USA > Louisiana > The Diocese of Louisiana, some of its history, 1838-1888; also some of the history of its parishes and missions, 1805-1888 > Part 4
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Bishop Polk was ever urging the Diocese to increased mis- sionary effort. In 1847. he said he had again to call attention to the importance of increased contributions. "I would urge." he said, "the duty of making this object one of importance in the estimation of every member of the Diocese." In 1850. he noted a decided improvement in the interest exhibited in missionary work. evineing " a more enlightening and true appreciation of our obligations." Again. he said. " The cause of missions is pre-emi- nently the cause of Christ. as it is the impersonation of the work He came to do." In 1856, he asked for this work. still larger share of attention than it had yet received.
Bishop Polk was not a man to shirk duty, to lay burdens on others which he did not himself bear. He did not send others to reconnoitre for new points of advantage: whenever practical. he obtained such knowledge for himself. and so we find him the first of the clergy of the Church to plant her standard at Shreveport. all along the coasts of the Red River, at Plaquemines, at Opelou- sas, along the Teche and the Fordoche, at Thibodaux. at Napo- leonville, at Minden.
Of the importance of education. under the care of the Church. Bishop Polk was deeply impressed. He looked upon no parish as fully furnished that was without its schoolhouse. and no Diocese capable of doing its work fully that was un- equipped with its seminaries of learning. His views are quoted under the chapter on Educational Institutions of the Diocese. The University of the South is largely the child of his comprehensive brain. But primary education engaged his attention equally with the more profound cultivation of the mind. His aim was provis- ion for the education. mental-because that involves moral and spiritual-of every baptized child. It was no fanlt of his that so many educational efforts failed.
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The evangelization of the sons of Africa. engaged a large part of his thought. Let the parochial sketches in this volume be read, and it will be clearly seen how he led his clergy. Every- where the rectors were found ministering on the plantations. When the Diocese was under full headway the number of persons of color, ministered to largely outnumbered the whites who re- ceived the services of the Church. He was not one to believe that the personal commission to the priest to preach to every crea- ture, was to be received with the mental reservation that the Mas- ter meant every creature who came to the " preaching house." Nay. be believed that the preacher endangered his own salvation. who refrained from preaching to the black man, and when any one spoke of the discouragements attending such work. he would say. " You may not sare him, but you will sare yourself."
In his first Annual Address. Bishop Polk urged upon bis clergy the necessity of striving to impress the youth of the land with the duty of inquiring if God hath called them to the minis- try. A native ministry was thus early made one of the objects of the common work of the Diocese, and ever and again it is a subject dwelt upon in his addresses. During his Episcopate. twenty gentlemen were accepted as candidates for Holy Orders. of whom fifteen were subsequently ordained.
Bishop Polk was mindful of his clergy and provision for their comfort. He was careful to remind the laity that it was im- portant for their own sakes that the elergy should be relieved as much as possible of worldly cares. Chief among the things need- ful in a parish, he placed a rectory. It was his trust that "every parish in the Diocese should be provided with its rectory."
In gauging the work of the first Bishop, it must be remem- bered that the facilities for travel were not in those days what they are now. In coming to the Diocese, the boat, in which the Bishop had passage, snagged and sunk : and this but illustrated the vicis- situdes of travel, the perils by land and the perils by water, that pimetuated his Episcopate. A three line entry in his journal records, in a very matter of fact way, how upon occasion he had set out for Monroe, and reached it after a perilous journey, having had several streams to swim." Again. we read of a skiff journey from Donaldsonville to Thibodaux, on a July day.
Travel was slow and fatiguing, but it had its bright sides, even on account of its easy going character. The Bishop was de-
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sending the Black river on the steamer Rockaway, when he heard of a child whose parents were seeking opportunity for its baptism. At his request, Captain Moore landed the boat, and himself, mate and passengers, all went with the Bishop to seek the child. It was found and baptized, and then all resumed the journey.
It is interesting to note that the last official act of Bishop Polk, in the Diocese, was performed upon its anniversary day. April 28. 1861. On that day he held five confirmation services. at Christ Church. St. Peter's. St. Paul's and Trinity, New Orleans. and in private.
During his Diocesan Episcopate, Bishop Polk made sixteen deacons and ordained nineteen priests ; confirmed 3,317 persons. The number of church edifices increased from three to thirty-three: congregations from six to about eighty; clergy, other than the Bishop, from six to thirty-two; the communicants from two hun- dred and twenty-two to 1,859.
