While considering an invitation to become Rector of St. Anne's Parish, the Rev.

Henry Lyon Davis, then living in Cecil County, visited Annapolis in the early Summer of 1815.

Clearly alarmed , he wrote the Bishop as follows: " Let me again entreat you to go to Annapolis

as soon as possible. The methodists are devouring the poor flock at that place without mercy."

Although he became Rector of St. Anne's Parish in 1816, Mr. Davis remained none too

sanguine about the prospects for the Episcopal Church in Annapolis. Writing a clerical

colleague in Western Maryland on January 1st, 1817, he observed: " I rejoice that you have the

prospect of being very useful to the church in Washington County. In this heedless &

frolicksome place, I have much greater cause for grief & fear, than hope & rejoicing."

Heedless and frolicsome, it may have been. However, he stayed on for another nine years!

Mr. Davis initial gloom was amply justified. In the year in which he became Rector

the Parish reported just 37 communicants. By way of contrast, those "devouring methodists"

were about to move from a frame building, known as the Old Blue Church, on the State House

grounds, to a "neat brick building" at the corner of State Circle and North Street. Moreover,

there was a robust increase in membership. White membership rose from 126 to 195, and

Black membership rose from 209 to 244.

Whether inspired by the Holy Spirit or the Methodists' success, the fortunes of St.

Anne's Parish were revived in early years of Mr. Davis' rectorship. Thus, in a report

to the Diocesan Convention in 1820 it was stated that: "The church in Annapolis is in good

condition. The number of the congregation about 250. Here, divine service is performed three

times a week. The salary of the Rector, about $600, is derived principally by subscription." Mr.

Davis also had the use of the rectory which was located on Hanover Street.

While Rector of St. Anne's, Mr. Davis continued his service on the Standing

Commitee of the Diocese and was for the second time elected by the Diocesan Convention to

serve as a delegate to the General Convention. During his tenure here, he was awarded an

honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from his alma mater, Dickinson College in Pennsylvania,

where he had been a Professor of Latin and Greek at the age of 19.

Like several other Rectors, he also served as principal (president) of St. John's College.

However, after a dispute with the college trustees he was dismissed, first as president, and then

as a faculty member. The reason for the dismissal is variously attributed to politics or a change of

examination policy without consulting the trustees. The fact that all the trustees lived in

Annapolis suggests another reason. His tumultuous association with the College ended with an

unseemly squabble over whether he had taken the college telescope.

After becoming Rector of St. Anne's, Mr. Davis was married to Jane Winter. They had

two children, Henry Winter and Jane. A nephew, David Davis, also lived with the family for a

time. Upon leaving Annapolis in 1826, Mr. Davis served as president of Wilmington College.

He later returned to Anne Arundel County where he lived on a farm until his death in 1836.

Upon his Father's death, Henry Winter Davis inherited several slaves. He eventually

freed them and became an opponent of slavery. Settling in Baltimore, he practiced law and

was elected to four terms in Congress (1855-1861 and 1863-1865). Initially he was identified

with the nativist American Party (Know Nothing Party). Although during the Civil War he was

an Unconditional Unionist, he was a critic of what he considered President Lincoln's lenient

Reconstruction plans and the practice of trying civilians in military courts. In contrast, his cousin,

David Davis, who settled in Illinois, was a staunch Lincoln supporter and was appointed by

President Lincoln to the U.S. Supreme Court. One of Justice Davis' opinions for the Court

substantially limited the circumstances in which civilians could be tried by military tribunals.