USA > Kentucky > Jefferson County > Louisville > An historical sketch of St. Paul's church, Louisville, Ky > Part 3
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L. D. Addison, . . $100 00 James B. Huie, 100 00
J. C. Johnston, . 100 00 B. R. McIlvaine, 50 00
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
25
John P. Smith, . $50 00
D. S. Chambers, . 100 00
Robert N. Miller, .
100 00
George W. Bruce,
50 00
James Stewart,
50 00
Samuel Bell,
50 00
C. Duncan,
25 00
U. E. Ewing,
25 00
W. F. Pettet,
25 00
Samuel Gwathmey,
25 00
John Bustard,
25 00
J. S. Speed,
20 00
Allen Barnett,
20 00
Thomas Armstrong,
20 00
Edward Warren,
20 00
John L. Martin,
20 00
C. E. Bainroth, .
'10 00
Temple Gwathmey,
10 00
Lewellyn Powell,
10 00
George Starkey, .
10 00
Robert C. Thompson,
10 00
Samuel Dickinson, 10 00
J. B. Bowles,
10 00
Tilman McGruder,
10 00
R. P. Gist, .
10 00
John W. Jones, .
10 00
J. T. Maddox,
10 00
Presbury & Co.,
5 00
John Elston, .
5 00
George D. Fetter, .
5 00
P. W. Ward, .
5 00
L. B. Durham,
5 00
William Steel,
F. S. J. Ronald,
5 00
The next recorded meeting was held on the Ioth of December, 1835, in Christ Church, when it was resolved that an effort should be made to secure twenty or more per-
5
,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
sons who would be willing to give their notes for $500 each, to be discounted and used in the building of the church. It was further resolved that those who thus gave their notes should have first choice of the pews in the church when finished. It was further resolved that B. R. McIlvaine, R. C. Thompson, John P. Bull, Lloyd D. Addison, James B. Huie, John P. Smith, James Stewart, Silas Field, Samuel Gwathmey, R. N. Miller, William L. Thompson, William F. Pettet, and D. S. Chambers should be a committee to adopt a plan for the new church, make contracts for the building of it, and to do whatever might be necessary toward the building.
On the 18th of December, 1835, this building committee met, and, with others who had joined them, agreed to the fol- lowing subscriptions by note, as contemplated by the resolu- tion of the previous meeting:
Samuel Gwathmey, $500 00
B. R. McIlvaine, . 500 00
L. D. Addison, 500 00
D. S. Chambers,
500 00
James Stewart, 500 00
George Bruce, 500 00
James B. Huie, . 500 00 Benjamin O. Davis, 500 00
William F. Pettet, . 500 00
J. J. Jacob, 500 00
William Prather, 500 00
William H. Field, 500 00
N. Hardy, . 500 00
Dr. D. W. Desshild, 500 00 James Anderson, jr., . 500 00
! Richard Davis, . 500 00
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Garnett Duncan, $250 00
W. J. Lindenberger, 250 00
J. G. Basset & Co., . 250 00
R. Martin & Co.,
250 00
D. Moore, .
250 00
This last subscription in notes, amounting to $9,250, and the previous one in money, amounting to $1,120, made an aggregate of $10,370. It was but little of what was needed, but it was a start toward getting what was wanted, and in due time the balance came, though it came through great difficulties and at the end of a long time.
Vestrymen Elected.
At the meeting, May the 30th, 1836, the following vestry- men were elected: James B. Huie, Joseph Martin, Robert C. Thompson, Robert N. Miller, Robert N. Smith, John G. Bassett, A. Y. Claggett, J. T. Maddox, and B. O. Davis. After the vestrymen were chosen they elected James B. Huie and Dr. John Martin wardens, and appointed Dr. J. T. Maddox delegate to the Diocesan Convention.
Movement for a Small Church Building.
The next meeting recorded in the minutes was that of the vestry, at the house of James B. Huie, June 3, 1836. At this meeting a committee, consisting of Dr. J. T. Maddox, R. C. Thompson, and James B. Huie, was appointed to ascertain how much of the subscription money would be left
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
after paying for the lot bought for the church, and what it would cost to erect a brick church-building on the lot twen- ty-six feet front by sixty feet deep.
