USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Watertown > Memorial history of the First Baptist Church : Watertown, Massachusetts. 1830-1930. > Part 4
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Grace Alemian
Cleto Antoni
Janet Brown
Francis Bates
Idabelle Carrington
Edward Bates
Helen Chandler
Richard Diran
Marjorie Chase
William Dudley
Margaret Garabedian
Neal Grundy
Blanch Girard Ester Harvey
Donald Maxwell
Barbara Phelps
Alan Ringrose Robert Porter John Wilson
Elizabeth Rawlings Allison Ringrose
Robert Clive
Louise Stone Ruth Wilson
Vernon Clive
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CHAPTER V
THE LATER PROPHETS
R EV. GRANVILLE S. ABBOTT. Septem- ber 28, 1869. The church voted to extend a call to Rev. Granville S. Abbott, of South Boston, to lead the Baptists of Watertown. October 12, 1869, the Society voted to concur in this action and he began his labors in November, 1869.
December 18, 1869 an attempt was made to burn the church building. Elizabeth Pratt, daughter of the Sexton, Elijah Pratt, frustrated this dastardly act of arson, and the records of the church preserve this hearty vote of appreciation : "That the thanks of this church are due to Sister Elizabeth Pratt, and that they are hereby tendered to her and placed upon record for her heroic conduct in appearing at the midnight hour on the night of December 18, 1869 - to the dismay of the would be incendiaries of our House of Worship - and doubtless its preservation from destruction at their hands."
Later, on February 10, 1870, about fifty of the older members visited the Pratt home, still standing, and pre- sented Miss Pratt with a beautiful writing desk as an expression of their gratitude. They also presented a copy of the Sacred Scriptures to Mrs. Pratt and a roll of bills to Mr. Pratt for their fidelity to the Baptist cause in its days of early trial in Watertown.
July 8, 1870, the church voted the Pastor a leave of absence to visit Europe during the present summer or autumn. During his absence the church building was repaired at an expense of five thousand dollars.
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THE HOME OF ELIJAH PRATT Second meeting place of the Sunday School. (Still standing at corner of Spring and Summer Streets.)
Watertown Baptist Church
Granville Abbott was a preacher much beloved by his people and was ably seconded in his ministry by his talented and saintly wife. Seventy-seven new members were welcomed during the seven years of his service in Watertown. In the annals of history it was the second longest pastorate in the first half century of the life of the First Baptist Church.
No single idea was ever more prolific of reasons for historic immortality than the "Old Folks' Party" given by the young people of the church to the aged people of the church. The qualifying age for an invitation was sixty years, or upwards, and forty-two were present as: guests.
During the afternoon the guests were photographed,. in an artistic group, in front of the church building and an enlargement of this photograph adorns the wall of the chapel wing of our present Gothic structure. The "sunset grouping" of characters and costumes is a mas- terpiece of Baptist personality and style. Never before or since has such a picture been taken in our Common- wealth; it cannot be duplicated in reality; it is ever a priceless inspiration to those who saw the living group.
What a legacy for Pastor Abbott and his artistic wife to bequeath to all lovers of the beautiful? To this "Twain made one flesh" belong much of the glory of the conception and consummation of the picture. We- append the names and ages of the forty- two guests.
Old Folks' Party
Mrs. Lydia W. Small
70 Mrs. Catherine Wellington 92
Mrs. Eliza C. Stone
89 Mrs. Sarah D. Lowell 70
Deacon Joshua Coolidge 86 Miss Susan Bacon 73.
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A Memorial History of the
Mrs. Hannah Hall
81
Miss Mary R. Cook
73
Mr. John Taggard
78 Mr. Samuel Noyes
69
Mrs. Eliza W. Taggard
81 Mrs. Mary E. Noyes 63
Mrs. Antipas Jackson
77 Mr. Rufus Brooks 65
Mr. Antipas Jackson
74 Mrs. Mary A. Brooks
60
Mr. Elijah Pratt 73
Capt. Samuel C. Howes
63
Mrs. Lucy B. Pratt
77
Mrs. Luther Bent
63
Mr. Miles Sprague
79
Mr. Daniel A. Tainter
61
Mrs. Mariah Stone Hoar
79 Mrs. Persis H. Tainter
60
Deacon John Coolidge
78 Mr. James M. Richardson
61
Mrs. Mary S. Coolidge
73 Mrs. Anna H. Richardson
66
Deacon Newell Brown
74
Miss Ellen F. Wheeler
73
Mrs. Mary W. Brown
71
Rev. A. B. Earle
60
Deacon Jesse Wheeler
68
Mrs. Elizabeth Stevens
65
Mrs. Abigail Wheeler
67 Mrs. Isabella Nichols
69
Mrs. Joshua Learned
76 Miss Sarah Stone
61
Mrs. Ann Learned
76
Mrs. Nancy Pervis
68
Mrs. Sarah McMasters
61
Deacon Royal Gilkey
Rev. and Mrs. Granville S. Abbott
Supt. and Mrs. W. A. Blodgett
The oldest member of the party, Mrs. Catherine Wellington, ninety-two years old, joined the church by letter the first year after its formation.
