USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Natick > First Congregational Church 300th anniversary, Natick, Massachusetts : 1651-1951 > Part 1
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300th Anniversary
of the
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS
1651-1951
This booklet is here dedicated to the hundreds of men and women whose unselfish service and active work have made the Church what it is today. By giving of their time and their energy and their hearts, they have truly served God through His church in Natick.
LIMITED EDITION
195I
300th Anniversary
of the FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
NATICK ยท MASSACHUSETTS
FOREWORD
P UBLISHED on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Church and of the town, this booklet strives to narrate briefly the historical highlights of these eventful years, and at the same time to present a portrait of the Church and its people as they exist today.
The First Congregational Church of Natick has a right to be proud of the word "First." It is the oldest organization in a very old town. Throughout this chronicle the word "church" is used in the old tenor, meaning "body of worshipers," which is in truth what church should mean.
Our Church has met in seven different meeting houses, but our continuity of worshipers has been kept from the time of John Eliot to the present day. We were founded as a church in 1651, but the town was the controlling body until 1802. It is only since that date that we have had a separate entity, hence it can be said that we were founded in 1651 and organized in 1802.
As the oldest organization in this town, our Church has carried out well the responsibility of living up to its great traditions, and stands today as a constant reminder that here, as always, hospitable Christian service is available to all.
1651-1951
OUR CHURCH BUILDING, photographed in early spring of 1951. This, our seventh meeting house, was built in 1875, immediately follow- ing the great Natick fire of the previous year which destroyed a great portion of the center, including the Congregational Church.
A Message
from the Minister
REVEREND PAUL D. TILLER
I' T IS a wonderful privilege, at this point in a long succession of min- isters, to be on duty at the time of the three hundredth anniversary of our historic Church.
On such an occasion it is truly fitting that we express our common thanks to God for his inspiration and guidance through the years. And I join with you, as members of the Church, in paying tribute to the innumerable Christian workers who have served this Church before our time.
We here record our deep appreciation for the rich heritage which is ours in this Church, and for the noble witness which the Church has borne throughout the centuries to the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that we, and those who are to come after us, may be sincerely devoted to the building of the Kingdom of God in the lives of men the world over.
PAUL D. TILLER Minister
FORMER MINISTERS
THE REVEREND FREDERICK W. ALDEN 1939-1946
THE REVEREND ALVIN C. BACON 1923-1939
THE REVEREND DR. ARTHUR W. ACKERMAN 1912-1923
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THREE HUNDRED YEARS
I.
JOHN ELIOT, the Founder
T HE FOUNDATION of this history is John Eliot, who for 86 active and vigorous years lived a life so interesting that it is almost impossible to believe that one man could do so much.
John Eliot was born in Nazing, England, in 1603. (Some records claim 1604.) His pious parents provided him with a good education, for he attended Jesus College, Cambridge, taking his A.B. in 1623. He came to Boston on the ship "Mary Lion", arriving on November 2, 1631. In November 1632 he was made "Teacher of the First Church in Roxbury." According to the custom of that time, the church had two ministers, one the pastor, one the teacher. He evidently was made a minister-preacher the next year.
Before leaving England, Eliot became engaged to Ann Mumford, who waited there a year until Eliot became settled in Roxbury. Ann came to Boston, where she and Eliot were married, and until she died in 1687 she was his constant helper in his great work.
Devotion to the Indians
John Eliot soon became deeply. interested in the Indians in the vicinity of Boston, and in 1641 (when 38 years old) started the great task of learning the Indian language.
The Indian language, or really dialect, was fabulously complicated and almost hopeless, as words often ran to 42 letters in length. Eliot persevered, and after two years of study he was able to converse with the Indians in their own language. In 1647 Eliot preached a sermon to the Indians in their language, with the Colonial legislature as guests.
Tradition, often unreliable, says that the Natick Indians once lived in Deerfield, but as they were worn out with struggling with a superior, local hostile tribe, they came near Boston to be under English pro- tection. The Indians lived in great misery and were neglected and poor. In order to help these miserable folk, the Massachusetts legisla- ture passed an act in 1646 "For Propagating the Gospel among the Indians." But more important, the Parliament in England in 1649 passed the incorporating act for "The Society for Propagating the
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Historic Memories of an Old Church
Gospel in New England." These two societies provided funds for salaries of missionaries, and the wages of white and Indian teachers.
