Stories from the First Cathedral 7: The Mystery of the Cornerstone

"On July 16, 1862, I laid the corner-stone of the Bishop's Church in Faribault. At the suggestion of my beloved brother, the Rt Rev A.C. Coxe, I named it "The Cathedral Church of Our Merciful Saviour."  It was my hope that  we might build up schools around the Cathedral, making it a common centre. I felt our first building should be a House of Prayer in honor of the Triune God." (From Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate by Rt Rev Henry B Whipple.) 

The cornerstone's location is a mystery. If you visit the First Cathedral the cornerstone is not visible. No one knows where it is. One of the theories of its disappearance is that it was covered up by the addition built on the Cathedral in the 1930s. The addition was important because it was a remodeling of the crypt that housed Bishop Whipple's sarcophagus. Also in the addition was the St Elizabeth Chapel, which was once in Bishop Whipple's house across the street from the Cathedral. The house was torn down about the same time as the construction of the addition. 

Other additions to the original Cathedral were the following: 1) The memorial bell tower added to the north side of the Cathedral promoted and built by Evangeline Whipple in the early 1900s before she left for Europe; 2) In 2005, the Cathedral Cloister was added to connect the Romanesque Guild House built in 1884 to the Cathedral building. The cloister is a combination of Gothic and Romanesque architecture, which creates a beautiful open room with large windows and is very inviting to host gatherings for about 75 people.

In future Stories of the First Cathedral, I will describe the history and functions of the bell towers, the St Elizabeth Chapel, the Cloister, and the Guild House.