These are just a few of many little-known facts about our church. We would like to hear from you about others that you know of personally or have heard about from parents or grandparents. These little tidbits will be included in a chapter of the book that the "historic committee" is preparing for our 300th anniversary. So start to delve down into your brains, jot down your recollections, and pass them along to one of the committee members. We are sure you will come up with some interesting facts. Let's see how much we can learn about our church.

We want to put together a book that will interest those of us at St. Paul's, but also those in our town and visitors who will be coming to the events of the 300th anniversary. This book should be a real keepsake that will be read, not only in 2007, but in many years to come.

Library

The town of North Kingstown is justifiably proud of its excellent public library, which for many years occupied a stately Greek Revival building, now the Town Hall Annex, on Brown St. When that building became too small, the library moved to its present location on a knoll above Academy Cove. However, the very first lending library in North Kingstown was called the Church Free Library, founded in 1892 and located in the Guild Hall or parish house of St. Paul’s Church. For an annual fee of fifty cents, people could belong to the Guild and avail themselves of the reading room and coffee room. By 1898, the need for a larger library had become evident, and C. Allan Chadsey, a member of St. Paul’s, donated his personal library and a sum of money to support the establishment of the North Kingstown Free Library. One hundred years later, the residents of North Kingstown supported the modernization and expansion of the library to its current form.

The Navy

Throughout World War II and right up until they were closed in 1972, Quonset Point Naval Air Station and the “Seabee” Construction Battalion at Davisville had a huge impact on North Kingstown and St. Paul’s Church. The influx of hundreds of families forced some schools to double sessions, and St. Paul’s had to offer two Family Services and Sunday Schools each Sunday to accommodate the growth in the parish. The parish benefited greatly from having new parishioners who came from a wide variety of church traditions and who brought their ideas to Wickford.

In recognition of the service undertaken by these men and women in the military, St. Paul’s sponsored an annual Armed Services Sunday. The military came attired in dress whites and served on the altar, read the lessons and acted as ushers. The flags of the United States and the Episcopal Church were carried at the front of the procession. Hymns chosen for the day always included “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and the “Navy Hymn.” It was a day of profound meaning for all who attended, marked by gratitude for the service of the military and by prayers for their continued safety and our freedom.

Beards

In the late 1960s, it was the fashion for young men to sport long hair and beards. The three teenage boys in one parish family were no exception. This led to a memorable moment during worship when one of the boys was crucifer at an early Easter service. In those days the choir entered the church from the door behind the pulpit. As the strains of the first hymn began, the door opened, and a handsome young man with shoulder length dark hair and neatly trimmed beard stepped into the church. People were momentarily stunned by his appearance, but it took a four year old in the congregation to give voice to what everyone was thinking. As the hymn ended, the church became quiet and the crucifer took his position to the right of the lectern. It was at that moment that the child could be heard speaking to his mother, “Mom, Jesus is here.”

Women of St. Paul’s

The women of St. Paul’s have gathered together for fellowship and mission activities since early in the life of the parish. From the 19th and well into the 20th century, there were several groups that did good works for the church and its missions: the Ladies Sewing Society, the St. Agnes Society, the Women’s Auxiliary and the Altar Guild. While the Altar Guild continues in its work today, the other three groups have been incorporated into the Episcopal Church Women, the name chosen by the national church for women’s groups. One of the activities for which the women have always been well known is the preparation and presentation of food. In 1877, the Women’s Auxiliary sponsored an annual clambake that drew its patrons from throughout the state. In 1884, the Sewing Society sponsored excursions to Wickford aboard the Bay steamships for the purpose of attending the Strawberry Festival admission 10 cents. The tradition continues as the women of today prepare chowder and clam cakes for sale during the annual Wickford Art Festival.

