St. Matthew's Church, also known as Addison Chapel, is a historic

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at Seat Pleasant,

Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...

. Addison Chapel was first established in 1696 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for St. John's at Broad Creek. The parish it served was one of the thirty original Maryland parishes and was named for Colonel John Addison, of Oxon Hill plantation, a leading proponent of the Anglican Church. His descendant

Walter Dulaney Addison Walter Dulany Addison (January 1, 1769 – January 31, 1848) was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the United States Senate (1810–1811). Early years Walter Dulany Addison was born at Annapolis, Maryland on January 1, 1769, the ...

, who was for a term

Chaplain of the Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

also served as rector here. It is also associated with the Pinkney, Dulany, Lowndes, and Calvert families. In 1983, the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

voted to vacate the structure and form Holy Redeemer Episcopal Church in Landover. The chapel was not convenient to where the parishioners lived, and a covenant placed by the

Maryland Historical Trust The Maryland Historical Trust is an agency of Maryland Department of Planning and serves as the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office. The agency serves to assist in research, conservation, and education, of Maryland's historical and cultur ...

barred the installation of indoor plumbing. The

Episcopal Diocese of Washington The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is a diocese of the Episcopal Church covering Washington, D.C., and nearby counties of Maryland in the United States. With a membership of over 38,000, the diocese is led by the bishop of Washington, Mariann ...

agreed to continue weekly services for another five years, which ended in 1988.

Architecture

Although the current chapel (the third on this site) was built about 1809, its simple Anglican styling reflects the Colonial-era,

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

-influenced designs, of which few remain. The church is a small one-story rectangular brick building laid in

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

. St. Matthew's is situated in a large graveyard containing some early stones, the most notable being that of

Benjamin Stoddert Benjamin Stoddert (1751 – 18 December 1813) was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from 1 May 1798 to 31 March 1801. Early life and education Stoddert was born in Charles County, Maryland in 1751, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. ...

, the first Secretary of the Navy. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972.

References

External links

*, including photo in 2008, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Addison Chapel, 5610 Addison Road, Seat Pleasant, Prince George's County, MD
9 photos and 10 data pages, at

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland Churches in Prince George's County, Maryland Churches completed in 1809 Episcopal church buildings in Maryland Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland Religious organizations disestablished in 1983 {{Maryland-Anglican-church-stub