Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
INTRODUCTION
The family has been an active part of Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for over a century, across multiple generations. All five brothers were baptized there. John and Marguerite were married there. And the church holds something no other building does: two memorial windows that tell the family's story in glass.
Byrd (Marguerite’s dad) and his brothers Corbin, Otway Warwick were some of the founding members of Holy Trinity Church prior to its merger with Grace Church, in Richmond, VA.
Two Windows: A Mother and a Daughter
The following window descriptions, along with the accompanying photographs, are drawn from Generation to Generation: The Art and Architecture of Grace and Holy Trinity Church by Donald Traser, and are used with his permission.
The Angel Gabriel window was given by Ida Louise Burrows Warwick, in memory of her husband Byrd Warwick (August 23, 1848 to June 24, 1894) and their son Byrd Warwick, Jr. (February 6, 1879 to January 6, 1901). Approved by the vestry in 1894 but not installed until early 1905 and dedicated on Easter, April 23 of that year, the same spring Marguerite's first son was born. This is the only window in the church by the famous Tiffany Studios of New York. The designer was most likely Frederick Wilson (1858–1932), head designer for Tiffany Studios. The inscription reads: "Whosoever shall confess me before men, shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God."
The Supper at Emmaus window was given by Louise Marguerite Warwick Davenport, in memory of her husband John Sidney Davenport, Jr. (May 30, 1877 to January 1, 1946). It depicts the moment from Luke 24 in which the risen Christ, unrecognized by two disciples on the road to Emmaus, is invited to stay and reveals himself in the breaking of bread. The border incorporates a grapevine, a dove, a menorah, a white rose, and a figure of Gabriel, an echo, whether deliberate or not, of the window Ida installed for Marguerite's father and brother in the same church forty years before.
TOGETHER THE TWO WINDOWS
A mother and a daughter, each giving a window to the same church to memorialize the men they lost, within forty years of each other. Ida gave hers for the men she lost. Marguerite gave hers for the man she built a life with. Children of both families have worshipped at Grace and Holy Trinity for six generations.
