Backus Memorial Baptist Church, 1756-1956 : bicentennial, May 25-27, 1956, Part 2

Author: Backus Memorial Baptist Church, North Middleborough, Mass
Publication date: 1956
Publisher: North Middleborough, Mass.
Number of Pages: 50


USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > North Middleborough > Backus Memorial Baptist Church, 1756-1956 : bicentennial, May 25-27, 1956 > Part 2


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).


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with our whole souls whereby he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, & redemption. (13) The life of Religion consists in the knowledge of God and conformity to him in the inward man; which necessaryly produceth an external conformity to his Law & brings us to live in obed- ience to his holy will in all our ways, and in our several places and relations. (14) True Believers being united to Jesus Christ by faith, have Communion with God, & by his Spirit they are united to each other & have communion one with another, whereby they are made pertakers of each others gifts and graces.


(15) We believe that the first day of the week commonly called the Lords-day is the Christian Sabbath. (16) That God hath appointed the Ordinance of civil government for the defending the poor as well as the rich in their civil rights and privileges: and the civil magistrates work is to punish moral evils and to encourage moral vertue, without touching upon anything that infringes upon the Conscience, or pretend- ing to dictate & govern in the worship of the eternal God; which belongs only to Jesus Christ the great Lawgiver & Head of his Church. (17) We believe there will be a general Ressurrection, both of the just and unjust; and that God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in right- eousness by Jesus Christ, & will reward every man according to his works; when the Wicked shall be sent into everlasting punishment, and the Righteous be received into life eternal.


SECOND PART CONCERNNG CHURCH AFFAIRS-


(1) We believe that a visible Church of Christ is a num- ber of his saints & people by mutual acquaintance & com- munion volontarily and understandingly covenanting and em- bodying together for the carrying on the Worship & Service of God. (2) That Baptism & the Lords Supper are ordinances of Christ to be continued until his Second coming, and that the former is requisite to the latter: that is to say, that those are to be admitted into the communion of the Church and to pertake of all its ordinances who upon profession of their faith have been baptized, by immersion in the Name of the Father, & of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (3) Since none but Saints can rightly pertake of these Ordinances; therefore the door of the Church sho'd be carefully kept at all times against all such as can't give Scriptural evidences of their union to Christ by faith. (4) A Church thus gather'd hath power


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to chuse and ordain those officers that Christ hath appointed in his Church, namely Bishops or Elders & Deacons: & also to depose such officers as evidently appear to walk conterary to the gospel, & to discipline their members; tho' in some such cases it is convenient and profitable to request the advice of neighbouring churches of Christ.


(5) A Bishop, or Elder hath no more power to decide any case or controvercy in the Church than any private Brother; yet they having superior gifts for teaching and ruleing, ought to exercise and improve the same for the benifit of the church, & ye church ought to be subject to the gifts bestowed on the minister from the Lord, while he is rightly acting in his place, -whose work is, to lead in the actings of ye church, and to administer ye Sacraments and devote himself to ye work of teaching, warning, rebukeing & exorting the people, pub- lickly and from house to house. (6) The Deacon's office work is to take care of the poor and to have the oversight of the temporal affairs of the Church, & to minister at the Lords- table. (7) Every Saint is commanded to be faithful to improve every gift & talent that is bestowed on them :- in order to which there ought to be such a gospel freedom that the church may know where every particular gift is, that it may be im- prov'd in its proper place & to its right end, even the glory of God, and the good of his people ;- and the Church ought to be subject to such Improvements.


