The history of Nantucket County, island, and town : including genealogies of first settlers, Part 68

Author: Starbuck, Alexander, 1841-1925
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: Boston [Mass.] : C.E. Goodspeed & Co.
Number of Pages: 900

USA > Massachusetts > Nantucket County > The history of Nantucket County, island, and town : including genealogies of first settlers > Part 68

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

tory* "and during the year one of the most extensive revivals of religion occurred that the Island has ever witnessed, swelling the membership to 621." This seems to have been the high tide limit in the Society's prosperity. At the time of the Great Fire of 1864 the meetinghouse was comparatively unharmed.

The ministers who have been in charge from the first are:

1798-9-1800 William Beauchamp · 1801-02

Joseph Wells

1803

Joshua Soule

1804-05

Freeman Bishop

1806

Joshua Crowell 1807

Alfred Metcalf

1808

Nehemiah Coye

1809-10

Jordan Rexford

1811 William Stevens

1812

Elijah Hedding

1813 Philip Munger

1814-15

John Lindsay

1816

William Marsh

1817-18

John W. Hardy

1819

Timothy Merritt

1820-21

1822-23

Isaac Bonney

1824

Leonard Frost

Daniel Fillmore

1825

Daniel Filmoret

1826

Benjamin F. Sanford

1827

Darius Barker

1828-29

David Wells

1830-31

John Lindsey

1832-33

Thomas C. Pierce

1834-35

John Lovejoy

1836

John Lord

1837-38

John T. Burrill 1839

Stephen Lovell

1840

E. W. Stickney

1841-42

Daniel Fillmore

1843-44

David Patten

1845-46

Daniel Wise

1847

E. B. Bradford

1848

John Lovejoy

1849

William Livesey

1850-51

J. B. Husted

1852-53

Micah J. Talbot, Jr. John Cooper

1856

E. H. Hatfield

1857

S. W. Coggeshall

1858-59

M. P. Alderman

1860

James A. Dean

1861-62

Asa N. Bodfish

1863-64

W. H. Stetson

1865-66

C. S. Macreading,Jr.

1867

William H. Jones

1868-70

William H. Starr

1871-72

G. A. Morse

1873

B. K. Bosworth

1874

S. E. Evans

1875-76

C. N. Hinckley

1877

C. E. Walker

1878-79

Richard Burn

1880

A. L. Dearing

1881-82

Merrick Ransom

1883-85

Frank Bowler

1885

A. M. Osgood

1886-87

George E. Brightman

1888-89

S. M. Beale

1890

Angelo Canoll

1891

J. L. Hill

1891

R. J. Floody

1892

J. N. Geisler

1893-94

R. J. Kellogg

1894-95

D. C. Ridgway

1895-97

O. M. Martin

1898-99

C. A. Lockwood

1900-04

J. O. Rutter

1904-05

Arthur J. Jolly

1905-11

Benjamin F. Raynor

1911-13

Richard M. Wilkins

* Page 115.

¡Herschel Foster seems also to have preached.

1854

N. P. Philbrook

1855

Asa Kent

Darius Barker

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

1913-16 David C. Thatcher 1916-17 D. B. Nelson

Dec. 1917 to

1919-21 J. B. Ackley

Apr. 1919 J. E. Montgomery 1921 (Mrs.) Kate Cooper

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

There is some difficulty in getting at the history of the Universalist Church in Nantucket. If there are any records in existence no one seems to know where they are.

In the Nantucket Inquirer for March 22, 1824, appeared an advertisement requesting those who contemplated forming a new Universalist Society to meet at Aaron Mitchell's on Wednesday, March 24. There is no report of the meeting or what was done. A second meeting was held May 12.

The next report we have concerning the Society was in the Inquirer of May 9, 1825, and told of the laying of the corner-stone of the new Meetinghouse for the Society on Federal street, on the site now occupied by the Athenaeum on May 3, of that year, with a list of articles deposited therein .* On October 16, 1825 there was a sale by auction of the right to unappropriated pews. November 3 of the same year the new Church was dedi- cated. The Dedicatory Sermon was preached by Rev. Josiah Flagg, of Dana, who took for his text Genesis XXVIII-17.

