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*Newsletters Archive*
| January , 2002 | |
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South Shore Genealogical Society PO Box 901 68 Bluenose Drive Lunenburg NS B0J 2C0 Phone : 1-902-634-4794 Ext. 26 ssgsoc@hotmail.com www.rootsweb.com/~nslssgs Winter Office Hours: Wednesday & Thursday 1:00 to 4:30 PM and Evenings by appointment Zellers - Club Z#: 840345301 |
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This issue has 2 pages.
Meeting Notice January 21, 2001 in the Society Room of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic at 7:30 pm.
Annual Meeting Notice
Annual Meeting March 18, 2002, at 7:30 P.M. in the Society Room of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.
Second Oldest Anglican Church in Canada Destroyed by Fire in LunenburgThis Newsletter is being dedicated to the major loss of a National Historic Site - the St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg which burned on November 1, 2001. The articles are for the benefit of members across Canada, US, and parts of the world who may not be aware of the loss.
A Short History of St. John's Anglican Church Information has been obtained from two sources: a pamphlet from the 1980's located at the entrance to the church and a leaflet handed out to tourists visiting St. John's Church during the summer. The tourist material was compiled by Basil Brownless in 1999 and the SSGS is using it with permission.
The history of the Church had a very humble beginning - the parish was actually established in Halifax in 1752 and when in 1753 the first settlers removed to Lunenburg, they were accompanied by Reverend Jean Baptiste Moreau , a missionary pastor, sent out by The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
The settlers were largely from along the beautiful Rhine River and its tributaries, the Frankfurt/Heidelberg area and from Montbeliard in the South of France. Among them were some English Artisans and military personnel as well. Consequently, their missionary pastor had to preach in three languages and this he did for hundreds of people who came from all the settlements in the surrounding areas. The gatherings took place outside, on the very square in which the Moreau Monument stands, commemorating his labours as a true father in God to these faithful souls.
The minister was French, and knew little German. He had previously been a Catholic priest and prior of the ancient Abbey of St. Mathieu, near Brest.
The Original Building
The building of the church began in 1754 with a grant of £476 from the authorities, the Lords of Trade & Plantations.
- Land for the church had been given by His Brittanic Majesty George II.
- The building was a 60' X 40' rectangle building along the lines of the New England meeting house style, much of the wood had indeed been shipped from Boston, some of which is believed to be from Old King's Chapel in Boston, which was being dismantled and rebuilt in stone at the time.
- A sketch of the original structure shows a tower which was circular in shape with slotted windows and a narrow conical roof, reminiscent of the stones towers of the churches of the Rhineland.
The first church took a few years to complete, and for the first 60 years it had no pews or heating!
A fine bell was given by Admiral Boscawen along with, a large round headed window adorned the east end of the building - just a touch of British Classicism.
- The interior was very plain with 30' high plastered ceiling and a balcony extending around three sides. There was a large three decker pulpit being the principal piece of sacred furniture. (So comfortable apparently was that pulpit that J. B. Moreau is recorded to have preached, on the average, for 1 ½ hours).
- D. C. Jessen donated the church a bell for the steeple and a complete set of communion silverware which was still used for special occasions. A new tower was built, designed by a local schoolmaster, William Lawson. The new tower was 12' square and 70' high and had "handsome pinnacles in the Gothic style."
Much of the tower of 1840 still survived in the present tower, with its spacious porch and stairways.
The Crypt
Underneath the floor of the church are the graves of 17 of the early parishioners, including the first minister, the Rev. J. B. Moreau.
The following are listed on a Memorial to those people known to be buried beneath the church:
Bryzelius, The Rev. Paulus, 1773 Cheyne, Miss Margaret, 1821 Creighton, Jane, 1774 Creighton, John, 1826 De La Roche, William Daniel, 1776 Izelin, Catherina, 1776 Jessen, Dutlief Christopher, 1814 Jessen, Mrs. Francisca Barbara, 1807 Jessen, Miss Frederica Francisc1773 Mason, John Frederick, 1776 Moreau, The Rev. Jean Baptiste, 1770 Pernette, Charles Patrick, 1772 Phillips, Mrs. Ann, 1761 Rudolf, Francis Joseph, 1823 Rudolf, Patrick Sebastien, 1775 Shreve, The Rev. Thomas, 1816 Zouberbuhler, The Hon.Sebastien, 1773
The Square
The church was not consecrated until 1826 because originally it had no title to the strip of common land on which it stood. In 1820 the entire square was granted to the church by the Governor of the Province.
The Great Reconstruction
The original church was neat and compact, and the parishioners were not anxious to see any change. It was not large enough for the growing congregation, so changes began...big changes!
In 1870 the tower was moved 35 feet westward to its present position. Then the windows, the galleries, the end wall and the flat plaster ceiling were removed. What was left was moved 25 feet to form the nave of the new church. It was joined to the tower with an additional 10 feet of construction.
There was, then, room to build the present chancel. The walls of the nave were completely refashioned with Gothic windows to match the beautiful Gothic work in the chancel.
In charge of the construction was David Stirling, a gifted Halifax architect, who was responsible for the entire Gothicization of this church, including the tower.
His greatest achievement was the reconstruction of the main roof in the nave. In place of the flat ceiling and the original roof trusses, David Stirling copied the method of the medieval builders in England and constructed hammer-beam roof supports, with curved principals and collar beams.
At the time, that this work was completed, the present bell tower was built as well.
In 1892 side aisles were added by skilled craftsmen, under the direction of a master builder, Solomon Morash. The side walls were moved out and the main supporting timbers of the building were encased in marbleized octagonal pillars. The carpenters also enhanced the outside of the church by having 14 attractive pinnacles surmounting the buttresses around the perimeter of the building. These were since boxed in.
