USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Weston > Weston, a Puritan town > Part 5
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After preaching a year in the West, Mr. Sears accepted a call from the Unitarian Church in Wayland, where he was ordained,
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Weston: A Puritan Town
February 20, 1839. On November 7, of the same year, he married Ellen Bacon, whose image had remained in his memory since that summer day two years earlier. "Thoroughly practical, possessed of excellent powers of discernment and passionately loving to be useful, she yet had a deeply religious nature; it admirably comple- mented that of her husband; his lofty ideals, his spirituality of mind, and his deep visions of truth, she met with the fullest sym- pathy and appreciation."
In 1840, Mr. Sears accepted a call to a larger parish in Lancaster, a village of much charm and beauty, whose people welcomed the young minister and his wife with love and admiration, and became their devoted and life-long friends. Six happy years were spent under these ideal conditions and there the beautiful child, Kath- arine, was born.
However, the work of a large parish was too great a strain upon his health, and Mr. Sears resigned the pastorate in 1847. A few years ago Mrs. Henry Endicott, a granddaughter of Dr. Sears, felt a desire to see the church and the town of Lancaster. Inquiry at the Library brought a questioning look with raised eyebrows, until she mentioned her grandparents. By some magic, word passed from house to house, and she was welcomed as a treasured friend, so vivid had their memory remained.
To find the quiet and seclusion that was advised, Dr. Sears went back to Wayland, where he was gladly welcomed. Re-installed in 1848, he preached there for the greater part of seventeen years. Here, three sons were born, Francis Bacon, Edmund Hamilton, Jr., and Horace Scudder, who became a great benefactor of both the First Parish Church, and the town of Weston. In 1850, for the Sun- day School festival, Mr. Sears wrote his famous Christmas hymn, It Came upon the Midnight Clear. His other Christmas song, Calm on the Listening Ear of Night, was called by the poet Dr. Holmes, "The finest hymn in the English language." The master work, The Fourth Gospel, the Heart of Christ, a notable gift to the church at large, was finished by Dr. Sears during his pastorate in Weston.
In 1865, Dr. Sears had begun to preach here in the First Parish, as a colleague of Dr. Field, and in 1866, there went to him so urgent
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Reverend Edmund H. Sears, S.T.D., 1866-1876
a call that he accepted. In his acceptance, Dr. Sears made only one suggestion: "The terms of your invitation are perfectly satisfactory if you will allow me to make a single condition-that the Sunday afternoon service may be omitted during the most sultry portions of the summer months, if in your judgment it may be done without detriment to your religious interests." There is no record of any dissent, nor was the ancient custom ever revived. Dr. and Mrs. Sears found here, as everywhere, the warmest and most delightful friends, and here were spent some of their happiest years.
Always a conscientious citizen, Dr. Sears served on the Library Board, and was a member of the School Board, greatly beloved by teachers and pupils. One more volume, Sermons and Songs, was published in 1874, dedicated to: "The Christian Societies in Lancaster, Wayland, and Weston, in whose service these sermons were first prepared, and with whom I have held pastoral relations, fraught with memories of happy years." This book is in the Weston Library, together with other works published by Dr. Sears.
In the autumn of 1874, Dr. Sears had a fall; after fifteen months of weakness and suffering, he died on January 6, 1876. He lies buried in Linwood Cemetery. A Memorial Sermon was preached on Sunday, January 23, 1876, by Rev. Chandler Robbins, D.D., former pastor of the Second Church in Boston. Dr. Robbins was a summer resident of Weston, was deeply interested in this church, and was especially friendly and helpful during the illness of Dr. Sears, whom he greatly admired. Ready at any moment to fill the pulpit, or to aid in ministrations of the church, Dr. Robbins was gratefully received by the Parish, his memory was warmly cher- ished, and as a contemporary, Mrs. Elizabeth Knox, granddaughter of Dr. Kendal, wrote: "No record of the church and its ministers would be complete without his name."
