USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the First church in Boston, 1630-1880 > Part 22
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" . O, 'tis well With him. But who knows what the coming hour, Veil'd in thick darkness, brings for us ? ' "
In 1803 the church presented a petition to the General Court, through Senator John Q. Adams, a member of the society, asking them to modify the law restricting the taxing of pews in Boston to a sum not exceeding two shillings per week on the highest pew, so as to enable a legal tax to be raised on all the pews sufficient to cover parochial. expenses. As a result of the application the law was changed the same year to meet the requirements.
The last case of church discipline which the record mentions occurred in 1804, when "the deacons of the church were appointed a committee to wait on and seriously admonish a member to return to his duty of public attendance on the ordinances of the gospel." At the same meeting, " on motion of Brother Deacon Morrill, it was voted that all such persons as, hav-
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1786-1814.] WILLIAM EMERSON.
ing been previously members of other churches, manifest a desire to become members of our body, shall be proposed to the church by the pastor, and observe the same form of admission as new can- didates."
In 1807 a portion of the Summer Street property was sold for the sum of three thousand dollars for the purpose of opening a court forty feet wide, on the easterly side of the society's land adjoining the land of Commodore Preble.
At the annual meeting of the proprietors on July 14, 1807, it was decided to sell the Old Brick Meet- ing. House, and erect a new meeting-house and four brick dwelling-houses on Summer Street, under the direction of a committee to be appointed for the purpose, and according to the terms and conditions which they shall see fit to impose. It was then voted that a committee of seven be appointed, with full powers to carry out the purposes of the fore- going vote. The committee was then chosen, and consisted of the following, namely : Messrs. David Tilden, James Morrill, Peter C. Brooks, John Joy, Charles Paine, George Blanchard, and Samuel Torrey.
The Building Committee held a meeting at the Old Brick Meeting-House Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1807, and decided to "adhere to the plan and contract made with Mr. Benjamin Joy," and to appoint Mr. Asher Benjamin as inspector and superintendent of the building operations.
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The terms of the contract with Mr. Joy, above alluded to, provided for a conveyance of the old meeting-house property and the payment of $13,500 in addition, in consideration of his promise to erect a new meeting-house and four brick dwelling-houses on the land in Summer Street belonging to First Church, in accordance with certain stipulated plans and specifications.
The task of erecting the new meeting-house and dwelling-houses seems to have been performed with less delay and friction than usually attend such operations. Some difference of opinion is almost sure to arise where parties are obliged to agree upon the meaning of general or doubtful stipulations in contracts and specifications. But with the exception of one or two cases of slight disagreement, -for in- stance, as to the slating of the cupola, the gilding of a weather-cock, and the insertion of some refuse bricks, all of which appear to have been satisfactorily explained and adjusted, - the building of Chauncy Place meeting-house proceeded very smoothly. " As the temple in Jerusalem 'got itself builded,' to use the favorite phrase of the day, without noise of work- men's tools, so somehow the house of worship in Chauncy Place rose without much calling of meet- ings or passing of votes. Mr. Benjamin seems to have been told to look after things; ard he did. Church and congregation combined covered only some seven pages of the record with their action," - the latter body "suggesting a steeple, should the
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FOURTH HOUSE OF WORSHIP. CHAUNCY PLACE. 1808.
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1786-1814.] WILLIAM EMERSON.
foundation of the tower already laid seem to admit of it; adding a word about the ground to be left in front of the houses on Summer Street; but for the rest leaving everything to Mr. Joy and Mr. Benjamin." 1
At a meeting of the church on Feb. 16, 1807, at which only nine members were present besides the pastor, it was voted to approve of the doings of the society in relation to the sale of the strip of land for the opening of Chauncy Place, and to instruct the deacons to advise with the committee appointed by the society to sell the property, or with any committee elected " for the purpose of carrying into effect the projected alterations in said tract of land, and of erecting such buildings and making such arrangements " as the society may deem expe- dient.
At a subsequent meeting on Sept. 7, 1807, at which only seven members were present besides the pastor, the church gave the deacons authority to alienate the Old Brick Meeting-House.
The Boston Chronicle contains the following notices of the removal : ---
" Thursday, July 21, 1808. - The Weekly Thursday Lecture will, we understand, be held this Day at the new meeting house in Summer Street, when an occasional dis- course will be delivered by Rev. Mr. Emerson.2 The Dedication services will commence at HI o'clock, A. M."
