USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leicester > History of the Second Congregational church and society in Leicester, Massachusetts > Part 8
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Extracts from the Records here and there are calculated to awaken most gentle memories.
OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1898.
Mrs. Nathanael Seaver, Superintendent, Miss Mary E. Joslyn, Secretary, Miss Ruth E. Hatch, Treasurer, Mr. Will N. Seaver, Librarian, Miss Florence L. Smith, Asst. Librarian.
On January 8, 1899, the Sunday School voted to send New Year Greeting to Mr. May, which was accordingly delivered in the name of the school by two of the younger children : Gertrude Watson and Russell Winslow.
Beatitude Sunday was observed April 9, 1899, which falling upon the Sunday nearest the birthday of Mr. May, April 11, was marked by appropriate messages of affection and flowers from the School to Mr. May, carried by Misses Mildred Henshaw and Mabel Smith, and re- sponded to by Mr. May with a tender note of thanks.
MUSIC.
As is indicated in the Diary of Mr. May, and in his reminiscences, music has ever been a feature of great interest in the church services, though reference to it rarely appears among the earlier records. The circular letter regarding the purchase of a new organ in 1903, and the correspondence appertaining thereto, kindly supplied by Miss May, Parish Clerk, convey no lightest intimation of her own indefatigable efforts in rendering the undertaking completely successful, to which efforts this pen is by no means permitted to refer.
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"LEICESTER, July 10, 1903.
" Dear Friends :--
"Members of the Unitarian Society of Leicester; especially the friends by inheritance from devoted and generous parents, who gave character to the Church and Town of their day by upright and faithful lives: you are asked to help towards the new organ which has come to be a necessity of our pres- ent time, and we would like to make a memorial also of the early congregation, for whom the musical part of the service had always its great interest and value, thus adding a sacred association to a modern possession.
" We are in a peculiarly favorable situation now to under- take this, to us, great work, in that we have an unusually able and devoted Choir, self-sacrificing in their weekly ser- vice, and unwearied in their efforts to select a valuable and trustworthy instrument, which can be purchased under the hopeful circumstances of a three years guarantee of care, and the immediate neighborhood of the manufacturers.
" The Ladies Society has had a small organ fund at inter- est for several years which they will try to somewhat increase as their subscription toward the price of a 'Vocalion,' which is Nine Hundred Dollars ($900) with a further equipment of water motor for permanent blowing power at Seventy-five Dollars ($75).
" We hope that the representatives of old families as afore- said and the society generally will second their efforts.
"HENRY O. SMITH, Prudential
"MRS. SUSAN GIBBS, Committee
"MRS. KATE COWLES WHITTEMORE, 1903-1904."
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NAMES OF SUBSCRIBERS.
AMOUNT OF SUBSCRIPTION.
Ladies' Society, Unitarian Church,
$225.00
Young People of Unitarian Society, 28.65
In memory of Dr. Edward Flint and Mrs. Harriet Emerson Flint, his wife; their three children, Sally, the younger daughter, our unpaid organist, and Miss Mary Ann Emerson, sister of Dr. and Mrs. Flint, 100.00
Miss Mary McFarland, Boston, Mass., 50.00
Mr. Stephen Salisbury, Worcester, Mass. In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Waldo Flint, his uncle and aunt. Mrs. Waldo Flint, his aunt, was our first organist, 100.00
In memory of Rev. Samuel May, a lover of music, and especially of church music, all his life, and of Mrs. Sarah Russell May, his wife, 100.00
Mr. Henry L. Watson. In memory of Mrs. Ger- trude Ray Watson, his wife, 50.00
Mr. Channing Clapp. In memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Clapp, 100.00
Mrs. Julia Clapp Pynchon, Springfield, Mass. In memory of her parents, Mr. John Clapp and Mrs. Eliza Clapp, his wife,
Messrs. Dexter, James and George Knight. In memory of their parents, Capt. Hiram Knight and Mrs. Olive Barnes Knight, his wife. Also of their sister Susan, and other children of a large family,
10.00
100.00
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Messrs. William, Edward and Henry Bisco. In memory of their father, Deacon Dwight Bisco, 25.00
Mrs. Bemis, Mrs. Gibbs, 10.00
Mrs. Marchant, 10.00
PARISH CLERKS. FROM 1833 TO 1908.
Lyman Waite,
Hiram Knight, George B. Upham,
H. D. Hatch,
John W. Bisco,
Arthur F. Estabrook,
Mrs. Ellen Woodcock,
Miss Mary E. Joslyn,
Miss Adeline May.
