USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > History of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N.Y. : 1817 to 1888 > Part 6
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1849.
At a meeting of the vestry, held at the house of George B. Webster, on Swan Street, west of Franklin Street, March 28, 1849, Richard Upjohn, the architect, submitted his new plans, dated in 1849, by adopting which the cost of the contemplated church edifice would be reduced to $50,872, being $16,772 for stone work, $16,900 for stone cutting, $15,700 for carpenter work and materials, and $1,500 for stained glass. Add to the $50,872 the sum of $2,544 for Mr. Upjohn's commissions, and $1,500 for the superintendent's time, would make it $54,916. Mr. Upjohn stated that if the proposed chapel were left off, the cost would be reduced $5,740, and that if a certain uniform quality of the red sand- stone could be procured, the stone cutters estimated the stone cutting to be $4,000 less than the Lockport gray limestone, which was originally designed to be used.
Mr. Williams, Mr. Webster and Mr. Upjohn went to Lockport on the 29th of March and returned next day, and reported it was thought that sufficient of the red sandstone could be procured. A quarry of the red sandstone was subsequently purchased at Hulburton, on the Erie Canal, east of Lockport .*
At a meeting of the vestry, held at the house of George B.Webster, it was resolved that the plans of Mr. Upjohn, for the church edifice, dated
*January 31, 1850, in the minutes of the building committee's meetings, this quarry is described : - " A purchase at Hulburton of Samuel Copeland of from three to four acres of stone quarry on the south-west corner of his wood lot, in the name of Mr. Streater. The deed to be taken on March Ist next and paid for at the rate of $80 per acre." This was reported by Mr. Williams (the superintendent) and Mr. Streater, who had been sent to Hulburton by the committee. In the account book, under date March 7, 1850, is the entry :--
"To purchase of quarry of Samuel Copeland, Hulburton, by Henry
$272.72" Streater, conveyed to him.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
in 1849, be adopted, and carried out as far as the present or future sub- scriptions would permit, discontinuing, if necessary, the main tower at the lowest part compatible with the completion of the main building.
The vestry having resolved to build the church edifice, it is inter- esting to note the financial condition of the parish. William Williams, the treasurer, made his annual report to the vestry on the 9th of April, 1849, in which he stated that the receipts for pew rents for the year ending on that day were $1,964.63, and the disbursements were $1,900.27. The rector's salary was $1,200, and $1,000 was due him for the salary of the previous year, and $1,000 was due to him on his year's salary up to April 9, 1849. The treasurer also reported that $1,486.50 was due for pew rents, of which only $437.96 was available.
The annual election was held on Easter Monday, April 9, 1849. George B. Webster and R. H. Heywood were elected wardens, and Lester Brace, William Williams, Samuel D. Flagg, Stephen Walker, John L. Kimberly, Henry Hagar, Edward L. Stevenson, Elijah Ford, vestrymen. Charles W. Evans was reappointed clerk, and William Williams treasurer.
May 21, 1849, R. H. Heywood, E. L. Stevenson, George B. Webster, Sheldon Thompson and William Williams were constituted the building committee for the erection of the church edifice. Sheldon Thompson, being unable to serve, declined, and Jacob A. Barker was appointed in his place *
July 9, 1849, the vestry authorized the building committee to appoint Thomas R. Williams of New Jersey to superintend the erec- tion of the church edifice, at a salary not exceeding $1,000 per annum, he having been recommended for the position by Mr. Upjohn.
* The work of this committee was by no means an easy task. The old records and account-books, in the handwriting of Jacob A. Barker, the treasurer of the building fund, and others, show the great amount of labor undertaken by the com- mittee. They made all of their own contracts, hired the men, and attended to all the details of the work, which are now usually relegated to the head contractors. Page after page of the names of the men who worked on the building, with the hours each worked per week, and the amounts paid them, are found in the old records. The
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History of St. Paul's Church.
August 10, 1849, the rector having announced the death of Wil- liam Williams - one of the vestry and the treasurer of the parish, and one of the building committee - suitable resolutions were adopted stat- ing that his attachment to the church, her institutions, sacraments and appointments, his liberality upon every proper occasion, his steady adhesion to principle, his uniform correctness of demeanor, his enlight- ened views, sound judgment and efficient conduct, had secured the lasting esteem and respect of the vestry.
Eliza Hollister Williams, the wife of the deceased, was stricken with cholera at Niagara Falls, and he had symptoms of it in Buffalo ; he immediately went to her and they both died at the Falls, on August I, 1849, each aged fifty-five years, and were buried in one grave at the same time, in Buffalo. They left one child, John W. Williams. William Williams and his wife had resided in Buffalo for twenty-five years.
