USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut, 1848-1941 > Part 7
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But to-day as we round out seventy-five years of our life, and stand expectantly facing the future, we ought to consider, not alone what is best for the parish, but what is best for the Church in the city, so far as the welfare of the Church depends upon any action of the parish.
Slowly and reluctantly I have arrived at the con- clusion that the best interests of the Church in the city demand that you should consider, in the not dis- tant future, the possible removal of the church to some other section of the city. I say slowly and re- luctantly I have arrived at that conclusion. The rea- son therefor is not hard to find. Sentiment runs deep in my nature, and if sentiment alone were to be the final arbiter in this matter, I, certainly, should never counsel any change.
Here stood the first temple, and here stands the second, and around it still clusters for many a wealth of sweet and precious associations. Not lightly can one suggest the transplanting of a church which has a history of seventy-five years in one place, but I am not of those who feel that a church must always remain where it was first planted, particu- larly, when in the swift shiftings of our modern cities, it is more needed elsewhere, and can better do the work which gives it its reason for being."
There, then, was the first note struck for the removal of the church. Only those who were familiar with the situa- tion can fully appreciate the significance of that statement, "great changes have come to our city since this parish began its corporate life, great changes have come to our immediate neighborhood."
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Elm Street was a street of substantial residences with equally substantial residents, some of whom were supporters of the church. Gradually business began to edge in, and at the time of which we are now speaking it was practically all business. And when New Haven becomes more than a one-street city business on Elm Street will be of a much more dominant character. And not only was Elm Street a street of residences, but so were Church and Orange Streets north and south of Elm.
That the proposal to change the site of the church was not made without regard to others is evidenced by the fact that at the annual meeting of the parish, held January 16, 1923, a committee of five consisting of Messrs. Burton Mansfield, George J. Bassett, Abel Holbrook, James Hillhouse and Edwy L. Taylor, was appointed to "confer with other church people as to the best interests of the Episcopal Church in the city of New Haven, with especial reference to the develop- ment of the northern section."
Meetings were held with this committee by representatives of St. Paul's and St. John's, and the matter carefully con- sidered. In due time the wardens of St. Paul's parish notified the committee that they did not wish to consider the matter further.
A little later on the committee from St. John's parish made the following proposition to the committee from St. Thomas's parish :
"1. That St. John's and St. Thomas's should unite.
2. That Dr. Beardsley should be the Rector of the new Parish with such assistance as might be deemed advisable.
3. That the new Parish worship at the present St. John's Church for a term of three years, with the understanding that the territory north of St. John's, including Whitneyville and Spring Glen, be thoroughly canvassed, and with the
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further understanding that the present St. John's rectory, or the house on Orange Street adjoin- ing St. John's Church, be used as a temporary Parish House, either of which might be avail- able with slight alterations.
4. At the end of three years, the new Parish shall then decide whether it would be advisable to build and where."
This proposition was given the careful consideration which it deserved, but the committee reported that they were unanimously of the opinion that it did not permit of the carrying out of the intention of the original resolution under which they were appointed, and that it was unwise at this time to press further the idea of a merger with St. John's, and therefore they would ask to be excused from further consideration of the subject.
The effect of this proposal, this "trial marriage," as one jokingly referred to it, would have been the elimination of St. Thomas's with no worth-while gain, and the north end of the city still left unprovided for. Having shown the courtesy of waiting a year, the parish felt that it could con- sistently proceed to take such action in the matter as seemed for the best interests of the parish.
The parish had no such difficulty as it had when it built its chapel and later its church, in regard to a choice of site. It wanted to get as far out Whitney Avenue as possible and still remain within the city limits. Just the lot was available on Whitney Avenue, between Ogden and Cliff Streets, 232 feet front, 200 feet deep. It was purchased at a cost of $77,000.
As the parish had a good church building in which to worship, but no parish house in which to work, it was decided to proceed at once to build a parish house. Dean Everett V. Meeks of the Yale Art School was consulted as to an archi-
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tect, and among others he suggested the firm of Allen & Collens of Boston and New York.