In 1877, much against the wishes of the church, Pas- tor Abbott resigned and went abroad for travel. Later he served Baptist churches in San Francisco and Oak- land, California.
From 1882 - 1894, he was agent of the American Baptist Publication Society. He passed to his reward in Oakland, California, November 22, 1897.
In 1913 and again in 1925 your historian was a mem- ber of the Sierra Club outings among the high peaks of California. These outings entrained at the Oakland Mole. On both occasions we witnessed marvelous sun-
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Watertown Baptist Church
sets through the Harbor Golden Gate. It was then that we recalled this man of God and his good wife, and the "Sunset group" they left behind them in the Water- town church. The light of earth's day has closed for all in the historic picture, but all have had a "Sunrise Reunion" in the "City of the King," the king they de- votedly loved and served.
Interim Pastors. Prof. Heman Lincoln, D. D., was the Interim Pastor before the installation of Rev. E. A. Capen and Rev. George T. Buckley, D. D., served the church in a similar capacity before the settlement of Rev. Charles H. Day, D. D. Both of these leaders greatly endeared themselves to the Watertown church by the fine quality of their service. It was so sympa- thetic, scholarly, and satisfying that their contribution cannot be omitted from the story of One Hundred Years.
During Prof. Lincoln's term of pastoral leadership, a notable series of union meetings were held under the direction of Moore and Littlefield. Pastors T. W. Bishop of the Methodist Church; E. P. Wilson, of the Congregational Church, and Prof. Lincoln, of New- ton, proved strong allies for these distinguished lay- men. No business man in Greater Boston, in the last half century, has surpassed H. M. Moore in the presen- tation of gospel truth. His sway over the hearts of men was phenomenal and Littlefield sang his way where Moore could not go. Scores of the finest young men and women of the town were added to the church and built into its working force. We think of Moody and Moore whenever we think of Northfield.
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A Memorial History of the
June 3, 1877, Prof. Lincoln baptized at the old Town Landing, one of the last baptisms held at that place, the following group: Albert M. Davenport, M. Thatcher Rogers, Mrs. Hattie E. Rogers, Hattie E. Wiswall (Capen), Maria A. Tucker (Ballentine), S. Alice Gregg (Rockwell), Edith Richardson, Hattie H. Nor- cross, Jessie M. Rice, Bertha P. Horne (Snow), Frank R. Shorey, Charles F. Proctor, and James E. Nor- cross.
Analyze the service rendered by that group in the realms of pedagogy, missions, the ministry, business and woman's public activities; the classified data alone would enrich the memorial volume of which this bare outline is made an integral part.
All three churches shared in the gracious blessing from Heaven.
Rev. Edward A. Capen. In the economy of God there are varieties of answers to prayer as well as vari- eties of religious experience. In the realm of prayer, so the scripture informs us: "God is able to do exceed- ing abundantly above all we ask or think." This quota- tion was verified in 1877 when a praying church sought Pastor Abbott's successor. In answer to prayer, God sent the Watertown Baptist Church a family.
"The Coming of the Capens" might well be chosen as the historic caption of the longest pastorate in the history of the church. Father Capen, Mother Capen, Brother Will, Pastor Capen, his versatile wife, and that unmatchable trio, Randall, Ned and Lou. What a gift from God !
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Watertown Baptist Church
Their arrival was the advent of radiant personality. They brightened every corner of parish need. They formed rallying points for all ages which time and problems could not change.
Their team play was extraordinary; they never fum- bled the ball, nor lost a game. Their loyalty to the church and its highest interests was unquestioned and their stock of visions and ideas was always up to date. Everywhere and under all conditions they were ex- ponents of "the light that never faileth." We have never met a finer example of the far-reaching influence of a christian family.
Father Capen early went home to his reward but the seven who remained carried on with unflagging zeal. The church, though made up of diverse minds upon the more non-essential elements of faith, was consoli- dated and strengthened in a remarkable degree under such unselfish leadership.
