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 5
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Though he wielded a potent influence over the spiritual lives of many who afterwards became Bishops - Otey, Freeman, Green, Polk, Davis, and possibly others-Bishop Ravenscroft never took part in the ceremony of consecrating a Bishop; in fact, only two were consecrated during his entire Episcopate, these being Henry Ustick Onderdonk of Pennsylvania, and Wil- liam Meade of Virginia.
As Christ Church, in Raleigh, was for so many years the scene of Bishop Ravenscroft's labors as parish priest at the same time that he filled the Episcopate, and as his remains now rest beneath its chancel, we shall devote some space to a record of its early history before proceeding with this narrative. At the time of the arrival of Bishop Ravenscroft, the small congrega-
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tion in Raleigh was sadly in need of his services as pastor. Many people in that town were descended from families which had been zealously attached to the Church of England before the Revolution; but these, for the most part, had drifted into the several denominations which already had houses of worship in the infant capital. Prior to 1817, it is said that there were not in Raleigh more than half a dozen communicants of the Episco- pal Church. These were occasionally ministered to by the Rev- erend John Phillips, whose home was then in Tarboro. In 1821 and 1822, Bishop Moore, of Virginia, came to Raleigh to attend the Diocesan Conventions of the State, over which bodies he pre- sided by request, and baptized a number of children during his visits, also administering the rite of confirmation to several adults. The parish of Christ Church probably had some sort of existence before 1820, but it was not regularly organized and in shape to be recognized by the Diocesan Convention until 1822. In that year, its lay delegates were Chief Justice John Louis Taylor, William H. Haywood, Jr. (afterwards United States Senator), and Doctor A. S. H. Burges, an eminent physician of that day. In 1824, it was represented by Chief Justice Taylor, Doctor Burges, Colonel John S. Ellis, and George Washington Freeman-the last named taking holy orders a short time there- after, and eventually becoming Missionary Bishop of the South- west. In 1825, Gavin Hogg, an eminent lawyer, was sole dele- gate from the parish; in 1826, it was represented by Mr. Hogg, Mr. Haywood and Judge George E. Badger, the last mentioned afterwards becoming United States Senator, and also Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Harrison and Tyler. In 1827, Mr. Hogg was again the sole delegate from Christ Church; and in 1828, it had as its delegates Judge Badger, Gavin Hogg, and young Leonidas Polk, who was later to become famous alike as Bishop and General. In 1829 (the last time the Diocesan Con- vention met during the Episcopate of Bishop Ravenscroft), no delegate was present from Christ Church.
In 1823, the members of the little congregation at Raleigh who had so faithfully stood by their Church throughout long
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years of gloom, looked forward with expectant joy to the time when their first Rector, in the person of the new Bishop, was to take up his abode among them, and Bishop Ravenscroft paid a brief visit to that city in June, almost immediately after his con- secration ; then he went back, for a short while, to wind up his affairs in Virginia before repairing permanently to his new home. Mention of his first visit to the capital of North Caro- lina was made in a newspaper of that day, the Raleigh Register, in its issue of July 18, 1823, in these words :
"It has already been stated in the papers that Bishop Ravenscroft was expected to take up his residence in this city. We are gratified in saying this is decided, and that he will remove to this place in December next. On a late visit, the Bishop occupied the Presbyterian Church, and preached several times. He is, as every man ought to be who ministers in holy things for the spiritual edification of his fellow beings, a zealous advocate for what he conceives to be the doctrines of the Gospel. His style is plain, perspicious, and impressive, his voice clear and distinct, and his action natural and becoming. From all we have seen or heard, we have no doubt but the Bishop will greatly aid, both by his preaching and example, the cause of religion in this place. We have in our little city a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Baptist Church, all of which are respectably attended. It is understood that an Episcopal Church will be built so soon as arrangements can be made for the purpose."
