USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > History of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N.Y. : 1817 to 1888 > Part 10
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History of St. Paul's Church.
proportion to their ability there would be no difficulty, but the vestry found by experience that a large number of persons refused to con- tribute in that way, saying at the same time that they wished the tax put on the pews, and the vestry had decided to do so, believing that the fairness and equity of it would be acknowledged by all, and that the increased assessment would be cheerfully met by the congrega- tion.
The treasurer made his annual report for the year ending at Easter, 1865, showing the receipts for pew taxes $5,165.42 ; contributions to pay the assistant rector, $2,295 ; paid the rector and assistant rector $3,854.63 ; music, $1,096.19 ; other disbursements, $1,248.73. He estimated the parish expenses for the year ending Easter, 1866, to be $8,277.05, and if the tax was fixed at thirteen per cent. on the valuation of the pews, the deficiency would be $3, 120.63. The vestry, however, directed the tax to be twenty per cent. on the $44,625.50 of the pews sold, and to rent the $13,737.50 of unsold pews, making a total valuation of the pews to be $58,363. The special fund from sales of pews and contributions amounted to $3,859.30. It was expended for the follow- ing purposes : Altering seats and doors, $761.54 ; cutting new doors, $231.95 ; painting, $109.26 ; making curtains, $264.35 ; three furnaces, $850 ; three stoves, $215.75 ; repairing roof of church, $710.75 ; making and repairing sewers, $149.76 ; other items, $354.91, and the balance, $311.03, was used for parish expenses. The item of $231.95 for cutting new doors was for an alteration in the original plan, there being no doorways from the main vestibule to the entrance on Erie Street, or to the north aisle Pearl Street entrance, and to make these communications, the large doorways were cut out of the solid stone wall ; this was done in the year 1864 .*
* It will be noticed on examination of the original ground plan of the church that there were doorways at the west end of each of the side aisles. These doorways led from separate vestibules, the one at the end of the south aisle from the Erie Street vestibule, and that at the end of the north aisle from the smaller Pearl Street vestibule. The space, which was afterwards partitioned off and made into the main vestibule,
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History of St. Paul's Church.
At a meeting of the vestry, July 25, 1865, the Rev. Dr. Pitkin, assistant rector, in the chair, it was ordered to be entered on the minutes that $20,104 had been subscribed by the churchmen of Buffalo to pay for the residence of the Bishop of Western New York - of which $6,750 had been subscribed by the parishioners of St. Paul's Church, $5,450 by Trinity, $4,733 by St. John's, $1,500 by Grace Church, $800 by Ascension, $581 by St. Luke's, and $290 by St. James' Church, and that the committee had purchased the residence of Henry W. Rogers, on the south-west corner of Delaware Avenue and Tracy Street in Buffalo, for $20,000.
At a meeting of the vestry, on December 5, 1865, the Rev. Dr. Shelton, having returned from Europe, presided, and $100 was voted to dress the church with evergreens at Christmas.
1866.
March 27, 1866, the vestry designated pews 53 and 55 charged and a double pew in the chapel was set apart instead for the family of Bishop Coxe.
was at first filled with pews to within a few feet of the main or west entrance of the church, and the two vestibules mentioned above were entirely separate from this space. The main doorway, or west entrance, originally opened directly opposite the main aisle. It was this doorway of which Mr. Jacob A. Barker of the building com- mittee writes to Mr. Upjohn in August, 1854, asking if outer doors cannot be arranged there. He says : "Our people have almost abandoned the church in the winter, in consequence of the seeming impossibility of warming it, and this porch looks directly into the eye of the winter winds." Afterwards a west gallery was built, and in 1864 the organ was removed to it, the pews under this gallery were removed, a glass parti- tion was placed across, and thus a large main vestibule was formed ; the doorways at the ends of the two aisles were walled up and made into deeply recessed niches, and doorways were cut through the solid stone walls, from the Erie Street entrance and from the smaller Pearl Street entrance, into the main vestibule. The old doorways at the western end, opening into the north and south aisles, were plainly visible after the fire of 1888, and show distinctly in the illustration given in this volume of the interior of the ruins of the west end of the church.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
The treasurer reported that $1,815 was due and unpaid for pew taxes. The vestry invited Bishop Coxe to make St. Paul's Church the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Western New York.
