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 6
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From the indomitable energy and unflagging devotion with which Bishop Ravenscroft discharged the duties of his office, one might be led to suppose that he was a strong and robust man; and so he had been in his younger days, but years of toil and exposure had done him some injury even before he left Virginia. He was seldom a well man for any length of time after his arrival in North Carolina. Yet he would never let ordinary sickness interrupt his service to God. Often he would spend one day in bed, racked by painful illness; and, in less than twenty- four hours, would again be in the pulpit, delivering an earnest and forceful discourse. But there is a limit to all human endur- ance, and he eventually fell a sacrifice to his zeal; yet no mur- mur escaped him in consequence of any pain or bereavement. As already stated, he resigned as Rector of Christ Church, in Raleigh, during the Spring of 1828. Shortly thereafter he removed his residence to the town of Williamsborough, in Gran- ville County, where he officiated as Rector of Saint John's Church for a short while. In the last-mentioned town his wife died, January 15, 1829. His first wife (born Burwell), to whom allusion has been made on a previous page, had died in Virginia in 1814. In 1818, four years later, he married Sarah Buford, of Lunenburg County, Virginia, and this lady accompanied him to North Carolina, where she was greatly beloved by all classes. Referring to her death, the Raleigh Register, on January 20th, a few days after that event, said :
"An acquaintance of some years with this estimable lady, during her residence in this city, enables us to bear testimony to the piety and virtue of the deceased. Of mild and endearing manners, and of a friendly disposition, Mrs. Ravenscroft was esteemed by her neigh- bors, and beloved in no common degree by her friends and connections. She had no children, but her loss will be irreparable to her kind and indulgent husband."
The death of Mrs. Ravenscroft was indeed a severe blow to her husband-one which visibly affected the remaining months of his stay on earth-but it relieved his mind of one painful
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thought : he might now go hence with no anxiety concerning her worldly welfare; for practically all of his fortune was now gone, and he could have left little or nothing for her maintenance and support had she survived him. A touching scene occurred at her burial. When the officiating clergyman was performing the last rites, we are told, and was about to read the sentence of com- mittal, the Bishop insisted upon doing this himself; but, when he came to the words "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," his voice became choked, and his whole frame was so shaken by emotion that it was feared he would fall into the grave.
Writing to his mother, in September, 1828, Bishop Ravens- croft said: "The effects of climate, with the fatigue, exposure, and mental labor inseparable from my office in the Church, have made an infirm old man of me in my 57th year."
After the death of his wife, Bishop Ravenscroft disposed of his landed property in Williamsborough and sent the greater part of his personal effects to Fayetteville, with the intention of taking up his abode in the latter town; but, before doing so, he accepted an invitation to spend a few months as the guest of a highly esteemed friend, Gavin Hogg, in Raleigh. There it be- came evident that the end of his earthly career was fast ap- proaching, and he met death with the same fearless faith in God which had so long characterized his life. Yet self-righteousness and over-confidence formed no part of his character. Ten days before his death, when Bishop Brownell and the Reverend Doc- tor Richmond paid him the visit already alluded to, they found him "humbly waiting for deliverance from pain and sin, through the merits of an all-sufficient Savior." He often declared that it was only as a pardoned sinner that he hoped for salvation. His tranquillity itself, in his last illness, awakened in his thoughtful mind the suggestion, to quote his own words, that "Satan thinks himself sure of me, and therefore lets me alone." In his closing hours he had every attention which loving hands could bestow. He also received much spiritual comfort from the ministrations
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of the Reverend George W. Freeman. Once during his last ill- ness he received the Holy Communion, and had arranged to do so again; but, when the time appointed therefor came, he said that he was not in a condition to partake discerningly and hence must forego the privilege, as he held no superstitious ideas re- specting the Eucharist in itself. To those who had assembled in an adjoining room to partake with him, he sent the message: "Though I am denied the privilege of shouting the praises of redeeming love once more with them, around the table of our common Lord, yet I will commune with them in the spirit."
