History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a genealogical register, Part 33

Author: Paige, Lucius R. (Lucius Robinson), 1802-1896
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Boston : H. O. Houghton and company; New York, Hurd and Houghton
Number of Pages: 778


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a genealogical register > Part 33


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Church in Cambridge, etc., p. 3.


2 Mass. Spec. Laws, v. 282.


314


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


Financial Agent of the Trustees of the Newton Theological Insti- tution. He received the degree of D. D. from Brown University, 1852. Rev. Sumner R. Mason, formerly pastor of the Baptist Church in Lockport, N. Y., entered upon his labors the first Sabbath in March," 1855, and " on the 25th of the same month he was publicly recognized by religious services." He received the degree of D. D. from Chicago University. His ministry was diligent and successful for somewhat more than sixteen years. It had an unexpected and tragical termination on Saturday even- ing, Aug. 26, 1871, when a disastrous collision of cars occurred on the Eastern Railroad, at Revere, Mass., by which about thirty persons were killed,1 and a still larger number wounded, - some of them fatally. Among those who were killed outright was Dr. Mason. He died at his post, while engaged in his Master's ser- vice ; for the object of his journey was to fulfil an engagement to preach the gospel. His mutilated body was identified on the next day, and was interred at Mount Auburn on the following Thursday, after appropriate funeral services in the presence of a great congregation, and in the house where he had so long been a living power.


The present pastor of the church, Rev. Hiram K. Pervear, B. U. 1855, had been pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Cambridge about seven years, and of the First Baptist Church in Worcester nearly eight years, before his public recognition here on the 5th of January, 1873.


The church has had nine Deacons, to wit : -


Elected.


Died.


Age.


Levi Farwell


Feb. 10, 1818


May 27, 1844


60


William Brown 2


Feb. 10, 1818


June 25, 1861


75


Josiah Coolidge 2


July 30, 1844


Sept. 13, 1874


87


George Cummings


Aug. 23, 1844


Josiah W. Cook . .


Aug. 23, 1844


William B. Hovey


Jan. 29, 1849


July 4, 1871


75


Joseph A. Holmes


Jan. 29. 1849


Albert Vinal


Feb. 19, 1850


Joseph Goodnow


Oct. 13, 1871


1 Among the killed was Rev. Ezra Stiles Gannett, D. D., born in Cambridge, May 4, 1801, H. C. 1820, for many years colleague-pastor (with Rev. W. E. Chan- ning, D. D.), and afterwards sole pastor of


the church now in Arlington Street, Boston.


2 Deacons Brown and Coolidge were " dismissed to the Church in Old Can- bridge, Aug. 16, 1844."


3 Removed to Lancaster in 1850.


315


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.


FIRST UNIVERSALIST. - On the ninthi day of February, 1822, Peter Tufts, Jr., and thirty-three others were " incorporated and made a body politic and religious society by the name of the First Universalist Society in Cambridge."1 For some years pre- viously, Rev. Hosea Ballou and others had occasionally preached in the school-house then standing on Franklin Street. Immedi- ately after its incorporation the society commenced preparations for the erection of the meeting-house which now stands at the junction of Main and Front streets in Cambridgeport. The cor- ner-stone was laid with masonic ceremonies by Amicable Lodge, June 24, 1822; and the house was dedicated to the worship of God on the 18th of the following December. The church was organized June 19, 1827.


The first pastor of this church was Rev. Thomas Whittemore, who was born in Boston, Jan. 1, 1800, ordained, June 13, 1821, and after preaching somewhat more than a year at Milford, com- menced his labors here in April, 1822, but was not formally in- stalled until April 23, 1823. He resigned the pastorate, and preached his farewell discourse May 29, 1831, but remained a citizen of Cambridge until the close of his life.


