A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 1, Part 48

Author: Hutt, Frank Walcott, 1869- editor
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 570


USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 48


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69


May 13, 1904, John R. Ferguson was elected president; Norman S. Easton vice-president, Miss Mary F. Garity secretary, Everett B. Durfee treasurer. Leontine Lincoln was elected the first honorary member of the society. The membership was 359. October 7, Miss Marie Shedlock talked upon "Fun and Philosophy of Hans Christian Andersen." Novem- ber 4, an entertainment and social. November 18, a musical by George Devol and Edward Isham. December 16, there was a farewell reception to Mr. Slade, who had received a call to the principalship of Chicopee High School. January, 1905, William W. Stetson, Maine State Superin- tendent of Education, spoke upon practical educational topics. In Febru- ary, David B. . Pike, on "Mexico." In March, Prof. Walter B. Jacobs, of Brown University, on "Education for Leadership."


May 12, 1905, the same officers were elected. June 16, four hundred members of the association and invited guests attended a meeting at the high school auditorium in honor of retiring Superintendent of Schools William C. Bates. October 7, a reception was given Everett B. Durfee, the new superintendent of schools. December 8, Hon. Arthur K. Peck gave an address upon "The Storm Heroes of Our Coast." January 19, 1906, Rev. Clarence F. Swift, D.D., on "The Composite American." Feb- ruary 16, a song recital by Mrs. Grace Bonner Williams, and Stephen Townsend. March 16, Walter E. Ranger, Commissioner for Education in


350


BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS


Rhode Island, on "New Ideals in American Education." April 20, Presi- dent W. H. P. Faunce, of Brown University, on "Herbert Spencer's In- fluence on Modern Education."


June 1, 1906, Orrin A. Gardner was elected president of the associa- tion; Charles E. Reed, vice-president; Genevieve H. Bliss, secretary. The class of 1906 presented their class play "Chums." November 2, George Devol and Edwin Isham gave a concert. November 16, Dr. C. Hanford Henderson gave a talk on "The Education of Boys." January 11, 1907, Prof. Thomas Crosby, of Providence, on "Much Ado about Nothing." March 8, Dr. Charles A. Eastman on "The Real Indian." April 12, there was a concert by the Estro Trio of Providence. The officers were re- elected. October 6, there was a social under the management of Miss Mar- garet Hurley, supervisor of reading. January 24, 1908, Miss Jane Brown- lee, of Toledo, Ohio, talked upon "Moral Education in the Public Schools." March 11, Prof. Wilfred S. Munro on "The Crusade of the Children." April 22, Judge Ben Lindsey, of the Denver Juvenile Court, on his special work. May 22, Devol and Isham concert.


June 15, 1908, John S. Burley was elected president of the association; Harry Smalley vice-president; Miss Helen H. Irons secretary; Mr. Durfee treasurer. In November, Prof. Crowley, of Brown University, gave an impersonation of the play "The Liars." December 11, Prof. Percival Chubb, of New York, talked upon "How to Make Literature a Power in Life." January 15, 1909, the Schuecker concert company entertained. March 19, Prof. William L. Phelps, of Brown University, talked upon "The Modern Novel." April 30, there was an entertainment and social. May 17, Jacob Riis lectured on "My Neighbor." William H. Gardner was elected vice-president of the association. In November, Charles Battell Loomis gave author's readings. December 3, the Brown University instrumental clubs, and January 21, 1910, the Schuecker Concert Company, gave concerts. In February, Prof. Phelps, of Yale, talked upon "The Present Condition and Tendencies of the Drama." April 8, J. O'Brien on "Old Battlefields of the South." May 6, 1910, William W. Gardner was elected president; William A. Hart, vice-president; Miss Harriet T. Marvel, secretary; Frank Foch, treasurer.


Four talks were given in 1910-1911 by Raymond L. Bridgman, re- porter for the State Senate, and a lecture by Asa Goddard on Hampton Institute and Tuskegee. March 15, Arthur B. Higney was elected vice- president, and Thomas A. Dolan treasurer. In October, the association joined the Massachusetts Teachers' Federation. March 1, 1912, William T. Collins was elected treasurer. October 25, Marshall Darrah gave Shakespeare readings. November 15, Signe Wedell talked upon "Scan- dinavian Folk Stories." December 6, Mrs. Mary E. S. Root on "Children's Books and their Illustrators." January 17, 1913, the Maquarre Sextet entertained. April 11, Rev. Robert Schwickenrath talked upon "The Home and the School."


