USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 84
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School Committee .- A. M. Jackson, Harriet T. Healy, Louisa G. Aldrich, E. W. Hunt, Thomas L. Ramsbotton, Leontine Lincoln, William G. Bennett, M. G. B. Swift, John A. Tourtellot.
Watuppa Water Board .- Philip D. Borden, Weaver Osborn, William M. Hawes.
Water Registrar .- W. W. Robertson.
Engineer and Superintendent .- A. H. Martine.
Trustees of Public Library .- Henry K. Braley, Leon- tine Lincoln, Robert Henry, James M. Morton, Charles J. Holmes, Crawford E. Lindsey.
Librarian .- W. R. Ballard. .
Overseers of the Poor .- Mayor and Aldermen.
Agent of Board .- George O. Fairbanks.
Board of Health .- B. F. Winslow, J. S. Anthony James E. Sullivan.
VALUATION, 1854-1882.
Year.
Valuation.
Tax.
by Taxation.
Polls.
1854.
$8,939,215
$5,80
$56,523.70
3.117
1855.
9,768,420
5,60
59,425.15
3,148
1860.
11,522,650
7.10
90,124.61
3.238
1865.
12,134,990
16.50
209,272.20
4,461
1866.
12,762,534
17.50
232,827.62
4,740
1867.
15,220,628
17.00
269,020.95
5,135
1868
17,919,192
14.00
262,872.74
6,002
1869
21,398,525
15.60
346,310.99
6,247
Year.
Valuation.
Tax.
by Taxation.
Polls.
1870
.$23,612,214
$15,30
$374,753.22
6,743
1871.
29,141,117
13.00
392,974.15
7,070
1872
37,841,294
12.00
471,835.53
8,870
1873
47,416,246
13.00
636,451.61
10,020
1874
49,995,110
12.80
662,486.11
11,119
1875
51,401,467
14.50
768,464.37
11,571
1876,
48,920,485
15,20
764,629.41
10,519
1877
47,218,320
15.50
753,735.96
10,92G
1878
42,329,730
17.50
739,518.18
11,564
1879
98,173,510
18.00
689,370.32
11,678
1880
39,171,264
18.00
702,088.91
12,008
1881
41,119,761
19,00
777,546.46
12,091
In 1840 the number of taxable polls was 1,603. The valuation of real estate was $1,678,603 ; of personal estate, $1,310,865; total, $2,989,468.
POPULATION, 1810-81.
1810.
1,296
1868
23,023
1820
1,594
1869
25,099
1830
4,159
1870
27,191
1840.
6,738
1871
28,29I
1845
10,290
1872
34,835
1850.
11,170
1873
38,464
1855
12,680
1874
43,289
1860.
13,240
1875
45,160
1861
14,026
1876
44,356
1862 1
17,461
1877
45,113
1863.
15,495
1878
48,494
1864.
17,114
1879.
46,909
1865
17,525
1880.
1866.
19,262
1881
49,0-19
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FALL RIVER .- (Continued.)
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.2
The First Congregational Church-The Central Congregational Church -- The Third Congregational Church-The First Methodist Episcopal Church-St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church-Brayton Methodist Episcopal Church-The North Methodist Episcopal Church-Quarry Street Methodist Episcopal Church-Maple Street Methodist Episcopal Church-Primitive Methodist Church-North Main Street Methodist
Episcopal Church-The First Baptist Church-Second Baptist Church -Third Baptist Church-Church of the Ascension-St. John's Church -Christian Church, Franklin Street-North Christian Church- Church of the New Jerusalem-Society of Friends-United Presby- teriau Church-Hebrew Worshipers-Roman Catholic Churches.
The First Congregational Church was organized at the dwelling-house of Deacon Richard Durfee, Jan. 9, 1816, with the following members: Joseph Durfee and wife Elizabeth, Richard Durfee, Benjamin Brayton, and Wealthy Durfee, wife of Charles Dur- fee. Benjamin Brayton died Dec. 9, 1829, and leaving no children, he bequeathed the bulk of his property to this church, in trust, as a permanent fund for the support of the ministry. For about seven years after the organization of the church it had no house of worship nor settled pastor. The church, however, met regularly on the Sabbath for public worship, and when they were destitute of a pastor conducted the devotional exercises themselves. A portion of the time they were supplied by missionaries, among whom were the following: Revs. John Sanford, James Hubbard, Amasa Smith, Reuben Torrey, C. H. Nichols, Curtis Coe, Samuel W. Colburn, Moses
1 The increase in population in 1862 was owing to the annexation of the town of Fall River, R. I., which contained a population of about three thousand five hundred and ninety.
