USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > Fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of St. Mary's parish, Dorchester, 1847-1897 > Part 4
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WM. WITHINGTON, JOSEPH HOOPER, ROBT. RICHARDSON, THOS. HILL, EDWARD HOLDEN, A. W. HAYTER.
Dorchester, August 11, 1847.
A true copy of the original Petition on file.
Attest, EDWARD HOLDEN, Parish Clerk.
Norfolk, ss.
To Robt. Richardson, of Dorchester, in said County of Norfolk, Trader,
GREETING. - In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts : You are hereby required to notify and warn the qualified voters of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester aforesaid,
٠٠
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
to meet at Lyceum Hall in said Town, on Monday, the twenty-third day of August current, at seven of the clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of legal organization, according to the provisions of the twenty-sixth and the three succeeding Sections of the Twentieth Chapter of the Revised Statutes of the Commonwealth aforesaid, by acting upon the following Articles, to wit :
First. - To choose a Parish Clerk.
Second. - To choose a Moderator.
Third .- To determine the form of organization and government of said Parish, the qualification of voters or members thereof, -the manner of calling future meetings, and to adopt such other meas- ures as may be required to complete the establishment of said Parish.
Fourth. - To elect Wardens, Vestrymen, and such other Parish Officers as may be required.
Fifth .- To take order for the erection, purchase or lease of a church edifice or house for public worship.
Sixth .- To know whether the Parish will adopt any measures for the establishment of Public Worship therein.
Hereof fail not : and make return of this warrant, with your do- ings thereon to either of the Justices of the Peace within and for said County of Norfolk, at the time and place above mentioned.
Given under my hand and seal at Dorchester, aforesaid, this thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
SAM'L P. LOUD, Justice of the Peace.
Under this warrant, Robert Richardson issued a call, August 13, 1847, for a meeting of the qualified voters of the Parish of St. Mary's Church in Dorchester, on August 23, 1847, at 7 o'clock in the afternoon. This, the first legal meeting of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, held at Lyceum Hall, was called to order by Moses Draper, Esq., Justice of the Peace, who called for, and counted the ballots for clerk, and made proclamation that Edward Holden was duly elected clerk.
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Fiftieth Anniversary
P. R. Norfolk, ss.
DORCHESTER, Aug. 23, 1847.
Then personally appeared the above named Edward Holden, and was, in open Parish meeting, legally qualified as Parish Clerk, by taking the oath of said office as required by law.
Before me, MOSES DRAPER, Justice of the Peace.
The said Edward Holden, Parish Clerk, as aforesaid, then took the chair and called for and received the ballots of the Parish for Moderator, whereupon Robert Richardson was declared elected Moderator.
Upon the Third Article of the Warrant being read, the following Compact and code of By-Laws were presented for the action of the Parish, to wit :
To the end that the Public Worship of Almighty God may be . established and maintained within the town of Dorchester, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, according to the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America : - We, the subscribers, do hereby associate for the institution and support of a body corporate or Parish by the name of the Parish of St. Mary's Church in Dorchester. And we do hereby accede to, and agree to support and abide by the Constitution and Canons of . the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and of the Diocese of Massachusetts. And we do also, hereby, adopt and establish for the perpetual use of said Parish, the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of the Church, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. And we do ordain and declare, that the government of the said . Parish of St. Mary's Church shall be vested in a Vestry, which shall consist of two Wardens and five or more Vestrymen, who, together with a Parish Clerk and a Treasurer, shall be chosen by ballot upon the day of the organization of said Parish, and annually thereafter upon Easter Monday, from among the members of said Parish. And we do further ordain and declare, that no person shall ever be entitled to vote at any legal meeting of said Parish unless the name of such person shall have been enrolled upon the
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
books of the Parish, nor unless he shall have been a member of the congregation of said St. Mary's Church for the space of six calendar months next preceding such meeting; Provided, never- theless, that any person who shall become a member of said Parish within sixty days next following the first legal meeting of said Parish shall be deemed and held to be a member thereof to all intents and purposes. And we do hereby declare it to be the right of the said Parish of St. Mary's Church, when duly organized, to enact and ordain such By-Laws as may be deemed necessary to the efficient action of the body corporate ; provided such By-Laws shall in no wise contravene the provisions of this Compact, or of any part thereof.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Dorchester aforesaid, this twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
Upon motion, it was Voted, that the above Compact be adopted and confirmed as the Constitution of St. Mary's Church in Dor- chester.
