USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Radnor > The history of old St. David's church, Radnor, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, with a complete alphabetical list of wardens and vestrymen, and of the interments in the graveyard, 1700-1906 > Part 7
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It is difficult to present an intelligent and fair esti- mate of Mr. Clay's work and influence at Radnor. Had he resided there instead of at Perkiomen, or had he continued his labors there in the latter part of his term as actively as in the early part, no doubt the im- pression of his influence would have been more dis- tinct. Results are not the only evidence of fidelity ; and the reference to him in Bishop White's address to the Diocesan Convention of 1822 as one "whose zeal in his holy vocation must also have been known to most of
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Old St. David's Church.
those now present," was undoubtedly a deserved tribute. But the fact that the epitaph on his grave at Perkio- men fails to record any connection with Radnor, though referring (in disregard of the express restric- tions in his will) to those at St. Peter's, Chester Val- ley; St. James', Perkiomen, and Swedes Church, Bridgeport, certainly indicates that his identity with the Radnor parish was in 1821, not close; and there are also many indications that without fault on his part, simply because of the impossibility of covering more constantly the immense field over which his charge extended, Radnor Church during the first decade and a half of the Nineteenth Century was prac- tically a fold without a shepherd. The occasional visits of Mr. Clay and of such other supplies as might be obtainable, secured religious services at intervals in the building, but as to active pastoral care there was practically none, and more than a third of a century elapsed under the American succession before Bishop White had occasion to visit the church to administer the rite of confirmation.
Yet although during Mr. Clay's incumbency very little appears to have been accomplished by pastoral care to advance the spiritual growth of the Radnor congregation from the apathy into which it had sunk, it is equally certain that at this time occurred many incidents in the history of the church of great im- portance to its welfare.
One of the first important incidents after Mr. Clay
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Radnor Church Charter.
entered on his duties was the incorporation of the church in August, 1792 (during the first Presidential term of George Washington), thus obtaining for the organization that legal status which it had previously lacked.
A peculiar feature of the charter then granted is the provision for the election of the rector of the church directly by the congregation, without the inter- vention of the Vestry.
Scarcely of less importance, as adding a peculiar interest to the place, was the removal during Mr. Clay's incumbency of the remains of General Wayne from the fortress at Presque Isle to Radnor churchyard, and the dedication, on July 4, 1809, (according to the in- scription) by the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati of the modest monument now marking the grave of that illustrious man.
Traditionary accounts from two eye witnesses of the scene, viz: John Mather, of Radnor, and Jane Evans, of Easttown, give an enthusiastic picture of that dedi- cation pageant, telling how, through intense heat, the City Troop of Philadelphia, under command of Mayor Robert Wharton, rode out in company with other troops to do their share of martial honor at the grave of the great soldier ; how the patriotic crowds climbed into the sturdy oaks which yet stand sentinel at the spot and thronged their branches; how one of the General's old soldiers, Samuel Smiley, marched weep- ing in front of the cortege which bore the ashes of his
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Old St. David's Church.
great commander from his birthplace to his grave; and how the General's old Chaplain, Rev. David Jones, delivered an address in which he described the scene at the night attack on Wayne at Paoli. His presence on this occasion undoubtedly tended as far toward the peace and unification of the Radnor flock as his presence on the former occasion during the Revolution had tended towards war.
Within recent years Mr. Thomas Allen Glenn, in an interesting monograph on "Anthony Wayne's neg- lected grave," has expressed doubt as to the accuracy of the date of the dedication ceremonies as given by the inscription, and gives the following account of the dedication of the present monument :
The various volunteer companies of horse, forming then the First Pennsylvania Regiment of Cavalry commanded by Col. Robert Wharton, Lieutenant John Smith, and Major Hughes, assembled at Evans tavern near the permanent bridge at Five o'clock A. M. on June 5, 18II, and moved out the Lan- caster road until they were met by Isaac Wayne Esquire at junction of the old Lancaster road and the Norristown road, who together with the Norristown Volunteer Cavalry con- ducted the procession to St. David's Church.
Mr. Glenn also claims that, "it was not the Rev. David Jones, but Dr. William Rogers, professor of rhetoric at the University of Pennsylvania, who made the stirring address on that occasion."
It may be somewhat difficult after the lapse of a cen- tury to decide the issue between the testimony of the lettered marble, and "the files of the fast decaying
Within the Sanctuary.
