Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 15: New Bedford Churches, 1924

New Bedford has always been known as a place where various religious denominations had churches, and where the spirit of religion predominates to a goodly degree.

Congregational - The First Congregational Society was established in 1708, when Samuel Hunt came to the town of Dartmouth, regularly appointed June 8, 1708, by an order of the General Court, to establish a Congregational church. He was a graduate of Harvard College, and through him came the foundation of Congregationalism in this part of Massachusetts. In 1709 a meeting house was provided; it stood on the old burying ground at the head of Acushnet river. This grave-yard was in use as early as 1711, the date of the earliest marked tombstone. From this church sprang the First Congregational Society in New Bedford (Unitarian), Union street, corner of Eighth, of which Rev. William G. . Geoghegan is pastor. Many ministers of note have served as pastor here. Another Congregational church is located on Acushnet avenue, Lund's corner; Kev. H. E. Oxnard, pastor.

The North Congregational Church was formed by a council in October, 1807, but soon a division was had on account of lack of harmony in church policy. The result was the formation of a Trinitarian and also a Unitarain church. Thirteen of the original nineteen members withdrew, and the minority remained, and in 1812 adopted a covenant and called Rev. David Batchelder. The first church, corner of Purchase and Elm street,s was dedicated June, 1813, a Sunday school was formed in 1819, and in 1826 the church building was enlarged. In 1827 the North Church was incorporated. The present fine edifice of this society adorns the corner of Purchase and Elm streets, and has for many years.

The Trinitarian church was organized November 15, 1831. Fifty-nine members signed the original membership roll; all but one of these were formerly of the old North church. A pastor was secured in 1832 in the person of Rev. James Austin Roberts. The society was incorporated on January 2, 1832. A new building was provided and dedicated May 17, 1832. Fire destroyed a church edifice, but they have for years had a handsome stone building on Purchase street. Rev. Matthew C. Julian, who died in 1914, had been the faithful pastor over forty years. He was succeeded by Rev. Fletcher Douglas Parker. The present pastor is Rev. Frederic H. von der Sump.

Hoit, of Sandwich. A regular pastor was secured in July, 1820, Rev. Jesse Filmore. This was the origin of County Street Methodist Episcopal Church. A Sunday school was formed in 1824. A church building was dedicated May, 1859, at Elm and County streets.

Fourth Street Church was formed by the withdrawal of members from the original church of this denomination in New Bedford. They dedicated their neat chapel in 1832, Rey. Asa Kent serving as pastor for the seceders. A separation was effected in 1843, and the Fourth street church became a separate organization. This church is now styled the Second Methodist Episcopal Church of New Bedford.

- Pleasant Street Church is the second church society to spring from County Street Methodist Episcopal Church, known as Elm street. In 1843 a start was made to build what was known as the Tree Meeting House, from the fact of a large sycamore tree stood directly in front and' overshadowed the modest little chapel. This building was dedicated about 1843, and was supplied by the presiding elder. Separation was agreed upon in 1844, and the following May a society was forméd known as the Pleasant Street Methodist Episcopal Church.

Allen Street Church was formed in 1851, by members going with it from the Fourth Street Church, Rev. Moses Chase heading the movement, as he believed there was need of a church in the other end of the growing city. The first church was dedicated January 22, 1852, at the corner of County and Allen streets.

Other. churches of this denomination include the Howard, Wesley, Methodist Episcopal Mission, First Portuguese Methodist Episcopal, Bethe! African, Methodist Episcopal, Zion African Methodist Episcopal church, and two Primitive Methodist churches complete the long list of churches of the Methodist faith.

Baptist Churches. - - The First Baptist church had its beginning June 22, 1813, when persons met at the home of Philip Cannon, Jr., in New Bedford to organize; articles of faith were formed and signed by eighteen persons under the head of the First Baptist Church of New Bedford. The society was incorporated in 1828 and a church was dedicated in 1829, at the present site, William and Sixth streets.

North Baptist Church was started by thirty members of the First - Baptist Church, who had been officially dismissed for the purpose, and voted to constitute themselves the North Baptist Church of New Bedford. This church is located at the corner of Merrimac and County streets. Other churches of the Baptist faith are: Elm Baptist, French Baptist, Immanuel Baptist, Gortuguese Baptist Mission, South Baptist, and Union Baptist.

Miscellaneous. - The first record extant of the denomination of Friends is found in an agreement and list of subscribers to the erection of a meeting-house at Apponagnsett, in 1698. For nearly a hundred years the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting was supreme in the section, New Bedford Meeting being founded in December, 1792. Their meeting-house is on Spring street.

Grace Protestant Episcopal Church was founded in 1833, and two years later a church edifice was erected by Grace Church. The corner-stone of the present building was laid September 11, 1880, by that eminent divine, Rev. Phillips Brooks. In its tower rang out the first chime of bells ever heard in New Bedford.

St. James Protestant Church was formed by members of Grace church in 1878. 'The first services were held in a shed on Purchase street, near the Wamsutta mills. Cotton cloth including calico covered the rough, unsightly spots of the rude shed. A parlor organ was borrowed for the occasion. Easter Day, April 21, 1878, the church was legally organized as St. James Protestant Episcopal Church. This church has its edifice at the corner of County and Linden streets.

