History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 50

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 50

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In July of the same year, 1715, " the town voted to remit the ministerial taxes of the inhabitants on con- dition that they procure an orthodox minister among themselves and accept the settlement cheerfully. This the citizens of Cohasset voted that they could not do cheerfully."

In September following " the town voted to reim- burse to the inhabitants of Conohasset, or to those that should afterwards inhabit in the first and second divisions of the Conohasset uplands and in the second part of the third division, all their ministerial and school taxes so long as they should maintain an ortho-

dox minister among themselves." This vote was not acceptable to the inhabitants of Cohasset.

On the 12th of .March, 1715-16, the town voted to remit to the inhabitants of Conohasset their minis- terial and school taxes, without any conditions. This vote was not satisfactory.

Finally, after further petitions to the General Court, and further opposition by the town, on Nov. 21, 1717, an act was obtained creating a second parish in Hingham, which act was accepted at a meeting held July 14, 1718, " at Cohasset, alias Little Hing- ham."

Having thus secured the right of a distinct corpo- rate existence, the citizens of Cohasset at once ad- dressed themselves to the work of settling a minister.

At the first meeting after the organization of the parish, or precinct, Aug. 11, 1718, it was voted to raise twenty-five pounds, "in such money as passeth from man to man," for the support of the ministry ; and at a meeting on the 16th day of the next Feb- ruary, it was voted to settle a minister, and to raise eighty pounds for his support.

In the spring of 1719 a fast was appointed, in or- der to give a minister a call. Mr. Pierpont was then called, and in the spring of 1721, Mr. Spear. Both appear to have declined.

Mr. Nehemiah Hobart, who had been employed to preach at Cohasset at times before, " preached a fast" there July 13, 1721, and continued to preach after- wards till September 18th, when " he was chosen by a major vote."

A church was formed on the 12th of the following December, and on the 13th Mr. Hobart was ordained as pastor of the church and parish. He continued in his office till his death, May 31, 1740, at the age of forty-three years.

He was born in the First Parish, the son of David | Hobart, Esq., and grandson of Rev. Peter Hobart. He was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1714. " As he had lived beloved, he died much la- mented by his people."

After the death of Mr. Hobart the parish heard candidates for more than a year. They finally agreed to settle Mr. John Fowle, and he was ordained Dec. 31, 1741, and was dismissed in the fifth year of his ministry.

Mr. Fowle was born in Charlestown, was graduated at Harvard College in 1732, and died in 1764. A no- tice of him states that " he was allowed by all good judges to be a man of considerable genius and hand- some acquirements ; and for two or three years he was a popular preacher. But he had a most irritable, ner- vous temperament, which rendered him unequal in his

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performances, and, at times, quite pecvish and irregu- lar."

After the close of Mr. Fowle's ministry the parish heard candidates. In November, 1746, they invited Jonathan Mayhew to become their minister. This invitation he declined, and the next year he was or- dained as pastor of the West Church, in Boston. He was a man of advanced and liberal views, opposed to Calvinism in theology, and to the British policy with regard to the colonies.

He was an ardent patriot at the time of the Amer- ican Revolution, and was the first, or one of the first Congregational ministers in Boston who openly preached Unitarianism. At the first council called to ordain him over the West Church, in Boston, only two churches were represented, and at the second council which ordained him, when Dr. Gay, of Hing- ham, preached the sermon, no other church was repre- sented.

At length John Brown was called to the pastorate of the Cohasset Church, and was ordained Sept. 2, 1747, before the new meeting-house was quite com - pleted. He continued as minister of the parish till his death, Oct. 22, 1791, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, having preached until the last Sabbath of his life.

He was the son of Rev. John Brown, of Haverhill, and was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1741.

Rev. Mr. Flint, in a notice of him, wrote: " The talents of Rev. John Brown were considerably more than ordinary. In a stately person he possessed a mind whose perceptions were quick and clear. He thought for himself, and when he had formed his opinions, he uttered them with fearless freedom. A warm friend to the interests of his country, he zeal- ously advocated its civil and religious freedom. By appointment of government he served one campaign as chaplain to a colonial regiment in Nova Scotia, and for his service a tract of land (now Liverpool) in that province was granted him by the crown. Taking a lively interest in the American Revolution, he en- couraged, by example and by preaching, his fellow- citizens at home and abroad patiently to make those sacrifices demanded by the times, predicting at the same time, with the foresight of a prophet, the pres- ent unrivaled prosperity of the country."