BY-LAWS. Of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester.
Article First. - The annual meeting of the qualified voters of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, shall be held upon Easter Monday at such place and hour as the Vestry may appoint. And the Vestry may call special meetings at their own discre- tion, or upon written request of any five members of said Parish. And all meetings shall be called by warrant, given under the hands of the Wardens or of three or more members of the Vestry in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And said warrant shall express the time, place, and objects of the meeting ; shall be directed to one of the Constables of the Town of. Dor- chester; and shall be served by such officer by posting an attested copy thereof with his notification thereon in two or more conspicu- ous places within said Town of Dorchester, not less than seven days previous to the time appointed for such meeting. And all warrants issued as aforesaid shall be made returnable to the Wardens or Parish Clerk of said Parish, and all meetings of said Parish shall be organized and conducted in the manner prescribed by law.
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Fiftieth Anniversary
Article Second .- The Vestry of the Parish of St. Mary's Church shall be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to assen- ble and take order for the management of the affairs of the Parish, at such time and place as the Wardens may appoint, and written or oral notice, expressing the time and place of such meeting, given upon any Sunday by the Parish Clerk, or by the Minister officiat- ing on such Sunday, shall be deemed to be a sufficient notification of such meeting. And all meetings of the Vestry shall be organ- ized and conducted in the manner provided by law or established usage.
Article Third. - This Parish shall, from time to time, take such order for the establishment and support of Public Worship therein as may be determined by said Parish, or by the Vestry acting under authority duly granted thereunto by said Parish.
Article Fourth. - The By-Laws of this Parish may be amended or repealed by vote of a majority of the members present at any legal meeting of said Parish, provided the subject matter of such proposed action shall have been duly expressed in the warrant calling such meeting.
On motion, it was Voted, that the above Code be ordained and enacted as the By-Laws of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester.
Voted, to proceed to elect a Senior and a Junior Warden by separate and successive ballots.
Upon balloting the following gentlemen were declared elected, to wit :
JOSEPH HOOPER, Senior Warden. WILLIAM WITHINGTON, Junior. Warden.
On motion it was Voted, to proceed to elect five Vestrymen. Upon balloting
CHARLES STIMPSON, FRANCIS A. FULLLER, THOMAS HILL, HENRY H. PETERS, ROBERT RICHARDSON,
were declared elected Vestrymen.
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St Mary's Parish, Dorchester
Upon balloting Edward Holden was declared elected Treasurer.
It was then, on motion, Voted, to proceed to the election of Rector.
Upon balloting, the Rev. George W. Porter was declared to be unanimously elected Rector of the Parish of St. Mary's Church.
It was then, on motion, Voted, that a copy of the votes of election, passed under the Sixth Article, be signed by the Wardens, attested by the Parish Clerk, and transmitted to the Rev. Mr. Porter.
Voted, that an attested copy of the above votes be transmitted to the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
P. R. Norfolk, ss.
DORCHESTER, Aug. 23, 1847.
Then personally appeared the above named, - Joseph- Hooper, William Withington, Charles Stimpson, Francis A. Fuller, Thomas Hill and Robert Richardson, and in open Parish meeting severally took the oaths of the offices to which they had been respectively elected, according to law.
Before me, EDWARD HOLDEN, Parish Clerk.
1847. Sept. 23. The first Vestry meeting was held at the house of Mr. Robert Richardson. The Rector presided.
V. R. On motion it was Voted, that a committee of two be chosen whose duty it shall be to confer with the Directors of Lyceum Hall, and ascertain upon what terms said hall can be pro- cured for the use of this Parish as a place for Public Worship.
Voted, that the Rector and Mr. Robert Richardson constitute such committee.
Voted, that a committee of three be appointed to ascertain upon what terms a suitable site can be obtained for the location of a church edifice; and, also to report an estimate of the cost of a commodious and appropriate house of worship for the use of this Parish.
Voted, that the Rector and Messrs. Stimpson and Richardson constitute said committee.
It was then, on motion, Voted, that the Rector, Wardens, Vestry and Parish Clerk be a committee, whose duty it shall be to repre- . sent to the members and friends of the Church, in Dorchester and
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Fiftieth Anniversary
its vicinity, the purpose of this Parish, in the matter of the erection of a church edifice, and to request their co-operation in the accom- . plishment of the design.
PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Notices in Boston newspapers Sept. 23, 24, 1847, stated : "St. Mary's Church, Dorchester. Divine Service, according to the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, will be held at Lyceum Hall, Dorchester, on Sunday next, Sept. 26."
V. R. . . Agreeably to notice given as above, Morning Prayer was attended at Lyceum Hall, on the Seventeenth Sun- day after Trinity, at half-past ten o'clock. The Service of. the day, with the Ante-Communion Office, was read by the Rev. George W. Porter, Rector, who also preached a sermon upon Christian Faith and Hope, founded upon the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses of the eighth Chapter of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans, and closing with interesting and appropriate references to the establishment and prospects of the Church in the Town of Dorchester. The number of the congregation was twenty; more than three-fourths of whom were supposed to be in communion with the Church. Evening Prayer was attended at three o'clock by a congregation of thirty-two. The Service was read by the Rector, by whom, also, a sermon was preached upon Christian Peace, from the first verse of the fifth chaper of the Epistle to the Romans. The undersigned would take occasion to record the fact, that many of the friends of the Church were deterred from attendance upon these first services of St. Mary's Church by reason of the severity of the storm, which continued without cessation during the day. It may also be remarked, in connection with this report, that upon the occasion of the services of this day was the first public use of the surplice within this Town, by a Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, although the Book of Common Prayer had, before, been publicly used. Evening Prayer was attended at the Town Hall in Dorchester eight times by the Rev. John P. Robin- son, and once by the Rev. Darius R. Brewer in 1843, and three times by the Rev. John P. Robinson in 1844; during which time it was deemed inexpedient to organize a Parish.
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
V. R. 1847. Oct. 5, at Vestry meeting, Voted, that the Rector be invited to take early action upon the subject of the establish- ment of a Sunday School within this Parish; and, that he be requested to call a meeting for the organization of such school, at such time as he may judge proper.
Voted, that the Ladies connected with the Parish of St. Mary's Church be requested to meet at such time and place as the Rector may appoint, for the purpose of organizing a Sewing Circle for the advancement of the prosperity of this Parish.
V. R. 1847. Dec. 5, at Vestry meeting. The Rector having announced the receipt of a donation of twelve copies of Hayter's "Cathedral Chants," from David Clapp, Esq., of Boston, for the use of the choir of St. Mary's Church ; it was, on motion,
Voted, unanimously, that the thanks of the Vestry be accorded to Mr. Clapp for this valuable and timely expression of his interest in the prosperity of the Church in his native town.
1848. Apr. 2. Vestry meeting. Committee reported that the organ leased from E. & G. Hook at $60.00 per annum, had been placed in Lyceum Hall for the use of the Parish.
P. R. 1848. Parish meeting. To Peter Blake, one of the Constables of the Town of Dorchester : -
GREETING. - In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts, you are hereby required to notify and warn the qualified voters of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, to meet at Lyceum Hall, in said town, on Easter Monday, the twenty- fourth day of April, current, at seven of the clock, in the afternoon, to act upon the following Articles, to wit :
First. - To choose a Moderator.
Second. - To elect Parish Officers for the year ensuing.
Third. -- To know what order the Parish will adopt in relation to the location of a church edifice.
Fourth. - To know whether the Parish will procure or erect a church edifice during the current year.
Fifth. -- To know whether the Parish will amend so much of their By-Laws as relates to the qualification of voters thereof.
Sixth. - To know whether the Parish will further amend their By-Laws.
الشمسولة أسعداليب
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Fiftieth Anniversary
Seventh. - To know what sum of money the Parish will raise for the year ensuing, and how the same shall be appropriated.
Hereof fail not, and make return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Parish Clerk, at the time and place above mentioned.
Given under our hands, at Dorchester, aforesaid, this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
JOSEPH HOOPER, WILLIAM WITHINGTON,
Wardens.
P. R. At a legal meeting of the qualified voters of the Parish of St. Mary's Church in Dorchester, held pursuant to the above War- rant at Lyceum Hall, in Dorchester, on Easter Monday, April 24, A. D., 1848 : -
Upon the first Article of the Warrant, the Clerk called for, received, and counted the ballots of the members for Moderator, whereupon
The Rev. George W. Porter was declared elected Moderator.
