USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > History of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N.Y. : 1817 to 1888 > Part 20
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"You do not come among us as a stranger. Some of us have long known and esteemed you in your earlier spheres of work. But in the recent years, you have especially endeared yourself to us by the kindly, sympathetic and unselfish readiness with which you helped our bishop when he turned to you for aid. .
"We realize the great importance of the field presented in this portion of the Empire State - the largeness of the place filled by the wise and venerated De Lancey, the scholarly and courtly Coxe. We recognize the difficulties which attend some problems now pressing to be met and solved.
"So thus we bid you welcome, here and now, an earnest, cordial, loyal, enthusias- tic welcome to our churches, to our homes and to our hearts."
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At the close of the address, Bishop Walker entered the pulpit and made an eloquent and earnest response, in the course of which he said :
" When a bishop of a diocese is chosen from among the ranks of the priesthood, his induction to office begins at the time when the hands of the consecrating bishop are laid upon his head ; but when a missionary bishop is called to be diocesan of a specific charge, the time of his induction begins when he formally accepts the sacred duties.
"But it seemed only fitting that such a great, such an awful responsibility as that of being put in charge of this diocese should be emphasized with some public ceremo- nial, hence this beautiful service of enthronization to-day." .
Bishop Walker spoke most feelingly of his predecessor in office, the revered Bishop Coxe, and of his great and successful work for the Church and the diocese :
"How can I speak of the duties of this sacred office without referring to the work of him who for almost a third of a century worked among you as bishop, scholar, poet, saint ?"
In closing, Bishop Walker said :
"Humbly would I serve Him, our King. Humbly would I plead with you to work for His kingdom in this great, important diocese of this great land." . . . .
After the conclusion of the address, the bishop was celebrant at the Holy Communion, and the services closed with the recessional hymn :
" Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, City of our God."
Through the generosity of certain parishioners, the rector was enabled to have the services of a parish visitor, Mrs. Carrie Jones. Investigation of need, prompt giving of relief, visitation of strangers, the care of women and young girls, the bringing of children to Holy Baptism and to Sunday School, have all been made easier and the rector relieved and aided.
Of especial interest in the history of this year is the building of the new Parish House. The lot on Pearl Street, opposite the church,
DR. SHELTON'S RECTORY, 128 Pearl Street, completed 1847 ; after Dr. Shelton's death, St. Paul's Guild House, and, later, St. Paul's Parish House ; demolished 1896. (See pages 51, 153, 216, 217, 379, 389. )
THE PRESENT PARISH HOUSE, on the site of the old rectory, 128 Pearl Street, completed February, 1897. (See pages 216, 217, 218.)
Photograph by G. H. B., September, 1902.
Photograph by A. W. Simon, April, 1896.
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was purchased by the vestry in the year 1844, and a brick rectory was finished there in 1847, in which Dr. and Mrs. Shelton lived for the remainder of their lives. Here the most of the social life of the parish centered, the many reunions and informal evening receptions given by Dr. and Mrs. Shelton serving to make the people like a large fam- ily. Everyone was welcome and made to feel at home.
After Dr. Shelton's death, the old rectory was used as a Guild House, and later, following the fire of 1888, it was called the Parish House, and was used for the meetings of the different societies, and for the general secular work of St. Paul's. It was found more and more inadequate as the parish grew and the work increased.
Nearly all took part in the accomplishment of the plan for a new Parish House, but especial acknowledgment must be given to the faithful work of the women of the church, who, led by Mrs. Sheldon T. Viele, suggested and carried the project through to success. The plans were made by Messrs. Green & Wicks, the needs of the several departments of work, together with the narrowness of the lot, twenty- seven and three-quarters feet front by one hundred and sixteen feet deep, necessitating much careful planning, and the result has been satisfactory. The front of the four-story building is of brick with trimmings of the same brown stone as that used in the church, and is Gothic in style. It is 105 feet in depth and covers the entire lot, with the exception of a small area in the rear. Over $20,000 was raised by the parish for this work. The list of subscribers to the Parish House Building Fund will be found at page 434. The cost of the building, which is of modern, fire-proof construction throughout, was about $27,000.
1897.
