USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Historical sketches of Brookline, Mass. > Part 19
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" He uniformly refused to be classed with any sect whatever, or to take any names except those of a 'Congregationalist ' and a ' Christian.' He seldom preached doctrinal sermons. He had no taste for controversy ; and hardly ever indulged in expres- sions of his belief clothed in any other phraseology than that of the Bible. For any party to claim him as a member on account of his opinions would be showing a sad want of respect to his memory, and an utter disregard of his feelings and wishes when alive.
" No one has any moral right to do for him that which he always refused to do for himself - class him anywhere as a theologian. He must be simply known as an 'eclectic Chris- tian,' to use his own terms ; and if this phrase is indefinite, it must be remembered that it has all the precision which he desired. On one point we may however be very explicit. He set his face like a flint against every form of sectarian exclu- siveness and bigotry, and was only intolerant toward those who ventured to judge any body of believers in Christ, and to deny them the Master's name.
"Towards some views - more or less prevalent in New Eng- land of late years - he might have failed a little in preserving that ' Charity which is not easily provoked'; but on the whole, his catholicism was a marked trait in his character, which, often severely tried, was seldom found wanting. He was an earnest, plain preacher ; dealing generally with practical subjects, with- out seeking originality of thought, or being remarkable for any graces of rhetoric.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
" Perhaps, as we have already hinted, had his quotations from Scripture been more sparing, his discourses would have gained more in clearness. Alluding to this feature in his sermons, a · friend remarked lately to us, ' that Dr. Pierce certainly preached the Bible.'
" But his style was that of former days ; and few men have retained so much of their early acceptableness in the pulpit, owing to the impression he made upon his hearers of his own deep sincerity and unfeigned piety. You felt that he believed with his whole heart and soul everything he said, and was thor- oughly in earnest. It was, however, by the daily beauty of his life as the faithful pastor, that Dr. Pierce won the confidence and affection of his people. .. . . With the same hearty sim- plicity he visited the rich and the poor, the refined and the un- learned, and though there were wide diversities in the social condition of the members of his society, there were none to charge him with partiality, none to doubt his friendliness and ready sympathies."
His memory has been kept fresh, and is still dear to all who knew him ; and the recollections of the hallowed months of beautiful serenity and peace and faith, which made his sick room like the threshold of the heavenly kingdom, have been a ministry of holy influences to many souls.
The following lines were written for the family of Dr. Pierce .*.
THE BURIAL.
LISTEN! the tolling bell Rolls its deep cadence on the summer air ; And gathering mourners swell The waiting numbers in the house of prayer.
Silence is on the throng, - Save the deep organ-tones so sadly sweet; Why lingereth so long The pastor, ever wont his flock to meet ?
* Inserted here by request of his daughter, Miss A. L. Pierce.
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MR. PHILBRICK.
Hush ! for he cometh now ! Cometh, - but not as in the days gone by ; Death's shadow marks his brow And leaves its dimness in the half-shut eye.
He cometh, - not as when His brisk, firm tread was heard along the aisle, - But borne by sorrowing men, And mourning hundreds hush their hearts the while.
The solemn service o'er They bear him hence in silence and in tears; Never ! no never more Those lips shall counsel as in other years.
Never! no never more ! Henceforth a void is left! A shining light, A beacon from the shore Is quenched, and sorrow shades us as the night.
Yet 'tis not quenched but gone ! Leaving a blank where late hath shone a star, - But from the world unknown The distant heaven, it shineth yet afar.
We mourn who loved him here, And who that knew him e'er could fail to love ? Yet we would dry the tear And strive to meet him in the world above.
The silvery locks are gone ! His voice can join our hymns of praise no more; Heaven hath an angel won; Father Divine! Forgive if we deplore !
In the words of his colleague, in his funeral discourse: " Simply thus to dwell upon the life of a good man is better than to have entered into a discussion of the mys- teries of godliness."
MR. SAMUEL PHILBRICK.