2 For history of Unitarian Church, see Appendix.
47,883
1867
21,174
Amount raised
No.
Amount raised
No.
348
HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Osborne, Isaac Jones, Seth Chapin, Silas Shove, Otis Lane, and Loring D. Dewey. During the first three years after their organization there were added to the church, chiefly by profession, thirty members, among whom were only four males.
While this church was without a house of worship their meetings were held sometimes at private houses, sometimes in a large store-room, sometimes in the only school-house in the place, and occasionally in the line meeting-house, an edifice located on the line between the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and erected in 1798.
The first movements for the erection of a church edifice were inaugurated in 1819, and in 1821 and 1822 their first house of worship was erected, and dedicated in February, 1823. It was forty-five feet long by thirty-six wide, with a vestry underneath. This was the second meeting-house built in Fall River, the Friends having built a small house for worship in 1821.
An ecclesiastical Congregational Society was formed in 1820, and incorporated in February, 1821. The in- corporators of the society caused considerable excite- ment in the town, which, however, " soon spent itself by its own warmth, and ultimately did no harm to the society."
The first settled pastor was Rev. Augustus B. Reed, who was ordained and installed July 2, 1823. His salary was four hundred and fifty dollars per year. Mr. Reed remained until Aug. 3, 1825. Nov. 1, 1826, Rev. Thomas M. Smith became pastor, and continued until April 27, 1831.
In 1827, the first year of Mr. Smith's ministry, an addition of twenty-five feet was made to the length of the meeting-house.
May 22, 1831, Rev. Orin Fowler, A.M., became pastor of this church and remained until May 15, 1850.
Mr. Fowler was born in Lebanon, Conn., July 29, 1791. Upon his settlement in Fall River he entered zealously into every project looking to the advance- ment of the material, educational, and religious wel- fare of the town. He was a member of the State Senate from this district, and in 1848, before his senatorial term had expired, he was elected to the Thirty-First Congress. He died Sept. 3, 1852. Mr. Fowler was dismissed from the pastorate of the church in May, 1850, and in the same month was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin J. Relyea, who re- mained until April, 1856. He was succeeded by Rev. J. Lewis Diman, D.D., in April, 1856, who continued until February, 1860. He was afterwards professor of history in Brown University. In May, 1861, Rev. Solomon P. Fay was installed, who re- mained until Oct. 1, 1863, when he was succeeded in the following month by Rev. William W. Adams, D.D., who was acting pastor until Sept. 14, 1864, when he was installed as pastor, and has remained to the present time.
The present church edifice was erected in 1831-32, at a cost of about $16,500.
In 1856 the interior was entirely remodeled, walls of audience-room and ceiling frescoed, pulpit trans- ferred from east to west end of the church, etc.
In 1866 a new organ was procured of Messrs. Hook, in Boston, at an expense of about $4000; water motor added in 1880; 1868, mission chapel built and furnished, at a cost of about $4000; 1872, missionary employed in connection with the chapel Sunday-school; 1873-74, parsonage built, at a cost, with lot, of $16,400.
In 1874 the Third Congregational Church1 was organized in mission chapel, which they have since continuously occupied.
In 1875 the chapel was removed to a better loca- tion, enlarged, frescoed, thoroughly refitted, and pro- vided with basement for Sunday-school, etc. ; change in First Church from afternoon to evening service.
In 1876 new articles of faith and covenant were adopted, and in 1878 the weekly offering system was adopted ; 1881, pastor sent abroad for a year, all ex- penses paid, and pulpit supplied by the society. In 1882 church edifice thoroughly renovated within and without, newly upholstered and furnished, at an ex- pense of $8500.
Present membership, Jan. 1, 1883, 47 males, 157 females; total, 204. Total membership from organi- zation, 831.
Contributions for strictly charitable objects from 1865 to 1882, inclusive, $48,000; besides large sums given by individuals.
Subsidiary organizations : Ladies' Benevolent So- ciety, Society for Good Works, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, Children's Missionary Society.
The officers for 1883 are as follows: Deacons, Hiram Bliss (emeritus), F. W. Macomber, George W. Robbins ; Clerk, Hiram G. Andrews; Sunday- school Superintendent, Isaac Borden; Chorister, Charles H. Robbins.
