The City Of Chester.

sermon in the church after it was built." Mr. Keith did preach here on February 7th and August 3d of that year, and records: "We were kindly entertained at the house of Jasper Yeats there," and on "Sunday, April 9, 1704, I preached at Chester, on John iv. 24, being my last sermon there." In 1704, Rev. Henry Nichols was appointed missionary to St. Paul's parish, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and reported that the people were well inclined to the Church of England, although they had previous to that time no "fixed minister till now," and that the congregation had made a subscription of sixty pounds a year towards the support of their rector.

In 1718, Rev. John Humphrey, who was in charge of the parish, reported to the society that he could not get a house in Chester to live in, and therefore had to buy a plantation of a thousand acres, about three miles distant. He was not altogether acceptable to parishioners, and, on April 5, 1717, they petitioned the society to appoint another person, which was done, and Samuel Hesselius was substituted in his stead.

Thirty-four years after Mr. Humphreys had complained of the absence of a parsonage, in 1752, the Rev. Thomas Thompson writes to the society: "I found no church wardens or vestry, no house for the minister to live in, nay, not a fit house to hire." Mr. Thompson, it seems, formed no better opinion of the people than the people did of the rector, for in "Rev. Dr. Perry's papers relating to the history of the church in Pennsylvania, 1780 to 1778," Rev. Thomas Thompson is referred to as a man of bad character.

The congregation, however, failed to provide for the missionaries as the rules of the society required, and in 1762 a notice was given them, that if they did not procure better accommodations for their clergyman, and "maintain a glebe, a dwelling-house, and their church and burying-grounds in decent order and repair," the society would withdraw its mission from them. To accomplish these ends the congregation issued a scheme in January of that year to raise £562 10s. by a lottery. The advertisement, after setting forth these facts, states: "They," the congregation, "find themselves under the disagreeable necessity to apply to the publick by way of a Lottery, not doubting that it will meet with all suitable encouragement from the well-disposed of every denomination, as it is intended for the Glory of God, and consequently for the good of the Province." There were 1733 prizes and 3267 blanks, making 5000 tickets in all. The drawing was to take place either in Chester or Philadelphia, on March 1,1762, and continue until all the tickets were drawn. The managers add this addenda to their advertisement:

"N.B. - As the above sum will fall vastly short of completing everything as could be wished, it is hoped that if any are scrupulous as to the method of raising money, yet wish well to the Design, and are willing to promote the same, if such Persons will deliver their Liberality into the hands of Mr. Charles Thomson, Merchant in Philadelphia, or to any of the Managers aforesaid, it will be gratefully acknowledged and carefully applied accordingly."

There is little of interest connected with the church for more than twenty years following the lottery.

In 1835, the old church proving too small for the accommodation of the congregation, extensive repairs were made to the ancient edifice. The old pews were increased in number, each of the large square ones were made into two small ones, the high backs lowered, the double doors walled up, a gallery built across the western end, and under it the main entrance to the church was made. The old pulpit with the sounding-board was not removed, and the great oriel window to the east, in the rear of the clergyman's desk, was not disturbed. These changes made it necessary to remove the old Sandelands tablet. It was placed in the wall on the outside of the building; and during the spring, when the stonework was being whitewashed, it was repeatedly treated to a coat of that abominable compound by the sexton's wife, who did all chores of that character about the church. The ancient bell-tower was torn down, and a small belfry built in the roof at the western end of the building. The bell, which with such difficulty had been procured from England more than a century before, had become damaged by long service, and it was determined to have it recast. George W. Piper and J. Gifford Johnson took the bell in a wagon to Philadelphia, to Wiltbank's foundry, for that purpose. Before this bell was recast the foundry was destroyed by fire, and the heat was so great that tons of metal were fused into a mass. Wiltbank, however, furnished a bell; but it is more than probable that not an ounce of the material in the old one cast by Roger Rice entered into the composition of the one which hangs in the belfry of the present church. No doubt but that the good people of that day believed they were doing a wise act in disturbing the antiquated appearance of the ancient structure and decking it out in modern toggery, just as their successors fifteen years afterwards were actuated by the same idea when they razed the entire building to the ground, and that, too, without getting enough stones from the ruins to lay a third of the basement of the new edifice. Matters drifted on with the parish until 1850, when the change in the current set in, and Chester, after slumbering a century and a half, started into activity. St. Paul's Church awakened with the rest, and began to make provisions for the new order of things. But the error of that day, and it was a serious one, consisted in destroying absolutely the old sanctuary.

The new church structure, which was erected on the north side of Third Street, was built after a plan prepared by T. D. Walter, architect, of Philadelphia, and the cost, it was believed, would not exceed five thousand dollars, although it ultimately cost nearly double that sum. The corner-stone was laid July 25, 1859. Rt. Rev. Alfred Lee, D.D., Bishop of Delaware, and Rev. Charles W. Quick delivered addresses. The building, forty-four by forty-six, was of pointed