Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 148, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1912 Page: 51 of 85
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CAUSEWAY EDITION.
GALYESTON TRIBUjSTE: section seven.
Church Buildings of Galveston Rank With Best in Texas Cities
History of Religious Work in City is Full of Interest.
First Efforts Made as Early as Year 1836.
Liberal Support Is Always Given.
Before the Incorporation of the city
•f Galveston in 1S39, the religious
needs of the handful of people who
then constituted the citizenship of the
island were looked after by itinerant
preachers of various denominations
and by traveling or missionary priests
of the Catholic church. From the best
information obtainable today, a Pres-
byterian clergyman was the first min-
ister of the gospel to hold regular ser-
vices in Galveston, In 1838, in what
was then known as the "navy yard,”
located on the bay front at the foot of
what is now designated as Twenty-
fourth street, religious services were
regularly held In a shanty and it was
this same denomination which in 1839
erected what was probably the first
church building on the Island, a frame
structure which occupied the ground
now covered by the splendid brick edi-
fice of the First Presbyterian congre-
gation.
In 1839 Rev. Benjamin Eaton, an
Episcopal minister, and Rev. J. M Odin,
a Catholic priest, both located in Gal-
veston and a year later the Methodists
were served by a Mr. Summers, and
in 1842 this denomination erected its
house of worship on the corner now oc-
cupied by the Scottish Rite Cathedral,
the work of constructing the building
having been done by the members of
the congregation; about this same time
the Episcopal congregation had com-
pleted its church building •which was
located on the southeast corner of
Tremont and Winnie streets.
While there may be some slight
foundation for the belief that the peo-
ple of Galveston are too pleasure-lov-
ing to give much thought or time to
the spiritual part of their being: it is
nevertheless a fact that no community
in the state can shdw a more marked
disposition to liberally support its
churches than the citizens of this
place, and while the proportion of
church-goers may not be so large as
that of some of the interior cities,
Galveston is proud of the fact that
this city contains more than one church
for every one thousand of its popula-
tion, all of them easy of access by well
| paved streets and a splendid system of
j street cars. Probably in no other city
j are the spiritual needs of the colored
people better looked after than in Gal-
veston.
Presbyterians.
The Presbyterians of Galveston have
three houses of worship, First church,
located at the corner of Nineteenth and
Church streets; Broadway Memorial,
located on Broadway near Thirty-sixth
street,'and Immanuel Presbyterian, lo-
cated at 2120 Winnie street; the former
beinig a splendid brick stucco edifice
of modern design and equipment.
Broadway Memorial Is the child of the
First church and at present is a mis-
sion congregation. Immanuel church
has a small but aggresive congregation
and owns a splendidly equipped build-
ing in the heart of the city.
Episcopalians.
The Episcopalians of Galveston own
two modern houses of worship with
parish houses and rectories. Trinity,
the parent congregation, is located on
the south-west corner of Twenty-sec-
ond and Winnie streets, with Eaton
chapel occupying the Avenue H cor-
ner on the same street, this latter is a
brick stucco building erected in mem-
ory of the first pastor of. Trinity
church. Grace church, located at the
northwest corner of Avenue L and
Thirty-sixth street, is a stone build-
ing presented the congregation by the
will of Galveston’s benefactor, Henry
Rosenberg, and cost for construction
$30,000. Grace congregation began its
existence as a church organization on
January 25, 1876, when at a meeting of
those interested, fourteen persons
signed a document stating their de-
sire to form an Episcopal church. The
first sermon preached to this congre-
gation was by Rev. Albert Lynns, a
retired Episcopal minister who at that
time operated a large' private school
in this oity. The first regular rector
to Grace was Rev. Jeremiah Ward, who
was called by a meeting of the con-
gregation presided over by the late
Bishop Gregg on March 81, 1880.
Attached to Grace church i3 a frame
rectory and parish house. The congre-
gation of this church comprises a spir-
itual force in strong evidence in every
move looking to the moral uplift of
the city.
Methodists.
Probably the strongest church nu-
merically among the Protestant de-
nominations of the city is the First
Methodist, located on the northwest
corner of Nineteenth street and Ave-.
nue I This church and parsonage oc-
cupies three and a half lots, of ground,
centrally located and in the very heart
of the residential section of the city.