Mrs. Sears lived on in the parish for twenty-one years. Through her vital interest in the church and in the town, she put aside her sorrow and loneliness, and devoted herself to the people her hus- band had taught and had loved. Their home had become a center of much of the Parish social life, until the first Parish House was
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built in 1875. Young people loved her, and visited her at all hours, finding always a warm welcome, and a wise sympathy if her counsel was desired, while the ministers following Dr. Sears carried to her many of their problems, certain of her practical wisdom, her sympathy, and her sense of justice. From 1870 until 1897, she was president of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, tireless in working for all church interests and for charitable objects, far and wide. The town as a whole mourned her death, April 24, 1897. Among many personal tributes to Mrs. Sears, are these lines from the annual report of the Benevolent Society: "She was the loving friend to all this parish, as well as to a wide circle of dear and treasured ones outside of it; wherever there was trouble or suffer- ing of any kind which came under her notice, her kindly sympathy helped to comfort and to heal; she is enshrined in all our hearts." This secretary was Mrs. Elizabeth Knox, herself an able and faith- ful member of the parish. In 1905, the record pays tribute to her, "As a woman of superior intellect and excellent judgment, whose name will live in honored memory for years to come."
The Evangelical Missionary Society of Massachusetts, 1807-1812
Taken from First Parish in Weston records dated: "Weston, Sunday, July 26, 1807: The Constitution of the Evangelical Missionary Society of Massachusetts having been publicly read some weeks before, and this Church at their Communion on this day, being requested to tarry and act upon the subject after divine service in the afternoon, did accordingly stop and attend to the business. The meeting was pretty full and after some observations on the subject it was moved and seconded that this Church will become members of the Society. The vote passed in the affirmative and without a dissenting voice. Then it was voted that the whole Church and Congregation make a contribution to promote the objects of said Missionary Society at as early a period from this time as may be convenient. It was also voted that Brother Joseph Russell be their Representative for the ensuing year."
Administration of Society affairs was in the hands of country ministers in Worcester and Middlesex Counties, with Dr. Samuel Kendal one of the twelve trustees, a position that he held until his death in 1814. Other trustees were from Spencer, Worcester, Royalston, Shrewsbury, Lancaster, Acton, Concord, and Woburn. Brother Joseph Russell was the Weston delegate until 1811, when Deacon Nathan Warren was chosen. In 1812, Ebenezer Hobbs, Esq. was the Representative.
The aim of the founders of this new Missionary Society was "To aid in extending the means of Christian knowledge among the destitute or poorly provided in the infant settlements of our own country." The fourth meeting of the Society was in Weston on
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October 2, 1812, at the Flagg Tavern. Dr. Kendal was one of the Executive Committee of the Trustees; he selected, engaged and paid the missionaries that the Society supported.
Collections are recorded in July, 1808; on December 11, 1808; on January 6, 1810; January 20, 1811; and on February 2, 1812 is this entry: "The sum gathered today was $36.43, besides two small pieces of silver, formerly worth 33 cents, but supposed not to be current at present. On February fourth, 1812, Mr. William Breed added four dollars, making $40.43, exclusive of said pieces of silver. On examination one counterfeit bill of three dollars was found in the collection."
This was the last entry in our Church records of the Society. When it was voted that the semi-annual as well as the annual meetings be held in Boston, control of the Society passed into the hands of the liberal churches in the city, although Dr. Kendal remained a Trustee, with a Weston delegate chosen from the laymen.
The Female Cent Society, 1814-183 5
On November 1, 1814, the ladies of the First Parish rallied their forces and formed the Female Cent Society, with one hundred twenty five names enrolled. This is the statement which they signed: "We the Subscribers, engage to appropriate one cent a week for the purpose of aiding in the support of missionaries and other instructors, and in purchasing Bibles and other religious books to be sent among the poor and destitute, and to give the same to the Evangelical Society of Worcester and Middlesex. Every lady who shall annually pay fifty cents in money shall be a member of this Society, and have a right to vote on all questions before the Society, and for every additional dollar thus paid, shall be entitled to an additional vote." Old names are listed, among them: Bigelow, Brackett, Coburn, Cutter, Cutting, Derby, Field, Gowen, Hagar, Hobbs, Hastings, Jones, Kendal, Peirce, Rand, Smith, Stratton, Stimson, Upham, Viles, Warren, Whitney, Yarnold. Among these
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The Evangelical Missionary Society, 1807-1812
members are the names of two persons born in Weston, who share in traditions of the town. Hannah Gowen, born in 1775, was the daughter of Doctor Joseph Gowen, a volunteer doctor-surgeon during the Revolutionary War. The Gowen house was a Colonial mansion, considered a showplace in its day. It stood somewhat back from the Post Road not far from the entrance to Highland Street; the only trace now is the lily-of-the-valley bed. Hannah was a bright child, popular at the West Center School, which was only a stone's throw from her home. She is always described as dainty and diminutive in size, a characteristic that served her well on the following occasion.
