History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 31

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 31

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But I must be pardoned for dwelling so long upon the early history of this oldest of our churches. Our city is intensely modern, and has but very few objects which we love because they are old. I fancy I hear some cynical critic say, "The people of Lowell can boast of so small a number of things which are an- tique and picturesque, that they feel bound to use the few that they have for all they are worth."

It is remarkable that for twenty-three years after the incorporation of the new society the church had no settled pastor. A large number of temporary preachers were employed, among them President Lord, Rev. Humphrey Moore, Bishop Parker, Dr. Edson and Rev. Jacob Coggin. Students from An- dover Seminary came up on horse-back and preached two sermons " for two dollars and found."

But on January 31, 1821, Rev. Reuben Sears was installed as the first settled pastor of the new Paw- tucket Church. Mr. Sears graduated from Union College in 1798. He is remembered as a man of good abilities and kindly spirit. After serving the

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church six years he resigned his office, went West and died in 1837 or 1838.

Rev. Sylvester G. Pierce, the second pastor of this church, was installed in April, 1829, when he was thirty-two years of age. Leaving Union College in his senior year with the purpose of going as mission- ary to Bombay, he changed his purpose so far as to defer his work as a missionary until he had taken a course of study at Andover. In 1828 he began to supply the pulpit of the Pawtucket Church, where he was ordained as an Evangelist. So much were the members of the church pleased with him as a preacher that they gave him an invitation to settle with them as their pastor. He accepted the office, and during the four years of his ministry fifty-three members were added to the church. In 1832 he was installed as pastor of the church in Methuen, where, after a very successful pastoratc of seven years, he died of consumption in the prime of manhood. Mr. Pierce was an ardent, earnest, eloquent man, who left behind him a blessed memory.

Rev. Tobias Pinkham, the third pastor, about a year after his graduation from Andover Seminary, was installed in the sacred office May 18, 1836. He served as pastor only three years, and became a Bap- tist minister. He died in Tioga, Penn., at the age of forty-two years.

Rev. Joseph Merrill, the fourth pastor, graduated from Dartmouth College. After having for several years been engaged as teacher or pastor elsewhere, he was installed over Pawtucket Church April 20, 1842. In the years 1849 and 1850 he represented the town of Dracut in the State Legislature. He had resigned his pastorate in 1848, having served - six years. His last years were spent in Lowell. He was "a sincere, earnest and faithful preacher."

Rev. Brown Emerson, the fifth pastor, was a grad- uate of Yale College. His service extended fromn 1850 to 1854. He died in Wyoming, N. J., at the age of nearly eighty ycars.

Rev. Perrin B. Fiske, the sixth pastor, served the church only two years, from 1863 to 1865, afterwards becoming pastor of the church in Peacham, Vt.

Rev. Joseph Boardman, the next pastor, graduated at Amherst and the Andover Seminary, and was in- stalled Sept. 1, 1870. He was in office four years and is now preaching in Barnet, Vt. He was an earnest, faithful pastor, leaving behind him many warm friends.

The present pastor, Rev. Charles H. Willcox, was ordained Nov. 6, 1884. He is a graduate of Yale College and of the Yale Theological Seminary, and has spent two years of study in Germany. He is a young man with bright prospects before him.

To the above list of pastors of this church we will add the name of the Rev. William Allen, who was acting pastor for several years, closing his service in 1868, and Rev. Elias Nason, who was acting pastor from 1876 to 1884.

