Download - First Parish Church, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Historical Inventory Report

FIRST PARISH CHURCH

LINCOLN HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION

John C. MacLean

Location: Lincoln Center National Historic District, 4 Bedford Road, in Lincoln,Massachusetts

Period of Construction Represented: 1842

Significance: Architecture; Religious History; Community Development

Massachusetts Historical Commission: For guidance on the use of these filesas well as access to additional files on historic properties in Lincoln andMassachusetts, go to: http://mhc-macris.net/

FIRST PARISH CHURCH:INVENTORY FORM B

[email protected], Massachusetts

2013

Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.

FORM B - BUILDING

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSIONMASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARDBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125

Photograph

Topographic or Assessor's Map

Recorded by: John C. MacLean

Organization: Lincoln Historical Commission

Date (month / year): January 2013

Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number

53 9 0 Maynard A, D 36

Town: Lincoln

Place: (neighborhood or village)Lincoln Center Historic District

Address: 4 Bedford Road

Historic Name: First Parish Church; Unitarian Church(historical, now non-denominational); White ChurchUses: Present: Church, The First Parish in Lincoln

Original: Church, The Unitarian CongregationalSociety of Lincoln

Date of Construction: 1842

Source: Unitarian Congregational Society 1842 records

Style/Form: Greek Revival

Architect/Builder: Builder- Reuben Smith of Stow, MA

Exterior Material:Foundation: stone

Wall/Trim: wood clapboards; flush wood boards

Roof: asphalt shingles

Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: remnants of stonewall/horse-sheds foundation

Major Alterations (with dates):Stearns Room addition at back of church, 1963; interiorbalcony, 1967-68

Condition: good

Moved: no |X | yes | | Date

Acreage: 0.43

Setting: Situated near the center crossroads of Lincoln’shistoric village/District, the church joins the Library, ParishHouse, Bemis Hall, and Town Offices as prominent publicbuildings mixed within a traditional residential village,retaining its agricultural character through open fields,including a conservation-restricted field behind the church.

INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET 4 BEDFORD ROAD, LINCOLN

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125

Continuation sheet 1

A, D 36

_X_ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.

(Statement not attached: BUILDING IS CURRENTLY LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER

Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.

Built in the Greek Revival style in 1842 as the town’s Unitarian Church or Unitarian Meeting House and serving as the church ofThe First Parish in Lincoln since 1942 (when the town’s Congregational and Unitarian societies legally united together, followinga federation initiated in 1935), this building has also been known locally as the White Church or the sanctuary, while in 1990 itwas officially designated as the “Church.” An addition was made at the rear of the church in 1962-63 that includes a meetingroom known as the Stearns Room; the Parish is exploring plans to reconstruct the Stearns Room addition. This Unitarian/FirstParish Church is an architecturally and historically contributing, integral part of the local Lincoln Center Historic District (LIN.A)created in 1981 and the Lincoln Center National Historic District (LIN.D) created in 1985. While the Stearns addition would havebeen a non-contributing element when the district was placed on the National Register in 1985, in 2012-13 that addition turns 50years old, and thereby it now would be classified as a contributing feature.

The Parish holdings also include two other buildings on separate lots, just up the road and separated from the Church lot by asingle privately held residence. Since the 1942 union of the two parishes, the associated Romanesque Revival former 1891-92Congregational Church serves the congregation as its Parish House, also locally known as the Stone Church (LIN.38, 14Bedford Road); originally designed by architect Henry Martyn Francis, with a low-profile1952 Modernist addition off of the backelevation, it contains meeting rooms, Sunday School classrooms, and administrative offices. Behind the Parish House is theModernist/Contemporary 1958 Third Parsonage (LIN.86, 16 Bedford Road), designed by architect Walter Hill. These buildingsare also integral parts of the local Lincoln Center Historic District (LIN.A) and the Lincoln Center National Historic District (LIN.D);while the Parsonage was less than 50 years old and thereby considered a non-contributing element when the district was placedon the National Register in 1985, today it also would be classified as a contributing feature, reflective of the district’s historicaldevelopment over time, with representations of all periods of architectural style in Lincoln.

