If Satterlee was going to make this national cathedral a reality that began with him, he decided to attend to it with an eye toward a defined image. As he first landed in Washington, D.C. to survey what he inherited, he found the proffered land from Goldsborough completely inadequate. First, half the land, which was only eighteen acres in total, included a steep hill. That hill sloped away from Washington rather than toward, and the land was not situated along
a major road, but was set in a small neighborhood. Disappointed, Satterlee visited the Mt. Al- ban site that sat alongside the small church of St. Alban’s, the one mentioned previously for which the granddaughter of Rev. Nourse left forty gold dollars to begin a “free church.” This site inspired Satterlee.
Frustratingly, for Satterlee, the land had been purchased a mere two weeks earlier. By this time, around 1897, the PECF Board of Trustees were also frustrated and generally tired of assuming the financial and legal debt associated with the church project, and many wanted to just resign the whole idea and walk away. In desperation, Satterlee saw the glory in advice coming from a certain Senator Edmunds, possibly George F., to ask the bishops for help with fundraising and land purchasing. Satterlee laments that Edmunds is apparently unaware of the provincial nature of the Episcopal Church. He states, “The Roman Church in the United States is a unit. It will sacrifice local objects for national objects. The Methodist Church is national ra- ther than local. But the Episcopal Church, which makes so much of the parish and the diocese, sees nothing beyond the parish and diocese” (Hewlett, 2007, pp. 93-94). Further, what the Episcopal Church so desperately needs, to Satterlee’s mind, is “a greater spirit of national unity and organization” (Hewlett, 2007, p. 94). From here his conception of the national cathedral begins to form in earnest.
Satterlee began to negotiate with the current Mt. Alban’s buyer to purchase the land, which was no simple ordeal because the man had no desire to sell. Satterlee’s arguments for selling the land settled into Mr. Barber’s (the owner) mind, who then asked for an exorbitant price--$224,000—and gave a fixed amount of time for acceptance of the offer. The time ex- pired before Satterlee gained permission from the Board. Meanwhile, as life continued outside
of Satterlee’s vision, President McKinley was expected to give a speech the day after Easter 1898 regarding the blowing up the “Maine” in Havana Harbor on February 15. This Easter mes- sage implied a state of either impending war or continued peace, a situation that Satterlee seri- ously considered only as it mattered to his fundraising. He remembers a lady, Mrs. William Belden Noble, remarking to him on this occasion, “Why is there no prophet, no Savonarola,34 today to go to the halls of Congress to stay this war, to prevent bloodshed, to deliver God’s own message of peace?” (Hewlett, 2007, p. 96). The inspiration of this comment bent his mind fur- ther toward forming the function and purpose of a national cathedral. Admitting that Mrs. No- ble’s comment and its implication entered his brain without cessation, Satterlee increased his efforts to find a way to justify to the PECF Board the expense of buying Mt. Alban’s for the ca- thedral.
Naturally, in accordance with Murphy’s Law, providence did not help Satterlee because the next time he approached Mr. Barber, the man raised the price to $250,000. Wanting this land and knowing that this land was meant to be the site of the future cathedral, Satterlee suc- cessfully argued the PECF Board for the land. That agreement and subsequent signing meant that Satterlee, who signed the note, would be irrevocably connected to this project for years to come. He reveals in his Private Record that after the Board agreed to purchase the land he real- ized that he had essentially mortgaged his life to the church for $145,000 (he subtracted the down payment) and he felt overwhelmed. But then his mind switched gears, and he thought
34
Girolamo Savanarola (1452-1498) was an Italian Dominican friar who preached of civic piety and glory. He is known for his opposition to the rule of the Medici’s and helping Charles VIII enter northern Italy. His preaching inspired one of the most famous of the Bonfires of the Vanities in 1497, wherein people destroyed material objects that are likely to lead to sin, such as mirrors, gaming cards, excessive jewelry, cosmetics, and even art. He was ex- communicated in 1497 and executed in 1498 for heresy when he declared he could perform miracles. He was hanged, along with two other friars, and then burned so that people could claim relics of his bones. Why Mrs. No- ble would refer to Savanarola in this instance is unknown.
less provincially and more nationally. He thought of Admiral Dewey in Manila, and how “for the sake of the country he had taken his life in his hands, and how, if he had been beaten at Manila, there was absolutely nowhere for his fleet to go; how they would be portless, coalless, home- less, disabled” (Hewlett, 2007, p. 96). Satterlee, at that point, felt that if Dewey could do this, take that gamble, put it all in God’s hands, in the name of the country, then so could Satter- lee—except, of course, the gamble ultimately was not so much in the name of God as for the country and the Church.
And so, in Satterlee’s words, “the Cathedral land was bought.” Washington Cathedral, as Satterlee referred to it, had a future home. This was not just any home, but a home on the outskirts of The District on a hill overlooking The Mall and the seat of government. Now Satter- lee began to work on the physicality of his beloved cathedral.