St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is an historic church located in
Hanover, Massachusetts
Hanover is a New England town, town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,833 at the 2020 census.
History
The area of Hanover was first inhabited by the local Wampanoag and Massachusett people before Europeans ...
. It was founded in 1725 in what is now known as
Norwell, an area that was then part of
Scituate). It is one of the oldest
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
es in the
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
History
Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who did not accept such aspects of the Church of England as bisho ...
.
History
The first meeting of the parish took place on July 28, 1725 at the North Meeting House in Scituate after a group of townspeople invited the Rev.
Dr.
Timothy Cutler
Timothy Cutler (May 31, 1684 – August 17, 1765) was an American Episcopal clergyman and rector of Yale College.
Family background
Cutler was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, a descendant of Robert Cutler who settled there prior to Octobe ...
of
Christ Church,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, to lead a service and preach.
Between 1727 and 1731 regular meetings of the parish took place in a private house in Scituate, led by the resident minister of
Christ Church, Quincy, the Rev. Ebenezer Miller.
On October 11, 1731, Miller led a service to open the first church building in front of a congregation of 150. That wooden building, located about from the present location, would serve as the parish's home until they moved to Hanover, which they did in 1811 after outgrowing the old church.
Several notable figures, such as
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...
,
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...
,
Robert Rantoul, and
Horace Mann
Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig Party (United States), Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education, he is thus also known as ''The Father of A ...
, were at "a large all-day gathering in the cause of education" in September 1838.
The first resident minister for the parish, the Rev. Addington Davenport, was appointed in 1733. Addington remained only until 1737, but upon leaving for his next appointment made a gift of of land "with dwelling house, barn, and other buildings thereon."
Proceeds from this gift would help fund the purchase of land and building of a
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
in 1849.
On December 24, 1986, the church was destroyed by an electrical fire, but later rebuilt.
On November 6, 2011, the parish celebrated its bicentennial by displaying rare sermons and other artifacts, as well as a piano and organ concert and old church history stories.
Today, the church sits on Church Street in the Four Corners village of Hanover, a scenic village that was the starting point of Hanover itself.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Episcopal Church
19th-century Episcopal church buildings
Episcopal church buildings in Massachusetts