USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > History of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N.Y. : 1817 to 1888 > Part 14
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His life was given to the parish of St. Paul's, and the strong cords of affection which united him to it were interwoven with the very fibers of his being, and for its welfare he was willing to sacrifice his all.
He was always first in the alleviation of suffering, always the most sympathizing of friends, and people in every walk of life looked upon him with veneration.
In the character thus fully rounded and well balanced there was a native grandeur and strength of manhood, self-consecrated to God, which gave us the noble life of a man true and faithful to the end.
Resolved, Therefore, secondly, that we tender to the immediate relatives of the late Dr. Shelton the assurance of our profound and affectionate sympathy ; that a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to them, and that they be recorded on the register of the parish, and also be published in the city and church papers.
The remains of the late rector were brought from Bridgeport to Buffalo, being met at Batavia by a committee of the vestry, who
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escorted them to the old rectory on Pearl Street, on October 12th, while the bells of St. Paul's were tolled.
The remains lay in state in the chancel of the church from 10 until 4 o'clock on Saturday, October 13th. During the six hours nearly 3,000 people looked upon his face; the largest attendance was at noon, but during the entire time the average was about 400 an hour - a fact that tells more eloquently than words of the love and esteem in which the venerable rector was held by his own people and the citi- zens at large.
About half past nine o'clock Dr. H. R. Hopkins, Dr. A. R. David- son, Messrs. J. V. Carr, M. S. Burns, H. R. Howland, S. G. Walker and H. H. Baker bore the casket from the rectory on Pearl Street to the chancel of the church, where it was deposited on the bier. Clothed in full ecclesiastical robes of white, the face wearing a calm and life- like expression, the remains lay in a massive casket of English oak, highly polished but without ornamentation, the handles of polished brass. The heavy cover, beveled into the shape of a cross, and bearing a polished brass plate with this inscription :
REV. WILLIAM SHELTON, D. D. FOR 52 YEARS RECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, Born September II, 1798, Died October II, 1883,
was removed and placed at one side, affording a full-length view of the body.
The following members of the Guild composed the guard of honor in charge of the remains while lying in state: From 10 to 12 - Messrs. A. Porter Thompson, Samuel G. Walker, Millard S. Burns, Thomas G. Perkins, James Sweeney and John V. Carr. From 12 to 2 - Messrs. George J. Sicard, Sheldon T. Viele, O. H. P. Champlin, William Y. Warren and Dr. M. D. Mann. From 2 to 4 - Messrs. Howard H. Baker, Stephen Walker, D. C. Godwin and Dr. G. Hunter Bartlett.
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At quarter past 4 o'clock the remains were borne from the church to the rectory by the following gentlemen : Dr. Henry R. Hopkins, D. C. Godwin, S. G. Walker, Howard H. Baker, Henry R. Howland, G. Hunter Bartlett and Stephen Walker.
The following is from a communication published in the " Kalen- dar," contributed by Mr. G. A. Stringer :
From 10 A. M. to 4 P. M. of Saturday, October 13th, the remains lay in state in the church, upon a purple bier, upon which loving hands had strewn palms and flowers, symbolical of victory over sin and death, and of the life and glory of the resurrection. The form of the venerable clergyman, majestic even in death, was clothed in ecclesi- astical robes, his countenance tranquil with "the depicted triumph of the soul after victory." During this time a guard of honor was in attendance, and the body was viewed by over three thousand people.
Dr. Shelton loved the poor ; he sought, pitied and comforted them, and while he taught them he relieved their material wants. Widespread were his acts of mercy, and by no means limited to those within the pale of his own communion. His ear was ever open to the story of suffering, and, like his blessed Master, he went about doing good. In the beautiful words of his successor, the Rev. Dr. Brown, beloved by him, beloved by us his care and charge: "Had you seen yesterday the throng of mourners who passed through the aisles of the church, to have one last look on the serene, upturned face, as he lay so still and calm in his chancel, you would have noted the scant garment, the home-spun dress, the care-worn face, which spoke of a loving gratitude to him as benefactor and friend."
