But They Will Be Back

Carrie Jones and  Shaun Farrar

Oct 23, 2024

BAR HARBOR—The bells in their green tower at St. Saviour’s Church in Bar Harbor have rung through the decades, through World War II, and epidemics, but this Wednesday, they were pulled off the iconic tower and taken away—not for good, just for repairs.

The bells are going to the Sunderlin Foundry in Ruther Glen, Virginia, for refurbishment and repairs to their fasteners. Parts that hang the bells have corroded over the years and the church had concerns about their safety in the future.

A beloved sound and piece of the island’s history, the bells at the Episcopal church have failed to ring for about two years now. According to a 1977 Ellsworth American note, they were given by William Pierson Hamilton in 1938 “for the recovery of his wife, Theodosia Sisson Hamilton, from a serious illness.”

It was the church complex’s last major addition. Hamilton was the great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton. The church was accepted into the National Registry of Historic Places in 1995.

The refurbishment of the bells, the rebuilding of the tower roof, and the installation of a new modern ringing system is expected to cost around $100,000. The campaign was made possible by a bequeathment from James Harris who was a seasonal Bar Harbor resident and church parishioner.

Harris’ full-time residency was in Ann Arbor, Michigan and he was a University of Michigan professor of dentistry and according to a piece in the Bentley Historical Library by Madeleine Bradford, “Early in his career as a U-M professor of dentistry, Dr. James E. Harris loved the music of the Burton Tower bells on Central Campus.”

At least some of Harris’ ashes are buried in the church’s memorial garden.

During World War I and World War II, the church’s parish halls transformed into Navy barracks. It hosted the Most Reverend Randall Davidson in 1905. He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to celebrate the Eucharist in America. The 10 bells in their green tower (the carillon) didn’t witness every event, but they witnessed many.

The church was built over multiple campaigns beginning in the late 1870s. It’s American shingle style uses both stone and wood to house a cruciform church and a rectory. It has also housed Maine’s largest collection of Tiffany windows. In the late 1980s, thieves stole a Tiffany Lily window that had been located in the back of the church.

“Traditionally, stained glass was used to commemorate and memorialize important families, and those windows commemorate community leaders in Bar Harbor. Some of these windows are by Louis Comfort Tiffany, showing Bar Harbor’s connection to early 20th century influential artists,” said Bar Harbor Historical Society Executive Director Erin Cough.

Some of the windows are dedicated to people of Bar Harbor: Clarence Little, founding director of JAX and Samuel Lyon, the first president of the Bar Harbor Water Company. Another window denotes the deaths of Joel Howard Reed and Fannie Milliken, who died in a canoe.

The church’s website reads, “St. Saviour’s contains 43 memorial windows by British, German, French, and American artists. These span more than a century (1886-1992) of glass design, and commemorate family, loved ones, saints, and local personalities.”

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All photos and videos: Shaun Farrar and Carrie Jones/ Bar Harbor Story

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

Church’s website

Bar Harbor Historical Society

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