Reflections Upon a 100Th Anniversary St. Mary's
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REFLECTIONS UPON A 100TH ANNIVERSARY ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH MORGANZA, LOUISIANA The Reverend Peggy King Scott April 23, 2016 Preface When I set out to collect scattered fragments and oral stories concerning the history of St. Mary’s Church in Morganza, Louisiana, I had no idea how captivated I would be by what I discovered. I will continue to ‘ponder in my heart’ the images which surfaced for me in the stories of the people who refer to themselves as St. Mary’s Church. In writing this history, I also wanted to reflect upon, to search for an understanding of, the history of St. Mary’s Church within the context of its cultural and ecclesial history. What is presented here is only a beginning of such an effort. Many more documents need to be examined, stories told, subjects explored than what this limited work reflects. This work relies mainly on secondary documents and the research of others. I am indebted to those who have already captured pieces of this story, particularly Brian Costello, Stafford Chenevert, Gerry Brown, Toppy Haag, T. Heard Campbell, and all of the Gustin clan. I bear responsibility for any errors that appear and hope that those who know better will correct them. I also offer my gratitude to Grayson Gustin and Brandon Wiley for their illustrations. When I asked them to draw a picture, I did not offer any further guidance. What they produced delighted me. I love Grayson’s charcoal sketch of the church with the door open and Brandon’s picture with the church sitting in the middle of rain and sunshine, darkness and light with a flag pole reaching beyond the page. Their pictures capture the story perfectly. I hope that these efforts will encourage others to share their memories of St. Mary’s Church and the other churches of our area so that history can record these memories and people can reach out to their neighbors in new and loving ways. It is a privilege and a joy to serve as the Priest of St. Mary’s Church at the time of its 100th Anniversary Celebration! Reverend Peggy King Scott April 23, 2016 2 Reflections upon a 100th Anniversary St. Mary’s Church Morganza, Louisiana St. Mary’s Church in Morganza, Louisiana, is one of many churches which can trace its roots to the evangelical ethos which swept The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in The United States of America (now called The Episcopal Church) in the 19th century. At that time, ‘missionary bishops’ were officially designated and sent to the West and to other areas of the country where an organized Episcopal presence had not yet been established.1 The Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, D.D., had been appointed the Missionary Bishop of the Southwest in 1838 before being elected as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana in 1841. He is said to have traveled long and frequently throughout his appointed geographical districts to establish and sustain local churches.2 Certainly his influence shaped the mission work which ultimately bore fruit in the establishment of St. Mary’s Church. The Beginnings It was during Bishop Polk’s tenure as Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana that Episcopal life in Pointe Coupee Parish can be first documented. Local historian Brian J. Costello, citing an 1888 history of the Diocese of Louisiana written by the Rev. Herman Cope Duncan, summarizes the beginning of this work as follows: In 1847, Episcopal services were held in the home of Mrs. Charles Allen on Bayou Fordoche and a parish organized under the title of “St. Peter’s Church, Morganza.” In 1848, the mission was assigned to the Reverend Frederick Dean who, that same year, organized a congregation at Williamsport. During 1849-1852, Reverend Dean, while serving as headmaster of Poydras college on False River, conducted divine services at the Courthouse at New Road. Both the Morganza and False River missions were abandoned upon Reverend Dean’s resignation from the “cure” in 1852.3 This description illustrates what is true about any effort to describe the history of one of the local Episcopal churches in Pointe Coupee Parish: it is almost impossible to write about one of them without also mentioning one or more neighboring churches. Other efforts to establish Protestant churches in Pointe Coupee Parish were made, but only a few of the mission churches survived. The mission at Williamsport was one of those which did. It was organized as St. Stephen’s Church in 1855 and consecrated by Bishop Polk in 1859. Two ladies’ names appear as early supporters of the mission at Williamsport: Julia Black (later married to Charles Stewart) 1 William W. Manross, A History of the American Episcopal Church, New York: Morehouse-Gorham Co., c1950, pp. 257-260. 