In October, 1789, General George Washington, President of the United States of America, proposed a journey to the New England States, which he had not visited since the British Evacuation of Boston, in March, 1777. The President traveled over the Post Road in his own coach drawn by four horses, and was accompanied by two secretaries and six liveried servants, four on horseback. This elegant cortege spent the night of October twenty-third at the Flagg Tavern, that stood diagonally across the Post Road from Dr. Gowen's.
On the morning of the twenty-fourth, President Washington was waited upon by the population of Weston; appointed to meet him and give an address of welcome was a distinguished citizen, Colonel Thomas Marshall who had served with General Wash- ington through the war. Tradition tells how grand the Colonel looked as he was driven away from his home in his carriage; his faithful Negro servant, Betty Plummer, had carefully powdered his hair, arranged his cue, and polished his knee and shoe buckles. Also present at the Tavern was the Honorable Samuel Phillips Savage, together with Captain Samuel Hobbs, both of whom had attended the Boston Tea Party in 1773; also there were Dr. Gowen and his little daughter Hannah; she had the distinction of receiving a kiss from President Washington, an honor that for her and indeed for the town, was a matter of pride and glory as long as she lived-to the age of ninety-five.
Rebecca Brackett, born in 1783, was eight years younger than
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Hannah, but they were life-long friends. Rebecca lived in a charm- ing house, white with green blinds, that stood in the triangle at Brackett's corner. Built about 1780, by Rebecca's father, Ebenezer Brackett, the house, although in excellent condition, was taken down in the early 1900's.
It was in the year 1818, that Calvin E. Stowe, a young man from Natick earning his education, taught in Weston in Distict Number Three, and boarded with Mrs. Alpheus Bigelow on Concord Road. Calvin Stowe graduated from Bowdoin College in 1824, and later married Miss Harriet Beecher, the well-known author. When Mrs. Bigelow celebrated her golden wedding anniversary in 1833, Mr. and Mrs. Stowe were present, and Mrs. Stowe told Mrs. Samuel Hobbs, (Dr. Kendal's daughter Abigail) that some of the characters in her books were taken from her husband's tales of the delightful and original people he met in Weston, among them Miss Rebecca Brackett.
Even after she became an invalid, Rebecca's cheerful view of life did not fail. Looking from her window that faced the Post Road, one fair afternoon in May, 1870, she remarked: "Well, there goes Hannah Gowen; I had intended to have the first ride in the new hearse myself!"
In the Historical Rooms in the Jones House is a framed picture of the late-Colonial home of Rebecca. The wide front door is covered with a portico handsomely finished, while a white fence encloses the lawn where there are several people dressed in the fashions of the pre-Civil War period. Probably one of them is the popular and endearing Rebecca.
The First Parish Ladies' Benevolent Society, 1841-1951
On Wednesday, February 3rd, 1841, the ladies of the First Parish in Weston met at the home of Mrs. Clarissa Smith, who lived on the estate east of the Church, and named Mrs. Caroline James, Moderator. Officers were chosen, "to preside over a Society for Charitable Purposes, to be named herein-after, accordingly." Then a Committee of three was named to draft a constitution :- Mrs. Joseph Field, Jr., wife of the Minister, Mrs. Benjamin James, wife of the town Doctor, and Mrs. Samuel Hobbs, who was Abi- gail, daughter of Dr. Kendal. The meeting then adjourned to Feb. 17th, a day so stormy that no one was about. So, on Wed- nesday, March 3rd, the meeting at Mrs. Field's adopted the Consti- tution as read by the Secretary. This is the Preamble: "We, the Subscribers, animated by the desire of Social, Moral, and Intel- lectual improvement, and wishing according to our ability to pro- mote the cause of Charity and Benevolence among us, do hereby form ourselves into an association by the name of the Unitarian Female Society in Weston, and by the adoption of the following Constitution". In this body of laws the first Wednesday of every month in the year was set for meetings, to be at the homes of the members; the annual meeting, the first Wednesday in April. In addition to the regular officers and Superintendents of Work, was a Book Committee, "to select and bring one or more Books for use at each meeting, which shall be of an Interesting and Moral Kind." The names of the seventy subscribers are the names listed in Town Records, ever and again, an inspiration in themselves.
Unfortunately, the monthly reports of the Secretaries consist
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Weston: A Puritan Town
of one line only, the date and place of meeting, number present, followed by two or three words, generally about the weather, although for the meeting on September 7, 1842, after the name of the hostess, appears, "No remarks." One wonders what happened!
