History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 83

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 83

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GLOUCESTER.

the notice, the matter was brought before a town- meeting on the 10th of March, and on a motion "to approve the conduct of the late Committee," "54 voted in the affirmative, and 8 in the negative." But he took no notice of this, nor does there seem to have been any further attempt to compel him to go away.

In September, 1778, the First Church publicly sus- pended from membership, "until their return from their error in sentiment and practice :"

Epes Sargent.

Anne Babson.

Rebecca Parsons.

Winthrop Sargent.

Lydia Prentice.

Hannah Tucker.

Ebenezer Parsons.

Jemima Parsons.

Judith Stevens.

David Pearce.

Catherine Sargent.

Nancy Sanders.

Rebecca Smith.

Judith Sargent.

Jemima Cook.

These, with others,-sixty-one in all, of whom thirty-one were men and thirty women,-bound themselves together on the Ist of January, 1779, by "Articles of Association," as an "Independent Church of Christ," covenanting and agreeing to walk together in Christian love, and "resolved by God's grace, whether blessed with the public preaching of the word or not, to meet together to supplicate the divine favour, to praise our redeeming God, to hear his most holy word, and freely to communicate whatever God shall please to manifest to us for our mutual edifica- tion." They also agreed to set apart and receive as their minister, which they considered as being the same as ordaining him, their "friend and Christian brother, Johu Murray, from a full conviction that the same God that sent the first preachers of Jesus Christ, sent him; and that the same gospel they preached, we have from time to time received from him." Thus was created the First Universalist Church in America.

In 1780 they erected a house of worship at the corner of Main and Water Streets, which they dedi- cated on Christmas day. At the close of the war Mr. Murray felt compelled to frequently absent him- self from Gloucester in order to answer calls all over the country for his pulpit services. The Gloucester Church continued their meetings, as they had cove- nanted to do, and occasionally had help from abroad. Among others who preached to them from time to time, were Revs. Moses and Elhanan Winchester, the latter a convert from the Baptists, a man of learning and of nutiring zeal ; John Tyler, a Rellyan in theology, but continued as rector of the Episcopal Church at Norwich, Conn. ; Matthew Wright, a former missionary among the Moravians ; Adams Streeter, of Oxford, Mass .; Noah Parker, of Ports- mouth, N. H .; and Shippie Townsend, a block-maker, of Boston, a writer of several pamphlets in defense of Universalism, and a very acceptable lay preacher.

The First Parish assessed the Universalists for the support of that organization. The Universalists claimed exemption from liability on the ground that the Bill of Rights prefixed to the State Constitution, then recently adopted, provides that " All religions societies shall, at all times, have the exclusive right

of electing their public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. And all moneys paid by the subject for the support of public worship shall, if he require it, be uniformly applied to the support of the public teacher or teach- ers of his own religious seet or denomination, provided there be any on whose instruction he attends." To this answer was made that this provision could not apply, because the congregation of Mr. Murray was not a religious society, or if it were, it had not been incorporated ; nor was Mr. Murray a teacher of re- ligion, or if so, he was not an ordained minister.

