A history and record of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of West Virginia, Part 51

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Christ Church, Bunker Hill, which, during the war, had been dismantled and used, now as barracks, now as fort, by the troops of the Northern Army, had but recently been sufficiently repaired to be habitable. This church presented the anomally of a canonically independent church, having in connection with it and possessing co-ordinate powers with it. two other churches without any canonical independence, and in a different parish and county. When the new diocese of West Virginia was formed, its first Council, which met in Charleston, December 5, 1877, corrected this anomaly by au- thorizing the separation of the two churches in Jefferson county into an independent organization, under one vestry, leaving the church in Berkeley county to its original inde- pendence. Of the history of the churches in Norborne Parish, however, you have no doubt other sources of information.

The Church of St. Bartholomew, in Leetown, was built about 1845, by Rev. Lewis P. Balch, D. D., on a lot of ground given by himself, next to his ancestral home, with money contributed for the purpose by members of St. Bartholo- mew's Church, New York city, of which he was at that time the Rector. Now, in 1869, the time of my coming to this county, the antipathies created by the Confederate war were still fresh and flaming: and, as the Balch family had been on the opposite side from their neighbors, the sort of sover- eignty they exercised over the Church, by claiming the right to keep the keys and the Communion Set. so identified the church with them in the conception of their neighbors, that very many people would not attend the services. But, upon my statement of the case to the Rev. Lewis P. Balch, upon one occasion of a visit to his old home, and representing the hindrance it was to my work, he very kindly surrendered the keys and the silver to the parish authorities ; and as feeling on the subject subsided the attendance at church after a while left nothing to be desired.

Of the Church of The Holy Spirit at Summit Point it is worthy of interest to make this statement. The movement

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to establish a church at that point began the first year of my ministry in the county in the desire of some members of Grace Church, Berryville, who lived close to the depot, to have a church more conveniently near to them than their parish Church. The leader in this movement was Mr. Henry John- son, the agent and owner of the depot, and the adjoining residence; to his zeal and influence is due the first awaken- ing to the need and importance of a church at that point. On the invitation of himself and some others residing in the neighborhood, and by the recommendation of the Valley Convocation, and with the consent of my vestry, I made an arrangement to preach for them once a month in a school honse near by. That appointment I kept for twelve months only. I was officiating in a brother minister's parish, and weakening his church, with no other consent from him than silence gives; and I grew so uncomfortable in it that I gave it up. I suppose eight or ten years elapsed before the move- ment thus begun was renewed, of which the Church of The Holy Spirit is the ripened result.

Grace Church, Smithfield. (Middleway, as it is now known) was built in 1851 under the ministry of Rev. Charles M. Cal- laway. Previously the Rev. Alexander Jones, of Charles Town, had been preaching in Smithfield for the few families of Episcopalians living there. He preached in the old Meth- odist church, built in 1836, which was kindly loaned for this purpose.

The present church was built on a lot given by Dr. Samuel Scollay. The first resident rector was Rev. C. M. Callaway, who ministered also to the church at Bunker Hill. Succeed- ing him was Rev. Julius E. Grammer; and after him Rev. William McGuire. Then after the war the Rev. Theodore M. Carson, ministered to the three churches. During the period of his candidacy for orders in the Episcopal Church, he having been a Methodist minister. I followed him in 1869 with a ministry of nine years.

No sketch of Grace Church, Middleway, is complete with-

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out some special mention of Dr. Mann Page Nelson, who pre- sided at its birth, and was a nursing father to it for sixty- six years. He, with other members of his family, who fol- lowed him from Hanover county, and established families of their own, constituted the germ of the church in this place, and were the salt that preserved and savored it.

I insert here the obituary that was put on record in the Vestry book to his memory:

"Whereas, it has pleased Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, to take from us Dr. Mann Page Nelson, the Vestry of Nelson Parish desire to give expression to their feelings in relation to the decease of their late venerable and beloved brother.

Coming into this community from Hanover county, Vir- ginia, in 1822, he continued a resident of the village of Smith- field for sixty-six years, departing in the true faith at the age of SS years in the early morning of May 27th, 1888.

