History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 123

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 123

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for an adjustment of existing difficulties in any feas- ible way. Meanwhile grave and numerous charges were made against him, by one and another of the people, of conduct which, if not wholly unchristian, was, at least, if the charges were sustained, highly impudent and unbecoming his office and profession. Mr. Jackson, too, brought charges against Mr. Fox, particularly of writing to him a scurrilous letter, which Mr. Fox, on the other hand, instantly and utterly denied ever writing.

While this unhappy controversy was going on, a considerable number of the people, most dissatisfied with Mr. Jackson, after various hindrances and delays, separated from the parish and received the necessary permission to form another, and organized a new church, which, the church at Wohurn Precinct being the Second, should be known as the Third. Deferring more particular notice of this new organi- zation for the present, it seems proper here to note the fact that it did not and, in the nature of the case, could not, bring peace to those who remained in the old parish. Mr. Fox was still the senior pastor and Mr. Jackson was the same as hefcre. Their relations to each other were none the less unhappy, and the sad work of dissension went on.

About three months after the organization of the Third Church, Mr. Jackson, goaded on every side by the outspoken or whispered criticisms of the people, called an ex-parte council of six ministers and their delegates to consider his case and give advice. It seems strange, in view of the circumstances, and especially in view of the refusal of the church to join in the movement, that any council should have been found willing to undertake the difficult and dangerous and even thank- less work. It is charitable to believe that they but faintly understood the nature of the enterprise. They, however, assembled. The charges that they took into consideration were numerous, and some of them were very serious. In reading their Result, which is very long and minute, one would, if the subject were not so serious, be tempted to smile at what seems to be a special painstaking to preserve a prudent equipoise between the two ministers, the two parties, and the measure of approval and censure for the man who had called them together. Yet after all their nice and praiseworthy adjustments of the balance, there seems to be a preponderance of censure, either expressed or implied, for Mr. Jackson, and a very cautious and ap- parently kind reference to Mr. Fox. On the whole, one cannot well avoid the conviction that he who called the council, after being "weighed," is found "wanting." They say they have found Mr. Jackson blameworthy to some extent and expect him to con- fess it and behave himself thereafter with Christian propriety. The church is exhorted to act wisely and kindly, bury the past and the new Third Church and Society are called upon to consider their course and its divisive consequences.

So far as appears, this elaborate Result had not the

weight of a feather in the scale of public opinion. The unhappy schism remained. There was, perhaps, several years later, a slight and transient change in Mr. Jackson's favor. From some obscure origin a charge of scandalous immorality against him was found to be in circulation. Too hastily and very unwisely the people of the new society, including their minis- ter, accepted it for truth and helped to circulate it as such. The result proved their mistake. Mr. Jackson was publicly vindicated, and Mr. Cotton, the minister of the Third Church, publicly confessed himself to have been deceived and in the wrong. This sad affair and the vindication of its intended victim, did not long precede his death. In the autumn of the same year Mr. Jackson died, and all controversy with him ended. Most fortunately, or rather providentially, his successor, as Mr. Fox's colleague, was Rev. Josiah Sherman, a man of great wisdom, of unblemished rep- utation and of unquestionable piety. Being also an orator of almost peerless eloquence, he soon drew all parties to himself. The aged senior pastor and the people were alike moved by his wondrous power, and, more strange than all, as already related, the recent Third Church organization was abandoned, the minister voluntarily retiring from his charge, and the people returning to the old church and parish.

The way is now prepared for a more particular notice of the Third Church.

On the 17th of September, 1746, a council, called for the purpose of organizing, if thought best, this church, after hearing and duly considering the state- ments bearing upon the case, adopted, with only one dissentient vote in relation to one article, the follow- ing

RESULT.

" The Result of a Council of seven Churches met here at Woburn to embodye the new Society into a Church state and to hear the grounds and causes of their separation from the First Church in said Woburn, Edward Jackson, pastor :-

" At the desire of a number of the inhabitants, several of them mem- hers of the Church there and some of other churches, disatisfied at the conduct of their minister, the Rev. Mr. Edward Jackson, and being sett off a distinct Society by the General Court, applied to us for advice and assistance in embodying into a Church State.