In 1782 the parish enforced their demand by seiz- ing and selling at auction the goods of three members of the Independent Church. From Epes Sargent they took articles of silver plate, from another (per- haps Winthrop Sargent) they took English goods, and from another (probably David Pierce) the anchor of a vessel on the point of sailing. William Pierce, a brother of David, prominent in the mob against Mr. Murray, before referred to, had become a Uni- versalist, and, on his resistance of the tax, was lodged by the parish committee in Salem jail. Failing to recover their goods by replevin, the Independent Church instituted a suit against the parish. But it was withdrawn, as it was found that in order to sus- tain an action, it must be brought in the name of the religious teacher from whom the money had been diverted. As Mr. Murray had passed through the country without allowing or accepting contributions for his support, he was averse to becoming such a party in the suit ; but on representation being made to him that the issue affected not himself alone, but every religious denomination in the Commonwealth that was not of the standing order, and that persist- ence in his opposition was a sacrifice of the personal interests of his friends, and would be a cowardly giving up of a right which the Constitution guaranteed to all, he consented, and the suit was brought in due form. The case came to trial in 1783, and was con- tinned, on appeal and review, to 1786, when it was decided in Mr. Murray's favor. Under this verdict all religious societies of whatever sect-not of the standing order-found protection, till 1792, when it was set aside by a sustained ruling of the courts to the effect that only incorporated religious societies were entitled to the privilege set forth in the Bill of Rights. While the suit of Mr. Murray was in court, other Universalist organizations, which had sprung up in various parts of the commonwealth, held an association at Oxford for mutual consultation on their rights and their dangers ; and, desiring some uniform organization for the different societies and churches, the Gloucester Universalists drafted what they called " A Charter of Compact," in which they provided for the necessary officers of a religious society, and for carrying on its affairs by voluntary subscriptions. This was approved by the Association, and in Septem- ber, 1785, it superseded the "Articles of Association,"

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

which contained no provisions for these particulars. It was signed by all the male members of the society, then numbering eighty-five.

The validity of Mr. Murray's ordination being in ·jnestion, and suits begun against him, and afterwards decided to his damage,-from which, however, the General Court gave him relief,-the society, that they might not be subjected to the annoyance of further litigation, arranged for and perfected Mr. Murray's re-ordination on Christmas day, 1788. Mr. Murray having married, the society now voted to pay him a salary of one hundred pounds per annum. As he had now arranged to be in Boston once in three weeks, a deduction was probably made for the time spent there, and the first tax assessed was for £35 138. 10d., for six months, beginning the 1st of January, 179. This amount was assessed on one hundred and three persons. In 1792, on the reversal of the court decision before mentioned, the society availed itself of an act of incorporation, granted the 28th of June. In October, 1793, Mr. Murray dissolved his connec- tion with the society and removed to Boston.

llis successor was not settled till 180-1, when Rev. Thomas Jones was invited, and entered upon a long and eventful pastorate. During the interval between Mr. Murray's removal and Mr. Jones' call, meetings were continned with considerable regularity, Revs. Thomas Barns, Hosea Ballou, Michael Coffin, George Richards, Zephaniah Lathe, John Foster, Ebenezer l'aine, Edward Turner, Joshua Flagg and others sup- plying the pulpit. Mr. Jones was installed on the 26th of September, 1804, and his salary was fixed at six hundred dollars per annum. In February, 1805, some members of the society agreed to open a sub- scription for the crection of a new meeting-house. Mr. William Pearce having purchased a large lot of land, fronting sixty-three feet on Middle Street and running back to High Street, with a frontage there of one hundred and seventy feet, the subscribers to the fund for the new meeting-house voted to take it from him on the same terms, to erect the meeting-house near the eminence back or north of the brook, and Jay a handsome graveled walk from Middle Street to the front of the meeting-house ; and to reserve a large lot near the northern end of the lot for a burial- ground. So much of the southern end as extends from Pine Street to Middle Street, together with the meeting house, when completed, except the pews, to be given to the society. Three-fourths of the burial- freund was daid out in lots corresponding to the number of the pews in the meeting-house, and one lot assigned to the owner of each pew; the remain- ung fourth was given to the society. There were fif- ty-twisubscribers, and the shares were one hundred nt one hundred dollars each. The house was erected in 1095, n was decheated October 9, 1806. It Bill bands, beantitul tor situation anl in excellent preservation The bell, cast at the Paul Revere Founor and the clock for the interior of the house,

both placed where they now are before the day of dedication, still do faithful service.

On the first Sabbath service held in the new meet- ing-house an infant daughter of William Pearce, Jr., was dedicated to the love and service of God-a cere- monial instituted some years before by Rev. John Murray, and peculiar to the Universalist Church. The same day steps were taken for organizing the body of communicants into a church distinct from the business organization created by the act of incor- poration. The measure was perfected on the 23d of the following November, when nine anen and twenty- four women were received and recognized as a church. The first deacons were Isaac and Payne Elwell.

