History Archives --
Time Pieces
Articles previously
published in The Bell Tower
By 1850 Reisterstown had been
established for over 100 years. Episcopalians congregated at St. Thomas'
Church and at St. John’s-in-the-Valley, but our own parish was still
twenty years in the future. In 1851 the Norris family of Reisterstown
attempted to organize a new church on their property under the title of
the Church of the Holy Communion. Although the Episcopal Convention
authorized the new congregation, a substantial church was never built, and
35 years later those bodies which had been buried on the Norris property
were transferred to All Saints’ Cemetery.
[1851: President Millard Fillmore inaugurated. First
commercial ice cream factory in America founded in Baltimore.]
Hannah More Academy welcomed Dr. A. J. Rich future rector
of All Saints') as Deacon in 1852. The following year he received
permission to build a chapel on the Academy grounds so that students and
faculty alike would no longer have to travel to St. Thomas’ for
services.
[1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin published. President
Street Station, America's first urban railroad depot, opened in
Baltimore.]
1854 marked the consecration of St. Michael’s Chapel at
Hannah More and the building of another chapel just north of
Reisterstown by Col. Franklin Anderson on his private estate, Montrose.
Both buildings still stand today.
[USS Constellation launched. America's first YMCA
established in Baltimore.]
Dr. Rich took on the additional role of rector of St.
John’s Church in 1857, the same year that Hannah More Academy was
destroyed by fire in late November. Fortunately, St. Michael’s Chapel
was spared, and "the usual service of the morning was conducted at a
half hour later than usual." A new school building was erected by the
following year. It stood until 1895 when William Keyser (who build All
Saints* Church four years previously) had it torn down and replaced by
the structure we recognize today.
[1857; Jingle Bells, originally written for
Thanksgiving. James Buchanan became President of the U.S.]
In 1861, as our ancestors continued to worship at St.
Michael’s, St. John’s, and St. Thomas’, President Abraham Lincoln took
the oath of office in early March. Easter arrived on the 31st (as it
will again this year). Then, nineteen days later the Sixth Massachusetts
Regiment marched through Baltimore, changing trains between the
President Street Station and Camden Station on their way south. William
Keyser, aware of their arrival, left his downtown office and walked to
the corner of Pratt and South Streets. Minutes later, as an angry mob
jeered the northern soldiers, the Regiment turned and fired into the
crowd. Eleven Baltimoreans fell dead, one just a few yards from Mr.
Keyser. The first blood of the great national conflict had been shed,
and the people of Reisterstown, as elsewhere, became divided in their
allegiance.
[1858: Transatlantic cable completed. Darwin's The
Origin of Species released.]
[1859: John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. Drake's
petroleum well heralds the modern oil industry. Baltimore's first horse
car. Western Maryland Railroad extended to Glyndon.]
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
War was on everyone’s mind in 1862, and
Southern sentiment ran high in many families of the Reisterstown
community. Notable among them was William Norris, friend of Robert E. Lee
and Jefferson Davis. Leaving his home "Brookland" on Cockeysmill Road, he
moved to Richmond to become chief of the Confederate signal service, not
to return to Reisterstown until after the conclusion of the conflict. He
is said by some to have been the last Southern officer to step out of
uniform. Curiously, his confirmation at All Saints’ Church did not occur
until his 72nd year, in 1893.
Dr. Rich, pastor for the local Episcopal
community, was appointed headmaster of Hannah More Academy in 1863, the
same year that Thanksgiving became a national holiday. Little is recorded
about Reisterstown Episcopalians during the 1860s, except that services
were sometimes held at the Odd Fellows Hall. St. John’s Church suffered a
fire, and Emory Grove held its first meeting. On the national front
Ulysses Grant took the oath of office and the transcontinental railroad
was completed. Overseas, the Suez Canal opened for shipping.
At last, in May of 1870, a petition by
Episcopalians to carve a new parish out of St. Thomas and Western Run
became reality. Reisterstown Parish was officially admitted into union
with the Convention on June the first, 1871. The Reverend Dr. Rich assumed
leadership while Thomas J. Wyatt served as assistant. St. Michael’s
Chapel, of course, continued as the principal house of worship. These
early years of the decade also witnessed the incorporation of the village
of Glyndon. Entertainment took the spotlight as the first professional
baseball league was formed, Pimlico Race Course opened, and Ford’s Grand
Opera House made its debut in Baltimore.
