History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

522 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
town, fronting on Main Street, the rear overlook-
ing Winchester Park, was purchased of Francis
Johnson and others in May, 1869. August 25,
1869, tlie corner-stone of the present clmrch edifice
was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, and the
building completed, and dedicated March 17, 1870.
The architect was Thomas W. Silloway of Boston.
The house is forty-si.x feet wide in front, and fortytwo
in the rear, the extreme length behig eighty-
one feet. A tower on the front right-hand corner
is one hundred and teu feet high. The auditorium
contains seventy-tno pews, with seats for three
hundred and eighty persons, and room in the gal-
lery for fourteen pews. The cost of the building
and furniture was about §23,000. The Sunday
services have been continued without interruption
ever since tlie first meeting, November 19, 1855.
The Sunday school numbers about one hundred
and fifty, and since the settlement of the pastor it
has been under his superintendence. Outside of
the Sunday services the operations of the society
are chiefly carried on by the Ladies' Friendly Soci-
ety and the Good-Will Club. The Ladies' Friendly
Society has contributed largely to the finances of
tJie parent society. The Good-Will Club has been,
in existence eight years. Its object is "to do
good and get good." Through its literary, musi-
cal, and dramatic committees it has from time to
time afforded instruction and entertainment, and
contributed over one thousand dollars towards the
society, the Sunday school, and the charitable
work of the club. It continued for a while a
free evening-school for instruction in the elementary
brauehi's of study, and also, from its formation to the
present time, has supported and carried on a school
every winter for the poor children in the town,
who are taugiit to sew, and are afterwards pre-
sented with the garments manufactured by them.
Roman Catholic. — At the formation of the
town and for several years after there were but few
Roman Catholics here; but with the increase in
tlic number of houses there began to be more
people desiring church privileges. At first they
were obliged to go to Woburn or Mcdford to at-
tend church, — a distance of two or three miles.
Some five or six years ago, feeling Ihcniselvcs to
be sufficient in numbers and ;il)iliiy lo h;i\(; services
of llicir own faith in the town, I'hey, uiih (Iu-ms-
si-liuiee of friends in IIm; other ileii(iiniii:ili(iii'^,
raised the neeessarv nionev, and .Tceled an.l furnished
the present' Ileal a'nd e,Hnin,Mli„us Imreh
edifice on Washington Mreet, niAV (leeiipied bx
them. Eev. Mr. O'Connor is the present pas-
tor.
Methodist Episcopal Society. — Up to Febru-
ary, 1872, no attempt had been made to organize
a Methodist society in this town, but during that
month a meeting was called for this purpose, and
held at the residence of John C. Mason. On the
morning' of March 3, 1872, the first regular ser-
vice was entered upon, the Rev. C. W. Drees, of
the seminary, taking charge of the service, the
number of worshippers then being about sixty, —
membership six. For two years the society was
supplied with preachers from the seminary. The
first regular pastor appointed by the Annual Con-
ference was the Rev. D. S. Coles, who began his
labors April 19,1874, and continued for two years.
On the morning of October 20, 1875, ground
was broken for a church edifice by Cyrus Houghton,
the oldest man in the society, and for more
than forty years a member of the Methodist
Church, removing the first shovelful of earth.
The church edifice is built on Pleasant Street,
near the centre of the town, and is a neat wooden
structure in the Romanesque style of architecture,
from designs of T. W. Silloway of Boston. It is
sixty-three feet long and forty feet wide, and is
finished with a neat campanile, or bell-tower, at
the front right corner. A basement, making the
first story, contains the large lecture-room, with
other modern conveniences, such as class-rooms,
kitchen, etc. Although not of large dimensions,
having a seating capacity for but three hundred
persons, yet it is a very tasteful edifice, and well
Adapted to the needs of this young and prosperous
society. The clmrch edifice was dedicated June 1,
1876, and up to the present time two pastors Jiave
served, namely. Rev. J. E. Jubb one year, and
Rev. George H. Cheney, the present pastor. The
present number of worshippers is about one hun-
dred, with a church membership of seventy-five.
Average attendance at the Sunday school, sixty-
eight.
Rising Star Division, No. 52, Sons of Temper-
ance, was instituted September 9, 1858, and after
flourishing for a little more than two years, during
wJiicli lime it had numbered some sevenlv mem-
bers, an,l as many lady visitors, and (Km'e nuieh
good in tlie conimnnily, surrendered its cliarter in
ISlill. It mnnbered some twenty at its decease,
and its properly, including a handsome banner,
was sdid (() a division in Somerville, wiiicii assumed