Clarke County GaArchives History - Books .....Emmanuel Church 1923
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Book Title: History Of Athens And Clarke County

Emmanuel Church

   THE beginning of the organization of Emmanuel Church, Athens, was in the Fall
of 1842, when those interested were gathered together for church services,
planning and discussion in the home of Mrs. R. D. Moore, who had recently come
to Athens from Newcastle, Del., as the bride of Dr. R. D. Moore. She may truly
be called "The Mother of the Parish." This beginning of the church was
facilitated, if not actually made possible, by the fact that Dr. Wm. Bacon
Stevens, Professor of History at the University of Georgia, had recently been
ordained a clergyman in the Episcopal Church, and gave his services unreservedly
to the new project—his first work in the ministry of the church. A building
committee consisting of Dr. Richard D. Moore, chairman; Fielding Bradford and W.
W. Clayton was appointed informally, as there was as yet no official organization.

   Early in the Spring of 1843 Bishop Stephen Elliott, Jr., the first. Bishop of
Georgia, "appointed the following gentlemen to act as, wardens and vestrymen of
the new Episcopal Church to be formed in the town of Athens, Ga., viz.: Dr.
Richard D. Moore and Fielding Bradford, wardens; and Wolsey Nichols, Philip
Clayton and Howell Cobb, vestrymen." These men met on April 22nd, 1843,
recognized the building committee already appointed, voted that the church be
hereafter known by the name of Emmanuel Church, and appointed delegates to
attend the annual convention of the Diocese of Georgia held that year in
Savannah in May. These delegates were the Rev. Wm. B. Stevens, Gen. Edward
Harden and Wolsey Nichols.

   Here it is of interest to note that the name "Emmanuel Church" is undoubtedly
due to the influence of Mrs. Moore, who though not yet confirmed, had been
brought under the influence of the church by her uncle, Bishop Johns, of
Virginia, who also had been brought up in New Castle, Delaware, and received his
early religious training in Emmanuel Church, New Castle. A brother of Bishop
Johns, also a clergyman of the church, carried the same name to Baltimore, where
he founded the great parish of Emmanuel Church, Baltimore. Mrs. Moore was not
confirmed in New Castle, where she was brought over to the church, because one
or both of her parents were Presbyterians. So the selection of the name,
"Emmanuel Church," was a courteous recognition of the spirit of Mrs. Moore-a
real mother in Israel.

   At the convention in Savannah in May, 1843, the parish was received into
union with the convention. The church was built during the Summer of 1843, and
was consecrated by Bishop Elliott on November 19 of the same year. This church
was a frame building, situated on the corner of Clayton and Lumpkin streets,
where the Hoi-man Building now stands. This building continued to be the
spirtual home of the congregation for nearly 50 years, although the appearance
and arrangement of the interior were greatly altered and improved in 1872-1873.
The last service in this building was held on June 19th, 1892. The first service
had been held on November 19th, 1843, when Bishop Elliott, in addition, to
consecrating the building, had confirmed the following persons: Dr. and Mrs.
Richard D. Moore, Dr. and Mrs. Wm. Flint, Mrs. Sarah Bugg, Mrs. May Bradford,
Mr. Wm. Sage, and Mr. Eli K. Clark.

   On January 2nd, 1844, the Rev. Wm. Bacon Stevens who had been officiating as
missionary for some months—in fact nearly a year— was unanimously elected the
first Rector of the Parish. Dr. Stevens continued as Rector of the Parish until
April 19th, 1848—that is for a period of five years. He resigned because he had
accepted a call to a church in Philadelphia where he was later made Bishop of
Pennsylvania.

   Dr. Stevens' rectorship was notable in several ways. First, his far-seeing
wisdom for government, later recognized by his election as Bishop in the second
largest Diocese in the nation, was first displayed here when he drew up a list
of parish canons to supplement the inadequacy of the General and Diocesan Canons
at that time, and got the vestry to adopt them as parish canons, and those
canons have never since been repealed by the vestry. On certain occasions later
Rectors allowed those canons to lapse for the time being, but a careful scrutiny
of the records shows beyond question that whenever this was done the life and
work of the parish both in spiritual and temporal affairs suffered and declined.
In 1892 Prof. C. P. Willcox, senior warden and president of the vestry,
announced that hereafter the Rector would preside in all meetings of the vestry.
That was an important event in the history of the Parish; but the strange thing
about it is that it should have been necessary at all, when the parish canons
adopted in 1844, and never repealed, had stipulated that the Rector was so to
preside. General and Diocesan Canons have since been so amended that they are
now practically identical with what Dr. Stevens drew up early in 1844.