As early as June, 1828, he purchased the " Universalist Mag- azine " (whichi was established July 3, 1819), and changed its name to " Trumpet and Universalist Magazine." This paper he conducted with consummate skill and energy until Feb. 18, 1861, about a month before his death, when he was compelled, by sheer exhaustion, to relinquish the charge. He represented the town three years in the General Court, and served the city one year in the Board of Aldermen. For many years he was President of the Cambridge Bank, and also of the Fitchburg and the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroads. He continued to preach, almost every Sabbath, until near the close of life. In 1837, he published " Songs of Zion," a volume of sacred music, a portion of which was original. He was the author of " Notes and Illustrations of the Parables of the New Testament," 1834; " A Plain Guide to Universalism," 1840 ; " Memoir of Rev. Walter Balfour," 1852; " Life of Rev. Hosea Ballou," in four volumes, 1854, 1855; and " The Early Days of Thomas Whittemore, an Autobiography," 1859. His first and last literary work was " The Modern History of Universalism," of which the first edition was published in 1830. He made large collections for a second edition, and pub- lished the first volume in 1860 ; but the completion of the second


1 Mass. Spec. Laws, v. 464.


31t


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


volume was prevented by his death, which occurred March 21, 1861. Tufts College bestowed on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1860.


Rev. Samuel P. Skinner commenced preaching here June 5, 1831, and was ordained on the nineteenth day of the same month. His ministry was very short. About the first of May, 1832, he removed to Baltimore, and was for a time engaged in teaching. He subsequently preached in several places, and at length settled in Chicago, Ill. He died August 12, 1858, aged 48.


Rev. Lucius R. Paige was born in Hardwick, March 8, 1802, commenced preaching June 1, 1823, and was ordained June 2, 1825. After laboring in several places, as an evangelist, more than two years, and performing the duties of a settled pastor nearly four years at Springfield, and about two years at Glouces- ter (now Rockport), he commenced his ministry here May 20, 1832, was installed July 8, 1832, and resigned July 1, 1839. He continued to preach, occasionally, nearly thirty years afterwards, until the precarious condition of his health compelled him to de- sist. During his pastorate he published " Selections from Emi- nent Commentators," in 1833, and " Questions on Select Portions of tlie Gospels, designed for the use of Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes," in 1838 ; also a Centennial Address at Hardwick, 1838. He subsequently wrote a " Commentary on the New Testament," in six volumes, of which the first was published in 1844 and the last in 1870. While engaged in this work, as a relaxation from severer studies, he gathered materials for this History of Cam- bridge. Meanwhile, his literary labors yielding scanty returns, he devoted the business hours of the day to the performance of secular duties. He was Town Clerk from March, 1839, to Janu- ary, 1840, and from Marcli, 1843, to May, 1846 ; City Clerk from May, 1846, to October, 1855 ; Treasurer of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank, from April, 1855, to April, 1871, during the larger portion of which period he was also successively Cashier and President of the Cambridge Bank. He received the degree of A. M. from Harvard College, 1850, and that of D. D. from Tufts College, 1861.


Rev. Lemuel Willis was born at Windham, Vt., April 24, 1802, commenced preaching July 28, 1822, was ordained Oct. 2, 1823, and was installed here Oct. 1, 1842, having previously been settled at Troy, N. Y., Salem, Washington, N. H., and Lynn. He resigned Sept. 28, 1845, and was afterwards pastor at Claremont, N. H., South Orange, Mass., and Portsmouth,


317


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.


N. H. Since 1856 he has generally resided at Warner, N. H. Though he has passed beyond the age of three-score years and ten, his eye is not yet dim, nor is his mind clouded ; and he con- tinues to preach and perform other ministerial duties.


Rev. Luther J. Fletcher was ordained in 1843, commenced preaching liere Jan. 4, 1846, and was installed on the 5thi of the following April. He resigned April 14, 1848, and was after- wards settled at Lowell and at Buffalo, N. Y. He received the degree of D. D. from St. Lawr. Univ. 1876. Rev. Edwin A. Eaton, who had been previously settled at Newburyport, com- menced preaching here Jan. 7, 1849, resigned April 25, 1852, and was afterwards settled in Providence for six years, and at South Reading for a similar period. He retired from the min- istry about 1870, and is now an Insurance agent in Boston. Rev. Charles A. Skinner was ordained in 1848, labored a few years in western New York, and was installed here July 17, 1853. He retained the pastorship longer than any of his predecessors ; and after a peaceful and successful ministry he resigned Sept. 29, 1867, in order to become the pastor of the church in Hartford, Conn., which office he still sustains. Rev. Benjamin F. Bowles was ordained in 1848, and held the pastoral office successively at Salem, Southbridge, Natick, Melrose, Manchester, N. H., and Worcester. He was installed here Dec. 6, 1868, and resigned Jan. 31, 1873 ; since which time he has been pastor of the Second Church in Philadelphia. The present pastor of this church is Rev. Oscar F. Safford, a graduate of the Theological School, St. Lawrence University, 1862, who was ordained in 1862, and who was settled at Danvers, Charlestown, Chicago, and Springfield. He was installed here Jan. 1, 1874.


