USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > Steubenville > The church in eastern Ohio; a history with special reference to the parishes of St. Paul's, Steubenville, St. James's, Cross Creek and St. Stephen's, Steubenville > Part 18
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ST. PAUL'S CHANGEL, WITH WELLS MEMORIAL.
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PROSPEROUS YEARS.
Disbursements, missions, general offerings, $85.75; from societies, $101.55; value of boxes sent, $165; S. S. offierings, $149.19; total extra diocesan, $501.49.
Grand total disbursements, $5,677.66.
The Education, Church Home and St. John's Orphan- age items included payments on account of beneficiaries from St. Paul's parish.
Bishop Leonard in his convention address discussed the project of a Centennial history of the Diocese, to be published in 1917, announcing the following committee in charge of the work: Clergy-Rev. Messrs. George F. Smythe and Hosea W. Jones, of Gambier; James H. Young, Tiffin; Louis E. Daniels, Toledo; Charles C. Bubb and Henry E. Cooke, Cleveland; Laity-Thomas Kinsman, Warren; Dr. Fred Smith, O. K. Brooks, C. F. Brush and Miss Emma Perkins, Cleveland; Mrs. C. A. Dowell, Ashtabula; Joseph B. Doyle, Steubenville.
As previously stated the Sunday School of the parish is divided into thre departments, the senior being under the special charge of the rector; intermediate, of Miss Jessie Campbell, and primary, of Miss Mary R. Lewis.
In addition to the Sunday School and chapel fur- nishings already noted should be included pictures and candelabra by Mrs. F. S. Maxwell and others, and chapel alms basin by Mrs. S. K. Wallace.
'The Cadiz church fund, arising from a bequest of $59.75 by Mrs. Alice McCarnahan in 1896 now amounts to $118.23.
While Dr. Doddridge doubtless kept a record of the ecclesiastical functions performed by him from the time he entered upon his ministry, the account of his early baptisms, marriages and burials cannot be found, in fact, the records of the Wellsburg church, located in his home town, only extend back to 1870, shortly after the parish was revived by Rev. Mr. Webb. St. Paul's records, how-
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
ever, have been carefully kept from the organization of the parish, Rev. Dr. Morse having set a worthy example in that respect, which has been followed by his successors. Rev. Thomas D. Pitts in his last sermon in old St. Paul's gave a summary of duties performed to that time, which will be found on page 144. Since then to September 1, 1914, the record shows 862 baptisms, 696 confirmations, 254 marriages, and 626 burials. The grand total is 1,796 baptisms, 1,213 confirmations, 518 marriages, and 1,241 funerals.
St. James's record, beginning with 1815, shows 32 baptisins to 1822, and 324 from that date to 1861, with 26 since, or 382 in all. Beginning with Bishop Chase's first visitation in 1819, 233 have been confirmed exclu- sive of a few in St. Paul's record. There were 77 mar- riages between 1825 and 1867, and 109 funerals begin- ning with 1822. The last funeral recorded in the old book is that of Armstrong Maley on November 7, 1909; others are noted in the archives of the city parishes.
One hundred and twenty-two years have rolled their course since Dr. Doddridge began his missionary work in this the then western wilderness. That wilderness has become a hive of human industry, not exactly blossoming as the rose, but what may not be inappropriately called the great workshop of the world. Has the Church made full use of her opportunity during all this progress, keep- ing her banner to the front, and meeting every emergency as it arose in a statesmanlike manner, as should be ex- pected of those who hold a great treasure, even though it be in earthen vessels? We fear that this question cannot be answered affirmatively. There have been faithful priests and people, but they lacked the solid support which should have given this branch of Christ's Kingdom the position it should have held in the community. There has been discord where there should have been agree-
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PROSPEROUS YEARS.
