USA > West Virginia > A history and record of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of West Virginia > Part 28
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This brings us to the present, and until we have a report
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from the Rectors of the present Parishes or their Vestries. we are unable to proceed.
We recommend that the aforesaid authorities, do furnish the information necessary to make a complete report, which can be done by the next Council.
We want now, the boundaries of the present Parishes. All of which is respectfully submitted.
ROBT. DOUGLAS ROLLER, S. S. GREEN, W. S. LAIDLEY.
Deputies to the General Convention:
Rev. R. R. Swope, D. D., Rev. Dallas Tucker, Rev. R. D. Roller, Rev. S. S. Moore, Messrs. W. S. Laidley, Col. Wm. P. Craighill, B. M. Ambler, E. I. Lee.
Alternates: Rev. J. Brittingham, Rev. Henry Thomas, Rev. T. H. Lacy, D. D., Rev. Geo. A. Gibbons; Messrs. W. E. Watson, W. G. Harrison, I. H. Strider, Capt. W. B. Colston.
The Council of 1893. Clarksburg.
The Sixteenth Annual Council met in Christ Church, Clarksburg, Wednesday, June 7th. Present nineteen of the Clergy and twenty-two of the Laity.
From the Bishop's address:
Rev. R. H. Mason.
On Thursday, May 25th, the Rev. R. H. Mason, late Rec- tor of All Saints', Union, entered into his rest. He had been for a year or two residing in Virginia and officiating at Basic City, showing there, as always throughout his ministry, an earnest desire to be about his Master's business. He some- times spoke of growing infirmities, but his generally cheerful spirit and his constant and keen interest in the progress of the kingdom of God, kept us from realizing what we can now understand, how that his strength had been for some time failing. Mr. Mason was widely known throughout the Diocese, having served in the ranks of the Clergy from its organization, and wherever known, he was loved and hon-
3
REV. W. B. EVERETT, M. D.
ST. JOHN'S RECTORY, HARPER'S FERRY.
0
C
1
OLD ST. JOHN'S, HARPER'S FERRY.
-
ST. JOHN'S, HARPER'S FERRY.
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ored. He was ever ready to depreciate himself and his work, and counted it his chief privilege to spend and be spent for Christ's sake. He preached the truth and lived it, so that in his daily walk and conversation, he was an Epistle known and read of all men. Tenacious of his own opinions, he had a large hearted charity for others. He loved the Brethren, and as much as in him lay, sought to do good unto all men. To varied knowledge and a thoughtful mind, he united the simplicity of a child, so that the learned and unlearned, the ancient and the little child all found delight in his so- ciety. All Saints' Church, Union, is a monument to his unwearied Missionary zeal. He fostered the work there at great personal self-sacrifice, when each visit involved a long and laborious ride across the mountains from the Warm Springs, Virginia, where he then lived. And to his intelligent and faithful earnestness we are also largely indebted for St. Thomas' Church, White Sulphur Springs. To establish these churches, our dear Brother labored long and arduous- ly and we have entered into his labors. Of singularly gen- tle and pure spirit, he commanded the confidence and respect of all his Brethren. When he was with us we might say of him, as the Master said of Nathaniel, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile," and now that he is no longer here to share the joys and trials of the common work he loved so well, we can write his Epitaph. "He walked with God, and was not, for Good took him."
Mission to Brazil.
