Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-07-20
First Episcopal Church
(Continued from PAGE Onel

First Episcopal Church
Continued from Page one)
cendents of DR.. Sylvester Gardiner
who made possible this early Epis.
copal Church. There was an attend
ance of about $50 at the exercises
people coming from miles around to
attend.
| A Holy Communion service was
held at II o'clock in the forenoon
| out of doors near the site of the
| Church. Rev. Harland H. Ryder, rec
| tor of st. Johns Church, Dresden
Mills, officiating.
Following the communion service,
many of those who attended partook
| of picnic lunches and passed the hours
| before the afternoon exercises In
| looking over the many spots of his
torical interest in this vicinity, includ-
ing the site of the parsonage of the
| Pownalborough Episcopal church and
the old Pownalborough courthouse,
built In 1850, which is still standing
In an excellent state of preservation.
Memorial Boulder and Tablet
In front of the gate leading to the
ough has been placed a large boulder,
on which a bronze tablet bears the
| following inscription:
In honor of the first Episcopal
| church in the Province of Maine and
| to the memory of the devoted mis-
| stonary, Rev. Jacob Bailey, minister to
this church 1760-l779.
Eight feet southwesterly from this
boulder stood st. Johns church, Pow
| Marlborough. erected in 1870. Six hun
dred and fifty feet stood the parson-
age built the same year.
| The donation of this church lot by
the Plymouth Company and the erec-
tion Of the church were made possible
| through the efforts of DR.. Sylvester
| Gardiner. founder of the church In
| this eastern section.
ITO commemorate this noble mis-
sionary undertaking and to preserve
to posterity the location of this sacred
| spot, this memorial is placed by the
descendants of the early citizens OF
Dresden, July 19, A. D.. 1925"
The Site Of the OLD Church
On the cleared land can be seen the
| excavation for the underpinning OF
the old st. Johns church. and in or
der that its location may not be for.
| gotten in years to come, the memoria
tablet was erected today. Nearby IL
an old cemetery and short distanc,
further is seen the excavation for tn,
foundation of the parsonage. wher,
Rev. Mr.. Bailey resided. Bronz,
markers designate the sites of the of
church and parsonage.
For the services this afternoon,
tent was pitched beside the site o
the old church. The seats in the ten
were quickly filled and many in TIL
audience remained standing through
out the exercises.
The boulder, tablet and marker
were presented by Hon. Robert Halo
well Gardiner and Hon. William Tu
dor Gardiner of Gardiner, sons of tn
late Robert Hallowell Gardiner o
Gardiner and descendants of DIR. Sill
vester Gardiner. The marking of tn
: spot where the church was built an
, the services Of dedication were large
ly due to the efforts of Deputy Com
missioner Bertram E. Packard of tn
State department of education, who 1
( greatly interested in history and par
ticularly in the early history of thi
section of Maine.
The Dedication Exercises
State officials, judges of the Main
courts, and descendants of the earl
citizens of Dresden were anon
, those present in attendance at tn
3 dedication exercises which were he'll
| at o'clock in the afternoon. TIL
chairman was Hon. Robert Hallowel
Gardiner of Gardiner. The audienc
joined in singing the hymn, "Ou
3 God. Our Help, in Ages Past" tn
singing being led by Thomas Peac
at the organ. assisted by Carroll L
Houdlette with the cornet.
{ Prayer was given by Rev. Harlan,
} II. Ryder, rector of st. Johns church
Dresden Mills, following which scrip
ture reading Qsaiah, chapter 81
verses 1-6, and st. Matthew, chapte
25, verses 31-45) was given by Rev
, Edward c. McAllister, rector o
| Christ church, Gardiner. The as
sembly then sang the hymn. Xher,
is Land of Pure Delight"
Address by Bishop Brewster
Chairman Gardiner then intro
duced Rt. Rev. BENJAMIN Brewste,
of Portland, bishop of the Episcopal
diocese of Maine, who asserted tina
this sacred ground was formerly tn,
site OF the old st. Johns Episcopa
church in pre-Revolutionary times
Oficiating at the services of tht
church was one of the noblest mis-
slonary pastors, Rev. Jacob Bailey
an American Of whom American cit
liens should be proud.
Bishop Brewster pointed to Rev
Mr.. Bailey as an example of the
spirit of supporting those in need
which is declared in the New Testa
ment to be the essence of all reli
gion.
The speaker told of the work done
by B. E. Packard in finding and
marking the site of the old churcn
and of Mr.. Packards' conference
| with Robert Hallowell Gardiner. late
or Gardiner, Mr.. Gardiner promised
to do all he could to assist in the en-
terprise, but his death last year
brought stop to the plans. His
sons, Robert Hallowell Gadiner and
William Tudor Gardiner manifested
their interest in the project and bore
the expenses connected with the nm :
dertaking.
Rev. Mr.. Bailey carried on his
work at Pownalborough under the
direction of the organization in
England, the Society for the Pro.
pagation of the Gospel, He was
educated at Harvard JTpivers;ty .,d