Our story
Timeline of our history
1600s
1st English missionaries came to the Albemarle Region. Sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG).
1701
12 men met at Hayes Plantation to establish a church (names on a plaque at the back). Land given and a small church building erected (site unknown) on the plantation. Vestry minutes retained since that time.
1703
1st minister arrived around that time.
1703
Virginia Royal Governor, Francis Nicholson, sent 10 pounds sterling to NC Colonial Governor Henderson Walker to be used to obtain a silver chalice and paten for use in the new church. Walker contracted with a Boston Silversmith, Jeremiah Dummer, to make the chalice and the paten. After this, documentation as to what happened to the money and/or the silver is lost to history.
1722
Edenton becomes the 1st Colonial Capital. Town lots bought for a marketplace, a precinct courthouse, and a church. By then Jeremiah Dummer in Boston had died, Henderson Walker had died and no one knew where the silver or the money was. Col. Edward Moseley had married the widow of Governor Henderson Walker.
1725
Col. Edward Moseley gave a silver chalice and paten to the church.
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Surveyor General of N.C. 1710, 1723-33
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1st Treasurer of N.C. 1715
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Died 1749
1736
Construction begun on the present church building. Roof added 1747. Not used for worship until 1760.
1744
Interior woodwork installed by John Hawks. Pulpit built.
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1st trained architect in N.C.
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Built Tryon Palace, New Bern.
1776
Vestry signed the Test (see back wall plaque) on June 19th, 15 days prior to the Declaration of Independence. Vowed allegiance to King and this country, but protested against unfair taxes, meddling in colonial government.
1806
Architect/Builder William Nichols of New Bern came to Edenton to remodel/restore St. Paul’s.
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Added the present woodwork, a wooden floor, and the spire.
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Built present Hayes plantation house 1814-17
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Became the State Architect
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Remodeled the old NC State House
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Tablets of the 10 commandments, the Lord’s prayer and the Apostle’s creed were added.
1820
First organ installed.
1833
Silver flagon given to the church—still in use today.
1846
Present altar rails and chancel furniture were installed, using the designs of Frank Wills, architect of NY.
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This was the beginning of Gothic revival period (Bishop’s Chair).
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Installer rounded the chancel railings instead of pointed, Gothic arches, to reflect the domed ceiling.
1850s
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Rector’s study erected.
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Small silver vases donated.
1857
Chancel window added.
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Executed by Owen Doremus of N.J.
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Given by descendants of Josiah Collins.
1862
Church bell donated to be melted down into a cannon for the Civil War.
1870s
Magnolias planted by Rev Dr. Robert Drane, rector of St. Paul’s for 56 years (1876–1932).
1879
St. Paul’s instrumental in building a separate church for African American members—St. John’s.
1888
Graves of Colonial Governors Henderson Walker, Charles Eden, and Thomas Pollock and their families moved to the church yard—flat graves beside walkway from Church Street.
1947-48
Termites found in the roof/ceiling. Chancel, all interior woodwork, and furnishings (pews, floors, windows, etc) removed for work to be done.
1949
On June 1, fire broke out in creosote being installed on the roof.
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Original brick shell remained.
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Church rebuilt on the interior.
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Original woodwork reinstalled.
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Found tile floor/graves under wooden floor.
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Matched missing tiles.
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Construction company donated the back chandelier, supposedly made in the 1500s. When it was electrified, wiring had to be installed along the arms of the chandelier, as it is made of solid brass.
2007
New organ installed.
2022
After two years of work, a volunteer group called the Kneedlers presented to the church the beautiful needlepoint kneeler cushions presently in use at the altar rail.
Sauthier map of Edenton (1769), courtesy East Carolina University.
Telling our story
Earliest roots
Our rich heritage traces its roots to the turn of the 18th century. It was organized under the provisions of the Vestry Act of 1701, which created the colony's first five parishes and allowed a council of 12 members to tax landowners for building churches. St. Paul’s was the very first parish in the North Carolina colony.
The first church was built on land donated by Edward Smithwick—a plot east of Queen Anne's Creek. Erected in 1702, it was a small wooden structure—about 25 feet long, with a roof on posts and a floor of packed earth. Funds for its construction were raised by a special tax on the County’s “Tythables.” Over the next few years, the Vestry worked to make improvements, but in 1708, plans were drawn up to build a new, larger structure (see attached). While the vestry ultimately decided to keep the existing structure, these rare plans tell us about the early parish’s aspirations... that the young parish, though growing in prominence, still embraced some older traditions.
New brick church rises up
When the old church had outgrown its usefulness, the parish commenced building a new church in Edenton—the bustling capital of the colony. This brick structure, begun in 1736, was designed large enough for a capital. But it wasn't completed until nearly 40 years later... long after the capital had moved away.
