CHURCHES OF GRAND LAKE

 

 

The Church Finds its People (Chapter XXVI - Grand Lake in the Olden Days by Mary Lyons Cairns)

 

Of the earliest church services, held in 1879, and of the Sunday School, Harriet Proctor Boyle said:  "“The first church services were held in a pine grove, about half a mine down the road.  The preacher was a presiding Elder of the Methodist Church.  During the prayer my brother Alec’s (A. Phimister Proctor) bird dog collected all the men’s hats and hid them under Alec’s seat.  We children thought that was funny, but we couldn’t laugh in church, even though it was outdoors.”

 

And of the first Sunday School she says: “Later the editor of the paper started a Sunday School on the other side of the lake from our house, where the town was and my sister Nellie has (in 1943) the book of poems he gave her for committing the most Bible verses to memory.”  Items from the early issues of the Prospector tell something of the desire for church services in those days, and of how those desires were fulfilled.  January 18, 1883:  “A Sunday School has been started at Hot Sulphur Springs with Dr. Bock as Superintendent.  That shows what a good example will do.  Grand Lake deserves a vote of thanks for awakening religious thought among the heathen.  Teller should now fall in line and organize a Sunday School.”  “The Sunday School at Grand Lake is flourishing like a green bay tree, under Mr. Butler’s management.”  August 7, 1884:  “Bishop Spaulding will arrive from Denver on the coach tonight.  He will hold services in the Chamberlain-Hertel Building at 8 P.M. tonight and at 10 A.M. Sunday morning.  On Sunday evening he will hold services at Hot Sulphur Springs.  Everybody is cordially invited to attend.”

 

Sometimes Sunday School was held in the big boathouse of Young’s Rustic Hotel.  “One Sunday morning we almost didn’t have it”, said Josephine Young, “for we had a dance in the boathouse the night before and Harry Randall (his real name was Michael Dooley) was stabbed to death.  We had to work hard to get the bloodstains washed off the floor in time for Sunday School the next morning.”

 

Sept. 4, 1884:  “Rev. W. B. Craig preached for the last time on Sunday to a very attentive congregation.  During his short stay here Mr. Craig has endeared himself to the people, who are all sorry to see him leave.  We hope to see him again next season, and can assure him of a hearty welcome.”

 

As time went on the need for a church building was felt, and this need was met by a gracious gift from Mrs. Victoria O. Annan of Hot Sulphur Springs to the Episcopal Diocese.  It was a medium sized building which stood on a beautiful site overlooking the lake.  The frame building, the exterior of which was made of upright siding and battens, was painted a light gray.  A wooden cross adorned the front gable.  The interior was pleasingly unique, with exposed rafters, burlap covered walls, and rows of high backed pine chairs in place of pews.  On the handmade rustic altar stood a cross of aspenwood.  Cross-cuts of jackpines formed candleholders.  The lectern, too, was hand-made.  A sweet toned organ accompanied congregational singing, and of those who served as volunteer organists Miss Margaret Hart, Mrs. Henry R. Pratt, and Mrs. William H. Hoffstot are oftenest recalled.

 

Dean H. Martyn Hart, founder of St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, had a summer home for his family at Grand Lake.  He and his three daughters became the dominant figures in holding together this little church, and he conducted more services there than any other clergyman.  His magnetic personality, his religious fervor, and his simple wisdom drew people of many sects and creeds to his congregation; often the little church was filled to overflowing and people sat on rocks and tree stumps outside, listening to his service through open doors and windows.

 

Any minister who happened to be in the Grand Lake region was invited to spread the gospel from this church, and clergymen from many parts of the United States accepted the privilege.  In addition to Dean Hart these men stand out prominently:  Canon E. W. Sibbald, Rev. William Bayard Craig, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, Dean Davis, Rev. W. R. Hodges, and Colorado’s beloved Bishop Johnson.

 

Sherman Coolidge, zealous, sincere, and of outstanding personality, was an Arapahoe Indian, and evens in his life read like a storybook.  After an Indian battle, when he was seven years old, he was threatened with execution, but United States Cavalry officers arrived in time to save his life.  He was taken into the home of Lieutenant and Mrs. Coolidge, adopted by them, and educated for the Episcopal ministry.  He went to Wyoming and became a missionary to his people.  Later he built Arapahoe Lodge at Grand Lake where he and his family spent many pleasant summers.