One of the most important styles in the district, the Greek Revival architecturally redefined the center of Lincoln, as theconstruction of a number of new buildings on smaller lots during the 1830s and 1840s created a much stronger sense of aclustered village, set on the slope of a hill (see 1887 Historical View and c. 1910 Historical View). Indicative of the gable-to-roadGreek Revival houses constructed within the village are the homes immediately to the south and north of the Unitarian/FirstParish Church: the 1832 Wheeler-Farrar-Bemis House (LIN.36, 2 Bedford Road; National Register, district) to its south, situatedat the “Five Roads” crossroads that forms the hub of the town’s internal road network; and the 1836 NewhallChapin House(LIN.37, 7 Bedford Road; National Register, district) to its north—each represents an American vernacular translation of theGreek Revival style. They also provide an interrelated Greek Revival setting for the church; significantly, they still visually reflectits setting at the time of construction, although some earlier outbuildings have disappeared. As with the church, full temple-styleGreek Revival buildings would follow in the village, with the construction of the 1848 Lincoln Old Town Hall (LIN.30, 25 LincolnRoad; National Register, district—moved twice since its first construction) and the c. 1854-56 Asa White House (LIN.75, 27Sandy Pond Road; National Register, district). Directly related to the church is the 1843 Greek Revival Abel Wheeler House(LIN.79, 67 Bedford Road; National Register, district/Preservation Restriction); carpenter-builder Reuben Smith (1793-1853) ofStow is document as the builder of the 1842 church and subsequently of the 1843 Wheeler House.

The church sits on a relatively small lot, with limited space between that lot and the adjoining Wheeler-Farrar-Bemis House. Withlimited space, indeed, in the nineteenth century a barn associated with that house as well as horse sheds of the churchextended to the boundary lines of the respective properties; some of the foundation work for those buildings is still in evidence.For many years, two different buildings used as a store and post office had stood between the church and the Newhall-ChapinHouse; these included the Lincoln Old Town Hall building, from c. 1890 to 1917 (see 1875 Lincoln Village Map and 1904




A, D 36Historical View). It appears that there have not been intervening buildings on that side since 1917, however, thereby providingan open viewscape from the road to the conservation-restricted field situated behind that house and behind the church (seeAerial Views).

The church itself is of a temple in antis form with an added steeple. The gabled front façade faces east (actually southeasterly)to the road. Reflecting Greek temple traditions, it was initially rectangular in construction, the front façade 36 feet in width andthe three-bay sides 50 feet deep; on the south elevation, much of the 1963 addition at the back of the church continues itshistoric rectangular shape, but on the north side, part of that addition forms an ell that extends out to the north by 18 feet.

Terminating in a weathervane, the tapered upper portion of the square-shaped steeple is clad with clapboards set withinprominent corner boards; this sits on a tapered, paneled base that in turn sits atop the entablature of a belfry. On each side ofthe belfry, square classical columns (possessing both a capital and base) frame the louvered opening for the bell, the columnssupport an unadorned entablature that has fully defined architrave, frieze, and cornice elements. A base that extends out fromthe columns, in turn sits on another base or cornice that extends further out, creating a graduated footing for the belfry thatinterplays with the cornice above. These allow for a wider lower base for the steeple, that base being clad with wide flush boardsthat are set within corner boards.

With its front gable and Classical low-pitched roof, the front façade features a prominent pediment defined at its base by anunadorned but full entablature which joins with a strong raking cornice above. Flush board—visually imitating the effects ofstonework—are used within the pediment, which is centered by a triangular louvered opening for ventilation, its triangular formduplicating in miniature the shape of the pediment itself.

Supporting the entablature are two round, fluted Ionic columns set in antis, with two Tuscan-style pilasters set to either side. Thepilasters extend down to the cut-granite foundation and do not rest on a Classical base; the columns likewise extend down to thefront porch and do not have any visible Classical base. The two columns and four pilasters are all equidistant in spacing, theoutermost ones forming corner pilasters that wrap around to the sides of the building. As in the entablature, the rest of the frontfaçade is clad in wide flush boards. Set in antis are doors outside of each of the columns; above each of the doors there is athree-over-three window, placed just below the façade’s entablature. A sixteen-pane window with smaller panes is situatedbetween the columns; it is not original, although a larger window had originally been located between the columns but mid-wayup the façade (see Front Façade prior to 1967). The entrances are fronted by a porch of four steps that extend down on threesides; the earliest photographs appear to show the earlier steps had also extended down on three sides. The building’sfoundation consists of unusually large blocks of cut granite; where visible, granite blocks project out beneath the pilasters.

The south façade is clad in wood clapboards set within corner pilasters supporting a continuation of the entablature that runsacross the front. There are three twelve-over-twelve windows, their plain surrounds each forming a simple pedimental point. Thesmaller 1963 addition at the back is slightly recessed, and it is also clad in wood clapboards; simplified corner pilasters visuallysupport the cornice. A false frieze extending under the cornice is not visually supported by the pilasters; instead, it runs thedepth of the pilasters’ capital. A brick chimney centers six-over-six windows, while transom lights surmount a door that is servedby a simple porch and two steps. Similar treatments continue along the back and other sides of the addition. Above, thepediment treatment of the front façade of the church is repeated on the rear, west façade, excepting that here the treatmentwithin the pediment is simplified by the use of clapboards rather than flush boards, and the pediment is centered by a six-over-six window.