   The second notable characteristic of Dr. Stevens' rectorship was the large
number of men from the Parish who entered the ministry. The records and notes in
the Parish Register seem to show that Dr. Stevens must have conducted at the
University what was in reality a small theological school. For students' names
on the Register have such notations as "Theological student at the University,"
and shortly afterwards there is a note that such students were ordained to the
ministry. Six men were thus ordained, among them Dr. Flint, the first secretary
of the vestry; and four of them secured wives from the communicants of the
Parish. Thus it is seen that the list of 48 communicants which was the total
secured by Dr. Stevens, was considerably reduced when ten left to give their
lives to the church elsewhere.

   September llth, 1848, the Rev. Thompson L. Smith became the second Rector of
the Parish, and continued to hold the position until May 12th, 1852. It was the
misfortune of Mr. Smith to be called to succeed a really great man. The vestry
testify most strongly to his faithfulness and character, yet those who had been
in touch with a great man made the life of his successor so unpleasant that he
resigned. To their credit, however, it must be said that the vestry stood
manfully by the Rector and defended him against all belittling charges although
he would not defend himself. The Parish, moreover, is under considerable
obligation to the Rev. Mr. Smith, for he it is who first bought a Parish
Register, apparently from his own funds, and collected all the records we have
of the preceding five years. It is true that the vestry records date
continuously from 1843. But the vestry met usually once a year, and the minutes
consist largely in recording the re-election of the same persons. Dr. Stevens
had kept a private record of his own, and Mr. Smith secured this and copied it.
That record is exceedingly valuable. It was Mr. Smith also who collected the
data and recorded it in the notes as to who of the communicants had entered the
ministry and where they had gone. Dr. Stevens' record would be little known
today had it not been for Mr. Smith's unselfish and painstaking care.

   On June 1st, 1853, the Rev. J. H. Linebaugh, of Alabama, became the third
Rector of the Parish and continued as such for a little over two years. He was a
very eloquent preacher, but has left no records of his work. The one event that
the vestry records emphasize in this period is the gift of one thousand dollars
and a claim on the United States government for about two thousand dollars more
by Mr. Ephraim Baynard, of South Carolina. This money was used in part at least
to pay for the original rectory; but none of it ever survived to help pay for
any of the present Parish buildings. But perhaps it was the means that saved the
Parish from financial collapse in the hard years that followed the War of 1861-65.

   In April, 1856, the Rev. Dr. Matthew H. Henderson, who had been officiating
for some months, was elected the fourth Rector of the Parish, and continued as
such until his death on December 2nd, 1872. Dr. Henderson's rectorship, like Dr.
Stevens', was characterized by a very large number of men out of the
congregation entering the ministry, six such being known for certain, and there
may have been more. It was in this rectorship that the war took place, and the
Parish so distinguished itself by the Rector going as a missionary to the army
and the people contributing so largely to relief work in hospitals and
elsewhere, that Mr. Memminger, the Secretary of War in the Confederate
government, wrote a personal letter of thanks to the congregation. Also in the
last year of Dr. Henderson's rectorship the old church was made over on the
inside. The old three-decker pulpit was removed, the little communion table
taken out, a chancel built on the end of the church, and the present altar and
reredos with the altar window—all designed by Mr. John J. Nevitt—were installed.
The other windows were changed somewhat so as to present something of the
appearance of gothic architecture instead of the old meetinghouse appearance the
church had worn for thirty years.

   After the death of Dr. Henderson, the Rev. Dr. Alexander J. Drysdale became
the fifth Rector of the Parish on Easter Day, 1873, and continued for a little
over two years. Dr. Drysdale was a man of great ability, as shown by his later
record at Christ Church, Mobile, and at Trinity Church, New Orleans, and his
election as Bishop of Easton. The financial condition of the Parish at that
time, however, was not strong enough to give satisfactory support to a man of
Dr. Drysdale's ability. Accordingly he resigned in May, 1875. It is also a
matter of regret that Dr. Drysdale never became a Bishop, for although elected
he died before he could be consecrated. But under his rectorship the pews of the
church were made free to all and have been free ever since 1874.

