USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Watertown > History of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church in Watertown, 1836-1936 > Part 7
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The record of this progressive decade from 1907 to 1917 will close with the usual lists from prominent departments of the organ- ized church. In 1917 the Trustees of St. John's Church were as follows: Richard H. Paine, president, Curtis W. Bixby, L. Sidney Cleveland, William W. Corson, Luther C. Robinson, Wilbur F. Learned, George H. Maxwell, Bartlett M. Shaw, and Herbert L. Paine.
The Stewards were James Bailey, George N. Beckett, L. Paul
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Bushman, A. Alonzo Huse, David R. Jones, Clifford S. Lovell, William M. Emerson, Wallace A. Shipton, Ralph T. Soper, Mrs. Chester Sprague, Richard M. Hatch, A. Lester Shipton, Charles A. Day, Miss Sara Emerson, Everett E. Turkington, Albert F. Leigh.
The president of the Ladies' Aid was Mrs. Hannah Bixby, and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, Mr. A. A. Huse.
The following are those recorded as having served the Epworth League in various capacities during the ten years, but the lists of League officers are not complete for this period, and some names may be omitted here for that reason. Mr. Irving, Alice Sanborn, Emma Ramsay, Edward Maxwell, Marcus Smith, Everett Turk- ington (president), Ethel Hall (president), Albion Davis (president), Reginald Arragon (president), Raymond Ripley (president), Clarence Frounfelker (a president of the Cambridge Circuit), Maud D. Hodges, Helen Strum, Theda Pollock, Gertrude Gardner, Mildred Pollock, and Carl Huckins.
The Church was saddened by the death of many of its beloved members during this period, and even at the risk of having over- looked the record of some, we will set down a list of twelve here: Mr. Frank J. Berry, Trustee, in 1908; Mr. S. Cyrus Wells, Local Elder and Superintendent of the Sunday School, in 1909; also, in this year the man so very prominent in the old days of the "church on Main Street," Father Henry Chase; Mrs. Mary Priest, a former president of the Ladies' Aid and widow of the late respected Trustee, George E. Priest, 1909; and Mr. Edward Chick, a former president of the Epworth League, in the same year; in 1910, Mr. Edward H. Porter, one time president of the Board of Trustees, ninety years of age, beloved and respected; in 1911 Mr. George Latham; Messrs. Tennys Bliefling and William C. Howard; and in 1914, Mr. Freeman S. Cobb and Mr. Henry Learned, sincere and serviceable Trustee "whose goal and Christian ambition it was, to lead the Ideal Life."
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CHAPTER X
THE DECADE 1917-1927
JUST as the hopes and plans for a new stone church appeared constantly in records for five or six years previous to its construc- tion, even so do restlessness and desire for addition begin to appear by 1917 in these later church records. Dissatisfaction with the already crowded Sunday School quarters was constantly voiced by some, and criticism of the forty-year-old organ by others. The ladies knew that they would be able to use a much larger social room than they possessed, the choir did not have adequate accommodation, and the auditorium and chapel which had not been frescoed since they were first finished cried out for renovation! In the late spring of 1917 the Trustees itemized a group of improvements which they recommended, but everyone agreed that the year of our country's entry into the great European war was hardly the year to accom- plish all these. The suggested improvements were as follows:
Item I. A new brick chimney to be erected in the rear of the Church replacing the metal one which was there. This was effected.
Item 2. More roof repairs.
Item 3. Redecorate the whole inside of the church, including refinishing of all woodwork.
Item 4. Install a new steam heating and ventilating system.
Item 5. Make some provision to acquire the Train property, adjoining church property on the east.
Item 6. Install a new organ, and build choir room in the base- ment.
Item 7. Finish more classrooms in basement.
The estimated cost of these improvements was $30,000, and it was agreed that war charities, not additions to the edifice at just this time, should have whatever funds the church people could spare.
Mr. Frederick Whitney sent the Trustees a check for $900 in April, and it was used to liquidate the remaining note, originally $2,000, held by the Union Market National Bank since 1912, the
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money having been borrowed to finance the extensive roof repairs of that year. A fine State flag and a National flag for the church interior, a tablet and new mats at the main entrance, a check to cover the cost of renovating the outside of the parsonage, new mahogany collection boxes placed on the walls at the rear of the auditorium, and two new crosses for the two front towers of the Church, were others of his gifts to St. John's in 1917.