The Search for Natick, 1650
The winter of 1646 saw Eliot beginning his work at Nonantum. Luckily, that winter, according to Eliot's records, was totally without snow and he could preach in the open. Nonantum was too near the white settlements, and Eliot feared for the bad influence on his In- dians, so he began to look for a quieter locality. He rode far into the then-wilderness to look for the perfect spot. According to a traditional story, Eliot rode quite a distance, then dismounted to pray, and as he prayed his Indian guide appeared at his side and asked what he was doing. Eliot told the Indian what he was looking for, and the Indian asked Eliot to follow him. He led Eliot to a spot on the banks of the Charles River. "This is the perfect place." Eliot agreed and decided to move his Indian congregation here. Undoubtedly this trip was taken in 1650.
This location, soon to be known as Natick, "the place of hills," was ideal for a new settlement. Gently rolling hills protected it from winter winds. The forests were composed of useful woods: walnut, chestnut, elm, maple, birch, pine, hemlock, spruce and oak. Many brooks drained and watered the soil. Fish were abundant: alewives, shad, pickerel, dace, eels, pout and perch were in the lakes and streams. The woods had deer, moose, bear, fox and otter (and wolves, too). Truly this could support the new community.
Early Construction
On Eliot's petition the land on the banks of the Charles was granted to the Indians, probably in exchange for their former lands in Deer- field. The General Court approved this 2000 acre grant (increased to 6000 acres in 1658) from the Town of Dedham. Historians claim that the old footbridge across the Charles River was built in 1650. It was the first construction work done in Natick and was built exactly where the stone bridge stands today in South Natick. In the spring of 1651 three streets were laid out, two on the north of the bridge, one on the south side, and house lots were apportioned to each Indian family.
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THE PARSONAGE, located at 32 Florence Street, is a roomy home purchased from the Loker family in 1925.
In 1651 Eliot and his Indians built their "palisadoed fort" and then the first meeting house-a combination church, dwelling and school. It was a two story building twenty-five by thirty feet (although some early chronicles report the length as fifty feet). The first floor was for the church and school room; the second floor where the Indians hung up their skins had a corner partitioned off for Eliot's bedroom.
The First Town Government
In August of this year Eliot called the Indians together to form their government, Natick's first. They chose "a ruler of one hundred, then two rulers of fifty, and lastly ten rulers of ten." Thomas Waban, first town clerk, was one of the rulers of fifty. They then drew up their great covenant beginning "we give ourselves and our children to God, to be His people."
Eliot's work at once began to attract attention, and as early as 1651 Governor Endicott visited Natick to see this great project. The gover- nor was tremendously impressed and wrote in his diary, "Truly I account this one of the best journeys I have made these many years." In 1652 a "great assembly" (really an Indian revival service) was held in Natick. Many ministers were present to question the Indians through interpreters. Fifteen Indians were converted. It was in 1660 that the First Indian Church in America was organized here. The records of 1670 show between forty and fifty Indian church members.
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An Act of Sacrifice
It was probably in 1660 that Eliot employed the Indian named Sassamon as schoolmaster at Natick. Sassamon, a convert to Chris- tianity, left Natick later to become secretary and instructor to his chief, Philip, in 1662.
When Sassamon learned of Philip's warlike plans, he went to Plymouth and warned the English. This Christian act cost him his life, for he was soon murdered (1675). Four Indians were hanged for this crime.
II.
The Indian Bible, 1663
J OHN ELIOT's greatest work was completed in 1661 when his transla- tion of the New Testament into the Indian language was com- pleted and printed. The whole Bible was completed in 1663. This was printed in Cambridge in an edition of 1500 copies. A single copy of this Bible is one of the rarest items of Americana, and would bring a huge price. In 1680 Eliot revised the New Testament, and the Old
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THE CHURCH AUDITORIUM, looking up the center aisle, with the pulpit decked in lilies for Easter Sunday morning, March 25, 1951.
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Testament in 1685, when an edition of 2000 copies was printed. The second edition, too, is a rare item, and only one copy is owned locally.
Difficulty of Translation
One can hardly imagine what a stupendous task this Indian Bible was. There were no grammars, no dictionaries. No books or writing were in the Indian language. Eliot had to learn from the Indian (really a rude barbarian) and make his own grammar and vocabulary. It was a truly weird language, and Eliot had to discover its strange principles.
Then too, Eliot was a busy man; he was an active minister of the Roxbury Parish, he took interest in all public affairs, and he travelled widely. Eliot had little money to print the Bible, but when he finished writing it the London Society provided most of the money needed for the printing.