He was the grandson of General Nelson, of Revolutionary fame, and came of a pious ancestry who for generations have been loyal Churchmen, and illustrated in his life of faith and piety, the godliness in which he was reared. He chose med- icine as his profession, and graduating at the age of 22 years from the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, having first been a student in William and Mary Col- lege, in Virginia, settled in Jefferson county, Virginia, now West Virginia, in which and the adjacent counties of Berke- ley, Frederick and Clark, he continuously practiced for sixty odd years, until the growing infirmities of age caused him to retire. In all this time he was the pattern of an active, sym- pathetic, devoted, Christian physician, and became endeared to his large patronage. He was thrice married and had a large family of children, all of whom however preceded him to Paradise.

To him, humanly speaking, the church in Smithfield owes it's origin, and in his honor the whole parish is named. Ile was a devoted son of the church, and supported it earnestly

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and liberally, and departing, left a devise of seven acres of land to perpetuate his support of the services.

Resolved, That we bow in submission to the will of our God, and thank Him for the good example of his servant.

That we shall miss his lively interest and faithfulness, his ever ready sympathy and help, and cherish his memory as that of an humble, believing fellow servant with us of the Lord Christ.

JOHN S. GIBSON. D. W. BORDER, J. J. GRANTHAM. . Committee.

Dr. Nelson was a man of influence in his county, chiefly on account of his pure and honorable character. Under bet- ter auspices the church in Smithfield could hardly have been begun and sustained during the trials and poverty of its early career. Such was their confidence in the man, that his neigh- bors would have followed him in any movement almost of which he was the leader. He was a fair type of the old fash- ioned Virginia gentleman, a man of stately and imposing presence, of genial spirit and affable manners, easily ap- proachable, trusted, honored, and beloved by all who knew him. One habit of his, and would it were more universal among physicians, will serve to illustrate the sincerity and devotedness of his piety. He was always in his place at church. Though he had a very extended and laborious prac- tice. It must be a pressing case of illness that would draw him from church on Sunday. Often I have seen him called out of church during divine service. But always, except in very urgent cases, he would return to his seat and remain through the services. For sixty-six years he was a tower of strength to his church and to the cause of religion, a prom- inent figure, even when not a leader in every good cause.

Respectfully,

JAMES GRAMMER.

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CHAPTER XII.

Records continued. Kanawha County. Churches in Charleston, St. Albans, &c.

Kanawha.

Kanawha was formed in 1788 from Greenbrier and Mont- gomery, and named from its principal river. Square miles, 980. Population-1870, 22,349; 1880, 32,466; 1890, 42,665; 1900, 54,696.

History of the Church in Kanawha .- The article from Bishop Meade's book brought the history down to 1855. There was little progress towards building up the Church in the Kana- wha Valley or in this part of the Diocese until after the close of the war, in April, 1865; and during that eventful period of four years, with the exception of Wheeling and Parkersburg, there was not a resident minister of our Church, in the whole of the territory west of the Alleghenies. The Rectors of St. Matthew's and St. John's, Wheeling, resigned their respec- tive charges and were refugees from their homes at the breaking out of the war, in 1861. These pulpits were sup- plied at once. At the beginning of hostilities, there was no minister at Charleston, Rev. T. L. Smith had resigned Decem- ber, 1860. but was missionary-at-large, for the Kanawha Valley and the county of Jackson, but he took refuge in Vir- ginia. At the close of the war, Bishop Johns prevailed upon the late Rev. W. F. M. Jacobs to visit Charleston to revive and reorganize the Churches in Kanawha. This faithful, en- ergetic minister found St. John's Church in a dilapidated condition, scarcely fit for use; but, by some little repair to recover it from the effects of a disastrous flood. in 1861, and

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its use by the Federal army as a store house for commissary supplies during the last year of the war, it was rendered suitable for service. In June, 1865, a majority of the old vestry was convened, and Mr. Jacobs called to the rectorship of the parish. He revived and reorganized the Sunday- school, appointed a superintendent and held regular services. The old church needing repairs, he undertook to raise the means to enlarge the building by adding a recess chancel, and for this purpose visited New York and other Eastern cities, where, from liberal Churchmen, he obtained money enough to make the additions and re-seat the church with new pews.