The appointment of this committee of inquiry by the vestry indicates that the vestrymen, at least in part, were at that time in favor of a church 26 by 60 feet, and if such is the fact, it is not to be regretted that the plan of the church had been placed in the hands of the building committee at a previous meeting. A church 26 by 60 would have been inadequate to the wants even of those times, and in a grow- ing city like Louisville it would have been but little better than a waste of the money it would have cost. The build- ing committee fortunately had larger ideas than the vestry, and planned a building with a front of eighty feet on Wal- nut Street by a depth of one hundred feet. It is likely that Mr. Stirewalt, the architect, had something to do with fixing the dimensions of the building, as he did the style of its architecture. Instead of an ill-proportioned little structure, 26 by 60 feet, we have to thank the architect and the build- ing committee for the ample building they wrought out of the scanty means they had on hand. St. Paul's, as it came from the· builders, inspired more respect for religion than could have been gained by any number of churchlets 26 by 60 feet. In discussing the dimensions of the church edifice one of the building committee argued that 26 by 60 feet was fencing off too little territory from the Devil, and that the arch sinner would have too favorable a chance at Christians in such narrow quarters.
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29
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Building 80 by 100 Feet Adopted.
On the 6th of June, 1836, the vestry and building com- mittee met in joint session. They resolved to call in one fourth of the subscriptions to be paid about the Ist of March, 1837, and the balance to be paid in four installments, at from three to four months apart. They also appointed commit- tees for the different wards of the city and for the county of Jefferson to secure additional subscriptions. Nothing is said in the minutes of this meeting about the dimensions of the church, but it is to be presumed from the appoint- ment of committees for additional subscriptions that the building committee had overruled the vestry and decided upon a building 80 by 100 feet instead of 26 by 60.
Vestry of 1837 Elected.
The next meeting recorded in the minute book was in Christ Church, on the 27th of March, 1837. At this meet- ing the following vestrymen were elected for the ensuing year: James B. Huie, Dr. Martin, Robert C. Thompson, B. O. Davis, Dr. Maddox, A. Y. Claggett, Wm. Field, Robert N. Miller, and H. Griswood. The vestrymen then met at the residence of James B. Huie and elected Dr. Martin and A. Y. Claggett wardens. This was the third vestry, there having been none for 1835, either from neglect or from dis- satisfaction with the first organization of the parish in 1834, which led to the second organization in 1836.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
Laying of the Corner-Stone.
The next meeting recorded is one of the vestry without date. It must, however, have been held not long after the one bearing date March 27, 1837; certainly between that date and the 29th of April following. At this meeting it was resolved to invite Bishop Smith to be present and officiate at the laying of the corner-stone of the church edifice. The minutes show that on the 29th of April, 1837, the building committee, the vestry, Right Rev. B. B. Smith, Rev. B. O. Peers, and Robert Ash met at the house of James B. Huie and proceeded to the site of St. Paul's for the purpose of laying the corner-stone. After prayer by Bishop Smith and the usual ceremony, a copper box containing the records of the building committee and vestry, a copy of the Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States and of the State of Kentucky, a copy of each of the three daily papers then published in Louisville, a copy of the Recorder, and a copy of the Churchman were placed in the corner-stone at the north- east corner of the building. An address was then made by Bishop Smith, after which another prayer was offered, when the meeting adjourned.
Financial Disasters of 1837.
The building of St. Paul's, thus begun in the spring of 1837, was destined to slow progress. It had required from September 28, 1834, to April 29, 1837, about two and a half
3I
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
years, to lay the corner-stone, and a financial storm was now about to burst upon the country, which would make another two and a half years necessary before the new church edifice could be occupied. The year 1837 is remembered by the aged, who then were in business, as one of financial dis- asters which made indelible impressions on their minds ; and it has come down in history as a period full of ruin to fortunes. Banks suspended, merchants' notes went to protest, manufacturers ceased making wares they could not sell, and even the farmer suffered for seeds to plant into the reproducing soil. Rich men moved from palaces to hovels, and business of every kind slept under a smother- ing incubus, from which it required years of toil and economy to recover. The business men who weathered this wreck and storm have come down in history and tradition as paragons of finance.
