USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > History of the First Religious Society in Newburyport, Massachusetts > Part 7
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A. J. Peabody, D. D. One Sunday afternoon the latter conducted a memorial for the Rev. Thomas Fox whose death had occurred a few days earlier. Large vases of flowers stood on the communion table, a tribute to the man, who, regardless of charges of idolatrous practices, had established the custom of putting them there, and had lived until this custom had been adopted in every church in town.
The Rev. George L. Stowell preached for several Sundays before he was installed on April 12th, 1879, as minister of the society. He too was a Harvard man. During his pastorate the city was in the pangs of what was known as the "Hammond Revival." Long columns in the Newburyport Herald were devoted to this revival, but *"Mr Stowell preached with vigor against it and the methods of Mr. Hammond and with such effect that the membership of the society was materially increased."
On Sunday afternoons Mr. Stowell led a class of young men in Bible study, and, occasionally, in church history. At first these classes met in the church but after the parish hall was built, in 1873, that was the favored meeting place.
Many sorts of meetings have been held in this hall. There have been plays, sessions of the Sunday school, fairs, a series of spiritual- ist meetings, and dances, especially those of the Unitarian club. This club languished into extinction many years ago and left no records behind it; but older persons in the city remember the most pleasant social occasions which it sponsored. The hall was built at a cost of $3,000. The money was raised by selling bonds which were intended to be interest bearing, but the interest realized was almost wholly in the pleasure of the entertainments held within it.
Mr. Stowell resigned on September 8th, 1879. His successor was the Rev. Daniel W. Morehouse who was ordained on June 8th, 1881, after supplying the pulpit for three months.
§"As an indication of the harmony which usually prevailed in the society I would relate that before the settlement of Mr. More- house several candidates had been considered, the people had made an almost unanimous selection, but at the suggestion of one
* §Oration of Henry Bailey Little, 200th Anniversary of the Founding of the Parish.
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member a new candidate was heard with the result that at a meeting called to settle the matter the voters were almost equally divided. Under these circumstances it was considered poor policy to take either."
Mr. Morehouse broke the long succession of Harvard trained ministers. He was graduated from the Meadville Theological school in 1880, and is remembered as a kindly man whose wife was much beloved by a club of young girls who met regularly to sew. He preached to a large congregation which was augmented by several Universalist families, whose church became defunct at this time. Believing that the older part of his congregation lacked warmth and friendliness in receiving these new members Mr. Morehouse preached a sermon of censure which some of the latter still remember with gratitude. A small room in the parish hall, above the entrance, was used by Mr. Morehouse for his study. This room was intended for the use of the ministers, but with this exception never has been used by them.
During Mr. Morehouse's incumbency the church was thoroughly repaired and painted inside and out. In its long life it had received many coats of paint. The record was found in the copper ball that tops the spire when it was opened some years ago. In it were newspapers dating from 1839 to 1906, three pennies with dates 1857, 1880, and 1906, the years in which the ball had been opened previously. There was also memoranda of various sorts, and bills for painting the church. It seems that in 1820 it was given two coats of stone color paint. "It was repainted in June and July, 1839, by Messrs. Burrill and Cutter, inside and out, with the blinds, two coats white outside for $850, including the building of a stage around the spire and taking off the weathercock and balls, for which we paid $45 to Messrs. Emery Coffin, John Newman and William J. Griffith. The wooden balls, etc., being decayed, copper balls and case for the shaft were made by Messrs. Knapp and Sillo- way. We gilded the two balls, shaft and weathercock, etc., for $24.50." A list of the names of those employed to do this work is given and also a brief memorandum of the painting of 1857 when two coats of white paint were given the outside of the church for $350. The weather-cock and balls were gilded at this time at the price of $20.
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While Mr. Morehouse was supplying the pulpit, and nearly three months before his ordination, a fire destroyed a large cotton mill which stood very near the church. Mr. Morehouse, with others, spent the night on the roof of the church, putting out burning embers. He remained minister of the society until December 5th, 1887. The Rev. Samuel C. Beane, D. D., was installed his successor on May 15th, 1888. He was the eleventh minister of the parish, was educated at Dartmouth college and graduated from the Harvard divinity school.
