USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > A history of Grace Church in Providence, Rhode Island, 1829-1929 > Part 19
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In the evening the beautiful choral evensong of praise and thanks- giving was made memorable by the presence of the choir of over forty voices from St. Paul's Cathedral, Boston, brought here through the thoughtfulness of Dean Sturges, who from the early years of his own rectorship had looked with interest and hope to this centennial celebration and who threw himself heartily into its spirit and purpose.
On Saturday the Church School and Parish outing at Centennial Farm at Cherry Valley went off well, with the appropriate dedica- tory exercises at half past three in the afternoon.
A goodly number of the parishioners attended the reception to the former rectors in Infantry Hall and listened with becoming patience to an historical address by the present writer and with close and warm-hearted interest to a series of delightfully varied speeches from Dr. Tomkins, Dr. Crowder, and Dean Sturges. Stimulated by the contagious informality of Dr. Lawrence who
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presided, each of the speakers filled his brief address to the full with his own characteristic personality and made his peculiar contribution to the prevailing spirit of friendship and rejoicing. As the parishioners listened with pride and approbation to these four leaders of the past and present they did not wonder at the splendid accomplishment of Grace Church in the years that had passed so rapidly since Dr. Tomkins' coming thirty-five years back.
The services on Whitsunday, May 19th, were impressive and well attended. The early celebration was a special Anniversary Communion at which all who had been confirmed at Grace Church were particularly invited to be present. At ten o'clock there were anniversary exercises for the Church School. At the great Parish Service at eleven o'clock Dean Sturges was the preacher. After the Second Lesson the candlesticks for the Altar of the Chapel, given in memory of Dean Rousmaniere, were dedicated. In his centennial sermon Dean Sturges emphasized the changes in life and in religious thought in the century past and expressed thankfulness that in Grace Church "there has been maintained a holy place at the heart of a city's life where, fearless and unafraid, men, who have had to see that our little systems have their day, who have seen before their eyes the light of these systems broken, have kept clear and true the faith that 'Thou O God, art more than they.' "
At the Community Service on Sunday evening, Dr. Faunce brought greetings from the University and Dr. Arthur H. Bradford of the Central Congregational Church the congratulations and good will of the other churches of Providence.
After this service the centennial celebration was fittingly brought to a close, as it had been begun three days before, by the service of Holy Communion.
The Providence Journal took note of the Centennial in an appreciative editorial which closed with the following gracious expression of interest and good will:
"Grace Church has had not only a long but a remarkable history. Its clergymen have included an extended list of distinguished preachers, deans, and bishops. Its music has been intelligently stressed, to the profit and pleasure of all concerned. It stands today a gracious symbol in a crowded town. May its second century, just beginning, be a period of even larger prosperity and utility than its first century has been, and the year 2029 find it adapted to the new occasions and new duties of that faraway day,
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but yet true to its old ideals of service and to the essentials of the noble faith once delivered to the saints."
The following figures from the report of the Diocesan Con- vention of 1929 are worthy of record at this place as marking the hundredth milestone, as it were, in the Church's history :-
Baptisms 70, Confirmations 48, Families 705, Communicants 1303, Church Members 1686, Church School 328; Pledges $51,000, Plate Collections $7,718.65, Total Parish Income $75,599.38, Paid for Current Expenses $46,243.68, Diocesan and General Expenses $18,885.04.
In passing on the sacred heritage to the generation that must shape the history of the century to come we can not do better than quote the challenge delivered fifty years ago by that saintly soldier of Christ, Thomas March Clark, as he closed the historical address at the Jubilee Celebration. May we do our part that the descendants and successors of those whose labors for Grace Church are here recorded may in 2029 respond to this challenge as honor- ably as have the men and women of the century past.
"As we now pass on to enter upon a new half-century, the question naturally suggests itself, what is to be the destiny of this Church in the days to come? In 1929, will the walls be still standing in the same old spot, and will the incense of prayer and praise continue to ascend from this consecrated place? It may be that the pressure of trade and the removal of the people to other regions of the city, will cause the transfer of Grace Church to some distant locality, and so the building in which we worship today pass away out of sight forever. But, however this may be, we doubt not that the Church will live and go on to prosper. The ยท worship will continue to be the same, the doctrine preached the same, the spirit of zeal and holiness, we trust, will be greatly increased. Those will rise up to take our places, who, we hope, will be far in advance of us, and do a better work than any of us have done. Our children will have grown old, and we shall sleep with our fathers, when the Centennial is kept; but the Church will never die-its foundation standeth sure."