The story of the First Church, as it was forty or more years ago, would hardly be complete without some allu-
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
sion to incidents connected with the rise and growth of the anti-slavery reform and the manner in which some of the congregation were affected by it. Those who have - come to mature years during or since the War of the Re- bellion can scarcely have any conception of the difficulties through which the people of New England, and even our own vicinity, were educated up to the point of willingness to see slavery destroyed.
Mr. Samuel Philbrick, who was one of the pioneers in this reform at a time when a man must have had in him the courage and the perseverance of a martyr to dare identify himself with so unpopular a cause, was a wor- shipper at the First Church for years.
He was born and educated among the Friends or Qua- kers, but did not identify himself with them in later years, though his marriage was consummated according to the peculiar forms or usages of that sect. Mr. Philbrick never united with the Unitarian Church, as a member. He was a man of wealth and influence and occupied a central pew in the church. He was the friend of Gar- rison, May, Phillips, and others of the leading abolition- ists of those days, and his house was one of the way- stations of " the underground railroad," which here and there gave brief shelter and rest for fugitives, on the way from Mason and Dixon's line to Canada.
Friend Isaac T. Hopper, whose delightful biography by Mrs. Child will be read as long as slavery is a remem- bered blot on our history, was often a visitor at Mr. Phil- brick's house, and the Misses Grimke spent the winter of 1836-37 in his family.
These ladies, then young and wealthy, were the daugh- ters of Judge Grimke of South Carolina. They had grown up in acquaintance with the abominations of the slave-power, and had voluntarily left their home of
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THE MISSES GRIMKE.
affluence to acquaint the people of the North with the danger which was even then threatening the nation.
They will be remembered by elderly people as the first ladies who spoke in public on this subject in this vicinity. Their first audience was composed of Brookline ladies as- sembled in Mr. Philbrick's parlors, which were thrown open for the purpose. It would have been impossible in the face of the prejudice of the times, to have obtained the Town Hall, or one of the churches for such a purpose. To have attempted it might have aroused a mob.
The announcement of the meeting was by cards of in- vitation sent to friends and acquaintances. At the ap- pointed time the apartments were filled with ladies only, but in an ante-room, out of sight but within hearing, sat John G. Whittier, now the beloved Quaker poet, an in- tensely interested listener. Whether his presence in the audience would have embarrassed the speaker, or the large company of ladies would have abashed the shy and sensi- tive poet we are not informed, but he heard and went his way with new and fresh inspiration to write his lyrics of liberty.
During the winter which the Misses Grimke spent in Mr. Philbrick's house, a friend of the family solicited the sympathy and help of Mrs. Philbrick for a free colored woman in a neighboring city who was struggling to sup- port herself and children. The result was that a little girl ten years of age was taken into the household to be made useful, and comfortably provided for.
On the following Sunday she was taken to church with the family and seated in their own pew, where, owing to her small size, her head did not reach to the top rail.
Mr. Philbrick had already incurred odium by identify- ing himself with the hated "abolitionists," and small as was the cause in this instance, it was the "fly in the pot
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
of ointment," and conservative and aristocratic noses were elevated accordingly.
Great was the discussion and wide-spread the excite- . ment before another Sunday, and when the day came it was necessary for the timid child to walk to church be- side Mr. Philbrick's daughter that she might be protected from the insults of the boys. Even the children of the family were taunted by their school-fellows with being " bobolitionists," and annoyed in various ways.
The family were seated in their accustomed places, when a member of the society who could not see the child from his own pew, though he rose and stretched himself up to discover her, sent one of his children down the aisle on which he sat and up the other to look into Mr. Philbrick's pew, to ascertain whether she was actually there. To his intense disgust he learned that she was, and rising he summoned his whole family and left the church.
Viewed in the light of late events and modern times it seems too ridiculous to be true, and were it a solitary in- stance of negro-hatred it would not be historical. But it was the public sentiment of the times that was outraged, and the whole society, not to say all Brookline, was of- fended. It was a trying episode for Dr. Pierce, whose charitable spirit never allowed him to hate any human being because he was created of a different color or na- tionality from himself, and whose love of peace could ill endure a division and a quarrel among his people. More- over he, like many another conscientious man of those days, could see no way in which the agitation of the slavery question could be of practical benefit to the slaves, and his motto was, " When you know not what to do, be sure not to do you know not what." Mr. Philbrick, the friend of the Grimkes and Garrison, and the slave, was begin- ning a dangerous agitation by bringing even a free negro
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A FRIEND OF THE COLORED RACE.
child into the house of God with her friends and protec- tors. His course must be met with a remonstrance. Be- fore another Sunday came he was waited upon by a com- mittee of the society, and requested for the sake of peace, to send the child, if he must bring her to church, into the negro pew.