THE COVENANT


We do now in the presence of the great allseeing and most glorious God; and before Angels & Men give up our selves to the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, & Holy Ghost, & avouch him this day to be our God, our Father, our Saviour and our Leader and receive him as our Portion forever .-


We give up ourselves unto the Lord Jesus Christ and adhere to him as the Head of his people in the Covenant of grace, & rely on him as our Prophet Priest and King to bring us to eternal blessedness. We acknowledge our everlasting & indispensable obligation to glorify our God by living a holy righteous & godly life in this present world, in all our several places & relations: and we do engage by the assistance of the divine Spirit to improve all our time & strength, talents and advantages for his glory & the good of our fellowmen; prom- issing by divine help to walk in our houses with a perfect heart and to train up those under our care in the ways of


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God .- And we also give up onr selves to one another in Cov- enant, promising to act towards each other as Bretherin in Christ, watching over one another in the Love of God; and to watch not only against (them that are reckned) more gross evils, but also against all foolish talking & jesting which is not convenient ;- vain disputeing about words & things which gendure strife ;- disregarding promises & not fulfilling of engagements; Tattling and backbiteing; spending time idly at taverns or elsewhere, and vain & unnecessary worldly Con- versation on Lords-days, and whatsoever else that is conter- ary to Sound Doctrine according to the glorious gospel of Christ .- Promising to hold communion together in the wor- ship of God, & in ye ordinances & discipline of his Church; according as we are or shall be guided by the Spirit of God in his word; expecting that he will yet further & more glor- iously open his word & ye mysteries of his kingdom :- flying to ye blood of ye everlasting Covenant for ye pardon of our many errours and, praying that the Lord would prepare and strengthen us for every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight thro' Jesus Christ, to whome be glory for ever and ever. Amen.


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DISCIPLINE IN THE EARLY CHURCH


In our "enlightened" 1956, when a man's sins, needs, and sorrows are the concern of only his psychiatrist, thc thought of church disciplinc is foreign and distasteful. But, if there werc excesses in administering church discipline in by-gonc days, our generation has certainly gone to the oppo- site extreme. Indeed, now the cry of man often is that of the Psalmist, "No man cares for my soul!"


Two hundred years ago, when this church came into being, and for many years thereafter, somcone did carc. The members solemnly pledged: "We also give up ourselves to one another in Covenant, promising to act towards cach other as Bretherin in Christ, watching over one another in the Love of God." Repeatedly in the Church Records when an account is given of receiving new members, we read that they "placed themselves under the watch and care of the church." They took very seriously Article 13 of the Confes- sion of Faith (see page 16) that a Christian's life is to con- form to God's standards, and they were careful not only of "them that are reckned morc gross evils" but also of "the little sins that war against the soul." A difficulty arose between two of the six original members of the church in the carly days. The sin of Sister Fobes was in "borrowing a thimble, somc pins, needles, thread, &c. and not paying;" Brother Hayward's resentment and that of his wife led to accusations that Sister Fobes was "under the government of a Covetous & dishonest principle," and to his withdrawing from communion. The church was keenly exercised about this matter from October 1756 to Junc 1759.


The most frequent matter for disciplinc was absence from the services of the church. An entry on May 9, 1776, is illustrative: "The pastor was ordered to write to several members to come on June 6 at 1 o'clock & give the reasons of their absenting themselves from our communion." Temporal as well as spiritual needs of the flock were the care of the church. The deacons were instructed to care for the needs of poor widows "and cvcry other pour of the Church and bring in their Bill."


"Blest was the tie that bound Their hearts in Christian love."


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ISAAC BACKUS AS A TRAVELING EVANGELIST


Isaac Backus began his preaching tours almost immc- diately after that cottage prayer meeting in September 1746 in which "a conviction seized his mind that God had given him abilities which His church had a right to the use of, and which he could not withhold with a clear conscience." His journeys were fruitful in many ways. On one to Rehoboth in the first year after his call to the ministry he met the girl who was to become his wife. A few months later, on his journey to Titicut, he found the field which he served so well as pastor for the rest of his life. According to the Dictionary of American Biography, Backus' "activities there made Mid- dleboro the strongest Baptist community in Massachusetts during his lifetime."


Backus continued his evangelistic journeys after coming to Titicut. In December 1780, for example, he wrote in his Manuscript Biography: "In the year which is now closed I have traveled 1918 miles and preached 248 times." During four months of 1789 he visited Virginia and North Carolina, traveling 1200 miles and preaching 117 sermons. A summary of his evangelistic journeys extending more than 10 miles in length, from January 1748 through December 1802, shows that he made 918 such trips, aggregating over 68,600 miles. He was a one-man Society for the Promotion and Propagation of the Gospel.


