Richard Fish Cadle was born in New York in 1796. As a teenager he studied at Columbia College, and went on to become an important Episcopal minister and missionary, known especially for founding churches in the wild territories of Michigan and Wisconsin. He came to Laurel in the spring of 1853 following the resignation of the Reverend James W. Hoskins, and assumed responsibility for the Protestant Episcopal parishes at Seaford, Broad Creek, and Little Hill.
The churches under Rev. Cadle’s care included Christ Church, located a couple of miles northeast of the village of Laurel, and considered the mother church of the Episcopal churches of western Sussex County; St. Luke’s, located in Seaford; the recently completed St. Philip’s, a chapel in Laurel which quickly became more popular with parishioners than the comparably distant mother church; and St. John’s at Little Hill, a tiny chapel about seven miles east of Laurel, located just outside the hamlet known as Terrapin Hill, on the main road to Gumborough.
Rev. Cadle was given a house and $150 in cash, and was supplied with hogs and corn by some of the local farmers. Although the previous rector had been given two slaves, it is assumed that the vestry probably sold or freed them due to Cadle’s opposition to slavery. One of his first services in Laurel was the burial service of Joseph O’Neal, who had died in late March at age seventy.
Although he was not considered an exceptional preacher, due to a minor speech impediment, Rev. Cadle was known as an educated man, a gifted writer, and a passionate teacher, establishing a class in Laurel for the study of “approved religious books,” a Bible study class, and Sunday Schools for children. Of course, he also performed all of the regular duties of an Episcopal minister, presiding over marriages, baptisms, funerals, and burials, not only at the churches he served, but also at Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and in private residences. At that time, Methodism was by far the dominant faith in the area. In early 1857, he organized St. Mark’s in Little Creek Hundred, a few miles south of Laurel, which initially met at a private residence.
During the time of Rev. Cadle’s ministry, Christ Church, which was already nearly ninety years old, was in rather poor condition, and he hoped that the historic house of worship would be repaired and maintained, writing, “It is earnestly to be wished that the object of so much nursing care may yet be a joy of many generations.”
After being caught out in a cold storm in October 1857, apparently while performing his duties, Rev. Cadle became ill, and died in a parishioner’s home on November 9. Reportedly, his final words were, “The blood of Christ is sufficient for all things.”
– Chris Slavens