Temporary Quarters for Services.
St. Paul's organization, however, if it could not go on with its building during this terribly hard year, did not go to pieces. On the 17th of February, 1838, the vestry met and appointed a committee to secure a temporary house in the neighborhood of the site of St. Paul's in which to hold services. The minutes give no information as to the action of this committee, and do not indicate what place of worship was secured. Rev. J. W. Craik, in his history of Christ Church, says that the congregation during this time wor-
32
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
shiped in the Mechanics' Institute, on Sixth Street, south of Walnut. The Directory of 1837 locates this building on Cen- ter between Walnut and Chestnut. It comes down in tradi- tion also, that during part of this time the congregation of St. Paul's worshiped in a school-house which stood on the court- house lot on Fifth Street, between Jefferson and Court Place. This building had been erected by the trustees of Louisville and the justices of Jefferson County in 1805 for a public school, and had, since then, been used by all denominations of Christians for worship, as the court-house had been used for the same purpose. Here Rev. B. O. Peers, so distinguished in the cause of education as almost to have been forgotten as a minister, gathered the little flock of St. Paul's for Sunday worship, though nothing appears in the minutes to show that he had even been regularly installed as rector. In the exercise of that generous nature for which he was distin- guished, Mr. Peers was probably ministering to the nascent congregation of St. Paul's without holding the formal office of rector. The only allusion to Mr. Peers in the minutes which could be construed into any thing like the office of rector occurs in the meeting of the vestry, April 24, 1838, where Mr. Jackson is mentioned as rector of Christ Church, and Mr. Peers, in the same connection, as "officiating for St. Paul's Parish." If he had been rector of St. Paul's, there is no apparent reason why the same language should not have been applied to him that was applied to Mr. Jackson. It would have been as easy to call him rector, if he was rec- tor, as to say he was officiating.
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Rev. B. O. Peers.
Benjamin Orr Peers was a native of Virginia, where he was born in Loudon County in ISoo. He was a son of Maj. Valentine Peers, who distinguished himself as an officer dur- ing the American Revolution, and came with his parents to Kentucky in 1802. He was educated at Transylvania Uni- versity, where he became a member of the faculty and Pro- fessor of Moral Philosophy at the early age of twenty-seven. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry at Princeton College, but changing his ecclesiastical views after graduation, he was ordained Deacon in the Episcopal Church by Bishop Moore, of Virginia, in 1826. He felt, however, that his voca- tion was that of an educator, and to this end devoted his life. In 1829, by authority of the State of Kentucky, he visited the Eastern States to learn the advantages of their educa- tional system, and his report to the legislature was able and exhaustive on the subject. This report, in connection with that made by the committee, of which W. T. Barry was chair- man, in 1822, was the foundation on which our common- school system was built. In 1833 he became President of Transylvania University, and in 1838 was placed at the head of the educational interests of the Episcopal Church. He died at Louisville, Ky., in 1842, and is justly remembered as one of the most thorough and accomplished educators of his times. His daughter, Miss Belle Peers. an accomplished and successful educator, now dwells among us and continues the good work of the father into another generation.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH CF
Christ Church Helps to Build St. Paul's.
At the meeting of the vestry just mentioned-April 24, 1838-it was resolved to unite the congregations of St. Paul's and Christ churches in a joint effort to secure the completion of the building of St. Paul's. This action no doubt grew out of the influence and purposes of Rev. I'm. Jackson, then rector of Christ Church. His popular and zealous preaching in Christ Church had filled that building to overflowing, and there was a crying necessity for other quarters. Mr. Jackson took hold of the matter with his wonted energy, and so handled the two congregations in joint action that they progressed as one body without the jealousies usually attendant upon such movements. St. Paul's became the work of Christ Church as it was the work of St. Paul's, and the result was that the building began to rise and did not stop until the walls were up, the roof on, and the interior fitted for worship.
