Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-06-13

18th and streets northwest, holds a high
| position. The parish
| & was founded in 1866
| AA& and the first service
! !: !; !. / !.
EHh IA was held on the 18th OF
" June by Rev. r. ".
FA Lowrie, then acting as
ES.XsS& assistant to DIR. Pink
| XZAN&S ney, rector OF Ascen-
\ TZMS sion. The corner stone
/ - HMM OF the present church
| WU%3ZW building was laid on
| NWNfR the 18th of June, 1866,
WI and on the oath of De-
E cember, 1867, the first
| EE.. pa; TOWNSEND. service was held in the
new new 3aildlng, the sermon being preached by
hev. Charles Hall. The cost Of the building
was s21 600 On July 16, 1871. the Rev. James
II. HUBBARD assumed charge of the parish and
resigned Nav 81, 1874 The present rector Rev.
Or. l. L. Townsend, entered upon his pastorate
october 10, 1874, and has remained hard at
| work ever since. During his pastorate many
notable improvements have been made to the
| church building. A new chancel and alter has
been added and a surpliced choir made one of
the features of the service. Eightstained- glass
| windows Of the most beautiful design, and
most OF them memorial windows, have been
| put in place. On January 1,1899 the church
was made free church snd the plan has
worked with the greatest success. The parish
contains many exceedingly active associations,
1
brotherhood of st. Andrew and noble mis-
sionary society. Incarnation for its size and
means is an exceedingly active parish. The
| COMMITMENTS number from 325 to $50, while
the cSngregations are always large and often
tax the capabilities Of the church to the utmost
The treasurer and secretary OF the parish is
MIR. VIM. n. Langtry, who devotes much time
and energy to furthering the interests of his
charge.
The rector of Incarnation, Rev. DIR. I. l.,
Townsend. n n0tiye m Johps No,
WICK but at an early age removed to New York
state. He was educated at Trinity School, Co
lumbia College. and the General Theological
seminary. His first charge was at Cherry VAL
ley, n. 1. Afterward he accom- plished much
good missionary work i'll New York city.
Then he accepted call to st. James Church.
Danbury, Conn, where he remained ten years
For the three following years he exercised his
calling at jacksonville, ILL.,, and from there was
called to St. Pauls Church, Peoria, ILL.,, from
where, after three years successful rector
ship. he accepted the call to Incarnation in this
city.
st. James.
ST. James parish is another Of the interesting
parishes in Washington, and this for various
reasons. The parish was cut off from the
Washington parish in 1872 and a yestry elected
and Rev. Jas. A. Harold installed as rector.
however without much to be rector over Later
on Rev. Jas. W. Clark, at that time in charge of
the chapel of the Holy Communion, was elected
assistant, Rev. DR.. Townsend acting as
rector: After several months preparation
the first service was held under the
auspices OF the Child of the Holy Com
munion on October go, 1881. The rooms occu-
pied were on the lower floor at sos H street
northeast. In these modest quarters the new
life OF the parish began. A struggle between
members of the vestry followed and was settled
by the withdrawal of those opposed to the ma
lOr1tV. SOOQ after convenient ri
were rented on 9th street just south of ii,
little one-story shop that had formerly been
occupied as grocery Shortly after DR.. Town
shend resigned his rectOrship and the assistant
war elected in his place. Rev. James Clark
entered on his rectorship in 1882 and at the
same time several additional services were
added. The need Of a church building had
been keenly felt from the outset. and on
February %. 1882, the first offering for
this purpose was made. The offering
amounted to 520.S3. The fund steadily grew
and i'll June, 1883, had reached the sum of
u, l51. when lots on 9Th street between and
were selected the site for the
new edifice. Work was almost immediatelr
commenced on the building and March 2, 1884,
saw three bays of the nave completed and the
church in condition to be used. service of
benediction held at that TIME and in the
evening services, as sharers in the rejoicing
came Rev. DIR. Leonard, j. Woods Elliott Dr.
Townshend. DIR. Hodges. Nr. Reazor, Dr. Paret
enthroned in the episcopate. boy choir was
added shortly after and another bay added
Other improvements were made about the same
time and the services arranged practically in
their present form.
In 1886 the corner stone of the chancel,
sacristy and choir room was laid, the bishop
being present and officiating. On All Saints
day the new chapcel was fir. used The gift
to the church at this time of bell added to
the comfort of the parish Steadily additions
inc made
than two years the ground plan of the building
was completed. Various gifts have been made
to the church, as a handsome font and recently
remarkable fine organ.
st. James is especially rich in noble societies,
The sisters of st. Margaret endeared themselves
to many households in the parish, and much
regret was felt at their transfer to other fields
In 1882 In St James there were "a communi-
cants, which number in 1890 had increased to
Isl and has by this time probably grown to
over 100.
The attendance Mt all of ST. James services
Is large. the members Of the congregation
coming from all portions of the city to attend.
st. Johns, Georgetown.
st. Johns Church, situate at the corner of
Potomac avenue and o street, Georgetown, has
an exceedingly interesting history. The first
movement toward its establishment was made
in 1876 by the Rev. Mr.. Addison, with the con-
currence and assistance of Rev. Dr. Balch. a
Presbyterian clergyman, who was ut that time
in charge of a small parish in Prince Georges
county, opposite Alexandria. DIR. Addison
hearing that there were some Episcopal fami-
lies in this place paid them a visit and was in
vited by DIR. Balch to hold Episcopal services
in his church and encouraged TO endeayor
to organize an Episcopal congregation. Act
ing on this advice the first effort to erect
the church was made and subscriptions
amounting to $500 were collected. 4 lot.
the same on which the edihce now stands,
was donated by Col. Vim. Deakins. a large land
holder. This amount of money built the
church to the first range of the windows. when,
the money giving out, it remained in that un-
finished condition for six or seven wears. In
1903, Ill pursuance to notice published in the
Washington Federdtisr, n number of citizens
met at Semmes Tavern, and made arrange
ments for the completion of the building
Subscriptions for that purpose were again
collected. and among the Subscribers names
was found that of Thomas jefferson. The
| amount collected was sufficient to put the
| church in such condition that services were
held in it. Early in 1904 the trustees adyer-
tised the want OF rector, and were
visited by the Rev. Mr.. Sayres of Port
Tobacco parish, who shortly after was
elected to the Office, holding it until 1902 dur
ing which time the church was in prosperous
condition. On his death his epitaph was writ
ten by Francis Scott Key. member Of the con-
gregation. The church at this time was at
tended by many fashionable people and every
service showed it surrounded by fine coaches
and hveried servants.
In 1911 owing to the large CONGREGATION IL wa.