John Batchelder of Trinity Church in Jacksonville, Illinois occasionally came to Springfield starting in 1832 to hold services for the local Episcopalians.

They also held services in the State Supreme Court Chamber as Chief Justice Samuel L. Treat was one of the organizers of the parish and served as a warden for 52 years.

St. Paul's first rector, Charles Dresser, arrived in May 1838 and lived in a house on Eighth Street that would later belong to Abraham Lincoln.

[1] Property on the corner of Second and Lawrence was purchased in 1908 for $10,000 and the present cathedral, designed by English-born architect John B. Sutcliffe, was consecrated by Bishop Edward Osborne on May 13, 1913.

[3] Media related to Cathedral Church of Saint Paul the Apostle (Springfield, Illinois) at Wikimedia Commons