USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > Fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of St. Mary's parish, Dorchester, 1847-1897 > Part 3
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The altar was the gift of the members of the Altar Guild, aided by their friends. The Young Ladies' Bible Class gave the lectern. The Sunday School bought the font. The pulpit was given by one now "numbered with the saints,"- one whose gracious presence, ready sympathy and clear intuitions had for ten years been a source of inspiration and hope to her fellow-workers. The chancel rail was presented by another, her intimate and valued friend, not less active and loyal, who still faithfully serves the Parish she loves. The Bishop's chair and the altar cross represent the earnest desires and successful efforts of one still interested and effi-
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
cient in St. Mary's welfare and usefulness. The Rector's (or as she preferred to call it, " her Minister's") chair repre- sents the proceeds of eighteen months of patient labor and endeavor on the part of an aged widow, who, when able, went from door to door selling iron-holders which her trembling hands had made out of materials given her for that purpose. Her simple piety, intense loyalty, and persistent devotion to her Parish furnishes an example. stimulating and worthy of emulation. The pulpit lamp and its wrought-iron bracket were bought with the savings from a small salary. The altar vases were, and are, the tokens of his family's love for their beloved and venerated father, who for thirty-seven years served his Parish as Senior Warden. The generous dona- tion of a lady, long known in the Parish for her kind interest in its affairs, enabled the committee to furnish the church, as it then was, with pews in antique oak. One gentleman manifested his zeal and good will in his successful efforts to increase the Organ Fund.
Such, my friends, were some of the ways and means em- ployed by St. Mary's people to furnish their new and beautiful house of worship. Remember, I have not men- tioned the gifts because of their value in dollars and cents, nor yet for their beauty and fitness, although some of them richly deserve such allusion. I have not spoken of the money raised within or without the Parish to buy the new land and build the new church, in order to boast of it. But rather I have alluded to these facts simply to set forth the tone and temper of that subtle and precious endowment of which you are now the privileged guardians and stewards, - namely, the unique and precious life of St. Mary's.
Other Parishes there are, no doubt, which in their days of prosperity and of adversity have been ministered unto by
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faithful women and earnest men. Other Parishes there may be, where, when occasion required, noble acts of individual consecration, generous gifts and self-sacrifices have all but crowned the actors with aurcoles of sainthood. But it is my conviction that nowhere, at least in this century, can be found a Parish-life which, as a whole, has manifested more spirituality, more earnestness, more devotion in times of adversity, than has St. Mary's. Years of hard struggling for self-maintenance and a gradual release from debt had been followed by the total destruction of the building which was the object of their devoted endeavors and watchful care. Saddened, but not despairing, the homeless few began to estimate their scanty resources and to plan, as was simply their duty, the erection of a new church. How they accom- plished their self-imposed task your ears have just heard, and your eyes now see the material results of their efforts. The nave of this church, as it formerly was, and the gifts with which it was enriched and fitted for use, gave evidence of a Parish-life at once devoted and earnest, persistent and self- sacrificing. And this life it was which on Christmas Day, 1888, the festival of our Lord's Incarnation -a most fitting coincidence - was embodied and " clothed upon" by the conditions of a new form, with new dimensions, and of new material. At last St. Mary's had risen from her ashes and once again taken her place, in visible shape, in the society which had long known and respected her.
The story of the succeeding nine years need be only briefly outlined, for it is well known to many.
The removal from the old location on Bowdoin street to the present site necessitated the opening of a Sunday School for St. Mary's children who then lived near the "Upper Road," or Washington street. Occasionally the session was
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ST. MARY'S, 1897.
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester.
closed with the Service of Evening Prayer provided in our Prayer Book. This germ of an independent life thus main- tained itself through many months. September 16, 1888, it was formally organized as a Mission, with the Rector of St. Mary's in charge. The names of thirty-five adults were then enrolled, and about the same number of children con- stituted the Sunday School. The services were held regu- larly by the Rector every Sunday afternoon during two years, excepting, I believe, during the hot months. In September, 1894, the Rev. Charles E. Barnes was engaged and assumed charge of what had then become known as the Grove Hall Mission.
