USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Leicester > History of the Second Congregational church and society in Leicester, Massachusetts > Part 9
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He entered the Divinity School, Cambridge, in 1832, and was graduated in 1835.
After serving as a missionary in a Western State for one year, he was ordained in 1838 over the Unitarian Society in Windsor, Vermont.
Mr. Thurston married Elizabeth, daughter of William
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Austin, Esq., in Charlestown, Mass., Sept. 11, 1844, and in this year assumed charge of the First Congregational Society in Billerica, Mass., where he remained for six years. His subsequent pastorate of the Allen Street Church in Cam- bridge was interrupted by long and serious illness, following which he supplied for several years the pulpit of the First Congregational Church in Lunenburg.
Mr. Thurston was called for two years to the Unitarian Church in Leicester, 1862-64, and rendered efficient service.
REV. EVERETT FINLEY,
was minister of the Second Congregational Church and So- ciety in Leicester, from February 3, 1867, until his early death at the age of thirty-two years, February 12, 1869. Funeral services at the meeting-house, February 16, were conducted by Rev. Mr. Chauncy, of Hollis Street Church, Boston, and interment was in Pine Grove Cemetery, Leices- ter; a plot of ground being purchased and dedicated to this purpose by his late parishioners.
Years after, Rev. Mr. Weston thus refers to him: "Some- what more than thirteen years ago you called a brave, earnest, whole-souled man to your pulpit.
" He was a man who was destined, had not a fatal disease brought him to a sad and untimely death, to stand among the leaders of religious thought and progress.
" He was a thinker, and a thinker who was true to his thoughts.
" There was no hypocrisy, no insincerity in the pulpit where Everett Finley stood.
"The Christian sacraments stood for a faith which he did
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not hold, and, true to himself, they were left unministered."
Rev. Mr. Finley, who belonged to the most radical wing of the Unitarian denomination, was much beloved and regretted.
DAVID H. MONTGOMERY. -
The invitation to the pastorate of the Second Congrega- tional Church in Leicester, Mass., extended to the Rev. David H. Montgomery, of date July 6, 1869, and his letter of acceptance received duly July 14, following, were the initial steps to eight years of good and useful work, which broadly include the community as well as the parish for which he was engaged.
" The liberal man deviseth liberal things," applies well to this faithful and consistent man, the imprint of whose labor, in Leicester, is still discernible.
Mr. Montgomery was strong in institutional work. It was he who established the annual visitation to the town farm in the observance of Christmas festivities, making the day one of rejoicing, to the dependent, sorrowful men and women there stranded, which was continued for thirty years by the Unitarian Society.
He also introduced the Christmas Festival into his own parish, and founded the Leicester Social Union, quite unsec- tarian in character and productive of excellent influences. In common with certain other subjects of these brief bio- graphical sketches, the most significant labor of his life lies elsewhere, in the authorship of educational books.
His letter of resignation of his pastorate in Leicester, bears date April 5, 1877, to take effect August 31 of that
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year. The receipt and acceptance thereof are spread upon the Church Record with expressions of sincere regret, as well as of highest appreciation of Mr. Montgomery's fidelity, industry, courtesy, and unfailing kindness to all.
The list of text-books written by D. H. Montgomery, in use not only in the United States but upon the other side of the Atlantic, include
Beginner's American History, Elementary American His- tory, The Leading Facts of American History, The Leading Facts of English History, The Leading Facts of French History, known comprehensively as The Leading Facts of History Series.
RECORD OF MARRIAGES. MINISTER'S BOOK.
During pastorate of David H. Montgomery.
1869. October 26. David Barnes of Spencer,
and Eliza Warren of Leicester.
1874. February 24. Henry H. Sugden of Spencer,
and Kate Warren of Leicester.
1875. October 27. Henry O. Smith, and Eliza Whittemore, both of Leicester. 1877. February 14. Stephen H. Hammond of Springfield, and M. Louisa Warren of Leicester.