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THE NEW CHANCEL, 1918
AN INVENTORY OF MEMORIALS and GIFTS WITH Biographical Notes
Compiled by JOHN HUTCHINS CADY
:
MEMORIALS AND GIFTS
CHANCEL WINDOW (1882, 1912)
"To the Glory of God and in Memory of JOHN A. CLARK, D.D., Rector of this Church from July, 1832 to May, 1835.
"To the Glory of God and in Memory of ALEXANDER H. VINTON, D.D., Rector of this Church from April, 1836 to January, 1842.
"To the Glory of God and in Memory of JOHN PRENTISS KEWLEY HENSHAW, D.D., Bishop of Rhode (sic) from August II, 1843 to July 20, 1852, and Rector of this Church from August, 1843 to July, 1852."
When the present chancel was erected in 1912 the memorial window from the former chancel was incorporated into its design with the addition of a new figure group, new tracery, and new stained glass in geometric patterns.
JOHN ALONZO CLARK, the second rector of Grace Church, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, May 6, 1801, the son of John and Chloe (Atwater) Clark: At the age of fifteen, while residing at Manlius, N. Y., he became interested in the subject of his personal religion, was confirmed by Bishop Hobart and began studies pre- paratory to entering the Christian ministry. After pursuing his studies under the direction of his two brothers, he entered the Junior Class of Union College in 1821 and graduated in 1823. Having studied theology at Geneva, N. Y. and at the General Theological Seminary in New York, he was admitted to Deacon's Orders by Bishop Hobart on April 12, 1826, and at once engaged in missionary work in Wayne County, N. Y.
He was married in October, 1826, to Sarah Buell of Fairfield, Herkimer County, N. Y. In 1829 he became Assistant Rector of Christ Church, New York, from which he was called to Grace Church in 1832. Here, "in addition to his public labours on the Lord's day and his weekly lectures, he established meetings at private houses, gathering in the neighbours and preaching to them the truth as it is in Jesus. These latter services were attended with a great outpouring of the Spirit, and it was remarked that wherever those meetings were held, salvation came to that house."
He resigned in May, 1835, to go to St. Andrew's Church in Philadelphia. Kenyon College honored him with the degree of D.D. in 1840. His health, which had never been robust, was failing so rapidly that he was forced to resign his Rectorship in the spring of 1843, to be succeeded by Rev. Thomas March Clark. He died on November 27, 1843. Bishop Clark years afterward wrote of him: "The intense enthusiasm of the minister communicated itself to the people of his charge and was felt as a living power throughout the whole community."
Dr. Clark was the author of several religious books of large importance in the evangelical movement of the time. One, "Gathered Fragments," went through at least five editions. Another, "Glimpses of the Old World," having had a large circulation in this country, was re-published in London in 1847.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON VINTON, the third rector of Grace Church, was born in Providence, May 2, 1807, the son of David and Mary (Atwell) Vinton. After studying at Brown University for some years he left to enter the Yale Medical School, where he graduated in 1828. While practising medicine in Pomfret, Connecticut, he was converted from his previous agnosticism and went to the General Theological Seminary with the intention of becoming a medical missionary.
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He was ordained deacon in New York in July, 1835, and worked for some months at Grace Church, New York, and at St. Paul's, Portland, Maine. He then accepted the charge of Grace Church in the spring of 1836 while still only in Deacon's Orders. On October 15, 1835, he married Eleanor Stockbridge Thompson of Providence.
In 1842 he became Rector of St. Paul's, Boston. Of that rectorship of sixteen years Phillips Brooks, who called Dr. Vinton "our great presbyter," spoke in 1881 as "the strongest and most effective ministry our church has ever had in Boston." In 1858 he became the first Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, and in 1861 he removed to New York to St. Mark's Church. In 1869 he returned to Boston as the second rector of Emmanuel Church, which included many of his former parishioners. At the age of seventy, in 1877, he resigned this rectorship and retired to the beloved summer home which he had maintained at Pomfret, Connecticut, engaging frequently, however, in preaching and lecturing. After preaching at the consecration of a new church for his old parish in Philadelphia, he was taken ill and died two days later, on April 26, 1881. He was buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.
Bishop Clark said of him: "He was in all points a man of massive proportions, great in the pulpit, great in public debate, great in his private talk." "As a preacher he united in the most harmonious manner the elements of thoughtfulness, rigid reasoning, rich and varied illustrations, tenderness of feeling, and unsparing faith- fulness. I remember with much distinctness sermons that I heard him preach more than half a century ago; they were of the kind that are not merely painted on the memory, but burned in, so that they became indelible."
JOHN PRENTISS KEWLEY HENSHAW, the fourth rector of Grace Church, was born in Middletown, Connecticut, June 13, 1792, the son of Daniel and Sally (Prentiss) Henshaw.
