USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Weston > Weston, a Puritan town > Part 6
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Building the Stone Church, 1887-1888
church. The Secretary's Records in Mr. Sears' beautiful and legible writing are interesting reading; the amazing energy of the Com- mittee in considering every detail to keep down expense, and to please the parishioners, while the description of the removal of the Town Clock in the presence of the Selectmen, and the lower- ing of the Paul Revere Bell, and the weathervane, without injury, are pleasing items.
Quoting from the Record: "The demolition of the old church began on Monday, January 31, 1887, and by Saturday, February 19, in just three weeks time, it was all removed, nothing but the foundation stones remaining. The work was done in a rapid, orderly manner, and no accident or unpleasantness occurred to disturb the sentiment which is naturally entertained for a building which has been dedicated to church purposes." It may be added that the removing was done by the crack carpenter of Weston, Mr. Stephen N. Gowell, a life-long Baptist.
Evidently winter held long sway in 1887, because "the severe and unseasonable weather postponed laying the new foundation until May fourth, when the contractors began work at the chancel end." Red brick for interior wall finish was chosen as against plaster, or woodsheathing, both for suitability, and for warmth of color, and also because it would be warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The windows of plain glass pleased the older parishion- ers who were accustomed to long, plain-glass windows through which sky and tree-tops were to be seen upon occasion. The window frames were not intended for cathedral glass.
While criticism has been made of building a stone church of Norman-Gothic design in the old Puritan-colony town of Weston, the structure was a notable one in 1888. Three and four columns with illustrations were published in the Waltham Free Press, the Christian Register, the Boston Journal, the Boston Transcript, and the Boston Herald.
In the Records of Mr. Sears, Committee Secretary, two facts are ever present: No step was taken or change made without care- ful discussion, first in Committee, then in Parish meeting; no step was taken, nor expense assumed until the money was in the build-
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Weston: A Puritan Town
ing treasury-never were any funds for building or furnishing the stone church, drawn from the Parish treasury.
The Memorials in the Church In the Chancel
The Panelling, in memory of Eleanor and Robert Winsor, given by their children and grandchildren. A tablet in the panelling, in memory of Robert Winsor, Jr., given by his old friends in this Parish.
The Pulpit, in memory of Edmund Hamilton Sears, minister of this Parish, 1866-1876, given by a few out of the many who love his hymns.
The Lectern, in memory of Isaac Coburn.
Two Chairs, in memory of Elizabeth and John Lamson.
Two Candlesticks, in memory of their daughter, Marlene, given by Leroy P. and Dorothea Cheever.
The Cross, in memory of Mary Otis Russell, given by her friends in King's Chapel.
Two Vases, in memory of Mary Otis Russell, given by the Benevolent Society.
In the Church
The Baptismal Font, in memory of Harriet Ware Hall, sister of Rev. Edward H. Hall, minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, given by her friends, 1892.
The West Window, in memory of Henry Augustus Gowing, 1834-1894, given by his widow, 1899.
The Transept, in memory of William Herbert Coburn, 1857-1909, given by Horace S. Sears, 1918.
The Organ, in memory of Francis H. Hastings, given by his widow, Anna C. Hastings, 1918.
The Carving over the East Door, in memory of Charles Frank Russell, minister of this Parish, 1882-1921, given by his widow, Mary Otis Russell.
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Building the Stone Church, 1887-1888
Memorials and Tablets on the Walls of the Church
Isaac Fiske, 1778-1861.
Samuel Kendal, Pastor of this Church, 1783-1814, given by Gen- eral James F. B. Marshall, and Mrs. E. B. M. Knox.
Edward Coburn, 1820-1904, given by the Coburn family.
Charles Henry Fiske, 1840-1921, and Charles Henry Fiske, 3rd, 1896-1918.
Tablet in honor of the men of this Parish who gave their services to their Country in the Great War, given by the Parish.
Three Parishes
Once upon a time in this Farmers' Town of Weston, members of the Baptist Society and of the Methodist Society worshiped with the First Parish Congregational Society in the Town Church, as the Colonial Meeting House was often called in old records; to the writer and perhaps to some others there still seems to be a certain affiliation or family feeling hovering over these three Parishes.
Weston was indeed a Farmers' Town. Our three earliest minis- ters, Rev. William Williams, Rev. Samuel Woodward, and Rev. Samuel Kendal, all tilled sizeable farms, thereby bringing up in comfort their large families with what seems small yearly remu- neration from the Parish, {80, and fifteen cords of wood de- livered.
