USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Historical discourse delivered on the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Dudley-street Baptist church, Boston (formerly Roxbury), Mass., March 9, 1871 > Part 1
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GC 974.402 B65ki 1825678
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1 n
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 8841
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE
DELIVERED ON THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY with
OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
Dudley - Street
tptis Church,
BOSTON (FORMERLY ROXBURY), MASS.,
MARCH 9, 1871,
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
BY
HENRY MELVILLE KING, PASTOR.
PUBLISHED BY VOTE OF THE CHURCH.
BOSTON : PRINTED BY RAND, AVERY, & FRYE, 3 CORNHILL.
1871.
1825678
--
D 28441 1.46
KING, HENRY MELVILLE, 1838-1910. Historical discourse delivered on the fif- tieth anniversary of the organization of the Dudley-street Baptist church, Boston ( formerly Roxbury), Mass., March 9, 1871 ... Avery, & Frye, 1871. 67p.
Boston, Rand,
NL 39-10639
2542
IN February, the Committee to whom the arrangements for the anni- versary were committed by the Church published in the denominational papers the following special notice : -
The Dudley-Street Baptist Church,
ROXBURY,
Will celebrate with appropriate services its SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVER- SARY on THURSDAY, March 9. The services will begin at 3, P.M. ; at which hour the HISTORICAL ADDRESS will be delivered by the Pastor, Rev. HENRY M. KING; and it is expected that the previous pastors of the Church, now living, will be present, and participate in the exercises. A collation will be provided at 6 o'clock ; and in the evening there will be general congratu- latory services, with short addresses, reminiscences, &c.
A cordial invitation is extended to former members of the Church, far and near, to unite with its present members in the celebration of this fiftieth anniversary. If any cannot come, letters from them expressing their affection for the Church, and giving facts of interest which they remember, are earnestly solicited, and will be gratefully received. It is hoped that all who can will come up to this festival. Provision will be made for those from a distance who wish to spend the night.
HENRY M. KING, JOSHUA LINCOLN, W. S. EDMANDS, R. A. HOWES,
Committee.
Communications can be addressed to either member of the Committee.
:
1821-1871.
Order of Exercises
AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE
SEMI- CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
Dudley-Street Baptist Church,
ROXBURY, MASS., -
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 3 P.M.
I. VOLUNTARY.
II. INVOCATION.
BY REV. H. K. PEVEAR, WORCESTER.
III. ORIGINAL HYMN.
O THOU, with whom a thousand years Are but as yesterday when past, -- Our fathers' God 'mid hopes and fears, Their children's God while life shall last ! -
We lift to Thee our heartfelt praise, Assembled in Thy courts to-day ; Recall the memories of Thy grace, The wonders of Thy perfect way.
Beneath the shade of spreading boughs, Made strong and fruitful by Thy love, We joyful meet, and pay our vows To Thee, who hearest from above.
We praise Thee for Thy fostering care, Which through the lapse of fifty years Has given success to word and prayer, And owned and blessed Thy servants' tears.
Life, growth, and fruitage are bestowed By Thy divine and sovereign will : The past owns Thee its gracious God ; And hope rests sweetly on Thee still.
The branch, which faith, and love of truth, Here set in dry and rocky soil, Endow with strength of ceaseless youth, And still reward our prayer and toil.
-
1
IV. READING OF SCRIPTURES. PSALMS XCI. AND XCVI. BY REV. H. S. BURRAGE, WATERVILLE, ME.
V. PRAYER.
BY REV. R. H. NEALE, D.D, BOSTON.
VI. HYMN.
BY HENRY S. WASHBURN.
FATHER of mercies, God of love ! Our glad Hosannas here we raise,
And consecrate anew to Thee This place, long vocal with Thy praise.
Here often have our waiting eyes Visions of wondrous beauty seen, As hand in hand our feet have trod These pastures dressed in living green.
How sweet the memories of the past, And dear the guides, who day by day Have cheered our fainting spirits on Through all the trials of the way !
Dear Saviour, as the years roll by, Display Thy glories brighter still : With foretastes of the Better Land, And peace divine, our spirits fill, -
Till through abounding grace we join - All trials past, all conflicts o'er - The ransomed ones who wait to greet Our coming on the Farther Shore.
VII. HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. BY REV. HENRY M. KING, PASTOR. SETTLED APRIL, 1863.
VIII. HYMN.
I LOVE Thy kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood.
