Richard Upjohn (1802–1878): Death and Remembrance

Richard Upjohn died on August 17, 1878, closing a life of diligent craft and steadfast conviction. Born in Shaftesbury, England, and formed by the revived English Gothic tradition, he carried to America a vision of church buildings as sermons in timber and stone—structures meant to steady the mind, humble the heart, and direct worship upward. His passing was felt most keenly among congregations who had learned, through his work, that reverence is not a mood only, but can be shaped by ordered space, honest materials, and beauty offered to God.

Gothic Sanctuaries and the Worship of God

Upjohn’s best-known work, Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City, became a landmark not merely of the city’s skyline but of American Christian worship. Its vertical lines and pointed arches teach without speaking: the Lord is high, holy, and worthy of awe. In other commissions—such as the Church of the Ascension in Manhattan—he pursued the same aim: to build places where Scripture can be heard clearly, prayer can be made sincerely, and the gathered people are reminded that the church is not a theater but a house set apart for divine worship. “Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:9)

Integrity in Craft and Conviction in Faith

Upjohn also helped found the American Institute of Architects (1857) and served as its first president, urging the profession toward honor, competence, and accountability. Such leadership required quiet heroism: the courage to bind one’s work to standards higher than profit or fashion. He is further remembered for personal conviction. Accounts report that he refused to design a Unitarian church, unwilling to lend his gifts to teaching he believed diminished the glory of Christ. Whether in drafting rooms or building sites, his example commends wholehearted labor offered as worship: “Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)