 |
From
"Resuscitation" through the War Between the States
| 1823 |
Opening of Virginia Theological
Seminary. Founding of the Diocese of Georgia at Saint Paul's Church,
Augusta. |
| 1839 |
Publication of "Tracts for the Times"
in the United States. |
| 1842 |
Founding of Nashotah House seminary
by Breck, Adams, and John Henry Hobart, Jr. |
| 1843 |
Increasing controversy in the United
States surrounding the Oxford Movement. |
| 1845 |
Founding of the Sisterhood of the
Holy
Communion, an order of nurses, in New York City by William Augustus
Muhlenberg and Anne Ayers. They founded St. Luke's Hospital in 1850. |
| 1853 |
Bp. Levi Silliman Ives deposed at
General
Convention for having left the Episcopal Church for the Roman church.
Presentation of the Muhlenberg Memorial, the beginning of an ecumenical
movement. |
| 1857 |
Founding of the University of the
South at Sewanee. |
| 1860 |
South Carolina secedes from the Union. |
| 1861 |
The southern bishops meet in
Montgomery
from July 3-6. Stephen Elliott, Jr. was Presiding Bishop. William Meade
presided at a second meeting in Columbia later that year. Adoption of
the constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate
States of America. |
| 1862 |
From March 19-21, the Bible
Convention of the Confederate States of America meets in Augusta. |
| 1862 |
The General Convention of the
Protestant
Episcopal Church at which the southern delegation was marked as
"absent". On November 22, a pastoral letter from the bishops of the
Protestant Episcopal Church to the clergy and laity of the Church in
the Confederate States in America is delivered at the General Council
meeting at Saint Paul's. |
| 1865 |
The 28th General Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, attended by a few delegates and bishops of
the southern church. On November 8-10, the second and last General
Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States in
America meets at Saint Paul's, with Stephen Elliott, Jr. as Presiding
Bishop. |
One of the major issues in the national
church of the 19th century
was the conflict between Low Church (Evangelical) and High Church
(Anglo-Catholic) thought. Much of the conflict centered on the idea of
"baptismal regeneration", and the growing influence of the "Oxford
Movement" in the United States, beginning with publication of "Tracts
for the Times" in 1839. Seabury was a high churchman in the Laudian
(Archbishop William Laud of England) tradition, as was Bp. John Henry
Hobart. The Hobartian High Church Party antedates the English Oxford
Movement. The "Tracts" of the Oxford Movement found favor at General
Seminary (which became known as "Little Oxford"), but not at VTS. They
were never popular among the Hobartians or Evangelicals. Bishop Levi
Silliman Ives of North Carolina defected to the Roman church, and was
deposed at the 1853 General Convention.
Although the Episcopal Church did divide
during the Civil War, it
did reunite quickly after the war was over. The Church in the South had
not been strong prior to the Civil War. The Church had largely agreed
not to discuss the issue of slavery, considering it a political matter,
although Bp. Seabury of New York and Bp. John Henry Hopkins of Vermont
wrote treatises in support of slavery. Once the Confederate States of
America was formed, the southern church was forced to separate from the
United States. Bishops Leonidas Polk of Louisiana (the "Fighting
General") and Stephen Elliott, Jr. of Georgia formed the Southern
church, and Bishop Elliott became Presiding Bishop. Prayer Books
smuggled into the South, hidden in cotton bales; these became known as
"Cotton Books".
At the 1862 General Convention of the
Episcopal Church, the role was
called as if there had been no secession, and the southerners were
marked as "absent". This action facilitated speedy reunification after
the war. (The Baptist church has never reunited; the Methodists
reunited in 1939, the Lutherans in 1918, and the Presbyterians in 1961.)
| 1822 |
The first organ in Saint Paul's
Church is installed in the gallery. It is manufactured by Mr. Thomas
Hall of New York. The first organist was James Hewitt (1770-1827), an
Irishman whose national reputation in the United States as a musician
was well known. |
| 1823 |
On February 24, the Diocese of
Georgia is
founded at Saint Paul's Church, Augusta with Christ Church, Savannah
and Christ Church, Saint Simon's Island as the original parishes.
Bishop Nathaniel Bowen of South Carolina presided at the convention.
Delegates from Saint Paul's include the Rector, Hugh Smith, with lay
delegates, John Course, Edward F. Campbell and Dr. Thomas I. Wray.
Bishop Bowen was invited to perform Episcopal offices in Georgia. Each
church was to pay $1,500 per annum to the Diocese for its support. |
| 1823 |
The Diocese establishes the
"Protestant
Episcopal Society for the General Advancement of Christianity in the
State of Georgia." This is intended as a mechanism by which additional
Episcopal Churches can be established in Georgia. |
| 1826 |
Saint Paul's Sunday School has
"upwards of 50 scholars." |
| 1826 |
An act of the legislature allows
Saint
Paul's to sell a part of its lot on the far northern end of the
property granted by the state. This has been used up until 1818 as a
burial place for persons of color. Most of the graves have already been
removed when Bay Street was extended behind the church, but permission
is granted to remove such additional bones as can be found, to the
public cemetery. Proceeds from the sale of this lot, anticipated for
use as commercial property, would be used to extinguish the debt held
by the Parish. |
| 1829 |
The Sunday School library has 60
volumes
procured with $45 in collections for this purpose. A librarian is
appointed to oversee the library, which will continue to grow in size. |
| 1830 |
The church is debt free. Saint Paul's
"Female Missionary Society" has realized $1,200 for Missionary Purposes. |
| 1832 |
The Reverend Hugh Smith accepts a
call to
Christ Church, Hartford, Connecticut. He subsequently becomes Rector of
Saint Peter's Church in New York City. |
| 1832 |
Edward Eugene Ford (born 1796) of
Morristown, New Jersey, is called as Rector of Saint Paul's, beginning
in May. Ordained as a Deacon when he first came to Augusta, he is
ordained as priest by the Bishop of South Carolina later in the fall.
