USA > New York > History of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy of New York 1797-1894 > Part 10
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REV. JOHN NICHOLAS GALLEHER, D.D., THE SIXTH RECTOR.
D R. GALLEHER was called to the rectorship of the parish March 5, 1873, and assumed its parochial duties September 2Ist.
He was born February 17, 1839, at Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, and was educated in the local grammar schools of Mason County. In 1856, being then in his eighteenth year, he matriculated at the University of Virginia. He graduated in the Latin school of the University, attaining "distinctions " in moral philosophy, Greek, and mathematics. In 1858-9 he turned his atten- tion to the study of the law under Messrs. Beatty and Bush at Thibodaux, La. About this time it was that he sought admission to the Church by baptism in St. John's Church, Thibodaux. He received the rite of confirmation in the same church from the hands of the warrior prelate, the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk.
In 1861, on the breaking out of the Civil War, he promptly responded to the call of his native State and joined the Confederate army, enlisting in a company of Kentucky cavalry. His culture and scholarship being soon recognized
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1Rt. 1Rev. John In. Balleber, D.D.
.
Inhalleher
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REV. JOHN NICHOLAS GALLEHER, D.D.
by his superiors, he was relieved from service in the ranks and detailed as secretary to Gen. S. B. Buckner, then sta- tioned at Bowling Green, Ky.
Taking part as acting aide-de-camp to Gen. Buckner in the sanguinary battles around Fort Donelson, he was cap- tured on February 16, 1862, by troops belonging to Gen. Grant's command, and subsequently underwent an expe- rience of prison life at Camp Chase, O., and in Fort Warren, Boston harbor.
After being exchanged, during the following summer, he obtained his commission as first lieutenant and aide-de- camp on the staff of Major Gen. Buckner. He served actively in Gen. Bragg's Kentucky campaign, assisting in the operations at Mumfordsville, Ky., that compelled the surrender of the Federal garrison. At the battle of Perry- ville he was with Gen. Pat Cleburne, one of the brigade commanders under Gen. Buckner, with whom he continued to serve in Eastern Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Middle Tennessee, participating in the engagements with the Federal General Thomas at McLemon's Cove.
Then he came in for some heavy fighting in the great battle of Chickamauga and at Chattanooga, whence, shortly before the battle of Missionary Ridge, he was transferred to Mobile as adjutant general of the department, along with Gen. Buckner, to whom had been assigned the task of for- tifying that place.
In 1864 Buckner left Mobile, relieving Gen. R. Taylor, and Galleher, who had previously attained in succession the
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grades of captain, lieutenant colonel, and acting assistant adjutant general, was ordered to take up duty in the De- partment of the Transmississippi. Col. Galleher continued, until the termination of the Civil War, to serve in the ad- jutant general's branch of army administration, acting tem- porarily as chief of the staff, and always discharging his most responsible functions with efficiency and distinction.
Finally, when the cause was lost, he accompanied the flag of truce under which was arranged the surrender to Gen. Canby, of the military forces of the Transmississippi Department.
The war being concluded, he quietly resumed his legal studies at New Orleans, afterward attending the law school of Judge Brickenborough, at Lexington, Ky., where, after graduating, he was in due course admitted to the bar. He then fixed his residence at Louisville, Ky.
After a brief, but not briefless, career as Col. Woolsey's partner at the bar, his chivalrous, combative instincts, whether against assailants of his home or of his faith, induced him to take, so fortunately for his co-religionists, and, it may be said, for the entire community among which his influence has made itself so beneficently felt, the all-important step which determined his path in life.
Becoming a candidate for Holy Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, he studied privately in Kentucky until removing to New York, when he took a partial course at the General Theological Seminary. Here his progress was so rapid and so satisfactory that at the end of his "middle
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REV. JOHN NICHOLAS GALLEHER, D.D.
year," June 7, 1868, he received deacon's orders from Assis- tant Bishop Cummins, in Christ Church, Louisville, where he remained for six months as an assistant to the Rector, the Rev. Dr. Craik. In 1869, while still deacon, he removed to Trinity Church, New Orleans, where he was called to the rectorship as the successor of the Rev. John W. Beckwith, D.D. (who had been elected Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia). In this parish he established a reputation for eloquence, and endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact. He was ordained priest by Bishop J. P. B. Wilmer May 30th of the same year, in Trinity Church, New Orleans.