May 6, 1913, Harry Smalley was elected president of the association; Charles E. Reed, vice-president; John E. Robinson, secretary; Arthur B. Higney treasurer. The same officers were elected in 1914. April 30, 1915, Charles E. Reed was elected President of the association; John E. Robin- son vice-president; Miss Jennie A. Weathern, secretary; Arthur B. Higney,


351


FALL RIVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS


treasurer. During these and succeeding years the secretary records that numbers were given annually in lyceum courses. In 1916 Norman Easton was elected vice-president; there were now 477 members in the associa- tion. March 9, 1917, Joseph A. Wallace was elected president, and Miss Anna G. McCarty secretary.


In 1918, the association voted its entire proceeds to war relief work. March 8, Joseph A. Wallace was elected president; Anna W. Braley, vice- president ; Clara L. Coman, secretary; Wilfred A. Harlow, treasurer. The school committee voted an increase of one hundred dollars annually for every teacher in service in the city. The Teachers' Association gave voluntary aid to the hospitals during the epidemic. The officers for 1919: J. L. O'Gorman, president; Elizabeth S. Hart, vice-president; James L. Canning, secretary; Wilfred Barlow, treasurer. The officers for 1920: C. J. McCreery, president; M. D. Sullivan, vice-president; J. L. Cum- mings, secretary; Wilfred Barlow, treasurer. The officers for 1921-1922: W. H. Miller, president; Miss Mary Sullivan, vice-president; Insley J. Caton, secretary. For 1923: President, J. Leo O'Gorman; vice-president, Miss Mary S. Connell.


Miscellaneous .- For purposes of general helpfulness within the school, socially, and for the promotion of the general welfare of the high school teachers of Fall River, the High School Teachers' Association was formed May 26, 1920, with a membership of sixty-three, the first officers being : President, J. Leo O'Gorman; vice-president, J. Henry McIntyre; secretary, Anna G. McCarty; treasurer, Henry W. Pickup; board of directors: Miss Gertrude M. Baker, Willard H. Poole, Joseph A. Wallace. Through- out its brief existence thus far, the association has made use of every opportunity for unity among the teachers, and to secure for the organiza- tion a substantial place among scholastic groups of similar name and pur- pose. It has worked successfully for the recognition of the teacher's value as a wage-earner as well as instructor; and the social events under its direction have been programmes of merit. It is advantaged with active committees for its many motives of progress and betterment. The officers in 1920: President, Willard H. Poole; vice-president, Henry W. Pickup; secretary, Miss Louise S. Crocker; for 1921-2-3: President, Joseph A. Wal- lace; secretary, Hiss Helen Cotton; treasurer, Ralph M. Small. The wel- fare and programme committees are standing committees for their re- spective duties. In 1922, the plays that were given under the direction of the association netted the sum of $500, which was used for the upkeep of the alumni field.


The Fall River Grade Teachers' Club was established in 1910, for mutual improvement, with an executive committee of twenty members and a legislative committee of twenty-seven members. The first officers of the club were: President, Miss Adelaide S. Warfield; vice-president, Miss Fanny H. Learned; secretary, Miss Alice D. Almy; treasurer, Miss Maria L. Buffinton.


The Fall River Continuation School Teachers' Association is an in- formal one, there being no by-laws at present (1923). The organization was formed in November, 1920, when the Continuation School teachers were endeavoring to have the school committee adopt a salary schedule


352


BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS


to cover the teachers in this department. Insley J. Caton was chosen president of the association, and John G. E. Lord secretary. Since that time meetings have been held as socials rather than for business, the same officers still retaining their positions, and the membership. being thirty-six.


The Fall River High School Cadets organization had its beginning in the year 1885. The early records of the organization are not procurable, but since the year 1911, the "log" as it is called, has been kept in a very detailed manner. Captain Jonathan Thayer Lincoln, of the class of 1888, who was four years president of the civil organization, recalls the incep- tion of the cadets' interests, for this chapter. He states that among the organizers were D. Frank Wright, now of Raynham; George M. Warner, J. Frank Vanderburgh, Albert Greene, Arnold Sanford, J. Edmund Estes and others of the class of 1888, the project being launched in 1885, when there was a civil and a military organization. D. Frank Wright was the first captain, and when Company B was formed in the following year, he became major of the battalion. The first stand of colors ever presented to the cadets was that given Company A in memory of Albert Greene. While Captain Lincoln was president of the civil organization, he obtained permission of Governor Robinson for the cadets to bear arms.


