USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Bolton > History of Bolton, 1738-1938 > Part 5
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EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
Discussion about the meetinghouse continued for several meetings. In October, 1739, the town voted to "raise 300 pounds money to build said Meetinghouse, 150 pounds to be paid in four months and 150 pounds to be paid in six months." The question of location was finally determined at this meeting also, and is believed to be near the present site of the barn belonging to Mrs. Trevitt. Forty-one voters agreed and twenty-two dissented.
The covenant was as follows :
We the subscribers do covenant and agree that the place to set up the House of God To meet in, Shall be on the Nole Near- est to the Barn called the Widdow Townsends Barn. On the North side of the Barn.
NB. If the above covenant Cannot be signed by the Major part of the Voters, it is to be Void and of none Effect.
Jonathan Moore
Jacob Houghton
Henry Houghton
Jeremiah Willson
Josiah Whetcomb
John Priest
Thomas Sawyer
Jonah Richardson
Jabes Beaman
Jonathan Beaman Benj. Stearns
Benj. Atherton
John Moor Joshua Townsend
Jonathan Houghton
Jabez Fairbank
Jonathan Robbins
David Whetcomb
Thomas Ball
Josiah Sawyer
Daniel Houghton
Silas Houghton
John Houghton
Jacob Houghton, second
William Wilder
James Snow John Houghton, second
Hez Snow
Samuel Snow
Sanderson Houghton
John Wilder
Elias Sawyer
Widd. Mary Houghton
Daniel Greenleaf
Elijah Sawyer
William Pollard
John White
Nathaniel Willson
Simon Whetcomb
Joseph Wood
William Sawyer
At the next town meeting, "Jabez Fairbank, Elias Saw- yer, and Jonathan Whetcomb were chosen a committee for the building of the meetinghouse." In December, the meeting voted to purchase two acres of land from Mr. Fletcher on the knoll as described in the covenant; and in
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
March the town voted "that Thomas Dick should have the liberty to cut six sticks of timber on any man's land in order to build the Meetinghouse."
The records do not say when the meetinghouse was com- pleted, but on June 23, 1740, the first town meeting was called together there. The meetinghouse was called the 'Church of Christ in Bolton.'
From time to time the town had voted "sums towards preachings," which were held in the homes of John Whitney, Jonathan Moor, and Thomas Sawyer. Finally, on Decem- ber 15, 1740, the parish chose Mr. Thomas Goss to be their minister. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1737, at the age of twenty years, and gave every promise of a useful career in the ministry. "If the gentleman do except the call and upon examination by the ministers of the Gospel do appear to be Orthodox and qualified for the pastoral office then to have the sum of 380 pounds in the old Tenour for Settlement or that which is a equivalent to it."
Another meeting "voted to give 170 pounds in bills of the old Tenour to be regulated by Indian corn at 8 shillings per bushel, Rie at 10 shillings per bushel, Peas at 6 pence per pound and Pork at 9 pence per pound to be paid yearly as a stated salary." Provincial currency was, in general, very much less than that of the same denominations in English money.
Soon after, the next meeting set the vote aside as not being legal. Upon the advice of the neighboring ministers in Stow, Lancaster, and Sudbury, the town voted to hear three ministers - Mr. Belcher Hancock, Mr. William Gay, and Mr. Goss.
In June, 1741, Mr. Goss was chosen the minister by the 44 votes qualified by law. "For his settlement or encour-
K NOW all men by thefe prefents, That we, ABRA- HAM MOORE SILAS HOLMAN, and NATHANIEL LONGLEY, jun. a Commitiec to fell and give title of Pews in the Meeting Houfe in the town of Belton, in confid- eration of Thirteen pounds eight fillings paid Janderfor Houghton
of faid Bolton, Groman the receipt whereof is hereby ac-
knowledged, and in behalf of faid Sown we do hereby give, grant, fell, and convey, unto the faid do denon Houghton has Heirs and Af
P Biotin on the lower floor in faid
Houle : To Have and to Hold the fame to the faid Sandersa Rough ton
his Heirs and Affigns, to rio and their uf and behoof forever. And we do cov- enant with the faid Janderfor Houghton Heirs and Affigos, that faid Town is lawfully feized, in fec, of the premifcs; that they are free of allincumbrances; and that, in our capacity, we will warrant and defend the fame to the faid Sonderfor Houghton
huis Heirs and Affigis forever, against the lawful claims and demands of all perfons. In witness whereof, we hereunto fet our hands and feals, this formgy fixeth day of February in the of our Lord one thousand feven hundred and ninety four
Signed, fealed, and deliveredy in prefence of :
Abriram Moore
Jaar9 Motor Silas Whatcon
Hobrian.
