History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 180

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 180

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On the 19th of the same month a council was con- vened. The letters of dismission and recommenda- tion, together with a proposed Confession of Faith and Covenant, were presented, duly considered and declared so far satisfactory that the council proceed- ed, in the usual way, to organize and recognize the church, which was designated as the South Woburn Congregational Church. Eighty-six of the one hun- dred persons who signed the petition for a dismission were present and signified their assent to the Articles of Faith and the Covenant, and "the moderator de- clared them a regular established Church of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ."

The public services of this interesting occasion were held in the vestry of the yet unfinished house of wor- ship, and were as follows :

Introductory Prayer . Rev. Mr. Dennis.

Consecrating Prayer . Rev. Jacob Coggin, of Tewksbury. Charge to the Church, Rev. Reuben Emerson, of South Reading. Right Hand of Fellowship, Rev. Abijah R. Baker, of Medford. Concluding Prayer . .... Rev. Joseph Bennett, of Woburn.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was then ad- ministered by the moderator, Rev. Reuben Emerson, assisted by the Rev. E. Cleveland and Rev. J. Ben- nett.

On the 30th of December following the organiza- tion of the church, the new sanctuary was dedicated to the worship of God, Rev. Daniel Crosby, of Charlestown, preaching the sermon.

The church, yet without a pastor, made an effort to obtain the services, in that office, of Rev. James Boutwell, but he declined the invitation. In the spring of 1841 Mr. George P. Smith, of Salem, was called to the pastoral office, and, having signified his acceptance, was ordained June 17th, following. The public exercises on the occasion were as follows :

Anthem . .... " How Sweetly Flowed the Gospel's Sound." Invocation and Scripture selectiona, Rev. T. P. Field, of Danvers. Introductory Prayer, Rev. Reuben Emerson, of South Reading. Original Hymn . By Mre. Mary L. Bennett.

Sermon . Rev. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston.

Ordaining Prayer . Rev. J. Mann, of Salem.

Original Hymn . By Mrs. Mary L. Bennett.

Charge to the Pastor . . Rev. J. Towne, of Boston.

Fellowship of the Churches . . Rev. A. R. Baker, of Medford. Address to the People . . . Rev. Joseph Bennett, of Woburn. Concluding Prayer . . Rev. W. I. Budington, of Charlestown.

In the mean time, Deacons Johuson, Thompson and Wyman, who had been office-bearers in the First Church, and prominent in the effort to secure the or- ganization of a new church, were chosen the first deacons of the South Church, and Dea. B. F. Thomp- son, who had been the superintendent of the Sabbath- school of the First, was elected to the same office in the new Sabbath-school.

The ministry of Mr. Smith was brief, but vigorous, happy and useful. The church was active and pros- perous with him as their pastor. It was, therefore, only with great sorrow that they consented to yield to his repeated request for a release from his position. Worn with care and heart-stricken by domestic bereavement, the young pastor felt under the sad ue- cessity of a change, and he was accordingly dis- missed March 11, 1845, and, during the same year, was installed pastor of the First Church in Worcester.

Rev. George Phillips Smith, son of George H. and Mary (Prime) Smith, was born in Salem Feb. 11, 1814. At the early age of sixteen he entered Am- herst College, from which he graduated in 1835. After spending some time in teaching, he studied theology at the Theological Seminary in Andover, and was ordained, as before stated, June 17, 1841, as the first pastor of the South Congregational Church in Woburn. He married, first, Octavia A. Yale, daughter of Burrage Yale, of South Reading, June 22, 1842. She died March 21, 1844, leaving one daughter, who, in 1863, married Rev. L. R. Eastman, now of Framingham. Mr. Smith married, second, Margarette Elizabeth, daughter of John B. Osgood, of Salem, May 6, 1851. Their son, Osgood Phillips, died in his early manhood.

Mr. Smith died Sept. 3, 1852, from brain and ty- phoid fever, brought upon him, it is believed, by overwork. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. E. Smalley, of the Union Church in Worcester.

Mr. Smith was succeeded in the pastoral office at Winchester by Rev. William Tappan Eustis, Jr., of Boston, who was ordained and installed April 8, 1846. Rev. R. S. Storrs, D.D., preached the ordination dis- course. Mr. Eustis' pastorate continued less than two years, being hardly long enough for any strong at- tachments. Yet it was not without a fair measure of prosperity and pleasant relations.