On Sunday afternoon, October 14th, at half past two, the bells sent forth a sor- rowful peal, and the casket of solid English oak, the top of which was beveled into the form of a cross, was carried from the rectory. The Rev. Dr. Brown, with nine of the Episcopal clergy of the city and vicinity, awaited it at the entrance of the church, with the surpliced choir of fifty-two boys and twelve men. Preceded by these the melancholy procession entered the house of God, while from the great organ came the mournful strains of Beethoven's "Funeral March." The faithful physicians of the reverend deceased followed the clergy, then came the wardens, then the casket, borne by the members of the vestry, and last of all came the mourners. As the solemn words, "I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord," fell upon the ears of the hushed and waiting throng, the sacred burden was borne through the central aisle and deposited upon the bier in front of the altar rails. The services were most impressively rendered, the Rev. Archdeacon McMurray of Niagara, Ont., the life-long friend of the Rev. Dr. Shelton, reading the lesson. The sermon of the
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Rev. Dr. Brown, from the text, " Herein is that saying true, One soweth and an- other reapeth," was an eloquent tribute to the memory of his venerable predecessor.
After the singing of the inspired words, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," the services at the church closed with the hymns " Nearer, my God, to Thee " and " The Strife is O'er." Then, pre- ceded by the clergy and chorus choir, the casket was borne through the church. The door reached, the surpliced choir and the clergy formed a long line on either side of the steps, and waited with bowed heads while the sons of the church carried from it the lifeless form of him who was for half a century its faithful rector.
The last sad rites were performed over the open grave, at Forest Lawn Cemetery, in which peaceful spot all that was mortal of the Rev. Dr. Shelton was laid by the side of his beloved wife, Mrs. Lucretia Stanley Shelton, who passed away the 6th of September, 1882.
Sadly those who loved the departed in life looked upon the fresh mound, covered with white flowers, and then, with heavy hearts, turned silently away.
" Far out of sight, while sorrows still enfold us, Lies the fair country where our hearts abide ; And of its bliss is naught more wondrous told us, Then these few words, 'I shall be satisfied.' "
The following extracts are from the close of the sermon preached by the rector, the Rev. John W. Brown, D. D., at the funeral of Dr. Shelton :
"Duty was not a word of sentiment with the aged priest, but an im- perative command, and in the vigor of his manhood was the inspiration to action and zealous work for the Master. In defence it made him as adamant. For progress it was synonymous with endurance. The early struggles of the parish, of which he him- self has spoken in his semi-centennial sermon, tell us of this invincibility of purpose to work out the design of his life in the fear of God. The energy and . positiveness which characterized the outer life, in relation to the well-being of this parish, found also its synonym in the faith once delivered to the Saints, which he up- held in such undoubted constancy as against the ephemeral opinions of the day and the skeptical tendencies of the age. It required a strong faith to plant the Church in this village in its untutored childhood ; and it required as strong a faith to uphold the truth as it is in Christ, amid cultured and educated infidelity. On the faith of the Church, and in the Church, he built his own character, and sought to form the charac- ters committed to his priestly and pastoral care. The pastorate of half a century with- out this would not have left to-day, when death ends it, this which we now so richly enjoy. And I am bold to avow, with the thought of human infirmity which belongs to us all, that to this, the prominent trait in the character of our sleeping father, we
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owe more than to aught else the inheritance of his success. Strong in this he was strong in God, and never faltered in his trust in the Lord God Almighty.
"But I would speak yet more intimately of our dear father. Underneath the vig- orous grasp of a strong friendship was all the tenderness of a womanly sympathy - and none felt more the touch of human sorrow than he. He reminded me of the strong tree whose mighty trunk held itself erect against every beating storm in winter, only to shelter the tender-budded fruit to bless mankind when its leaves would fall in autumn. His benevolence was no garland of praise with him. His very sternness seemed to rebuke thanksgiving, and served to cover in the sweet budding benevolence of his large heart of charity. Oh, friends, you know not what secret streams of loving, tender sympathy flowed out from the spirit under this rock character, which carried refreshment to the weary and relief to the poor ! . So would I speak of his simplicity - which as a child spake honest words, and knew no guile ; of his simple faith, which trusted as strongly as it believed ; of his humility, which would sit at the feet of a teacher to learn heavenly wisdom. I knew him somewhat as no one else could know him in these pastoral relations-and to-day the faces of the patient In- gersoll and the believing Shelton come to me in an holy remembrance, as I recall them in that heavenly Communion which preceded the translation of the former almost from the sick-bed of the latter. Thus I knew him, and when sore-smitten with illness, and death seemed near approaching, he found inexpressible joy in that holy Sacrament, and peacefully awaited the coming of the messenger.
