USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston : the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame : historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723-1775 > Part 15
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In 1750 a guild of bell ringers was formed by a group of young men, residents of the North End.1 The orig- inal contract was for a long time tacked up on the wall of the bell tower but has now been placed in the archives of the church for the safe keeping. It reads as follows :
We, the Subscribers, do Agree to the following Articles, viz : that if we can have liberty from the Wardens of Doctor Cuttler's church we will attend there once a week on evenings to ring the
3 Ringing, not pealing, the bells was one of the duties of a sexton who often officiated as both sexton and bell ringer. This was for services in the church and for funerals, etc. Edward Burbeck performed this duty in 1750 and 1751 and was paid " for looking after the Bells."
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Bells for two hours Each time from the date hereof For one year. That we will choose a Moderator Every three months whose busi- ness shall be to give out the Charges and other Business as shall be agreed by a Majority of Voices then present. That none shall be admitted a member of this Society without unanimous Vote of the members then present and that no Member Shall begg Money of any person in the tower on Penalty of being excluded the Society and that we will Attend to Ring at any time when the Wardens of the Church aforesaid shall desire it on Penalty of paying three Shillings for the good of the Society (Provided we can have the whole Care of the Bells).
That the members of the Society shall Nott Exceed Eight Per- sons and all Differences To be desided By a Majority of Voices.
(Signed) John Dyer Paul Revere Josiah Flagg Barth W. Ballard Jonathan Loud Jona Brown Junr Joseph Snelling
Many restrictions for the use of the bells exist in the records. The security of the wooden spire probably prompted a vestry vote on December 8, 1768
That the Bells shall not be Rung at any time without Consent being first had from one of the Church War- dens, and that no fire be allowed in the Tower, nor Candle without Lanthorn.
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From one who had often listened to the bells, we have the following letter written to the Reverend Doctor Mann, later Bishop of Pittsburgh :
I hope I did not seem too insistent about the hymn-playing of Christ Church bells. How they were rung, I do not know, but hymns were played for fifteen or twenty minutes before morning and evening services, and at nine o'clock every night between Christmas and New Year's. My great-grandmother, Mrs. Wil- liam Dillaway, lived next the Church, until 1884 - when she died. She was over ninety and had lived there since 1804. Two or three unmarried Aunts of mine lived with her - and one of
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these the other day gave me these names of hymns the bells used to play ---
and
Father, breathe an evening blessing, How gentle God's commands, Come, Thou fount of every blessing, Watchman, tell us of the night, Oh dear, what can the matter be!
We spent some months in the old home while the estate was being settled, so the memory of all this is clear, although there must be many other memories that go further back than mine. I am so glad that the dear old Church is soon to be open .---
Sincerely, (Signed) Florence D. Snelling 1
Dr. Duane, writing in 1901, explains how the bells were rung. "The bells are usually chimed by one per- son by the means of cords that come down from the clappers to a frame that holds them." To carry out the original intention, however, the bells should be pealed, requiring one ringer for each bell. The difficulty of training bell ringers was overcome for a short time in 1894-1895 by Dr. Nichols but had to be given up, and since then the tunes played on the bells have been chimed by one person. In an article by the late Ralph Adams Cram, an excellent illustration of the manner of pealing the bells is shown, each ringer standing with the bell rope in his hand waiting for the signal.
I have often heard Dr. Dewart, during the First World War, mention how many joyful and patriotic events the ringing of the Christ Church bells had an- nounced through the years.2 At that time Charles H. Jewell was the bell ringer.
The first member of the Jewell family to become bell ringer at Christ Church was John H. S. Jewell in 1847.
1 This letter was written during the renovation in 1912.
" Two of these pre-revolutionary events were the Repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 and the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781. The ac- count of the Repeal of the Stamp Act described in the "History and Antiquities of Boston" by Samuel G. Drake in 1856.
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He was succeeded in 1880 by his younger brother Fred- erick Morse Jewell. Charles Henry Jewell succeeded his father in 1888 and continued to ring until the bells had to be overhauled in the 90's. After being rehung and put into perfect condition under the supervision of Dr. Arthur H. Nichols,1 the Old Colony Guild of Bell Ringers was formed and rang the bells for 1894-1895; then Charles Henry Jewell resumed his ringing which continued without interruption until the summer of 1935, when the infirmities of age obliged him to retire-a period of forty-seven years. Both Mr. Frederick Jewell and his son Charles had been ringers at the Arlington Street Church. For nearly a century, some member of the Jewell family was a familiar figure in the Christ Church belfry, either as ringer or learning to be one. Old parishioners, scattered far and wide, learned of Mr. Jewell's retirement with mingled pleasure and sadness, pleasure in recalling the mellow tones evoked by his skill- ful hands and regret that he had "rung down" the Christ Church bells for the last time. He died four years later.
