USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > The Garrison Church; sketches of the history of St. Thomas' Parish, Garrison Forest, Baltimore County, Maryland, 1742-1852 > Part 5
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MDr. Coleman's Ministry.
the Vestry and congregations. It was in April that I began to divide my time between St. Thomas' and St. James'." These letters to the Vestry were called forth from him by the fact that after four years they had made no settlement with him, and owed him $500.
Mr. Coleman continued Rector of St. James' Parish until his death, January 21, 1816, at the age of 58 years. He was held in high estimation by the Church, and was often called to its couneils and to attend to its general interests. From 1789 to 18:3, when his health began to fail, he was a member of the standing com- mittee seventeen times. During Bishop Claggett's Episcopate the standing committee assisted the Bishop in visiting the Diocese; and the counties of Cecil, Har- ford and part of Baltimore were assigned to Mr. Cole- man. In 1705 he preached the convention sermon. He was a delegate to the General Convention five times. In 1806 Christ Church, near Bel Air, was built under his ministry. At the time of the election of a Suffragan Bishop for the Diocese, 1814, he was spoken of as a candidate, but his declining health preven tedhis nomi- nation and he gave his vote for Dr. Kemp. It was the last public act of his life.
Whatever was the cause that the Church in St. Thomas' Parish did not seem to prosper under his ministry, it could not be laid to any want of industry, faithfulness, or evangelical views of doctrine in Mr. Coleman. He left a widow and one daughter. He had been peculiarly afflicted in the early death of five sons.
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The Garrison Church.
His daughter's name was Rebecca Ridgely. She was born August, 1787, and married John Vellott, Esq. She died February 11, 1853, leaving behind her five sons and two daughters.
סוופ מזאנדופמז!
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CHAPTER X.
JOHN ARMSTRONG.
CTOBER 1, 1805, Rev. John Armstrong was elected Rector. Mr. Armstrong was a native of England and is said to have been a preacher there in connection with the Methodists. After his arrival in this country he was ordained by Bishop White of Pennsylvania, and took charge of a parish in that Diocese. He first appears in Maryland in 1804 as the Rector of St Paul's Parish, Kent County. When called to St. Thomas' nothing appears to have been said about his salary. He had some little time previously married Ann Vellott of Harford County, with a considerable fortune. His ministry was acceptable and successful.
The Vestry at this time set aside the pew system and the Rector's salary was raised by subscription, though the amount thus raised is not stated. Mr. Armstrong purchased a farm adjoining the church on the southeast, and at the foot of the hill built a small two-story frame house.
June 11, 1806, died James Howard, Esq., aged 49. He was the fifth son of Mr. Cornelius Howard and
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Che Garrison Church.
younger brother of Gen. John Eager Howard. He he- came a vestryman in 1784, and was ever after either vestryman or Register and Treasurer. He was often a delegate to the State Convention, and in 1792 a delegate to the General Convention. He died a bachelor.
At a meeting of the Vestry on the twenty-ninth of September, 1806, it was agreed that "the chapel near Welsh's," now Holy Trinity Parish Church, " may be opened and used by the clergy of the Baptist denom- ination, provided they are men of good and upright character, and also provided their times of service do not interfere with the appointments of the Rector of this parish."
It was at this time that a scheme of lottery was agreed on and a petition made to the General Assembly to obtain an act authorizing it. The petition showed that the parish was in debt for the building of the parsonage and for the purchase of the glebe, and that repairs of the church were needed. The act was granted and the managers appointed by the Vestry were Dr. John Cromwell, Samuel Owings, Brian Philpot, Dr. T. C. Walker, Moses Brown, Kensey Johns, John T. Worthington and Robert N. Moale. The lottery was drawn and we hear nothing thereafter of the debt of the church.
It was not till January 11, ISOS, fifteen months after the ordering of the lottery, that the Vestry found themselves in possession of funds for the repairs of the church, and at that time new window-shutters, doors
5
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Resignation of Mr. Armstrong.
and door-frames were ordered. The chapel was also at this time much improved by being rougheast.
On the twenty-fourth of October it was ordered that the chimney [fire-place] of the vestry-room be filled up. This fact is noticed as indicating the time when stoves began to be introduced into churches. In many places of worship they were not introdneed for years after this.
