Early Clergy of Pennsylvania and Delaware, S. F. Hotchkin, 1890 - Chapter 11, Christ Church Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja and Sally Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ________________________________________________ EARLY CLERGY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. BY REV. S. F. HOTCHKIN, M.A. Author of The Mornings of the Bible, History of Germantown, &c. P. W. ZIEGLER & CO., PUBLISHERS, NO. 720 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 1890 Copyright, 1890, by Rev. S. F. Hotchkin. NOTE: Use URL: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/hotchkin/early-clergy.htm to access other chapters. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/hotchkin/early-clergy.htm CHRIST CHURCH. 97 CHAPTER XI. CHRIST CHURCH. "And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan." - Joshua, 3:17. AS Christ's people "pass the waves of this troublesome world," the priests of God stand firmly to encourage them, as they did at the crossing of the Jordan. For long centuries the noble Church of England has had a host of such witnesses for the truth at home and in foreign lands. It is near two hundred years since the first building for the use of Christ Church arose; and what was a provincial village is a mighty city, but the same words of prayer and praise in the dear old Liturgy resound within these walls as echoed in English cathedrals in early days. As Bishop Coxe poetically expresses it: "O where are kings and empires now, Of old, that went and came? But, Lord, Thy Church is praying yet, A thousand years the same." The first edifice used by Christ Church was erected in A.D., 1695, and by following the brief sketches in Dr. Dorr's excellent "History of Christ Church," issued nearly fifty years ago, and Bishop Perry's invaluable collection of the Propagation Society records, with their extensive and careful references to other works, we may gain some idea of those who ministered at this altar in the earliest days of the parish history. CHRIST CHURCH. 98 The first missionary here was Rev. Thomas Clayton, who was sent by Bishop Compton, of London, by the influence of Rev. Dr. Bray, the faithful Commissary in Maryland. The congregation did not exceed fifty, but in two years it numbered seven hundred, and a "handsome church" had been built. This useful clergyman died after about two years' faithful service, of a contagious disease, which he had caught while visiting the sick, and so passed through his dangerous duty to his glorious reward. His zeal and success in his short ministry are worthy of note. He is mentioned in Watson's Annals, and Sprague's Annals of the Episcopal Clergy, and in Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, and Hawkins's Missions of the Church of England in the Colonies. There is a reference to his death in the 9th volume of the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in a letter from Isaac Norris to Jonathan Dickinson, in Jamaica. In the journal of the Rev. George Keith, given in the "Collections of the Protestant Episcopal Church," it is stated that Rev. Mr. "Claiton" had baptized, before Mr. Evans's time, "of men, women and children in Pennsylvania and West Jersey, of English and Welsh, about five hundred; many or most of them having been Quakers and the children of Quakers, and Quakerly affected; and besides these, many who had left Quakerism and had joined to the church had been baptized in infancy, not having been born of Quaker parents." Thomas Martin, in behalf of the Friends' Meeting, sends a letter responding to one that Mr. Clayton had sent to the Yearly Meeting. Mr. Martin declares that the Friends are not the enemies of the Church of England, but that they "pray to God for the prosperity and peace of all that fear God in all Societies of Christians, more especially CHRIST CHURCH. 99 in her, by whose clemency (under God), we enjoy our present peace and liberty, both in things spiritual and temporal." Mr. Clayton writes to the clergy of a considerable party of Friends and Anabaptists wishing unity with the Church of England, and writes to the Governor that the Keithians (Quakers) are strongly inclining to the Church. He worked to draw in those that were without. Mr. Martin's letter reminds one of the kindly words penned by the Puritans on the Mayflower; and these things show a common interest in the Christian life. Mr. Robert Suder wrote to the Governor, saying of Mr. Clayton, "We have had that blessing of so good a divine as the worthy Mr. Clayton." A historical sketch of the Church in Burlington, N. J., by Jeremiah Bass, Esq., her Majesty's Secretary to the Province of New Jersey, speaks of Mr. Clayton's work in that province. In Watson's Annals is a statement from Rev. Morgan Edwards's book "Materials for a History of the Baptists," recording that Mr. Clayton invited the Baptists to a conference to further church unity, but the invitation was ineffectual. Mr. Clayton died in Sassafras, Maryland, in 1699. Hawkins's History says of Mr. Clayton and Mr. Marshall, of Charlestown, "as pious and happy in their conduct as could have been found." The Rev. Dr. Evan Evans was the second missionary in charge of Christ Church. The Rev. Dr. Ethan Allen, and Humphrey's History of the Propagation Society, are authorities given in Sprague concerning him. He is supposed to have been born in Wales, and was sent to Philadelphia by Bishop Compton, of London, A.D., 1700. Before two years had passed 500 new members were added to the church. They asked King William CHRIST CHURCH. 