USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > History of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N.Y. : 1817 to 1888 > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
On Monday, March 13, 1876, occurred the formal opening of the new City Hall. At the dedication of the Common Council Chamber, in the afternoon, the prayer at the opening of the exercises was by the Rev. Dr. John C. Lord, and the benediction at the close was by the Rev. Dr. Shelton.
The formal congratulations referred to on page 124 were extended to Dr. Shelton on the occasion of the semi-centennial of his rectorate, by the Ministers' Meeting, principally composed of thirty Buffalo cler- gymen of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist churches. On the evening of September 15, 1879, the ministers called upon Dr. Shelton in a body at the rectory, and the resolutions which had been adopted at a meeting held at Calvary Presbyterian Church that afternoon, were read by the Rev. A. T. Chester, D. D. They were as follows :
" The Ministers' Meeting of Buffalo, composed of thirty clergymen of different denominations, offer hearty congratulations to the Rev. William Shelton, D. D., rector of St. Paul's Church of this city, who has now occupied this honored position for the period of fifty years. Few are permitted to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances of the Church continuously for half a century, very few have exercised these sacred functions for so long a period in the same congregations. We should not be mindful as we ought of the providence of God, nor grateful as we ought for such marked favor to His Church, if we failed to take some notice of this anniversary which bounds fifty years of faithful service, of thorough attachment to the doctrines of the Gospel, of heroic devotion to the cause of Christ, our common Master, in one who, as our neighbor and friend, has also illustrated in all these fifty years the characteristics of a high-minded Christian gentleman. We, therefore, representing so many branches of the Church of Christ on this jubilee, take great pleasure in adding our voices to the general congratulations heard on every side, and we join most earnestly in the prayer
383
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
that this useful and honored life may continue to be under the special care of Him who has ordered it beyond its four-score years, and that when the summons comes to close this earthly work, the Master may say, 'Well done,' and receive His faithful servant into an everlasting habitation."
Dr. Shelton was deeply moved, and in his response said that there had been nothing among the happenings of his anniversary which had given him more gratification. This event, as rare as it was appropri- ate, made a lasting impression upon Dr. Shelton, and showed him, as few things could have done, the veneration in which he was held by the beloved city of his adoption. In later years he often referred to it, with tears of sincere pleasure and emotion in his eyes.
On the morning of Easter Monday, March 29, 1880, there appeared in the Buffalo Express a certain locally famous editorial entitled " Now by St. Paul's," written by the editor and proprietor of the paper, the late James N. Matthews, who was not one of Dr. Shelton's parish- ioners. In the course of this editorial, so just and beautiful a tribute is paid to Dr. Shelton, that it seems fitting to quote it here :
" St. Paul's Church and its venerable rector have long been objects of pride
. and affection with our whole community. Where is there another structure which elicits so much of the people's admiration as this beautiful church? Where is there another citizen who commands so much of their respect as the grand old man to whose Christian zeal, untiring energy, and unselfish liberality they are indebted for it? It is impossible to circumscribe within the limits of St. Paul's Parish and congregation the almost filial interest with which Dr. Shelton and his church are regarded by nearly every man, woman and child in Buffalo. . In his eighty-first year he could safely throw himself upon the fidelity and affection of a people with whom he has walked in God, ministering unto them in all holy things, more than half a century, in season and out of season, in sickness and in health, in the death-chamber and at the open grave." .
Early Dears of the Church in Buffalo.
From a published sermon by the Rev. Charles Wells Hayes, D. D., entitled "Early Years of the Church in Buffalo," preached for the
384
History of St. Paul's Church.
seventy-seventh anniversary of Grace Church, Black Rock, in 1901, the following extracts are made :
" Not until 1816 comes the first mention of church services in Buffalo, appa- rently late in the fall of that year, by the Rev. Samuel Johnston, 'missionary in Gene- esee and Niagara counties.' I wish we knew more about this first Buffalo clergyman, who, ordered deacon June 17, 1816, began his missionary work three months later, by giving two Sundays at Batavia to one in Buffalo. He was afterwards a faithful pioneer missionary in Ohio under Bishop Chase, and died of cholera in Cincinnati, May 22, 1833. Batavia was then a much more important place than Buffalo, and a parish was already organized there. But Mr. Johnston did good work here also, resulting in the organization of St. Paul's Church, February 10, 1817.
