Founded in 1872, Muskogee came into being as a railway station when the Katy Railroad built a bridge across the Arkansas River and later the government established the Union Agency for the affairs of the Five Civilized Indian Tribes. Muskogee’s Indian heritage comes from the settlement of these tribes in eastern Oklahoma before statehood: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole and Choctaw. At first, Muskogee was a town of tents and board shanties, but grew and prospered as merchants moved into town. Grace Episcopal Church’s early history mirrors the growth of Muskogee. A review of this rich history is helpful in understanding who we are as a church family.

 

Newlyweds Fred and Florence Morris and Fred’s sister, Mary, were newcomers to Muskogee, a town of 600, in 1892. In January of the following year, Mary read a story in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat about The Rt. Rev. Francis Key Brooke, the newly consecrated missionary bishop of Oklahoma and Indian Territories. (These territories were later combined and became the state of Oklahoma in 1907.) Mary knew a priest in Guthrie, OK and promptly wrote him, asking that he tell the bishop there were three Episcopalians in Muskogee eager for a visit. Bishop Brooke happened to be in Guthrie when the letter arrived and replied that he expected to be in Tahlequah on February 22, and would come to Muskogee the next day. Word quickly spread about the bishop’s plans. On the afternoon of February 23, 1893, a service was held in the Morris home. Bishop Brooke baptized their infant son Frederick and three other children. Later that evening a service was held at First Methodist Church South to a capacity crowd. Following the service, a mission was organized and a committee was appointed to secure a building site for a church. Grace Episcopal became the fourth church in Muskogee.

 

Rev. Henry Tudor was appointed the first priest at Grace and arrived May 1, 1894. After his arrival, land was donated and a small frame church was built on South Fourth Street. The church opened for services on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1895. Before long, a livery stable was built beside the church, making it entirely hidden from view, so the church was moved farther south on Fourth Street. By 1901 the little church on Fourth Street had become too small, and the Ladies Guild began to raise funds for a new church building.

 

In 1903 a decision was made to buy a building site at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and West Broadway. Muskogee was experiencing a boom as the 20th Century began, and Grace boomed with it. Membership doubled in 1904 to 141 communicant members. It was time for the mission to stand on its own. Grace applied to Bishop Brooke for admittance as a parish. The Bishop’s approval made Grace the first self-supporting parish in Indian Territory.

 

In 1906, at a cost of $12,000, the church building with seating for 200 people was completed. The current priest stayed only long enough to see the completion of the new church. The Rev. Hugh J. Llwyd began his 35-year ministry at Grace a few months later. There were now 231 communicants. In 1910 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved a plan to split Oklahoma into the Western District with the Rev. Brooke as the bishop and the Eastern District with the Rev. Theodore Payne Thurston as its bishop. Grace Church served as the Cathedral for Eastern Oklahoma from 1911 to 1919.