Newton, Massachusetts. First Church (Congregational). Records, 1773-1972

History of the Church

In 1664, the Great and General Court of Massachusetts gave permission for forty men and forty women to establish or "gather" the First Church of Cambridge Village. Before its establishment, settlers of Cambridge Village attended services and paid taxes to the city of Cambridge. Twenty-four years later, the Village seceded from the city of Cambridge and became the city of Newtown, later spelled Newton. The First Church remained the only organized church in Newton until 1780, when the First Baptist Church was founded. From its founding, the city of Cambridge and later, the city of Newton, raised taxes for the First Church, and the parish held services and town meetings until the early 1830s. In 1833, the city of Newton severed its ties with the First Church, forcing it to raise funds on its own. The First Church would see the construction of several meetinghouses, the last dedicated in 1904. In the 1940s, the First Church discussed merging its services with the Newton Baptist Church. It dissolved in 1972 after more than three hundred years of service to the Newton community.

List of Ministers

Below is a list of the pastors of the First Church, some who served the community for over thirty years.

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the collection of the First Church consists of official records of the church, including clerk's records and annual reports, information on membership and vital statistics of its members, and the administrative and financial records after 1773. Earlier records of the church were destroyed in a fire in 1770. The auxiliary organizations of the First Church are well-represented in this collection. The records of the Sunday School (founded in 1816) and the Women's Benevolent Society give light into the functioning of special programs and services outside the primary role of the church, such as education and missions. The sermons and papers of the Rev. Daniel Furber and Edward M. Noyes comprise the majority of the ministers' papers. Both Rev. Furber and Noyes were elected Pastor Emeriti after more than thirty years of service to the First Church. The newsletters, which document the church's history in the twentieth-century, are complemented with programs, news-clippings, and photographs that the church collected during special dedications and anniversaries.

Series Description

Series I -- Church Records, 1773-1972. This series contains official church records, such as the record books, clerk's records, annual reports, and membership records. The membership records include information on births, baptisms, deaths, marriages, admissions, and dismissions. Also covenants, constitutions, and by-laws can be found within this series. Duplicates of annual reports in the clerk's records between 1931 and 1968 were discarded; however, the clerk's records of 1941 to 1950 contain the annual reports for those years. The clerk's records for 1892 to 1931, the Standing Committee minutes for 1895 to 1931, and a register of the Church are oversized material, and they are shelved separately from the rest. Each set of documents is arranged in chronological order, maintaining, in most cases, the arrangement of the material by the original processor of this collection.

Two volumes in this series have been digitized as part of our New England's Hidden Histories program.

Series II -- Administrative and Financial Records, 1778-1973. The administrative records of the Church contains minutes of the freeholders' meetings, proprietors' meetings, the Prudential Committee minutes, pew deeds, owners, and proprietor information. All these records were kept. The financial records contain account information and benevolences for the First Church beginning in 1708. The First Church kept expense Vouchers and checks from 1780 to 1903, of which a sampling was kept. The accounts books for the years 1914 to 1964 and some ledgers on benevolences that chronicled the monthly expenses of the church were discarded, as the yearly reports sufficiently describe the financial activities. The records on the property of the church were moved into this series, and they contain the Building Committee papers and reports. Within these records are blueprints of the church. Also included with the records of church property are some letters of donation, deposit, and final disposition of material after 1972. This series is also arranged chronologically, by type of record; however, one volume of the Prudential Committee minutes is shelved with the oversized material.

Series III -- Church Auxiliary Organizations, 1783-1974. This series contains the records, mostly minutes, from the Christian Endeavor, the Sunday School, the Men's Club, the Kelsey Circle, the Maria B. Furber Missionary Society, the Ladies Foreign Missionary Society, and the Woman's (or Ladies) Benevolent and Church Aid Society. The majority are from the Woman's Benevolent Society, which lasted until the dissolution of the church. This series is also arranged chronologically by each organization and then, in some cases, by department or type of record.

Series IV -- Church Publications and Histories, 1841-1967. Samplings of church calendars and all newsletters of the First Church provide a glimpse of current events and announcements between 1894 and 1968. This series also includes programs and news-clippings of special celebrations, such as dedications, inaugurations, and anniversaries. Each set of records is arranged chronologically.

Series V -- Ministers' Papers, 1741-1962. The minister papers of the First Church contain some of the personal papers, some published copies of sermons, and the copy of the programs for the installation of several ministers. Researchers will find news-clippings of material related to the church and to the minister, similarly to Series IV. As stated in the scope and content note, the majority of this collection contains the sermons of Rev. Daniel Furber and Edward M. Noyes. Their papers have been arranged chronologically.

Series VI -- Photos and Memorabilia, 1899-1965. This series contains mostly an assortment of photos of the First Church, of some anniversaries, of certain church properties, and certain events and celebrations of the church. Photos relating to the meetinghouses have been arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous photographs, albums, scrapbooks, and objects have been maintained in the original arrangement of this series.

Box List