The building is described as of simple Gothic in style, 60 by 50 feet in dimensions, with 62 pews, besides a choir gallery. An organ, presented to the Society, was made by Eben Goodrich, of Boston, was nine feet high, six feet wide, and two feet and a half deep, and had six stops-Diapason Bass, Diapason Treble; Open Diapason, Principal, Twelfth and Fifteenth, comprising 216 pipes. The pews were painted a delicate straw color.

According to a communication from Allen Coffin, Esq., in the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, dated December 1, 1902, the land where the Church stood was sold by Samuel Swain to John Swain in 1810. It then had a dwelling house on it. "By a deed bearing date of July 13, 1827, one Smith Upton of the State of Connecticut, for the sum of $900. conveyed the tract of land known as Bococheco Share No. 17, (the site of the present Athe- naeum) to 'a certain corporation known and called by the name of the Proprietors of the First Universalist Church in Nantucket.'"

Mr. Coffin thinks that the Citizens' Bank loaned money for the construction of the Meetinghouse as there is recorded a convey- ance by James Mitchell, Cashier of the Bank, to Samuel B. Tuck,

*The Inquirer of May 9 states that in the corner-stone were de- posited, hermetically sealed in bottles, a scroll with the names of the proprietors, the principal builders and other memoranda, a copy of the latest edition of the Inquirer, the various United States coins and a lock of hair from the late lamented. John Murray.

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

Treasurer of the First Universalist Church and Society, on Aug. 6, 1834, for $2,000. The same day Samuel B. Tuck conveys the building to Aaron Mitchell for $3,500 .* And on the same day Aaron Mitchell conveyed to Charles G. Coffin and David Joy, for $1800, this tract of land "including the building and appurtenances now thereon standing heretofore known by the name of the First Universalist Church." It would appear that there must have been a prior bill of sale or a lease of the land to the Society as it is not likely the Society would have built on land over which it had no control.

Rev. Myron S. Dudley in his monograph on the "Churches and Pastors of Nantucket, Mass.," says, in commenting on the Universalist Church: "The only person associated with this organ- ization as preacher, of whom there seems to be any record, is Frederick Swain, known as 'Parson Swain.' Whether he was regu- larly placed in charge by the authorities of the Church, or only an occasional supply, there is no information."; Mr. Dudley is in error. In his reminiscences of the Church, Allen Coffin, Esq., says: "Mr. Frederick C. Swain was a leading member of the Universalist Church and a most public spirited citizen. In the absence of the Pastor he probably conducted the exercises and preached the sermons, from which circumstance he was dubbed "Parson Swain," a designation which distinguished him from several other Frederick Swains. I think he was a carpenter by tradei. but I remember him as a knight of the evening watch with a staff surmounted with a shining steel crook, which in his hands was never so much a terror to the boys as in some other officers' hands, His countenance was genial and bland. I think he liked boys, and it is related of him that in the exercise of his police functions the street urchins who made a rendezvous about the old Town House steps and Liberty pole, always welcomed the approach of "Parson Swain," when they would shout "Hooker"} upon the approach of any other officer and scamper away. He is said to have entered into their boyish games sometimes after admonishing them that less noise was desirable. He talked with the boys instead of talking at them. And on one occasion when he had the attention of a large crowd, warming with his subject, he leaned his official crook against the Liberty pole (which stood upon the spot now occupied by the Soldier's Monument), turning his back upon it while he finished his little sermon. In the mean-

time some graceless scamp had stolen his staff. Without conceal- ing his displeasure at the trick he appealed to the good boys to see that his staff was restored, and his appeal was not in vain.

"He must have removed from the Island about the time of the Great Fire of 1846. He revisited his native Town in 1881, accompanied by his daughter, Miss Mandana A. Swain, and they were then citizens of Holyoke, Mass."

The Nantucket Inquirer of January 2, 1826, announced that Rev. William Morse, of the Second Universalist Church of Phila-

* Probably formed a part of the real estate conveyed by Joy and Coffin to the Nantucket Athenaeum. +Page 18.