SAMUEL BURNS WESTON,
Editor and Publisher, was born on a farm in Madison, Maine, March 10, 1855 ; son of Reuel Weston and Esther (Burns) Weston. At the age of thirteen years he went to school in Ohio, and graduated from Antioch College (founded by Horaco Mann) as A. B. in 1876. He gradu-
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ated from the Harvard Divinity School as B. D. in 1879, and studied in the Universities of Berlin and Leipzig 1881- 1883, and in the department of Political and Social Science in Columbia University 1883-1885. He married in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Oct. 9, 1891, Mary Hartshorne, and they have three children : Charles Hartshorne Weston, born in 1892, Harold Francis Weston, born in 1894, and Esther Burns Weston, born in 1899. He was minister of the Unitarian Society at Leicester, Mass,, 1879-1881; lecturer of the So- ciety for Ethical Culture, Philadelphia, 1885-1890; and has been director of the Philadelphia Ethical Society since Jan- uary, 1897. He was editor and publisher of the Ethical Record, 1888-1890, and has been editor of the International Journal of Ethics since 1890, and of Ethical Addresses since 1894. Mr. Weston is an independent in politics. He is Secretary of the American Ethical Union, and of the Con- temporary Club of Philadelphia ; member of the Executive Committee of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve, and of the Ausable Club ; member of the Public Education Association, National Civil Service Reform Association, American For- estry Association, National Charities and Correction Associa- tion, Municipal Research and Protective Association, Social Worker's Club and also a member of the City Club of Philadelphia.
The self-poise and valor evinced by Mr. Weston, when, as a young clergyman in his early twenties he yielded to the desire of a majority of his parishioners and held in abeyance the resignation he had tendered while the provisions of the Will of Captain Southgate might be tested, is matter of Church record, and appropriately appears among the printed annals.
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Rev. Samuel Burns Weston accepted the call to Leicester in 1879. His eminently thoughtful discourses from the pulpit, not altogether in the nature of technical sermons, aroused profound interest, and their increasingly liberal character apparently created no misgivings until May 16, 1880, when a lecture entitled Unitarianism provoked com- ment so serious from a prominent member of the Society, as being inconsonant with views to which the Society stands virtually pledged, that Mr. Weston upon the ensuing Sun- day, after a spirited discourse entitled Free Religion, tendered from the pulpit the resignation of his ministerial charge.
In this discourse occurs the following plain and direct statement of his position :
" That I am in hearty sympathy with the Free Religious movement, I have never for a moment tried to conceal, but have openly professed. In so far, too, as Unitarianism means Free Religion, as it certainly does with a large body of Unitarians, I am also a Unitarian ; but I have not taken and do not wish to take the Unitarian name until Unitarian- ism before the world and in its own body stands for the principles of Free Religion.
"At present, as I said last Sunday, one-half of the Unitarian body stands for Unitarian Christianity, and with the defini- tion of Christianity which I must hold to, holds to ideas which are fundamentally opposed to Free Religion. *
"As a Free Religionist I can work with those Unitarian Churches who adopt the principles of Free Religion, but if they choose to call themselves Unitarian Christians, I cannot take their name, as I prefer to hold to the word Christian as the Christian world uses it."
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This was on May 23, 1880. The Society held a meeting June 10, following, and voted not to accept the resignation of Mr. Weston.
They admired Mr. Weston's fearless independence in thought and act, the cordial and dignified bearing which daily endeared him to his people, and felt the community benefitted by his presence to a degree they could ill afford to lose.
Mr. Weston, made aware of the conditions of the South- gate Will, continued by the desire of the majority to occupy his pulpit, and an issue was accordingly raised between the Second Congregational Society and the Trustees of the Southgate Fund, although it would seem to the unbiased reader that Mr. Weston had too clearly defined his own position in its relation to the Will of Isaac Southgate, Esq., whose name is of frequent recurrence upon these pages, to admit of doubt or question.
That instrument is explicit regarding the conditions upon which the income accruing from his legacy of some twenty- five thousand dollars to this Church shall be employed.
It plainly stipulates that only "those broad and generous views of God, known as Unitarian," shall be promulgated from this pulpit if the Church derives benefit from the bequest.
With a view to arriving at an amicable decision touching Mr. Weston's sermons, the Second Congregational Society decided to submit to a Unitarian Committee of Reference the last six discourses delivered by Mr. Weston, prepared for his own congregation, and with no thought of publication.
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These appeared in neat pamphlet form, entitled respect- ively:
I. Divinity and Character of Jesus.
II. The Bible.
III. Unitarianism.
IV. Free Religion.
V. Christianity and the New Religion.
VI. The Christian and Free Religious Positions.
An extract from the will of the late Isaac Southgate, relating to a bequest in trust for the benefit of the Second Congregational Society of Leicester, Mass., was appended.