I love Thy church, O God ! Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye, And graven on Thy hand.
Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways.
Her sweet communion, solemn vows, Her hymns of love and praise.
Sure as Thy truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven.
IX. ADDRESS. 1
BY REV. THOMAS D. ANDERSON, D.D., PASTOR FROM AUGUST, 1848, TO DECEMBER, 1861.
X. PRAYER. BY REV. WILLIAM LAMSON, D.D., BROOKLINE.
XI. DOXOLOGY.
XII. BENEDICTION. BY REV. S. PECK, D.D., ROXBURY.
* The singing during the services was under the charge of Brother LUTHER G. RICE, assisted by our chorister, Mr. BOWEN, and our organist, Mr. PROESCHOLDT, and by many who in other days had occupied the singers' seats.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
WE are assembled to-day to commemorate by appropriate religious services the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of this Christian church. Half of a century has passed away since a little company of disciples of the divine Mas- ter, prompted by love to him and a desire to make known his saving name, entered, after many weeks of prayerful deliberation, into a solemn covenant to walk together in the spirit, faith, and ordinances of the gospel. This transaction is not so remote but that some who participated in it still remain ; yet, as we measure the life of man, a generation and a half has gone the way of all the earth since the event whose anniversary has brought us together on this occa- sion.
The formation of a church is a result as well as a begin- ning, a fruit as well as a seed. It will be remembered by you, that, in October of 1869, we observed the semi-centen- nial anniversary of our Sunday school, by services which we shall long look back upon with pleasure ; the labors of
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Historical Discourse.
the Sunday school having antedated the organization of the church by nearly two years. If we had observed the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of preaching in this commu- nity through the efforts of Baptists, our jubilee celebration would have been as far back as the summer of 1868 ; and even if so important an event as the dedication of our first house of worship had claimed our public remembrance when fifty years had been all told, our semi-centennial anniver- sary would have occurred Nov. 1, 1870: but it is the church, not the material house, but the spiritual body, the company of baptized believers in Christ, of whom Paul says, "Ye are builded together for a habitation of God through the spirit," even that to which sanctuary and preaching and Sunday school are all subservient, that claims the pre-eminent place in our thoughts as we review the past. Whatever celebra- tions we might have had before, we should be called to a cheerful and hearty celebration of this day, which marks a period of fifty years from the organization of this church of Christ.
We are aware that we shall be able to present to you in this historical discourse little more than the rough scaffold- ing which surrounds the beautiful spiritual temple which God, for half a century, has been building here ; but even from that you may determine the outline of God's work, and through that you may catch glimpses of the glory of his divine workmanship. We must have other eyes than these natural ones, if we would see, when the scaffolding has been removed, the temple appear in its beauty, to the everlasting praise of its gracious Builder.
To trace the origin of this church, we must go back to the year 1817. At that time, even this, the most thickly
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Historical Discourse.
settled portion of the town of Roxbury, had but a small population, and but one religious society, worshipping in the old meeting-house on the hill. Of this society, Rev. Dr. Porter had then been pastor for thirty-five years, having been settled in 1782. The neighboring country presented the same diversified appearance as now, with the same " remarkable alternation of hills and hollows," but with none of the beautiful private residences and broad avenues lead- ing to them, which we now everywhere behold. Stony Brook, of which we still hear sometimes, but whose course . we cannot now so easily trace, pursued its open way, and little thought it was soon to become a Jordan to many a happy disciple of Jesus. Boston had not then become a city, and contained not more than forty thousand inhabit- ants .* It was good two miles and a half away ; and the one road to it was over a bleak, uninhabited, and, it was sup- posed, almost uninhabitable, neck of land. At that time, Boston had four Baptist churches all told ; the First Church, of which "the beloved Winchell" was pastor, though he passed to an early grave the year before this church was' constituted ; the Second Church, of which Dr. Baldwin was still pastor, at the mature age of sixty-four; the Third Church, now known as the "Charles-street," where Rev. Mr. Sharp (he had not then attained unto the dignity of " Dr. Sharp") was gaining a wide reputation as a preacher of the gospel ; and a colored church, now called the " Inde- pendent." There were also Baptist churches at Medfield; at
* " In 1822, Boston was made a city, a hundred and seventy years after the change had been first talked of, and a hundred and thirteen after the failure to have the place incorporated in 1709." - Appleton's New American Cyclope- dia. According to the national census of 1820, its population was 43,298.