¿Taking the nickname from the staff and crook, the symbol of the officer's authority as well as an offensive and defensive weapon.

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

delphia, has accepted the unanimous call from the Universalists of Nantucket and has entered upon his duties.

The Church was incorporated January 20, 1827 .*

There seems to be nothing to indicate how long Mr. Morse's pastorate was. His successor was Rev. George Bradburn, of Lowell. This was his first pastorate and he was ordained June 1, 1831. Possibly if there was an interim between the services of Mr. .Morse and himself "Parson" Swain may have officiated. Of .Rev. Mr. Bradburn, Mr. Coffin writes-"He was a young man when: he came here, and married a Nantucket lady, a daughter of Valentine Hussey .; He was a forceful pulpit orator and an excellent public speaker, clear and deliberate in his enunciation, oftentimes rising to a degree of forensic eloquence that was captivating and sub- lime, particularly upon the anti-slavery platform .; He took an interest in public affairs and became an important factor in the political concerns of the Island, having been chosen one of the Representatives to the General Court for three successive terms- 1839, 1840 and 1841 .** And while a member of the Legislature the whole State was aware that Nantucket was represented ..; He became thoroughly conversant with State affairs, debating upon the floor of the House many of the great questions of his day with consummate capacity and skill. One of his six colleagues from Nantucket (which was then entitled to six or eight Representa- tives), said that Bradburn held the floor half the session, and that no subject could be presented that he did not familiarize himself with and become prepared to advocate one side or the other, so that he ranked as one of the few radical champions of the House, in the years of Nantucket's most prosperous period, sustaining a population of nearly ten thousand, according to the census of 1840. Doubtless his Legislative experience opened wider fields of usefulness to him. He became a valued associate of the early abolitionists and lectured extensively in all parts of the free North, at one time, in connection with Frederick Douglass, holding meet- ings upon the border line of the slave state of Missouri. From Douglass' own lips I learned how Bradburn quelled a mob by per- suading the ringleader to come over to his side. I have no per- sonal recollection of the Rev. George Bradburn in Nantucket. When I knew him he was a white-haired, deaf old gentleman, recognized as the dean of political history and statistics in. the Boston Custom House where he was employed."

*The petitioners for incorporation were-Aaron Mitchell, Gard- ner Coffin, Elisha Starbuck, Robert F. Parker, Henry Gardner 3d, Samuel B. Tuck, Henry M. Pinkham, Samuel H. Jenks, Benjamin Pike, Peter Chase, Benjamin Worth, John R. Macy, George Brown, David Coffin, 2d, Joseph T. Worth, Eben W. Tallant, Zenas Coleman, James Stiff, John W. Olin, Nathaniel Tallant, John B. Nicholson, William Lawrence.

¡Lydia Barnard Hussey daughter of Valentine Hussey. She died Aug. 28 aged 24 years.

¿The exercises at his ordination, which was on the first Sunday in June 1831, consisted of an Anthem; Scripture Reading by Rev. Mr. Bugbee of Plymouth; Introductory Prayer by Mr. Bugbee; Hymn; Sermon, Rev. Mr. Pickering of Providence; Ordaining Prayer, Rev. Mr. Dean of Boston; Delivery of Scriptures and Charge by Mr. Dean; Right Hand of Fellowship, Rev. Mr. Bugbee; Address to Church and Society, Rev. Mr. Dean; Hymn; Concluding Prayer, Rev. Mr. Pickering; Anthem; Benediction, Rev. Mr. Bradburn.

** The paucity of information leaves one somewhat in doubt whether Mr. Bradburn abandoned the ministry or the ministry abandoned Mr. Bradburn but, by his continuing his residence on the Island and entrance into politics would suggest that the little Society was un- able to support a pastor. The sale of the Meeting house sustains that view.

582

HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

Just when Mr. Bradburn left the ministry does not seem clear, but it probably was prior to the middle of the year 1834 for the Church building appears to have been disposed of to Charles G. Coffin and David Joy August 6, 1834 for the use of the Nantucket Athenaeum .* The Society as a body, however, does not seem to have abandoned worship for the Inquirer of June 18, 1837, printed the following advertisement "Notice-Universalist Preaching will be continued in Broad Street Hall for months to come, for those who love "the joyful sound." " Apparently this advertisement was the swan-song of Universalism in an organized form in Nan- tucket.

