St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church

St. Gabriel is located three miles north of Benton on route 487 at Coles Creek, Pennsylvania. The Church was established in 1793.

Sunday services are at 10 am. with Rev. Robert M. Brueckner. Eucharist every 1st and 3rd Sundays. Morning Prayer other Sundays.

Lay readers are Virginia Thomas.

For additional information about the Church and the cemetery, contact Bill or Betty Victory, 570 925-6471.

For a list of people buried in Coles Creek Cemetary, St. Gabriels Church, go here.

For a brief history of the church, originally published July 17, 2005, in the daily edition of the Benton News, go here.

Picture courtesy of Betty Fritz Victory

St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church
Established 1793
Cole's Creek, PA 17814

Route 487, three miles north of Benton

The 2003 St. Gabriel's Homecoming

Saturday, July 19, 2003, Time for Family Research

The Rev. Joseph W. Hess, Jr., Swarthmore, PA, takes time to collect the group doing family research to assemble on the steps of the Church for a picture.
Front row, from the left: Helen Poust, The Rev. Joseph W. Hess, Jr., Betty Victory, Edith Lefact, Polly Laubach Eckrote, Vindee Hippensteel, Marilyn Seward
Second row, from the left: Helen Hess, Ruth Overdorf, Harry Hess, Dorthy M. Hess, Helen Gammon
Third row, from the left: Maud Luskey, Susie Fritz Jablonic, Winifred Neufor, Barbara Hess Shenk, Mary Cline, Jerry Fritz
Back row, from the left: Sarah Newhart, Franklin Newhart, Burt Sickler, Lee Shenk, Fred Poust

HISTORICAL OUTLINE

In his book "The Church in Columbia County" by John G. Freeze published in 1883 reference is made to St. Gabriel's Parish by name but few records are available until 1812. In 1793, Rev. Caleb Hopkins is credited with organizing parishes in Milton, Jerseytown, Bloomsburg and Sugarloaf township. It is recorded that Rev. Hopkins moved to Angelica, New York, in the fall of 1824 and died there soon after.

1793: Rev. Caleb Hopkins

1812-1824: Rev. Caleb Hopkins

1825: Rev. William Hdred

1828-1832: Rev. James DePui

1828-1829: Rev. Lucius Carter performed some Baptisms

1832-1834: Rev. Benjamin Hutchins

1836-1840: Rev. George C. Drake

Feb. 1838: Rt. Rev. Bishop Onderdonk preached

May 1846: Bishop Potter preached

1871: Rev. John Hewitt

1876-1879: Rev. J. M. Harding

1877: Rt. Rev. M. A, Howe, DD LLD baptized several persons with Rev. J. Harding

1879-1899 Rev. John D. Rockwell
1901-1920 Rev. David W. Kirkby
1920-1926 Rev. Howard Ake
1934-1937 Rev. Stuart F. Gast

1946-1948: Rev. DeVere Shelmandine, Rector - Christ Church, Berwick baptized several

1951-1952: Rev. Haire - Baptized serveral persons

1952-1954: Rev. James C. Stanley

1954-1957: Rev. Holmes — Baptized several person

1957-1964: Rev. Robert A. Pearson

1964-1971: Rev. John D. Crandall

1971-1976: Rev. Daniel Erdman

1976-1978: James Fetterman, Lay Reader

1978-1981: Rev. Catherine Welton, H. Jerome Grafius, Lay Reader-in-Charge

1981-1992: Rev. H. Jerome Grafius, Deacon-in-Charge

1993-1994: Rev. Nathan Muwombi

1995-1996: Rev. Canon Mark M. McCullough , Jr.

1996-1997: Rev. Canon Mark M. McCullough, Jr. and
Lynn Sinnott, Lay Reader

1997-1998: Rev. Canon Mark M. McCullough, Jr., Vicar-in-Charge; Rev. Alan C. Mead, Pastoral Care

1998-Present: Rev. Alan C. Mead, Vicar-in-Charge

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS — Information gathered from various sources: Columbia County Historical Society, Berwick Historical Society, and newspaper clippings as well as the aforementioned book by John G. Freeze. There is an account of an interview by Eleanor Sands Smith, local author and poet, with Miss Katherine Swartwort, in the file at the Columbia County Historical Society, Bloomsburg, giving "Information for the Interior" and "Information for the Outside" of the church.

July 15, 1828: Consecretation of church building — Rt. Rev. Bishop Onderdonk

September 28, 1832: Deed for church property from Ezekiel Cole and William Cole to John Roberts and Henry Fritz , Trustees for the Presbyterian, Episcopal and Lutheran congregations worshiping at said church. Deed recorded April 22, 1851, Deed Book "L", page 533. Years later, reorganization occurred and the Episcopal church became the sole denomination.

