USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Scituate > History and records of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church, of Scituate, Mass., 1725-1811, of Hanover, Mass., 1811-1903, and other items of historical interest, being Volume II of the church and cemetery records of Hanover, Mass > Part 12
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hanover > History and records of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church, of Scituate, Mass., 1725-1811, of Hanover, Mass., 1811-1903, and other items of historical interest, being Volume II of the church and cemetery records of Hanover, Mass > Part 12
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Dec. 15. John Burdon BATES, 73. Apoplexy. 1900 Mar. 5. John TOWER, 75. Apr. 8. Anna Mitchel EELLS, 76. Apoplexy.
Heart Disease.
13. Minnie OLSON, 50, of Pembroke. Abdominal Tumor.
Sept. 29. Florence D. SWEENEY, 36. Diabetes.
Oct. 2. Lydia Copeland BATES, 69.
18. Ralph HOBILL, 74, of Pembroke. Rheumatism .of Heart, int. at Pembroke.
1901 Jan. 30. Infant son of Frederick and Annie GILLETTE, 3 dys., int. at North Pembroke.
May 16. Elizabeth ( Barstow) CUSHING, 74 yrs., II mos., of Dorchester. June 19. Mary Elizabeth DONNELL, 41, of Pembroke. Biliary Lith- iasis.
Louisa H. (Gooding) WATERMAN, 85, of Cleveland, Ohio, int. Aug. 6, 1901.
Oct. 5. Infant son of Joseph S. and Mary A. SYLVESTER.
Dec. 15. Lydia Bassett BAILEY, 80 yrs., 5 mos. I dy.
1902 Feb. 13. Benjamin F. LUCAS*, 46. Bright's Disease.
May 13. Harvey McLAUTHLIN, 66. Pneumonia, int. at Kingston.
Aug. 23. Ann STETSON, 82.
Aug. 31. Maria W. SYLVESTER, 63.
Nov. 3. Susan J. SHERMAN, 83 of Pembroke.
Dec. 15. Elizabeth Salmond SYLVESTER, 9 mos., of Norwell.
25. Ann HoBILL, 75 yrs., 7 mos., 2 dys. Pembroke, int. at Pembroke.
1903 Feb. 27. George Alfred FISKE, 62, of Pembroke, int. at Cedar Grove, Dorchester.
Apr. 17. Elizabeth RAMSDELL of Pembroke, int. at Pembroke. 18. Sheila MURRAY, 5 yrs. Service in Boston. Burial Edin- boro, Scotland.
NOTE .- Ilanover in the original records appears so often as the place of residence and "Cemetery at Hanover Centre" and "Center Hanover'" so frequently as the place of interment that those places may be here understood except where the name is followed by * or t. The first indicates that the records do not show the place of residence; the second that the place of interment does not appear.
CHAPTER VI.
HISTORY OF ST. ANDREWS PARISH CONTINUED FROM CHAPTER I.
O N November 8, 1846, upon the completion of five years of ministerial service in the Parish, the Reverend Samuel Cutler delivered a sermon which embodies the history of the Church until that time. In it he states that "All the early records of the parish are lost as well as a portion of those of later years. For half a century from the commencement of the Episcopal service in this neighborhood no record has been pre- served and from the year 1810 to 1818 there is no register of the ministerial acts of those who during that time had the over- sight of the parish."
The existing records of the parish afford but a mere outline of its affairs, both spiritual and temporal and from them it seem- ingly appears that prior to Mr. Cutler's pastorate its growth was not considerable or encouraging. When the sermon was pre- pared information concerning the subject could be readily obtained from sources not now available, and the facts, presented in admirable form, we may feel assured were gathered with care and thoroughness.
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In the first chapter extracts from the memorial sermon of Dr. Brooks furnish the history of the church while at Scituate, and pursuing the plan there adopted, the excellence of Dr. Cutler's sermon as well as the circumstances already mentioned, justify the use of its appropriate portions in continuing the history until 1846, and, while these portions are not literally quoted the language and the arrangement of the original are substantially observed.
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About the year 1809 or 1810 there was an accession of mem- bers to the Parish occasioned by some disagreement in the Congregational Society at Hanover relative to the settling of a minister.
The increase led to the proposition for the erection of a new church in a more favorable location and where a majority of the worshippers would be better accommodated. The building at Scituate was small and needed frequent repairs to make it ten- antable. Hence at a meeting of the Parish held April 24, 1810 it was voted "That the Society are willing to attend public wor- ship in Hanover provided individuals will build a new church in said Hanover."