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

More than fifty years ago Mrs. Samuel Haynes Jenks, an un- usually well informed woman told the following as the "Romance of the Episcopal Church in Nantucket:" A young man named Marcus, seeing the flaming advertisements in New York of splendid fortunes for whalemen ran away from his parents to ship on a whaler. i He went to Nantucket and on telling what he wanted was referred to a sailor boarding house. His father being an Eng- lish clergyman and he delicately brought up, he was disgusted with his surroundings and applied to Samuel H. Jenks, then Editor of the Inquirer. Mr. Jenks earnestly recommended him' not to go whaling, and being more than supplied in his office help could do. nothing for him there. He (Mr. Jenks) had Episcopalian tenden- cies himself and assisted Marcus to get a school at Polpis. Marcus was cultivated in his manners and soon became acquainted with the Athearns and other prominent families, and in time was ell- gaged to Lydia Atheain Cary, a relative of and living with the Athearns. As he must be married in the Episcopal form, his father

*Mr. Bradburn found an enthusiastic biographer in his second wife (Miss Frances H. Parker) to whom he was married in 1850. She says in her "Memorial of George Bradburn," (p. 1) that he was born in Attleboro, Mass. March 4, 1806. He was educated a machinist but at about 19, although successful, his love of study induced him to take a course at Exeter Academy. Graduating from Exeter and feeling a strong bias for theology he studied under Rev. Mr. King father of Rev. Thomas Star King. He next entered the Divinity School at Cambridge. Embracing the Unitarian views of Prof Ware he received on leaving the School a certificate to preach from the American Unitarian Asso- ciation: His first settlement over a Church was in Nantucket. He seems to have made a remarkable record in the General Court. He introduced resolves "on the deliverance of citizens liable to be sold as slaves," when every other member of the Committee signed a re- port of "inexpedient" and fought it to a triumphant finish. One news- paper writer said of him "Nantucket Bradburn is among them not unused to the patriotic Hall,-the politician, as well as the philan- thropist, too honest and too generous and too unwary for party."

#When the farmer lads came down to the sea no more in ade- quate numbers, the whaleships were forced to fill their crews far from home and to take what material they could get. Shipping offices, with headquarters at the whaling ports, employed agents scattered here and there in the principal cities, especially in the Middle West and the interior of New England. These agents received ten dollars for each man they secured for the ship's crew. Besides this, each agent was paid for the incidental expenses of transportation, board and out- fit of every man shipped. By means of lurid advertisements and cir- ulars, these agents with emancipated conscience, made glowing prom- ises to the desperate and the ignorant." (Herman Melville by Ray- mond M. Weaver, p. 157).

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

must be informed. * So Mr. Marcus came to the Island, and learning that there was no Episcopal Church on the Island, on consultation with Mr. Jenks, thought it a good field for missionary enterprise, and sent around notices that there would be a meeting in the Athenaeum the next Sunday evening in the Episcopal form. At that time an old lady named Jenkins was the only full Episcopalian on the Island, but half a dozen Service books were found. . The Hall was crammed on the night of the meeting and an Episcopalian Church was formed."

Mr. Marcus, who came from New York, made the following statement in a brief "Memoribilia" now in possession of the au- thorities of St. Paul's Church: "1837, Dec. 30. I, this day, made my first visit to the Island of Nantucket. Dec. 31. Preached in the Methodist Chapel, in the morning; in the Second Congregational, in the afternoon; in the First Congregational, in the evening. I am the first clergyman who ever officiated on the Island."

It was doubtless in consequence of this early visit and its ap- parent results that Mr. Marcus received a missionary appointment by the Council of the Domestic Missionary Society and the meeting in the hall of the Athenaeum with the use of the Episcopalian form of worship seemed to indicate sufficient encouragement.