Indian Word-Meanings
Many of the Indian words are still in use by us today; such as Mas- sachusetts, meaning "the blue hills," Nonantum-"rejoicing," Waban -"the wind," Connecticut-"long river," Cochituate-"long pond." These were the shorter words, as they were proper names. Words of action were of much greater length.
The Old Oak
Eliot used to preach in the open under the venerable oak in South Natick, and many of us can remember this tree in its last years. Long- fellow commemorated this oak in his famous "Sonnet on Eliot's Oak" (1877). This sonnet ended in the lines:
"His Bible in a language that hath died And is forgotten save by thee alone."
Immediately upon publication of the historic poem a Connecticut scholar translated the entire sonnet into the Indian language.
Eliot The Man
Professor Stowe, in an address on the 200th anniversary of the town of Natick, described Eliot as "a man of great versatility, and very superior intellectual power. Doubtless he has had his equals, but never a superior, in Christian zeal and goodness."
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III. The Fate of the Natick Indians
N ATICK was still a "Foreign Missionary Town," with Eliot being paid as a missionary by his church in Roxbury, plus an allow- ance from the missionary board. His salary in 1657 was fifty pounds annually, and the work prospered greatly. Eliot travelled among the Indians of other towns, mostly on foot. He visited Cape Cod, crossed to Martha's Vineyard, and often visited towns in Worcester County.
King Philip's War, 1675
He even preached to King Philip ... with little result, however. The brooding King Philip, son of the gentle Massasoit, commenced his cruel war; and the Natick Indians, as a group, started on their way out. There was never any separate tribe called the Natick Indi- ans. They were mostly of the Massachusetts tribe and were called the "praying Indians."
The English, in spite of much help from the Praying Indians, were afraid of Indian uprisings and passed cruel and needless laws. The Indians were to be transported to places of virtual imprisonment.
In 1675 carts arrived in Natick to transport the Natick Indians to Deer Island. Patiently the Indians submitted, and two hundred men, women and children left their Natick homes and started for Deer Island. At Watertown, where the arsenal stands, Eliot met the Indi- ans. The moment, as he stood and prayed with them, is portrayed by the Holbrook mural in the Natick Post Office. This painted scene shows the elderly Eliot raising his hands in prayer over his beloved converts, who listlessly but hopefully listen. It is a truly touching scene but not one the white man can be proud of.
The winter on Deer Island was very severe and many died, but the Praying Indians were still patient and resigned. After Philip's War, the Indians on Deer Island slowly migrated back to Natick, depleted in numbers, but still believing in John Eliot and his Christian teach- ings. Truly our founding pastor taught well.
Death of John Eliot, 1690
John Eliot was by now an old man, but still eagerly teaching. His beloved friends Cotton and Mather had now died, and he knew his
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THE CHURCH AND PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEES, the governing bodies of the Church. Seated (left to right): Harry Baker, Mrs. Laura Bagley, Mrs. Blanche Balcom, Mrs. Mary Bishop, Miss Virginia Clark, Paul D. Tiller, Mrs. Dorothy Heinlein, Mrs. Dorothy Wright, Wendell Bishop, Ernest Wright. Standing: Kenneth Gray, Frank Perry, Francis Harvie, George Rogers, Richard Potter, Jr., Martin Heinlein, B. J. Bagley, Ernest Griffin, Homer Bullis, Richard Kennedy, Charles Johnson, Albert Sanborn, Arthur Miller, Melvin Heefner, Edward Dummer, Everett Ford, Leighton Harris and David Wood.
days were numbered. Up to the very end of his life he practiced his teachings, and his benevolences never stopped.
He died penniless as to money, but rich in his possession of friends. Eliot died at Roxbury in 1690 at the age of 87, and tradition has it that his last words were "welcome joy." He was buried in Roxbury in the ministers' tomb of the First Church. His monument in South Natick was erected as a memorial in 1847.
Immediately at the death of Eliot, one of his beloved Indians be- came pastor. Daniel Takawampbait took the pulpit and served until 1716. (The Takawampbait gravestone, original, embedded in the rock in the South Natick square, is one of the few remaining items remind- ing us of the Indian past.) John Neesnuman and Josiah Shonks, both Indians, followed with brief terms in the pulpit.
The Praying Indians were so depleted in numbers that in 1698 the church consisted of only ten members. This failing church finally ceased about 1721. The first meeting house, having served its worthy purpose, gradually went to pieces, and undoubtedly some of its beams were used in other buildings.
