USA > North Carolina > Lives of the bishops of North Carolina from the establishment of the episcopate in that state down to the division of the diocese > Part 4
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It was about the year 1810 that Mr. Ravenscroft first began to entertain some serious concern about judgment to come, and he was crossed by many trials ere he triumphed over his shortcom- ings. His besetting sins, he tells us, were "an impatient and passionate temper, with a most sinful and hateful habit of pro- fane swearing." On his large plantation were two mills, several miles apart, and on his lonely rides between these, while his heart communed with itself, the awakening of his soul slowly began. In recording his trials, temptations, failures and re- newed resolutions for good, he later wrote: "Again and dread- fully did I fall from my own steadfastness. Temptation, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine, swept my strength before it-carried away my resolutions as Samson did the gates of Gaza. I returned to the house convinced of my own helpless- ness, of my native depravity, and that to spiritual things I was incompetent. I now found of a truth that in me dwelt no good thing. I threw myself upon my bed in my private room ; I wept, I prayed. Then was showed unto me my folly in trusting to an arm of flesh. Then did it please the Lord to point my bewil- dered view to Him who is the Lord our righteousness. Then was I enabled in another strength to commit myself unto His way. From that moment my besetting sin of profane swearing was overcome, and to this moment has troubled me no more. But much was yet to be done, which the same gracious Friend of poor sinners continued to supply, and to lead me, step by step, to proclaim His saving name and declare His mighty power openly to the world."
After casting his eyes about for a while, seeking a Christian denomination with which to affiliate, Mr. Ravenscroft (together with his wife) entered a religious body called Republican Metho- dists (a sect which afterwards passed out of existence), being strongly moved to that step by personal friendship for one of the preachers in that denomination, the Reverend John Robinson, of Charlotte County. At that time there was not a sufficient num- ber of these Methodists to form a congregation near Mr. Ravens-
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croft's home, though they arranged to have sermons delivered monthly at a point eight miles away. At a later period a larger number was gotten together and a congregation formed. In this little flock Mr. Ravenscroft became a lay elder, and read ser- mons whenever one of their preachers could not be had. After successfully working three years as a layman he began to enter- tain thoughts of entering the ministry. The spiritual wants of the neighborhood strongly apealed to him, and yet much moral courage was required to take the step he contemplated. Scoffers at religion were not any more unknown in that day than they are now; and Mr. Ravenscroft, in speaking of his entry into the ministry, said, at a later period of his life: "Con- tempt for the calling itself, manifested by wealthier and better informed classes of society, which I once felt myself and now witnessed in others, was a severe stumbling-block." But it took more than a stumbling-block to check the purpose of a man like Ravenscroft. He had stumbled before, only to rise again, and. had now learned to rely on strength from above in all his trials. But, in a doctrinal way, he began to entertain uneasiness and doubts on a question to which he had theretofore given little thought : this was, whether the ministry of every Christian de- nomination was valid and authorized by the Scriptures. Espe- cially was he doubtful of their right to administer the Sacra- ment. On stating his perplexity to the Republican Methodist clergyman, under whom he had so long labored as a layman, that gentleman-"an able and sensible, though not a learned, man"-was little impressed with the importance of the point raised. Of his deeper studies into the matter Mr. Ravenscroft said: "Being thus left to my own resources and the Word of God, I became fully convinced that the awful deposit of the Word, by which we shall all be judged, could never be thrown out into the world to be scrambled for and picked up by whoso- ever pleased to take hold of it; and, though this objection might in some sort be met by the manifestations of an internal call, vet as that internal call could not be demonstrated to others, some-
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thing more was needed which could only be found in the outward delegation of authority from that source to which it was origi- nally committed." *
In consequence of his non-belief in the validity and authority of the ministry under which he had theretofore served, Mr. Ravenscroft applied to the Republican Methodist District Meet- ing for a letter of dismissal; and this was granted "in the most friendly and affectionate manner," as he himself bears witness. To part with his brethren, most of them old neighbors as well as personal friends, was doubtless so painful that earthly considera- tions could never have moved him thereto. But he was now adrift-free from affiliation with any denomination of Chris- tians-and began to cast about for a religious resting-place. Before coming to a final decision, his most serious thought was given to the claims of Presbyterianism; but that denomination's origin, he declared, could be traced no further back than the Ref- ormation. Furthermore, said he, in its lines of succession it even labored under the doubt as to whether it so much as had the authority which mere presbyters could transmit, for it did not satisfactorily appear that Calvin ever had received orders of any kind. Moved by these considerations, Mr. Ravenscroft determined to enter the American Episcopal Church, the suc- cessor of the old Church of England, and to apply for holy orders therein. As the reasons upon which he based his belief in the unbroken line of the Episcopate of the Church of England have already been set forth in the introductory chapter of this work, it is not necessary to repeat them here.
