USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Tercentenary history of Newton, 1630-1930 > Part 33
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There were times when it began to appear doubtful whether the new generation which was replacing the mid- Victorians would be as generous to the churches with their
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money and zeal as were the elders. Distracting interests, multiplying social and business obligations, and the de- mands of recreation were competing with habits not yet established, and the older restrictions rested more lightly upon an age which felt its freedom and power with the increase of the horse power of the car which they drove. To graduate from a flivver to a high-powered car, which was the ambition of every motoring tyro, was to liberate a sense of power lying in one's hand, a sense which had a psychological reaction upon one's whole outlook upon life and duty. All this was apparent before the war, but the war intensified dissatisfaction with a religious organization which had failed through nineteen centuries to convert man to a lover of peace and comity. The revolt was on against the church and traditional religion. Yet strangely enough it did not seem to weaken the conservative churches or strengthen the liberal. The supporter of the churches reminded himself that there had always been those who were indifferent or hostile to religion.
Several new churches came into existence and older churches rejoiced in new buildings. One of the newchurches was the Union Church at Waban, a typical example of the modern tendency to minimize religious differences for the sake of the common good. It had its origin in a Sunday school program which developed into the union of a few families for worship. In those days Waban was an unde- veloped neighborhood. Not more than one-quarter of the present houses were built. Many acres were under tillage, and two dairy farms pastured their cows and raised their hay on land now taken for residences. Streets were unac- cepted by the city, sidewalks unimproved. There were no motorists among the churchgoers, and no clubhouse in the country. But the sense of religious need prompted action. By 1911 those who had worshipped in a hall determined to build a church. They formed an organization with eighty-
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one charter members, admitting all who were willing to subscribe to their purpose of promoting religion in the community without distinction of creed. With a gift of land near the railroad bridge and with a pledge of sixty- five hundred dollars from the people of Waban, coupled with gifts from outside, the church felt warranted to pro- ceed with the building project, paying as they were able toward the total cost of twenty-two thousand dollars. Rev- erend Charles H. Cutler, D.D. was invited from Bangor, Maine, to assume the pastorate, and he continued his lead- ership for thirteen years.
The growth of the community necessitated extensive enlargement of the church edifice in 1926. The size of the original structure was more than doubled at a cost of eighty-six thousand dollars. Increase in membership kept pace with material expansion until the names of more than four hundred active members were on the church roll, and nearly as many were members of the Sunday school. Reverend Joseph C. MacDonald became the minister of the Union Church in 1925.
Another of the new church buildings was the beauti- ful structure in English style of the Unitarian church at Chestnut Hill. On the south side of Suffolk Road, far enough away from possible disturbance by railroad or street traffic, the main building was constructed of stone of rich color and the adjacent educational section was of stucco. A cypress finish in the interior created a pleasing effect. There were sittings for one hundred and sixty, but the church was not intended for a crowd. Chestnut Hill was a small community of cultivated people, who valued the aesthetic in religion along with the spiritual, and who were willing to give what was necessary for a beautiful building and for a thoughtful preacher. Like most churches it could not command the services of able leaders over long periods of time, but it could and did represent a liberal
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and cultured type of Christianity in its limited environment.
The time came when the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer near by felt the need of larger quarters. Those who had equal advantages in education and social stand- ing did not approach religion from the same angle. People who lived as near neighbors and met in the same social and business circles through the week preferred different churches on Sunday. The Episcopalians found themselves able to lay the corner stone of a larger building of stone in English Gothic style, even though the estimate of cost was as high as eighty thousand dollars. The construction cost half as much again, but the work went on, and more than two years later the building was dedicated. The people vied with their gifts to the new church, carved oak reredos, pulpit, chancel and organ. The older building became the parish house of the church.