The prophet Ezekiel caught a "Vision of Wheels" when the word of the Lord was upon him by the River Chebar. Your historian cannot omit a "Vision of Wheels" from his record of Pastor Capen's visitations by the River Charles.
The bicycle, then a novelty and a precursor of the vehicles of 1930, had the "Spirit of the living creature" in its rolling mechanism, and it attracted the attention and more than quadrupled the calling efficiency of this man of God. For the neighbors who watched him learn to mount and ride, the mastery of that wheel was a daily, motion picture of unalloyed fun, but once mastered it became, rapidly, an evangel of good will.
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A Memorial History of the
No religious leader in any community ever surpassed Edward A. Capen in the fine art of studying door plates. He was always where he was needed and with surprising promptness. "For the spirit of the living creature was in his wheel." Pastor Capen believed that God had called him to cultivate the full acreage of his parish and such broad territorial boundaries as Newton Corner, Bemis, Waverley, Mt. Auburn, and all of Watertown marked the arena of his notable vic- tories.
With the exception of a trip abroad and the annual vacation periods, Pastor Capen in his church appoint- ments was fidelity personified. If a severe storm spelled "two or three" at the mid-week service he was always one of the two. If poor feelings tempted him to remain at home from some church function, nobody outside his charmed circle knew it, and he mastered the art of say- ing to the tempter : "Get thee behind me." If counter attractions, on Sunday or week-day evenings, threatened the attendance at the First Baptist Church, he let them threaten. His schedule of public services was so simple and workable that it never suffered from denomina- tional competition.
His relations with his brother ministers in town were friendly in the extreme. Union efforts for local evan- gelization and the observance of special church days al- ways received his warm-hearted support. The annual visitation of neighboring Baptist pastors was a feature of his good will. Occasional exchanges with J. S. Swaim, J. P. Abbott, H. F. Perry, C. H. Watson, W. M. Mick and others are among the golden memo- ries of two decades of visiting ministerial friends.
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Watertown Baptist Church
The monthly Sunday evening missionary meeting was always crowded and never dull. Two hundred and thirty services, in twenty-three years, devoted to personal contact with men and women from a world front, and the presentation of live missionary data by those who had been thrilled by the facts they gathered, kept alive missionary zeal and devotion whose fruitage eternity alone can fully appraise.
Three series of Union Revival Services were held during Pastor Capen's ministry and one series was held by the Baptist Church alone. The leaders were Revs. L. B. Bates, W. A. Dunnett, D. B. Towner and C. C. Luther. As a direct result of these joint religious appeals several hundred expressed a desire to become christians and the Baptist church shared generously in the revival blessing.
April 21, 1893, through the generosity of Brother Will Capen, General Secretary James E. Norcross, of the Waltham Y. M. C. A., was called to become assist- ant to Pastor Capen as the first full time, paid assistant in the history of the church. Under this dual leader- ship a program of church expansion was launched that produced tangible results.
For a long time there had been a Union Mission in the Mt. Auburn District, but its growth had been small. Deacon Henry Richardson of the Watertown Church was one of its chief supporters. At his suggestion the new assistant began systematic visitation on the Mt. Auburn field and became stated Sunday afternoon preacher. The results were so satisfactory that the property was offered to the Watertown church to use in promoting the interests of a Baptist church in that
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A Memorial History of the
vicinity. January 4, 1894, it was voted to accept the property known as the Mt. Auburn Mission Chapel when it should be legally and properly offered to us." This action was ratified March 29, 1894, and Pastor Capen's program of expansion was justified and be- gan to bear fruit.
The inauguration of Cottage Prayer Meetings in the Waverley section was also started and furnished a spiritual clinic for the overflow of evangelistic ac- tivities at the Mother Church - this proved a second piece of happy expansion.
Today the first daughter at Mt. Auburn is known as the Belmont Street Baptist Street, Watertown, with a membership of two hundred and eighty-two, and property valued at $70,000. The second daughter at Waverley has a membership of two hundred and twenty members, property valued at $25,000 and re- calls with gratitude the early fostering care of Pastor Capen and his flock.
Before the "Coming of the Capens" the front seat was assigned to the minister's family and was a salary extra. This custom started in the old White Meeting House. The new leader felt that the minister should choose his own seat and pay for it like the rest of the brethren. Thus an old custom was happily supplanted by a new program and ministerial cooperation was re- vealed in a new light. Perquisites are poor substitutes for adequate generosity in framing a parish budget.
During his ministry in Watertown it was Pastor Capen's privilege to announce the gift of several sums of money to be used for corporate purposes.
