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THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIST^ARY
A8TOR, LBNOX ANB
TILD£N F««mOATtO«0,
CHRIST CHURCH
CHRONICLES
OF
Christ Church Parish
WILLIAMSPORT, PA.
I 840 -I 896
>
BY
The Rev. Edward Henry Eckel, B. D.
Rector 1896-1905
PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF
THE VESTRY OF CHRIST CHURCH
AND
Brought Down to April, 1910
The Seventieth Anniversary of the First Episcopal Church
Service held in Williamsport
WILLIAMSPORT, PA.:
Press of Gazette and Bulletin
1910
SCr-
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
677798
AtTQR, LENOX JKfiH
TiLDEN fOi;N0AT'CN».
h 1914 L
Copyright 1910
By the Rector, Churchwardens and
Vestrymen of Christ Church
WlLLIAMSPORT
FOREWORD.
During the summer of the present year a Committee,
consisting of the Rector, the Wardens, and such others as they
might associate with themselves in the undertaking, was ap-
pointed by the Vestry to pubHsh, under the editorial super-
vision of the Registrar of the Parish, Mr. O. R. Howard
Thomson, the "Chronicles of Christ Church Parish," pre-
sented, in manuscript, to the corporation by the Rev. Edward
Henry Eckel, some time rector of the parish.
As the manuscript carried the history of the parish no
farther than the commencement of the rectorship of Mr.
Eckel, the Committee was instructed to continue the narrative
to the present time. For the chapter covering the rectorship
of Mr. Eckel the Committee is indebted to Miss Mary Smythe ;
that dealing with the rectorship of Mr. Jones has been con-
tributed by the Registrar. With the exception of these addi-
tional chapters, a number of historical and biographical notes,
inserted by the Registrar, and indicated by the abbreviation
"Ed.," and the insertion of matter relating to the parish's his-
tory subsequent to 1896, the "Chronicles" are printed exactly
as written by Mr. Eckel.
The Registrar desires to acknowledge the kindness of
many members of the parish in furnishing information and
answering questions, and particularly that of Miss Mary
Elizabeth Crocker, in the tedious work of reading proofs, and
in many other ways.
November, 19 10.
U^
Z
PREFATORY NOTE.
Most of the following historical sketch of Christ Church
Parish, WilHamsport, was written while I was yet rector of
the parish, and is now completed when I am far from the
records, documents, journals, and persons whom I would
wish most to consult in order to give to its last pages the
verification of data and accuracy of statement which I have
aimed to secure throughout. I have the satisfaction of feel-
ing, however, that where I am perhaps most liable to error,
the mistakes and omissions can the more easily be corrected
by parishioners familiar with the later history of the parish.
I may say frankly that it has been no easy task to prepare
this little work, because it has involved the careful study of
an extensive, fragmentary' and largely ephemeral literature.
I have been greatly indebted to the late Mrs. E. N.
Lightner, of Danville, widow of the first rector, who most
generously presented me wdth her husband's file of Diocesan
Journals extending from 1839 to within a few years of my
own time. This file I was able to complete from other sources,
and upon leaving the Diocese I gave it as a "permanent loan"
to the Diocese of Harrisburg. It is now in the custody of
the Registrar of the Diocese.
I am also under very great obligation to the late Mr. J. J.
Crocker, whose notes from the minutes of the Vestry from
1 84 1 to 1896 have been of invaluable service to me.
\Mien near the end of my task, as I supposed, my own
small, broken file of the parish papers published by two of
my predecessors was splendidly reinforced by the fuller files
collected, through appeals in the current "Christ Church Mes-
senger," by Miss IVIary Elizabeth Crocker for the local collec-
tion of The James \'. Brown Library, of WilHamsport. The
vi Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
accession of this large mass of material necessitated a careful
study of the new data, with the result of filling out the sketch
to much larger proportions for the periods covered, and the
rewriting of portions of the history already passed. This ad-
ditional work, while it has given greater completeness to the
narrative, has at the same time delayed its completion.
These three, then, have been my chief sources of infor-
mation, but I have been obliged to consult other documents
and persons, and at every step to compare and verify state-
ments, calculate figures, and make deductions according to
the best judgment that I could command. In giving the
dates of the beginning and ending of rectorships I have in
some instances been obliged to adopt the date of record, which
may vary by a few days or weeks from the actual date, of
which no record can be found.
The most difficult portion of the history for me to treat
was that of the earliest years of the parish, when it was feeble,
when rectorships were short, and records comparatively mea-
gre. Yet to this period of the history I feel that I have been
able to give a completeness which may possibly be lacking in
some other parts, but which, if extended to the last quarter
of a century, would have swelled this sketch to the dimen-
sions of a much larger volume. Especially did I feel the im-
possibility of doing full justice to the subject when I came to
the rectorship of Dr. Hopkins. As his was the longest rec-
torship in the history of the parish, so also, by reason of his
versatile abilities and wonderful activity, was it the most
eventful and most fruitful period of parochial development.
The story of those years, with anything like an adequate esti-
mate of the man himself, would be sufficient for a volume in
itself. I need scarcely add that, while a few allusions to
names and dates subsequent to the beginning of my own rec-
torshi]) will be found, I have not deemed it proper to attempt
any account or estimate of the work of that period.
I must be permitted to add that I can never cease to be
thankful to the Divine Head of the Church for permitting
me the privilege and happiness of serving Him and the
Prefatory Note vii
Church for several years as rector of a parish with such a
long and creditable record for zeal and good works ; and it
is, therefore, with a heart full of appreciation and gratitude
that I dedicate this historv of their parish to the dear people
of Christ Church Parish, Williamsport, whom I shall never
cease to love and admire as my friends and fellow-workers
for the glory of God and the bringing in of His kingdom.
Edward Henry Eckel.
Conversion of St. Paul, 1910.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Foreword iii
Prefatory Note v
List of Illustrations xi
Seventy Years Ago, 1840 i
Mr. Lightner's Rectorship, 1840-1842 7
Two Short Rectorships, 1842- 1844 13
Mr. Clark's Rectorship, 1846-185 1 17
Three More Short Rectorships, 1851-1855 21
Mr. Moore's Rectorship, 1855-1865 27
Mr. Wadleigh's Rectorship, 1866-1869 31
Dr. Paret's Rectorship, 1869-1876 39
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship, 1876- 1887 49
Mr. Graff's Rectorship, 1888-1896 61
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship, 1896-1905 71
Mr. Jones's Rectorship, 1905 — 89
Summary Notes —
The Parish Paper 105
The Bishops of the Diocese 109
List of the Clergy 1 1 1
Lay-Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers 113
Choir and Music 121
The Money Problem 129
Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel 135
St. John's Chapel 139
Gifts, Memorials and Thankofferings 143
The Parish in Archdeaconry and Diocese 153
Concluding Words 155
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Christ Church Frontispiece
The Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner *. .To face page 7
The Rev. John Baker Clemson 13
The Rev. Thomas Coffin Yarnall 15
The Rev. William James Clark 17
The Rev. John Henry Black 21
The Rev. Edward Pardon Wright 22
The Rev. Richard Channing Moore zy
The Rev. Albra Wadleigh 31
The Rt. Rev. William Paret 39
Christ Church : Interior 40
The Rev. John Henry Hopkins 49
The Rev. William Henry Graff 61
The Rev. Edward Henry Eckel 71
Mrs. Eliza Anna Christman, Deaconess 74
The Rev. William Northey Jones 89
Christ Church Parish House: Auditorium 91
Christ Church Parish House : Interiors 93
Christ Church Parish House : Interiors 95
St. John's Chapel : Interior 97
Vestrymen of Christ Church 113
Vestrymen of Christ Church 115
Vestrymen of Christ Church 117
Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel 135
St. John's Chapel 139
Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
WILLIAMSPORT, PA.
One soweth, and another reapeth. . . . Others have laboured,
and ye are entered into their labour. — St. John iv. 38.
SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
1840.
The Genesis of tpje Parish — The First Entry in the
Parish Register.
The services of the Episcopal Church were held in Wil-
liamsport for the first time in April, 1840, by the Rev. Edwin
Nathaniel Lightner, Rector of St. James's Church, Muncy,
who continued coming" thereafter every fortnight for some-
what more than two years. The borough of Williamsport can
hardly be considered as offering at that time a promising field
for the efforts of a Church missionary. Mr. Lightner, in his
report to the Bishop in 1843, writes: "When I commenced
to officiate in Williamsport, the remark was made by one of
the elders of a certain sect that I had no btisiness there, as
there was but one Churchman in the place, and that the
ground was occtipied : that is, was theirs by right of posses-
sion."^
1 In Meginness' "History of Lycoming County," p. 397, the num-
ber of communicants in the borough in 1840 is given as three. The dif-
ference is probably due to the fact that the secular historian included
persons who, though unconfirmed, were interested in the Episcopal
Church. As noted later, the Eucharist was administered on July
27, 1841, to nine persons, three of whom had not at that time re-
ceived the rite of confirmation. The "History of Lycoming County,"
published by D. J. Stewart, Phila., 1876, also credits the borough
with three communicants in 1840, and gives their names as "Francis
2 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Let us endeavor, in a few sentences, to gain a mental
vision of the Williamsport of that distant day. The population
of the borough^ in 1840 numbered 1.353 souls.^ Imagine this
borough as a straggling village built up mostly of low
frame dwellings. Ten years before the time we have in mind
the borough, after an organized existence of twenty-four years,
could boast only ten buildings of brick, including the Court
House, and we can scarcely suppose the numljer to have greatly
increased within the next decade. None of the buildings were
taller than two stories. Not only were the streets unpavcd. but
there were few sidewalks laid, and pedestrians had to make
their way as best they could. Academy Street was the eastern
limit of the borough, and West Street, as its name indicates,
marked its western boundary; wdiile "the forest primeval" ex-
tended to where the railroad now crosses East Tliird Street.
Pine Street ran as far as "the Ross graveyard" (the present
site of the City Hall), and all beyond this was fields and tim-
ber. Only two small places of worship, both as yet in an un-
finished condition, stood within this area — the Pine Street
Methodist Church, of brick, and the stone church of the Ger-
man Reformed congregation^ where now the Reno Post head-
quarters are. The Presbyterians met for worship in the Court
House, and there also our services were held, except on occa-
sions when the Reformed congregation generously allowed us
the use of their building.
Campbell. Esq., Lester Griswold and wife." The records show Mr.
Campbell was not confirmed till the latter part of 1S41, and that
.Judge Maynard and Judge Lewis were not baptized till 184;). Pos-
sibly Meginness took his information from the Stewart history.
[Ed.]
1 The borough of Williamsport was incorporated March 1, 180G;
it became a city June 15, 1866. [Ed.]
2 According to the Rev. Dr. Ya'rnall, rector in 184;>-4, the town
in his day "did not claim more than 1,200 inhabitants."
3 Built conjointly by the Lutheran and Reformed denominations.
In 186G the walls were torn down, the rebuilding of the structure
being completed in 1868. The Lutherans sold their interests to
the Reformed Church members about ISfiO, and in 1895 the building
was purchased by the G. A. R. Post. [Ed.]
Seventy Years Ago 3
The initial entry by the Rev. Mr. Lightner in the first
Parish Register, an ordinary small quarto blank book, de-
serves transcription in its entirety. It reads as follows :
"Christ Church, Williamsport, was organized on the
evening of the 8th of February, 1841. F. C. Campbell,
Esq.,^ and the Hon. Ellis Lewis^ were elected Wardens ;
iFrancis C. Campbell was born at York, Pa., April IS, 1787. He
graduated from Dickinson College, studied law with David Watts,
of Carlisle, and was admitted to the bar August, 1810. He moved
to Williamsport April, 1812, and in 1816 married Jane Hepburn,
daughter of James Hepburn, of Northumberland. After being in
active practice for fifty years he retired. His death occurred April
21, 1867.
Mr. Campbell was a member of the original Vestry of 1841 and
served, with the exception of the years 18.53 and 1854, till his
death; he was Vestry's Warden 1841-1853, and Rector's Warden
1855-1867. Shortly after his death a window to his memory and
that of his wife was placed in the church by their children. His
daughter Caroline became the bride of the Rev. John Henry Black
while the latter was rector of the parish. [Ed.]
2 The Hon. Ellis Lewis was born at Lewisberry, York County,
Pa., May 16, 1798. He was apprenticed in 1814 to learn the trade
of printer with John Wyeth, at Harrisburg, but ran away. In 1819
or 1820 he was in Williamsport, associated with J. K. Torbert, in
the publication of the "Lycoming Gazette," a predecessor of the
present "Gazette and Bulletin." He read law with Espy Van Horn
and was admitted to the bar September 2, 1822. In 1829 he located
in Wellsboro and became prosecuting attorney for Tioga County.
From there he moved to Towanda, and in 1832 was sent to the
lower house of the State Legislature. In January, 1833, he became
Attorney General of Pennsylvania; and in October of the same
year he was commissioned President Judge of the district composed
of the counties of Lycoming, Northumberland, Union and Columbia,
taking up his residence in Williamsport. After serving ten years
he was appointed President Judge of the Lancaster district (Janu-
ary, 1843). In October, 1851, he was elevated to the Supreme
Bench, and on November 17, 1854, became Chief Justice, which po-
sition he retained until November 17, 1857. He declined a re-
nomination and retired to private life.
Judge Lewis was the author of "Abridgment of the Criminal
Law of the United States" and a frequent contributor to periodical
literature. During his early years he had studied medicine and was
4 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
and J. W . MaMiard. Es(|.. I])r. Thus. X'astine, Oliver Wat-
son. Esq., Jolm Ilutchens, Dr. Henry Shoemaker, Lester
Griswold,^ and Hopewell Cox. Esq., were chosen vestry-
men.""
Measures were then adopted to ensure the speedy erec-
tion of a Protestant Episco]ial church in the boroujjh of
W'illiamsport.
These measures were successful, and now, this first day
of January, 1842, the church edifice is tendinis" fast to-
ward com])letion.
The congregation is as yet but small, though gradually
increasing, and strong hopes we have that it will con-
tinue to grow and strengthen until "the little one shall
become a thousand."
The people of \\'illiams]:)ort had always been accus-
tomed to the extemporary mode of worship, and therefore
it cost considerable efTort to introduce the Ijeautiful ser-
vices of the Episcopal Church, and it was not until the
• present writer had been well nigh discouraged that the
effort was crowned with success.
God be thanked that He has seen proper to bless our
undertaking, and may He answer our huml)le jirayer that
the recipient of the honorary degree of M. D., from the Phihidelphia
College of Medicine. He also received the degree of lA^. D. from
Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., and .Jefferson College,
Cannonsburg, Pa. His death occurred in Philadelphia March liJ,
1871.
In ISL'fi (or 18:^7) he married Miss W'allis, daughter of Joseph
.1. Wallis, of W'illiamsport, by whom he had two sons and one
daughter.
.Fudge Lewis was a member of the original Vestry ol Christ
church and was appointed Rector's Warden. Owing to the fact
that minutes of the Vestry were not kept till 18rj2, at which time
he was not a member, it is uncertain how many years he served.
A window to his memory, a gift of his daughter, Mrs. A. L. Wiley,
was presented to the church in 1892. [Ed.]
1 I-,ester Griswold was born in Connecticut in 17!t:], and passed
his boyhood and young manhood with his uncle, the Rt. Rev. Alex-
ander \'iets Criswold, the first bishop of the Eastern Diocese, the
Seventy Years Ago 5
the church soon to be completed may be to many a wan-
dering soul the very j^ate to heaven.
Edwix N. Lightxer.
January ist, 1842."
The church building here referred to was the brick struc-
ture still standing on East Third Street, next the rectory, be-
tween x^cademy and Basin Streets, and now occupied by the
German Emmanuel Lutheran congregation.
territory of which was co-extensive with the New England States,
exclusive of Connecticut.
Mr. Griswold moved to Williamsport shortly before the forma-
tion of Christ Church Parish and engaged in the lumber industry;
he also had extensive real estate interests. His death occurred
January 9, 1867.
In 1823 he married Clarissa A. Cummings, of Litchfield County,
Conn., who survived him, and by whom he had a daughter, Eliza-
beth Collins, whose daughter, Mrs. Cyrus Heller, is a faithful mem-
ber of the parish.
Mr. Griswold was a member of the original Vestry of Christ
Church and was annually re-elected till his death in 1867. He was
Rector's Warden from the time of the Hon. Ellis Lewis to 1854, and
Vestry's Warden from 1854 to 1867. [Ed.]
r
THE NEt. •
PUBLIC LISf..
The REV. EDWIN NATHANIEL LIGHTNER
Rector 1040 1042
MR. LIGHTNER'S RECTORSHIP.
1840-1842.
The Building of the Church — The First Administra-
tion OF the Holy Communion.
When Mr. Lightner^ first began to visit Williamsport, he
was yet in deacon's orders (having been admitted thereto July
14, 1839, after graduation at the General Theological Sem-
inary, New York), but he was advanced to the priesthood on
the i8th of May, 1841. In addition to his visits here, Mr,
Lightner also held services at Jersey Shore and Lock Haven.
The interesting old register, from which the transcript in
the previous chapter was made, then goes on to give several
initial records of official acts from which we gather the fol-
lowing :
The Rev. Edwin X. Lightner, of Muncy, is said to have
assumed missionary charge of Williamsport on April ist, 1840.
Until the congregation was organized in February, 1841, as
noted above, Mr. Lightner's ministerial acts were recorded in
the Parish Register of St. James's Church, Muncy. The first
entry to appear in our own books is that of a burial. On the
iThe Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner, M. A., one of the best
known of the early Pennsylvania missionaries, was born in Lan-
caster County, Pa., Oct. 16, 1817. He graduated from Kenyon Col-
lege, Gambler, Ohio, in 1836, and from the General Theological
Seminary in 1839. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Onderdonk,
in Christ Church, Leacock, July 14, 1839, and was advanced to the
priesthood May 18, 1841.
In October, 1839, he took charge of St. James's, Muncy, Pa., but
ill health compelled him to return to his father's house that winter.
In the spring of 1840, however, he returned to Muncy, where he
soon became active in parish work, holding services in many of the
surrounding towns where the Church was little, or not at all known,
notably Williamsport and Jersey Shore. After the erection of Christ
7
8 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
27th of June, 1841, Mira H., second daughter of J. W. May-
nard, Esq., (afterwards Judge Ma^vnard) was buried in "the
general burying ground." Immediately following this is the
record of a baptism on the same day, when the wife and daugh-
ter of the Hon. Ellis Lewis recei-ved the sacrament of the new
birth in the German Church, F. C. Cani])bcll, Esq., standing as
sponsor or witness.
A month later, on the 27th of July, the Holy Communion
was administered to nine persons. "This," according to the
record, "was the first time the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
was administered in Williamsport according to the rites of the
Episcopal Church." In fifteen months, then, the number of
communicants had increased from one to nine. \\'e are in-
terested to know who they were that knelt here so long ago to
receive the Body and Blood of Christ. They were F. C. Camp-
bell, Esq., Joseph K. Frederick. Lester Griswold,^ Mrs. J. W.
Church, Williamsport, Mr. Lightner resigned his charge of it, in
order that the parish might secure a clergyman who could devote
more of his time to its advancement. In July, 1844, he took charge
of Christ Church (Swedes'), Upper Merion, Pa., where he remained
till February, 1854. While at Swedes' Church he held services
(1846-1848) in Conshohocken, in a small school-house. These were
the first services of the Church ever held in that place. Some time
later he held services in the school-house in Bridgeport, and also
in a school-house in Lower Merion.
On February 22, 1855, Mr. Lightner became rector of Christ
Church, Danville, and continued in charge of that church till April,
1871, when his failing health caused him to resign. He retired to
Riverside, a village on the Susquehanna across from Danville,
where, with the exception of a few years passed in Muncy, he re-
sided till his death, on Trinity Sunday, 1881.
In Hotchkin's "Country Clergy of Pennsylvania," from which
the above is extracted, the contributor of the article on Mr. Light-
ner, Mrs. Lightner, points out that her statements were obtained
from notes made on Mr. Lightner's sermons, and that they differ
somewhat from the previously accepted accounts of the early his-
tory of the Church in Conshohocken and Bridgeport. [Ed.]
1 Grandfather of Mrs. Cyrus Heller, one of our most faithful and
active communicants at the present time.
Mr. Lioiitner's Rectorship 9
Maynard,' Mrs. M. C. Houston, Mrs. Anna Virchaux, Miss
Juliet H. Lewis,^ Mrs. Dr. Shoemaker, and Mrs. Mary Butler
(colored). It is quite evident, however, that at least three of
these communicants were admitted to the sacrament because
they were "ready and desirous of being- confirmed" rather than
already recipients of the gift of that apostolic ordinance, for it
was not until the 6th of the following .September, some six
weeks later, that the Right Rev. H. U. ( )nderdonk, Bishop of
Pennsylvania, visited the parish, and in the German Church
confirmed the following class of five persons : F. C. Camp-
bell, Esq., Mrs. Ellis Lewis, Mrs. J. W. Maynard, Miss Juliet
H. Lewis, and Miss Elizabeth Griswold. The next day the
Bishop and Mr. Lightner visited Jersey Shore, where one per-
son was baptized and three confirmed.
The Holy Communion was administered on Christmas
Day to ten persons, and the reg^ister notes the addition of five
names to the communicant list of the parish, namely, Mrs.
Ellis Lewis, Mrs. Elizabeth Wallis, Mrs. Lester Griswold, and
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Newton Arms.
In the meantime the erection of the church building had
been going forward, and on June 12th, 1842, the first Christ
Church, Williamsport, was consecrated b}- Bishop Onderdonk.
The occasion was made still further memorable by the ad-
vancement of two deacons to the holy order of priesthood,
namely, the Rev. George Watson, of Towanda, and the Rev.
W. S. Walker, of Sunbury, who were presented by the Rev.
Mr. Lightner and the Rev. Mr. Natt, of Bellefonte.
On the next day, June 13th, the Rev. Mr. Lightner, having
advised the Vestry to procure at once the "whole time and
exertions of a zealous and active minister of the Gospel," re-
signed his connection with the parish.'^
It is impossible to accord this faithful and earnest priest
too much credit for his zealous and successful labors to estab-
1 Mother of Mrs. Henry Rawle, now identified with Trinity
Parish.
2 Afterwards Mrs. James Campbell.
3 The following letter from the Bishop of Oregon to the Rev,
lo Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
lish the Church in this community. When he first came to
hold services in WilHamsport he found only one person who
was said to be a Churchman, and from him Mr. Lightner re-
ceived only discouragement in his proposed attempt to intro-
duce the services of the Church. Not deterred by this indif-
ference, he continued to visit the borough regularly every
Mr. Graff, at the time of the semi-centennial, is of special interest
at thi.s point:
Diocese of Oregon, Bishopcroft,
Portland, Ore., March 12, 1891.
The Rev. W. H. Graff:
Dear Sir: Some one — not of WilHamsport, I think — has kindly
sent me a copy of the WilHamsport "Republican," containing an
account in advance of your "semi-centennial" services. Knowing
something personally of the small beginnings of the Church in
WilHamsport and elsewhere on the Susquehanna River, I am moved
to write you a word of congratulation on its growth and strength
there now. I was present at the consecration of Christ Church,
WilHamsport, on .June 12, 1842, and then and there received my first
communion. I went there from Lock Haven, with the Rev. Mr. Natt
and his wife, of Bellefonte. Mrs. Natt is still living in Philadel-
phia, and I suppose that she and I are almost the only persons
left who were present at that service — with the exception pos-
sibly of some member of Judge Lewis' family, or of Mr. Campbell's
family. I have known the town of WilHamsport ever since the
river was navigated by flatboats pushed up from tide water by
poles against a man's shoulder! I do not think the memory of
your "oldest inhabitant" goes very far back of that period. There
is a Mr. White, a member of one of the congregations in Wil-
Hamsport, who, if still living, would have distinct recollection of
us. Mr. Josiah Emery, not living, I think, was once my school
teacher, but I can think of none others who know anything about
me. A Mrs. Elliot is my cousin, but I think she is a Presbyterian.
The places that once knew me so well now know me no more.
"Change and decay are all around me."
Hardly know why I have troubled you with these personal
reminiscences, which can be of little interest to you, and so will
only subscribe myself.
Yours very truly,
B. WISTAR MORRIS.
Mr. Lightner's Rectorship ii
other Sunday^ and hold services in the Court House. Before
long he had the support of influential people, including the
wife and daughter of the Hon. Ellis Lewis, afterwards Chief
Justice of Pennsylvania ; and when he resigned in 1842,
twenty-six months after the first introduction of the services,
the communicants numbered fourteen, and there had been
completed, paid for, and consecrated, a beautiful brick church,
which cost nearly $3,000 — Bishop Onderdonk described it as
"a very beautiful edifice of brick" — 40 by 56 feet, "with a
tower, basement, gallery, and robing room." The report of
1842 shows that the parish then embraced 14 families, in-
cluding ^2 persons, that seven persons (three adults and four
children) had been baptized and five confirmed during the
year, and that there had been two burials. No Sunday School
had as yet been formed, because there was no place in which
to assemble. Twelve dollars, $7.00 for the "Advancement
Society" and $5.00 for the "Christmas Fund," had been con-
tributed. No mention is made of any stipend paid the Mis-
sionary, because during all the two years and more of his visits
here he received no money from the W'illiamsport congregation.
His salary at Muncy was less than $400, and the congregation
in this parish seems to have thought that his services here
were paid for by the Diocese! He either rode to Williams-
port on horseback after morning services in Muncy, or else
was driven here by the same vestryman whose horse he rode
when he came alone. Surely it is only by a sort of poetic
justice that this parish has in a measure retrieved this dis-
honor b}' becoming in later years one of the foremost con-
tributors to Diocesan missions.
lAgain the "History of Lycoming County" is at variance. On
page 397 it credits Mr. Lightner with conducting services only
once a month. [Ed.]
jHFNEWfoRFf
PUBLIC '
(f<»MDV I
THE REV. JOHN BAKER CLEMSON, D D.
Rector 1042 1043
TWO SHORT RECTORSHIPS.
1842-1844.
The Rev. John Baker Clemson — The Rev. Dr. Thomas C.
Yarnall.
All the historical data within our reach, of this period
and for many years thereafter, indicate plainly enough what
an uphill struggle it was to maintain the feeble Church-life
thus heroically begun. ^ In the history of any parish, short
1 The following summary view of general conditions in the
State in the early days of this parish appeared in "The Wayne
Churchman" at the time of our semi-centennial celebration:
"The State of Pennsylvania was one Diocese, under the care
of the Right Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk. His labors were in one
sense very like those of the pioneer bishops of the West. The
parishes were small, often far apart, and travel hard throughout
the State. There were no railroads except the Pennsylvania Rail-
road from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. But the sinewy soul of
the Bishop was equal to his faithfully performed work. Not only
did the established parishes receive his visits and care, but at
many a point where the Church was not known did the good Bishop
pause to drop a seed. Williamsport was one of these. Francis
C. Campbell was at that time the only known Episcopalian in the
place. The Bishop was in the annual habit of passing a night
with Mr. Campbell and holding a service in the Court House. The
population was composed of Presbyterians and Methodists, both
of whom looked with doubt and suspicion upon the new (to them)
form of worship.
"Undeterred by the scarcely disguised hostility of the com-
munity, Judge Lewis and Mr. J. F. Maynard, who had become in-
terested, determined, with Mr. Campbell, to organize a parish and
build a church. A small brick building sufficed for the wants of
the infant parish, which was sustained by a faithful few. At first
the ministrations were conducted fortnightly by the Rev. Mr. Light-
ner, who had a parish fourteen miles distant, arid who used to ride
on horseback in all extremes of weather to the scene of his
labors "
13
14 Chroxicles of Christ Church Parish
and unsettled rectorships and vacant periods when no ser-
vices are held at all, point clearly enough to the financial dis-
coura,2^ement, moral indiflference, and spiritual inertia of the
people : and Christ Church. Williamsport, had all the early
experience of a weak and struggling' young mission.
After Mr. Lightner's resignation, the Rev. John Baker
Clemson,^ who had been rector of the Church of the Ascension,
1 The Rev. John Baker Clemson, D. D., was born 1803. His
father was Thomas Clemson, a Philadelphia merchant; his mother
Elizabeth (Baker) Clemson.
Mr. Clemson graduated from Princeton 1822; was ordained
deacon in St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia, during the rectorship
of Dr. James Montgomery, and priest in St. James's Church, Phila-
delphia, which then stood at Seventh and Chestnut Streets.
In 1826 Bishop White noted that "the Rev. John B. Clemson has
succeeded the Rev. Jacob De Pui at Harrisburg. He officiated in
Thompsontown and Millerstown; traveled over Pennsylvania seek-
ing the Lord's direction as to Church work, and selected Harris-
burg, where two Sunday Schools were established;" officiating
also at Esthertown and in the Dauphin County" almshouse. In 1828
Dr. Clemson was associate rector of St. John's, Pequea, and Christ
Church, Leacock, under the Rev. Joseph Clarkson, of Lancaster.
He afterwards became rector. In 1832 he was at "the self-support-
ing school," as he styles it, in Delaware, and rector of Chester,
Marcus Hook and Concord. In 1836 he became rector of the
Church of the Ascension, Philadelphia, a newly organized congre-
gation. In 1842 he came to Williamsport and remained from June
of that year till March 1843, when he accepted the rectorship
of Holy Trinity, West Chester. From West Chester Dr. Clemson
went to Claymont, Del., where he conducted a school for years and
was rector at first of the Church of the Ascension there, and also
of St. Martin's, Marcus Hook, Pa., but afterwards the latter parish
was relinquished. He died at West Chester, February 3, 1891. Dr.
Clemson, in 1826, was chai)lain of the Masons, in a district com-
l)rising Lancaster, York, Dauphin and Lebanon counties; he also,
after moving to West Chester, acted as chaplain to one of the
schools in that place. He was president of the Standing Commit-
tee; a member of the Missionary and Education Committee, and a
delegate to the General Convention. Dr. Clemson married a daugh-
ter of the Rev. Dr. Bull, and one of his sons, Thomas G., has fol-
lowed the footsteps of his grandfather and father by entering holy
orders. [Extracted from a "Memoir" of Dr. Clemson by the Rc'V.
S. F. Hotchkin. Philadelphia, .Jacobs, 181)8. Ed.]
THE NEW"
[PUBLIC Li'^
THE REV. THOMAS COFFIN YARNALL, D. D.
Re.:toh 1043 I 044
Two Short Rectorships 15
Philadelphia, but who was now living- at Holmesburgh, was in-
vited to take charge of the church "and gather a congregation."
This he undertook and entered upon his duties June 26th,
1842. His was a rectorship of only ten months, but to him
belongs the credit of starting our first Sunday School, which
he did the month after he came. His aggressive zeal was
evidentlv unafifected by the heat of mid-summer, and the
school that began in July had, three months later, the very
creditable membership of 12 teachers and 60 scholars. Mr.
Clemson was always present at the Sunday School, to en-
courage and control the school and to make an address.
He resigned this parish in March, 1843, to accept the
rectorship of Holy Trinit\', West Chester. When he removed
in April, ^ it is recorded that he left "a large and flourishing
Sunday School, and the Church in good standing for piety,
zeal, and consistency among other sectaries (?)." He him-
self wrote of \\^illiamsport : "All this field is very inviting to
the faithful, diligent laborer, and will amply repay him."'
^Ir. Clemson was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Coffin
Yarnall,^ a recently ordained deacon, who entered upon his
1 He preached his farewell sermon April 16, 1843.
2 The Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Yarnall was born December 10,1815,
and after graduating from Yale University received the degree of
D. D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
He was ordained deacon, by Bishop Onderdonk, shortly before
assuming charge of Christ Church in 1843. When he resigned,
early the next year, it was to become rector of St. Mary's Church,
Hamilton Village (now part of the 27th ward of the city of
Philadelphia) ; and there, on May 19, 1844, he was ordained priest
by Bishop Onderdonk. His rectorship at St. Mary's lasted fifty-
six years, or until 1900, when he was made Rector Emeritus. Dur-
ing his long rectorship the plain building in which his congregation
worshipped was replaced by the beautiful ed-fice that stands to-
day; while, by the end of fifty years of work, he was able to report
that the number of communicants had increased from sixty-two to
five hundred and sixty.
Upon the occasion of the Jubilee of Dr. Yarnall's rectorship of
St. Mary's appropriate services were held, at which the Bishop of
i6 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
duties as minister of tlie ])arish on Se])tcmber I7tli, 1843. This
was a rectorsliip of between six and seven montlis, in the
eourse of which tlie Ihsliop visited the ])arish and (hiring his
visitation ha])tized and confirmed juds^e Elhs Lewis and J. \V.
Maynard, Es(|. Mr. ^'arna^ resigned .\pril 11, 1844.
Dr. Yarnall, w lio is still living, relates the following
amusing reminiscence of the time of his rectorship here, to
illustrate the feeble condition of the Church in Williamsport.
A small company of lawyers were gathered in the Hotel
l-^nited States on one occasion during court timie. when, after
dinner, one of their number left the parlor of the hotel in
company with Mr. Yarnall. As the two gentlemen closed
the door behind them they heard the company merrily enjoy-
ing some one's remark, "There goes the whole Episcopal
Church." Writing to the author of these chronicles. Dr.
Yarnall says : "Christ Church, Williamsport, was feebleness
itself while T was there, consisting of about twenty people
all told."
the Diocese was present to add his congratulations to those of the
members of the parish.
Dr. Yarnall married, July 1), 1S4(), Sarah Price Rose, by whom
he had nine children, all of whom are still living. Mrs. Yarnall
died June 24, 1904 but Dr. Yarnall, at the great age of 95, though
suffering from physical infirmities, still continues Rector Emeritus
of the church to which he went as rector sixty-six years ago. [Kd.]