I have been asked by the American Church Missionary So- ciety to take charge of their work in Brazil, and the Presid- ing Bishop has enforced the request by appointing me to the duty. Such oversight, as is necessary, will involve at least one trip to that distant country, which will perhaps consume as much as four or five months' time. As far as I have been able to learn from the general opinion express. ed in regard to the matter, and after consultation with the Standing Committee, it seems to be my duty to accept the
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charge thus committed to me, and to endeavor to meet the responsibility as best I can. When first proposed, the duty seemed something, I could not venture to undertake, requir- ing as it does such long continued absence from the Diocese, which though never more encouraging than at present, yet calls for constant care and supervision on the part of the Bishop. Various considerations have, however, modified my first impression upon the subject. The request was from a Society which has been, and still is, most liberal in its appropriations to our Missionary work in West Virginia; the Presiding Bishop has expressed himself clearly in favor of my going, and others of my Brethren among the Bishops, notably the Bishop of Virginia, to whose Canonical Juris- diction our four Clergy now in Brazil belong; take the same view, and my friends and Clergy generally throughout my own Diocese think that I ought to go. I have therefore' con- sented to do so, and I shall trust that the Mission thus un- dertaken will be for the glory of God and for the good of his Church. I have always thought that this work in Brazil had special claims upon us, not only because it had is origin, and has so far drawn its workers from Virginia, but be- cause of the effort to establish closer commercial relations between our own country and that great South American Republic. It is surely time that the Christianity of North America was beginning to make itself more felt in the south- ern part of the Western World, and that we should do our part in trying to bring this whole Western Hemisphere into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
As far as my own work in West Virginia is concerned, I may frankly say that I have tried to give myself to it. By the blessing of God I have been kept in such full health that four weeks' time is the full measure of all I have taken for anything that could be called recreation in the fifteen years during which it has been my high privilege and honor to labor in this field, where as I believe the Holy Ghost has made me your overseer. I have thoroughly enjoyed the work, and desire nothing more than that if it be the will of
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God, I may be permitted to prosecute it with uninterrupted diligence during the years that are yet to come. But I would avoid the folly of thinking myself necessary to the work, and I know that when a man is continuously in his place from one year's end to the other, he is in some danger of falling into this error. I would feel that I can safely com- mit the work here, for the time, into the hands of an intel- ligent and devoted body of Clergy and Laity, and that no interest will materially suffer. It may be in God's provi- dence that this will be the way to make the great body of the Church, realize more than they otherwise would do, their own responsibilities, and the possibilities of their unit- ed and vigorous efforts.
I ask the united prayers of my people for my safe voyage to and from that distant field, for God's blessing and guid- ance for the work which I am commissioned there to do, and for such refreshment of mind and body by this extend- ed travel, that I may be able on my return, to labor in my own beloved Diocese of West Virginia with the greater vigor and efficiency. Certainly dear Brethren I shall carry you and yours in all your manifold labors, in your various fields, constantly on my heart, and shall pray the good Lord to bless you severally as you have need.
Trusting that while I am on my journey to hear from time to time of your well being, and shortly to see you again face to face, and to carry on again, with renewed energy, our common work, I give you this charge as I go to a distant land for a little time, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you over- seers, to feed the Church of God which he purchased with his own blood. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all that are sanctified."
The Rev. Dr. Moore offered the following, whichi was unan- imously adopted by a rising vote:
The Council having learned through the address of the Bishop that he has been selected for the oversight of the
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Missionary work of the Church in the Republic of Brazil, and that, pursuant to the duties of this new call, he will probably sail for that country in the course of a few weeks, and desiring to put upon record its appreciation of the value of his services, both in his own Diocese and wherever else they may be rendered; Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That we, the members of this Council, speaking for ourselves and for his people throughout the Diocese, do tender to him the assurance of our affection and of our prayers that he may have a prosperous journey and be safely restored to us. We bid him Godspeed in this work and trust that in doing it he may find, not only opportunity to min- ister to those to whom he goes, but also some relaxation for himself from his abundant labors, such as his unweary- ing devotion to the Diocese during the past fifteen years, has nobly earned for him. His care for the Diocese and his unfailing and affectionate interest in all his people have so endeared him to us all that we feel our words superfluous, when we say to him that our prayers will be with him in all his journey and with our thoughts will follow him by day and night, on land and sea.
Parish Boundaries.
The Rev. R. D. Roller read the following report of the Special Committee on Metes and Bounds of Parishes.
To the Sixteenth Annual Council of the Diocese of West Vir- ginia; Assembled at Clarksburg, 7th June, 1993:
The undersigned Committee on Metes and Bounds of Par- ishes, appointed by the Fourteenth Council, and continued by the Fifteenth Council, respectfully report:
In the report made by your Committee to the Fifteenth Council, and which is published at page 34 in the Journal of said Council, an account of the formation of Parishes in the territory comprising this Diocese, from its first set- tlement to the date of the organization of this Diocese, was given, so far as we could obtain information ; which report
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is asked to be read in connection with and as a part of this report.