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_Polk, accessed April 12, 2016 3 Costello, Brian J. A History of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, Murray G. Lebeau Memorial Edition, Margaret Media, Inc., c2010, printed by Sheridan Books, Chelsea, MI., p.95. 3 and Mrs. Sarah Archer.4 Both of these women would prove to have continuing influence in the establishment of an Episcopal identity in Pointe Coupee Parish. Subsequent years were difficult for area residents and particularly so for those in Morganza. During the Civil War, a Union garrison was stationed in Morganza. As a result, occupational thievery, local skirmishes and the wider Port Hudson campaign brought much destruction.5 The original settlement of Morganza was burned; and what the armies did not destroy, subsequent floods did.6 Major crevasses occurred in levies around Morganza in 1865, 1866 and again in 1874, that latter break remaining unrepaired for ten years.7 Despite these contingencies, the St. Stephen’s Church in Innis continued to survive. And the people of St. Stephen’s parish continued to pay attention to other communities around them and to mission possibilities within them. Morganza was one of those communities. The Seventy-fifth Annual Session of the Diocese of Louisiana, published in 1913 but reporting on activity for the previous year, listed an ‘Unorganized Mission’ in Morganza with the date of 1912.8 The following year, the Diocesan report listed St. Stephen’s Church in Innis as the sponsor for two mission churches – one in Morganza and one in Fordoche.9 By 1914, The Women’s Auxiliary of the Diocese had undertaken a plan to build a church in Morganza. Some funds had already been collected and land acquired. By 1915, construction of a chapel had begun and the Women’s Auxiliary had presented a Communion Service for Morganza.10 Bishop David Sessum’s Address to the Seventy-Eighth Annual Session of the Diocese, held in April of 1916, describes the fulfillment of this mission work: I proceed to mention with gratification special matters of Diocesan history during the past year. The Woman’s Auxiliary of the Diocese have successfully fulfilled their plans with reference to the purchase of land and erecting a church building at Morganza; and I would here express my grateful appreciation of their enthusiasm in this undertaking, and of the generous way in which they have supplied the funds for these needs. The Chairman of the special committee in connection with the erection of the church was Mrs. W. S. Holmes; and her earnest work is to be cordially appreciated. The building is completed and was consecrated on May 7th. The land was purchased sometime ago; and the title has been placed in the Diocese. We felicitate the Rev. Mr. Prosser and his congregation at Morganza upon the erection of the church. This gift of the Woman’s Auxiliary has brought great rejoicing, and necessarily it will give impetus to the work.11 The Consecration This citation in Bishop Sessum’s address, particularly the phrase “was consecrated on May 7th” has proven confusing in subsequent years. Because the Annual Session generally reports activity in the 4 Costello, pp. 95-96. 5 Ibid., pp. 116, 120-121. 6 Ibid., pp. 186-187. 7 Ibid., pp. 138-139. 8 Seventy-Fifth Annual Session Anno Domini, 1913, p. 15 9 Seventy-Sixth Annual Session Anno Domini, 1914, p. 45. 10 Seventy-Seventh Annual Session Anno Domini, 1915, p. 45. 11 Seventh-Eighth Annual Session, Anno Domini, 1916, p. 58. 4 Diocese for the previous year, a straightforward reading of the speech would seem to indicate that the Bishop was speaking of a consecration that had already been held and would assume that May 7, 1915, was the consecration date. The uncertainty focuses upon whether the usage of the past tense was should have been the future tense will be. The local congregation at St. Mary’s has always held that May 7, 1916, was the date of consecration. This later date is attested in two newspaper articles published in the Pointe Coupee Banner on May 6, 1916, and May 13, 1916. The first article announces the upcoming event and the second reports on the actual occurrence of the consecration of St. Mary’s Church in Morganza on May 7, 1916, citing the eloquent sermon of the Rt. Rev. Davis Sessums, D.D., Bishop of Louisiana and the presence of visitors from Baton Rouge, Lakeland, Innis, Torras and New Roads who filled the church to its capacity.12 A subsequent publication of the Diocese also reports that the consecration took place on May 7, 1916, and that the church was named St. Mary’s in honor of the women who made it possible.13 Writing in a diary some years later, Mr. T. Heard Campbell, whose father James Walter Campbell served as the first Warden of St.