Needham Town (part 5 of 12)

1 85 1, it was voted to add to the Communion Service, and Brother Henry Robinson was to procure the new vessels. A record was made of the first death that occurred in this Church, which was that of Dexter Ware, who was killed by the cars at Grantville station on October 20, 185 1, and whose funeral was held in the Church the 23d. The first case of discipline was heard in 1851, but the accused was mildly dealt with. This Church has always contributed liberally toward denominational objects, and in 1854 gave $134.23, in 1867 $236.60, and in 1873 $275.56. On January 22, 1856, Mr. Barrows was dismissed at his own request by a Council, and on July 16 the Church called the Rev. Edward S. Atwood, who accepted on August 13, and was ordained by a Council October 23. The Society had concurred with the Church on July 29, and had chosen Marshall S. Scudder, Flavius J. Lake and Henry S. Batchelder to join with the deacons and William H. Nye, representing the Church, in extending the call. At the ordination Pro- fessor William G. T. Shedd of Andover preached the Sermon. On March 29, 1859, a Council decided that Mr. Atwood ought to remain, and withdraw a proffered resignation, which he did, but was dismissed by a Council held on September 21, 1864. On December 20 the Rev. William R. Eastman was asked to supply the pulpit, and June 13, 1865, he was called by this Church, but declined. On May 6, 1867, the Rev. Charles H. Williams was called, accepted on June 3, and was ordained by a Council July 25. In giving the call the Church was represented by Marshall S. Scudder, Joseph E. Fiske and Charles T. Wilder, and the Society by Ellsworth Torrey, Henry S. Batchelder and George W. Moulton. At the Installation the Sermon was preached by Professor Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D. The Rev. Mr. Williams resigned November 7, 1868, and the Rev. James M. Hubbard was called by the Church on December 7, accepted on the i8th, and was installed by a Council on the 29th, when a sermon was preached by the Rev. Joshua W. Wellman, D.D. The committee on behalf of the Church consisted of Mr. Scudder, the Rev. William S. Smith and Captain Fiske, and the Society was represented by Reuel Ware, Henry A. Ball, Henry S. Batchelder and George D. Ware. There is a gap in the records, which are resumed in pencil in the latter portion of the same volume. The first meeting of the Church thus recorded was the annual meeting on March 9, 1871.

The Rev. Mr. Hubbard resigned, and was dismissed by Council on January 13, 1874. The Rev. John L. Harris was called by the Church on May 6, accepted on the 27th, and was installed by a Council on June 18. Albion C. Clapp, Hugh M^Leod and the Rev. Francis B. Perkins tendered the call for the Church, and Ellsworth Torrey, Henry L, Sanderson and Dr. Isaac H. Hazelton for the Society. The Installation Sermon was preached by the Rev. Henry M. Dexter, D.D. The Rev. Mr. Harris resigned on November 6, 1875, and was dismissed by a Coun- cil on December 31. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards was called by the Church on January 18, 1876, and was installed by a Council on March i, when the Rev. John O. Means of Boston preached the sermon. The Church chose Captain Fiske, Henry L. Sanderson and the Rev. Mr. Perkins to extend the call, and Edwin O. Bullock, George D. Ware and Hezekiah Fuller represented the Society. The Rev. Mr. Edwards was much esteemed, and had a successful ministry. On March 18, 1876, the minister, with the Rev. Mr. Perkins and Deacons R. Ware and G. D. Ware, were selected to revise the Manual, which was printed the next year. The Church is therein called the "Orthodox Congregational Church, Grantville, Mass.", and a list published in 1891 is designated a " Catalogue of Wellesley Hills Congregational Church".

In 1876 this Church had eighty-five members, and a Sunday School consisting of twelve teachers and ninety pupils. Henry L. Sanderson was the superintendent. In 1909 there were two hundred and forty-five members of the Church, and two hundred and fifteen teachers and scholars in the Sunday School. The Rev. Mr. Newcomb's salary was $500 per year, Mr. Barrow's $600, Mr. Atwood was at first given $800, which was increased to $1000 in 1859, and which continued to be the amount of the minister's salary for years. The Rev. Mr. Edwards was called at $1500; two years later the current expenses of the Society were about $1800, an increase of $150 in six years. In 1879 the expense of the music was $100, the rent of the parsonage $300, and the care of the Church $75. An organ was bought in 1859. The present organ cost $3500, and was the gift of Charles T. Wilder in memory of his wife, Mary.

The first meeting to form a Society, in connection with the Orthodox Congregational Church in Grantville, was held in the "Railroad Passenger House" on May 6, 1846, with the Rev. Mr. Adams ppesiding, and Dexter Ware as the secretary. There were also present Capt. Reuben Ware,

The History Of Needham 277

John Batchelder, Charles Merrill, George K. Danlell, Fltzwilliam Rogers, E. P. Chapin, Capt. Reuel Ware, Daniel Hurd, Israel Hunting, Samuel W. DIx, Ambrose Arnold, John S. Bird and Richard Parker. The project of building a meeting-house was at once brought forward, and committees were appointed, but at different dates, there being some fourteen adjourned meetings. The chief duties of the committees were to raise money and to select a site for the building, which was not to cost over $4000. A circular was Issued, dated "North Needham May 20. 1846", stating that loans and gifts were solicited to build a meeting-house on the Sherburne Road " for the use of the "Orthodox Trinitarian Congregational Church and Society", the shares to be of $100 each, and In case of loans the payment was to be by pews. At this time there were twenty-eight subscribers, Reuben and Dexter Ware each taking three shares. A lot containing one hundred and forty-four rods was purchased for $250 of Joseph W. Maynard on September 9, 1846.1

On August 23 six men petitioned Benjamin Slack, Esq., to issue a warrant for a meeting of the "Third Congregational Society", which he did for September 3, 1846. The Rev. Mr. Adams was the moderator. Dexter Ware was chosen clerk, John Batchelder treasurer, Capt. Reuben Ware, John Batchelder and Fitzwilllam Rogers Society Committee, Capt. Reuel Ware collector, and Capt. Reuel Ware, Dexter Ware, Mr. Rogers, Luther Horr and Samuel W. DIx a building committee. A little later Mr. Rogers was succeeded on the latter committee by E. P. Chapin.

' This land was part of eight and three quarters acres and thirty-one rods which Mr. Maynard had bought for $1698, of John S. Bird on August 22, 1846. On December 14, 1847, Mr. Maynard executed a deed ratifying the previous one, to the " Orthodox Trinitarian Congregational Society in Grantville in Needham ", and correcting the name of the grantee to " Grantville society". John Batchelder, the treasurer of the Society, acted in its behalf. Mr. Maynard and his wife, Priscilla B., did not acknowledge this second deed till December 21, 1849. The rest of the land bought of Mr. Bird was sold to Reuben and Dexter Ware on September 9, 1846, and had a frontage of over six hundred feet on the " Sherburne " road, the Church lot intervening.

There followed fourteen adjourned meetings, the last one being dissolved on July 9, 1847. There was delay in securing the lot, and legal advice was obtained from Judge S. Leland. On September 24, 1846, the "Grantville Society" chose Reuel Ware, John Batchelder, Emery Fiske, who had served on the first committee to select a site, Daniel Hurd and Reuben Ware to prepare the spot for the underpinning. On October 4, 1847, a committee was named to act with the women in furnishing the meeting-house, which was adorned with "a rod & Vane for the Tower". The gift of a bell was received in November from Moses Grant of Boston. It does not appear just when this Church was dedicated, but there was a vote to dedicate it. This bell was not in use in the Church in 1909. In March, 1847, the Society is called in its records the "Congregational Society of Grantville in Needham". On February 11, 1847, the Society had voted to have "Regular Public Services in Rev. W. H. Adams Hall next Sabbath" at 10.30, A.M., and at 1.30, P.M. They met in the "Vestry" March 16, 1848.

The records in the late forties consist largely of details as to the disposal of pews, often by the clerk, who acted as auctioneer, there being thirty-three pews unsold in 1850, the whole number, sixty-two, having been appraised at $4574 in 1847. A plan of the meeting-house floor, showing the pews, is inserted in the volume. Late in 1849 the Society owed $290.76, including interest, on account of the land. Hunter & Neal had been the contractors for the meeting-house, but the figures do not appear in the records. In 1894, or earlier, the question of a new Church was considered, and on September 11, 1900, the following building committee was chosen: - Flavins J. Lake, chairman, Lyman K. Putney, the Rev. Parris T. Farwell, George D. Ware and Timothy Wallace Travis. The architect was George F. Newton of Boston, the contractors Robert Wilson, and also Norcross Bros. Co. There was also considerable day work, and the total cost was $43,000.

The History Of Needham 279

This beautiful stone Church was dedicated in the afternoon and evening of February 17, 1903, when the Rev. Alexander M<^Kenzie, D.D,, made an address, and other prominent men took part in the exercises. The annual meeting of the Church, on January 2, 1902, had been held in the Unitarian Church, the two Churches, or Societies, having exchanged courtesies of this nature at different times. The old Church was sold to John Croswell for $150. When the Church was completed the organ was presented. The pulpit furniture was given as a memorial of William and Caroline W. Heikle, also a clock for the Sunday School room in memory of Harold Keith, and a sum of money to be expended in this room in memory of Mrs. M. F. Parker. Mrs. Parker was killed, with her son, in a railroad accident at Quincy.

Most of the early meetings of the Society were presided over by either Capt. Reuben Ware or Silas Williams, and of the later moderators Flavins J. Lake is preeminent, from 1857 to 1881, and perhaps since. In the absence of the minister a Church meeting was usually governed by one of the deacons. These meetings were changed from March to January by vote of March 8, 1876, and with occasional exceptions the annual meetings of the Society have been held in March or April, and the last one on record is that of April 30, 1896. The Society survives the incorporation of the Church to which it had voted, on March 11, 1894, to transfer its property as soon as the incorporation was completed. By an Act approved by the Governor on March II, 1885, the "Grantville Religious Society" became the Wellesley Hills Congregational Society. On April 15, 1884, Captain Fiske had been appointed to secure such legislation, as on January 14, 1884, the Church had voted to change its name by substituting Wellesley Hills for Grantville.

