Published: June 19, 2009 06:09 pm      

Church building dates back 140 years

Dr. Graham Fitch was probably the very first person of the Episcopal faith to arrive in Logansport. He arrived in 1834 and built his beautiful home on the southeast corner of Market and Seventh streets. Several other persons of the Episcopal faith began arriving in the next few years.

There is no record of the Episcopal Church until Aug. 2, 1840, when a baptism took place at the home of John S. Patterson, where several children received the rite of baptism. The Pattersons sold land at the northwest corner of Market and Seventh streets for a church in 1842. The small congregation built a small frame church on the corner the next year. It was in that year that the Missionary Bishop of the Northwest area visited Logansport and held the first confirmation class. Mrs. Fitch was in that class.

By 1868, the foundation of the original church began to shift and the church was in sad repair. In 1870 plans were made to erect the present beautiful stone church to replace the old frame building. The stone was brought on the Wabash and Erie Canal by boat from Fitch’s Glen. The boats landed at the pier just south of the building site and were hauled up to Market Street by teams of oxen. The stone was then raised into place by human strength. Thomas Bradfield contributed the timbers for the basic structure of the church. The basic cost of building the church structure was paid within a year just as the construction was completed.

On May 24, 1869, the old building was torn down. While the new building was being constructed, the congregation met in the Fitch home across the street. (Now the Kroeger Funeral Home.) Twelve hundred dollars was borrowed from Dr. McCrea to add some of the extras such as the stained glass window.

Some of the most active members of the Episcopal congregation of the early church were Dr. and Mrs. Fitch, Dr. and Mrs. Coleman, Dr. William H. Bell, Dr. Nelson, Samuel L. Tanguy, Joseph Culbertson and William Manley.

During the early years of Trinity Episcopal Church, the congregation was small and hiring a permanent priest was extremely difficult. Many times itinerant priests visited the parish. The priest in Delphi, serviced the parish for a few years.

One of the interesting methods of raising money to make certain that there was enough money to secure a priest was the rental of pews. Collecting pew rental was difficult, so in 1898 a sign was placed in the vestibule saying “all seats free.”

Another interesting event occurred in 1903. A smallpox epidemic occurred and an edict went out that all public gatherings, including religious services, were banned for three weeks.

In 1919, the church was completely renovated to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church construction. Electricity was installed as well as new floors and beautiful decorations on the ceiling and walls.

A terrible storm hit Logansport on Nov. 15, 1989, causing considerable damage to the roof and interior of the church. With a cost of $250,000, the restoration of the church was completed as well as the historic Hook and Hasting pipe organ.

• Richard B. Copeland is a Cass County historian and may be reached at ptnews@pharostribune.com. The material for this article came from the History of Trinity Episcopal Church and the Cass County Historical Society archives.