HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Old Ship Church (also known as the Old Ship Meetinghouse) is a Puritan
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in America. Its congregation, gathered in 1635 and officially known as First Parish in Hingham, occupies the oldest church building in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. On October 9, 1960, it was designated a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
and on November 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Old Ship Church is, according to '' The New York Times'', "the oldest continuously worshiped-in church in North America and the only surviving example in this country of the
English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...
style of the 17th century. The more familiar delicately spired white Colonial churches of New England would not be built for more than half a century." Within the church, "the ceiling, made of great oak beams, looks like the inverted frame of a ship," notes ''The Washington Post''. "Built in 1681, it is the oldest church in continuous use as a house of worship in North America." The most distinctive feature of the structure is its
Hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams p ...
, a Gothic open timber construction, the most well-known example being that of Westminster Hall. Some of those working on the soaring structure were no doubt ship carpenters; others were East Anglians familiar with the method of constructing a hammerbeam roof.


History

The first minister of the Hingham congregation who built Old Ship was the Rev. Peter Hobart, who had attended what was then Puritan-dominated University of Cambridge. Natives of Hingham in the county of Norfolk in East Anglia, Peter Hobart, his father Edmund and his brother Capt. Joshua Hobart were among Hingham's most prominent early settlers. Edmund Hobart and his wife Margaret (Dewey), said
Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...
, "were eminent for piety ... and feared God above many." Assisting Hobart in the foundation of the congregation was Rev. Robert Peck, Hobart's senior and formerly
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of St Andrew's Church in Hingham, Norfolk. After 44 years of service, minister Peter Hobart died on January 20, 1679, on the eve of the building of the new house of worship. Hobart's diary of events in Hingham, begun in the year 1635, was continued on his death by his son David. By the time Old Ship was built, Harvard-educated Rev. John Norton, who had been ordained by Peter Hobart, had assumed Hobart's ministry. While Rev. Norton was the first pastor of the congregation at its new home in Old Ship Church, Rev. Peter Hobart was the founder of the congregation, although he died before the new meetinghouse was finished. Old Ship Church deacon
John Leavitt Deacon John Leavitt (1608–1691) was a tailor, public officeholder, and founding deacon of Old Ship Church in Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the only remaining 17th-century Puritan meeting house in America and the oldest church in cont ...
, whose son John married Rev. Hobart's daughter Bathsheba, was deacon when Old Ship was constructed and he argued forcefully for the construction of a new meetinghouse. The matter of replacing the old thatched log meeting house stirred intense emotion in Hingham, and it took two heated town meetings to settle on a site for the new edifice, which was built on land donated by Capt. Joshua Hobart, brother of Rev. Peter Hobart. Ultimately, the town appropriated £430 for the new building, said to be the equal of any in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The modern frame edifice, devoid of ornamentation, was raised in 1681, and accommodated its first worship service the following year. Old Ship, with its stark wooden pulpit and stripped-down interior, could not have been further from the houses of worship known to many of the East Anglians who settled Hingham, Massachusetts. It was, in a sense, the anti- Wool church. The program celebrating the 275th anniversary of the raising of the Old Ship Church in July 1956 described the raising of the meetinghouse: The side galleries were added to the building in 1730 and 1755. Originally the building was furnished with backless wooden benches, with the first box pews being installed in 1755. In the Victorian period, the box pews were removed and replaced with curved pews fanning outward from the pulpit, while the walls were papered and drapes were added to the windows. The church was restored to its current appearance, reflecting its 17th and 18th century characteristics, in 1930.


Current use

The current minister is Kenneth Read-Brown, a descendant of Rev. Peter Hobart. The
congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...
is Unitarian Universalist and is a
Welcoming Congregation Lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) affirming religious groups, otherwise referred to as gay-affirming religious groups, are Religions, religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexual ...
. Some of the meetinghouse furnishings still in use date to its founding: Old Ship's christening bowl, for instance, was made before 1600 and was likely brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony by emigrants from Hingham, England.


