An Historical Sketch of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in the State of North Carolina 
 
 SON.D.LEY LIBARARY 
 ASHEVILLE, N. C. 
 
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL 
 CHURCH IN THE STATE OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 By 
 
 Laura Lindsay Carter 
 
 Asheville, North Carolina 
 August 15, 1906 
 
THE INLAND PRESS, ASHEVILLE, 
 
IN this present year of our Lord 1906, the Rt. 
 Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, Bishop of North 
 Carolina, the Rt. Rev» Robert Strange, Bishop 
 of East Carolina, and the Rt. Rev. Junius M. 
 Horner, Bishop of Asheville, issued an address to the 
 Clergy and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in the State of North Carolina, commemorative of the 
 two hundreth anniversary of the first recorded admin- 
 istration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which 
 was celebrated in the then colony, now State of North 
 Carolina. This by their desire was read aloud in the 
 churches throughout the State on Trinity Sunday, 
 June 23d. We find the evidence in Hawk's History 
 of North Carolina, and in the Colonial Records. 
 Gov. Clover in a letter to Henry Compton, Bishop of 
 London, says: "The Revernd Richard Marsden, 
 waiting here for passage to South Carolina, thought 
 it convenient to administer the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, which is the first time I can learn of 
 its being administered in this poor county : this was 
 done on Trinity Sunday, 1706." 
 
 The church history of our beloved State dates, 
 however, much further back, and it is with deep 
 pleasure and pride that we recall the fact that on the 
 shores of North Carolina was celebrated the first ser- 
 
 3 
 
vice of the Anglican Church held in what now consti- 
 tutes the territory of the United States. 
 
 The first colony of Sir Walter Raleigh landed on 
 Roanoak Island in 15S4. Three years later, August 
 thirteenth, Manteo, the Indian chief of a neighboring 
 tribe, the first convert, was baptized, followed a few 
 days later by the baptism of Virginia Dare, the first 
 white child born in America of English parents. 
 
 Although the fate of this unfortunate colony is 
 shrouded in mystery the seed there planted and appar- 
 ently lost, later on took root and has greatly grown 
 until the present, when within the borders of our 
 State we have the Diocese of North Carolina, the 
 Diocese of East Carolina, and the Missionary District 
 of Asheville, a large number of communicants, much 
 church property, a growing church with an ever 
 spreading influence. 
 
 In 1 701 the Assembly passed an Act for the 
 maintenance and support of the church, but it came 
 to nothing. The first church building of which we 
 have record was commenced in 1702 and stood near 
 the present town of Edenton. It was small and prim- 
 ative and has long since disappeared. In the same 
 year Dr. Bray, a comissioner of the Bishop of London, 
 sent the first minister into the colony. Dr. Bret 
 brought with him a collection of books, which pre- 
 sented to the town of Bath, constituted the first public 
 library in the State. He himself remained only a few 
 
 4 
 
months. What subsequently became of his books is 
 not known. 
 
 In 1704 the ''Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts," sent a missionary, the 
 Rev. Mr. Blain, and others from time to time, until 
 in 1770 there were eighteen clergy in the colony. 
 
 With the possible exception of the church in 
 Bath, the oldest church building now standing is St. 
 Paul's in Edenton, which was begun in May, 1736. 
 In this day of modern facilities and conveniencies w r e 
 can hardly appreciate the difficulties and cost of con- 
 structing so substantial a building in that far off 
 time. 
 
 The clergy of the English church had no certain 
 establishment until 1765. Each incumbent was then 
 annually allowed six hundred and fifty dollars by the 
 province, and another hundred from the bounty of 
 the London Society for the Propation of the Gospel. 
 They were in addition furnished a residence and two 
 hundred acres of glebe lands. Also by law they were 
 allowed fees for celebrating marriages and preaching 
 funeral sermons. They were all appointed by the 
 governors for the different parishes and were fre- 
 quently in trouble with the Baptists and Quakers who 
 resented being taxed to support an established church 
 with which they were not in sympathy. There were 
 eight regular clergy and two missionaries in the pro- 
 vince at that time. 
 