1 Appendix to " The Last Sermon preached in First Church, Chauncy Street," by Rufus Ellis (1868). .
2 Corporation Records, Vol. I. 3.
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" Monday, July 25, 1808. - On Thursday last the work- men commenced razing that ancient edifice, the old Brick Meeting House. The same day (Thursday) the new Meeting House of the First Church in this town, erected in Summer Street, was solemnly dedicated. The intro- ductory prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Buckminster ; the dedicatory prayer by the Rev. Dr. Elliot; the ser- mon by the Rev. Mr. Emerson, pastor of the church, from Exodus xxxiii. 14; and the concluding prayer by the Rev. Dr. Lathrop. The service closed with an anthem."
This last issue of the Chronicle also contains various laments in prose and verse at the destruction of the old edifice : -
" Alas! Old Brick, you're left in the lurch, You bought the Pastor and sold the Church."
" After the demolition of the old Brick, there is scarcely a vestige of antiquity in the town. We hope Old South will maintain its original ground. Even the British troops, though they attacked other places of worship, never dared meddle with the Old Brick, - for Chauncy was there."
A poem follows, entitled " The Farewell Prayer of the Old Brick Church to her True Worshippers."
In the next issue (July 28) there is " A mournful address from the Old Brick Church to the Church in Brattle Street." And finally' in that of August 18 appeared " The Old Brick Bell's farewell to the Churches in Boston."
Few persons are now living who can recall with any exactness the appearance of the Old Brick Meeting-House, either inside or out. The most
1786-1814 ] WILLIAM EMERSON. 239
complete description of the ancient edifice comes from Dr. Edward. Reynolds, who was actively con- nected with First Church for many years. In an " interview," which the writer was privileged to have with him on Jan. 13, ISSI, the Doctor, then in his eighty-eighth year, said : -
" I was a member of First Church, and my father before me. I was baptized by Dr. John Clarke. While the Old Brick stood, that was my usual place of worship. At one time I sang in the choir at the Old Brick. We sat in the gallery, facing the pulpit. Our captain, as we called him, was named Carpenter. I have the most distinct recollec- tion of the building inside and out. The most noticeable feature of the interior was the stove, with its long funnel running from the corner near State Street to the rear of the building where the hotel now stands. I remember Mr. Emerson very well. On one occasion he had read the ser- vice, and was about to proceed with the sermon, when he discovered that his manuscript had been mislaid. He told the congregation that he should be unwilling to pain them by preaching without notes; and to the secret delight, I am afraid, of the younger portion of his audience the ser- vices closed by singing of a hymn. The pulpit was very large and handsome, - we see nothing like it to-day, - and was approached by spiral stairways on each side. A gallery ran round three sides of the church, and had a clock on it, directly opposite the pulpit. This part of the house was occupied by the nicer class of domestics, as was the case for some years after the removal to Chauncy Place. The main entrance to the building was on Wash- ington Street, just as it is to-day; and the pulpit stood directly opposite. Part of the old wall must be still stand- ing. After the removal to Chauncy Place - a change which many persons at the time regretted - I attended
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1786-1814.
services for quite a number of years under Dr. Frothing- ham, a classmate of mine both at the Latin School and in Harvard College, and always my intimate friend and asso- ciate through life."
The day before Christmas, 18So, the writer called upon the venerable widow of the late Dr. Jacob Big- elow, then nearly ninety. Though not a member of First Church at any period, she was able to give me a distinct and accurate description of the old building : -
" You know," she said, " that was the church where they always had Thursday Lecture. Everybody went to it in those days. My father attended Dr. Eckley's [Old South] Church. He died in 1809; and then our family occupied a pew with the family of William S. Shaw in Fed- eral Street Church.
" The Old Brick Meeting-House stood just where Joy's Building stands to-day, only it did not cover quite so much ground. There was a passage-way running com- pletely round -it, just as it is to-day. It was built of brick, but not of the kind (red brick) they use now. The inside was square and very plain, the walls and ceilings being painted white. There was a broad alley up the middle, and two side alleys. On each side of the middle alley were double rows of pews. There were also wall pews, consisting of a row on each side of the pulpit, and one on the right and left of the church as you entered. They had cushions in them, but otherwise very plain, and, as I remember, without any ornamentation whatsoever. The pulpit was square, - that of the Old South was tub-like, - with the usual sounding-board, and was approached by a stairway on each side. There was a gallery running all the way round. The singers sat there, in the front pew, facing
1786-1814.] WILLIAM EMERSON. 241
the pulpit. They had no organ as I remember. The gen- eral appearance of the church was plainer even than that of Chauncy Place."