In 1888 this church had 131 members.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. - The first germ of the history of this church is found in a meeting of three men, carpenters by trade, on Jan. 7, 1824, for the purpose of organizing a prayer-meeting among the Christian men and women whom the new manu- facturing enterprise had called together from all the region round. More than a year before, the Merri- mack Company had begun the erection of its mills, and they had also erected boarding-houses for the ac- commodation of the operatives. It was in one of these boarding-houses, No. 21, that the three car- penters met. Their names were: Wm. Davidson, James M. King and Nathaniel Holmes. After sing- ing a hymn, reading the Scriptures and joining in prayer, they proceeded to the work for which they had met. The prayer-meeting thus organized was a union mecting, being participated in by Congrega- tionalists, Baptists and Methodists. At the first meeting after the organization only seven persons were present. But as they continued to meet from house to house their numbers grew, until in the autumn of 1825 it was by mutual consent agreed that the different denominations should hold separate meetings. The new meetings held by the Congrega- tional brethren were, in a spiritual sense, remarkably fervid, and it is told that on one occasion a brother became so exalted in his prayer, that his voice (or its echo) reached the ears of Kirk Boott, the agent of the Merrimack Mills, who at once despatched a note de- manding that no more meetings of the kind should be held upon the Corporation. Unexpected opposi- tion also arose from the pastor of the church in Dra- cut, near the falls, who protested that the new meetings withdrew from his ministrations many who ought to attend them. He seemed to suppose that Lowell be- longed to Dracut, not dreaming that in a few short years Dracut would belong to Lowell. The meetings grew apace so that in two years, after the meeting of the three carpenters 388 persons were found wlio favored the Congregational form of Christian wor- ship. The result was that an ecclesiastical council met at the residence of William Davidson, No. 14 on the Merrimack Corporation, June 6, 1826, and formed the First Congregational Church of Lowell with fifty members.

The meetings of the new church were held in the same building (on the site of the present Green School-house) in which the Episcopal Society of St. Anne had worshiped two years before. But on Dec. 25, 1827, a "new brick meeting-house," erected by the society, was dedicated-a house which long stood as a well-known landmark of the city until, in 1884, it was demolished to give place to the elegant edifice in which the church now worships.

On July 18, 1827, a few months before the dedica- tion of the house, Rev. Geo. C. Beckwith was ordain- ed and installed as the first pastor of the church. But after a service of less than two years his health

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demanded the resignation of his office. He was a man of high culture and earnest piety. He died in Boston in 1870, while in the service of the American Peace Society.

On Dec. 25, 1829, Rev. Amos Blanchard was or- dained and installed as second pastor of this church. His pastorate continued more than fourteen years. Of Dr. Blanchard I shall speak more in detail in connec- tion with my record of the Kirk Street Church, with which his life was more closely identified.

Dr. Blanchard's successor was the Rev. Willard Child, who was installed Oct. 1, 1845. His pastorate continued nine years. Dr. Child is affectionately re- membered by the church as a faithful pastor and a man of large heart. It has been said of him that he " preached the law and lived the gospel." Before coming to Lowell he had been a pastor in Norwich, Conn., and after leaving Lowell, he was settled in Castleton, Vt.

The fourth pastor of this church was Rev. J. L. Jenkins, who, coming from the Theological Seminary at Andover, was ordained and installed Oct. 17, 1855. After a ministry of six years he resigned his office, and entered into the service of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was a man of superior talent and of " earnest, progressive faith." He is now pastor of a church in Pittsfield, Mass. His successor was Rev. Geo. N. Webber, who was install- ed Sept. 17, 1862. After a service of four and one- half years he resigned his office to accept a professor- ship in Middlebury College, Vt. He was a man of finished scholarship and keen mind.

The sixth pastor was Rev. Horace James, who was installed Oct. 31, 1867, and was in office three years. He was a man of marked ability and great energy, radical in his opinions and independent in his meth- ods. On resigning his office he became secretary of the American and Foreign Christian Union. He died in Worcester, Mass., in June, 1875.

The present pastor is the Rev. Smith Baker, who was installed Sept. 13, 1871.

The new brick house of worship, dedicated June 18, 1885, at a cost of about $57,000, is a most elegant and commodious structure, having a seating capacity of about 1500. The fine organ placed in the new church cost about $6000. The large audiences which assem- ble in this church on Sunday evenings to listen to the popular lectures of the pastor form so remarkable a feature in the work of the church that they deserve a special mention.

THE ELIOT CHURCH .- This church was first known as the Second Congregational Church. After enter- ing its house of worship on Appleton Street, it was known as the Appleton Street Church. But since the erection of its present housc, near the spot where once, in a log chapel, preached John Eliot, the apos- tle to the Indians, it has been called, from him, the Eliot Church.

As early as 1830 the house of worship of the First

Congregational Church had become so crowded, and the growth of the city towards thesouth and west was so great that there was an obvious call for a new church near the Appleton and Hamilton Mills, which were already in full operation.

At a regular monthly meeting of the members of the First Congregational Church, heid Aug. 31, 1830, the first steps towards the formation of a new church were taken. The enterprise had its origin, not in a desire to leave the mother church, but in a serious sense of duty to meet the wants of a rapidly-growing city. A religious society was formed and a place on Appletou Street, then a bed of rocks, was selected for building a house of worship. The crection of the house began in 1830, and the house was dedicated July 10, 1831. This house, after being the home of the Eliot Church for forty-two years, was sold for $15,000 to the First Presbyterian Church and Society, and it is still a well-known land-mark of our city.

Rev. William Twining, the first pastor of the Ap- pleton Street (now Eliot) Church, was ordained Oct. 4, 1831. He proved an earnest, devout and scholarly man, and the new church prospered under his minis- try. He had previously been pastor of a church in Great Falls, N. H., and, after serving the Eliot Church three years, he was chosen to a professorship in Wa- bash College, Ind.

Rev. Uzziah C. Burnap, the second pastor, was in- stalled July 6, 1837, the church having been without a pastor nearly two years. He came to Lowell after a pastorate of thirteen years in Chester, Vt. His pastorate in Lowell continued fourteen and one-half years. He was a man of decided convictions and earnest zeal, and he was often compelled to disagree from those around him. He died in Lowell in 1854, at the age of sixty ycars, leaving behind him, among those to whom he had been a spiritual father, a precious memory.

The third pastor, Rev. George Darling, a graduate of Union College and Princeton Theological Semi- uary, was installed December 30, 1852. He had been the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ohio. He was an attractive prcacher. His pastor- ate continued two years. For twelve years, since leaving Lowell, he was pastor of a church in Hudson, Ohio.

Rev. Dr. John P. Cleaveland, a graduate of Bow- doin College, was settled over the Eliot Church Oct. 2, 1855. He had been pastor of churches in Salem, Detroit, Providence and Northampton before coming to Lowell. His pastorate continued more than six years. He was dismissed in 1862 to become chaplain of the Thirtieth Massachusetts Regiment, and went with this regiment to Ship Island and New Orleans. In this office he served only a few months. He died March 7, 1873. He was a man of versatile mind and undoubted ability. Hc possessed keen wit and a buoyant, sympathetic naturc.

The fifth pastor, Rev. J. E. Rankin, a graduate of

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Middlebury Collego and Andover Theologieal Semi- nary, was installed Dec. 17, 1862. He had been pas- tor of a church in St. Albans, Vt., and after a pastor- ate of nearly two years in Lowell he was settled successively over the Winthrop Church in Charles- town, and the Congregational Church in Washing- ton, D. C. Dr. Rankin is an orator and seholar, having acquired a national reputation as a writer both of prose and poetry.

The sixth pastor, Rev. Addison P. Foster, a grad- uate of Williams College and of Andover Theological Seminary, was ordained Oet. 3, 1866. Here in his first pastorate of two years he gave promise of that eminent ability and success for which he has since been distinguished. He is now pastor of the Imman- uel Church in Boston. Rev. Dr. J. M. Greene, the present pastor, was installed July 20,'1870. He graduated at Amherst College, and studied theology in Bangor Theological Seminary. Before coming to Lowell he had been pastor of churches in Hatfield, Mass., and in South Hadley, Mass. The present house of worship of the Eliot Church is a beautiful and commodious edifice of briek, situated in a com- manding position on Sumner Street, overlooking the North Common. Its spire rises conspicuous to the view among the other structures of the city. This house was dedicated Dee. 2, 1880.

JOHN STREET CHURCH .- Beginning with the starting of the great manufactories, the growth of Lowell was very rapid. Within the space of two and a half years its population was trebled, and ten Protestant Churches were formed. As early as 1838 the first two Congregational Churches-the "First," and the " Appleton Street "-had so far "outgrown themselves " that it became apparent that a third church of the same order was needed. At a meeting of gentlemen belonging to both of these churelies, held on Dee. 3, 1838, a committee was appointed to take into consideration the formation of a new church. This committee reported favorably in regard to the enterprise, and also recommended that the proposed church building should be ereeted on John Street. The recommendation being approved by the friends of the enterprise, a substantial brick church was ereeted at a cost of nearly $18,000, and was dedicated June 24, 1840.

The church which was to worship in the new building had been formed more than a year before the completion of their new building, worshiping meantime in the City Hall. It consisted, when formed, of 243 members. Rev. Mr. Seabury, subse- quently a pastor of the church, said, in 1879, of this original band: "It was a large and auspicious be- ginning-forty-nine brethren, 194 sisters. They were full of faith and courage; men and women of strong character and humble piety, they loved the cause of Christ."

