USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Historical sketch of Saint Anne's Church, Lowell, Mass > Part 9
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The Rev. William Willian (Rector's assistant in 1849), Mr. Hovey and the Rev. Charles W. Homer, conducted services in the Sunday School house during church hours. The small school house was sold and removed in 1868 and the larger one was moved off in 1871. Both are still standing.
The school houses were superseded in 1868 by St. Anne's Chapel, built at a cost of $12,000, and connected with the church by the choir-room and sacristy built in 1873 and costing $5,000.
DR. EDSON AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
In 1824 the Merrimack Company's school, of which Dr. Edson had charge, was opened under the tuition of Miss Adeline Moody, who was superseded by Mr. Pettengill in the autumn. He taught until the following spring, when Dr. Edson employed Joel Lewis in his place. Mr. Lewis was also superintendent of the Sunday School.
The committee appointed by the Town of Chelmsford in 1825 to examine schools consisted of Rev. Wilkes Allen, a Uni- tarian, Joel Adams, an attorney, John C. Dalton, M. D., John O. Green, M. D., Rev. Theodore Edson and Rev. John Parkhurst, a Baptist.
The public schools in the new village being under the control of Chelmsford, the Merrimack Company thought that it would be wiser themselves to provide a school for the children of the operatives. The "Merrimack school-house," as it was called, was built by the Company in 1824 on the site of the present "Green School," on Merrimack street. This building (still extant) was afterwards moved to the westerly side of Cabot street for a dwelling.
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ST. ANNE'S PARISH HOUSE
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In March, 1825, Kirk Boott, Paul Moody, Warren Colburn and others petitioned the Selectmen of Chelmsford for a division of the money appropriated to the school in District Number Two, which stood "near Capt. Phineas Whiting's" at the upper end of Merrimack street. They stated that on account of the great increase in population, the children in that District could not be accommodated. Consequently the Merrimack Company had erected a new school-house and desired that the District be divided. This was done and the money equally apportioned. In this year the amount appropriated by the Town for schools in East Chelmsford was $113.50. In 1826 the town of Lowell divided one thousand dollars among five schools.
The school-committee were Theodore Edson, Warren Colburn, Samuel Batchelder, John O. Green, and Elisha Huntington.
Dr. Edson had charge of this school, and was chairman of the school-committee after Lowell was incorporated in 1826.
"The limits of Lowell, when incorporated as a town, embraced a portion of Chelmsford, chiefly comprehended in one school- district, with two school-houses. The committee of Lowell for districting the town proposed that it be made into five districts, viz .:- two on the corporations, the Merrimack, number one, and the Hamilton, number five; and three on the remoter borders of the town, consisting chiefly of what had been the proper popu- lation of Chelmsford, viz .:- district number two at the Falls; number three by the Pound, on the Chelmsford road, near the corner of Liberty street, and that at the red school-house, on the Boston road, which was number four. (See Dr. Edson's address at the opening of the Colburn Grammar School, 1848.)
There was great opposition to the introduction into the schools of the Pestalozzi method of teaching. This Swiss Philosopher taught that the understanding should take the place which memory had taken, and that in giving instruction the teacher should pro- ยท ceed from the concrete to the abstract, and not, as heretofore, from the abstract to the concrete.
The books prepared by Warren Colburn, a former college mate of Theodore Edson, were introduced after opposition. His "First Lessons" and "Sequel" were used in the Merrimack school under the direction of Dr. Edson. The aim of Colburn was the discovery and culture of the true science and art of teaching. His indebtedness to Pestalozzi has been overrated.
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In 1828 the opposition to Colburn's books was so great that in town-meeting, when a very satisfactory report telling of the success of two of the largest schools was read, it was moved and by vote carried, that the report be put under the table. It was then moved by the same person that the committee be put under the table. This was thought by the moderator to be going too far, and the motion was not put to vote. In 1825 Joel Lewis, who had been a pupil of Colburn, was employed as teacher, and overcame the opposition.
The District system was found cumbersome and unsuited to the community. In Town Meeting Apr. 2, 1832, a committee was appointed to consider the matter, and reported in favor of a new graded-system and the erection of two new schoolhouses, at a cost of $20,000. Kirk Boott and other mill men opposed this, and requested the selectmen to call a meeting to rescind the vote, claiming that the vote was illegal.
General B. F. Butler says: "The taxation for these new grammar schools of brick would be borne substantially by the man- ufacturing companies and Proprietors of the Locks and Canals. Mr. Boott declared that this could not and should not be done."
