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The
history of the Chapel
is a two-fold tale. It involves two separate eras , two
distinct congregations and a gap of over a century between
them.
In
Colonial times Canton, then part of Dorchester and later
of Stoughton, was settled largely by Congregationalists
, also, known as Dissidents. They were so called in England
because they dissented from some of the dogmas, sacraments,
rites and episcopacy of the established Church of England.
The Churches in the English speaking world were state-supported
and thus Established. Not all, however, were Episcopal in
nature. The Churches of England and Ireland were indeed
Episcopal, whereas the Church (Kirk) of Scotland was Presbyterian.
In the Massachusetts colonies the Congregational Church
was state-supported and the Church Meeting House was, also,
the Town Meeting center.Accordingly the number of Episcopalians
in the area was small. At their peak membership in the decade
before the American Revolution there may have been twenty
families in Canton. The local church as an entity was begun
as a Mission in 1754 and was known as the "English Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel". In that year Jonathan
Kenney deeded to the Society land for a church. The site
was at the front of what is now known as the Old English
Burying Ground which is on Washington Street next to the
Matthew Sullivan estate. The rear part of the lot had been
used as a burial place for almost fifty years before the
Church acquired it. As a consequence one finds buried there
both Dissidents and Episcopalians sleeping peacefully together
oblivious of the mutual antagonisms and hostility engendered
in their lifetimes. By 1758 a modest house of worship had
been built and services had commenced.Reverend Timothy Cutler
, first rector of Christ’s Church in Boston, was instrumental
in authorizing the Mission here. The actual establishment
of the Church itself has to be credited to Reverend Ebenezer
Miller D. D. of Braintree who was in truth a local Defender
of the Faith. Miller was a brilliant and strong-willed person
who was born in Milton in 1703, graduated Harvard in 1722,
and had a desire for the ministry. At that time one could
not be ordained an Episcopal minister in America because
there was no bishop here. Miller therefore went to England
and was ordained a deacon and priest by Edmund, Lord Bishop
of London. He remained in England about twenty-five years.
In 1727 he received a Master of Arts and in 1747 a Doctor
of Theology from Oxford. Responding to a request from co-religionists
in this area, he returned to America and settled in Braintree.
From that location he served congregations in Canton and
Dedham.The transition from urbane London to a primitive
rural Canton must have been staggering. With his educational
attainments, Miller was not timid about defending his church
against the polemics of the local Congregationalists. Parson
Dunbar of the First Church accused him of being sent by
his English superiors "to foment disturbances" and "cause
division" among the local churches and "by promoting Episcopacy
to increase the political influence of the Crown". There
must be a better way of welcoming a new clergyman to Canton.
Nevertheless Reverend Miller was able to hold his own in
their salty exchanges until his death in 1763 five years
after the local church was constructed.The next minister
of note was the unfortunate Reverend William Clark. Clark
was a man of high principles who was loyal to his Church
and his King and who paid dearly for both fealties. Born
in Danvers in 1740, the son of a Congregationalist clergyman,
he studied for their ministry. Before finishing his studies,
he became an adherent of the Episcopal religion and was
a lay reader in Canton and Dedham until 1768 when he went
to England to be ordained. He returned in 1770 and took
residence in Canton. He entered his priestly ministry with
several handicaps: the environment was hostile to the King’s
religion; he was only thirty years old, and he was almost
impossibly deaf.Clark was greeted by the implacable animosity
of Parson Dunbar who was decidedly not ecumenical in his
relations. Clark and his predecessors had attempted to develop
a more friendly atmosphere with the dissenting brethren
but without success. Dunbar even questioned the numbers
belonging to the Episcopal church, and the minister and
his wardens had to certify the exact name and numbers of
the congregation. Furthermore the small Episcopal parish
had to pay taxes to the Congregational as if they were members
of it.On top of all that, the members of the so-called English
Church were generally supportive of King George in those
pre-Revolutionary years. In substance they were, for the
most part, Tories. Their neighbors were not of a mind for
either religious or political tolerance. As is the case
in so much of history the two elements were intertwined.
We may think that what is happening today in Belfast could
not happen here. It could and it did.
Under
all these circumstances it is not to be wondered that Reverend
Clark’s congregation began to melt away. In 1771 he
moved to Dedham but continued to preach here off and on
to an often cold and nearly empty church till 1775. On June
11, 1776, the feast of St. Barnabas, the local church met
for the last time and dissolved. The founding families,
notably the Aspinwalls, Kenneys, Kingsburys, Taylors, Spares,
Curtises, Liscoms and Crehores practiced their faith in
their own private fashion. The last member of the old church
was Mrs. Joshua Kingsbury who died in 1848 at the age of
ninety and had an Episcopal service read over her coffin.