100 III. for a stipend for the missionary, and he gave them 50 pounds, and the people added their contributions. Mr. Evans was zealous in his work, and affected the country people by his preaching, and they formed parishes at Marcus Hook and Chester (then called Uplands), and at Radnor and Oxford. He was active and energetic, and visited these places. While Mr. Thomas was his assistant he used to preach monthly to a society of young men, who met on the Lord's Day, after evening prayer, to read Scripture and sing Psalms, when the rector read Collects. The young Quakers would stand under the windows of the church at night when the young men had removed thither from their place of meeting, and many were said to have been drawn into the membership of the church. Mr. Evans notes the baptism of several Quakers. After this devoted missionary had served four years, an assistant was given him. In asking the Society for an assistant, he styles Philadelphia, "That remote part of the world." In 1707 he went to England, and the Swedish pastor, Rev. Andreas Rudman, took his place, but died before his return. The Church Review, of April, 1852, describes the connection of Dr. Evans with the Swedish Mission. While in England Mr. Evans memorialized the venerable Propagation Society for a Bishop for America. He thought that a college would follow the establishing of the Episcopate. Colonel Heathcote desired a commissary, if a Bishop could not be had, and names Mr. Evans as suitable for that office, as he had "given such large proofs of his great temper and extraordinary services to the church." In 1709 Mr. Evans returned from England, probably bringing from Queen Anne the silver Communion CHRIST CHURCH. 101 Service still owned by the church. In 1711 the church was enlarged. In 1716 Mr. Evans resigned the position as missionary at Christ Church and revisited England. He was a graduate of Brazen-Nose College, Oxford, and received his degree of Doctor of Divinity from an English university. When Dr. Evans first came to this country he wrote back that he had reached New York, by God's assistance, after a "dangerous and tedious passage" of eleven weeks. In 1707 Dr. Evans gave the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, an encouraging account of the "Open Door" (Rev. 3:8), which God had set before His church in Philadelphia. The weak infant had grown, and numbers had been added, and the Light of the Gospel had spread to neighboring provinces, and the church was becoming truly the Catholic church of the region. The Philadelphia congregation was mostly from the Quakers and others who had dissented from the Church of England. Dr. Evans went to various points to serve parishes in Pennsylvania, and to Evesham, West Jersey, undergoing fatigue in his earnest labors for Christ. At Montgomery and Radnor he preached in Welsh once a fortnight for four years. This earnest missionary appears to have held Oxford and Radnor in connection with Christ Church, according to Dr. Dorr. In 1718 he removed to Maryland, and took charge of St. George's and St. John's parishes, in Baltimore county, now Hartford county. St. George's Church was called Spesutiae, or the hope of Utie, as the Latin words signify. Colonel Utie was a pioneer, and the settlement was so called, but the family have now no representatives in the region. The church had been erected probably before 1683, for the use of the settlers CHRIST CHURCH. 102 on the shores of the Chesapeake and the surrounding country. A new church was built on a beautiful spot. The inhabitants were all of the Church of England, which was then the established church there. There was the blessed spectacle so often longed and prayed for, of one spiritual speech among the people of God. On alternate Sundays Dr. Evans officiated at St. John's, twenty miles distant, through an almost unbroken forest. We can imagine the good man riding among the trees of "the Lord," and preparing himself to lead his rustic flock rightly in their devotions when he should reach his journey's end. Dr. Evans died in 1729, after a laborious life of usefulness in Christ's Church. His will commended his soul to Almighty God, hoping for forgiveness of sins through Christ's merits. He wished his body to be interred at the north end of