St. John’s Episcopal Church was founded in just fifteen years after Alabama became a State. The building in downtown Montgomery was once a small structure that housed only a small number of pews. This small structure was expanded in 1855 with the help of church architects Wills and Dudley of New York. The first bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, the Rt. Rev. Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, came to the church n 1858. Bishop Cobbs warned against separation as it would lead to war. He died shortly before the war was announced on January 11, 1861. Montgomery was the first capital of the Confederate States. Jefferson Davis and family attended churches services at St. John’s. St. John’s was the site of the Secession Convention of the Southern States. It was voted on, at this gathering, to establish the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Confederate States of America. I guess in someways you could say that St. John’s was one of the first churches to separate from the Episcopal Church, at least for a while. During the war, St. John’s created the Bishop Cobbs orphanage to take care of the many children orphaned by the war in Montgomery and surrounding areas. In 1865, the Union troops arrived in the city and, although many buildings were burned, the churches and homes were spared. The Episcopal Churches were ordered closed by the Union Army and many of St. John’s members conducted church services in their homes. In 1866, the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Alabama voted to return to the Episcopal Church.
In 1869, the church building was leveled to allow further expansion and the choir stalls and organ were moved to make room for a “freedmen” loft for African Americans to attend church if they wished to do so. During the civil rights movement beginning in the late 50’s, the choir stalls were replaced in the loft along with the church organ. At that time, all were welcome to attend and sit any where they liked.
Site Directors and Friends of the Civil Heritage Trail. (2017) Montgomery’s Civil Heritage Trail: A History & Guide. Charleston, SC. The History Press.
You must be logged in to post a comment.