-
-
-
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The Graveyard Extended.
"newspapers of the past" to which Mr. Glenn appeals, although the weight of evidence is clearly with Mr. Glenn; but the substantial accuracy of the foregoing account as presented in the testimony of eye witnesses may be accepted without danger of serious error.
In 1809 the first addition was made to the graveyard. Previously to this time its limits extended from a point about ten feet north of the Drake monument, in lines running east and south, the north line passing through the site of the present vestry room and intersect- ing the eastern graveyard wall at a point now notice- able by the sudden rise in its height; the west line intersecting the front wall at a point where it begins to be dashed and the old pointing ceases. The addition to the graveyard now made consisted in ex- tending the west wall some thirty feet northwardly, and from the extremity of this extension running a new wall in a northeastwardly direction so as to inter- sect the old east wall continued. This northwest wall followed the line between Chester and Delaware Coun- ties.
The church building was also considerably repaired during the early part of Mr. Clay's term ; and the pews, then numbering seventeen, probably rearranged with backs about nine inches higher than at present and with double lines of seats at right angles. The pew on the left of the main entrance is said to have been square, with four lines of seats. These pews were rented at the rate of two pounds each, and benches at ten shillings each, per annum.
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Old St. David's Church.
At the beginning of his ministerial work, Mr. Clay resided in Upper Merion ; but about 1790 he removed to the Glebe House at the Perkiomen Church; and probably began to officiate less frequently at Radnor, and after about 1799 no further minutes or entries appear, in what is supposed to be his handwriting in the old church book. He continued nominally to of- ficiate at Radnor, however, until his death on Septem- ber 25, 1821, in the sixty-seventh year of his age; al- though, with the singular exception of the year 1815, his name does not appear in the Diocesan records as having any charge at Radnor after 1812.
From memoranda in the old church book, showing that a salary of three pounds per annum was allowed Peter De Haven for his services as "Clerk in the church" for the years 1798 and 1799, it is evident that the congregation was even at that time depending on assistants to Mr. Clay. More ambiguous entries, showing the payment of fifteen pounds to "Joshua Rees" in 1805, and "seventeen dollars at twice ;" and "at sundry times from May, 1805, to Easter 1806, £28. IIS. 4d." and "April 27, 1806, £28.0.71/2" to "Mr. Samuel Passey," suggest that these persons were also assisting Mr. Clay at that time, probably as lay readers. At the audit of the accounts of John Brooke as Church Warden in 1807 an entry, "Paid to the Rev. Caleb Hopkins £25," also suggests that this clergyman, [who was about that time rector of St. Gabriel's Church, Berks County, and of the United Churches in North-
IOI
Rev. Samuel C. Brincklé.
umberland County, Pennsylvania], had been also sup- plying the Radnor congregation.
In the Convention Journal of 1814, Mr. Clay's son, Jehu C. Clay, then in Deacon's orders, is reported as "Deacon officiating at St. David's Radnor," and by the Journal of 1819 Rev. Samuel C. Brincklé is re- ported as "Rector of St. David's, Radnor," and Bishop White's address to that Convention refers to the fact that at the instance of the Society for Advancement of Christianity, "Rev. Samuel C. Brincklé has under- taken the pastoral charge of St. David's, Radnor." This record is strong evidence of the neglected condi- tion of the parish at that time.
The date of Mr. Brincklé's first connection with Radnor is somewhat in doubt. He was admitted to the order of Deacons in May, 1818, but he probably officiated at Radnor first in December, 1818, as a lay reader, and did not assume full charge of the parish until after his ordination to the priesthood in June, 1820. From 1821 to 1823 he was also in charge of St. John's Church at Concord, in Delaware County, but in September, 1823, this connection having been dis- continued, he assumed charge of St. Peter's Church, Great Valley, in connection with St. David's.
Mr. Brincklé evidently succeeded to much of the pioneer work and responsibility of Mr. Clay. Although the American Church had been established over thirty- three years when he was ordained to the Presbyterate. yet, as previously noted, very little had been done at
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Old St. David's Church.
Radnor to arouse the congregation from the spiritual apathy existing at the close of the Revolution, and he records in the old church book that but a single per- son-Mr. Philip Sheaff, long a vestryman and war- den-communicated at the church when he entered upon his charge.