There is the story about Parson Kendal, minister from 1793 until 1814. One Sunday afternoon in early July, preaching from the high pulpit, and seeing through a window a dark thundercloud rising in the southwest, he dismissed the meeting so that the farmers could harvest their hay. It may be that his own best crop was in jeopardy!
With the leadership of young Oliver Hastings, whose farm lay in the southerly part of town, the Baptist Society of eighteen members, in 1788, practically completed a Church edifice on the South County Road. In 1794, under the inspiration of Abraham Bemis, a young farmer of the Northeast District, the famous Bishop Asbury came to Weston and organized the Methodist Society of twelve members. The first Church building was com- pleted in 1797, on the North County Road.
However, the First Parish was supported by the voters at
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Three Parishes
Town Meeting. In 1784 and again in 1788, protests were made by the Baptist Society but no action was taken-the Moderator was always of the First Parish! In 1800, whether Baptist, Methodist or Congregational, the town paid for the extensive repairs and al- terations of the Meetinghouse amounting to nearly $4000.
In 1820, Town Meeting: "Voted to grant the sum of one hun- dred dollars for the instruction of sacred music in Weston," also "Voted to choose a Committee of five-three from the Congrega- tional Society, one from the Baptist and one from the Methodist, who shall be authorized to draw said money from the treasury and appropriate it for the purpose aforesaid according to their discre- tion: whereupon Ezra Warren, Joseph Cheney, William Bigelow, Jed Thayer and Uriah Gregory were chosen said Committee." Although there was a possible three to two majority, the custom continued for some years, showing that the three parishes could perhaps sing in unison.
In 1822, an appeal signed by over twenty Baptists and Methodists reads :- "Having been compelled in years past to defray a pro- portional part of the expenses annually recurring in the Congrega- tional Society of said Town such as the making and collecting of the ministerial tax, ringing the bell, providing wood, repairing and painting the Meetinghouse, etc., we do earnestly petition that some measure may be taken to prevent the like imposition in the future." Relief was voted in 1824, but one writer says the trouble was not entirely done away with until 1840.
In everyday life in the neighborhoods, with no thought of differing religious societies, farmers exchanged labor and tools in haying time, when cutting and storing ice in winter, and in apple gathering season with the cider press. In those days apples were not a product for market-what were not needed for pies were made into cider. Neighbors worked together in sending loads of hay and of wood drawn by oxen or horse teams, over the North County Road, the Boston Post Road, and the South County Road, to Haymarket Square in Boston.
Farmers' wives met in the afternoons for quilting-bees with families coming for supper and a gay evening of games and gossip,
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Weston: A Puritan Town
while daughters and sons in Weston schools made friendships with no thought of differing religions.
The Civil War came demanding men of all faiths, and Weston more than filled her quota. The women of the three Societies, the Baptist Ladies' Aid, the First Parish Ladies' Benevolent Society, and the Methodist Women's Society for Christian Service, met day after day at the Town House and lived up to the beauty of these appellations by sewing, by knitting, or by making bandages for the men in the service of their country. And so in World War I and in World War II with the number increased by the Episcopal Women's Auxiliary and the Catholic Women's Sodality.
In a recent Boston Herald was an editorial about farm life in New England long ago. It ended: "For men and women on the farms, life ran at a slower tempo, and by today's standards was old- fashioned, but in the days of yesteryear some of the foundations were laid that have helped a great nation toward its destined stature."
The Baptist Society, 1789
Dissensions in the First Parish Congregational Church that brought about the organizing of the Baptist and the Methodist Societies in Weston, seem to have had their beginning in a feeling that Church and State were not wholly separated. The Pastor was invited by vote of Town Meeting as well as by a call from the church, while the town not only voted money to pay for his installation, but also for his salary and his fire-wood, year by year.
The first Baptist in Weston was Oliver Hastings, "Son of John Hastings and Mercy His Wife Born in Weston Sept. 9th, 1740." The Hastings name is still in church and town records. In 1762, Oliver became a member of the First Parish Church, and in 1764, married Mary Winn of Natick. They lived in the south part of the town,-the house stood at the south-east corner of the junction of Wellesley Street with Glen Road. The records give no reason for his change of faith, but in 1772 he was baptized in Framing- ham by the Rev. Noah Alden, Pastor of the Baptist Church in Bellingham, and by 1776, had gathered a Baptist Society in Weston. As he was a popular young man, this caused some excitement in the First Parish, but as he was a young man of firmness and char- acter, opposition served only to increase his enthusiasm.