The "100 Acres," 1719
In 1719 had occurred an item of great interest to our present church, for in that year the town passed an act assigning the twenty proprie- tors of the town each sixty acres, and recorded the same in the town records. In the middle of these lots was a large unnumbered plot, laid out and assigned as the "Ministerial lot of 100 acres."
This hundred acres covered roughly an area in the center of Natick that is now bounded by Pond Street to Palmer Avenue, then in a line north to Grove Street, west to Walnut Hill, and south to the center of town. This would be the entire commercial center of the town of Natick and its most valuable land. Later in this history will be shown
Rules of the Indians
Excerpts from the code of laws adopted for the government of Natick in 1651: "If any man be idle a week, or at most a fortnight, he shall pay five shillings. . . . If any woman shall not have her hair tied up, but hang loose, or be cut as men's hair, she shall pay five shillings. .. . If any shall kill their lice between their teeth, they shall pay five shillings."
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THE DEACONS AND DEACONESSES. Seated (left to right): Mrs. Corinne Wood- bury, Mrs. Josephine Parkin, Mrs. Bernice Harrington, Mrs. Mary Bigelow, Mrs. Margaret Miller, Mrs. Priscilla Frikart, Mrs. Hannah Erickson and Mrs. Ann Holland. Standing: George Rogers, Frank Perry, Mrs. Evelyn Veale, Walter Robinson, Mrs. Ruth Wagg, William Bigelow, Mrs. Emily Johnson, Arthur Miller, Mrs. Mary Gray, Harry Baker, Ernest Griffin and Clarence Eldridge.
the value and disposition of this hundred acres that belonged to our church. Our present building stands on the remnant of this acreage at its southeasterly corner. The sale of this hundred acres (in the early 1800's) created our still existing "Ministerial Fund."
In 1720 Natick's first industry was started. A saw mill was erected by John Sawin. He built his mill and dam several hundred feet above the present dam in South Natick. Owners of Medfield land complained about the dam causing flooding, so the mill was moved to its present location on the, now, Stillman land. Later a dam was built across the Charles where the present dam stands.
IV. Early Records, 1721-1752
T HE SECOND MEETING house in Natick, still located in South Natick, was built in 1721 on the site of the first one. The London Society appointed the Reverend Oliver Peabody (Harvard 1721) to be missionary, and he immediately came to Natick.
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Noting the absence of church or town records, Peabody decided to keep his own. He bought a small book and rebound it in sheepskin. In it he kept his church records, which appear to be the only church records in Natick from 1721 to 1752. This most valuable book still reposes in our church vault with our other early records. This year, for the first time, a second complete copy of this book has been made.
This record of Peabody's was a true record of the importance of the church at that time. The church set up standards and rules of mo- rality and enforced them. Many are the entries of charges, trials, con- demnations and admonitions. To quote a few from the records:
Sept. 8, 1734 Brother Joseph Ephraim, Junior, having been left to fall into ye sin of intemperance in drinking, made such a confession as was accepted by a vote of ye church.
Feb. 5, 1736 Thomas Peegun making a confession was by a vote of ye church restored to ye charity of ye church of communion, he confessed intemperance and a breach of ye seventh commandment.
Many entries were recorded as "scandalous sins"-not of a quotable nature even in these liberal days. After a full confession of repentance and reformation before the whole church, the guilty parties were generally "voted the continuance of the church's Love and Charity."
In 1730 records show purchase or gifts of two tankards and two flagons for communion purposes. There is no record of what happened to these sacramental vessels, nor of the fate of the silver baptismal bowl of John Eliot.
When Peabody came to Natick there were only two white families (Sawin, Morse) in the south part of town. The Bacons, Underwoods, Frosts, Drurys, Goodnows and Fisks lived in the north part of town and probably were not members of the parish of that time. In our church today are descendants of most of these early families.
New Parish Thrives
Peabody was an active man and his parish began to revive. In 1728 he was voted the sole use of the Ministerial Hundred Acres, although it was far distant from his church building. The church was again formed as a body, with only three Indians and five white male mem- bers. A year later twenty-two people joined the church and soon there were fifty members.