1873 marked the adoption of Hannah More
Academy as the Diocesan school for girls. Meanwhile, attempts to create a
new site for an off-campus parish church were rejected. In the same year
McDonogh School was founded and an economic Panic gripped the nation.
Three years later the overflow congregation began holding services
elsewhere in Reisterstown; yet, in 1877 a second proposal for a new church
site was turned down. Obviously, the new parish was yearning for a home to
call its own. Although St. Michael’s Chapel was titled to the Vestry of
the Reisterstown Parish in 1878, some parishioners found it more
convenient to worship at the Henry Clay Lodge Hall in the center of town.
Other forms of progress abounded,
however. Johns Hopkins University opened and the Baltimore Zoo was
founded. Mr. Bell patented the telephone, and Thomas Edison introduced a
marvelous contraption called the phonograph. (A few years previously, the
director of the U.S. Patent Office had advised that his department should
be closed - as there was nothing left to invent!)
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
The
Parish Sets Down Roots: 1879 - 1887
May 2002
In 1879 William Pinkney became the fifth
Bishop of Maryland, just as Thomas Edison was amazing the world with his
new electric light bulb. In Reisterstown, Mr. George Kephart, owner of
Walnut Grove Farm, sold five acres along Bond Avenue and rented an
additional five (later purchased) to the eight-year-old Parish. Within
three years a layout for All Saints’ Cemetery had been completed and a
temporary chapel built on the west end of the property. At last the
Reisterstown Episcopal community had a home to call its own. One source
claims that the vision for the future called for a church at the center of
the property, a Parish building to the left, and a rectory to the right.
Even before All Saints’ Chapel opened
its doors, Mr. Kephart gave permission to the Black community to erect a
new church on land he had given them after the Civil War. St. Luke’s
Church was built in 1880 on land previously designated for a graveyard and
a schoolhouse. The church and graveyard, but not the schoolhouse, still
stand today on Bond Avenue adjacent to All Saints’ Cemetery.
Nationally, the early 1880s were
remarkable years. Chester Arthur succeeded the assassinated President,
James Garfield. The American Red Cross was founded. Mark Twain published
Huckleberry Finn. In Baltimore, the institution that was to become
Goucher College was formed, and Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the
revolutionary Linotype machine.
1886 proved to be a busy year. The first
meeting of the chapel vestry was held, and the Reisterstown Parish
boundaries were extended. A contract was made on a sexton’s cottage which
was built on the lane leading to the new chapel. In the cemetery, somewhat
remote from the earliest burials, the remains of seven members of the
Norris family were relocated from The Mount, where the Church of the Holy
Communion had been proposed but never built. Two other family members were
also moved from St. Paul’s Churchyard and from Greenmount Cemetery. Back
at Hannah More, a rectory for the Reverend Dr. Rich was built. Named
Richleigh, it still stands proudly as the administrative center of Hannah
More School.
In the same year, and prophetically for
the Parish, Mr. William Keyser of Baltimore bought the old Norris estate
(The Mount) on Cockeysmill Road for a summer residence. A handsome new
house was erected where the previous one had burned and the 160 acre
property renamed Brentwood in honor of Mrs. Mary Brent Keyser. An active
member of the Episcopal community in Baltimore, Mr. Keyser soon extended
his interests to the Reisterstown Parish at a time when the congregation
realized that the little chapel on Bond Avenue was less than adequate.
Other items of interest in 1886-1887:
The AFL was founded; Coca Cola made its first appearance; the Pratt
Library was instituted; Glyndon Park was established as a temperance camp;
and the Emory Grove Hotel was constructed. The United States celebrated
its 110th year.
Neal Haynie, Parish
Archivist
1888
– 1893:
A Permanent Home for the Parish
July 2002
Seven years after moving into the small
chapel on Bond Avenue, the Reisterstown Parish appeared to be doing well.
Receipts for the year totaled $1,609; debts were being paid in a timely
fashion; the chapel was painted, and efforts to macadamize the street to
Reisterstown Road were under way. The Vestry recommended that the Rector’s
salary, paid by subscription, be raised to $1000. The most important
concern, however, was the growing awareness that the temporary chapel was
becoming "wholly inadequate to meet the wants of the Congregation." Its
location just west of the cemetery was intended from the start to give way
to a larger and more permanent church at the center of the property. The
Vestry, in August of 1889, appealed to the congregation to raise funds for
the Parish Church.