Being resolved, as already stated, to apply for holy orders in the church of his ancestors, Mr. Ravenscroft repaired to Rich- mond, with proper credentials, and there made his wishes known to the Right Reverend Richard Channing Moore, Bishop of Virginia. As the canons of the Church required that the names of candidates for orders should be inscribed in the books for one year before advancement, Mr. Ravenscroft could not become a
* Works of Bishop Ravenscroft (edition of 1830), Vol. I., p. 18.
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deacon at once, but Bishop Moore licensed him (February 17, 1816) as a lay reader, and he labored as such in the parishes of Cumberland in Lunenburg County, and Saint James in Meck- lenburg County. On the 25th of April, 1817, in the Monumen- tal Church at Richmond, he was admitted to the office of deacon. On the 6th of May following, while the Diocesan Convention of Virginia was in session at Fredericksburg, he was there ordained to the priesthood. At the time of his ordination he was much further advanced in age than is usually the case with candidates for holy orders, being forty-five years old. He had previously been asked by the parish of Saint James, in Mecklenburg County, to become its Rector, and this invitation he now ac- cepted. Of the zeal with which he performed the duties of his sacred office while in Virginia, it has been said: "His atten- tion to the duties of his calling, which he suffered nothing to divert, was indeed remarkable. His punctuality as a minister, for instance, was so exact that during the whole time he offi- ciated as deacon and priest he was never known to fail in keeping an appointment. Relying, with a confidence which ultimately became fatal, upon the vigor and stability of his constitution, he set at naught all kinds of weather, while engaged in the duties which called him from home. Even when the weather was so inclement that he would not permit his servant, who acted as the sexton of his churches, to accompany him, he would himself take the keys and ride off five or ten miles to the regular place of worship, without, perhaps, the slightest expectation of meeting an individual; and sometimes, as he used to express himself, would 'ride around the church, when the snow was a foot deep, and leave his track as a testimony against his people.'"
It is needless to say that such labors as the above soon made themselves felt. In his address to the Virginia Diocesan Con- vention of 1818, Bishop Moore said: "I proceeded to Mecklen- burg and consecrated a new church, erected by the parishioners of the Rev. Mr. Ravenscroft. In that place, brethren, in which the Church was thought to be extinct, the friends of our com-
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munion have awakened from their slumbers. Aided by the ex- ertions of their faithful and laborious minister, they have raised a temple sacred to the living God. May that Saviour, whom they worship with so much ardour and sincerity of heart, accept their sacrifice and remember them for good."
