USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > Fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Village Congregational Church, Medway, Mass., Friday, Sept. 7, 1888 > Part 1
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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00825 1909
D. Saufora
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY C
OF THE
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
Village Congregational Church,
MEDWAY, MASS.,
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1888.
BOSTON : BEACON PRESS, I SOMERSET STREET. 1888.
1241159
INTRODUCTION.
W TE have felt constrained to put into permanent form the sayings and doings of our "Anniversary Day," from the consideration that so many of those who would have been interested participants in its exercises were prevented by distance and engagements.
In order to furnish for such, so much as we are able, of that which those present so greatly enjoyed, we have reproduced the things spoken, and now send them forth as messengers to report to the absent these home doings.
We trust our publication will be of value likewise to those who were present ; recalling impressions and emotions "which it is not possible for a man to utter," but profitable for him to recall. We have also had in mind those who will become interested in the Village Church in the future, who, we believe, will be grateful to us, when they " consider the years of many generations," that we have written these things " for a memorial in a book." So we publish the first chapter of our history, in grateful testimony that " hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION.
2.50
Goodspeed
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
A T a meeting of the Village Church held May 27, 1888, it was unanimously voted to observe with appropriate services the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of this church, which occurs September 7th next. It was also voted that the parish be invited to unite with the church in this celebration, and that a joint committee, consisting of five representatives of the church and four of the parish, be chosen to arrange the details of the celebration. The church subsequently chose on this committee :
REV. R. K. HARLOW, DEA. M. M. FISHER, DEA. J. W. RICHARDSON, FRANCIS W. CUMMINGS, THOMAS F. MAHR.
The parish, having accepted the invitation of the church, chose on this committee :
HENRY E. MASON, E. C. WILSON, JESSE B. HOPKINS, J. WARREN THOMPSON.
This committee, having duly organized,
Voted, That the pastor, Rev. R. K. Harlow, be invited to pre- pare, from the records and other sources, and deliver, a historical discourse relating to the organization of the church, Sabbath- school, church music, pastorates and superintendence, benevolent agencies and work, and membership to the present date.
Voted, That the clerk of the society be invited to prepare, from the records and other sources, a statement relating to the
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
erection and plan of the meeting house, its subsequent changes, ownership and renting of pews, the acquisition and use of lands and grounds, and other financial agencies and accessories for the enjoyment and support of public worship.
Voted, That the pastor arrange the order of exercises, and request such assistance in the services as the occasion may require.
Voted, That the several churches and pastors in Medway and Millis be invited by letter, to attend the celebration, as guests of the Village Church and Society.
Voted, That surviving absent and past members of the church, and society and congregation, be also invited, including pastors and members of the Mendon Conference of Churches.
Voted, That this committee appoint special committees on hospitality and reception of guests, on finance, collation, decora- tions, music, printing and publication of services in book form, and also appoint ushers at the church.
These committees were chosen as follows :
On Invitations.
REV. R. K. HARLOW,
MRS. LUTHER METCALF,
DEA. M. M. FISHER, MRS. FRANK CLARK,
HARLAN P. SANFORD, MRS. JOHN W. RICHARDSON,
MRS. HENRY E. MASON.
On Hospitality and Reception of Guests.
DEA. JOHN W. RICHARDSON, MRS. J. P. PLUMMER,
HENRY E. MASON, MRS. O. A. MASON,
JAMES M. GRANT, MRS. ANSON F. WHITE,
LUCIUS H. TAYLOR.
On Collation.
SAMUEL HODGSON,
FRANCIS W. CUMMINGS,
MRS. DANIEL ROCKWOOD,
THOMAS F. MAHR,
MRS. WM. A. JENCKES,
MRS. MARY H. WILDER,
MRS. ALFRED DANIELS,
MRS. WM. B. HODGES,
MRS. JAMES M. GRANT,
MRS. SUMNER H. CLARK,
SUMNER H. CLARK,
MRS. SAMUEL HODGSON.
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VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
On Finance.
FRANCIS W. CUMMINGS, FRANK P. PLUMMER, WM. A. HOPKINS, ORION T. MASON.
On Decorations.
THOMAS F. MAHR, MISS BERTHA F. WILDER,
MRS. MARIA C. NEWELL, MISS TACIE P. HAWKES,
MRS. H. C. HOLBROOK, MISS MARY E. FISHER,
MISS GRACE H. WILDER, MISS SARAH E. HASKELL, MISS HATTIE B. CARY.