The Parish Hall
The building opposite the church, which is now the Parish Hall, was built in 1775 and was formerly the Lunenburg courthouse. It contains one of the town's treasures, a Royal Coat of Arms of George III, the oldest mural in Nova Scotia.
The Stained Glass
- The arched transom window that was placed over the front entrance doors was donated to the church before 1860 by the captain and officers of a British survey ship. It is felt that the window may have been installed originally in the old altar area at that time.
In 1902, the window was not yet over the front doors, so it was installed there sometime after that. When that window was installed, the full Gothic doors had to be cut to a rectangular shape.
- The three stained glass windows in the apse were given by J. H. Kaulbach and his family, who was High Sheriff of Lunenburg, in 1871. These were St. John, Jesus the Good Shepherd and St. Paul. St. John and St. Paul were lettered in German - Johannes and Paulus. The three windows came from England.
- two other windows in memory of The Rev. James Cochran .
- window in memory of Rev. Henry Owen .
- The Benjamin Smith window on the north side, in memory of his daughter, Margaret, was the oldest window on that side and was installed at a cost of $800 ca 1932-3.
- The stained glass windows in the nave, tell the story of our Lord's life: The Christmas Cycle on one side and the Easter Cycle on the other. They were given as memorials to parishioners who, over the years, had faithfully honoured St. John's with their time, talent and treasures. The windows are the work of McCauslands in Toronto, the oldest stained glass firm in Canada. All were put in after the first and Second World Wars.
- The most recent major addition of stained glass to the church was the installation of the Fishers of Men Window in the tower dedicated in 1981.
The Altar
The exquisite carved oak table depicting a representation of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest work, The Last Supper, was given by Henry and Margaret Zwicker in 1926.
All the painting behind the altar was done on wooden boards - it was not wallpaper. It was hand painted, beautiful gold leaf work called the Mariners' Sky, by a lone woman parishoner, surname Page, in the 1860s.
The Church Bells
In 1902 the dedication of the "Chime of Ten Bells", given by Lt. Colonel C. E. Kaulbach. Each bell bears the inscription "Gloria in Excelsis Deo". The largest bell, the tenor bell, bears the additional inscription:
"Lord may these bells forever be a tuneful voice o'er land and sea to call thy people unto thee."
In present day the bells chimed every afternoon from 2:00 - 2:30PM. The public could go up in to the gallery to view them being rung.
The Pipe Organ
The present pipe organ was given in 1954 as a memorial to those parishioners who laid down their lives for their country in World Wars one and two.
- In 1983 a copper roof was installed by Powers Bros. Ltd.
Gifts & Memorials
Over the many years St. John's had been blessed with a number of gifts: prayer desks, altar rails, a Litany Desk, the magnificent eagle lectern, memorial tablets and plaques, handbells, a grand piano, Eucharistic vestments, altar hangings and communion vessels to name but a few.
Recognition
On Founder's Day 1985, St. John's was declared a Heritage Property of the Province of Nova Scotia.
On October 1998, a plaque, was unveiled designating St. John's as a National Historic Site, an honor cherished indeed.
Psalm 84: "O how lovely are thy dwellings, O thou Lord of hosts."
Snippets of Present Activities
~December 3, 2001 - the result of the congregational secret ballot voting. New Building - 5%; Replica - 4%; Restoration - 91%. A total of 311 unspoiled ballots were cast, 6 were spoiled. The parish council unanimously passed a resolution to ask the Bishops to approve going ahead with full restoration of the building, as a National Historic Site. It is understood that the Bishops have already informally granted their approval.
~Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps stated that the Government of Canada considers St. John's Anglican Church the highest priority for conservation. "This is a national and international treasure."
~December 6, 2001 - signed a contract with a Halifax company called Steeplejack Services Ltd. to supply and install a plastic and steel cover structure for St. John's. It will be 75 feet wide, 130 feet long and 40 feet high, big enough to totally enclose not only what is standing now, but also the finished building, excluding only the top section of the tower. The structure will hopefully be completed by January 25th.
~News updates on the restoration of St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg will now be posted on the SSGS website as they become available.
Donations
The SSGS cannot solicit donations for other groups or institutions. The following is information for those who would like the address.
A rebuilding fund has been established for donations St. John's.
For those in Canada living near a branch of the Bank of Montreal, you may make your donation at any branch.
Donations may be mailed to: St. John's Anglican Church, Box 238, Lunenburg NS B0J 2C0 Cheques payable to "St. John's Re-Building Fund".
For Canadians - charitable tax receipts will be issued for all donations, whether made by mail or through the Bank of Montreal.
In a Reminiscent Mood ...Bridgewater Bulletin, Dec. 16, 1970
continued from NovemberAs a followup of the speech of Robert Dawson of 1909.
....As I went through school my teachers were: Grade 1 & 2 in west room, ground floor - Miss Nell Tobin; Grade 3 & 4, North Wing - Miss May Tobin; Grade 5 & 6, South Wing - Miss Theressa Daniels; Grade 7 & 8, upstairs over primary room - Miss Annie Crouse. The year I went to High school a change had been made and again I was in South wing with teacher Rupert Morton. These teachers were the same for about all the time I attended school. Miss Annie Crouse went to South Africa in 1901 or 1902. Mr. Morton went to Liverpool as Inspector, the year after I was through, and within a few years there seemed to be all new teachers.
The playground for girls seemed to be the front lawns and a small yard with high board fence South of primary room. The boys had all the back yard, plenty of room for ball games, etc.
The toilets were a large two part building back of buildings.
The trees on front lawns were as now. I was about eight years old when they were planted.
The rooms were heated by big wood burning stoves and the boys would do the stoking of same during school hours.
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