The north side of the original part of the church repeats the treatment on the south side, but here the addition in back extendsout to form an ell. The addition is again slightly recessed where it joins the original part of the church, with a door surmounted bytransom lights again placed just behind the original part of the church. The entrance can be approached by two steps, but alsoby a handicap-accessible walkway that extends out across the front of the ell. On the ell, two six-over-six windows face towardsthe addition and its elements are all in a smaller, subordinate scale to the original part of the church (see exterior photographs).

Entering the church from the front façade doors, there is a small vestibule with stairways in the corners leading to a balcony/choir loft. The placement of doors from the vestibule into the main nave of the church is offset from the placement of the doorsleading into the vestibule from the front of the church. From the two interior doors, side aisles extend down to the front of thenave, with eleven rows of elongated boxed pews between the aisles and seven boxed wall pews on the outside of the aisle, amajority of the wall pews being relatively square in form. With narrow aisles and each of the boxed pews accessed through quitenarrow doors, the wall pew near the northwest corner has been modified so that it is no longer accessed from the aisle, but




A, D 36instead through double doors at the front of the pew to allow for handicapped access. At the front of the nave, there is a step upif you pass between the two main aisles; that is the first step to the raised Empire-style pulpit. A focal paneled triptych treatmentbehind the pulpit is framed by two Corinthian columns centered between Corinthian pilasters. These support an entablature (withmodillion blocks beneath the cornice), and a projecting central pediment between the columns (similarly with modillion blocksbeneath the raking cornice). Boxed pews are located to either side of the prominent pulpit. On each of the windows, thesurrounds are surmounted by a projecting pediment with full cornices. The paneled ceiling has a central cross surrounded byrectangular panels similar to those in Asher Benjamin’s The Practice of Architecture, Plate 55 (see interior photographs).

Asher Benjamin’s 1833 book appears to have influenced those who designed this church, and in it he wrote of Classical churchdesign:

We cannot expect a carpenter to shape an edifice in so classic and correct a style as one who confines his labors to thestudy of Architecture. Let an architect of competent skill be employed to prepare the draught of the building, togetherwith the working drawings for the workmen….Alterations are generally expensive, and are apt to destroy the symmetryof the building.

A House erected for the worship of the Supreme Being, should correspond in character with the reverential feelings ofthose who assemble within it. While, therefore, we aim at elegance in the form of the columns, pilasters, entablatures,ceilings, windows, and doors, let it be a grave and simple elegance, and not of the gaudy kind. The details should befree from any unmeaning cuttings or twisting. Light, gay colors, and all symbols of heathen worship should be avoided(Benjamin, Practice of Architecture, pp. 99-100).

While the party who prepared the original plans for the church is not known, its design and details reflect a thoughtful, skillfuldesign and execution of a Greek Revival plan. Certainly, it also reflects the popularity and influence of architectural books suchas those by Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) in developing and shaping the architectural fabric of rural New England communitiessuch as Lincoln.

HISTORICAL NARRATIVEDiscuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) theowners/occupants played within the community.

As was true in other Massachusetts communities, when Lincoln became a town in 1754, town and church were closelyassociated. Individuals owned pews in the Meeting House, and they would leave pews to an heir or sell them by deed, but theMeeting House itself was maintained by the town, with appropriations made by Town Meetings. Town Meetings and religiousservices were both held in the Meeting House. When there was an opening in the ministry, Town and Parish each voted onwhether an invitation would be sent to a prospective candidate, and the minister’s salary was funded by the Town, with TownMeeting annually voting on an appropriation for the minister’s salary, just as they voted on school costs, care of the poor, roadwork, and other annual appropriations. That original Lincoln society was Congregational or Orthodox Congregational in itsaffiliation; after 1830 it became known as the First Church Congregational or First Parish.

Destroyed by fire in 1859, the early Meeting House used by the Town and Parish stood upon the original bounds of the TownCommon, near the location (14 Bedford Road) of the current Parish House/Stone Church (which is the third building constructedon that site). That Meeting House was standing when the Greek Revival Unitarian Church was built nearby in 1842, with many ofthe founders of the Unitarian Society having earlier separated from the town’s Congregational parish.