Fortuitously, in the fall of 1889,
parishioner William Keyser had just returned from a visit to the coast of
Massachusetts to his country home in Reisterstown. Having seen a little
church near Manchester-by-the-Sea, he and his wife were contemplating the
erection of a similar structure as a memorial to his mother who had died
three years earlier. From his memoirs: "On my return, I found among my
correspondence a circular letter from the vestry of our parish, soliciting
aid to enlarge the little All Saints Chapel, which determined me, if I
could carry out my plan, to make this my memorial…. On All Saints Day, the
parish fete, when the parishioners are accustomed to assemble and spend
the day together, I submitted a proposition to purchase a lot, and build
and furnish at my own cost a handsome stone church…and deed it to the
parish…which offer occasioned great rejoicing and was gratefully accepted.
"It was generally conceded that the
location of the chapel could be improved upon, and as the new road I had
built connecting the villages made it accessible, I bought a lot of two
acres on a little knoll covered by a grove of large white oaks. The
corner-stone was laid on the following All Saints fete day by…the Bishop
of Western New York." Almost one year to the day later, the new All
Saints’ Church was consecrated.
The turn of the decade was also marked by
two memorable events – one local, one foreign: Johns Hopkins Hospital was
founded in Baltimore, and the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris.
Baltimore installed its first cable car in 1891 – a touch of San
Francisco! – and Thomas Edison again astounded the world with a new
invention, the motion picture camera. 1892 saw the Chicago World’s Fair;
and in Baltimore the General Convention succeeded in revising the liturgy
of the Episcopal Church.
The second administration of Grover
Cleveland was marked by the Panic of 1893, a culmination of depression
that had begun three years earlier. And sadly, in Reisterstown, the
founding rector who had served his flock faithfully for forty years and
who had been instrumental in establishing a new parish, passed away. The
Reverend Dr. Arthur John Rich was laid to rest in All Saints’ Cemetery and
his name inscribed on the altar of the church he helped create. An era had
ended.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
1893 -1904: Turn of the Century
February 2003
The Reverend Joseph Fletcher
became All Saints’ second rector after the death of Dr. Arthur John Rich.
He had served previously at St. Matthew’s (Sparrow’s Point) and at the
Free Church of St. Barnabas in Baltimore. Descended from a long line of
New Englanders, he became known in Maryland as a church builder. He was
responsible for the remodeling of a church in Tenafly (NJ) and the
building of the church in Sparrow’s Point, "laboring with his own hands,
and proved himself a skillful artisan." The first year of his arrival in
Reisterstown saw the purchase of extra lots on which a new rectory/parish
house would later be built under his personal supervision.
Little of significance is noted
in All Saints’ history as the century drew to a close. In 1893 the Ladies
Aid Society financed the building of a boardwalk from Main Street to the
church property, testifying to the muddy condition of Chatsworth Avenue.
(The street was finally macadamized in 1904, just in time for the arrival
of the first automobile.) Beginning in 1895 Joseph Fletcher also took
over as head of the Hannah More Academy, both he and his wife becoming so
beloved there that they earned the nicknames "Pa and Ma Fletcher." From
time to time he was assisted at services at All Saints' by the Reverend
Edward H. C. Goodwin. Parishioner Col. William Norris (CSA) died in 1896
at the age of 76. He had been confirmed at All Saints' only three years
previously.
Locally, the electric trolley
made its appearance in Reisterstown, and the new Glyndon Railroad Station
was opened in 1895. It burned and was rebuilt eight years later. On
the national scene William McKinley was sworn in as President, just prior
to the Spanish American War. Scott Joplin composed "Maple Leaf Rag."
The opening of the twentieth
century was marked by the death of Queen Victoria and by the presidency of
Teddy Roosevelt. The Glyndon Women's Club was organized, and the Wright
brothers made history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. At All Saints' the
Reverend Fletcher donated a new pump organ to the church.
1904 witnessed the disastrous
Baltimore fire. One can only wonder if the glow of that conflagration
might have been seen in Reisterstown. William Keyser, builder of All
Saints' Church, "was appointed by the mayor chairman of the Emergency
Committee and was indefatigable in his efforts for the restoration of the
city." The broadened streets near today's Harborplace are the result of
his efforts. Unfortunately, four months after his appointment, Mr. Keyser
fell dead of a stroke on the front lawn of his Reisterstown estate,
Brentwood. A marble tablet, similar to his mother's, pays tribute to Mr.