In the summer of 1861. Bishop Polk accepted a commission in the Confederate army. After three years of faithful and merito- rious service, his life was sacrificed, and on Pine Mountain. Georgia, June 13, 1864. the brave and chivalrous Bishop died in. what he believed to be, the cause of Holy Church, endangered by invasion of the sons of Cromwell's army.
The tribute to his memory, that his immediate snecessor penned, well deserves this place: "He was known for the stain- less purity of his daily life, his great force of character, intel- lectual and moral, the warm glow of his genial nature in the in- tercourse of social life. his sympathy with suffering. No one in his office was ever more endeared to the people of his charge, and none have done more to deserve it."
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HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA.
BISHOP WILMER.
JOSEPH PERE BELL WILMER was born in Swedesborough. New Jersey, February 11. 1812. He graduated at the University of Virginia. 1831; at Kenyon College. Gambier. Ohio. 1833. and at the Theological Seminary of Virginia. 1834.
He was made a deacon in St. Paul's Church. Alexandria. Virginia. July 10. 1834. by Bishop Moore, and ordained a priest in St. Paul's Church. Petersburg. Virginia, in May, 1838.
From 1834 to 1838 he ministered in St. Anne's. Albemarle, Va. In 1838, he was chaplain of the University of Virginia. Charlottesville. In 1839, he was commissioned chaplain in the United States Navy. In 1843. he was rector of Hungar's parish. Northampton county. Va .. and subsequently of St. Paul's, Gooch- land county. In 1848, he became rector of St. Mark's, Philadelphia, resigning in 1861.
Ile received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Union College. Schenectady, New York. 1857.
He was elected Bishop of Louisiana. May. 1866, and conse- erated November 7. 1866. by the Bishops of Vermont, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
The years of his Episcopate were not all years of advance. Ile found Louisiana shorn of her strength; much time and many labors must needs have been expended to regain a foothold. When this was but fairly accomplished. and progress was written on every guidon of the advancing host of the Diocese, came, in 1874. the effects of the financial panic of the preceding year, floods along the valley of the great river, and untoward political disturbance- three sore "judgments" in a single year. The Diocese reeled under the blows. and it was five years before the decadence was checked. The work of the Church, then, was necessarily conserva- tive rather than aggressive. The effort was to hold what could be held-to increase the strength of existing parishes, rather than to create new ones.
Bishop Wilmer's time was consumed in travel from one end of the State to the other, frequently under great difficulties, com- forting the sorrowing: strengthening the weak: administering, in
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HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISLINA.
countless different ways, to the necessities of the scattered sheep of the Lord's flock. Without an adequate clerical staff. he was compelled to proffer himself as the sole spiritual shepherd for many hundreds of famishing souls, throughout the State.
The work that Bishop Wilmer did at the family hearth-stones throughout the Diocese, would, in its recital. fill many a volume, could it be written. Largely. because of him. the faith has been kept. and the State is dotted over with families of the Church. of whom no record is made from year to year, but who remain to be searched ont. and who will be the nuclei of future parishes.
He was never weary in well doing. On occasion. the stage stopped at the vacant parish of New Iberia for an hour. for rest and refreshment, which the Bishop spent in searching out the scattered sheep and baptizing five children.
Oftentimes he labored apparently in vain. In 1869. he records a "long and dreary ride of fifty miles" to Natchitoches. and no one to receive him.
Completing a visitation. he writes of having traveled 1,500 miles, a third of it in stages, by day and night. "at times in- debted for a little rest to a pile of mail bags, or a heap of straw. and recalling to my thoughts the greater privations and difficul- ties which some of my brethren are called to endure for the Church and Kingdom of Christ."
During "a flood" the Bishop held service on the wharf boat at Red River Landing. Early in the morning he took a skiff, and going from plantation to plantation. himself summoned the con- gregation.
He knew what " waiting for a boat " meant. Of a sleepless night, so spent. he declared it no uncommon thing for a Bishop of Louisiana.
No difficulties were too great when even a single family was being searched ont. He heard of such an one living in a secluded part of Morehouse parish, and he went through "a terrific storm " to find them.