Old Ship Burying Ground

Old Ship Church is surrounded by a large colonial graveyard amidst gently undulating hills. The graveyard, Hingham Cemetery, is sometimes called the First Settlers cemetery, though more commonly it is called Old Ship Church Cemetery, even though it is independent of the Old Ship Church. It was originally part of a tract of land granted by the town to Thomas Gill, one of Hingham's earliest settlers. (It now comprises , and is the largest and oldest cemetery in Hingham.) Buried within its precincts are many of Hingham's earliest settlers and their descendants, including members of the Cushing, Hersey, Otis, Chaffee, Lane, Andrews, Hobart, Loring, Bates, Leavitt, Thaxter, Tower, Beal, Lincoln, Fearing and other prominent early families. Among the prominent individuals buried in the graveyard are: Thomas Joy (1618–1678), builder of the first statehouse in Boston (the building was built of timber) and designer of the Old Ship Church; Rev. Peter Hobart (1604–1679), pastor of Old Ship Church, ancestor of Senator
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he p ...
; Edmund Hobart, father of Rev. Peter, instrumental in founding Hingham, ancestor of
John Henry Hobart John Henry Hobart (September 14, 1775 – September 12, 1830) was the third Episcopal bishop of New York (1816–1830). He vigorously promoted the extension of the Episcopal Church in upstate New York, as well as founded both the General The ...
; William Hersey, one of Hingham's first settlers, ancestor of writer John Hersey; Col. Samuel Thaxter (1665–1740), one of "His Majesty's Council and Col. of His Regiment," delegate to the General Court and Hingham selectman; Col. Benjamin Lincoln (1699–1771), member of "His Majesty's Council," town selectman, town clerk, husband of Elizabeth Thaxter (daughter of Col. Samuel Thaxter), and father of Major General
Benjamin Lincoln Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 ( O.S. January 13, 1733) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders ...
; Mrs. Sarah Langley Hersey Derby (1714–1790), founder of Derby Academy in Hingham, widow of Dr. Ezekiel Hersey and of Salem merchant Richard Derby, father of
Elias Hasket Derby Elias Hasket Derby (August 16, 1739 — September 8, 1799) was a Colonial American merchant based in Salem, Massachusetts who owned or held shares in numerous privateers. The crews of these ships took more than 150 prizes during the American ...
; Mary Revere Lincoln (1770–1853), daughter of
Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...
; Governor
John Albion Andrew John Albion Andrew (May 31, 1818 – October 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He was elected in 1860 as the 25th Governor of Massachusetts, serving between 1861 and 1866, and led the state's contributions to ...
(1818–1867), Civil War governor of Massachusetts, instrumental in founding the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments, the first regiments of black infantry in the Civil War;
John Davis Long John Davis Long (October 27, 1838 – August 28, 1915) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer from Massachusetts. He was the 32nd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1880 to 1883. He later served as the Secretary of the Navy from 18 ...
(1838-1915), 32nd Governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of the Navy;(
Wilmon Brewer Wilmon Brewer (1895–1998) was an American literary scholar, poet, writer and philanthropist. Early life Brewer was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, and lived there for most of his life on his family's estate, Great Hill. When he was a young man ...
(1895–1998), author/poet, philanthropist (major donations: Old Ordinary tavern to the town of Hingham, More-Brewer Conservation Area, World's End Park); Solomon Lincoln (1804–1881), Hingham attorney, author of first history of Hingham (1827), state senator, president of Boston's Webster Bank, and president of the Hingham Cemetery Corporation. The oldest burials date from at least 1672, before the building of the current meeting house. The Settlers' Monument in Old Ship burying ground marks the place where the remains of Hingham's earliest settlers were moved after their initial burying place along modern-day Main Street, in front of Old Ship Church, was excavated for the passage of horse-drawn trolleys about 1835.


Memorial Bell Tower

Also in the grounds, situated close to the church, is the Hingham Memorial Bell Tower, erected in 1912 to commemorate the 275th anniversary of the founding of Hingham, and in memory of the town's founders. The tower contains ten bells hung for
change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...
, also made in 1912 by Mears & Stainbank, of Whitechapel, London. The bells were cast specifically in order to be similar to the bells hung in St Andrew's Church in
Hingham, Norfolk Hingham is a market town and civil parish in mid-Norfolk, England. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households at the time of the 2001 Census, increasing to 2,367 at the 2011 Census. Grand architecture s ...
, which the town's founders would have heard while living in England, and are tuned to the same key of E.


Gallery

File:OldShipEntrance.jpg, Entrance, with the date (1681) File:121-Margrett (wife of Josiah) Leavitt (d. Jun 13th, 1739) grave, Hingham Cemetery, Hingham, Plymouth Co., MA.jpg, Gravestone of Margrett Leavitt, died June 13, 1739 File:SARHingham.jpg, Sons of the American Revolution grave marker File:Grave of Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810), Hingham Cemetery, MA.jpg, Tomb of Gen.
Benjamin Lincoln Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 ( O.S. January 13, 1733) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders ...
, died May 9, 1810 File:MaryRevereLincoln.jpg, Gravestone of Mary Revere Lincoln, daughter of
Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...
, died August 12, 1853 File:WeepingAngel.jpg,
Angel of Grief ''Angel of Grief'' or the ''Weeping Angel'' is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story for the grave of his wife Emelyn Story at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Its full title bestowed by the creator was ''The Angel of Grief Weeping Over th ...
, gravestone of Maria L. Hooper, died April 1, 1891


See also

* List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts * National Register of Historic Places listings in Plymouth County, Massachusetts * First Unitarian Church in Westport *
List of the oldest churches in the United States The designation of the oldest church in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving ''building'', and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church ...


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * *


External links


Official website

National Historic Landmark listing

Old Ship Historic MarkerReverend Peter Hobart Historic Marker Historic Churches of America, Nellie Urner Wallington, 1907"> Historic Churches of America, Nellie Urner Wallington, 1907Hingham Cemetery Facts, Lucinda Day (compiler), Hingham Cemetery Corporation
{{Authority control Churches completed in 1681 National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts New England Puritanism Buildings and structures in Hingham, Massachusetts Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Cemeteries in Plymouth County, Massachusetts English Gothic architecture National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Gothic Revival architecture in Massachusetts 1681 establishments in Massachusetts British colonial architecture in the United States Colonial architecture in Massachusetts 17th-century churches in the United States Churches in Plymouth County, Massachusetts