HISTORY 1851-1963

The roots of the Episcopal Church in New Jersey may be found in the great work of the missionaries sent from England in the eighteenth century. There were two organizations, whose headquarters were in London , which are responsible for the founding of the Church in Jersey . The older of these was the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, founded in 1699 by Thomas Bray, an English clergyman who financed his venture by selling his personal effects. The second of the missionary societies was the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, founded in 1701. Both of these organizations had their headquarters in London , and the Bishop of London was in charge of the Church in the Colonies. Despite the great work of both the SPCK and the SPG, and occasional bursts of interest on the parts of succeeding bishops of London , the Anglican Church enjoyed only slow growth. There were many reasons for this, but paramount was the fact that there was no bishop for America , and Episcopal oversight was in the hands of the far-distant Bishop of London. Moreover, there were definite Colonial prejudices against the Church of England.

By the time of the American War of Independence, the Episcopal Church in New Jersey could boast of a number of strong parishes, all the result of heroic missionary labor. There was St. Mary’s Church in Burlington. There were well-established churches in Perth Amboy, Piscataway and New Brunswick. And there was Trinity Church in Newark, now the cathedral of the diocese. These churches were able to survive the very difficult post-Revolution period. And it was a difficult period! Most of the clergy of the Church had been Tory sympathizers. They had left the Colonies when the war broke out, and their parishes had been without sustained ministrations. Then, during and after the War, there was a natural reaction against things British and therefore the Church suffered. It took a long while to gather the loose threads together before the Church could reorganize and begin its work in the new country. A milestone in this process was the meeting of the Connecticut clergy in early 1784 when Samuel Seabury was elected the first bishop in the United States. Seabury went to England, where he was refused consecration. Finally, he was consecrated in Aberdeen by the Scottish Non-juring bishops. Later, three other Americans were consecrated in England , and thus the historic line of bishops in succession was brought to the United States. But this did not assure the prosperity of the Church, and as late as 1830, Chief Justice John Marshall is said to have stated that “the Episcopal Church is too far gone ever to be revived”.

John Marshall was mistaken. He did not realize that great forces were already at work in the Episcopal Church that the dawn was even then breaking upon the day of revival and growth. One of the great forces was in the person of John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York. Bishop Hobart retained the rectorate of Trinity Church , New York, when he became bishop of the diocese. He also had a home “in the Short Hills” of New Jersey and to this day the old road there is called by his name, as well as another, “Bishop’s Lane”. Bishop Hobart was a dynamic figure who proved to all who knew of him that the Episcopal Church could be loyal to both God and the Constitution of the new country. The Bishop of New Jersey was John Croes, the son of a Polish immigrant. Since the Poles had taken a conspicuous part in the War of Independence, John Croes was a factor in winning confidence in the national loyalty of the Church. Moreover, his successor was the popular and energetic Washington Doane, whose very name implied loyalty to the new nation. Then, there was the venerable Bishop of Pennsylvania, William White, who had been Chaplain to the Continental Congress. All of these men did their work in their times, and the foundations of the Episcopal Church in the new country are due to them and those whom they inspired.

Slowly, the older Episcopal parishes in the cities began to grow. New ones were founded, especially after the Oxford Movement of the 1830’s and its implications struck Church people in America. Elizabeth, not far from Millburn, had had an Episcopal Church since Colonial times. As that town grew, other Episcopal churches were founded. The number of communicants grew, too. And Episcopalians would frequently move from their home towns and would want parish churches in their new environments. Thus the Church spread from the older towns.

The facts relative to the founding of St. Stephen’s Church in Millburn are well recorded in several extant chronicles. The Parish Register of our church tells part of the story, as does a historical sketch published in the St. Stephen s Outlook in June, 1920. Most important is the record in the biography of Eugene Augustus Hoffman. Hoffman was graduated from the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1851 and was made a Deacon that year. He began his Ministry at Grace Church, Elizabethport. While there, his attention was called to the fact that there was no church in Millville , eight miles distant. (Millville was the name of the community until 1857). The biography of Eugene Augustus Hoffman (who was to become the great Dean of the General Theological Seminary) recalls that -

Millburn was a town of 600 inhabitants, a mile from Springfield, the scene of many Revolutionary events, and was at the foot of the Short Hills, where Bishop Hobart had his country residence and where he had wished to locate the General Theological Seminary. About 1852, when Mr. Hoffman was missionary at Elizabethport, he became interested in this little village, and as there was no religious service of any kind in the place, he determined from time to time to hold services of the Church there. He was aided in this work by Mr. Israel D. Condit. The population generally had never, it is believed, seen a Prayer Book or a surplice. The congregation, beginning with about forty or fifty, soon increased to a hundred and twenty.

This, in brief, tells the story of the beginnings of St. Stephen’s Church. Some remarks are in order. Inasmuch as “the Short Hills” was a summering place for people from Newark and Elizabeth as well as a farming community, one cannot avoid thinking that there were some Episcopalians there who wanted to have an Episcopal church established in the mill village of Springfield. Moreover, the area of this mill village though yet a part of Springfield in Union County , showed promise of eventual incorporation into a separate municipality. There is no doubt that the astute Mr. Hoffman saw the importance of establishing a church there.

From the historical sketch in the first Parish Register we learn that the first Episcopal services in Millburn were held on December 17, 1851 in “the public School House”, and that there were only two Episcopalians in the vicinity at that time. This school house was located on Millburn Avenue (then called Washington Street) now occupied by the grounds of the Washington School. Later, it was necessary to hire the hall of Mr. James which was situated in a building still standing on the southwest corner of the present Millburn Avenue and Main Street. It was in the second floor hall of this building that services were continued for the next two years.

Needless to say, the area called Millville, or the mill village, was, in 1851, far different from what we know today. The chronicle published in the St. Stephen’s Outlook in June, 1920 gives a fair picture of the town as it then was:

Millburn, at various times in its earlier history, was known as Rum Brook, Riverhead, Vauxhall, and Croton. But by reason of the mills in the vicinity it became known as Millville . . . As late as 1835 there was at Millburn only a blacksmith shop, store, saloon, paper mill and a few houses. The principal residents in those days were Mrs. Butterworth, Joseph Hand, John Brison, John White, Thomas Lyon, Joseph P. Smith, and Israel D. Condit, and their families. The manufacture of paper was established here very early, and the products of the mills were hauled to Elizabeth, and thence by sloops to New York. Later on, a hat factory was established . . .

The municipality now called Millburn was that section of Springfield where the mills were located; it was thus referred to as “the mill village” of Springfield . There were other names given the village at various times, but in time the name became Mill Burn - named after the Scottish for the fast-moving stream which gave power to the mills. In 1857, this became the official name of the community, and the county line was moved so as to include Mill Burn in Essex County. For years, the spelling Milburn was preferred, but after the turn of the twentieth century the general usage became Millburn.

It may be said that St. Stephen’s Church is the oldest existing corporate body in Millburn. I know of no business or institution within the town which is older. The White Oak Ridge Chapel had been organized as a Sunday School association in 1831, but it is believed that St. Stephen’s Church is the oldest re1igious body in continual existence.

The first services of the Church, held in the old schoolhouse and in Mr. James’ Hall, attracted people of varied religious backgrounds. Such names as Condit, Campbell, Lyon and Allcock are mentioned in the earliest parish records. These were people well known in Millville in 1851. Israel Dodd Condit seems to have been the man who rallied the lay leadership of the new church. We may presume that he was one of the two original Episcopalians mentioned above. He had come to the Springfield area in 1822, and four years later married Caroline Eaglesfield. Her father was one of the early paper and felt manufacturers here. Israel D. Condit gave the land for St. Stephen’s Church and St. Stephen’s Cemetery. He was for many years Senior Warden of the parish, and in addition to his initial generosity all too often he was called upon to pay the annual expenses of the Church. He died in 1897.

The Campbell family had come to Millville even earlier than Mr. Condit and, like him, they were paper manufacturers. The Lyon and Allcock families lived in Millville for many years, and were early members and supporters of St. Stephen’s Church. Because it was the only church in the town, nearly every family living nearby came to have some connection with St. Stephen’s. In some cases, the connection has continued to the present time; there are still people in the parish register who are descendants of the founders.

The oldest possession of St. Stephen’s Church is a large English Bible, published by Eyre and Spottiswood in 1847. It was given to the parish in its earliest days by five people, and cost $17.50.

Throughout 1852, the number of people attending the services in Mr. James’ Hall increased. Obviously, the worship of the Episcopal Church commended itself to the inhabitants of Millville, and it became clear that steps should be taken to formally organize a parish in the town. Accordingly, the following was posted:

NOTICE

is hereby given to the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Millville, and to those who desire to associate themselves with said Church, that a meeting will be held in Millville, on the nineteenth day of January, at their usual place of worship, the building of Mr. James, immediately after evening service (service to commence at 7-1/2 P.M.) for the purpose of taking measures necessary to incorporate said Church, agreeably to “an Act to incorporate religious societies worshipping according to the customs and usages of the Protestant Episcopal Church” passed 17 February, 1829.

Eugene Augustus Hoffman, Minister

Millville, 9 January, 1853

(N. B. The Bishop of the Diocese is expected to be present on the occasion).

Two days before the advertised meeting, a group of people met at the home of Israel Condit and formed a slate of Vestrymen. The two Wardens were to be Israel D. Condit and George W. Campbell. The Vestrymen were Isaac M. Hand, Hugh Allcock, Isaac Martin, Amzi Condit, William Marshall, Thomas C. Bradbury, and Edward Clayton. At the same meeting in Mr. Condit’s house, a committee was appointed to choose a name for the new parish. On the stated Sunday evening, January 19th, 1853 , the congregational meeting was held in Mr. James’ Hall. The Right Reverend George Washington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey, was accompanied by Mr. Hoffman, the Reverend Charles Rankin of St. Peter’s Church, Morristown, and five other clergymen. The slate of Wardens and Vestrymen previously selected was ratified, and Easter Tuesday was chosen as the time of annual meetings. That day remained the appointed date for the annual meetings until 1958. We may assume that the name of the parish was decided upon at this time. In all probability, the name of the first Christian martyr was chosen because St. Stephen’s Church was the first church to be organized in Millville, and it was the first parish founded by the young Mr. Hoffman.

The first Vestry meeting was held on the 27th of January, 1853, probably in the home of Israel D. Condit. The gentlemen proceeded immediately to the pressing business of finding a building site for a church - and they appointed a committee to secure the necessary funds for such a building. The treasurer was directed to purchase a Parish Register, using the monies received in the first Offering: $2.79. We still have this fine hand-tooled leather book. Several weeks after this first Vestry meeting, the Vestrymen adopted elaborate By-laws to guide the deliberations and procedures of future years.

In the Spring of 1853, Mr. Condit offered the parish a lot of land on Main Street. The Vestry agreed to build a church on this lot, and they chose as their architect J. W. Priest. This man was a member of the Ecclesiological Society of New York, a society composed of high churchmen whose aim was to express Church doctrine by producing an ecclesiastical architecture reminiscent of the medieval power of the Church Catholic. We have seen that Bishop Doane, Mr. Hoffman, and Dr. Rankin were active in founding St. Stephen’s Church. All of these men had been influenced by the Oxford Movement; they were all high churchmen. In its earlier days, St. Stephen’s was probably considered by some Episcopalians to be a dangerously ceremonial “High” parish, a parish infected by the current effects of the Oxford Movement which aimed to enrich the services, and emphasize the historic teachings, of the Church.

The architect, Mr. Priest, drew the designs for the new church in Millville. The cornerstone was laid by Bishop Doane on August 23rd, 1853. It is a red sandstone block, made of the same material as the whole foundation; the cornerstone is at the base of the church tower and is simply marked “1853”. Since there was not enough money at hand to go far in building, only the excavation and foundation were completed in 1853. As a matter of fact, it was soon apparent to the Vestry that the whole design provided by Mr. Priest could not be carried out at this time. Therefore, the Vestry decided to build only the tower, chancel, sacristy and four bays of the church; the remainder could be done at a later time. On April 4th, 1854 , the Vestry’s Building Committee reported that a contract had been signed with George Riker; the cost of the church as built in 1854 was to be $4,000.00.

What was this church which the people of St. Stephen’s built in 1854? As it stands today it is almost the same as when used for worship, although it was later lengthened. There is a generous nave, with pews fashioned of hard oak according to the taste of the earlier American Gothicists. There are three aisles, a main aisle and two side alleys. The chancel steps are broad and lead to a theatre which has clergy stalls on either side. The sanctuary is not deep, but ample for the needs of a country church. There is a small room off the chancel, formerly the Vestry, and now used as the Sacristy. For many years, the Vestrymen held their meetings in this room, which was warmed by a small stove. The base of the tower was intended for the organ console and pipes; there is a fine carved screen dividing this space from the nave. There is also a tower room, reached by a steep flight of steps, but in all probability this has never been used, though the architect probably intended it to be a meeting room.

