USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Old South church (Third church) Boston, 1669-1884, Vol. II > Part 37
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1 In 1873 Park Street Church adopted a much more simple statement of belief, as a basis for admission to membership, but it still requires its minister and dea- cons to subscribe to the original state- ment of 1808.
2 See ante (February 8, 1808), vol. ii. p. 318.
3 See ante, vol. ii. pp. 301, 312-314.
Mr. William Homes, who had been one of the disaffected members, did not join the Park Street enterprise, but his son, Henry Homes, was prominent in it, and made a public profession of religion on the day when the new church was recognized.
343
THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE.
already intimated, that they were not in full harmony with Mr. Dawes, Mr. Salisbury, Mr. Phillips, and General Winslow, who were the most influential men in the church and congregation at that time.
There were nine Congregational churches in Boston - not including the Chapel - at the beginning of the year 1809: the First, Second, Third or Old South, Brattle Street, New North, New South, Federal Street, Hollis Street, and West, this last, gathered in 1737. Mr. Croswell's church, formed a few years later, as we have seen, had ceased to exist. The population of the town was increasing at a rapid rate ; in 1783 it was eighteen thousand, in 1810, thirty-three thousand.1 There was ample room, therefore, for the new society, as the result showed, and the spirit of enterprise manifested by it brought it immediately into prominence. It secured an eligible piece of land at the foot of Park Street, where the Granary had stood ; 2 the corner- stone of its meeting-house was laid on the Ist of May, and the building was dedicated on the Ioth of January following.3 Dr. Griffin preached the sermon on this occasion, from 2 Chron. vi. 18: " But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this house which I have built!" In closing he said : -
I am prompted not less by justice than by feeling, to commend, in terms the most respectful, the exertions which have been made by the proprietors of this house. That so small a number of men should complete so spacious and beautiful an edifice in the course of eight months, is a wonder which has no parallel in the history of American churches.
At a Meeting of the Brethren of the Old South Church and Con- gregation in Marlboro Street Fast Evening April 6 [1809.]
1 In the Ind. Chronicle, January 21, Calhoun, merchant, and William Thurs- 18II, we find the following census figures for Suffolk County : 1800, 25,786 ; 1810, 34,381.
2 The Granary, taken down in 1809, " was constructed of wood, with oaken timbers, and was intended to hold about twelve thousand bushels of grain, an- nually purchased and stored by the agents of the town, and sold at a small advance to those whose exigencies re- quired such a consideration."
3 Caleb Bingham, bookseller, Andrew
ton, lawyer, were the trustees to whom the land on Park Street was conveyed. The object of the trust deed was to pre- serve "to the church the unalienable right, given to her by the Lord Jesus Christ, of choosing her own pastors."
Peter Banner, " an ingenious architect," did the carpenter work on the meeting- house, and Benajah Brigham, the mason work. Mr. Banner was the builder of the Old South parsonage houses, built in 1809.
344
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Deacon William Phillips Moderator, twenty nine members being present, John Winslow was chosen Clerk.
The report of the Committee was read as follows vizt.
The Committee of the South Society chosen at their Meeting in April 1808, for managing the prudential Concerns of said Society, beg leave to report, that they expended for the support of the Singing, fixing a new pump at the Parsonage House, new Baze Doors for the Gallery, since the above date, also Wood for the Stoves, and repairing the funnells, and other contingencies, the sum of $356.85. They have also agreeable to a Vote of said Society passed at their meeting, Aug. I. removed the Stairs to the front porch of said meeting House, and caused fifty one new pewes to be erected on the lower floor and Gallery of said House, the Cost of which amounted to $1017.25, all which has been paid by the Treasurer of said Society. They have also, agree- able to a Vote of said Society passed Nov 7. put said pewes up at Auction, agreeable to their directions, and sold of the same on the lower floor and Gallery to sundry persons thirteen Pewes, the Amount of Sales being $1990, they have left of pews not sold fifteen, and their remains in the Gallery unlet Twenty two pewes, both those That are let and those unlet, are for sale, there is due from the Society for pews taken from former proprietors about $150.
p. order of Committee (signed) WM. PHILLIPS Chairman.
Motion made and seconded, the report of the Committee be ac- cepted. Voted, unanimously to accept said report.
Voted, we now come to the Choice of a Committee to superintend the prudential concerns of the Society the present year.
