A Visit to St. Peter's Churchyard

The St. Peter's Church and Churchyard podcasts are available for download at http://www.stpetersphila.org/. The tours were written by Libby Browne, and recorded by Alan J. Heavens.

St. Peter's Church Tour Podcast

You can download this church-tour podcast and the churchyard tour podcast at http://www.stpetersphila.org/

The Book of Philadelphia (1920)

The Night of the Eagle

The event was held on an auspicious day. On May 20, 1815, a naval squadron commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur began its voyage to Algiers to settle, once and for all, the issue of the Barbary pirates.
It was held at Milner & Carr Conservation LLC in Fishtown, which will restore the bronze eagle that sits atop the granite Decatur monument in St. Peter's Churchyard. The eagle will be returned to its perch Sept. 18.
The evening was a joint production of the St. Peter's 250th Anniversary Committee and Historic St. Peter's Church Preservation Corp. Co-chairs of the 250th committee are Elizabeth Browne, Joseph P. Fanelli Jr. and Claudia Stowers. Katherine Fanelli was the event's chairperson.
Sponsors and donors were Stanhope & Elizabeth Browne, James Colberg and Kathleen Stephenson, Helen and John Davies, Donald Hartz, Alan Heavens, Robert Hornsby Jr., Mary louise Krumrine, the Rev. Ledlie Laughlin, Constance Moore, David Richards, Dorothy & David Stevens, Margaret and Richard Ullman and Donna Weschler.

The guest for the evening was Thomas Jefferson, who offered a tribute to Decatur.

Take my wives....please!

Owen Morris (1719-1809) made his debut with the American Company of Lewis Hallam Jr. in 1759. Morris specialized in comic old men, including Oliver Surface and Polonius before retiring from the stage in 1790. The Hallam players performed in the warehouse owned by William Plumstead in King or Water Street, between Pine and Lombard Streets, and here they opened April 15, 1754, with Rowe's tragedy "The Fair Penitent" and "Miss in Her Teens" as the after-piece.
In 1763, Morris and the first Mrs. Morris went with the company to Rhode Island, where they performed Otello:
"Mr. MORRIS will represent an old gentleman, the father of Desdemona, who is not cruel or covetous, but is foolish enough to dislike the noble Moor, his son-in-law, because his face is not white, forgetting that we all spring from one root. Such prejudices are very numerous and very wrong."

Fathers beware what sense and love ye lack,
'Tis crime, not color, makes the being black.

Mrs. MORRIS will represent a young and virtuous wife, who, being wrongfully suspected, gets smothered (in an adjoining room) by her husband.

Reader, attend; and ere thou goest hence
Let fall a tear to hapless innocence. "

The first Mrs. Owen Morris (d. 1767) was America's earliest Ophelia, and, excluding a performance by British troops during the Revolutionary War, the earliest Lady Teazle.
The second Mrs. Owen Morris (1753–1826) was a strikingly tall woman whose acting ability divided the chroniclers of her time. Nevertheless she proved a popular comedienne with the public, much admired for her Lady Teazle and her Beatrice, as well as her Ophelia. Her eccentricities were notorious, and she went to absurd lengths not to expose herself to daylight. Following the advent of Mrs. Merry, her popularity waned rapidly.
Owen Morris is buried in St. Peter's Churchyard

History on video

Clergy corner

The Rev. Canon Howard Sheldon Davis was interim of St. Peter's Church in 1985. A native of Bethayres, Pa., Father Davis was born April 14, 1912, educated at the George School in Newtown, and received his bachelor's degree in Latin and Greek at Amherst College in 1933. He taught in the Abington, Pa., school district from 1933 to 1940, then entered the Philadelphia Divinity School to study for the priesthood.
He was ordained in 1943, and became rector of St. Faith, Brookline, Pa. until 1945, when he became a chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserve for a year.
Father Davis was a priest in nine churches in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, and was canon at the Episcopal cathedral in Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s. He returned to Philadelphia, where he was assistant rector to the Rev. Paul Washington at the Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia; was rector at All Saints, Darby; and interim rector at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Third and Reed Streets; and at St. Peter's Church.
He died Aug. 4, 2004, of heart failure in Philadelphia, at age 92.
(In the photo above, Father Davis, left, performs a baptism, assisted by the Rev. Wendel H. "Tad" Meyer, rector of St. Peter's, September 1989.)

