USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hanover > History of the town of Hanover, Massachusetts, with family genealogies > Part 6
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July 16, 1867, he married Louisa Tower, widow of Dr. Charles Bowen, assistant surgeon to Lord Raglan during the Crimean War. She died, December 15th, 1903, at Hanover. He has two children; Ethel, now living with her father at Hanover, and Amy, wife of Albert L. Sylvester, of Hanover.
The Universalist Society.
Although the church of this society stands about two rods outside of the town limits, north of its northern boundary, yet so closely have it and its members been identified with the history of the town that both Barry and the Plymouth County History have included within their pages an account of the beginning and growth of what is now legally known as "The First Universalist Society in Norwell."
The doctrines of John Murray and the Ballous early found favor among the people of Hanover and the adjoining towns. In 1766, a movement was begun to form the society we are now considering. To understand the opposition which met the petitioners, we must consider the religious situation as it then existed. He who lived in any of the New England towns, at that date, was forced to con-
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
tribute of his worldly goods, not only to the support of the public offices, conveniences, and safeguards, but none might hope to escape the rendering of tithes for the support of religon. Each town levied taxes for its own purposes, and also for the support and main- tenance of the parishes within its territorial limits. If those parishes supported churches whose creeds were Calvinistic, as most of them were, each householder therein must, under penalty of law, contribute to the support of the preaching of the doctrine of eternal damnation, whether he believed in it or not.
So, when these Universalists who saw a new light, as they believed, wished to set up here a new church and a new parish, they could not thereby escape their legal obligations to support the opposite doctrines in the towns where their residence happened to be. They could have their faith preached, they were not debarred from holding their meetings wherever and whenever they chose; but the law would not, without special act, erect a new parish to draw sup- port for a new church from the parishes already established.
As these ancestors of ours felt little inclined to spend their substance in upholding two church organizations, they began, in 1766, the agitation referred to.
The first petition on record was made by the inhabitants in the northerly part of Hanover, to be set off as a new parish, and nothing was said of any change of faith. The petition was unfavorably acted upon.
Undismayed, the petitioners renewed their efforts in the follow- ing year, this time going to the General Court for their rights. When they arrived before the Legislature, they were met by an opposing committee chosen by the town, and came back without success.
Again, in 1771, they renewed their contest for what seems to us of the present day to be a right which they should never have been compelled to ask. Again they failed.
With the spirit of their Pilgrim ancestors, the Universalist peti- tioners, still undaunted, proceeded to erect a meeting-house. Just when it was built is not now known; but it was occupied in 1792, for, in that year, the town, with what now seems a fine sarcasm, voted to permit Mr. Mellen to preach a few Sabbaths in the house which the petitioners had erected in Scituate; and Mr. Mellen was the Orthodox minister !
Success crowned their efforts in 1812, when the Legislature incorporated them as an "Universalist Society." The members at that time were :
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Enock Collamore
Loring Jacobs Ichabod R. Jacobs John Jones, Jr. Calvin Wilder James H. Jacobs
Stephen Jacobs Elisha Barrell, Jr. Samuel Randall, Jr. Joshua Damon
Ebenezer Tolman
Jonathan Turner
Charles Tolman
Enoch Collamore, Jr.
Charles Jones
Benjamin Bowker
Isaac N. Damon Joshua Bowker James Jacobs
John Gross
Josiah Witherell
Samuel Simmons
John Jones
Abel Sylvester Charles Simmons
Perez Simmons
Seth Stoddard
George Litchfield
Elisha Gross
Reuben Sutton
William Hyland
Elisha Barrell
David Turner
Edward F. Jacobs
Theophilus Cortherell
Edward Curtis
In all, thirty-seven sturdy, prosperous, reliable citizens of their neighborhood. This was one of the first churches of this faith to be established in Plymouth County. Its members have been resi- dents of Scituate, South Scituate, (now Norwell), Hanover, Hingham, Duxbury, Plymouth, and other towns.
This new parish was technically called a Poll Parish. The corporators and their estates were taxed for church purposes in the new parish so long as they annually employed a minister; all other members of the parish were taxed in the old parish as before. They could, however, become members of the new parish and escape the old taxes by being formally admitted and then the certificate each received, when filed with the clerk of the old parish, released him from his obligations there. Later parishes of this faith sprung up and built churches in Hingham, Weymouth, Abington, Hanson, Halifax, Bridgewater, Duxbury and Plymouth. This society may well claim to be the parent of many of these.
