USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from the year 1876 to the year 1916 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
The second division of St. Joseph's parish was accomplished in 1913, when St. Mark's chapel, designed as a temporary ac- commodation until a church should be built on the corner of West and Onota Streets, was opened on May fourth of that year on Onota Street. The priest first appointed to St. Mark's was Rev. Michael J. Leonard, who still serves there, his parishioners being the Roman Catholics resident in the western part of the city.
Finally, in 1915, the parish of St. Joseph's was necessarily divided for the third time. With the purpose of relieving the strain on the capacity of the veteran church, Sunday services were instituted in a moving picture theater on Tyler Street in January, 1915; and two months later the new parish of St. Mary of the Morning Star was set off in the Morningside dis- trict. The first pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Riordan, came to St. Mary's on April first, 1915. Land for a site having been bought on the corner of Tyler and Plunkett Streets, the result of the spirited endeavors of Father Riordan justified the announce- ment, early in 1916, that a new church would be erected during the year. Sunday services continued to be held in the theater, while daily mass was celebrated in a small chapel in St. Mary's rectory on Tyler Street.
160
HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD
In 1876, the French Roman Catholics of Pittsfield worshipcd in the humble wooden church which had been built in 1844 by Father Brady of St. Joseph's, on Melville Strcet. Their devoted priest was Rev. Joseph Quevillon, a man of rare saintlincss. He had come to Pittsfield in 1870, at the age of sixty-five, and four years later he had completely and hopelessly impoverished himself by purchasing, at the expenditure of all his slender sav- ings, the Melville Street church, and by contracting a heavy personal debt for improving its interior. Father Quevillon re- signed his pastorate in 1882, and on August sixth, 1891, he died at Pittsfield. He was born at St. Vincent de Paul, Canada, in 1805. The name of his birthplace was curiously indicative of his life of piety and singleness of purpose. In his gentle soul was the heroic quality which prohibits thought of self. Even in his old age he knew not ease, and hardly knew comfort, save at the insistence of his loving parishioners.
Father Quevillon's successor was Rev. Alexander L. Desaul- niers, who was followed in 1890 by Rev. L. O. Triganne. The pastorate of the latter was distinguished by a marked growth and energizing of the parish activities, and by the definite formulation of plans for a new edifice, in pursuance of which the labors of Father Triganne and of his people were indomitable. Rev. Amable l'Heureux, assuming the pastorate in 1893, carried these labors to a successful conclusion; and the corner stone of Notre Dame de Bon Conseil was laid on September fifteenth, 1895, on the site on Melville Street, of historic interest to all the Roman Catholics of the county. The spacious brick church, in the Romanesque style of architecture, and of satisfying beauty within as well as without, was dedicated by Bishop Beaven on May second, 1897; and, like several other church edifices in Pittsfield, it is impressive evidence of what may be accomplished by the patient and well-directed zeal of people rich only in de- termination. Their spirit was thoroughly exemplified by Father l'Heureux, who, struggling constantly against the ob- stacle of enfeebled health, remained with the church of Notre Dame until 1901. He was then succeeded by Rev. Clovis Baudoin. Rev. Levi J. Achim, the present pastor, assumed his duties in Pittsfield in 1910.
THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND ART
161
CHURCHES-I
The rapidly increasing number of residents of foreign descent, shortly after 1905, led to the establishment of flourishing Roman Catholic mission sdevoted to worshipers of Italian and of Polish birth, and under the charge of priests assigned by the head of the diocese. In 1915, services for the Italian Catholics were held regularly in the Sunday school rooms at St. Joseph's; and the announcement was made that land on Fenn Street had been obtained for the site of a Catholic church for the Italian people.
CHAPTER XI
CHURCHES-II
T HE First Baptist Church had in 1876 the incitement of a recent stimulation produced by the complete remodeling of its edifice on North Street and by the addition of a chapel in the rear. The rededication of what was in effect a new building had been celebrated in 1873, during the pastorate of Rev. C. H. Spalding. In 1875 Mr. Spalding resigned. The pulpit was then supplied for two years by Rev. W. W. Hammond; and in June, 1877, Rev. O. P. Gifford was ordained minister of the church. His successor was Rev. George W. Gile, who came to the church in July, 1879.