In the Mother Parish the outlook was once again hopeful. New faces appeared in the pews, and new names were grad- ually added to the list of parishioners. A rapid growth, if such were then at all possible, was prevented by at least two hindrances : First, the lack of suitable accommodations for social meetings, society work, and Sunday School sessions ; and second, the ill-health of the Rector. To remedy the first, it was decided early in the spring of 1891 to complete the church by adding the two transepts and the chancel, the basements of which would supply the much-needed rooms. This was done during the following summer, and cost about $17,000. Thus the total cost of building and land was about $49,500. The erection of the chancel furnished an oppor- tunity which a family long honored and loved in the Parish gladly improved by inserting the beautiful window over the altar, embodying the words: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Let all the angels of God worship Him." The second obstacle - the continued ill-health of the Rec- tor - was removed by his resignation and withdrawal, Nov.
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25, 1891. He had held office about thirteen years and eight months.
The history of the almost six years which have intervened between that and the present date reveals steady growth and increasing usefulness. The Rev. Walter E. C. Smith, the present Rector, began his pastorate February 14, 1892. With him came several of his former congregation, members of the Mission Chapel of the Ascension, connected with Em- manuel Church, Boston. The Parish responded cordially and loyally to its new leader. The infusion of new blood renewed its vigor. With its' newly-completed structure it was enabled to offer new solutions to old problems. The great increase in the number of residents in the section tributary to the church ; the extension of the street railway system to districts formerly disconnected from this locality ; the successful maintenance of services more attractive than was possible in former years ; the quickening influences of a new personality, with new views of truth and new modes of expression,- these were among the conditions and evidences of St. Mary's growth and prosperity.
A reference to the pages of the Parish Year Book will show in what ways and by what hands the true interests of the Parish are now conserved and its charitable works carried on.
We have now completed our review of the history of this Parish from its beginning until the present day. If its recital has been wearisome, my only apology is that it seemed to be necessary that you might know and rightly value, not the amount of money raised, nor yet the abundant charitable works done in the past, but the character of the Parish thus expressing itself, and that you might learn to love and cherish that subtle, indescribable, yet active force
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
which has so effectually found ways to manifest itself through fifty years of sunshine and shadow, namely, the Parish-life.
In conclusion, then, let me ask you to notice that this life has been continuous. Notwithstanding the many and trying vicissitudes which have endangered at times its very exist- ence, I find no record of any cessation of its Services, or of any long period of vacancy in the Rectorship. This is worth noting, because of the peculiarly trying circumstances which accompanied the Civil War, the Boston fire, the annexation of the town to the city, the destruction of one church and the building of another. The ministry of this Parish to its own people, and, through them, to the com- munity at large, has been unbroken and continuous for fifty years. What have been the results of St. Mary's existence and activity upon those most subject to her influences, and, indeed, upon the social life of the district, it would be as impossible to estimate as to describe. Her simple and wor- shipful Services, her devout administration of the Sacra- ments, her works of charity, first for her own poor and then in aid of missionary needs in distant fields, -these have given regular and unfailing witness of her existence and dutiful spirit. The " personnel" of the Parish has changed, but the Parish has continued and maintained its own per- sonality (if I may so say) unaltered. Nay, so strong has been its individuality, that its characteristics have been im- pressed on its changing elements.
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They are not far to seek who are "living epistles" of St. Mary's peculiar influences. These look back with filial affection to the days when, under the guidance of her faith- ful Priests, they were brought up in "the nurture and admon- ition of the Lord." And, far or near, her children may be found in mature years, some in the ranks of the Church's
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ministry, others serving faithfully her missionary interests, and others still simply lay members of various Parishes. But wherever found, or whatever their position, they are not found forgetful of or ungrateful for the gentle influences which came into their lives while they worshiped at her altar.