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The war of the Revolution was disastrous in the 
 extreme to the church. The clergy were in most 
 instances loyal to the crown and so lost influence with 
 their people. Churches and chapels were deserted 
 and much property fell into the hands of others, a 
 part of which has never been restored. 
 
 From this time until 1790 the church was almost 
 extinct. In^hat ,year at the suggestion of Bishop 
 White of -TlT^rma efforts were made to revive it. 
 Meetings of clergy and laity were held in Tarboro in 
 June and November, 1790, in November, 1793, and 
 in May i794« At this last meeting six clergymen 
 (including one in Lutheran order) and a small num- 
 ber of prominent laymen were present. A constitu- 
 tion was adopted, Deputies to the General Conven- 
 tion and a Standing Committee were appointed, and 
 the Rev. Charles Pettigrew was chosen Bishop. Mr. 
 Pettigrew set out to attend the General Convetion of 
 1795, but was prevented by a terrible epidemic of yel- 
 low fever from accomplishing his journey, and seems 
 never to have felt able to undertake the work after- 
 wards. Thus this effort to organize the church 
 failed. 
 
 '•In November, 1816, the Rev. Bethel Judd, of 
 Connecticut and the Rev. Adam Empie of New York 
 . . met in Wilmington. Finding a church and a con- 
 gregation they began to officiate regularly. In January 
 the Rev. John Curtis Clay became rector of the 
 
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church in Newberne. On Easter Sunday, 1817, Mr. 
 Judd re-organized a church in Fayette ville. These 
 three clergymen, with delegates from their several 
 parishes, and with one laymen from the church in 
 K lenton, met in Newberne April 2nd, 18 19, and 
 organized the Diocese of North Carolina, requesting 
 Bishop Moore of Virginia to take Episcopal oversight 
 thereof. He consented to do so and in 1819, 1820, 
 1821 and 1822, made brief \ isits to the chief places 
 in the Diocese, and presided in the Annual Conven- 
 tion. In 1823 the clergy numbered seven and the 
 communicants four hundred and eighty. The Con- 
 vention resolved to elect a Bishop." 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Green, the youngest of the North 
 Carolina clergy^ afterwards himself Bishop of Mis- 
 sissippi, placed in nomination the Rev. John Stark 
 Ravenscrof, of Virginia. Mr. Ravenscroft up to the 
 age of forty-five was a planter in his native State, 
 had been ordained Deacon by Bishop Moore. He 
 was personally known only to his sponsor, who, 
 greatly impressed with his zeal and earnestness, spoke 
 so eloquently in his behalf, that he was unanimously 
 elected on the first ballot, April 12th, 1823, and on 
 the 22nd day of May was consecrated the first Bishop 
 of North Carolina. In his own words "he could only 
 assert the true position of the Church and strike dis- 
 may to the hearts of her adversaries." He died in 
 the seventh year of his service, March 5th, 1830, hav- 
 
 7 # 
 
ing doubled the number of clergy and of communi- 
 cants in his Diocese. His entire ministry from his 
 ordination as deacon until his death covered a period 
 of only twelve years. He died leaving a memory 
 "which time has not effaced." 
 
 On May 3ist, 1831, the Rev. Levi Silliman Ives, 
 of New York, was chosen Bishop and consecrated the 
 22nd of the following September. He found in the 
 Diocese fifteen clergy and eight hundred and nine 
 communicants. During the early years of his minis- 
 tration his zeal was great, most especially in the field 
 of missions. His attempt to establish an Episcopal 
 school for boys in Raleigh did not succeed, but out of 
 the ashes of this effort sprang St. Mary's school for 
 girls. Bishop Ives meeting accidentally, on the 
 streets of New York, the Rev. Albert Smeedes, spoke 
 to him of his desire to establish a church school for 
 girls and suggested that Dr. Smeedes should come 
 South and undertake the work. The buildings were 
 ready, but no further assurance of support. Dr. 
 Smeedes feeling the need of a milder climate had 
 resigned from his former parish of Schnectady. He 
 decided at once to follow out the suggestion of Bishop 
 Ives and came to Raleigh almost immediately. Un- 
 der his fostering care and able guidance St. Mary's 
 grew rapidly. Her daughters have been untiring in 
 their interest and energy and have been active church 
 women in almost every state in the Union. Dr. 
 