On March 31, 1838, Mr. Marcus entered formally upon his duties. In the Inquirer of April 4 appeared the following adver- tisement:

"PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH

The building hitherto known as the Broad St. Hallt on Broad street will be opened on Sunday morning next, the 8th. of April instant, for divine worship according to the usages of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Moses Marcus, B. D., who, at the request of the Right Reverend Bishop Griswold, D. D., has been appointed a Missionary in the Eastern Diocese by the Domestic Committee of the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Ser- vice to commence at 10 o'clock A. M., and at 21/2 o'clock P. M.

A Sunday School will be opened in the same place at 9 o'clock, A. M., should sufficient encouragement offer. All persons desirous of aiding the above objects are respectfully requested to attend."

Of this meeting a correspondent, over the signature of "Catholicus," says the attendance "was respectable and numerous," and expressed the hope that ere long a more suitable edifice would be needed. A later advertisement announced that the Church would be open on Good Friday at 10 A. M. On April 14 a communication from Rev. Mr. Marcus announced that he would give advice and assistance to

*The Town Records show that on Monday evening January 1, 1838, William Nathaniel Marcus and Lydia Athearn Cary were mar- ried in the Episcopal form at the residence of James Athearn by Rev. Moses Marcus, who signs himself "Chaplain of the Sailors' Snug Harbour in the Diocese & State of New York."

"The Friends' North Meetinghouse. The lot was next to the east of the present Ocean House.

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

all who came to see him but he will not go out of his way to make Churchmen.

Mr. Marcus must have found the revenue from his ministerial duties insufficient, for in May he advertises a Collegiate Institute, including board and washing.

The building then used for a Church was subsequently re- moved to the rear of the lot it stood on and was remodelled into a Chapel and Sunday School room, and a beautiful church building, gothic in its style of architecture, erected. This was known as Trinity Church. It was the last building west on Broad street to be

ST. PAUL'S (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH

destroyed by the Great Fire of 1846. For several years after that event, the ruin remained, still showing traces of its original comeli- ness. The Church as organized was known as The Trinity Episcopal Church and the edifice was consecrated September 18, 1839.

July 11, 1841, Rev. Mr. Marcus resigned his Rectorship and was succeeded by Rev Frederick W. J. Pollard whose term of ser- vice was from July 18, 1841 to October 30, 1844. Mr. Pollard was in turn succeeded by Rev. Ethan Allen whose Rectorship began February 23, 1846 .* Mr. Allen was hardly settled in his new po-

*Between the time of the resignation of Rev. Mr. Pollard in 1844 and the dissolution of the organization, Trinity was under the direc- tion of Rev. Messrs Salter, Robinson and Allen as ministers in charge. Of Mr. Pollard, who was called to be Assistant Rector at the Church of the Advent, Boston, Dr. Ewer says: "The influence the Rector had over youth was not merely strong, it was positive fascination. His flock are now, after the lapse of 30 years, widely scattered, but I will venture to say that with few exceptions, all look back with tender

(See next page)

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

sition when the Great Fire deprived him of his Church. . The Church was still heavily in debt when the Fire swept away . its house of worship. It was decided to turn over to the creditors all the property there was left and to start anew. This was according- ly done and the Trinity Church organization was dissolved and abandoned September 21, 1846. A new organization was at once begun and dated from September 28, 1846. The question of a name of the new Parish being put to vote it was decided to name it St. Paul's Episcopal Church, by a vote of seven to six in favor of St. John.

Rev. Mr. Allen became the first Rector of the reorganized Church .* Following Rev. Mr. Pollard the record is:

Ethan Allen, Trinity February 23, 1846 to September 21, 1846. Ethan Allen, St. Paul September 28, 1846 to July 1, 1855 Charles H. Canfield, October 21, 1855 to March 25, 1857. Noah Disbrowe,; April, 1857 to April, 1859.

From the close of the Rectorship of Mr. Disbrowe until 1872, St. Paul's was without a Rector. Services were held at rare inter-

gaze to those precious days when Trinity Church was in its glory." Under his Rectorship the interiors of the Church and Chapel were beautifully decorated with mural painting. Mr. Thomas D. Morris being the artist.