The Central Congregational Church of Fall River was organized Nov. 16, 1842. Seventy mem- bers of the First Orthodox Congregational Church, then under the pastoral care of Rev. Orin Fowler, were dismissed from that church, and united to form this new body.
A council composed of the pastors of the neighbor- ing churches, with their delegates, confirmed and ratified the organization. The Rev. Mr. Sheldon, of the church in Easton, was moderator of the council, and Rev. Erastus Maltby, of Taunton, scribe.
A warrant being issued, and a meeting called for the purpose, according to the statutes of the State, a corporate and legal form was given to the organiza- tion on the 20th of January, 1843, which then as- sumed the name of "The Central Congregational Society of Fall River."
1 See history elsewhere in this work.
349
FALL RIVER.
The members of this society were Amery Glazier, Nathan Durfee, Benjamin Earl, Richard Borden, Henry H. Fish, Abraham Cook, John S. Cotton, William A. Burt, Charles C. Dillingham, Edward S. Chase, Daniel Leonard, Henry Woodward, and Jesse Eddy.
Three days later, Jan. 23, 1843, the society met, and a committee previously appointed to secure a lot for a church edifice, reported as follows: "The lot on Bedford Street, known as the Massasoit lot, and belonging to Messrs. Bradford Durfee, Nathan Dur- fee, Joseph Durfee, and Mrs. Fidelia B. Durfee, can be had as a donation, for the erection of a house of public worship thereon, for the use of the Central Congregational Society, if said lot will answer the uses of the society."
The lot was accepted, and a committee at once ap- pointed to prepare a plan for the house, with the estimated cost. Nathan Durfee was chairman of that committee.
The result was the erection of the building on the lot at the corner of Rock and Bedford Streets, which was dedicated for worship March 27, 1844, and was used for that purpose until the completion and dedica- tion of the new building, which now stands at the corner of Rock and Franklin Streets, a period of nearly thirty-one years.
It formerly fronted upon Bedford Street, but in 1882 was turned around, and now fronts on Rock Street. It is still used by the Sabbath-school of the Central Church.
This first church was built by Melvin Borden, who had erected the frame and collected a large part of the material when the memorable fire of July 2, 1843, destroyed the lumber and delayed the work. The frame was by great exertion saved.
When the fire occurred the society was worshiping in Pocasset Hall, in a building used as a hotel, and known as the Pocasset House. This building was burned, and the one now called Pocasset Block stands upon its site.
This most destructive fire by which Fall River has ever been visited not only turned the society adrift, but rendered scores of families homeless.
In this emergency the congregation were most cor- dially invited to the full and free use of the Baptist temple for their worship, with the, privilege of using the pulpit one-half of each Sabbath.
The Rev. Asa Bronson was then the pastor of that church, a man made up without stint in soul or body, a man who was a tower of strength in the religious history of Fall River.
This kind and generous offer was gratefully ac- cepted, and the two congregations worshiped together until the autumn, when the vestry of the new build- ing was ready to be occupied, and the congregation met there.
During this period the church was without a settled pastor, and preaching was supplied by recent gradu-
ates of the Theological Seminary at Andover. Among them were Rev. Robert S. Hitchcock, whose father was a Congregational clergyman for many years in Randolph and in Wrentham; Edward A. Washburn, who afterwards entered the Episcopal Church, and after a useful life died, deeply regretted, in New York in 1881 ; Roswell D. Hitchcock, now eminent as presi- dent of Union Theological Seminary in New York City ; and Benjamin F. Hosford. This last was a most refined and accomplished man, who did faithful and successful work as pastor of the Centre Church in Haverhill, Mass., from 1845 till 1863, when ill health compelled his resignation, and he died the next year at the age of forty-six.
The dedication of the church took place the next spring, April 24, 1844. On the same day the Rev. Samuel Washburn was installed as the first pastor of the church. Mr. Washburn was a preacher of more than ordinary ability, and possessed a rare and grace- ful manner and oratory. Before this settlement he had traveled and preached as agent of two of the Christian societies of the church, and had been a set- tled pastor at Greenfield, Mass. His tastes were cul- tivated and refined, and his talents and conversation made him a brilliant accession in any gathering of scholarly men. He remained with the church four years and eight months, and was dismissed by his own repeated request in January, 1849. He died at New York on the 15th of September, 1853. His last set- tlement as pastor was over a Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.