The Church did not have a large National flag for outdoor display, and Dr. Shepler suggested at the morning service of March 25, 1917, that we should have one. Mr. B. M. Shaw felt that the time to act was "now," and as a result a collection was taken right away, and the flag purchased within the week. At the close of the morning service on April 1, the congregation assembled in front of the main tower where a large pole extended. The chime played "My Country 'Tis of Thee," while everyone sang, and Mr. W. W. Corson, a Trustee and G. A. R. veteran, unfurled the flag. Mr. L. S. Cleveland, also a Civil War veteran, made a short address.
This year of 1917 was a satisfactory one for the pastor and Church. One hundred and thirty-seven more people were received into church membership, and the regular attendance of young folks was solicited under the "Go-to-Church-Band" organization. As Dr. Shepler says, "There were 98 enrolled, and in spite of bad weather, colds, mumps, measles, chicken-pox, etc., 72 made the record of perfect attendance each Sunday" (in the first quarter it was tried). This "Go-to-Church Band" was continued for several years with excellent results. Besides this, the pastor innovated a special membership class for adults on Sunday mornings at ten o'clock, and two classes for young people met with him on Friday afternoons, so that those who wished to come into full membership should be carefully prepared and should intelligently understand what they were doing.
By the late fall, thirty-eight young men of the Church were in the service of their country, fourteen of them already in France. Naturally patriotism and its attendant vitality were evident in all church activities, and St. John's people were leaders in town drives for various war funds. The chairman of both the first and second Liberty Loans was Mr. L. Sidney Cleveland; of the Y. M. C. A. Fund was Mr. C. W. Bixby; of the Red Cross Christmas Member- ship Campaign, Mr. H. L. Paine. Each of these drives far exceeded the amounts apportioned to Watertown. The increased feeling of
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community spirit everywhere reflected back and gave more church spirit also, and our Sunday morning services averaged 300 all winter (1917-18), and the evening services 150. St. John's organi- zations did all they could to make all the newly resident workers in the town's humming industries and government employees at the Arsenal feel welcome at the Methodist Church. The Ladies' Aid, Mrs. Hannah Bixby president, decided that a fair should not be held, and the members gave their time and hand work to govern- ment, Red Cross, and charitable organizations instead, while every effort was made to keep church expenses down even though prices skyrocketed.
Other departmental officers in 1917 were Clarence Frounfelker, president of the Epworth League; Clifford S. Lovell, superintendent of the Sunday School; Miss Sara Emerson, president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society; Miss Louise Richardson, president of the Woman's Home Missionary Society; and Mr. John P. Bunker, Scout Master of the newly formed troup of Boy Scouts.
The next year, in May, another addition came to the church property when Mr. Frederick A. Whitney offered as a gift to the Trustees the land known as the "Train Property," adjoining the church land on the east, and on which the parsonage is now located (1936). The Trustees gladly voted to accept the land under its restrictions and sent a letter and Resolutions of Thanks to Mr. Whitney. By late October all legal points had been attended to, and the following letter accompanied the actual deeds which Mr. Whitney sent:
"To the Trustees,
St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church,
Watertown, Massachusetts
Sirs:
For a great many years it has been my desire to purchase the property of Otis A. Train and see it added to the present property of St. John's Church, as I felt that by such an addition the Parish would be put in possession of a property equal to that of any local religious society, and which would be entirely adequate for its needs, both present and future.
Until recently it has not been possible to do this, but now Mr. Train has consented to the sale and the purchase has been con- summated.
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FREDERICK A. WHITNEY BENEFACTOR
BARTLETT M. SHAW FORMER TRUSTEE
The deeds are made to St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church and it is with sincere pleasure that I present them to you at this time.
The only condition required by Mr. Train was that he should be allowed the free use of the house for a period of not more than five years and I gladly consented to this.
During the period of his occupancy it will be my pleasure to assume the payment of the yearly taxes, so that no additional burden will be placed upon the Parish.
My interest in St. John's is great; its very success and achieve- ment is a personal delight to me. As the years pass I trust it will enjoy unbounded prosperity and become increasingly potent as a factor for good in the community.
Permit me to express my thanks and appreciation to the Trustees for their kindness in allowing me to make some additions to the Church which it seemed to me would add to its attractiveness.
