USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Williamsport > Chronicles of Christ Church Parish, Williamsport, Pa., 1840-1896 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
She was accordingly set apart as a deaconess in Christ Church by Bishop Talbot, Sunday, May 8, 1898, with a very beautiful and impressive service of ordination. She assumed, as she had a right to do, the uniform of her order, to which was added a heavy silver pectoral cross bearing the inscription, "From the First Deaconess of Central Pennsylvania to the Second," and the date-the donor being Deaconess Henrietta Goodwin.
Thereafter, through the remaining years of my rectorship,
+
MRS. ELIZA ANNA CHRISTMAN
DEACONESS 1898-
1
75
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
Deaconess Christman was my ever valued assistant. She was ab- solutely dependable. She was devout and conscientious to the highest degree, always systematic and punctilious in her work, wise in counsel and cheerful in the face of difficulties and dis- couragements. Her goings in and out among the people soon taught Williamsport what the deaconess uniform meant. What a friend she was to the poor, what an indefatigable visitor to all sorts and conditions of men, what a ray of sunshine to the dis- tressed in hospital or prison, what a mother to all the waifs and strays of childhood and wayward girlhood! I cannot sufficiently express my admiration and appreciation of her helpfulness and efficiency. I thank God I had her with me. God bless Deaconess Christman-He has and will-and give the Church more of such "ministering women."
Very sincerely yours,
EDWARD HENRY ECKEL.
Christ Church Rectory,
St. Joseph, Mo., July 9, 1910.
A branch of the Girls' Friendly Society was started by the Deaconess in January of 1900, of which she had the entire charge the first year. In February, 1901, Miss Alma A. Baird became the secretary of the society, which office she held until April, 1910.
The custom, now thoroughly established, of holding the election of Vestrymen in the evening was inaugurated on Easter Monday, April 11, 1897. After Evening Prayer in the church, a general parish meeting was held in the parish house, when reports from the treasurer of the parish and all the various guilds were read. At the Easter parish meeting in 1899 the parish was pronounced to be free from debt for the first time in many years. Congratulatory addresses were made by Mr. C. LaRue Munson, Mr. Edgar Munson, Capt. Sweeley and the Rector.
The most important financial undertaking during Mr. Eckel's rectorship was the decorating of the church and the addition of the clerestory windows, under the charge of St. Mary's Guild.
The following were appointed by the Vestry, June 4, 1900, to meet a committee from St. Mary's Guild, with power to act : Messrs. A. P. Perley, John A. White, C. LaRue Munson
76
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
and the Rector, Rev. E. H. Eckel. The committee from the Guild was composed of Mrs. A. P. Perley, Mrs. C. V. Runkle, Miss Lucy O. Scott, Miss Elizabeth Logan, Miss Anne Doeb- ler, and Mrs. Durant.
The decoration was placed in the hands of the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, and at the same time the ladies of the parish raised money for new carpets and cushions for the church. The total cost of the improvements was as follows :
Windows
$ 210.00
Bill to Tiffany G. and D. Co. 2,250.00
Carpets
417.00
Cushions
347.00
General repairs
178.48
Total
$ 3,402.48
The church was reopened November 18, 1900, with a beautiful service, and in the evening the choir gave Garrett's "The Two Advents."
Mr. Eckel being a man of unbounded energy and en- thusiasm, interested in everything pertaining to the Church, throughout his rectorship missions continually came to the front. He has the honor of being the founder of the Church Students' Missionary Association in 1888, while a student in the General Seminary, and as was to be expected, was always ready to preach and work for missions. At his suggestion, in the summer of 1899, Deaconess Christman visited every family in the parish, to obtain new or increased pledges for missions, which at that time were paid quarterly.
At one time Mr. Eckel had under his charge St. John's (South Williamsport), Montoursville, Upper Fairfield, Halls Station and Jersey Shore, and a colored mission, known as the Church of the Epiphany. The latter was started June 17, 1902, in a room rented for the purpose on the corner of Wal- nut and High Streets.
A very successful club for boys, known as "The Bishop Talbot Club," was organized during Mr. Eckel's rectorship, under the charge of Mrs. C. B. Farr, Miss Anne Doebler and
77
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
Miss Elizabeth Parsons, the object of the club being originally entirely for missionary work and continued for six years. The first officers were George Reinhard, President; Boyd P. Betzel, Secretary. The charter members of the club were eleven, the number afterwards being limited to forty, and it often had a waiting list of twenty. The club never solicited money, earning all the money contributed themselves. They gave annually $5.00 to the Deaf Mute Mission ; books, toys and money to the Lenten box of the Woman's Auxiliary ; con- tributed $50.00 toward the furnishing and papering of the parish house at St. Mary's (Wadleigh Memorial), and pre- sented two handsome prayer books to the parish church for the use of the Rector and the Bishop. For some time they served as ushers in the church, taking charge of the prayer books and hymnals.