Your Committee having exhausted all the records and data to which they could gain access, addressed a circular letter to each of the Rectors in this Diocese, and to many of the leading Laymen, asking information as to when and by what authority their parish was organized, what change has been made in its boundaries, what are its pres- ent boundaries, as ascertained or claimed, and how they ob- tained their information.
Many of the letters were answered; but your Committee regret to say that in only a very few instances was any in- formation obtained, owing to the imperfect manner in which the early records were kept. Hence, our report on the matter under consideration, must be very incomplete, and inaccurate.
Resuming then, our account of the formation of Parishes from the organization of this Diocese, the period to which it was brought in our former report, we have:
St. John's Parish, Wheeling, Ohio county, ceased to be a Parish in 1877. We therefore report its territory as hav- ing reverted to, and now comprised in St. Matthew's Par- ish, Ohio county.
St. Luke's Parish, Wheeling, was admitted in 1881, and comprises the whole of Wheeling Island, in Ohio county.
Greenbrier Parish-The old formation of Greenbrier Par- ish seems to have been disregarded, probably because there may not have been any Church organization there, since the report of all laws relating to the "late Protestant Episcopal Church." in 1799. And in 1883 it was admitted by the Coun- cil of the Diocese, its boundaries to be all of the county of Greenbrier (except the White Sulphur Springs Mission) and the town of Alderson in Monroe.
Nelson Parish, in Jefferson county, was admitted by the Council of this Diocese in 1888, its boundaries to comprise so much of Jefferson county as is embraced in Middleway
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Magisterial District, and all of the Kabletown Magisterial District, West of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.
We also report the following as old and recognized Par- ishes although we can not ascertain when they were organ- ized, nor their exact boundaries.
Kanawha Parish, Kanawha county, which we report, from our best information as embracing all of Kanawha county, except that portion embraced in Bangor Parish; Kanawha Parish having been formed when the county was very much larger than at present, it is probable that the original Par- ish lines embrace portions of other counties, formerly in this county, but as it would be impracticable to follow these lines, we limit its boundaries to the present county, except- ing Bangor Parish as above.
Bangor Parish, in Kanawha county, boundaries not known, except that Davis Creek is claimed as its Eastern boundary on the South Side of Kanawha river; whether any portion of the county North of the river is claimed as being in its boundary we do not know.
St. Andrew's Parish, in Jefferson county, boundaries sup- posed to be those of the county, except Nelson Parish, as above bounded.
From our former report, and the foregoing in this report, we give the following table of Parishes now existing in this Diocese, in which we drop the old Parishes of the Colonial Government; for although together they covered the whole of the territory now comprising the Diocese, yet in large portions thereof there are no Church organizations, and they are considered as waste places, and as fast as they can be occupied are admitted as new Parishes:
Parishes.
Name.
Date.
Territory and Bounds.
All Saints'. .. 1871. Monroe county, except town of Alder- son.
Bangor Portion of Kanawha county, West of Davis Creek.
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Name.
Date.
Territory and Bounds. Emmanuel. ... 1872. Portion of Wood county, around Vol- cano.
Emmanuel. . 1876. Hardy county, Old Hardy Parish of 1790, was what may have been taken from Hardy county.
Greenbrier .... 1SS3. Greenbrier county (except White Sul- phur Springs Mission) and Alderson, in Monroe county.
Kanawha. 1788.
Kanawha county, except Bangor Par- ish.
Madison
Pocahontas county.
Norborne 1769.
Berkeley county.
Nelson. 1888.
Portion of Jefferson county, Middle- way Magisterial District, and that portion of Kabletown Magisterial District West of Shenandoah Val- ley Railroad. Mason county.
Pt. Pleasant .. 186S.
Ravenswood ... 1852.
Part of Jackson county.
1846.
Parish in Jackson county .- No name.
St. John's. . . 1852.
Pleasants county.
St. Luke's .... 1881. Wheeling Island, Ohio county.
St. Andrew's .. Jefferson county, except Nelson Par- ish. St. Matthew's. All of Ohio county. except St. Luke's Parislı.
St. Paul's.
Lewis county.
St. Paul's 1850. Putnam county.
Trinity. 1850. Marshall county.