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BACKUS AS A WRITER


How one man could be active in so many fields of en- deavor is almost bevond comprehension. And all he did was done whole-heartedly. Mr. Lawrence B. Romaine of the Middleborough Historieal Society has noted that Baekus sub- scribed to every current publication of his day. The Massa- chusetts Historical Society had but recently been organized when Backus contributed an "aneient history" of Middlebor- ough (Collections 1794, Vol. III). Also "carefully made for the use of the Massachusetts Historical Society by their hum- ble servant, Isaae Baekus," were copies of letters of historieal importanee which had come to his attention. He drew up the excellently comprehensive and doetrinally sound Confes- sion of Faith and Covenant of his own ehureh, and the Records of the church were written in his own hand for many years. Starr's Baptist Bibliography lists 50 titles of books and pam- phlets published by Baekus.


His largest literary effort was his three volume "History of New England, with particular reference to the Denomination of Christians ealled Baptists." These volumes were published in 1777, 1784, and 1796; and a one-volume Abridgement in 1804. His Aeeount Book shows that, in 1779, Volume I sold for twenty dollars each. George Baneroft ealls him "one of the most exaet of our New England historians."


-


Desk of Elder Backus


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BACKUS THE PATRIOT


It is true that during a man's lifetime his contributions are not fully appreciated because of a laek of perspective; and, as the great poet said, when great men die, "the good is oft interred with their bones." Great men expend their ener- gies in achieving the things which are of utmost importance to us, but when we have them in our possession we often "take them for granted" and fail to appreciate how much we owe. This is especially applicable to the legacy of Isaac Backus as the defender of religious liberty. His contribution to the American way of life is one of the most precious free- doms we possess. Without the freedom to worship God ac- cording to the dietates of our own individual eonseienees, we would be truly in bondage.


Backus lived in the century after the great influx of Europeans who had been oppressed on their own shores by the demand for religious conformity. They left their homes and came to foreign soil to find a place where they might be unmolested by religious oppression. The American poet was wrong when she said of the Pilgrims: "They left unstained what there they found / Freedom to worship God." That freedom was stained, and very soon. In 1631 the General Court in Boston required that those "admitted to the free- dom of this body politie" must be members of some of the churches. In 1635 the Court asked the ehurehes to devise "a uniform order of diseipline in the churches." The next year's aet of the General Assembly placed the churches under the jurisdietion of the civil magistrates. It stated that assemblies for worship would not be approved "without they shall first aequaint the magistrates and the elders of the greater part of the churches in this jurisdietion with their intention and have their approbation therein." As the pres- ent pastor of this ehureh wrote in his seminary thesis on Isaac Baekus and the separation of church and state: "Thus the right to assemble, exeept in the ehureh which was fast becoming the established body, derived not from the leading of the Spirit, but rather from permission by the ehureh that used the state to block all competition." In this same year Roger Williams was ordered out of Massachusetts and in 1637 all Jesuits were banished from the eolonv. under threat of death.


These early ineidents indieate the growing trend toward the establishment of a state church in Massachusetts. The


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church was supported by taxes; rates were assessed to every- one within the jurisdiction or parish of a "regular church." Isaae Baekus' grandfather was expelled from the church in Norwich for opposing the authority of civil magistrates over the church. His mother and brother were imprisoned for refusal to pay the rates of the minister of the established church, whereas they worshipped in another assembly; and Elder Backus himself was arrested for the same offense. To appease the "dissenters," they were finally permitted to have writs to excuse them from taxation to support the state church, but they were writs of toleration. Dissenters were humiliated in order to obtain the writs; they must admit the right of the magistrate to demand their payment of the church tax. Baekus did not ask for toleration; he asked for liberty. The Editor of the Watchman Examiner in 1893 pointed out sue- cinetly the distinction: "Toleration is for the magistrate to say to us, 'I will not give you the right to think and worship as you please, but I will wink at your violation of the law.' Liberty is for you to say to me, 'I shall believe and worship God according to the dietates of my own conscience, and I diselaim your right to impose, in these matters, any law upon me'."