This, Mr. Philbrick politely but firmly declined to do. His stand on the negro question was taken, and he was not the man to commit the egregious inconsistency of not living up to it, nor to receive dictation as to the occupants of his pew. The little girl appeared at church again, and again the deeply exercised committee waited upon Mr. Philbrick, and more stringent arguments and exhorta- tions were brought to bear. The result was that Mr. Philbrick no longer felt inclined to worship where what he considered a most unchristian spirit was being aroused, and he with his family withdrew and never entered the meeting-house again, neither did one gentleman of the family who took such great offense. The rest returned to their allegiance.
Mr. Philbrick continued to befriend the colored race whenever he could do so.
The celebrated William and Ellen Crafts were con- cealed for days in a back chamber of that house while the United States Marshal and his officers were hunting Boston for thein. They were first taken to the Searle house in Cypress Street, where Hon. Ellis Gray Loring was then living, but it being feared that suspicion would point to that locality, they were conveyed secretly to Mr. Philbrick's, in the evening. After the hunt and excite- ment in Boston had somewhat subsided, the fugitives were removed from Mr. Philbrick's house by Theodore Par- ker, who with another gentleman and a lady, came in a cariage and started them on their way to Canada.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
Mr. Philbrick outlived much of the odium attached to the name of " abolitionist," and saw their ranks swelled by thousands after the rendition of Anthony Burns. He died, however, in September, 1859, before the triumph of the principles for which he had sacrificed convenience and popularity.
In less than ten years from that time his son was super- vising the industries and economies of the freedmen of South Carolina without molestation or hindrance.
The ministry of Rev. Mr. Knapp, which continued seven years, was unmarked by any striking events. He was much beloved as a pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Hedge in October, 1856.
THE PARSONAGE. - POLLY HATCH.
We now pass to the story of the parsonage. To do so we must go back to an early period in the history of the town. The ground which has for almost a century been the site of the parsonage, was from the earliest dates till about the middle of the last century the property of the Gardners. It came into possession of the heirs of Judge Sewall, and was presented by Mrs. Walcott, as a site for the parsonage of the First Church forever. The house, in which Dr. Pierce lived and died, was built in 1781. It was first occupied by Rev. Joseph Jackson, who lived in it fifteen years. Dr. Pierce occupied it fifty-two years. It was refitted for Rev. Mr. Knapp, who lived in it during the whole of his ministry in this place. The new parsonage was built for Rev. Dr. Hedge, and the old one was sold and removed to Chestnut Place, where it still stands.
Closely identified with the family of Dr. Pierce, during the greater part of his long ministry, was an humble woman, whose obscure life better deserves a memorial than
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POLLY HATCH.
that of many a titled princess. To tell her story we must antedate the settlement of the Pierce family in Brookline.
In 1790 there came to Northampton, where the Tappan family resided, a country produce dealer, from Becket, who often supplied the people of that town with his wares. He was in great trouble, having been burned out, and lost everything except his family of a dozen children, and he besought Mrs. Tappan to take one child and give her a home and make her useful. The good lady con- sented, and the man brought down with him the next time he came, a little girl of six years whose name was Re- becca Hatch. There was a Rebecca already in the family, and this child was called Polly.
She soon discovered a wonderful aptitude for work, and a most grateful and affectionate devotion to the family, especially to Miss Lucy, who afterwards became Mrs. Pierce. The little girl learned to make bread when so small that she was obliged to stand upon a stool to knead it.
