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Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana Archives

Rev. Walter E. Franklin, St. Paul's La Porte and other parishes

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St. Paul's Episcopal Church, La Porte
St. Paul’s is the third oldest Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Northern Indiana, incorporated on St. James Day, July 25, 1839, shortly after St. Paul’s in Mishawaka, 1837, and Trinity in Michigan City, 1838. However, the history of Episcopalians in La Porte can be traced back at least as far as 1835, when visiting clergy conducted services in town. In August 1837, the Missionary Bishop of Indiana, the Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, made his first visit to La Porte and recorded in his diary the baptism of “Dr. Rose’s sick child at home on August 15, 1837, prior to the evening service in the Court House.” The first recorded baptism was that of two-year-old Thomas Lafayette Johnson on November 24, 1838. The Rev. Daniel V. M. Johnson of Michigan City also conducted services before the parish was organized.

St. Paul's first rector was the Rev. Solon Manney, who served the parish for ten years, during which time he began a parochial school where “common and high English, Latin, and Greek were taught.” He also served as head of La Porte University, from which the Mayo brothers graduated before moving to Rochester, Minnesota, and founding the Mayo Clinic. After leaving La Porte, Manney founded what is now Seabury Western Seminary.
Early in the 1840s the southeast corner of Indiana and Maple Avenue was purchased for a church site. However, the property was later exchanged for the present location and “fifty dollars, half in cash and the balance in hewed timbers suitable for the church frame.” The first church building was constructed in 1846 and consecrated by Bishop Kemper on March 2, 1848. Before this time, a member of the congregation said her father “had hauled the benches to and from the places of worship.”

The present Indiana limestone building, an example of English Gothic architecture designed by Fort Wayne architects John F. Wing and Marshall S, Mahurin, was built in 1897 and consecrated in 1898. A local newspaper editor called it “the most imposing church building in La Porte if not in northern Indiana.” The church contained an 1872 organ built by Steer & Turner, which was restored in 1979. More recently, in 2009, an anonymous gift of $60,000 by a parishioner made it possible to renovate the exterior of the building.
In 1954 a $1,000 gift started a fund for a new Parish House, which was completed in 1957. In 1959 a new heating system was installed. The present building was built for $92,000 with only $20,000 remaining to be paid five years later.The two priests who served St. Paul’s the longest are the Rev. George Childs from 1927-49 and the Rev. B. Linford Eyrick from 1956-92.
In 1963 the church sanctuary and nave were remodeled, including new altar, new pews, and new floor. On Tuesday, January 15, 1963, the new altar was consecrated and blessed by Bishop Mallett. The top of the altar is a piece of golden marble mined in the Holy Land; the fifteen foot crucifix is made of white oak and carved limba wood; the tabernacle is bronze and oak, flanked by eight bronze candlesticks. The original sanctuary light has since been replaced. New faceted glass windows were dedicated on May 3, 1963, three of which were given in memory of the Rev. George J. Childs, former rector. The windows depict the four evangelists, St. Paul, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the sacraments, and the corporal works of mercy.

The ministry of the Rev. B. Linford Eyrick spanned from 1956 to 1992 and was the most consequential. He came to La Porte after serving as rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Hoosick Falls, New York. He had attended the Hoosac School and Hobart College, and received his seminary training at General Theological Seminary with his degree in 1948. Once in La Porte, he baptized much of the Baby Boom generation of the parish, served several diocesan offices, and was a respected leader in the community. When he arrived, his wife Winnie suggested that the parish open a pre-school, which ran successfully for the next 66 years before eventually closing in 2019. Eyrick died in 1995, three years after his retirement.

In later years the church was served by the Rev. Richard Alford, who left the Episcopal Church for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Rev. Glenn Kanestrom, the Rev. Jamie Jones, the Rev. Anthony Clavier, the Rev. Thomas Kincaid, the Rev. Paul Nesta, and most recently, the Rev. Cn. Michelle Walker, who divides her time as priest-in-charge with being a diocesan missioner for Bishop Douglas Sparks.