DEACONS.


Elected.


Died.


Age.


Samuel Watson


July 12, 1827


Feb. 1855


87


Flavel Coolidge


July 12, 1827


Feb. 1, 1848


73


Isaac Kimball


July 12, 1827


Oct. 14, 1831


74


Simon Ames


Dec. 28, 1831


Oct. 28, 1841


51


Alvaro Blodgett 1


July 28, 1843


May 14, 1874


58


Joseph P. Howlett


July 28, 1843


Ebenezer P. Holman .


Oct. 28, 1847


Dec. 17, 1859


47


Robert White


May 29, 1874


1 Deac. Blodgett resigned Sept. 3, 1853, and was reelected May 25, 1860.


318


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


SECOND UNIVERSALIST. - By an Act of the General Court, Feb. 11, 1823, Calvin Brooks and others 1 were incorporated as the " Second Society of Universalists in the town of Cambridge." They held meetings for a time in a school-house on Third Street, between Bridge and Gore streets, and afterwards worshipped with the Unitarian Society in their meeting-house on Third Street. In July, 1834, the Society hired what was then called " Berean Hall," on the northerly side of Cambridge Street, be- tween Third and Fourth streets, and occupied it until the early part of 1843, when it was purchased, enlarged, converted into a meeting-house, and was dedicated on the 5th day of December. In 1865 this house was sold, and the Society erected the neat and commodious church now standing on the northerly side of Otis Street, between Third and Fourth streets, which was dedicated Sept. 26, 1866.


This parish had no settled pastor until 1834, when Rev. Henry Bacon commenced his labors in November, and was ordained on the 28th of December. He resigned in the spring of 1838, and was afterwards settled at Haverhill, Marblehead, Providence, and Philadelphia. He was born in Boston, June 12, 1813, and died in Philadelphia, March 19, 1856. His was a busy life. Besides faithfully performing his pastoral duties, he was a prolific writer in various periodicals, the author of some small volumes, and edi- tor of the "Ladies' Repository " twenty years. Rev. Elbridge G. Brooks was ordained at West Amesbury, Oct. 19, 1837, and was installed here Sept. 16, 1838. He resigned early in 1845, and was subsequently settled in Bath, Me., Lynn, New York, and Philadelphia, where he is still actively engaged in the ministry. He has written much for various periodicals, and in 1873 pub- lished a volume entitled " Our New Departure." He received the degree of D. D. from Tufts College in 1867. Rev. Wil- liam R. G. Mellen was ordained at Milford, May 17, 1843, and was installed here Oct. 26, 1845. He resigned in October, 1848, and was afterwards settled in Chicopee, Auburn, N. Y., and Gloucester ; he served his country several years as a Consul in a foreign port ; and has since had the pastoral charge of several Unitarian societies. Rev. Massena Goodrich was ordained at Haverhill Jan. 1, 1845, commenced his ministry here April 8, 1849, resigned in January, 1852, and was afterwards settled at Goff's Corner, Me., Waltham, and Pawtucket, R. I. In 1861 he became a Professor in the Theological School at Canton, N. Y. ;


1 Mass. Spec. Laws, vi. 78.


319


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.


