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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: First Presbyterian Church

Studio Name: Tiffany Studios

City: Ypsilanti

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1899

Subject/Title of Window: Bacon Memorial

Brief Description of Subject: The middle section in this memorial window was designed to let light through. Doric columns are pictured as if holding up the canopy and divide this middle section into two lights. These columns are in harmony with the façade which is in the Grecian Doric style.

From the booklet, "Our Memorial Windows: A Brief Description of the Memorial Windows in the Sanctuary of The First Presbyterian Church, Ypsilanti, Michigan," by Doris Milliman, City Historian, page 4-5.

The Bacon Window
Jacob Bacon, March 1, 1795 - May 24, 1862
Elizabeth (Betsy) Kellogg Bacon, August 17, 1795 - May 22, 1866

Jacob Bacon was one of the first three elders to be elected on August 6, 1832, when the congregation under the leadership of the Reverend Ira Wead decided to adopt the Presbyterian form of government. He and his wife Betsy, had joined the Church in 1830, when Ira Wead began his ministry in Ypsilanti. The Session minutes indicate that Jacob Bacon was very regular in attending Session meetings. Following his death in 1862, the Session minutes contain a resolution commemorating his 30 years of faithful service as an elder. At the following Communion Service, his chair at the communion table was draped in black in memory of his ministry as an elder of this Church. Apparently, "Deacon" was an honorary title given to him out of respect for his service to the Church.

Jacob Bacon and Elizabeth (Betsy) Kellogg were married on July 11, 1816, in Pawnal, Vermont. She had been born in Williamston, Massachusetts. She lived in Sotus, New York, before coming to the Ypsilanti area about 1830. Their names appear on the poll list for Superior Township in 1839. Mrs. Bacon helped establish the first library of Ypsilanti.

Jacob and Betsy were blessed with nine children: Sarah, Louise, James, Julia, Harriet, Frances, Jacob, Dlia and Mary. The records show that Mary was baptized in 1842, and that Frances was baptized in 1933 and joined the Church in 1846.

Jacob and Betsy Bacon along with several of their children are buried in Highland Cemetery.

This Bacon Window is the only window which memorialized one of the first elders of the Church. It reminds us of the sustaining faithfulness of this family to our Church throughout the nineteenth century. Through Julia, our Church's influence reached halfway around the world.

Inscriptions: In Loving Memory Of
Deacon Jacob Bacon
And His Wife
Betsey Kellogg Bacon


Condition of Window: Very good

Height: 15'8"

Width: 4'2"

Type of Glass and Technique: Opalescent Glass, Lead Came

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