USA > Virginia > Henrico County > Henrico County > History and reminiscences of the Monumental Church, Richmond, Va. : from 1814 to 1878 > Part 8
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" The Sunday-school numbers about one hundred and eighty. The Bible classes are flourishing. The female missionary society belonging to this church have in their treasury about $600 ; it is not probable that they will be long without the services of a mis- sionary. The education society receives yearly from this congregation very considerable assistance.
" RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, Rector."
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The Rev. Mr. Polk was elected one of the Execu- tive Committee of the Diocesan Missionary Society, and Mr. John G. Williams and Mr. Thomas J. Nel- son re-elected, the former as secretary, the latter as treasurer. Mr. Williams was also elected a delegate to the next general convention.
There is in the custody of Mr. James H. Gardner, now senior warden of the Monumental Church, a baptismal basin of solid silver, on the bottom of which is this inscription :
" Given by Martha, the wife of Edward Jaquelin, and Edward, their son, for the use of the church in James City. The last died in Hackney. Interred in Shadwell church yard. Aged 18 years. 17334." And around the rim the following is neatly cut : "After the church in James City was deserted, this basin was returned to Col. John Ambler, of Jamestown, as the representative of the donor, and by him was presented, in the year 1831, to the Monumental Church, city of Richmond, upon the condition that it should be retained in all time in its present shape, for the use of the church."
1832.
The convention met in Alexandria, on the 16th day of May.
The Right Rev. William Meade, assistant bishop, in the absence of Right Rev. Bishop Moore, took the chair as president of the convention, and the Rev. William F. Lee was appointed secretary, pro tempore.
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The Rev. Joseph H. Nichols, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, appeared and took his seat among the clergy.
Mr. Thomas Nelson attended as the lay deputy from the Monumental Church.
On Thursday, the 17th, Bishop Moore, took the chair as president; and the Rev. Mr. Lee having withdrawn, Mr. Hilary Baker was appointed secre- tary, pro tem.
The secretary received the following contribu- tions from the Monumental Church, for the contin- gent fund, $30; for the Episcopal services of Bishop Moore, $15.
The committee on parochial reports made the following report:
"The rector of the Monumental Church, in the city of Richmond, reports to the convention, that the state of his congregation continues to be very encouraging; that the attendants on Divine wor- ship are very numerous, and that since his report the last year a goodly number have been added to the communion.
"'The baptisms within the last twelve months amount to forty-nine. Communicants, one hun- dred and seventy-two.
" Owing to the indisposition of the Rev. Leonidas Polk, who was engaged as an assistant minister to the rector, he was under the painful necessity of resigning his situation and crossing the Atlantic for the benefit of his health. Mr. Polk evidenced, during his ministry in Richmond, a spirit of the
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most ardent piety and devotion to his duty; and it was with regret of no ordinary character that the rector was obliged to accept his resignation.
"The situation which was filled by Mr. Polk is now occupied by the Rev. Joseph H. Nichols, who has been well received by the congregation, and from whose filial deportment to the rector he is justified in believing that the interests of the parish will be promoted, and the evening of the rector's life rendered happy, peaceful and comfortable.
RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, Rector of Monumental Church."
Mr. John G. Williams was elected a delegate to represent this diocese in the next general conven- tion, and also, in conjunction with the Rev. John Grammer, to prepare a report of the state of the church in this diocese for the next general conven- tion.
The Rev. Leonidas Polk, a native of North Caro- lina, graduated with the class-rank of No. S, in a class of 38, at the United States Military Academy. July 1st, 1827; resigned his commission as a brevet second-lieutenant of artillery, December 1st, 1827; in April, 1830, he was admitted to the office of dea- con by Bishop Moore. After his return from Europe, in the year 1834, he was chosen rector of St. Peter's church, Columbia, Tennessee. On Sunday, Decem- ber the 9th, 1838, in Christ church, Cincinnati, he was consecrated missionary bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territory, south of 36°, 30, with provis-
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ional charge of the diocese of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and the missions in the republic of Texas. In 1841 was elected bishop of the diocese of Louisiana. He died June 14, 1864, in the mili- tary service of the Confederate States, with the rank of lieutenant-general.
On the occasion of Bishop Polk's consecration, in 1838, Bishops Meade, McIlvaine, Otey and Polk, formed an agreement that they would pray specially for each other every Sabbath morning.