The Parish continued to worship in the old church while the new building was erecting. According to the statement of one who was at the time an interested and active agent in the enter- prise, the new edifice was erected at a cost of $5000 and the building committee consisted of Horatio Cushing, Reuben Curtis and Edward Eells and Albert Smith and Melzar Curtis were the contractors. The building was consecrated to the worship of God according to the usage of the Protestant Epis- copal church on June 13, 1811 by Bishop Griswold and was the first church in Massachusetts consecrated by him. In his first address to the convention of the Eastern Diocese he reported the consecration of St. John's, Providence, R. I. and St. Andrew's, Hanover. He also mentions the institution of the Rev. Joab G. Cooper as rector of the church.
After the death of Mr Wheeler and previous to the election of Mr. Cooper the services of the church were performed by several clergymen. On the 24th of April, 1810 it was voted "That the wardens and vestry request the Rev. Samuel Sewall, Jr. to preach until the last Thursday in September next." The invitation was accepted by him but before the time arrived on which he had agreed to enter on his duties a change in his views relative to the doctrine of the Trinity led him to withdraw his name as a candidate for orders. The wardens and vestry were directed at their discretion to supply the pulpit. There is no
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record of those who officiated from October 1810 to October 18II. It is probable however that during the summer of the latter year the Rev. Joab Goldsmith Cooper of Long Island was of the number as he was unanimously elected as rector October 7, 1811. He resigned the charge of the Parish at Easter, 1816. Mr. Cooper left no record of his ministerial acts.
After the resignation of Mr. Cooper, the Rev. Jonathan M. Wainwright, then a candidate for ordination, officiated for a few months. The Rev. George Otis, the Rev. James B. Howe and the Rev. Benjamin B. Smith, later Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Kentucky, officiated a number of times. Mr. Wainwright and Mr. Otis officiated as lay readers and Mr. Howe for a portion of the time.
On June 2, 1817 it was voted " That the wardens request Mr. James B. Howe to supply the church one half the time until the first day of October next." On the sixth of October it was voted "That the wardens employ Mr. Howe to supply the pulpit one half the time until next Christmas." On December second a similar invitation was extended to Mr. Howe to remain until Easter, 1818 at which time he was invited to settle in the Parish. Although Mr. Howe declined the rectorship he probably continued his services until the summer of 1818. He .. was afterwards settled in Claremont, N. H. He died suddenly while on a journey from Boston to the western part of the United States in the month of September, 1844.
On July 27, 1818 it was voted to employ the Rev. Calvin Wolcott and on September 30, 1818 he was elected to the rectorship. From the address delivered by Bishop Griswold to the Diocesan Convention at Greenfield on September 13, 1818 it appears that Mr. Wolcott officiated a part of the time at Quincy and in the vote by which he was elected rector it is pro- vided that he has liberty to be absent one quarter part of each and every year. Mr. Wolcott having accepted the charge of Parish and entered upon its duties was ordained as presbyter by Bishop Griswold at a meeting of the convention held at Salem, November 18, 1818.
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Under his zealous ministrations the prospects of the Parish assumed a more encouraging aspect ; contention and disaffection with Mr. Cooper had been a serious detriment to the interests of the people which the occasional ministrations of those who had preceded Mr. Wolcott had not wholly remedied. An im- pression of the condition of the Parish at the beginning of his ministry is offered by a quotation from an address of Bishop Griswold to a convention of the Eastern Diocese in 1820. He says : "July 1, 1819, A. M. Preached at Hanover, confirmed and gave the Communion. In this cold region there is hope that the Sun of Righteousness is diffusing his vital rays and that some are now rejoicing in the light of his truth. In the afternoon preached again. The people hear with eager attention. May the Lord graft his word in their hearts." " Friday, July 2, preached in Marshfield; the church would not hold all who flocked to hear." This remark suggests that the church in Marshfield which for many years had been connected with the old church in Scituate was also the scene of Mr. Wolcott's labors. He continued during his residence at Han- over to preach at Marshfield one Sunday in each Month or a quarter of his time .*
His resignation of the rectorship was accepted by the Parish July 14, 1834. From Hanover he removed to the western part of the state and officiated for a time in the churches in Otis and Blandford. Subsequently he was in charge of churches at Quincy and Hopkinton, N. H., and later was an agent of the American Bible Society.