A DEED TO A PEW IN THE MEETINGHOUSE
Pew Thirteen, on the lower floor, was deeded to Sanderson Houghton and his heirs on February 26, 1794, by the Committee, Abraham Moor, Silas Holman, and Nathaniel Longley, Junior. The price was thirteen pounds, eight shillings.
THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH, BUILT IN 1793 AND BURNED IN 1926
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EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
agement sum, 400 pounds in bills of the old Tenour and 180 pounds sallary in bills of old tenour or in passable bills of credit that shall be equivolent to it as the money now passes." The settlement or encouragement money was to be used by the new minister in paying off old debts con- tracted for his education, in purchasing necessary books for his library, or in procuring articles of furniture for his house- hold. On September 16, 1741, Mr. Goss accepted.
The arrangement of seats in the meetinghouse was a subject of great discussion. At the annual meeting of March 2, 1742, it was put to vote "if the highest payers in the town and on Down as many as there is Room for Pews shall have Liberty to chose the pew ground for a pew, he building the same on his own charge." It was favorably voted and Captain Elias Sawyer, Deacon Jabez Fairbank, Daniel Greenleaf, Benjamin Atherton, and Jabez Beaman were chosen a committee to divide the pew ground and seat the meetinghouse. Jonathan Robins was chosen to "care for the meetinghouse, as sweeping etc." About two months later they voted to "give the committee, liberty to have respect to the aged, infirm and the widows in seating the Meetinghouse." Captain Elias Sawyer and Jabez Fairbank were chosen tything men.
In 1746, the town voted "to consider the Rev. Mr. Thos. Goss's circumstances so as to give him 20 pounds old tenour for the present year, in addition to his salary." Mr. Goss wrote the town a letter in answer, "I return you thanks for it, but considering that it was obtained with some difficulty I now fully and freely discharge you from any obligation lying on you for payment of the same by virtue of said Grant. Asking your prayers that I may so administer to you in holy things as that I may be worthy to Receive a
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
competent portion of worldly good things from you and praying that brotherly love may continue, subscribe myself, Your unworthy pastor. Thomas Goss."
The town appropriated 150 pounds to finish the meeting- house in 1747, and at the next year's meeting added thirty- five pounds to the minister's salary. Three years later, in 1751, another sum was voted to finish the meetinghouse and in November the building was accepted as finished.
Each year for several years Mr. Goss was given thirteen pounds, six shillings and eight pence in addition to his salary. In 1756, it was proposed that the town buy a wood- lot for the minister but this did not pass and he was left to "find his own wood." After that, for many years he received extra money in varying amounts.
How things went during the thirty years after Mr. Goss's ordination does not appear in the records. The first in- dication of a difference of opinion appears in the vote of May 21, 1770, in which the town "voted to join with the church in all proper and constitutional methods towards settling the Differences now subsisting between the church and said Town." In September, nine pounds was voted to hire preaching until such time as Mr. Goss was able to sup- ply the pulpit. It seems quite possible that he was tempo- rarily suspended since the town voted to take off twenty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence of extra salary they had given him for a number of years. In August 3, 1771, the town "voted to concur with the church in dismissing and discharging the Rev. Mr. Thomas Goss from all parts of his ministerial affairs amongst us." "No person shall be ad- mitted to the meetinghouse as a public speaker but such as have had approbation of the selectmen." "Mr. Goss hath made a division in the church and by maladministra-
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EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
tion and Breach of Covenant hath brought the Town into de- plorable circumstances and thereby hath forfeited his Right of Claim to the Desk as a Teacher."
By 1772, a lawsuit was under way. Mr. Goss claimed his salary and the town had to appoint a committee to defend itself. During this time and until the death of Mr. Goss, friends and supporters held religious services at his home. It is believed that the invisible root of the trouble, which patriots did not care to expose to the King's spies, was that Mr. Goss was a stanch Royalist in politics as well as an autocrat in the church.
Mr. Goss has been described as a tall, spare man, of stern aspect, and indomitable will. The mansion he built in- dicated a man of aristocratic habits. The house now stands and is used as "The Country Manor" but is known to residents as the Amory Holman estate.
