USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Historical manual of the Church of Christ in Lincoln, Mass > Part 4
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"To see if the Town will grant to each religious sect, in said Town, the use of the public meeting-house in said Town, for the use of public worship, their proportionable part of the time, according to their value in the town valuation."
Action upon this was " put over to the next town meeting." The article reappears in a new warrant for a town meeting, on the first day of April, the same year, and was disposed of by a vote " to lay it on the table."
This was the end of effort, by action of the Town, to open the meeting-house to other religious denominations than that which had always possessed it. The reason why the Commit- tee, chosen in December, 1831, made no report, may have been that they learned that after the organization of the First Parish, the Town had no further control over the meeting-house.
Before noticing the organization of the First Parish, it may be desirable, for a clear apprehension of the matter, to state that while several incorporated parishes may exist in a single town, or a parish may embrace parts of different towns, yet " when no part of a town is included in, or constitutes a parish, the duties of a parish are required of the town, which is obliged to maintain and support public religious worship, and perform all parish duties." " Where the inhabitants of a parish or dis- trict, previously incorporated for the support of public worship, are afterwards incorporated as a town, and the territorial bound- aries are the same, the town is not, of course, nor by any neces- sary construction, the successor of the parish."
The town transacted parochial concerns as any other busi- ness. Without the existence of a parish in it, the town is a double corporation, and acts in the double capacity of town and parish. The parochial power could be separated from the town and made distinct by the organization of a parish, out of, or within the proper parochial element of the town, and by the statute of 1823 the consent of the town was not necessary for
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CHURCH MANUAL.
such organization. The parish could affiliate with any denom- ination of Christians. "A parish was held to be legally organ- ized, at a meeting, held by virtue of a warrant, containing an article 'to choose a clerk and other parish officers.'" From the hour of its organization the control of parochial affairs by the town ceased. Any action of Lincoln after the 15th of May, 1830, in respect to the use of the meeting-house, or any portion of the land conveyed by Mr. Edward Flintto the builders of the house, would have been null and void.
On the 5th of May, 1830, a petition was addressed to Ste- phen Patch, Esq., by members of the "religious Society, in Lincoln, of which the Reverend Elijah Demond is the minister," representing that they were desirous " to organize as a Parish, for the transaction of such business as necessarily pertains thereunto," &c.
This was signed by Silas P. Tarbell, James Farrar, Edmund Wheeler, Andrew Adams, William Colburn, Jonas Smith, Cy- rus Smith, Amos Bemis, Jacob Baker, Calvin Weston, Henry Rice, Samuel Hartwell, Elijah Edwards, Abel Hartwell, and Daniel Haynes.
The warrant of the Justice was issued on the 6th of May, directed to Silas P. Tarbell or James Farrar.
"Agreeably to the foregoing petition and warrant, the mem- bers of the Religious Society in Lincoln, of which the Rev. Elijah Demond is the minister (it being the only parish, and of course the First Parish* in said town), being notified and warned, as directed in said warrant, assembled on the fifteenth day of May, 1830, for the purposes therein set forth ; and having cho- sen Silas P. Tarbell moderator, prayer was offered by Reverend Elijah Demond, at the request of the members present. They then proceeded to organize, and the following persons were chosen officers in the Parish, viz. :
ELEAZER BROOKS, Clerk.
THOMAS WHEELER, DANIEL HAYNES, CALVIN WESTON, Assessors.
HENRY RICE, Treasurer. EDMUND WHEELER, Collector.
JAMES FARRAR, SILAS P. TARBELL, JONAS SMITH, Prudential Committee."
* First Parish constructively, though not fully organized.
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.
On the 17th of September, 1832, the following communica- tion was made to the Church and Parish by Mr. Demond :
" To the Church and Religious Society of Lincoln :
" Dear Brethren and Friends,-In consequence of the inad- equacy of the pecuniary compensation, which you afford me, to meet the expenditures of my family, I have suffered myself to receive a call from another society. This call, all things con- sidered, it appears to be my duty to accept. I, therefore, de- sire that my pastoral and ministerial relation to you may be dissolved, and, also, that you will release me from obligation to supply you six months from the date of this notice, accord- ing to the terms of my settlement. I will supply you person- ally, or by proxy, for a few weeks, and even for six months, by proxy, if you shall desire it.