It is interesting to note the persistency of the New England blood. Among the original corporators, the number of genera- tions who have continued to worship here vary. Loring Jacobs, counting the children of Percy H. Litchfield, five generations ; Ichabod R. Jacobs, four; John Jones, five; John Gross, three; Edward F. Jacobs, four; and Joshua Simmons (although he was not a corporator), and five generations of his descendants have here attended church.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Universalism, including in that term the so-called Restorationists, was a protest against the horrors of the Calvinistic Hell, with its never ending torments. It is probable that many of the origina- tors of this church were rather Restorationists than believers in a state of immediate happiness.
The picture of the first church edifice which stood where the present building stands, is drawn from descriptions given of it. There is no known drawing from the actual building extant. It had neither steeple nor bell. No stove warmed the cheerless interior. No blinds or colored glass tempered the rays of the
penetrating summer sun. The gallery, which ran around three
sides of it, had only benches, no pews.
No organ pealed through
its unplastered interior. The pulpit, from which John Murray's stern defiance of orthodoxy had rung, was raised high above the pews. No paint polluted the natural color of the wood of its construction, on the interior, and its exterior was covered with the native shingles, which needed no paint. The choir, high in, the loft opposite the pulpit, sang out the old long-metre hymns with the aid of no instrumental accompaniment, except a violin and a bass viol.
Barry's description of it is worth repeating here. It was "two stories high; the roof pitching east and west, with a porch on the east extending from the ground to the eaves, having doors in front and on each side of the same, with stairways within leading to the galleries. There were doors on the north and south ends of the house, at about its centre, and two rows of windows, the lower row lighting the body of the house and the upper, the galleries."
Let us pause a moment and consider what building this church meant to the farmers who undertook it, in the last quarter of the 18th century. It had no cellar, but its foundation stones were hewn from out our own rocky pastures, and split by the hand of some sterling Yankee farmer ; there was then no "foreign element." The farmer and his sons or other "help" were all natives and to the manor born, except a few colored men, remnants of slavery in New England. The oak frame was hewn with the broad axe from the trees cut in the near-by pastures. The boards and planks were probably sawn at Jacobs' Mill, which still performs similar service after an existence and ownership in the same family for two cen- turies and more. The ornamental work about the pulpit and pews was the work of the native carpenters, and every nail and spike in its whole construction was hammered hot by some near-by black- smith by hand. Money, that rare commodity, was needed for the
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
glass of the windows alone; all else, including the sashes and the doors, being carefully worked out of the native pines cut on our own hillsides by the farmer folk who owned them.
In 1832, during the pastorate of Rev. Robert L. Killam, the second structure owned by this society was constructed, John Gross being the contractor. It was of a type of colonial church archi- tecture of unusual beauty. In its spire, the first bell owned by the church rung out its mellifluous tones, calling the people to worship on the Sabbath, pealed patriotically forth its rejoicing, on the Fourth of July, raised the alarm, when conflagration threatened, and tolled, with sweet solemnity, its requiem for the dead.
Within its doors, one entered an entry across the whole width of the building, in the middle of the ceiling of which hung the big bell rope. On either side opened the doors into the body of the church. Two aisles led up through unpainted pews with ma- hogany-capped doors and often uncushioned seats to a massive rounded pulpit of glistening mahogany, reared somewhat above the pew tops. Behind this, against the whitened unfrescoed wall, rose almost to the arched ceiling an immense curtain of dark red drapery, while, suspended from the ceiling over the centre of the church, hung by a huge chain the chandelier, from whose brass hem- ispherical body sprouted long double-curved glass arms, supporting two rows of lamps. The gallery, or "singing seats," rose high behind the congregation, and three large windows on either side admitted the light. To one of the boys whose first church experience was gathered within these walls, this ensemble produced an effect that the gothic grandeur of Westminster could never kindle in later years.
During the sixties, the interior was remodelled on more modern lines. The pulpit was lowered and became a desk. The choir occupied a small gallery at a lower level, sharing it with a new church organ with its rows of painted pipes. The chandelier was abolished and the walls and ceiling were frescoed. The pulpit end of the church was lightened by removing the heavy draperies and substituting frescoed pictures therefor. The pews were painted and their doors removed.