The report of the Building Committee submitted to the Parish Meeting, held January 20, 1931, tells the story at this point. It says :- "On March 5, 1930, the Committee voted to proceed with definite plans and estimates for the new Church project and also definite plans and estimates for the Parish House separately, so it might be erected first, and accordingly, Allen & Collens were engaged to do this upon their usual arrangement for compensation upon a commission of the cost of the project.
A campaign for funds for erection of the Parish House was undertaken, and on November 25, the Committee voted to accept the lowest bid submitted for the Parish House, in amount, $86,399.00, and the contract was signed on Novem- ber 28, 1930, with the National Construction Co. of New Haven, the sum of $90,000.00 having been subscribed by the members of the congregation. Immediately after the contract was signed, Dr. Beardsley, with Messrs. Bassett, Holbrook and Taylor went to the site of the new Parish House, and there, after brief prayers by the Rector, Dr. Beardsley, each in turn broke ground with a spade before the excavation for the building was commenced that after- noon."
And so the much-desired and much-needed parish house was in the way of becoming a reality. The building was far along when the service for the laying of the cornerstone was held, June 2, 1931, by the Rt. Rev. Edward Campion Ache- son, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese. At the Bishop's request Mr. Burton Mansfield laid the stone, using the trowel and spreading on the mortar. Though not quite completed, yet the Church School held its first meeting there on the first Sunday in October 1931.
The rector, feeling that the new parish house in its new location, presented larger opportunities for the development
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of the work, asked for the appointment of a curate. Accord- ingly, the Rev. Albert C. Morris, who was in charge of Trinity Church, Wethersfield, was invited to come to St. Thomas's in that capacity, and he entered upon his duties September 1, 1931. He did excellent work in organizing and developing the Church School, the clientele of which was new as was the parish house. Mr. Morris severed his connection with the parish September 1, 1934, upon the resignation of the rector.
Dr. Beardsley had been with the parish in one capacity or another since Easter 1888. He now desired to retire, and therefore the following letter was sent to the parish :
"New Haven, Conn. February 1, 1934
To the Parish of St. Thomas's Church,
New Haven, Conn.
Dear Brethren :-
In the course of our work together through the years you have received many letters from me addressed in that way, but this time the nature of my letter must be different.
Immediately after my ordination on June 4, 1890, I came to work in the parish as assistant. Indeed, as early as Easter, 1888, I began to serve regularly as lay reader, continuing in this capacity until my ordination, coming down each week from the Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown.
As lay reader, as assistant, and as rector, my ser- vice with the parish will have covered forty-six years this Spring. I feel that the time has now come when the leadership of the parish should be passed over to another, and, therefore, actuated by that feeling, and in response to my own earnest desire
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to be relieved of the responsibilities of the rector- ship, I hereby tender my resignation as Rector of St. Thomas's Parish, such resignation to take effect June 1, 1934.
You will understand, I am sure, that this step is not taken without a keen appreciation of what it means in the severing of ties which have bound us together so long, and in the breaking of precious associations which run far back of my own official connection with the parish. To few men has it been given to have a happier ministry than mine has been, thanks to your unfailing devotion and loyalty to the parish, and may I presume to say, to me personally.
That the parish may continue to grow and pros- per, and more and more fill its place in the com- munity, is my sincere prayer. May God's blessing rest upon you all.
Faithfully your Rector, WILLIAM A. BEARDSLEY."
In answer to this letter, the following Resolutions were adopted at a special parish meeting held March 1, 1934, to act upon the resignation of the rector :
"Whereas, Under the Canons of the General Convention and the Canons of the Diocese of Connecticut a Rector may not resign his Parish without the consent of the said Parish; and
Whereas, The Reverend William A. Beardsley, D.D., the Rector of the Parish of St. Thomas's Church in New Haven, Connecticut, has tendered to this Parish his written resignation as Rector of St. Thomas's Parish bearing date February 1, 1934, such resignation to take effect June 1, 1934; therefore be it
Resolved, That this letter of resignation be spread upon the records of this meeting and that the resignation of our beloved Rector to take effect June 1, 1934, or so soon thereafter as practicable be accepted with deep regret and the utmost reluctance and solely to comply with his earnest request.