Fund-raising efforts through history

The Rev. Joseph Koci demanded payment for the wooden fence around St. Peter's Church that was burned to keep the occupying British troops warm in the winter of 1778. The cost was $18 plus interest compounded annually.
Selwyn Lloyd, chancellor of the exchequer, was so informed. St. Peter's is still waiting for the check (August 1961)

The Odenheimer Family of Delaware County

Chester and Its Vicinity, by John Hill Martin (1877)

The following sketch of an old Chester family of a by-gone generation, some of whose descendants still cling to the home of their ancestors, was furnished me by a descendant.

"John Odenheimer, a former resident of 'Old Chester,' came from Mayence on the Rhine to Philadelphia, prior to the middle of the last century. He became a dealer in flour, and lived at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets, in the latter city, with open grounds around his house, planted with trees and shrubbery.

He married Mary, daughter of John Henry Keppele. On Sept. 28, 1771, he bought from Joseph Mather, 177 acres of land in Chester, lying along Ridley Creek. The deed recites one of the boundaries as 'The King's Highway.'

Here he opened stone quarries within easy reach of tidewater. After the first visit of the yellow-fever to Philadelphia, he became a permanent resident of Chester. His son John was Sheriff of Delaware County from 1798 to 1801, and again from 1804 to 1807, and died in 1816.

His son Henry married a daughter of William Kerlin, of Revolutionary note. His daughter Mary married Peter Deshong, of Chester, and his daughter Catharine married Thomas H. Brinton of Thornbury. Keppele often visited his son-in-law Odenheimer and his large family, at Chester.

The customs of their native country were kept up. Hock wines sent them from the Rhine, were in daily use; while a large silver punchbowl filled to the brim, with goblets and ladle, stood on a table for visitors making morning calls. Gen. Washington during his Presidential term, 1789 to 1797, was accustomed to pass through Chester on his way to Congress.

His journeys were recollected and spoken of by some of the Odenheimer family up to a recent period. They were attended with some state. A carriage with four horses and outriders contained his family, the general followed, mounted on a fine horse. He was a large man, with a grave, manly countenance, and was treated by the crowd collected to see him, with almost reverential respect.

Odenheimer died in Chester in 1807, above the age of fourscore. His wife died in 1793Both were buried in the grounds of the old Lutheran church of St. Michael's, corner of Fifth and Cherry streets, Philadelphia.

Most of his descendants became Episcopalians. His son Henry, m. Sarah, dau. of William Kerlin, and died at Chester in 1794, leaving two children, John W. and William Henry Odenheimer. The first became a merchant in Philadelphia, and after retiring from business, lived at Burlington, N. J., where he died July 4, 1876, in his 87th year.

He was the father of the Right Reverend William H. Odenheimer, Bishop of New Jersey.

A biography of William H. Odenheimer

This biography of the third bishop of New Jersey was written by the Rev. Canon Laurence D. Fish, historiographer of the Diocese of New Jersey. (Edited for length)



William Henry Odenheimer was born in Philadelphia Aug. 11, 1817, the son of John W. Odenheimer, a prosperous merchant, and Henrietta Burns Odenheimer.

A brother, John Kerlin, was born in 1819 and died in 1821; a sister, Caroline Louisa, was born in 1821 and died in 1825.

Odenheimer was named for an uncle, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, who died in 1815 at 23 of a severe cold that resulted from his attempt to rescue a steward who had fallen off his ship, the Franklin.

Odenheimer attended St. Paul's College in Flushing, N. Y., and then
Penn, where, although he was't yet 18, he was selected to give the valedictory.

He graduated in June 1838 from General Theological Seminary in New York City, was ordained a deacon by Bishop Henry U. Onderdonk of Pennsylvania, in Sept. 2, 1838, and became assistant rector of St. Peter's, where the Rev. William H. DeLancey had been rector since Bishop White's death in July 1836.