April 9, 1876: PALM SUNDAY - Church burned.

April 17, 1876: EASTER MONDAY — A meeting was called and after discussion, a building committee chosen and authorized to proceed with the rebuilding of the church. By procurement of Rev. John Hewitt Mr. A. F. Clapp, Sunbury, drew the plans and specifications which were adopted.

May 23, 1876: Mr. John G. Freeze furnished the church Comer Stone which was inscribed: 1812 - 1876 ST. GABRIEL'S

The following articles were deposited in the Comer Stone: copy of the Book of Common Prayer; copy of the Churchman of May 20, 1876; copy of Church Journal of May 13,1876; copy of the Episcopal Register of May 13, 1876; copy of the Benton Weekly (local newspaper); copy of the Church Kalendar Nos. 3, 4 and 5 of Vol. 3 containing a history of St. Gabriel's; supplemented by a sketch of the fire, names of vestry, building committee, contractor, clergy in attendance, a silver 25 cent coin of 1876 and a five cent coin of 1875.
(Above items as listed in the book "The Church in Columbia County" by John G. Freeze.

November 30, 1876: THANKSGIVING DAY First service after rebuilding the church.

1877 See the obituary of Montgomery Cole. For a photo of Montgomerey Cole and his wife Evelina Campbell Cole, go here and for a picture of his tombstone, go here. Montgomery Cole was one of forty four citizens (democrats) arrested near the end of the Civil War and taken to Ft. Mifflin. For more information on this subject from this website, go to FEATURES, then The Fishingcreek Confederacy.

May I, 1877: St. Gabriel's Church was consecrated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Howe, Rev. Harding, Rev. John Hewitt, Rev. Peck, Rev. Zahner, Rev. Caskey assisting.

February 4, 1878; Parish Charter granted to St. Gabriel's.

March 8, 1878: Charter recorded. Deed Book 30, page 504.

June 25, 1881: Deed for Rectory lot from Alinas Cole and wife to Jacob Fritz, John Swartwort, Lowry Cole, B.D. Cole, 1. B. Cole and Isaac Krickbaum, vestrymen. Deed recorded May 9, 1895, Deed Book 58, page 15.

1882: The Rectory was built from funds left to the church by Mr. Walter Nichols, uncle of Mrs. John Swartwort.

1882: The BELL, a gift of Miss A. Blanche Berard, sister of Mrs. Swartwort was put up among the pines the Saturday before Easter. The bell weighed in at 400 lbs. and was cast on April 25, 1882. Visit the Meneeley website for more information on their bells. The bell is a Meneely made at Troy, New York. The inscription on the bell reads: "0 Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord..." It was brought, with great labor, from Bloomsburg by help of a wagon and team of horses (the Stage). At one time, St. Gabriels owned the distinction of being the only church known in the world to hang its bell in a tree.

Picture courtesy of Richard Shoemaker

The Bell as it hangs in May, 2003.

1888: The first offering for foreign missions was presented at St. Gabriel's by the Sunday School children who had gathered nuts in the Fall, sold them and gave the proceeds to missions.

October 18, 1893: "Ned", the "Missionary Horse," is buried under the giant oak tree. The horse had served the Lord by its faithful service to Rev. Rockwell who owned the horse for over thirty years. The horse in its old age had to be fed strained food and mash. The Rector loved the animal and wished it to be buried near consecrated ground.

September 25, 1896: The church was partially destroyed by a cyclone and so badly damaged services could not be held there until the first Sunday of the next Lent.

January 19, 1899: Julia Anne Rockwell, wife of Rev. John D. Rockwell, buried.

August 17, 1899: Rev. John D. Rockwell buried. The graves of Rev. John Rockwell and his wife, Julia, are in the enclosed area behind the church under the large altar window. The Rev. Rockwell was the only Rector in residence St. Gabriel's ever had.

1922: The large altar window was the gift of St. Margaret's Guild and other private donors. It was consecrated in 1922 by Bishop Darlington. Such a large congregation was present that the sermon had to be delivered out-of-doors. The Bishop traced the history of the seven archangels and told of Gabriel, messenger of God. The first altar window was broken in a storm when a giant tree fell on the roof. That window, a gift from the Berard family, was a copy of a window in the chapel of Christ Church, {one source says Cambridge, another Oxford}, England. The window on the side of the Altar was given in memory of
the Rev. Howard Ake, Rector who served St. Gabriel's in the 1920's.

