USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > Lawrence yesterday and today (1845-1918) a concise history of Lawrence Massachusetts - her industries and institutions; municipal statistics and a variety of information concerning the city > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
The development of the religious organizations has kept pace with the growth of the town and the city. There are now established in Lawrence 43 churches and 10 smaller organizations, making in all 53 religious bodies. The 43 churches are included in 12 distinct denominations.
The leading religious sects made almost simultaneous beginning in Lawrence, although 15 years before the founding of the town, on May 12, 1832, a church was duly organized in that part of Methuen now North Lawrence, in the old Prospect Hill school house. It was called "The First Protestant Episcopal Church of Methuen". Several months later it became known as "Mount Zion Church". An effort was made to have constructed a church building on the old Methuen Orthodox church site on Clover Hill, but the movement failed, and during the four or five years that this church existed services were held in the old Prospect Hill school house, in the old brick school house on Howe street at Grosvenor's Corner, and in a hall at Methuen village. The first Christmas service ever celebrated in this locality was held by this church. The communion service ware in use by this church served at Grace church in the early years of its organiz- ation, and was afterward loaned to the Lawrence Street church for use at the first communion of members thereof.
The importance of Lawrence as a field for religious teaching was fully comprehended by Catholic leaders, and they sent here, as pioneer workers for the church, men of large capacity and untiring energy.
We cannot fix with certainty the exact date when pioneers of this faith held first service here. Mass was probably first offered in Lawrence by Father McDermott of Lowell in the dwelling of Michael Murphy on Newton street in South Lawrence, in December, 1845, or early in January, 1846.
II6
LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
In April, 1846, Rev. Charles French commenced ministering to Catholics in Lawrence. He was the first clergyman of any denom- ination to actually purchase land for a church building. In a few months a modest wooden edifice was erected upon Chestnut street at the corner of White street, where regular services were held and quite a large school was maintained. About 35 percent. of the popu- lation of Lawrence in 1848 was naturally Catholic in religious tend- ency. Today this denomination predominates.
Father French died in January, 1851, being succeeded by Rev. James H. D. Taaffe, during whose pastorate, in 1854, the brick church (Immaculate Conception ) was built. In 1861 the fine-toned bell was placed in the tower, the first church bell to sound in the city.
The first building dedicated to religious worship in the city by Protestant worshipers was erected by Grace Episcopal Church on the lot near the corner of Jackson and Common streets, just north of the present stone edifice. It was a chapel of wood. Divine service was held in the building in October, 1846, and it was con- secrated the following November. Later it was removed to Garden street and used as a vestry until torn down to make room for the new and commodious brick chapel there erected.
The church edifice of stone was built in 1851, and consecrated in May, 1852. The building was enlarged in 1896. From the first gathering of this pioneer church until his death in 1876, the Rev. Dr. George Packard was rector of the church and parish. The present rector is Rev. Arthur Wheelock Moulton.
The Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Unitarians and Uni- versalists were also pioneers in the religious life of the community, all having become established here prior to 1850.
In June, 1846, the first Methodist preaching service in Law- rence was held at the house of Charles Barnes, No. 5 Turnpike street (Broadway). The Essex Mission (so called) was organized June 1, 1846. Two months later, the Methodists moved across the street into the attic of an unfinished building which was called "Concert Hall". The church building at the corner of Haverhill and Hampshire streets was dedicated February 20, 1848. In 1911 this society, the First Methodist Episcopal church, consolidated with the Garden Street Methodist Episcopal church, forming the Central Methodist church which now occupies the new attractive stone edifice on Haverhill street just east of Lawrence street. The Garden Street M. E. Church was for many years located in the brick struc- ture at the corner of Garden and Newbury streets.
The Merrimack Congregational Society (so called) was organ- ized August 1, 1846, but the name was changed to the Lawrence Street Congregational Church the following year, and January 5, 1847, meetings were begun in a small wooden building at the corner
CENTRAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
ST.LAURENCE'S CHURCH
ST. MARYS CHURCH
LAWRENCE ST. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
-
- Photography by Silverthorne
A GROUP OF CHURCHES
I18
LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
of Haverhill and Lawrence streets. On October 11, 1848, the old wooden church which for so many years occupied this site was dedicated. This structure was totally destroyed by fire in 1912, and was replaced by the present handsome stone edifice which was ded- icated in May, 1915.