January 10, 1897, died Edward C. Walker, who had nearly all of his life been closely identified with St. Paul's. He was long a mem- ber of the music committee, and, with Hobart Weed, had charge of
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the musical affairs of the church, and to those affairs he gave freely and unselfishly of his time, his enthusiasm, and his cultured knowledge of music. He had a fine and sympathetic voice, and his beautiful singing in the old choir will be long remembered. Mr. Walker was a man of sterling character, a kinsman and business partner of William H. Walker, the senior warden of the parish.
January 18, 1897, at a service held by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew in "The Chapel " at St. Paul's, an address was made by George Alfred Stringer on "Incidents Illustrating the Personality, Mind and Religion of the late Bishop Coxe." This interesting paper was published in full in the "Sunday Express" of January 24, 1897.
The new Parish House was formally opened for use February 25, 1897, an occasion of especial interest to the whole parish, and there was a large attendance. The building committee, composed of Messrs. Edmund Hayes, H. C. Harrower, Charles R. Wilson, W. H. Walker and the rector, "presented a financial report which showed how nobly the parish had put out its strength to obtain the house, while the address of the senior warden, William H. Walker, very fittingly expressed the benevolent spirit of that effort and told of the good work for others of which it was intended that the Parish House should be the center."
Mrs. Carrie Jones, the devoted parish visitor, was obliged to give up her work on account of failing health. The rector then secured the services of Sister Magdalene, of the Sisters of Bethany, New Orleans.
In March, 1897, was held the first of the noonday Lenten services, which were very largely attended, especially by business men. These services, lasting twenty minutes, consisted of prayers, hymns, and a short address, and were conducted daily throughout Lent by clergymen from the different churches of the city. While an innovation in Buffalo, they have proved very successful in the down-town churches of other cities. These services at St. Paul's are largely attended and appreci- ated, the congregations not by any means being limited to churchmen.
History of St. Paul's Church. 219
March 29, 1897, at West Chester, Pa., died Miss Mary W. Hills. Miss Hills and her sisters were members of St. Paul's Church, and, as the proprietors and teachers of the only Church school for girls in Buffalo, in former days, they are held in loving remembrance by a large number of the churchwomen of St. Paul's Parish. The follow- ing is from "The Churchman " of April 10, 1897 :
" The passing to Paradise of Mary Wilcox Hills closes the earthly record of the last of the three sisters whose life work brought benediction to the City of Buffalo. The Misses Hills School for Girls was established in that city in 1847, by the daughters of Horace Hills of Auburn, N. Y., and until 1884, a period of thirty-seven years, it alone filled a place since held by St. Margaret's School. Emily, who had been married to Ebenezer Hale, of Canadaigua, in 1862, entered into rest in 1873, and Clarissa was called hence at Christmas-tide, 1883. In the following spring the school was closed, and Mary Wilcox Hills, advanced in years, and always of delicate physical health, laid down her work to make her home with her brother, the late Rev. George Morgan Hills, D. D. . . .
"Of rare intellectual ability and culture, a churchwoman by conviction and a saint in daily living, Mary Wilcox Hills now waits for the consummation of the Resurrection Day, leaving here the lasting blessing of a life of goodly and godly labors."
April 29, 1897, the vestry resolved to place a mortgage of $15,000 on the Parish House property, for the purpose of paying off the exist- ing mortgage of $8,000 on the premises, and advancing the further sum of $7,000 for the completion of the new building. This mort- gage was given to the Erie County Savings Bank, with interest at 472 per centum per annum.
At the same meeting, Messrs. Walker, Hopkins, Hutchinson, Thompson and Sweeney were elected delegates to the Annual Diocesan Council to be held at Rochester, N. Y., in May, 1897.
August 16, 1897, the Board of Aldermen of the City of Buffalo adopted the following resolution :
"That the junction of Main, Erie, Church and Niagara streets be known as Shel- ton Square. (In kindly remembrance of an eminent Buffalonian, as a requisite designation of a very prominent point in the city.)"
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This was concurred in by the Board of Councilmen on August 18th and approved by Mayor Edgar B. Jewett.
The city authorities honored themselves in taking this graceful and appropriate action. Shelton Square was formed in the following way : Shortly after the completion, in 1893, of the new building of the Erie County Savings Bank, on the site of the old First Presbyterian Church, the land lying between that lot and Main Street, and between St. Paul's lot and Main Street, was asphalted by the city authorities, and was formed, in connection with the head of Church Street, into a short street or "square," immediately west of and parallel with Main Street. The junction of Church Street and Main Street was closed with stone posts, and the traffic diverted to the north and south through this new street. (See page 261, and photograph opposite page 440.)
