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Seal of Christ Church
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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CHRIST CHURCH
CHRONICLES
Christ Church Parish OF
WILLIAMSPORT, PA. 1840-1896
BY THE REV. EDWARD HENRY ECKEL, B. D. Rector 1896-1905
PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE VESTRY OF CHRIST CHURCH AND BROUGHT DOWN TO APRIL, 1910
The Seventieth Anniversary of the First Episcopal Church Service held in Williamsport
WILLIAMSPORT, PA .: PRESS OF GAZETTE AND BULLETIN
1910
COPYRIGHT 1910 BY THE RECTOR, CHURCHWARDENS AND VESTRYMEN OF CHRIST CHURCH WILLIAMSPORT
FOREWORD. 1199573
During the summer of the present year a Committee, consisting of the Rector, the Wardens, and such others as they might associate with themselves in the undertaking, was ap- pointed by the Vestry to publish, under the editorial super- vision of the Registrar of the Parish, Mr. O. R. Howard Thomson, the "Chronicles of Christ Church Parish," pre- sented, in manuscript, to the corporation by the Rev. Edward Henry Eckel, some time rector of the parish.
As the manuscript carried the history of the parish no farther than the commencement of the rectorship of Mr. Eckel, the Committee was instructed to continue the narrative to the present time. For the chapter covering the rectorship of Mr. Eckel the Committee is indebted to Miss Mary Smythe ; that dealing with the rectorship of Mr. Jones has been con- tributed by the Registrar. With the exception of these addi- tional chapters, a number of historical and biographical notes, inserted by the Registrar, and indicated by the abbreviation "Ed.," and the insertion of matter relating to the parish's his- tory subsequent to 1896, the "Chronicles" are printed exactly as written by Mr. Eckel.
The Registrar desires to acknowledge the kindness of many members of the parish in furnishing information and answering questions, and particularly that of Miss Mary Elizabeth Crocker, in the tedious work of reading proofs, and in many other ways.
November, 1910.
mac manus - $3.50
PREFATORY NOTE.
Most of the following historical sketch of Christ Church Parish, Williamsport, was written while I was yet rector of the parish, and is now completed when I am far from the records, documents, journals, and persons whom I would wish most to consult in order to give to its last pages the verification of data and accuracy of statement which I have aimed to secure throughout. I have the satisfaction of feel- ing, however, that where I am perhaps most liable to error, the mistakes and omissions can the more easily be corrected by parishioners familiar with the later history of the parish.
I may say frankly that it has been no easy task to prepare this little work, because it has involved the careful study of an extensive, fragmentary and largely ephemeral literature.
I have been greatly indebted to the late Mrs. E. N. Lightner, of Danville, widow of the first rector, who most generously presented me with her husband's file of Diocesan Journals extending from 1839 to within a few years of my own time. This file I was able to complete from other sources, and upon leaving the Diocese I gave it as a "permanent loan" to the Diocese of Harrisburg. It is now in the custody of the Registrar of the Diocese.
I am also under very great obligation to the late Mr. J. J. Crocker, whose notes from the minutes of the Vestry from 1841 to 1896 have been of invaluable service to me.
When near the end of my task, as I supposed, my own small, broken file of the parish papers published by two of my predecessors was splendidly reinforced by the fuller files collected, through appeals in the current "Christ Church Mes- senger," by Miss Mary Elizabeth Crocker for the local collec- tion of The James V. Brown Library, of Williamsport. The
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CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
accession of this large mass of material necessitated a careful study of the new data, with the result of filling out the sketch to much larger proportions for the periods covered, and the rewriting of portions of the history already passed. This ad- ditional work, while it has given greater completeness to the narrative, has at the same time delayed its completion.
These three, then, have been my chief sources of infor- mation, but I have been obliged to consult other documents and persons, and at every step to compare and verify state- ments, calculate figures, and make deductions according to the best judgment that I could command. In giving the dates of the beginning and ending of rectorships I have in some instances been obliged to adopt the date of record, which may vary by a few days or weeks from the actual date, of which no record can be found.
