History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

542 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
structioii fund of the present meeting-house. Mr.
Joseph Bennett became the next pastor of the soci-
ety, and liis ordination took place January 1, 1822.
Eev. Mr. Bennett proved to be an active, energetic
minister. Tlie accessions to the church were larger
than under any previous pastorate.
In 1832 the Lowell Railroad was built, which
ran through tlie south and east portions of the
town. A village sprung up not far from the spot
where the first house was built. In 1840 the
people of this village, called Soutli Woburn, formed
a churcli and society, and asked to be set off. A
new meeting-house was built, and in December of
that year the house was dedicated, and the new
cliurch and society was formed. A few months
previous to the organization of the South Woburn
churcli, the fourth meeting-house, built in 1809,
was found to be in such bad condition as to re-
(juire extension and repairs or entire reconstruction.
The latter course was determined on, and the fifth
meeting-house was erected on the same site. The
dedication took place December 31, 1810. Mr.
Bennett continued as pastor of the society until
1817, when, during a period of mental depression
to which he was subject, he took his own life.
This unexpected event caused much sorrow and
excitement, as he was held in high esteem by the
people to whom he ministered, as well as by the
congregational body to wliich he was attached.
In the spring of 1818 the parish made choice of
Mr. Jonathan Edwards as its pastor. He contin-
ued iiis connection with tlie society for eight years,
giving entire satisfaction to his people and render-
ing many important services to the educational and
social interests of the town. He was dismissed
at his own request in 18o6. In August of the
same year Rev. Daniel March was called to the pulpit
of the parish, and installed in October. The
many gifts of Rev. Mr. March as a speaker, writer,
and educator made him one of the most po])ular and
useful pastors the society iiad ever enjoyed. He re-
signed in 1862, much to the regret of tlie citizens of
tile town at large as well as liis own people.
The successor of Rev. Mr. March was Rev. J. C.
Bodwell, D. D., who was installed as pastor in
October, 1862. Dr. Bodwell was a preacher of
unusual power. His sermons were models of con-
struction and sustained force, clothed in language
and rhetoric of the ])urest types. Receiving an
invitation to l)(;coine the head of a theological in-
stitute at Itartlnnl, Coniu'.-tirut, Iw asked ;uh1
received a disinisMoii I'miu tlic pastorale In Aui^iist,
1866. The meeting-house on the north side of tlie
Common, built in 1840, was so far outgrown in
1860 by the increase of the society, that an en-
largement or a new building became necessary.
As the land for enlargement could not be easily
obtained, it was voted to erect a new house of very
much larger dimensions, and on the opposite side
of the Common. The building was completed,
and dedicated in October, 1861. Thcchurch is
one of the largest and best-appointed houses of
worship in the country. Its total cost was about
§62,000. The audience-room is capable of seating
fifteen hundred persons, and is beautiful both in
form and decoration. After tiie resignation of Rev.
Mr. Bodwell an invitation to the pastorate was ex-
tended to Rev. S. E. Dennen, who accepted, and
was installed in 1868. Mr. Dennen was noted for
his pulpit services, his sermons having those logical
and compact qualities which are always attractive
to the thinking part of every congregation. Mr.
Dennen resigned in 1872. Rev. H. S. Kelsey
was installed in his place. Occupying the pulpit
three years, he retired from the position, and the
pastorate was again offered to Rev. Daniel March,
who had so acceptably ministered to the congregation
some fifteen years before. Rev. Mr. March
still retains his connection with the parisii. In
1846 the people of North Woburn felt the need
of a church and society in that locality. At first
the Sunday services were held in the school-house,
under charge of Rev. Samuel Sewall. The society
increasing, a meeting-house was built in 1849, and
a church formed, consisting mostly of persons who
transferred their membership from the First Par-
ish. Rev. Samuel Sewall continued as pastor till
1852, when he resigned. His successor was Rev.
George T. Dole, who remained three years. Rev.
Swift Byington and Rev. M. G. Wheeler followed.
The present pastor. Rev. W. C. Anderson, was
settled in 1873.
Biiplitt Siwifti/. — It has been previously stated
that several leading men of the First Parish had
become converts to the Baptist faith about 1670.
The two Russells, John and John, Jr., maintained
tJM'ir connection witii tliat sect to the end of life,
and were ])niniinent in tiieir elforls to spread its
(loetrines. Of the otliers, who for a time sympathized
with tiieni, it is not known that any of them
continued to supjjort tlie obnoxious tenets, as they
soon returned to their connection with the First
Parish. For more than a century there was little
or no indiciition (if the prevalence of Baptist senti-