THE NEW YORK
pijSi IC LIO«ARY
..n, LiNOX AN»
KK FOlWDATfON*,
THE REV. WILLIAM JAMES CLARK
Rector I 84G 105 I
MR. CLARK'S RECTORSHIP.
1846-1851.
Brighter Prospects — The Convocation of Northern
Pennsylvania — Pushing Along.
For two years and a half the church was without a rector,
and there are no data to show that anything was attempted
or accompHshed during that period. But under the rector-
ship of Mr. Clark/ the next incumbent, the parish entered
upon a new era of hope and increasing prosperity, which may
also, perhaps, in a measure, be attributed to the vigorous ad-
ministration of the Diocese inaugurated by the new Bishop,
the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, who had been consecrated in
September, 1845. Among other indications of Bishop Pot-
ter's influence upon this parish through the person of its
rector, is the acquisition, to be noted hereafter, of a Parish
1 The Rev. William James Clark was born in Philadelphia in
1812, and educated at a college, under the Rev. Stephen A. Tyng,
at Bristol, Pa. He then went to the Theological Seminary, Alex-
andria, Va., and there was ordained deacon by Bishop Moore; being
advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Onderdonk, in St. Andrew's
Church, Wilmington, Del., in 1836 (or 1837).
He served as assistant at St. Andrew's, Wilmington, Del., and
then took charge of churches at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Berlin, Md.,
and Churchtown, Pa., before, in 1846, he accepted the rectorship
of Christ Church, AVillia,msport.
Subsequent to leaving Williamsport he had charge of churches
at Shrewsburg, Md., Portsmouth, Ohio, and Vineland, N. J., while
for several years he conducted schools for young w'omen in Wash-
ington and Georgetown, D. C.
In 1838 he married Annabella Harlan McCullough, of New
Castle, Del. His death occurred in Philadelphia, January 23, 1893.
Two daughters and three sons survived him, the best known of
whom is Charles Heber Clark, who, under the pseudonym of Max
Adeler, is the author of "Out of the Hurly Burly," "Captain Bluitt,"
"The Quakeress," etc., etc. [Ed.]
17
i8 CriROXTCLES OF Christ Church Parish
library and a "parsonage lot." The Bishop's connection with
these gains is to be traced, we think, to his address to the
Diocesan Convention of 184S. wherein he urges upon par-
ishes the importance of providing homes for their clergy and
adding thereto, where possible, a rector's library.
The Rev. William James Clark, of Churchtown, Lan-
caster County, visited the Church in October, 1846, with ref-
erence to a call to the rectorship, and having accepted the
Vestry's invitation of November 15th, entered upon his duties.
The Missionary Society of Grace Church, Philadelphia,
pledged $400 a year for three \ears towards the rector's sal-
ary, on condition that this parish pay annually $200 for the
same period and that the existing debt of $650 be paid off
within this time.
An event of more than local interest was associated with
the parish when, in April, 1847, the Convocation of North-
ern Pennsylvania was organized here. The idea of convoca-
tional gatherings thus begun was the starting point of that
svstem of Diocesan Church Extension which has since been de-
veloped into the four archdeaconries of the Diocese of Cen-
tral Pennsylvania,^ the eight convocations of the Diocese
of Pennsylvania, and the two convocations of the Diocese
of Pittsburg, all of which territory was, until 1865, embraced
in the one Diocese of Pennsylvania. Bishop Potter, in his
convention address of 1847, ^^'^s very sanguine of the great
benefit that would accrue to the clergy and people of these
remoter regions through quarterly meetings in different par-
ishes for the purpose of holding ])ublic services and private
conferences. Tliis was the second convocation inaugurated
by the Bishoj.), the first one having been called by him in
Pittsburg the preceding October. To Christ Church, \\ il-
1 At the pif'sent date the Diocese of Central Peunsyhania, with
its name changed to the Diocese of Bethlehem, contains two of
these archdeaconries, Reading and Scranton. The Diocese of Har-
risburg, which was carved out of the Diocese of Central Pennsyl-
vania, contains the other two, Harrisburg and Williamsport, and in
addition a new Archdeaconry of Altoona. [Ed.]
Mr. Clark's Rectorship 19
liamsport, therefore, belongs the honor of having been the
first place in the State, east of Pittsburg, where a convocation
was held. Appended to the Bishop's address of the next
year is a copy of the rules of this convocation, which the
Bishop seems to have regarded as a model of excellence. The
counties embraced within the Convocation of Northern Penn-
sylvania were Bradford, Sullivan, Tioga, Lycoming, Colum-
bia, Northumberland, Union, Clinton, Centre, Mifflin and
Huntingdon, all of them, with the exception of Bradford,
Mifflin, and Huntingdon, within the present Archdeaconry of
Williamsport.
At the Diocesan Convention in May, 1847, the parish
applied for admission to the convention and was duly re-
ceived. A fair was held in the Court House by the ladies of
the parish in June of that year, and by the sale of useful and
fancy articles they netted the sum of $275 towards the pay-
ment of the $650 debt. The following September the young
ladies of the congregation commenced sewing one afternoon
a week for the erection of a fence in front of the church.
Their sale in December netted them $42. During 1847 ^^^^
1848 the Sunday School received the gift from the American
Sunday School Union of two libraries comprising two hun-
dred volumes. In 1849, the three years of grace having come
to an end, Mr. Clark could thankfully record that the debt
of $650 had been entirely wiped out. In May, 1850, the
parish received from the Bishop White Prayer Book Society
a donation of the parish library of St. Mary's Church, Jersey
Shore, and also an addition thereto of twenty-five other vol-
umes. A portion of this grant still remains in the rectory
as part of the study library. Through the kindness of a few
friends Mr. Clark was enabled to procure six lamps for the
church, at a cost of $30, and by a fair held on the 5th of
June, 1850, the ladies of the church realized the sum of $500
for the purchase of the lot next to the church, whereon to
build a rectory. Thirteen days later, no doubt with great
gladness and elation, the ^t was purchased ; and on the
20 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
same day the parish bought "an uncommonly line-toned
organ" for $400, the builder being James Hall, of Baltimore.
Thus within a few years, from a condition of great dis-
couragement and inactivity, we see evidences of temporal
improvement crowding upon each other as tokens of Mr.
Clark's energetic administration. Looking to the spiritual
condition of the j)arish, Mr. Clark regarded the attendance
upon the services of the church as very good, and thought
that a general degree of seriousness pervaded the congrega-
tion. He thought the parish "remarkable for its unanimity."
But at the same time he seems to have felt some discourage-
ment at the slow growth in the number of families and com-
municants. This condition of Church life appears, however,
to have been more or less general throughout the region.
After a rectorship of nearly four years and a half, on the 6th
day of April, 185 1, ]\Ir. Clark resigned the parish in order to
take charge of a female seminary in the city of Washington.
The church was now entirely free from debt, and Mr. Clark
reported that his salary of $300^ had been paid regularly.
The real estate of the parish consisted of the church building
and lot, and the adjoining "parsonage lot," and the people
were encouraged to believe that in a very few years the parish
would be self-sustaining.
1 The fact that the minute book of the Vestry was not com-
menced till 18.52 makes it impossible to explain this statement.
Mr. Clark, when he came in 1846, was promised $600 annually for
three years (.$200 from Christ Church, $400 from Grace Church).
Possibly from 1849 he was compelled to get along on $300. [Ed.]
THE REV. JOHN HENRY BLACK
Rector 185 I I 853
THREE MORE SHORT RECTORSHIPS.
1851-1855.
The Rev. John Henry Black — The Rev. Edward Purdon
Wright — The Rev. W. H. Cooper.
The next incumbent of the parish was the Rev. John
Henry Black.i who entered upon his rectorship on October
loth, 185 1,- and remained until June 12th, 1853.'^ An unusu-
1 The Rev. .John Henry Black was born October 27, 1822, and
graduated at Hamilton College, 1848, B. A., and afterwards
M. A. He was principal of the Erie (Pa.) Academy, 1848-18.51,
when he accepted the rectorship of Christ Church, Williamsport,
Pa., 1851-1833. After leaving Williamsport he was rector of Zion
Church, Belvidere, and St. .John's Church, Somerville, N. J., 1853-
1857; St. Paul's Church, Sing Sing. X. Y., 1857-1862; Trinity
Church, Newport, R. I., 1862-1865; St. John's, Erie, Pa., 1866-1868,
and Trinity Church, Renovo, Pa., 1874-1881. He resided at Wil-
liamsport, Pa., from 1869 to 1888, but in the latter year removed to
Washington, D. C, where he continued to reside until his death,
August 17, 1893.
While at Williamsport he married, November 3, 1853, Caroline
Campbell, daughter of Francis C. (Vestry's Warden) and Jane
Campbell.
He was for several years a trustee of the General Theological
Seminary, New York, and was Dean of the Convocation of Wil-
liamsport 1880-1885. He was a man of marked administrative ca-
pacity, of wide and deep learning, especially in the classics and
in the history and exegesis of the Bible. He published no books,
but was much occupied in the later years of his life in the prepara-
tion of lectures on various topics for theological students and
classes and occasional papers for clerical clubs and meetings.
[Ed.]
2 Mr. Black accepted the rectorship with the understanding that
his connection with the parish was not to be of lengthy duration.
The financial difficulties under which the parish labored during his
rectorship are noted in '"Summary Notes: 'The Money Problem.''"
The first minute book of the Vestry was commenced during Mr.
Black's rectorship. [Ed.]
3 The Parish Guide (February, 1870) is apparently in error
perhaps by a typographical slip, in giving June U as the date,
21
22 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
ally large confirmation class marked this period, eleven per-
sons being presented for the apostolic rite on the 21st of July,
1852. Among these were two who subsequently became
prominently active in the life of the parish — Oliver Watson,
Esq., and Miss Elizabeth W. Hepburn, afterwards Mrs. Val-
entine S. Doebler, the latter of wdiom is still an activ^e com-
municant.^ Before leaving Williamsport the marriage of Mr.
Black and Miss Caroline Campbell, daughter of F. C. Camp-
bell, Esq., Vestry's Warden, was solemnized by his successor,
the Rev. Mr. Wright.
Mr. Black was succeeded l)y the Rev. Edward Purdon
Wright,- of Burlington, New Jersey, who was called to the
1 Mrs. Doebler has since died (May 25, 1907,) at tlie age of 75
years. [Ed.]
2 The Rev. Dr. Edward Purdon Wright was born in Lincoln-
shire, England, April 25, 1825. He was the eldest son of the Rev.
Robert and Eliza (Purdon) Wright, the former a native of Ireland,
the latter of Wales.
Dr. Wright was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland,
and graduated from Burlington College, N. J., in 1853, having been
ordained deacon by Bishop Doane in the previous year. He was
advanced to the priesthood in 1853, and was acting rector of Bur-
lington College at the time he came to Christ Church, Williamsport.
He tendered his resignation six months from that date (April 3.
1854), to accept the rectorship of St. .John's, Pequa, and St. Mark's,
Honeybrook.
During the next twenty years Dr. Wright had numerous charges.
He was in Nashua, N. H.; at Christ Church, Waukegan, 111.; St.
.James's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Christ Church, Dayton, Ohio.
In both his Ohio parishes new churches were built under his super-
vision, that in Dayton costing .$50,000. He went to Milwaukee in
1873, and for seventeen years labored in the State of Wisconsin,
chiefly in missionary fields, but in 1890 (?) was rector of Trinity,
Wauwatosa, a parish founded by him. In 1889 he was appointed
chaplain of the National Military Home for Disabled Veteran Sol-
diers, which position he held until his death. .January 25, 1910, at
the age of eighty-five.
Dr. Wright married, in 1846, Mrs. S. P. Coryell, of Philadelphia,
who died in 1884, and in 1885 Miss Georgia Bennett, daughter of
C. W. Bennett, former Sheriff of Waukesha County, Wis., who sur-
vives him. He was interested in Masonry, being a thirty-second
degree member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites. [Ed.]
THE REV. EDWARD PURDON WRIGHT, D. D.
Rector 1853-1 854
TiiREi: More Short Rectorships 23
rectorship October 3d, 1853/ and entered at once upon his
duties. 2 At the end of three months Mr. Wright records with
devout thankfulness to Almighty God that the congregations
had steadily increased, the church being frequently filled com^
pletely, and that the Sunday School, which seems to have run
down previously very much, had also steadily increased in
numbers and efficiency, from 9 teachers and 2^ scholars to 13
teachers and 59 scholars. When Mr. Wright resigned, April
3d. 1854,^ the number of scholars had increased to 65, and
subscriptions amounting to about $1,500 had been made for
the erection of a "parsonage house."
The Vestry were using commendable exertions to hasten
the accomplishment of this project. They took their first
action looking to this end on the 23d of January. 1854, and at
a meeting held the following month, the plans of Mr. James
Damant, a member of the X'estry. were approved, and it was
resolved to build a house at a cost not to exceed $2,200, which
was to be completed by the first of the following October.
Thomas Throp proposed to build the parsonage for $2,195
and the old house on the lot, and offered to make a contribution
of $50 toward the building. Before the completion of this struc-
ture, which was delayed beyond the expected time, the Vestr\'
felt obliged to borrow $1,000, and place a mortgage on the
house, so that when Mr. Cooper, the next rector, was able to
report the structure completed, it had cost $2,250, besides some
$150 for extras, fencing, etc.: and upwards of $973 was yet
due on it. Mr. Cooper described the rectory as "a beautiful
and commodious parsonage of brick," such as "would do
credit to many a more extensive and more wealthy parish."
1 The Parish Guide (February, 1870.) says October 10, 1853.
2 Mr. Wright was guaranteed $400— plus "any sum arising from
rent of house on parsonage lot till 1st of April next ensuing." [Ed.]
3 Mr. Wright's resignation was accepted, then declined and a
new financial proposition made to him, but under date of April 11,
1854, Mr. Wright advised the Vestry that "under all the circum-
stances of the case." and in the true interests of the parish, he
deemed it his duty to sever his connection with Christ Church.
[Ed.]
24 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Some $i,ooo had been raised within the borough for this ob-
ject, and only about $200 had come in from outside.
After Mr. Wright came the Rev. W. H. Cooper/ who
assumed the rectorship on September 17,^ 1854. Mr. Cooper
was an EngHshman, whose orders appear to have been con-
ferred either in England or the Colonies. The salary guaran-
teed Mr. Cooper by the Vestry was $500 a year, besides $100
for expenses of removal, and the use of a parsonage house, with
the free use of a dwelling until the same should be completed.
Although this salary was paid punctually, Mr. Cooper ten-
dered his resignation on the 20th of July, 1855, ten months
after he came, because the Vestry felt that they were unable
to raise the amount of the salary for another year. Doubtless
the burden of building the rectory had exhausted the financial
ability of the congregation.^ The parish had suffered much
from vacancies occasioned by frequent clerical changes. The
church had been closed for three months prior to Mr. Cooper's
1 In the .Journal of the Proceedings of the Seventieth Conven-
tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsyl-
vania, May, 1854, Mr. Cooper reported that in the June previous he
had taken charge of the parish of Tamaqua, with Tuscarora an-
nexed, but on invitation of the Foreign Committee of the Board of
Missions to undertake a mission to Rio Janeiro, had resigned in the
succeeding October. The steamship in which he sailed, the "San
Francisco,'' was wrecked, many lives being lost. Mr. Cooper and
his family, after suffering extreme hardships, were ultimately car-
ried to New York, and he, on account of his shattered health, re-
leased from his engagements by the Foreign Committee. He vis-
ited churches in the South and West in the interest of South Amer-
ican Missions and resumed parish work. The records show he
served at the following places: Williamsport, Pa., 1854; Tusca-
rora, Pa., 1854; Tiffin, Ohio, 1857; Waukegan, 111., 1861; Chicago,
111., 1862; Belvidere, 111., 1866; Lockport, 111., 1869; and Mount
Pleasant, Iowa, 1871. While at Mt. Pleasant Mr. Cooper experi-
enced doubt as to the truth of certain theological dogmas and
seceded to the Reformed Episcopal Church. He signed his report
in the "Journal" of 18.')4, William H. Cooper. [Ed.]
2 The Parish Guide (February, 1870,) says September 14th.
3 On July 14th the Vestry reluctantly notified Mr. Cooper they
could, if certain persons continued subscriptions, pay $400 — if not,
then but $350. Such a reduction could have but one result. [Ed.]
Three More Short Rectorships
^3
coming, and for the preceding four summers. It was ac-
knowledged that the field was a hard one, but the completion
of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad and of the Williamsport and
Elmira Railroad, each having a terminus in the borough, led
to the hope that the church would soon profit by the increase
of population and extraordinary impetus to trade in this region
which were already being manifested. These hopes seem to
have been largely realized, for with the rectorship of the Rev.
Richard Channing Moore we enter upon an era of increasing
strength and i)rosperity that has continued unabated to the
present time.
As we are now about to enter upon another epoch in the
historv of the parish, it will be interesting to note some of the
statistics that mark the close of Mr. Cooper's rectorship. The
parish in 1855 embraced 24 families, including 95 persons,
"belonging to the Church, besides numerous occasional wor-
shippers." The communicants numbered 38. The whole
number of persons baptized during the preceding fifteen years
was 68 ; confirmed during the same period, 30. There were
about 45 scholars in the Sunday School, besides a Bible class
taught by the Rector, comprising 17 members, "besides strag-
glers." An offering of Si 5 for foreign missions made some
time between September and May deserves a special note of
admiration.
THE REV. RICHARD CHANNING MOORE
Rector I 855 1865
MR. MOORE'S RECTORSHIP.
1855-1865.
The Parish School — First Steps Towards a Xew Church.
Mr. Moore, the namesake of his father, the second Bishop
of Virginia/ entered upon his duties on the 20th of October,
1855, and ministered here until about October. 1865.2 The
Vestry asked the Diocesan Missionary Society to continue its
1 Whose portrait can be seen in tlie Guild Room of the Parish
House.
2 The Rev. "Richard Chanuing Moore, born in Xew York, Oct.
16, 1810, was the son of the Rt. Rev. Richard Channing Moore, the
second Bishop of Virginia and the fourteenth in the succession of
the American Episcopate.
He graduated, from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., A. B.,
1829, M. A., 1834; and from the Theological Seminary of Virginia,
1832. He was ordained deacon 1832 and priest 1833, his first work
being as assistant minister at St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia,
under his cousin, the Rev. Dr. Bedell. He was rector of St. John's
Church, Elizabeth, N. J., from 1837 to 1855, in which year he ac-
cepted the call to Christ Church, Williamsport. While at St. John's
his ministry was so effective that a considerable enlargement of the
church edifice was necessary: "An addition of eight feet was made
to each side of the house, and the interior was wholly renewed."
After his resignation from Christ Church, in 1865, he seems, owing
to his impaired health, not to have again undertaken active work.
His death occurred in Williamsport, May 21, 1865.
Mr. Moore married Miss Julia Richardson, of Philadelphia, by
whom he had issue: 1, Julia Grant; 2, Richard Channing; 3,
Gregory Townsend Bedell; 4, Gertrude; 5, Samuel Grant; 6, Sarah
Virginia; 7, Mary; 8, Emily Salter; 9, Fannie.
In 1901 his son, Mr. G. T. Bedell Moore, placed a window of the
"Good Shepherd" to his memory in Christ Church. The memorial
chapel of St. John's, also given by Mr. G. T. Bedell Moore, the ground
for it and the parish house, and the various memorials in the
chapel itself, gifts of his widow, daughters and sons, and Mr.
Lutcher, are described in the chapters, "Mr. Jones' Rectorship," and
"Summary Notes; 'St. John's Chapel.'" [Ed.]
?7
28 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
aid toward the support of the rector, as it had been doing
heretofore, themselves pledgincr him $400 salary and the use of
the rectory, and agreeing to his giving one-fourth of his time
to services at Lock Haven. ^ There was a recently formed
congregation there, to which Mr. Moore gave a few services,
after which the infani parish secured a rector for itself. Mr.
Moore also for a time held services regularly at Northum-
berland. His first rei)ort about Christ Church, Williamsport,
l)realhes a hopeful tone throughout. Although the winter had
been severe, the services had been regularly held, with an en-
couraging attendance. Measures had been adopted to repair
the church building and to pay off the debt of $1,000 on the
rectory. The expense of the former was undertaken by a
single member of the Vestry, Judge Maynard, and amounted
to about $350. Gas was introduced into the rectory in 1856-7,
and the debt completely wiped out. Mr. Moore aroused the
Sunday School to considerable interest in missions, and for a
time received an average contrilmtion of a dollar a Sundav for
this great work of the church, and in 1858 he reports "contri-
butions for missions and other objects about $100." The
Sunday School offering the next Christmas was for foreign
missions and amounted to $39.66. Through the assistance of
friends in Philadelphia and elsewhere, the church was fur-
nished with a fine bell and a handsome marble font. In 1858-9
gas was introduced into the church and water into the rectory,
at an expense of about $250. which was met by the receipts of
a fair. During the same >ear Mr. Moore had started a Fe-
male Boarding and Day School, which had a flourishing ex-
istence for several years. A number of well known ladies still
living in Williamsport recei\-ed a i)ortion of their education in
this institution.
Several of the items in Mr. Moore's report of i8()i are
noteworthy. Twenty-five persons had been baptized during
the year, 13 jiresented for contirmalion, and the number ot'
communicants had risen to 57. The Sunday School work
1 The Vestry hoijed that the Lock Haven con,:;rogatioii would
assist Mr. Moore financially. [Ed.]
Mr. Moore's Rectorship 29
showed a great advance. There were 25 teachers and 150
scholars. These were divided between two schools, for a sec-
ond Sunday School had been started during the year in the
neighborhood of Elmira and West Edwin Streets. Beginning
about the first of the following year, Mr. ]\Ioore held monthly
service there, besides the weekly Sunday School, and this ar-
rangement continued until December, 1864, when both school
and services had to be discontinued because the building was
no longer available. The parish in 1861, moreover, was again
entirely out of debt and had just become self-supporting. The
Sunday School that year gave nearly $40 to foreign missions.
Services were now held twice on Sundays, every Wednesday,
and daily during Lent. The rector's salary was $650, and
there had been contributed to other objects about $300. That
was a bright and hopeful year. It will be interesting to note
here the names of the Vestrymen through whose co-operation
so much had been accomplished. They were Messrs. F. C.
Campbell, Rector's Warden ; Lester Griswold, Vestry's War-
den; James H. Perkins, P. Noland, Oliver Watson, John W.
Maynard, James Damant, John White, and E. C. Johnson.^
The last named was the brother of the Rev. Alfred Evan John-
son, who at a later period became locum tenens of the parish.
On Whitsun Monday, Alay 25th. 1863, the Rev. Mr.
Moore started a parish school with divine service in the
church. Twenty-nine scholars were enrolled, most of them
being boys between five and twelve years of age. Besides
their secular studies, the children were taught the doctrines of
religion as held b}- the Church, and were catechized weekly by
the Rector. The successive teachers of this school were, ( 1 )
Miss Susan AL Sayre, from May to December, 1863; (2) Miss
Sallie R. Lloyd, from December, 1863, to December, 1864;
(3) Miss Fanny Bailey, from December, 1863, (?) to ;
(4) Miss W^illiams, from , to April or
May, 1866; (5) Miss Mary Elizabeth Chubbuck, from Sep-
tember, 1866, to the spring of 1868, and (6) Miss Sayre again
from the fall of 1868 until the school closed. A short service
iThis is the Vestry elected Easter, 1861. [Ed.]
30 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
with the children of the school was held every morning during
the mild weather, and the ordinary sessions appear to have
been held at first in the basement. Afterwards, November,
1864. a small brick house at the rear of the church lot was
purchased by the Vestry at a cost of $800, and used for both
the weekday and Sunda}- Schools. In 1864 the average at-
tendance at the ])arish school was 40 scholars. This school
continued to flourish during the rectorships of Mr. Wadleigh
and Dr. Paret, the former of whom reported 50 scholars in at-
tendance.
Mr. Moore was very anxious to secure better accommo-
dations for his growing work, and lal)ored strenuousl\' to this
end for several years, but without attaining his great desire.
It was not until his successor entered u))on the incumbency of
the parish that the Vestry bestirred itself effectually in this
direction. Mr. 2vIoore's first move for a new church was on
'J'hanksgiving Day in 1862, when he called a ])arish meeting
to "take steps towards church inijjruvement," by either re-
modeling the present structure or erecting a new one. No de-
cisive action was taken at this time, however, although Judge
Maynard offered to subscril^e $1,000 towards a new church.
and Mr. Peter Herdic was willing to be one of six persons
to bear the expense of building it. The indecision of the con-
gregation was due to a sharp diversity of opinion as to the
location of the church, some desiring to have it on a more cen-
tral— that is, a more westerly — site, and others preferring to
have it remain where it was. This disagreement was so pro-
nounced and prolonged that it greatly jeopardized the pros-
perity of the parish, and even for a time hindered its growth.
Nearly four years passed b\- before the Vestry decided to
build, and in the meantime Mr. Moore had been succeeded by
Mr. Wadleigh. In the spring and summer of 1864, (the Rev.
Mr. Moore still being rector), by means of two concerts and a
fair, the sum of $1,400 was realized towards tin- hiiiMing.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
AtTOK, LSNOX ANB
TILDEN FOWMOATIONt.
THE REV. ALURA WADLEIGH
Rector I 86G I 0G9
MR. WADLEIGH'S RECTORSHIP.
1866-1869.
The New Church Begun — The Beginnings of St. Mary's.
In the spring of 1865 ]Mr. Moore notified the Vestry of
his desire to sever his relation with the parish. His salary,
which the year before had been raised to $800 in accordance
with the recommendation of the Bishop's convention address,
was now $400 in arrears, but this was all paid before he left
Williamsport in the fall.^ For several months after his de-
parture the church was again closed, except for occasional ser-
vices, but in February, 1866, the Rev. Albra Wadleigh,- Rector
of St. James's Church, Muncy, was chosen to the vacant rec-
torship, at a salary of $1,000 and rectory, and entered upon
his duties the following April (Easter Day). The Sunday
School, however, in the meantime, had continued its sessions
1 The Vestry made a special assessment on the pewholders of
an amount equal to the sum due Mr. Moore. [Ed.]
2 The Rev. Albra Wadleigh was born Julj' 3, 1833, in Biddeford,
Me. He was the sou of Albra Wadleigh, a native of South Berwick,
Me., and his wife, Eliza (Brewster) Wadleigh, a descendant of
Elder William Brev/ster of the Pilgrim Fathers.
Originally Congregationalist, the family was brought into the
Church by the Reverend, later Bishop, Horatio Potter, by whom
Albra Wadleigh, as well as the other children, was baptized. The
Wadleighs moved to Boston when Albra was but one year old, and
he was educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard Univer-
sity, class of 18.54. While at Harvard he was class poet, and a
member of the Hasty Pudding as well as of the other clubs of that
time.
In 1854 he entered the General Theological Seminary, and was
ordained deacon by Bishop Horatio Potter in 1857. In September
of the same year he assumed charge of St. James's, Muncy, and was
advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Bowman, Assistant Bishop of
Pennsylvania, in St. Philip's Church, Philadelphia, in 1859. On
June 27, 1861, he married Emily, only daughter of Francis William
31
32 Chroxicles of Christ Church Parish
and maintained its membership, under the superintendency,
first of Mr. G. T. IVnlcll ^h:)ore. and afterwards of Mr. J. J.
Crocker, who retained char_2:e till Mr. W'adleigh assumed the
duties of the rectorship.
An event of local importance and diocesan interest had
taken ])lace just prior to the beginning of Mr. Wadleigh's in-
cumliency. This was the erection on \'inc Street, above May-
nard, in the fall of 1865, of a new church building known as
"Trinity Chapel." Several families witlidrew from Christ
Church to form this congregation, among whom were those
of I'eter Herdic^ and H. F. Snyder, who had been among the
most active members of this parish. The Rev. II. S. Spack-
Rawie, the ceremony being performed In St. Mark's Church, Phila-
delphia.
Mr. Wadleigh's rectorship of St. .James's, Muncy, lasted nine
years, during which time the beautiful gothic church was built. He
also held services at Derry, now Exchange, and started missions in
a school-house at Halls, just across from the present railroad sta-
tion; in a log school-house six miles back in the hills, known as
DeWalt's school-house, and at Montoursville.
Upon accepting the rectorship of Christ Church, Williamsport,
Easter, 1866, he was obliged to give up the missions at Halls and
DeWalt's, but continued that at Montoursville, where he after-
wards built a pretty church.
Before coming to Williamsport Mr. Wadleigh, in 1864, obtained
a six months leave of absence to go to the front with the Sanitary
Commission. He was seat to City Point, near Richmond, and was
himself attacked by the fever so prevalent in the army. After
some months' illness he recovered, and traveled in the interests of
the Commission.
It was but a little over a year after the commencement of Mr.
Wadleigh's rectorship, when the cornerstone of the new Christ
Church was laid, June 27, 1867, and on the same day he had the
gratification of also seeing laid the cornerstone of the Church of
Our Saviour, l\lontoursville, where he had labored so failht'ully.
The history of the Wadloigh Memorial Chapel, (St. Mary's), is
told in the text of these chronicles.
Mr. Wadleigh resigned, April 1. ISGK. to become rector of St.
Luke's, Germantown, Philadelphia, whcr»^ he continued tintil his
death, May 25, 1873.
1 Later. 1871-6, the mission was replaced l)y the inesent stone
chuich at the sole cost of Mr. Ilerdic. [Kd.]
Mr. Wadleigh's Rectorship 33
man became the rector of the new congregation, which thus
began an independent career, and has since become our strong
sister parish up town.
When Mr. Wadleigh became rector of Christ Church it
was decided, in deference to his wishes, to make it a "free
church." On no other condition would he accept the rector-
ship. From that time for a period of some forty years, not-
withstanding the industrial and commercial vicissitudes of the
community, including three periods of general financial panic,
and two disastrous visitations affecting the prosperity of the
whole city, the parish was supported by the weekly offerings
of the congregation. "Rich and poor meet together: the
Lord is the Maker of them all." Soon after his coming, as
yet more effectually to break up the exclusiveness of the
"pewed-church system," Mr. Wadleigh had all the doors of
the pews removed.^
Almost immediately after Mr. Wadleigh came active steps
were taken to build a new church. On June n, 1866, the
Vestry resolved to enter upon the undertaking, and on the 31st
of August a Ladies' Aid Society was organized to meet weekly
and to work "for the benefit of the Church." The guild known
by the same name to-day was not formed till nine years later.
The first officers chosen were : Mrs. J. Smeeton, President ;
Mrs. V. S. Doebler, Vice-president, and Mrs. Dr. W. F.
Logan, Treasurer.
Mr. Lester Griswold, who had been Vestry's Warden since
1 The Rev. Robert W. Grange, D. D., now Rector of the Church
of the Ascension, Pittsburg, tells how at Mr. Wadleigh's I'equest he
accompanied the latter to the church from the adjoining rectory
one summer day and assisted the rector to take off the doors and
store them in the cellar. Dr. Grange was at that time a student
at Racine College, and when the students returned in the fall, the
professor of Latin, on the first morning of the new term, invited
them to tell what they had been doing during the summer. Mr.
Grange told how he had helped the Rector of Christ Church re-
move the pew-doors and how astonished and indignant the congre-
gation were on the following Sunday. Whereupon the old profes-
sor tittered in his peculiar way and remarked, 'T suppose they
all exclaimed, Proh pudor" (pew-door) ! (Oh, for shame!)
34 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
1854, died January 9, 1867; and Mr. Francis Campbell, who
had been Rector's Warden since 1855, died April 21, 1867.
Major James H. Perkins^ was elected to succeed the former
and Mr. Oliver Watson^ was appointed b}- Mr. Wadleigh to
succeed the latter.
1 Major James H. Perkins was born in South New Market,
Rockingham County, N. H., March 13, 1803. In 1830 he moved
to Philadelphia, where, rising from a journeyman in a factory, he
became a member of the firm operating it, and retired with a fair-
sized competency in 1844. He moved to Willianisport in 1845 and
immediately became affiliated with the lumber interests. In 1849
he built the first boom in the Susquehanna, which, proving a suc-
cess, enabled him to organize a stock company which built the
celebrated boom in 1850-51. He retired in 1870. He was one of
the founders of the Willianisport Hospital and president of the
Board; a member of Select Council for several terms and also
president of that body; a director of the West Branch Bank, and
interested in the Wildwood Cemetery Company. His title of Major
was derived from his connection with the 24th Pennsylvania Mili-
tia, of which, in 1842, he was elected major.
On July 30, 1844, he married Mary Jane, daughter of Joshua
Smythe, of New Hampshire. He died without issue July 15, 1893.
He was a member of the Vestry from 1852 (?) to 1893, and Vestry's
Warden 1867-1893. In 1885 Major Perkins placed a window in the
church to the memory of his wife, who died May 1, 1884. Subse-
quent to his own death a tablet to his memory was placed beneath
the window. [Ed.]
2 Oliver Watson was born November U), 1811, in Loyalsock
Township, Lycoming County, Pa. His boyhood was spent with
Colonel John McMecn. his maternal uncle, who had settled on the
"Long Reach" a few miles west of Willianisport. In 1826 Colonel
McMeen moved to Waterville, where Mr. Watson, in 1830, served
an apprenticeship of two years at a trade; and, after attending
school for some time, in 1834 taught school for six months. He
next took charge of a school near the residence of the Hon. George
Crawford, and being advised to study law, came to Willianisport,
entered the office of the Hon. James Armstrong, and was admitted
to the bar of Lycoming County in 1837. While reading law he
served as clerk in the office of the County Commissioners, but
resigned that position in 1838 to accept the appointment of County
Treasurer, which office he held for three years. In 1841 Mr. Wat-
son entered into law partnership with the Hon. John W. Maynard.
under the firm name of Maynard & Watson. He retired from the
Mr. Wadleigh's Rectorship 35
Two lots at the corner of East Fourth and Mulberry
Streets, 104 by 208 feet, were purchased in 1866 of Lewis Mc-
Dowell for $4,000. The plan of the church, designed to seat
500 people, was drawn by J. F. Miller, of New York City.