Gratefully yours,
FREDERICK A. WHITNEY."
The restrictions placed upon the property were made in the interest of always keeping the Church beautiful and were: "(I) That any building erected or placed thereon shall be used only for a par- sonage or parish house for said church, or for other church purposes ... and (2) That any building hereafter erected on said premises shall be set back at least twenty feet from the front line of the church edifice." Mr. Whitney also, at his own expense, made radical changes in the ornamental windows of the auditorium and vestibule. The largest of the church windows, the one facing Mt. Auburn Street, was replaced by one of different design and color, one of great beauty. The windows in the east elevation were remodelled or replaced, also, the work being contracted by the Montague Castle-London Company. A further description of all our windows may be found in the Appendix of this book.
At the annual meeting of April 7, 1919, the Trustees "per- ambulated the church grounds and then inspected the church for all needful repairs." Twenty-seven items were listed, twenty of them marked as unable to be longer postponed. Therefore these "small repairs" were segregated and given over to the proper com- mittees for action, since a complete renovation of the edifice still seemed to be in the indefinite future.
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Dr. Joseph M. Shepler returned to the Church for his fourth pastoral year in April, 1918, at a salary of $2,200. The minister had been approached by Y. M. C. A. officers to see if he would go to France in their interests, but he decided against this. He was later appointed to serve once a week at religious meetings at Camp Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts, a duty he gladly performed. At the First Quarterly Conference meeting in this year, Mr. Bartlett M. Shaw resigned as Treasurer of the Church, an office he had faithfully and efficiently performed for eighteen years. He was suc- ceeded in this work by Mr. Herbert L. Paine. The regular depart- ments continued to be progressive, but all were requested to limit their activities in the Church during the following winter months because of the national fuel shortage. In June an offering for the Methodist War Work Fund was taken, and amounted to well over four hundred dollars, a sum proudly sent to the New England Com- mittee by the pastor. In the meanwhile, the women were active in preparing Red Cross refugees' clothes, surgical garments and dress- ings, and knitted wear. Several of the men were in the State Guard, and the Church supplied leaders again for various big campaigns launched in town. By January, 1918, there were forty-six of St. John's young men in the service, most of them in Europe, and by September there were seventy-one. In the fall months, the terrible scourge of the influenza epidemic struck the United States, and Watertown suffered with the rest. The pastor was busy every week with funerals, the church family losing many members. Mrs. Curtis W. Bixby (Hannah Bixby) died in November, and the society mourned a charming personality and an active worker.
Some of the departmental officers in the pastoral year 1918-19 were Richard M. Hatch, Superintendent of the Sunday School, and Mrs. H. L. Paine, president of the Ladies' Aid, while other societies continued under the leaders of the year before. Mr. Clarence Frounfelker, president of the Epworth League, reported that the League had finished paying for a one hundred dollar Liberty Bond, and that a systematic correspondence had been carried on with the boys in the service, which assured each one a letter every week.
Dr. Shepler returned to St. John's for a fifth year of service in 1919 with a salary increased to $2,400. The war and most of its attendant responsibilities over, the call of a new benevolent fund came - "The Centenary." It had been in November of 1917 that John R. Mott, the Christian statesman and world traveler, had
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urged upon the Methodist Episcopal Church at large the launching of a World Program of Missions. He said, "The history of Chris- tianity shows that periods of suffering have for some reason always been creative moments with God. It was so in the period of the Napoleonic wars. Nearly every great Protestant missionary society was called into being in those tragic years of suffering, despair, and pessimism. The Church formed her opportunity in men's extremity. . . .
It is a belief of mine that we have come to one of those moments when, if there is adequate spiritual leadership, God may do his creative works."*
Thus, in the midst of the great war came plans for "the greatest program for Christianization of the world." It was to be launched by the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was to be called "The Centenary" in honor of the beginning of Methodist Missions among Wyandot Indians in 1819. The amount of money solicited to pay for the various worthy projects and endowments was $40,000,000. It is said that the financial end of the movement was an "astonish- ing success," $55,000,000 having been given by 1923. But from various causes the interest in the great project dwindled constantly after 1925. It is the opinion of some church men that the disillusion- ment of the American people with their ideal of Internationalism about this time was the cause.