The "log" of recent years is essentially as follows: Forty freshmen joined the cadets in 1911-12, Captain Harrison drillmaster, and the follow- ing-named officers were appointed : Major Everett G. Smith. Company A- Captain Everett H. Francis; Lieutenants Richard M. Thackeray and Charles E. Hathaway, Jr .; Sergeants Francis J. Lenahan, Allen F. Bowen, Everett S. Sanderson, Edward J. Jackson, Stanley McKenzie. Company B-Cap- tain J. Raymond Ramsbottom; Lieutenants Stephen H. Noble and Ray- mond V. Borden; Sergeants Hartley C. Humphrey, Earl T. Wyatt, Will- iam B. Hunter, Clarence A. Lawton, Kenneth T. Remington. At Com- pany B efficiency drill, forty men participating, December 8, 1911, Third Sergeant William B. Hunter won the ribbon. In successive drills that year, prizes were won by Corporal Benjamin Davis, the shield by Com- pany B, and a silver medal offered by the First M. E. Church by Cor- poral Davis; a gold medal offered by the Brayton M. E. Church was won by Third Sergeant William B. Hunter; a gold medal won by Private Chester Macomber; silver medal by Company B. The year's events outside of the competitive drills consisted of parades, camp at Oak Bluffs, with fifty-eight present; and in such wise was the round of events continued.


The officers for 1912-1913: Major J. Raymond Ramsbottom, Adjutant Benjamin F. Davis; Musician Myron Briggs. Company B-Captain Raymond V. Borden; Lieutenants Clarence Lawton and H. Raymond Delaney; Sergeant Stanley McKenzie. Company A-Captain William B. Hunter; Lieutenants Allen Bowen, Hartley Humphrey; Sergeant Winthrop C. Wood. At the battalion drill and ball, January 31, Company A won the privilege of having its initial engraved on the cup that had been pre- sented the cadets in 1888, to be drilled for by companies.


Officers in 1913-1914: Major Allen F. Bowen; Adjutant Stanley Mc- Kenzie; Color Sergeant Norman Small; Buglers John Shay, Francis Con- nors. Company A-Captain H. Raymond Delaney; Lieutenants Winthrop


353


FALL RIVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS


C. Wood, Robert A. Lawder; Sergeant Ralph W. Lawton. Company B- Captain Joseph H. Olding; Lieutenants F. Kenneth Stiff and Warren S. Hathaway; Sergeant Raymond Munroe.


51 With the opening of the Technical High School, the cadets changed the name of the organization from B. M. C. Durfee High School Cadets to Fall River High School Cadets. At the battalion drill in the armory, May 1, 1914, Company A won a shield given by the Fall River Evening Herald, to be the permanent possession of the company. The officers for 1914-1915: Major Warren A. Hathaway; Adjutant George W. McCreery; Color Sergeant Norman C. Small; Principal Musician Francis Connors; Buglers Barton Albert, John A. Dowd, Carl W. Heathcote. Company A, Durfee High-Captain Robert A. Lawder; Lieutenants John A. Coldwell and Sumner J. Waring; Sergeant Howard D. Fawcett; Company B, Technical High-Captain Edward C. Delano; Lieutenants Whitney Bray- ton and Sylvester Copeland; Sergeant Edward Delaney.


On the occasion of the battalion drill and ball that was held at the State Armory, April 16, 1915, Company A was awarded the shield of the Fall River Herald. The officers for 1915-1916: Major Sumner J. Waring; Adjutant Herbert W. Smith; Color Sergeant John R. Davitt; Buglers Barton Albert, Merrill Hawkins, Earl W. Heathcote. Company A, Durfee High-Captain Eric P. Jackson; Lieutenants Howard W. Fawcett and Cyril B. Wilcox; Sergeant Harold E. Marr. Company B, Technical High-Captain Whitney W. Brayton; Lieutenants Edward J. Delaney and George A. Slade; First Sergeant William C. Connell .. At the battalion drill April 28, 1916, at the Armory, Company B won the shield.


