Rector St Paul's Cathedral 1830 - 1833

Rev. Richard Bury and his wife's remains were removed to Elmwood cemetery by his grandson Richard Alfred Bury.

For his Find A Grave memorial at Erie Street Cemetery in Cleveland (where is wife is also buried), see the following:

Find A Grave Memorial# 94806609
Note: Erie Street Cemetery records state that Rev. Richard Bury was "Removed to Cleveland Crematory- Mar. 1908."

Rev. Richard Bury graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York (class of 1812), where he studied medicine and theology. He married Mariette Gregory in 1819 in Sand Lake, New York. Together they had six children.

Rev. Richard Bury, A.M., served as the second rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (today's Cathedral Church of St. Paul) from 1830 to 1833. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. He was also a trustee of the University of Michigan, and later a farmer at Grosse Ile, Michigan.

"Reverend Richard Bury, was one of the four Episcopal clergymen of the northwest who came from Albany in 1830 and lived in one of the four brick houses then in Detroit. At that date the city bad a population of 2,222 people." Source: History of Detroit: chronicle of it's progress..."

Prior to coming to Detroit in May of 1830, Rev. Bury was the rector at St. Paul's, Albany, New York.

The "Bury Family Papers (1831-1931)" are at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan.

In reference to the history of Trinity Church, Cleveland, there is a reference to Rev. Bury who apparently served at Trinity from 1839 to 1846.:

"The Rev. Richard Bury, of Detroit, Mich., succeeded to the rectorship, August 15, 1839. When he took charge, the parish was deeply in debt, reduced in numbers and otherwise in a declining condition. He speedily infused new life, the debt was paid, and the number of members increased to such a degree that the establishment of a second parish was warranted.

In 1845, Mr. Bury organized Grace Church in the parlor of his rectory. ... Rev. R. Bury resigned in 1846 and was succeeded by Rev. Lloyd Windsor, of Lockport, the tenth rector of Trinity."
Source: "Official Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the City of Cleveland." 1896.

Speaking before the Cleveland Lyceum on Feb. 25, 1841, Rev. Bury remarked:
"National virtue is the basis of national prosperity. This is the proposition to be considered in my remarks: It is a grave and important proposition; involving duties and interests essentially appertaining to our welfare and happiness, present and future; and that claims our most thoughtful and practical regard, under all the relations and circumstances of life.

...National virtue consists in the diffusion of intelligence, and the acquisition of right knowledge. The first may be regarded as the means, the second as the end or the object to be obtained."
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Richard, was born to William and Mary Barnett Bury in England. He was the youngest of 3 children. When Richard was 8 years old his family came to America and settled in New York. He attended Union College and studied medicine and then theology. He graduated in 1812. Richard then became rector of Trinity Church, in Albany, and then a parish in Poterdam, N. Y.

In 1819 he married Mariette Gregory in Sand Lake, NY. They had six children. Then in 1830 he moved to St. Paul's in Detroit, Michigan where he resided for 9 years. He and Mariette had two more children.

After his 9 years in Michigan he moved his family down to Cleveland Ohio where he lead Grace Church. Sometime after Mariette passed away in 1861...he began a relationship with Zerviah Fitch. They married in Cleveland on February 1863. They resided together until his death in 1875.

Cemetery Records state that Rev. Richard Bury was "Removed to Cleveland Crematory- Mar. 1908

Gravesite Details
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