He preached an " excellent" sermon to a company of New England soldiers under the wide-spreading elm in Hingham, and preached a sermon 'on the massacre at Boston.

After the death of Mr. Brown, Mr. Josiah C. Shaw was employed as the first candidate, and was ordained :

as pastor of the parish Oct. 3, 1792. His ministry terminated June 3, 1796. Mr. Shaw was born in Marshfield, graduated.at Harvard College in the class of 1789, and died in 1847, at Newport, R. I., where he occupied an honorable business position after leav- ing his ministry in Cohasset.

After hearing a number of candidates, a call, without opposition, was given to Jacob Flint, who was ordained Jan. 10, 1798, and continued as pastor of the parish for about thirty-seven years. He was born in Read- ing, Mass., in 1767, graduated at Harvard College in 1794, and died suddenly at East Marshfield, after having conducted the morning service, Oct. - , 1835.

The memory of Mr. Flint was long cherished, and is still cherished by the older people of the town with profound respect and affection.

He was a man of great benevolence of feeling, of a sympathizing heart, and of a cheerful and hopeful spirit. He had a well-trained and scholarly mind, and published a number of carefully-prepared dis- courses. His two discourses preached on the com- pletion of the first century from the organization of the church have excited much interest, and have been reprinted. His manner of delivery in the pulpit was said to be slow and monotonous. He had an excellent ear and voice for singing. His brother, Dr. James Flint, of Salem, used to say to him that "he ought to sing his sermons, and not preach them."

During his ministry those changes took place in the parish which were going on in almost all the New England parishes at about the same time, by which the old churches and societies were broken up into a number of different and often antagonistic organiza- tions. These changes were deeply painful to him, and saddened the latter years of his ministry.

Mr. Harrison Gray Otis Phipps succeeded Mr. Flint as minister of the parish. He was ordained Nov. 18, 1835, and died, while pastor of the parish, December, 1841,

Rev. Mr. Phipps was a native of Quincy, Mass. ; was graduated at Harvard College in 1832, and at the Cambridge Divinity School in 1835.

Mr. Phipps was highly esteemed for his sincerity, for his quiet devotion to his work in the ministry, and for the promise he gave of future usefulness in the work to which he had devoted his life.

After the death of Mr. Phipps the pulpit was sup- plied by various ministers till the following summer, when Joseph Osgood was engaged to preach four Sundays after the completion of his studies in the Cambridge Divinity School.

He was born in Kensington, N. H , Sept. 23, 1815 ;

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was graduated at the Cambridge Divinity School, He was a man of literary tastes, and published two books,-" Twin Heroes" and " The Boy Lollard." Friday, July 15, 1842, first occupied the pulpit the 17th of the same month, and has continued as min- Rev. Calvin R. Fitts was installed April, 1868, bury in 1883. ister of the parish ever since, more than forty-one | and was dismissed October, 1870. He died in Sud- years, having been ordained Oct. 26, 1842.

The Methodist Society in North Cohasset was organized Dec. 17, 1817. There had been preaching there in private houses once in two or once in four weeks. The persons who constituted this society lived partly in Hingham and partly in Cohasset, their residences being mostly on the two sides of the road which separates the two towns. As they were about three miles from both the Hingham and Co- hasset meeting-houses, they found it inconvenient to attend these places of worship, and many had ceased to attend religious worship. Their first meeting- house was built in the spring and dedicated in June of 1825. The second and present house was dedi- 'locality for many years.) cated Sept. 3, 1845, Father E. E. Taylor, who had one season at an early period labored among them, preaching the sermon at the dedication.