Clergy:
Daniel Van Mater Johnson, 1838-1839
Solon Wines Manney, 1839-1849
Hiram M. Roberts, 1851
Franklin Reeve Haff, 1852
Walter Emlen Franklin, 1854-1856
Almon Gregory, 1856-1861
Addis Emmett Bishop, 1862-1864
James Hervey Lee, 1864-1867
Frank Mark Gregg, 1867-1869
George John Magill, 1869-1875
Walter Scott, 1872-1873
Charles Thompson Coerr, 1875
James Taylor Chambers, 1875-1877
Andrew Mackie, 1877-1878
James Langhorne Boxer, 1879-1881
Rush Spencer Eastman, 1883-1886
Walter Scott, 1886-1894
Asa Appleton Abbott, 1894-1895
Thomas Bennington Barlow, 1895-1899
Edward Lemuel Roland Jr., 1899-1902
Addison Alvord Ewing, 1902-1904
Joseph Cooper Hall, 1904-1905
Arthur Edgar Gorter, 1906-1908
Lawrence Southworth Kent, 1908-1910
Daniel Le Baron Goodwin, 1911-1917
Francis John Edmund Barwell-Walker, 1918-1927
George Jay Childs, 1927-1948
Eric F. Pearson, 1949-1951
Robert Frank Royster, 1952-1956
Benjamin Linford Eyrick, 1956-1992
Richard Alford, 1992-1995
Glenn W. Kanestrom, 1997-2002
James Place "Jamie" Jones, 2002-2008
Anthony F. M. Clavier, 2008-2011
S. Thomas Kincaid, 2012-2015
Paul A. Nesta, 2015-2018
John Houghton, 2019-2020 (interim)
Michelle I. Walker, 2020-

From St. Paul's website: http://stpaulslaporte.org/history/

Parish Register 1838-1865

Parish Register, 1838-1910

Parish Register, 1911-1939

Parish Register C, Baptisms Confirmations, and Burials, 1940-1979
Trinity Episcopal Church, Logansport In 1840, Bishop Jackson Kemper visited Logansport as he traveled west on the Wabash & Erie Canal. His visit likely marked the first time a service in the Episcopal Church was held in the town. A year later the Rev. Francis H. L. Laird arrived to establish a congregation, conducting services in a schoolhouse at 228 Market Street. On 29 July 1841, a vestry was elected and chose the name of Trinity for the new congregation. For the next two years the congregation met on the third floor of a downtown building. The vestry raised subscriptions for a church building, and in 1843, a white, wood-frame church was erected on a hill at the northwest corner of Seventh and Market streets. A prime mover of the church was Graham Fitch, who had brought his family from New York in 1834 and had built a house at Seventh and Market streets. A strong abolitionist, he may have given support to fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad.

Between 1843 and 1863, the church held services irregularly as a variety of clergy of short duration came and went. They often held dual pastoral roles with St. Mary's in Delphi. After the Civil War, the church experienced structural problems, and when the Rev. Edward Purdy was called as rector in 1869, he accepted with the understanding that the building would be demolished and a new one of stone constructed. Work on the new edifice began immediately with limestone quarried locally on Fitch's farm on the west side of town and hauled to the site via the Wabash & Erie Canal. On February 19, 1870, the congregation worshiped for the first time in the new building. A new transept and chancel were added six years later as the parish grew under Purdy's leadership. A tracker organ built by the firm Hook and Hastings of Boston was installed in 1877 and is still in use. Many members of the early congregation had been members of the Church of Ireland.

During the 1890s and early 1900s, the parish experienced financial shortages and a number of divisions as various rectors came and went. In 1894, the Rev. Douglas Hobbs reported that in the wake of the financial depression, the year had been the hardest financially in the history of the parish, but he commended the congregation for "the practice of self-denial in meeting their obligations." The Rev. George H. Richardson arrived in 1918 and led the parish in celebrating a jubilee in 1919 and helping to raise funds for an episcopal residence in South Bend for Bishop White. When he left in 1920, he was criticized for self-boasting and for not following canons. His successor, the Rev. Clinton B Cromwell, arrived in 1920 and found the parish "utterly impossible" and "resigned as soon as he could find work elsewhere." A history in the parish register written by Cromwell explained, "a clique wanting to run the church in absolute defiance of the canons and the Bishop resulted, just as in the case of every other priest for 12 or 15 years, in the attempt to starve the Rector." He added, "God only knows what the next man can do - unless he is an angel from heaven."

