m ■ P A 1 1 I ; i i} DISCOURSE OCCASIONKP BY THE TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FORMATION OF ^Ite j^irst ^augregati0nal j^ocictji MILTON, MASS., I'Et.fVERED BY Frederick' Frothingham, Associate Paster, In the Meeting-House at Milton, Sunday, April 28, 1878. ♦ if &j Published at Request of the Society. g '-' V Printed by T. W. Ripley, 138 Congress St, Bos-ton. SSJi^ I j "' o ' UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Special Collections & Rare Books DISCOURSE OCCASIONED IiY THE TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FORMATION OF ffche ^ffrsf ^o«flregatianal ^ocicfu MILTON, MASS., DELIVERED PY Frederick Frothinghamj ^ssoc'utic $lnstor, In the Meeting-House at Milton, Sunday, April 28, 187! Published at Request of the Society. DISCOURSE. "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers." — Isa. xxvi., 20. THESE words seem almost given me to-day. They belong to the history of this First Milton Church. For, about one hundred and fifty years ago, December 24, 1727, Cotton Mather, stand- ing up to preach for the last time, 1 addressed them to his hearers, inviting them to enter with him " The " Comfortable Chambers, Opened and Visited, upon " the Departure of that aged and faithful servant of " God, Mr. Peter Thacher, the Never-to-be-forgotten " Pastor of Milton, who made his Flight thither, on " December 17, 1727." Mr. Thacher was the first minister of this church. The sermon is quaint and beautiful, a psalm of triumph at the translation of a noble life from earth to heaven. The " chambers " which it opens are those of death and the future — the death and future of the good. The " chambers " that invite our opening and visiting to-day are chambers of the past. Since last we met, this, the First Congregational Society of Milton, 2 has closed the second century of its exist- 1 He died February 13, 1728. Born February 12, 1663. 2 This statement is not quite exact. In strictness it applies to the " church " rather than the parish. The society as a separate parish dates from 1818. Before that time the parish and the Town were one and the same, and all parish questions, such as the building of a meeting-house, the election of a minister, the fixing of salary and raising money for their maintenance, etc., were passed upon in Town-meeting. If the church took cnce. Well were it, if, entering on a new century, in the noble reverence of our ancestors, we said to- day, " Like Israel, standing on the shore, Here, then, we pause, look back, adore." Two hundred years ago, on April 24, 1678, this church was formed. The town had been incorpo- rated sixteen years before, in 1662. Two years after (1664) Robert Vose had deeded " eight acres of land "for a meeting-house and other ministerial purposes, 1 "to eighteen trustees, probably every church mem- " ber or freeman in the town," and eight years later (1672) a meeting-house had been built, during the incumbency of Rev. Thomas Mighill, of Rowley, whose eight years of service closed here in 1677, and he settled permanently at Scituate. That early church building,* of which no known trace remains, stood not far from here, near where Mr. Wm. P. Blanchard now resides, corner of Centre Street and Vose's Lane. Previously to its erection, religious services had been held in the eastern part of the town, under the conduct of Rev. Joseph Emerson. The times were hard, the currency worse than it is to-day, and poor Mr. Emerson, not "passing rich" on the initiative in electing a minister, his election was not valid until confirmed by the Town. Then he became pastor of the church and minister of the parish. In 1818, however, the parish and the town were, by the General Court of the State, made separate organizations. The first warrant for a meeting of the Milton parish (in 1S1S) defines as members of the parish " all " the inhabitants of said Town (except such Inhabitants as do by law belong " to some other Parish or Religious Society or are exempt by law from Parish "charges in said Town of Milton)." 1 Robbins's Address, p. 22. - See Appendix, A. ^53 — or $ l 75 — a year, which his people were too poor to raise, " made shift to live without embarrass- ment " by being " passed about from one parishioner to another," until, after his marriage, difficulties arose, and, called to Mendon, he left the town in 1669. Not until the 24th of April, 1678, was a church organized. The "principal inhabitants were members of the Dorchester or Braintree churches." * But on that day, solemn services being held in the meeting-house at Dorchester, Gov. Leverett being present, but the rain and snow keeping away many of the magistrates, " by the assistance of the elders and delegates from the churches of Boston, Wey- mouth, Braintree, and Dedham," 2 this church was formed. 3 Twelve men "of y e Brethren of Milton w n yer q^ was Gathered," of whom five were mem- bers of the Dorchester church, one of the Second church, Boston, one of the Weymouth church, and five "admitted to covenant" at that time, joined themselves together there and united in the follow- ing covenant : " We whose names are subscribed, being called of " God to Joine ourselves together in Chh communion, " from our hearts acknowledging our owne un- " worthynesse, of such a priviledge, or of y e Least of " god's mercys, & likewise acknowledging our owne " disability, to keep Covenant, with God, or to per- " forme any spirituall duty, w c hee calleth us unto, " unlesse, y e Lord Jesus doe inable, thereunto, by his " spirit dwelling in us. Doe, In y e name of Christ 1 Robbins, pp. 22,'23. 2 Ibid, p. 24. 3 See Appendix, B. " Jesus our Lord, & in trust & confidence of his " free grace assisting us : Freely Covenant & bind " our selues, solemnly, in y e presence of God hims. " his holy Angells, & all his servants here present, " y 1 wee will by his Grace assisting, Indeavour con- " stantly to walk together as a right ordered, Congre- gation of Christ, according to all y e holy rules of " a Church body : rightly Established, so farre as wee "doe already know it to be our duty; Or shall fur- " ther vnderstand it out of gods holy word: Promis- " ing first & aboue all, to give up ourselues & our " ofspring unto y e Lord, God father son, & Holy- " Ghost, y e only true and liueing God, & to Cleave " unto him as our cheife & only Good, and unto our " Lord Jesus Christ as our only Saviour, our Pro- " phit, Preist & King, our spirituall head & Hus- " band ; & for y e furthering of us to Keep y s blessed " Communion with God & his son Jesus Christ, & " to grow up more fully herein, wee doe likewise " promise, by his Grace Assisting us to Endeavour "y e Establishing, amongst ourselues of all Ids holy " Ordinances, w c hee hath appointed for his Chh here " on Earth, & to Observe all & Every of y m , in such " sort, as shall bee most agreeable unto his will ; " Opposeing, unto y e utmost of our chh power y e Con- " trary. And lastly wee doe hereby Covenant & " promise, to further unto y c utmost of our power, " y e best spirituall good, of such other, & of all & " Every One, y 1 may become members of y s Congre- gation, by mutuall Instruction, reprehension, Ex- 14 hortation, Consolation, & spirituall watchfullnesse, " over one another, for good ; & to be subject in & " for y e Lord, to all y e Administrations & Censures, of " y e Chh, soe far as y e same shall be guides according " to y e Rules of gods most holy word in a way of " order peace & vnion ; with all promising to walk " orderly in a way of fellowshipe, & Communion " with all y e Chhs of Christ among us according to " Rule. ) rt y e Lord may be one & his name