" After many prayers to God for his direction and several days unsuc- cessful endeavors with Mr. Jackson and the Church to bring them to joyo oa reasonable terms with their aggrieved brethren in calling a Mutual Conacil ; and hearing what the disatisfied had to lay befor us, we came to the following Result, viz. :-

" It appears to this Council that Mr. Jackson's conduct, in many arti- cles, has been very offensive and the disatisfied have been unreasonably denied proper means of redress in their grievances and have, therefore, just and sufficient cause to withdraw from him as their pastor, and that it is advisable for theni now to embody into a Church State.

" The Church in this place, not having, when desired, objected any particular of disorderly walking against them, we heartily lament the deplorable circumstances in which we find the people of this Precinct, broken into parties, and earnestly exhort all concerned to examine themselves and be deeply humbled for all that has been amies in their temper and behaviour towards each other. Seeking God's pardon and grace, exercise mutual Christian forgiveness and endeavor by all mean the recovery and preservation of the unity of the Spirit aalong them ia the bonds of peace. Amea.

" NATHANIEL EELLE, Scituate, Moderator.

" DANIEL LEWIS, of Pembroke,

" JOHN BARNARD, of Andover,

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" EBENEZER GAY, of Hingham (except the arti- cle of embodying now in a Church State),

" SHEARJASHUO BROWN, of Scituate,

" STEPHEN CHASE, of Lyno End,

" Signed also by all their messengers."

"The solemn Covenant, entered into at the time of Embodying the Church, was read distinctly by the Moderator of the Conocil aod snb" scribed by those that were embodied as follows, viz. :-

" We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being desirous of embody- ing into a particular Church of Christ in order therenoto ; We do, in the presence of God, the holy angels and this assembly, solemnly, seriously aod sincerely, eo far as we know our hearts, this day avonch the Lord Jehovah, the only living and true God, to be our God. We take God the Father, to be our Father and Sovereign; God the Son to be our Sa- viour and Redeemer, our Prophet, Priest and King aod only Mediator of the Covenant of grace, and God the Holy Ghost to be our Sanctifier and Comforter. And we give up ourselves one unto another in the Lord, solemnly promising by God's gracious assistance to walk with Him and one with another in a Church relation in ways of Holy Communion and due observation of, and subjection to, all Christ's commandmeuts and ordinances. Amen."

Thirty-eight persons subscribed and assented to the covenant, of whom twenty-three were females and fifteen males, as follows :

Roland Cotton, John Lock, Gershom Flagg, John Russell, Samuel Carter, Zachariah Flagg, John Carter, members of the First Church.

John Fowle, Joseph Richardson, Jr., Jacob Wright, Philip Alexander, Gershom Flagg, Jr., Peter Wyman, Samuel Tidd, James Sawyer, members of other churches.

Mary Fowle, Joanne Alexander, Elizabeth Flagg, Mary Sawyer, Sarah Kendall, Sarah Richardson, Mary Fowle, Phebe Tidd, Mary Richardson, Phebe Richardson, Isabel Bruce, Mary Fowle, Sarah Ames, Sarah Winn, Abigail Carter, Sarah Sawyer, Abigail Richardson, Pegg Grigree, members of the First Church.

Martha Richardson, Betty Flagg, Elizabeth Alex- ander, from other churches.

There are found but meagre data for the brief sub- seqnent history of this church, its records being long since lost. John Leathe was chosen deacon and was also parish clerk. Rev. Josiah Cotton, previously a pastor of the church in Providence, Rhode Island, was installed pastor of the Third Church, July 15, 1747. The congregation worshiped in an unfinished building nearly opposite the old and still remembered Plympton House on Main Street. Not long after the settlement of Mr. Sherman, who lived in this house, Mr. Cotton became aware that his own people were increasingly attracted by the preaching of the popular successor of Mr. Jackson, and inclined to re-unite with the First Church and Parish. This measure he did not oppose, and wisely resigned his office as pastor. He was dismissed June 30, 1756. The re-union of the two churches soon happily followed, and Deacon John Leathe, of the Third Church, was ere long chosen deacon of the re-united church.

Rev. Josiah Cotton, the only pastor of the Third Church, was a son of Rev. Roland Cotton, of Sand- wich. His grandfather, his father and three of his brothers were also ministers of the Gospel, and were

descendants from Rev. John Cotton, minister of the First Church, Boston. Rev. Josiah Cotton was born in Sandwich, June, 1703, and graduated from Harvard College, 1722.1 After leaving Woburn he was in- stalled at Sandown, New Hampshire, November 28, 1759, and died there May 27, 1780.2

THE SOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH .- The largest colony that has ever gone from the First Church was that which, November 19, 1840, organ- ized a new church in that part of Woburn which, in 1850, became a separate municipality bearing the name of Winchester. This colony, numbering one hundred and two persons, included many of the most valuable members and three of the six deacons of the mother church. Deacons Nathan B. Johnson, Ben- jamin F. Thompson and Marshall Wyman had long been pillars in the old church and their names were synonyms for consistent Christian character and usefulness wherever they were known. It is not strange, therefore, that the church parted with such men as they and those they represented with reluct- ance. But, after much hesitation and some delay, they consented and bade the new enterprise a sincere God-speed.