CERTAIN EXCERPTS FROM THE CHURCH RECORDS.
"The First Congregational Church to the Second Congrega- tional Church in Leicester, sendeth Greeting.
" Dear Brethren :
" The Congregation worshipping with the First Congregational Church in Leicester having enjoyed the hos- pitality of the Second Congregational Church and Society during the past fifteen months, desire, in addition to the business arrangements made by the Prudential Committees of the two Societies, to express their personal appreciation of the kind, Christian sympathy that was manifested in the cordial invitation to the First Church to hold its services in
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their house of Worship during this long period since fire deprived us of the use of our own Church Home. This kind offer from our fellow Christians is an evidence of the liberal spirit shown in many ways at the present time. We wish them continued prosperity in their work.
"Adopted by the First Congregational Church in their place of worship, May 26, 1901.
" Signed for the Parish, " DAVID C. REID, Pastor."
Note to Parish Clerk, accompanying.
" My dear Miss May :
"The herewith resolution of appreciation and thanks for the use of your Church during the preceding months, was unanimously passed in our Church, or place of worship, last Sunday. Will you kindly have it read from the pulpit of your Church next Sunday.
" Cordially yours, DAVID C. REID. "
The following letter was sent August 21, 1904, as a part- ing message to the Hon. George F. Hoar, who lay dying at his home in Oak Avenue, Worcester, Mass.
" The Unitarian Society of Leicester, Assembled at their Church service this morning, desire to send their beloved and honored Senator their farewell greetings, if so it must be, with their grateful blessing for all he has been to them, as individuals, as Unitarians, and as citizens of a State and Nation forever indebted to him; and to his family their deep sympathy in the sorrowful parting.
" Signed, By their Minister, "GEORGE E. HATHAWAY. "ADELINE MAY, Clerk."
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Senator Hoar died September 30, following.
ยท July 19, 1906, " a Christening took place immediately after morning service which was a rarely beautiful occasion. The son of Nathan Marshall Southwick, and Ruth, Earle, Southwick, descendants of noted families of the Quaker settlement in the north part of this town, was baptized with the name of his father,
Nathan Marshall Southwick, Jr.
" The little old Church looked fresh and youthful with its decorations of Maiden hair fern and golden glow; the silver christening basin given by Mr. Joshua Clapp was used ; there was a large gathering of family friends and relatives, which with the central group, the distinguished, dignified father, the girlish, little mother, and the handsome and happy child made a memorable picture.
" The opening address by the Rev. George Willis Cooke, and beautiful service, added a sacred meaning to the scene which touched all hearts.
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"May it be a lasting impression, and recounted to the central figure years hence when he grows to a manhood worthy of his progenitors."
The literary reputation of Mr. Cooke is too well known to render necessary the remark that his frequent supply of this pulpit is accounted a rare privilege by those who hear him.
Among the books written by Mr. Cooke will be recalled : Ralph Waldo Emerson, His Life, Writings and Philosophy. Poetic and Dramatic Writings of Robert Browning. George Eliot, a Critical Study. Biography of John S. Dwight. His- tory of Unitarianism in America, and others.
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CHAPTER VI.
SUCCESSION OF MINISTERS. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. LIST OF SETTLED MINISTERS. SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY IN LEICESTER.
Samuel May, Jr., 1834-1846.
Frederick Hinckley,
1846-1849.
Dr. Thompson,
1849-1851.
William Coe,
1851-1854.
Joseph Angier,
1855-1856.
Frederick McIntyre,
1858-1859.
Thomas Dawes,
1861.
James Thurston,
1862-1864.
Everett Finley,
1867-1869.
David H. Montgomery, 1869-1877.
Samuel B. Weston, 1879-1881.
Lewis G. Wilson,
1883-1885.
Rodney F. Johonnot, 1886-1888.
George W. Buckley,
1890-1891.
James H. West, 1891-1893.
Nathanael Seaver, Jr., 1894-1900.
Artemas L. Day, 1901-1902.
George E. Hathaway, 1903-1905.
There is a comparatively long list of incumbents, and with exception of those of Mr. May, Mr. Montgomery, and Mr. Seaver, the rule has been brief pastorates. But not to
RESIDENCE OF THE REV. SAMUEL MAY
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the disadvantage of those who have served, it is hoped and believed. Indeed the little Church has been rather remark- able for launching young clergymen successfully in their profession, and bidding them God speed when they are called shortly after to some wider field of promise.
This is conspicuously true of Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Wes- ton, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Johonnot, and of certain supplies for a longer or shorter period.