The entire cost of the improvement and enlarging of the house of worship had been in the neighborhood of $40,000; but it does not appear that the incurrence of a burden of this sort was so troublesome to the Baptists as was the expense of re- building their edifices to the members of other Pittsfield churches in the same decade, who, with somewhat curious misfortune, chose to assume the task of raising money for substantial struc- tural improvements during a period of distressfully hard times.
Mr. Gile, a vigorous, practical leader, left a strong impression upon the First Baptist Church, as well as upon the town. His co-operation with other clergymen in sustaining such charitable enterprises as the Union for Home Work and in shaping the organization of the national Congress of Churches, which origi- nated in Pittsfield in 1883, was of pronounced value, while the affairs of the church over which he immediately presided were conducted by him with intelligent and inspiring fidelity. In February, 1884, Mr. Gile withdrew, and Rev. Edward O. Hol- yoke was ordained minister in the following September. The winter of 1884-1885 was marked by a series of gratifying revival services at the church, and during the brief pastorate of Mr.
163
CHURCHES-II
Holyoke, who resigned in 1887, there was a gain of 250 mem- bers.
In 1887, Rev. Orville Coates became pastor and remained until 1893. An attractive preacher, he helped to extend the field covered by the church's activities conspicuously through the Baptist mission and Sunday school established at Morning- side. The energetic pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Rev. Herbert S. Johnson began in May, 1893, and continued until his resignation in 1899; Rev. Gove G. Johnson was in- stalled there in January, 1900; Rev. F. W. Lockwood followed in November, 1902; and in 1909 Rev. Charles P. MacGregor accepted the pastorate, in which he now serves.
An harmonious devotion to mutual endeavor appears to have distinguished the membership of the First Baptist Church in Pittsfield since its pioneer days; and its later ministers, like its earlier pastors, were men equipped to direct and foster this characteristic of the society, of which the recent career, while one of sound growth and of consistent value to the higher life of town and city, presents few features deserving historical re- mark. At the observance of the church's centennial anniver- sary, celebrated in March, 1901, its spirit was abundantly ex- emplified, and the story of the many faithful men and women, to whom it owed its honorable position, was vividly recalled.
The Baptist Sunday school mission at Morningside, already mentioned in connection with the pastorate of Rev. Orville Coates, found so broad an opportunity for usefulness that a wooden chapel on Spring Street was dedicated for its occupancy in March, 1895. In May of the same year, Rev. James Grant became assistant pastor of the First Baptist Church, under Rev. Herbert S. Johnson; and the project soon took definite shape of establishing a new Baptist society in the Morningside section, where the population was then rapidly increasing. With the approval and hearty assistance of the mother society, this was effected in 1896, when, on April twenty-ninth, the Morningside Baptist Church was organized, with 118 charter members. Mr. Grant, a man of attractive enthusiasm and of graceful, pregnant speech, was the first pastor. The new church flourished, holding its services in the Spring Street chapel. Rev. L. A. Palmer fol-
164
HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD
lowed Mr. Grant in December, 1900; Rev. J. Bruce Gilman succeeded him in 1903; and in 1909 Rev. H. C. Lcach, the present pastor, was installed.
The congregation speedily outgrew the accommodations af- forded by the church's original home; and at length the resolute and laborious efforts to provide means for the erection of a suit- able edifice were successful. A site was obtained at the inter- section of Grove and Tyler Streets. There the corner stone was laid, July second, 1911. The attendant exercises formed a sig- nificant part of the celebration in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the town. The handsome and spacious edifice of brick was dedicated on March second, 1913, and, lying in a populous and busy district, it has been the center of much evangelical diligence.
Under the auspices also of the First Baptist Church, a mis- sion chapel was built on Elm Street, at the corner of Northum- berland Road, which was dedicated on October fifth, 1913.