Bishop Ravenscroft prepared for his departure from earth by a systematic arrangement of his business affairs as well as spirit- ual concerns. First he asked the vestry of Christ Church for a burial place beneath its chancel, then secured brick and person- ally instructed the workmen as to the proper manner of enclos- ing his coffin in a small vault; he directed that the coffin itself should be made of plain pine wood, stained black, and without ornamentation of any kind; that his remains should be drawn to the place of burial by his old horse, "Pleasant," led by John- son, a faithful slave; that the burial service should be read by the Reverend George W. Freeman, Rector of Christ Church, and that no funeral sermon should be preached. These instructions were faithfully carried out. . Bishop Ravenscroft was not quite fifty-eight years old.at the time of his death, which occurred on the 5th of March, 1830. In announcing that event, the Raleigh Register, of March 8th, said :
"DIED: In this city on Friday morning last, at the residence of Gavin Hogg, Esq .. the RIGHT REVEREND JOHN STARK RAVENSCROFT, D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in North Carolina, in the 5Sth year of his age. During a long illness, which from the first he was persuaded was a 'sickness unto death,' he manifested a perfect Christian resignation to the will of God, and looked forward to his approaching dissolution with a calmness and intrepidity in- spired only by an unwavering faith and a steadfast hope in the mercy of God, through the atonement of Christ. Retaining his confidence in the principles, which he had so ably maintained, unimpaired to the last, and exhibiting in his conversation and deportment an impressive
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example of the power of the Gospel-in the full possession of his reason, he resigned his soul unto the hands of his Redeemer and his God, and thus closed his Christian course in a manner becoming the eminent character which he had sustained as a Minister of Jesus Christ. On Saturday evening his remains were attended by a very numerous collection of the citizens to the Episcopal Church and in- terred within the chancel-the burial services being performed by the Reverend George W. Freeman, Rector of the Church."
The will of Bishop Ravenscroft is now filed in the records of Wake County. He bequeathed his books and pamphlets to the Diocese for the commencement of a library at Raleigh for the use of both clergy and laity, said library to be kept in the cus- tody of his successors in the office of Bishop. Certain papers, sermons, etc., he' left to the "Episcopal Bible, Common Prayer Book, Tract and Missionary Society of the Diocese of North Carolina," with instructions to publish the same if the Society so desired; he also named upwards of twenty clergymen and laymen in eight or ten dioceses to whom he wished copies sent, as well as to every clergyman within the Diocese of North Caro- lina. Some family heirlooms (jewelry, etc.) which had be- longed to his father he bequeathed to his mother, Mrs. Lillias Stewart of Cairnsmore, near Newton Stewart, in Scotland, with the request that she leave them to her grand-daughter, Lillias Craig. To his brother-in-law, Alexander Craig, of Edinburgh, he directed that five copies of his works (if they should be printed) should be sent for distribution among his relatives in Scotland. He also directed that a copy of the same should be sent to the Honorable and Right Reverend Charles James Stewart, Lord Bishop of Quebec, in Canada; another he bequeathed to the eminent American statesman, Henry Clay. Small legacies and keepsakes were left to numerous friends, including two of his adopted children, Alexander McHarg Hepburn and Ebe- nezer MeHarg Hepburn, of Lunenburg County, Virginia, the latter being appointed executor, with the provision that he should not be required to give bond. The Bishop's slave, John- son, and even his horse, "Pleasant," were objects of solicitude in his last hours, and both of these he bequeathed to his two
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adopted sons above mentioned, saying: "I believe they will be kind to Johnson for my sake, keeping him from idleness and vice, but suiting his labor to his infirm condition; and that they will not suffer Pleasant to be exposed to any hardship or want in his old age, but will allow Johnson to attend to him as he has been accustomed to do."
It was also provided in the above will that should any residue remain after the settlement of the estate, it should go to a fund for the support of the Episcopate in North Carolina; but it is not likely that the Diocese received any benefit from this pro- vision as Bishop Ravenscroft was in straitened circumstances . at the time of his death.
As already stated, the remains of Bishop Ravenscroft were interred beneath the chancel of Christ Church in Raleigh. This church, at the time of his death, was a wooden building, but later was moved away to give place to the present beautiful granite structure. Though on the same lot, the present church is not on the exact spot where the old one stood, and hence it was necessary to disinter the Bishop's body in order to place it beneath the chancel where it now rests, awaiting the resurrec- tion-while above his mortal remains, almost daily, resound the sacred services which he loved so well.