Rev. Rev. Dr. Ferdinand C. Ewer gives the following description of the new meeting house: "There were three Gothic windows on each side, and a graceful tower in front, surmounted with well-formed pinnacles. Its interior, however, was not so satisfactory. It would seat about three hundred. It contained a small but sweet-toned or- gan. It had two side alleys, without any center alley. Its chancel

was cumbered with a huge and hideously carved composite structure, not exactly what is known as a "Three-Decker," but what may be

called a "Two-Decker," the main and striking elements of which were the pulpit above and a reading desk below; the latter being a triplicate sort of affair. Into the several curious compartments and receptacles of such a wonderful wooden creation it was the custom in those days of "De-formation" for the Priest to climb around, taking care when he appeared below to do so in spotless white, and when he appeared above to do so in jet black. As a piece of Ritual it was mar- vellous. * * * This amazing carved fabric of which I speak, with its mysterious alcoves, and stories and chambers, had, if I mistake not, been discarded, after long and loving use, by Trinity Church, Boston, for something that was at least one grade better, and had been gen- erously donated by that parish to its namesake at Nantucket. How long it stood choking up the chancel I cannot say, for I know nothing of what happened until some two or three years afterward-the year 1843. * * * * Mr. Pollard * * * had not held the cure long when the wooden abomination that stood clogging up the chancel was pulled out and pulled to pieces. Out of it a tall reredos or screen was made to stand at the back of the chancel, stretching across from one side to the other. Out of another part a lecturn, and out of still another a pulpit were constructed. The balance of timber, etc. found its way, after proper comminution into the stove. * * The reredos * * * served to conceal a flight of stairs leading to the vesting room which oc- cupied the basement underneath the sanctuary. In front of this reredos, and at its center, stood a beautiful altar. Nant. Inq. and Mir. Dec. 7, 1872.

*Godfrey says in his handbook on the "Island of Nantucket" (p 78) The Church first met for worship after the reorganization in the vestry of the First Congregational Church and in 1848 removed to Harmony Hall the headquarters of the Sons of Temperance, after- wards occupied by St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. The wooden building on Fair street was built in 1849 and first used for worship in 1850.

¡Mr. Dudley says (p. 13) "There is nothing in the records to show that Mr. Disbrow was ever invited to become Rector." Dr. Ewer says that from 1860 to 1872 the little Church was left severely alone by the Church authorities.

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HISTORY OF NANTUCKET

vals by clergymen who chanced to visit the Island. About 1869 or 1870 .Dr. Arthur Elwell Jenks kindly volunteered to serve the Church as lay reader, and thus keep the seemingly neglected flock together until better days should dawn. With "noble perseverance he stuck by the wreck till, through the efforts of off-Island friends of the Parish a Rector" (Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Meade) was secured. *

: . There seemed to be a marked difference of opinion on theo- logical matters between the little Parish at Nantucket and the Church authorities in the Massachusetts Diocese. Mr. Pollard was intensely High Church in his belief and appears to have impressed his belief very firmly on his communicants. Rev. Ethan Allen was sent by Bishop Eastburn to counteract the teachings and practice of his:predecessor. The change was not an easy one to bring about and Mr. Allen left St. Paul's in 1856 and took a Parish in Vermont without having accomplished the task set for him. For the next thirteen years the Bishop, apparently piqued at this lack of success declined to visit the little Church at Nantucket to administer the rite of Confirmation. The services were still maintained, however, with Mr. Charles Henry Starbuck as Lay Reader, and the record shows that when Rev. Dr. Ewer made his summer visits to his old home he conducted a regular service there. Then followed the Lay service by Dr. Jenks, so warmly commended by Dr. Ewer.

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The history of Nantucket County, island, and town : including genealogies of first settlers, Part 68

Author: Starbuck, Alexander, 1841-1925 Publication date: 1924 Publisher: Boston [Mass.] : C.E. Goodspeed & Co. Number of Pages: 900

Author: Starbuck, Alexander, 1841-1925
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: Boston [Mass.] : C.E. Goodspeed & Co.
Number of Pages: 900