USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Eliot memorial : sketches historical and biographical of the Eliot Church and Society > Part 9
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The statistics of the school for the quarter of a cen- tury from 1842 to 1867 show that considerably over three thousand pupils had been members, of whom two hundred were received to the Eliot Church on profession of faith. During that period one hundred and seventy-one minors
1 Eliza Hill Anderson, 1849.
2 SUPERINTENDENTS.
Elected.
Resigned.
Alvah Kittredge
July, 1834.
July, 1859.
Samuel W. Hall
July, 1859.
July, 1860.
Sylvester Bliss
July, 1860.
Died March 6, 1863.
Charles F. Bray
April 1, 1863.
July, 1865.
Thomas Chamberlain
April 16, 1865.
Sept., 1865.
William H. Brackett
Sept. 11, 1865.
Dec., 1866.
Edward A. Lawrence
Dec. 10, 1866.
Dec. 20, 1867.
James Goodman
Dec. 20, 1867.
Sept. 30, 1870.
Charles W. Hill
Sept. 30, 1870.
Dec. 31, 1884.
Horace G. Wellington
Dec. 31, 1884.
Dec. 28, 1887.
Frederick C. Russell
Dec. 28, 1887.
Dec. 30, 1891.
Charles W. Hill
Dec. 30, 1891. Died Nov. 13, 1896.
Clarence T. Mooar Dec. 15, 1896.
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ELIOT SUNDAY SCHOOL.
were so received, forty-eight of whom were fifteen years of age or under; and seven were twelve years old or under. When the anniversary of July, 1867, came round, there were three hundred and sixty-six pupils remaining, while three regiments, each one thousand strong, had been mus- tered out of the Sunday School army, a part of whom were scattered all over the land. Several were in the Valley of the Mississippi, some on the Pacific coast, and a few in Australia, India, China, and other countries. All of them were probably better themselves and exerted a better influence upon others for having studied the Bible here. Perhaps all of them could join John Eliot in his testimony, "I do see that it was a great favor unto me to season my first years with fear of God, the Word, and prayer."
CHAPTER X.
VARIOUS DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS
I. Maternal Meeting.
Two years after the church was organized some of the mothers united in a Maternal Association. The pre- liminary declaration opens as follows: "Impressed with a sense of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit to aid us in training up our children in the way they should go, and hoping to obtain the blessing of such as fear the Lord and speak often one to another, We," etc. Three of the Ten Articles disclose the chief aim and chief duties of members. "It shall be the duty of every member to qualify herself by daily reading, prayer and self-discipline to discharge faithfully the arduous duties of a Christian mother," etc .; " Each member shall consider herself obli- gated by her covenant engagements to pray for her chil- dren daily and with them as often as circumstances may permit, and conscientiously to restrain them from such courses as would naturally add to vanity, pride, and worldly- mindedness;" " When a mother is removed by death, it shall be the special duty of the Association to regard with peculiar interest the spiritual welfare of her children, and to show their interest by a continued remembrance of them in their prayers and by such tokens of sympathy and kindness as their circumstances shall require."
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My acquaintance with this association began fifty- eight years ago in the month of my ordination. It was the Quarterly Meeting, July, 1842. From that time on- ward I was uniformly present, and with great enjoyment, at the Quarterly Meeting. That was the children's meet- ing, and there would be an attendance all told of fifty or more. It was choice music to my ear to hear the little folks repeat hymns and passages of scripture. In one in- stance twelve different Psalms were recited, besides one or more other chapters and numerous single verses. At one period a simple catechism which I had prepared, The Lambs Fed,' was employed, though not at my suggestion.
Sometimes a shadow fell upon the meeting, as when, fifty-three years since, all thought centered on the drown- ing of one of the dear boys, and at another when the remark was made that I had already that week attended the funerals of three little ones. At other times sacred joy abounded, as after an unusual number had been wel- comed to the church, twenty of them being from families represented in this association. Eleven of those who were once in attendance entered the Christian ministry, and the same number became ministers' wives, as was stated re- garding the Eliot Sunday School.
