USA > Kentucky > Jefferson County > Louisville > An historical sketch of St. Paul's church, Louisville, Ky > Part 5
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59
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
deacon in 1847, and ordained priest in 1848. He was rector of Kanawha Parish from IS47 to 1849, of St. James' Parish from 1849 to 1852, and of Grace Church, Berryville, from 1852 to 1857. In 1867 he was elected Assistant Bishop of Virginia, which led to his resignation of the rectorship of St. Paul's in February, 1868, after having filled the office for more than ten years. Upon the death of Bishop Johns, in 1876, he was made Bishop of Virginia, and when the Diocese of West Virginia was formed, in 1877, he chose the old diocese, in which he yet remains Bishop. His earnest and impressive sermons, his constant attention to the wants of his parish, and his fine 'social qualities, made Bishop Whittle a great favorite in Louisville, and many were the regrets when he reached his decision to resign his rectorship. He was here during the civil war, and his great tact in making himself offensive to neither side, while strictly attending to his min- isterial duties, insured a harmony in St. Paul's which could hardly have been attained by any other course. During his administration the church of St. Paul's prospered, in spite of the impediments of the civil war covering one half the period. The rectory to the south of the church-building, a three-story brick residence, standing on a lot with a front of sixty feet on Sixth Street, was purchased during his administration. Zion Church, a fourth colony from St. Paul's, on the corner of Eight- eenth and Chestnut streets, was established, and St. Paul's Chapel, in the northwestern part of the city, was also organ- ized. Never before were the missionary activities of the par- ish so great nor devout Christian workers so numerous as in
60
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
the later years of Mr. Whittle's administration. In 1860 the Methodist Church, known as Sehon Chapel, on the corner of Third and Guthrie streets, was purchased by members of St. Paul's and Christ churches, and subsequently deeded to the wardens and vestry of Calvary Church. And thus came into being the present flourishing parish of Calvary. Dur- ing the administration of Mr. Whittle there were 347 bap- · tisms, 270 confirmations, and 409 communicants added to the church. When he resigned there were 382 communi- cants in the church.
Rev. Edmund Taylor Perkins.
Rev. Edmund Taylor Perkins, of Leesburg, Va., was elected rector of St. Paul's in March, 1868, and in May fol- lowing came to Louisville and entered upon his duties. He has continued his rectorship from that distant date to the present time-a period of more than twenty-one years- doubly as long as Bishop Whittle held it, and longer than the combined period of rectors Jackson, Gallagher, Rooker, and Denison. During this protracted period he has so en- deared himself to the congregation by his unwearied atten- tion to their wants and his sterling religious character, by his offices at weddings and funerals and baptisms and confirm- ations, at the fireside and in the pulpit, that he has become an indispensable part and parcel of the parish itself. Dr. Perkins was born in Richmond, Va., on the 5th of October, 1823, and was educated at the Alexandria Episcopal High
REV. EDMUND T. PERKINS, D. D.,
Present Rector of St. Paul's, 18%).