after two or three years he returned to Pawtucket, and resumed his pastoral duties. He received the degree of A. M. from Tufts College in 1863. Rev. Henry A. Eaton was born in South Reading (now Wakefield) Nov. 27, 1825, ordained at Milford Sept. 11, 1859, took charge of this parish on the first Sabbath in May, 1855, and resigned at the end of September, 1857. His health was broken down, yet he preached, more or less, for two or three years at Waltham, and Meriden, Conn. He died at Worcester, of consumption, May 26, 1861. Rev. Henry W. Rugg was ordained in 1854, and having preached three or four years on Cape Cod, commenced his pastorate here on the first of March, 1858 ; resigned at the end of three years, and was after- wards settled at Bath, Me., and Providence, R. I. Rev. S. L. Roripaugh was ordained in 1856, was pastor of this flock from January, 1862, to the end of the year, and has since beeen settled at New Bedford, North Bridgewater, Joliet, Ill., Valhermosa Springs, Ala., and Atlanta, Ga. Rev. James F. Powers, Tufts College, 1861, was pastor from the first of December, 1863, until April, 1866. He was afterwards settled in Malden, and about 1872 took orders in the Episcopal Church. Rev. Henry I. Cush- man was ordained May 15, 1867, resigned May 31, 1868, and was afterwards associate pastor of the Second Universalist Church in Boston, and pastor of the First Universalist Church in Provi- dence. His successor was Rev. Frank Maguire, a graduate of St. Lawrence Theological School, 1863, whose pastorate extended from Oct. 1, 1868, to Jan. 1, 1871, after which he was settled at Fitchburg. He was ordained in 1863, and had previously preached at Greenport, N. Y., and Waterville, Me. Rev. Sum- ner Ellis, ordained at Boston, Nov. 1851, and successively pastor at Boston, Salem, Brighton, Lynn, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Newark, had charge of this parish, as stated supply, from April 1, 1872, to Sept. 29, 1874, when he returned to Chicago. He was succeeded, as " stated supply," by Rev. Henry I. Cushman, Nov. 1, 1874, and by Rev. William A. Start of Melrose, Sept. 4, 1875. Mr. Start has recently been appointed Secretary of the Massachusetts Convention of Universalists. A further notice of him may be found in connection with the Third Universalist Society.


320


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


The church was organized Jan. 1, 1836. Its Stewards or Deacons have been : -


Elected.


Held office until


Ebenezer Tirrell .


Jan. 1836


Died


Dec. 3, 1839


Victor Eaton .


March 2, 1838


Died


Nov. 20, 1847


Daniel Jewett .


Oct. 30, 1840


Resigned


Dec. 2, 1843


Marshall S. Boyer


Dec. 2, 1843


Resigned


1859


Peter Shorfenburg


Feb. 2, 1848


Died


Barnabas Binney


Jan. 1856


Died


June 18, 1854 March 18, 1874


John B. Winslow


March 2, 1860


Removed from the city.


Jonas Woodard


March 2, 1860


Otis H. Hendley .


Jan. 1870


Died


April 25, 1871


John M. Hastings


Jan. 1870


John C. Burdakin


Jan. 16, 1875


FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL. - " From the first settling of Lechmere Point (or East Cambridge) the few inhabitants were obliged to attend church in Boston or Charlestown until the autumn of 1818, when the Methodist Society was formed by the following named persons, all of whom had been members of the church previous to their coming to the Point ; namely, William Granville,1 Elizabeth Granville, Eliza Sargent, Lucinda Sargent, William Swindel, and Charles Elliot."2 For a time they met in private houses ; and the first sermon to them was delivered by the Reverend Enoch Mudge in the house of Mr. William Gran- ville. " Public worship was first regularly established in a school- house on North Third Street, where the Society worshipped until 1823, when Mr. Granville erected a small, convenient chapel on Gore Street, now occupied as a dwelling-house."2 By an Act of the General Court, June 14, 1823, Amos Binney and others were incorporated as " Trustees of the Methodist Religious Society in Cambridge." " About this time a lot of land was donated to the society, on which a substantial brick church was erected, and dedicated in the autumn of 1825."2 That house, on the southwesterly corner of Cambridge and Third streets, stood about forty-five years, when it was demolished, and a much larger brick edifice was erected on the same spot, at a cost of $45,000, which was dedicated December 12, 1872.


1 Mr. Granville seems to have been a 2 MS. Letter from Mr. O. H. Durrell. preacher or exhorter.


321


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOYY.


As nearly as can now be ascertained, the preachers in charge of this church were appointed as follows : -


1823, Rev. Leonard Frost.


1824, 1825, Rev. D. Young. Died 12 March, 1826.


1826, Rev. Ebenezer Blake.


1827, 1828, Rev. Enoch Mudge. Died 2 April, 1850.


1829, Rev. Ephraim Wiley.


1830,


Rev. Bartholomew Otheman.


1831,


Rev. Ephraim Wiley.


1832,


Rev. Leonard B. Griffing.


1833,


Rev. George Pickering. Died 8 Dec., 1846.


1834,


Rev. James C. Bontecou.


1835,


Rev. Edward Otheman.