In the autumn of 1871 he became Rector of John's Me- morial Church at Baltimore, thence after two years he was invited to the rectorate of Zion Church. He received the following academical degrees: Bachelor of Arts in 1860, from Shelby College, Kentucky, and of Doctor of Sacred Theology from Columbia College in 1875, and of Doctor of Divinity from the University of the South in 1880.
We extract the following criticism from Patten's Lives of Clergy, 1874.
" The Rev. Mr. Galleher went into the ministry from the deepest personal conviction. Already in a profession offering the widest scope for talent and ambition, he prepared himself for another of a sacred character on the promptings of a converted heart. His opportunity for observation among men has been greater than is generally the case with clergymen, and this circumstance has given
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him additional power in his preaching and other efforts. In the pulpit his gifts as a speaker, his originality of thought and his polished language are not less effective. He penetrates to the truth of human motives however hid- den, he tenderly unfolds the daily life and aspirations of man, and he paints in glowing language the bliss of religion and virtue, while he tempts the froward heart to penitence and peace. His voice rings out in tones of melody and he stands strikingly impressive in his stature and bearing. No one can doubt his sincerity, and no one can fail to feel the force of his reasoning and the thrill of his eloquence. Preacher and people are thus made one in sympathy and purpose and they go forth from these ministrations alike anointed with heavenly grace and inspired with a stronger courage in faith and duty."
The condition of the parish at this time did not present any alluring features, and yet upon its condition being fully disclosed to the Rector-elect it failed to present any terrors.
The parish speedily discovered that the recently chosen Rector was a ripe scholar and an erudite theologian, whose aim was ever to convince his hearers by cool, clear, incisive reasoning. He succeeded in mastering the exceedingly difficult art of extemporaneous preaching, and was wholly free from its not unusual defects. His warm attachments, genial character, and self-sacrificing friendship were ever increasing the love and esteem in which his people always held him. The determination of the Rector to resuscitate
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the parish by every endeavor aroused the earnest co-opera- tion of the parishioners, and their joint efforts accomplished the much-hoped-for result. The congregation so rapidly increased as to occupy every available pew at advanced rents; the parish societies and the Sunday-school were restored to renewed activity and interest ; in fact, the out- look was altogether promising and gratifying.
The financial crisis of 1873, following closely upon the advent of the Rector, with its lingering and depressing effects, caused several of the parishioners to surrender their pews. To tide over this and other sudden emergencies, a number of the friends of the parish came to its rescue with liberal offerings, removing, as they believed, every obstacle to the permanent prosperity of the work. It was not, however, long before the parish was reminded of the prophetic words of its preceding Rector, for again it witnessed during the same year the construction of the present and larger Church of the Holy Trinity, and in 1876 that of the costly Church of St. Bartholomew, 44th Street and Madison Avenue.
Nov. 12, 1879, the Rector was unanimously elected Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, whereupon he tendered his resignation to take effect the Ist of January. The fol- lowing action was taken by the Vestry upon the severance of the pastoral bond :
MINUTE.
Resolved, That in the severance of Dr. Galleher's relations to this Parish we recognize most keenly the great and, as it
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seems to us, except by God's interposition, irreparable loss, and we appreciate his profound sense of the Holy Apostolic character of the Church, of the dignity and sacred functions of its ministry, of its Scriptural Doctrines and methods, of the orderly simplicity of its ritual, of its sublime and stately Liturgy, and we bear willing testimony to his able and effective enforcement and illustration of them by profound scholarship, high intellectual attainments, pleasing and for- cible elocution, simplicity of demeanor, sincerity of purpose, fervent zeal, and earnest and unostentatious piety, all in admirable equipoise, making his ministration wise, prudent, dignified, conservative and fruitful. Yet pervaded by a self-forgetfulness and a broad and generous liberality in full harmony with the Catholic spirit of the Church of which he is an honored minister, rendering the adequate supply of his place both difficult and improbable.
Resolved, That while for these reasons we deplore the sundering of such sacred relations yet we will strive to rec- oncile ourselves to the Providential dispensation, which bereaves us, but exalts him to the chief ministry of the Church, wherein his influence for good will be greatly en- larged and the general councils of the Church strengthened, an appreciation and love of the Church and her enterprises deepened in the minds and hearts of his people, and wherein perchance he may be able to nurture the Graces of Christian and brotherly concord between differing sec- tions to the tranquillity of our common country and the glory of God.
