USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Lyons > A fifty years' record of life and work in Grace Church Parish, Lyons, Iowa > Part 3
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Again a consecrated young woman of the parish dedicated her life wholly to religion, when Miss Har- riet Smith, in the early autumn of Sister Harriet. 1891, entered upon a novitiate in the Order of the Holy Nativity. Sister Harriet has labored as one of the most zealous and efficient members of that Order, and is now an inmate of the new Mother House, recently opened at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
No matters of especial moment seem recorded of the latter portion of this twelvemonth. Mr. Griffith sent in his resignation to the ves- Close of Mr. try to take effect Feb. 1st, 1892, at Griffith's Work. the close of a year of active ser- vice, during which he had per- formed 19 baptisms, presented a class of 17 for con- firmation, and officiated at 4 marriages and 1 burial. Soon after leaving Lyons he returned to the East, but is now, after serving in various sections of the country, in charge of S. Stephen's, Baker City, Oregon.
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The vestry were able to secure Mr. (now the Rev. Dr.) T. J. Lacey, then of Kemper Hall, who most acceptably gave the people ser- An Interregnum. vices during the Sundays of Lent, and on Easter Day, sup- plemented by a celebration on that festival by the Rev. E. J. Cooke, of St. John's, Clinton, but other- wise services were suspended during a vacancy of seven months. The choir, however, was kept fully organized, under the faithful charge which had before carried it through a vacancy, and the Sunday School was kept together by the efforts of several young lay- men.
In July a call was extended to the Rev. C. H. Weaver, M. D., of Wilmington, N. C., which was ac- cepted, his service to begin Sept. 1st, 1892, and it is of interest to note that since that
Dr. Weaver date Grace Church has not again in charge. closed its doors, save to afford its rectors a well earned vacation.
The last three rectors had been unmarried men, but the desire to see a family once more installed in the rectory had become general, and there have been no celibate clergy since.
Soon after Dr. Weaver's family had settled in the rectory, arrangements were made for enlarging that
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building, which was accomplished by throwing out a wing to the rear, thus increasing it The Rectory to a ten room residence, while a bath-
Enlarged. room, furnace and other improve- ments were also added in the course of the year. The cost of these improvements was met, partly by the active work of the guilds, partly by an unusually large Easter offering in 1893, of over $800.00. A considerable floating debt which had gradually accumulated, was also wiped out.
At this time the Sunday School experienced quite a marked growth, and missionary matters also came Missionary Matters. into prominence. We have referred to the faithfulness with which offer- ings for missionary objects had been taken under the charge of the Revs. Samuel and William Currie, but later, for some, years attention had been diverted from this duty. Now, however, it was taken up with real enthusiasm, and for two years in succession the Sunday School of Grace Church led all the schools of the diocese in its Easter offering for General Missions, while organized work on missionary lines took permanent shape in the for- mation of a parish branch of the Woman's Auxiliary, dating from Nov. 24th, 1893, and with the following as its first officers: President, Mrs. Wm. Holmes; Vice Pres., Mrs. G. W. Ashton; Secretary, Miss H. E. Henningsen; Treasurer, Mrs. W. T. Joyce. This branch at once assumed, and has ever since main- tained, a very high rank among the similar organiza- tions of the diocese.
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The daily services were discontinued during this rectorate, and the ceremonial use modified to that more simple, yet dignified and impres-
A Modified Service.
sive form, which has since been the standard of the parish services, as it indeed obtains in the vast majority of the churches of our communion.
The first fruits of that spiritual harvest among the boys of the vested choir, which has since been one of the main sources of parish growth, began also to be apparent, many of the candidates for baptism and confirmation coming from the ranks of the youthful singers.
Finances were considered to warrant an increase of the rector's salary, which was voted him at the be- ginning of his second year.
On Ash Wednesday, being Feb. 7th, 1894, the vestry was called together and Dr. Weaver presented his resignation, he having accepted a Dr. Weaver Resigns. call to Trinity Church, Davenport. It was received with surprise and re- gret, more especially as it was felt that the parish would be likely to suffer from such a succession of short rectorships; however, Dr. Weaver agreed to remain in his charge until Easter Day, and so effectually urged that immediate steps be taken to secure a successor, that we find the very same vestry meeting extending a unanimous call to the Rev. C. W. Tyler, of Guthrie, Oklahoma, which in due time was accepted.