The original plastered walls were smooth and tinted. The window and arch returns had plastered moldings, terminating in floral motifs. These were not reintroduced after the renovations of 1928, and therefore the church has lost a measure of the architectural lightness it originally possessed. The glass in the windows was of the type then “bought by the yard”. St. Stephen’s Church was built before the Victorian taste turned to the darker shades, and thus the clerestory windows are fitted with bright red and blue glass. The East window is of lighter blue and yellow tones. The nave lancets were filled with peach-colored diamond-shaped panes, with either red or blue borders; these made the nave dance with light. There is a West Rose Window, also predominantly red, matching the clerestory windows. The “five sisters” lancets below it are filled with glass of the grisaille type, and on a sunny afternoon they throw shafts of white light down the length of the nave. The windows of the church were planned with care, and those responsible for them recognized the importance of light in a Gothic type building. Unfortunately, the nave windows have been lost to us, but succeeding generations will rejoice in the duty still done by the gay clerestory windows and those on the east and west ends of the church.

The piers of the nave, and their arches, are of chamfered oak which, by local tradition, was cut on the property when the church was built. The wooden ceiling, high above the pews, was at one time painted light blue, with gold stars. Though the church is built in a medium, wood, which can never truly express the Gothic ideal, it captures to an amazing degree the Gothic spirit of vista and appreciation of component parts. When it was built, a newspaper of the day carried the following account:

The church is one that needs more than passing notice. The plan which was furnished by Mr. J. W. Priest was thoroughly a wooden one, with no mock buttresses to deceive the eye, nor sham furring out and blocking off of walls to represent stone. Everything is real, and just what it pretends to be. We wish churchmen who are building churches would recollect that there is no beauty in imitations; and that if men see in the House of God lies told in wood or plaster, they will too often think the whole of religion is but a sham. The church consists of a nave, with a spire on the north of chancel. Orientation is observed, the chancel standing on the street. We could not but be struck with the superior beauty of the “coup d’oeil” of the chancel, sacristy, and tower, with the nave rising behind them, over the effect which would have been produced had the chancel been placed at the west end for the sake of the street. The building will seat about 300 persons, and is one of the prettiest modern country churches we have seen. The whole cost including the bell and the organ was about $9,000, of which a very large proportion was paid by one individual, who gave the ground.

It has been stated that St. Stephen’s was a natural descendant of the white New England meeting houses used by the ancestors of those who built St. Stephen’s. Nothing would be further from the truth. St. Stephen’s Church was built in direct contradiction to the religious ideals which inspired the Classic churches of Wren, Gibbs, and their followers. The founders of St. Stephen’s were high churchmen in full accord with the Oxford Movement which was reminding the Church of its historic past. The Gothic mode of building was one way by which the high churchmen made their point. Moreover, these were the early years of the whole Romantic Revival, a movement which made an impact upon art, literature, music and drama. There was a reaction to the orderliness and austerity which often characterized eighteenth century literature, decoration, and religion. There was a general longing for a freer expression of the mind and soul. The developments in the Church, and developments in the life of the times, went hand-in-hand to produce the church in Millburn .

It is fortunate that through the years St. Stephen’s Church has been only slightly altered. If any of the original builders were to return to us they would readily recognize the church today. Only a few changes have been made. Electric lights have been added. The Font has been moved slightly. Some windows have been removed. But for the most part the people of St. Stephen’s (happily!) did not have the means to “modernize” its church at that time when many another fine parish church was undergoing drastic and disastrous changes in the later Victorian and Edwardian eras. Because of this, the church retains lines and feelings which make it more and more appreciated as a significant example of rural wooden Gothic architecture at its best. It is perhaps worth mentioning that J. B. Priest designed another church almost exactly like St. Stephen’s: the Church of St. Michael in New York City. But that church was razed many years ago, and according to an authority on American Gothic architecture our church stands as the only extant work of its gifted architect.

There is a tradition that the first baptism in the church took place before the building was completed; the child was William John, son of John and Mary Hamilton. If the tradition is true, the stone Font was not used, for this Font was partially provided by funds given at the consecration of the church, Tuesday, July 24th, 1855. The first marriage of the parish was that of Helen Lundy to William Henry Beam, August 27th, 1854; the officiant was the Reverend Charles F. Hoffman, brother of the founder of St. Stephen’s. The first marriage in the church building was that of Ann Morrison McAuley to James Lawlor, on November 26th, 1857. The first burial was that of William Pettigrew on October 7th, 1853. All of these were recorded in the Register ordered to be purchased at the first meeting of the Vestry.

While the church was in process of erection, services were maintained by the congregation in Mr. James’ Hall. The Reverend Eugene A. Hoffman officiated at many of these services, but in the Spring of 1853 he became the rector of the newly-formed Christ Church in Elizabeth. Thereafter, Mr. Hoffman’s ministry in Millville was often supplemented by the Reverend Dr. J. D. Berry, or by services conducted by Mr. Condit who was a licensed layreader. There were two services every Sunday: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. In addition, there was probably a monthly celebration of the Holy Communion.

The church was ready for use in the summer of 1855. One of the earliest decisions was that the pews would be rented at the Annual Meeting following. The pews in the main portion of the nave were to be rented at twelve dollars a year; the pews in the side aisles would be eight dollars. (It should be remembered that at this time the nave was considerably less long than it now is; there were no pews to rent westward of the main door).

One of the mistakes of our forefathers was the reliance upon only a few people for the bulk of church support. The richer the man, the more prominent his pew; the more prominent the pew, the more it cost. There were always a few seats reserved for poorer people, and for strangers. But for the most part, parochial income was derived from pew rents. And a precarious income it was! If for any reason several pewholders gave up their pews within a quarterly period (rents were paid quarterly), then the parish treasurer would indeed be in a tight position. There was at his time no method of systematic giving, no every member canvass, no broad base of parish support.

On the third of August, 1855 , the Vestry met in the vestry room. This room, now used as a Sacristy, was to be used as the meeting place of the Vestrymen for many years. This Vestry room was the office of the parish, insofar as any office was needed in those days. There was a wood stove in one corner, but however well heated it might have been, this must have been a tiny room for any business meeting. Perhaps the lack of comfort meant that business was transacted with dispatch. I can never enter our present well-appointed Sacristy without thinking that here the Vestry crowded and here the Vestry did its work. Our board table of today would be a marvel to the Vestrymen of 1855.

At that Vestry meeting in August, 1855 it was decided that number plates should be purchased for the pews. The men present must have discussed another and more important matter: finding a rector for the parish. Since Mr. Hoffman’s time was now taken up with the new Christ Church in Elizabeth, the people of St. Stephen’s looked more and more toward Dr. Berry. In March of 1856, he was called to be the first rector. He declined the call. In the following November, the Reverend Horace Hall Reid of Christ Church, Watertown, Connecticut was called. He had graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1848, and was probably well known to Eugene Hoffman who had later graduated from the same seminary. Mr. Reid (the name is spelled Reed in the records of the General Seminary) accepted the call at a stipend of $800.00 a year. He began his ministry in Millville on January 1st, 1857. (That was to be a momentous date for the community because in that year its name was officially changed to Millburn.) Mr. Reid took up his residence in the house on Old Short Hills Road now owned by Mr. and Mrs. C. Lawrence Keller.

One of the earlier developments of Mr. Reid’s ministry in Millburn was the establishment of St. Stephen’s Cemetery. The aim of those responsible for founding the cemetery was to provide a burial site for the people of Millburn as well as for the members of St. Stephen’s Church. It was only incidental that some income would thus come to the church although that income from plot sales proved to be helpful to the church as time went on. The cemetery was located on eight acres of land given by Israel D. Condit, who distinguished himself once again as a generous benefactor of St. Stephen’s. The first act of the cemetery committee was to grant Mr. Condit a large family burial plot.

When St. Stephen’s Church was founded, in 1851, it was the only Episcopal parish in southern Essex County. The nearest Episcopal churches were in Elizabeth, West Orange, and Morristown. Very soon, other Episcopal parishes were established in nearby towns. Grace Church in Madison was established in 1854. Calvary Church, Summit was organized in 1857, and, in 1859, the Church of the Holy Communion, South Orange, was founded. This remarkable growth of the Episcopal Church was partially due to the settlement of many people brought into New Jersey by the Morris and Essex Railroad.

The early Registers of St. Stephen’s Church show that its members came from far and wide. We read of people who lived in Jefferson Village (Maplewood), Craneville (Union), and South Orange. Later, Maplewood and Union would have their own Episcopal churches, but as early as March, 1856, the services of the Church were being held in South Orange. The rector of St. Mark’s, West Orange, officiated. Three years later, in September 1859, Bishop Doane appointed the rector of St. Stephen’s, Millburn to be missionary to the congregation in South Orange. We can not be certain that this appointment was welcomed by Mr. Reid, but the Episcopalians in South Orange were determined to have their own church and on September 24th, 1859, the Church of the Holy Communion was established. Mr. Reid was “necessarily absent” from the meeting at which the parish was organized.

It is clear that Mr. Reid was in poor health. Certainly the care of his far-flung parish taxed his energies and strength, and the charge of the new church in South Orange made his work even more demanding. On July 1st, 1859, even prior to his appointment as missioner at Orange, Mr. Reid resigned the rectorate of St. Stephen’s. His letter, now in the archives of the parish, states:

. . . I have come to the determination to request your acceptance of my resignation of the Rectorship of St. Stephen’s Church to take effect on the first day of October next . . . I cannot contemplate a separation from those to whom I am bound by many ties of grateful affection without some degree of regret, but considerations affecting the health and comfort of my family render it necessary. Besides, I am persuaded that if at any time I could resign the responsibility of my incumbency, it is in the present prosperous state of its affairs.

Mr. Reid went to the health spas of Europe, hoping to regain his health. But he died in Switzerland, in 1860. So affectionately was he remembered at St. Stephen’s that the parish erected a memorial tablet, which remains in the chancel of the church. The inscription ends with the Prayer Book version of Psalm 107:30: “And so He bringeth them into the haven where they would be”.

There can be no doubt that the affairs of St. Stephen’s Church were, as he had said, prosperous at the time of Mr. Reid’s departure from the parish. The future was so promising that it was decided to complete the church building by adding the two western bays. While the working plans for this and other improvements were under consideration, the Vestry, in October, 1859, called the Reverend George C. Pennell to be the second rector of St. Stephen’s. He was called “at a salary of Eight Hundred Dollars per annum and a Parsonage which is in progress of erection”. It seems that Mr. Condit was then building a house which he intended to give to the use of the rector of St. Stephen s.

The future looked bright, and therefore the Vestry proceeded with its plans to enlarge and embellish the church. The two western bays were added in 1859-60. Designs were ordered for the font cover, the Reid tablet, the alms box, some tables and the bishop’s chair. A Newark architect, C. Harrison Condit, was entrusted with these designs. (This Condit was only remotely related to the lay founder of St. Stephen’s, Israel Dodd Condit). The Vestry at this time also resolved “that one member attend on Sundays Thirty minutes before service to seat strangers” in the enlarged church.

The War between the States was imminent, but optimism prevailed at St. Stephen’s. In recognition of Mr. Pennell’s institution as rector of the parish, a chased silver Communion Service was purchased from the New York silversmith, Cooper of Amity Street. At the same time, the congregation honored Mr. Condit by presenting to the church an alms bason and paten as a thankoffering for his having assumed the cost of completing the church. The Vestry further moved towards building a Rectory, and in September, 1860, plans for a house were accepted. The architect was C. Harrison Condit.

In 1860, the organist was paid $300.00 a year. We do not know anything about the first organ in St. Stephen’s; it was probably one of those fine-tuned instruments which are now sought-after, but which in the late Victorian period were replaced by heavier but less worthy pipe organs. The sexton was paid $120.00 a year, and the organ blower received $20.00. Thirty-nine pews were rented in 1860, and ten were declared “forever free” and reserved for strangers. Also, in 1860 St. Stephen’s contributed $17.00 to the “Kansas Sufferers”. The proposed budget that year showed that the Vestry expected to receive $1,046.00 from pew rents, and an additional $400.00 from weekly Offerings.

This optimism was short-lived. Trouble soon descended upon the parish. By April of 1861, the rector’s salary was six months in arrears. The bills from the architect had not been paid. A number of expensive forms for the church and cemetery had been printed, and the printer was also unpaid. Letters went back and forth between the creditors and the Clerk of the Vestry. Finally, the printer brought suit against the church and, a week later, the rector resigned. It seems that the parish owed Mr. Pennell $1,300.00 at this time, and the Vestry gave him a demand note for that amount.

In the light of these pressing difficulties, a lighter irrelevant note in the Minutes of the Vestry is amusing: “The Chairman suggests that the present mode of ringing the bell has a tendency to confuse”.

The third rector of St. Stephen’s was the Reverend William Colvin Brown who came to Millburn from Zion Church, Newport, Rhode Island. We have very little information about this gentleman. During his time in Millburn, his predecessor threatened suit against the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Stephen’s for payment of the salary still owing him. Apparently Mr. Pennell’s threat was effective, for the money seems to have been paid to him.

