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THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
1705-1807
ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS
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At the request of his brethren on the Commission on Paro- chial Archives, the compiler has been examining the manuscript sources of our history. In the manuscripts belonging to the ( jeneral Convention, and elsewhere, he lias found material of great value whicli has never been published. A selection from his transcripts is made in these pages.
JOSEPH HOOPER.
June, 1906
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SOLDIER and SERVANT
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG
Second Bishop of Florida
By EDGAR LEGARE PENNINGTON, S. T. D.
Price, Fifty Cents
CHURCH MISSIONS PUBLISHING COMPANY
31-45 Church Street, Hartford, Connecticut
Copyright, 1939, by
THE CHURCH MISSIONS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Hartford, Connecticut
Printed in the United States of America By James A. Reid, Hartford, Connecticut
SOLDIER and SERVANT
S'l
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG
Second Bishop of Florida
By EDGAR LEGARE PENNINGTON, S. T. D.
PART I
Publication No. 195 Quarterly May - July, 1939
Price 25 cents
CHURCH MISSIONS PUBLISHING COMPANY
31-45 Church Street, Hartford, Connecticut
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103 Act of Oct. 3, 1917. Authorized January 12, 1924. Entered as Second Class Matter, Hartford, Conn.
Copyright, 1939, by
THE CHURCH MISSIONS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Hartford, Connecticut
Printed in the United States of America By James A. Reid, Hartford, Connecticut
John Freeman Young Second Bishop of Florida
by
Edgar Legare Pennington, S. T. D.
PART I
John Freeman Young was bom in Pittston, Kennebec Coun- ty, Maine, October 30th, 1820. He was educated at the Wes- leyan Seminary at Readfield, in his native state; and entered the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut. He became a convert to the Episcopal Church; and removing to Virginia, he entered the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, from which he graduated in 1845. He was ordered deacon by the Right Rev- erend John Prentiss Kewley Henshaw, Bishop of Rhode Island, in St. Michael's Church, Bristol, April 20th, 1845; and was or- dained deacon by the Right Reverend Stephen Elliott, first Bis- hop of Georgia, in St. John's Church, Tallahassee, Florida, Jan- uary 11th, 1846.
The Diocese of Florida, which had been organized in 1838, was truly a frontier diocese. It was not until 1851 that its first Bishop was consecrated; and at the time of Mr. Young's first ministry in the state, the Bishop of Georgia included Florida under his episcopal supervision. Mr. Young began his ministry in Jacksonville, May 23rd, 1845, just a month after his ordination to the diaconate. In that year there were only two clergymen in active parochial service in the whole state; one of them being the subject of this study, and still a deacon. Jacksonville was still a small town; and the church, of which Mr. Young took charge, was covered in . . . nothing more. But with energy and enthusiasm, he began to improve the building and to collect
4 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
furnishings. In the last year of his service . . . still the only clergyman of the Church in East Florida ... he ministered to the parish in St. Augustine, and visited the families belonging to the Church along the St. John's River, from Fort George to Enterprise, holding services in several points. He resigned his mission December 15th, 1847.^
He served successively as a missionary in Brazoria County, Texas, and at Livingston, Madison County, Mississippi. While in Texas, he was secretary of the primary Convention held in 1848, for the organization of the Diocese of Texas. Pioneer work attracted him.
The services of the Episcopal Church were commenced at Napoleonville, in the Parish of Assumption, Louisiana, on the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (July 18th), 1852. At that time, there were but two communicants, though some twenty families were favourably disposed towards the establishment of the Church. On the 8th of January, 1853, Bishop Leonidas Polk preached there, and baptized three adults. On the day following, the First Sunday after Epiphany, he delivered another sermon there, confirmed four persons, and baptized one adult. Next day, he organized in that village a congregation composed of some of the villagers, but chiefly of the families of planters living on the Lafourche, above and below ; and this was entitled Christ Church. The individuals composing the new congregation sub- scribed the requisite amount for the support of a clerg>Tnan and for the building of a Church edifice. The Reverend Mr. Young, of the Diocese of Mississippi, was invited to take charge. He accepted; and proceeded at once to the construction ot "an ex- ceedingly beautiful church, in the Gothic style," according to plans obtained from an eminent New York architect . . . "such a church as will be in some measure appropriate for one of the wealthiest communities in the State to present as an offering to God." He catechised the children of the parish weekly, and held services on alternate Sunday afternoons on two plantations."
(1) Centennial of St. John's Parish, Jacksonville, Florida, A. D. 1934, (pamphlet published by the Centennial Committee), p. 62. E. L. Pennington: The Church in Florida, 1763-1892, in Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, March, 1938, VII., 49, 38.
(2) Journal of 15th Annual Convention of the P. E. Church in Louisiana, 1853, pp. 19, 53f.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 5
On the 10th of May, 1854, Bishop Polk consecrated Christ Church, Napoleonville. Within a little more than a year . . . and a year of great depression from a widely spread and fatal epidemic . . . the churchmen of the Parish of Assumption had raised, ex- clusively among themselves, for the sapport of their minister and the building of their church, above $9,500. Bishop Polk re- garded the new church as "the most beautiful edifice of its kind (he had) seen in the Southern or Western country . . . And its entire arrangement, within and without, exceedingly appropriate, beautiful, and in the best taste." The building of this church is an early example of that activity in church-construction which marked the ministry and episcopate of John Freeman Young.^
In 1855, Mr. Young reported 26 communicants at Christ Church. He was holding services on Sunday afternoons for the coloured people exclusively, of whom there were about three hundred under the care and tuition of the Church, and about thirty children under catechetical instruction.* Shortly after- wards, Mr. Young resigned, and was transferred to the Diocese of New York. There he became assistant at Trinity Church, New York, where he served until his election to the office of Bishop. He was the secretary of the Russo-Greek Committee of the General Convention; and edited the papers issued by that committee in futherance of the intercommunion of the Eastern, Anglican, and American Churches. In 1864, he visited Russia in the interest of this movement." His reputation grew; and in 1867, the Council of the Diocese of Florida chose him as its Bishop, to succeed the late Doctor Francis Huger Rutledge, who had died Novenber 6th, 1866.
In 1763, the King of Spain ceded Florida to His British Ma- jesty; and the newly acquired territory was divided into East and West Florida. Missionary work was carried on during the British occupation at St. Augustine, New Smyrna, St. Mark's, Pensacola, and Mobile (then in West Florida); but after the Spanish government regained West Florida by conquest (1779) and East Florida by treaty (1783), the Church of England
(3) Journal of 16th Annual Convention of the P. E. Church in Louisiana,
1854, p. 26.
(4) Journal of 17th Annual Convention of the P. E. Church in Louisiana,
1855, p. 42.
(5) William Stevens Perry: The Episcopate in America, p. 183.
6 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
dwindled away in that vast domain. Soon practically every vestige of the Anglican order was obliterated. It is said, how- ever, that some few scattered persons used the Book of Common Prayer in private.
Florida passed under the political control of the United States of America in 1821; and became a territorial possession. The first missionary of the American Church sent to Florida was the Reverend Andrew Fowler, who was supported for a short time by the Young Men's Missionary Society of Charleston, South Carolina. He officiated at St. Augustine. In 1823, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church created St. Augustine and Pensacola as mis- sionary stations, and made an appropriation of Four Hundred Dollars for the support of missionaries there. The same Society created the new Florida seat of government a missionary station in 1826, and appointed a clergyman to take charge of the work at Tallahassee. Soon services were begun at several places in the vicinity of Tallahassee . . . Magnolia, Rockhaven, Aspalaga, and Monticello. In 1829, the first Episcopal services were held in the new town of Jacksonville, by the missionary stationed at St. Augustine. In 1832, twenty citizens of Key West formed themselves into a body, and applied for a charter as the "Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church, Key West." Christ Church Apalachicola, and St. Joseph's Church, St. Joseph . . . both situated on the Gulf of Mexico . . . were organized in the fall or winter of 1835. Pensacola became self-supporting in 1837. It was with this background that the "Primary Convention" of the Church in Florida met at St. John's Church, Tallahassee, Jan- uary 17th, 1838. At that time seven parishes took steps to form a Diocese.
Christ Church, Pensacola;
Christ Church, Apalachicola;
St. John's Church, Tallahassee;
St. John's Church, Jacksonville;
St. Joseph's Church, St. Joseph;
St. Paul's Church, Key West;
Trinity Church, St. Augustine.
It is hard to realize what difficulties and disadvantages stood in the way of this venture of faith. Most of Florida was still an unexplored, unknown howling wilderness. With the exception
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 7
of Key West, which was isolated from the mainland and some five hundred miles south of the nearest settlement of any consequence, all the towns in which churches were started were close to the northern boundary of the territory . . . not yet a state. They were small, and inhabited by settlers mostly very poor. It was the time of the Indian wars; and the red men were hostile. Hurri- canes and yellow fever played havoc; and the early journals of the new Diocese have much to say regarding the privations and hardships which were endured. In fact, the town of St. Joseph was wiped out by storm and fever within a year after the first diocesan Convention; and it is only in recent years that the place has witnessed any renewal of activity.
In the years following the first Convention, there were nu- merous instances of murders by the Indians. In 1840, the missionary at Jacksonville reported to the Board of Missions that the Church in Florida seemed doomed to disaster and de- struction. "Casting my eyes on the Journal of the Diocese of 1838," he said, "I find that death, disease, and removal have swept from his place and duties every clergyman then comprising the clergy of Florida, myself excepted." In 1841, services were held at Palatka ; but not continued. The same year, the Quincy church was nearly finished. It was consecrated ... as was Trinity Church, Apalachicola, also ... by Bishop Otey, of Ten- nessee, who visited the Diocese. Bishop Gadsden of South Carolina visited Florida in 1842, and laid the cornerstone of St. John's Church. In 1844, Bishop Elliott of Georgia was invited to take the Diocese under his episcopal supervision. Marianna, in the meantime, had come into existence, but was long without a resident minister. Another Bishop who held confirmations in Florida during the early days of struggle was Bishop Cobbs of Alabama. It was not until 1851 that the Diocese elected a Bis- hop of its own . . . Francis Huger Rutledge; and at the time of his election, the total number of communicants did not reach more than 260.''
By 1852, services were held in Ocala ... "an encouraging field," and resumed at Palatka. The rector of Key West had held services once at Dry Tortugas, an island sixty miles further out at sea, where a considerable fortification had been construc-
(6) Diocese of Florida: Convention Journal, 1851.
8 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
ted. Milton, in the northwestern part of the State, was soon the scene of monthly services; and a congregation had been gathered at Waukeenah, in Jefferson County, south of Monticello. In 1858, St. Peter's, Fernandina, was added to the list of parishes; and the following year, work was started at Lake City. Soon afterwards, Orange Lake and Gainesville were listed for minis- trations. The church at Warrington, near Pensacola, was com- pleted in 1860. At the 1861 Convention, which assembled soon after the beginning of the War Between the States, the Diocese was found to be in the most flourishing state in its history. Du- ring the year, there had been 132 baptisms; 25 confirmations; 34 marriages; 64 burials. The communicants numbered 522; there were 76 Sunday-school teachers, and 680 pupils. The resident clergymen numbered twelve. Besides stipends, the contribu- tions reached $11,298.92. The organization of the Diocese under the direct supervision of Bishop Rutledge had justified itself in tangible results. The war, however, was to cripple the Church's progress, and to bring about sad reverses.^
During the War, the Diocese adopted the Constitution and Canons of the Church in the Confederate States. Although a distracted condition prevailed, even from the outset, there was considerable activity for awhile. In May, 1863, the church- building at Marianna was consecrated ; in vSeptember, the follow- ing year, the new church was burned, when the town was cap- tured by the United States troops. St. John's, Warrington, was hit by a shell; the steeple took fire and was entirely consumed. Christ Church, Pensacola, was at first used as barracks for the federal troops; afterwards a Union chaplain, in Church orders, held services there. The school-house of the parish and the rec- tor's private residence were both destroyed by fire. All the coast cities and towns were occupied by the United States forces during the War; and the condition of the parishes was lamentable. The majority of churchmen fled into the interior. The Church at Jacksonville was burned by federal troops evacuating after the third federal occupation.
On the 22nd of February, 1866, the Council of the Diocese convened at Tallahassee. (The name "Council" replaced that of "Convention" with the organization of the Church in the Con- federate States, and the same has been retained in the Diocese of Florida ever since). The Diocese, eager for peace and harmony
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 9
decided to withdraw from xinion with the Church of the Con- federacy, and acceded to the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
The close of the War found the people impoverished, and somewhat dejected, but full of zeal for the Church. The health of the Bishop had been sadly shattered, and he had become well- nigh helpless. The Reverend Owen P. Thackara, of St. Augus- tine, was the guiding spirit in the rebuilding of the Church in the eastern part of the State. Through his efforts, the parishes of St. Augustine and Jacksonville were reorganized and prepared for new life. Services were resumed at Palatka, Orange Springs, Ocala, and Gainesville. At Aucilla (fifteen miles east of Mon- ticello), services were held on a plantation for the freed negroes, "who attended well and manifested decided interest in the re- sponsive portions." The Reverend William D. Scull, as mission- ary to the negroes in Leon and Gadsden counties, visited the north to obtain funds for a school for these people. In Washing- ton, he secured eight hundred dollars. He also received the grant of a building at Midway, in Gadsden County, which had been built as a Confederate hospital. In a short time, he had 117 negro pupils on his roll. He also organized a congregation among them.
