USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Dedham ; with addenda covering the last fifty years, 1758-1958 > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01892 3471
GC 974.402 D36WO
history of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Dedham
by
DR. ARTHUR MORTON WORTHINGTON
1758 -1958
iven by Rev. Rudolph Poell Nov. 1958
History of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Denham BY
DR. ARTHUR MORTON WORTHINGTON
This history was originally published as a series of articles in The Dedham Transcript in 1908 at the time of the 150th Anniversary of the Parish. At the instance of friends of Dr. Worthington and others interested in the history of the Parish, he has consented that it be printed on the occasion of the 200th Anniversary.
With addenda covering the last fifty years, by Thomas E. Jansen, Jr., present Clerk of the Parish.
1758-1958
Printed By WINTHROP PRINTING & OFFSET CO. OCTOBER 1958
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH IN COLONIAL TIMES
The building up ofthe English Church in New England, as well as elsewhere, found its great source in the energies of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This Society, which still carries on the work in English Colonies, was incorporated by King William III for the purpose of "maintaining clergymen and providing for the worship of God in the plantations, colonies and factories of England beyond the seas, and for the propagation of the gospel in those parts." King's Chapel dates from 1689, before the formation of the above, but it was through the activity of the S. P. G. that Christ Church, Boston, was founded in 1723, and Trinity Church was built in 1733. From the three Boston churches - and more particularly Christ Church, whose rector was Dr. Timothy Cutler - many churches sprang up in the vicinity in the succeeding years, and in Rhode Island and Connecticut, also, the church gained a footing about the same
time. Until the Revolution began to impend, the church, in the face of great obstacles, slowly gained in influence. The chief of these obstacles arose from the fact that the church had no authoritative head in this country, all churches being under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, the absence of bishops here made it necessary for all candidates for holy orders to go to England, and, of course, no one was confirmed and no churches dedicated in this country. Since all Episcopal ministers, when ordained, were required to take the oath of allegiance to the King, the War for Independence closed well nigh every door of the Established Church in this country. Perhaps some may be glad to be reminded of the following significance of terms used in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries, as at pres- ent they are obsolete or have different meanings.
Parish meant a village, not the adherents of a religious so- ciety. Church meant always the Episcopal Church. Congregation- alists belonged to a meeting; on Sundays they went to meeting in the meeting house. The union of the civil and religious authori - ty was closer in New England before the early part of the nine- teenth century than in any European country. Town meetings were
held in the meeting house. Of the four Dedham parishes, the first is now Dedham; the second, Norwood; the third, Westwood; and the fourth, Dover. The early Episcopalians of Dedham were really members of the three Boston churches, having been led into the English Church by their intercourse with Boston.
In 1731 Dr. Cutler of Boston wrote of holding services in Dedham. These services were held in a house owned by Joseph Smith on Summer Street, West Dedham. now Westwood. The cellar, the base of the chimney and the stone door step of this dwelling may be seen in the vacant lot bounded by Grove Street on the west and Summer Street on the south (in 1908). Dr. Cutler refers to Dedham Episcopalians in his letters up to 1749. In 1734 an at- tempt to build a church is recorded, but nothing definite was
done . The man who finally made a church here possible, and whose beneficence is still enjoyed, deserves more than passing notice. Samuel Colburn was born in Dedham, May 15, 1733. He was the son of Benjamin Colburn, by his second wife, Mary Hunting. He was the great-grandson of Nathaniel Colburn, an original sett- ler of Dedham, and through his mother, also, he was descended from one of our earliest citizens .. By his father's death, Aug. 15, 1747, he fell heir to a large landed estate. His "dwelling house stood not far from the present junction of Washington and High Streets, somewhat easterly from the line of High Street. The homestead estate included a large tract of land between Court and High Streets and School and Church Streets, on both sides of the latter; also, land on the easterly side of High Street, from Maple Place to Dwight's Brook, near the railroad bridge, and run- ning by the brook and a ditch on the east." ( It might be well to say here that of the above named streets, only Court and High Streets existed at the time under consideration. ) "There were also a number of acres of outlying lands." In all. 135 acres.