1836, Rev. Elijah H. Denning.


1837, Rev. Stephen G. Hiler, Jr.


1838, 1839, Rev. Henry B. Skinner.


1840, 1841, Rev. Edmund M. Beebe.


1842, 1843, Rev. Shipley W. Willson.


Died 30 Dec., 1856.


1844, 1845, Rev. Samuel A. Cushing.


1846, 1847, Rev. Joseph A. Merrill. Died 22 July, 1849.


1848, 1849, Rev. James Shepard.


1850, 1851, Rev. John W. Merrill, W. U. 1834, D. D. (McK. C.) 1844.


1852, 1853, Rev. William H. Hatch.


1854, 1855, Rev. Converse L. McCurdy. Died 22 Nov. 1876.


1856, Rev. Abraham D. Merrill.


1857, 1858, Rev. George Bowler.


1859, 1860, Rev. Moses A. Howe. Died 27 Jan. 1861.


1861, 1862, Rev. David K. Merrill.


1863, Rev. Samuel Tupper. Died 11 Jan. 1869.


1864, 1865, Rev. William H. Hatch.


1866-1868, Rev. Isaac J. P. Collyer. Died 7 May, 1872.


1869, 1870, Rev. Pliny Wood. Died 1873.


1871-1873, Rev. William P. Ray.


1874, 1875, Rev. Charles T. Johnson, W. U. 1863.


1876, Rev. George W. Mansfield, W. U. 1858.


THIRD CONGREGATIONAL (UNITARIAN). - The Third Con- gregational Society was incorporated June 16, 1827,1 and in the course of the same year erected a substantial brick meeting-house, which is yet standing at the northwest corner of Thorndike and


1 The corporators werc eight citizens, tion of a Congregational mecting-house named, "and all those persons who now at Lechmere Point in Cambridge." - Mass. Spec. Laws, vi. 575. have or hereafter may subscribe and pay the sum of fifty dollars towards the crec-


21


322


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


Third streets. The church was organized March 3, 1828. The first pastor was Rev. Warren Burton, H. C. 1821, who was born at Wilton, N. H., Nov. 23, 1800, and ordained here March 5, 1828. He resigned June 6, 1829, and after preaching for short periods in several places, and laboring abundantly in the cause of education, died in Salem, June 6, 1866. Rev. James D. Green, H. C. 1817, born in Malden, Sept. 8, 1798, was ordained at Lynn, Nov. 3, 1828, and installed here Jan. 6, 1830. He resigned the pastorate April 21, 1840, and soon afterwards retired from the ministry. Like other ex-pastors in Cambridge, he was called by his fellow citizens to the performance of various municipal duties. He was a Selectman, 1845, and Representative in the General Court six years, between 1841 and 1854. On the incorporation of the City in 1846, he was elected as its first Mayor, and was re- elected to the same office in 1847, 1853, 1860, and 1861. He was succeeded in the ministry by Rev. Henry Lambert, June 3, 1841, who resigned April 19, 1846. Rev. George G. Ingersoll, H. C. 1815, D. D. 1845, was installed Dec. 3, 1847, and resigned Oct. 14, 1849. He died in 1863. Rev. Frederick W. Holland, H. C. 1831, was installed Oct., 1851, and resigned June 3, 1859 ; he is actively engaged elsewhere in the work of the ministry. His successors, for short terms, were Rev. Frederick N. Knapp, H. C. 1843, from July, 1860, to July, 1861; Rev. William T. Clarke, from Oct. 1861 to Oct. 1862; Rev. Henry C. Badger, from Nov., 1862, to Nov., 1863; Rev. Rufus P. Stebbins, Amh. C. 1834, D. D. 1851, was a "stated supply " from Jan., 1864, to May, 1864. Rev. Stephen G. Bulfinch, Columbian, Wash. 1827, D. D. 1864, was pastor from Sept., 1865, to July, 1869, and died in 1870. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel W. McDaniel, in Nov., 1869, who resigned, July, 1874. The parish is now destitute of a pastor.


DEACONS.


Elected.


Held office until


Cornelius Clark .


Abraham P. Sherman


Jan. 27, 1830 April 3, 1831 Jan. 3, 1833


Resigned Resigned Resigned Died


Jan. 3, 1833


Dec. 2, 1851


Robert Vinal .