On Music.
WM. D. GILPATRICK, MRS. S. F. BUCKLIN,
GEORGE H. CLARK, MRS. JASON E. WILSON,
JAMES M. GRANT, MRS. ADDISON RAMSDELL,
ADDISON RAMSDELL, MRS. MYRTIE G. FISKE,
MISS LILLA M. CROOKS.
On Printing and Publication.
REV. R. K. HARLOW, ROBERT BELL, M.D.,
FREDERICK L. FISHER, MRS.F. L. FISHER, MISS SARAH E. HASKELL.
For Ushers at the Church.
GEORGE H. CLARK, FRANK W. CLARKE,
CLARK P. HARDING, PALMER A. WOODWARD,
GEORGE H. DAME.
The following program was arranged :
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
Friday Morning at 10 o'clock.
ORGAN PRELUDE. INVOCATION.
ANTHEM
" Ye shall dwell in the Land."
READING OF SCRIPTURES . . REV. GEORGE WASHBURN, Everett.
PRAYER REV. GEORGE E. LOVEJOY, Franklin. RESPONSE.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
By DEA. MILTON M. FISHER. .
HYMN 625 .
O, where are kings and empires now Of old that went and came?
But, Lord, Thy Church is praying yet, A thousand years the same.
Though earthquake shocks are threatening her, And tempests are abroad ;
We mark her goodly battlements, And her foundations strong ;
Unshaken as eternal hills, Immovable shie stands,
We hear within the solemn voice Of her unending song.
A mountain that shall fill the earth, A house not made by hands.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SOCIETY, by the Clerk, FREDERICK L. FISHER.
HYMN 133
Tune : "Dundee."
O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come ;
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away ;
Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home :
They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.
A thousand ages, in Thy sight, Are like an evening gone ;
O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,
Short as the watch that ends the night, Before the rising sun.
Be Thou our gnard while troubles last, And our eternal home.
SALUTATIONS from the "Grandmother Church," First Church of Christ in Millis By REV. EPHRAIM O. JAMESON, Pastor.
Tune : " St. Ann."
For not like kingdoms of the world Thy holy Church, O God !
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VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
SALUTATIONS from the "Mother Church," Second Church of West Medway By REV. AUGUSTUS H. FULLER, Pastor.
SALUTATIONS from the Sister Churches of Mendon Conference,
By REV. JACOB IDE, of Mansfield.
HYMN 597
Tune : "Hamburg."
Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love :
The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.
We share our mutual woes ; Our mutual burdens bear ; And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear.
Before our Father's throne We pour our ardent prayers ;
When we asunder part, It gives us inward pain ;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts and our cares.
But we shall still be joined in heart, And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives Our courage by the way ; While each in expectation lives, And longs to see the Day.
LETTERS, SHORT ADDRESSES, etc., from former members and friends.
HYMN 734
Tune : " Cambridge."
O Lord, our fathers oft have told, In our attentive ears,
Thy wonders in their days performed, And elder times than theirs.
As Thee their God our fathers owned, Thou art our sovereign King : O, therefore, as Thou didst to them, To us deliverance bring.
To Thee the triumph we ascribe, From whom the conquest came ; In God we will rejoice all day, And ever bless Thy name.
BENEDICTION.
COLLATION from 12.30 to 1.30 P. M.
Afternoon at 1.30 o'clock.
ORGAN PRELUDE.
ANTHEM, "The God of Abraham Praise " Buck.
RESPONSIVE READING. 75th Lesson. Conducted by REV. WEBSTER WOODBURY, Milford.
PRAYER By REV. EDMUND DOWSE, D. D. RESPONSE.
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ORIGINAL HYMN
Tune : "Portuguese Hymn."
September's robe now clothes the landscape so fair, All woven of sunshine and soft silver haze ; Her incense ascends through the pure Autumn air From fields that bear fruit to the great Maker's praise.
As plenteous as grain-sheaves that greetingly nod In th' land of our fathers wherever we rove, As countless as blossoms of bright golden-rod, Our wishes and prayers for the church that we love.
Here harvests of souls have been garnered to grace The Kingdom of Glory, forever and aye ; Here smiled Father Sanford, whose love-beaming face Shed sunshine that ripened rich fruitage alway.
