USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of the Clapboard Trees or Third Parish, Dedham, Mass. : now the Unitarian Parish, West Dedham, 1736-1886 > Part 11
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
The collecting of the taxes at this period was given to the lowest bidder. The pews were rented for the year to the highest bidder. In 1816, the choir was paid $20, to be expended for its own benefit. A sum varying from $20 to $40 was paid to it for many years. In 1817, it was "Voted, to put the ringing of the bell, taking care of the meeting-house, to the lowest bidder, the house to be swept once in six weeks, and the stay to be taken off the bell in six weeks ; undertaken by Jason Gay for $6.87." During this year, a social library was started in the parish.
In 1795, the last entry was made on the parish records of the moneys received from the town for school purposes. At about this time, the town was divided into school districts ; and the money went directly to these instead of to the parish. The number of schools con- tinued the same, but the local- ities of the school-houses were somewhat changed. In the early part of the present cen- tury, the north school, or that in West Dedham village, was located opposite the house re- W. Colburn cently occupied by Erastus E. Gay. Later on, a house was built farther south, which was replaced on the same site by the Colburn School in 1874, at a cost of $12,000.
During the present century, the parish has had a number of its young men graduate at colleges. The best known of these is Warren Colburn, the author of Elements of Intel- lectual Arithmetic, even now one of the most widely cir- culated of text-books. It has been translated into many languages and sold extensively. He was born at Pond Plain, March 1, 1793, the son of Richard and Joana Col-
I27
THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
burn. The family afterward lived for six years at the Clap- board Trees, then removed to Lowell, where Warren became a machinist. He graduated at Harvard College in 1820, and the following year he published his Intellectual Arith- metic. He was for several years the superintendent of schools in Lowell. His death occurred Sept. 13, 1833, when he was forty years of age.
Dana P. Colburn was born in the parish Sept. 29, 1823, graduated at the Bridgewater Normal School, and in 1854 became the principal of the Rhode Island Normal School, which position he held until his death in 1859. His re- mains repose in the parish burial-ground. He was the author of various works on arithmetic, which would have had a wide and increasing circulation had the author lived.
Reuben A. Guild, the son of Deacon Reuben Guild, was born May 4, 1822, and graduated at Brown University in 1847. Immediately after graduation he became the assist- ant librarian at Brown University, and in 1848 librarian, which position he now holds, after forty years of continuous service. He has written much for the newspapers and mag- azines, and is the author of the Librarian's Manual, 1858 ; Life, Times, and Correspondence of James Manning, First President of Brown University, 1864; History of Brown University, 1867 ; A Chaplain of the Revolution, 1886. He is now engaged upon a work entitled Life and Writings of Roger Williams, the Founder of Rhode Island, which will be published in 1888.
John Richards and George Ellis were elected deacons June 7, 1810. John Richards, the son of John and Rebecca Richards, was born Jan. 24, 1755, and died June II, 1841. He lived near Walpole Corner, where he was a farmer. He gave a considerable sum of money to the parish at his de- cease. George Ellis was born March 19, 1762, the son of Jonathan and Mary Ellis. His farm was at the south end of Pond Plain, and is now owned by Mr. Samuel F. Allen. He was a general of militia, and also an influential citizen. He died Jan. 26, 1849.
These men were succeeded, about the year 1840, by
4
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
Reuben Guild, who was born in the south parish Sept. 20, 1793. He settled in West Dedham village in 1816, when he bought the house and land since known as "the Guild place." He was for many years a blacksmith and carriage builder, and he also ran a line of stages to Dedham village. A Sunday-school was started by Mr. White about 1826, with a library. Deacon Guild was the superintendent for many years. In 1877, he joined the Baptist church ; and he died in 1882. He has had no successor in the deacon's office.
Only two physicians have resided in the parish since its formation. The second of these was Dr. Francis Howe, who was born in Framingham, Sept. 26, 1787, moved to the parish in June, 1814, married Lucy Gay in 1818, and died May 18, 1859. For forty-five years, he was successful in his profession, and was a useful and respected member of the parish.