Mr. Eustis was born in Boston July 6, 1821, gradu- ated from Yale College in 1841, and studied theology in New Haven and Andover, leaving the last-named place in 1845. After his dismission from the pastor- ate at Winchester, Jan. 27, 1848, he was pastor of the Chapel Street Church, New Haven, Conn., from 1848 to 1869. In 1869 he became pastor of the Memorial

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Church, in Springfield, Mass, where he died in office March 30, 1888.

In 1880 Mr. Eustis received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Amherst College, and, during the same year, he was chosen a member of the Board of Visitors of Andover Theological Seminary, an office which he retained till his death.

Mr. Eustis was succeeded in the pastoral office at Winchester by Rev. John McClary Steele, who was ordained August 10, 1848. Rev. Nathan Lord, D.D., president of Dartmouth College, preached the ordi- nation scrmon.

For a considerable time after the settlement of the new pastor the church enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. Mr. Steele was a man of acknowledged ability and engaged in his work with a commendable degree of zeal. In addition to his ordinary duties as a pastor and preacher, he served for a considerable time as a member of the School Committee, of which he was chairman and in which he exhibited a rare tact. Meanwhile, the place grew rapidly in popula- tion and importance. In the summer of 1849, in order to meet the growing need, the meeting-house was enlarged and thoroughly repaired. On the 3d of April, 1850, the part of Woburn, which embraced the South Parish, was incorporated as a separate munici- pality, bearing its present name of Winchester, and later on, during the year, there were various other tokens of external prosperity.

But amid all indications of outward life, there was a painful sense of disquiet within. A strictly impar- tial fidelity to the historical facts makes it sadly necessary to say that between the pastor and a ma- jority of the people there was a growing lack of har- mony. On the one hand, Mr. Steele had warm friends who believed in him and were ready to co- operate with him. On the other, a much larger num- ber, including the officers of the church, felt that he was not adapted to his position, and that certain im- prudent financial enterprises rendered it better both for the church and for himself that he should retire from the field. So, at length, at a meeting of the parish, held December 22, 1851, they resolved, by twenty-five votes in the affirmative to four in the negative.

Mr. Steele, feeling that he could no longer be either useful or happy amid such general disquiet, at length resigned his pastoral office. A council was called, and he was dismissed February 11, 1852. Meanwhile Deacons Johnson, Thompson and Wyman, who were understood to favor his dismission, thought it best to resign their office also. Though from the first day of the existence of the church they had been the ac- knowledged standard-bearers of the enterprise, they preferred to vacate their places for other and younger men, and on March 17, 1853, they all laid down their office together.

It is pleasant to add to this episode in the general prosperity and harmony of the church, that its effects

were transient, and that, for many later years, hardly a trace of it has remained. It is believed that kindly feelings, on the part of the people, followed the dc- parting minister and that general gratification was felt in view of his subsequent usefulness in other fields.

Rev. John McClary Stecle, the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (McClary) Stcele, was born in Epsom, N. H., September 3, 1823. In both the paternal and maternal lines of his ancestry he descended from men distinguished by the intellectual and sturdy traits of character which contributed largely to Scot- land's greatness.

In September, 1840, Mr. Steele entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1844, with. a high reputation for scholarship. He pursued his theological studies at Andover, where he held a high rank as a student, and graduated in 1847.

Mr. Steele married Annie E. Burnham, of Win- chester, in August, 1852. Of his three children, two died in infancy ; the third, Frederick Lincoln Steele, now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After leaving Winchester, Mr. Steele was settled in Stratham, New Hampshire, where he remained about three years. In the autumn of 1856 he became the pastor of the First Congregational Society in Colum- bus, Ohio, but died April 5, 1857, while on a visit to the city of New York.

The successor of Mr. Steele in Winchester was Rev. Reuben T. Robinson, who was ordained October 27, 1852, the ordination sermon being preached by Rev. E. N. Kirk, D.D., of Boston. His pastorate was much longer than that of either of his predecessors and was signally happy and useful. In less than six months after the new relation was consummated the house of worship, which had not long before been en- larged and repaired, was entirely consumed by fire. This disaster occurred March 20, 1853. In the Woburn Journal of the subsequent week was given the following account of it:

" On Sunday morning, the 20th inst., at a little be- fore eight o'clock, smoke was discovered issuing from the unfinished basement of the Congregational Church. It seemed to proceed either from the fur- nace in the vestry, or from the smoke-pipe passing through the partition. The bell-rope was in the loft above the organ, and was reached with great difficulty on account of the dense smoke that filled the house ; consequently the usual alarm was not given for some time. Many citizens, however, were speedily on the spot, and exerted themselves to the utmost ; but their efforts were unavailing, for, before the fire was extin- guished in the basement, it was discovered to be burn- ing in every direction between the partition; the cushions, most of the hymn and singing-books, tlie Sunday-School libraries, the movable settces, the pulpit furniture, and one of the clocks were saved. The house was entirely consumed; it cost about $12,000, and was insured for $5,000.