The year 1844 must have been a gloomy one, nearly every comment being "rain", or "snow", or "storm". January 7th, 1846, is the item, "rain in torrents", while in August, 1846, occurs an earthquake. February 7th, 1854, is registered as "cold!" In March, 1860, another earthquake, "shakes Boston and round about". Happily, the meeting on February 18th, 1869, with Mrs. Thomas Marshall, (formerly Sophia Kendal) bears the note, "a very pleasant day". In August, 1872, is the comment, "George said, 'Rain as usual'." Was George an uninspired husband?
The charitable objects of the Society in its early years were largely in the Town. Mention is made of sewing for a family of nine children, sometimes for mothers who had a long illness; sometimes this item appears, "just knitting and quilting." As all sewing was hand-work then, what a relief for a woman with more family than time, to be provided with warm stockings, and gar- ments, and quilts. Nor were the men forgotten! An entry March 4th, 1856, "Received of Mr. Brackett for I shirt, $0.56"; but the article came cheaper by the dozen, as, on January 3rd, 1858, “Re- ceived for I pr. shirts from Mr. Seaverns, $1.00!"
As for charitable interests outside the Town in these early years, several churches received aid-one in 1855, name not yet deci- phered; $25. to one in Olympia, Washington; $25. to one in Mani- toba; by 1865 the Society was donating money and boxes of clothing for a colored school in Gainesville, Ga .; by 1869 was sewing and knitting for the Children's Mission in Boston and for the Massachu- setts Infant Asylum. In 1870 it was supporting three scholarships, -one at Hampton Institute, Virginia; two at Tuskegee, Alabama; the latter, in memory of General James Marshall and his wife, Martha.
Beginning in 1862, through the war years to 1865, the name appears as the Weston Soldiers' Aid Society, and meetings were in the Town House. The ladies from the other two Churches, the Baptist and the Methodist joined in the usual war work. There are
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The First Parish Ladies' Benevolent Society, 1841-1951
no records in this Parish of those years which disrupted the Uni- tarian Female Society, as well as our country-at-large.
In January 1866, the Society was re-organized under Mrs. Sears, wife of the beloved minister, Dr. Edmund Hamilton Sears, and an earnest worker in all Church matters. The title was the First Parish Ladies' Benevolent Society, and Mrs. Sears was the inter- ested and devoted president until her death in April, 1897.
The annual meeting was in May; there are Secretaries' reports but often written on scraps of paper, on the backs of receipted bills, or between the lines of old letters in "spidery" writing that is hard to read. Evidently, from time to time, meetings became irregular or poorly attended, so that the Secretary in May, 1872, opens her report with these words: "It is to be hoped that the goodly com- pany assembled here this afternoon, have not come to the funeral of the First Parish Benevolent Society, though it might have been feared from the little apparent life in it for the past six or eight months, that it was rapidly approaching dissolution, and that by this time there would be no more to do but celebrate the obsequies, and lay it away among other buried treasures and memories of the past!"
In the by-laws of 1841, dues were set at 25 cents a year. If ladies carried their own work they were assessed accordingly, the amount sometimes reaching 75 cents. Funds other than from dues, were raised by holding in various homes, "Tea Parties," at which small articles were for sale, and to which men were invited. Under July 13, 1872, is the entry,-"Mrs. Charles Johnson, head of Tea Party and Sale, made $50." On November 4th, 1872, "Paid in part for the purchase of an organ for the Church $50."
Money for the wooden Chapel that once stood on this same spot, was furnished almost entirely through the activity of this society -the Vestry Fund it was named. Not only Tea Party Sales, but entertainments of various kinds were given by the younger people of the Parish, while a course of lectures alone netted $226. The Chapel was finished in May, 1874, but furnishing was not com- pleted until after mid-summer, with the dedication on Sunday evening, August 16th, 1874.
The Annual Report for May, 1875, voices gratefulness for "the
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Weston: A Puritan Town
neatly furnished and well-lighted rooms, the good will and sym- pathy from the members of the other religious societies in town, who came to offer their congratulations and bid us God-speed in any good work we hoped to do here,-and added to all this the consciousness that we were not encumbered with debt,-every- thing was paid for to the uttermost farthing".
