. During his rectorship there were baptized five hundred persons ; confirmed, four hun- dred and fifty; marriages, two hundred and twenty-five; burials, two iiundred and twenty. After tlie death of Dr. Rudder, the Parish remained for two years without a rector. In May, 1881, the Rev. Dr. S. D. McConnell of Middletown, Conn., began his work here, and at this date not only maintains the reputation of the parish, but makes St. Stephen's even more efficient in many ways. The parochial report to the Pennsylvania Convention of 1888 contains the following items: Money received from all sources, $51,052; present number of communicants, nine hundred ; baptized during the year, sixty- four; confirmed, fifty-five. The energies of the Parish now are being directed towards the construc- tion of a new Parish House, which will cost about fifteen thousand dollars when finished. One of the notable features of the Parish of late years has been the elal)o- rate music rendered under the direction of Mr. Wood, the blind organist, whose superb playing and fine taste have made the music very attractive and pleasing to all who enjoy an ornate rendering of the Church services. CHRIST CHURCH, Louisville, Ky. — The side walls of this build- ing, as they stand, were constructed in 1824, but the front and rear walls have several times been removed to enlarge the seating capacity and to beautify the architectural features. The building accommodates about nine hundred persons, and, although no longer in the residence portion of the city, continues to be crowded with one of the most devoted and active of the congregations in the diocese. The parish dates back to 1823, when some leading laymen united to form an organization and to build a Church. They carried their work on without the presence of a clergyman, and without public services, until the building was ready for use. After some years of struggling the parish gained great prosperity, especially under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. David C. Page, and the Rev. William Jackson. During the rectorship of the latter a new parish, St. Paul's, was organized to meet the needs of the Church folk in Louisville ; but the new movement depleted the old parish so consid- erably that for some years Christ Church was again quite feeble. In 1S40 the Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Pitkin became the rector, and the tide of pros- perity again returned. In 1844 there began the remarkable ministry of the Rev. Dr. James Craik, which continued for tJiirty-eight years, ending with his entering into rest June 9, 1S82. The progress and influence of the parish under the leadership of this saintly man have been almost unpre cedentcd in this country. KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 53 His great ability, his laborious life, and his personal example brought ■about results of the most gratifying character. He taught his congregation to do good to others in the name of the Lord ; and the visible results to-day are new parishes in other places, the Orphanage of the Good Shepherd, the Home of the Innocents, and the Church Home and In- firmary. He grew to be a man of command- ing influence in the dio- cese, and five times held the office of president of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the General Convention, the highest ofKce that can be held by a priest in the American Church. His influence was still further spread by his published works, which have not only edified the Christian world, but have very materially moulded Christian opin- ion. In 1870 the Rev. Dr. John N. Norton became the associate of Dr. Craik in the work of Christ Church, and proved himself to be a most noble helper. He was an interesting preacher, an indefatigable worker, and a friend of the poor. As an author his name is known everywhere. He served for eleven years, passing into life eternal on the i8th of January, 1881. Dr. Craik survived his fellow-worker only eighteen months. His last assistant was his own son, the Rev. Charles Ewell Craik, who succeeded to the rectorship in 1882, and now continues most creditably the good work of the men who preceded him. In grateful memory of Dr. Craik a member of the parish has given a splendid four-story fire-proof building, costing one hundred thousand dollars, as a Church Home and Infirmary. Dr. Norton's memory is kept alive by a building which he erected at his own expense for the use of the colored people. It is known as the Church of Our Merciful Saviour. Christ Church, LouisviUe, Ky. 54 A'/.\'6'.S- HANDBOOK OJ- EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, Rochester, N.Y., is the mother parish of Rochester. There are now nine other Churches, all but two of which are largely indebted to St. Luke's for their inception and establishment. This parish was organized by the Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, " rector of .St. John's Ciuirch, Canandaigua, and missionary in parts adjacent," on the four- teenth day of July, 1S17. Stated services were held by the Rev. George H. Norton and the Rev. A. W. Welton. Bishop Hobart confirmed four persons on his first visitation to the infant parish in September, 1818. In 1820 the first Church edifice was erected, being a wooden building, 38 by 46 feet, with a bell-tower ; and the Rev. Francis H. Cuming became the first rector. The little Church was first occupied on Christmas Day, and was consecrated by Bishop Hobart on the 20th of February ensuing. The prosperity of the parish, however, soon induced the vestry to resolve upon building a new Church ; and, accordingly, the corner-stone of another structure was laid May II, 1824, and the old frame Church was moved to the rear of the lot, and devoted to Sunday-school uses. The new building, whose general exte- rior features have in the main been preserved through every enlargement and improvement, cost $10,400, and contained an organ built by Hall & Erben