"I give, bequeath and devise to my friends, Abraham Firth, Esquire, of Worcester, Silas Gleason and Dwight Bisco, Esquires, of Leicester, the survivors and survivor of them and their successors, the net pro- ceeds of all the rest and residue of my estate both real and personal whatsoever and wheresoever the same may be, In Trust nevertheless, also after the death of my said wife, I further give said trustees the remaining three thousand five hundred dollars of which she has the income during her life; and I order my executors to pay over the same to said trustees soon as conveniently may be after my decease and after the decease of my said wife, the net income of all which to be appro- priated for the sole use, benefit and support of the Second Congrega- tional Society in said Leicester, called Unitarian, and for no other purpose except as hereinafter provided for. And I hereby order my said trustees and their successors to invest the net proceeds of said estate and the last mentioned sum soon as may be after having been received, in some safe way on interest as a permanent fund forever, and pay over the net income thereof semi-annually to the Treasurer of said Society, whose duty it shall be to appropriate the same, for the support of the minister who may be connected with said Society, and for other parochial charges. This fund is intended by me to firmly establish the religious Society in Leicester aforesaid; and the income thereof I wish paid to its minister as aforesaid, so long as he shall faithfully preach those broad and generous views of God, which are
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known by the name Unitarian. And whenever said Society shall maintain as its pastor, for the space of six months, a man who is not identified with the faith herein mentioned, this fund shall be forfeited by said Society, and shall he paid to the American Unitarian Associa- tion, as hereinafter provided. As it seems to nie proper and necessary that a religious society should own a house for its pastor, I hereby give the right to my executors, to retain that I now live in as a parsonage. But if at a legal meeting of said Second Congregational Society called for that purpose, a majority of the numbers present shall determine by ballot, it is best to dispose of said house, then I direct my executors to sell the same, and appropriate a sufficient and reasonable sum from the proceeds thereof for the purchase of a suitable and respectable resi- dence for their pastor to occupy. Believing it vitally important for the well being and prosperity of said Society that it should always have a settled minister, and to impress the same conviction more fully upon the members thereof, I make the following conditions to wit: That if said society within the period of three years from the time of my de- cease shall fail to have a minister settled over them, or shall fail, thereafter at any one time, for the period of three years, then in either event, I declare this fund forfeited. And if the said fund, for any of the reasons herein named shall be forfeited by said Society, then and immediately thereafter, I hereby direct my said trustees or their suc- cessors, to pay over the same in full, after deducting therefrom all reasonable and necessary expenses, to the American Unitarian Associa- tion, and also to convey to the president thereof, for the benefit of said Association, all the real estate if any, which may be vested in them as trustees. My wish is that the said Association shall appropriate two thousand dollars of the gift, if received, to their permanent Book Fund, and the balance thereof in such manner as its officers shall deem best for the promotion of the good cause of liberal Christianity. I hereby direct my said trustees, the survivors and survivor of them, to select their own successors, and that said successors be well known as Unitarian in their religious opinions, but if for any reason vacancies, in their board shall exist, which for a space of three months they fail to fill, then my wish is that the Judge of Probate for the County of Worcester, upon the petition of any person who may feel an interest in them, shall be and hereby is empowered to appoint to the first vacancy, the Pastor of the Second Congregational Society of Worcester, for the time being, and the second vacancy, the President of the American
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Unitarian Association. Feeling as I do a great interest in the peace, prosperity and continuance of said Society, and the views and doctrines it inculcates, have thought proper to leave this fund for its support, by the aid of which said Society can be easily and respectably sustained, and their members increased, if the members thereof will strive to keep peace within their borders. And to this end they must not permit the existing isms of the day to be introduced into their house of wor- ship to be discussed or agitated in any form. The various views and delicate feelings entertained on these subjects, and particularly that of Negro Slavery, are such that no religious Society can live and prosper where they are allowed to interfere with the services of public worship. Of the truth of this, we have had sad experience in our own Society. But the evil is extensive, in and of themselves, in proper places, it is right and just these subjects should have a fair hearing, but when they mingle they destroy. I do not wish or propose to trench on the feel- ings or right of any one. I act in good faith in the premises, and my only desire is to sustain, strengthen and build up said Society. This is the sole purpose for which I left this fund; and I hope and trust it will be so managed as to conduce to the good and well being of the same, and not suffer any discordant, ultra foreign views to be intro- duced into their body, nor allow their church or pulpit to be so occu- pied as to disturb the peace and good fellowship of its members."