one in " all y c Chhs. " This Covenant wee doe by solemne act of Chh " Confederation Enter into, with full purpose of heart "(as y e Lord shall help us) to keep it forever, & " where wee shall faile, y er to waite upon our Lord " Jesus, for healing & pardon for his Names sake." The names to this Covenant are : ANTHONY NEWTON, EBENEZER CLAP, (Member of Dorchester Church.) (Member of Dorchester Church.) ROBERT TUCKER, EDWARD BLACKE, (Member of Weymouth Church.) (Member of 2d Church, Boston.) WILLIAM BLACKE, GEORGE LION, (Member of Dorchester Church.) (Admitted by Covenant.) THOMAS SWIFT, JAMES TUCKER, (Member of Dorchester Church.) (Admitted by Covenant.) GEORGE SUMNER, EPHRAIM TUCKER, (Member of Dorchester Church.) (Admitted by Covenant.) THOMAS HOLMAN, MANASSAH TUCKER. (Admitted by Covenant.) (Admitted by Covenant.) Thus this Milton church began. Was it a bad beginning? Very humble it truly was, and very far from flattering were its prospects. The land was 8 wild, and scant the population. The first tax-list on record, of date 1674, includes but fifty-nine persons. King Philip's war had ended but two years before (1676), and, though the soil of Milton was unvisited by its fury, the homes of its people, like those of many another New England town, felt its desolation. The Indians, though sadly reduced in numbers by pestilence, if not by war, and, although here not un- friendly to the white man, yet looking on him as a stranger and an intruder, and regarding this as their native home, still lingered here, certainly, if not an unimportant part of the population, at least an object of pious interest to our forefathers, as heathen to be brought into the kingdom of the Gospel. That bears were here seems probable; for we are told that, in 1725, forty-seven years later, "bears were very plenty, twenty being killed in one week within two miles of Boston," 1 and the Dorchester planta- tions had been so annoyed by wolves, that, forty years before, 20 shillings had been offered by the town for the first one taken, 15s. for the second, and 10s. for every subsequent one, "besides the Country's pay."~ They were poor indeed, and in such a "sea of troubles, as wars and rumors of wars, Indians and small-pox," as to occasion Cotton Mather's remark that " great numbers merely took New England on their way to heaven." 3 But poor and full of dis- tresses though they were, they would not be without man's best earthly friend, Religion. They cherished it well. And so they established here their church. 1 History of Dorchester, p. 293. - Ibid, p. 160. 3 Ibid, p. 238. For about two years they gathered around Rev. Samuel Mann of Wrentham, 1 driven thence by the Indian war and afterward returning to his people. Then came their own first minister, "the never-to-be- forgotten " Peter Thacher, of whom, fifty years later, Cotton Mather says: " The precious flock at Milton obtained this gift of our ascended Saviour." 2 Six and forty years, from 1681 to 1727, he labored here, and "made his flight" hence to "the comfortable cham- bers" of God's "house of many mansions" in his sev- enty-seventh year. A man he was of uncommon gifts and acquirements, descendant and progenitor of a race of ministers-" his grandfather was an eminent preacher at 3 Old Sarum " — and well fitted for the central posi- tion of influence assigned at that time in Massachu- setts to the minister. He seems to have been physi- cian to his people's bodies as well as to their souls, spending, says Cotton Mather, "in medicines, it may " be some scores of pounds, and a great part of his " yearly salary, which he freely bestowed upon the " invalids among his people ;" 4 ay, it may be, on those of all the country round. He for years preached to the Indians at Punkapaug, " a monthly lecture, & " furnished himself with skill in their Sesquipedalian " language," says Cotton Mather, " that he might be " able to do it." " On y e Lord's days," says the same authority, " he fed his flock with two sermons. The " manna was rained no less than twice in every Sab- 1 Robbins, p. 25. 3 Robbins, p. 32. 2 Chambers of God, p. 18. 4 "The Comfortable Chambers," p. 21, IO " bath. He many years kept up a monthly lecture. " He catechised as an Angel of the little ones. He " neglected not the pastoral visits." " He often gave " his presence at the private meetings of his neigh- " bors, who met in course at one another's houses for " agreable devotions. Among these he took a special " cognizance of, and had a special affection to, the " societies of his dear young men, and always manifest- " ed a very great joy to see his children walking in the " truth ; and as great a care that they might none of " them decline from good beginnings. He would " sometimes go to them, and preach to them, as well " as pray with them ; and one of the sermons which he " bestow'd upon them, they were at the expence of " publishing, that they might enjoy it as their per- " petual monitor. It is entitled ' The Perpetual " ' Covenant.' " What an interesting glimpse is here of the life of that young time! And it gives us no hint of the fireless churches, 1 in which the long services of worship and fast, ordination and council were held, sometimes lasting, especially those of ordination and installation, through a large part of the day — no hint of the solitariness, rudeness and danger of the ways through which the brave wor- shippers thronged to the house of public worship, on foot, on horseback ; in wet weather, in ox-carts ; on snowshoes or sledges in winter; and whose very diffi- culty enhanced the sweetness and preciousness of the service and society of the house of God. Besides all which he trained young men for college, not a i Sec Appendix, C, II few of whom made a mark in the history of New England. How he could stand it Mather answers by referring to his " travels" and "the exercise, than " which the medicina gymnastica never prescribed a " better. Thus, our ancient Peter held out so well, " that even w/ien he was old, he could gird himself, " and go almost whither he would? So Peter Thacher lived and labored, in surroundings which perhaps the poorest of Milton's present dwellers would call hard, but so richly and faithfully that, as Cotton Mather says, he and his people " were so far " from being weary of one another, that their mutual "endearments were never stronger and more lively, " than at the time when his death translated him to " the upper chambers? " Lamentable animosityes & divisions," * as this fine brave soul calls them, had caused him to hesi- tate about accepting the " unanimous, frequent & affectionate calls " which the Milton people gave him; and towards the close of his ministry they threatened to reappear. A new and larger meeting- house was needed, and where to put it was a dis- puted question — not finally settled till after many town-meetings and votings running through seven years. The town no doubt had grown, both in numbers and wealth. On the admission of his son to church-membership in 1 7 1 5, he says, with a deli- cious unconscious parental exaggeration : " He is 1 76 members in full communion admitted by my- self," 2 among whom he had recorded " Peg my Indian 1 Church Record, in his own writing. 