Both the original 1746-47 Meeting House and the 1842 Unitarian Church were constructed on what had been the seventeenth-century 750-acre Flint farm grant, with those lands subsequently associated with the Flint Homestead (LIN.59; 28 LexingtonRoad, National Register individual listing/Preservation Restriction), built for Ephraim Flint (1641/2-1723) by 1709. In a 1708/9deed he sold to his nephew, Edward Flint (1685-1754), 90 acres of land partly bounded by Sandy Pond [Flints Pond]; Edwardbuilt a house on the 90 acres in what is now the Sandy Pond Road area (see Flint Farm Development, #8). Ephraim Flint did nothave any children; in his will, he divided the farmstead between a number of relations. A great-nephew and namesake, EphraimFlint, inherited the Flint Homestead and much of the northerly part of the farm. Through various land transactions between theother heirs, Edward Flint acquired much of the southern half of the Flint farmstead, and Edward would play a central role in itsdevelopment. He sold off much of the land, including in 1725 selling his initial house; he then likely moved to a house on current-




A, D 36day Weston Road, later selling that house while building another house on the corner of Sandy Pond Road and Bedford Road(see Flint Farm Development, #s 8, 11, and 7 respectively). Through his various transactions, he helped to bring to the areaneighbors who joined with him in taking an active role in efforts to create the Town of Lincoln and its original parish.

Edward Flint and others first petitioned to form a new town in 1735. Their efforts resulted in the Massachusetts General Courtauthorizing the Second Precinct of Concord, Lexington, and Weston in 1746 (which would have its own Meeting House andparish) and then the Town of Lincoln in 1754. Even before the precinct was formed, residents of the area attended religiousservices in Edward Flint’s home, and in 1745 he donated an acre of his land for the Meeting House lot (later Town Common). Atthe time, no roads passed by or near the Meeting House lot, but within the next decade Edward’s farm was subdivided by roadsas portions of present-day Bedford, Sandy Pond, Lincoln, and Weston roads were laid out through his farm, while Old LexingtonRoad was laid out along the border of his farm. These roads were primarily laid out to provide access to the Meeting House fromthe various sections of the new precinct/town, but they also created the road network around which the Lincoln Center villagewould develop (Trapelo Road was added to this village road network early in the nineteenth century). Edward Flint’s stepson,John Adams, inherited his house and farm, most of which later passed to John’s son, Jonas Adams, who died in 1811. Thefarmstead was subsequently acquired jointly by three prominent neighbors, Hon. Samuel Hoar, Dr. Grosvenor Tarbell, and Capt.Abraham Cole. In 1816 the three men divided the former Flint-Adams farmstead, each incorporating different portions into theirown holdings. Stripped of its former farmstead, the Edward Flint House with barn, outbuildings, and three-quarters of an acrewas transferred to Tarbell, who continued to live nearby in Lincoln’s first brick house (LIN.32, Adams-Tarbell House, 7 LincolnRoad; National Register, district). The Tarbells rented out the Edward Flint House, with Lincoln’s second minister, Rev. Dr.Charles Stearns, living there for many years. The northern half of this village house lot would eventually become the site of the1842 Unitarian Church.

Under Lincoln’s popular Rev. Charles Stearns (1753-1826), religious differences within the community were generally held inabeyance, although there were some people in the community who joined churches of other denominations in nearbycommunities—particularly the Methodist Church located in north Weston, near Lincoln’s southeast boundary. While the Lincolnchurch was Congregational in affiliation, Stearns was liberal in his religious orientation; as Orthodox Congregational and liberalUnitarian divisions were developing in each Massachusetts town, Stearns shared his pulpit with ministers from other towns fromboth sects. As was recorded in Stearns’s obituary (likely written by Concord’s liberal Rev. Ezra Ripley, who gave the eulogy):

On disputed points of theology, he avoided extremes, believing that those articles of faith and nice distinctions in whichthe learned and godly could not agree, could not be essential to the salvation or edification of the unlearned. But he wascandid and liberal in his opinions and feelings towards those who differed from him on religious subjects of controversy;and rejected with entire disapprobation bigotry and an exclusive spirit and practice. He thought for himself, and refusedto attach himself to any modern sect (quoted in MacLean, Rich Harvest, pp. 363-64).

The Stearns Room, initially added in 1962-63 at the rear of the First Parish Church/White Church, memorializes his years ofleadership and is named in the minister’s honor.

