“From the Archives” Pew Customs

Hinged-back pews appeared in the north wing (current location of the confessionals) here at Saint Mary in the early 1900s. This innovation allowed pews to face the main altar for Sunday Mass or be reversed to face a smaller altar set up in that wing for the reduced number of people who attended Mass on weekdays. The entire wing also could be closed off and heated by a coal stove in the winter.

For many years, “pew rents” were collected at Saint Mary, a common custom in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The pews at that time had doors on the aisles. People who rented an entire pew could shut the door to prevent anyone else from sharing their pew! In the 1920s, the doors were removed but the pew rent was collected for a number of years afterward.

Lists of pew holders were published in the church bulletin. The  September 1930 bulletin contained this notice: “During the month of August, several parishioners have taken sitting but the amended list will not be published until many more desirable pews have been rented.” The bulletin also contained an apology to Mrs. Downham, whose name was inadvertently omitted from the list of those parishioners who had paid their pew rent. Mrs. Downham had paid for one-half  of pew number 58 for 20 years!

The ability to rent – and therefore reserve – a pew was eliminated by the later 1930s. At about that time the occasional second collection after Holy Communion emerged,  leading parishioners to refer to it as the “seat collection.”       

– Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series in 2021. An archive of the features is located here.