In 1837, the health of the venerable pastor being feeble, Rev. Daniel D. Smith was settled as colleague, and remained till April, 1841. Arrangements were made the following month with Mr. Jones, by which his connection as pastor was dissolved, the society making provision for his maintenance during the re- mainder of his life, and for his wife if she should survive him. He died in August, 1846.

Rev. Frederick F. Thayer was pastor from March, 1843, to December, 1844; Rev. Henry B. Soule from June, 1845, to April, 1846; Rev. Amory D. Mayo from June, 1846, to October, 1854; Rev. W. R. G. Mellen from April, 1855, to October, 1861; Rev. George W. Skinner from June, 1862, to February, 1865; Rev. Elmer H. Capen from March, 1865, to October, 1869; Rev. Richard Eddy from May, 1870, to September, 1877; Rev. Costello Weston from April, 1879, to May, 1883, and Rev. William H. Rider, the present pastor, since October, 1883. Sun- day-school organized in June, 1820.

A Second Universalist Society, as we have already seen, grew out of the changed opinions of Rev. Ezra Leonard and his people in the Third Parish in 1811 ; and a Third was the result of changes in the Second Parish in 1830. The Universalist ministers there un- der the old parish organization were Revs. William A. Stickney, Ezra Leonard, Robert L. Killam, Joseph P. Atkinson, Henry Belding, Charles Galaca, George G. Strickland, James M. Usher, Thomas Jones, Wil- liam Hooper, Henry C. Leonard, John M. Spear. In 1867 a reorganization was effected, and the name Third Universalist Society was taken. A church edifice was erected in 1876, the pulpit being supplied by different preachers till the settlement of Rev. E. F. Pember in Essex, in 1874, when he became and continued during his stay in Essex the regular pas- tor. lle was succeeded in 1877 by supplies from dif- ferent preachers till July, 1883, when Rev. George J. Sanger, the present minister, also pastor at Essex, took charge. A church of seventeen members was organized in April, 1876; Alexander D. Bray and Jasper Richardson, deacons. Sunday-school organ- ized about 1867.

A Fourth Universalist Society was organized at Sandy Bay, in February, 1821, taking the name of

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the " Universal Benevolent Society." Of the twenty- three original members, several had been for many years connected with the society at the Harbor. On the settlement of Mr. Jones at the Harbor, in 1804, one-fifth of the members of his society were residents of Sandy Bay. The same year they contributed two- fifths of the amount then raised for building a new meeting-house in the Fifth Parish, in consideration of which they received the promise of the parish that they should have the use of the meeting-house twenty-one Sundays in each year. An arrangement was made not long after for Mr. Jones to preach for them every fifth Sunday; and as it was difficult for them to obtain supplies for the remaining number of Sundays to which they were entitled, they tempor- arily relinquished their right to those days to the Congregationalists. The arrangement with Mr. Jones continued two years, when the Congregation- alists voted to themselves the exclusive use of the meeting-house. Meetings were then held by the Universalists in a school-house, and a snit in equity for the use of the meeting-house was commenced. After a protracted litigation, extending through sev- eral years, the court, virtually acknowledging the justice of the Universalists' claim, dismissed the ac- tion for want of jurisdiction, and referred them to the Legislature for redress. Preferring to build a new house rather than to have further contention about the old, the corner-stone was laid on the 24th of June, 1829, and the frame of the building, gotten out at Cambridge, and floated to Sandy Bay, was, by the volunteer services of citizens, taken from the water and raised on its foundation the ensuing 4th of July. The ministers of the society until 1840, when the territory ceased to belong to Gloucester, were Revs. Fayette Mace, Lucius R. Paige, B. B. Murray, A. C. L. Arnold, Charles Spear and Gibson Smith.