About the middle of the last century a tavern was built in West Dedham. It was located on what is now High Street, which was then or somewhat later the line of the Boston and Hartford stage. It was also patronized by the farmers, who carried their produce to market in Boston from the towns farther south. From about 1760, it was kept for many years by Abner Ellis, the son of Deacon Joseph Ellis. He was succeeded by Col. Abner Ellis, his son, who was born Jan. 4, 1770, and who died Dec. 14, 1844. He was a representative to the General Court in 1814-15, and again in 1823. His daughter Mary married Theodore Gay, by whom he was succeeded. Opposite the tavern was the training-ground, where the militia met for their drills and reviews previous to 1840, when training-day was abolished. This was for a long period the scene of an annual merry- making, which attracted a large number of people. The numerous military titles which appear in the history of the parish attest to the interest which was taken in its military organizations, which seem to have been kept up with skill and promptitude.
The parish clerk in 1841-42 was Theodore Gay, who suc- ceeded Col. Abner Ellis as the tavern-keeper. When the
+
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THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
West Dedham post-office was established in 1824, he became the postmaster, which office he held until 1879, when he was succeeded by Charles H. Ellis. After the railroads had taken away the stage routes, the tavern was given up, and a grocery store was kept in the same building, which was burned in the spring of 1887. Mr. Gay was a colonel of militia, and he was long familiarly known as " Colonel Thody." He died in 1881, in his eighty-eighth year. Lusher Gay was parish clerk from 1843 to 1848, Charles Ellis in 1849, and Merrill D. Ellis from 1850 to 1872. The latter was a representative from 1841 to 1843, and he was a selectman for many years. John D. Whiting was parish clerk from 1873 to 1879, and Erastus E. Gay from 1880 to his death in 1887. In July, 1887, George Albert French was elected to the office. Joseph Fisher was the treasurer of the parish from 1846 to 1876, and he was for many years a very liberal contributor to its financial support. He took a zealous interest in the affairs of the parish, contributed liberally for repairing the meeting-house, paid the deficit on the new organ, and did much else to keep the parish in a successful condition. Erastus E. Gay also took a devoted interest in the affairs of the parish, and contributed most liberally of his money and time in its behalf.
At the March meeting in 1804, a committee was selected to build a hearse, and a suitable house in which it might be kept. In that year, George Ellis was paid $40 for building a hearse-house, Eliphalet Baker giving the land on which it was built, Benjamin Fisher $61 for a hearse and harness, and Aaron Baker $ I for a lock and fixing the same to the bury- ing-ground gate. In 1805, Aaron Baker was paid $3 for a bier for the use of the parish. In 1813, a committee was appointed to see about the enlargement of the burying- ground, and to invite the Baptist society to aid in so doing. The treasurer's accounts do not afford any evidence that land was purchased at this time, and yet it may have been bought by a general subscription. In 1820, however, land was bought of Sabin Baker, to enlarge it to the south, for
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
which he was paid $13. In 1837, a committee was appointed to confer with the other society with reference to building a tomb in the burying-ground. In 1859, the two societies joined in repairing the hearse and the public tomb. Addi- tions of land were made by purchase in 1843 and in 1860. The two parishes held a fair in 1843, and the proceeds were devoted to fencing the cemetery. The whole sum expended at this time was about $1,100. A piece of land to the east was purchased, and the grounds were greatly improved.
In 1821, a committee, consisting of George Ellis, Col. Abner Ellis, and Lusher Gay, was appointed for the purpose of giving certificates agreeable to the act of the Common- wealth respecting worship and religious freedom, passed June 18, 1811. This act of 1811 was a practical breaking down of the old parish system of church administration, and permitted people to pay freely for that kind of religion which they preferred. The old method of taxation for church sup- port was continued, but it gradually grew less efficient until it was abolished. Under this act, a person wishing to change his tax from one church to another had simply to state his purpose in writing to the clerk of the parish with which he had been connected.
About $300 to $350 were raised at this time each year, for paying the minister and for the contingent expenses of the parish. The receipts from pew-rents were about $150 annually. In 1826, this vote was passed : " Voted, that an organ be admitted into the meeting-house, on condition that it shall be taken out before it becomes any expense to the parish, and the meeting-house put in repair." The parish records afford no evidence that an organ was procured at this time. The same year a committee was appointed to report on the utility and expense of lowering the pulpit ; and the next year the committee was given the right to lower it, if the expense did not exceed $25.
