A HISTORY OF
ST. JOHN’S PARISH
ABERDEEN, MS
Aberdeen was incorporated in 1837. It is listed in the Journal of the General Convention of 1838 as a Missionary Station of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The first service of record of our household of fait was held here in December, 1839 by the Rev. Matthias Forbes, Rector of St. Paul’s Columbus. In the year 1842 occasional services were conducted by another rector of St. Paul’s, the Rev. George Freeman.
In November, 1848 Bishop Otey of Tennessee, one of the Provisional Bishops of the Diocese of Mississippi between the period of its organization at Natchez in1826 and the coming of its first Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. William Mercer Green, the Elder, in 1850 sent the Rev. John Noble to Pontotoc and Aberdeen “with the view to unite them as one Missionary Station: but he met with so little encouragement that he abandoned the ground as hopeless of good in any effort which he could make.”
The Rev. David C. Page, rector of Christ Church, Holly Springs, reported services in Aberdeen, also organization, in 1847. During the latter part of that year the Rev. Edward Fontaine, who was in charge of St. Paul’s, Columbus, during the temporary absence of the rector, gave services also to the Episcopalians here. In January, 1848, having terminated his engagement with the Vestry of St. Paul’s, Mr. Fontaine removed to Aberdeen, giving most, if not all of his time to the local congregation, and becoming the first resident Episcopal minister in this community.
Evidently, the parish organization reported by the Rev. Mr. Page in 1847 must have not have been in existence when the Rev. Mr. Fontaine assumed his duties, for he reports to Bishop Green, under date of May 10, 1948, that St. John’s Parish, comprising seven communicants, was organized on Easter Monday of that year. Shortly thereafter in was admitted to union with the Diocesan Council.
The Rev. Mr. Fontaine, recently ordered Deacon by Bishop Otey, reports to the Bishop that a donation from the Sewing Society had enabled the preparation of the basement of the Masonic Hall for divine worship. Col. Burnett had promised the congregation a beautiful and valuable lot for a site for a church building which they expected to begin next year (1849). The congregation being unable to provide a suitable salary for the support of the minister, a liberal appropriation by the Board of Domestic Missions for 1848, and perhaps the next year, would bye necessary for that purpose.
The rest of the young rector’s report is quoted verbatim: “This thriving city already contains a population estimated at 3500. Tem years since its present site was a wilderness. It is the principal trading point of the prairie and hammock lands of North Mississippi, including in the counties of Itawamba, Pontotoc, Monroe, and Chickasaw. During the last boating season 24,000 bales of cotton were shipped from this port alone. It promises in a few years to be the largest city in our State. Now is the time for laying the foundations of the Church in it, and its importance should not be neglected. Since my ordination I have preached seventy sermons, and have endeavored to employ all my time, as well as my health and means permitted me, in the service of the Church.”
The ardent hopes of the rector for the immediate growth of his parish were not realized, weather because of the inability of the Board of Missions to augment appreciably his meager stipend or because the impatience of youth would not brook a tedious period of waiting for results, is not revealed by the records. Suffice it to say that the Rev. Mr. Fontaine, after a brief tenure of about two years, resigned his rectorship, effective August, 1849, and accepted a call to Grace Church, Canton.
It need hardly be observed that the unfulfilled predictions of the young clergyman concerning the future growth of Aberdeen would indicate that he was neither a prophet not the son of a prophet. But, in fairness to him, it should be stated that there were during that period others of the same mind. In the issue of The Monroe Democrat, dated February 11, 1851 appears a communication from a correspondent advocating a railroad for Aberdeen, in the course of which he predicts that, should it be built, there is no reason why the population of Aberdeen should not ultimately become as large as that of Memphis.
The successor of the Rev. Mr. Fontaine was the Rev. Joseph H. Ingraham, LL. D., who entered upon his duties in April, 1851. From his rectorship dates the continuous existence of St. John’s parish.
A history of St. John’s would be incomplete without detailed reference to two persons who, under God, were chiefly responsible for laying its spiritual and material foundations. These two persons were Mrs. Jane Martin Dalton and the Rev. Dr. Joseph H Ingraham.
Mrs. Dalton was born in North Carolina on September 2, 1811. In early youth she received religious instruction at the feet of the learned and godly Dr. Ravenscroft, first Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. Not long after her marriage to Dr. Robert Dalton, also a North Carolinian, the young couple lived for a short while in Charleston, South Carolina, removing later to Livingston, Alabama and, finally, to Aberdeen in the early 1840’s.