the "altar table" in St. George's Church, and desired that Rev. George Ross, of New Castle, should preach his funeral sermon. It is thought probable that his widow, who was named Alice, went to live their only child, who had married Rev. Mr. Lloyd, of England. There were grandchildren. The inventor, Oliver Evans, whose life has been pleasantly related to Rev. George A. Latimer, in a pamphlet, is said to have been a descendant of Dr. Evans. Dr. George W. Archer, a local historian of Maryland, in a recent article, describes the site of the ancient "Gravelly Church," which Dr. Evans found as the parish church at St. George's. It takes its name from the surrounding gravel. The place is overgrown with trees. It was called "Old Spesutiae" to distinguish it from "New Spesutiae" Church. The new church dates from 1718 when Dr. Evans began his ministrations. The Rev. J. Harry Chesley, the present rector, has kindly aided CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. CHRIST CHURCH. 103 my investigations. He suggests that the furthering of the new church enterprise may have been the result of the zeal of Dr. Evans. James Phillips gave the site of the old church. One of his descendants is now a warden. Colonel Thomas White, the father of the Bishop, is buried in Spesutiae churchyard. The old church site was some distance from the spot where the successive newer churches have arisen. The present modern church is beautifully situated on a headland, which overlooks a winding creek, forming a part of the headwaters of Bush River. The creek has born the name of Church Creek from ancient days, and it is pleasant to give religious associations to natural objects, and glorify God in his works. I have a relic from an old mulberry post lately unearthed at the site of "Gravelly Church." The post formed a part of the fence enclosing the ancient building. The Rev. S. W. Crampton, a former rector, has written a history of St. George's parish. Dr. Evans was visiting Philadelphia in 1721, and on the 8th of October, being Sunday, he preached in the morning in Christ Church, and was performing service in the afternoon, when he was seized with a fit of apoplexy and carried from the church, and died on the following Wednesday. It is thought that an obliterated epitaph may mark the place of his grave in this church, where he was buried and where he taught so many concerning Christian life and doctrine before he was so suddenly caught heavenward. The servant of God was ready to hear the divine summons. He was much beloved for his piety and peaceful disposition and he was deeply lamented. He was faithful in admonishing his flock to prepare for their heavenly home, and esteemed sudden death a great favor. The seventy-fourth chapter CHRIST CHURCH. 104 of Thompson Westcott's History of Philadelphia, gives an extract from the Pennsylvania Mercury as to his death and burial, which has guided these notes. He left the precious testimony of a faithful missionary, and was, as was quaintly said, "a great instrument towards settling religion and the Church of England in those wild countries." His able paper, prepared for the Society, showing the needs of the Colonial Church, was a courageous and hopeful exhortation. The Society sent Welsh books of Divine Service to those settlements served by Dr. Evans, which needed them. Wm. Penn said of Dr. Evans, he "appears a man sober and of a mild disposition." Colonel Gookin commends him as diligent "in all parts of his function." Colonel John Evans says that the town of Philadelphia is "of the greatest consequence." In A.D., 1709, only one minister served the Church of England there, and if they should be unhappily deprived of him, the Colonel writes the Secretary of the Society that "all mankind would agree that an immediate supply would be necessary." How many clergy now serve Philadelphia? Let us thank God for the improvement. The Rev. George Keith speaks of Dr. Evans in his journal. Rev. George Ross, of New Castle, commends heartily his fidelity and character. Dr. Hawks's manuscripts refer often to him, as do the early annals of the American Church in general. Rev. Henry Nichols, of Chester, Pennsylvania, describes him as "a credit both to his church and country." Dr. Evans used to interpret the Rev. George Keith's preaching into Welsh for the Welsh hearers. He signed a letter to Lord Baltimore, with other clergy of the western shore of Maryland, expressing acknowledgments for his regard to the clergy and the Church of England. CHRIST CHURCH. 