The pioneer Baptist organization was the First Free Baptist church which was organized January 17, 1847, although services were first held by this sect in the boarding house of Timothy Osgood on Turnpike street (Broadway) in April, 1846. The church worshiped in a small chapel at the corner of Haverhill and White streets. This property was sold in 1857; the building was cut in two and made into two dwelling houses. The present church building, at the corner of Common and Pemberton streets, was dedicated April 21, 1857.
The First Baptist church had its beginning in the spring of 1847. Services were held irregularly in private homes or school houses until June, 1847, when a permanent church organization was effected, the new body taking the name of the Amesbury Street Baptist Church. A temporary building was erected on a lot in the rear of the site of the present structure. But this was soon found to be inadequate, and the Essex Company gave the lot of land at the corner of Haverhill and Amesbury streets, where the society com- menced the work of building the church it now occupies, which was completed and dedicated October 20, 1850.
On August 30, 1847, the Unitarian church was organized. The first meetings were held in the Odd Fellows hall on Hampshire street, and later in a chapel which had been erected for that purpose. In May, 1850, the old wooden church building at the corner of Jackson and Haverhill streets was dedicated, the tower and spire of which was destroyed by fire August 12, 1859, and had not been replaced. This structure was torn down in 1916 and a much smaller building erected.
On November 15, 1847, the First Universalist Society was organ- ized and the first meetings held in a school house on the southerly side of Haverhill street near where the Battery building now stands. Meetings were afterwards held in Bridgman hall, on Oak street, and later in Lawrence hall (since known as Music hall) on Common street. In 1852 a church edifice was erected on Haverhill street, and in 1865 the building was remodelled and enlarged, and a spire added, forming the present structure.
In touching on the pioneer churches, mention should be made of the Central Congregational Church, since merged in the Trinity ·Congregational Church. This society was organized December 25, 1849, and meetings were held in the City Hall from that date until August 5, 1854, when a new church at the corner of Essex and Appleton streets was dedicated. Here regular services were held
119
CHURCH HISTORY
until August 12, 1859, when the structure was totally destroyed by fire. In the fall of the same year the society commenced work on the stone church (now Trinity church) fronting the common on Haverhill street, which was dedicated June 1, 1860. On June 28, 1883, the Central and Eliot Congregational churches were consoli- dated, and the name changed to Trinity Congregational Church. The Eliot Congregational society had been organized September 28, 1865, by some members of the Lawrence Street and Central churches. Services were held in the City Hall and Grace church until September 6, 1866, when the brick church building at the corner of Appleton and Methuen streets was dedicated. For a number of years this struc- ture was the home of the Young Men's Christian Association. It is now occupied by the appliance department of the Lawrence Gas Company.
St. Mary's Catholic Church, another pioneer, had its beginning in November, 1848, when Rev. James O'Donnell came to Lawrence and celebrated mass in old Merrimack hall at the corner of Jackson and Common streets. He secured the central site now occupied by St. Mary's granite school building on Haverhill street. Here on the first Sunday in January, 1849, he first held service in an unfinished rough church edifice constructed of wood. It was winter, the roof was open, and snow came down upon the congregation as they knelt ; the pulpit was a pile of shingles. In 1851, the granite church build- ing went up, over and about the little chapel before its removal. This structure is a part of the present stone school building.
In August, 1859, Father O'Donnell introduced the Sisters of Notre Dame who established the parochial school that has developed to such great proportions. Father O'Donnell was the real founder of St. Mary's church, although the corner stone of the present magni- ficent edifice (the largest and most imposing in the city, and one of the best specimens of Gothic architecture in the country) was laid on August 19, 1866, during the pastorate of Rev. Louis M. Edge. While in Philadelphia arranging for raising the cross on the new St. Mary's church, Father Edge was thrown from a carriage, and death resulted on February 24, 1870.
The present St. Mary's church was completed under the direction of Father Galberry and was dedicated September 3, 1871. The parochial residence on Haverhill street, occupied by Augustinian Fathers who now have charge of all the English-speaking Catholic churches on the north side of the Merrimack River, was completed October 5, 1873. The chime of bells in St. Mary's church tower was placed in position December 12, 1884.