61
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
School and the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon in 1847, and promoted to the priesthood in 1848. Before coming to Louisville he was rector of Trinity Church, Parkersburg, Va., for six years; then eight years at Wheeling Va .; then one year at Smithfield, in the Isle of Wight County, Va., and finally two years at St. James' Church, in Leesburg, Va., whence he came to this city. Dur- ing the civil war he held the positions of missionary at large for the Episcopal Church of Virginia and chaplain at large for the Confederate Government. Many anecdotes are told of him during the war of how he neither feared cannon-balls nor contagious diseases in ministering to the needs of the sick and dying soldiers. Wherever duty called he went, through sunshine and cloud, through heat and cold, with an eye single to the spiritual needs of the soldiers, neither hear- ing the thunders of hostile artillery on the one side nor see- ing dangers on the other. During the administration of Dr. Perkins the congregation of St. Paul's has been enlarged, and the off-shoots of the church strengthened. The church prop- erty of St. Andrew's, a mission of St. Paul's, on Chestnut between Ninth and Tenth streets, was sold in 1865, and in 1868 a new church edifice was erected on an ample lot, 150 by 200, on the northeast corner of Kentucky and Second streets. which was the gift of Richard A. Robinson. The wisdom of this change has been fully shown by the progress of St. Andrew's in its new quarters. St. Andrew's is now a flourishing parish, and before long its congregation will wor- ship in yet another new church-building, larger and more in
62
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
accordance with the demands of the times. In 1869 Mrs. Helen Key, a member of St. Paul's, gave the ground, and, with a few others, furnished the means to build the church and rectory of St. Matthew's at Gillman's Point, some five miles from the city, in Jefferson County. St. Matthew's is one of the oldest parishes in the diocese, having been represented in the diocesan conventions as early as 1840. Its first build- ings, however, were consumed by fire, and the communicants were without a gathering-place of their own until Mrs. Key made this gift. Mrs. Key was a daughter of Hon. Alexander Scott Bullitt, one of the most distinguished of the Kentucky pioneers, and went to her long home but a few years ago, after living a protracted Christian life, and leaving St. Matthew's as a monument to her memory more durable than stone. Changes for the better occurred in consolidating St. Paul's Chapel, at the corner of Eighteenth and Rowan streets, with Emanuel, at the corner of Fourteenth and Maple, and mak- ing of them Emanuel Mission, at the corner of Fourteenth and Broadway, and finally disposing of the property of the Emanuel Mission and devoting the proceeds to the estab- lishment of the present flourishing Zion, at the corner of Eighteenth and Chestnut streets. Emanuel Chapel, which disappeared in this change and consolidation, was chiefly the creation of William H. Merriweather, one of our most tire- less and devoted Christian workers. Mr. Merriweather's efforts in establishing Emanuel can not, however, be fruitless as long as they are represented as they now are in the pros- perous church of Zion, at the corner of Eighteenth and
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SCE
ST. PAUL'S, LOUISVILLE, KY.,
As enlarged, with Chapel and Rectory, 1889.
1
63
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Chestnut streets. In 1869 began, in St. Paul's, the move- ment which resulted in the establishment of the John N. Norton Infirmary. This noble charity is deemed by many as one of the most important works that has been accom- plished during the administration of Dr. Perkins. It sup- plies a home, with the comforts of domestic life and the advantages of science, to the infirm and the afflicted, whose surroundings in life shut them out from these advantages. It has already proven a blessing to many, and as the years come and go in the future these blessings will be multiplied and extended.
Enlargement of St. Paul's.
In 1872 St. Paul's Church building was so greatly en- larged and improved that it practically became a new and modern edifice. The original building, in the form of a parallelogram, So by 100 feet, was changed to the Egyptian cross by adding to the west end a new structure 44 feet east and west by 118 feet north and south. The auditorium of the old building became the nave of the enlarged structure, and the north and south additions its transepts, while the middle addition became the chancel. In the north transept the organ was placed, and in the south additional seats for the congrega- tion. The building thus enlarged has fifty-four side pews, one hundred and two middle pews, and seventeen transept benches, with a seating capacity of 930, which other seats in different parts of the building increase about one hundred, making an entire seating capacity of 1,030, although in the alterations
64
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
the gallery, which was a part of the original building, with considerable seating capacity, was removed. A handsome chapel was also erected on the lot to the north of the church- building, and the Sunday-school transferred thereto from the old basement. The whole of these improvements cost about $50,000, and made St. Paul's again one of the largest and best arranged church edifices in the city. On the 4th of September, 1873, Bishop Cummins preached a beautiful ser- mon commemorative of the reopening of the church-build- ing in its new dress. His text was from Haggai, second chapter, ninth verse: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of Hosts: and in this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." The text was peculiarly appropriate and the sermon full of elo- quence and beauty. Bishop Cummins, like the great con- gregation who heard him, was really delighted with the fine appearance the church made, and his feelings manifested themselves in his words. The choir seemed also inspired by the new and imposing appearance of the church, with the organ taken from the gallery and placed in the north tran- sept, and gave such music as had seldom been heard in St. Paul's, though celebrated for its music.