Dr. Beane's installation sermon was preached by the Rev. Brooke Herford, Jr., of the Arlington street church in Boston. This was the beginning of a seventeen years pastorate during which the sermons heard in this church were noted as brilliant and scholarly. Dr. Beane was considered the ablest preacher in the town and strangers often came to the church to hear him. Outside of the pulpit he was influential in organizations promoting the social, historical, intellectual and moral interests of the city. * "He was greatly interested in education and served for a number of years on the local school board. He probably made the first exchange that had occurred since the days of Parson Andrews, with the pastor of an orthodox church. This was with Mr. Torry of Byfield, and the impression made upon me at the time was that I had listened to the most radical sermon I had heard from our pulpit.
"Again he was the first pastor of our church to be officially recognized by the Old South Presbyterians, he having been given part in the program for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of that society."
A greeting sent by this society to the Old South Presbyterians upon this occasion "was the only official recognition ever given by this 'Mother Church' that the truant daughter was worthy of regard." This was the only church in Newburyport to formally recognize this most notable event.
Mrs. Beane was much loved in the society. Her tact, cheerful- ness and good sense were great aids to Dr. Beane. An intimate friend said: "The church was to her a kind of household, her large
*Oration of Henry Bailey Little, 200th anniversary of the founding of the parish.
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family; and she had a motherly or sisterly interest in all, high or low, prominent or obscure; they were hers and she was theirs ...... She entered heartily into the purpose of all organized aids to the church at large. Of her personal influence it seems not too much to say that she was able to incite in others that 'scorn of miserable aims, that end with self'; and helped some to realize that 'rare, better, truer self' which she believed was latent in the weakest and poorest of us all."
Mrs. Beane died in the summer of 1904. Her death was a severe loss both to her husband and to the parish. The resignation of Dr. Beane, which took place on March 25th, 1905, was deeply regretted.
The Rev. Laurence Hayward, a graduate of Harvard college and divinity school, was ordained and installed here on Friday afternoon, November 16th, 1905. An ecclesiastical council of ministers and delegates from churches of this denomination was present. The ordination sermon was by the Rev. William W. Fenn of Cambridge. Several events of interest have taken place during Mr. Hayward's incumbency. For many years a mission Sunday- school has been maintained in the south end of the city. Largely through his efforts a small building, the Chapel of St. Peter in Joppa, was erected in 1915. A Sunday school and services were held here first on October 17th of the same year. This mission is largely supported by funds from the estate of the late Mrs. Julia M. Moseley.
In the world war Mr. Hayward and members of the parish were especially active both in relief work at home and service abroad. Forty-eight names, three of women of whom two were nurses and one a physician, are on the parish roll of honor. Against one name, that of Raymond Balch, a young man of great promise, whose patriotism and sense of justice sent him to England to enlist in the aviation corps several months before the United States declared war, is a gold star.
In 1925 two tall black station-agent stoves, that partly heated and much disfigured the church with forty feet of funnel running below its ceiling to exits near the pulpit, were removed and furnaces installed in the cellar. The stoves are said to have replaced salamanda stoves of a much earlier date. Just when the latter were
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installed is one of the facts that has slipped into oblivion. They may have dated from 1839 when a committee was ordered to set up furnaces to heat the church and was given $150 for the purpose.
The 200th anniversary of the founding of the parish was observed on June 26th, 1925. The success of this most happy festivity was owing, in a great measure, to the care and efforts of Mr. Hayward. On December 20th, 1925, the Sunday evening before Christmas, a candle light service was inaugurated which proved so successful that such a service has become a yearly custom. On these occasions the great church is lighted solely by candles and presents a very beautiful appearance. The service consists of organ and vocal music, usually assisted by a violin, harp or other instrument, reading and prayer. These services are very popular.