On the 6th of November, 1866, Bishop Rutledge passed away. His had been a laborious, difficult, but consecrated and useful ministry. At the diocesan Council, in May, 1867, the Reverend John Freeman Young was elected to succeed him.
Doctor Young was consecrated Bishop at Trinity Church, New York, on St. James's Day, July 25th, 1867. His conse- crators were the venerable John Henry Hopkins of Vermont (1792-1868), the Presiding Bishop of the Church, and the man who had ignored all differences between the northern and south- ern elements in the first General Convention held after the War; John Payne (1815-1874), first missionary Bishop to Africa; Alexander Gregg (1819-1893), first Bishop of Texas; William Henry Odenheimer (1817-1879), third Bishop of New Jersey; Richard Hooker Wilmer (1816-1900), second Bishop of Ala- bama . . . the only Bishop consecrated by the Church of the Confederate States; and George David Cummins (1822-1876),
10 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
who afterwards left the communion and became a founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church/
Notwithstanding handicaps and discouragements, the years that followed the War were marked by considerable expansion in the Church's activities. At the diocesan Council of 1869, the reports showed progress towards recovery as well as a reaching into new and unexplored territory. The Reverend Edward Mac- Clure was at work as missionary on the St. John's River from Dunn's Lake (Crescent City) to the mouth of the stream. The Reverend John Baker was holding services at Mandarin ... a new and pleasant field. Milwood had been added as a mission. Services were being held at Gainesville in the courthouse; but the missionary was also making trips to Cedar Keys, Waldo, and Perry. In all these places he found Churchmen. In Perry, there were over fifty Sunday-school students and a lot had been procured for a church. St. Mary's Church, Madison County, was admitted in 1869 as a parish.
The western part of the State had suffered considerably. The Reverend William T. Saunders of Apalachicola gave a for- lorn account of conditions in that town.
"It is a day of adversity with us. The decline of the city, and the removal of a large portion of the popu- lation, have weakened the Parish, and rendered the attendance small in comparison with former years. The few who remain are stedfast in the faith, and do what they can to support the Services of the Church."
The Reverend Mr. Scull was active in his efforts for the ne- gro.
When Bishop Young entered upon his duties, the entire state belonged to his jurisdiction. To-day there are two Epis- copal Dioceses in Florida; but the division did not take place till several years after his death. Hence he was confronted through- out his episcopate with the problem of covering vast distances as well as by the primitive means of transportation on which he often had to depend. The east coast was not linked together for convenience and expedition by a great railway or by smoothly
(7) E. L. Pennington: Some Experiences of Bishop Young (Florida His- torical Society Quarterly, XV., pp. 35-36).
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 11
paved highways, but the hundreds of miles of its length presented an almost inaccessible and most sparsely inhabited region.
On February 24th, 1868, for example. Bishop Young left his home in Tallahassee, in order to take the steamer for Key West on its arrival from New Orleans at St. Mark's. Four days later he reached the anchorage of Tampa, some five miles from town. "Though the wind was high and the sea heavy, and though my fellow passengers remonstrated, I resolved to accompany the mail ashore in the ship's boat." Next day, he left Tampa in the morning; but did not reach Key West till Sunday evening (the next evening), as the bell was ringing for services. The next morning, after almost a week spent in arriving at the scene of his visitation, he was compelled to leave, as the steamer ... his sole dependence . . . made the trip only twice a month, and must return. While at Key West, he learned that "the frequent visi- tations of this place by yellow fever render the rector's labors at times very excessive. I was glad to learn that the dissensions from which this parish suffered during and immediately after the war, and which arose from political differences, have been of late gradually subsiding."
Travel by land presented its own difficulties as well. On April 10th of the same year, he left Quincy for Marianna; "and arrived at night, having ridden in twelve hours fifty miles, over an exceedingly rough road, without a support of any kind for my back." It was his purpose to proceed from Marianna westward to Milton, across the country; "but learning that the streams were barely passable and rapidly rising from recent rains, (he) had to abandon (his) purpose and reach the West by way of the Gulf." So he proceeded to Apalachicola, only to find that the boat was gone. On April 24th, he had to leave Apalachicola by way of Columbus, Georgia ... a trip up the road of some two-hundred- and-fifty miles; then going by way of Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, he was able to reach Pensacola by May 2nd. It had required twenty-two days to cover a distance which is now made in five or six hours.*
Eager to find what communities might need the ministrations of the Church, Bishop Young proceeded on a visit of exploration in 1869, to the upper part of the Aucilla River, some fifteen miles
(8) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1868.
12 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
from Monticello. There he found "an intelligent and wealthy community of between thirty and forty families of whites, within a radius of six or eight miles. They never have any religious services whatever nearer than Monticello. On the estates of this small district there are residing and laboring more than four thousand persons of color, who scarcely have any meetings for religious or other purposes among themselves, and no schools at all, so far as I could learn. The whites and blacks alike would most gladly welcome a clergyman to officiate for both, and super- intend schools for the colored children, to the support of which the parents, as some leading men assured me, would contribute according to their humble means."
Some of the hardships of sea-travel are depicted in the following description: —
(February 26th, 1869) "I left Key West with a strong norther blowing, causing a heavy sea. Though quite unsea worthy, our vessel was loaded to the water's edge with a cargo of sugar. In crossing the bar she struck twice, and in so doing, broke the fastenings which secured the engine. At midnight it was found that the ship was leaking badly, and though the pumps were immediately set to work, six or eight hours elapsed before she was cleared of water. With a crippled engine, a head wind blowing a gale, and a heavy sea, we did not make Tampa harbour till nine o'clock Sunday night. I reached Tallahassee on the third of March, glad to tread upon firm ground, and with a grateful sense of God's mercy in having guarded us from the danger of the sea.""
Bishop Young manifested an interest in education from the outset. He was impressed with the success which attended the work of the Roman Catholics in their parochial schools; and he felt that it was the duty of the Episcopal Church to rise to its challenge and opportunity. In his Council address, in 1870, he said: —
"It is mortifying now for us to think of it, but has not our chief concern been to make sure of the salvation of our own souls, and our chief sentiment been the com-
(9) Diocese of Florida : Journal of Council, 1869.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 13
placent congratulation of ourselves upon the respecta- bility, wealth and influence, of our beloved Church, coupled with the loud assertion of her Protestant charac- ter, and frequent denunciations of the errors of Rome!"
The Church of Rome, he said, was "distancing all compe- tition in this fundamental and important work" of nursing the sick, educating the young, and meeting in every form the wants of suffering or helpless humanity, "by her numerous and well organized communities of Christian men and women, whose lives are given to her service in the education of the young." Hence, "on entering upon the work of this Diocese, and perceiving how futile would be any efforts to control the education of the rising generation by the ordinary school organizations of salaried teach- ers, "Bishop Young resolved to form as early as practicable a community of earnest Christian women, who would give their lives to the work of education. Instead of waiting for the re- cuperation of a povery-stricken Diocese, or visiting the churches of the northern cities to solicit aid for this purpose, he purchased at once, out of his own limited means, a piece of property at Fer- nandina for a female school. This was the beginning of St. Mary's Priory. The Bishop expected to receive a dependable p^atronage from the young women of the State, and to draw pupils from the North who would be attracted by the climate. (Florida was be- coming well known as a health resort, especially for tubercular patients). Ultimately the Bishop hoped to organize a sister- hood, which would take the school in charge; but for the present he realized that he must depend on salaried teachers.
Another project of an educational nature was establishment of a boys' school at Jacksonville, under the patronage of St. John's Church. In the summer of 1869, the Bishop conferred with the rector, wardens, and vestry of that parish; and the latter proceeded to the erection of a suitable building. The Reverend Ignatius Koch, D.D., a very accomplished scholar, was invited to become the principal teacher. Doctor Koch was a German. He entered upon his duties in October, 1869; and soon St. John's Male Academy enjoyed a high reputation. Doctor Koch visited his German countrymen in Jacksonville, and the first year dis- covered some twelve German families and some forty single men residing there. On the 27th of March, 1870, he held his first
14 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
service in German; and every Sunday thereafter he continued to do so. The services were well attended, and the young men in particular took a hearty interest in them. They bought a fine melodeon for the services, and were in the habit of meeting weekly for the practice of religious music and for fellowship. (This is, so far as we know, the first record of German religious services in Florida).
Bishop Young took part in 1869 in the revival of the Uni- versity of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. The cornerstone of that institution had been laid just before the outbreak of the War; but in the unsettled conditions which existed for nearly a decade afterwards, no quorum of the Trustees had ever assembled on the site of the proposed college. The ten years specified by the donors of the land, as the period within which the Univer- sity must commence operations or forfeit the domain, had al- ready elapsed; but a few months before the time had expired, the school had been put into operation in order to save the val- uable property, but without adequate means to place the enter- prise on a solid foundation. In the meantime, the number of applicants for admission had been unexpectedly large; there was imminent danger that the prosperity of the institution would be nipped in the bud by the insufficiency of accommodations and the inadequacy of the instruction v/hich the limited corps of teachers could give. The Board meeting of 1869 was well attended; and the members addressed themselves to the task of building a real University of the South.
The stations along the St. John's River, visited by the Rev- erend Edward MacClure between June 1st and July 1st, 1869, were Baten Island (now Batten . . . south of Femandina), Fort George, Hibemia, Green Cove Springs, Federal Point, Orange Mills (northeast of Palatka), Dunn's Lake at Hutchinson's, and Dunn's Lake at Ellington. In some of these places, services are held to this day. The interior of Florida was gradually opened to the permanent resident; and groves were being planted and substantial houses built. On the 13th of April, 1869, Bishop Young started in his hired conveyance, with the Reverend J. Hamilton Quinby, on a missionary journey into the central part of the state. Sickness and the difficulty of procuring forage for the mules caused the trip to be abandoned at Lake Harris.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 15
Goodman's (Madison County) and Magnolia and Pilot's Landing are mentioned in the Journal of 1870, as visited by the Reverend John Hammond. At the same time, the Reverend Mr. MacClure had extended his labours into the present vicinity of Sanford; he mentioned holding services at Volusia (south of Lake George) and Mellonville. The Millwood vestry decided in October, 1869, to build a church; they procured the lumber, and had $525 subscribed. St. John's, Jacksonville, was about to begin "a substantial Church edifice on the site occupied by the one destroyed during the late war." In January, 1870, the defunct parish of St. James, Lake City, was organized under the Reverend Mr. Quinby.
In the same month. Bishop Young started on a visitation of the parishes of his Diocese. Beginning at the northwestern sec- tion, he arrived at Milton, where he found that the most eligible site in the town, "embracing nearly a block of ground and in part covered by magnificent oaks," had been purchased and presented to that "infant and comparatively feeble Parish" for a church and rectory. In Pensacola, he found a marked improvement in the town, and the presence of over forty ships of the largest class, loading for foreign countries, as well as signs of the approaching completion of railroad connections with the rest of the country. "It was my purpose to take the steamer for Apala- chicola, to visit that Parish on my way Eastward, but finding that the vessel was more than a week behind her time, so that I was likely to be detained for a week or ten days, I returned home by way of Montgomery, Macon and Savannah, arriving at Femandina on the 13th of February."
Finding on his arrival that, during his absence of six weeks, scarcely a week's work had been done on the extension ot the building of St. Mary's School . . . "the contractors having dis- agreed and their workmen left; while, from the removal of all the windows, and, in part, the walls of the northern side of the house, those whose health as well as training had been entrusted to me by confiding parents, were exposed to every northern blast and pelting storm with which we might be visited," he must provide for the shelter and comfort of those committed to his protection and care before all else. Hence he was detained two months in
16 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
getting the difficulties settled, new contracts made, and the work so far advanced as to afford shelter and indispensable accommo- dations for his exposed household and growing school.
On Good Friday, 1870, the Bishop visited Cedar Keys; at Easter, he was at Trinity Church, Gainesville. In the latter place, he confirmed fifteen.
"This was truly a joyful Easter Feast. The appro- priate and profuse decorations of the House of prayer, the carefully prepared and inspiring music, the large and deeply interested congregation, the growing and enthusi- astic Sunday School, the number and character of the class confirmed, all betoken the life and earnestness of this infant Parish to an unusual extent. But tor the almost total failure of the cotton crop about Gainesville last year, as well as several years preceeding, a com- modious and appropriate Church would have been ready no doubt by this time for consecration. The extraordin- ary growth and vigor of this Parish from the first, and under circumstances, in many respects, peculiarly un- favourable, calls for devout thankfulness to God. Where but little moie than two years ago the Church was comparatively unknown, a Parish now exists, which, with God's continued blessing, promises soon to be one of the foremost in the Diocese. To the scarcely half a dozen communicants that could be numbered within a circuit of twenty miles about Gainesville, thirty-one have been added by confirmation within that time, many of whom, as adults, have received baptism, and fifteen of the thirty-one were added at the last confirmation; as many, lacking one, as at the three preceding visi- tations. A most eligible and commodious lot has been secured and paid for, at a cost of $550, and nearly half enough has been pledged tor the erection of a Church." Monticello, which the Bishop visited next, had suffered by reason of the lack of a rector. The Reverend Henry L. Phillips was principal ot the High School there, and had kept up the Sunday services and the Sunday-school; but it was impossiole tor him to do any systematic parochial work. St. Paul's, Quincy, was found to be "in a very feeble and unsatisfactory state." This parish, as well as others, had the ministrations during the
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 17
winter of a clergyman from the North. Some of those winter visitors were old or in feeble health; but the financial conditions of the Diocese was such that their services were gladly utilized.