The estimated cost of the building was $30,000, but because of
the unsuspected costliness of the stone and labor, the amount
actually expended before the church was ready for use was
about $40,000, and this without the upper portion of the tower.
The building committee consisted of the Rector (the Rev. Mr.
Wadleigh) and Messrs. John White, James H. Perkins, Oliver
Watson, James V. Brown, James Damant, and James Rawle
(the l)rother-in-law of Mr. Wadleigh).
The corner-stone of the new structure was laid on the
morning of Thursda>-. June 27th, 1867. The Sunday School
children formed a procession and marched to the place, carn.--
ing appropriate banners and devices. They are said to have
made a fine appearance. The stone was laid by Bishop Stev-
ens, who also made an address. Other addresses were deliv-
ered by the Rev. Edwin N. Lightner, the founder of the parish,
and the Rev. Mr. Wadleigh, the then rector. Seven others of
the clergy were present, namely, the Rev. H. S. Spackman
(Trinity, Williamsport), the Rev. G. W. Shinn (Lock Haven),
the Rev. G. P. Hopkins (Troy), the Rev. J. N. Spear (Sha-
mokin), the Rev. A. R. Brush (INIuncy), the Rev. Mr. John-
son, and the Rev. T. H. Cullen (Bloomsburg). Under the
firm in 1848 and associated with himself A. J. Little. Mr. Little
retired from the firm two years later and Mr. Watson practiced
alone till 1856. He was then elected president of the West Branch
National Bank; was president of the Market Street Bridge Com-
pany, and had numerous financial interests. For some years prior
to his death he was almost totally blind.
On November 16, 1843, Mr. Watson married Marietta, daugh-
ter of the Hon. David Scott, by whom he had eight children. He
died September 1, 1882.
Mr. Watson was a member of the first Vestry of Christ Church
and served continuously till his death. In 18.55 and again in 1860
he was Secretary and Treasurer, and from 1867 to 1869 Rector's
Warden. His son, William S. Watson, was also a member of the
Vestry, 1878-1882.
36 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
corner-stone was placed a box containing a Bible, Book of
Common Prayer, some copies of Church papers, and other
articles.
Mr. W'adleigh in 1865, before coming to Williamsport,
had started to hold services in iNIontonrsville, where he subse-
quently purchased a lot and built the present frame church
seating 250 persons. He continued to hold services there after
he became rector of Christ Church, and was followed in this
by Dr. Paret.
In 1868 the Vestry of this parish received by deed from
Air. Samuel Lloyd, whose name is familiarly associated with
that part of the city known as "Lloyd's Addition," the gift of
a corner lot 50 by 100 feet, in what Mr. W'adleigh described
as "a neglected but rapidly increasing part of the city." This
lot was on the north-west corner of Almond and Meade
Streets. A small frame chapel was at once erected here, and
a school started. At the end of the first year of this school
Mr. Wadleigh reported 18 teachers and 150 scholars as belong-
ing to it. The Rev. Samuel Earp became associated with Mr.
Wadleigh as his assistant, for six months, July 5, 1868, to
January i, 1869, and it was largely due to his enthusiastic and
painstaking efforts that the mission school and first services
were successfully begun in November, 1868. This earnest
man labored with great vigor to bring together the children of
the neighborhood, which was then an unpaved and swampy
region, where rubber boots were essential for comfortable loco-
motion. Many of the children gathered by Mr. Earj) were
strangers to the names of God and Jesus except in profanity.
Among the earnest lay workers in this noble mission of the
l)arish in those early days may be mentioned the following
Church-folk who are still actively identified with Christ
Church: Mrs. V. S. Doebler, who taught the "infant school;"
Col. Embick, Mrs. Cyrus Heller, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Dayton.
the former of whom was for .some time su]K'rintendent of the
school. Mr. J. J. Crocker, Mr. J. E. Jones, Mrs. C. \'. Runklc,
Mrs. (ieorge E. Shiffler. Mrs. C. M. Rcnaut. .Mrs. A. M.
Mr. Wadleigh's Rectorship 37
Ganoung, Mrs. A. P. Perley, and Miss Elizabeth Logan.^
Thus was started the work which has since become St. Mary's
Parish.
After Mr. Wadleigh had left the parish, Dr. Paret, in
February, 1870, noted a membership of 12 Sunday School
teachers and 100 scholars, with an average attendance of 60.
He made it a point to be present every Sunday at 2 130 and to
impart "systematic instruction" after Evening Prayer.
Mr. Wadleigh's rectorship was notable for the achieve-
ments already recorded, and also for the influence of his strong
and manly personality upon young men. He seems to have
had exceptional power in winning and holding men, and from
this time dates the earnestness of many of our most loyal and
intelligent Churchmen of to-day. It is to be here remarked
also that with his ministration may be said to have begun that
era of "good Churchmanship" which has since characterized
the parish. Since then the persistent type of teaching and
practice has been what is commonly called "Moderate High
Church."
The late Mr. J. J. Crocker records that "Mr. Wadleigh
preached but once in my recollection in the high pulpit of the
old church, and tJiat on the occasion of his first visit ; and
never used the black gown, while Mr. Moore was accustomed
to its use. Mr. Wadleigh preached extempore."
Mr. Wadleigh resigned his rectorship here, to take effect
April 1st, 1869, in order to accept that of St. Luke's Church,
Germantown.
1 Since the above pai-agraph was written Colonel Embick has
removed to New York City, and Mesdames Dayton and Doebler and
Messrs. Crocker, .Jones and Dayton have been called to their rest.
'LStS-H f^ .
THE RT. REV. WILLIAM PARET, D. D.. LL. D.
Rector I 0(39 l 07G
DR. PARET'S RECTORSHIP.
1869-1876.
Division of the Diocese — The Parish in Prosperity.
The Rev. Wm. Paret,i D. D., of Elmira, N. Y., was
promptly elected rector at a salary to be not less than $2,000 a
year and the use of the rectory, and entered upon his duties
May 1st, 1869. Obviously, the first work to engage his atten-
tion would be the completion of the church building. The
Vestry secured permission from the Standing Committee of
1 The Rt. Rev. William Paret, son of John and Hester Paret,
was born in New York City, September 23, 1826. He prepared for
college privately, and then entered Hobart College, from which he
graduated in 1849 (D. D. 1867; LL. D. 1886). He was fitted for the
ministry under the direction of Bishop William H. DeLancey, and
ordained deacon in 1852 by Bishop Chase, acting for the Bishop of
Western New York, being advanced to the priesthood in 1853.
In 1852 he was called to the rectorship of St. John's Church, at
Clyde, N. Y., where he remained till 1854. For ten years from that
date he was rector of Zion Church at Pierrepont Manor, N. Y., and
from 1864 to 1866 of St. Paul's Church at East Saginaw, Mich. He
then was rector of Trinity Church at Elmira, N. Y., but resigned to
accept the call of Christ Church, Williamsport. When he resigned
this charge he did so to become rector of the Church of the
Epiphany, Washington, D. C, where he remained till 1884, when
he was elected Bishop of Maryland. He was consecrated in Wash-
ington January 8, 1885.
Bishop Paret married, in 1849, Miss Maria G. Peck, and subse-
quent to her death, Mrs. Sarah Haskell (1900). He is the author
of a number of works, among which are "St. Peter and the Primacy
of the Roman See," "The Pastoral Use of the Prayer Book," "The
Place and Function of the Sunday School in the Church," and
"The Method and Work of Lent." By his counsel and influence a
new Diocese of Washington was, in 1895, created out of the Diocese
of Maryland, at which time he, in accordance with his preroga-
tives, chose the remaining Diocese as his own, in which he has been
Bishop for twenty-five years. [Ed.]
39
40 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
the Diocese to sell or mortgagee such property of the corpora-
tion as might be necessary to raise funds for the prosecution
of the work already under way. At the same time it was re-
solved to build only a part of the tower for the present. The
Dorcas Society in the meantime was raisings money for the
chancel furniture, and subsequently, at the suggestion of the
Vestry, devoted what remained in hand towards the pipe
organ. This was built by J. Ci. .Marklove, of Utica, N. Y., at
a total cost of $2,000. ( ?)
The first service in the new church, our present house of
worship, was held on the morning of Christmas Day. 1869.
the Rev. Dr. Paret officiating.
It is interesting to note that the first visitation of the
l>ishop (Dr. Stevens) to the new church was made cju the e\"en-
ing of July 10. 1870. when he confirmed a class of 47. The
first person on whom he laid hands on this occasion was Miss
Elizabeth Logan. Here, too, should be recorded the equally
interesting visit of the Bishop on Wednesday, October 12th, of
the same year, when several persons were ordered deacons and
several others advanced to the ]M-iesthood. Among the latter
was the Rev. Arthur Brooks, Rector of Trinity Parish, whose
brother, the already distinguished Phillips Brooks, of Boston,
preached the ordination sermon.
The weekly routine of the parish at this time emliraccd
services in Christ Church every Sunday at 10:30 a. m. and
7:00 r. M.; on the first Sunday in the month at 9:00 a. .\i. :
every Wednesday, with lecture, at 7:00 p. m. ; every Friday at
10:00 a. m. ; on holy days at 10:00 a. m. ; in the "mission
chapel," every Sunday at 2:30 r. m. ; Sunday School at the
church at 9:00 a. m. ; choir rehearsal, Wednesdays at 8:00 r.
M. ; sewing school at the chapel every Saturday at 2:00 r. m..
and "friendly meetings" every Friday evening. The average
attendance at the last named was 25 girls.
Summarized in a few sentences, the history of the present
church building up to this time was as follows: It was first
suggested by the Rev. Mr. Moore in 1862. The tirsl contribu-
tions towards its erection came from two concerts and a fair
TItDEM F
Dr. Paret's Rectorship 41
held in the sprinj^ and summer of 1864, the joint sum of which
amounted to about $1,400. On June u, 1866, the V^estry de-
cided to build. The corner-stone was laid by Bishop Stevens
on June 27, 1867. When a memorandum of indebtedness was
made the month after the church had been opened for service,
it was found that $16,889 ^^''^-'^ ^^^'S- ^^^ course, the building
could not be consecrated while this remained unpaid. The
Vestry resolved to sell the old church and the school house for
$5,000, which sum should be applied to the floating debt of the
parish. Soon after this property was offered to the German
Romanists for $6,000, but they refused to take it unless they
could get the rectory too.
In 1869 or 1870 Dr. Paret had appointed Dr. William F.
Logani as Rector's Warden. Dr. Logan refusing a reappoint-
ment in 1873, Dr. Paret then appointed Mr. James Van du Zee
Hrown^ as his successor.
1 Dr. William Fullerton Logan was born in .Jacksonville, West-
moreland County, Pa., August 14, 1826, and prepared for college at
Dr. McCloskey's Academy, at West Alexandria. After graduating
from Washington College, Washington, Pa., he studied medicine at
Freeport, Pa., under Dr. Borland, and then took the four years
course at the Western Reserve Medical University, Cleveland, Ohio,
from which he graduated in 1851. He practiced medicine for some
years in Freeport, Pa., and for a short time in Watertown, Wis.,
moving to Williamsport in 1859, where he purchased a drug busi-
ness, in which he continued till shortly before his death, December
20, 1892.
While in Freeport he married, April 29, 1851, Louisa Weaver,
by whom he had three children, Harry W.. Elizabeth and Mary
Emily.
He was prominent in civic affairs; was president of the Wild-
wood Cemetery Company, a member of City Councils and twice
elected Mayor (1867 and 1878). He was appointed a member of
Governor Bigler's staff, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel,
and during the Civil War acted as examining surgeon. He was in-
terested in Masonry and a charter member of Baldwin H Com-
mandery. No. 22, Knights Templar.
Dr. Logan was a member of Christ Church Vestry from 186.3
till 1891. He was appointed Rector's Warden in 1869. 1870, 1871,
and 1872, but in 1873 refused a reappointment.
2 James Van du Zee Brown was horn in Hartford, Washington
42 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
An event of momentous interest to all our parishes and
missions throughout the central part of the State was the
division of the Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1871, and the erec-
tion of a new Diocese. This step had, of course, been under
discussion for a lon_q; time. It was first broug-ht forward in
the convention of 1866, the year after the organization of the
Diocese of Pittsburg. Owing to the absence of the Bishop
(Dr. Stevens), on account of sickness, from this and the
convention of the following year, the matter was postponed.
In the meantime, however, a committee on division had been
appointed, which reported in 1867, and was continued to the
County, N. Y., March 2, 1826. He was educated in the common
schools of Washington County, and when 17 years of age learned
the printer's trade. Upon his coming of age he, with his father,
purchased a flour mill at Angelica, N. Y., but in 1851 moved to
Wellsville, N. Y., where he immediately engaged in mercantile
business. He moved to Williamsport in 1859, purchasing the Upde-
graff and Herdic flour mill, which he operated till 1866, when he
sold out in order to devote his entire time to the lumber industry.
As a member of the firm of Thomas & James Thompson, and
later of Brown, Early & Company, he was exceedingly successful;
but subsequent to 1881 his operations were confined to the West. In
1864 he became interested in the Williamsport Water Company
(with which the Citizens Water and Gas Company is affiliated),
and was made its president two years later. When he took charge
the company financially was in a precarious condition, but under
his guidance it soon became prosperous and continues so to this
day under his nephew, Henry D. Brown, who succeeded to the
presidency on his death. In 1861 Mr. Brown married Carile Cone
Higgins, who died November 16, 1902. Mr. Brown survived his
wife about two years, dying, without issue, December 8, 1904.
Mr. Brown was a vestryman of Christ Church from 1863 to 1904
(Rector's Warden 1873--1901; Vestry's Warden 1901-1904), but will
live most prominently in the memory of the city as the donor of
the magnificent endowed library that bears his name. The Rector
of Christ Church is, t:v-ojf.<io, a member of the library's Board of
Trustees. Mr. Eckel was the first rector of Christ Church to sit on
this Board, and in the chapter dealing with his rectorship more
detailed mention of the library will be found.
A window to the memory of Mr. Brown was unveiled June 4,
1906. His nephew, Edmund B. Piper, was elected to the Vestry in
1904 and annually re-elected till he left the city in 1907. [Ed.]
Dr. Paret's Rectorship 43
next year. In 1868 the subject came up in dead earnest as
a "burning question." The committee on division made an
exhaustive report through the Rev. Dr. M. A. DeWolfe Howe.
The action of the convention was spread over three days, dur-
ing which the convention became deeply involved in various
conflicting motions, amendments, and substitutes. The final
outcome was the adoption of a resolution consenting to a di-
vision on the "fourteen county line," but with such impossible
conditions annexed as practically to defeat the end in view.
This failure Bishop Stevens deeply regretted, because of the
serious impairment of his health. By his address of 1870 the
subject was freshly introduced to the convention, and he spe-
cifically requested the division of the Diocese. The question of
the dividing line was, as is usually the case, the point of con-
tention. This had occasioned defeat before, and the Bishop
expressed himself ready to consent to any line of division, pro-
vided the original Diocese should contain not less than the
five counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester,
and Bucks. It is interesting to learn that previously (April
22d) the Vestry of this parish had adopted a resolution that
"the interests and growth of the Church imperatively require
a division of the Diocese as at present constituted, and that it
is the deliberate and earnest judgment of this parish that such
division should be on the five-county line." The convention,
acting on the Bishop's suggestion, adopted this line, and the
division was finally effected by the consent of the General
Convention in 1871. The Primary Convention of the new
Diocese met in St. Stephen's Church, Harrisburg, on the 8th
of November following. Our parish was represented by the
rector (the Rev. Dr. Paret) and Messrs. James H. Perkins,
John White, and Oliver Watson. The Lord Bishop of Lich-
field (Dr. Selvvyn), the Very Rev. Dr. Howson, Dean of Ches-
ter, and two other English priests, were honored guests of the
occasion, the Bishop of Lichfield preaching the sermon. The
name of "Central Pennsylvania" was selected for the new
Diocese after a number of other names, including "Williams-
port," had been rejected. The Rev. IMark Antony De^^'olfe
44 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Howe, D. D., of Philadelphia, and the Rev. George Leeds.
D. D., of Baltimore, were nominated for the Episcopate, the
name of the latter being placed before the convention by Dr.
Paret. Dr. Howe was elected on the first ballot. His conse-
cration took place in St. Luke's Church, Philadelphia, on the
Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28th, 1871. the Rev.
Dr. Paret. rector of this parish, being one of his two attendant
]^resbvters. Pledges amounting to $2,160 had been made in
this parish towards the endowment of the Episcopate of the
new Diocese. The first annual convention of the Diocese of
Central Pennsylvania met in Christ Church. Williamsport,
June II- 1 3, 1872.
During Dr. Paret's rectorship, besides the two Sunday
Schools and the parochial school with 30 pupils, a sewing
school with 35 pupils was carried on at the mission chapel
(now St. Mary's) and a night school for men and boys, which
numbered 40 pupils. On June 29, 1871, Dr. Paret organized
"The Brotherhood of Christ Church," composed largely of
young men, for the purpose of assisting the rector in Church
work — a sort of anticipation of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
Its first officers were the Rector and Messrs. Martin Powell,
F. E. Gleim, and J. B. Dayton. Three months later it reported
19 active and 5 honorary members. By a system of district
visiting, chiefly in the neighborhood of the mission chapel,
the chapel attendance was much increased, and some of the
members of the Brotherhood also assisted the Rector as teach-
ers in the Mission Sunday School. P.y the eflforts of this or-
ganization also a room at Fourth and Market Streets was se-
cured, where a library and reading-room were established.
The financial depression of the panic of 1873. however,
brought this enterprise to an untimely end.
( )n January 16, 1871, a "Church School for young ladies,
girls, and younger boys" was started at 118 Market Street,
under the charge of Mrs. Richter. It was "under the pastoral
control of the Rector of Christ Church, and subject in all things
to his authority." The prospectus declared that "every care
will be taken to insure ample and thorough instruction to all
Dr. Paret's Rectorship 45
the pupils, and to carry them on to any degree of advancement
that may be desired Religious truths will make part
of the course of studies, and the pastor's influence be felt by
his frequent presence."
The Dorcas Society was organized November 24, 1871,
with Mrs. John ^Vhite as president, a position which she has
held continuously to the present time. This society was "to
provide material, make or repair garments, and attend to their
distribution among the needy, and also to attend to any needle-
work that may be asked of them for the use of the Church."
Rooms were offered for the use of this guild by Mrs. Webb
at 141 Pine Street. Soon after the meetings were held in the
\'estry-room, and the next year in the Brotherhood rooms
over the Post (Jflice, on Market Street. The society was re-
organized October 4, 1872, and the name changed to the
"Ladies' Aid Society," by which it is still known. Its scope
of work was broadened to include: "(i) Clothing and aid
for the poor; (2) Altar-linen and surplices: (3) Care and
improvement of the rectory; (4) Church and festival decora-
tions; (5) Visiting of strangers, of new residents, of the sick
and poor; (6) Sewing schools; (7) Special parish work under
advice of the rector ; and other kinds of work may be assumed
from time to time." Each departnient was to be under two
directresses appointed by the president. A "constitution" of
eleven articles was adopted. (Parish Guide, October, 1872).
After more than 21 years of faithful service in various
capacities — Clerk of the Vestry, Parish Treasurer and volun-
teer organist of the church — Mr. James Damant resigned
these offices in April, 1873. From this time dates the incum-
bency of Mr. J. J. Crocker as Clerk (afterwards Secretary)
and Treasurer, which continued to the time of his death. April
2, 1902, except that by resolution of the \'estry, I\Iav 4, 1897,
the two offices were made separate and Air. V\'. C. Robinson
was then chosen to fill the position of Treasurer.
Although the church had been a "free church" since
the beginning of Mr. Wadleigh's rectorship it was not until
46 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Easter, 1873, tliat the "envelope system" of church support was
introduced.
The professional services of a trained and experienced
Church-musician were secured in the spring of 1873 in the
person of Mr. Horace Hills, Jr.. of Newport, R. I. Mr. Hills
was paid a salary of $400 a year. He organized a double
quartet, which continued to sing until the introduction of the
vested male choir, Easter, 1888. Prominent among the mem-
bers of the new choir in point of long and devoted previous
service were Miss Marion G. Ruch, Mrs. A. P. Perley, Miss
Elizabeth Logan, and Col. F. E. Embick. Judge Cummin
was also a faithful member of the choir until his lamented
death in 1889. a period of some iS years. Under the skill-
ful direction of Mr. Hills, the music of the services was
greatly enhanced in dignity and beauty. In the summer of
1875, ^t his own expense, the organ was equipped with the
water-motor, which is still in use, but which afterward came
into possession of the V'estry b}' purchase from Mr. Hills.
Dr. Paret having been invited to the rectorship of the
Church of the Epiphan}-, Washington, D. C, his resignation
was i)resented to the Vestry on September 24, 1876, to take
effect on the 4th of October. He was afterwards elected to
the Episcopate, and consecrated Bishop of Maryland January
8, 1885.
The rectorship of Dr. Paret greatly strengthened the parish
in every way. Prior to the financial depression of 1873, ^^-
though the erection of the new church building had imposed a
heavy burden of debt upon the parish, very large sums oi
money were contributed both for the reduction of this debt
and for other objects. Altogether over $60,000 was given
within a ])eriod of little more than seven years, an average of
nearl}' $8,600 a year, besides $2,160 for the endowment of the
Diocesan Episcopate in 1871. as noted above. Xcvertheless,
Dr. Paret declared in 1872, when the debt of the jiarish
amounted to "some $12.000" — it had been $17,700 the year
before — that '"the financial ])rosperity of the parish is rather
apparent than real." The salary of the rector for some years
Dr. Paret's Rectorship 47
was $2,400,1 and throughout this rectorship liberal contribu-
tions were made for the maintenance of the mission chapel
and other aggressive forms of Church work.
A few hundred dollars were gradually accumulated for a
"House of Mercy." but eventually turned over to the building
fund of the City Hospital when that institution was started.
In 1 87 1 special offerings were made for the relief of suf-
ferers by the Chicago fire, $186.00, and the forest fires in Wis-
consin, $86.00, and Michigan, $86.10.
The corner-stone of the Church of the Good Shepherd,
Upper Fairfield, in which the clergy and people of Christ
Church have always taken a warm interest, was laid on Sep-
tember 12, 1874.
It is not only the financial figures, however, that bear
witness to Dr. Paret's fruitful ministrv, but those also which
relate to the spiritual growth of the Kingdom. Among such
items may be noted the fact that the sacrament of Holy Bap-
tism was administered to 285 persons during this period, 193
were confirmed, and the number of confirmees increased from
124 in 1869 to 218 in 1873.
Almost immediately after the beginning of his rectorship
the parish school took the form of a free night school for boys.
In this iMrs. Paret was the chief teacher and had the help of
others, but the school was soon abandoned.
1 At a time of financial difficulty, Dr. Paret generously offered
to accept a certain reduction in his salary, if absolutely neces-
sary, sooner than abandon the work in which he was so interested.
[Ed.]
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LISfJARY
A«TC«, LS«<OX ANB
TILDF-N F0l*NCAT10Ni.
THE REV. JOHN HENRY HOPKINS. S. T. D.
RECTOR I07C 1007
DR. HOPKINS'S RECTORSHIP.
1876-1887.
Efforts to Divide the Diocese — Consecration of the
Church — The Parish Building and Other Improve-
ments— Dr. Hopkins's Position in the Church.
The Rev. Alfred Evan Johnson was chosen locum tenens
of the parish until Dr. Paret's successor should be selected and
assume charge. On October 21, 1876, the Rev. John Henry
Hopkins,^ S. T. D., of Plattsburg, N. Y., was elected rector
1 The Rev. John Henry Hopkins was born in Pittsburg October
28, 1820, his father being John Henry Hopkins, later Bishop of
Vermont, of mingled English and Irish blood, and his mother, Melu-
sina (Mueller) Hopkins, the daughter of a wealthy Hamburg mer-
chant. To the strains of blood that were united in him was per-
haps due the versatility for which he was noted. He accompanied
his parents to Boston and then to Vermont, where at the age of
14 he was a "tutor in his father's Vermont Episcopal Institute,"
hearing classes in Latin and French and "doing his share of the
flogging." He graduated in 1839 with honors from the University
of Vermont, after which he assisted his father till the school was
closed in 1840. He was a tutor to Bishop Elliot's sons in Savannah
in 1843, and a reporter on the New York "Courier and Enquirer"
in 1847, in which year he also entered the General Theological
Seminary, graduating in 1850. He was ordained deacon by Bishop
Whittingham, in Trinity Church, June 30, 1850, and resolved to de-
vote his life to Church journalism. The "Church Journal," first
issued in 1853 under his direction, was the child of this resolution
and the first Church journal worthy of the name in the country.
Till 1867, when, on the death of his father, he sold it, Dr. Hopkins
used the "Journal" to advocate the Catholic faith as he perceived
it. During the years 1868-1872 he devoted himself to writing the
life of his father, and having been elected rector of Plattsburg,
N. Y., was induced by the Bishop to consent to be ordained priest.
His ordination took place June 23, 1872. He had in 1845 received
hif! M. A. from his Alma Mater, and in 1873 (or 1874) he received
from Racine College the degree of S. T. D. He resigned the rec-
49
50 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
at a salary of $2,000 and the use of the rectory, and a month
later ( Xovember 19), having- accepted the election condition-
ally. Dr. Hopkins made the parish a visit and preached in the
church for the first time. He subsequently signified his full
acceptance, and his rectorshi]) began on the loth of De-
cember.
In his biography we are told that "the peo])lc who came to
the early celebration of the Eucharist that Christmas morning
were surprised to see that so notorious a Ritualist as Dr. Hop-
kins had not changed the violet altar-cloth proper for Advent
for a white one !"'
At the instance of the new rector, steps were at once
taken for the amendment of the parish charter, and a rear-
rangement of the lectern and choir seats was efifected.
A subject in which Dr. Hopkins from the first evinced
the liveliest interest and energy was the division of the Diocese
of Central Pennsylvania. To this end he submitted to the
Vestry in March, 1877, a letter which he purposed sending the
Bishop, in whose statements he desired and secured the con-
currence of the V'estrx-. Indeed, before he accepted the parish,
on the occasion of his visit in November, he set forth his de-
termination to endeavor to secure the division of the Diocese,
and made it the condition of his acceptance that the parish
should further his eft'orts, and also that Christ Church should
be offered to the Bishop of the new Diocese for his cathedral,
in the event of acc(jm])lislied dix'ision Dr. Hopkins announced
his intention to resign and leave the Diocese. IWshop Howe
torship of Plattsbuis to accept the rectorship of Christ Church, wliich
he resigned October 1, 1887, expecting to occupy a chair at the General
Theological Seminary, but pending a decision in the dispute which
arose in regard to the validity of his election, died at Troy, X. Y..
August 14, 1891.
In addition to the "Church . Journal, " the "Life" of liis father,
etc., Dr. Hopkins was the author of a number of hymns and hymn
tunes, and a designer of ecclesiastical ornament. It is, however,
as a powerful and fearless controversialist in the American Church
during a crisis of her life that iio will i)roh;iMy be best remem-
bered. [Ed.]
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship 51
successfully thwarted all the efforts of Dr. Hopkins to secure
division. To have created the Diocese of Williamsport would
have required nearly doubling the assessment for episcopal sup-
port from fifty cents a communicant to about one dollar.
Unfavorably as this was regarded in some quarters, in 1882,
when it was voted to ask for an assistant bishop instead of
dividing the Diocese, the assistant bishop's salary was fixed
at $4,000, which required an assessment of one dollar and
thirty-five cents !
The biography of Dr. Hopkins (by the Rev. Charles F.
Sweet) records that when the parishes of the Diocese were
asked by circular, "How do you think the need of more epis-
copal oversight can be supplied?" only ten per cent, of them
replied, "By an assistant bishop," while eighteen per cent,
replied, "By a division of the Diocese." Ignorant apparently
of the stipulations made with the Vestry of Christ Church, by
which Dr. Hopkins promised to leave the Diocese if it were
divided. Bishop Howe and others suspected him of an ambi-
tion to become the first bishop of the new see.
Dr. Hopkins's efforts in this direction lasted for several
years, and at one time seemed almost certain of success. He
had secured pledges for the episcopal endowment fund
amounting to about $30,000 ; but neither his arguments nor his
energetic action could overcome the opposition of "the powers
that be."
Energetic measures extending over man\- years for the
extinction of the church debt were finally crowned with suc-
cess and the consecration of the church made possible. Ac-
cordingly this beautiful and impressive ceremony took place
on the 1 8th of June, 1879, nearly ten years after the church
building had been first opened for divine service. The ac-
count of the consecration service, published in the "Gazette
and Bulletin" the next da\-, is of such interest to-day as to de-
serve reproduction :
"The consecration of Christ Church yesterday morning
was one of the finest services ever seen in this citw
At 10 o'clock the procession of Bishop and surpliced
52 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
clerg}' started from the rectory, left front, moving along
Third Street to Academy, then to Fourth, and along
Fourth to the church. On reaching the middle door of
the church, the procession opened, and the Bishop — the
pastoral stafT being borne before him by the Rector of the
church — advanced to the door, which was firmly struck
three times with the i)astoral staiT. It was then immedi-
ately o])ened from within liy the Wardens and Vestry,
through whose double line the Ibsho]) and clergy ad-
vanced. Owing to the Bishop's extreme hoarseness, the
])rocessional psalm was sung by the clergy, one of them
taking the first half of each verse, to the Eighth Gre-
gorian tone, first ending, with intonation ; and the rest of
the clergy responding, completing the melody of the chant ;
the organ and choir joining in at the (iloria Patri. The
^^'ardens and Vestry closed in l)ehind the clergy, and ad-
vanced as far as the rood-screen, where they remained
standing until the Bishoj) and clergy were seated. The
instrument of donation and request, signed by the Rector.
Wardens and \"cstry of the parish, and sealed with ihc
parish seal, was then read by the Rector, the Rev. Dr.
Hopkins, the X'estry still standing before him. As he
handed the document to the Bishop the \^estry went to
their seats. The Bishop i^rocecded with the consecration
service, though able to articidate only with the greatest
difficulty. The sentence of consecration was read by llic
Rev. Cyrus II. Knight, Rector of St. James's Church,
Lancaster, Pa.
Morning l'ra\er was begun by the Rev. lulward M.
Pecke, Rector of .St. Clement's Church, Wilkes- P.arrc. the
Rev. I'". Duncan Jaudon. Rector of St. James's Church,
Muncy, taking the psalter; the Rev. Geo. C. [■"oley. Rector
of Trinity Church in this city, reading the first lesson ; the
Rev. Geo. P. Hopkins, of .Stevensville, I'radford County,
the second lesson, and the Rev. Louis II. /alnu'r, Rector
of St. Paul's Church. Bloomsburg. taking the creed and
l)rayers. The Comnnmion Service was begun by the Rev.
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship
53
Dr. Yarnall, Rector of St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia,
and who was Rector of Christ Church about 3=; years ago.
He was assisted in the epistle by the Rev. J. H. Black, of
Williamsport, a successor of Dr. Yarnall in the rectorship,
and in the gospel by the Rev. Dr. Paret, the immediate
predecessor of the present rector. Dr. Paret also preached
the sermon from the words (John ii:20) : "Then said the
Jews: Forty and six years was this temple in building."
The sacredness of the temple was shown to be due not to
the founder or builder, King Herod, who was an uncom-
monly wicked man ; nor was it due to the gifts made to it,
for it was the altar that sanctified the gift, and not the
gift that sanctified the altar ; nor was it due to the purity
of the ritual, for no degree of impurity or corruption could
destroy that sacredness. It was holy because God ac-
cepted it, and His acceptance made it holy, and His abid-
ing presence consecrated the building itself, and the gifts
made, and the worship oflfered at its altar. And it was
just "forty and six years" since the sendees of the Church
had begun in Williamsport, building up the spiritual tem-
ple of true believers. As the preacher gave utterance to
the tender reminiscences of his past rectorship here, his
emotion almost overcame him ; and great numbers of his
friends among the crowded congregation were equally
moved.
After the offertory ( which was devoted to Diocesan
missions), the Rev. Dr. Yarnall celebrated, aided in the
distribution by the Rev. Mr. Black and the Rev. Dr.
Paret.
At the close of the service, after the special prayer, the
Bishop gave the blessing of peace, standing in front of the
altar and holding the pastoral staff in his left hand, while
his right hand was lifted in benediction.
The Bishop and clergy left the church in procession,
moving down the broad alley, the Bishop closing the line,
and all returning to the rectory, the congregation remain-
ing in their places until the clerg>' had passed out. Be-
54 Chronicles of Chrtst Chi'rch Parish
sides those mentioned above, the Rev. John Hewitt, of
Bellefonte. and the Rev. W'iUiam Morrall, of ]\Iontours-
ville, were present in their robes, niakin.q- twelve in all
besides the Bisho]).
The pastoral staff which was borne before the Bishop
by the Rector was of carved oak, having on the sides of
the crook fourteen jewels (jasper, malachite, agate, lapis
lazuli, and white cornelian), and in the centre of the crook
the Chi Rho in silver, set with nearly an hundred crystals.
The upper part of the straight staff was cased in purple
silk, fringed. It was placed in a rest made for it in the
Bishop's chair, and will be reserved for the use of the
future Bishop of W'illiamsport.