" The warrior has hung his implements of warfare on the walls of his house, and life's battle is over. He has fought the good fight, and we enter on the glories of his victories. The traveler has ended his journey, and has laid him down to rest, for he has finished his course. Let us catch the refrain from that splendid life, and seek to have its tones of right and duty make an holy harmony with- in our souls."
Dr. Shelton's will was duly admitted to probate by the Surro- gate of Erie County, N. Y. His personal estate was inventoried at $52,000, and his real estate was valued at $30,000. It is remarkable that he should have accumulated such a large estate,* considering that his salary from St. Paul's Church was never a large one, and that he was a liberal giver to many church objects, and often loaned sums of money, quite large in the aggregate, but which were not repaid. He was by no means close in his household expenses, and entertained much company, particularly the clergy. While he was liberal, he was
* See note at foot of page 82.
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never extravagant. He said in his will that he humbly gave hearty and grateful acknowledgments to the great Almighty Author of his being, who, most unexpectedly and without effort or seeking of his own, and, as it were, by a miracle of His providence, bestowed upon him the property he possessed. He bequeathed to his wife $4,000, which was included in his estate, but which he had received from her in an annuity belonging to her. He also bequeathed to Miss Elizabeth McKee, the faithful, trusty and much regarded person, who for more than thirty years had been the conscientious and invalu- able housekeeper of his wife and himself, $7,000, and says he did this in testimony of his thorough respect for her irreproachable conduct and character, for her invaluable and skillful services during the period of so many years. He bequeathed to one of his nieces and to the widow of one of his brothers, the homestead and parsonage in the town of Bridgeport, Conn., which was used by his father, and in which his father lived for forty years, and the land adjoining, being some nineteen acres. It was to this old-fashioned homestead that Dr. Shelton made a pilgrimage nearly every summer. There he was
born, and on it he expended large sums of money. He left Buffalo for this place, the last time, July 23, 1883, and died there October II, 1883. Dr. Shelton bequeathed large sums to his kinsmen, to col- leges,* to church institutions and to personal friends. He bequeathed $4,000 to his own beloved St. Paul's Church, to be used by the vestry at its own discretion, and $2,000, the interest of which was to be used in ringing and chiming the bells. In his will he says he appoints his two long honored and trusted friends, Charles W. Evans and William H. Walker, executors of his last will and testament, and left them $1,000 in trust to erect in St. Paul's Church a memorial to his good wife.
* It may be of interest to state that Dr. Shelton received his Doctorate degree from Hobart College in 1838 ; in 1843 he was elected a Trustee of Hobart College, and continued to act in that office until the time of his death. In IS25. while temporarily located at Red Hook, N. Y., he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Columbia College, New York City. He was graduated from the General Theolog- ical Seminary in the class of 1823.
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They determined to pay the amount towards the proposed new altar. He also left them $1,000 for a suitable monument over the graves of himself and wife. In 1887, the executors erected over each grave substantial horizontal tombs with suitable inscriptions - over his grave, commemorating his birth and death, and the duration of his rectorship of St. Paul's ; and over her's, the day of her birth, July 21, 1798, and of her death, September 6, 1882. They also erected a tomb- stone over the grave of Daniel Wadsworth Lewis, born in 1766, and died in 1837. He was the uncle of Mrs. Shelton, and the guardian of her younger years, and was a prominent and consistent churchman in Western New York, and occasionally read the church service for Dr. Shelton. The three graves are in the lot in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, originally purchased by Dr. Shelton.
The executors made their final accounting of Dr. Shelton's estate to the Surrogate of Erie County in Buffalo, N. Y., in October, 1886, and he decreed their commissions to be nearly $800, which sum was paid to them out of the assets of the estate ; they, however, con- tributed more than that amount to the memorial window in the chancel and to other parish purposes.
November 10, 1883, the vestry placed the former rectory on Pearl Street, in charge of the Rev. Dr. Brown and the wardens.