Be that as it may, we shall record of the "Centenary," as it affected the life of St. John's Church, that under the leadership of Dr. Shepler, who believed heart and soul in the future of the move- ment, $5,842 per year was subscribed for five years by our members, and that the number of pledges completed was creditable. The "Local Council" for the Methodist Centenary was: Mr. B. M. Shaw, chairman; Mr. R. M. Hatch, secretary; and the Messrs. H. C. Perkins, W. R. Beale, C. S. Lovell, C. W. Bixby, A. A. Huse, H. L. Paine, E. A. Bancroft, and G. C. Campbell.
Another worthy cause which was faithfully supported by St. John's people, was the drive for funds undertaken by the Deacon- ess Hospital. Over $900 was subscribed in one year by individuals and societies in the Church to aid this fine institution in its expan- sion program.
In June, 1919, a committee was appointed at the Official Board
* Information from "Methodism in History," by William Warren Swett. Pages 380, 381, and 382.
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meeting, which was to welcome home our men who had been in the service, and this committee was composed of Brothers A. A. Huse, chairman, C. W. Bixby, W. R. Beale, C. S. Lovell, and Miss Sara Emerson. They found, however, that all the men had not yet been discharged, and so the suggested celebration was postponed until December 27, and was called a "Recognition Service." The follow- ing notice in a local paper well describes the occasion: "On Satur- day evening, December 27, in the banquet hall, a splendid company of the service men, by invitation of the Official Board, sat down with the committee to full tables, spread by the women of the Ladies' Aid. When this hospitality had been enjoyed to the full, Mr. Bixby in his own inimitable manner introduced several speakers who gave brief and earnest addresses which were listened to by the men with marked attention. The speakers were the pastor; Mr. R. M. Hatch, Superintendent of the Sunday School; Prof. David A. Rial, teacher of the reorganized Adelphi Class, whose activities had been sus- pended during the war because its members had gone into war service; and Mr. L. S. Cleveland who spoke for the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Edward Perkins also spoke for the young men, expressing their appreciation and calling on them for three rousing cheers, which were given in true soldier fashion. The songs so beautifully rendered by Mrs. Pearl Selfridge, our popular soprano soloist, added greatly to the evening's pleasure.
The Recognition service and demobilization of the Service Flag on Sunday morning, December 28, was an occasion of great interest and significance, not only to the service men themselves, but also to the large congregation which filled the auditorium. The Service Flag, which for two years had hung above the choir, with its stars representing the men who had gone out from the church into the Federal Service, had been taken down and placed in front of the pulpit. Then, as Selectman Curtis W. Bixby read the names of the seventy-one young men represented by the flag, and gave the record of each, so far as he had been able to secure it by most pains- taking effort, a white star was placed over the blue star belonging to each. This was done in every case by the young man himself, if he was present. Otherwise one of a group of six young ladies, sisters of service men, placed the star. In a few instances some relative of an absentee came forward from the congregation and covered the blue star with the white. In four cases the star was not covered. Three of these represented men who are still in the service and a
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small flag was placed in the star of each. The fourth was a gold star which remained uncovered to tell of one who had given his life in the Service, Ernest M. Allen.
After the singing of the first and last stanzas of 'America' a brief and impressive address was given by the pastor, Rev. Dr. J. M. Shepler, based on the words of the veteran soldier, St. Paul - 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.' Following this the congregation sang together once more the familiar prayer in which they had united every Sabbath morn- ing while the men were away.
God save our splendid men, Send them safe home again, God save our men! Keep them victorious, Patient and chivalrous, They are so dear to us! God save our men!
This was followed by a stanza of the 'Star Spangled Banner.' After the benediction had been pronounced, while the audience remained standing the service men filed down the center aisle and, at the altar rail, shook hands with Mr. L. S. Cleveland and Mr. W. W. Corson, representatives of the G. A. R. as whose comrades they now are recognized. The music by the choir in the early part of the service was finely rendered and Mrs. Selfridge sang with special effectiveness 'Ring the Sweet Bells of Peace.'
The Service Flag demobilized is to be preserved in a mahogany case and given a place of honor in the chapel."*
Officers in the various church departments for this year of 1919 were: Mr. Arthur Kenison, president of the Epworth League (the first church organization to subscribe to the Centenary); Mrs. Charles A. Day for the Ladies' Aid; and Mr. George A. Campbell, Men's Club, with many other societies having their leaders continue a second or third year in office.