" The most noteworthy fact of the year [1821] was the consecration of St. Paul's Church by Bishop Hobart, February 25, 1821. The bishop says, in recording the consecration of this 'neat and commodious edifice on the banks of Lake Erie, at Buffalo,' that ' this is comparatively a new village, having been settled little more than twenty years [in fact it had been burned to the ground only seven years before], and I experienced high gratification in witnessing the spirited exertions of the congregation in the erection of their edifice.' How many of you who are here to-day remember that 'neat and commodious edifice ?' My earliest recollection of it, as a boy of five years old, is of wonder at its grandeur and beauty, although my Canandaigua home boasted of what Bishop Hobart calls, in the Christian Journal of 1817, 'a building of beautiful and imposing exterior, a model for other churches.' From Canandaigua, a half-day's stage ride to the flourishing village of Rochester, and thence twenty-two hours - a night and a day - in the luxurious packet boats (as we thought them) of the Erie Canal, gave me my first sight of that first Buffalo church. My remembrance of its exterior is somewhat vague. Once inside, three things chiefly impressed themselves upon me, and are fixed in memory : the magnificent chandeliers, all glass, filled with candles which I firmly believed to be of purest wax ; the great organ (as I thought it) at one end, and at the other, towering up above the broad white front of the 'reading desk,' the imposing form and face of dear old Dr. Shelton in his snowy surplice of many folds, mysteriously transparent bands, and broad, black scarf (stoles were unheard of then)- a form and face I learned to know and love better through many a year after."
The following extracts are from a letter, dated August 7, 1902, written to Howard H. Baker, by George L. Newman of Charlottes- ville, Virginia, formerly of Buffalo :
" I became one of Mr. Webster's family in 1830, and, of course, attended
.
385
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
church with him (he was a warden). I remained attached to St. Paul's until the organization of Trinity Parish, in 1836. Mr. Shelton boarded with Mrs. Rathbun. Every Sunday he came to our house to supper. His salary was, I believe, $600. I can name a number of the families attending there in 1830. There were the Eatons, Strykers, Thompsons, Tillinghasts, Pierre A. Barkers, Manly Colton, Braces, H. Colton, Staats, J. A. Barker, Allens, Wheelers, Kimberlys, Websters, Fords, Radcliffes, Athearns, Kips, James D. Sheppard, organist and leader of the choir.
I wonder how many there are living now who can remember those times. John Pease was there, about eighteen years old, I imagine. The only means of heating the church was a stove in the vestibule for four foot wood. Loring Peirce was sexton, and every Sunday after the congregation was seated he would tip-toe in, carrying the little foot-stoves he had filled with embers, distributing them to the female part of the audi- ence. Coal was an unknown fuel in Buffalo at that period. Mr. Webster was captain of the only fire company, Cataract No. I. Many householders had leather fire buckets marked with their names hung up in their halls ready for an emergency. There were no water reservoirs, and the good wives of the village were supplied with water for the weekly wash by Dutch John, who perambulated the streets with a cask of it, crying "Vater, Vater." I am writing of 1830, when I went to Buffalo. There was not a foot of pav- ing in the village, and very few except earth sidewalks. In winter the boys used to slide on Main Street from corner of Crow (Exchange) Street to the canal." .
It may be interesting to add here, as an instance of the early activi- ties of St. Paul's, that Grace Church, Sandusky, Ohio, was founded by Zenas Ward Barker, son of Zenas Barker, and his sister, Mrs. John G. Camp, and that it was through the efforts of Mrs. Camp that the first funds to start that church were secured from St. Paul's Parish, Buffalo. The corner stone was laid in 1835, by Dr. Shelton. Alanson Palmer gave money for chandeliers of elegant design. Mrs. John G. Camp was also a sister of Jacob A. Barker. (See pages 9, 10.)
The Bank of England and St. Paul's.
A curious fact, and one little known, is that the Bank of England once owned a pew in the old frame edifice of St. Paul's. This hap- pened in the following way : About the year 1848, R. Hargreave Lee, an Englishman residing in Buffalo, and a member of and pew owner in
386
History of St. Paul's Church.