There is no record of an Annual Meeting in 1862, but regular parish meetings were held thereafter. On April18th, 1865, the Vestry “Resolved that the Church be draped with mourning in token of respect for our lamented President”.

Mr. Brown resigned November 10th, 1865 , but the parish was without a rector for only a very brief time. In January 1866, the Reverend Dr. Henry Palethorpe Hay was called to be the fourth rector. Dr. Hay had studied with the class of 1862 at the General Theological Seminary. At the time of his call to St. Stephen’s, he was rector of Christ Church, Riverton, New Jersey. His rectorate in Millburn is probably one of the shortest in the history of the American Church; only seven months after his call the following was minuted in the Vestry books:

At a meeting of the Vestry in the Vestry room on Monday evening . . . Resolved that the Rectorship of this Church be declared vacant . . . Resolved that a Copy of this resolution signed by all the members present be presented to the Reverend Dr. Hay.

Again, money problems had caused sensitive feelings. The next Vestry meeting found the rector present, and the Vestry decided then to raise additional funds for the parish. But within a few weeks Dr. Hay had left Millburn and once again the parish was without a rector. Within ten years there had been four rectors at St. Stephen’s.

The Vestry called the Reverend John H. Hobart, Jr., who then lived in his father’s old place in Short Hills. Mr. Hobart declined the offer. In January, 1867, the Reverend Brockholst Morgan, a deacon, accepted the call to be rector. Mr. Morgan had graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1865, and had been ordained by Bishop Potter of New York that same year. Just prior to coming to Millburn, he was an assistant at St. George’s Church, New York.

It was thought that if a Rectory could be built for the rectors of St. Stephen’s, some of the greater problems of the parish would be solved. There would be an adequate house for the rector and his family, and there would also be a place for meetings. The plans of Harrison Condit had been approved as early as 1860, but the War and the insolvency of the parish prevented its building. When Brockholst Morgan came to the rectorate, this project was again taken in hand. The people of St. Stephen’s felt justified in considering this because there were signs of growth in the parish. Land was available next to the church, on the corner of Main Street and Rector (then Orchard) Street. In order to strengthen the financial position of the parish before the Rectory was built, the Vestry resolved to try the envelope system of offerings “as adopted in the Churches of Newark”. This was in 1868, but it would be a long time before this was a means of substantial parish support. Pew rents remained the major source of income, and with more pews rented the Vestry undertook to advance the rector’s salary to $1,500.00. And they proceeded with building the Rectory.

Inasmuch as St. Stephen’s Rectory has become a landmark in Millburn, it is worthwhile to pause and consider this house which was built in 1868. There were two other local houses which were built at the same time as the Rectory. The first, the Richard Whittingham house, on the site of the present Acme Market, was also designed by C. Harrison Condit; it was razed in 1957. The other house was that of the Campbell family; it is now the “Chanticler” restaurant and has been extensively altered.

The original designs for the Rectory called for a basement kitchen, but this was impracticable because the Rahway River, across the street often overflowed. The church records mention several occasions when the silt and mud had to be cleared away from the pews and organ after flood time. Because the kitchen could not be in the basement, the back wing was added to the original plans. This provided for two small bedrooms above.

The public rooms of the Rectory were built in the spacious manner of the day. The study bookcases had traceried doors whose design was repeated in the verge boards of the dormers and gables on the roof. There was a separate door outside provided for the study, and steps from both ends of the side porch gave easy access to this door. The floors throughout the house were wide pine floors, unfinished. This called for the wall-to-wall Brussells or ingrain carpeting; at a later time, straw matting was installed on the second floor. All of the principal rooms had fireplaces. Coal fires kept the house more or less warm. Recently, I was shown a glass vase whose owner told me that it was once in the Rectory. When I remarked upon a large crack in the vase, I was told that that happened when the water in the vase froze; so cold was the Rectory. Matters have improved somewhat since then! In the 1890’s the fireplaces were removed and the flues used for hot air pipes from a new furnace. This system was probably never very successful in heating the Rectory, and in 1934 a steam heating plant was installed.

Some of the Rectory rooms did not have fireplaces, and there wood stoves were used. All of the attic rooms were heated in this way, and there was once a chimney in the front end of the long roof which allowed use of a stove in the upper hall.

Fortunately, the Rectory has not lost its character and charm with the passage of years. There are new floors in the first floor, and woodwork once stained dark is now white. The mantlepieces have been removed from the upstairs bedrooms and, unfortunately, the window blinds and original slate roof, with its ecclesiastical designs, have gone. The house now enjoys all the conveniences of the twentieth century, but at the same time it retains much of the atmosphere of the past. It is a beloved landmark in Millburn.

In all probability, Brockholst Morgan did not live in the Rectory. In July of 1869, the year of its completion, he resigned the rectorate to become rector of St. Marks Church, Chicago. Within a month, the Vestry extended a call to the Reverend William Bryce Morrow. Mr. Morrow was born in England and graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1863. He was ordained by Bishop Potter of New York in that year and was for two years associated with Calvary Church in New York City . He was subsequently rector of the Church of the Messiah, Greenbush, New York, and St. John’s Church in Wheeling , West Virginia. Following his rectorship at St. Stephen’s, Mr. Morrow held charges at Easton, Pennsylvania; Peoria, Illinois; Sayre, Pennsylvania; and, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

At the same time that the Vestry called Mr. Morrow to the rectorate, 1869, Miss Mary Amelia Park was asked to assume the duties of parish choir leader and organist. Miss Park remained in that capacity until 1925. It was also at this time that the Vestry decreed that anyone in the parish might build a horseshed behind the church. A number of these sheds were built, and they remained a familiar sight in Millburn until after the First World War.

Another familiar sight in Millburn at this time was “Elegant” Oakey Hall. Mr. Hall, who had assisted “Boss” Tweed in the corrupt administration of New York City, lived with his family in semi-retirement after the “Tweed Ring” was thrown out of office. The Halls were members of St. Stephen’s, but the Elegant Oakey’s public prominence does not seem to have extended itself to much participation in local church matters.

The fact that Miss Park had been engaged as organist in 1869 calls to mind the musical provisions in the church at that time. The architect had not provided for a chancel choir, and the organ pipes and console were hidden behind the carved screen in the base of the tower. In 1869, space was made near the organ screen, in the north aisle, for a small choir. The choir was possibly a quartet at first, but in time it grew larger. The interest in music must have been strong at this time, for in 1870 a Johnson organ was purchased. It remained in service for many years.

From these improvements, we might well deduce that Mr. Morrow was maintaining the high church traditions under which St. Stephen’s had been founded. There were two other experiments which further indicate this: an attempt at abolishing pew rents, and the foundation of St. Stephen’s School.

The free church plan was adopted in 1872. It immediately produced a deficit! In 1873, pews were again rented. This method of finding parish income was continued until its slow disappearance in the twentieth century. In the meantime, annual subscriptions and the envelope system had augmented the funds which came from pew rents. The free church idea was, generally speaking, a high church ideal and in all probability Mr. Morrow stood strongly in favor of it.

The establishment of St. Stephen’s School was a much more ambitious project. The school was well described in the centennial booklet of 1951, but since it is an integral part of the St. Stephen’s story, further mention of it should be made here.

The idea of the parish school was “in the air” in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Municipal education was frequently very poor. Academies were common in the towns throughout America . Such leaders as Bishop Doane had encouraged the churches to provide for the better teaching of children, and the Diocese of New Jersey (which encompassed Millburn until the “Diocese of North Jersey” was set apart in 1874) had, during the 1850’s and 60’s advocated parish schools. Bishop Doane had died in 1859, but his successor, William H. Odenheimer, took up the cudgels for parochial education.

There were four outstanding events at St. Stephen’s in the nineteenth century: the founding of the parish and the building of the church, the setting apart of the cemetery, the establishment of St. Stephen’s School, and the building of the first Parish House. In the first three of these, Israel Dodd Condit took a leading part. When the school was suggested, in 1870, Mr. Condit offered a house for its use. This was “The Mountain House” on Church Street , so named because it stood on a slight rise of ground. He also offered to canvass for students and twenty children were immediately found. In March, 1870, the school was formally opened. The Trustees were Mr. Condit, Lawrence Benedict, Edward S. Renwick, George W. Campbell, Jr., A. H. Dyett, and Dr. E. T. Whittingham. The rector of the parish, Mr. Morrow, was Warden of the school.

It so happened that at this time the rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Newark, the Reverend Dr. Julius David Rosé, moved to Summit. He established a school on Prospect Street there, known as St. John’s Hall. This school soon closed, and thus Dr. Rosé was available to be headmaster of the new St. Stephen’s School. Dr. Rosé maintained the school for some years, but in time the Town of Millburn improved its municipal education, the fortunes of St. Stephen’s Church declined, and therefore the School was discontinued.

St. Stephen’s School never fully achieved its purpose of educating the children of families of modest income. Those children went to the public schools, or were apprenticed at an early age to a trade. Since St. Stephen’s School was the only private school in the area, it was patronized by the wealthier families, and thus it failed of its initial aim.

Dr. Rosé continued a familiar figure at St. Stephen’s for some years, however. He occasionally took services in the church, and during Dr. Clover’s time as rector he was locum tenens for a year. It was during that winter that the vase, mentioned above, froze in the Rectory.

During Mr. Morrow’s rectorship, the present altar of St. Stephen’s Church was set in place. There is a small note in the parish register which states that the treasurer was authorized to pay for moving the altar, reredos and paneling from Grace Church in Newark. Grace Church, and its furnishings, had been built in 1847 – 48 under the direction of the noted architect, Richard Upjohn. Originally, the altar had sacred monograms painted on it, but when Mr. Condit at St. Stephen’s had the altar and reredos “grained”, these were lost. We do not know anything of the original altar in St. Stephen’s Church. We still use this altar taken from Grace Church, and it is probably the oldest altar in continuous use in the Diocese of Newark.

William Bryce Morrow resigned the rectorship of St. Stephen’s in 1874 and moved to Trinity Church, Easton, Pennsylvania. Almost immediately, a new rector of St. Stephen’s was chosen: the Reverend Dr. Lewis P. Clover. Dr. Clover was then rector of the Church of the Messiah, Greenbush, New York, and it may be that Mr. Morrow had suggested Dr. Clover for St. Stephen’s because Dr. Clover had succeeded him in the Greenbush parish.

Dr. Clover, a member of an old New York family engaged in lithography, had been born in 1819, and was ordained in 1850. He held rectorates in Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York prior to his coming to Millburn. The University of Kentucky honored him with degree of Doctor of Divinity. When Dr. Clover came to Millburn, it was a village of less than 2,000 people. There was yet a rural atmosphere about the community. In a short time, however, two new regions in the township would be opened for building sites: “Wyoming” and “Short Hills”. The Wyoming tract was Company, a group which had purchased the land from Thomas R. Reeve and Edward Hand, a member of St. Stephen’s. A local legend has it that the name Wyoming was given the area by a prospective buyer who said the lookout was similar to one she had known in the State of Wyoming. The first houses built in the Wyoming tract were box-like Victorian houses with square towers; several remain to this day. Some time later, Wheeler Dow designed a number of the larger houses there; he also designed the first stained glass window for St. Stephen’s Church. Dow is still remembered as a minor luminary of America ’s architectural development.

At the same time that the Wyoming development was proceeding, Stewart Hartshorn, the spring-shade manufacturer, moved to Springfield. He hoped to develop a residential community in that part of Springfield where the Troy apartments are now located. Because there was no railroad convenient he turned his attention to the Short Hills area which Bishop Hobart had discovered so many years earlier. Mr. Hartshorn purchased whatever farms and woodlands he could in Short Hills, laid out roads there according to the contour of the hills, and built for himself a large house adjoining the Brison farm. (The Brison farm house later became the Millburn Inn, and was razed in 1961.) Stewart Hartshorn preserved the old name, Short Hills, and eventually set about building houses - most of them faced with stone from his quarries in Springfield - which he would rent at nominal prices to those people whom he thought would most contribute to the character of the settlement he was creating. Other people bought home sites and built substantial houses in Short Hills. Very soon Short Hills became known as a place of large houses set in an atmosphere of well-kept natural beauty. There was a hotel, a railroad station and Post Office. The “Music Hall” (once called “The Casino”) was designed by McKim, Meade, & White in 1882.

Both the Wyoming and Short Hills settlements accelerated the growth of Millburn Township. But St. Stephen’s Church does not seem to have made notable advances in this period. Perhaps one reason is that other churches had been established in Millburn. The Baptist Church had been formed in 1858. In the late 1870’s, the Wyoming Presbyterian Church was established, meeting for some years in the railroad station which then served the Wyoming neighborhood.

The improvements at St. Stephen’s in this period were of a mundane sort: new gas fixtures were added to the church in 1876 (costing $173.00). Two years later, there was a new furnace. And in 1880 a Brussells carpet was laid in the chancel, and grass mats for the nave aisles; the total cost of this was $88.03. In the same year, a burglar alarm was installed in the Rectory, and the parish received its first legacy, $250.00 from William Brown. In 1881, the Vestry resolved to allow the rector $50.00 a year for the keep of his horse.

