A Sculptor's Gift to the Presbyterian Church
A newly installed white marble baptismal font at the First Presbyterian Church celebrates local craftsmanship and memorializes a Philadelphia parishioner.
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Services at the First Presbyterian Church yesterday were devoted to the children, with Dr. Alison preaching a sermon specially adapted to the scholars of the Sunday school. A baptismal service was held using a newly installed font of pure white marble. The font, a gift from W. A. Haines of Philadelphia in memory of Laura Kirk Haines, was crafted by a Seattle sculptor based on designs by the pastor and his wife, Mrs. Crosbie. Dr. Alison, a believer in supporting home industries, chose to have the work done in Seattle rather than the East. The octagonal font stands four feet high, weighs 1,000 pounds, and features intricate symbols and motto texts from the New Testament. During the service, Dr. Whitworth, the founder of the congregation, performed a baptism for his own granddaughter using the new font.
“The pastor feels very proud of the font because it shows that Seattle can hold its own in the finest work with any of our Eastern cities.”
This story captures a moment when Seattle was transitioning from a resource-extraction frontier to a city that prided itself on supporting 'home industries' and local artisans. The desire to prove that local craft could rival Eastern standards is a sentiment that persisted as Seattle grew into a global center for design and manufacturing.
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