Unitarianism in America: A History of its Origin and Development Part 17

[Sidenote: Ministry at Large in Other Cities.]

The work of the ministry at large was not confined to Boston. The original vote of the Unitarian a.s.sociation establis.h.i.+ng it was that it should be aided in New York as well. In December, 1836, Rev. William Henry Channing entered on such a ministry in New York; and it was continued there for some years. It was also established in Charlestown, Roxbury, Cambridge, Salem, Portsmouth, Portland, Lowell, New Bedford, Providence, Worcester, and elsewhere in New England. With the aid of the Unitarian a.s.sociation it was undertaken in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis. In 1845 Rev. Lemuel Capen was carrying on the ministry in Baltimore, Rev. W.H.

Farmer in Louisville, and Rev. Mordecai de Lange in St. Louis. The ministry at large was begun in Cincinnati in 1830, and was in charge for a short time of Christopher P. Cranch, who was succeeded by Rev. James H. Perkins, a most efficient worker, who soon became the popular minister of the Unitarian church in that city. It was established in St. Louis in 1840, and a day school for colored children was opened in 1841. A mission-house was built, and Rev. Charles H.A. Dall was put in charge. In 1841 the Mission Free School was founded, and now has a matron, nursery, kindergarten, Sunday-school, with lectures and entertainments. Dall was succeeded by Mordecai de Lange, Corlis B. Ward, Carlton A. Staples, and Thomas L. Eliot.

The City Mission, as it was called, grew so large that in 1860 no one denomination could carry it on; and it became the St. Louis Provident a.s.sociation, which has done an extensive and important work.[10]

In July, 1850, was formed the a.s.sociation of Ministers at Large in New England, of which Rev. Charles F. Barnard was for many years the president, and Rev. Horatio Wood, of Lowell, the secretary. It met quarterly, or oftener, essays were read on subjects connected with the work of ministering to the poor, and the special phases of that work were discussed. In the spring of 1841 Rev. Charles F. Barnard began the publication of the Journal of the Ministry at Large as a sixteen-page octavo monthly, which was continued until 1860, part of the time as The Record; but during the later years it was issued irregularly.

In 1838 Dr. Tuckerman published The Principles and Results of the Ministry at Large in Boston, which embodied an account of his work for twelve years, and the conclusions at which he had arrived. It did much to give direction and purpose to the ministry, and to extend its influence. It can be read with interest and profit at the present time; for it contains all the principles since put into practice in many forms of charitable activity.

Dr. Andrew P. Peabody truly said of Tuckerman's enterprise in behalf of the poor that it "was the earliest organized effort in that direction. Its success and its permanent establishment as an inst.i.tution were due to its founder's strenuous perseverance, his self-sacrifice, his apostolic fervor of spirit, and the power of his influence."[11] Joseph Story spoke of the ministry at large as being one of "extraordinary success." "I deem it," he wrote, "one of the most glorious triumphs of Christian charity over the cold and reluctant doubts of popular opinion." The labors of Dr. Tuckerman "initiated a new sphere of Protestant charity," as his nephew well said.[12] "This has been the most characteristic, the best organized, and by far the most successful co-operative work that the Unitarian body has ever attempted by way of church action," was the testimony of Dr. Joseph Henry Allen.[13]

[1] The record of the first meeting states the objects for which the young men met, as follows: "Feeling impressed with the importance of giving religious instruction to the youths of that cla.s.s of our poor who are dest.i.tute of any regard for their future well-being, and who, from being under the care of vicious parents, have no attention paid to their moral conduct; and also wis.h.i.+ng to become acquainted with those persons of the different religious societies who profess to be followers of the same Master, they agreed to a.s.sociate themselves.

Having great reason to believe that G.o.d will bless their humble efforts for the spread of pure religion and virtue, and looking to Him for guidance, the meeting was organized."

[2] Ephraim Peabody, Christian Examiner, January, 1853, LIV. 93.

[3] John Ware, Life of Henry Ware, Jr., 132-135.

[4] The secretary of the a.s.sociation for Religious Improvement made this record of the meeting: "December 3, 1826. The Lectures under the conduct of the a.s.sociation commenced this evening at 6-1/2 o'clock at Smith's circular building, corner of Merrimack and Portland Streets, which was very fully attended by those for whom it was intended. The services were of the first order. Rev. Dr. Tuckerman officiated."

[5] Eber R. Butler, Lend a Hand, V. 693, October, 1890.