Isaae Baekus became the standard bearer of those who denied to the civil government any authority in matters per- taining to religion. His eonvietion that the church should be independent of the state was so strong that he made it a part of the Confession of Faith which he drew up for this church. (See Artiele 16, page 16.) Baekus wrote news- paper articles and pamphlets, appealing to the people to recognize the threat of authoritarianism and to stand firm for religious liberty. This church agreed with its pastor's stand for religious liberty. The following entry from the Records (Sept. 2, 1773) stresses their common interest: "Dea- eon Shaw and our bretherin Elijah Codding, Job Macomber & Benjamin Leach were appointed with our elder to attend the association at Medfield, & to acquaint the churches with our willingness to join with them in publishing a testimony against the eivil powers imposing any taxes to support re- ligious worship." This meeting was an eventful one. In Sep- tember 1774, Baekus was sent to the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia bearing a letter of introduction from which the following excerpt is taken:


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We, the elders and brethren of twenty Baptist churches, met in association at Medfield, twenty miles from Bos- ton, September 14, 1774, have unanimously chosen and sent unto you the reverend and beloved Mr. Isaac Back- us, as our agent, to lay our case, in these respects, befor you, or otherwise to use all the prudent means he can for our relief.


He and President Manning of Rhode Island College (now Brown University) pleaded eloquently for religious freedom in the Colonies. The delegates from Massachusetts to the Convention insisted that the elaims of oppression of the Bap- tists were unwarranted, and it is reported that John Adams told them if they "meant to effeet a change in their measures respeeting religion," they "might as well attempt to ehange the course of the sun in the heavens." Some rather glib prom- ises of redress of grievanees were given, but the Massaehu- setts delegates were vindietive, and R. T. Paine is reported to have spread the story "that Mr. Backus went to Philadel- phia in order to prevent the eolonies from uniting in defense of their liberties.'


Newspapers abounded with accusations against Baekus. In one he was threatened with a halter and the gallows. The charge that he opposed the cause of the Colonists was of eourse false. On the morning after April 19, 1775, when the first shot was fired by the British in Lexington, Isaae Baekus in his sermon condemned the act of the British and espoused the eause of the Colonists. He repeatedly urged the young men of Titieut to enlist, and rejoieed when they did. Never did the Colonists have a more loyal servant than he who led the Baptist eause.


As Agent for the Baptists, Backus continued to address appeals and protests to the people of the Colonies, to Chris- tians, to the Provincial Congress (1774), to the General Court in Watertown (1775) and in Boston (1780), to George Wash- ington (1790). He continued his energetic activities in the Warren Association. Under the direction of that body, met in 1777 at Warren, he drew up a letter to all the Baptist societies asking for a general meeting of their delegates for devising the best means of attaining their religious freedom. In 1777 he read an address on the subject of religious free- dom before the Warren Association, and another in 1778. By unanimous request of that body these addresses were print-


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cd and distributed. For many years the Warren Association appointed annually a "Committee on Grievances" whosc duty it was to learn of the oppressions of their brethren and appeal for relief to the General Court. This Committee was extremely important, for, if the injustices suffered by a minor- ity group were to be redressed, they must be presented in an organized manner. It is small wonder that Isaac Backus was appointed Chairman of this Committee for ten successive ycars.


Isaac Backus worked principally as Agent for the Bap- tists of Massachusetts in attempting to obtain what he somc- times called "soul liberty"-the right of every man to wor- ship God in the church of his choice, and freedom from coercion in matters of the spirit. But his influence spread beyond the Baptist ranks in awakening a spirit in favor of perfect liberty of conscience and the separation of church and state.


The arguments and appeals which he distributed slowly awakened the people and moulded public opinion. We re- gret that this great apostle of religious liberty did not live to see his goal accomplished, but we can thank God for the heritage of freedom bestowed upon us by Isaac Backus.