So effective was the work of Mr. Ravenscroft in his parish in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, that in 1823 he was called by the Church in Norfolk, with an offer of greater emoluments (of which he was now in need, for much of his fortune had been lost), but this was declined. About the same time he also received a call from the Monumental Church in Richmond, as Assistant Rector. This call he accepted, for his help was needed by Bishop Moore, who was then filling the Episcopate and serving as Rector of the Monumental Church at the same time-holding the positions jointly, just as was the case with Mr. Ravenscroft himself at a later time when he was both Bishop of North Caro- lina and Rector of Christ Church in Raleigh. Desiring to re- lieve Bishop Moore, and thereby enable him to discharge the duties of his more important office without hindrance, Mr. Ravenscroft accepted the call to Richmond; but, before he could remove to that city, he was summoned to a more important post-that of Bishop of North Carolina. In describing the effect upon Mr. Ravenscroft of this call to the Episcopate, the Reverend William Mercer Green, who bore the notification of his election to him, later said that he could never forget the solemn nature of their interview. He found him at home, with his wife beside him and a Bible open before him. After the usual salutations, the documents containing the certificate of his election, etc., were placed in Ravenscroft's hands. Mr. Green had some curiosity to witness the effect produced upon him by this unexpected call, and narrowly watched the workings of his countenance. For some moments Ravenscroft read and re-read, as if loath to believe the startling proposition. At length a deep groan relieved the awful heavings of his breast. At this sound his wife looked up and cast an anxious glance at both, as if to
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inquire the cause of such emotion. Not a word, however, was spoken. An impressive silence reigned throughout the chamber, broken only by hard and long-drawn breathings. At length, after pacing the floor for a few moments, as if struggling to keep down his emotions, Mr. Ravenscroft paused before Green and said, in his peculiarly emphatic manner: "Brother, it must be so. The hand of God is in this thing; I see it; and with His help I will endeavor to go where He calls me." Then, putting the papers into the hands of his wife, he endeavored to return to his wonted strain of cheerful and edifying conversation. Mr. Green (whose language we have largely used in giving this ac- count ) adds that there was an evident weight upon Mr. Ravens- croft during the remainder of this visit, which might well cause one to wonder how the "office of Bishop" could ever be the aim of worldly ambition.
It was in Saint Paul's Church, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 22d day of May, 1823, that the Reverend Doctor Ravens- croft was consecrated Bishop of North Carolina by Bishops William White of Pennsylvania, Alexander Viets Griswold of the Eastern Diocese, James Kemp of Maryland, John Croes of New Jersey, Nathaniel Bowen of South Carolina, and Thomas Church Brownell of Connecticut. Divine services were con- ducted on this occasion by the Reverend William Mercer Green, and the consecration sermon was delivered by Bishop Griswold. The former afterwards said of Bishop Ravenscroft's demeanor on that occasion: "Never, while memory retains her seat, shall I forget the startling effect of his responses upon the multitude that looked on. It was as though an earthquake was shaking the deep foundations of those venerable walls. A breathless silence reigned during the whole of the sacred ceremony; and no one, it is believed, left the church that day without feeling as if he could pledge himself for the sincerity and zeal of him who was then invested with the apostolic office." At the time of his con- secration Bishop Ravenscroft was the tenth living member of the House of Bishops.
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When Doctor Ravenscroft was called to the Episcopate the authorities of the Church in North Carolina frankly stated to him the numerical weakness of the Diocese and its consequent poverty. Such a salary as the Diocese itself could pay would not alone be sufficient for his support, but an arrangement was made whereby he might become Rector of the parish of Christ Church in Raleigh, and divide his time between the care of that congregation and the performance of the duties of the Episco- pate throughout the Diocese at large. In this way he might draw a small amount from each source, and thus win a modest living till the arrival of better days, when it was hoped that the Diocese could make a more liberal provision for the maintenance of its Bishop.
Before proceeding further with this narrative we shall carry the reader back a few years in order to explain conditions which existed in North Carolina when Ravenscroft became Bishop. As already stated, several efforts had been made, just after the Revolution, to found a diocese-the movers in the matter even going so far as to elect a Bishop (the Reverend Charles Petti- grew), who, however, died without being consecrated. After the failure of these early attempts no serious effort was again made until 1817, though several parishes had managed to preserve their existence throughout the trying period which intervened. In the meantime the older clergy had all removed from the State or died, and their places were not filled. The last surviving clergyman of the colonial era in North Carolina was the Rev- erend Nathaniel Blount, of Beaufort County, who passed to his reward in the Fall of 1816. This gentleman belonged to a family which is said to have been seated in North Carolina for a longer period than any other which is still extant; and its members have been firm friends of the Church from the earliest dawn of the State's colonial existence. Nathaniel Blount in early life was brought under the spiritual influence of that splendid Church of England missionary, the Reverend Alexander Stew- art, minister in charge of Saint Thomas's Church, in Bath, to