2 Milton Church Record, p. 6, 12 servant (though now a free woman)." In 1724, he records " Hagar my negro woman." At the time of his death, twelve years later (1727), he had admitted two hundred and fifty-three. The Lord's Supper was administered by him for the first time here, 1 in 1681 -June 19 — to "about fourscore communicants." This would imply a pretty large congregation. In the same period, on the other hand, he had " attended the departure of all the founders of the town," 2 most of them longlived men and bequeathing longevity to their children, and, better than that, a character and quality simple, strong and serviceable. The new church was not built till the year after his death. It stood near the road, in front of the spot now occupied by this Milton church. Its size was 50 feet by 40, and 28 high, with a belfry, in which the Town Meeting of April 3, 1729, voted to place u abel" to weigh 3 1-2 cwt. "grose" — 392 lbs. — the expense to.be raised by " supscription." The sound of that little "church-going bell " might well be as modest and diffi- dent as that of the gentle and beloved parson John Taylor's voice, whose tones floated up into its vi- brations. The town voted him liberty to cut timber in the ministerial land 1 — of which it had 200 acres 1 This is quoted from Mr. Thacher's private diary by Mr. McKeati. Ik- adds that the second celebration of the Lord's Supper took place July 24, after five weeks, and the third September 4, after six weeks. - Robbins, p. 3S. •"The Town Records of Oct. 21, 172S, contain a vote in town meeting "that there should be wood cut in y" land needful for fire at Mr. Taylor's "ordination." For what purpose this tire does not appear, as the practice of heating churches was not yet. 13 set apart for the support of the ministry, etc. — to build him a house : also that he shall have first choice of a place to build a pew for the ministry in the new meeting-house, and that his pew be built by the town. It was further voted that those who "draw pus shall sit in them themselves with " so many of their family as conveniently can sit with " them, and the rest of their family to be seated with " the rest of the town." 1 In that meeting-house Mr. Taylor labored through the most of his ministry. Ordained November 13, 1728, he died January 26, 1719 50, "after above twenty-one years eminent service in y e ministerial office in y e Town of Milton." 2 His strength seems to have lain in his gentleness and worth, rather than in self-assertion. A man apparently of real culture, by his cotemporaries held " remarkable for his high rank in the republick of letters," he is described by Dr. Chauncy as "an agreeable, pleasant companion, and a friend that might be depended upon," but so shrinking that he would seldom preach from home, and would allow nothing of his to appear in print. At his death Dr. Chauncy, by his orders, committed all his papers to the flames. Dr. C. describes him as " rather an agreeable than " a great man, rather pretty and delicate in his senti- " ments and expressions, than strong and nervous. " His head was clear, though not the strongest. " Few were more universally beloved while they lived, " and lamented when dead among those of their ac- " quaintance." 3 1 Town Records. - Church Record. 3 Robbins, pp. 40, 41. H During his ministry Deacon Manasseh Tucker, the last of the original twelve who founded the church, died, April 9, 1 743. The church took the occasion, that earlier generation having passed away, on the sixty-fifth anniversary of its formation, to renew their " Co\ rt with God & one another, which " They did accordingly," says parson Taylor, " April " 24 th ' when the members of the C h Male & Female " manifested their Consent to their Fathers Cov 1 by '• standing up while I read It over with a small Varia- " tion as the Change of Circumstances required." And now the two hundredth anniversary has come and gone without one public word of commemoration, gratitude, reconsecration, or even notice ! Would God that we would renew it now, with such " varia- tion as the change of circumstances required " ! About thirteen months after Mr. Taylor's death, Mr. Nathaniel Robbins was ordained, February 13, 1 750—5 1 . A long and honorable service was his — running through four and forty years, closing with his death, May 19, 1795 — a period heaving with the agitations of the Revolution. Mr. Robbins was a patriot. At the battle of Lexington, fought when he was fifty years of age, two of his brothers were in Captain Parker's company. He seems to have been eminently a man of affairs, and in 1 788 was sent by the Town to the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution. His practical wisdom showed itself in various ways. At his ordi- nation a settlement of ^1000 old tenor — equal to $500 — was allowed him, and a salary of ^500, or i5 $250, per annum, and 25 cords of wood. 1 But he bought land and built him a house and gradually acquired a considerable farm — now owned by Col. H. S. Russell — which doubtless was a faithful friend to him, as well as an abode of hospitality to many others in those distressful days. Then he showed rare tact and skill in adjusting apparently unman- agable disputes. It appeared again in his high personal integrity — which, did men but know it, or would they but believe it, is really wisdom. In his preaching, says Thos. Thacher, " He refused " to call any man master on earth, or to sacrifice truth " to prevailing opinions, however conducive to popu- " larity, to consideration and consequence. Such " candor and liberal principles were the more deserv- " ing of praise, since, in the first period of his min- ' ; istry, such a spirit and temper were not common." So, in preaching, "plain and pathetick"; in prayer, apt and easy; in charity so large and just that he would not allow even the good in bad men to be forgotten ; in service to the unfortunate, the sick, the sorrowing and the young, tender and faithful ; is it wonder that he kept his church free from fanatic- ism and united and rational ? How much he may have served to prepare for the changes that were to come when the Unitarian controversy broke out, we may imagine, though can never know. 2 1 Robbins, p. 54. 2 During parson Robbins's ministry Whitefield preached in Milton. His friends sought to get the meeting-house for him. But to this Mr. Robbins would not consent. Whitefield is reported to have said that "true religion would not flourish in Milton until they got a new minister." His preaching was held under the large tree which stood in front of the Foy house on Milton Hill, and which blew down in the memorable gale of 1857. i6 In the later part of his ministry, the question of a new meeting-house again arose. Exactly why does not appear, — for the town could hardly have re- covered from the exhaustion of the Seven- Years' war, the Revolution, and the long depression before the adoption of the Constitution. Indeed, in the thirty- two years ending with 1783, Mr. Jas. M. Robbins says, Milton added nothing to its wealth and little to its population, — " the whole increase, " he says, " not exceeding one hundred persons." 