George Newhall . .


Dec. 3, 1851


May 24, 1869


John Palmer


May 6, 1855


Feb. 1846


SECOND BAPTIST. - As early as 1824, several persons residing in East Cambridge, being members of Baptist churches in Bos-


323


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.


ton and elsewhere, established a Sabbath-school, and subsequently "made arrangements " to have preaching one evening in a week, and to this end permission was asked to occupy one of the rooms in the Putnam School-house." In 1827. a meeting-house was erected on the northeasterly corner of Cambridge and Fourtli streets, which was dedicated on the tenth of October in that year. This house was of wood, 66 feet in length, 46 feet in breadth, with a steeple about 100 feet in height, and cost, with its bell and furniture, about nine thousand dollars ; it was burned, with all its contents, April 14, 1837. With commendable spirit, the society erected a new house on the same spot, of brick, 70 feet in length, 54 feet in breadth, with a convenient vestry in the basement, which was dedicated Jan. 11, 1838. The church was formed Sept. 3, 1827, which was publicly recognized by a council convened for that purpose four days afterwards. The first pastor of the church was Rev. John E. Weston, who was ordained Oct. 10, 1827, having preached to the society for several months pre- viously. He was a graduate of the Newton Theological Institu- tion, and was a faithful minister of the church. He resigned April 4, 1831, and was invited to take charge of the Baptist Church in Nashua, N. H .; but " in the month of July in the same year " he was unfortunately drowned at Wilmington, Mass. Rev. Jonathan Aldrich, B. U. 1826, a graduate of Newton Theolog- ical Institution, who had previously been pastor of a church in Beverly, entered upon his labors here June 2, 1833, resigned June 19, 1835, and took charge of the First Baptist Church in Worcester. Rev. Bela Jacobs, formerly pastor of the First Bap- tist Church in Cambridge, was installed here Aug. 23, 1835. His pastorate had a tragical termination on the morning of May 22, 1836, when, as he was about to leave his carriage, at the door of the meeting-house, his horse suddenly started, ran a few rods, dashed the carriage against the Univeralist Church, " at the same time throwing him against the corner with such force as to frac- ture his skull ; " he survived about an hour, and entered into rest. Mr. Jacobs had resided in Cambridge eighteen years, and was universally respected and beloved. His death was sincerely la- mented, not only by the people of his charge, but by the whole community. Rev. Nathaniel Hervey, a graduate of Newton Theological Institution, who had been settled at Marblehead, was installed Sept. 18, 1836, and closed his ministry here Sept. 1, 1839. He was afterwards settled for a short time at Andover, and soon afterwards died, of consumption, at Worcester. Rev.


324


HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.


William Leverett, B. U. 1824, who had been pastor of the Dud- ley Street Baptist Church in Roxbury, was installed Oct. 4, 1840, and resigned at the end of the year 1849. After a short pastor- ate in New England Village, his health failed and he retired from the ministry. Rev. Amos F. Spalding, born in Boston, B. U. 1847, a graduate of Newton Theological Institution, who had been settled in Montreal, commenced his ministry here Aug. 1, 1852, and resigned Nov. 23, 1856. Rev. Hiram K. Pervear, B. U. 1855, a graduate of Newton Theological Institution, was ordained as an Evangelist Nov. 5, 1857, commenced preaching here in the previous summer, became the regular pastor April 30, 1858, resigned April 1, 1865, was installed over the First Baptist Church in Worcester, and on the 5th of January, 1873, took charge of the First Baptist Church in Cambridge. Rev. Frank R. Morse, D. C. 1861, a graduate of Newton Theological Institution, commenced his pastorate Sept. 3, 1865, and resigned Nov. 20, 1867. He was succeeded, Dec. 4, 1868, by Rev. George H. Miner, B. U. 1863, who resigned Ang. 21, 1872. Rev. Hugh C. Townley, who graduated at the University of Rochester, 1858, was called to office liere April 1, 1873, having previously been settled at Peekskill, N. Y., and Woburn, Mass. He resigned April 1, 1875. The present pastor is Rev. George W. Holman, who was born in Somerville, 1841, educated and ordained in the State of New York, and had been pastor at Radnor, Pa., Fort Edward, N. Y., Lewiston, Me., and Holliston, Mass. He was in- stalled Nov. 7, 1875.




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