Assuming the rectorship
Until the 1960s, it was the practice of the new rector to write a statement in the Parish Register of his findings on arrival at Saint James’ Episcopal Church. The earliest such record extant was written by the Rev. John S. Lindsay on May 15, 1876 — although Lindsay had taken up his duties in 1871. Saint James’ had been at its present location for almost 20 years, but apparently without adequate office space; records were, as it turned out, unfortunately kept at the Warren Green Hotel.
Here is what Lindsay wrote in 1876:
When I assumed the rectorship of this parish on the 1st Sunday in August (1871), I found a formal record of the official acts of my predecessors from the administration of the Rev. G. H. Norton, D.D. (1846-1858) up to the period at which my immediate predecessor - the Rev. J. R. Hubard, D.D. finished his labors in the parish. In addition to this were some fragmentary statements as to the acts of the Rev. Mr. Lemmon, who preceded Dr. Norton as rector of the parish. This parish register which had been kept during the pastorate, respectively, of Messrs. Norton, Barten, Hubard & myself, was destroyed by fire, in the burning of the Warren Green Hotel, on the 13th of Nov. 1874; when some of my own books & a prayer book bought for the parish in England about the year 1742 were also consumed.
In the latter part of April 1875, the work of enlarging & improving the church building of the parish was begun. While the work was in progress, I was in Europe, my place being filled by the Rev. John Ambler. Upon its completion the formal reopening was celebrated September 12, 1875, by a service at which the Rev. G. H. Norton, D.D. preached, and the Rev. C. Minnigerode D.D. and J. G. Minnigerode took part in the other exercises.
The cash offering on the occasion, for the extinguishment of the debt contracted in the improvements, exceeded five hundred dollars.
Mr. Lindsay served as rector from 1871 to 1879. On the centennial of American independence in 1876, Lindsay wrote “Hamilton Parish, 1730–1876: An Anniversary Discourse,” excerpts from which will be drawn in another article. The enlargement of the church in the 1870s will also be the subject of another article.
This essay was originally published in 2016 to mark the bicentennial of Saint James’ Warrenton.