of New York at an additional e.xpense of $1,300; the instrumental music in the old Church having been furnished by a violin, flute, clarionet, and bass-viol. The edifice was opened for public worship Sept. 4, 1825. The following contemporary description is taken from the first Rochester Directory, published in 1827 : — "The style of the building is Gothic, which has been rigidly observed in every particular. The main part of the front is of hewn gray stone from Auburn. The two corners of the tower and the corners of the body of the house are of red freestone, as are also the water-table, the caps, sills and jambs of the windows and doors. The two windows in the tower are strik- ingly beautiful, containing a proper number of spandrels and branching mul- lions, and ornamented with rich and delicate tracery. The tower is sixteen feet square, projecting five feet beyond the body of the Church, and rising to the height of ninety feet. In the arrangement of the interior will be seen convenience, elegance, and a strict economy of room. The ceiling is fin- ished with intersecting vaulted or groined arches, ornamented with stucco- work. In the Church is placed a large and remarkably fine-toned organ." The Church was consecrated by Bishop Hobart, Sept. 30, 1826, the cere- mony having been thus long delayed owing to the bishop's absence in Europe. In 1828 an enlargement of the building by an addition of two arches at the chancel end was deemed expedient, which improvement increased its length by thirty feet. In 1832 a Sunday-school building was erected in the rear of the Church, displacing the old wooden structure which up to this date had served for .Sundav-school purposes. In 1S50 a new organ KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 55 was procured of Appleton & Warren, and a chime of bells placed in the tower at a cost of $3,600, In 1855 handsome stained glass was inserted in St. Luke's Church, Rochester, N.Y. the windows, the interior frescoed, and the tower remodelled as it is shown in the cut. The expense of these improvements amounted to over $5,000. In 1866 a new and commodious Sunday-school building was completed at a cost of $6,000, which has afforded ample facilities for the numerous parochial organizations which have since developed the Christian activity of 56 A'/XCrS IIAXDBOOK OF RriSCOPAL Crn'RCHES. the parish. In this same year the present rector, having just entered upon his duties, urged the advisability of thorouglily remodelling and refitting the interior of the Church, and placing the whole edifice in the best possible condition. The congregation promptly responded with $26,000, part of which, however, was applied in liquidation of an e.xisting indebtedness. Before this remodelling of the edifice, there was no middle alley and no entrance through the tower , the pews had doors as high as the backs of the seats ; there were square pews in the gallery, and the building was heated with stoves. Steam-heating apparatus was now introduced throughout the Church and Sunday-school building; and the organ was renovated, and its power increased by several stops. Since that time various permanent improvements have been effected (including lighting by electricity) at an aggregate cost of $14,800. The Christian activities of St. Luke's Parish, which had been gradually developing, were consolidated into one organization at Easter, 1882, under the title of St. Luke's Guild. This general organization embraces twelve chapters, including the brotherhood, eacli actively at work in its special department, under the personal supervision of the rector, and governed by the Guild Council, which is constituted of tlie general officers and the chapter representatives. St. Luke's has had but seven rectors in the seventy-one jears of its existence : The Rev. F. H. Cuming ; the Right Rev. Henry J. Whitehouse, D.D., late Bishop of Illinois; the Rev. Dr. T. C. Pitkin; the Right Rev. Henry W. Lee, D.D., late Bishop of Iowa; the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Watson ; the Rev. Dr. R. Bethell Claxton ; and the Rev. Dr. Henry Anstice, who is still rector after an incumbency of twenty-two and a half years. There are at present in the parish 320 families and 650 communicants. The working force consists of the rector, an assistant minister, a deaconess, and about two hundred active members of the Guild. The harmony and prosperity whicli characterize the parish leave nothing in these respects to be desired. KING'S I/ANDBOOA' OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 57 €{)e Cljird J^crioli. PARISH CHURCHES AND PARISH BUILDINGS. Font in St. Luke's, Lebanon. |N the past fifty years, especially in the latter half of that period, there has been great activity in the construction of Church buildings. The advance made in archi- tectural skill, and the growth of financial ability on the part of many parishes, have made it possible to construct better build- ings than were those of an earlier period. Of late years the enlarged opportunities for usefulness which have opened out in many directions have called for some- thing beside places for Sunday worship; and so there have come into existence Guild Houses, Parish Buildings, Halls, and a variety of like structures. A parish to-day, in an active community, finds itself in need of a place of meeting for its Sunday-school and Bible classes, for its sewing societies and young men's clubs, and for other branches of its parochial organization. In the effort to meet the demand for such accom- modations, considerable ingenuity has been exhibited by the architects, and large sums of money have been spent by vestries and individuals. Most of the Churches included in this chapter have their Guild Houses or Halls or Parish Buildings, although in some instances it has not been possible to represent them in the pictures. TRINITY CHURCH, Nev^^-York City. — Whatever may be the promi- nence of other