In the spring of 1920, Dr. Shepler was appointed Superin- tendent of the Boston District, and a committee made up of Mr. B. M. Shaw, Mr. C. S. Lovell, Mr. A. J. Phillips, Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Day was appointed to take action on procuring a new pastor. The unanimous decision of this group was a recommendation that
* NOTE: The Report of Miss Sara Emerson, for the Welcome Committee, 1919.
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the Rev. Francis D. Taylor, then pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Medford, Massachusetts, be asked to come to Watertown. This request was made and was granted at the New England Conference, and St. John's welcomed to its parsonage in April the beloved minister and his family who are still with us. The group of officers who worked with Dr. Taylor that first year were Mr. A. J. Phillips, Superintendent of the Sunday School; Mr. Andrew R. Birney, Epworth League; Mrs. Charles A. Day, Ladies' Aid; Miss Nellie Smith, Woman's Home Missionary Society; Miss Sara Emerson, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society; and Mr. A. Alonzo Huse, president of the Men's Club.
By the autumn of 1920, Dr. Taylor, as well as many other members of the Church, was convinced that something must be done to enlarge the church building, especially the Sunday School quarters. It was decided to develop plans for this as soon as pos- sible, and in the meanwhile to have some classes of the school meet in the dining room, for which a new small furnace would have to be supplied right away.
It was at just this time that Mr. Frederick Whitney gave to the parsonage a group of beautiful furnishings, some of which were two clocks, two large rugs, and a bedroom set.
It was in 1920, also, that one of the few accidents ever to occur at the church happened. Repairs were being made in the north- west valley of the roof, and somehow a fire started. It was dis- covered in an early stage and fortunately the damage was com- paratively slight and was mostly from the water and chemicals used to extinguish the blaze. The Trustees decided at once that the edifice should be more adequately insured, for with the rise of all building prices, the current amount of insurance carried was alto- gether too small. Thirty thousand dollars was therefore added to the insurance, making a total of seventy-five thousand dollars car- ried. The church of course was far from being a "fire hazard," but its location just beside and above the line of factories, laundries, and other ancient wooden buildings on Spring Street was and still is very bad from the fire underwriters' point of view. A brisk fire in these with even a gentle west wind blowing - and it would require all the fire apparatus in Metropolitan Boston to keep the Church from being seriously damaged, or even destroyed, for stone buildings often catch fire from the inside where windows are broken by the intense heat of a near-by blaze.
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Talk and plans continued from month to month concerning the needed improvements and additions for St. John's, and Mr. Curtis W. Bixby (architect) drew up a fine set of plans outlining the possibilities of enlarging the chancel for a new organ and for erecting an addition to the church for Sunday School purposes. Although no definite action was taken on them at the time, upon the death of Mr. Bixby in 1923 these plans were given to the church by Mrs. E. B. Bixby and were used by the architect appointed in 1924 to complete the remodelling, Mr. Robert Wambolt.
As we all know, Dr. Taylor returned to St. John's for the pastoral year of 1921 and has always been reappointed to this church by each succeeding New England Conference, at the urgent request of our own Quarterly Conference committee. There were only a few changes in the presiding officers of the various church societies, one of these being the accession of Mr. Frank Wood to the presidency of the Epworth League. Some difficulty in meeting the planned budget of the Church in 1921 rather caused the "remodel- ling" talk to subside, but these hopes were revived in November, even if everyone mourned the immediate cause of that revival - the death of our great benefactor, Mr. Frederick Adelbert Russell- Whitney. The Executive Trustee of his estate, the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company (bank), notified the Church that it had been substantially remembered in the will of the late Mr. Whitney. Therefore Messrs. Cleveland, Richard Paine, and Shaw were appointed a committee to ascertain the meaning and interpre- tation of this will. Mr. Carleton of the Trust Department of the above bank assured these men of the following facts: that $25,000, left to St. John's specifically for a new organ, would be paid imme- diately to the Trustees when the organ was purchased; that the lots of land and the two houses lying between Summer Street and the Church would be turned over to the Trustees immediately; and that the indefinite bequest which was to pay for alterations to the church building would be allotted after the plans had been made and estimates received on construction.
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