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Rev. Dr. Galleher was consecrated in Trinity Church, New Orleans, on February 5, 1880. The venerable Bishop of Mississippi was the consecrator, assisted by the Bishops of Alabama and Missouri and the Assistant Bishop of Kentucky. The latter, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dudley, was the preacher.
The words chosen as descriptive of him who should be the meet successor of the sainted Wilmer were prophetic :
" Fill up the breach, when thou a man dost find Refreshed with childhood's grace, a warrior brave, yet kind ; A lion, yet a lamb, a minister to men, a man of mark and mind."
The following brief address delivered by Bishop Galleher, in 1889, from the portico of the City Hall, New Orleans, over the remains of his old chieftain, Jefferson Davis, affords a glimpse, no more, of his earnest, concise, and eloquent method of speaking ; with that view it is copied.
" When we utter our prayers to-day for those who are dis- tressed in mind, when we lift our petitions to the Most Merciful, and ask a benediction on the desolate, we remem- ber that one household above all others is bitterly bereaved, and that hearts closely knitted to our own are deeply distressed.
" For the master of Beauvoir lies dead under the droop- ing flag of the saddened city ; the light of his dwelling has gone out and left it lonely for all the days to come.
"Surely we grieve with those who weep the tender tears
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of homely pain and trouble, and there is not a sigh of the Gulf breeze that sways the swinging moss on the cypress trees sheltering their home, but finds an answer in our over- burdened breathing.
" We recall with sincerest sympathy the wifely woe that can be measured only by the sacred deeps of wifely devo- tion, and our hearts go travelling across the heaving Atlan- tic seas to meet and comfort, if we might, the child, who, on coming home, shall for once not be able to bring all the sweet splendors of the sunshine with her.
" Let us bend with the stricken household and pay the ready tribute of our tears. And then, acknowledging the stress and surge of a people's sorrow, say that the stately tree of our Southern wood, planted in power, nourished by kindly dews, branching in brave luxuriance and scarred by many storms, lies uprooted.
" The end of a long and lofty life has come ; and a moving volume of human history has been closed and clasped. The strange and sudden dignity of death has been added to the fine and resolute dignity of living.
" A man who, in his person and in history, symbolized the solemn convictions and tragic fortunes of millions of men, can not pass into the glooms that gather around a grave without sign or token from the surcharged bosoms of those he leaves behind, and when Jefferson Davis, reaching ' the very sea-mark of his utmost sail,' goes to his God, not even the most ignoble can chide the majestic mourning, the sorrowing honors of a last salute.
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"I am not here to stir, by a breath, the embers of a settled strife ; to speak one word unworthy of him and of the hour. What is writ is writ in the world's memory and in the books of God. But I am here to say for our help and inspiration that this man as a Christian and as a church- man was a lover of all high and righteous things; as a citizen was fashioned in the old, faithful type; as a soldier was marked and fitted for more than fame, the Lord God having set on him the seal of a pure knighthood ; as a statesman he was the peer of the princes in that realm ; and as a patriot, through every day of his illustrious life, was an incorruptible and impassioned defender of the liberties of men.
" Gracious and gentle, even to the lowliest-nay, especi- ally to them-tender as he was brave, he deserved to win all the love that followed.
" Fearless and unselfish, he could not well escape the life- long conflicts to which he was committed. Greatly and strangely misconceived, he bore injustice with the calmness befitting his place. He suffered many and grievous wrongs, suffered most for the sake of others, and those others will remember him and his unflinching fidelity with deepening gratitude, while the Potomac seeks the Chesapeake, or the Mississippi sweeps by Briarfield on its way to the Mexican Sea.
" When on the December midnight the worn warrior joined the ranks of the patient and prevailing ones, who-
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' Loved their land, with love far brought '-
if one of the mighty dead gave the challenge :
' Art thou of us?
He answered : I am here.' "
The health of the Bishop had become so impaired that it was deemed advisable to relieve him from a portion of his duties, and to that end his son-in-law, the Rev. Davis Ses- sums, D.D., was appointed assistant bishop by the Council of the Diocese of Louisiana, April, 1891, and was consecrated June 24th.
On December 7, 1891, the Rt. Rev. John Nicholas Gal- leher, D.D., died at New Orleans.
The funeral services took place at Christ's Church, New Orleans, December 10th, in the presence of a great con- gregation.
The church was beautifully decorated with flowers. Above the Bishop's chair was a crown of flowers, and beside it a shepherd's crook and a purple cross. To the heavy mourning drapery of the chancel was added an immense shield of ivory bearing a crown of immortelles and violets.
