The Calvary Episcopal Church (formerly St. James Episcopal Church) is a historic Episcopal church located off Tennessee State Route 48 in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee.
St. James Episcopal Church | |
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| Location | Off TN 48, Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 36°15′46″N 87°21′28″W / 36.26278°N 87.35778°W |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 77001268[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 22, 1977 |
History
editSt. James Episcopal Church was founded in 1878. Its small white frame church building was completed the following year in a Gothic Revival style. The church was consecrated by Bishop Charles Quintard in August 1882.[2]
The builders of the church were Captain James Pierre Drouillard and his wife, born Mary Florence Kirkman.[2][3] Mary Florence Kirkman Drouillard was the granddaughter of Anthony Wayne Van Leer, who was a member of a well known historical family in Pennsylvania and noted in the anti-slavery cause.[4] Van Leer purchased the notable iron works at Cumberland Furnace.[2][3][5] She was heiress to the iron works in Cumberland Furnace as well as 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of land in the vicinity.[2][3] Drouillard was a West Point graduate who served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War; Mary Florence Kirkman shocked Nashville society when she married him there in 1864 (while the state of Tennessee was still at war with the Union).[3][6] For several years, the Drouillards made their home in Cumberland Furnace and oversaw the operation of the iron works.[3][5] In 1870 they built their three-story Italianate mansion home, now known as Drouillard House, on a site that overlooks the community.[2][3][7] They also constructed a school for both black and white children on the land where the church's parish hall now stands.[2][3] In 1882, the Drouillards transferred the church to the Protestant Episcopal Church of Tennessee for $5.[8] The Drouillards left Cumberland Furnace in 1886 and took up residence in Nashville.[3][5] The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[1]
During the 1980s, St. James established a "daughter" church in Dickson. During the 1990s, the church in Dickson was redesignated as St. James Episcopal Church and the church in Cumberland Furnace became a mission church, renamed Calvary Church.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Calvary Episcopal Church History". Calvary Episcopal Church. Archived from the original on 2014-07-26. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jackson, George E. (January 1, 2010). "Mary Florence Drouillard". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
- ^ Smith Futhey, J. (2007). "History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies". History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies. pp. 687–688. ISBN 9780788443879.
- ^ a b c "Captain James Pierre Drouillard II, between 1898 and 1914". Nashville Public Library. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ^ "Captain James Pierre Drouillard". Society of the Army of the Cumberland. 1894. pp. 228–229.
- ^ West, Carroll Van (1995). Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide. University of Tennessee Press. p. 379. ISBN 9780870498817.
- ^ "Cumberland Furnace: A Frontier Industrial Village". Dickson County, TNGenWeb. April 20, 2013.