USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 15
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THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TAUNTON
thrift stamps, 32,275, amount, $8,068.75; 1920 war savings stamps, 4,170, amount $19,647.96; thrift stamps, 31,075, amount, $7,768.75; 1921, war sav- ings stamps, 1,536, amount, $6,422.39; thrift stamps, 7,494, amount $1,873.50; the total amount received from both combined being $376,929.28.
The last word has not been said, here nor anywhere else, to complete the narrative of Taunton's share in the all-nations conflict. Affirmed recol- lections, only, of events that led almost countless others, have been gathered and treasured, and the detailed story must ever remain of too great propor- tions to be encompassed wholly within the pages of a book. The praise of its heroisms, here and overseas, is best sung within the hearts and homes of Taunton.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TAUNTON
Congregational Churches-Belief in and reliance upon the presence and protection of God were the simple fundamentals of the faith of the first settlers in the Taunton territory, and they made their wilderness venture, Bible in hand and in heart. From our own complicated times, we may not readily visualize the plainness of the religious usages of these first years of all, when the only institutions here were the home and the house of prayer. The prevailing fashion of the pioneer age was to preach and to pray. Taun- ton's first settlers readily followed that fashion and, congregating at each other's homes, they worshipped God in the most devoted way that they knew. No settlement was made, no movement undertaken, without the association of a religious teacher.
Owing to the tenure of the oldest of church properties in Taunton since the year 1647 to the present day, the account of the First Congrega- tional, the present Unitarian Church, is to be followed, with excerpts from historical sketches made by Miss Sarah Bradford Williams, descendant of Richard Williams, one of the founders of Taunton.
There was scarcely a town of the colonial period that had not the min- istry of a man who had received his education in the foremost colleges of England, such having chosen Non-conformist customs as regarded the Church of England, and so by preference becoming ministers to Non- conformist colonists in New England. The first two clerics of the small Taunton congregation were of that type-Rev. William Hooke and Rev. William Street, one the pastor, the other the teacher, the latter to succeed Mr. Hooke in his pastorate. First of a long line of religious guides in this community, who, then, were these two men?
William Hooke, born at Southampton, England, in 1601, received his B. A. degree at Trinity College, Oxford, in 1620, and M. A. in 1623. Taking orders in the Church of England, he was rector at Axmouth in Devonshire. A near neighbor to the Poole family in England, and non-conforming, he removed to New England. Both Mr. Hooke and Mr. Street were given the right hand of fellowship here by Revs. John Cotton of Boston and Richard Mather of Dorchester, also assisted by Master Bishop, the first schoolmaster at Taunton, and William Parker, first keeper of records. Rev. Mr. Hooke
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had been here but a few months when he preached a sermon entitled "New England's Teares for Old England's Feares." It was one of few colonial sermons that were printed in England at the time; and it brought for him his call to the New Haven colony in 1644, as assistant to Rev. John Daven- port. He was also author of the no less striking sermon entitled "New England's Sense of Old England's and Ireland's Sorrows." Mr. Hooke, who was referred to by Cotton Mather as a "learned, holy and humble man," was called to New Haven to fill the place of Rev. Samuel Eaton, a brother of Theophilus Eaton, founder and first governor of New Haven. Mr. Hooke remained there until 1656, when he went to England as domestic chaplain to the Protector, Oliver Cromwell. He wrote many sermons both here and in England, notably Fast Day sermons, religious pamphlets-some of these and many of his letters being in possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Prince Collection, and the Worcester Library. A paper concerning this clergyman, read by Dr. Charles Ray Palmer before the Old Colony Historical Society, is his most complete biography. Mr. Hooke died at London, England, March 21, 1687, aged 77 years. While in Taunton, his house lot was near the present corner of Spring and Summer streets. He married Jane, a daughter of Richard and Frances (Cromwell) Whalley, a sister of General Edward Whalley, and they had two daughters.
