USA > Virginia > A history of Bristol Parish, Va. : with genealogies of families connected therewith, and historical illustrations > Part 6
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John Dodson was elected a vestryman in his place.
In 1860 forty communicants were added, and twenty- nine lost, leaving two hundred and forty-seven as the present number.
1860, October Ist, the following resolutions in ac- knowledgment of the chime of bells in memory of Miss Bayley were passed :
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"Whereas, Judge John Perkins, M. C., of Louisi- ana, and his wife, Mrs. Perkins, have generously pre- sented this church with a chime of bells, which they desire shall be kept as a perpetual memorial of Mrs. Perkins' daughter, the late Miss Anna May Bayley, who departed this life in the bloom of youth, a communi- cant of this church, on the 26th of March 1860.
"Resolved, That the vestry highly appreciates, and is sincerely thankful for, this evidence of their kind consideration for this church, and confidently assure them that the same feelings are entertained by the entire congregation, and that our best efforts shall be exerted to carry out the laudable object of the gen- erous donors, to perpetuate the memory of one so worthy to be remembered for her gentle and amiable spirit, her bright intelligence and Christian virtues; and that a copy of these resolutions be engraved on a mural tablet and fixed in a suitable place in the church."
In 1861 and 1862-'3 there are no reports in the Con- vention Journals from St. Paul's church, and nothing on the records of the vestry of note but resolutions in memory of Bishop Cobbs, who for four years was the honored and beloved rector of this Parish. For sev- eral years there were no reports from St. Paul's church in the Convention Journals. This is not strange when we remember that Bristol Parish was a battle-field, over which grand armies were marching and counter- marching, leaving desolation and tears and blood in their track. The surface of the earth was bristling with forts and cut up with sepulchres. The chime of church bells was drowned by the beating drum and the
-
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bursting bomb. The dove of peace folds its wings and hides its meck head when the martial eagle is hovering in the air. Much time and strength were expended in visiting the sick and feeding the hungry, binding up broken hearts and broken limbs, and pour- ing the balm of comfort into bruised spirits. Refu- gees, flying before the spoiler, sought asylum in the city; sick and wounded soldiers in the hospital and in the field; fathers seeking their lost sons, and mothers weeping for their children, and refusing to "be com- forted because they were not"-made hourly and heavy drafts upon the time and sympathies of minister and people, which none can appreciate but those who have realized them in their experience. The only record of all these services and trials is in the memories of those who survive, and in Heaven's High Chancery.
In 1863 there were twenty-six added to the commu- nion and twenty-two lost by removal, &c., leaving an aggregate of 263 communicants.
In 1864 we find an order of the vestry to repair damage done to the church by the bursting of a shell, sent by the enemy's batteries.
1865. The following from the members of the vestry at this date will illustrate the bondage of the Church under military bondage: "An order has been pub- lished by the military authorities commanding this post (Petersburg) requiring all pastors of churches in this city to use the same prayer for the President of the U. S., as before the war, and those who have not taken the oath of allegiance, should do so at once, or forthwith leave the keys of the church at the office of the Provost Marshal; it is the unanimous opinion of the vestry that the rector of this church should take
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the oath of allegiance and use the prayer for the Pres- ident of the U. S."
This is a new version of the power of the keys, and is one of the many instances of a Provost Marshal doing what Mr. Lincoln had deprecated as running the churches. The vestry regarding this as a lesser evil than leaving the churches in charge of the Federal army chaplains. Messrs. Platt and Gibson, however, had conscientious scruples about recognizing the au-
thority of the military in spiritual matters. They called on Gen. Ferrero, the commandant of the post (who had been a dancing master) and told him their views, show- ing him the Confederate Prayer Book, which contained no such prayer. He said that he had no power but to enforce the law, emanating from Mr. Stanton. Mr. Gibson then went to Gen. Hartsuff, commanding the district, and said that he would endeavour to procure from Bishop Johns a pastoral letter recommending his clergy to use the prayer. The General paroled him as a prisoner of war, and sent him by rail to Burkeville. Mr. G. there found that all the locomotives had been impressed to convey soldiers from North Carolina, and no train was going the other way. He walked to Keysville (20 miles) and procured from Col. Carring- ton a buggy, in which he and the Rev. Mr. Mitchell, minister of the Parish, reached Bishop Johns, then so- journing near Scottsburg on the Danville road. After two hours conference, Mr. Gibson returned with the pastoral letter in his pocket, and with authority to send it to the Richmond clergy for publication to the diocese. He reached Clover Depot as one of the trains with Federal soldiers was drawn up. He entered without ceremony a box car among the rank and file, reaching
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Petersburg in time, next day, to see Mr. Platt before the close of the day. They then went to the Provost Marshal, took the oath, and announced to their congre- gations the next morning the bishop's recommendation to read the prayer.