Mr. Boott informed Dr. Edson that any further advocacy of this proposition would so far meet with his disapprobation that he should withdraw from his Church and attendance upon his ministrations: that he should give his attendance and influence to another religious society, and that all support of St. Anne's in any way by the manufacturing companies would be withdrawn.
He said the town was already in debt and it was folly to in- cur such expense, that Lowell was but an experiment, and a travel- ler visiting the place in a few years might find only a heap of ruins. Dr. Edson replied, to the effect that if the traveller exam- ining those ruins found among them no trace of a school-house he would have no difficulty in assigning the cause of the downfall of Lowell. Governor Greenhalge in his semi-centennial address said: "There is logic and wit enough in that retort to have made the reputation of an English prime minister !"
On the final vote in town-meeting the majority in Dr. Edson's favor was 38.
When leaving the hall Dr. Edson was addressed by a friend who said: "Well, you have got your schoolhouses, but you will never get the children into them." This man afterwards became a warm advocate of the schools.
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In October, 1833, the Hon. Henry Clay, His Excellency Gover- nor Lincoln and other persons of distinction visited Lowell, when Kirk Boott and Luther Lawrence, who also had been in opposition to the project, attended them to the South school, now the Edson, and found it in very-successful operation. The other school was the Bartlett, named for the first Mayor of Lowell. Intelligent friends of education endorsed the new system, known as the Boston system, upon which improvements had been made, and it has been introduced in the large towns and cities of Massachusetts. Committees from Providence, Worcester, and other places were sent here to examine it with a view to its adoption.
Dr. Edson's victory was complete. From 1826 to 1852 he served fourteen terms on the School-committee and became known as the father of the schools of Lowell. "His ripe scholarship emanently fitted him for this office, and he proved himself at all times able and efficient."
Kirk Boott afterwards returned to St. Anne's and Dr. Edson officiated at his funeral in 1837.
General B. F. Butler said in his oration at Lowell's Semi- centennial: "Nowhere has there been a better or more efficient system of public schools from the beginning. Each child who has desired a common-school education has had it.
"The schools of Lowell have been the foster nurses of men who have been and are now carrying on the greater concerns of the country. That many are alive, and some in this presence, is sufficient reason for no names being mentioned; but governors of states, skilled engineers, successful conductors of railroads, men energetic and successful in every departmen of business and human industry, have gone out from our schools, and while I am obliged to advert to the fact that in the earlier discussions of the school-question, some of the mill owners and notably Mr. Boott agreed with reluctance to the early large expenditure for schools, yet I do so in order to place credit where credit is due, and I do this without breaking the rule that I have made to men- tion no names here in praise or blame of living men, because the man to whom the schools of Lowell are more indebted than any other man, who fostered them, protected them, at personal sacrifice in their infancy, who braved the opposition of those most powerful in their day when he stood up alone to speak for our schools, when the most experienced and able counsel were employed to argue against him in the Lowell town-meeting,
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who twice over carried the vote, twelve at the first time and thirty-eight majority at the second, by which our school system was in fact established, bears a name endeared to us all, by al- most patriarchal age, by reverential feeling of esteem and love.
"By universal acclaim all agree to the name of Theodore Edson."
The absence of definite religious instruction in the public schools was deprecated as early as 1831. In a communication published with Tremenhere's "Notes on Public Subjects" in in 1851, Dr. Edson says: "Seeing that the system of public schools established by law was the only one possible under the circum- stances of the country, I have applied myself with all the zeal in my power to make it efficient; and I have endeavored to cause the deficiency of religious instruction in the day-schools to be supplied by encouraging Sunday Schools, . . . secing in them the only mode under our system to imprint on the minds of those who most require such teaching, the principles of Revealed Religion. My experience, however, has forced upon me the pain- ful conviction that our public school system has undermined al- ready among our population, to a great extent, the doctrines and principles of Christianity."
He found the young people generally well grounded in the elements of what is called common education, and clever and acute as to all worldly matters, but said they were generally showing a great ignorance of the Bible and of the distinctive principles of the Christian faith, many not only unable to repeat any of the Ten Commandments, but entirely unaware of . here being any Ten Commandments at all; lax in their notions of moral obligations and duty, and indisposed to submit to any authority or control whatever, even from a very early age.
Dr. Edson was influential in establishing the Lowell High School. He was chairman of the committee on the Irish Schools.