Again a bishop other than the Diocesan admin- istered confirmation in the parish. A class presented
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during Lent was confirmed by the late Rt. Rev. Chas. R. Hale, D. D., of Cairo, Bishop Perry being then abroad for his health.
Dr. Weaver held his closing services on Easter Day, on which occasion was first used the beautiful jeweled chalice and paten, presented as a confirma- tion gift by Margaret and Leonard Rob- A Gift. bins Welles, which is among the choic- est possessions of the parish.
Dr. Weaver, during an active and successful min- istry of nineteen months, had baptized 43, presented for confirmation 2 classes numbering 28, and had offici- ated at 7 marriages and 13 burials. After serving in Davenport for a number of years, he is now rector of Christ Church, Pompton, N. J.
Without the interruption of a single service, the Rev. C. W. Tyler assumed charge of the parish on the first Sunday after Eas- The Rev. G. W. Tyler in Charge. ter, and all activities were continued upon former lines. Further improvements were made to the rectory for the comfort and con- venience of its latest occupants, but soon it became apparent that the parish was facing a serious prob- lem from without, not within.
For nearly twenty years the lumbering industry had been the main industrial stay of the community, and this industry was now rapidly declining. In the
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spring of 1894 three of the four large saw mills were permanently closed, and hundreds of A Grisis. men thrown out of employment. Many families sought homes elsewhere, and all business conditions were much depressed. It seemed as though the fruits of all the hopeful progress of the last half dozen years, which had more than doubled the communicant roll, and extended the Church's in- fluence widely, beyond even these bounds, were likely to be swept away. Death also was busy, and the parish especially and keenly felt the loss of its Senior Warden, Mr. Robert N. Rand, who as parish treas- urer, vestryman and warden, had been most closely identified with all the interests of Grace Church, al- most from its beginning. In January, 1895, the ves- try met to adopt resolutions upon the death of their lamented co-worker, which had occurred shortly be- fore.
Aside from the financial problems of this year, the only item of note is the signing by the vestry of a certificate of recommendation for Prof. E. T. Fitch, as a Candidate for Holy Orders. Prof. A Candidate For Orders. Fitch was at the time superintendent of schools in Lyons, and an educator of much experience and ability. He was admitted to deacon's orders in June, 1895, and for a time did missionary work in the diocese, but later returned to educational pursuits, withdrew his application for priest's orders, and is now superin- tendent of schools at Watertown, S. D.
In a single year the parish lost one-third of its
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accustomed revenues, and over one-fourth of its com- municants by death and removal, nevertheless by Eas- ter, 1895, it was found that, since, fortunately, the parish had faced this crisis free of debt, A Brighter Outlook. it would be possible, by strict economy, complete harmony, and self-sacrifice, to weather the storm. Rector and people worked hand in hand to this end.
The finances were given a thorough revision; St. Margaret's Guild at this time assumed obligations for the choir expenses which have ever since consti- tuted the society's chief charge; with singular devo- tion choirmaster and organist gave their services, as they have cheerfully done through all the intervening years, and so, by the help and self-denial of both priest and people, the parish went on hopefully to new tasks, not even missionary obligations being neglected.
In the spring of 1895, a question which had been debated for years, reached its final settlement in the annexation of Lyons to Clinton, of which it hence- forth constituted the Sixth and Annexation. Seventh wards. Still retaining its separate postoffice, depots, schools, and churches, and largely its distinctive social and business life, the old name is, locally, as freely used as ever, though it has vanished from many a map. In diocesan reports and journals our parish has since been playing a game of hide-and-seek most perplexing to strangers, being listed sometimes as Lyons, again as Clinton, and at other times as North Clinton.
The common interests of one municipality have undoubtedly, in the course of time, brought about a
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THE GUILD ROOM
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growing solidarity of feeling, and made St. John's seem a closer neighbor than it erstwhile had been.