When Miss Tappan was married and came to Brook- line, as the wife of Dr. Pierce, Polly came with them, and from that day, for forty years, no work was too hard and no sacrifice too great for this devoted servant and friend to make for them and theirs. Dr. Pierce's salary, as we have said, was but very small, and his family increased rapidly. Mrs. Pierce had enough to occupy her, with her domestic duties and the cares always be- longing to a clergyman's wife, and Polly counted nothing toilsome or irksome that she could do for the friends she loved so well.
The little economies she practiced to help make the fam- ily income adequate were marvelous.
Her wages were small, as was common in those days, yet she laid up little by little her scanty earnings, spend-
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
ing almost nothing for dress, for which she seemed to care nothing, but wore whatever was given her by friends in the parish, and the relatives of the family. She was skilled in every branch of household work, and not only did faithfully the washing, ironing, cleaning, and cooking for the large family, but for years never slept without one child of the family under her care, and carried about a sickly infant of the family upon her hip, singing to it dur- ing her morning work. She was not required to do this, but chose to do it. At last there came to the family that saddest of misfortunes, a hopelessly imbecile and helpless child. Then shone out the beautiful spirit of devoted self-sacrifice which made Polly's life worthy to be written. She claimed poor unfortunate Benny as her charge, and took care of him for four years by night and day with untiring patience and love. The child was then sent from home to board for some years. At the age of eighteen he was taken home again as helpless as ever, and Polly resumed her care of him as before. :
Yet she never abated her energy in other directions, but went on with all the household work, in a manner that made her name a synonym for efficiency, in the parish as well as in the family, and the idea that she was equal to almost any emergency was laughably illustrated in a curious incident.
When the church was struck by lightning, August 12, 1834, there was a town meeting being held in the old stone Town House. A venerable gentleman, who was one of the Selectmen, ran down to the parsonage, calling out " Polly ! Polly ! Polly !" As if Polly could put out a fire on the roof of the meeting-liouse. The fire was extin- guished without serious damage.
The terrors of the fire which deprived hier of her home in her childhood so impressed her mind that she never
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POLLY HATCH.
retired at night till she had seen the last light extin- guished, not even trusting Dr. Pierce himself to take care of the fire and lights. Long before the dawn of day she was at her tasks ; pleasure-seeking, in the common accep- tation of the term, she entirely ignored. She was always cheerful, but she found her pleasure in serving others. In the goodness of her heart she used to go on Mondays, once a month, to the church and sweep it, before the Sun- day fires were out, to assist Mr. Stone, the sexton, be- cause he was poor, and had many young children, and her assistance would save his time for his business as a car- penter.
Many a longed-for toy, or book, or pleasure which the children of the family would have otherwise been obliged to forego, was purchased out of Polly's little store. All these years she had heard no word from her own rela- tives. They seemed to forget or give her up .entirely, having moved out of the State, and she did not even know whither they went. Polly had several lovers in her youth, plain though she was, and quaint and antiquated in her dress at all times. But she met none of their advances with favor, her heart seeming to remain untouched. With all her hard work and plain appearance, and nar- row round of duties, Polly was not an ignorant woman, though she had little school education. But she was cul- tivated in her taste for books, and had an innate refine- ment which shrank from coarseness of any kind. Her knowledge of books was acquired more by listening than by reading, as she delighted in having the children of the family come to the kitchen and read aloud while she pursued her various avocations. Often they followed her from room to room, reading Scott, or other authors to her. In this way she learned and could repeat from memory large portions of " Marmion," " The Lady of the
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
Lake," " Lord of the Isles," the whole of Parnell's " Her- mit," and much of the poetry of other authors.
An evidence of her remarkable memory was discovered in her early youth, when she was living with the Tappan family at Northampton. Mr. Lucas, a Brookline gentle- man, came to that town with Dr. Pierce. He was on his way to Deerfield, and he told the young folks of the Tappan family that if any one of them would commit to memory the twenty-sixth chapter of the book of Acts, so as to repeat it to him on his return, verbatim, he would give the successful one a silver dollar. All the children tried, but only Polly won the prize.
When some of Dr. Pierce's daughters were in their gay days of youth, there was a sleighing party in the winter, to which they were invited by young gentlemen from Cambridge. After the party had been gone some hours, a sudden and severe snow-storm came on. It proved to be so formidable that the young people started for home, but the snow blocked the roads so that the horses could scarcely make their way through it. Polly sat up waiting their return with fire and lights.
