Evening Star Newspaper, June 16, 1935, Page 58

F-2' L 4 Members of Parishes and Leaders Who Contributed to Religious, Progress of Important of National Capital, W hile City Moved on Toward Place Among Cities of Republic: N THE last 25 or 30 years there has been a shifting of the loca- l tions of many of our Washington to the changing of residential areas into business sections. -Just in the last years a notable instance of old downtown location by St. Paul's English Lutheran Church for a site several miles away to the north, in moving of the congregation of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, not long since, was due to its building and the District government for its Mu- nicipal Center, which forced it to go elsewhere, but maybe, after all, so far happened for the best, though few will ever be glad to see the building itself removed. reasons, old St. John's Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Square from the White House; St. Patrick'’s Roman tween F and G streets, and the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, in the heart of the business area of the present locations for many years to come, but what may happen even- tually, naturally no one knows. Senti- where is against removing such his- toric places of worship, and in our own country we can point with pride Early Section Its SteadyW ay By John Clagett Proctor. churches, due in a large measure this kind was the giving up of its the vicinity of Chevy Chase. The ground having been purchased by as the congregation was concerned, it Of course, largely for sentimental Catholic Church, on Tenth street be- city, will undoubtedly retain their ment throughout Europe and else- otably, Trinity ligious the gratification of the present gen- eration and for the inspiration of the generations to come. There is & certain amount of fasei- nation about an old church, and there should always be great reverence for any house of God. Sometimes it is rathor pathetic to see an old church that has been allowed to become run down, through the lack of sufficient interest, resulting in the curtailment of its revenues. Naturally, sometimes, tory of Grace the southeast corner of Ninth and G streets southwest. Foammmulunmml old church had a fliourishing con- gregation, but the steam railroads, allowed to enter the city by way of Maryland avenue, did not help South any, snd eventually did the church and other nearby residen- tial property on the island much harm, 4 as the business of the railroads grad- ually increased. Naturally, this condition had much to do with the moving away from this section of many of the older families, and Grace Church lost its share of those who went elsewhere to live. To- day, what was once a large and pros- perous parish has been reduced to & small but enthusiastic group of parishioners, who are doing their best to maintain the tradition of the church and to carry on. The first tracks to be placed on Maryland avenue, just to the north of the church, were laid in 1855, to permit the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road to haul passengers and freight from the Washington end of the Long Bridge to its new depot at New Jersey avenue and C street northwest, the site now a part of the Capitol Grounds, and which was first opened to the public about the time Grace Church was first occupied. In the Civil War, as a military necessity, tracks were first laid across the Long Bridge in 1862, to connect with the tracks then in use along Maryland avenue. The Star of Jan- uary 16, 1862, printed the following item regarding the progress then be- ing made: “Notwithstanding the snow and sleet, 500 men were at work yester- | day, preliminary to the construction of a railroad from Washington to Alexandria, over the Long Bridge. There will be a single track with suffi- clent turnouts to accommodate the camps in Virginia. It is supposed that the road will be in operation in about three weeks.” And again, on February 8, a month later, it says: “The track over the Long Bri has been laid, and everything udfi readiness to open full connection by rail through the city to our camps in Virginia. A double track is being rap- idly laid from the Washington depot to the Long Bridge, and when com- pleted trains can run each way the same time.” mdoo:: being thus thrown wide 'n, WRS tive for railroad mum obu?n ;: cessions permitting the use of this thoroughfare and of the Long Bridge itself. A year later, on March 3, 1863, s law was passed giving the Alexan- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, civil engineers, who shall report, &c., &c. And the said company shall con- struct such draws as shall correspond with those now in use on the said bridge, and of such model as shall be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and which shall afford rea- sonable facilities for navigation on the Potomac River. “The company shall keep that por- tion of the avenues or streets occu- pied by their road in good repair and provided with suitable crossways at the proper places for vehicles and wheeled carriages and for general use; the track of the road shall be laid as nearly in the center of the streets and avenues as may be with- out interfering with the water mains or gas pipes, and the speed of travel shall be subject to such regulations as the corporate authorities of the City of Washington shall from time to time prescribe, under such penal- ties as the said corporate authorities shall impose. “The company may acquire and hold such real and personal estate as the practical use and working of the said road may require, under such regulations and subject to such tax- ation as is enforced by law on similar property located in the City of Wash- ington.” 