Those whose memory goes back many years speak
' First published by Benjamin Perkins about 1844 or 1845. Afterwards issued by the Massachusetts Sunday School Society (1859), with the title, Biblical Catechism for Sabbath Schools. Two different translations into Marathi were made, and it has been used somewhat widely in the Bombay Presidency.
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ELIOT MEMORIAL.
or write in a way that shows the meetings were a bene- diction to them. Mention is made of having preserved the cards, leaflets and booklets that were given to the children. "I well remember," writes one, "the beautiful face of Mrs. Anderson, the president, as she moved her chair about the room so as to be near each child who was reciting." " At the last meeting I attended, being a tall High School boy, Dr. Thompson said, 'You will not be too old to come to the maternal meeting when you are twenty-one.'"
Mothers derived great benefit from their associated counsels and prayers. Some of them still living have written thus: "I have memories of that organization which are very sweet and precious to me." Another who is eighty-eight sends word that she "remembers the meet- ing with great delight, and has had many a blessed sea- son of prayer with the mothers and their children." The mother of Samuel was often in their thoughts. Hers was no temporary arrangement. "As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord." He did not belong so much to her as to the Lord; he was not given to be a mother's pet. Only those mothers who, Hannah-like, give their children to the Lord for their whole life have a right to expect a blessing. The following recorded resolution of a devout woman caught my eye, " Everything that will make me a better mother I covet, and so far as I can I will pro- cure." What now will make better mothers? First, let them give themselves heartily and wholly to the God of
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VARIOUS DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS.
Hannah. Failing in that, they will fail to be complete, first-rate mothers. Their children must be lent to the Lord. If his right in them be not acknowledged, his blessing on them cannot reasonably be expected. Unfail- ing intercession on their behalf must follow. The more Hannahs there are the more Samuels will there be. All history shows that mothers who have coveted earnestly the best gifts have been chief benefactors to their families, and through their children benefactors to the community.
Most memorable amidst the agonies of Calvary was that utterance, " Behold thy mother!" It is not to heathen or Mohammedan lands that we turn to find the typical mother. A housekeeper, a nurse, a governess may be hired, but not a mother. No place is there in this world like her heart. It is the charm of her affection and her assiduities that makes home - a word not found in Oriental languages, for the idea does not exist there. A pure moral element is needful. There is no family among animals and no home amidst human herding. To manage children wisely is as difficult as for the statesman to manage men wisely. The same firmness, the same dis- criminating, patient sagacity and far-reaching aims are required. Graduates from the fireside seminary show in- evitably what their training has been. The noble char- acter of the Father of his country was due to "Mary the Mother of Washington." When General Harrison was on his way to the Capital to take oath as President of the United States, he visited the home of his infancy in
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Virginia. Passing from room to room, he came to a re- tired bed-chamber, where he burst into tears and said to a friend, " This is the spot where my mother used to pray for me." Abraham Lincoln said, " All that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother." At the inauguration of Presi- dent Garfield was there anything so significant or so beau- tiful as, after taking oath of office, he turned on the plat- form to kiss his venerable Christian mother? They that prayerfully rock the cradle rule the world and help to people heaven.
2. Female Prayer Meeting.
It was not long after the organization of the Church that some of the good women were moved to institute a mid-week gathering for devotional purposes. This was the more natural since the element represented in our con- gregation was then, as has been remarked, chiefly a trans- planted population, and by day the women were almost the sole residents here. The men were chiefly at their places of business in Boston.
The attendance upon this Wednesday afternoon meet- ing was sometimes twenty, thirty, or forty, though the average fell perhaps to ten. In seasons of special religious interest, particularly in 1857 and onward, several neighbor- hood gatherings would be established, and would more or less frequently unite at some central point, with an attend- ance of three-score or four-score. It was a good many years before the meetings were held elsewhere than at
I37
VARIOUS DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS.
private houses. But they have all along been an expo- nent of the life of the Church and one obvious ministrant to that life. Much of excellence as there has been among the brethren, the readiness of our sisterhood for every good word and work has been yet more marked. But for them the fraternity would have had a character noticeably different. Unity of aim in the meeting became impaired somewhat when the Maternal Association, the cause of Foreign Missions and of Home Missions, came to occupy each respectively one afternoon every month.
