St. John's Episcopal Church is a historic church on Old Laurel Hill Road in Laurel Hill, Louisiana. It is maintained as a chapel of Grace Church of

West Feliciana Parish West Feliciana Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Feliciana Ouest''; Spanish: ''Parroquia de Feliciana Occidental'') is a civil parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,310. The parish seat is St. F ...

. It was built in 1873 and added to the National Register in 1984.

History

In 1872, the Reverend J.P. Lytton, of

Woodville, Mississippi Woodville is one of the oldest towns in Mississippi and is the county seat of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, United States. Its population as of 2020 was 928. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of ...

held Episcopalian services in Laurel Hill. The demand for services was large enough that Bishop Wilmer held services on March 17, 1873, and commissioned J. Burruss McGehee to be a lay reader to hold further services. These were held at first in the local Methodist chapel and then at the home of Colonel V.D. Walsh. The parish was organized as St. John's Church on September 28, 1873, with the Reverend A.G. Bakewell as rector; McGehee as senior warden and Walsh as junior warden. William Goddard built the church with the first service was held on November 23, 1873. Total cost of the construction including furniture was $2,200. Colonel Walsh contributed $1,000 and the church became a memorial to his only daughter, Susie Jessie Walsh. The church was consecrated on

Whitsunday Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the Ho ...

, May 14, 1874. Early rectors included J. Wilmer Turner, Frank E. Evans, and E.W. Hunter, Note that the webpage is copied from p. 225 of the "History of the Diocese of Louisiana, 1805-1888"

References

Episcopal church buildings in Louisiana Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Gothic Revival church buildings in Louisiana Churches completed in 1873 Churches in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana 19th-century Episcopal church buildings National Register of Historic Places in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana 1873 establishments in Louisiana {{Louisiana-Anglican-church-stub

History

See also

References