St. John's Episcopal Church (Hartford, Connecticut)

[3] As the nineteenth century progressed, the western suburbs became increasingly popular as a place for city dwellers to live with the result that the number of St. John's worshipers was in decline.

[2] In 1907, financier J. P. Morgan purchased the church building and its property for the construction of a memorial gallery to be added to Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum.

[2] The Hartford Courant, quoting Chronicle of the Church, described the building as "a chaste and beautiful structure in the early pointed Gothic style, built of Chatham free stone..." and its interior as having a "chancel, with a massive rail, supported by mullions finished on either side."

The spire was eventually removed as the result of structural decay, the boiler became increasingly noisy, and finding space for the parish's many activities was becoming difficult.

Prominent parishioners of the church's Hartford years included Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, who purchased a pew at St. John's in 1864[7] and regularly attended Sunday services with her twin daughters Hattie and Eliza.

[11] A number of talented musicians were affiliated with St. John's (Hartford) including organists and composers such as Dudley Buck[2] and Henry Wellington Greatorex.