The floral decoration was chaste and beautiful. Be-
sides the font, and the altar cross and vases, the white
altar cloth was lined all round its edge with exquisite
roses, besides a centre ])iece of the same ; and the lectern
and bishop's chair were not forgotten. The new rood-
screen was lit up with its fiery cross and its colored lights,
and flowers and greener}- crested it \\ith additional beautv
above.
The music was admirable, the choir being at their best,
and the whole congregation joining in the hymns, espe-
cially in (Jld Hundred, which filled the eliurch with its
volume of sound.
The day was as glorious a day as June can ])roduce.
Xothing — exce])t the serious hoarseness of the Bishop —
marred the delightful jierfection of the service from begin-
ning to end. An abundant and elegant collation was
given by the ladies of the parish at the house of Mr.
James \'. Ih'own to the I'ishop and clergy and invited
guests, and from 3 to 5 i'. m. a generrd reception was held
there, hundreds of Church people of both jiarishes and
their friends coming in to pav their resj^ects to the Bislioj)
and to congratidate all eMncerne<l im tlu' hapi)y services
of the day."
The certificate of consecration, at Bishop Howe's sug-
Dr. Hopktxs's Rectorsutp 55
gestion, was framed and hung in the vestry-room, where it
may still be seen.
Beginning with April. 1881. steps were taken for the erec-
tion of a "Simday School Building" or Parish House. The
plans presented to the \^estry by Dr. Hopkins were approved
in the main, but it was not until the spring of 1883 that the
work was begun. The sum of $8,000 was raised by subscrip-
tion for this purpose. The building was completed in the fall
of 1883, at a cost of $8,500.
The next year the Ladies' Aid Society tiled the floor of
the church at an expense of $1,200. This was a notable un-
dertaking, carried on with great enthusiasm. In October,
1884, it was decided to heat the church with steam. The tiling
and introduction of heating apparatus cost $3,222.75.
It will be possible here only to sketch summarily some of
the more conspicuous achievements of this rectorship. Alany
changes were made in the furnishings and decoration of the
chancel.
Dr. Hopkins's gifts as an artist in correct and scholarly
designs for churches and church furniture were of a high
order, and his mark was left upon the Church wherever he
served. His influence was widel\- felt in the Church at large
and may be traced also in Williamsport outside the parish, as,
for example, in some chastely wrought tombs in Wildwood
Cemetery, and elsewhere. It is difficult to say whether Dr.
Hopkins was most widely appreciated as scholar, writer,
preacher, controversialist, musician, poet, or artist, because he
was a man of "many parts" and excelled in all.
To Dr. Hopkins can be credited the canopied episcopal
chair and prayer-desk, the altar and reredos (the latter after
his time altered somewhat and completed with painted panels),
and the massive rood-screen (which cost $400). Allusions to
some of the chancel furniture that he had introduced will be
found in the newspaper account of the consecration, already
given. The pastoral staves of the Bishops of Central Penn-
sylvania (now Bethlehem), and Wisconsin (now Milwaukee),
were also designed by him.
56 Chronicles of Christ Cih'rch Parish
He was a zealous Churcliman and indefatigable worker, a
simple-minded man of God. a sympathetic, kindly-mannered
friend of "all sorts and conditions of men," especially of the
poor and of little children, an able champion of the Catholic
Faith and an active propagandist of the Church. He never
married, and well i)ast middle age when he became rector of
Christ Church, was always understood to have religiously
adopted a celibate life. He is said, moreover, to have always
worn the tonsure — that is. the shaven crown of a monk — and
a full beard.
During his time the debt on the W'adleigh Memorial
Chapel, now St. Mary's, was paid off. and in 1886 a lot was
bought in "Rocktown," now South Williamsport, for the erec-
tion of another chapel. Here St. John's Chapel was built and
opened in the spring of 1887, the building and lots having cost
nearly $2,000.^ The missions were worked by deacons who
lived with the rector. The rectory was regarded as a clergy-
house for a religious community, and in order to make possible
this ideal of clerical life and service a third story was added to
the building. Chief among the clergy who served in the city
and neighborhood under the arrangement were the Rev.
Charles E. Dobson, the Rev. Enos J. Balsley, and the Rev.
William Louis WoodrufT.
One of the events of the year in those days still pleasantly
remembered by former scholars was the annual union service of
the Sunday Schools of the parish in the parish churcli, wlien,
brave with banners and joyous with song, the chapel scholars
joined the school of Christ Church and. after a hearty service.
were addressed by their beloved Rector. This custom served
well to develop a sense of unity in the dilYerent ])arts of the
parish.
The rectorship of the Rev. Dr. lIoi)kins ended October i,
1887, having extended over nearly eleven years, beginning De-
cember loth, 1876. It was the longest in the history of the
parish. "Christ Churcli." writes his biographer, [hr Rev.
1 There seems to be no doubt that l)i. ll()|)kliis paid lor the lots
(there were two of them) bhnself, lEd.l
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship 57
Charles F. Sweet, in "A Champion of the Cross," ''had grown
so strong during his rectorship that he felt he was not able
longer, at the age of sixty-seven, with the difficulty he had in
walking, and his weakened eyesight, to give the work the at-
tention it needed, and therefore, after his election to a profes-
sorship in the General Theological Seminary, he resigned his
rectorship.^ More than eleven hundred had been baptized,
and five hundred and forty-six had been confirmed during his
eleven years in Williamsport. The church had been adorned
and enriched ; two handsome mission chapels had been built,
besides the new Sunday School and Guild Hall, from his de-
signs ; and, besides, he had become personally responsible for
the building of the Church of St. Alban, at Peale, mentioned
in his letters.
"The night before he departed a reception was given him,
which all the parish attended, and many others. A large sum
of money was given him as a last token of esteem, and so, with
tears, he separated from his well-loved people."
Shortly before this time the Alumni Association of the
General Theological Seminar}-, New York, had established and
endowed the "chair of the evidences of revealed religion," to
which the Rev. Dr. Dean had been elected as the first incum-
1 Dr. Hopkins tendered his resignation September 13, 1886, to
take effect, in order that the Vestry need not be hurried in select-
ing his successor, one year from that time, or on October 1, 1887.
In his ietter he adds: "But it is expressly asked as a personal
kindness to me that before this resignation takes effect the in-
cumbrance on the Wadleigh Memorial Chapel be removed, so that
I may see it consecrated before my rectorship ceases." The Vestry
postponed action on his resignation for a week, and then, when ac-
cepting it, agreed to assume the debt of the Wadleigh Chapel within
the time specified. The chapel was accordingly consecrated on
October 1, 1887, Dr. Nelson Somerville Rulison, Assistant Bishop of
Central Pennnsylvania, officiating.
The parish having lacked an assistant clergyman for some six
months, the Rev. W. L. Woodruff was immediately secured to help
Dr. Hopkins, whose infirmities began to press heavily upon him,
and remained under Mr. Graff, who assumed office in January, 1888.
[Ed.]
5i^ Chroxtci-es ok Christ CurRCTi Parish
bent, the second choice faUing- on. Dr. Hopkins. Dr. Dean
lived less than three years after liis election, and upon his
death Dr. Hopkins was elected by a large majority to the
vacant professorship. "The election to the Alumni Lecture-
ship was rejected by the Trustees, the votes being equally di-
vided. Thus it was that the old scores against him were paid
oft. In the winter of 1887-88 he visited California, and spent
sonic ha])py weeks with his brother Caspar, at Pasadena. The
election was repeated, and once more it was rejected. Thus
was closed ruthlessly the public career of this able, brilliant,
and self-sacrificing son of the Church after a suspense of two
years, which efifectually shut him out from all occupations."^ It
should be added in fairness that a prolonged disagreement
had arisen between the authorities of the Seminary and the
alumni regarding the conditions under which the chair was to
be filled, and this disj^ute the Alumni Association subsequently
carried into the civil courts. Dr. Hopkins never had an op-
portunity to fill the place to which he had been chosen. Pend-
ing the settlement of the dispute he died, August 14, 1891,
nearly four years after leaving Williamsport, in the home of a
friend, Dr. Ferguson, in Troy, N. Y. He was 71 years of age
at the time of his decease.
W^ithout exaggeration Dr. Hopkins may fairly be pro-
nounced to have been one of the most notable and widely-
known men that the American Church has produced. By his
eminent abilities as an ecclesiastical statesman, although until
t886 denied his long-cherislud anibiiinn to sit in the House
of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the ( icncral Conven-
tion,^ he rendered conspicuous service to the Church at large
as the adviser of many of its leading bisho])s and priests and
as the auth<ir or promoter of nianv measures of far-reaching
1 "A Champion of the Cross," p. 221. [Ed.]
2 "In 1874 he was only a supplementary delegate and had no
place on the floor as a member of the House of Clerical and Lay
Delegates until, by the departure of one of the regular delegates at
the very end of that momentous session, he was called to take his
place for a few hours."— "A (Miampion of the Cross," p. lys. [b^d.]
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship 59
importance. Among the latter may here be mentioned the
canon of an appellate court drafted by him and adopted by the
Diocesan Conventions of Springfield, Ouincy, and Illinois.
(now Chicago), "thus completing," after twenty years' work,
as he wrote in his journal, "the organization of our first prov-
ince, setting a model to all the rest of the Church in America."
To him was also due, after an effort extending over more than
twenty-four years, the reduction of the board governing the
General Theological Seminary from between five and six hvm-
dred members to fifty-one besides the bishops.
A paragraph from Mr. Sweet's biography Cpp. 193-195)
may here be fittingly introduced :
"The parish was known as a High Church parish, and it
was quite willing for Dr. Hopkins to lead it still further along
the ways which were then so much spoken against. But his
course was not so much in the way of advancing ceremonial
as in deepening and enriching spiritual agencies. The ser-
vices increased in number and variety, and soon the weekl\-
and festival Eucharist became the rule in the parish. Even
more frequent celebrations came later on, and doubtless, if he
had not been so frequently called away from home, he would
have established the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice. But
there was no unusual ceremonial at these services. There
were no candles on the altar, nor were the Eucharistic vest-
ments used. The bread was 'fine usual bread,' and the chalice
was mixed beforehand in the vestry. Even colored stoles were
not used until, after some years, they were given by lay people.
The choir was but the old-fashioned mixed choir, and there
were no choral services. On Sundays there was an early cel-
ebration, and at the usual hour followed the full morning ser-
vice and sermon. But there was a depth of devotion apparent
in these simple services which arose from an entire personal
consecration to the service of the blessed Saviour and a full
belief in His presence in the Catholic Church. His parochial
activities were not fussy, and he was clear of that bane of
modern active Church work — the formation of a vast ma-
chinery of guilds and chapters for doing useless and useful
6o riiRoxici.F.s OF Christ CTirRcii Parish
thiiif^^s with equal efficiency. Hut lie was everyl)ocly's pastor in
the parish. True as steel himself and faithful to the si)irit as
well as the form of his vows, he had endless hope for others,
never-ending" patience with others' foibles or failings, unvary-
ing readiness to listen to every tale of sorrow or of wrong,
great gentleness in dealing with those who were trying to
learn how to repent, breezy, fresh wit and good humor which
blew away selfishness and downheartedness, and overwhelm-
ing force lor the insincere and the hyptxrites. . . . His
work was a great one. It was not confined to the city or to his
own missions. He was always at the service of his brother
clergy as far as he could be. He visited outlying and distant
mission-stations ; he hunted up the sick and the wretched and
forlorn ; he would travel for miles and miles over mcjuntain
roads to comfort a poor woman in distress. He would preach
in country school-houses, administer the communion at night
to communicants otherwise deprived of that privilege ; at one
place he was known as "the Methodist.' from the fervor with
which he preachcfl."
THE REV. WILLIAM HENRY GRAFF
Rector 1887 1 89G
MR. GRAFF'S RECTORSHIP.
1888-1896.
The Flood of 1889 — Celebration of the Semi-Centennl\l
— Further Indications of Prosperity and Zeal.
The Rev. William Henry Graffs was called to Williams-
port from the rectorship of St. Jude's Church, Philadelphia,
and took charge of this parish January 29, 1888. His first
''assistant" was the Rev. W. Louis Woodruff, who had begun
his ministrations here under Dr. Hopkins and who remained
until December, 1888. He was advanced to the priesthood
May loth.
In the following March the new rector began the publica-
1 The Rev. William H. Graft" was born in Philadelphia, August
1845, and during the Civil War served nearlj' three years with the
15th Pennsylvania Cavalry (Anderson's). He graduated from the
Philadelphia Divinity School in 1870. In the same year he was
ordained deacon by Bishop Lee, and also priest by Bishop Stevens.
While studying at the Philadelphia Divinity School Mr. Graff was
lay-reader at the Church of the Ascension, Claymont, Del., and at
Calvary Church, Brandywine Hundred. During the summer of 1870
he was assistant to Dr. Benjamin Watson at the Church of the
Atonement, Seventeenth and Summer Streets, Philadelphia, and
later to Dr. Henry G. Morton, at St. James's, Philadelphia. At
Christmastide of that year he was called to the rectorship of St.
.Jude's, Philadelphia, where he remained for seventeen years, and
until he accepted the rectorship of Christ Church, Williamsport, in
1887. When he resigned, in 1896. Mr. Graff did so to accept the
position of Vicar of the Memorial Church of the Holy Comforter,
Philadelphia, which he still holds.
Mr. Graff married, in 1870, Miss Edith M. Irvine, daughter of
Charles and Ella Irvine, who died in 1902, by whom he had
four children, two sons, John S. and A. Hewson, both deceased;
and two daughters, Frances H. (now Mrs. Dr. M. T. Sime), and
Ella Irvine, the latter living with her father. [Ed.]
61
62 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
tion of "Christ Church Messent^'er." whicli ran <jn coiiiinuously
unlil March. 1894, and was revived under Mr. Eckel in 1897,
but was discontinued in December, 1898, because under a new
rule of the Board of Trade it was impossible to get adver-
tising.
\Mien Mr. Graff became rector he fovmd the following
guilds already organized and at work : The Ladies' Aid So-
ciety, imder the presidenc\- of Mrs. John White ; the Woman's
Auxiliary to the Board of Missions, under the presidency of
Mrs. F. R. Weed ; St. Mary's Guild, under Mrs. Ann E.
Stowell (now Mrs. A. P. Perley) as "The Lady of the
Guild;" a men's guild known as St. John's Guild; a Hospital
Aid Society, with Mrs. F. E. Embick as secretary-treasurer ;
and two important committees known as the \'estment Com-
mittee and the Flower Committee. At Wadleigh Chapel.^ be-
sides the "Committee of Management" and the Sunday School,
they had a "Wadleigh Chapel Guild" and an "Industrial
School ;" and at St. John's Chapel, besides the "Committee of
Management" and the Sunday School, the "Bishop Hopkins
Guild" and the "Ladies' Aid Society.'' Messrs. Charles V.
l^unkle and William Sweeley were lay readers for the two
chapels, and the Vestry of the parish comprised Major J. H.
Perkins and Mr. J. \'. Brown as wardens, and Messrs. John
White, Edgar Munson, Charles B. Howard. Dr. William F.
Logan, Judge Hugh H. Cummin, George L. Sanderson, Henry
C. Parsons, Col. Frederick E. Embick, John J. Crocker, A.
Howard Merritt, C. LaRue Munson. Allen P. Perley. and
r'rederick E. Glcim. Thai was in 1887.
Soon after the l)eginning of Mr. (iraff's rectorship ex-
tensive alterations were made to the rectory, one of which was
the addition of the part containing the study. These improve-
ments cost $3,200.
The vested chtjir of bo\ s and men was introduced with a
special service of admission to the choir on Wednesday even-
ing, ISIarch 28th, 1888, and sang its first service Easter even-
1 "Wadleigh Cliajxl." as "St. Mary's," became a separate parish
in June, 1894. [Ed.]
]Mr. Graff's Rectorship 63
ing, April 1st. The roster of the choir showed the following
names : Trebles — Dayton Runkle, Robert Gilmore. Jerry
Blue, James A. Heller, John A. Hollyhead, Frederick Zahn,
Robert H. Stead, Harry H. Ryder, Oliver Grove, Fred. A.
Perley, Charles Heathcote, Harry Whitman, David Caldwell,
George Zimmer, John S. Graff, and Robert L. Stead : Tenors
— Messrs. Robert H. Munson, William Zahn, G. H. Parke,
and A. P. Bishop; Basses— Messrs. J. H. Berkley, H. B.
Woodruff". G. P. Crocker, and Xewton Chatham.
Mr. Graff's warm-hearted sympathy with the sick and
poor made his rectorship notable for kindly ministrations to
all in affliction. The purchase of two lots in Wild wood Cem-
etery and the gift of one in the old \\'ashington Street Ceme-
tery, known as "Christ Church lots," provided a burying place
for the poor. A comfortable reclining chair for the sick was
also added to the parish equipment.
The first year of Mr. Graff's plan of systematic offerings
for missions, in the collection of which he was assisted by the
"Missionary Staff" of women workers, yielded $392.69, almost
the $400 he had hoped for. His plan was to "lump" the ob-
jects together, and then to disburse the offerings as follows :
Fifty per cent, to Diocesan [Missions. 15 per cent, to Domestic
Missions. 15 per cent, to Foreign Missions, and 5 per cent,
each to Negro Missions, Indian Missions, the American
Church Building Fund, and Theological Education.
aIv. Woodruff" resigned the assistantship near the end of
1888, and the Rev. David Stuart Flamilton, a recent graduate
of the General Theological Seminary, took his place the follow-
ing June. Mr. Hamilton's salary was $600 at first, which was
later raised to $800, and finally to Si, 000, when he was called
to the rectorship of Trinity Church, West Pittston, at Si. 200.
He was influenced to decline this call b}- petitions to have him
stay in Williamsport, which were signed by 81 of St. Mary's
people and 97 of St. John's. A few months later, however, he
accepted a call to the rectorship of St. Paul's, Columliia, and
terminated his connection with Christ Church Xovember 16,
64 Cn RON ici.es of Christ Church Parish
1890.1 Meantime he hcul been advanced to the priesthood by
Bishop RuHson, in Christ Church, on April 27th, 1890. The
sermon on this occasion was preached by IMr. Graff and the
cancHdate presented by the Rev. E. J. Balsley. Confirmation
and the Holy Communion were also administered at the same
service.
During Mr. Graff's rectorship began the custom of having
the winter session of the "Convocation," afterwards (1889)
called "Archdeaconry/" held alternately in Christ Church
Parish and Trinity Parish. During this time also the Rev. J.
M. Koehler began to make occasional visits to Williamsport
for the purpose of holding services and social meetings for the
deaf-mutes of the city and vicinity. In 1889 the Woman's
Auxiliary^ on account of the long distances in the Diocese,
began to hold archidiaconal meetings, each Archdeaconry hav-
ing its own Organizing Secretary. Mrs. Graff was the first
Organizing Secretary of the Williamsport Archdeaconry.
A disastrous flood in June, 1889, did much damage to the
church building and rectory, as throughout the lower parts of
the city. It took a long time to recover from the effects of
this calamity. The flood was so extensive that it impover-
ished many families, seriously affected the fortunes and busi-
ness prosperity of the most substantial citizens, and made no
small number of the poor for some time dependent on the
charity of other parts of the country. The Rev. Mr. Graff
was a member of the Flood Relief Committee which handled
and disbursed the moneys received from outside. The church
building still shows the effects of the flood, and much of its
furnishings had to be renewed. The organ also had to be re-
paired, which was done l)y the organist, Mr. Hills.
A summar\- l)y the Rector in the parish pai)er of what had
been accomplished within a few months after this calamity, is
1 Mr. Hamilton was succeeded by the Rev. Lansing Swan Hum-
phrey, and the latter by Rev. Morris Washington Christman, on
July 3, 1891. Mr. Chrlstman's work at St. Mary's, which resulted
in its becoming a separate parish, is recorded in the chapter,
"Summary Notes: Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel." [H)d.]
Mr. Graff's Rectorship 65
very interesting. He says : "Vestry-room vastly improved ;
Sunday School room been made one of the prettiest in the
city ; infant school room newly furnished ; tower vestibule en-
tirely renovated and decorated ; beautiful brass eagle-lectern
given as a memorial, and an exquisite brass font-ewer, one of
the most elegant in the country ; a piano added to the guild
room ; and altar-cloths and antependia, far in advance of those
lost in the flood, have come or are coming to beautify the
chancel," and he adds, with evident pride and gratification,
"Verily a new life seems flowing through the parish veins."
To these notes should also be added the fact that the church
was re-carpeted by the Mothers' Meeting at a cost of about
$300, and that the pews were re-cushioned from a fund col-
lected for the purpose by Misses Helen Stiltz and Elizabeth
Parsons.
The efficiency of the spiritual work of the year 1889-90 is
indicated by the fact that the baptisms in the parish that year
numbered over 100, and that 66 persons were confirmed in the
Spring, divided among the several congregations as follows :
Christ Church, 17; Wadleigh Chapel, 24; St. John's Chapel, 25.
A second freshet, May 20-21, 1894, fortunately less exten-
sive than the one five years before, did som,e damage, however,
and made the necessity of a new organ more imperative.
A Beneficial Association was organized during Mr.
Graff's third year, which was intended especially for railroad
men, mill men, laboring men, and, as the prospectus adds, "in
fact, all classes." The initiation fee was 50c., the monthly
dues 60c., with the promise of $5.00 a week sick benefits.
Free medical attendance was to be available at all times,
funeral benefits v/ere to be assessed and a reorganization ef-
fected every year with a pro-rata return to the members of any
surplus contained in the treasury. Any man between 16 and 50
was eligible for membership on producing a medical certificate
of good health. The preliminary meeting was held November
8, 1889, and the association organized November 22, with 40
members. The officers were : President, the Rector, ex-
officxo; first vice-president, Mr. A. P. Perley ; second vice-
66 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
president, Mr. Aaron F. Fry; treasurer, Prof. Samuel Tran-
seau ; financial secretary, Mr. C. V. Runkle ; recording secre-
tary, "Sir. J. E. Colket ; physicians, Drs. Louis Schneider and
L. G. Baker. A year later, 80 per cent, of the old members.
68 in number, were re-elected.
In October, 1889, the Sunday School library numbered
300 books. Mr. C. LaRue Munson, who had become super-
intendent of the Sunday School in 1882, served throughout
this period and did much to stimulate interest in the study of
the Church Catechism and other lessons by the gift of Prayer
Books and other rewards of merit.
Constant interest in the ^^'illiamsport Hospital and Home
for the Friendless was shown by the Rector and parishioners.
As already noted, extensive alterations were made to the rec-
tory in 1889. The guild hall, or parish house, was heated
with steam in 1890, and carriage sheds were built on the rear
of the church lot. Ventilators were put on the parish house
in 1890. An artistic and substantial brass pulpit in memory
of Dr. Hopkins, the work of Oscar Luetke, was erected in the
church by popular subscription of the parishioners, in 1892, at
a cost of nearly $575. A portrait executed by Mr. Charles
Crawford was also hung in the parish house, where it still is.
The choir-room was enlarged in 1891. St. John's Chapel was
moved forward on its lot in 1890.
Chief est of the material improvements which marked Mr.
Graff's rectorship was the completion of the church tower at a
cost of $5,300. The first gift towards this t)bject was v$ioo in
gold and came anonymously. Soon after it was announced
that two members of the Vestry had agreed to give $500
apiece. Later on it came to be known that these two donors
were the wardens. Messrs. i'erkins and Brown. The tower
was carried up in 1891 to commemorate the Soth anniversary
of the ])arish, 22 years after the building of the church and 12
vears after its consecration. The last named event had
marked the extinction of the debt incurred bv its erection. As
Mr. Graff said, the C()m]>lelinn of the tower was "a fitting
memorial of a half century's i)rosperity.""
Mr. Graff's Rectorship 67
The celebration of the semi-centennial anniversary was
held with great rejoicing on Quinquagesima Sunday, Feb-
ruary 8th, 189 1. A reception was held on the evening before
in the rectory to meet the Bishop of the Diocese (Dr. Howe)
and Mrs. Howe, the Bishop of Maryland (Dr. Paret) and
Mrs. Paret, and the Rev. George C. Foley, rector of Trinity
Parish, and Mrs. Foley. It was attended by a large number
of parishioners and other Churchmen and citizens of Wil-
liamsport, notwithstanding the very stormy night. The morn-
ing service at Trinity Church was given up the next day and
the Rev. Mr. Foley and his people joined the clergy and
people of Williamsport's mother-parish in their rejoicings.
The services of the day were : Morning Prayer at 9 :oo
o'clock; sermon and Holy Communion at 10:30; union service
of the three Sunday Schools of the parish at 3 :oo p. m. ; and
a union service of the guilds of the parish in the evening at
7 :oo o'clock.
The church was crowded for the morning service. In
the procession were the vestries of Christ Church and Trinity
Church, the choir, the reverend rectors of the two parishes, the
assistant of Christ Church (the Rev. Mr. Humphrey), the
general missionary of the Diocese (the Rev. S. P. Kelly), the
Bishop of Maryland and the Bishop of the Diocese. The pro-
cessional hymn was —
"O 'twas a joyful sound to hear
Our tribes devoutly say —
Up, Israel, to the temple haste.
And keep your festal da}'."
Letters of regret for their absence were read from two
former rectors, the Rev. Drs. Hopkins and Clemson, and from
the Rev. Dr. Stone, Rector of Grace Church, Philadelphia,
which had liberally fostered our Williamsport parish in its
early days. Dr. Hopkins sent his blessing, and note was
made that Dr. Clemson had entered into rest soon after pen-
ning his letter.
After a brief congratulatory address had been made by
the Bishop of the Diocese, the Bishop of Maryland preached a
68 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
strong', earnest sermon on the text : "As every man hath re-
ceived the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as
good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (I Pet. 4:10).
The hymn, "X^ow thank we all our God," was sung as the
recessional.
The floral decoration of the church on this occasion was
a notable feature, flowers having been sent from Philadelphia
to grace the w-indows in memory of Chief Justice Lewis and
Mr. F. C. Campbell. Airs. Wiley, daughter of the former,
and one of the first persons baptized in the parish, came from
Bethlehem for the day ; as did also from his home Mr. N.
Ferree Lightner, son of the priest who began Church services
in Williamsport.
Major James H. Perkins, who had been Vestry's Warden
since 1867, died July 15, 1893. In 1894 Mr. Edgar Munson^
was elected by the Vestry as his successor.
1 Edgar Munson was born April 21, 1820, in Greenfield, Saratoga
County, N. Y., of New England Puritan ancestry. He was educated
in the common schools in the neighborhood and at academies at
Manchester and Bennington, Vt. He entered mercantile life as a
clerk at the age of 15, and became a partner in the firm of Merrl-
man, Munson & Company, at the age of 27. In 1854 he became finan-
cially interested in lumber, and in 1864, in company with Col. S. W.
Starkweather, purchased mills in Williamsport, to which place he
removed in 1870. Mr. Munson at different times was a member of
the firms of .John R. Cook & Company, Slonaker, Howard & Com-
pany, and Starkweather & Munson, a director and president of the
Syracuse. Geneva and Corning Railroad, president of the West
Branch Lumber Company, largely interested in the Kettle Creek
Coal Mining Company, a director of the Lycoming Rubber Com-
pany, president of the Williamsport National Bank and of the
Citizens Water and Gas Company.
On June 15, 1852, he married I.,ucy Maria Curtis, by whom he
had throe sons, Cyi-us LaRue, Robert H., and Edwin C. He was a
member of Christ Church Vestry 1874-1901, and Vestry's Warden
1894-1901. His death occurred May 25, 1901.
His son Cyrus LaRue was elected to the Vestry during his
lifetime, and since his death his grandson, Edgar Munson, has
also been elected to that body.
A window to the memory of Mi'. .Mniison and his wife was un-
veiled on All Saints' Day, November. !!•()(;. tl<:d.]
Mr. Graff's Rectorship 69
One noticeable feature of Mr. Graff's rectorship was the
corporate attendance at service from time to time of various
lodges, military organizations, etc., on special occasions of
public worship : such as, for example, Reno Post, G. A. R. ;
Baldv^in Commandery, K. T. : the Twelfth Regiment, Penn-
sylvania Volunteers, etc.
An industrial school was started at St. John's Chapel
about March, 1889.
The parochial branch of the Woman's Auxiliary to the
Board of Missions of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary
Society, organized during Dr. Hopkins's rectorship, has
throughout its long history been an important agency of the
parish in fostering interest in the Church's larger work, and
in contributing to its support by gifts of money and valuable
"missionary boxes" packed with useful articles designed to
supplement the meagre stipends of missionary priests in
various parts of our land, or to help maintain schools, orphan-
ages, and hospitals in the mission field at home and abroad.
The estimated value of the boxes sent from this parish proba-
bly amounts to thousands of dollars. The grateful letters of
the recipients of this bounty from time to time are a sufficient,
as they are also often a most touching, reward for the thought
and labor and sacrifice expended in the preparation of the
boxes.
A Mothers' Meeting, held at first under the name of the
"Woman's Evening Club," was started October 26, 1888, to
give hard-working women a pleasant social evening with op-
portunity for doing some "Church work," such as sewing and
quilting, with which was combined a little reading and a short,
bright service.
An interesting side-light on the faithful diligence of the
clergy at this time is afforded by the statement in the parish
paper that they had eight appointments every Sunday and
walked eight miles to fill them. Major Perkins and Dr.
Saylor-Brown soon after put their horses and carriages at the
disposal of the clergy on Sunday afternoon.
The Ministering Children's League was organized under
70 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Miss Mary Smythe in May, 1890. Mrs. H. Packer provided
the little girls with badges. The motto of the society was.
"One kind deed every day." Some six months after their or-
ganization Bishop Hare, of South Dakota, visited the parish,
and the little girls became so interested in his Indian work that
thev decided to devote their efforts to aiding it, which they did.
On January 12, 1895, a fire in the ])arish house damaged
the guild rooms and roof to the amount of nearly v$i.700. which
was covered by insurance.
It would be impossible in brief comi)ass to do justice to
the manifold and abundant activity of the various guilds and
of individual parishioners during this period, under Mr.
Graff's ceaseless and indefatigable leadership.
On May 5th, 1896, Mr. Graff's rectorship ended, and the
Rev. W. H. Burbank soon after became lociini tciiciis i)ending
the election of a rector.
THE NEY7 YORK
PUBLIC LiBrJARY
ASTOR, L6»iCX AMD
TILOEN FOUNDATfONfl,
THE REV. EDWARD HENRY ECKEL
Rector I 890 I 905
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP.i
1896-1905.
Mrs. Christman Set Apart as Deaconess — Consecration
AND Renovation of St. John'.s — Work In and
Throughout the Parish.
The Rev. Edward Henry Eckel, ^ to whose zeal and un-
tiring energy Christ Church, WilHamsport, is indebted for its
interesting and painstaking history down to the beginning of
his own rectorship, began his official connection with the parish
on All Saints' Day, Sunday, November i, 1896.
Immediately on Mr. Eckel's taking charge of the parish,
the matter of repledging the whole parish for parochial ex-
1 This chapter has been contributed by Miss Mary Smythe. [Ed.]
2 The Rev. Edward Henry Eckel was born in New Orleans, La.,
November 5, 1862, and graduated from Rugby Academy, Wilming-
ton, Del., 1880; B. A, from Delaware College, Newark, Del., 1886, and
B. D. from the General Theological Seminary, N. Y. City, 1889.
He was ordained deacon by Bishop Coleman, of Delaware, in Holy
Trinity (Old Swedes') Church, Wilmington, June 16, 1889, and
priest in St. James's Church, near Stanton, Del., May 28, 1890.
He m.arried Miss Anna Todd Reynolds, in St. Andrew's Church,
Wilmington, Del., on June 27, 1889, by whom he has had three chil-
dren, Edward Henry (1890), Elizabeth (1891) and Albert Reynolds
(1895).
Mr. Eckel was rector of St. James's Church, near Stanton, St.
James's Church, Newport, and St. Barnabas's Church, Marshallton,
Del. (the last named founded by himself), 1889-1891; then of
Trinity Church, West Pittston, Pa., 1891-1896, resigning in order
to accept the rectorship of Christ Church, WilHamsport, in 1896. In
1905 a call to the rectorship of Christ Church, St. Joseph, Mo., which
he still holds, was tendered to and accepted by him.
He was founder and first president of the Church Students' Mis-
sionary Association, 1888; member Joint Diocesan Lesson Com-
mittee for Sunday Schools since about 1895; member General
Committee of the Church Congress since about 1902; member of
71
y2 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
penses was taken up, and. at the sugji^estion of the Rector, the
individual payment of the Episcopal and Convention Fund
Assessment. In March, 1897, over 475 notices of this assess-
ment were sent out. so that all confirmed persons, rich and
poor alike, might realize their relation to the Diocese and its
Advisory Committtee of Church Students' Missionary Association
since about 1904; provisional deputy to General Convention from
Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, 1897 and 1901; deputy to General
Convention from Diocese of Kansas City, 1907 and 1910, in former
of which, member of Committee on the State of the Church; dele-
gate from latter diocese to Missionary Council of the Sixth De-
partment, 1906 and 1907, and to the Missionary Council of the
"Department of the Southwest" (Seventh), 1908 and 1909; ap-
pointed secretary of the last named department in 1909, but de-
clined; appointed delegate to the Pan- Anglican Congress from the
Diocese of Kansas City, 1908.
He was Examining Chaplain, Diocese of Central Pennsylvania,
1898-1905; member of Committee on the Increase of the Episcopal
Endowment, 1901-1904, and chairman of Committee on same and
on Organization of Diocese of Harrisburg, 1904; member of Com-
mittee on Diocesan Apportionment, 1902-1903; nominee for Bish-
opric of Harrisburg, 1904; member of Board of Missions, Diocese
of Harrisburg, 1904; Dean of Northern Convocation, Diocese of
Kansas City, since 1905; member of Standing Committee (Kansas
City) since 1906; member Diocesan Missionary Board (Kansas
City) since 1909; member Diocesan Committee on Constitution
and Canons since 1906, and chairman of same since 1909.