In the present Christ Church is a tablet (probably taken from the old building) which in memory of Bishop Ravenscroft bears a Latin inscription as follows :
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JOHANNES STARK RAVENSCROFT, S. T. D., Ecclesia Reformæ EPISCOPUS, et primus qui intra Carolina Septentrionalis Diæces in summo sacerdotio ornatus Res sacras Procuravit. Natus XVII. Maii, Anno Salutis MDCCLXXII., EPISCOPATUI CONSECRATUS XXII. Maii, An. Sal. MDCCCXXIII., Obit V. Martii, An. Sal. MDCCCXXX.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity or Doctor of Sacred Theol- ogy (Sacrae Theologiae Doctor) was conferred upon Bishop Ravenscroft by three well-known institutions of learning: Wil- liam and Mary College (his alma mater), in Virginia; Colum- bia College, in New York; and the University of North Caro- lina.
The death of Bishop Ravenscroft caused general sorrow; and solemn services were held in his memory throughout the Diocese. Christ Church in Raleigh was draped with black, and its con- gregation wore badges of mourning throughout Lent; but, in accordance with his request, no funeral sermon was preached. Similar action, with the addition of memorial sermons, was taken by Saint James's Church in Wilmington and Saint John's Church in Fayetteville. Saint Matthew's Church in Hills- borough, Christ Church in New Bern, and Saint Peter's in Washington, were also draped, while their congregations wore crape badges and observed the 19th of March as a day of fast- ing, humiliation and prayer, on account of the great blow which had fallen on the Church. In May, 1830, a few months after the Bishop's death, a Convention of the Diocese of North Caro- lina was held at Wilmington. That body passed suitable mne- morial resolutions, and directed that a committee be appointed to address a letter of condolence to the aged mother of the de-
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ceased, then residing in Scotland. In the report of the Com- mittee on the State of the Church it was said: "Since the last meeting of the Convention, the members of this portion of the Church of God have been called to mourn the death of their beloved and venerated Diocesan. Removed from this scene of affliction and suffering, in which he had displayed the fearless and devoted zeal of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus and evidenced a signal union of the evangelical graces of our holy religion and the unshaken courage of a Champion of the Cross, he has been translated to that rest in heaven which is prepared for the Saints, and to a communion of the spirits of the just made per- fect in the Church Triumphant. To record the bless- ings which his apostolic ministry has, through the divine favor, secured to this Diocese, is a task for which your committee con- fess themselves incapable. His praise is emphatically in all the churches. Within this Episcopate every altar has been enlarged and its votaries increased. Under his spiritual guidance many wanderers have been gathered into the fold of salvation; and multitudes, who were famishing for the pure fountains, have drunk and been satisfied."
In a letter of condolence addressed to the mother of Bishop Ravenscroft, Mrs. Gavin Hogg, of Raleigh, wrote on April 4, 1830, saying of the deceased: "I understand from others, better qualified than I am to judge, that as a preacher he was without a rival in the United States." Mrs. Hogg adds: "The Diocese of North Carolina, and indeed the whole Church in the United States, considered his death a great public misfortune."