1 In 1785 its popu- lation did not exceed 1200 persons, with 267 ratable polls/ 2 The old 50 by 40 meeting-house, however, may have been cramped ; and certainly, were it to-day, in- stead of ninety years ago, the fact of the house being " an old-fashioned wooden building," as a Geograph- ical Gazetteer of t 785 calls it, would have had a fatal influence. How proud we should be had we that old church-building now ! A town-meeting, however, voted, October 3, 1785, to build a new meeting- house 66 by 52 — that in which we meet today. Take 1 6 feet off its length and 1 2 off its breadth and you will get an idea of the surface dimensions of that older building, in which for seven and fifty years — a united church, the one church of Milton — our fathers worshipped. The cost was to be raised by selling the old church at auction, selling the pews in the new one. and assessing the balance on the polls and estates throughout the town. And two years were to be devoted to the building of the church. Truly the age of gingerbread was not yet ; 1 Address, p. 59. - Geographical Gazetteer, 17S5. In six weeks (November 14, 1785) the pews on the lower floor, sixty-two in number, were valued and sold. Valued at ^904 they sold for ^"1191, 2s. — ^"287, 2S. being thus bid for a choice. The highest valuation set on a pew was ^24; the lowest, ^"11. The highest bid for a choice was £6, 1 2s., by Wm. Taylor; the lowest, £$, 12s., by John Crehore, junr., and John Marshall. Ten weeks later the twenty-four gallery pews were appraised and sold. Valued at ,£150 — the values ranging from ^"io to £<\ — they sold at ^209, 8s., the bids running from £i, 10s. to ,£5, 2s. above the valuation. The amount raised by these sales was ^1400, 10s., and this before ground was broken for the new church ! Those simple- minded fathers of ours, apparently did not believe in spending their money before they raised it. Is not that pretty good doctrine to build a church upon ? On May-day, 1787, they began to frame the house. June 19 they began to raise the frame; " and altho four days ware Barely sufficient," says the record, "for accomplishing that important Diffi- " cult & Dangerous part of the Bussness yet as the " Quantity of the Timber was Large and also very " hevey as thare was No damage sustained or the " most triffling accident hapned during the whol " time these singular Circumstances were generally " Considered as evident Tokens of the divin favour "and supernatural Protection." December 31, the Committee in charge of the building " ware agree- " ably entertained with the Exhibition of very " elligant clock Presented as a donation to the i8 "Town by Mr. Edward H. Robbins." 1 On the first day of the year i 788 the new church- building was dedicated. It had cost ,£1,700 — $5,600. The old church standing on the road was pulled down. Mr. Robbins, on occasion of the dedication, was furnished a new horse-hair wig and black gown. "In the spring," we are told, "every man in the parish brings a young elm-tree and plants it in the yard. The three Dutch elms before the door were brought from Brush Hill." ~ The building stood side- ways to the road and faced south-west. It was open to the roof, had galleries around, and a pulpit high up, on the west side, with sounding-board, according to the not always bad fashion of that time. Sixty years were to pass ere an organ's voice should -here be heard. Here the last eight years of Mr. Robbins's min- istry centred. On his decease, in 1795, the church 1 The record adds : " This Butifull Machine Justly Esteemed very orni- "mantal is really much more valuable on account of its use and Conveniency ; " for while it serves to distinguish those artificial Periods of Time that mea- sure and Constitute the aggregate Term of univarsall Mortal Duration at " the same time reminds us of the Constant and unintrupted Succession of " those moments that will infailably & shortly reduce that Portion of time " alloted to mortals to one single point." 2 Robbins, p. 66. They were brought by Gov. E. II. Robbins. There were originally four. The one nearest the S. W. drive-way was blown down in the September gale of 1815. Like many other trees which shared its fate at that time, it was replaced, and it flourished for about twenty years. In 1S35, however, when the meeting-house was turned round, as it showed signs of decay and obstructed one of the approaches to the Church, it was cut down. Of the other elms, more being offered than were required for the yard of the Church, Mr. Wm. Taylor took the remainder and planted them on the opposite side of the road in front of his land, where they remain "unto this present." z 9, called Rev. John Pierce 1 (June 19, 1796), afterwards the famous Dr. Pierce of Brookline. But the town would not concur ; and not till two and a half years after Mr. Robbins's death was a new minister — Rev. Joseph McKean — ordained here. Young, bright, eloquent, and from childhood of uncommon promise, — a promise which his young manhood's labors here did not disappoint, — he raised hopes for a long and excellent career. But a sharp attack of lung disease brought his ministry to an end, after seven years of service, in 1804. 2 After his recovery, Harvard Col- lege welcomed him to the Professorship of Oratory that John Quincy Adams had held, which for ten years he filled acceptably, and whence he went to Havana, in 181 8, to die, at the early age of forty-two. In his theology, Mr. McKean was not Calvinist but Arminian, preparing thus the way for the great change that was to come. But before naming his successor, let us pause a moment to glance at the people' whom this goodly succession of ministers served. Their story is largely "The short and simple annals of the poor." We know little of them beyond their names. But those names are a revelation. They are history of the best kind. They tell, if not of attainment, of, better yet, aspiration. How quaint and how relig- iously suggestive : Mindwell Tucker, Preserved Lion, 1 They who call the old times better than the new may find a grain of comfort in the following "little story." Dr. Pierce used to say, in his jovial fashion, that Mr. John Swift was the cause of his not coming to Milton. Being a man of influence, he made such a fuss in the town that the town refused to ratify the vote of the Church in favor of inviting Mr. Pierce. And the weighty ground of Mr. Swift's opposition was, that he did not like Mr. Pierce's stepmother. 2 See Appendix D. 20 Silence Lion, Waitstill Williston, Charity Liscum, Experience Tolman, Deliverance Trot, Recompence Wadsworth, Frecgift Cogshell, Comfort Foster, Sub- mit Badcock, Hopestill Feild, Bethel Blair, Content Marah, Reform Knowlton, Supply 1 Vose. Surely the people that of themselves run to names like these are such as will have " Religion in Common Life," if that be possible. They will not be empty and idle men, or frivolous women. Indeed, "tramps" and idlers stood small chance of immunity at their hands. They builded ships and mills, and bridges and roads. In 1785, already seven mills kept the Neponset at work, — one chocolate, one saw, one grist, one slit- ting, and three paper, — and orchards abounded, yielding ample supply of cider. But agriculture was the chief occupation, — although even then the town began to develop the character which marks it to-day. Milton furnished her full quota to the Revolutionary War, and more. When Boston, in the severe winter of 1 780, was so blocked by snow as to suffer for fuel, Milton farmers came to its relief with heavy supplies from the woods of Milton and Ouincy, carried "by way of the river on the ice to Boston." And so they were " not slothful in business," because "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Honorable names in 1 I cannot forbear adding to this list of names that of "Role on God" which was given to a son of John Cotton. Its owner, I am informed, became minister of Sandwich, Mass. This, however, is not given as one of the Milton names. A curious glance into the history of this class of names is afforded by an extract from the ancient record of the First Church of Dorchester. After mentioning that Wait Clap, daughter of Roger Clap, was baptized 24 1 mo 50, i.e., Mar. 24, 1650, the record says: " Louetenant Clap declared y e Reason " why he called his child Wait was because he did suppose the Fall of " antichrist was not Farre off. 21 the pulpit, on the bench, in council, at the bar, in business, and in war arose among them, and of noble women not a few. Seventeen