The next pastor was Rev. Eli Thurston, D.D., who was installed on the evening of Wednesday, March 21, 1849, a night to be remembered as one on which occurred one of the most violent of equinoctial storms that ever visited New England. Mr. Thurston had previously been settled for nearly ten years over the Congregational Church in Hallowell, Maine. He was born in Brighton, Mass., in 1808, and commenced studying for the ministry, after learning a trade, at the age of twenty-one. After his conversion, which took place at Millbury, Mass. (where he was learning his trade), he became possessed with the idea of preaching the gospel. Nothing could turn him from this purpose, and from that day till his death it was the one absorbing passion of his life. " This one thing I do" was as true of him as of Paul.
When he was settled over the Central Church it had a membership of about one hundred. It had many zealous, efficient, working members, and they, with their pastor, soon came to make the church a felt power in Fall River. Accessions were made yearly, and oftentimes in great numbers, while as a mission- ary church at home and abroad it came to stand in the front rank among the churches of Massachusetts. The Sabbath-school was large and prosperous, and from it as a centre radiated light and service and suc- cessful toil among the large population of the city less favored with religious instruction.
350
HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Mr. Thurston was a man of positive beliefs, and had a positive way of stating his convictions. He made no compromise with error or half truth, or with any practice which annulled or would lead to the an- nulling of the commands of God. His interest in questions relating to the progress of the world, its discoveries, its inventions, its most wonderful facili- ties for communication with all nations,-these were. matters of vital importance to him. They aroused the whole enthusiasm of his nature, because through them he beheld the grand and final triumph of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world. This was the glorious consummation to which he devoted all the power and energy of his own life, and his unfaltering faith in its accomplishment. It gave zest and hope and cheerful alacrity to his every effort. In his earlier ministry at Hallowell, when the subject of slavery had come to divide the church as well as the politics of the country, he had thrown all the weight of his eloquence and influence into the anti-slavery balance, and with such impetuous fervor as to bring upon himself much reproach, and so it was later, as a natural sequence, in the dark days of the war, which this sin brought upon the country, his whole soul was stirred to its depths, and his sympathy in the struggle most intense. Then, too, his faith in God and in his omnipotent power to work righteousness and redeem the world from sin did not forsake him. It was the strong tower into which his soul fled and was safe. In his appeals in those days, made from the pulpit and often from the rostrum of the large City Hall, to the manhood, the loyalty, the Christian sentiment, the patriotism of our citizens, he showed an eloquence and a strength of intellectual power which will never be forgotten. Probably no one man in Bristol County wielded so strong an influence, and so long as he lived, and as often as he spoke in Fall River upon this topic, or upon temperance, or upon any social reform, never did he lack an audience. The opposers of truth and the enemies of reform acknowledged the power and pungency of his reasoning, for his logic was close and almost invulnerable when one had conceded his prem- ises, and he had the eloquence which comes from highest personal conviction.
In the work which fell to the Christian minister in the days of the civil war, Mr. Thurston was helped and stimulated by the sympathy and co-operation of his dear friend and brother minister, the Rev. P. B. Haughwant, of the First Baptist Church. For many years the Central Church came under the influence and most eloquent preaching of this talented and accomplished scholar, whose interest in the war and whose zeal for the right were equal to Mr. Thurston's. The two men stand side by side and heart with heart to all who review that period of greatest interest in the history of the American citizen of this century. The Central Church enjoyed the blessing of Dr. Thurston's ministry for twenty-two years. In De- cember, 1869, he was seized with pneumonia, and
died on the 19th of the same month, at the age of sixty-one years.
At the time of Dr. Thurston's death the Central Church was large, vigorous, and prosperous. It had a membership of nearly three hundred, many of whom were intelligent, active workers in the Lord's vine- yard. They had been trained to a consecration of wealth as well as of heart, and were among the most cheerful and hearty supporters of the gospel through- ont the world, while their obligations to the poor and ignorant about them were never ignored.
A mission school, which for some years existed as a union school, had been partially under the care of members of this church, but for some time previous to this date had assumed a separate and distinct or- ganization, under the sole care of the Central Church, and the large and commodious mission building, on Pleasant Street, was purchased by the society.
The services of Rev. Edwin A. Buck, of Slaterville, R. I., were secured as a missionary to have the care of this branch of the service. Mr. Buck's work in this department has now been most successfully car- ried on for fifteen years. Mr. Thomas F. Eddy was the efficient superintendent of the mission-school for twenty-five years. His successor is Mr. Alphonso S. Covel.
Very many have been trained in the mission-school who have added to the strength as well as the num- bers of the church. It has been a great blessing.