3. Other Prayer Meetings.
There were other gatherings for devotional purposes, weekly or less frequent, such as that of Young Men and another of Young Women. The former was established chiefly through the agency of Mr. Henry Martyn Hill, a young man of unfailing punctuality in attendance on the Church meeting as well. The latter of the two assemblages was begun in January, 1848. It had a variable, yet on the whole gratifying attendance, forty being sometimes present. At one time the children came together for the same pur- pose, though not at my instance. I wrote a letter to them for each of the meetings. Those of a tender age should never be encouraged to meet entirely by themselves. The presence of a wise and tactful matron is always important.
The Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions was a favorite meeting and well attended. Careful preparation
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ELIOT MEMORIAL.
relating to some field of the American Board was occa- sionally made by some member of the church. For many years Dr. R. Anderson often took the laboring oar, and of course gave special interest to the occasion.
There were times when I called a prayer meeting at my house once a week. A different set of brethren or of families were invited to successive gatherings. In the free- dom of a private parlor one and another were led to take active part, and thus be prepared for larger social occasions. There was also opportunity for more intimate personal acquaintance, and for cultivating neighborly religious in- tercourse.
Of the annual gatherings no one was more fully ap- preciated than that of prayer for colleges. Two sessions were held, one in the afternoon, fairly well sustained, the other in the evening, sometimes with a crowded attend- ance. Those were literally prayer meetings. Exhortation and narrative did not have an absorbing place. When the annual Week of Prayer became an observance, one or two sessions were held on each secular day, with an aver- age presence of about one hundred. The selection and arrangement of topics issued by the Evangelical Alliance never seemed to me satisfactory. The same was true in a measure of similar issues from other sources when at length such began to appear. One uniform fault in the lists sent out from London was that the topics were not sufficiently specific. Another fault was the assignment of missions, that highly important subject, to a day or even-
I39
VARIOUS DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS.
ing least favorable for attendance. I was in the habit of preparing lists of topics with subdivisions and accom- panying passages of Scripture expressly for the Eliot Church. These were printed as leaflets and seasonably distributed. It was my practice on the Sabbath which opened the week to preach upon some subject specially appropriate to the services contemplated, such as the province of prayer, the Holy Spirit's offices, the claims of Christ's kingdom. The week never passed without a manifest blessing during its progress and thence onward. It sometimes seemed to impart a spiritual impulse and tone to the Church, which were perceptible throughout the remainder of the twelvemonth.
During the period now under review the Eliot Church may safely be called a praying church. There was usu- ally a cheerful response to notices of stated or occasional appointments for supplication and praise.
CHAPTER XI.
VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
I. Dorcas Society.
EARLY in the history of the church thoughts turned to the surrounding community. " As bad as a Roxbury boy" is said to have been a proverb in neighboring towns. There certainly was a rude element which threw stones at our people when they were on the way to and from evening meetings. This was one thing which called atten- tion to the outside community. Needy and deserving indi- viduals were found, and in 1840 a Dorcas Society was formed, the sick and destitute being in mind as specially entitled to aid. An admission fee and donations supplied material for the ladies' busy needles once a month in the afternoon. Gentlemen were invited to a plain collation at evening. This gave opportunity for social intercourse. After some years the gathering began to be held in the lecture room and has continued in the chapel. There is more freedom felt in attendance there; and such an oppor- tunity for all to engage in pleasant intercourse on the same footing is of great importance. It is a most helpful bond of unity. The attendance ranged from fifty to one hundred and fifty.
