A Good Read from the May 1999 Newsletter

Episcopal Chapel is 100 Years Old

An early photograph of St. Margaret’s Chapel, courtesy of Frances Krouse.

As Lucy Alice Randall Norton and her husband prepared for their impending move from Arlington to Middletown Springs in 1882, one thing bothered them—there was no Episcopal church in town. Dr. Arthur C. Norton, who had just completed training at the Homeopathic Medical College of New York, was eager to begin his practice and Middletown Springs seemed the right place for them. When they confided in her father, the Rev. John Randall, he advised, “You must build one; no doubt there is an opening.”

It was nearly eighteen years before their hopes came to fruition, Lucy recounted in a paper she wrote in 1900 for a meeting at Trinity Church in Rutland. A.Y. Gray gave her early encouragement, offering a piece of land and $50 a year toward the minister’s salary. Fundraising began with the organizing of a sewing society which made some “fancy articles” and received a few more from supporters. They held a sale in August 1887 at the village school house, then located on Burdock Ave. near the bride to the Springs Park. They decorated the school house with vines and flowers, froze a little ice cream and arranged their goods for sale. Between the townspeople and the Montvert Hotel guests, everything sold and $40 was cleared. “Such amazing success, coming as it did on the start, was very encouraging, and we never forgot it.”

Fundraising continued for several years, including “entertainments” with talent contributed even by people who had no connection with the church. Lucy wrote many letters seeking donations and “subscriptions,” receiving as much a $100 at a time. The land site offered by Mr. Gray was too far out of the village, but a site was purchased on West Street. With the added energy of Rev. George B. Clarke of Poultney, construction of the chapel was begun with a budget of $1200 and plans donated by George Hunt Ingraham of Boston. A gray marble cornerstone bears the date 1899. The first service was held August 20, 1899. 

The building was consecrated as St. Margaret’s Chapel on June 1, 1900, in a ceremony attended by 75 people and led by the Rt. Reverend Bishop of Vermont, Arthur C. A. Hall. The Register of the chapel, preserved by the Diocese, records the event and lists many donated furnishings included a marble baptismal font, gift of Col. Redfield Proctor and a large stained glass window, gift of Arthur Norton and Albert Clarke. 

For many years Episcopal priests from Poultney provided Sunday services at the chapel. Families who worshipped there included Norton, Clarke, Knapp, Hickox, Phillips, Harrington, Cook, Crampton, Krouse, Hutchins and Atwater. From 1955 the chapel was used only in the summer. The last service, in 1900 for a meeting at Trinity Church in Rutland. A.Y. September 1961, was the funeral of Roy Krouse, who had maintained the building for many years. 

In 1978 the Town of Middletown Springs acquired the former chapel from the Episcopal Diocese society for use as a Town library. The pews and bell were taken to St. Mark’s in Castleton. A committee of townspeople, too numerous to name, raised funds, and worked for many months renovating the interior. They moved the library from the Community House to newly renovated building and reopened in October 1979.