DeLancey was called to be bishop of Western New York in 1839. The vestry chose Odenheimer to succeed him, but waited until his ordination to the priesthood Oct. 3, 1841, to elect him to the post.

(Editor's note: Because the Eucharist was not yet as important as preaching, it didn't matter that Odenheimer was not yet a priest. In addition, there were assistants who were priests).

In 1839, Odenheimer married Anne D. Randall Shaw, daughter of John R. Shaw, a naval officer. Little is known of Odenheimer’s wife and children although there appear to have been 11
eleven children born to the couple, only two of whom reached maturity. All the infants were buried in the churchyard. A grave registry book reports that their bodies were disinterred when their father was elected bishop of New Jersey and placed in the graveyard of St. Mary's, Burlington, where the older children were later buried.

Odenheimer was Tractarian. His nom de plume was Diaconus Catholicus.

Bishop White had only Morning Prayer each Sunday and no weekday services, Odenheimer inaugurated daily services, Holy Communion at all Sunday early services, and Holy Communion on the first and third Sundays at the late service. In addition, a brass cross was placed, for the first time, on the altar as were candles and soon a tower and steeple appeared on the west end of the church.

The anti-Roman Catholicism of the times led many to declare a preference for a weathervane to top the steeple rather than the cross, but a tied vestry vote allowed Odenheimer to cast the deciding vote in favor of the cross.

Odenheimer took the middle road in the bitter and sometimes violent conflict between Protestants and

Another St. Peter's, the same Delancey

The Rt. Rev. William Heathcoate De Lancey was elected bishop of the Diocese of Western New York in 1838, and in the next year moved to Geneva, N.Y. He retained a residence in the village until the time of his death, April 5, 1865, and in honor of his life and good works in the mission field and church, St. Peter's was founded and organized as his memorial.

As early as 1850 Bishop De Lancey began missionary work in Geneva and soon established a prosperous mission in the north part of the village. In 1852 he began holding services in a small chapel on Genesee Street, and becoming owner of the building, he named it St. Peter's in honor of his old parish church at Philadelphia, in which he was advanced to the episcopate.

In 1861 the bishop called Dr. James Rankine to Geneva to assume charge of the Theological Training School, and the latter soon found himself also engaged in the mission work, holding full Sunday service in the chapel. When Bishop De Lancey died, and in honor of his splendid life and services, the name of this institution was changed to "The De Lancey Divinity School."

The confidence in Dr. Rankine that was shown by the bishop in calling him to the charge of this school was most worthily bestowed, for since its inception in 1861, there has been no change nor desire for change in its principalship.

This silent though thorough institution attracts but little attention in the village, and only for the grand results here achieved, we would hardly know of its existence. Briefly stated, the object of the De Lancey Divinity School is to prepare for the sacred ministry and church work such persons as from age and peculiar circumstances cannot attend the general theological seminaries.

In 1886 relations were established with Hobart College by which the use of the facilities of the college, including the chapel and the library, and instruction from members of the College Faculty were secured to students connected with the Divinity School.

However, it was not until 1867, two years after the death of Bishop De Lancey, that St. Peter's parish and church were organized. The chapel was replaced with a large and elegant stone edifice, the funds therefor being raised by voluntary contribution, and the chief actor in accomplishing all that was done was Dr. Rankine. The church was begun in 1868, and was consecrated May 10, 1870. The tower was built in 1878.

The first rector was Dr. Rankine, who has filled that office until the present time (1893), with the exception of about one year, (1869-71) during which he was president of Hobart College.
In this interval Dr. Maunsell Van Rensselaer was rector of St. Peter's (he replaced Rankine as president of Hobart College (1871-76).

(From Conover's History of Hobart College, 1893)

1911 Parish: Charles Longyahr

Charles Longyahr, 19, born 1892, Pennsylvania; parents born in Germany.

Lived at 2551 South Seventh Street.

Employed at a wire works

1911 Parish: Frederick Maxmillian Liehr

Frederick M. Liehr, 40, born in 1871, Pennsylvania: 2606 South Chadwick Street, cloth cutter
Father, Harry, mother, both born in Germany
wife, Emma M., 39, born 1872, parents Germany
Both were still parishioners in 1927.

