The Brick Church erected in 1736 on Well's Hill, now known as Old Blandford Church of Bristol Parish, is located in Petersburg, Virginia adjacent to Blandford Cemetery. During the American Revolution the Battle of Blandford also known as the Battle of Petersburg was fought nearby in 1781. Following the battle Major General William Phillips was ordered back to Petersburg to meet Lord Cornwallis who was moving north From Wilmington, North Carolina. While in Petersburg awaiting the arrival of Cornwallis, Phillips fell ill and died on 13 May 1781. He was secretly buried somewhere in the churchyard.
The church building was abandoned in 1806 after the construction of another Episcopal church in Petersburg when the Town of Blandford in Prince George County was absorbed by Petersburg. Necessary repairs for its preservation were made by the City of Petersburg in 1882. The church originally had clear glass compass windows but after more than 75 years of abandonment and neglect the windows and doors were long gone. As part of the restoration project, the Ladies' Memorial Association solicited funds from each former Confederate state for the creation and installation of a stained glass window in memory of the Confederate soldiers from that state. Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio was commissioned to design the fifteen memorial compass windows. Each of the large windows contains the image of a Saint and symbols associated with the Saint. The four smaller windows were designed to complement the larger ones.
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History
At their meeting on November 18, 1900, the Ladies' Memorial Association decided to ask permission to make "Old Blandford Church" into a "mortuary and memorial chapel. " Fifteen windows were installed between 1904 and 1912. Most display a state seal, the figure of a saint, and an inscription. Eleven were donated by each of the former Confederate states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Two were donated by Missouri and Maryland. Kentucky, another border state, was the only state that refused to participate. In addition, there is a window of a Christian cross of jewels donated by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
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Confederate state windows and representative saints
- Saint John the Evangelist- Virginia
- Saint Paul- Louisiana: The Washington Artillery funded the Louisiana window. It is the only state window that doesn't include a state seal. Instead, it features the insignia of the Washington Artillery.
- Saint Bartholomew- North Carolina
- Saint Philip the Apostle- Tennessee
- Saint James the Less- Mississippi
- Saint Luke- Texas
- Saint Peter- Missouri
- Saint Mark- South Carolina
- Saint Andrew- Alabama
- Saint Thomas the Apostle- Georgia
- Saint Matthew- Florida
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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