The first pastor, Rev. Stedman W. Hauks, was in- stalled March 20, 1840, the sermon being preached by

Rev. Joshua Leavitt, of Providence, R. I. Mr. Hanks was a man of earnest Christian character, an ardent devotee of the beneficent reform movements of his day.

The formation of the Kirk Street Congregational Church in 1845, and of the High Street Congrega- tional Church in 1846, drew away many of the mem- bers of this church and somewhat checked its growth. After a service of twelve years Mr. Hanks resigned and became secretary of the Seaman's Friend Society, with its office in Boston. In this last position Mr. Hanks remained until his death, in 1889, at the age of eighty years.

Soon after the resignation of Mr. Hanks, a young preacher who was supplying the pulpit "thrilled the whole congregation with emotion " by a sermon which he preached from the text, " Run, speak to this young man." The people took him as he didn't mean, for the young man they ran to speak to was the preacher himself, the Rev. Eden B. Foster. Dr. Foster was installed February 3, 1853, and, after a service of eight and one-half years, retired from the office on ac- count of ill health. After four years, during which the church enjoyed the ministrations of another pas- tor, Dr. Foster was recalled and reinstalled in 1866. This second pastorate continued twelve years.

Dr. Foster was a most earnest student and a ser- monizer of remarkable power. His style gushed with emotion and overflowed with striking illustrations and eloquent diction.

Rev. J. W. Backus was installed over this ehurch September 24, 1862, and after a pastorate of four years he resigned his office, carrying away with him the affectionate remembrance of his people.

On September 8, 1875, Rev. Joseph B. Seabury was installed as associate pastor with Dr. Foster, subse- quently assuming the full work of the pastorate. He served the church eight years.

The present pastor, Rev. Henry T. Rose, was in- stalled October 10, 1883. The splendid organ placed in this church in 1887 cost over $6000.

KIRK STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH .- In 1845 the Rev. Dr. Blanchard, pastor of the First Congregational Church, with about one hundred members of the elurch, who were bound to him and to one another by social sympathy and kindred tastes, united to form a new Congregational Church in Low- ell. This organization, first known as the Fourth Congregational Society, secured as a place of worship Mechanics' Hall, which would seat nearly 500 per- sons. . The first service was held on May 25, 1845. After a few months, a larger hall being needed, the City Hall was secured as a place of worship.

The official organization of the church and also the installation of the Rev. Amos Blanchard as pastor, took place May 21, 1845. The work of erecting a house of worship was early entered upon and their new brick ehureh on Kirk Street was dedicated on December 17, 1846. The cost of the house was nearly $23,000. The name was now changed to that of

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"Kirk Street Church." Dr. Blanchard remained pastor of this church until his death, January 14, 1870, a period of twenty-five years. His two pastor- ates in Lowell covered a period of forty years.

He was born in Andover, Mass., March 7, 1807. He entered Yale College when sixteen years of age, and, subsequent to his graduation, studied in An- dover Theological Seminary. From this seminary hc was called directly to the pastorate of the First Con- gregational Church in Lowell, when less than twenty- three years of age. He was greatly loved and honored by the church, and his sudden death at the age of sixty-three years produced a profound sensation. Perhaps no citizen of Lowell ever possessed so wide a range of erudition as he. His ready and retentive memory enabled him to call at will upon his vast store of knowledge, and those who heard him speak without previous warning were often astonished at the extent of his learning and the brilliancy of his intel- lect. His noblest efforts were those in which a sud- den emergency and a sympathizing audience aroused the energies of his cultivated mind, and his great learning supplied the material for the highest oratori- cal effect.

Rev. Charles D. Barrows was ordained as pastor of this church July 13, 1871. Mr. Barrows had not com- pleted his theological course of study when he became the choice of the people of the church. But in order to secure him as their pastor they waited for him an entire year. He proved to be a man of superior executive ability and acknowledged popular talent. A high reputation as a successful pastor was soon ac- quired, and led to an invitation to the pastorate of the First Church in San Francisco, and he is now the pastor of that church.