ment, and division where there should have been unity. But amid it all there is much for which to be thankful, and if the lessons of the past are used as beacons to avoid pitfalls in the future, they will not have proved useless. After all each parish is only a miniature of the Church at large, and cannot claim exemption from trial and trib- ulation, any more than the greater body of which it is an integral part. It has been said that happy is the country which has no history, and pious souls no doubt sometimes wish that in this sense the phrase might be applied to the Church. But no country without a history ever amounted to anything, and the same may be said of the Church un- der like conditions. No doubt the division in 1896 was a temporary cloud to the Church in Steubenville, convert- ing an apparently strong parish into two struggling ones. But if so it looks as if God had made the wrath of man to praise him. Possibly it was the only way to arouse the old church from its self-satisfied complacency. The rapid increase of population and territorial extension of the city have made two parishes desirable if not a necessity. Each one is nearly if not quite as strong as the old church be- fore the division, and each has its own special work to do and problems to face. May each organization rise to the call in its own particular field, and, pursuing its work along its own particular lines, with loyalty to the Church, strive in friendly rivalry as to which in proportion to its numbers, and resources, and the difficulties of the field, shall contribute more largely to the spread of Christ's Kingdom and bettering of the community in which it is placed.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE VESTED CHOIR.
Historical Resume-Embryo Organizations-Formal Inauguration- Remarkable Musical Services-A Record of Industry and Pa- tient Work:
Accounts of the musical department of the services at St. Paul's have been given along with other work of the parish in the preceding pages of this volume, down to the inauguration of the vested male choir. In order, however, to do justice to that body of singers and to give a clearer idea of the musical progress (and otherwise) of the parish duing the last quarter of a century, it was deemed best to devote a separate chapter to that subject with a resume of previous musical conditions in the Church at large.
The English Church was not without its musicians during the pre-reformation period. From the time that King Canute bade his oarsmen stop to hear the song of the monks as it was wafted over the fens of Ely, there is a succession of composers whose merits have not been suf- ficiently appreciated, but who by faithful work and devout inspiration were building, no doubt, better than they knew, and laying the foundations of that school of sacred song which today has no superior in Christendom. The reformation of the sixteenth century made no break here any more than it did in the line of episcopal succession, but as the New Learning endued both Church and State with revivified intellectual life, the same spirit was mani- fested in the rendition of the services, which, in the crys- talization of the then modern English tongue, was to be- come more and more the property of the people at large.
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THE VESTED CHOIR.
Marbeck, Tallis, Farrant, Gibbon and other composers are familiar names even to this day, and their harmonies, especially those which have the ancient plainsong for their foundations, are the essential part of every properly con- ducted choral service. The first part of the Prayer Book services to be rendered publicly in English was the Litany, which, having been arranged by Cranmer, on September 18, 1547, was sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, by the kneeling priests and clerks. It is now sung in pro- cession according to the ancient practice. Along with the anthem as an integral part of the Church service devel- oped the Anglican chant, which some purists condemn, but which was a necessary outgrowth from the Gregorian, which is still desirable for Advent and Lenten seasons, but whose time has passed as the sole or even representa- tive music of the Church. It is not necessary to do more than refer to the Puritan reaction when "the choirs were silenced, the singers dispersed, the organs broken down, the pipes sold for pots of ale, the books rent in pieces and scattered to the winds, and all that was held to minister to 'the beauty of holiness' was destroyed in a frenzy of 'zeal,' as it ws called, but which could only be if it is the nature of zeal to express itself in wanton mischief and senseless violence." When, after eighteen years of Baby- lonish captivity, the Church again came into her own there were no trained choir boys to sing, practically no organists who could play, and no music to read. Every- thing had to begin anew, with the bad example of a cor- rupt court, followed by an era of spiritual deadness only relieved here and there by such incidents as the trial of the seven bishops and the unaffected piety of Queen Anne. Then came the Georgian period, with a few great lights, by which the standard of cathedral music was elevated, and Handel presented his glorious compositions, but this did not much affect the parish churches, which were the
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
real homes of the people. It required the so-called Ox- ford movement of the nineteenth century to break the deadness here as elsewhere, and the poetry of Keble, and the translations of Neale were a fitting prelude to that group of composers, whose labors, extending into the twentieth century, have made a golden age of English Church music. Barnby, Stainer, West, Sullivan, Wood- ward, Morley, Mann, Jordan, are stars of the first mag- nitude in a brilliant galaxy that not only reflects the best traditions of the past, but shines with an original light that has no comparison elsewhere.