Thomas Goss died in Bolton, and on the slate slab on his grave in the South Cemetery is the following inscription in Latin :
Sacred to the memory of Rev. Thomas Goss, A.M., Pastor of the church among the Boltonians, who, for upwards of thirty- nine years having exercised the sacred office, departed this life January 17th, 1780, in the 63d year of his age. A man adorned with piety, hospitality, friendliness, and other virtues; some- what broken in body but endowed with wonderful fortitude ; he was the first among the clergy in these unhappy times to be grievously persecuted for boldly opposing those who were striv- ing to overturn the prosperity of the churches, and for heroically struggling to maintain the ecclesiastical polity which was handed down by our ancestry. Friends erected this monument.
The town soon joined with the church in its choice of Mr. John Walley, a graduate of Harvard College in 1734. Mr. Walley accepted the call in May, 1773, and was installed in
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
June. He was to receive 66 pounds, 13 shillings and four- pence annually, and also 20 cords of wood.
The church, as a body, was not united under the Reverend Mr. Walley, for Mr. Goss retained some warm adherents. An agreement was finally made that Mr. Walley should ask and receive a dismission; the agreement was signed, and Mr. Walley left on January 31, 1783. The original church covenant was renewed, and a new church and society were formed.
The Church Book of Records for Bolton began December 18, 1782. The subscribers under the care of Reverend John Walley numbered eighteen, and the following were listed after the renewing of the covenant in February :
Simon Whitcomb
Joshua Townsend
John Whitcomb
Oliver Pollard
David Whitcomb
Ephraim Atherton
Benj. Atherton
Clifton Rice
Thos. Sawyer
Nathaniel Longley
Jeremiah Holman
Jonas Houghton
Samuel Snow
Robert Barnard
David Moore
William Fife
Elijah Rice
Robert Longley
Jesse Walcott
Jonathan Moore
Ephraim Fairbank
Jonathan Whitcomb
John Whitney
Abijah Pollard
Thaddeus Russell
John Nurss
Abraham Moore
John Whitcomb, Jr.
Jonathan Nurse
William Sawyer
Calvin Greenleaf
Oliver Barrett
Elijah Whitney
Paul Whitcomb
John Jewett
David Stiles
Reverend Phineas Wright, a native of Westford and a graduate of Harvard in 1772, was the next minister, or- dained on October 28, 1785. He received a settlement of
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EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
180 pounds, and an annual salary of 80 pounds and twenty cords of wood. Under his guidance the church adopted in 1792 the "Thirteen Rules and Regulations." After a quiet and prosperous service, Mr. Wright died of a paralytic stroke while walking back from Lancaster in December, 1802. There was talk that Mr. Wright had stopped at the Tavern for intoxicating drink, but the town wrote a long statement exonerating him from any wrongdoing.
During the ministry of Mr. Wright, a new meetinghouse was built. The work was started in 1790 and finished three years later. The building was "fifty-six feet long, and the Width in Handsom proportion thereto." It had square pews, a high pine pulpit, and a front gallery "appropriated to the use of the singers. A clock was put up, and a sexton was appointed to take care of it and also to clean the meet- inghouse, toll the bell, and dig graves. Mr. William Wood- bury was the sexton, with a salary of $6.00 for care of the meetinghouse and $7.30 for ringing and tolling the bell and taking care of the clock. He also received 25e for each funeral. During the next twelve years there were various sextons ; one received as little as nine dollars per year and others on up to $13.50.
May, 1798, brought a vote to "deposit the town stock of Powder, balls, etc. in the upper part (or garrett) of the meet- inghouse and a partition put up between said garret and the tower and a door be made with a lock and key to same, under the care and direction of the selectmen."
On July 28, 1803, Reverend Isaac Allen was unanimously chosen minister. According to a biographical note by the Reverend Mr. Edes, "The Reverend Mr. Allen was born in Weston in 1771, graduated at Harvard College in 1798, and was ordained in March, 1804. By an accidental fall
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
on the ice when a boy, he was a cripple, having a dislocated hip. He was, however, a person of remarkably even and cheerful temperament ; of a lively wit, excelling in repartee ; of sound common sense; competently, but not deeply, versed in the lore of his profession; and one of the most kind-hearted and hospitable men. His benefactions in humble but very efficient ways were numerous. By his constant activity and never-failing sympathy, he had here a happy ministry." The town agreed to pay Mr. Allen a salary of $460 in half-year payments, and $430 for settle- ment. He bought Mr. Wright's house.