Four baptisms of infants are recorded in the Church book for 1857, but without definite dates, and appear to be the only ones thus recorded for many years. When the pulpit was vacant ministers were secured, the services held regularly, and the communion was administered. The records of the Church to 1909 are contained in six volumes, and those of the Society in one volume.

Rev. Harvey Newcomb, December 9, 1847-November 8, 1849. He had been the minister of the West Church, in what is now Wellesley. Died August 30, 1863, aged sixty years.

Rev. William Barrows, D.D., August 22, 1850-January 22, 1856. He was at Phillips Andover Academy 1834-6, graduated at Amherst 1840, D.D. 1867, Union Theological Seminary 1845. Author of Civil War pamphlets, etc. Died September 9, 1891, aged seventy-six years.

Rev. John Lambdin Harris June 18, 1874-December 21, 1875. Mr. Harris was ordained as a Methodist minister at Macomb, 111., in i860, and continued in that denomination till 1873, when he went to the Pacific Congregational Church at New Bedford.

The History Of Needham 281

The elections of Deacons Ware and Batchelder were confirmed on March 5, 1847. On June 10, 1864, Hezekiah Fuller was elected deacon, but declined that honor.

Treasurers of the Church: John Batchelder March 5, 1847-March I, 1855, Reuel Ware 1855-68 (fourteen.? years with no record for 1869 and 1870), the Rev. William S. Smith 1871 (no record of any Church officers for 1872 and 1873), Hezekiah Fuller 1874-80 (seven years), Albion R. Clapp 1881-9 (nine years).

In 1850 Dexter Ware and Silas Williams were chosen as auditors by the Church, and it was customary for both Church and Society to elect two auditors. In 1850 the latter chose a board of three assessors in addition to the Society Committee, and distinct from it.

Clerks of the Society: Dexter Ware September 3, 1846- 50 (five years). No record for 185 1. In April, 1856, Mr. Perkins was requested to record the meetings of March 21, May 21 and 28, then existing in temporary form.

George D. Ware was one of the Society Committee, known later as the Parish Committee, in 1856, '57, '59-64, '66- 81 (twenty-four years), and probably since. Mr. Lake was on this committee in 1855, '59, '73-8 (eight years). He has for many years been prominent among the assessors of Massachusetts.

Assistant Superintendents of the Sunday School: Flavins J. Lake 1867. He was chosen in 1879, but declined to serve. Dea. George D. Ware was the librarian of the Sunday School for half a century, with the exception of an occasional year, when he declined to serve. He held this position as late as 1898, and perhaps since. Mr. Lake was chosen superintendent of the Sunday School by the teachers in 1868, and their choice was ratified by the Church. For many years the annual meeting of the Church was held in March, when the Church officers were elected, together with the superintendent, treasurer, and librarian of the Sunday School. There is no record of the election of any Church officers for the years 1869, '70, '72, '73. Beginning with 1874 the annual meeting has been held in January.

Evangelical Congregational Church

Religious meetings were held in the school-house on the Great Plain prior to the organization of either the Baptist or the Evangelical Churches, and it was the hope of Dr. Noyes and others that all would unite in establishing an

The History Of Needham 283

Orthodox Church, but the zeal of George Howland and other decided Baptists made this Impracticable. The Rev. Dr. Burgess of Dedham learning that a number of people in East Needham desired "that the Institutions of the Gospel as founded by the early settlers In New England should be established In their vicinity " generously commenced a series of meetings in Nehoiden Hall on the first Sabbath of April, 1855, and continued them to the first Sabbath In May, 1856. On the last Monday In April, 1856, citizens met and chose Moses Winch, Dr. Noyes and Charles E. Keith a committee to provide preaching during the ensuing year. The meetings were held In Nehoiden Hall during May and June, when Village Hall was obtained and fitted for use as a place of worship, and the first Sabbath in July Dr. Burgess preached the first sermon there.

On April 2, 1857, those interested in forming a Church met in Village Hall, when letters from other Churches were read recommending six persons for membership in the new Church. On the 9th there was another meeting, when more letters were read, and on the 23d a third meeting was held at which It was voted to Invite to an Ecclesiastical Council the Church in Dedham, of which the Rev. Dr. Burgess was the pastor, and the Churches In Dover, Medfield, West Needham, GrantvIUe and Newton Centre. Moses Winch, Dr. Noyes and Charles E. Keith were chosen a committee to issue the letters missive. On May 5 a Confession of Faith and a Covenant were adopted, and at one o'clock, P.M., on the 6th the Council met in Needham and formed the Church. Each of the Churches invited was represented by the pastor and one deacon, except that In Newton Centre, whose minister did not attend. The Rev. Joy H. Fairchild of South Boston sat In the Council by invitation. The Rev. Dr. Burgess was the moderator, and the Rev. Edward S. Atwood of GrantvIUe was the scribe. The "Ecclesiastical PoHty, Covenant, and Creed" are recorded on pages 5-10 of the first volume of the Church records. The original members of this Church were: Dr. Josiah Xoyes, Mrs. Elizabeth Xoyes, Sarah W. Xay, Mrs. Jane W. Pickering, Rachel Smith, Charles E. Keith, Mrs. Margaret O'Xeil, Josiah Davenport, !Mrs. Sarah Davenport, Mrs. Peady R. Mills, Mrs. Rebecca BuUen, EUen M. Bullen (later Mrs. Greene), Marietta J. Bullen, Mrs. Lucinda O. Kingsbury, William B. Pickett, Mrs. Mary A. Pickett, Moses Winch, George E. Newton, Pamelia Smith, Susanna Harris, Henn.- Webber, Mrs. Adrianna G. "Webber. John Mills. Mrs. Abigail C. ^lills, the Rev. Lucius R. Eastman, Sarah A. Eastman, Lucius R. Eastman, Jr., Mrs. Susanna Hardy. On March 21, 1S58, the Church chose Dea. Elisha Lyon and Dr. Josiah Noyes deacons, but both declined to sene. On Januan.- i, 1859, the Rev. Lucius R. Eastman, who had succeeded Dr. Burgess as acting pastor, ended his ministry' in N'eedham, and on Februar}* 18 the Church called the Rev. Edward E. Strong, but he did not accept. On Januan.' 10, 1859, Closes W inch was chosen clerk, and all of the records prior to that date appear to be also in his handwriting. On April I the Rev. William B. Greene began his duties as acting pastor, and was to serve them for many years. On July 6, 1859, a Sunday School was formed with Frederick Marchant superintendent, Cyrus G. Lpham librarian, Cyrus W^. Jones secretary, and EUen M. Bullen treasurer.

The Chapel was built on land given by Charles E. Keith, and was dedicated on December 28, 1859,^ when a sermon was preached by the Rev. Edward X. Kirk. D.D. This building cost about $1500, and continued in use until the new Church was ready for occupancy. The Chapel, with the land, was sold at auction in May, 1890, for $1905. to Edmond Commons. The lot contained 10,972 square feet, and the deed from Mr. Keith is dated January 25, 1S61, and refers to the "Church and other buildings" thereon. Rights of way, thirty-five feet in width, were granted from the southern portion of the lot to Great Plain Avenue, and to East Street, by which name a part of Highland Avenue was then called. The Evangelical Congregational Society and the Evangelical Congregational Church were the grantees. Mrs. Abigail Collins Mills was the first subscriber toward the expense of building this Chapel, but died before it was dedicated. In December, 1859, the Ladies' Friendly Society presented all of their "rights and interests in the New Chapel & its furniture to the Evangelical Church and Society of Needham".

There is no record of Church meetings from April 17, 1859 to March 21, 1872, when Josiah Davenport and Nelson S. Read were chosen deacons. Calvin Perry was the clerk in 1872, and continued in office to December, 1874. On May 18, 1873, the Church asked the Rev. Augustus C. Swain to become its minister, and requested the Society to contract with him. Mr. Swain accepted the call, which was extended to him by a joint committee of the Church and the Society. On June 25, at 10 A.M., a Council was convened in which six neighboring Churches participated. The Rev. Samuel H. Dana of Newton Highlands was the scribe, and the Rev. Air. Edwards was the moderator, but resigned during the Council, and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Larabee of West Roxbury was chosen in his place. The ordination services began at 2 P.M. Mr. Swain resigned on March 19, 1874, his resignation was accepted, and an Ecclesiastical Council met in the chapel at 2 P.M., April 22, and the relations of pastor and people were dissolved. The Rev. Elihu P. Marvin, D.D., was the moderator on this occasion, and the Rev. Samuel E. Lowry the scribe.

On December 29, 1874, Dea. Alden Harlow was chosen clerk, and died in office September 29, 1890. He was also treasurer of the Church for several years, and held that office at the time of his death. On September 28, 1875, the Church voted to unite with the Suffolk West Conference of Churches, and the following February appointed a committee, consisting of the Rev. John E. M. Wright, Charles E.

On February 28, 1879, it was voted to offer the use of the Chapel to the First Parish from 2 to 6 P.M. each Sabbath, "while their house of worship is being repaired". On July 16, 1882, a call was given the Rev. Lewis W. Morey, with which the Society concurred. He was ordained and installed by an Ecclesiastical Council, which was held in the Chapel at 3 P.M., on September 6, when six Churches were represented. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards was the moderator, and the Rev. George G. Phipps was the scribe. The ordination services began at 7 P.M. Mr. Morey's resignation was accepted on January 15, 1886, as he had received a call which he felt he should not decline. The pastoral relations were dissolved by an Ecclesiastical Council, participated in by five Churches, which met in the Chapel at 3.30 P.M., on February i, 1887. The Rev. Daniel L. Furber, D.D., was the moderator, and the Rev. Joseph B. Seabury was the scribe. The Church on the 3d passed resolutions expressing their esteem for Mr. Morey.

The first wedding in the new Church was that of George Evens and Annie Ella Graves. The Rev. Mr. Gleason, who succeeded Mr. Morey, officiated.

On September 11, 1888, the Church voted to convey to the Evangelical Congregational Society its rights in the real estate, which had been held in common with the Society. On October 26, 1890, the balance of $500 required to pay in full for a bell was raised at a Harvest concert, and the bell, which is said to weigh a ton, was rung to announce that the money was obtained.