In 1828, the changing of the psalm-books was referred to a committee of nine, who reported that it was inexpedient. The following was passed at the parish meeting : "Voted, that the people of color have the southeast pew in the gal-
I3I
THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
lery," which was the one nearest the door and the farthest from the pulpit.
The parish committee, in 1829, was instructed to inform the town that the meeting-house could be had for town meet- ings when it was desired for that purpose. For a number of years, the town meeting went about to the different par- ishes ; and it was several times held in the Clapboard Trees meeting-house. In 1830, a committee of seven was chosen to spend $25 in lowering the pulpit, that work not having been done in 1826. The sum paid for the care of the meet- ing-house had gradually risen to $16 in 1831, which was the amount paid for several succeeding years.
On the first Wednesday in June, 1831, the Female Benev- olent Society was organized, with eighty members. The meeting was held at the house of Mr. White; and Mrs. White was made the president, an office which she held con- tinuously for twenty-six years. This society was organized to advance the general welfare of the parish, to . promote its social life, and to facilitate and increase its benevolent work. It has since that time been the most active organ- ization connected with the parish, and it has contributed more money than any other for advancing parish inter- ests. During the first fifty years of its existence, it raised $3,581.54, which it spent as follows: for the help of the poor and as gifts to individuals, $1, 122.34; for the repairing of the meeting-house, $577.68 ; for the parish library, $452.76 ; for the purchase of an organ, $811.70; for the improvement of the cemetery, $617.06. Since 1881, this society has con- tributed $409.63 towards the repairing of the church; and it has provided the meeting-house with new cushions at an expense of about $150. To the building of the parsonage in 1885, the society contributed $200. In 1881, the society celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its organization with a meeting in Colburn Hall, when the Rev. C. S. Locke gave an historical address. He said : "Much of the success of the society was due to Mrs. White's energy and organizing and executive ability. The first vice-president was Mrs. Polly Gay, and the first treasurer Miss Mary Ellis, who
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
was married to Mr. Theodore Gay in 1833, and, under the name of Mary E. Gay, continued as treasurer till 1869, hold- ing the office thirty-eight years. The presidents after Mrs. White have been Mrs. Anne Locke, Mrs. Lucy Howe, Mrs. L. P. K. Gifford, Miss M. E. Pettee, Mrs. Crowninshield, Mrs. Mary E. Fisher, Mrs. Lucy N. Cooke, and Mrs. George Fisher ; and the vice-presidents since Mrs. Gay have been Miss Sally Gay, Mrs. Susan D. Ellis, Mrs. Lucy Howe, Mrs. Mary E. Fisher, Miss Pettee, Miss Howe, Mrs. F. Copeland, Mrs. Charles French, and Mrs. Albert Gay ; and the treas- urers who have succeeded Mrs. Gay are Mrs. Caroline Ellis, Mrs. George Fisher, Miss Caroline Howe, and Mrs. William Colburn. The society was reorganized in 1869 [when it became the Ladies' Benevolent Society], and it adopted a constitution and by-laws. Since that time, Mrs. Fannie Draper has been the secretary."
In 1833, the Hon. Joshua Fisher, of Beverly, who was born in the parish, left the sum of $3,000 in his will, to be added to the ministerial fund. In 1836, the value of this fund was $5,252.82. This so far increased the receipts of the parish that for many years the sum raised for ministe- rial and contingent expenses was only $175. In 1838, the parish passed a vote of thanks to the unknown donor of a new bell, who subsequently proved to be Deacon John Rich- ards. In 1839, Calvin F. Ellis, Rev. John White, Colburn Ellis, Richard Ellis, and Doctor Francis Howe were a com- mittee to procure one hundred and fifty psalm books, two to be put in each pew below, one in each pew in the gallery, and the rest to be reserved for the use of the singers. The book selected was Greenwood's Collection of Hymns.
In 1853, the Rev. Francis LeBaron was invited to become the pastor of the society ; but he declined. In July, 1854, the Rev. Richard Metcalf, of Providence, received a call to the vacant pastorate; but he also declined. The Rev. Calvin S. Locke was invited in October ; and December 6 he began his connection with the parish, receiving ordination on that day. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Oliver Stearns, of Hingham; and the Rev. Dr. Morison, the Rev.