The gravestones of these families may still be seen at the
English Burying Ground.Minister Clark was a victim of the
Revolution. He was branded a Tory and when he charitably
gave aid to two Loyalist refugees , he was denounced, arrested
and tried without counsel before a Revolutionary tribunal
in Boston. The kangaroo court was willing to acquit him
if he would swear loyalty to the independence of America.
This he refused to do saying "it is contrary to my King,
my country, and my God". He was sentenced to harsh imprisonment
on a guard ship in Boston Harbor. The rigors of his captivity
destroyed his health; his vocal chords were injured so that
he could hardly speak. He was finally released and banished
, a broken, deaf, speechless outcast. He went to Ireland
and England seeking a home and was an object of charity.
In 1786 he came to Nova Scotia and in 1795 returned to Massachusetts
dying in 1815 in Quincy.What of the old church itself? After
the Revolution the building was unused for many years until
purchased by Adam Blackman in 1796 and moved across the
street to be converted to a house. It was so used until
September 13, 1874 when it was destroyed by fire.Over a
century passed before there was a Second Spring of the Episcopal
Church in Canton. On August 10. 1884 mission services were
conducted in Lower Memorial Hall by Reverend William Cheney.
The Town Hall was so used for about fifteen years. The first
Bishop’s was in March 1885 when he confirmed
eleven persons. The mission was incorporated as "The Trinity
Episcopal Parish" in 1887. The parish was part of a Mission
that encompassed Canton Sharon and Stoughton and received
some modest annual financial support from the Archdeaconery
of New Bedford.The officers of the new parish in 1887 were:
Rector, Reverend Albert George; Senior Warden, Richmond
L. Weston; Junior Warden, Georgett King; Treasurer. William
Hatfield; Clerk, Edward King; Vestry, Harlan Curtis, Clinton
Curtis, Miss Fannie Allen, Miss Sarah W. Ames, Miss M.P.
Reynolds and Edward King. Later the Bolster and Thomas families
were to be devoted members of the parish.The Church began
to grow and plans were made to have a place of worship,
The first location chosen was on Sherman Street (then known
as Depot Street) on a lot purchased by Reverend George from
the Oliver Dean estate in 1887 for $500. The land was situated
just west of Cross Street. After a few years of inaction
it was felt that the site was not suitable and in 1893 the
land was sold back to the Dean family. In the spring of
1895 a house and lot at the corner of Washington and Chapel
streets were purchased from the Bent estate for $3000 with
the aid of a $2000 mortgage from one William Doherty.The
parish decided to build a stone church and construction
began in August 1897. The end result was a beautiful church,
enhanced with stained glass windows and a feel of ancient
English tradition. The first services were conducted on
January 2nd 1898. In 1909 the Church came into possession
of an unusual bell donated by Edward H.R. Revere. The bell
which has a strikingly clear peal was cast in Cincinnati
in 1856 and installed in a church in New Orleans. It was
confiscated by the soldiers of Union General Benjamin Butler
and sent north with similar bells to be melted and cast
into cannon by the Revere Copper Company. Its clear tonal
quality saved it from a fiery fate, and it hung in the Revere
Copper Yard in Canton for over forty years. With the closing
of the Canton mill, the ownership of the bell went back
to the Revere family who donated it to Trinity.The new church
cost about $5000 to erect and was financed by a $4000 second
mortgage from Mr. Doherty. The mortgage was discharged on
October 2, 1909 at which time the church was consecrated
by Bishop Lawrence. A church cannot be consecrated while
a mortgage lien is on the property. After the celebration
of the consecration and the mortgage burning, the parishioners
enjoyed a collation across the street at the Town Hall.The
church served the parish for over seventy years. In 1964
Mrs. Martha Prowse, a parishioner, donated 5.45 acres of
land at the corner of Route 138 and Blue Hill River Road
to the Church. A new church was erected at this location
and dedicated on Sunday September 28, 1969. Many valuable
and meaningful items were transferred from the "Stone Church"
to the new edifice. The stained glass memorial windows,
many of the original pews and the altar were installed in
the new Martha Peabody Prowse Chapel. The organ was rebuilt
and placed in the church sanctuary and the bell, which was
found in New Orleans by one of the Reveres during the Civil
War, was hung in a new free-standing bell tower. The old
building was sold to Schlossberg-Solomon as a funeral chapel.
The Schlossberg family restored the chapel with new stained
glass windows, pews and lighting fixtures and added a modern
lobby to what was the exterior of the building. They also
purchased additional property in the rear of the chapel
to provide greater access and parking for over 100 cars.
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