A series of religious meetings, held during the winter of 1886- 87 in a hall in Central Block on North Street by adherents to the Unitarian system of belief, resulted in the organization of Unity Church and ultimately in the erection of the first Uni- tarian house of worship in Berkshire County. The original president of the society, which was formed in April, 1887, was Edward T. Fisher, the proprietor of schools for boys both in Lanesborough and Pittsfield. Rev. J. F. Moore of Greenfield conducted services in a hall on North Street; and in Novem- ber, 1887, Rev. W. W. Fenn was installed as the church's first pastor. Mr. Fenn, whose ability led him later to the posi- tion of dean of the Harvard Divinity School, soon brought the young society to a stage where a church building seemed necessary. In March, 1889, land was purchased on the west side of North Street, between Bradford and Linden Streets; and there a wooden edifice was erected, which was dedicated January seventh, 1890. The cost of land and building was about $15,000. This transaction the members of the society financed not without difficulty; but the selection of the site and the time of its pur- chase were alike fortunate, for the value of real estate on upper North Street was then on the point of beginning to increase rapidly.
165
CHURCHES-II
In 1891 Rev. Carl G. Horst succeeded Mr. Fenn, and in 1895 Rev. C. W. Park wasi nstalled in a brief pastorate which was terminated within a few months by his death. Rev. G. S. Anderson then filled the pulpit for a little over two years. He was followed, from December, 1898, to April, 1899, by Rev. John A. Bevington. Assuming charge on the first Sunday in March, 1900, Rev. Nathaniel Seaver, Jr., served the church until he was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Earl C. Davis, in April, 1905.
In the summer of 1912 the society accepted an opportunity to sell with advantage its North Street property, which had nearly quadrupled in value in twenty years, and to acquire the former residence, on Linden Street, of Marshall Wilcox. Thence removal was accordingly made, and the building on North Street was leased by its new owner for a moving picture theater. Comfortably established on Linden Street, the church found it- self in possession of a home well-adapted to its needs. Remodel- ing and enlargement made it possible to combine under one roof the functions of a church building, a parish house, and a parson- age.
A troublesome condition of discord, the misfortune of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church for many years, had been apparently alleviated during the rectorship of Rev. Leonard K. Storrs, who resigned in April, 1875, and was then succeeded by Rev. William McGlathery. Mr. Storrs was a man of conciliatory tempera- ment, and under his placid administration the vexatious elements of internal strife, which had long disturbed St. Stephen's Church and parish, slumbered restfully. Mr. McGlathery, however, seemed to be unable to prevent their awakening, and he with- drew from the local ministry in February, 1881. For nearly a year St. Stephen's was without a rector. In January of the fol- lowing year it made its election of Rev. W. W. Newton, and be- came the possessor of a leader of an extraordinary and vital personality.
William Wilberforce Newton was born in Philadelphia, No- vember fourth, 1843, was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1865, and in 1869 was ordained in the Episco- palian ministry, a vocation to which, indeed, he had been with
166
HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD
less formality already summoned by virtue of a distinguished clerical lineage. In 1877, he was chosen rector of St. Paul's in Boston, and he came from St. Paul's to Pittsfield. There he preached for the last time in July, 1899. His health, then gravely impaired, thereafter enforced residence for some years in France. On June twenty-fifth, 1914, he died at Brookline, Massachusetts. The most obvious characteristic of his mind was its fecundity. In a day he could conceive and vizualize-nay, could even actually initiate-more worthy enterprises, parochial and charitable, than the devoted cnergies of men and women could fully execute in a year. Publishers printed busily his poems, novels, children's stories and plays, his books of travel, criticism, sermons, and biography. With few of the contem- porary movements in religion, sociology, and literature, either in this country or abroad, was he unacquainted. He addressed with effect gatherings of all sorts, ranging from soldiers' re- unions and political meetings to Browning societies and church congresses. His physical, as well as intellectual, make-up equipped him in his prime for the performance of much labor, for he was tall, powerfully built, and given to outdoor exercise. His face was ruddy and habitually betokened his sociable spirit of kindly humor.
Under his restless stimulation, the affairs of St. Stephen's be- gan to assume an activity to which they had not quite been ac- customed. From the pulpit Dr. Newton often spoke with a poetical mysticism confusing to the majority; but his broad sympathy, his tolerance, and his Christian manliness were un- obscured, and the strength of them attracted increased congrega- tions. In 1887 he launched the project of erecting a new church edifice, to replace the structure built by St. Stephen's in 1832. The question of a site was important. The land which the parish held under a grant from the town, complicated by an odd tangle of legal agreements with the estate of Edward A. Newton, was bounded on the west by a line running fourteen feet from the town hall and on the east was thirty-four feet from the Allen property. A special town meeting, held in January, 1888, voted to accede to a proposition of exchange made by the parish, where- by the latter acquired a building lot adjoining the Allen land,
167
CHURCHES-II
leaving space between the church property and the town hall for a highway to Fenn Street from Park Square, which was much desired by the members of the Methodist Church. The select- men were appointed a committee to exchange deeds.