" I deeply regret that there is any occasion for our separa- tion. I wish you to understand distinctly, that though a few other considerations have sometimes had a small influence on my mind, the reason just assigned is the principal and the only one, which has induced me to make the above request. My attachments to you and to this place, notwithstanding the many trials which I have experienced since I have been among you, strangely incline me to remain with you still. I hope, and fer- vently pray, that you will immediately, unitedly, and efficiently, seek out, if possible, some good minister, whose circumstances will allow him to settle with you on a smaller salary than mine will permit.
"I tenderly feel for you in your weak and reduced condi- tion, and I am, and ever have been ready to do all for you which has seemed to be my duty to do.
" I trust I have been governed by a sense of moral obliga- tion, and by a regard to the greatest good.
" Ardently praying that all things may work together for your highest interest, and that of your children, and of your children's children,
" I subscribe myself, in the faith and fellowship of the gos- pel, your affectionate pastor,
ELIJAH DEMOND."
On the 26th of October, in accordance with the above re- quest, the pastoral and ministerial relation between Mr. Demond and the Church and Parish was dissolved.
On the 4th of December, following, the Church voted unan- imously to invite the Rev. Ebenezer Newhall, of Oxford, to be-
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come their pastor ; with which, on the 11th of December, the Parish concurred. On the 16th of January, 1833, Mr. Newhall was installed.
The meeting-house, being in a dilapidated state, at a meeting of the Parish, held April 13, 1840, it was considered whether the Parish should make extensive repairs upon it, or build a new house. No definite result was reached. The meeting was ad- journed to May 4, at which time, after discussion, it was voted that steps be taken to appraise the pews, and the meeting was adjourned.
From the report made by " the Committee, chosen to settle with the pew holders, in the meeting-house, it appears that there were 52 pews in the house, which are thus described : '8 pews on the middle aisle,' '8 pews on the side aisle,' '20 wall pews,' and '16 gallery pews.'"
Signed by
HENRY RICE, CALVIN WESTON, ASA WHITE.
In August of this year, the Parish voted to make extensive repairs upon the meeting-house, and to empower the Building Committee to make the necessary contract for this purpose, and to borrow a sufficient sum of money to meet the expense.
Frequent Parish meetings were held during the year, for the furtherance of the work. The pews were taken out, the tall spire, which by its creakings in a high wind, had come to be a terror to nervous people, was taken down, or rather, it should be said, was toppled over by the tractive power of a large team of oxen, attached to a cable made fast to the spire, after three of the four oak timbers, which supported it, had been completely sawn asunder, though the fourth post resisted the best efforts of the huge team, until it also was partly divided, thus showing that the work of the fathers might have bid defiance to the tem- pests of another hundred years. The porches were taken off, and the house stripped to its frame, and then turned to front the south.
The frame, which had been nearly square, was lengthened, and the house finished in a more modern style, both externally
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SKETCH OF THE PARISH.
and internally, so that it bore no resemblance to its former ap- pearance. It was rededicated, with appropriate services, early in the autumn of 1841.
It appears from the report of the Committee that the total amount expended in this work of renovation was $1,980.54. The report is signed by Sewall Fiske, William Colburn, Daniel Weston, James Farrar, Amos Bemis, Building Committee.
At a Parish meeting held April 8, 1847, a Committee con- sisting of Sewall Fiske, Dea. James Farrar, Elisha Hagar, Greg- ory Stone and William Colburn, was chosen " to frame a code of By-Laws," which were reported at the next annual meeting and adopted.
The warrant for a special Parish meeting, held Sept. 18, 1848, contained the following articles :
" Art. 2. To see if the Parish will concur and acquiesce in the doings of the Committee of the Town, respecting the Town-House."
" Art. 3. To see if the Parish will consent to the removal of the sheds, now standing on the east side of the common, ap- point a place to set them, or act anything relative to the sub- ject of sheds or common."
Dea. James Farrar, Elisha Hagar and Gregory Stone were chosen a Committee, without instructions, to take charge of the interests of the Parish in the common.
It was also voted that the above-named horse sheds should be moved to the west side of the common ; the work to be done under the supervision of the Committee on Sheds.
At an adjourned meeting of the Parish, held Oct. 9, 1848, a Committee, previously chosen to consider the matter of build- ing a parsonage, reported favorably to the enterprise. At a subsequent stage of the meeting it was voted "to build a house," probably of a size, and at an expense, and on a site, to harmon- ize with the verbal report of the Committee, which is not record- ed ; and Daniel Weston, James Farrar and Asa White were cho- sen a Committee to carry the vote into effect.