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" A new organ, built by Simmons & McIntire, some four months ago, at a cost of $1,800, was entirely consumed, on which there was no insurance. On the church was a clock, purchased about three years ago by the ladies of Winchester for $400, which, with the bell, was also entirely destroyed."

This unexpected calamity added not a little to the cares of the young pastor. But, blessed with the cor- dial sympathies of the people who "had a mind to work," he was equal to the demand, and every good enterprise was steadily prosecuted. The congregation having meanwhile accepted the invitation of the Baptist Society to worship in Lyceum Hall, then oc- cupied by them, the corner-stone of a new edifice was laid September 5, 1853, and its dedication occurred October 11, 1854.

Mr. Robinson was a man of rare culture and rarer wisdom. While he was able to labor, there was an almost unbroken prosperity. In the single year of 1858 more than 130 persons were admitted members of the church. But his health was frail and he was compelled at length to cease from active labor. After a long season of gradual decline, he died August 24, 1871, having had a pastorate of nearly nineteen years.

The pastor of so many years and so eminently suc- cessful, deserves a special notice in a sketch of the church he served.

Rev. Reuben Totman Robinson, the son of Henry and Sarah (Nye) Robinson, was born in Exeter, Otsego County, New York, October 27, 1825. His parents came to Massachusetts when he was between two and three years old, living for six years in Boston and then removing to Barre, Worcester County. Here he attended the district school and became greatly at- tached to books, caring but little for the usual out- door sports of children. During the second year of his residence in Barre, and when he was ten years of age, he became deeply interested in personal religion and united with the church in whose meetings, young as he was, he often took part. After fitting for col- lege in Monson Academy, he entered Harvard Uni- versity in 1843, from which he graduated in 1847 with the honors of being class poet. Even in those student days his health was poor. Owing partly to his close application to study and partly to the frugal style of living which he felt to be necessary, but more proba- bly to his natural aversion to active out-door exer- cise, he was not able, after his graduation, to pursue, as he had hoped, his professional studies. Hence, in- stead of entering a theological school, he studied, as he could, at home, taking, meanwhile, lessons in Hebrew from Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, of Auburndale. In a little more than four years he had thus com- pleted the course of theological study and occasion- ally preached. After supplying, for a few months, a pulpit in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was urgently requested to remain, he returned to Massachusetts and received calls to settle from both Framingham.

and Winchester. Preferring Winchester, he accepted the call from that place, and was, as already stated, ordained October 27, 1852. One week previous to this event he was married to Miss Clara Caldwell, of Ips- wich. In December, 1869, the wife who had been spared to him seventeen years and been a constant helper, died after an illness from pneumonia of only a week. This great bereavement bore heavily upon his already enfeebled health, and, though he lived between one and two years after it, he never really rallied, and died August 24, 1871. Of his nine chil- dren, seven were living at the time of his death, though the oldest daughter soon followed him. His bereaved people, to whom he had been greatly endeared, erected to his memory and that of his wife, a beauti- ful monument,-a white marble shaft standing on a granite base and surmounted by a veiled urn. The expense of this token of affection, $400, was chiefly defrayed by the Sabbatlı-School.

Rev. Edwin Cone Bissell was installed November 1, 1871, as Mr. Robinson's successor, Rev. Z. Eddy, D.D. preaching the sermon. His pastorate of less than two years was attended by a good measure of prosperity. In the one complete year that it em- braced, he admitted about forty persons as members of the church, aud he was personally highly respected for his scholarly ability and uniformly consistent Christian character. But the time of his service was too short to admit of such deeply-rooted mutual at- tachments as characterized the long ministry of his immediate predecessor. The people, however, have ever cherished for him a sincere esteem since he ceased to be their pastor and are happy to know that he has, for many years, filled a position of eminent usefulness as a professor in an important theological seminary.