The church received a gift of a silver tankard from Colonel Asa Whitcomb in 1806. In accordance with the consent of the relatives of Mr. Whitcomb and a vote passed at the annual meeting in 1844, this tankard was sold and the pro- ceeds used to purchase a new double-gilt baptismal basin, two silver-gilt plates, and a large folio Bible for the use of the pulpit. Eight silver goblets were received in 1827, the bequest of Rufus Nourse of Baltimore. New silver- gilt flagons were first used in April, 1845, and a new set of communion table and chairs was purchased in 1844.
In 1822, the selectmen were authorized to buy a stove and funnel to place in the meetinghouse. This is the first time we have found any mention of heating the building. The only warmth obtainable for worshipers was to be found in the little foot-stoves which many of them carried. These were small wooden boxes about eight inches square, with handles. A hinged door allowed the insertion of a smaller perforated metal box which in turn contained an earthen or iron cup to be filled with live coals from the nearby tavern before the service began.
In 1830, some of the inhabitants wished the large oak tree
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EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY
near the church destroyed. The matter was brought up in town meeting, and the motion to remove the oak failed to pass. Soon after this, the defeated minority tried by stealth to blow up the tree with gunpowder. It is evident that even then the oak must have been immense or its destruction would not have been so difficult. The hole where the gun- powder was put is now filled with a knotty oak growth. The tree is more than two hundred years old. The large maple trees on the roadside and in front of the church were set out sometime before 1841.
VIII THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH
The Church should have a tapering spire . . . To lead men's thoughts from earth to heaven. . . .
JOHN E. WOODROW
IN 1833, the legislators of Massachusetts confirmed the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the Common- wealth which made a complete separation between the parish and the town. It took away from the town the right to choose ministers and the title to all church property, giving both these rights to the various religious societies. Accordingly, the members of the church in Bolton formed the "First Parish and Religious Society," which held its first meeting in April, 1834. On January 5, 1835, the Soci- ety became known as the First Parish Church in Bolton, but it was not until 1843 that the covenant of the church was adopted.
Reverend Isaac Allen, who had served the church since 1803, retired from active ministry in 1843 and Reverend Richard S. Edes was installed as colleague pastor. Mr. Edes was a graduate of Brown University and Cambridge Divinity School. He had previously served the church in Eastport, Maine.
On the first Sunday of the next year, the senior minister, Mr. Allen, sent this letter to the church, which was read at the beginning of the Communion Service :
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THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH
Bolton, Jan. 7, 1844.
Christian friends,
I wish you a happy new year, and all the happiness which results from a faithful discharge of duty. Your old minister and friend, although weak and helpless, feels the same strong interest in your welfare he ever has felt. During the few remaining days God may see fit to spare me on earth, it will give me heartfelt pleasure to hear of your religious progress, and that you are increasing in numbers and strength, and that you remain united, full of Christian faith and charity, and that you are making daily advancement in everything excellent and praiseworthy. I would say to those young friends who have recently united with the Church, that I hope they will experi- ence all the religious advantages and pleasures they anticipate from this step. I would also express the hope, that they who have been witnesses of their good example may be induced to follow it.
My friends, my own condition may serve to remind you of the duty of action while health and strength remain. May what I have so often said to you from the pulpit be now indelibly impressed upon your minds, that the sick bed is no place to fix the attention or fasten the thoughts on any subject and that, accordingly, if religious truths and principles have not been impressed before, they can hardly yield here their appropriate supports and consolations.
Ever your friend, Isaac Allen.
After an illness of six months' duration, Reverend Mr. Allen died on Monday evening, March 18, 1844, in the seventy-third year of his age.
Mr. Allen's will was an interesting document, and was read to the parish in the Town House immediately after his funeral. These were its terms :
All the residue and remainder of my Real Estate and Personal Estate of every description (after the debts and funeral expenses have been paid) I give and bequeath and devise the same to
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
the Religious Society in the said Town of Bolton, of which for many years I have been their minister, and from whom I have received many favors and much kindness, - Provided, and so long as said Religious Society have or employ a Liberal or Uni- tarian Gospel Minister. But if said Religious Society should ever cease to have or employ such a Gospel Minister as afore- said and continue that cessation for the term of one year at any one time, then, and in that case, I give and bequeath the afore- said residue and remainder of my said Real and Personal Estate to the Theological Institution in Cambridge for their use forever.
The total amount of money decreed to the executor, Hon. Amory Holman, was $19,601.67.