Although the American Church in its foundation preceded the era of deadness in the Church of England already mentioned, yet it did not fail to experience the effects of that period. Furthemore, a struggling body in a vast wilderness was not well situated to develop its artistic side, especially in the way of music. Organs must be imported from England, and so must organists, for whose work, indeed, there was little opportunity, and as for singers, almost anything in that line would pass mus- ter. Nevertheless a few organs were brought over previous to the Revolution, but when the Church emerged from that catyclism very little attention was paid to music, especially on the frontier.
We find, however, that locally St. Paul's Church, under the leadership of Mrs. Morse, early began to set as high a musical standard as the taste and facilities of those days would permit. There were no hymnals, and what was known as the Tate & Brady metrical psalms, which were bound up with the English Prayer Books, was probably used. The General Convention of 1832 author- ized a "Selection of Psalms in Metre," being a free metrical arrangement of 124 psalms, which was a great improvement on the old group, and a hymnal of 212 hymns with glorias was also now in use, which collection
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THE VESTED CHOIR.
remained unaltered until 1871 with the exception of a small supplementary volume of "Additional Hymns," au- thorized in 1865.
In 1858 a tune book of canticles and hymns was pub- lished by a committee appointed by the House of Bishops, of which Rev. G. T. Bedell, then rector of the Church of the Ascension, New York; Rev. W. A. Muhlenberg, Church of the Holy Communion, and G. J. Geer, were members. Several suggestions are made in the introduc- tion, which, considering that the popular choir of that period was a quartette of singers in an organ loft at the back of the church, and that it was the general practice of organists to play florid interludes between the verses of hymns, are significant. Both are condemned, and the formation of volunteer chorus choirs is suggested, with the following special note :
There are advantages in boy choristers in the treble and alto parts, for leading a congregation. Their voices tell with a clear, ringing sound, much better for prominence in church than the volup- tuous tone which we care only to listen to, and fear to spoil. Boy singers, too, can be had in larger numbers, and if any are not to your mind, they can be corrected or silenced without that offense which, in the case of a lady chorister, might be the occasion of a feud in the congregation. They do not require to be screened by curtains (which, indeed, should not be allowed to any), but may be stationed near the minister as young assistants in celebrating divine service. But to make boys serviceable in this way, they must, of course, be properly trained. They must have stated lessons during the week, under a leader or master who will be concerned for their moral and religious as well as their musical education, and who will always be with them in church. For this a school is desirable, but, as experience has proved, it may be effected by means of classes meeting two or three hours a week. The clergyman, however, must take the lead, seeking his choristers not only among the poor, but among the members of his congregation generally, explaining to parents for what an honorable office he wants their sons. He must gain their attachment by his affectionate interest in them, inviting them to his house, etc., making them feel that they enjoy a special share of his pastoral regards. Treated in this way they make the best, certainly the most manageable choirs. But let none employ them who regard them with no greater favor than is generally ac- corded to the race of boys. The principal difficulty is the breaking of their voices at an age when they are most useful, which must be
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
provided against by always having younger ones coming on. The former treble voices (after two or more years of rest, during which they should never be forced), reappear in a lower pitch of the scale, tenor, or bass. [Counter-tenor was practically unknown in America at this time, and even yet is not utilized to the extent it should be as a substitute for the unsatisfactory boy alto .- Author.] As to an offset to any trouble with such choristers, there is the consideration, besides the immediate service they render, of the probable good effects upon themselves. They are under influences attracting them to the Church and its worship, and favorable to their growing up Christian youths and men, qualified, wherever they are, to exercise the vocation of their early days ..
It would be difficult to state more succinctly and forcibly the case for the boy choir than the above excerpt, but the movement, even after it started, at first progressed very slowly. As a rule American musicians did not take kindly to the "innovation," and there were, of course, fail- ures arising mainly from prejudice, bad management, in- competent directors and unreasonable expectations un- realized. So it was years before the system could be said to have established a permanent position in the American Church.