St. John's, Tallahassee, had been served during the winter "most acceptably" by the Reverend C. F. Knight, of the Diocese of Massachusetts. The Bishop was gratified to find the chancel improved by the erection of a proper altar and sedilla, which was done by Mr. Knight at his own cost. The general tone and con- dition of the parish had improved; and Mr. Knight had been called as rector. "The disposition is very manifest, to erect a temple for God worthy of His Name and Worship, should the labors of the husbandmen be blessed for another year with their expected and usual increase."
Next week services were held at Station V., Tallahassee Railroad, in the Baptist house of worship. The Bishop arranged tor the establishment of services there. He also held services and arranged for regular ministrations at Madison Court House. At Lake City, he was surprised and gratified at the development of Church interest and strength, under "the faithful and judicious labours of the Reverend Mr. Quinby. A considerable accession to the strength of the Church is being made by immigration, and I trust that ere long a Church will be erected, and this Parish become established on a permanent foundation."
On Ascension Day, Bishop Young visited St. Mark's, Palat- ka. There he was requested to supply a minister, it being under- stood that Palatka was to be the head and centre of the mission- ary work on the upper St. John's River. Next he went to Hibemia and Green Cove Springs. He found that the labours of Mr. Hammond, as missionary of the lower St. John's River, had ac- complished unexpected results.
The other appointments I had made for the St. John's River I was entirely unable to meet. They were carefully made, with the schedules of the different steamers before me, but on this very week and the one preceding, several of the boats were withdrawn and others changed their schedule, so that it was useless to attempt to keep my appointments."
He found tokens of prosperity in the "venerable and feeble Parish" of Trinity Church, St Augustine. The schcclTcLse
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which had become comparatively useless from the unusual few- ness of the children of the parish, had been converted into a rectory. The Church had been extensively and thoroughly repaired, "for which, as well as for the means of transforming the school house into a Rectory, the congregation are mainly indebted to friends from the North who were sojourning there for the winter."
The new life to which St. John's, Jacksonville, had awakened since the reverses of the War, was very encouraging. "The working of the Offertory system has been an extraordinary suc- cess. Not only have current expenses been met, but a very con- siderable debt has been canceled. Over eight thousand dollars has been raised during the year, and the system of making the payment of all dues and assessments of the Parish quarterly in advance successfully established. The Corporation has just decided upon the erection of a new Church, the Nave to be com- menced at once, and built at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars."
Comparing the present condition of the Diocese (1870) with that of three years before, the Bishop felt that there was much to "call forth our gratitude to God, yet much to humble and stimulate us to greater efforts in His service." There were twenty clergymen, instead of seven. Few of them, however, were canonically resident in the Diocese. Six parishes had been organized during the three years, while stated missionary ser- vices had been established at eight stations on the St. John's River, as well as at Cedar Keys, Madison Court House, and Station V. on the Tallahassee Railroad. There were seventeen more places served by the ministrations of the Church than at the beginning of Bishop Young's episcopate. ^"^
In December, 1870, Bishop Young visited Sumter County in the lake region in the centre of the State, at the invitation of a new colony started on Panasoffkee Lake. He found that the services of the Chxirch were read there every Sunday. ^^ This settlement was in a thinly settled region, not far from the scene of the massacre of Major Dade and his command, which was practically the beginning of the long Seminole Indian War, from
(10) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1870.
(11) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1871.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 19
1835 to 1842, which nearly exterminated the existing settlements in South Florida.
The Reverend C. William Camp, rector of St. James's, Lake City, commenced holding services at Live Oak in June, 1871. "The Parish is very feeble as yet," he said; "but with judicious nursing I hope will live. The apparent uncertainty of residents of the interior towns . . . operates as a great drawback . . . The doctors and lawyers seem to be deserting the small towns and flocking en masse to Savannah and Jacksonville, leaving only the artisan and farmer, whose proclivities and traditions do not lead them to the Church." July 23rd, Mr. Camp organized St. Bamabas's Church, at Ellaville, near the Suwanee River. Ella- ville was thought to be a promising place with the prospect of a large manufacturing population.
During 1871, considerable progress marked the life of the Diocese, although there were setbacks as well. St. John's, Tallahassee, had completed its repairs; the church had been thor- oughly cleansed and painted inside; the altar had been supplied with proper ornaments. "Prayer is, as a rule, said daily in the Church; twice a day during Advent and Lent, and on Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Holy-days. There is an Early Cele- bration of the Holy Eucharist on every Sunday and Holy-day (excepting Good Friday), on each Wednesday during Lent, and daily through the Octaves of the Great Festivals; also duplicate Mid-day Celebrations on the First Sunday in each month, Christmas Day, each Sunday in Lent, Maundy-Thursday, Easter Day, Ascension Day, Whit-Sunday, Trinity Sunday, and All- Saints' Day. Also, Mid-Day Celebrations on each Thursday in Lent and Advent. Sermons on Sunday morning and evening, and on Friday evening." St. Mary's Church, Milton, was with- out a rector, but supplied by a lay reader and by occasional ser- vices from the Reverend Doctor Scott of Pensacola. Since the first establishment of the Church there, the congregation had used the Masonic Hall; but, not feeling it expedient to pay a larger rent for future use, the furnishings were stored. "The ability of the Parish for self-support has been greatly reduced within the last fifteen months by deaths and removals, and of the few that remain, some are entirely discouraged." Trinity Church, Gainesville, had begun the erection of its church. St.
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John's Male Academy, Jacksonville, had much increased in use- fulness and the number of its pupils under Doctor Koch. St. Mary's Church, Madison, was reported as having been for a long period without a rector, and "gradually dwindling away. During the past year several destructive fires have swept away parts of this pretty little city and financial distress has prevented re- building. Many have removed from the Parish and none come in to take their places. But three of the communicants reside in the city, and lack of ability prevents those living at a distance from attendance. The past diastrous summer has impoverished all." St. James's, Lake City had a year of "many labors and dis- appointments . . . The unprecedented weather of the past sum- mer, causing short crops, and the very heav}^ taxation, have combined to produce a universal state of despondency and mone- tary uncertainty. Not one-third of the amount pledged for the support of the Rector has been paid or indeed can be collected. This Parish has also suffered by removals severely, and ... ex- tensive aid must be given to it to prevent extinction."
In 1871, the Reverend William D. Scull, one ot the oldest clergymen of the Diocese both in years and service, passed away. "He was a man of marked individual characteristics, sound churchmanship, high mental endowments and superior learning. Since the close ot the war his only cure had been to teach a school for colored people near Midway, for whom he likewise held ser- vices on the Lord's day." Commenting on this last work of Mr. Scull's, Bishop Young said: — ■
"As in the case of most enterprises of this class, un- fortunately, so far as my observation has extended, but little, if anything, that is permanent, survives much well meant and well directed labor and effort. How long we are to expect such results of our efforts to elevate this unfortunate race, time only can make manifest. It is clearly our duty to undertake every thing in our power which promises to benefit them, though, for the present, our work must be mainly one of charity and taith."
During the year, one ot the inmates of the Priory School at Femandina was burned to death. The temporary governess of the institution, "whose self-possession and heroic courage in the fearful crises were beyond all praise", was severely burned in
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 21
extinguishing the flames and rescuing the child and received a terrible nervous shock. Teachers and pupils were all so dis- quieted, that it was necessary for the Bishop to take charge of the school, "till the intenseness of the shock should become mitigated and the crippled head of the school . . . should so far recover as to resume its general direction and government." In this work, he was detained for nearly a month.
In July, 1871, he visited Sewanee, Tennessee, for the first time in two years. He was agreeably surprised at the changes which had taken place. "A goodly number of stores and shops around the Depot, where all business enterprises are concentrated, and of Professors' Houses and School Buildings within the Uni- versity Reservation, which is appropriated to educational pur- poses exclusively, betokened a growth that I had not realized in the accounts which I had heard of the same. And from the style of the architecture and excellence of the workmanship in many of the edifices, a new character and an aspect of permanency has been given to this new mountain settlement." The students had increased from ninety to 180; and the University had been or- ganized and put into active operation. "Up to the last meeting of the Trustees, only the Grammar School or Preparatory De- partment had been in operation."
He attended the General Convention in the fall of 1871, and was pleased at the adoption of a new Hymnal, at the passage of a new article of the Constitution which would facilitate the di- vision of dioceses, and at the unanimous agreement as to the value and necessity of organizations of women as deaconesses in sisterhoods for doing the Master's work and building up His Holy Church.
Back in Florida, he began, December 6th, the first episcopal visitation of the Florida East Coast, south of Palatka. The Rev. F. R. Holeman, "missionary on St. John's River," with head- quarters at Palatka, embraced this territory in his mission. Bishop Young and Mr. Holeman started out from Palatka together, by steamer. The narrative of this journey, told in the Bishop's graphic style, is of interest and historical significance. The region was not served by railway, and the only inhabitants of the Indian River section dwelt along the shores. The fertile belt is comparatively narrow; and to the west stretched what was then
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a wilderness, hardly explored, and still haimted by the large game ot Florida . . . bears, panthers, wild cats, and deer. Much of this region is swampy.
On the 9th of December, the two clergymen reached Salt Lake, in Brevard County, the landing for Sand Point (the future Titusville) . . . three hundred miles from the mouth of the St. John's River. "The scream of our steam whistle soon brought settlers to the shore. In due time we effected our landing; and after a ride of nine miles we reached the residence of Col. Titus, and received a very cordial welcome. Notice of our coming had been sent on before us, and the information, we were told, had been well published."
Next morning . . . Sunday ... a congregation of nearly fifty assembled in the large dining room of the hotel ; Mr. Hole- man said Morning Prayer, and the Bishop baptised three children and preached. Afternoon services were appointed for the origi- nal Sand Point settlement, five miles back from the river. There a congregation was gathered, as large as the one in the morning, but made up of different people. At the log school-house, where services were to be held, the Bishop found a Sunday-school in operation, which was taught by an earnest young man. He learned that the sessions were held regularly every Lord's day, "when not only the children assemble but most of the adults of the neighborhood, who, after the catechising, is over, unite for some time in singing, reading the Holy Scriptures and prayer, this whole region being totally destitute of ministerial services of any denomination, or character, whatsoever."
"Such a manner of spending the Lord's day speaks well for the character of the settlers in this far off region, and I could not forbear saying to them before proceeding with my sermon, how much gratified I was at learning these facts, encouraging them to persevere in their good ways and bidding upon them the blessing of God. After service, though our forms were new and strange to them, they expressed an earnest desire, as had been done after the Morning Service, that our visit might be soon repeated, and I promised to do what I could to give them regular services."
On Monday, the Bishop and Mr. Holeman embarked in a
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 23
large sail-boat for the settlements on the Mosquito Lagoon and Halifax River. By noon, they reached the canal uniting the Indian and Mosquito Lagoons, usually called "the haulover" — northern part of Brevard County. Being within four miles of the famous orange grove of Mr. Dummett, and wishing to call on him, as he belonged to a Church family, the clergymen made fast their boat in the canal and started for the grove. After a brief and pleasant visit, they returned to their boat, and resumed their voyage, having about ten miles to sail to the River Hotel, where they proposed to sgend the night.
"This we could have done easily before dark with a good breeze, but the wind, unfortunately, had now died away, though our boatman hoped by the use of the oar, notwithstanding the size of our boat, to reach our landing by late bed time. But it was half-past one before he made what he supposed to be the house for which we were aiming. As the night was nearly freezing cold, and Mr. Holeman, who had recently recovered from a prolonged sickness, was suffering greatly, we hal- looed ourselves hoarse, in trying to arouse the people to come with a small boat to take us ashore, the water being too shallow for us to land from our boat ; but all the res- sponse we could elicit was the barking of dogs, the crow- ing of cocks, and the hooting of owls, though our trying disappointment was somewhat alleviated by our interest in the gyrations of the fish in every conceivable angle and curve, which, seen by the phosphorescent light, were like numberless lines of fire in the waters beneath us. We surrendered ourselves to our fate for the night, and, at daylight, our boatman perceived that he had stopped before the wrong house and that our Hotel was some two miles further on. Pushing forward as fast as possible, we soon went ashore and appreciated the comfort of a good fire. Finding none of the family at home, we asked for hot coffee only, having a supply of provisions in our boat. I was gratified at seeing some Prayer Books lying on a shelf, and, on speaking of it, was told by our boatman that the people were Episcopalians. I then regretted that all were from home."
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After getting thoroughly warmed, the Bishop and Mr. Hole- man returned to their boat and again set sail. The wind, fresh when they started, soon died out; and when sunset and dark overtook them, they found themselves "hopelessly lost in the archipelago, or extensive group of islands, ten miles below (New) Smyrna. Every channel we tried, for hours, soon proved to be too shallow to carry our boat, and the rapid current setting us repeatedly on to sand bars and oyster banks, compelled our boatman to jump overboard and push her off, which he often did, quite to our alarm, at first, in the very midst of schools of porpoises and sharks. As night settled upon us, thus floundering about, swarms of mosquitoes did also, giving us sensible proof of what we had before been told, that, in honor of these pests, this Lagoon had been rightly named."