Shelton Square is also of interest because it marks the location where, in early days, Main Street was curved to fit the semi-circular pro- jection at the middle of the front of Joseph Ellicott's 100-acre domain, sometimes referred to as " Ellicott's Bow-window." (Pages 16, 174.)
Church Street was then Stadnitski Avenue ; Main Street, south of Church Street, was called Willink Avenue, and, north of it, Van Stap- horst Avenue. The original easterly line of St. Paul's lot was directly on the outer curve of Willink Avenue, and is so described in the deed dated June 14, 1820, recorded in Erie County Clerk's office, in Liber 6 of Deeds, at page 255 (formerly at page 247). (See pages 16 and 19, this volume.) The lot of the First Presbyterian Church, on the opposite side of Church Street, was exactly like St. Paul's lot in description, except that it was reversed from north to south. It fronted, according to the deed, dated December 12, 1820, on the curve of Van Staphorst Avenue. (This deed is recorded in Liber 6 of Deeds, at page 413, formerly page 390.)
Pearl Street was divided by Church Street into North and South Cayuga streets at this time. Niagara Street was Schimmelpenninck Avenue.
The point of division of Main Street into Van Staphorst Avenue on the north, and Willink Avenue on the south, is sometimes stated to
History of St. Paul's Church. 221
have been Erie Street, then called Vollenhoven Avenue, and this error appears in the official "Index of Streets and Public Grounds," printed by the Bureau of Engineering of the City of Buffalo, 1896. The old church deeds above referred to, as well as the map of the survey by the Commissioners of Highways, August 18, 1821, in the village records, show that Church Street (Stadnitski Avenue) was the point of division. The attention of the Engineer's office has been called to the error in the "Index," and it has been corrected on the official copy.
In 1809, the Highway Commissioners decided to straighten Main Street, and " Ellicott's Bow-window " was done away with, by running the east line of Main Street through it. August 18, 1821, the Com- missioners fixed the width of Main Street at ninety-nine feet - as at present. The semi-circular curve of the westerly line of the street (in front of "the churches "), however, is still shown in Ball's map of Buffalo in 1825, but was soon after obliterated.
By vote of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Buffalo, on July 13, 1826, the old Dutch names of the streets were dropped, and the present names adopted ; and at this time, also, North and South Cayuga streets became Pearl Street.
(See the map of Buffalo Village in this volume, also reproduction of Ball's map of Buffalo, in "Publications of Buffalo Historical Society," volume I.)
October 28, 1897, the vestry passed resolutions of thanks to Mrs. Geo. E. Hayes, for her gift of $1,000 to the Endowment Fund, to be known as the "George E. Hayes Memorial Gift."
In October, 1897, the International Convention of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew was held in Buffalo. A very impressive early morning celebration of the Holy Communion was held in St. Paul's Church, at which 1,400 men communicated, the Lord Bishop of Rochester, Eng- land, being the celebrant, with eight assistants.
October 19, 1897, Mrs. Jane Wey Grosvenor, widow of Seth H. Grosvenor, died, aged 79 years. Mrs. Grosvenor and her family have been long and prominently associated with St. Paul's Parish. She was
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a niece of the late Mrs. Shelton, with whom she came to live in Buffalo when she was nine years of age. For many years of her married life she lived with Dr. and Mrs. Shelton in the old rectory, on which site the new Parish House of St. Paul's stands.
Mr. Grosvenor died in 1864.
" The beauty and lovableness of her character were extraordinary. Her death removes one of Buffalo's best-known and best-beloved women. Possessing high intelligence, a great reader, of rare cultivation of mind and character, she was a power in this community for the many years of her useful, honored life."
Mrs. Grosvenor's death was followed only a few months after, on January 10, 1898, by that of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Jane Glenny, the wife of William H. Glenny. Mrs. Glenny was born in the old rectory, and was, all of her life, intimately associated with the life and chari- table work of St. Paul's Parish.