In season and out of season he preached the Word. In Lafa- vette, he was accosted on the street and his motives questioned in going where there was already a church "large enough for the population." He began to expound the ancient and Catholic faith to a gathering crowd. and soon had quite an auditory who had
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rum together to hear the "new thing." and yet it was the old faith.
He was perfectly unselfish and in his disappointments even thought of others. He had travelled 1500 miles, day and night. to keep an appointment at Cheneyville, and found a congregation of less than than twenty. for the clouds threatened rain. But he ex- claims. " I felt for my dear brethren who have so often had to en- dure this disappointment."
Bishop Wilmer knew what was meant when it was said. "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feast- ing." Being in Shreveport in 1874. he says : " This week, which will long live in my memory, was sweetly employed in visits to the houses of mourning. I was walking in the footsteps of the great pestilence. Its shadow still rested upon the city."
During his Episcopate. the Diocesan Sisterhood was organ- ized, and the wing of the Children's Home. New Orleans, was built. He confirmed 4, 777 persons, made twenty-one deacons and ordained twenty-two priests. The congregations increased from thirty in 1866. to seventy-four in 1874: the church buildings from twenty-six to forty-eight : the communicants from 1.556 to 4,351.
On Monday. December 2. 1878. "early in the evening, when in the full enjoyment of all the powers of mind, heart and body. and after the energetic discharge of the daily routine of Episco- pal work. suddenly. 'as in the twinkling of an eye.' was trans- lated to the Church at rest. the noble, the meek and the saintly spirit of the illustrious and universally beloved Bishop of Louis- iana .**
Louisiana ! matron fair, with bosom bleeding, List to the funeral wail, all other woes unbeeding ; Trail all thy banners low, abase thy queenly head ; Think not of traitors now, forget thy blood was shed ; ('ry low on bended knee, " our Wilmer's dead !"
Queen of the South ! methinks I see thee kneeling, Diserowned in dust and shame, while tears are stealing From eyes now dulled with grief, and memories of shame, Wrought by adopted sons ; but yet there is a name, Crowned with celestial light. worthy thy fame.
.. Memorial Sermon of The Rev. Dr. Dalzell.
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Empress of States ! is it not worth the telling?
Thou hadst one son-a Prince-whose voice now swelling The antiphone of heaven, erst in his manhood's prime, Nursing his royal heart at fountains pure, sublime, Poured out his kingly soul for thee, like generous wine.
Mother of many creeds and nations ! thou who bearest Sears of a conflict on thy regal brow, thy best and bravest Into the quiet grave hath passed forevermore,
The sweet persuasion of his wondrous tongue no more Shall claim a boon for thee ; his battle's o'er.
Louisiana ! mother ! queen ! thon heedest not thy losing ; The fray is sharp, the conflict lengthens ; and the closing Of warrior hosts in battle shoek hath stunned thine ears ; A fell disease hath fouled the sweetness of thy perfumed airs, But more than this is lost to thee-a good man's prayers !
And thou, O Church of God ! while sadly breathing Funeral orisons, receive his mantle, and, his sword unsheathing, Fill up the breach, when a man dost find,
Refreshed with childhood's grace, a warrior brave, yet kind, A lion, vet a lamb, a minister to men, a man of mark and mind. *
Many a heart yet weeps his loss, and the years as they pass but emphasize the greatness of the calamity. His memory grows with the increase of his spiritual children ; to-day he occupies a larger space in the hearts of those who knew him and loved him than ever before.
The lines above quoted are from the pen of a cousin of the lamented prelate.
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HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA.
BISHOP GALLEHER.
JOHN NICHOLAS GALLEHER was born in Washington. Mason County, Kentucky, February 17. 1839. He attended the Univer- sity of Virginia, and then entered the law office of Beatty & Bush, at Thibodaux, Louisiana. In St. John's Church, Thibodaux, he was baptized by the rector, and subsequently confirmed by Bishop Polk.
The civil war coming on. he enlisted and afterwards was com- missioned and served on the staff of General Buckner, attaining the rank of Lieutenant-colonel. The coincidence may be noted that of the three Bishops of Louisiana, each has held a commission under the military arm of his country, either in army or navy.
At the close of the war Mr. Galleher resumed the study of law and graduated at the law school at Lexington, Virginia. He be- gan the practice of his profession at Louisville, Kentucky, but shortly afterwards placed himself at the General Theological Sem- inary, New York, to study for Holy Orders.