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THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
Dr. Lamson, and the Rev. F. D. Huntington took part in the service. During this pastorate, the custom of giving the minister a vacation in the summer began, Mr. Locke having made a request for it in his letter of acceptance.
In 1855, the meeting-house was repaired by subscription, and at an expense of $1,230.30. The committee having charge of the repairs consisted of Colburn Ellis, Joseph Crane, Lusher G. Baker, Tyler Thayer, and Caleb Ellis. " The floor was raised," says Mr. Locke; "a lower and more elegant pulpit was substituted for the old one, and the scat- tered, uncomfortable, and uncomely pews were exchanged for the concentric seats, which both bring the members of the congregation nearer one another and face to face with the minister ; the bare walls and ceilings were handsomely frescoed ; and it is worthy of note that these repairs were accomplished without the alienation of a single member, and that they gave general satisfaction. The Ladies' Benev- olent Society carpeted, cushioned, and otherwise furnished the church, at an expense of $577.68. At the same time, Hymns for Church of Christ was substituted for Greenwood's collection." While the church was being repaired, the meet- ings for worship were held in Nahatan Hall, which was in a house situated a little west of the meeting-house, and for many years used as a parsonage. This was through all the middle period of the century, and probably from early in the century, the principal social gathering place of the parish. It was burned in 1879. Mr. Locke says of this house and hall : "This house formerly stood on the south side of Nahatan Street, and was reached by a lane from Clapboard- Trees Street. Nahatan Hall was connected with it, and was used without charge by the owner for the fairs, social gath- erings, and ladies' meetings of the parish. It is a legend about this house that Moll Pitcher, an uncanny woman from Lynn, once stopped at it, and asked for a drink of cider. Being refused, she said, 'Your neck will snap like this,' at the same time breaking the stem of her clay pipe. Shortly after, the man fell and broke his neck. It was also pre- dicted that the house would be destroyed by fire." In 1857,
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
the organ which had been used in the first parish meeting- house since 1821 was purchased, and was opened on July 12.
Mr. Locke severed his connection with the parish June 20, 1864. During and since his pastorate, Mr. Locke preached and published the following sermons, which have an intimate connection with the history of the parish : on the death of Mrs. Olive Morse Guild (wife of Deacon Guild), 1858; "The Patriotic Volunteer," at the funeral of George F. Whiting, 1862; on the death of Newell Fisher, 1862; "Other Men have Labored," a history of the parish, preached after the burning of the church records, 1879.
At the beginning of his ministry, Mr. Locke bought the house once owned by the Rev. Thomas Thacher. He fol- lowed in the ways of his predecessors, and took boys into his house to prepare them for college. After his resigna- tion, he established a boarding and day school in his house.
In 1865, the old parish territorial organization having entirely disappeared, it became desirable to know who were the members of the parish. A very brief paper was drawn up, entered on the clerk's records, and those wishing to act with the parish signed their names to it. This statement here follows, together with the names of those who have signed it : -
We, the subscribers of the third parish in Dedham, hereby declare ourselves to be members of said parish.
Joseph Fisher,
Caleb Ellis, Calvin S. Locke,
James Pettee,
Edward Sumner,
J. W. Gay,
Sam. F. Allen,
Warren Covell,
Henry L. Pettee,
John E. Whiting,
F. Copeland, Moses Kingsbury,
Charles French,
George D. Draper,
Caleb Smith,
Daniel W. Parker,
Reuben Hunting,
Reuben Guild,
John D. Ellis, Rufus French, John C. Nash, Samuel Cheney, Joseph Crane, Joshua Fisher,
Nathan Phillips, Theodore Gay,
Francis W. Baker,
Merrill D. Ellis,
Erastus E. Gay, James A. Gay,
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THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
Ellis Gay,
Hattie S. Fisher,
George M. French,
Mrs. Albert Gay,
Asa Fisher,
Mrs. H. Gay,
William Colburn,
Mrs. Percy Tisdale,
Jabez Fisher,
Maria Pettee,
John Morgan,
Harriet Pettee,
G. A. French,
Mrs. Geo. French,
B. F. White,
Henrietta L. French,
Mary E. Fisher,
Jas. M. Ellis,
Mrs. B. F. White,
Percy E. Tisdale.