August 20, 1849, the vestry appointed Jacob A. Barker treasurer of the parish, and DeWitt C. Weed as one of the building committee, in place of William Williams, deceased. Early in September, 1849, the stone foundation for the church edifice was commenced on that part of the lot on the corner of Church and Pearl streets.
Charles W. Evans, William H. Walker, George C. Webster, DeWitt C. Weed, Benjamin F. Green and Augustus A. Goodrich were appointed a committee to dress the church for Christmas, 1849, being the last time the old edifice was so dressed ; several of the young ladies of the congregation were associated with them. The first four of the com- mittee were then prominent, and had been since 1847, and were so for many years afterwards, as the "junior vestry " of St. Paul's Church, so termed from their interest in parish affairs and in the construction of
following entry in the building committee's minutes may not be uninteresting, as showing what were considered fair wages to workmen at that time : Under date of March 7, 1850 : -- " It was determined that Mr. Williams be authorized to hire Mr. George Riker to superintend the carpenter and joiner work of the church, provided he will engage for two dollars per day, and that he also employ a number of masons, competent to do the rubble work, at a price not exceeding 13 shillings ($1.63) per day."
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History of St. Paul's Church.
the new edifice, and for their efforts in influencing contributions for the building fund. Three of them, Messrs. Evans, Weed and Walker, became vestrymen in after years, and two of them, Messrs. Evans and Walker, became wardens. Mr. George C. Webster was afterwards one of the founders, and also warden of the Church of the Ascension.
A building fund association was formed October 24, 1847, by most if not all the young persons in the parish, to contribute from time to time small sums for the proposed edifice. Nearly $1,600 was the amount of their contributions by the year 1849. In January, 1848, the young ladies of the congregation formed their society for the same object .*
* The St. Paul's Building Fund Association was formed October 24, 1847, there being present at the first meeting Charles W. Evans, George C. Webster, William H. Walker and DeWitt C. Weed. Subsequently a constitution was adopted and officers elected - namely, three trustees, George B. Webster, Russell H. Heywood and Wil- liam Williams, all from the vestry, and De Witt C. Weed was appointed secretary. It will thus be seen that the first concerted work for the building of the new church edifice was begun by the four young men named above, and who in after years con- tinued to be most active and liberal in promoting the prosperity of the parish. The names of those who joined the association were as follows, their original signatures being in the book of the minutes of the association :
Charles W. Evans, Charles R. Heywood,
Miss Jane R. Webster,
George C. Webster,
Nathaniel Cooper, Miss C. B. Webster,
De Witt C. Weed,
A. H. Caryl,
Mrs. Jacob A. Barker,
Wm. H. Walker,
John E. Russell,
Mrs. Elijah Ford,
John W. Williams,
Asher P. Nichols,
Mrs. S. D. Flagg,
George T. Weed,
Elijah Ford,
Miss M. Ruden,
John E. Hart,
Henry Moore,
Mrs. George E. Hayes,
A. I. Mathews,
Henry Colton,
Mrs. John Pease,
N. B. Barrows,
Sheldon Thompson,
Mrs. Louisa M. Weed,
Robert Kittle,
John W. Heywood,
Mrs. Sylvia Chapin,
J. B. Eaton,
Geo. E. Hayes,
Mathew O'Neill,
Walter Joy, J. H. Lee,
Jacob A. Barker,
S. D. Flagg, Jr., C. E. Marsh,
Geo. Truscott, Jr.,
Samuel D. Flagg,
S. H. Grosvenor,
Henry W. Ford,
Mrs. E. J. Root,
George J. Webb,
Francis W. Tracy,
D. H. Hawkins, Caroline Grosvenor,
James Van de Venter,
A. Haller Tracy,
O. H. P. Champlin,
Miss L. A. D. Hubbard,
Geo. N. Burwell,
Horatio Seymour, Jr.,
Miss Lucy Anna Blossom,
Mrs. Mary Kimberly,
Lewis B. Joy,
Miss S. Louisa Weed,
R. A. Richardson,
William Shelton,
Miss Julia M. Webster,
Thomas Jones,
William E. Woodruff,
Miss H. J. Webster,
Stephen Walker.
John Pease,
Henry E. Wells,
(test.)
Yeah
(Stairs under pulpit,
up to pulpit
downt to vestry roomp in Basement.