[6] The substance of these reports has been reproduced in a book edited by E.E. Hale in 1874, Joseph Tuckerman on the Elevation of the Poor.

[7] The Principles and Results of the Ministry at Large in Boston, 61.

[8] Ministry at Large in Boston, 124.

[9] The following is a list of the churches now maintained by the Benevolent Fraternity of Churches, with the date when each was formed, or when it came under Unitarian management: Bulfinch Place Church, successor to Wend Street Chapel (1828); Pitts Street Chapel (1836), 1870. North End Union (begun in 1837); Hanover Street Chapel (1854); Parmenter Street Chapel (1884), 1892. Morgan Chapel, 1884.

Channing Church, Dorchester, successor to Was.h.i.+ngton Village Chapel, 1854. The Suffolk Street Chapel (1837), succeeded by the New South Free Church (1867), continues its life in the Parker Memorial, 1889.

The Warren Street Chapel (1832), now known as the Barnard Memorial Church, continues its work, but is not under the direction of the Benevolent Fraternity. In 1901 the churches const.i.tuting the Benevolent Fraternity were the First Church, Second Church, Arlington Street Church, South Congregational Church, King's Chapel, Church of the Disciples; First Parish, Dorchester; First Parish, Brighton; Hawes Church South Boston; First Parish, West Roxbury; First Congregational Society, Jamaica Plain.

[10] In 1830 the British and Foreign Unitarian a.s.sociation began to consider the value of this ministry, and in 1832 the first mission was opened in London. In 1835 was formed the London Domestic Mission Society for the purpose of carrying on the work in that city. In 1833 a similar movement was made in Manchester, and in 1835 was organized the Liverpool Domestic Mission Society. The visit of Dr. Tuckerman to England in 1834 gave large interest to this movement. He then met Mary Carpenter, and she was led by him to begin her great work of charity. It was during the next year that she entered upon the work in Bristol that made her name widely known. In 1847 there were two ministers at large in London, two in Birmingham, and one each in Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Halifax, and Leicester. The writings of Dr. Tuckerman were translated into French by the Baron de Gerando, a leading philanthropist and statesman of that day, who praised them highly, and introduced their methods into Paris and elsewhere. Of Tuckerman's book on the ministry at large M. de Gerando said that it throws "invaluable light upon the condition and wants of the indigent and the influence which an enlightened charity can exert." He also said of Tuckerman that "he knew the difference between pauperism and poverty," thus recognizing one of those cardinal distinctions made by the philanthropist in his efforts to aid the poor to self-help and independence.

[11] Memorial History of Boston, III. 477.

[12] Sprague's Annals of the Unitarian Pulpit, 345, the words quoted being from the pen of Henry T. Tuckerman, the well-known essayist.

[13] Our Liberal Movement in Theology, 59.

XI.

ORGANIZED SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK.

The first Sunday-schools organized in this country distinctly for purposes of religious training were by persons connected with Unitarian churches.

Several schools had been opened previously, but they were not continued or were organized in the interests of secular instruction. In the summer of 1809 Miss Hannah Hill, then twenty-five years of age, and Miss Joanna B.

Prince, then twenty, both teachers of private schools for small children, and connected with the First Parish in Beverly, Ma.s.s., of which Dr. Abiel Abbot was the pastor, opened a school in one room of a dwelling-house for the religious training of the children who did not receive such teaching at home. In the spring of 1810 the same young women reopened their school in a larger room, using the Bible as their only book of instruction. Sessions were held in the morning before church, and in the afternoon following the close of the services.[1]

The first season about thirty children attended, but the interest grew; and in 1813 the school occupied the Dane Street chapel, and became a union or town school. Jealousies resulted, and a school was soon established by each church in the town. In 1822 the First Parish received the original school under its sole care, and it was removed to the meeting-house.

A Sunday-school was begun in Concord in the summer of 1810, under the leaders.h.i.+p of Miss Sarah Ripley, daughter of Dr. Ezra Ripley, the minister of the town. On Sunday afternoons she taught a number of children in her father's house, since known as the "Old Manse." About five years later a school was opened at the centre of the town, near the church, by three young women. In 1818 a Sunday-school was begun in connection with the church itself, which absorbed the others, or of which they formed the nucleus.[2]