Voted, That Samuel Belknap, Joseph Foster and Edward Phillips be a committee to receive, count and sort the Votes. Said Committee report that Deacon William Phillips, Samuel Coverly, Joseph Peirce, Benjamin Whitman, William Homes, Nehemiah Somes, John Winslow, Abraham Wild and James Harris, had the whole number of Votes and are chosen.
Voted, That Deacon Salisbury, Joseph Peirce, S. Coverly, Jonathan Ward and John Winslow be a Committee to examine the Treasurers Accounts and report as soon as may be.
Mr. William Whitwell who had purchased several pews in the Gal- lery at the sales proposed he might be released from said purchase.
Voted, Mr. Whitwells proposals be referred over to our next meeting.
Voted, We now adjourn to this day week, 3 O'Clock P. M.
Thursday April 13th. Meet according to adjournment, a sufficient number not being present, to proceed to business, a motion made and seconded, that we adjourn to Monday next to meet in this place at
345
MRS. HUNTINGTON.
3 OClock PM. and the reverend Pastor be requested, on next Lords day, to notice said meeting from the desk and request full and punctual attendance.
Monday April 17, 1809, the brethren being gott togeather, the Com- mittee appointed on the Treasurers Accounts have attended that service and report that they found the Accounts right cast and well vouched, as follows in the hands of the Treasurer :
[We omit the figures.]
On Motion Voted, The report of the Committee on the Treasurers Accounts be Accepted.
The subject respecting the Sale of pews in the Gallery sold to Mr. William Whitwell now came before the Society, all which he wish'd to relinquish. The Question being called for it was
Voted, That the Society cannot receive back the pewes which have been sold to Mr. Whitwell. Mr. Whitwell makes the following motion - he is willing to relinquish the ten p Cent earnest money which he has paid, provided he be discharged from the remainder of his Contract.
Voted, That the Society cannot acceed to this proposal.
Motion made by Mr. Whitwell that he be allow'd to retain Pew N. 120 at $200. and that the earnest paid by him go towards the payment of said Pew N. 120.
Voted, That the Society acceed to the above proposal, and consent to relinquish his purchase to Pew N. 99, N. 102, N. 106 and N. 130, and agree that the earnest paid on those pews go to the credit of Pew N 120, and he have a deed of said Pew N 120, paying the ballance.
Voted, The Standing Committee be a Committee to consider the ways and means to procure funds for the building of two Houses on the Societys land in Milk Street and report the same to the Society as soon as may be.
Voted, The Committee authorized as above will call a Meeting of the Church and Congregation, when ready to report on the above business.
Voted, This meeting be now dissolved.
Mr. Huntington was married, May 18, the anniversary of his ordination, to Susan, daughter of the Rev. Achilles Mansfield, of Killingworth, Connecticut. On the maternal side, she was descended from the apostolic John Eliot, of Roxbury. She had fine mental endowments, and her journals and letters show her to have been a woman of high spiritual attainments. She sur- vived her husband only four years. Dr. Wisner prepared her Memoirs, which passed through several editions, and were re- printed in Great Britain with an Introduction by James Mont-
346
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
gomery. When she came to Boston, to take her responsible position in the Old South parish, she was only nineteen years of age.
Soon after reaching Boston, Mrs. Huntington wrote to a sister-in-law (May 30) :-
Our ride was very pleasant. I am delighted with the country around Boston, and think the town is handsomely situated, and I doubt not I shall be pleased with the inhabitants. But, my dear friend, flatter- ing as is the prospect before us, I cannot contemplate the responsibility of the station in which I am placed, its total dissimilarity to. that to which I have been accustomed, and the arduous duties resulting from it, together with my own inability to perform them as I ought, without feeling a degree of anxiety lest I shall be found wholly unqualified for the situation . .. I have as yet seen but few of Mr. Huntington's congregation. But, if I may form a judgment from those who have called, I think I shall find among them many who cherish an ardent attachment to the doctrines, and maintain a consistent practice of the duties, of the Gospel, unmoved by the prevalence of error, - many real disciples of the blessed Jesus.
