USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Historical sketch of Saint Anne's Church, Lowell, Mass > Part 4
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"Sunday. Preached."
For the next few Sundays he journeyed in the stage from South Boston, several times remaining here during the week at Mr. Boott's house. He records on March 14 that he "received an invitation to become their minister." He preached twice on Fast Day, April 1, and had a service on the evening of good Friday, the 16th.
"Easter Sunday, 18. Preached.
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Portrait by Lawson, 1850. THE REV. THEODORE EDSON. D. D.
Cameo by King, 1865. THE REV. THEODORE EDSON. D. D.
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"Thursday I performed the funeral service over the body of Mr. Lawrence, drowned in Concord river."
(Record of this Burial is not found in the printed Parish Reg- ister.)
"Friday, returned to Boston.
"Sunday, 25. Preached in Trinity Church. Dr. Gardiner supplied my place at Chelmsford.
"Thursday. Came up to Chelmsford and took my lodgings at Mr. R. Hills."
"I was not originally bred to the ministerial profession," continues Dr. Edson in his Fiftieth Anniversary Sermon, "and it was not till I thought myself inwardly moved by the Holy Spirit, nor till Divine Providence seemed to favor, that I ventured to turn me to an educational preparation for the sacred calling; and I proceeded in preparatory exercises with an anxious appre- hension as to whether my great desire for the work of the ministry were a natural feeling merely and no indication of the mind of the Holy Spirit. The nearer I approached the point of hopeful admission to Holy Orders, the more fearfully responsible the office appeared, and yet the more desirable the work. I entered the ministry with a deep sense of unworthiness of so great an honor, and with intense gratitude to God for putting me into the sacred calling. The thought of wages did not occur to me at all as a subject, the consideration of which was to have any weight on my decision for or against the ministry as a profession.
"On our way up from Boston to East Chelmsford, Mr. Boott and myself in his chaise, the Saturday before my first service here, he remarked, 'You have chosen a profession which, in this country, is the poorest paid of any other.' "It was evidently intended as an opening of the subject of salary, and to give me opportunity to explain myself as I have now already done. In ensuing conversation I said that 'I should ask only for a living . and should have no anxiety about that.' When, through his favorable movement, it was decided for me to settle here, he generously made the salary six hundred dollars a year, with intimation that in case of marriage it should be eight hundred and a house. Within two years this intimated increase was realized."
"We arrived at Mr. Boott's house in good time to go over the mill, No. 1, then in full operation, before bell-time. We then proceeded to the Merrimack Company's school house, erected on
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what is now the site of the Green School, with the easterly line of which that of the old school-house nearly coincided. It was a two-story wood building. The carpenters were there at work on the upper room fairly into the twilight, finishing up the needful preparation of it for public worship the next day."
On Sunday, March 7, that room was filled with people assem- bled for the first public worship and preaching known ever to have been in East Chelmsford since Rev. John Eliot, an ordained priest of the Church of England, preached to the Indians. The seats were assigned to such persons as were in the employ of the two companies and were all filled. "The service was in accord- ance with the Prayer Book. Mr. Boott clerked, and the responses were taken up by some others. ("How distinctly," says Dr. Green, "do I call to mind his loud and full response, almost alone!") The singing was good, and the sermon was on Faith. The intermission was two hours, and the second service was fixed to begin at two. The opportunity was taken in the inter- mission previous to commencing the afternoon service to speak of some distinctive features of social worship, to explain the scriptural authority, the nature and use of responsive worship, and to invite all to join with us in these responses. The text in the afternoon was 'I am the vine, ye are the branches.' The next day I returned to Boston in the stage and was here again to supply on the following Sunday."
Dr. Edson's first engagement was entirely of the most temporary character. Everything was conditioned on whether these ser- vices were made acceptable to the people and satisfactory to the Directors. His first engagement was for the opening Sunday, and thence onward from Sunday to Sunday for five successive weeks.
March 19, seventy-three persons signed this: "We, the sub- scribers, having heard the Rev. Mr. Edson, feel desirous to have him settled here as our minister, and are therefore willing to pay our tax to him, the same as we should to the Town of Chelms- ford."