* A small church In Marshfield established as early as 1745 has always been connected with St. Andrew's, the rector officiating there one Sabbath in four. A new church edifice has been erected there in 1826 near " Three Pine Hill " and two miles to the northward of the former edifice.
Another Episcopal church situated in Taunton was for many years connected with St. Andrew's, the rector officiating there one Sabbath in fonr. The church edifice was situated two miles from "the green" on the Providence Road. It was taken down many years since and it was not until 1828 that a neat little Gothic church was erected a few rods south of " the green "
St. Andrews obtained an act of the incorporation in 1797. The wardens then were Charles Bailey and Thomas Barstow, Jr .- [ History of Scituate by Samuel Deane - 1831 - page 47.
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During the rectorship of Mr. Wolcott the records show 57 baptisms, 27 confirmations and that the number of communicants was between 40 and 50.
On November 24, 1834, after an interval of six months during which the church was without a rector, an arrangement was made with the Rev. Samuel G. Appleton for one year and at the Easter meeting in 1835 a committee was chosen to consult with Mr. Appleton as to his becoming rector of the society. The arrangement was effected and Mr. Appleton continued his ser- vice until November, 1838. He was afterwards engaged in the Diocese of Western New York. During the rectorship of Mr. Appleton there was an addition of several families as reported by him to the convention of 1837. A new organ was procured at an expense of $450. He officiated one Sunday in each month at Marshfield and on those days held a service at Hanover on his return.
He left a record showing 8 baptisms, II confirmations, 16 marriages and 35 burials. After Mr. Appleton's departure in November, 1838, the Parish was again unsupplied until March, 1839, when the Rev. Eleazer A. Greenleaf was chosen rector. He commenced his labors the first Sunday after Easter. According to the terms of his invitation he officiated a part of two Sundays in the month at Marshfield and at Hanover on the other parts of these Sundays, instead of every fourth Sunday at Marshfield as had been for some time the custom. He removed to Drewsville N. H. and was located afterward as Missionary at Stillwater in the Diocese of Michigan. During his service which continued until October, 1841, there is a record of 18 baptisms, 7 of which were of adults, 4 confirmations, 7 marriage's and 13 burials.
On November 7th 1841, the Rev. Samuel Cutler (then recently ordained deacon) officiated at the church for the first time. The communicants at the beginning of his ministry numbered 45.
The Rev. Samuel Cutler was born at Newburyport, Mass., May 12, 1805 .* His father was for many years a merchant in
* For a considerable portion of the sketch of Mr. Cutler the author is Indebted to a published copy of a sermon preached in his memory in the. First Reformed Church in Boston by the pastor Rev. James M. Gray on November 4, 1880.
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that city, president of an insurance company and warden of the Protestant Episcopal church. His ancestor, John Cutler of Hingham, England, was among the adherents of Rev. Robert Peck "who sold their possessions for one half their value and in 1637 removed with him to New England and named the place of their settlement after their native town."
His mother, whose maiden name was Lydia Prout, was of the Hutchinson family, prominent in the early political and religious history of the colony, her grand-uncle, Thomas having been governor of the Province in 1771.
At 14 he became a clerk in a store at Newburyport and at 21 he removed to Portland, Me., where forming a co-partnership in the dry goods business he remained eight years. He then be- come a member of the importing and jobbing firm of Edward Clarke & Co. of Boston and continued that connection until 1838.
He had long felt that he was called to the work of the Christ- ian Ministry and notwithstanding favorable opportunities to again engage in business, he applied himself to a course of study and on May 12, 1841 he was ordained deacon by Bishop Gris- wold at St. Paul's church, Boston. The following year he was called to the rectorship of St. Andrew's where he was ordained presbyter by Bishop Griswold assisted by the Rev. John Woart of Christ Church, Boston and the Rev. Charles M. Clarke, rector of Grace Church, Boston, afterward Bishop of Rhode Island.
As a result of the complete victory of the ritualists at the triennial convention of the Protestant Episcopal church at Bos- ton in the contest between the high and low church parties, which had waged for a quarter of a century, Mr. Cutler felt that there was no longer a place within church where he could labor, so radically different were his beliefs and principles from ยท those that the convention established.