Dr. Perkins is a finished scholar, a thorough theologian, and of extensive and varied learning. His sermons, almost always read, are scholarly and logical, and delivered in a forcible and earnest manner. He makes no attempt at ora- tory or display, but tells what he has to say in such a plain and straightforward manner that there is no difficulty in un-
65
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
derstanding what he says or following him in the thread of his argument. During Dr. Perkins' rectorship there have been 1,159 baptisms, 776 confirmations, and 1,048 communi- cants added to the 382 left by Bishop Whittle. There are now 561 communicants remaining after the numerous deple- tions by colonizations, removals, and deaths.
Rev. Percy Gordon, Assistant Rector.
Within the last few years the multiplied duties of the rector of St. Paul's grew so onerous that an assistant became a necessity. Last year this office was tendered to Rev. Percy Gordon, who accepted it. Mr. Gordon is a native of Savan- nah, Ga., and was rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Decatur, Ala., when he came to Louisville. He was born in Savannah in 1862, and educated at the University of Virginia and at Columbia College, New York. His edu- cation fitted him for the law, but he had not been long at the practice when he reached the conviction that his duties were those of a minister of the gospel. He promptly threw aside his Blackstone and took up his Bible instead. He was ordained deacon in 1886, and in 1888 raised to the priest- hood. He is a young minister of fine address, and reads the Church Service as but few can read it. His sermons are well prepared, and then delivered orally in a pleasing and unostentatious style. The short time that he has been here has made him many friends in the congregation, and given bright omens of his future usefulness and success.
IO
66
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
Vestry of 1889.
The present vestry of St. Paul's consists of the following members: Richard A. Robinson, J. H. Lindenberger, John T. Moore, Dexter Hewitt, William H. Dillingham, George S. Allison, Charles H. Pettet, E. N. Maxwell, N. B. Gantt, William H. Byers, and B. M. Creel. There is an unfilled vacancy caused by the death of Judge Bullock.
Hon. William F. Bullock.
William F. Bullock, a native Kentuckian, was born near Lexington, Ky., in 1807. He was graduated from Transyl- vania University at the early age of seventeen, and while in college was distinguished for scholarly attainments and orator- ical gifts of a high order. After studying law in Lexington he came to Louisville at the age of twenty-one, and began the practice. He rapidly rose to distinction at the bar, and in 1846 was appointed by the Governor Judge of the Fifth Ju- dicial District. He remained upon the bench until 1855, when he again returned to the practice. He became a member of St. Paul's September. 24, 1843, and during his long connec- tion with the church as communicant, vestryman, and warden, was as distinguished for his religious character as he was in secular life for learning, ability, and probity, as lawyer, legisla- tor, and judge. He died August 9, 1889, aged eighty-two.
Of these vestrymen, Richard A. Robinson is senior war- den, and J. H. Lindenberger junior warden, E. N. Maxwell is treasurer, and William H. Byers secretary.
67
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
Standing Committees, 1889.
The standing committees are on building, on accounts, and on music. The Building Committee consists of Charles H. Pettet, Dexter Hewitt, and B. M. Creel. The Commit- tee on Accounts consists of E. N. Maxwell, Charles H. Pettet, and N. B. Gantt. The Committee on Music consists W. H. Dillingham, George S. Allison, and William H. Byers.
The Choir of St. Paul's.