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whose labors we have referred on a previous page. In 1773, the young Churchman went to England and was duly admitted to holy orders in Saint Paul's Church, London. Almost immedi- ately after his return, he erected at his own expense a house of worship, afterwards known as "Parson Blount's Chapel," but now called Trinity Church. This church (which is in Choco- winity, Beaufort County) is still standing, though some addi- tions have been made to the original building. In the unsuccess- ful efforts to establish a Diocese in 1790-'94, Parson Blount was one of those engaged. When he died, in 1816, there was not left surviving a single clergyman of the Episcopal Church in the entire State of North Carolina. But the Church was not dead. Where the earlier workers had sown, a harvest was yet to spring up, and hopeful children of the Church might exclaim, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." And the new day dawned in 1817. On the 24th of April, in that year, a small convention was held at New Bern, and further steps were taken to set up a Diocese in the State of North Carolina by drawing up a consti- tution for the government of the Church, and taking other meas- ures for its formation. The convention also appointed a Stand- ing Committee, and invited Bishop Moore, of Virginia, to as- sume Episcopal oversight of the Church in North Carolina until the State could secure a Bishop of its own. At this first Dio- cesan Convention in New Bern, only three clerical and six lay delegates were present. The Reverend Bethel Judd, Rector of Saint John's Church, in Fayetteville, was president; and the Reverend Adam Empie, Rector of Saint James's Church, in Wilmington, acted as secretary. The only other clerical dele- gate present was the Reverend J. Curtis Clay, Rector of Christ Church, in New Bern, while the lay delegates present were John Winslow of Fayetteville, Marsden Campbell and John Ruther- ford London of Wilmington, John Stanly and John Spence West of New Bern, and Josiah Collins, Jr., of Edenton. The next convention was held in Fayetteville in April, 1818, with a slight increase in attendance. As Bishop Moore was sick, he could not
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attend the Convention of 1818; but was present at a convention (at Wilmington) held in April, 1819, being styled in the journal of that body "Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Virginia and North Carolina." In the months of April-May, 1820, Bishop Moore presided over the Diocesan Con- vention in Edenton ; also over the two succeeding ones (both held in Raleigh), April-May, 1821, and April, 1822. The secretary of the conventions of 1819, 1820, and 1821, was a nephew of Bishop Moore, the Reverend Gregory Townsend Bedell, who suc- ceeded the Reverend Mr. Judd as Rector of Saint John's Church, in Fayetteville, November 1, 1818, and there remained until the Spring of 1822, when he went to Philadelphia and became Rector of Saint Andrew's Church. He was the father of Bishop Greg- ory Thurston Bedell, of Ohio. While in North Carolina, the elder Bedell did much toward building up the Church, and preached the convention sermon in 1820 on "The Desolations and the Restoration of Zion," this discourse being printed by order of the body before which it was delivered. Doctor Bedell's biography, by the Reverend Stephen IE. Tyng, was published a year or two after his death, which occurred in 1834.
Referring to his visit to North Carolina in 1819, Bishop Moore addressed the Virginia Diocesan Convention in that year as follows : "It will not be thought irrelevant, brethren, to notice at this time my late excursion through the diocess of North Carolina. The Church in that State is rising in all the vigor of youth. A new edifice has been lately erected in Fayetteville, an ornament to the town, and a credit to the exertion of its founders, which I consecrated to the service of Almighty God. I confirmed in that place sixty persons, and admitted the Rev. Mr. Shaw to the order of deacons. Among the list of worthies who have exerted themselves in the building of the Church in Fayetteville, I find the names of Cameron and Winslow, the sons of two of our deceased clergy. May the spirit of their fathers continue to animate their bosoms, and may the children of other ministers imitate their noble, their laudable
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example. The Church in Wilmington is also in a prosperous condition. I preached in that place to pious, crowded audito- ries, and confirmed one hundred and thirty-three persons. New- bern is also rising in importance. The congregation have deter- mined to erect a new church upon the plan of that in Fayette- ville. I preached in Newbern five times in three days, confirmed fifty-two persons, and administered the Lord's Supper to a large body of pious communicants. I visited Washington, Greenville, and Tarborough, and preached several times in each place." Though his presence is recorded in the North Carolina Diocesan Convention Journals, we can find no record in the Virginia Journals of Bishop Moore's visitations to the conventions at Raleigh in 1821 and 1322. Of his visitation to the North Caro- lina Convention at Edenton, in 1820, he has this to say in his address to the Virginia Convention of that year: "As your regard for the interests of the Church must render you alive to her prosperity in every section of the country, I consider it not irrelevant to state to you that I have attended the Convention in North Carolina, and that the Church in that Diocess holds up to your view the most encouraging prospects. In Edenton, at which place the Convention convened, our sittings were attended by great numbers of people, some of whom had come from a dis- tance of near fifty miles to witness our proceedings and attend upon our ministry. In that place I ordained two deacons, and admitted one gentleman to the priesthood. In that diocess, so late as the year 1817, there was not a single clergyman : they are now blessed with the labours of seven faithful men; and, in the course of another year, several candidates, who are now prepar- ing for holy orders, will be admitted to the ministry of the Word."
