AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

On the 13th day of April in the year 1843, John H. Holman of Calvert’s Hill, Richard J. Gilliam of Buena Vista, and Richard W. Royster of Manakin Farm as trustees of the Episcopal Church (per the deed) purchased from William H. Harrison and his wife Deborah, of Middlesex, one and one quarter acre (per the deed) of land for $62.50 on which to build this church.

Mr. Harrison, a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, came to this area in the 1820s. In 1827, he bought part of the Middlesex tract of Millwood plantation from John Philip Barretier Harris and built Middlesex that same year. The tract of land that Mr. Harrison sold to the trustees was the northwest corner of his property.

As was the custom at the time, the clay was dug and the bricks were made very close to the building site. The church which was 32’ by 36’ and the original brick wall were built, it is believed, by Mr. Harrison’s son, Thomas B. Harrison. The church was consecrated on April 10, 1845, by Assistant Bishop John Johns. According to vestry minutes, the slate roof was authorized in 1887.

In the 1890s the south end of the church was remodeled and the recessed sanctuary was built adding 12 feet to the length of the building. The magnificent rose window was ...(click here to continue)