young men graduated from this town at Harvard College in the last half of the eighteenth century, all of whom proved ''respectable," and "some of them distinguished." Thomas Thatcher, in his sermon on Mr. Nathaniel Robbins, 1795, says: "This town hath been cele- " brated for a pacifick temper and liberal sentiments, "even from its first incorporation ; so that in the course "of one hundred and fifteen years I never heard of " one ecclesiastical council being called, on account of " any religious grievance." Twenty-eight months passed after Mr. McKean's retirement, before his successor was settled, — the Rev. Samuel Gile, ordained Feb. 18, 1807. He came to a very different Milton from that of one hundred and twenty-nine years before. The seething activities of those years of war at home and abroad ; religious controversy ; political agitation ; the free breathing of the free air of this new continent ; the independent life and self-governed movement of society in New England, — all had made their impress on this town. A liberal spirit had grown up which could no longer be subdued. The death of Cromwell and the restoration of the monarchy in England, compelling" the toleration of the Church of England in this colony, had paved the way for it. The Quaker agi- tation, culminating in 1658, had helped to it. Roger Williams's great brave call, for Freedom of Con- science and the Separation of State from Church, furthered it. The English Acts of Uniformity cer- 22 tainly could not repress it. The question of the Witches ; the revival under George Whitefield ; the protest of Methodist and Presbyterian, with Baptist, Quaker, and Episcopalian, against being taxed " to support the ministry and repair the meeting-house," which they did not agree to ; and finally, of Murray, the preacher of the new gospel of Universalism, added to their own theological controversies and the Boston influence, which did not allow the inhabitants generally to be taxed to support the ministry, as they were in the country towns, — all did their share toward it. And certainly the War for Independence, and the upheavings of the French Revolution, could not fail of influence. Thus the very atmosphere of New England thought and life had changed. A town situated like Milton could not fail to show the change. Hence, although excellence of character and loyalty to conviction might insure to the new minister a hearty welcome to his post of duty here, and the cordial respect and good-will of all classes of the people of the town, — yet that very excellence of character and loyalty to conviction might, when questions arose and a "parting of the ways" was reached, make separation inevitable and decided. And so it proved here. In 1809, within three years after Mr. Gile's settle- ment, the rigid and the liberal tendencies in the churches of Boston and vicinity came to an issue in the Second Church in Dorchester, — where Mr. John Codman had been settled the year before, Mr. W. E. Channing preaching the sermon. Mr. Codman would not exchange with the ministers of the Bos- 23 ton Association ; although, as I understand, he had been, if he was not at that very time, a member of it. He was Calvinist ; they Unitarian. His disap- pointed people tried to move him, but in vain. They wrote to the ministers with whom he did exchange, requesting them not to come ; but come they would. Twice they dismissed him, but he would not go. At last they put a guard on the pulpit-stairs to pre- vent his entrance ; but for all that he preached. So the controversy waxed, to be settled at last by those opposed agreeing to sell their pews and leave the parish. 1 Eleven years later, in 1820, the controversy re- appeared in the First Church in Dedham, but with a different issue. There Mr. Lamson was settled, against the remonstrance of two-thirds of the church, as a Unitarian. The protesting two-thirds of the church members seceded, claimed to be the true church of Dedham, and carried their case before the Supreme Court. There it was deoided against them. " It was laid down, that a church separating from a " parish, for any cause, lost its existence ; that never in " Massachusetts had a church a legal existence, apart " from a parish. The law knew of parishes as corpor- " ations, and deacons as corporations, and ministers as " corporations ; but the church proper was no corpora- " tion or quasi corporation, and could not, therefore, " hold property apart from the parish, whatever its " faith." a Not the seceding church-members, but the parish, had the legal right to the title, property, 1 History of Dorchester, p. 378. ~ Buck, Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Law, p. 53. H records, and furniture of the First Church of Ded- ham. This momentous decision, a decision opening its own opportunity of self-denial and martyrdom, bore fruit in the history of this first church of Milton. The new minister proved to be Calvinistic rather than Liberal, while the parish was preponderatingly Liberal. Had Mr. Gile been left to himself, a rup- ture might have been avoided. Perhaps the wonder is that it did not come earlier. Not till twenty-one years after his settlement does the " First Unitarian Society " l appear in the records of this parish (July 4, 1828). It was composed chiefly of members of the parish whom Mr. Gile's ministrations failed to satisfy. It met in the present High-School building, under the preaching of Rev. Charles Chauncy Sewall. It appears as making overtures to this parish for an equitable division of the ministerial lands belonging to the parish. As negotiations proved fruitless, and as danger appeared of the alienation and loss of the ministerial lands, the " First Unitarian Society" dis- solved, and its members* resumed their place in the parish and asserted their rights in open parish meet- ing. The question of exchanges was the point on which discussion turned. At his settlement, Mr. Gile had agreed to exchange with ministers of the Boston .Association. As division lines were more sharply drawn, it became increasingly difficult for him to do so ; and yet the more urgently his people required it. Nearly eleven years the question was agitated, termi- nating then in arrangements for a separation between 1 See Appendix E. 25 him and his people. A "mutual council" — i. r., a council composed of representatives of both parties — proving impracticable, an ex parte council, repre- senting the majority of the parish, was convened to consider and pass on the matter. It met at Mrs. Atherton's tavern, Jan. 6, 1834, the house now occu- pied by Mr. D. G. Hicks, on the corner of Canton Avenue and Atherton St. Horace Mann presented the case for the parish. Mr. Gile did not appear. The council, — composed of Revs. Peter Whitney, of Quincy ; John White, of West Dedham ; Alvan Lam- son, of Dedham ; James Walker, of Charlestown ; Lemuel Capen, of South Boston, and Samuel Barrett of Boston, each of them accompanied by one Deacon of his church, — voted unanimously that Mr. Gile had lived in habitual violation of the understanding between him and his parish regarding ministerial exchanges, and recommended that his connection with the parish be dissolved. On Jan. 20, 1834, it was dissolved. He retired with his friends, and they formed the neighboring society, under the name of the " First Evangelical Church, Milton," in whose ministry he continued till his death, in 1836. Thus the old order of things came to an end, and a new order began. The time had come when the one must become two, — the one trunk dividing into two branches. The division came, as it comes in the growing tree, because it must. The tree must enter on a more varied and richer life. The two branches were in it from the first, though bound up in the one trunk. Which of them is the true First Milton Church ? Both claim so to be ; which is correct ? 