Clock Tower

The clock tower of St. Paul's has been part of many artistic renderings and photographs and is familiar to us all; however, it was not part of the "new" St Paul's Church when that building was consecrated for use on St. Paul's Day in 1848. It fell to the Rev. Daniel Goodwin to fulfill the vision of the church we know today. In March 1872, the Rev. Mr. Goodwin presented to the Vestry a rendering of the church with the addition of a bell tower and vestibule. He offered the sum of $500 for a town clock in the spire and agreed to raise from members of the Wickford community a sufficient sum to install a 1,000-pound bell, provided the funds for construction could be raised in one year. Mr. Goodwin's zeal was rewarded with pledges in the amount of $1825, and construction was completed by December of 1872, thus creating the front facade familiar to us today.

The Episcopalian side of Main

As has been noted previously, "new" St. Paul's lacked its steeple and vestibule when it was first built in 1848. However, the building, designed by noted architect Thomas Tefft, was considered by some to be excessively grand. What St. Paul's parishioners saw as a desire to glorify God in His majesty, the members of the First Baptist Church of Wickford saw as an eloquent statement of earthly man's vanity. For years, many of the women of Wickford Baptist Church would go out of their way rather than walk on "the Episcopalian side" of Main Street. In retaliation, numerous Episcopalians followed suit and would take a circuitous route through town rather than set foot on the "Baptist side" of the street. The Rev. Mr. Goodwin's appeal to all people of Wickford to contribute to the addition of the steeple seems to have mended this divide between the two church memberships . . . and today the two churches share ecumenical services, equipment for special events, and a great deal of goodwill.

Village Fair Carousel

As many of our longer-time parishioners know, St. Paul's owned a carousel, which in later years displaced the ponies as part of the Village Fair entertainment. The carousel featured a number of horses for folks to ride. Ida Northrup painted one of the horses pink. This horse became so popular that families and children were willing to wait in line for their turn to go around on the pink horse!

Queen Anne Silver

We at St. Paul's have been justifiably proud of the beautiful Communion silver that was given to the parish by Queen Anne early in the 18th century. However, few realize that the silver came to us by way of a parish in Stratford, CT.

Between 1701 and 1714, ten sets of gifts were sent to Anglican parishes in the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts designated one of these gift sets for St. Paul's Church in the Narragansett Country. The gift consisted of a chalice, a paten, two flagons, an alms basin, a large Bible, two large Books of Common Prayer, 12 small Books of Common Prayer, cushions, an altar cloth, fair linen for the altar and two surplices for the clergy.

In 1709, St. Paul's was without a rector, so the Bishop of London, who had ecclesiastical authority over all colonial parishes, reassigned the royal gift to Christ Church parish in Stratford, CT. It was in Stratford that the royal gift would remain for the next 20 years.

Mail between London and the colonies took four months or longer, so it was some time before the parish in North Kingstown was able to ascertain the whereabouts of the gift they had been promised. In 1717, the rector and vestry at St. Paul's began a campaign to recover what they felt belonged to the parish. A letter was sent to the Bishop of London in 1720, but as he had died in the meantime, no answer arrived.

In 1723, the vestry of St. Paul's made another appeal to London. By this time a Rev. Mr. Samuel Johnson was in charge at Christ Church, Stratford, and his name appears on all subsequent correspondence. He wrote to the Bishop of London pleading for patience as he was new at his post in Stratford. He also indicated that the silver had been in Stratford for several years, and although all previous correspondence relating to the gift was missing, he did hope that some consideration would be given to letting Stratford keep the gift. As the parish had just completed the building of its first church, they were not in a position to buy more silver.

Apparently, the new Bishop of London was unmoved by the appeals of those in Stratford, and they were required to turn over the gift to the parish in Rhode Island. We know that a chalice, a paten, a baptismal bowl, and one altar-sized Book of Common Prayer were transferred to Rhode Island. The baptismal bowl was subsequently melted down in 1851, but the remaining parts of the gift are used annually at the Old Church on the first Sunday in August, a.k.a. Queen Anne Sunday.