A Fifth Universalist Society was organized at the Harbor in 1843. It was composed chiefly of former members of the parent society, who withdrew from that organization about the time that Rev. Daniel D. Smith ceased to be its pastor. They took to them- selves the name of the " Independent Universalist Society," and held their first meetings in Murray In- stitute Hall, a building standing on land belonging to the old society. Mr. Smith became their pastor in 1843, and remained with them till the summer of 1848. In September, 1845, they dedicated a meeting- house, which they had erected on Elm Street, at a cost of about three thousand dollars. A church of forty members was organized, the deacons being Richard Friend, Jr., and Joseph Friend. Rev. David H. Plumb was their minister from 1849 to 1852; and Rev. George J. Sanger from 1853 to 1856. The dissolution of the society followed soon after Mr. Sanger ceased his labors, and in 1858 the prop- crty was sold to the Methodists.

A Sixth Universalist Society was organized at

Lanesville in March, 1876. The members were pre- viously connected with the Third Parish organiza- tion, at Annisquam ; but had held meetings in Vil- lage Hall, and also formed a Sunday-school several years prior to their organization as a society, probably as early as 1860. On organizing they took the name of "The Society of the Lanesville Universalist Parish." A meeting-house was built in 1878, and dedicated the 22d of January, 1879. Rev. B. G. Rus- sell was pastor for one year, beginning in June, 1879. Until April, 1884, the pulpit was supplied by students from Tufts Divinity School. Rev. George Proctor then became pastor, and remained till September, 1885. At present the pulpit is supplied by Tufts divinity students. Sunday-school established in

1860.

A Seventh Universalist Society was organized at East Gloucester, the first ward of the city, under the name of the East Gloucester Universalist Parish, the 22d of March, 1884, and a church was organized on the 29th of March, 1886. A house of worship was erected in 1885-86. Rev. Byron G. Russell, pastor from February to June, 1886; Rev. N. R. Wright since November, 1886. Sunday-school organized on the 20th of April, 1884.

BAPTISTS .- The First Baptist Church was organ- ized at Sandy Bay, on the 30th of March, 1808, and was constituted by the following-named men and women :

Benjamin IIale.

William Smith.

John Smith.

Nehemiah Grover.

Ebenezer Pool. Nathan F. Morgan.

Seth Woodbury.

Solomon Pool.

Mrs. Judith Hale. Mrs. Betsey Withanı.

Mrs. Martha Smith. Mrs. Elizabeth Dexter.

Mrs. Sally Pool.

Mrs. Lydia Lurvey.

Mrs. Eleanor Merrill. Mrs. Abigail Medler.

Miss Mary Woodbury.

Mrs. Lucy Davis.

The meetings for religious worship were at first held in the house of Captain Benjamin HIale, who, in 1809, was licensed to preach. Rev. Elisha S. Wil- liams, of Beverly, also ofteu officiated as preacher from 1809 to 1812. By the year last named the church had increased to thirty-two members. The years of the war and those immediately following witnessed no additions, and but few meetings for public worship, though the members of the church convened on Sunday afternoon at the residence of Ebenezer Pool. In December, 1820, they settled their first minister, Rev. James A. Boswell, and com- menced public services in a hall. In 1822 they built a house of worship. Mr. Boswell's pastorate ceased in 1823, but owing to the poverty of the church, his successor, Rev. Reuben Curtis, was not settled till 1827. His successors, up to and including the time when the territory ceased to belong to Gloucester, were,- 1831, Bartlet Pease; 1834, Otis Wing; 1837, Gibbon Williams ; 1838, Benjamin Knight; 1840, Otis Wing.

A Second Baptist Church was formed December 29, 1830, at the Harbor. It is now called the First Bap- tist Church. The original members were :

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Timi athy Fav r.

Elizabeth Roberta.

Sally Elwell.

Be DIJ 111 Ellery.

Sally Rowe.

Esther Fears.

Nancy Thomas,

J lin W lbury.

Sallie Bally.

Euni - Brown).

