Entry Into Jerusalem (Center Panel Detail)
Studio Unknown - After 1927 Before 1950
Glory to God and In Loving Memory of Thomas Alva Lumley 1861 - 1927
DESCRIPTION: The entire window is devoted to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem one week before His Crucifixion, an event that is celebrated by Christians everywhere as Palm Sunday. In the center panel, Jesus is seated upon a patient donkey. His right hand is raised in blessing; his left holds the reins. A young person stands nearby and looks upon His face with silent contemplation.
THE STORY: On the Sunday before His Crucifixion, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem astride a donkey. Great multitudes of people waved palm branches, a symbol of victory and rejoicing, as they went out to meet Him. Thinking that He might be the Messiah, they cried out: "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." (John 12:12-13)
MEMORIAL: The window is in memory of Thomas Alva Lumley, a wholesale and retailer of meat. The son of Thomas and Mary Albury Lumley, remembered in INRI, Cock, and Sword of the Spirit Roundels (Window #105), he was born in Key West on December 9, 1861. In 1884 he married Ruth Demeritt, a native of Key West and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Demeritt. Thomas and Ruth were the parents of six children: Camille, Rose Marguerite, Flora, Lorraine, and Paul.
Thomas became widely known in the wholesale meat and retail industry and was an important player in the commercial network of Key West. He was the manager of the Key West slaughter house which was known in the city as "The Butcher Pen" on the Atlantic Ocean, where Rest Beach is today. In his business, he brought cattle from Punta Rassa, on the mainland of Florida near Fort Myers, and shipped thousands of head of live "beef on the hoof" down the Gulf of Mexico to Key West yearly.
The cattle were unloaded in Key West before dawn. The cowboys herded the cattle, with the sheriff and police helping astride horses, and Thomas following in his buggy. In this manner they drove the cattle from the landing at the foot of Duval Street, down Whitehead to South, turning on White Street, and ending up at the slaughter house. Although the sea has reclaimed the site and scarcely a trace of the Butcher Pen is left, the memory of Thomas Alva Lumley lives on. Many times the oft-heard jingle was quoted to the author:
"There's Mr. Lumley
Sitting on the fence.
Trying to make a dollar
Out of ninety-nine cents."
Source: The Golden Cockerel: The Art, Symbolism & History of the Stained Glass Windows, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Key West, Florida by Winifred Shine Fryzel.
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