Littlejohn thanked Henry Hilton, but not by name.
And then only second to this feeling toward our venerated benefactress is that which we cherish toward him who is so generally known as her chosen friend and advisor. The informing, directing mind in this work from the beginning he has put upon everything that we see in the impress of his ripe judgment, his cultured sense of the beautiful, and, where it may be had, the congenial vesture of the useful, his vigilant, painstaking care extending to all details. Gladly do we avail ourselves of this first appropriate occasion thus publicly to record our estimate of his elevated and comprehensive views from the start and our gratitude for his invaluable services in bringing thus far on the way to its consummation this magnificent scheme of affiliated Christian institutions. It is our earnest wish that he may find some part of his reward for these years of watchful, responsible labor in the success of what he has done so much to establish. Nor must we fail to suitably remember the architect of this structure, him whose mind conceived, whose pencil drew, and whose eye watched over the slow elaboration of these forms of living peace.
Hilton was seated next to Mrs. Stewart in the front row at her right hand, a position he had occupied for the past nine years. Conspicuous by its absence was any mention of the late A. T. Stewart’s remains or the crypt far below the cathedral, where his body was reportedly interred.
GARDEN CITY’S CATHEDRAL
A GREAT CROWD AT THE OPENING SERVICES
Bishop Littlejohn Pays A Warm Tribute
To Mrs. Stewart’s Generosity And
Mr. Hilton’s Judgment
The Cathedral of the Incarnation, in Garden City, Mrs. A. T. Stewart’s costly memorial to her millionaire husband, was opened for public worship yesterday. Enough people waited around its elaborately carved doors for admittance to have filled the Roman Catholic cathedral in this city. Ten car loads of enthusiastic Episcopalians, many of them business and professional men, with their wives and children made an early breakfast and took a special train from the Long Island City station. Eleven more cars, filled with devout worshipers from Brooklyn, joined them. … The appointed hour of public service passed and still nearly 1,000 people, who had traveled miles to participate in it, had not been able to get near either of the three entrances.
—New York Times
April 10, 1885
A two-hundred-foot spire was built on the Gothic brownstone cathedral, making it, at the time, the tallest building on Long Island. An enormous stone tower hovered over the entranceway to the cathedral, and atop it was a brilliant brass cross. Dozens of stone buttresses were built off the main tower, and the angular roof line and variety of conical spires piercing the sky were adorned with a wide assortment of stone gargoyles, copper- and brass-covered towers, and elaborately carved stone pinnacles.
The massive front doors of the cathedral were carved with depictions of the saints, and a series of enormous, meticulously designed stained-glass windows began in the cathedral’s vestibule and continued down the length of the vast building. All of the windows contained full figures of saints and apostles, each telling a particular biblical story and each perfectly and precisely drawn down to the most minute detail. Overhead hung a series of elaborate brass chandeliers that lit the way down the aisles of the cathedral. On either side of the aisles were rows upon rows of carved wooden pews lined with purple velvet cushions with gold braid. Huge octagonal mahogany bays were built along the length of the building to house the organ and choir sections that overlooked the congregation seating.
The altar at the front of the cathedral included eight sculptured white marble panels, each separated by columns with huge black stone columns at the corners. Two statues in white marble, one depicting Hope leaning on an anchor and the other of Religion carrying a replica of the cathedral, adorned the front of the church. Toward the front of the altar were two bronze lecterns, the right-hand lectern adorned with an intricately designed eagle, the base of it showing Christ surrounded by a group of children. The lectern on the left included a winding shaft of leafs with a group of men and women gathered at the base of it. The stone floor leading up to the lecterns had a colored, inlaid marble coat of arms of the Episcopalian Diocese of Long Island, and the vestibule was adorned with an elaborate marble depiction of the Stewart coat of arms.
Beneath the main chapel in the basement was the mortuary chapel, and connected to it was a prayer room featuring finely carved wooden pews. The mortuary chapel and prayer room were separated from the rest of the cathedral by two pillars of white carved marble closed with a massive and gleaming brass gate.
Thirteen narrow stained-glass windows ran the length of the basement. The windows included a series of coats of arms, crests, and the likenesses of several bishops of the Episcopal Church. In the center of the basement was a huge marble urn inscribed with the words: “In Memoriam.” Across from the urn were dressing rooms for the bishop and other clergy. An elaborate iron and brass circular staircase led from the upstairs chapel down to the basement and dressing rooms. Most of the basement was devoted to classrooms for Sunday school.
On April 17, 1885, nearly a week after the grand opening of the cathedral, Bishop Littlejohn presided over a special Episcopal convention at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn to consider accepting the new cathedral in Garden City. Close to one hundred clergy and laypeople took part in the convention. The convention not only had the task of accepting the new structure but also of coming to some agreement on the conditions Mrs. Stewart had placed on the magnificent and generous gift she had offered. Along with giving the new cathedral to the Episcopal Church, Cornelia had stipulated that the church would have to agree to make Garden City the seat of the diocese and that the bishop would have to establish his residency in the home built for him in Garden City. The delegates quickly adopted resolutions to accept the cathedral and all the conditions Mrs. Stewart had attached. The headquarters of the diocese would be in Garden City henceforth.
