Henry Martyn Congdon

Henry Martyn Congdon

Henry Martyn Congdon (1834–1922) was an American architect and designer. The son of Episcopal minister who was a founder of the New York Ecclesiological Society,^[1] he was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1854, he graduated from Columbia College, where he was a member of Psi Upsilon.^[2]

Congdon was apprenticed to John W. Priest,^[3] and following Priest's death, assumed his practice, located at the time in Newburgh, New York. He moved the practice to Manhattan, cooperating for a time with Emlen T. Littel and J. Cleveland Cady,^[4] otherwise practicing alone until he was joined by his son, Herbert Wheaton Congdon. He resided in Brooklyn at the time of his death.

Specializing in churches, he designed numerous Episcopal churches during his career, mainly in the Gothic Revival tradition.

During the Civil War, he served as a member of the 7th Regiment. During his career, he was Vice President of the Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Secretary of the American Institute of Architects.

Chapel of the Good Shepherd (1872), Shattuck-Saint Mary's School, Faribault, Minnesota

Christ Episcopal Church (1878), St. Michaels, Maryland

Works

His church designs include:

• Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, St. Peter, Minnesota, 1869.
• St. Thomas' Episcopal Church (now Union Baptist), Hartford, Connecticut, 1871.
• St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Manhattan, New York, 1872.
• Calvary Episcopal Church, Utica, New York, 1872.
• Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Shattuck-Saint Mary's School, Faribault, Minnesota, 1872.
• Grace Episcopal Church, Paducah, Kentucky, 1873.
• Trinity Episcopal Church, Lime Rock, Connecticut, 1874.
• Christ Episcopal Church, St. Michaels, Maryland, 1878.
• St. Lukes Episcopal Church, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, 1880.
• Christ Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1883, burned 1963.
• St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1886.
• St. James Episcopal Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1888.
• Christ Episcopal Church, Westerly, Rhode Island, 1894.
• Christ Episcopal Church, Ansonia, Connecticut, 1896.
• Calvary Episcopal Church, Summit, New Jersey, 1896.
• Trinity Episcopal Church, Torrington, Connecticut, 1898.
• Trinity Episcopal Church, Carbondale, Pennsylvania, 1899.
• All Saints' Episcopal Church, Easton, Maryland, 1900.
• St. John's Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado, 1903.
• Christ Episcopal Church New Brighton, Staten Island, New York, 1904.
• St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, 1911.

He also designed a number of baptismal fonts and similar appurtenances for other churches.

Gallery

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  Christ Episcopal Church (1896), Ansonia, Connecticut

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  Calvary Episcopal Church (1896), Summit, New Jersey.

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  St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1911), Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.

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  St. James Episcopal Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

1. http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-martyn-congdon-1
2. Obituary, The New York Times.
3. Stanton, Phoebe B., The Gothic Revival & American Church Architecture (Baltimore, 1968), 187n
4. http://www.cttrust.org/ctcopar/2366

External links

• Obituary, The New York Times, March 3, 1922.
• Obituary, Journal of the American Institute of Architects, April 1922.