The destruction of the church edifice is thus noticed in the Parish Records :
"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers
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praised thee, is burned up with fire ; and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Isaiah 64, 11."
On the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 1st, 1857, the House of Worship belonging to the First Parish in Lincoln, was discov- ered to be on fire, and was entirely consumed, between the hours of 8 and 10 o'clock P. M. Supposed, without doubt, to be the work of an incendiary.
ALONZO S. FISKE, Clerk."
At a Parish meeting held Nov. 14, 1859, a Building Com- mittee, consisting of Dea. James Farrar, Jr., George Hartwell, George M. Baker, Alonzo S. Fiske and George Flint, was cho- sen, and instructed to report a plan, or plans of a house of wor- snip, with estimated expense, at a future meeting.
It was also voted "to accept the offer of the Second Parish of the use of their House of Worship every other Sabbath."
The Committee, at a subsequent meeting, made a report as to size of proposed house of worship, with details in regard to pews, gallery, vestry, &c., and estimated expense.
At an adjourned meeting, " after a lengthy discussion con- cerning the size of the house, form of the pews, location of the vestry, &c.," it was voted " that the whole subject be left with the Building Committee."
The Committee, after a careful examination of several new churches in the vicinity, decided to adopt plans presented by J. W. Silloway, architect, and early in the spring closed a con- tract with Kibbey & Co. to erect the edifice. The work was prosecuted vigorously, and the house was completed by the end of August, and on the 6th of September was dedicated by the same service with which Mr. Henry J. Richardson was or- dained as pastor.
At the annual meeting held March 11th, 1861, the following . resolutions respecting this work, introduced by Alonzo S. Fiske, Esq., were adopted, and ordered to be entered upon the Parish records :
" Resolved, That we owe an especial debt of gratitude to the Great Head of the Church for the kind and favorable man- ner in which He has led us through a season of darkness, doubt and misfortune ; who has enabled us to raise and dedicate this
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SKETCH OF THE PARISH.
beautiful House to His service, and who has sent an Under Shepherd to guide and watch over us, in whom we trust and con- fide.
" Resolved, That this House has been erected for the pur- pose of, and dedicated to, the worship of the Triune God, as understood and practiced by the Congregational Evangelical Churches of New England.
" Resolved, That our sincere and heartfelt thanks are due to all those who have so cheerfully and liberally contributed to the erection of this House, and that we humbly trust and pray that the Giver of all good will richly reward them in this world, and in the world to come with life everlasting.
" Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to all who assisted in the erection of this house, who are not members of the Parish."
In this sketch of Parish history, nothing further has been contemplated than an outline of the principal events. No rec- ord is here made of many improvements of Parish property, made from time to time, and often involving a very considera- ble outlay of money.
The action of the Parish in this regard, in the summer of 1870, is perhaps too important to be passed without notice. The Town had voted to build a school-house, had made a liberal appropriation for it, and had made the School Committee and Selectmen a Building Committee, with instructions to locate the house upon the site of the old Centre Primary school-house.
The new building being very much larger than the old, it was believed that the Committee, in their efforts to adjust it to the necessities of the site and the common, had placed its north- east corner several feet beyond the dividing line between the Town and Parish, upon land which belongs to the Parish. The matter naturally created some agitation. The Committee of the Town had profound respect for the rights of the Parish, but believed that it had been the traditional policy of the Parish to permit the Town the free use of its common, if its own rights should not thereby be impaired. It was proposed, in this Com-
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CHURCH MANUAL.
mittee, as an adjustment of the matter in question, that a sum of money be raised by voluntary subscription, sufficient to cover the expense of purchasing a certain amount of land of the own- ers of land on the north and west sides of the Parish lot, the title to be vested in the Parish, and of making certain improve- ments upon it, in order that the area about the church might be enlarged, and thus greater conveniences given to the citizens generally in their use of the public buildings about the common.
The proposition was favorably received by members of the Parish and others, and a sufficient sum of money was quickly pledged for the proposed improvement, subject to the order of the Parish, should it see fit to undertake the work. Thus much it has seemed necessary to say, in order that the subjoined records of the Parish, relative to this matter, may be intelligible to the reader.
