USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Wickford > The Old Narragansett church (St. Paul's) : built A.D. 1707, a constant witness to Christ and his church > Part 3
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Early in the year 1914, on the motion of the Senior Warden, Mr. James A. Greene, the Vestry of St. Paul's decided to offer the Old Church to the Diocese as a gift for the following reasons :-
That from force of circumstances, due chiefly to the dying out or removal of old families who for generations worshipped in the Old Church and cared for its safety and preserva- tion almost as a family heir-loom, the local interest therein has dim- inished and its historical value is in danger of being less recognized.
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The few remaining representatives of the old families earnestly desire that the Old Church shall be carefully pre- served and used in such a way that its value to the Church, in Rhode Island, as the oldest Church building this side of the Potomac, and its strong witness to early Church history in New Eng- land with its sacred memories of Dr. McSparran the "Apostle of the Narra- gansett Country" shall not be lost, but rather maintained and developed. This they believe can best be accom- plished by placing the property in the hands of the Diocese.
A Committee consisting of the Rector, Rev. H. Newman Lawrence, James A. Greene and D. B. Updike was appointed to take steps to that end. This Committee communicated with the Bishop who ap- pointed a Committee representing the Dio- cese consisting of the Rev. Dr. Fiske, Rev. A. M. Hilliker and Mr. George Gordon King to confer with the committee from St. Paul's. The Conference, presided over by the Bishop, met, and after fully discussing the proposition, agreed to submit the pro- posal to the Diocesan Convention at its meeting called for the 19th of May, 1914.
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On the second day of the Convention the offer was made by the Rector of St. Paul's, and the following resolution was moved and unanimously adopted :-
"Resolved, That the offer of the Cor- poration and Vestry of St. Paul's Parish, Wickford, to present to the Convention the Old Narragansett Church, the grounds within which it stands; the Old Narragansett Burial Ground and original site of the church, together with the MeSparran monu- ment and other monuments of historic interest which stand therein, be, and hereby is, accepted, on the conditions named in the report of the Conference on the subject as follows :-
St. Paul's Parish to carry out work in strengthening the foundations of the old church and adding to its durability at a cost not exceeding two hundred dollars; and to turn over, with the property, the balance of the mainten- ance fund, which amounts to about two hundred and fifty dollars.
The Convention to maintain the building and grounds in as good a condition as when handed over. The management to be in the hands of a
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committee or board appointed by the Bishop, with himself as Chairman, and having amongst its members the Rec- tor of St. Paul's, Wickford, and Mr. D. B. Updike. The property to be put into use under the direction of the com- mittee or board named above. The building to be reinsured against fire."
On the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, October 28th, 1914, the Ceremonial Trans- fer of the Old Narragansett Church to the Rhode Island Episcopal Convention was completed in a Service which will long be remembered for its dignity, simplicity and importance.
The Fall meeting of the Providence Con- vention was held at Wickford on the same day so there was a large attendance of Clergy and Lay Delegates in addition to other visitors. At 11.15 a. m., the proces- sion formed in St. Paul's Church, Main St., in the following order :- Crucifer, Cornetist, Visiting Clergy, Members of St. Paul's Vestry, Church Wardens, bearing their wands of office, Standing Committee of the Diocese, the Preacher (Rev. Daniel Good- win, D. D.), Rector of St. Paul's (Rev. H. Newman Lawrence), and the Right Rever- end James De Wolf Perry, D. D., Bishop of
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OLD NARRAGANSETT CHURCH-INTERIOR.
Rhode Island,-proceeded to the Old Church singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." On arrival at the door the procession opened up so that the Bishop entered the Church first and the others followed in reverse or- der. The 24th Psalm was read responsively as the Bishop advanced to the Altar and took his seat within the rails.
The Church Wardens and Vestrymen lined up in the East aisle, the former stand- ing just outside the Altar rails. The Senior Warden, Mr. James A. Greene, then pre- sented to the Bishop the Deed of Gift and checks for balance of the Maintenance Fund amounting to $802.34 and addressed him as follows :-
"Right Reverend Sir,
On behalf of the Corporation and Vestry of St. Paul's Parish I, its Senior Warden, present you with this Deed of Gift, duly signed and attested, by which the Old Narragansett Church, the grounds within which it stands; the Old Narragansett Burial Ground and original site of the Church, togeth- er with the McSparran monument and other monuments of historic interest which stand therein are Conveyed to
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the Rhode Island Episcopal Conven- tion.