Religion was such a predominant factor in Mrs. Dalton’s life that, like Abraham, where she went she “builded there an altar.” Finding no altar of her household of fait in Livingston, she resolutely addressed herself to the task of erecting one. The present St. James’ Church is the outward evidence of her labors.
When Dr. and Mrs. Dalton reached Aberdeen they found a handful of discouraged church folk, unshepherded for the greater part of the time, and without a church building.
With characteristic zeal and devotion Mrs. Dalton exhorted her co-religionists to cling steadfastly to the faith in which they had been nurtured, cheering them with the hope that one day the Bishop might be able to provide them with a resident minister, and holding before them the vision of a church edifice of their communion in Aberdeen. No doubt the weak-hearted sought to dissuade this dauntless woman from attempting this adventure for God. But she was animated by the same sublime faith that characterize St. Theresa in she effort to erect a Lord’s house. Some of St. Theresa’s friends reminded her that she had only a penny and that she couldn’t build a church with a penny. “No”, she replied, “Theresa can’t possibly build a church with a penny but God and Theresa and the penny can.”
In spite of discouragement on every side, Mrs. Dalton, a born church builder, continued with steadfast faith and untiring zeal to strive to translate vision into reality. As the result of her labors she had accumulated a fair nucleus, for those days, toward the erection of a church building when Dr. Ingraham, in answer to her prayers, came in April, 1851 to assume his duties as resident minister of St. John’s. Within a few months after his arrival, largely through renewed efforts on the part of Mrs. Dalton, the building fund had been sufficiently augmented to justify breaking ground for the foundation of the church. The corner-stone was laid on October 16, 1851. On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1852 Mrs. Dalton entered into the more abundant Life.
In the providence of God she was not permitted to realize the complete fruition of her hopes. However, it is possible that she was present at the laying of the corner-stone. It may be that before she entered into Paradise she beheld the unfinished walls of the church building.
Her mortal remains rest in the Old Cemetery in Aberdeen in a square a short distance south-east of the entrance. Her infant daughter Jane Henderson, sleeps beside her.
Mrs. Dalton’s monument bears this inscription:
The Memory of
Mrs. Jane Martin Dalton
Born in Newbern, N. C.
September 3, 1811
Died at Aberdeen
January 6, 1852
“There anchored safe, my weary
soul shall find Eternal Rest”---
St. James’ Church in Livingston, Alabama was also founded bye her pious labors.
Her name is written in the Church of the First Born in Heaven.
Erected to her memory by the love and respect of her surviving husband. 1853.”
Not long after his wife’s death Dr. Dalton removed to St. Louis where he continued for a time to practice his profession. In his book, “Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians”, General Ruben Davis pays him this tribute: “Dr. Robert Dalton came here from North Carolina. He was for many years one of Aberdeen’s most esteemed citizens. Both as a physician and as a gentleman he was recognized as beyond reproach. He now lives in St. Louis.”
Dr. Dalton passed away several years after those lines were written. To him and Mrs. Jane Martin Dalton were born several children, among the number, Clay, Hamilton, who married Miss Maggie McMillan of Aberdeen, Hunter, Mary Louise, (Mrs. Broadnax) and Jane Henderson, who died in infancy.
The late Mrs. D. H. McQuiston (Born Mary Lou Haughton) was a namesake of Mrs. Broadnax, who was a dear friend of Mrs. McQuiston’s mother, Mrs. Sallie B. Haughton.
Before entering upon a recital of the Rev. Dr. Ingraham’s part in reviving a decadent Parish and in fostering Mrs. Dalton’s efforts to erect an Episcopal Church in Aberdeen, some account of the background of this versatile man would seem appropriate.
Joseph Holt Ingraham was born in Portland, Maine in the year 1809. In his youth he became a sailor, seeing service in one of the South American Revolutions. Afterwards he returned home and received a collegiate education. Later he became professor of languages at Jefferson College, Old Washington, the first capital of Mississippi, in the vicinity of Natchez. In 1835, when about twenty six years of age, he published in two volumes his first book, “The Southwest By a Yankee”, inspired by two trips he made to that region, one to New Orleans and vicinity and the other to Vicksburg and Natchez. This book which is to be found in the library of the Department of Archives and History at Jackson, is said to be a true picture of the times---social, economic, and otherwise. This book of travels was followed by several romances of wild adventure. In after years he wrote at least three religious romances, “The Prince of the House of David”, “The Pillar of Fire”, and “The Throne of David”. These books, especially “The Prince of the House of David”, were read during the writer’s boyhood. The first two named are to be found on the shelves of the Evans Memorial Library, being a part of the collection presented by the late Mrs. Josie Bumpas Payne.