Trinity. 1846. All of Wood county. except Emman- uel Parish.
Trinity 1876. Monongalia county.
Wetzel. 1851. Wetzel county.
There must be Parishes in such counties as Harrison, Cabell and Marion, but of these your Committee has no in- formation.
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There are probably other Parishes in the Diocese, but your Committee has no information concerning them.
We could very properly close this report here; but in view of the fact that some questions have been asked your Committee, as to the good of this report, and as to the good of the Parish organization or division of territory. We take the liberty of making a few remarks and suggestions. History and experience has demonstrated that in carrying on government of any kind or seeking the establishment, and acceptance of any system or belief, over a large expanse of territory, the work can be more thoroughly and effective- ly accomplished, by dividing the territory into small and defined districts, and even sub-districts, and committing the care of local matters therein to the inhabitants thereof, and incidentally imposing on them the obligation of an earn- est and faithful attention thereto, or of being left behind in the race.
For these and other reasons we see the same policy has been adopted from the first in our Church organizations, by the division of the territory occupied by it into Dioceses, and the division of the Diocese, into Parishes or other districts.
Independent of the foregoing, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, of which this Diocese is a part, in paragraphs 1 and 2 of section 6 of Canon 14 of Title I, in the Digest of Canons, has recognized the Parish organiza- tion in such terms, as to make it almost obligatory on the Church in the various Dioceses to divide them into Parishes.
Canon 10 of this Diocese, in spirit, certainly, if not in let- ter, requires the division of the Diocese into Parishes, And as the Diocese is composed of the whole State of West Vir- ginia, your Committee recommends:
That the Parishes heretofore reported by them as now existing in the Diocese, be continued and recognized as such, until altered or divided as provided by Canon 9.
That in counties where there are more than one Parish, the boundaries whereof are not defined as in Kanawha and
REV. JAMES N. DEAVER.
ST. PHILIPS, CHARLES TOWN.
REV. WALTER L. BURWELL.
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Wood counties; let the Rector and Vestry of the several Parishes agree upon boundaries, and report the same to the next Council as the boundaries of their respective Parishes.
That the rest of the Diocese be divided by this Council into Parishes corresponding with the boundaries of the sey- eral counties, whether there is any Church organization therein or not.
That the Secretary of the Council and Registrar make and keep a Parish list.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
ROBT. DOUGLAS ROLLER, S. S. GREEN, W. S. LAIDLEY.
The Council adopted the following memorial:
Rev. Richard H. Mason.
"Alive Forevermore."
The Council of the Diocese of West Virginia, at its ses- sion held in Clarksburg, (June 7th to 10th) 1893, having ap- pointed the undersigned a Committee to express the senti- ments and feelings of the Council in view of the death of that earnest, faithful and beloved "Man of God", the Rev. Rich- ard H. Mason; we desire to testify that, in our judgment, there has been lost to the Diocese and to the Church Mili- tant, one of the very most noble, pure hearted, unselfish and devoted of all God's children on earth.
Our beloved brother knew well what it was to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ". He was so entirely devoted to winning souls for Christ that he count- ed his life as nothing to promote this end. So over the most untraveled roads, in the intensest cold of winter and heat of summer, he went on the glad errands of mercy to carry the "Story of the Cross," and sound on many a moun- tain and in many a valley "the good news of the Kingdom." A man endowed by nature with many rare and excellent gifts, he was also a man of uncommon erudition. His read- ing was extensive, his learning was profound, his knowledge
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was accurate, but after we have said all this, it still remains true that for Richard H. Mason, his most conspicuous trait was his "unselfishness," and his sturdy and stalwart devo- tion to Duty. No matter what his friends or the world might think, he always had the courage of his convictions and would do what he believed to be his duty, no matter what the consequence. He was a member of the Council from the very organization of the Diocese, and ever ready "to spend and be spent" for the promotion of the "love of Christ," and the planting and nourishing of the Church that he loved so much better than his own life. He died at the Warm Springs, Bath county, Virginia, May 25th, 1893, after a painful and lingering illness. He had been for the latter years of his life laboring so far as able, within the Diocese of Virginia, but still held his canonical connection with this Diocese. He was ordained in 1853. After 40 years spent in the ministry, after 40 years of laborious service, he is at rest, and has won his Saviour's approving smile, and heard His loving voice say "well done thou good and faithful ser- vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them."