Mrs. Mary Anna Woodward, eighty-six years old on March 6, 1881, who in her younger days (until about 1828) was a resident of Dorchester, Mass., writes from Palmyra, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1881, as follows : -
"I was never in the Old Brick Church but once, and that was to attend the Thursday Lecture. Of course, I can give no detailed description of the old church; but the Governor's pew - so they called it - attracted my at- tention, being near where I sat. It was a large double- sized pew, raised above the rest about two feet, with a can- opy which was surrounded by chintz hangings, festooned and trimmed with fringe. There were no long curtains at- tached. Faded and time-worn, it still plainly showed what it had been in its day. The old church, or at least the walls, had not been disturbed when I visited 'Dow's Long Room,' which occupied the passage through in 1812. This was the cheap store of Boston, where, among other articles, they had a great show of ' indispensables,' then called 'ret- icules.' This shop had a counter running the whole length on one side, where salesmen were stationed. You entered the narrow passage at one end of the church, made your purchase, and passed out at the other end. Dow's shop was a part of the old church, and the doors, which we passed through on entering and leaving the Long Room, belonged to the church. It was a cheap affair, but patron- ized by the very best class of customers."
Mr. William Hayden, for a long time chairman of the Standing Committee of First Church, wrote as follows of the Old Brick at the time of the removal from Chauncy Place : -
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" I remember the old church, then familiarly known as the Old Brick, which occupied the present position of Joy's Building on Cornhill Square. I attended church there, in company with my parents, from 1800 up to 1808, when it was taken down; and its external and internal structure are well remembered, even to the pew which we occupied. The noise and dust of the great thoroughfare - now Washington Street, then Cornhill - were even then so great as to render the location unsuitable as a place of worship, and the project of removal to Summer Street was agitated. The change, though determined upon by the majority, was vehemently opposed by some of the wor- shippers, and, among others, by the Hon. Benjamin Aus- tin, a well-known political leader of the Democratic party, and editor of the Chronicle, the Democratic organ of those days. He was the father of Charles Austin, who was killed by Selfridge, in State Street, in 1806. Mr. Austin's oppo- sition to the removal of the church extended so far as to lead him to terminate his connection with it, and I think he never attended at Chauncy Place. He wrote some verses bewailing the fate of the old church, of which the first two lines are all that I remember, running thus : -
"' Farewell, Old Brick, -- Old Brick, farewell ; You bought your minister and sold your bell.'"
The taxes upon the pews in the new meeting. house in Chauncy Place ranged from twelve to twenty-four cents per week, the whole amount being $36.63. Out of one hundred and thirty-four pews, one hundred and fourteen were owned and occupied at the opening of the new house. The Theological Library was placed in the vestry. The parsonage was on the corner of Summer Street and Chauncy Place.
After the death of Emerson, which occurred less
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1785-1814.] JOHN LOVEJOY ABBOT.
than three years after the removal from Cornhill, the society remained for nearly two years without any settled minister.
John Lovejoy Abbot, of Andover, was then in- vited to preach as a candidate for the five Sundays in May, 1813. During that month he was unani- mously elected pastor of First Church by vote of the society. This choice was confirmed by the vote of the brethren on May 23, which gave John L. Abbot fifty-six votes, Joseph McKean ten, and Francis Parkman seven. He was ordained July 14, 1813. "Introductory prayer by Rev. Mr. Thacher; Sermon by Rev. Professor Ware; Con- secrating prayer by Rev. Dr. Lathrop; Charge by Rev. President Kirkland; Fellowship of the Churches by Rev. Charles Lowell; Concluding prayer by Rev. Mr. Parker, of Portsmouth. The members composing the Ecclesiastical Council, with the professors, tutors, and residents of Har- vard University, also the Episcopal clergy and Baptist ministers of the town, with all the clergy of the Boston association, with a large number of invited guests, and the proprietors of pews in First Church, dined at Concert Hall. The whole was conducted with decency and in order.
" SAM BRADFORD, Clerk."
The ministry of Mr. Abbot was of short duration. He had scarcely entered upon his duties when the state of his health obliged him to desist.