26 Could numbers settle the question they would settle it in this one's favor. Could Massachusetts law settle it, the decision would be the same ; for it awards to this parish the title, records, property, and furniture of the ancient First Church of Milton. Could ad- herence to the theologic letter of the old covenant settle it, the verdict must go the other way. And it is claimed that at the separation the body technically called "the church," with the exception of one noble woman, withdrew. Did that settle the question, the verdict would go again the other way. So open is this question. Two things are clear : (i) Both sprang from the same stock, and own the one ancestry ; and (2) they are sister churches. But while the one accepts these facts, the other rejects them. Which then is the more likely to be correct, the more inclusive or the more exclusive — that in whose life both live, or that whose life is the other's death; that which recog- nizes the whole case, or that which allows but a part of it ? Also, is not that the true, which is true to the larger spirit ? Not for a narrow dogma, but for a divine life, did our fathers found their churches in this wilderness. This church recognizes the other. It gives hand of willing fellowship unto the other. In its life both live. Has not it then the true right to the historic name it bears? That only can be the Church which brings life, and brings it abun- dantly. Tjius, four-and-forty years ago, this ancient church became distinctly Unitarian. So it has continued until this day. May it grow into the fulness of the spirit of that all-uniting, all-reconciling name, — the spirit of the Unity of God! 2 7 One of its first acts, after the induction of a new minister, — Rev. B. Huntoon, installed Oct. 15, 1834, — was to adopt the New Testament u as the "only Divinely authorized Creed for Christians, and " an all-sufficient rule of faith and practice." x Forty- eight persons signed their names to this acknowl- edgment, "beseeching Almighty God so to assist and direct" them "in discharging all the duties of this present life, that " they " may obtain life Eternal through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Of these forty-eight, some are still present with us ; though most have "fallen asleep." Soon arose agitation about a new meeting-house. The "new wine," perhaps, suggested " new bottles." But surely new bottles were not needed. Although it was voted to take down this building, better coun- sels prevailed, and contented themselves with turning it round and remodelling it, and setting off a portion of it for a Sunday-school room. Here, a Sunday- school came into being, and flourished long under the faithful care of a devoted friend, Deacon Samuel Adams, 2 whose venerable presence gladdens our hearts, and appeals to us to carry on the work by him so well begun. A new clock was given by John J. Low ; a chandelier and pulpit-lamp, by Francis Low ; and, by Mrs. Low, a damask curtain for the pulpit. Mr. Samuel H. Babcock gave a pulpit-carpet, chair, 1 See Appendix F. 2 Since writing the discourse I have learned that Dr. Charles R. Kennedy was the first Superintendent of this Sunday School. But his connection with it was very brief, sufficiently long, however, to leave a fragrant memory of him behind. An early death cut off the goodly promise of his future usefulness. 28 and Bible ;jind Miss Louisa G. Davenport, one hun- dred and fifty dollars. All of these donors, except Miss Davenport, were citizens of other towns. On Dec. 9, 1835, the building was dedicated anew to God, with "solemn and interesting" services, — the music led by Deacon Martin. In 185 1, it received a new change; in 1868, a new organ ; and finally, in 1871, another change, which made it as we see it to-day. Long may it stand, an emblem of the Enduring ; a symbol from the Past ; a silent voice, speaking the name of the All-Holy ! Quietly, meanwhile, it has done its work, under the peculiar conditions of a widely-scattered and very shifting membership. Four ministers it has had, since the new epoch in its history began, — Huntoon, called early away to a Western field ; Angier, with soul of music, withdrawing after eight short years of service ; Morison, still, God be praised ! among us, and of whom our hearts, rather than our lips, would speak to-day ; Washburn, so early trans- lated that only here and there an eye had learned to see his precious worth. And now a fifth stands in their place, to do what little work he may, ere he too "goes the way of all the earth." Into the quietness of those now vanished years, burst the fury of the storm of war. But it did not pass until it had kin- dled some modest souls that here belonged unto the glow and glory of a beautiful immortality. Here, to-day, at the end of these two hundred years, looking back, we say involuntarily, " What a change ! " If, in some ways, how sad a change, must we not also add, How glad an one ? Have 29 the Fast-days, so dear to our fathers,^ died ; has Thanksgiving become a family festival ; have the " ordinances," spoken of with such reverent joy in the first covenant of this church, lost their hold on men's regard, and become even a stum- bling-block, or empty, to many ; is the worship of the church cruelly neglected ; has the minister ceased to be the man of power in the community, and his office changed into a Sunday lectureship, — only virtuous within twenty minutes ? Admit it all. Then ask, too, if slavery has not died ; if the free mind has not a free ran^e it had not then ; if there is not to-day magnificent opportunity for noble souls ; if the brave, wise speaker may not to-day get hearing due ; if religion does not yet live in the hearts and souls of men ; if the call of to-day be not for a style of manhood which even our fathers' nobleness would only prophesy ? And remember that To-day is not To-morrow, — only the narrow bridge be- tween Past and Future. The end is not yet. A greater is to come. Have our fathers contributed to that greater yet to come ? Their work is before us. Was it not a good work ? Try it by its fruits, in two centuries of results ; try it by its outcome in the largeness of human life, not in merely the pettiness of a single church's life. Will not a noble answer reach us ? Something it has had to do with making New Eng- land. Have they cause to blush for their god-child ? Perfect they were not. They knew it; they con- fessed it ; and besought the Lord and each other to help them become so. Are we perfect ? No. But 3° do we own it, and seek God's and each other's help to grow so? Perfect they were not. Even slavery existed among them ; and the records tell of scan- dals in the very church. But as " the stars fought in their courses against Sisera," so the very seasons, as well as the whole spirit of New England, with more literal truth, fought against slavery and scan- dals here. They built on the basis of Religion. They would not even seem to deny it. That cant was re- served for a later and more "cultivated " time. They knew that religion is the one thing needful ; and, with manliest childlikeness, they took the directest way they knew to reach it. We know it as well as they. We claim to have reached a higher thought of religion than theirs. How do we honor that nobler thought? They did nobly with a poor thought of religion. Is not a poor religion, that brings forth a divine