By dint of perseverance, they got into the right channel about nine o'clock; but as the tide had already run out, they were forced to resign themselves to another night in the boat. Next morning, when they awoke, they found that another flood- tide was coming in ; so they had to spend another six hours more "of helplessness and wearied inactivity." They reached New Smyrna at noon that day, having lived in their boat two nights and nearly three days, "with boards only to lie on, no possibility of fire ... no warm food or drink excepting a cup of coffee before spoken of, and the cold being nearly or quite down to freezing both nights." After that, the comforts of a really fine hotel at New Smyrna . . . which they found Mr. Loud's to be . . . were duly appreciated. An old churchman was found at New Smyrna, who welcomed the clergymen cordially. Mr. Loud's infant son was baptised; and services scheduled the following evening. These were not held, however, as two missionaries ... for such they were . . . had an opportunity to accompany a gentleman going by boat to Daytona. As it was difficult to secure con- veyance, this opportunity could not be declined.
This trip . . . the matter of a few minutes today . . .proved one of great difficulty.
"Before we reached the bar, where the waters of Musquito Lagoon and Halifax river mingle and empty into the sea, the tide turned against us, which, with a strong head wind, rendered it necessary for our friend to
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 25
get overboard and pull the boat by the painter, close to the shore, while Mr. Holeman and myself did our utmost at pushing with poles. We had to go nearly out to the breakers in order to get round the long point of land, formed by the gradual approach of the two rivers, and for more than an hour we struggled with all our might, before we could get far enough seaward to make our en- trance into Halifax river. Perceiving, soon after we had started, that our friend by his mismanagement, would be sure to capsize us, with such a squally wind as was then blowing, I courteously admonished him of the danger, when he at once begged me to take command, adding that he had never attempted to sail a boat but once before in his life. Having been accustomed to this when a boy, I consented with pleasure and no little relief to my fears of our being overturned.
"But as we bore away up the Halifax, what a spec- tacle did we present! Here we were, three landsmen, in a large whaler's boat, steered, as they always are, by a huge unwieldly oar with a sail too large for the emergency and that could not be reefed, ... on a broad surface of waters with which we were unacquainted, frequently dividing into several channels, . . . the wind blowing a gale in irregular gusts, with the black northeastern horizon in hoarse mutterings of thunder threatening an increase of the same . . . the rain pouring in torrents, as it had been doing for two hours ... a dense impene- trable fog coming in from the sea . . . the darkness of an Egyptian night already closing down upon us, and we twelve miles from the haven where we would be! We were the picture of desolation, and stood in mute silence, offering our ejaculations to Heaven, and watching with solicitude, the increase of the storm, while our mast bent to the gale and our boat buried herself in the foaming brine.
"As I stood at my post, directing the course to be steered and retained in my hand the sheet, my oppression from a sense of danger and responsibility, holding as I did in my inexperienced hand the lives of us all, was for a few moments as much as I could bear. Yet onward,
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nevertheless, were we helplessly wafted, ploughing the foam with our dauntless barque, careening often nearly over as stronger gusts struck us, and as quickly righting when the whole sheet was given out. In half an hour, however, to our great relief, the storm began to abate, and in an hour more there was a perfect calm." Thus they found themselves opposite a saw-mill, which was the only place at which they could land until they reached Day- tona. They called to a man whom they heard on shore ... it was too dark to see him . . . and enquired if they could spend the night there. He replied that they could camp in a blacksmith's shop, not far distant. Having no wind to bear them on, and being wet, cold, and weary, they determined to land. Soon they had some coffee boiling, and their baggage and provisions housed. This was scarcely accomplished, however, when Mr. Holeman was acutely seized with lumbago from getting cold after his severe exercise and wetting, and could not move with- out ejaculations from pain. They made the best bed possible for him; the owner of the boat took the ground, and the Bishop took the work-bench, "which being made of three pieces of plank of uneven thickness, proved rather a bed of torture than one of rest." Next morning, the Bishop discovered that paint had been mixed on the bench, and that his blanket had become fully saturated. By daylight, they were around their fire eating break- fast; and, having a "pleasant sail," in due time they reached Daytona.
Daytona was then a new settlement, which was found to con- sist of about sixty families, all intelligent and some having the culture and education which characterise the best classes. Bish- op Young called on every family ; and was agreeably surprised to find that those who were Church-people outnumbered any other class. He intended spending several days there; but finding insufficient house-room, and that provisions had run very low by the recent wreck of a vessel bringing new supplies, he and Mr. Holeman held their service the night of their landing, and left in the stage on the following day. "Nearly every person in the settlement was present; and having previously distributed Prayer Books, which he had carried for the purpose, we had full response and a good rendering of the Canticles." Evening Prayer was said by Mr. Holeman, while the Bishop preached.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 27
"The inaccessibility of the place is the chief obstacle to this, and the permanence of the settlement depends very much upon the successful opening of communication with the channels of travel and commercial intercourse."
On the 16th of December, the two clergymen left Daytona for Enterprise, camping on the ground at night, midway on their journey. The next afternoon they reached Enterprise, and soon afterwards took the steamer across the lake to Mellonville (San- ford). That night the Bishop preached at the Hotel. Thus ended the visitation of the upper St. John's, Indian, and Halifax River section. ^^
Bishop Young was not able to attend the Council of 1872, having been detained at Key West a month, awaiting an oppor- tunity to reach the mainland. "On the 27th of January, I suc- ceeded in getting away, and on the 31st reached home." Late February, the Bishop started for a visitation of Tampa and Mana- tee. Tampa was still a small city, near the site of Old Fort Brooke, a United States military post established in 1821, im- mediately after the acquisition of the Florida territory. It had been an important base of supplies during the Seminole War, and was maintained as a garrisoned post after the Indians were subjugated. The Bishop reached Tampa by steamer from De- car Keys. There he remained a week, and confirmed eleven. During his stay in Tampa, he visited from house to house. The Reverend R. A. Simpson was in charge of the Tampa and Mana- tee work; and reported fifteen communicants in 1873 at Tampa, and eight communicants at Manatee. The latter place was reached by boat from Tampa. There the Bishop visited the people, preached, and confirmed three. Returning by vessel to Tampa, he started homeward by the tedious stage route by way of Brooksville, Sumterville, and Ocala; "the steamer running to Cedar Keys having been blown ashore and nearly wrecked in a gale of wind."
The Bishop was gratified at the good beginning which had been made in these two West Coast towns. "At both places a good proportion of the best population attend regularly upon our services, and several others who are attached to other com- munions desire our prosperity, and contribute to promote it.
(12) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1872.
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A very strong and favorable impression was made in favor of the Church by the fearless and untiring devotion of our Missionary to all classes and conditions of the people during the fearful epidemic of 1871."
The same year, there was reported that "at Sanford . . . near Mellonville, on Lake Monroe, a beautiful Church, after designs by Upjohn is nearly ready for consecration, by the side of which is to be erected a rectory." The Bishop stated that "on Indian River, an earnest churchman, who is a graduate of Oxford University, England, and an educator of many years' experience, has opened a boarding-and day-school, and by my authority, is acting as Lay-reader, and doing what he can for the establishment of our services in that benighted region. "^^
During the Nineteenth Century, Richard Upjohn was per- haps the greatest single influence in the designing and building of Episcopal churches. Bishop Young was a builder of churches; and in a number of towns throughout Florida there are still standing . . . and in use . . . charming wooden churches, planned by Upjohn.
By 1874, the Church at Gainesville was so far completed as to be used for worship. The Ocala churchmen had some five hundred dollars in sight for a building. The Reverend Mr. Holeman was visiting different stations on the St. John's River; and regular lay services had been established at Sand Point (Titusville), Orlando, Orange Mills, Federal Point, and Fort Read. At Mellonville (Sanford), the beautiful little Church of the Holy Cross had been completed; Bishop Young consecrated it on Low Sunday, 1873. Mr. Francis Eppes was acting as lay reader and catechist at Orlando, and was making "an impression for good which will be felt long after he has passed away. ' ' Regu- lar lay services were established at Apopka, the Lodge, and Lake Jesup. Once a month, some thirty or forty people attended a service at Lake Maitland. Gradually the Church was securing a foothold in the interior of the State.
For five years, the Bishop had subsidised St. Mary's Priory at Femandina. It was at length foimd to be a painful and diffi- cult undertaking; and, being moved to Jacksonville, it was turned over to the Diocese. The Bishop remarked : —
(13) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1873.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 29
"Had I, had any of us, foreseen such an unprece- dented series of disastrous years as the last five have been, we could not have entertained the thought of em- barking in any such enterprise. And could I have foreseen the difficulties, perplexities, expenditures and interference with the performance of other important official duties, which I was taking upon myself in assuming this work, I should have shrunk from the undertaking as a burden too great for me to bear. But having once taken it upon me I felt that I had assumed a responsible trust."
Some of the difficulties and delays in travelling, when most of the State was unreached by railroad or any sort of highway and when there were few ports of entry and the most irregular passenger service, may be gathered from the Bishop's accounts. "On the 2d of May (1873) I left home for the visitation of St. Paul's Church, Key West, and arrived there on the 6th. ... It was my plan, on setting out on this visitation, to take the same steamer on which I went, on her return from Havana, and continue on her to New Orleans, in order to reach Pensacola tor the visitation of West Florida. But on reaching Key West I learned that all vessels from New Orleans were to be quarantined at Havana twenty days, on account of cholera in New Orleans. As imperative engagements for the immediate future rendered it impossible for me to remain there twenty days and then proceed to West Florida, I determined to take the steamer from New York for New Orleans, but on making inquiry as to the time when the next steamer was expected, I was in- formed it would be two or three weeks, as the vessel then about due had met with an accident, and would miss her trip. I have been twice detained for a month on this island, and once besides for a fortnight, notwith- standing every possible effort to get away; and as the yellow fever was now becoming epidemic in Havana, and might break out any day in Key West, and cause the quarantine of any vessel on which I might depart thence at any port of the United States, I determined to leave for the main land by the first chance that
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offered, and accordingly sailed on the steamer Clyde tor New York, where I arrived on the 18th of May. Thence I proceeded to Femandina, where I arrived on the 29th of May, just in time for the examinations and closing exercises of the school year at the Priory. "^^
Orlando is a flourishing city to-day; indeed, it contains the Cathedral of the Diocese of South Florida. But when Bishop Young visited Orange County in 1875, the Episcopal Church was scarcely known in the whole section. Mr. Francis Eppes was an active exponent of the Church in Orlando; and a promi- nent Church family had recently located at Lake Maitland. But most of the people in the localities mentioned were ac- quainted with the service.
"I found the Church people in Orange County exceedingly scattered ; no settlement being large enough to form a nucleus or available standpoint for Church work. The devoted and earnest missionary . . . Rev. Lyman Phelps . . .who had just then entered upon his duties in great feebleness of body, comprehended tully, I was glad to find, the nature of his work, and from the constant and considerable accessions to the population of that county during the past year, I hope there may be formed, ere long, the germs of several parishes within its borders."
Two weeks later the Bishop left Ocala for Gainesville . . . some thirty-eight miles away. But travelling in central Florida was no easy task in those days.
"From the heaviness of the roads and some un- expected detentions on the way, including the fording of the head of Paine's Prairie after dark, which was then a large lake, I found myself, at ten o'clock at night, some seven miles from Gainesville as I supposed ; and as I knew not where I was to stop or could find shel- ter or feed for my horse, I determined to camp by the roadside for the night. Everything was comfortable and pleasant till about four o'clock in the morning, when a peal of thunder overhead, and portentous clouds, admonished me to protect myself as best I could from a coming storm. I did my best, and with all haste; but for two hours, in a buggy without a top, I
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 31
was pelted by a most merciless rain, and so completely drenched, that not until the middle of the afternoon was it possible for me, with the help of a good fire, to get into a proper condition to go out of doors. I had to be excused, of course, to the congregation in the morning, but at night I preached and confirmed two.''
Travelling from the western part of the State eastward was by indirect route. A northern detour was necessary. Bishop Young, the same year, returned from Pensacola to Marianna "by way of Montgomery and Eufaula, Alabama."
"On reaching the latter place I took a buggy, for which I had made arrangements previously, and in two days accomplished the distance of one hundred miles from Eufaula to Marianna, with the mercury standing at nearly or quite a hundred in the shade. I had to provide myself with this conveyance on account of the withdrawal, for the summer, of the steamer on the Chattahoochee, upon which I depended to take me from Eufaula to Neal's Landing, twenty-five miles from Mari- anna, at which point a carriage was to meet me. ' ' Arriving in Marianna, the Bishop confirmed twelve. He then proceeded on his way, as follows: — •
"Immediately after dinner I started for Ocheese, twenty-five miles distant, in order to take at midnight the steamer going down from Bainbridge to Apala- chicola. The driver of the conveyance proved not to know the road, . . . and kept on down the river till after one o'clock in the morning, over an unfrequented road, frequently obstructed by large trees blown down across it, with the night so intensely dark that no pro- gress would have been practicable without the light of torches which we renewed as often as was necessary. After entering upon the morning hours, I ordered a halt to camp until daylight; and in looking for a suit- able place by the light of my torch, I discovered a gate, which proved to be the entrance to a residence, the only one that we had found any indications of since before dark, and soon learned that we had left Ocheese several miles behind. Renewing our supply of material for torches, we turned back and reached Ocheese just
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before daylight. There I waited till nearly noon for the steamer, which was some twelve hours behind her time, in consequence of a dense fog which rendered it un- safe for her to run."
