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• 1 media/St Marks Howe.jpg 2019-07-18T06:51:06-07:00 St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Howe (formerly Lima), and Howe Military School 68 image_header 2024-02-20T06:45:18-08:00 The Episcopal Church in LaGrange County can trace its origin to 1834, when Bishop Philander Chase, formerly of Ohio and later Bishop of Illinois, visited Lima from his home in Gilead, Michigan. He held services for nine local Episcopalians and preached. Between that time and 1851, no attempt was made to establish a parish, though itinerant Episcopal priests, including the Rev. Henry W. Whitesides, would visit occasionally due to its proximity to the Michigan state line.
  
  A church called St. Mark's was organized formally in the spring of 1851, forming a vestry and inviting the Rev. John O. Barton of Wisconsin to become the first rector. Barton, a Nashotah graduate, held services on the second floor above the Williams store in Lima. In July 1852, the congregation laid the foundation for a simple church edifice using a plan designed by W. R. West, architect of Cincinnati. John Badlam Howe and James Blake Howe, local residents and sons of an English-born Anglican priest in Boston, gave most of the funds for its construction. The new church, a small rectangular wood-framed chapel nicknamed "the little brown church," was located on the south side of Defiance Street. Its length stood parallel to the street and had a steeple with a bell on its east end. The yard surrounding the church was enclosed by a fence, and inside was a crystal chandelier providing light. It included a small organ which James B. Howe played.
  
  After Barton resigned and moved to Lafayette, the Rev. Albert Bingham arrived in May 1853, and two months later the church was consecrated by Bishop Upfold on 28 July 1853, with Barton returning for the service. Bingham left in 1855, and the Rev. Henry C. Stowell arrived for a few months in the spring before returning to New York. Bingham then returned to Lima but died four years later after the church had experienced considerable growth.
  
  Several rectors of short duration followed. The Rev. Wellington Forgus of New Jersey assumed the rectorship in 1868 but moved to St. John's, Bristol, in 1874. His daughter Sally is said to have improved the church's choir during this period. Bishop Talbot ordained two priests, the Rev. F. R. Cummings, a former Presbyterian, and the Rev. Abraham Gorrell, a former Methodist, in 1870. In 1876, the Irish-born Rev. Samuel C. M. Orpen arrived, beginning a period of active ministry. Under his leadership the parish established St. John's Mission in LaGrange, which became a separate parish two years later but eventually folded. One writer recalled that Orpen was "a splendid worker among the young people of the village and made the church with its religious and social activities the very center of the lives of those who were privileged to have a part in it." Orpen built a large Sunday school class, baptized 35 and sponsored 39 confirmations during his rectorate.
  
  In 1883, John Badlam Howe died, leaving $18,000 for a new church in Lima dedicated as a memorial to his family. Orpen led the congregation in raising additional funds and broke ground for a new building in July 1884 on land formerly owned by the Presbyterian Church. The new building was larger and constructed of wood and brick in a cruciform shape. It was consecrated by Bishop David Buel Knickerbacker on 21 May 1885. The LaGrange Standard called it "a substantial brick building, artistic in design and graceful and harmonious in proportions."
  
  Howe had also left money for a church school, leaving thirteen acres and $10,000 toward a school for boys to study for the ministry. The money was left in trust to the Bishop of Indiana until $50,000 could be raised. After Bishop Knickerbacker deliberated, a new school, the Howe Grammar School, opened in September 1884.
  
  Under the Rev. Dr. Charles Nelson Spalding, Orpen's successor, the former brown church on Defiance Street was moved to the campus to serve as a chapel for the boys, while Bishop Knickerbacker acquired additional 30 acres two miles west of the school. Beginning in 1890, the grammar school became Howe Military School, offering drilling, officer training, and military instruction for the boys who attended. By 1894, a former graduate, Warren William Holliday, was made Commandant of Cadets.
  
  On 28 November 1902, school leaders laid the cornerstone of St. James Chapel, designed by architect John Sutcliffe and given in memory of James Blake Howe, John B. Howe's half-brother. It was modeled after the chapel at Magdalene College, Oxford, with ornately carved pews that faced the main aisle. An unsubstantiated tradition holds that a student did much of the carving work in exchange for tuition at the school. The chapel was completed in four stages and included a crypt below for members of the Howe family and future bishops of the diocese. A transept was added in 1909, the Mother Chapel in 1914, and bells in 1915. Stained glass windows with the images of bishops look down at the scene. At the time, most of these figures had blank faces, which were to be painted in when new bishops were elected.
  
  Under the leadership of the Rev. John Heyward McKenzie, who became rector of St. Mark's in 1895, the school grew substantially with an influx of students and the construction of more classroom buildings. McKenzie attempted to hold worship services both at the chapel and at the parish in Lima, but by 1908, the task of maintaining both churches proved impossible. The older church was decommissioned, and all services at St. Mark's were moved to the St. James Chapel on the Howe campus. Indeed, the town of Lima would change its name to Howe in 1910 at the insistence of a railroad line because of confusion with Lima, Ohio. McKenzie died in office in 1920 and was praised as a far-sighted leader.
  