N này Woodb ry.

Hannah Dresser.

llanpab Adams.

Father Le ghton.

Judith Ellery.

Betsy Fears.

Mar aret Favor.

Lucy Steele.

Several of the above named had been in the habit of holding social religions meetings occasionally in each other's homes during several years before their constituting a church, and, aided by pastors of the Salem Baptist Association, had frequently had Sunday services in Union Hall. Early in 1830 they took steps towards the erection of a house of wor- ship on Pleasant Street. It was dedicated on the 21st of September, the same year. This gave place to another, crected on the corner of Pleasant and Middle Streets, and dedicated in March, I>51. In 1-69, when an extensive remodeling of this edifice, involving an ontlay of $18,000, was in progress, it was utterly destroyed by fire. A temporary building was at once put up on Mason Street, where worship was held till May, 1871, when a new and commodions church edifice, erected on the site of the one destroyed by fire, was dedicated and occupied. The pastors of the church have been: Rev. Samuel Adłam, March 24, 1831, to 1831; Rev. William Lamson, June, 1837, to October, 1849; Rev. J. A. B. Stone, November, 1839, to October, 1841; Rev. William Lamson, November, 1841, to August, 1848; Rev. Joseph R. Manton, February, 1849, to September, 1850; Rev. Miles Sanford, March, 1851, to July, 1853; Rev. Samuel Everett Pierce, September, 1853, to June, 1860; Rev. L. M. Woodruff, January, 1862, to March, ING1; Rev. George B. Gow, December, 1864, to March, 1×67; Rev. Forest F. Emerson, April, 1868, to Sep- tember, 1873; Rev. J. M. English, July, 1875, to March, 1882; Rev. C. D. Morris, D.D., pastor since March, 1ss2. Sunday school organized in 1827.

A branch church was established at East Glouces- ter in January, 1861, and became duly organized as the " East Gloucester Baptist Church " on the 13th of July, 1863. It was originally composed of fifty-four persons, dismissed from the parent church for the purpose of creating this organization. The society was organized in March, 1865, and incorporated in April, 1878.

A chapel was erected in 1858, before the creation of any organization. It was greatly enlarged ten years later and dedicated February 3, 1869. The first pastor of the church was Rev. Andrew Duan, settled in September, 1867 ; his successors, with the dates of thor settlement, have been : Revs. Joseph 11. Gan- nett An ust Ion7; A. M. Higgins, June, 1874 ; Charge B MeC'allough, February, 1878; L. A. Hall, September, Las1 ; George Dana Sanders, June, 1885. Sunday school or 200lze ] in 19 h.

Meetings of the Baptists (inorganized) were held at Jums ju, early in the present century, conducted by Ree Exper Davis, who was ordained as a Free-Will

Baptist preacher not far from 1810, and for a long time held public religious services in his own house. About the year 1825 he joined the Calvinistic Baptist Church, and continued a preacher in the same till 1840. In 1830 he built a meeting-house at Annis- qnam Point, which was dedicated in June, 1831. It passed out of his hands in 1838, and has since been used for secular purposes. It is now known as " Mechanics' JIall."

METHODISTS .- The first Methodist Episcopal So- ciety was organized in 1826. In 1805 John Edney, an English Wesleyan, moved into Gloucester and became a resident in the Fourth Parish, and held meetings in his own house. Probably at his solicita- tion, the first Methodist sermon in the town was preached there in 1806, by Rev. George Pickering, presiding elder of the Boston District. Mr. Picker- ing made several visits and may have remained here some little time, as, on account of the large crowds attracted to Mr. Edney's house, some of the citizens professed alarm for the peace and good order of the neighborhood, and made formal application to the selectmen to interfere. They attempted to do so, by calling on Mr. Pickering, and requesting him to leave town. He calmly assured them that he knew what he was about, and should remain and preach as long as there was a prospect of his doing good. He was not further molested. Mr. Babson says of this move- ment: "A few converts were the fruits of these early labors; but the field appears to have been almost en- tirely abandoned from this time till 1821, when, and during the four following years, Mr. Pickering, as a missionary of the New England Conference, frequent- ly visited the town, and preached either in a private house or in the old mecting-house, 'up in town.' On these visits ' class-meetings' for religious inquiry and conversation were held ; and then were laid the foun- dations of a permanent ministry." The society or- ganized in 1826 was composed of about twenty person>; and the following-named persons were the first to he formed into a class :

Thomas Ilillier. Judith Tucker. Rachel Riggs.