 

Sherman Coolidge told of this touching scene with his mother:  “When I was grown I returned to the reservation hoping to find my mother.  I did not know her, but she recognized me at once, and ran to me.  Mothers never forget.”  He had a ready smile and a keen sense of humor.  “My Arapahoe name is Edes-cho-wa-ah,” he said, “which means to run swiftly over ice.  But we Coolidges,” he added with a twinkle, “do not choose to run.”

 

Ruth Kauffman McLaren recalled especially that Rev. Coolidge would be sure to stand at the door to shake hands with everyone.

 

Rosemary Kauffman Wilkin remembers the little church and its organ on many occasions – including when she and her sisters were christened there.  She remembers that usually there were more people than chairs; so both doors were opened and people sat on the rocks outside as well.

 

Patience Cairns Kemp remembers sunshine coming in the east window on the grass matting of the sacristy and small printed church school leaflets with bright pictures.  (Our mothers would sometimes take us there for a sort of Sunday School.  We would march to “Onward Christian Soldiers” either there or at the Kauffman House or at our house.  Patience.

 

Louise Stephens remembers that the first time the Community Church had a dinner they borrowed this organ from Mrs. Rhone and carried it to the basement of the new church to accompany singing at the dinner.

 

Trinity Church in the Pines (a Community Church under Presbyterian jurisdiction) was not established until long after pioneer days, but among its membership are a number of descendants of pioneers.  It was dedicated August 30, 1942, after five years of freely offered labor, and money raised in various ways.  The ground on which this church was built was given in memory of James Cairns, (a member of the Presbyterian church in his native Canada,) by his widow and daughter.

 

(From book)

Catholic services have been held at Grand Lake since the summer of 1907.  Martin J. O’Fallon and his wife Mary first came to Grand Lake in the summer of 1904, and in 1905 built their summer home.  Here they brought numerous nieces and nephews for long summer vacations, but they were troubled over the fact that there were no Catholic services for the children.  Always liberal minded, they attended Dean Hart’s Episcopal services, and often Mr. O’Fallon passed the collection plate.  But they felt that the young people under their roof should not be too long away from their own faith.  So they arranged to have Mass in the livingroom of Avoca Lodge.  A long rustic table covered with a white linen cloth served as an altar.  On it were placed the tabernacle, the candles, and other appurtenances of the Mass.  Usually these masses had to be said on weekdays, for the priests could not leave their regular parishes on Sundays.  Sometimes Father Meyers came from Steamboat Springs; at other times priests came from Denver, among them Bishop Matz, Father Teehan who later became a Bishop, and Father McMenamin, afterward a Monsignor.  The O’Fallons extended the hospitality of their home to the priesthood.

 

The young people grew up and married, and their children came along.  Many other Catholic families came to the community, and the O’Fallons felt that the time had come to establish a chapel.  With this in mind, they bought a house from Myron Wescott, had W. C. Gregg and his son remodel it, and in 1918 the church was ready for use.

 

The pews and altar were hand made.  Father Agatho of Boulder designed the altar and W. C. Gregg built it.  Father McMenamin blessed and dedicated the church and named it in honor of St. Anne.  The organ was a very old one, brought across the range with freighting teams in the early eighties by Mrs. Young of the Fairview House.  The first donation to the church came from Edward J. Low, a summer resident from Salina, Kansas.

 

For their generosity to the church Mr. and Mrs. O’Fallon were honored by Pope Pius XI, and were each given a beautiful medal and a certificate.  These were brought to them from Rome by Bishop Teehan.  A few years later they visited the Vatican and had an audience with the Pope.

 

When the congregation outgrew this first chapel, a new and much larger St. Anne’s was built in another location.  It was formally dedicated in June 1958 with solemn High Mass by Rev. Thomas Barry in the presence of His Excellency, Arch-Bishop Urban J. Vehr, D.D.   In his sermon the Very Reverend David Maloney paid tribute to the M. J. O’Fallon family of Denver, who were responsible for Grand Lake’s first St. Anne’s.  “The spiritual good to the community,” he stated, “is immeasurable”.