But as will be presently noted, Dr. Ingraham’s talents were not circumscribed by the bounds of teaching and of writing.
He was not brought up in the Episcopal Church. He probably came under its influence during his connection with Jefferson College, located near Natchez, the seat of one of the oldest parishes in the Diocese. It is likely that he was confirmed in Trinity Church, Natchez, where he was subsequently ordained deacon by Bishop green on March 9, 1851, and advanced to the priesthood bye the same Bishop in the same church on February 8, 1853. It will be noted that he was in his early forties when he entered the sacred ministry.
So much by way of background. We turn not to his work at St. John’s, his first parish.
Dr. Ingraham arrived in Aberdeen on April 2, 1851, hardly two months after his ordination to the diaconate. He reports to Bishop Green that he found $1250.00 subscribed toward building a church, and there were twelve communicants. He had preached six times in the Collegiate Hall “which has been courteously offered us by the President, the Rev. Mr. Gladney, until our church is built”, Dr. Ingraham continues, “The subscription is now increased to $2800.00 and a plan of the church has been adopted”……“I find sixteen communicants in the town and neighborhood, all of whom may conveniently attach themselves to the Parish: and there are many here who were baptized in the church but who, for want of its services, have usually attended the worship of one or the other of the denominations here.”
“I find a deep interest in the church here and the field to be more that unusually encouraging.”
As previously stated, the corner-stone of St. John’s was laid on October 16, 1851. However, construction progressed intermittently, owing to various reasons, and it was not until the spring of 1853 that the building was complete. On February 23, 1852 Bishop Green made a visitation to the parish, doubtless officiating in the Collegiate Hall.
He records this interesting entry in his Journal: “Almost the first sight that greeted my eyes on entering this thriving town was the beautiful and spacious temple which the friends of the Church have erected in this community. Although in a yet unfinished state, it is still sufficiently advanced to show its chaste adornings as well as its just proportions and convenient arrangements”. He then speaks beautiful words and concerning “a humble and devoted daughter of the church” (Mrs. Dalton) “a willing disciple of Ravenscroft” and refers to her as “the chief founder”. Then he adds, “The work thus begun by this dear sister was warmly taken in hand by the pastor, the Rev. Joseph Holt Ingraham immediately upon his arrival in Aberdeen and has with commendable zeal been almost carried to completion”.
But Dr. Ingraham shared the common experience of many other builders of churches ---- vexations delays in the matter of construction, due to lack of funds occasioned by tardy payments of subscriptions, or inability to procure necessary building materials at the proper time, or what not. However in May, 1853 he reports to Bishop Green that “this edifice (St. John’s) was completed, after great struggle about three weeks ago.” The exact date is not given. It was probably finished about the middle of April, 1853. St. John’s is therefore, the oldest ecclesiastical structure in Aberdeen.
Dr. Ingraham continues: “The whole cost is $7,000.00. Of this nearly the whole will be up this year, leaving a balance of nearly $800.00 to be paid the Vestry next year from the rents of the pews, of which are sixty eight. In order to complete the church and let every dollar go towards the building I have received no regular salary, and have taught for my maintenance…………
There being no church architect here who had any knowledge of Gothic construction, I was compelled not only to be the draughtsman but contractor and architect of the building, erected it with the aid of two young men and nine slaves. I am thus particular in detail, as I have resigned the parish, to take effect in August (1853) net. And wish to present to any clergyman who is disposed to succeed me the exact condition of things.”
At this stage of our essay, for reasons that will presently by obvious, it would seem fitting that from Dr. Ingraham’s report should also be quoted his description of the original architectural lines of the church designed by him.
“The Church edifice is of brick, castellated Gothic, with angles and side walls buttressed. It is 70 feet long and 27 wide, the tower, 70 feet him, terminating in four turrets; and at each angle of the main building is a turret, and two upon the vestry room. The length of the whole wall, including that of tower and vestry, is 100 feet. A dental parapet encloses the whole roof……….The chancel is 22x12, and in shape half an octagon; and a choir, at the opposite end, is the exact counterpart of the chancel only raised on columns. These columns, as well as the railing around the choir and chancel, are richly bronzed. The chancel is completely and elegantly furnished with all the customary interior arrangements. Above it is a stained-glass triple-lancet Gothic window.”