Rev. James T. O'Reilly, the present pastor, came to Lawrence in 1886. His indefatigable energy and business acumen have brought the parish to a most remarkable state of development. Father O'Reilly
I20
LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
was interested in promoting the organization of nearly every non-English speaking Catholic parish of the city. St. Mary's parish over which he has jurisdiction, includes St. Mary's, Immaculate Conception, St. Augustine's and Assumption of Mary churches.
Other religious organizations in the city were established in the following order :-
United Presbyterian :- Organized in June, 1854. Church edifice on Concord street, now occupied by the Armenian Congregational church, built in 1870. Society moved into the old Haverhill Street Methodist Episcopal Church building, corner of Haverhill and Hamp. shire streets, on October 1, 1911, following the merging of that church in the present Central Methodist Episcopal church.
Second Baptist :- Organized September 6, 1860. Present build- ing on Common street erected in 1874.
St. John's Episcopal :- Organized May 14, 1866. For many years located on Bradford street in the building now occupied by the Lithuanian Catholic church. Corner stone of present edifice on Broad- way laid October 11, 1903.
South Congregational :- Organized May 13, 1868, although a Sunday school was established in 1852. Present church building erected in 1896.
St. Patrick's ( Catholic ) :- Parish formed in 1868. First church building of wood, built on site of present substantial structure, was dedicated March 17. 1870. Corner stone of brick edifice on South Broadway laid in 1881 and building was dedicated June 17, 1894.
Parker Street Methodist Episcopal :- Organized September 16, 1870. Present edifice on Parker street dedicated in 1875.
Advent Christian :- Society had its beginning in 1860. Church organized in November, 1870. Edifice on Lowell street dedicated in 1899.
United Congregational :- Lowell street. Organized as Primitive Methodist church in 1871. Name changed to Tower Hill Congrega- tional in 1877, and since March 2, 1886, has been called the United Congregational. Church building erected and occupied in 1872.
St. Anne's ( French Catholic ) :- Parish formed in December, 1871. Construction of old church on Haverhill street commenced in 1873. Completed and dedicated in 1883. In the meantime, mass was said in the basement of the building. First service in commodious edifice on Franklin street held January 7, 1906.
St. Laurence's ( Catholic ) :- Old structure at the corner of Essex and Union streets, now occupied by the Holy Rosary church (Italian Catholic ), was dedicated as St. Laurence-O"Toole's church July 12, 1873. Present brick edifice at the junction of Newbury and East Haverhill streets erected in 1903.
I2I
CHURCH HISTORY
Riverside Congregational :- Water street. Sunday school estab- lished in April, 1862. Church organized as Union Evangelical church in June, 1875. Became a Congregational church March 9, 1878.
German Methodist Episcopal :- Vine street. Organized in 1878. Church dedicated December 11, 1881.
St. Augustine's ( Catholic) :- Church building on Water street completed and first mass celebrated there on Christmas Day, 1878.
German Presbyterian :- East Haverhill street. Had its beginning in 1872. Church building dedicated December 12, 1875. Organized as a Presbyterian church in 1879. There had been a split in the congregation in 1878, members of Methodist inclination forming the German Methodist Episcopal church.
St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal :- First known as the Bodwell Street Methodist Episcopal church. Organized in December, 1879. Name changed to St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal church in 1890. Edifice at the corner of Essex and Margin streets dedicated May 22, 1 890.
St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal :- Wyman street. Organized December 30, 1885, as the Arlington Union Church in a building known as the Lake Street chapel. Became a Methodist Episcopal church April 30, 1891.
Religious Society of Friends :- Established May 12, 1886. First service in the meeting house on Avon street in March, 1896.
Church of Assumption of Mary (German Catholic) :- Parish formed in 1887, and present edifice on Lawrence street erected the same year.
Congregation of Sons of Israel (Jewish) :- Organized October 3, 1894. Synagogue on Concord street built in 1913.
First Church of Christ (Scientist) :- Sunday school established in 1887. Church organized in March, 1896. Edifice on Green street dedicated in August, 1896.
St. Joseph's Syrian (Greek Catholic Rite) :- Parish formed by Rev. James T. O'Reilly of St. Mary's in 1898. First worshiped in St. Mary's stone school building. Church on Oak street dedicated in 1905.
Sacred Heart ( French Catholic) :- Parish formed in 1899. Established in basement of proposed church building on Groton street in 1915.