It was on December 20, 1823, that Bishop Ravenscroft became a resident of Raleigh, though he had done some work in the Diocese before that time. Having no house of worship in Ra- leigh in which to hold services, he rented, in 1824, an abandoned theatre called "The Museum," which stood on the north-east corner of Fayetteville and Martin streets, and there officiated for some time. Prior to the time when George W. Freeman entered the ministry, that gentleman (who also taught school) acted as a lay reader when Bishop Ravenscroft was absent from Raleigh. Describing affairs in Raleigh, in his report to the Diocesan Convention of 1824, Bishop Ravenscroft said: "The services are well attended, in a building rented and fitted up for the purpose; and, under all the disadvantages of frequent inter- ruptions in the regular duties of the Sabbath, from my other duties to the Diocese, it is evident that the Episcopal cause is
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gaining ground; and, what is more, that the cause of religion is progressing. A weekly evening lecture, at the private houses of members, is respectably attended. The number of communicants is about twenty-five, though, from various cir- cumstances, they have never all been present at one administra- tion of the holy sacrament. The number of members of the con- gregation, declared as such, is thirty-five."
In 1826, the congregation in Raleigh arranged for the erec- tion of a wooden building on the lot where Christ Church now stands. The contract therefor was awarded to Captain William Nichols, an architect who had come to Raleigh to re-model the old Capitol, which was later burned. The Raleigh Register, of November 1, 1826, contained this item :
"The members of the Episcopal Church in this city have purchased a site on which to erect a new church, and have contracted with Mr. W. Nichols to build it. The land was obtained from William Boylan, Esq., and is situated in an elevated and central part of the city, at the corner of Wilmington and Edenton streets. The church will front on the Capitol Square. The work will be immediately com- menced ; and, from the acknowledged talents of the architect, we have no doubt this church will be an ornament to the city. We regret that it will not be erected with a less perishable material. It is to be a frame building."
The above quoted newspaper, on Thursday, December 24, 1829, announced the consecration of the above building as fol- lows :
"On Sunday last [December 20th] the new edifice recently erected for the use of the Episcopal congregation in this city was consecrated to the service of Almighty God by the Right Reverend J. S. Ravens- croft, Bishop of the Diocese. The Reverend Mr. Goodman, of New Bern, and the Reverend Mr. Green, of Hillsborough, were also present on the occasion. At 11 o'clock the Bishop and Clergy appeared. attended by the Vestry, who repeated the 24th Psalm in alternate verses as they proceeded up the aisle to the chancel, where the Bishop and Clergy entered. A very excellent and appropriate sermon was delivered by the Bishop to a crowded auditory from I. Kings, VI., 11 and 12, 'And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: Concern- ing the house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word with thee which I spake unto David thy father.'"
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The consecration sermon, just alluded to, is still preserved, being published in the collected sermons of Bishop Ravenscroft, the first edition of which was issued in 1830, just after his death. The above wooden church did not occupy the exact spot now adorned by Christ Church. It was a little to the northward, but on the same lot.
Bishop Ravenscroft continued his double duties as Bishop of North Carolina and Rector of Christ Church until March, 1828. Then he removed to Granville County, and the Raleigh pas- torate was turned over to the Reverend Charles P. Elliott, a South Carolinian, who served one year and was succeeded by the Reverend George W. Freeman. The clergyman last named offi- ciated in Raleigh many years, beginning in September, 1829, and ending in 1840, when he gave place to the Reverend Richard Sharpe Mason, who was Rector until his death, on the 21st of February, 1874. Doctor Mason's successor was the Reverend Matthias Murray Marshall, D. D., upon whose resignation, in 1907, the Reverend Milton Augustus Barber became Rector.
It was in 1833, during Doctor Freeman's pastorate, that an organ was first placed in Christ Church, and there is a tradition in Raleigh that this innovation was regarded by many of the natives as rank sacrilege.
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On December 28,* 1848 (some years after Bishop Ravens- croft's death), the corner-stone of the new Christ Church, a beautiful granite edifice, was laid; and this was completed in a few years, though it was some time before the tower was added. On January 5, 1854, this new church was consecrated by Bishop Atkinson, assisted by the Reverend Messrs. Richard Sharpe Mason (Rector of the parish), Joseph Blount Cheshire, Aldert Smedes, Fordyce Mitchell Hubbard, Aaron Frank Olm- sted, and Richard Henry Mason. The plan of the new building was drawn by Richard Upjohn, an eminent architect, who de-
*In giving date as December 28th, I follow statement in the Bishop's Journal and contemporaneous newspaper accounts, though the corner- stone itself is marked December 12th. It may be that after the date had been out on the granite, the ceremony, for some cause, had to be postponed until the 28th.