Sweet Spring fifty times has awakened the flowers, Stern Winter led forth fifty seasons of snow, Since Medway erected her Zion, whose towers Give refuge to saints and alarm to the foe.
Her watchman, discerning each danger from far, Keeps ward on the walls, ever faithful and true ; Her " army with banners " shines forth like a star, Christ's name on each forehead, the name ever new.
Then welcome, good brothers and sisters, today ! Clasp hands once again in the home church so dear. Weep not the departed ! as oft as we pray, Their pure, gentle spirits are hovering near.
Sweet, wandering strains from their loftier sphere Float down through our singing, and thrill it with love. Great Father, we pray the church militant here Be fitted to join the triumphant above !
MARY E. FISHER.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE by the Pastor, REV. RUFUS K. HARLOW.
HYMN 735.
Let children hear the mighty deeds Which God performed of old ; Which in our younger years we saw, And which our fathers told.
He bids us make His glories known, His works of power and grace ; And we'll convey His wonders down Through every rising race.
Our lips shall tell them to our sons, And they again to theirs,
That generations yet unborn May teach them to their heirs.
Thus shall they learn, in God alone Their hope securely stands ; That they may ne'er forget His works, But practice His commands.
CHILDREN'S SERVICE.
ANNIVERSARY HYMN, sung by the younger scholars of the Sabbath-school.
VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
II
ANNIVERSARY DAY.
Dear church, the children greet you ! Dear pastor, loved so long, We come today to meet you With melody and song ! Through fifty years of sowing The saints have labored on ; Trusting the Lord, and knowing . Rich harvests would be won.
CHORUS.
All hail, sweet day of gleaning - Of fruits and flowers gay ! So full of tender meaning, Sweet Anniversary day!
Within the churches olden No Sunday-school e'er smiled ;
But now the times are golden For every little child. We're " merry workers " ever, We sing on festal days. Our Bands of young "Endeavor" Shall sound the Saviour's praise.
Chorus.
Baptismal dewdrops glisten On many a childish brow, And angels stoop to listen To this, our sacred vow. We'll give our life's bright morning To Jesus and His Word,
Like dewy buds adorning The Garden of the Lord.
Chorus.
MARY E. FISHER.
HYMN
Tune : " Sicily."
Now in parting, Father ! bless us ; Saviour ! still Thy peace bestow ; Gracious Comforter ! be with us, As we from this temple go. Bless us, bless us, Father, Son and Spirit ! now.
Bless us here, while still, as strangers, Onward to our home we move; Bless us with eternal blessings In our Father's house above, Ever, ever, Dwelling in the light of love.
BENEDICTION.
SOCIAL REUNION
in the Vestry, in the evening, with Reminiscences, etc.
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
THE DAY.
FRIDAY, the 7th of September, 1888, was a perfect autumnal day. The sky was cloudless, and the air crisp and bracing. The meeting house, fresh and clean with its new coat of paint, was in harmony with the well-kept grounds sur- rounding it. Beds of flowers, brilliant with the colors of autumn, added a charm to the green lawn in front.
The interior of the church was artistically decorated with flowers arranged by the committee under direction of Mr. Thomas F. Mahr. An oil portrait of the Rev. David Sanford, the first pastor, stood upon an easel at the right of the plat- form, wreathed with flowers.
At the appointed hour the church was well filled with friends and invited guests, among whom were the pastors and representatives of the neighboring churches. After the invo- cation by the pastor, an anthem was sung by a select choir, led by Mr. E. B. Stowe, who conducted the music throughout the day. The various exercises followed in the order of the published program, the pastor presiding and introducing the speakers.
4
.
M. M. Fisher
VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
13
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
BY DEACON MILTON M. FISHER.
Brethren and Friends : The experience of the past has not only taught us as individuals that it is wise and well both to look and to press forward to higher attainments in all best things, but quite as important occasionally to take a back- ward look, both for guidance and inspiration for the future. It seems equally proper that institutions should be subjected to review - to criticism and censure if need be, or to ap- proval if deserved - and so to become better equipped, and stimulated to a deeper consecration to their special work and to higher achievements in uplifting the social status of the people whom they would benefit and bless.
