History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1, Part 53

Author: Cook, Louis A. (Louis Atwood), 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: New York; Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 644


USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 53


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Early in the year 1844 a number of Brookline people who had been attending the First Church, or others outside the town, united and formed the Harvard Congregational Church. A house of worship was built on the corner of Wash- ington and School streets and was dedicated on August 26, 1844, the sermon being preached by Rev. Edward N. Kirk, of Boston. On the same day the church was formally organized with twenty-seven members. Rev. Richard S. Storrs. Jr., was ordained pastor on October 22, 1844. The ordination sermon was preached by Mr. Storrs' father, who was then pastor of the Congregational Church in Braintree. In May, 1873, the present beautiful edifice was dedicated. Its cost was about sixty thousand dollars, two-thirds of which were given by Martin L. Hall.


In 1847 a church was built at Grantville (now Wellesley Hills) and on Feb- ruary 24, 1847, a Congregational Church was organized with thirty members. Rev. Harvey Newcomb was the first pastor of this society. The church building was remodeled in 1877.


What is known as the Pilgrim Congregational Church of North Weymouth was formed on May 14, 1851, and a house of worship was erected the same year. In May, 1852, Rev. Calvin Terry was called to the pulpit as the first regular pastor, services previous to that time having been held by such ministers as could be procured. In 1881 a parsonage was built and a little later the church edifice was remodeled.


The South Franklin Congregational Church is the outgrowth of meetings held in the schoolhouse in that part of the town during the summer of 1855. A Sunday school was first formed and on August 20, 1855, a council of churches met at the house of Willard C. Whiting. As a result of this council a Con- gregational Church was organized on the 13th of the following month with eighteen members. In the spring of 1856 the sum of $1,500 was subscribed to a fund for the building of a meeting house. The corner-stone was laid on September 5, 1856, and the building was dedicated on July 25, 1857. For several Vol. 1-28


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years the pulpit was supplied by various ministers, but the church at last grew strong enough to sustain a regular pastor.


In 1862 the Congregationalists living in that part of Cohasset called Beech- wood began holding meetings in a hall. The meetings were conducted by Rev. Cyrus Stone and about a year later a church was organized. On October 18, 1866, the corner-stone of a church edifice was laid and the building was dedi- cated on January 15, 1867. This house stands near the line between Cohasset and Scituate and some of the members of the church live in the latter town. In June, 1917, the pastor of this church was Rev. L. M. Bosworth.


The Congregational Church of East Walpole dates its beginning from a meeting held at the house of Mrs. Selany Smith on April 28, 1877. After irregular services for more than three years, an ecclesiastical council met in Bird's Hall and the church was formally recognized. On April 20, 1881, it was admitted to full fellowship in the Suffolk South Conference of orthodox churches. In June, 1882, the first steps were taken toward the erection of a meeting house. William Rhodes and his wife donated a site in the following October and a house was erected at a cost of about twenty-two hundred dollars. It was dedicated on May 18. 1883, but has since been enlarged and remodeled.


The Oakdale Congregational Church was established in 1882, with Rev. C. B. Smith as pastor, and in the same year a small but comfortable house of worship was erected at the junction of East and Washington streets. This church is no longer in existence.


There are several Congregational churches in the county whose history has not been ascertained by the writer. The church at Wollaston was organized in 1876 and now has a neat edifice at the corner of Winthrop and Lincoln avenues. In Quincy there are the Atlantic Memorial, Bethany, Finnish, Swedish, Park and Downs Union and Washington Street Congregational churches, all owning church buildings and supplied with regular pastors. There is also a Congregational Church at Islington.


CHAPTER XLIX CHURCH HISTORY, CONTINUED


EPISCOPAL CHURCH-METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-UNITARIAN CHURCH-THE UNIVERSALISTS-MISCELLANEOUS CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS


EPISCOPAL CHURCH


In 1701 a "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" was organized in London. About 1728 this society appointed Rev. Timothy Cutler a missionary in America. Mr. Cutler was a native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, a graduate of Harvard College, had been pastor of a Congregational Church at Stratford, Connecticut, and upon his conversion to the doctrines of the Church of England was made rector of Yale College. In 1731 he was rector of Christ Church in Boston, and in that year conducted the first religious services according to the Episcopal ritual in Norfolk County in a house owned by Joseph Smith in westerly part of Dedham Village. Here he preached at intervals to a small audience until about Christmas, 1833, after which he visited the village only occasionally.