This indefatigable and earnest minister conceived the idea of establishing a Church-school in Charleston, and had prom- ises of aid in the North. The vestry passed a resolution au- thorizing him to carry out his plan and designs. At this time, too, the the subject of a division of the Diocese of Vir- ginia was being agitated, and Mr. Jacobs took an active part in the measure. He continued to labor for the welfare of the Church, until he was stricken down with disease, March 1866, from which he never recovered, and in April, 1867, died. Had the life of this zealous man been spared and his health restored, the churches in Kanawha would have been placed upon a firm basis, and, ere this, would have been a power in the land. His death put an end to the enterprise of establishing a school upon an extensive scale, such as he contemplated: but one was started, to a limited extent, by the vestry of St. John's, a charter obtained, and, for awhile, continued under the supervision of the successive charges as Rector of Revs. Messrs. Nock and Callaway, but, for want of sufficient patronage, had to give way, and the enterprise abandoned. There was an energy, an apparent charm and fascination about Mr. Jacobs, however, that gave encourage- inent to anything he undertook; and, had he lived, there can be no doubt of his success in this important adjunct to the prosperity of the Church; and yet its failure can in no

ST. JOHN'S, CHARLESTON.

REV. ROBERT DOUGLAS ROLLER, D. D.

ST. JOHN'S, CHARLESTON.

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wise be attributed to a want of interest or zeal, or capability for management on the part of the two successors of Mr. Jacobs, for both were fully alive to the importance of the school, and did all in their power to sustain it.

The Church once had an organization at Malden, six miles above Charleston, as related by Bishop Meade. A church was built, and was known as St. Luke's, but in the same parish with that at Charleston and St. Mark's at Coals- mouth, now St. Albans. St. Luke's was built under the super- vision and auspices of the Rev. Dr. Craik. Its organization continued during the rectorship of Rev. T. L. Smith, of St. John's, who gave that congregation frequent services, some- times administering the Holy Communion; but during his- time the building, which had been very insecurely built, be- came a wreck and had to be torn down. The war coming on, the re-building was abandoned. Many families moved to Charleston, and all efforts to rebuild at Malden failed. Dur- ing the ministry of Rev. Messrs. Nock and Callaway, at St. John's, services were occasionally held at Malden, but we had to depend upon the courtesy of the Methodists and Presbyterians for the use of their churches, and, finally, ser- vices were discontinued altogether.

At St. Mark's (Coalsmouth) our Church was more fortu- nate, and, though the little church had become greatly im- paired and damaged by its use as a military stable, vet the few faithful members who remained after the war kept up the organization, with Mr. Nock as Rector, for a considera- ble period, and repaired the church and rectory. They now have a resident minister, who makes that his home and per- forms missionary labor along the railroad.

The Rev. Mr. Jacobs used to say that the Kanawha Valley was the paradise of Western Virginia, and its elements of wealth would some day make it the most populous part. and. with the building of the railroads, added to its natural ad-

vantages, his prophecy seems about to be fulfilled. * *

There are portions of this territory Iving between the head

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waters of the Little Kanawha, North and North East, and the Greenbrier and Gauley, East and South East, and the Ohio River; and, on the South Side of the Great Kanawha, from the line between the two Virginias, on the North and South East, and the Kentucky line, which our Church in due time must more carefully look after. They are coun- ties in this vast territory, where a minister of our Church was, up to a few years ago, never seen, and where the Book of Common Prayer was practically un- known, and the Bible itself too often a sealed book, to thousands. There is great need for missionary work in every county of these sections; doubtless, in many of these, men- bers of our Church may be found, and had we the men and the means, a number could be formed for successful labor among a people greatly destitute of a means of grace. We find record of the fact that, at about the close of Mr. Nock's ministry at Coalsmouth, he started a Mission among the miners on Coal River, in Boone county, south of the Kana- wha, and a similar Mission on Mud River, in Cabell county. giving to each an occasional service, as well as visiting at stated intervals Barboursville, the county-seat of Cabell, where we have a few members. After Mr. Nock left, nothing was done until the Rev. J. W. Lea, in his missionary labors along the railroad, revived the interest in the Church at Mil- ton. Here he presented a class of nine to Bishop Peterkin for confirmation in 1880. In a few years, however, removals occasioned the abandonment of our Mission at Milton, and it has been a long time since we have had services there.

