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History of Cathedral’s windows brought to life by visit of donor’s descendants

Detail of the Cathedral window dedicated to Archer Gifford.
By: 
Church News

Anyone who has visited Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral in Newark, perhaps for a confirmation or ordination service, knows it is graced with beautiful stained glass windows. On September 10, 2016, the history of its first memorial windows was brought to vivid life for the congregation when they hosted a visit by the descendants of the 19th-century patriarch who donated them.

Some of the great-grandchildren (and one great-great-grandchild) of the Newark architect Charles Alling Gifford (1860-1937) had gathered in Newark to visit the sites of his birth and youth. When Prosser Gifford, one of two surviving grandchildren who is writing a book about the architect, suggested a tour of the Newark sites, the only great-grandchild still living in New Jersey, Marjorie Phillips, and her husband, T.J. Elliott, took up the idea and organized the visit.

The group visited Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral after they learned that the architect’s father, John Archer Gifford (1831-1924), had been involved with Trinity Church. A successful Newark business man and bank president, John Archer Gifford had been senior warden and treasurer of Trinity Church for many years, and in the 1880s he had contributed the first memorial stained glass windows, which were made in England and dedicated to his father, Archer Gifford (1797-1859), a Newark resident and carriage-maker who had also served as a warden of Trinity Church. John Archer Gifford continued to be involved with Trinity until his death in 1924 at the age of 92. The windows are still vibrantly visible with the original colors and dedicatory language intact.

In addition to learning about the Gifford legacy, the group was fascinated by the Cathedral’s history: its establishment as Trinity Church in 1746; complete rebuilding in 1810; the creation of a separate African-American Episcopal church, St. Philip’s, in 1847, which grew to become large and popular; and Trinity Church becoming Trinity Cathedral in 1944.

St. Philip’s was active until it burned to the ground in 1964. In 1966 Trinity welcomed the African-American congregation back and with the active concurrence of the Rt. Rev. Leland Stark, 6th Bishop of Newark, created the merged congregations of Trinity Cathedral and St. Philip’s Church. In 1992 the Cathedral was renamed Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral. This is story is a good augury for the on-going renaissance of Newark.