In the furtherance of this matter, at a Parish meeting held on the 26th of September, 1870, a motion was made and carried to choose a Committee to confer with the owners of horse-sheds about the church in respect to changing their location, and with Messrs. Elisha and Albert Hagar, and James L. Chapin, in re- lation to purchasing a certain amount of land from their respec- tive lots on the north and west sides of the church.
This Committee, consisting of Messrs. A. S. Fiske, Deacon James Farrar and Leonard Weston, subsequently consulted the parties interested, made the negotiations they were empowered to make, and completed the proposed improvements.
At the Parish meeting on the above date, the following com- munication was read :
" LINCOLN, Sept. 6th, 1870.
" The Building Committee, appointed by the Town to carry into effect its vote to erect a School-House, respectfully submit to the First Parish, that in pursuance of their duties under in- structions of the Town, they located said School-House on land occupied by the old Primary School-House and adjacent thereto, without intention of trespassing on the rights of any parties.
" Respectfully submitted for the Committee,
" SAMUEL HARTWELL, Clerk pro tem."
" It was then voted that the Parish cheerfully acquiesce in
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SKETCH OF THE PARISH.
the Town's building a School-House in part on Parish land, and in occupying the same, so long as it may be improved for school purposes."
It will be observed that the language of the Building Com- mittee is guarded ; it not being deemed consistent with their position, as agents of the Town, to make other than a respect- ful statement of facts in regard to locating the house, to the Parish.
It will also be observed that the Parish, as in duty bound to itself, in its gracious minute, concedes to the Town simply the right of occupancy, for a specific purpose, of a certain amount of land.
VIII.
PASTORS.
The Bev. William Lawrence,
The first pastor of the church, was descended from John Lawrence, whose name is on the earliest list of propri- etors of Watertown, extant, and who is known to have been a resident in 1675, although the date of his arrival in America is not known.
His ancestral lineage has been traced back to ROBERT LAWRENCE, of Lancashire, England. " Attending his sovereign, Richard Cœur de Leon, to the war of the Cru- sades in the Holy Land, he so distinguished himself in the siege of Acre, that he was knighted 'Sir Robert of Ashton Hall,' and obtained for his arms, 'Argent, a cross raguly gules,' A. D. 1191."
John Lawrence removed to Groton in 1662, and is known to have been a substantial citizen of good repute. He was married twice and had fifteen children. His sec- ond son, Nathaniel, born Oct. 15, 1639, the great-grand- father of Rev. William, was admitted a freeman May 15, 1672. He was, while comparatively a young man, chosen a deacon of the Groton Church. He held many offices of trust in the town, and represented it in the General Court. In advanced life he removed to Cambridge Farms [Lex- ington], where he died in 1724, aged 85. Dea. Nathan- iel Lawrence's fourth child and second son, John, was born July 29, 1667. He was a blacksmith and farmer, and married, in Groton, Anna Tarbell. He removed from Groton to Cambridge Farms, where he and his wife were
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PASTORS.
received into the church, Feb. 9, 1698-9. He died March 12, 1745-7, aged seventy-nine years and seven months. "He was a man of understanding and piety, and sustained important offices and relations in society, devot- ing himself especially to the support of schools and the gospel of Christ."
Col. William Lawrence, fourth son of John, and father of the Lincoln pastor, was born Aug. 11, 1697, and mar- ried Susanna Prescott, daughter of Jonas Prescott, Esq., of Groton, June 27, 1722. He died in 1764 and his widow in 1771. Epitaphs upon their monuments in the old burial ground at Groton read thus :
" Here lye the remaines of Col. William Lawrence, who departed this life May 19, A. D. 1764, anno ætatis 67. He was a gentleman who, in military life, rose from the rank of Capt. Lieut. to the command of a regiment. In the year 1739, he was made Justice of the Peace ; afterwards Quorum Unus, a special Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, for the County of Middlesex, and a standing Justice of that county. He for many years rep- resented the town of Groton, with the districts of Pep- perell and Shirley, in the General Assembly of the Prov- ince. In all his public betrustments he acquitted himself
with fidelity and honour. In private life, his behaviour was becoming his Christian profession. He was remark- ably industrious in the improvement of time ; just in his dealings ; a good neighbour ; a faithful friend ; patient of injuries, and ready to forgive them ; grateful to benefac- tors ; very ready in affording assistance to the widow and fatherless ; and merciful to all proper objects of pity. He was a strict observer of the Lord's Day, a constant and serious attender on the public exercises of religion, and devout worshipper of God in his family."