St. Paul's, having become financially involved, was obliged to make over to the Bank of England, of which institution he was a debtor, certain of his personal effects, including his pew in St. Paul's Church. The bank therefore became a pew owner in the church, although, in compliance with the law, the title to the pew was nominally vested in the firm of American bankers who acted as its agents. About this time, arrangements were being made for the erection of the new stone church, and the ownership of a pew by the Bank of England gave rise to certain legal complications and occasioned much correspondence between the vestry and the bank officials. The matter was finally satisfactorily adjusted by the purchase of the pew from the bank by one of the members of the parish. This occurrence is also interesting as showing how far-reaching even at that early day, were the business methods of this famous English institution.
The pew in St. Paul's Church was not the only piece of Buffalo property owned by that corporation ; the title to the land upon which the Buffalo Club house now stands, on the corner of Delaware Avenue and Trinity Place, was also held at one time by the Bank of England.
Account of the Formation of a Free Church for Lake Men and Others. [1849.]
(Extracts from the original manuscript book of minutes, treasurer's account, etc.)
" The rapid increase of the laboring population of our city, particularly in the lower wards, and the total inadequacy of church accommodation adapted to the wants of that class of our citizens, had long made it the earnest desire of the clergy and laity of the parishes of St. Paul's, Trinity and St. John's to establish a free place of worship in some locality suitable for that purpose, and for the resort of seamen and boatmen visiting our port.
"In May, 1849, the Rev. Seth Davis, a presbyter of the church, with the sanction of the rectors of the three parishes, by personal
387
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
application to the laity, obtained for this purpose a subscription amounting to $411, and rented and fitted up in a neat and appropriate manner, the second floor room of a new building . ... on the east side of Main Street, north of and adjoining the Erie Canal (at that time No. 93 Main Street). The cost of the outfit, including chancel desks, altar, font, seats, etc., . . amounted to $212.72.
" The first service was held in the room Sunday, June 24, 1849, Mr. Davis officiating ; but after holding service three Sundays and opening a Sunday School, he was compelled by sickness [an attack of the pre- vailing scourge, cholera] to relinquish the charge, and eventually left the city. The regular services were, however, maintained (with the exception of one Sunday) by lay reading, first by Mr. Stephen Walker and afterwards by Mr. George Morgan Hills, until about November Ist, when the Rev. Joshua Smith, deacon, was engaged until April I, 1850. Under his care there has been a steady increase in the attendance .. and the Sunday School now numbers fifty scholars. The teachers, to whose labors much of the success of the Sunday School must be attributed, are Mr. J. L. Reynolds, Miss Clark, Miss Baird and Mr. O. H. P. Champlin, the latter of whom is at present superintendent. During the winter the evening services were con- ducted .... chiefly by Dr. Shelton of St. Paul's and the Rev. Mr. Ingersoll of Trinity, there being a regular evening service at St. John's, preventing the rector, the Rev. Mr. Schuyler, from aiding in those at the free church. The want of a musical instrument being much felt, a melodeon was presented by the ladies of the three parishes ; the cost was $40.
" After Mr. Davis resigned his charge the care of it devolved more particularly upon Messrs. Samuel D. Flagg and George C. Webster of St. Paul's parish ; James L. Reynolds and G. L. Newman of Trinity, and H. Rainey of St. John's. . . A more perfect organization being deemed necessary, the vestries appointed . . . . a committee for that purpose. From St. Paul's, Charles W. Evans, DeWitt C. Weed, and George C. Webster ; from Trinity, John M. Hutchinson and G.
388
History of St. Paul's Church.
L. Newman ; from St. John's, Andrew Houliston, J. H. H. Wheeler and T. H. Mendsen. . Charles W. Evans was appointed treasurer and secretary, and John M. Hutchinson chairman of the committee. . . . .
" The subscriptions being inadequate to the necessary expenditures of the free church, it was resolved, at a meeting held on February 3, 1851, ' that the services of the Free Episcopal Church be discontinued from and after the second Sunday in February' (being the 9th of February).
" At the above-mentioned date it was found necessary to give over the effort for the present, though with the hope that it might be suc- cessfully resumed at some future time."
Removal of the Frame Church, 1850.
In a long-forgotten Buffalo Magazine, The Western Literary Messenger for May and June, 1850, was printed a curious article, in two instalments, entitled "Extracts from my Diary, by St. Paul's." It is evidently from the pen of the editor, Jesse Clement, and purports to give the observations and reflections of the old frame church during its journey, from April Ist to April 29, 1850, from St. Paul's lot, up Main Street to Genesee Street, and thence out the latter street to the lot on the northeast corner of Hickory Street, which it was to occupy, as St. Peter's German Evangelical Church, until demolished in 1877.