New Vestry Elected.
The next meeting noted in the minutes was on the Ist of April, 1839, at which Samuel Gwathmey, Wm. H. Field, James B. Huie, Wm. F. Pettet, John P. Smith, R. N. Miller, J. P. Bull, A. Y. Claggett, and S. K. Grant were elected vestrymen for the ensuing year. On the 19th of the same month the vestry met and elected Samuel Gwathmey and John P. Smith wardens.
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Records of Building Committee.
At this meeting John P. Smith was appointed a com- mittee to call upon Richard Barnes for a copy of the pro- ceedings of the building committee since the joint action of St. Paul's and Christ churches. If copies of these proceed- ings were obtained, it is to be regretted that they were not transcribed in the minute book of St. Paul's. Nothing ap- pears in the minute book about the proceedings of the build- ing committee except the placing of a copy in the corner-stone of the church edifice. With this exception the seeker after information must look outside for what was done in erecting the church-building. It can not be learned from the minutes how the church progressed after the laying of the corner- stone, nor when it was finished, nor when even it was conse- crated. One might almost infer from the meagerness of the minutes on this subject that when a copy of the proceedings of the building committee was intended to be placed in the corner-stone, that rather the original was there deposited without a copy being kept.
1555859 -
Progress of the Church Building.
There are now and then, however, statements made in the minutes from which we can infer that the building of the church edifice was progressing and reaching a completion. At the meeting of April 19, 1839, for instance, a committee of ladies, consisting of Mrs. Wm. Jackson, Mrs. Dr. Powell,
T
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
and Miss Hendrick, were appointed to raise money for the purchasing of a carpet for the church. Also a bill for clear- ing away the brick from the front of the church was ordered to be paid, and Mr. Pettet was authorized to advance $200 for the building of an organ. Again, at the meeting on Sep- tember 9, 1839, it was resolved that the basement of the church- building should be graded and paved, that a fence should be put around the building. that columns should be placed under the girders, and tin down pipes on the walls. It was further resolved at this meeting, that if any five or six gentlemen would lend their notes for $100 each to pay for these things, the money should be refunded to them out of the first moneys that came to the church " not otherwise appropri- ated." Under this resolution John P. Smith, James B. Huie, Samuel Gwathmey, John P. Bull, G. IV. Bruce, and S. K. Grant each promptly gave his note for $100. These things would hardly have been done unless the church-building was nearing completion, or at least approaching a state in which it could be used for worship.
Rev. Wm. Jackson First Rector.
.At this last-named meeting, September 9, 1839, Rev. Wm. Jackson, then rector of Christ Church, was made rector of St. Paul's. As something has been said about Rev. B. O. . Peers officiating for St. Paul's Church without being its formal rector, as many erroneously think he was, it may be well here to copy from the minutes what was said and
37
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
done when Mr. Jackson was made rector. The following is the preamble and resolutions :
" WHEREAS, It leing understood by the vestry of St. Paul's Church and building committee of same, and all interested in its erection, that said church was to be occupied by and placed under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Wm. Jackson; therefore, it was
"Resolved, That the said Wm. Jackson be recognized as rector of the same, and be requested to enter upon its charge from the time of its conse- cration.
" Resolved, That a copy of the above be handed to the Rev. Wm. Jackson."
First Owners of Pets.
The last meeting of the vestry recorded in the first min- ute book was on the 16th of September, 1839. At this meet- ing it was resolved to meet in the church-building on the next day to fix the prices at which the various pews should be sold and rented. Nothing is afterward noted as to this meeting of the 17th, but there immediately follows a list of notes taken for pews which must have been disposed of, and which is here reproduced for the purpose of showing the early friends and supporters of the new parish. The list aggregates the sum of $11,692.55, and is as follows:
John Bustard,
Ormsby Hite,
$700 00
J. Anderson, jr.,
J. Newton, ,
235 00
S. K. Grant,
R. J. Swearingen,
290 50
Henry Fletcher,
75 00
H. Carey, .
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
Joseph T. Morris, .1
$310 00
Edwin Morris, .