He was made a deacon in Christ Church, Louisville, Ken- tucky, June 7. 1868, by Bishop Cummins, and ordained a priest in Trinity Church, New Orleans, May 30, 1869, by Bishop J. P. B. Wilmer.
He was six months assistant minister of Christ Church, Louis- ville, Ky. He took charge of Trinity Church. New Orleans, Janu- ary 6, 1869, resigning in September, 1871. Ile was rector of the Johns Memorial Church, Baltimore, Maryland. November, 1871, to October. 1873. and of Zion. New York city, October. 1873, to Jan- nary, 1880.
He received the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology from Columbia College. New York. 1875, and of Doctor of Divinity from the University of the South in 1880.
He was elected Bishop of Louisiana, November 12, 1879, and consecrated in Trinity Church. New Orleans, February 5, 1880, by the Bishops of Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and (assistant) Kentucky.
llis Episcopate has been marked by steady progress. The Children's Home has been greatly enlarged and an Episcopal resi-
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dence has been purchased. He has confirmed 3259 persons to time of last Council; made five deacons and ordained eight priests. The number of clergy, other than the Bishop. has increased from thirty-two to thirty-seven; the number of church edifices from forty- five to sixty; rectories from thirteen to twenty-one; the number of congregations from forty-seven to eighty-six: the number of communicants from 2,957 to 4,438.
Bishop Galleher has greatly endeared himself to both the clergy and the laity of his Diocese. The words chosen as descriptive of him who should be the meet successor of the sainted Wilmer, and quoted above, were prophetic.
Fill up the breach, when thou a man dost find,
Refreshed with childhood's grace, a warrior brave, yet kind,
A lion, yet a lamb, a minister to men, a man of mark and mind.
A wise administrator, gentle and merciful where it is meet to be gentle and merciful ; firm and inflexible whenever necessary. A companion, ever genial ; a friend. ever reliable. Unpretentious, yet brilliant ; modest, yet a prince. Sought for to fill the place of the orator on historic days. and as homiletic lecturer in schools of theology, the people ever delight to listen him. Day by day he demonstrates his right to occupy not alone the official position. but the place, in its every sense, of his predecessors. Polk and Wilmer.
HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA.
CHRIST CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS.
ON Monday, 2d JJune. 1805. a meeting of the " Protestant " citizens of New Orleans, was held at the boarding house of Madame Fourage, on Bourbon street. between Customhouse and Bienville streets. This was about eighteen months subsequent to the cession of the territory to the United States, previous to which time the power of the Roman Pope would have prevented such an assemblage.
At the meeting. Benjamin Morgan was chairman and James M. Bradford. clerk. The following resolutions were adopted :
I. Resolved, That it is important to obtain, as speedily as possible, a Protestant clergyman, to come and reside in this city, and preach the gospel.
HI. Resolved, That Messrs. Hugh Pollock, Joseph MeNeil, Richard Relf and John MeDonough be appointed a committe to receive subserip- tions for the desirable object, and that they report at our next meeting.
III. Resolved, That it is essential that steps be immediately taken for procuring a lot of ground, whereon to erect a suitable building for the performance of divine worship, and that Messrs. Joseph MeNeil, James Brown, John F. Watson and Rezin D. Shepperd be a committee for that purpose.
IV. Resolved, That Messrs. John B. Provost, James C. Williamson, Edward Livingston, and James M. Bradford be appointed a committee to correspond with the heads of Princeton College, Yale College, Phila- delphia College, Columbia College, New York ; Rev. Mr. Glaudel, Bal- timore ; Bishop Madison, Virginia ; and such other persons as they may deem advisable for the recommendation of a suitable person for the place.
" Adjourned until Sunday next. 9th June, 11 o'clock. A. M."
The adjourned meeting was held at the same place at the time fixed. Atthismeeting it was . Resolred. That a general meeting of the subscribers be held at this place on Sunday next. June 16, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, to determine the religious denomina- tion of the clergyman who may be invited."
At the time designated. the subscribers were present and pro- ceeded to ballot. On counting the votes there were found : " for an Episcopalian, forty-five; Presbyterian, seven; Methodist, one." At this meeting a resolution was also adopted. naming the organi- zation Christ Church.