Rev. Nicholas Street, Non-conformist, also, who at the same time with Mr. Hooke received the right hand of fellowship here, succeeded the latter, and it was during his ministry in 1647 that the first structure was built, a little to the east of the present Unitarian (First Congregational) church building, and within the same lot of ground. Mr. Street was bap- tized at Bridgewater, England, January 29, 1603, and received his B.A. degree at Oxford University, February 21, 1624. With Mr. Hooke he arrived in Taunton, and was owner of land on both sides of Street's Bridge, on Spring street, and his ministry in Taunton extended from 1638-9 to 1659. When Mr. Hooke went to England, Mr. Street was invited to New Haven, as colleague with Rev. John Davenport, until the latter's call to Boston in 1668. He then remained minister in charge at New Haven, up to April 22, 1674. "He was a pious, modest man, and no inferior preacher," says Dr. Bacon of New Haven, in an historical discourse.
These two men were of the same calibre with Rev. John Davenport himself; of Rev. Samuel Newman, of Rehoboth, author of a Biblical Con- cordance; of Rev. Francis Higginson of Salem, and of Rev. John Maverick of Dorchester.
Succeeding these ministers came Rev. George Shove, ordained in Taun- ton, November 17, 1665, and said to have come from Dorchester, the Taun ton church having been without a pastor for six years. He became one of the proprietors of the South Purchase, and one of the original proprietors of Assonet Neck in 1680, in association with Richard Williams, Walter Deane, James Walker, James Tisdale and William Harvey. His home lot had been the property of William Phillips, one of the first settlers on the east side of what is now High street, between Cohannet and Winthrop streets. He married Hopestill, a daughter of Rev. Samuel Newman of Rehoboth, and they had six children. By a second wife, Hannah Walley of Barnstable, he had four children. He married, third, the widow of Thomas
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THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TAUNTON.
Farwell. He was pastor here nearly twenty-two years, and died April 21, 1687.
Rev. Samuel Danforth, graduate at Harvard in 1683, was son of parents both of whom were of eminent clerical families. He came here in 1688, and through the generosity of his parish was given large allotments of land. He made himself acquainted not only with the theology of his day, but also with law and medicine. Mr. Danforth was one of a commission to make a report upon the Indian tribes; and he prepared an Indian diction- ary, that is now in possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Mr. Danforth was also a writer of many sermons and essays, popular for their times. He died November 14, 1727, after a ministry of forty-four years.
Rev. Thomas Clap came here in 1729. He was a son of John Clap, and descendant of Thomas, one of the first settlers of Dorchester. A graduate of Harvard in 1725, he married Mary Leonard, a daughter of Judge George Leonard of Norton, in 1729, by whom he had three children. His ministry here lasted nine years; and he left here, so it is stated, "on account of some trouble in collecting his salary. His people said they would never settle another rich man." After the death of his first wife, in 1741, he married, May 9, 1745, Esther, daughter of Hon. John Chandler, of Worcester. Rev. Mr. Clap never again settled in the ministry, but became a judge of Ply- mouth county, a representative from Scituate, and an officer of the militia. He died May 31, 1774. These three men must have been familiar with the works of Rev. John Wise of Ipswich, who had been writing at this period for the vindication of the spirit of human liberty and progress; they must have been cognizant of the growing religious distinctions between the faculties of Harvard and Yale. In 1689-90 repairs were made on the first church building, and a bell was hung; but it was early in Mr. Clap's ministry that the second house of worship was built, in 1729.
Rev. Josiah Crocker became the minister here in 1742. He originated at Yarmouth, and was a Harvard graduate. He was dismissed from his pastorate November 1, 1765, but he resided here until his death, August 2S, 1774. It was during the period of the "Great Awakening," so-called, that he became famed for his passionate pulpit oratory; and while Whitfield, the eminent Methodist evangelist, was peregrinating, Rev. Mr. Crocker gave him leave to preach from his pulpit. He lived on Barnum street, at the rear of Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He married (first) Rebecca, daughter of Ebenezer Allen; and (second) Hannah Cobb, daughter of Colonel Thomas Cobb. From this minister were descended many who became prominent in the affairs of the town.