October 28, 1897, at a meeting of the vestry, William H. Walker offered the following memorial on the death of Mrs. Seth H. Grosvenor, which was adopted and ordered entered on the minutes :
"WHEREAS, The vestry has received the intelligence of the death of Mrs. Seth H. Grosvenor, we wish to place on our records our sense of the great loss that has come to St. Paul's Parish, as well as to the community at large. Nearly the whole of Mrs. Grosvenor's life was passed in the closest connection with this parish. For many years she was an honored and beloved member of the family at the rectory, and she, as well as her children, held a very high place in the affection and regard of Wil- liam Shelton, D. D., then the eminent rector of St. Paul's. When the family left the rectory for their new home her interest in the parish continued, and during all her life she was one of its most loyal and liberal supporters. She possessed a rare combina- tion of noble qualities, which will always be remembered by those who knew her. St. Paul's Parish has many precious and inspiring memories connected with its past his- tory, but none of these will be more precious, or more inspiring, than those associated with the name of Mrs. Seth H. Grosvenor."
November 29, 1897, in St. Paul's Church, being Monday in the week beginning with the First Sunday in Advent, was held the annual meeting of the parish, for the election of a churchwarden and three
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vestrymen. The rector presided, and the following persons were elected : William H. Walker, churchwarden for two years ; James R. Smith, Sheldon T. Viele and John Pease, vestrymen for three years. The other members of the vestry, holding over from previous election, were : A. Porter Thompson, churchwarden ; and Albert J. Barnard, Edmund Hayes, James Sweeney, Hobart Weed, Charles R. Wilson and Dr. Matthew D. Mann, vestrymen.
December 20, 1897, Charles R. Wilson was elected clerk of the vestry and Wm. A. Joyce was elected treasurer of the parish, for the ensuing year.
At this meeting the vestry passed a resolution of thanks to Miss Susan Kimberly for her gift of $1,000 to the Endowment Fund, in memory of her sister, the late Miss Charlotte Kimberly.
The " Year Book " for 1897 opens with an answer from the rector to certain questions about the work of the parish. "It has been asked a number of times why St. Paul's Church does not have a 'settlement' for work among the less privileged of the community. The reply has always been that it has one, and has had it for a number of years, . all those various forms of benevolent effort which have a place in 'settlement' work have been in the past, and are now, ener- getically and efficiently worked from our Parish House. The pecu- liarity and the advantage of such work in our parish is that St. Paul's Church, the center of worship and of its spiritual life, stands in close connection with our Parish House, the center of our benevolent work, and not separated from it. The parish is, in other words, doing its benevolent -its ' settlement' - work, not at arm's length, but near to its own heart, and with close and proper association between its benev- olent activity and the spiritual forces which inspire it and give it strength, and which alone can crown it with its best results."
The rector has for many years past urged the necessity of an en- dowment fund for the church. St. Paul's Church ought always, for many reasons, to stay where it is ; there is a splendid work for it to do, but for that work a full and sufficient endowment is a necessity,
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and that necessity will be greater and greater as the years go on, and the city grows. It was one of the dearest wishes of the late Dr. Shel- ton that the church should have a constantly-growing endowment fund, which he hoped would one day be a goodly and sufficient amount to carry on successfully into the future the work of his beloved parish.
The Shelton Society, in addition to much other work, notably their help towards furnishing the new Parish House, have also renovated the altar and chancel in the Sunday School room, and supplied Com- munion silver for the service for deaf mutes, which is now held there. " When the missionary in charge of the deaf mutes in Buffalo requested that he might make St. Paul's the center for his work, and might have the Sunday School room for his services, the rector had neither chalice nor paten for the Holy Communion, as all belonging to the parish were in use in the service in the church, which came at the same hour. Hear- ing of the need, the Shelton Society relieved it by the gift of a silver communion service for that special use."
1898.
April 2, 1898, the vestry passed a resolution of thanks to the Misses Abby W. Grosvenor and Lucretia S. Grosvenor, for their gift of $1,000 to the Endowment Fund, in memory of their mother, Mrs. Jane Wey Grosvenor.
May 16, 1898, the vestry appointed the following persons as dele- gates to the Annual Council to be held at Trinity Church, Buffalo, N. Y., May 23, 1898 :
Delegates - William H. Walker, Henry R. Hopkins, E. H. Hutch- inson.
Alternates - A. Porter Thompson, James Sweeney.
