USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the First church in Boston, 1630-1880 > Part 25
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283
1815-49.] NATHANIEL L. FROTHINGHAM.
In the beginning of the year 1849 Dr. Frothing- ham's health, as has been previously mentioned, be- gan seriously to decline. Under these circumstances he addressed a letter to the society asking them to seek for some one who might assist him in the dis- charge of his duties; and also (if the state of his health required) that he might be allowed a tempo- rary absence, and to supply the pulpit during that time as he best could.
The communication was received, as the record shows, with "expressions of deep regret " and the " kindest and warmest sympathies" towards their " esteemed and beloved minister." A committee was chosen to take the matter into consideration. Their report recommends "that the Proprietors do express their acquiescence in the proposition made by the Rev. Dr. Frothingham in relation to the ap- pointment of an assistant minister, and their deter- mination to proceed to such appointment as soon as a person shall be found who will unite in his favor the voices of the society, and whose appointment will be agreeable to our Pastor." As for that part of the letter which relates to a temporary absence, the report states it to have been already acted upon and satisfactorily settled by the Standing Committee, whose action no doubt will "meet with the entire approbation of the proprietors." The recommenda- tion was sanctioned by the society ; and a letter, in reply to that of Dr. Frothingham, expressing a "deep feeling of interest and solicitude " placed in his hands previous to his departure for Europe.
284
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1815-49.
On his return in the autumn of 1849, Dr. Froth- ingham, not having obtained that complete restora- tion of health for which he had hoped, renewed his request that a colleague might be appointed; but finally addressed a note to a meeting called for the purpose of choosing a new minister, expressing the desire that this minister might be called as successor and not as colleague. For this purpose he tendered his resignation, Dec. 19, 1849, to take effect on or before the anniversary of his ordination. The letter is full of the deepest gratitude for the kindness of his people, and the warmest desires for their future well- being. A vote was then passed accepting his resig- nation, to take effect March 15, 1850. The reply of the church is full of love and esteem towards their minister for his " constant and well-performed labor," and "entertains the hope (which was so happily ful- filled) that the personal and friendly relations which have subsisted between them may still be cherished and preserved."
During the thirty-nine years ending in 1853, two hundred and twenty-six persons signed the covenant. In the same period, four hundred and seventy-one 1 children were baptized, two hundred and fifty-two of whom were males, and two hundred and nineteen females.
! In addition to this number one hundred and five inmates of the Boston Female Asylum appear, by the record, to have been baptized, at intervals, between iS24 and 1842.
CHAPTER VIII.
I 850-1880.
RUFUS ELLIS.
Settlement of Rev. Rufus Ellis. - Establishment of a Free Sunday School. - Church Work. - Children and Families gathered for Missionary Work beyond the Limits of the Organized Congrega- tion. - Sewing-Schools. - Employment Societies. -- Instruction in Dressmaking. - Newsboys' School. - Past and Present Workers in the Church, and their Memorial. - Gas Introduced. - Union Services in the Summer. --- A more Open Communion. - Thurs- day Lecture Revived for a Time. - Dr Frothingham's " Shade of the Past." - Chauncy Place becomes Chauncy Street. - Public Funeral of Edward Everett. - Proposal to build a New House of Worship. - Progress and Completion of the Work. - Laying of Corner-Stone. - - Last Services in Old Church. - Dedication. - Church Described. - Its Cost. - Liberal Contributions. - Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary.
A FTER the resignation of Dr. Frothingham took effect, the meetings of the communicants, held heretofore at the house of the pastor, were sus- pended for three years. During this period the church had no settled minister. While Dr. Froth- ingham was absent in Europe, and for some time after his return, the Rev. Dr. Walker supplied the pulpit. Several ministers - all of whom have since become well known, in this community at least -
1
£
286
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1850-So.
were invited to succeed Dr. Frothingham, but for va- rious reasons they all felt obliged to decline the call. At a meeting of the proprietors, held Feb. 28, 1853, it was voted, unanimously, that the Standing Com- mittee be requested to communicate with the Rev. Rufus Ellis, of Northampton, Mass., with full power to invite him, if they see fit, to become the pastor of the church. The following letter of invitation was accordingly sent the next day : -
BOSTON, Feb. 21, 1853.