Rev. Caleb Barnum came up from Danbury, Connecticut, to be the minister of the Taunton congregation, in 1768. He was graduated at Prince- ton University in 1757, and received his M. A. degree from Princeton and Harvard. He was installed here February 2, 1769. But with the warnings of the Revolution, he not only exhorted his people to every patriotic en- deavor, but he himself enlisted in the service, February 10, 1776, when he entered the army as chaplain of the Twenty-Fourth regiment. He accom- panied the regiment to New York, thence to Montreal. In the retreat from Canada, he was taken ill at Ticonderoga, and died on his way home, August 23, 1776, aged forty years. Rev. Mr. Barnum married Priscilla, daughter of Caleb Rice, of Sturbridge, Mass., June 18, 1761, and they had eight children.
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They lived where the Crocker building now is, and also at the "parsonage" on Barnum street.
Rev. Elias Jones came here in April, 1777, but his ministry was brief. "He fell into error," so the report goes, and as testified to by Francis Bay -. lies, "and was constrained to ask for dismission after a very short resi- dence." Then in 1780 came Rev. Ephraim Judson, from Woodbury, Con- necticut, he having graduated at Yale in 1763. During the ten years of his ministry here, says the historian Emery, "he was stern and severe, posi- tive and precise." Yet he was dismissed from his pastoral charge by an ecclesiastical council, December 28, 1790, who, however, commended him to the churches. He subsequently settled at Sheffield, Massachusetts, where he continued in the ministry until his death, February 23, 1813, at the age of 75 years. The third meeting house was built while he was here, in 1789, and the church became incorporated as the First Congregational Society, in 1791.
Rev. John Foster came here from Stafford, Connecticut, May 16, 1792. He was eccentric, imprudent, and used extravagant language, and accord- ingly he was dismissed in 1799. He afterwards preached and taught school in New York and Connecticut.
Rev. John Pipon, who had graduated at Harvard in 1792, came to Taunton in 1799, and was ordained here in 1800. He died in 1821, after a successful pastorate, and there is a tablet to his memory within the present stone church. Mr. Pipon's house was on the site of the present A. E. Swasey property on High street.
The first positively outspoken Unitarian leader was Rev. Luther Hamil- ton, who was pastor here from 1821 to 1832, during which period (in 1830) the present stone edifice was built. From 1821, therefore, and onwards, followed the new procedure and polity of the Unitarian church. This took place during the period of general controversy among the Congregational churches in this State, and only two years after Dr. Channing's historic utterance-his declaration of the Unitarian position. Born in Conway, Mas- sachusetts, in 1798, and graduated at Williams College in 1817, he was or- dained in Taunton in 1821. He resigned in 1832, and died in 1853, at the age of 55 years.
Rev. Albert Bigelow, minister here in 1833-1843, is numbered among those honored ministers-at-large whose labors for the children of the poor are the foundation of all systematic charitable work in the country. Dr. Bigelow wrote a number of books of travel, the results of his own world tours; also volumes of sermons.
Rev. Charles H. Brigham, one of the eminent preachers in this pulpit, was born in Boston in 1820, graduated at Harvard in 1839, and was ordained in Taunton March 24, 1844. A tablet on the wall of this church has an inscription to his memory. Other pastors in succession have been: Rev. Fielder Israel, 1869-72; Rev. Eli Fay, 1873-76; Rev. Frederick Meakin, 1878- 82; Rev. Thomas Milsted, 1883-86; Rev. John P. Forbes, 1887-98; Rev. Alfred R. Hussey, 1898-1904; Rev. Joel H. Metcalf, 1904-10; Rev. F. Ray- mond Sturtevant, 1911. In 1869 the chapel attached to the church was built. In 1877 Mrs. Sarah L. King left a legacy to build and keep in repair the massive stone wall which now surrounds the grounds; in 1885, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel O. Dunbar left a house to the society for a parsonage. The
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THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TAUNTON
work of the Sunday school, the Woman's Alliance, the Channing Club, the Laymen's League, the Sewing Society, the Young Peoples' Union and the Knights of King Arthur and the Queens of Avalon continue in the broad spirit of the Unitarian faith.