"I also present a check for two hun- dred dollars for repair of the fabric and the Bank Book of certified deposits to the amount of $602.34 which is the balance of the Old Church Maintenance Fund.
In thus parting with the Old Church which has been so long in our posses- sion and so lovingly preserved we humbly pray that it will receive at your hands a continuance of this loving care coupled with an extended sphere of usefulness to the Church in Rhode Is- land, particularly as a restored centre of Missionary activity in the Narra- gansett Country and of the Diocese generally."
The Junior Warden, Mr. F. A. Peckham, presented the keys saying :-
"Right Reverend Sir,
On behalf of St. Paul's Parish, I, its Junior Warden, present to you the Keys of the Old Narragansett Church, and humbly pray that the memory of that long succession of good and faith- ful servants of Christ who, through its
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opened doors, have entered this Holy House for Prayer and Praise, for Wor- ship & Instruction, will be kept green in the hearts of all, so that the past may help the present and the future to add to that roll of honor many who can say with the Psalmist 'I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the House of the Lord'."
The Bishop said, in acknowledgement :-
"On behalf of the Diocese of Rhode Island, I receive at your hands, who represent the Parish of St. Paul's Church, the property of the Old Narra- gansett Church. The first suggestion of the gift was made voluntarily by the Parish, itself. It was followed at Dio- cesan Convention by the formal offer which was immediately, gratefully and unanimously accepted. In this build- ing the Church in the Narragansett Country had its beginning. Back to this sacred monument successive gen- erations of Churchmen have turned for inspiration and hallowed memories. From this venerable Church thus con- secrated and re-consecrated by cen- turies of Christian ministry will the Diocese now continue to go forth as
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from its own home blessed by the past in the ever extending mission to the future."
The presentation was completed by a short service of prayer and thanksgiving offered by the Bishop. The Hymn, "We Love the Place O God," was then sung, led by the cornet only, as there was no choir. Owing to the large proportion of men in the congregation the singing of the hymns was very effective.
The Holy Eucharist followed, the Bishop being Celebrant assisted by the Rev. Dr. Fiske and the Rev. H. Newman Lawrence. After the Nicene Creed the Hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past," was sung and in place of the sermon the Rev. Dr. Goodwin gave an address upon the history and use- fullness of the Old Church so interesting as to substance and so eloquent as to lan- guage and delivery that it is doubtful if the Old Church had ever listened to any su- perior address in all its 207 years of exist- ence. This address is printed in full on pages 61 to 83 inclusive.
The offerings amounting to the sum of $65.25 were given to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (England)
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THE RIGHT REV. JAMES DE WOLF PERRY, S. T. D., D. D., Bishop of Rhode Island.
"in memory of the great help given to the Church in Narragansett (particu- larly to St. Paul's) in Colonial times, and, in view of the special need of that venerable Society in the present time of financial stringency owing to the war in Europe."
The sacred vessels used for the Holy Com- munion were the silver chalice and paten given, either at the time the church was built or very shortly after, by Queen Anne. A large and quaintly printed Prayer-Book of the same period (recently presented to the church) was displayed, between the Eucharistic Lights, upon the Altar. A dos- sal and an Altar cloth of crimson damask, a pulpit hanging of the same material a handsome eighteenth century brass chande- lier hanging from the centre of the roof; and six three-light sconces to match, at- tached in pairs to the panel posts in the East, West and North, indicated the latest steps in restoration and added much to the dignity and churchliness of the building.
At the close of the Service the procession reformed and returned to St. Paul's, Main St., singing "On Our Way Rejoicing."
A bountiful luncheon of Wickford oysters and other good things was served, in the
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Guild Hall at 1.30, by the ladies of the Par- ish, who on this occasion not only main- tained but even exceeded their reputation for hospitality and cordiality.
The proceedings of this day brought a great change of condition and prospects to the Old Church. Two hundred and seven years of faithful and "Constant Witness," as a Missonary Station and Parish Church, came to an end, but a new and broader sphere for continued witness, as THE CHURCH OF THE DIOCESE of Rhode Island commenced.