105 He also signs a similar letter to President Brooke. The Rev. John Thomas was assistant to Dr. Evans. The doctor used to go from forty to sixty miles from Philadelphia to hold services, chiefly for Welsh emigrants, and he needed assistance. In 1703 Rev. George Keith wrote the Bishop of London, commending Mr. Thomas. He also acted as schoolmaster, being diligent in teaching, and in preaching in country places. Lord Cornbury also commends Mr. Thomas, and calls Mr. Evans "a very sober, pious man." Mr. Thomas was now going to England to receive Priest's Orders, commended by the rector and vestry. He had worked in Trinity Church, Oxford. When Dr. Evans went to Maryland, Rev. Thomas Hughes filled the vacancy for a year, and he is the first classed among the assistant ministers by Dr. Dorr. He was from Virginia. The Rev. Messrs. John Talbot, Humphrey, Ross and Sandel also performed occasional duty. Rev. John Vicary was commissioned by the Bishop of London to take charge of Christ Church in 1719. His health failed at the end of 1721. He returned to England, and it is thought probable that he died in the early part of the year 1723. In Mr. Vicary's illness the vestry asked "William Assheton to read prayers and sermons on Sundays," while Rev. Robert Weyman was to be waited on with a request to supply the church and administer the Holy Communion. The blessing of the church service was appreciated. Mr. Vicary died in England and his family afterward returned to that country. Governor Keith styles Mr. Vicary "a very ingenius preacher," and adds that he "gave a general satisfaction to the people in the exercise of every part of his sacred CHRIST CHURCH. 106 office." The duty, however, was too great for him, "being very weak and consumptive." Keith declares that Philadelphians paid "honor and respect" to their clergy. In this case the work in this vineyard was soon over, and the laborer went to his heavenly reward. After Mr. Vicary's death, and during his illness, Rev. John Urmston "officiated about a year." In 1724 the Rev. Dr. Richard Welton, a Non-juring bishop, that is one of that class who were originally so named because they would not take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, came as a stranger to Philadelphia, when Christ Church had no clergyman, and its doors were shut. Several of the vestry were assured of the doctor's orthodoxy, and some English newspapers said that he had taken the oath, and conformed to the Government, though he had been deprived of his English living. The doctor was asked to officiate at Christ Church until a missionary came. His preaching attracted the congregation. There is much of romance in the history of the Non-jurors, and Rev. John Talbot, of Burlington, New Jersey, and Ralph Taylor were also bishops of this class, who were in this country. Dr. Welton had been consecrated by Taylor in England. While he greatly pleased the congregation, in 1726 the English Government recalled him, apparently on account of the complications of this Episcopate. In April, 1726, Sir William Keith, Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania, wrote to the Bishop of London that Dr. Welton had been served with his Majesty's order to return to Great Britain, and departed by way of Lisbon. Rev. William Becket, of Lewes, Delaware and the Fulham MSS. name Dr. Welton. An article by Rev. Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Secretary of the Historical Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, on the "Non-juring CHRIST CHURCH. 107 Episcopate in the United States," gives a letter from Reliquiae Hernianae, from the Reading Post (England), under date of Lisbon, August 31, 1726, N.S., which says that Dr. Welton died there of dropsy in 1726. An Episcopal seal was found among his effects, which it is said that he had used in Pennsylvania, privily. He was ordered home, but went to Portugal. Hearne adds: "This is the famous Dr. Welton, minister at Whitechappel, who suffered much for his honesty (Jacobinism), and was, it seems, a bishop, and is now removed from the malice of all his enemies." So closed this "brief, but very acceptable" ministry, (as it is styled in Sprague) at Christ Church. Rev. Jacob Henderson, Commissary in Maryland, wrote the Bishop of London that the people were fond of Dr. Welton. The consecration of Dr. Welton is noted in "Percival on the Apostolic Succession." The Non-jurors lasted a century in England and Scotland. After the departure of Dr. Welton, the Rev. Robert Weyman occupied the "parsonage house," and seems to have officiated the greater part of the time; the vestry accepted the offer of Rev. Messrs. Leadman and Holbrook to lend their assistance. In 1726, Rev. Archibald Cummings took charge of the parish, and held it over fourteen years. The church was enlarged during his incumbency, the elder Dr. John Kearsley guiding the architecture. Mr. Cummings was the first clergyman styled rector. He died in 1741. His wife was Jane Elizabeth Assheton. The private register of Mr. Cummings, preserved by Christ Church vestry, shows that he was a most laborious man. Often four, and sometimes six funerals are recorded in one day. He presented several valuable books to the library of Christ Church. His death occurred on a Sunday, and CHRIST CHURCH. 