On the evening of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25, 1904, at a meeting of the Archdeaconry in Christ Church, was held a splendid missionary service, when the vested choirs of the city, Trinity, All Saints, St. John's, and St. Mary's, united with Christ Church choir in rendering the ser- vice. The procession of clergy and choristers was very im- posing, the singers numbering about one hundred and fifty. Mr. Frank Gatward, organist of Christ Church, arranged the service and was the precentor on the occasion, the organist of Trinity, Mr. Daniels, being at the organ. The speakers were Bishop Talbot, Archdeacons Radcliffe, Thompson, of Read- ing, Mr. Butts, Mr. Daughters, and the Rector. There were over eight hundred persons in the congregation and the singing of the missionary hymns was very inspiring.
St. John's Chapel was consecrated by Bishop Talbot May 9, 1898.
In Lent of 1901, during the curacy of the Rev. James W. Diggles, the chancel of St. John's was enlarged by removing the old vestry room, to make room for the first vested choir. The work was mainly done by Mr. Diggles and Mr. Charles Palmer. The whole chancel was repainted by private subscrip- tion, and a Bishop's Chair was given. Capt. Sweeley pre-
78
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
sented the re-table and a wooden cross for the altar, and a large Bible for the lectern was given by an unknown donor. The improved chancel was used by the vested choir for the first time on Easter Day.
The Sunday School was a matter of very great interest to Mr. Eckel, especially the subject matter taught, he being a member of the Joint Diocesan Lesson Committee. He him- self was a diligent Bible student, the results of years of study being noted on the margins of one Bible, which he had rebound, and all these notes he carefully copied into a new Bible while here. He held Teachers' Meetings and catechised the school faithfully.
January 1, 1899, the Sunday School was changed to a graded school, with Senior, Intermediate, Primary, Home De- partment, and Deaf Mute Classes. The last named class was begun on November 13, 1898, taught by Miss Mary A. Gor- man, herself a mute, with an attendance of eleven. For a time the attendance of the school fell off after such a radical change, but time has demonstrated the wisdom of the graded school. The choir had formerly used the upstairs guild room for their rehearsals, but in September, 1898, it was moved down stairs, and the Primary, under the charge of the Deaconess, was taken upstairs. At this time the average attendance of this department was only about thirty. The Deaconess di- vided the school into classes and by much visiting the attend- ance was very soon brought up to nearly a hundred, the rooms being so crowded that the necessity of rebuilding of the parish house became apparent.1 Her organist and assist- ant for many years was Miss Nan Lumley.
In 1904 the Cradle Roll was started under the charge of Miss Sarah Augusta Wilson, comprising children up to three years of age. The mothers were asked to bring the little children on their birthdays with as many pennies as they were years old, the money being used for missions. This . birthday offering is a custom still in the Primary and Kin-
1Mr. Eckel took this question up with the Vestry May, 1903, but nothing was accomplished. [Ed.]
79
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
dergarten Schools. The Kindergarten Department was started in 1905, just before Mr. Eckel left, and was also under the charge of Miss Wilson, and has been most successful.
Mr. Frederick W. Zahn, who had served the school for many years as Secretary and Treasurer, was made Superin- tendent of the main school in 1901. The same year Mr. H. C. Parsons became Secretary-Treasurer. These gentlemen have served the school faithfully ever since in the same ca- pacity.