Keyser on the west wall of All Saints' Church.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
As the
Reverend Joseph Fletcher’s twelfth year opened at All Saints’, the
parish confronted a minor crises. Some members of the parish preferred
to worship at St. Michael’s Chapel, Hannah More. Father Fletcher and the
vestry, determined to maintain All Saints’ as the parish church, refused
requests to hold Sunday services at St. Michael’s, in effect separating
the school from the parish church. Official separations from the parish
took place in 1911.
The Ladies Aid Society (whose records date back to 1892) met regularly
in members’ homes, enjoying each others company and sewing clothing
which they sold. The San Francisco earthquake made news in 1906, two
years after the Baltimore Fire, and 1907 marked the opening of the
Reisterstown phone exchange in the home of Dr. C. H. Michael. Henry
Ford’s Model T hit the roads the following year.
The year 1909 saw the construction of All Saints’ own rectory and parish
house, largely through the efforts and personal involvement of Joseph
Fletcher. (The Parish House was officially named for Fr. Fletcher in
2000.) Prior to this time, parish rectors lived on the Hannah More
Academy grounds. The concept of yearly pledging began in 1909 with the
formation of a new committee. President Taft took office in Washington,
and, in Baltimore, the Walters Art Gallery opened its doors. Brent
Keyser, son of the All Saints’ benefactor, visited the site of the new
Panama Canal.
The Keyser Fund, which exists to this day, was established in 1910 by
the heirs of William Keyser. It was originally intended “to keep in
order All Saints’ Church and its surrounding property and to pay the
premiums of insurance on the same.” The church appointed its first
historian, and the rector’s stable, which today serves as a center of
youth activities, was constructed. The Reisterstown Community Club,
popularly known as the Men’s club, began holding meetings at All
Saints’. The town formed its own police station with a force of one who
patrolled the streets by foot.
All Saints’ Chapel, which lost its official status in 1890, saw renewed
life in 1910 when Episcopal members of the African-American community
petitioned to held services there. On May 15 the Reverend George Freeman
Bragg, Jr., along with his choir from Baltimore’s St. James P. E.
Church, conducted the first service. We do not know how long services
continued at the chapel, but in 1918 the old temporary building was
razed.
Mrs. William Keyser died in1911, and in honor of the family, the vestry
moved that Chatsworth Avenue, which had originally been constructed by
Mr. Keyser as a link between Reisterstown and Glyndon be renamed Keyser
Avenue. Their wishes were never fulfilled.
1912 witnessed the start of phone service to the All Saints’ rectory,
and, on a more dramatic note, the Titanic disaster occurred that spring.
Joseph Fletcher, admired and beloved by the community, ended his
nineteen year tenure in Reisterstown, the third longest in this
parish’s history. After serving in other Maryland churches he went on to
come Canton and Librarian of the Washington Cathedral.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top As Europe began to slip into World War I, eventually drawing in the
United States (including men from the Reisterstown Parish) our church
also entered a time of uncertainty. The 19 year tenure of Joseph
Fletcher had ended in the summer of 1912, and the parish would not see
another period of long leadership for another four decades.
The search for a new rector continued throughout the remainder of the
year, and although three priests were called, all declined the position.
One of these, the Reverend E. T. Helfenstein, later became Bishop of the
Diocese. Finally, in February of 1913, a call to the Reverend George W.
Dame was answered positively. Dr. Dame had previously served at Holy
Innocents (Baltimore) and at St. Luke’s (Harrisonville).
By November, however, it was evident that division was occurring within
the parish. Dr. Dame continued to live in Baltimore City, declining to
occupy the four year old rectory. An apparent rift between the rector
and Junior Warden Paul Goodwin precipitated the resignation of the
latter in order to spare “injury to the Parish.” Two years later, a
letter to the Vestry from the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Rich deplored the
condition of the church grounds and the absence of Dr. Dame. “How much
longer will All Saints’ Parish be without a resident Rector? A man who
can live among his people, to be with them in times of need...” Finally,
in April of 1917, George Dame tendered his resignation. An appeal by
certain parishioners to the Bishop asking that Dr,. Dame not resign,
however, underscores the division that must have existed at All Saints’.
By June 1917, a call went out to the Reverend William T. Elmer. His
acceptance of the $1,000 a year salary, occupancy of the rectory, and
use of the stable brought a renewed sense of stability to the parish.