On April 12 the Merrimack Religious Society, thirty members being present, met and voted, "that the proposal made to Rev. Theodore Edson to preach for us one year at a salary of six hundred dollars per annum meets our approbation, and that at a future meeting we will devise the means to raise such sums of money as may be required for the use of the society."
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Whereupon Mr. Boott made an agreement with Mr. Edson that he should continue for a year. At the same time it was understood that the success of that year should determine whether the minister or even the use of the Prayer Book should be con- tinued.
Dr. Edson says Mr. Boott occasionally reminded him of the importance as well as difficulty of ministering the Church so satisfactorily to the promiscuous population gathered here as to warrant the Directors to go on with their enterprise of providing worship for their own people, and Mr. Boott mentioned his own purpose of securing the meeting-house over Pawtucket bridge for Church services for himself, family and others who might prefer them, in case they should have to be given up here.
The following incident illustrates Dr. Edson's tact in dealing with peculiar situations. One Sunday morning in the first summer he found all the singers' seats empty. He went on with the service and the next day called on the leader who appeared to be a little embarrassed, but at length said he thought it wrong to read prayers, and that it was against his conscience to be present where prayers were read out of a book. Dr. Edson, seeing that he was probably acting under instructions, replied, "When you understand the subject better you will certainly think differently, but for the present do not violate your con- science." "By the following Sunday others whose consciences were more enlightened volunteered their services, and the singing went on after that without any further failure." "The leader before mentioned afterward overcame his scruples so far as to rent a pew and to receive the sacrament where prayers were read."
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CHAPTER III.
ST. ANNE'S BUILT BY THE MERRIMACK COMPANY
The records of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company show that on April 15, three days after the meeting of the Religious Society, above mentioned, the Directors of the Company met and voted, that the agent be authorized to build a church at Chelmsford, of stone, and that a sum not exceeding nine thousand dollars be appropriated for that purpose. The report was signed by Kirk Boott as clerk.
Preparations were soon under way. Mr. Boott drew several plans and discussed them with his friends. His personal atten- tion and taste are marked in every feature of the building, a monument with which his memory will ever be associated. The plan adopted made provision for an enlargement which was carried out in 1845 by adding thirty feet to the easterly end of the church.
Two sites were proposed, one, a lot extending from the Green school to Jefferson street; the other, that which the church now occupies. On Thursday, May 20, 1824, the first stone was laid. The walls went up in the heat of a hot summer, and though of small stones yet the quantity and quality of the cement used and the faithfulness of workmanship were remarkable. "It was done," says Dr. Edson, "with a view to permanency, and few buildings, both as to masonary and carpentry, were more thoroughly con- structed. The construction and timbering of the roof are still inspected with great interest by the best builders."
The walls of the church and rectory are two feet thick and built of coursed rubble (mica slate) with quoins of dressed granite. The tower is 20 feet square. The church was 70 feet in length and 54 in width. The 30 feet added, and the new chancel make a total length of about 160 feet. The stone was no doubt dug out of the adjacent canals, which had recently been under construction.
The original box pews with doors or gates are still used, the warden's pews at the west end being higher than the others, as is the case in St. Paul's Cathedral, Boston, built in 1820. The church was heated by an air-tight wood-burning stove in the
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INTERIOR OF ST. ANNE'S, 1825. SKETCHED BY B. MATHER.
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INTERIOR OF ST. ANNE'S, 1945
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middle of the building, the funnel of which went straight up through the roof.
The chancel was a shallow recess with a space enclosed by the altar rail. There was a window in the east wall, shaded by blinds and a red curtain. The Holy Table was of plain con- struction covered with a handsome red velvet cloth or "carpet" as the ancient Church inventories term it. The reading desk stood in front of the pulpit on the right or north side of the chancel. When the church was enlarged, the desk was placed on the opposite side from the pulpit.
There were two aisles the side pews being close to the wall. The church was lighted by sperm oil lamps hung on an iron rod on either side of the aisles. The choir gallery at the west end extended some distance over the pews.