A council was called which was convened No- vember 19, 1840. After the customary preliminaries, they proceeded to organize and recognize the new church. Following an invocation by Rev. Mr. Dennis, Rev. Jacob Coggin, of Tewksbury, a native of Woburn, offered the consecrating prayer, Rev. Reuben Emer- son, of South Reading, gave the charge, and Rev. Joseph Bennett, pastor of the mother church, offered the concluding prayer. In the celebration of the Lord's Supper which followed, Rev. Messrs. Emerson, the moderator, Cleaveland and Bennett officiated.

A house of worship having been erected in 1840, was dedicated December 30th of that year to the worship of God, Rev. Daniel Crosby, pastor of the Winthrop Church in Charlestown, preaching the sermon.

The church, after an unsuccessful effort to obtain the services of Rev. James Boutwell, as pastor, ex- tended, in the spring of 1841, a unanimous call, in which the society unanimously concurred, to Mr. George P. Smith, of Salem, to assume the duties of the pastoral office. He accepted the invitation and was ordained June 17th following.

Rev. T. P. Field, of Danvers, offered the invocation and read the Scriptures; Rev. Reuben Emerson, of South Reading, offered the introductory prayer ; Rev. Dr. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston, preached the ser- mon ; Rev. J. Mann, of Salem, offered the ordaining prayer ; Rev. J. Towne, of Boston, gave the charge to the pastor ; Rev. Abijah R. Baker, of Medford, ex- pressed the fellowship of the churches ; Rev. Joseph Bennett, of the First Church, made the address to

1 "Sewall's History," pp. 337-338.

" Lawrence's " New Hampshire Churches," p. 132.

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the people ; Rev. W. J. Budington, of Charlestown, offered the concluding prayer.

Two original hymns, written for the occasion by the wife of the pastor of the First Church, were sung as peculiarly appropriate parts of the service.

At a meeting of the church, held December 31, 1840, Nathan B. Johnson, Benjamin F. Thompson and Marshall Wyman, who had been office-bearers in the First Church, were chosen as the first deacons of the South Church. And in January, 1841, when the Sabbath-school was organized, Deacon Benjamin F. Thompson, who had been also the superintendent of the school in the First Church, was chosen to the same office in the new organization.

The ministry of Mr. Smith, though short, was one of vigor and great usefulness. A delightful harmony and a " mind to work " pervaded the church, which at once took rank among the most active and efficient in every Christian enterprise.

To the great regret and deep sorrow of all, the young pastor, worn with care and heavy bereavement in his family, felt under the necessity of resigning his position and even of repeating his request for a release. He was accordingly dismissed March 11, 1845.

Mr. Smith was succeeded in the pastoral office by William T. Eustis, Jr., of Boston, who was ordained and installed April 8, 1846, Rev. Dr. R. S. Stows preaching the ordination discourse. Mr. Eustis re- mained in the pastoral office less than two years. He was dismissed January 27, 1848, and became pastor of a church in New Haven, Conn.

Mr. Eustis was followed by Rev. John M. Steele, who was ordained August 10, 1848, and dismissed February 11, 1852.

As South Woburn was incorporated in 1850, as a separate town, bearing the name of Winchester, the South Church of Woburn may more properly, from this year onward, be described as the First Church in Winchester, and, of course, belongs to the history of that town. 1