In the early years of this religious society the pulpit was probably supplied by the services of a preacher from the Conference. In 1832, and for two years afterwards, it was supplied by Rev. Stephen Puffer, who had charge of the Hingham Methodist Episco- pal Church. It was then, in connection with the Hingham Church, and sometimes with the addition of Scituate or Weymouth, placed under the care of ministers sent from the Conference. Of late years it | has generally had the entire services of one man, who sion.

has continued in charge for three years in succes- | C. Hood have been ministers of the church and

The Second Congregational Church and Society was organized Nov. 24, 1824. The corner-stone of their meeting-house had been laid on the 8th of October preceding.

Rev. Aaron Pickett was installed as pastor Nov. | built under the direction of Rev. Hugh P. Smyth,

15, 1826; dismissed May, 1833. Rev. Martin Moore was installed September, 1833; dismissed August, 1841. Rev. Daniel Babcock, installed June, | Cohasset, and Scituate. He was succeeded by Rev. 1842 ; dismissed June, 1847. Frederick A. Reed was ordained March 9, 1848, and was dismissed March 13, 1866.

Rev. Mr. Reed was born in Boston, Dec. 7, 1821, graduated at Amherst College in 1843, and at the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1846. He died at Harvard, Mass., where he was engaged in the active duties of the ministry, in 1883.

After leaving Cohasset he preached for eleven years in Taunton and three years in Harvard.

Mr. Reed is remembered with respect and affection by the people of Cohasset.

Rev. Moody A. Stevens was installed April, 1872, and dismissed June, 1878.

Rev. Granville Yager was installed in June, 1878, and dismissed Feb. 6, 1883.

Of the ministers who have been ordained or in- stalled as pastors of this church and society, only the two last named are living at the present time, 1884.

Beechwood Church .- In about the year 1862 there began to be stated preaching in the part of Cohasset called Beechwood .. The services were in a hall, and were conducted by Rev. Cyrus Stone. (Re- ligious services had been held occasionally in this

In about eighteen months a church was organized. The corner-stone of the Beechwood meeting-house was laid Oct. 18, 1866, and the house was dedicated Jan. 15, 1867. The house is very near the boundary- line between Scituate and Cohasset, and the congre- gation is composed of worshipers from both towns.

Services in the church have been sustained in part by missionary aid. Sometimes the church has had a minister of its own, and sometimes it has been under the pastoral care of a clergyman who also had the charge of a church in Hingham.

Rev. Cyrus Stone, Rev. Charles B. Smith, Rev. T. S. Norton, Rev. Austin S. Garver, and Rev. E. society. The present minister is Rev. Harlan Page, who was ordained Feb. 6, 1883.

St. Anthony's Church was built by the Roman Catholics in 1875, and services were first held in it July 15th of the same year. The church was

who for some time had the pastoral care of the Roman Catholic churches in Weymouth, Hingham,

Peter J. Leddy, who had the pastoral charge of the churches in Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate till his death in 1880. Since then these churches have been under the care of Rev. Gerald Fagin, aided by an assistant.

Educational Interests .- It is probable that the town of Hingham before the incorporation of Cohas- set as a precinct maintained only one public school. That was kept in a school-house near the old meeting- [ house. In 1714 Hingham was requested to remit the ministerial and school taxes to the inhabitants of Cohasset. This request was refused.

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Hingham voted " March 13, 1,720-21, that a school be kept by Peter Ripley's six months in the year," and " that a school-house be erected by Peter Rip- ley's by the selectmen."

June 29, 1724, the town voted " that the school should be kept half the time in the old school-house, and the other half at the school-house near Peter Ripley's."

The first reference to school matters in the records of Cohasset is as follows :

" March 31, 1721. John Farrow, Obediah Lin- coln, and Joseph Bate are chosen to take care con- cerning the school, and to take the money from the town of Hingham, and to dispose of it as followeth : One-third part of it to be paid to a school-dame for teaching the children to read, and two-thirds of the money to be disposed of to teach the children to write and to cipher."

The next record is three years later, viz., March 31, 1724. " Voted that the money that came from the town, which is in the hands of John Farrow, Obediah Lincoln, and Joseph Bate, should be dis- posed of to learn the children to read and write in this precinct."

