1891

bronze statue of Brooks outside Trinity Church

Augustus St. Gaudens’ bronze of Jesus blessing Phillips Brooks was installed on Boylston St. in 1910.

14 Oct.  Our second rector, the Rev. Dr. Alexander Hamilton Vinton, preached at the installation of the Rev. Dr. Phillips Brooks at Trinity Church, which had been recently constructed under his direction in nearby Copley Square.  Vinton was a mentor of Brooks, whose prayer our rector, the Rev. Pamela Werntz,  prays (in modified form) at the start of her sermons:  O God, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Later in the year Brooks was elected Bishop of Massachusetts.

1890

February 8.  Chapel of the Ascension was consecrated by Bishop Benjamin H. Paddock, D.D..  Our founding rector then Bishop of Central New York,  F. Dan Huntington, D.D. preached to a packed congregation at 1906 Washington Street.  Our mission church was supported by many gifts of Emmanuel’s parishioners including a Tiffany window (Mrs. Heath), Communion table (in memory of Jonathan French), pulpit (Mrs. Luther Farnham), oak eagle lectern (Misses Waters), and organ (Edith Rotch).

1888

  • 17 November.  Walter Cabot Baylies, Harvard Class of 1884, who became senior warden in 1907, married Charlotte (Lottie) Upham of 122 Beacon St., daughter of Emmanuel founder George Phineas and Sarah Sprague Upham. The Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks presided at what the Boston Globe called a “brilliant Saturday wedding”, which filled the church with a “large and distinctly fashionable audience.”

1884

Edward Sprague Rand (1809-84, senior warden 1860-64)

Jan 18SS City of Columbus was wrecked on Devil’s Bridge off Martha’s Vineyard. A group of Wampanoags heroically managed to rescue several men. All women and children had perished when an icy wave swept them overboard.

Among the 65 passengers drowned were parishioner Oscar Iasigi, who was the Turkish consul for New England. and our founding senior warden Edward Sprague Rand, who was on his way to Florida with his wife, daughter-in-law, grandson, and son, The Rev. C. A. Rand, rector of Trinity Church, Haverhill. All were lost. 

 

1882

Our first organist and music director, Silas Atkins Bancroft (1823-1886), retired after two decades of faithful service.  He is buried in Lot 2607 on the Mistletoe Path of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

B.S. Rotch (1817-1882) at time of our foundation. Photo courtesy of Boston Athenaeum.

Senior Warden Benjamin Smith Rotch died in office. A founding vestry member and warden since 1880, he was later memorialized with his wife Anne Bigelow Lawrence (1820-93) in our sanctuary’s reredos. They are buried in  Lot 3004 on Bellwort Path in Mt. Auburn Cemetery.  His epitaph from Revelation 2:10 reads:  Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

1877

Richard S. Fay (1806-65), drawn in 1847 by Duane H. Hurd (History of Essex County MA, 1888).

Richard S. Fay , member of our founding vestry, helped found and manage the Cooperative Society of Volunteer Visitors to the Poor in response to high unemployment coupled with the devastating fire that had left many poor people homeless in Boston.  Having undergone name changes since then, the Society abides with us as Community Work Services, which provides job training to those with disabilities or living in poverty.  Under the direction of Rob Yeomans, trainees clean and maintain our facilities, which are enjoyed by the many groups of our community.

 

 

1876

Rand's orchid

Paphinia cristata var. Randi named for ES Rand, Jr. Painting by M. A Goossens, lithographed by P. De Pannemaeker. Lindenia – Iconographie des Orchidées (Ghent, 1887)

Edward Sprague Rand, Jr. published in New York Orchids: Description of the species and varieties grown at Glen Ridge.   Lucien Linden and Emile Rodigas in their collection of plates of orchids Lindenia:  Iconography of Orchids,  ed. Jules Linden (Ghent, 1885-1906) named a variety of Paphinia cristata for him (randi).

See also 1873.