Congregational Church at North Woburn .- In the month of September, 1846, a number of persons, then residing in North Woburn and accustomed to attend church at the Centre village, began to consider the propriety and feasibility of establishing separate re- ligious worship among themselves. Securing per- mission to occupy for this purpose the large upper room of the village school-house, and bespeaking the services of Rev. Samuel Sewell, of Burlington, there was preaching there for the first time, October 11th of that year. The service from Sabbath to Sabbath being well attended and increasingly hopeful, the ar- rangement continued for three years. In the mean time a religious society was legally organized, March 1, 1849, and in June following, the foundations were

laid for a house of worship, which was dedicated Oc- tober 11th of the same year. On the 22d of November following, an ecclesiastical council, consisting of Rev. Jonathan Edwards of the First Church, Rev. Barna- bas M. Fay of the church in Wilmington, Rev. Har- rison G. Park of the church in Burlington, and their respective delegates, Deacons Stephen Richardson, Benjamin Foster, John Marion and Mr. Sumner Rich- ardson, delegate from the church at South Woburn, convened for the purpose, if deemed proper, of or- ganizing an Evangelical Church of the Congrega- tional denomination. Forty persons presented them- selves and offered their letters of dismission from other churches, for the purpose of uniting with the proposed church. Of these forty, whose autograph signatures are appended to the request, twelve were males and twenty-eight were females. Thirty-three were from the First Church of Woburn; two were from the Mt. Vernon Church, Boston ; two were from the church in Wilton, Me. ; one from the church in Wilton, N. H .; one from the church in Reading, and one from the Union Church, in Groton.

Rev. Mr. Fay offered the introductory prayer ; Rev. Mr. Park propounded the articles of the Confession of Faith and the church covenant for the public as- sent of the persons who desired to become a church, and offered the prayer of consecration ; and Rev. Mr. Edwards, in the name and in behalf of the First Church, extended to Deacon Charles Thompson, as a representative of the new church, the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Edwards also, in behalf of individ- ual members of the First Church and Society, pre- sented a set of communion and other church furni- ture, in an address to Rev. Mr. Sewall, as the stated preacher, to which the latter made a suitable response. At the same time the newly-organized church voted unanimously to concur with the society in an invita- tion to Rev. Mr. Sewall to officiate for another year as preacher, and now as pastor. These interesting exercises were closed by the administration of the Lord's Supper to the new church and invited mem- bers of other churches then present, Rev. Messrs. Sewall and Fay, and Deacons Charles Thompson, Richardson, Foster and Marion officiating in their respective spheres.

Rev. Mr. Sewall continued to supply the pulpit and officiate as pastor till January, 1852, when he an- nounced his intention, after his engagement should cease, of withdrawing from service.

During the following summer (June, 1852) Rev. George T. Dole, who had been pastor of a church in Beverly, was engaged to supply, temporarily, the vacant pulpit. In August he was invited to assume the pastoral office. Having signified his acceptance. of the invitation, he was installed October 12th, the first regular pastor. During the three years of his official relation to the church, he labored, amid many difficulties and discouragements, wisely and usefully. He was an unusually pure writer and always an able

1 The authorities for the sketch of the South Church of Woburn are the Woburn Church Records, the Winchester Church Manual, and various articles in Vols. I. and II. of the Winchester Record.

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preacher. But. his frail health seriously crippled him, and, at his own request, he was dismissed October 30, 1855. He was never again settled as a pastor, but though struggling with shattered health he supplied, for several years, two more pulpits in Berkshire County, Mass. He at length retired from the active duties of the ministry, and, in 1875, bought a com- fortable house in Reading, where he died March 26, 1884.

Rev. George Thurlow Dole was born in Byfield, Mass., October 30, 1808; graduated from Yale College in 1838 ; studied theology at New Haven and An- dover, leaving the latter place in 1841. He married Jane P. Treat, of New Haven, Conn. They had three children, all daughters : 1, Susan Jane ; 2, Alice Hooper; 3, Bertha Cordelia.

During the years intervening between the dismis- sion of Mr. Dole, October 30, 1855, and the installa- tion of his successor in the pastoral office, July 26, 1865, the pulpit was supplied, for seasons of greater or less duration, by Messrs. E. S. Fairchild, G. D. Pike, A. S. Nickerson and others from the Theologi- cal Seminary at Andover, and Henry Kimball, of New York, and by Rev. Messrs. Byington and Harding, who had been pastors of other churches. During these years the progress of the church was slow, but, notwithstanding some sore trials, especially in 1857, there was, on the whole, some advance in strength, and more in its well-defined and recognized character as an unswerving Evangelical organization.

Early in July, 1865, an invitation was extended to Rev. Melancthon G. Wheeler, then of West Roxbury, to assume the pastoral office. This invitation being accepted, he was installed on the 26th of the same month, the First Church in Woburn, the South and Bethesda Churches, in Reading, the churches in Stoneham and West Amesbury, Winchester, South Reading, Wilmington and Burlington being repre- sented on the council.