Major B. S. Thompson's Reminiscences.

My Dear Bishop-In response to your request to give my recollections of the early history of the Church in this part of West Virginia, I will state that Mr. Morris Hudson and his family, who came to the Kanawha Valley from Pennsyl- vania in 1808 or '10, and settled on the Kanawha River, two miles above the mouth of Coal River, were the first Episco-

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palians in the Valley. In 1823 or 24, he built, at his own cost, a small church on a beautiful hill, just back of his resi- dence. Although it was built as an Episcopal Church, it had no Rector, so the old gentleman invited all denominations to occupy the pulpit, until it was occupied by a minister of his own Church.

In 1816. my father, Philip Rootes Thompson, moved from Culpepper county and settled at the mouth of Coal River; soon after, his son-in-law, Thornton Fry, with his family, came, and then his widowed daughter, Mrs. Eleanor B. Thor- ton, both settling near my father. These families were the nucleus from which the Church in all this region was formed.

The Rev. Charles Page was the first Episcopal minister to occupy the little brick church on the hill. It was the first time I had ever heard the service read by a minister, but it was not new to me, for I had often heard my father and brothers read it on Sunday at home. Mr. Page was, I think, sent out as a missionary to visit the benighted people of this wild western region. Mr. Page preached at Charleston, Coalsmouth and Point Pleasant for a year or so, and then re- turned to Eastern Virginia. We were without a minister for a long time after Mr. Page left. One of my brothers, Francis, was appointed lay-reader, and the regular service was held in the Church on the hill until the Rev. Frederick Goodwin came among us, preaching at Charleston and Coalsmouth, with occasional services at Point Pleasant. He was succeed- ed by Mr. John Martin, who remained for one or two years, preaching alternate Sundays at Charleston and Coalsmouth. When he left us, we were again for a long time without the services of a minister, but the congregation assembled each Sunday, and the Service and a sermon were read by the lay- reader, and this continued until Mr. Craik, a lawyer of Char- leston, who had been studying for the ministry, was ordained. He then took charge of the Church at Charleston and Coals- mouth, and labored with zeal, energy and good judgment, and the Churches prospered under his ministry.

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The Rev. F. M. Whittle, now Bishop of Virginia, succeeded Mr. Craik, at Charleston, and Rev. R. T. Brown became the Rector of the Church at Coalsmouth, the Churches becoming strong enough for each to support its own Rector.

About 1844 or '45, a village having grown up about Coals- mouth, the congregation determined to build a new church in the village, upon a ten-acre lot, given to the Church by my father, P. R. Thompson, upon which was a two-story, com- fortable building for a rectory, and a good site for a church, and this was done. The church is now used by that congre- gation. The rectory was burned during the war, but a new and more modern and comfortable one has replaced it. The church was used as a stable, by a company of Federal Cav- alry, and about ruined, but, by the blessing of God, it has been repaired and rededicated to the service of the Master.

The first vestry was P. R. Thompson, Davis Hudson, Jessie Hudson and others, whose names cannot be recalled. In other years the following acted as vestrymen: A. A. Thonton, John Lewis, Benjamin S. Thompson, P. R. Thompson, Jr., John P. Turner, George W. Thornton, Alexander Bradford, Dr. John Thompson, Francis Thompson, Robert Simms, George Rog- ers. After Mr. Page left, for some years, the congregation was without a minister, and the Methodists and Presbyter- ians came in and gathered up the sheaves bound by him, as many that he had baptized connected themselves with these Churches. The Rev. F. D. Goodwin succeeded Mr. Page, com- ing in 1830 or '31, and staying about two years. The Rev. Mr. Martin succeeded him and remained in the county about five years, giving place to the Rev. Mr. Craik, who preached occasionally for several years. Old Mr. West had charge of the parish part of a year during Mr. Craik's ministry in Charleston. Mr. Craik continued to preach at Coalsmouth until the spring of 1845, when the Rev. F. B. Nash was called to this parish. He labored zealously for several years, and during his ministry St. Mark's Church was built on a part of the lot given by Mr. Thompson for a church and parsonage.

