USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of Dedham, Massachusetts > Part 10
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In 1852 through the persistent efforts of John Adams, Thomas Beals and Henry W. Cass, the first board of trustees, a parsonage was built on Milton Street. This parsonage was sold in 1886 and the present commodious parsonage was erected on Oakdale Avenue. In 1907 under the inspired leadership of Rev. William J. Kelly the present attractive church edifice was built, at the corner of Oak- dale Avenue and Fairview Street. It is built of West Roxbury granite and is a perfect replica of an English Church. Even the interior and particularly its chancel is after the Episcopal Order. The corner stone was laid October 12, 1907 and the church dedica- ted April 18, 1908. The name was changed to St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, May 16, 1910. The church is enriched by several memorial windows. "The Nativity" in memory of Charles B. Dan-
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forth; "Beside the Still Waters" in memory of Rev. Lewis B. Cush- man; and a window of conventional design in memory of the Rev. Zachariah A. Mudge. The Church is seeking to minister to the community through the most approved modern methods of wor- ship and work. The following have served the Church from 1844 to the present time: Rev. Henry P. Hall, Rev. William R. Stone, Leonard P. Frost*, Rev. Daniel Richards, Rev. John S. Cary, Rev. Kinsman Atkinson, Rev. Howard C. Dunham, Rev. John M. Merrill, Rev. Augustus F. Bailey, Rev. William Pentecost, Rev. Moseley Dwight, Rev. Ichabod Marcy, Rev. William P. Blackmer, Rev. J. W. P. Jordan, Rev. A. B. Smart, Rev. Frederick T. George, Rev. James A. De Forest, Rev. Z. A. Mudge, William Cottle*, Rev. Charles H. Vinton, John Thompson*, Rev. Z. A. Mudge, Rev. Ed- ward W. Virgin, Rev. Emory A. Howard, Rev. Charles W. Wilder, Rev. Lewis P. Cushman, Rev. Ralph Newman, (supply), Rev. John H. Pillsbury, Rev. Raymond P. Walker, Rev. Walter Healy, Rev. William J. Kelly, Rev. B. G. Seaboyer, Rev. Harry W. Farrington, Rev. Charles H. Stackpole, Rev. John E. Bently, Rev. Eaton B. Marshall, Rev. Ray Stevenson, Rev. Fred M. Estes, and Rev. Wil- liam M. Grandy.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-With the increase in pop- ulation at Mill Village an interest in the tenets of the Baptist Church was manifested as early as 1830 when a few sympathizers were accustomed to hold monthly meetings with Mrs. Wentworth. At these meetings a minister was usually present and preached. From 1830 to 1838 the Rev. Thomas Driver, pastor of the West Dedham Baptist Church, preached from time to time. He was followed in 1841 by the Rev. Joseph B. Damon who held services in "Trescott Hall," followed for several years by students from the Newton Theological School. In 1843 land was leased and a chapel built which was owned by members and others in shares of $5 each. The chapel was a long low building located upon High Street near the Dye House of the Merchants Woolen Company. The Tremont Street Baptist Church in Boston was deeply inter- ested in the work and in April 1847 made the Society the gift of a bell. This was a sweet toned bell and when the second railroad station was built, with its bell tower its excellent toned bell had the same pitch as the bell on the East Dedham Baptist Church.
* Designates-Local Preacher.
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As the number of resident Baptists increased a call for a Council to recognize them as a regular Baptist Church was issued. The Council met September, 13, 1843 and having examined the Arti- cles of Faith and the Covenant unanimously voted to proceed with the service of recognition. The church was called the Second Bap- tist Church in Dedham and was incorporated under that name in 1849. The moderator of the council was the Rev. Dr. S. F. Smith, the author of "America." The Rev. Mr. Livermore was the "preacher of the new church." He continued in the service until April 1844. In 1845 the Church was far from prosperous and the subject of dissolving the organization was discussed. No further meetings of the Church were held until July 4, 1846 when members of Baptist Churches in the vicinity met in conjunction with the Church to see what action ought to be taken in reference to its future. As a result of this meeting eleven members renewed their covenant and six others promised to labor with them for the main- tenance of the ordinances of the Gospel. A Sunday School was organized July 19, 1846 with nine teachers and sixteen scholars. Regular services were held after the meeting of neighboring churches and a new era dawned upon the Church. March 19, 1852 it was voted to build a meeting house on Milton Street, corner of Myrtle Street, which was completed in the fall of the same year. After the incorporation of the town of Westwood, the name of the Church was changed to the First Baptist Church of Dedham. The Church has had fifteen pastors as follows: Rev. William C. Patter- son, Rev. Charles A. Skinner, Rev. A. Edson, Rev. K. H. Campbell, Rev. C. H. Cole, Rev. D. C. Bixby, Rev. J. H. Wells, Rev. J. F. Pack- ard, Rev. J. F. Tilton, Rev. L. A. Freeman, Rev. H. F. Moore, Rev. C. W. Allen, Rev. G. E. Crouse, Rev. G. E. Hinchelwood, Rev, Dirk Van der Volt, and Rev. Peter J. Cosman.
CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD-A Mission of the Episcopal Church was begun at Oakdale by the opening of a Sun- day School in Sanderson Hall on Trinity Sunday, June 8, 1873 through the efforts of Mr. Horatio Chickering. The establishment of the Oakdale Sunday School was soon followed by the holding of regular evening services, as a Mission of St. Paul's Church, Ded- ham. Students from the Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge generally conducted the service. In June 1876 the Rev. William F. Cheney was appointed to take charge of the Mission as an assis-
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tant to the Rev. Mr. Goodwin of St. Paul's. On June 3, 1876 the corner stone of a church building was laid by Bishop Paddock. The Church and the grounds on which it stands in Oakdale Square are gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Horatio Chickering. The Church was consecrated November 2, 1876. The parish was organized May 1, 1877 under the name of the "Church of the Good Shepherd." The following composed the first vestry, William B. Welch, E. L. Froth- ingham Jr., wardens; John Carter, Charles A. Welch, Joshua Gra- ham, Andrew A. Wheeler and Thomas Newcomb, vestrymen. Wil- liam B. Welch treasurer and A. A. Wheeler clerk. On June 2, 1877 the Rev. Mr. Cheney was advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Paddock, the service being held in the new church. The church prospered and during the next few years a pipe organ, a church bell and a Sunday School Room were acquired. In 1884 the parish received the gift of a rectory with spacious grounds at the cor- ner of Cedar and Walnut Streets, through the generosity of Mrs. Deborah F. Adams and Miss Lucy E. Chickering. The rectory was used as the residence of the rector until August 1927 when a new rectory was completed on the Church grounds. A parish house was dedicated by Bishop Slattery on St. Andrew Day, November 30, 1928. The "Memorial Chapel of All Souls" in connection with the parish house was built as a thank offering for the long and devoted ministry of the Rev. William F. Cheney who came to the parish as a young deacon and remained as its pastor for forty- three years. The second rector of the Church was the Rev. Walton H. Doggett who served from 1920 to 1924. The present rector, the Rev. Sherrill B. Smith, came to the parish in 1925. The Church of the Good Shepherd stands for the purpose for which it was es- tablished, to provide a center of reverent worship, religious nur- ture and Christian fellowship and service for the people of the community.
RIVERDALE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH-This society had its origin in the organization of a Sunday School in 1911 which held its services in the boat house of William Lent & Son. The first session was held on November 7, 1911 and led to the organization of a preaching service in 1912. The first service was conducted by the Rev. E. H. Byington of the West Roxbury Congregational Church which was interested in the enterprise. The development
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was such that a church soon became necessary. At this junction Mr. Henry Bingham came forward with the generous offer of the land and the erection of a church in memory of his mother. On Sunday October 5, 1913 services were held on the lot in recognition of the turning of the first sod by Mr. Bingham. At this service Prof. George S. Bacon presided and the Rev. William S. Beale offered the prayer of dedication. The property is deeded to the Congregational Church Union of Boston.