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Among those present. other than those above named. were Joseph Saul. Abraham R. Ellory. George W. Morgan. James Alex- ander. William Brown, Evan Jones, Philip Jones, George I. Ross. Charles Norwood. Waters Clark, Charles Patton, Andrew Burk. William W. Smith. William Donaldson. James Martin. John Poultney. John B. Sanderson. Thomas MeCormick, John W. Sorley. Alexander Milne. Jr., John Jay. W. Brooks. Ebenezer Bradish and Elephalet Brown.
On the 3d July following. the Territorial Legislature passed an act incorporating the " Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church in the county of Orleans."
On the 12th August, a letter was addressed to the Assistant Bishop of New York, requesting him to recommend a rector, one " qualified to maintain the respectability of the Church and to coneiliate the regard of his congregation. it being recollected that his supporters are not only of his own persuasion, but also Pres- byterians. Catholics, etc." A stipend of $2.000 was offered.
In response, Bishop Moore recommended the Rev. Philander Chase, and appointed him to the charge of the new mission. He arrived in Louisiana by the bark Thetis. November 13, 1805. Being delayed by contrary winds at the English Turn, the new rector disembarked and walked to the city.
Notice was given in the paper published by Mr. Bradford, and the first service was held in the "Principal," or City Hall. Sunday, November 17. 1805. " Those who attended," said Mr. Chase, "were numerous and of the most respectable Americans, and very decorous in their deportment."
On the 16th November, a general meeting was held for the purpose of organization under the charter. To this meeting Mr. Chase explained that in some particulars the charter was objec- tionable. in that the rector was ignored and there was no pledge of conformity. An assurance was then given that the charter should be amended, and an election was immediately held. Joseph Saul was chosen senior warden: Andrew Burk, junior warden; Judge Jean B. Provost. Dominic A. Hall, Benjamin Mor- gan, William Kenner, Joseph MeNeil, George T. Ross, Charles C. Norwood, Rezin D. Shepperd. Richard Relf. Edward Living- ston, John McDonough, John P. Sanderson and Abraham R. Ellory, vestrymen. Of these gentlemen Messrs. Kenner and Mor- gan had been members of the Legislative Council of the Territory;
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HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA.
Provost, a step-son of Aaron Burr. a judge of the Superior Court; Hall was district judge and Livingston was afterwards minister plenipotentiary to France.
An act was passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor May 2, 1806. in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Chase, amending and re-enacting the incorporation of the parish. By this amendatory act the name of the corporation was changed to " Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church, in the County of Orleans, in communion with the Pro- testant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."
The act further provided. that " the rector to be called to the Church, should be so called and indneted agreeably to the form prescribed by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, established in General Convention of the Bishops, the clergy and laity, September, 1804; and should be subject to the ecclesiastieal government and decisions of the Bishop and Convention of the State of New York, in all things, as if he were a presbyter belonging to that Diocese, until there should be a Diocese formed in this and the neighboring Territories, and a Bishop consecrated according to the canons of the Pretestant Episcopal Church. to take charge of the same."
There is here a curious illustration of the way in which funda- mental principles, those of a charter we presume would be so con- sidered, are neglected and forgotten. The charter of this parish requires the institution of the rector, "institution" being substi- tuted for "induction" in the prescribed service by the General Convention of 1808, yet not one of the rectors that the parish has had has been instituted.
The first meeting of the Vestry was held November 20, 1805. Mr. Chase. for some unexplained reason. did not accept the posi- tion of rector until April 2. 1806. Shortly thereafter. he went North for his family and did not return until the following October. The use of the United States Court room, on Royal street, was procured, and it was "fitted up" for Church services. At another time, the services were held in the house occupied by Col. Freeman, commandant of the detachment of the United States army quartered in New Orleans, and after his departure its use was granted by the governor. W. C. C. Claiborne. Also in the second story of a store on Old Levee. now Decatur, street, known as Paulding's jewelry store.
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George T. Phillips and Dr. Robert Dow were elected vestry- men in 1806; Richard Relf, treasurer, and John Palfrey, Samuel D. Earle, S. Packwood and J. W. Leonard, vestrymen. in 1807: Dr. Samuel Leonard, John Morgan. Jr .. John Jay and Benjamin M. Hill, vestrymen, in 1808.
After the election of the latter named gentlemen, Rev. Mr. Chase made an address in which he stated that since the begin- ning of his ministry with this charge he had baptized fifty persons. six of whom were adults, solemnized nineteen marriages, attended forty-one funerals, administered the Holy Sacrament twice. on the last occasion to twenty-one communicants.
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