1904589


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LATER HISTORY OF THE CHURCH


In the year of Isaac Baekus' death, 1806, the second ehureh was built; it was on the corner of Plymouth Street and Bedford Road, a little baek from the location of the present building. Baekus continued as pastor until his death, though an entry in the Records on September 9, 1804, when he was eighty, indieates his weakening condition:


"As our pastor is often poorly, the church agreed to invite elder Ezra Kendal to come and preach to us four Sabbaths." The church over which Baekus was spiritual watehman for fifty vears was always small. It is recorded, however, that in 1779, the time of spiritual awakening throughout this area, 'a pleasant revival" began and inereased the membership in three years from 59 to 138. Baekus preached not only from the pulpit on the Lord's Day, but also from house to house during the week. The stone first ereeted in his memory said, "As the pastor of a church in this town for fifty-eight years he was eminently useful and beloved."


The second ehureh was torn down in the summer of 1894, and the present building ereeted that summer, and dedicated December 13 - 18 of the same year. Through the years this ehureh has also been "the germ of several other Baptist ehureh- es and the nursing mother of several distinguished ministers of the Gospel."


Second home of the First Baptist Church


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Our Missionaries, the Johnsons, in Burma


PASTORS 1756 - 1956


Isaac Baekus, founder


1756-1806


Otis O. Ordway


1895-1897


Samuel Abbott


1807-1816


George F. Beecher


1897-1900


Silas Hall


1819-1822


Frank L. Cann 1900-1901


Shubael Lovell


1826-


Alfred S. Hill 1901-1903


Jeremiah Kellev


1829-1831


J. R. Lawrence 1903-1907


Asa Niles


1832-1833


C. W. Williams 1907-1912


Avery Briggs


1834-1838


Lewis A. Eaton


1912-1916


Silas Hall


1839-1847


Charles W. Dealtry


1916-1921


James Andem


1847-1849


(Temporary supplies) 1921-1923


Silas Hall


1850-1851


R. A. Stonebraker 1923-1924


Lorenzo Tandv


1852-1856


E. J. Church


1924-1925


Samuel Richardson


1856-1862


H. Y. Vinal


1925-1932


Alexander MeLearn


1862-1865


H. C. Bonell


1932-1934


Joseph Hutehinson


1865-1875


Ralph Nichols


1934-1935


George L. Ruberg


1875-1879


W. F. Rogers


1935-1936


S. T. Livermore Henry C. Coombs


1880-1885


(Temporary supplies ) 1942-1943 S. A. Washburn 1943-1944


Benjamin F. Turner


1886-1887


James W. Tingley


1887-1888


L. C. Decker 1944-1945


Irving Coombs


1889-1890


K. E. Unger


1945-1948


J. W. Brown


1890-1891


Charles Schenek


1948-1950


James W. Tingley


1891-1892


Richard Mullin


1950-1953


1892-1894


Edward Lyon


1953-


Douglas H. Simpson


1879-1880


E. H. Preseott


1936-1942


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PRESENT OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH


Pastor


Rev. Edward Lyon


Asst. to Pastor Mr. George Dimock


Deacons


Mr. B. M. White Mr. R. D. Pinkham Mr. James Lakey


Deaconesses


Mrs. Graee White Burt


Mrs. James Wilmot


Organist Mrs. Waldo Thomas


Moderator


Mr. Kenneth Lakey


Clerk


Mrs. Kenneth Lakey


Treasurer


Mrs. James Wilmot


Missionary Treasurer Mrs. Arthur Craig


Improvement Fund Treas. Mrs. Herbert Cowan


Auditor Mr. Waldo Thomas


Standing Committee: Pastor Deaeons


Mr. Herbert Cowan


Mr. George Dimoek


Mrs. Gregory Mellin Mrs. Edward Lyon


Advisory Committee: Pastor Deaeons


Mrs. Herbert Cowan


Mrs. Arthur Craig


Mrs. Walter Savard


Mrs. James Wilmot


Sunday School Supt. Mr. Edward Lyon Asst. Supt. Mr. George Dimoek


Sunday School Secretary Miss Ruth Craig


BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE


Chairman of the Committee Rev. Edward Lyon


Author of articles in the


Memorial Booklet Mrs. Edward Lyon


Reception Committee Chairman Mrs. Herbert Cowan


Supper Committee Mrs. William Caswell


Mrs. Herbert Cowan


Mrs. Melvin Jaekson Mrs. Merton White


Program Book Committee Mrs. Arthur Craig Rev. Edward Lyon


Mrs. Edward Lyon


Mrs. Gregory Mellin Mrs. James Wilmot


Costume Committee


Mrs. Lawrenee Cowan Mrs. James Wilmot


Committee in charge of Properties


Mr. Herbert Cowan


Mr. John Ferreira (artist) Mr. Richard Pinkham


Mr. Merton White


Publicity Committee Mrs. William Caswell Mr. George Dimoek Rev. Edward Lyon


Committee-at-Large Mrs. Philip Benson Mrs. Marion King Mr. James Lakey Mr. Kenneth Lakey


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GREETINGS


This year marks another milestone for the Backus Me- morial Baptist Church. Two hundred years ago this church was founded as the "First Baptist Church of Christ of Mid- dleborough Bridgewater and Raynham." It was the four- teenth Baptist church to be established in the Massachusetts Colony (four of which are now extinct). In 1750 there were in the Colonies only 58 Baptist churches. Today, though the geographical limits of our parish have decreased, the vision of the church is growing, for the Lord has blessed us in many ways this past year.


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As a church we are privileged and proud to offer to the publie a memorial of Isaac Backus in the form of this booklet. In America we gather unhindered to worship. This is a heritage we owe in a large part to Isaac Backus and others like him.


Greater even than his efforts for religious and civil lib- erty was the personal life of Elder Backus. Rev. Silas Hall, one of the early pastors of this ehureh who sat under the ministry of Elder Backus had this to say of him:


I have often heard that good man pray. The efficacy of his prayers did not consist in length, nor gaudy dress; but it seemed that he and his God loved one an- other, and that he was at home before the Throne of Grace. I heard the last sermon which he ever preached. It was delivered in his dwelling house, from I Peter ii.9. I remember well the piety, pathos, and unusual earnest- ness which characterized that discourse. His religion made him willing to die.


1 have spent many rewarding hours studying the life and works of Elder Backus. I ean say of a truth I am proud to be the pastor of the church he founded, for it is a living memorial of all that Baptists hold dear in faith and praetiee. I would urge the members of this ehurch-and all Chris- tians-to follow the example of Isaae Baekus, who not only believed the promise of God, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free," but sought with convietion to secure that freedom to all men.


The Elder rode thousands of miles, preached thousands of sermons, spent long hours writing to achieve his purpose that all men might hear the Gospel and that Christians might have the right to assemble freely to worship God. And this is our task-to take the Gospel of Christ to all men, to bring the message of liberty to all who are enslaved by the forees of sin. May God grant to us a vision such as controlled Elder Isaae Backus.


EDWARD N. LYON, Pastor


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SPONSORS


MRS. ABIGAIL K. ALDEN (In Memoriam)


J. HERBERT ALEXANDER Dahlia Town Nurseries Wareham St., Middleboro


ELMER G. ALLAN Attorney 12 Bank Bldg., Middleboro


ROBERT L. ANDERSON Attorney 81 Center St., Middleboro


RUTH ANDREWS Capeway Craft Shop Wareham St., So. Middleboro


GEORGE BERMAN 126 So. Main St., Middleboro


MRS. GRACE WHITE BURT


DR. GEORGE P. CANNUCCI Dentist III Center St., Middleboro


CASWELL BROTHERS Groceries


Plymouth St., No. Middleboro


FLETCHER CLARK, JR. Attorney 12 Bank Bldg., Middleboro


ARTHUR CRAIG, SR.