Wood Memorial Free Baptist :- Sunday school established in 1898. First service held in church building on Coolidge street in November, 1899.
Congregation of Anshea Sfard ( Jewish) :- Organized April 6, 1900. Synagogue on Concord street built in the fall of 1907.
122
LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
St. Anthony's Syrian Maronite (Catholic) :- Parish formed in May, 1902. First worshiped in St. Mary's stone school building. Church on Elm street dedicated in 1906.
St. Francis (Lithuanian Catholic) :- Parish formed in 1903 by Rev. James T. O'Reilly of St. Mary's. Building on Bradford street, formerly occupied by St. John's Episcopal church, bought the same year and congregation became established there.
Holy Trinity ( Polish Catholic) :- Parish formed in December, 1904. First worshiped in the basement of the Holy Rosary (Italian) church. Church on Avon street dedicated February 5, 1905.
Sts. Peter and Paul (Portuguese Catholic) :- Parish formed by Rev. James T. O'Reilly of St. Mary's in 1905. First worshiped in the basement of the Immaculate Conception church. Edifice on Chestnut street dedicated in 1907.
St. Augustine's Episcopal :- Established as a mission of Grace church in 1905 when the chapel was built at the corner of South Union and Boxford streets. Became a separate parish in 1907, and in 1910 occupied the basement of the proposed church.
Franco-American Methodist Episcopal :- Organized October 20, 1907. Moved to building on Water street in 1914.
Church of Holy Rosary (Italian Catholic) :- Parish formed March 4, 1908, when congregation became established in old St. Laurence's church building at the corner of Essex and Union streets.
Salem Street Primitive Methodist :- Organized as a mission sta- tion in September, 1915, and became established in the present building on Salem street the same year.
Bethel Armenian Congregational :- Started as a mission of the Lawrence Street Congregational church about 1902. Organized as a church in 1916. Became established the same year in the building on Concord street, formerly occupied by the United Presbyterian church.
Besides the above mentioned, there is a number of smaller religious organizations established in the city, including: Armenian National Apostolic Church, First Spiritual Church, Lighthouse Mission, Lithuanian National Catholic Church, St. George Syrian Greek Orthodox Church, St. John Baptist Russian Greek Catholic Church, Salvation Army, Spiritualist Temple, Swedish Lutheran Church, Syrian Protestant Church.
Y. W. C. A. AND Y. M. C. A.
Besides the churches there is a number of semi-religious organ- izations identified with the moral uplift of the community, notable among which are the Young Women's Christian Association and the Young Men's Christian Association. Both associations provide fine
123
CHURCH HISTORY
facilities for physical and mental development and comfort, in addition to the religious instruction which is carried on through bible classes. The new Y. M. C. A. building is one of the attractive structures of the city. In 1909, during a whirlwind campaign of ten days $169,000 was raised by popular subscription for this building. Besides all the usual equipment and activities of a Y. M. C. A., there is a large swimming pool. The Y. M. C. A. was organized in 1876, and re- organized in 1893. It was incorporated January 14, 1880. The early Y. M. C. A. of 1856 did not survive the hard times of that period and the Arlington Y. M. C. A. was merged in the present organization. The Y. W. C. A., for young women, was organized June 6, 1892. The aim of the organization is to do spiritual work among young women, recognizing at the same time their intellectual, social and physical needs. The association has had a steady growth, and it is especially helpful to young women who have no home ties here.
RESPONSES TO COUNTRY'S CALLS
Lawrence has a war record of which any community might well be proud. Her responses to the country's calls have been quick and generous, and many of her sons have been sacrificed in the defense of the nation's integrity and honor.
For several years prior to 1861, Lawrence had maintained two well organized and disciplined companies in the State Militia. These companies were among the first to offer their services when the Rebellion reared its head. Early in January, 1861, and long before the blow fell upon Fort Sumpter, the Lawrence companies, together with the others composing the Sixth Regiment, tendered their services to the Governor whenever they might be needed. This was the first offer of organized troops for the defense of the national government. Lawrence blood was the first to be spilled in that famous passage of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment through Baltimore on April 19, 1861, when Sumner H. Needham, a citizen of Lawrence and a member of Company I, gave his life for his country.