Mr. John H. S. Jewell took on as pupil a member of the Christ Church choir, Mr. George Walker McCon- nell,2 who assisted in ringing at the church and later took - the position of Mr. Charles H. Jewell, as bell ringer at the Arlington Street Church.
These bells are now considered the best and sweetest toned bells in the country.8 A description of them and a
Changes authorized by Bishop William Lawrence.
2 A daughter of Mr. McConnell, Mrs. N. Russell Cazmay, now Clerk of Christ Church, tells of her father ringing the bells in Arlington Street Church and then jumping into a herdic and arriving at Christ Church in time to "make the choir." The anxiety of the watchers down Salem Street for the herdic which would announce his arrival was part of every Sunday morning service.
3 These bells are a " maiden peal " - when the bell is cast in perfect tune, so that it needs no filing or lathe work to tune it, it is called a maiden bell. None of these bells ... showed any file marks, and so must be a maiden peal. They are in the key of F sharp.
Katherine Crosby in the
Boston Transcript, April 3, 1926
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list of subscribers will be found in the New England His- torical and Genealogical Register for January 1904 (see Appendix). Dr. Nichols writes of them, "No more precious heirloom has been transmitted from our Col- onial forefathers, and it is to be hoped that these bells may be preserved for many centuries as examples of the superior handicraft and kindly feeling of our Eng- lish ancestors."
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OLD NORTH CHURCH MR. JEWELL
CHARLES HENRY JEWELL 1866-1939 From the Boston Evening Transcript, April 3, 1926
THE CRYSTAL CHANDELIER ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, OTIS, MASSACHUSETTS
THE CHURCH OF THE CRYSTAL CHANDELIER
O NE spring day in 1746, the privateer, Queen of Hungary, Captain Thomas James Gruchy,1 Master, dropped anchor in Boston Harbor. War was on between France and England and the high seas had been scoured by sea rovers of both nations. Having overhauled a French ship and come off victor, Captain Gruchy made his home port, where he dwelt in the "fair brick house in the Green Lane of North Boston," once the home of another sea adventurer, Wil- liam Phips, sometime Royal Governor. It was but a stone's throw from his parish church, five of whose pro- prietors, one being the doughty captain, were the owners of the Queen of Hungary.
Jointly, they now "made a present to Christ Church in Boston of 4 Cherubims & 2 Glass Branches,2 taken by ye said Vessell," the vestry voting, June 16th, 1746, that "the Branches be hung in ye Body of the Church, and ye Cherubims placed on ye top of the Organ." The
1 Thomas James Gruchy, described as an adventurer from the Chan- nel Islands and master of the privateer, Queen of Hungary, played an astonishing part in the history of the North End. From his house on the corner of Salem and Charter Streets it was long suspected that a tunnel had been built in order that booty from his pirate ships might be landed in secrecy for later disposal. Gruchy owned flats and docks which enabled him to carry on his rather ambiguous transactions. His career was brought to a close by his disappearance from the Boston scene leaving no will. Recently the tradition regarding the tunnel was verified by Mr. Edward Rowe Snow, whose explorations brought to light a tunnel of which part had been blocked up when water was brought into Boston. Perhaps someone in the future may be able to give a less damaging character to Gruchy. It is known however that he married in Boston and in Marblehead and certainly the Christ Church part-owners of the Queen of Hungary must have been cognizant of dealings which in parlous times were glossed over by well-timed bene- factions to worthy causes.
2 In 1805 the vestry records show that an "old Chandeller," one of the two mentioned above, was "sold at $20 in part payment of Joshua Wetherlee's bill for Sundries."
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"Cherubims," plethoric little wooden images, still puff their fat cheeks in the organ loft and for nearly a hun- dred years the "Branches," or chandeliers, hung where they were placed in 1746.