On the fourth of December there is this record : " The Vestry after taking into consideration Mr. Armstrong's address to the congregation on Sunday the twenty-sixth of November, Resolved, That the Rev. Jolin Armstrong, Rector of this parish be requested to send in his resignation formally addressed to the Vestry." Present-Dr. Cradock, Sammel Owings, John Bond, Robert N. Mole and P. Hunt. Absent-Charles Walker, Brian Philpot and Moses Brown. But the resolution did not pass without opposition or dissatis- faction, for Mr. Hunt immediately resigned. Whatever the difficulty might have been which caused this measure, on its being communicated to Mr. Armstrong he thought fit to comply, and the parish again became vacant.
But although Mr. Armstrong thus resigned the parish as requested, it was not till more than a year afterward that he removed. For on the tenth of March, 1810, the Vestry recommended Mr. Armstrong to the Bishop's " kind and fostering hand," adding " we do with marks of esteem and regret part with him as our
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The Garrison Church.
Rector, But he finding it was more agreeable to him- self and family to leave the parish, you, sir, will please to give him such recommendations to any other diocese as becometh the character of a clergyman, christian and friend as we have experienced during the term of four years and a half in the parish."
This letter was signed by Thomas Cradock, Charles Walker, Samuel Owings, Robert N. Moale, Phineas Hunt, Brian Philpot and John Bond. The offence thus on which the Vestry acted when they requested his resignation was not so serious but at the end of fifteen months the above letter was written. The reason of its being written was-that Mr. Armstrong was about to remove to York, Penna. In order to be received into that diocese, it was requisite according to the canons that he should present a letter, testifying to his good standing in the church, to the Bishop of Pennsyl- vania from the Bishop of Maryland. In order to do this it was necessary that the Vestry of the parish should certify to the Bishop of Maryland that their late rector had "not been justly liable to evil report for error in religion or vieiousness of life during three years last past." But this was not embraced in the Vestry's letter, whether by negligence, unacquaintance with the canons, or design is not known.
The Bishop on the third of May, 1810, thus replies, " before giving the testimonial, I considered it my duty to make inquiry into certain reports censuring that gentleman's conduct and I shall candidly
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Bishop Claggett's Letter.
mention my present objection to giving the certificate required by the canon in such cases to you, in hopes that you may be able to satisfy my scruples on that head. I shall preface them by observing that the Church of Maryland, under the oldl goverment, was restricted, by the charter of the then Lord Baltimore, from the exercise of any discipline, by which she suffered much. Aware of the evils which the Church had thus suffered on this account, our General Convention framed the ecclesiastical Constitution of our Church after the revolution ; conceiving that the exercise of discipline over the clergy was so intimately connected with the future well being of the Church, that in the general Constitution, and in the 7th article thereof, she enacted as follows: 'no person shall be ordained to holy orders until he shall have subscribed the following declaration, to wit: I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation, and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.'
"After thus making a conformity to the doctrines and worship of the Church an essential part of her Constitution, a General Convention afterwards enacted the 34th canon in aid of the same important object of conformity in public worship. The whole canon stands thus :- 'every minister shall before all ser- mons and lectures, and on all other occasions of public
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Che Garrison Church.
worship, use the book of common prayer as the same may be established, and in performing said service, no other prayer shall be used than those prescribed in said book.' Now, gentlemen, having premised these things, I beg leave to state to you, that I have been informed, that the Rev. Mr. Armstrong has on several occasions within three years last past in his own parish church, and before his sermons there, so far from conforming to the forms of worship of the Church, that he has muti- lated the service by leaving out parts of it, and interpo- lating, ad libitum, extempore prayers of his own ;
after this statement of facts, and while they remain uncontradicted, I can venture to leave it to yourselves whether I can sign the certificate required. The reports above mentioned may be without foundation ; if so, a certificate from your respectable body going fully to that effect would have great weight in removing scruples on that head, and might possibly enable me by a com- pliance with your wishes more fully to manifest that high respect, esteem and regard with which I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your affectionate friend and diocesan, Thos. Jno. Claggett, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Maryland and Washington County, District of Columbia."
To this, on the thirteenth of Angust, the Vestry reply-"the Rev. Mr. Armstrong, when rector of this parish, officiated in St. Thomas' Church and chapel belonging to it. He always made use of the Church prayers, except an extempore prayer before and after
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Ertempore Pravers.
sermon in St. Thomas' Church. He also diligently attended to the duties of the parish, such as visiting the sick and preaching in different parts of the parish when called on, on other days exclusive of Sunday. With respect to the chapel, which is some distance from the church, none of the members now met were ever present when he performed divine services there."