The most difficult portion of the history for me to treat was that of the earliest years of the parish, when it was feeble, when rectorships were short, and records comparatively mea- gre. Yet to this period of the history I feel that I have been able to give a completeness which may possibly be lacking in some other parts, but which, if extended to the last quarter of a century, would have swelled this sketch to the dimen- sions of a much larger volume. Especially did I feel the im- possibility of doing full justice to the subject when I came to the rectorship of Dr. Hopkins. As his was the longest rec- torship in the history of the parish, so also, by reason of his versatile abilities and wonderful activity, was it the most eventful and most fruitful period of parochial development. The story of those years, with anything like an adequate esti- mate of the man himself, would be sufficient for a volume in itself. I need scarcely add that, while a few allusions to names and dates subsequent to the beginning of my own rec- torship will be found, I have not deemed it proper to attempt any account or estimate of the work of that period.
I must be permitted to add that I can never cease to be thankful to the Divine Head of the Church for permitting me the privilege and happiness of serving Him and the
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PREFATORY NOTE
Church for several years as rector of a parish with such a long and creditable record for zeal and good works; and it is, therefore, with a heart full of appreciation and gratitude that I. dedicate this history of their parish to the dear people of Christ Church Parish, Williamsport, whom I shall never cease to love and admire as my friends and fellow-workers for the glory of God and the bringing in of His kingdom.
EDWARD HENRY ECKEL.
Conversion of St. Paul, 1910.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
Foreword
111
Prefatory Note. V
List of Illustrations xi
Seventy Years Ago, 1840 I
Mr. Lightner's Rectorship, 1840-1842 7
Two Short Rectorships, 1842-1844
I3
Mr. Clark's Rectorship, 1846-1851
17
Three More Short Rectorships, 1851-1855
2I
Mr. Moore's Rectorship, 1855-1865. 27
Mr. Wadleigh's Rectorship, 1866-1869
3I
Dr. Paret's Rectorship, 1869-1876.
39
Dr. Hopkins's Rectorship, 1876-1887. 49
Mr. Graff's Rectorship, 1888-1896. 61
Mr. Eckel's Rectorship, 1896-1905.
71
Mr. Jones's Rectorship, 1905 -. 89
SUMMARY NOTES-
The Parish Paper. IO5
The Bishops of the Diocese 109
List of the Clergy III
Lay-Officers and Prominent Lay-Workers II3
Choir and Music.
I2I
The Money Problem. 129
Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel. I35
St. John's Chapel. I39
Gifts, Memorials and Thankofferings I43
The Parish in Archdeaconry and Diocese I53
Concluding Words. I55
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Christ Church. Frontispiece -
The Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner. To face page 7
The Rev. John Baker Clemson. I3
The Rev. Thomas Coffin Yarnall 15
The Rev. William James Clark. 17
The Rev. John Henry Black.
21
The Rev. Edward Purdon Wright.
22
The Rev. Richard Channing Moore.
27
The Rev. Albra Wadleigh.
31
The Rt. Rev. William Paret.
39
Christ Church: Interior
40
The Rev. John Henry Hopkins.
49
The Rev. William Henry Graff 61
The Rev. Edward Henry Eckel.
71
Mrs. Eliza Anna Christman, Deaconess
74
The Rev. William Northey Jones 89
Christ Church Parish House: Auditorium. 91
Christ Church Parish House: Interiors
93
Christ Church Parish House: Interiors 95
St. John's Chapel : Interior 97
Vestrymen of Christ Church II3
Vestrymen of Christ Church. 115
Vestrymen of Christ Church. II7
Wadleigh (St. Mary's) Chapel. I35
St. John's Chapel.
139
Chronicles of Christ Church Parish WILLIAMSPORT, PA.
One soweth, and another reapeth. . . . Others have laboured, and ye are entered into their labour .- St. John iv. 38.
SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1840.