The treasurer made his annual report, that $8,252.18 had been received for pew rents and other items, and $1,869.91 had been paid to the rector and the assistant rector, $1,125.67 for church music, $300 for the sexton, and $1,879.39 for insurance, taxes, inter- est and other items, leaving a balance of $77.71 on hand. He estimated the expenses for the year ending Easter, 1867, to be $7,420, including $2,000 for the rector, with the rectory, and $2,500 for the assistant rector. Three hundred and fifty dollars additional had been subscribed to pay for the bishop's residence by mem- bers of St. Paul's Church, and also $690 towards furnishing the same.
At the annual election, Easter Monday, April 2, 1866, the Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding as the rector, Lester Brace and Charles W. Evans were elected wardens, and Lauren C. Woodruff, Asher P. Nichols, Edwin Hurlbert, Samuel G. Cornell, James Sweeney, James W. Brown, William H. Walker and Dr. Thomas F. Rochester, vestry- men.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry on April 4th, John B. Seymour was appointed clerk, and DeWitt C. Weed treasurer.
A communication was received from Bishop Coxe accepting St. Paul's Church as the Cathedral Church of the Diocese.
The vestry assessed a tax of eighteen per cent. on the valuation of the pews to pay the parish expenses for the coming year.
The vestry met April 25, 1866, Rev. Dr. Shelton presided, and Bishop Coxe was present by invitation to advise with the vestry relative to making St. Paul's the Cathedral Church. The bishop addressed the vestry and stated that he was aware that he had not acquired any legal rights by the vote of the vestry and that whatever use he made of the church should be at all times subject to the wishes of the rector with whom he should in all instances wish to confer.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
The vestry appointed a committee, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Shelton, A. P. Nichols and S. G. Cornell, to propose a plan to carry out the design of making St. Paul's Church, at the same time, a parish church and the Cathedral Church of the Diocese.
The vestry met October 11, 1866. Rev. Dr. Shelton reported that $16,065 had been subscribed to complete the church edifice, to which was to be added $465 then in bank, making $16,530, and that he thought $3,000 more could be depended on to complete the church edifice in all its parts. Whereupon, the vestry appointed Samuel G. Cornell, Charles W. Evans, Edwin Hurlbert, James W. Brown and DeWitt C. Weed the building committee to complete the church edifice .*
* October 13, 1866 .- It was resolved to do the work by contract, if possible. December 21, 1866 .- Mr. Upjohn writes to Dr. Shelton : - " I have sent by express the plans for the furniture of the chancel of St. Paul's Church, also the plan of the Episcopal chair. I have concluded to dispense with the crockets - the beads on each angle of the spire (as shown on some of the drawings), and to leave off the alternate rows of windows in the spire. It will then be quite rich enough to accord with the severity of the tower and church."
March 6, 1867, Mr. Upjohn writes: - "Please take care that you do not get your work done under sub-contract. The building of spires should be done, if possi- ble, by men who have good knowledge of such work, who can cut a stone well, and lay it well of their own knowledge. I speak thus that you may avoid trouble. The building of a spire is too lofty a matter to be undertaken by any one who is not prac- tically a mason and stone-cutter."
March 9, 1867 (minutes) -The plan estimated on by Brown & Valentine shows the spire as designed to be 120 feet in height from the square of the tower.
May 18, 1867 (minutes). - '. The vestry is now ready to contract for the building of the two spires, to complete the chimney tops, crosses, finials, etc., of the church edifice, also to point the work as it progresses."
September 2, 1867. - The Committee contracted with Mr. Garibaldi for the paint- ing and decoration of the church edifice. It was decided that the interior walls should be finished in plaster.
The church was closed from August 18, 1867, until November 17, 1867 .- From Minutes of Building Committee, letters, etc.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
1867.
At the annual election on Easter Monday, April 22, 1867, the Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, Lester Brace and Charles W. Evans were elected wardens, and S. G. Cornell, L. C. Woodruff, William H. Walker, Dr. Thomas F. Rochester, Asher P. Nichols, John T. Lacy, James Sweeney and James W. Brown, vestrymen.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry John B. Seymour was appointed clerk and DeWitt C Weed treasurer, and Messrs. Cornell, Evans, Brown and Weed were chosen the building committee. They reported that they had a proposition from Mr. Green of Medina to complete the church edifice for $17,000. They estimated $2,000 for cleaning and painting the inside of the church ; extension of the organ loft, $800 ; Mr. Upjohn's commissions, $1,000 ; superintendent's salary $900 ; in all, $21,700. The vestry levied twenty per cent. tax on the valuation of the pews to pay the parish expenses for the coming year. The treasurer made his annual report, showing receipts for pew taxes and other items of $8,109.61, all of which was disbursed for the parish expenses, and $1,685.35 due to sundry persons, and $1,710.79 due to the parish for uncollected pew taxes. He estimated the expenses for the coming year at $7,595, of which $4,500 was for the salary of the rector and assistant rector.