Mr. Eckel was an active factor in all matters pertaining to the Diocese. He was on the Committee for the Increase of the Episcopal Endowment Fund, the object of the endow- ment being to relieve the parishes, so as to liberate as large an amount as possible for the work of Church Extension. In a circular issued in January, 1904, in the interest of the $60,- 000 endowment desired for the new Diocese, an address of Mr. Eckel was quoted. After emphasizing the opportunity given to the rich and well-to-do to do a good work for Christ and His Church, and that from such Churchmen the Church has a right to expect large contributions, Mr. Eckel insisted that the movement was a public one, in which every communi- cant should have a part. He said :
"Can it be done, I ask again? Let me give you a hy- pothesis. Let us suppose. They tell us-the reports of 1903-that we have 19,000 communicants in this Diocese. Well, let us suppose a great many of these are non-wage- earners. Let us suppose many of them are children, and many of them are very poor, while some of them are so rich that they ought to do great things, and some of them are indifferent, and some of them, perhaps, are lapsed, and some of them are in Europe or some other equally inaccessible part of the world. Let us, to be perfectly fair and reasonable, lop off 11,000 of them. That leaves us 8,000 to do business with. Suppose, now, that three-fourths of these 8,000-that is 6,000-have an average income of not more than $600 a year. Suppose that three-fourths of the rest-namely, 1,500-have an
80
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
average income of $1,200 a year. Suppose that the re- mainder-500 in number-have the comparatively muni- ficent income of $2,000 a year, and none of them more than this. Now suppose that the $600 people give us one per cent. of a single year's income-payable, if they choose, in three installments a year apart-only $2.00 a year, mind you ; that would be $36,000 for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central Pennsylva- nia! And suppose the $1,200 people gave us two per cent. of their income for a single year-payable, if they prefer, $8.00 a year for three years; that would be $36,000 more for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania! And suppose that comfortable little company of 500, who have $2,000 a year income, were to give three per cent. of their income-payable, if they choose, the same way-$20.00 for three years; that would be $30,000 more for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. And $36,000 and $36,000 and $30,000 make $102,000 for the Episcopal Endowment Fund of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, and the thing is done! And there are no famishing babies in the working- man's home as a consequence, no sheriff's sales, no bank- ruptcies-and 11,000 other people to hear from."
The division of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was consented to by Bishop Talbot at the convention held in Trin- ity Church, Williamsport, June 14, 1904.1 The Primary Con- vention for the new Diocese was held in St. James's Church, Lancaster, Pa., November 29-30, 1904. At this convention Mr. Eckel, as Chairman of the Committee appointed at the last meeting of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania to take all necessary steps for the organization of the new Diocese, pre- sented the rules of order for the Convention, He also pre- sented the report of the Committee for the Increase of the Endowment as follows:
1 In the chapter, "Dr. Hopkins' Rectorship," an account was given of the previous attempts to accomplish this division. [Ed.]
81
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
Money from original fund $16,771.48
Pledges to Diocesan Convention of 1904. 6,887.50
New pledges since Convention of 1904 9,634.25
Additional since draft of the report. 1,082.23
$34,375.46
Of this amount Christ Church, Williamsport, had in original fund, $2,610.00; in new pledges $3,122.50; a total of $5,732.50.
On the eve of this Primary Convention the Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church sent out the following circular letter, which is inserted here as an evidence of their apprecia- tion of Mr. Eckel and his work:
Williamsport, Pa., November 2, 1904.
At the forthcoming convention to organize the new Dio- cese, its most important work will be the selection of its Bishop. It would seem best that the choice should fall upon one thoroughly familiar with the Diocese and its needs, and in such health and strength that its entire field may be fully and frequently traversed and its work performed with such vigor as will ensure the best results.
Well knowing his ability to fill that high office, we shall instruct our delegates to present the name of our beloved rec- tor, the Reverend Edward Henry Eckel, B. D., for the choice of the convention. He is 42 years of age, is a graduate of the General Theological Seminary in the class of 1889, and has been in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania in active service for thirteen years. He is of the type of Churchmanship accept- able to the people and to his brethren of the Clergy ; is a most excellent preacher, and indefatigable worker, and an admin- istrator of affairs such as will be needed in this important Diocese. His work in Williamsport during the past eight years has not only brought our parish to a state of usefulness and activity surpassing all that she had theretofore accom- plished, but has won for him the affection of his people and
82
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
commanded the respect of his fellow citizens in this com- munity.
We shall be glad to have your assistance.
Signed,
JAMES V. BROWN, C. LARUE MUNSON, Wardens.
ALLEN P. PERLEY,
JOHN F. LAEDLEIN,
C. B. FARR,
FRANK C. BOWMAN,
W. C. ROBINSON,
JOHN B. IRVIN,
GEO. P. CROCKER,
J. B. DAYTON,
EDWARD E. SHAY,
A. THOMAS PAGE,
H. Y. OTTO,
Vestrymen, Christ Church, Williamsport.
Mr. Eckel's name was presented to the Convention and he received votes on the first eight ballots cast for Bishop, when, in the interest of harmony, he withdrew his name.
On the ninth ballot the Rev. W. T. Manning was elected Bishop. He having declined the honor, a special convention was called at Harrisburg, in St. Stephen's Church, February I, 1905, when on the thirteenth ballot the Rev. James Henry Darlington was elected the first Bishop of Harrisburg.
