Saint Peter's Episcopal Church
Salem, Massachusetts
The first congregation of the Church of England gathered in Salem in 1626. Driven underground by the puritans, it re-emerged in 1733 as Saint Peter's Parish, built on land given by Philip English, one of the accused Salem witches. Just before the Revolution it was the State Church of the British Royal Governor, General Thomas Gage.
It is the mother parish to many Episcopal Congregations in this area.
In 1773 Nathaniel Bowditch was baptized here. He later wrote "The Practical Navigator" used by sailors for centuries.
Jonathan Pue, whose "Scarlet Letter" and papers Nathaniel Hawthorne later found at the Custom House, is buried here.
The first Bishop of Massachusetts, Edward Bass was elected here and the Constitution of the Diocese of Massachusetts was adopted here in 1790.
The present church building was erected in 1833 during the tenure of Bishop Griswold, the fifth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
Salem's oldest bell, cast in 1740, hangs in the tower with a nine bell chime, installed in 1887.
Marker is on St Peter Street, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