AN ADDRESS
Delivered by the Rev. Daniel Goodwin, D. D., on the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Oct. 28th, 1914.
The Bishop of Rhode Island, the Members of the Diocese, the Rector of St. Paul's Church, Wickford, the Vestry and Con- gregation :
A generation or two ago, there was noticeable a disposition to set, perhaps, too high a value on new things. Novelty was largely the test of worth. It was thought enough to say of any of our possessions that it was just made or just bought or just built.
But during the intervening period there has occurred a happy reaction towards the old. We have welcomed a turning back- ward of the mind and heart to the precious things of the past. Today we are eager to fill our houses with furniture rich in the mellow tints, which only years can give it, to set out our tables with china and silver,
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which have descended from our grand-par- ents or from somebody's grand-parents, to fill the shelves of our book-cases with rus- set-bound volumes, fragrant with the aroma of age, and to dwell in houses which have had a history. Indeed, a reverence for buildings, associated with notable people or honored families of long ago, is one of the most laudable characteristics of the period. There is an especial New England Society, with its headquarters in Boston, for the preservation of ancient and historic houses.
The jealously guarded Malbone Church in Brooklyn, Conn., the quaint Old South, on Washington Street, in Boston, and the treasured Jewish Synagogue of a by-gone age in Newport, are but two or three out of a hundred notable instances.
We are assembled this morning in the oldest Episcopal Church in this Diocese, if not of all New England, to participate in paying it honor, upon its entrance on a new stage in its long and checkered history. For more than two centuries it has been a rural parish Church. Henceforth it will be a Diocesan Monument.
Nothing else, perhaps, would prove more germane to the occasion than a glance, in
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outline, at some of the vicissitudes through which the venerable structure has passed.
It calls for a positive effort of thought, really to take in the age of the ancient edi- fice, as compared with other objects around us. If you divide the whole period between the day when the first white man ventured to make his home among the Indians of the Narragansett Country and the present day, 277 years, into four equal parts, three of the parts will be found to have elapsed since these timbers were framed into the building. Only seventy years after the Colony of Rhode Island was founded, this Church was erected.
Only about thirty years after the savages, in the famous Indian War, had consigned some of the best houses of the region to the flames, pious sons of Narragansett gathered courage, almost before re-building their own dwellings, to rear this temple to the honor of the Most High.
When that antique document, the Declar- ation of Independence, was promulgated, this structure was already attaining its three score years and ten,-the life of an average man. Among old buildings of the territory, it is the oldest of all. Trinity Church, Newport, justly venerated for its
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antiquity, was not completed until St. Paul's, Kingstown, had almost come of age, at twenty-one. University Hall, the earliest structure of the College, in Providence, was not built until this Church had stood for sixty-three years. The ancient First Bap- tist Meeting House, in the same town, was not constructed until the Narragansett fane was sixty-eight years old.
What an enliving scene arises before us, as we form, in imagination, a picture of the bright spring day, when this Church was raised. You can hear the merry sound of the axes, down in the primeval forest, miles to the southwest of us, as the woodsmen fell the giant trees and hew them into these very posts and plates and girders, which support the roof over our heads today. You can catch sight of the brawny teamsters, overflowing with the zest of pioneers in a new land, gaily driving their oxen, laden down with loads of precious lumber, under the young-leaved branches. You can watch the jocund carpenters, with their augers and chisels and beetles, fitting the frame to- gether, singing at their cheerful toil, dimly foreseeing, it may be, that what they are doing, in the course of days, will endure through centuries.
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The lot on which the new tabernacle was reared was given, from off his farm, by Capt. Benoni Sweet, the progenitor of the family of well-known natural bone-setters. It was described as containing "two acres, more or less," in this case probably more. In the daintily old-fashioned deed, signed June 17, 1707, the minister, Mr. Christopher Bridge, one of the Grantees, is styled "Clerk of the Church at Kingstown." The ingenuities of misspelling, in the instru- ment, are quite delightful. Even the Grantor, while describing himself as "gen- tleman" and thereby suggesting a presump- tion of education, manages, in the orthog- raphy of his own Scriptual name, Benoni, to introduce two departures from the settled Bible form. It is a satisfaction, too, to be formally certified that these two acres of pasture land are free from all manner of "Joyntures, Douries, Execu- tions, Entails, Fines, Forfeitures and all other titles Incumberancy whatsoever."