And now the scene shifts to the Berkshires ! On a day in June 1830, while attending the Diocesan Convention in Boston, the Reverend B. C. C. Parker visited the North End to see the recent improvements in old Christ Church. The surroundings were not unfamiliar to him, for he had been superintendent of the Sunday School in 1817 and 1818. In the churchyard he espied some dis- carded equipment, among other "unemployed articles" a pulpit, chair, stove funnel and chandelier. These he solicited for one of his two parishes in the then wilder- ness of the Berkshires, where in May 1829, "a very elegant and durable frame 38 by 48, composed almost entirely of hard wood," had been raised but there was no money for equipment. So to St. Paul's Church, Otis, the Christ Church vestry freely donated the coveted articles, and there today hangs the crystal chandelier, its pristine beauty carefully guarded by loving hands. In its tree-shaded setting in the lovely countryside, this little church, so curiously linked with us in Boston, adds another tie to bind our hearts to the Western Diocese.1
In this little church stands a diminutive pulpit. I have been told that changes had been made in it and that the central part was as it always has been since its reception in 1830. There is a little wooden door through which the clergyman enters, and inside the paint is a melan- choly drab. This item about the color of this paint may seem unimportant, but it is the original color used in Christ Church interior and has never been changed in the pulpit at Otis. When Christ Church was restored in
1 It was the late Bishop Davies, who, hearing the story, told me where I could find the chandelier he had so often admired. To Miss Mary Crittendon of Otis we are indebted for the accompanying photo- graph.
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1912, I presume that a committee investigated the pulpit but decided that it was not sufficiently beautiful, possibly not authentic, to be returned or copied for Christ Church. There is no record of any change in the pulpit since the early days of the church, and I am very strongly of the opinion that this is the original pulpit built by Tip- pen and Bennett in 1729.
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RECTORS OF CHRIST CHURCH I723-1775
TIMOTHY CUTLER 1684-1765
T IMOTHY, fifth son of Major John Cutler, a well-to-do citizen of Charlestown, Massachu- setts, was born May 31, 1684, and baptized the following day in the Charlestown Congregational Church. Young Timothy reputedly learned his letters under the tutelage of the local schoolmaster, Samuel Myles, an association which was to be cemented a quarter of a cen- tury later when Schoolmaster Myles, who had become rector of King's Chapel, laid the first stone in Christ Church, Boston, of which his erstwhile pupil was to be rector for forty-two years.
Entering college at an early age, Timothy Cutler received the degree of B.A. from Harvard in the class of 1701. Six months later, a second degree brought him an offer of a church in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, an offer he refused, his biographer says wisely, as the Massachusetts parish lacked unanimity in its church pol- ity. His piety and scholarly attainments brought him, in 1708, a call from the Congregational Church in Strat- ford, Connecticut, largely in an effort to stem the alarming tendency toward the Church of England. Here he took to himself a wife, March 21, 1710/II, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Andrew, one of the principal found- ers of Yale College. Eight children were born to them, two sons1 and six daughters, one daughter, Elizabeth, dying in infancy.
1 Dr. Cutler's oldest son John went to England for ordination in 1736. The names of generous contributors to a fund for this undertaking may be found in the Appendix. John secured a living in England, where he died in 1771.
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Borton Jan 15 1734/5 Boed of rome Trie Church Wardon of Frist Church two pounds Fix Chilling & Right nowwe infull bring two teri) bar Bory your of y Church Ball 72.68 Timothy Cutter.
Dr. Cutler's receipt for his share, two-thirds, of money paid by parishioners for the "youse " of the Church Pall. Details of the making of this pall are given in the Appendix (page 239). The rental of the pall was a means of augmenting the salary of the Rector.
THE REV. MATHER BYLES, JR., D.D. 1735-1814 RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, 1768-1775 From the Portrait by Mather Brown, circa 1780 Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society
" A man of somewhat delicate mould, probably smaller than his father, with a nervous, excitable face, rather thin lips, firmly pressed together, and the unmistak- able look and pose of an aristocratic feeling man." Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton in " The Famous Mather Byles."
The undercurrent, however, gathered impetus and in 1719 Mr. Cutler was called as resident rector or president of Yale College in near-by New Haven, as the best expo- nent of Congregational orthodoxy. His father-in-law, Samuel Andrew, desiring to be released as rector, may have been prompted to suggest the appointment of Tim- othy Cutler. It was the old story, he who came to scoff remained to pray; for convinced with several others of the superiority of Episcopal ordination, he was “ex- cused " from further service to the college in 1722. There followed an invitation to become rector of a church to be built in Boston, including payment of expenses for the journey to England to secure ordination at the hands of the Bishop of London.
Back in Boston in September 1723, he found his church still unfinished; but on the last Sunday of the year, De- cember 29, he opened Christ Church with the prophetic words, " My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people."