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Resolved, further, That this Parish can not allow this occasion to pass without placing on record-besides its affection for our Rector- its sense of gratitude and thankfulness for his many years of devoted service in the Parish and Diocese, and for his unique presentation from the pulpit of things of the spirit.
Resolved, further, That it is the pleasure of this Parish that directly upon the taking effect of our Rector's resignation, our Rector should become Rector Emeritus.
A committee was appointed at this meeting to recommend a successor to Dr. Beardsley. That committee consisted of the two Wardens, George J. Bassett and Frederic C. Earle, James Hillhouse, Edward P. Allen, R. Mayo Crawford, Mrs. Edwy L. Taylor, and Mrs. Edward M. Gaillard.
June 1 came and Dr. Beardsley's rectorship ended. At a special parish meeting held August 17, 1934, the committee appointed to recommend his successor presented the name of the Rev. Robert S. Flockhart, D.D., of the Diocese of Maryland. He accepted and entered upon his duties Septem- ber 1, 1934, and thus became the third rector which the parish had had in the ninety-three years of its existence. He was instituted by the Bishop of the Diocese, November 25, 1934. Dr. Flockhart had served rectorships in Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio, and at the time of his election to St. Thomas's, he was rector of St. John's Church, Western Run Parish, Maryland.
As we have seen, the parish in the days of its youth had labored under a heavy burden of debt, contracted in the building of its church. It was again in that same condition, because of the purchase of its new lot on Whitney Avenue, and the building of the parish house thereon. However, it owned its valuable property on Elm Street, which, when it could be sold, would remove the debt and go far towards the erection of the new church. Until this could be accom- plished the parish could not reap the full benefits of its change of location. The country was in the depths of a persistent business depression. Whereas, when the project
REV. ROBERT S. FLOCKHART, D.D.
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of removal was undertaken there seemed but little doubt that the property on Elm Street would soon be disposed of at a reasonable figure, now there was no chance of doing so at any price.
CHAPTER XIII
DR. LINDSLEY'S GIFT; NEW CHURCH BUILT ON WHITNEY AVENUE.
There, then, was the situation. But now a wonderful thing happened, a thing which does sometimes happen to individuals and to institutions. About 1877 Dr. Charles A. Lindsley moved to what was then 13 Elm Street. He soon brought a Letter of Transfer for himself and family to St. Thomas's from the rector of St. John's Church. In 1880 he was made a vestryman of St. Thomas's, and in 1892, his son Dr. C. Purdy Lindsley was elected to the vestry, and continued thereon until his death, March 29, 1937, being for seventeen years the senior vestryman in point of service.
At one time he lived in the old Brewster house directly opposite St. Thomas's Church on Elm Street, but after the death of his first wife he moved elsewhere. For his second wife he married Miss Caroline Ackerman. He graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School in the class of 1875. Choosing the profession of medicine he practiced it here in New Haven until his retirement, greatly beloved by those who were the recipients of his professional services, and highly esteemed by all who knew him. He was always a devoted and interested member of the parish.
Dr. Lindsley all along had shown marked interest in the new building project, his interest not wholly free from mis- givings regarding the financial problems involved. When his will was offered for probate it was found that he had been a most generous benefactor to the parish. There was a bequest of $150,000, "to be used for the erection and furnish-
-
C. PURDY LINDSLEY, M.D.
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ing of a church edifice adjacent to the Parish House on the land at the corner of Whitney Avenue and Cliff Street."