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1786-1814.
LIFE OF ABBOT.
John Lovejoy Abbot, eldest son of John Lovejoy and Phœbe Abbot, was born in Andover, Mass., Nov. 29, 1783. His father, who was a farmer, was desirous that his son should pursue the same calling, but did not press his wishes when he saw that his mind was bent on securing a liberal education. After a preparatory course at Phillips Academy, Andover, he entered Harvard College .at the age of seventeen, and graduated with honor in 1805. He then returned home, and became a student of the- ology under Rev. Jonathan French, who at that time preached for the society of which his parents were members. Soon afterwards he obtained an appointment as proctor at Harvard, in order to pur- sue his studies under Dr. Ware, the successor of Dr. Tappan, as professor of theology at Cambridge. In 1807 Mr. Abbot was appointed reader in the Episcopal church in Cambridge, and held the office for a year. He was made librarian of the College in 1811, and continued in that capacity for two years. Meanwhile he had been licensed to preach in 1808, and had frequently supplied vacant pulpits in the neighborhood.
After accepting the call of First Church to become the successor of Mr. Emerson, in 1813, he was married, October 24, to Elizabeth Bell, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Bell) Warland, of Cambridge. He preached a few Sundays only
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1786-1814.] JOHN LOVEJOY ABBOT.
after his ordination, when a wasting consumption obliged him to cease from labors which were never afterwards resumed. His request for a tem- porary relaxation from work met with a ready re- sponse from the society. The following votes were immediately and unanimously passed : -
" Oct. 17, 1813. A letter was communicated from Rev. Mr. Abbot respecting the ill state of his health : Whereupon
"Voted, unanimously, That this Church and Congrega- tion are deeply afflicted, and sincerely regret the indispo- sition and ill state of health of their revered and beloved Pastor; and they recommend that he comply with the advice of his physicians with respect to a contemplated voyage or journey.
"Voted, That the Standing Committee be requested to inform the Rev. Pastor of the above vote, and to aid him in suitable arrangements for the same.
"Voted, That the expenses of supplying the pulpit be paid by the Society during the absence of the Rev. Mr. Abbot, and that his salary be continued."
Besides a copy of these votes, the following letter was sent to Mr. Abbot : -
BOSTON, Oct. IS, 1813. REV. JOHN L. ABBOT.
DEAR SIR, - Your letter of the 17th inst., communi- cated to the First Church and Society, was presented yesterday, and by them received with the most sincere sentiments of respect, sympathy, and affection; and whilst they bow with submission to the Providence of God in his dispensation which is about to separate the Pastor from his flock, we hope, with the blessing of God, for the re- covery and establishment of your health, and that we may
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1786-1814.
have mutual cause to sing of mercy and of judgment. We enclose a copy of the Votes of the Society, and in behalf of the Standing Committee are, Rev. and dear Sir, with sentiments of esteem and respect,
Your friends and obedient servants, DAVID TILDEN, JAMES MORRILL, S Deacons.
Mr. Abbot sailed from New Bedford for Portugal Nov. 29, 1813, and after six months' absence reached home June 10, 1814. The return voyage was so long and rough as to deprive him of any benefit from his foreign travels; and finding himself unable to resume preaching, he went to Brighton to spend the summer.
After a long and painful struggle he gradually came to realize that it was hopeless to think of re- suming his labors, and carly in October seriously reflected on resigning his charge. During that month he spent a few days in the family of Peter C. Brooks at Medford. He next visited his home in Andover, driving most of the way himself in a chaise from Brighton (a distance of twenty miles), and arrived at his destination in cheerful spirits. He seemed to be equally well the following day un- til evening, when his condition was such as to cause the greatest alarm. From this time he gradually declined until carly in the morning of Oct. 17, 1814, when he quietly breathed his last. In ac- cordance with the request of his parishioners he was buried from Chauncy Place meeting-house, the sermon being preached by Edward Everett, then
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1786-1814.] JOHN LOVEJOY ABBOT.
pastor of the church in Brattle Square. The dis- course delivered on this occasion, together with a monody to his memory by J. Lathrop, Jr., were pub- lished. He was buried at Andover, Mass.