On May 22, 1885, Cornelia Stewart signed over the deed of the great cathedral and all of its adjacent buildings and schools to the church for one dollar. The deed was immediately placed on record. The deed forbid the church incorporators to convey, lease, or mortgage any of the property. Consecration services for the cathedral were scheduled for June, and it was Stewart’s wish to have the recorded deed placed on the altar during the consecration ceremony.
SERVICES OF CONSECRATION
Ceremonies To Take Place At The
Cathedral Of The Incarnation
The Cathedral of the Incarnation at Garden City, Long Island, which was built by Mrs. A.T. Stewart as a memorial to her husband, will be solemnly consecrated on Tuesday morning next, in the presence of the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Long Island, the clergy and laity of the Episcopal churches in other dioceses, and such of the general public as see fit to attend. … Bishop Littlejohn, of the Diocese of Long Island, will officiate. … The ceremonies will include the formal presentation of the cathedral to the Bishop … and the placing on the cathedral altar of the deeds of conveyance of the church property with documents assuring to the diocese a perpetual endowment of the cathedral.
—New York Times
May 27, 1885
On June 2, 1885, the official service of consecration was held. The seating capacity of the cathedral was estimated at 1,500, and more than two hundred more chairs were located along the aisles and the back and sides of the church to accommodate the multitude of guests, including clergy, dignitaries, and invited guests. Hundreds more gathered outside the cathedral trying to catch a glimpse of the services inside and listen to the music and choir. Unlike the April grand opening, which was cold and rainy, June 2 was a warm summer day. The flowers were blooming and the trees and finely manicured lawns were green and vibrant.
Inside, Cornelia Stewart, dressed in a modest black silk dress with hat and veil sat in the front pew with
Henry Hilton once again at her side. Immediate family members and friends sat in the pews behind and beside her. Bishop Littlejohn sat in a chair along the altar. A cadre of Episcopal bishops from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois occupied places of honor in seating along the front altar. With them were representatives of St. Stephen’s, Trinity, Hobart, and Columbia Colleges, and Lehigh University.
Following the recital of the Twenty-fourth Psalm (“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein”), a frail Cornelia Stewart, leaning on Henry Hilton’s arm for support and using a cane, made her way slowly up to the altar, where she presented Bishop Littlejohn the deed to the property. Stewart’s voice was too weak to address the bishop, so, in her stead, Hilton read the formal presentation of the conveyance of the property. With the deed, Hilton told the congregation, was a bond providing for an annual endowment to the estate of fifteen thousand dollars to be applied to the maintenance of the cathedral, building, and grounds. Quite literally, the deed was done. Had it taken place anywhere other than within the solemn, foreboding cathedral, the audience might have cheered and clapped. As it was, there were audible sighs and murmurs, many in the vast audience nodding their heads in silent approval.
Following the presentation and acceptance of the deed, Assistant Bishop Potter delivered a sermon based on the Bible’s “First Chronicles”—“The palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.” Potter defended the construction of the massive and costly cathedral in the face of complaints that the money could have been better spent on hospitals, colleges, and libraries rather than such an ornate palace of worship. According to Potter, “Only active Christianity could bring home to men the great fact of the brotherhood of humanity.”
It was the duty of Christians to worship in the finest places they could build, Potter proclaimed, celebrating the idea that “here was a church home to which the common people might freely come on an equality with the grandest in the land.”
THE GIFT OF MRS. STEWART
FORMAL PRESENTATION OF THE
GARDEN CITY CATHEDRAL
Great Throng Witness The Transfer
To The Church Of Property Which
Cost Over $2,000,000
From all the paths men and women walked past the lines and within the guarded doors of the cathedral, which was to pass by legal gift from Mrs. A.T. Stewart to Bishop Littlejohn for the Diocese of Long Island. The gathering had assembled to witness the gift and service of consecration by the Bishop. … Judge Hilton … presented him with the deed to the property, which, for $1, to be paid, conveyed to the church through him, the edifice and grounds on which $2,000,000 had been spent.
—New York Times
June 3, 1885
In December 1885, Henry Harrison, the much heralded architect of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, sued Cornelia Stewart for more than ninety-five thousand dollars he claimed was due him for his professional services. Harrison, a resident of Connecticut, brought suit against Mrs. Stewart in the United States Circuit Court. According to Harrison, he was employed by Mrs. Stewart in 1876 to design and prepare plans and drawings for the cathedral, and he claimed he was also hired as the superintendent to oversee the construction of Mrs. Stewart’s memorial.