The article is written in a playfully pathetic tone and gives a glimpse of the Main Street at that time. The old church is left lamenting the hardship of having to revise its theology and conquer the language of Luther in its old age.
"Extracts from my Diary" can be seen at the Buffalo Public Library, where an incomplete file of the magazine is preserved.
It is difficult to realize that back in the '40's and '50's Buffalo was the home for many years of a successful literary venture, to which even from its inception in 1842 the leading writers of the country contributed. .
GERMAN EVANGELICAL ST. PETER'S CHURCH.
Northeast corner of Genesee and Hickory streets, formerly old St. Paul's frame edifice. Sold and removed . here April, 1850, and demolished in May, 1877. The tablet over the door and the two-window extension in the rear were added by St. Peter's Congregation.
Reproduced by permission from a photo- graph owned by the Buffalo Historical Society. (See pages, 59, 388.)
389
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
Frank H. Severance in his interesting paper, " Random Notes on the Authors of Buffalo," read before the Buffalo Historical Society in 1889, and printed in Volume IV. of the Society's "Publications," referring to the Western Literary Messenger, says : "It was the most creditable literary periodical, all things considered, that Western New York has ever supported."
Another article, from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser of March 9, 1850, says : "It is not an uninteresting coincidence that it [St. Paul's] should follow its predecessor, the First Presbyterian Church, which it is to displace, a small wooden edifice. After the erection of their present house, the Presbyterians sold it [the small wooden build- ing] to the Niagara Street Methodist Church. It was after- wards removed to Genesee Street, and . ... occupied by a German Protestant Society, the same which has now purchased St. Paul's."
In an account of the Thirteenth Annual Festival of the Old Set- tlers of Buffalo, published in the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser of January 14, 1876, among other reminiscences appears the following reference to Dr. Shelton and St. Paul's before the removal of the old frame edifice : " The Doctor had a garden in one corner of the church lot, on the Pearl Street side, we believe, wherein he cultivated a large quantity of choice flowers."
The numbering of the Pearl Street Rectory.
In the city directories from 1847 to 1856, Dr. Shelton's rectory is spoken of as "in rear of " or " opposite " St. Paul's Church on Pearl Street. In the directory for 1856, for the first time, it appears as No. 64 Pearl Street. About ten years later the numbering of the streets of Buffalo was changed and systematized, on the basis of twenty feet frontage to a number. The directories of 1866 and 1867 speak of "the imperfect numbering of our streets." In 1868 this phrase no longer appears. In the city directory of 1867, No. 64 appears for the
390
History of St. Paul's Church.
last time, and in that of 1868 the number 128 Pearl Street takes its place and is the same number in use to-day.
The Wooden Model of St. Paul's, 1850.
As is detailed in this History, the stone edifice of St. Paul's, begun in 1849, was not fully completed until 1873, when the stone crosses and last finials were put in place. During much of this period there stood, for many years, on a raised platform in the west vestibule, an accurately designed model of the church in wood. Picturing the beauty of the completed structure, it stood there, a silent appeal for subscriptions.
After the completion of the church edifice, the model was kept for a time in the second story of the former Church Street porch. (The baptistery in the present edifice occupies the site of this old porch.) Later, the model disappeared, and no one seems to have thought it worthy of even the most casual care. About the year 1895, Frank Gedies, then a member of the vested choir and also in charge of chim- ing the bells, found the model, broken and dismantled, hidden away with other odds and ends under the belfry stairs in the main tower. Here it had escaped the ravages of the fire of 1888, but no one of those he asked could give him any information as to its history. He, fortunately, realized the value of this interesting relic, and, as a labor of love, devoted many of his spare hours to repairing and restoring it. Mr. Gedies finished the work in 1898, and the model is now locked up in the room over the northwest porch. This room opens onto the west gallery, and was formerly used as a storeroom for the music of the chorus choir.
The greatest architects and designers use models of this kind because they give a better conception of what the finished structure will be than any drawing. The old model of St. Paul's, always inter- esting, shows the church as originally designed by Richard Upjohn, and has now acquired a new value by reason of the extensive changes in the design as rebuilt after the fire.
THE WOODEN MODEL OF ST. PAUL'S, 1850. (See pages 390 to 392.)