Pulpit
Cable,
2
William A. Thompson
John Patterson
4
3
John Pease
Parish
Dr B. Burwell
4%
" Henry Hagar
Chancel Rail
6
George B. Webster
of Seth E . Sill E. R. Wilkeson
George B. Webster
Mrs. G. W. Clinton
Rev. Dr. Shelton Rector
E. S. Warren
John L. Kimberly
26 Ira A. Blossom
Robert Hart
Grosvenor Clark
Sheldon Thompson
29
G F. Pratt L H Pratt
William Williams 27
T. A. H. Caryl
30 Lester Brace
John T. Lacy C. W. F.vans, one sittery ??
Henry H. Siger
10
A2 Mrs Pamelia Staats
Joseph & Masten 31
* Asa, Hart
der Mos William Shelton
Henry Hamilton, 33
12
" Mrs. Lydia Pomeroy
Nelson Willard t Parish to
R. H. Heywood 35
E.L. Stevenson.
38 Elijah Ford
T. T. Sherwood
13. Lewis Eaton
Parish. 14
4" Albert H. Tracy
George E. Hayes 39
Buy H . Goodrich .
12 Parish
Parish
16
William Williams
14 George B Webster
Parish
4.3
16
E. Walden
1,6 B. C. Cary!
ML. Faulkner
18
J. P. Provoost
George W. Allen.
Parish
Parish
Parish
il George & Webster
Parish
19 Miran Havens
Mrs. Wheeler
Parish
Creerge B Hubiste, 200
64 John Hebard
John F. Russell
L . Barton
J. D. Hoyt, t state
50 James De Long
Parish
Dr. J. Trowbridge.
George B. Webster
Parish
Parish
21/2. Parish.
Tych, & en.
Hove
Skurs to Downbothund Colher
The names of some members of The congregation, who, of this time leased paws or sittings from indiaand uni owners, cannot be given. These privare leases do not appear on the treas- ure's books.
LENGTH 78FT. WIDTH 44 FT.
(Sart)
PLAN OF ST. PAUL'S FRAME CHURCH.
As it was after its enlargement in 1828 up to its removal in 1850, with names of pew holders in 1849, inserted from the old records.
From drawing by John Hefford, 1849.
I' Paul's Parish in Bapate of Is was jest Organized BYchuan I 1997. - In Church Clique. of which this is a ground plan, was built in the year 1919; (Forth)
AISLE.
De Witt C When.
SOUTH AISLE.
NORTH
Albert Hayden
41
Jacob A. Barker
Walter Joy
John Lay, Jr.
George & Webster
20
and was inbaged in the year
23
24
William Williams
Israel T. Hatch ---
De Witt C Wecd.
AHar
59
History of St. Paul's Church.
1850.
March 8, 1850, the building committee reported that they had sold the old church edifice to the German Evangelical Church of Buffalo for $800, including all above the foundation, the carpets in the aisles, glass chandeliers, side lamps, stoves and the cushions belonging to the desk and pulpit, but reserving the bell,* organ and font, and all other furniture belonging to the church.
The building committee also reported that they had rented Clinton Hall, on the south-east corner of Clinton and Washington streets, for one year, from March 17, 1850, for $210 rent, in which to conduct the worship of the parish. Clinton Hall, in after years, was converted into a church for the French Roman Catholics. The annual expenses of the parish were assessed on the pews in Clinton Hall for the year ending Easter, 1851, and the church organ was removed to the gallery therein.
The last service in the old church edifice was held on Sunday, March 17, 1850.
The " Buffalo Commercial Advertiser " of March 9, 1850, said that "the estimable rector who had occupied the pulpit of St. Paul's for over twenty years must part with the old edifice, wherein he had so long min- istered in holy things, with many heart-felt regrets, and that despite all our philosophy, all our ideas of progress, and of utilitarian adaptation, there are memories in associations which are sacred and cannot be broken without emotion." A correspondent of the same paper of March 16th, remarked, in relation to the same subject, that "there were those in that day who thought of their happiest and brightest years as connected with the consecrated place. It was beneath its paternal roof that they first breathed their earliest aspirations for all that was good and pure and holy. It was there they had learned many a dear lesson of life in the calm moments of worship, listening to
* This bell was afterwards hung in the small tower of the new church edifice.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
the solemn liturgy of the church, or hearing the good words of that good man who had watched over them as they ripened from infancy into mature age. It was there that those came whose hearts were oppressed with weariness, fleeing from the world, and hoping as they knelt to share the influence of that holy place. How many a breathing sigh, how many a heart-felt prayer, had been offered there and strength given to meet the sad things of the world. Some bright scenes of life remain for the memory to rest upon of friendships early formed and never broken, of cherished ties of sympathy and affec- tion, and before that altar hearts had been given unto hearts for all coming time."