The Rev. Dr. Avery S. Walker preached in Needham on February 24, and on March 10, 1895, and was called on March 19, the Society concurred on April 2, and he accepted on the 2ist. At his installation, on July 2, the introductory prayer was by the Rev. Dr. George M. Adams, the right hand of fellowship was given by the Rev. Dr. Albert H. Plumb, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Alonzo H. Quint, all of these ministers leaders In their denomination. Dr. Walker resigned on May 8, 1898, and was dismissed by an Ecclesiastical Council on June 8th. He will be remembered as one of the able men who have preached in Needham.

In 1895 the pews were made free, and on December 6, of that year, new "Standing Rules, Articles of Faith and Covenant" were adopted by the Church, and were later printed. On March i, 1896, four deacons officiated for the first time, when sixty-four persons joined the Church, and twenty-seven were baptized. On March 6 was held the first of the annual reunions, since a feature in this Church, and one hundred and forty-two individuals answered to the roll call, each making brief remarks, or giving a quotation from Scripture. Four of the original members of the Church were then living in Needham, but of them Mrs. Jane W. Pickering alone was present. On April 9 new by-laws were adopted, and it was voted to change the name of the Church to The First Congregational Church of Needham, which was incorporated on May 5, and the Evangelical Congregational Society conveyed its property to the First Congregational Church of Needham in July, 1896. The First Church in Needham protested against the new name, claiming to be the First Congregational Church, and declared that the word "Congregational" related to a form of Church government, and was not synonymous with the word "Orthodox", whatever the popular misuse of it might be. In the interest of harmony and good feeling the members of this Orthodox Church resumed in 1897 the name of "The Evangelical Congregational Church of Needham", although the change involved formalities which extended over several months. On June 4, 1896, two new contribution boxes were first used. They were made and presented by William Roberts, and upholstered by the Ladies' Friendly Society. On April 10, 1899, the Church called the Rev. Ralph J. Haughton, of South Paris, Me., who accepted on the 14th, and on June 9 thanks were voted to the Rev. Henry J. Patrick, D.D., who had supplied the pulpit most acceptably for fourteen Sabbaths when there was no settled minister. Dr. Patrick subsequently preached for them. Mr. Haughton resigned on March i, 1901, and the Rev. Frank Philip Estabrook was called on June 21, and accepted on the 29th.

On June 29, 1905, the Church called the Rev. Daniel R. Kennedy, Jr., who accepted on July 10, and was ordained and installed on October 17. Mr. Kennedy resigned February 23, 1908, and although his people unanimously requested him to remain at a meeting held on March 5, and offered an increased salary, he was dismissed by an Ecclesiastical Council on March 26. On the 20th the Church passed resolutions complimentary to Mr. Kennedy. On June 19, 1908, the Rev. Melville A. Shaver, of Alton, N. H., was called and accepted. He had preached in Needham on May 3d and 30th, and his first sermon as pastor was on September 6th. On January 2, 1907, the mortgage on the Church property was burned. As early as 1892 efforts had been made to reduce the debt, then $8000, but in 1906 upward of $2000 remained unpaid. During 1906 the money was raised, largely through the energy and determination of Edward G. Herdman, a prominent member of the Church. Members of the First Baptist Church in Needham gave $50, as a token of sympathy and goodwill. The membership in the Evangelical Congregational Church and Sunday School at different dates has been as follows: In 1876 there were seventy-seven members of the Church, and the Sunday School consisted of thirteen teachers and one hundred pupils. Nelson S. Read was the superintendent. At the close of 1895 there were one hundred and fifty-three Church members, of whom forty-seven were males. Twenty-nine of the members were then non-resident, of whom ten were men. The admissions to the Church in 1895 had numbered thirtyfour, of whom eleven were men. The Sunday School had shown an average attendance from April i to December

The History Of Needham 289

31 of one hundred and thirty-two, Including the teachers. At the end of 1896 there were one hundred and thirteen famiHes connected with the Church, and there had been forty-seven baptisms during the year. On December 31, 1900, there were two hundred and twenty-three members of this Church, of whom seventy-eight were men. Of this number ten men and eighteen women were then non-resident.

It is said that when the new Church was built Mrs. Peady R. Mills, widow of Matthias, gave $1000, and that Mrs. Joanna E. Mills, widow of John, a brother of Matthias, gave $500. Mrs. Mary W. Mann, wife of Daniel Mann, then gave $500. In 1893 a legacy of $500 was received by the Church, or the Society, under the will of Mrs. Joanna Mills, and in 1899 six shares of the capital stock of the Framingham National Bank by the will of Mrs. Peady Mills. Both of these ladies had made gifts to the Society in 1882, when the Chapel was in part refurnished. This Church has usually had good music. Galen Orr not only played the small organ during the first twenty years of the Church, but furnished the instrument. Edgar H. Bowers, another prominent citizen of the town, sang in the choir for many years, and in the middle seventies was designated as the "Chorister". His son, Allston R. Bowers, has also been a member of this choir.

Mrs. Joanna E. Mills bought an organ for $500, or $600 (the cost is variously stated), and it was used in the Chapel for years, but after the completion of the new Church it was sold by the Church, or the Society, in part payment for a new organ. The large stained glass window, in the west side of the Church, is in memory of the Rev. William B. Greene, and of his wife, Ellen M. Greene, and was presented in 1904 by their daughter, Mariette R. Greene. In July, 1891, the Society bought for a parsonage a house and land adjoining the Church. The price was $3000, and the place had been rented by the ministers before 1891.

subscription, through the efforts of the Rev. Lucius R. Eastman, and cost $60 or $70; a chest was bought about the same time. On January i, 1897, thanks were voted to Deacons Snow and Adams for two silver plates presented by them for the Communion service, and late in 1900 the Junior Christian Endeavor Society made a gift to the Church of a set of individual Communion cups. On March 7, 1875, it had been voted to discontinue the use of fermented wine.

The Church records contain references to anniversary observances, and note the action of the Church on many occasions when delegates were chosen to attend Ecclesiastical Councils, or other meetings.

The Evangelical Congregational Society, as distinct from the Church, met for the election of Its first officers in Village Hall on July 27, 1857. The meeting was held under a warrant issued by Moses Winch, a Justice of the Peace, on July 18, in compliance with a petition dated June 6, and signed by twenty-eight men. Mr. Keith was chosen clerk, Dr. Noyes moderator, John Mills treasurer, Matthias Mills collector, and Otis E. Bowen, Moses Winch and Dr. Noyes a "Standing Committee". Messrs Keith, Winch and Frederick Marchant were named a committee to prepare some bylaws, which were adopted on August 3d. On March 16, 1858, Dr. Noyes was elected clerk, and served for twelve years. The records as kept by him may serve as a model for recording officers. The Standing Committee for 1858 consisted of Matthias Mills, George H. Hardy and Otis E. Bowen. Galen Orr had been elected a member of this committee, but declined to serve. Cyrus W. Jones was the collector from 1858 to 1865. The Rev. Moses Winch was the moderator of five of the early meetings of this Society, Deacon Harlow of thirty-five, Emery Grover, Esq., who was the moderator of nearly eighty town meetings prior to April, 191 1, presided over thirty-nine of the meetings of the Evangelical Congregational Society from 1871 to 1895. Charles Edward Keith was a founder of this Church and

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Society, and did much to secure its permanency. He was a member of the Standing Committee in i860, '64-9, '71-5 (eleven years), and filled other offices. From 1872 to 1875 he had as his colleagues William R. Mills and Nathan Parker, both of whom were for some years active and influential in this Society. Deacon Harlow served on the Standing Committee in 1861-4, '67-70, '81-3 (eleven years), and Judge Grover was on this committee for several years. The Honorable Galen Orr was a liberal contributor for the support of this Society, and was one of its Standing Committee in 1859, '65-9 (six years). His family have continued prominent in this Church and Society.

The first recorded election of a sexton is that of Moses Winch on March 12, i860. In 1863 Cyrus G. Upham became the sexton, succeeding George H. Hardy, who had served but a single year.

On March 14, 1882, women were admitted to membership in the Society, or Parish, with the same rights as men, but Miss Catherine L. Bates is the only woman who has been a member of the Standing Committee. Miss Bates was elected in 1894. On May 16, 1882, the time of the annual meeting was changed from March to the first Tuesday in April. Since the Society transferred its property to the Church It has met irregularly, and there has been no meeting subsequent to one on June 23, 1899. The last Standng Committee was chosen in 1895, and consisted of George A. Swallow, Edmund G. Pond, who has been prominent in this Society and in the town, and Henry S. Locke.

Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, Brown 1809, A.M., Andover Theological Seminary 181 5, D.D. Middlebury 1835, died December 5, 1870, in his eighty-first year. At Needham April, 1855 to May, 1856.

Theological Seminary 1836, died March 29, 1892, aged eightytwo years, six months, fourteen days. At Needham February 8, 1857 to January i, 1859.

Rev. William Brooks Greene, Yale 1845, died September II, 1895, aged nearly seventy-two years. At Needham September i, 1859 to April i, 1873.

Rev. Augustus C. Swain, Madison Theological Seminary (Baptist), connected with Madison (now Colgate) College at Hamilton, N. Y. Mr. Swain was at Needham June 25, 1873 to April 22, 1874. He died

Rev. John Edwin Wheeler, at Colby University 1854, graduated at Amherst 1857, and at the East Windsor Theological Seminary in 1862, died March 18, 1893, aged fiftynine years, six months, nine days. At Needham April 29, 1874 to April I, 1875.

Rev. John Ebenezer Moseley Wright, educated at Bowdoin College and at Bangor Theological Seminary, died April 13 1895, aged seventy-two years, ten months. At Needham July 7, 1875 to April i, 1880.

Rev. John Francis Gleason, Kimball Union Academy, N. H., 1854, Amherst class of 1858, A.M. 1871, student in Georgetown Medical College 1868-70, and at Columbian Theological Seminary, Washington, 1870-2. He served in the Union Army 1861-4. At Needham April i, 1886 to September 30, 1894. In 1909 he was settled over the Church at Amherst, and was chairman of the school committee there.

Rev. Avery Skinner Walker, A.B. and A.M. Oberlin College, Ohio, also graduated at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, D.D. from Drury College, Missouri. Licensed to preach by the Third Presbytery of New York City. At Needham July 2, 1895 to June 26, 1898.

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Rev. Frank Philip Estabrook, Syracuse University, Theological School of Boston University. At Needham September i, 1901 to September i, 1903.

Rev. Daniel Rolfe Kennedy, Jr., Syracuse University 1902, Hartford Theological Seminary 1905. At Needham September i, 1905 to March 31, 1908.

Rev. Melville Arthur Shaver, Toronto University, and Victoria College, the latter for Theology. At Needham September i, 1908 to December 31, 1909. He accepted a call to the Maple Street Church in Danvers, one of the important Churches of the denomination, with an exceptionally large congregation.

Rev. John de La Montaigne Waldron, graduated in 1897 at the Rev. Dwight L. Moody's School at Mt. Hermon, then studied Theology at Pennington Seminary, New Jersey. At Needham, 191a- .

The later clerks of the Church have been: - Walter F. Snow 1892-4, who was treasurer 1892-4, '96, '98-July 12, 1907, Albert B. Dresser 1895, also treasurer, Joseph Willett April 15, 1896- , and is the present efficient

The History Of Needham 295 Saint John'S Church

Saint John's Church was the first Catholic Church in Needham, and services were held in it on April 18, 1875. It was free from debt when dedicated on May 8, 1881, by His Grace the Archbishop of the Diocese of Boston. The Rev. Michael Dolan was then the pastor, and subsequently the Rev. Patrick H. Callanan has been for many years the priest in charge of this Church.

Saint Joseph'S Church

Saint Joseph's Church is built upon what was known as the "Ladies' Lot". In the seventies the women interested in removing the meeting-house of the First Parish to the Great Plain raised money and bought this land, and for years it was held by trustees. The corner-stone of Saint Joseph's was laid with impressive ceremonies on September 20, 1891, by the venerable Archbishop Williams, who arrived about 3.35, P.M. An eloquent address was given, and the corner-stone was laid about 5.15. It was a perfect day, and many persons witnessed the beginning of the first Catholic Church within the Hmits of the present Town of Needham. For many years the Catholics had attended Saint Mary's Church at Newton Upper Falls. The Church is free from debt, and the number of communicants constantly Increasing. On Sunday July 2, 1905, three hundred and fifty persons attended the morning service, the Church, including the galleries, seating five hundred.

From the beginning to the present time the Rev. Timothy J. Danahy, a graduate of Holy Cross College, has been the pastor, although his principal charge has been Saint Mary's Church at Newton Upper Falls. The Rev. Fr. Danahy has been assisted by the following curates: - The Rev. Matthew T. Flaherty, who was at Saint Mary's over twelve years, but at Needham only a brief time, and since then the pastor at Concord, Mass., the Rev. Cornelius J. Riordan, who was at Needham about ten years, and for some years has been the pastor at Rockport, the Rev. William J. Farrell, who was at Needham a comparatively short time, and is now the curate at Saint Patrick's Church, South Lawrence, the Rev. Frederick J. Allchin, who preached his first sermon at Saint Mary's on New Year's day 1905, and his farewell in this parish on New Year's 1908, now curate at Saint Paul's Church in Dorchester, the Rev. Michael F. Callahan, since curate at Saint Mary's Church in Ayer, the Rev. Denis H. Donovan, who is the present curate. The Rev. Fr. Donovan was formerly at Saint Patrick's Church in South Lawrence. All of these clergymen have been of Saint Mary's Church, of which Saint Joseph's is the Mission, although the latter is an important Church. Several of these curates have been highly esteemed, and Father Riordan particularly so. His parishioners presented him with a thousand dollars when he left Saint Mary's. The Sunday School numbered one hundred and twenty-five in 1905, and Charles H. Crowley was the superintendent from its formation until his lamented death on

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December 28, 1910. Saint Joseph's Church has been enriched hy memorial windows donated by the following persons: - Jeremiah F. Buckley, Philip Fanning, Patrick M'=Namara, John Sullivan, James J. Shine, Margaret E. Durbin, Ellen and Johanna Collins, Martin J. Walsh, Richard Stanton, Thomas Gahaghan, William H. M*=Owens and Edmond Commins. In the vestibule there is a window in memory of Dennis Crowley, and in the choir are three windows: - one given by the Sunday School, another by the Choir, and the third, the north window, by John H. Fitzgerald. There is also a beautiful window on either side of the altar. A fine memorial window was presented to the new Church at the Upper Falls by Charles H. Crowley some two months prior to his death.

The fourteen Stations in Saint Joseph's Church are handsome, and were presented by the following persons, or by their families as memorials: - I. The Rev. Fr. Timothy J. Danahy, II. Michael Mannix, III. George D. Donovan, IV. in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick J. Foley, V. in memory of Mr, and Mrs. James J. Reid, VI. Mary Gallant, VII., VIII. and IX. were given by the Lovers of the Holy Cross, X. in memory of Mr. and Mrs, Michael O'Keefe, XI. Ellen E, Driscoll, XII. Lewis Hasenfus, XIII. Catherine Glancy, XIV. Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Gahaghan. The names of the original contributors to this Church were placed in the corner-stone, and it is said that James Mackintosh was the only Protestant whose name is in this list.

Unitarian Society Of Grantville

The Unitarian Society of Grantville was formed February 8, 1 87 1, and on May 5 the Rev. Albert Buel Vorse was installed as their minister, and continued to serve them until his death on January 21, 1899. He had been the minister of the First Church in Needham. The first meeting of the Society appears to have been held February 27, 1871, when officers were elected, and the same month the Society pur- chased Maugus Hall, and made It Into a Chapel. It is singular that this Chapel is now (191 1) John Croswell's house, and the old Orthodox Church is his barn, both having been removed to Forest Street. Maugus Hall was originally the railroad station, and had been moved before it was taken to Forest Street.

In 1876 there were twenty-five members of this Society, and the pastor was superintendent of the Sunday School, which consisted of five teachers and forty scholars. The Standing Committee then consisted of John W. Shaw, Rebecca Eaton, David C. Perrin, Harriet P. Lane and William Henshaw.

The records of this Society begin with Its Incorporation, which dates from November 22, 1877. The incorporators were Charles Gavett, Elisha Livermore, John W. Shaw, George H. Howison, Oliver C. Livermore, Oliver Smith, Charles H. Dillaway, David C. Perrin, Josiah A. Osgood, Isaac Sprague, S. Harris Austin, Rebecca Eaton and Louisa E. Austin.

The first meeting was held on December 20, 1877, when S. Harris Austin was moderator and Charles Gavett temporary clerk. Mr. Gavett was chosen clerk of the Society, Rebecca Eaton treasurer, and the Standing Committee consisted of John W. Shaw, David C. Perrin, George H. Howlson, Rebecca Eaton and Louisa E. Austin. By-laws were adopted at this meeting. In addition to the thirteen incorporators twenty-seven other persons signed the record book, assenting to the by-laws, and these forty were the original members of the Society. The twenty-seven referred to were Harriet P. Lane, Sarah A. Gavett, Caroline M. Lane, Sarah E. Shaw, Annie H. Spencer, Hannah A. Eaton, Annie M. Eaton, Eliza A. Kingsbury, M. M. Russell, Harris Russell, James H. Beck, Lizzie H. Beck, Olive C. Valentine, Elizabeth Eaton, Charles M. Eaton, Carrie L. Jenness, Francis D. Fisher, Sarah E. Fisher, Ellen P. Perrin, Abby W. Smith, Mary P. Austin, William Henshaw, Sarah

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H. Henshaw, L. J. Livermore, Sylvester Mcintosh, Abbie Wells and Mary C. Smith. In 1878 the Society received a legacy of $5000 under the will of Miss Eliza Powers. The first year after the incorporation of the Unitarian Society of Grantville its expenses were $1551.47, fully met by the receipts, which included $675.41 from the Ladies' Sewing Circle. The Rev. Mr. Vorse then had a salary of $1500, but he desired to make a contribution toward the expenses for the ensuing year, which led to the adoption of resolutions thanking him, and expressing the high esteem in which he was held.

In January, 1879, the Society lost by death Mr. David C. Perrin, a devoted member, and appropriate resolutions were voted at Its annual meeting on April 7, 1879. Repairs of the Chapel were under consideration in 1879, and on May 2 the Orthodox Congregational Society sent a most cordial invitation to the Unitarians to occupy their Church afternoons if the proposed repairs rendered their own place of worship unsuitable for meetings. This kind offer was repeated, and availed of when the new Church was built a few years later. Upward of $500 was expended on the Chapel, of which $500 was from the legacy of Miss Powers. At the annual meeting in 1880 the date for future meetings was changed from the first to the third Monday in April. Two years later there was an article in the warrant regarding changing the name of the Society, but, although no action was then taken, the warrant issued April 9, 1883, was addressed to Oliver Smith, "a member of the Unitarian Society of Wellesley Hills, formerly Grantville", which new name has continued to 191 1. It does not appear that the Society actually voted to change its name until April 20, 1885, when a committee was chosen to obtain the necessary legislation. In 1890 the by-laws were amended, and the Standing Committee, consisting of five, was chosen for terms of one, two and three years, future elections to be for three years.

to the death of A^TIss Harriet P. Lane on July 24, 1884. She was not only one of the founders of the Society, but a member of the Standing Committee at the time of her decease, having served since April i, 1878, when she took the place of Mrs. Louisa E. Austin, who had declined reelection.

Mr. Gavett was still the clerk of the Society in 1890, and Miss Eaton was the treasurer. Both of them had held these ofRces prior to the incorporation. S. Harris Austin was the moderator of every Parish meeting from 1877 to 1889, inclusive. Mr. Shaw had been one of the Standing Committee from the incorporation, and was in office in 1890, apparently its chairman during the entire period.