The members of the families of Cameron and Winslow, re- fered to as sons of deceased clergymen in the extract first above quoted from Bishop Moore's journal, were Doctor Thomas N. Cameron and John Winslow. Doctor Cameron was a brother of Judge Duncan Cameron, of Orange County, North Carolina.
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and a son of the Reverend John Cameron, who was born in Scotland, educated at the University of Aberdeen, and after- wards came to Virginia, where he attained great eminence in the Church. Mr. Winslow-a scion of the historic Winslow family of Massachusetts-was a son of the Reverend Edward Winslow, who was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard in 1741, died in New York during the Revolution, and was buried under Saint George's Chapel. John Winslow was one of the organizers of Saint John's Church, in Fayetteville, and its first senior warden. He was also one of the six lay delegates to the Convention of 1817, held in New Bern, which permanently organized the Diocese of North Carolina. One of his sons, Edward Lee Winslow, was also a devoted Churchman, and for many years was Secretary of the Diocese. Another son was the celebrated lawyer, Warren Winslow, Speaker of the Senate of North Carolina, who for a few weeks (December 11, 1854-Janu- ary 1, 1855) was Acting Governor of the State, and who later served as a member of Congress (December 3, 1855-March 3, 1861), besides being in the diplomatic service of the United States.
It was at Salisbury, in April, 1823, that the Convention was held which elected Doctor Ravenscroft to the Bishopric. This convention was visited by a body of Lutheran clergymen and laymen, who were welcomed with loving courtesy. Twenty-five parishes of the Episcopal Church were at that time reported to be in operation throughout the State. These were as follows : Saint James's, in Wilmington; Saint John's, in Fayetteville; Christ Church, in New Bern; Saint Paul's, in Edenton; Saint Jude's, in Orange County; Saint John's, in Williamsborough; Saint Mary's, in Orange County; Emmanuel, in Warrenton; Christ Church, in Rowan County; Grace Chapel, in Pitt County ; Saint Mark's, in Halifax; Calvary, in Wadesborough ; Christ Church, in Raleigh; Saint Michael's, in Iredell County; Saint Peter's, in Lexington; Whitehaven, in Lincoln County; Smyrna, in Lincoln County; Saint Andrew's, in Burke County;
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Saint Stephen's, in Oxford; Saint Peter's, in Lincoln County; Saint Thomas's, in Bath; Saint Matthew's, in Kinston; Zion Church, in Beaufort County ; and Trinity Chapel, in Beaufort County. In 1824, the churches or parishes added were Saint Peter's, in Washington; Saint Luke's, in Salisbury; Union Chapel, in Waynesboro (near where Goldsboro now stands) ; and Saint Paul's, in Milton. In that year Trinity Church, in Tarborough, passed out of existence.
During the entire time that he filled the Episcopate, Bishop Ravenscroft never in a single instance failed to attend any ses- sion of either the General Convention or the Diocesan Conven- tion. The General Convention was in session three times-1823, 1826, and 1829-during his term of office, its meeting place being in the city of Philadelphia in each instance. The six ses- sions of the Diocesan Convention of North Carolina, while he was Bishop, were held at the following places and dates: Wil- liamsborough in 1824, Washington in 1825, Hillsborough in 1826, New Bern in 1827, Fayetteville in 1828, and Salisbury in 1829. In the Convention of 1828, one of the lay delegates was Leonidas Polk, afterwards Bishop of Louisiana; and Thomas F. Davis, Jr., later Bishop of South Carolina, was a lay delegate in 1829.
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