I certify that the above is a true copy of Item 18, of the Will of Isaac Southgate, late of Leicester, Mass., deceased, now on file in the Registry of Probate for the County of Worcester, dated March 8th, 1859, and admitted to Probate in said County, January 1st, 1861.
I further certify that said Item 18 contains all of said Will relating to a bequest in trust for the benefit of the Second Congregational Society of said Leicester.
II. O. SMITH.
LEICESTER, MASS., Nov. 8, 1880. .
To the Council of the National Conference of Unitarian and other Christian Churches : Gentlemen : -
This question has arisen between the Second Congrega- tional Society of Leicester, Mass., and the Trustees of a
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fund for the benefit of said Society under the Will of Isaac Southgate, late of said Leicester : Do the views preached by Mr. Samuel B. Weston before said Society as its minister meet the requirements of said Will so as to entitle said Society to receive the income of the aforesaid fund for his support ? The Society maintains the affirmative and the Trustees the negative of the question.
It has been agreed by said Society and Trustees to ask the opinion of your Council thereon, and to be governed thereby. To this end we desire to submit to each member of the Coun- cil a printed copy of Six Sermons preached by Mr. Weston before said Society, and also a printed copy of all of said Will relating to this subject ; at the same time leaving you wholly free to make any inquiries, and seek such additional evidence as you may think necessary.
We respectfully and earnestly invite you to accept the duty of considering this matter.
We shall address this communication to the Rev. E. E. Hale as Chairman of the Council, and will send copies of the same for all the other members.
Hoping that you will accept our invitation, we remain,
Very respectfully yours,
H. O. SMITH, Committee of the
Second Cong. Society
WM. H. WALKER, E. SARGENT, of Leicester, Mass.
ABRAHAM FIRTH, DWIGHT BISCO, SAM'L MAY
Trustees under
the Will of Isaac Southgate.
NOTE. A reply was received from the Chairman of the Council, Rev. G. Reynolds, Nov. 22, saying that " the Council decline to serve as a
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Committee of Reference, feeling that by so doing, they might establish a precedent which would be a source of trouble to them or their suc- cessors ; and doubting besides whether it is wise for the Council offi- cially to put itself on record in the decision of such a matter." The following members of the Council, however, Rev. G. Reynolds of Con- cord, Mass., Rev. Messrs. George A. Thayer, E. E. Hale, D. D., and R. R. Shippen of Boston, Rev. George Batchelor of Salem, Mass., Hon. Carroll D. Wright, of Reading, Mass., and William B. Weeden, Esq., of Providence, R. I., were " willing to serve in their private capacity on such a Committee of Reference, on two conditions. First that the Con- mittee of the Society, and the Board of Trustees, shall each choose on their part some gentlemen residing in Boston or the vicinity to add to such a Committee ; Second, that both parties shall bind themselves to abide by the decision of the Committee so made up."
The Society and the Trustees accepted the offer of these gentlemen, and sent invitations to Prof. C. C. Everett, D. D., of Cambridge, and Hon. E. R. Hoar of Concord, Mass., to act with the gentlemen named above as a Committee of Reference. Both invitations were accepted.
Leicester, Dec. 14, 1880. . H. O. SMITH.
DECISION OF COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE.
BOSTON, Jan. 27, 1881.
H. O. SMITH and Others, Committee of Second Cong'l Society of Leicester, Mass.
ABRAHAM FIRTH and Others, Trustees under the Will of Isaac Southgate.
GENTLEMEN : -
We, the undersigned, to whom you submitted the question, " Do the views preached by Mr. Samuel B. Weston, before said Society as its minister, meet the requirements of said Will, so as to entitle said Society to receive the income of the aforesaid fund for his support ?" having carefully considered the question, are of the opinion
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that the views preached by Mr. Weston do not meet the re- quirements of said Will so as to entitle said Society to receive the income of the aforesaid fund for his support.
EBENEZER R. HOAR, GEORGE A. THAYER,
GRINDALL REYNOLDS, WM. B. WEEDEN,
C. C. EVERETT, RUSH R. SHIPPEN,
CARROLL D. WRIGHT, EDWARD E. HALE, 1ELIZABETH P. CHANNING.