Where did Dr. Cutler live during the forty-two years of his rectorate at Christ Church? This has been a moot question for many years. Porter says, "On the corner of Love and Salem Streets lived Doctor Timothy Cutler, very near his church." Neither rectory nor glebe were provided for Christ Church and Dr. Cutler, therefore, was obliged to hire a house and this consumed some time, so that it was late in February 1727 before Mrs. Cutler and her seven children and their family possessions ar- rived, as £3-10 was paid to " Richª Hunt for horse hire to bring the Doctrs Familly to Town."
Dr. Cutler's rectorate lasted until his death in 1765. A brilliant Oriental scholar, wise administrator and faith- ful parish priest and missionary, he strove unceasingly for
In 1739 Samuel Johnson's Diary contains the following note on Tim- othy, Dr. Cutler's youngest son: "Good Dr. Cutler is in great grief, having lately lost a very hopeful son, nigh of age for Orders."
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unity among the scattered parishes of New England through the medium of regular convocations of the clergy. What he failed to accomplish in life came to fru- ition in 1766, the year after his death, when annual dioce- san conventions became the rule.
It took the cataclysm of a political revolution, how- ever, to realize Dr. Cutler's other dream of a bishop for the colonies ; but even his wildest hopes could never have forecast two Bishops of Massachusetts as rectors of Christ Church -Bishop Lawrence and Bishop Sherrill -one from Harvard, his Alma Mater, and the other from Yale of which he had been the honored president.
JAMES GREATON 1730-1773
[Adapted from the Percival Merritt Manuscript] .
James Greaton (Yale 1754), the eldest son of John Greaton of Roxbury, was born July 10, 1730. He was master of the Roxbury Grammar School, 1756- 1758. During the year 1756, Dr. Cutler of Christ Church, by reason of age and physical infirmities, be- came incapacitated for clerical duties. Dr. Caner of King's Chapel, in this emergency, gave freely both as- sistance and advice. At his suggestion, the proprietors of Christ Church decided to secure a permanent assist- ant and on January 8, 1758, voted to apply to the Rev. Marmaduke Browne and ask his removal to Boston. The church records show that he officiated for a short time, February 6-March 27, 1758, but do not indicate why he did not fill the position permanently. On October 3, 1759, the vestry voted to ask Mr. James Greaton to go with them next week to Point Shirley "to read prayers to them & give them a Sermon (if suitable )." The test was evidently satisfactory, for on October 15 the propri- etors voted to request Mr. Greaton to go to London for
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orders, and to become assistant to Dr. Cutler. They pro- posed a salary of £50 sterling, to begin on his return from England and entering into office, and agreed to recommended him to the Bishop of London and to the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel. The vestry records of October 23, 1759, indicate that these letters were prepared in accordance with the vote of the pro- prietors. Mr. Greaton proceeded to England and in January, 1760, was ordained deacon and priest, and on January 28 was licensed by the Bishop of London. The vestry records show: "May 30, 1760. This day arrived from London The Reverd. Mr. James Greaton in full orders, and Entered on the Service of this Church as Curate, or assistant to the Revd. Dr. Cuttler." They also, under date of June II, 1760, contain a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Society to Christ Church noting Mr. Greaton's appointment as curate, and stating that on Dr. Cutler's death they would appoint him "to a Mission in their Service," which would appear to indi- cate that at this time the Society did not contemplate his becoming Dr. Cutler's successor.
Mr. Greaton seems to have filled satisfactorily his position up to the time of the death of Dr. Cutler, Au- gust 17, 1765, and then the question arose as to his succeeding Cutler. He seems to have been a man of fair ability but evidently was considered by some of the congregation as not a satisfactory successor to a man of Cutler's ability and influence. At a vestry meeting held on August 26, 1765, eleven days after the death of the rector, in view of the fact that the contract between the church and Mr. Greaton "is now Extinct," it was voted to pay him thirty shillings sterling, weekly, during the time he continued in the service of the church. On December 8, 1765, the proprietors voted to recommend him to the Venerable Society " to Be Establish'd Minister of this Church." While the vestry records contain no
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further allusions to this matter until July 1767, it is evi- dent that a considerable opposition to Mr. Greaton developed within the church. Communication with Eng- land was of necessity slow, but in time it appears that the Society was prepared to make the appointment as recommended by the vote of the proprietors on Decem- ber 8, 1765, and even that it actually did so. At meetings of the vestry on July 9, and II, 1767, reference is made to a letter from the Society with regard to appointing him as missionary. The conditions existing in the church were considered, and it was decided to ask Mr. Greaton if he would accept the position of minister if offered to him. He replied that he would be glad to continue with them if he could reconcile the two conflicting parties and offered to see them personally; but if he found a recon- ciliation impracticable, he would not force himself on the church against the inclination of its members. On July 25, a letter having been received from Mr. Greaton, the vestry voted to call a meeting of the proprietors for August 4, to see if they would accept him as the Society's missionary.