Stearns’s successor, Rev. Elijah Demond, sought to retain orthodoxy within the church, and a period of community divisiondeveloped, resulting initially in an increasing number of residents joining churches in other towns, and ultimately in the 1841formation of the Unitarian Congregational Society of Lincoln and the construction of its church the following year. At the timeDemond came to Lincoln, Town and Parish each voted on extending a call to a new minister, and the town still paid theminister’s salary and maintained the Meeting House. With many displeased by Demond’s orthodoxy, two actions brought beforethe Town Meeting in March 1829 sought Demond’s dismissal. Although the Town Meeting voted 43 to 39 in favor of dismissal, itwas conditioned when Demond accepted the position that a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting would be required to initiate a callfor dismissal. Demond remained. Lincoln was deeply divided. At the May 3, 1830, Town Meeting, the annual article for payingthe minister’s salary was dismissed. In response, the religious society formally constituted itself as The First Parish in Lincoln onMay 15, 1830, and thereafter the Parish rather than the Town paid the minister’s salary. Town and church were dividing; thetown continued to use the Meeting House for Town Meetings until the parish initiated extensive modifications (done in themodern style) to the old Meeting House in 1841; Town Meetings moved to the adjoining Center School in anticipation of thework. Both the Orthodox Congregationalists and the Unitarians subsequently sought to share their houses with the town, but thetown rejected both proposals, eventually building the Greek Revival 1848 Lincoln Old Town Hall (LIN.30, 25 Lincoln Road;National Register, district).




A, D 36It was also in 1841 that orthodox and liberal sects in the community formally divided, with the organizing of the UnitarianCongregational Society in Lincoln that August. In contrast to neighboring towns where the liberal Unitarians were the larger sect,the Orthodox Congregationalists were the larger group in Lincoln; unlike in adjoining towns, in Lincoln the Congregationalistsretained the old Meeting House. With the Town Meeting subsequently dismissing a petition “to see if the town will build a TownHouse in connection with the new Society,” the Unitarian Society (also later known as the Second Parish) would be left to buildby themselves (quoted in MacLean, Rich Harvest, pp. 383, 385). A proposal to allow them to build a Unitarian Meeting House onthe Town Common was also not supported by the Town. Accordingly, the Unitarian Society needed to find its own lot, and a lotof about a quarter of an acre was acquired from James Farrar, a deacon of the First Parish, but acting individually (Mid. Deeds,440:66).The lot was the northern portion of the former Flint-Adams/Tarbell rental-house lot, the earlier house on that lot havingbeen replaced in 1832 by the Greek Revival Wheeler-Farrar-Bemis House (LIN.36, 2 Bedford Road; National Register, district).

In December 1841, committees were formed to prepare plans and to build a new church. After approving the plans andspecifications, they advertised on December 31, 1841:

To Builders.PROPOSALS will be received till the 26th January next, for building a Meeting House in Lincoln 50 feet by 36 feet—tobe completed by the first of June next. For a plan and specifications apply to CHARLES BROWN, LEONARD HOAR,JR., or ABEL WHEELER. (quoted in MacLean, Rich Harvest, p. 385).

The identity of the individual who prepared the church plan has not been determined, although it is possible that it was one of thecommittee members; the church paid $20 for the plans and specifications. Drawings from Asher Benjamin’s Practice ofArchitecture (1833) certainly inspired elements of the Greek temple in antis design, both on the exterior as well as the interiorceiling pattern (see Martin, Inheritance, pp. 24-25). Along with the subsequent 1848 Greek Revival Lincoln Old Town Hall (whichwas initially sited on the Common, across from the original Meeting House), the church played a central role in redefining thearchitectural character of the central village. From the 1830s to the early 1850s, nine houses were also built within the LincolnCenter National Historic District. With the prominence and concentration of Greek Revival buildings in the central village, theystrongly defined and architecturally distinguished the village from the rest of the farming town.