From tradition we learn that young Colburn sold ship timber in Boston, and one of his customers was a Mr. Clarke, an Episco- palian, who is supposed to have given him a prayer book. Also, we know that one of his neighbors and intimate friends, Samuel Richards, was an Episcopalian. "It is said Mr. Colburn viewed with much disapprobation the religious conduct and opinions of
his neighbors and relations, which determined him to devote his property to the support of a system of public worship well adapt- ed, in his opinion, to avoid those irregularities which he ob- served. "
"In 1756, during the French War, Gov. Shirley raised a large force in the province, destined to reduce the fortifica- tions of the enemy at Crown Point and vicinity. He offered a bounty and resorted to all the means usual in raising a force. About twenty men went from Dedham, and amont them, Corporal Benjamin Holden and Privates Samuel Richards and Samuel Colburn." (Episcopalians ) The last named was in Capt. William Bacon's com- pany, Col. Gridley's regiment. Mr. Colburn enlisted March 17,
1756. He made a will before marching May 7, 1756.
In regard to the enlistment of Samuel Colburn we have two ex- planations. Dr. S. B. Babcock thus relates the tradition :- "This Samuel Colburn was drafted and paid his fine and remained at home; and then, if tradition be right, a second draft was made, and Samuel Colburn was drawn again; and a third draft, and still the same name. And the very general tradition is that he then sus- pected his religion to be the occasion of this remarkable itera- tion of the same event, and that he declared he would serve; but in case he did not return, there should be an Episcopal church in the very town."
My father thus treats of the subject: - "It has been asserted, and, indeed, generally conceded, that Colburn was drafted or im- pressed into the service, but his name can now be seen on the ori- ginal roll of the company, and plainly written against it the word volunteer. On October 28, 1756, he died of disease at the Great
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Meadows between Saratoga and Stillwater. His friend, Samuel Rich- ards, also died on the 13th of the preceding August." Mr. Colburn's will provided for the founding of a church here, and also practically all his estate, after his mother's death, was to become the property of the church. The appraised value of the estate at that time was over one thousand pounds, and existed chiefly in land. In January, 1757, the small band of Episcopalians began to agitate the building of a church.
The location of the first church building was almost, if not quite, on the spot now the site of the house owned by Mr. T. T. Robinson, and occupied by Rev. E. W. Virgin, Court Street, on the corner of Church Street, diagonally opposite the present church building. The carpenter was a Mr. Dupee, of a neighboring town. He was engaged June 5, 1758. The frame of the church was raised July 12. "When the church was raised to the middle beam, the beam broke and twelve men fell, 'howbeit none were killed nor had a limb broken. '" For a building of such simplicity its construc- tion was surpassing slow. We are told "its slow progress was mat- ter of merriment and metre, and music, too. For it became a song in the mouths of young men. After a recitation in metre of many improbabilities, the chorus was subjoined -
"When you and I these things shall see. Then Dedham Church shall finished be."
Rev. Dr. Miller of Braintree (now Quincy) thus wrote in his letter to England of April 13, 1761 :- "The Sunday after Easter I opened the church at Dedham, being the sixth that I have had the pleasure to open since I have been in the Society's service."
The building was 30 by 40 feet, built of rough boards, and having a rough board floor. It was shingled and glazed, but un- plastered and without seats. The church remained in this crude state, being without seats, until 1771, according to Rev. William Clark, who writes :- "The church at Dedham has hitherto been in a poor condition, nothing having been done to it more than outside
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work, but we now have a more hopeful prospect of completing that little building. He states that "Archimedes George, of Newport, R. I., a name he begs leave to mention with great veneration and respect, being accidentally at the church and seeing its condi- tion, generously gave fifty dollars towards completing it; and another gentleman (Mr. Augustus Johnson) of said town, excited by his example, made a small addition to it. and the people are car- rying on the work with all possible dispatch." The church was called Christ's Church by Mr. Clark, as appears on his sermons, and it was probably so called from the beginning.
It may be of interest to know the formality whereby the tax- es of Dedham Episcopalians were obtained for the use of their church after it had been organized. The rates were' fixed by the First Parish, and collected and then turned over to the Episcopal Church only on demand from an authorized source.