His wife is described as "a woman of piety and good sense ; an industrious, prudent wife ; an indulgent parent ; a good neighbor ; a faithful friend ; a hater of hypocrisy
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and guile ; a lover of hospitality ; patient under affliction ; and resigned to the will of heaven in death."
From such a respectable and godly ancestry was the first pastor of this church descended.
The Reverend William Lawrence, eldest child of Col. William, was born in Groton, May 7, 1723, and graduated at Harvard College in 1743.
He began to preach at Lincoln, as a candidate for the pastorate, in April, 1748. On the 18th of May the Church and Precinct held a meeting and voted, 22 to 7, to invite him to become their minister.
He was ordained on the 7th of December following.
It is a matter of regret that we have not fuller sources of information respecting Mr. Lawrence's work as a preacher and pastor. But had we no other source of judgment than the records of the church, and the charac- ter of the men raised up under his ministry, we should be justified in believing that he was an able, judicious and devoted minister of the gospel. Hardly a year passed in which there were not more or less additions to the church. In settling difficulties and conducting matters of disci- pline, he seems to have had very great personal influence. In the History of Concord is this notice of him :
"During his ministry, his church, unlike many in the neighborhood, enjoyed great peace ; 122 persons were ad- mitted into full communion, 31 of whom were from other churches, the remainder by original profession ; 120 owned the covenant ; 605 were baptized; 122 marriages were solemnized ; and 294 died. His epitaph in the Lincoln burying-ground reads thus :
""In memory of the Rev. William Lawrence, A. M., Pastor of the Church of Christ in Lincoln, who died April 11, 1780, in the 57th year of his age, and 32d of his min- istry. He was a gentleman of good abilities, and firm supporter of the order of the churches. In his last sick-
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ness, which was long and distressing, he exhibited a tem- per characteristic of the minister and Christian. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.'' "
Mr. Lawrence married Love Adams, a daughter of one of his parishioners, Feb. 7, 1750-1. Mrs. Lawrence was admitted to the church, by profession of faith, in Novem- ber of the preceding year. Her father, John Adams, great-grandson of Henry Adams (who came from Devon- shire, England, and settled in Quincy, ancestor of the dis- tinguished family of that town), married Love Minott, of Concord, in 1722, and died Oct. 25, 1725, leaving two children, John and Love. Mrs. Love Lawrence survived her husband forty years, and died Jan. 3, 1820, in the ninety-fifth year of her age.
Their children were :
1. William, born April 10, 1752. He married in 1780, Eunice, daughter of Capt. Nathan Brown, of Lin- coln. Six children were born to them.
2. Love, born April 18, 1754. She married Sept. 4, 1770, Dr. Joseph Adams, who survived her, and died in England in 18.07.
3. John Prescott, born Dec. 24, 1755. He married in 1786, Abby Kane, and settled as a physician at Fort Edwards, N. Y., where children were born to them. He died Jan. 28, 1808.
4. Susanna, born Jan. 4, 1758, and died in 1836.
5. Sarah, born May 12, 1760. She married Oct. 30, 1783, Samuel Bass, Esq., of Braintree, a graduate of Har- vard College in 1782, a man "highly esteemed and re- spected by a numerous circle of friends through a long life of usefulness." He died in 1842, at the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Bass died in 1822. They had seven chil- dren.
6. Phebe, born Sept. 2, 1762. She married Oct. 30,
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1783, Rev. Edmund Foster, of Littleton, who was born in Reading in 1752, graduated at Yale College in 1778, lived through a ministry of nearly half a century, and died in 1826, aged seventy-four years. Mrs. Foster died in 1812. They had a family of thirteen children.
7. Anna, born March 25, 1764, and married James de Wolf. She died in 1807.
8. Mary, born Nov. 1, 1767. She married Oct. 30, 1796, Asa Brooks, of Concord. They had five children.
9. Abel, born Aug. 23, 1771. He married Mary Hodge, of St. Germain, England. He died in 1810, leav- ing six children.
The five younger daughters of Mr. Lawrence united with the church on the same day, Aug. 3, 1783.
The Bev. Charles Stearns, D. D.,
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