Full Parishioner History

Presidents, Freed Slaves, Authors and Artists

Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)
The future 21st President of the United States was married to Ellen Lewis Herndon in Calvary Church on October 25, 1859.

John Jacob Astor III (1822-1890)
Astor, a parishioner who married Charlotte Augusta Gibbes in Calvary Church on December 9, 1846, was a financier and philanthropist and the father of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor.

Henry Bacon (1866-1924)
Attended St. George's Church. Architect of the Lincoln Memorial

Charles Loring Brace (1826-1890)
A parishioner and a prominent social reformer, Brace is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the Orphan Train movement of the mid-19th century and for founding The Children’s Aid Society; he is commemorated in a window in Calvary’s chapel.

Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866–1949)
Burleigh was an African-American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer. He was a soloist at St. George’s Church for 50 years by the endorsement of J.P. Morgan at a time when many other churches did not allow African-Americans to worship in their churches. His singing directly influenced Anton Dvorjak’s “New World Symphony” and his compositions brought African-American spirituals to widespread recognition. His work influenced the Harlem jazz scene. To this day, we still honor Harry T. Burleigh’s work by singing and arranging his music at Sunday Services.

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818–1896)
Coxe, who became rector of Calvary in 1863, was consecrated as the second bishop of Western New York in 1865.

Leopold Eidlitz (1823-1908)
Eidlitz designed the plain interior and the original openwork spires of St. George's Church. The congregation was so satisfied with the design that they rebuilt the church after a disastrous fire in 1865 following the same design, under Eidlitz' supervision. By that time the design was also influenced by Dr. Stephen Tyng, a new pastor hired for what had become a changing urban congregation, in a neighborhood largely filled with immigrants. J.P. Morgan, still an influential parishioner, helped support many social services programs started by the church.

Calvin Hampton (1938–1984)
Calvin Hampton, a leading American organist and sacred music composer, served as Calvary’s organist and choirmaster from 1963 to 1983.

Childe Hassam (1859–1935)
Calvary Church was depicted by the American Impressionist artist Childe Hassam. Works featuring the church include “Calvary Church in the Snow,” painted in 1893.

Seth Low (1850-1916)
This St. George's vestryman was the 92nd Mayor of New York City, mayor of Brooklyn, President of Columbia University, and a US diplomat.

General George B. McClellan (1826–1885)
General McClellan, the major general during the American Civil War who organized the Army of the Potomac, was married in Calvary Church on May 22, 1860.

J.P. Morgan (1837–1913)
It was one of our rectors, The Rev. Stephen Tyng who converted J.P. Morgan to Christianity at St. George’s original location at Beekman and Wall Street. J.P. Morgan was a warden of St. George’s for decades and built up social services at St. George’s with Tyng’s successor, The Rev. William S. Rainsford.

James Renwick Jr. (1818–1895)
Architect of the present Calvary Church building, built in 1848. Renwick also designed Grace Church in Manhattan and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C. His most famous building is St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street in New York City.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
Like several members of the Roosevelt family, the future First Lady of the United States was a Calvary Church parishioner. Her parents, Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt and Anna Rebecca Hall, were married in Calvary Church on December 1, 1883. Eleanor Roosevelt was baptized at Calvary Church in 1885 with her uncle, the future President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, standing godfather.

Mary Simpson (c.1752-1758 – 1836)
Simpson claimed to be the slave of George Washington, who she said freed her while in New York City. She attended St. George’s Church. Simpson ran a bakeshop in the Financial District, where she baked “Washington’s Cake”, a recipe from Martha Washington, every year on George Washington’s birthday.

Samuel Moor Shoemaker (1893–1963)
The Reverend Dr. Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Calvary’s rector from 1925 to 1952, is remembered as a co-founder and spiritual leader of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (1792-1854)
Dr. Wainwright was elected rector in 1850; he was instrumental in the founding of New York University (NYU) and was later a bishop.

Edith Wharton (1862–1937)
The George Frederick Jones family, including young Edith Newbold Jones, lived in the parish and worshipped at Calvary. The rector’s daughter, Emelyn Washburn, introduced Edith to Goethe, who became her favorite writer. Calvary was used as the setting for Mrs. Wharton’s 1920 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence, and Dr. Ashmore, a character in the novel, was modeled after the Rev. Edward Washburn (rector, 1865–81).