The New Church

On May 4, 1886, the Society appointed the following building committee: - John W. Shaw, William Henshaw, Oliver C. Livermore, S. Harris Austin, Emma L Towne, Rebecca Eaton, Charles Gavett, Frederick A. Whiting and Frank F. Baldwin. After many meetings and much consideration the Society built in 1887 the beautiful stone Church, which was dedicated November 20, 1888. The earlier plan had been to build a wooden Church costing about $7500, the more elaborate structure having been decided upon May 12, 1887, when the plans of the architects, Rotch & Tilden, were adopted. Of the $7800 contributed by persons not members of the Society Mr. Horatio Hollls Hunnewell gave $5000. The Honorable Josiah G. Abbott furnished the stone. John W. Shaw not only gave the bell, but built a fireplace and chimney and finished a portion of the building at his own expense, besides bearing part of the cost of the grading. Miss Mary J. Faulkner presented a stained glass window, and Mrs. Sarah G. Badger, Miss Laura G. Dillaway and Mrs. Clara L. Winton an organ costing $1000. Mrs. Badger's gift of $500 for the organ was a legacy left in her will to the Society. Mr. Shaw was the chairman of the building committee and rendered most valuable service, which was recognized by vote of the Society on May 13, 1889. Porter & Fuller were the contractors for the foundation. The total cost of the new Church was $18,288.12, and the old Chapel was sold for $400. In 1890 and 1 89 1 the Society built a parsonage, costing about $8000. It is near the Church, but on the opposite side of the street from it.

In nineteen years the Ladies' Sewing Circle contributed $10,288.43 toward the expenses of the Society. There has been no Church organization as distinct from the Society, and no deacons. A large volume called the Register contains a record of baptisms, beginning in 1889, and some marriages and deaths. In this book is a historical summary which says that the Society dates from February 7, 1871, and that the Rev. Mr. Vorse was called April 3, and accepted the 7th.

Advent Christian Church

In 1871 an Advent Society was organized at Highlandville, and for years met in Low's Block, at the corner of Highland Avenue and West Street, but in 1889 apparently had ceased to hold services. Samuel G. Low was the Elder, and the other chief men were Dea. Lauren Kingsbury, who got his title in 1835 from the then newly organized Baptist Church in Newton Upper Falls, and John Hastings, the clerk of the Society. They had few associates, although in 1876 they had a Sunday School of thirty, which was just double the number of Church members.

Episcopal Churches

The Rev. Jonas Bowen Clarke, of the Oakland Hall Institute, had services of the Episcopal Church in his schoolroom Sunday afternoons in the late sixties and early seventies, but it was not till several years after the division of the town that there was an attempt to establish an Episco- pal Society, although from 1814 many residents of Needham had been members of Saint Mary's Church at the Lower Falls, which is but a short distance from the town line. The effort made in the eighties to have Episcopal services on the Great Plain was abandoned after two or three years, the number of Episcopalians not being sufficient to maintain worship, notwithstanding the devotion of individuals. Charles S. Courtenay, later a lieutenant-colonel, was the organizer of the proposed Society, and the meetings were in the small hall in the upper story of the Moseley Building, since known as the May Building. Services were, however, held from time to time, and on October 28, 1894, the Rev. Frederick Pember, B.A., a graduate of the University of Oxford, and admirably qualified for his work, had a service in the smaller Masonic hall in the Kingsbury Block, with the result that Christ Church was formed on August 19, 1895, with twenty members, the majority of whom were from Highlandville. For nearly five years the morning service was in the Masonic Hall, Great Plain, and the Sunday School met there at noon, the evening service alone being in Highland Hall at Highlandville. At Easter 1900 it was decided to have all of the services at Highlandville, and the vestry was authorized to procure the necessary land for a Church. They bought 11,600 square feet of land at the corner of Highland Avenue and Mellen Street, with two buildings besides a blacksmith's shop on it. The latter was moved to the rear of the lot, and the other buildings were skilfully transformed into a Church by J. W. M'^Cabe of Newton Lower Falls, according to plans of Gordon Fisher of Newton Highlands. The building committee consisted of James B. Lester, chairman, Albert E. Collishaw and Charles E. Beckman.

The lot has a frontage of eighty-three feet on Highland Avenue, and of one hundred and fifty feet on Mellen Street. The Church is sixty feet by twenty-five feet, interior measurement, with an altar of quartered oak on which is a solid brass cross, the gift of the Sunday School. The Superior of St. Margaret's Home gave an engraved brass altar desk, and service books for the altar and the reading desk. The picture of Christ, above the altar, is the work, and gift, of a local artist, David Richards. The Church Is lighted hy electricity, and has solid oak pews and choir stall with panelled ends. At the dedication of the Church, on September 26, 1900, the Rev. Frederick Pember, the rector, read the first lesson, and the sermon was preached by the Bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. William Lawrence. Addresses were made by the Rev. Mr. Hayes of Saint Andrew's, Wellesley, and by the Rev. Mr. Williams of Grace Church, Newton Highlands. The Church then had seventy members and a flourishing Sunday School.

The Needham Recorder for September 29, 1900, contains an account of the dedication, and a description of the Church. Mr. Pember's health failed, and on June 29, 1903, his people reluctantly accepted his resignation, which was dated May 10, and later adopted resolutions expressing their appreciation of his faithful and efficient ministry. On Sunday, October 28, 1906, the Church observed its twelfth anniversary, and the Rev. Mr. Pember preached the sermon. It is still (191 1) his custom to preach at Christ Church on Palm Sunday. The successors of the Rev. Mr. Pember have been: The Rev. Arthur Wellesley Chapman, "temporary minister in charge" from November, 1903 to August, 1904, inclusive, the Rev. Newton Black, A.B. from the Philadelphia High School, which has college courses, studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and at the Philadelphia Theological School, and received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity from the latter institution. The Rev. Mr. Black began his ministry In Needham on January i, 1906.

The following have been Wardens of Christ Church: Senior Warden - Albert E. Colllshaw from August, 1895 to the present time, with the exception^ of the year beginning at Easter 1896, and ending at Easter 1897, when Eben

Smith was in office, Junior Wardens - Paul R. Hudnut August, 1895-Easter 1896, Albert E. CoUishaw Easter 1896-Easter 1897, Peter Willgoose Easter 1897-Easter 1898, George B. Fowle Easter 1898-Easter 1900, Charles E. Beckman Easter 1900-Easter 1902, William H. Stanton Easter 1902-Easter 1903, Samson Hammersley Easter 1903 to the present time. The other officers in 191 1 are - Clerk William C. Payne, who has served for years, Treasurer Eben W. Smith, Vestrymen William Mitchell, M.D., William Downes, James A. Ackroyd, John W. Lester and Henry Godfrey, Jr.

Six hundred persons are connected with this Church, and one hundred and ninety-seven communicants. The Sunday School numbers one hundred and fifty-two pupils and fourteen teachers. William C. Payne is the superintendent.

On February 26, 1896, at eight o'clock in the evening, the Rt. Rev. William Lawrence, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, confirmed twenty persons, the Episcopalians meeting in the Evangelical Congregational Church. These were apparently the first services of the kind held in Needham.

Holy Trinity Mission

Holy Trinity Mission included the territory from Charles River Village to Highlandville, and was organized in 1900, with the consent of Christ Church, by George B. Fowle and others, who had been active in Christ Church, and its meetings were held in the lesser Masonic Hall in the Kingsbury Block. Mr. Fowle had been the superintendent of the Sunday School of Christ Church and continued at the Mission, which was in the care of the Rev. Frank Hoffman Bigelow of Saint Paul's Church, Natick, who was succeeded in this duty by the Rev. William Edward Hayes, rector of Saint Andrew's Church in Wellesley. The Rev. George Nattress was the successor of Mr. Hayes both at Saint Andrew's, and at Holy Trinity Mission. He was followed by the Rev. Arthur Wellesley Chapman, who was for a time In charge of Christ Church. From 1906 to July, 1908, the Rev. Mr. Black of Christ Church also officiated at the services of Holy Trinity Mission, which closed with the service on the last Sunday in July, 1908, although it was self-supporting.

Christian Science Church

In July, 1897, Mrs. Estelle Russell Freeman arranged to have services of the Christian Science Church at her home, 36 Warren Street, Needham, and in 1898 a Society was formed. In May, 1899, a Sunday School was organized, and in July, 1900, Wednesday evening meetings were commenced. In September, 1901, the congregation had become too large to meet in a private house, and Masonic Hall was secured. On August 6, 1902, the First Church of Christ Scientist was organized, and later services were held in Fowler's Hall, until the Society removed to Christian Science Hall, which is in a new building on Great Plain Avenue. The Sunday School includes all under the age of twenty years, and meets directly after the morning service, which is held each Sunday at 10.45. On Wednesday evening at 7.45 there is a testimonial and experience meeting to which all are cordially invited. In connection with this Church there is a reading room, which is open to the public from 3 to 5 P.M. every day, except Sundays and holidays, and also on Saturday from 7 to 9 P.M. At this room Christian Science literature may be read on the premises or purchased. The purpose of this Church is to maintain the worship of God in accordance with the doctrines and teachings of Christian Science as contained in Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, by the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible and this book are the only pastors of this Church, but Henry A. T. Dow is First Reader, Mrs. Lena L. Clancy Second Reader, and Charles E. Orcutt superintendent of the Sunday School.

Church Attendance

The numerous and useful organizations formed to assist in the work of the different Churches cannot be enumerated in this history, but there are a few that should be mentioned: The Ladies' Aid Society of the First Parish was formed in 1852, and has been the mainstay of the First Church from that year to the present time. The ladies have worked constantly for its social and financial interests, and hold a fair in the early winter, and for some years also an annual May Festival, both of which occasions are attended by the citizens generally, and are regarded as important social affairs. Our Social Club and the First Parish Guild, both of which were formed for the young people during the years that the Rev. Charles A. Allen was the minister of the First Church, were valuable for a time, but were not destined to long life.

Number of persons present at the usual religious services held in the Churches and places of worship in Needham, morning and afternoon, on Sunday, May 29, 1859: -

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Methodist Church in Needham: - Levi Jennings, Henry Travis, Daniel Dedman, Abraham Morrill, Franklin Stevens, Aaron Greenwood and Daniel Ware.

Some of these men were citizens of Natick, but presumably all were tax-payers in Needham. In 1822 Ethel Jennings and Daniel Ware were certified as of the Church in the West Precinct, and Enos H. Tucker was "a Member of the religious Society in the first Parish in Needham Called Congregational".

