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St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Sherman, Texas  The Sherman Democrat July 4, 1976 American Always Edition TEXAS' FIRST EPISCOPAL BISHOP PLANTED EARLIEST CHURCH IDEAS By the late 1860s Sherman had grown to be the most important town in North Texas. The reconstruction days were still in process as Texas was not re-admitted to the Union until 1870. Bishop Alexander Gregg, the first Episcopal Bishop of Texas, recorded visits to Sherman in 1866 and again in 1869, when he held services in the "Union Church" of which the lower floor was used for religious services and the upper floor for the Masonic meetings. It was probably this 1869 service of which the late Dick Hopson told, many years later, to his daughter, the late Mrs. Henry Bone. Hopson was a cub reporter sent by the paper to cover the service. He said it was "well attended." In his journal Bishop Gregg again mentions a visit to Sherman in November 1872, and it was at this time that the church organization was formed and the name St. Stephen's adopted. An increase in Episcopalians moving into the town enabled the little group to buy a lot and start a building fund. With "these good prospects" the Rev. Edward W. Gilliam came to Sherman from North Carolina in 1873. On December 29, 1873 deeds were drawn up for lots on North Travis Street. These lots were bought from Thomas J. Brown and Louisa T. Brown. Brown was later an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. St. Stephen's was admitted to the Diocese of Texas on May 18, 1874 at the Council at Jefferson, the church being represented by Emile Jouvenat and Clarence P. Field. Later in 1874 the General Covention the Diocese of Texas took over northern Texas and created the Missionary District of Northern Texas of which St. Stephen's became a memger and the Rev. Alexander Charles Garrett was elected Bishop. Upon Bishop Garrett's first visit to St. Stephen's in January 1875 he found that a little cottage rectory had been built for Rev. Edward W. Gilliam and family and that plans for had been furnished by Mr. Wheelock, a member of the vestry. In the national church's publication, Spirit of Missions, Bishop Garrett noted that St. Stephen's of Sherman had been organized as a parish, and although a poor congregation, a small rectory, at the cost of $750, and school house had been built and that the church was nearing completion to the point of occupany. The school house was a plain structure and Mr. Gilliam had defrayed the cost of the building by a tour through the East; his work in the school would augment his income. There lacked about $1,000 to finish the church building. While awaiting completion of the church building, the Baptists lent the use of their house of workshop; a little table served for an altar; a china saucer and child's silver cup held the sacred symbols. Rev. GIlliam left St. Stephen's in 1875 and was followed by Rev. Heber Otey Crane in March 1876. At the 1876 annual diocesan convocation Bishop Garrett reported that the parsonage had been partially papers and improved in other ways at the personal expense of the rector and the congretation hoped to request its consecration before the next annual convocation. There is no record available of the organizing members of St. Stephen's but many of those whose names appeared as vestrymen and council representatives in those first few years may have been members of the organizing group. Mortimer Wood Phillips and his wife, Martha Vogan Phillips, came from Boston in 1872. Mrs. Phillips was from Youngstown, N.Y., a faithful Episcopalian and one can be sure she was in the original organization. Their daughters were all members of St. Stephen's. One, Mrs. Dick Hopson, was the mother of the late Mrs. Ruby Hopson Bone and both contributed years of service to the church. Others who represented St. Stephens's in the '70's were, in addition to Jouvenant and Field: J.C. Milam, Horace H. Parrish, M.W. Seeley; Isaac L. Gillespie, J.S. Warrick, Thomas Forbes, David Alibone, and Major J.B. Fairchild. Major Fairchild's wife was Olive Ann Oatman of a New England family who were migrating to Missouri and were set upon by Indians who took Olive Ann captive. Later she was bought by kindly Mohave Indians and then ransomed by an officer of a Western U.S. Military post. Olive Ann was tattoed on the face by the Mohaves and always, in later life in Sherman, veiled her face. Major Fairchild married her in New York, later bringing her to Sherman where he became a banker. Mrs. Fairchild is buried in West Hill Cemetery, where a historical marker has been placed at her grave. The years 1876 - 1879 saw the change of three rectors and a steady growth of communicants from 45 to 1115. In 1879 Rev. Gustav E. Purucker was the leader of the church. The walls of the church building had been plastered, finished in gray and marked off as blocks of stone. The cross beams and principal rafters of the roof had been planed; the poor shingles had been concealed from view by well oiled ceiling; most of the pews had been built and set in the church building and the workmanship paid for. Mr. Purucker transferred to the Diocese of Missourion April 22, 1881. The new rector in 1882 was Rev. Thomas B. Lawson, D.D. At the 1882 Convocation Bishop Garrett challenged St. Stephen's people to financially support the new rector. In 1884 Rev. Lawson left St. Stephen's for Missouri and was followed by Rev. Christopher Deuroche from the Diocese of Samaica in 1885. Rev. Deuroche left St. STephen's in March 1887. There was an almost annual changing of rectors until May 1891 when Rev. George Stanley Gibbs was called. Mr. Gibbs stayed four years, leaving in 1896. Two additional priests came and went from 1896 until 1901 when Rev. Mr. William James Miller was called in December 1901. In addition to the Rev...Purchucher, the Rev. Thomas B. Lawson, the Rev. Christian Deurocher, the Rev. J.B. Fitzpatrick, the Rev. W.D. Sartwell, the Rev. George Stanley Gibbs, the Rev. John Sloan, the Rev. Albert Rupert Lloyd and the Rev. Benjamin Sumners McKenzie. On December 15, 1901, the Rev. William James Miller came to St. Stephen's. He remained 24 years and under the guidance the church gained its first stability. The congregation voited to replace the small carpenter Gothic wooden building on North Travis street and bought a lot on which the present St. Stephen's is situated. Bishop Garrett laid the cornerstone in 1910. The old church building was sold to the Progressive Baptist congregation who moved it to East College Street where it served as their first church until it burned. Plans for the new St. Stephen's church, of English Gothic design, were drawn by church architects of Providence, R.I. Three large stained glass windows had been removed from the old St. Stephen's ande were incorporated into the design of the new building, along with a large window over the altar, and a small rose window at the rear of the building. In time, all the windows of the church building were done in stained-glass symbolizing saints of the Church and memorializing past members. An unusually fine Hook-Hastings tracker-action pipe organ was installed at this time and is still in use, having been rebuilt in 1975 by Robert Sipe. Opening services in the new church were held on Easter Day of 1911. The Rev. Miller's resignation in 1924 marked the end of the first 50 years of St. Stephen's. During Father Tate Young's tenure (1946-1968) the addition to the parish house was made, in architectural harmony with the church. The old rectory on the south was used as Sunday school rooms, a new rectory having been bought. Even this additional room was not sufficient for the growing Sunday School population, due in large measure to the numbers of Episcopalians stationed at Perrin Air Force Base both during the war and until the closing of the base. These churchmen were faithful members of St. Stephen's and enriched the life of the church and community. St. Stephen's has had a steady growth under the ministry of Father James W. Garrard who became rector of St. Stephen's in July 1968. He has been especially active in the work with young people and small children, and as chaplain to the Episcopal students at Austin College. The need for expanison of the church facilities had become critical by the early 1970s and so began the building of the new addition on the south of the present church. Sunday school rooms and All Saints' Chapel, enclosing a garth and the remodeling of the older east wing, providing a parlor, study and offices were included in the $208,000 addition. The grounds have been landscaped and the new building and chapel were constructed in the spring of 1976.  St. Stephen's Episcopal Church History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |