History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 181

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 181

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During these seven years, sixty-six persons were received into the fellowship of the church, of which number forty-three were baptized and twenty-three were admitted by letter.

Mr. Barnes' pastorate closed March 1, 1881, and in August following Joseph F. Fielden became his suc- cessor. During the eight years which have elapsed since that date, one hundred and thirty-six members

have been received into membership, of whom eighty- four have united by baptism, forty-six by letter, four by experience and two by restoration. The present membership is two hundred and twenty-one.

The following are the names of those who have served as deacons during the thirty-seven years :

John Hopley, Elected November 3, 1852 August 2, 1854

A. J. Bellows, .

Jas. M. Sandford,

December 2, 1857

H. K. Stanton,

January 11, 1861

Wm. H. Carleton, January 14, 1867

F. S. Richardson, January 10, 1870

D. W. Locke,

January 19, 1875

Wm. H. Brewer,

November 5, 1880

E. F. Whitney,

November 5, 1880

[The foregoing historical sketch of the Baptist Church was kindley furnished by the pastor, Rev. J. F. Fielden.]

UNITARIAN SOCIETY.1-The first movement in re- gard to a Unitarian Society in Winchester was in the year 1855, when a Sunday-school was organized by the author of this sketch, and continued nearly four years under his superintendence. Its meetings were held, a portion of the time, in the Mystic School- house, and atother times in what is now Livingston Hall, and the house of Mrs. Mary Sharon, who cheer- fully gave the use of her rooms, and was herself un- tiring in her efforts to make the school a success. This good lady died on Sunday, January 6, 1889, at the age of eighty-eight years, ten months, retaining her interest in the society to the last.

Funds for the support of the school were contribu- ted by friends in this town, and by others in Medford, Cambridgeport aud Boston. The Rev. Charles Brooks, of Medford, was very much interested in the school, and donated to it some books for a library. The Hon. Albert Fearing gave a large pulpit Bible. The average attendance at first was about thirty scholars, but toward the end it numbered fifty or sixty, about one-half of whom were brought by Mrs. Sharon from the Industrial School for Girls, which was then located in this town, and of which she was the matron. During that period evening meetings were held in the Mystic School-house, at which the Rev. John F. W. Ware came up from Cambridgeport, Charles Brooks and Theo. Tebbetts from Medford, B. Frost from Concord, all of whom have passed from earth, John M. Masters from Woburn, and others of the clergy who joined in this mission work and preached before interested audiences. The Sunday- school and church services, however, were discon- tinued in the spring of 1858.

Several years elapsed after that disbanding, when

1 By Edwin A. Wadleigh. This history was completed only a few weeks hefore the very sudden and lamented death of the writer, in Boston. While walking from the Causeway Street Station of the B. & L. Railroad to the Court-House, ahout half-past eight, on Friday morn- ing, January 10, 1890, and when near the Merrimac House on Merrimac Street, he was instantly prostrated hy an apoplectic stroke. He was carried into the hotel and physicians were called, hut he died in about an honr .- L. T.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the Rev. S. R. Calthrop came to spend a Sunday with his Winchester friends. About twenty-five persons who heard of his coming met in the parlor of Dr. Winsor's house, and there, on Sunday, November 19, 1865, listened to a sermon on "Inspiration," which inspired them with a determination to hear more of the same gospel. Another service was accordingly held in the lower Lyceum Hall on the following Sun- day, at which more than eighty persons were as- sembled.

As the interest increased, on November 29, 1865, the following act of association was drawn up and signed :

"We, the subscribers, citizens of the town of Winchester and Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, for the purpose of forming a corporation in accordance with the provisions of the thirty-second chapter of the Revised Statutes of Massachusetts, hereby associate ourselves together as a religious society for religious purposes, in the town of Winchester aforesaid, nnder the corporate name of 'The Winchester Unitarian Society.'"'

The first meeting of the corporation was held on Wednesday evening, December 5, 1865, at which meeting C. J. Bishop was chosen moderator ; Charles P. Curtis, clerk ; F. Windsor, treasurer ; C. J. Bishop, T. P. Ayer, E. A. Wadleigh, F. O. Prince and Ed- ward Shattuck, standing committee, in connection with the clerk and treasurer. A code of by-laws was adopted, and the third religious society in Winchester entered upon its corporate existence.

Lyceum Hall was engaged, and the Winchester Unitarian Society held its first religious service on Sunday, December 3, 1865, one hundred persons being present. A Sunday-school was formed in the afternoon, with Charles J. Bishop as its superin- tendent, and fifty scholars came together as the nucleus of the present school.

The pulpit, for the first six months, was occupied by different clergymen. At a special meeting of the society, May 18, 1866, it was voted to invite the Rev. Richard Metcalf, of Providence, R. I., to become the pastor. The call was accepted, and, on June 14, 1866, he was duly installed. The order of services was as follows :

Introductory prayer by the Rev. Eli Fay, of Woburn ; reading from the Scriptures by the Rev. John M. Masters, of North Cambridge ; orig- inal hymn by the Rev. S. G. Bulfinch, D.D., of Cambridge; sermon by the Rev. James Freeman Clark, D.D., of Boston ; installing prayer by the Rev. S. J. Livermore, of Lexington; charge by the Rev. Rufus Ellis, D.D , of Boston ; right hand of fellowship by the Rev. H. C. Badger, of Cambridgeport ; address to the people by the Rev. S. R. Cal- throp, of Roxbury ; concluding prayer by the Rev. Thomas J. Mum- ford, of Dorchester; benediction by the pastor.

The anniversary of this occasion was observed every year for fifteen years by a social gathering in the vestries of the church, where pastor and people came together and rejoiced in the bond of union which had been formed.

On June 26, 1866, William Everett, a son of Ed- ward Everett, then a resident of the town and a wor- shiper in the church, presented the society with a set

of communion vessels, consisting of four goblets, two plates and a tankard.

After occupying Lyceum Hall for several years, it was found to be insufficient for the purposes of the society, and, in 1869, the incipient steps were taken toward the purchase of land and the erection of a house of worship.

In furtherance of this purpose it was deemed nec- essary to newly organize the society. After important preliminary steps, the associates for the building of a house of worship in Winchester and for organizing an incorporated religious society met, in pursuance of a warrant, at the time and place appointed. The meeting was called to order by George P. Brown, Esq., and Charles P. Curtis was elected and sworn as clerk. Thomas P. Ayer was chosen moderator. A new code of by-laws was adopted. Edward Shattuck was chosen treasurer and John B. Winslow, F. W. Perry, Frederick Winsor, S. W. Twombly and S. R. Symmes, standing committee in connection with the clerk ard treasurer.

"Voted :- That all the doings of the society, acting under the name of the Winchester Unitarian Society he, and the same are hereby ratified, confirmed and adopted by the society as now organized.

"Voted :- Tbat this Society, in accordance with the terms of the 28th Section of the 30th Chapter of the General Statutes, fix upon the sum of fifty thousand dollars as the value of the real and personal estate which it may hold in addition to its meeting. house."

Thomas P. Ayer and Franklin W. Perry were the building committee. A lot of land, pleasantly located on Main Street, near the centre of the town, was pur- chased of Francis Johnson and others in May, 1869. The corner-stone of the present church edifice was laid August 25, 1869, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large gathering.

Thursday evening, March 17, 1870, the meeting- house was dedicated to its sacred uses. The services were of a simple character and were begun by the Sunday-school children singing a hymn, after which the chairman of the building committee made an ad- dress and delivered the key of the house to the chair- man of the standing committee, who made a proper response. Next followed an appropriate sermon by the pastor, after which select passages from Scripture were read by the minister and congregation alter- nately, and the services were concluded by singing a doxology. The architect of the building was Thomas W. Silloway, of Boston. The house is forty-six feet wide in front and forty-two in the rear, the extreme length being eighty-one feet. A tower on the front right-hand corner is one hundred and ten feet high. The auditorium contains seventy-two pews with seats for three hundred and eighty persons, and room in the gallery for fourteen pews. The cost of the land, building and furniture was about $23,000, most of which was met by the generous contributions of mem- bers and friends of the society here and elsewhere. Among the subscriptions outside of the limits of the town were one of $1000 from Alexander Moseley, and another of like amount from J. B. Winn, of Woburn.

763

WINCHESTER.

In 1873 the late Emmons Hamlin, a member of the society, placed in the church a large chapel organ in an alcove which had been left for that purpose. This organ, since the decease of Mr. Hamliu, has been do- nated to the society by his widow and daughter.

The year 1881 was made tenderly memorable by the death of the beloved pastor,

REV. RICHARD METCALF. The son of Joel and Su- sannah (Houghton) Metcalf, of Providence, R. I., he was born in that city August 19, 1829. He received his early education in the public schools and had the repu- tation of great studiousness and fidelity. In 1843, on the establishment of the Providence High School, he be- came one of its first members, and, during his course there, decided to enter college and prepare himself for a professional career. Passing at length the ex- aminations with the highest honors, he entered Brown University in 1847. There he took the highest rank among unusually able competitors from the very be- ginning. He was not only first in his class through- out, but was first in each separate study. At his graduation, in 1851, he delivered the valedictory ad- dress with an oration on "The True Fruits of Scholar. ship." Declining an offer of an important place among the offices of instruction in the university, hc immediately entered the Cambridge Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1854, and at once took charge of a young and struggling society in Bath, Maine. Though very successful there, ill health obliged him to relinquish his pulpit in 1857 and return to Providence for rest. He was not, however, idle, but, so far as his strength allowed, he still preached from time to time, and for a year took charge of the Unitarian pulpit in Detroit, Michigan, very happily. A year later he was called to Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, where he was settled January 30, 1860. While at Meadville he was married, August 19, 1861, to Miss Sarah Perley Loring, of Concord, Massachusetts, a happy connection broken only by her death in October, 1867.

Obliged by renewed illness to resign again, in 1865, the pastoral office, Mr. Metcalf took refuge once more in Providence. Meanwhile, with partially restored health, he was induced to accept a very pleasing in- vitation to resume the pastoral office in Winchester. A happier union between pastor and people was rarely formed. Though with still enfeebled health, he com- pelled the bodily infirmities which hampered his ac- tivity to augment and intensify his spiritual life.

Mr. Metcalf was married, September 20, 1870, to Miss Ellen Eugenia Morse, of Winchester, from whom, during the remainder of his life, he received unfailing sympathy in his professional interests and valuable help in his parish work.

In the spring of 1881 he was attacked while preach- ing by a sudden spasmodic cough, which never after- ward left him. His society at once offered him a vacation, and he spent the month of April at the South, but with only slight benefit. He preached a

few times after his return, but the fatal symptoms of his disease showed themselves more and more unmis- takably day by day. By Tucsday, June 28th, it was plain that the end was near. Through Wednesday night life was slowly ebbing, and on Thursday morn- ing, June 30, 1881, at daybreak, he passed quietly away.

The funeral sevices were held on Saturday, July 2, 1881. A private service at the house was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Briggs, of Cambridge, with singing by the members of the Sunday-school. Public ser- vices were held in the church at one o'clock. The bearers were the standing committee of the society, and as they entered the church, carrying the coffin, the whole congregation rose, while the Rev. C. A. Staples, standing in the pulpit, recited some passages from Scripture, and the organ played a soft under- tone accompaniment. The exercises were as follows :

Chant, "The Lord's Prayer," sung by four gentlemen of the parish ; Scripture reading by the Rev. O. A. Staples ; hymn, " He Leadeth Me," sung by the Sunday-school ; address by the Rev. Dr. Briggs ; hymn, " Father, Whate'er of Earthly Bliss," sung to the tune of " Naomi," by the same male quartette ; reading of a poem by Dr. Windsor, written on the death of Lady Augusta Stanley by Mrs. Charles, the author of the " Schönberg-Cotta Family:"

" O blessed life of service and of love !" etc.

After the reading of the poem, at the special request of Mrs. Metcalf, the hymn, "Holy Spirit, Source of Gladness," was read by the Rev. Mr. Barber, of Som- erville, and sung by the congregation. Benediction by the Rev. Dr. Briggs.

The final offices were performed at Wildwood Cem- etery, where a lot had been selected on the slope of the hill just southeast of the soldiers' monument.

The society erected a granite monument, in the shape of a pulpit or reading-desk, bearing this in- scription on the front :

In memory of Rev. Richard Metcalf, for fifteen years the devoted and beloved pastor of the Winchester Unitarian Society, this monument is erected by his people.

" When the eye saw him, then it blessed him, When the ear heard him it rejoiced in him."

Born in Providence August 19, 1829. Settled in Winchester June 14, 1866. Died in Winchester June 30, 1881.

On the top of the monument, which resembled an open book, was an extract from an Easter sermon by the deceased during the previous year.

The Ladies' Friendly Society also placed a bronze tablet on the church wall on the left of the pulpit, bearing this inscription :

1866. 1881.

In Memory of Richard Metcalf, the first pastor of this society, and in grateful remembrance of his happy and devoted ministry of fifteen years, this tablet is placed in the church which he dedicated " to the glad worship of God."

During the year following the decease of Mr. Met- calf the pulpit of the society was supplied by differ- ent clergymen. On July 10, 1882, a call was unani- mously extended to Theodore Chickering Williams, of Roxbury, a graduate of Harvard, who had

764

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

preached to the great acceptance of the society several times. Mr. Williams, in reply, expressed his willingness to accept until the society was better acquainted with him, and he with them, but was will- ing to come and preach to them and perform all other pastoral duties for three months from September 1, 1882. This offer was accepted, and Mr. Williams commenced his labors here September 1, 1882. At the annual meeting of the society, November 9, 1882, the invitation to Mr. Williams was renewed and accepted by him, and he was ordained and in- stalled on Friday evening, November 24, 1882. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D., of Boston, and the Revs. Henry H. Bar- ber, Francis G. Peabody, William I. Nichols and Ed- ward H. Hall were the other participants in the service.

The pastorate of Mr. Williams, so happily formed, was of short duration. After a single year of service he received a call to the Church of All Souls, in New York. This call, after mature reflection, and with expressions of kindness and consent from his Win- chester society, he accepted, and closed his labors with the parish July 31, 1883.

On Dec. 3, 1882, Mr. Charles Albert Prince, son of Hon. F. O. Prince, generously offered to present to the society a clock, to be placed on the gallery front inside of the church edifice, as a memorial of his deep interest in the society and regard for its late pas- tor. The offer was accepted, and a handsome marble clock put up in the place selected for it, with the name of the donor inscribed thereon.

The pulpit was again supplied by various clergy- men until April 24, 1884, when an invitation was ex- tended to the Rev. John Lewis Marsh, of Northfield, Mass. The invitation having been accepted, Mr. Marsh began his ministry June 1, 1884, in a very sim- ple manner. The minister and the congregation united in responsive services, consisting of selections from the Scriptures, singing and prayer. Dr. F. Win- sor, the chairman of the standing committee of the society, gave a welcome to the new pastor, to which he responded in fitting words. An original hymn by the Rev. George W. Cooke was sung, followed by a sermon by the pastor, and the fellowship of the churches by the Rev. H. C. Delong, of Medford, and otlier exercises.

On May 27, 1888, Rev. J. L. Marsh sent in his res- ignation as pastor of the society, whichi was accepted at a parish meeting June 21, 1888, with the following expression of opinion, unanimously adopted :

" Resolved, That in accepting the resignation of our pastor, Rev. J. L. Marsh, we assure him of our hearty good wishes for the future wel- fare and happiness of himself and his family, which can never be a mat- ter of indifference to us, who have known and experienced his kindli- ness, manliness and sincerity for four years past."

After having the pulpit supplied for several montlis by candidates, it was voted at a parish meeting, Fcb. 27, 1889, to invite Rev. Herbert Mott, of Wayland, to

become the pastor, and March 14, 1889, a letter of ac- ceptance was received from him, and his installation took place on Wednesday evening, May 29, 1889. The order of services was as follows, viz. :

Organ Voluntary . . Invocation by Rev. J. B. Mott, of Salem. Introductory Service . . . By Rev. H. C. Parker, of Woburn. Anthem.

Reading of Scriptures Rev. H. C. Dclong, of Medford.

The Installation . By H. A. Emerson

(Chairman of Standing Committee).

Installing Prayer . . Rev. C. C. Everett, D.D., of Cambridge. Anthem.

Charge to the Minister Rev. Brook Herford, of Boston.

Anthem.

Address to the People . . Rev. T. C. Williams, of New York.

Original Hymn.

Benediction By the Pastor. .

The present officers of the society (November, 1889) are as follows :

Clerk, Samuel S. Symmes ; Treasurer, Marshall H. Dutch; Standing Committee in connection with the Clerk and Treasurer, Henry A. Emerson, George H. Eustis, Lewis Parkhurst, B. S. Briggs, F. W. Daniels. There are also Committees on Social Meetings, Hos- pitality, Home Charities, Church Edifice and Grounds and Music appointed at the annual meeting of the society, who serve one year and report at that time on their doings. The communion service is administered at stated times during the year.

The operations of the society outside of the church services are carried on through the instrumentality of the Sunday-School, the Ladies' Friendly Society, the Good-Will Club and the Women's Auxiliary.

The Sunday-School meets immediately after the morning church service, excepting during the months of July and August. At the present time (1889) it numbers 139 and is officered as follows: Superin- tendent, Samuel S. Symmes ; Assistant Superin- tendent, Joseph J. Todd; Librarian, Miss Alice F. Symmes ; Secretary, Herbert W. Dutch ; Teachers, Rev. Mr. Mott, J. H. Dwinell, Mrs. H. Mott, S. F. Cushing, J. T. Wilson, S. C. Bailey, L. A. Bradbury and Misses E. A. Stevens, A. F. Symmes, Anna Fol- som, M. E. Moseley, R. A. Holbrook and Delia Whit- ney. It has its penny contributions every Sunday to the support of the Children's Mission to the Children of the Destitute and for other purposes. The collec- tions for the year (1889) amounted to $44.17.

The Ladies' Friendly Society was organized February 14, 1866, to excite and foster a kindly interest among its members and to raise funds for the church and parish. "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister," is the motto upon which the society has acted since its formation nearly twenty-four years ago. Its mem- bers have worked harmoniously together, and from their annual sales and in other ways have contributed largely towards the current expenses of the society, to the extinguishment of the church debt, and the providing of the church edifice with many things use- ful and necessary to make it pleasant and attractive to the worshipers therein.

765

WINCHESTER.

Its meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month in the church parlor and the society usually holds a sale of useful and fancy articles made by the members yearly in the month of December. Its officers for the year 1889 are : Presi- dent, Mrs. Henry A. Emerson ; Vice-President, Mrs. George H. Eustis ; Treasurer, Mrs. B. S. Briggs ; Di- rectors, Mrs. Joel H. Brown, Mrs. E. E. Metcalf, Mrs. Thomas S. Spurr, Mrs. F. C. Manchester, Mrs. H. D. Nash.

The Good- Will Club was organized March 17, 1871, and meets on the third Tuesday of each month, from October to April. Its object is "to do good and get good." Its exercises are of a literary, mus- ical, dramatic and social character. Any person at- tending the church and Sunday-school may become a member by signing the constitution of the club.

The club has, for several seasons, supported a sewing-school for poor children and others; has been well patronized, and in many other ways has done good work.

A Flower Committee from this club keeps the pulpit of the church supplied with flowers for the Sunday services during the year. Its present offi- cers are : President, Rev. Herbert Mott; Vice-Presi- dent, Louis F. Cutter ; Treasurer, Mr. Edgar W. Metcalf; Secretary, Miss Grace Brown.

The Women's Auxiliary is composed of ladies of the society interested in the promotion of Unitarian Christianity, and is intended to aid the American Unitarian Association in its objects and aims.

DR. FREDERICK WINSOR .- The history of this society would be incomplete without a sketch of one who was so intimately identified with it from its formation, and who deceased early in the year 1889.

Frederick Winsor was born in Boston October 2, 1829, and was the son of Thomas Winsor. He grad- uated from the Boston Latin School in 1847, and from Harvard University in 1851, with honorable distinction. Subsequently he took a course in the Harvard Medical School, and graduated therefrom in 1855. He first practiced at Salem, in this State; was in charge of the State Hospital on Rainsford Island, in Boston Harbor, under Governor Andrew, in 1859; was surgeon of the Forty-ninth Massachusetts Regiment, under Colonel (afterwards General) Bartlett, in 1862 and 1863, and had two special assignments to the front from State headquarters. He took up his residence in Winchester in 1864. During his resi- dence here of a quarter of a century, Dr. Winsor oc- cupied numerous town offices of honor and trust, in which he faithfully and acceptably served, among which may be mentioned that upon the School Board for four years, 1864-67 ; a trustee of the Public Libra- ry for many years ; a member of the Board of Health for several years; medical examiner for this part of Middlesex County for several years prior to his last sickness.

In the various societies organized to advance Chris- tianity, elevate the morals, promote the welfare and prosperity of the town, the deceased, notwithstanding his extensive practice, was actively interested, and found time to give to them his earnest sympathies and hearty support. He was one of the vice-presi- dents and trustees of the Winchester Savings Bank from its organization, in 1871, to the time of his death ; was one of the early members of the Win- chester Historical and Genealogical Society ; a mem- ber of the Village Improvement Association ; a mem- ber of the Calumet Club, and surgeon of the D. Weld Post, G. A. R.

Since the formation of this society the deceased was its steadfast friend and supporter, having served as chairman of its Standing Committee from its organization until within a few years past. He has been a superintendent or teacher in the Sunday- school from its beginning up to the time of his last sickness ; was president of the Good-Will Club in its earliest years, and was one of the two who administer- ed the communion service since its establishment, and whatever movements were made in the church and society, he was ready to do his part in their advance- ment.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 181

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