Bishop Otey, in a letter afterwards to Bishop Meade, writes: "I never fail to remember you in my prayers every Sunday morning, according to a mutual agreement of nearly sixteen years standing."
Bishop John's memoir of Bishop Meade contains the form of prayer, the joint composition of Bishops Meade and Otey, intended to be used by them.
The Rev. Joseph H. Nichols, who succeeded the Rev. Leonidas Polk as assistant minister of the Monumental Church, graduated at the General The- ological Seminary, in the year 1831, in the same class with the Rev. William Norwood, D. D.
While officiating in Richmond he had an attack of derangement, which forced him to abandon the ministry for a time.
In 1836, 1837, 1838, and 1839 he appears as rec- tor of Christ church, Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1843, 1844, and 1845, as assistant to the Rev. Harry Croswell, D. D., rector of Trinity parish, New Haven, Conn. Subsequently he became professor of English literature, Racine College, Wisconsin ;
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attended the general convention of 1856 in Phila- delphia, as one of the clerical deputies from Wiscon- sin, and while there suffered a second attack of the disease which had seized him twenty-four years be- fore in Richmond, and his friends were obliged to send him to an asylum.
1833.
The convention met in the Monumental Church, Richmond, on the 15th of May. Bishop Moore in the chair, Mr. John G. Williams, Secretary.
Mr. Williams also represented the Monumental Church as lay deputy.
The secretary received from the Monumental Church the following assessments: For the contin- gent fund, $30; for Episcopal services of Bishop Moore, $24.08.
The Rev. Charles Mann, from the committee on parochial reports, made the following report :
"The rector of the Monumental Church reports to the convention that the communicants belonging to the parish amount to one hundred and seventy, or one hundred and eighty; and that he has baptized, since our last annual meeting, twenty-three children. The rector also reports, that though far advanced in years, he opens his church twice on the Sabbath ; that his congregations in the morning are large and attentive ; that he is blessed with a very considerable. number of members who are virtually acquainted with the truths of the gospel, and who are ornaments. to the Christian profession.
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"There is a very respectable Sunday school be- longing to the church, supplied with competent teachers; and which, from measures lately adopted, he has no doubt will increase in numbers. Several hundred dollars have been raised within a few months to assist in the completion of two churches in this diocese, and one in Kentucky; and the yearly stipend for the benefit of the theological students in Alexandria is now ready to be paid in.
RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, Rector."
Mr. John G. Williams was elected a delegate to represent this diocese in the next general convention.
Bishop Moore, in his closing address to the con- vention, says : "Six candidates were admitted by myself this morning in the Monumental Church to deacon's orders, and two deacons were at the same time advanced to the priesthood by my worthy friend the assistant bishop of this diocese.
1834.
The convention met in Staunton, on the 21st May. Bishop Meade presiding.
Mr. Hilary Baker, of Richmond, was elected secretary of the convention.
The Rev. Thos. Jackson, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, appeared and took his seat among the clerical deputies.
Mr. Carter H. Harrison attended as the lay deputy from the Monumental Church.
On motion of Mr. Harrison,
" Resolved, That the secretary enter upon the
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journal of this convention, the death of its late secre- tary, Mr. John G. Williams.
"Resolved, That while we bow with humility to this afflicting dispensation of God, we cannot but deplore it as one that has deprived the convention of the services of a faithful officer; the church of a useful and devoted friend, and society at large of a valuable member.
" Resolved, lastly, that in token of the sympathy of this convention in the bereavement which the family of the deceased has sustained, a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to them by the secretary."
The secretary received the following assessments from the Monumental Church : for the contingent fund, $30; for the Episcopal services of Bishop Moore, $24.08.
The Rev. George Woodbridge, rector of Christ Church, Richmond, in his parochial report, states : "During the last year I preached to the colored people a few times, but circumstances occurred to prevent regular services. Arrangements have, how- ever, been made by the Episcopal Church of Rich- mond to preach regularly to them, in the lecture room of the Monumental Church."
Mr. William H. Macfarland was elected one of the delegates to represent this diocese in the next general convention.
Rev. Thomas Jackson was elected one of the ex- ecutive committee of the Missionary Society of Vir- ginia.
"Resolved, That the assistant bishop of this diocese,
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with the aid of any of the clergy or laity whom he may call to his assistance, be, and are hereby re- quested, to prepare from time to time such tracts or sermons as they may deem suitable for the religious instruction of servants."