The 3rd of December, the Bishop embarked at Cedar Keys; but did not reach Key West till the 10th, having been a week in making the passage. "At Punta Rasa, where we were obliged to seek shelter from a terrible gale and furious sea, and where we lay for two days and nights, I found the gentleman in charge of the telegraph cable to be a Churchman, and his wife a com- municant."
Tampa was supplied by the beginning of 1876, by the Rever- end Harrison Dodge, a deacon; and was coupled with Manatee as a missionary station. Next to Tampta, he felt at that time that the portion of the Diocese most demanding attention was the eastern coast, south of St. Augustine. Since his visit to the Indian and Halifax Rivers, the population had been gradually though slowly coming in; and he deemed it important to es- tablish the Church wherever a sufficient nucleus could be found. The two difficulties which had rendered any effort in that region impracticable had been, first, the fact that the settlers were generally isolated and distant from each other, extending along a line of river margin for some hundreds of miles; and secondly, the want of any established system of communication and travel between the different settlements, except such as could be pro- vided by private arrangement and at great cost. The latter difficulty was being somewhat relieved.
[Note: This narrative will be completed in Part H, to be pub- lished in the ensuing Quarter of our Soldier and Servant Series. — Ed. Sec]
SOLDIER and SERVANT
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG
Second Bishop of Florida
By EDGAR LEGARE PENNINGTON, S. T. D.
PART II
Publication No. 196 Quarterly August - October, 1939
Price 25 cents
CHURCH MISSIONS PUBLISHING COMPANY 31-45 Church Street, Hartford, Connecticut
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103 Act of Oct. 3, 1917. Authorized January 12, 1924. Entered as Second Class Matter, Hartford, Conn.
John Freeman Young Second Bishop of Florida
hy
Edgar Legare Pennington, S. T. D.
PART II
The visit which Bishop Young paid to Key West in De- cember, 1875, is of considerable importance in the history of Anghcan missions, since it initiated a movement which has grown to considerable dimensions — the work of the Episcopal Church among the Cubans. It was on this trip that the Bishop was keenly aroused to the opportunity and challenge provided by the Cuban natives. A large number had migrated to Florida, and there were prospects of more. Soon after his arrival in Key West, the mayor of the city, Mr. Cespedes, and several other representative men of the Cubans waited upon the Bishop, and informed him of the very general desire on the part of their people, now numbering over five thousand, for the establishment of the Church there in the Spanish language. Accordingly the Bishop proposed a public meeting of the Cubans, in St. Paul's Church, on the evening of December 20th. Thus he describes the occasion: —
"After duly organizing I addressed them for about an hour on the original independence of the Church of England of the Bishop of Rome, her subsequent subjuga- tion by the Papal See, the causes which led to, and the circumstances which rendered possible the Angli- can Reformation, with a general summary of what was rejected and what was retained by the Reformed Church, an explanation of our organic polity, and of
35
36 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
our practices and usages in contradiction to those of the Church of Rome.
"Mr. Cespedes translated my remarks, period by period, and, after I had concluded, addressed the au- dience at some length, and was followed by Mr. Baez, who, as well as Mr. Cespedes, spoke earnestly and eloquently. After these addresses a resolution, em- bodying an expression of the desire of which I had been previously informed, was unanimously passed, and largely signed by those present, and subsequently many who could not be present sought the privilege of adding their names.
"Before leaving Key West, I ordered two hundred Prayer-books in Spanish to be sent at once to Dr. Steele; appointed Mr. Baez, who has been for some time a regu- lar attendant and communicant of St. Paul's, lay reader, instructing him to commence services as soon as the Prayer-books should be received." (The Reverend J. L. Steele, D.D., referred to above, was rector of St. Paul's, Key West. Mr. J. D. Baez was ordained deacon at St. Paul's Church, on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, 1877 — a fact which shows how congenial his duties must have proved.)
As Bishop Young knew no Spanish-speaking priest, whose services he could obtain, he wrote to New York, inviting the Reverend Mr. dePalma to spend a month in Key West. Mr. de Palma promised to spend the following February there.
While in Key West that memorable week (December, 1875,) Bishop Young took in hand the organization of the first negro parish in Florida — a congregation which remained for many years the largest congregation exclusively composed of negroes in the Diocese. The problem of church accomrrodation had long been a vexing one at Key West. Since St. Paul's Church had been built, the population of the city had almost trebled ; and one of the largest elements in the accession of inhabitants had been the coloured immigration from Nassau and other British West India Islands. Some sixteen hundred of that class, one-half of whom were baptized and reared in the Church of England, settled in Key West within a few years, in addition to at least a thousand negroes of American birth, many of whom were like-
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 37
wise Episcopalians. With church accommodations insufficient for the families which had built St. Paul's, and this large ac- cession by immigration, requiring unrestricted and equal Church privileges, yet unwilling to organize a separate parish and erect a church, lest they should thereby take upon themselves the stigma of an inferior caste, the situation was embarrassing. Bishop Young had been apprised of the matter, and had given it more or less thought for some three years. So, on this visit to Key West, he determined to have a meeting of those interested in the matter.
* 'Though very doubtful as to the result, I was glad of the opportunity, at least, of assuring them of my fatherly concern for them, my earnest desire that they should be provided as soon as practicable with the Church and her services, under such circumstances as should be most for their edification, and of my readiness to co-operate with them in any practicable way for the attainment of that end." Alter presenting his views, he asked for expressions of opinion. The result was the resolution, "carried, not only unanimously, but almost by acclamation," to proceed at once to the organi- zation of a new parish and the erection of a second church, "it being understood from the outset that the services were to be chorally conducted throughout, and with as high a ritual as, in my judgment, should be compatible with sound Anglican the- ology." On a subsequent evening, the organization was effected ; one of the most eligible lots in Key West, offered by Charles Tift, Esq., was gratefully accepted; wardens, vestrymen, and other parish officers were chosen; and the rectorship was tendered to and accepted by the Rector of St. Paul's (Doctor Steele), whose interest in them and devoted labours for them had won all their hearts. This was the beginning of St. Peter's Church, Key West.''
In May, 1876, under the form of organization furnished by Bishop Young, and by the Standing Committee of the Diocese, the Woman's Auxiliary Society for Missions was started. In less than a year, out of twenty-one parishes and mission stations, there
(14) Diocese of Florida: Journal of 32nd and 33rd Annual Councils, 1875, 1876.
38 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
were twelve organized branch societies. An enthusiastic report of activities was presented to the 1877 Council of the Diocese. The Reverend Owen P. Thackara, at the same Council, gave an interesting report from the Committee on the Relations of the Church to the Freedmen. This committee had been appointed to consider and propose some plan for the better working amongst the negro ex-slaves, so as to advance their spiritual culture. In the preamble of the report, it was stated : —
"The Church in the whole tier of Southern Dioceses, previous to the emancipation, looked upon the colored race as those who, in the wondrous providence of God, were committed to her especial care, and made the sub- jects of her patient teaching and earnest prayer. What had been already done, and what should be further at- tempted, formed a portion of almost every address of a Southern Bishop to his Convention.
"Colored baptisms, confirmations, admissions of communicants, catechizings and services held, new churches built for the better accommodation of the ne- groes, and ofiferings (made by them for missions) made up a large portion of the parochial report of every Southern Parish Priest.
"In those days the standing of a clergyman in a Southern Diocese, the estimation in which he was held, depended largely upon his faithful labor and success amongst the colored people. Up to the day of the eman- cipation, the sense of the responsibility of the Church for this people steadily grew, and the labors amongst them as steadily increased in every Southern Diocese."
The committee expressed the opinion — "rather their conviction" — that "the emancipation has in nowise lessened the obligations of the Church in the South."
"We venture to assert that no change in the politi- cal or social condition of the negro, arising out of the act of emancipation, can possibly release the Church from the duty laid upon her by God, when, in His providence, He allowed the thousands of this race to be transported across the ocean from heathen Africa and planted in this Christian land."
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 39
It was further expressed as an opinion, that certain results of the emancipation — "not necessary ones, and not of the seeking of the freedmen, but results which men of our own race, not having the fear of God before their eyes or the real good of the freedmen, but only their own aggrandizement, have brought to pass" — have rather added to the responsibility of the Church, both in the North and in the South.
"The teaching of these unscrupulous men that the interests of the freedmen were no longer the same with those of their former owners, led to an estrangement, and then to an angry and bitter opposition.
"This estrangement of the freedmen, brought about by ungodly politicians, threatens, if it continues, to im- pair, if not to destroy, their prosperity and well-being in the entire South.
"Another result of the freedmen being led to view their interest as opposed to those with whom they had once lived in so intimate relations — household relations — ^was their religious separation from the white race in the South and their forming distinct and separate Church organizations; and this has only widened the distance between the two races. This withdrawal of the freedmen from worshipping with the white race and forming Church organizations of their own, to say no- thing of the sin of schism it involved, has led to most sad results to the colored race. There were no sufficient number of instructed men of their own color at the time of the emancipation, nor has there been at any time since, to take the place of their former white teachers and ministers, and to this fact it is in a large measure due that there has been so sad a decline in clear and distinct religious knowledge amongst them. The de- pressed and impoverished condition of the whole Church in the South upon the close of the war, pre- vented any adequate efforts being made to train colored men to minister amongst their people."
"No Christian man can hesitate to believe," said the committee, "that the prosperity of our Southern land depended largely, in the years preceding the emancipation, on the faithful and patient
40 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
teaching of the negro by the Church. And no one who is in- structed in God's Word and in His providential deaUngs with the nations in the past ages, can beUeve otherwise than that the recovery of the prosperity of the South in the future, depends largely upon what the Church will do for this people."
"This, also, would your Committee urge, that these sons of Africa, by their faithful and productive labor in the long years preceding the emancipation, and more especially by their fidelity in watching over our homes and their helpless inmates in the past days of our trials and dangers, have earned a claim upon the good will and the heart of every Southern man — a claim not easily or soon discharged.
The comnlittee could propose no better and no wiser plan than this, "that we take up the work for the colored race just where the Church, in the day of her great trial and destitution, when her churches were closed and her ministers were scattered, laid it down; and, taking it up, prosecute it with the old and earnest spirit and with the use of the old means — means that never failed to secure success, and because they were the means de- vised by apostolic men, and sanctioned and made effective by the ever blessed Spirit."
"Let our Bishop do that which every earnest and faithful Bishop did in the past years — regard the colored race as a portion of the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made him the overseer, give them a large place in his heart and in his prayers and plans for work.
"Let every presbyter in our Diocese do that which every Southern presbyter did in past years, who labored in view of the account of his stewardship, which by and by he must render unto God — look upon the freedmen within the bounds of his parish as a part of his care of souls; visit their sick and pray by their bedsides; urge them to bring their little ones to holy baptism; interest himself in their labois, and sympathise with them in their trials.
"Let vestries do that which vestries did before the emancipation — make provisions of place for them in the churches, and there invite them to come and worship
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 41
with us as in past years, and once again join with us in the prayer, 'Our Father who art in heaven;' hsten with them to the same instructions at the mouth of God's ministers, and kneel with them before the altar of Him who died for all men.
"Let the colored children be gathered in our Sun- day-schools, and be as faithfully catechised as in the old parish and plantation churches."
The committee suggested, when practicable, the employment of negro as well as white teachers in the Sunday-schools, as this would not only promote better feelings but also give the negro teachers more efficiency in instructing their own race. The clergy should hold themselves in readiness to bury the negro dead, opening their churches for the funeral services, and seeing that nothing is wanting in the Church's solemn and impressive offices.
"With a race so docile, so teachable, so sensible to offices of kindness, as the negro, it is hardly possible to estimate what would be the result of a few years of ear- nest work — such as our Lord would account as earnest — amongst the freedmen.
With their present and daily increasing ability to read, with their natural and great love of music, with the pleasure it gives them to join in a responsive service, the Liturgy and the chants and psalms of the Church would doubtless take a hold upon them to draw and influence them as in past years."
It was suggested that the clergy of the Diocese cultivate the ac- quaintance of the teachers and ministers of the negro congre- gations, talking with them concerning their work and offering to lend them such books as would give them plain and definite instructions in the Christian faith. The committee proposed that the diocesan Board of Missions expend a small amount for books of instruction upon the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and Christian duties, to be placed in the hands of coloured teachers and ministers. The following resolutions were offered :- "That in the future meetings of the Council one session be devoted to the consideration of the work of the Church amongst the freedmen . . . That the Clergy be
42 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
requested to state in their parochial reports, the con- dition of the freedmen in their Parishes or Missions, and what work they have attempted, with its success."
It was moved and adopted "that the Clergy of this Diocese and the Vestries in the different Parishes be requested, as far as it is possible to do so, to provide for the colored people within their several churches; and, if this can be effected in no other way, that a special service be held each Lord's day, at which the Church will be thrown open to all, without distinction;" and that the clergy, in making their parochial reports, be "directed to in- corporate special statements in regard to their labors among the colored population."
It was also moved "that one evening during each Annual Council be devoted to missionary addresses and kindred subjects, and that this be a standing resolution."
The reports presented to the Coimcil of 1877 showed progress. The Reverend C. W. Knauff, priest-in-charge of the St. John's River Mission, reported regular ministrations at Hibemia, Fort George Island (where a church was about to be erected), Mul- beny Grove, and Federal Point. The Tampa mission, with seventeen members and church property valued at $140, hoped to have a church and regular services soon. St. John's, Jackson- ville, was fostering mission Sunday-schools in La Villa, Brooklyn, and East Jacksonville. Out of these grew in later years three Jacksonville churches — St. Stephen's, La Villa; the Church of the Good Shepherd; and St. Andrew's Church.