 8 
 
Smeedes, after carrying his school successfully through 
 the dreadful days of the civil war, died in 1877, and 
 was succeeded by his son, Rev. Bennett Smeedes, as 
 Rector of St. Mary's. During the winter of 1889 and 
 1S90, Bishop Garrett, of Texas, wrote to the Rev. Ben- 
 nett Smeedes for information regarding his father's 
 methods, find all over my diocese the beginnings 
 of Sunday Schools and churches, the work of St. 
 Mary's women, and am determined to establish a 
 church school as the best means of building up my 
 diocese. "Bishop Garrett's church school in Texas is 
 therefore the direct result of Dr. Smeedes' work at 
 St. Mary's. Bishop Ives also establised a Mission 
 School at Valla Crucis. It was very largely on ac- 
 count of teachings and practices said to prevail there 
 that suspicions of his faithfulness to the church arose 
 all over the diocese. "After several years of doubt 
 and distress to the diocese and painful vacillation on 
 the part of the Bishop, he obtained leave of absence 
 and six months salary in advance in September, 1852, 
 for the ostensible purpose of traveling for his and his 
 wife's health. He went abroad soon after and on the 
 twenty-second of the following December addressed 
 a letter from Rome to the Convention of the Diocese 
 announcing his abandonment of the church and his 
 intended submission to the Pope of Rome." 
 
 Bishop Ives was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas 
 Atkinson, Rector of Grace Church, Baltimore, chosen 
 
 9 
 
May 28th, 1853, consecrated on the iSth of Octo- 
 ber of the same year. Almost immediately he won 
 the love and confidence of his people and so prevented 
 any unfortunate consequences which might have fol- 
 lowed the defection of Bishop Ives. 
 
 The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, made re- 
 organization of the Churches in the Confederate 
 States necessary. Bishop Atkinson and his clergy 
 were very active in their efforts on behalf of the army 
 and those left at home. Many of the clergy became 
 chaplains of regiments. The Bishops and others who 
 remained at home giving a part of their time to min- 
 istrations to the soldiers in camp and hospitals. 
 Bishop Atkinson's true greatness of soul was shown 
 in the disastrous years which followed the overthrow 
 of the Confederacy. He, with his full delegation of 
 clergy and laity and his nephew, Bishop Lay, of 
 Easton then missionary bishop of Arkansas, attended 
 the General Council in 1865, on which occasion North 
 Carolina was the only Southern State represented. 
 He met the delicate issues there presented, with such 
 true wisdom, gentleness and firmness that the imme- 
 diate reunion of the Southern and Northern dioceses 
 was effected. The presence of Bishop Atkinson and 
 his delegation made the terms of reunion not only so 
 fair, but also so courteous, that the Southern Dioceses 
 could not but return. 
 
 10 
 
The position of the colored clergy and laity in 
 North Carolina is also directly due to Bishop Atkin- 
 son. Since 1865 there has been no distinction made 
 in the church between the white and colored minis- 
 ters. In 1867 St. Augustine's Normal and Collegiate 
 Institute, for the education of the colored race, was 
 begun in Raleigh, largely through the efforts of the 
 Rev. J. Brinton Smith, its founder. A Theological 
 Department has since been added. 
 