This, for instance, is the manner in which the money paid in to the First Parish treasury by our local Episcopalians in the year 1763 was remitted in 1765:
Dedham, June 10, 1765.
Sir: As I have been appointed to succeed the late Rev. Dr. Miller in the care of the Societies of the Church of England com- munion in the Towns of Braintree, Dedham and Stoughton, the Law of this province entitles me to demand the parish taxes of the professors of the Church of England in those places, I therefore hereby desire you will please to pay to Mr. Joshua Kingsberry the ministerial taxes of the several professors of the Church of Eng- land in the First Parish of Dedham for the year 1763. Your humble servant,
Edward Winslow.
To the Treasurer of the First Parish of Dedham for the year 1763. Rev. Mr. Winslow of Braintree, where he had 50 families and 53 communicants, thus wrote to the Secretary of the S.P.G. under date of Jan. 1, 1765:
"In Stoughton the number of families of the Church Profes- sion may amount to about twenty, the communicants are about eighteen. At Dedham & its neighborhood there are to be reckon- ed not more than ten or twelve families belonging to the church there, among them are eleven communicants. I have hitherto of- ficiated at Dedham and Stoughton alternately about one Sunday in each month, besides occasionally at other times as I have been re-
quested. And as these two churches are within the distance of five or six miles of each other and their numbers at Dedham so small, I advised the members of the two churches to unite and attend to- gether as one congregation, which they readily consent to and prac- tice, and by this means we have generally a decent appearance at each church. As there is at Dedham the estate left to the church by Mr: Colburn (of which the Society has been informed by the late Dr. Miller) which in time will doubtless prove a considerable in- terest, and as there is also a very decent little church erected there on part of this estate, I apprehend from these circumstances it is prudent and requisite to attend there oftener than might
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otherwise seem necessary from the small number of Families of our Profession and by the people of Stoughton attending me always ... more or less at Dedham, I am in hopes we shall avoid any occasion of reproach or contempt from the Dissenters. I have hitherto dis- covered nothing of this among them, but rather occasionally a seemingly friendly disposition."
July 23, 1767, he wrote:
"T have probable hopes that the two churches at Stoughton and Dedham will increase. They have at present the advantage of public service every Sunday, being alternately attended by a young gentle- man, son of an eminent Dissenting Minister, who at a late Conven- tion of our Clergy at Boston declared his conformity to the Church and offered himself as Candidate for Holy Orders, & has accordingly been mentioned in a public letter from the Clergy to my Lord of London. This person has on our advice consented to reside with the people of Stoughton and Dedham as a Reader until he can know wheth- er the infirmity of deafness which he has the misfortune to labour under will prove an impediment to his Ordination and until he can meet with some prospect of a settlement. Should he be able to pur- sue this design I could wish this people might have it in their power to encourage his return to them as their minister as he bears an amiable character both in respect to his piety and his abilities and would be very useful in such a station notwithstanding his in- firmity, but I am persuaded their circumstances will not admit of their engaging for a Title until the church at Dedham comes into possession of the estate there."
The young man above referred to was William Clark, of whom we have much to hear.
Mr. Clark went to England, and was ordained Priest at Royal Chapel, London, Dec. 21, 1768. He began his ministrations at Dedham June 18, 1769.
April 23, 1770, he wrote:
"The difficulties of one kind or another I have met with have been very discouraging and disheartening, and nothing but the ad- vantage of a good cause, a firm trust in Almighty God and that Grace of his which is sufficient for every good work could have supported my spirits in the execution of my duty. Some of the dif- ficulties are private and personal, others affect the Gospel and religion in general or the Church of England in particular. Of the latter kind is the opposition in various forms that has been made against me as a Missionary by the Dissenters in this town. Every engine has been employed to obstruct my usefulness and hinder people from going to church. to raise prejudices among my own people against me to defame my character, to ridicule Episcopacy and the Established Religion."
