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
Evening Prayer 1982 in celebration of Washington’s 250th birth
Return to referring page From the archives of Barbara Willis. Worship with the 1662 Prayer Book: [pdf-embedder url=”https://history.churchsp.org/wp-content/uploads/eveningprayer1982.pdf”]
The Eagle Lectern
Return to referring page “In 1895 Mrs. Annie T. Harrison of Philadelphia, a generous friend of St. George’s on numerous occasions, presented the congregation with ‘a very beautiful and costly antique brass’ lectern. (Quenzel, Page 57). It honored George Rothrock (1798-1865) and his wife Louisiana Rothrock who is buried in our graveyard and was in … Read more
St. George’s Civil War – Part 9 – Aftermath and Conclusion
Return to referring page The war ended in 1865 leaving Fredericksburg in disarray, affecting all life within. John Hennessy, National Park chief historian of Fredericksburg, writes “By war’s end, the community had been transformed, physically (more than 80 buildings destroyed – just under 10% of the city), economically (personal wealth dropped by more than 70%), … Read more
Part 8 – The Church as a Hospital
Return to referring page By May, 1864, Julia Wheelock, a Union Relief Worker, describes the medical scene, after the three of the four Civil War battles that affected Fredericksburg: “All the public buildings—the Court-House, churches, hotels, warehouses, factories, the paper mill, theatre, school-buildings, stores, stables, many private residences— and, in fact, everything that could give … Read more
St. George’s Civil War – Part 7 – Return of the Church
Return to referring page Church services had been a part of the both armies on Sunday. But after Antietam in September, 1862 more and more revivals were requested by the soldiers themselves and not necessarily from chaplains. Many troops also came from a revivalist background. Officers supported revivals since there was the belief that Christian … Read more
St. George’s Civil War – Part 6 – The Sacking of Fredericksburg
Return to referring page Beginning on the night of December 11, 1862 and continuing into the 12th, Fredericksburg suffered a level of destruction that had not been seen up to that time. After the event about $170,000 in donations came to the city to cover part of the losses or about $3.6 to $3.7 million … Read more
St. George’s Civil War – Part 4 – Parishioners in the Fray
Return to referring page Even before forces clashed Fredericksburg, we were close to the early battles in central Virginia to have an affect on life here. Confederate troops were garrisoned here and unfortunately fell victim to disease. Minutes from a City Council meeting on Nov. 1, 1861, record how a section of the city-owned Potter’s … Read more
Part 3 – The Church in 1860
Return to referring page Both St. George’s and Fredericksburg were on a growth spurt just prior to the Civil War when the disaster of war struck. The Church experienced rapid growth in membership in the 1820’s, early 1830’s and then in the year prior to Edward McGuire’s death in 1858. However, there had been some … Read more
St. George’s Civil War – Part 2 – Pictures and Photographs
Return to referring page There are only a few photographic pictures of St. George’s during the Civil War. However, those we have show a young church less than 15 years old. The next pictures would not be taken until 40 years later after George Eastman had developed transparent roll film and the roll holder that … 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