In addition, he left his beautiful residence, "the house and lot known as No. 386 St. Ronan Street, in the City of New Haven, to be used by said Parish of St. Thomas's Church as a Rectory and as a memorial to my dear wife, Caroline Ackerman Lindsley." Much of the furnishings of the house were also bequeathed to the parish. And more than that Dr. Lindsley, mindful of the cost of upkeep of a house as large as this, left to the parish $100,000, as an endowment for the rectory, and to be part of the memorial to his wife. With a fine regard for changing conditions which make it impossible to look too far into the future, he provided that, should the house become unsuitable for a rectory, it might be sold and another purchased or erected, still to be a memorial to his wife.
He also created a trust fund of $150,000, from which $50,000 is to come to the parish upon the death of his sister, Mrs. Caroline L. McChesney, to be added to the "Caroline Ackerman Lindsley Fund." And finally, the residue of his property was to be divided into two equal parts, one of which was to go to the parish, (a) to purchase and install, in memory of his wife, Caroline Ackerman Lindsley, a rose window at the east end, or in the chancel of the new church edifice; (b) to establish the "Caroline Ackerman Lindsley Fund," in memory of his wife, the income to be used for the general purposes of the parish. The beautiful east win- dow in the church is the memorial window for which pro- vision is here made.
Now that the funds for building the church were soon to be in hand the parish, through its building committee, at once proceeded to develop and perfect the plans which the architects had drawn in connection with the building of the parish house. Those plans had originally included a rectory attached to the parish house, but that was out now, of course. It probably would have been out anyway.
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The original plans also contemplated a chapel on the north, or Cliff Street, side of the chancel. It seemed as if this might have to wait. But in fact, it became a reality at once through the Will of Mrs. Mary B. Sperry, who left to the parish the sum of $10,000, payable after the death of the life tenant, her son. It became payable just about this time. The purpose of this legacy was to erect a memorial to the family of her husband, Frank H. Sperry. The form of this memorial was left entirely to the discretion of the Wardens and Vestry. They chose to make the Chapel such memorial. Three generations served on the Vestry, Joel A. Sperry, Frank H. Sperry, and Joel A. Sperry, 2nd.
The contract was given to the Dwight Building Company of New Haven. On June 7, 1939, the corner-stone was laid by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Right Reverend Frederick G. Budlong, D.D. As in the case of the parish house, the building was well on towards completion, and like the parish house, it is built of Glastonbury granite.
On Sunday, March 12, 1854, the rector of the parish, Dr. E. E. Beardsley, preached at the closing service in the temporary Chapel on Elm Street, which was to give place to the new church, about to be erected on that site. More than eighty-five years later the parish was to move from that church into a new one on a different site. The rector, Dr. Robert S. Flockhart, graciously asked the Rector Emer- itus, Dr. William A. Beardsley, to preach at the closing service in the old church. A few paragraphs at the end of his sermon may fittingly be set down here.
"For eighty-five years this church has been the home of the parish. No one could foresee, when it was built, that the parish would ever have, or would ever need, another home. But time has brought its changes, and now we are going to the third temple. What will eighty-five years bring? We do not know. We can only hope that the
ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH (on Whitney Avenue)
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memories of the past will be an inspiration to the future, and that when this hallowed building shall have yielded to the advancing tide of progress, and business claims what now seems to be its own, the work once done for God on this spot will be as richly done elsewhere.
After all, it makes but little difference where it is done, if so be it is done. And if it is done, the faith and zeal of the older generations will find their justification and fulfillment in the faith and zeal of the newer generations, and good work once well done will not be lost.
As we are closing the chapter, and turning the page to write a new one, tribute ought to be paid to those who have worked and worshipped here. Some of our best citizens in all walks of life have had this for their church home. They have given freely of themselves, we like to think that they have received much in return.
It has been a happy home, no spectacular things undertaken, perhaps, but those genuine simple things which make for good living, for good reli- gion. Here God has been worshipped in strict accord with our precious Book of Common Prayer, here the Holy Scriptures have been preached and taught in full recognition of their inspired origin, here the Sacraments have been administered in the spirit and genius of our American Church.