In the meantime other tune books made their ap- pearance. C. J. Hopkins published a collection of hymn tunes in 1860, and the Greatorex, Cantus Ecclesia and Church Choir books were also regarded as standards. William Staunton's "Common Praise" in 1866 filled a long felt want, and W. H. Walter, about the same time, also published an excellent collection. At this time the compositions of Dudley Buck, organist of Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, began coming into favor, especially for anthems and Te Deums. They were suitable for mixed choirs, and are still used extensively among the Protestant denominations, but have almost dropped out of place in the Church. Dr. Hodges, organist and choir- master at Trinity Church, New York; Prof. W. B. Gil- bert at Trinity Chapel, Hopkins and others were not only able exponents of sound Church music, but their
CHOIR CAMP, 1891.
CHOIR BOYS AT INDIAN ROCK.
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THE VESTED CHOIR.
compositions added materially to the enrichment of the service. Nevertheless, those in charge of the music in every parish were obliged to fall back on the unrivaled stores of the English school in order to secure adequate expression and variety of work. The Church of Eng- land, not having any specially authorized hymnal, this matter was left to the various dioceses, but the publica- tion known as "Hymns Ancient and Modern" came into almost universal use, with an enormous circulation, and passed through several editions and enlargements. It still retains its pre-eminence, although a new publication, "The English Church Hymnal," has become a favorite. The lack of sufficient variety in the American Prayer Book collection led to the quite general use of "Hymns Ancient and Modern" in the different parishes, first with- out authority, but later by authorization of the General Convention. The publication of "Additional Hymns" in 1865-6 was only intended to be tentative, and a commit- tee was appointed to prepare an adequate hymnal for the American Church. In 1871 the new hymnal was pub- lished, containing 520 hymns, to which additions were made in 1874, bringing the number up to 532. The old collection of psalms in metre was still allowed to be used, but as the best ones were incorporated in the new hymnal, and Prayer Books were now printed with the metrical psalmns omitted, they disappeared completely from the Church service. When the new hymnal was issued it was thought the matter was settled for at least half a century, but it was not fairly in use until agitation began for fur- ther revision and enlargement, which continued until a new book of 679 hymns was put out in 1892. This has not quite satisfied everybody, and another hymnal is al- ready in embryo. Meantime a so-called mission hymnal has been published which cannot be pronounced a valua- ble addition to the ritual. While the Church has been
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
very conservative in making changes in or additions to the Prayer Book, the hymnal has been treated as a very flexi- ble part of the service, which will probably be the case as long as the spirit of poetry exists.
The radical change of hymnody in 1871-4 naturally. brought. forth new series of tune books. Those of J. Ire- land Tucker and C. L. Hutchins took the lead, the latter becoming the more popular on account of the greater variety of tunes. Both publications drew liberally on the rich collection found in "Hymns Ancient and Modern," and in proportion as they did so the value of their work was enhanced. Mr. Messiter, organist of Trinity Church, New York, published a tune book in the seventies, which was an excellent production musically, but possessed the fatal defect of omitting the great mass of familiar tunes. A later excellent book by Prof. Stubbs, of St. Agnes chapel, has the drawback of containing only selected hymns instead of the entire hymnal.
While several psalters were on the market, what is known as the Cathedral Psalter seems to have taken the lead as a favorite, and has so far held that position.
As has been stated, the writer, in the firm belief that the male choir was the only proper organization to lead in the praises of the Church, began in a small way to gather a few boys together for singing purposes as far back as 1868-9. It was probably the first effort of the kind in Ohio, and there was no delusion as to expecting any marked results beyond giving the boys a definite place in the singing of the Sunday School, and perhaps at week day services. Although a semi-choral service had been given in 1868 at the Jefferson mission school, it was not until 1873 that a full choral service was attempted by the parish Sunday School at the Easter festival, the boys singing the Psalter antiphonally with the girls. When the carly festal celebrations of the Holy Communion on
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THE VESTED CHOIR.
Easter Day were inaugurated, the service was finally taken by the boys, who occasionally sang at Evensong and at the mission on the east side of the river, but as yet without any official standing.