The next two rectors, Edward Roland and W. Edward Hoffenbacher, had longer rectorates. Over time, especially under Bishop Campbell Gray, Trinity became increasingly Anglo-Catholic. Gray's son, Francis Campbell Gray, served briefly as rector from 1936 to 1937.

In the 1980s, the vestry made plumbing and heating renovations, and the edifice underwent a major renovation. Then in November 1989, during the rectorate of William Hibbert, a severe thunderstorm struck the church, tearing off part of the roof in a downdraft. Much of the interior was severely damaged, but funds arrived to help rebuild the church. In addition to insurance money, financial help came from many parts of the diocese. In November 1990, the restored church was rededicated by Bishop Frank Gray.

Under the ministry of the Rev. Clark Miller, who became rector in 2010, the parish began giving away school supplies to needy children, which quickly expanded to providing clothes and free haircuts. It also opened a food pantry that serves between 75 and 80 people on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

Clergy:

Francis H. L. Laird, 1841-1843
Anson Clark, 1845-1846
Thomas Bassel Fairchild, 1848
Josiah Phelps, 1849-1850
Frederick Durbin Harriman, 1850-1852
Walter Emlen Franklin, 1852-1854
Henry Cook Stowell, 1854
John Trimble, 1855-1857
Alonzo James Madison Hudson, 1857-1858
Elias Birdsall, 1858-1860
Nathaniel Rue High, 1860-1861
Abner Platt Brush, 1863
John Edward Jackson Jr., 1866-1868
Edward James Purdy, 1869-1879
John Andrew Dooris, 1879-1881
Benjamin Tucker Hutchins, 1881-1882
Gustav Edmond Purucker, 1882-1883
Harry E. Thompson, 1884-1886
Benjamin Franklin Miller, 1887-1891
Douglas Irvine Hobbs, 1891-1895
Francis Clarence Coolbaugh, 1895-1898
Walter Jay Lockton, 1899-1906
Almon Clarke Stengel, 1906-1910
John Cole McKim, 1910
Louis Thibou Scofield, 1911-1914
Charles Frederic Westman, 1914-1918
George Harry Richardson, 1918-1920
Clinton Bradshaw Cromwell, 1920-1921
Edward Lemuel Roland Jr., 1923-1930
William Edward Hoffenbacher, 1930-1936
Francis Campbell Gray, 1936-1937
Raymond Mansfield O'Brien, 1937-1939
Clarence Charles Reimer, 1940-1949
Robert Chesleigh Holmes, 1949-1950
Gerald Lionel Claudius, 1950-1959
Hugh Crichton Edsall, 1959-1961
Henry R. Solem, 1962-1969
Wright Ramsett Johnson, 1969-1977
H. James Considine, 1977-1986
M. Richard Hatfield, 1986-1988
William C. Hibbert, 1989-1991
Michael J. Haas, 1992-2004
Theodore Neidlinger, 2004-2007
Clark S. Miller, 2010-

Bibliography:

Barbara Colford, History of Trinity Episcopal Church, 1841-1991 (Logansport: Trinity Episcopal Church, 1991).

Trinity Episcopal Church, Logansport, Vestry Minute Book 1, 1841-1855

Parish Register, 1841-1865 [lost]

Parish Register, 1866-1879

Parish Register, 1880-1930
St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Delphi (defunct) St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Delphi, was founded on 4 September 1843. In November, the congregation purchased a lot for a church and parsonage for $190. After a financial gift from the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, rector of St. John's, Lafayette, the membership erected a church building, which was consecrated on 21 August 1845 by Bishop Jackson Kemper, a close friend of Johnson. Delphi, located on the Wabash & Erie Canal, was an important hub at that time in the only transportation network that existed in northern Indiana, making it a logical place to establish a church. The Rev. Anson Clark arrived soon afterward, becoming the first resident priest of the parish, followed by the Rev. Bryan B. Killikelly, who remained until 1848. His successor, the Rev. Edward Magee of New York, was still only a deacon on his arrival.