 Bishop Atkinson founded in Asheville the Rav- 
 enscroft Mission and Training School for the purpose 
 of spreading the church among the mountaineers and 
 the training of candidates for orders. Though the 
 school has not been continued, a number of clergy now 
 in orders, begun their training there and the property 
 then acquired through the generosity of a few citizens 
 of Asheville, is still owned by the church and used for 
 Church purposes. The possession of this property 
 was a contributory cause of the erection of the Mis- 
 sionary District of Asheville. 
 
 Soon after the war, Bishop Atkinson finding his 
 field too extensive for the labors of one man, sug- 
 gested the division of the Diocese or that he be given 
 an assistant. The Rev. Theodore Benedict Lyman, 
 of San Fransisco, Cal., was elected Bishop Coadjutor 
 and was consecrated Dec. nth, 1883. 
 
 Bishop Atkinson passed to his eternal rest Jan. 
 4th, 1881, greatly beloved and deeply mourned by 
 
 11 
 
the people whose wise councellor. sure guide and de- 
 voted friend he had been in their days of darkness, 
 trouble and adversity. So profound was the impres- 
 sion made on all classes, sects and creeds of the State 
 that at the time of his death and for many years pre- 
 vious thereto, he was recognized as one of, and the 
 equal to that triumvirate of great men, who so nobly 
 and successfully guided North Carolina through the 
 most trying epoch of her history — Atkinson, Graham 
 and Vance. 
 
 Upon the death of Bishop Atkinson, Bishop Ly- 
 man succeeded him as full Bishop of the Diocese. 
 Born at Brigton, near B oston, Mass., a graduate of 
 the Theological Seminary in New York, in 1840, his 
 first charge was at Hagerstown, Ind. In 1865 he 
 was appointed chaplain of the American Legation in 
 Rome. With the assistance of the Minister, Mr. 
 Marsh, he held the first services of the Angelican 
 Church which were allowed within the wall of the Pa- 
 pal City. Beginning in a hall of the legation, the con- 
 gregation grew with such rapity that it was twice ne- 
 cessaryto seek larger quarters. This attracted the atten- 
 tention of the Roman church. Cardinal Antenelli was 
 sent to Mr. Lyman to say that his services must be dis- 
 continued. Mr. Lyman succeeded inobtaining an inter- 
 view with the Pope and was granted permission to 
 carry on his work. Thus organizing what is now St. 
 Paul's Church, Rome. "He declined the deanery of 
 
 12 
 
General Theological Seminary, New York City, to 
 which office he was elected during his residence in 
 Europe. He was called to Trinity Parish, San Fran- 
 cisco, Cal., where he remained until appointed Bishop 
 Coadjutor of North Carolina. 
 
 The movement for division, begun in 1S67 by 
 Bishop Atkinson, was never allowed to altogether 
 drop. In the Convention of 1883 it was carried 
 by a large majority. The General Convention 
 erected the new Diocese of Eastern Carolina, com- 
 prising the counties of Hertford, Bertie, Martin, Pitt, 
 Greene, Wayne, Sampson, Cumberland, and Robert- 
 son, with all that portion of the State lying between 
 the said counties and the Atlantic ocean. The Rev. 
 A. A. Watson, D. I)., rector of St. James' Parish, 
 Wilmington, was elected the first Bishop, and was con- 
 secrated April 17th, 1884. "Bishop Watson was born 
 in the City of New York, Aug. 21st, 1818, Graduated 
 at the University of New York in 1837. Studied law 
 and was admitted to the bar in 1841 . After a year's suc- 
 cessful effort he turned his attention to the sacred Min- 
 istry, and was admitted to the deaconate in St. Ann's 
 Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 3rd, 1S44, by Bishop 
 Onderdonk. Ordained to the priesthood by Bishop 
 Ives, in St. John's, Fayetteville, N. C. The first four- 
 teen years of his ministry were spent at Grace Chrch, 
 Plymouth, and St. Luke's, Washington, N. C. In 
 1883 he became rector of Christ Church, Newbern. 
 