MY DEAR SIR, - At a meeting of the proprietors of the First Church, held in the meeting-house yesterday, Hon. Charles Francis Adams in the chair, it was voted, unanimously, that the Standing Committee should be re- quested to communicate with you, having full power to invite you to become the pastor of our church. The Standing Committee do now, therefore, in their name re- spectfully invite you to assume the pastoral office among us. We do not think it necessary or becoming, at the present time, to go beyond the immediate object of the commission which it is so agreeable to all of us to per- form. We shall await with deep interest your reply, and earnestly hoping that it will be favorable to our wishes.
On behalf of the Committee.
The letter from Mr. Ellis accepting the call is dated Northampton, March 8, 1853.
At a meeting of the communicant members on March 20, called by Deacon Foster in consequence of the happy unanimity of the society in inviting Rev. Rufus Ellis to become their pastor, it was unanimously voted to " offer him their hearty wel-
Rufus Elles
£
287
RUFUS ELLIS.
1850- 80.]
come, and assure him of their cheerful fellowship; that they rejoice in the hope of his public teaching, his private counsel, and his friendly sympathy ; and that they pray that this new connection may be crowned with the blessing of God, and with all the fruits of Christian unity and zeal."
Mr. Ellis sent a reply to this assurance of wel- come, a portion of which is copied in the records, and reads as follows : -
" A word from the Church, strictly so called, has a pe- culiar value. Making the largest allowance for the honest difficulties that keep some from the Lord's table, it cannot be accounted an illiberality to regard the body of commu- nicants as the heart of a society, -- the source of its truest vitality. It is the Church that lives. It has life in itself."
The present pastor was installed May 4, 1853. All the so-called Unitarian churches of Boston and vicinity attended by pastor and delegates except King's Chapel, which acknowledged " the kindness and courtesy of the- invitation, but in conformity with all previous usage on similar occasions, respect- fully decline the sending a delegate."
The following letter, full of historic interest, from Dr. Charles Lowell, regretting his physical inability to be present, while at the same time he was with them in spirit, was read by Dr. Frothingham.
MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN AND FRIENDS, - I am pre- vented, in the providence of God, - a providence always wise and good, - from being with you in person, as you invited me to be, at the installation of your new pastor.
288
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON.
[1850-80.
But I am not prevented from being with you in spirit, nor from offering up in my retirement my prayers for your welfare.
Chauncy, not the least eminent in your succession of ministers, was the friend and culogist of my most distin- guished predecessor, and preached at the ordination of the eminently good man who succeeded him in the ministry.
The noble countenance of Clarke, whose name would add lustre to any line of pastors, I well remember. Emer- son was my instructor in childhood, and I enjoyed an affectionate friendship with him from my settlement in the ministry to the time of his translation to heaven. To Abbot, who " being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time," I gave the right hand of fellowship on his coming to this charge.
The friendship of his successor, whose presence and sympathy you are still permitted to enjoy, I have had the privilege of possessing; and with not a few of yourselves, too, I have had frequent and affectionate communion as a minister and a friend.
It is known only to Him who knoweth all things whether I shall be ever allowed to meet you again in the public duties or private intercourse of life; but it is my desire and prayer for you that "your conversation may be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, and that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel."
Your friend, as I trust, in the best bonds,
CHARLES LOWELL. May 3, 1853.
The letter of dismission from the church in North- ampton was next read and accepted. Dr. Frothing- ham then made a verbal statement of the call of Mr. Ellis and his acceptance thereof, which, "after some
1850-80.] RUFUS ELLIS. 289
conversation," was allowed to take the place of the reading from the records.