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Historical Discourse.
Newton, where Father Grafton preached ; at East Stough- ton ; at Woburn and Weston ; at Charlestown and Malden ; at Canton and at Sharon. It was in that year that the First Cambridge or Cambridgeport Baptist church was organized, whose first pastor was Rev. Bela Jacobs.
This was the year 1817. In the autumn of this year, Mr. Beza Tucker, a member of the Old South Society in Boston, but not a member of the church, being a resident of Rox- bury, opened his house on Sabbath evenings for preaching. This house is still standing, and is situated on Shawmut Avenue, a few rods only from this place. It is well known. as the Governor Sumner house ; Increase Sumner, who was governor of Massachusetts in 1797-1799, having spent the last twenty years of his life in it. It is now occupied by Charles F. Bradford, Esq .* It is remembered that the first sermon in Mr. Tucker's house was preached by Rev. Daniel Sharp. The occasion of these evening meetings, held under the very shadow of the old First Church, was the change of religious views then rapidly taking place in many of the Congregationalist churches and pulpits in this vicinity. There are some now living among us who recall those meetings in the large north room of the spacious dwelling, who were present at them, and remember facts of interest connected with them. Among those whose services were secured to preach in that place was Mr. Ensign Lincoln, t a member of Mr. Sharp's church, a printer by trade, who
* " It was formerly the confiscated estate of Judge Robert Auchmuty." - See History of the Grammar School in Roxbury, by C. K. Dillaway, p. 144.
Mr. Lincoln was born in Hingham, Mass., Jan. 8, 1779. He was con- verted under the preaching of Dr. Baldwin, and baptized by him at the age of nineteen.
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Historical Discourse.
had been licensed as a preacher, but was never ordained, and settled as a pastor. He was in the habit, for many years, of riding out from Boston to neighboring villages to preach on Sunday where his services were required ; and many are the fields in which he faithfully sowed "the good seed of the kingdom." He was a man of devout spirit, of eminent piety, and made men feel the power of his Christian character, as well as of the truth which he preached. His. preaching was clear, searching, tender, and persuasive. The first evening that he preached in Mr. Tucker's house, two young men living in this community went to the meet- ing with the purpose of disturbing it. As they stood out- side, with stones in their hands, waiting for the favorable opportunity to throw them through the windows, Mr. Lin- coln rose, and announced his text; 2 Sam. xii. 7 : " And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man." The Spirit of God carried the text to the hearts of the young men. They dropped the stones which they held, quietly entered the house, listened thoughtfully to the sermon, were convicted of their sins, and led to repentance and to faith in Christ. One of them was one of the original members of this church. Having removed from the place, he united with another Baptist church, where he was afterward elected a deacon. The other one went soon to Maine, was pastor of several churches, and labored through a long and successful min- istry.
These meetings were continued till the spring of 1818, when Mr. Tucker secured the use of a large room in a building owned by Deacon Samuel Sumner, and converted it into a hall for preaching and religious meetings. This building is the three-story wooden building on the westerly
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Historical Discourse.
side of Guild Row. On account of the manner in which the hall was fitted up, it was called familiarly, and, perhaps contemptuously, " The White-wash." Here religious services were held for several months. Rev. James Sabine, pastor of the Essex-street Congregationalist Church, officiated most frequently. In a brief history of this church, prepared in 1855, by the pastor, we find a record of the peculiar state of things at this period, and the reasons why the religious movement, which had been begun and carried forward mainly by Congregationalists, was passed over into the hands of Baptists ; though it should be distinctly stated that Mr. Tucker and his associates by no means abandoned the movement : on the contrary, they continued (to their great praise be it said) to give to it their warm sympathy and cordial support. They simply transferred to the man- agement of others an enterprise which their embarrassed circumstances prevented them from carrying forward suc- cessfully. The record to which we alluded is as follows : "An effort made, in the mean time, to erect a meeting-house, failed through discouragements ; and as it became exceed- ingly difficult, owing to the rigid observance of parish lines, even at this late date, to obtain Congregational ministers to preach, Mr. Tucker very generously offered the hall, free of expense, to the Baptists during the next six months, pro- vided they would supply preaching." This was a virtual surrender of the field. It was a noble proposition of a man who, though not a professor of religion, was only anx- ious that the truth should be preached, and that men should be converted, to the end. that virtue and vital godliness might take the place of immorality and sin. Rev. William Leverett, the second pastor of this church, whose ministry
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Historical Discourse.