He resigned his office as presbyter and on April 1, 1872, after a faithful and acceptable service of thirty years and five months he severed his connection with the Parish. His resignation was accepted with unfeigned regret. The " Abington Standard " of
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April, 1872, in an extended notice of Mr. Cutler's work testi- fied that "he was universally respected and beloved ; that the impress of his ministry would not soon be effaced and that he would be followed by many good wishes and long be held in re- spectful and affectionate remembrance."
Feeling however that his work was not done, on Advent Sun- day, 1877, he inaugurated public services in the Freeman Place Chapel in Boston under the constitution and canons of the Re- formed Episcopal Church. Here he ministered for two years, and then as the church seemed firmly established, he requested that a successor be appointed.
In the spring of 1880 he was attacked with a disease of a rheumatic nature, extremely painful at times and he passed away at Boston on July 17 of that year.
The following extracts from his will, registered at Boston, may be of interest to the reader :
I. I desire and direct that the necessary funeral expenses including a suit- able stone with the name, date and death and age and any indebtedness (if any) be paid. . My body to be placed in my lot in the burial ground in Han- over, Mass., leaving room for the body of my wife, to be placed between my own body and that of our son, Samuel Gardner Cutler
The remainder of his estate the testator bequeathed to his wife and two trustees in trust; the income thereof to be paid to his wife during her life and upon her decease he directed that the property then remaining should be divided and paid in equal parts as follows :
"To the American Bible Society formed in New York in the year 1816, one third of the same; to the American Tract Society instituted in the City of New York, one third of the same. The amounts thus bequeathed to be ap- plied to the charitable uses and purposes of said Bible and Tract Societies. The remaining one third I give and bequeath to the trustees of the Sustenta- tion Fund of the Reformed Episcopal Church, to be used at the discretion of the trustees or their successors in office for missionary or church building purposes in connection with the Reformed Episcopal Church.
II. I give and bequeath to Charles Cullis, M. D. of Boston (if living, if not to the trustees of the Faith Training College) $1000 for the general
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uses and purposes of said college, established by the said Charles Cullis and now located at Beacon Hill Place in the City of Boston ; or the said sum of $1000 may at the discretion of the said Charles Cullis and the trustees of Faith College be transferred and used for the Consumptives Home, now located at Grove Hall and also under the care of Dr. Cullis.
III. I give and bequeath to the trustees of the Sustentation Fund of the Reformed Episcopal Church, the sum of $1000 to be used at their discretion,
I. In aid of public worship and the establishment-the Lord blessing the effort-of a church and parish in union with that body in the City of Boston, Mass., or
2. For the general missionary and benevolent purposes of the Reformed Episcopal Church. .
IV. I give and bequeath to the directors of the General Theological Library in, the City of Boston in trust, the sum of $500 toward the building fund of said corporation.
On February 27, 1880, in a codicil after reciting the legacies to the Sustentation Fund of the Reformed Episcopal Church Mr. Cutler willed as follows :
" I hereby revoke said bequest and give and bequeath the amount to said trustees to be used-
I. For the support of public worship and in aid of what is known as the First Reformed Episcopal Church in the City of Boston, Mass., or-
II. For general missionary or church building purposes connected with the Reformed Episcopal Church, if for good reasons it should not be wanted in Boston.
But inasmuch as I am from principle opposed to the use of the white gar- ment known as the surplice, whether worn by minister or chorister and as in some Reformed Episcopal Churches this priestly habit is worn I make as a condition of the bequest that neither in whole or in part shall it be appro- priated for the support of any candidate for the ministry or for any minister or missionary who wears the surplice or for the purchase, repair or erection of a church edifice or place of worship where any other clerical habit than the. black gown is used. And should the trustees of the Sustentation Fund of the Reformed Episcopal Church or their successors refuse or neglect the acceptance of the bequest on these conditions, I will and direct whoever may have the settlement of my estate under the will to pay the amount thus re- fused in equal portions to the American Bible Society for charitable uses and purposes as declared in Section VIII of my will before referred to and in ad- dition to the bequests made in that section the bequest in the III section of my will I place under the same restrictions.
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Bishop William R. Nicholson formerly rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Boston, in his report to the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1879, says : "Sunday, February 10, 1878, being in Boston, I preached for my old friend Rev. Samuel Cutler to the little band of Reformed Epis- copalians which he has so zealously and faithfully gathered together there under his ministry. I much enjoyed this meet- ing with him under the auspices of the Reformed Episcopal Church, seeing that we had been fellow members for so many years of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts." Bishop Nicholson in a report to a later council says again : "Sunday, February 13, 1881 I visited the First Reformed Episcopal Church, Boston and received in the rite of confir- mation nine persons into the Communion of the Church. ** The name of Reverend Samuel Cutler is fragrant in that parish .*** A truer, braver man than he, it was hard to find."