Nathan Appleton says that so early as December, 1822, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company appointed Messrs. Jackson and Boott a committee to build a suitable church for the Com- pany. The amount then voted was $5,000. Before the spring of 1824 was far advanced, Kirk Boott and Ezra Worthen with others staked out and set apart a lot of land containing a little more than an acre, on the easterly side of the Merrimack canal, and being a part of what had been formerly called the Henry Fletcher farm, as the site of the church and parsonage. Henry Fletcher died in 1762. The church was built with its tower and main entrance facing Merrimack street, the lot lying between Kirk street on the east and Anne street on the west, those being the Christian names of Mr. Boott and his wife. The orientation is not exact. The ridge of the roof points about north east. The consecration was on March 16, 1825, and the Rector moved into the parsonage March 21, 1826.
In Trinity Church, Boston, on November 24, 1824, by the rector the Rev. Dr. Gardiner, Dr. Edson was married to Rebecca Jane, daughter of the Rt. Rev. Samuel Parker who for twenty-five years had been rector of Trinity, Boston, and was for about three months, in 1804, Bishop of Massachusetts.
At this time Mr. Edson's salary was increased to $800, with the use of the parsonage rent free. Flour was then from four and a half to five dollars a barrel; butter twelve and a half cents a pound; potatoes, ten cents a bushel; eggs from six to ten cents a dozen, and meats in proportion.
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The price of board for female operatives was $1.25 a week; for men, $1.50. Servants' wages, female, from 75 cents to $1.00 per week. Taking fifty-two successive weeks in part from 1826, but chiefly from 1827, the average of his household expenses per week was $3.50.
"Sunday, May 9, 1824. Wrote the whole of two sermons since last Sunday, the like of which I never did before; both pass- able. Was mortified exceedingly this morning to see so few present-neither Mr. Boott nor any of his family were there -- Mr. Boott called; had a son born at one o'clock today."
May 16, 1824, he made a beginning in the Sunday School. He is promised a horse and chaise by Mr. Boott to go to Leicester. He arranges for exchanges with Rev. Mr. Morss of Newburyport and the Rev. B. C. Cutler at Quincy. His horse taken sick at Newburyport. June 6, 1826, was informed that the Singing Society was last night broken up. He prepares a report for the School Committee for Town Meeting. Examines the schools. He is interested in the cause of temperance and lectures in its interest. When travelling, he stopped at "Temperance Hotels."
It may be well now to give some account of the formation of the Religious Society and the Musical Society.
ORGANIZATION OF THE MERRIMACK RELIGIOUS SOCIETY
By virtue of a law passed in February, 1824, empowering justices of the peace to organize religious societies, on February 16, one week after the passage of the bill, Cyrus Baldwin, Esq., issued a warrant for the first meeting of such a society on the application of Kirk Boott, Allan Pollock, Ezra Worthen, N. Goodwin, George B. Pollock, Richard Hills, Abner Ball, Thomas Dodge, John Dummer, J. H. B. Ayer, Leonard Cushing and Jonas Balcom. At this meeting was organized the Merrimack Religious Society. Its first meeting was held in the counting- room of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company. All persons who signed the original application were present, eleven in num- ber, except J. H. B. Ayer. The Society was duly organized; Kirk Boott, Moderator; George B. Pollock, Clerk; who was duly sworn by the moderator. Assessors: Ezra Worthen, J. H.
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B. Ayer and John Dummer; collector, J. H. B. Ayer; treasurer, Nathaniel Goodwin. The name was to be the Merrimack Re- ligious Society.
This Society came into existence in accordance with the ideas of the Directors of the Company, which were that the better class of people, such as they wished to have in the mills, would not be induced to come here to live unless they could have ade- quate provision for a regularly established public worship in their midst.
"It was on this broad ground, and not merely for the gratifi- cation of their respected Agent and his beloved family, that the subject was entertained by the Board of Directors."
In Vol. 3 of the "Contributions to the Old Residents' Histor- ical Association" will be found the names of 278 gentlemen who became members of this Religious Society. Ninety-seven signed before the church was consecrated.
After the organization of the Merrimack Religious Society the upper room of the school-house was arranged for the purpose of divine service. This building was afterwards moved to the westerly side of Cabot street for use as a dwelling.
The question as to who should be the pastor and religious instructor of this new and growing community was, no doubt, seriously discussed by the Directors of the Merrimack Company. Kirk Boott and some others were Churchmen, and would like to have the services of the Prayer Book. Others, the majority, were Unitarians, and the workers in the mills were of various religious affiliations.