108 the faithful rector departed from this world on a day of worship to enter on a ceaseless worship in a higher and heavenly life. The wardens and vestry report his death to England, calling him a "worthy minister." He was buried in the church, according to English custom, and it is added "with that Solemnity and Regard becoming the Universal good character and esteem which he bore among his acquaintance, of every Religious Denomination and Society, for his Learning, Piety, Moderation, and every other good Quality that might Adorn his sacred Function." The report was made to Bishop Gibson, of London. There was a happy intercourse between Mr. Cummings and the bishop, who gave counsel to the colonial priest. The Pennsylvania Gazette, in an obituary notice, styled Mr. Cummings Commissary of the Province of Pennsylvania, and of the three counties which used to be treated as a part of Pennsylvania, but now constitute the State of Delaware. He is described as a zealous assertor of Christianity, professing the doctrines of the Church of England, a faithful pastor, and an able preacher, and an eminent example of piety. He was universally esteemed, and was charitable towards different religious societies, and his death was much lamented. The epitaph on the stone in the floor of the church states that Mr. Cummings was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. After the death of this rector, the neighboring clergy offer to serve the church by turns, until winter checks their travel. The vestry beg the bishop for a clergyman before winter. Wm. Pyewell and Joseph Danby were wardens, and Joseph Kearsley and Richard Peters were among the vestry. On a second paper, commending Richard Peters, Benjamin Morgan and W. Chancellor CHRIST CHURCH. 109 are added, making four church wardens. On the second paper the following names appear: Thomas Hopkinson, Thomas Greome, Tench Francis, George Claypole, James Wragg, Anthony Duche, Richard Farmar, James Pearson and Robert Greenway. Rev. Mr. Lindsey writes from New Bristol, upon Delaware of Mr. Cummings, saying: "He bore a most excellent character for learning and piety, and his death is universally lamented by all, and particularly by us missionaries, and will be hardly, I believe, forgotten by any of us while we live." After Mr. Cummings died Rev. Eneas Ross officiated for two years. He was an assistant minister, and aided Dr. Janney during a portion of that time. In 1743 he resigned his position, and became rector of Oxford and Whitemarsh. The Rev. Doctors Jenney, Peters, Duche and White followed Mr. Cummings in the rectorship of Christ Church. I have treated of them in a discourse at St. Peter's Church, of which they were also rectors. I would add as to Rev. Thomas Coombe, the associate of Bishop White in assisting Dr. Peters, that in Dr. Bird Wilson's Life of the Bishop his literary knowledge is spoken of. He was an author, and translated the Latin poems of his teacher, Beveridge, and wrote a poem entitled "The Pennsylvania Auburn," apparently a continuation of Goldsmith's "Deserted Village." A notice of him is given in Duyckink's Cyclopaedia of Literature. He was a pulpit orator. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Thomas Rutter. An interesting link in the rectorships of Christ Church is the fact that Dr. Jenney married Bishop White's parents and baptized their first-born son. Dr. Archer has sent me some extracts from the manuscript CHRIST CHURCH. 110 letters of the future bishop to Edward Benedict Hall, of Shandy Hall, Maryland, which treat of the friendships of his companions in a lively way; the stamp act and its repeal are spoken of in a patriotic manner, and the lad of sixteen shows his serious turn of mind in the following words: "So Mr. Phillips has paid the debt which we must all one day discharge. In this particular the poor peasant enjoys the same privilege with the haughty tyrant. Oh, then, may we not say with the seraphic Dr. Young, "'Why all this toil triumphs of an hour, What though we wade in wealth or soar in fame, Earth's highest station ends in 'here he lies,' And 'dust to dust' concludes her noblest song.'" The youthful Mr. Hall, to whom the letters were addressed, was a nephew of the first wife of the father of Bishop White, and was the grandfather of Rev. Dr. Wm F. Brand, the author of the Life of Bishop Whittingham. When Bishop White was a candidate for holy orders in England, he became acquainted with Dr. Johnson, and there is a pleasant letter from the doctor to him in Boswell. He also knew Drs. Kennicott and Lowth, and Goldsmith. The first official Episcopal act of Bishop White was the ordination of Joseph Clarkson to the diaconate in Christ Church, May 28th, A.D., 1787. There was no more need of a voyage of three thousand miles and back for ordination. There was a loving and faithful bishop at home, who could "visit the several churches, ordain some, confirm others, and bless all," as Rev. John Talbot's plea for a bishop in America beautifully expressed it. Rev. Dr. John Henry Hopkins described his boyish interest in the visit of the bishop to Pittsburgh, when his father, Bishop Hopkins, was the Rector CHRIST CHURCH. 