Then upon separate and successive ballots the following officers were declared elected :
JOSEPH HOOPER, JOHN C. CLAPP, - Wardens.
WILLIAM WITHINGTON, ROBERT RICHARDSON,
CHARLES STIMPSON, WILLIAM ELLIOTT,
THOMAS HILL, EDWARD HOLDEN, Vestrymen.
EDWARD HOLDEN, Treasurer.
JOSEPH HOOPER, JOHN P. CLAPP, - Assessors.
EDWARD HOLDEN, Collector.
V. R. 1848. May 9. Vestry meeting. Committee reported that the proprietors of the Kelton farm offered to convey to the Parish 10,000 feet of land, provided a suitable church edifice be erected thereon, to cost not less than $5,000.00, and to be the only structure erected thereon.
1848. June 18. Vestry meeting. The Parish Clerk reported that the petition of the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester,
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
for admission into union with the Convention of the Diocese of Massachusetts, was presented to that body on the fourteenth day of June, current; whereupon the said Parish was, by vote of said Convention, admitted into union therewith.
1848. July 9. Vestry meeting. The Committee on Real Estate reported progress. On motion, it was
Voted, that the Vestry present to the Selectmen of the Town of Dorchester, a petition for the insertion of an Article in the next Warrant they shall issue, calling a meeting of the inhabitants of said Town : - the said Article to be, in substance, as follows :
To know if the Town will grant to the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, a suitable lot of land upon Meeting House Hill, to be appropriated as a site for a Church edifice for said Parish.
V. R. Nov. 2. Vestry meeting. The Rector announced that having received information that a lot of land, upon the south- wardly side of Bowdoin Street, and near the head of Green Street, in Dorchester, had been designated by the Parish of St. Mary's Church, at an informal meeting thereof, as a site for a church edifice for said Parish, a deed of said lot, consisting of half an acre of land, had been generously presented by Mrs. Catherine Dodge, of Boston, to the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dor- chester, as a site for a church edifice for said Parish, so long as said Parish shall maintain canonical union with the Convention of the Diocese of Massachusetts, and with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
Whereupon it was, on motion, Voted, that said deed be accepted.
Resolved, unanimously, that the thanks of the Wardens and Ves- try, in behalf of the Parish of St. Mary's, Church, be respectfully tendered to Mrs. Dodge, for the truly generous act of Christian benevolence above recorded, and that this act, with the testimony. of our gratitude therefore, be spread upon the Records of the Vestry.
Voted, that an attested copy of the above Resolution be trans- mitted to Mrs. Dodge, and that the same be published in the " Christian Witness and Church Advocate."
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Fiftieth Anniversary
V. R.
BOSTON, Oct. 24th, 1848. To the Parish of St. Mary's Church : -
With this, your Rector will present you from me, for your acceptance, the title to a piece of land on Bowdoin Street, Dor- chester, which I hereby give to you as the site of your contem- plated church.
In connection with this gift, you will allow me to express the earnest hope that you will without delay cordially and faithfully co-operate with your Rector in such steps for the immediate com- mencement of your contemplated church as shall upon conference with him be deemed advisable.
I would further add that, if the preliminary steps towards build- ing are at once taken, and the enterprise diligently prosecuted according to the means of the Parish, I shall be happy to con- tribute still further towards the realization of your wishes. I feel. that the present is the moment the good work should be begun, and I cannot doubt that within six months you will have ready a beautiful and appropriate temple free from debt, to be consecrated to the divine purposes of our holy religion.
Very respectfully, CATHERINE DODGE.
To the Parish of St. Mary's Church, Dorchester.
It has been said that this Mrs. Catherine Dodge kept a small store in the North End of Boston, and earned a live- lihood by making and mending clothes for sailors, and that it was out of these earnings that she was able to purchase the land which she afterwards gave for St. Mary's Church.
Mr. John H. Welch, Mr. John P. Clapp, and the Rev. Geo. W. Porter were elected the Building Committee.
V. R. Nov. 9. Vestry Meeting. Voted, That the plan by Arthur Gilman, of Boston, of St. James's Church, in Amesbury, erected in the year eight hundred and forty-six, be adopted as the plan of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester ; subject only to such modification, within the rules of the style, as may be agreed upon by and between the Building Committee and the architect, pro-
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
vided the cost of the enclosure and improvement of the grounds, and the erection and furnishing of the church edifice, shall not exceed the sum of four thousand dollars.