Again, it is worth noting that this Parish-life is composite. As a "composite photograph " is the resulting impression of many faces, each individual and peculiar, yet all agreeing in a certain common arrangement of features, so into the life of St. Mary's have entered separate and peculiar personal influences, differing and distinct, yet having in common those estimable qualities which characterize the Parish itself. How earnest, sincere, devout and devoted some of these lives were, it is not my privilege to tell. Their names and even their characteristics must remain unmentioned. And indeed they themselves would not wish otherwise. They gave to Christ and His Church their very best. The Master accepted their gifts and fashioned them by His Spirit into that fair and beautiful inheritance which is yours to-day, -- that peculiarly feminine character, blending in one, spiritual- ity, helpfulness, tenderness and earnestness, which is -St. Mary's.
The history of this continuous and composite life, during fifty years of changing and varied experiences, reveals the active exercise of many virtues, but none more so than these three - Loyalty, Self-sacrifice, and Persistence. I dare not dwell upon cach of those traits, so amply illus- trated as each has been in the historical sketch which you have heard. It is sufficient that I claim for them your special notice and most watchful care. Into your hands God has committed the development of this continuous and composite Parish-life. "Other men have labored, and,"
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
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under God's guidance, " you have entered into their labors." It is for you to maintain your fair inheritance and further its growth in internal strength and external usefulness. How may this most surely be done ? Look to the past for the answer.
The story which I have rehearsed in your hearing this morning speaks in no uncertain tones. We can hear voices behind us saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." They bid you, first, be loyal to your Parish in thought, word and deed ; second, be self-sacrificing for your Parish. Whatever else you may or may not have given, or yet have to give, there still remains - your very self. When opportunity offers and the need is manifest, be self-sacrificing for St. Mary's sake. Serve your Parish personally and actively, both at its altar in regular attendance, and also in its efforts to do good unto all men. In short, work for her and with her, and she will repay - now as in former years -double and treble for every faithful effort in her behalf. And, lastly, be persistent, not impulsive, in your activities. It is the lesson of "patient continuance in well-doing " that the story of the last half-century illustrates and enforces. Persist, then, and persevere in working for and with your Parish.
Loyalty, Self-sacrifice and Persistence-these terms clearly indicate moral qualities which, as history shows, are dis- tinguishing features of St. Mary's parochial life. These, asserting their peculiar and subtle influences in critical moments, have been formative and directive in the past. Upon this occasion, so joyful, so significant, they seem to focus themselves by no mere chance. For now, at the close of its first half-century, the Parish may attain a distinct consciousness of itself, may clearly recognize its individual- ity, may properly estimate its own worth, and, rightly appre-
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ciating both its privileges and its responsibilities, it may "wisely improve the present, and go forth to meet the shad- owy future," with a confidence fixed and unwavering in Him who has thus far led it on.
If, then, this occasion be rightly improved,-if it be made an opportunity not merely for recollection, congratulation, and devout thanksgiving, but also a time for self-consecra- tion in behalf of the welfare and work of St. Mary's Parish, then from this focal point will radiate helpful and formative influences ; then the voices from the Past, which we have heard to-day, will not have spoken in vain ; then Loyalty, Self-sacrifice and Persistence will enable you to preserve intact, and transmit, enriched and invigorated by your own best qualities, that continuous and composite life which is your fair inheritance and precious charge to-day. Upon such faithful stewardship God's blessing has heretofore been abundantly bestowed ; and as in Him "there is no variable- ness nor shadow of turning," we know that the "sure mer- cies " vouchsafed in the past will be continued in the future. Hence it requires no prophet to declare that, if you will to have it so, "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former."