However, by 1892 the vested choir system had ob- tained a permanent foothold in Ohio, and the rector and Vestry decided that the time had come to establish it in St. Paul's. Prof. J. A. Raynes, a native of England, was engaged on January 1 as organist and choirmaster at a salary of $200 per year, afterwards increased to $400. Mr. Raynes for some months previous had directed the mixed choir, and several members continued to sing for awhile in order to help the boys out. The training al- ready given had furnished the nucleus of a permanent choir, and the director was able to announce that by Eas- ter the new organization would be able to take the entire service, including processional and recessional from and to the parish house. Vestments were procured from a disbanded choir at Salem, Ohio, and at the early celebra- tion on Easter Day the full vested choir marched into the church singing Hymn 374, "Crown Him with Many Crowns," which continued to be the regular Easter morn- ing processional until about three years since. The service was dignified, reverent and impressive, and the choir won its way at once to the hearts of the people. The singers were located on a platform adjoining the organ in the northeast corner of the church. Efficient work was rendered during the summer season, a feature being its first wedding service, the marriage of Mr. Raynes and Miss Martha Beazell on the evening of July 7. Needless to say the choir was in demand for wed- dings thereafter as well as funerals, and during August a trip was made to St. James's Church, Cross Creek, where Evensong was given. The regular list of boys during the month of September included as permanent
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
members, John Peterson, Herbert W. Nichols, Charles Peterson, James Nicholson, Presley Kells, Harry Schnor- nerberg, Harry Day, John Dillon, Edward Bickse, Robert Peterson, Harry Simeral, John Henke, Solon Hebron, Charles Blackburn, Wolcott Matlack, Charles Conley, George Wilcoxon, Harry Walker. Men: William Wil- liams, William Evans, Frank Schuman, H. W. Wether- ald, L. W. Zimmerman, Daniel Cable, Harry Cox, J. B. Doyle.
The choir was a volunteer one, boys receiving a nominal pay of ten cents per week, with demerit marks for absence or misconduct. The payments were subsequently arranged to be made just before Easter, Independence Day and Christmas Day, the sentiment being incul- cated that the small amount received was not intended as compensation for work or labor performed, but as a re- ward of merit and expression of good will. The idea of commercialism was kept rigidly out of sight, and the boys were given to understand that they were singing, not for hire, but for Christ and His Church. It may be added that no small proportion of the Faster and Christ- mas payments found its way into the missionary boxes. During Mr. Raynes's administration he conducted several operettas and other musical entertainments, in which the choir boys took part. Special gold medals and crosses were given for good work, and subsequently small silver crosses were adopted as the choir badge, and worn con- tinually by the boys.
The organ having become greatly out of repair, in May, 1893, the question arose as to the expediency of re- building the old instrument or procuring a new one. Mr. Grabau, the new rector, desired the removal of the choir to its proper place in the chancel, but a pipe organ could not be placed there without some changes in the church fabric, which did not seem feasible at that time.
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THE VESTED CHOIR.
There was then on the market a comparatively new in- strument called "Vocalion," in which the reeds were in- closed in boxes to give a pipe organ tone. This was in a measure successful, and the comparatively low first cost, economy of space and less requirement in the way of re- pairs, made the instrument popular, especially in small churches. A two-manual instrument of this character with about twelve sets of reeds and pedal sub-base was purchased for $690 net, and placed on the north side of the chancel, with temporary seats for the choir. While not equal to a good pipe organ, yet the instrument ful- filled expectations, and the change as a whole was a great improvement.
One of the first services held after the installation of the vocalion was the wedding of Capt. A. A. Franzheim and Miss Kate Harden, which was attended by a number of Wheeling people. The visitors were so impressed by the singing that the following winter it was decided to establish a vested choir in St. Matthew's Church in that city, and arrangements were made with Mr. Raynes to visit Wheeling, and give the boys their preliminary train- ing.
The first choral Evensong given by the regular choir was on All Saints Day, 1893, and after that it was regularly sung. At a meeting of the Convocation in Jan- uary the visiting clergy were marked in their commenda- tion of the music.
Mr. Raynes having accepted the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Matthew's, retired from St. Paul's at the close of morning service, March 25, 1894, Easter Day, and was succeeded by Prof. Horton Corbett, of the Church of the Ascension, Buffalo, N. Y., at a salary of $500 per year. Mr. Corbett was an Englishman, thor- oughly versed in cathedral choir training, and member of the Royal College of Organists. Building from the ex-
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