His brother, Dr. Lewis D. Ford, is a parishioner and connected with the
Medical College of Georgia. |
| 1833 |
Saint Paul's Sunday School has 95
children,
with 3 male teachers and 12 female teachers. Its library has 220
volumes. Sunday School is held in the gallery of the church. |
| 1838 |
Mrs. Louisa V. Marshall is appointed
organist and serves for twenty years, until 1858. |
| 1840 |
The Reverend Stephen Elliot, Jr.,
Professor
of Sacred Literature at the College of South Carolina, is elected the
first Bishop of Georgia. He is consecrated on February 28, 1841 and
doubles as the Rector of Saint John's Church, Savannah. |
| 1842 |
Saint Paul's is suffering greatly
from
emigration to newer settlements to the west. Two persons were
"repelled" from communion for unchristian conduct. |
| 1842 |
At the suggestion of Bishop Elliot,
the
Reverend Edward Ford has begun a Sunday School for black children,
which was being attended by about 80 whom were primarily servants of
Parishioners. |
| 1843 |
A brick Sunday School Building,
measuring 30' x 50', is completed on the church lot. |
| 1844 |
"Within the past year a commencement
has
been made of a parish school for affording gratuitous instruction in
the elements of a plain education. It is taught by several Ladies of
the congregation, who devote to this good work five days in the week,
from 9 to 1 o'clock." 40 to 50 scholars attended the school. |
| 1847 |
The Parish purchases a parsonage for
the
Rector. It is greatly improved to make it more comfortable for the
Rector and his family. The walls, ceiling and woodwork of the church
are painted. |
| 1850 |
The Wardens and Vestry of Saint
Paul's give
their consent for the establishment of the Church of the Atonement on
Telfair Street. This work is through the beneficence of Saint Paul's
members, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hollowell Gardiner, and Mrs. Gardiner's
sister, Miss Mary G. Jones. The cornerstone was laid in 1850. Atonement
will be a free church, not requiring pew rental for its maintenance.
The Reverend William H. Harison becomes its first Rector, and marries
Miss Mary G. Jones. In 1851 the new parish is admitted to the Diocese
and is consecrated in 1852 by Bishop Elliot. |
| 1852 |
The ladies of Saint Paul's, under the
leadership of Mrs. Theodosia Bartow Ford, wife of the Rector, begin the
"Church Widows' and Orphans' Asylum." This institution is usually
referred to as the "Church Asylum" and was incorporated as the Augusta
Orphan's Asylum. A house was procured in 1855 and the orphanage started
with about 5 girls and a Matron, who was a member of Saint Paul's. |
| 1859 |
Mrs. Martha Jones Moderwell left a
legacy
in her will of $2,000 to be applied to the Parish School. The Trustees
of the fund were to be the Bishop and the Rector. |
| 1860 |
There are 184 communicants of Saint
Paul's Church. |
| 1861 |
A new organ by Jardine and Son of New
York
is purchased at a cost of $2,200 and installed in the gallery. Due to
its size, which is larger than the previous organ, the gallery had to
be enlarged. The church is completely renovated at the same time. |
| 1861 |
Georgia secedes from the United
States on January 19th, the fifth state to do so. |
| 1861 |
A letter is issued by Bishops
Leonidas Polk
of Louisiana and Stephen Elliot of Georgia calling for a meeting of the
various Dioceses in the Confederate States to be held in Montgomery,
Alabama on July 3, 1861. |
| 1861 |
The Reverend Edward Eugene Ford
resigns as
Rector due to his infirm health. The Vestry refuses the resignation,
after 27 years of service, and votes to grant a two-year leave of
absence with annual pay of $1,200. The Fords move to Woodstock, near
Cave Spring in Floyd County, Georgia. |
| 1861 |
The Reverend William H. Clarke is
appointed
as Assistant Rector and takes up the work of the Parish. The Reverend
Clarke has previously been the Rector of Saint Peter's Church, Rome,
Georgia, and previous to that had been in Pennsylvania. |
| 1861 |
Edward F. Campbell dies on September
27th.
Mr. Campbell had served a large portion of the time as Senior Warden
"since the resuscitation of the parish in the year 1819." An exception
is made for burial of Mr. Campbell in the Churchyard, which had been
closed since 1818. Major James P. Gairdner was elected Senior Warden on
Easter Monday, 1862 but dies that very afternoon. |
| 1862 |
November 12-22, the First General
Council
of the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States is assembled at Saint
Paul's, Augusta, with Stephen Elliott, Jr. as Presiding Bishop. The
Council lasts 10 days and is attended by delegates of all Dioceses in
the Confederate States of America. The Constitution and Canons, drafted
at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1861, are adopted for use by the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States. |
| 1862 |
The Reverend Edward Eugene Ford dies
in
Floyd County, Georgia. His funeral is held on December 28th and he is
buried under the altar of Saint Paul's Church. |
| 1863 |
In January, the Reverend William H.
Clarke is unanimously elected Rector. He remains in this position until
his death in 1877. |
| 1864 |
On June 29,
the funeral of General Leonidas Polk , Bishop of Louisiana, is held at Saint Paul's in Augusta and his
remains are interred beneath the chancel window. Bp. Stephen Elliott
preached the funeral sermon. Polk had been killed by a fragment of
bursting shell at Pine Mountain, Georgia on June 14th, while
reconnoitering in the field with his staff. |
| 1864 |
The Third Ward Georgia Hospital is
set up at Saint Paul's Church by the Confederate government. |
| 1865 |
The War Between the States ends with
the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox, Virginia. |
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