At the eight regular meetings annually between one and two hundred garments were made. The existence of
I4I
VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
neighboring need was thus brought distinctly and regularly to mind, with a silent appeal for aid. Many a cup of cold water was thus ministered. No one was importuned for a contribution. A habit of active sympathy is thus likely to be established, a habit of no small value. It serves as a mental tonic; it is an excellent way of getting rid of ennui. It will be found there is a luxury in doing good, and one will often find too that the more he gives the more he has. An Arabic proverb says, " The water you pour on the roots of the cocoanut tree comes back to you from the top in the sweet milk of the cocoanut." These lower considerations and results may have to do incipiently with cherishing the highest motives and the broadest beneficence. Everybody must have noticed that public-spiritedness, like charity, its cousin-german, begins at home but grows by exercise. The anatomist tells us that the muscle by which we close the hand is much stronger than that by which we open it. It is something to learn through observation at least the wretchedness of being selfish.
" That man may last but never lives, Who much receives and nothing gives ; Whom none can love, whom none can thank, Creation's blot, creation's blank."
2. Eliot City Missionary Society.
Soon after my ordination I went to an elevated point in the place to get the lay of the land, geographical and ecclesi-
142
ELIOT MEMORIAL.
astical. One question in mind was, What neighboring churches are there of the same faith and order as the Eliot Church? Bostonward, the nearest was Pine Street, Austin Phelps, pastor; in Dorchester, the Second Church, over which Dr. Codman presided; at West Roxbury, Spring Street, with the Rev. Christopher Marsh pastor; and Brigh- ton, with the Rev. John T. Adams pastor. The Eliot parish was conterminous with these, and its extreme boundaries were certainly wide apart. The absence of meeting-house spires on the area surveyed was noticeable. Our own place of worship originally and that of the Dudley Street Baptist Church had none.
Under the eye was a large and growing population, a part of which had no ecclesiastical home. The most densely peopled district of that kind seemed to be at the Point and in the region of the lead works. The thought of a Sunday School in that neighborhood arose and, as opportunity offered, I began to make inquiries and sugges- tions regarding such an enterprise. Enthusiasm did not kindle at once. Tract distribution, on being recommended, found immediate favor. That led to a proposal for the circulation of religious books on sale and no one took hold of it with more of personal interest and energy than the Rev. David Greene. It was a suggestive sight to see a secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions going from house to house here at home and offering valuable literature for domestic use. The next year (1843) the suggestion of a mission Sunday School
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VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
took effect, and one was opened in a public schoolhouse on Yeomans Street. Deacon John Gulliver, always ready for Christian work, was asked to take the superintend- ence. This took place in May; and in the course of the remainder of that year, one hundred and forty-nine schol- ars had been gathered in, three or four Roman Catholic families contributing children.
The movement issuing in such a school, and in an irregular tract distribution, reacted upon the church to awaken a deeper and deeper interest in such home work. It became a subject of earnest conversation what could be done to meet the spiritual wants of many living around us, and living in the neglect or involuntary deprivation of the means of grace. At length the matter found its way, though all too tardily, into our church prayer meeting. Looking at the truancy of children and youths, at the amount of intemperance, the prevalence of Sabbath dese- cration, the glaring neglect of the ordinances and Word of God, what could we, amidst ample enjoyment ourselves of religious privileges, do but move in an associated effort for the abatement of those evils? Who could be content to hoard his blessings ? In 1850 the church resolved to employ a laborer who should devote himself especially to Christian work among the classes referred to. An ex- perienced and discreet minister was engaged. It was found desirable to form an association not limited to the church, but embracing all in the congregation who might see fit to join it and to which the executive affairs might
144
ELIOT MEMORIAL.
be committed. That was done in June, 1851. The Eliot City Missionary Society was exceedingly simple in its organization and of easy administration. The payment of one dollar annually made any one in the congregation a member. The Executive Committee, consisting chiefly of the pastor and other church members, were entrusted with the immediate management of the mission. Rev. Levi Smith, the first of our ordained missionaries, a valua- ble man, had not strength sufficient for the work. He was obliged to resign, and not long after entered into the final rest. At length we were favored with the ministra- tions of another most excellent man, the Rev. David M. Mitchell. He remained in the service about eight years, without interruption, without friction, and in a spirit and manner that commanded universal acceptance and respect. Two female missionaries were also employed at different times, one of whom, Mrs. Marsh, the widow of a minister, was a woman of rare fidelity and soundness of judgment.