The following extracts are from the sermon preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on All Saints' Day, November 1, 1883, to commemorate the life and services of the Rev. William Shelton, D. D., by the Rt. Rev. A. Cleveland Coxe, D. D., Bishop of Western New York. It is taken from the memorial volume printed in 1883 :*
"There was something in his nature wholly unostentatious and at war with display, yet he valued the good will of his neighbors and prized very justly their esteem. His downright common sense accepted the maxim -
" An honest man's the noblest work of God."-
and that is what he aimed to be. He was accused of a certain roughness of demeanor ; enemies might even call it rudeness ; his friends credited it, with reason, to his manly
* The memorial volume above referred to, was compiled, with most affectionate care, by Mr. George Alfred Stringer, one of the vestry, under the direction of the vestry, in 1883. It contains, in addition to Bishop Coxe's sermon, extracts from which are given above, the full text of Dr.
History of St. Paul's Church. 151
frankness, his sincere outspoken truthfulness, his utter lack of artifices and of the finesse that conceals the real motives of the moment. By friends he was often com- pared with the great Dr. Johnson in this respect, nor was the comparison wholly fan- ciful. Of that grand old man of letters he was a great admirer ; he fully sympathized with his habits of thought, and he made many of Dr. Johnson's maxims his own. And his natural instincts resembled those of that conscientious moralist, of whom it has been said so truly : 'Men have cut him up and turned him inside out, but in him is found no lie.' Just such another, in this particular, was our venerated Shelton. If at times he uttered some rough word, he was prompt to take it back, and in mak- ing amends he was most noble. I have seen the tear start in his eye when I have ventured to say, 'Doctor, you have hurt that young brother's feelings.' All who knew him intimately know well how he could overcome even his strongest prejudices when once convinced that they were not just. His prejudices were, it is true, charac- teristic and very strong. Like Dr. Johnson, he was 'a good hater ;' but when he was warned not to hate men, but only their vices and meanness, he would warmly respond : 'Oh, God forbid ! I would not do any man an injury for all the world.' Softened by time and suffering, these kindly elements grew riper and more marked as he drew near the heavenly gates, till at last he seemed to be 'in perfect charity with the world,' to forgive and forget if he had been injured, and to be deeply sorry if he had misjudged. Such were his infirmities then, but they were nobler than some men's polite- ness. He never fawned before a man's face and then stabbed him in the back. But, as it is said that the world can better put up with a flattering rogue than with 'a plain, blunt man,' I have often thought that these peculiarities furnish a test of his real greatness. They could not have been tolerated unless more than balanced by conspicuous merits. They were such as would have been fatal to the success in life of almost any other man. There is something grand in the character which, in spite of them, attracted such friendships, commanded such universal respect, and which for fifty years retained the strong unwavering attachment and devotion of his parishioners. To their credit, they rightly estimated the man who gave his life to their holiest interests. And they knew the other side. His dignified features, his noble form and bearing, his somewhat stern expression melting away very often into a smile of extra- ordinary sweetness and even childlike simplicity, were all associated with something that belonged to Homer's heroes - his 'Kings of Men.' . This honorable integrity was rendered yet more conspicuous by his large-hearted beneficence. I never supposed him to be a wealthy man, and yet I was often amazed when accident revealed to me his private acts of munificence, some of them hardly to be expected
Brown's fine sermon preached at the funeral, resolutions of the vestry, St. Paul's Guild, the stand- ing committee of the diocese, and the Deanery of Buffalo, and much valuable and interesting information concerning the life and work of the late rector.
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even from the most affluent. In this he was memorably an example to his flock. To the poor he was a father indeed. Down into the foul cellar and up the creaking stair- way he went 'seeking goodly pearls'- seeking to save souls ; and this he did, caring also for the bodies and for all the wants of the poor. 'In bestowing he was princely.' Once or twice I remonstrated with him on his almost indiscriminate bounty. Then he said something like this: 'God has been good to me ; I never sought to be rich, nor practiced arts of gain, but somehow there has come to me more than I ever dreamed of possessing ; I ought to give accordingly.' His competency was the source, to him, of quiet comfort, such as any good man may enjoy without vulgar pride of purse. He congratulated himself that he was not likely to become dependent. 'I can go,' he said, 'to my old home in Connecticut if I find myself no longer useful, and end my days there in peace.' But he clung to life with a strong desire to be useful to the last. And so he was, for to the last day of his residence in Buffalo he ministered to the poor, and baptized their babes, and gave them bread.