111 of Trinity Church in that city. It was a sensation when the green coach that had rolled from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh over the mountains came to its destination. Bishop White held the Episcopal office over forty-nine years. He outlived the great prejudice against bishops, and consecrated many to that high office. Of those ordained by him the Rev. Drs. Clemson, Hare, Morton and Buchanan and Rev. Benjamin Hutchins still survive. The bishop was devoted to missions and the amelioration of prisons, and other benevolent works. He was a simple and instructive preacher. Bishop Davies has one of his manuscript sermons, comparing the character of St. John the Baptist to that of Christ. The handwriting is large and clear. The yellow paper is enclosed in a marbled-paper cover, and shows antiquity. The sermon-book was home-made, and much smaller in size than those now used. A Convention Sermon of Bishop Madison, and Bishop Jarvis's sermon on the death of Bishop Seabury are among the relics of Bishop White's library at St. Peter's rectory. Bishop White was peaceful, and was not bitter to the loyalists, though he was chaplain to Congress, and Washington, who worshipped in this church, was his fast friend for life. While Bishop White was a man of peace, he was firm and decided when principle was involved. He was once the only resident Episcopal clergyman in Pennsylvania. The flocks were scattered in Revolutionary days, and folds wasted and shepherds driven away, as Anderson describes it; still the lonely clergyman was hopeful and laborious, and he saw better days. His wise and loving zeal in strengthening the bonds of brotherhood in the English and American churches after the Revolution, deserve remembrance CHRIST CHURCH. 112 on both sides of the ocean. In his old prayer-book, the pasting of the prayer for the President over that for the King is a striking indication of the change of government. Pen erasures also note changes. The Church of England prayer-book was adapted for the use of the American Church by changes and omissions of State prayers before the American prayer-book was published. There was one of these corrected books at Christ Church, and another at St. Peter's. Bishop White was an unselfish and a hospitable man, and he was at the head of various benevolent societies. Bishop Stevens in his centennial discourse on the founding of this diocese, delivered in this church, quoted Wordsworth's lines: "To thee, O saintly White, Patriarch of a widespreading family, Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn, Whether they would restore or build." Bishop Perry devoted a discourse to the commemoration of the centenary of the consecration of Bishop White. Bishop White consecrated Bishops Robert Smith, Bass, Dehon, Bowen, H. U. Onderdonk and Otey in Christ Church. Since Bishop White's day Bishops Carlton Chase, Cobbs, Hawks, Alonzo Potter and Bowman have here been consecrated. Here Bishop White is buried, and Bishop Potter's funeral was observed when his spirit had passed from the Golden Gate of California to the gate of pearl above. The first and many succeeding Diocesan Conventions have met here, and the first General Convention chose this hallowed spot as a place of its meeting, while other General Conventions met here. CHRIST CHURCH. 113 Rev. John Waller James became an assistant minister in Christ Church in 1832, and served faithfully four years, to the spiritual benefit of the congregation, who showed their lively appreciation of his services by electing him rector at the death of Bishop White, in July, 1836. He died four weeks afterward, to the sorrow of his friends and parishioners. He was buried in Christ Churchyard, near Bishop White's vault. He did good work in Sunday-schools, and his ministry was greatly blessed. As the railway traveler passes Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, he sees on his right, going westward, a neat church building with its tower, erected to the memory of Mr. James mainly by the Christ Church people, that they might give him, not a monument of dead marble but a place where the worship of Christ might be perpetuated on earth, while their late rector adored Him in paradise. May many other such monuments arise to the glory of God. Mr. James was rector of Christ Church, Meadville, when he was elected assistant minister at Christ Church, Philadelphia, for the lifetime of Bishop White, "and until the Easter Monday following his decease." While this church was undergoing repairs Mr. James started to visit his relatives. He arrived at Huntingdon by the canal, in going to Pittsburgh, where his family lived, and he was so ill there that he was conveyed to an inn, and died there on the morning of Sunday, August 14th, A.D., 1836, aged thirty-one years. His body was brought to Christ churchyard, according to "his dying request." It is a striking fact that Bishop White and Rev. Mr. Cummings also died on a Sunday, and that Dr. Evans was attacked on Sunday, in Christ Church, with the disease which in a few days closed his earthly life. The Lord's Day is a fitting time for earthly worship to merge into CHRIST CHURCH. 