The chief departments of effort were as follows: A school in which young persons were taught to use the needle, and where also was opportunity for instruction from the Word of God. Two afternoons were devoted to it each week, and over a hundred were often in attend- ance. It was a school of benevolence. The girls, older and younger, were encouraged to give as well as to re- ceive. One incident of many will show this. A little girl on finishing a garment was asked by the superintend- ent, which she would rather do, keep it as her own or give
145
VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
it to somebody less favored than herself. "I will give it away," she promptly replied, and at once selected one of the most destitute in the group. She had the hearty thanks of the obliged child and an approving smile from half a hundred bright faces. Household visitation was maintained, the main aim being to promote the spiritual good of inmates by prayer and religious conversation, Bible and tract distribution, and by encouraging attend- ance at some evangelical place of worship. Neighborhood prayer meetings were started, and also a maternal associa- tion. A judicious ministration to the temporal wants of the more needy and more deserving was another feature. In the person of each missionary was a temperance agent, and through this instrumentality some of the inebriates were brought back to habits of confirmed sobriety, and a few were brought to sit at the feet of Jesus, apparently clothed and in their right mind. In many instances situa- tions were found in the country for boys and girls, where good care and good domestic influences were provided.
One of the Sunday Schools which were gathered - that on Yeomans Street, afterwards removed to Davis Street already referred to - outgrew Williams Hall. A lot of land ten thousand feet in extent - sufficient for a meeting-house also - was accordingly bought (1856) for $4,000. Thereon was built a chapel which would seat about three hundred, and which, with its furniture, cost $1,500. The first money for the object was raised by a few little girls who got up a private fair for the purpose.
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ELIOT MEMORIAL.
Every bill had been paid before the dedication, July II, 1856. The transfer of the school from its old neighbor- hood to a higher and more attractive, though more remote, station, was effected without the loss of a single pupil. The property was afterwards given to the Vine Street Society, the Vine Street Church being organized in 1857.
A second school, which Mr. Benjamin Perkins super- intended, was gathered on King Street, and had a Bible Class of adults. Each of these schools was furnished with a library, and it was a gratifying sight to witness the order and decorum as well as the avidity with which the books loaned for reading were received. There was also a good deal of eagerness for the Sunday class instruction. One little boy who had removed to Charlestown continued to come back seasonably to the place at the appointed hour. Another little child who lost the use of her limbs longed to be carried there. This school was subsequently merged in the third, that on Parker Street. The one last referred to had at its opening session the first Lord's Day of 1853, only ten scholars present. But a steady growth followed till an average of three hundred was reached. The Infant Class grew to be the largest in the city. Union monthly concerts of the two schools were held in our church, at which the house, including the gal- leries, was crowded. This public fellowship had a happy effect in promoting unity of feeling as well as the cause of Bible study. In the early days of the three schools the teachers were all from the Eliot congregation.
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VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.
Upon the annexation of Roxbury to Boston (May 30, 1850), there was no further occasion for a separate City Missionary Society, and that of the Eliot Church gave place after a while to the older one of the older city. Although careful statistics were kept for only a part of the time, and now and then no statistics at all, yet during a portion of the period nine thousand articles of clothing were distributed; about ten thousand loans or gifts of valuable books, besides numerous Bibles and New Testa- ments; about twenty thousand tracts were put in circula- tion and more than forty thousand Christian calls were registered. Not less than two thousand dollars were placed by individuals in the hands of mission almoners for temporal aid of the needy. A good many situations were found for men and women out of employment. Orphaned children received tender care. In the course of twelve years the outlay of the Society was $11,358.37.
Even with the greatest painstaking complete results could not have been tabulated. We had reason to believe that genuine conversions took place. Several individuals joined different churches, a number of the intemperate were reclaimed; many a home showed signs of improve- ment on the score of tidiness, order and comfort, and in a large number of cases of sickness, soothing influences and important relief were bestowed. If we would learn all the more valuable results, we should need to find how many minds, not likely otherwise to be reached, received helpful ideas and impulses, how many hearts were moved toward
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