Aside from the punctilious entries made by Mr. May, the Minister's Book contains little to indicate the official duties discharged by his successors, and is of slight service in setting forth the prominent events of their ministry. It is to be deplored that no biographical material relative to several of the clergymen herein named appears available.
REV. SAMUEL MAY,
son of Samuel and Mary, Goddard, May, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., April 11, 1810, the eldest of a family of four sons and two daughters.
His education was obtained from private teachers until the age of twelve years, when he went from Deacon Greele's into the Boston Latin School, from which he was graduated in 1825, and passed examination for Harvard without condition.
After one year at Round Hill School, Northampton, Mass., he entered Harvard College a sophomore, and was graduated in 1829.
Mr. May was secretary of his class from this time until his death in 1899, a service of seventy years.
But two members of 29 survived him, Charles S. Storrow, of Boston, and Edward L. Cunningham, of Newport. Dr.
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Edward Linzee Cunningham, the last to go, died in Newport, R, I., Jan. 29, 1905.
Dr. Cunningham was present when his classmate, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, read his memorable poem, The Last Survivor, at a class dinner in 1878, little dreaming it was his own apotheosis to which he hearkened.
Certain of the poems with which Dr. Holmes from year to year delighted to crown the meeting of his class are among the happiest productions of his poetic skill.
The Class Book, a tome of great size and beauty, was de- livered to the archives of Harvard University upon the death of Mr. May, and the few who were favored with an occa- sional glimpse of those well-guarded pages must ever remem- ber the script in which its annals are set forth : clear, legible, and far more impressive in character than any print.
Unusual care was bestowed upon the penmanship of Mr. May in his boyhood, the perfunctory training of his school being supplemented by daily private lessons from the Rev. John Pierpont. One hundred and ten of these, Mr. May casually notes among certain items appertaining to this period.
"Rev. John Pierpont was then living in a four-storied brick dwelling in Beech street, and his study was a room in the third story, facing the street. In it he had a circular revolv- ing table, a great curiosity then to me," writes Mr. May. "It must have been fifty years later that I saw at the rooms of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston a table of the same pattern, but, as I thought, con- siderably smaller.
" I spoke of it to the Librarian, Mr. Dean, who told me it
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was the identical table of my remembrance, once Mr. Pier- pont's. I used to go daily from the Latin School to Mr. Pierpont's, spend about an hour there, and from thence home to our two o'clock dinner, returning to the Latin School at half-past two, if I remember rightly."
The longest personal records in the Class Book are those of Dr. Holmes and Rev. Dr. James Freeman Clarke. There are numerous names beside of national significance; Samuel F. Smith who wrote, "My Country, 'tis of thee ;" Prof. Benjamin Pierce, the mathematician ; Chief Justice George T. Bigelow ; Rev. William H. Channing ; Judge Benjamin R. Curtis, whose opinion on the Dred Scott case was op- posed to that of Judge Roger B. Taney and a majority of the bench ; the Rev. Chandler Robbins and others.
Mr. May began his theological studies in Brooklyn, Conn., with his beloved cousin, Rev. Samuel Joseph May, the well known anti-slavery advocate, whose memoir in the course of time he wrote ; and entered the Divinity School of Harvard University September, 1830, took the full course, was graduated therefrom in July, 1833, and duly " ap- probated" by the Boston Association of Ministers.
He preached in Milton, Fall River, Leicester and other places in Massachusetts, Leicester having invited him to her pulpit a few weeks after he left Cambridge.
As has already appeared in the foregoing pages of this book, Mr. May was ordained minister of the Second Congregational Church and Society in Leicester, August 13, 1834.
In view of this settlement the father of Mr. May pur- chased a building site upon which to erect a house for his son, surrounding it with near a dozen acres of goodly land.
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
The old dwelling house removed from the site of the May homestead, which stands upon Lot 1 in the original plan of the township, was probably erected by Samuel Stebbins, and thought by Governor Washburn to be " as old as any house in town, if not the oldest." Later it had been occupied suc- cessively by Rev. Mr. Roberts, Rev. Benjamin Conklin, Prof. Ebenezer Adams, Principal Leicester Academy, 1792- 1806, and later Professor at Dartmouth College, his Alma Mater.
And it may be well to pause here to note that among the preceptors associated with Professor Adams at Leicester Academy were Rev. John Pierce, D. D., of Brookline, Bishop Dehon, Chief Justice Richardson, Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck, and Hon. Timothy Fuller, father of Margaret Fuller, Countess D'Ossoli.
