St. David's Episcopal Church

As one of the oldest extant religious edifices in Austin, Texas, St. David's Church has followed a pattern of expansion parallel with the rise in prosperity of its parishioners and of Austin. From the church's founding, its parishioners have been prominent in local, state, and national politics, commerce and society. Architecturally, the several additions and alterations to the church indicate a changing perception of church design and the functional requirements of a "high" Episcopal service. Finally, the building's architectural heritage expresses the use of the Gothic Revival style in Texas church design. The original structure was an early English Gothic chapel which acquired formidable Victorian Gothic additions. It become an example of the progression and development of this style.

St. David's was an outpost of the Episcopal Church in Texas, for as late as 1859, there were only twelve Episcopal parishes in the state. The small settlement of Austin was considered a mission field by the Episcopalians who desired to establish a parish there.

Some of St. David's important parishioners and founders in 1851 were former officials of the Republic of Texas, such as:

• James H. Raymond, Assistant Treasurer of the Republic and later Treasurer of the State of Texas.


• Robert Barr, emigrant from Scotland, was Postmaster General of the Republic.


• Tom Green, was a Colonel in the Army of the Republic and hero of the Indian Wars.


• Judge Joseph Lee, Chief Justice under President Lamar.

Other founders were prominent citizens in the town:

• S.M. (Svante Magnus) Swenson, Swedish colonizer, financier, founder of the First bank in Austin, also founder of the most famous ranch in Texas, the S.M.S. Ranch.


• Dewitt Clinton Baker, wrote the first history of Texas in a series of newspaper articles and helped establish Austin's city library.


• Governor Elisha Pease & John Milton Pease, members of the prominent Austin family.

Two men in particular had the vision of an Episcopal parish in Austin and carried it through to fruition. Edward Fontaine came to Austin as a private secretary to President of the Republic, Mirabeau B. Lamar in May of 1841. The great-grandson of Patrick Henry, Fontaine was a lawyer, scientist, and surveyor, and as a layman, he led Bible studies. He did not settle in Austin until 1851. During the interim the Reverend Charles Gillette of Houston was asked by the Episcopalians in Austin to organize a parish there in 1848. The parish was called Christ Church and lay readers performed the services as there as no resident minister.

Fontaine became an ordained Episcopal minister and returned to Austin 1851. He renamed the parish, the Church of the Epiphany. Under his direction the lots at the corner of Bois D'Arc (7th street) and San Jacinto streets were purchased for $100.00 from a parishioner, the former Governor George T. Wood. The cornerstone was laid April 7, 1853 and the building was completed in late 1854 at a cost of $6,000.00. Two years later the church was split by dissension over the slavery issue and the North-South controversy. Twenty congregation members of Union sentiment left to form a new church. Reverend Charles Gillette was called as minister by the Unionists. Two parishes existed until the bitterly disappointed Fontaine left in 1850. He was a Southern sympathizer and left Austin to later become an officer in the Confederate Army.

The Parish was reunited through the influence of Bishop Alexander Gregg of the Texas Diocest and renamed St. David's. It was named for St. David's Cathedral in Wales and St. David's Episcopal Church, Cheraw, South Carolina, home church of Bishop Gregg. Gillette was the Rector of the reunited parish. Controversy existed between Gregg, who actively supported succession and Gillette who refused to allow politics in the church. Gillette finally resigned in 1864 and the Reverend Benjamin Rogers succeeded him bringing a new affluent and confident phase in the history of the church. Rogers was able to end the factional split between the parish and church hierarchy. The City of Austin and consequently St. David's Parish, prospered with the establishment of a federal outpost after the war. In 1870 the addition of the imposing south facade with bell gable and towers decidedly changed the little chapel's appearance and image.

The period that brought much prominence and visibility to St. David's was during the rectorship of Thomas Booth Lee who succeeded Rogers in 1875. Lee was a native English man, Oxford graduate and accomplished orator. The Parish grew in numbers and the church itself acquired a new sanctuary, wider nave and much interior remodeling. St. David's was humorously called the "Dime Opera House" during the 1890's for it hosted choir recitals, social hops, suppers, theatricals and bazaars. On one occasion, a professional traveling theatre troupe was hired to raise funds for the expansion and remodeling.

Another example of St. David's involvement with the community is the role it played in providing health care for Austin. St. David's parishioners purchased the Physician's and Surgeon;s Hospital in 1924. Under the name of St. David's Hospital, it has developed into a major city facility served by a women's auxiliary, originally headed by women from St. David's parish.

Throughout its history, St. David's architecture has reflected the changes in the emphasis of the religious service. The requirements of Episcopal liturgy are based upon a strong focus on the Eucharistic service. In this aspect Episcopal churches as a rule emphasize the sanctuary in the interior composition. St. David's varies somewhat from this general rule because of its tradition of strong oratory and preaching; through Fontaine, Gillette and Lee, and also because of its "Missionary" beginnings. However, as seen by the 1885 addition of chancel and apse the increasingly affluent parishioners desired the "high" church quality of a strong ritual emphasis. Ultimately, after many change-^, the plan of St. David's is Bascilican, with Narthex, Nave, side aisles and defined chancel and apse. The Episcopals brought to Texas this traditional of ritual services and elaborate churches.

The Episcopals also were inclined to build their churchs in early English Gothic Revival as was St. David's, in respect to the origins of the Anglican Church. Using native stone and conveying strength and conviction, the decoration was restrained, with simple pointed-arched openings and a steeply-pitched roof. Some influence for the severity must be credited to the frontier and rural location of early Austin. Later additions of the bell gable, towers and sanctuary reflect a high Victorian Gothic style with tall proportions, heavier moldings and details. Growing prosperity made possible more pretentious religious edifices. Gothic Revival, as seen in St. David's, reiterated the church's purpose as place of worship and also the dignity of the parishioners. The towers and bell gable of St. David's are unquestionably romantic and are as much a statement about the sacred nature of the structure as an illusion to the aspirations of those who worshiped inside.