This building was erected in 1902, the
united congregations of St. John’s and
St. James’ church being the nucleus
about which has since been built up a
strong congregation and which under
able preachers and aided by wisely di-
rected effort of the official board, has
made this society take rank among
the big churches in South Texas. West
End Methodist church dates its begin-
ning as far back as 1884, when a work
was opened in the western portion of
the city by members of what was then
! st. Johns and ’St. James’ churches.
Starting as a Sunday school, this
I church has grown year by year and to-
! day it is the strongest church 6rgani-
zations in the western portion of the
city and supplies the spiritual needs of
a large territory. Both these churches
maintain mission Sunday schools, the
one in the east end and the other in
the west.
Catholics.
In the diary of Rev. J. M. Odin, who
was the first bishop of the diocese of
Texas, is to be found the following en-
tries relating to the planting of the
Catholic church in the city of Galves-
ton:
“Jan. 12, 1841—We, Father Timon and
myself, arrived at Galveston from
Houston by steamboat about 1 a. m.
Very rainy weather. We put up at Mr.
Peter J. Menard’s and fixed an altar, at
Menard & Co.’s warehouse.
"Jan. 18.—We become security of Mr.
N. D. Labadie for the congregation of
Galveston to pay him the sum of $400
or the portion of that sum which may
be waiting after he will have done al!
in his power to collect the subscrip-
tions toward the building of the
church. He and Mr. P. J. Menard will
become securities to the carpenter.
“Feb. 6, 1842.—I said mass for the
first time in the new church of St.
Mary at Galveston. It has cost $900
and I have already paid toward it
$460.
"Sept. 19.—Early this morning, be-
tween midnight and 1 o’clock, a strong
north wind accompanied by a heavy
rain. High tide, coming above Tre-
mont. Several houses were blown
down, and among them our church and
that of the Episcopalians.”
The present cathedral was erected in
1847 and consecrated the following
year. From time to time additions and
alternations have been made to the
original building, but in the main it is
the same building and year after year
has grown in the affections of the par-
ishoners until it would be considered
almost a sacrilege to suggest the re-
placing of this venerable pile by a
more modern structure. St. Mary’s has
been the episcopal residence since its
erection sixty-four years ago.
Early in the year 1870, under direc-
tion »f Rev. L. C. Chambout, vicar gen-
writ was begun on a new church
foe r%at was to be known as St. Pat-
riiSfft parish. Rt. Rev. C. W. Dubuis
was bishop of the diocese at the time
and as his predecessor, Bishop Odin had
acquired a half block ot ground on
Avenue K between Thirty-fourth and
Thirty-fifth streets it was only neces-
sary to raise the money with which to
pay for the proposed building. How-
ever, the parish was a poor one and
sparsely settled, but the work was fin-
ally accomplished. The first building
was a frame auditorium on brick pil-
lars about twelve feet in height, it
being the intention to use the base-
ment for school purposes. This
building was demolished by a storm
1875. Rev. Lawrence Glynn, a most
suitable man, was made the priest for
the parish; he is still remembered by
the older citizens as a jovial Irishman,
keen of wit and earnest in work com-
mitted to his hands. After the de-
struction of the building Father Glynn
by dint of hard work secured enough
money to erect a frame building for
worship and this was used until the
present structure was erected. This
building still occupied the western por-
tion of the block and is known as St.
Patrick’s hall. On St. Patrick’s Day,
1872, the cornerstone of the brick edi-
fice was laid and the building pushed
to completion, the dedication ceremon-
ies being held five years later. Father
Glynn died in 1880, but each successive
priest sent to the parish has added his
portion to the completed work as it
stands today. Badly# damaged, almost
wrecked in 1900, elevated five feet to
meet the requirements of the new city
grade a few years later the building
has been made to cost two or three
times its original price, but is still to
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2123 Postoffice St.
Next to Tussup’s
Extends You a Cordial Invitation
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including everything imaginable in Gage Patterns, the latest imported creations from
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Our range of prices will meet the demands of every pocketbook. It will be a pleas-
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YOU’LL BE SURPRISED AT WHAT A REASONABLE COST
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F. M. Garrison Millinery Co.
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Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 148, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1912, newspaper, May 16, 1912; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth871897/m1/51/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting San Jacinto Museum of History.