life, better than a good one, whose fruit is emptiness, — which is openness to the spirits of evil ? The good one is here. Oh ! let it so be used, that the centuries to come shall say of us, as certainly to-day we must say of our fathers, " Well done, s:ood and faithful ! " APPENDIX. A. — Page 4. That this was not the first meeting-house erected in Milton appears from the following extract from the old Town records : "At a town meeting the last day of September 1670 it was " agreed by the towne vote that ther should be a convenient " meeting-house for the townes use built neare about Goodman " Vose his loked barre, & also that the old meeting house should be " repaired to meet in this Winter and Seargeant W" Blake, Sear- "geant Rob' Badcock, Seargeant Sam. Wadsworth, Thorn Swift, " Antony Golliford and Robert Tucker was chosen by the towne " to see the old house repaired as soon as they can and to geat "the new one built in one yeers time if they can." The following votes show how the cost of the new meeting- house was provided for: "Upon a training-day the 22' 1 of Oct r " 1670 it was agreed by a vote of the Train Band and several " other that were present that 6 acres of the Town Land should " be Cleared of the Tim r and wood to By nails & Glass for the " new meeting-house." The meeting-house was to be paid for by the proceeds of the wood from the above six acres. The Town levied a rate of ^50 (fifty pounds) towards the erection of the building. Each man could pay his share of that Rate by cutting and hauling a portion of the wood to the town landing. Laid on the town landing it was reckoned at one shilling and three pence a cord ! On Janu- ary 10, 1670-1, the Town voted that if the 6 acres wood do not suffice to pay for the meeting-house so much more shall be allowed out of the land "as will pay all the Rats for that building." B. — Page 5. The following is the account of this event given in the ancient record of the 'First Church of Dorchester, and copied literally: — " The 24 2 78 ther was a Church gathered by some of o r 32 "breatheren y* livcl at Milton it was done in o' meeting hons "at Dorchester becaus of some opposission y' did appeare ; y e " Persons w cb they sent unto weer the Elders & messengers of "y' J three Churches in Boston & waymoth Brantree & Deadham "y e Majestrats weer accquainted with it but only y e governor "washeerby reason of y 1 ' wett and Snow season. Mr Allen " did first pray and then Mr Flint did preach from y e " & then prayed, afterward the breatheren weer Called on one " after another to declare y e work of grace y l god had wrought " on them to y° number of Seaven, but before they began it was " put to y e whole assembly both messengers and others whether " any had any- Just reason against their p ceeding but all weer "silent after they had made their relations a confession of faith " was read by o r Elder unto w cl1 they all Consented by lifting up "of hands, then thos Seaven breatheren weer Called downe into "y e body of y e assembly and a Covenant was read unto them " unto which they all Consented by lifting up of hands. y p brea- "theren y l entered into this Covenant & made publique relation " weer thes : " Rob t Tucker, member of waymoth " Anthony Newton, "William Blake, "Thomas Swift, " Georg Sumner, " Edward Blake, member of y* 2 Church in Boston, | " Ebenezer Clap, J " After this was done ther weer more of o' Breatheren y l did " at y e same time enter into y° same Covenant with the former " namly "Thomas Holman, " Gkorg Lyon, " Ephram, ~) " Manasses & V Tucker. " James I " And then Mr Tory was apponted to give y e right hand of " Fellowship & Mr Mather prayed & a psalme sung & y c assem- " bly dismissed." members of Dorchester Church. 33 C — Page io. In this connection I gladly quote the following from Rev. Richard S. Edes's address on the 138th Anniversary of the In- corporation of the Town of Bolton, Mass: — "And as to the churches of that clay — no that won't do — " the ' meeting-houses,' what rude structures they were ! how far " removed from the luxurious, painted, carpeted, cushioned, " warmed, 'dimly-religious-lighted ' structures to which we now "resort! oftentimes without plastering on the inside, oftentimes " without pews, and with rough hewn boards for seats, frequently "used for shelter by the passing traveller, or by the cattle when " exposed to the violence of one of our autumnal or wintry "storms; — no stoves or furnaces for heating — the winds of " heaven admitted freely through rattling windows and many a " crack and crevice. And yet, for all that, they were doubtless " as much ' houses of God ' and ' gates of Heaven,' and furnished " as friendly a ' shadow of a rock in a weary land ' as any of our " more stately and adorned modern edifices ; and what was want- " ing in the temperature of the surrounding air was made up in the "warmth of heat found within the bosonte of the worshippers." D. — Page 19. Health, it is only fair to say, does not appear to have been the only motive which induced separation between Mr. McKean and his people. That "political " bugbear which has occasioned so many other separations may have had a good deal to do with it. The expression " those existing circumstances in the Town rela- " ting to the provision for his support," in the Report of the Ecclesiastical Council recommending the separation, gives a plain hint of it. Being of an ardent and impulsive nature, a man who never did anything by halves — indeed the beauty and care of his restoration of the early Church Records, with- out which they might have been lost, attest this — he made devoted friends and as decided enemies. One can conceive of his sometimes overstepping the bounds of a severe discretion. Anecdotes still exist which give a clear taste of his quality. After one of his sermons a Mr. Ezra Coates said to him : "Mr. McKean, it will never do to preach such sermons as that." Mr. McKean promptly answered, " Five hundred dollars a year 34 is not going to stop my mouth." He was an Abolitionist — verily one of the pioneers — one, too, who apparently saw only one issue of the tendencies already showing themselves. He is reported to have said — was not the utterance prophetic: " I want to see the North and South get to loggerheads. When " they do that, I'll swap my black coat for a red one." A lover of his country, at the baptism of his child he prayed that in case the child should grow up to be an " Atheist, a Deist, or a " disturber of his country's rights, oh God be pleased to take "him away." He was, moreover, an ardent Federalist. On one occasion, at a dinner party, he met a gentleman whose manners and conversation filled him with delight, but whose politics were of the opposite stamp. On parting with him Mr. McKean frankly said to him, " You are the only Democrat I ever knew that was a gentleman." When he preached his farewell discourse, Mr. J S , who was a leader of the then Democratic party, a very different from the present one, it is almost needless to remark — and who, on account of Mr. McKean's outspoken Federalism, could not abide him and had long stayed away from church, was present. After feeling allu- sions to various topics suited to such an occasion, Mr. McKean remarked that he was happy to- say he was going to leave the town with the good opinion of all whose good opinion was worth having. Mr. S. ejaculating "you .... puppy," rose and quit the church. E. — Page 24. The original paper, with its signatures, setting forth the reason for creating this new Society, is still in existence, in the posses- sion of Mr. Charles Breck of Milton. The following is a