The officers for 1916-1917: Major George A. Slade; Adjutant Cyril B. Wilcox; Color Sergeant George Splaine; Buglers Barton Albert, Earl Heathcote, Merrill . Hawkins, Gordon Capen. Company A-Captain Her- bert W. Smith; Lieutenants Charles H. Warner, Jr., and C. Harold Whit- tum; First Sergeant Brooks Hawkins. Company B-Captain John A. Davitt, Jr. Lieutenants William J. Whittaker and Chauncey C. Willis; First Sergeant Walter Griffiths. Six public drills were now being held. At battalion drill April 17, 1917, Company B won the cup given by Harry P. Brown.


The officers for 1917-1918. Major C. Harold Whittum; Adjutant Earl W. Heathcote; Supply Officer Frank S. Almy; Color Sergeant Merrill Hawkins; Principal Musician Gordon C. Capen. Company A-Captain Brooks Hawkins; Lieutenants Arthur C. Durfee and Barton Albert; First Sergeant Allen L. Wilcox. Company B-Captain Walter E. Grif- fiths; Lieutenants Raymond Hathaway and F. Elmer Manchester; First Sergeant Robert Murphy. Company C-Captain Arthur Skinner; Lieu- tenants Lloyd Littlefield and W. Borden Adams; First Sergeant Earle P. B. Hambly.


For the first time in the history of the battalion, three companies were enrolled. At the annual battalion drill in the armory, April 5, 1918, Com- pany C won the right to have its name engraved on the Brown cup. On April 20, the battalion marched in a big Liberty Loan parade.


The officers for 1918-1919: Major Merrill Hawkins; Adjutant Mil- ton D. Sanford; Supply Officer Lionel H. Legare; Musicians Wilson Len- non, Allen B. Smith, James Lord. Company A-Captain Harold J. Pill-


Bristol-28


354


BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS


ing; Lieutenants A. Frank Fyans and James F. Coughlin; First Sergeant Loyal Grant. Company B-Captain Gordon C. Capen; Lieutenants' James H. Callahan and Joseph F. Medeiros; First Sergeant John F. Keavy. The influenza prevented the weekly drills though the battalion drill and ball took place April 25, 1919, when Company B carried off the honors. May 23, a portrait of Colonel Frank Wilcox was presented the B. M. C. Durfee High School, Colonel Durfee at one time having been an officer of the cadets.


The officers for 1919-1920: Major Frank Fyans; Adjutant Frank A. Carreiro; Supply Officer Maurice Snell. Company A-Captain Loyal Grant; Lieutenants George Emerson, Jr., and Raymond Hampson; First Sergeant Stuart Littlefield. Company B-Captain Joseph F. Medeiros ; Lieutenants John F. Keavy and Leroy Wood. It was this year that a drum and bugle corps was formed. At the battalion drill and ball, April 9, 1920, at the armory, Company A won the cup. The officers for 1920-1921 : Major Kenneth Carter; Adjutant Kenneth D. Channell; Supply Officer Paul Kelleher; Band Lieutenant Wilson Sherman; Color Sergeant Harold Borden. Company A-Captain William Dagnall; Lieutenants Stuart D. Brown and Robert Sykes; First Sergeant Ellery H. Capen. Company B-Captain Elliot B. Shovelton; Lieutenants James Daven- port and Robert C. Ashworth; First Sergeant Elton W. Grenfell.


At the battalion drill and ball of April 1, 1921, Company A was announced as the permanent holder of the Brown cup. Officers for 1921- 1922: Major William R. Crabtree; Adjutant Daniel T. Foley; Supply Officer Eldred W. Bemis. Company A-Captain J. Carter Noble; Lieu- tenants Edward F. Murphy and Leonard P. Rasmusson; First Sergeant Thomas R. Rooney. Company B-Captain George W. Graham; Lieu- tenants Eugene M. Fahey and Anthony Pannoni; First Sergeant Borden Emerson. Company C-Captain Vincent Coyne; Lieutenants Horatio A. Gray and Clifford L. Kolb; First Sergeant Francis J. Brady. At the bat- talion drill April 28, 1922. Company A was the winner.


CHAPTER VIII.


THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.