Dr. Thurston's death occurred at the close of the year 1869. In the spring of 1870 the people listened to the preaching of the Rev. Michael Burnham, who was still in the seminary at Andover, and their choice fell upon him as successor to their late pastor. Mr. Burnham graduated in June, and was installed as pastor of the Central Church Oct. 25, 1870. His or- dination occurred at the same time.
Under Mr. Burnham's ministry the church con- tinued to prosper and increase in numbers, and it was thought best to enlarge the space and opportunity to give the gospel to a larger number of the rapidly- increasing population. For this purpose it was decided to build a larger and more enduring house of worship in some new locality. In March and April, 1872, measures were taken for this purpose, and a valuable lot secured, comprising the whole space on Rock Street between Franklin and Bank Streets. The purchase comprised one hundred and four square rods, and cost something over fifty-six thousand dol- lars. A building committee was chosen, consisting of Thomas J. Borden, Robert K. Remington, William H. Jennings, and Holder B. Durfee.
The subscriptions to the new building were about one hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars, and a contract was made at once for a brick and stone building, in the Victorian early English Gothic style, stately in proportions and complete in detail, to be erected on the northerly and easterly sections of the new lot. The work was commenced in May, 1874,
351
FALL RIVER.
the basement walls and brick pillars to support the floor were put in, and on July 23d of that year the congregation assembled with glad hearts to lay with solemn ceremony the corner-stone. The report of the building committee was read, appropriate hymns were sung by the congregation, the selections and music being under the care of Mr. Charles Durfee, chorister, and Mr. Lyman W. Deane, the organist of the church. A very interesting and impressive ad- dress was made by the pastor, and the corner-stone was laid with all due formality by the senior deacons of the church. These were Deacon Benjamin Earl and Dr. Nathan Durfee.
The box, which was properly sealed, and was placed under the stone, contained the confession of faith of the church, a list of pastors and officers and mem- bers, a history of the organization and subsequent growth of the church, history of Fall River, copies of the local newspapers and of the religious papers of the day. After the laying of the corner-stone the work on the building went rapidly on, and was fin- ished before the end of the following year (1875).
The costly and elegant structure thus completed, with tower and steeple, with nave and transept, and high-reaching roof, is built of brick, with freestone trimmings and facings, and occupies the whole north- ern portion of the lot on Franklin Street, with a front- age of one hundred and forty feet on Rock Street. This includes an elegant cloister, by which the main building is destined eventually to join a chapel on the south end of the lot. One cannot fail, on looking at the building from the east, on Rock Street, of re- ceiving the impression of grand solidity and strength, as well as of most harmonious proportion and elegance of finish in all the exterior decoration.
The main entrance, through a heavy black walnut door hung in a case of the same wood, and sur- rounded and ornamented with a belting of stone richly cut in flower-work, is enriched also by fine and highly-polished pillars of Scotch granite. These elegant pillars, with carved capitals, and stone-cut- ting in relief, are continued at the entrance of the cloister.
The floor of this building, as well as all the vesti- bules, are of handsome tile. The tower is on the northeast corner, quadrangular in form, and is sup- ported by heavy buttresses on both Rock and Frank- lin Streets, trimmed at the base and all along its edges with freestone. It is provided with abundant win- dows, and at some seventy-five or eighty feet from the ground the form is changed to a hexagonal, and carried up to its full height of one hundred and ninety feet, with an occasional belt of stone, and sur- mounted with a gilded cross. It is one of the finest and, to the eye, most satisfactory steeples to be seen in this part of the State.
On the front, to the left of the main entrance, is the beautiful motto in Gothic letters, "Let us exalt His name together." On the right, in a narrow space
between the buttress of the tower and the entrance, is another, " Praise ye the Lord." On the Franklin Street side is the sentence, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found ; call ye upon Him while He is near."
At intervals on the outside of the fiant are several panels of stone inserted in the brick wall and cut in rosettes. The eaves and border of the roof are arched with stone.
The main entrance ushers you into an extended portico, where, on the left and right, wide staircases invite to the gallery above. Beyond the stairway the corridor leads to various anterooms for the use and convenience of the people. Those at the north end are appropriated to the ladies, while at the south end are rooms for gentlemen. They are supplied with heat aud water and every needed furnishing.
Two very large and elegant parlors for the work and business of the society, and for social gatherings, connect these accommodations with the main body of the church, while a finished basement below sup- plies all that is needed for culinary and domestic purposes when food is provided.
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