LEWIS GILBERT WILSON,
was born in Southboro, Massachusetts, and received his early education in the public schools of Southboro and Bos- ton, and at the Worcester Academy. Mr. Wilson was graduated from the Meadville Theological School in June, 1883, and immediately thereafter received a call from the Second Congregational Church and Society in Leicester, Massachusetts, which he accepted, and where he served most acceptably for two years.
The preliminary Council for the Ordination of the Rev. Lewis G. Wilson, met in Memorial Hall, Leicester, Septem- ber 5, 1883 ; was called to order by the Rev. Samuel May, and after the customary preliminaries moved duly to the Church.
CHURCHES REPRESENTED.
First Congregational Church, Brookfield, Mass., by Rev. H. H. Woude, Pastor, Washington Tufts, Delegate.
1 In the previous note, the name of Rev. George Batchelor appears in the place of Elizabeth P. Channing, by mistake.
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Second Congregational Church, Worcester, Mass., by Ste- phen Salisbury, Samuel S. Green, and John C. Otis, Delegates.
Church of the Unity, Worcester, Mass,, by Dexter Rice, Alexander Bigelow, Albert Tolman, Delegates.
First Congregational Church, Uxbridge, Mass., Rev. George Bremner, Pastor, S. W. Scott, Delegate.
First Parish, Templeton, Mass., by Rev. A. C. Nickerson, Pastor, J. P. Cutting, Delegate.
First Unitarian Church, Clinton, Mass., by Rev. J. F. Dutton, Pastor, Mr. Forbes, Delegate.
First Parish, Ayer, Mass., by Rev. Lyman Clark, Pastor, H. A. Brown, Delegate.
First Parish, Cambridge, Mass., by Rev. Edward H. Hall, Pastor.
First Parish, Arlington, Mass., by Rev. J. P. Forbes, Pas- tor, S. S. Damon, Delegate.
Church of Our Father, Spencer, Mass., by Rev. C. A. Knickerbocker, Pastor, E. H. Howland, Delegate.
Hollis Street Church, Boston, Mass., Represented by Abra- ham Firth ; by special vote of the Council.
Also, by request of the Minister Elect and the Society, the Rev. A. A. Livermore, President Meadville Theo- logical School, was declared a member of the Council. The services in the church were of exceptional interest.
On September 26, 1883, Mr. Wilson married Janet M. Cook, of Southboro. In the Summer of 1885 he accepted a call to become the minister of the Hopedale Parish, in Hope- dale, Massachusetts, where he remained for nearly twenty years. On account of impaired health he resigned his pas-
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torate there in the autumn of 1904. After a partial release from ministerial duties he became for two years Billings Lecturer for the American Unitarian Association, visiting many of the churches in all parts of the country, and lectur- ing upon the character and history of Unitarianism. In September, 1907, Mr. Wilson was elected Secretary of the American Unitarian Association, succeeding the Rev. Mr. St. John.
RODNEY FULLER JOHONNOT,
was born at Newport, Maine, June 30, 1855; the son of a patriot. His father died in 1862, while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Young Johonnot was graduated from Maine Central Insti- tute in 1875, and entered Bates college the same year.
He worked his way through college; graduated in 1879; taught school and studied law for two years, and in 1881 entered the Law School of Boston University, and was grad- uated in 1882.
He was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar in 1883, and practiced law in Boston for two years.
Mr. Johonnot was reared a Methodist, and joined that Church while in College ; but later changed his theological views, and under the influence of Dr. James Freeman Clarke studied for the Unitarian Ministry, 1885-6, at the Harvard Theological School, Cambridge.
He was called to the Unitarian Church in Leicester in September, 1886, and after two years of most acceptable service returned to Cambridge in 1888 for another year of study.
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1889, Mr. Johonnot was called to the pastorate of the First Universalist Church of Lewiston, Maine, where he remained until 1892, when called to Unity Church, Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where he still officiates.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Rodney Fuller Johonnot by Lombard College in 1898, and that of Master of Arts in 1904 by his Alma Mater. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity; and prominent in the Illinois Society of the Sons of the Revolution, of which he is the Historian. Mr. Johonnot married Miss Rose A. Abbott, of Rumford, Maine, Nov. 5, 1890.
In accepting the pastorate at Leicester, it was a plainly expressed condition that Mr. Johonnot should be allowed to resume his studies in Cambridge when he should see fit. The following entry occurs in the Minister's Book :
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