A Brief History of St. Thomas

The history of St. Thomas is not all that different from the history of the Borough of Glassboro itself. Both the community of Glassboro and the church have an interwoven history with many common names and events. The early German settlers including the Stangers, the Whitneys, and the Focers settled in Glassboro in the late 1700's to operate glass outfits due to the fine graded sand in the area. The first mentions of any religious gatherings in the area comes from the diary of a Dr. Nicholas Collin, who was persuaded by the Stanger family to come and hold mass for the local people of Glassboro. His journal states, "Year 1782: In the month of May I preached at the glass works and baptized several children." This was truly a precursor to the formation of St. Thomas.

In 1791 the congregation of St. Thomas built a one room log cabin on N. Main Street in which to hold weekly mass. The building was very humble and included a large window to allow light and a bell that hung in a tree to announce the start of mass every Sunday. St. Thomas was first mentioned in the "Journals of the Convention" in 1799 when, the Right Reverend John Croes, 1st Bishop of New Jersey, stated that he had preached several times at St. Thomas' in Glassboro and had baptized several Children. St. Thomas was then admitted into the convention in 1809.

The next step in St. Thomas' history is its incorporation in 1841, and at this time the congregation made the decision to move the location of the church to accommodate the growing church membership. At this time the Whitney Family donated a block of land on Focer Street and Main Street for the building of a new church. Also, an architect named John Notman from Philadelphia was charged with designing the new building. The gothic style church made from local sand stone was completed and the corner stone was laid by Bishop George W. Doane on April 18, 1846. This is the current location and building used by the present congregation of St. Thomas, and still stands as a monument to the American gothic revival of the 1800's.

Other additions were also made to the church and the grounds as the years went on. First, the chancel and sacristy were added to the church in 1861. This project was started during the Civil War, and this added to the time and expense of completing the job. Next, the current rectory was built on the property in 1881. Finally, the original organ was added to the church in 1888. As you could see, St. Thomas was a flourishing congregation and was adapting to meet its needs.

The next major addition to St. Thomas was the building of the current parish hall in 1954. The parish hall was built by volunteers from St. Thomas for the purpose of holding social and extra religious activities. The Right Reverend Alfred L. Banyard, Bishop of New Jersey and Reverend William J. Barnett, Rector of St. Thomas laid the corner stone, and the Christmas Party for the children of St. Thomas was held in the building on December 18, 1954. All of these improvements and additions are what have led to the St. Thomas today, and hope to continue growing in a healthy, spiritual, and uplifting manner.