Photographs by G. H. B., 1902.
391
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
The model is made to a scale of one-quarter inch to the foot. Its greatest length, including the chancel, nave and tower, is three feet seven and three-quarter inches, equivalent to 175 feet, which was the length of the church previous to the extension of the chancel in the recent restoration, after the fire of 1888.
The height of the tower and spire, from the base to the top of the finial upon which the little gilded cross rests, as shown by the model, is four feet eight and one quarter inches, equivalent to 225 feet, which is the height as originally planned by Mr. Upjohn, and which was increased later.
As before stated, the model was made from Mr. Upjohn's original plans, and shows the crockets and other details on the large and small spires which were omitted when the work was finally constructed. (Page 103, note.)
The model shows the exterior of the church, with the stone steps and porches, and is complete in every detail, even to the reproduction in the tiny crosses of the varying design of the stone crosses upon the finished edifice. The whole is painted brown and sanded, to represent the stone of which the church is built. The four small windows in the Erie Street porch were not in the original plans, and are not shown in the model. Jacob A. Barker, of the building committee, wrote to Mr. Upjohn, July 17, 1854, just before this porch was built, calling his attention to the omission, which was promptly corrected.
Mr. Barker, in a letter dated August 14, 1854, to Richard Upjohn, the architect, refers to this miniature representation of the church as "the model Mr. Riker had made " from the original plans. The letter was written at the time of the building of the porches. George Riker was the master carpenter, or superintendent, who was engaged, on Mr. Upjohn's high recommendation, in 1850.
Another reference to the model is in the minutes of the building com- mittee, December 27, 1866, which shows that it was used in the work : " The model of the church was shown to Mr. Green [one of the contractors], with a view of explaining to him the portions to be finished."
392
History of St. Paul's Church.
It is to be hoped that this interesting reminder of the past will be properly preserved as a "historical document," and that it may be placed where it can be readily seen and examined. (See illustration.)
notes on the Sunday School.
The Buffalo Daily Courier of Saturday, April 14, 1860, says, referring to the Sunday School statistics of Buffalo, then recently compiled by the Rev. P. G. Cook : "It appears that there are fifty-seven schools, with an average attendance for the month of March (1860) of 886 teachers and 5,686 scholars. The largest school for the month of March was St. Paul's Episcopal (262 scholars) closely followed by the Cedar Street Baptist (253 scholars)."
Numerous references to the Sunday School of St. Paul's, which dates from the year 1818, will be found in the pages of this History. It has been impossible to give a separate and detailed account of this most important and valuable adjunct of the work of the Church, on account of lack of accessible data for the purpose.
The children of an earlier day recall with pleasure the old-time Christmas festivals in the Sunday School, and the tree with its glow- ing lights, bearing a gift for each child.
On the afternoon of each Whitsunday the scholars assembled in the church, and it was the custom of Dr. Shelton, at that time, to deliver prizes to those pupils who were deemed most worthy of them. The prizes were always books, bearing Dr. Shelton's autograph on the fly leaf, and many of them are still cherished in loving memory of the giver and of the old days.
St. Paul's Guild.
ST. PAUL'S GUILD OF THE PARISH OF ST. PAUL'S, BUFFALO. A SKETCH, CONTRIBUTED BY GEORGE ALFRED STRINGER.
St. Paul's Guild was organized on the twenty-second day of February, 1874, by the members of St. Paul's Church, called together by the rector for that purpose, with
393
Historical Notes, 1817-1903.
the object - as the constitution broadly put it -" for associating the members of the church more closely in good works and to engage and labor more thoroughly to the glory of God and the advancement of His Church."
The Rev. C. S. Hale, assistant minister of St. Paul's, was the first warden, but shortly after, having resigned from the parish, the new assistant, Rev. S. H. Gurteen, was elected to fill the vacancy, Dr. Davidson being vice-warden, with a registrar, treasurer and a full board of councilors.
The first missionary work of the Guild was the establishment of what was long familiarly known as the " German Mission " on Spruce Street. A lot was purchased on the twenty-fourth of May, 1875, and a chapel was built at a cost of $1,700. This mission was several years ago incorporated, and became known as St. Andrew's Parish, which now has a new and beautiful church edifice on Goodell Street, completed in November, 1892, and opened for service the first Sunday in Advent ; the lot and old building on Spruce Street having been sold.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.