 13 
 
At the breaking out of the Civil War he became chap- 
 lain to the 2nd Regiment of State troops. At the 
 close of the war he was appointed assistant to Bishop 
 Atkinson, then the rector of St. James' Church, Wil- 
 mington. In 1864 he succeeded to the rectorship and 
 continued in this post until elected to the episcopate. 
 He recived the doctorate in divinity from the Univer- 
 sity of North Carolina in 1868. He was a member of 
 the standing committee of the diocese and a deputy to 
 the General Convention for many years. He was con- 
 secrated in his parish church at Wilmington, April 17, 
 1S84. Bishop Watson was a well read theologian, a 
 scholar of rare ability, probably the most accomplished 
 and capable canonist in the Church, and a man of the 
 highest culture. • He was at once revered and beloved, 
 and his administration was attended with a marked 
 development of the spiritualities and temporalities of 
 the Church under his care." 
 
 The new diocese took from North Carolina 21 
 clergy and 2809 communicants. Leaving to North 
 Carolina 55 clergy, inclding the Bishop, and 3080 
 communicants. 
 
 In 1886 Bishop Lyman was appointed to the care 
 and jurisdiction of the American Episcopal Churches 
 in Europe. In the same year the Reverend E. A. 
 Osborne obtained permission of the Bishop to under- 
 take the establishment of an orphanage in the Dio- 
 cese. Some years before the Reverend Benjamin S. 
 
 14 
 
Bronson, for many years rector of St. Perters, Char- 
 lotte, had purchased a farm of about eighty acres in 
 the neighborhood of that city, hoping to establish a 
 boys' school. The greater part of the money used for 
 the purchase was given by the widow and family of 
 the late Lewis Thompson of Bertie county. The 
 school was given up after a few years. Mr. Bronson, 
 who had charge of the property, agreed to transfer it 
 to the church for an orphanage, to be called the 
 Thompson Orphanage, provided Mr. Osborne would 
 take charge as superintendent, The formal opening 
 took place May ioth, 1887, with ten little children. 
 The work is supported by Guilds in the several con- 
 gregations, by individual offerings, and by collections 
 in the churches throughout the State on Thanksgiving 
 Day. It has grown rapidly, the buildings have 
 been enlarged, and their number increased until now 
 about seventy children are provided for. The dining 
 hall and dormitories, costing something over twenty- 
 five hundred dollars, were built as a memorial to 
 Bishop Atknison. The funds for this addition were 
 procured through the effort of Miss Rebecca Cameron 
 of Hillsboro, and the children of the State as "Mes- 
 sengers of Hope." Two other memorials have been 
 added, Bronson Hall, built with current funds and a 
 few generous individual donations, and the beautiful 
 chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, the generous gift of 
 Judge W. P. Bynum, a memorial to his wife and 
 
 15 
 
daughter. In May. 1898, Mr. Osborne resigned the 
 Superintendency of the Orphanage and was succeeded 
 by Reverend Walter J. Smith, who is still in charge. 
 
 "The institution is doing a great work. It has 
 trained quite a number of highly respectable men and 
 women, whose happy and useful lives bear witness to 
 the value of the work and to their appreciation of what 
 has been done for them." 
 
 In the spring of 1892, St. Mary's School celebrated 
 her semi-centennial. The alumni gathered from far 
 and wide. Bishop Lyman, assisted by Dr. Smeedes, 
 Dr. Marshall, rector of Christ Church, and other 
 clergy, officiated at the solemn services held in Christ 
 Church, Raleigh, as the beautiful chapel belonging to 
 the school was too small to seat the many interested 
 participants. 
 
 Bishop Lyman died Dec. nth, 1893, at the age 
 of seventy-eight years. The Diocese had grown 
 greatly under his administration. He consecrated 
 about forty churches. The Convention met in Ral- 
 eigh June 27th, 1893. The Rev. Joseph Blount 
 Cheshire, Jr., rector of St. Peter's, Charlotte, was 
 elected to succeed Bishop Lyman and was consecrated 
 Oct. 15th, 1893. 
 