ANNALS
HE Town of Dorchester was settled as early as 1630, but it was not until comparatively a late period that we discover any. interest in the formation of a Parish of the Episcopal Church. Until 1806 there was in Dorchester but one church, the First Parish, which grew out of the great historic movement which brought the Puritans to the shore of Massachusetts Bay. Between the years 1806 and 1847 there must have been some unusual religious inter- est in the town, for we find that there were six denomina- tional churches established within these years, all of which, we believe, are to-day in a strong and healthy condition. Those familiar with the religious history of this time will recall the long and, we must admit, bitter struggle between Dr. Codman, representing the Evangelical spirit of the town, and the Unitarians. It is believed that this controversy led in a measure to some of these new Parishes of Dorchester. In the City of Boston in the year 1843 - the year that Bishop Griswold died - there were seven Episcopal Churches : - Christ Church, begun in 1723; Trinity Church, 1734; St. Matthew's, in South Boston, 1818; St. Paul's, 1820; Grace · Church, now the Methodist Church, Temple Street, 1830; St. James's, Roxbury, 1834, and St. John's, Charlestown,
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1842. The King's Chapel, which had been in existence since 1689, passed over to the Unitarians in 1787. In 1844 the Church of the Advent began its services in a hall on Merri- mac Street. In 1845 St. John's, Jamaica Plain, was in exist- ence. On Nov. 10, 1847, the corner-stone of the Church of the Messiah was laid. In the meanwhile the Mission work of the Rev. E. M. P. Wells had grown into strength, and in 1846 a building was erected in Purchase Street, known as St. Stephen's Chapel, where Dr. Wells labored with the poor until the building was destroyed by the terrible fire of Nov. 9, 1872, which also destroyed old Trinity Church on Summer Street.
During the years of Bishop Griswold's Episcopate, years when the Evangelical spirit prevailed not only in the Church of England, but in the Parishes of this land, there was little that could be called active thought or enterprise in Church life. Men believed and thought much as their fathers had done before them. There had been no stirring controver- sies, no perplexities of faith and doctrine ; yet, notwithstand- ing this, the Church life was deepening, and under the lead- ership of the Bishop, distinguished as he was by a singular hopefulness and courage, a sweetness and reasonableness of temper, the Church won for herself a permanent place in the religious life of the community. But before the Bishop's death there were signs of a new religious departure. From England came the impulse of a new and aggressive school of thought. It was in 1833 that the "Tracts for the Times" appeared at Oxford, and from then on until 1841 a constant series of treatises were issued, with the aim of reviving what was called "Catholic Doctrine and Ceremonies." Led by such men as Dr. Pusey and John Henry Newman, the school attracted many of the ablest and most devoted of the young Churchmen of England. This movement was natural enough, being indeed the protest of a partly neglected side of relig- ious life. In a measure in response to this new influence in
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
England, but probably more in response to similar causes felt here in New England, it is not surprising that we dis- cover Church life here in Boston to be touched by the new power and thought.
In the year 1843 the Rev. Dr. Manton Eastburn became Bishop of Massachusetts. For years the Bishop did what he could to resist the growing influence of the High Churchimen. " I am well aware," he writes, " that there is a new sect lately sprung up among us, called Puseyites, or Low Papists, who have, chiefly in England, written and preached and published much against the Reformation, and are endeavoring to bring back into the Church of England many of those superstitious mummeries and idolatrous practices, for protesting against which so many of her pious Bishops and other ministers have been burnt at the stake."
Year after year the sturdy and unyielding Bishop attacked the new ideas in his Convention addresses. In 1845 he is- sued a " Pastoral," calling public attention to the state of affairs in the Church, and detailing its "various offensive innovations " upon the ancient usage of the Church, and in 1846 he positively refused to visit the Church of the Advent which, under the guidance of a very saintly and attractive personality, stood for a very pronounced High Churchman- ship.
It is interesting to recall that it was about this time that Macaulay wrote his essay on "Von Ranke and the Papacy," in which the writer clearly betrays his feeling of anxiety at the growing power and fascination of the Roman Church. It was only two years after Macaulay wrote his essay that Tennyson published, in 1842, "Locksley Hall," so full of dread and despair.
At such a time and under some such influences St. Mary's Church in Dorchester was formed. There is the tradition, which one is not disposed to question, that some of the mem- bers of St. James's Church, Roxbury, living in Dorchester,
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were active in the establishment of this new work. It is very certain that the Rev. John P. Robinson, then Rector of Christ Church, Quincy, by invitation of several earnest and active Episcopalians, appointed a public service at the Town Hall in Dorchester, according to the Liturgy of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church. Before Mr. Robinson was Rector at Quincy he had had charge of a Mission for sailors in Ann Street, Boston, which still survives in what is known as the Free Church of St. Mary for Sailors, in East Boston.