The low bidder on the proposal for the church was carpenter-builder Reuben Smith (1793-1853) of Stow. In the 1850 census,Reuben was listed next to his younger brother, carpenter and later millwright Micah Smith (1807-1874); the two brothers likelyoften worked in partnership, and it is not unlikely that Micah would have worked with Reuben on aspects of this importantcommission. Their homes were on present-day Gleasondale Road in Stow, with the Federal Reuben Smith House (STW.102,175 Gleasondale Road) built by 1830. Micah is identified as the builder of the 1841 Pine Grove Farm Barn in Stow (STW.85, 76Crescent Street) and the Greek Revival in antis 1847-49 Stow Town Hall (STW.57, 375 Great Road); a member of the BuildingCommittee, Micah also drew the plans for that building. While a builder is not attributed, the Greek Revival in antis 1847-48 FirstParish Church shows strong design correlations with the earlier, but smaller, Lincoln Unitarian Church, suggestive of likely Smithfamily associations with both buildings, with the Stow design potentially influenced by the Lincoln design. Clearly pleased withReuben Smith’s workmanship, Abel Wheeler—a member of the Lincoln Unitarian Church Building Committee and a primesupporter of the undertaking—subsequently hired Reuben Smith to build his own Greek Revival house, the 1843 Abel WheelerHouse (LIN.79, 67 Bedford Road; National Register, district). That house was to “be built in conformity to a plan andspecifications accompanying this agreement. The stock and workmanship to be in every way as good as the stock and work ofDoct. Adams’s or Nathl. Cutler’s house of Bedford” (Lincoln Archives Collection, Lincoln Public Library—see part of the contractbetween Wheeler and Smith in Wheeler Farm Area, LIN.Q; both in Bedford, the Nathaniel Cutler House, BED.94, 24-27 SouthRoad, is listed as an 1836 Greek Revival [nearby, a home of a Dr. Abel B. Adams, BED.285, 57 South Road, is listed as a later1850 Victorian Eclectic], whether the reference could suggest any involvement in the construction of Cutler’s house by Smithwould be an interesting conjecture for exploration).

While the request for proposals had sought to have the church completed by June, construction continued somewhat past thatdate, with it reported of a 21-year-old carpenter, “Thomas Buttrick, of Lancaster, a young man employed as a carpenter on theUnitarian Meeting house, now building in Lincoln, was drowned in Sandy Pond, in that town, on Saturday, the 30th ult. [July1842]” (Daily Atlas, August 15, 1842, p. 2). How many other carpenters and other workers assisted Reuben Smith with theproject is not known, but this account documents that some workers were brought in from some distance to be employed on theproject. Smith’s original bid was for $2,150. Including the land, modifications, a stove for $49.57, and a pulpit for $105, the totalproject costs were $2,782.13 (First Parish Records). The new Unitarian Meeting House was dedicated on November 1, 1842,with the Unitarian Register and Observer stating of the occasion:




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We could not help pausing in our way as we approached the centre of Lincoln and saw the two churches on the hill-side….

There stood the little temple, soon to be dedicated to the service of the only true God, with its white steeple shimmeringin the sun, and pointing to the same heaven which smiled over the neighboring spire....

The pews were completely filled before the appointed hour arrived. Seats and chairs were placed in the aisles, and thepulpit stairs served to accommodate many….The exercises began with a voluntary by the (Congregational) Choir; andwe rejoiced to see, that (in Lincoln at least) the spirit of sectarianism had not grown to that bad excess, which mighthave deprived us of the aid of those who could do so much to delight our ear and to put our music in our thoughts….

The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. [Samuel] Ripley, who, we understand, has kindly consented to supply thepulpit, til the little flock can provide for themselves….(quoted in Styron, History of the Church, pp. 51-52).

The congregation would remain small through the years, without a regular settled minister, and with need for outside financialsupport. The construction of the church building had been financed by the sale of its boxed pews. An early sketch (see UnitarianChurch Pews) depicting the boxed pews and who purchased them shows nine rows of pews through the center of the churchnave, with an open aisle behind them; today the aisle running between the doors at the back of the nave has been filled bypews, and there are now eleven rows of boxed pews. The initial drawing shows six boxed pews running along the two side wallsof the nave; today there are seven pews, the two next-to-back pews (#s 2 and 19 on the original drawing) each having beendivided into two smaller boxed pews. The original drawing shows that at the front of the nave, there were four boxed pews toeither side of the pulpit; today there are two boxed pews to either side, with seats running along each of the outer walls no longerenclosed within a boxed pew. In all, the plan shows thirty-eight boxed pews. One pew was retained as a ministerial pew (#29 onthe drawing) with the drawing representing that thirty-one pews were sold (in a number of cases, individuals purchased morethan one pew) and six remained unsold, although the original written report stated that thirty pews were sold for $2304 and eightremained unsold.

As the church struggled financially through the years—with services generally limited to the summer months from 1865 into theearly twentieth century—few changes were made to the building. The Society’s records support this, only mentioning paintingthe building in 1847 and painting in 1893 (the main façade was painted gray for many years). An original gallery was torn downin 1878, with a replacement constructed by Lincoln carpenter Nathaniel Cousins, who also made some alterations to the pulpit.In April 1901, church records report that, “A small ‘[Hook &] Hastings’ organ was given by Mr. John H. Pierce—repairs made tothe church and grounds during the summer.” The organ was placed within what had originally been the aisle at the back of thenave, opposite the pulpit and between the entry doors. A photograph (see View of back of Nave) showing the organ in placedocuments some of the interior work that may have been done at this time. The photograph shows a seat rather than a boxedpew in the back corner of the nave, with the last boxed pew in front of it appearing to be half the size of the other pews; if thiswas a change made in 1901, it would appear to show when the original pews #2 and #19 were reduced to half of their originalsize. A general restoration was made to the church in 1937 in memory of Rev. James DeNormandie, D. D. (1836-1924), whostarted preaching here when he became a Lincoln summer resident in 1898, and who was the regular minister from 1903 until1917. Parishioner Margaret Flint wrote in the 1960s, “This building was restored in 1937, but the restoration [was] confined torepairs of heating system and utilities, repair and painting of exterior and interior, repair and reupholstering of furnishings, etc.No major alteration was involved” (Flint, The White Church Form B).