He reorganized Pittston Library; organized Williamsport Bu-
reau of Associated Charities (now defunct); was a deputy rep-
resenting the city of Williamsport in National Conference of
Charities and Corrections, N. Y. City, 1898 (?); a trustee The
.James v. Brown Library, Williamsport. 1904; is one of the organ-
izers and directors of the Buchanan County (Mo.) Society for the
Relief and Prevention of Tuberculosis, 1910; organized St. Luke's
Mission, South St. Joseph, 1906, and is an active member of St.
Joseph Ad Club. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and
Elks; member of Benton Club, Country Club, and l.,otus Club, of
St. Joseph.
His eldest son, Edward Henry, .Ir., wlio is a candidate for Holy
Orders, has recently won the Rhodes Scholarship for the State of
Missouri, and after three years at the State University will enter
Oxford University this autumn (1910). [Ed.]
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 73
Bishop. This work was done mainly by Miss Mabel Prior
(now Mrs. Wilbur Sallada) and Mrs. W. H. Kilbourn.
During his first year Mr. Eckel made a systematic visita-
tion of the parish, entering his visits on a card catalogue in-
vented by himself. In one set of cards the families are given
alphabetically, with full information as to whether baptized or
confirmed. Another set of cards gives the families by streets.
This system is still in use and has proved of great value to the
succecdin^y rector.
To the various guilds of the parish was added by Mr.
Eckel, in 1897, the \^isiting Committee, with Mrs. C. LaRue
Munson as Directress, and Mrs. E. A. Christman as Visitor-at-
large. The parish was divided into thirteen districts, co-ter-
minous with the wards of the city. The duties of the com-
mittee were threefold, embracing the systematic visitation of
strangers, the sick and the poor. Members of the parish were
asked to make reports to the Directress and district visitors
were to make their reports to her.
An event of far-reaching importance, not only to the
parish of Christ Church, but to the city of Williamsport as
well, was the setting apart of Mrs. Eliza A. Christman as the
first Deaconess of the parish, and the second in the Diocese of
Central Pennsylvania. Her husband, the Rev. Morris W.
Christman, Rector of St. Mary's, and a former curate of Christ
Church, died August 28, 1896, after a brief illness, deeply
mourned by his parishioners and throughout the city. His
life was one of splendid promise suddenly cut off. Mrs.
Christman had shared his labors to an unusual degree, and felt
a desire to devote the rest of her life to the Church. After her
husband's death she had returned to her family in Allentown.
(Jn January 28, 1897, she came to Williamsport to visit her
friends, Mr. and Mrs. James S. Smythe. On learning of her
desiic *n be a Deaconess. Mr. Eckel took up the matter with
hi? usual enthusiasm, with the result that her visit of a few
weeks ended in years of faithful service in the parish. She
has also responded to many calls for help from the poor and
distressed of the city.
74 Chroxiclks of Christ CurRcii Parish
She was set apart as Deaconess by Bishop Talbot, May 8,
1898, it being his first official act in the parish. What her
work has been cannot be better told than in a letter from Mr.
Eckel to the writer of this chapter :
My Dear Miss Smythe:
Although the record of Deaconess Christman's work belongs
to the period of my rectorship, and therefore rightly falls into your
hands for treatment, who are both her friend and mine, and will
therefore do it justice, it will, nevertheless, I trust, be considered
no impropriety on my part if I ask the privilege of saying a few
words on the same subject.
I shall get directly at the point if I say at the outset that I
thankfully acknowledge that no small part of the success of my
ministry in Williamsport, in whatsoever degree it may have been
successful, was due to Deaconess Christman's intelligent and loyal
co-operation. I don't know how I could have got along without her,
especially after the lirst year or two's experience of her helpful-
ness. I have always said I would rather have had her for an as-
sistant than any graduate of the deaconess training schools, be-
cause she brought to her work not only the native qualities of
practical common sense and good judgment, and of intelligent sym-
pathy with the poor and distressed, but also the ripening and en-
riching experience of a clergyman's wife. She had shared in the
thoughts and labors of her husband, whose greatly lamented death
had occurred in August of the year I became rector, and knew
beforehand what it meant to be a deaconess, as few women with-
out that experience can know. She had the knowledge of men
and women — aye, and of little children, although never herself a
mother — and that was worth more than a course in a training-
school could give her. She studied and worked with me for a
little more than a year before being formally set apart as a dea-
coness, but I was persuaded myself, and had little difficulty in
persuading the Bi.shop, that her several years' experience as the
helpmeet of her husband in his work was easily the equivalent of
the other one year of technical training required by the canon.
She was accordingly set apart as a deaconess In Christ Church
l)y Bishop Talbot, Sunday, May 8, 1898, with a very beautiful and
impressive service of ordination. She assumed, as she had a right
to do, the uniform of her order, to which was added a heavy silver
pectoral cross bearing the inscription, "From the First Deaconess
of Central Pennsylvania to the St'cond." and the date — the donor
being Deaconess Henrietta Goodwin.
Thereafter, through the remaiuiug years of my rectorship,
MRS. ELIZA ANNA CHRISTMAN
Deaconess 1898
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 75
Deaconess Christman was my ever valued assistant. She was ab-
solutely dependable. She was devout and conscientious to the
highest degree, always systematic and punctilious in her work,
wise in counsel and cheerful in the face of difficulties and dis-
couragements. Her goings in and out among the people soon
taught Williamsport what the deaconess uniform meant. What a
friend she was to the poor, what an indefatigable visitor to all
sorts and conditions of men, what a ray of sunshine to the dis-
tressed in hospital or prison, what a mother to all the waifs and
strays of childhood and wayward girlhood! I cannot sufficiently
express my admiration and appreciation of her helpfulness and
efficiency. I thank God I had her with me. God bless Deaconess
Christman — He has and will — and give the Church more of such
"ministering women."
Very sincerely yours,
EDWARD HENRY ECKEL.
Christ Church Rectory,
St. Joseph, Mo., July 9, 1910.
A branch of the Girls' Friendly Society was started by
the Deaconess in January of 1900, of which she had the entire
charge the first year. In February, 1901, Miss Alma A. Baird
became the secretary of the society, which office she held until
April, 1910.
The custom, now thoroughly established, of holding the
election of Vestrymen in the evening was inaugurated on
Easter Monday, April 11, 1897. After Evening Prayer in the
church, a general parish meeting was held in the parish house,
when reports from the treasurer of the parish and all the
various guilds were read. At the Easter parish meeting in
1899 the parish was pronounced to be free from debt for the
first time in many years. Congratulatory addresses were made
by Mr. C. LaRue Munson, Mr. Edgar Mtmson, Capt. Sweeley
and the Rector.
The most important financial undertaking during Mr.
Eckel's rectorship was the decorating of the church and the
addition of the clerestory windows, under the charge of St.
Mary's Guild.
The following were appointed by the Vestry, June 4, 1900,
to meet a committee from St. Mary's Guild, with power to
act : Messrs. A. P, Perley, John A. White, C. LaRue Munson
7^ Chronicles of Christ Chi'Rcii Parish
and the Rector, Rev. E. H. Eckel. The committee from the
Guild was composed of Mrs. A. P. Perley, ^Irs. C. \*. Runkle,
Miss Lucy O. Scott, Miss Elizabeth Logan. Miss Anne Doeb-
ler, and Mrs. Durant.
Tlic decoration was placed in the hands of the Tiii'anv
Glass and Decorating Company, and at the same time the ladies
of the parish raised money for new carpets and cushions for the
church. Tlie total cost of the improvements was as follows:
Windows • $ 210.00
Bill to Tiffany G. and D. Co 2,250.00
Carpets ■ 417.00
Cushions 347-00
General repairs • 178.48
Total $ 3,402.48
The church was reopened November 18, 1900, with a
beautiful service, and in the evening the choir gave Garrett's
"The Two Advents."
Mr. Eckel being a man of unbounded energy and en-
thusiasm, interested in everything pertaining to the Church,
throughout his rectorship missions continually came to the
front. He has the honor of being the founder of the Church
Students" Missionary Association in 1888, while a student in
the General Seminary, and as was to be expected, was always
ready to preach and work for missions. At his suggestion, in
the summer of 1899, Deaconess Christman visited every famil\-
in the parish, to i)l)lain new i)r increased pledges for missions,
which al that time were l)aid (|uarter]\-.
At one time Mr. Eckel had under his charge St. John's
(South Williamsi)ort ). Montoursville, Cpper Eairfield, Halls
Station and Jersey Shore, and a colored mission, known as the
Church of the lilpiphany. The latter was started June 17,
1902, in a room rented lor the purpose on the corner of Wal-
nut and High Streets.
A very successful club for boys, known as "The IJishop
Talbot Club," was organized during Mr. Eckel's rectorship,
under the charge of Mrs, C. 1^. Farr. Miss Anne Doebler and
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship tj
Miss Elizabeth Parsons, the object of the club being originally
entirely for missionary work and continued for six years.
The first officers were George Reinhard, President ; Boyd P.
Betzel, Secretary. The charter members of the club were
eleven, the number afterwards being limited to forty, and it
often had a waiting list of twenty. The club never solicited
money, earning all the money contributed themselves. They
gave annually $5.00 to the Deaf Mute Mission ; books, toys
and money to the Lenten box of the Woman's Auxiliary ; con-
tributed $50.00 toward the furnishing and papering of the
parish house at St. Mary's (Wadleigh Memorial), and pre-
sented two handsome prayer books to the parish church for
the use of the Rector and the Bishop. For some time they
served as ushers in the church, taking charge of the prayer
books and hymnals.
On the evening of the Conversion of St. Paul, January
25, 1904, at a meeting of the Archdeaconry in Christ Church,
was held a splendid missionary service, when the vested
choirs of the city, Trinity, All Saints, St. John's, and St,
Mary's, united with Christ Church choir in rendering the ser-
vice. The procession of clergy and choristers was very im-
posing, the singers numbering about one hundred and fifty.
Mr. Frank Gatward, organist of Christ Church, arranged the
service and was the precentor on the occasion, the organist of
Trinity, Mr. Daniels, being at the organ. The speakers were
Bishop Talbot, Archdeacons Radcliffe. Thompson, of Read-
ing, Mr. Butts, Mr. Daughters, and the Rector. There were
over eight hundred persons in the congregation and the singing
of the missionary hymns was very inspiring.
St. John's Chapel was consecrated by Bishop Talbot Mav
9, 1898.
In Lent of 1901, during the curacy of the Rev. James W.
Diggles, the chancel of St. John's was enlarged by removing
the old vestr}' room, to make room for the first vested choir.
The work w^as mainly done by Mr. Diggles and Mr. Charles
Palmer. The whole chancel was repainted by private subscrip-
tion, and a Bishop's Chair was given. Capt. Sweeley pre-
78 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
sented the rc-table and a wooden cross for the ahar, and a
large Bible for the lectern was given by an unknown donor.
The ini])roved chancel was used by the vested choir for the
first time on Easter Day.
The Sunday School was a matter of very great interest
to Mr. Eckel, especiall}- the subject matter taught, he being
a member of the Joint Diocesan Lesson Committee. He him-
self was a diligent I)ible student, the results of years of
study being noted on the margins of one Bible, which he had
rebound, and all these notes he carefully copied into a new
Bible while here. He held Teachers' Meetings and catechised
the school faithfully.
January i, 1899, the Sunday School was changed to a
graded school, with Senior, Intermediate, Primary, Home De-
partment, and Deaf Mute Classes. The last named class was
begun on November 13, 1898, taught by Miss Mary A. Gor-
man, herself a mute, with an attendance of eleven. For a
time the attendance of the school fell of? after such a radical
change, but time has demonstrated the wisdom of the graded
school. The choir had formerly used the upstairs guild room
for their rehearsals, but in September, 1898, it was moved down
stairs, and the Primary, under the charge of the Deaconess,
was taken upstairs. At this time the average attendance of
this department was only about thirty. The Deaconess di-
vided the school into classes and by much visiting the attend-
ance was verv soon brought up to nearly a hundred, the
rooms being so crowded that the necessity of rebuilding of
the parish house became ai)parent.' Her organist and assist-
ant for many years was Miss Nan Lumley.
In 1904 the Cradle K<>11 was started under the charge
of Miss Sarah .Augusta Wilson. com])rising children up to
three years of agi'. The mothers were asked to bring the
little children on their birthdays with as many pennies as they
were years old, the tn')ne\- being used for missions. This
birthday offering is a custom still in the Primary and Kin-
iMr. Eckel took this question up with the Vestry May, 1903,
but nothing was accomplished. [Ed.]
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 79
dergarten Schools. The Kindergarten Department was
started in 1905, just before Mr. Eckel left, and was also under
the charge of Miss Wilson, and has been most successful.
Mr. Frederick W. Zahn, who had served the school for
many years as Secretary and Treasurer, was made Superin-
tendent of the main school in 1901. The same year Mr. H.
C. Parsons became Secretary-Treasurer. These gentlemen
have served the school faithfully ever since in the same ca-
pacity.
Mr. Eckel was an active factor in all matters pertaining
to the Diocese. He was on the Committee for the Increase
of the Episcopal Endowment Fund, the object of the endow-
ment being to relieve the parishes, so as to liberate as large
an amount as possible for the work of Church Extension. In
a circular issued in January, 1904, in the interest of the $60,-
000 endowment desired for the new Diocese, an address of
Mr. Eckel was quoted. After emphasizing the opportunity
given to the rich and well-to-do to do a good work for Christ
and His Church, and that from such Churchmen the Church
has a right to expect large contributions, Mr. Eckel insisted
that the movement was a public one, in which every communi-
cant should have a part. He said:
"Can it be done, I ask again? Let me give you a hy-
pothesis. Let us suppose. They tell us — the reports of
1903 — that we have 19,000 communicants in this Diocese.
Well, let us suppose a great many of these are non-wage-
earners. Let us suppose many of them are children, and
many of them are very poor, while some of them are so
rich that they ought to do great things, and some of
them are indifferent, and some of them, perhaps, are
lapsed, and some of them are in Europe or some other
equally inaccessible part of the world. Let us, to be
perfectly fair and reasonable, lop off 11,000 of them.
That leaves us 8,000 to do business with. Suppose, now,
that three-fourths of these 8.000 — that is 6,000 — have an
average income of not more than $600 a year. Suppose
that three-fourths of the rest — namely, 1,500 — have an
8o Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
average income of $1,200 a year. Su]3pose that the re-
mainder— 500 in number — have the comparatively muni-
ficent income of $2,000 a year, and none of them more
than this. Now suppose that the $600 people give us
one per cent, of a single year's income — payable, if they
choose, in three installments a year apart — only $2.00 a
year, mind you ; that would be $36,000 for the Episcopal
Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central Pennsylva-
nia ! And suppose the $1,200 people gave us two per
cent, of their income for a single year — payable, if they
prefer, $8.00 a year for three years ; that would
be $36,000 more for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of
the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania! And suppose that
comfortable little compan\- of 500, who have $2,000 a
}ear income, were to give three per cent, of their
income — payable, if they choose, the same way — $20.00
for three years ; that would be $30,000 more for the
Episcopal Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central
Pennsylvania. And $36,000 and $36,000 and $30,000
make $102,000 for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of
the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, and the thing is
done! And there are no famishing babies in the working-
man's home as a consequence, no sheriff's sales, no bank-
ruptcies— and 11.000 other people to hear from."
The division of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was
consented to by IJisho]") Talbot at the convention held in Trin-
ity Church, \\'il!iamsi)ort, June 14. 1904.^ The Primary Con-
\ention for the new Diocese was In-ld in St. James's Church,
Lancaster, I'a., November 29-30, 1904. At this convention
Mr. Eckel, as Chairman of the Committee appointed at the last
meeting of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania to take all
necessary steps for the organization of the new Diocese, pre-
sented the rules of order for the Convention, He also pre-
sented the reixjrt of the Committee for the Increase of the
l-lndowment as follows:
1 In the chapter. "Dr. Hopkins' Rectorshi))," an account was
given of the previous attempts to accomplish this division. [Ed.]
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 8i
Money from original fund $16,771.48
Pledges to Diocesan Convention of 1904. 6,887.50
New pledges since Convention of 1904 9,634.25
Additional since draft of the report 1,082.23
$34,37546
Of this amount Christ Church, Williamsport, had in
original fund, $2,610.00; in new pledges $3,122.50; a total
of $5,732.50.
On the eve of this Primary Convention the Wardens and
Vestrymen of Christ Church sent out the following circular
letter, which is inserted here as an evidence of their apprecia-
tion of Mr. Eckel and his work :
Williamsport, Pa.. November 2, 1904.
At the forthcoming convention to organize the new Dio-
cese, its most important work will be the selection of its
Bishop. It would seem best that the choice should fall upon
one thoroughly familiar with the Diocese and its needs, and
in such health and strength that its entire field may be fully
and frequently traversed and its work performed with such
vigor as will ensure the best results.
W^ell knowing his ability to fill that high office, we shall
instruct our delegates to present the name of our beloved rec-
tor, the Reverend Edward Henry Eckel, B. D., for the choice
of the convention. He is 42 years of age, is a graduate of the
General Theological Seminary in the class of 1889, and has
been in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania in active service
for thirteen years. He is of the type of Churchmanship accept-
able to the people and to his brethren of the Clergy ; is a most
excellent preacher, and indefatigable worker, and an admin-
istrator of affairs such as will be needed in this important
Diocese. His work in Williamsport during the past eight
years has not only brought our parish to a state of usefulness
and activit} surpassing all that she had theretofore accomr
pli.-^lied, but has won for him the affection of his people and
82 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
commanded the respect of his fellow citizens in this com-
munity.
We shall be glad to have your assistance.
Signed,
James V. Brown,
C. LaRue Munson,
Wardens.
Allen P, Perley,
John F, Laedlein,
C. B. Farr,
Frank C. Bowman,
W. C. Robinson,
John B. Irvin,
Geo. p. Crocker,
J. B. Dayton,
Edward E. Shay,
A. Thomas Page,
H. Y. Otto,
]'estrymcn, Christ Church, Williaiiisporf.
Mr. Eckel's name was presented to the Convention and he
received votes on the first eight ballots cast for Bishop, when,
in the interest of harmony, he withdrew his name.
On the ninth ballot the Rev. W. T. Manning was elected
Bishop. lie having declined the honor, a special convention
was called at Harrislnirg, in St. Stephen's Church, February
I. I905> when on the thirteenth ballot the Rev. James Henry
Darlington was elected the first Bishop of Harrisburg.
Mr. James V. Brown, the senior warden, died suddenly
December 8, 1904.' Always interested in (lunch matters
1 During Mr. Eckel's rectorship the Vestry suffered heavily
from death, no less than eight member.s entering into their eternal
rest: 1898— Mr. Henry Cooley Parsons; 1899— Mr. J. F. Starr;
1901- Mr. Edgar Munson; 1902— Mr. .Tohn Jerniain Crocker; 1903—
Mr. William Swceley ; 1904 — Mr. .John Elcock .Tones, Mr. John Allison
White and Mr. James Van du Zee Brown. All men who had worked
faithfully and miselflshly, the loss to the parish was a true one.
and the resolutions passed by the surviving mcnihers of the Vestry
but reflected the sorrow felt by the entire congregation. [Ed.]
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 83
and a warm friend of the Rector, he had during his latter
years become also interested in public libraries, and designed to
bequeath the larger part of his fortune for the establishment
and maintenance of a library to be his gift to the people of
Williamsport and vicinity. By his will the amount set aside
for this purpose was $150,000 for a building, $10,000 for
books, and bonds sufficient to produce an annual income of
$10,000, a total bequest of between $400,000 and $450,000.
The library, known as "The James V. Brown Library," was
to be under the administration of a Board of Trustees con-
sisting of five persons named bv the testator in his will, with
the Rector of Christ Church, the Mayor, the Superintendent of
Schools, ex-ofUcio, and one person elected by City Councils.
By this orovision Christ Church is connected for all time with
the institution most dear to the heart of her senior warden.^
On the death of Mr. Edgar Munson, Vestry's Warden, in
1 90 1, Mr. James Van du Zee Brown, who had been Rector's
Warden, was elected his successor, and Mr. Eckel appointed
Mr. John Jermain Crocker^ Rector's Warden. Mr. Crocker
1 Mr. Eckel took much interest in tlie first meetings of the
Library Board, and his successor, Mr. Jones, has throughout his
rectorship been one of the most active members of the "Library
Committee." [Ed.]
2 John Jermain Crocker, son of John and Ardelissa (Dyer)
Crocker, was born on August 12, 1839, in Warsaw, New York. Mov-
ing as a young man to Williamsport, he was confirmed by Bishop
Vail, of Kansas, in the old Christ Church, April 13, 1866, during the
rectorship of Mr. Wadleigh. He was made Secretary and Treasurer
of the Vestry in 1873, and six years later elected to membership
in that body, being annually re-elected till his death, April 8, 1902.
Though he resigned the treasurership in 1897, he held the secretary-
ship to the end of his life — a term exceeding a quarter of a century
by four years. He frequently served as lay-reader and on several
occasions was a delegate to the Diocesan Convention. In 1901 he
was appointed Rector's Warden by Mr. Eckel, which position he
held at the time of his death. The Vestry, in the resolution they
passed, paid a touching tribute to the faithfulness with which he
had discharged the duties of his offices.
Mr. Crocker was connected with the banking firm of Weed &
Company for twenty years, and was identified with various other
84 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
died within a year of his appointment, and Mr. Eckel then
appointed Mr. Cyrus LaRue Alunson^ as his successor.
business interests in Williamsport, serving in both Councils, and
being active in various ctiaritable undertaltings. In 1869 he married
Miss Elizabeth Ann Beer, of Mt. Clemens, Mich., who with three
children, George Perkins, John Archdell and Mary Elizabeth, sur-
vive him. The elder of his sons, George P., was elected in 1902 to
the vacancy in the Vestry occasioned by his death. [Ed.]
1 Cyrus LaRue Munson, the son of Edgar Munson, of whom a
biographical note has already been inserted, was born in Bradford,
N. Y., July 2, 1854. He was educated in private schools and the
Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, from which he graduated in
1871. He read law in Williamsport with Allen & Gamble, and in
1873 entered the Yale Law School, graduating with the degree of
LL. B., July 1, 1875, on which day, though still under age, he was
admitted to the Connecticut Bar. In 1875 he entered into law
partnership with Addison Candor, as Candor & Munson, which
partnership still continues. He was elected a lecturer on legal
practice by the Yale Corporation in 1890, which lectureship he still
holds. He received an honorary degree of M. A. from Yale in 1891;
and in 1897 published a "Manual of Elementary Practice." In 1902
he was elected President of the Pennsylvania State Bar Associa-
tion, and in 1904 President of the Yale Law School Alumni Asso-
ciation.
Mr. Munson is a director, in many cases president, of a number
of the large business enterprises of the city, among which are the
Savings Institution of Williamsport, E. Keeler Company, Williams-
port Iron and Nail Company, Lycoming National Bank, Williamsport
Passenger Railway Company, Citizens Water and Gas Company,
John N. Stearns & Co. (N. Y.), Burns Fire Brick Company, Eagles
Mere Light Company, and the Scootac Railway Company. He was
one of the organizers of the Williamsport Board of Trade, of which
he is serving as president.
A Democrat in politics, he received his party's nomination for
the Supreme Court Judgeship in 1909, and though failing of elec-
tion, received a majority of the votes outside of Philadelphia
County. In 1910 his party was anxious to have him accept the
Gubernatorial nomination, but his physical condition and business
affairs forced him to refuse to permit his name being placed before
the convention.
Mr. Munson married, November 8, 1877, Josephine Anthony
White, by whom he had issue, lOdgar (1881) and George Sharp
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship 85
Upon Mr. Brown's death, in 1904, the Vestry elected Mr.
Munson Vestry's Warden, and Mr. Eckel then appointed Mr.
Allen Putnam Perley^ Rector's Warden.
Mr. Eckel's last official act in Christ Church, Williams-
port, was to unite in marriage Helen Graves Runkle and Noel
W. Smith.
(1883). Subsequent to his wife's death, in 1889, Mr. Munson mar-
ried, October 20, 1891, Minnie Wright Tuller.
Mr. Munson has been a Vestryman of Christ Church since 1881;
(Rector's Warden 1902-1904; Vestry's Warden 1904-1910). He was
Superintendent of the Sunday School 1877-1892, a period of 25 years.
During the years 1877-1882 this superintendency was shared by Mr.
A. Howard Merritt. His eldest son, Edgar, was elected to the
Vestry in 1908 and was made Assistant-Secretary in the same year.
Mr. Munson was elected Chancellor of the Diocese of Harrisburg
in 1906, and has been re-elected each year since that time. [Ed.]
1 Allen Putnam Perley was bom in Oldtown, Penobscot County,
Me., on March 8, 1845; his father being a physician, Dr. Daniel .J.
Perley, his mother, Mary (Lovejoy) Perley.
Mr. Perley received his education in the schools in the neigh-
borhood of his birthplace, and entered mercantile life as a clerk.
He moved to Williamsport in 1865, securing a position as book-
keeper with George Zimmer & Co., planing mills. Four years later
he purchased an interest in the firm, which he retained till 1873.
Subsequently he was bookkeeper with Daniel W. Smith, and in
July, 1874, bookkeeper for Slonaker, Howard & Co. In 1874 he
purchased Mr. Slonaker's interest, the firm becoming Howard, Per-
ley & Howard. C. B. Howard retiring in 1887, the firm became
Howard & Perley. His lumber interests, both in the Northwest and
the South, are extensive.
In 1898 Mr. Perley, who had been a director of the West
Branch National Bank, was elected its president, and the bank
under his direction has since grown to be the largest and strongest
financial institution in Northern Pennsylvania. In 1908 Mr. Perley
was appointed Postmaster of Williamsport by President Roosevelt.
Mr. Perley married, in 1869, Clara Lovejoy, daughter of Albert
Lovejoy, of Gardiner, Me., by whom he had eight children, five of
whom are now living. Subsequent to Mrs. Perley's death, in 1886,
he married (1888) Mrs. Anne (Higgins) Stowell. Mr. Perley has
been a member of Christ Church Vestry since 1883. (Rector's War-
den 1904-1910). His sons-in-law, A. Thomas Page and William H.
Crockett, are also members of the Vestry, the former 1892, 1900-
1910; the latter 1909-1910.
86 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
During liis rectorship he baptized 310 persons, presented
for confirmation 188 persons, married T)! con])les, and buried
104 persons.
Mr. Eckel's Churchmanship was of the plain Oxford
type. He was a Prayer Book Churchman, giving every fast
and feast its due observance ; but, except on the high festivals.
the services were of the usual plain, dignified character cus-
tomary in the parish. His own manner in the chancel
was most devout, without afifectation — a prayerful man.
His emphasis in saying, "Let us pray," was in itself a
hearty call to prayer. With the approval of Bishop Talbot,
he had the following collect mailed to every member of the
parish, generally using it himself at the close of the Com-
munion Service :
"Let vour requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6.
Parish Collect.
Approved by the Bishop of Central Pennsylvania:
"My permission to use the Parish Collect is most gladly
granted, and I deem it a privilege to endorse the use of such
a useful and complete prayer."
Almighty God, Who feedest Thy flock and callest
Thine own by name, look down in mercy upon our Parish,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve Thee
with a quiet mind. Hallow and bless to us the Sacra-
ments and services of Thy Church. Inspire our Clergy to
show forth Thy truth by their preaching and living, and
daily to minister according to Thy will.* Keep our com-
municants in singleness of heart, from unbelief and world-
liness, giving them grace, both in their homes and call-
ings, faithfully to confess Thy Holy Name.* May all
our children be taught of Thee.* Draw to the Cross
those who are imijcnitent and hardened in sin."*^ And we
beseech Thee, heal the sick; comfort the sorrowing; re-
lieve the di.stressed.* Take our parish work into Thy
keeping.* Move Thy people to give as Thou hast given
to them. Fill the workers with the Spirit of power, of
ATr. Eckel's Rf.ctorshtp 87
love, and of a sound mind. And while we plant and
water, do Thou give the continual increase ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
('^Here intercessions may be made for special persons
or objects.)
]\Ir. Eckel had a card placed at the tower door, "Come in,
rest and pray," and had the church open all day for private
devotion, many not of our communion availing themselves of
this privilege. He had daily services in Advent and Lent, and
on the great festivals the services were as inspiring as elab-
orate ritual and music could make them, accompanied by
crowded congregations. In 1898 he instituted the custom of
the Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve — a high celebra-
tion with elaborate music and ritual. This service has always
been largely attended and is evidently dear to the communi-
cants of the parish. He was the first rector to introduce the
use of wafer, or unleavened, bread.
A very interesting and profitable service was held on the
evening of Maundy Thursday — a service of self-examination
and devotion in preparation for the Easter Communion.
The cards now in the tower of the church regarding The
Ceremonies of the Church, The Holy Catholic Church, The
Anglican Church and The Apostolic Succession, were placed
in ]:)osition by Mr. Eckel, as well as the appeal : "Whosoever
thou art that enterest this church, leave it not without one
prayer to God for thyself, for those who minister and those
who worship." The photographs in the vestry-room of the
rectors and curates of the parish were also obtained by Mr.
Eckel.
Mr. Eckel was a brilliant preacher, a clear thinker and an
absolutely fearless champion of whatever he believed to be
right. He also had the rare gift of accepting failure cheer-
fully. He never bore malice and was always ready to try a
new plan to forward the work of the Kingdom of God.
He was also interested in all civic matters. It was at his
instance that city elections ceased to be held in the saloons, and
he organized the Williamsport Branch of the Bureau of Asso-
88 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
ciated Charities, which relieved the parish of many of its pen-
sioners.
Mr. Eckel was chaplain of the Actors' Alliance and fre-
quently ministered to members of the profession while in the
city, and on more than one occasion prevented the presenta-
tion of undesirable plays on the stage of the opera house.
Mr. Eckel also belonged to the ^Ministerial Association of
the city (in addition to the Clericus of our own Church), and
at one time invited all the ministers and their wives to a tea
in the parish house, which was followed by a fine musical ser-
vice in the church, arranged by the organist, Mr. Frank Gat-
ward, for their enjoyment ; one of the numbers sung being the
"Sanctus," from Gounod's St. Cecelia, the solo being sung by
.Mr. William H. Deibert.
THE NEY/YORK '
PUBLIC LIS«ARY
ASTON, LENOX ANB
TILDF.M FOUNDATION,
THE REV. WILLIAM NORTHEY JONES
Rector I 905
MR. JONES'S RECTORSHIP.i
1905.
Tnii Girl Choir — The New Parish House — The New St.
John's Chapel — The New Church Wixdow.s — At the
End of Seventy Years.
Immediately upon Mr. Eckel's resignation, the \'estr}-
appointed a committee to secure his successor ; which com-
mittee, on April i8, 1905, unanimously recommended that a
call be extended to the Rev. W. Northey Jones, then Rector of
Grace Church, Manchester, N. H. Accordingly the rector-
ship was offered Mr. Jones, the call being renewed at a Vestry
meeting held May 9, 1905, and accepted a few days later.
Mr. Jones,- on taking charge of the parish, perceived im-
1 This chapter has been contributed by the Registrar of the
Parish.
2 The Rev. W. Northey .Jones was born in Portland, Me., May
27, 1866, of old New England Puritan ancestry. He received his
early schooling at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., under Dr.
Henry A. Coit, the well known rector of that famous school. He
entered Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., in 1884, graduating, B. A.,
1888, and immediately entered the General Theological Seminary,
from which he graduated in 1891. In the same year he also re-
ceived his degree of M. A. from Trinity College. While at the
General Theological Seminary Mr. Jones acted as lay-assistant in
Christ Church, Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, under Dr. James Henry
Darlington, who has since become the first Bishop of the Diocese
of Harrisburg. It was from this Brooklyn parish, too, that, three
years later (1894), he secured his bride, Carrie Louise Clark, the
daughter of the Junior Warden.
After leaving the General Theological Seminary Mr. .Tones was
invited by his Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Henry A. Neely, to become a
canon of the cathedral and reside in the Episcopal residence. He
also received a call to the rectorship of St. Paul's Church, Port-
land; but, preferring not to work in his native city, he offered his
services to the Bishop of Montana, In which district be was sta-
89
90 ClIRONICLlZS OF CllRIST ClIURCH PaRISH
mediately that if it was to progress its physical equipment
must be made commensurate with its obvious needs. His ex-
perience in missionary work in the West, as well as his ob-
servation of conditions and methods in New York, had made
him an advocate of work along the lines pursued by what are
known as Institutional Churches. The parish, favored by an
unusually loyal and united congregation, was hampered by
lack of space in all its undertakings. The Sunday School was
over-crowded, the choir inadequately provided for, the guilds
and clubs heavily handicapped. The mission work at St.
John's was laboring under difficulties that even a few hundred
dollars, spent in additions to the chapel, would have relieved.
The financial situation needed attention. If free of bonded
indebtedness, the path of the treasurer was still difficult ; while,
most important of all, the times were ripe and conditions
tioned for three years, first at Livingston and later at Virginia
City. Returning to New York City, he accepted a curacy at old
St. Clement's, Fourth and McDougal Streets. Six months later,
having been nominated by Bishop Potter, he accepted the rector-
ship of St. Paul's Church, Evansville, Ind., where he served for
three and a half years, and where he was appointed an E.xamining
Chaplain of the Diocese of Indiana (1894-1897). He accepted the
rectorship of Grace Church, Manchester, N. H., in 1898, resigning
to accept the call to Christ Church, Williamsport, in 1905.