St. Martin's Episcopal Church is the outgrowth of a Sunday school which developed into Olivet Mission, and was at first to accommodate the English people at the South End. A stone church was started in 1891 and completed the following year on County and River streets. St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church is situated on Bellville road, near Acushnet street.

The First Presbyterian Church held its first services at New Bedford in October, 1886, and the legal organization was had in April, 1887. Rev. William Howell Buchanan was installed pastor, May 10, 1887.

North Christian Church, corner-of Purchase and Middle streets, recently demolished, was built in 1833. The original founders were from the Baptist church at Dartmouth, and were constituted a Christian church January 25, 1807. Elder Benjamin Taylor was the first minister. He commenced his work there in 1812.

Middle Street Christian Church was formed by seceding members from North Christian Church in 1828, nine members withdrawing. In 1834 they moved to the new church in Middle street, vacated by the North Christian congregation when they moved to their new church, corner Purchase and Middle street. The building is now occupied by the African Methodist Episcopal church. South Street Christian Church is an outgrowth of a meeting held in September, 1852. Spruce Street Christian Church was the result of meetings held in April, 1859, when a Mission Sunday school was started with fiiteen scholars. In 1867 a chapel was built and presented to the society, which was incorporated as the Spruce Street Mission Society. In 1868 a pastor was settled there and it became an organized body.

In the spring of 1840, William Miller, of New York, delivered several lectures in New Bedford on the "Second Coming of Christ," fixing the date of his coming between March, 1843, and March, 1844. These lectures were held in the North Christian Church, and found supporters among other churches, about twenty withdrawing from their former connections and formed a congregation which was known as the Advent Christian Church; in 1879 a church building was erected on Foster street. The Second Advent Church is located on Sycamore street, corner of Emerson street. The Seventh Day Adventist Church is at the corner of Willow and Bullock streets. :

The First Church of Christ (Scientist) a branch of the Mother church, the first Church of Christ (Scientist) Boston, Massachusetts, was the outgrowth of the labors of James E. Brierly C. S. D. (teacher). Its work was begun in January, 1887, and has grown into a permanent organization. A church building and reading room are maintained at this time.

The first Universalist minister to come to New Bedford for regular preaching services was Rey. Alanson St. Claire, who began his work in 1833, and a year later a society was formed. A house of worship was erected at Fifth and School street, which was sold in 1848 for an indebtedness against the property. The church was reorganized in 1851 by Rev. Van Campen. Other ministers served, and in 1855 a church building was dedicated on William street, near Eighth.

Roman Catholic Churches. - The first house of worship built for this denomination in this city was in 1820, on Allen street, Bishop Cheverus, of Boston, dedicating it in 1821. This building served its purpose thirty years until 1849, when the Catholics bought the old Universalist church on Fifth and School streets. The parish of St. Mary was then settled there. In 1866 the society renamed the church after the patron saint of the pastor, St. Lawrence the Martyr. The church edifice was finished and dedicated in 1870.

On January 8, 1888, Rev. Father Smyth, pastor of St. Lawrence Church, announced that a new parish would be formed of those Catholics living south of Madison and Hawthorne streets. First mass was celebrated in the new parish January 15, 1888. A tract of two acres, corner of County and Rockland streets, was soon purchased and a granite church edifice finished, first used May 15, 1892, and named St. James Church.

St. Lawrence Church had general jurisdiction over all New Bedford and vicinity for several years, but the rapid growth of various foreign people caused other churches to be made independent of the Mother church. The Portuguese and French population demanded communion of their.own, hence priests of their nativity had to be provided in the city. Prior to 1869 there were more than eight hundred Portuguese Catholics in New Bedford. Their church is known as St. John the Baptist. A building was dedicated by these people June 27, 1875. It is still a prosperous congregation.

The Church of the Sacred Heart was ministered to by French priests following 1870, the parish being largely French Catholic. In August, 1876, the corner-stone of a new church at the corner of Ashland and Robeson streets was laid, and the building dedicated in 1877. Another French parish set off in 1887, comprising at first a hundred families, is known as St. Hyacinthe Church. Other Roman Catholic churches of the city are: Ckurch of Immaculate Conception; Holy Rosary, Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Anne's, St. Anthony, St. Boniface, St. Hedwig's, St. Joseph's, St. Killians, Church of the Holy Name, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Other organizations include these: Unity Home, Cannonville Chapel, Church of God, Dennison Memorial Building, Clifford Union Chapel, First Spiritual Harmony Church, Jewish Synagogue, Home Gospel Mission, New Church Society, Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, Free Chapel Association, Salvation Army Barracks, Salvation Army Industrial Home, Seamen's Rethel, and Shawmut Church.

Organized mission work began here as early as 1826, by the Congregational church. The Seamen's Bethel is a child of the New Bedford Port Society, and both were organized with the welfare of mariners as their main purpose. A chapel was erected in 1831, costing $5,000. Rev. Enoch Mudge, a devoted minister was the first regular chaplain. In 1866 the building was burned and a new one erected in 1867. Since the business of

Besides these many religious and charitable institutions in New Bedford, may be mentioned the Union of Good Works, St. Luke's Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, the Association of the Relief of Aged Women, New Bedford Home for the Aged, Young Men's Christian Association, a very strong society of young and middle-aged men; and the Young Women's Christian Association, all doing their share of good in the city today.