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Watertown Baptist Church
March 25, 1878. $500 Mary R. Cook Fund. The Treasurer was authorized to invest this bequest by the purchase of the Town note bearing interest at five per cent, and that the interest be used for the support of preaching.
February 5, 1892. $1,000 to be known as the Samuel Noyes Fund.
January 5, 1896. $500 to be known as the Isabella N. March Fund.
October 12, 1898. $1,000 to be known as the Sarah P. March Fund.
May 6, 1888, the following Resolution was adopted in recognition of the nearly fifty years' service of Brother Samuel Noyes.
WHEREAS, Our Brother Samuel Noyes has felt com- pelled, in consequence of his advanced age and feeble health, to resign the office he has held for almost half a century as Treasurer of this church, be it therefore Resolved, that while we accept his resignation, not of our own choice, but because he requests it, we deeply regret the necessity that prompted his action, and desire to express our appreciation of his faithful and ardu- ous labors, for such a long term of years, often under very trying circumstances, and yet with satisfactory re- sults, in every way, leaving us entirely free from debt. We shall continue to love and esteem him, and to hope that he may still be spared to us many years with his counsel and prayers.
J. H. STONE, Clerk.
The resolution prepared by the clerk was read and adopted, and a committee of three, with the Pastor,
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A Memorial History of the
were appointed to engross and frame it and present it to Brother Noyes. Committee : Deacon Royal Gilkey, Deacon S. H. Coombs and Brother A. G. Fitch.
June 8, 1891, a meeting was called to see if the church would vote to change its dual form of organization [church and society] and seek as a church incorpora- tion made the Laws of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts. After a lengthy discussion the meeting ad- journed to June 29, 1891, and still further adjourned to July 17, 1891. On that date it was voted to take the necessary steps to form a legal corporation of the church.
February 8, 1892, the society voted to surrender its charter as an active corporation. Voted that the clerk be instructed to deliver as soon as practicable, all rec- ords, books and papers belonging to this society to the clerk of the First Baptist Church to become the prop- erty of said church.
During Pastor Capen's years of service a notable group of young men and women began training for definite forms of christian leadership. In the chapter entitled : "Some Moulders of Life in the Century," the richness of this consecration is recorded and its far- reaching fruitage emphasized.
Three of the group attended courses at Newton Theological Institution and commenced their life work while Pastor Capen was the official head of the Watertown Church.
James E. Norcross, ordained in the Old Church, June 16, 1897, with sermon by Rev. John M. English, D. D.
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Watertown Baptist Church
Randall T. Capen, ordained in the same church June 16, 1898, with sermon by Rev. Geo. C. Lorimer, D. D.
Frank S. Tolman, ordained in New Hampshire, ren- dered fine service for the Baptists of Vermont at St. Johnsbury and Randolph.
For many years Pastor Capen saw the need of a new church building, better located and better equipped for handling the rapidly growing work. In pressing his vision he sowed in season, out of season, and beside all waters, the seed that must ultimately bear fruit.
All who visited the crowded, cheerless room in which Mrs. Capen, with rare grace and ability, guided the scores of little children entrusted to her care, must have wondered how such results were possible.
Few were sorry when the Manila rope carpets in the aisles, the black reversible settees and the dim lights of the main vestry were consigned to oblivion.
We shall not soon forget the thrill of joy which came to all when a warm, bright, new carpet and comforta- able chairs, from Luther Bent's Furniture Emporium, took their place and an up-to-date lighting system cast a cheerful glow over the first stopping place of the church on its road to the realization of Pastor Capen's vision. Elsewhere we have recorded the full story of "Building a Church and Paying the Debt." The church records of July 1, 1899, contain a long list of the interesting contents of the box placed in the cor- ner stone for some generations to read.
October 11, 1899, when his hopes were realized and he felt his work was done, much against the wishes of
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the church, Pastor Capen resigned to take effect upon the Dedication of the new meeting house.
April 19, 1900, the last wedding service in the old building was solemnized when Edward Kingsbury Bacon, our present genial and efficient church clerk and Miss Affie M. Whiting, daughter of Moses Whit- ing, were united by Pastor Capen.
In the year 1900, while the resignation was pending, the church called Rev. James Grant of the Morning- side Church, Pittsfield, Mass., in succession.
Pastor Capen's last sermon was delivered on the morning of Dedication Day, December 9, 1900. At that time he baptized a number of candidates among whom was James Gordon Gilkey destined to become one of the foremost preachers in America. Mr. Grant's first sermon was preached the same Sunday in the eve- ning. Never was a change of pastors made anywhere under more beautiful and Christ-like circumstances.