The church, which still stands today, is a five-bay, Georgian-style structure with a gable roof and a slightly engaged square tower. Its interior, which today reflects several eras of building, has always featured a long nave and chapel with boxed pews. St. Paul's is considered landmark in the development of religious architecture in North Carolina.
A church of Revolutionaries
During the 18th century, the church was home to some of North Carolina's chief political leaders. The congregation produced two governors: Samuel Johnston (a brilliant leader during the Revolution) and James Iredell. And then there were Thomas and Penelope Barker--she is traditionally credited as being a leader of the Edenton "Tea Party." Also a member, Joseph Hewes—one of the state's three signers of the Declaration of Independence.
But prior to that document St. Paul's created its own declaration of independence. On June 19, 1776, the vestry (governing members) signed a new oath of allegiance of the colony to the king and constitutional government, which at the same time protested against unfair taxes and unjust meddling in colonial government. Entitled “The Test,” a copy of the text is engraved on the interior back wall of the church (shown). Even with such sympathy for the cause of the American Colonies, the Revolution had a disastrous effect on St. Paul’s as the Anglican (Church of England) denomination fell into disfavor and funds from England ended.
The church falls into disrepair
Sporadic efforts after the Revolution to organize a Protestant Episcopal Church in North Carolina failed to materialize (which would change in 1817, when the Reverend John Stark Ravenscroft became the first Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.)
By the 1790s, without Anglican funds from across the Atlantic, the
building was becoming dilapidated. It was still used for occasional services, funerals and Masonic ceremonies. A document described it as having been "reduced .... to bare walls" by the turn of the 19th century.
1850 sketch
Renovations and a spire
In the summer of 1805, a committee examined the building and started a drive for funds. In December they hired William Nichols, a young English architect who was later to become state architect: he remodeled the old capitol in Raleigh and designed a number of buildings at the University of North Carolina.
Nichols did not alter the exterior of the church, but he argued steadily and at last successfully for the addition of the spire over the tower.
The interior, on the other hand, had to be almost rebuilt: new girders, new joists, and a new wooden floor; new columns on brick piers; new collar beams to strengthen the roof; the chancel floor raised; the galleries reconstructed, with raised bridging for the back pews and the aisles; the chancel wainscotted and railed in with square balusters; new stair to the galleries; a new pulpit, reading desk and pews;· new door frames, doors, and window sashes; and a cornice and frieze along the edge of the cove ceiling.
The interior of St. Paul’s remained relatively unchanged until 1848, when the present chancel woodwork and furniture were designed by another English architect, Frank Wills of New York. One of the leaders in the Gothic Revival movement in the United States, Wills so respected the Romanesque forms of the existing apse and the barrel-vaulted ceiling that he used the same motifs in his own design.
From termites to inferno
In 1947 an examination of the church revealed termite damage, loose plaster, and shingles in bad condition under the slate. The church was stripped, after detailed architectural studies and drawings had been made, and everything removable was stored, including flooring.
Then on June 1, 1949, the church caught fire, and the galleries, roof, and spire were burned. A column in the local newspaper reported that people wept in the streets as they saw the church burn. It was
again reduced to the bare walls But because the walls were not harmed by the fire, and because of the previous removal of much material and the detailed studies already made; the church could be rebuilt. The roof, spire, galleries, were carefully reproduced; the
wooden floors beneath the pews, the pews themselves, the other furniture, and various memorials and plaques had all been safely stored.
A historic landmark & modern church
Today the church, still in regular use, looks essentially as it did before the fire—its long and lively history reflected in its blend of pre-Revolutionary brick walls and tower, original and reproduced Federal era interior work by William Nichols, and later 19th century chancel furnishings. You can read detailed architectural descriptions from our National Register of Historic Places form.
The oldest material possessions of St. Paul’s are our book of vestry minutes begun in 1701, and a silver chalice and paten given to the church by Edward Moseley in 1725.
Over three centuries have elapsed since the organizing of St. Paul’s Church. While remaining a link with colonial days and welcoming all visitors, it continues to serve as a house of worship for an active and growing congregation. Today, the members of St. Paul’s continue to build on the firm foundation laid in its formative years.
The Moseley Silver
The Moseley Silver refers to the chalice (cup) and paten (plate) given to St. Paul's by Col. Edward Moseley in 1725. Moseley commissioned Williamsburg silversmith Alexander Kerr to craft the silver set for St. Paul's.
The second chalice (left side in photo) is a replica, made in 1993 so that two Eucharistic ministers could serve the wine at communion. Also pictured is the 1833 silver flagon.
This silver set is one of the church's oldest surviving artifacts and predates the current 1736 church building. The Moseley Silver embodies the historical connection between our church and its early benefactors. It is still in use today on Christmas and Easter, or on other high holy days in the church as designated by the Rector.
Moseley "may have been the single most important political figure in the first half of the 18th century in North Carolina," according to NCpedia, which also states, "He was a man of great and varied skills: politician, surveyor, book collector, vestryman, planter, and attorney."