This, it will be perceived, did not come up to what the Bishop desired, and consequently no letter was given by him to Mr. Armstrong. Thus the matter con- tinued till November 22, 1811, when Mr. Armstrong wrote the Vestry that the letter which Bishop Claggett sent Bishop White was not deemed satisfactory, being, indeed, a good one but not canonical, and asking from them a certificate to Bishop Claggett in the precise words of the canon. This was subsequently done by them and signed by the following gentlemen, part of whom were not of the vestry: Phineas Hunt, John Bond, Joseph West, Jolm T. Worthington, Charles Walker, James Walker of Chs., Charles Worthington, S. Owings, William Stone, Samuel Stone, Sammel C. Hunt, Lloyd Ford, and so the business ended.
In 1818 he returned to Maryland and took charge of St. Peter's Parish, Montgomery County, and Zion Parish, Frederick County, After remaining there two years he removed to Wheeling, Va., and took charge of St. Matthew's Parish, which had been organized by Bishop Chase, of Ohio. There he was instrumental in building an edifice and very much increasing the
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The Garrison Church.
congregation. In addition to this he officiated as mission- ary under Bishop Chase on the Ohio side of the river at St. Clairsville, eleven miles west of Wheeling. He succeeded in building a brick church there, 50 feet by 40, which was consecrated August 18, 1822, " the second church," says Bishop Chase, "consecrated west of the mountains." At the same time Mr. Armstrong officiated occasionally at Morristown, eight miles further west on the National road, where a small brick church was also built in the same year. Mr. Armstrong died in Wheel- ing in June, 1827, leaving a widow who survived him nearly twenty years. His son, Rev. William Armstrong, was Rector of St. Matthews', Wheeling, for more than twenty years, and afterward became Rector of Zion Parish, Frederick County.
Sr THOMAS' PARISH CHURCHI
1262
St. Thomas' Church Lottery.
G DOBBIN & MURPHY-Print.
LOTTERY-Baltimore Cou ity.
Authorised by Law of the State of Maryland.
OF THIS TICKET will entitle the bearer to such Prize as may be drawn against its number without deduction, if demanded within six months after the completion of the drawing.
By order of the Managers, N.o. 1262.
Jam& Cowings
Baltimore County, 10th. Feb 1807
CHAPTER XI.
GEORGE RALPH. JOHN CHANDLER. JOSEPH JACKSON.
HERE IS nothing in the records worthy of mention until April 15, 1811, when an invitation was given to the Rev. George Ralph "to officiate in the church when- ever he could make it convenient." !! '
Mr. Ralph was at the head of a private academy a short distance north-west of the United States arsenal, about four miles south of St. Thomas' Church.
On the eleventh of April, 1812, died Brian Philpot, Esq., of "Stamford," in his 62nd year. He was a native of Baltimore and son of Brian Philpot, who emigrated from England in 1750. He was a merchant and pro- prietor of land lying east of the falls. During the Revolution Brian Philpot, Jr., held a commission in the army, in Colonel Smallwood's regiment. After the war he settled at his place on the Western Rum, and in 1796 married Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of Jeremiah Johnson, Esq. In iSoo he was a warden in St. Thomas' Church, and from iso5 a vestryman until his
" Mr. Ralph was an interesting character, and is the subject of one of the biographical sketches appended.
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The Garrison Church.
death. He left three sons and three daughters. His second daughter, Elizabeth, in 1826 married the Rev. John G. Blanchard, many years the Rector of St. Anne's, Anapolis.
After a vacancy of nearly three years, supplied only by the occasional services of Mr. Ralph, on the twenty-eighth of December, 1812, the Rev. John Chandler was elected Rector, to enter upon his duties January ist. Mr. Chandler was from England. He came into this diocese in 1810 from Pennsylvania, and became the Rector of St. Peter's, Montgomery County, where he continued until he came to St. Thomas'. On the seventh day of February, 1814, he sent to the Vestry his resignation, stating that he had accepted the Rec- torship of St. Mark's, Frederick County. He died in the spring of 1815.