Mr. John G. Williams, whose death is above noticed, an eminent lawyer of Richmond, was a member of the congregation of the Monumental Church from its establishment until his death. He was the father of the Rev. William C. Williams, who was, for some years, missionary to the negroes on the Oguchie river, and is now rector of St. Peter's Church, Rome, Ga., and also father of the Right Rev. Channing Moore Williams, D. D., mis- sionary bishop for China and Japan.
1835.
On the first of January, 1835, Bishop Moore re- ceived, as a New Year's gift, a copy of the New Testament, printed in golden letters on porcelain pa- per, with this inscription :
" Presented to the Right Rev. R. C. Moore, by the citizens of Richmond, members of the different religious denominations, as a tribute of their affec- tionate regard and esteem for one who has so long and so carefully devoted his life to the great cause of Christianity."
The cost of the Testament was fifty dollars, and that the number of donors might be many, no indi- vidual was allowed to contribute more than fifty cents. In this grateful act of public regard, even
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some Jews and Romanists gladly united. The fol- lowing is the Bishop's acknowledgment of the gift :
" To Messrs. John O. Lay and Wm. Mitchell, Jr.,
" DEAR BRETHREN .- The truly elegant and ac- ceptable copy of the New Testament presented to me as a New Year's present, by one hundred of my fellow citizens of different denominations of Christians in this city, has been received, and I can assure you with great truth that they could not have conferred on me any favor which would have so richly entitled them to my sincere gratitude and thanks. It is, gentlemen, the charter-deed of our salvation-a deed sealed with the precious blood of the Lamb of God; and it is my sincere prayer that all the promises of happiness it contains may be realized by those who, in my old age, have afforded me so great an evidence of their filial affection and regard. That the present year may prove a happy year, and abound with heavenly blessings and temporal com- forts to you and all the families of the kind donors of the sacred volume, is the fervent prayer, dear brethren, of your old friend and fellow-citizen,
" RICHARD CHANNING MOORE."
Mr. Lay, one of the gentlemen to whom this letter is addressed, was a member of the Monumental Church congregation, and the father of the Right Rev. Henry Champlin Lay, D. D., LL. D., mission- ary bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territory.
Mr. Mitchell was also a member of the Monumen- tal Church congregation, and was married by Bishop
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Moore, and one of the founders of the highly esti- mable firm of Messrs. John H. Tyler & Co., exten- sive jewelers of Richmond, Va.
The convention of the diocese assembled in Lynch- burg on the 20th day of May ; Bishop Meade pre- siding, and Mr. Baker, secretary.
The Rev. Thomas Jackson, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, took his seat as one of the clerical deputies. Mr. B. Harrison Randolph at- tended as the lay deputy from the Monumental Church.
The secretary received the following contribution from the Monumental Church: For the contingent fund, $30.
The Rev. John H. Wingfield, from the commit- tee on parochial reports, presented the following :
"Monumental Church, Richmond, R. C. Moore, Rector,-Communicants, one hundred and eighty ; baptisms, three adults, forty-four children. Total, forty-seven.
"Sunday-school is in a very promising condition, and every pew on the ground-floor is rented.
"At a general meeting in the Monumental Church upwards of $4,000 were subscribed, chiefly by that congregation, for the Theological Seminary.
"Two scholarships have been formed by sundry in- dividuals for educating young men for the holy min- istry, and $100 contributed by the auxiliary society for the same. A collection has been taken up to aid funds of the prayer-book and tract society, and another in favor of the Virginia Bible Society.
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"Collections also have been made to promote the interests of the Sunday-school, and the Saturday sewing school, the last of which has recently been established for the benefit of poor children.
"There has been this year an increase in the con- tributions to the missionary society. Three classes have been formed for biblical instruction which to- gether number about one hundred."
Mr. William H. Macfarland was appointed one of the delegates to the next general convention; and Right Rev. Bishop Moore, the Rev. Thomas Jack- son, and the Rev. Wm. F. Lee, were appointed as a committee to prepare a report of the state of the church in this diocese for that convention.
REV. THOMAS JACKSON.