The records kept during Mr. Brincklé's term are meagre, yet there is no doubt but that his ministry was a veritable regeneration of the parish. It seems to have been literally born again to the work to which the early settlers dedicated it. According to a memo- randum in the church register, the "Holy Communion" was, on Christmas, 1819, first administered during his rectorship "after a long interval," to Philip Sheaff, William Brooke, John Hunter, Jr., Mrs. Mary Thomas, Mrs. Rebecca Matlack, Miss Elizabeth Hunter and Miss Ann Hunter; "All admitted for the first time with the exception of Philip Sheaff."
Who was the officiating clergyman on this most in- teresting occasion is not known. The memorandum is not in Mr. Brincklé's handwriting.
On July 30, 1820, however, appears the record of the first confirmation service ever held in Radnor Church. This rite was performed, Mr. Brincklé re- cords, "by our venerable diocesan Rt. Rev. Bp. White," and sixteen persons added to the church mem- bership. Evidently, in the words of Robert Weyman, written nearly a century before this confirmation and already quoted, "The people at Radnor re-
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Bishop Lee's Eulogy.
quire a person of years to reside amongst them and to visit them from house to house as well as to preach to them for frequent conference with them."
Probably few clergymen could more successfully have filled the need so prophetically told than Mr. Brincklé. Bishop Lee, in a sermon delivered in 1863, says of him: "As a preacher of the Gospel he was direct, solemn and earnest." "He had a great trust to discharge, and he aimed to do it in the sight of God." "He did not so much study excellency of speech as to reach the heart and conscience, speaking 'as dying, unto dying men' " "His attachment to his
own church was thorough and lifelong,
* but this attachment never degenerated into bigotry." "His heart was large, his spirit Catholic."
Traditions of this time uniformally confirm this high testimony and indicate a close bond of sympathy and Christian fellowship between himself and his parish- ioners. Yet so humble an estimate does he put upon the results of his own share in these labors that in his report to the Diocesan Convention in 1824 he makes the "spiritual interests of his flock" the subject of a special appeal for the prayers of his brethren.
The custom of decorating the old church with Christmas greens is said to have been instituted at Mr. Brincklé's personal instance and carried on with his personal aid. To him, also, is owed the inauguration of the custom of holding Convocations or Associations -as they were then generally called-at Radnor, a
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Old St. David's Church.
custom now fortunately revived, though long neglected, and under Mr. Brincklé, when attended by such prom- inent clergymen as Rev. Levi Bull, Rev. Jehu C. Clay, and later by Rev. Stephen Tyng, Rev. Mil- ton Lightner, Rev. Edwin Lightner, Rev. Dr. Rich- ard Newton and other well known clergymen, was of great interest, the size of the congregation often neces- sitating services in the open air.
To Mr. Brincklé is owed the first records of the early history of the parish, and had his efforts been intelligently seconded by the Vestry, there is but little doubt that the uncertainty which clouds much of that early history would have been cleared away.
The following letter, preserved amongst Mr. Brincklé's papers, evidently indicates a report to him from one of the vestrymen concerning a subject he was investigating :
REV. MR. BRINCKLEY :
From a pamphlit received from Mr. Sawer I find the Rev. Mr. Curry was Staytioned at radnor Church in the year 1739 whose Labours continued till the year 1776 makeing the time he officiated thare thirty seven years, but as it did not State the time that he was appointed Missionary thare, we are not Sartain that thirty seven years was the exact time that he continued thare as Rector, but from the following account of Mr. Curry which I received from his grand daughter, Mrs. Walker I think it must be nearly correct. *
* Mr. Curry was born in the year 1710 and expired in 1803, Makeing a long life of 93 years, and would make him 29 years of age when we first find him at radnor Church, he came to this Country a presbyterian Clargyman, and Courted a widow lady
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The First Sunday School.
by the name of Hacket, Whose former husband had been a Episcopal Clargyman, but she refused to give him hur hand untill he Would become an Episcopalian, for which porpose he returned to England and obtained the gound, takeing the whole Corcomstances as they Stand, we shall not probably err much in Supposeing him to be 29 years of age when we first find him at radnor Church.
I. NORTON.
Mrs. Curry maiden name Was Hannah Ross.