The Society of eighteen members met regularly at the homes- they lived for the most part in the same vicinity. A minister was procured when possible, and when none was available, young Oliver served. An interesting member was Samuel Train, Jr., "Son of Samuel and Rachel Train Born in Weston, 11th of August, 1745." He appears later in the Records as Deacon Samuel Train, Jr. The Society finally voted to build, and four young men proposed to put up the frame and cover it; they were, Justus
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Weston: A Puritan Town
Harrington, Samuel Train, Jr., James Hastings, younger brother of Oliver, and Joseph Seaverns. "The frame was to be thirty-one feet square, with seventeen foot posts." This compact was made on March twenty-nine, 1784; timber and boards were contributed, and in October, 1784, the building was raised and usable, although not entirely completed. On the map of Weston issued in 1794, the Baptist meetinghouse stands on the northwest corner of the cross-roads at Wellesley Street and the South County Road, now South Avenue.
The Society voted to be known as the Baptist Society of Christ at Weston and Framingham. "The first settled minister was Charles Train, 3rd, son of Deacon Samuel Train, Jr. and Deborah Brown, born in 1783. A Harvard graduate of distinction, he had prepared for college with Rev. Samuel Kendal. Mr. Train had in- tended to become a lawyer, but through particular attachment to, and interest in his native town, he united with the Baptist Church." The Rev. Charles Train began to preach in 1811, dividing his time between Weston and Framingham, and living in the latter town. In 1825, the Framingham Society voted to separate from its parent, and the beloved Pastor was settled there.
As the church on the County Road was in need of repair, and as it was far away from many of its people, in 1828, a new church was built nearer the center of town, and on the Boston Post Road, on land given by Mr. Abraham Hews. The Hews family was divided between the Old Parish and the New, but they were as a whole, devoted to the interests of their townspeople. The notable Hobbs family of Hobbs Corner, also gave members to both Parishes. Amos, a cousin of Deacon Isaac Hobbs, Sr., staunch supporter of the First Parish, married Sarah Gould of Weston, in 1799, and built a house on the Post Road. There in 1811 was born Edwin Hobbs, who was chosen a Deacon of the Baptist Church in 1840, and served his Parish until 1875; he was also Superintendent of the Sunday School for forty years from 1834 until 1874.
The pastorate of Rev. Calvin H. Topliff, brought a minister not only devoted to his Church, but one who was actively inter- ested in the town. During his ministry from 1853 until 1867, the
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The Baptist Society, 1789
Parish increased in membership, and he served on the School Board, and as a Library Trustree. When the news came of the terrible battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, in which many young volunteers from Weston took part, a special town meeting on September 27, 1862: "Voted, That the Rev. C. H. Topliff, proceed to Maryland and recover the body of Ralph A. Jones, and any others that have since died, and attend to the wants of the wounded men suffering in any of the hospitals." Mr. Topliff was one of a Committee of five appointed by the town to procure the Memorial Tablet that is now in the Library. At town meeting on March fourth, 1867, it was voted: "Resolved, That the thanks of the town be presented to the Rev. C. H. Topliff, for his long and faithful services in the various offices which he has held in town affairs, and that a copy of this vote be communicated to him."
Another long and able ministry was that of Rev. Amos Harris, from 1875 until 1891. The growth of the Church continued, so that in 1879, the building of 1828 was remodelled, "with a spacious auditorium, and a large and beautiful vestry with desirable rooms adjoining."
During the pastorate of Mr. Harris, came the Centennial An- niversary, which the Church "celebrated with great zest." A stage coach with four horses driven by two parishioners, carried the guests from the railroad station to the church, where eloquent speeches, followed by another, "elegant collation," awaited the visitors.
Of the Rev. Frederick E. Heath it was said that he must have preached often from the text, Love one another, for he married so many young couples; one evening, at the parsonage, were en- tertained forty people whom he had joined in wedlock. His min- istry was short, from 1900 until 1904.
