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St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal
Church and Cemetery
9473 Unionville Road
Easton, Maryland
Talbot County
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St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church is a simple
construction style building located on the east side of Unionville
Road in Unionville, Talbot County. Laying southwest of the building
is a cemetary, where the gravesones of Unionville's eighteen
founding fathers honor the contributions these men made during
the Civil War. |
| St. Stephens AME Church continues to play a meaningful role
in th history of Unionville. After serving three years in the
Union army by General Order #143, eighteen black Civil War vets
came back to (formerly pro-slavery) Talbot County to create the
town of Unionville (originally called Cowgillstown). By 1877
Unionville was a community with forty buildings, making it "one
of the most densely settled African-American villages on the
upper Eastern Shore." (Bourne, Ridout, Touart, and Ware
1998, 113) St. Stephens formed a congregation in 1871, but the
current church was not
constructed
until 1892,
as noted
on the building's cornerstone. In addition, there was an old
community hall on the church grounds, which served as a meeting
place for local Civil War soldiers; it was torn down in the late
1970s or early 1980s. Throughout the late-nineteenth and early
twenieth century, the original vets, who served in the bloody
confrontations in various Virginia battles, particularly the
Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Petersburg,
and Richmond, were laid to rest in St. Stephen's graveyard. The
following men made major contributions in not only creating this
town, but taking great strides for African-American rights: Corp.
Issac Copper, Zachary Glagow, Horace Gibson, Edward Jones, Henry
Roberts, Sgt. Ennels Moony, Sgt. Frederick Pipes, Corp. Charles
Demby, Sgt. Ennels Clayton, James Gooby, Peter Johnson, Matthew
Roberts, William Doane, John Blackwell, John Cooper, and Benjamin
Demby. |
| The one-story, gable-roofed curch measures 64 feet deep
by 25 feet wide, with a 20 feet by 49 feet modern cinderblock
fellowship hall attached to the northeast corner. |
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| The church has a very simple plan, with a main
block that measures 45 feet deep by 25 feet wide and a small
5 feet by 16 feet steeple
vestibule at front, enlarged by 2 feet in depth in 1999 renovations.
In addition, modern wooden doors replaced the older doors in
the vestibule. |
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| The interior plan of the church contains
an open sanctuary, with a balcony and a choir loft behind
the alter. The wooden
flooring of the sanctuary is completely modern, replaced
during the renovations in the 1990's. |
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| A pair of chamfered posts and a summer
beam provide structural support for the balcony. A winder
staircase,
in the north corner (to the left of
the modern
glass doors
of
the vestibule),
provides
access to the upper balcony. |
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| Two rows of wooden pews create an approximately
3 feet carpeted aisle through the sanctuary which leads to the
alter, pulpit,
and seating space. Light green painted wainscoting and a chair
rail adorn the painted walls. |
| This large space is heated by two stoves,
whose locations were staggered on the opposing side walls:
the stove on the
southwest wall provides heat to the back portion of the church,while
the stove on the northeast wall heats the front. |
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Behind the alter, in the wing, is the choir loft, with
three rows of chairs and an organ. |
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| In addition, this wing has a 7 feet by 15
feet hallway, which can be accessed from the choir loft by
the steps on
the northeast wall, which connects the sanctuary to the fellowship
hall, where bathrooms, kitchen, pastor's office, and meeting
areas are located. |
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The steeple has a circular glass
window in the lower portion above the pointed arch window
and door in the front entry,
as well as eight ten-louvered windows in the upper bell tower
portion. On both the northwest (front) elevation and the
northeast and southwest (side) elevations, the placement
of the windows allows for symmetrical fenestration - three
windows on the side elevations and two windows on the front
elevation. |
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| These pointed, arched windows, which measure
3 feet wide by 9 feet high, are colored glass, with blue,
yellow, rose,
and green colors. |
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For the most part, the layout and style of St. Stephens
is most like Northern Methodist Episcopal Church, but it is
distinguished
by the additional space provided for the congregation in the
form of the balcony and the choir loft. The building has also
had a few modern improvements, such as the addition of the
fellowship hall and front vestibule, as well as the new flooring.
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| St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church continues
to survive today thanks to the efforts of the community that
still worships there. Built circa 1892, the church experienced
various alterations, culminating with a major renovation project
in 1999 which reconstructed the front vestibule, replaced the
termite infested floor, as well as windows and doors, rearranged
the bathrooms and enlarged the kitchen. (Wilson 1987, page unknown)
This renovation work was done largely by the volunteer contributions
of the church
congregation. Currently, to preserve the structure, the church
has applied for two grants, to add new bathrooms, restore windows,
create a new bell tower and expand the hall. In addition, the
congregation would like to restore the graveyard and build a
monument to honor fallen soldiers. The walls of the fellowship
hall are covered with information and newspaper articles that
celebrate the church's history, which will surely continue in
the long future as the congregation is actively working to preserve
their heritage. |
| Contact person: Rev. Charles Robinson (410) 822-6147 |
Bourne, Michael, Orlando Ridout V, Paul Touart, Donna Ware,
Architecture and Change in the Chesapeake: A Field Tour on
the Eastern and Western Shores. Vernacular Architecture Forum.
Crownsville, Maryland: Maryland Historical Trust, 1998.
Wilson, Laura. "A Strong Foundation,” in
Chesapeake Currents. February 20, 1987. |
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