In 1758 a church building near the corner of Court and Church streets was commenced and the first services therein were conducted on Easter Sunday, 1761, by Rev. Ebenezer Miller, a resident of Braintree, who succeeded Mr. Cut- ler in charge of the society at Dedham. In August, 1767, Rev. William Clark began conducting the services in Dedham. He became a resident of Ded- ham in 1772. When the law was passed in 1777 forbidding prayers for the king of England, Mr. Clark closed his church. At a town meeting held on May 29, 1777, he and three members of his church were declared by vote to be inimical to the United States. On the fifth of June he was arrested and taken to Boston, where he was finally adjudged guilty and sentenced to banishment and con- fiscation of his estate. After being confined for nearly three months on a ship in Boston Harbor, he was released and returned to Dedham, but it does not appear that he attempted to conduct services. On June 10, 1778, he left Ded- ham, having obtained a passport through the influence of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, and went to England. After the war was over he returned and died at Quincy in 1815.


When first organized the church took the name of Christ Church. The building began in 1758 was not finished at the time of the Revolution and was made a depot for military stores. A minister by the name of Parker conducted services on a few occasions after the departure of Mr. Clark, but no real effort was made to reestablish the church until 1792, when Rev. William Montague came to Dedham. On February 19, 1792, Fisher Ames leased to the church two


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tracts of land for 999 years. The church building was repaired and in 1797 it was removed to Franklin Square. In November, 1821, Rev. Isaac Boyle was installed as rector and the name of the church was changed to St. Paul's. The church building was totally destroyed by fire on December 7, 1856, and the present stone church, on the corner of Court Street and Village Avenue, was then erected, at a cost of $30,480. The brick chapel on the opposite side of Court Street was built in 1875.


That services were conducted according to the Episcopal forms in Brain- tree as early as 1761 is certain, for in that year Rev. Ebenezer Miller, of Braintree, is mentioned as succeeding to the charge of the services in Dedham. A small meeting house had been built as early as 1728. After Mr. Miller's death Rev. Edward Winslow was in charge of the Episcopal society in Braintree. The church was in the North Precinct (now Quincy) and in June. 1777, Mr. Wins- low's name was among those presented to the selectmen "as inimical to the popular cause." He left the town and followed the British army to New York. After the Revolution the church was revived and is now known as Christ Church, of Quincy, with Rev. William Grainger as rector. The present house of worship is located on the corner of Quincy and Elm streets.


St. Chrysostom's Church in Quincy is situated on the corner of Hancock and Linden streets, with Rev. F. H. Stemstra as rector, and in the Town of Brain- tree the Episcopal Church of the present was organized in 1900. It owns no house of worship, services being conducted in the Masonic Temple.


St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brookline was organized in July, 1849, with Rev. William Horton as the first settled pastor. In 1850 a movement was started for the erection of a church building. Harrison Fay gave $5,000 toward the fund and Augustus Aspinwall donated the site, at the junction of St. Paul Street and Aspinwall Avenue, and $2.000 in addition. The total cost of the structure was $25.000. In 1857, during the pastorate of Rev. John Seeley Stone, a chapel was built at a cost of $6,000, of which $4,000 were contributed by the women of the parish and $1,000 was given by Mrs. Sarah P. Rogers of Boston. All Saints Church in Brookline was organized later and has a neat house of wor- ship at the corner of Beacon Street and Dean Road.


St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of Cohasset dates its beginning from April 26, 1893, in the Grand Army Hall. On June 4, 1893, the parish was organized and soon afterward Rev. Charles Ferguson was installed as rector. He was suc- ceeded in 1895 by Rev. J. B. Thomas, who remained until 1898. On December 8, 1899, the corner-stone of the church edifice was laid by Bishop Lawrence and the building was consecrated in June, 1900. though the tower was not then fin- ished. It is a handsome stone structure and stands upon a commanding eminence on North Main Street near the center of the village. In June, 1917, Rev. Howard K. Bartow was rector.