Bishop Samuel Fallows in his report to the council of 1879 says : " Our cause in Boston has been faithfully sustained by the Rev. Samuel Cutler who merits the hearty appreciation of the church for his self-denying labors."
Mr. Cutler's influence extended greatly beyond his immediate circle of friends and acquaintances. He was a copious writer, the author of several tracts and larger devotional works, among them " The Name Above Every Name " and " The Work of the Holy Spirit " being doctrinal and practical meditations for every day in the year and both revised and published by the American Tract Society.
He was engaged in the promotion of private and public charities; was historiographer for some years of the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society, director in the North End Mission, Boston, and interested in the American Bible and Tract Society, the General Theological Library, Boston and other similar institutions.
Although twice married he left no descendants, his only child a son and long an invalid, died in 1869, aged 33 years.
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"He was intensely earnest, active and aggressive, in the name of the Lord and every work he began in the service of God he did it with all his heart and prospered."
Mr. Cutler was succeeded by Reverend William Henry Brooks, S. T. D., who was born in Baltimore and at the age of 21 graduated at the Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained in his- toric Christ Church in Alexandria of which Washington was a vestryman. He became rector of Trinity Church, Lenox, Mass., in 1855 and from that time until his death his ministerial work was in the Massachusetts Diocese. Before coming to Hanover he was in charge of Parishes at Plymouth and Webster ; of the latter parish he was the founder. In 1858 he was one of the Assistant Secretaries of the Diocesan Convention and in 1863 was again elected to that position which, except in 1864 and 1880, he held continuously until in 1884 he succeeded as Secre- tary the Rev'd Dr. Clinch who had held that office for 36 years and on account of declining health was obliged to refuse a re- election. His election was unanimous and he held the position until his death. He was, as well, Private Secretary to Bishop Brooks and Bishop Lawrence. In "The Church Militant" March 1900, Bishop Lawrence in a tribute to Dr. Brooks writes :
" It was, however, as an officer of the Diocesan Convention that Dr. Brooks became known to the clergy and laity of Mas- sachusetts. To this work he gave the best of his life and thought.
" The great majority of the present members of the Diocesan Convention have known no other Secretary. His voice, genial manner and prompt work have become identified with the Con- vention. The keeping of good records was to him a high duty. His conscience went into the smallest item.
"It is rarely that one meets a man so interested in the details of a routine office, so anxious to have exact and formal records, who at the same time preserves such warmth and heartiness of . manner, such good comradeship and sense of humor as did Dr. Brooks. One cannot reckon how much of the courtesy which has graced our Diocesan Conventions has been due to the gracious and fine temper of the Secretary.
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"Perhaps the happiest work of his life was as Private Secretary to Bishop Brooks, for he there could revel in records and at the same time be in close and confidential relations with one for whom he felt a deep affection tempered with awe.
" As such a man passes, his records will look to another gener- ation cold and formal, but to us who have known him there will always hang about them the memory of the warmth of geniality and the spirit of sweet charity that characterized Dr. Brooks.
The pastorate of Dr. Brooks continued for 16 years. He was esteemed and respected by the community and ever active in the promotion of its welfare and advancement. In 1889, with- out the slightest canvass by himself and almost without his knowledge until the movement was well beyond its preliminary stage, he was nominated and elected as the representative to the General Court from the 5th Plymouth District, including Rockland as well as Hanover. He was the first and only Epis- copal clergyman ever in the Massachusetts Legislature and was House Chairman of the Committee on Parishes and Religious Societies and a member of the Committee on Woman Suffrage. The "Southern Churchman " said of him " Secretary Brooks is one of the few clergymen who can go gracefully into politics and keep from injury. He served with ability and won the respect of his associates of both political parties."
Dr. Brooks was a Southerner by birth and by family connec- tions, but a Union man always. He suggested the Soldiers' Monument at Hanover and its erection is due in a large measure to his efforts.
Impaired health constrained him to resign his charge at St. Andrew's, and at a farewell reception the whole town attended. A purse of more than $1000 was presented to him to which almost every man, woman and child in the place contributed.
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