In another letter (July 20) she wrote : -
There are a few here, (as is generally the case where impiety or error prevails, if there are any righteous found there,) who appear to be decided in their attachment to real religion and strenuous in its support, uninfluenced by the opposition or the flatteries of the con- temners and perverters of the faith. Dr. Griffin has frequently preached in town of late. I have strong hopes that much good will result from his exertions and those of other clergymen who are labour- ing to promote the cause of truth. It is melancholy to see people disputing about that Gospel which was designed to produce nothing but peace on earth. But I believe that the overruling providence of God frequently causes the most salutary effects to arise from religious controversy. Truth never suffers by investigation ; and it is evidently better to hear people inquiring what is truth, than quietly embracing error, without endeavouring to ascertain whether they are right or not.1
On the 22d of May the brethren of the church and congre- gation met, and the committee of ways and means made a report, in which it was said : -
There is in the hands of the Treasurer of the Society certain capital Stock, the Interest of which only is appropriated to the use of the poor of the Church ; that instead of borrowing money of a bank or of any individuals, and depositing this Stock as security for pay-
1 [Memoirs of the late Mrs. Susan Huntington, pp. 34, 35.]
347
NEW PARSONAGES.
ment, it should be disposed of, or so much thereof as may be found necessary, and the proceeds invested permanently in those buildings - the interest appropriated to the use of the poor may always be drawn from the surplus of permanent income as stated in the schedule an- nexed. By this operation the business will be simplified, and the Society freed from the necessity of borrowing money. Your Com- mittee after mature consideration could not fall upon any other measure to accomplish the wishes of the Society without their being burthened with a debt that would hang upon them many years, before it could be extinguished, and it was their desire if possible to avoid an increase of the Tax on Pews, especially at this particular moment, when it is expected there will be a secession of some from the Society.1
The report was accepted and referred to the church for its concurrence, and the meeting was adjourned to the 29th inst. The church met, May 25, to hear the report and then adjourned until the society should ascertain what the actual expense of building the two houses should be.
Boston May 29 1809, met according to adjournment. It. was then moved and seconded that the plan drawn by Mr. Benjamin some time since be the plan used for the building the parsonage Houses in Milk Street. Voted unanimously,
Voted, That Joseph Pierce, Samuel Coverly and John Winslow be a Committee to take this plan and make the necessary inquiry what the buildings will cost, and lay the same before the Church, and request the Rev. Doctor Eckley to call them together as soon as may be, say on Tuesday the 6 June. That when this meeting does adjourn they adjourn to meet on Wednesday 7th June in this place to meet at 3 OClock P. M.
Boston June 6. 1809
The Church met according to notice given - to receive the Report of a Committee appointed by the Society to inquire into the Cost of building two parsonage houses - stated verbally that after viewing several houses and conversing with a Mason and Carpenter, received from them their decided opinion that two Houses with basement stories according to the plan long since drafted by Mr. Benjamin and approved by the society could be completed for $12,000, and that by
1 [The available funds on hand were $17,364.49, including 18 shares in the Massachusetts Bank, valued at 25 per cent. advance, but worth at the time 28 per cent. The estimated annual income of the Society was about $5,000, and the expenditures, $3,635.88, as follows : -
Salary of two ministers 2,600.00 Wood for do. 80 Cords @ $6. 480.00
Singing Expenses 2 50.00
Sextons Salary 110.00
Contingencies, say, 195.88
$3,635.88]
348
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
another plan drafted by Mr. Banner two houses with two kitchens not with basement stories, would cost at the extent $14,000. On Motion made and seconded, it was Voted, Nem. con. That the Trustees of certain funds placed in their hands, be requested to furnish the Society with so much from the same as may be required to compleat the build- ing of two parsonage Houses, upon conditions that the Interest be punctually paid and that the buildings be insured to secure payment thereof.
Voted, That this meeting be now dissolved, and it is accordingly dissolved.1
At a meeting of the brethren of the Church and Congregation ad- journed from 29th May to this 7th of June 1809.
Voted, That we so far reconsider our vote passed on the 29th May, respecting the form of the Houses, agreeable to the plan drafted by Mr. Benjamin, and we now adopt and agree to build the parsonage Houses agreeable to a plan drafted by Mr. Banner which was this day laid before this Society, provided they can be built not to exceed the sum of $14000. This Vote passed Nem. con.
Voted, That a Committee be now chosen to make the Contracts and effect the completion of the new buildings and dispose of the old Building now on the ground to the best advantage.2
Voted, That the Standing Committee for the year be the Committee to carry the same into effect.
Voted, This meeting be now dissolved, and it was accordingly dis- solved.
Boston April 5. 1810.
At a Meeting of the brethren of the Old South Church and Con- gregation,
Voted that John Winslow be requested to act as Clerk for the year. Deacon William Phillips Moderator.
Voted, We now come to the choice of a Standing Committee for the year.