At different times, considerations had been given to having the two parishes join together. In 1935 a trial federation of theUnitarian and Congregational churches was initiated. This trial resulted in the formal union of the two churches in 1942 as TheFirst Parish in Lincoln. The non-denominational parish maintains a covenant relationship with both the Unitarian-UniversalistAssociation and United Church of Christ. Services subsequently have been held in the former Unitarian Church, while the formerCongregational Church up the hill serves as the Parish House.

The 1962-63 addition to the church was designed by Concord architects Frank Sewall Owen and Hugo E. Olson (see Architects’Drawing for the 1962-63 Addition). Subordinate in scale and placement to the original 1942 construction, the addition includes ameeting room named the Stearns Room. This addition was donated to the parish by Sumner Smith in memory of his parent;Sumner Smith lived in the 1782 Stearns-Cole Smith House (LIN.31, 15 Sandy Pond Road; National Register, district), which hadinitially been constructed by Reverend Stearns. To provide for doors from the nave into the addition, the enumerated alterations




A, D 36to the boxed pews to either side of the pulpit were made at this time. In 1967 a cantilevered choir balcony was added above theback of the nave, designed by Lincoln architect Robert Brannen, principal of the Boston architectural firm JunglBrannen; aNoack organ was added within the balcony in 1970, with the back of the nave where the earlier Hook & Hastings organ stoodnow filled by boxed pews. The front entrance and interior narthex/vestibule were modified, including two stairs to the balcony,and a center window on the front façade was removed. Another alteration to the pews would come later, when an exteriorwalkway/ramp was added to the entrance to the Stearns Room addition, providing handicapped access, with a memorial benchplaced along the walkway. In the front of the nave, the boxed pew (#8 on the original drawing of pews) closest to this entrancewas modified, with the single door from the main aisle removed, and a pair of doors added to the front of the pew, and the pewidentified for handicapped use. Having not previously had a bell, in 1979 a bell was installed and dedicated in memory of NewtonProuty DeNormandie, Louis Paddock, and George Wells; cast in 1889, it was originally installed in Manchester, NewHampshire’s Saint Raphael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church..

Outside, horse sheds had historically been located on the church grounds, behind the church itself. In 1846, for example, thechurch “Voted to build a shed for the use of Mr. Ripley” (Unitarian Congregational Society, Book 1, p. 37). Years later, in 1895,they acted on “repairs on the sheds and fence separating the church property from Mr. J. L. Chapin” (Unitarian CongregationalSociety, Book 1, p. 111). The 1963 addition extends into part of the area where the horse sheds stood, disturbing much of thepotential archaeological evidence associated with the sheds, but behind it, stone walls that extended along the west and southbounds of the lot and that would have served as part of the foundation works for the sheds are visually in evidence (see Sectionof Stone wall;1875 Lincoln Village map; and 2001 Plan). In addition, the barn associated with the Edward Flint House and theWheeler-Farrar-Bemis House that replaced it had been located to the north of those houses but within the current Wheeler-Farrar-Bemis lot. A 1799 deed for that Flint-Adams property also referred to “the back yard or Mill yard so called” and “thetobacco yard and cow yard east and south of the barn” (Mid. Deeds, 168:326). Close proximity suggests that the church lotcould also still contain archaeological evidence relating to possible outbuildings or fencing associated with this eighteenth-century barnyard area.

In 2001 the lot itself was enlarged to the back of the church (see 2001 Plan).