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signed Trinity Church, New York, and many other sacred edi- fices throughout America.
As we have digressed far enough in telling of Christ Church, we shall now endeavor to speak further of the general work of Bishop Ravenscroft throughout the Diocese of North Carolina.
Bishop Ravenscroft's journals are all printed in the early pro- ceedings of the Diocesan Conventions, and they recount many most interesting experiences during his various visitations. One entry says : "On the next day [April 27, 1825,] opportunity was taken to pay a visit to Mrs. Pettigrew, the aged widow of the Reverend Mr. Pettigrew, formerly Bishop-elect of this Diocese. To this I was prompted as well by my own feelings as by the respect conceived to be due from the Diocese at large to the relict of one who was thought worthy to preside over the interests of this branch of the Church of Christ, and which I felt perfectly sure it would be pleased to manifest through its present repre- sentative. To this venerable lady the attention thus shown was most grateful, and none the less so from being altogether un- looked for, while to myself it was more than gratifying, because to the satisfaction arising from the performance of what is be- lieved to be a duty was added the assurance that the Church has yet many friends remaining in that immediate neighborhood, who want only the opportunity to return again to those services in which they were raised, but of which they have long been deprived. They have a neat little church, in perfect repair, built by Mr. Pettigrew, in which the Methodists occasionally officiate, and on whose ministrations the members of the Church are compelled by necessity to attend." In another Convention Journal, for October 21, 1827, we find this entry : "At the con- clusion of the services I administered the sacrament of holy bap- tism to Turner Wilson, a qualified adult, by immersion in Eden- ton Bay-this mode being preferred by him and readily assented to by me, both as Scriptural and authorized by the Rubric. The ceremony was witnessed by a goodly number of spectators, and it is greatly to be wished that such calls were more frequent
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upon our clergy, whichever mode shall be preferred for its ad- ministration." For August 12, 1827, we find an entry by Bishop Ravenscroft as follows: "I embraced the opportunity, which the short distance from the place rendered favorable, to visit the sister church of the Moravian brethren at Salem. To this I. was induced by the desire to obtain information from personal ob- servation and by the wish to manifest the regard for a body of Christian confessors, episcopally derived and constituted, which brethren of the same family owe to each other. These motives were frankly stated to their chief pastor, Bishop Benade, with the presbyters and deacons present, and the wish expressed that, as we were the only Episcopal Protestant Churches in the State, indeed in the United States, such Christian intercourse might be established between us as was calculated to extend Christian fel- lowship, in every way consistent with independence as distinct ecclesiastical bodies. This declaration was favorably received by the Bishop and his clergy and every attention shewed me, consistent with the extra services of a centenary commemoration of some remarkable event in their history. I was much pleased with the neatness, simplicity and uniformity of attire, and with the order and decorum, extending even to the children, which was exhibited by a very large congregation, and with which all the services were conducted; and was most favorably impressed with the fervent simplicity of manner and animated fluency of address which marked the delivery of the Bishop's sermon on the occasion, and I have only to regret that my ignorance of the German language precluded the edification I doubt not it con- tained. At the conclusion of the night service we took leave of each other, with expressions of Christian regard, and with the desire on my part of a more intimate acquaintance as Christian brethren." The Moravian centennial anniversary, alluded to by Bishop Ravenscroft in the above extract from his journal, was one which fell on August 13th; but, on this occasion, it was observed on the preceding day (Sunday), the reason given in the Moravian church diary being that "in this town [Salem]
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Sunday is the day most free from interruptions and Monday the most disturbed." The same diary says : "An additional distinc- tion of the day was the presence of the Governor of our State, Mr. Burton, and of the Bishop of the Church of England in North Carolina, Mr. Ravenscroft, who came on a visit. Both attended the early service, and accepted the invitation to the Love-feast; and the latter, at his own request, took part in the celebration of the Holy Communion." As to the nature of the event commemorated at Salem in 1827, we quote from a mono- graph by Miss Adelaide L. Fries in a work entitled A Brief His- tory of the Moravian Church the following: "August 13th is a special memorial day for all the communicant congregation, commemorating the experiences of the Moravian settlers in Herrnhut, at a communion held in Berthelsdorf, August 13th, 1727. The signal blessing there received had so great an effect upon them that it is considered the spiritual birthday of the renewed Unitas Fratrum-the Moravian Church."