Samuel Gwathmey,
Henry S. Tyler, 75 00
J. G. Bassett,
Thomas Bates, 175 00
John Barbee,
Dan Fetter, jr., .265 00
J. B. Foster, .
Thomas Kane,
562 00
Thomas N. McGrath, j
Hamilton Smith, 505 00
B. O. Davis, .
James Speed,
460 00
J. Speed,
B. O. Davis, .
Robert N. Miller,
John P. Smith, .
220 00
W. W. Worsley,
M. Kenneday, . 480 00
E. Webb,
W. Nesbit, 89 IO
J. Everett,
W. F. Pettet, 198 00
W. J. Lindenberger,
E. W. Rupert, 55 00
J. C. Ford,
90 00
John S. Snead,
Wm. F. Pettet, . 140 00
A. Throckmorton,
J. Everett,
705 00
Thomas Forsyth,
Paul Reinhard, 570 00
Richard S. Davis,
William N. Bullitt, . 360 co
Prentice & Weisinger, § 720 00
William Prather, .
M. Prather,
85 00
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
James Hewett,
$340 00
W. B. Clifton,
A. Gray,
335 00
P. R. Thompson,
C. C. Spencer, .
S. Twitahill, .
D. S. Chambers,
152 18
W. Garvin & Co.,
C. M. Strader, .
605 00
James Thompson,
R. Steel,
455 00
Levi Tyler,
F. S. J. Ronald,
302 50
John P. Bull,
260 00
J. W. Knight,
305 00
M. J. Ballard,
D. B. Leight, -
268 57
J. Maxwell,
280 00
F. W. Prescott,
N. T. Burnley,
Ch. J. Clark,
585 00
Paul Reinhard,
140 00
Martin Reinhard,
Consecration of St. Paul's.
With the walls of the church-building up, the roof on the floor laid, the rubbish cleared away, the lot fenced in, an organ bought, the floor carpeted, and pews sold to the amount of $11,692.55, we should naturally think the building about ready for consecration and use. Nothing, however, appears in the minutes to this effect. It would seem that the recorder
300 00
J. P. Smith,
D. B. Leight,
John P. Bull,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
thought when the church was finished his work was likewise done, and that there was no further use for records. Hence we must look outside for the consecration of the church and its passing from the hands of the builders to Christian wor- ship. Mr. Craik, in his history of Christ Church, mentions the 6th of October, 1839, as the day on which St. Paul's was consecrated, and so does Mr. Robinson in his sketch pub- lished in the History of the Falls Cities. This is believed to be the true date of the consecration. As has been previously stated, the consecration sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Henshaw, of Baltimore, on the 6th of October, 1839, to the largest congregation that had perhaps ever assembled in any church in Louisville; for St. Paul's was then the largest church in the city, and it was crowded to its full capacity. It is to be regretted that the sermon preached by Bishop Henshaw has not been preserved among the records of the church. Like the address of Bishop Smith at the laying of the corner-stone, it has not been cared for, and thus have perished from its archives two important chapters in the his- tory of the parish. The 6th of October, 1839, was on Sunday, and by a happy coincidence in Nature's marshaling of the days in their flight over the earth the 6th of October at the end of fifty years is on Sunday again in 1889. The semi-centennial of St. Paul's therefore blends with the Sab- bath of the Lord, and borrows additional solemnity from the union. It is worthy of being remembered also, that the first meeting in behalf of St. Paul's, September 28, 1834, was on Sunday.
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
First Communion in St. Paul's.
On Sunday the 27th of October, 1839, the first com- munion was held in St. Paul's, and on that occasion the fol- lowing members of Christ Church came with their rector, Rev. Wm. Jackson, and became communicants of St. Paul's :
John Bustard,
Mrs. William L. Booth,
Miss Margaret Bustard,
Mrs. Adelaide Dumesnil,
David S. Chambers,
Mrs. Early.