The parish came into possession, in 1865, of $11,000, left to it in the will of Lusher Gay, who was born Aug. 28, 1803, and who died June 15, 1855. He had been a life-long member of the congregation, and greatly interested in its affairs.
The Rev. A. W. Stevens was, in 1865, invited to become the pastor; but he declined. From May, 1866, to May, 1867, the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Henry Westcott, who was born in the town of Warwick, R.I., in 1831, graduated at Brown University, studied theology at Cambridge, and was settled at Barre in 1860. In 1867, he was settled at Lexington, where he remained fourteen years. In 1881, he removed to Melrose, and preached to that and the Malden parishes until his death, July 14, 1883. In 1884, a volume containing fourteen of his sermons, a brief biographical sketch, and the funeral tributes, was edited and privately published by his wife.
In 1866, the parish library was formed. In 1870, it was made an adjunct of the parish, and officers were chosen at the parish meeting. Warren Covell was elected trustee, and John Whiting librarian. An excellent collection of valuable books was secured, which was much used until a branch of the public library was established.
The Rev. Elisha Gifford became the pastor in 1867, begin- ning his connection with the parish on the third Sunday of September. In 1869 occurred the first break in the order of two services, morning and afternoon. At the parish meet- ing, it was voted that the services should be held at 10.30 A.M. and 2 P.M., except in July and August, when there
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
should be a service in the morning only, with three Sundays in August and one in the winter for vacation. In 1870, it was voted to have no service the first two Sundays of August, no afternoon service in July and August, and the parish com- mittee was authorized to dispense with the afternoon service on stormy days. In a year or two more, the afternoon ser- vice was discontinued. Mr. Gifford gave up his connection with the parish June 15, 1872.
At about this time, the church ordinances were discon- tinued, and the church ceased to exist. Probably from 1865, when the parish was reorganized, it became the sole per- petuator of the life of the old church and parish.
Jan. 1, 1873, the Rev. Edward Crowninshield became the pastor. In 1877, a new organ was procured, which was paid for by the sale of the old one, a contribution of $811.70 by the Ladies' Benevolent Society, and about $200 given by Joseph Fisher. In June, 1879, the house which had been used for many years as a minister's house, owned by Joseph Fisher, was burned. It accidentally caught fire on the morning Mr. Crowninshield had expected to remove from it, and many of his goods were burned.
Mr. Crowninshield was born in Marblehead in 1840. His opportunities for an education were limited, and he worked for some years as a shoemaker. He took the course at the Harvard Divinity School, and was settled at Exeter, N.H., where he remained for only about one year. In 1879, he went from West Dedham to Belfast, Me., where he remained until his death, which occurred Feb. 6, 1883. In a notice of him, his classmate, the Rev. N. P. Gilman, said : -
Mr. Crowninshield's character was so admirably simple, duplicity, doubleness of any kind, was so foreign to him, that fuller knowledge only confirmed the first strong impression of liking and respect which he invariably made. . . .
Neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, by circumstances he was a prophetic soul, a born preacher of righteousness. With an aristocratic name, he was a son of the people, and honored the name, more than fortune or rank could have done, by exalted character and rich devotion to the kingdom of God. Of that kingdom he had the strenuous and radical conceptions which hardly fail those who fight their way to light. His manly living justified his creed.
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THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
Among Mr. Crowninshield's intimate friends were the Rev. W. C. Gannett and the Rev. John W. Chadwick. The former wrote many pages of his admirable biography of his father while staying at the Clapboard Trees parsonage. In the Christian Register, Mr. Chadwick paid this tribute to the memory of his friend : -
A sudden cold had fastened on some seat of chronic ailment. Then there was general implication of the whole system, and at the last some days of fiery pain. Desiring almost passionately to recover for the sake of his family, so dependent on his support and sympathy, and that he might carry on his work, he was nevertheless able to cope with the inevitable event with a courageous heart ....