Statistics show that Lawrence did her full duty in the Civil War, and from 1861 to 1865 furnished 2,617 volunteers and drafted men, a surplus of 224 above all calls made upon her. This was a little less than one-seventh of the population which in 1861 was but 18,000. Of this quota 255 were killed in battle or died of wounds.
As in the epoch days of the Civil War, so in a later generation did Lawrence acquit herself, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Her sons were among the first to volunteer. Although the city furnished many men to the regular army, the navy and other volunteer organizations, the part which Lawrence took in the brief but glorious campaign of '98 must be largely confined to her two representative infantry organizations, viz .. Company F of the 9th, and Company L of the Sth Regt. Infantry, M. V. M. On May 4, 1898, Company F left for the state camp grounds at South Framing- ham. On the following day Company L departed, joining Company F at the muster field. Battery C of the Field Artillery was not called. as the national government needed no volunteer light batteries then.
Both infantry companies were mustered into the service of the United States on May 10 and were duly ordered south. Company L was sent to Chicamauga, Ga., and Company F to Camp Alger, Dunn Loring, Va. The 9th Massachusetts, which was brigaded with two Michigan regiments, the 33d and the 34th, experienced the vicis-
RESPONSES TO COUNTRY'S CALLS 125
situdes of a siege in the trenches around Santiago de Cuba, and afterward the dreaded fevers of a tropical climate. It left Camp Alger on June 24, and on July I reached Siboney, some seven miles east of Morro Castle. The regiment had hardly disembarked when they were ordered to the front. After an all night tramp over a tortuous trail they arrived at the battleground, to the accompaniment of whistling mausers and screaming shrapnel. With the rest of the regiment, Company F was assigned by General Shafter to General Kent's division, and General Bates' brigade with the 3d and 20th regular infantry. It took a position at the extreme left of the line. On July 17 it witnessed the surrender of Santiago.
Company F left Cuba the latter part of August, sailing on the "Alleghaney" for Montauk Point. During the voyage, on August 28, Stephen J. Ryan, for whom the local camp of Spanish War Veterans is named, died of heart failure which was superinduced by malaria. His body was consigned to the deep off Cape Hatteras, making one of the fifteen ghastly milestones that marked the route of the transport from Santiago Bay to the Sound. A portion of the company arrived in Lawrence at midnight September 8. The rest were left behind, some in hospitals at Santiago and Montauk and others scattered from New York to Boston, victims of malaria. The company was furloughed for two months, and was mustered out of the United States service November 26, 1898, having served six months and lost four of its members from the effects of tropical fevers.
Longing for a taste of actual warfare and chafing under the humdrum routine of a rigid camp life, Company L spent several months at Chicamauga, guarding against typhoid fever. On July 18 Harvey A. Dunn, a member of the company, succumbed to the disease, the first Lawrence volunteer to die in his country's service. In January, 1899, the 8th Regiment was ordered to Matanzas, Cuba, on provost duty. The last of April it was sent home and mustered out, having completed a year in the service of the United States.
When trouble with Mexico threatened in 1916, the Lawrence militia units readily responded to the call, Companies F and L of the 9th and Sth infantry, respectively, and Battery C of the Field Artil- lery joining the troops assembled on the Mexican border. The local boys left the city in June. They returned the following October, looking a picture of health, a fine example of the results of present- day military sanitation. Not a man was lost through disease, and, since the embroglio with Mexico did not reach a very serious stage, none died in action.
In 1917, Lawrence, with the rest of the country, faced a most serious crisis in her history, when on April 6 the United States declared a state of war with Germany and the nation became involved in the great European conflict.
.
LAWRENCE IN THE WORLD WAR
In the World War, Lawrence achieved, and, at this writing, is still achieving a record for service, which will compare favorably with that of any other community of her size in the country. In every activity for a successful prosecution of the war the city has responded nobly, and she is prepared to go the limit for the cause.
With the declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917, and the plunging of the United States into the great European con- flict, Lawrence quickly rallied to the support of the nation in her fight, that the world might be made safe for Democracy. In men, money and labor the city has contributed generously and whole- heartedly. Already 32 young men from Lawrence, in the forces of the United States and the armies of the Allies, have made the supreme sacrifice. These martyrs to the cause of Democracy have, with few exceptions, been killed in action, or have died of wounds received while on the firing lines.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.