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This article begins a series of portraits of parish elders. Many thanks to newcomer Mike Shea for this addition to "Cross Roads."

Mike Shea

In 1927 Calvin Coolidge was in the White House, George V was on the throne of England, and that September in the World Series, what some call the greatest team of all times, the New York Yankees infamous "Murderers Row," led by Babe Ruth, triumphed over the Pittsburgh Pirates in just four games. That was also the fall that Lawrence F. "Lonnie" London moved to Chapel Hill and became a member of the Chapel of the Cross. He has been here ever since.

1927 was his freshman year, when he began to study history at the University of North Carolina. Nine years later he was Dr. Lawrence London, sporting a new Ph.D. in American history and a new job as a UNC associate research librarian.

Lonnie London was already familiar with Chapel Hill and the Chapel of the Cross before ever moving here. The rector of the parish then was Albert S. Lawrence. Dr. London became acquainted with him when, as Archdeacon, "he would make visits to my home church -- St. Bartholomew's in Pittsboro -- and he always stayed with my family so I knew him quite well."

Dr. London was born in Pittsboro, North Carolina, on February 12, 1908.

"My grandfather was the first London to come to Pittsboro. He was actually born in Wilmington and his father moved up here and raised his family here. They were strong in helping get St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church started. It was consecrated in 1833. All my family were members of the church there. Ours was a family of businessmen and bankers and textile manufacturers."

Because of the association with Rev. Lawrence and because Dr. London's father was a church delegate, he was invited to attend the dedication of the "new" church of the Chapel of the Cross" in 1925. It is one of his favorite memories.

As a UNC student Dr. London laughs and says of his church attendance those days, "As most students, I attended regularly at the beginning, then intermittently."

That changed with new responsibilities. Dr. London married Emily Dewey Mitchell in the "new" church in 1936. By 1937 he was a member of the vestry, where he served periodically until 1975 .

In 1941 he chaired the Every Member Canvass. He smiles and laughs as he remembers the financial situation the church then faced, "Believe it or not our budget at that time was four thousand dollars. We had to do some hard campaigning to get that. Of course, the rector's salary came from the diocese because he did student work too."

The next year saw the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chapel of the Cross, originally known as the Church of The Atonement. Dr. London recalls a special outdoor drama written to celebrate the anniversary. It was a historic drama of the history of the church written by Dr. Herbert Holmes who Dr. London refers to as, "a famous professor of Romance languages." Starring in the play was Emily London. Dr. London says she played the role of "Mrs. Cheshire, Bishop Cheshire's wife, who got this church really going good and had come here as a deacon in 1878 and stayed three years and made a real imprint on the parish as its rector."

During this period Dr. and Mrs. London were blessed with two children. "I had two sons who were baptized and confirmed here. "My first son was born in '39 and baptized in early 1940, and my second son was born in January of '45 and was baptized in the spring of '45. My older son, who is named for me, lives 12 miles out in the country and does farming and some landscaping work. And my other son lives in Garland, Texas."

The fifties were an especially interesting time for Dr. London. One of his best memories of the church was a mission in 1951 that resulted in the establishment of Chapel Hill's other Episcopal Church, the Church of the Holy Family." David Yates was the rector then," Dr. London says. "The church grew under him and once we reached about 500 he decided we should start a mission. Mrs. London and I were both very active in helping that get started."

It was also a peak time in Dr. London's career. He became curator of the University of North Carolina Rare Book Collection in 1955.

He says when he took over, "we already had the foundation of it, which was a collection of over 400 titles printed before 1500." He would serve as curator of the world famous collection until his retirement in 1975.

Dr. London says the '50s and early '60s were a difficult time for the church as it grappled with its role in society. In fact, he believes it to have been the most difficult period. The problem: race issues and the Church. "I think one of the biggest problems was facing up to the race problem," he said. "There was a lot of racial tension. The rector, David Yates -- he started in the '50s -- he was always very sympathetic to the blacks and their search for equality. He supported them strongly, and he preached and took a very fearless stand for that time. It was a very controversial situation in the '50s when Blacks wanted to be a member of the Church of the Cross."

After his retirement in 1975, Dr. and Mrs. London continued to live in the same two story cottage on Hillsborough Street they had occupied since 1938.

Dr. London has seen a lot of changes in his 74 years in Chapel Hill. He says, "particularly in population and businesses, it has changed a great deal. Franklin Street used to be a very pleasant street with a lot of good stores and restaurants." He says he and Mrs. London liked to walk a lot, frequently to the Wilson Library where he worked.

In November of last year Emily London passed away. Dr. London misses her. "It's hard, we were married 64 years."

He says his health now is, "pretty good. I just don't walk as well as I used to. I get about pretty well. I have mighty good help 24 hours a day."

And for the future: "I think it is well time for us to start another mission, I think we could have a great future if we take advantage of our opportunities."

You'll still find Dr. London at the Chapel of the Cross every Sunday, at 11:15 a.m. in the regular season and at 10 a.m. in the summer.

Say hello to him.

© 2001: Chapel of the Cross