These changes were only some of the lighter concerns of the Vestry. In addition, there was the ever-recurring problem of the annual deficits. The source of the trouble was the Victorian mode of raising money through pew rents and subscriptions. It was a problem which remained constant for many years, and will recur in this story. The pews were rented on a yearly basis, and quarterly statements were mailed to those who had taken pews. Plate offerings were usually devoted to special causes. There was no method of gaining the proportional support of the whole parish.

The result of such hand-to-mouth financing was that a substantial deficit was produced every year. Then, the Vestrymen would either divide the deficit among themselves, or ask wealthy members of the parish to assume the burden of the debt. The deficit for 1872 was $1,094.05 - a very large amount in those days. The amount for 1875 was even larger: $1,456.47. Mr. Morrow had encouraged the parish to attempt a more realistic method of church support: the annual subscription on a broad basis. That attempt had failed, and Mr. Morrow had resigned. It is apparent that his successor, Dr. Clover, was unable to offer any other solution, and therefore the deficits re-appeared annually. It is also quite clear that St. Stephen’s was not attracting the new people moving into the Township. In 1879, only twenty pews were rented. The census for 1880 showed 1,741 people living in the town.

The situation was a disheartening one, but there was a more ominous factor: the people in Short Hills were talking of beginning another Episcopal church. Mr. Hartshorn had intended a Short Hills community with all facilities. He had provided for a railroad station, a music hall, and soon he would give land for a private school. He was ready to give land for a church, too, and since many of the families in “the Park” (as it was often called) were Episcopalian, it is natural that they would want that church to be of their faith. Moreover, a deadly sense of dissatisfaction and despair seems to have set in at St. Stephen’s.

In the Spring of 1882, a number of parishioners of St. Stephen’s, together with others who had never attended the church, petitioned the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of Newark for permission to organize an Episcopal Church in Short Hills. This petition was at once opposed by the Rector, Warden, and Vestrymen of St. Stephen’s s in a letter which complained that the Bishop and Standing Committee had -

. . . appointed a meeting for certain disaffected members of the church at Millburn, and received an application from them, taking steps toward the organization of a new parish at Short Hills, without giving the Wardens and Vestrymen of the church at Millburn any official notice of what was in contemplation that they might be properly represented and informed of the proceeding.

Dr. Clover felt that the bishop should prevent the beginnings of that church which soon was named Christ Church in Short Hills. Dr. Clover wrote his feelings in that section of the parish register which was then devoted to historical jottings, as follows:

At the annual meeting of the congregation on the night of Easter Tuesday, April 11th, 1882, for the election of Wardens and Vestrymen for the ensuing year, after an uninterruptedly harmonious relation the Rector presented his resignation which was not acted upon for more than a month after. In evidence of the pleasant and harmonious relations always existing between the Rector and people during his incumbency an extract from his letter of resignation is herewith appended: ‘While this is my irrevocable purpose, I would be doing injustice to myself, as well as to you, and to members of the Church at large, if I did not add, that I am urged to this determination by no lack of appreciation of the uniform kindness and consideration with which I have been treated from the time I first became your Rector down to the present period. It is highly creditable to the Christian spirit of the members of this church, and to the community at large, as it will always be a source of gratifying reflection to me, that during the entire period of my Rectorship, nearly eight years, no unkind word ever passed between myself and any member of the church or of the community.’ Nor may it be improper for me to add an extract from a letter of the same date as that of my resignation, April 11th, 1882, addressed to me by Mr. E. S. Renwick who during my brief Rectorship contributed upwards of $20,000 for the support of the Church and school in Millburn, over and above his own individual obligations to the same: “For many reasons I regret your departure and I gravely doubt whether the Vestry will be able to secure the services of so thorough a gentleman, or so finished a reader”. This last is added from no spirit of egotism on my part, but as an indication of the state of feeling in the parish, at the time of my resignation, and as an encouragement to my Successor.

Thus it was with heavy heart that Dr. Clover prepared to leave Millburn. It had been a particularly cruel year for him, for his daughter, Bertha, had died in the Rectory on the previous New Year’s Day, after a long illness. Dr. Clover was sixty-one when he left St. Stephen’s, but his ministry continued. He went on to serve parishes in Port Jervis, New Hackensack, and Clifton Springs in New York. He retired in 1890, and died in 1896.

However much the diocesan authorities were opposed by Dr. Clover and the Vestrymen of St. Stephen’s, it was certain that they were correct in believing that Short Hills could support a separate parish. But it was not equally certain that Millburn could continue to support St. Stephen’s! One by one, the rented pews became vacant, and in the parish archives there are such letters as these:

. . . Pew #46 was vacated by me sometime last summer in a conversation had with Mr. Condit.

. . . I have not been a pewholder in St. Stephen’s Church for the past seven months, having notified your treasurer.

These notes received by the treasurer meant that there would be even less income for St. Stephen’s Church.

Time has justified the decision of the Bishop and Standing Committee in 1882 to allow the formation of Christ Church. The Church at large is much stronger because of the two Episcopal parishes in Millburn Township. But the years following 1882 were very lean ones for St. Stephen’s. Millburn was still a village, with an increasing foreign and non-Episcopal population. The local mills were in decline, and the character of the town was definitely changing. If it was difficult for St. Stephen’s to pay its bills before the division of the parish, it was even harder to do so afterward.

The Vestrymen were so pessimistic about the future of the parish that they doubted the wisdom of calling a new rector. Instead, they asked the Reverend Theodore Holcombe to be the priest-in-charge of the parish; Mr. Holcombe was promised $1,200.00 a year, and $1,400.00, “if revenues permit”. In an effort to encourage the Vestrymen, Edward S. Renwick contributed $1,000.00 toward reducing the mortgage on the Rectory. It was determined to put the Rectory in good repair for Mr. Holcombe and his family, and a committee comprised of Israel D. Condit, Sylvanus Lyon and Walter Stabler reported in December, 1882 that -

The Parlor, Library, and Dining Room have been handsomely papered. Other improvements made by your committee have been the oiling of some of the woodwork, kalsomining the kitchen and ceilings of other of the rooms, repairing the floor of the kitchen, repairing all doors and windows where needed. A handsome carpet has been purchased and put down in the Parlor and Library, curtains for all the windows (the rollers for which were donated by Mr. Stewart Hartshorn), three of the rooms in second story nicely papered. A large cooking stove has been purchased for use in the kitchen, and a stove for use in the library. The expenditures have been somewhat beyond the monies at our disposal . . .

In order to pay for these repairs, an “entertainment” was held at the Rectory on October 5th, 1882, and a concert at the new Short Hills Music Hall in November. The total cost of the work done in the Rectory was $238.48, and proceeds from the entertainments paid for the work.

And so the Rectory stood vacant, waiting for its next occupant. The first era in the history of St. Stephen’s Church had closed. The nation had made momentous strides since, in 1851, those first services were held in Mr. James’ Hall. The world was moving rapidly, and the change would be accelerated in the next decades. New challenges would soon be thrust upon St. Stephen’s Church, and new opportunities were to open for its service to God and the community.

Illustration (ii): Exterior of St. Stephen’s Church, Millburn - pre-1860

Chapter Two: 1882 - 1899

Bishop of the Diocese

Thomas Alfred Starkey

Rectors of St. Stephen’s Church

The Reverend Theodore Holcombe had agreed to come to St. Stephen’s as Priest-in-Charge, but within a few months of his arrival the Vestry felt able to name him Rector of the parish at a stipend of $1,200 a year. The revenues did not permit the $1,400 at first considered, and it would seem that Mr. Holcombe was even doubtful of the lower figure, for in his letter accepting the rectorship he said he hoped he might “count upon the salary at such time as the Vestry might designate”. Mr. Holcombe’s optimism went unrewarded. The parish deficits continued throughout 1884, 1885and 1886. In 1887 he resigned, with several months stipend owing him. It is perhaps ironic that Mr. Holcombe spent his last years in attempts at organizing a decent clergy pension plan, and because of this he rejoiced in the title of “Old Clergyman’s Friend”.

We know very little about Mr. Holcombe’s ministry in Millburn. There were, in those days, no accounts kept of Sunday church attendance and therefore we cannot know how many of the pews were filled of a Sunday. Inasmuch as the parish had been divided by the formation of Christ Church, it would be expected that the average attendance was low. It was customary to hold two services in Episcopal churches in the Victorian era: Morning Prayer at 10:30 and Evening Prayer at an hour depending upon the time of sunset. The Church School was held in the church during Sunday afternoon. It was probably while Mr. Holcombe was rector of St. Stephen’s that candles were first used in the Sanctuary; possibly the ornate blue and gold candelabra still occasionally used were given at this time.

It was in 1883, Mr. Holcombe’s first year at St. Stephen’s, that mention was first made of an organized” Ladies Guild”. Mrs. Holcombe was its president. In that year the newly-formed Guild gathered $80.00 for parish support and sent numerous boxes to missionaries. (In those days, it was the practice for parishes to pack and send supplies to missionaries. Sometimes the results were not too happy for the missionary, as for instance the time that all the choir caps were mistakenly sent off to Africa).

The formation of the Ladies Guild was a positive step forward. The Guild, and its subsidiary groups, did much in future years to augment the income of the church. There was need of auxiliary parish organizations especially at this time because the finances of St. Stephen’s were managed in the old unrealistic manner. There had been sporadic gatherings of the parish women before in efforts to raise money for special projects. It was during Mr. Holcombe’s rectorate that the women came into their own as an important factor of parish support. By 1887 there was a group called the “Ernest Workers”; a year later there was the St. Margaret’s Guild. A St. Mary ’s Guild and a St. Agnes’ Guild followed soon after. In the 1890’s, the “King’s Daughters” were largely responsible for the building of the Parish House in Church Street .

However helpful these women’s organizations were, a parish cannot and should not be supported mainly by distaff efforts. The yearly deficits at St. Stephen’s continued, as did the grumbling on the part of those who were called upon to pay the bills. The situation became so desperate that after Mr. Holcombe resigned the Vestry decided not to call a rector, but rather to engage a clergyman to serve as Priest-in-charge. For several months the Reverend Arthur H. Proffitt took charge of the parish while the Vestry hunted for a man who would agree to come as permanent Priest-in-charge.

This experiment, unwise and unfair, had already been attempted without success. Now the Vestry again found a man who would undertake the parish work without benefit of the title of rector: the Reverend Albert Upham Stanley. Mr. Stanley had graduated in 1863 from the General Seminary where he had been a classmate of William B. Morrow. He was also the seminary classmate of two other men well known in the Episcopal Church in the nineteenth century: George B. Hopson (long-time professor at St. Stephen’s College) and Theodore M. Riley (professor at the Seminary and biographer of Eugene A. Hoffman). Mr. Stanley’s health did not permit his remaining in a cold climate, and thus it was understood that he would take his annual vacations in the wintertime. He agreed to become the locum tenens of the parish in September, 1888.

The Vestrymen were certain that what they needed was a man who by preaching and pastoral work would build again a strong parish in Millburn . They felt they could not risk calling a rector until they were certain of these qualifications. At least, they wanted a man who would “attract the subscription” necessary to pay his stipend. On the other hand, Mr. Stanley was not at all certain that he wanted to be called as rector, ever. Both parties agreed to make a trial of the temporary arrangement. With the wisdom that comes with hindsight, we may say that it was one of the worst decisions a Vestry and clergyman could have made.

Even before the financial picture again became acute, Mr. Stanley had a shock in store. No one had told him that St. Stephen’s Church was subject to annual floods. Before the days of the large artesian wells of the Commonwealth Company, or before the Rahway River had been dredged, floods were common. This danger was heightened by the fact that the mill dams frequently gave way, sending a wall of water down Main Street - and into St. Stephen’s Church. The result was inches of silt on the floor, warped floor boards, ruined carpeting, and a damaged organ. In the records of the parish there are a number of references to the necessity of “cleaning the church after the dam broke”.

The threat of floods was one of Mr. Stanley’s concerns. The fact of parochial insolvency was another, and more constant threat. The Vestrymen expected several wealthy men to pay the deficit, and refused to consider any better scheme. Mr. Stanley knew this could not continue. He was called to be rector in 1890, and the letter he wrote to the Vestrymen at that time reveals his thoughts on financial matters:

I ask you to allow me to delay action upon your call that I may by inquiry learn what moral and material support I can have as Rector.. . The financial resources should, I think, be increased, and I should have strong guarantees of a willing reliance upon my judgment in all that I may propose for the furtherance of the parish life.. . I believe a rectorship at this juncture can be made, with the help of the Vestry, a new beginning in our parish life, a gathering together of our forces for united work in building up the Church here in Millburn. My experience of two years among you has given me full knowledge of the needs of this work and how its difficulties are to be met. If I am to remain here I ought to have the assurance that my support is not to overburden the parish, and that I am to be sustained by the whole people in every way of a Rector’s right.