The present choir consists of a quartette and chorus, of which J. M. Semple is organist, Mrs. John M. Byers, soprano, : Mrs. Dorothea Berthel, contralto, Clement A. Stapleford, tenore, and Lewis A. Williams, basso. In this quartette of well-balanced voices Mrs. Byers raises her clear sweet voice to the highest notes with ease, while Mr. Williams descends to the lowest with a massive volume of melody, and also rises to the heights of the superb tenor. Mrs. Berthel, with a volume and range of voice rarer even than that of Mr. Williams, glides with marvelous sweetness from high C to low C over three full octaves, and Mr. Stapleford, though not distinguished for either volume or range of voice, brings to his tenors a fine culture which yields sweet and commanding melody. The late Edward Gunter, one of the most accom- plished musicians that Louisville ever had, was the pioneer organist of St. Paul's, and established for its choir the high character it has since maintained for music.
68
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
Tabulated Information of the Diocese.
The difficulty of obtaining statistical information about St. Paul's has induced me to make the following tabulated statement of such information as rectors usually supply at diocesan conventions. The journals of these conventions are so seldom preserved, and in full sets so rare and inacces- sible, that it is believed that this table will be of value to a great number of persons. It will at least give information about St. Paul's that ought to be known at its semi-centen- nial, and that it would be difficult to obtain from any other source.
RECTOR.
YEAR.
BAPTISMS.
CONFIRMATIONS.
MARRIAGES.
FUNERALS.
ADDED
COMMUNICANTS.
REMAINING
COMMUNICANTS.
SUNDAY-SCHOOL
PUPILS.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Jackson, .
1839
4
·
3
I
6
97
1840
5I
22
8
20
22
·
.
1841
25
24
9
I6
I3
91
1842
29
22
IO
14
36
113
152
$230 00
1843
33
·
5
15
II
III
190
11,267 00
Smith, . . pro tem.
1844
36
19
4
I3
23
I30
.
.
Gallagher,
1845
46
2I
4
I2
37
156
130
3,100 45
1846
65
14
IO
19
28
177
I,C92 23
1847
40
40
7
IO
42
204
1,965 92
1848
53
35
I 2
15
39
176
718 50
.
204
IIO
43
46
146
. .
6,877 10
.
·
140
68
35
56
88
11,497 00
69
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
RECTOR.
YEAR.
BAPTISMS.
CONFIRMATIONS.
MARRIAGES.
FUNERALS.
ADDED
COMMUNICANTS.
REMAINING
COMMUNICANTS.
SUNDAY-SCHOOL
PUPILS.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Rooker,
.
1849
14
.
3
I
210
96
$1,058 05
1850
27
I 2
5
IO
20
164
360
4,445 85
1851
25
II
5
7
25
178
363
5,654 23
1852
1853
66
23
13
18
45
11,158 13
Denison, .
1854
15
II
2
3
29
181
150
1,114 64
1855
3I
25
7
16
25
198
460
3,065 33
1856
25
22
16
IS
41
215
500
7,225 65
1857
33
23
5
20
28
233
450
5,653 21
. .
104
81
29
57
123
17,058 83
Whittle, .
1858
30
27
7
8
40
256
272
5,880 57
1859
35
29
II
8
32
298
240
7,181 72
1860
33
I6
8
24
19
310
250
7,820 95
1861
28
31
13
16
31
315
306
6,205 91
1862
39
29
IO
12
42
325
250
2,651 50
1863
32
I7
8
31
39
333
220
3,286 40
1864
42
14
9
29
32
330
. .
10,323 15
1865
2.4
21
17
37
50
344
200
11,169 30
1866
39
47
24
2I
63
361
200
10,841 20
1867
45
39
16
39
61
382
725
19,804 10
347
270
123
225
409
.
85,164 80
Perkins,
1868
113
37
18
25
50
407
977
8,460 41
1869
29
32
I3
18
55
416
1,122
21,233 97
1870
68
44
I3
24
85
453
1,218
26,413 99
1871
62
53
13
30
64
489
1,350
30,056 05
1872
58
23
16
20
52
506
1,200|
29,500 65
1873
50
26
16
28|
52
506
550
49,216 45
1874
86
31
13
27
79
518
525
29,627 30
Special.