Religious persuasion and Christian effort and activity in Fall River, as seen from Protestant viewpoints, has witnessed an increasingly varied nomenclature within the past half century. The Methodists, the Congre- gationalists and the Baptists are in the lead of this group, as to numbers and in valuation of property. Within a very few years past the two former bodies have been deeply interested in the proposed unity of branches of the churches that they represent. Nearly all the Protestant churches in this city have been at unity in church community enterprises, co-operating in many ways for city betterment, in humanitarian lines, in patriotic movements, and the gradual eliminations of sect lines. Almost all these churches beginning in a small, unpretentious way, have worked along at need of their various flocks and under the lead of well-chosen ministers to a high plane of Christian influence and labors in the Fall River


FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-FALL RIVER


355


THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES


of today. There is no call for help from any source, no charitable en- deavor, no forward movement for the city's good in which these churches do not share and participate liberally. Pastors and people have thus aided us in telling the story in its essentials.


Baptist Churches .- One of the most interesting of the Baptist churches in the entire county, as well as one of the oldest, is the First Baptist Church, whose present-day organization and edifice are satisfactorily meet- ing the demands of the age in which they are working. The church was organized with a membership of thirty, February 15, 1781, at the house of Jonathan Brownell, on North Main street, and it was then known as the Baptist Church of Christ in Freetown, Dartmouth and Tiverton. The first pastor, Elder Amos Burrows, was ordained May 22, 1783, the ordina- tion service being conducted by elders from Swansea and Dighton in the house of Samuel Warren. Mr. Burrows was the pastor for a year, and he was succeeded by the joint pastorate of Job Borden and James Boomer, who were ordained in May, 1795. Job Borden was a unique and a talented character; he was blind, but a very able preacher; and it seems that the church appreciated him to such an extent that they provided him with the assistance of the ministry of Mr. Boomer. The church joined the Warren association in 1799. Elder Boomer in 1803 asked for his dismission to go to Charlton, where he died February 24, 1837. Meantime, in 1800, the first church built at the Narrows was called by a new name, "The Second Bap- tist Church in Tiverton"; yet, to conform with changes in the name of the town, the name of the church was twice changed to the First Baptist Church in Troy, in 1827, and the First Baptist Church in Fall River in 1834. From 1827 to 1829 Rev. Arthur Ross acted as colleague pastor. The second meeting house was built in 1828, which year witnessed the organization of the Baptist Female Charitable Society.


The new meeting house on South Main street was dedicated July 30, 1828, Elder Choules of Newport preaching the dedication sermon. Elder Seth Ewer supplied the pulpit in 1829, and July 14, 1830, Rev. Bradley Miner was ordained and installed as the pastor. In 1833 the blind pastor Job Borden died and left as a legacy the house that he lived in, the income to go toward the support of the minister. The house was sold in recent years, the legacy thus amounting to ten thousand dollars. This is probably the oldest religious endowment in the city. Rev. Asa Bronson became pastor April 4, 1833, and in 1836 the church became one of the constituent members of the Taunton Baptist association. The first cove- nant meeting was held in the vestry of the new house of worship called the Temple, July 1, 1840, and that house was dedicated September 16, that year. From 1840 to 1850 the pastor and his deacons denounced slavery in unmistakable terms, and during the long pastorate of Mr. Bronson, seven hundred and nine members were added to the church. He was after- wards pastor at Albany two years, and he again returned and became pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Fall River. Mr. Bronson was


succeeded by Rev. A. P. Mason, who was a lineal descendant of Samson Mason, an officer in Cromwell's army. The present house of worship was dedicated October 23, 1850. Rev. Jacob R. Scott came here as pastor in 1853, he being succeeded by Rev. Jonathan Aldrich for a year, and he by Rev. Daniel J. Glazier, who died as he was about to enter this pastorate.


356


BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS


Rev. P. B. Houghwout became pastor in 1855, and he remained fifteen years, Rev. Daniel C. Eddy, D. D. becoming the pastor in 1871. The re- dedication of the church took place September 3, 1872.