Since its organization the pulpit has been occupied by the fol- lowing ministers: Rev. W. H. Washburn, Rev. F. L. Luce, Rev. P. E. Prescott, Rev. F. A. Kasson, Rev. F. C. Cheever, Rev. W. S. Beale, Rev. D. A. Lough, Rev. A. B. Ransom, Rev. E. A. Roys, Rev. A. G. Peacock, and Rev. T. MacAnespie.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH. The first Catholics in Dedham were eleven French Neutrals *- Acadians-who were cared for by the town from 1758-60 in which year it is supposed they returned to Canada; thus Dedham has an interest in Longfellow's Evangeline, a poem of love and devotion. Previous to 1843, when the first Mass was said in Dedham to a congregation of eight persons, the few Catholics of the town attended Mass at St. Joseph's Church, Circuit Street, on Tommy Rock Hill, Roxbury, near the Dudley Street Section. In attending this service the Catholic men and women of Dedham walked every Sunday some fifteen or sixteen miles. The first Mass was said in Dedham by the Rev. James Strain, pastor of the Church at Waltham in the house of Mr. Slat- tery which stood on the site of Memorial Hall. He later lived in the house at the corner of Washington and Worthington Streets. Mass was also said here, also in the nearby Crystal Palace on Washington Street. Prof. William H. Clark in his Memories of Dedham wrote, "When Mrs. Slattery died the hands of the clock were stopped at the hour of her death and there was much interest manifested in the Catholic funeral ceremony which was an unusual occurrence in the village." In 1846 the Rev. P. O'Beirne, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Roxbury, took charge of the Dedham Mission. Mass was regularly celebrated in Temperance Hall, and the service was attended by residents of Dedham, South Dedham, West Ded- ham ** , Readville and West Roxbury. Such was the ardor and de-
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* See Acadians, Chapter XIII.
** West Dedham (Westwood) now has St. Margaret Mary's Church with the Rev. Geral Dolan as pastor.
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votion of its constituency that in ten years sufficient funds were gathered to build a church and the first St. Mary's Church on Washington Street, corner of Marion Street, was opened in 1857 with a seating capacity of six hundred. The congregation grew rapidly and six years later provision was made for the organiza- tion at South Dedham, (Norwood) of St. Catherine's Church. Of the many assistant pastors-priests of the Boston Archdiocese- who have served the early years of their priesthood in the Dedham parish the Rev. J. D. Tierney has the distinction of being the first to serve in this capacity as an assistant to Father Brennan. The Rev. D. J. Donovan succeeded the Rev. John B. Brennan in 1877 and was soon followed by the Rev. Robert Johnson.
In the prosperous years, when the Merchants Woolen Mill was employing from seven hundred to twelve hundred hands, the Cath- olics of Mill Village built a chapel of their own which was for a time under the care of St. Theresa's Church in West Roxbury but subsequently became a part of the Dedham Parish. It was named St. Raphael's Church and was located on Thomas Street. In 1879 the church was destroyed by fire and from that time there has been no Catholic Church in East Dedham.
With the steady growth of the parish Father Johnson soon saw that a larger church must be provided. Land on High Street had already been purchased but no progress had been made in the erection of a new building. The present magnificent church was conceived in the mind of Father Johnson and in 1880 the founda- tion was laid. The corner-stone of St. Mary's Church was laid October 17, 1880 by the Archbishop of Boston. The sermon was preached by Rev. Father Henning of Boston. The master of cere- monies was the Rev. Theodore A. Metcalf a descendant of Michael Metcalf, one of the early settlers of the Dedham plantation.
The Rev. John Fleming succeeded Father Johnson as pastor of the parish in June 1890. During his administration the upper church was completed, beautiful windows were put in and the sanctuary adorned with exquisite altars and statues. He also built the beautiful rectory of the parish. The Rev. Henry A. Walsh be- came pastor of the parish in July 1923 after the death of Father Fleming. His pastorate was cut short by death in 1929. During the six years of his service the parish took on new life. Societies were reorganized and social activities increased. The growth of
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the parish was such that two more assistant priests were appointed. The Rev. George P. O'Conor, the present pastor was appointed to the parish in April 1929 by His Eminence Car- dinal O'Connell. St. Mary's Parish is now one of the large parishes of the Boston Archdiocese. It numbers over 6,000 souls whose spiritual needs are cared for by four priests and six sisters. With a Sunday School enrollment of over 1300 children, it is inter- esting to recall that in 1850 there was only one Catholic boy in Dedham Village.
THE ISLINGTON CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. About 1870 Alonzo B. Wentworth who owned land located on Washing- ton Street about one and a half miles south of Dedham Village, laid out house lots on which a number of houses were soon built. A post office and railway station were established which were known as Islington. In 1882 a Congregational Church was gathered and a small but tasteful church was built on land donated by Mr. Went- worth. The Rev. C. B. Smith was acting pastor and later served as chaplain of the Dedham Jail. Acting in accordance with the spirit of the times this church has now become the Community Church of Islington.
CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST. This church represents a system of religion based on the Scriptures and on a belief in the healing of all bodily ills by means of the believer's Christian faith without resort to medical treatment. The sect was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866. The Dedham Church is a branch of the Mother Church of Boston and was accepted on January 20, 1921. The first meeting of Christian Scientists for the purpose of organ- izing a church in Dedham was held on April 9, 1920. The first public meeting was held December 5, 1920 with Mrs. Adele Me- serve Marsh as First Reader and Mrs. Irene Mabel Bonnemort as Second Reader. The Church was incorporated May 20, 1930. Ser- vices are held in the Masonic Temple. A lesson-sermon, on the same subject is read in all Churches of Christ Scientist on Sunday, with citations from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In anticipation of church building the Society has acquired the estate No. 619 High Street, a homestead which for nearly a century has been dedicated to healing. It is now the administration building of the First Church
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of Christ Scientist. This fine colonial house was built in 1772 by Dr. Nathaniel Ames, for more than a half century the leading physician of the town. The property was later acquired by Dr. John P. Maynard a prominent physician and surgeon, followed by Dr. Francis I. Proctor a distinguished occulist. A free reading room, open to the public, and the sessions of the Sunday School are now held in this beautiful old residence.
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CHAPTER VII
PARISHES
The evolution of the several parishes* in Dedham was as fol- lows: As the population of the town increased opposition arose to attending the services of the "Church of Christ in Dedham." In attending weekly meetings some of the inhabitants had to travel from ten to twenty miles consequently they wanted to be al- lowed to build meeting houses in their several communities and to maintain preaching among themselves. In the spring of 1717 there was a proposition before the town to free those living in the southerly part of Dedham from paying the ministerial tax to the Dedham Church, and to be allowed to worship among themselves. In response to this request the estates of those living at the old saw mill, (near the junction of Washington and Clapboard Trees Street, Islington,) and those living five miles from the meeting house were freed from paying to the minister rate, "provided that they pay their tax in the places where they constantly hear preach- ing." After much contention religious services were held in pri- vate houses in the southerly part of Dedham as early as 1722; and for those living five miles away, in what is now Norwood, preach- ing services were later held in the house of Nathaniel Guild. Still there was a growing discontent among the inhabitants of the out- lying districts and a persistent asking, (a) to be made a parish or distinct precinct, (b) to have the meeting house moved to the cen- ter of the town, (c) to have two ministers supported by the town, excepting Springfield (now Dover) from the charge.
To these requests the town gave negative answers and for a dozen years the contention went on until finally in 1730 petitions were presented to the General Court asking that a parish be formed out of the southerly part of Dedham and that part of Stoughton west of the Neponset River. This request was granted by the General Court, October 8, 1730 *. The first parish meet- ing was held in the Ellis Tavern, (Washington Street, Islington) on October 22nd. Here the early parish meetings and Sunday ser- vices were held. Here Ebenezer Dean was selected "to hold the
* Dedham originally had four parishes or religious societies : First Parish, Dedham Village ; Second Parish, Norwood ; Third Parish, Westwood ; Fourth Parish, Dover. ** Before 1730 there was no distinction between town and parish.
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box on the Sabbath Day so that any one might have a chance to contribute something for the support of the gospel." On Novem- ber 8, 1730 a meeting was held at the house of Nathaniel Guild, near the site of the present Congregational Church in Norwood, when fifty pounds was appropriated for preaching and a committee chosen to secure a minister for six months, with meetings to be held for three months in the Ellis Tavern and for three months at the house of Nathaniel Guild. It was also voted to build a meeting house at the center of the parish, "to be forty feet in length, thirty six feet in width and twenty feet studs or thereabouts." In 1731 a surveyor was employed to ascertain the center of the parish, which was found to be a little south of the present Clapboard Tree meeting house. A committee was appointed, "to buy boards, shingles and clapboards" and the work of building a meeting house actually began. As there was however "an unhapply difference among the inhabitants about the placing of a house for the public worship of God," as reported by the committee of the General Court, a "loving conference" was held on June 7, 1731. At this time it was thought best to follow the recommendations of the Court "that the said House be ordered in such place and time as a committee of the General Court shall appoint." By a vote of the parish a Committee of the General Court viewed the situation and reported that "the people were very unsatisfied among themselves as to a place for the meeting house to stand on." Four proposed sites were viewed, separate each from the other, any one of which would have been satisfactory to the committee. In the hope, how- ever, of uniting the parish the committee instructed them to hold a meeting on June 21, 1731 and fix on one of the four spots for their meeting house. At this meeting the parish voted to build on the south end of the common land. No sooner had a location been decided upon than a change of opinion took place and during the following year no less than twelve meetings were held relating to the location of a meeting house. In the early autumn of 1731 it was voted not to build on the selected lot. On September 6, how- ever, it was again voted to build on the Common land and a com- mittee was appointed to purchase the frame of a meeting house (if satisfactory terms could be made) of one already raised near the house of Joseph Ellis (James Ellis place Westwood,) and move the same as soon as possible to the common land. The inhabitants
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of the Clapboard Tree section evidently had no intention of giv- ing up their meeting house, which was so far completed that a parish meeting was held within its walls on December 1st at which time it was voted "that preaching be peformed in this house ye next quarter of a year."