For six years, while in Manchester, Mr. Jones was a member
of the Diocesan Board of Missions. He was a member of the
General Convention of 1904, being seated as first alternate deputy.
In 1908 Mr. Jones was appointed a delegate to the Pan-Anglican
Congress; and, in 1910, to the General Convention at Cincinnati,
receiving the highest number of votes cast and being the first
clerical deputy from Christ Church to represent the Diocese in
the General Convention since Dr. Hopkins enjoyed a similar honor,
twenty-four years ago. He is a member of the Joint Diocesan Sun-
day School Commission, and for three years has been a delegate to
the Missionary Council.
Mr. Jones was nominated in the Richmond Convention to be
one of the bishops of one of the Western Missionary districts.
Like many mtmbeis of the Christ (Church Vestry, he is in-
terested in Masonry, being Captain General of Knights Templar
and Past Most Wise Master of the Williamsport Rose Croix, Scot-
tish Rite. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society Sons of
the Revolution, and the Psi Upsilon (College) Fraternity; and a
Trustee of The Jamea V. Brown Library.
rTHE ^^V:-' "^OKK
PUBLIC u-,f..\RV
TILOF.M FOUNDATIOMti
Mr. Jones's Rectorship yi
favorable for an increase in the numerical strength of the
parish.
In some respects the chronicles of the five years of Mr.
Jones's rectorship must consist in records of large sums of
money spent in buildings and improvements, of gifts given and
received, of clubs and guilds organized, of financial resources
placed on a sounder basis. But from a higher standpoint all
these things must remain of secondary interest and signifi-
cance as compared to the life of the parish, perhaps best evi-
denced in the number of baptisms and confirmations.
As a Churchman Mr. Jones belongs to the school which
holds the Catholic faith ; but which, while admiring the ornate,
considers ritual beyond that demanded for order, decency and
dignity, as a non-essential ; a school which in the pulpit
eschews as far as possible the politico-ethical questions of the
day, that have here and there dragged the pulpit into politics ;
but a school which, by preaching the whole gospel of Christ,
and Him crucified, seeks not only to minister to the soul but
to furnish guidance for the solving of the complex problems
that confront present-day men in their dealings with each
other.
It would possibly be in bad taste for the writer of the
present chapter to do more than mention the present rector's
ability as a thoughtful and helpful preacher ; his persistent
selection of the old biblical narratives to enforce the lessons to
which he woud have his congregation give heed ; and his rev-
erent and impressive reading of the services of the Church. A
better and a truer estimate of the value of his work can be
given by the mere quotation of the parish records, which show
that in the past five years the baptisms numbered 246 and the
confirmations 239. It is worthy of note that in 1906 the class
presented for confirmation mmibered 75, the largest in the his-
tory of the parish by nearl\- 50 per cent.^ As an evidence of
the strength of the Church to attract not only the children
1 The largest previous classes were presented by Dr. Paret in
1870 and Dr. Hopkins in 1879, both numbering 47; but of these a
number came from Wadleigh Chapel, now St. Mary's Church.
92 CiiRoxicr.Es OF Christ Church Parish
whose parents are members, it is not out of place to add that 26
of the candidates for the rite were of sectarian^ upbringing.
On February 4, 1906, by the Rt. Rev. James H. Darhng-
ton. Bishop of the Diocese, Mr. Jones was instituted as Rector
of Christ Church Parish, the ceremonies being in accord with
those prescribed by the Church. The Rev. Harry G. Hart-
inan, whoiii Mr. Jones had engaged as assistant^ acted as
chaplain to the llishop, and carried the pastoral stafif f' while
Mr. Jones was escorted by Mr. C. LaRue Munson, Senior
Warden, and Mr. Allen P. Pcrley, Junior Warden, the former,
on behalf of the congregation, accepting Mr. Jones as rector,
and presenting him with the keys of the church. After the
Bishop had presented th.e new rector with the Bible, the Book
of Common Prayer, the Constitution and Canons of the
Church, and the Canons of the Diocese of Harrisburg, and had
spoken to the people as to the significance of the rite in which
they had taken part, the Communion Service followed, over
one hundred persons receiving the Sacrament.
Among the early work undertaken by Mr. Jones was the
revival of the parish paper'* under the title, "Christ Church
Messenger," in the form of an illustrated monthly,-'' designed
1 This class is also the banner class in the history of the Dio-
cese of Harrisburg. In addition one member of the Roman Branch
of the Catholic Church was received into the Church.
2 The Rev. Harry G. Hartman came to Christ Church on August
1, 1905, after graduating from the General Theological Seminary.
He was given special charge over St. John's Mission; was advanced
to the priesthood Trinity Sunday, I'JUC, and resigned October 1,
1900, having received a call to the rectorship of Trinity Church,
Shamokin, Pa.
3 Bishop Darlington's staff was made from a design prepared
by Dr. Hopkins, and it was first carried before Bishop Howe by
Dr. Hopkins himself, when he acted as Bishop's Chaplain on the
occasion of the consecration of Christ Church in 1879.
i Reference to this paper is made in some of the previous chap-
ters and a summary of its history given in "Summary Notes, 'The
Parish Paper." "
0 Editor, Rev. W. Northey Jones; Associate Editors, George P.
Crocker and Henry C. Parsons; Advertising Manager, Frederick W.
Mr. Jones's Rectorship 93
to enable the members of the parish to keep in close touch with
all its affairs; and the establishment of the ''Knights of King
Arthur," an organization of boys, which has developed into a
sound and useful club.^
Of greater importance was the maintenance of interest in
the probationary chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew,
organized shortly before Mr. Eckel resigned, under the presi-
dency of Mr. A. Thomas Page. This work resulted, Septem-
ber, 1907, in the granting of a charter, No. 1962. to the '"Christ
Church, Williamsport, Chapter." Twenty-five men were en-
rolled as charter members, with Mr. Washington Righter as
Director, Mr. Robert Field, Secretary, and Mr. Jasper Nichol-
son, Treasurer. The Chapter continues active and is of much
service to the Church.
( )f great help, too, was the organization of a choir of
girls' voices, in December, 1905, to assist at the services when
the regular choir could not be present ; daily during Lent, and
on Wednesday evenings during the rest of the year. Origin-
ally it was hoped it would sing first at the early communion
service on Christmas Day, but it did not take part till the first
r^Ionday in Lent — March 5, 1906.^
Zahn. The present staff (1910) is: Editor, Rev. W. Northey
Jones; Associate Editors, George P. Crocker, Augusta Wilson, Wil-
liam U. Mussina and Henry C. Parsons; Circulation Department, A.
Thomas Page; Advertising Manager, Hugh Gilmore; Assistant
Manager, J. Raymond Geiger.
1 Originally the "Knights" were boys between the ages of 9 and
14, assisted by 25 patronesses, of whom Mrs. C. LaRue Munson was
President, and Mrs. W. H. Kilbourn, Secretary-Treasurer. Later,
they became the "Junior Knights," owing to the organization of
the "Senior Knights," who were boys over 15 years of age, assisted
by 36 men of the parish. These "Senior Knights" had but a short
existence, and on January 2, 1908, the Junior Knights w'ere reor-
ganized as "Knights of King Arthur," under the direction of Mr.
Edgar Munson, who still remains in charge. The boys conduct
their own meetings under parliamentary rules, and when in session
wear picturesque capes as the insignia of their knighthood.
2 The sacrifice of time and comfort in coming daily, no matter
what the weather, is greater than is usually appreciated. The time
94 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
A number of other clubs have been organized and have
been more or less effective in accomplishing the purposes for
which they were created ; while the older clubs, such as "The
J''arish Ladies' Aid Society," "The Woman's Auxiliary to the
Board of Missions," and "St. Mary's Guild." have continued
towers of strength.'
From the beginning Mr. Jones had impressed on the
X'estry his opinion that the parish house must be enlarged if
successful work was to be achieved, and to a man they not
only sympathized with him in his desire, but set to work to
realize it. By March, 1906, St. Mary's Guild, to which no
task seems impossible, commenced the work of raising funds,
and the Vestry co-operated, by agreeing to set aside the
Easter offering for the purpose to which they were now com-
mitted. On March 29, 1906, the architect submitted plans
covering alterations the estimated cost of which was about
$10,000. That sum was not in hand, neither were the altera-
tions and additions sufficiently extensive for the work that was
being planned. The matter went over, the Vestry appointing
Miss Lucy O. Scott. Treasurer of St. Mary's Guild, as special
treasurer of the building fund till a sufficient amount had been
accumulated to justify proceeding with the work.- The Easter
offering in 1906 was about $3,400; in 1907 it was about
$3,800. The money collected justified commencing work and
the plans had been elaborated till they seemed adequate. Bids
were asked for in September, and obtained, and in the October
"Messenger," the editors record that they have been driven out
of the i)arish house, it having been turned over to the contrac-
aiid help given by .Mrs. Gatsvard, the Misses Lumley and others
to the choir is acknowledged in "Summary Notes, 'The Choir.' "
The Oxford caps and materials for their vestments were donated
by Mrs. Allen P. Perley.
1 It would seem that in Christ Church, as elsewhere, for length
of service and unremitting effort, the women's guilds form exam-
ples utterly unmatched by their male collaborators.
:j Kor convenience tlie funds were actually iiandlcd as l)y the
St. Mary's Guild.
b^-s.z.
O -
uj cr
a. a
Mr. Jones's Rectorship 95
tor.^ Apparently they were not absolutely homeless, for the
School Directors of the Franklin Building generously loaned
them a room in which to meet.
With the commencement of work gifts poured in. The
plans called for store-rooms, lavatories, club rooms, and a
bowling alley in the basement : hall, infants' room, choir room,
and a Sunday-School room on the first floor, the last named
with regular stage and paraphernalia ; and for club rooms,
kitchen, study and an auditorium on the second floor. The
furnishings for such a plant must of necessity be costly, and
for some months the "Messenger" seems a mere chronicle of
gifts of furnishings, windows, fittings, rugs, etc., by members
of the parish, who availed themselves of the opportunity to
both help the project and erect memorials to the memory of
those they loved.^ By the date the parish house was opened,
October 12, 1908, the value of the gifts so made must have
equalled nearly $6,000, while the sums paid by the church it-
self totaled a little over $24,000. The Easter offering in 1908
had reached $4,200, and in the succeeding year $3,300 more
was realized from the same source. All bills were paid and
by the middle of 1910 the parish house, which, with furnish-
ings, must have cost $30,000, was paid for with the exception
of about $1,500, which will be wiped out next Easter.
Hardly had the parish house project gotten well under
way, than an unexpected gift was made for St. John's Mission
on the South Side. Mr. Henry J. Lutcher and ^.Ir. G. T. Bedell
Moore, the latter the son of a former rector of the parish, pre-
sented to the Church a lot on Market Street, splendidly situ-
1 Samuel Larrivee was the contractor; G. W. Talley, clerk-of-
the-works; the Vestry Committee — the Wardens and Messrs. C.
B. Farr, John F. Laedlein, .Joseph C. Righter and William C. Rob-
inson. The contract was for $14, .500, exclusive of lighting, heating,
windows, etc.
2 The individual gifts are itemized in "Summary Notes; 'Gifts,
Memorials, etc' " Every room was completely furnished through
the generosity of some person or family immediately on its com-
pletion.
96 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
ated and of ample dimensions to permit the erection on it of a
church, parish house and parsonage.
The possibiHties that this gift suggested were tremen-
dous. At the beginning of his incumbency Mr. Jones had re-
quested the Vestr\' to increase the salary of the curate to $700,
which they liad done, and he had then insisted that the curate
reside on the South Side, among the people to whom he was
supposed to minister, instead of living in the city and "visiting
them." as in the past. Only by perpetual contact and com-
munit}- of interest did he believe the Mission could advance.
On the resignation of Mr. Hartman, in October, 1906, he had
secured ]\Ir. Thomas R. Yates,^ who was the type of man he
was looking for, and who threw himself so whole-heartedly
into the work as to soon win the affection of his people. The
chapel was a wooden building, erected by Dr. Hopkins 23
\ears ])reviously, and naturally was not on the lot presented.
To move it would be expensive ; from the standpoint of the
future, unsatisfactory. While the matter was being considered
Mr. G. T. Bedell Moore, who with his partner, Mr. Lutcher.
had just given the lot, solved the problem. Writing from his
residence in San Antonio, he informed the Vestry he desired
to give St. John's a church in memory of his father, and placed
the matter of its erection in the hands of Wardens of the i)arish,
only asking that the foundations be put in before cold weather.
The plans drawn by Duhring, ( )kie & Zieglcr, calling for a
church of brown mountain slone up to the eaves, above which
there was to lie luiglish open timber work, were accepted, and
the necessary excavations commenced. The cost was esti-
mated at $10,000, l)u( before c»)ni])]etion the hills i)ai(l by Mr.
1 'I'lic llcv. Thomas R. Yates wa.s born in Englaiui. but came
to this country as a young man, laboring in a eoal mine in order
to secure money to get through college. He spent four years at
Harlem Springs College, Ohio, and then entered Mt. Union Col-
lege, Alliance, Ohio, graduating in 1891. He spent one year at
the Western Theological Seminary (Methodist) and one year trav-
eling in Europe, before becoming pastor of a Methodist church
at Pulaski, Pa. Mr. Yat^ was ordained deacon by Bishop Dar-
lington, September, 1907, and priest March 17, 1908.
YUUUC Li:>?»Alu
^,Lr»« w rt»u»*OATIOMtf
Mr. Jones's Rectorship 97
Moore, and after his death by his widow, Mrs. Moore, totaled
nearer $20,000. The Vestry, on its part, promised to see that
a parsonage was erected. Early in the next year, on May 14,
1908, the corner-stone was laid by Bishop Darlington, the
Grand Lodge of Masons assisting, while the Rev. Mr. Graff, a
former rector of the parish, came in person to tell his remin-
iscences of the Mission's early history. The clergy, preceded
by the vested choir, at the head of which was carried the pro-
cessional cross, left Christ Church fully vested, and followed
by the Bishop in his robes, in front of whom was carried a
pastoral staff, proceeded out Fourth Street to Market Street,
and thence down Market Street, across the bridge, to the site
of the new church. The procession was a dignified one and
doubly pleasant, as demonstrating that, excepting in the larger
cities, the Church can still perform her rites with some of the
pomp that befits them, without fear of ribaldry or interruption.
The building operations proceeded steadily and on March
28, 1909, the new church was used for the first time; being
consecrated by Bishop Darlington shortly after, on Ascension
Day of that year.
The completed building is so beautiful that it adds to the
sorrow felt throughout the parish that Mr. Moore did not live
to see it. He died suddenly and unexpectedly on October 11,
1908, his body being brought to Williamsport for interment in
the lot which contained the bodies of his first wife and two
children. His sisters, the Misses Gertrude, Sarah Vir-
ginia and Emily Salter Moore, desired the permission of the
Vestry to erect a window to Mr. Moore's memory in the chan-
cel, but before it was completed, death again stepped in
and claimed Miss Gertrude Moore. The window depicts
six scenes in the life of St. John, and is probably the finest
piece of stained glass in Williamsport. Upon the death of
her husband Mrs. G. T. Bedell Moore assumed his interest in
the Memorial Church, and to her kindness and interest much
is due. The rood, altar, reredos and sedilia constitute her
tribute to Mr. Moore's memory.
As promised, the Vestry proceeded with the erection of a
98 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
parsonage, the contract price being $4,400, Mr. Yates with his
family moving in in March, 19 10. The financial problem was
so far simplified through the sale of the old church and lots
that to-day, despite the fact that it cost $5,000, the only encum-
brance on the property is a mortgage for $1,500.^
The two large building operations have in a way over-
shadowed, so far, the story of this rectorship. But an im-
mense amount has been done in other ways, the most far-
reaching act being the decision of the Vestry to rent the pews.
When, in 1866, Mr. Wadleigh accepted the rectorship, he did
so only upon the understanding that the church should be
made a free church ; and it has been recorded how he and Mr.
Grange spent an afternoon carrying down into the cellar the
doors of the pews, in order that it might not only be free, but
appear so. Yet the history of the church since his tim^, as well
as before it, is largely one of financial difficulties, of endless
borrowings and payments of interest, of difficulties experi-
enced in persuading each member of the parish to pay his
share. After the erection of the Diocese of Harrisburg, and
the election of Bishop Darlington, who is a strong believer in
pew-rentals, the Vestry, after much anxious consideration, de-
cided to make a trial. The Bishop visited the parish in 1908
and spoke plainly to the congregation, pointing out that,
though in theory the free church was most excellent, it gen-
erally failed in practice. On April 2y, 1908, therefore, the
pew-rent system was authorized to take efifect July i. A dia-
gram was drawn and published in the "Messenger," in which
the rent of the pews was shown to vary from $15 to $120, each
pew containing five sittings. A person desiring a single sit-
ting could have one assigned, and if this sitting was in one of
the $15 pews, it would cost him but 54-5 cents a Sunday.
Free seats were provided for the inmates of the Girls' Training
School, and precautions taken to prevent those unable to con-
tibute even the nominal sum named from feeling that the new
1 The Mission is rapidly becoming self-supporting. Christ
Church pays $400 of the curate's salary; the Mission pays the
balance and all other expenses.
Mr. Jones's Rectorship 99
rule affected them. The committee having the matter in charge
went to work and has been so successful that at Easter, 1910,
but two pews and fifteen individual sittings remained un-
taken, and the "Messenger" reported that the income of the
Church had been increased by $1,500.
In the early part of 1907, after careful consideration on
the part of the Vestry, an amended charter^ was submitted to
the congregation at a parish meeting. Being approved, it was
forwarded to the President Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas of Lycoming County and subsequently approved by him.^
Work of all kinds has gone forward during the past five
years, but none has done more to beautify the church itself
than the presentation of memorial windows. When, at the
April, 1905, meeting of the Vestry, Messrs. Robert Hallam
Munson and C. LaRue Munson requested permission to place
in the church a window in memory of their parents, and Mrs.
Elizabeth H. Doebler, at the same time, requested permission
to place a window in the church in memory of her husband,
the nature of the windows, and the cumulative effect to be ob-
tained, was seriously considered, and it was decided that donors
should be requested to have the windows depict scenes from
1 The amendments were of a nature to enable tlie Vestry to
better administer tlie financial affairs of the parish.
2 In every rectorship losses by death are inevitable. On No-
vember 19, 1908, Mr. John B. Dayton, who, confirmed in 1860, had
become Superintendent of the Sunday School, and later, 1892, a
member of the Vestry, passed away, after attending Christ Church
for 48 years. The officers of the Sunday School met and passed
suitable resolutions, the Vestry taking similar action.
Mr. William Humbert Kilbourn, who had attained manhood
before entering the Episcopal Church, died suddenly on March 14,
1908. Though only connected with Christ Church since 1899, he
had worked so indefatigably for her interests — especially in the
Sunday School — that his loss was a severe one. The oSicers of
the Sunday School met and passed suitable resolutions.
On January 31, 1907, Miss Saiah Ann Damant, the sister of
Mr. James Damant, who served the parish in so many capacities,
died peacefully in her home. She was much loved in the parish
and had recently celebrated her 101st birthday.
(^77798
loo Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
the life of Christ, while the windows themselves should be so
I)laced that the scenes would follow each other in chronological
order. ^
Of the four windows in the church, given during the
present rectorship, the first to be unveiled was the "The Na-
tivity," given in memory of Edgar and Maria Curtis Munson^
by their sons, Robert Hallam and Cyrus LaRue Munson. It
was unveiled by Robert Hallam Munson on All Saints' Day,
1905, in the presence of the Bishop of the Diocese, a number
of clergy and a large congregation, to whom Mr. Cyrus LaRue
Munson read a paper commemorating the lives of his parents.
The second window to be placed in position was that of
"The .Ascension, " presented by the legatees of James Van du
Zee Brown'' to his memory, and unveiled by Mr. Edmund B.
Piper on June 4, 1906. The ceremonies were simple, but
gained dignity through the presence of the Bishops of Harris-
burg and Maryland, the latter. Dr. Paret, having been the
rector who first a]:)pointed Mr. Brown warden.
In 1905 Mrs. Elizabeth W. Doebler had made arrange-
ments to place a window to the memory of her husband, but
before they could be completed she herself was stricken by
death. So it was not till the 17th of October, 1907, that the
window, "Christ before the Doctors," was unveiled by Mr.
John Doebler, who on behalf of the family presented it to the
church in memory of V^alcntine Smith and Elizabeth Hepburn
Doebler.
1 Mr. Eckel had suggested the scheme to the Vestry during his
rectorship and warmly advocated it. Unfortunately the condition
of the older windows made the moving of them such a hazardous
proposition that they remain as originally placed.
■-' Edgar Munson was for years a warden of Christ Church and
a short notice of his life has been inserted in the chapter "Mr.
Graff's Rectorship." His wife, Lucy Maria Curtis, whom he mar-
ried in 1852, was as devoted to the interests of the church as he
himself. She passed away February 10, 1902. less than a year
after her husband's death.
3 .James Van du Zee Brown became a warden of Christ Church
during the rectorship of Dr. Paret. A short account of his life
hag been inserted In the chapter, "Dr. Paret's Rectorship."
Mr. Jones's Rectorship tot
The last of the windows, that of "Christ Seated in Glory,"
was placed in the triangular panel over the main entrance. It
was presented as a memorial to George Westle Baird, by Mrs.
Susanna and Miss Alma A. Baird, his widow and daughter,
and unveiled on the Eve of All Saints, 1909.
Many other gifts have been made, of which the Sanctuary
Rail, a memorial to Carile Cone Brown,^ presented by her sis-
ters, Mrs. Allen P. Perley and Mrs. Helen A. Piper, and the
tablet to Mr. John White and his son, John Allison White,
presented by Mrs. John White, are the most important.
The spiritual life and the social life of the parish have
both progressed. The "Messenger" records numbers as
present at and receiving the Eucharist and an immense num-
ber of pastoral calls both bv the Rector and the Deaconess.
The new parish house, with its complete equipment of bowling
alleys, billiard tables, guild rooms and auditoriums, has proven
a magnet of attraction. The Men's Club, entertained by
various members of the church, has on several occasions as-
sembled a hundred strong, to listen to lectures, to smoke and
to banquet. The girls also have organized. The Sewing Club
is active and the Girls' Friendly and other guilds keep steadily
at work. Parochial missions have been held : in Christ Church,
February 11-28, T908, under the Rev. Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr.;
in St. John's Chapel, November 17-23, T906, under different
preachers. The services, about once a month, for deaf-mutes,
of whom there are sixteen communicants in the parish, have
been continued under the Rev. Franklin C. Smileau,^ and in
November, 1907, a i^Iissionary mass meeting was held, with
Bishop Spalding, of Salt Lake, and Bishop Kinsolving, of
Texas, as the speakers. The work organized by Mr. Eckel in
the Church of the Epiphany for colored people was recalled in
1 Carile Cone Brown was the wife of James Van du Zee Brown.
2 The Rev. Mr. Smlleau, himself a deaf mute, is doing wonder-
ful work. Despite his physical handicap, he took the full course
of theology, including Greek and Hebrew. He covers the dioceses
of Harrisburg, Bethlehem and Western New York — some 36,000
square miles.
I02 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
November, 1906, when the Rev. Joseph W. Livingston, a col-
ored priest, held a service for the members of his race in the
church and organized a guild. In all undertakings the choir
has responded to the calls made upon it, the special services of
Maunder's "Song of Thanksgiving," 1905 and 1906, and of
the same composer's "Penitence, Pardon and Peace," in Lent,
1909 and 1910, standing out as brilliant achievements. In en-
tertainments to raise funds for various purposes the members
of the parish have worked unselfishly and eflfectively.^
In the Diocese the election of the Senior Warden, Mr. C.
LaRue Munson, to the Chancellorship has added to the im-
portance of the parish, while the organization of an annual
Laymen's Banquet of the Archdeaconry of Williamsport, un-
der the direction oi the Williamsport Clericus,^ has aroused
and concentrated enthusiasm amongst the laymen to an unex-
pected degree.
The parish, permeated with a spirit of loyalty, sound
financially and equipped with adequate organizations and build-
ings for its work, celebrates the seventieth anniversary of the
first Episcopal Church service in Williamsport, in the fall of
the present year. That the completion of three-score years and
ten of its history — the allotted length of a man's life — will
mean to it merely renewed life, in which it will continue to
labor for the advancement of the Kingdom, cannot be doubted.
1 "The Coming of Ruth," a costumed cantata, was sung at the
Opera House April 4 and 5, 1907, by a chorus of one hundred
voices; a variety, "The County Fair," was produced at the Valla-
mont Theatre June 14, 1907; and "Across the Continent" at the
Opera House, September 18, 1908. In addition, dozens of enter-
tainments of various kinds have been given.
2 The Annual Banquet is under the direction of the Williams-
port Clericus. Suggested by Mr. Jones at a meeting in 1906, the
Vestries of Christ Church and Trinity Church were called together
and the necessary arrangements made. Each year since that lime
between .300 and 400 Churchmen have sat down in token of their
good fellowship and desire to promote the interests of the Church.
Speeches by prominent clerics and laymen have been by no moans
the least enjoyable features of the dinners.
SUMMARY NOTES.i
Before bringing this sketch to an end it will be desirable
to present, in summary form, a few notes under the following
heads : The Parish Paper ; The Bishops of the Diocese ; List
of the Clergy ; Lay Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers ;
Choir and Music; The Money Problem; Wadleigh (St.
Mary's) Chapel ; St. John's Chapel ; Memorials and Thank-
offerings and The Parish in Archdeaconry and Diocese.
1 Mr. Eckel's narrative is here resumed. For that part of the
text, however, which relates to his and Mr. Jones's rectorships, the
Registrar is responsible. [Ed.]
103
Summary Notes
THE PARISH PAPER.
From the beginning of Dr. Paret's rectorship onward the
chronicler of Christ Church Parish history is embarrassed, not
by the dearth of data, but by its abundance. For there is
available a file of parish magazines which, supplemented b}'^
the Rev. C. F. Sweet's biography of Dr. Hopkins, "A Cham-
pion of the Cross," from which quotations have already been
made, and other literary material, gives one a vivid story of
that progressive development from year to year which has not
only given the parish a foremost place in the Diocese, but made
its savor of good works to be smelled abroad.
"The Parish Guide" was begun by Dr. Paret in February,
1870, and published continuously until the end of 1875.^ It
was a modest little paper of eight or twelve pages (the one
size or other, according to circumstances), 9x6 inches. On
the upper part of the cover appeared the picture of a battle-
mented church-door bearing the name, "Parish Guide," with
the year over the door, and flanked on either side with grape
and ivy vines. Lower down was the motto: "Whatsoever ye
do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men — Colos-
sians iii : 23." In his initial number the Rector remarked:
"Those who will take the trouble to preserve successive num-
bers and have them bound will find them a good record of
parish history." He asks for 100 subscribers at $1.50 each,
but was evidently disappointed, for again and again the rector-
editor expresses his fear that the publication of the little paper
must soon come to an end for lack of financial support. Yet
each time until December, 1875, his friends seem to have ral-
1 The following numbers are yet missing from the file, and will
be gladly received from any persons who can supply them: Octo-
ber and December, 1873; November. 1874, and all but March and
April of the year 1875. [Ed.]
105
io6 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
lied to his aid and the paper went on, the subscription price,
however, being reduced to 60 cents for 1871, but raised to
$1.00 the next year. At one time for a considerable period the
"business management'' was lodged in the hands of a com-
mittee of "the Brotherhood," composed of Messrs. J. J.
Crocker and F. E. Gleim (January, 1872).
\Yc find tlic Rector not only maintaining the "free seats"
policy of his i:)redecessor "as a pecuniary policy," but defend-
ing it "on grounds of holy principle." We note also that in
the issue for May, 1870, he expresses his gratitude for "the
prompt fulfilment, and more than fulfilment, of every promise
made me ; the warm personal friendship and interest mani-
fested, with many instances of personal kindness ; the ready
co-operation in all the Rector's plans and purposes of Church
work ; the hearty confidence and utter lack of fault-finding, and
the tokens of growing interest and zeal."
The first number of "Christ Church Messenger" appeared
in March, 1888. This was a twelve-page magazine, 9>4 x 7
inches, with a four-page colored cover. The "Messenger" was
a more ambitious periodical than the "Guide," and contained,
besides its monthly quota of parochial news items and exhorta-
tions, some columns of well selected articles from the general
Church press and a condensed summary of Church movements
and notable events at home and abroad, especially in the mis-
sion fields of the Church. From time to time Mr. Graflf ex-
presses misgivings like to those of Dr. Paret regarding his
ability to keep up this publication, but assistance seems ever to
have been forthcoming until Febraury, 1894. when we read a
pathetic "farewell."' Publication was suspended each year
during the months of August and September. The subscrip-
tion price of the "Messenger" throughout its history was 25
cents a year. During Mr. Grafif's time the cover bore the mot-
toes: "One Holv Cathnh'c and Apostolic Church" and " 'Thus
1 The only missing numbers from the file arc June and July,
1889. It is supposed that no June number was published on ac-
count of the flood, and perhaps the same reason explains the ab-
sence of the July number.
The Parish Paper 107
saith the Lord, Ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and ye shall find rest for your souls' — Jer. vi:i5." The names
of "Wadleigh Chapel, East Williamsport," and "St. John's
Chapel, South Williamsport," also appeared on the front im-
mediately below the name and location of the parish church.
It is not the purpose of the present writer to enter upon
the period of his own rectorship, but it may here be added, for
the sake of completeness, that "Christ Church Messenger" was
revived by Mr. Eckel in March, 1897, as a four-page leaflet,
io>4 X 7% inches (later reduced to 9>4 x6), and ran for two
years, when its discontinuance was necessitated by the with-
drawal of advertising under a rule of the merchants' associa-
tion against all publications but newspapers. Under altered
circumstances a later revival of the paper by Mr. Jones came
in October, 1905, when its form and style were greatly im-
proved, and it has continued its appearance since then as an
illustrated monthly.^
This resume of the history of the parish papers has been
deemed a proper subject of introduction here for the reason
that both the clergy and parishioners have always regarded
their parish paper as an important agency in maintaining and
forwarding the prosperity of the parish.
1 Ten issues a year. Not published in July and August. [Ed.]
Summary Notes
THE BISHOPS OF THE DIOCESE.
It should not be forgotten that to a larger degree than
rectors or people realize, the prosperity of a parish depends
upon the personality and administrative efficiency of the
Bishop. If the parishioners in general know the Bishop of the
Diocese only as an occasional visitor to their church, chiefly
for the Laying on of Hands in Confirmation, the clergy^ know
him as a personal friend and adviser, as a Father in God, as
the Chief Shepherd, as the Pastor of Pastors, and as the direc-
tor of policies designed to strengthen, invigorate, and expand
the corporate life of the Church. Not a little of the success of
the parochial and missionary clergy of a diocese is due to the
encouragement and guidance of their Bishop, to the private
admonitions, incentives, and example of their chief. But if
the majority of parishioners are unaware of the Bishop's influ-
ence in their religious affairs, it is not so with the Vestry or
with the lay-delegates to the Diocesan Convention. The prac-
tical value of the episcopal system is made clearly evident as
to the clergy, so also to the lay-officials of the Church, in a mul-
tiplicity of ways. Under the leadership and counsels of a
strong and able Bishop, a beneficial impress is made upon each
parish and mission in the Diocese. When, therefore, one
would reckon up the forces which have made Christ Church
Parish, Wiliiamsport, what it is, the names and splendid per-
sonality of its Bishops must not be forgotten.
It is an interesting circumstance in our history that all
the early Bishops of Pennsylvania except the first (the Right
Rev. William White, D. D.. who died in 1836,) have officially
visited this parish and ministered to our people. Their por-
traits and those of the Bishops of Central Pennsylvania, and
that of the present Bishop of Harrisburg, can be seen hanging
on the walls of the ve.stry-room.
109
no Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Our Fathers in God have been the following:
Bishops of Pennsylvania.
The Right Rev. Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D. D., born
1789, consecrated Assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania in 1827,
became second Bishop of the Diocese in 1836, and died in 1858.
The Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D., born 1800,
consecrated 1845, ^'id died 1865.
The Right Rev. Samuel Bowman, D. D., born 1800, con-
secrated Assistant Bishop in 1858, and died 1861.
The Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens, D. D., LL. D.,
born 181 5, consecrated fourth Bishop of Pennsylvania in 1862,
and died 1887. During his episcopate the Diocese was divided
(1871), and thereafter the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
had its own Bishops.
Bisiioi'S OF Central Pennsylvania.
The Right Rev. Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe, D. D.,
LL. D., born 1809, consecrated 1871, and died 1895.
The Right Rev. Nelson Somerville Rulison, D. D., born
1842, consecrated Assistant Bishop in 1884, became Bishop of
the Diocese in 1895, and died 1897.
The Right Rev. Ethelbert Talbot, D. D., LL. D.. born
1848, consecrated Missionary Bishop of Wyoming and Idaho
in 1887, and translated to Central Pennsylvania as Diocesan in
1898. During his episcopate the Diocese was divided (1904),
and the Diocese of Harrisburg erected, Dr. Darlington being
elected its first Bishop.^
Els 1 1 OPS ov Harrisburg.
The Right Rev. James Henry Darlington, D. D., LL. D.,
I'll. J)., born 1856, consecrated first Ijishop of Harrisburg
1905.
1 The name "Diocese of Central Pennsylvania" has since been
changed to "Diocese of nctlilehcm." [li^d.]
Summary Notes
LIST OF THE CLERGY.