As if in imitation of this the Episcopal Church at Waban was able to have a consecration service of its build- ing and to plan for a parish house, and at Newton Centre Trinity Church built its beautiful stone structure four years after it completed its parish house in 1912. It re- flected the good taste of its rector, Dr. Edward T. Sulli- van, and fostered a spirit of worship and devotion. In 1921 through private generosity the church was able to add a transept to meet the needs of a growing congregation. Soon afterward Mrs. Abby Young Burr bequeathed her estate, consisting of a colonial house and one-half an acre of land, for a rectory, and two years later the Shute estate adjoin- ing the church property was bought for parish purposes and used for the accommodation of the small children of the Sunday school. The church which has had but one pastor throughout its history stands as a monument to his leadership. It grew from a handful of worshipers meeting in a small chapel to a thousand communicants making use of a noble plant. It supports, as a gift from one of the
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parishioners, a free bed in the Newton Hospital. It holds property valued at a quarter of a million dollars. It has come to occupy a leading place among the churches of the village.
Other events of special interest to Episcopalians were the building of a stone rectory for the minister of Grace Church at Newton, connected by a cloister with the parish house, the consecration service at St. John's Episcopal Church at Newtonville, and the one hundredth anniver- sary celebration of St. Mary's Church at Lower Falls, all in the year 1913.
The residence of Jews in the city made them wish to organize for religious purposes, and in 1912 the corner stone of a synagogue was laid for the congregation Agudath Achim on Adams Street.
Several Methodist churches in the city observed their twentieth anniversaries in rapid succession. These included the churches at Newtonville, Newton and Lower Falls. The Centenary Methodist Church at Auburndale com- pleted a new parish house. The Swedenborgians at New- tonville and the Unitarians at Newton Centre were proud of new organs. At West Newton the Unitarians received a gift of a set of chimes, and Dr. Jaynes observed the thirtieth anniversary of his pastorate. At the Newton Centre Congregational church a memorial window was dedicated to Dr. and Mrs. Furber. The central theme of the portraiture was the Sermon on the Mount, and other Scriptural scenes were presented in twenty-eight lancets and panels.
Congregationalism never has lost its initial strength in the city. At Nonantum the North Church, though in a manufacturing village with large foreign population, was the centre of Protestantism. It celebrated its jubilee dur- ing this period, and was especially proud of three of its youth who had achieved success in religious work, one a
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leader in city missions, a second a chaplain for sailors, and a third the organizer of forty-six churches on the home mission frontier.
The most ambitious undertaking in church building during the period was in the old West Parish. The Second Congregational Church in Newton had outgrown its frame structure next to City Hall on Washington Street. It was decided to relocate across the railroad on the slope of West Newton hill, and plans were drawn for a new edifice while Dr. Prudden was still in his ten-year pastorate. He had been a wise leader, helping the church to make the transi- tion from older traditions to a time of theological recon- struction; it was fitting that under his leadership the church should reconstruct its material house as well. But the fashioning and furnishing of the new edifice was to be under the directing eye of Reverend J. Edgar Park, his successor. To Dr. Park the various appointments of the new building were entirely subsidiary to the main purpose of a church, namely, to provide an atmosphere conducive to the spirit of worship. All the details were to be sym- bolic of spiritual meanings, and the whole was to centre in the altar standing in the chancel surmounted by a cross. The affection of the people made them lavish their gifts on it. The Fuller Chapel provided a place for small gather- ings. The chancel furniture was given in memory of Dr. Prudden. The font and the communion table, the chancel and echo organs, the chimes, the clocks and the windows were all special gifts. Many contributed to the mothers' window, which was dedicated to the honor of all mothers. The magnificent building rose in fifteenth century Gothic form, its tower and spire conspicuous where church and chapel joined, attracting the admiration of all who passed through the village, witness of a faith and a purpose old yet ever new.
In the year 1914, when the shock of war threw Europe
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into confusion, the mother church of the city reached its two hundredth anniversary. Few were those who formed the First Church in 1664, but with the strong faith of the Puritans they obeyed the impulse to worship God. Their enterprise had endured under the leadership of ten suc- cessive ministers. Their names constitute a roll of honor to be held in remembrance by the whole city. They were:
John Eliot, Jr.
