USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 16
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D. A. Marrett, Lorenzo Burbank, Rufus Littlefield, Seward Dodge, Caleb Kingman, Jairus Mann, L. Arnold, George W. Bridgman, George A. Clark, Samuel Hamblin, George W. Hadley, David Kenrick, John
DAVID A. SANBORN.
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Residence of RICHARD H. STURTEVANT, 31 Walnut Street.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Ackers, David Bonner, Granville Leland, Jonas Trefren, Francis Tufts, Levi Orcutt, Jr., W. S. Leland, Lewis C. Edgerly, David A. Sanborn, Nathaniel K. Hammond, Joseph Q. Twombly, Calvin Horton, Horace B. Runey, J. Runey, George H. Foster, John B. Osgood, Benjamin Randall, Benjamin Hamilton, B. F. Darling, George Holton, J. Rice, Edward J. Shattuck, Lewis Horton, J. Bachelder, Benjamin Hadley, Isaac F. Shepard, Francis J. Williams, John Ireland, Daniel A. Hartwell, James Wiggins, James M. Stevens, M. E. Benjamin, E. G. Kenrick, S. C. Bradshaw, Jr., Frederick W. Hannaford, William G. Emery, Samuel H. Gooding, Shepard Robinson, Joseph Pierce, Jr., George S. Fogg, W. B. Sisson, Franklin D. Snow, James Williams, George W. Trefren.
The first fire to which the department was called was the burning of Jotham Johnson's barn on the " Ireland rangeway," off School street toward Union square.
In 1853 the company demanded a raise of pay from $1.50 a year to $1.00 a month, that an entertainment fund might be established. The selectmen hesitated. The men reeled up the hose and, figuratively speaking, walked out. In course of time the selectmen yielded and, December 5, 1854, this pioneer strike was ended. The company, as a matter of fact, suffered one or two other disbandments, during all of which, however, the men stood as ready for service, in case of emergency, as if their names had still been car- ried upon the pay-roll of the town.
An event which attracted the excited attention of firemen all over the State, and in which the Somerville company played one of the two important parts, took place Fast Day, 1852. Somerville One, a Hunneman, and Niagara 3 of East Cambridge, a Thayer engine, had long been rivals, and at last Somerville sent a formal challenge to Cambridge. The fact of the approach- ing contest became noised abroad, and on the day of the trial several thou- sand persons, residents of neighboring places and firemen from all over the State, gathered on Broadway, Cambridge. The Cambridge Brass Band was hired, all the church bells were rung, and the excitement was intense. The cylinder of Niagara was of about the same size as that of Somerville, but of shorter stroke. Niagara lowered Somerville's water nine and one-quarter inches in the first trial and " washed " her once in the second. At the ex- piration of time in the second trial the water in Somerville was four inches from the top of the tub. In the third trial, "tub and tub," Niagara " sucked " Somerville twice, and at the expiration of time the water in Niag- ara was twelve and a half inches from the top of the tub, and in Somer- ville's, five and a half inches. Captain B. F. Darling was in command of Somerville 1, and Captain Alexander Fraser of Niagara 3.
As a matter of history, also, Somerville One engaged in many other ex- citing contests of a like nature, in which she was as often victorious as de- feated.
The first and only board of fire wards for the town, appointed May 4, 1842, consisted of Robert G. Tenney, Hiram Hackett and William A. Russell, who served until the appointment of the board of engineers in 1850.
274
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
December 24, 1855, the old engine-house was destroyed by fire, although the engine with other contents was saved, and J. Q. Twombly's paint-shop was used until 1856, when the town, at a cost of $5,000, erected the substan- tial brick building on the corner of Washington and Prospect streets ; in 1871 the handsome house with the tower, on the corner of Highland avenue and Walnut street, was erected.