parishes, a leading place must be accorded " Old Trinity." Its beginning was coincident with the English control of New York: its great revenues have been wisely expended for the strengthening of the Church at large, and its earnestness has made it a power for good in the life of the greatest city in the New World. The first services of the English Church in New York date back to 1674, W'hen the province of New Amsterdam was ceded by the Dutch to the English. These services were held for twentv-three years in the little chapel 58 KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. near the Battery ; but on Sunday, March 13, 1697, a new building was opened. It was small, nearly square in shape, very i)lain, and had a gallery for the use of the Governor and his family. In that same year a royal charter was secured, establishing "The Parish of Trinity Church." Among its pro- visions were the following : That the Church already erected, with the grounds adjoining, enclosed and used as a cemetery, should be the parish Church and Churchyard of TrinityChurch within the city of New York, and that the Bishop of London should be the rector, with one as- sistant in priest's orders and a clerk. Nomi- nally the rectorship was held by the Bishop of London ; but the first rector was the Rev. William Vesey, who served for nearly fifty years. " During his term of office the charter of the parish was amended, improved, and cleared of Trinity Church, New-York City. all defects. Valuable endowments were secured, the benefits of which are still enjoyed after the lapse of nearly 200 years. The Church was enlarged and beautified, and great numbers of people in the city and vicinity were brought from dissent into the communion of the Church." The amended (.hartcr of 1704 perfected the title of the building and the KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 59 cemetery, and in 1705 the Crown made a grant of what was known first as the " Dominie's Bowery," then as the " Duke's Farm," the " King's Farm," and the " Queen's Farm," to have and to hold forever. This tract of land extended from Vesey Street to Christopher, along the North River. Mr. William H. Rideing, in an article in "Scribner's Magazine " in 1879, says, " One has only to look at the map to see the enormous value this gift has acquired in the development of the city ; perhaps no other real estate of the same extent in the world is worth the same price ; but the rents that could be collected from it 174 years ago were not great, and Trinity Parish at that time stood in need of money. The revenues of the parish are now grossly exaggerated in thb popular imagination. If the parish had held to itself all the land included in Queen Anne's grant, its financial receipts to-day would be immense ; but for nearly a century Trinity continued to give away portions of its land to most of the institutions and Churches that asked for it, not limiting its beneficence to the city or to religious purposes, and, in the case of St. George's alone, contributing over a quarter of a million of dollars in money and lands. " As a matter of fact, very little of the original grant remains in possession of the Church ; so that some twenty-five years ago, when the parish had become involved in financial embarrassment through its generosity, a change was necessary in the policy hitherto pursued, — a change which took effect in restricting gifts to the limits of the parish, excepting cases in which poor Churches had become dependent on the corporation, and could not exist without continued assistance. "A large part of the present income of the parish is expended in keeping up the estate. About one-tenth is given to poor Churches outside of the parish, and not one dollar is hoarded up. A very large sum is paid to the city each year in taxes and assessments. The balance is used in supporting the parish Church and its chapels and schools and numerous institutions of charity and benevolence." At frequent intervals, suits at law have been instituted by alleged heirs for the purpose of taking the property out of the possession of the parish. The claims of these persons to the property have been, however, examined by the highest legal authority in the land ; and the titles of the parish have been declared again and again to be valid and entirely incontestable. As the influence and wealth of the parish were improving, during the ministry of Dr. Auchmutjf, the Revolution was brewing ; and soon it became an offence to pray for the King and the royal family. The troubles increased, so that the Church had to be closed until the return of the British army, when it was again opened; but within a few days it was burned down, together with the rector's house and charity school. Dr. Auchmuty died in 1777, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Charles Inglis, who, however, was 6o A'/A'G'S HANDBOOK' OF EPISCOPAL Cl/L'KCHES. banished by the Colonial Government, and his estates were confiscated. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost was his successor ; and during his incum- bency the ritual was revised by omitting the prayers for the King, and the Church was rebuilt in 1778 on the former site. This edifice continued in use until in 1839 it was found to be unsafe. The present structure is the third on the same site. It was completed in 1846 from designs of Richard L'pjohn, the architect. Says Mr. Rideing, '• There are few persons, believers or infidels, who do not possess an affectionate interest in ' Old Trinity.' It e.