Evening Prayer was conducted for the first time in Dor- chester by the Rev. Mr. Robinson, on Sunday, July 16, 18.43, and followed by an "impressive" sermon upon St. John's Gospel, iii : 16. The congregation numbered about fifty per- sons. This was the first time, so far as is known, that the Book of Common Prayer was publicly used in Dorchester. The interest manifested in this Service seemed so substantial that the Clergyman immediately made a general appointment for a Service of Evening Prayer once in two weeks. The ser- vices thus begun were continued with occasional interruption, until January 28th, and after this only on rare occasions. The Rev. Mr. Robinson conducted services eight times in the year 1843. On one Sunday the place of Mr. Robinson was supplied by the Rev. D. Richmond Brewer, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Cambridgeport. In 1844 Mr. Robinson con- . ducted services on four Sunday evenings, during which time it was thought inexpedient to organize a Parish. From the very first, gentlemen of wealth residing in Dorchester, ex- pressed their interest in the establishment of worship here according to the Liturgy of the Episcopal Church, by the proposal of donations of eligible lots of land as sites for the anticipated church edifice ; yet prudence seemed to advise a delay in the erection of a building. From 1844 until June, 1847, it is supposed that no Church services were held : at any rate no records have been preserved. In 1846 the Rev. David Greene Haskins offered a lot of land (see Bishop
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
Eastburn's letter on page 11), but his sickness prevented its coming into the possession of the Parish.
At a meeting held in June, 1847, a subscription list was circulated, in order to secure pledges of contributions for the erection of a church edifice. The list bears the names of persons whose united subscriptions amount to $1, 150. Nothing was done in the way of organizing a Parish until July 29th, 1847, when a public inceting was held to con- sider the subject. This meeting was continued by adjourn- ment to August 11th, when a petition for a warrant, calling a legal meeting for organization, was drawn up. With this petition, which follows, we have the beginning of the Parish Records, from which, and the Vestry Records for the past fifty years, the Annals of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, Dorchester, are now publicly printed for the first time.
It seems fitting just here to add in connection with this history of the Episcopal Church in Dorchester, that Dor- chester gave to Massachusetts her first Bishop. In the address of Bishop Lawrence upon the recent Centennial Cel- ebration of the Consecration of the Rt. Rev. Edward Bass, D. D., as the first Bishop of Massachusetts, occurs this par- agraph : -
" Edward Bass, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Bass, was born in Dorchester, Nov. 13, 1726, and four days later, braving the Novem- ber winds, was carried to the First Church and there baptized."
Dorchester has also given to the Church several Presby- ters,-among them the Rev. James Blake Howe, for whom a tablet was placed over the pulpit of the old St. Mary's Church, which remained until the church was burned, and was replaced very recently, at the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Parish, by a prayer-desk with the old tablet inscription reproduced. The Rev. William Withington, the Rev. Darius Richmond Brewer, and the Rev. John A. Emery, Secretary of the Diocesan Board of Missions for the State of
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California, and the Rev. Win. S. Emery, Rector of Christ Church, Norwich, Conn., are others who grew up here in Dorchester, and the last two were children of St. Mary's.
The petition of August 11, 1847, for a warrant, was ad- dressed to the Hon. S. P. Loud, J. P., representing that "the signers have associated themselves for the support and en- joyment of public worship, under the name of the Parish of St. Mary's Church in Dorchester." The petition is as fol- lows : -
P. R. To the honorable Samuel P. Loud, one of the Justices of the Peace within and for the county of Norfolk.
The undersigned respectfully represent that they have associ- ated for the support and enjoyment of public worship, under the name of the Parish of St. Mary's Church in Dorchester. They therefore respectfully request your Honor to issue a warrant direct- ing one of our members to notify the qualified voters of said Parish to meet at such time and place as may be therein specified, for the purpose of legal organization, according to the provisions of the Twentieth Chapter of the Revised Statutes of the Commonwealth- of Massachusetts.
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