ROBERT L. CUSHING Insuranec TI So. Main St., Middleboro


MRS. ESTHER M. DEAN


MR. and MRS. ALBERT E. DRAKE


(In memory of Albert E. Drake)


RICHARD H. DUNBAR Service Station Bedford St., No. Middleboro


EGGER FUNERAL HOME 61 Pearl St., Middleboro


ROGER G. ELDRIDGE Funeral Home 59 Pierce St., Middleboro


FAHEY FUNERAL HOME So. Main St., Middleboro


FAIR HAVENS, INC. Rest Home


Marion Road, Middleboro


DANIEL FREEDMAN


Metal Yard


18 West St., Middleboro


LEO N. GIBBONS


Optometrist


10 Bank Bldg., Middleboro


AMEDEO J. GIBERTI


Electrical Contractor


31 Oak St., Middleboro


JAMES R. GLIDDEN


Dry Goods


103 Center St., Middleboro


MRS. LAWRENCE GREGORY


ALLAN M. HALE


Attorney


132 North Main St., Middleboro


JAMES E. IIOULIHAN


Insurance


48 Montello St., Middleboro


CHARLES JOHNSON Poultry Farm Taunton Road, Middleboro


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EDMUND KNYSINSKI Lakeville Motors Co. Lakeville, Mass.


KENNETH S. LAKEY


MRS. CARRIE M. PRATT LAWSON


FREDERICK LOBL Lobl Manufacturing Co. Cambridge St., Middleboro


REV. and MRS. EDWARD LYON


RALPH W. MADDIGAN


Insurance


111 Center St., Middleboro


DR. STERLING A. MeLEAN Physician S Rock St., Middleboro


DANIEL MeNEARNEY


Insurance 20 So. Main St., Middleboro


JAMES R. MEEHAN Florist


113 Wareham St., Middleboro


C. TRAFTON MENDALL Attorney 132 No. Main St., Middleboro


MIDDLEBORO RETAIL MERCHANTS' ASSN.


Middleboro, Mass.


MR. and MRS. ROSCOE C. MINER


(In memory of Roscoe C. Miner)


ORDER OF RAINBOW GIRLS


Middleboro Assembly Middleboro, Mass.


PLYMOUTH SHOE COMPANY 191 Center St., Middleboro


LAWRENCE B. ROMAINE Weathercoek House Bedford St., No. Middleboro


WALTER SAVARD Fuel Oil


Plymouth St., No. Middleboro


GEORGE A. SHURTLEFF


Lumber Company 4 Arlington St., Middleboro


DR. STUART A. SILLIKER Physician 29 Oak St., Middleboro


MR. and MRS. GEORGE WARD STETSON


CHESTER M. SYLVESTER Plumbing and Heating Supply Co. 57 Wareham St., Middleboro


CLYDE S. THOMAS


Insurance 7 Roek St., Middleboro


GRANT TOLLES


Cedar Vale Nursing Home


Pleasant St., No. Middleboro


WILLIAM E. TRIBOU Fuel Oil


101 Sproat St., Middleboro


ALTON W. WHITE


MR. and MRS. B. M. WHITE


JAMES J. WILMOT Painting Contraetor Plymouth St., No. Middleboro


WALTER ZION Used Auto Parts Bedford St., No. Middleboro


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BICENTENNIAL HYMN


Through the mist of years I can seem to see A group on their knees in prayer, In the eventide, asking God to guide The church they were founding there.


Chorus.


Let us turn back the years and we'll see again Those humble beginnings long ago.


Grace and peace there were found;


Surely 'tis holy ground - A place where God dwelleth below.


Those six lowly saints in their Elder's home Were of earnest and solemn mind,


Yielded to the Lord, and with one accord A Confession and Cov'nant signed.


Through two hundred years God has faithful been To His promises claimed that night.


As in days of yore, may we more and more In His service our hearts unite.


-Words submitted by Mrs. Edward Lyon


THANK YOU-


The pastor wishes to add his sincere thanks to the following, whose invaluable assistance has not already been recognized in this Memorial Booklet: Mrs. Harry Ryder, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott H. Perkins, Mr. Lawrence B. Romaine, the Backus Historical Society, the Middleborough Historical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. And a word of personal appreciation is extended to each member of the Bicentennial Committee, who labored so faithfully and well for the commemoration of the history of this church and for the glory of the Lord.


2881 5


REYNOLDS


S PRINTING II INC


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Range




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