November 1952: The stained glass windows on either side were given in memory of pioneer families and faithful members of the congregation: Cole, Hess, McHenry, and Swartwort. The lighting system was given in memory of Mrs. Arthur Underwood (nee Maude Bigart) by Miquon Chapter, Daughters of American Colonists. A dedication service for both the windows and the lighting system was performed by the Rev. Haire, former Rector at St. Gabriel's.

July 16, 2000: The original bell cast in 1882 and hung in the pine tree in 1884 was rededicated after being restored at the McShane Bell Foundry, Glen Burnie, MD, from a grant from the Kaplan Fund secured by Mr. Brad Cole and hung on a new tower designed and constructed by Mr. Franklin Newhart.

June 2001: The United Thank Offering of the Episcopal Church Women gave a grant of $38,000 to St. Gabriel's toward the addition of an indoor restroom, more storage for altar paraments, gathering room and outdoor ramp for easier access.

March 2002: Work begun on the addition by Benton contractor E. Lee Remley.

September 2002: Work completed on the Sunday School/social hall addition complete with an indoor rest room.

GLEANINGS OF INTEREST

We are told the wooden pews of large virgin timber were cut with a "pit saw" courtesy of James Peterman, pioneer settler and Church Warden in 1812. The interior church walls are of native chestnut, now extinct.

Author/historian John G. Freeze, in the aforementioned book, tells of a conversation with Esquire Schuyler of the church in Jerseytown (also founded and served by Rev. Caleb Hopkins) who describes the Rev. Hopkins thus: "I was born in 1801, and he baptized me as an infant. He was a man whom if you once saw you would never forget. He was over six feet in height, powerful frame, and with flesh enough to round the frame to perfection."

The old cemetery behind the church is a resting place for many of the area pioneer settlers, some of whom where veterans of the Revolutionary War.

PRESENTLY

Sunday School begins at 10:15 a.m. followed by the worship service at 11:00 AM. Holy Communion is celebrated the first and third Sundays of the month with Morning Prayer the alternate Sundays. Festival services of the church year (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter, Christmas Eve) are announced in the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise newspaper.

Rev. 8-21-02

Any records concerning St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church (baptism, marriage, burial) from family Bibles or other family sources

would be greatly appreciated. They may be sent to:

Mrs. Betty Fritz Victory
2250 Fritz Hill Road
Benton. PA 17814
email: bvictory@epix.net

Oh, Fair St. Gabriel! A poem by Miss Mary Seaver, written for the consecration of St. Gabriel's

"Oh, Fair St. Gabriel!"

The old log church among the hills!
No record, date assigns,
We know not by whose hand 'twas built,
St. Gabriel of the pines.

Beneath the awful mountain's shade
Amid the fragrant grove
It stood a witness for our God,
To lift the sign of Love.

Far up among the hills it stood,
Well nigh forsaken, too;
Its voice of prayer and praises hushed,
What work had it to do?

In prayers and praises hushed, said I?
Each bird, each wind-swept pine,
Perhaps the passing angels, too,
Held service there divine!

Till in the Lord's appointed time,
Touched by a heavenly fire,
Each beam a living spark became,
To kindle new desire.

What could they do, that feeble flock?
They worked with hearty wills,
Till from its ashes rose to life
St. Gabriel's of the hills.

And when God clad again the scene
With faint, soft, vernal hue,
We met to consecrate to Him.
St. Gabriel anew.

For lasting as the ancient hills,
The Church shall still endure,
The old, old creed, the bishops' line,
That makes succession sure.

Old men were there who wept to hear
The prayers they loved so well,
The Bishops and his priests to see
In fair St. Gabriel.

From far and near, a Wondering crowd,
Men rough and rude were there,
Who ne'er a Bishop's face had seen,
Nor heard the Church's prayer.

And on the altar, meetest gift
To deck the holy place,
The choicest of all woodland flowers,
That strives to hide its grace,

Like lowly works of love and faith,
That bloom in hidden ways,
And breathe their fragrance out to Heaven
But shrink from human praise!

Lord! at this Font and Altar blest,
Through many a year to come,
May souls be born and fed and trained
For their eternal home.

For blessings on this mountain Church
We lift today, our prayers,
Still may it in Thy presence stand
Like Him whose name it bears.

No less, upon the mountain side,
Amid the sighing pines,
We know Thy Holy Spirit dwells,
Than in the richest shrines.

Now parting for our homeward road,
We bid our hosts farewell;
And peace, to those who seek the peace
Of fair St. Gabriel.