St. James' Parish (Lothian, Maryland)
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - St. James' Parish (Lothian, Maryland)
OR:
St. James' Parish (Lothian, Maryland) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

St. James' Parish is a historic church located on Solomons Island Road in the hamlet of Tracys Landing,
Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


History

In 1692, St. James' Parish, Old Herring Creeke, was officially established when the
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...
, acting on the orders of Sir
Lionel Copley Sir Lionel Copley (1648 – September 12, 1693) was the 1st Royal Governor of Maryland from 1692 through his death in 1693. He was the first official royal governor appointed by the British crown after the colony was removed from the propriet ...
, Royal Governor of Maryland, enacted the Act of Establishment. That Act divided the Province of Maryland into 30 Anglican parishes. There were, however, people worshiping in the area before that time. The exact location of that church is unknown. In 1695, the
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
ordered a church built on the present site in Lothian. In 1698, St. James' Parish opened the first parochial lending library of the American parishes of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. The Rev. Dr.
Thomas Bray Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propagat ...
donated 118 books for the library that year. The Reverend Henry Hall was called as the first
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
, and remained at St. James' until his death in 1722. When the old church became inadequate for the parish's needs in 1763, the vestry ordered that a new church be built. It was completed in 1765, and continues to serve the congregation today. However, the politically connected curate appointed in 1768, Rev. Bennet Allen, caused a scandal by refusing to live in the parish and instead proposing to rent out the glebe and combine the salary (which he insisted insufficient even for his bar tab) with that of another parish (at first St. Anne' Church, then even further away
All Saints Church (Frederick, Maryland) All Saints Church, or All Saints Episcopal Church, founded in 1742, is a historic Episcopal church now located at 106 West Church Street in the Frederick Historic District, Historic District of Frederick, Maryland. It is the seat of All Saints Pa ...
). The next incumbent, Rev. Walter Magowan, installed later that year, was a friend of
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
and served until 1784. In 1792, his successor and the seventh rector of St. James', the Rev. Dr.
Thomas John Claggett Thomas John Claggett (October 2, 1743 – August 2, 1816) was the first bishop of the newly formed American Episcopal Church, U.S.A. (also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.) to be consecrated on American soil and the first bi ...
, resigned to become the first Bishop of Maryland. Rt.Rev. Claggett was the first Episcopal bishop to be consecrated on American soil. The parish founded several chapels: St. Mark's Chapel at
Friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...
, consecrated in 1850 and sold in 1915; The Chapel of St. James the Less in Owensville in 1853 (now Christ Church, West River); St. James' Chapel in Tracys Landing in 1876; and St. Mark's Chapel built in 1924. The church was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1972. The property includes a cemetery which includes what is believed to be the oldest dated grave in the state (1655).


Gallery

Image:St. James Parish Episcopal Church, Solomons Island Road (State Route 2), Tracys Landing vicinity (Anne Arundel County, Maryland).jpg, St. James Parish Episcopal Church in 1936 Image:St. James' Parish Marker, Lothian, Maryland Mar 10.JPG, St. James' Parish Historic Marker, March 2010 Image:St. James' Parish, Lothian, Maryland Belfry Detail Mar 10.JPG, St. James' Parish Belfry Detail, March 2010


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Anne Arundel County, Mary ...


References


External links

*
St. James Parish Episcopal Church, Solomons Island Road (State Route 2), Tracys Landing vicinity, Anne Arundel, MD
at the
Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James' Parish, Lothian, Maryland Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Episcopal church buildings in Maryland Churches completed in 1765 18th-century Episcopal church buildings Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Anne Arundel County, Maryland