The Shelton Memorial Endowment Fund was this year augmented by the thoughtfulness of a former parishioner, the late Miss Elizabeth Bull, who arranged that at her death the church, where her family have wor-
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shipped for so many years, should receive a bequest of $500, to be added to its endowment. On August 12, 1898, the vestry passed a vote of thanks to her family and executor for the payment of the legacy of $475, being the amount bequeathed, less the inheritance tax.
Another addition to the Endowment, of $346.75, was made by the sale of the Shelton china, in January, 1898. This china was pre- sented to Dr. and Mrs. Shelton by the parishioners, at Christmas, 1867, more than thirty years before, and was much prized by them. In Dr. Shelton's will the china was bequeathed to St. Paul's, and was carefully kept, being used occasionally at parish gatherings. Since the completion of the new Parish House, which is in reality now largely a mission house, the china has not been needed for use, and it was accordingly decided to place it on sale, the pieces to be sold sepa- rately. The people gladly availed themselves of the opportunity for buying one or more pieces, as mementoes of old St. Paul's, and in remembrance of Dr. Shelton.
August 12, 1898, Mr. Walker, for the finance committee, reported to the vestry that since the last meeting of the vestry, Miss Elizabeth A. McKee, an old parishioner of St. Paul's Church, had died, and that by her death her house and lot, No. 98 Fifteenth Street, had come into the possession of St. Paul's Church. Miss McKee died July 23, 1898. She had purchased this property January 9, 1886, for $3,850. She later notified the vestry of her wish to give it to St. Paul's, and on May 23, 1889, she executed a deed to the corporation, reserving only the use of the property during her lifetime, and agreeing to pay all taxes and maintenance herself.
Miss McKee will long be remembered by the older members of St. Paul's. She had lived with Mrs. Shelton before her marriage to Dr. Shelton, and afterwards made her home with them in the rectory until after Mrs. Shelton's death, her valued helper, housekeeper and com- panion for more than thirty years. Dr. Shelton bequeathed the sum of $7,000 to Miss McKee, and in his will spoke of her in terms of regard and respect. (See page 149.)
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November 1, 1898, the vestry resolved that the finance committee be and hereby is authorized to sell the house No. 98 Fifteenth Street on the best terms obtainable.
November 28, 1898, being Monday in the week beginning with the First Sunday in Advent, was held the annual election of the parish, in St. Paul's Church, for the election of a churchwarden for two years and three vestrymen for three years. The rector presided, and the following persons were elected : A. Porter Thompson, warden for two years ; Albert J. Barnard, Charles R. Wilson and Matthew D. Mann, vestrymen for three years.
The other members of the vestry for this year, holding over from previous elections, were : William H. Walker, churchwarden ; and John Pease, James R. Smith, Edmund Hayes, James Sweeney, Sheldon T. Viele and Hobart Weed, vestrymen.
December 12, 1898, Charles R. Wilson was elected clerk of the vestry and Wm. A. Joyce was elected treasurer of the parish, for the ensuing year.
In 1898, Miss Eva M. Smiley became the parish visitor.
1899.
May 8, 1899, the vestry elected the following persons as delegates to the Annual Council of the Diocese of Western New York to be held at Geneva, N. Y., May 16, 1899 :
Delegates-Wm. H. Walker, James Sweeney, Henry R. Hopkins. Alternates-Charles R. Wilson, Mark H. Lewis and Marshall J. Root.
In November, 1899, the Rev. John S. Littell, who had been Dr. Regester's valued curate for the past four years, left St. Paul's to become rector of St. Luke's Church, Brockport, N. Y. At the vestry meeting of November 13, 1899, a letter expressing the vestry's appre- ciation of his services was ordered sent to him. In Mr. Littell's letter of reply, and which was entered in full on the minutes of the vestry, is a characterization of the rector so true to life that it must be inserted
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here. Mr. Littell says : "My four years and more in residence in the parish has shown me much that is strong and large and noble among your people ; but my chief treasure taken from your parish is a great inspiration from the life and work of your rector, in his manliness, gen- tleness and Christian spirit, in the clearness of his Christian thinking, and in his loyal doing of his duty as a priest for our Blessed Lord. Rarely have I met a man so thorough in work, so capacious in sympa- thies, and so elevating in his own spiritual life. I esteem it a great privilege to have been associated with him."
The rector stated, at the vestry meeting of November 13, 1899, that he had secured the services of the Rev. Coleman E. Byram as curate. Mr. Byram began his work at St. Paul's on November 15th.
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