Before leaving the days of the hand-engine it is pleasant to record one or two of the many incidents illustrative of the patriotism and paternal liberality of the firemen of that time, and of their correlation to the interests of the town. For years the upper room in the little engine-house and Franklin hall, next it, on the site of the present Holmes' store, were much used for public gatherings of all kinds, of which none, perhaps, were more popular with the firemen than the series of religious services in charge of Rev. Charles Baker. When "Father" Baker wished to build a church edifice, in 1857-8, he said : "Well, boys, what are you going to do to help us?" The answer was immediate and satisfactory; and it was said of the members of Somerville Engine Company No. 1, that their assistance did much toward the erection of the first edifice built by the First M. E. Church in Somerville-now the property of the St. Joseph's Society, on Webster avenue. The first flagstaff in town, long a landmark, and later replaced, was put up by the firemen in Union square in 1853.
The war record of Somerville I Engine Company was noteworthy. Immediately following the bombardment of Fort Sumter several of its members, including James R. Hopkins, now chief, Albert Caswell, F. R. Kinsley, Joseph J. Giles, John H. Hodgdon, Frank Moore and Henry Carr, enlisted in the Somerville Light Infantry and went to the front ; and during the war the company contributed more than $800 to assist in placing Somerville's soldiers in the field and caring for their families at home.
It was fifteen years from the purchase of the hand-engine to the organ- ization of the first hose-company. In 1865 David A. Sanborn and Jairus Mann were sent by the town to New York to select a hand hose-carriage. In Troy they chose one bearing upon the front the words, "John E. Wool," and on the back, "We Battle with the Elements." It was taken to East Somerville and placed in a shed, and later removed to the two-story wooden house on Webster street, between Glen and Rush streets, torn down in the fall of 1896 to allow the erection upon that site of the Sanford Hanscom schoolhouse. " Liberty Hose Company No. 1 " was at once organized, in June, 1865, as follows : Alfred Horton, foreman ; George W. Bean, assistant foreman ; James R. Hopkins, clerk ; James Merritt, treasurer ; James Bean, L. Horton, D. P. Horton, W. E. Dickson, Jabez P. Dill, A. F. Locke, Seth Hatch, James Galletly, R. G. Wentworth, William Bean, J. D. Lovering, Elkanah Crosby, R. D. Hall, James Porter, E. A. Dickson and Albert Abbott. July 9, 1866, the company disbanded, owing to internal dissen- sions, but a new company was formed within a few days, taking the name of " John E. Wool." In the fall of 1867 the carriage was remodeled and re- painted : on one reelhead was a representation of the burning of the Frank-
BERNARD W. LAWRENCE.
Residence of BERNARD W. LAWRENCE, 289 Highland Ave.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
lin Street Congregational Church, in 1867, and on the other was placed a fine carving of a wreath, horn of plenty, etc., inclosing a picture of the burn- ing of the armory of the Prescott Light Guards of Charlestown, with the machine coming out of its house. A horse-carriage superseded the "Gen. John E. Wool" in 1873, and the hand-carriage, which had cost $600, was sold to the town of Everett for $400 and thence went out of service and was returned to its original company in Troy. Thomas H. Daley, now captain of Hose 1, was the first driver of a horse hose-carriage in the department, and has continued as driver to the present time. Differences with the en- gineers led to a disbandment of the company in 1874, but another company was organized immediately.
The fire department was fast becoming one of the great wheels of the municipal machinery. March 30, 1866, the volunteer system was abolished, and May 26, 1866, a steam fire-engine, the first and one of the best that Hunneman & Co. built, arrived, and the department was reorganized. A working force of engineers, drivers and firemen was employed permanently. The new steamer company, recruited chiefly from the old hand-engine com- pany, was composed as follows : Frank O. Hudson, foreman ; Albert Cas- well, assistant foreman ; Samuel S. Hudson, clerk; W. A. Burbank, Rufus Lamkin, Melvin B. Ricker, F. D. Snow, hosemen ; H. A. Whiting, engineer ; Henry A. Byrnes, stoker; Charles Trull, driver. The only muster this company ever attended was at Fitchburg, October 11, 1871, when, twenty-five engines contesting, Somerville stood fifth, with a horizontal record of 212 feet, 8 inches, through 200 feet of hose. The first Silsby engine was bought in 1873. Henry A. Byrnes and William A. Burbank, promoted to engineer and fireman in 1867, have held their positions nearly thirty years, being still in service.