46
35
9
29
63
535
500
21,217 65
1876
49
15
10
35
46
544
450
14,959 44
1877
51
47
15
32
71
577
500
18,134 93
1878
63
32
1 2
26
52
580
.
16,853 75
.
.
.
·
·
1
70
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
RECTOR.
YEAR.
BAPTISMS.
CONFIRMATIONS.
MARRIAGES.
FUNERALS.
ADDED
COMMUNICANTS.
REMAINING
COMMUNICANTS.
SUNDAY-SCHOOL
PUPILS.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Perkins, .
1879
47
2 I
II
33
35
585
370
$17,164 05
1880
30
12|
15
2I
12
585
370
9.900 07
1881
36
20
I2
2I
23
591
400
14,397 66
IS82
43
26
14
2 I
37
575
425
25,965 29
1883
44
23
12
25
33
580
430
21.176 82
1884
65
25
20
33
31
525
450
18,000 00
1885
61
49
16
30
64
545
330
17,003 28
1886
56
3I
14
28
46
540
323
13,968 51
1887
25
32
9
21
43
547
375
28,006 74
1888
36
34
15
31
40
537
350
24,346 38
1889
41
28
14
35
15
561
175
18.360 64
1,159
776
300
593
1,048
473,971 03
AGGREGATES UNDER THE DIFFERENT RECTORS.
RECTOR.
YEAR.
. BAPTISMS.
CONFIRMATIONS.
MARRIAGES.
FUNERALS.
ADDED
COMMUNICANTS.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Jackson, .
1839-43
140
68
35
56
89
$11,497 00
Smith, pro tem,
1844
36
19
4
13
23
Gallagher,
1845-48
204
IIO
43
46
146
6,877
IO
Rooker,
1849-53
66
23
13
18
45
11, 158
13
Denison,
1854-57
104
8I
29
57
123
17,058 83
Whittle,
1858-67
347
270
123
225
409
85,164 80
Perkins,
1868-89
1,159
776
300
593
1,048
473,971 03
Totals,
2,056
1,347
547
1,008
1,882
605,726 89
These figures tell their own story. They need no expla- nation. They give the growth of St. Paul's for the first
.
71
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
fifty years of its existence as nothing else could tell the story. They show that during the half century of the life of the church there have been 2,056 human beings baptized by its rectors, and 1,347 confirmed by its bishops; that there were 547 couples who stood before its bridal altar, and 1,008 lifeless forms that went down to the grave with its blessings ; that there have been many thousands of children instructed in its Sunday-school, and 1,882 communicants added to the original church; and that the vast sum of $605,726.89 has been contributed, under its auspices, to the various objects of religion and charity which came within its protecting care. Add to this the $50,000 originally spent on the church- building and lot, and the various sums known not to be em- 1 braced in the estimate, and we have fully three quarters of a million of dollars, if not more, expended by this church during the fifty years of its life, or at the average rate of $15,000 per year in the grand cause of human beings in this world and human souls in the world to come. The picture thus presented by the figures in our table is one upon which all may look with pride and thanks on this semi-centennial day-this jubilee of St. Paul's.
First Episcopal Church in Louisville.