The years 1844 and 1845 were busy ones, as the old meet- inghouse, built in 1793, was made over at this time. No part of the old building but the massive framework of oak was left standing. A thorough repairing and remodel- ing job was completed at a cost of $4,582.26, by Joseph Sawyer, contractor, under a building committee composed of Amory Holman, C. C. Moore, Joseph Sawyer, Jonathan Jewell, Stephen C. Pollard, and Joel Sawyer.
The house was remodeled in one of the styles of the Gothic. A light portico, covering the steps, and designed more for convenience than ornament, extended nearly across the front. The edifice was entered by two doors, which opened into a spacious vestibule, from which again two other doors opened into side aisles and the body of the church. The old galleries had been removed, and there were no side galleries, but only a light structure at one end, designed mainly for the choir, and supported by the frame- work of the bulwark, so as to leave the area below entirely unobstructed. Modern slip-pews were substituted for the former square ones, and a handsome high mahogany desk for the old-fashioned pine pulpit. The interior walls were
THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH, BUILT IN 1928
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THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH
beautifully painted in fresco, in imitation of the chapter- house of York Cathedral, by Mr. Daniel M. Shephard of Salem. The exterior of the pews and of the gallery were painted to resemble English oak.
The re-dedication to the worship of God and the preaching of the Gospel took place on Thursday, December 26, 1844. The pastor, Mr. Edes, preached the sermon and Mr. Kinsley of Stow read the Scriptures, Reverend Mr. Sears of Lancaster made the Dedicatory Prayer, and Reverend Mr. Gilbert of Harvard, the Concluding Prayer. The day was a remarkably fine one.
The first child to be christened in the new meetinghouse was Christopher Columbus Moore, son of Nathaniel A. and Julia Newton Moore, who was christened on June 8, 1845.
During the summer of 1847, Reverend Richard Edes, in consequence of difficulties with members of the parish, gave notice of his intention to dissolve his connection with the First Parish in six months. The ministers of the Worcester County Association wrote the society expressing their deep regret and asking if something could be done to avert the event which they so much deplored. As a con- sequence, sixty-one of the ninety-five members of the church sent Mr. Edes a letter asking him to revoke his decision. The pastor withdrew his resignation. However, peace and harmony were not restored, and on June 25, 1848, Mr. Edes again gave notice of his intention to dissolve his pastoral connection. He left the Bolton ministry on December 25, 1848, but continued to live in the town until his death.
Since that time the ministers have remained only a few years. Reverend John J. Putman arrived to take over the pastorate in September, 1849. He resigned in June, 1852, to go to Petersham, and died in Worcester in 1912.
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HISTORY OF BOLTON
Dr. Thomas T. Stone, D.D., of Waterford, Maine, was the minister from 1852-1860. In his ministry, a monument to the memory of Reverend Isaac Allen was placed over the tomb containing his mortal remains, with an inscription as follows: "In memory of Rev. Isaac Allen A.M. born in Weston, Oct. 31, 1771 and died in Bolton March 18, 1844. Minister of the First Parish in Bolton XL years. Sincere, generous, hospitable, public spirited, patriotic, devout. Living a faithful Christian pastorate. Dying, a munificent benefactor. This stone is erected by the church, May I860."
Nathaniel Otis Chaffee served from 1861 to 1862, and Edwin Clarence L. Brown, a native of Cambridge, was or- dained at Bolton on April 22, 1863. Ezekiel Fitzgerald served the Bolton parish from October 1, 1870, to April, 1874.
Nicholas P. Gilman, a native of Quincy, Illinois, came to Bolton in 1875. He remained for three years, then went to Antioch College to become Professor of Ethics and English Literature. He died at Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1912, where he had been Professor of Sociology and Ethics at the Theological School.
Mr. Cyrus A. Roys, a graduate of Meadville Theological School in 1878, came to Bolton to be ordained August 20, 1879. He remained until 1885, when he went to Nantucket. He served Bolton for five years and six months.
Mr. Isaac F. Porter of Wenham was ordained May 8, 1887. He remained for two years; then served in many parishes until 1914, when he became Minister Emeritus at Sherborn, where he died July 13, 1923, at the age of 84.
The next minister was Mr. Edwin C. Headle, of Weathers- field, Vermont, who came to Bolton as supply in 1890, this
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THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH
being his sixth parish. He remained a year and acted as supply again from 1899 to 1900, when he retired because of ill health. Mr. Headle died in Bolton in 1926, at the age of seventy-six.
Henry M. Green, a native of Lancashire, England, and a graduate of Meadville Theological School, was ordained and installed at Bolton on January 14, 1891, and remained for a year, after which Mr. I. F. Porter served as temporary supply for nine months.
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