A teacher of a charity school supported by the West Church in Boston was the first person to open a Sunday-school in that city. In October, 1812, the teacher of this school, Miss Lydia K. Adams, then a member of the West Parish, according to the statement of Dr. Charles Lowell, minister of the church at the time, "having learned on a visit to Beverly that some young ladies of the town were in the practice of giving religious instruction to poor children on the Sabbath, consulted her minister as to the expediency of giving like instruction to the children of her school, and to those who had been members of it, on the same day. The project was decidedly approved, and immediately carried into effect." In December of the same year, Miss Adams was compelled by ill-health to leave her school; and ladies of the West Church took charge of it, and in turn instructed the children, both on the week-days and the Sabbath, till a suitable permanent teacher could be obtained. On this event they relinquished the immediate care of the week-day school, but continued the instruction of the Sunday-school, till it was transferred to the church, and was enlarged by the addition of "children of a different description," in 1822.[3]

Sunday-schools were also begun in Cambridgeport, in 1814; Wilton, N.H., in 1816; and Portsmouth, in 1818. The latter school had the enthusiastic support of Nathaniel A. Haven, a young lawyer and rising politician, who devoted himself with great zeal and success to such instruction of the young.[4]

The a.s.sociation of Young Men for Mutual Improvement and for the Religious Instruction of the Poor began the work of forming Sunday-schools for the children of the poor in Boston during the year 1823. A school was begun in the Hanc.o.c.k School-house, then recently built for grammar-school purposes.[5] Soon after they opened a school in Merrimac Street, called the Howard Sunday-school, in connection with the work of Dr. Tuckerman; and in 1826 the Franklin Sunday-school was begun by the same persons and for the same purposes. In connection with these schools was formed the Sunday School Benevolent Society, composed of charitable women, who provided such children as were needy with suitable clothing.

In 1825 a parish Sunday-school was organized in connection with the Twelfth Congregational Church, of which Rev. Samuel Barrett was the minister. It was reorganized in 1827, with the object of giving "a religious education apart from all sectarian views, as systematically as it is given to the same children in other branches of learning."[6] In July, 1828, The Christian Register spoke of "the rapid and extensive establishment of Sunday-schools by individuals attached to Unitarian societies," and said that in the course of two or three years "large and respectable Sunday-schools have been established by Unitarians in various parts of the city. Several of these are parish schools, under the immediate guidance of the pastors. Others are more general in their plan, receiving children from all quarters."

[Sidenote: Boston Sunday School Society.]

At a meeting of the teachers of the Franklin Sunday-school held December 16, 1826, it was proposed that there be organized an a.s.sociation of all the teachers connected with Unitarian parishes in Boston and the vicinity. On February 27, 1827, a meeting was held in the Berry Street vestry for this purpose; and on April 18 a const.i.tution was adopted for the Boston Sunday School Society. The schools joining in this organization were the Hanc.o.c.k, Franklin, and Howard, and those connected with the West, Federal Street, Hollis Street, and Twelfth Congregational Churches. Dr. Joseph Tuckerman was elected president; Moses Grant, vice-president; Dr. J.F. Flagg, corresponding secretary; and Rev. Frederick T. Gray, recording secretary.

The first annual meeting was held November 28, 1827; and the above-named officers were re-elected. On December 12 a public meeting was held in the Federal Street Church, which was well filled. Reports of the work of the schools, including that at Cambridgeport, were read; and addresses were made.

The objects of the Sunday School Society were the helping of teachers, the extending of the interests of the schools, and the publis.h.i.+ng of books. It was difficult to procure suitable books for use in Sunday-schools and for their libraries, and the prices were very high. In the autumn of 1828 arrangements were made for the publis.h.i.+ng of books, the American Unitarian a.s.sociation co-operating therein by providing a capital of $300 for this purpose, the profits going to the Sunday School Society, and the money borrowed being returned without interest. This connection was abandoned in 1831 because it was found that the Unitarian name on the t.i.tle-page of the books hindered their sale. In April, 1828, was issued the first number of the Christian Teacher's Manual, a small monthly, of which Mrs. Eliza Lee Follen was the editor, intended for the use of families and Sunday-schools.

According to the preface the subjects chiefly considered were the best methods of addressing the minds of children, suggestions to teachers, explanations of Scripture, religious instruction from natural objects, histories taken from real life, stories and hymns adapted to children, and accounts of Sunday-schools.