The beginning of the Woodrow Wilson presidency coincided with the George
Dame years. In Reisterstown a volunteer fire company was founded and
electricity was installed in the new rectory. Emmanuel church donated a
pipe organ to All Saints’ and in 1915 Fannie Rich, the beloved wife of
our first rectory, passed away. On the international scene, the
Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Ireland, pushing our nation and
community ever closer to war. It would be William Elmer’s job to lead
the church through those trying days.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
Surprisingly, little or no
reference to the great European conflict appears in the parish records.
One would be led to believe that life within the church followed its
normal routine although, certainly, the war must have left its mark upon
the private lives of parishioners. George W. Dame had resigned his post
as rector in June of 1917 and was quickly succeeded by the Rev. William
T. Elmer. The first American troops were leaving for France.
Mr. Elmer had served for seven
years as Assistant to the Rector of St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore.
Concurrently, as headmaster of the St. Paul's School for Boys, "he was
remembered by his pupils as a strict disciplinarian and a classical
scholar." * Together with Mrs. Elmer and their three young children, he
was to occupy the rectory for the next six years. Other than notes
regarding his regular attendance to church affairs, we have been left
scant record of his service to All Saints'.
1918 marked the end of the war and the culmination
of one of the greatest world-wide flu epidemics ever known. Several
burials in our cemetery can attest to this fact. 1918 also marked the
official end of All Saints' chapel. First used on Easter Sunday, 1883,
it had served the parish until 1891 when the congregation moved
into its new church on Chatsworth Avenue. For a time the chapel reopened
its doors to the Black Episcopal community, but by 1918 it was razed --
lumber and contents selling for a paltry $109.25. The site became a
local dump and, bit by bit, the forest overtook the spot. And so it
remained for 80 years until the church reclaimed the old lot and marked
the chapel with a meditation park.
We know, too, that All Saints' Cemetery, so grandly
conceived in 1882, was falling into neglect. In a bitter letter to the
Vestry in May of 1919, Superintendent W. H. Storm submitted his
resignation in protest of the Vestry's intentions to use the chapel
proceeds for improvements to church property. He contended that the
monies should be used to restore the cemetery avenues and walks which
were nearly obliterated, "to present the appearance of a Cemetery and
not that of a large burying ground." In 1922 a conciliatory note
in the Vestry minutes thanked Mr. Storm for his faithful service and
reelected him to his old post. (Ever watchful, Mr. Storm reported that
cattle were pasturing t in the cemetery!)
National post-war "normalcy" was interrupted by two
not-so-normal events. Prohibition -- for good or for ill -- became
official in October 1919. Then President Warren Harding, who had taken
office in 1921, died suddenly in August 1923.
That same month, William Elmer, for reasons
unknown, submitted his resignation from All Saints'. The Vestry found in
the Reverend Hobart Smith, an "elder statesman" of St. Thomas Church, a
capable interim rector. But failure to immediately locate a full-time
pastor prompted them to ask the Bishop to combine the parishes of
Reisterstown and Western Run. The idea was soon abandoned. Then the call
went out to the Reverend Walter Archibald. It was followed by a call to
Theodore N. Barth who accepted in March of 1924. The Parish finally
settled on an even keel -- at least for another four years.
* Francis F. Beirne, St. Paul's Parish
Baltimore, A Chronicle of the Mother Church, 1967.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
As the Reverend Theodore N. Barth took over
leadership of the Parish in 1924, the United States was riding the wave
of post-war growth. Earnings of Americans were on the rise and the work
week declined by nearly 4 percent. In 1925, talking motion pictures
began, and the famous Scopes Monkey Trial took place, testing the waters
of teaching evolution in the schools. Charles Lindbergh made his mark in
history by flying the Atlantic nonstop. Reisterstown, on the other hand,
did not fare so well. A devastating fire wiped out the center of town in
February, 1926. One family from All Saints’, including Frances Hill, was
driven from an apartment above the butter and egg store.
Called from Deer Creek Church in Darlington, Ted Barth was to serve All
Saints’ along with St. John ’s Church for just four years, after which
he moved on to Baltimore and eventually became Bishop of Tennessee.