In the meantime, however, Dr. Newton's parishioners be- came involved in a dissension which was slightly but unhappily reminiscent of some former days of St. Stephen's. It was point- ed out that sites other than that secured by the arrangement with the town might be more adequate. Many wished a church larger and more imposing than the edifice contemplated by their rector. Among the plots of land suggested for it were the present site of the Berkshire Home for Aged Women on South Street, the land at the north corner of South and Church Streets, and the Pomeroy "Homestead" lot on East Street, immediately west of Bartlett Avenue. At length, and having in view the site last named, the parish voted, in August, 1888, to offer a release to the town of the church property on Park Square for $20,500. This bargain was stormily declined by a somewhat acrid town meeting in the following September; and after a few adjustments of boundary lines, the corner stone of the new St. Stephen's was laid, July eleventh, 1889, on the Park Square lot.
The architects were Messrs. Peabody and Stearns of Boston, and they selected Longmeadow sandstone for their material. The old building having been razed, services were held in a wooden parish house, which was put up on the rear of the lot in the summer of 1889. On May fourteenth, 1890, the present church building was dedicated.
In its new home, the church continued steadily to gain in usefulness and solidarity under the enthusiastic direction of Dr. Newton. Early in 1900, a distressing affliction which prohibited the use of his voice compelled him to withdraw from ministerial work. He was succeeded at St. Stephen's by Rev. Thomas W. Nickerson. Mr. Nickerson, whose executive ability was un- common, in a few years placed the affairs of the parish upon a basis more secure than that which they had possessed under his predecessors. He resigned in 1914; and in 1915 he was followed by Rev. Stephen E. Keeler, Jr., the present rector.
The will of Miss Elizabeth Stuart Newton, who died in 1891,
168
HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD
made St. Stephen's parish the owner of the Edward A. Newton homestead at the corner of Wendell Avenue and East Street, up- on the condition that the property should always be utilized for parochial purposes, and accordingly the historic house, built during the Revolution by Col. James Easton, became the church rectory. By private benefaction, also, the interior of the church has been from time to time embellished, notable gifts from indi- viduals having been those of the altar, the pulpit, and the organ.
An Episcopalian mission was initiated at Morningside in 1908, which shortly afterward developed into St. Martin's Church. The church building on Woodlawn Avenue was given, as was the land, by friends of the new parish in Lenox and Pittsfield. Partly self-sustaining and partly supported by diocesan aid, St. Martin's has had as pastors in charge Rev. C. J. Sniffen, Rev. C. O. Arnold, Rev. C. P. Otis, and the present pas- tor, Rev. F. C. Wheelock.
The members of the Protestant German Evangelical Parish, so incorporated in 1861, worshiped in 1876 in the wooden church which had been built on First Street in 1865. Their pastor, Rev. John D. Haeger, had served them since 1868. In February, 1888, he resigned, being then seventy-eight years of age. The parochial conditions were not auspicious. The mem- bership of the church was only fifty-five. Services were con- ducted exclusively in the German language; and a strong feeling prevailed, especially among the young people of the parish, that this restriction should be loosened, a step which Mr. Haeger, it appears, was disinclined from taking. Rev. John David Haeger died in Brooklyn, New York, on June twenty-fourth, 1900, in the ninety-first year of his age. His grave is in the Lutheran cem- etery at Middle Village, Long Island. Affectionately called "Father" Haeger by his Pittsfield flock, he was a fine type of the old-fashioned, simple-hearted, conscientious, village clergyman. His service in the town was marked by unusual self-denial, and of the small salary which could be allowed to him he was ac- customed to contribute a large portion to the treasury of the church.