In 1916, a call was extended to Rev. Joseph E. Perry, and for twelve years, Mr. Perry served as the beloved minister, "shepherd- ing his flock with wisdom, sympathy and humor." During his pastorate, the present beautiful Colonial church was built, with the laying of the cornerstone in July, 1923, by the oldest church
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Weston: A Puritan Town
member, Mr. Augustus M. Upham. On the afternoon of June first, 1924, an impressive service of dedication was held. In World War I as a patriotic duty, the church granted Mr. Perry a three months leave of absence to serve as military pastor at Camp Chillicothe, Ohio, and later, a six-months leave to serve at Camp Fremont, Palo Alto, California. In 1928, Mr. Perry resigned be- cause of ill health, but in 1930, "he honored the Church by becom- ing Pastor Emeritus."
The year 1939 was distinguished by the celebration of a century and a half in the life of the First Baptist Church in Weston. A notable feature of this life is the continuance in the congregation of descendants of many of those who formed the church in 1789, and the half century that followed.
To this fine old Parish well on its fourth half century, came a minister with a wide and varied experience. Rev. Ferdinand F. Peterson, D.D. had served as pastor of large congregations in several New England cities and had been active in many church organizations as Faculty Member, as Executive Secretary, as Board Member, and as Trustee. Under his leadership from 1941 until 1953, the church added many new members; he was also an interested citizen of the town, serving as Chairman of the Food Administration Board during World War II, and later, as a co- founder of the Weston Council of Churches.
In 1950, on February tenth and twelfth, the First Baptist Church celebrated the Golden Anniversary of the ordination of Dr. Peterson on February twelfth, 1900. The following is from the program of the occasion: "Fifty years of furnishing light and leadership have only made his candle burn more brightly and the spirit that keeps the candle glowing at the end of a half century still shows no sign of faltering."
Dr. Peterson's successor carried on the traditions of this Weston Church, not only as pastor, but as a member of the community. Always friendly and cordial, Mr. Joseph O'Donnell was especially helpful in activities of the Town, and in those of the Weston Council of Churches. When, in 1959, he answered a call to an- other church, his parishioners and townspeople in general were
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The Baptist Society, 1789
loath to have him go. However, Rev. Donald B. Morris, who was installed as minister in September of the same year, soon found a place in the hearts of his people. He, like Mr. O'Donnell, has been interested in the Council of Churches, and, in fact, is serving as chairman of the 1962 University of Life. To increase good will and co-operation among all groups is his earnest aim.
The Weston Baptist record would be incomplete without a tribute to the distinguished musicians, especially singers, which this Parish has produced. To quote: "The Winches and the Uphams have only to open their lips and melodious song seems to flow out as sweetly as from an Aeolian harp. Mr. Marshall Upham who served sixty years as tenor in the choir, is said to have sung high A clear and sweet in his eightieth year." Then there was Merrill French whose tenor voice was sought far and wide, but who sang in the Baptist choir all the years of his life. The famous deep bass, Charles E. Smith, member of several men's quartettes in Boston and other places, gave his services for a generation or more. And the present-day choir and the Bellringers are maintaining the standards of excellence in music set by the talented Baptists of the past.
The Methodist Society, 1794
On Wednesday, July thirteenth, 1791, the famous Bishop Fran- cis Asbury visited Waltham, and preached there. Abraham Bemis, Jr., a young layman from the First Parish in Weston, heard the eloquent Bishop, and was inspired to have a Methodist Church established in Weston. The Bemis family was an early one-in Watertown in 1640, Joseph, the first of the name, held the office of Selectman in 1648, and again in 1672 and in 1675.
Abraham Bemis, Jr., was born in 1751, in the family homestead; the farm lies in the northerly part of what is now Waltham, the land then in Lincoln, which was a part of Weston, and the family attended the First Parish Congregational Church, here. In 1776, at the age of twenty-five, Mr. Bemis married Abigail Adams of Lincoln; the only daughter, Mary, grew into a sweet young girl, whose name appears later in the records. To quote: "On August fifth, 1793, Bishop Francis Asbury visited the picturesque home- stead of Abraham Bemis, Jr., and preached in his orchard to a large congregation of interested people." Another source records: "Nearly all the great men of the early church were entertained beneath the hospitable roof of Mr. Bemis, and proclaimed the glorious gospel in the shade of his trees, to the assembled yeomanry of the town." The orchard is no longer there, but in the summer, green lawns and a garden in bloom welcome any Sunday School Class from the present Methodist Church in Weston-a tribute to the honor in which is held the name of Abraham Bemis, Jr.