Church Music

^^ Jan: y. I72g^ 30. At a Chh. Meeting at yf House of B.' Joseph Boyden. After Prayer, Voted, that it is agreeable to the mind of yf Chh that Mf John Smith tune the Pfalm, if he pleases, when he is present, & able to do it (And read it to (I suppofe) if he chooses to do both. Voted, That Deacon Kingsbury Ihall read & tune yf Pfalm in M! Smith'' s abfence till May next; Voted. That Canterbury, S* David's, York, Brunswick, Southwel, Pfal : 100 tune, and Litchfield or London be sung regularly in the Congregation till next May'\ ''Feb : 4. i'j2g. 30. Voted, That the Pfalm be fung regularly at yf time of the Administration of yf Sacrament of the Supper, and that Brother Samuel Parker be desired to Tune the Pfalm in and for the Congregation in the abfence of Mf John Smith".

On May 22, 1765, the town voted "no" on the article "To See if the Town will lay aSide the Psalms that were Compofed to be Sung in the Defenting Churches and Congregations in New=England ", and also on that "to approve of the Old England Church Psalms (Otherwise Called Brady and Tate)". It was voted "to Sing Doc£ Watts Hymes in the Publick Worfhip" and "to Agree Upon a Certain Number of Tunes to be Sung". Ensign Eliakim Cook, Michael Metcalf and Lieut, Jonathan Day were chosen a committee "to pitch Upon the Tunes that are mo ft proper", and Ensign Cook, Ebenezer Huntting and Ebenezer Fisher were the "Two or three proper Perfons to Tune the Psalms in the Publick Worlhip". On March 12, 1770, Thomas Alden and Michael Metcalf were chosen "to add to Li* Filher to Tune the Pfalm on the Sabbath Days".

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Worship", but In 1798 chose Enoch Mills, Major Moses Man, Capt. Ebenezer Mcintosh and Nathaniel Wilson, Jr., as choristers, and the Church selected Timothy Smith and Dea. Isaac Shepard as "Choristers for Sacremental occasions", and requested "the singers of the Congregation" to join "with the singers of the Chh" at the Communion. In 1819 Israel Whitney and Dr. Samuel Gould were chosen choristers by the Church, and in 1822 Samuel M'^Intosh took the place of Mr. Whitney. The Church choristers "to regulate" the singing at the Communion were then William W. Mann, Israel Whitney and the Rev. Daniel Kimball.

In 1 801 the First Parish bought a "Base viol for the use of the Parish In Public Worship". Michael Harris, Jr., was "to use the Same". Harris was a captain in the militia, and prominent as a town and parish officer when in his twenties. He lived on the Metcalf homestead, where the Convalescent Home of the .Children's Hospital Is now located. In 1807 the bass viol was for sale, but within the memory of people now living William Wlllard Mann, a fine musician, played the clarinet, and Dr. Joslah Noyes the violoncello as part of the service. Joslah Eaton played a bass viol in the choir, and Artemas Newell a trombone. There were six instruments in this church orchestra at one period.

In the years preceding and following 1900 the services were enriched by the music from the cornet of Howard Tisdale and the violin of Walter E. Morgan. Early in the last century Capt. Timothy Bullard played the bass viol, and at times the clarinet, in the West Precinct, and Postmaster Charles Noyes added his flute to the music of the choir. For several decades Solomon Flagg, Jr., sang tenor in this choir, and on secular occasions, such as a Farmers' picnic, often sang Perry's Victory^ and other old songs, when he was more than eighty years of age. Both he and his father, Solomon, Sr., were skilled performers on the snare drum.

seventy-five dollars "to support a singing School in s*^ Parish in the Winter ensuing", and liberal appropriations were made for a singing school in later years. Dr. Noyes recorded, under date of January 5, 1829, "Singing School opened - Capt: Brett teacher".

There have been many faithful men and women who have sung in the Churches of Needham from their youth to past middle life, and were always in their places, and never received any pecuniary reward. The Eaton family has been prominent in the choir of the First Parish for at least four generations. William Eaton, who died in 1876 at an advanced age, was for many years a member of it, and was a brother of Josiah Eaton, previously mentioned. Mary Gay, later the wife of Capt. Curtis M'=Intosh, and her sister, Lucy, afterward Mrs. Charles Brackett, were in this choir for a long time. They were fine singers, one a soprano, the other an alto, and were daughters of Capt. Jonathan Gay, who lived in the ancient Tolman-Gay house on Central Avenue, now owned by the heirs of Curtis M'^Intosh.

Lemuel Kingsbury, 2d, was the leader of this choir, and his wife, who played several musical instruments, also rendered valuable service. Mr. Lemuel Kingsbury was followed by Lyman Edward Kingsbury, a tenor singer, who led the choir for thirty years. His son, George Lyman Kingsbury, has sung the bass for a longer period, although not invariably a member of the choir as his father was. The elder Mr. Kingsbury at times led the music with his violin. On April 7, 1895, the 175th anniversary of the Church was commemorated, and John Fisher Mills then read a paper relative to the music in the First Church since the previous century, which paper was printed in the Needham Chronicle. On March 5, 1905, Mr. Mills sang the tenor for the last time, retiring after a service of thirty years, and the congregation later presented him with a handsome silver "loving cup" suitably inscribed.

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In 18 13 the St. David Musical Society was formed "for the cultivation and promotion of genuine classical Church Musick", and included residents of fifteen towns. The three special meetings in each year were held at Framingham, and the Anniversary meeting on September 6, in the different towns in rotation, Needham being one of them.

Ministerial Land Dedham Records

The selectmen of Dedham called a town meeting for November 2, 1710, on account of a school, and "as to an affair refering to the Inhabitants of the north part of this town." At a town meeting on November 13, in compliance with a recommendation of the General Court, notice of which was served on the selectmen "Laft Saturday about twelve of y« Clock", on October 31, 1710, "The Town haue by their vote freed the petitlnors of the north part of our town from paying to our minlfters Salary so Long as they shall haue an able minlfter to preach amongst themSelves untill the generall Court at the Sefions thereof in may next". On February 12, 1710/11, a committee of five was appointed at a town meeting to report at the annual meeting "as to the affair of y^ pititioners of the north part of this town". The report was accepted on March 12, 1710/11. On March 19, 1710/11, "This day it was propofed to the proprietors of this town to Grant to the petitioners of the north part of this town two parcells of land for publick use for the minlstrey one parcell for a houfe Lot and another for a wood Lot the firft parcell abutteth north on Rofemary meadow & eaft and upon away coming from s"^ meadow toward the West [i*] and South and upon Rofemary brook in part eaft. The other parcell is on the Eaft side of north hill abutting upon the way leading to rofemary meadow & Robert ffuller towerds the north containing about 20 acers. The proprietors in Anfwer to the pititioners doe Set apart and referue and grant that the afore s"^ land pititioned for shall be granted to the pititloners to them and their -ers for ever for the miniftrey from one generation to another for eUer and not to be Sold nor alienated from the miniftrey foreuer but to remain for the publick use for the miniftrey on the north side of charles River." On May 14, 171 1, a committee of two, Capt. Daniel Fisher and Capt. Samuel Guild, was appointed to appear before the General Court to answer the petition of the inhabitants of the North part. It has been said that the total area of this land was one hundred and thirty acres, but according to the deeds and plans there were about one hundred and twenty acres bounded by the present Parish Street, Central Avenue, Nehoiden and Rosemary Streets, two acres on the west side of Central Avenue, opposite the westerly end of Parish Street, and twenty-one acres on the east side of North Hill. In all about one hundred and forty-three acres, including the burying-ground, which in 1831 was only one acre. The minister of the First Parish Church had the use of a portion of this land as late as the time of the Rev. Mr. Ritchie, 1821-42, and at the division of the town into two parishes the whole of it was appropriated by the First Parish, although the Second Parish protested for a century. In 1803 the First Parish defended its minister in a suit brought by the Rev. Thomas Noyes, minister of the Church in the West Precinct, "for the said Palmers refusing to Relinquish one half of the Ministerial Land lying in the East Parish".^ The control of this land by the First Parish was by no means unquestioned by the town, which leased portions of it in 1790 and continued to do so for years. The various notes due to the town for the use of this land by individuals are prominent in the reports of the committee to reckon with the town treasurer subsequent to 1800. The Macintoshes were among

* "A Manual for the Congregational Church in West Needham", 1859, calls attention to the alleged violation of trust by the First Parish in alienating the land and failing to devote it to the perpetual support of an Orthodox ministry.