A period of fifty years has elapsed since an institution, consisting of a religious society and a Christian church, was organized in this community; and this day and this occasion have been selected to review and to commemorate the work accomplished by it. The power of a Christian church is measured, not only by its direct influence upon the com- munity where it exists, but in the streams that flow out into the world in a living personality of those whose character was largely formed by its ministrations ; and in those benefi- cent charities which go out from it to bless other and perhaps less favored communities and people. You have been cor- dially invited to participate with us in the exercises and festivities appropriate to this occasion. We welcome you, and extend to you a Christian salutation in this house of the ·Lord, hallowed as it has been by a Divine Presence for half
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
a century, and by the memories of the saints who have wor- shiped within its walls, but have now gone to their reward.
A small remnant of the original band, a few of their children, more of their children's children, and still others who knew not our fathers, salute you on this day of jubilee in the name of the Lord. Although our faith is as old as that of the great apostle to the Gentiles, we boast not that we are the seed of Abraham, or of the tribe of Benjamin according to the flesh, but we believe we are surely built upon the "foundation of the prophets and apostles, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone." We are not ashamed that, in common with yourselves, we inherit the blood of the Puritans from the days of Cromwell, and the religious symbols and traditions of the Pilgrim fathers. Yet we have believed nothing because it was old, and much less discarded anything because it was new.
As the apostle recommended, so our ministry has largely served this church in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive.
As an individual church we are young as compared with our ancestral church in Dedham, or with many of that large family having the same ancestry and who are represented on this occasion. We have not the prestige of titled and dis- tinguished divines, scholars, or civilians upon our records, but they bear at least eighteen good family names found among the English immigrants to old Dedham previous to 1647. Though this half-century of our church life, or the centuries even of any church life, are but the merest point of time compared with the age of the solar system, or even of the Chinese Empire, yet to a human life or a church life in an Anglo-Saxon village in this nineteenth century, when reckoned by the marvelous changes often wrought, fifty years may seem an age. Such a period properly demands a pause in the current of life long enough to consider what has been done and whither life is tending.
It is not for me to speak in detail of the work and
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VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
the many happenings, for better or for worse, in this part of the Lord's great vineyard. It is said of one noble soul of the present age, in a wonderful chorus of song often heard and sung upon our streets, that, while " John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, his soul is marching on." Whether the departed souls of our old pastor, after thirty- three years of active service in this church, and those of his flock who died in the Lord, are still "marching on " in the life of their successors, or whether this vine of the Lord planted by our fathers has been, and still is, a fruitful branch of the True Vine, you may perhaps better judge when the ser- vice of this day closes, or much better when all human his- tory shall be more fully revealed.
It is well, however, to consider that the value and impor- tance of the church, and its ministrations to a particular com- munity, are not to be measured by the great length or brevity of its pastorates, or merely by the number upon its church rolls, or by the amount of its charities at home or abroad ; but whether in all its varied conditions it has " fought a good fight" with all wickedness in high and low places from with- out, or whether it has had the higher grace to keep, within the fold, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Frequent or permanent changes in the industrial popula- tion of a community are often such that it is more than a faithful few, or even many, can do to hold their own, much less to elevate the general standard of Christian morality and piety in the community and bring large numbers under its dominating and saving influence.
What might have been the spiritual and moral status of this and other New England communities had the population remained homogeneous for the last fifty years, it is not diffi- cult to conceive. It is safe to say that many churches have been a moral leaven which, " by patient continuance in well- doing," may yet leaven the whole lump, and so unify the mass of the people into a higher type of Christian manhood for a Christian commonwealth. For such results a missionary spirit, love for children, provision for their enjoyment, and
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
Christian nurture are absolutely essential. For this reason we shall remember our children on this " glad anniversary day," hoping they will remember their fathers and mothers fifty years hence as they are remembered today.
And now, friends, we bespeak your kind and charitable judgment of the first half-century's work of the Village Church. Conscious that much greater attainments in Chris- tian life and work might have been secured, we trust your inspiring presence today, and your encouraging words, will be to us an inspiration to greater fidelity and zeal in the Master's service, so that greater success may be achieved than the past reveals. And so, brethren and friends, we cordially welcome you again to the festivities of this semi-centennial anniversary of this Village Church and Society.