Amount of pews sold $44,875.50 and $13,487.50 available ; total, $58,363.
At a meeting of the vestry, October 3, 1867, Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, a letter from the Rev. Dr. Pitkin was read, stating that he had accepted an invitation to the rectorship of St. Paul's Church, Detroit, and tender- ing his resignation as assistant rector of St. Paul's Church in Buffalo. The resignation was accepted, and suitable resolutions were adopted on the occasion. The Rev. Dr. Pitkin died in Detroit, in May, 1887.
Dr. Thomas F. Rochester and James W. Brown resigned as mem- bers of the vestry. Asher P. Nichols resigned as a member of the vestry on February 3, 1868.
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH FROM MAIN STREET, BEFORE THE SPIRES WERE BUILT. Showing the edifice as it was from 1856 to 1867.
The spire seen above the roof is that of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral. (The corner stone of St. Paul's was laid in 1850 and the edifice was consecrated and opened for service in 1851, but the porches and main belfry were not finished, as shown above, until 1856. During these years, St. Joseph's was built ; its corner-stone was laid in 1852, and the edifice was dedicated and opened for service in 1855.)
From a photograph taken in 1867 by W. M. Knight.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
I868.
At a meeting of the vestry, March 25, 1868, $1,600 was appropri- ated for the expenses of the music for the coming year, and the thanks of the vestry was voted to Messrs. Hobart Weed and Henry Bull for the efficient and most acceptable manner in which they had conducted the music during the past year, and the hope was expressed that they enter upon the next year with the full determination of making the reputation of St. Paul's Church choir the first in the diocese.
At the annual meeting on Easter Monday, April 13, 1868, the Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, Lester Brace and Charles W. Evans were elected wardens, and L. C. Woodruff, William H. Walker, S. G. Cornell, John T. Lacy, James Sweeney, George S. Hazard, John Pease and Henry C. Squire, vestrymen.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry on April 17th, John B. Seymour was appointed clerk, and DeWitt C. Weed treasurer. The vestry levied a tax of twenty per cent. on the valuation of the pews for the ensuing year. Rev. Dr. Shelton stated that he had made an arrangement with the Rev. J. K. Stone, president of Kenyon College, Ohio, to act as his assistant from June Ist to September 1, 1868. He acted as such only for a short time.
The treasurer made his annual report, showing the receipts and dis- bursements to have been $9,234.31.
At a meeting of the vestry, July 31, 1868, it was resolved that the selection by the Rev. Dr. Shelton of the Rev. Percy Brown as his assistant be approved of, and that the sum of $2,500 be placed at his disposal for the payment of the salary of his assistant.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry the Rev. Dr. Shelton stated that he had received a letter from the Rev. Percy Brown stating his inability to accept the position of assistant minister.
The vestry presented to Mrs. Shelton the old Bible heretofore used in the church services. The treasurer was authorized to pay for the new books purchased for the chancel.
106
History of St. Paul's Church.
1869.
At the annual election on Easter Monday, March 29, 1869, Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, Lester Brace and Charles W. Evans were elected wardens, and L. C. Woodruff, S. G. Cornell, William H. Walker, James Sweeney, A. Porter Thompson, John T. Lacy, John Pease and George S. Hazard, vestrymen.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry on April 2, 1869, John B. Seymour was appointed clerk, and DeWitt C. Weed treasurer.
On April 2, 1869, the vestry levied a tax of twenty per cent. on the valuation of the pews for the parish expenses for the coming year.
The treasurer reported that the receipts for parish purposes were $8,959.40 for the past year, and that the uncollected pew taxes and rents were $2,340.63, and that the estimated expenses of the parish for the ensuing year were $8,010.88, including $2,000 salary to the rector and $2,000 to his assistant.
The treasurer reported subscriptions and other receipts for the building fund to be $17,742.07, and the disbursements $17,519.59, of which $2,826.65 was for the chancel improvements ; decorating the inside walls of the church, $2,494; extending the organ gallery, $1,068.09 ; new carpets, $1,051.10.