Congregationalism in Taunton had been at unity up to the year 1792, when the call of Rev. John Foster caused a division. Those who withdrew, met much in the same way as did the Pilgrims at Scrooby, England. On this occasion they held meetings at Deacon Tubbs' barn,-a central location, then, for most of the membership. The society paid Deacon Tubbs three pounds for a half acre of land, and within a year they had constructed a plain church building, forty feet in length, twenty-seven feet in width, with neither spire, belfry, nor porch. In 1825, the church built their present house in Westville, mostly with materials from the old structure. Rev. Mr. Judson, the ninth minister of the first parish, occupied the pulpit for a while, followed by temporary supplies by Revs. Preston, Wines, Farring- ton and Ogden. Rev. Samuel W. Colburn, who was ordained August 30, 1809, was received that year as the pastor; and, April 19, 1815, Rev. Alvan Cobb was ordained and installed.
During his pastorate, the first Sabbath school in Bristol county was organized in 1816, in connection with this church. Upon the death of Rev. Mr. Cobb, in 1861, came Rev. Thomas T. Richmond. The latter remained in this pastorate twenty-two years, resigning in March, 1882. His succes- sor, Rev. George C. Capron, was ordained and installed June 26, 1883. A long line of devoted ministers have followed, notably, Rev. N. McGee Waters, Emery L. Bradford, President William DeWitt Hyde of Bow- doin College, Rev. W. Henry McBride, Rev. Charles Clark, Rev. A. L. Bean. The present minister is Rev. Henry E. Oxnard, who also officiates at the church at Rehoboth. A very ancient tree, an object of much historic interest, stands in front of the church, its branches having a spread of more than two hundred feet. It is estimated that its age is more than three hundred years.
The separate existence of the Broadway Congregational Church from the original, or First Church, is placed in 1821, owing to the introduction into the old church polity of certain doctrinal differences, when Rev. Luther Hamilton preached "an honest rejection of the orthodox faith, and the adop- tion of Unitarianism." Thenceforward, the Unitarian body continued to meet in their present church building, while the Trinitarians reorganized with four men and twenty-five women. That organization, of August 17, 1821, took place at the home of Mrs. Mary B. Bush, the following-named being the members of this religious group: Deacon Jezeniah Sumner, Phil- ander W. Dean, Samuel Godfrey, Otis Pierce, Mary B. Bush, Lydia Carver, Olive Carver, Betsy Allen, Prudence Crossman, Rebecca Dean, Hannah Dean, Charlotte Godfrey, Susanna Hall, Mercy Holmes, Sarah P. Howland, Zipporah King, Charlotte Morton, Dorcas Potter, Sarah Shepard, Mary Smith, Priscilla F. Smith, Relief H. Smith, Beulah Stephens, Hannah Staples, Joanna Sumner, Mary Williams, Lucilda Williams, Susannah Williams.
Afterwards the places of meeting were at Town Hall, and the old court house. The first church building of the Trinitarians stood where the Jones block now is-a wooden church, with steeple and bell, the edifice being
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dedicated in the spring of 1823, two years after the organization. Here, the General Association of Congregationalists held their convention in June, 1831. The church bell, that is still in use in the stone building, was in- stalled in the old tower, December 31, 1822, and was removed to its pres- ent place in 1852.