Our citizens are accustomed to regard Christ as the first Episcopal Church in Louisville, and St. Paul's as the second. This, however, is an error for which our historians are more or less responsible. The Rev. Williams Kavanaugh, father
E
72
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
of the late Bishop of the Methodist Church in Kentucky, had a Protestant Episcopal Church in Louisville during the first years of the present century. Mr. Kavanaugh was origi- nally a Methodist, but toward the close of the last century came over to the Episcopalians and remained in that faith to his death. Mr. Craik, in his history of Christ Church, speaks of Mr. Kavanaugh as having come with the Hites to the Beargrass settlement as an Episcopalian minister in 1784. Mr. Craik was right about Mr. Kavanaugh being an early Episcopalian minister here, but probably wrong about the date. The most indisputable proof, however, that Mr. Kavanaugh was an Episcopalian minister, with a church in Louisville as early as 1803, will be found in the records of our old Circuit Court. In those early days it was the custom, when a party sued could not be found in the State to be served with process, to issue against him or her a warning order, and to have this warning order read at church imme- diately after service. There will be found in the records of our old Circuit Court such orders in the cases of Hite against Marsh, Carneal against Lacassagne, etc., etc. These orders direct that they shall be posted at the court-house door, published in the Farmers' Library, and "read at the Rev. Williams Kavanaugh's meeting-house, in Louisville, on some Sunday immediately after divine service." The writer has files of the old Farmers' Library, a weekly newspaper, published in Louisville from 1800 to 1808, in which these notices appear, and also has copies of these warning orders from cases in the old Circuit Court, and they are as here rep-
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V
73
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
resented. We can not doubt, therefore, that Rev. Williams Kavanaugh had an Episcopal Church in Louisville as early as 1803, and this was more than twenty years before Christ Church was organized, and more than thirty before St. Paul's. It was. in fact, eight years before the Catholic chapel near the corner of Tenth and Main streets, which the historians put down as the first church of Louisville, was begun.
Pioneer Preaching in Louisville.
Our historians have been wont to be a little hard on the religious character of the early dwellers at the Falls of the Ohio, and to present them to their descendants as living without religion, without ministers of the gospel, and with- out churches. And yet tradition, confirmed by court records, assures us that there were holy men who visited the early forts and preached to pioneers who were glad to hear their sacred words. In the early forts of Louisville, Squire Boone, a brother of the celebrated Daniel, William Whittaker, Terah Templin, John Whittaker, Elijah Craig, William Hickman, Joshua Morris, Benjamin Linn, Wilson Lee, William Taylor, and others, are known to have preached; and near the cor- ner of the present Twelfth and Main streets there was a church on a lot belonging to Jacob Myers, in which minis- ters of all denominations preached to congregations that were glad to hear them years before Kentucky became an independent State. This Twelfth-street Church was an hum- ble one, built of logs from the surrounding forest and cov-
II
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74
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
ered with clapboards, with no floor but the native soil, and no spotless linen and burnished silver for its communion table ; and yet the words of truth then preached by ministers clad in buckskin hunting shirts, with their rifles by their sides " as they preached, were listened to by pioneers with the re- spect that should shield them from coming down in history as dwellers in a churchless and godless town. The records of our County Court show that ministers of the gospel were in Louisville as early as 1784, uniting citizens in marriage, and the presumption is not violent that they preached here as well as performed the marriage ceremony. Besides the forts and the old church on Twelfth Street, the court-house and the school-house on the public square were used in com- mon by preachers of all denominations. It was not unusual also for ministers of particular denominations to hold meet- ings and preach at private houses. The Baptists, before they had their church at the corner of Green and Fifth streets, held meetings at the residence of Mr. Lampton; the Meth- odists, anterior to their church on Market, between Eighth and Ninth, held meetings at the residence of Mr. Farquar; the Presbyterians, before their church on Fourth, between Jefferson and Market, held meetings at Mr. Steel's, and the Catholics, before their chapel on Tenth Street, near Main, held meetings at the hospitable house of Michael Lacassgne. These instances are a few only of the many private houses that were used for public worship in early times. That the dwellers at the Falls gambled and drank and fought and bit off one another's ears, and did many bad things, as our his-
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75
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, LOUISVILLE.
torians tell us. may be frankly admitted; but that they were the preacherless and churchless and godless set that they are represented to us is a calumny upon them and upon their descendants. In 1775 Rev. John Lyth, an Episcopal min- ister, performed divine service for the Transylvania colonists assembled at Boonesborough, and in 1778 Rev. Ichabod Camp, another Episcopalian, preached to the soldiers of Gen- eral Clark and the emigrant families on Corn Island. From these early days until churches were built in Louisville min- isters preached in the forts, in the court-house, in the public school-house, and in private residences; and our pioneer fathers were never a godless set, without preachers and without churches in the wilderness.
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