These were the years of the now-famous names in the leadership of the
Reisterstown Parish – William E. Wyatt, William Groff, Clement Reese,
John Logsdon, and Paul Goodwin. Southgate Yellott served as lay reader
(an exclusive lay reader was the norm). All Saints’ got a new pipe
organ, and St, Michael’s Chapel was renovated and extended to its
present configuration. In 1928 the Anglican Church revised the Book of
Common Prayer, and – on a lighter note – Mickey Mouse made his first
appearance.
In March of 1929 the future Bishop of Los Angeles, twenty-four year old
Francis E. I. Bloy, not yet out of seminary, came to All Saints’ where
he was ordained and served for four years (see Bell Tower, March
2004). The same month Herbert Hoover became our 31st President. The
United States was experiencing the culmination of a boom market and
unrestrained speculation when the Stock Market crashed in October, and
the Great Depression quickly changed the face and mood of the country.
Parish records for these years are practically nonexistent. The church
no doubt served as a stabilizing force in people’s lives. Locally, the
Hitshue Hotel burned up; nationally, “The Star Spangled Banner” became
our country’s official anthem. In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt took over
the helm of the nation, and the very long road to recovery was begun.
Some people found consolation perhaps in the repeal of the Prohibition
Amendment!
Upon the departure of Reverend Bloy in 1933, Deacon
Albert C. Cheetham, a former Baptist minister, was placed in charge of
the Parish. His ordination into the Episcopal priesthood took place in
June, 1934. During his years, Reisterstown saw the building of the New
Theater (now Bay County Rentals) and the chartering of the Kiwanis Club.
In 1936 Reverend Cheetham answered a call to serve Holy Trinity Church,
Baltimore. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1937 at an early age,
leaving his wife and two children. Mrs. Cheetham lived for a time in
Baltimore with the parents of Dixon Yaste whom many will remember, later
as the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Reisterstown. Albert Cheetham
and his family experienced the hard times of the Depression, but he was
remembered as a well-liked Christian.
The vacancy created by the departure of Reverend Cheetham was filled by
Interim Rector George Packard, and once again All Saints’ was in search
of a new rector – its eighth in 45 years.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
As the world rapidly approached another world war,
All Saints' was approaching the celebration of its first fifty years on
Chatsworth Avenue. The Rev. Samuel Shoemaker Johnston, affectionately
known as Tobv, was our eighth parish priest. Together with his wife and
infant daughter Nancy, he resided in the rectory during his five-year
term of service and then moved on to All Saints' parish, Frederick, and
later to Garrett County.
Headlining the news of 1937 was the marriage of
Baltimore's Wallis Warfield Simpson to the Duke of Windsor who, the year
previously, had abdicated his crown. Other dramatic concerns centered on
the explosion of the German airship Hindenburg and the mysterious
disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
In 1938 an apparently solvent Cemetery Committee
loaned the Vestry $750 to pay off its organ debt note. And, for the
first time, people began talking about converting "the barn" into a
children's chapel. The Vestry voted to approve the idea early the
following year. Growing urgency for a new Sunday School building was
also becoming evident, and contributions were being accepted. Among the
donors was Mrs. Joseph Fletcher whose husband had resigned his
rectorship in 1912. An indication of a shortage of funds at this
time -- we were still climbing out of the Depression -- is seen in the
Vestry's decision to turn down a bid of $284 to add a lavatory next to
the pantry in the rectory. They opted instead, for a temporary outhouse
to be built in the barn!
In April of '39 the Vestry considered the novel
idea of allowing women to vote for Vestrymen, "though they themselves
would not be permitted to be member of the Vestry." The proposal as
turned over to the Ladies' Guild for further discussion. Early the
following year a petition was sent to the Convention to give suffrage to
the women of the Parish.
1940 was an important milestone in the history of
All Saints' Church. In February the new Building Committee presented
three recommendations: 1) that an addition be built on the north side of
the church to accommodate a growing Sunday School, 2) that the east end
of the church be extended to provide a better location for the choir and
Sacristy, and 3) that a new Parish House be erected northeast of the
bell tower, where the parking lot is now situated.
Just six months later, however, the committee,
citing "the unsettled conditions in Europe" and not willing to take on
excessive financial burdens, recommended the building plan be put on
hold, for several years if necessary. As an interim measure, it was
decided to extend the existing Parish room to provide for immediately
needed education and kitchen facilities. The shape of Fletcher Hall
today, is a reflection of this decision.
It would be over twenty years before the bulk of
the 1940 proposal, in a different form, could be realized. (By 1979
these earlier proposals were moot since the church building had been
declared an historic site, protected from, modification.