   These years after the war naturally were exceedingly hard for the Parish. It
was not felt so much during the life time of Dr. Henderson, for he had
independent means of his own, and it seems as if he cared little whether the
congregation paid his salary or not. This act of magnanimity and generosity on
his part had a bad effect on the Parish. For ten years or more the congregation
had known that the Rector could live without their financial support and would
not complain. Naturally they did not greatly strain their efforts when they knew
the Rector was satisfied and better off financially than almost any member of
the congregation. But this made the next ten or even twenty years exceedingly
hard, and the record can be read in the rapidly changing list of the Rectors. It
has been stated by people still living that a member of the congregation
inserted an advertisement in the church papers for a Rector who would be "foot
fast," apparently thinking that the clergy of that day were of a restless and
roving disposition, whereas he might have learned that a clergyman does not like
the trouble and expense of moving any more than any one else. He moves only in
the hope of bettering conditions which have become more or less intolerable to
him. This is why Emmanuel Church had five Rectors within ten years.

   The Rev. Frank Hallan was called as the sixth Rector of Emmanuel Church in
October, 1875; he resigned in November, 1876.

   The Rev. Thomas Boone became the seventh Rector of Emmanuel Church in
January, 1877, and continued to act as such until July of the same year.

   The Rev. E. H. Ingle became the eighth Rector of Emmanuel Church in January,
1878, and continued as such until July, 1880, an unusually long rectorship for
those years. He, like some of his predecessors, resigned on account of the climate!

   The Rev. J. C. Davis became the ninth Rector, April 1st, 1881, and continued
until January 16th, 1893—almost twelve years—the second longest rectorship up to
that date.

   During his rectorship the old church on the corner of Clayton and Lumpkin
streets was sold and torn down. The last service was held there on June 19th,
1892. For two months services were held in the old Christian Church on Pulaski
street which was kindly loaned to the congregation, while a frame chapel was
being constructed in the rear of the present church on Prince avenue. The first
service in this chapel was held on September llth, 1892, by the Rector, Rev. J.
C. Davis.

   The Rev. R. M. W. Black became the tenth Rector of Emmanuel Church on
September 10th, 1893, and continued as such until September, 1896, when he
resigned on account of ill health. During his rectorship the semi-centennial of
the history of the Parish was celebrated, and the movement inaugurated to build
the present new stone church. The cornerstone for this new church was laid by
the Rev. Mr. Black on June 5th, 1895. Mr. R. L. Bloomfield carried on the work
as rapidly as means would permit. But this was slowly, and Mr. Black resigned
when the walls were up only as high as the window sills.

   The Rev. Troy Beatty became the eleventh Rector of the Parish on May 12th,
1897, and continued until November 1st, 1916—a period of nineteen years and a
half—the longest of all the rectorships the Parish has had. Mr. Beatty threw
himself vigorously into the work, was a good organizer and an inspirer of
enthusiasm in others, with the result that within two years the present church
was completed, and the first service held in it on October 15th, 1899. The
payment for this work required four years more, and the present church was
consecrated by Bishop Nelson on May 24th, 1903.

   The present Rectory was built in the Summer and Fall of 1906, and occupied in
January, 1907. The Parish House was built in part in 1911 and completed in 1922.

   These buildings are all now completely paid for, and the Parish does not owe
any one a cent of money, though it owes a large debt of gratitude to the
faithful and self-sacrificing labors of those who have made the Parish what it is.

   The Rev. Troy Beatty resigned and went to Grace Church, Memphis, in November,
1916. He was succeeded by the Rev. A. G. Richards who became the twelfth Rector
of the Parish on January 1st, 1917. Under the present rectorship the Parish
House has been renovated and doubled in capacity, the church has been thoroughly
repaired at considerable cost, and a sum of over $10,000 raised for building the
tower, decorating the interior of the church, deepening the chancel, putting in
a new marble altar and caen stone reredos and making other needed improvements
for the convenience of the choir and congregation. The improvements contemplated
will cost more than twice the $10,000 already raised, but the Parish owes
nothing, has $10,000 on hand and an ability which assures the completion of
these improvements within a few years.


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