June 21, 1893, during the progress of still other repairs, the edifice took fire and burned to the ground.
The new structure which was dedicated May 20th, 1894, less than a year after the fire, is still more modern. The design was prepared by the then pastor, Rev. Melvin S. Nash, and Harrison L. House, Esq., of West Hanover. The spire rises at the northeast
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
corner of the church and contains a bell, into the composition of which all of the old bell which could be utilized enters; but to some of us the sweetness of tone which characterized that older instrument, is lacking. The eaves project low toward the ground, and the whole effect of the building is that of a rustic chapel. The front portion of the floor is occupied by a Sunday School room, opening into the main auditorium by large doors, thus enlarging the size of the main room when occasion requires. The gallery is insignificant, but behind it is the church parlor. Underneath is a good cellar, in which the furnace and its fuel find a place. The interior effect is of a gothic chapel of which the prevailing tone is light yellow, which is carried out by the color of the glass in the windows.
A beautiful organ which cost over $1,000, fills the arched niche in the rear of the pulpit at the sides of which, entered by side doors, are the clergyman's room and the choir room. The choir station is between the organ and the preacher.
At the side of the pulpit a beautiful white marble chalice is placed, a gift of the children of Albert Whiting, Esq., of Hinhgam, in memory of their father and mother, who were during their life- time, constant attendants here. The pews are free, and their semi- circular arrangement adds to their usefulness.
To this people have spoken as ministers most of the shining lighte of Universalism, John Murray, the Ballous, Dr. A. A. Minor, Mrs. P. A. Hanaford, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Dr. Emerson, and many others.
The settled ministers were: David Pickering, Samuel Baker, Abner Kneeland, Elias Smith, Joshua Flagg, Benjamin Whitte- more, Robert L. Killam, (April 1, 1829 to April 1, 1838), Horace W. Morse (April 1, 1838 to April 1, 1839), John F. Dyer (April 1, 1839 to April 1, 1840), J. R. Burnham, (April 1, 1840 to April 1, 1841), John S. Barry (April 1, 1841 to April 1, 1844), M. E. Hawes (April 1, 1844 to April 1, 1845), Horace P. Stevens (April 1, 1846 to April 1, 1847), Robinson Breare (April 1, 1849 to April 1, 1852), Lewis L. Record (May 1, 1854 to April 1, 1859), Henry E. Vose (April 1, 1859 to April 1, 1866), Edward A. Perry (April 1, 1868 to April 1, 1871), James B. Tabor (April 1, 1872 to April 1, 1874), Prof. William B. Shipman of Tufts College, supplied the pulpit for six months in 1874, Rev. Jacob Baker of South Weymouth preached from April 1, 1875 to April 1, 1877, Augustus P. Rein (Sept. 1, 1877 to Jan. 1, 1881), Benjamin F. Eaton (Dec. 1, 1883 to April 1, 1885), Cephas B.
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Lynn (Jan. 1, to April 1, 1887), S. H. R. Briggs (Sept. 16, 1888 to July 1, 1891), Melvin S. Nash (Sept. 6, 1891 to March 25, 1900), Charles I. Burroughs (May 12, 1900 to Oct. 26, 1903), and H. Gertrude Roscoe, who was called June 1, 1905.
The early clergymen who officiated here were all men of strong and marked characters. Their sermons were usually polemical, as they were the heralds of the fight against orthodoxy. Among the most beloved was one whose kindly heart was echoed in the name by which he was in his later life known, "Father" Killam. One who knew him well through all his long life among us wrote of him "Those who grew old with him felt that it was no unmeaning term." Besides his practical and interesting discourses, he was ever engaged in something to make our neighborhood pleasant and cheerful, ever interested in our welfare. He shared our joys and our sorrows, and was ever the good adviser and, when darkness fell upon him in the evening of his days, many hearts were saddened. "Peace to his ashes."
He preached the last sermon in the first church edifice from the text in the first Corinthians, "For the fashions of this world pass away." And, when the new (the second) church was dedicated, his was the dedicatory discourse. His text then was from the ninety-ninth Psalm, "Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; for he is holy." Double services were then the vogue, and that afternoon the "Father of Universalism" as he was called, Rev. Hosea Ballou, spoke from the text, "God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
To complete the day of dedication, Rev. J. C. Waldo spoke in the evening from the text, "There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest another ?"