The correspondence between the rector and the ves- try, incident to the severing of the tie between them, was marked by mutual regrets, and good wishes. Af- ter spending some years in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Platt went to San Francisco, California, where as rec- tor of a church, and professor in the only chair of Ethics on the Pacific coast, he has a wide field for his energy and varied abilities, as a defender of the faith in the spheres of science and religion. Besides his work in the ministry, Mr. Platt has made occasional excursions in the walks of literature, both in prose and poetry.
The variations in the salary of the minister from $2,000 to $2,500, $5,000 and $7.300, and back to $2,000, illustrates the fluctuation of the currency in war times.
Rev. JOHN COSBY .- IS66, 1867.
The same vestry meeting, which accepted Mr. Platt's resignation, elected the Rev. Mr. Cosby rector of St. Paul's Church. Mr. Cosby's ministry was brief and brilliant. Endowed with rare gifts of oratory, both physical and mental, his eloquence attracted large con- gregations, filled the pews, and added to the commu- nion.
In 1866 he reported to the convention an addition of forty-four to the communion; present number two hundred and sixty-nine; Sunday school teachers and scholars two hundred and twenty-five.
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In 1867 Mr. Cosby reported an addition of fifty-five to the communion, and a loss by death and removal of thirteen members; present number three hundred and one; marriages twenty-two; Sunday school two hun- dred and eighty-six; Parish school teachers and scholars one hundred and twenty-five: contributions to church debt $2,000; total contributions $5,872. “A sinking fund has been set apart to pay the church debt. The Parish school, he adds, is a precious trust for the teachers; an inestimable benefit to the poor, and a nursery for the church."
On the minutes of the vestry this year is recorded a grateful recognition of the generosity of David B. Tennant, Esq., in voluntarily paying out of his own purse to the vestry $3,000 (devised by the late Mrs. Anne Brydon, a communicant of St. Paul's, in a will which was pronounced by the court to be invalid). Mr. Tennant being the residuary legatee, this and other much larger legacies to other parties was his personal property by an unquestioned title. Mr. Tennant, of his own free and good will, paid all these legacies, and thus set an example of unselfishness, which did him much honor, and merits a special recognition and record.
At the end of two years Mr. Cosby resigned his charge, and said, "The continued ill health of my family, which necessitates our constant separation. and the consequent harassment of mind and body while bearing this, and still trying to perform all the duties of a large charge, forces me to consider my resignation a duty." Two communications, one from within, the other from without the communion, asking a reconsid- cration, were referred to Mr. Cosby by the vestry.
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His final reply to this remonstrance is very touching : "Most heartily do I thank the signers of those affec- tionate letters of remonstrance. I shall carry them with me as my household gods. It shall be my little boy's first reading lesson, to learn the names of those who so loved and respected his father. But I may not withdraw my resignation; my reasons are as binding, and my duty the same."
REV. JOHN HENRY DUCACHET WINGFIELD, D. D.
Dr. Wingfield took charge of St. Paul's Church, Ist May, 1868, and preached his inaugural sermon on 3d Sunday after Easter, and administered communion to 175 persors. At the convention in the same month he reported : "Having so recently entered upon my du- ties, I cannot make a full report of last year's work." He gathered from the register these statistics, viz : Communicants last reported 302, removed 45, died IS.
