Wikipedia: St. John's Episcopal Church (Fort Washington, Maryland)
Contents |
Names
The main parish church has been called both Broad Creek Church and St. John's Church. Sources differ on whether the first building on the main site was called St. John's Church from the beginning or only later buildings used the name of St. John's Church. The parish has also been known by various names including Piscataway Parish, Broad Creek Parish and Saint John's Parish. See Piscataway Parish and St. John's Parish, Now King George's Parish, Prince George's County, Parish Register 1689-1801 at the first typed page.
Parish Records
The early parish records are a valuable resource for genealogists. Often genealogical relationships may be found among such persons. See Piscataway Parish and St. John's Parish, Now King George's Parish, Prince George's County, Parish Register 1689-1801. (available for dowloading at the Maryland State Archives, and at FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1674912
Category Usage
Profiles of persons who are named in the parish records prior to 1789 should be categorized under Category: Piscataway Parish, Church of England, Prince George's County, Province of Maryland. Profiles of those named in parish records from 1789 forward should be categorized under Category: St. John's Episcopal Church Broad Creek, Fort Washington, Maryland.
Historic Information
- In 1692, when Maryland became a royal colony and the Church of England was established as the state church, Piscataway Parish, officially named King George's Parish, was the westernmost of four parishes created in what was then Charles County.[1][2][3]
- In 1695, Prince George's County was created from a portion of Charles County and a portion of Calvert County. Piscataway Parish was in the area which became Prince George's County.[4]
- By 1695, the parish had constructed the first St. John's Church, a wood frame building, on the site of the current St. John's Church.[3]
- "It was on this land [78 acres purchased at Broad Creek, a part of Lisle Hall] in 1699 that the parish church was built and it received the name of "Broad Creek Church."[1] (Note: the date 1699 may be an error as the parish register starts with 1689.)
- In 1710, John Fraser became the first priest assigned to the parish. Previously, it had been served by lay readers or priest from surrounding parishes.[3]
- In 1719, the chapel at Rock Creek was built.[1]
- In 1726, the Prince Georges’ Parish was created out of the western territories of the Parish. The chapel at Rock Creek (now Washington, DC) became that parish's church. [1] At this time, Piscataway became known as St. John's.[2]
- Between 1742 and 1775, the parish had two additional chapels of ease: the Upper Chapel (St. Mathew's Church also called called Addison's Chapel, Seat Pleasant) and the Lower Chapel (Christ Church, Accokeek).[3]
- In 1742, the territory was further divided, and out of it was created “All Saints Parish”, with the parish church in Frederick.[1]
- In 1789, the Protestant Episcopal Church was formed by Anglican congregations in the United States of America as they formally separated from the Church of England.
This parish was founded in 1692. St John's Church, Broad Creek, was formed as Piscataway Parish. Its original bounds were "beginning at the moth of the Mattawoman Creek and running up the said Creek and Branch thereof to the utmost limits of the County [Charles] and running North to the line of the Province and then West to the Potomac River and then down the said River to the mouth of the Mattawoman Creek. [5] At the time of formation it was in the portion of Charles County, from which Prince Georges County was formed later. Piscataway Parish was one of the thirty Parishes formed at the time of the Establishment of the Church of England in Maryland in 1692. [1]
Current Information
Website for today's church.
St. John’s, Piscataway, today, is located at Broad Creek in Prince George's County, south of the city of Washington, D.C., between that city and Fort Washington, across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon. [6]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Percy C. Skirvin. The First Parishes of the Province of Maryland. Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1923, 1994, p. 135-136 (these pages are accessible at https://books.google.com/books?id=z_nfuURPa5wC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=St.+John%27s+Church+Broad+Creek&source=bl&ots=bRPCBRIJsH&sig=y64pF_Xhn2oMoWgSdRvsK6kTwrg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPqs6RlfvYAhVB2VMKHcfdCEw4ChDoAQgoMAA#v=onepage&q&f=false : accessed 28 Jan 2018)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wikipedia contributors, "St. John's Episcopal Church (Fort Washington, Maryland)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Fort_Washington,_Maryland)&oldid=819798138 (accessed January 27, 2018).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Christopher Owens (July 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: St. John's Church". Maryland Historical Trust. (pdf - https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-213.pdf : retrieved 28 Jan 2018)
- ↑ Maryland at a Glance: Historical Chronology, Maryland Manual Online: a Guide to Maryland & Its Government (http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/html/chron16.html : accessed 26 Jan 2018)
- ↑ Charles County Land Records, Liber R, p. 460, cited by Skirven .
- ↑ Ruth Zeller, Sketch of Francis Walker, 1985. The present building was built in 1723 and the church is still active. One of the pews bears a plaque concerning George Washington's attendance there. He and his family came over the Potomac in a barge.
Contact
This free space page is based on the work of Rev. Jack Day of Baltimore County, Maryland.