On Saturday, July nineteen, 1794, Bishop Asbury came to Weston, and organized the Methodist Church; the trustees were Abraham Bemis, Jr., Habakkuk Stearns, Jonas Bemis, John Viles
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The Methodist Society, 1794
and Daniel Stratton. The other original members were Ephraim Stearns, Suzannah Adams, Tabitha Bemis, Elizabeth Bemis, Eliza- beth Adams, Martha Stratton, Abigail Bemis, wife of Abraham, Jr., and Mary, their daughter. The first minister was Rev. John Hill, appointed in 1793, to the Needham Circuit, of which Weston was a station.
In 1796, Rev. George Pickering of Boston was appointed Pastor of the Church, and in October of the same year, he married Mary Bemis, also called Polly. Their oldest son was named Francis Asbury Pickering, who, in 1821, married Elizabeth, daughter of Deacon Nathan Warren of Weston; from then on, his name ap- pears in the Town Records. During the ministry of Mr. Pickering, the first church was built in 1797, "and stood in the pasture now owned by Mr. Fiske, to the right of the road that leads to Lincoln. The structure was not imposing, but it was filled with devout wor- shippers, and though there was no stove to warm them in winter, and they had but slabs on which to sit, still the services were very helpful, very spiritual, and seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."
Fortunately for the Church, some years later Mr. Pickering served another appointment in Weston; this was in 1840. "The Rev. George Pickering stood a pillar of New England Methodism, and a patriarch of the denomination venerated through all its borders." At his death in 1846, he was considered, "The oldest effective Methodist Preacher in the world."
As years went on, the congregation grew steadily until the meetinghouse became, "too strait" for them, and various meetings were held to discuss the building of the "New Church." Finally, on February 20, 1828, "an agreement was entered into between Francis A. Pickering, Emery Bemis, George Weston, Thomas Jenkins, and Marshall Smith, on the one part, and Whitman Peter- son of Duxbury, on the other; said Peterson to furnish materials and build a meetinghouse for the Methodist Society in Weston, on a lot of land not far from the old meeting-house." The build- ing was to cost $1700. Mr. Peterson entered upon his work at
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Weston: A Puritan Town
once, the church was completed in the following November, and was dedicated January eighth, 1829.
The need of a "Preacher's House," as the parsonage used to be called, became more and more apparent, but it was not until 1850 that it was deemed "specially necessary"; it was finally voted on May fourteen of that year: "To build a house for the Preacher." The site was on land offered by Captain Sewall Fiske, "48 rods on Marshall Smith's line, 4 rods on the road, and 12 rods in the rear, and pay the sum of $100." It was also voted: "To build an up- right house, 28 by 22, with an ell, 24 by 14."
"Brothers H. C. Dunham, Joseph Whitman, Ephraim Brown, Rufus Babcock, and Franklin Childs, were the Building Com- mittee, and proceeded at once with the work. The cellar was dug and stoned without charge. Mr. Samuel A. Willis of Sudbury contracted to build the house for $800; he began work in July, and finished the first of October. It has been occupied as a parson- age ever since." Through the years, this house on North Avenue, not far from the church, has been kept abreast with the times- hardwood floors laid, all the modern improvements in the way of living added, and in the year 1950, extensive changes were made, but it is still the staunch "upright" house that early carpenters could build.
Disaster struck this quiet Parish when on December thirty-first, 1899, the white country church of 1829 was completely destroyed by fire, but with the hardihood of their ancestors, the Parish within a year built a new sanctuary on the site of the former one. Larger than the old, but with the same simple lines and a steeple added to the tower, the present church was dedicated on January twenty-fourth, 1901.
It was during the pastorate of Rev. Donald A. Wells, from May, 1944, until June, 1947, that the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Church by Bishop Asbury, was observed. This was in October and November of 1944. On Sun- day, October first, Rev. Daniel Marsh, D.D., then President of Boston University, preached the Anniversary Sermon. Following is the schedule of events of the Celebration:
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The Methodist Society, 1794
Sept. 30, Anniversary Dinner at the Church
Oct. I, 10: 30 A.M. Address by Rev. W. M. Gunter, District Superintendent
4:30 P.M. Anniversary Sermon by Dr. Marsh
Nov. 8, Harvest Supper
Nov. 17, Play-The Peabody Pew
Nov. 19, 10: 30 A.M. Old Time Religious Service
Dec. 6, Ladies' Aid Anniversary Fair
Within recent years, the church has been completely renovated -an addition built, the latest heating system installed, while nearby stands a large and attractive Parish House, consecrated on May fourth, 1958.
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