Christ's Church in Brookline was erected in 1860, at the private expense of David Sears. "to provide a Liturgy which shall comprehend those doctrines, and those only, which are essential to guide the mind in a right worship of God." The building is modeled after a church in Colchester, England, and is located on Colchester Street, Longwood. It is a handsome stone structure, with paneled walls and a large, square tower.


In June, 1865, St. Clement's Church was established in the East Parish of


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Medway (now Millis), with Rev. Benjamin F. Cooley as the first rector. On February 5, 1871, the building was burned and was never rebuilt, but in 1874 a stone edifice was commenced in Medway Village. It was completed in 1880 and was given the name of Christ's Church. On Christmas evening, 1881, the first services in the building were conducted by Rev. John S. Beers, a missionary- at-large, and on January 8, 1882, Rev. Samuel Edwards became officiating mis- sionary under the Diocesan Board of Missions.


The Episcopal Church in Wrentham was organized about 1878 or 1879 and soon afterward erected a building for purposes of worship. According to the town report for 1916, this society then owned property valued at $6,000.


Trinity Episcopal Church of Canton was organized about 1890. A neat house of worship was erected a little later and is still used by the society. In · June, 1917, the rector of this church was Rev. John H. deVries.


Episcopal services were conducted in Stoughton as early as 1769 by Rev. Wil- liam Clark, who officiated on alternate Sundays in Stoughton and Dedham. A church was afterward established in Stoughton, but its history could not be ascertained. There is also an Episcopal Church in Norwood, and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Dedham is located on the corner of Cedar street and Oakdale avenue.


METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH


The Methodists did not gain much of a foothold in Norfolk County until about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In 1800 a Methodist Church was built on Pine Plain, in what is now the Town of Wellesley. Rev. George Pickering was the first minister. The puplit was supplied by circuit ministers for about forty years, when the church went down, owing to dissensions among the members.


In 1810 Rev. John Tinkham held services occasionally in Stoughton, at the house of Hezekiah Gay. A class was formed on January 30, 1812, and Stough- ton was added to the list of appointments on the Mansfield and Easton circuit. In 1818 a church building was erected in West Stoughton and the society was formally organized. Stoughton became a station in 1834. At North Stoughton another class was formed in 1827 and preaching was held at the house of Elijah Gill. In 1835 some of the West Stoughton Methodists proposed to build a new church near the center of the town and asked the North Stoughton class to join in the movement. This North Stoughton declined to do and the result was the erection of two meeting houses-one at North Stoughton and the other at the center of the town. The latter cost about two thousand dollars and was dedi- cated on September 16, 1835. North Stoughton failed to receive a minister from the conference in 1836 and became a Protestant Methodist Church. The present Methodist Church in Stoughton Centre was built in 1866. A parsonage was also erected about the same time.


The Methodist Episcopal Church of Cohasset was organized on December 17, 1817, part of the membership coming from Hingham. The first meeting house was dedicated in June, 1825. It was replaced by a new and more com- modious building, which was dedicated on September 3, 1845, Rev. E. E. Taylor preaching the sermon. The church is located in North Cohasset.


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In 1822, owing to trouble in the "Old North Church" of Weymouth, some of the members withdrew and early in 1823 formed the first Methodist class in the town. A meeting house was built in 1825 and the rapid growth of the society made the enlargement of this building necessary three years later. About 1833 a division arose and some of the members separated from the conference and organized a Protestant Methodist Church. Being in the majority, these members claimed the old church property and the others built a new Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844. It was enlarged in 1850 and was destroyed by fire on December 28, 1851. Another house of worship was soon erected and dedi- cated on October 12, 1852. This building also was burned on February 23, 1870, after which the present church edifice was built. A fine parsonage was built in 1867, three years before the burning of the second house of worship.


Another Methodist Episcopal Church in the Town of Weymouth is located at Lovell's Corner. It was organized as a Congregational Society in 1866 by Rev. D. W. Waldron, then pastor of the church at East Weymouth. A regular pastor was installed in 1872 in the person of Rev. Joseph C. Halliday, who remained with the church until July, 1877. For a few months there was no regular pastor, but in November, 1877, Rev. Henry P. Haylett, a student of the Boston University was engaged. Under his pastorate the church was changed to its present denominational connection.