At this meeting, which appears to have been held on August 5, 1767, the proprietors voted to accept the missionary appointed by the Society, Mr. Greaton. This meeting was, however, adjourned to August 8, when the proprietors reconsidered their action and voted against accepting him, but agreed to allow him forty shillings a week, lawful money, for services until the following Easter. At a meeting on August 30, the proprietors took under consideration a letter to be sent to the Society setting forth the conditions in the church, stating that Mr. Greaton, on arrival of his appointment, decided to withdraw as the conflicting elements could not be har- monized, and that his salary would be continued until Easter. The final step was taken on October 4, 1767, when the proprietors appointed a committee to find a
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new minister. The last payment recorded to Mr. Greaton is as of April 3, 1768, Easter Day, although at a proprietors' meeting on the following day it was voted that the "Contribution to be geatherd the Sunday after next be for the Benefitt of the Revd. Mr. Greaton." At the same meeting it was also voted to apply to the Rev. Mather Byles, Jr., to be their minister. While the con- troversy was going on, Mr. Greaton 1 had suggested to the Society, August 28, 1767, that he should be trans- ferred to some other mission, which was evidently taken into consideration by the Society for, at some time dur- ing 1768 or 1769, he was appointed to the charge of St. John's Church, Huntington, Long Island. Here he re- mained until his death, which occurred on April 17, 1773.
MATHER BYLES, Junior
1735-1814
[Adapted from the Percival Merritt Manuscript]
Mather Byles (Harvard A.M. 1754, Yale A.M. 1757, Oxford D.D. 1770), son of the Reverend Mather Byles, pastor of the Hollis Street Church, was born in Boston, January 12, 1735. He was ordained to the Congrega- tional ministry and settled over the church in New Lon- don, Connecticut, in 1757, where he remained until 1768.
Upon the decision of the Reverend James Greaton and Christ Church to sever relations, a committee was ap- pointed to find a new minister. At the annual meeting of the proprietors, Easter Monday, April 4, 1768, it was voted to offer the position to the Reverend Mr. Byles. The vestry concurred, and on April 12 voted to invite him and to pay his expenses to London for ordination. Mr. Byles' acceptance was received on May 3, and on May 14 he sailed.
1 No portrait of the Rev. James Greaton is known to exist.
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Dr. Byles' "conversion " to Episcopacy followed the same pattern as that of Dr. Cutler. His eminence as a Congregational pastor was great and efforts to prevent him from leaving the Congregational fold were deter- mined. It finally resulted in his "dismissing himself " according to the records of the First Congregational Church of New London, Connecticut. Although there was not the great upheaval that followed Dr. Cutler's conversion, it nevertheless resulted in widespread attacks on the validity of his change of thought.
Mr. McConnell in his unpublished history of Christ Church gives the following version of the storm of pro- test aroused in New England Congregational circles :
finally as a crowning stigma of disgrace to the Congrega- tional denomination, they published and sang all over New England a song called " The Proselyte," set to the tune of " The Thief and Cordelia," in the words of which was a distorted statement of the facts of the case intended to work all the in- jury to Dr. Byles which it was possible to inflict.
Soon after Mr. Byles' arrival in England, he was or- dained and on June 29, 1768, was licensed by the Bishop of London and appointed by the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to the Mission of Christ Church.
He arrived in Boston again on September 28, and on Sunday, October 2, entered on his duties. One of his successors, the Reverend Henry Burroughs, described him as a faithful and laborious pastor, "and a very ac- ceptable preacher." Evidently he took hold with alacrity. On October 4, the vestry voted: "That the Reverend Mr. Byles be desired to take the Care of the Library and that he have a key to the Vestry-Room,"-where the books were kept. Traces of his activity are soon found in the records in the form of letters to borrowers, and newspaper advertisements calling for the return of outstanding books. Very shortly, October 13, a curious entry appears in the vestry records reflecting the atti-
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