114 heavenly worship, and while the earthly temple fades from the sight of the dying eyes, the heavenly temple rises in beauty to replace it. The ladies of Christ Church had a tablet prepared to be placed in the Church, in the memory of the Rev. Mr. James. A clergyman who knew Mr. James describes him to me as a good, amiable and devoted man. The mural tablet affirms that the words he had spoken in life made him "happy in the prospect of death and heaven." An obituary appeared in the Protestant Episcopalian, and in the volume, "The Inscriptions of Christ churchyard." The Rev. Benjamin Dorr, D.D., became rector of this church in 1837, being instituted on Ascension Day by Bishop Onderdonk. Many yet remember his long and faithful rectorate. Some notes prepared for me by the doctor's son-in-law, J. Edward Carpenter, Esq., and the polished discourse of the late John William Wallace, Esq., President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, delivered before that society, afford ample means for a sketch of Dr. Dorr. He was born on the 22d of March, 1796, at Salisbury Point, Mass., and educated at the village school and at Dartmouth College. He studied law, but gave up that pursuit for the ministry. He was a member of the first class in the General Theological Seminary. Bishop Hobart ordained him deacon in 1820, and priest in 1823. In 1827 he married Esther Kettell Odin, who was the daughter of John Odin, Esq., of Boston, and a descendant of Rev. William Walter, a former rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and of John Eliot, "the Apostle to the Indians," Rev. Increase Mather, and Chief Justice Lynde, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The young clergyman held the rectorship of united churches in Lansingburg and Waterford, N.Y., from CHRIST CHURCH. 115 1820 to 1829, and that of Trinity Church, Utica, N.Y., from 1829 to 1835. He was Secretary and General Agent of the Domestic Committee of the Board of Missions from 1835 to 1837, in which year he became rector of this church which post he held until his death in 1869. He was elected Bishop of Maryland in 1839, but declined the office, preferring in simple humility to dwell with his own loved flock, who rejoiced in retaining him. The University of Pennsylvania honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. A number of his sermons and other works were published. The paternal ancestors of Dr. Dorr were early settlers in Roxbury, Mass., now a part of Boston. His mother, Ruth Dalton, was the descendant of an old family in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Rev. Dr. Leeds, formerly rector of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, preached a sermon commemorative of Dr. Dorr in Christ Church on the next All Saints' Day after his death. The doctor was passionately fond of travel, and learned to read human nature in the old stage-coach in his early years, while in after life he was permitted to cross the ocean and look on the historic scenes of the old world. His important position, as Secretary of the Missionary Board, caused him to travel much, and required such skill and zeal as is needed by a bishop. He was a true missionary. His delight at seeing a Christian Church in the Indian settlement at Oneida village, New York, under Bishop Hobart's care was great, and he prayed for a time when the Lord would call all heathen to a knowledge of Him. From the Gulf of Mexico to the northern lakes the laborious secretary traveled thousands of miles, when travel was laborious. CHRIST CHURCH. 116 When the doctor took charge of Christ Church he found a staid parish, stamped with the quiet mind of Bishop White, and he continued the work in the same quiet confidence of Christian faith. His love for the parish is evinced by his bequest of a part of his library, and a goodly legacy for an endowment, that its blessed services may be maintained to the end of time. The inception and increase of this endowment was largely due to the labors of the faithful warden, Edward Lyon Clark. The chastening love of God, which draws His children homeward, was experienced by this "man of God," when his beloved son, William, the companion of his foreign travel, and his earthly hope, was snatched from him in the Southern War. His friends and comrades erected a tablet to his memory in this church, but his father had had a tablet on his heart, and has now gone to that son who could not return to him. The shadows are