Dr. Wingfield kept a diary of his daily labours dur- ing his whole ministry, which is a notable example of industry and method which other clergymen would do well to imitate. Among other uses, it facilitates very much the labours of the chronicler. It bears some- what the relation to the parochial reports as the mer- chant's day book does to
1 . drer; giving the daily details of the sum of the - :k. The amount of .d have been impos-
work recorded in this jo sible for any one who h rare faculty of order, have been the motive merely a record of s day and other holy d
, rong physique and a highly charged may find it. We have not 1 sermons every Sun- tween these, and often
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on the same day, are interposed baptisms, marriages, funerals, addresses in Sunday school and Parish schools ; visitations, lectures and catechizing at Mis- sions on Bollingbrook and Washington streets. There is also a record of services and lectures on every day in Advent and Lent with the topics of each day, show- ing a great variety and yet regular concatenations of subjects all bearing on each other and concurring to the same end, viz: the glory of the Great Head of the Church, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and ever." There are also recorded many incidents of which the church and the parish was the scene, as con- firmations, ordinations, convocations, &c. Some of these the author takes the responsibility of reporting without the rector's knowledge, because they illustrate the history of the Parish. For example:
"July 20, the burial service was read by Bishop Beckwith over the remains of the youngest son of the rector, and on 21st by the rector over the remains of Wm. S. Simpson, Sr.
" 26th, Bishop Beckwith preached and ordained Wm. Boone to the office of Deacon.
"August 17th, 8! P. M., a meeting of the congrega- tions of St. Paul's and Grace churches was held in the basement of St. Paul's, to consider the need in the city of organizing a missionary association. The exercises were conducted with much interest, and it is earnestly hoped that great good will result.
"August 27, a meeting in the same place to organize the Church Lay Association. About 75 persons were present. The officers were elected, and committees of ladics and also of gentlemen were appointed, who met and organized on the 21st.
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" December 20, Burial service of Judge Thomas S. Gholson, a former member of the vestry of St. Paul's."
At the end of the first year, May 1879, Dr. Wing- field sums up the year's work thus: Communicants, added 35, lost by removal and death 18, present num- ber 255. Sunday School teachers 26, scholars ISo. Two other schools, one of 20 teachers and 75 scholars. the other of 26 teachers and 130 scholars, under the supervision and control of the Church Lay Associa- tion, composed of members of St. Paul's and Grace churches.
May Ist, 1870, the rector sums up the work of an- other year thus: Communicants, added 41, lost 30, present number 244.
" August 5, services in the basement until October IS, when we returned to the church.
"Nov. 18, the exterior of the church is repaired. The height of the steeple from the ground is 170 feet, and the cross is 15 feet high; the yard arm of the cross 10 feet long. Cost of repairs within and without $2,800.
" The year's work to May 7th, 1871, sermons and addresses, 370; baptisms, 60; communicants added, 4; lost, 20; present number, 244; contributions, $4,640; including repairs and $300 for memorial window to Gen. Lee.
"Sept. 25, 1871, St. Paul's school opened. Prof. Craig, Miss Timberlake, Mrs. Waddell, Miss Hill and Prof. Hahr, with 42 scholars being present. This in- stitution is intended to be worked in connection with the Parish, and as a Parish school. It opens under very favourable auspices.
"Dec. 16, 1871, there were erected in the church
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three memorial windows, one to Gen. Lee, one to Paul Wingfield, son of the rector, and one to Elizabeth Wentworth Paul. These windows add very much to the beauty of the church."
In Oct. 15, 1874, it is said, "A very beautiful window has been placed in the church by Mrs. D. B. Tennant in memory of Mrs. Brydon."
Sunday, Aug. 18, 1872, at 11 A. M., the Rev. Hor- ace Stringfellow read the burial service over the re- mains of Elizabeth Dallam (Lee) Wingfield, the wife, loving and beloved, of the rector, whose dying testi- mony was, "I love Jesus with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength." In the midst of her intense sufferings she exclaimed, "What are they in comparison of the sufferings of my Saviour!" She was the president of the orphan asy- lum, in the welfare of whose inmates she took a lively interest. The church was crowded. The chancel was draped in purple emblems of mourning. On the pur- ple velvet pall was worked a large white cross. The pall-bearers (vestrymen) bore it into the church, and after the services, in which the anthem was sung alter- nately by choir and priests came the sweet hymn, "An- gels of Jesus":
" Hark, hark my soul, angelic songs are swelling," &c.
As the remains were borne from the church the choir sang, "Asleep in Jesus." At the grave the sweet hymn which was a favorite with the deceased, and which her husband sung for her as she was dying, "Abide with me," was sung amidst the tears of many friends.
At the convention, 1873, Dr. Wingfield, with the
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Rev. Aristides Smith, assistant minister and vice-rector of St. Paul's church school reported : Communicants added, 43; removed, 19; died, 4; present number, 282; Sunday school teachers, 60; scholars, 342; paro- chial schools, paid teachers, 10; scholars, 160.