The exercises in the church were conducted as follows : Rev. O. B. Frothingham offered the intro- ductory prayer; Rev. J. I. T. Coolidge read the Scriptures. Then followed the hymn of installation (Ravenscroft, ob. 1630), beginning, "Eternal Lord ! To Thee the Church,"-written for the occasion by N. L. Frothingham; Rev. George E. Ellis (brother of the pastor and minister of Harvard Church, Charlestown) preached the sermon from I Tim. i. 15; prayer of installation, by Rev. N. L. Frothingham ; Psalm (Ellenwood, H. K. O.), beginning, " The Lord gave the Word; 't was the Word of his Truth," - also written for the occasion by Dr. Frothingham ; charge, by Rev. E. S. Gannett ; right hand of fellow- ship, by Rev. F. D. Huntington; address to the society, by Rev. Chandler Robbins. Then after an anthem, the concluding prayer by Rev. Alexander Young, and the benediction by the pastor.
At the close of the exercises in the church, which were very well attended, the pastors and delegates to the council and invited guests dined in Chapman Hall. Dr. Morison, of Milton, asked the blessing at the table. The Hon. Edward Everett presided, and made a brief and happy address in behalf of the society, which was followed by. a very few words from Dr. Gannett, Hon. James Savage, Rev. George E. Ellis, and the pastor.
One of the first enterprises which was under-
10
£
290
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON.
[1850-80.
taken after the settlement of the present minister was the establishment of a new form of Sunday school. In November, 1853, the attempt was first made to increase the membership of that institution from children outside of the congregation. Before this change took place the Sunday school was dis- tinctively a parish gathering. Since that time it has been the endeavor of the workers in this cause to enlarge the field of Christian labor. . The success of these efforts is seen in the steady growth of the institution in all that makes it worth sustaining. The Sunday school has gradually become, in the largest sense, the life of the church. Without in- terfering with any established rights or cherished usages it has quietly assumed a place of its own.
The earliest detailed account of the plan and working of the school is contained in a pamphlet on "Church Work," written by the present minis- ter in 1867. The establishment then numbered two hundred children, besides twenty or thirty from Mrs. Gwynne's Home. " These children," he says, "be- long to families that for the most part have no con- nection with any church, and on that account it was supposed, at the outset, that the school would be con- stantly changing; but it has been a great satisfaction to find that the contrary is the case. Our children come steadily and perseveringly from all parts of the city; some of them have gone away from Bos- ton, and have found us again of their own accord
291
RUFUS ELLIS.
1850-80.]
on their return." In his report on this subject, writ- ten in 1879, the minister says: -
"Out of a school that numbers 450 children, 207 still gathered on the first Sunday in July, when scarcely a dozen of our own families remained in town; while on the open- ing Sunday in September, the congregation still. being absent, and the service a union service, 272 children pre- sented themselves. These children come from 220 fam- ilies. Many of them live at a long distance from the church, as, for example, in Roxbury, South Boston, Wash- ington Village, East Cambridge; but although the school opens by quarter after nine, - an carly Sunday hour in these days, - forty of them have been neither late nor ab- sent during the six months of winter, while 195 have won prizes for punctuality. The average attendance between last Easter and this Easter just passed has been 330, and between Easter and Christmas 336. One girl in seven years has been neither absent nor tardy. The average age of the children is between twelve and thirteen; and there are thirty-eight teachers, besides the superintendent and visitor, and five who are connected with the library."
The same report (in -1879) adds : -
" It is the plan of the school that the teachers should, so far as possible, put themselves into friendly and Christian relations with the families of their scholars, and extend to them the offices of Christian sympathy which are appro- priate to a Christian household. (The aim is constantly to exert the highest Christian influence upon the children, - not to entertain them, but to make them happy in what to them is their church.) It is believed that the tie is a strong one, and that the outcome of the work is a very practical Christianity. Our children come to us year by year, grow up in our congregation, and return to it from their absences in our own or in foreign lands as to their
292
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1850-80.
religious home. Their names are to be found on all my parish registers, and go far to redeem the church from the reproach of being a club of the luxurious or the gathering of class or clan. It is in some good measure a people's church ; at all events, a church for the people if they choose to have it so."
Of the other branches and outgrowths of the Sunday school the earlier report proceeds to mention the infant department, as it is called, then number- ing some forty-six scholars, under the charge of a special teacher in a separate room. This system is retained at the present day. Once a month the older scholars unite in reciting to the pastor care- fully prepared answers to questions which are printed and distributed for the purpose.