In the fall of this year (1895) the parish holdings were increased by the acquisition of the Guild Room. The plan of providing some convenient The Guild Room. place for choir practice, guild meetings, etc., had been frequently considered, but the immediate occasion of this move- ment was to give accommodation to the sessions of an Industrial School which had gradually grown up. A lady of the parish, Mrs. T. T. Ashton, began by gathering the children of her neighborhood in her home, teaching them sewing, mending, and other forms of needle-work, with which she combined Scripture and Catechism instruction. The class en- tirely outgrew its quarters, and she sought advice from the Rector. A plan was soon formed. Near the Church stood a well constructed little building, erected for a private school, which had later gone out of existence. Of this building some of the gentlemen of the parish were part owners. They gladly pre- sented their interests in it to the parish, Messrs. M. A. Disbrow and S. W. Gardiner each signing over a third, while Mr. W. T. Joyce contributed a sum suf- ficient to purchase the remaining third. At the same time the heirs of the late Mr. R. N. Rand deeded to the parish a lot to the west of the rectory, upon which the building was to be located. The vestry adopted suitable resolutions of thanks to these vari- ous donors.
A general subscription provided the means for
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removing the building to its new site, and fitting it up for use, and it was soon the scene of various busy activities. Though after a time ill-health compelled the manager of the Industrial School to disband her class, the Guild Room remained to the parish as a constant convenience in Sunday School, choir, and other work.
One of the first results of this new The parish possession was the formation Choir Club. of the "Choir Club," in November, 1895. It was designed to provide so- cial, literary and athletic pastime for past and pres- ent members of the choir, and its first officers were as follows: President, Frank C. Brandt; Vice Presi- dent, William H. Sievers; Secretary, Fred M. Hess, Treasurer, Bert E. Brandt; Librarian, Oscar W. Larson.
Some notice was taken of the fortieth anniver- sary of the parish in December, 1895, the Rector preaching an historical sermon, and Fortieth Anniversary. a sketch of the parish history ap- pearing in the city papers. About
this time was begun the task of se- curing portraits of all the past rectors. It was at- tended with considerable difficulty, but finally crowned with entire success, and the faces of all who have ever been in charge of Grace Church, as well as of the several bishops of the diocese, now look down from the walls of the choir room.
In the spring of 1896 still another parish society
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was formed in the organization of St. Helena's Guild. This was designed for young girls St. Helena's Guild. still of school age, and was intended to lead up to membership in St. Mar- garet's Guild. Its first officers were: Manager, Mrs. A. O. Cole; Secretary and Treasurer, Helen Duncan.
The reports at Easter, 1896, showed a very en- couraging condition of affairs, and there was a gen- eral exchange of felicitations. The choirmaster and organist were presented with gifts in appreciation of their faithful services, and the ladies of Grace Church Guild began to plan a forward movement. At their June meeting it was definitely resolved Progress. to take up once more the project of re- building the Church, the condition of the wooden chancel, now forty years old, crying loudly for action. All energies were to be bent in this di- rection, and the ladies took up the task with enthusi- asm, and with marked success.
For almost two years there is little to chronicle, save the singleness of purpose with which the parish pressed towards this goal. The ladies were gradu- ally accumulating a handsome sum in bank, but the gentlemen also were zealous in good works, and the parish wood-yard may be still recalled in which rect- or and vestrymen vied with each other in sawing and piling fuel for the following winter's use, to the great delight of the choir boys and the passers by.
At last came the fruition of so many hopes and efforts, and on January 4th, 1898, we find that the
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vestry appointed a committee, consisting of the Rect- or and Mr. A. O. Cole, to prepare plans and estimates for the contemplated improve-
Building Plans. ments. 'The following months saw the project taking more de- finite shape. By the latter part of March plans which provided for the lengthening of the Church upon the lines of the nave, and the construction of a large choir- room to the north, had been submitted, and the vestry had formally given its sanction to the general plan.
At Easter all bills were reported paid and bal- ances in the hands of all the various treasurers, and it was felt that nothing now stood in the way of suc- cess. Soon after the parish subscription was started, the various guilds heading the list with generous amounts. Memorials began also to be offered, and, after the general building fund had been secured, were gratefully accepted.
Bishop Perry was much pleased to hear of the contemplated improvements, and offered to come and lay the corner-stone of the addition with appropriate ceremonies, but such was not to Bishop Perry's Death. be, for a few weeks later, on May 13th, 1898, he passed away. Though long in failing health, the suddenness of the final summons came as a distinct shock. His relations with the Lyons parish had al- ways been of the friendliest, and especially in his later years he was wont to speak of his visits there as a rest and refreshment to him.