The vestry approved of the selection by the Rev. Dr. Shelton of the Rev. Charles L. Hutchins as his assistant, and appropriated $3,000 to be placed at the disposal of the rector to pay the salary of the assistant, and the treasurer was authorized to pay the expenses of the removal of Mr. Hutchins and family to Buffalo.
1870.
At the annual election on Easter Monday, April 18, 1870, the Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, Charles W. Evans was elected senior warden, and Samuel G. Cornell junior warden, and L. C. Woodruff, William
S BANK
ST. PAUL'S FROM SOUTH DIVISION STREET.
Just before the completion of the main spire by the addition of the finial and cross. The cross was put in place August 6, 1870. (See pages 108, 314 to 318.)
Enlarged from a stereoscopic photograph taken by C. L. Pond.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
H. Walker, A. Porter Thompson, James Sweeney, Cyrus Clarke, John T. Lacy, John Pease and John L. Kimberly, Jr., vestrymen.
Charles W. Evans was elected senior warden in place of Lester Brace, on account of Mr. Brace's advanced age and infirm health. Mr. Brace died the next year, aged eighty-one.
At a subsequent meeting of the vestry on April 25th, John B. Sey- mour was appointed clerk, and DeWitt C. Weed treasurer ; Charles W. Evans, DeWitt C. Weed, and Cyrus Clarke were appointed the building committt e .*
The vestry levied a tax of twenty per cent. on the valuation of the pews to pay the parish expenses for the coming year. The vestry desig- nated Hobart Weed, Claude Hamilton, Frederick Barton, Henry Bull and James Pease to aid in assigning seats in church to strangers.
The treasurer reported the receipts and disbursements for parish expenses were $8,819.63, and that $1,959.78 was due for pew taxes and rents, of which $900 had been due for some years.
Loring Peirce, formerly the sexton of the parish, and for many years the conductor of the funerals of the parishioners, died May 25, 1870. His respectful sympathy for surviving friends, and particularly with young mothers bereaved of their infant children, was very grate- ful. He attended to the burial of the dead for more than forty years, and was a much respected citizen.t
* One of the Buffalo daily papers speaks as follows of the work on the church edifice at this time :
"The general superintendence of the work now going on is in the hands of Edwin Hurlbert ; the cutting and laying of the stone is in charge of William S. Cass, and John Locke has the supervision of the mason work. Messrs. Hurlbert and Locke are well known in this city. Mr. Cass has had great experience in English cathedrals and churches, superintending in 1835 the rehanging of Big Tom, of Lin- coln ; and he has built Gothic stone churches at Haynton and at Easton, in Lincoln- shire. The building of the church has not been done by contract, but by day labor."
+ In the remarks made by Dr. Shelton at the funeral of Loring Peirce, he said :
" During nearly half a century he has continued his useful offices to the
108
History of St. Paul's Church.
On June 5, 1870, at the Whitsuntide Sunday School festival, the Rev. Mr. Hutchins stated that the children of the Sunday School had contributed $100 for a cross to be placed on the spire of the church, when completed.
The Buffalo Express, of August 1, 1870, has the following in regard to St. Paul's spire :
" All that now remains to complete the spire of St. Paul's Cathedral, is one more stone - the finial -and the cross which is to surmount it ; then the scaffolding will be removed, unveiling one of the most elegant models of architecture to be found in this or any other country. Saturday we again made the toilsome ascent, and from the topmost platform enjoyed a most delightful bird's-eye view of the city, the surrounding country, the lake and Niagara River. The few who are, or have been permitted to make the ascent, may consider themselves peculiarly fortunate, as probably no other occasion will ever present itself where the city may be viewed from so elevated a point. When the scaffolding is removed a fine observation may be made from the top- most windows, but away to a great height above them tapers the slender
dead. Early and late, untiringly, and with no regard to his own ease or comfort. In the beginning of the town the burying place was where the center of the city now is. This ground - which is now a vacant square - was filled with the graves of the first settlers and early inhabitants of the village. But in 1832 there was a demand made for a burial place more remote, and the lot on Delaware Street was selected. This, it soon became manifest, was also too near the city. Then a lot farther out was selected as a general burying place ; then another adjoin- ing was chosen, and lastly Forest Lawn was adopted as the burying place of all Protestants. There is not a foot of either of these grounds with which he has not been familiar. In one or another of them he has laid the bodies of those who laid the foundation of our city. . In his early life he was the only person here
engaged in this sad duty of caring for the dead. . In all the periods of the visitations of that dreadful scourge, the cholera, he was ever in the midst of it ; . by night and by day he was ever in the thickest of the pestilence, as well with the poor and defenseless as with the rich ; all alike received his care and attention."