Mr. Stanley felt that the parish leaders were not giving their wisest consideration to the problems facing them. The records bear him out. He urged that an every-member canvass be held so that all members of the church would share in its support. The Vestry would not concur, and under the circumstances Mr. Stanley did not in 1890 accept the call to become the rector of the parish. Again, in 1891, he declined the call, preferring to remain in the informal position of Priest-in-charge. He knew the church could not afford to meet a rector’s stipend, and in a long letter he declared that the Vestrymen were still unwilling to canvass the parish for funds. He reminded them that there were more than fifty families who were non-contributing and who had never been approached for contributions to the parish. He offered to remain until “the first of October next, and no longer, at a salary of $900.00 per year” so that the Vestry could have time once more to remedy the bad situation. It is plain that Mr. Stanley was forcing the hand of the Vestrymen in order that they would declare themselves to either accept or reject him upon the conditions he laid before them. Whatever the facts, Mr. Stanley did accept the rectorship in September, 1891. The hopes he may have had soon disappeared as the church sank in deeper debt. A letter written to the Vestry in February, 1893 by Miss Park, the organist, gives a clear picture of the situation.

Gentlemen, do you, as a Vestry, know how the church is situated financially? That it is in arrears to its rector, organist, and sexton? My salary is six months in arrears, and it is impossible for me to continue to act as organist unless I receive my salary every month, as the Vestry promised I should do, which promise, I am sorry to say has proved to be only “idle words”. If the Vestry cannot afford to pay what they agreed to, surely the proper thing to do is to say so at once.

A financial report published at this time elaborates upon Miss Park’s letter; the “shortage” was $1,228.68. The matter was intolerable to Mr. Stanley and he resigned -something he should have done much earlier. As for Miss Park: she remained for thirty more years as organist of the church.

It is plain that Mr. Stanley was not the man to coordinate the strength of St. Stephen’s Church, however right he may have been in his diagnosis of its problems. In a parting blast, he asserted that the Vestry had never made any real attempt to solve its problems, that the Vestrymen had no right to engage people when there was no money in sight to pay them for their services, and that the large majority of St. Stephen’s people had never been asked to bear the financial burden. Under these circumstances he was resolved:

. . . no longer to stay here, burdening the parish with my salary which it cannot pay, while nearly one half of the families of the parish are not pledged supporters.

Mr. Stanley resigned in March, 1893 and moved South. He died in 1916.

The Stanley period is undoubtedly the darkest in the history of St. Stephen’s Church. The clergyman and his Vestry were obviously at odds with each other. Mr. Stanley wanted a more realistic financial approach; the Vestrymen wanted him to begin to build up the parish. Neither pleased the other, and the result was a diminished Church witness in Millburn . But there was one development in Mr. Stanley’s rectorate. He felt there should be an organization of women devoted to the care of the altar and its furnishings. An Altar Guild was begun about 1890; Miss Kate Campbell was its first directress. Mr. Stanley placed one restriction upon Altar Guild members: all must be unmarried. When the widower Mr. Stanley married the directress, she had to give up her work in the Altar Guild! But the rule of having only unmarried women in the Guild was maintained for many years.

Another vignette of the period may be included here. It had long been expected that the widower Mr. Stanley and Miss Kate Campbell would be engaged to be married. The engagement was announced one Sunday, and as it happened, the final hymn that day was “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.” During its singing, the Rector - catching the significance - swooned. Miss Campbell rushed forward to the chancel (so they say) and helped revive him. Perhaps apocryphal – but certainly a more Victorian scene cannot be imagined.

Whatever Mr. Stanley may have learned by his experiences at St. Stephen’s, the Vestry had not learned that the experiment of having a Priest-in-charge instead of a rector is usually fatal. Now the gentlemen turned to finding a clergyman who would spend only a few days of a week at the church and who had employment which would supplement what stipend the parish could afford to pay. They found such a man in the Reverend James B. Wasson In May, 1893, an agreement was entered into with Mr. Wasson whereby he would spend three days a week in Millburn and live in part of the Rectory. The salary offered was $800.00 a year. James B. Wasson remained in Millburn for barely eighteen months, but in that time he laid the foundations for the work which followed him. Several events in his brief tenure deserve mention. In June, 1894, the Vestry gave permission for the first memorial window in that part of the church now used as a Baptistery. This window was designed by Joy Wheeler Dow. Another development in James Wasson’s rectorate was the Vestry’s denial of the New Jersey Traction Company petition to run trolleys past the church. The application, later granted, was vigorously opposed by the Vestry in 1894.

Mr. Wasson’s main civic interest was the Temperance Movement. He was active in the Civic League, whose aim was to enforce the excise laws and municipal regulations regarding saloons. Mr. Wasson was deeply upset when a saloon was opened in Church Street. Possibly this caused him to resign the rectorate and move to New York where he went into full-time work battling the “Liquor Interests”. But there is another reason why Mr. Wasson felt he should resign: the parish was now in need of a full-time rector. And he had a man in mind: his brother, the Reverend William A. Wasson, then rector of St. Paul’s Church in Providence, Rhode Island.

James Wasson offered his resignation in November 1894 in a letter which said:

While the parish is not yet entirely free from debt, it is nearly so, and in other respects it is in a flourishing condition. It was to assist in bringing about this happy state of affairs that I assumed the charge of the Parish, and therefore I feel now that I can honorably lay down the work in order that someone with more time to devote to it may carry it on.

But aside from that, I find that the legitimate work of the Parish, and the activities and obligations that grow out of my position as rector, can no longer be performed by me without giving up my editorial position which, unfortunately, I cannot afford to do.

In a letter written later, Mr. Wasson actually proposed his brother as the new rector of St. Stephen’s:

I desire to recommend my brother, the Rev. William Alexander Wasson, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Providence, R. I., to succeed me as rector of St. Stephen’s Church. Some of you may remember to have heard him when he officiated in St. Stephen’s last summer. He is about twenty-eight years of age, an acceptable reader and preacher, and a most faithful pastor. His Church views are the same as mine, and he would carry on the work of the Parish on exactly the same lines that I have followed. He is genial and approachable in manner and would identify himself with the life of the community even more than I have been able to do. In a word, I am sure he would be an ideal man for the Parish and I think I know pretty well the sort of man needed here.. .If you will offer him $1,000 a year and the Rectory, I think I can persuade him to accept. You can afford to offer that amount; for he would not only hold the present congregation, including those who come from Summit, but would attract others from outside Millburn .

The day after this letter was written, the Vestry called the Reverend William A. Wasson to be the eleventh rector of St. Stephen’s Church. Mr. James Wasson held his final service on the last Sunday of 1894, and according to a newspaper of the time -

Many of the parishioners were visibly affected by the sermon and at the conclusion of the service the pastor was the recipient of many handshakes. The retiring pastor will this week remove to New York .

The events of the next few years fully justified James Wasson’s estimate of his brother’s ability. As soon as Mr. Wasson had settled his family in the Rectory he applied himself to the work at hand. First of all was the church’s indebtedness, including the arrears in Mr. Stanley’s salary. These were satisfied during Mr. Wasson’s first year. The parish was coordinated so well during 1895 that the next few years saw remarkable developments where, only recently, there had been a spirit of defeat and despair.

There were two strong parish organizations which were encouraged by Mr. Wasson and which, in turn, strengthened his hand: the King’s Daughters and the Men’s Bible Class. The King’s Daughters had been active for several years; their money-raising was prodigious. In the early part of 1896 they offered to install plumbing in the Rectory. When this was done, they turned to the need of a new steam furnace in the church. This, too, was accomplished, and the auxiliary stove in the church was finally removed.

The Men’s Bible Class was one of Mr. Wasson’s favorite projects, and in a short time more than 100 men were enrolled. It is remembered that on one occasion a great service was held by the Bible Class, crowded with men. Israel D. Condit, the lay founder of St. Stephen’s who had seen the church in its many vicissitudes was heard to remark, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace”! It was good that Mr. Condit had lived to see this renaissance of the parish he helped establish. When able, he had paid many of the bills and he had served as Warden for fifty years. He died in 1897, just as the church was embarking upon an ambitious venture: a Parish House.

It will be remembered that “a Hall” for St. Stephen’s had been mentioned some years earlier. No action could be taken then as the parish was entering the darkest days of its fiscal life. In January of 1897, the Men’s Bible Class proposed the building of a Parish House. This had been an idea in the rector’s mind, and in order to have wide support for the project, he wrote to the King’s Daughters:

As you are probably aware, the Men’s Bible Class have taken up the work of raising money for a parish building. I wish to suggest that the King’s Daughters take up this same work as soon as the balance on the furnace is raised. The need of a parish building is very pressing, and I have not the slightest doubt that if the King’s Daughters undertake to build it they will be as successful as they have been in everything they have undertaken.

By the Spring of 1897, all the money-raising efforts of the parish were directed toward providing the new Parish House. Though there was only $10.47 in the church’s bank account in May of that year, the vitality of St. Stephen’s Church was such that the new building was assured. A lot owned by Mrs. Graves in Church Street was purchased for $1,000.00 - $100.00 paid immediately, and the balance on 6% mortgage. Walton C. Whittingham gave the initial $100.00, and Israel Smith gave $25.00 more to encourage everyone. There was a small house, and out-buildings, on the property. These were removed, and the lot was cleared for the new building. W. E. Pringle was the architect and he submitted preliminary sketches in October, 1897. The sketch marked “Plan #1” was accepted, but the billiard room, dressing room, and bowling alleys were omitted for they were too costly. The men on the Building Committee were the rector, L. W. Harrington, and Arthur Tepper.

The record book of “St. Stephen’s Parish Building Account” shows that subscriptions through W. A. Wasson” amounted to $1, 308.55. A Mr. Perry paid $16.50 for the old dwelling on the lot, and Mr. Tichenor gave $12.00 for another building on the property. Even the old well cover had been sold. Subscriptions came from Mr. Chaffe, Mrs. Benedict, Mr. Silance, Mr. Wittkop, Mr. Farr, Mr. Todd, Mr. Barrell, R. W. Lewis, Richard Hopkins, James B. Wasson, E. B. Camp, Edward S. Renwick and Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Harrington. “Mrs. W. E. McCollum’s dentist” contributed $5.00. Further gifts came from Miss Howe, Mrs. Lyon, the Misses Lyon, Mr. Webb, Mr. Ayers, George C. Palmer, Mrs. Wilbur Denman, Mrs. Pettigrew, Judge Simpson, Stewart Hartshorn, Mrs. Bliss, Miss Bliss, Mr. and Mrs. Farley, Miss Hastings, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. William F. Morgan, Mrs. A. Brown, and the inevitable “Friend”. The King’s Daughters began by contributing nearly $850.00. By November, 1898 the building had been completed and every bill had been paid; its cost was $3,463.30. The carpenters received $910.00 for their work. The lumber cost $1,000.00. The architect’s fee was $50.00. In less than two years after it was decided upon, the Parish House had been built and paid for. In such a way, and at such costs, was a Parish House built - in 1898.

This Parish House was used not only for the Sunday School and the social functions of the church. In a short time it became the town’s meeting hail. Most of the local civic organizations used the building for entertainments, lectures, and dances. Here was the only gymnasium in Millburn, and many a former basketball player can still show the scars of burns received on the hot radiators which bordered the court. It was in the Parish House that the first motion pictures were shown in Millburn. During Mr. Van Ingen’s rectorate, the Hebrew congregation in Millburn began to use the Parish House regularly for worship services.

The blessings of having a Parish House were not unmixed, however. For years after it was built, the rector of St. Stephen’s was not only the rector of the church and superintendent of its cemetery; he was also the rental agent of the Parish House. Moreover, there were several misunderstandings about the purpose and ownership of the building. Some of the people who, though not members of the parish had encouraged its building, thought that it should be primarily a civic center for downtown Millburn . The Vestry, however, had no illusions about this. The building was to be parochial, and though worthy organizations of the town could rent it, its ownership and control was to be held firmly by the Vestry of St. Stephen’s Church. Perhaps this misunderstanding was caused by Mr. Wasson’s vision of broader use of the new building. Some of the people who had given him money for the Parish House expected that it would be used for their own favorite ideas about how the youth of the town should be educated and given vocational guidance. They had supplied much of the money, now they demanded to share the facilities. The Vestry’s answer was emphatic, and it was early resolved that henceforth the building should be called “St. Stephen’s Parish House” - thus assuring its purpose thereafter.

I have often wondered how much Mr. Wasson had been influenced by the “Social Gospel” idea which was, in his early Ministry, a strong force in the Episcopal Church. Mr. Wasson had continued his brother’s role in the Civic League, and his understanding of the Church in the town’s life was broad and comprehensive. When he encouraged the building of a Parish House he probably hoped that it would be used for many non-ecclesiastical purposes. He may have had in mind the work then undertaken in St. George’s Church, or the Church of the Holy Trinity, in New York City. In these places among others, the parish buildings were used for manual-training classes, language courses, and general self-improvement. There were two factors which would lead Mr. Wasson to consider this program for Millburn . First of all, there was the pressure of members of the Civic League. The League was organized for “the stricter enforcement of laws especially in relation to gambling and liquor, the removal of untoward conditions that tend to produce the village hoodlum or idler, the promotion of civic pride, and the industrial training of children likely to become a burden on the community”. A broad program in a civic center would have helped meet these objectives. Mr. Wasson hoped St. Stephen’s would play a large part in this program.

