Christ Church Christiana Hundred Records 2437
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Christ Church Christiana Hundred records 2437 This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Christ Church Christiana Hundred records 2437 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 4 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 7 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 8 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Vault Records .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Administration ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Financial .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Legal ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 Construction Projects .............................................................................................................................. 13 Property Drawings .................................................................................................................................. 13 History ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 Church Services ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Sunday School ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Women of Christ Church ....................................................................................................................... 16 Christ Church Discussion Group ............................................................................................................ 17 Correspondence ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Mailings ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Media Clippings ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Photographs ............................................................................................................................................. 19 Attic Records ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Administration ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Financial .................................................................................................................................................. 27 Organizations / Committees .................................................................................................................... 28 Parish Events ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Unmet Needs ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Services ................................................................................................................................................... 36 Vital Statistics ......................................................................................................................................... 39 Parish Community .................................................................................................................................. 44 - Page 2 - Christ Church Christiana Hundred records 2437 Personal Files .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Correspondence ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Maps & Plans ......................................................................................................................................... 51 Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................................... 52 - Page 3 - Christ Church Christiana Hundred records 2437 Summary Information Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator: Christ Church Christiana Hundred (Greenville, DE) Title: Christ Church Christiana Hundred records ID: 2437 Date [inclusive]: 1831-1998 Date [bulk]: 1888-1987 Physical Description: 16 Linear Feet Language of the English . Material: Abstract: Founded in 1848 by Reverend Samuel Brincklé (1796-1863) and members of the du Pont family, Christ Church Christian Hundred located in Greenville, Delaware is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Delaware. Their records chronicle the activities of Christ Church over a span of nearly one hundred fifty years and include administrative and vital records. ^ Return to Table of Contents Historical Note The history of Christ Church dates back to 1815 with the beginnings of the Brandywine Manufacturer's Sunday School (BMSS). Eleuthere Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) built the school on DuPont Company property. By the mid-1840s, the community surrounding the powder mills had grown and the various denominations that made up the BMSS splintered off to form their own churches and schools. Mount Salem Methodist, Green Hill Presbyterian, and St. Joseph's on the Brandywine Catholic Church left the small BMSS with a diminished student body of Episcopalians. In 1848, Alfred Lee (1807-1887), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, appointed Reverend Samuel Brincklé (1796-1863) a missionary for new Castle County. As part of his missionary work, Reverend Brincklé preached on Sundays at the du Pont's small Sunday School and during this time worked with the du Pont's to establish their own Episcopal Parish. The neighboring parishes in the Diocese initially resisted the creation of this new parish, claiming that it encroached upon other parochial - Page 4- Christ Church Christiana Hundred records 2437 jurisdictions. Nevertheless, in 1851 the corner stone was laid for Christ Church adjacent to the powder mills in Christiana Hundred and on May 4, 1856, Bishop Lee performed the first service at the church. At first the congregation was small, mostly consisting of members of the du Pont family, and parishioners rented their pews (a practice that would continue into the 1940s). After Reverend Brincklé's death in 1863, the congregation grew and witnessed a succession of rectors. Reverend William Newbold (1839-1903) succeeded Brincklé in 1864 until 1869, followed by Reverend Isaac Newton Stanger (1841-1911), under whose three-year tenure the church was incorporated in 1872. Reverends Dudley D. Smith (1831-1902), Hamilton M. Bartlett (1848-1914), and Charles A. Horne (1869-1930) rounded out the rest of the nineteenth-century rectors. In 1886, the establishment of Immanuel Chapel in Wilmington siphoned off a large number of communicants from Christ Church, but the diminished congregation remained active. The first women's groups formed during Bartlett's rectorship and the Young Crusaders, a boy's organization and branch of the Church Temperance Society evolved in 1898. Though the church had declined in numbers, physically the late nineteenth-century represented a period of growth. In 1892, a rectory was built and electricity was installed in the church. A new organ was also put in the church and by 1899, when Reverend Horne departed Christ Church, construction had already begun on a new parish