In April, 1888, Rev. William F. E. Hoppe, was chosen pastor, and in the same month he preached the first sermon in English
169
CHURCHES-II
ever delivered in the church by its minister. Under his efficient pastorate, both the church membership and the congregations were very considerably increased. A new edifice was soon proved to be a necessity, and a building committee applied itself to the task. In 1892 the corporate name was altered, by consent of the legislature, to Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The corner stone of the new brick church, occupying the site of the original structure on First Street, was laid on July thir- teenth, 1892, with appropriate ceremonies, the building having then been so far advanced that the congregation was able to as- semble therein. Mr. Hoppe, to whose energy and breadth of view the people of the church were greatly indebted, resigned the pastorate in April, 1893, and in the following June he was followed by Rev. Werner L. Genzmer, the present pastor. The rejuvenation of the church, happily signalized by the erection of its new house of worship, was productive of a gain in usefulness which has been maintained with steadiness in more recent years.
On May fifth, 1874, during the first pastorate in Pittsfield of Rev. John F. Clymer, the Methodist Episcopal society dedicated its present church on Fenn Street. The cost of the land and the building was in the neighborhood of $115,000. In the town of those days the undertaking was one of magnitude. The members of the Methodist Church were then, with only two or three exceptions, people of moderate means. However, they were stout-hearted and loyal; and at the time of the dedication of the edifice the numerous pledges made of the subscription of funds seemed to assure the financial future of the society. Dr. Clymer was followed as preacher in charge by Rev. David W. Gates, who served until 1878. Meanwhile, a mone- tary panic had inflicted itself upon the country. A great ma- jority of the subscription pledges, made in good faith by the enthusiastic Pittsfield Methodists in 1874, were now impossible of collection. Indebted in a sum of over $60,000, the society faced a situation hazardous to its very existence. When the question of assigning a preacher to Pittsfield was brought before the annual Troy Conference in 1878, it was plainly intimated there that the appointed clergyman would be called upon merely to preside over a collapse and to save what wreckage he could;
170
HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD
in Pittsfield many citizens, and many of the Methodists them- selves, believed that the society must inevitably lose the hand- some church edifice, which had been proudly welcomed by the town only four years previously. At this critical juncture, Rev. Frederick Widmer was assigned to the Pittsfield pastorate.
The assertion is hardly too strong that through Mr. Widmer the Fenn Street church was saved to the society. A sympathetic and hopeful friend in adversity, he appears to have been none the less positive and determined. It is related of him that one Sun- day, having opened the services by observing that he would not continue to occupy the pulpit until certain minor payments had been made for the care of the building, he immediately picked up his hat and went home. The astonished congregation at once contributed enough money to pay the bills, and Mr. Widmer in a few minutes resumed the pulpit.
In order to reduce, or even to carry, the construction debt, great personal sacrifices were needed, sacrifices declared by the older members of the society to be incomprehensible to a later generation. These self-denials Mr. Widmer was able to inspire. When he left Pittsfield, in 1880, the church had crossed the Slough of Despond in which, two years before, he had found it struggling. One-half of the debt had been wiped out, and the current expenses had been squarely met. More important, per- haps, was the development of a courageous spirit, an impressive possession of the society which was operative after the struggle itself had been won. The original mortgage, given in 1873, was paid in 1911, and was then publicly and joyfully burned.
Succeeding Mr. Widmer were Rev. H. L. Grant in 1880, Rev. George Skene in 1882, Rev. C. D. Hills in 1885, Rev. J. E. C. Sawyer in 1888, Rev. John F. Clymer in 1892. Dr. Clymer had previously, from 1872 to 1875, been the preacher on the local circuit, when to his influence had been due much of the enthus- iasm resulting in the erection of the new church. He was a bold, energetic, plain speaking man, not afraid, at least in his younger days, to expose himself to the charge of sensationalism. In 1903 he died in Dansville, New York, having served for forty years in the ministry. At the Methodist Church in Pittsfield, he was followed in 1896 by Rev. John W. Thompson. Dr. Thomp-
171
CHURCHES-II
son, on the platform as well as in the pulpit, was a magnetic and eloquent orator, a popular favorite with all sorts of Pittsfield audiences. He was born at Jay, New York, in 1843, and died at Nassau, in the same state, May fourth, 1910. His patriotic addresses delivered during the excitement of the war with Spain are still held admiringly in local remembrance. In 1901 Rev. Charles L. Leonard succeeded Dr. Thompson in Pittsfield, and in 1909 Rev. J. A. Hamilton, now the presiding preacher, was assigned to the church. Under these leaders the development of of the society has been gratifying, and to it each of them has made his salutary contribution.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.