The writer recalls that, for a while at least, in his youth, what has come to be erroneously called the “slave gallery” in recent years was occupied by the choir. Mrs. Sallie B. Haughton was the organist at the time; a reed organ was then in use. Undoubtedly, the slaves of the parishioners did worship in a part of that section of the church designated by the architect as “the choir”, for many of the slave holders of those days took thought for the spiritual welfare of their bondmen. On the pages of the Parish Register of St. John’s which dates from 1851, are found several entries of the baptism of slaves. Also in the Diocesan Journals of the 1850’s appear not a few records of the administration of confirmation by the first Bishop Green to slaves, prepared by their mistresses for this sacred rite.
The bell, weighing 1000 pounds and cast by a noted foundry in Troy, New York, was presented by D. W. Bowman and thirty five New York merchants in the year, 1853, in which year the church was completed. Mr. Bowman, an Aberdeen merchant, probably solicited subscriptions for the purchase of the bell from some of the wholesale merchants in New York City whom he was accustomed to patronize. It is said that during the Civil War the bell was secreted for a time at Prairie, remaining there until after the cessation of hostilities.
The writer has youthful recollections of its former sweetness and clarity of tone as well as of its resonance which enabled it to be heard at a considerable distance beyond the rector of the Parish in 1912 he regretted to find that the tone and volume of the bell had been impaired by reason of a crack, the origin of which is not definitely known.
Among the gifts mentioned by Dr. Ingraham are “a sweet-toned bell, an iron fence in front of the church, east expressly for us in Philadelphia, (a gift from Dr. Dalton, a vestryman of the church) also a communion service, a baptismal front, a costly Bible and Prayer Book and a Sunday School library of 400 volumes.”
Dr. Ingraham concluded his report with the pious hope that he “may see the church of his first love in the hands of an able brother when he leaves it”.
Between the period of his relinquishment of the rectorship of St. John’s in August, 1853 and his acceptance in 1858 of the dual office of rector of Christ Church, Holly Springs and rector of St. Thomas Hall, the Diocesan School for Boys, in Holly Springs, Dr. Ingraham seems to have been a non-parochial clergyman, serving as locum tenens for brief periods at Christ Church, Mobile and Trinity, Natchez, respectively, making his headquarters at Jefferson College while in charge of the Natchez parish. It is reasonable to infer that he purposely chose the status of a non-parochial priest during this devote period in order that he might devote the greater part of his time to writing “The Prince of the House of David” and “The Pillar of Fire”. The former was published in 1855 and the latter in the following year. Dr. Ingraham died in Holly Springs on December 9, 1860 fro the accidental discharge of a pistol.
On November 17, 1859, a little more than a year prior to Dr. Ingraham’s death, St. John’s Church was consecrated by Bishop Green, assisted by the rector, the Rev. Mr. Wattson and the Rev. Messers. Gibson and Stewart. Bishop Green made the following reference to this red letter day in the history of the parish: “It was truly an occasion of interest to all thus to see the completion of a work begun eight years ago, and subsequently impeded by various obstacles. In the discourse delivered in dedicating the building, I rejoiced to call up the memory of her who may be justly considered its founder. A mural tablet will soon meet the view of each worshipper in that beautiful temple to tell them of the good done unto the house of God by Mrs. Jane M. Dalton………..I am truly thankful in being able to state that a day of prosperity seems about to dawn on the Parish. Not only is it freed from debt which has long oppressed it: but it is in the possession of a rector whose instructions are very acceptable”.
The pious hopes entertained by the Bishop for the progress of the Parish were not realized. For some unknown reason the Rev. Mr. Wattson resigned his rectorship during the year following the consecration of the church. He was succeeded in 1861 by the Rev. Thomas Applegate, probably a Northern man, as were many of our Diocesan Clergy at that time. After a brief tenure he resigned, perhaps because of the fact that his situation had been rendered impossible by reason of the intense sectional feeling prevalent during those days of fratricidal strife.
