The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1933-12-14
Christmas Eve, Marks 64th
Anniversary of Church
(Continued From Page One)

Messrs. Sylvester and Truman were
appointed to take over the con-
tract.
The plastering was completed
Sept. 2, 1859, and it was thought
that the balance of the work would
be finished in October. The Herald,
at that time stated that the church
when completed would be the finest
in the northwest.
The building however, was not
completed in October, for the win
dows which were shipped from
Pennsylvania, and which were
brought to Sank Centre from the
nearest railroad station by OK train,
did not arrive until Dec. 16, of that
year. They were put in place i'm
mediately and it was then decided
to hold the first service at Christ
mas time.
On Christmas 1--we, Dec. "a, 1859,
the church was opened for the first
time, the service being the mar
riage ceremony of Capt. Oakford
and Miss Nellie Barrows, which
was conducted by Rector George
Stewart. The church was filled to
overlooking, and no doubt the spirit
of the Yuletide which permeated
the hearts of those early Church
men was greater than we shall
ever know. Building a church,
such as the structure that the
parish of Good Samaritan Church
has, was a huge undertaking in
those early days, as can be seen
from the length of time it took to
finish the work
The church being completed it
was now necessary to formulate an
organization, and so it was that a
parish of the Church of the Good
Samaritan came into being on jan
uary %, 1870. The following officers
were elected: b. r. Palmer, Sr.
Warden; N. H. Miner, Jr. Warden.
III. A. Mayo, ]. Britain, J. M. Nc
Masters and A. J. Sylvester, Vestry-
men; George Stewart, Rector. A
Ladies' Guild, which became a very
active body, was also organized.
Note-Rev. L. E. Kempton is the
present rector; L. w. Watson
is the Senior Warden and w. M.
Parker, Junior Warden.
AS a resume and for reason of
fact that it was written by the
first rector, George Stewart, we
republish the following article from
the Herald of February 10, 1870:
''The Episcopal Church and
rectory at Sank Centre was
commenced in the Spring Of
1858, and advanced toward com
pletion so far as to have the
church rooted in and the rec
tory so far completed as to be
able to use in the fall of the
same year. A short time after
the work commenced the sec
ond season, the tenth of July,
the roof of the church was
blown OFF, and the whole struc-
ture damaged to the amount of
five or six hundred dollars.
This severe loss caused no de-
( lay in the work of repair, and
/ completion, aas it was at once
turned over to the faithful
hands of Messrs. Sylvester and
Truman, who pushed the work
forward as fast and as faith
fully as circumstances would
allow, and we will add, that
faithful examination of this
} work will give evidence Of one
/ of the best finished buildings
in the State, excepting none.
I ayEhe church and rectory are
both Gothic in. style. The nave
/ is 22x56 feet inches, and the
chancel is IS feet 8 inches by
/ 16 feet inches, and a vestry
/ rooni14 by IL feet. .s-.E
1.-THE steeple is fifty feet in
height, with an open bell gal
lery, capable of swinging bell
weighing one thousand pounds.
The rectory is 80 feet by 18 on
the ground, and has a back
kitchen 14x12k cutting it in
the centre, with a woodshed
and pantry in the rear. The
roof of the rectory laps over
the chancel roof and is the same
height. The front has two
French windows below and two
dormer windows above them.
Gothic in style, the entire
buildings form a group perfect
in harmony. We will venture
to compare this group as to
beauty of outline, with any in
the State or country at large.
The windows of the church are
all of stained glass, beautiful in
design and one of them, me-
mortal to Rachel Moore, placed
there by her son, Alexander
Moore.
'TThe material of which the
buildings are composed, Is con-
crete in mass, and we think an
entire success. The cost of the
whole up to the present time
has been six Thousand Ave
hundred dollars, and will cost
about two hundred more to
complete. Two thousand Of the
above amount was given by one
person, Mrs. Robert B. Min
turn, of New York, to whose
sainted husband the whole is
memorial. The people of
Sank Centre did the best in
their power to aid in this
commendable work for which
they have my thanks. George
Stewart.
]. B. Geuting Passed
TJ y M