THE GENESIS OF THE PARISH-THE FIRST ENTRY IN THE PARISH REGISTER.
The services of the Episcopal Church were held in Wil- liamsport for the first time in April, 1840, by the Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner, Rector of St. James's Church, Muncy, who continued coming thereafter every fortnight for some- what more than two years. The borough of Williamsport can hardly be considered as offering at that time a promising field for the efforts of a Church missionary. Mr. Lightner, in his report to the Bishop in 1843, writes: "When I commenced to officiate in Williamsport, the remark was made by one of the elders of a certain sect that I had no business there, as there was but one Churchman in the place, and that the ground was occupied ; that is, was theirs by right of posses- sion."1
1 In Meginness' "History of Lycoming County," p. 397, the num- ber of communicants in the borough in 1840 is given as three. The dif- ference is probably due to the fact that the secular historian included persons who, though unconfirmed, were interested in the Episcopal Church. As noted later, the Eucharist was administered on July 27, 1841, to nine persons, three of whom had not at that time re- ceived the rite of confirmation. The "History of Lycoming County," published by D. J. Stewart, Phila., 1876, also credits the borough with three communicants in 1840, and gives their names as "Francis
2
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
Let us endeavor, in a few sentences, to gain a mental vision of the Williamsport of that distant day. The population of the borough1 in 1840 numbered 1,353 souls.2 Imagine this borough as a straggling village built up mostly of low frame dwellings. Ten years before the time we have in mind the borough, after an organized existence of twenty-four years, could boast only ten buildings of brick, including the Court House, and we can scarcely suppose the number to have greatly increased within the next decade. None of the buildings were taller than two stories. Not only were the streets unpaved, but there were few sidewalks laid, and pedestrians had to make their way as best they could. Academy Street was the eastern limit of the borough, and West Street, as its name indicates, marked its western boundary ; while "the forest primeval" ex- tended to where the railroad now crosses East Third Street. Pine Street ran as far as "the Ross graveyard" (the present site of the City Hall), and all beyond this was fields and tim- ber. Only two small places of worship, both as yet in an un- finished condition, stood within this area-the Pine Street Methodist Church, of brick, and the stone church of the Ger- man Reformed congregation3 where now the Reno Post head- quarters are. The Presbyterians met for worship in the Court House, and there also our services were held, except on occa- sions when the Reformed congregation generously allowed us the use of their building.
Campbell, Esq., Lester Griswold and wife." The records show Mr. Campbell was not confirmed till the latter part of 1841, and that Judge Maynard and Judge Lewis were not baptized till 1843. Pos- sibly Meginness took his information from the Stewart history. [Ed.]
1 The borough of Williamsport was incorporated March 1, 1806; it became a city June 15, 1866. [Ed.]
2 According to the Rev. Dr. Yarnall, rector in 1843-4, the town in his day "did not claim more than 1,200 inhabitants."
3 Built conjointly by the Lutheran and Reformed denominations. In 1866 the walls were torn down, the rebuilding of the structure being completed in 1868. The Lutherans sold their interests to the Reformed Church members about 1860, and in 1895 the building was purchased by the G. A. R. Post. [Ed.]
3
SEVENTY YEARS AGO
The initial entry by the Rev. Mr. Lightner in the first Parish Register, an ordinary small quarto blank book, de- serves transcription in its entirety. It reads as follows :
"Christ Church, Williamsport, was organized on the evening of the 8th of February, 184I. F. C. Campbell, Esq.,1 and the Hon. Ellis Lewis2 were elected Wardens ;
1Francis C. Campbell was born at York, Pa., April 18, 1787. He graduated from Dickinson College, studied law with David Watts, of Carlisle, and was admitted to the bar August, 1810. He moved to Williamsport April, 1812, and in 1816 married Jane Hepburn, daughter of James Hepburn, of Northumberland. After being in active practice for fifty years he retired. His death occurred April 21, 1867.