\ists for one pur- pose ; and that is expressed, when, above the noise of the traffic that plies around it, its chimes ring out their melodious proclamations. In this vicinity Broadway is crowded to e.xcess. From early morning until late at night, busy or careworn business men hasten past the Church, or pause to talk in its shadow ; and the fine Gothic pile of brown sandstone commemorating the geherations associated with it can hardly fail to awaken thoughts of more enduring things than the commerce which impels these eager mer- chants, brokers, and bankers. The doors are ever open in the daytime; and from the feverish traffic of the street, one may transfer himself to the calm of the interior, where the light is softened here, or enriched there, by filtration through the stained-glass windows. The oaken pews have flowers and scrolls carved upon them ; and the groined roof is supported by colon- nades of sandstone, which in the mellow atmosphere lose all the obduracy of their material. The altar and reredos are wrought out of wliite and red marble, which, combined with Caen-stone, mosaics, and cameos, gives the effect of folds over folds of lace." It is one of the most satisfactory interiors lor all those who feel that a Church edifice should itself suggest and teach religious truths, and no one can enter its portals witiiout realizing that this indeed is a house of God. But, however beautiful the building and its appointments, nothing in this country can exceed the grandeur of the services lield within these walls, especially on the great Church festivals. Very simple are the daily services, often without music ; but on Sundays and great festal days, they are enriched lyitil they surpass description. The fame of these services, espcciallv those of Ascension Day. brings together great crowds of people, so that the late comer finds not even standing-room. The parish has done much for the improvement of Church music in this country, especially through the development of her vested choirs of men and boys. It was the cradle of choral culture in New York, although it had no surpliced choir until i860, and it was not the first to introduce one in this country ; but boys had been used in its choir a full century before they wore cottas, and sat in the chancel. In 1859, when Dr. Henry S. Cutler i)ccame tiie organist of Trinitv, he KING'S HANDBOOK OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 6 1 moved his choir from the gallery of the Church to the seats at the head of the nave, all the members of the choir being then boys and men. As this space was soon needed, the singers, not yet vested, were next seated in the chancel; and finally, in i860, they were vested. The experiment, begun twenty-nine years ago, seems to have become a permanent feature of the Church and its chapels. Of these chapels, St. George's has become inde- pendent. The others founded by Trinity are St. Paul's, 1766; St. John's, 1807; Trinity Chapel, 1855; St. Cornelius, 1868; St. Chrysostom's, 1869; St. Augustine's, 1877. " Trinity Churchyard, lying like a closed volume alongside the noisiest and busiest thoroughfare in America, is in itself an impressive and endearing history." It is little noticed by the hurrying multitudes who pass it daily in the rush of business ; but it is an interesting spot, whether we consider it simply as a resting-place for the dead in the shadow of an old Church in the heart of a great city, or whether we regard it as connecting the prosperous present of this great city with her precarious beginnings. " To spend a few minutes in this sacred enclosure is like paying a visit to a former city. Genius, beauty, worth, and patriotism, — behold! their reminders are on every side. Distinguished scions of Europe's nobility, names known to fame, leaders in thought and action, our own brave ones, and the ancestors of the leaders of to-day have found a resting-place here. The governor, the poet, and the soldier share equally in this consecrated spot. You may find traces of almost every great period in the history of our country, as you study the names carved on these stones." There have been nine rectors of Trinity Parish. The present rector is the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix. The average period of services of his predeces- sors was twenty-five years. He succeeded the Rev. Dr. William Berrian in 1862, and thus has been over a quarter of a century in this important position. Dr. Dix is a scholar, a vigorous speaker, a man of upright life, and has the qualities that make a great leader. He is aided by a corps of efficient assistants, both clerical and lay; and the extensive and complicated affairs of this great parish, with its chapels, schools, and institutions, are admirably managed. GRACE CHURCH, New -York City. — Two of the landmarks on Broadway are "Old Trinity," at the lower end, and Grace Church, near Union Square. When the latter parish was organized in 1808, its edifice was at the corner of Broadway and Rector Street, quite near Trinity. That neighborhood was then the residence portion of the city. In 1844 the pres- ent location, at the corner of Tenth Street, was selected. It was thought to be very far up town, and but few persons ever expected to see the city- spreading out as it now does miles beyond. 62 A'/XG'S I/AXOnOOK OF E/'/SCOPAL CHURCHES. The graceful building which has become the centre of so much religious interest was first used for services March 7, 1846. It belongs to the " Deco- rated " or " Middle Pointed" style of architecture, and, with its rectory and other buildings, makes a very conspicuous group on one of the most travelled of all thoroughfares. Until lately its spire was of wood, but it has now been rebuilt of stone. The group consists of the Church with the rectory and Grace House on the north, and a chantry on the south. The grounds on the north are very attractively laid out, and are always well kept. The great east window of the Church is filled with rich stained glass, and represents the Church triumphant. It is thirty-four feet high and si.xteen feet wide. The window, the reredos, and the marble tiling are the gift of Miss Catharine L. Wolfe, whose bene- factions to the parish have been most munifi- cent. She continued the noble generosity of her father, and enriched the parish in •i'.:t';niiiiiiiii>