Mr. James V. Brown, the senior warden, died suddenly December 8, 1904.1 Always interested in Church matters
1 During Mr. Eckel's rectorship the Vestry suffered heavily from death, no less than eight members entering into their eternal rest: 1898-Mr. Henry Cooley Parsons; 1899-Mr. J. F. Starr; 1901-Mr. Edgar Munson; 1902-Mr. John Jermain Crocker; 1903- Mr. William Sweeley; 1904-Mr. John Elcock Jones, Mr. John Allison White and Mr. James Van du Zee Brown. All men who had worked faithfully and unselfishly, the loss to the parish was a true one, and the resolutions passed by the surviving members of the Vestry but reflected the sorrow felt by the entire congregation. [Ed.]
83
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
and a warm friend of the Rector, he had during his latter years become also interested in public libraries, and designed to bequeath the larger part of his fortune for the establishment and maintenance of a library to be his gift to the people of Williamsport and vicinity. By his will the amount set aside for this purpose was $150,000 for a building, $10,000 for books, and bonds sufficient to produce an annual income of $10,000, a total bequest of between $400,000 and $450,000. The library, known as "The James V. Brown Library," was to be under the administration of a Board of Trustees con- sisting of five persons named by the testator in his will, with the Rector of Christ Church, the Mayor, the Superintendent of Schools, ex-officio, and one person elected by City Councils. By this provision Christ Church is connected for all time with the institution most dear to the heart of her senior warden.1
On the death of Mr. Edgar Munson, Vestry's Warden, in 1901, Mr. James Van du Zee Brown, who had been Rector's Warden, was elected his successor, and Mr. Eckel appointed Mr. John Jermain Crocker2 Rector's Warden. Mr. Crocker
1 Mr. Eckel took much interest in the first meetings of the Library Board, and his successor, Mr. Jones, has throughout his rectorship been one of the most active members of the "Library Committee." [Ed.]
2 John Jermain Crocker, son of John and Ardelissa (Dyer) Crocker, was born on August 12, 1839, in Warsaw, New York. Mov- ing as a young man to Williamsport, he was confirmed by Bishop Vail, of Kansas, in the old Christ Church, April 13, 1866, during the rectorship of Mr. Wadleigh. He was made Secretary and Treasurer of the Vestry in 1873, and six years later elected to membership in that body, being annually re-elected till his death, April 8, 1902. Though he resigned the treasurership in 1897, he held the secretary- ship to the end of his life-a term exceeding a quarter of a century by four years. He frequently served as lay-reader and on several occasions was a delegate to the Diocesan Convention. In 1901 he was appointed Rector's Warden by Mr. Eckel, which position he held at the time of his death. The Vestry, in the resolution they passed, paid a touching tribute to the faithfulness with which he had discharged the duties of his offices.
Mr. Crocker was connected with the banking firm of Weed & Company for twenty years, and was identified with various other
84
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
died within a year of his appointment, and Mr. Eckel then appointed Mr. Cyrus LaRue Munson1 as his successor.
business interests in Williamsport, serving in both Councils, and being active in various charitable undertakings. In 1869 he married Miss Elizabeth Ann Beer, of Mt. Clemens, Mich., who with three children, George Perkins, John Archdell and Mary Elizabeth, sur- vive him. The elder of his sons, George P., was elected in 1902 to the vacancy in the Vestry occasioned by his death. [Ed.]
1 Cyrus LaRue Munson, the son of Edgar Munson, of whom a biographical note has already been inserted, was born in Bradford, N. Y., July 2, 1854. He was educated in private schools and the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, from which he graduated in 1871. He read law in Williamsport with Allen & Gamble, and in 1873 entered the Yale Law School, graduating with the degree of LL. B., July 1, 1875, on which day, though still under age, he was admitted to the Connecticut Bar. In 1875 he entered into law partnership with Addison Candor, as Candor & Munson, which partnership still continues. He was elected a lecturer on legal practice by the Yale Corporation in 1890, which lectureship he still holds. He received an honorary degree of M. A. from Yale in 1891; and in 1897 published a "Manual of Elementary Practice." In 1902 he was elected President of the Pennsylvania State Bar Associa- tion, and in 1904 President of the Yale Law School Alumni Asso- ciation.
Mr. Munson is a director, in many cases president, of a number of the large business enterprises of the city, among which are the Savings Institution of Williamsport, E. Keeler Company, Williams- port Iron and Nail Company, Lycoming National Bank, Williamsport Passenger Railway Company, Citizens Water and Gas Company, John N. Stearns & Co. (N. Y.), Burns Fire Brick Company, Eagles Mere Light Company, and the Scootac Railway Company. He was one of the organizers of the Williamsport Board of Trade, of which he is serving as president.
A Democrat in politics, he received his party's nomination for the Supreme Court Judgeship in 1909, and though failing of elec- tion, received a majority of the votes outside of Philadelphia County. In 1910 his party was anxious to have him accept the Gubernatorial nomination, but his physical condition and business affairs forced him to refuse to permit his name being placed before the convention.
