“Church Gives Touch of Old England Near Jacksonport” from the March 12, 1926 Door County Advocate
Pioneer Church 40 Years Old
This year the church pictured above, that of the Episcopal parish at Jacksonport, will celebrate its fortieth birthday. It was built in 1886 by the efforts of missionaries of the faith and the hearty co-operation of many of Jacksonport’s oldest settlers. Sixty acres of glebe land for the site was bought for only $100.
Church Gives Touch of Old England Near Jacksonport
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Like Border Clan Roll are Names of Pioneer Founders
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This is the church of the Holy Nativity at Jacksonport. On the rim of a wooded hill it stands. Simplicity and peace and a brooding beauty enfold it. It seems a hallowed spot, a bit of old England that has in some way strayed into this whirling Western world.
Feathery branched locust fringe the iron fence, ivy clings under the eaves, flowers and shrubs, creep into every corner and crevice about the old rectory and Guild hall. Coming up from the sand flats and the village one suddenly meets a masterpiece framed with wildwood hung in an unexpected place.
Within the church itself classic beauty has been achieved through sheer simplicity. Above its square tower is the symbol of suffering.
From the rectory windows, a half-mile away to the east Michigan is seen. On a Sunny morning with a clear sky and a light breeze stirring, it is all blue silk and lacy foam—all motion and music. Under a full moon it runs to seduction, white fire and a path of silver, stretching away over the edge of the world.
Built 40 Years Ago
The church was built forty years ago by a colony of Canadians who had settled in the eastern part of the town shortly after the close of the Civil war. There were also a few families of different faith and nationality who made their homes here from time to time, but the Canadians were always in the majority, and their ideals and customs gave character to the community.
Telling that list of good old Anglo Saxon names sounds like the roll call of a Border clan. There were the Robinsons and Logans, Wilsons and Sargents; three families each of Bagnalls and Smiths; Nugents, Thorps, Thorntons; the brothers Alex and Jim Halstead; Jim Reynolds down in the village and Bagleys up on the “avenue”.
Pioneers Had Strong Characteristics
No people knew better than they the value of church and school. But budgets were cut to fit pocketbooks. This, of course, was before the happy days of bonding. And their children had the advantage of disadvantages.
There was in all their social and business relations that indefinable atmosphere the essence of which was a deep religious influence. Loyality, fair dealing, respectability — these were their outstanding qualities — essential qualities, it would seem, of professed Christians. Such was the heritage bequeathed to their children; bread they received and not a stone.
First Things Came First
First things came first in their lives. They had the wisdom, the vision, to secure and retain, year after year, teachers of the highest calibre, thus proving, as always that it is the people who determine the quality and character of a school.
Who can measure the influence of such teachers as J. C. Langemak and Mary McQuaid?
And yet with never a school building to boast of, what a company of splendid young Americans have passed out through its doors into a world of honor and service! And as good as the best still live in the village and on the farms of the surrounding country.
Time and change have taken toll of the little colony; but the children’s children remain, fulfillment and promise, precious trait of that tree whose roots drew life from kindly Canadian soil more than a half century ago.
The record of the building of the church is told in a little history of six pages written by W. R. Gardner, the first rector.
Seeking Glebe First Move of Clergy
The paper is yellowed with age. In quaint writing and beautiful English, it follows:
“In the month of August 1882, it was suggested to the general missionary of the diocese, the Reverend W. R. Gardner, that we should make a visit to the mission field within the limits of Door County. As the county was entirely without railroads, a horse and buggy was secured for the journey. The Reverend F. S. Richey, Canon of the Cathedral of Fond du Lac, offered himself as a companion to the general missionary. They set out together from the city of Appleton on a Tuesday morning, reaching Green Bay the same night. Wednesday they drove from Green Bay to the village of Ahnapee in Kewaunee county where the same evening they held services in an unused store. On Thursday, they drove to Sturgeon Bay, and held services there, in an uncompleted church building, since lost to the church.
“Saturday, they continued their journey to Jacksonport and on Sunday, they held services both morning and evening in the schoolhouse opposite the Roman Catholic church. After the morning service, which was well attended, a proportionately larger number of men present than women, a conference with the men was held by the missionary and it was then suggested that if a piece of land could be secured for a glebe, it would so promote the interests of the church as to enable them in time to secure the services of a resident clergyman.
“The people associated with the church there desired the services and were for the most part English church men, coming lately from Frampton in the Province of Quebec.
People Endorse Plan
“The suggestion of the missionary that glebe land should be secured was received favorably and that afternoon the missionary and Canon Riche were taken under the guidance of Mr. Charles Thorpe to look up the most desirable piece of land that could be secured. This tract containing about 60 acres, lay just west of the village. It was covered with woods, though most of the timber and good hard wood had been cut out of it. It was found that it could be obtained for $5 an acre. No steps were taken at the time of the visit to secure the land, but the men interested promised to make efforts to obtain it.