Rev. Luther Wilson, Principal Leicester Academy, 1809- 12, whose wife was a sister of the wife of Rev. Dr. Nelson, his neighbor, also resided in the old house, as did several other families.
The situation is the most beautiful in beautiful Leicester, and the present dwelling, a spacious well-ordered house, in the midst of well-kept grounds, enjoys an almost unexampled reputation for genial hospitality.
The May home faces the south, with a generous piazza upon three sides, commanding a wide background of forest, which arises beyond the well-cultivated fields which lie between.
The eastern view embraces a broad pond at the foot of the abruptly sloping hill on the brow of which the dwelling stands; a lovely, loitering river it looks to be, an effect
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produced by the damming of Kettle Brook for utilitarian purposes.
At the northeast and southwest the landscape stretches to the Connecticut hills, effacing all that opposes when atmos- pheric conditions serve ;- pastoral, reposeful, suggestive.
To this delightful country house, his father's gift, the young clergyman brought his beautiful wife, who was Miss Sarah Russell, daughter of Nathaniel Pope Russell, Esq., of Boston. They were married, November 11, 1835, by Rev. Dr. Charles Lowell, in West Church, Boston, and if the young wife found all the year around in Leicester a far cry from Beacon Street, Boston, in winter, and Nahant in summer, she at least adapted herself with charming grace.
Mrs. Sarah Russell May, died in 1895, nearly sixty years later. Four children were born to them : Adeline, Edward, Joseph Russell, and Elizabeth Goddard.
The father and mother of Rev. Samuel May attained to venerable age. Samuel May, Sr., died in his ninety-fourth, and Mrs. Mary, Goddard, May in her ninety-fifth year.
Rarely is it that noble, useful, philanthropic lives are thus prolonged; rarely indeed that a son at the age of seventy-two years takes part, at her request, in the affecting funeral service of his mother.
The twelve years of Mr. May's work in the Christian ministry, in Leicester, were years of profound consecration and of lasting influence. His enthusiastic participation in the anti-slavery agitation occasioned some disaffection among one or more of the conservative members of his congregation. Conscious of this, and unwilling to be hampered in a matter where conscience was fully enlisted, he tendered his resigna- tion in 1845, which was refused.
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A year later, in 1846, he definitely resigned his pulpit, though his ministry continued in Leicester in effect to his latest breath.
An interesting memorandum among the personal papers of Mr. May is a list of fifty books presented by him to fifty of his parishioners upon his leave-taking in 1846, with the titles of the books and names of the recipients noted.
All things that make for reform, and the uplifting of humanity aroused him to action.
Theologically he was sound and liberal but not radical.
An Anti-slavery Society was formed in Leicester in 1840, of which he was the leading spirit, and in this year began also his subscription to Mr. William Lloyd Garrison's paper, the Liberator.
Free to labor for the cause which cried to his very soul for help, Mr. May, on July 1, 1847, became General Agent of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society, and served until 1865, when its mission had been fully accomplished. But emancipation for the slaves did not mean rest for Mr. May, who soon gave freely of time and strength to the irresistible claims of the Freedmen's Aid Society.
The events of this active and ardent period of his life would fill volumes, and the names of the great co-workers are a national heritage :- Garrison, Phillips, Quincy and the rest.
The abiding friendship between Mr. Garrison and Mr. May passed as an inheritance to their children.
" To Samuel May of Leicester, Massachusetts, who freed from toil and care the declining years of William Lloyd Garrison, this work is gratefully and affectionately inscribed.
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LEICESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
Nobis haec otia facit." So runs the dedication of the four stout volumes which constitute the masterly story of their father's life by his sons, Wendell Phillips Garrison and Francis Jackson Garrison, in allusion to the Garrison Testi- monial of over $30,000, which owed its success in very large measure to the untiring efforts of Mr. May.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. May took his place immediately among those who labored for the preser- vation of the Union, and by pen and spoken words and deeds of cheer rendered memorable service.
Mrs. Sarah Russell May toiled with unflagging energy and rare understanding to provide aid and comfort for sick and wounded soldiers.
Edward May, their elder son, Pay Director in the United States Navy, was wherever duty called him, while J. Russell May, youngest son of Mr. May, a youth of eighteen years, enlisted for a soldier and went to the front.
Leicester's record for patriotism was most nobly upheld throughout that saddest and greatest war in history.
