Saint John's Church, Richmond, Virginia
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St. John's is an Episcopal church located in Richmond, Virginia.
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[edit] History
St. John's Episcopal Church is the oldest church in Richmond, built in 1741 and giving its name to the Church Hill district. It was formed from the Henrico Parish Church, which was first located at the early county seat of Varina. The original 1741 church building remains as the transept of the current church, built along east-west lines. In 1772, a 40 foot square extension was added to the northern side, orienting the church towards the south, to which end the altar was moved.
In March 1775, the Second Virginia Convention was held in this church. Among the 120 delegates were Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Debate centred around the perceived need to raise a militia to resist encroachments on civil rights by the British Government under King George III. Patrick Henry, a delegate from Hanover County, rose in support of a militia and, with his fiery speech (concluding with the words "Give me liberty or give me death!"), swayed the vote.
During January 1781, General Benedict Arnold, now serving on the British side, quartered his troops in the church when Richmond was occupied.
[edit] Tourism
Although an active church with a ministry and congregation, a small souvenir shop is located within the churchyard, from which regular tours depart, beginning with the tombstones (some of archaic design) marking the graves of many prominent Richmond and Virginia residents and concluding inside the church where the background to the historic events preceding and during the Revolutionary War is described.
Many nearby houses are of historic status, including the one-time residence of Edgar Allan Poe whose mother Eliza Arnold Poe is buried in the churchyard.
[edit] Disambiguation
Saint John's Church is also the name of another historic church in Richmond, also known as Saint John's United Church of Christ and formerly Saint John's German Lutheran Evangelical Church. This church, founded in 1843, was formed to minister to the very large German immigrant population of Richmond (especially the Carver Neighborhood) at the time. St John's was influential in forming the Gesangverein Virginia, or "Virginia" German singing society that was a pillar of Richmond's German community and still exists today pp50-54 [1] [2] One prominent member of St. Johns was CF Sauer, whose family-owned factory exists nearby on Broad Street to this day. [3]. The church also houses one of the three remaining intact EM Skinner pipe organs on the East coast of the United States. Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. and his family were members here during his first term.