Although consecrated to the sole purpose of the worship of Almighty God according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal church, St. Anne's was the property of the Merrimack Company, and its congregation was composed of persons in their employ, and of various religious training, so that in the administration of affairs Dr. Edson found it necessary to exercise considerable latitude of discipline and a liberal diplomacy. "I was repeatedly assured," he says, "that they (the Directors) had in view to subserve important interests of the proprietors, through a sal- utary influence upon the community; that to this end God's worship, in some acceptable mode, was to be provided for. The Directors had their reasons for making trial of this mode.
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Some of them were Churchmen; all of them men of somewhat extensive intelligence and observation, who knew well the general character of this Church. The fact that their agent and his family were Church people had its influence in bringing the subject favorably to their attention, and inducing this form of worship. But it was then well understood that this form was to be fixed upon only upon due trial and a satisfactory degree of success. And the Agent made known to me at the beginning, a distinct plan of providing Episcopal services for himself and family and such others as might join therein, which he had in mind (to use his own expression) "as a dernier resort" in case this should not prove successful. I was assured that my coming as a Church minister was at first but on trial as to whether this mode of ministrations could be made acceptable, at least to the extent of the contemplated accommodations. Accordingly, my first engagement was temporary-from Sunday to Sunday, then for one year; and that year was an experiment, not as to whether the Merrimack Manufacturing Company would make a provision for worship: that was already settled on; but as to whether this particular way of worship would serve the purpose. Before the year was out, the experiment was considered abun- dantly successful, and I was applied to for a permanent engage- ment."
THE BEETHOVEN MUSICAL SOCIETY
Acting upon a notice previously given, a meeting was held in the Merrimack Company's school-house on the evening of Wednes- day, September 15, 1824, at which it was voted to form a "Sacred Musical Society;" the Preamble of its Constitution reads as follows:
"WHEREAS, sacred Music has, in all ages of the Church, been deemed an interesting and important part of the worship of God, calculated to inspire the soul with feelings of gratitude to Him, and sympathy for others, and by which, when well or- dered, the mind is filled with devotion, and the thoughts directed to Him who is the only proper object of our worship in the Sanc- tuary. In order, therefore, to establish a social compact for the purpose of improving ourselves in the Science of Sacred music, and for the promotion of harmony in the duties which may be assigned us as a Musical Society in the congregation which will
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worship in the Stone Church now building in this place, and for the establishment, regulation and permanency of the same, we, whose names are underwritten, do constitute and ordain the following as our Constitution"-
The first officers elected were: President, Joshua Swan; vice president, James H. B. Ayer; instrumental master, Abner Ball; first chorister, Edward Sherman; second chorister, Benjamin P. Brown; treasurer, George B. Pollock; secretary, Wm. Goodwin. Nathaniel D. Gould (a professional teacher from Boston) was chosen instructor and was requested to bring 36 such books as he would think most proper, and if approved by the Society, would be accepted. He chose his own book, "Social Harmony." In October, 1824, Rev. Mr. Edson was accepted as an honorary member of the society.
The duties of the first chorister were somewhat multifarious, for it was voted that Mr. Edward Sherman should furnish the society with lamps, oil, wood, and so forth.
The next year it was voted that the Society meet every second Sunday evening at the school-house at early candle light, for the purpose of improvement in singing.
The society held its last meeting on September 5, 1827. Dr. J. O. Green, in Vol. 3 of the Old Residents' Contributions, gives a list of the members of this Society, 75 gentlemen and 53 ladies.
The Merrimack Religious Society had little resemblance to a regular parish in its structure or relation to the Diocese. It was organized, for good reasons in the unique circumstances of its origin, only under the general statute.
But as a church had been built by the Company for their use it was desired to have the building consecrated, and two wardens were elected on February 17, 1825-Allan Pollock* and Warren Colburn, ** and at the same meeting it was voted that a committee of three be appointed to draw up a paper to enable Mr. Edson to apply for Priest's orders.
Warren Colburn, Paul Moody and Kirk Boott were chosen as the committee, who with the church wardens made the fol- lowing certificate: "We, the church wardens of the Merrimack
*Dr. Edson officiated at his funeral August 23, 1859, at his home, 116 Eustice street, Rox- bury. He left Lowell in 1826, but Dr. Edson continued to maintain very friendly relations with the family.
