History of St. James' Parish

Good things don't come from those who wait, they come from those who strive to make them happen.

Jill Fleeson

IT WAS THE YEAR 1859:

It was the year Oregon was admitted to the Union as a free State.

It was the year the Richmond Enquirer recommended the establishment of a strict surveillance over northern visitors as well as the Virginians who dealt with them.

It was the year overland mail arrived in St. Louis from San Francisco in 24 days.

It was the year John Brown led a raiding party of 16 white and 5 black men on the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. At his trial, John Brown was found guilty of treason, conspiracy and murder and was hanged. Ralph Waldo Emerson hailed him as ".... that new saint who will make the gallows glorious like the Cross."

It was the year Harriet Beecher Stowe accepted an invitation to dine at the Atlantic Club on stipulation that no wine be served.

It was the year Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Billy the Kid were born.

It was the year Washington Irving died.

It was the year Episcopalians in Hackettstown built St. James' church and were admitted as a Parish in union with the Diocese of New Jersey in Burlington.

THE HISTORY

Although St. James was established as a parish of the Diocese of Newark in 1859 it had no formal organization until 1939. At that time the church was termed a 'preaching station' rather than a mission.

Just prior to World War II, St. James was organized as a mission by Canon Leslie. However, in 1979, a local parishioner, Dr. Ernest Dalton, discovered papers which proved that St. James had originally been established as a parish in 1859. This status was never abrogated; thus for all those years St. James was incorrectly called a "preaching station" and "mission."

The life of St. James is rich with tradition and history. The parish has grown side-by-side with Hackettstown. The parishioners commissioned a special exhibit to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the parish. You can read much more about the rich history of the parish by visiting the St. James' website at http://stjameshackettstown.org

THE RECTORS

1941 - 1945 The Rev. Sydney Grant
1945 - 1947 No full-time priest
1947 - 1949 The Rev. George Palmer
1949 - 1953 The Rev. Clarence Buchanan
1953 - 1965 The Rev. Clarence Sickles
1965 - 1969 The Rev. Arthur Wing III
1969 - 1986 The Rev. Harry Brant
1986 - 1994 The Rev. Duncan Clark
1995 - 2000 The Rev. Wayne Riley
Updated: 13-Apr-2007
Created: December 2000