Rectors — (i) The Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner, April
I, i84Q-June 13, 1842; (2) The Rev. John Baker Clemson,
June 26, 1842-April 16, 1843; (3) The Rev. Thomas Coffin
Yarnall, Deacon, September 17, 1843-April 11, 1844; (4) The
Rev. William James Clark, November 15, 1846-April 6, 1851 ;
(5) The Rev. John Henry Black, October 10, 1 851 -June 12,
1853; (6) The Rev. Edward Purdon Wright, October 10,
1853-April II, 1854; (7) The Rev. W. H. Cooper, Septem-
ber 17, 1854-July 20, 1855 ; (8) The Rev. Richard Channing
Moore, October 20, 1855-October — , 1865 ; (9) The Rev.
Albra Wadleigh, April i, 1866- April i, 1869; (10) The Rev.
William Paret, D. D., May i, 1869-October 4, 1876; (11) The
Rev. John Henry Hopkins, D. D., S. T. D., December 10,
1876-October I, 1887; (12) The Rev. William Henry Graff,
November 25, 1887-May 4, 1896; (13) The Rev. Edward
Henry Eckel, B. D., November i, 1896-March i, 1905; and
(14) The Rev. William Northey Jones, May, 1905 .
Of these fourteen rectors the addresses of those who are
still living are : Dr. Yarnall, Philadelphia ; Bishop Paret, Bal-
timore ; Mr, Graff, Philadelphia ; Mr. Eckel, St. Joseph ; and
Mr. Jones, Williamsport.
Assistants. — (i) The Rev. Samuel Earp, July 5, 1868-
January i, 1869; (2) The Rev. Charles Edward Dobson, Octo-
ber 3, 1880-March 30, 1886; (3) The Rev. William Louis
Woodruff, December 28, 1886 (?)-November 4, 1888; (4)
The Rev. David Stuart Hamilton, July i, 1889-November 16,
1890; (5) The Rev. Lansing Swan Humphrey, January 15,
1891-July I, 1891 ; (6) The Rev. Morris Washington Christ-
man, July 3, 1891-June I, 1894; (7) The Rev. Lauren Pet-
tebone Wolfe, July i, 1898- February 28, 1900; (8) The Rev.
Thomas Henry Johnston, March i, 1900- June i, 1900; (9)
III
IT2 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
The Rev. William A. Eardley (Thomas), September i, 1900-
December i, 1900; (10) The Rev. James VVhalley Diggles,
February i, 1901-December 9, 1902; (11) The Rev. Martin
Damer, F"cbruary i, 1903-Xovember 26, 1903; (12) The Rev.
Job Osiander Babin, May 30, 1904-February i, 1905; (13)
Rev. Harry G. Hartman, August i. 1905-October i, 1906;
(14) Rev. Thomas R. Yates, October 1, 1906 .
The Rev. Enos Josiah Ealsley lived with Dr. Hopkins
contemporaneously with Mr. Dobson and served outlying
missions, but took occasional duty in this parish.
The Rev. William Jenkins likewise lived in Williamsport
and ministered outside, contemporaneously with Mr. Diggles,
but often officiated in the churches of Christ Church Parish.
The Rev. George Read Savage and the Rev. Harry Mc-
Dowell served as assistants temporarily between Mr. Wood-
ruflf and Mr. Hamilton.
The Rev. Alfred Evan Johnson was locum tencns between
Dr. Paret and Dr. Hopkins ; the Rev. William H. Burbank
between Mr. Graff and Mr. Eckel ; and the Rev. Joseph F.
John between Mr. Eckel and Mr. Jones.
Deaconess. — Mrs. Eliza Anna (Derr) Christman (widow
of the Rev. Morris Washington Christman, Assistant, July,
1891-June, 1894) was set apart as a deaconess May 8. 1898,
and still ministers in the parish.
!if;AHY
Frank C. Bowmam
gJohn B.Irvin
Vestrymen o/^ Christ Church
Easter /9'o
Summary Notes
LAY OFFICERS AND PROMINENT
LAY-WORKERS.
This narrative would not be complete nor just to the
people of Christ Church Parish were it to pass over without
notice the names and active services of the many earnest and
devout lay-folk whose zeal and generosity have contributed
so signally to its prosperity.
The records of the Vestry reveal the interesting fact
that, with the rarest exceptions, a layman once chosen to mem-
bership in the Vestry is annually re-elected and remains in
this body until his death or removal from the city. Several
of these records of long service are particularly noteworthy.
Of the Vestry chosen when the parish was organized in
February, 1841, Mr. F. C. Campbell served first as Vestry's
Warden until 1853, then as Rector's Warden from 1855 until
his death in 1865, a period of 24 years in all.
Mr. Campbell was succeeded as Vestry's Warden by Mr.
Lester Griswold, who had been Rector's Warden from: the
time of Judge Ellis and a vestryman from the date of organi-
zation. Mr. Griswold died in January, 1867, after 26 years'
service.
Major J. H. Perkins, whose death at the great age of
91 years, occurred July 17, 1893, succeeded Mr. Griswold
as Vestry's Warden in 1867, and at the time of his death
had been a member of the Vestry for over 40 years and
warden for more than half that time.
Mr. Oliver Watson was a vestryman from 1841 till his
death in August, 1882, a period of over 41 \'ears.
Mr. John White was elected April 9, 1855, and served in
the Vestry for 34 years, till his death in 1890.
Judge Maynard was a -vestryman from 1841 till the or-
ganization of Trinity Parish in 1865, a period of 24 years.
Mr. James Damant was elected "Clerk of the Vestry"
113
114 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
April 12, 1852, and in this capacity, later as a member of the
Vestry, as Parish Treasurer, and for many years as organist
of the church, served a period of over 21 years.
^Ir. J. \'. Brown became a vestryman in 1863, and served
for 41 years, till his death in 1904. He was appointed Rec-
tor's Warden in 1873, and elected Vestry's Warden upon the
death of Mr. Edgar Munson in 1901.
Dr. W. F. Logan was a vestryman from 1863 till Easter,
1892, a period of 29 years. He died December 20, 1892.
Mr. n. C. Parsons, Sr., was a member of the Vestry from
April 2, 1866, until his death, November 21, 1898, a period
of 32 years.
Col. F. E. Embick served from January 28, 1867, until
his removal to New York City in 1901, a period of 34 years.
Mr. Charles B. Howard served as vestryman from April
18, 1870, till his removal from the city in the summer of 1891,
a period of 21 years.
Mr. J. J. Crocker became Secretary and Treasurer April
28, 1873, ^^'^s elected vestryman six years later, and served till
his death, April 2, 1902, a period of 29 years. He became
Rector's Warden June 4, 1901.
Mr. Edgar Munson, Sr., was elected to the Vestry on
Easter Monday, April 6, 1874, became Vestry's Warden nearly
20 years later, February i, 1894, and died in 1901, after 27
years' service in the Vestry.
Of the present Vestry three have been members for over
20 3'ears, namely, Mr. C. LaRue Munson. since 1881 ; Mr. A.
P. Perley, since 1883; and Mr. John F. Laedlein, since Octo-
ber 6, 1888.
Other important names a quarter of a century or more
ago arc the Hon. Chief Justice Ellis Lewis, E. C. Johnson, H.
F. Snyder, V. S. Doebler, F. H. Bunnell. John Piatt, D. W.
Smith, George Webb, Martin Powell. V. \. Page, Judge H.
H. Cummin, D. H. Mcrriman, A. II. Merrill, K. FL Biggs,
J. H. Fry, Dr. J. A. L. P.urrell, and F. E. Clleim. all of whom
served on the Vestry.
The long service of Mr. C. LaRuc Munson as la)-supcr-
/^
George: R Crocker
Edward P Almy
Vestryman o/^'' Christ Church
Easter, iqio
Lay Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers 115
intenclent of the Sunday School deserves special notice. Shar-
ing with Mr. A. Howard Merritt a "joint superintendency"
from 1877 to 1882, Mr. Munson continued at the head of the
school until 1892, a period of twenty-five years.
It would be difficult if not impossible to particularize all
the old families of the parish or mention the names of all the
active workers of Christ Church during the 70 years of its
history. Many such names have occurred in the course of
this sketch. But there is one fact of special interest that
should be noted in this connection. To a remarkable degree
one finds the interest of many families continued through the
second, third, and fourth generations, and embracing also
connections by marriage on both sides. Of such families yet
identified with Christ Church may be named the Griswolds,
Watsons, Whites, Perkinses, Browns, Munsons, Perleys,
Crockers, Parsonses, Daytons, Logans, Piatts, Zahns, Gilmores,
Pottses, and some others. These names must be recorded with
appreciation and gratitude. Of devout communicants there
are many whose connection with the parish runs back a long
w^ay, and of devoted young people there is a goodly company
whose record of faithfulness will doubtless adorn those future
chronicles of the parish which traverse the period of the
present generation.
Mrs. John White is the oldest living member of the
parish, her affiliation with it dating from 1852.
The Wardens. — As in many other parishes, the wardens
of this parish are known as the Senior Warden and the Junior
Warden, but reversing the usual order, the former is the Ves-
try's Warden and elected by their suffrages, and the latter is
the Rector's Warden and appointed from the Vestry by the
rector.^
Vestry's (Senior)\\\\rdens: Francis C. Campbell 1841-
1853; Lester Griswold, 1854-1867; James H. Perkins, 1867-
1 During some of the earlj years of the parish's history the
Senior Warden seems to have been Rector's Warden and the
Junior Warden, Vestry's Warden. Possibly this inconsistency is
due to the Secretary's clerical errors. [Ed.]
ii6 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
1893; Edgar Munson, 1894-1901 ; James Van du Zee Brown,
1901-1904; Cyrus LaRue Munson, 1904 .
Rector's (Junior) Wardens: The Hon. Ellis Lewis,
1841 ?; Lester Griswold, ? -1854; Francis C. Campbell, 1855-
1867; Oliver Watson. 1867-1869 or 1870; Dr. William F.
Logan. iSfxj or 1870-1873; James Van du Zee Brown, 1873-
1901 ; John Jermain Crocker, 1901-1902; Cyrus LaRue Mun-
son, 1902-1904; Allen Putnam Perley, 1904 .
Secretary and Treasurer. — Sometimes these offices have
been combined and filled by the same person, and sometimes
they have been separate. At times, moreover, there has been
a "Clerk of the \'estry." who was not a member of that body,
and sometimes, though a member of the Vestry, this official
seems to have been indififerently called Clerk or Secretary.
Secretaries and Clerks. — James Damant, clerk, 1852
(?)-i855; Oliver Watson, clerk, 1855-1856; John White, sec-
retary, 1856-1859; E. C. Johnson, 1859-1862; H. F. Snyder,
clerk (secretary, 1864), 1862-1866; James Damant, secretary,
1866-1873; John Jermain Crocker, secretary, 1873-1902; An-
drew Thomas Page, 1902-1906; Henry C. Parsons (Jr.), as-
sistant secretary, 1905-1906, secretary, 1906; Edgar Munson
(Jr.), assistant secretary, 1908 .
Treasurers.— J. J. McCoy, i852( ?)-i855 ; Oliver Wat-
son, 1855-1856; John White, 1856-1859; H. F. Snyder, 1859-
1861 ; P. G. Smith, 1861-1864; J. Eutermarks, "treasurer and
collector," 1864-1867; James Damant, 1867-1873; John Jer-
main Crocker, 1873-1897; William C. Robinson, 1897-1906;
Andrew Thomas Page, assistant treasurer, 1905-1906, treas-
urer, 1909; Frank Parsons, assistant treasurer, 1910 .
Rec.lstkar. — (This office was created December 18, 1908.)
O. R. Howard Thomson, 1908 .
Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. — This po-
sition was created by the Vestry in April, 1906, and Mr. Frank
Gatward, organist atid choirmaster, chosen as its first incum-
bent.
THE NEW YOKK
PUBLIC l\^^
THE NEW YORK |
PUBLIC Lib^.'.SVl
E.D(.AU l-ilJMtSON
William H. Crockett
Vestrymen 07^ Christ Church
Easter 1310
Lay Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers 117
Sextons. — In view of the useful services rendered by the
church sexton it seems a pity that we have no complete list of
the men who have served in this capacity. The names of Jerry
Blue, Joseph R. xAnderson, T. Roy Meginnis, Frank E. Hunt,
and Edward Powell have been met in the records that have
come under our eye.
Chronological List of Vestrymen.^
As the dates given are dates of election, and as the elec-
tions are held on Easter-Mondays (the term being one year),
the vestrymen, unless they resigned or died, held office till
Easter of the year following that given. In a few cases elec-
tions to fill vacancies were held immediately upon such vacan-
cies occurring.
Campbell, Francis C 1841-1853, 1855-ii
Lewis, Hon. Ellis 1841- ?
Griswold, Lester 1841-1867
Watson, Oliver 1841-1882
Maynard, Hon. John W 1 841 -1862
Vastine. Dr. Thomas 1841- ?
Hutchens, John 1841- ?
Shoemaker, Henry 1841- ?
Cox, Hopewell 1841- ?
Damant, James 1852 ( ?)-i854, i86o-i(
Cowan, John F i852( ?)-i854
Dodge, John C i852( ?)-i857
Perkins, Maj. James H 1852 ( ?)-i893
McCoy, John J i852( ?)-i857
Desanges, Henry S 1853-1855
Montgomery, Mr 1853
White, John 1855-1890
Fouquet, J. D 1856-1858
Noland, P 1858-1861
1 Minutes of the Vestry l''41-1851 are lacking. Vestrymen of
1841 who are recorded as being vestrymen in 18.52 are credited with
holding office during the intervening years. [Ed.]
ii8
Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Snyder, Henry F-
Johnson, Edward C. . . .
Smith, P. G
Brown, James V
Logan, Dr. William F. .
Parsons, Henry C
Bunnell, F. H
Doebler, V^alentine S . . . .
Embick, Col. Fred. E. . .
Piatt, John
Smith, D. W
Howard, Charles B. . . .
Webb, George
Powell, Martin
Smeeton, James
Page, F. N
Munson, Edgar
Cummin, Hon. Hugh H.
Merriman, D. H
Biggs, Elisha H
Merritt, Thomas P
Fry, H. Howard
Watson, William S
Crocker, John J
Merritt, A. Howard. ...
Munson, Cyrus LaRue. .
Perley, Allen P
Sanderson, George L. . .
Gleim, Frederick E
Lacdlein, John F
Burrell, Dr. James A. L
Starr, James S
Page, A. Thomas
Robinson, William C...
Dayton, John B
Jones, John E
Tallman, Lewis
I858-I859, 1862-
1866
1859- 1 860
1862
1 863- 1 904
I 863- I 89 I
1 866- 1 898
I 866- I 87 I
1866
I 867- 1900
1867-1868
1 869- 1 873
I 870- I 888
1 870- 1 873
I 870- I 876
1870-1880
1871-1876
1 874- 190 1
1876-1889
1877
1877-1878
1 877- 1 879
I 877- I 88 I
1878-1882
1 879 -1 902
I 880- I 888
1881-1910
1883-1910
1 883- 1 89 1
1883-1896
1888-1910
1891
1 892- 1 899
1892, 1900- 19 10
1892-1910
1892-1908
1 892- 1 904
1893-1899
Lay Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers 119
Bowman, Frank C 1896-1910
Sweeley, William 1897-1905
White, John A 1899-1904
Irvin, John B 1900-1910
Otto, Horace Y 1901-1910
Shay, Edward E 1902-1910
Crocker, George P 1902-1906, 1908-1910
Almy, Edward P 1907-1910
Parsons, Henry C. (Jr.) 1904-1910
Piper, Edmund B 1904-1907
Parr, Creon B 1905- 1910
Hand, Charles H 1905-1907
Munson, Edgar (Jr.) 1908-1910
Crockett, William H 1909-1910
Summary Notes
CHOIR AND MUSIC.
A brief summary of choir history will not be out of place.
We have already noted the purchase of "an uncommonly
fine-toned organ" for $400 in 1850. The first organist of
whom we have any record is Miss Jones, who resigned her
position May 3d, 1864. Her resignation was referred by the
Vestry to "the ladies of the congregation." On the ist of
August "a letter from Miss Jones was read desiring an ad-
vance of salary." This also was referred to "the ladies of the
congregation." We wonder if she got it. "The ladies of the
congregation" were at any rate a very convenient refuge for
the Vestry in handling the delicate case of Miss Jones.
Mr. James Damant, as a volunteer organist, together with
such singers as he could get, supplied the church music for
years, but it is difficult to ascertain dates with any degree of
accuracy, except that Mr. Damant resigned his position at the
organ in 1873.
On October 26, 1869, the new church being then nearly
ready for use, the Vestry resolved that "as soon as $1,300 was
subscribed towards the purchase of a new organ, the Secretary
should authorize Mr. J. G. Marklove, of Utica, N. Y., to com-
mence building the same according to specifications, and that
the ladies be respectfully requested to devote the balance of
money in their hands, after paying for the chancel furniture,
towards the purchase of the organ."
In the spring of 1872 efforts were made to obtain sub-
scriptions towards securing the services of an instructor of
music, because the Rector thought that "systematic training of
the choir" was necessary. Nothing seems to have come of
this till the following April, when Mr. Damant resigned and
Mr. Horace Hills, Jr., became "organist and choir-leader."
The improvement in the music of the church thereafter and the
<2l
122 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
names of some of the "chief siiii^ers in the sanctuary" have
been already noted. Mr. Hills remained in charge of the
music until September 30, 1892.
Early in 1877, with the consent of the Vestry, Dr. Hop-
kins rearranged the choir-seats.
Prior to 1879 the salary of the organist was paid by pri-
vate subscri])tion, but on September 22 of this year the Vestry
formally assumed the obligation. On November 2, 1885, the
organist's salary was advanced from $400 to $600, and he was
requested to train "the younger people of the church for the
choir." A year later the salary was made $700.
The resolution to organize a vested male choir was passed
February 23, .18S8, and the new choir sang for the first time
on the following Easter. Three years later the choir-room
was enlarged.
Mr. Hills resigned his position in September, 1892, after
nearly twenty years' faithful and fruitful service, to take the
work at Mount Calvary, Baltimore, where he remained until
his death, the latter part of January, 1908. He and his family
had many friends in Williamsport whom they occasionally
visited. His body was brought here from Baltimore and
buried from Christ Church, the pallbearers being all former
members of the choir under his direction.
Mr. Hills was succeeded by Mr. H. DeKoven Rider, who
entered upon his duties November i, 1892, and remained for
two years. The full choral service was introduced on Sunday
evenings, and a "monthly musical service" was instituted, at
which, under his insi)iring direction, such splendid composi-
tions as the following were sung: Stainer's "The Cruci-
fixion;" Gaul's "The Holy City;" Mendelssohn's "Hear My
Prayer;" Garrett's "The Two Advents;" Gaul's "The Ten
Virgins;" (iounod's "Gallia;" Stainer's "The Daughter of
Jairus;" Parry's "Job;" Mendelssohn's "The h'orty-Sccond
Psalm," and Stainer's "St. Mary Magdalena." That record
has been kept up ever since.
The custom of an annual choir-dinner began during this
period, a gracious undertaking associated chiefly with the name
Choir and Music 123
of Mrs. E. P. Almy and the young- ladies whose assistance she
enlists from year to year. Some of these affairs have been on
an elaborate scale and all of them have been delightful. The
dinner and the "summer outing" are the two focal points of the
year to the choir on its social side, which invariably awaken
the greatest enthusiasm.
A choir baseball club has been another off-set to the more
serious work of this for many years splendid musical organ-
ization.
At first the choir boys used to be rewarded with a "Christ-
mas dollar," in addition to the "treats" of which mention has
been made, but about the first of the year 1894 the system of
small weekly payments was adopted, and later still the monthly
"pay-day," with its regular pay-roll, came to be a feature of
choir experience. Occasionally the choir was, as it still is,
treated to some form of entertainment, as when, for example,
several gentlemen many years ago gave the choir boys tickets
to see Kellar, the magician.
Some of the choir notes from the parish paper of fifteen
years ago, edited by choir members themselves, are funny
enough to merit quotation and may possibly contain useful
warnings to the present-day choir boys:
"Willie R makes a face as though he had a pain
when he sings."
"Willie S has a good voice, but sings too hard
sometimes, and, therefore, harshly."
"Harry F , after a long and hard contest, has been
chosen soprano soloist. He feels proud and carries his head
high."
"The music for Easter Day is very hard, but in the few
rehearsals we have had on it we begin to get the best of it."
"Some of our boys ought to be more particular about
combing their hair before services. At present the effect of
some heads is not very pleasing."
"G M would sing more effectively if he
would hold his head up."
"C S likes to look down on the congregation
124 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
during services. He had better take care that Mr. Rider does
not notice it, for Mr. R. is pretty severe on us in this kind of
thing."
And more of the same sort. Pretty good criticism.
One of these "choir notes," written in the same style, we
shall quote, with the name in full, because the admiration ex-
pressed we know to have been well deserved :
"Our crucifer, Fred Zahn, we think is the model crucifer
around this part of the country. For reverence and dignity
he takes the lead."
Miss Louise Larzelere became organist and choirmistress
October i, 1894. From "Christ Church Chorister," published
in the interest of the "Choir 15oys" in August, 1898, a large
eight-page leaflet that appeared once and then expired, we
gather several items of special interest :
The choir luuubered 21 boys and 8 men. Romaine
Moorehead, who entered the choir at eight years of age, at-
tended 630 services and rehearsals out of a possible 642 in
thirty months, had been fined but four times, and had been
paid $26.20. Charlie Page, Walter Zahn, and Alvin Longs-
dorf had records not far below Moorehead's. The average
attendance during the winter of 1897-8 was 28, although the
seating capacity of the choir was only 25. The probationers
were paid two cents for each attendance, which was raised to
three cents when they entered the choir, and then to five and
six cents according to progress. Between October, 1894, and
August, 1898, there had been 98 boys enrolled in the choir, of
whom 18 were dismissed on account of age, 11 were expelled
for bad beliavior, and several had droi)ped out for various rea-
sons. This is incidental to boy-choir work and inevitable.
There were only two bo\s in the choir at that time whose
])arents attended Christ Church. The nuisic library could not
be replaced for $300 and was then twice as large as three years
before. It contained 19 Te Deums, 105 Anthems, 12 Mag-
nificats, etc. Excepting during July and August, when re-
hearsals were held from 8 to 9 in the morning, there were five
regular rehearsals and two services a week — Tuesdays, 4-5 p.
Choir and Music 125
M., altos; Tuesdays, 5-6 p. m., sopranos; Tuesdays, 7:15-8:15
p. M., tenors and basses; Thursdays, 5-6 p. m., sopranos and
altos; Fridays, 7:30-8:30 p. m., full choir and organ.
The record of such details is not without value, perhaps,
as giving the congregation a clearer impression of the patient
and persistent routine work of the organist and choir.
Mr. George P. Crocker, who described himself as a mem-
ber of the old chorus choir, and a charter member of the new
vested choir, said in the "Christ Church Chorister :" "During
the last days of Dr. Hopkins's rectorship the congregation was
compelled to listen to a very indifferent aggregation of singers
known as a 'Chorus Choir.' It was located on both sides of
the church, occupying space where the font and the pulpit now
stand." While the decision to "try the experiment of a boy-
choir" was made by the Vestry, Mr. Crocker credits Mr. Hills
with being its "prime mover and organizer."
For some time prior to the autumn of 1894 the church
organ, which had suffered in the flood of 1889, and again to a
lesser degree earlier in the year 1894, was in bad condition
and had to be replaced for a time by the Sunday School organ.
A "choir note" of this period facetiously observes that "the
organist never begins a service without placing a candle, screw-
driver, and some wire conveniently near by ; because very often
our organ needs attention during services and he has to climb
around and doctor matters." Bids were received for a new
instrument, and after Mr. Hills had been requested by the
Vestr}^ to come from Baltimore to aid in examining the bids,
and none had been found satisfactory, he was authorized to
draw specifications, and new bids were called for. The con-
tract was awarded (November 9, 1894) to Johnson & Son, of
Westfield, Mass., for an instrument to cost $2,400 and the old
organ exclusive of case. Two months later the organ com-
mittee reported that sufficient had been subscribed to pay for
the organ and all incidental expenses. In order to obviate any
such damage in the future ah had injured the old organ, the
new instrument was built over the vestry-room. The work
of installation was not completed until April, 1895.
126 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
For several years an appropriation of $1,500 a year was
made by the \'estry, out of which the org"anist was to pay the
boys, buy new music, and have the organ tuned and kept in
repair. The lialancc was to be the organist's salary. This
plan was given U]) later and a flat salary of $720 paid the or-
ganist, which has since been increased to a sum more com-
mensurate with the importance of the position.
In order to complete this outline of choir history it will
be sufficient to add that Mrs. Chatham (nee Larzelere) was
succeeded by Mr. W'illiam B. Reeve in 1899, who served three
years and was followed by the present incumbent, Mr. Frank
Gatward,^ a licentiate of the London College of Music, under
whose tuition and direction much progress has been made.
Three of the special musical programmes rendered, in addition
to the Union Evensong on January 25, 1904, already men-
tioned, were Maunder's popular "Thanksgiving Cantata," No-
vember 30, 1905, repeated the following year, and the same
composer's "Penitence, Pardon and Peace," March 6, 1910.
At the request of the Knights Templar the choir has on
several occasions rendered service on Ascension Day in the
Masonic Temple; while the boys, trained by Mr. Gatward in
quaint drills and songs, have for a number of years been a
feature of "local talent" performances for charitable objects.
On the death of Mr. Horace Hills, a former organist of
the church, as also on the death of Mr. William H. Kilbourn,
y\r. (iatward, at the succeeding Sunday evening service, gave
a short recital, "In Mcmoriam." Not only was the tribute
1 Mr. Gatward was born in the Diocese of St. Alban's, England,
and after graduating at the London College of Music in 1881, was
appointed in succession organist and choirmaster of the following
churches: Great Gaddeston (1 year); Berkhampstcad (11 j'ears) ;
came to America in 1898; St. Luke's Cathedral, Halifax, N. S. (5
years); Gethsemane, Minneapolis; Cathedral Church, South Beth-
lehem; and 1902, Christ Church, WiIliamsi)ort.
Mr. Gatward is examiner in this country for the London Col-
lege of Music, vice-president of the London Guild of Organists,
honorary representative of the Royal Academy of Music and joint
founder of the American Guild of Organists, New York. [Ed.]
Choir and Music 127
thoughtful and kind, but the time selected enabled nearly every
member of the parish to attend, and by their presence express
their sense of loss.
In October, 1905, the Sunday Choral Evensong, which
had lapsed, was revived and has since been maintained.
For several years Mrs. H. Y. Otto and Mrs. Fred Zahn
have, in the absence of Mr. Gatward, presided at the organ,
while Mrs. Frank Gatward has taken charge of the Wednes-
day evening service and Mr. Dan Thomas given assistance.
The choir of girls' voices for some of the Lenten, Ad-
vent and week-day services should not be overlooked, nor
the work and time that Mr. Gatward, Mrs. Gatward, the
Misses Lumley and others have freely given to their training.
The annual outing of the choir boys — two weeks — at Nip-
pono Park continues to be popular. The boys have a spacious
cabin in which they "camp," avoiding most of the ordinary
drudgery by obtaining their meals at the Park restaurant.
The choir's present repertoire consists of Anthems ; ser-
vices of standard church musicians, such as Stainer, Goss,
Stanford, Hollins, Coleridge-Taylor, Tertius N"oble, Gounod,
Roberts, Garrett, Martin, Smart, Monk, Steggal, Burnett,
Ouseley, Barnby, West, Woodward, etc. ; while excerpts from
the masterpieces of Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn,
Sullivan, and Haydn are sometimes given.
The personnel of the choir, Easter, 1910, was:
Basses — G. P. Crocker, F. Zahn, J. MacCollum, D.
Thomas, E. Ball, F. Newel, C. Levering.
Tenors— W. Zahn, W. H. Deibert, L. Heller, W. Bennett,
R. Allen, M. Button.
Altos — H. Yandine, W. Erieg, F. Otto, C. Frank.
Sopranos — C. Rose, E. Zahn, G. Eyster, A. Page, R.
Frank, A. Schradie, D. Harman, R. Erieg, C. Leaber, P. Meth-
erel, R. Segart, C. Teupel, L. Bullard, R. Metherel, J. Erieg,
J. W. Fulmer, J. Steel, L. Neal, H. Ardell.
Summary Notes
THE MONEY PROBLEM.
The question of ways and means is always conspicuous
upon the administrative side of parish life. A few words on
this subject will be proper.
We have already seen that the early struggles of Christ
Church were those of the feeblest mission. If, as is generally
supposed, and not unreasonably, the salary paid the minister
is any gauge of the financial strength of the parish, then we
have every stage of parish strength exhibited in the history
of this parish.
Who, and how many, gave the $3,000 for the building
of the first church on East Third Street — a structure of brick,
be it remembered — and how the money was gathered, when
as yet there were but 14 communicants, none of the records
disclose. But the building was paid for and consecrated as
soon as completed. No salary was paid the minister, the
Rev. Mr. Lightner.
No light is thrown upon the amount of the rector's stipend
until we come to the beginning of Air. Clark's incumbency in
1846, when we find the Missionary Society of Grace Church,
Philadelphia, stipulating to pay $400 a year for three years,
provided the parish pay annually $200 for the same period and
extinguish a $650 debt. A fair the next year netted $275
towards cancelling this debt, and at the end of the stipulated
time it was entirely wiped out. The parish was received into
union with the convention that year (1847), an indication, we
think, that it must have been meeting its engagements. One
can only conjecture that the pitiably small salary of the earlier
rectors had been supplemented by the "Advancement Society"
of the Diocese (corresponding, perhaps, to the later Diocesan
Missionary Board), because we find an offering of $2.35
129
130 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
collected for this society in 1841. Mr. Clark's salary of $300
was paid reg^ularly,^
Mr. Cooper was promised a salary of $500 besides $100
for removal expenses, and the free use of a house until the
rectory, then buildinsj^, should be completed ; but ten months
later the Vestry found it had undertaken too much.
The parish ]:)ledi:;'ed Mr. Moore $400 and the rectory, and
at the same time requested the "Diocesan Missionar}' Society"
to continue the aid they had been givinj^. How much that
was \vc do not know, but it and the stipend did not make a
sufficient salary, for it was hoped Lock Haven would add its
quota for one-fourth of the minister's time. By 1861 the
parish was entirely out of debt and had just become self-sus-
taining"— no longer a mission. The rector's salary was now
$650 plus the rectory. In 1864 it was raised to $800. but when
he resigned, in the spring of 1865, the salary was $400 in
arrears.
When Mr. Wadleigh was called he was promised $1,000
and the rectory.
Dr. Paret was called at a salary of "not less than $2,000
a year" and the rectory. He received $2,266 the second year,
the total amount of the offerings at the morning services, and
was voted $2,400 for the third year. Meantime the parish
was paying for its new church. In 1872 the "expenditures
and appropriations" amounted to more than $10,200; and this
is a sample of the large sums annually disbursed, with some
fluctuations, of course, throughout the rectorships of Dr.
Paret and Dr. Hopkins.
The salary i)ai(l Dr. Ilojikins was $2,000, and Mr. Graff
received $2,200.
One cannot but admire the courage and energy with
v/hich, throughout the entire peri<jd of this "History" new en-
1 Mr. Black, who succeeded Mr. Clark, soems to have suffered
from lack of funds, while Mr. Wright, who succeeded him, was
guaranteed .$400 plus any sum arising from rent of house on the
parsonage lot from the time of his election (ill the 1st of April next
ensuing. [Ed.]
The Money Problem 131
terprises were undertaken and the funds raised to pay for them.
Eight years after the first church was built a "parsonage lot"
was purchased for $500 (and a $400 organ the same day!),
and four years later the Rector (Mr. Clark) moved into a
$2,250 brick rectory, covered, however, with a $1,000 mort-
gage. In less than three years that debt was wiped out, $350
worth of repairs were put on the church, and the rectory
was piped and fitted with gas. Next year it was gas into the
church and water into the rectory at an expense of about
$250.
Then in 1864 the \^estry bought the brick house at the
rear of the church for $800 for a school building — Sunday and
day school.
Next came the project of a new church, beginning with
an expenditure of $4,000 for the lot and an expenditure of
$40,000 for the church, without the carrying up of the tower.
The burden of that expense was felt for many a long year,
but Church extension was not allowed to suffer on account
of the big debt. The parish had a good many "irons in the
fire" at the same time. \\"adleigh Chapel was built and an
assistant minister got. The new church had to be furnished,
and a $2,000 organ installed. When the church was opened
the debt amounted to nearly $17,000. The sale of the old
church reduced this to about $12,000. But then came the
division of the Diocese, and the parish put $2,160 into the
Episcopate Endowment Fund in less than two years after mov-
ing into the new church. There seems to have been no dispo-
sition to whine or shirk outside responsibilities because the
parish had a big debt.
Meantime schools and clubs and chapels and charities
were under way or freshly started up, all calling for and re-
ceiving maintenance, while at the same time diocesan missions
and foreign missions and home missions were not passed by
without fair and reasonable attention. Nor did the extraordi-
nary calls like those of the fire sufiferers in the West in 1871
fall on unheeding ears, for nearly $360 was sent them in the
very same year that over $2,000 was paid the Diocesan Endow-
132 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
ment Fund and the church debt was being reduced. One is
amazed at the courage and generosity of those days.
Ten years after its com])letion, save the tower, the
clnircli was j)ai(l for and consecrated. r)Ut then began large
expencHtures for adornment, memorial gifts, chapel building,
assistants' salaries, and various forms of aggressive work
under Dr. Hopkins. The parish building of stone cost
$8,500 in 1 88 1, the tiling of the church cost $1,200, the steam-
heating apparatus for the church cost over $2,000, St. John's
Chapel cost nearly $2,000. the debt on Wadleigh Chapel was
paid off and the building consecrated, a Mansard story was
added to the rectory at the Rector's own expense, and so it
went.
Under Mr. GraflF the tower of the church was finished,
at a cost of $5,300 — meantime chapel support, charities, new
piano, sidewalks, repairs and refurnishing necessitated by
flood ; the last a big expense.