He leaves a wife and one daughter to whom the Diocese extends tenderest sympathy in this sad hour of affliction.
For the Diocese, T. H. LACY, W. S. LAIDLEY. Committee.
The Council of 1894. Wheeling.
The Seventeenth Annual Council met in St. Matthew's Church, Wheeling, Wednesday, June 6th. Present sixteen of the Clergy and thirty-two of the Laity.
From the Bishop's address:
Mission to Brazil.
"Thursday, 6th July. On this day, after constitut-
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ing the Standing Committee, the Ecclesiastical au- thority, to act during my absence, I left my home for New York in order to take passage for Brazil, via Eng- land, on Saturday Sth. This visit was in pursuance of the Mission undertaken by appointment of the presiding Bishop. to look after our Church work in that distant country. Of this I spoke in my address to the Council in 1893, and I pre- sent with this address my formal report and record of my visit, and request that they be printed in the appendix of this Journal, as giving information concerning matters that ought to interest all our people. Under these circumstances it is not necessary that I should speak particularly of my visit to Brazil. My absence extended to Saturday, Novem- ber 25th, when I landed in New York upon my return, thank- ful to God for His providential care during all the dangers of the way, and also that it had been my privilege to lend a helping hand in the great work of preaching the Gospel, to those poor, who in that distant Southern land, are scattered abroad as sheep having no Shepherd.
During this extended trip besides the services rendered in Brazil, for which see appendix "C" to this Journal, it was my privilege to preach twice on the steamship Berlin, en route from New York to Southampton, viz, on Sundays the 9th and the 16th of July; also twice on the steamship Clyde, on the voyage from Southampton to Rio de Janerio on Sun- days the 6th and 13th of August; and three times on the steamship Trent, on the return voyage from Rio to South- ampton, viz., on Sundays October 22nd and 29th and on No- vember 5th. I also preached in the English Chapel in Rio de Janerio on Sunday, October 15th.
Having reached New York on Saturday November 25th. I proceeded to Richmond, Va. Here on Sunday 26th I preach- ed in St. James Church, and on Thursday 30th of November, Thanksgiving Day, I preached in Grace Church, Richmond.
Vestrymen.
It is not unusual to hear complaints made of our Vestry
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system, indeed some persons openly advocate its abolition. Whether we hold such views or not, the fact of frequent com- plaint ought to make us look well to the working of the sys- tem, and endeavor to make it as efficient as possible. So far as I know, no one in this Diocese desires to see the pre- vailing method of managing the temporalities of our Churches by Vestrymen, and other like officers seriously mod- ified, much less altogether discarded, and even if any did, there is not much likelihood that any such result can be at- tained, nor has it been made to appear as yet that it would be desirable. Our wisdom then, while we have the system, is to make it thoroughly efficient in training the Vestrymen them- selves, and also in developing the aggressive power of the Church. There are some anomalies which have crept into our administration which it seems to me, call for correction by the voice of the Church speaking through the Council-if they be not in the power of the Vestries themselves.
As to qualifications of Vestrymen and other Church offi- cers, there has been for some years considerable difference of opinion, some persons desiring to see the office restricted to communicants, and others opposing such restriction. That question has been practically settled for the present at least by the failure to establish any such test. The qualifi- cation of Vestrymen is now that of an Elector, and all such as are communicants, twenty-one years of age and over, who for six months next preceding the election have been bona fide members of the Parish in which they offer to vote, and all persons twenty-one years of age, and over, who for the same space of time have been regular worshippers in the same and regular contributors to its support by pew rent, or subscription or by some method by which they shall be known to the Treasurer of the Vestry, and relied upon as such.
As far as being a regular contributor is concerned the Canon expressly rules out those who simply put something in the collection from time to time. A regular contributor
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is one who gives to the support of the Church by pew rent, or subscription, or by some other method, by which he shall be known to the Treasurer of the Vestry, and relied upon as such. Of course there may be some difference of opinion as to who are to be regarded as regular worshippers, but I think that one who, with abundant opportunity goes only once or twice during the year, can hardly be called such.
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