For more than four years the congregation was unsheperded, either because of a death of clergy or because of the inability of the impoverished parish to maintain a rector. In October, 1866 the Rev. Ambrose W. Clarke, of blessed memory, became the first rector of St. John’s after the close of the War between the States. He found the Parish in the slough of despond. The beautiful church, completed not a great while ago, was in a dilapidated condition. Many of the stained-glass windows were broken, the once beautiful iron fence was broken down. Under his consecrated leadership the member of the congregation zealously possessed themselves to the task of the restoring of the church and grounds. The windows were reglazed, the external wood-work painted, the wells re-plastered and colored, the pew re-set, and a neat fence built in front of the building.
The Rev. Mr. Clarke, a native of Vermont, married one of his parishioners, Miss Kate Vasser, a life-long resident of Aberdeen. Of this union was born a daughter, Agnes Vasser Clarke who died in infancy. The Rev. Mr. Clarke’s fruitful ministry was terminated by death on October 30, 1871. He and their little daughter and her mother are buried in the southern part of Odd Fellows Rest. During the widowhood of Mrs. Clarke she became the wife of Allen D. Cox of Aberdeen.
In the 1870’s, during the rectorship of either the Rev. W. A.W. Maybin or of his successor, the Rev. Van Winder Shields, the Vestry decided that the only effective means of stopping the persistent leaks in the roof of comparatively low pitch, encased by a parapet wall, which was deemed responsible for the leaks.
Controversy ran high regarding the advisability of the proposed structural change. It was stoutly maintained by some of the parishioners that the architectural lines of the building would be marred by the alterations. Indeed, the writer recalls that he was told many years ago by a citizen of Aberdeen, who remembered St. John’s as designed by Dr. John Ingraham, that, in his opinion, the dominance of the tower was appreciably lessened on account of the increased altitude of the present roof. However, this gentleman conceded that the dignity of the interior was enhanced by the additional height of the open ceiling. Some of us may have been puzzled by reason of the marked difference between the architectural lines of the front of St. John’s, as indicated by its replica carved on Mrs. Dalton’s monument, and its present form. The answer to the problem is that the replica delineates the original lines of the front of the church.
We have already learned from Dr. Ingraham’s description of St. John’s that the original chancel, in shape half an octogon, occupied a raised space, 22x12 feet, in the north end of the body of the church, in the centre of which was a stained-glass triple-lancet Gothic window, above the altar. In the 1880’s, probably during the rectorship of the Rev. I. N. Marks, Jr., a recess chancel was added. The present chancel arch was chiselled out of the former solid north wall and the original triple-lancet window was moved to its present location. The frame of this window is as old as the church itself but does not contain the same glass. In subsequent years the original stained glass was removed from the frame and the present chancel memorial window installed.
To the Rev. W. A. W. Maybin must be ascribed credit for establishing the high standard of ecclesiastical music for many years maintained by the choirs of St. John’s. The Rev. Edwin D. Weed organized a vested choir about the year 1908. The pipe organ was installed probably in the early 1890’s.
The story goes that on a visitation to the Parish by Bishop Green, the Elder, the Rev. Maybin announced for the information of his one candidate for confirmation, whom he had diligently instructed for the reception of the sacred rite, that during the singing of the second verse of “My Faith Looks Up To Thee”, the candidate would come forward and present himself directly in front of the Bishop’s chair. The choir sang the first two verses of the hymn but the candidate, a shy man and a newcomer, did not appear. During the singing of the last verse the eagle eye of the rector has described the hasty exit form the church of his candidate who occupied a seat near the rear. The congregation awaited his approach to the chancel. The saintly old Bishop looked inquiringly at the rector. The almost death like stillness was broken by the whispered explanation of the rector, intended only for the ear of the Bishop but audible to the congregation: “Bishop, I regret to report that my candidate has fled.”
The writer asks the indulgence of his readers for relating from personal knowledge the anecdote in connection with Bishop Thompson.