1874. Dr. Wingfield reported to the Council at Charlottesville for the past year: Communicants ad- ded, 22; removed, 30; present number, 274. Paro- chial schools: paid teachers, 5; scholars, So.
On 2d December, 1874, a large number of the clergy being present, the Rev. Dr. Wingfield was consecrated as missionary bishop of Northern California.
The sermon was preached by Bishop Atkinson, from the text: "It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Bishops Lay and Lyman were the presenters. Bishop Johns consecrated; five bishops uniting in the laying on of hands. The service was very solemn and imposing, and the music beautiful and well rendered. Bishop Johns in his report of it says : "I united with the bishops of North Carolina, Easton, and the assistant bishop of Maryland in the consecra- tion of the Rev. J. H. D. Wingfield as missionary bishop of Northern California. The worthy son of my carly and valued friend, Rev. J. Wingfield of Ports- mouth, a pupil of mine at William and Mary College, and afterwards a presbyter of this diocese, whom I had learned to prize for his devoted and evangelic minis- try. I could but part with him with reluctance. In his distant home of increased responsibility, arduous service and ceaseless cares, he may be assured of the affectionate sympathy and prayers of the brethren with whom he has been associated, and of their joy in the fruits with which they trust his labors will be crowned."
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Bishop Wingfield preached his farewell sermon as rector on 6th December, but continued to officiate, as- sisted by Rev. Mr. Ward.
February 2S, 1875, opened with service and address the Blandford mission school, which was begun on Bollingbrook street May 24th, 186S, with ten teachers and six scholars, and is now moved to pursue its work in Blandford. Dr. Wingfield delivering an address on, "Who hath despised the day of small things?" The room was filled, and everything conspired to en- courage the work of spreading the gospel among the people of Blandford.
On 21st March Bishop Wingfield held his first con- firmation, laying his hands on the heads of twenty- nine persons.
On 22nd he confirmed two persons, and addressed a large congregation on the results of the long season of Lent, and then he went to his distant and arduous mis- sionary field in California.
REV. CLAUDIUS RAWLS HAINS, D. D.
Dr. Hains is a native of South Carolina, and an alumnus of the Theological Seminary and of William & Mary College. He was ordained by Bishop Meade at the Theological Seminary in Virginia IS , and spent the first years of his ministry in South Carolina and in Virginia. He removed to the diocese of Mary- land and became rector of St. Timothy's church, Ca- tonsville. He had been a personal friend and classmate of Dr. Wingfield, and when the latter was elected bishop and vacated St. Paul's church, the vestry invited Dr. Hains to become its rector.
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Dr. Hains began his ministry in St. Paul's on the first Sunday after Easter, 2nd April, 1875. At the Convention of the same year he reported-baptisms 40, confirmations 31, communicants 304, marriages 6, funerals 10, Sunday school teachers 50, scholars 274, parochial schools 1, scholars 51.
At the Convention of May 1876, he reported-bap- tisms SS, confirmations 60, communicants added 100, lost by death and removal 32, aggregate 372, Sunday school teachers 53, scholars 268, parish school 68; con- tributions - Blandford mission $948, Church Home $568, other contributions $2,500. Dr. Hains adds in his remarks: "Our mission in Blandford is vigorously pushed forward by efficient lay readers and untiring lay workers. Our missionary, Rev. John McGill, left us in October for Ireland, where he died in March last, young in years, but full of good works. Our orphan- age has been re-organized under a new charter and a new name, viz: St. Paul's Church Home. We have had the good fortune to secure as matron of this Insti- tution a sister (Miss Fickling) from the Potter Memorial House in Philadelphia, to which we applied at the sug- gestion of our late beloved bishop."
1877. Dr. Hains reports-communicants added, 36; lost, 21; present number, 387 ; parochial schools: paid teachers, 1; scholars, 55.
1878. Dr. Hains reported at the Convention of this year, baptisms 40; confirmations 23; communicants added 41 ; lost 14; present number 414; Sunday school teachers 44; scholars 270; Parish school teacher 1; scholars 50.
These facts and figures need no comment; they speak for themselves, and show a steady, healthy
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growth; the communion having risen in three years from 304 to 414.
