Massillon's St. Timothy to be showcased on state history tour

MASSILLON − The historic St. Timothy Episcopal Church will be in the spotlight as part of Ohio History Connection's "Open Doors" program.

A free tour of the church sanctuary, 226 Third St. SE, is planned from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 14.

Ohio Open Doors, held in conjunction with Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Tourism, Ohio Travel Association and Heritage Ohio, features tours of buildings and landmarks in the state as part of a program that runs every two years.

For the Rev. George Baum, the parish's rector, it is an opportunity for people to see the historic Massillon church that was founded in 1835 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The current 1899 building features three Tiffany windows purchased in the early 1900s, and two larger stained glass windows that were installed when the church was built.

What is the Ohio Open Doors tour?

Church historian Margy Vogt, who also offers historic tours of sites throughout the city, said St. Timothy's previously was part of Ohio Open Doors in 2018.

Baum said it has been his goal since his arrival in 2016 to make the parish more accessible and welcoming to the public. In 2018 and 2019, St. Timothy hosted a festival in its parking lot, but the event hasn't returned since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're always interested in bringing people into our beautiful building," he said. "It's easy for churches to become an 'island.' We wanted to change that. The idea of Open Doors fits perfectly. We're opening our doors so that people can see we're making this a place where they're welcome."

Vogt will give presentations on the windows and the famous people connected to St. Timothy, including Massillon founder James Duncan, who served on St. Timothy's first vestry, or board.

"Even though he was a Presbyterian. I don't know how that happened," Baum said with a laugh.

St. Timothy's famed Tiffany windows

Vogt said the church recently received the original receipts for the Tiffany windows. "The Annunciation," a window donated by the Arnold family in 1915, cost $2,750.

The other two are titled "The Lord is My Shepherd," and "The Tree of Life."

"I did the math," Baum said. "It would be about $60,000 today."

Vogt noted that when repairs were made to the windows in 2002, the work cost more than their original price.

She said that because Massillon was a wealthy city during the Gilded Age, Tiffany windows also can be found at the Massillon Women's Club, and in the Dielhenn family mausoleum at the Massillon Cemetery.

In downtown Canton, a Tiffany window can be seen in the former Trinity Lutheran Church, which has been converted into a wedding chapel.

Vogt said Tiffany windows are special because of the process that creates images using opalescent glass.

"They created textures by the thickness of the glass," she said. "They laid one color on top of another."

Some of the other stained-glass windows at St. Timothy were crafted by John LeFarge, a colleague-turned-rival of Louis Comfort Tiffany. She said the two squabbled over who should get credit for creating opalescent glass.

The sanctuary also includes a "Gothic Rose" window dedicated to Caroline McCullough Everhard , who died in 1902. As president of the Ohio Suffrage Association, she secured the right of Ohio's women to vote in municipal and school board elections in the 1890s, Vogt said. A friend of Gov. William McKinley, Everhard also became the state's first woman bank director.

Baum noted that a window donated by the Dielhenn family in 1915 depicts the resurrection of Dorcas the clothmaker as recorded in the New Testament's Book of Acts, which ties into the family's status as the nation's biggest manufacturer of women's petticoats.

Massillon's famous former residents

Vogt said she will share stories about the famous people who have a connection to St. Timothy, including Maude Pratt, who conceived the idea of lighting the Statue of Liberty at night; football legend Paul Brown; sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish; diplomat Robert P. Skinner; politician Jacob Coxey; and two congressmen.

"I always tell people this parish grew up with the town of Massillon," Baum said.

He pointed out that one of his parish heroes is Wright Walker, an ex-slave who worked for the Jarvis family, which donated the stained glass window located above the church's pulpit. Walker, who also worshipped at St. Timothy, donated the choir pews, which are still in use. He also made one of the largest donations in the history of Tuskegee Institute, Baum said.

The church recently commissioned local sculptor David McDowell to make new sculptures of St. Cecelia, the patron saint of music, and the church's namesake, St. Timothy.

Baum said he believes beauty has a place in faith, and St. Timothy is an example of it.

"In this case, it was just about offering up something to the glory of God," he said. "We could have service in the social hall. We could do it without music or vestments and robes. But it expresses an appreciation for the beauty God makes in this world for us."

St. Timothy, he added, is fortunate to have members who are willing to invest in the church's upkeep.

During the tour, Jay Spencer, Kilgen organist at Canton’s Palace Theatre, will play the church's 30-rank Schantz organ, and Baum will perform on the Steinway grand piano.

The parking lot at St. Timothy is accessed from Oak Avenue SE. Visitors are encouraged to enter the red front door facing Third Street, but the green parking lot door requires no steps to enter the sanctuary. For more information about the tour, call St. Timothy at 330-833-3183, or Vogt at 330-844-1525.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com . On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.

History in Massillon

An area of Massillon on Fourth Street NE is listed as a National Register District. The area features mansions dating from the 1830s through the Gilded Age. The Massillon Museum currently has a free exhibit, "Gilding Northeast Ohio: Fashion and Fortune 1870–1900." On Sunday, HBO "Gilded Age" star and Copley native Carrie Coon will speak at 1 p.m. at the Palace Theatre in Canton. The program is free.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Massillon's St. Timothy to be showcased on state history tour