Invitations and notices were sent out in June, 1932, which brought many parishioners and friends to a reunion service on the last Sunday of that month. There are many families in the city whose church affiliations are naturally here. Others are interested because of the liberal teachings so long current here, the long and significant past of the society and the beauty and mellowness of the church. -
A similar reunion service was held on June 25th, 1933. The success of these events has given rise to the hope that such reunions may become a yearly custom, and that by their means may be built new associations with the church and old allegiances reestablished.
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CHAPTER XI THREE NOTABLE ANNIVERSARIES
Three anniversaries have been celebrated in this society that would be remarkable in any American organization. In 1875 its 150th birthday was commemorated. In his letter regretting his inability to attend this festival Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote: "A fine flavor of antiquity is suggested when you select the centennial period of the nation to celebrate the century and a half birthday of an institution."
A committee of leading members of the parish made careful arrangements and sent out invitations, bearing at their top John Lowell's liberal motto: "In necessariis Unitas; in non-necessariis Libertas; in omnibus Charitas." Invitations were published in the Newburyport Herald and in the Christian Register. In response to these there assembled in the beautiful old church a notable gathering of parishioners, both of that time and of former times, and friends. The day chosen was October 20th, a compromise date midway between that of the dedication of the first meeting house on June 25th, 1725, and that of the installation of the first minister in the following January.
"The pulpit was simply but tastefully decorated with autumn leaves-many tinted and gorgeous-and with wreaths of evergreen; and over it on the wall hung the portraits of the second and third pastors of the society-Rev. Thomas Cary and Rev. John Andrews, D. D. Between these portraits was a beautiful floral composition in the form of an ancient lyre. Over the pulpit, on the left, was a simple memorial in the original gilt figures, '1725' which had been preserved as the only relic of the first meeting house of the parish, and which marked the date of its erection; and on the other side a similar design, '1801,' the date of the completion of the present church building."
A service of music, prayer and responsive reading was concluded with an original hymn, written for the occasion by the Rev. Samuel Longfellow, who had filled the pulpit of the church many times. The hymn is so much an epitome of the society's history and aims that it is given here. It was sung by the choir and congregation.
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"By this broad stream our fathers made their dwelling, Builded their ships, and launched them from the shore, Trusting in God when waves were roughly swelling, They dared the sea, nor trembled at its roar.
Honor we still their faith and brave endeavor; Cherish the walls their piety has reared :
We sail not on the ancient lines forever, Yet trust no less in God, whom they revered.
Our broader day with fresher light beholding, Changing the creed, but keeping firm the faith,
Freely the ancient forms of thought remoulding, Asking what word today the Spirit saith,
We, from the tide worn piers our ships unmooring Afloat, but not adrift, upon the tide,
Dame Truth's rough sea; in faith our hearts assuring Safe must be he who sails with God for guide."
The oration which followed these exercises was by the Hon. Amos Noyes, a distinguished member of the society. It traced much of the parish history and extracts from it have been repeatedly quoted in the preceding pages.
In the afternoon of this interesting day about 500 parish mem- bers and guests assembled in City hall, where the women of the parish, with little outside help, had prepared "tables, elegantly and bountifully spread, and decorated with bouquets."
The Rev. Joseph May, minister at this time, opened the post- prandial program by saying that while his parish "was located in Newburyport it virtually extended over the country. Invitations to those connected with the society in the past or the present, in themselves or their ancestors, went to all of the New England states, the Middle states, to many states of the South and West, to those of the Rocky Mountains and of the Pacific, while some went across the ocean to Europe. This gives me an idea of the great mission of the society as a means of promoting virtue and extending culture over a broad area, the culture of a manly spirit, of high honor, virtue and religion."
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The Rev. Thomas Fox, about whom so many sharp winds of criticism had blown during his pastorate here, was the first speaker. He recalled former days in the parish and spoke with deep apprecia- tion of Dr. Andrews and his daughters. Among the addresses that followed were those of the Hon. Eben F. Stone, whose family for five generations had been members of the parish, the Rev. Edward Everett Hale of Boston, Rev. Samuel J. Spaulding, D. D. of the Whitefield church of this city, and the Rev. Samuel L. Caldwell, D. D., of the Newton Theological school, a former citizen. Letters were read from friends unable to be present. It was regretted that the day was not long enough to permit all the guests present to be heard, or all the letters received to be read.