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GENERAL VIEW OF BUFFALO IN 1870. Looking north from the scaffolding on the main spire of St. Paul's. (See page 108.)
Enlarged from a stereoscopic photograph taken by C. L. Pond.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
spire, its smooth octagonal surface giving neither foot-hold nor finger- hold to the adventurous. From the ground level to the top of the finial will be exactly 255 feet ; the copper cross which will terminate the spire is to be 3 feet 8 inches, making the entire height 258 feet 8 inches. The builder of the celebrated spire of Trinity Church, New York, while on a recent visit to this city, asserted that its height is no greater than that of St. Paul's, the former structure not having been carried up to the full height called for by the plans. If this be as affirmed, our spire is second only in the United States to that of the cathedral in St. Louis."
The Buffalo Commercial of Monday, August 8, 1870, has the follow- ing account of the final placing of the cross on the finished spire :
" The work upon the spire of St. Paul's Cathedral, so long in pro- gress, was completed on Saturday afternoon, August 6th, and the tower now stands 'a thing of beauty.' The gilded cross by which the stone finial is surmounted is of copper, thrice gilt, 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 5 inches, and was made by Henry Goldsmith of Grand Street, New York, at a cost to the church of $145. The cross was set in its place by the Rev. Charles L. Hutchins, assistant minister of St. Paul's 'in the Name of the Ever-Blessed Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.'
"The work of removing the scaffolding has already been com- menced, and within a short time the magnificent spire will stand out, unencumbered, in all its beautiful proportions. Work upon the smaller spire at the easterly extremity of the church will not, we understand, be proceeded with at this time."
The sermon preached by Dr. Shelton on Sunday, August 7, 1870, was replete with historical data. The following extracts from it give a short résumé of the building of the church : "A twenty-years' labor has been finished, and I may be permitted to congratulate you, my friends, and parishioners, upon the essential completion of our grand and graceful church. The cross, which surmounts the very elegant spire, has at length been placed in its position, surmounting
IIO
History of St. Paul's Church.
the structure of which it is its last ornament. Who shall recount the efforts which have been put forth to bring this church to its present condition ? It was begun by the young men of the con- gregation in 1847, who subscribed a small sum each. This sum was but an earnest of a better day, and, small as it was, it had the effect of calling the attention of the parish to the subject, and in 1849 a resolve was made to remove the time-honored and long-used edifice and com- mence another. The effort then made was to obtain some $50,000, being assured by the architect that that sum would complete the edifice. It did not accomplish what had been proposed. Accord- ingly, in 1851, a new subscription was begun. This also did not answer the full demand, and again in 1854 another effort was made. This also was not equal to the requirement. Again in 1866, and in 1867, and lastly in 1869, a subscription was presented, and I may add, all these were promptly and readily responded to. Six times it has been my duty to make the same claim. The full amount of all that has been paid is, as near as I can estimate, $156,000, and be- yond this there has been made a loan of $5,000. So that the total cost has been about $161,000. Some gifts as testimonials of good will have been given, but the great mass of this large sum has been given by those who now occupy the seats before me, or by those who have laid aside their mortal cares, and have been gathered to their fathers. The effort which has been made by this congregation, extending as it has over a period of twenty-three years, has been a great if not a gigantic one. It has called perpetually for exertion, self-denial, and continued open-handed and open-hearted liberality." *
1871.
At a meeting of the vestry, February 6, 1871, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted : Whereas, the Hon. Henry Shelton Sanford and his wife have presented to the parish, through the rector,
* See appendix for subscription lists.
ST. PAUL'S FROM MAIN STREET, IN 1870. After the completion of the main spire, August 6, 1870, and before the work upon the smaller spire had been begun. (See pages 109, 314 to 318.) .
From a photograph by C. W. Bigden.
III
History of St. Paul's Church.
a most beautiful and highly burnished brass eagle lectern, it is resolved that the thanks of the vestry and parish be tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Sanford for their valuable gift .*
At the annual election on Easter Monday, April 10, 1871, Rev. Dr. Shelton presiding, Charles W. Evans and L. C. Woodruff were elected wardens, and Cyrus Clarke, John T. Lacy, Howard H. Baker, Mark B. Moore, George Beals, George H. Smith, Henry T. Gillett and Dr. C. C. Wyckoff, vestrymen.
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