It is not probable that any school had been estab- lished in Cohasset, and it is doubtful if there was any money for schools in the hands of the above-| named men, for there is no record of a vote of the town of Hingham to appropriate money for a school in Cohasset. Besides, March 22, 1727, Cohasset " passed a vote to choose a committee to make an address to the town of Hingham relating to the school for our part of the school money or our part of the schooling." Hingham the previous year (May 9, 1726) had " refused to have the school kept any part of the year in Cohasset."

Aug. 14, 1727, Cohasset voted to address the General Court concerning the school, and chose John Jacob agent to prefer the petition to the General Court.

This action seems to have had the desired effect, I for Hingham voted May 6, 1728, "to raise eighty pounds for the support of schools, and that the in- | habitants of Cohasset and Great Plain shall be al- lowed to draw out of the town treasury their propor- tion of what they pay towards the same sum, provided they employ the same for the support of schools among themselves, and for no other use."

This arrangement continued for six years, till March | 4, 1733-34, when the town " voted to have one school the year ensuing, and but one." This school was to be kept in three places, viz., in the town part (so called), at the Great Plain, and in the precinct of

Cohasset ; the time the school was to be kept in each of these three places to be apportioned according to the amount of tax which is paid by cach. Sixty pounds school money was voted.

This arrangement was continued for eighteen years, with the exception of one year (1737), when the school money was divided among the three parts of the town.

May 14, 1752, the town voted to have one grammar school, to be kept in the north school-house the whole year, and a " writing and reading school," to be kept seven months of the year in the East Parish (Cohasset), and five months in the South Parish. This contin- ued to be the way in which the schools were regulated as long as Cohasset remained a precinct of Hingham, except that in 1756 and subsequently Cohasset had its just portion of the money raised instead of the seven months' time of the "writing and reading school."

The date of the building of the first school-house in Cohasset must be assigned to the year 1734. It stood on the Plain, between where the houses of the late Capt. Samuel Hall and of Mr. Zenas Lincoln now stand. This was the only school-house in Co- hasset till 1792, when it was voted to build a new school-house and remove the old one. The schools, other than the one in the centre, must have been kept in private houses.

Although the precinct voted in 1821 and in sub- sequent years how the money to be received from the town for schools should be apportioned and spent, and chose men to take charge of it and of the schools, yet we have no record of any money having been ap- propriated by the town or received by the precinct till 1728. There were probably no public schools in the precinct till that year. "October 13th, John Jacob, Joshua Bate, and John Orcutt were chosen to provide a schoolmaster, and also to provide a school- house for the present." From this time a school was kept some part of the year.

Dec. 30, 1731, " it was voted that the two arms of the precinct and those that are minded to join with them might have the school with them, their pro- portion, according to what they pay to said school, viz. : the inhabitants of Rocky Nook, Strait's Pond Mill, and Nichols' at one end, and the inhabitants of the Beechwoods at the other end."

From 1734 to 1752 the precinct had its share of the services of the one grammar-school teacher of Hingham, who probably divided his time between the school in the centre and the schools in the two arms.

From the year 1752 till it was incorporated as a

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

district entirely separate from Hingham, in 1770, it had the services of a "writing and reading master seven months of each year, or its share of the school money raised by the town."

Although in 1721 the precinct voted that one- third of the school money should be paid to a school- dame for teaching the children to read, there is no evidence that such a school-dame was employed to teach the children till 1768. In that year it was " voted that four pounds of the proportion of the school money that belongs to the centre of the pre- cinct be laid out and improved in three women's schools."

In 1769 it was voted that there be four schools kept by schoolmistresses in the centre, and that eight pounds be appropriated for that purpose. In 1770, when the precinct was separated from Hingham and was incorporated as a district, with the rights and duties of a town, it " voted thirty pounds for the use of the schools, and that the inhabitants of the Beech- woods, so called, and of Jerusalem, so called, be allowed to draw their proportion of the money granted for the school, or schools, provided they improve the same for a writing and reading school."

" In 1785 the town was divided into three divisions convenient for schooling."