Dorcas Marston. Clarissa Adams, Lucy Lowe.

Isabel Hodgkins. Betsy Pulcifer.

Rev. Aaron Waitt was the first minister appointed to the field, which included the whole Cape. His Sunday services were usually held in the old meeting- house in the Fourth Parish, till the fall of 1828, when he began to preach in a new meeting-house erected by the Methodists, on Prospect Street, at the Harbor. This house continued to be occupied by the society till 1858, when they purchased the meeting-house on Elm Street, erected by the "Independent Univer- salist Society." This was used by them till 1883, when, on the Bist of October, they dedicated and oc- cupied a new house of worship on Prospect Street. Mr. Waitt's successors were Revs. William R. Stone, Aaron Summers, Aaron Josselyn, John Bailey, Leon- ard B. Gritlin. E. M. Beebe, Stephen Hiler, H. P.

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Hall, Joel Steele, Mr. Burrows, H. M. Bridge, W. C. Clark, John Collum, J. Wilson, Linus Fish, H. R. Parmenter, N. A. Soule, Converse L. McCurdy, I. J. P. Collyer, W. C. High, J. C. Smith, A. F. Herrick, N. T. Whitaker, Albert Gould, Edward A. Titus, George F. Eaton, S. B. Sweetzer, J. W. Higgins. Mr. Higgins is the present pastor. Messrs. Burrows, Clark and Collum were local preachers, who had lay occupations. Sunday-school organized in 1826.

A Second Methodist Society and Church were or- ganized in 1838, at Riverdale. Meetings in that neighborhood had not been interrupted by the erection of the house of worship at the Harbor, in 1828, but Mr. Waitt's labors, as were those of his successors until 1838, were divided between the Har- bor and Town Parish, with occasional preaching at Sandy Bay. In the fall of 1837, Mr. Samuel Curtis, of Riverdale, having donated a lot of land for church purposes, steps were taken for erecting a house of worship thereon. The edifice was completed the next year, and dedicated on the 17th of November, 1838. The bell still in use on this meeting-house was purchased of the Congregationalist Church in Rockport, and is the same as gave the alarm to the citizens in September, 1814, on the occasion-as nar- rated in the chapter on Military Affairs-when the British frigate " Nymph " opened fire on the town.

The ministers at Riverdale since the Methodists there ceased to be under the pastoral care of the minister at the Harbor, have been, with the dates of their appointment : Revs. Leonard B. Griffin, 1838 ; Benjamin F. Lambord, 1840; Ziba B. C. Dunham, 1841; Zachariah A. Mudge, 1842; Thomas C. Pearce, 1843; C. R. Foster, 1844; Daniel Richards, 1845; John Poulson, 1847; John G. Cary, 1848; Jarvis Wilson, 1850; Augustus F. Bailey, 1851; William F. La Count, 1853; Z. B. C. Dunham, 1855; Horace F. Morse, 1856; Samuel A. Cushing, 1858; N. S. Spaulding, 1859; John Middleton, 1861; S. Chapin, 1863; W. F. La Count, 1865; A. J. ITall, 1868; W.J. Hambleton, 1871; A. M. Osgood, 1872; John Capen, 1873; W. P. Blackmer, 1874; W. Wil- kie, 1876; N. H. Martin, 1878; I. A. Mesler, 1881 ; C. M. Hall, 1884; T. C. Martin, 1887. Sunday- school organized 1838.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 83

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672