Mr. Munson married, November 8, 1877, Josephine Anthony White, by whom he had issue, Edgar (1881) and George Sharp
85
MR. ECKEL'S RECTORSHIP
Upon Mr. Brown's death, in 1904, the Vestry elected Mr. Munson Vestry's Warden, and Mr. Eckel then appointed Mr. Allen Putnam Perley1 Rector's Warden.
Mr. Eckel's last official act in Christ Church, Williams- port, was to unite in marriage Helen Graves Runkle and Noel W. Smith.
(1883). Subsequent to his wife's death, in 1889, Mr. Munson mar- ried, October 20, 1891, Minnie Wright Tuller.
Mr. Munson has been a Vestryman of Christ Church since 1881; (Rector's Warden 1902-1904; Vestry's Warden 1904-1910). He was Superintendent of the Sunday School 1877-1892, a period of 25 years. During the years 1877-1882 this superintendency was shared by Mr. A. Howard Merritt. His eldest son, Edgar, was elected to the Vestry in 1908 and was made Assistant-Secretary in the same year. Mr. Munson was elected Chancellor of the Diocese of Harrisburg in 1906, and has been re-elected each year since that time. [Ed.]
1 Allen Putnam Perley was born in Oldtown, Penobscot County, Me., on March 8, 1845; his father being a physician, Dr. Daniel J. Perley, his mother, Mary (Lovejoy) Perley.
Mr. Perley received his education in the schools in the neigh- borhood of his birthplace, and entered mercantile life as a clerk. He moved to Williamsport in 1865, securing a position as book- keeper with George Zimmer & Co., planing mills. Four years later he purchased an interest in the firm, which he retained till 1873. Subsequently he was bookkeeper with Daniel W. Smith, and in July, 1874, bookkeeper for Slonaker, Howard & Co. In 1874 he purchased Mr. Slonaker's interest, the firm becoming Howard, Per- ley & Howard. C. B. Howard retiring in 1887, the firm became Howard & Perley. His lumber interests, both in the Northwest and the South, are extensive.
In 1898 Mr. Perley, who had been a director of the West Branch National Bank, was elected its president, and the bank under his direction has since grown to be the largest and strongest financial institution in Northern Pennsylvania. In 1908 Mr. Perley was appointed Postmaster of Williamsport by President Roosevelt.
Mr. Perley married, in 1869, Clara Lovejoy, daughter of Albert Lovejoy, of Gardiner, Me., by whom he had eight children, five of whom are now living. Subsequent to Mrs. Perley's death, in 1886, he married (1888) Mrs. Anne (Higgins) Stowell. Mr. Perley has been a member of Christ Church Vestry since 1883. (Rector's War- den 1904-1910). His sons-in-law, A. Thomas Page and William H. Crockett, are also members of the Vestry, the former 1892, 1900- 1910; the latter 1909-1910.
86
CHRONICLES OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH
During his rectorship he baptized 310 persons, presented for confirmation 188 persons, married 61 couples, and buried 104 persons.
Mr. Eckel's Churchmanship was of the plain Oxford type. He was a Prayer Book Churchman, giving every fast and feast its due observance ; but, except on the high festivals, the services were of the usual plain, dignified character cus- tomary in the parish. His own manner in the chancel was most devout, without affectation-a prayerful man. His emphasis in saying, "Let us pray," was in itself a hearty call to prayer. With the approval of Bishop Talbot, he had the following collect mailed to every member of the parish, generally using it himself at the close of the Com- munion Service :
"Let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6.
PARISH COLLECT.
Approved by the Bishop of Central Pennsylvania :
"My permission to use the Parish Collect is most gladly granted, and I deem it a privilege to endorse the use of such a useful and complete prayer."
ALMIGHTY GOD, Who feedest Thy flock and callest Thine own by name, look down in mercy upon our Parish, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve Thee with a quiet mind. Hallow and bless to us the Sacra- ments and services of Thy Church. Inspire our Clergy to show forth Thy truth by their preaching and living, and daily to minister according to Thy will .* Keep our com- municants in singleness of heart, from unbelief and world- liness, giving them grace, both in their homes and call- ings, faithfully to confess Thy Holy Name .* May all our children be taught of Thee .* Draw to the Cross those who are impenitent and hardened in sin .* And we beseech Thee, heal the sick; comfort the sorrowing; re- lieve the distressed .* Take our parish work into Thy keeping .* Move Thy people to give as Thou hast given to them. Fill the workers with the Spirit of power, of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.