On October 31st, a century, four weeks and a day after services were first held in this meeting house, its centenary celebration was held. The church was filled once more with guests and parishioners; and the exercises, as before, were music, prayer and responsive reading. The oration on this occasion was by Mr. Nathan N. Withington who cited the various steps by means of which the present building came into existence, reviewed the past century and concluded : "It has been a wonderful century upon which we have looked back, and the house which the fathers built still is fresh and fair, and may last to the close of the twentieth century when a generation having the benefit of a longer experience will look back with much the same feeling upon us as we entertain toward the builders, and will celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the meeting house of the First Religious Society in Newburyport. We send down our greetings to you, friends of one hundred years hence, nor ask for present response."
The morning was concluded with a hymn, written by Ralph Tracy Hale, a young member of the parish, which the congregation sang.
"Through years of change, through years of doubt, Calm and unchanging hast thou stood,
Hallowed and blest in youth and age,
Still consecrate to human good.
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Sheltered beneath thy roof, here dwell, Through the long-ended struggle taught, Love, independence, freedom, truth, Triumphant in the people's thought.
Lord, in the years to come, we pray That Thou wilt send Thy people light, And if their pathway grow too hard, Succor Thou them, and guide them right.
Endue with power, and quicken hope; Grant them the gift of grace to see ; Simple and pure their spirits keep, In sweet communion, Lord, with Thee."
In the afternoon, when the guests were again gathered in the meeting house, the Hon. Elisha P. Dodge, a leading citizen and for many years a parishioner, as master of the ceremonies, introduced several gentlemen who spoke of their interest in or connection with the parish. Among them were Judge Francis C. Lowell and Mr. John Lowell, both descendants of the Rev. John Lowell, the Hon. Charles Francis Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, who often attended services at the old meeting house and made many notes in his diary regarding the preaching he heard in the town, and Mr. Herbert D. Hale, son of Edward Everett Hale, who had been present at the earlier anniversary celebration. Mr. Hale spoke most appreci- atively of the architecture of the building. Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford, who had been one of the gifted young girls in whom Mr. Higginson had been deeply interested, sent these beautiful lines which were read by Dr. Beane, minister of the parish at that time :
"Keeping his flock along the hill The singer saw the day begin, The darkness fail, the splendor win, Sunrise build heaven in the sky,- Lift up, ye everlasting doors, He cried, and be ye lifted high, The King of Glory shall come in.
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Let us who in Christ's spirit here Would worship God, assoiled of sin, Would see the wrong fail and godhead win, Fling wide the portals of the soul! Lift up the gates of every heart ! The deeps shall open like a scroll, The King of Glory shall come in!"
Music and a short address by Mr. Henry A. Noyes, son of the orator of the former anniversary, were followed by a humorous poem written and read by Edmund L. Pearson, a parishioner whose name is now well known in literature.
"There's a mystery been puzzling me for almost fifteen years, Today, I hope 'twill away-as every mystery clears; For nearly every Sunday within that space of time I have sat within this church-the requirements of rhyme Will scarcely here permit an exact enumeration; But that I take to be a fairly honest estimation.
And every Sunday in those years since one so long ago There's a question I have asked myself, a thing I've wished to know. It's horribly annoying to a meditative mind, It frightfully disturbs the religiously inclined, To have a vexing problem eternally presented, Yet never have an answer conveniently invented.
And so today I put it plain, that all may understand- If anyone can answer me, I beg he'll raise his hand- Back of the pulpit, on the wall, with fat red cords to bind 'em, Some ancient bright red curtains hang-but what on earth's behind 'em?
That's only one of many things I've found extremely vexing, As instance- how to tell the time's a matter most perplexing, When, as I look at yonder clock, why, what am I to do ? Upon its antique countenance-three hands instead of two !
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Up in the pulpit there's a rest on which the Bible sits Quite in defiance of the things that gravity permits.