Mr. Campbell was a member of the original Vestry of 1841 and served, with the exception of the years 1853 and 1854, till his death; he was Vestry's Warden 1841-1853, and Rector's Warden 1855-1867. Shortly after his death a window to his memory and that of his wife was placed in the church by their children. His daughter Caroline became the bride of the Rev. John Henry Black while the latter was rector of the parish. [Ed.]
2 The Hon. Ellis Lewis was born at Lewisberry, York County, Pa., May 16, 1798. He was apprenticed in 1814 to learn the trade of printer with John Wyeth, at Harrisburg, but ran away. In 1819 or 1820 he was in Williamsport, associated with J. K. Torbert, in the publication of the "Lycoming Gazette," a predecessor of the present "Gazette and Bulletin." He read law with Espy Van Horn and was admitted to the bar September 2, 1822. In 1829 he located in Wellsboro and became prosecuting attorney for Tioga County. From there he moved to Towanda, and in 1832 was sent to the lower house of the State Legislature. In January, 1833, he became Attorney General of Pennsylvania; and in October of the same year he was commissioned President Judge of the district composed of the counties of Lycoming, Northumberland, Union and Columbia, taking up his residence in Williamsport. After serving ten years he was appointed President Judge of the Lancaster district (Janu- ary, 1843). In October, 1851, he was elevated to the Supreme Bench, and on November 17, 1854, became Chief Justice, which po- sition he retained until November 17, 1857. He declined a re- nomination and retired to private life.
Judge Lewis was the author of "Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States" and a frequent contributor to periodical literature. During his early years he had studied medicine and was
4
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
and J. W. Maynard, Esq., Dr. Thos. Vastine, Oliver Wat- son, Esq., John Hutchens, Dr. Henry Shoemaker, Lester Griswold,1 and Hopewell Cox, Esq., were chosen vestry- men."
Measures were then adopted to ensure the speedy erec- tion of a Protestant Episcopal church in the borough of Williamsport.
These measures were successful, and now, this first day of January, 1842, the church edifice is tending fast to- ward completion.
The congregation is as yet but small, though gradually increasing, and strong hopes we have that it will con- tinue to grow and strengthen until "the little one shall become a thousand."
The people of Williamsport had always been accus- tomed to the extemporary mode of worship, and therefore it cost considerable effort to introduce the beautiful ser- vices of the Episcopal Church, and it was not until the present writer had been well nigh discouraged that the effort was crowned with success.
God be thanked that He has seen proper to bless our undertaking, and may He answer our humble prayer that
the recipient of the honorary degree of M. D., from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He also received the degree of LL. D. from Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., and Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pa. His death occurred in Philadelphia March 19, 1871.
In 1826 (or 1827) he married Miss Wallis, daughter of Joseph J. Wallis, of Williamsport, by whom he had two sons and one daughter.
Judge Lewis was a member of the original Vestry of Christ Church and was appointed Rector's Warden. Owing to the fact that minutes of the Vestry were not kept till 1852, at which time he was not a member, it is uncertain how many years he served. A window to his memory, a gift of his daughter, Mrs. A. L. Wiley, was presented to the church in 1892. [Ed.]
1 Lester Griswold was born in Connecticut in 1793, and passed his boyhood and young manhood with his uncle, the Rt. Rev. Alex- ander Viets Griswold, the first bishop of the Eastern Diocese, the
5
SEVENTY YEARS AGO
the church soon to be completed may be to many a wan- dering soul the very gate to heaven.
EDWIN N. LIGHTNER.
January Ist, 1842."
The church building here referred to was the brick struc- ture still standing on East Third Street, next the rectory, be- tween Academy and Basin Streets, and now occupied by the German Emmanuel Lutheran congregation.
territory of which was co-extensive with the New England States, exclusive of Connecticut.
Mr. Griswold moved to Williamsport shortly before the forma- tion of Christ Church Parish and engaged in the lumber industry; he also had extensive real estate interests. His death occurred January 9, 1867.
In 1823 he married Clarissa A. Cummings, of Litchfield County, Conn., who survived him, and by whom he had a daughter, Eliza- beth Collins, whose daughter, Mrs. Cyrus Heller, is a faithful mem- ber of the parish.