At Lowell's 50th Anniversary, Bishop Clark of Rhode Island said: "In 1831, when nineteen, I came to this city and presented myself at the door of my venerable friend, the Rector of St. Anne's Church, as a Teacher candidate for the first High School ever established in Massachusetts, outside of Boston, and per- haps in New England, and through his influence, I received the appointment. I entered upon my duties in a little wooden build- ing on the Hamilton Corporation, a building that might have cost, I should think, three or four hundred dollars. I remember as if it were yesterday, the snowy November morning when I
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RECTOR, WARDENS AND VESTRY OF ST. ANNE'S
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wended my way to that little school-house to enter upon the work. Forty boys and girls, a six-plate stove and a small desk crowded the building; and there I worked for a year. I remember, as occupying seats in that humble school-house, certain boys whose names have since become somewhat famous." He mentions Benjamin F. Butler, Gov. Straw of New Hampshire, and Gus- tavus V. Fox, memorable for his war record, as Asst. Secretary of the Navy.
In 1833 Mr. Clark was succeeded as principal of the High School by Nicholas Hoppin.
THE GIRLS' FRIENDLY SOCIETY
The Girls' Friendly Society was organized in England in 1874, for the benefit of working girls, to bring them into closer relations with the parochial clergy, and help girls and young .. women to lead pure and useful lives, and on their removal to another place, to recommend them to the care of an associate of the Society in their new parish.
In 1877 a similar society was organized in St. Anne's through the instrumentality of Miss Elizabeth M. Edson. Other parishes felt the need of such an organization and branches were established in cities in other dioceses until this important movement spread over the whole country. Miss Edson will always be revered as founder of the Girls' Friendly Society for America. She was first president of the Massachusetts diocesan organization, effected in 1879, of which Miss Louise M. Hartshorn, afterwards the wife of the Rev. Alfred Evan Johnson, was the first secretary and treasurer.
Elizabeth Mason Edson was born June 23, 1826, and lived all her life in Lowell. She was a great help and comfort to her father. A few years before his death he wrote: "My dear daughter has been to me an inexpressible benefit and comfort." And she wrote in her little diary : "My father's birthday. God bless him !"
After her father's death she built a house in Wannalaneit street, and there maintained a hospitable' home. She was a pious and saintly woman.
The Girls' Friendly Society is now established in about 1,000 parishes throughout the United States with a total membership of 50,000. It is officially recognized by the National Council of the church as an organization through which work among women and girls shall be carried on and an appropriation has been made for the Society by the Council.
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THE ORPHANAGE
Dr. Edson was so impressed with the need for a place for the care of destitute children that on February 27, 1874, he bought the B. F. French house on Anne Street, adjoining the property of St. Anne's church, for which $20,000 was paid.
The house was formally opened with a service of Benediction by the Rev. C. C. Grafton, rector of the Church of the Advent, Boston, and was placed under the charge of the Sisters of St. Margaret, Mother Louise being the directing head.
The orphanage was incorporated April 20, 1876. For many years it did a good work and supplied a pressing need. On the death of Dr. Edson the name was changed to "The Theodore Edson Or- phanage." On January 1, 1914, the orphanage building was re- modeled and to it was added a large guild hall about fifty by one hundred feet for use as a parish house. The endowment funds of the orphanage have been maintained intact and are now used for the care of dependent children in Christian homes in accordance with the articles of incorporation. But the method of caring for children in an orphanage building has been abandoned for the modern way. As a result of many years experience it has been found that children cared for in private homes are better fitted to bear the responsibilities of later life than those who have been sheltered and protected in an institution.
The Church Home of Boston, an institution under the patronage of the Episcopal church, a few years ago sold its buildings and has cared for dependent children in carefully-selected families. The present policy of all progressive states and municipalities is to keep the family intact and on the death of the father a pension is granted to the mother until the children become self-maintaining. Where there are no immediate members of the family to look after destitute children, a home in which the child can be boarded is found to be in every way preferable to an orphanage.
MASONIC
Mt. Horeb R. A. Chapter was "consecrated and its officers in- stalled in St. Anne's. To give room, a stage was erected in front of the Altar, the fraternity entered at the "rear end" of the church, under an arch of twenty-four feet span, which "was elegantly- dressed and tastefully-wreathed and festooned with evergreens." At the top of the steps leading to the platform, on each side, were two columns and also one of each corner on the front side of the
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stage, which were wreathed with evergreens and surmounted with baskets of flowers. Pentucket Lodge of Lowell and Clinton Lodge of Billerica, with delegations from other lodges, took part. It was intended to have ladies present, but the members of the craft were numerous and so crowded the church that there was no space left.