'HE city’s church history shows that “South Washington”—as the southwest section of the city is fre- quently called—was one of the first parts of the Capital to have a church, the Methodist. having as early as 1800 or 1802 held meetings at the corner of South Capitol and N streets, in one of the Twenty Buildings, be- fore moving to Carroll's tobacco barn. The First Presbyterian Church had an early home on the southwest cor- ner of South Capitol and B streets, where is now the House office annex. “Barry Chapel,” or, correctly speak- ing, 8t. Mary’s Catholic Church, was on Half street, in the southeast sec- tion. However, all those mentioned either soon disappeared entirely or in s few years moved to other parts of W algr =HRF RE §E With Church. Top, left: Rev. Thomas O. Tongue, rector of Grace Church, 1895-1899. Insert, in square: Rev. Francis Gilliat, rector of Grace Church, 1882-1883. Top, center: Grace Episcopal Church as it appeared in 1880. In oval: Rev. Charles F. Sontag, rector of Grace Church, 1900-1907. Top, right: Rev. Meade Bol- ton MacBryde, present rector of Grace P. E. Church. Below, at left: Rev. Frederick C. Lee, rector of Grace Church, 1884.1885. In circle: Rev. Alfred Holmead, first rector of Grace Church. Below, at right: Rev. John W. Phillips, rector of Grace Church, 1886- 1889. A FEW years later, or in 1846, through the interest taken in religious matters by the Misses Rooker, who taught s ladles" school in the building formerly at the southeast corner of Maryland avenue and Twelfth street, erected by Robert Brent, Washington's first mayor, they gave the yse of their school rooms on Sunday afternoons for the religious instruction of the children residing nearby. About this time, according to Mr. MacBryde, “Charles Morrison, resid- ing at the southwest corner of Tenth streets, having abandoned ud. fis 5 4 ) I tH i i £ ! ¥ 2 § | 5 ; § g £ H ’% | xgssgs 3 !fifi'i i FELEEL § 113 = s = '3 g i I D. ¢, JUNE 16, 1935—PART FOUR. believe from anything that he has | sald, that there is a lack of interest {in Grace Church Parish, for such is | surely not the case among the older members. . some of whom, though even | now residing elsewhere, still maintain | their interest in the church on the |island, and along this line the writer has as evidence a letter he received last December, which illustrates how the mind so frequently wanders back to home, sweet home. The letter fol- lows: | “Dear Mr. Proctor: | “] am mailing with this & copy of | the Alexandria Gaszette of October 27, on page 4 of which is a paragraph | referring to old Grace Church in Washington, which was commenced | in 1851. “Your very interesting article in Sunday’s Star, dealing with the his- tory of the Jewish Synagogue, made me wonder if this old Episcopal Church, corner of Ninth and D streets southwest, might not likewise make a | very readable story with your ready | pen. “My father, Terence Riley, was one of the first vestrymen, as was also Crosby 8. Noyes, one-time editor of The Star and father of the present editor. “Dr. Alfred Holmead was the beloved rector for many years. He left the field of medicine for the church and was the brother of Mr. Anthony Holmead, dealer in chinaware and lo- cated on Seventh street. “Your stories are most interesting to those familiar with the Washington of more than half a century ago. “Very sincerely, “LYDIA R. SPOFFORD, “George Mason Hotel, “Alexandria, Va. “December 18, 1934.” Though Mrs. Spofford was too mod- ¢ < Tfll writer would not bave the reader { | much under trying difficulties, for he is, indeed, very pleasing in his man- ners, and unquestionably rates very much higher than the requisite 25 per cent in knowledge. In 1925, with the present rector in office, the church’s diamond jubilee | was held before an assemblage of more than 300 members and foriaer members of the parish, with the Right | Rev. James E. Freeman, Bishop of Washington, as the most distinguished guest, who led the church in cele- brating the event. At that time The Star gave an account of the exercises, “Taking as his text the words of St. John, ‘Rise, and measure the temple of God, the altar and them that worship therein,” he declared the | actd test of the efficacy of the faith of & Christian lay with ‘his power of winning men to the standard of our Sovereign Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.’ “‘I care not,’ Bishop Freeman de- ciared, ‘nearly so much how great are the numbers, nor how great the actual growth of an institution, if its mem- bers measure up to ‘this test as seen in the words of St. John the Divine, that they grow so in grace and power of the Lord. ““This test requires that we give, not of our means, but of our lives.” “Bishop Freeman praised the Epis- copal Church upon the great advances it has made in the last 75 years. “This little church,’ he declared, ‘has seen our church grow from s position in which it was almost persona non grata—in a position in this part of the country in which there was not & kindly feeling toward us—to a place today where we have assumed & prom- inent position in the lives of the people and in some parts of the world are unparalleled in Christian in- fluence.” “This should be an incentive to greater zeal, greater activity and greater efficiency, he said. He denied the statement of one critic that the anachronism. sl % § : § Charles H. Meade as pastor, and here | it remained until 1893 when it moved to C and Twelfth streets, when Albert | M. Hilliken was pastor. It is an at- tractive little brick church, but-looks | to be what it is—a mission. South of the Mall and west of South | | Capitol street St. Dominic's was the| | first Catholic Church established, be- | | ing consecrated in 1856. It first stood | on’ the northwest corner of Sixth and F streets, just to the south of | the present building. | The history of this church is pretty | well covered by Rev. Victor F. | O'Daniel, O. P, of the Dominican | House of Studies, Catholic University | of America, who states that “the| | Dominican parish on the ‘island’ had | | its birth in the closing days of 1852, | or early in 1853, when Rev. George | A. J. Wilson was sent here to begun | | the work of organizing a Dominican | | parish in the National Capital. | “The first baptism on the records |of the parish,” he says, “bears the | date of April 16, 1853, and is that | of Elizabeth Frances, daughter of | Henry W. and Rachel Freeman | | Wathen. The godmother was Ann Tull. The first marriage was that of | | Wiliam Walsh and Margaret Donahoe. | | July 30, 1853. Both were from County | Cork, Ireland. The first death was| | that of Wiliam Donovan, who died May 2, 1853, and was buried two days later in St. Patrick's graveyard.” | “Father Wilson,” continues Rev. | O'Daniel, “was received by the jsland- | ers with open arms. Ground was| | soon purchased from Georgetown Col- |lege for the erection of a church. | school and convent. The land thus secured, an excellent site for the pur-| pose, included the eastern half of | block 466, and extended along the| west of Sixth street from E to F.| | But the erection of buildings in| keeping with the promises held out by the locality was a matter of time, | labor and patience. Money Was scarce and small the number of the faithful in the undeveloped territery assigned to the new parish. Fortu- nately, George Mattingly, s devout Catholic and s well-to-do man, in addition to a generous contribution, only opened the parlors of his as a place of worship for al;zflumcc of Grace Church Among Strong Parishes That Were Molding Home Life of Nation’s City. Catholics and Methodists Hud Real Place as Factors in Scenes Which Revealed True Spirit of Head of Nation. in the street during the mass. T have no recollection when the old chureh was built at Sixth and F streets, but the lower portion was a parochial school, the upper story was the church. Well do I remember the very high steps one ascended to atiend mass, and the great difficulty experienced by funeral corteges, heavy caskets being taken up those steps and low- ered in the same way by straining pallbearers. The school was presided over by a good old Irishman, one Cornelius Kenealy, who found it necessary to rule with a ‘ruler’ s good deal of the time, but the un- ruly scholars of those days justi- fied the teacher's action. He believed in the adage, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child.” " When the ground was broken for the present St. Dominic's Church, & stone relic of Barry Chapel was un- earthed, and on it was lettered: “In the name of the blessed and undivided Trinity. Amen. This first stone of a Roman Catholic Church is laid in the city of Washington in the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1806, and dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary under the title and name of St. Mary’s. Gloris in Excelsis Deo. Erected by and at the charge of James Barry.” Just how this stone got so far away from the site of Barry Chapel mw one seems to know. et Veterinarian Aids Humans, HE extent to which veterinarian science has contributed to human v | health and welfare is not generally appreciated. yet the advances in ani- mal medicine have been such that many diseases feared by man No longer prevail. The meat inspection alone is an 's | extensive safeguard. Annually about 75,000,000 meat animals are passed upon by experts, this figure being approximately two-thirds of all the snimals passing through the slaughter , | houses. The long campaign against bovine tuberculosis has almost eliminated , | that disease in many sections. Under the existing control laws all affected .| animals are slaughtered and the dairyman compensated jn part for his loss. Many States and hundreds.of » | cities bar out milk which does nok,