New South Church (Boston, Massachusetts)
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New South Church (1714–1866) was a
Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
Unitarian church of the "New South Society" in
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 ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, located on "Church Green" at the corner of Summer Street and Bedford Street. Pastors included Samuel Checkley and
John Thornton Kirkland John Thornton Kirkland (August 17, 1770 – April 26, 1840) was an American Unitarian Congregational clergyman who served as President of Harvard University from 1810 to 1828. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Hasty Pudding. He is rem ...
. In 1814 architect
Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...
designed a new building for the society; it was demolished in 1868. The congregation merged with the New South Free Church in 1866.


History


1714–1814

Founders of the New South Church first met around 1714 at the "old Bull Tavern, at the corner of Summer and Sea Streets."Drake. Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston. 1873George Edward Ellis
A commemorative discourse delivered in the New South Church
Church Green, Boston, on Sunday, December 25, 1864, on the fiftieth anniversary of its dedication. Boston: Henry Dutton and Son, 1865.
In 1715, the town of Boston deeded a parcel of land () with a harbor view "to petitioners who proposed to build a church ... to be called the 'New South.' The father of
Samuel Adams Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, Political philosophy, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts, a le ...
... lived on Purchase Street, near Congress, and was one of the signers of the petition." Among the 44 initial subscribers were Samuel Adams Sr.; John Barton; Nicholas Boon; David Craige; Eleaz. Dorby; William Engs; Samuel Greenleaf; Henry Hill; Daniel Legre; Thomas Peck; Eneas Salter; Eneas Salter Jr.; Thomas Salter; Jonathan Simpson.Snow. History of Boston. 1828; p.213. The new building was completed by 1719. It was "a convenient wooden building with a handsome steeple finished after the lonick order, in which is a bell." "It was of timber, 65 by 45 by 31 feet, with flat roof and battlements." Samuel Checkley was ordained as first pastor on April 15, 1719. "The covenant was signed on the same day" by several of the original subscribers, as well as Samuel Bridgham, John Clough, Thomas Downe, and Benjamin White.


1814–1868

In 1814 a new building was constructed, designed by Charles Bulfinch, at a cost of 2,188 pounds. It was built out of
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...
granite. "The first story of the steeple is an octagon, surrounded by 8 columns and a circular pedestal and entablature; an attic, above this, gradually diminishing by 3 steps of gradins, supports a second range of Corinthian columns with an entablature and balustrade from this, the ascent in a gradual diminution, forms the base of the spire, which is crowned with a ball and vane." In the first half of the 19th century "Summer Street was, beyond dispute, the most beautiful avenue in Boston. Magnificent trees then skirted its entire length, overarching the driveway with interlacing branches, so that you walked or rode as within a grove in a light softened by the leafy screen" of elms. Inside the church, the organ was built by Thomas Appleton. In 1866, the church "was merged in the New South Free Church." The New South Society's William Tilden served as pastor there for several decades. The building was demolished in 1868.Sale of Church Property. New York Times, April 10, 1868, p.5. Today the former site of the Church Green is known as the Church Green Buildings Historic District.


Pastors

* Samuel Checkley (pastor 1719–1769; d.1769) * Penuel Bowen (pastor 1766–1772) * Joseph Howe (pastor 1773–1775; d.1775) * Oliver Everett (pastor 1782–1792) *
John Thornton Kirkland John Thornton Kirkland (August 17, 1770 – April 26, 1840) was an American Unitarian Congregational clergyman who served as President of Harvard University from 1810 to 1828. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Hasty Pudding. He is rem ...
(pastor 1794–1810) * Samuel Cooper Thacher (pastor 1811–1818; d.1818) * F. W. P. Greenwood (pastor 1818–1821) *
Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: *Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musician ...
(pastor 1825–1854; d.1854) * Orville Dewey (pastor 1857–1862) * William P. Tilden (pastor 1862–1866)


References


Further reading


Church Green service book
1863. * "New South Society." Monthly Journal of the American Unitarian Association, v.8, no.10. Nov. 1867. * An act concerning the proprietors of the New South Meeting-House in Boston, and the disposition of their estate. Acts and resolves passed by the General Court of Massachusetts. 1868. * Ellen Susan Bulfinch
Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch
Architect. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York 1896.
Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin
v.10, no.59, 1912. {{Coord, 42, 21, 12.41, N, 71, 3, 28.62, W, type:landmark_region:MA, display=title Unitarian chapels Former buildings and structures in Boston Financial District, Boston History of Boston Churches completed in 1819 1819 establishments in Massachusetts 1866 disestablishments in Massachusetts 19th-century churches in the United States Charles Bulfinch church buildings