Evening star., 1932-01-09

Special services in observance Of the
10Th birthday anniversary of the
founding of the Parish of the Epi-
phany, G street, between Thirteenth
and Fourteenth streets, will be held at
the church tomorrow, commencing
with holy communion at s o'clock.
At the festival service at IL o'clock,
there will be special music by Epiphany
Choir, under the direction Of Adolf
Torovsky, organist and choirmaster,
and the sermon, which will be
preached by the rector, DR.. z. B. Phil
lips.
The committee in charge Of ar
rangements has made elaborate plans
for the service, which will be partici-
pated in by all the organizations Of
the parish, including the congregation
and Sunday school of the Chapel OF
the Epiphany in South Washington.
Preceding this service, there will be
half hour recital of old familiar
HYMNS on the McKim memorial chimes.
The Parish Of the Epiphany has a
historical background that is inter-
esting to the people of Washington
generally. In the year 1841 there were
only three Episcopal churches in the
city proper and on Sundays these were
crowded to capacity and many families
were unable to get seats in any OF
them. This condition naturally lead
to a discussion looking to the creation
of new parish. Pending the erection
of a church, prayer meetings were
periodically held at the residence of
q Mrs. James, who lived on Fourteenth
street near G. northwest. On January
6, 1912 (Feast of the Epiphany a
meeting was held that had to do with
the actual formation of the new parish
and the name Church Of the Epiphany
was the logical selection made by the
men and women present. At this
meeting it was also decided to COM
mence Immediately the holding Of
Sunday services and later arrange
ments were made for the rental OF
Apollo Hall on street.
Ground Offered to Vestry.
A Miss Louisa Harrison offered a
piece of ground to the first vestry in
the Autumn of 1912. The ground is
the present site. Some members of
the vestry felt that the site offered
by Miss Harrison was too far up
town" They wanted the church
erected on a site that was available
for purchase at Twelfth and E streets.
However, Miss Harrison'S offer was
finally accepted and steps were i'm
mediately taken for the building of
church. The new edifice was COM
pleted and was used for the first time
for divine service in July, 1874, Bishop
William Robinson Whittingham of
Maryland, under whose jurisdiction the
affairs of the Episcopal Church in the
City of Washington then came,
preached the sermon.
The first rector was DR.. John W.
French, who. in 1841, was chaplain of
Congress and City Missionary. After
a long and distinguished rectorship,
DR.. French resigned to accept appoint
ment as chaplain of the United States
Military Academy at West Point.
The second rector was DR.. Charles
Hall, who was called from a church
down South" in october, 1855, and
preached his first sermon the Sunday
after Christmas Of that year. The
first change in the physical appear
ance of Epiphany took place during
his rectorship. The church was en-
larged to twice the original size tran
septs were added and a high and
graceful tower was erected. 1t was
shortly after these major alterations
had been completed when Jefferson
Davis, who was later to become "Presi-
dent OF the SOuJEeTH COnIeOeraCy,
applied to the church for pew, which
was assigned to him.
Name Plate Removed.
At the outbreak of the Civil War,
when Mr.. Davis left Washington for
Richmond, his wife requested that his
name plate be nailed on the pew which
they had occupied. Shortly afterward
the keys to the church were stolen
and the name plate removed from the
pew. While the keys were later re-
turned, the plate has never been found.
During the early stages of the war
some one told DR.. Hall that although
he could not give him hi reasons for
believing it, he was catslent he pos
sessed enemies who had Informed the
Government that he was a Southern
sympathizer Springing to his feet,
DR.. Hall exclaimed Excuse me for
a few minutes. I must go to the war
Department Immediately" He sent
word to MIR. Stanton that he wanted
to see him for exactly two minutes"
Upon being admitted, he said, "Mr.
Stanton, ann a Southern man. am
d Southern sytnpathizer, ana / should
se~a brute II ! were not. Ny mis-