1664-1668
Nehemiah Hobart
1674-1712
John Cotton
1714-1757
Jonas Merriam
1758-1780
Jonathan Homer
1782-1829
James Bates (colleague)
1827-1839
William Bushnell
1842-1846
Daniel L. Furber
1847-1882
Theodore J. Holmes
1883-1893
Edward M. Noyes
1894-1929
The distractions of the Civil War had prevented the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary in 1864. The two hundred and twenty-fifth had been observed appropriately in 1889. Similarly with simplicity and dig- nity the old church celebrated its birth in 1914, recalling the past, rejoicing in the present, and facing the future with confidence. In preaching the anniversary sermon Dr. Noyes mentioned seven characteristics as belonging to the church, intensity of religious conviction, cordial and endur- ing sympathy between the church and its ministers, char- ity for those of other faiths, missionary interest and activ- ity, the number of able and energetic laymen, care for the children and youth, and the influence of consecrated womanhood. With that as its heritage the First Church might expect an even greater future.
XIII NEWTON IN THE WORLD WAR
THE people of Newton in 1914 shared the optimistic spirit of the period regarding the improbability of another great war between nations. Small quarrels like that be- tween Spain and Cuba might produce local conflicts, but it was believed that the growing enlightenment of man- kind, the close bonds between men of business and of science in the various countries, the conscious kinship of working men, especially socialists, and the improved inter- national machinery for preventing war, would prevent any serious hostilities. Here in America no war had clouded the horizon for fifty years, except the war with Spain.
When news of the shooting of an Austrian prince in southeastern Europe was published in the early summer of 1914, no citizen of Newton dreamed that it would lead to a war which would convulse the world. People went on their customary vacations, many of them to Europe; rather languidly they read about diplomatic exchanges over the incident and the ire of Austria shown in stern demands from Serbia. They were shocked by talk of German and Russian mobilization in support of the original contest- ants. The general catastrophe came so suddenly that people were almost unable to sense it. Newton travellers on the Continent were caught within the net of military regulations. Before they could reach a port and get away from the arena of conflict they were refused permission to travel, or they were sidetracked by the requirements of the mobilizing armies. They found themselves out of money and unable to get more, or the money which they had would not buy the necessaries of life. They were sub-
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NEWTON IN THE WORLD WAR
jected to indignities as spies and were threatened with imprisonment. They suffered from hunger and anxiety and uncomfortable shelter, until the stern reality of war was brought home to them rigorously. A few escaped, some were able to reach a consular port where they were given aid, others were uncertain for weeks as to what the future had in store.
Yet it seemed unlikely that the United States would be involved in a European conflict. Traditionally this nation had held aloof from Old World quarrels, maintain- ing a policy of national isolation. Trade might suffer inter- ruption, but international law would protect neutrals from interference, unless transporting contraband of war. Interested readers pored over the war news and learned more than ever before about geography on the eastern and western fronts, but business went on as usual and there was no interruption to the customary manner of social liv- ing. When Germany began to use the submarine ruth- lessly, there was criticism but little feeling about it. But when the Lusitania was sent to the bottom in the month of May, 1915, a cry of horror and anger arose throughout the country. Even then it was not believed that America would be drawn into the war. A peace-loving president was at the helm of the government; as late as 1916 his sec- ond campaign reminded the nation that he had kept it out of war.
The grimness of the conflict became more real when a few young Americans volunteered for ambulance service and a few young women went into training as nurses. A few venturesome aviators joined the French service. Even then the smoke of battle was afar off.