For the period of thirty years, this church continued to meet here for services, its membership and influence increasing to such an extent that new churches, such as the Winslow Congregational, the East Taunton Congre- gational and the Union Congregational, were formed from time to time. Eventually, the old church was sold, April 27, 1853, to W. T. Davenport and Gardner Jones for $4,000; it was then named Central Hall, and it was dedicated, May 23, 1853, by the Beethoven Society. Gardner Jones became the sole owner in October, 1864, from which time the building continued to be known as the Jones Atheneum. It was burned May 7, 1873. The first organ that was used within a church in Taunton was built by Hodges and Fisher of Taunton, and it was placed in this church in 1829, and was after- ward sent to Freetown. Mrs. Charlotte Pinkham and John Reed were the organists.
The cornerstone of the present church building was laid August 19, 1851, with an address by the pastor, Rev. Erastus Maltby. The house was completed and dedicated September 20, 1852, with sermon by Rev. Mr. Maltby, others participating being Revs. S. H. Emery, W. J. Breed, R. Carver, T. T. Richmond, Alvan Cobb. The first cost of the building. with land, was $28,000, the architect beng Richard Upjohn. The one hundredth anniversary of the church was observed August 17, 1921. The pastors have been as follows: Rev. Chester Isham, February, 1824; interim of pulpit supply by ministers of the Norfolk association; Rev. Erastus Maltby, Janu- ary 18, 1826; Stephen W. Newman, October 17, 1871; Rev. H. DeForest, April 14, 1880; Rev. Samuel V. Cole, October 29, 1889; Rev. Francis A. Faye, March 23, 1898; Rev. L. B. Goodrich, December 12, 1905; Rev. Frank B. McAllister, 1921. Since Rev. Mr. McAllister has been the pastor, the church has revived all its interests. The interior of the building also lias been entirely redecorated.
The history of the Winslow Congregational Church has been written in full and told with interest by Captain George Arthur King. Necessarily the following are but excerpts from his work. In 1836, some fifteen years after the organization of what is now known as the Broadway church, their church record says: "In consequence of the large number in church and congregation and the difficulty of supplying applicants with pews, they con- sidered the duty and propriety of amicably and harmoniously forming an- other orthodox Congregational church"; and forty-two members of the Broadway Church and two from Westville formed a new organization. The building in which they began worshiping, formerly the meeting house of the Unitarian church, stood on Spring street, and was called the Spring Street Church, a two-story building, with a Bulfinch front, that was torn down two years later. Among the founders of the church were Deacon Roswell Ballard, Deacon William Reed, John Reed, Jr., Hodges Reed, Otis Allen, Philander Dean, Deacon James H. Dean, P. Evarts Dean, Zephaniah L. Hodges, Lara Perkins and Nathan Rand.
The first pastor was Rev. S. H. Emery, whose services began in Novem-
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THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TAUNTON
ber, 1837, and continued a little over three years; but after he left, the church was without a pastor for about three years. The second pastor was Rev. Lathrop Taylor, who was the preacher here for two years. But after Mr. Taylor left, the church nearly expired. Sunday school was suspended for nine months, and most of the members returned to the Broadway church. But in 1847, Dr. Emery returned, and the life of the church was really begun. While at Spring street, the Sunday school had six different superin- tendents, Benjamin Williams, editor of the temperance paper called the "Dew Drop," serving six years.
In 1853 the church first occupied its new meeting-house, Seth Burt architect, on the present Cohannet street, where the Y. M. C. A. building now stands. Then the name of the church was changed to Winslow, in honor of Governor Edward Winslow, one of the first white men whom we know that trod the soil of the present Taunton.
Dr. Emery remained about eight years, and was then succeeded by Rev. Mortimer Blake, a vigorous and original thinker. He continued as pastor twenty-nine years, or until his death, in 1884. The church was then without a pastor for two and one-half years, during part of which time Dr. A. H. Quint occupied the pulpit.