After so many years of destitution of a regular pastor, the church took fresh courage, and, with re- newed zeal, engaged in their appropriate work. The pastor, also, with the advantage of much previous experience, was earnest and active in his work. But his work was short. Failing health made it more and more evident that he could not perform the du- ties of his office; and, after a lingering and painful illness of several months, he died in office, February 9, 1870.

Rev. Melancthon Gilbert Wheeler was born May 22, 1802, in Charlotte, Vt .; graduated from Union College in 1825; studied theology at Princeton, N. J. and at Andover, leaving the latter place in 1829. Be- fore coming to Woburn he had been a pastor in Ab- ington, Conway, Williamsburg and at South Dart- mouth, and, for brief periods, stated supply in other places. He was twice married, his first wife leaving at her death two sons and a daughter. He married, second, Frances C. Parkinson, of New Boston, N. H.,

a graduate of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, and a teacher in various places. They had five chil- dren : 1, Elizabeth P., married John R. Carter, of Woburn, June 22, 1873, and died July 25, 1888. 2, Caroline A., married Charles H. Cooper, professor in Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., June 10, 1883. 3, Cornelia F., married William W. Hill, of Woburn, June 21, 1882. 4, John H., graduated from Harvard College in 1871. Distinguished as a scholar and teacher. In 1875-6 he was Fellow of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. The next three years he spent at various universities in Germany and Italy, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Bohn, in 1879. Returning to this country in 1880, he was successively tutor at Harvard University, Professor of Latin at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., and Profe-sor of Greek in University of Virginia. This last professorship fail- ing health compelled him to resign in the summer of 1887. Retiring to the former home of his wife, in Newbury, Vt., he gradually failed, and died greatly lamented, October 10, 1887, at the age of thirty- seven years. 5, Edward F., graduated from Bowdoin College 1883, and now, 1889, a member of the Senior Class in the Theological Seminary, at Hartford, Conn.

For several months before and for more than three years after the death of Mr. Wheeler the pulpit was supplied by Rev. L. Thompson, a native of the vil- lage, and, for thirteen years previously, the pastor of the Congregational Church in West Amesbury (now Merrimac.) After Mr. Wheeler's death he was in- vited to officiate as pastor. This he did till April, 1873, when he declined a new engagement. Among the many men from Andover and elsewhere who, for one Sabbath or more, supplied the vacant pulpit, dur- ing the subsequent year and five months, Mr. Charles Anderson, then a student at Andover, was prominent and the preacher for a considerable time. Receiving a unanimous call to become pastor, in the summer of 1874, he accepted it, and was ordained and installed September 2d following, with the mutual understand- ing that he should also serve as pastor of the neigh- boring church in Burlington.

M .. Anderson's pastorate of fourteen years is per- haps too recent for history. But it is proper to say that he was most indefatigable and efficient in his work. In season and out of season he was actively engaged in efforts to build up and benefit the people. Nor did he labor in vain. Several seasons of special religious interest resulted in numerous accessions to the church, and there was, throughout his ministry, a degree of harmony rarely witnessed, for the same length of time, in any church.

In 1881-82 it became so apparent that something must be done to secure better accommodations for the church work and worship, that, after mature deliber- ation and the consideration of various plans, it was decided to erect a new house of worship. "The peo- I ple had a mind to work," and nearly all, men, women

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and children, the pastor leading, pledged their aid in such weekly offerings as they saw fit. The result, in the amount raised then and prospectively, astouished every oue, and the great enterprise was initiated. The last service in the old sanctuary was held May 28, 1882. From this time till August 19, 1883, the congregation met for worship in the Firemen's Hall. After the last date there was no Sabbath service till September 23d, when, for the first time, the scattered flock met in the new chapel, or lecture-room, which was finished before the main audience-room was in readiness.

On the 19th of February, 1884, the handsome new edifice was dedicated. The audience was large, fill - ing both the main audience-room and the chapel, thrown into one. Dr. Daniel March, of the First Church, preached an appropriate sermon from Ps. 116: 7. There was a solemn act of dedication, in which the church and society formally joined. And the building committee, through their chairman, gave the most gratifying information that, through the persistent and self-denying efforts of the people, aidled by the generous gifts of the mother church in Woburn, the sister church in Winchester, and various friends in other places, the house was dedicated free from debt. To secure this result, the pastor had labored most assiduously, and both he and the people rejoiced in the auspicious accomplishment of what they had hoped for with not a little misgiving.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 123

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034