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The parsonage was built for Mr. Martin, but was never occu- pied by a minister until Mr. Nash came. St. Mark's Church was built in 1846, and shortly afterwards St. John's, in the Valley. The congregation in Teay's Valley was first gath- ered by Mr. Craik, and an old still-house converted into a place of worship.

The church in Charleston was the second church in the Kanawha Valley, and my recollection is, that it was about the year 1828 or '29, that the first move was made towards the building of a church at this place. My mother, Mrs. Philip Rootes Thompson, was on a visit to my sister, Mrs. J. P. Tur- ner, then a resident of Charleston, when talking with the ladies of the Church, she proposed that they should have a fair on some court day to raise money to aid in the building of a church in the town, promising that the ladies of the Church at Coalsmouth would join them heartily in the effort. The ladies of Charleston entered with spirit in carrying the scheme into effect, and the ladies of Coalsmouth nobly re- deemed the promise made by my mother. The day for the long-talked-of fair came, and the four-horse wagon, withi old Uncle Robinson, the driver, was at the gate ready to take the good things prepared by the ladies of the neighborhood. The differences in faith were all forgotten, and each vied with the other in supplying the good things to tempt the pal- ate. and the beautiful and useful things to force the pocket- book. Nothing would do but my younger brother Willie and I should go in the wagon to Charleston, and a gar ride we had. I was but a boy then, but that ride and that fair will never be effaced from my memory. I thought nothing had ever been planned and executed that was equal to it.

The room was beautifully decorated with evergreens and flowers, and there was a grand display of embroidery, paint- ings, and all sorts of useful articles, and then the dinner table was beautiful; nothing like it had ever been seen in the town before, and it was loaded with everything that the art of the cook could conjure. The result was $300 or $400. This

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was the first start towards the building of St. John's Church in Charleston.

It was not so much the success of the fair financially as that it called the attention of the people to the Church, for from that time there was no difficulty in raising the money for the building. And this was how St. John's Church was started. There were but three or four members of the Church at this time in Charleston, but quite a number who were very favorably disposed towards it, and these became inter- ested in the building of the church and aided very materially in the work. Afterwards some of them became its staunch- est friends and supporters. The Quarrier family were always firm and reliable friends; so was Mrs. Lovell and Dr. Chil- ton's family.

I send you a paper which will show you just when the first step was taken towards the building of a church at Hinton. At that time, there were but thirteen communicants in the town, and we had but $500 subscribed. We bought the lot and bound ourselves to put a church building upon it within twelve months from date of the deed, to cost $1,200. We went to work and made a contract for a building to cost $1,400, and to be finished within the specified time; and it was completed and paid for, except the painting, which was not included in the contract for building.

Very sincerely, your friend, B. S .. THOMPSON. Huntington, W. Va., May 12, 1900.

Kanawha Parish .- Kanawha county was formed from parts of Greenbrier and Montgomery, in the year 1788, and, inas- much as it was usual to make parish and county boundaries coterminous, until January 24, 1799, when the Church was disestablished, it is fair to presume that Kanawha Parish has existed since 1788. There is no evidence to the contrary. Its extent was immense, beginning at the mouth of the Great Sandy, in the county of Montgomery; thence up said river with the line of said county to Cumberland Mountains;

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thence northeasterly along said mountains to the Great Ka- nawha, crossing the same at the end of Gauley Mountain; thence along said mountain to the line of Harrison county; thence with that line to the Ohio River, and with it to the beginning.

In the early settlement of the county, and of the town at the mouth of Elk, there were no churches, no ministers, few parishioners, and little or no use for a parish. It has been said that the first sermon preached in Kanawha was in 1804, by the Rev. William Steele, a Methodist minister, and the first minister located in Kanawha was the Rev. Asa Shinn in 1804. The Rev. Henry Bascom preached here in 1813 and the Rev. Henry Ruffner, a Presbyterian minister, came and preached in 1816. The first Episcopal clergyman who came to Kanawha was the Rev. Joseph Willard, about 1814. His home was in Marietta, Ohio, and his visits were of the mis- sionary order. He found few communicants, but many per- sons who were attached to the old Church and were willing to contribute to its support. His visits were to the people in the entire Valley, and he found Church people at Coals- mouth and also at Point Pleasant.

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A history and record of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of West Virginia, Part 51

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