Mr. Griswold was a member of the original Vestry of Christ Church and was annually re-elected till his death in 1867. He was Rector's Warden from the time of the Hon. Ellis Lewis to 1854, and Vestry's Warden from 1854 to 1867. [Ed.]
THE REV. EDWIN NATHANIEL LIGHTNER RECTOR 1840-1842
MR. LIGHTNER'S RECTORSHIP. 1840-1842.
THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH-THE FIRST ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.
When Mr. Lightner1 first began to visit Williamsport, he was yet in deacon's orders (having been admitted thereto July 14, 1839, after graduation at the General Theological Sem- inary, New York), but he was advanced to the priesthood on the 18th of May, 1841. In addition to his visits here, Mr. Lightner also held services at Jersey Shore and Lock Haven.
The interesting old register, from which the transcript in the previous chapter was made, then goes on to give several initial records of official acts from which we gather the fol- lowing :
The Rev. Edwin N. Lightner, of Muncy, is said to have assumed missionary charge of Williamsport on April Ist, 1840. Until the congregation was organized in February, 184I, as noted above, Mr. Lightner's ministerial acts were recorded in the Parish Register of St. James's Church, Muncy. The first entry to appear in our own books is that of a burial. On the
1The Rev. Edwin Nathaniel Lightner, M. A., one of the best known of the early Pennsylvania missionaries, was born in Lan- caster County, Pa., Oct. 16, 1817. He graduated from Kenyon Col- lege, Gambier, Ohio, in 1836, and from the General Theological Seminary in 1839. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Onderdonk, in Christ Church, Leacock, July 14, 1839, and was advanced to the priesthood May 18, 1841.
In October, 1839, he took charge of St. James's, Muncy, Pa., but ill health compelled him to return to his father's house that winter. In the spring of 1840, however, he returned to Muncy, where he soon became active in parish work, holding services in many of the surrounding towns where the Church was little, or not at all known, notably Williamsport and Jersey Shore. After the erection of Christ
7
8
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
27th of June, 1841, Mira H., second daughter of J. W. May- nard, Esq., (afterwards Judge Maynard) was buried in "the general burying ground." Immediately following this is the record of a baptism on the same day, when the wife and daugh- ter of the Hon. Ellis Lewis received the sacrament of the new birth in the German Church, F. C. Campbell, Esq., standing as sponsor or witness.
A month later, on the 27th of July, the Holy Communion was administered to nine persons. "This," according to the record, "was the first time the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered in Williamsport according to the rites of the Episcopal Church." In fifteen months, then, the number of communicants had increased from one to nine. We are in- terested to know who they were that knelt here so long ago to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. They were F. C. Camp- bell, Esq., Joseph K. Frederick, Lester Griswold,1 Mrs. J. W.
Church, Williamsport, Mr. Lightner resigned his charge of it, in order that the parish might secure a clergyman who could devote more of his time to its advancement. In July, 1844, he took charge of Christ Church (Swedes'), Upper Merion, Pa., where he remained till February, 1854. While at Swedes' Church he held services (1846-1848) in Conshohocken, in a small school-house. These were the first services of the Church ever held in that place. Some time later he held services in the school-house in Bridgeport, and also in a school-house in Lower Merion.
On February 22, 1855, Mr. Lightner became rector of Christ Church, Danville, and continued in charge of that church till April, 1871, when his failing health caused him to resign. He retired to Riverside, a village on the Susquehanna across from Danville, where, with the exception of a few years passed in Muncy, he re- sided till his death, on Trinity Sunday, 1881.
In Hotchkin's "Country Clergy of Pennsylvania," from which the above is extracted, the contributor of the article on Mr. Light- ner, Mrs. Lightner, points out that her statements were obtained from notes made on Mr. Lightner's sermons, and that they differ somewhat from the previously accepted accounts of the early his- tory of the Church in Conshohocken and Bridgeport. [Ed.]