Dr. George H. Reed became pastor in June, 1887, and served nearly four and one-half years; he was a forceful speaker, of wonderful memory. The board of directors was enlarged to four members in 1888, in which year the agitation for a new church was begun. Dr. Reed was succeeded in February, 1892, by Rev. T. Clayton Welles of Chicago. Active steps were begun for a new building in 1892, and the building was dedicated in November, 1898. Dr. Emery had been made pastor emeritus in 1896. In 1899, the church undertook the support of a missionary pastor in India. Mr. Welles was succeeded in June, 1901, by Rev. C. H. Talmage, an ener- getic speaker.
In 1902, Deacon George Andros resigned as clerk of the church, after sixteen years of service, and Fred C. Burbank was chosen to continue his work. Deacon Andros had been treasurer of the society many years. In 1903, Cyrus H. Lothrop gave the church chimes in memory of his wife, a former member of the church; that year, the board of deacons was increased from four to six. Rev. Mr. Talmage, after five and one-half years, was succeeded by Rev. Archibald McCord, a vigorous preacher, who served until Dec. 31, 1910. The church was without a pastor until October 1, 1911, when Rev. A. G. Bliss was called. During his pastorate the church was incorporated, and the renting of pews was discontinued, and three deaconesses were elected. The Christian Endeavor Society was formed while Dr. Quint was supplying the pulpit; Epsilon Phi was organized in 1904; the Baraca Class was formed in 1906, and the Philathea class in 1908.
The Boy Scouts troop was formed in 1911, and the Campfire Girls in 1912. Rev. Edmund Alden Burnham, D.D., became the pastor in 1922.
The East Taunton Trinitarian Congregational Society was temporarily organized, May 3, 1853; and an ecclesiastical council was convened June 16, 1853, at the house of Samuel Robinson. March 1, 1854, the church was legally incorporated as the East Taunton Trinitarian Congregational So- ciety, with Rev. N. Richardson as pastor. Rev. James R. Cushing was the next pastor, and the first meeting-house was dedicated November 19, 1856.
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In November, 1858, the church was freed of debt. The pulpit afterwards was supplied by Rev. Willard M. Harding, and Rev. George G. Perkins. Rev. Frederick A. Reed, a native of Taunton, was the next pastor. The steeple was blown from the meeting-house in the great gale of 1869, but the bell that had been donated by Calvin Dean was not injured. A tower was built from the ground, at a cost of $1,000. Rev. H. P. Leonard came to the church in 1876, and June 16, 1878, he preached the sermon for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the church. In February, 1880, Rev. William H. Wolcott became the pastor. Rev. Ephraim W. Allen began his pastor- ate in the spring of 1885, and April 14, 1886, a chapel was dedicated. Rev. Mr. Allen closed his work here in 1890. Rev. Charles A. Perry then suc- ceeded to the pastorate, and he was followed, in December of 1892, by Rev. George W. Ellison. Rev. Frank Park was the next pastor. The church was destroyed by fire, April 14, 1897.
Rev. Halah H. Loud succeeded Mr. Park as pastor, and services were held at Engine Hall. An Endeavor Society was then started. The new church was dedicated December 23, 1898, and in the summer of 1901 a house belonging to the church was remodelled into a parsonage. Rev. Henry E. Bray was pastor from 1905 to 1913, and Rev. Zenas Crowell came here in 1914. The deacons, 1923: Hiram B. Simmons and Richard Craven; Sun- day school superintendents : Henry E. Bray, 1912, Edward Westcoat, 1914; Zenas Crowell, 1922; Edward Westcoat, 1923. Men's Club: President, Ed- ward Westcoat; secretary and treasurer, Israel Constantina. Y. P. S. C. E .: President, Miss Ethel Craven; vice-president, Stanley Simmons; secre- tary, Mrs. C. A. Peirce; treasurer, C. A. Peirce. Ladies' Aid Society : President, Mrs. E. E. King; secretary, Miss Amy Padelford; treasurer, Mrs. Alonzo K. Crowell. Boy Scouts: Scoutmaster, Daniel Craven; assistant, Charles A. Peirce.
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