The only nucleus for possible military service in this city was the old Claflin Guard, known in recent decades as Company C, Fifth Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. It had been reorganized within recent
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HISTORY OF NEWTON
years, enjoyed a well-appointed brick Armory which had been dedicated in 19II, and had actually been in service as a patrol in connection with the textile strike in Law- rence the next year. The Company had a worthy com- mander in Capt. Henry D. Cormerais, who had been a member of the Guards for nineteen years. In 1915 mili- tary drill was practised in anticipation of possible service somewhere. The men were taught infantry tactics, rifle practice, first aid, and the rules of military courtesy. In the summer they had a week in camp at Martha's Vine- yard. The Armory was frequented for the use of its rifle range, and its opportunity for recreation at bowling or pool. During the same summer a number of business men went to the camp which had been established at Platts- burg, New York, for military instruction.
In the winter of 1916 the Company tendered a brilliant reception to Governor McCall and Lieutenant-Governor Coolidge, when the First Corps Cadet Band furnished music, and guardsmen in full dress uniform danced with their friends. In the summer the men were called into camp at Framingham. The United States had a differ- ence of its own with Mexico, and President Wilson con- templated sending troops to the border, if not beyond. The sixty-five men in the Company were recruited to one hundred and forty, and all entered upon a course of train- ing in camp. Battery A of the First Massachusetts Field Artillery included several Newton boys. Before long the soldiers received orders to entrain for El Paso, Texas, where they were assigned to Camp Cotton. The Veteran Association of the Fifth Regiment gave a stand of colors to the boys on the border, and to those who had visited the training camp and watched the military evolutions the reality of war was brought home more vividly than by the reading of foreign dispatches from the European field of battle. Happily the fracas with Mexico did not prove
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NEWTON IN THE WORLD WAR
serious. Newton boys were not compelled to practise what they had learned, for their activity was limited to patrol duty. In October the militia returned after the expiration of four months, arrived at the railroad station at Newton, and were received with a hearty welcome by the crowd of citizens who awaited them. A parade was formed with the Waltham Band as musicians, and with members of the Grand Army of the Republic and five troops of Boy Scouts acting as escort, and the Company proceeded to the Armory at West Newton. A few evenings later they were tendered a reception and a banquet.
This military expedition proved a prelude to a sterner conflict. A few months more and it became plain that it was increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality with our commercial houses eager for foreign trade and our ships and nationals on every sea. The international code was being disregarded, American commerce was suffering, and American lives had been sacrificed. It seemed as if the ruthlessness with which the war was fought and the im- perialistic ambitions which were voiced through the press boded ill for the future of democracy. With a growing resentment against the slights put upon this nation by the enemies of the Allies was mingled a feeling that the Allies were defending America's cause as well as their own. The war spirit was kindling. Young men were eager to get overseas.
As war approached American flags were flung to the breeze and the flags of the Allies began to appear. Churches dedicated them with patriotic fervor. The Armory was a mass of color. Enthusiasm was aroused at a great public meeting at which sixteen hundred persons were thought to be present, when veterans of other wars paraded around the building and patriotic songs were sung. Another meet- ing was arranged by the Newton Committee of Public Safety, an organization authorized by the state and sanc-
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HISTORY OF NEWTON
tioned by the city government. At that meeting speeches were made by Mayor Childs, Senator Weeks and others. A pacifist meeting was held in Bray Block, Newton Centre, with approximately two hundred in attendance, but citi- zens condemned what seemed a lack of patriotism. The tide of warlike fervor was running strongly.
One of the first tasks was to fill up the complement of Company C of the Volunteers. The Newton Company was one of three in the state to reach an enrollment of one hundred and fifty men. Then realizing that with the absence of the state militia a defensive force might be needed in case of disturbance, seventy-eight men joined the State Guard, and it was decided to raise a home guard of men beyond the age of military service. It was expected that as many as five hundred members might join such an organization. Two hundred were enrolled promptly. Before long each village was counting them by the score. Newton Centre boasted the largest force of one hundred, which drilled early in the morning in Bray Hall before business demanded their presence. Men of the Highlands and Upper Falls drilled in Lincoln Hall, Waban guards in Besse Hall. At Newton they used the Young Men's Chris- tian Association building; men of Newtonville and West Newton found the Armory convenient. The Methodist parish house was put to military use at Auburndale. It was planned to list the names of owners of automobiles in anticipation of their usefulness, and a motorcycle corps of one hundred was planned for home protection.
