All Saints’ Church, traces its roots to the founding of the Reisterstown
Parish in 1870, a part of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. The earliest church
of the parish was St. Michael’s,
located on the grounds of the Hannah More
Academy. In 1883 an off-campus chapel was built nearby and named All Saints’,
and the congregation worshipped there for seven years. In 1891 William Keyser, a
wealthy Baltimore industrialist, built the new All Saints’ Church as a memorial
to his mother, Elizabeth Wyman Keyser. The church was designed by the firm of
Longfellow, Alden and Harlow, of Boston, and constructed by Philip Walsh and
Sons of Baltimore. Stained glass windows
were executed by Boston artisan Sarah Wyman Whitman, a first cousin of Mr.
Keyser.
The church grounds also contain a separate bell tower (1893),
rectory(1909) and parish hall (1963). In its lifetime the church has seen
fourteen rectors (as of 2002) and three interim rectors. The first minister was
the Rev. Dr. Arthur John Rich, founder of the parish as well as of all three
churches. All Saints’ Church is the only facility still in use.
All Saints’ Cemetery, located near the site of the
old chapel, remains under the supervision of the church.
