On Sunday, September 30, Emmanuel and Chatham Hall will
celebrate, at Emmanuel, the bicentennial of the birth of the man who revived the
almost-extinguished Episcopal faith in the area and served as trustee of
Chatham Hall (then the Chatham Female Episcopal Institute) and as Danville and
Pittsylvania County’s first superintendent of schools,
The fete honoring the Reverend Dr. G.W. Dame (1812-1895) will
include Chatham Hall’s 28-voice St. Mary’s Choir, overseen by Choir Director
David Grimes; as well as an “antique” service of worship from the 1789 Book of
Common Prayer, used in Dame’s day.
The Reverend James Mathieson will lead the worship service. He’ll also share his thoughts on the Rev. Dr.
Dame’s contributions, as will Chatham Hall Rector Dr. Gary Fountain.
During and after the Revolution, when Southside residents
rejected British rule they also turned their backs on the Church of England. Membership in the Anglican Communion dropped
to nearly zero in and around Chatham and Danville; and there it stayed until
Dame came to town.
Dame, 28 in 1840, and soon-to-be an ordained Episcopal
priest, arrived in Danville to head the Danville Female Academy. He was eventually appointed as the first
post-Revolution Episcopal rector of Camden Parish, comprised of Patrick, Henry,
Franklin and Pittsylvania Counties. When
he arrived, he found eight Episcopalians in the parish.