St. Barnabas Church, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Encyclopedia
St. Barnabas Church, also known as St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church, Leeland, is located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland
and was established in 1704 as the parish church of Queen Anne Parish which had been established that same year. Because of its location in one of the richest tobacco-producing regions in Colonial Maryland
, the small church has been a cultural hub for southern Maryland
from early colonial times, through the American Revolution
, Civil War
, and Reconstruction. The church holds some highly significant art and was the scene of a fiery anti-revolutionary showdown that was close to erupting in violence.
, one of the 30 original parishes of the established
Anglican Church in the Province of Maryland
,
was divided by the Maryland General Assembly
and the northern part became Queen Anne Parish, while the southern part remained St. Paul's.
The original St. Paul's Parish had contained a small log chapel, in its the northeast section's, on 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of land owned by John and Mary Duvall. With this act, the chapel became a full-fledged congregation to meet the needs of the growing population in the area, creating the first St. Barnabas church.
Shortly thereafter, in 1706, the colonial Maryland Legislature
authorized surveying and laying out of nearby "Queen Anne Town
and Marlborough Town" bringing further development to the area. In 1708, Rev. Jonathan White came to Queen Anne Parish as Rector
.
The log structure was replaced in 1710 by the first small brick church, which was the second St. Barnabas Church on the site and rather small. It is now referred to as the old Brick Church.
White remained at St. Barnabas until 1717, at which time he either died or was removed from the parish.
was appointed as rector of Queen Anne Parish. About that time he acquired numerous parcels of property through his marriage to the twice widowed, Mary Ridgely. In 1737, Henderson gave 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of land for the use of Queen Anne's Parish called "the Glebe whereon there is a Chapple now standing." That chapel had been built for the convenience of northern part of the parish and was known as Henderson's Chapel or Forest Chapel. Almost 100 years later, in 1836 Henderson's Chapel became an independent congregation, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
.
Henderson died on August 27, 1751 after 34 years of service at St. Barnabas.
-producing regions in Colonial Maryland, its rectorship was one of the most highly prized assignments in the Anglican Church in the province. In 1771, Jonathan Boucher
came to St. Barnabas, having served as Rector of St. Anne's in Annapolis
since 1768.
During this period, numerous dignitaries visited the church, including George Washington
and his family, together with Royal Governor of Maryland Robert Eden
, on October 4, 1772.
By 1772 the congregation had outgrown the original St. Barnabas church building and commissioned Christopher Lowndes “to make, erect, build, and set up a new Brick Church near the place where the Old Brick Church in said parish now stands, to contain sixty feet in length and forty-six feet in width.”
As recorded in the Prince George's County Historic Site Summary:
and opposed the revolution from the pulpit. For months, he preached with a pair of loaded pistols beside him. In a fiery farewell sermon at St. Barnabas in 1775, he declared to a hostile crowd of 200, that "no power on earth should prevent him from praying and shouting God Save the King." At the conclusion of the sermon, he seized the leader of the crowd, Osborn Sprigg of Northampton, Maryland, (uncle and adopted father of future Governor
Samuel Sprigg
) and with pistol in hand, they walked together to Boucher's horse. Both men were allowed to leave without harm. Boucher then fled to England.
, with stained glass windows replacing the original colonial clear glass lights.
In 1971, this “new Brick Church,” was in need of repair and was carefully and authentically restored to its original colonial form as built by Lowndes including clear windows along with the addition of a new chapel under the direction of architect, Walter Macomber. The restored church was dedicated in October 1974.
St. Barnabas Church is an active parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
. Its current rector is the Rev. Lawrence R. Harris, Jr.
, commissioned in October 1721 is displayed on the choir gallery of the church. Before this, most painting in the new world had been portraits. The Last Supper was the first significant American painting to depict a scene.
The painting which measures 35 inches (889 mm) by 117 1/2 inches was commissioned for the first Brick Church and remained there until the present structure was built. It disappeared during the construction of the new Brick Church and did not surface again until it was discovered in a private collection in 1848 or 1914, when Charles Henry Hart
identified it, depending on which source one follows.