The thirty years from 1865 to 1895 exhibit great achieve-
ments. But peeping within the covers of the vestry minute-
books, or reading the parish papers of this period, we discover
that it was not without many anxious meetings of the Vestry
nor without much gasping and prodding on the part of the
rectors. What a sigh of relief went up in 187Q on learning
that the last notes of debt on the new church had been taken
up. I low tired and sore the Vestry was after that ten or
fifteen years' struggle can be read between the lines of a reso-
lution passed two months before the consecration of the
church, which now makes one smile who reads it: "Resolved:
That, after the present indebtedness of the church is cancelled,
no debt shall hereafter be created until the money is in the
hands of the Treasurer to pav the same" ! ! !
One can reacl formidable lists of "lialiilities," and count
up big sums paid as interest or borrowed money. Yet no
sooner out of debt and smiling than in again. Thus has much
been accom|)lislu(l. 'Unis have others ]al)oi-c'(l while their
successors enter inio their labors. Tt is what a progressive
world is doing all the while, and a church to be progressive
The Money Problem 133
and follow the high ideals set by the Master can do no less.
Stagnation is death.
Before leaving this subject a word should be said about
the creation of a parochial endowment fund by legacies. Upon
Major Perkins's death, in 1893, the church received a bequest
of $4,000, Scranton Street Railway 6's, and $500 Williamsport
Gas Company bonds, the yield of $500 to be used in keeping
up the decedent's grave and the yield on the balance to be used
for the support of the parish.^ Miss Agnes Montgomery left
$500 in Lycoming Electrical Company 5's, which was
added to the endowment fund. A few years later Mr.
Josiah Howard, of Emporium, gave $7,500 Northern Pacific
3's to this fund in memory of his father, Charles B. Howard,
and the fund was still further augmented by a bequest of
$5,000, Northern Pacific 3's, of Mr. J. V. Brown. At present
the fund, owing to reinvestments, produces about $800 annu-
ally. In addition to this fund there has recently been started,
through a contribution of $50 from Mr. H. Y. Otto, a pa-
rochial endowment fund, the income from which is also to be
applied to current expenses. Aided by an offering taken in
the church, and by reinvestments, the fund now amounts to
$150. It is hoped that members of the parish will contribute
small sums to it from time to time during their lifetimes, till
it produces annually at least an amount equal to the rector's
salary.
Nor should the addition of $3,150 to the Diocesan Episco-
pate Fund upon the erection of the new Diocese of Harrisburg
be overlooked.
as
1 This bequest of Major Perkins is of particular importance.
It started the endowment fund. [Ed.]
WADLEIGH ST. MARYS CHAPEL
Summary Notes
WADLEIGH (ST. MARY'S) CHAPEL.
The beginnin^s^s of this important work have already been
noted in their proper place. It is proposed here merely to
summarize its subsequent development.
On July ID, 1870, there was first used the fine-toned bell
which had been purchased with the offerings made by the
Sunday School for that purpose.
The "Parish Guide" for October, 1870, states that a night
school for colored boys and men, prevented by their work
from attending schools during the day, was being held at the
mission chapel, and that 30 pupils were present at the previous
session. The Rector appeals for old school-books to help on
the good work. By February of the next year the school was
transferred to the building on the old church lot, formerly
used for a parish school. The school met regularly through-
out the winter on Monday and Thursday nights, with an aver-
age attendance of 30. Mr. Martin Powell and Airs. Paret
were the teachers. The next winter the school went to Miss
Cortwright's school-room on Grove Street.
In October, 1871, Mrs. J. V. Brown became the principal
of the sewing school. In Mr. Graff's time (twenty years
later) Miss Rose Bentley and ]Mrs. Girard are named as being
in charge, and an average attendance of over 40 is recorded.
Data regarding the building of the present St. Mary's
(Wadleigh Memorial) Chapel seem strangely lacking, but
the present writer has the impression that it was built in Dr.
Hopkins's time, and from sundry memoranda of payments on
the debt infers that it must have cost about $15,000.^
A mortgage for nearly $765 yet hung over Wadleigh
Chapel in July, i(
1 The old chapel, turneu into a double dwelling, still stands at
Almond and Meade Streets. The new church, at Almond and Menne
Alley, is some two squares distant. The fund that made the new
135
136 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Much of the progress of this mission, from the autumn
of 1889 onward, was due to the "Wadleigh Workers." Mr.
Charles L. Girard was its "warden" or president, and Mr.
Jacob Springman its treasurer. Among its gifts to the chapel
may be mentioned a crimson plush dossal in the fall of 1890.
In January, 1890, the altar, behind which there had been
till this time an "ambulatory"" or passage, was moved back
against the east wall of the chancel, thus enlarging the sanc-
tuary.
A Jardine pipe organ, costing $600, was installed in the
chapel and first used on July 2"], 1890. The church was
crowded on this occasion, and it is recorded that many stood
on the outside and looked through the windows.
A club of young men was organized in the fall of 1890,
whose first enterprise was the enlargement of the choir-room
by adding about 40 feet to its length. Mr. Samuel McCoy
was its first president, and Mr. Watson Pass its first secre-
tary-treasurer.
In the summer of this year (1890) it is reported that the
chapel had over 100 weekly contributors to its support.
About this time the chapel received the gift of a hand-
some brass altar-cross from Mr. Charles \' . Runkle, who was
also its designer.
Early in the winter of 1890 a young women's choir was
formed to assist at the Thursday night services.
In the fall of 1891 a "Sewing Chapter"" of the Wadleigh
W'orkers was organized, with Mrs. iiridgeland as president
and Mrs. Calehoof as secretary-treasurer.
In March, 1892, an average attendance of 12 teachers
and 187 scholars in the Sunday School is noted.
In ( )clober, 1892, the Wadleigli Workers tleveloped a
church possible was largely collected through the efforts of Miss
Susan Emily Hall. At the time the money was being raised the
Rer. Charles Edward Dobson was curate. His energy, enthusiasm
and devotion to the work of the chapelry at this critical period of
its existence cannot be overestimated. Mr. Dobson resigned his
curacy before the new church was dedicated, but was present when
It was consecrated. [Ed.]
Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel 137
"Social Chapter," especially intended to care for the younger
communicants, the gathering" in of the lukewarm and cold,
and the promotion of the social interests of the people.
On the Sunday before Christmas, 1892, a new choir, com-
prising seven boys, fourteen girls, and six men took its place.
A set of sterling silver communion plate of Gorham manu-
facture with the name of the chapel engraved on each piece,
and costing $50, was blessed by the Bishop at his visitation,
April 22, 1893.
In Advent, 1893, Mr. Charles V. Runkle gave the chapel
a brass altar desk in memory of his father, Mr. Nelson Runkle.
Mr. Runkle began his services as superintendent of Wad-
leigh Chapel Sunday School in 1877, and continued in this
position for over twenty-five years, with a splendid record for
regularity and faithfulness that cannot be forgotten by the
admiring and loyal people of this chapelry and congregation.
On June i, 1894, Wadleigh, with its name changed to
St. Mary's Church, "set up housekeeping for itself," under
the rectorship of the Rev. Morris W. Christman ^ who had
1 The Rev. Mr. Christman had been a German Reformed min-
ister, and was one of several ministers of that communion who
came into the Episcopal Church within a brief period. He was
ordained deacon by Bishop Rulison in June, 1891, and after serving
as missionary at Milton, he, in July, 1891, became assistant to the
Rev. Mr. Graff. He was advanced to the priesthood November, 1892.
Wadleigh Chapel greatly flourished during his time as has abund-
antly appeared elsewhere in this narrative, and when the chapel
was to become a separate parish, June 1, 1894, under the new name
of St. Mary's, Mr. Christman naturally became its first rector. Al-
though a resident of Williamsport but a few years, he was widely
known in the city and had the highest respect and affection of
all classes. Mrs. Christman, it is needless to add for any who
have known her, shared in this regard. It is an interesting fact
that at the time when St. Mary's Church was admitted to union
with the Diocesan Convention as a parish, it had the largest Sun-
day School in the Archdeaconry.
In 1893 Mr. Christman endeavored to persuade the Vestry of
Christ Church to build a pariou house for the chapel, but without
success, owing to its estimated cost. In 1895, the chapel having
become a separate parish, a lot (that on which the present rectory
138 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
been serving as assistant. The Vestry of Christ Church
agreed to pa}^ $500 towards the support of St. Mary's the
first year of its independence and a yearly sum thereafter for
four years, one hundred dollars less each year. This agree-
ment was faithfully carried out to the letter, and more.^
stands) was purchased. On the lot was a barn and an ice house, so
the men of the parish, led by their Rector, took to carpenter work
in the evenings so effectively that in a short time they had trans-
formed the barn into a serviceable house with two rooms. Furni-
ture of various vintages was given and the place made habitable,
while the old ice house was "run up to the rear" of the reorganized
building and for a long time did valiant service as kitchen. [Ed.]
1 The Rev. John Conley Grimes is the present rector of St.
Mary's. The number of communicants is given as 230; of Sunday
School scholars, ITjO. [Ed.]
Summary Notes
ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL.
As already stated, the establishment of this work on the
south side was due to the missionar}' zeal of the Rev. Dr.
Hopkins.
The name of Captain William Sweeley will be af-
fectionately recalled by the mention of St. John's Chapel.
Through all the vicissitudes of its early history and until the
time of his lamented death, May 12, 1903, Captain William
Sweeley, as Superintendent of the Sunday School, lay-reader,
and lay-administrator, was the mainstay of St. John's.
When the first anniversary of the chapel was celebrated,
on Low Sunday, 1888, the Sunday School was reported to be
in a flourishing and most encouraging condition.^ The people
were gladdened on this occasion by the presence and words
of the Rev. Mr. Black, a former rector of the parish. Two
years later, February, 1890, an attendance of 174 in the Sun-
day School was recorded. A sewing school under ]\Irs.
Sweeley had prospered during the year, with a membership
of about 65 girls.
The Bishop Hopkins Guild has wrought valiantly through-
out the history of this chapelry for the material and moral
upbuilding of the work. To this body of earnest young peo-
ple was due the purchase of the first furnace for heating the
chapel and the carpet for the aisles. The oak pews were
paid for by the Ladies' Aid Society and cost $1,600 ( ?). The
Sunday School paid for the organ.
In April, 1890, a street-lamp was erected in front of the
chapel, through the eftorts of Mrs. Gibson and Sunday
School scholars.
By the generous contiibution of lumber by Mr. Perley
1 Organized Low Sunday, 1887, in the old Armory Building.
139
140 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
and another ^entleman, the "infant-room," or vestry, was en-
lar^G^ed in the fall of 1890.
llie lectern Bible was ,^iven by Captain Sweeley, Christ-
mas, 1890.
Beginnings with the second Sunday in April, 1891, the
afternoon service was changed to the morning as an experi-
ment.
The financial administration of the chapel at this time
involved the annual payment of $200 to the Vestry towards
the salary of the assistant minister, a like sum being asked of
Wadleigh Chapel. This arrangement continued for several
years with varying success, the $200 being generally some-
what beyond the ability of this chapelry.
The new chancel rail took the place of an "old ten-foot
bar" in October, 1S91, and the Bishop Hopkins Guild supplied
the pews with book-racks, prayer books, and hymnals.
.V "jelly closet" was started about the same time to
supply delicacies to the sick. A similar one was established at
the parish church and Wadleigh Chapel. Systematic efforts
were also made the same winter by the guild for beautifying
the chapel and also for caring for the poor and providing
clothing for the needy. The vestry-room was also fitted out
with conveniences for holding services there instead of in the
chapel itself.
A re-table was added to the altar Christmas, 1891, the
gift of Captain Sweeley. Here may be noted the interesting
fact that it has been the custom of St. John's Chapel, through
a long term of years, for the guilds or individuals to make a
"Christmas present" to the chapel of some needed article of
use or adornmcnl. The exchange of Christmas presents by
scholars, teachers, and officers at the time of and in connec-
tion with the Sunday School festival has also for years been
the pleasing custom of the chapel people.
Not forgetful to help others, St. John's Chapel cheered
the mission at Watsontown by the gift of an altar service
and chancel prayer book, Easter, 1892.
Altar cloths of the proper ecclesiastical colors were made
by the Ladies' Aid Society in the summer of 1892.
St, John's Chapel 141
A handsome Sunday School banner, designed by Mr. J.
E. Jones and worked by Miss Ann Bentley, was used for the
first time on Easter, 1893.
The Bishop Hopkins Guild supplied the chapel with a
cassock and full set of stoles in the fall of 1893.
A conveniently arranged book-case for the Sunday School
library was installed in the winter of 1893.
The chapel was consecrated by Bishop Talbot May 9th,
1898.
In March, 1907, a brass altar-cross, in memory of Captain
William Sweeley, was given by some of his friends in the
Sunday School and chapel. At the same time as the cross was
blessed the handsome candlesticks now on the altar, presented
anonymous!}', were also dedicated to the Church's worship.
The communicants of the parish, Easter, 19 10, numbered
83, and the members of the Sunday School 165.
The presentation of the lot on which the new church
stands by Messrs. Henry J. Lutcher and G. T. Bedell Moore,
and of the church itself by Mr. G. T. Bedell Moore, has been
dealt with in detail in the account of Mr. Jones's rectorship.
The memorials to Mr. Moore, given by his widow and his
sisters, have also been recorded.
Summary Notes
GIFTS, MEMORIALS AND THANKOFFERINGS.
The following- summary of gifts, memorials, and thank-
offerings presented to the church during the latter half of the
period under review may well quicken the gratitude and emu-
lation of the present-day members of the parish :
April, 1870. Churchwoman gives $10 for oak chest for
altar vestments. From three gentlemen, the drawings for an
altar and chancel rail for Wadleigh Chapel ; the material for
same sawed to pattern in oak ; the money needed for complet-
ing them. From another, violet bookmarks for the Bible.
From another, 50 prayer books for Wadleigh. From another,
25 hymnals for Wadleigh. From Miss Susan E. Hall, a beau-
tiful violet altar-cloth, the embroidery having been done by
Miss Anne C. Norris, of Erie, Pa.
May, 1870. From a lady, white bookmarks for the lec-
tern. Fair white linen cloths for the altar, material and gift
from Miss Susan E. Hall ; needlework by ^Nliss Lizzie Shoe-
maker, of St. James's Church, ]\Iuncy. From Air. E. H.
Biggs, two beautiful chalices, value $100.
June, 1870. From Miss Susan E. Hall, red altar-cloth,
part of needlework done by Miss Sarah Bonine, of ]\Iuncy.
November, 1870. From Mr. F. N. Page, vestry-room
furniture, value $81.50.
Easter, 1871. From donor anonymous at the time (Mrs.
Louisa Logan), for private communion service, $25, w'ith
which a silver paten and chalice of convenient size were pro-
cured.^
May, 1872. From the Dorcas Society, articles of altar
linen. From the Brotherhood, window over the vestry-room
1 This was later inscribed to the memory of the Rev. Albra
Wadleigh. [Ed.]
143
144 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
door, with crossed keys and pastoral staff as emblems of the
pastoral office.
June, 1872. Two thankoffering-s aggregating $105, used
for purchase of a silver flagon, which was first used on Sun-
day, July 7th. Among the offerings on the Sunday after
Ascension Day, $100, marked as "a thankoffering for special
mercies, to be used for church objects as the Rector may judge
best."
October, 1872. Thankoffering for recovery from sick-
ness, $5.00, for communion plate.
December, 1872. Completion of the altar-linen and of "a
tasteful dress and blanket, to be lent as occasion may require
for bringing infants to baptism." A second alms-chest was
put in, on the east side of the church.
January, 1873. Thankoffering from person unknown,
$5.00, accompanied by these words: "I present the enclosed
sum as a thankoffering to Almighty God for the innumerable
blessings showered upon me and mine during the past year,
and for the kind care and protection He has ever exercised
towards us. It seems almost presumptuous in one so deeply
unworthy as I feel myself to be. But as He blessed the
widow's mite, I trust He will not despise this humble tribute
to His kindness and love."
Christmas, 1873. Thankoffering accompanied by the fol-
lowing words: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His
benefits toward me? While others far more worthy have been
steeped in poverty and wretchedness, God has dealt out His
blessings to me and mine with an oi)en hand. Accept, O
Father, I beseech Thee, this my offering for all Thy mercies;
and grant that the coming year ma\- find us all more worthy of
Thy love and kindness."
Julv 5. 1874 (V. Trinity). "Thankoffering for special
mercies," used for jiurchase of silver paten ; cost $46.
April 8, 1878. Vestry adopts resolution of thanks to
Miss Agnes Montgomery for gift of brass altar-desk.
June 5, 1878. Vestry thanks Mrs. Charles Tiffany for
gift of Bishop's-chair.
Gifts, Memorials and Thaxkofferixgs 145
July 8, 1878. Vestry thanks Miss Susan E. Hall for gift
of embroidered green lectern antependium.
April 6, 1880. Vestry thanks ^^Irs. C. F. Ranstead for
white lectern antependium, given in memory of her child,
Encie Ai-ny Ranstead.
December 26, 1882. Vestry thanks ]Mrs. A. L. Wiley for
stained-glass window in memory of her father, Chief Justice
Lewis. Subject: "The Judgment."
April 13, 1885. Vestry thanks Major J. H. Perkins for
stained-glass window in memory of Mrs. Perkins. Subject:
"The Annunciation."
April 13, 1885. Vestry thanks ladies of the church for
having the chancel and aisles tiled. Cost, $1,200.
February, 1889. From Mrs. J. H. Cochran, through Dr.
Saylor-Brown, a reclining chair for the use of the sick poor.
October, 1889. Handsome new lectern Bible purchased.
All Saints', 1889. Exquisite large brass eagle-lectern,
with memorial inscription, in memory of Mrs. Josephine White
Munson, the gift of her husband, Mr. C. LaRue Munson. In-
scription: "In Memory of Josephine AMiite Alunson, 1856-
1889."
November, 1889. From the x\ltar Society of St. Mark's
Church, Philadelphia, a white stole.
January, 1890. Platform and benches for "infant school,"
lumber contributed by Mr. Edgar Munson. Benches cost $52.
From "one of our ladies," several pieces of new altar-linen.
March, 1890. The Rector thankfully records the pur-
chase of a lot in Wildwood Cemetery, after a long efifort to
secure the money, where indigent parishioners and others can
be buried. The lot cost $30. The Young Men's Guild pro-
vides a signboard for the church.
October, 1890. From an anonymous doner, a thankofifer-
ing of $100 in gold, the first contribution towards the comple-
tion of the tower.
All Saints', 1890. Frc!^. St. Mary's Guild, white brocade
silk altar-cloth, exquisitely embroidered by the Sisters of
Mercy at St. ^Mark's Church, Philadelphia. The central figure
146 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
is an Agnns Dei, and on either side are adoring angels
swinging their censers. Cost, $175.
January, 1891. From Mrs. H. H. Cummin, brass altar-
cross of unusual size (54 inches high) and superb design and
workmanship, in memory of her husband, the Hon. Hugh
Hart Cummin.
January, 1891. From an anonymous donor, four copper
alms-basins, inscribed with the name of the church.
P'ebruary, i8gi. Made and presented to the Sunday
School by Mrs. William A. F. Zahn, a white silk banner.
Easter, 1891. From Mr. and Mrs. George H. Grove, a
fine brass processional cross with copper-bronze medallions
containing the Agnus Dei and emblems of the four evan-
gelists ; in memory of their son, Harry H. Grove, at one time
a chorister at \\'adleigh Chapel. It bears a memorial inscrip-
tion, as follows :
"In memory of Harry Haswell Grove, 1873-1885.
'Angels, sing on! your faithful watches keeping!
Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above !' "
Easter, 1891. From Mr. C. LaRue Munson, set of book-
marks for the lectern Bible.
April, 1 89 1. St. Mary's Guild provides large closet in
guild-room for care of altar-hangings. St. John's Guild ap-
propriates $9.50 for new music-closets in choir-room, and
$7.00 for storm-doors at church tower. Also orders a croki-
nole-board for guild-room.
May, 1 89 1. St. Mary's Guild provides book-racks for
the choir desks, at a cost of $14.25. The cost (to date) of re-
l)airs in the j)arish house occasioned 1)\' the Hood of 1889 is re-
ported to be $195.97; carpets and cushions in the church,
$872.74; ventilators for the parish house, $98.10; and maps
for the Sunday School, recent!)- purcliascd. $13.
I. Trinity, 1891. From Mrs. John White, exquisitely em-
broidered green altar-cloth, with medallion of Christ the Good
Shepherd embroidered in centre.
October, 1891. From donor unnamed, cushion and kneel-
ing-stool for Bishop's-chair. Pencil sketch portrait of Dr.
Gifts, Memorials and Thankofferings 147
Hopkins, Charles Crawford, artist, purchased, framed and
hung in school-room (afterwards in guild-room ) by some of
the young people. Cost, $12.
November, 189 1. Upper back veranda of rectory en-
closed to make a "sun-gallery" for winter plants. Lumber for
same the gift of a parishioner.
December, 1891. From Bishop White Prayer Book So-
ciety, Philadelphia, 75 prayer books and hymnals for chapels
and Sunday Schools.
February, 1892. Prayer books and hymnals injured by
flood rebound at the expense of a vestryman.
March, 1892. An Edison mimeograph for copying music
is procured.
Easter, 1892. From Mrs. Burrell, two large brass can-
delabra for altar-steps, each eight feet high and having 31
lights. They bear the inscription : "In loving memory of
James Albert Luther Burrell, M. D., 1847-1892," with the
added words on one, "In Peace," and on the other, "In Hope."
July, 1892. Two vestrymen promise each to pay one-
fourth of the $4,000 indebtedness of the parish, and a third
vestryman $250 of the amount, provided the balance is raised
by April 1st, 1893.
July, 1892. Brass pulpit in memory of the Rev. Dr. Hop-
kins, a gift to the church by popular subscription. It cost
$568.75, and bears the inscription : "To the Glory of God and
in Pious ]\Iemory of the Rev. John Henry Hopkins, S. T. D.,
Rector 1876-1887."
St. John's Guild presents new kneeling-cushions for the
chancel at a cost of $12. St. Mary's Guild presents hand-
somely embroidered red altar-cloth and stole. Cost, $110 and
$22. From St. Mary's Guild, new chancel prayer books of re-
vised edition. From Miss Elizabeth Logan, new linen cre-
dence-cover. From Vestment Committee, new clergy cassock.
From Ministering Children's League, decorated china and
toilet articles for vestry-room.
Christmas, 1892. Check for $100 found in alms-plate for
domestic and foreign missions.
148 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
May, 1893. New hardwood floor laid in dining room and
hall of rectory. Stone pavement laid on Mulberr}' and Fourth
Streets in place of old wooden sidewalk.
June, 1893. Smaller guild-room wall tinted and room
newly furnished by St. Mary's Guild. Large rug provided
for larger guild-room by the Mothers' Meeting, assisted by
others.
July, 1893. Church pews supplied by a parishioner with
250 revised prayer books and hymnals, marked "Christ
Church" in red letters.
July, 1893. By deed of Miss Mary S. Lloyd and Miss
Susan Lloyd, a lot in the Washington Street Cemetery for
burial of the poor.
October, 1893. By will of Major J. H. Perkins, $4,500 is
bequeathed to the church, the interest on $4,000 of the same to
be divided between the choir fund and current expenses.
November, 1893. Evenden Brothers, florists, plant
geranium beds on the church lawn.
November, 1893. From Mrs. W. F. Logan and Miss
Elizabeth Logan, a glass and silver cruet for Holy Com-
munion, in memory of Harry W. Logan.
March, 1897. Bequest of $500 for the endowment fund
of the parish, by will of Miss Agnes Montgomery.
May, 1900. On Ascension Day, Litany Desk, a thank-
ofifering from Mrs. John White.
November, 1900. Bequest of $7,500 ]:)resented by Mr.
Josiah Howard in memory of his father, to be known as the
"Charles 1>. Howard Memorial Fund."
1900. 1 lymn boards, in memory of
Mary Frances Dayton, 1826- 1899
Elizabeth Grafius Piatt, 1825- 1896
Samuel Lloyd Lehman. 1856- 1896
James Stevenson Smythe, 1841-1899
June, 1901. Silver ewer f(ir Rector's private communion
set, ]jresented by Mrs. Louisa Logan, in memory of her son,
Harry W. Logan.
Gifts, Memorials and Thankofferings 149
Christmas, 1901. Window of the "Good Shepherd," pre-
sented by Mr. G. T. Bedell Moore, in memory of his father, the
Rev. Richard Channing Moore, replacing a former window of
the same subject.
1902. Baptismal shell, presented by Miss Ella Ryder, in
memory of her niece, Rena Myers.
1903. Altar vases, "To the Glory of God and in loving
memory of Matilde Edith Graff, 1849- 1902. St. Mary's
Guild."
October, 1903. Gift of $200 from Mr. Josiah Howard,
for the purchase of two pianos for the parish house.
December, 1904. Bequest of $5,000 for the endowment
fund, by will of James Van du Zee Brown.
November, 1905. Memorial window to Edgar and Lucy
Maria (Curtis) Munson, presented on All Saints' Day by their
sons, Cyrus LaRue and Robert Hallam Munson.
1905. Globes and mantel lights for church, from Allen
P. Periey.
1906. Lantern slides for Good Friday services, from
Cyrus LaRue Munson.
February, 1906. Furnishings for boys' room in new
parish house, and billiard table, presented by Cyrus LaRue
Munson.
May, 1906. Bronze tablet in memory of her husband,
John White, and of her son, John Allison White, presented
by Mrs. John White; unveiled May 29.
June, 1906. Memorial window to James Van du Zee
Brown, presented by his legatees, and unveiled June 4.
November, 1906. Sanctuary rail in memory of Mrs.
Carile Cone Brown, presented by her sisters, Mrs. Helen A.
Piper and Mrs. Allen P. Periey, and placed in position No-
vember 17.
November, 1906. Wardrobe for the vestments of the
Girls' Choir, presented by Mrs. Max Mitchell.
December, 1906. Waidrobe for choir vestments, pre-
sented by Mrs. H. Y. Otto.
150 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
December, 1906. Set of lantern slides of Tissot's "Life
of Christ," presented by Cyrus LaRue M,imson.
December, 1906. Plot of ground on Market Street, South
Williamsport, as a site for church, parish house and parsonage
for St. John's Mission, presented by Henry J. Lutcher and G.
T. Bedell INIoore, the latter being the son of the Rev. Richard
Channing Moore, sometime rector of the parish.
1907. Brass altar-cross, in memory of Captain ^^'illiam
Sweeley, for St. John's Mission, presented by friends.
1907. Candlesticks for altar of St. John's (anonymous).
October, 1907. Memorial window to Valentine Smith
Doebler and Elizabeth (Hepburn) Doebler, presented by mem-
bers of the family, and unveiled October 17.
October, 1907. Funds for Memorial Church to the Rev-
erend Richard Chaning Moore, sometime rector of Christ
Church, presented by his son, G. T. Bedell Moore. Mr.
Moore's gift probably totaled $20,000.
April, 1908. Brass bracket shelf for the font ewer, a
memorial to Mary Elizabeth (Milliken) Beisser, presented by
her husband, J. Fred Beisser.
April, 1908. Electric fixtures for the new parish house,
presented by Allen P. Perley, in memory of his first wife, Clara
Scott (Love joy) Perley.
April, 1908. Furnishings for a room for the "Brother-
hood of St. Andrew" in the new parish house, presented by
Joseph C. Righter, as a thankofifering for the recovery of his
son, Washington Righter, 3rd, from serious illness.
April, 1908. Furnishings for a ro(-)m for "The Men's
Club," in the new parish house, presented by William IL
Crockett.
May, 1908. l*"urnishings for the stu(l\- and guest cham-
ber of the new parish house, ])resented by Mr. and Mrs. George
B. Breon.
May, 1908. Windows for the new ])arish house.
In memory of John Klcock Jones, ])resented by his
widow, Mrs. Olivia Jones, and his daughter, Mrs. H. L.
Lehman. (Placed in the vestry-room).
Gifts, Memorials and Thankofferings 151
In memory of John Melick Piirsel, presented by his son,
Thomas Pursel.
In memory of Andrew and Bertha Lindlay, presented
by their son, Arthur G. Lindlay.
In memory of Casimer and Henrietta Edler Schiesley,
presented by their davtghter, Mrs. Charles M. Renaut.
In memory of William Hugh Taylor, presented by his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. Eder Taylor.
In memory of James Francis Starr, presented by his
widow, Mrs. James Francis Starr.
In memory of Horace Hills, presented by his widow,
Mrs. Horace Hills.
In memory of John F. Tomlinson, presented by his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Tomlinson.
In memory of William Humbert Kilbourn, presented by
his friends.
October, 1908. Twelve brass plates for inscriptions re-
cording gifts to the new parish house, presented by Brua
Keefer.
October, 1908. Furnishings and fittings for kindergarten
room in new parish house, presented by Mr. and Mrs. Frank
C. Bowman.
October, 1908. Curtain and scenery for stage in new
parish house, presented by Mrs. Ackley P. Tuller.
October, 1908. Furnishings and fittings for primary
room, in new parish house, presented by Mrs. John White.
October, 1908. Furnishings and fittings for ladies' guild
room in new parish house, presented by Mrs. Allen P. Perley.
November, 1908. Hall carpet for parish house, presented
by Mrs. Charles Cochran.
1908. Memorial window to G. T. Bedell Moore in St.
John's Chapel, presented by his sisters. Misses Gertrude, Sarah
Virginia and Emily Salter Moore.
February, 1909. Reflectorscope, presented bv C. LaRue
Munson.
October, 1909. Mem'^'-''al window to George Westle
Baird, presented by his widow, Mrs. Susanna, and daughter.
Alma A. Baird ; unveiled Eve of All Saints.
152 Chronicles of Christ Church Parish
Long and miscellaneous as this list is, it will readilv
enough be seen that it is by no means exhaustive, even for the
periods covered by the dates given. The lack of records and
of parish papers will explain some omissions ; the fuller allu-
sion to the gifts and good works of the parish elsewhere in this
narrative will explain others. What has been stated, however,
sufficientl}'' indicates the loyal and constant generosity of the
people, the Christian modesty with which many of their gifts
were made, and the widely and wisely directed interest of the
rectors in planning and securing the things most useful and
worthy to adorn the sanctuary, strengthen the parish, honor
God, and advance the well-being of His people.
Summary Notes
THE PARISH IN ARCHDEACONRY
AND DIOCESE.
In its broader relations, Christ Church, Williamsport, has
for at least the last forty years of its history been of great help
and encouragement to the Diocese and Archdeaconry. It
would be difficult, if not impossible, to note in detail the gifts
to young and struggling missions elsewhere in the Diocese,
made not only by the parish church, but also by its chapels.
The names of Upper Fairfied, W'atsontown, Northumberland,
and others will occur to mind.
The rectors of the parish, moreover, have always taken an
active part in, and been fairly honored by, the Diocesan Con-
vention. One of them at least, the Rev. Mr. Graff, served
with ability for several years as Archdeacon of Williamsport.
Several of them have been sent to the General Convention.^
As members of the Standing Committee, the Missionary Board,
and of various standing or special committees of the Diocesan
Convention, they have upheld the hands of the Bishop and done
their part to strengthen and further the work of the Diocese.
The lay deputies from this parish to the Diocesan Conven-
tion have been no less useful and no less honored, and some of
them likewise have been chosen to represent the Diocese in
the General Convention.
Several times in the history of the last seventy years the
Diocesan Convention has met in Williamsport, the guest alter-
nately of Christ Church and Trinity Church, the sister parish
in every such case sharing with the host of the occasion in pro-
viding entertainment for the members of the convention. For
many years it has been the custom to hold the Winter Convo-
1 The present rector, Mr. Jones, was the first to be so honored
since Dr. Hopkins's time. He was also a delegate to the Pan-
Anglican Convention. [Ed.]
153
154 Chroxtcles of Christ Church Parish
cation of the Archdeaconry in WilHamsport, the entertaining
parish on these occasions also being alternately Christ Church
and Trinity.
Christ Church, moreover, has frequently been favored
with the presence and helpful words of many diocesan and
missionary bishops and other distinguished visitors, thus on
its part sharing in the wider acquaintance and larger work of
the Church at large. The name and fame of the church and
parish, enhanced by the record of its good works, by the dis-
tinguished ability of some of its rectors, and by the social,
civic, and professional prominence of some of its lay-people,
have gone abroad in the American Church, and there is no
member of the parish but may feel with St. Paul, when he
made allusion to Tarsus of Cilicia, that he is "a citizen of no
mean city."
Summary Notes
CONCLUDING V^^ORDS.
Thus are we brought to the close of this narrative. If
ever, from the history of their past, a people might be cheered
with encouragement and stimulated to good works and great
deeds in the present, and face the future with good courage
and high determination, surely the people of Christ Church
Parish, Williamsport, may. The story of their Zion is, indeed,
like that of Israel, a record of fluctuating zeal and prosperity —
as what human history is not ? — but as the day of small things
and the struggle for existence have been left far behind, and
have been forgotten, save as the hand of some chronicler of to-
day shall turn back to the yellowed leaves of early records, so
now, with humble thanksgiving to the Divine Head of the
Church for all that He has wrought through the labors,
prayers, anxieties and tears of His servants, the clergy and
faithful laity, may His blessing continue to rest upon and make
eflfective all that shall be planned and attempted in His name
and in accordance with His will for the salvation of souls and
the upbuilding of His Kingdom in and through Christ Church,
Williamsport. With a heart full of gratitude that I have been
privleged to share in this work for a time, and with sincerest
love for the parish and people whose story I have so inade-
quately rehearsed, I lay down my pen.
rf
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