The most memorable event of 1940 was the
commemoration of 50 years of worship at All Saints'. On Saturday,
October 5, a full day of celebration was held, beginning with a scripted
pageant. In nine episodes, members of the congregation portrayed the
important people and events in the history of Reisterstown Parish. Old
time conveyances were a part of the parade, including carriages and
wagons, a 1908 Ford, a 1909 Brewster, and two Franklins. Among the
actors several were descendents of the earliest parish founders. The
Reverend Johnston, portraying himself, was a part of the cast of
characters. The pageant was followed by an Evening Service of
Thanksgiving and finally a church supper at the Firemen's Grove.
And so, the first 50 years ended on a joyous note.
But in the background, rumblings from overseas, in both Europe and Asia
were becoming louder and impossible to ignore. Germany had already
invaded Poland; England and France had declared war on Germany. It was
only a matter of time until Reisterstown too would be caught up in the
global insanity.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
top
1941-1945: War Years
July 2006
It goes without saying that the war years must have
had a profound effect upon the lives of our parishioners and upon the
prayers and services within our church. However, a tone of near normalcy
prevailed in a majority of official minutes and proceedings of All
Saints' Church.
Samuel Shoemaker Johnston submitted his resignation
as rector in February of 1941 and then moved on to All Saints' Church,
Frederick. Eight months later the Reverend C. Sturges Ball officially
became rector in Reisterstown. An Englishman by birth, Dr. Ball had
studied in several theological schools, served extensively in the
church, and taught at both Kenyon College and Goucher College.
During Dr. Ball's tenure our church witnessed the
installation of a new rood and a new organ. The Parish House addition
(later named Fletcher Hall) provided a fresh venue for the Sunday School
as well as a meeting room and kitchen. In the church two blank windows
received dedications -- one for William E. Wyatt who had been Senior
Warden beginning in 1915, and one for John C. Logsdon, longtime
vestryman and warden.
December 7, 1941 -- the "day of infamy" -- passed
unrecorded in church records! Shades of world conflict did begin to
creep into Vestry minutes, however, during 1942. The Parish House was
declared a place of shelter in the event of a bombing. Starting in June,
special collections were being made for Russian and British Relief; food
relief contributions were also being made for "war torn foreign
countries." The Vestry took up a discussion of bomb insurance, and Red
Cross work was taking place in the Parish Hall.
It was also proposed that an old iron gate
discovered in the Cemetery be given to scrap collection. Whether this
occurred is unknown, but in the late 1990's such a gate was rediscovered
near the old chapel lot, saved, and is currently being returned to the
Cemetery as part of the Meditation Garden.
1942 saw the institution of ushers at church
services at the suggestion of Reverend Ball. A church supper held in
November cost attendees 60 cents each.
In 1943, the Vestry gave serious consideration to
exchanging the locations of the church pulpit and lectern. This was
prompted by members of the choir who could not see or hear the sermons
being delivered. (In those days, the choir faced the nave and the organ
was located just inside the choir area door.) The temporary resolution
was to allow the choir to move into pews during the sermon. The final
solution, some time later, was to relocate the organ and arrange the
choir benches to face east -- today's configuration.
Three wartime notes appear in '43. The Ladies Guild
was granted permission to install a Service Flag in the church. Mention
is made of a Victory Tax was was assessed on salaries. And in March,
most Lenten services were cancelled "under the present War Conditions."
In August, Sturges Ball received a call to St.
John's in the Valley; it took a strong stand on the part of the Vestry
to persuade him to remain at All Saints' (Reverend Ball did retire from
the ministry in 1945.)
In 1944 Noble C. Powell became the 9th Bishop of
Maryland; he was warmly received on frequent visits to All Saints'.
Regular meetings of a new Men's Club were held in 1944 with the Ladies
Guild serving dinners. In May a special collection was taken for the
Army and Navy Fund. In September the Vestry proposed two bold ventures
(which never came to fruition) -- one was the purchase of lots on
Bond Avenue directly opposite the Cemetery -- the other was the
construction of a new road directly linking the church and the Cemetery.
World War II was reaching its climax in 1945. In
Europe V-E Day was declared on May 8. By happenstance, on that same day
the Vestry purchased its third War Bond in the name of the Church.