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On May 31st, the Rector could report that the cost of the building was practically assured, thanks largely to his zealous handling of the finances, and the vestry awarded the major portions
Work Begins. of the contracts, Messrs. D. W. Case, A. O. Cole and John Tolson serving as the building committee. On June 5th, be- ing Trinity Sunday, the last services were held in the Church before building operations began, and by noon of the following day the little wooden chancel which for forty years had been the shrine where devout souls sought strength and spiritual sustenance at the altar, and from which so many a sweet song of praise had gone up, was already a thing of the past.
But services were not interrupted, save for a single Sunday. By the kindness of the Masons ex- cellent quarters were secured in the Temple, and there services and Sunday School were regularly held throughout the summer, with a most gratifying at- tendance. This summer of 1898, an
Summer anxious season to the orphaned diocese, Services. was a most busy and happy one to the Lyons parish. The work went on to its desired completion, memorials multiplied, and each parishioner seemed vying with the other in generous giving and warmth of interest.
At length came the longed-for day when the Church doors were to be re-opened. This took place Oct. 2d, being the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, and probably never in the parish history has so hap-
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py a day been kept. The Rev. Thomas E. Green, D. D., President of the Standing Com- The Church Re-Opened. mittee, and as such representing the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Dio- cese, celebrated at the early service, and blessed the memorials then in place. At the sec- ond service, which opened with a solemn Te Deum, the Rector celebrated, and Dr. Green preached a most eloquent sermon, every seat in the Church being filled, while at evening service, at which the Rev. H. H. Morrill, of St. John's, assisted, and Dr. Green again preached, there was an attendance which more than overflowed the building, groups standing under every open window throughout the service, and filling the adjoining rectory.
There was little within the Church to remind one of the old building; so complete indeed had been the alteration wrought that the people instinctively spoke of "the new Church." Only the windows of the nave and the outline of the walls Changes in the Building. and ceiling remained, while the chancel effect was entirely different, and of furnishings only the font, the altar brasses, the processional cross, and the lectern Bible, had been carried over. The erection of a rood-screen, which it was felt must some day com- plete the effect, was necessarily deferred.
In striking contrast to the former small, dark, and uncomfortably crowded choir-room, was the new and commodious one, well supplied with cupboards and lockers, and the choir thoroughly appreciated these conveniences, as well as the greater space af-
CHANCEL, 1899
٠
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forded in the chancel itself. At the same time the rectory had been greatly improved by the addition of a large porch, both rectory and Guild Room painted, and the entire parish property put in the most thor- ough repair.
We have previously mentioned the fact that many memorials were offered for the furnishing of the Church, the number and richness of these permitting of an equipment for the sanctuary much beyond what. could have been secured from any gen-
Memorials. eral fund. For a long succession of meetings the vestry seemed to have little beyond the happy occupation of voting to accept some proffered gift. It may be said in a general way that practically all the interior furnishings, save the pews and choir-stalls, were provided by these special gifts, the placing of which extended over a consider- able period of time.
Below we give a complete list of these memorials and gifts to date:
Carved oak altar and reredos in memory of Rob- ert Norton Rand.
Bishop's chair in memory of Rt. Rev. Wm. Stev- ens Perry, Second Bishop of Iowa.
Clergy chair in memory of Rev. Wm. T. Currie.
Oak credence table in memory of William C. Clifton.
Two-manual pipe organ, the gift of Mr. W. T. Joyce.
Brass lectern in memory of Eunice Bright Lake.
Brass and oak pulpit, the gift of Mrs. Silas W .. Gardiner.
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Brass and oak litany desk in memory of Charles Henry Lothrop, M. D.
Brass alms bason in memory of Josephine Loomis Whitney.
Cut glass cruets in memory of Rt. Rev. Henry Washington Lee, First Bishop of Iowa.
Chancel prayer book in memory of the Rev. H. W. Beers, D. D.
Silver ciborium in memory of Josephine Loomis Whitney.
Windows in memory of Lola Ashton, Lucy T. Walden, William Carl Grohe, Harry A. Neesley, An- na M. Gabriel, and Wm. H. Cook.