In the biographical record of graduates from Am- herst College is found the following notice of Dr. Bissell, in an account of the class of 1855:

" Edwin Cone Bissell, A.M., D.D., son of George C. and Elizabeth (White) Bissell, was born at Schoharie, N. Y., Marchi 2, 1832 ; fitted for college at Monson Academy ; teacher Williston Seminary, Easthampton, '55-56; Union Theo. Sem , '56-59 ; ordained at Westhamptou, Sept. 21, 1859, and pastor, '59-64 ; pastor San Francisco, Cal., '64-69 ; stated sup- ply, Honolulu, S. I., '69-70 ; pastor Winchester, '71-73 ; missionary of A. B. C. F. M., Gratz, Austria, '73-78 ; without charge, Boston, '78-80; student at Leipsic, Ger., '80-81 ; professor of the Hebrew language and literature, Hartford, Ct., since '81 ; captain of Co. K., 52d Mass. Vols., '62-63 ; associate editor of Pacific (Cal.), two and a half years, author of 'The Historic Origin of the Bible,' 'The Apocrypha of the Old Tes- tament,' Inaugural Address, 'Proposed Reconstruction of the Penta- teuch ;' D. D., Amherst, 1874 ; married, Sept. 6, 1859, Emily, danghter of Oren Pomeroy, of Somers, Ct. ; one child."

Rev. Alfred Brooks Dascomb succeeded Dr. Bissell. He was installed March 4, 1874 ; Rev. Dr. J. M. Man- ning, of Boston, preached the sermon. Mr. Dascomb, like his predecessor, was respected and beloved as an able preacher and a faithful pastor. During the year following his installation more than sixty persons were admitted to membership in the church, and each subsequent year had more or less distinctly the seal of

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God's approval of his work. His health, however, was not robust, and during the year 1878 he was so scriously disabled that he felt under the necessity of resigning his office as pastor. His connection with the church was not, however, regularly dissolved till October 30th of the next year. His many friends in Winchester have ever held him and his wife in most affectionate esteem, and in his subsequent bereave- ment, by the death of Mrs. Dascomb, they felt the ten- derest sympathy with him and his six motherless children.

Mr. Dascomb graduated from Dartmouth College in 1858, and studied theology, in connection with teaching in private. Some time after leaving Win- chester he was installed pastor of the Congregational Church at Bellows Falls, Vt., where he still remains greatly respected as a man and a minister of Christ.

Rev. Charles Rollin Seymour was installed Octo- ber 30, 1879, as Mr. Dascomb's successor in Winches- ter, by the same council that dismissed his predecessor. Rev. Joseph J. Duryea, D.D., of Boston, preached the sermon, and the exercises generally were of rare interest. During his pastorate of nine years the church enjoyed great prosperity, and he commanded the sin- cere respect of the great mass of the people without as well as within his own parish. The church, in vari- ous ways, increased in benevolent effort and useful- ness. In March, 1886, they adopted the method of putting into permanent form in type the annual sta- tistics embracing additions, dismissions, deaths, total membership, baptisms, benevolent contributions, etc., copies at the close of the year to be distributed.

In April of the same year the church voted to give a copy of the Bible to each baptized child of the Church, on attaining the age of seven years, the pre- sentation to occur on the second Monday in June.

In October following, a Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was formed.

In February, 1887, the " pledge card and envelope" system of giving to benevolent objects was so far adopted as greatly to increase the amount of offer- ings.

In May, 1887, a series of special Union Evangelistic services was held under the supervision of Rev. B. Fay Mills, resulting in a positive expression of faith on the part of many youth and the confirmation in the truth of some adults.

In the midst of manifold tokens of divine accep- tance, it was with great regret on the part of not a few that Mr. Seymour felt constrained, April 15, 1888, to resign his office as pastor, the resignation to take effect on the 6th of May.

An Ecclesiastical Council, convened October 9th following, regularly dissolved the connection, with the sincerest respect for the retiring pastor and his family, and the most cordial sympathy with the destitute church.

Rev. Charles Rollins Seymour was born at Roots- town, Ohio, July 22, 1845; graduated from Western

Reserve College in 1870, and from Andover Theolog- ical Seminary in 1874. He was ordained and in- stalled pastor of the North Church, Newburyport, October 8, 1874, where lic remained till 1879, when lie accepted a call to settle as pastor at Winchester. Since leaving Winchester, he has been happily set- tled as pastor in Bennington, Vermont.

The Board of Officers in the church at Winchester for 1889 were Robert Cowdrey, Charles E. Conant, Harrison Parker, (2d), Alfred C. Vinton, E. Lawrence Barnard, and Frederic H. Page, deacons ; Rev. Edwin B. Palmer, Sylvester G. Pierce, and the deacons, standing committee.