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES

Benjamin, Asher. Practice of Architecture…. Boston: 1833.Daily Atlas, The [Boston], Vol. 11, Issue 38 (August 15, 1842), p. 2.First Parish Records, Lincoln Archives Collection, Lincoln Public Library.Flint, Margaret. The White Church, Form B. n.d.Lincoln inventory, Massachusetts Historical Commission, MACRIS form LIN.Q.MacLean, John C. A Rich Harvest: The History, Buildings, and People of Lincoln, Massachusetts. Lincoln, MA: 1987.Martin, Margaret Mutchler. Inheritance: Lincoln’s Public Buildings in the Historic District. Lincoln, MA: 1987.Massachusetts Vital Records.Middlesex Registry of Deeds, South District (Mid. Deeds, Vol.: page cited)Stow inventory, Massachusetts Historical Commission, MACRIS forms STW.57; STW.61; STW.85; STW.102.Stow Vital Records.Styron, Charles M. The First Parish in Lincoln: History of the Church, 1747-1942. Lincoln, MA: 2003.Unitarian Congregational Society, The, Book 1, First Parish Records, Lincoln Archives Collection, Lincoln Public Library.United States Census, various years.“You Have Set My Feet in a Large Room”: The ministry of Charles Styron to The First Parish in Lincoln, 1936-1970. Lincoln, MA:1970.




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(above) Lincoln Assessors’ Sketch, showing size in feet, with the original 1842 building about 51 feet deep and 37 feet wideand the 1964 Stearns room addition here depicted above it (front of building at bottom; FFL=full floor; BMT=basement;WDK=wood deck; PAT=patio). (below) Section of Stone wall (and probable horse shed foundation work) behind church




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Flint Farm Development (© 1988 John C. MacLean, A Rich Harvest, published by the Lincoln Historical Society)

Historical View from Weston Road, looking from Weston Road across farmland towards Unitarian Church and Lincoln Library,likely c. 1884-1892




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1887 Historical View looking north towards Lincoln Hill and village setting (spire on right is this church)

c. 1910 Historical View looking north to Lincoln Hill and village setting (spire at right is church; Center School/Town OfficesBuilding on Lincoln Road in left foreground)




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Aerial Views (© 2012 Microsoft Corp.)




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(above) 1875 Lincoln Village map, detail, showing the “UNIT. CH” with the horse sheds depicted behind it. Also shown are thesecond building of the Orthodox Congregational Church and the 1848 Greek Revival Lincoln Old Town Hall across from it, on itsoriginal site (both buildings sited on the original Town Common lot donated by Edward Flint; the home then of E. Brmis, which isthe 1832 Greek Revival Wheeler-Farrar House, built on the site of the earlier home of Edward Flint; and the home of [Ca]lvinSmith, the Stearns-Cole-Smith House originally constructed by Rev. Charles Stearns.(below) Congregational Church horse sheds, detail of 1879 drawing, with Bedford Road in foreground




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2001 Plan, detail, showing the First Parish Church on its original lot, along with an adjoining parcel added in 2001 (listed asparcel 53-6-01); the stone wall along the original back boundary (also likely part of the foundation works associated with theearlier horse sheds) is also depicted (Mid. Deeds, 2001 Plans, #1066)




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(above) Undated Historical View looking south, part of a horse shed is visible behind church at far right; (below) Looking south,with part of the 1963 addition visible at far right.




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1904 Historical View looking southwesterly down Bedford Road towards 1842 Church, with 1884 Lincoln Library at left and1848 Lincoln Old Town Hall at right (where it was located from 1892-1917)

1904 detail of front entry, with upper blinds closed and lower blinds open on window on north façade at right; chimney for thestove is visible just above the street lamp in foreground




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(above) Front Façade prior to 1967 interior balcony renovation. (below) Front Façade, with earlier center window withpedimented surround removed and a smaller first-story window with plain surround added




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Two Ionic Columns are set in antis, but like the pilasters, they do not have a visible base, terminating at the front steps.




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On the south side, the 1963 addition is subordinated to the original 1842 construction both by its scale and by being slightly setin from the outer line of the 1842 façade. It borrows simplified corner pilaster design motifs from the original Greek Revivaltemple, while achieving balance through clapboards that are not as wide and windows and other features reduced in scale.




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(above) Architects’ Drawing for the 1962-63 Addition; the “Parish Hall” is known as the Stearns Room (First Parish). (below)ramp later added in front of 1963 addition, which has allowed for this primary entrance to the Stearns Room, coat room, andlavatories—and entrance to the front of the Nave—to serve as the building’s access and exit for handicap use.




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Unitarian Church Pews, c. 1842 (First Parish Church Collection)




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(above) Asher Benjamin, Practice of Architecture, Pl. 56, Church ceiling (1833); (below) Church nave ceiling and chandelier




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(above) View of back of Nave with Hook & Hastings organ. (below) Current view of back of Nave with1967 balcony and 1970organ in balcony; on the lower level the earlier door surrounds have been removed, while boxed pews extend to the back wall

Download - First Parish Church, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Historical Inventory Report

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