We leave the old church with regret-yes-but we leave it with high hopes for the future in the new church. We would fain believe that the gener- ations yet to come, who will find their home there, will turn back with pride to the record of the past and find inspiration for the record which they hope to make.
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As for myself, the old church will ever live in memory, and speak its precious message along the lessening years. With Adelaide Procter I can say-
'O there are Voices of the Past, Links of a broken chain,
Wings that can bear me back to Times Which cannot come again : Yet God forbid that I should lose The echoes that remain.'"
And so the time came to leave the old church and start life in the new. The Bishop of the Diocese set October 8, 1939, 4 P. M., as the time for the consecration of the new church. Dr. Beardsley, the Rector Emeritus, preached the sermon. He chose for his text-Haggai ii, 9, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."
When it is recalled how the parish acquired its new church, the significance of the closing paragraphs of the sermon will be understood. He said :
"There is one practical thought which comes to mind, and I think I have the right to give expres- sion to it. When you work for a thing, and after much and hard labor acquire it, you prize it, prize it highly, do you not? The people who built the old church worked for it, made sacrifices for it; it cost them something. O, I am not thinking in terms of dollars and cents alone. They had to be found, of course, and they were found only after hard work and careful saving. As you go through the records you will see all along the patient toil, the radiant faith, the real sacrifice, the earnest prayers, that went into the building of the old church on Elm Street.
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Prize it! yes, they did. It cost them something, cost them much. You see where my thought is lead- ing. Your new church, this beautiful church, cost you nothing, you paid nothing for it. It dropped into your hands complete from foundation to tower, from vestibule to sanctuary. But you must pay now, pay heavily in the love which you have for it, in the devotion which you manifest toward it, in the use which you make of it. In what better way can you show your gratitude to the donor? You can make it your church in very truth, just as much as if by hard work, by great self-denial, you gath- ered and gave the dollars that bought the stones, that paid for putting them in place.
I wish to drive that thought home, because it will be fatal for you to think that just because the church came so easily it will go on just as easily. It will not.
And so I plead with you, you who have loved the old church, to prove your love to it by transferring your love to this latter house, and thus helping to make the glory of it greater than of the former. You may be a bit homesick at first, I rather hope you will, but changed circumstances can not break the thread of true loyalty. The golden strand is there in the fabric to the end.
If you do but work and pray for your latter house, I do honestly believe that the new St. Thomas's in its new and beautiful location will enter into a larger usefulness, a usefulness which will gladden the hearts of those who remain to wit- ness it, and will help to lessen the pain they are bound to feel, as they loyally but regretfully accept the change which time hath wrought."
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
Such is the story of St. Thomas's Parish for the ninety- three years of its existence. If this had been a record of reminiscences individuals would have figured in it more than they have. And there would have been much satisfaction in referring somewhat fully to many of the fine men and women who have been identified with the parish. But always there would have been the difficulty of selection.
And yet to one who has read the record, and who has intimately known the parish for half a century, names come crowding to mind of those who might well be singled out for some word of recognition, names such as Wood, Wylie, Pres- cott, Shelton, Earle, Johnson, Sperry, Pond, Eaton, Jewett, Gerry, Gower, Mansfield, Botsford, Rockwell, Treat, Linds- ley, Hillhouse, all names of those who have gone, yet names, which, in a few instances, still live on in the parish.
If from this galaxy of those who have been identified with the life and work of the parish Burton Mansfield should be singled out for special mention, it would be the consensus of opinion of the members of the parish that he deserved it. He knew no other parish home. His devotion to St. Thomas's was reflected in his larger devotion to the Diocese and to the general Church, where, as Chancellor for twelve years and Deputy to the General Convention for thirty-six years, the prominence which he gained brought honor to his parish. The record of his life and work as a Christian gentleman is an essential part of the history of this parish. It is written across its pages in characters of gold, reflecting their radiance down the years.
On this personal note the story comes to its end. A new story is in the making. The page is turned. What writeth the hand of time upon it? Who knows? But faith leads to the belief that it will be a story worthy of those who founded, and of those who have sustained.
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