Dr. Shelton preached his farewell sermon in the old edifice, on March 17, 1850, from the text in the 6oth chapter of Isaiah and 22d verse, " A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation." He alluded to the more than thirty years gone by, where upon the place that this house of God had so long stood, there was a bare and uncultivated commons, in the small and inconsiderable village, not exceeding 1,000 or 1,500 souls. No affluence then prevailed. He then referred to the new city filled with lofty edifices, costly structures and graced by much that is elegant and adorned by that which is useful. He contrasted the present with the original congregation, how great was the labor, how much the sacrifice which they undertook and accomplished, who from the midst of such comparative poverty, with such feeble numbers, erected this edifice and dedicated it to the worship of God. Honor and praise to the good hearts and faithful spirits, the zealous and proper-minded men and women who allowed not their scanty means to stand between them and the accomplishment of the object more valuable to themselves, to their children, to the true pros- perity and well-being of the land in which they lived, than any other thing ! Thousands have enjoyed essential benefits and been blessed in their religion, crowned with happiness and eternal glory, through the means provided for their worship in this time-honored house of prayer. But such is the instability of all earthly things, such the shortness and
THE REVEREND DR. SHELTON. At about the age of fifty-two.
From a Daguerreotype made about the year 1850.
61
History of St. Paul's Church.
uncertainty of life, that but few remain within these walls, this day, who were instrumental in their erection. A few, thinly scattered over this assembly, remain to take their leave of an edifice in which they have had a strong interest from its first commencement, and continued with unshaken attachment during all its being, surviving the loss of friends and associates, and adhering to it with firmness and constancy through all the varying fortunes of so many changes and so many trials. He spoke of his long ministry of twenty years in the old edifice, and the thankfulness he felt that he had been permitted so many years in comparative peace and prosperity. Change upon change had marked the footsteps of others, either death or a desire of change, or the com- mon accidents of life had removed from every other pulpit its occu- pant. During a very long period he had been, he hoped, he trusted, he almost believed, their faithful pastor, companion and friend. He would take the occasion to say that for all they had done, felt for him, and forgiven him, he gave them his hearty thanks, and the assurance that there should be a renewed effort to do his duty with increasing zeal and a hope that future exertions would be crowned with more complete success.
He spoke of the honored dead, the good they had done, and that we had parted from both old and young, some of our best, kindest, truest, most faithful and trusty friends. He recounted some of the many acts which had been done by him. There had been baptized in the parish 1, 106, of which 950 were within the last twenty years ; 336 had been confirmed ; 348 marriages had been solemnized, of which 273 were by himself; the burials had been 459. He spoke of the instability of popular favor as among the evils to be looked for in the future; the discontent and dissatisfaction of any portion of a congregation, whether reasonable or just, or not, is always sufficient to destroy its peace, and take away the happiness and usefulness of its minister ; and that this state of things had been essen- tially averted for so many years, was only to be attributed to the pro- tecting care and preventing grace of God. He spoke of the great
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History of St. Paul's Church.
enterprise of the contemplated church edifice, and said that having but one heart and one will, actuated by no selfish emotions, moved by but one impulse, controlled by one absorbing thought, that of building and completing without debt the noble structure then com- menced, they would raise a monument more enduring than marble and more valuable than all the mere mausoleums of the world. With God's blessing they would provide for themselves, their chil- dren and their children's children, for ages to come, a house of worship wherein the church and doctrines of Christ should be taught in perfect truth and perfect simplicity. "How many yet unborn will call you blessed."
At the annual election, held in Clinton Hall on Easter Monday, April 1, 1850, Rev. Doctor Shelton presiding, George B. Webster and R. H. Heywood were elected wardens, and Lester Brace, John L. Kimberly, Stephen Walker, Henry Hagar, Samuel D. Flagg, Edward L. Stevenson, Elijah Ford and Edward S. Warren, vestrymen ; Charles W. Evans was reappointed clerk, and Jacob A. Barker, treasurer. A bond for $1,562, dated April 1, 1850, was given to the Rev. Dr. Shelton for arrears of salary due to him on that day.
The corner-stone of the new church edifice was laid on June 12, 1850, by the Right Rev. William Heathcote DeLancey, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Western New York. The preliminary services were held in St. John's Church, on the corner of Wash- ington and Swan streets, a very large congregation being present, after which a procession was formed, and, preceded by the wardens and vestrymen of St. Paul's, Trinity and St. John's churches, walked to the foundation of St. Paul's, where the ceremony of laying the corner-stone was performed at eleven o'clock, according to the pre- scribed form by the Bishop. The Rev. Dr. Shelton then delivered an appropriate and eloquent address, which was listened to with deep interest by a large audience. After which the choir sang the Gloria in Excelsis. Many of the clergy from Canada, Western New York and Buffalo were present.