Much of 1945 was taken up with the search for a new
rector, with several candidates being interviewed. Finally, in July, the
Vestry received an answer to its call from the Reverend Edward M. Dart
who was serving in Summerville, South Carolina. His arrival was delayed,
however, by a concern for his parishioners immediately following the
bombing of Hiroshima on August 6. He preferred to remain with them until
the settlement of peach had taken place overseas.
By the fall of 1945 a certain sense of normalcy was
taking place. Our men (and women) were starting to return home. A Plaque
commemorating some of them would be placed in the church in 1947. The
live of the Parish resumed its normal course, and a budget was set for
the coming year: $4,771.72
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For unknown reasons parish
records for the five year period following World War II are sadly
lacking. As a matter of fact, Vestry minutes are completely missing for
the years 1948 through 1950.
Nationally, 1946 saw the
beginning of “the baby boom”. President Harry Truman’s administration
initiated aid to war torn nations while facing the growing threat of
Communism. The Berlin Airlift made front page headlines. In Baltimore
the late 40’s witnessed the beginning of commercial television and the
opening of both Memorial Stadium and Friendship Airport.
At All Saints, 37-year-old
Edward M. Dart was invested by Bishop Noble C. Powell on February 3,
1946. Raised in New England, the Reverend Dart had studied in England
and at General Theological Seminary. He served at parishes in South
Carolina before being called to Reisterstown as rector of All Saints’
and chaplain of the Hannah More Academy. Following seven years of
service to the Reisterstown Parish he continued in his ministry with the
Episcopal Church in Rhode Island.
On June 12, 1946, the Men’s
Club sponsored a banquet for local veterans returning from the war.
And in 1947 several memorials, still recognizable
today, were donated to the church. These include the World War II
Veterans plaque (on the north wall), the Hymn Board (given by Mrs.
Humphries), and the Episcopal Church flag (given by Miss Ann Slingluff).
Another notable donation was proposed in 1946 (and later installed) by
Mrs. Gaylord Clark. This was the bronze plaque on our baptismal font
given by her father Brent Keyser fifty-five years earlier. Mrs. Clark
was christened Juliana Brent Keyser on thevery same day that All Saints’
Church was consecrated.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
The war was over and life was back to normal, or so it seemed. People
chose to ignore an ugly conflict called the Korean War, and Rock and
Roll made its entrance. Gas cost 27 cents a gallon, a postage stamp just
3 cents, and "I Love Lucy" entered our living rooms.
At All Saints', Vestry meetings reflected the day-to-day routine and
some concern for growth. The parking lot was too small (more people /
more cars). By 1951 the boys class of the Church School needed more
room, and they helped raise funds to convert part of the barn into a
meeting place. The new room was dedicated as a memorial to A. Eckler
King who had so ably served as church school superintendent.
Then, after seven years of leading this flock, the Reverend Ed Dart
moved on to Rhode Island where he continued his ministry. His place was
quickly filled in the summer of 1952 by a gentleman who had previously
assisted at All Saints' while still a student, the Reverend Scott
Broadbent. A graduate of Baltimore City College, St. John's College, and
Virginia Theological Seminary, Mr. Broadbent was to oversee the years of
change and expansion. During his first year, an 8 o'clock service was
instituted and ushers were appointed to direct communicants to their
pews. The Every Member Canvass, an effort to rally financial support for
the parish, was continued with marked success. On the world scene,
Elizabeth II became Queen of England; locally, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
made its debut.
Statistically, 1952 recorded 449 church members and 125 pupils in the
church school. The rector received a salary of $4,000. And all those
electric candles we are so familiar with at Christmas time made their
first appearance. The Vestry had serious reservations about so many live
candles prior to that time!
In 1953 war hero Dwight Eisenhower took over the reigns of the
country, and by July an uneasy armistice was signed, ending the conflict
in Korea. In Baltimore the NFL Colts made themselves at home in Memorial
Stadium.
The church Vestry entertained a proposal to enlarge the
old Parish House (a decade before Groff Hall solved the problem), and
approval was granted to remove the iron fence in front of the church.
(No photo of this Chatsworth Avenue fence is known to exist, though the
fence was probably installed in 1894 when the stone pillars were
constructed.) Our cemetery adopted a perpetual care policy to replace an
annual care fee which had existed for 71 years. Finally, on a sad note,
a beloved member of the parish passed away. Ira Leroy Wales, Treasurer,
Vestryman, organist, and "master of choristers" died on December 1.
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