The services he rendered to her in the design and construction of the cathedral, according to Harrison, were valued at approximately $111,000. According to Harrison’s suit, he had spent nearly $3,000 of his own money on the project that was never reimbursed, bringing the total amount owed to him to $114,000. Harrison claimed that Mrs. Stewart had only paid him about $18,000 of that amount. According to Harrison, when he demanded the remaining amount due, his request was refused.
According to lawyers for Mrs. Stewart, Harrison had not been Mrs. Stewart’s architect for several years, and he had been paid for his architectural designs and plans. Stewart’s attorney, Horace Russell, maintained that Mrs. Stewart had only employed Harrison for his architectural work and not as superintendent of the construction.
The case was later settled out of court.
At the end of the service of consecration, Henry Hilton escorted the ailing Cornelia Stewart to her waiting carriage. He then made his way through the vast crowd to his own carriage. Hilton always appeared to walk as if someone or something was chasing him, periodically looking over one shoulder or the other, imagining the sound of footsteps behind him as if someone was following close at his heels. Someone was. It was Time, and it was catching up to him.
15
EXPIRATION DATE
In which Cornelia Stewart dies on October 25, 1886, leaving behind a will that bequeaths nearly half of the remaining Stewart estate to Judge Henry Hilton. Stewart heirs seek to have the will voided, claiming fraud by Hilton. The case lingers in the courts for the next seven years before being resolved. In the end, Hilton’s attempts at replicating his benefactor’s retail business success all fail. Hilton dies, and the once great Stewart fortune is gone.
Cornelia Stewart died at her palatial mansion on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street on October 25, 1886, at the age of eighty-four. The cause of death was pneumonia.
She had spent the summer, as she always had, at Saratoga and returned to New York City on September 1. She returned home suffering from a cold. Her ill health forced her to cancel many planned engagements until finally, on the Saturday before her death, when she seemed to regain her strength, she arranged to meet with Judge Hilton and make plans for the week ahead. But by Sunday morning her cold had worsened, and her family physician, Dr. J. C. Minor, was called to the mansion to attend to her. Dr. Minor diagnosed her illness as pneumonia and advised her, because of her advanced years, to take every precaution. She remained bedridden, running a high fever, and had difficulty breathing. One of her grand-nieces and two of her servants stayed up all night at her bedside. By the next morning, her condition had grown far worse. She died around 9:30 on Monday morning surrounded by her grand-niece, Mrs. J. B. Wetherill, her two servants, and Dr. Minor.
Following her death, Judge Hilton was summoned. He gave strict orders that no one except close friends and immediate family were allowed into the house. A private detective was stationed at the front door. Several family members of Mrs. Stewart’s and Hilton’s were summoned to the mansion to pay their respects. Hilton had previously telegraphed Bishop Littlejohn, who was at an Episcopal convention in Chicago. Littlejohn had returned from the convention early to be at Stewart’s side. A private service was arranged to be held at the mansion at 11 a.m. on Thursday with Bishop Littlejohn officiating. After the private service, the body was taken by train to the Church of the Incarnation in Garden City, where a public ceremony was held.
MRS. A.T. STEWART DEAD
HER FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
STARTLED BY THE NEWS
The Millionaire’s Widow Succumbs
To Pneumonia After Only Two
Days Of Illness
Mrs. Cornelia M. Stewart, widow of Alexander T. Stewart, died suddenly yesterday at her home. … Whatever the cause, it was found on Sunday morning that she had caught cold and she began to show symptoms of serious illness. … Everything that could be thought of was done for her, but toward night it began to look as if the chances of recovery were exceedingly small. … Early yesterday morning she became rapidly worse and at 9:30 o’clock she died, very peacefully, surrounded by those who had sat up with her and her physician. … Those who visited the house were Prescott Hall Butler, whose wife is a grandniece of Mrs. Stewart; the Rev. J. B. Wetherill, husband of another grandniece; Mrs. John Hughes, a daughter of Judge Hilton; Judge Smith, husband of Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Stewart’s three maiden sisters.
—New York Times
October 26, 1886
A large crowd gathered in front of the Stewart Marble Mansion on Fifth Avenue the morning of the private funeral. Dark
embroidered shades were drawn on every window. A police guard surrounded the mansion. No one except family and invited guests were allowed inside for the service. When her coffin was carried out into the main hall, about two hundred former A. T. Stewart & Co. employees, along with Mrs. Stewart’s household staff, were allowed to pay their respects. Stewart’s servants were deeply upset. Many of them had been with her all their lives. She had been an employer as well as a friend.
Cornelia Stewart had lived out the remainder of her life since her husband’s death in 1876 quietly, shunning publicity, with her only extravagance being her dresses and cosmetics. She wore expensive gowns and dresses, and kept rooms filled with toiletries and cosmetics. Relatives and friends gathered in the hall after the employees paid their last respects. Bishop Littlejohn said a brief prayer. The coffin was chestnut, covered with black silk, and the six handles were silver. The plate on the coffin read simply: “Cornelia M. Stewart, Died October 25, 1886. Aged 84 years and 5 months.”
Bag of Bones Page 25