As a preacher Mr. Abbot had very little opportu- nity to exercise his gifts. While studying for the ministry at Cambridge he preached several sermons before a religious society of which he was a mem- ber. These were generally of a " serious and prac- tical nature," avoiding topics which would lead to controversy. But on one occasion at least, in a ser- mon before the Theological Society in Cambridge, delivered April 26, 1809, he departed from this rule, selecting for his subject the "Worship of Christ," and enforcing the negative side of the argument. It would appear from this that his views had changed in some respects since he was appointed reader in the Episcopal church in Cambridge. Of the par- ticular type of Unitarianism which he favored noth- ing more definite can be stated than that his views are said to have been "in substantial accordance with those of Dr. Channing at that period." As a pastor, the ties in which he was bound to his society during his brief ministry were very strong.
Mr. Abbot died without issue. His widow mar- ricd Dr. Manning, of Cambridge, and died March 4, 1880, at the age of ninety-four years and eight months.
In the twenty-nine years ending with 1814, two hundred and fifteen persons signed the covenant.
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During the same space the number of baptisms was five hundred and eighty-two, of which two hundred and ninety-nine were males, and two hundred and seventy-eight females, besides five whose sex is unknown.1
It appears that the version of the Psalms called Tate and Brady was used by the church until superseded, probably, by Rev. William Emerson's collection. In 1808 the pastor published " A Se- lection of Psalms and Hymns, embracing all the Varieties of Subject and Metre suitable for Private Devotion and the Worship of Churches." It does not appear from the records whether this book was used in the service of the church. It would seem strange if such were not the case, however; for apart from the consideration due to the author, the work commends itself as one prepared with great care and discrimination. In his preface Mr. Emer- son says : " Lastly, prefixing to each psalm and hymn the name of a tune well composed and judi- ciously chosen, is an evident and valuable auxiliary to musical bands, and conduces to the perfection of sacred harmony. No American hymn-book has hith- crto offered this aid to the performers of psalmody."
The book of " Hymns for the Christian Church," now in use, comprises some two hundred and fifty selections from the " Psalter," while the remainder were gathered from other sources by the pastor.
1 " Five children of Richard and Venus Dodge, blacks," A. D. 1809.
CHAPTER VII.
1815-1849.
NATHANIEL LANGDON FROTHINGHAM.
Disappointments in the Parish. - The Death of Mr. Emerson and of Mr. Abbot. - The New Building not Satisfactory, and the Removal complained of by Many. - Call of Mr. Frothingham. - Sketch of his Life and Character. - His Return to his Pulpit, and his Last Words on several Occasions there and elsewhere. - Ilis Blind- ness. - His Rare Scholarship. - His Hymns. - Many Tributes to his Gifts as a Man of Letters, and to his Constancy as a Preacher and Pastor. - Funeral Services. - Resolutions of the Church. - Memoir by Dr. Hedge. - The Ministry of Dr. Frothingliam. - The Unitarian Controversy, and his Comparative Indifference to it. - Exciting Topics. - Real Estate of the Church. - The Music. - Half Way Covenant Dispensed with. - Sunday School. - Congre- gation Incorporated. - Two Hundredth Anniversary. - Transcen- dentalism. - The Minister's Relation to it. - Christian Psalter. -- Meeting- House Reconstructed. - Resignation of Dr. Frothing- ham, and Church Action thereon. - Baptisms and Admissions to the Church.
THE society had seen many distracting changes during the few years that had elapsed since they ceased to worship in the Old Brick. There was the removal from Cornhill, to many persons a source of deep regret ; then the loss of Mr. Emerson in the very fulness of his powers; and finally, after a vacancy of nearly two years, the short and intermit- tent ministry of Mr. Abbot. A better day, however,
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was at'hand. The society soon made choice of one who was to remain their minister for an extended period.
Shortly after the death of Mr. Abbot, Mr. Na- thaniel Langdon Frothingham received a unanimous call to fill the pulpit. The date of his election is Feb. 26, 1815, and seems to have been the imme- diate result of an invitation extended to him in De- cember, 1814, to preach four Sundays " in January next."1 His letter of acceptance was read after after- noon service, February 12, by Dr. Lowell. His ordi- nation took place March 15, 1815. Professor Ware offered the introductory prayer ; sermon, by Rev. Joseph McKean ; consecrating prayer, by Rev. Wil- liam E. Channing; charge, by Rev. John Lathrop; fellowship of the churches, by Rev. S. C. Thacher; concluding prayer, by Rev. Francis Parkman. The council, clergy, and others dined, after the exercises, at Concert Hall.
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