Early History

In 1883, the Rev. Wallace-Neil established an Episcopal congregation in a brownstone located in a townhouse at 181 East 109th Street in an area that was still characterized by open land and some rural development. Reflecting the growth of the surrounding neighborhood as Manhattan developed northwards, by 1885 the parish was officially incorporated and land for a church building was purchased. The church building was constructed two years later in 1887 to the plans of an unknown architect. The first mass was held in the newly-consecrated church on November 28, 1887 and the church applied for admission to the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York on August 28, 1888.

In 1888, Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry a wealthy and socially prominent criminal lawyer and president of the New York Yacht Club, was attracted to the parish by its Anglo-Catholic ceremonial. Under Gerry's patronage, the parish's reputation for its High Church Anglo-Catholic ritual was solidified. 

Dr. Neil, along with his close friend Bishop Grafton of Fond de Lac, was one of the leaders in the high church movement in the Protestant Episcopal Church. From the beginning, St. Edward’s was known for its elaborateness of the ritual in its services.

An excerpt from Dr. Neil's sermon on the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the parish:

From the very start S. Edward's parish has identified itself with the Catholic cause in the Church. Its sympathies have ever been with that portion of the Church militant whose aim and object are to restore to the service of the Church all those parts and portions of her heritage of which she was robbed by Puritan fanaticism. Everything that is beautiful in the service of God, everything that will gladden the eye, rejoice the heart and elevate the spirit, has ever found a congenial environment in this parish. "The best that we have for God," has ever been our motto. S. Edward's was the first parish in Harlem to adopt those helpful auxiliaries in the public worship of the Church, which are so common to-day, but which were looked upon with suspicion and distrust ten years ago, when the old cry of "Romanism" was raised against anything that was beautiful in the service of the sanctuary.

Ours was the first surpliced choir, the first choral service. The first to use the proper priestly vestments. The first to use lighted candles on God's altar. The first to exalt the Holy Sacrifice to the place where it belongs as the one, only, grand and central act of worship, which our Blessed Lord intended it should be. Those acts of outward reverence, those exterior gestures of piety which bespeak the devotion of a religious heart and which go so far towards making the worship of Almighty God a vital reality, were ceremonies peculiar to S. Edward's ten years ago and were openly frowned upon and cried down by Churchmen of the neighboring parishes.

In 1902, reflecting the parish's growth and its need for additional space, a newer parish house was built, which was subsequently enlarged in 1904 and again in the late 1920s. In 1902, Gerry submitted plans for an ambitious renovation of both the interior and the exterior of the church building. 

The architect for the new chancel was J. B. Snook & Sons. Established by Jonathan B. Snook (1815-1901) who studied under Joseph Trench, the Snook firm was known for its distinguished clientele of members of New York's prominent families. Among the works undertaken by the firm were the old Grand Central Station and a number of houses for 
members of the Vanderbilt family. At the age of 15, Snook's son, Samuel B. (1857-1915), began working as a draftsman for his father's firm and became a member in 1872. Samuel Snook took over the leadership of the firm with his father's death in 1901 and was well known for his designs for religious buildings, among them: All Angels Episcopal Church and the Tabernacle Church of Brooklyn. The church's interior decoration, including the reredos, altar, stained glass, mosaic, marble and metal work, was undertaken by Charles R. Lamb (1860-1942), a member and later president of the firm J. & R. Lamb Corporation. A specialist in the field of ecclesiastical design. Lamb was also known as the planner of a number of theaters and apartments in New York City.

A newspaper article from the period noted that "The redecorated interior... is one of the most churchly in New York. The scheme of decoration is an elaborate one, and provides for changes that have cost over $30,000. A magnificent reredos represents our Lord, surrounded with the angelic host. The altar is of white marble, marked out in gold, with inscriptions. The chancel is decorated in a dark green."

By the time the new chancel was completed, the surrounding neighborhood began to undergo profound transformations. Tenements were built in the area, initially inhabited by German and Irish immigrants. In 1927, the Gerry family established the Lake Delaware's Boys Club to provide a summer camp for local boys and the parish house was altered with the addition of a gym and meeting rooms on the second floor. Gradually neighborhood demographics changed, and after World War I the patron's family and other benefactors left. It was no longer a rather elite up-town parish. English and German immigrants were replaced by Italian, Jewish and West Indian. By the late 1930s, the neighborhood was becoming increasingly Hispanic, although approximately 40 percent of the population was West Indian. A letter from the Bishop of New York notes "In order to assist our Spanish and Puerto Rican fellow-churchman to worship our Lord without fear of conflict..., I have permitted Father Cinchtron to use St. Edward's for their weekday services until the danger of race riots is over.... Last Thursday evening, so far as I know, was the first time there has been a service to the Glory of God in a foreign tongue in our Parish Church." In 1952, Saint Edward the Martyr became the first officially designated mission for Puerto Ricans in the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

St. Edward's has always maintained the fullness of Anglo-Catholic worship and theology.

About King Edward the Martyr

King of England, son to Edgar the Peaceful, and uncle to St. Edward the Confessor; b. about 962; d. 18 March, 979. His accession to the throne on his father's death, in 975, was opposed by a party headed by his stepmother, Queen Elfrida, who was bent on securing the crown for her own son Ethelred, then aged seven, in which she eventually was successful. Edward's claim, however, was supported by St. Dunstan and the clergy and by most of the nobles; and having been acknowledged by the Witan, he was crowned by St. Dunstan. Though only thirteen, the young king had already given promise of high sanctity, and during his brief reign of three years and a half won the affection of his people by his many virtues. His stepmother, who still cherished her treacherous designs, contrived at the last to bring about his death. While hunting in Dorsetshire he happened (18 March, 979) to call at Corfe Castle where she lived. There, while drinking on horseback a glass of mead offered him at the castle gate, he was stabbed by an assassin in the bowels. He rode away, but soon fell from his horse, and being dragged by the stirrup was flung into a deep morass, where his body was revealed by a pillar of light. He was buried first at Wareham, and then three years later, his body, having been found entire, was translated to Shaftesbury Abbey by St. Dunstan and Earl Alfere of Mercia, who in Edgar's lifetime had been one of his chief opponents. Many miracles are said to have been obtained through his intercession. Elfrida, struck with repentance for her crimes, built the two monasteries of Wherwell and Ambresbury, in the first of which she ended her days in penance. The violence of St. Edward's end, joined to the fact that the party opposed to him had been that of the irreligious, while he himself had ever acted as defender of the Church, obtained for him the title of Martyr, which is given to him in all the old English calendars on 18 March, also in the Roman Martyrology.

About the Altar and Reredos

The altar is of white marble and was given by Mrs. Harriet B Ranney in memory of her two sons. It was made and erected by R Geissler of New York. The Reredos was added later. It is fifty feet high and twenty feet broad. It is constructed of finely carved oak. The central panel contains a rich mosaic of Christ in Benediction while the side panels are filled with adoring angels. The richness of the mosaic work in the upper part of the Reredos, the blending of gold and various colors, all present a most pleasing harmony. The Bishop of Fond du Lac [Charles Chapman Grafton] writes of the Reredos that "it marks a new stage in the progressive development of ecclesiastical art. The contrast in color between the Choir and the Sanctuary is very effective and significant. The figure of Our Lord vested with outstretched hands, in welcome, not in agony, tell the worshipper of his presence with his people. The details of the work are suggestive and beautiful." The Reredos was executed by J and R Lamb New York City.

[Excerpt from Rev. John Wright, Some Notable Altars in The Church of England and The American Episcopal Church (1908).]