Rev. John S. Barry for three years occupied the desk. His "History of Hanover" is still the model for town histories every- where, and his "History of Massachusetts" opened to the eyes of the world the riches of the then newly discovered manuscript of Bradford's History. His literary style was good and differed but little from his conversation. As a boy, the writer remembers being struck by the man who talked as a book read. His widow and daughters still survive.
The devoted and untiring work which Rev. Melvin S. Nash gave to his pastorate here, should not go unnoticed. Mr. Nash came here to his first pastorate. No man ever sank self in his work for others more completely than he. No man ever more truly took
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
upon himself the burden of the sorrows and troubles of his congre- gation. The Golden Rule ever was his guide, and the Master has had no follower whose whole heart was in His work more complete- ly. Mr. Nash brought to his work and poured out upon his parish an enthusiasm which age may temper, but can never quench. He is still a resident of our town which he has served faithfully and well as High School master, school committee, library trustee, representative to the General Court in 1894, 1906, and 1907, and senator in 1909 and 1910. May his be a long life of usefulness, and may his reward be the gratitude to which his devotion to duty entitles him.
The Baptist Society.
The first and only Baptist Church in Hanover was erected in 1812. It is the only society in town still worshiping in its original edifice. This building stands on Main street, nearly op- posite Walnut street. In the minutes of the Old Colony Association, in 1859, it is recorded of this church that it has remodeled its house of worship by building underneath it a vestry and other commodious rooms and has otherwise improved the whole structure. In 1869, a pipe-organ was placed in the church and the spire was raised, very much to the improvement of its architectural appearance.
In 1806, certain members of the First Church in Marshfield, who resided in Scituate and Hanover, and who favored the theological ideas of this denomination, sought a new organization; and this church, the result of that movement, was constituted, February 11th, of that year by a council of three ministers and seven delegates from Baptist churches in Randolph, Attleborough and Bridgewater.
At this council Elder Joel Briggs, of Randolph, was moderator, and Elder Valentine W. Rathburn, of Bridgewater, was clerk.
The following people asked to be formed into the new Church :
Elder Barnabas Perkins
Sarah Brooks
Zacheus Lambert Enos Cox
Sarah Neal
Deborah Curtis
Lydia Brooks
Seth Curtis
Lucy Perkins
Curtis Brooks
Lucy Turner
William Curtis, Jr.
Mary Damon
Eleanor Brooks
Susanna Winslow
Anna Curtis, 2d
Hannah Curtis, 3d
Ruth Bourn
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Lydia Ford Olive Curtis
Ells Damon
Hannah Mann Huldah Thomas Anna Brooks
The process of forming a new church, as practised by the Baptists at this time, may be of interest. The foregoing persons had already adopted and signed articles of belief and covenant. These were presented to the council, examined and approved by it, and it then adjourned to 3 p. m. At the reassembling, the moderator gave public information of the state of the brethren and sisters, and of the doings of the council, and read the articles of faith and church covenant, to which the brethren and sisters again assented. The moderator then, by order of and in behalf of the council, gave the right hand of fellowship and delivered a solemn address to the new church, now constituted as "The Baptist Church of Christ in Hanover."
The first meeting of the new church occurred the next day, when Curtis Brooks was chosen standing church clerk; and he also re- ceived a unanimous election as first deacon.
Elder Barnabas Perkins, who was moderator of this first meeting, was then invited to "labor ten Lord's days during the year" for fifty dollars.
In August, "the church approbated William Curtis to improve his gift in doctrine," and, in the following February, he was invited to preach twenty Sundays during the year for "about fifty dollars." This arrangement continued for two years and, in 1809, he was requested by the Church to "subimt to ordination and take pastoral charge of the Church"; to which he assented, although there is no record that the ordination ever took place.
From 1807 to 1809, the pastor was William Curtis. December 12th, 1810, John Butler was ordained, having been settled over this society for a short time. During his ministry, the first church edifice was built. Mr. Butler remained here for fourteen years, and his ability as a minister and the success of his labors are still remembered.