Six months later he wrote:
"Our Church in this country is but in a melancholy situation, and the more so on account of the civil discords of the present time when the minds of the people are agitated with notions of lib- erty or rather licentiousness to a degree of Infatuation so that every Law or Constitution whether civil or religious that origi- nates in old England so far as repugnant to Anarchy is treated with the greatest contempt, and the people of this town are espec -
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ially remarkable for such Republican principles. In consequence whereof those of my mission are much oppressed, columniated and abused in every possible way to which they can take advantage, and I have reason to think from the observations I have made that there are many sober people who would prefer our worship and com- munion, but have been deterred through false and foolish notions infused into them that they would thereby give up their rights and liberties or otherwise be sufferers in their worldly circum- stances ."
Writing in 1778, after leaving Dedham, he says :
"I continued the service of the Church in full with preach- ing twice every Sunday and some other holy days as usual for more than eight months after independency was proclaimed, viz. until last Easter, about which time a law was published forbid- ding prayers for the King's Majesty in public or private under the penalty of fifty pounds."
"In March, 1777, Mr. Clark issued this address to his people :
"My Brethren: I may now properly inform you that since we last met together for public worship I have seen an act lately passed our General Court forbidding all expressions in preaching and praying that may discountenance the people's support of the independency of the colonies of the British Empire on the penalty of fifty pounds. Now all know that in my preaching I have gener- ally avoided these matters and so far I could reconcile my per- formances to the act. But by vows, oaths and subscriptions which have been made on earth and recorded in heaven, I am obliged to act as a dutiful subject of His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third and to the constant use of the Liturgy of that Church of which under God he is the head. I mean whenever I perform publicly, and you all must know that there are various expres- sions in this liturgy which plainly discountenance all kinds of rebellion and opposition to his kingly government, and the very naming him as our Most Gracious Sovereign is I suppose sufficient to break this law. To give up these petitions or prayers while I use the other prayers is against the present light of my con- science. Both my oath of allegiance (which neither the Congress however respectable in their personal characters nor the Pope him-
self can absolve me from) and my solemnly subscribing to use the liturgy, strongly unite to oblige me to pray for the King's Majes- ty till such time as he shall be pleased to relinquish his right of government or jurisdiction over these colonies. Then, and not till then, I shall think myself lawfully and properly absolved from any oath of allegiance, and all obligations arising from my subscription will fall of course. Now it has been generally agreed among the Episcopal Clergy in America, at least in these parts of it, to shut up their churches when they could not proceed in the usual service without being subject to penalties and fines, and I am informed that the better part of them in the neighboring colonies have done it already. Wherefore after long thinking up- on the subject I am of opinion that though some means might be de- vised to carry on some kind of public service consistent with con-
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science and without being exposed to the penalty of the law, yet at best it must be very lame and imperfect, and that upon the whole in the want of the presence of a Diocesan from whom we might receive proper directions, it will be best to harmonize and ac- quiesce with the determination of a majority of our brethren on the continent, our unanimity I imagine will conduce much to our honour and be a means more strongly to convince both friends and enemies of the sincerity of our religious profession and of pro- moting the revival and permanent stability of our Church. Having said this much I am now to inform you that I shall now from this day cease from carrying on the public worship in the Church till such time as there shall be some alteration or change in politics or government or until I have proper authority to make the omis- sion in the liturgy proposed. The several offices of the Church except the common performance of the Lord's day worship I stand ready to assist any of you in so long as I sojourn among you, and I recommend it to you all, nay I seriously exhort you to spend the Lord's day with reverence and devotion in your own houses, or in such other manner as your consciences shall direct and point out to you as most conducing to your spiritual welfare. And may Al - mighty God smile on our endeavors to hold fast our integrity. Grant us again the enjoyment of our ancient, unrestrained liberty for His public worship and finally crown us with His everlasting happiness in the world to come. with these words of our Saviour to St. John in his Book of Reve- lations, directed to the Church of Smyrna : I conclude what I have to say "Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribu- lation ten days: Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life."
Mr. Clark continued worship in a private house (Mr. Timothy Richards ' ) until June of that year, when he was taken prisoner, with others, as the result of a vote of the town. After ten weeks' imprisonment, he was paroled because he refused to renounce his allegiance. He later went to England.