In personal appearance Bishop Ravenscroft has been de- scribed, by one who knew him well, as a man of lofty presence, with an eye piercing and full of command. In his manner (says the same account ) there was an apparent austerity, which sprang, for the most part, from the strength of his mental con- ceptions and the forcible language in which he expressed them. His features, however, were regular; and, when he smiled, there was a transitory sweetness in his look which bore a striking
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contrast to the usual appearance of severity on his countenance. In a letter written by him in 1806 he mentions his own weight as two hundred and twenty pounds. In height he was slightly over six feet. He had heavy, overhanging eyebrows, and was accustomed to call them his "dormer windows." In 1880, Mau- rice Q. Waddell, a venerable citizen of Pittsboro, North Caro- lina, spoke of Bishop Ravenscroft's personal apparel as follows : "His dress was plain and always made in the fashion worn by gentlemen of the period of the Revolution. His coat was of black cloth, his knee-pants of the same material, and his stock- ings usually deep gray in color and ribbed. In winter he wore boots, reaching above the calf of his leg; but, in summer, these gave place to shoes buckled over the instep. His linen was spot- less ; he always wore an old-fashioned stock, pleated at the neck and fastened at the back with a silver buckle. In his robes, his appearance was truly apostolic, and he looked a fit companion for the three hundred and eighteen Bishops of the Council of Nice." *
Mr. Waddell also speaks of an occasion when Bishop Raven- scroft was traveling by stage in Virginia (after he had become a resident of North Carolina) and became involved in a doc- trinal controversy with two Presbyterian clergymen. Neither side was convinced, but they argued from 3 o'clock in the morn- ing till daylight. When the stage rolled into a town on the route their dispute had grown so heated that people stopped on the streets to see what the excitement in the coach was about. On observing that they were thus attracting attention, the elder of the two Presbyterians observed that the argument could bet- ter be concluded in a less publie place, adding: "I am Joseph Caldwell, President of the University of North Carolina." To this his fellow-traveler replied: "And I, sir, am John Stark Ravenscroft, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina." It was the first time these distinguished gentlemen had ever met. Doc-
* Church Messenger (Winston, N. C.), June 29, 1SS0.
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tor Caldwell had become much prejudiced against the Bishop, whom he considered an intruder upon the ecclesiastical field in North Carolina and a proclaimer of strange doctrines.
On another occasion, says Mr. Waddell, Bishop Ravenscroft was the guest of Colonel William Polk, of Raleigh; and in the course of a conversation the Colonel asked if it were not prob- able that a man of clean living and high morality would get to heaven by those means alone. "No, sir," answered the Bishop, "he would go straight to hell." One of Colonel Polk's sons, Leonidas, later became one of the greatest Bishops in the Ameri- can Church.
Bishop Ravenscroft's outspoken utterances were not always in keeping with the usages of polite society. At a dinner party, where he was present, one of the guests was telling of some re- markable occurrences which he claimed to have seen, and those who heard his assertions were courteously endeavoring to con- ceal their incredulity, when suddenly the company was startled by the Bishop's bringing his hand down upon the table and fiercely exclaiming : "That, sir, is a lie, and you know it!"
Among the acquaintances made by Bishop Ravenscroft soon after he came to North Carolina was Judge Leonard Henderson, later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In his earlier years Judge Henderson was one ---
"Of whom 'twas said he scarce received For gospel what the church believed."
But later his views underwent a change for the better. The former sentiments of the Chief Justice were known to Bishop Ravenscroft though he had not heard of the happy change which had taken place in the mind of that eminent jurist. Upon going to Williamsborough, in Granville County, the Bishop asked who composed the vestry of Saint John's Church. Among others Henderson's name was mentioned. Upon hearing this, Raven- scroft was not slow to express his indignation. "Why, sir, Judge Henderson is a pillar in the Church," answered his informant.
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"A pillar !" exclaimed the Bishop, "it would be better to have a caterpillar !" Judge Henderson went to hear Bishop Ravenscroft just once after his ministry in Williamsborough began; and, when asked by a friend why he had ceased his attendance at church, answered, with his nearest approach to an oath: "By blood, sir, I couldn't stand it! Why that man poured the whole of his sermon right down into my pew, and didn't seem to have a word for anybody else." On another occasion says Bishop Green (who relates the last-mentioned anecdote) this same Chief Justice was called upon for a toast and responded : "Gentlemen, I give you BISHOP RAVENSCROFT-the St. Paul of the South, except in being all things to all men."