When he was nine years old the family moved to Middlebury, Vermont. He entered Middlebury College at the early age of twelve, graduating four years later with the degree of B.A. He then went to Harvard as a graduate student, but soon gave up his intention to study law in order to study for the ministry under Bishop Griswold. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold on June 13, 1813,-his twenty-first birthday. He was called to take charge of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., and there was ordained priest by Bishop Hobart on his twenty-fourth birth- day, June 13, 1816,-that being the earliest age allowed by canon. In July, 1814, he married Miss Mary Gorham of Bristol.
In 1817, he was called from his rectorship at St. Ann's, Brooklyn, to St. Peter's Church, Baltimore. He was elected Bishop of Rhode Island on April 6, 1843. Mrs. Eames, who was present at the Special Convention, reports the vote as clergy, 17-2; laity, 16-2. As bishop he was firm and kindly, of a strong practical common sense and unceasing energy. "Whenever he heard of a place in his diocese where the church was unknown there he would go with some of his clergy and hold a service. Many a Sunday after his day's work was done in his parish, he would ride miles to perform a missionary service, preaching with as much earnestness and vigor as though the day was just beginning instead of ending." Bishop Hen- shaw was greatly interested also in missionary work abroad. He was a member of that notable committee which put forth the statement that every member of the Protestant Episcopal Church was thereby a member of its missionary society, that is, that the whole Church was the Missionary Society. At the very outset of his episcopate he set about establishing missions in the rural districts of Rhode Island.
When illness compelled his old friend, the Bishop of Maryland, to give up his work for a time he asked Bishop Henshaw to make certain visitations for him in Maryland. Hardly had Bishop Henshaw started on this work when he was taken suddenly ill and died in Frederick County, Maryland, on July 20, 1852. On Sun- day, July 25th, his body lay in Grace Church, the regular services being omitted. He was buried on July 26th in Grace Church Cemetery, where a monument was erected by the diocese, with inscriptions prepared by Mrs. Jane Anthony Eames.
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ALTAR AND REREDOS (1912, 1929)
"This Altar and Triptych are given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of ELIZA HARRIS HOPPIN, 1821-1891, by her children William Anthony Hoppin, Mary Hoppin Howland, Katharine Hoppin Richmond and Eliza Anthony Hoppin Gam- mell."
The altar is of Tavanella and Hauteville marble. The original triptych consisted of painted panels of Christ and the Apostles. These were removed in 1929 and were replaced by carved oak panels, the work of Ernest Pellegrini of Boston. They show Christ standing on the world in an attitude of blessing with the Apos- tles grouped around Him, and with two angels holding a scroll with the inscription, "Ye men of Galilee, Why stand ye here looking up into heaven?" 1
ELIZA HARRIS HOPPIN was a member of Grace Church Parish from the time of her marriage in 1843 to the time of her death in 1891. She was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, on April 1, 1821. Her father William Anthony was a Quaker, a man highly respected in his world, who was "read out of Meeting" when he married Mary Kinnicutt Greene, who was not of the Society of Friends. Eliza's sisters had died leaving her the only daughter, petted and tenderly cherished by her parents and by her two older brothers. She married Francis Edwin Hoppin, the love of her life, while he was a struggling lawyer with nothing but Courage, Faith and Hope as his capital. She bore him eight children of whom three sons died in early childhood, and a fourth son died during her husband's illness. Her husband made his way in his profession and won a respected position in Providence, until at the age of thirty-eight, when in the height of his prosperity and usefulness, he was stricken with a disease of the brain which produced blindness, deafness and a partial paralysis, and which made him a helpless invalid. Together this man and woman faced the situation, which only love and Faith could meet without sinking under the load of Despair. The wife for nine years consecrated herself, body, mind and heart to the service of her suffering husband, tending him by night and by day, bearing for him the burden of poverty and disappointment, and at the. same time ministering to the needs of her remaining children, and always without thought of self. In recognition of her sacrifice of self, her children felt that an altar was an appropriate memorial of such a life and so dedicated this triptych and altar to the Glory of God and in loving memory of their mother.
ALTAR CROSS (1913)
"To the Glory of God and in loving memory of EDWARD WHEATON HOPPIN, October 14, 1870-May 4, 1895. The gift of his mother, Virginia Wheaton Hoppin, 1913."
EDWARD WHEATON HOPPIN was the son of William Anthony Hoppin and Virginia (Wheaton) Hoppin. He married Kate H. A. Heiser.
ALTAR CANDLESTICKS (1925)
"Given in grateful recognition of the goodness of God January ninth, 1925, by Virginia Gammell Cross."