Before they came, the snow lay two feet deep between the front door and the street. Twice, she went out alone in the dark and driving storm, and shoveled a path from the door to the gate. But her benevolence did not stop there. She knew it would be impossible for the young gentlemen to reach Cambridge that night, and the horses must be taken care of. She therefore made her way with a lantern, to the barn, and actually shoveled away the snow which prevented the door from being opened, and when the young people arrived past midnight, chilled through, and the exhausted horses ready to drop, she had all things in readiness for the "entertainment of man and beast," took care of them all herself, in spite
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POLLY'S SELF-SACRIFICE.
of every remonstrance, and was on the alert early in the morning as if nothing unusual had happened.
Nothing ever seriously disturbed or made her unhappy but opposition in her self-sacrifice for the family. If refused, or prevented from carrying out her purposes in this respect, her quickly starting tears bore evidence how genuine was the feeling that prompted them.
Her practice of often spending money for the young people of the family was sometimes very embarrassing to them, but no remonstrance was of any avail. In this particular she would have her own way. An inconven- ience always severely felt at the parsonage was the want of a cistern to hold soft water. Dr. Pierce at one time went away upon a journey, and during his absence, Polly secured the cooperation of Capt. Benjamin Bradley, who was a carpenter, and before the Doctor's return, a cistern was built for the sum of fifty dollars, and paid for out of Polly's money. When the Doctor came home, and learned what had been done, he insisted upon paying Polly for the outlay at once. But she burst into tears, insisted that she had had it done for her own convenience, and a pleasant surprise to him, and that it would break her heart if he insisted upon it further. The matter was allowed to drop, but a long time afterwards the Doc- tor found an opportunity of making it up to her.
At the marriage of each of Dr. Pierce's children, a present was bestowed upon the bride by Polly, quite equal to the gifts of other friends, in those times. At the birth of each grandchild, till there were ten, she deposited in the bank five dollars for the new comer. This practice Dr. Pierce positively forbade, but it was vain to try to prevent the devoted creature from im- poverishing herself for others.
At one time when a poor divinity student, who had
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
been often to see the Doctor, was leaving the house, the Doctor inquired why he wore no overcoat on so cold a day. He confessed that he had none. Polly overheard the conversation. Shortly afterwards, the young man received a present of a new overcoat. It was Polly's gift, but the recipient never knew whence it came, and even the family were not aware of this act of generosity for many years. It was finally disclosed by the person whom she deputed to make the purchase.
In 1830, when Polly had lived in the family of Dr. Pierce nearly thirty years, a person from a neighboring town, who had been on a trip to western New York, called to see Dr. Pierce, to inquire respecting her. He had met with a brother of hers, who finding that he was from the vicinity of Boston, made inquiries respecting " Rev. Mr. Pierce," who had taken Polly from Northamp- ton. It was over twenty years since she had known whether she had a relative living. It was washing-day, and Polly stood at the tub, when the Doctor announced the startling news that she had two brothers and a sister living, and that they had taken the trouble to inquire respecting her. Polly was like one thunderstruck. She stood in silence for a moment, and then fell senseless upon the floor. It was some time before consciousness returned, and the manner in which she was affected was the more remarkable, from the fact that she was never known to faint before. Nothing would satisfy her but she must go and see her kindred, wholly forgetful of their long indifference to her. Her visits had been con- fined to annual trips to Boston all those many years, but nothing daunted, she set out on her journey, found her people, made them a four weeks' visit, and then returned to the parsonage.
A few years after, Polly asked leave of absence for a
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POLLY HATCH LEAVES THE PARSONAGE.
whole year. This was granted, and she went to her friends, and devoted herself to their interests with her time and money.
At the expiration of that time she returned. Polly had scarcely ever had a letter in her lifetime, but now letters began to come, regularly and often, so that one day the Doctor returning from the post-office with a let- ter, said jokingly, as he delivered it, " What is the mat- ter, Polly ? Are you engaged ?" " Yes sir," said Polly, meekly, and burst into tears.
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