Again in 1732 a committee was appointed to build a meeting house on a site approved by the General Court, but no definite ac- tion was taken. At a parish meeting held December 5, 1732, one hundred and twenty pounds was appropriated to support preach- ing in the precinct for a full year, a part of the time in the house near Joseph Ellis, and a part of the time in the house near Benja- min Fairbank's dwelling house "to be enclosed and a floor laid down." This was called the central meeting house and was erected on the spot ordered at the second meeting of the precinct in 1730. The location of this latter house was on Prospect Street, near Na- hatan Street, Norwood, and only half a mile distant from the Clap- board Tree meeting house. On February 26, 1733, a committee was chosen to petition the General Court to revise their former order for building a meeting house on the Common land, and or- der that the three hundred pounds already granted be laid out on a central meeting house. Two meeting houses having been erected in the precinct, where a compromise was impossible, it was found necessary in 1734 to again carry the matter to the General Court and a petition headed by Joseph Ellis called forth the following order from the Court, "that Joseph Ellis and other residents at Clapboard Tree and their estates be laid back to the old Precinct and the others to remain in the South Precinct."
The South Precinct having been established by the General Court voted on January 4, 1735 to build a meeting house on land donated by Ebenezer Dean and recommended by the General Court as the place on which to erect a meeting house for the precinct. The South Precinct having erected a meeting house centrally lo- cated it was voted on September 11, 1735 "to give a minister a call to settle with them." February 11, 1736 a call was extended to Thomas Balch to become their pastor and teacher, at an annual salary of one hundred and twenty pounds and sixteen cords of wood as long as he continued with them in the gospel ministry. Mr. Balch accepted the call on April 25th and was ordained June 2, 1736.
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PARISH MEETING HOUSES: Top left, FIRST PARISH, (built 1763) ; top right, SECOND PARISH (Norwood-built 1826) ; right center, THIRD PARISH (Westwood-built 1840); bottom, FOURTH PARISH (Dover-built 1808)
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WEST DEDHAM POUND BUILT ABOUT 1700
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The Second Parish* in Dedham, often called Tiot, was incor- porated, with some changes in bounds, as the town of Norwood February 3, 1872. Interested persons, especially the late Fred Hol- land Day, who was working on the subject at the time of his death, have spent much time in an effort to discover the origin and mean- ing of the word Tiot which was given to the Parish more than a century and a half ago and for a hundred years was so referred to by the older people of the town. The word does not appear in the records of Dedham. An ingenius solution was offered some years ago by uniting two Indian root words to make the name, sig- nifying a place of "inclosed water," but scholars, versed in the lan- guage of the Indians, (acquired through years of residence among them,) do not accept this solution as the word is made up from "unrelated languages and might as well be from the Chinese." However, Mr. William B. Cabot, who has spent much time among the Indians says the sound is good Indian and is a fragment some- times going with five or six syllables and usually relates to water places, wading places, etc. There was a wading place (ford) on the Neponset on the trail leading south to the fishing grounds. It can well be a shortened word to indicate the South Dedham region which lay along this trail.
The Rev. Thomas Balch, the first minister of the Second Parish, graduated from Harvard in 1733 and died January 8, 1774 in the 38th year of his ministry. He was honored and beloved by his people and in return gave them his warmest affection and la- bored assiduously for their temporal and spiritual welfare. Dur- ing his ministry many collections were made for persons on ac- count of losses by fire and for their sufferings from poverty and sickness. A considerable amount was contributed for the poor Acadians, who were forced from their homes by royal mandate. He was succeeded by Jabez Chickering who graduated from Har- vard in the class of 1774 and was ordained over the church July 3, 1776, the day before the Declaration of Independence. He died March 12, 1812 in the 35th year of his pastorate. Mr. Chicker- ing was a very benevolent man and during the last years of his life expended the whole of his salary in relieving objects of distress in the vicinity and in subscribing money for religious and literary
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