1Here and elsewhere the beginning of a line of inscription on Window or Tablet is indicated by a capital.
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ALTAR VASES (circa 1909)
. "To the Glory of God and in loving memory of SAMUEL AMES, April 10, 1849-October 25, 1900. Given by Abby Greene Harris Ames."
SAMUEL AMES was the youngest son of Judge Samuel and Mary Throop (Dorr) Ames. He was educated at Annapolis and was afterwards in the navy. Upon retirement from the navy he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar and practiced law in Providence until the time of his death. He lived in the Gov- ernor Dorr house on Benefit Street. On February 28, 1876 he married Abby Greene Harris in Grace Church. She was born December 31, 1851 and died December 28, 1914.
SIX ALMS BASINS (1924)
"To the Glory of God and in loving memory of E. LILLIE STUDLEY these alms basins are presented to Grace Church, Provi- dence, Rhode Island, by her husband, J. Edward Studley and her children, Ethel Studley Myers and William Low Studley. June, 1924."
ELIZABETH LILLIE STUDLEY was born December 31, 1852, the daughter of William H. and Elizabeth Eddy Low. She married J. Edward Studley, November 21, 1878. Her principal activity in Grace Church was in St. Margaret Society. She died March 8, 1924 in Constantine, Algeria.
COMMUNION SILVER, ETC.
Two flagons, two chalices, a large silver basin, a small silver basin and a paten were presented in 1832 by the Sewing Circle of Grace Church.
Two chalices and a paten were presented Christmas, 1871, and a silver vase Christmas, 1872, by Frances Jones Vinton, president of Grace Church Missionary Society.
A large alms basin with the inscription "Their alms are in re- membrance in the Sight of God" was presented by St. Margaret Society, Easter Day, 1885.
A paten was given as a thankoffering, Palm Sunday, 1904.
An individual communion was given by St. Elizabeth Society, Easter, 1904.
A wafer box was given as a thankoffering by Wilhelmina C. West, Epiphany, 1918.
ALTAR LINEN
A set of altar linen was given by Miss Hope M. Comstock in 1912.
A set of altar linen and four embroidered stoles were given by Miss Marion Hamilton in 1912.
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A set of white hangings for the main altar were given anony- mously in memory of Miss Emily T. Hall in 1929.
A set of white hangings for the side altar were given by Mrs. Robert I. Gammell in 1929.
BRASS CROSS (1900)
"To the Glory of God and in memory of EMILY ABBOTT BARTON from the Floyd Circle, Easter 1900."
The cross was used successively in the church and in the Sunday School room until 1925.
EMILY ABBOTT BARTON was born July 28, 1878, the daughter of William Barton, a furrier. She died October 9, 1899.
BISHOP'S SEDILIA (1912)
"To the Glory of God and in memory of THOMAS MARCH CLARK, 1812-1903, sometime rector of Grace Church and Bishop of Rhode Island."
THOMAS MARCH CLARK, the fifth rector of Grace Church, the son of Thomas March Clark and Rebecca Wheelwright, was born on July 4, 1812, in Newburyport, Massachusetts of sea-faring stock. His father and mother being rigid Presbyte- rians, he was reared in a Calvinistic theology which strongly affected him, though he outgrew it in many respects. He graduated from Yale in 1831, and after some years of teaching in Lowell and theological study at Princeton began his ministry as a Presbyterian. He was, however, soon ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church in February, 1836 and priest in November of the same year. He was rector of Grace Church, Boston, 1836-43; of St. Andrew's, Philadelphia, 1843-47; assistant under Bishop Eastburn at Trinity Church, Boston, 1847-51; rector of Christ Church, Hartford, 1851-55; and of Grace Church, Providence, 1855-66.
He was consecrated Bishop of Rhode Island on December 6, 1854, and in 1899 became also Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. He represented the American Church at the first Lambeth Conference in 1867. He received the degree of D. D. from Union College in 1851, from Brown University in 1860, and the degree of LL.D. from Cambridge University, England in 1867. On October 2, 1838 he married Caroline, daughter of Benjamin Howard of Boston. He died on September 7, 1903 at Newport, and is buried in St. Mary's Churchyard, South Portsmouth, R. I.
COMMUNION CREDENCE (1912)
"To the Glory of God and in loving memory of ELIZABETH EDDY LOW, 1830-1910. This credence is given by her daughters Elizabeth Lillie Studley and Minerva Kinsley Low Jackson, A.D. 1912."