Winter Hill Hose Company No. 2, originally named "Carlton," was organized December 1, 1869. With a two-wheeled carriage and a jumper it occupied humble wooden quarters until 1872-3, when its present well ap- pointed brick house on Marshall street was erected, a new carriage was bought, and horses were secured to drag it.
Since 1867 an independent company, having for its officers Caleb A. Page, Jarvis A. Bucknam and Fred A. White, had run with the hook and ladder truck, bought in 1863 but never formally manned. May 2, 1870, the company having disbanded some time before, George W. Bean was re- quested to recruit a regular company, which, in August, was officially rec- ognized and organized with George W. Bean, foreman; Albert Caswell, assistant foreman ; and John W. Byrnes, clerk. It was styled " Prescott," after Col. Prescott of Bunker Hill fame. In 1874, when a new truck was bought, the name was changed to Robert A. Vinal Hook and Ladder Com- pany No. 1, Chief James R. Hopkins having declined to allow it to be named for himself.
In June, 1871, the graceful engine-house upon Central Hill, now aban- doned, was completed, and the steamer was transferred thither from Union square. Hose 3 company was organized at once to fill the place left vacant,
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
and the truck was transferred from its shed to the same building. This company was named after George H. Foster, foreman of " Somerville One " from 1854 to 1861, and who, " as a hand-engine commander, had no superior and but few equals." He served also as an engineer until his death, No- vember 23, 1864, and his funeral was one of the largest attended ever held in Somerville.
George O. Brastow Hose Company No. 4 was organized November 12, 1873, and went at once into its present building, corner of Highland avenue and Grove street, at the completion of which all the apparatus in the city was equipped with horses. In 1884 a combined hose-reel and a protective wagon replaced Hose 4's carriage. It was intended to use rubber covers to protect goods at fires, but as the insurance companies would not furnish the covers the idea was abandoned, and in 1887 two 40-gallon Babcock chemical tanks replaced the box intended for the covers. This was designed by Chief Hopkins and, according to H. H. Easterbrook, to whose pains- taking sketch of the Somerville fire department this writer is indebted for several matters of detail, was probably the first combined apparatus of that kind in the country. A Silsby steam-engine was placed in the station in 1890, and the company changed from a hose to an engine company. Hose 5, whose model brick station is on Somerville avenue at Lowell street, was organized August 15, 1889.
The commodious and substantial Central Fire Station, near the junc- tion of Medford street and Highland avenue, was erected in 1894, where- upon the old engine-house on Highland avenue and Walnut street was abandoned. The new station is thoroughly practical in plan and appoint- ments, and has no superior in the State. It shelters now Engine I and hose wagon and the new chemical engine A, and includes accommodations also for a combined aerial-ladder truck and water-tower when it may be found necessary. The second floor is given up to sleeping rooms, a recreation room, hayloft, workroom, and the chief's quarters. The third floor is used exclusively as the headquarters of the fire-alarm telegraph system. In 1894, also, a building sufficiently commodious for two pieces of apparatus was erected on Highland avenue near Cedar street. A truck was bought and placed therein, and Hook and Ladder Company No. 2 was organized to op- erate it.
In 1896 a new fire station, designed to accommodate three pieces of apparatus, was erected at the corner of Broadway and Cross street. To this building Hose Company No. I was transferred from the old wooden building on Webster street and reorganized into an engine company. Re- lief engine No. 2 was placed in its charge, and this company is now known as Engine Company No. 2.
In June, 1874, the Gamewell fire-alarm telegraph system was intro- duced, and in 1877, under special act of the legislature, the force was reor- ganized, the board of engineers was abolished, and the power to appoint and remove vested in the mayor and board of aldermen. The office of as- sistant chief was also created, and since that time has been efficiently filled by Captain Nathaniel C. Barker. The men were uniformed in 1885.
NZ.CMIIDIL.
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CENTRAL FIRE STATION, at junction of Medford Street and Highland Ave.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
It is possible to speak only in the highest terms of the efficiency of the Somerville Fire Department and of the ability and popularity of its veteran chief, James R. Hopkins, as fireman and man. The city has dealt very liberally with the department, and there is not its superior in the State.