V. R. 1849. Feb. 4. Vestry Meeting. The Clerk announced that he had been desired by John H. Blake, Esq., of Boston, to ask permission of the Vestry to erect a marble tablet within the con- templated church edifice of this Parish, inscribed to the memory of the late Rev. James Blake Howe, a native of the Town of Dorchester, and for many years a Presbyter of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Whereupon it was
Voted, unanimously, that permission be cordially granted.
V. K. March 4. Vestry Meeting. On motion, it was
Voted, unanimously, that the thanks of the Vestry, on behalf of this Parish, be tendered to Mrs. Elijah Loring, of Boston, for the generous donation made by her of fifty dollars, to be appropriated to the purchase of a service of plate for the altar of St. Mary's Church.
V. R. 1849. March 12. A letter from the Rector announced his intention of taking a journey, and that "on my return I am expecting to enter upon the relation and duties of married life."
1849. 'Thursday, April 5, the corner stone of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, was laid by the Right Rev. Manton Eastburn, Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts. In the Vestry Records will be found a long list of articles deposited in a copper box which was placed in a cavity in the north-east corner stone.
CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH.
V. R. 1849. Sept. 20. Pursuant to an appointment made by. the Right Rev., the Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, the house of worship erected by the Parish of St. Mary's Church, in Dorchester, was consecrated by the Bishop on Thursday, the twentieth day of September inst, according to the Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
The Instrument of Donation was read, expressed in the words following, to wit :
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Fiftieth Anniversary
We, the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Mary's Church, in the Town of Dorchester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, having, by the good providence of Almighty God, erected in said Town a house of public worship, do hereby appropriate and devote the same to the worship and service of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, according to the provisions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in its Ministry, Doctrines, Liturgy, Rites, and Usages, and by a congregation in communion with said Church, and in union with the Convention thereof in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
And we do hereby request the Right Rev. Manton Eastburn, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, to consecrate the said building by the name of St. Mary's Church, and thereby separate it from all unhallowed, worldly and common uses, and solemnly dedicate it to the holy purposes above mentioned.
And we do, moreover hereby relinquish all claim to any right of using the same building, or allowing the use of it, in any way incon- sistent with the terms and true meaning of this Instrument of Donation, and with the consecration hereby requested of the Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
In testimony whereof, we, the said Church Wardens and Vestry- men, have hereunto affixed our signatures and the seal of our Corporation, on this twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
J. P. CLAPP, JOHN H. WELCH, - Wardens.
"JOSEPH HOOPER, .
HENRY H. PETERS,
CHARLES STIMPSON,
ROBT. RICHARDSON,
CHAS. EMERY,
EDWARD HOLDEN, Vestrymen.
The Sentence of Consecration was pronounced by the Right Rev. the Bishop of the Diocese, Manton Eastburn.
V. R. On motion, it was Voted, that the thanks of the Vestry, on behalf of the Parish, be respectfully tendered to Miss Elizabeth Codman for the gift of twenty-five dollars, to be appropriated to the purchase of a service of plate for the Communion Table.
It was Voted, that the thanks of the Vestry, on behalf of the Parish, be respectfully tendered to Mrs. Mary Codman for the
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St. Mary's Parish, Dorchester
donation of twenty-five dollars, to be appropriated to the purchase of a service of plate for the Communion Table.
V. R. The Parish Clerk reported that, pursuant to a vote passed upon the request of Mr. John H. Blake, on the fourth day of February last, a marble tablet had been erected by him in St. Mary's Church, inscribed as follows : -
IN MEMORY OF THE REV. JAMES BLAKE HOWE, BORN IN DORCHESTER, MAR. 31, 1772. GRADUATED AT HARVARD UNIV. 179.1. ORDAINED DEACON, NOV. 25, 1817. AND PRIEST MAY 4, 1819. BY THE RT. REV. ALEXANDER V. GRISWOLD, D. D. BISHOP OF THE EASTERN DIOCESE. INSTITUTED RECTOR OF UNION CHURCH IN CLAREMONT, N. H., SEPT. 15, 1819 WHERE HE FAITHFULLY DISCHARGED THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, FOR MORE TILAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY. DIED SEPT. 17, 1844. HIS REMAINS REPOSE WITH THOSE OF HIS KINDRED .IN THE OLD BURIAL GROUND IN DORCHESTER.
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