Then, there was another factor. Anyone could see that Millburn was rapidly changing. The town was no longer a manufacturing center. The mills had closed, or had retarded activity; personal income was lower; property values declined. And there were many Italian immigrants, brought here by the railroad or by promises of landscape work on the estates nearby. The people of Short Hills and Wyoming were concerned that conditions might become intolerable, and they therefore lent their support to any effort which might hold an answer to what they saw as a threatening social problem. It was this which led to enthusiastic aid when St. Stephen’s Church proposed to build a parish house, for there was a tacit understanding that this was to be a center where pressing needs would be met. And, indeed, the Parish House did in time become a major factor in the civic life of Millburn , but not in the manner hoped by Mr. Wasson.

Whether the Vestry could, or could not, rise to meet the main problems of Millburn in 1898 will always remain an open question. But the normal matters of parish life continued. The rector’s wife, for instance, wanted to give a new brass pulpit in memory of her mother, Sarah Walton Hastings. She was given permission to do so “with the understanding that the pulpit shall accord with the architecture and finish of the church”. These words reveal apprehensions, and, in fact, when the new pulpit was installed it met with general dissatisfaction. The original pulpit had been a thing of beauty: a wine-glass type, carved of solid native oak by a local artisan many years before. Though some people felt it was too lofty, it was a familiar and lovely furnishing of the church. When it was replaced by a shining brass thing there was a common hope that, at least, the older pulpit might remain somewhere in the church. Therefore, it was moved to the west of the building, where it leaned against the wall for many years. To continue the story of the pulpit, in 1903 a proposal was put forth that the old pulpit be used again, and the Wasson gift be made into a lectern. The family objected to this, and the matter was forgotten. But not quite forgotten! Though the old pulpit was eventually moved to the Church of St. Mary Magdelene in Newark, many people in St. Stephen’s hoped that it might return to its place. Finally, in 1958, it was restored to St. Stephen’s as a memorial to the twelfth rector, James W. Van Ingen. The Wasson pulpit was, in turn, given to St. Mary’s Church where it continues its memorial duty.

There was one other unfortunate addition in those days when tastes ran toward brass and gilt: a new metal Communion Rail. This was removed several years after its installation, and the present Rail, a duplicate of the original, was given by Mrs. Whittingham in memory of Israel D. Condit.

It may be that the misunderstanding regarding the use of the Parish House caused Mr. Wasson’s resignation. It is certain that he had foreseen a great and useful future for the parish, and a part of that future was already sure. His resignation was met with appeals for him to stay at St. Stephen’s, and to one group he wrote,

Permit me to offer you my heartfelt thanks for the kind (and, I fear, undeserved) tribute you have paid me. I wish it were possible for me to comply with your very flattering request that I remain in Millburn . My personal inclination and the many ties of friendship that I have formed here would induce me to remain, but a sense of larger duty calls upon me to go.

Therefore, after a Ministry singularly blessed, William Wasson left St. Stephen’s in 1899 and the parish set about to search for a rector who would go with them into the twentieth century.

Chapter Three: 1899 - 1922

Bishops of the Diocese

Thomas Alfred Starkey

Rectors of St. Stephen’s Church

As a new century dawned, the town of Millburn presented a picture far different from that we know in mid-century. Millburn Avenue was a broad, unpaved thoroughfare, heavy with dust in the summer and at other times deep in mud. Old Short Hills Road was a country lane which began in Livingston and meandered down the hill into Millburn, became Main Street and twisted a narrow way past St. Stephen’s Church toward Springfield. Opposite the church, on Main Street, there were rows of deteriorating tenements which had been built for factory workers in a former era. The remains of one of Mr. Condit’s mills could still be seen at the site of the present Ridgewood Road bridge. There was no Ridgewood Road in 1900, and the present South Mountain development was part of the Whittingham farm. This farm, extending from Main Street to Vaux Hall Road, was one of rolling fields, with cows and huge walnut trees. A billiard ball factory nestled below the hill. The Whittingham house, “Boxwood, was a large, three story affair with two wings and a cupola; it stood where the Lord and Taylor store is now. Another Whittingham place was the yellow and green house which stood near where Rawley Terrace meets Millburn Avenue. It was built at the same time as St. Stephen’s Rectory, and although a sturdy landmark, it fell in the path of progress in 1957. Another old house, still standing but much altered, was the Campbell place, now the Chanticler Restaurant.

There was, in 1900, only one house on the south side of Rector Street, the Hamilton house (formerly owned by the Allcock family). On the other side of Rector Street there were two or three houses, including the “Mountain House” which had once housed St. Stephen’s School. On the corner of Main and Rector Streets was Mr. Bunnell’s rye field, and on the corner of Main and Church Streets was a once-beautiful Colonial dwelling house, fallen into much disrepair.

The congregation of St. Stephen’s Church came from the four corners of the Township - and beyond. The Benedicts, for instance, drove horse and buggy to church from Union every Sunday. The Atkinsons walked from Hilton. A number of families from Springfield were connected with the parish, and up Old Short Hills Road were people who had been members of St. Stephen’s for many years. Most of the congregation lived within walking distance of the church; it was yet a “neighborhood parish’’.

When William Wasson resigned the rectorate, the Vestry attempted to secure as rector a third Wasson brother, the Reverend Edmund A. Wasson. But he was unable to accept the call, and services at the church were continued by supply priests and lay readers. A call was issued to ZeBarney T. Phillips, then a senior at the General Theological Seminary, but Mr. Phillips’ bishop would not allow him to accept the call. This man, incidentally, later became rector of the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, Chaplain to the United States Senate, and finally Dean of the National Cathedral.

In the Spring of 1899, the Vestry heard of a clergyman then in New York: The Reverend James W. Van Ingen. Mr. Van Ingen was the superintendent of St. Luke’s Hospital, Chicago, and had been a missionary in Montana. He was a graduate of Hobart College and the General Seminary, and was related by marriage to the Whittingham family. The Vestry reported that he “was recommended by Archdeacon Mann and by Dr. William Hughes of Morristown”. Having these recommendations, but not having met Mr. Van Ingen, the Vestrymen entered upon the same improper course of action earlier undertaken (with disastrous results) with Mr. Stanley: they decided to ask Mr. Van Ingen to be Priest-in-charge for one year, at a salary of $1,000.00. The inference was that if they liked him they would later call him to be rector of the church. Mr. Van Ingen rejected this overture in a letter written from New York in July, 1899:

I regret the possible implications of ungraciousness but I should be unwilling to take up the work at St. Stephen’s in any other way than as rector of the Parish. The lack of confidence evidenced in the time limitation would certainly militate against our mutual esteem and stand in the way of vigorous hearty work together for the welfare and growth of the Parish - I therefore decline the proposition with thanks to the Vestry for that measure of confidence reposed in me . . .

Soundly whipped by this letter, and possibly censured by the bishop for their irregular manner of calling a rector, the Vestry rectified the mistake, On July 31st, 1899 Mr. Van Ingen was called to the rectorate of St. Stephen’s Church "without the time clause”.

One of the considerations that led Mr. Van Ingen to accept the call to St. Stephen’s was that the parish was in a flourishing condition, as was evidenced by the new Parish House. One of his first problems as rector of the parish was the use of this building. We have seen that there was a division of opinion as to its proper function, and since the Vestry had decided that the building was primarily for parish work, it was now necessary to form a policy of rental to outside interests. Accordingly, a Vestry committee was fixed to superintend the Parish House, but as time went on the actual responsibilities for the quasi-municipal building fell more and more upon the shoulders of the rector. One of the first public uses of the building was the cooking school established there by Mrs. Stewart Hartshorn in 1900. She provided water service in the Parish House for this purpose; originally, there was only a well and pump for the building. Soon after, a Tennis Club was organized, and permission was granted the club to build courts on the Parish House property. In 1903, the King’s Daughters wanted to further improve the property, but the Vestry demurred stating that it was soon “to be moved on to the corner plot”. It is uncertain what caused this decision; possibly, there was already a feeling that the Parish House should be annexed to the church, as was later done.

There were, at this time, several buildings on the church grounds which have since disappeared. There was, for instance, the Gothic outhouse which, since plumbing came into the Rectory, was no longer needed. And there was a little barn, and the horse sheds. In 1903 the rector took three of the horse sheds and converted them for the use of his own horse and carriage. Carriages and bicycles were the modes of travel for the rectors of St. Stephen’s until Mr. Dickinson’s time.

All of the parish buildings (except the outhouse) were of frame construction, and there were always problems of upkeep, and the fear of fire. In 1905 there was a fire that threatened to destroy the church. Mr. Warner, a Vestryman, was passing the church late one evening when he saw smoke pouring from the windows. He turned in an alarm. The firemen found the cellar ablaze. Hot ashes from the furnace had ignited the floor joists at the west end of the church. The fire was soon under control, but most of the flooring at that end of the church was burned and required replacement. The half-burned joists may be seen in the cellar; they were so thick that, though half-burned, they still do service.

Kerosene lamps were used in both church and rectory, and this meant constant danger of fire. After the nearly-disastrous fire so fortunately discovered by Mr. Warner, gas pipes were installed in the church and rectory, at a cost of $150.00. A year later, Mr. Van Ingen had a telephone put in the rectory.

During Mr. Van Ingen’s rectorate St. Stephen’s began using a vested choir. The choir always had had a small space reserved near the organ, in the northeast corner of the nave. It now moved to the chancel, using as stalls the sidelia which had been there since 1854. Eventually, more stalls were added. This arrangement, never very satisfactory in a church not designed for a chancel choir, continued until Eastertide, 1958.

The yearly financing of the parish had for years been augmented by the labors of various organizations. The King’s Daughters had been active and affluent for years, but in time their prominence was assumed by the “Ladies’ Guild”. In addition, there was the St. Agnes Guild and the “Buds of Promise”, an organization for younger people. There seems to have been no Altar Guild at this time; that work was done by one or two women of the parish.

One of the money-raising projects was printing a cookbook, using the favorite receipts of members of the parish. Such a cook-book was compiled by St. Stephen’s people in 1907. Its contributors included Mrs. Barnes, Miss E. W. Lincoln, Mrs. E. L. Carter, Mrs. Bodwell, Mrs. T. C. Kessler, Mrs. Douglass, Mrs. Warner, Mrs. Couzens, Mrs. W. F. Denman, Harriet Park Condit, Martha J. Condit, Mrs. Elmer Taylor, Mrs. F. Woodruff, Mrs. Tenner, Miss Julia Hayes, Mrs. Schenck, Mrs. F. Stoeckle, C. E. Condit, Mrs. Noble, Mrs. J. M. Drake, Mrs. F. M. Marshall, Mrs. D. E. English, Mrs. Roger Marshall, Mrs. John Hamilton, Miss M. Amelia Park, Miss Jessie Pratt, Mrs. Frank Livingston, Mrs. C. W. Cox, Mrs. James Morrison, Mrs. Walker, Miss Alberta Cox, John W. Condit, M. M. Smith, Emily Wood, Mrs. Win. J. Clark, Mrs. Mark Oliver, Lucia Rand, R. E. Lane , Miss Emma Clark, Mrs. S. W. Campbell, Mrs. Joshua Ayers, Ludlow D. Campbell, William Van Ingen, Schuyler Campbell, T. H. Campbell, Robert Campbell, and the rector. One of the items follows: -

How to Preserve a Husband

Select with care, taking only varieties that have been reared in a pure, moral atmosphere. Do not choose too young or too old, when once selected, never reconsider your decision, but devote your entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use. Great care should be taken that they are never in hot water or kept in a pickle, as this will in time sour even the best. Should the varieties necessarily be poor, they can be kept tender, sweet, and good, by adding a little of the spice of life. To make more attractive, garnish with patience, then wrap in a mantle of charity, and keep near the fire of domestic devotion. Serve with strawberries and cream. When thus prepared, they will be kept for years.

It is interesting that, of the twenty-nine business firms advertised in the 1907 cook-book, only two are now in existence.

In its lifetime (long, by American standards) St. Stephen’s has been largely responsible for the Organization of three other churches. The first of these was the Church of the Holy Communion in South Orange. The second church formed by St. Stephen’s people was Christ Church in Short Hills. A third mission which owed its existence to St. Stephen’s Church was St. Paul’s, Chatham. Mr. Van Ingen would go regularly to that chapel, meeting in what had been a Presbyterian church. He would often take the St. Stephen’s Choir to Chatham in his wagon, build a fire in the woodstove (if the weather was cold), and hold an afternoon service. This mission has since grown into a flourishing parish, but its early growth was mainly due to Mr. Van Ingen’s care.

Throughout Mr. Van Ingen’s ministry in Millburn, the Parish House in Church Street was both a blessing and a bane. It was a blessing because it was the church’s educational and social building. it was a curse because its care was a steady drain upon the resources and patience of the rector and Vestry. There were constant appeals for its use. In 1913, there was a suggestion that motion pictures be shown there. For some reason, this proposal was vigorously denied, but the following year a trial was made of pictures in the Parish House. They were, of course, silent films. Someone would play the piano to accompany the movie, and the experiment was successfully continued for several years.