In 1800 the town raised eleven hundred dol- lars for all town and parish purposes, including the salary of the minister ; three hundred dollars of this amount were appropriated to the schools. A committee of three was chosen to procure schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. The town continued to choose committees for the several divisions till 1829, when it voted that each district should choose its own com- mittee. This continued, with the exception of two or three years, till 1870. Since that time the super- intending committee have had charge of the schools and of procuring teachers. In 1873 the town au- thorized the school committee to choose a superin-

tendent, who has since, under the direction of the committee, had the practical charge and oversight of the schools.

The district system in a strictly legal form never really prevailed in the town.

In 1804 a committee of three was chosen to visit the schools. This was the first general or superin- tending committee chosen in the town. This com- mittee was not chosen annually, and the duty of visiting the schools seems to have devolved upon the minister, the Rev. Mr. Flint, alone.

In 1818, however, a committee of three was chosen to visit the schools with Mr. Flint, and this custom | was continued till 1826, when the State law was passed requiring every town to choose a superintend- ing committee.

At first the committee consisted of eight members, and the town continued to choose a large committee till 1830, when only three were chosen, and this has continued to be the number of the committee, with a few exceptions, to the present time.

It was not unfrequently the custom of the town to devote part of the school money-from twenty to fifty dollars -- to the teaching of singing. In 1820 it was " voted that singing is a necessary charge."

In 1792 the first school-house built in the centre, on The usual amount raised for the support of the | the Plain, was moved to what became the North dis- schools was from thirty to sixty pounds, but some- | trict, and a school house was built in what had been times the amount was nominally much larger, when the Continental money had become greatly depre- ciated. In 1780 it was twenty-five hundred pounds. made the South district. The old school-house which had been moved into the North district was burnt in 1819, and in 1820 a new house was built. This was An attempt was made to make two districts of the | sold in 1857, and the present North school-house was centre division, but it was not effected till some time | built. afterwards. In 1796 two hundred dollars were raised The South school-house built in 1792 was sold in 1859, and the present South school-house was built. for the support of the schools, of which eighty-six dol- lars and eighty-four cents were appropriated to the North School, seventy-one dollars and twenty cents to the South, fifteen dollars and twenty-seven cents to the Jerusalem, and twenty-nine dollars and sixty-nine cents to the Beechwoods school.

A school-house was built in the Beechwoods in 1794, and was replaced by a new one in 1839, which ! also was replaced by a new one, the present Beech- woods school-house, in 1852.

In 1795 the town " voted to allow the Jerusalem people seven pounds and ten shillings towards build- ing a school-house, provided that they build one one year from this date." The house then built was sold in 1839, and a new house built, which also was sold in 1851, and the present Jerusalem school-house was built.

In 1828 a committee was chosen to select one- third of the children of the South, and one-third of the children of the North district school, and to form a Centre district. It was also " voted that the town should pay the several districts for their school- houses, and for the future build and support all the schools in its corporate capacity."

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The present Centre school-house, which has been twice enlarged, was built that year.

A small school-house was at one time built and a school established at the junction of King Street and Winter Street, but the school was given up, and the house was removed in 1843. The present school in King Street was established, and a school-house, con- verted from a dwelling-house, was fitted up for the school in 1874.

In 1873 the Harbor primary school was estab- lished, and a building was purchased and fitted up for its accommodation.

The subject of a High School, or a school for the older children, was agitated before 1826. In that year the town voted to establish such a school in the centre of the town for the sole use of such boys and girls as have arrived at the age of fourteen years. Of the seven hundred dollars school money raised, two hundred and twenty-five dollars were appropriated for the support of this school. Although this school had strong advocates, a vote could not be secured to continue it till in 1841, when it was voted to estab- lish a High School by a vote of sixty-one to forty- three.

Two hundred dollars were voted for it, and it was not to continue over four months in the cold season. After that time it was continued annually, as a four months' winter school, till 1851, when it was made a yearly school, and has been continued as such to the present time. When first established as a yearly school it was put under the charge of a master, aided by a female assistant for twelve weeks in the winter.

The next year a female assistant was employed through the year, and such continued to be the ar- rangement, except that some years an assistant was not employed in the summer, and for some years two assistants were employed in the winter. In 1876 the High School was put under the charge of a lady, Miss Drusilla S. Lothrop, as principal, with a young man as assistant. This arrangement has been continued with success to the present time.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 50

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534