over and the day has dawned on father and son. For thirty-two years Dr. Dorr continued his faithful work here. Generations may bless his work in the Sunday-schools, the Endowment Fund and Hospital. The earnest preacher's words are no more heard, but his deeds remain. His pen was active, and many a mourner has been cheered by his book entitled "Recognition of Friends in Another World;" while his "Churchman's Manual," and "History of a Pocket Prayer-Book," and writings on Sunday-school work and Confirmation and Communion, and the prophecies on Christ, with his travels, and his Memoir of Watson, the Annalist, have given useful information. His "History of Christ Church" is invaluable, and he appended to it an account of the early history of the Church in Pennsylvania. He was an enthusiastic antiquary, and loved to bring up the CHRIST CHURCH. 117 holy dead in the minds of their descendants. Such writings stimulate others to follow the examples of the worthies described; as they look for aid to the same Saviour who stirred their activity in the divine life. "The Recognition of Friends" passed through nine editions, and the "Pocket Prayer-Book" was republished in London and in Canada West. The author was a living epistle, and his good example in social and church life were the best comments on his writings. Dr. Dorr was sympathetic. I well remember encouraging words he uttered to me in this church, coming gracefully from an aged clergyman closing his work to a younger brother with less experience. This good man died on Saturday, September 18th, 1869, at his house in Manheim street, Germantown. Mr. Wallace beautifully describes the funeral scene, when a vast throng assembled to pay the last tribute of love and affection to their rector, in this church, where he had ministered for nearly a third of a century. The services were conducted by Drs. Foggo and Rudder and Bishop Davies and Rev. Messrs. Wadleigh, Montgomery and Depuy. The Doctor was buried at Salisbury, Mass. He loved his simple childhood home, and writes delightfully, in his diary, of revisiting it; and meeting there father and brothers, and thinking gently on a dead mother, whose image then naturally came before him. It was fitting that he should be laid to rest where he was born; and he left a sum by will for the care of the country cemetery, and his burial place. There he sleeps among his kindred, awaiting the call of the resurrection to meet his Christian friends once more for a lasting association. In Dr. Dorr's visit to England the list of Bishops and eminent clergy who did him honor is not a short one. CHRIST CHURCH. 118 He mentions Rev. J. S. M. Anderson, the chaplain of Queen Adelaide, afterward of Victoria, and this writer, I notice, mentions Dr. Dorr in his History of the Colonial Church; speaking of his "History of Christ Church," and of his declination of the Bishopric of Maryland. He was present at the consecration of Bishop Jackson, of Lincoln, and a delighted observer of the annual exhibition of the Charity Schools at St. Paul's, London, where thousands of voices praised God in unison. A bust of Dr. Dorr, carved in Rome, adorns the vestry room of this church. The marble monument in the church which commemorates him, rightly quotes Isiah, as to his feeding his flock as a "shepherd." Mrs. E. B. Souder composed a beautiful poem on the funeral of this rector, painting the surpliced priest in his coffin, among the flowers which loving hands had strewn upon him, with the muffled bells and sorrowing congregation and mournful music and attendant priests, closing thus: "The cross and crown, fit tokens Of thy life and sure reward- To dwell with saints in glory, And with our risen Lord." At Ledger Place and Lagrange Street, a few steps from this church, is the old rectory, of black and red English brick, whence Dr. Jenney and other clergy used to walk across the grass, in their vestments, to the church. It was altered for business purposes. There was a later rectory in Arch Street, where the St. Elmo Hotel stands. Mr. Wallace's dedication of the Memoir of Dr. Dorr styles Dr. Foggo "long the faithful assistant of the lamented Dorr, now his honored successor." For CHRIST CHURCH. 119 twenty-eight years he has served this church, and long may his faithful and patient service continue. He is the twelfth rector, and these rectors have sometimes remained long in their positions, showing the loving relation of pastor and people. Christ Church bears the holy name of our common Saviour. The Scripture has told us that He is "the same yesterday, and to-day and forever," and so may this church firmly stand, echoing the same Christian truths in the coming ages, as were uttered by Clayton and Evans and White and Dorr and the other rectors, in the days that are gone; and may those truths, impressed by the Spirit of God, bring many souls to that good land above where praise is endless and worship perpetual.