In respect to this statement, an item dated June Ist, 1874, adds interest :- "In accordance with the vote of the Ladies Benevolent Society, the whole amount in the treasury, $194.64, was paid to the Treasurer of the Chapel Building Committee". However, in December, 1874, $136.02, was received from a Coffee Party and Sale. This, with the yearly dues and the sale of a bed-quilt made by the ladies, set the Treasury merrily on its way with $181.29.
Beginning in 1841, only the husbands of the ladies who met to sew, were invited for supper at the home of the hostess. With the completion of the Chapel and its convenient kitchen, invitation was given to all people in the Parish over fifteen years of age. The high-school girls and boys served their elders, then sat around the extension-table in the parlor to receive their reward, free of charge. The original supper fee was ten cents-the suppers were simple; hostesses vied with each other in making tasty fillings for sandwiches, delectable cakes were brought by the members, milk and cocoa were provided, while coffee, made by Miss Hattie Perry, year after year, was well worth a night of dreams.
On Sept. 27th, 1876, "Held a Fair to get a Furnace to warm the Church". From now on, these are Parish Fairs under the auspices of the Benevolent Society held every year in the Town House, afternoon and evening. Many interests were served. Besides the charitable subscriptions, several times the wooden Church was painted, inside and out; in 1878, the remainder of the Parsonage debt was paid; Chapel repairs, Church carpeting, minister's gowns -the climax reached perhaps, in the Treasurer's report in 1890 :- "Rec'd from Fair $619.13, spent on Parsonage, Church, and Chapel, $618. Deposited in Waltham Savings Bank, $1.13."
In 1904, the Annual Fair was omitted, and afterwards came once in two or three years, as the state of the Treasury required. There
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The First Parish Ladies' Benevolent Society, 1841-1951
were Fairs in 1907, 1910, 1912, 1914, then none until 1919, which was a "humdinger". Mr. Horace Sears was Chairman of the Execu- tive Committee, Mr. Stanley Morton, the Treasurer, and Mr. Charles Richardson, Publicity Manager. Tea in the afternoon, supper in the Parish House arranged for two seatings, with, "Auto conveyance, if desired, furnished free, from and to the Hall and Parish House"; a vaudville in the lower Town Hall at three, five, seven, and 8:30 P.M., admission 30 cents; music by Orchestra from 8 to 9 P.M., dancing from 9 to 2, tickets 40 cents each.
The "September Gale" of 1938 caused the Executive Committee to issue a special "hurricane bulletin", telling of shingles blown from the Church tower, with other damages, and stating that the Ladies' Benevolent Society generously voted to allocate one-half the proceeds of the Fair (of that year) not in excess of $1000 to the purpose of repair. This sum was paid promptly by the Fair Treasurer.
And so, in innumerable ways, the old Association stood by for many years. Some ten years ago, after soul searching and due deliberation, the members of the Ladies' Benevolent Society and the members of the Women's Alliance (organized in 1898) de- cided to unite in one strong group. And in June, 1951, the two societies merged to form the present dynamic Benevolent-Alliance of the First Parish.
Building the Stone Church, 1887-1888
At the annual meeting of the First Parish in April, 1883, after much discussion, it was voted to employ an architect to submit plans and estimate of repairs and improvements in the wooden 1840 building. At a meeting in the summer of 1883, the plans were inspected, but the Parish found the estimate so large (the record merely says several thousand dollars) that some members openly advocated the erection of a new Church altogether. "The whole subject was so perplexing and yet of such vital importance to the future of the Parish, the question was postponed until the annual meeting in April, 1884."
It was at this April meeting, after a long and warm debate, that a small majority voted: "To build a new church edifice, the cost not to exceed $10,000, provided $8,000 were pledged during the ensuing year, and the full amount before building was begun." The Committee to solicit subscriptions was Mr. Horace Sears, Mr. William Coburn, and Miss Elizabeth Gowing. One year later, in April, 1885, the Committee reported the sum of $8070, thus ful- filling the first conditions of the vote to build a new stone church. Thereupon, this meeting chose the following building committee: "Mr. Edward Coburn, Chairman, Mr. Justin Gale, Treasurer, Mr. Horace Sears, Secretary, Mr. Everett Clark, Mrs. Charles J. Paine; the Reverend Charles F. Russell was added as an honorary mem- ber. It was also voted to have plans and specifications prepared by Peabody and Stearns, noted Boston architects, and to see what disposal could be made of the old building."
This was voted in April, 1885, but it was not until January 26, 1887, that Mr. Coburn signed the necessary contracts with Mr. Samuel D. Garey, of Newton, for the building of the stone
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