  Howe School continued to grow under McKenzie's successors. The Rev. Charles Herbert Young headed the school from 1920 to 1933. The Rev. Robert J. Murphy arrived in 1934 and held many leadership positions in the diocese. During his tenure in 1955, the chapel was resurfaced with Indiana limestone to bring it into harmony with other campus buildings. In 1960, All Saints Chapel, a separate facility, was constructed on the Howe campus for use by its cadets. Murphy retired in 1968, and several priests followed, including Theodore Sirotko, Richard Curtis, George Minnix, and Philip Morgan.
  
  Howe Military School flourished for more than a century. The bishop of the Diocese of Northern Indiana served on its board of directors, and the two entities enjoyed a close relationship. However, by the twenty-first century, declining enrollments forced the school to curtail many of its operations. The relationship between the school and the diocese became strained and ended in 2016. Three years later in 2019, the school officially closed its doors. St. Mark's continued to hold services at St. James Chapel on the Howe School campus until 2016. Afterward, the parish moved to a building the parish owned at 709 Third Street in Howe. Built in the 1940s, it had been used formerly as its parish hall. It was remodeled to include both worship and hall space. In its sanctuary, the parish uses the original altar of St. Mark's that had formerly been stored in the crypt of St. James.
  
  Sources:
  Anne Wade Haglind, A History of St. Mark's Parish, Howe, Indiana (undated typescript).
  
  Raymond R. Kelly, Here's Howe: The First 100 years. (Indianapolis: Raymond R. Kelly, 1984).
  
  Karen Yoder, Historic Howe: The Philomaths of Howe, Indiana (Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Publishing, 2014).
  
  St. Mark's, Howe, Marriages, 1896-1912, typescript
  
  Parish Register vol. 1, 1852-1885
  Parish Register vol. 2, 1885-1894 (missing)
  Parish Register vol. 3, 1895-1913
  Parish Register vol. 4, Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Burials, 1895-1912 (duplicate register in later handwriting)
  Parish Register vol. 5, 1913-1956
  Parish Register vol. 6, 1956-1976
  Parish Register vol. 7, 1976-1986
  Parish Register vol. 8, 1986-2021
  
  Alternate digital link to all the above records
  Clergy:
  
  John Oliver Barton, 1851-1853
  Albert Bingham, 1853-1854
  Henry Cook Stowell, 1855
  Albert Bingham, 1856-1858
  William Henry Stoy, 1858-1859
  Henry M. Thompson, 1859-1867
  Wellington Forgus, 1868-1874
  Samuel Campbell Montgomery Orpen, 1876-1885
  Charles Nelson Spalding, 1885-1895
  John Heyward McKenzie, 1895-1920
  Charles Herbert Young, 1920-1933
  Kenneth Owen Crosby, 1933-1934
  Robert James Murphy, 1934-1968
  Theodore Francis Sirotko, 1968-1970
  Richard Arthur Curtis, 1971-1974
  George Myers Minnix, 1974-1986
  Philip Morgan, 1986-2000
  David Yaw, 2000-2010
  Michael Thomas Fulk, 2010-2015
  Rachel N. Evans, 2016
  Beverly Collinsworth, 2017-2018
  Paul Wheatley, 2019-2021
  David Evans, 2022-
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
• 1 media/St. Pauls Episcopal Church, Gas City, exterior, 26 Feb 2017.jpg 2019-07-15T18:42:05-07:00 St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Gas City (defunct) 58 image_header 2022-10-05T09:52:49-07:00 St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Gas City, Grant County, was founded as an unorganized mission by Welsh immigrants in the fall of 1892 during the natural gas exploration boom in north central Indiana. "People were so sure that the supply of gas was inexhaustible that the street lights burned all day," wrote the editor of a diocesan newsletter. It was a time of wild prosperity and speculation. Many of the mission's earliest members were glass and tinplate workers (the town had fifteen glass factories at one time). J. H. Rogers, superintendent of the Morewood Tin Plate Factory, allowed church members to meet initially in its annealing room, and meetings were also held in the Opera House in Gas City as well as at Ward's Hall and in the Methodist church in nearby Jonesboro.
  
  Charles Maliphant, a native of Llanelle, Wales, and a manager with the Morewood Tin Plate Factory, lent his strong support for the church, which was formally organized as a mission of Gethsemane, Marion, in 1894 under the leadership of missionary the Rev. Daniel J. Davies. Bishop David Buel Knickerbacker laid the cornerstone for a frame church building at West South H Street and Rogers Avenue, a site across from the Waterworks that was readily accessible to people from Jonesboro. Maliphant chose the name for the mission, St. Paul's, after his former parish in Wales. The ground on which the church initially stood was donated by the Gas City Land Company. In 1898, the Morewood Tin Plate Company sold its business to the American Tin Plate Company, and J. H. Rogers, the parish's most active layman and a major contributor, moved away and thereby hindered St. Paul's growth.
  