This gentleman was a native of Tutbury, in the county of Stafford, England. In the year 1829 there were three brothers, ministers in the Protes- fant Episcopal Church, officiating in the diocess of Virginia, to wit: Johannes Edward Jackson, rector of Christ Church, Winchester; Wm. Jackson, rector of St. Paul's Church, Alexandria; and Thomas Jackson, rector of Shelburn Parish, Louden county, residing in Leesburg. William was afterward pro- fessor of pastoral theology in the Theological Semi- nary of Virginia. Their father is reputed to have been a man of exemplary piety, and particularly de- voted to the church of England.
Thomas, in the year 1830, removed from Vir- ginia to Frederick, Maryland, and thence to Bristol,
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Penn., whence he was called to Richmond as the assistant of Bishop Moore in the Monumental Church.
While laboring here, most acceptably to the con- gregation, he was, on Sunday, November 8, 1835, after morning service, disabled by paralysis. Not long after, he removed to Alexandria, D. C., where he died in the year 1838. The Rev. Charles Mann, rector of Ware and Abingdon parishes, who married a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Jackson, says of him :
"He was far the most learned and profound theologian of the brothers, and the most truly modest and humble man I have ever known."
The Rev. William G. Jackson, formerly of this diocese, now rector of Grace Church, near St. Den- nis, Maryland, is his son. The Rev. Dr. Cummins, now assistant bishop of Kentucky, in his sketch of the life of the Rev. William M. Jackson, late rector of St. Paul's Church, Norfolk, (who was a son of the Rev. Johannes Edward Jackson,) referring to the four sons of the elder Mr. Jackson, of Tutbury, England, thus writes: "Such are the lessons of faith and hope the life of the father of these noble sons presents; and now, in the third generation, all of his discendants but one are in full communion with the church of Christ; six of them-three sons and three grandsons-in the sacred work of the ministry.
The Rev. Thomas Jackson, during his residence in Richmond, used in manuscript " The Questions
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on the Lessons, Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, in the Sunday morning service of the church, designed for Bible classes and Sunday-school," prepared by him- self, and afterwards published ; a second edition of which was printed in the year 1843, by the general Protestant Episcopal Sunday-school Union and Church Book Society.
1836.
The convention met in Fredericksburg, on Wed- nesday, the 18th of May. Bishop Moore presiding; Mr. Baker attending as secretary.
Mr. Thomas Nelson appeared as the lay delegate from the Monumental Church, and was admitted upon a certificate given by the rector.
Among the contributions to the contingent fund, the secretary received from the Monumental Church, Richmond, $30.
The bishop, in his address to the convention, says :
" The afflicting dispensation of Providence with which the Rev. Thomas Jackson was visited the last autumn, has deprived the church of the labors of an able divine and an excellent preacher. But while the church in this diocese has just reason to lament the suspension of his usefulness, it is myself, breth- ren, who feel most sensibly the privation.
" Mr. Jackson was my immediate assistant in the ministry ; we went up to the house of God as friends, and took sweet counsel together.
"Too far advanced in life to suffer any feelings but those of friendship to take possession of our
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bosoms, it was our mutual endeavor to bear each other's burthens, and by the interchange of good offices to render the path of duty a delight.
"In a moment apparently of the most perfect health, he was arrested by a disease, under the effects of which he still labors, and I am left for the present alone to discharge the duties of a very numerous congregation.
" This state of things, however, I have reason to hope will soon be changed, and by the aid of another assistant brought within the compass more suitable to my advanced years."
The Rev. Ephraim Adams, from the committee on parochial reports, made the following report, which was adopted :
" Monumental Church, Richmond, R. C. Moore, Rector .- Baptisms : Infants, 38; communicants, 180; Contributions : Bible Society of Virginia, $230; Colo- nization Society, $400 ; Bishop Moore and Jackson scholarship, $150-total, $780."
The Rev. Thomas Jackson was continued as one of the trustees of the general Theological Seminary, on the part of the diocese of Virginia, and as one of the delegates to the general convention. Mr. William H. Macfarland was also continued as one of the delegates to the next general convention.
1837.
The convention met in Petersburg on Wednesday, the 17th of May ; Bishop Moore in the chair, Mr. Baker, secretary.
PROTO-ENG.CE, NY!
REV. WILLIAM NORWOOD, D. D.
MONUMENTAL CHURCH. 129
The Rev. William Norwood, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, took his seat as a member of the convention.
Mr. Wm. H. Macfarland attended as the lay dele- gate from the Monumental Church.