Deer Points the Way
“On Monday, when the missionary and his companion were leaving Jacksonport for Fish Creek, as they came to the eastern corner of the proposed glebe on the Egg Harbor road, they saw a fawn come out of the woods on the top of the hill, trot down the road, and then turn in again, along what was then called the ‘Foster Road’.
“ ‘There,’ exclaimed Canon Richey, when the fawn came out of the woods, ‘must one day stand the church’. And within a rod or two of that place the church, now stands.
“The exploring party journeyed on to the northern point of the peninsula, and then returned by the way they came, to Fond du Lac. Early in September the missionary returned to Jacksonport; to see what steps could be taken towards securing the glebe and building the church.
Sixty Acres Bought For $100
“The people of Jacksonport promised $100 and raised it in a few days. With this, the missionary obtained a contract for the sale of the 60 acres from Charles Reynolds. As soon as the land was secured, a number of the farmers organized a bee and two acres on top of the hill were cleared for a church and house- lot. At this time, the ladies of the Women’s Auxiliary of Boston, Massachusetts, interested themselves in the mission and in the spring of 1885 sent to the missionary enough money to enable him to build a parsonage.
“More clearing was made by the united work of the parishoners and the balance of indebtedness on the land was paid by the Bishop. Volunteers cut down some of the pine on the glebe which was taken to the mill and returned as lumber, and in July, work on the parsonage was begun. The parsonage was finished in September. During that month, timber was hewn and cut on the glebe land for the church and on Sunday the twenty-seventh, in the afternoon, and in the presence of a goodly congregation, the cornerstone was laid at the southeast corner of the Chancel. In that cornerstone were placed the names of mission officers:
Names in Cornerstone
“Charles Thorp (Sam Bagnall’s, uncle), John Bagley, Samuel Bagnall, James Nugent, and Joseph Smith, together with the names of the builders, James Nugent and Joseph Krock.
“The church was simply roofed in that year. During the time of building, services were regularly held in the schoolhouse above mentioned. In June, 1886, work was begun again on the church, delays having been occasioned through lack of funds, and on Sunday, the twenty-fifth of July, the first service was held within its walls. The sermon was preached that morning by the Reverend A. S. Prescott, Chancellor of the Diocese and Rector of St. Peter’s at Ripon. On June 17, of the same year, the missionary W. R. Gardner, began to occupy as his residence, the parsonage.
Far From Completion
“When the church was opened, it was so far from completion that only the wainscoting was finished, and the beams cased in. In the Chancel, however, stood the altar, the gift of Miss Donaldson of Baltimore. During the two months of August and September, the church was grouted by the volunteer efforts of the men, and in August, steps were being taken to so far finish the church building as to make it habitable for the winter.
“In October the general missionary, W. R. Gardner, found it best to accept a call from the Church of the Advent, Boston Massachusetts, to be the rector’s assistant, and he accordingly severed his connections with the mission.”
Church Has Golden Age in 90’s
It was in the glorious 90’s that the little church and village saw its golden age. To have known Jacksonport then was a privilege, a liberal education. There was the gracious hospitality of unhurried days—lingering at gates after tea, the stroll homeward with neighbors across sundrenched fields. Where the dust and noise of the motor car now eats up the whole road there were little friendly paths worn hard and deep along all the soddy roadsides.
The club was organized at the Guild hall in 1897. There was music and youth and laughter—great material for programs—with just enough serious debate and discourse to give weight to the meetings.
Some can still hear across the stretch of years Sam Bagnall, the club reporter, ponderously reading the thrilling bit, “Mrs. Joe LeMere and Mrs. Linc Erskine have traded cats.” And the laugh. What a loss to the Associated Press was Sam!
Pastor Gets Scare
Memories cling ‘round the old Guild hall. Funny and sad. There came one summer from Nevi York, a young divinity student named Cuthbert, William James Cuthbert, who made his home with the Jamesons. He was being tutored in Greek—and a few other subjects. He was dubbed a real tenderfoot, somewhat conceited one at that. Fear of the dark and a pathetic ignorance of country life were some of his handicaps, handicaps which more conscientiously attended to by the junior contingent. Where, oh, where are the three young rascals who, in trailing white sheets, went to meet him one night and chased him half dead to the rectory door!
When the Reverend Joseph Jameson, after 35 years of continuous faithful service retired last June, it seemed that a sad fate had befallen the little church; but only for a short time was the place deserted, for last September the Reverend John E. Hodson assumed the duties of rector, and continued the activities of the parish with a new vim which is making the church increasingly popular.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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