The Manual was continued for two years; and it was followed by The Scriptural Interpreter, edited by Rev. Ezra S. Gannett. The editor of the Interpreter preferred to publish it under his own name, because he did "not wish it to be considered the organ or the representative of a denomination of Christians." "It will have one object," he said, "to furnish the means of acquaintance with the true sense and value of Scripture, and particularly of the New Testament; but whatever will promote this object will come within the scope the publication." It was issued bi-monthly, and was continued for five years. It was wholly devoted to the exposition of the Bible, a systematic series of translations and interpretations of the Gospels forming a distinct feature of its pages. A considerable part of it was prepared by the editor, who drew freely upon expository works. Among the contributors were William H. Furness, Orville Dewey, Alexander Young, Edward B. Hall, James Walker, Henry Ware, Jr., and J.P. Dabney. In 1836, Dr. Gannett's health having failed, the magazine was edited by Theodore Parker, George E. Ellis, and William Silsbee, then students in the Harvard Divinity School.

One important feature of the work of the Sunday School Society was the extension of the cause it represented. In December, 1829, reports were presented at the annual meeting from nearly fifty schools; and it was thought desirable that they should be brought into closer relations with the society. Accordingly, Frederick T. Gray, the secretary, visited many of these schools. The next year, as a result, a considerable number of those outside the city connected themselves with the society; and the lists of vice-presidents and directors were enlarged to include them in its operations. Afterwards this work was carried on by a committee of the society, the members of which visited the schools, giving addresses, and in other ways helping to give strength and purpose to the work in which they were engaged. Schools were visited in Maine, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and other states. To give better opportunity for the attendance of delegates from schools outside the city, the yearly meeting was changed from December to anniversary week in May.

The society published a considerable number of tracts, which were distributed gratuitously by the agents and in other ways. It also issued lesson-books, as well as books for the juvenile libraries which were forming at this time in all the churches. To meet this demand, the younger Henry Ware began editing, in 1833, the Sunday-school Library for Young Persons, in which were included his own Life of the Saviour, Mrs. John Farrar's Life of Howard, Rev. Stephen G. Bulfinch's Holy Land, and Rev.

Thomas B. Fox's Sketch of the Reformation. The next year Mr. Ware began a series of books which he called Scenes and Characters ill.u.s.trating Christian Truth. Another method used by the society was the giving of expository lectures.

The society at first held quarterly meetings; but the interest grew, and the meetings became monthly. Great enthusiasm was felt at this time in regard to the work of these schools, and many persons of prominence praised them and took part in their management. "The inst.i.tution of Sunday-schools const.i.tutes one of the most remarkable features of the present age," wrote Dr. Joseph Allen, in 1830. "It has already done much to supply the deficiencies of domestic education, and, if wisely conducted, is destined, we trust, to become at no distant day one of the most efficient instruments in forming the characters of the young."[7] Writing in 1838, the younger Henry Ware said that "the Sunday-school has become one of the established inst.i.tutions of religion in connection with the church, and the character of religion is henceforth to depend, in no small degree, on the wisdom with which it shall be administered."[8]

In 1834 was organized the Worcester Sunday School Society. It had its origin as far back as November 17, 1817, when a committee of the Worcester a.s.sociation of Ministers was appointed to report on the subject of Sunday-schools. A meeting was held in Lancaster, October 9, 1834, when an organization was perfected. The succeeding meetings were largely attended, and much interest was awakened.[9] In 1842 a similar society was organized in Middles.e.x County; and at about the same time one came into existence in Ches.h.i.+re County, New Hamps.h.i.+re. Soon after societies were organized in the counties of Norfolk, Plymouth (North), Middles.e.x (West), Worcester, and in Portland and its neighborhood.

In April, 1831, the directors of the Boston Sunday School Society discussed the feasibility of starting a weekly paper for the use of the schools. In July, 1836, Rev. Bernard Whitman began the publication of The Sunday School Teacher and Children's Friend. In January, 1837, The Young Christian was begun, and was published weekly at the office of The Christian Register, by David Reed. These papers were continued only for a few years. From 1845 to 1857 Mrs. Eliza Lee Follen edited a monthly magazine for children, called The Children's Friend. The first number of the Sunday School Gazette was published in Worcester, August 7, 1849, under the direction of the Worcester Sunday School Society. It was established at the suggestion of Rev. Edward Everett Hale, then a minister in that city, in connection with Rev. Edmund B. Willson, then settled in Grafton. The editor was Rev.

Francis Le Baron, the minister at large in Worcester, though Mr. Hale was a frequent contributor. When the National Sunday School Society was organized, the Sunday School Gazette was transferred to, its charge; but the publication of this paper was continued in Worcester until 1860.[10]

[Sidenote: Unitarian Sunday School Society.]