** Dr. Edson buried him here September 16, 1833.
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Religious Society, and a committee appointed on the seven- teenth day of February, 1825, to furnish our clergyman with the necessary documents to enable him to take Priest's Orders, do certify that the Reverend Theodore Edson has been a settled minister with us since March 7th, 1824, that his services have been constant, and very acceptable, that in his private character he has set an example highly worthy of his profession, and that by his kindness and urbanity he has greatly endeared himself to all under his charge."
The agent of the Merrimack Company made application to the Rt. Rev. Alexander Viets Griswold to consecrate the church to the worship of Almighty God, according to the canons, liturgy and discipline of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The Bishop signified his assent to the appli- cation, and fixed Wednesday, the sixteenth day of March, 1825, for the solemnities of consecration. Bishop Griswold was at the head of what was known as the Eastern Diocese, comprising the New England States with the exception of Connecticut of which Bishop Samuel Seabury had been consecrated Bishop in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1784. Bishop Griswold's See-city was then Bristol, R. I., and he came from that place to East Chelms- ford to consecrate St. Anne's. The mills shut down for the occasion, and the Corporation and others in the village suspend- ed business, and with their people, visitors, friends and neighbors, more than filled the church.
The service was that prescribed in the Prayer Book. It occupied four hours, from 10 A. M. to 2 P. M. At this service Theodore Edson and his very dear friend, Benjamin Clark Cutler (then of Quincy, Mass., and later of Brooklyn, N. Y.) were or- dained Priests by Bishop Griswold.
The Bishop and Clergy, attended by the agent, Mr. Boott, were received at the entrance to the church by the Wardens and proceeded up the easterly aisle to the Communion Table, re- peating the twenty-fourth Psalm alternately. The Bishop and several of the clergy passed within the rails of the Altar, and the Bishop, sitting in his chair, the instruments of donation and the keys of the church were presented to him by Mr. Boott. He then offered the consecrating prayers. The sentence and deed of consecration were read by the Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis, D. D., which were then laid by the Bishop upon the Communion Table. Dr. Jarvis was Rector of St. Paul's, Boston. The church
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was consecrated under the patronage of St. Anne out of respect. to the wife of the Agent of the Merrimack Company.
Morning Prayer was read by the Rev. J. S. J. Gardiner, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and the Rev. Asa Eaton, D. D., Rector of Christ Church, Boston. The Rev. Isaac Boyle, D.D., of St. Paul's, Dedham, and the Rev. Henry W. Ducachet, D.D., of St. Peter's Church, Salem, "participated in the ministrations," and the Rev. Alfred L. Baury, Rector of St. Mary's, Newton, was also one of the clergy present. The singing was of a high character. The instruments were a double bass, a violincello, two clarinets and two violins.
The sermon was preached by Bishop Griswold. The text was I Cor. iv, 1, 2, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful."
In the afternoon of the same day seats were assigned and pews taken by the Corporation employees, and other persons were allowed sittings temporarily as long as they were not needed.
The next day there was a service in the church, the Bishop and several of the Clergy being present, and Mr. George Rich- ardson of New Hampshire was ordained Deacon.
The church was filled from Sunday to Sunday. The corpora- tions required all persons in their employ to attend divine worship and deducted a certain amount from their wages to support it.
A gentleman who was present at the consecration service says: "The day was cloudy and chilly, the church was crowded, many coming in from neighboring towns. The mills were stopped and business generally suspended for the day. The clergy were entertained by Mr. Boott and a collation was provided in the second story of the tower for the Musical Society. At 4 o'clock P. M. there was an auction sale of pews, receiving some two hundred dollars in premiums for choice. In the evening there was a concert of sacred music in the church, got up by Deacon Gould, who sang, with much effect, a piece called 'Jephthah's Daughter.'"
SENTENCE OF CONSECRATION
WHEREAS, The Merrimack Manufacturing Company by their Agent, and with the consent of the Wardens and Vestry of St. Anne's, have invited me to consecrate St. Anne's Church to the honor and worship of Almighty God,
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