63
History of St. Paul's Church.
Besides the usual articles deposited in the corner-stone,* there was placed in it a brief history of the parish inscribed on parchment, and the silver plate taken from the corner-stone of the old edifice erected in 1819. The corner-stone was marked 1850, and was placed in the easterly corner of one of the north-easterly angles of the edifice, in front of the easterly side of the chancel.
Lester Brace, R. H. Heywood and Charles W. Evans were appointed lay deputies to the Diocesan Convention in Geneva, August 21, 1850.
September 3, 1850, the vestry resolved to consolidate the debts of the parish, including the debt incurred for building the rectory in 1847, by executing a mortgage on the rectory for $3,500, in favor of the Mutual Insurance Company of Buffalo, they having loaned the parish that amount.
1851.
At a meeting of the vestry, March 7, 1851, R. H. Heywood stated that the object was to take into consideration the proposed visit of the Rev. Dr. Shelton to Europe, they granting him leave of absence and advancing sufficient funds to defray his expenses. Doctor Shelton then stated to the vestry that, if consistent with their views, it would give him much pleasure to carry into effect the purpose he had long contemplated of visiting England and of becoming better acquainted with the Church of England ; that he thought an absence of six months from his duties would be beneficial to him, and that he knew of no more fitting time than the present to visit Europe. Charles W.
* Within the stone were deposited the following documents : Holy Bible, Book of Common Prayer, copies of the " Churchman," and " Gospel Messenger," Constitu- tion and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Western New York, Journal of the last General and Diocesan Conventions, silver plate taken from the corner-stone of the Old Church ; a brief history of St. Paul's Parish from its organization in 1817 to the present time, inscribed on parchment ; a list of the members of St. Paul's Church building fund, and also the names of subscribers to the edifice now in process of erection, inscribed in the same manner ; the daily papers of Buffalo of the date of June II and 12, 1850.
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History of St. Paul's Church.
Evans and John Pease were accordingly appointed a committee to collect subscriptions for the proposed trip.
Sheldon Thompson died March 13, 1851, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. He was one of the founders of St. Paul's parish, and a member of its first vestry in 1817, and also of the vestries of 1818 to 1822, and of 1830 to 1840. He married Catherine, the daughter of Benjamin Bar- ton, and sister of James L. Barton, resided at Black Rock, near Buffalo, in 1817, and removed to Buffalo in 1827, and was one of the vestry of Grace Church, organized at Black Rock in 1824. He and his imme- diate family were liberal contributors in building the new church edi- fice of St. Paul's, and his influence with those families connected with him by relationship, by marriage and by business arrangements, was very beneficial to St. Paul's. These families were the Barton family, Kimberly family, Pease family and the Brace family ; all lived at Black Rock, and all removed to Buffalo in 1827, and all of them contributed much to the well-being of the parish. Sheldon T. Pease and John Pease were the nephews of Sheldon Thompson. The father of John L. Kimberly married Mary, the sister of Sheldon Thompson, for his second wife. Peter B. Porter and his wife and children, and William A. Bird and his family, although residents of Black Rock, were considered as parishioners of St. Paul's.
The funeral of Sheldon Thompson took place on March 16th from Trinity Church, St. Paul's being still unfinished. It was largely at- tended by both congregations. Dr. Shelton, in his sermon, said that the deceased was " an example of probity, of uprightness, of frugality in a world where costliness and extravagance were honored. His name was associated with the commerce and enterprise of all this world of waters, our inland seas. His own history is a record of the more important events of the western country ; his sagacious mind early saw that there was to be a field of successful effort which far surpassed the less stirring scenes of his native land, and he came in the true spirit of enterprise to plant himself down upon a portion of country destined, he foresaw, to be unsurpassed. The commerce of these lakes and the
-
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History of St. Paul's Church.
business of this vast section of the country was then transacted by him- self and his associates. None but a mind peculiarly fitted for business could have been successful in so large an enterprise. His labors were crowned with success, and for years he reposed from his cares, enjoying domestic comfort, peace of mind, rest from labor, and the consciousness of having deserved the confidence of his fellow men and the respect and regard of those best fitted to know his worth." Catherine, his wife, died May 8, 1832. His children and grand-children were all members of St. Paul's, and his son, A. Porter Thompson,* and two of his sons-in-law, Edward S. Warren and Henry K. Viele, were vestrymen of the parish.
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