He was settled first in Exeter, N.H .; and his hopes were high, and all omens seemed auspicious. ... West Dedham was his Wartburg, his Arabia, his quiet place for gathering up his strength and clearing his self-consciousness. His house and church were near together on such a heaven-kissing hill as not many towns in Massachusetts have to show. The landscape upon which he looked abroad was calculated to enlarge his mind, and had its natural operation. But to this he added much reading and study of good books. ... When he had left West Dedham and gone to Belfast, I had a better opportunity to note the features of his mind than I had had before. Many of his sermons were printed in the local papers and in the True Religion. And then I saw how much the quiet, meditative life on the West Dedham hill had done for him. His thought had grown immeasurably fuller and deeper, and his expression of it clearer and firmer in a like degree. ... His aptitude was for practical rather than for speculative themes. He interpreted his ministe- rial function as an instrument of social reformation. Problems of edu- cation and political science had for him commanding interest, and he brought to them a fine illumination. . . .
The top and crown of his rejoicing was his domestic life. His most passionate ambition ever was to give his children such an education as would fit them for some honorable and useful station in the world. ... In all personal relations, he seemed to me most generous and loyal. For the ties of kinship he had great regard. A more filial and paternal spirit it has not been my lot to know.
During several months in 1879 and 1880, the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. George W. Hosmer, D.D. The Rev. George W. Cooke began his connection with the parish Dec 1, 1880; and he resigned June 13, 1887. In 1883, the meeting-house was struck by lightning and seriously dam-
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
aged. The clerk wrote this account of it in the parish records : -
WEST DEDHAM, Friday, April 20, 1883
The church of the Unitarian society and of the third parish in Dedham was this day struck by a bolt of lightning of unusual power and force. The church was almost lifted from its foundations, and was very badly shattered and all but one window more or less broken. It was visited on the next two days, Saturday and Sunday, as estimated, by more than two thousand persons ; and it was agreed by all to be the most wonderful display of the power of a lightning bolt ever seen in this vicinity.
The society held Sunday services on the two following Sabbaths in Colburn Hall, and on the third Sabbath, May 6, in the Baptist church, the use of which had been kindly offered them by the parish committee of the Baptist society, and continued there until July I, when the annual summer vacation was commenced, one month earlier than usual, on account of sickness and affliction in the family of Mr. Cooke, the pastor of the society. Services commenced in the church after the repairs were completed, September 12.
The repairs made at this time included the painting of the meeting-house outside and in, the frescoing of the in- terior, new carpets and new cushions in 1886. The work was efficiently superintended by the clerk, E. E. Gay; and the whole expenditure was $1,511.18. Since the comple- tion of these repairs, the meeting-house presents as attrac- tive and tasteful an interior as can be found in any country church in the State.
At the parish meeting of 1884, a committee, consisting of the Rev. C. S. Locke, B. F. White, and Joseph L. Fisher, was appointed to take into consideration the advisability of building a parsonage, and to report methods of operation to that effect. At a special meeting, it was decided to build ; and George Fisher, Charles French, George Kingsbury, George M. French, Lusher G. Baker, Miss Hattie Fisher, and Mrs. Kate White were appointed a committee to pur- chase a lot and to erect a house. Work was begun in the autumn of 1884; and the house was completed early in July, 1885, when Mr. Cooke immediately moved into it. The cost of land and the erection of the house was about $3,500. The house was located on High Street, opposite Gay, and on land purchased of Lusher and Granville Baker.
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THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS
On the 10th of January, 1886, the parish observed the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its legal existence. The night preceding was very stormy, and it was found on Sunday morning that the meeting-house could not be occu- pied. The few who braved the weather met in Colburn Hall, when Mr. Cooke preached a sermon, in which he de- scribed the formation of the parish and the building up of the congregation and church under the first minister. On the following Sunday, the commemorative service was held in the meeting-house; and an historical discourse was given concerning the second minister and the parish in the Revo- lution. Neighboring ministers were present, and brief addresses were made. In June, Mr. Cooke continued the history of the parish with two sermons on the parish under its third and fourth ministers.
In 1887, the trustees of the ministerial fund reported that the whole amount of the fund was $15,606.61, and the debts of the parish were $2,600.
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