Voted, That Joseph Peirce and Samuel Belknap be a Committee to receive count and sort the Votes.
Voted, The Standing Committee consist of the same number it did last year.
The following Gentlemen were reported to be chosen, Vizt. Deacon William Phillips, Joseph Peirce, Samuel Coverly, William Homes,
1 [The proceedings of this meeting were recorded in the society's book, as well as in that of the church, in almost identical words.]
2 [The Milk Street parsonage was completed in the spring of 1810. See ante, vol. i. pp. 346, 347. It was occupied
successively by four pastors : Ebenezer Pemberton, Joseph Sewall, John Bacon, and Joseph Eckley. Deacon Samuel Sewall lived in it for a time, after the death of his father ; and William Phillips, Jr., after the siege. Mr. Phillips's daughter Miriam, probably, was born there.]
349
A REPORT ON THE FUNDS.
N. Somes, Benjamin Whitman, John Winslow, Jonathan Harris and Abraham Wild.
Voted, That a Committee of five be chosen to examine the Treas- urers Accounts, Vizt. Samuel Salisbury, Joseph Peirce, J. Winslow, Benjamin Clark and Abraham Wild; when said Committee is ready to report, they request the Revd Pastor to call a Meeting from the Desk.
Voted, This meeting be now dissolved, and it was dissolved ac- cordingly.
The Brethren of the Church and Congregation met June 25, when the Standing Committee reported that during the previous year $105.50 had been paid for singing master, etc., $23.82 for cleaning the chandelier and for lights, and $189.37 for repairs of roof of meeting-house and stores. The committee on the treas- urer's accounts reported that they were correct ; and the Stand- ing Committee made a report in reference to the erection of the parsonage houses, and then said : -
The Standing Committee also embrace this opportunity to commu- nicate to the Society, that by the records it appears there was a Com- mittee appointed April 3, 1800, to examine into the state of their funds,1 who reported that the foundation upon which the funds had arisen, consisted of certain items as they stood in 1766, the whole of which amounted to £880.11. Lawfull Money. That the funds on the 18th April 1800 consisted of sixteen Bank Shares, specie value $8000, and other securities, nominally to $8062.72. At a Meeting of the Church and Congregation on 11th May 1800 it was Voted, That the Ministers and Deacons deliver from the money of the Church and Congregation to the Committee empowered to erect the Stores, such sum as might be found necessary for that purpose. This last sum, when reduced to specie value, amounted to $5221.40, and was then considered to be the property of the Church and Congregation, leaving the Bank Shares to belong to the Church ; by another part of the report of that Committee of 3d April made the 1I May 1800, it might seem that the whole of $5221.40 grew out of certain donations from particular persons : that however does not appear to have been the fact, but on the contrary, arose from the four last items as stated in that report amounting to £378. 8. 8 L Money. This statement is founded upon that of the Committee of 3d April 1800 on the state of the funds. The Society will therefore consider whether the Ministers and Deacons had the disposal of the Interest of that part as was then supposed in said Vote. The Standing Committee are unanimously of
1 [This committee consisted of John ser, Thomas Dawes, Jr., and Joseph Winslow, William Scollay, John Sweet- Peirce.]
350
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
opinion they had not that right : if the Society concur in the same opinion, it should seem that the $5221.40 vested in the Stores, as well as the income that has since arisen on the same was the property of the Church and Congregation, and entirely at their disposal. If so, the vote or votes passed May 11th 1800 as respects the controul of the Interest by the Trustees should be reconsidered.1
The report of the Standing Committee was accepted.
In 1810 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed, for the prosecution of the work of missions on a broader scale than had hitherto been attempted ·by the New England churches. In these churches the missionary spirit had always been present, and active according to the oppor- tunities afforded for its exercise. In every generation zealous and self-denying efforts had been made in behalf of the aborigi- nal tribes, aided by the contributions of Christian people in England and Scotland; and, in 1787, a society had been char- tered for the purpose of preaching the gospel among the In- dians, which was sustained wholly by the churches in and near Boston. It is to be observed, also, that the faith of the fathers anticipated not only the conversion of the Indian tribes, but also the triumph of the gospel throughout the world. The writings of Judge Sewall, and the sermons of Dr. Cotton Mather, Dr. Sewall, Dr. Chauncy, and others might be quoted to prove this. Heathendom, however, was inaccessible to them, except as it was represented in the red men who lived on their frontiers and beyond, and in the degraded Africans who were brought by the slave-ships from across the sea.