A valuable table showing the organization of the Board of Fire Engi- neers from 1850 to the present time is as follows : -
Year.
Chief.
Clerk.
Ist Assistant.
2d Assistant.
3d Assistant.
Nathan Tufts, Jr. 66
George O. Brastow.
Gardner T. Ring. ..
John B. Osgood. Abram Welch. Carl'n Hawkins. Benj. Randall.
Hiram Allen.
Abram Welch.
Sam'l H. Gooding.
Levi Orcutt. Chas. E. Gilman.
66 Robert A. Vinal. 44
John Runey.
Charles Waldron.
John Runey. Geo. A. Sanborn. 66
66
66
Geo. H. Foster.
66
D. A. Sanborn, Jr.
Jairus Mann.
Sam'l H. Gooding. .6
G. W. Trefren.
66
66
Sam'l H. Gooding. 66
Henry A. Angier.
Geo. Cutter.
Albert Horton. J. R. Hopkins. 66
James R. Hopkins.
Henry A. Angier.
George W. Bean.
66 F. D. Snow. 6.
Theo. C. Joslyn.
60
Gardner W. Ring.
Theo. C. Joslyn.
Theo. C. Joslyn. A. Caswell.
A. Caswell. S. H. Stevens.
Nath'l C. Barker.
1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 IS6t 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 to 1896
John Runey.
John Runey.
Sam'l H. Gooding.
Sam'l H Gooding.
Charles Waldron. Samuel A. Tuttle. D. A. Sanborn, Jr.
66
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EAST SOMERVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH, Perkins Street, opposite Pinckney.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES.
CHAPTER XXIII. EAST SOMERVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH. BY REV. ORVILLE COATS.
THE East Somerville Baptist Church was organized March 19, 1890. Its constituent members were nearly all originally members of the Perkins Street Baptist Church. Its first pastor was Rev. C. L. Rhoades, who served the church from its organization until September 25, 1892. During this period the membership increased from 143 to 274, and a Sunday-school of over five hundred was gathered. The first services of the church were held in Hadley Hall on Broadway, afterward in the Flint-street Methodist church, and since July 25, 1890, in the present edifice on Perkins street op- posite Pinckney. The original officers were : deacons, Samuel Cutler, Hiram N. Stearns and Elbridge A. Towle; clerk, Arthur C. Hill ; treasurer, Charles F. Powers; collector, Wm. A. Corson. One of the remarkable features of the early history of the church was the work among children inaugurated and carried on by Pastor Rhoades. Hundreds of boys and girls were gathered every Saturday evening, and instructed by means of lectures and stereopticon pictures, many of whom became permanently connected with the Sunday-school and the church. The officers of the Sunday-school at its organization were: superintendent, William H. Good- speed ; assistant superintendent, L. Herbert Huntley ; secretary, William B. Wilson ; treasurer, W. T. Kincaid. May 1, 1891, William H. Goodspeed and Herman D. Osgood were elected deacons. The Baptist Young Peo- ple's Union was formed September 29, 1891, and Charles H. Johnquest was elected its first president.
The church was without a pastor from September 25, 1892, until March 5, 1893, when the present pastor, Rev. Orville Coats, began his work.
The church, though small in numbers, has made a good record by its interest in missions, general evangelization and benevolence. During the six and a half years of its existence it has given $11,529.30 for benevolent objects, and raised for all purposes $43,898.27. Present membership is 298. Church officers : pastor, Rev. Orville Coats ; deacons, Samuel Cutler, Hiram N. Stearns, Wm. H. Goodspeed and Herman D. Osgood ; clerk, Charles N. Stockbridge; treasurer, Frank E. Cutler; collector, C. A. Littlefield ; assistant collector, I. F. Pierce; Sunday-school superinten- dent, L. Herbert Huntley ; assistant superintendent, William B. Wilson; secretary, Wm. S. McLean ; treasurer, Walter E. Horton. Preaching services are held on Sunday at 10.30 A. M. and 7.30 P. M. Sunday-school meets at noon.
