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A Brief History
of the First Parish Church in Medford, Massachusetts
compiled and edited by M. L. Clarke, October 2004
In 1663, the Town Meeting in Medford voted to have a meetinghouse erected. Eager as townspeople were to have one built, there were delays in its construction until May 1696. At that time, the first meetinghouse was completed at 279 High Street. Ministers came and went during the early years, including John Hancock (grandfather of the patriot Simon Bradstreet), and John Tufts.
In 1712, Aaron Porter became the first regular pastor of the church. In 1713 Rev. Porter married Susanne Sewell, niece of the famous judge of the Salem Witch Trials, Samuel Sewell (Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States was a direct descendant of the Porters). Along with a regular salary, the minister was provided with an annual supply of firewood. Reverend Porter served for nine years, until his death at age thirty-three. A marble slab in the burying ground on Salem Street marks his grave.
After much searching and fasting, a new minister, Ebenezer Turell, was hired in 1724. He served for 54 years, during which time he baptized 1037 people, married 220 couples and admitted 323 communicants to the church. Rev. Turell was widowed three times—first by Jane Coleman, then by Lucy Davenport, and lastly, by Jane Pepperell, the youngest sister of Sir William Pepperell. Jane was a prolific poet, correspondent and diarist. She represented a new generation of women who had a consciousness of gender and looked to women as poetic models, and whose interests went beyond the religious and natural subjects dictated by Puritan culture. As she presented it, the conscientious Jane Turell had difficulty “coming into communion” in the Medford church, partly because she found the counsel and preaching of her father more reliable and inspiring than that of her husband. A new meetinghouse was built during Rev. Turell’s ministry at 227 High Street. Completed in 1727, it was twice the size of the previous one, with a steeple rising from its center. In an effort at frugality, it was decided that each person should build his own pew, at his own cost.
In 1770 a third meetinghouse was built at 147 High Street, the site of the present church. The new meetinghouse was two stories high, with window sashes of square glass, a two-sided roof and three porches. During these early years there was little tolerance for any imitation of the English Church, hence the church did not observe either Christmas or Easter.
Harvard graduate David Osgood of Andover was Medford's third regular minister. When hired, he was an animated and forceful preacher. As he softened in his later years, he developed a gentle warmth that touched his parishioners. After his marriage in 1785, he built a home at 141 High Street for his bride, Hannah Breed. Unaccountably fearful of death throughout his life, Osgood died in 1822, after 48 years in the ministry. Still church property, Osgood House stands today at the corner of Powder Mill Road.
Differences that had been simmering within the single congregation over the years prompted some members to separate from the church after Dr. Osgood 's death. A majority of the descendants of the original members took sides with the Unitarians, while others, not born in the town, favored the Trinitarians.
The new minister, again from Harvard College, was Andrew Bigelow. Rev. Bigelow found it impossible to reconcile the two groups and the dissidents withdrew. The main church body became Unitarian in belief.
In 1824 the congregation established itself as the First Parish of Medford, a separate body under a legal organization distinct from the town government. The members who left established themselves as the Second Congregational Church.
As numerous ministers came and went throughout the 19th century, various changes occurred. An organ was purchased in 1824 for $450; a parsonage was built in 1832 for $3,805; a formal fund was established to accept gifts and bequests, as well as pay the ministers' salary, and yet another new meetinghouse was built on the site of the old one.
During that time Medford had three distinct churches: the First Parish, First Universalist, and Hillside Universalist Church. At the end of the century, the First Parish's wooden meeting house, built in 1839, was destroyed by fire. It was replaced by the current building, at a cost of $25,594, and was dedicated on June 1, 1894. The fifth building to house First Parish of Medford, it is the first home for the combined Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford.
MIT trained Architect J. Merrill Brown designed the Gothic Revival style ashlar stone and wood-framed, shingled building. Brown had previously designed a number of homes in the exuberant Queen Anne style in Cambridge during the 1880s. His design for the church in Medford specified a base of New Hampshire gray granite, trimmed with red granite from the quarries at Rockport, Massachusetts. At the southwest corner a gable-roofed porch and a cochere the driveway. The covered entry, with its high granite step, allowed a horse and carriage to discharge its passengers directly into the church. Original turret cupola roofs and spire on the east side of the building disappeared sometime during the past 50 years.
The main sanctuary has a brown-shingled front gable containing an exquisite tri-partite Gothic stained glass window. Presented to the church by their children, the memorial window honors the generosity and philanthropy of Jonas and Sarah Freeman Sampson Coburn. Designed by F. M. Whipple & Co. of Boston, the richly colored window depicts the story of Christ and the woman of Samaria. The side panels are ornamented with Easter lilies and Passion flowers.
The interior of the building retains much of its original medieval country church aspect, with heavy timber scissor trusses of the roof framing, and stained glass windows with Gothic pointed arches. These details are characteristic of the smaller parish churches of England that architect Brown and the church building committee would have felt appropriate for New England.
The chancel platform retains its original carved oak Gothic pulpit and furniture—three chairs and the altar table remain in use. These are significant, as the architect would have specified them as appropriate.
The original 1894 building remains largely intact and little altered, although systems have been updated and minor alterations carried out. During the 20th century, dwindling membership and years of deferred maintenance put this important historic church building at risk.
In 2002 the Board of Trustees took the first important step on the road to restoration by retaining the architectural firm of McGinley Kalsow Associates. Exterior inspection by this firm, which specializes in preservation, showed many areas in need of repair.
- The west buttress on the south elevation was in extremely poor condition, water having got behind some of the stones, cracking the mortar joints. Because of the immediate danger, this repair was completed immediately. The same condition is beginning to appear on the south elevation of the east buttress, and will need attention in the future.
- The belfry, with its eight wooden louvers and sandstone trim, has many cracked and open joints. The bricks, unseen behind the granite stones, have deteriorated and the tower is no longer watertight. This entire area needs extensive work; in its current state, the granite blocks are in danger of falling to the ground. Fencing off this space will provide safety until repairs are made next year.
- The six tower and turret windows below the belfry are in need of repair, as are the original main entry doors, with their large decorative Gothic Revival hinges. These doors were likely originally stained a dark color, and should be stripped and returned to their original finish.
- The parking lot and driveway need to be lowered and replaced; eliminating the water danger they impose on the wooden shingles and sill.
Important repairs completed as of this time include: removal of the dropped ceiling in Benker Hall, strengthening it and exposing its beautiful stained glass window; extensive work on the south-facing stained glass window and the surrounding interior plaster; replacement of cracked shingles on the south wall and missing ceiling boards on the cochere.
In order to extend the use of the church and its facilities to the public, it will also be necessary to update the kitchen and improve access for the handicapped. This will make it possible to use the church and hall as a rental option for weddings and community events, bringing in much-needed income.
With the commitment of the church community, and its efforts to raise the money needed through grants and fund-raising activities, this historically significant building will provide many more years of faithful service to its devoted and diverse congregation.
—M. L. Clarke, October 2004
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