In addition to the events and personal experiences already mentioned as having been recorded in Bishop Ravenscroft's jour- nal, numerous other matters are there noted: how churches and chapels were consecrated, and ministers ordained; how divine services were held in court-houses, Masonic lodge rooms, and other buildings where no religious edifices could be found-and other matters of similar interest. In the proceedings of the Diocesan Convention of 1828, Bishop Ravenscroft tells of the ordination to the priesthood of George W. Freeman, James H. Otey, and Francis L. Hawks-all names afterwards famous in the annals of the American Church, the first two becoming Bishops, while Doctor Hawks was one of the greatest pulpit orators of the age in which he lived, besides being a distin- guished historian. He was an older brother of the Right Rer- crend Cicero Stephens Hawks, Bishop of Missouri. Another brother, also in holy orders, was the Reverend William Nassau Hawks, who faithfully labored for many years in North Caro- lina ; and, at the time of his death (just after the War Between
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the States), was Rector of Trinity Church in Columbus, - Georgia.
The people of our own generation, who are often deterred by a little inclemency of the weather from walking a few blocks over well-paved streets to attend divine service, may well look back with wonder and awe to the terrible hardships borne by the clergy of the Church in the early days of the republic. In activity and fiery zeal, Bishop Ravenscroft ranked second to none. Some mention has already been made of the habitual exposure to all kinds of weather-the scorching heat of August and the deep snows of mid-winter-to which he subjected him- self while in Virginia. This was repeated in North Carolina after his elevation to the Episcopate, with the difference that the scene of his labors was a much greater territory, for the single diocese then stretched east and west over five hundred miles. Nor did he confine his labors to North Carolina. Not until after Ravenscroft's death did Tennessee have his beloved pupil, James H. Otey, as its first Bishop, yet that young State was not entirely destitute of the services of Bishops of the Church from several dioceses. On June 13, 1829, by the primitive modes of travel then the only ones available, Bishop Ravenscroft left his home at Williamsborough, in Granville County, and journeyed over the mountains into Tennessee; thence, part of the way by old-fashioned steamboats, through Kentucky to a session of the General Convention which met in August of that year at the city of Philadelphia, his journey (going and returning) cover- ing sixteen hundred miles. At each stopping place in the scat- tered settlements throughout this long and tedious journey, he would proclaim the Gospel, baptize and confirm. His stentorian tones must have seemed almost literally as the voice of one cry- ing in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." He was very favorably impressed with Ten- nessee, and gave it credit for having within its borders a bet- ter class of people than those who lived either in his native State of Virginia or his adopted State of North Carolina. Said
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he: "The people are orderly and civil in their deportment, and certainly more civilized and intelligent in their appearance and conversation than the same class of men in Virginia and North Carolina. As proof of this, I met with but one drunken man in Tennessee. He was a Northern man, a mechanic, who got into the stage at Newport for Knoxville; and next day he took very kindly the reproof and admonition I felt it my duty to give."