The great Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter are celebrated by the whole school. On the former occasion, besides the service in the church, the children assemble in the chapel and receive carefully selected, useful, and substantial gifts. At Easter they receive some simple flowers.
Many of the teachers visit the families of their scholars, not always to offer aid, but simply to make a friendly call. In this way several of them have come to look upon " First Church as their stated place of worship, and to the pastor for those paro- chial services" which it is always "his desire and purpose " to render.
It is part of the plan of the Sunday school to pro- vide for outward wants, so far as possible, "in that
293
RUFUS ELLIS.
1850-80.]
spirit of Christian love which makes receiving as well as giving a blessing." In this endeavor the most careful judgment is exercised in the selection of the beneficiaries and the adoption of the means for assistance.
Out of the Sunday school sprang various useful `organizations for church work, which are still in active operation. Families connected with the Sun- day school or church receive work from an employ- ment society, the members of which cut out the cloth at home, and give it to the women to make into garments. Each woman is allowed about fifty cents a week, and the privilege of buying what is made up at the cost of the material. In this way much genuine assistance is afforded with a small outlay, and under the most favorable auspices. " In 1877-78 the donations to this cause were $595, and the receipts from sales of garments, $508.53. The amount paid for materials was $394.45, and to the workwomen, $722.6-3. Work was given to about sev- enty women, and there were about fourteen hundred garments sold. These garments brought enough to cover the cost of materials, and some of them a few cents apiece more, so that there was more to be used in the payment for work than the amount sub- scribed. The garments are very largely bought by the mothers of the Sunday-school children and their friends. It may be added that it is one of the aims of this charity to furnish by the way valuable in- struction in sewing."
$
2944
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1850-80.
Another most useful and efficient instrumentality is the sewing-school, which gathers, besides the Sun- day-school children, a few of their acquaintances from the outside. This has always been eminently successful. So popular did it become during the winter of 1877-78, that " the second Saturday, when one hundred and seventeen children collected, it was necessary; both on account of the lack of accommo- dations and the difficulty in procuring teachers, to give notice that no more outside the limits of the Sunday school should be brought without leave."
The mode of conducting the school is very sim- ple. The children are divided into classes, cach under the direction of a competent teacher. The size and number of these classes vary, of course, ac- cording to circumstances. At one time there were from ten to twelve, numbering eight or nine chil- dren in each. The order and discipline are of the best, and the work very satisfactory for such young people. The children do not work for themselves, but send the garments to worthy institutions, such as the Children's Mission or Mrs. Gwynne's Home. " Prizes, consisting of the calico for a gown or an apron, as a reward for punctual attendance are dis- tributed on the last afternoon of the school." Since this enterprise was started sewing has been intro- duced into the public schools, but not to such an extent as to render unnecessary additional teaching to the children who wish to grow up with an under- standing use of their hands.
295
1850-80.] RUFUS ELLIS.
Graduates from the sewing-school, with perhaps a few exceptions, make up the dressmaking class. It has lately numbered thirty-four girls, who, under the direction of efficient teachers, perform a great deal of skilled labor. They meet in the chapel twice each week during the church season.
In connection with the sewing-school was formed a singing-school. Under the direction of an able instructress the children have been taught to sing with great readiness and accuracy. The fruits of this admirable training are enjoyed by the congre- gation on such occasions as Easter and Christ- mas.
About the time the present form of Sunday school was started, and perhaps a little before, the ladies of the congregation formed a parish sewing-circle. The garments which they make are placed where they will do the most good, without reference to any particular class or object. During the war of the Rebellion the scope of its charity reached out far and wide. Of late years the attendance on this work has much increased. The meetings are held in the chapel every Thursday morning from the annual Thanksgiving to the annual Fast.
In the year 1866 one of the ladies of the parish set up a vacation school, designed to keep the poorer children, who are unable to leave the city during the summer months, out of mischief. It lasted three or four years, and proved a great comfort to the par- ents of the children. Sixty children comprised this
-
296
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1850-80.
school, with an average attendance of about one half that number.