The church struggled for permanence. Sarah Pratt, an early member, recalled that when the railroad came and the canal closed, the church was located some distance from the center of town, which affected its appeal to local residents. On 26 December 1846, the treasurer reported having received $125 from Johnson for the purchase of an adjoining lot for a parsonage. The first building, Pratt recalled, "stood in a setting of forest trees and was a brown frame with arched, frosted windows, the only such windows in town... There was a choir gallery over the entrance, the chancel was ample with a beautiful walnut railing, the pews were walnut and white. There was a steeple holding a sweet-toned bell, presented by Trinity Parish, New York, and the prompt ringing of this bell, twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday evening, was the self-appointed and joyous task of John Burr, Senior Warden, during his life." The bell had arrived via the canal by way of Toledo and was later consecrated by Bishop John Hazen White. Support for the church remained cool. Mrs. Pratt recalled, "The attitude of the village was not sympathetic toward the new church; in fact, the [Episcopal] Church was not generally welcomed in this state."

Several rectors came and went in quick succession in the 1850s and 1860s, many of them dividing their time between Delphi and Logansport. During some intervals the church went without a rector and suffered from insufficient lay support. An energetic rector, the Rev. H. L. Clode Braddon, served from 1884 to 1887 and under his leadership the parish grew in size and in the number of contributions.

In 1901, the congregation began construction of a second edifice of brick and stucco at 321 West Main Street, which was consecrated in 1904. It continued to struggle for regular support, however, and the parish register reveals many gaps in the number of baptisms, marriages, and burials when no clergyman was available to perform them. During these years the rectors of Trinity Logansport or St. John's Lafayette would conduct services on a sporadic basis. In the 1950s, the parish received a gift of $53,741 from the estate of Kathleen Morrison, to be held in trust of St. Mary's. However, declining membership forced the church to close its doors in 1966. The building still stands and serves as the Chapel Gallery, a local art gallery. The register of the church is housed in the diocesan archives.

Clergy:

Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, 1843
Anson Clark, 1844-1845
Bryan Bernard Killikelly, 1845-1848
Edward Magee, 1848-1849
Josiah Phelps, 1850-1851
Walter Emlen Franklin, 1852-1854
Alonzo James Madison Hudson, 1854-1858
Elias Birdsall, 1858-1860
Nathaniel Rue High, 1860-1862
Samuel Edson, 1864-1866
Thomas Jefferson Taylor, 1867-1869
Abraham V. Gorrell, 1871
Levi Burt Stimson, 1872-1876
David Lardner Trimble, 1878-1879
Henry Lawrence Clode Braddon, 1884-1887
William Stone Hayward, 1887-1888
Benjamin Franklin Miller, 1889
George Moore, 1895
David Funsten Ward, 1896
James Henry Watkins Blake, 1897
Walter Jay Lockton, 1898-1905
Howard Russell White, 1905-1906
Samuel Edson, 1906
Henry Ritchie Neely, 1906
Louis Thibou Scofield, 1908-1910
Charles Frederic Westman, 1911
Robert James Long, 1919-1920
John Francis Plummer, 1920
Howard Russell White, 1920-1928
Joseph William Gubbins, 1928-1930
William Edward Hoffenbacher, 1930-1935
Raymond Mansfield O'Brien, 1938-1939
Richard Dawson Taylor, 1940-1942
Clarence Charles Reimer, 1943-1949
Robert Chesleigh Holmes, 1949
Gerald Lionel Claudius, 1951-1956
Richard Arthur Curtis, 1956-1960
Hugh Crichton Edsall, 1961-1963
Thomas Fothergill Stoll, 1964-1966

St. Mary's Parish Register of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Burials, 1844-1959

Vestry Minutes of St. Mary's, 1864-1887
Rev. Walter Emlen Franklin The Rev. Walter Emlen Franklin was born in 1815 in Philadelphia, the son of Walter Franklin and Anne (Emlen). His father was a prominent judge in Pennsylvania. He married Catharine H. Days on 9 March 1835 in St. John's Episcopal Church, York, Pennsylvania. In 1850 he resided with his family in New Castle County, Delaware, where he headed a large charitable household that included a number of borders, providing them welfare and religious services. By 1852, he had moved to Logansport, Indiana, where he served concurrently as rector of Trinity and of St. Mary's, Delphi. Remaining there two years, he then became rector of St. Paul's La Porte, where he served until 1856. He moved back to Philadelphia and died there in 1857.