I'd marveled greatly this could be, for miracles are past-
One Sunday morn it came down bang, what joy was mine at last !
There's something else within this place, whereof I dare not speak, The old time builder's heart and mind leave modern phrases weak. Deep in his stern New England soul, in seasons long ago,
He dreamed, perchance, of Plymouth woods, beneath their mask of snow.
He thought, mayhap, upon the folk New England's churches then Had bred within their frozen midst, upon a line of men-
Upon whose faces winter sat, but down within whose souls Burned all the heat and all the sun that springtime e'er unrolls."
So with a smile upon their faces the great congregation rose and sang the doxology, bowed their heads for the benediction and passed from the meeting house. Then the memories of two centuries must have throbbed in the darkness and quietness that settled upon it, memories of those who had built and maintained it, of congrega- tions who had attended services there, and of those who, often in peace but sometimes in the pangs of the birth of new things, had preached from its pulpit.
Two hundred years and a day after the first crude meeting house of the parish had been dedicated, in the now old second meet- ing house, there was held a fitting commemorative festival. The day, June 26th, 1925, was rainy; but the church was well filled with interested friends and parishioners. The exercises began at half past four in the afternoon and consisted of organ, violin and vocal music, a scripture lesson by the Rev. Laurence Hayward, and then the singing by the choir and congregation of a hymn, written for the occasion by Ralph Tracy Hale, now resident in Boston :
"Our fathers cleared a path for truth : No timid souls were they ; Undaunted filled their faith with works,- Can we do less today?
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Their conscience knew no compromise, Their spirit no defeat:
They sat their standards on the heights,- Shall we, their sons, retreat?
Their vision saw the future fair Beyond the sunset's gleam ;
Their future we are living now,- Have we fulfilled their dream?
Our sons, we pray, shall take from us As from our fathers we, A past forever holy and A future forever free."
The historical address which followed these preliminary exer- cises was by Mr. Henry Bailey Little, treasurer of the church. Quickly reviewing the earlier events Mr. Little spoke in greater detail of the twenty-four years that had passed since the last anni- versary celebration. Of this period his personal knowledge was most comprehensive.
Then followed a delightful social hour, during which guests registered and friend met friend. Literature and photographs relating to the church and parish were distributed."
A buffet supper was served in the parish dining room. The addresses which followed it were given in the upper hall. Mr. Little acted as toastmaster and introduced Alvin T. Fuller, governor of Massachusetts, Michael Cashman, mayor of Newburyport, several local and visiting clergymen, former parishioners and others con- nected with or interested in the society. All spoke, some of appreciation, some of memories, some of hopes for the future and all contributed a new impulse for endeavor to keep this venerable society alive.
From its backward trail, dim in the long past, these three festivals have brought to the notice of the present generation the substantial accomplishments and the grace of high aims which has marked the First Parish of Newburyport.
*Newburyport Daily News.
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CHAPTER XII THE CHURCH SCHOOL
A community Sunday school was organized in Newburyport in 1817. Churches were not, at that time, equipped with vestries and social rooms. Therefore this school was held in one of the rooms of the Court House where fairs, suppers and many other parish gatherings took place that are now held in the social rooms of the various churches.
A Sunday school then seemed a most doubtful experiment-"a foundation for the profanation of the Sabbath" was the opinion of a Philadelphia paper, but the progressive Newburyport Herald ob- served : "We are happy to learn that one of these schools has recently been formed in this town."
By 1824 the First Religious Society became dissatisfied with the religious instruction given to its children by this school and withdrew them. It established a school of its own which was the first Church school of the town. A few entries regarding it are found in the record book of the school, but they seem to be copied from a more detailed account written by Miss Sarah Ann Emery, and published in the Newburyport News on June 20th, 1903. Miss Emery was a pupil and then a teacher in the school. She writes:
"One winter evening, seventy-two years ago, at a regular meet- ing of the teachers of the Sunday School it was decided to record in a book procured for that purpose such knowledge of the school as could be gathered. " The record begins thus :
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