In Lent, 1877, Bishop Young visited Key West, where he found a satisfactory growth in the work both among the Cubans and among the negro population. He ordained Mr. Juan D. Baez to the diaconate, thus providing the Spanish-speaking churchmen with a clergymen who could minister to them in their own language. He visited the new coloured parish — St. Peter's ; he took part in the choral service, preached, and confirmed ten. The following Wednesday he held a visitation of the Cuban mission, at which the services throughout were conducted in Spanish. The Reverend Mr. Baez preached on the subject of Confirmation and "the more important differences between us and Rome;" then he presented a Confirmation class of twenty- nine, who retired after receiving the laying on of hands. Next
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 43
Mr. Baez presented a class of thirty-five, who had been confirmed in the Church of Rome, but were desirous, "after a year's in- struction and consideration, of renouncing Roman errors, and being received (in) to the Communion of our Church." The Bishop said : —
"I felt it to be necessary to avoid everything that would tend to unsettle them by making them feel, in anywise, that they were laying aside the Old Religion and taking up a new one, and took special care to guard them against this error, in a somewhat lengthy address, which concluded with questions demanding renun- ciations, vows, and promises, covering the whole ground involved in that solemn transaction. In conclusion I received them to the Communion of the Church, rati- fied the Confirmation they had received, and dismissed them with my blessing."
A little more than a year before, St. Peter's was barely or- ganized, and the Cuban work was first inaugurated. Mr. Baez had been appointed as lay reader at that time to the people of his tongue, from the Island of Cuba, "who, with very few ex- ceptions, in the whole five thousands of Cubans in that city, never at all attended upon the worship of God, or observed His Holy Day, except as the day for card-playing, cock-fighting, theatricals, and such like follies and sins." In that short period, there had been a gratifying increase in the regular attendance upon the worship in St. Paul's, the coloured parish of St. Peter's was in complete working order with a resident rector and a rapidly increasing congregation, and the Cuban mission was de- veloping into the proportions of a parish. "The contrast pre- sented by the present condition of the Church in Key West com- pared with what it was at my visitation in March, 1874, has led me repeatedly, almost involuntarily, to exclaim, 'What hath God wrought!' "
Futhermore, plans were on foot for a parochial school for boys; and Mr. Baez stood ready to start a mission among the coloured Cubans, provided it should be practicable.
"Of this class, one thousand are resident in Key West, and hitherto could literally and truthfully say, 'No man careth for my soul' Mr. Baez is all ready to
44 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
take hold of this good work, provided he can be supplied with the means of support for himself and family. He is entirely willing to continue at the business he has hitherto pursued for this purpose, but such a course would demand his whole time, which is all required by the five thousand Cubans, who mostly look to him for all ministerial services which they require, to say no- thing of the day school and Simday-school he has to direct, his preparations for the pulpit and the prose- cution of his theological studies in preparing for the priesthood and for greater usefulness in his official life and labors."
On January 8th, 1877, the wife of Bishop Young was stricken with paralysis; she died on the ninth day, "in the freedom from pain, and perfect repose, with which one falleth asleep." "The patient sufferer of years, wearied and worn out by her violent struggle with disease, fell asleep in Jesus." The Bishop apolo- gized for mentioning such a personal matter in his annual address; but, he said, "Mrs. Young made so cheerfully the great wordly sacrifice which my acceptance of the Episcopate of this Diocese made necessary to her, and from the first ever had at heart so much the interests of our holy work in its several departments, and so ungrudgingly, and generously contributed of her means for its advancement, up to, and even beyond her ability, that I should come short of my duty if I failed ... to state these facts in the monumental records of the Diocese, as a memorial to her honor, and an example in well doing worthy of imitation."^"
At the 1878 Council of the Diocese, it was reported that Mrs. Mary S. Bradford, of Cleveland, Ohio, had donated to St. John's Church, Jacksonville, a block of four lots for educational and religious purposes ; and on these had been erected a temporary building for a female school, under the name of "The Bradford Institute." The school had been opened, with a principal and six assistants. Several clergymen told of their work among the negroes, notably the Reverend Edward W. Meaney of Talla- hassee and the Reverend Robert T. Roche of Palatka. "During last summer," said the latter, "the afternoon service for the coloured people constantly filled the Church, and will continue
(15j Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1877.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 45
during this summer also, if the attendance shall warrant it." An Upjohn tower and spire had been added to St. Mark's, Palatka. The Orange County missionary, the Reverend Lyman Phelps, stationed at Sanford, had eight communicants at Orlando (where he held occassional services) ; he also visited Maitland, Fort Reid {where a Sunday-school had been organized). Fort Mason (close to the present site of Eustis), and Zellwood. At Fort Mason — undoubtedly the beginning of the Eustis work — there was a Sunday-school under the charge of Mr. A. G. Rehrer, who acted as lay reader; Mr. Phelps made his visit first there, March 31st, 1878. The same day, he drove to Zellwood, "and held a service in a pole school-house, which had sides, a temporary floor, and rafters, and ribs for the shingle. The service was hearty, and the whole tone was one of a people whose soul was in the work of the Master." On his return to Zellwood, April 28th, he "found a churchly little building, with roof on a temporary floor;" in it he celebrated the Holy Communion in the morning, and at the evening service baptised one adult and three children. "No people have I met," said Mr. Phelps, "who deserve greater credit for their faithful and successful efforts to have a Church, than these. Not five dollars in money has been spent. It has been a labor of love thus far."
In 1877, two clergymen — the Reverend William H. Carter, D.D., LL.D., Ph. D., former rector of St John's, Passaic, and the Reverend H. B. Stuart Martin, rector of St. Mark's Church, Jersey City — were appointed conjointly to the mission on the East Coast, embracing the entire length of the Halifax and In- dian rivers. This large and sparsely settled territory had been explored by the Bishop and the Reverend Mr. Holeman several years previously; it was gradually gaining in population. Doc- tor Carter reported in 1878 that services at New Britain and Holly Hill (stations lying between Ormond and Daytona), at Daytona, and at Port Orange, and at Titusville, have been held "as regularly as the weather would permit, for the rivers, being the highways, were not always in condition for traveling."
"The whole section is opened to the Church, with little or no opposition, but there is need of everything. There is no surplice, except those belonging to the Mis- sionaries. At one place a box is covered with a piece of
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sand-fly netting, old and discolored. At another the plain table has a newspaper upon it. At another an ink-stained desk is used. While at still another, a bureau served as an altar. There is neither a Bible nor Prayer Book for Chancel Service in the whole jurisdiction, nor in fact anything which the Church can call her own, except a few small Prayer Books, which are much the worse for — not wear, unfortunately — but for sundry dippings, the result of accidents by the river."
Some land had been promised; but the deeds were not made out. The whole amount collected was not quite two hundred dollars. Mr. Martin held services at the same places, alternating with his associate. "The services have generally been well attended, and increasing interest appears to be well taken in them at the several stations . . . The people are unable to participate in the services, as the ritual prescribes." He had made a missionary visit to Titusville and Harvey ville on the Indian River, and to New Smyrna; at all three places there were very good congre- gations for the size. He had arranged to repeat the visits, and to go to Cleveland on Merritt's Island.
In January, 1878, Bishop Young visited Leesburg for the first time in nine years, "to ascertain what number of Church people had settled in that place and the region round about." He held services in the union church; the Presbyterian minister and his elders acted as choir-conductors. He found less of posi- tive Church strength in that growing town than he had expected; but "unpropitious as was the prospect . . . the congregation was of such an excellent class of people, so appreciative, and of such admirable tone and spirit, that (he) enjoyed the services in an unusual degree." On the 28th of February, he made a visit to Orange Park, "a growing settlement twelve miles above (sic) Jacksonville." In company with General Hamilton, whom he had licensed as lay reader, he visited every household of the settlement. A majority of the settlers were found to be Church people; and a very eligible lot was secured. On Quinquagesima, the Bishop consecrated the church at Crescent City. On the First Sunday in Lent, he held services in the union meeting- house at San Mateo; afterwards, at the house of the only Church family in the neighborhood, he organized a mission. On the 17th
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 47
of March, he held services in the only house of worship at Green Cove Sprirgs. "The concourse, gathering from the hotels, in- cluding a large deputation from Magnolia, so filled and crowded the house that many went away unable to get in." The musical services were rendered by visitors, doubtless attracted by the reputation of the place as a health and winter resort. During the week, the Bishop visited the residents and the guests; and secured a subscription of over a thousand dollars, together with the deed to "the most desirable site that the region affords." The lot was donated by Mr. Thaddeus Davids. Before leaving. Bishop Young contracted for the erection of the nave of the church. "This is a most gratifying result of one week's effort in a place where we have not a single Church-family among the permanent residents."
On the Monday after Easter, 1878, the Bishop visited St. John's congregation, Key West — a congregation composed of Cubans who worshipped in St. Paul's Church. The services were conducted entirely in Spanish; and after Mr. Baez had preached, "thirteen persons were received into the Communion of the Church, upon the formal renunciation of the errors of the Church of Rome, and immediately after this a class of twelve persons was presented for confirmation." Bishop Young found the work at Key West "well sustained and prosperous, consider- ing the great business depression there." The Rector of St. Paul's, who was rector also of St. Peter's coloured parish and of St. John's Cuban congregation, had added to his abundant la- bours a parish school for boys, which he taught himself without any assistance whatever. The vestry felt unable to render fi- nancial assistance; none the less Doctor Steele, feeling that the undertaking could no longer be deferred, added the school to his already crowded program. A layman named Green chorally conducted the services for the negro congregation and taught a daily Church-school. "He enters heartily into his self-denying work, and has a strong hold upon the hearts of the people gen- erally."
"As the congregation consists entirely of laboring people, the very foremost of whom told me, when I was there, that they could not get a day's work in a month, they are naturally, in all respects, thoroughly depressed. Many are leaving for Nassau, whence they came, hoping
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to better themselves, while nearly as many are coming
from there, seeking the same end here. This militates
against the permanent success of the work, but all is
being done that is possible under the circumstances."
Mr. Baez's work among the Cubans "holds its own beyond my
expectation," said the Bishop. "It is growing steadily in
strength, and increasing in members and influence. Could he
hold services at a convenient hour, St. Paul's Church, I was told,
would be nearly or quite filled." Mr. Baez had organized a
mission among the coloured Cubans, which was placed under the
immediate charge of Mr. Perez as lay reader.^*'
The faithful Rector of St. Paul's, Key West, died on the 13th of October, 1878. Bishop Young paid a high tribute to Doctor Steele; and remarked that "it was mainly owing to his interest in the Cubans, and his well directed efforts in their behalf, that the work for their benefit was inaugurated." Mr. Baez, who owed his preparation largely to that splendid priest, was ordained to the priesthood the Second Sunday in Lent, 1879.
On May 26th, 1878, Bishop Young visited Port Orange: he preached and celebrated the Holy Communion. The same day, he confirmed three at Daytona. The Sunday after As- cension, he officiated on the Indian River, at the house of a Mr. Cleveland, a former vestryman of Trinity Church, New Orleans. Settlers from both sides of the river attended. Doctor Carter assisted. "This was the first visit ever made by a Church clergy- man to that region and we were welcomed heartily." The Bishop preached and celebrated the Holy Communion; in the afternoon, services were conducted on the opposite side of the river. "The congregation were seated in the shade of a fine grove of forest trees, closely surrounding the house, the piazza being occupied as chancel and pulpit by Dr. Carter, who preached, and myself." This service was held at the home of a Mr. Hatch, which stood on the site now occupied by the Indian River Hotel at Rockledge. From this beginning grew the future congre- gation of St. Mark's, Cocoa — to-day an active and zealous parish. From that day there was an organized group of church- men, who assembled with more or less regularity under the minis- try of Doctor Carter. In 1886 — the year after Bishop Young's
(16) Diocese of Florida: Journalof Council, 1878.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 49
death — the Cocoa congregation built a church, which is to a large extent still in use, although considerably remodeled. Next day, June 3rd, Bishop Young and Doctor Carter pro- ceeded further down the river to Eau Gallie, to visit some Church families there, "who were literally as sheep in the wilderness without a shepherd." The next day, services were held in the house of their hosts; an infant was baptized, and the Holy Eucharist celebrated. Doctor Carter preached. On June 5th, said the Bishop, "though sick with fever, I met, by appoint- ment in the neighborhood in which we officiated on Sunday, those who could sing, to drill them in the chants, the novelty of the thing attracting a number, besides, who could not sing."
"I was exceedingly pleased on the whole with my visit to Indian River. I was surprised to find so orderly, moral, intelligent, and respectable a population, though almost entirely destitute of religious service and in- struction."
Doctor Carter had ten places under his care in that difficult and almost inaccessible stretch of river-coast. "This involves a sail of nearly two hundred miles in an open boat." There were only about twenty-five communicants in the whole mission. Two lay readers were under his direction; and services were held every Sunday at Daytona and Rockledge.