Postscript .- Rev. Darius Augustine Newton was happily settled as Mr. Seymour's successor in the pastoral office, December 19, 1889, and, at the present date (April, 1890) has the promise of a very useful ministry. The church and society seem to be very pleasantly united in him, and ready to co-operate with him in the increasingly interesting work to which they called him.

Mr. Newton graduated from Amherst College in 1879, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1882. Before coming to Winchester he had been twice settled as pastor : at Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1882-85, and at Stoneham, Massachusetts, 1885-89.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH .- The First Baptist Church in Winchester was organized August 18, 1852, by the following-named constituent members :

Benjamin Abrahams, Miss Mercy Abrahams, Mrs. Almira Andrews, Mrs. Ann S. Chaloner, Miss Eliza Chaloner, Orin W. Gardiner, Samuel G. Grafton, Nathan Jaquith, Jr., Mrs. Nathan Jaquith, John Hopley, D. Wyman Locke, Mrs. Adaline Locke, Mrs. Mary McIntire, Rev. Nathan A. Reed, Mrs. Sarah B. G. Reed, Nathan A. Reed, Jr., Hatevil K. Stan- ton, Aaron D. Weld.

At the same meeting Rev. N. A. Reed was elected pastor, and, two weeks later, A. D. Weld was elected clerk

The church was publicly recognized as a regular Baptist Church by an ecclesiastical council, of which Rev. J. W. Parker, of Cambridge, was moderator, and Rev. E. K. Fuller, of Medford, was clerk, on the afternoon of Sept. 2, 1852. The Baptist Churches in Malden, Woburn, Medford, Cambridge, West Cam- bridge, Charlestown, Lexington, together with the First Baldwin Place and Bowdoin Square Baptist Churches, of Boston, were represented in the council. The sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Caldicott, and the prayer of recognition was offered by Rev. Ira Le- land, the hand of fellowship being given by the mod- rator.

The first deacon, John Hopley, was elected Novem- ber 3d of the same year; but he served alone in the office for nearly two years, until, in August, 1854, A. J. Bellows was elected to serve with him.

Mr. Reed's pastorate came to a close August 1, 1854, twenty-three persons having been added to the church during his brief ministry, ninctcen of whom came by letter from other churches.

An interval of fifteen montlis elapsed before the

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church was again favored with pastoral care. De- cember 1, 1855, Rev. Edwin B. Eddy commenced his labors, although he did not unite with the church by letter until June 14, 1857. During his vigorous and successful ministry there occurred the well-remem- bered, wide-spread revival of '57 and '58, when the entire country, and especially the Northern States, were blessed by very extensive spiritual refreshings.

Before the pastorate of Mr. Eddy closed, upon the last Sunday in May, 1860, ninety-five members had been added to the church, of whom sixty-one united by baptism and twenty-five by letter from other churches.

The next pastor was Rev. Henry Hinckley, whose ministry commenced with his ordination to the work by an ecclesiastical council, called by the church, September 4, 1862; the sermon on this occasion being preached by Rev. D. C. Eddy, D.D., and the ordain- ing prayer offered by Rev. George M. Preston.

Up to this time the church had suffered the disad- vantages incident to worshiping in Lyceum Hall. Mr. Hinckley immediately set about raising money to build a meeting-house, and so successful was he that June 9, 1864, witnessed the dedication of a neat and convenient edifice, upon the corner of Washing- ton and Mt. Vernon Streets.

Upon this interesting occasion the sermon was preached by Rev. P. B. Haughwort, of Fall River ; the dedicatory prayer was offered by the former pastor, Rev. E. B. Eddy.

Mr. Hinckley's pastorate was also successful in increasing the membership of the church by the ad- dition of fifty-one new members, twenty-seven of whom were received by baptism, twenty-one by letter and three by experience.

Mr. Hinckley finished his work in Winchester No- vember 2, 1866, and was succeeded the following spring, March 1, 1867, by Rev. S. J. Bronson, under whose ministry of a little more than two years four- teen united with the church, five by baptism.

Rev. L. G. Barrett became pastor February 4, 1870, and during a term of four years' service he was per- mitted to welcome to church membership thirty-eight by letter, twenty-eight by baptism and three by ex- perience. Mr. Barrett closed his labors here with the month of January, 1874, and in March following the church called to the pastorate Rev. Horace F. Barnes, who commenced his ministry during the same month, and continued it seven fruitful years, thereby more than doubling in length of pastoral service the average of his predecessors.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 180

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226