began here at the beginning of 1825, and whose acquaint- ance with the religious condition of Boston and vicinity dates still farther back, has written to me in these words : " Most vividly do I recall the controversy between the Or- thodox and the Unitarians in 1819 and 1820, the division in their churches and congregations, the separations which took place, and the varied circumstances which opened the door for the preaching of the gospel by the Baptists in Roxbury. I recall Beza Tucker, - his urgent entreaties to the evangelical ministers (the Orthodox, so called) to come and preach in his house; their refusal, based upon the impropriety of crossing parish lines ; and the consequent invitation to the Baptists to come and preach." Such was the condition of things in 1818. It seemed necessary to refer to it to show how it happened that we had a begin- ning here. The Baptists, who were few in number, and feeble in resources (a state of things not uncommon in many communities in those days), gratefully accepted the generous proposition of Mr. Tucker, and immediately made application to Mr. Lincoln, who consented to preach twice on the Sabbath, afternoon and evening, during the remain- der of that year.
It is worthy of record, as showing the effectiveness of Mr. Lincoln's preaching, and the manner in which God used him in the gathering of souls for the formation of a Baptist church in this place, that the first sermon which he preached in the hall (his text being, " And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou ?" - Gen. iii. 9) was blessed to the awakening and conversion of a young man who was in the congregation ; who was subsequently baptized by Rev. Mr. Sharp; became one of the constituent
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members of this church ; was in a few years chosen one of its deacons, and has with meekness, fidelity, and honor filled the office through a period of more than forty-two years ; and, by the kindness of a gracious Providence, has been spared to us until this hour. He is the only original member whose name remains on our church-list : we mean our honored and beloved senior deacon, Kendall Brooks. From its beginning until this its fiftieth anniversary, through its infancy and growth, he has toiled and prayed for the prosperity of this church ; his connection with it embracing the entire period of its existence. May God, who has brought him to this day, which he little expected to behold, grant unto him a new blessing, and permit us still to receive the answers to his prayers, and walk in the light of his example !
In the beginning of 18r9, Rev. Stephen Chapin,* who had just been led to accept Baptist sentiments, was engaged by Mr. Lincoln to preach in the hall for three months. Mr. Lincoln himself supplied the desk during the remainder of the year. In the spring or early summer, a Sabbath school was gathered in the brick building adjoining the hall ; and Jacob Frieze was elected its first superintendent. The labors of the year were attended by the converting power of God's Spirit ; and quite a number were brought to ac- knowledge their sinfulness, and need of divine forgiveness, and to trust in Him who gave his life a ransom for many. Eleven from this neighborhood united, the following sum-
* In 1822, he was called to the chair of theology in the newly-established college at Waterville, Me. In 1828, he accepted the presidency of Columbian College in Washington, and discharged the duties of that office with great ability and success, until his resignation in 1841. He remained in Washing- ton until his death.
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mer, with the Third Baptist Church in Boston, having been baptized by Rev. Daniel Sharp. Among them were Phin- ehas Bond, Welcome Parmenter, Kendall Brooks, Abel Greene, Mary Randall, Lois Mecuen, and Hannah Jackson.
The subject of building a house of worship had been fre- quently agitated ; but no active measures were undertaken until near the close of 1819. Three thousand dollars having been first subscribed, at a meeting held Oct. 7, a commit- tee was appointed to purchase a suitable lot of land, and superintend the erection of the building. This committee consisted of John. Heath, William Wyman, jun., Antipas Jackson, and Edward Humphris. John Heath, who was a Congregationalist, was appointed treasurer, and rendered valuable service to the society in this office for several years. To this committee, Samuel Langley, Heman Lin- coln of Boston, and Elijah Corey of Brookline, were after- ward added. Again it was increased by the addition of Beza Tucker, John Haynes, Ward Jackson of Boston, Levi Farwell of Cambridge, Timothy Corey of Brookline, and Josiah Coolidge of Watertown. The work of raising funds was pushed forward, the brethren from Brookline and other places rendering much help; and, before the winter was over, the sum of seven thousand dollars had been subscribed. Of this sum, Mr. Tucker, who had cheerfully at the first thrown open his house for the preaching of the gospel, and whose interest in the movement seemed only to increase with his declining health, gave a thousand dollars. Never can the members of this church forget their great indebted- ness to Mr. Tucker and men of kindred spirit, who, though not in all respects of our faith, contributed so generously to lay here the foundations of a Baptist church. It is our
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Historical Discourse.
