St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-09-22
STONE LAID
With Impressive Ceremonies the
Corner Stone of Grace Church
Is Laid

With the ceremonies prescribed by
the discipline of the Methodist Epis-
copal church the corner stone for
the new Grace church on Central St
was laid last Saturday afternoon be-
fore a large gathering. Seats were
furnished for few but the majority
of those present found seats on con-
venient stone piles. The stand was
decorated with our national colors
and was occupied by the following F.:
Rev. G. A. Martin, pastor of the
church, Rev. L. E. Peabody of the
Advent church, Rev. E. E. Phillips
of the Free Baptist church, Rev. F.
S. Tolman of the First Baptist church,
Rev. Clarence L. Eaton of the Uni
versalist church, Rev. Paul Dwight
Moody of the South Congregational
church, Rev. F. B. Richards of the
North Congregational church, Rev.
r. F. Lowe, district superintendent,
Rev. L. S. Green of st. Johnsbury
Center. The Grace church male
quartet was assisted by Mrs. Don C..
Stiles
The salutation was by Rev. G. A.
Martin, and Rev E. E. Phillips an
nounced the hymn in which the audi
ence joined. Rev. Clarence L. Eaton
offered prayer and this was followed
by an anthem. The responsive read
ing was lead by the Rev. L. E. Pea
body. The Rev. F. S. Tolman read
the scripture.
Rev. Edward T. Fairbanks was to
have spoken on behalf of the town
of st. Johnsbury but Mr.. Martin
thought that the fact that so many
townspeople turned out for the cere-
mony was sufficient evidence of the
towns interest in Grace church and
it's affairs.
In behalf of the churches Rev.
Paul D. Moody spoke in a happy vein
mixing humor with more serious
thoughts. He felicitated the Metho-
dists on their forthcoming new edi-
flee and said that whatever envy
might be engendered by the beauti-
I full stone structure would be over
balanced by the fact that it was a
member of the one family of
churches. Rev. r. L. Lowe, who
spoke on behalf bf the Methodist
Episcopal church gave a brief history
of Methodism from the time of John
Wesley. A solo by Mrs. Stiles fol-
lowed and then Rev. Mr.. Martin
gave the address of the day. The lay
ing of the corner was in charge Of
| the building committee, Rev. G. A
Martin, A. l.. Bailey, Calvin Clark
S. D. Atwood, David Williams and
Ralph Hamilton. Ernest Coates, su-
perintendent of the work and Harry
| Wilcox, foreman, took charge Of the
| labor. After the stone had been low
cred into place, the brass box was
! placed in the hollow of the stone
This box contained the history of the
church, copies of the Christian Ad-
vocate, Zion Herald, ST. Johnsbury
Republican, st. Johnsbury Caledon-
: ian, Vermont Conference minutes
North church year book, directory oi
Grace church, 23rd annual report Of
auditors report from the village OF
st. Johnsbury, three photographs OF
the old church, one of them, the
church at it's best, another taken
during the fire and the third showing
the spire falling, calendars of special
occasions during the different pastor
ates and calendars of September IL
and 10, 1915, program of the lay
ing of the corner stone, copy of the
contract of the new building, an
nual report of st. Johnsbury acad-
emy, brass monogram of the H. P.
Cummings Construction company,
current coins of the United States
vintage, pictures and postals show
ing the prominent places in st.
Johnsbury and programs of the
Grace Unity club and Ladies Aid So
ciety. The box also contained the
original box and contents which
were recovered from the fire.
One of the most pleasing features
of the ceremony was the presence of
Mrs. Caleb Marshall, the church's old
est member. Mrs. Marshall was the
only one present who was also pres
ent at the laying of the original cor
ner stone in 1858. After members of