Bishop Wilmer of Alabama, Bishop Quintard of Tennes- see, Bishop Garrett of Northern Texas, and Bishop Thomp- son of Mississippi, besides the clergy of the State, were present and assisted in the ceremony. The bishops and clergy preceded the flower-laden casket, which was placed upon a purple catafalque. Between the lines of the clergy
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passed Assistant Bishop Sessums and his wife, Bishop Galle- her's daughter, and the family. The Sons of the Army of Tennessee and Confederate veterans followed.
After the impressive religious services the coffin lid was removed and the people were allowed to take a last look at the dead. On Friday morning the body was taken to Louisville for burial. The funeral proper took place in Christ's Church, Louisville, on Sunday, and the clergy of that city had charge of the ceremony.
Immediately after the service was concluded in the cathe- dral, the Rt. Rev. Richard H. Wilmer, D.D., Bishop of Alabama, called all the clergy together in the guildroom for the purpose of drafting resolutions appropriate to the occa- sion. Bishop Wilmer, as chairman, called the meeting to order. On motion of Ven. Archdeacon H. C. Duncan, M.A., the chairman was requested to draft the appropriate resolutions, the committee to consist of three bishops, three priests, and three laymen, the Bishop of Alabama to be added to the committee and to serve as chairman of same.
The chair then appointed the following committee: Bishops-the Rt. Rev. Hugh Miller Thompson, D.D., Bishop of Mississippi ; the Rt. Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, D.D., Bishop of Tennessee ; the Rt. Rev. Alex. C. Garrett, D.D., Bishop of Northern Texas ; with the Rt. Rev. Richard H. Wilmer, D.D., Bishop of Alabama, as chairman. Priests- the Venerable Archdeacon John Percival, D.D .; the Ven- erable Archdeacon W. K. Douglass, D.D .; and the Rev. A. Gordon Bakewell. Laymen-Hon. James McConnell, Chan- II
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cellor of the Diocese; Hon. W. H. Rogers, Attorney General of the State ; and the Hon. H. C. Minor.
The following resolutions and preamble were then pre- pared by the committee and unanimously adopted by the clergy present for themselves, and in behalf of all the clergy and laity of the diocese :
"It having pleased the great Head of the Church to remove from his wide sphere of usefulness on earth the beloved Bishop of Louisiana, John Nicholas Galleher, S. T.D., we, the bishops, clergy, and laity, assisting at the burial service from Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans, desire to place on record the deep feelings of sorrow with which we are penetrated in presence of our heavy bereave- ment.
" Resolved, That in the death of Bishop Galleher, in the zenith of his day, the diocese of Louisiana and the Church of God in America has sustained no common loss.
" Resolved, That we extend to the afflicted family our tenderest sympathies, and the assurance of our most fer- vent prayers at the throne of divine grace that the con- solations of the Holy Spirit may be abundantly poured out upon them.
" Resolved, That we embrace the opportunity to assure the Bishop, now called to exercise in full the functions of his high episcopal office, of our unfeigned sympathy with him in his great trials, and of our earnest prayers, that he may be guided by divine grace, and sustained in the discharge of his new responsibilities.
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REV. JOHN NICHOLAS GALLEHER, D.D.
" SIGNED : Richard H. Wilmer, D.D., Bishop of Alabama ; Charles Todd Quintard, D.D., Bishop of Tennessee ; Alex. C. Garrett, D.D., Bishop of Northern Texas ; Hugh Miller Thompson, D.D., Bishop of Mississippi ; Jno. Percival, D.D., Archdeacon ; W. R. Douglas, D.D., Archdeacon ; A. Gor- don Bakewell, Rector Trinity Chapel ; James McConnell, Walter H. Rogers, H. C. Minor."
On motion of Rev. A. S. Clark, the Rev. E. W. Hunter was requested to act as secretary of the meeting, and was asked to send a record of the proceedings and the resolu- tions adopted to the family of the Rt. Rev. J. N. Galleher, to the Rt. Rev. Davis Sessums, D.D., to the city press, and to such church papers as he might deem proper.
On Saturday, December 12th, the body of Bishop Galleher was brought home for burial, and was met at the station at Louisville by the Episcopal clergy of the city and by a com- mittee from the ex-confederate association. The funeral, one of the largest ever held in the city, took place on Sun- day from Christ Church. The interment was in Cave Hill Cemetery.
ZION CHURCH AND THE CHURCH OF THE ATONEMENT IN MADISON AVENUE UNITED.
