St. George’s History comprises individual articles, documents and collections around the 300 year history of St. George’s Episcopal Church, located in Fredericksburg Virginia. This site is unrelated to St. George's main website.
Supplementing them are a category-based search, a content index and a timeline. We have two tour documents - a building summary and a 15 minute walking tour you can take in the church.
If this is your first visit, check out the 2 tours - building summary and a 15 minute walking tour.
Recent articles
Avis Harris (1915-1996)
By February, 1968 Avis Harris had taken her seat as one of the “vestrymen” and the first woman to sit on the Vestry. While women served, many customs from the past remained. It was not until 1978 that “vestrypersons” replaced the term “vestrymen” in the minutes. Dr. Carroll Quenzel had first proposed a female vestry … Read more
St. George’s 1754 Bible Repaired
After 9 months the 1754 King James Pulpit Bible has been repaired through donations by parishioners and returned to St. George’s. This was a project of the Archives Committee of St. George’s This Bible is the oldest single item of the Church that is in our possession. In fact, we have no other 18th … Read more
Marshall Hall (1843-1903)
Marshall Hall is known for serving over 30 years as superintendent of Sunday School at St. George’s. The Hall family were druggists at the corner of William and Caroline Streets and had been since the 1790’s. Marshall’s father John Byrd Hall was active in St. George’s 2nd Church and was one of seven children. During … Read more
Alexander K. Phillips (1805-1892)
Alexander Philips was chiefly a commission merchant in grain and other commodities a field he inherited from his father Samuel Phillips. Before the era of the railroad, Fredericksburg played a major role in shipping throughout the Americas. After Samuel Phillips died he used part of the estate to establish his own company A. K. Phillips … Read more
Thomas F. Knox (1807-1890)
Thomas F. Knox (1807-1890) was from Culpeper and came to Fredericksburg in 1821 to work with his uncle William A. Knox and became a “wheat speculator and flour manufacturer” according to Quinn’s history of Fredericksburg. The Central Rappahannock Regional Library has part of a diary when Knox was in his 20’s describing a trip to … Read more
John W. Herndon (1870-1952)
John Herndon was born and grew up in Fredericksburg for his first four years but spent most of his adult life away from the town. Educated in Washington DC he lived in Alexandria and worked with a variety of government agencies – the Census bureau, US Capital, Treasury Department. In retirement he moved to Charlottesville … Read more
Lent, 1899
The next to the last year of the 19th century saw Easter fall on April 2nd. William D. Smith was the rector at St. George’s having assumed that position as of January, 1897 at the tender age of 34. St. George’s was a traditional place. Marshall Hall had been superintendent of Sunday school for 34 … Read more
1. Carrol Quenzel's History of St. George's
Quenzel's 1951 history is still the standard for the church. He was a librarian for Mary Washington College as well as being active at St. George's, helping to create the St. Georgian newsletter as well as a part of the Vestry. We have the entire book online which was published by St. George's
2. The Three Churches of St. George's - Barbara Willis
Barbara Willis was a local historian and writer and long time St. Georgian with her husband Mac. This paper is a detailed summary of the evolution of St. George's church from its wooden colonial church to the impressive 1849 brick building we have today.
The Civil War may be the most popular historic topic in all of our history. The church served in 3 capacities - as a fortress, center of revival and as a hospital. We have a 9 part series on our role and relationship to Fredericksburg.
McGuire served all 3 churches over the course of 45 years. He is probably the most influential of all our rectors in all phases of ministry from preaching, teaching, and outreach. Trip Wiggins, our archivist, wrote this for a Sunday school class and has been teaching classes for years
5. Charles Syndor on Social Policy
Charles Sydnor served St. George's from 1972-2003 and was responsible for furthering Thomas Faulkner's outreach ministries and creating new ones. This paper he wrote in 2009 was for an adult forum in that year.
6. Tom Faulkner confronts the Vestry on race
Faulkner served St. George's for 30 years from 1946-1976. During these years racial policies were paramount, especially 1954, in the year of Brown vs. Board of Education, Faulkner was challenged by the Vestry on the role of Blacks in our service. He was able to move St. George's toward racial justice that other rectors would further