October 20, 1856, Dr. Edson was installed Chaplain of Mt. Horeb Royal Arch Chapter.
Dr. Edson was one of the oldest members of the order of Masons in Lowell, having on July 13, 1826, taken the first degree in Pen- tucket Lodge. In the following year he was received into Mount Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, and February 20, 1828, he was knighted in the Boston Commandery, and later attained the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite. He was a charter-member of Kilwinning Lodge of A. F. and A. Masons, Mount Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, and of Pilgrim Commandery, instituted in 1855.
The charter of Pentucket Lodge was granted March 9, 1807, but was surrendered in 1834, and restored Sept. 10, 1845. That of Mt. Horeb R. A. Chapter, granted 1826 was restored about the same time.
January 10, 1832, Dr. Edson was informed of his appointment as Chaplain of Pentucket.
In December, 1869, there was a Masonic celebration of St. John's Day in St. Anne's. The Christmas evergreens about the chancel caught fire, doing some damage. The Masons made good the loss, which included the altar-cloth.
Kilwinning Lodge adopted the following Preamble and Reso- lution on the death of Dr. Edson :
"This venerable father of the Church was a man whose soul was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God; who walked before the Lord blameless, and was a bright and shining light in the way of Chris- tian virtue, faith and love. As a pastor, he was the gentle shepherd of his flock, leading them by the still waters of peace and love, re- storing their souls when oppressed by affliction, instructing the young in the truths of the Sacred Scriptures, and pointing out to all the light of heaven. As a philanthropist, he never forgot the sick, the lame, and the poor, whom we have always with us. As a citizen, he upheld the interests of education, rejoiced in the tri- umph of honest and righteous principles, and loved the city in which he discharged the duties of an extraordinary pastorate of sixty years.
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"Resolved, That the sweet remembrances of his many virtues shall ever be cherished by Kilwinning Lodge.
"By his admission to the Celestial Lodge above where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides, Kilwinning Lodge has lost its faithful chaplain, and Freemasonry a brother who pro- foundly respected the moral and religious basis of our fraternity, encouraged masons to the practice of every virtue, and in his own life furnished a rare example of the practice of our valuable tenets."
An especially good oil portrait of Dr. Edson hangs in Hosford Hall in Masonic Temple.
GIFTS TO ST. ANNE'S CHURCH
1. Quarto Bible and Prayer Book, by Kirk Boott, March 6, 1824. (on church lectern)
2. Vessels for the Holy Communion, by Kirk Boott and others, July 19, 1825.
3. Large Folio Bible and a box of Sunday School Books, by William Appleton, March 6, 1825.
4. Organ, by subscribers here and in Boston. Made by Wm. Goodrich 1827. Exchanged 1855 for one by Wm. Stevens. Exchanged 1884 for one by Hook and Hastings.
5. Portrait of Dr. Edson, by Alexander, presented by pupils and teachers of the Sunday School, 1841.
6. Rector's Library by subscription in the Parish, April, 1845.
7. Font, by the Ladies, bought in England by the Bishop of Fredericton, 1852.
8. Flagon and chalices in silver, by Ladies 1855.
9. Gas Fixtures, by Ladies, March, 1855.
10. Chime of 11 Bells, by a general subscription, 1857.
11. Dr. Edson's Library, presented by him, Nov. 14, 1859.
12. Altar Cross, by Mr. Kittredge, 1869.
13. Brass Eagle Lectern, bought in England and presented by Miss Mary H. Carleton at Christmas, 1869.
14. Large Bible for the Chapel, presented by Ladies, 1869.
15. Memorial Window, by William A. Burke and John O. Green, April 23, 1872.
16. Memorial Window, by E. S. Hunt and Albert Cook, 1873.
17. Memorial Window, by the Heirs of George H. Carleton, Easter, 1873.
18. Memorial Window, by Mrs. E. C. Davis, 1873.
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19. Chapel-Altar, Credence, Altar Cross and Vases, by John O. Green, August, 1873.
20. Bishop's Chair, by Mrs. B. F. French, Oct., 1873.
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First sculptured Altar of Caen-stone and credence, by James B. Francis. (Now in chapel.)