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THE WOMEN'S UNION BOARD, including the officers of the Union and chairmen of all important committees. Seated (left to right): Miss Myra FitzGerald, Mrs. Evelyn Veale, Mrs. Laura Bagley, Mrs. Helen Tiller, Mrs. Greta Potter, Mrs. Mary Bishop. Standing: Mrs. Helen Columbia, Mrs. Lana Rowe, Mrs. Gerda Olson, Mrs. Esmah Swenson, Mrs. Corinne Woodbury, Mrs. Mary Gray. Other members of the Board, not in this picture, are: Mrs. Blanche Balcom, Mrs. Grace Barker, Mrs. Mary Bigelow, Mrs. Anne Crowe, Mrs. Elinore Fitch, Mrs. Isabel Forsyth, Mrs. Mildred Griffin, Mrs. Bernice Harrington, Mrs. Dorothy Heinlein, Mrs. Doris Kinnear, Mrs. Catherine Lewis, Mrs. Lena Pendleton, Mrs. Ruth Roberts, Mrs. Maude Stocker, Mrs. Miriam Wanacek, Mrs. Elizabeth Weatherby, Mrs. Isabelle Wigglesworth, Mrs. Grace Wignot.
In 1749 two very important town meeting articles were presented: I. "Voted to accept Rev. Peabody as parish minister upon the condi- tion he will come to the center of town to preach," and 2. "Voted to see whether the Rev. Peabody, the Indian Pastor, will be the Parish Minister." Both of these articles were important as this was the first move to try to move the church from South Natick to Natick center, and also an attempt to change from an Indian pastor to a parish min- ister. Both of these controversial items were defeated, but left much friction between the two sections of town.
During the Peabody ministry we have the first appearance of the
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office of "deacon." Ephraim, an Indian, appears to have been chosen for this office in 1734. He was also chairman of the board of selectmen.
Death of Peabody, 1752
Oliver Peabody labored long and faithfully. He died in 1752 and was buried in the old South Natick center cemetery. His perfectly preserved slate stone with its long Latin inscription is well worth a visit.
Peabody baptized 192 Indians and 422 white persons during his long ministry, but only 35 Indians and 133 whites joined his church.
V. Strife in the Church
TEPHEN BADGER (Harvard), the next minister, came to Natick in S 1753. The second meeting house was declared unsuitable and a third building was started in 1754. The wrangling between the Natick center and South Natick members prevented the finishing of the building until 1767. Many white members felt that the church should meet at the center (where it now is), and the Indian members wished the church at South Natick. This struggle continued all during Badger's pastorate and eventually caused the end of the South Natick church.
The life of Stephen Badger must have been made miserable by all this vicious wrangling. Votes were even passed cruelly dismissing him, his salary was decreased and often withheld, but he struggled to keep his flock together. Harriet Beecher Stowe in her "Old Town Folks" portrays Badger as "Parson Lothrop." His real life was undoubtedly more tumultuous than it is in the book.
In spite of Badger's efforts, the church began to split, and in 1798 the town demanded that he come to Natick center to preach, or if he would not, to dismiss him. In 1799 he stopped his preaching, but he lived in South Natick until he died in 1803. It was during the Badger ministry that Natick was incorporated as a town, February 19, 1781.
The Fourth Meeting House, 1799
The church in South Natick was gone, the only meeting house being the one at the center. This building had been built in 1798-1799 near the corner of the ministerial lot. It was without a minister, as Badger
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A FEW of the older members of the Church who, through the years, have been faithful workers. Seated (left to right): Miss Myra FitzGerald, Miss Flora B. Rice, William R. Bigelow, Mrs. Katherine Peterson, Mrs. Bertha Taft, and Mrs. Elizabeth C. Adams. Standing: Arthur W. Robinson, Frank O. Brown, Carl R. Leavitt, and Fred H. Lathrop.
had refused being transferred. The Selectmen hired temporary preaching until they could obtain a full-time minister.
In trying to transfer the South Natick minister to the center, un- doubtedly the "100 acres" was in the minds of the Selectmen, for they had built their center meeting house on this land. The new building was declared by town meeting to be the "Fourth Meeting House" (the first three having been in South Natick).
Churches, like families, move to other locations but they still re- main the same family. Our church family was moved by town vote from South Natick, but proudly admits its descent from the South Natick church. Not for thirty years was there a church again in South Natick. In 1828 another church was formed in South Natick and properly chose the site of the original three meeting houses for its building site.
In learning the Mohegan dialect of the Indians, Eliot faced a difficult task. For instance, the following single word meant "our question"-
Kummogkodnnattootummooctiteaongannumarash.
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VI. The Fourth Meeting House
T HE FOURTH MEETING HOUSE was now in the center and all wran- gling was over. The whites had won. Henceforth it was the parish church completely dominated by the white citizens. The meet- ing house with its cemetery occupied the hub of the town. The South Natick members gave in gracefully and seven members of Badger's church became "charter members" of the center church.
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