But the proclamation of the gospel was to be made on a grander scale than had yet been practicable. Maritime explora- tion and commercial enterprise were preparing the way in every direction for the introduction of a Christian civilization. In 1795 the London Missionary Society was formed by English
1 [The four items referred to in the re- port were as follows : -
Given, and not mentioned whether to the use of the Church or Church and Con- gregation, 8. 0.4
Collected from 1733 to May 1757, for the use of the Palls, . · Balances arising from the sac- ramental collections at dif- ferent times to the year 1766,
over and above what paid the expenses, . 186.19.5 Given by sundry persons, which we find no minutes in the papers for what use, but as they are in the Church accounts, suppose for their use, . 136.14.5
46. 7.6
378. 1.8
Add for difference . 7.0
£378. 8.8]
35I
THE AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS.
Congregationalists, whose first field of labor was in the archi- pelago of the Pacific, to the south of the equator. In 1800 " The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East " was organized by members of the Church of England. In 1805 Henry Martyn sailed for Bengal, as a chaplain of the East India Company. Having read the Life of David Brainerd, and the record of his missionary labors among the Indians of Massa- chusetts, "his soul," says his biographer, " was filled with a holy emulation of that extraordinary man, and, after deep consider- ation and fervent prayer, he was at length fixed in a resolution to imitate his example." The consecration of this young scholar gave a fresh impulse to the missionary cause in the English churches ; and, a few years later, a similar spirit of consecration on the part of some young men in Williams College - the men of the Haystack -- led to the organization of the American Board. The leading object of the Society of Brethren formed at Williamstown in 1808, and transferred to Andover soon after, "was so to operate on the public mind as to lead to the forma- tion of a Missionary Society." The first steps were taken at the annual meeting of the General Association of Massachusetts, held at Bradford, June 27. The "simple and unpretending" record of these important proceedings reads thus : -
Messrs Adoniram Judson Jr. Samuel Nott Jr. Samuel J. Mills, and Samuel Newell, members of the Divinity College [Andover 1] were in- troduced and presented a paper with their names subscribed, on the subject of a mission to the heathen. After hearing the young gentle- men, the business was committed to the Rev. Messrs. Spring, Worces- ter, and Hale, who reported resolves for instituting a Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, to consist of nine members, all in the first instance to be chosen by the General Association, and afterwards annually, five of them by this body and four by the General Association of Connecticut.
The Report was unanimously accepted. The General Association proceeded to institute a Board of Commissioners, and made choice of the following gentlemen as members : His Excellency, John Tread- well Esq., Rev. Dr. Timothy Dwight, Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, and Rev. Calvin Chapin, of Connecticut ; Rev. Dr. Joseph Lyman, Rev. Dr. Samuel Spring, Wm. Bartlet Esq., Rev. Samuel Worcester, and Dea. Samuel H. Walley, of Massachusetts. Measures were provided for calling the first meeting of the Board.
1 [The Seminary at Andover was Fisk and Rev. Richd. S. Storrs, Mission- sometimes called Trinity College. We aries from Trinity College, Andover, read : " Arrived at Savannah Rev. Ezra Mass." -Centinel, December 20, 1810.]
352
HISTORY OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Mr. Treadwell was governor of Connecticut ; General Hunt- ington was father of the junior pastor of the Old South ; and Mr. Samuel Hall Walley, a descendant of the Hon. John Walley, was a deacon in the Rev. Mr. Channing's church.1 Mr. Walley transferred his membership to the Old South in 1818.
The plan of the founders of the American Board contem- plated the selection of the members annually by the Associa- tions of Massachusetts and Connecticut, as representing the only churches then directly interested in the work which was to be undertaken. But in 1812 a charter was obtained by which the Board became a close corporation, with the power of per- petual succession, henceforth to be irresponsible to the churches except as it might be dependent upon them from time to time for pecuniary aid. It is difficult now to understand why this fun- damental, and, as many believe, disastrous variation from the original plan was made. The English societies established in 1795 and 1800, which have accomplished such magnificent re- sults, were formed and have always been maintained as volun- tary and representative bodies. The propagation societies, as they were called, in Great Britain and in Massachusetts, were chartered corporations ; but they had their own invested prop- erty, and they relied upon this for their stability and perma- nence, rather than upon anticipated contributions from the churches.2 On the other hand, the American Board, called into existence by a revival of the missionary spirit in the churches, has, until very recently, been altogether dependent upon the continuance of this spirit for its support from year to year.
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