1 Grandfather of Mrs. Cyrus Heller, one of our most faithful and active communicants at the present time.
9
MR. LIGHTNER'S RECTORSHIP
Maynard,1 Mrs. M. C. Houston, Mrs. Anna Virchaux, Miss Juliet H. Lewis,2 Mrs. Dr. Shoemaker, and Mrs. Mary Butler (colored). It is quite evident, however, that at least three of these communicants were admitted to the sacrament because they were "ready and desirous of being confirmed" rather than already recipients of the gift of that apostolic ordinance, for it was not until the 6th of the following September, some six weeks later, that the Right Rev. H. U. Onderdonk, Bishop of Pennsylvania, visited the parish, and in the German Church confirmed the following class of five persons: F. C. Camp- bell, Esq., Mrs. Ellis Lewis, Mrs. J. W. Maynard, Miss Juliet H. Lewis, and Miss Elizabeth Griswold. The next day the Bishop and Mr. Lightner visited Jersey Shore, where one per- son was baptized and three confirmed.
The Holy Communion was administered on Christmas Day to ten persons, and the register notes the addition of five names to the communicant list of the parish, namely, Mrs. Ellis Lewis, Mrs. Elizabeth Wallis, Mrs. Lester Griswold, and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Newton Arms.
In the meantime the erection of the church building had been going forward, and on June 12th, 1842, the first Christ Church, Williamsport, was consecrated by Bishop Onderdonk. The occasion was made still further memorable by the ad- vancement of two deacons to the holy order of priesthood, namely, the Rev. George Watson, of Towanda, and the Rev. W. S. Walker, of Sunbury, who were presented by the Rev. Mr. Lightner and the Rev. Mr. Natt, of Bellefonte.
On the next day, June 13th, the Rev. Mr. Lightner, having advised the Vestry to procure at once the "whole time and exertions of a zealous and active minister of the Gospel," re- signed his connection with the parish.3
It is impossible to accord this faithful and earnest priest too much credit for his zealous and successful labors to estab-
1 Mother of Mrs. Henry Rawle, now identified with Trinity Parish.
2 Afterwards Mrs. James Campbell.
3 The following letter from the Bishop of Oregon to the Rev,
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CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
lish the Church in this community. When he first came to hold services in Williamsport he found only one person who was said to be a Churchman, and from him Mr. Lightner re- ceived only discouragement in his proposed attempt to intro- duce the services of the Church. Not deterred by this indif- ference, he continued to visit the borough regularly every
Mr. Graff, at the time of the semi-centennial, is of special interest at this point:
Diocese of Oregon, Bishopcroft, Portland, Ore., March 12, 1891.
The Rev. W. H. Graff:
Dear Sir: Some one-not of Williamsport, I think-has kindly sent me a copy of the Williamsport "Republican," containing an account in advance of your "semi-centennial" services. Knowing something personally of the small beginnings of the Church in Williamsport and elsewhere on the Susquehanna River, I am moved to write you a word of congratulation on its growth and strength there now. I was present at the consecration of Christ Church, Williamsport, on June 12, 1842, and then and there received my first communion. I went there from Lock Haven, with the Rev. Mr. Natt and his wife, of Bellefonte. Mrs. Natt is still living in Philadel- phia, and I suppose that she and I are almost the only persons left who were present at that service-with the exception pos- sibly of some member of Judge Lewis' family, or of Mr. Campbell's family. I have known the town of Williamsport ever since the river was navigated by flatboats pushed up from tide water by poles against a man's shoulder! I do not think the memory of your "oldest inhabitant" goes very far back of that period. There is a Mr. White, a member of one of the congregations in Wil- liamsport, who, if still living, would have distinct recollection of us. Mr. Josiah Emery, not living, I think, was once my school teacher, but I can think of none others who know anything about me. A Mrs. Elliot is my cousin, but I think she is a Presbyterian. The places that once knew me so well now know me no more. "Change and decay are all around me."
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