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the last, if not the last, to rent a part of the Ministerial land from the town, which land Enoch Fisk petitioned the town in 1801 to divide between the two parishes. In the meantime the First Parish voted on January 21, 1793, to sell part of "y^ Ministeral lands", and a committee headed by Colonel M*=Intosh secured an Act of the General Court, February 24, 1795, authorizing them to sell sixty acres, subject to any rights that the Second Parish might have. The first sale under this Act was of ten acres in 1795, to Jeremiah Kingsbury, who built in 1805 the house that was the residence of the late Arthur Whitaker. Subsequent Acts of the General Court further enlarged the power of the First Parish to sell its lands, and in September, 1896, the site of the first three meeting-houses, with the land south and west, including the old Training Field, was sold to Frederick P. Glover, and in 1902 the sale of the cemetery and the land to the north of it completed the alienation of the Ministerial land. In 1830 Dea. Asa Kingsbury with William Ellis, both competent surveyors, made a plan of the Parish land, showing the sales to that year, but not including the tract on North Hill, or that adjoining Rosemary Meadow. After the town ceased to interfere, the First Parish leased portions of its land for cultivation and pasturage, and at times derived considerable sums from the sale of wood. There were many years when the minister did not avail of his privilege of using this land, or required only a part of it. In 1908 Miss Martha Anna Clarke purchased of the executor of Mr. Glover the site of the meetinghouses, the Training Field, and some land in front of the Nehoiden Block Lot, which is also a part of the Ministerial land. The following items from the town records illustrate the customs of the past: On November 29, 1723, the town "Voted that their Should be fouer men Chosen to notifie the whole Town to Cut & Cart wood for y« R"* mr Townsend", and Captain Fisher, Joseph Boyden, Samuel Parker and Christopher Smith were chosen. At the March meeting in 1725 Mr. Townsend offered to accept £10 in lieu of wood, and on May 17 the town voted to give him £7. On March 29, 1728, Captain Fisher, Deacon Woodcock, James Kingsbery, Robert Fuller and Jeremiah Woodcock, Jr., were chosen by the town to run the lines "in the Ministry land ". The lands of Deacon Woodcock and of James Kingsbery joined the "Ministry land" on the west, on North Hill. In June, 173 1, John Fisher, Peter Edes and William Chub were designated to fence ten acres on this hill for Mr. Townsend's use "for His Cows & Other Creatures". A rate of £40 was voted, and the fence was to be done by August I, but there was delay, and discussion about it in several town meetings, and in 1732 another committee was chosen, but nothing was done. In May, 1738, Captain Cook, Jeremiah Woodcock, Joseph Haws, Peter Edes and Jonathan Smith were named to view a piece of land that Mr. Townsend wished to have fenced, and the meeting was adjourned for half an hour. When they came together to resume their legislative duties, the committee reported that it would cost £20 to fence ten acres, which was voted, and Captain Cook and Jeremiah Fisher were to expend it, the lumber to be obtained on the Ministerial land. In March, 1738/9, John Fisher, Esq., and Henry Dewing were to fence the land, and in July, 1741, the selectmen were instructed that this ten-acre tract was "to be fenced in to Ds Jeremiah Woodcock". The following February the town chose Deacon Woodcock, Lieut. Thomas Metcalf and Jeremiah Woodcock, Jr., to run the line between the Ministerial land and that of Samuel Daniell. On September 12, 1743, the town voted to pay Mr. Townsend £20 for fencing this land; as the town had been going to do it for twelve years, it is not strange that Mr. Townsend, who probably needed the pasture, finally did it himself. In 1755 the town refused to fence ten acres for a "pafter", but in 1761 Amos Fuller, Jr., Aaron Smith, Jr., and James Man were chosen to fence "a Part of the Miniftrey Land this year", viz., the east side and the south end with a Stone Wall this year", and a tax of £13, 6s., 8d. was voted for the purpose. In 1760 a committee was to renew the bounds around the "Towns Land", possibly the "School Land", but presumably the "Ministeral Land". In May, 1765, the town rejected a proposition to sell the Ministerial land, "Excepting Proper Places for the Meeting Houfe: Burying Place and Training Field". From time to time committees were chosen to renew the bounds around this land, and in 1766, or 1767, Deacon Hewins made a plan of it. For assisting Deacon Hewins, Nathaniel Fisher was granted fourteen shillings, Dea. John Fisher 7s., 6d. for three days' time, and Michael Metcalf four shillings. Amos Fuller, Jr., was paid three shillings "for some Entertainment" for the "Surveyor" and Lieutenant Day i6s., 6d. for assisting and paying Deacon Hewins in part, also for searching records and "for a Quarter of a Lamb he found for their Use when they were Planing Said Land". In March, 1768, a proposition to sell wood to pay for this plan was voted down.

Brookline Ministers' Wood Lot In Needham

On March 5, 1759, Samuel White of Brookline conveyed to the selectmen of that town twenty acres of land on the north side of the Sherborn road in Needham, for a "ministerial" wood lot. In 1805 it was called in the Brookline town records "the Church Lot in Needham", and it was assessed to the First Parish of Brookline in 1880, the year preceding the division of our town, and was then eighteen and one quarter acres.

The Needham Cemetery includes a portion of the land granted by the inhabitants of Dedham in 1710/11 for the support of the ministry on the north side of the Charles River. On December 4, 171 1, the Town of Needham chose a committee consisting of the five selectmen and Jonathan

Gay, Jeremiah Woodcock, Thomas Metcalf and Eleazer Kingsbery to "Stake and Bound outt a pleace for the Buerring of the dead of this town in". They selected the wellknown place, where interments are said to have been made prior to 171 1, the first that of a child in the winter season. The earliest date of a death, recorded on a stone, is December 4, 171 1, which is scratched on a rough field stone in memory of Edward Cook. Barely an acre of ground received nearly all of the dead of the town, until the space was exhausted, although only a fraction of the graves are marked by stones.

On May 20, 1728, the town designated "the Second Monday of June Next for to Clear the burrying place". On June 24, 1776, the town voted "That the Burying Place Should be Inlarged", and chose a committee of seven to attend to it, but it does not appear that any report was made, or any action taken, and in 1778 the First Parish assumed the responsibility for the burying-ground, and four years later voted to enlarge it.

In June, 1837, the Parish voted to allow Royal Mcintosh and Mrs. Rebeckah Newell and children to build tombs, but it does not appear that they availed of this permission. In 1839 the sexton was authorized to charge not less than fifty cents, or more than a dollar and a half, for the interment of a person not of the Parish, the money received to be applied to keeping the gates and grounds in "repair". In 1842 it was voted "that our Burying Ground be free and accessible to any one living in the town or who may wish to bring their friends from out of any other town to be buried there". On April 10, 1843, Edgar K. Whitaker, Newell Smith, George Revere, the Rev. Mr. Kimball and Thomas Kingsbury were chosen to see what could be done to improve the appearance of the burying-ground, and they made an interesting report on June 26. They stated that on the 14th "a large gathering of the native inhabitants of the town resident and non-resident, with other friends met at the Rev. Mr Maynard's Meeting House and after religious services and addresses," the company partook of the repast prepared by the ladies near the Church". Ira Cleveland of Dedham and Dr. John D. Fisher of Boston had accepted invitations to speak, and presumably did so. From this "Tea Party" the Charitable Sewing Society realized $155.17 for the burying-ground. At a meeting held by the women on June 19 they asked that four men be added to the committee "for improving the Burial Ground", and on the 26th William Stedman, Warren Dewing, John Mills and William Pierce became members of the committee, of which Mr. Kimball was the treasurer and Mr. Whitaker the secretary. In April, 1844, acting on the report of the committee, it was voted to enlarge the burying-ground, but not at the expense of the improvement fund, by including a strip of land "not to exceed in extent ten rods beyond the present bounds"; a similar vote was passed in November, 1846. The size of the burying-ground, about 1843, and prior to the addition of this new section, which included Mr. Whitaker's own lot, is indicated by the walls on the east and west. The tombs were on the western boundary until the forties. A row of trees indicates the course of an earlier eastern wall, and the present wall is twenty feet east of the former one. This "Committee on the Improvement of the Burying Ground" continued an annual one until 1870, when the Parish Committee was given full control of the cemetery.

In 1862 a form for deeds to be given to the purchasers of lots was first considered, but it does not appear that such deeds were in use earlier than 1870, when the question of selling the cemetery was referred to a committee, as were several propositions as to deeds, regulations, etc. At that time it was voted to have a plan of the cemetery, but the elaborate volumes of plans, showing the location of each grave, were not in use till about 1895. After propositions to sell the cemetery had been familiar for years, James

Mackintosh and other prominent citizens formed an association, which was incorporated in 1884 as the Needham Cemetery Association, but did not effect a purchase of the graveyard from the First Parish. In 1899 there was a new Act of Incorporation, with the result that on November 29, 1902, the Parish conveyed the cemetery to the Association for I3750. Five trustees with a treasurer are now in control, and many improvements have been made. John F. Mills, superintendent since 1883, has from the beginning of his administration managed the cemetery according to business principles and modern ideas, of which his predecessors were innocent. There have been conflicting statements as to what changes were made in 1846, when there was a general turn out of the inhabitants of the town to clear up and plough the burylng-ground. It is reasonably certain that many stones were then lying about, and that others were taken up, and not put back correctly, and therefore no longer mark the last resting places of those they commemorate. The remains of the Rev. Jonathan Townsend and family are in the valley, near the road, and In a line with the gravestone of Capt. Caleb KIngsbery, but prior to 1907 the stones were for many years on the hill, and several rods east of their proper locations. When the fine new wall was built in 1875, principally from a legacy of $300 received under the will of Mrs. Sarah Fuller, the line was straightened, and a number of graves were disturbed.^ Mrs. Fuller was the widow of Timothy S. Fuller, and died February 25, 1874, and in 1876 the Parish voted that her lot should have perpetual care, which It has since had. At the March meeting of the First Parish in 1871 It was voted to have the tombs closed, rounded and grassed over. There were then five

1 The bones from these graves were put into the bank. The writer has heard remarkable stories of the skeleton of a very tall man, found when the bank was dug into, and of an ancient coffin with three silver handles on each side. The burying-ground was doubtless encroached upon when an earlier wall was built. The granite stairs to the east of the Fuller monument, leading from the sidewalk, were taken away in 1875 when this new wall was made.

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tombs. The Palmer-M'^Intosh tomb, built in 1803, was in a crumbling condition. It was broken in and largely removed, when some remains were placed in lots, but those of Colonel M'=Intosh and his son, Major Ebenezer, with their wives and members of their families are in the bank next to the Fuller Tomb. In 1909 James Mackintosh laid the foundation for a handsome monument, completed in 1910, and inscribed with the names of the Colonel and his wife, and of the Major and his wife. The Fuller tomb, perhaps the oldest, was elaborately rebuilt in 1872, but the Harris Tomb, constructed in 181 2, and which joins the Fuller Tomb on the north, shared the fate of the M'^Intosh Tomb. The fourth tomb was the strongly built vault of Moses Garfield & David Ayers, 18 17, from which the mound was removed by Superintendent Mills without injury to the masonry. Lieutenant Garfield was given leave to construct this tomb in 18 16.

The granite receiving tomb, and its duplicate in the yard of the Church in Wellesley, were built in 1854 by the town, under the direction of a committee consisting of the selectmen and Sextons George Jennings and George E. Eaton. The work was done by William Jones, a skilful mason. Five ancient gravestones have disappeared since 1861, presumably when the wall was built. The stones missing are those of Joseph Danels, the ancestor of a family prominent in Needham, who died in 1720, of Ester Smith, died 1724, aged 4 yrs., of Margret Wodcok, died 1727, of Nathaniel Tolman, died 1729, and of Israel Gill, died 1744, aged 3 yrs.^ The present gravestone of Nathaniel Tolman was formerly that of Mrs. Lucy S. Lyon, who died in 1833, and whose name was cut on a new monument in a lot in 1876, when the slate gravestone was abandoned. Subsequent to 1890 Mrs. Anna M. Tolman Pickford obtained this stone, had it skilfully re-cut in imitation of the lost slab, and erected where the grave of her kinsman Tolman is said to be. Mr.

Mills recovered twenty-four footstones from culverts in 1898, and all but one, possibly two, were restored to their proper locations. In the years 1904-07 the elaborate Greene Mausoleum was built by Mariette R. Greene, and cost, with the land, upward of $20,000.