Dr. Eddy was succeeded in 1874 by Rev. Albion K. P. Small. The pastors since that time have been Rev. Thomas S. Barbour, 1883-1886; Rev. F. H. Rowley, 1897-1900; Rev. A. G. Upham, D. D. 1902-1907; Rev. Arthur C. Baldwin, 1908-1914; Rev. Everett C. Herrick, D. D., 1914. In the early eighties the church built chapels in different parts of the city, and maintained them as branches. Only one of these is in the possession of the church now, although it has the oversight of a Portuguese congrega- tion,-and this has served to give the church a very large constituency. The Sunday school was organized in 1827, and today that school main- tains a men's class with a membership of about one thousand, and two large women's classes. The old Broadway Mission was instituted in 1857, as a Sunday school. The Brownell street chapel was organized in 1871 as the Mechanicsville Baptist Church, and the Harrison Street Chapel dated from 1855. The parish house of the First Baptist Church was built in recent years, and with its construction the church became an institu- tional church. The development of the church has been along the lines of religious education.


The second of the Baptist churches in Fall River congregated for the first time on June 18, 1846, three years after the great fire, when the town was again rehabilitating itself. Services at first were held in the town hall, when one hundred and forty-nine former members of the First Baptist Church, and others who were not of that congregation, met under the pastorate of Rev. Asa Bronson, at one time pastor of the First Baptist Church. After awhile the services were held in the vestry of the Unitarian church. But after October, 1847, the Baptist Temple having been purchased from the First church, services were held there. Rev. Asa Bronson continued with the church until 1858, and his successors were: Rev. Charles A. Snow, 1858-1864; Rev. John Duncan, 1865-1870; Rev. Frank R. Morse, 1871-1873; Rev. Henry C. Graves, 1874-1880; Rev. G. W. Hunt, 1880-1882; Rev. George W. Gile, 1884-1893; Rev. David B. Jutten, 1893-1909. Rev. Frederick W. Blakeslee succeeded Dr. Jutten as pastor, so continuing until the spring of 1918, when he resigned to become pastor of the Roslindale church at Hyde Park, this State. Rev. I. Wallace Chesbro succeeded Rev. Mr. Blakeslee, preaching his first sermon here July 7, 1918. Dr. Jutten baptized several hundred members during his pastorate; he was a most eloquent, sincere and impressive preacher. Upon his death in 1913, the church entered a memorial upon its records, his pastorate having been the longest in the history of the church.


. During Rev. Mr. Blakeslee's pastorate, changes were made in the meetinghouse at a cost of $40,000. In 1916, this church gave letters of . dismissal to sixty-six members who left to form the North Tiverton Bap- tist church. Miss Virginia Parish was appointed pastor's assistant, from 1910 to 1916, when she resigned on account of ill health. Miss Ina G. Lowell succeeded to the position, and after a short time resigned to take up other work. Mrs. Mary J. Winslow began her work as church visitor in 1922. During the pastorate of J. Wallace Chesbro, up to May, 1923, forty-seven joined this church, the membership at that time being four


357


THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES


hundred and forty-four. The church observed its seventy-fifth anniversary in June, 1921.


This paper is written at a time when the Third Baptist Church is working out plans for a new church building, and when these volumes are published the people of that parish will be occupying their church home on the building site purchased in 1920. The third church of the Baptist de- nomination here was begun about a month after the opening of the Civil War, in a schoolhouse at the junction of Stafford road and Tucker street, Deacon and Mrs. A. O. Cook having charge of the Sunday school there which formed the nucleus of the church. The church building known as Franklin hall, under the jurisdiction of the Franklin hall corporation, was built in 1873. The pastors have been Rev. H. W. Watjen in 1889; Rev. Charles V. French, 1890; Rev. W. F. Wilson, 1891-1898. As a church the organization was formed while Rev. Mr. Wilson was the pastor, Decem- ber 4, 1896. Rev. George Atha was the first pastor under the new regula- tion, June, 1898-July 1, 1902. Rev. Joseph Mckean became the pastor October 1, 1902, and resigned in September, 1906. During his pastorate many improvements were made in the church building, a baptistry and pews were installed, and the basement was arranged for Sunday school purposes. In February, 1907, Rev. Gorham Easterbrook accepted the pastorate, which extended through twelve years. On account of ill health, he resigned in February, 1919. During his pastorate, the church developed along many lines, especially that of supporting the missionary work of the denomination. Mr. Easterbrook died at the home of his sister in Waverly, July 18, 1921. Rev. Frederick L. Cleveland was his successor in September, 1919, and during the one and one-half years of his pastorate the Third Baptist and Trinity churches united under the name of the former, and steps were taken towards the erection of a church building. Mr. Cleveland resigned in February, 1921, and Rev. William Clemens came in June of that year.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.