On a hot summer day in the 1890’s the Rt. Rev. Hugh Miller Thompson, second Bishop of the Diocese, made a visitation to St. John’s. It was during the period when some of the Aberdeen families still maintained the custom of having beaten biscuit, chiefly for breakfast but sometimes for Sunday dinner, especially when guests were expected. At that time a residence occupied the lot, now vacant, just west of the church. The kitchen was in the rear of the residence, in close proximity to and about on a line with the chancel. The church windows and the kitchen windows were open. About the time Bishop Thompson, one of the profoundest theologians and ablest preachers that the Episcopal Church has ever produced, began his sermon, the cook addressed himself to the task of beating biscuit “with a good courage”, evidently resolved to hit the dough the three hundred licks customary “when us has comp’ny”. A shade of displeasure fitted across the Bishop’s classic features as he found it increasingly difficult to make himself heard, particularly at the end of his sentences when the cook, without premeditation, pounded the dough more vigorously. Meanwhile the speaker, with an ominous frown struggled to present his message, so simple yet so profound. Finally he threw up his arms in direction of the kitchen exclaimed with characteristic bluntness, “I can’t compete against that.” The Senior Warden, Dr, Joseph W. Eckford, quietly withdrew fro the church and went hurriedly to the kitchen door where he explained the situation to the embarrassed cook who didn’t know she “wuz ‘sturbin’ meeting’.” She promptly ceased her biscuit beating. Where upon the Bishop resumed his sermon.
It was during the session of the Diocesan Council, which met in Aberdeen in the spring of 1908, that our beloved Bishop Bratton who, from the beginning of his episcopate, had labored to bring to his people the vision translated into reality. Then and there, in St. John’s, necessary legislation was enacted for the beginning of All Saints’ College, Vicksburg, an enduring monument to the Bishop’s faith and perseverance.
On March 15, 1905 the writer was ordained to the diaconate in St. John’s by Bishop Bratton in the presence of his kinfolk and acquaintance. Amid similar happy environments he was advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Bratton in St John’s on September 23, 1906.
From October 1st, 1912 to July 1st, 196 the writer had the blessed privilege of serving as rector of his home parish in conjunction, respectively, with the Rev. R. Bland Mitchell, now Bishop of Arkansas, and the Rev. John Gass, now rector of a parish in Troy, New York, as associate rectors. It was a happy spiritual co-partnership. “We took sweet council together and walked as friends.”
It was entirely coincidental, and through no effort on the part of the writer, that St. John’s during his rectorship, become the beneficiary of one gift from the living and two from the dead.
Mrs. Ann Eliza Acker, a devoted communicant, who in former years had donated the pews now in use, gave the Vestry sufficient funds for the erection of the Parish House and ambulatory connecting it with the Vestry room. In the Providence of God she was spared to witness the completion of the useful additions to the church fabric before she was called to her reward.
Mrs. Hunter Dalton, a daughter-in-law of Mrs. Jane M. Dalton, bequeathed the Parish one thousand dollars without restriction as to its use. This legacy, being in effect a memorial to her husband’s mother, whom the first Bishop Green termed “the chief founder of St. John’s, was applied by the Vestry towards the restoration of the church the sadly in need of repair.
The other legacy, bequeathed by Mr. Bryan Whitfield of Monroe County, was manifestly actuated by his loving memory of his sainted mother, Mrs. Lucy Whitfield, as well as by his desire to assist towards the maintenance of services at St. John’s of which she was for many years a loyal member. The testator was probably unaware of the existence in this State of the harsh Statue of Mortmain, subsequently modified to some extent, which decreed it unlawful to devise real or personal property to religious or charitable organizations. However, the heirs of the estate, as a matter of grace, presented the Vestry with the sum of one thousand dollars. The interest on this amount, in accordance with the terms of Mr. Whitfield’s will, applied toward the payment of the rector’s salary. The amount of the bequest was twenty five hundred dollars.
In later years, Mr. J. I. Acherson presented the church with certain shares of stock, the dividends on which are applied to the Parish budget.
In recent months the Parish has received from one of the newly confirmed members, Mr. Clarence C. Day, a generous gift for necessary repairs on the church property. Together with his gift he gave freely of his time and of his experience, personally superintending the repair work.
It is also fitting that reference should be made to the fact that the Parish will shortly become the beneficiary of a gift of two hundred dollars from the late Mrs. Josephine Thompson Ewing, a devoted communicant of St. John’s for more than fifty years.
Besides these bequests of a pecuniary character St. John’s, during its existence of more than ninety years, has been the recipient of many gifts, mostly memorials, for the service of the altar and of the chancel.
Three mural tablets commemorate, respectively, Mrs. Jane Martin Dalton, Mrs. Sallie Brownrigg Haughton and Mrs. Ann Eliza Acker. It is likely that the first named tablet was the gift either of the Dalton family or of Bishop Green, the Elder. The tablet in memory of Mrs. Haughton, sometime organist, choir leader, and Sunday School worker, was presented by her children. The members of the Woman’s Guild were the donors of the tablet commemorating Mrs. Ann Eliza Acker.