Soon it was evident that war, if it came, would not be solely an affair of men under arms. Home service must be rendered if the Army and Navy were to be kept up to a high standard of effectiveness. Various women's organiza- tions became active, especially the Newton Community Club and the West Newton Community Service Club. One form of service was the supply of warm clothing and
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other comforts to the soldiers and sailors. Already the women of Newton had been at work to relieve the needs of the Allies. Workers for French relief were meeting in Grace Church, Newton. The Newton South Relief Asso- ciation met every week in the Episcopal parish house at Newton Centre, and weekly shipments were made to Europe for many months. In April, 1917, the women of the different villages organized for American relief work, meeting in churches, halls and houses. For a little time there was no uniformity in the organization. At one point were the Women Associates of the Committee of Public Safety, at other points were branches of the Special Aid Society for American Preparedness. The Committee for Civilian Relief of the Newton Public Safety Committee tried to coordinate the existing agencies, but the Red Cross soon became the rallying point for war work. To aid in cooperation the secretary of the Newton Welfare Bureau was made executive secretary of the Red Cross and the Bureau aided with the details. Eight volunteers visited the families of men in service, commencing a work of assist- ance which has continued since that time. As need arose they helped with family problems, such as insurance, the purchase of Liberty bonds and rehabilitation.
The Red Cross was organized in Newton as a branch of the Boston Metropolitan Chapter and prosecuted its work by committees. At the end of the war the Newton Branch became organized permanently as the Newton Chapter, and in 1923 established headquarters at Newton- ville. Meantime the committees went to work. One of the first of these was the Education Committee. As surgical dressings were a large and important part of the work at that time, classes were held to standardize the work and two hundred and fifteen women received certificates. Classes in first aid and home care of the sick were held, and proved of great value at the time of the influenza epi-
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HISTORY OF NEWTON
demic, when graduates of the courses rendered valuable assistance at the Red Cross Emergency Hospital. The Newton Red Cross was the first to arrange for a modified course in home nursing, which was offered to girls in the graduating classes of the grammar schools.
The first Red Cross workroom was opened in the month of July at the Newton Club, and later others were opened in halls, schools and churches. These were for sew- ing, knitting, and especially for surgical dressings. The demand from the camps was sure to be heavy for socks and sweaters. The Red Cross purchased materials in large quantities, machines were installed for details of the work, and the Newton workers were thus able to continue opera- tions when the usual experience elsewhere was vexatious delay. Supplies of prepared garments and comfort bags were sent in regular quotas to base and evacuation hos- pitals and to first-line dressing stations. At the time of greatest need men as well as women gave assistance by picking oakum, rolling bandages, and folding dressings. Firemen and school children used knitting machines and helped the women.
In December the Junior work was organized under the direction of Newton sewing teachers. The Newton High School was the first in New England to organize as a Red Cross body, and all the public schools and two private schools enrolled. War work consisted of sewing and knit- ting articles, preparing surgical dressings, making trench candles, hospital canes, scrapbooks, dolls, and comfort kits. Twenty boys organized a motor squad for errands. After the war the Junior Red Cross carried on such helpful work as making exchange gifts with foreign countries, arranging for surgical operations and vacations for sick children, and providing milk in schools for the under- nourished.
A volunteer service committee of the Red Cross en-
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rolled as many as five thousand persons who wished to volunteer for any kind of war work. Later a volunteer motor corps was organized with twenty-three original members, growing to many more on both the active and the reserve list. They found opportunities to answer calls from the social agencies and the outpatient department of the Newton Hospital, to serve as taxis in parades, to meet transports, and to serve at camps and hospitals. During the influenza epidemic cars were on call day and night, and help was given at camps and hospitals.
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