#38: The Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” 

—Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah 

What did you get when a bunch of Damn Yankee New England businessmen employed in the cotton trade migrated South to settle in Savannah? 

At the very least, two things: The Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah and one of the best-loved Christmas songs ever written. 

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah located on Troup Square is another delightful architectural work from John Norris, whose Savannah legacy included my very first Postcard from Savannah (PFS): The Mercer-Williams House; as well as last week’s PFS: The Cockspur Island Lighthouse. 

Troup Square was named after George Michael Troup, who served as the Governor of Georgia from 1823-1827. Troup was the Georgia Governor when the city welcomed and honored the Marquis de Lafayette upon his visit to Savannah in 1825. Troup later served as a U.S. Senator from Georgia. 

In the 1820s, a group of New England businessmen employed in the cotton trade migrated to Savannah. A failed search for a welcoming church soon led them to form the Savannah Unitarian Society. 

This beautiful Gothic Revival styled church originally stood on Oglethorpe Square and was built in 1851. Soon after its completion, John Pierpont, Jr., the son of a well-known Unitarian leader and ardent abolitionist, became its minister. His brother, James Pierpont, served the church as its music director.  

While living in Savannah, James published a song he initially entitled: ‘One Horse Open Sleigh’ — now widely known as ‘Jingle Bells.’ (I have lived in Savannah 14-years and witnessed snowfall only twice.) When the Civil War came, James Pierpont wrote songs glorifying the Confederacy; while his father served as a Chaplin in the Union Army. Pierpont was buried in Savannah’s Laurel Grove Cemetery in 1893. 

A church congregated by a small band of abolitionist Yankees didn’t exactly find a friendly home in Savannah during a time when the Civil War was breaking out. So, the Universalist Church disbanded, selling the building. In 1859, the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia purchased the building. 

In 1860, the entire structure was moved brick-by-brick from Oglethorpe Square and reassembled at its present location on Troup Square. It housed the African-American Episcopal Church. Later, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah was reestablished, and the church moved back to this location in 1997. 

In the center of Troup Square stands an interesting bronze Armillary Sphere and Sundial; it has an arrow shooting through the center of its metal rings and sits upon the bronze shells of several turtles. 

The sculpture was another of many donations made to the city of Savannah by Mills B. Lane and his wife, Ann; they gifted the Troup Square Armillary Sphere during a restoration of the square in the 1990s. 

My three Jack Russell’s are quite fond of the drinking fountain designed for dogs located in the square. Each year, Troup Square is the setting for the annual ‘Blessing of the Animals’ ceremony in Savannah.