The chancel widow, a memorial to the dead of St. John’s Parish, was installed under the leadership of Mrs. Ellen E. Gillespie. Its theme is the Ascension of our Blessed Lord. On the west side of the church is another memorial window, presented by Mr. and Mrs. Humphreys Holder in remembrance of their daughter, Frances Sykes Holder. Its theme is the Cherub Chorus.
For the service of the altar and of the chancel have been presented the following gifts, via: Altar cross of white marble by Mrs. Oatwell, mother of Mrs. Mary O. Stark; a pair of brass altar vases by Mrs. J. C. Estill; a brass altar desk by Mrs. Robert E. Gorce in memory of her mother, Belle Terrell McMillan; a pair of brass candlesticks presented by Major and Mrs. A. L. Alexander in memory of their son, Albert Lee Alexander, Jr.; a pair of brass candlesticks presented by the Rev. Charles G. Hamilton in memory of his brother, Augustus Frey Hamilton; a pair of brass candlesticks by the Rev. and Mrs. Edwin D. Weed; Chalice and Paten by Mrs. Sallie Dortch Keenan; silver collection plates by Mrs. Acker Rogers in memory of her parents, Ben Howard and Mary Houston Gillespie; Brass Receiving Alms Basin by Mrs. Ellen E. Gillespie; Ciborium in memory of Mrs. Adaline M. Bradford, donor not known; glass Communion cruets by the Misses Hattie and Sallie Johnson in memory of their father, I. Y. Johnson: Hymn Board by the choir in memory of Mrs. Carrie Y. Hooper: Bishop’s chair by the three sisters, Masdames Ann E. Acker and Kate V. Cox, and Miss Jennie Vasser, in memory of the first bishop of the Diocese: Priest’s chair by Masdames Richard Nelson and Byrd Drake, in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Anderson and their sister, Annie Anderson; Prayer desk carved and presented by Captain J. C. Estill; Credence by Mrs. Grace Pinkerton, in memory of her husband, John G. Pinkerton; Processional Cross by the Sunday School, in memory of Q. O. Eckford, sometime Superintendent; Baptismal Front by Mrs. Lucy Whitfield, in memory of her little daughter, S. E. Whitfield; Oak Top to Font, with brass trimming, by Mrs. Kate v. Cox, in memory of her infant daughter, Agnes Vasser Clarke; Alter Service book, lectern Bible and chancel prayer book by Mrs. C. C. Day in memory of her mother, Mrs. Corinne Acker Rogers; Wooden Cross and candle stick for altar in Parish House, carved and presented by Major George W. Edgerly, a memorial to his wife’s father, D. H. McQuiston, vestryman and treasurer for many years; Prayer Desk in Parish House by Mrs. G. H. Watkins, Sr. The funds for the purchase of the chancel carpet were raised through the efforts of Mrs. B. H. Gillespie and her sister, Miss Sue Houston. The funds for the purchase of the carpet in the body of the church were raised by Mrs. J. A. Gay and Mrs. Sadie Sykes Deal. The altar hangings and the Communion linens were presented by the Altar Guild, few in number buy fervent in Spirit.
After a careful study of the excerpts from Bishop Green’s diary regarding the erection of St. John’s as well as of the reports from Dr. Ingraham bearing on the subject, the writer is impelled to record his conviction that fitting recognition of Dr. Ingraham as the co-founder of the edifice should be made by means of a mural tablet. In their mutual adventure for the glory of God, Mrs. Dalton was the counterpart of St. Paul who planted, and Dr. Ingraham of Apollos, who watered, “But God gave the increase”. To paraphrase the words spoken by Bishop Green at the consecration of St. John’s in 1859 in reference to the memorial tablet to Mrs. Jane M. Dalton----May the day soon come when a mural tablet will meet the view of each worshipper in this beautiful temple to tell of the good also done unto the house of God by the Rev. Joseph Holt Ingraham.
In conclusion, the writer would make grateful acknowledgement of the valuable aid rendered him by the Rt. Rev. Theodore D. Bratton, Captain T. H. Shields, and the Rev. Val H. Sessions, and Mr. Nash Burger, Historiographer of the Diocese who, at the expenditure of much time and patience, delved into the Diocesan Archives of a distant past in search of data bearing upon this essay, without which its preparation would have been will nigh impossible.