But these are not the only favorable indications. The Blandford mission, which was developed out of the mission school on Bollingbrook street, was con- ducted by the Rev. Mr. Ward until he removed to California. The guild then invited the Rev. Mr. Mc- Gill of St. John's to take charge of the Blandford chapel in connection with his work at St. John's. He accepted and worked until failing health constrained his resignation. From this time, Feb'y 12th, 1877, the mission work was carried on by lay readers. The Rev. Giles B. Cooke then took charge of it until March IS78. The work again devolved upon lay readers until March 1879, when the Rev. George C. Sutton. was invited to take charge of it and is now the mis- sionary.
The church of the Good Shepherd, on the site of the old court-house, and at the foot of the hill on whose hoary brow stands the old church in picturesque ruin, is a new and beautiful feature in the physiognomy of Blandford, a city once full of people, but now sitting solitary like a widow in her weeds.
" Childless and crownless In her voiceless woe, An empty urn within her withered hands, Whose holy dust was scattered long ago."
Another pleasing feature in the history of Bristol Parish is St. Paul's Church Home, where the poor have the gospel preached to them, and little children are clothed and fed, and are taught to sing hosannas in the temple. With such clients at their side, the
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rector of St. Paul's and the Blandford missionary and the gracious matrons and fair maidens cannot plead in vain at the bar of a Christian people, the followers of Him who has constituted every poor man, every weep- ing widow and every fatherless child his representative on earth, and has promised to reward every alms deed to them, even to the giving of a cup of cold water in his name, as if it had been done to himself.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PETERSBURG.
As the chapel of the Good Shepherd in Blandford is the outgrowth of the mission in Bollingbrook street, so St. John's church is the culmination of the Washington street mission. The first strategic point occupied by the pioneer laymen in this work was at the corner of Shepherd and South streets, in the spring of IS67. The first regular meeting of the board was at the office of Dr. Thomas Stanley Beckwith, on the 2d of April, 186S. On the 9th of May it was resolved to organize Episcopal mission school (No. 2) at some point near Bollingbrook street, under the charge of Major Cooke. On the 3Ist of May they advanced their position to the present chapel. In August the mission was merged in the Lay Association, and Doctors Wingfield and Gibson held services there. At the Convention at Charlottesville, in 1874, the chapel was made an inde- pendent church. In 1876 the Rev. Thomas Spencer became Dr. Gibson's assistant, and ministered at St. John's. In April IS79 the Rev. Mr. Spencer was chosen rector of St. John's church, and on Easter Monday of the same year, the following persons were elected vestrymen: Dr. Thomas S. Beckwith, Thomas S. Beckwith, Jr., R. O. Egerton, G. F. Deshazor, Chas.
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S. Hurt, R. H. Wilkins, W. M. Habliston, Isham F. Eanes, W. A. Beasley, Richard Bishop, Alexander Eastwood.
ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCHI.
Before the war there were a number of colored peo- ple connected with St. Paul's and Grace churches. Prominent among them was Caroline Bragg, whose heart's desire and prayer to God was, to see an Epis- copal congregation of her race. After 1865, a Sun- day school of colored people was organized in Grace church, and sustained by Alexander Weddell and Ro- bert A. Gibson, candidate for orders. At a later period another school was organized by the earnest labors of Major Cooke in connection with St. Paul's church. In 1877 Alexander Weddell organized the first Episcopal congregation of colored people in Petersburg, and min- istered to them in the chapel (reared by Rev. Horace Stringfellow, Jr., during the war), in connection with a day school, numbering 400 or more. The children were instructed in the Bible and Prayer Book. There being forty communicants, it was resolved to build a chapel-the first having been burned. Funds were contributed by Major Stone of Freedmen's Bureau, Mrs. James of the Pennsylvania Commission, and Dr. Smith of the New York Commission, amounting to upwards of $5,000. The title was vested in trustees. This was St. Stephen's church. The next step was to place over it a colored rector, and the Rev. J. S. At- well took charge of the church and parish school. He carried on the work from 1868 to 1873, adding thirty-two persons to the communion. Mr. Atwell was succeeded by Rev. Giles B. Cooke in the care of
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the church, and a Normal school of three depart- ments. The Normal school has sent out forty-two teachers to : Public schools in Virginia. J. M. Sallard and Peter Morgan have been ordained dea- cons, and Thomas W. Cain is now a candidate for orders. The work is managed by a rector and ves- try, under a committee, appointed annually at the Diocesan Council of Virginia. By the grace of God this good work, so honorable to the church and to those who have originated and have carried it to its present success, has survived and surmounted many discouragements.
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