"You gray-haired men, who knew him longest and best, feel, at this moment, that he is with you, and will be ever enshrined in your hearts till they cease to beat. You that are younger and have shared his later anxieties and toils, have proved through all these last scenes of tender and filial duty how truly he lives in your warmest affec- tions. Your children that gazed upon his face in the coffin, and that saw thou- sands crowding for a last look at the man of God, that solemn day of his burial, can never forget him ; and they, to their children, will tell of the old pastor who taught them the creed, so that yet another fifty years shall find his name almost as fresh as it is to-day. The man of God is with us still, not only because this noble church is his monument ; not only because, when the passing stranger looks up to the cross upon that heaven-pointing spire, he will be told who built it- but because he has built living stones into the temple of his Master ; because these are his enduring record ; because on these tablets of the heart he has written the name of his Redeemer, and so immortalized his own."
1884.
January 11, 1884, the finance committee reported that the parish had borrowed $2,000 to meet the expenses of fitting up the Sunday- School room in the basement of the church. March 8, 1884, the com- mittee reported that the cost of fitting up and enlarging the Sunday- School room, including carpets, new seats and other furniture, had been $2,617.96.
BLOC
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"THE CHURCHES," IN OCTOBER, 1884.
From the " Kremlin Block," Main Street. (See pages 30, 174, 220, 440.)
Photograph by G. H. B.
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At the annual election on Easter Monday, April 14, 1884, Charles W. Evans and William H. Walker were elected wardens, and John Pease, A. Porter Thompson, James R. Smith, Henry R. Hopkins, A. R. Davidson, Robert P. Wilson, George A. Stringer and Albert J. Barnard, vestrymen ; and at a meeting of the vestry on May 2, 1884, T. F. Welch was appointed clerk, and J. W. Sanford treasurer, and the usual tax of twenty per cent. was levied on the pews.
July 5, 1884, the vestry placed the rectory on Pearl Street in the possession of St. Paul's Church Guild, to be known as the Guild House, the vestry to resume possession whenever they might deem it in the interest of the parish to do so. It was understood that the family of the sexton might still live in the portion then occupied by them.
John L. Kimberly died December 21, 1884, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. He was connected with Sheldon Thompson in business, and with him was one of the earliest parishioners of St. Paul's Church. Mr. Kimberly was born in Derby, Conn., January 20, 1799, and came to Black Rock in 1817, and in 1826 married Miss Eliza A. Hawley of that place, whom he survived some twenty-one years. Mr. Kimberly lived within the limits of what is now the City of Buffalo nearly seventy- five years. He was a life-long and attached friend of the late Dr. Shelton, and during the building of the church edifice was a vestry- man and one of the building committee, and a liberal contributor to its erection. His sons and daughters were all parishioners, and were all useful and efficient in parish work. One of his daughters, Miss Lucy Kimberly, married the late DeWitt C. Weed, and his youngest daughter, Miss Edith Kimberly, became Mrs. William H. Walker.
1885.
At the annual election on Easter Monday, April 6, 1885, the Rev. Dr. Brown, the rector, presiding, Charles W. Evans and William H. Walker were elected wardens, and John Pease, A. Porter Thompson,
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James R. Smith, A. R. Davidson, Henry R. Hopkins, George A. Stringer, Robert P. Wilson and Albert J. Barnard, vestrymen ; and on May 1, 1885, the vestry appointed G. F. Hunter Bartlett clerk, and James W. Sanford treasurer. The bequest of $1,000, by the late James D. Sheppard to St. Paul's Church, was accepted by the vestry, the income to be used for charitable purposes, under the direction of the rector, wardens and vestrymen. The thanks of the vestry were tendered to Theodore F. Welch for his able and faithful services for the past five years as clerk of the vestry. The thanks of the vestry were also extended to Mr. Tucker, then about to leave the city, for his effi- cient and long-continued services in ringing the bells for the past twenty-five years. The treasurer reported that $35 1 had been received for the past year from the use of the receiving vault, and the money was appropriated for the use of the Sunday School. July 10, 1885, Mr. Walker, from the committee, reported that the $1,000, bequeathed by the late James D. Sheppard, and $100, accrued interest on it, had been deposited in the Merchants' Bank to the credit of the treasurer of the parish, at four per cent. interest.
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