To Mr. Brincklé also is owed the organization, about 1820,. of a Sunday School at Radnor, which he reports in 1821 as "containing between 40 and 50 children." In this enterprise, tradition says that he was heartily seconded by old John Hunter, who acted as Superintendent, and by Miss Mary Wilson, Mrs. Mary Thomas and others. The old pulpit is said to have contained their library, and the church was their school room.
Under him St. Paul's Church, at West Whiteland, Chester County, was organized in 1828 and a stone church erected and consecrated May 28, 1829, by Bishop White.
In the year 1830 some radical changes were made in the internal appearance of the old church by the removal-owing, it is said, to the difficulty of proper ventilation-of that part of the gallery which passed over the front door; substituting the present twenty- three pews for the seventeen old-fashioned high-backed pews, and placing them so as to face the pulpit, which was enlarged and removed from its old position just
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Old St. David's Church.
east of the present vestry room, placed in the eastern end of the church and surrounded by the present chancel. The old sounding board, which was sus- pended from a hook, now to be seen high on the north wall, is said to have been removed at this time. Lamp posts were also placed in alternate pews and new aisles of mortar laid. In addition to these alterations a new vestry house was built, about seventeen feet square, on the site of the old one and part of the present Sun- day School room.
Many interesting incidents relating to these changes are detailed in the extracts from Mr. Brincklé's diaries printed in the appendix.
Mr. Brincklé, "after much consideration and prayer," resigned his charge at Radnor in December, 1832, clos- ing a faithful pastorate of fourteen years.
The ministry of this holy man was of such price- less value to Radnor Church that the following brief account of his life will be of distinct value to this his- tory.
Samuel Crawford Brincklé, third son of Dr. John Brincklé, by his wife Elizabeth Gordon, was born near Dover, Del., January 26, 1796, one of his an- cestors [Rev. Thomas Crawford] being a missionary from the Propagation Society to Dover Hundred about 1704.
He graduated in 1815 from Princeton College, and at once entered a divinity class in Philadelphia under Bishop White. He was ordained to the Diaconate at
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Mr. Brincklé's Career.
St. James' Church, Philadelphia, May 6, 1818, and to the priesthood at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, June 28, 1820.
His first regular charge, as stated, was at Radnor, and shortly after his entry on this field of ministry he married Miss Julia Rumsey, of Maryland, by whom he had eight children.
After leaving Radnor he accepted the rectorship of Grace Church, Philadelphia, where he was instrumen- tal in building the church. Subsequently he became assistant minister of the United Swedish Churches, having St. James' Church, at Kingsessing, under his immediate care. Here he remained fourteen years, and under him the church came into union with the Protes- tant Episcopal Church.
In May, 1848, he removed to the State of Delaware and became instrumental in forming the parish of Christ Church, Christiana Hundred, of which he be- came the first rector, retaining the incumbency until his death in Wilmington, Del., March 12, 1863. He was buried at Old Swedes Church, in that city.
During the short incumbencies of the eight clergy- men who succeeded Mr. Brincklé, little occurred (with a single exception) to warrant more than brief men- tion. The church having already passed through the trying times which marked the reorganization of the Colonial Episcopal Churches under the American suc- cession was firmly established as an organization, and the many hallowed associations by which the build-
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Old St. David's Church.
ing and its graveyard were bound to its congregation, gave this temporal organization a peculiar and increas- ing strength.
After Mr. Brincklé's withdrawal from Radnor, Rev. Simon Wilmer, from the Diocese of Maryland, was called to the vacant charge of St. David's and St. Peter's, Great Valley, December 1, 1832. In his report to the Convention of 1833 he refers to the fact that he "labours a part of his time in New Jersey ;" that he is assisted by Rev. Joseph Jaquett, by whom "appoint- ments are made for the afternoons of every Lord's day at School houses conveniently situated ;" and that the services are well attended by "the St. David's con- gregation." Mr. Wilmer remained but six months in charge of the parish, resigning July 13, 1833, and seems to have kept no parochial statistics. He was the father of Rt. Rev. Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer, late Bishop of Louisiana, and rector of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, from its organization until 1861.
Mr. Wilmer was succeeded in October, 1833, by Rev. William Henry Rees, formerly (1830) rector of the Church of St. James the Greater at Bristol, Penn- sylvania, but, he records, "lately of the Diocese of Maryland." He was the son of John Rees, a farmer re- siding on Old Lancaster Road about a quarter of a mile east of the present Cassatt Avenue, near Berwyn (then known as Reeseville). Rev. Mr. Rees resided while rector of Radnor Church on the Lancaster turn- pike just north of the present village of Berwyn, where
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Rev. William Henry Rees.
he is said to have also established a select school for boys, which a few years later was in charge of Mr. Noble Heatlı.