  When the gas wells in central Indiana dried up, many other industries closed their doors as well. The Rev. Stephen W. Wilson, one of the most active early priests, removed in 1901, but praised the "spirit of harmony" of the mission and commented on how "pleasant and happy" his tenure had been. When the glass factories closed, Gas City became a ghost town in 1902. Archdeacon George Paull Torrence of Gethsemane, Marion, maintained services and sent his assistant, the Rev. William Wirt Raymond, to conduct services in 1903. Raymond wrote in the register, "The singing of the Choir, about 16 voices, chiefly Welsh, at Easter time, was a service of Praise rarely equaled in resonance. Mr. Owen Davies was at the time director of the Choir."
  
  The church continued to struggle with the worsening economy, however. In 1909, Torrence reported that "the Tin Plate Mill is regarded by most people as a thing of the past, and the glass factory is slow in starting..."  In May 1911, church leaders decided to move the church to its present location at 121 E. South A Street because of its more central location. Bishop White arrived in the fall to dedicate it.
  
  St. Paul's remained a mission for many years. The Rev. William Sheridan, a future bishop, served the church as well as Gethsemane in Marion from 1944 to 1947 and treasured his time there. In 1947, the church became an independent parish, and the Rev. Gerald Lewis arrived as rector. The congregation persevered through difficult times, and in the 1950s, a considerable amount of repair work occurred, including replacement of the floor.
  
  In 1956, the Rev. Richard A. Curtis arrived, and the congregation began work on a parish hall in 1957, called Norris Hall after Ernest Norris, who donated the funds. Curtis was a native Hoosier, born in Marion, Indiana, and had studied privately for the priesthood under Bishop Mallett. The Rev. Leslie Howell arrived as rector in 1961 and stayed ten years until having to resign for poor health. In 1972, under the leadership of the Rev. Michael Lynch, a Sunday school wing was added, and three years later, the church installed a free-standing altar. In 1978, the Rev. Arnold Hoffman was ordained and made rector, remaining until 1981.
  
  A popular rector was the Rev. Donald Raih, who arrived in 1983. He began an interfaith dialog with members of Grace Lutheran Church the same year. An innovative pastor, he initiated a Faith Alive program in 1985, but in 1986, with parish funds dwindling, Raih began a joint venture of ministry with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Elwood, serving as rector of both parishes concurrently. Elwood was located in the Diocese of Indianapolis, and he was the only priest in the state whose ministry spanned two dioceses.
  
  With dwindling membership in the twenty-first century, St. Paul's closed its doors for good in 2019.
  
  Parish Register, 1895-2015
  
  Clergy:
  
  Daniel J. Davies, 1895-1897
  Thomas George McGonigle, 1897-1898
  Stephen Warren Wilson, 1899-1901
  Henry Stephen Streeter, 1901-1902
  Duncan Convers, 1902
  Ernest Douglas Martin, deacon, 1904-1906
  George Paull Torrence, 1911
  Howard Russell White, 1910-1912
  Forrest Bowley Breckinridge Johnston, 1912-1931
  Henry Lewis Ewan, 1931-1939
  Sydney Hugh Croft, 1939-1942
  Samuel Hanna Norman Elliott, 1942-1943
  William C. R. Sheridan, 1944-1947
  Gerald H. Lewis, 1947-1956
  Richard Arthur Curtis, 1956-1960
  Leslie C. Howell, 1961-1971
  Michael A. Lynch 1971-1977
  Arnold Roy Hoffman, 1978-1982
  Donald Raih, 1982-1992
  Frank H. King, 1993-1997
  Judith Culpepper, 2002-2007
  Margaret Harker, 2007-2010
  Rebecca Ferrell Nickel, 2012
  Norman L. Morford, 2013-2015
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 1 2020-10-18T14:35:21-07:00 Rev. Richard Arthur Curtis 1 plain 2020-10-18T14:35:21-07:00 The Rev. Richard A. Curtis was born in Marion, Indiana, on 17 January 1917, the son of Perry R. and Edna (Dolan) Curtis. He married Loretta Knox in Grant County, Indiana, on 17 June 1939. Curtis was introduced to the Episcopal Church in 1945 at Gethsemane Church in Marion by its then-rector, the Rev. William Sheridan. He became a devoted churchman and read for orders under Bishop Mallett, who ordained him to the priesthood in Marion in 1956. He began his career serving the missions of St. Paul's in Gas City and St. Mary's in Delphi from 1956 to 1960. Then he came on the staff of the Cathedral of St. James, being named its first Canon Pastor in 1963. He remained there until 1971, when he moved to Howe, Indiana, to become chaplain of Howe Military Academy. He suffered from cancer of the kidneys, however, and died in Lagrange, Indiana, on 21 September 1973 at the age of only 56. He was buried in Grant Memorial Cemetery in Marion.