How much did you pay for that seat? A tale of pew rents at the Gesu

Two books from the Villiger Archives

     In the Villiger archives this week, we wanted to feature two very special books that we have from the early years of the Gesu Church.   One is the Gesu “Book of Announcements” from 1880, which mostly contains the announcements that were made at Sunday Masses.  The other is a book of monthly financial statements from July 1890 through June 1908.  Both books have a recurrent theme: Pew Rents.

The Gesu and her pews

     As visitors to the Gesu often notice, pews are marked with numbers, and can be locked shut by the swinging oak doors.  Families and others could rent the space that they occupied on Sunday, with set rules, as explained in the 1880 “Book of Announcements” (since the Gesu was under construction until 1888, this announcement book would have been read in what had previously been called The Church of the Holy Family, which was essentially the temporary Church of the Gesu): 

Regulations for renting Pews

in the Church of the Gesu, 18^th & Stiles.

1^st.  The Pew Rents are payable six months in advance.

2^nd.  Four weeks’ delay in paying rent, vacates the Pew.

3^rd.  No pew can be transferred by gift, sale or otherwise, except by the Pastor, & it finally reverts to the Church.

4^th.  The Sexton is authorized to open any unoccupied Pew at the Epistle at High Mass, and after the beginning of Vespers.

5^th.  In Lent, Advent, the Month of May, & other extraordinary Devotions, the Pewholders are required to notify the Sexton of their intention to occupy their Pew, and the same rule will be observed as above (N^o 4.).

6.  The pews will be free at the early Masses.  Persons who have no pews or seats, will remember their obligation of supporting the Church & the Pastors, & ought to give ten Cents in the Collection, every Sunday.

7.  The only ornament allowed in the Pews is the Cushion, Carpet on floor & Kneeling Stool.

8.  These Regulation will last until the future Church opens.

As of now, there are many unanswered historical puzzles: What rules, if any, changed in 1888 with the opening of the current Gesu?  How many parishioners did not rent pews, and instead contributed 10 cents weekly?  How many people rented pews in the early history of the Gesu?  Where could one acquire a fitting rug and cushion for your pews?  Did the temporary Church of the Gesu (the Church of the Holy Family) have kneelers of its own, or did people need to provide them?

Villiger's financial reports

     Lastly, the bottom line: How much money did these pew rents bring in?  According to the monthly financial statements book in our archives, in the first year recorded (July 1890-June 1891), the Pewholders contributed $11,504.40 towards the parish; which is more than people contributed towards the same year’s collections ($9,850.30 … or 985,030 dimes).  The average American salary in 1890 was $427*; so the Gesu’s pew rents from that year amounted to the yearly average income of nearly 27 Americans.  If we were to place today’s average American salary at $40,000, and if the parish was still collecting pew rents today at the same rate, they would have brought in $1,080,000 this year.

     Needless to say, the pews were important in the Gesu parish.


**(Source for 1890 wages: http://books.google.com/books?id=JONPZKNltBAC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=wage+1890&source=web&ots=PP4JxfJ_AO&sig=I1P0g6cwaSvzYY2iIVa1C9qb5Ps&hl=en#v=onepage&q=wage%201890&f=false via http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_average_hourly_wage_in_1890_i_also_need_to_know_the_living_wage_in_1890)