Mr. May's sister, Miss Abby W. May, of Boston, whose work was well known in philanthropic and educational circles throughout the State, was Secretary of the Massachusetts branch of the United States Sanitary Commission at this time, and was long a member of the State Board of Educa- tion, and one of the founders of the New England Women's Club.
In 1875, Mr. May served in the State Legislature, and his interest and quiet influence in politics to the close of his life were such as commanded an attentive hearing when he chose to write or speak upon State or National Legislation.
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
There would seem to be place even on these somewhat restricted pages in which to add a letter from Senator Hoar, written in the last year of Mr. May's life upon the earth.
" COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, " UNITED STATES SENATE.
" WASHINGTON, D. C., " February 27, 1899. " My dear old Friend :
" Nothing could have moved and delighted me more than the expression of your kind sympathy and regard.
" I have a great many letters from good men all over the Country, approving of my resistance to the action of Govern- ment in regard to the Philippine Islands. But yours is of special value.
" I have been in the habit of saying for a great many years that I had four friends whose approbation, if I should obtain it for anything I said or did, was all that I wanted and that I cared little for public opinion if I had that.
" It would have been more correct to say that if I had their approbation public opinion would be on my side sooner or later.
" One of them was Whittier, one my Brother Rockwood, one was Adin Thayer and you were the fourth.
" They are all gone now but you, and I am, though your junior, an old man, and shall follow them pretty soon. But meantime we will in our very humble and feeble fashion but in our best fashion, try to fight the good fight and be faithful
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unto death. Mrs. Hoar sends her love to you and to your daughters.
"I am, with the greatest regard and affection, " faithfully yours, " GEORGE F. HOAR. " REV. SAMUEL MAY."
Among local services rendered by Rev. Samuel May may be mentioned, Trustee of Leicester Academy, twenty-five years. 1 Trustee of Leicester Public Library, thirty-four years. Member of Leicester School Committee, twenty-one years.
With the following named Societies and Clubs he was long affiliated.
General Agent Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.
President Leicester Anti-Slavery Society.
President Worcester County South Anti-Slavery Society.
Secretary and various offices, Leicester Temperance Socie- ties.
Secretary and various offices, Leicester Freedman's Aid Society.
American Unitarian Association, fifty-five years.
American Social Science Association.
Bostonian Society.
Massachusetts Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Massachusetts Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Boston Young Men's Christian Union.
Worcester Society of Antiquity.
1Appendix.
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Whittier Home Association, etc. etc. etc.
The Rev. Samuel May died November 24, 1899, aged eighty-nine years and seven months, his home still a house of pilgrimage, its traditions of gracious hospitality most sacredly upheld by his devoted daughters.
His four children, and four grandchildren, Samuel, Her- bert S., Rosamond and Edward Flint, children of Edward May, Esq., survived him. His eldest grandson, Samuel May 2d, Harvard, 1896, whose sound attainments, tireless industry and handsome presence gave rich promise of unusual fruition, followed in four brief months, to the unavailing and unceasing sorrow of the many who loved him.
REV. FREDERIC HINCKLEY,
was born in Boston, Mass., and died at Barnstable, Mass., Dec. 18, 1891, aged 71 years.
Sarah, Hewes, Hinckley, his wife, died in 1890. They were married in Boston in 1844.
But little is available concerning Mr. Hinckley's brief pastorate in Leicester.
The several entries in the Minister's Book under his hand are here appended.
"On the 1st of January 1847, the subscriber, having fin- ished an engagement of three months with the Second Con- gregational Society, entered upon a new engagement for the supply of the pulpit, and the performance of the Pastoral duties for the space of two years from date.
" (Signed) FREDERIC HINCKLEY."
"Sunday, May 2, 1847. The administration of the Com-
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munion Supper was this day introduced in the morning service ; following the Discourse."
"Sunday, July 11, 1847.
At a meeting of the Church and So- ciety held immediately after the morning service, a letter was read from the Society at Lancaster, inviting the presence of this Church by Minister and Delegate at the Ordination of Mr. George M. Bartol as their pastor, on Wednesday, August 4, next. Mr. Abraham Firth, Jr., was chosen Delegate, with power to appoint a substitute."
REV. THOMAS DAWES,
died at Brewster, Cape Cod, November 5, 1904, aged eighty- six years.
Mr. Dawes supplied this pulpit for several months of the year 1848, while Mr. May was in Europe; and was settled over the Church for a brief pastorate in 1861.
REV. JAMES THURSTON,
was born in Newmarket, New Hampshire, Dec. 11, 1806; fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, under Dr. Abbott ; graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1829, and taught for three years in the English High School, Boston.
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