TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE SANCTUARY/HISTORIC STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
For more than 150 years, the Sanctuary of Trinity Episcopal Church, designed by architect Joseph A. Miller, has stood the test of time. With an interior consisting of a deeply arched heavy wooden beamed ceiling, beautiful bronze lanterns and side wall lamps, an impressive pipe organ and 18 illustriously conceived stained glass windows, Trinity Church is truly an historic marvel. As you step into the church, you are immediately transported back into time and enveloped by Hannibal’s past.

Early church members commissioned well-known artists to design the Sanctuary’s beautiful stained glass windows. With signature designs by Charles Booth, Emil Frei, Jr. and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Glass Company, these windows are truly remarkable in their diverse artistic style, thematic construction and conceptual execution. With some dating back as far as 1887, they chronicle decades of changes that took place in the community, as well as in the entire country, and showcase the talents of these noteworthy craftsmen.

Charles Booth (b. 1844/d. 1893) was an Englishman who started his glass business in 1880 and whose stained glass window designs beautify a number of churches throughout the United States. In addition to his stained glass work, he was an artist working in watercolor and oils. After his death, Charles Hogeman, who represented him in New York City, continued to operate his business until 1912.

Emil Frei, Jr. (b. 1896/d. 1967) studied art at Washington University before joining the St. Louis-based Emil Frei Glass Co. – a thriving business built by his father, Emil Frei, Sr. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, he exerted a significant artistic influence within the company and after his father’s death in 1942, he assumed the presidency of the firm and retained that office until 1963, when he became chairman of the board until his death. Under his leadership, the company rose to even greater heights as a new generation of artists associated with the firm brought new techniques and different artistic perspectives to the stained glass medium which were considered modernistic and often abstract.

Louis Comfort Tiffany (b. 1848/d. 1933) is known for his revolutionary stained glass technique and inspired religious themed windows. Along with other artists, he developed a whole new industry of glassmaking based on creating a spectacular array of effects with glass alone, rarely using paint, and developed a new method of manufacturing semi-translucent “opalescent” glass that simulated painted effects. Forming Louis C. Tiffany & Co. in 1883, his windows are often considered valuable artistic objects in churches and often reflect the social history of the congregation.

GUILD HALL HISTORY
The cornerstone for the Memorial Guild Hall was laid on Sunday, November 26, 1961. Kurt Landberg, of St. Louis, was the architect and Martin Construction Co. was the contractor/builder. The campaign for funds to build a new Memorial Guild Hall was spearheaded by Frank Berry. He chaired the Episcopal Advance Fund and Memorial Building Fund committee with the following members: Dr. F.O. Hopkins, Jack Martin, Joseph Raible, Loren Atkins, Dr. F.E. Sultzman, H.F. Harris and W.N. Pettibone. The drive to raise funds started January 14, 1960, and enough money was raised within 18 months to start the project.

ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH (founded 1837)
Palmyra, Missouri (Diocese of Missouri)

Ice on the Mississippi contributed to the founding of St. Paul’s Church. Missionary Bishop Jackson Kemper, headed upriver in March 1836, was halted by ice at Hannibal. While detailed there, he visited Palmyra. The following year, he sent the Rev. Chaplin Hedges to organize a congregation.

In April, 1838, the Rev. Mr. Hedges reported St. Paul’s had 14 communicants and a Sunday school with 30 scholars and 11 teachers. The ladies had a sewing society whose profits were designated for a church building. In the summer of 1838, he leased a lot and began building. But in 1846, the lease expired and the struggling congregation lost its church. For a time, members met in the Odd Fellows Hall.

Bishop Cicero Hawks, Missouri’s first diocesan bishop, founded St. Paul’s College (originally called “Governor Clark Mission”) in 1847 to meet frontier needs. The following year, he sent the Rev. William B. Corbyn to take over the college and assume rectorship of St. Paul’s Church. In 1852, construction began on a Gothic-style chapel to serve both school and parish. Completed in 1856, it was consecrated the following year.

During the Civil War, the Union Army took over the college property, and the chapel was reportedly used as a stable for horses. According to the bishop, “the destruction was wanton, arbitrary and needless.” Services resumed following the war, but scars remained, and by 1878, the chapel was in dire need of repairs. Further, its location was deemed to be too far from its members.

Robert Bruce of Quincy, Illinois, designed the present St. Paul’s Church, at the southwest corner of Lane and Olive Streets, which was consecrated on January 17, 1882. The Rev. J.A. Wainright, principal of St. Paul’s College and rector of the parish, raised $800 by selling some of the college’s pasture land. The Ladies Aid Society provided $1,231.76. The total cost of the building and land was about $3,800.

St. Paul’s is a superb example of Queen Anne Style architecture. Built of limestone, with a steeply sloped slate roof, it holds an entry, worship area and meeting rooms. The stained glass windows have been re-leaded. The needlework frontals for the altar and the chair cushions were designed and completed by the Rev. and Mrs. Gordon Price in the mid 1980s.

In 1921 the lot and house across the street east of the church were given to the church and served as the rectory. A bequest in later years allowed the building of the Parish House, which was dedicated in 1963. In recent years, the Parish House has been used as a privately operated day care center.

The church building has been shared with another congregation since 1998. St. Paul’s congregation holds their weekly service Sunday at 4 p.m. Call (573) 769-3474 for information.