History of Saint John's, est. 1837
In 1835, a notice appeared in The Illinois Bounty Land Register, Quincy’s first newspaper, advertising a meeting to be held in the office of John Tillson and Francis Moore to discuss the organization of an Episcopal church in Quincy. However, it was not until Easter Day, March 26, 1837, that the Rt. Rev’d Philander Chase, Bishop to the newly formed Diocese of Illinois, arrived in Quincy
to officiate at the first service. The Bishop read Morning Prayer, administered the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, celebrated Holy Communion and preached. Immediately after the services, a meeting was held at the home of Jesse Avise, attended by twenty, for the purpose of forming a parochial association.
On Friday evening, October 13, 1837, the Rev’d John Sellwood conducted services for the members of St. John’s in a church building lent for the occasion. He was a Deacon and a missionary, a graduate of the Theological Seminary at Gambier, Ohio, sent out by the Church Missionary Society. Three more services were conducted on Sunday, October 15, and on October 16. Following a meeting of church members at the store of Daniel Whitney, the wardens and Vestry of St. John’s extended a call to the Rev’d Sellwood to assume charge of the parish. At this same meeting, the Vestry accepted the plan of Charles Gurn, carpenter, for a church building on a lot on North Sixth Street, between Hampshire and Vermont. The frame, weather-boarded building was 24 by 35 feet. On December 30, 1837, the Quincy Argus published a notice announcing the public auction at 6 p.m. that day of pews in the new St. John’s Church.
In July 1852, the Rt. Rev’d Henry Whitehouse, bishop coadjutor of Illinois, laid the cornerstone for the current structure on the northeast corner of Seventh and Hampshire streets. It consisted of just the present nave and bell tower. The English Perpendicular Gothic building was designed by Charles Howland of Middleborough , Mass. and cost $10,000. Later additions have included the transepts, chancel and sanctuary in 1866-67; the old cathedral hall and chapter room in 1879; an educational building in 1957 and the parish hall in 1970. All of the stone in the 20th century additions match the original church exactly. It was reclaimed from foundations in neighboring buildings which were removed for the additions. That stone was from the very same quarry as the stone for the 1852, 1867 and 1879 work!
On October 11, 1877 , General Convention authorized and gave consent to the creation of two new dioceses within Illinois. The Diocese of Quincy, with Quincy as the See City, was thus established and St. John’s became the cathedral. It continued to serve that role until 1962 when it reverted to parish status.
The interior of the church was dramatically changed in 1907 when the Newcomb Memorial reredos was installed. Designed by Ralph W. Cram of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson of Boston, it was given by Mrs. Anna M. Newcomb in memory of her husband, Richard Foote Newcomb. She had already given the Caen stone altar in 1883 in memory of her mother. In a book, “Some Notable Altars in the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church” by John Wright and published by Macmillan in 1908, St. John’s altar was featured. The church also houses many other artistic treasures. There are two signed Tiffany windows. The Eliza McA. Williamson window is at the head of west aisle and is dated 1914. The Ascension window is over the altar in the Lady Chapel. The Diamond Jubilee window is signed Mayer, Munich and New York . The Katherine Emery Gardner/Joseph Welch Emery, Jr. window and the Sarah Moore Bahler window are both especially noteworthy. The Baldwin window, although unsigned, has many of the characteristics of the LaFarge Studio. Several new windows were added in both 1982 and 1986.
Another exceptional feature at St. John’s is a chime of eleven cast bells in the tower. It was made in 1905 by the VanDuzen and Tift/Buckeye Bell Foundry and is the only true chime/carillon in the city. The chime is a memorial from Theresa Woodruff to her mother, Arethusa Helen Woodruff. When Mrs. Woodruff died in 1903 at the age of 90, she was the last survivor of the group that organized the parish in 1837!
The organ at St. John's was built by Messrs. Marshall Brothers, Milwaukee in 1872 as a tracker-action instrument. It was rebuilt and electrified in
1912 by Geo. Kilgen & Sons [with a tubular-pneumatic action] and, again, [re-designed by Robert Noehren,] re-worked and enlarged [1957-58] by the Temple Organ Company, [preserving some pipework from the Marshall and Kilgen organs and adding a number of ranks made to Dr. Noehren's specifications in France].
St. John’s is located in the Downtown Historic District, which is a National Trust designation. It was the very first building in Quincy to be awarded an historic plaque by a local preservation group. It has been designated by the Quincy City Council as a local historic site and by the Illinois Department of Transportation as a state historic site In July of 2002, St. John’s celebrated the Sesquicentennial of the building….the oldest religious edifice in Quincy.
Tragedy struck St. John’s on Friday, August 23, 2002. As a severe thunderstorm moved through the area, the church received a direct lightening strike at about 4:30 a.m. The fire that followed collapsed the roof over the crossing, chancel and the sanctuary. The nave was badly damaged. Several artistic religious treasures were lost. The Cathedra in which all eight Bishops of Quincy had sat was completely destroyed. The Newcomb Memorial reredos fell from the wall, destroying the four large paintings and the west half of the wooden framework. The Tabernacle miraculously survived with the Blessed Sacrament intact. Also surviving the devastation was the pulpit—which lost only its reading desk—and all of the stained glass windows except one.
Also destroyed was the pipe organ of 53 ranks. However, the church had already contracted to replace that instrument with an historic organ. It was in the shop of Michael Quimby of Warrenton, Mo. undergoing restoration. The organ was built in 1863 by E. & G. G. Hook and rebuilt by their successor, Hook & Hastings in 1923. It will stand in the original solid walnut case with gold leaf façade pipes. It will have a three-manual detached draw-knob console. The instrument will be a memorial to Elizabeth Lindsay, a longtime benefactor to the parish. It will be installed in the rebuilt church.
On November 5, 2002, the vestry voted to hire Walker Johnson of the Chicago firm of Johnson and Lasky to be the architect for the rebuilding of the church. The project is expected to take from 18 to 24 months.
W. Kirby Eber