On the seventh of April, 1815, died Samuel Worth- ington, Esq., aged 82 years. He was a native of Anne Arundel County and was one of the first settlers of what is known as the Worthington Valley, 2,000 acres of which had been patented to his father in 1740. In 1756 he was a church warden and subsequently a ves- tryman. He was a Whig of the Revolution, and in 1774 was one of the Committee of Observation. In 1781 and subsequently he was a delegate to the General Assembly. He left a widow, his second wife, nine sons and ten daughters, having before buried two daughters."
At a meeting of the Vestry on Easter Monday,
to see Appendix
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St. John's in the Valley.
April 15, 1816, Mr. Robert North Moale and Dr. Thomas C. Walker were appointed to ascertain whether by sub- scription, or otherwise, funds could be secured to wall in the churchyard. This work was but slowly carried on and was not completed until 1832.
THE REV. JOSEPH JACKSON-The roth Rector. November 2, 1818, the Rev. Joseph Jackson was elected Rector to preach every other Sunday. The alternate Sunday was given to "St. John's Church in the Val- ley." This church is six miles north of St. Thomas', near the head of the Worthington Valley. On the third of June, 1816, the corner-stone had been laid by the Rt. Rev. James Kemp. The church was erected on a site of about two acres, given by Mr. Charles Walker. The building was of stone and cost $5,000. It was con- secrated by Bishop Kemp, November 13, ISIS. Mr. Jackson was a native of Scotland. On emigrating to this country he first engaged in teaching at " Barnaby," in Prince George's County, then the residence of Anthony Addison, Esq., the son of the Rev. Henry Addison, many years the Rector of St. John's Parish in that county previous to the Revolution. In December, 1794, he was ordained Deacon by Bishop Claggett. During the first part of the year 1795 he was assistant to the Rev. Mr. Read, of Prince George Parish, in Montgomery County, and in the latter part of the year he officiated in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's County. In 1796 he became the Rector of St. Peter's Parish, Talbot County, and continued there, officiating
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The Garrison Church.
alternately at the Parish Church and at the chapel at Easton, for more than seventeen years. In 1812 he took charge of William and Mary Parish, St. Mary's County. There he remained five years, and, his health failing him, in 1817, August 27th, he became Rector of St. John's, Hagerstown. He resigned that Parish at the end of the year and accepted a missionary appoint- ment, and was employed in visiting Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois and Kentucky until he became the Rector of St. 'Thomas' Parish. At the Diocesan Convention of this year he reported ten communicants. It was the first report which had ever been made. His salary was raised by subscription and he lived at the parsonage, but the amount of salary is not stated.
At a meeting of the Vestry, November 29, 1819, present Sammel Owings, Charles Worthington, Robert N. Moale, Christopher Todd, David R. Gist and Thomas Moale, the following resolution was offered and passed : " Resolved, That the Rev. Joseph Jackson is no longer considered Rector of this Parish, and notice be given him to that effect by the Register." At the time of this meeting of the Vestry he was on a visit to his old parish in St. Mary's. He had no intimation of such move- ment ; no charge was brought against him, and but one of the Vestry had contributed to his support. We do not wonder that when Mr. Jackson returned and his dis- missal was announced he sat down and wept.
Mr. Jackson at once set out on a missionary tour in the West, but before a year had passed he died at
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St. James' College.
Bardstown, in Kentucky, leaving a widow, who had become his wife two weeks previously. He must have been over sixty years of age. He was a pious man and an earnest Christian. He was the intimate friend of Bishop Kemp and a long and friendly correspondence between them still remains. There are 53 letters from Bishop Kemp to him, and 57 letters from him to the Bishop, on file in the Bishop's library. In the years 1809 and 1815 he was a member of the Standing Com- mittee. In 1804 he preached the convention sermon and was a delegate to the General Convention. At his death he left about $2,0co to the Church in Maryland. This was subsequently appropriated to the purchase and founding of St. James' College in Washington County, which withont this legacy would not have come into existence.
CHAPTER XII.
CHARLES C. AUSTIN.