Mr. Rees' ministry seems to have been a prosperous one, at least in the increase of communicant members. At the Pennsylvania Convention of 1835 he reports sundry services at Reeseville and "at school houses and other places on other days," and in his report to the Convention of 1837 he refers to "A flourishing Sun- day school under the direction of the rector, assisted by three female teachers," and registering "about 45 scholars." In June, 1834, a committee was appointed by the Vestry of St. David's "to co-operate with the Vestry of St. Peter's Church relative to purchasing a parsonage;" but no satisfactory arrangement being made, the committee was discharged, and in April, 1836, the connection between the two churches was formally discontinued, the latter church being united with St. Paul's, West Whiteland, under Rev. William Hilton.
During this incumbency the first by-laws governing the vestry were adopted and substantial efforts made to keep full and orderly records. Henry Y. Carter was the first secretary of the Vestry, although the office of "Clerk to the Vestry" was a very old one.
The increased attendance during Mr. Rees' ministry was followed by an effort to remodel the old building. The details of this part of St. David's history as obtained mainly from the Ledger article of August,
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Old St. David's Church.
1891, already referred to, are worthy of special men- tion.
The church records show that on April 20, 1835, a resolution was offered by the rector for the appoint- ment of a committee "to ascertain the probable ex- pense of building a Church and to report to a con- gregational meeting on Tuesday the 5 of May" (1835). The committee thus appointed was a representative one, consisting of John Hunter, J. Yocum, Amos Mat- tis, R. Rambo, R. B. Jones, Esq., Isaac Norton, Wil- liam Nuzum, Isaac Wayne and Adam Siter; but these records fail to disclose any further action relating to the matter, except a memorandum without date indi- cating that "On motion of J. Hunter the Above Com- mittee was Discharged."
A traditionary account states that the suggestion was made to build an addition to the church on the eastern end over the graves of Mr. Currie's family, and that a large majority of the congregation were in favor of the change ; but that the influence of Isaac Wayne was sufficient to prevent the execution of the plan.
In the Ledger article, however, particulars are given as follows :
The meeting was a stormy one, and finally adjourned to June I. At this meeting the following was offered :
Resolved, That the vestry and congregation of St. David's Church proceed forthwith to the erection of a new and a detached building 60 by 43 feet.
The estimated cost was computed at $2100. and the main
III
Isaac Wayne's Protest.
reason advanced for the change was that "the Episcopalians will be better enabled to compete, especially with the Baptists, who are recently increasing and establishing new meeting houses in this vicinity."
The chief opponent to the resolution, Colonel Isaac Wayne, a son of General Anthony Wayne, tried all he could to stem what he believed to be a tide of vandalism, but when the vote was taken it stood 46 for demolition, 5 for the preservation of the old sanctuary. The names of four of this little band are preserved; they are Isaac Wayne, John Mather, John Taylor, Isaac Norton. *
Isaac Wayne, although defeated, was not disheartened, and at once set to work to prevent the proposed destruction of the church. He prepared the following protest to the vestry and congregation :
"The undersigned, one of the vestry of St. David's Church, very respectfully submits the following reasons in opposition to the erection of a new church as a substitute for the one now standing within the cemetery of said church.
"Because the building now erected is sufficient to contain, unless it be on extraordinary occasions, all the congregation, as well as others who attend said church, and on extraordi- nary occasions by the aid of settees, as large a number as will probably convene on any occasion can be accommodated with seats.
"Because the building denominated St. David's Church counts nearly if not entirely one hundred and twenty-five years, and yet stands firm; admired for its antiquity, its simplicity and neatness, it has become a subject of classical notice. The engraver has exercised his graver and the female her needle to give it celebrity. But more especially and in addition to this a few, now advanced in years, worship within the same walls where their immediate ancestors were accus- tomed to worship, and whose tombs surround them, all calcu- lated to create associations connected with the best feelings
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Old St. David's Church.
of the human heart; feelings which may very probably induce some, if they be permitted uninterruptedly to enjoy them during the short remnant of their lives, to furnish the future means of sustaining at least the temporal prosperity of St. David's Church.
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