As time went on, and the work of the Sunday-schools enlarged, it was felt that it was necessary there should be one general organization which should bring together all Unitarian schools into a compact working force. To meet this growing need, a convention of the county societies and of local schools was held in Worcester, October 4, 1854, at which time the Sunday School Society was organized as a general denominational body. Hon. Albert Fearing, of Boston, was made the president, and Rev. Frederick T. Gray the secretary. The society provided itself with a desk in the rooms of the Unitarian a.s.sociation, and provision was made for the collection and sale of all the helps demanded by the schools.

From 1855 until 1865 the society was sadly crippled by the lack of funds.

The hard times preceding the Civil War, and the absorption of public interest in that great national event, made it difficult for the society to continue its work with any degree of success. For some years little was done but to hold the annual meeting in the autumn and that in anniversary week, and to continue the publication of the Sunday School Gazette. For a number of years, however, Teachers' Inst.i.tutes were held; and these were continued at irregular intervals until about 1875. The Sunday School Teachers' Inst.i.tute was organized in 1852, and continued in existence for ten years.

After the death of Rev. Frederick T. Gray in 1855, he was succeeded in the position of secretary of the Sunday School Society by Rev. Stephen G.

Bulfinch. In 1856 Rev. Warren H. Cudworth became the secretary, and the editor of the Gazette; and he held these positions until May, 1861, when he became the chaplain of the first Ma.s.sachusetts regiment taking part in the Civil War. In the October following, Mr. Joseph H. Allen, a Boston merchant, afterwards the editor of The Schoolmate, became the secretary and editor. He continued to edit the Gazette until November, 1865; but Mr. M.T.

Rice was made secretary in 1863. At the end of 1865, when the society was in a condition of almost complete collapse, Rev. Thomas J. Mumford became the secretary, and the editor of the Gazette for one year. He restored confidence in the society, and made the paper a success. During the war the paper was published monthly for the sake of economy; but with the first of January, 1866, it was restored to its former semi-monthly issue.

The new life that came to the denomination in 1865 had its influence upon the Sunday School Society. In the autumn of 1866, when the Unitarian a.s.sociation had secured a large increase of funds, it was proposed that the Sunday School Society should unite with it, and that the larger organization should have the direction of all denominational activities, especially those of publis.h.i.+ng. The more zealous friends of the society did not approve of such consolidation, and succeeded in reanimating its work by appointing as its secretary Mr. James P. Walker, who had been the head of the publis.h.i.+ng firm of Walker, Wise & Co., a young man of earnest purpose, a successful Sunday-school teacher and superintendent, and an enthusiastic believer in the mission of Unitarianism. Mr. Walker devoted his whole time to the interests of the society, and an energetic effort was made to revive and extend its work. He proved to be the man for the position, largely increasing the bookselling and publis.h.i.+ng activities, visiting schools and conferences, and awakening much enthusiasm in regard to the interests of Sunday-schools. He wore himself out in this work, however, and died in March, 1868, greatly lamented throughout the denomination.[11]

After the death of Mr. Walker, consolidation with the a.s.sociation was again urged; but Rev. Leonard J. Livermore was in June elected the secretary. At the annual meeting it was resolved to raise $5,000 for the work of the society, and the next year it was proposed to make the annual contribution $10,000. The name was changed to the Unitarian Sunday School Society at the annual meeting of 1868, held in Worcester. In 1871 Mr. John Kneeland became the secretary; and with the beginning of 1872 the Gazette was changed to The Dayspring, which was issued monthly. In the autumn of that year the society began the publication of monthly lessons, and there was issued with them a Teachers' Guide for the lessons of the year. With the beginning of 1877 the Guide was discontinued, and the lesson papers enlarged. In November, 1875, Rev. George F. Piper became the secretary,--a position he held until May 1, 1883. During his administration about three hundred lessons were prepared by him, and these had a circulation of about nine thousand copies. The transition condition of the denomination made it difficult to carry on the work of the society at this time, for it was impossible to please both conservatives and radicals with any lessons that might be prepared. One superintendent warned his school against the heretical tendencies of lessons which, from the other point of view, a minister condemned as being fit for orthodox schools, but not for Unitarians. In the same mail came a letter from a minister saying the lessons were too elementary, and from another saying they were much too advanced. In the latter part of Mr. Piper's term service was begun an important work of preparing manuals thoroughly modern in their spirit and methods.[12]