FTER A vacancy of one year, December I, 1820, at a meeting of the Vestry, at which were present Samuel Owings, Thomas Moale, Christopher Todd and Robert N. Moale, the Rev. Charles C. Austin was elected Rector, his service to begin the same date at a salary of $350 a vear, payable quarterly. He was to officiate every other Sunday. Mr. Austin was born in Connectient in
1794 or 1795. After finishing his course and receiving his degree at Yale College he came to Maryland and pursued his preparatory studies under the direction of Bishop Kemp. During a part of the time of his candi- dacy he officiated as lay-reader in Christ Church, Elk Ridge, Queen Caroline Parish, Anne Arundel County, and resided in the family of Alexander C. Hanson, Esq., then a member of the United States Senate. In 1819, June 13, he was ordained Deacon by the Bishop of the Diocese and took charge of Addison's Chapel, now St. Matthew's, Prince George's County, and Rock Creek Church, in the District of Columbia, where he continued until he was called to St. Thomas'. He was also
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The Chapel of Ease.
appointed by the Vestry of St. John's Church in the Valley to officiate there on the alternate Sundays, with a salary of $320 a year, making his stipend aggregate $670, besides the parsonage and glebe. On the first Easter Monday after Mr. Austin entered upon his charge of the parish, David Gist, Col. David Hopkins, Thomas H. Belt, Horatio Hollingsworth, Stephen W. Falls, Elias Brown, Samuel Owings and Thomas Moale were appointed Vestrymen. Mr. Owings and Colonel Hopkins were appointed Church Wardens; Robert N. Moale, Treasurer, and John Hollingsworth, Registrar. On the twenty-eighth of May, among other things, a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Owings, Brown and Thomas Moale, to examine into the state of the chapel of ease in the forks of the falls, and to report to the Vestry. For more than thirteen years the chapel, as far as the records show, had been utterly neg- lected by the Vestry, and used only by the Methodists and Baptists who were supposed to have swept away the Church in that neighborhood.
On the nineteenth of October, 1821, died Dr. Thomas Cradoek, in the zoth year of his age. He was the third son and only surviving child of the first Rector of the parish. His father took great pains in his education and hoped that he would enter the min- istry, but he chose the profession of medicine. He was for forty years an active vestryman, often a delegate to the Diocesan Convention, and a delegate to the first General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church
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The Garrison Church.
in the United States. Dr. Cradock was an active pro- moter of the Revolution, and at the age of twenty-three was one of the committee of observation for the county. After the Revolution he became affianced to a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Smith, then President of Washington College, but influencing the laity to non-concur in the doctor's election to the Episcopate, when nominated by the clergy of Maryland,"" the match was broken off. The attachment, however, was mutual, and Dr. Cradock retained her miniature to the day of his death. He never married. He was an able physician and lived and died at Trentham, his father's estate which he inherited.
Nothing occurs in the Vestry's records worthy of note till September 22, 1822. At that time Messrs. Robert N. Moale and James Piper were appointed to investigate Mr. David Carlisle's bill for putting a new roof on the church. It appears that during the previous year a new roof had been put on the church, and the parsonage repaired. The bill was rendered for $444. Nothwithstanding this outlay, at a meeting of the Vestry held April 7, 1823, Major David Hopkins was appointed to superintend the repairs to be made to the church under the direction of the Vestry. Towards these repairs the following sums were at once sub- scribed. James Piper, $50; Robert Riddle and W. F. Johnson, $30 each; Dr. R. G. Belt, T. H. Gist and Mrs. V. West, $20 each ; David Gist, $15; Dr. Lenox
(1) Sec correspondence of Dr Cradock and Dr Andrews, appendix . E
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Major hopkins.
Birckhead and Thos. Cockey, $10 each; and Dr. Owen, $5; and the work was commenced on the twenty- seventh of May. It was undertaken by Benj. Eggleston under Major Hopkins' direction. The pews, pulpit and chancel were taken down and the floors taken up. These were all replaced. The pews were increased to about thirty and replaced by new ones. The walls were replastered, and all the wood work was painted with three or four coats inside and ont. The pulpit and chancel were hung with new curtains. The vestry- room was repaired and the whole put in complete order. Such is the statement in a book kept by Major Hopkins. The whole cost was $765. This added to the amount of previous repairs made $1,209, and a debt was incurred of nearly $1,000. Major Hopkins, who appears to have been the active man in all this, died and was buried in St. Thomas' churchyard, March S, 1824. [He was buried immediately back of the chancel, but no stone marked his grave. When the church was extended in 1890 Mr. Thomas Cradock, Senior Warden, who had been shown the spot by his father, Dr. Walker, had the grave deepened beneath the cellar, and a small stone with the name and date of burial of Major Hopkins placed in the aisle of the church just above it. Major Hopkins was commandant at the United States Arsenal at Pikesville. From papers found in the possession of the Rector it appears that his sub- scription paid was SSo, and that he advanced and paid bills to the amount of $201.97, of which there is 110
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