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JUSTIN D. FULTON, D. D. Pastor First Baptist Church.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, Spring Hill.
285
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
BY REV. JUSTIN D. FULTON, D.D.
The First Baptist Church in Somerville was organized December 30, 1852, with eleven men and twenty women. A council was called to recog- nize the company as a regular Baptist church, twenty-two churches being represented. On motion of Rev. Rollin H. Neal, D.D., the council unani- mously voted to recognize this as "The First Baptist Church in Somerville," which recognition was completed in a public service the same evening. Rev. Daniel W. Faunce served them as pastor from July 14, 1853, to Sep- tember 1, 1854. He was followed by George G. Fairbanks, March 21, 1855, to June 30, 1866 ; Lewis B. Hibbard, February 21, 1867, to February 28, 1868 ; John D. Sweet, May 4, 1868, to August 9, 1869 ; Charles M. Smith, February 20, 1870, to March 31, 1885 ; Fenner B. Dickinson, October 1, 1885, to No- vember 2, 1886 ; Frank O. Cunningham, April 26, 1887, to September 1, 1892 ; Luther B. Plumer, February 4, 1893, to September 4, 1894; and Justin D. Fulton, D.D., November 20, 1894, to the present time. The church wor- shipped in the Beech-street Chapel from the date of its organization till March 2, 1873, when they entered their present place of worship on Belmont street. This building was formally dedicated June 12, 1873, and has been without a mortgage or incumbrance since April, 1883. It is a comfortable, commodious and attractive house of worship.
The church has from the first maintained a character of uncompromis- ing devotion to the proclamation of the gospel of Christ, and believing that the Baptist church founded by Christ and the apostles in Jerusalem furnishes the model for the highest and freest religious life, consistency has made the church the stalwart champion of Baptist principles, which enter so largely into the religious life of the nation. The position maintained by this church on the temperance question has helped keep Somerville a no- license city, and has furnished from its membership some of the ablest advocates and the most indefatigable workers for clean citizenship in the city.
The calling of its present pastor as the lover of Roman Catholics, and their co-operation with him in the great work to which he has given his heart, giving him four days of each week to prosecute the work in the regions beyond, evidences their faith in the needs of the country and the remedial power furnished by the gospel which is the present and the future hope of the country.
THE SABBATH SCHOOL was organized in 1853, and was made a branch of church work by formal action, April 10, 1889. Its superintendents have been men of God, and its teachers, chosen from the church, are thoroughly in sympathy with the spirit and purposes of the gospel which is being sounded out from the pulpit.
The Baptist Young People's Union furnishes the young people an or- ganization where Baptist sentiments find a home, and brings the young people as well as the church into association with masses of young Baptists that are making their influence felt in all parts of the land.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The Woman's Foreign Mission Circle was organized April :0, 1873. Mrs. Elizabeth B. Story was its first president, and she filled the office with exceptional acceptance till her death, October 23, 1888. In 1885 a Woman's Home Mission Circle was formed, with Mrs. S. P. Wilcox for president, but in 1889 it was thought best to consolidate the two, having one organi- zation with two treasurers. The organization was then known as the Woman's Mission Circle. There is a children's meeting, held on Friday afternoons at 4 P. M. under the direction of the B. Y. P. U., which is accom- plishing great good. The church is in the enjoyment of great prosperity, as is indicated by the flourishing Sabbath-school and large congregations which wait upon the ministry of the word, for all of which there is devout thank- fulness.
RANDALL MEMORIAL FREE BAPTIST CHURCH. BY REV. EDWIN P. MOULTON.