copy : "We the subscribers viewing the practice of the Congrega- tional Society in Milton, in excluding from the pulpit, gener- " ally, that class of clergymen who are usually denominated " Liberal, as an infringement of our religious rights, and an "obstacle to the Spirit of religious Inquiry, regret that we have " been compelled to secede from the same. " Considering it to be our duty to give our aid in support of " that religious instruction only which we believe to be most con- formable to the Scriptures, and wishing to avail ourselves "of the privileges given us by the Statutes of this Common- 35 " wealth, — We, therefore, according to said Statutes, do form " ourselves into a religious Society, by the name and style of "the First Unitarian Society in Milton. Milton, Sept. 7 : 1826. (Signed,) Leonard Newton, N. D. Turner, J. S. Foord, Jer» Crehore, Benjn B. Bronsdon, Oliver Pierce, Albert McKendry, George L. Fisher, Benjn Bronsdon, Jazh Foord, John Ruggles, Benjn McKendry, Simon Ferry, Leml Babcock, Jr. Dana Tucker, Jason Reed, John Bronsdon, Chas C. Crehore, John S. Crehore, Isaac Davenport, Elisha Reed, Phinehas Bronsdon, Geo. W. Stimpson, Lemuel Babcock, Stephen Babcock, Charles Breck. F. — Page 27. The following is the text of the instrument in which this was done, with the accompanying signatures. It is recorded on blank leaves attached to a copy of the New Testament belong- ing to the Church : " For the support of the Institutions, and the enjoyment of the " Ordinances of the Gospel, We associate ourselves as the body of " Communicants, in the First Congregational Church in Milton, " by subscribing our names to the New Testament, which we " receive as the only Divinely authorized Creed for Christians, " and an all-sufficient rule of Faith and Practice ; beseeching " Almighty God, so to assist and direct us in discharging all "the duties of this present life, that we may obtain life Eternal, "through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Catharine Dunbar, Mary B. Clarke, Matilda Vose, Walter Cornell, Mary Cornell, Amy Batty, Stephen Babcock, Rufus P. Sumner, Susan Sumner, Sam l Adams, Margrett L. Babcock, Dana Tucker, Charles R. Kennedy, Rebeca Tucker, Nathaniel Davenport.Ephraim Hunt, Jr. Nathl. T. Davenport, Nancy Davenport, Simon Ferry, Sarah Davenport, Jer" Crehore, Rhoda Ferry, Elmira Thayer, Joann Crehore, John J. Low, Elizabeth Simpson. Benjamin Huntoon, Susan Huntoon, John Ruggles, Betsy Ruggles, Betsy Ruggles, Jr. Esther Soper, Lem l Babcock, Jr. Lucretia Babcock, Moses Gragg, Rebekah N. Gragg, Edward Capen, Mary Capen, Frances M. Clark, Eliza A. Clark, Lydia S. Ford, Mary A. Clark, J. S. Foord, James Tucker, Thomas Snow, Lewis Davenport, Lucretia Babcock, Lydia Davenport, 36 " December ioth, a. d. 1834. " The persons whose names are here subscribed, being forty- eight in number, were duly constituted, as the body of com- municants, in the First Congregation Church in Milton by me Pastor of said Church, and the fellowship of the churches was expressed by Rev. Mr. Cunningham of the 3d Church in Dorchester. " Certified this tenth clay of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four." " Be:njamin Huntoon, Pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church, in Milton, Mass," 37 ROLL OF HONOR. The names of those, belonging more or less closely to the First Religious Society of Milton, who took arms in defence of their country in the late war of Emancipation, are given below. Surely a true church would be sorry to omit them from even the most imperfect record of its history. For the following list I am indebted mainly to the kindness of Mr. George A. Fletcher, who has aimed to make it as perfect as the means at his command allowed. Alden, Samuel W., 4^th Mass. Infantry. Badger, Algernon S., 26th Mass. Infantry. Bowman, William H., 45th Mass. Infantry. Bradlee, J. Walter, 38th Mass. Infantry. Breck, Charles E. C, 45th Mass. Infantry. Broad, Horace S., 7th Mass. Infantry. Bronsdon, Amos H., 13th Mass. Infantry. Bronsdon, Charles, 38th Mass. Infantry. Bronsdon, William B., 45th Mass Infantry. Crossman, John G., 38th Mass. Infantry. Davenport, N. T. Jr., 45th Mass. Infantry. Davis, Walter S., 22d Mass. Infantry. Faucon, Edw'd H., United States Navy. Fisher, George A., 5th Mass. Cavalry. Fletcher, George A., 56th Mass. Infantry. Fletcher, James W., 56th Mass. Infantry. Forbes, William H., 2d Mass. Cavalry. Gunnison, Edwin L., 29th Mass. Infantry. Hicks, David F., 13th Mass. Infantry. Hocking, Alfred, 18th Mass. Infantry. Hollingsworth, A. L., First Corps Cadets. Hollis, Abijah, 56th Mass. Infantry. Holmes, C. C, First Corps Cadets. 38 Hunt, Samuel, 40th Mass. Infantry. Huntington, Edvv'd S., U. S. Army. Langley, John W., U. S. Navy. I.ittlefield, Chas. G., 38th Mass. Infantry. McKendry, Archibald, California Hundred. Mann, Frank H., 13th Mass. Infantry. Mann, Isaac G., 44th Mass. Infantry. Merrill, Thomas, 7th Mass. Infantry. Morse, Alfred L., 44th Mass. Infantry. George H. Morse, 44th Mass. Infantry. Peabody, O. W., 45th Mass. Infantry. Perkins, Stephen G., 2d Mass. Infantry. Piper, Alonzo, 60th Mass. Infantry. Reed, J. Sewall, California Hundred. Rowe, John F., 1st Mass. Cavalry. Russell, Henry S., 2d Mass. Infantry. Sias, John F., U. S. Navy. Sias, John 2d., 38th Mass. Infantry. Snow, Elbridge. 45th Mass. Infantry. Snow, J. H., 45th Mass. Infantry. Snow, W. F. 61st Mass. Infantry. Thayer, Charles H. 38th Mass. Infantry. Thayer, Fred A., 7th Mass. Infantry. Thayer, Samuel G., 35th Mass. Infantry., Vose, George E., 38th Mass. Infantry. White, Edward P., 44th Mass. Infantry. White, James C, 44th Mass. Infantry. White, John E., 44th Mass. Infantry. Woolcot, J. Huntington Jr., 2d Mass. Cavalry. 39 MINISTERS OF THIS CHURCH. i. Peter Thacher, born in Weymouth, 165 1; ordained in Milton, June 1, 1 68 1 ; where he died in office Dec. 17, 1727. 2. John Taylor, born in Boston, 1704; ordained in Milton, Nov. 13, 1728 ; where he died in office Jan. 26, 1749-50. 3. Nathaniel Robbins, born in West Cambridge, 1726; ordained in Milton, Feb. 13, 1750-51 ; where he died in office May *9> J 795- 4. Joseph McKean, born at Ipswich, 1776; ordained in Milton, Nov. 1, 1797; "separated at his proposal" Oct. 3, 1804; and died at Havana, Cuba, in 18 18. 5. Samuel Gile, " son of Major E. Gile, of Plastow, N. H.," was ordained in Milton Feb. 18, 1807 ; separated by ex parte Council Jan. 6, 1834; and died in Milton, as pastor of " First Evangelical Church, Milton," Oct. 16, 1836. For fuller details see notes to " Two Sermons " suggested by the "Centennial Celebration," preached June 15 and 22, 1862, by John Ff. Morison, D.D. 6. Benjamin Huntoon, son of Benjamin and Mehitable [Page] Huntoon ; born in Salisbury, N.H., Nov. 28, 1792 ; installed Oct. 15, 1834; separated at his own request, June 20, 1837 ; and died in Canton, April 19, 1864. 7. Joseph Angier, son of Dr. John and Rebekah [Drew] An- gier ; born in Durham, N. Ff., April 24, 1808; installed Sept. 13. 1837 '■> separated at his own request, June 22, 1845 ; and died in Milton, April 12, 187 1. 8. John Hopkins Morison, son of Nathaniel and Mary Ann [Hopkins] Morison ; born in Peterborough, N. H., July 25, 1808; and installed Jan. 28, 1846, — the present honored and beloved senior pastor. 9. Francis Tucker Washburn, son of William R. P. and Susan E. [Tucker] Washburn; born in Boston, Sept. 24, 1843; ordained and installed as associate pastor March 2, 187 1 ; and died in office Dec. 29, 1873. 10. Frederick Frothingham, son of John and Louisa G. [Archbald] Frothingham; born in Montreal, Canada, April 9, 1825 ; installed as associate pastor Oct 8, 1876.