 Bishop Cheshire is a North Carolinian by birth 
 and descent, tracing his ancestors in the State to the 
 earliest colonial days. He is deeply learned in the the- 
 ological and secular history of the State, and is the 
 
 16 
 
author of a number of extremely interesting and val- 
 uable historical sketches. During the term of his 
 Bishopric, St. Mary's has become the property of the 
 Church. Dr. Smeedes, deciding that he could no longer 
 carry the diocese's financial burden of the school, the 
 three dioceses of North Carolina, and the church in 
 South Carolina, determined to buy the property and 
 continue the work. By act of the Legislature, March 
 2nd, 1897, the school was incorporated. It was re- 
 ported at the last Convention that through means of 
 persistance and untiring effort, the final payment had 
 been made. The property is now owned exclusively 
 by the Church. Dr. Smeedes died Feb. 22nd, 1899^ 
 and was succeeded by Dr. Bratton of Spartanburg, 
 S. C, now Bishop of the Diocese of Mississippi. He 
 in turn was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. McNeely Du- 
 Bose, rector of Trinity Parish, Asheville. Rev. Mr. 
 DuBose still has this work in charge, and under his 
 efficient administration the school has greatly grown 
 in numbers and equipment. 
 
 In October, 1895, the General Convention erected 
 the Missionary Jurisdiction of Asheville, dividing 
 the State of North Carolina for the second time. The 
 first Convention was held in Trinity Parish, Ashe- 
 ville, Nov. 12th and 13th, 1895. The Jurisdiction 
 which by act of the General Convention, shortly after 
 changed its name, and is now calledthe Missionary Dis- 
 trict of Asheville. It consists of the counties of Alle- 
 
 17 
 
ghany, Wilkes, Alexander, Catawba, Lincoln, Gaston 
 and all that portion of the State lying west of these 
 and at the time of division contained twenty-two 
 clergy, about fifteen hundred communicants and fifty- 
 four congregations. Bishop Cheshire was requested 
 to continue his episcopal oversight thereof with the 
 title of "Bishop of North Carolina in charge of Ashe* 
 ville." Three years later the Rev. Junius Moore 
 Horner, associate Principal of Horner's School, Ox- 
 ford, North Carolina, a graduate of Johns Hopkins 
 University, and of the General Theological Seminary, 
 in New York, was chosen Bishop of the District and 
 was Consecrated on Holy Innocents Day, Dec. 28th, 
 1898, in Trinity Church, Asheville. 
 
 In 1904, on account of the increasing feebleness 
 of Bishop Watson, it was consider advisable by the 
 Convention of East Carolina to appoint an assistant. 
 The choice fell upon the Rev. Robert Strange, at that 
 time Rector of St. Paul's Church, Richmond. He 
 was consecrated on All Saints' Day, Nov. 1st, 1904. 
 Bishop Watson died April 21st, 1905, at the age 86 
 years, and was succeeded by Bishop Strange, as Bishop 
 of the Diocese of East Carolina. 
 
 A graduate of the Theological Seminary, his first 
 charge was the Church of the Good Shepard, Raleigh, 
 He was called to St. James', Wilmington, and from 
 there to St. Paul's Church, Richmond. Born in Wil- 
 mington, the important events of his life have been 
 
 18 
 
connected with St. James Church. He was baptized, 
 confirmed, ordained and consecrated there, which, as 
 Wilmington is the Episcopal City of the Diocese, 
 gives him a peculiar nearness to his people. 
 
 At the last meeting of the Convention of North 
 Carolina tho Diocese was reported to contain 54 
 elergy, 5462 communicants and 101 congregations. 
 
 The Diocese of East Carolina, as last reported 
 had 28 clergy, 4228 communicants and 73 congrega- 
 tions. 
 
 The Missionary District of Asheville reports 30 
 clergy, 2438 communicants and 76 congregations. 
 
 19