On January 19th, 1879, St. John's Church, Tallahassee was destroyed by fire. The loss* was severe, as the insurance had been allowed to lapse. Exactly a year afterwards, however, the Bishop laid the cornerstone of the new church. ^'^
On the Third Sunday after Trinity, 1879, Bishop Young consecrated the Church of the Holy Cross, Marguerita. "The work at this station is peculiar and of singular interest, as de- monstrating that the humblest and most unlettered of our rural population can be brought under the influence and training of the Church by judicious, loving, and persevering effort." On February 19th, 1880, the Bishop visited Baldwin, and confirmed nine. The lay reader in charge was young Reginald Heber Weller, the son of the rector of St. John's, Jacksonville — after- wards he was to enter the ministry and become Bishop of Fond
(17) Diocese of Florida: Journalof Council. 1879.
50 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
du Lac. Mr. Weller taught school in that httle town; and the religious prospect was not promising. "The community in and about Baldwin," said Bishop Young, "has been so hard to pro- duce any impression upon for good, that no religious efforts, by whatever denomination put forth, had hitherto produced the slightest results." But the future Bishop was making progress. "A few months' residence in this community, by Mr. Weller, who not only faithful in lay reading, but diligent and judicious in personal conversations while visiting from house to house, and in the distribution of books and tracts, giving instruction concerning the Church, has . . . leavened the whole community with a love for the Church."
On the 3rd of April, 1880, Bishop Young laid the foundation of All Saints' Church, Fairbanks. Churches were being built in other places in the vicinity — Santa Fe, Waldo, and Lawtey. The advance in that section was due to the efforts of the Rev- erend Mr. Thackara, who, though living as far distant as Fer- nandina, visited the people there for several years. In other parts of the Diocese the work went on apace. The church at Ocala was complete. The first service was held in the new St. John's Church, Tallahassee, on Easter morning, 1881. Bishop Young reported to the Council of 1881 that there are now finished, or advancing to completion, not only the churches just named but churches at Pensacola, Marianna, Lake City, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, Welaka, Sanford, Longwood, Maitland, Cedar Keys; he had the funds for erecting a church on Fort George Is- land, and saw the prospects of churches at Madison and at Federal Point. Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, of Minne- sota, had become interested in Maitland; and it was through his generosity that the church there was in process of construction. Commenting on this building activity. Bishop Young said: — ■ "I doubt whether any Diocese in our Church of no more strength than ours has been of late doing so much. Eleven churches built or in progress in one year, in so small a Diocese as ours, is a record of which we may not only be not ashamed, but is a cause for devout thank- fulness to God." ^^
(18) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1880; Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1881.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 51
Although authorized to incorporate by the Act of February 10th, 1838, the Diocese of Florida had never effected its incor- poration. It was recognized that the want of a legal corporate existence might involve the Diocese in difficulties; so, on the 5th of May, 1881, "the Bishop, Clergy and laity of the several Parishes comprising the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Florida, assembled in Council," organized as a body corporate, under the authority of the original Act and its amendment of February 1st, 1881. By-laws were adopted.
On the Second Sunday after Easter, 1881, Bishop Young went with the Reverend Mr. Weller, of St. John's, Jacksonville, and the Reverend Mr. Bicknell, his assistant, to Brooklyn — • then a suburb of Jacksonville — "to open and bless the new chapel just completed there, which is unusually satisfactory and pleasant for its cost. The services were very spirited and im- pressive, the sermon was by myself, and the attendance indicated more than ordinary interest, as quite a number stood out of doors during the entire services, being unable to obtain even standing room within the building." Thus the future Church of the Good Shepherd, one of the largest and most important parishes of the southeast, had its beginning.
At the diocesan Council in 1881, the Bishop expressed him- self as pleased at the progress made throughout the Diocese. In 1870, so he remarked, there was only one communicant for every 322 of the population of the State, while in 1880, the ratio was one to every 172, showing a gain of the Church of 150 per cent. After the Council, he left for Orlando, to confer with the people about building a church and securing a proper site for the same. On December 30th, 1881, he met the few Church people of that town and neighborhood ; and made certain proposals of aid, pro- vided they did their utmost to help themselves. Their response exceeded his most sanguine expectations. "The finest site in or about the town was decided upon and secured, it being the crown of a ridge, descending to a lake, within two blocks of the Court- house, and therefore very central and accessible, and containing one acre of land. ' ' The contract for the building was made.
The mission at Mandarin was showing progress. A few years before, there was scarcely a churchman in the whole com- munity; but the Reverend C. M. Sturges had united that whole
52 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
intelligent community, and secured over five hundred dollars towards the erection of a church. Professor Calvin Ellis Stowe and his wife, Harriet Beecher, the authoress, were residing there during the winter months.
Twice a month. Doctor W. H. Carter, who had resigned the East Coast missions and had accepted the rectorship of St. John's, Tallahassee, held services at the State lunatic asylum. He also made trips to Madison, where the work made such progress that a contract was signed for building a church. The activities at Key West had greatly subsided since the death of the late rector, the Reverend Charles A. Gilbert, who had died of yellow fever at his post of duty, November 8th, 1880. Another clergyman had come in the person of the Reverend Charles F. D. Lyne; and there was a renewal of life. Trinity Church, Apalachicola, had declined and become quite disorganized. In 1882, the old parish — one of the original seven — was in charge of a deacon; there had been no confirmations or communions in a year. 1882 found the church and rectory at Sanford still unfinished. (The former church had been destroyed by cyclone, August 29th, 1880). The Reverend H. W. Stuart Martin was able to report twelve families of Church people at Daytona. Thus he described his work in Volusia County: —
"I took charge middle of June, 1881; have main- tained services at Daytona, Port Orange and Ormond, three services each Sunday, except one Sunday a month from August to November, 1881, and in March and April, 1882, when three services have been held in De- Land and Orange City each Sunday. In DeLand there are 18 Communicants, some of whom reside there only during the winter. In Orange City there are seven. At Ormond and Port Orange, I have not felt discouraged, but by the Divine blessing and by faithful work, it is hoped to recover the two years that were lost by the relinquishment of Missionary work there. Everything is to be hoped for at Daytona. There is no advance in one way, but we think that foundations are being sub- stantially laid. A Chapel is expected to be built and ready for use by the end of the year. God grant it! A good lot has been secured, the gift of a Churchman, and
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 53
three hundred and fifty dollars are in hand for the build- ing of the Chapel ... At DeLand, a provisional offer has been made of an acre of land with eighty orange trees on it set out two years ago."
Emmanuel Church, Welaka, with eight families, had paid off all indebtedness. The Church was consecrated June 3rd, 1881. St. Paul's mission. Federal Point, was planning the build- ing of a church. At Longwood, a church was completed under the care of the Reverend Lyman Phelps of Sanford. The Rev- verend C. S. Williams visited every month the "station central to Come, Pomona, and Crystal Lake" — Putnam County, south of Palatka; and the people of the vicinity, not members of the Church, were contributing to a building fund. St. Margaret's Church, Hibemia, though not yet organized either as a parish or as a mission, could boast "a very neat and pretty Chapel, occuping a charming site on the St. John's River," built as a memorial to the late Mrs. Margaret Fleming. For awhile, the Reverend Washington B. Erban held services in the parlor of Mr. F. A. Fleming's house.
The Reverend Albion Williamson Knight, later the first Bishop of Cuba, was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Young, in St. John's Church, Jacksonville, on November 27th, 1881. He was soon placed in charge of St. Mary's Church, Green Cove Springs, where he organized a Sunday-school. The mission on Lake Eustis, where the Reverend Mr. Phelps had formerly served, offered a more promising field; and Mr. Knight was placed in charge.'^
In 1883, there was announced "the establishment of the diocesan missionary newspaper — ■ The Florida Churchman. "This, for which we have worked, prayed, and waited so many years, is at last given to us, better and stronger than we had ever planned." The Bishop had high hopes of the effect of this peri- odical in stimulating missionary interest, since the contributions had fallen off during the past year.
Yet there was considerable progress in some places. St. Mark's, Palatka, had erected "a fine building on the church grounds for a Parochial School, at a cost of about one thousand
(19) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1882.
54 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
dollars, which is entirely paid for . . . This was a matter of great importance, not only to the parish, but to the whole community outside the Romish Church, which has hitherto had no compe- tition in the education of the children and youths of Palatka."
On the Second Sunday in Lent, 1883, after his visitation to Fort George, the Bishop went with Mr. Rand in a sail-boat six miles to the ship-yard, called Fulton; and confirmed nine negroes. "These were the first fruits of a labor of love inaugurated at this place two years ago by a devoted layman, Mr. Kjilgaard, acting under the authority of my license, as Lay Reader, and in the expense incurred of nearly a thousand dollars in the erection of a suitable chapel for this work, acting as the almoner of R. F, Cutting, Esq., of New York." The Church at Fort George was finished; and it was under the care of the Reverend Mr. Rand, of the Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts, who was wintering in Florida.
On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, 1883, the Bishop visited the Church of the Good Shepherd, at Maitland, and confirmed fifteen. "This beautiful Church, erected at his own expense by the Bishop of Minnesota" — Doctor Henry Benjamin Whipple — "as a memorial to his son, and which has been recently completed, was crowded to overflowing, notwithstanding both the Roman Catho- lic and Methodist Bishops, by a singular coincidence, were ofificiating at the same hour, at their respective places of worship. This was gratifying as showing the hold which the Church has already gained upon the major part of that intelligent and in- teresting community." A selection from Handel's "Messiah" was rendered. On March 17th, Bishop Whipple himself conse- crated the Church.
Cedar Keys was showing "healthy growth and increase in strength." The rector there, the Reverend Mr. Wilson, had es- tablished regular services at Rosewood and Bronson.
On the 1st of May, Bishop Young was prevented from con- secrating St. Mary's Church, Madison, by the torrents of rain which prevented attendance on the service. The consecration was postponed till the First Sunday after Trinity.
St. Luke's, Marianna, had become so weak that services had been discontinued for several years; they were resumed in April, 1883. On St. Mark's day (April 25th), 1883, the cornerstone of
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 55
St. Mary's, Daytona, was laid; the Reverend H. B. Stuart Mar- tin was missionary in charge. Sixteen famihes of churchmen were reported at St. Thomas's Church, Eustis; there were five famihes at the mission at Manatee River, and a total of seven persons at the Thonotosassa mission. At St. Andrew's mission, Tampa, the number of families in 1883 had reached six, and there were twenty-five persons reported as members. A serious im- pediment in the way of the Church's work at Tampa was the difficulty of finding a room for worship; at last, lumber was being sent to the mill.
The Reverend Robert B. Welseley took charge of St. Barna- bas's mission, at DeLand, September 24th, 1882. For services he had only a school-house, which he had to share with the Presbyterians and Campbellites. By 1883, the building fund amounted to seven hundred dollars. Mr. Welseley also held services at St. Bamabas's mission, Orange City, where there were four families. "With the promised supply of a horse and wagon of my own," he said, "I shall be able to devote more time to this Mission; also begin services at Spring Garden, a point six miles north of DeLand, where a few Church families are settled."
The Reverend S. B. Carpenter had twelve families at St. James's mission, Enterprise; he held his services in the hotel, but ground had been given for a church. There were six families in 1883 in the Zellwood and Apopka mission. At the Yalaha mis- sion, in Sumter County, there were ten families — thirty-six persons. By 1883, regular services were begun in Winter Park. "It is evident that a strong church community is soon to spring up there. The projectors of the town are predisposed towards the church, and have offered us every encouragement. "'^
The year 1883-1884 was one of constructive activity. In the summer of 1883, the Bishop taught Liturgies at the Uni- versity of the South. Late in September, he returned to his Diocese. St. Luke's, Orlando, was admitted into union with the Council in 1884; at the same time two other parishes fulfilled the canonical requirements — St. Mary's, Daytona, and the Church of Our Saviour, Mandarin. At Rosewood, a plain building had been secured, and it was fitted up for worship. At Tampa, at last a very neat and commodious church, with seating capacity
(20) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council. 1883.
56 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
for about two hundred, had been completed. The church at Orlando had been finished, "with exceptionally fine windows," and "with beautiful church furniture made in New York, with a fine bell over five hundred pounds weight;" it was already prov- ing too small a structure for the rapidly increasing population of the town, and contracts were signed for enlarging it. At Maitland, the windows and furniture (including a fine eagle lec- tern) had been introduced. At Sanford, the church had been completed. A fine lot had been secured at Enterprise, and a church built and paid for at a cost of nearly two thousand dollars. The DeLand church was ready for Easter services, 1884; while at Eustis, the church had been occupied for some months. A church for the coloured people had been built at Palatka, and paid for. The church at Hibemia was finished. At Mandarin, "a very beautiful church had been completed and paid for, at a cost of some $2,300." Beautiful windows placed in the church at Fort George rendered that edifice complete. The Church for the coloured people at Jacksonville — St. Philip's — had received its windows; the principal subject in the east-end triplet being the baptism of the Ethiopian e;nuch by St. Philip. The church in East Jacksonville — formerly called St. Philip's — had been named St. Andrew's; and it had been "tastefully finished in the interior." On the lower St. John's River, a new church for the coloured had been erected some six miles from Fulton, by Mr. R. F. Cutting of New York.
During the session of the General Convention, in 1883, a petition with 258 signatures had been presented to Bishop Young from Matanzas, Cuba, praying him to take measures for es- tablishing permanently the services of the Church in that city. In pursuance of that object, he repaired to New York, and at- tended the meeting of the Foreign Committee of the Board of Missions. "But so very disappointing had been the result of the large appropriation to the work of the Church in Mexico, that the Committee thought it more prudent to defer action as to any further grants of funds for Missionary work among the Spanish American race, till after my contemplated visit to Cuba . . . and the report of the actual state of things as I might find them here."