About 1831 a few Methodists living in Braintree united in the formation of a class and meetings were held in Arnold's Hall, the services being conducted by such clergymen as could be obtained. Rev. Jefferson Hamilton was oftener thus engaged than any other minister, but he removed from the town after a few years. The organization appears in the town records as the "Methodist Episcopal Society of Braintree," though it is doubtful if a complete church organization was ever effected. After the departure of Mr. Hamilton the class tried to obtain the town hall in which to hold meetings, but the request was refused by the selectmen and soon afterward the little society disbanded.


On February 22, 1874, the present Methodist Episcopal Church in East Brain- tree was organized, with Rev. Louis E. Charpiot as pastor. Soon after the organization of the society the building formerly used by the First Baptist Church was purchased and used as a house of worship until the latter part of the year 1883, when it was destroyed by fire. The present church building was then erected. The pastor of this church at the beginning of 1917 was Rev. Earle M. Rugg. There is also a Methodist Church in South Braintree, organized about the close of the last century. Rev. O. W. Reynolds was pastor of this church in June, 1917.


On October 12, 1843, a Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated in East Dedham. Rev. Enoch Mudge and Rev. Timothy Merritt, two Methodist minis- ters, had held services in the town at intervals since 1817, and in 1825 a class of twenty members was formed, most of whom belonged to the church in Dor- chester. After the organization of the society in 1842, meetings were held for a time in Trescott's Hall. The original church building was twice enlarged. and was then replaced by the handsome stone structure on the corner of Oakdale avenue and Fairview street. The society is now known as the "First Methodist Episcopal Church of Dedham."


The Methodist Church of Franklin was organized in April, 1872, though the


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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY


first services of that faith were held in the town as early as 1853 by Rev. John M. Merrill, who preached several times in the town hall and gathered a con- siderable congregation. He was succeeded by Rev. Pliny Wood in 1855, and the next year Rev. M. P. Webster took up the work. In 1857 the conference de- clined to furnish a minister and nothing further was done until 1871, when meetings were again started under the charge of Rev. John R. Cushing, which led to the organization of the church the following April. The corner-stone of the church building was laid on October 3, 1872, and the house was dedicated on June 25, 1873.


On July 19, 1857, the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Medway was organized and Rev. William Jackson was installed as pastor. A house of wor- ship was erected in West Medway, where the society still holds services.


The Methodist Episcopal Church of Highlandville (now Needham Heights) was organized in April, 1867, with Rev. John W. Coolidge as the first pastor. Before the organization of this society, the Methodists living in the vicinity had been accustomed to worship at Newton Upper Falls. Thirty-four members of that church then became identified with the Needham Heights Church and meet- ings were held in a hall. The church building was dedicated in 1876. It cost about ten thousand dollars and in 1884 the debt that had hung over it from the time of its completion was canceled.


In the spring of 1873 the Washington Street Methodist Church of Brookline was organized and the old house of worship that had been erected by the Har- vard Congregational Church was purchased for $24,500. It was refitted and Rev. E. D. Winslow was appointed by the conference as the first pastor. In 1876 the house was sold and the society held services in the town hall until May, 1879, when the site of the present church was purchased and the building erected at a cost of $2,657. It was dedicated in September of that year.


The Methodist Church of Walpole Centre was formed in 1874 with twelve members. A Mr. Noon was the first preacher, but was succeeded at the end of one year by Rev. J. H. Vincent. About 1882 the society bought the lot adjoining the town house and a chapel was erected thereon. It was afterward enlarged and remodeled into its present form.


Methodism had been introduced in Walpole as early as 1818, when Rev. Ben- jamin Haines began holding meetings in South Walpole. A class was formed the next year and in 1822 a church was organized. The first house of worship was built in 1830 on the lot where the parsonage was afterward located. The second and present church edifice was dedicated in 1846.


On the evening of July 26, 1878, a few Methodists living in the Town of Holbrook held an informal meeting, at which it was decided to organize a class and hold weekly meetings. Interest in the class meetings developed to such an extent under the leadership of Rev. Joshua Monroe, of West Abington, that a church was organized on February 1I, 1879, by Rev. D. A. Whedon, presiding elder of the Providence District. Services were held in Library Hall until that was burned on April 13, 1880, and then in the committee room of the town build- ing. On February 8, 1882, the first house of worship was dedicated. It is thirty- one by fifty feet and cost $2,275.