The Capens came - saw - loved - captured - inspired - led and left a Holy Benediction. All but Randall and Ned have been received at the Court of Heaven. They abide as an earthly link in perpetuating Capen character.
Those who knew the sainted Capens best: "Sorrow not as others who have no hope." For we believe that after our sleep of death we shall gather up our forces again, with the incalculable results of this life, and with those we have "loved long since and lost awhile," we shall begin again on a new level of progress.
'Til then we have happy memories of a real christian family and a noble, christian example to spur us on.
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THE HOME OF JOHN TUCKER
Where first preaching services were held. (Still standing at corner of Mt. Auburn and Summer Streets.)
Watertown Baptist Church
Rev. James Grant. We do no injustice to the men who preceded and followed him in the pastorate at Watertown when we select Rev. James Grant as the outstanding preacher of a century of notable history. He was a sermonic genius who made ordinary phrases of the Bible, like dull gems in the hands of an expert lapidarian, glow with unwonted lustre.
Mr. F. E. Crawford, a discriminating judge of ser- monic material, writes thus in his recent revision of his- torical church data: "James Grant was one of the great preachers of the times. His sermons were didactic and at the same time spiritual, elevating, and helpful. In form they were perfect, logical, simple, yet wonderfully rhetorical * To listen to him Sunday after Sunday was a course in theology, in logic, in rhetoric, in the use of words, equal to any course of college or seminary lectures."
Your historian ventures to add a further word of praise of Pastor Grant's grasp and presentation of com- monplace truth.
One beautiful Sunday morning we heard him read these words from the Gospel of Matthew: "And He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." We have wondered many times why Jesus spent so much of His life in Nazareth. Pas- tor Grant lifted Nazareth from obscurity, revealed its physical beauty and cultural advantages, pictured it as an ideal spot in which to spend half of the Saviour's life, and stamped it forever, for us, as a vital necessity in the earthly itinerary of the Heavenly King.
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He had a deft way of capturing the imagination with his outlines of truth that made them unforgetable. The twenty-seventh Chapter of the Acts is more than a faithful record of Paul's ship wreck since we heard this spiritual wizard unfold Luke's story. In the cru- cible of Grant's mind it became a parable of the "Storms of Life :" I, How men get into them; II, What men do after they get into them; III, How men get out of them. That is an immortal outline and the common- place statements of the chapter, that follow in logical sequence, answer the three vital questions to the entire satisfaction of the laic mind. After being typewritten, many of his sermons were taken by the members of the church and re-read with renewed profit.
Like the eminent Scotch Preacher, Matheson, Pastor Grant suffered with defective vision. He de- pended upon others to read to him aloud and record his dictated messages. But when he came forth from his secret chamber, to take of the things of Christ and show them to his age, he always left men singing: "What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord." The sympathetic quality of his voice coupled with a rare discernment of human need, "like bells at evening peal- ing," returns ever and anon to those who sat under his ministry of the word and this is the invariable and per- sistent reaction : "I will arise and go to my Father."
We do no injustice to his brethren in succession when we call him the Major Prophet of one hundred years of local history in his forth-telling of what God bade him speak.
October 25, 1901, Rev. and Mrs. F. B. Haggard
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Watertown Baptist Church
D. D., were welcomed by letter and added elements of real strength to the ministry of Pastor Grant.
June 26, 1901 a double wedding was the first to be solemnized in the new edifice.
Pastor Grant first joined in holy wedlock Hermon S. Pinkham, one of the choice young men of the church, and Clara Dunham, who became one of the outstand- ing women of the Baptist Denomination. Then Ray- mond Earle and May Demming were joined by Rev. M. R. Demming the widely known father of the bride.
It was a happy event, that memory loves to cherish and that historians delight to record.
June 24, 1902, Hermon Spencer Pinkham was or- dained to the work of the gospel ministry, the First Ordination in the new edifice. Before a large congre- gation of friends and delegates the Ordination Sermon was preached by Rev. Nathan E. Wood D. D., Presi- dent of Newton Theological Institution.
February, 1905. This "In memoriam" appears on the records
Deacon Henry Richardson Rev. 14:13
United with the church May, 1863. Elected Deacon May, 1881. Called to his heavenly home December, 1904. A brother beloved. Devoted in service - con- stant in attendance - loyal in support- loving the church of God, its services, its people, and an ever faithful witness for the church he loved. We, his fel- low members, who remain desirous of recording our appreciation of his character and worth, as an example
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