His successor, Rev. Charles A. Dickinson, was installed Jan. 3, 1883. He had been the pastor in Portland Me., of the church where, in former years, had preached the celebrated Edward Payson. Mr. Dickinson is a man of superior talent and devout piety. His desire to establish a church organization by which the masses in a large city can be more effectively reached and brought within the direct in- fluence and sympathy of a Christian church, led him to accept the pastorate of the Berkley Street Church, in Boston, in which he is now carrying into successful operation his benevolent design.

The present pastor, Rev. Malcolm McGregor Dana, was installed on Oct. 11, 1888. He had been the pastor of a church in St. Paul, Minn.

HIGH STREET CHURCH .- This church was organ- ized in 1846. It is the only church of any Protestant denomination on the east side of Concord River and in that part of Lowell known as Belvidere. The absence of any church organization in so large a field seemed to invite the zeal and enterprise of Christian men to "go up at once and possess it." Other causes also conspired to help on the work. It was urged that the John Street Church had become so large and strong

that some of its abundant power ought to be devoted to some new enterprise. The Rev. Timothy Atkinson, an English clergyman, who had formerly preached iu Quebec, being a man of wealth, had offered pecuniary aid, if the work should be undertaken.

The first public meeting of the friends of the cause was held at the John Street Church in July, 1845. It was at this meeting proposed to purchase the un- finished church in Belvidere, recently erected by a new and short-lived Episcopal Society, known as St. Luke's. After considerable negotiation the Church of St 'Luke was purchased for $7500, and meetings for divine worship were commenced in the vestry of the church, the main audience-room being unfinished.

The official organization of the new church took place in John Street Church, Jan. 22, 1846, when the names of seventy-one persons were enrolled, most of whom had been members of the John Street Church.

In the next month, Feb. 26, 1846, Rev. Timothy Atkinson was installed as the first pastor. Mr. Atkin- son was a man of high culture and devout Christian character. He remained pastor for nearly two years.

On Dec. 15, 1847, Rev. Joseph H. Towne was in- stalled as the second pastor of the church and con- tinued in the office six years. He had been the pastor of the Salem Street Church in Boston, and was widely known as a man of eminent pulpit talents. If others could excel Mr. Towne in executive affairs, few men were his equals in the grace of eloquence and delicacy of taste. His reading of the Scriptures and of hymns charmed lis hearers and found many admirers. Mr. Towne still lives, an aged man, in Andover, Mass.

His successor, the Rev. Orpheus T. Lanphear, was installed September 5, 1855, his pastorate continuing one year. He preached what may be denominated strong sermons. He possessed a logical mind with a trenchant and incisive style, which did not please all, but which challenged the attention of intellectual men. Mr. Lanphear still lives in Beverly, Mass., where he was once a settled pastor.

The Rev. Owen Street was installed pastor of High Street Church, September 16, 1857, and continued in office till his death, in 1887, a period of thirty years, which was longer by ten years than that of all his predecessors. Mr. Street was a man of sterling com- mon sense, of tender and gentle nature, of high in- tellectual culture, and he was one of those few men whom all seemed to revere and love. Both his char- acter and his long pastorate warrant me in giving a very brief account of his life.

He was born in East Haven, Conn., September 8, 1815. He could trace back his genealogy through a long line of clergymen. He entered Yale College in 1833. Among his classmates were Samuel J. Tilden, William M. Evarts and Chief Justice Waite. After his graduation from the theological seminary at Yale, he found a temporary employment as the pre- ceptor of an academy in Clinton, Conn. As a teacher he was very successful, his work being congenial to

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his nature. In 1842 lie was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church in Jamestown, N. Y. After a successful pastorate of nine years, ill health com- pelled him to resign his charge. In September, 1852, he was installed over the church in Ansonia, Conn. From consideration of health he resigned his office here, and was subsequently installed as pastor of the High Street Church in Lowell, in 1857. In this pas- torate the best of his years were spent. His work was crowned with eminent success, for few men were ever more revered and loved, and few men were ever more tenderly mourned. The history of his last days is peculiarly touching. It was well known that the mutual love betwen Dr. Street and his excellent wife was unusually tender and strong. When the husband slowly approached the time of his departure, the heart-stricken wife, foreseeing the anguish of the approaching separation, declared that if her hus- band departed, she should go with him. Her words were prophetic, for in death they were not divided, and they were both buried on the same day and in the same grave.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 31

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