Without special reference to the Old Mendon Associa- tion and Conference - always welcome - or to any ancestral church more remote, we gladly welcome our grandmother church upon our eastern horizon - baptized again in her old age by her new name of Millis. We rejoice with her in the prestige of youthful vigor which her new name and her new environment may impart, and in the hope of continued vital- ity from her foster child at Rockville.
We welcome our mother church. Though resting upon a sunset hill, she reflected the true light upon our fathers and mothers in the dawn of their spiritual life. We devoutly thank her for the Christian nurture bestowed upon their youthful minds, and shall never forget to honor the memory of their devoted pastor, who, with a magnanimity rarely excelled since the days of Abraham, gave them, upon their "new departure " to plant another branch of the same vine, his gracious benediction, and followed them with paternal solicitude and prayer, and has welcomed most of them to the Father's " house not made with hands."
And what shall we say of our younger sister, a later branch of the same vine, and having drunk from the same spiritual Rock with our fathers and mothers ? May we not say, as Solomon sings of a " little sister," very young and ten-
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VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
' der, " If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver ; and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar ?" Yes, we welcome her also into the fold of the Great Shepherd, praying He may lead our whole family and flock into green pastures and beside still waters.
And those who have come into the pastures of the old Puritans- known by other names, yet good sheep of the Master's "other fold "-we bid you welcome, not only to glean the sheaves which the Puritan reapers, through neglect or kindness, have left for you, but with us to " break up the fallow ground " and sow the seed of the Word and reap such a harvest as the great Husbandman shall give. We welcome you to this field of our common labor and to this "feast of fat things " today, for " hitherto the Lord hath helped us."
And to those who have come from other or distant homes, we bid you a most hearty welcome to this place of your former residence or nativity, and perhaps of your spirit- ual birth as well. We welcome you to these shadowy elms your fathers planted, and to all which their successors may have done to beautify these streets and these homes. We welcome you to the graceful Quinobequin, whose waters still drive the spindle and the loom and upon whose banks the groves still shed their fragrance and their beauty. We wel- come you one and all to the hospitality of our homes, and to the fellowship of kindred souls in the faith and grace of our common Lord.
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VILLAGE CONGREGATIONAL. CHURCH, MEDWAY, MASS.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PARISH.
-
BY FREDERICK L. FISHER, CLERK.
I AM conscious of being out of place on this platform ; for although in my business, as some of you know, I am con- stantly using my pen upon documents that are attractive to the eye, filling in the blank spaces and decorating them with red ink, it does not call into action those qualities of thought and expression requisite for an interesting public address. Yet, being clerk of this religious society, I must respond when the records are called for. Any blanks I shall try to fill in a busi- ness-like way ; but the red ink, or the rhetoric and eloquence, I must leave for others to supply.
I might, as others have on similar occasions, go back to primitive days, and trace the ancestry of this society through the older towns to the Pilgrim fathers, whose meeting houses and school-houses have dotted the New England hills, and made their influence felt over the wide prairies and Western slopes to the Pacific.
Another has said that " the erection of a meeting house in any place means civilization, intelligence, morality, and re- ligion ;" surely the New England meeting house and school- house have furnished the warp and woof for the grandest civili- zation the world has seen. This priceless birthright, secured for us by our fathers at such self-sacrifice and hardship, we should devoutly cherish, and rally in its defense whenever menaced.
It is the fifth religious society organized in Medway that celebrates its fiftieth anniversary today. Its full legal title is
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE
" The Evangelical Congregational Society in Medway," and it has been acting as a business manager for the Village Church, and for itself as well, for the last fifty years.
This partnership has been harmonious, and we believe will be pronounced profitable when the Lord of the great vineyard shall have gathered in the fruits of the harvest, and balanced upon the great ledger the account which He keeps with all His servants.
Yet this dual system for church work, if its necessity ever existed, has nearly if not quite fulfilled its time, and the modern method, by special charter or general law, seems best for new enterprises, if not for gradual adoption by existing churches.
The time at my command for the preparation of this sketch was very limited, and errors and omissions may ap- pear. I trust if any are noticed the committee will be notified, that so much of this article as they see fit to print may be accurate. .
We find as early as about 1826 Sunday-school and occa- sionally a religious service was held in the village school- house. About this time the manufacturing interests were enlarged and prosperous in the " Factory Village." Barber in his Illustrated History of Massachusetts Towns, published in 1839, gives a brief sketch of the town and an "eastern view," from which we quote as follows :
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