In his continuation of the elder Doctor Drane's Historical Notices of St. James's Parish, Wilmington, the late Colonel James G. Burr gives some personal reminiscences of Bishop Ravenscroft. On one occasion, says he, the Bishop made a visi- tation to that parish, and the Sunday School classes were ranged around the chancel to be catechised by him. The children stood trembling and abashed before his august presence; and, upon noticing this trepidation, he spoke to them in so kind and gentle a manner as not only to restore their self-possession but to com- pletely win their confidence. Later on in the monograph just quoted, it is said of Ravenscroft: "He would not tolerate the least irreverence in church, it made no difference who the offend- ing parties might be; whether high or low, male or female, the reproof was direct, and in language too plain to be misunder- stood." Irreverence in church was indeed an abomination in the eyes of Ravenscroft. When he was a parish priest in Virginia two young men of fashion once entered his church and pro- ceeded to entertain each other in very audible whispers. After bearing this for a while, Mr. Ravenscroft paused in his services long enough to say that he would be glad if there were less talk- ing among the congregation. This silenced the two for a few moments only ; and, when they resumed their conversation so as to distract the attention of the worshippers, Ravenscroft pointed
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directly at the offenders and said: "I will thank those young men in that pew to keep silence while the Word of God is being preached." Stung by this rebuke they sprang from their seats and angrily left the church. Outside, they held a consultation and determined that nothing short of a cudgelling would avenge the affront they had received, so each cut a heavy stick from a near-by thicket and waited for the object of their resentment. At length the congregation was dismissed, and a little later Mr. Ravenscroft made his appearance. One of the young men had posted himself behind the church and there waited for his com- panion to bring the offending clergyman. Upon being told by the other that he wished to see him back of the church, Raven- scroft accompanied him without question. After his arrival, there was an awkward pause, which was at last broken by Mr. Ravenscroft himself who asked what they wished. One of them then summoned up enough courage to say that he had insulted them in the presence of the whole congregation and they de- manded an instant apology. Upon hearing this, Ravenscroft drew himself up to his full height of more than six feet and thundered forth an "apology" in language to the following effect : "Boys, I am ashamed of you, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves! You are shaming your parents, too, for they have taught you better than this. Jim, you are the son of a good old Presbyterian elder, who would be grieved to know how you have behaved. As for you, Jack, you have had church training and ought to know better. What would your mother think if she could see you as you are at this moment ? Go home, boys, go home !- and when you come to church again try to act like Christians and behave like gentlemen." When Ravenscroft had finished this outburst the two young men cast frightened looks at each other, dropped their sticks, and hastily departed.
An anecdote characteristic of Bishop Ravenscroft is given in the sketches by both Norton and Green. He was once holding services in Virginia, and had begun saying the Creed, when he observed that none of the congregation seemed disposed to join
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in repeating it. Turning his Prayer Book over on the desk before him, he fixed a look of mingled surprise and trouble on the congregation, and asked: "Brethren, am I in the midst of heathens or Christians? Can it be possible that there is no man or woman present who 'believes in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?'" Then he began the Creed over again, when his second rendition was fairly drowned by the mingled voices of every man, woman and child present. Not long after this (continues Bishop Green) he endeared himself to the same congregation by a little act of thoughtfulness. Just after he had begun his sermon a black cloud appeared in the heavens, threatening a heavy downpour of rain. Most of the congregation, men and women alike, had come from a distance on horseback, and they began looking wistfully out of the win- dows at their saddles, but not one moved from a pew, so greatly did they stand in awe of the formidable looking man who stood before them. Observing the cause of their uneasiness, Raven- scroft said, in the kindest of tones: "My friends, I shall pause five minutes in my discourse to enable you to take care of your saddles." The saddles were tucked high and dry under the church, and the members of the congregation were back in their seats before the allotted five minutes had expired.
Of the many anecdotes which the last quoted writer has re- corded of Ravenscroft is one of an experience which the latter related when asked if he had ever lost his self-possession. Such a misfortune had befallen him, he said, when the pulpit of Saint John's Church, in Washington City, had "run away with him." It seems that the pulpit in question had small wheels under it, so that it could be moved aside on communion occasions. "When I was preaching there one Sunday," said Bishop Ravenscroft, "seeing so many 'big folks' before me, I thought that I would be big too, and accordingly I put a little additional powder in my gun. In the middle of the sermon, when all eyes were directed towards me, I unfortunately lifted my hand somewhat higher than usual, which gave the pulpit a start, and away it went, ap-
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parently bent on settling in the midst of the foremost pews, crowded with ladies. It was a bare moment, however, before its progress was arrested by the rail of the chancel, but during that moment the church presented a singular scene, the women screaming and the men springing from their seats with hands uplifted to stop the strange thing."
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