Grace Church Anniversary 1905

SOURCE: The Clinton Herald December 21, 1905 p. 6  submitted by Mike Kearney

GRACE CHURCH ANNIVERSARY

FRIDAY MARKS THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF THE HISTORY OF THAT CONGREGATION

ELABORATE SERVICES WILL COMMEMORATE THE EVENT

PRESENT RECTOR, REV. T.W. JONES, D.D., IS THE FOURTEENTH CALLED TO GRACE CHURCH – HOW THE GOLDEN JUBILEE WILL BE OBSERVED

Grace Episcopal church of the north side will celebrate its golden jubilee, of fiftieth anniversary of its existence tomorrow.  The real founder of the church was Rev. Hiram W. Beers, who came to the town of Lyons previous to the year of 1855, when the present north side of Clinton, then known as Lyons city, dominated all of the region along the Mississippi between Dubuque and Davenport, and the streets of Clinton were not yet laid out, that city being marked only by a hotel and a railroad right of way over which the iron locomotives had not yet steamed.

A meeting was held in the Lyons town hall on the night of December 22n, 1855, to take into consideration the project of establishing a Protestant Episcopal church in Lyons.  Bishop Lee of Iowa was present, and acted in the capacity of chairman.  At this meeting preliminary steps were taken for the erection of the present stone church which stands on south Sixth street, Lyons, and which was erected during the year 1867.  The building is of stone.  It remains practically unchanged so far as it exterior is concerned, and its ivy-covered nave is a familiar landmark.  The interior however, has been improved and beautified from time to time until today it stands as one of the handsomest little churches in the state of Iowa, a commonwealth famed for the number and beauty of its sanctuaries.

Rev. T.W. Jones, D.D., the present rector of St. John’s church, is the fourteenth minister called to the church.  Following is a list of the rectors of the church, with the dates during which they were in charge:

Rev. W.H. Beers,  1855-1860.
Rev. G.W. Watson,  1860-1866.
Rev. Henry Adams,  1866-1868.
Rev. L.H. Freeman   1868-1870.
Rev. A.P. Crouch,     1870-1873.
Rev. Samuel Currie, 1875-1880.
Rev. W.T. Currie,  1880-1885.
Rev. T.J. Brookes, 1885-1888.
Rev. R.B. Whipple, 1888-1889.
Rev. H.L. Hamble, 1889-1890.
Rev. G.T. Griffith, 1891-1892.
Rev. C.H. Weaver, 1892-1894.
Rev. C.W. Tyner, 1894-1901.
Rev. T.W. Jones, 1901-1906.

Grace Church Guild was organized in 1877; St. Margaret’s guild in 1882; and St. Helen’s guild in 1896.  The rectory was built during Rev. Mr. Brookes’ pastorate, and the vested choir was organized under Mr. Whipple.

The program incidental to the golden jubilee will be of much interest.  Rt. Rev. Arthur Liewellyn Williams, D.D., will be the celebrant, assisted by Rev. Allen Judd, priest in charge of St. John’s church of Clinton epistoler and Rev. T.W. Jones, D.D., rector of the church gospeler.  The sermon will be delivered by Rt. Rev. Theodore Morrison, D.D., bishop of Iowa.

In the evening there will be a banquet, at which Rev. G. DeWitt Dowling will be toastmaster.  A musical program will be a feature of the banquet, and there will be toasts and literary numbers.  Rt. Rev. A.L. Williams will respond to the toast, “The Church in Nebraska,” and Bishop Morrison to “The Church in Iowa.”  A lengthy and entertaining program has been arranged, as heretofore detailed in these columns.