As to the nature of the "reproof and admonition" which Bishop Ravenscroft gave to the above-mentioned worthy, we find some record in the sketch of Ravenscroft's life by Bishop Green. When the intoxicated passenger came into the coach where the other travellers were pleasantly conversing, he was very abusive and profane, whereupon Ravenscroft remonstrated with him in a spirit of fatherly kindness and asked him not to use such language. This only stirred the obstreperous individual into even greater profanity, when the Bishop again courteously requested him to desist from such speech. This second request brought forth language more outrageous still, when Ravenscroft violently brought his hand down upon the offender's shoulder and in his most terrific tones exclaimed : "Utter another oath, sir, if you dare, and I will throw you under the wheels of this coach !" A clap of thunder, says Green, could not more effect- ually have silenced the frightened creature, for he sat meekly in his place during the remainder of the night's journey, occasion- ally stealing timid side-glances at his formidable-looking neigh- bor "to see," as Ravenscroft himself afterwards said, "whether it was a human being or a grizzly bear that had so growled at him and laid so huge a paw upon his shoulder." At sunrise he left the coach, but first humbly apologized to the passengers; then, turning to the Bishop, he said: "Sir, I particularly ask your pardon, and thank you for stopping me as you did." He added that he was not an habitual drinker; but, on the pre- ceding day, had met with some old friends and made a fool of himself. Much affected by this apology, Ravenscroft said: "My friend, I freely forgive you, but remember there is One up
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there," pointing heavenward, "from whom you must yet receive pardon-and strength also, if you wish to be a better man." Then, giving him a cordial shake of the hand in parting, he added: "I hope you will find all well at home."
During his visit to Philadelphia, in the Summer of 1829, Bishop Ravenscroft underwent two surgical operations, and these caused a temporary improvement in his health.
While sojourning in Tennessee in 1829, Bishop Ravenscroft aided in forming a diocese out of that State. His journal says : "On the first of July, deputies from the different Episcopal con- gregations in Tennessee met in Nashville, according to previous notice, in order to frame a constitution for the Church, enact canons, and organize a diocese. Having succeeded in forming a convention, a deputation was directed to present to me a reso- lution of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, requesting me to preside over their deliberations, which was duly acknowledged and acceded to on my part, and the business conducted to a happy conclusion-deputies being elected to attend the ensuing General Convention of the Church, and to request admission for the newly organized diocese into the general union of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church in the United States."
After spending some days in church work at several points in Tennessee with Doctor Otey, later Bishop (who had studied the- ology under him), Bishop Ravenscroft resumed his journey toward Philadelphia by way of Kentucky. On two different occasions, less than three days apart, he administered the rite of confirmation to nearly a hundred persons in Lexington, Ken- tucky, on the 26th and 28th of July, 1829. In the following November, Bishop Brownell, of Connecticut, confirmed nearly seventy in Lexington and Louisville. In the succeeding year, the Right Reverend William Meade, then Assistant Bishop of Virginia (and afterwards full Bishop), visited Kentucky and confirmed between seventy-five and a hundred. By 1832 Ken- tucky had a Bishop of its own, in the person of the Right Rev- erend Benjamin Bosworth Smith, afterwards Presiding Bishop
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of the American Church. The aforementioned Bishop Brownell (one of the consecrators of Bishop Ravenscroft) was president of Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut, and did much mis- sionary work in the South, making several long tours for that purpose. In the Winter of 1829-'30, he went on an extended journey, travelling down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, and returned by way of Raleigh, where he and his companion, the Reverend William Richmond, of New York, paid a visit to Bishop Ravenscroft during his last illness, on February 25, 1830.
North Carolina Churchmen in the days of Bishop Ravenscroft, as well as before and after his time, were noted for the care and pains which they bestowed upon the religious instruction of their slaves. Frequent reference to this class of work may be found in the journals of the Diocesan Conventions, and a few extracts may be of interest. In his report to the Convention of 1825, the Reverend Richard Sharpe Mason, then Rector of Christ Church in New Bern, said: "The Rector of this Church still continues his chatechetical instructions and lectures on the Scriptures for the benefit of the coloured people." Alluding to work among the negroes belonging to Judge Duncan Cameron, in Orange County, the Reverend William Mercer Green, in 1827, reported : "At Judge Cameron's the baptisms have been twenty- six children, only one of which was white. The chapel erected by Judge Cameron will soon be prepared for consecration. It is a neat and pleasant place of worship, and reflects much credit on the individual by whom it has been erected. The congrega- tion here consists, for the most part, of coloured people." In 1830, the Reverend Thomas Wright, then laboring in Rowan and Anson counties, referred to the above class of work at Salis- bury in these words : "The Sunday School continues to prosper, and by some of its teachers a number of black people are also instructed." Of the later work of the Church for the betterment of the negroes, both before and after their emancipation, we shall take occasion to speak in the sketches of Bishops Ives, Atkinson, and Lyman.
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