It was on loan by Rose Neel Warrington for a period at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
and at the American Swedish Historical Museum
as well as the Exhibition of Early American Paintings at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1917 and the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts.
The painting was willed once again to St. Barnabas upon Warrington's death.
Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Upper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger....
and was established in 1704 as the parish church of Queen Anne Parish which had been established that same year. Because of its location in one of the richest tobacco-producing regions in Colonial Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
, the small church has been a cultural hub for southern Maryland
Southern Maryland
Southern Maryland in popular usage is composed of the state's southernmost counties on the "Western Shore" of the Chesapeake Bay. This region includes all of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties and sometimes the southern portions of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties.- History...
from early colonial times, through the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and Reconstruction. The church holds some highly significant art and was the scene of a fiery anti-revolutionary showdown that was close to erupting in violence.
History
On December 19, 1704, St. Paul’s ParishSt. Paul's Parish Church (Brandywine, Maryland)
St. Paul's Church, also known as St. Paul's Church, Baden, or St. Paul's Parish, Prince George's County, is located at 13500 Baden-Westwood Road, in Baden, a community near Brandywine in Prince George's County, Maryland. It was originally constructed in 1733-1735...
, one of the 30 original parishes of the established
State church
State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state.State churches are not necessarily national churches in the ethnic sense of the term, but the two concepts may overlap in the case of a nation state where the state...
Anglican Church in the Province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
,
was divided by the Maryland General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
and the northern part became Queen Anne Parish, while the southern part remained St. Paul's.
The original St. Paul's Parish had contained a small log chapel, in its the northeast section's, on 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of land owned by John and Mary Duvall. With this act, the chapel became a full-fledged congregation to meet the needs of the growing population in the area, creating the first St. Barnabas church.
Shortly thereafter, in 1706, the colonial Maryland Legislature
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
authorized surveying and laying out of nearby "Queen Anne Town
Queen Anne, Prince George's County, Maryland
Queen Anne in Prince George's County, Maryland is a former seaport on the Patuxent River in Maryland.-Geography:Queen Anne is located at 38°53'55" North, 76°40'42" West . Most of the town's former waterfront area is now part of Patuxent River Park, owned and operated by the Maryland-National...
and Marlborough Town" bringing further development to the area. In 1708, Rev. Jonathan White came to Queen Anne Parish as Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
.
Old Brick Church
Col. Henry Ridgley, a prominent land-owner in Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County, was one of the first vestrymen of the parish, and pledged £10 towards the construction of a brick church in 1709 and left another £20 upon his death in 1710.The log structure was replaced in 1710 by the first small brick church, which was the second St. Barnabas Church on the site and rather small. It is now referred to as the old Brick Church.
White remained at St. Barnabas until 1717, at which time he either died or was removed from the parish.
Henderson's Chapel and Holy Trinity
In 1713, Col. Ridgley's widow, Mary (née Duvall, née Stanton, and who would later become Henderson's wife) built a chapel on her own land near her residence. On December 17, 1717, Reverend Jacob HendersonJacob Henderson
Jacob Henderson was an Irish clergyman and philologist who emigrated to the colonial Provinces of Pennsylvania, then Maryland where he became a prominent land owner and church leader.-Life before Maryland:Very little is known about Henderson before 1710...
was appointed as rector of Queen Anne Parish. About that time he acquired numerous parcels of property through his marriage to the twice widowed, Mary Ridgely. In 1737, Henderson gave 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of land for the use of Queen Anne's Parish called "the Glebe whereon there is a Chapple now standing." That chapel had been built for the convenience of northern part of the parish and was known as Henderson's Chapel or Forest Chapel. Almost 100 years later, in 1836 Henderson's Chapel became an independent congregation, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Bowie, Maryland)
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Bowie, Maryland was established in 1836 when it became independent of Queen Anne Parish.-History:On December 17, 1717, Reverend Jacob Henderson was appointed as rector of Queen Anne Parish. That same year, he acquired numerous parcels of property through his...
.
Henderson died on August 27, 1751 after 34 years of service at St. Barnabas.