The Rev. Thomas Smith, from the committee on parochial reports, made the following report, which was accepted :
"Monumental Church, Richmond, Right Rev. Richard Channing Moore, rector, Rev. Wm. Nor- wood, assistant minister. The bishop reports that his congregation is in a prosperous state ; that through the blessing of the Almighty the members are at- tentive to the duties of public worship, and regular in their attendance at the sanctuary; that he has ob- tained an assistant, who is faithful in the discharge of ministerial duty-approved by the congregation and himself; that we have not pews sufficient for the supply of applicants, and that the Sunday-school is larger and increasing in numbers. Communicants upwards of 180; baptisms, between 30 and 40."
The Rev. Mr. Norwood and Mr. William H. Mac- farland were elected by ballot members of the stand- ing committee, but resigned the next day.
The Rev. Wm. Norwood was elected a member of the executive committee of the missionary society of Virginia; and Mr. Macfarland and the Rev. Mr. Jackson were continued as delegates to the next general convention.
The secretary received, among the contributions to the contingent fund, from the Monumental Church, Richmond, $30.
9
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Bishop Moore having stated to the convention that the treasurer, in consequence of his age and infirmities, is desirous to be excused from further service, it was
" Resolved, That the resignation of Robert Green- how, Esq., be accepted, and that the thanks of this convention be presented to him for his long and faithful services as treasurer."
William H. Hubbard, Esq., of Richmond, was then duly elected treasurer of the convention.
1838.
The convention met in Winchester, on Wednes- day, the 16th of May. Bishop Moore, president ; Mr. Baker, secretary.
The Rev. William Norwood, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, took his seat as a member.
The secretary received among the contributions for the contingent fund from the Monumental Church, $30.
The Rev. George Woodbridge, from the com- mittee on parochial reports, presented a report :
"Monumental Church, Richmond, Right Rev. R. C. Moore, rector; Rev. William Norwood, assistant minister .- Communicants, 190; Baptisms : Adult, 1; Infants, 37-total, 38. We have a large and flourish- ing Sunday-school; two respectable female Bible classes, and one male class. The Bible classes are instructed by the Rev. Mr. Norwood, whose faith- ful labors are truly acceptable to the congregation and myself.
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1839.
The convention met in Norfolk, on Wednesday, the 15th of May. Bishop Moore, president; Mr. Baker, secretary.
Rev. William Norwood, assistant minister of the Monumental Church, took his seat as a member.
Messrs. Henry W. Moncure and Thos. Nelson attended as the lay delegates from the Monumental Church.
Bishop Moore, in his address to the convention, says :
"In the course of the last year, the church of Virginia has been deprived of one of the most con- spicuous of her clergy in the death of the Rev. Thomas Jackson.
"Mr. Jackson was invited to this diocese by my- self and the vestry of the Monumental Church; and officiated as my assistant until he was attacked with that disease which terminated his useful life in Alexandria. Mr. Jackson discharged his ministerial duties with such fidelity and ability as secured to him the approbation and respect of the whole con- gregation.
His discourses were always calculated to do good. He preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified; and was distinguished for perspicuity in expression, and talent in sermonising, seldom surpassed.
" The congregation hold his memory in grateful re- membrance, and never speak of him but in language of the greatest respect and love."
The Diocesan Missionary Society having reorga-
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nized, and its name changed to the Protestant Epicopal Association for the promotion of Christianity in Vir- ginia, the Rev. Wm. Norwood was appointed by the convention one of the executive committee.
Mr. Wm. H. Hubbard was appointed one of the trustees of the fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of deceased clergymen in the diocese of Vir- ginia.
The secretary acknowledged among the contribu- tions to the contigent fund from the Monumental Church, Richmond, $30.
The Rev. William Friend, from the committee on parochial reports, made a report :
" The Monumental Church, Richmond. - Right Rev. R. C. Moore, rector ; Rev. Wm. Norwood, as- sistant minister. By the blessing of God I am en- abled to report this congregation as in a prosperous state. Baptisms : infants, 35; adult, 1-total, 36. Confirmations, 17; Communicants, reported last year, 190 ; added, 22-total, 212. Money contribu- ted for various benevolent objects : for Theological Seminary, $508 ; Education Society, $95 ; for vari- ous other purposes, about $500-total, $1,103.
" R. C. MOORE, Rector."
1840.
The convention met in Charlottesville, on Wed- nesday, the 20th of May. Bishop Moore, President ; Rev. Zachariah Mead, secretary.
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