The edifice is believed to have been so placed upon the lot that everything, in re- lation to the points of the compass, was reversed, in comparison with its present position.
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Although Ritual was not much to the front in those days, it is evident that the Altar, called in the Parish Register, "Ye Communion Table," was carefully set up at the east end of the Church.
Concerning the origin of the architectur- al design of the edifice, nothing has come down to us. It was more than a score of years before the clever architect of Red- wood Library, Peter Harrison, came sailing over the sea, in "a pretty large ship" with Dean Berkeley. The nearly square form of the Church and its two-storied exterior sug- gest the general model of the New England Puritan Meeting House of the day, inten- tionally removed as far as possible from the early English and Gothic styles of Ec- clesiastical architecture, in the Old Country. There is not wanting, however, a certain simple dignity and gracefulness in the cap over the door, even the rounded tops of the windows being unobtrusively attractive. But otherwise there is no attempt at archi- tectural effect on the exterior. Still, such as it was, the new Church of 1707, must have been recognized by the people of the country-side as not only the largest public building of southern Rhode Island, but easily the handsomest.
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The natural thought of the present-day visitor to the "Old Platform," as the origin- al site of the Church, since it was stripped of its structure, is popularly called, is one of wonder as to what consideration could have tempted the churchmen of two hun- dred years ago to place their house of wor- ship, in such a forsaken neighborhood, on such a solitary lane.
The local name of the vicinity,-"Dark Corner,"-seems well to express the social gloom of the spot.
But when the site was adopted, the pros- pect of its being the centre of a considerable population was flattering. The ancient "Pequot Path," travelled for unnumbered centuries by the Red Men, called then "The Great Country Road," and now "The Post Road," ran north and south hard by.
An important east and west road, ambi- tiously planned to connect Boston and New York, was being laid out directly by the location. The North Ferry, chartered two years later, was projected to start from Coddington Cove, two miles north of the centre of Newport and reach Narragansett at the foot of Barber's Heights, where the "New Road" set out to run over Boston Neck, settled by people of the Massachu-
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setts metropolis, and near the spot, where the Gilbert Stuart Mill was to be erected, and over Hammond Hill, by Dean Berke- ley's College Reservation, and along the front of the new Church, toward the Set- ting Sun, in this case proving to be, rather, the Land of Rainbows. The great highway was not continued more than a mile to the westward of St. Paul's, where it ran into a farmyard and vanished. The fair scheme fell through.
The smiling population failed to assemble. The congregation was gathered, it is true, but it was gathered from far and wide.
We are made aware of what a different day from our own was the period, at which this Church was in the first stage of its ex- istence, when we are informed as to some of the popular superstitions and romances which grew up around it. Trivial and puerile as they were, they yet serve to in- dicate the salutary advance in general in- telligence, made in these two centuries.
There was a credulous tale, rife among the scattered inhabitants of the neighbor- hood, that, whenever a death was to occur in the vicinity, spectre lights were beheld gleaming from the windows of the Church, all untenanted by mortal men.
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As the time approached for removing the structure to another site, repeated tempests were reported to have arisen, in a super- natural manner, to hinder the workmen from carrying out the profane purpose. When, at length, the plan had been ac- complished, the wild story was circulated that, as if by some sort of magic, the big building had been transported intact, in a single night, over five miles of a narrow, rough and winding road.
If the day when the Church was begun was joyous, what must have been the exul- tation of that one, in the autumn of 1707, when it was opened for a public service. The Rev. Christopher Bridge, having ar- rived in the latter part of 1706, had been in residence for about a year, doubtlessly holding services in the large houses of the parish. But now the happy congregation was to worship under its own roof.
Behold the members assembling from all directions save, perhaps, the thinly in- habited West. Here approach the Updikes from Cocumscussuc, the Phillipses from Phillips Brook and the Sweets from nearby Ridge Hill. Here, too, on his fine horse, rides up George Balfour, the English gen- tleman, from Tower Hill way, on the south.