We of today regard Millburn as a township integrated into the suburban network of municipalities, and forget that until the l920’s it was a semi-rural village. The population of the entire township in 1910 was perhaps 3,000. But there were distinct signs of change. The farms fell into disuse and changed hands as, one by one, the older owners died. Streets were mapped through orchards and hayfields. These changes produced the beginning of a situation we know well: St. Stephen’s is a parish of far-flung geographical boundaries. By the time of the First World War there were many Springfield families connected with St. Stephen’s, and in 1917 the year of “Gasless Sundays”, the Vestry hired a ‘bus to go there and bring children to Sunday School.

In the Fall of 1917, Mr. Van Ingen resigned the rectorship. His had been the longest tenure of any rector of St. Stephens. The people in the parish, and the community at large, did not like to see the genial Van Ingen family leave Millburn . For years the rectory had been an open house especially to the young people who were friends of the five Van Ingen children. Mr. Van Ingen’s ministry in Millburn , and his leadership in civic committees, had made him highly respected. Fortunately, he never moved far from Millburn and was frequently in the chancel of his old church. He died in 1935.

After Mr. Van Ingen left St. Stephen’s, the Reverend F. L. Pennock took services until a new rector could be found. While the Vestry was seeking the next rector, the township authorities, upon examination, made severe restrictions upon the use of the parish house. The building was declared unsafe for public use. Thereupon, the Vestry ordered the building closed and considered deeding it to the town for use as a civic center.

Before a definite decision about the use of the parish house was made, the Vestry called the Reverend Howard W. Gernand to be rector of St. Stephen’s Church. Mr. Gernand was born in Philadelphia in 1884, was educated in Philadelphia, Toronto, Drew Seminary in Madison, and took his B.D. at Temple University. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1910, and to the priesthood the next year. Before coming to St. Stephen’s, he was rector of Christ Church in Newark. At the time that the Vestry were looking for a rector to succeed Mr. Van Ingen, Mr. Gernand had just married and, as Bishop Stearley advised the Vestry, wanted to take his wife “into the country”.

Mr. Gernand entered upon his ministry at St. Stephen’s with vigor. His arrival was coeval with new growth in Millburn Township and he was anxious that St. Stephen’s Church would be part of that growth. It was well known that Mrs. Whittingham would soon sell her farm lands for a large residential development, and this development would bring many newcomers to Miilburn.

The brief rectorate of Mr. Gernand at St. Stephen’s is fully recorded in the Minutes of the Vestry. He had many ideas which aroused - and possibly shocked - the parish. Inasmuch as the Parish House had been declared unsafe, and its future was uncertain, the Sunday School was moved into the church building. The pews at the west end of the nave were removed and stored in one of the barns. That section of the church was curtained off, and classes met there. The parish house was occasionally used by local groups, but it would seem that St. Stephen’s was anxious to dispose of the building. There was some talk of having a new “Guild House” built on the church property.

The parish house negotiations took a new turn in December, 1919, when some people claimed that the place belonged to the town, and not to St. Stephen’s. This was, again, the old trouble brought about by misunderstandings when the parish house was built. The Vestry thought of selling the parish house to the Neighborhood Association, and discussions were carried on for some time until the Association signified disinterest. An unsatisfactory offer was received from the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and rejected. Finally, in September 1921, the parish house was sold to Richard T. Bunnell.

Mr. Gernand was anxious not only to sell the Parish House - but the Church, too. He thought St. Stephen’s should be in a different location, and he hoped that the old church property would be sold and a new, stone church built somewhere else. He had in mind the site now occupied by the Millburn Post Office. He described this project to a number of people, but there was too much affection for the old church and rectory. The people of St. Stephen’s were interested in keeping their church, not in selling it. Therefore, a program of general repair began. Electricity and water were provided for the church, and the new concrete gate posts were given. In 1922, electric wires were put in the rectory.

In August, 1921, Mr. Gernand resigned to become rector of the House of Prayer in Philadelphia. He remained there ten years, and then went to the rectorship of the Church of the Holy Innocents in the same city. He retired from the active ministry in 1953, and when he died in 1958 he bequeathed a sizeable legacy to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church.

During Mr. Gernand’s time at St. Stephen’s the parish organizations flourished. There were girls’ groups, the Boys’ Brigade, and the Ladies’ Guild. There was a printed parish paper, the “Chronicle”, which spread news of St. Stephen’s far and wide. Many of the names appearing in the “Chronicle” were of people new to St. Stephen’s, for this was a time of growth in the residential areas, and growth in St. Stephen’s. But the names of “old timers” may also be seen, for St. Stephen’s Church has always been fortunate in having in its registers people descended from early members of the parish. Even at this writing, there are some people connected with the church whose forebears were among the founding families.

Chapter Four: 1922 – 1961

Bishops of the Diocese

In the interim between rectors, the services at St. Stephen’s were held by the Reverend William Price. An appointed committee of the Vestry meanwhile searched for a new rector.

It so happened that a recently ordained clergyman, the Reverend Hugh Wentworth Dickinson, was at this time vicar of two small missions in Bergen County. Bishop Stearley encouraged the Vestry of St. Stephen’s to consider Mr. Dickinson for the rectorship of St. Stephen’s. On November 29th, 1921 , Mr. Dickinson was called to be rector, and he assumed his work in Millburn on the following Ash Wednesday.

For the next thirty-five years, Mr. Dickinson was to be identified with Millburn. Born in St. Kitts, British West Indies, in 1888, he graduated from high school in New York City. Thereafter he spent some time in England, and at Durham came to reverence two great bishops of that see, Dr. Handley Moule and Dr. Hensley Henson. Perhaps it was the influence of these strong men that led Hugh Dickinson to seek Holy Orders. Having been engaged in the business world for several years, he entered Wycliffe College of the University of Toronto. He graduated in 1918, was made Deacon in that year, and in 1919 was advanced to the priesthood. His first charges were in Wortendyke and Glen Rock, in the Diocese of Newark.

Just before Mr. Dickinson and his family came to St. Stephen’s, the rectory was put into good order. The church, also, was somewhat beautified by the addition of a carpet runner, purchased from Hahne’s at a cost of $47.39. Services in the church had been heretofore held on Sundays at the hours of 8:00, 11:00, and later in the afternoon. This schedule was maintained for some years. Soon after Mr. Dickinson s arrival, the Junior Guild purchased for him a Ford motor car; this was the first car used by any of the rectors. While the Junior Guild took care of transportation, the Vestrymen addressed themselves to another matter: chickens in the cemetery, “doing more or less damage”.

There was also a larger problem to be settled: What about a parish house? The old building and its property had been sold. Clearly, the Sunday School and the parish activities could not continue indefinitely to use the curtained-off west end of the church. After some thought was given to the possibilities of building a new parish house, it seemed feasible to buy the old parish house and move it to the churchyard where it could be annexed to the west end of the church. The decision to do this was taken by the Vestry in September, 1922. The cost of moving was to be $675.00; the building itself cost $1,000.00, exclusive of the land, which now belonged to the Neighborhood Association.

The old parish house was thus again owned by St. Stephen’s Church. It was moved across the street and connected to the church by a low ceilinged shed which henceforth provided room for the choir lockers. When this was done, the old “sexton’s porch” was necessarily removed, and thus passed what might be called a landmark. For the ‘‘sexton’s porch’’ was little more than a closet where the sexton stored his cleaning materials. But it also served another purpose: for years, brides had hidden in this little place at the head of the main aisle until the wedding march began. Then the bride of the day would step out of the closet and begin her way down the aisle.

In May, 1926, Miss Park resigned as organist and directress of the choir. She had held this position for fifty-seven years; I wonder if this record has ever been equaled by any music director in the diocese. Her resignation did not mean that Miss Park would not be seen at St. Stephen’s in the future. She continued as head of the Altar Guild, and in 1932 she had the pleasure of seeing the new Estey pipe organ dedicated in her honor.

As 1928 drew near, the parish found an appropriate way in which to celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary: the repair and complete decoration of the church building. A fund was subscribed to accomplish this work. All the old plaster and lath was removed and a rough plaster applied to the interior walls. This meant that the old-time smooth finish was gone, and it also meant the loss of the molded decorations around the windows and chancel arch. The chancel itself was tiled, and linoleum was laid in the aisles. New pew cushions were made, new doors to the church vestibule, and the first Benedict window of stained glass was given. All was in readiness for the great festival service on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of St. Stephen’s Church building. In addition to the festive service there was a parish meeting. Miss Bailey read a history of the church, and Miss Park gave a painting — possibly it was that fine water-color painting of the church when first built that is so highly prized by us today.

The Great Depression followed the stock market collapse in the Fall of ‘29, and every church that I know was affected. Many personal incomes were reduced, and people had less with which to support a church which they genuinely loved. A metropolitan residential area like Millburn was especially hard-hit by the Depression. But parish life proceeded. A new garage - the new pipe organ for the church - the Boy Scout troop - the new heating system in the rectory – major repairs to the church steeple: all of these were part of the St. Stephen’s picture in the depths of the Depression.

There were two other aspects of parish life in this period which deserve mention. The first is the custom of holding “Homecoming Sundays”. There is no more poignant sign of the change of Millburn from a community with a stable population to one of a very mobile population than the annual “Homecoming Sundays” at St. Stephen’s. At an afternoon service, people who formerly had connections with St. Stephen’s would return and worship again in their old church. This custom failed to survive the gasoline rationing of World War II.

The other great development in the parish took place in 1936: the complete landscaping of St. Stephen’s Cemetery. The cemetery entrance had been a simple gateway flanked by a rail fence. In 1936 Edward S. Pettigrew conceived the idea of a handsome stone gateway and iron fence, paved roads, and dramatic plantings of rhododendron and azalea for the cemetery. This work was carried out, and the cemetery entrance has been ever since one of the splendid places in Millburn . Inasmuch as the story of St. Stephen’s Cemetery should not appropriately intrude upon the story of the parish, we can briefly anticipate the unsaid here. The cemetery had been established in 1858 for two purposes: to provide the people of Millburn with a place of burial, and to provide a small income to St. Stephen’s Church. The cemetery was open to people of all creeds. The upkeep was generally the responsibility of plot holders. The sexton of the church lived in the gate lodge; his cow was allowed to roam at large in the cemetery. The rector of the parish was (and still is) considered the superintendent of the cemetery. The business affairs- of the cemetery were handled by a special committee of the Vestry.

The old manner of conducting matters always comes under eventual survey, and so it was with St. Stephen’s Cemetery. People wanted perpetual care for their plots, especially after the Pettigrew gift. The Vestrymen did not feel that they should be responsible for the endowments of the cemetery. They recognized that its care devolved too much upon the personal decisions of the Rector. Therefore, in 1952, all cemetery endowments were placed in the hands of a bank which holds the trustee account. The large share of plot payments was to go to a perpetual endowment fund, the interest to provide care of the cemetery. Under present arrangement, the church is paid a small amount for its oversight of the grounds; all purchase monies go directly into the trust fund. The endowment of St. Stephen’s Cemetery is now listed in excess of $110,000.00.

There is one other development of the 1930’s which ought to be mentioned: the efforts toward building a new parish house. The matter arose in 1939. Plans were drawn by the local architect, Oscar B. Smith, but in the end nothing came of the project and it died in the days of World War II. Instead of a new building, the old parish house was refurbished and a new heating plant was installed.

The war of l939 –l945 brought many changes. In the first place, many young men went forth from the parish. Two never returned to their homes. Charles Sutton and Edward Phillips. A second change, brought about by fuel rationing, meant that many old-timers living far away could not attend St. Stephen’s. But there was one happy result of gasoline rationing. A group of women in the neighborhood wanted to form together to work for the war effort, and to meet socially. The effect of this was the “Evening Group” which eventually was to form a branch of the Diocesan Woman’s Auxiliary. Meanwhile, the Woman’s Guild, which had been in existence for many years, continued its work for the parish and the diocese. In 1959 these two groups merged, and formed the “Women of St. Stephen’s.”

St. Stephen’s Church celebrated the centennial anniversary of its founding in 1951. The chairman of the celebration was Mr. Marshall Hettrick. The Vestry planned to mark the important event by putting the Parish House in order. Two Vestrymen, Dr. Richard Wearn and Mr. Ralph Williams were a committee to superintend this work. A parish-wide fund of more than $10,000.00 was subscribed. At a great festival service held in the church, Governor Alfred Driscoll addressed a large congregation.

The Church School saw substantial growth in the 1950’s, due largely to Mrs. Thomas Kienzle and Mrs. William Sorensen who led the Church School. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Esler were in charge. The parish used the services of seminarians John Hereford, from Drew, and, successively, Dean Johnson, John Miles, and Clark Baker from the General Seminary in New York. If there is one area of parish life that promised relevant activity for the future, it was the Church School which, in the 1950’s, developed a reputation of conscientious Christian education at St. Stephen’ s.