On April 14, 1864, Lauren Kingsbury, Galen Orr and Abijah Greenwood were chosen a committee by the town to report on "enlarging the Burying Ground in the Centre of the Town", but there was no result, and in 1873 the selectmen urged the town to establish a new cemetery remote from population. In 1874 the question of establishing two cemeteries was referred to a committee consisting of Dr. Elbridge G. Leach, William R. Mills, Enos H. Tucker, L. Allen Kingsbury and Lewis Wight. The following March the committee reported that the town should buy of Jonathan Fuller the land which later became Woodlawn Cemetery, and add to it the land which the Wellesley Congregational Church had acquired some years before for cemetery purposes, but had never used; these two parcels together would be thirty acres. For the East they advised purchasing the First Parish Cemetery, and adding to it the O'Neil and Morton properties, thus increasing the acreage of that cemetery from eighteen to forty acres. William R. Mills, a good representative of the old sentiments and traditions of the town, made an able minority report of eleven pages, reviewing the history of the burying-ground, and asserting that the town still owned it. He referred to the tender associations with the old yard, and urged the inhabitants of the East and West to be united in death if they could not be in life. Mr. Mills did not think the committee fairly made up, and questioned their judgment in advising the purchase of the Fuller land for the West, believing, if they must have a separate cemetery, that there was a large tract of more available land south of Wellesley Avenue. The town dismissed the whole matter, but ordered the reports printed.

The History Of Needham 321

In the old days the bearers actually bore the remains to the burying-ground, often walking with their burden for miles, and it is perhaps not strange that stimulant was required. Later an open wagon painted black was used, and by 1802 the parishes appear to have owned "Herses", but in 1845 the town purchased two hearses for $230, and in 1867 two new "funeral cars" for $1300, thus for a time owning four hearses, until one of them was sold to Daniel Warren for $15. The committee to buy the "funeral cars" in 1867 consisted of James Mackintosh, Moses Winch and Sexton George E. Eaton, and in 1868 two new hearsehouses were built by the town. The one in the West cost $264.75, ^^^ was built by Hezekiah Fuller. One of the old hearse-houses was moved in 1874, and is now the toolhouse of the Needham Cemetery. In the early seventies there was an old hearse kept in a shed at the east end of the line of horse sheds in the rear of the First Church. The town also owned the biers, which usually cost' $10 each, and kept them in repair.

On January 29, 1717/8, the town voted "to provid a buerall Cloath", and in 1753 Timothy Newell was granted £3, IIS. "for Broad Cloth and Triming for a Poole or Grave Cloth", presumably the same referred to in the order of July 15, 1754, allowing John Brown 5s., 4d. "for Making up a Grave Cloth". In March, 1807, the First Parish voted to buy a "Burying cloath". On January 30, 1753, Dea. Josiah Newell was granted 9s., 3d. "for Six pair of Gloves for the funeral of Nicholas Mutter", and three years later seven pairs were required for the funeral of a man who had been a great expense to the town. In 1773 the town buried a French and Indian War veteran from the house of Michael Bacon, and the cost of the gloves was considerable.

pose, but In 1843 "grave Cloths" for a woman were valued at $1.65. In 1825 "cambrick" was used for "gownes" to lay out both men and women, but in 1799 three yards of India cotton, with tape and thread, had been used for the shroud of a poor woman.

There was no Church bell in town till 181 1, and on March 30, 181 2, the First Parish adopted elaborate regulations, prepared by the Rev. Mr. Palmer, for ringing the bell on various occasions, including the "passing bell" the morning after a person deceased. When the writer was a boy it was customary for Charles A. Hines, or Francis Asbury Burrill, to toll the Church bell as soon as a death was known, and the strokes were counted by many people who stopped to listen, as now when an alarm of fire is given. In the early seventies Sumner B. Mills had a long-haired hound named Butler, with a powerful voice, and whenever the bell tolled Butler stationed himself on the terrace In front of the Mills house, which was a short distance west of the Church, and in a most effective manner howled in unison with the bell, beginning and ceasing with each stroke. The tolling continued for a long time when the decease of an aged person was thus announced. In the first half of the last century the town paid for tolling when one of the poor died. For many years "Frank" Burrill, referred to as tolling the bell, was one of the best known, most officious and omnipresent individuals in town. See sketch of him later in this volume.

In 1727 Robert Fuller was granted seven shillings for digging the grave of the first person assisted by the Town of Needham, and in 1753 Dea. Josiah Newell acted as undertaker. From 1756 to 1775 Theophilus Richardson, Moses Dewing and Josiah Lyon were the gravediggers, and 2s., 8d. appears to have been their regular charge for digging the grave of an adult. A short time before the war this was increased to 3s., 4d., and in 1774 Mr. Richardson was paid by the town 2s., 8d. for digging the grave for a child.

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Amos Fuller was undertaker and gravedlgger for twenty years, or more, his career extending into the last century. Elijah Ware dug graves in 1787, '88, and Epes Mansfield in 1794. In 1804 Luther Dana, the first sexton of the West Precinct, charged $2.50 for the grave of a woman, including "extra in diging away the snow &c", and seventy-five cents "for Liquor he paid for the people who afsisted in burying the said Mary". Until late in the nineteenth century no attempt was made to open graves in the cemetery in East Needham when the ground was frozen hard, and some winters the receiving tomb had many temporary occupants. Charles A. Hines dug graves for thirty years, or more, between 1840 and 1880, and after his time Luther Kingsbury, a worthy and respected citizen, was long a familiar figure in the cemetery, serving as "first gravedigger". He was lame and bent, and appeared aged and feeble, but was absent from his work only four days prior to his death on May 4, 1904, and the grave of a child, made by an associate, alone intervened between the last one dug by Mr. Kingsbury and his own.

Capt. Ebenezer Fisher, who lived in the old house on the corner of Central Avenue and Charles River Street, made the coffins for more than one generation, and prior to the depreciation of the currency charged the town from six shillings to 7s., 4d. for the coffin of an adult, and sometimes not more than is., 9d. for that of a child. In 178 1 he was granted £80 in currency for making the coffins for two widows, who had long been on the town, and who died in 1780. Amos Fuller was allowed £24 of the same kind of money for digging their graves. From 1783 to 1800 the town paid from $2 to 13s., 6d. for the coffins of grown people, and Joseph Mudge, John Tolman and John Clark made coffins during this period.

It is difficult to judge of the cost of the funerals of the wellto-do from prices paid by the town, but from an old bill it appears that in 1802 Amos Fuller charged John Tolman

The sextons of the West Precinct, Luther Smith, 2d, 1815-32, and Dea. Hezekiah Fuller, 1833-50, often furnished coffins, but William Eaton, Jr., and his sons, evidentlymade most of the coffins for the town from about 1825 until it became the custom to buy them ready made. The venerable Augustus Eaton said that it was often necessary to work at night and on Sunday in order to have the coffin ready in season, and there were instances when it was made before the death of a person fatally ill. Richard Boynton, well remembered by some of our citizens, also made coffins. The town paid $3 to $4 for the coffin for an adult and $2, or less, for that of a child during the first half of the last century.

When a certain man died at a great age, who had been prominent in Needham, but in his last days obliged to ask aid, the town expended more than usual in order that the coffin might have "trimings".

Notes." After Mr. Greenwood's decease in 1897 George Kuhn Clarke edited the balance of the manuscript containing two hundred and thirty epitaphs, which appeared in the Dedham Historical Register in 1897 and 1898. The latter year a reprint edition of sixty-iive copies was issued, containing six hundred and twenty-five epitaphs and including nearly all of the inscriptions to the year 1861; also the dates of upward of five hundred births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, not found upon the stones.

Sextons And Superintendents Of The Cemetery In East Needham

The election was held In March until 1874. At the parish meeting on December 28, 1874, the office of superintendent was created, and that of sexton discontinued. For nearly two years the title of superintendent had been used by Mr. Morton.

Officers of the Needham Cemetery Association: - Temporary president Edgar H. Bowers, treasurer William Moseley, resigned November 22, 1902, clerk George Willard TIsdale; all chosen on January 16, 1900.

Trustees : - William Carter 1903- , chosen president by the trustees on January 19, Dea. William Moseley 1903- April, 1904 (resigned), George Willard TIsdale 1903- , Edgar H. Bowers 1903- , Emery Grover 1903- , George K. Clarke 1904 (April 26)-September 8, 1910 (resigned), Joseph B. Thorpe, April 191 1- .

West Needham

About 1774 a graveyard was commenced south of the location selected for the new meeting-house in the West, but the earliest interment there represented by a gravestone Is that of Ebenezer Huntting, who died June 22, 1777, aged twenty-two years, a victim to disease contracted in the army. The burylng-ground was later enlarged, and

Miss Betsey Brown, who died in 1855, left a bequest, from which the Church reaHzed about $6000, for its further extension, and in 1858 land was purchased west of the graveyard, but in 1871 this was sold, and land bought on Wellesley Avenue. This old graveyard was sadly neglected for years and suffered from vandalism, although a benefactor of Wellesley College is buried there, and interments have been made within a few years. In 1898, at the time of the Centennial of the Church, there was some attempt to clear up, and in 1906 a Village Improvement Society did effective work, and without offending those who reverence "God's acre". In the past there has been much done in this yard that was objectionable to the antiquary. The roads through the graveyard were constructed years ago, and it is not clear what happened then, but there are graves under these roads.

Woodlawn Cemetery

On May 2, 1871, the town granted to the Wellesley Congregational Society the right to use for a cemetery "any land that they may buy of Jonathan and Edwin Fuller and James Welsh, either or all of them"; an Act of the General Court had been obtained March 24, 1871. This land, which is on Wellesley Avenue, was purchased in 1871, but was sold, and land on Brook Street acquired, which became Woodlawn Cemetery in 1877. This exchange was ratified by vote of the town on April i, 1878. The remains of more than two hundred persons have been removed from the graveyard in Wellesley to this one, and the Wellesley Congregational Society owns a series of lots in the northern section, where are about forty ancient slate stones brought from the old yard, with the bones of those that they commemorate. In many instances the foot-stones are said to have been left in the old graves. In 1882 the Wellesley Congregational Society sold the cemetery to a corporation for $1800 and $1000 in stock, and later a portion of this