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But probably the largest portion come from Boston Neck, on the east, the Willetts, the Gardiners, the Browns and the Coles.
The first four ministers of St. Paul's were the already mentioned Christopher Bridge, William Guy, James MacSparran and Samuel Fayerweather, who covered a period of nearly seventy years and were all sent and largely supported by the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Without its generous assistance there is no probability that St. Paul's Church would have been established, when it was, or that it would have existed in the colonial period at all.
The debt which Rhode Island owes the Churchmen in England of two centuries ago, for their assiduity in the "first founda- tion" of the Church in Narragansett, and of the other three Colonial Parishes, and for their beneficence in "a long continuance of nursing care and protection," is almost incalculable. I rejoice to learn that our alms today have been devoted, by the Bishop, to the purposes of the Society. By a strange reversal in the relative prosperity of Amer- ica and England, at least during the present hour, our gifts, it is understood, will come to the Venerable Society at a time when,
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on account of the stress of war, they will be peculiarly acceptable. It should not be forgotten, too, that some of the Holy Com- munion vessels which are about to be used in the celebration, were given to this Parish, in or about 1708, by Queen Anne, the Chalice being marked "Anna Regina."
The flourishing period of the Narragan- sett Church, as such, was the period, just alluded to, between the arrival of Mr. Bridge and the Declaration of Indepen- dence, and the blossoming time of that period was the thirty-five years,-just half of the whole,-when the Rev. Dr. MacSpar- ran presided over the Parish with almost unexampled devotedness and large ability. Then, as a rule, in the propitious season, the seats below were filled with a hearty congregation of white people, while a large number of colored slaves and Indians were accommodated in the unusually spacious gallery. This period has been most fully described and illustrated on former occa- sions and does not need to be now dwelt upon, engaging although it is.
The most depressing experience through which this "Gate of Heaven" has ever passed is the era of the American Revolu- tion. No services were then held in it for
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many years. There is no entry, whatever, upon the Parish Register from 1774 to 1784. The bounty of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had naturally been withdrawn. The building was used as a barrack for the American soldiers. In- stead of the Songs of Zion, very different songs must, in those days, have echoed among the columns and under the high roof. But so far as tradition seems to have pre- served the story, there was no wanton and malicious profanation of the sanctuary. A shelter had to be provided for the patriotic soldiers, and the unused church offered this indispensable refuge. "Amidst arms, all laws are silent."
There came a day, however, in March, 1784, when an attempt was made to revive the work of the Church. It proved that a little remnant of the once prosperous con- gregation remained faithful. Nine people gathered at the call,-one less than the smallest number, for the sake of whom Abraham dared to plead with Jehovah to spare Sodom. Then, we are told, "the Lord went His way," because, apparently, even only ten righteous men could not be found in that wicked town.
But the Lord did not go His way, that
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day in Narragansett. No, He tarried and blessed the nine. Eventually more were gathered in and the wanderers came back. St. Paul's took heart again and prepared to invite a new shepherd to feed the flock. It is a trifling incident which followed. One cannot help wondering, however, whether or not the Churchmen of Narra- gansett were blissfully unconscious of the humour of their choice, in calling Parson Fogg to be the first successor of Parson Fayerweather. But it is to be regretted that he felt obliged to decine Narragansett, inasmuch as he was said to be "sober, quiet, discreet and devout, devoting himself dili- gently and faithfully to his pastoral duties," at the Malbone Church, which he served for over forty years.
The days of prosperity for St. Paul's on the old site were, however, over. The Rev- olutionary War had broken up many of the old families of the region, and made them unable to contribute as before. With the former allowance from the Society in Eng- land entirely cut off, and with the centre of population removed several miles to the northward, the project of removing the Church, also, thither was more and more agitated.
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Notwithstanding the employment of sev- eral clergymen, notably the brilliant Wil- liam Smith, compiler of the Institution Office in the Prayer Book, the Parish lan- guished. At length, in the last month of the last year of the 18th century,-Decem- ber 3rd, 1799,-in a regularly called meet- ing of what was styled, "The Society," it was voted to remove the edifice of St. Paul's to Wickford.
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