One of the last, but at the same time most origi- nal, charities was the newsboys' school, which began in the opening year of the civil war. The request for the use of the front basement room (in Chauncy Street Church) for a free school for the instruction 'in writing of "poor young lads, especially news- boys," was granted Oct. 30, 1861. Proposed as an " experiment, simply, in doing good," the success of which must needs be doubtful, one of the parish volunteered to provide for the entire direction and expense. The school never drew any support from the quarterly collections of the church. Some of the teachers came from other parishes. The at- tendance numbered from one to two hundred, - very fluctuating, of course, from the nature of the material, though less so perhaps than one would expect. At the close of his account of this estab- lishment the minister says : " Were this attendance enforced in some way by making it a condition for receiving a license to trade or labor in our streets, nothing would be wanting to make this school alto- gether, as it has been already largely, successful. So long as such boys are allowed to pursue their calling in the streets, schools adapted to their wants should be provided at the public cost and under public supervision. No one can estimate the amount of crime and misery which would be prevented in this way. The City Government have been earnestly
297
1850-80.] RUFUS ELLIS.
asked to see to this thing, and until some public provision shall have been made our school will be carried on, doing what can be done in the circumstances. From this school sprang a system- atic visitation of the jail, which again suggested to some good Christian people in a sister parish the Children's Aid Society, with its excellent methods and ministries, and its two country homes for neg- lected and exposed children of tender years."
The attempt has thus been made to give a hasty sketch of all the charities of First Church .. Very little can be known of actual results from such a brief summary. From the time when the present minister first came among them there has been a vast deal of good done by various members of the congregation which cannot be set down in writing. " By their works ye shall know them " is all that can be said of these faithful laborers. Whether in times of special need, or in the ordinary routine of daily life, there have been those at- hand ready and willing to bear every burden and offer any sacrifice, those whose lives have been inseparably bound up and blended with the work of this religious society. To mention the foremost among those who have succeeded in making this church a centre of chari- ties and, as we may say without arrogance, a benefi- cent power in this city, would require no deep re- flection on the part of any one familiar with our recent history. To those not so privileged it will suffice to point to the present Sunday school, and
.
I
298
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1850-80.
then to place them in front of one of those beautiful memorial windows which adorn the chapel.
RECEIPTS FOR THE YEAR ISSO-81.
From Miss Tileston's Legacy $30.00
From Church Funds for the use of the Poor 1, 158.00
Interest upon Bank Deposit . 19.48
Easter Collection 468.06
June Collection 191.24
November Collection
323.07
Christmas Collection
379.40
Easter Flowers for the Children
121.00
Children's Christmas Tree
355.00
Free Hospital for Women
340.00
Sewing-Circle
219.22
Employment Society
603.00
Instruction in Dressmaking
262.10
Gift for Visitor's Salary
300.00
Minister's Poor Purse .
400.00
African Methodist Church, Charles Street .
450.00
Quarterly Charity Lecture
160.00
American Unitarian Association
1,000.00
Fraternity of Churches (1880-81 and 1881-82) 950.00
Church in Ann Arbor . 500.00
" Sunday School Gazettes " 42.75
Contributions of Sunday School and Minister's Class to their own charities 71.60
Church in Francestown, N. II. . 35 00
Contribution to 250th Anniversary
1,555.00
$10,205.01
The earliest attempt to introduce gas into the church was made Dec. 9, 1854, the committee on repairs being authorized, if they deemed it expedi- ent, to fit up the house for the purpose.
In answer to a proposal from Dr. Peabody of King's Chapel, in 1855, to form a union service
110.00
Country Week and Seashore Home
131.00
Associated Charities
.
299
1850-80.] RUFUS ELLIS.
for some summer Sundays between Chauncy Street, Brattle Street, and the Chapel societies, the pastor of First Church was instructed to express the dis- inclination of the proprietors to any suspension of services, but at the same time to extend a cordial offer of accommodation to both the other churches if they saw fit to close their meeting-houses during any portion of that period. Although union ser- vices were indulged in at a later period, before the society removed from Chauncy Street, they always took place in First Church meeting-house, so that the church itself remained open throughout the entire year.
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