Of these the memorials to the bishops and clergy- men were the offering of the congregation in general; the windows to William Carl Grohe and Harry A. Neesley, two faithful crucifers, were gifts by the choir and many other friends of the deceased, the un- veiling being in each case conducted with special ser- vices, while the remainder of the memorials were given by the immediate families of those commemorated.
The many chancel furnishings displaced by the new equipment, were, by vote of the vestry, turned over to the Woman's Auxiliary, and by them, through the Archdeacon, placed with various missions in the diocese. Being in excellent condition, they were everywhere gratefully accepted. The pretty little altar is now to be seen in Denison, and the other fur- nishings are widely scattered.
Soon after the re-opening of the Church, the episcopate being still vacant, Bishop Graves, of Lar- amie, visited the parish to confirm an interesting class,
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and greatly pleased the congregation with his account of the work of his missionary jurisdiction. The par- ish had been fully represented in both of the Conven- tions called to consider the election of a successor to Bishop Perry, and one week after the choice had been effected we find the following minute:
"At the suggestion of the Rector he was instruct- ed to write to the Rev. T. N. Morrison, D. D., urging him to accept the election as bishop, and assuring him of the hearty support of this parish."
Bishop Morrison was conse- lowa's Third Bishop. crated on Feb. 22d, 1899, entering upon his work in the diocese with the first Sunday in March. On the 29th of the same month, being Wednesday of Holy Week, he made his first visitation to Grace Church. His words of greeting won him all hearts at once, and the utmost cordiality has marked his relations with the parish ever since.
This Easter (1889) marked the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the vested choir, and the close of the fifth year of the Rev. C. W. Tyler's rectorate, both being observed not only in the special services of Easter Day, but also in a social way. In a sermon reviewing the work of these five An Anniversary. years we find, on the financial side, that the following figures were
given: The offerings of the five years aggregated $15,000, of which $1,000 was given to diocesan and missionary objects, over $6,000 had been expended upon improvements to the parish
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property, while the remainder covered current ex- penses. This achievement, in the face of constantly depressed business conditions, and a steady stream of removals, to say nothing of the inevitable losses by death, was certainly a notable one.
But while we have been speaking of the tempor- alities of the parish, it must not be inferred that the spiritualities were being overlooked. On the contrary, during all these years, the Church The Church in the Community. was quietly but surely gaining in influence throughout the commu- nity, and the constantly multiply- ing names upon the parish register bore mute witness to the manner in which she was ministering in a more and more helpful way to "all sorts and conditions of men," both in life and death.
The gradual, yet very marked growth of the Sun- day School, is especially to be noted. By 1900 it had become the third largest in the diocese, and new fam- ilies were constantly drawn in by means of this agency.
Matters continued in this pleasant and generally prosperous condition, until on Jan. 4th, 1901, we find that the vestry was called together to receive the fol- lowing communication:
"To the Grace Rectory, Wardens and Vestrymen, Lyons, Ia.,
Grace Church, Jan. 4, 1901.
Lyons, Iowa.
Gentlemen:
I with much reluctance tender you my resignation as rector of Grace Church, to take effect Feb. 1st, 1901. Chas. Witcombe Tyler."
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this resignation being the result of an accept- ance of a call to a greatly enlarged field of labor at New Castle, Pa.
The vestry, while accepting the Glose of Rectorate. resignation, at once appointed a com- mittee to draft resolutions of regret at the severance of such pleasant relations, similar action being taken by various other parish organizations.
Bishop Morrison came to confer with the vestry concerning the impending vacancy, and it was decided that the Church must be kept open every Sunday, and that active steps should at once be taken to secure a rector.
The closing services of this rectorate were held upon the last Sunday in January, following which a farewell reception was tendered the outgoing Rector and his wife. Upon this occasion they were present- ed with a sum in gold, enclosed in a silver casket suit- ably inscribed, as a mark of the esteem and affection with which they were regarded both in the parish and the community.
In the nearly seven years of this, the longest and one of the happiest administrations in the parish his- tory, we find a record of 116 baptisms, 6 confirmation classes numbering 75 individuals, and 38 marriages and 79 burials.
The Rev. Dr. Tyler has recently resigned the parish at New Castle, and is now officiating near Boston, with temporary address at Washington, R. I.
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