Accordingly, on the 22nd of February, 1884, the Bishop left home for a visitation of the missions on the Island of Cuba. On
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 57
the evening of Thursday, February 28th, he officiated at Ma- tanzas. After Evening Prayer in Spanish, and a sermon by the Reverend Mr. Baez, he confirmed a class of forty-one. On the Fifth Sunday in Lent, at Matanzas, he celebrated the Holy Eu- charist, and confirmed twenty more. He preached to the con- gregation; Mr. Baez translated his remarks. On March 3rd, he left for Havana, where he officiated twice, and confirmed fifty- five. He called on the Governor-General of Cuba, meeting with a most polite and cordial reception. From the Governor's palace, he drove to the house of an American Church family, which had been resident in Havana, twenty years, to baptize a child a year old.
The new St. Peter's Church, jti*st ready for occupancy at Femandina, was one of the finest structures in the Diocese. In the prosecution of this noble enterprise, the local parishioners, few in number and possessing but little of the world's goods, had raised $9,268.12 of the total cost, only $779.78 having been re- ceived from all outside sources. "And while the parish has been bearing this heavy burden, it has never failed in paying fully its diocesan assessments, its contributions to the Woman's Auxiliary and has just sent thirty dollars to the Theological Department of the University of the South.""^
At the end of the sessions of the 1884 diocesan Council, Bishop Young hurried to New York, to attend the May meeting of the Foreign Missionary Committee, so as to secure an appro- priation for missionary work in Cuba. On reporting the results of his observations, he was greatly surprised and disappointed at the refusal of the committee to entertain the subject at all, on the ground of want of jurisdiction. "It was a new field of mission- ary work," it was said, "and only the Board of Managers have the power of adopting such." "All very true," was the Bishop's comment; "but why was this not thought of at the meeting some time before, when I was given to understand, a:nd others present received the same impression, that if I reported favorably of the prospect, after visiting Cuba, they would make an appropriation for carrying on the work?"
Although a whole month would elapse before the meeting of the Board of Managers, the Bishop resolved to wait in New
(21) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1884.
58 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
York for the meeting of that Board. In the meantime, he issued a special edition of the account of his visit to Cuba, which he sent to every bishop and clergymen of the Church in the United States, and to many of the laymen. He also busied himself in revising the Spanish version of the Book of Common Prayer.
"Though more than six years had elapsed since this Committee" — the Joint Committee of the General Convention on the Spanish version of the Book of Com- mon Prayer — "was appointed, with the Bishop of Florida as chairman, I had never before summoned the Committee to meet for the work of revision, because the demand for the Spanish Prayer Book had been only from the small congregations of Santiago, New York, and St. John's, Key West, and was not sufficient, in my judg- ment, to justify the Prayer Book Society in incurring the very considerable expense which the necessary al- teration of the plates would involve. But the prospec- tive increase of the demand for this book from the growth of our work in Cuba, and the necessity of such modifications of the Prayers for the President of the United States and for Congress, as would adapt our offices to the use of people living under other govern- ments than our own, whether republican or monarchical, to say nothing of the correction of many important errors in the translation, some of them involving fun- damental theological doctrines, I felt that the time had come to take action in this matter of revision, which was duly, and in the opinion of competent judges, well ac- complished, after the laborious work of many days." The Bishop at length secured a temporary appropriation for the Cuban work, at the rate of three thousand dollars a year.
During the summer of 1884, he again lectured in the Theo- logical Department of the University of the South, continuing his instruction till the end of Octover. On the Sunday after Christmas, he consecrated St. George's Church, Fort George Island. The following Sunday, he consecrated St. James's Church, Lake City. Visitations were made to Margerita, Glen St. Mary, Darbyville, and Panasoffkee. Then the Bishop started for his second journey to Cuba.
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 59
On February 24th, 1885, he reached Havana. The next day he confirmed two persons at Jesus del Monte; on the 27th, he confirmed ten at St. Luke's, Havana; on the first of March he confirmed eighty at Gethsemane Chapel; on the 3rd, sixty at Jesus Maria y Jose; on the 4th, ninety-six at Guanabacoa; on the 8th, seventy-four at Matanzas — in all 325. The year before he had confirmed 116. There was tangible evidence that the Church was making gains in the island. "And this result was reached without any increase of laborers, it being the fruit of the healthy and steady growth of interest in our truly Catholic and Apos- tolic Church, keeping pace with the increase of knowledge res- pecting her claims, and the blessed privileges which her worship and sacraments afford to the understanding and edification of all."
Returning from Cuba, he officiated at Palma Sola, at the mouth of the Manatee River. The lower west coast of Florida was no better known than the lower east coast. "Considering that the settlers on that river are scattered along its banks on both sides for some eight miles from its mouth, I was quite agree- ably surprised to find assembled in the school-house at Palma Sola a congregation of over a hundred people of a manifest in- telligence and culture that would compare favorably with the average congregations of our land ; and moreover, a good propor- tion of them, as was evident from the responses, were Church people.
"After Morning Prayer and a sermon by Mr. Williams" — the Reverend C. S. Williams, general missionary — "a young lady presented herself for bap- tism and confirmation, of whose coming I had been ap- prised before the beginning of service. This lady was of a Presbyterian family of the 'straitest sect,' who during a sojourn from home had become acquainted with and learned to love the Church, and desired to em- brace this, her first opportunity of being enrolled among her members. She had come eight miles that morning in an open boat, accompanied by her father and others, and at the proper time presented herself alone and un- supported, for holy baptism and the laying on of hands. After this service I proceeded to the celebration of the
60 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
Holy Communion, at which there were over twenty re- cipients."
Two days later, accompanied by Mr. Williams and a servant in a buggy, the Bishop visited the Church families on the south side of the Manatee River; next day, the kind host (Mr. War- burton Warner) took them in his steam yacht and visited the Church families on the north side of the Manatee for a distance of eight miles. "On a former visit to Manatee, several years ago, there were only three or four Church families within a radius of ten miles. With the accession of quite a number of such within the last two or three years, it now presents a promising and important field for Church work, which I shall endeavor to have occupied by a faithful worker before next winter."
On March 22nd, the Bishop visited St. Andrew's Church, Tampa — a mission which had grown to nineteen communicants. There he confirmed seven. A few days later, while at Sanford, Bishop Young became acquainted with a lady from Connecticut, Mrs. Lucy A. Boardman, who expressed a desire to contribute the means for the erection of two churches on the Indian River. In April, accompanied by the Reverend Mr. Carpenter, the Bishop started on a tour of observation, to decide upon the best sites. Mrs. Boardman had suggested Melbourne; and there the two clergymen arrived, April 17th. Mr. Carpenter spent the following day in exploring the neighborhood, visiting the people, and collecting all the information possible. He learned that the money was in hand for the purchase of four acres as a site for the church and rectory, and that there were some twenty communicants within a radius ot three or four miles. On Sunday, April 19th, services were held in the hotel at Melbourne; "and, although the day was rainy and the wind so high and bois- terous that one could not sail in an open boat without becoming thoroughly drenched with sea- water, a congregation of some fifty persons assembled, who proved to be nearly all Church people." After service and dinner, they sailed for the residence of Mrs. Stevens, a Church lady from Detroit, who had recently settled there. The Bishop performed a marriage and baptized a child while the guest of Mrs. Stevens. Then he and Mr. Car- penter left for Rockledge; and the day after returned to Sanford. In his address to the 1885 Council, Bishop Young stressed the financial difficulties under which the Diocese worked and the
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 61
probable need of an assistant bishop. So little had been con- tributed oy the Diocese to the support of its bishop, he said, that he did not know what assurance it could give, "in case of the sudden death of the present incumbent, of any competent support to the one who should be called as his successor." "The geo- graphical area of Florida is more than ten thousand square miles larger than that of the State of New York, and nearly as large as all New England. A division of the Diocese, as matters now stand and as indications now point as to the future development of the State, is out of the question. The election of an Assis- tant Bishop as soon as his support can be provided for, is the only thing that can be done to meet our necessities . . . But why talk of another Bishop with the disgraceful record of the Diocese as it now stands as to meeting its pledges and obligations to its present Bishop, as well as to his successor in office?""^
In 1885, the Bishop could look back over eighteen years of service. He had come in 1867 to a sparsely settled Diocese, most of its area unexplored and inaccessible — a Diocese of fewer than a thousand communicants. Disorganized, impoverished, reduced as a result of the recent War, subject to scourges of yellow fever — the prospect was one of hardship and self-sacrifice. Here was a man who had spent several years in the security of the wealthiest parish of America, who had known all the comforts and conveniences of city life. The challenge called for an heroic response; and Bishop Young was equal to it. He gave his best ; he worked assiduously; he faced pioneer conditions; he threw in his lot with simple, primitive people; he was a builder. In 1885, he might have regarded with satisfaction the number of parishes and missions which had sprung into life since his arrival, and survey the large areas brought under the influence of the Church.
Omitting the progress which had taken place in the older parishes of the Diocese, and confining one's attention to the ex- tension and development of the Bishop's term of office, the evi- dence is encouraging indeed. St. Peter's, Femandina, possessed a church-building and other property valued at more than four- teen thousand dollars; St. Mark's, Palatka, reported a church, a rectory, and a school totalling almost as much. Gainesville was springing into strength and prominence. New churches had
(22) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1885.
62 SOLDIER AND SERVANT
been built in several of the older parishes; in a number of places, where the Church was entirely unknown twenty years before, there were handsome Church buildings, quite a few of which are still in regular use. Struggling, feeble preaching-stations had been organized into missions or assumed the status of inde- pendent parishes. Sanford, DeLand, Daytona, Winter Park, Orlando, and Tampa — strong and active parishes today — had their beginning durings the episcopate of Bishop Young. The great orange region of Central Florida was opened to the Church — Leesburg, Longwood, Zellwood, Apopka, Eustis, and a num- ber of smaller places. The east coast, as far south as Melbourne, and the west coast, to the mouth of the Manatee River, had be- come a part of the Church's domain. A considerable work had been started among the negroes; the Cubans had their own ser- vices, and in their own language; and a great foreign missionary field was fostered and brought under the patronage of the general Church.
In the meantime, the Bishop had suffered in physical health; and he had found it increasingly difficult to endure the uncer- tainties and privations of his vast rural work. His later reports tell of enforced rests and periods of recuperation; still he fought a brave fight to the end. On the 15th of November, 1885, he passed away. As one of the pioneers of the Church in Florida, he will be gratefully remembered. Less than two years after his death, the cornerstone of St. Andrew's Church, Florida Avenue and East Duval Street, Jacksonville, was laid — a church designed as a memorial to him. On that occasion. Bishop Weed spoke of the obstacles which his predecessor had surmounted. "One must go to New York in order to reach Key West and to Georgia to arrive at Pensacola," he said; "but wherever I have gone, over this vast state. Bishop Young has preceded me."
Bishop Young was married twice. His first wife was Miss Harriet Ogden of New York City. She died in Jacksonville in January, 1877. In 1879 he was married to Mrs. Mary Stuart Stocton Finley, the sister of John N. C. Stockton and Telfair Stockton of Jacksonville, men prominent in the history and de- velopment of Florida. The second Mrs. Young died in 1914. He is buried in the old City Cemetery on East Union Street, in Jacksonville.
In his first address to the Council of the Diocese of Florida,
JOHN FREEMAN YOUNG 63
Bishop Weed paid a beautiful and well-deserv^ed tribute to the
late Bishop Young : —
"It is scarcely nine months since I began my work, so that I have hardly done more than learn how great were the labours and trials of my predecessor ... I feel I know him well, for his works speak, though he sleepeth. As I go over the Diocese, and behold his works, I feel he has written his own epitaph in the hearts of the people. Laborious and wise; gifted and accomplished; faithful and devoted.
"Wherever I have been with the convenience of railroads and steamboats, he went on foot or by horse. When I take into account the labours which his exten- sive travels involved, it seems strange that his physical forces were not exhausted years ago. At Cocoa he went into the woods axe in hand, and prepared a site for the church. From Key West he passed over to Cuba, and established twelve congregations on that wretched island. His missionary labours were enormous. But his la- bours were not confined to mission work.
"Throughout the Diocese I have learned how his care extended to the minutest details. His taste is to be seen everywhere. I venture to say there is not a Diocese in the American Church, with as many temples of worship, constructed with the same reference to the true principles of architecture. He was not only a wise and educated master-builder, however; his foresight was markedly shown in the selection of places for the erection of church buildings. When you consider what a wilderness Florida was when he was consecrated, and when you consider, also, how the Church has kept ahead of immigration, and how the population has followed and clustered round the places which he selected, as centres of worship, we must pay him the homage due the wise statesman. Not satisfied with planting and establishing the Church in the most remote districts, he did not rest till he had given the people a love of true Church music, and had instructed them in the proper rendering of the ritual. "^^
(23) Diocese of Florida: Journal of Council, 1887.
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tunity^ as I intend to write hi^n soon and to transmit these things to him as early as pojsihle. The Sermon he mentio7is ^ of which he is to take lOO Copies^ is that which I preached at his Confecration^ and which at his prefsing request & with the approbation of the primus, 1 have consented to publish. It is just now in the prefs & will be ready in a week or so. I am sorry to hear by people from your quarter, that your disorder still con- titiues; God graiit it may take a favorable turn before your strength be quite exhausted. All my family join in best wishes of the seafon to you, & with my earnest prayers for the recovery of your health, I ever am,
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