The fortunes of the Society, after Mr. Butler's ministry termi- nated in 1824, were varied. Settled preachers were not always in charge, and the Society struggled for its life. Amos Lefavorer oc- cupied the pulpit from 1825 to 1828. Then for three years there was no pastor. From 1833 to 1834, Darius Dunbar occupied the pulpit. He was followed by Rev. Robert B. Dickie, from Nova Scotia, from July 1, 1834, to September 3, 1836. Then came Rev. Horace Seaver of Maine, for about two years, the Rev. Nathan
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Stetson (1839), and the Rev. Thomas Conant from 1840 to 1844. Mr. Conant went from here to Scituate, leaving the Society without a pastor and so it remained, until, in 1845, Rev. Nathan Chapman assumed charge of it for a year, to be succeeded, in 1846, by Rev. B. N. Harris. In June, 1849, Rev. William M. Slason became pastor for four years, followed in succession by Caleb Benson, 1853-54; Thomas Conant, 1854-56; J. M. Mace, 1856-57; Jacob Tuck, 1857-61; W. H. Stewart, 1861-63; Andrew Read, 1863-82 ; C. D. Swett, 1883-84; T. H. Goodwin, Dec., 1884 to 1888; Lewis D. Morse, a student at Newton Theological Seminary, acted as student supply. He was followed by Rev. B. W. Barrows. In 1893, Rev. J. J. Tobey of Carver, was called and remained here for seven years. In 1900, Rev. F. L. Cleveland came and remained until November 1, 1905. The present pastor is Rev. E. E. Ventress.
Among those were several men notable either in personality or service. Jacob Tuck was a member of the school committee, and the writer remembers well his striking appearance when he visited, for the first time, the school where, as a boy, he was a pupil. W. H. Stewart afterward found that his duty lay in service of his country and enlisted as a chaplain in the United States service, a position he held for over twenty-five years. His military bearing is well remembered by those who recall the great struggle between the States.
Andrew Read occupied the desk of this church for nearly twenty years, the longest period of any pastor. He identified himself with the town as a citizen as well as a pastor, served as school com- mittee for many years, and in every way, during a long residence, has exemplified the life of a good citizen and a good Christian.
While, like all our churches, this one was and has always re- mained small, the zeal of its members, their devotion to their church, and the uprightness of their lives have shown the sincerity of their professions and the strength of their faith.
John Collamore, who was one of the earliest deacons, was long and favorably known as one of the county commissioners, and a man of sterling worth and solidity. John Brooks was a modest, quiet, unassuming, never faltering follower of his Christ. His son, John S. Brooks, followed him in the Diaconate and sustains the reputation of his father as an honest, upright, Christian gentleman. He has occupied the positions of selectman, assessor, and overseer of the poor. He and his brother Thomas, have for many years con- ducted the store at North Hanover.
The present deacons of the Church are John S. Brooks and
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Horace W. Crane. The largest membership at any one time was 109, in 1839 ; its smallest, 40, in 1831.
The Church was legally incorporated, Feb. 11, 1901. Lucy F. Damon left her estate on the west side of Main street, the first house south from Mann's Corner, by her will, in trust for the benefit of the Church. The house was remodeled, and is now (1908), used as a parsonage.
Catholic Chapel.
About 1865 to 1867, monthly services of the Roman Catholic Church began to be held in Hanover. They were, for about twelve years, held in the house of some one of that faith. Mr. John Bannican's house, which stood in Pembroke, not far from the Rubber Mill, was often used at first. Later that of Mr. Solo- mon Russell in Hanover, near the same mill, became the house of worship. The nearest Catholic Church at that time was that at Centre Abington, known as St. Bridget's; and the Reverend Fathers who officiated there conducted the services in Hanover and Pembroke. In 1879, Rev. Fr. Wm. P. McQuaid of St. Bridget's succeeded in purchasing a site for a chapel on the south side of Broadway a few rods easterly from Spring street and there a chapel was at once erected, called the " Chapel of our Lady of the Sacred Heart." It is a plain building, simple in conception. It bears a small cupola, or steeple, on its front end.
About one hundred communicants worship here. The chapel was built by Ransom and Higgins, from plans made by J. H. Besarick.
First Church.
The close union of church and state in early Massachusetts his- tory is nowhere shown more clearly than in the history of its towns. The town organization being the unit of Municipal Government throughout New England, it is to it we should resort, in order to analyze the problems of governmental history.
When Hanover was incorporated, the mental condition of the Colony, its habit of thought in all affairs, municipal as well as religious, is indicated in the petition for its setting-off. That gave, as the principal reason for the calling into being of a new municipality, the fact that the burden of supporting and attending distant churches was too great to be borne. That a similar mental habit prevailed throughout the Colony and was not peculiarly
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