ELIZABETH EDDY Low was daughter of Shepard Carey Kinsley and wife of William H. Low. Her children were William H. Low, Jr., E. Lillie Low (Mrs. J. Edward Studley), and Minerva K. Low (Mrs. Louis M. Jackson). Mrs. Low was a member of Grace Church Missionary Society.
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LITANY DESK AND LITANY BOOK (1899)
"In memory of MELISSA A. HANDY. Presented by St. Elizabeth Society, Easter, 1899."
MRS. HORACE R. HANDY was born in 1846. She was a member of Grace Church Missionary Society and St. Elizabeth Society, and secretary of the latter society at the time of her death in 1899.
SERVICE BOOKS AND MARKERS
An altar service book was given in memory of George F. Holroyd by his wife in 1912.
Chancel prayer books and hymnals were given in 1912 by Now- Or-Never Club, Mrs. Field's Sunday School Class, and in memory of Florence Langford Smith, the gift of her mother.
Book markers were given in 1912 by Miss Helen P. Metcalf.
COMMUNION RAIL (1912)
"In grateful memory of JOHN BRAYTON ANTHONY, 1829-1904 and ELLEN DEFOREST MILLER ANTHONY, 1831-1891. Erected by their daughters."
The Communion Rail was the gift of Mary Borden Anthony, Ellen Miller Anthony and Jane Leprilete Anthony.
JOHN BRAYTON ANTHONY, 1829-1904, was the son of David and Mary Borden Anthony of Fall River, Massachusetts. His father was deacon in the "Old Stone Church" (Congregational) and a pioneer in cotton manufacture. John B. Anthony came to Providence at the age of seventeen and from that time until the end of his life was engaged in the manufacturing business. He entered the Vestry of Grace Church as Junior Warden in 1857, and later became Senior Warden, serving until his death. He was most closely associated with the work of the Church in seven rectorships and for half a century. For many years he was a teacher in the Sunday School, then afterwards became its Superintendent.
ELLEN DEFOREST MILLER ANTHONY, his wife, 1831-1891, was a gracious, de- voted and faithful Christian woman. She was the daughter of Dr. Lewis Leprilete and Electra Smith Miller. She was a life-long member of Grace Church, for many years a member of Grace Church Missionary Society and for a few years its presi- dent. Their children were two sons and five daughters.
CHOIR STALLS (1912)
"In loving memory of JANE LEPRILETE MILLER BECKWITH, 1826-1889, WILLIAM LEPRILETE BECKWITH, EMILY MATILDA JONES BECKWITH, 1850-1888, 1852-1887. Erected by Lorania Carrington Beckwith."
Lorania Carrington Beckwith, baptized and confirmed in Grace Church, for years a faithful and devoted worker in the parish, erected these choir stalls in memory of her grandmother, JANE LEPRILETE MILLER BECKWITH, wife of Dr. William Clarke Beckwith and daughter of Dr. Lewis Leprilete and Electra Smith Miller; her father, WILLIAM LEPRILETE BECKWITH, son of Dr. William Clarke and Jane Leprilete Beckwith; and her mother, EMILY MATILDA JONES BECKWITH, daughter of George Farquhar and Lorania Carrington Hoppin Jones.
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PROCESSIONAL CROSS (1920)
"To the Glory of God and in loving memory of DAVID HUM- MELL GREER, D.D. Bishop of New York 1904-1919. Rector of Grace Church 1872-1888."
The cross was given by Mrs. Robert Gammell and was dedicated All Saints Day, 1920. It was designed by John Howard Adams, a member of Grace Church, after the form of a 15th Century cross in the Spitzer collection. The cross was carved and colored by Irving & Casson of Boston.
DAVID HUMMELL GREER, eighth rector of Grace Church, was born in Wheeling, then in Virginia, on March 20, 1844, the son of Jacob Ricard and Elizabeth Yellott (Armstrong) Greer. His father was of Irish and German descent; his mother was the daughter of an English clergyman who came to this country, married Ann Yellott of an old Baltimore family, and became the first rector of St. Matthew's Church in Wheeling. After attending Morgantown Academy, the leading pre- paratory school of that region, at the age of sixteen young Greer entered the Junior class of Washington College,-now Washington and Jefferson,-in western Penn- sylvania. After graduation he tried his hand at teaching, legal studies, and busi- ness before committing himself to the ministry. Having pursued his theological studies for several years in the intensely evangelical atmosphere at Gambier, Ohio, he was ordained deacon there on June 27, 1866, at the age of twenty-two. After working at Christ Church, Clarksburg, West Virginia, he was advanced to the priesthood on May 19, 1868. That fall he became rector of Trinity Church, Covington, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati. On June 29, 1869, he married Caroline Augusta Keith, daughter of Quincy Adams Keith of Covington.
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