The Methodist Episcopal Church of Norwood was organized on June 26. 1887, and the church edifice near the corner of Dat and Washington streets was


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erected soon afterward. A Methodist Church was organized in Sharon in 1876.


There are four 'Methodist Churches in Quincy, viz .: The Hall Place Church, which was organized in 1872, in West Quincy. Rev. W. H. Germany was the pastor of this church in the spring of 1917. The First Wollaston Church, located on the corner of Beale and Safford streets, with Rev. George M. Bailey as pastor in 1917. The Atlantic Church, at the junction of East Squantum and Hunt streets ; and St. Paul's Swedish Methodist Church on Fort Street.


UNITARIAN CHURCHES


The oldest Unitarian Church in Norfolk County is the First Parish Church of Dedham, which according to the Unitarian Year Book for 1917 was organized in 1636, though Erastus Worthington's History of Dedham and Mann's Annals both give the date of organization as November 8, 1638. The first pastor of the church was Rev. John Allin, who was ordained on April 24, 1639, and remained with the church until his death on August 26, 1671. The pastors who succeeded Mr. Allin were: William Adams, 1673-1685 ; Joseph Belcher, 1693-1723; Sam- uel Dexter, 1724-1755 ; Jason Haven, 1756-1803; Joshua Bates, 1803-1818; Alvan Lamson, 1818-1860. As told in the preceding chapter, in connection with the Dedham Congregational Church, it was at the time of the election of Mr. Lamson that a division occurred in the parish. Concerning this division Worthington says : "As it often happens in public discussions, the real points of difference were kept in reserve. But there can be no doubt that the parish and the church were then divided into two religious parties, known afterwards under the dis- tinctive names of Unitarian and Orthodox. Mr. Lamson was a graduate of the Divinity School of Harvard College and was a Unitarian. The Rev. Dr. Henry Ware, who preached the ordination sermen, had been elected in 1805 Hollis professor of divinity as a Unitarian, and Doctor Channing, who was one of the council, had his celebrated controversy with Doctor Worcester in 1815, which resulted in the separation of the Unitarian from the Orthodox Congregationalists. All the members of the ordaining council represented churches which were either at that time or afterwards became Unitarian."


That portion of the parish which accepted Mr. Lamson as pastor retained possession of the church property and has since been known as a Unitarian Church. The first meeting house was finished in 1646. It was afterward enlarged and in 1673 was replaced by a new one. In 1762, while Rev. Jason Haven was pastor, a new house of worship was erected. After the division in 1818, the house was enlarged, and in 1857 it was again remodeled. It is still used by the society. Rev. William H. Parker is the present pastor.


The Unitarian Church of the First Parish in Quincy was originally the parish church of Braintree. The Unitarian Year Book for 1917 says it was organized in 1636, but Samuel A. Bates, who was well informed on the subject of Brain- tree history, gives the date of its establishment as September 16, 1639, and Charles Francis Adams, in writing of the present church edifice says: "Thus, when the meeting house of 1732 was removed in 1828, the visible emblem which connected the modern with the colonial town may be said to have disappeared. The connecting link between the two chains was broken. The period, therefore, of one hundred and eighty-nine years which elapsed after the gathering of the


UNITARIAN CHURCH. DEDHAM



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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY


First Church of Braintree, and before the pulling down and moving away of the third meeting house in Quincy, must historically be considered by itself."


Going back 189 years from 1828 would establish the year of organization as 1639, which agrees with the statement of Mr. Bates. Rev. William Tompson was the first settled minister. He remained with the church for nineteen years. He was succeeded by Henry Flint (or Flynt) in 1659, but lived only one year and four months after becoming pastor.


In 1708 the Town of Braintree was divided into precincts and the church became the North Precinct Church, remaining so until the incorporation of the Town of Quincy in 1792. From 1792 to 1820 it was known as the Quincy Church. Among the pastors while the North Precinct Church was Rev. John Hancock, father of the John Hancock who was president of the Continental Congress at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Hancock was ordained on November 2, 1726, and served as pastor until his death in May, 1744. The present pastor is Rev. Adelbert L. Hudson.




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