As to the church building, "it was a depository of military stores during the war, but it was afterwards cleared for public worship at the request of Dr. Parker," of Trinity Church, Boston. What must have been the feelings of the friends of this church in November, 1782, this church persecuted not because it was known as Christ Church, but because it was called the Church of England? For on the plain to the southward, and adjacent to the dilapi- dated little building, with windows broken by hostile stones, lay spread out the camp of the soldiers of King Louis XVI, after their march of 654 miles from Yorktown. To those of English sympathies, these Frenchmen, their hereditary foes, returning from a victori- ous campaign, encamped near the desolate, yet still cherished church, must have aroused bitter emotions. "There were none so poor to do it reverence."
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1
The Dedham Loyalists
A local historian leaves us much information about the Revo- lutionary period here. In 1775, Dedham, in its four parishes (now Dedham, Norwood, Westwood and Dover) contained a population of 1700. The temper of the people toward the momentous questions of that time was shown by their acts. The townspeople stood ready to assist their brother provincials in resisting British aggression. There were five companies of militia, - two in the First Parish, and one in each of the others; in addition there were the minute- men and an association of veterans of the French Wars.
So it happened that when shortly after 9 o'clock on the morn- ing of April 19, 1775, a messenger, coming by way of Needham and Dover, brought the Lexington alarm, the minute-men, under Capt. Joseph Guild, did not wait for more than a platoon to gather to- gether before they marched, the militia companies following later; about 300 men altogether, beside the veterans. There were here, as elsewhere, examples of the deserted plow and wagon when the word was received. On that day the town "was almost literally
without male inhabitant below the age of 70 and above that of 16." These companies probably attacked the retreating British column near Cambridge. Although Dedham was not represented at Bunker Hill, there were companies from here under Washington at Dorchester Heights the following year, and later in New York and Canadian cam- paigns. When an article appeared in the town meeting warrant of March, 1776, "to know the minds of the town about coming into a state of independency," it was finally, after several adjournments, unanimously voted that "if the Honorable Congress. shall declare the colonies independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants will solemn- ly engage to support it in these measures with their lives and for- tunes." Dedham lived up to its agreement, and, in spite of great hardship, contributed, on the average, #8000, Federal currency, annually during the war.
Having thus pictured the zeal of the townspeople in their sup- port of the colonial cause, we may perhaps better understand "the moving why they did it" when their treatment of those loyal to the Crown comes under consideration. We find evidence of at least five Loyalists, four of them Episcopalians, the fifth a member of Rev. Mr. Haven's meeting (in the First Parish). This fifth person was Capt. Eliphalet Pond, who was a prominent citizen, owning and occu- pying the estate now known as the Temporary Home for Discharged Female Prisoners on Washington St. Mr. Alfred B. Page has pub- lished a recantation of Capt. Pond, but, although a military man, he took no part in the war. He was unmolested. He was always con- sidered to be what might be termed a quasi-patriot and was a friend of Rev. William Clark. When the latter came to Dedham on a visit in July, 1789, he met very few people, but his diary records that Capt. Pond came to see him.
It was against Rev. William Clark and his friends that the chief persecution was directed. William Clark was not an English- man, as might be supposed, but was a native of this vicinity. He
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was the son of a dissenting minister, the Rev. Peter Clark of Dan- vers, where he was born, August 2, 1740 (O.S. ) and was graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1759. At first a Congrega- tional minister, he speaks of preaching as such at Danvers, Salem, Newburyport, Scituate, Braintree and other places, but was never settled over a meeting. At the church in Stoughton (now Canton ) he preached, July, 1767, and at Dedham, August 16, 1767, at which time he was a candidate for orders in the Episcopal Church. Octo- ber 23, 1768, he sailed for England, where he was ordained in the following December. Before returning he was "seized with that sore distemper, the small pox, and brought to death's door." The following June he took charge of the Dedham Church and Trinity Church, Stoughton (Canton) and took up his residence in the former place. He was married to Mary, the daughter of Timothy Richards of Dedham, in Braintree (now Quincy) Sept. 15, 1770. That winter he lived in Stoughton, but returned to Dedham to live in June, 1771. He writes of being a guest of a British chaplain in the camp on Boston Common, June 29, 1774, This was a little over one month after the Boston Port Bill went into operation. From his letter to the S. P. G., dated April 17, 1775, we quote:
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