O UR historical sketch is now brought to an eventful period. The Vestry realized the responsibility which the existing condition of the parish placed upon them. They had to choose whether Zion Church, with comparatively a small building and weighty pecuniary burdens, should continue the unequal strife with the large churches surrounding her, by calling another Rector, or should consolidate with another parish in that vicinity. The Vestry, after extending a call to the Rev. Frederick Courtney, D.D. (now Bishop of Nova Scotia), which was declined, decided upon the latter project as the wisest solu- tion of all the actual difficulties. This plan was accordingly followed and speedily consummated. Informal conferences were held between the respective Vestries and the Rev. C. C. Tiffany, Rector of the "Church of the Atonement in Madison Avenue," which resulted in the adoption of a formal agreement for a union and consolidation of the two corpora- tions. Upon the presentation of this agreement and of a separate petition from each corporation, the Supreme Court did, March 30, 1880, grant the order for a new corporation,
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REV. C. C. TIFFANY, D.D.
under the title of " The Rector, Wardens, and Vestrymen of Zion Church in the City of New York." This agreement pro- vided for the sale of the Church of the Atonement in Madi- son Avenue and the land attached thereto, and for the payment of proceeds thereof, after satisfying the mortgages thereon, the bonded debt, and the rights of the pew owners (several of the pews were generously surrendered by their owners), toward the payment of the floating and mortgage debt of Zion Church. It also provided that the following- named persons should be the Church Wardens and Vestry- men of the proposed new corporation until the first annual election (Monday, April 18, 1881) :
Wardens-Samuel Hawk and David Clarkson.
Vestrymen-George L. Jewett, William Graydon, Benja- min F. Watson, Frederic A. Potts, George H. Byrd, Fred- erick W. Devoe, Delano C. Calvin, and Robert Colgate, Jr.
An historical notice of the parish with which Zion Church was united is not devoid of interest. The first step in its history was a meeting, in November, 1865, of a few members of the Episcopal Church, who, having determined that an- other church was needed in the upper portion of the city, leased the chapel of the Home of the Friendless, No. 29 East 29th Street, adopted the name of the "Milnor Memo- rial Church," and extended an invitation to the Rev. William T. Sabine, of Philadelphia, to the rectorship. This clergyman was born in New York, October 16, 1838. He was gradu- ated from Columbia College in 1859, and from the General Theological Seminary in 1862.
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He was ordained deacon in 1862 at the Church of the Transfiguration by Bishop Horatio Potter, and ordained priest in 1863 at the Church of the Ascension by the same bishop. He was first settled as assistant to the Rev. Dr. Tyng at St. George's Church, where he remained nine months. In December, 1863, he was called to the Church of the Covenant, Philadelphia, where he remained until called to the Church of the Atonement, December 16, 1865. He returned to New York to assume the rectorship of the Church of the Atonement, in April, 1866.
Shortly after the beginning of this enterprise the name adopted was changed to that of "The Church of the Atone- ment in New York City."
Divine service was held in the chapel by the Rector for the first time, Sunday morning, April 7, 1866. It was a deeply interesting occasion, and the result proved highly encouraging, as many prominent families identified them- selves with this movement, and the future was reasonably assured. In the evening the chapel was filled a second time by an attentive congregation.
The Rector was cordially and generally welcomed to his new field of labor.
It became legally necessary to change the title again, so as to distinguish it from a corporation under the same title, abandoned in fact but not judicially dissolved. On December 31, 1866, the church was incorporated as " The Church of the Atonement in Madison Avenue in the City of New York."
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REV. C. C. TIFFANY, D.D.
The following persons were elected its first Vestry :
Wardens.
George T. M. Davis, William Harman Brown.
Vestrymen.
James D. Fitch, M.D., Gustavus A. Sabine, M.D., James H. Fay,
Alexis S. McIlvaine,
William E. Vermilye, M.D., Benjamin C. Wetmore, George B. Watts, Samuel A. Strang.
From this comparatively small beginning, the parish rapidly acquired sufficient strength to enable it to pur- chase, in January of the year following, the valuable and eligible site formerly owned and occupied by the Church of the Incarnation, on the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street. It had been sold in 1864 to the Second Congregational Unitarian Church, and thus was restored to the Episcopal communion a site having an interesting history. To this, brief reference will hereafter be made by the writer, who was identified with the early history of the Church of the Incarnation. The church in Madison Avenue was opened for divine service Sunday, May 14, 1867.
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