Affluence and a new Brick Church
Because of its location in one of the richest tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
-producing regions in Colonial Maryland, its rectorship was one of the most highly prized assignments in the Anglican Church in the province. In 1771, Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher was an English clergyman, teacher and philologist.-Early career:Boucher was born in Blencogo, near Wigton, Cumberland, and educated at the Wigton grammar school. After training in Workington, Jonathan became a teacher at St Bees School and in 1759 went to Virginia, where he became...
came to St. Barnabas, having served as Rector of St. Anne's in Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
since 1768.
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and his family, together with Royal Governor of Maryland Robert Eden
Robert Eden
Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, 23rd Proprietary Governor of Maryland was a British colonial official and the last Royal Governor of Maryland...
, on October 4, 1772.
By 1772 the congregation had outgrown the original St. Barnabas church building and commissioned Christopher Lowndes “to make, erect, build, and set up a new Brick Church near the place where the Old Brick Church in said parish now stands, to contain sixty feet in length and forty-six feet in width.”
As recorded in the Prince George's County Historic Site Summary:
Revolutionary hostilities
Boucher was an ardent ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
and opposed the revolution from the pulpit. For months, he preached with a pair of loaded pistols beside him. In a fiery farewell sermon at St. Barnabas in 1775, he declared to a hostile crowd of 200, that "no power on earth should prevent him from praying and shouting God Save the King." At the conclusion of the sermon, he seized the leader of the crowd, Osborn Sprigg of Northampton, Maryland, (uncle and adopted father of future Governor
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
Samuel Sprigg
Samuel Sprigg
Samuel Sprigg served as the 17th Governor of the state of Maryland in the United States from 1819 to 1822.-Background:...
) and with pistol in hand, they walked together to Boucher's horse. Both men were allowed to leave without harm. Boucher then fled to England.
Nineteenth Century
In the 1850s, the church was renovated and VictorianizedVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, with stained glass windows replacing the original colonial clear glass lights.
Recent times
In 1964 St. Barnabas’ Church founded Queen Anne School, a private, Episcopal-affiliated, co-educational day school for grades 7-12 (now 6-12), located on a 50 acres (20.2 ha) campus adjacent to the new Brick Church. Although the school is owned by St. Barnabas’ Church, it functions as an independent educational institution, certified by the Association of Independent Maryland Schools.In 1971, this “new Brick Church,” was in need of repair and was carefully and authentically restored to its original colonial form as built by Lowndes including clear windows along with the addition of a new chapel under the direction of architect, Walter Macomber. The restored church was dedicated in October 1974.
Current use
Episcopal Diocese of Washington
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is the ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington in the United States. The territory comprises the District of Columbia and the Maryland counties of Charles, St. Mary's, Prince George's and Montgomery...
. Its current rector is the Rev. Lawrence R. Harris, Jr.
Significant Art
The first recorded public art commission in the American colonies, The Last Supper by Gustavus HesseliusGustavus Hesselius
Gustavus Hesselius was a Swedish born painter who emigrated to the New World in 1711. He was the father of painter John Hesselius and cousin of the religious leader Emanuel Swedenborg.-Biography:...
, commissioned in October 1721 is displayed on the choir gallery of the church. Before this, most painting in the new world had been portraits. The Last Supper was the first significant American painting to depict a scene.
The painting which measures 35 inches (889 mm) by 117 1/2 inches was commissioned for the first Brick Church and remained there until the present structure was built. It disappeared during the construction of the new Brick Church and did not surface again until it was discovered in a private collection in 1848 or 1914, when Charles Henry Hart
Charles Henry Hart
Charles Henry Hart was an American author, born in Philadelphia.He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania the next spring. He practiced law until 1894, after which he gave his attention to literature and art...
identified it, depending on which source one follows.
It was on loan by Rose Neel Warrington for a period at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
and at the American Swedish Historical Museum
American Swedish Historical Museum
The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen...
as well as the Exhibition of Early American Paintings at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1917 and the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts.
The painting was willed once again to St. Barnabas upon Warrington's death.
See also
- Episcopal Diocese of WashingtonEpiscopal Diocese of WashingtonThe Episcopal Diocese of Washington is the ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington in the United States. The territory comprises the District of Columbia and the Maryland counties of Charles, St. Mary's, Prince George's and Montgomery...
- List of post 1692 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland