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THE FIRST HALF CENTURY

At a meeting of the vestry of June 22, 1843, the purchase of a lot of ground for $70 was authorized, and on August 24 the cornerstone of the church building was laid by the Right Reverend Alfred Lee, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Delaware. The building was not completed until 1845, when on February 25 it was consecrated by Bishop Lee.

The cost of building the church far exceeded the original limit of $1,500, and in March 1844, it was decided to make an appeal for funds. The resolution adopted by the Vestry included an interesting statement of the reasons for organizing a parish in Newark:

“That an appeal be made to our Brother Churchmen for assistance to enable us to finish the Church we have commenced building, and that it be represented to them, that although the number of professed Episcopalians in Newark, Del., was far too small to enable them to build a Church of themselves, they nevertheless felt bound to make an effort for accomplishing that object. That the situation in a growing village containing a College, an Academy and a Female Seminary is such as to represent a fair prospect of ultimately forming a respectable Parish. That there is a considerable portion of Episcopalian students in the place, on whom it is desirable that the influence of the Gospel through the Church should not be lost during so critical a period of their lives.”

However successful this appeal to the Churchmen outside the Parish may have been, the erection of the church building at a total cost of $3,825 and the maintenance during the early years

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