 

 

THE CHURCH ORGAN IN KAUFFMAN HOUSE DINING ROOM

The first church building in Grand Lake was near the other end of this block, about lot 10.  The building and lot were given to the Episcopal diocese by Mrs. Victoria Annan.  Some Episcopal clergymen held services there:  Canon E. W. Sibbab, Rev. Sherman Coolidge (Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe Indian who became an Episcopal minister.), Dean Hart (Dean H. Martin Hart of St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, conducted many services here.), Bishop Johnson (Bishop Irving P. Johnson, who conducted services in the little Grand Lake church long before he became a Bishop), – but any clergyman was welcome.  Rev. Wm. Bayard Craig, Rev. W. R. Hodges frequently held services there.

 

 

People of all faiths came to the church where this organ was.  This included Mr. and Mrs. M. J. O’Fallon who later gave St. Anne’s Catholic chapel.

 

In time another community church was built now called Trinity Church in the Pines.

 

 

 MEMORIES OF AN EARLY GRAND LAKE CHURCH

BY THE KAUFFMAN GIRLS

 Sept 1, 1980

 

 

Dear Patie,  (Patience Kemp)

 

              While I was visiting you, you repeatedly asked me for a memory of some kind about the little church.  At the time, I couldn’t think of any other than being baptized.  I thought I had my record here and I was going to see who the minister was but I remember putting it in my safety deposit box at the bank.  Next time I’m in there I’ll look.

 

              Since I’ve had time to think a little, I’ve had several other thoughts.  The flowers on the Altar, sometimes columbines but the ones I remember best is Mariposa Lilies.  We nearly always sat in the front row or near a window and I could see the birds hopping around on the rocks outside.  I remember how we hurried home on the trail past the pink house and Miller’s cabin thinking about the good Sunday dinner ahead.  Sometimes we stopped and picked some little white daisies by Millers.  To this day, the scent of wild roses brings back Sundays and the little church.  I don’t recall ever seeing roses in the church so they must have been blooming outside and the scent came in the open door.

 

               I was always so impressed with Rev. Coolidge in his white robe, probably because he was an Indian and a minister.

 

              And Mrs. Hoffstat’s wonderful hats as she played the organ.  Also those uncomfortable chairs where my feet never hit the floor, which was just as well for my black patent leather Mary Janes usually hurt my feet.  And the relief of finally putting the penny in the offering and getting it out of my sweaty hand as well as the relief of the knowledge that I hadn’t lost it.  And of course there was the responsibility of seeing that Rosemary put her penny in and sat still.

 

              Then there was the interest in seeing the men and women in their Sunday clothes.  I’m sure the cottagers were not clad as they would at home for church but to me it was very fancy.  I was used to seeing them in their fishing and hiking clothes.

 

              I could go on, but don’t you think that’s enough?

 

                                                                                                                            Love,

                                                                                                                            Ruth Kauffman McLaren

 

Memories of the Little Grey Church on the Hill

 

The altar was pine made with bark left for trim.  The cross was aspen.  The chairs were painted a dull orange and were not too comfortable.  The organ was beautiful.  I was always glad if we arrived a bit late for services so we would get to sit on the rocks outside.  The doors and windows were opened so we could join in the singing but didn’t have to pay too much attention to the long sermons.

 

Rev. Sherman Cooledge conducted most of the services I remember.  He was an Arapahoe Indian.  I was always impressed with his stern face and the long robes he wore.  His youngest daughter Rosebud was born on the Rosebud Reservation and was one day older than me.

 

Several summers we would start out with Sunday School classes and received Sunday School papers which I liked but everyone got too busy so classes didn’t last through the season.

 

We three Kauffman girls were baptized in the little church by the Bishop of Western Colorado, Benjamin Brewster, on October 3, 1915  (Mother’s birthday).  I am sure he came to the Lake for a special reason other than our baptism.  Our parents probably just took advantage of his visit.  Ruth and I were very disgusted with the whole idea since we didn’t know any other children that had been baptized so we spent the day before the ceremony making mud pies to bombbard the Reverend.  The pies were all laid out to dry on the steps of the snow bin in readiness.  Needless to say we didn’t get to use them.  Margaret was a baby and she cried so hard when the Rev. took her in his arms Papa had to take her out.  I was next.  The good Father picked me up – I was most uncomfortable.  At five years of age I thought that was too much.  He must have thought so, too, for he had Ruth stand.  Mrs. Cairnes and Mrs. Schnoor (Aunt Carrie) were our Godmothers.

 

                                                                                                                             Rosemary K. Wilkin