22. Engravings in Choir Room, by George W. Carleton, 1873.
23. Clock in Choir Room, by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Abbott, Feb- ruary 20, 1874.
24. Altar Hangings, by Ladies, 1873.
25. Alms Basin, by Mrs. Catherine S. Hovey, Easter, 1875.
26. Chairs, by Mrs. Collins.
27. Memorial Window, by Mrs. Solon W. Stevens, 1893.
28. Memorial Lunette Window, by Dr. Chambre.
29. Altar, Reredos, Credence and mosaic pavement in chancel, by Mrs. J. B. Francis.
30. Altar Rail of Brass, by Dr. Chambre, 1884.
31. Memorial Windows in Chancel, by Mrs. M. E. Cushing.
32. Building occupied by Edson Orphanage, by Elizabeth M. Edson.
33. Bequest $15,000 and other property by Miss Elizabeth M. Edson.
34. Chalice and Paten, by Charles G. Saunders in memory of his aunt, Sarah C. Livermore, from bequest of Elizabeth B. Livermore, 1888.
35. Memorial Window, by Mrs. J. M. G. Parker.
36 Memorial Window, by Edgar L. Fay and Blanche Fay McGannon, in memory of their mother and sister.
37. Memorial Tablet, by Mrs. Frederick A. Warner.
38. Memorial Tablet in memory of Charles Hovey.
39 Memorial Tablet in memory of Elizabeth Mason Edson, by G. F. S.
40. East Window in Chapel, by Dr. Chambre. Memorial to Mrs. Chambre.
41. West Window in Chapel, by Burke family, to Wm. A., Grace W., and Catherine E. Burke.
42. Full Set of New Hymn Books for Congregation, Aubert J. Fay, 1922.
43. Present Brass Lectern, by the Freeman sisters.
44. Small Silver Flagon, by Caroline P. Hendrick, in memory of Dr. Lloyd W. Hixon.
45. Small Silver Flagon, by Dr. Chambre.
46. Bequests by will of Dr. Chambre.
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EDSON BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. "Christ, the True Light." A sermon before the Conven- tion of the Eastern Diocese, at Claremont, N. H., September 26, 1827
2. Address before the Temperance Society in Lowell, Mass., April 4, 1830.
3. A Sermon on the Forgiveness of Sins. In the "American Pulpit." About 1831.
4. A Sermon on the Religious Capabilities of the Christian. In the "American Pulpit." 1834.
5. "Christ, the Children's Saviour." A sermon in St. Anne's Church, January 4, 1834.
6. Temperance sermon, No. 1 of the course, in City Hall, Lowell, February 21, 1841.
7. "The Rector's Library." A lecture in St. Anne's Church, Lowell, November 24, 1844. 1845, another pamphlet on the same subject.
8. "The Catholic Church." Price Lecture in Trinity Church, Boston. Charles Stimpson, Boston, 1846.
9. "Christian Nurture and Admonition." Published for the Author by Daniel Bixby, 1847.
10. Address at the opening of Colburn School in Lowell, December 13, 1848.
11. "Principles of Christian Union." A sermon in Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton, N. B., September 2, 1853.
12. Sermon in St. Anne's Church, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of its Consecration, March 18, 1855.
13. Memoir of Warren Colburn, written for the American Journal of Education, November, 1856. Excellent.
14. A Sermon in St. Anne's Church, after the interment of George H. Carleton. "The Memory of the Just is Blessed." March 8, 1857.
15. "I am the Resurrection and the Life." A sermon in St. Anne's Church, in memory of Charles H. Metcalf, January 17, 1858.
16. A Commemorative Sermon in the Church of the Advent, Boston, on the late Rev. Asa Eaton, D.D., April 27, 1858. (In describing the traits of the venerable Dr. Eaton, he unconsciously describes himself.)
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17. "Independency and the Church." An essay at the Union Meeting of District Missionary Associations in St. Mat- thew's Church, South Boston, February 1, 1865.
18. A Commemorative Sermon on the 40th anniversary of the Consecration of St. Anne's Church, Lowell, March 19, 1865.
19. A Historical Discourse on the 50th anniversary of the first introduction of stated public worship in the village of East Chelmsford, now the City of Lowell, March 8, 1874.
20. "That they all may be One." A sermon preached in the House of Prayer, Newark, N. J., May 27, 1875.
21. "A Sketch of the Life and Character of Paul Moody." Published in "Sketches of the Moody Family," by C. C. P. Moody.
22. Sermons. Including Four Lectures on The Psalms, delivered at the General Theological Seminary, 1867. Lowell,. S. W. Huse & Co., 1891.
Other productions of his have been published of which no copy can now be found; notably a sermon on the "Permanence of Christianity," an extract from which was much read in the schools, from the High School Reader, in the early 1840's.
Also, in 1864, with the aid of his brother John, he prepared and had printed by Thos. P. James, Lowell, "A Genealogical Account of The Edsons, Early Settled in Bridgewater."
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