pleasure to-day, as it ever will be, to make public acknowl- edgment of this fact. Deacon Thomas Griggs of Brookline, one of the original members of this church (whom we are glad to see here to-day), in a letter to me, says, "We found friends, not of our order only, but of the Congregational brethren and Methodist, who rendered us much aid, and bid us God speed. Among them, honorable mention might be made of Dr. Prentiss," Mr. Tucker, who left to the church at his death the communion-service ; and Mr. John Heath, who served for years, as treasurer and collector. Others wished us well, although we were opposed by the baser sort, as we might well expect, commencing in a place where morality was at a low ebb, and darkness had long reigned."
The lot of ground first purchased was that on which the Universalist house of worship now stands. But this lot on which our sanctuary is erected being deemed in some re- spects more desirable, the former lot was surrendered, ; and this one was purchased of Deacon Munroe. The plan selected for a house was almost identical with that of the Cambridgeport Baptist meeting-house, which was destroyed by fire, early in the morning, Jan. 22, 1866. On the 10th of May, 1820, the building was raised ; and on that same day the remains of Mr. Tucker, the early and generous- hearted friend of this society, were carried to the grave. We might almost say of him as the elders of the Jews once said of a certain centurion, whose servant they would have
* Nathaniel S. Prentiss, an earnest Christian physician and highly-esteemed citizen.
t It was very soon bought by the Universalists, whose house of worship was building at the same time with the Baptists', and was dedicated two months later, - Jan. 4, 1821.
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Jesus heal, " For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue." The house of worship was built according to agreement, by Samuel Langley and Edward Humphris, and was publicly set apart to the preaching of the gospel and to the worship of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 1820. Mr. Lincoln, by the special request of the society, preached the sermon on that occasion. His text was Isa. lvi. 7, " Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer : their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for mine house shall be ยท called a house of prayer for all people," - a promise which, we doubt not, was fulfilled on that day, as it was, again . and again, on many subsequent days. Rev. Thomas Bald- win, D.D., offered the prayer of dedication, and preached in the house in the evening .*
During the months of January and February, 1821, several meetings were held in the small chapel which joined the sanctuary, with reference to the formation of a Baptist church. Those who assembled met "to implore divine guidance," "to relate the exercises of their minds," as our fathers always loved to do, and "to seek fellowship" in the contemplated object. Slowly, and with much prayer,
* At that time, there was living in Roxbury a blind old gentleman, who was the first person baptized by Rev. Dr. Stillman in Boston, after he became pastor of the First Baptist Church, in January, 1765. A son of this old gen- tleman, a physician, who had no sympathy with his father's faith, or with the movement to erect a house of worship, as he passed by one day, when the meeting-house was building, was heard to say, with the confidence of a prophet, "It will be sold for a hotel in less than two years." The wish was proba- bly father to the thought. And this was the expectation of not a few persons in the town.
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Historical Discourse.
they undertook the step. The character of these meetings is thus described in the old records : " A pleasing unity of sentiment was apparent ; and a firm belief of the great cardi- nal points of evangelical truth, or the doctrines of grace, was unequivocally stated." Having also sought counsel of Christian friends, at a meeting held in the evening of the second day of March, the brethren and sisters present voted to "associate as a church in this place, by the name of ' The Baptist Church in Roxbury ;'"* and at an adjourned meeting, held March 9, 1821, this vote was carried into effect by the unanimous adoption of a solemn covenant and declaration of faith. This declaration of faith is substan- tially the same as that which, as a church, we hold at the present time, and, I may say, which we expect to hold fifty years hence, and, indeed, to the latest time, for it is a sum- mary of that truth which is as unchangeable as its divine Author and Revealer .; There were ten brethren and thir- teen sisters, twenty-three in all, who thus, as they declared in their preamble, "with a view to the glory of His rich grace who has redeemed us, and to the extension of His kingdom amongst mankind," united in Christian and church fellowship. It is a remarkable fact, showing the incon- veniences of those days, that only ten of these members resided within the limits of what has been commonly called Roxbury. Five resided in Brookline, four in West Roxbury, three in Dorchester, and one in Milton. As it was stated, only one of them, our senior deacon, remains at this date a
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