"Evangelical Party" Stephen H. Tyng Clipped Signature For Sale

Up for sale the "Evangelical Party" Stephen H. Tyng Clipped Signature. 

1, 1800 – September 3, 1885) was a leading clergyman of the evangelical party of

the Episcopal Church.

He recognized that a new urban ministry was needed in parts of the city with

growing numbers of immigrants. He instituted social service programs as well as

altering church interiors to make people feel more welcome. Born March 1, 1800,

in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to Dudley Atkins Tyng and Sarah Higginson (and

the brother of sea captain, merchant, and memoirist Charles Tyng), Stephen Tyng attended Phillips Andover Academy

and was graduated from Harvard University in 1817. It was there that Tyng had a

strong conversion experience that led him to leave business to pursue the

ministry. He then headed to Bristol, RI to study theology and prepare for

ordination under Bishop Griswold. Later,

the degree of D.D. was conferred

upon him by Jefferson College of Philadelphia in 1832, and by Harvard

University in 1851. Tyng

married his first wife, Anne DeWolf Griswold (daughter of his mentor), in 1821.

Together, they had four children: Anna Elizabeth, Dudley Atkins, Alexander

Griswold, and Julia Griswold. She died on May 16, 1832, at 27 years of age and

was buried in the churchyard of the Church of the Epiphany. He soon thereafter

married Susan Wilson Mitchell in 1833. This marriage produced an additional

four children: Thomas Mitchell, Stephen Higginson, Morris Ashurst, and Charles

Rockland. It was his last son who wrote and published his biography

"Record of the life and work of the Rev. Stephen Higginson Tyng, D.D. and

history of St. George's Church, New York, to the close of his rectorship"

in 1890. Dr. Tyng died on September 3, 1885, in Irvington-on-Hudson and is

buried with his late wife and children at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New

York. Tyng was considered to be one of the most notable preachers of the time, and leader in the evangelical party of

the Episcopal Church.

He was also well connected to other leading Evangelical Episcopalians such

as Bishop McIlvaine of

Ohio, with whom he shared extensive correspondence throughout his career. Tyng

began his career with short stints as rector of St. George's, Georgetown and

Queen Anne Parish, Maryland before being called as rector to "Old"

St. Paul's Church in Philadelphia. At the time, it was a prominent congregation

well ensconced in the evangelical party (he was preceded there by the Rev.

Benjamin Allen) and a sign of the young man's great promise as a preacher and

presbyter. He was instrumental in renovating the church building to accommodate

Sunday school rooms as he was an early proponent of Christian education. Tyng

remained at St. Paul's until 1833 when the fledgling Church of

the Epiphany called him to be their first rector. Over the next

11 years, he grew the church tremendously until his departure in 1845. He was

called to St. George's

Episcopal Church to become their next rector in 1845 and

remained there for 33 years until retiring in 1878 as rector emeritus.

Initially St. George's was affiliated with Trinity Church and located in Lower

Manhattan at Beekman and Cliff streets, near Wall Street. During that time,

Tyng converted J.P. Morgan to the faith and he in turn helped build a new

church on East 16th Street and Rutherford Place, facing Stuyvesant Square in

New York. Under Tyng, the new St. George served the rich and the poor together,

with 2,000 children in its Sunday School, and funds raised and sent to four

churches in Africa and a school in Moravia . In 1865 the church suffered a major fire and Tyng

supervised reconstruction after a fire. Under his instructions, the interior of the

rebuilt church reflected his views: the altar, for instance, was a plain

communion table. The architect supervising the interior

remodeling was Leopold Eidlitz. He

was the author of numerous pamphlets and publications, and was actively

involved in several Episcopal organizations such as the Evangelical Knowledge

Society, the American Church Missionary Society, and the Episcopal Education

Society. He was also publisher for a time of Episcopal Recorder (the

evangelical party newspaper) and Protestant Churchman.