Mrs. David S. Chambers,
Mrs. Wares,
John P. Smith,
Miss Catherine Raddie,
Mrs. John P. Smith,
Mrs. Dr. Brite,
Samuel Gwathmey,
Mr. Joseph C. Talbot,
Mrs. Samuel Gwathmey,
Mrs. Joseph C. Talbot,
Dr. Llewellyn Powell,
Mrs. Ronald,
Mrs. Dr. Llewellyn Powell, Mr. Elston,
Mrs. J. B. Forde,
Mrs. Thushley,
Mrs. Elston,
Mrs. McCue,
Mr. William F. Pettet,
Mrs. Toumgold,
Mrs. William F. Pettet,
Mr. Robert N. Miller,
Mrs. Neben Carter,
Mrs. Robert N. Miller,
Mrs. Jefferson Clarke,
Mrs. Judge Miller,
Mrs. Webb,
Mr. Earley,
Miss Beers,
Mr. William L. Booth,
Miss Howe,
Mr. L. Pike Maury,
Mrs. Wm. C. Peters,
Mr. A. Y. Claggett,
Mrs. Caroline Anderson,
Mrs. Martha Snead,
Miss Early,
Mrs. John P. Bull,
Mrs. John A. Reed,
Mrs. Theodore Kane, Mrs. Richard Steele,
Mrs. Young Young,
Mr. L. Grant,
Mr. Woods,
Mrs. Grant,
Mrs. B. O. Davis,
Mrs. Marie Berry,
Mr. Richard A. Robinson,
Mrs. Martin,
Mr. Goldsborough Robinson,
7
Mrs. Stevens,
Mrs. Judge Speed,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
Mr. J. Reinhard,
Mrs. Myra Pearce,
Mr. Paul Reinhard,
Mrs. Mary Miller,
Mrs. Paul Reinhard,
Mr. Gilpin,
Miss Martha Reinhard,
Mrs. Gilpin,
Mrs. J. S. Gordon,
Mrs. Dr. Knight,
Mrs. Sarah M. Phillips,
Mrs. Susan D. Peasley,
Mrs. Strader,
Mrs. D. B. Leight,
Mrs. Rowland,
Mrs. Emmeline E. Payne,
Mrs. Wm. H. Booth,
Mrs. Adele Everett,
Mrs. Sarah Fitch,
Mrs. E. M. Scantland,
Mrs. Amanda Kendrick,
Miss Mary Payne,
Dr. B. H. Hall,
Mrs. J. Lindenberger,
Mrs. Dr. Hall,
Mrs. Dr. Donne,
Mrs. Judge Brown,
Mrs. May A. Jackson,
Miss Mary Brown,
Mrs. N. Read,
Mrs. Wilson,
Mr. Parker.
Mrs. Sands,
This list of names is in the hand-writing of Rev. Wm. Jackson, the first rector, and has been literally copied. Full Christian names might have been supplied in some instances, and in others the middle names or letters, but it was thought best to transcribe the list just as it came from the hands of Mr. Jackson. The omissions. in Mr. Jackson's list will hardly cause any not to recognize friends or relations.
Survivors of the First Communicants.
Of the ninety-one communicants thus listed who joined in the first celebration of the Lord's Supper in St. Paul's on the 27th of October, 1839, only five are known to be now living. All the others-eighty-six out of ninety-one-have gone from among us forever. They either sleep in the old graveyards
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43
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
of the city or in the new cemeteries, or have laid them down to rest in places more or less distant from our city. The good shepherd who on that occasion, fifty years ago, came with his flock from Christ Church to St. Paul's, and wrote their names on the first leaves of the church register, and hoped with the fullness of his great heart to watch over them for years, was among the first of them to sleep the sleep which knows no waking. The five survivors are Richard A. Rob- inson, Mrs. Sarah Fitch, Miss Mary F. G. Brown, Mrs. Sarah A. Leight, and Mrs. Amelia N. Donne-one man and four women-one of the stronger of our race and four of the weaker. The occasion demands some notice of these vener- able Christians who are the only living links in the mortal chain that binds us to the first sacrament of St. Paul's.
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