The Randall Memorial Free Baptist Church was organized July 21, 1873, as the Freewill Baptist Mission Church of Charlestown, with twenty- three members. For about one year meetings were held in a hall on Main street, Charlestown. October, 1874, they moved to Broadway Hall, East Somerville, and in June, 1879, to a larger hall near by. There they remained until April, 1882, when they moved into the chapel they now occupy. A lot has been purchased on New Cross street, and an edifice, a cut of which ac- companies this account, is to be erected upon it. This church has always been small in numbers, but has been self-supporting. About three hundred and fifty persons have united with it since its organization, and the present resident membership is one hundred and eight. This church has had six pastors : Rev. James Rand, August, 1873, to January, 1879 ; Rev. A. T. Hill- man, December, 1882, to September, 1883 ; Rev. James Boyd, February, 1884, to September, 1884 ; Rev. C. S. Frost, January, 1886, to April, 1887 ; Rev. J. H. Yeoman, May, 1887, to October, 1888 ; and Rev. Edwin P. Moulton, the present pastor, who commenced his labors in November, 1888. Though comparatively small, this church has had many excellent men and women among its members, and has done a good work in the community. During the past year it has given to the world one minister, Rev. Geo. W. Russell of Starksboro, Vt., and one missionary, Miss Etta Castellow of Calcutta, India. This church is congregational in polity, and in faith stands for free grace, open communion and the baptism of believers by immersion only. It is a member of a body of churches of like faith in the State, called the Massachusetts Association of Free Baptist Churches. It has also con- nected with it all the usual auxiliaries : a Sunday-school, Young People's Society, Ladies' Social Circle, etc., and with the other churches in the city is laboring for the salvation of men and for that righteousness among the people that exalteth a nation.
REV. EDWIN P. MOULTON, Pastor Randall Memorial Free Baptist Church.
RANDALL MEMORIAL FREE BAPTIST CHURCH, (Now being erected on New Cross Street.)
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
THE PERKINS STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.
BY REV. JOHN R. GOw.
This church was organized May 4, 1845, with fourteen members. It was first known as the Neck Village Baptist Church, later as the Charlestown and Somerville Baptist Church, and in August, 1853, as the Perkins Street Baptist Church. The first meeting-house occupied by the church was erected at the corner of Main and Haverhill. streets, Charlestown. In the summer of 1853 it was removed and located on Perkins street, Somerville, at the same time being somewhat enlarged. In 1864 the house was remodelled, and on Monday, January 8, 1866, it was destroyed by fire. In June, 1867, a new house was dedicated, of a size to accommodate six hundred persons and costing $25,000. In 1873 the meeting house was further enlarged to a seat- ing capacity of a thousand persons. This house still stands, being occupied by the East Somerville Baptist Church.
The church has had seven ministers. William Stow was ordained June 25, 1845, on the day in which the first meeting-house was dedicated and the church was publicly recognized by its sister churches. Mr. Stow's ministry continued five years and two months. C. H. Topliff was ordained September 30, 1850, and continued in service one year and seven months. N. M. Wil- liams entered on his ministry with the church in August, 1852. The change in the location of the house of worship and in the name of the church was made under his leadership, which lasted seven years and nine months. J. Judson Miller was ordained September 17, 1861, and remained the successful and beloved minister of the church and the community till his resignation of the office, October 3, 1880, a period of nineteen years. William A. Smith came to the church from Cleveland, Ohio, in July, 1881, and materially in- creased the congregations and enlarged the church activities. His ministry covered a period of about eight years, closing in March, 1889. C. L. Rhoades assumed the charge of the church in December, 1889, and resigned his office in March, 1890. During the later years of Mr. Smith's service unfortunate dissensions arose, which culminated in the withdrawal, in March, 1890, of about two hundred members, including Mr. Rhoades, who formed the East Somerville Baptist Church. In July, 1890, the five hundred members of the church still remaining were deprived of the use of the church edifice by a bare majority in the society which controlled the property. Though thrown into confusion by this action, the leaders of the church arranged for the carrying on of preaching services, at first in Arcanum Hall and later in the Franklin street Congregational meeting-house by the courtesy of the body worshiping there. Steps were also taken for the erection of a new house on the present lot, near the corner of Cross and Pearl streets. Warned by the experience through which it had just passed, the church became incor- porated August 29, 1890, under the present State law for the incorporation of religious bodies. Rev. Andrew R. Moore became the minister January I, 1891. In May, 1892, the new meeting-house which had been erected at a cost of $46,000 was dedicated. Mr. Moore closed his labors with the church
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