1911 Parish: Louisa J. Adams

Louisa J. Adams, 61, born 1848, resides 1433 Dickinson St., Ward 4.
Born England, arrived US in 1855
James Adams, 65, born England, arrived in US 1855, retired customs house.
Married, 1867.
Number of children, 8; number of living children, 3:
Gertrude, 37
John O., 27
Eddith, 13

1811 Parish: John George Hirneisen

John George Hirneisen, grocer, north ward.
Wife Margaretta Blake Hirneisen.
Son, George Alfred Hirneisen, born Aug. 31, 1810, baptized by Bishop White, May 19, 1811

Six degrees of St. Peter's

Andrew Dickson White, who co-founded Cornell University with Ezra Cornell, was a roommate of Thomas F. Davies, rector of St. Peter's (1869-1889) and later bishop of Western Michigan, at Yale University.
White attended Hobart College for a year, leaving because he thought he was wasting his time at a small Episcopal school and should instead be attending a New England university.

1911 Parish: Ernest Felix Potter

Ernest Felix Potter, 51, 2211 Pine Street. Musician, choirmaster (Germantown Methodist Church starting in 1908).
Mary Conard Potter, 41, wife (married 1890)

1911 Parish: Catharine Plate

Catharine Plate, 67, born Germany, widowed; 415 Dudley Street.
Henry E. Plate, 30, born Pennsylvania, worker in a window factory, parents German-born, son.
Elizabeth Plate, 37, born Pennsylvania, parents born in Germany, daughter, seamstress.
Caroline Plate, 24, born Pennsylvania, wife of Henry, no occupation.
Catharine Plate, 3, born Pennsylvania, daughter, Henry.
Caroline Plate, 2, born Pennsylvania, daughter, Henry

1911 Parish: Sir Wilfred Powell

Sir Wilfred Mansell Powell (1853-1942) was born on 14 May 1853. He travelled extensively in the Pacific, and explored New Britain from 1877 to 1880.
The sketch at left, drawn by Sir Wilfred, was the frontspiece of his book, Wanderings In A Wild Country: Or Three Years Amongst The Cannibals Of New Britain (1883).
He became Consul for the Navigators Islands (Samoa) on 1 May 1885, and also Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific. On 1 April 1888 he was appointed Consul at Stettin, and during April-June 1889 he attended a conference on Samoa at Berlin. He was transferred to Philadelphia on 11 November 1898, becoming Consul for Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan (an area altered in 1907 to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware). He was promoted to Consul-General in 1913, and retired on 1 January 1916. Powell became a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute in 1880. He died on 4 February 1942, age 88, in Kent, England, where he made his home.

His son, Gareth Henry Mansell Powell, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1914. He was born March 1, 1894; died April 23, 1915 (missing in action) in the Second Battle of Ypres, age 21, private in the Eastern Ontario Regiment. Medals : The King's Cross; Mons Cross 1914; War Medal; Victory Medal. A memorial is on the southwest wall of the church interior. (right, Powell is listed on a plaque at the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.)
His father sent an inquiry to the British War Office requesting his whereabouts when his son went missing (War Office records).

The Powells (he was related to Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts), lived at 701 Pine St. while he was H.M. Consul.

When he retired in 1916, he was succeeded by Charles A.S. Perceval. The announcement was made on Oct. 11, the day Sir Wilfred learned of his son's death on the Western Front, the New York Times reported Oct. 12, 1915.

In 1906, Sir Wilfred presented the St. Andrew's Society of Philadelphia with one of its three gavels. It is made from oak, copper, mahogany, and iron from Lord Nelson's favorite ship, "Foudroyant."

1911 Parish: Harry J. Ulkloss

Harry J. Ulkloss, 27, born 1884, Pennsylvania, parents born in Germany
6316 Wheeler Avenue
Wife, Lula M. Ulkloss, 20, born 1891, Pennsylvania (parents born in Pennsylvania)
both employed as shipping clerks
They were still members of St. Peter's in 1927.