It was in Lent, 1957 that Mr. Dickinson presented his resignation, to take effect on the 15th of June following. Thus his ministry in Millburn of more than thirty-five years drew to a close. Mr. Dickinson moved to Wayne , Pennsylvania . He died in June, 1960. At that time St. Stephens ‘Newsletter’ spoke of him in this way:

When, in 1921, the Vestrymen of St. Stephens Church began their search for a rector to succeed the Reverend Howard W. Gernand, they did not realize that the clergyman that would call would remain the rector of St. Stephen’s for thirty-five years. The rectorship of Hugh Wentworth Dickinson is the longest in the history of the parish, and one of the longest in the history of the Diocese of Newark.

For thirty-five years, Hugh Dickinson was a part of Millburn. He held many positions of honor, and was a familiar figure in the community. During his rectorate, the town changed from a semi-rural place to a throbbing suburban municipality, part of the larger metropolitan chain. And there were other changes, for Mr. Dickinson’s ministry here was spent in an era which saw the old order disappear. One has only to think of the “Roaring Twenties”, followed by the frustration and questioning which was part of the national depression of the Thirties. Then came war and rumors of more war. Inflation, moving population, changing parochial methods: these, too, were problems which the suburban rector faced. Hugh Dickinson’s rectorate was spent in a time when the foundations of our world were shaken.

When he retired, in 1957, Mr. Dickinson could look back upon all these problems he had faced. And he could look, too, to a parish which had, in a measure, adapted itself to the new ways. Early in his ministry here the Parish House had been moved across Church Street and attached to the church. There was a new organ, a new garage, and (just before his retirement) the north windows which he had himself helped design. The cemetery had been well cared-for, the new entrance built, and the whole put in sound financial order. Most important of all, there were the many people to whom Hugh Dickinson was a beloved person - people whom he had seen through times both happy and sad - people who loved and honored the man. They hoped he could have a pleasant and carefree time in the twilight of his life. Unfortunately, these hopes were not realized. Illness, bravely borne, came upon him. He died three years and seven days after his retirement.

Hugh Dickinson will be remembered here for some time. And then (because human memory is short, so soon pass we all away) his name and the dates of his rectorate will remain on the brass tablet which, in St. Stephen’s, tells the visitor of those who have ministered here. Long after those who knew him have passed away, the stranger will look at that tablet, will see there “Hugh Wentworth Dickinson, 1922-1957”, will think of that epochal time span in human history, and will admire a man who spent that time in caring for the welfare of others. May he rest in peace.

The clergyman chosen to succeed Mr. Dickinson at St. Stephen’s was the author of these pages. Whatever may be said of him should be said in the future. That I was born in Morristown, New Jersey and educated at St. Bernard’s School, Bard College, and the General Theological Seminary may be of some interest. After ordination I served as Rector’s Assistant at St. James Church in Upper Montclair.

There are two phases of work at St. Stephen’s Church which ought to be related here because both have been brought about by the earnest efforts of the people of this church, especially by the leadership of the Wardens and Vestrymen.

Immediately prior to Mr. Dickinson’s retirement, a serious termite condition was discovered in the church. An emergency fund was subscribed, more than enough to underwrite the extensive termite damage. The balance of the money was used to decorate the Rectory and, eventually, to build a new Sacristy in what had been the Vestry Room. The necessary repairs to buildings is the first phase I have to mention: the complete rebuilding of the understructure of the church, the new floor and decoration, the removing of the larger choir to the nave, the restoration of the pulpit, the fine marble Baptistery shelf, the parking lot, new rectory roof and exterior painting. Most of these were costly and yet well worth the expense because, altogether, the church and rectory emerged in a first-rate and handsome condition. Much of our time in the past four years has been spent in planning the ways and means of these repairs and improvements. But by far, the main “improvement” in recent years at St. Stephen’s has been the Church House. It involves a story worth telling. An all-purpose parish building had been needed for many years. In 1939 the plans for extensive alterations to the old Parish House seemed to be too expensive and were, for the moment, forgotten. Then came the War. No construction work was possible. In the post-war years the Church School grew steadily, and once again the need was evident. There was some talk of putting up a temporary building on the church lawn, but everyone knew this would not prove satisfactory. In time, classes were held in the church, the Parish Hall, the Rectory: anywhere we could find space. The arrangements were very unsatisfactory. A little nursery room had been built near the Parish Hall, but the nursery class had outgrown that room. There was no real parish office. No one seriously interested in the welfare of St. Stephen’s needed to be convinced of the need for a new building. And no one thus interested refused when we appealed to them. First of all, there was a congregational meeting in October, 1959. This resulted in an overwhelming resolve to proceed with plans for a parish building.

The Vestry was encouraged by this parish meeting. Frederick Thompson drew up tentative plans and a New Building Committee was formed. The members of this committee were: David H. Brown, Frederick Thompson, Andrew J. Turner, Richard B. Wearn, Sheldon Cady and C. Lawrence Keller. Mr. Keller was chosen chairman. The committee visited those neighboring churches which had recently built parish houses. Our committee asked those churchpeople what mistakes, in retrospect, they felt had been made, and what suggestions they had for improving on current parish house designs. The results of these consultations were incorporated in the plans for St. Stephen’s Church House: wide halls, class-rooms of ample size, a very large reception room, doors spaced in order that sound would be lessened. One other result was found: a professional money-raiser would be well worth the cost. A friend of St. Stephen’s, Aubrey G. Lanston, gave the fee for the campaign and therefore all the campaign contributors knew that their gifts would go directly toward actual building. The campaign for the new building was held in the spring of 1960; $75,000.00 was rapidly subscribed. The donors were not only members of the parish. There were others beyond our membership who believed St. Stephen’s Church has an honorable history, and a promising future. They were glad to help assure its welfare in days to come.

So we built. Ground was broken in September, 1960. The foundation was laid up to the first floor course by the time of the first of many blizzards in that treacherous winter of 1960-61. By early spring, the work began again. The building was ready for occupancy in early summer. The cornerstone was laid with solemnity and gratitude on St. Barnabas’ Day. In the cornerstone were placed a Cross, a Bible, a Prayer Book, and a list of the officers of the parish and the diocese, together with coins of 1961. The Bible, incidentally, was one carried by a Civil War soldier; a bullethole in it tells that it saved his life. The coins were placed in an old change purse belonging to my grandmother.

So we have built. Now we step with certainty into the future. The story of a parish church - past and future – is never told in terms of the buildings it owns, however much those buildings have seen, and reflect, the faith of its people. The real story lies behind all this. It goes deeper than visible failure and visible success. For the true history and the true worth of St. Stephen’s Church is known only to God. He knows these people, those who have gone and those who are with us yet. And, in the words of the Psalm, inscribed in our chancel, “He bringeth them unto the haven where they would be”.

Illustration (iii): The Cemetery Lodge

APPENDIX I

GIFTS AND MEMORIALS

No list of gifts to St. Stephen’s Church can be complete because the records of many gifts have been lost, and other gifts have, by their nature, worn out and been discarded. The following will serve as the most accurate possible account of the gifts and memorials in the parish.

The Buildings

The land on which the church stands was given by Israel D. Condit, and the church was built largely at his expense. It was Mr. Condit who also gave the cemetery property. His generosity should always be honored by us.

The Rectory was built through the efforts of the entire congregation; Mr. Edward S. Renwick was responsible for liquidating the mortgage. He furnished the Rectory when it was built.

The first Parish House, built in Church Street and later annexed to the church, was financed by the subscription of many friends of the parish, and by the efforts of the King’s Daughters.

The Church House, built in 1960-1961 was the result of a large canvass of parishioners and friends of St. Stephen’s. There are memorial rooms in the Church House:

The entrance hall, in memory of the Reverend Harry Bruce.

A classroom in memory of Dorothy S. Ackerman.

A classroom in memory of Russell B. Kingman.

A room in memory of Aubrey Gilpin Lanston.

The Sacristy and Sanctuary

The Altar Cross was given in memory of Charlotte Elizabeth Jones Young, 1889.

Another brass Cross was given in memory of Lieut. Charles Edward Sutton.

Another pair of silver candlesticks was the gift of Mary Howard Keasbey.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Lillian Lane.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Lt. Charles Edward Sutton.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Herbert Hope Macomber.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Stella Evangeline Baker.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Milton R. Silance.

Pair of brass vases, in memory of Alta Hamilton Robinson.

Brass Missal stand, in memory of Horace Park.

Needlepoint Missal stand, made and given by Edna A. King.

Seven-branch candlesticks, given by the Church School .

The Communion Missal, given by perpetual endowment, in memory of Eugenie Mathews Cassedy.

Pavement Lights, in memory of Emma Anna Mathews.

The Bishop’s Chair was purchased by the parish in 1861.

The Altar Rail was given in memory of Israel Dodd Condit.

The silver Communion service was given in honor of the occasion of the Institution of the Rev. George C. Pennell, second rector.

The large silver ciboriurm, used on festival occasions, was given in 1861 by the parishioners to mark their appreciation of Israel D. Condit, who had just borne the expense of completing the church building.

A silver Alms Bason was also given in honor of Israel D. Condit.

The ciborium in general use was given in memory of Mary A. Hamilton.

Two silver cruets, given in memory of Lieut. Edward Elliot Phillips.

A lavabo bowl was given in memory of M. Amelia Park.

A private Communion set was given in 1960 by the family of the Rev. Thomas W. Attridge.

A Communion set for the reserved Sacrament was given in 1961 in memory of the Rev. Harry Bruce who for five years assisted at the services of the church.

A new altar cross was given in memory of Hazel Brown.

Eucharistic candlesticks were given in memory of Adrian F. Dedecker.

Vestments

The red and white Eucharistic sets were given in memory of the Reverend Harry Bruce.

The violet Eucharistic vestments were made by Margaret A. Dormand; the violet frontal was also made by Mrs. Dormand and was given in memory of Laura W. Kendall by members of her family.

The green Eucharistic vestments were given in memory of the parents of Mrs. Richard Ernst, and were made by Margaret A. Dormand.

The green frontal was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Cassedy, Jr.

The white frontal was the gift of the Evening Group.

The red frontal was purchased by the parishioners, and was made in England .

Many of the fair linen cloths, purificators, corporals and Communion veils were made by Eugenie M. Cassedy or Margaret A. Dormand.

The Nave

The pulpit was restored in 1958 by John McCollum, and is a memorial to the Rev. James W. Van Ingen, twelfth Rector.

The Lectern was given in memory of Kennard Le Roy Denman and Edward Percival Denman, 1904.

The Lectern steps were made and given by Albert Shoemaker, 1960.

The Litany Desk was given in memory of Thomas B. Hand and Mary Brough Hand.

The Baptistery Shelf was given in memory of George Bell Goff, 1959.

A hymnboard was given in memory of Isabella Nichols Wright and Robert Francis Wright. Another hymnboard was given by the Church School .

The Windows

The original glass in St. Stephen’s Church was probably specified by the architect as being most suitable for the type of building he envisioned. Subsequent gifts of memorial stained or painted glass windows have been made:

The Baptistery window was given in memory of Sarah Benden Dow.

The Nativity window was given in memory of Phebe Elizabeth Benedict.

The Visit of the Kings window was given in memory of Martha Cooper Benedict.

The St. Luke windows were provided by a bequest in memory of Watson Budlong Morris, M. D.

The Baptism of Christ window was given in memory of Matilda B. Baker, Harold H. Baker, Joseph I. Baker, Ralph H. Baker, and Stella E. Baker.

The Entry into Jerusalem window was given in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the institution of Hugh W. Dickinson, Rector, the gift of Claudius L. Baker.

The window of Christ and the children was given in memory of Joseph I. Baker, Jessica Baker, and Benjamin Baker.

The Ascension window was given in memory of Frank Marshall Schmidt and Ada Marshall Schmidt.

Variorum

The original lectern Bible belonging to the parish, and marked “St. Stephen’s Church, Millville, N.J.”, was given by Mrs. George W. Campbell, Mrs. Hugh Allcock, Mrs. Isaac M. Hand, and the Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman.

The lectern Bible presently in use was given in memory of Israel D. Condit.

The organ was installed by the parish in honor of Miss M. Amelia Park, for many years organist and directress of the choir. The chimes in the organ were given in memory of Matilda Hayward Baker.

The Cross atop the steeple of the church was given in memory of William John Hamilton, the first child baptized in the church.

An American flag, set in the west wall of the church, was the gift of the Pittenger family in memory of Mary Louise Pittenger.

A brass tablet, marking the rectors of St. Stephen’s and set in the west wall of the church, was given in memory of Charles William Cox, Warden, 1905-1910.

A Processional Cross was given in 1923 in memory of Mr. and Mrs. John Gentzel.

A Processional Cross was given in 1957 in honor of William B. Brown.

Two torches were made and given by William F. Cassedy, Jr. in 1960.

The Baptistery ewer was given in memory of Frank and Augusta Woodruff.

The vestibule doors were the gift of the Baker family.

APPENDIX II

Wardens of St. Stephen’s Church

Wardens