said sum to be expended annually for the support of liberal preaching."

At the annual parish meeting held April 5, 1916, it was "Voted to accept the gift of one thousand dollars from Serlina G. Richardson, late of Chelmsford, the clerk to make a suitable record on the Church book."

Following the pastorate of Rev. E. J. Prescott, the Rev. J. H. Crooker of Lexington supplied the pulpit of the First Parish Church for a few Sundays, and was finally hired to assume the duties of pastor. He continued to make his home in Lexington, going to Carlisle for the Sabbath day service and as necessity required.

CHAPTER XVIII

UNION CALVINISTIC CHURCH

AFTER a series of efforts on the part of the members of the original church to negotiate an amicable settlement of ecclesiastical affairs with the town, extending over a period of three years subsequent to the death of the Rev. Paul Litchfield, the first pastor of the town, the situation appears to have developed into a condition where new resources had to be developed and new plans formed, which resulted in twelve legal voters of the town, John Jacobs, Aaron Fletcher, Zebulon Blood, Joseph Heald, Abel Taylor, William Raymond, Samuel Boynton, Jonas Munroe, Reuben Munroe, Harris Bingham, Timothy Meek and Reuben Foster, forming themselves into a religious society known as the Union Calvinistic Society; and later applying to Jonathan Prescott, Esq., of Westford, to grant a warrant in due form of law to Deacon Jacobs, to notify all the male members of said Society to meet at the house of Capt. Aaron Fletcher on Saturday, November 20, 1830, at one o'clock p.m., for the purpose of organizing according to law, and choosing all necessary officers to manage the business of said Society.

The warrant was granted and the members of the Society were personally warned by Deacon Jacobs. The meeting was held at the time and place mentioned, the place being the same premises in the center of the town now (1920) owned and occupied by Mr. Daniel W. Robbins. The meeting was called to order by Jonathan Prescott, Esq., the justice of the peace, who served the

warrant. Mr. Samuel Boynton was chosen moderator, and the following officers, who were also the first officers of said Society, were chosen: Clerk, John Jacobs; treasurer and collector, John Jacobs; prudential committee, Harris Bingham, John Jacobs and Reuben Foster. Twenty male members then signed the constitution of the Society and the date of November 20, 1830, will be remembered as the date when the Union Calvinistic Society was organized.

Now the situation in the town appeared to be a new religious society formed, with a constantly increasing membership, but lacking the necessary convenience of a house for worship, and to the consideration of this particular problem the minds of the members of the Society appear to have been turned; for at a business meeting of the Society, held at the home of Deacon John Jacobs on January 3, 1831, it was "Voted that Deacon Jacobs draw up a subscription paper and circulate the same for the purpose of ascertaining what sum can be raised in this manner toward building a church."

On the twenty-eighth day of the following February a meeting of the Society was called at the same place as before, and it was "voted to build a house of worship thirty feet long, twenty-eight feet wide and fifteen feet high, and also to lay out the money subscribed in labor and materials as far as it will go." Just how much was subscribed is not revealed, but it is recorded that one individual raised by subscription from people not living in the town the sum of $255.06 in money, and twenty-one dollars in materials, which included a stove.

Messrs. John Jacobs, Abel Taylor and Reuben Foster were chosen as a building committee, who attended to the duties assigned them, and completed the building during the summer of 1832, at an expense to the Society of nearly eight hundred dollars. Necessary arrange

ments were made, and the building was dedicated to God, and the purposes of religious worship on October 4, 1832. Rev. Amos Blanchard of Lowell preached the dedicatory sermon and meetings continued to be held for a space of three days with favorable results to the church and Society.

The building was located at the south of the Common, in the center of the town, the same location as that occupied by the Congregational Church at the present time (1920), and of which it forms the larger part of the main auditorium. The land surrounding it and on which the church stands, in area a quarter of an acre more or less, was leased by said Society for a term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years of Mr. Isaac Duren, with the express understanding that said Society would, within the space of two years, erect a building on said premises to be consecrated to the solemn worship of Almighty God, and that the doctrines supported shall be the same as were embodied and maintained by the early settlers of the country, and which are now known as orthodox or evangelical, being the same as said Society did at that time openly profess. Said lease is dated April 6, 1831, the terms of which are that the sum of twenty dollars rent shall be paid upon the delivery of the lease, and afterward the sum of one cent for each and every year during the existence of said lease.

The Society chose Deacon John Jacobs and Mr. Abel Taylor as their agents to execute the foregoing lease with Mr. Duren, both of whose names are embodied in the indenture as the authorized agents of the Society for that purpose. Previous to the erection of the church edifice Sabbath services had for some time been regularly maintained in private homes. Various clergymen, seventy-seven in all, according to the church records, had supplied one or more Sabbaths. It was on April 22,

1833, at a regular meeting of the church and Society, that a unanimous vote was passed to call the Rev. Abel Patten to settle with them in the Gospel ministry. The call concludes with the following terms and conditions: "And that you may be in a good measure free from worldly cares and avocations, we as a church and society do hereby promise and oblige ourselves to furnish you with board, a room, fuel, lights, &c., the use of horse and chaise when necessary, and to pay you annually in addition to one hundred dollars from the Domestic Missionary Society, the sum of two hundred dollars in regular quarterly payments, during a period of two years."

The foregoing call was accepted by Rev. Abel Patten and an ecclesiastical council was convened at the home of Deacon Jacobs on May 22. Seven churches were represented in the council by pastor and delegate. The proceedings of the church and the examination of the candidate being concluded, and proving satisfactory to the council, it was voted to adjourn to the house of public worship, where the public exercises of the installation were observed and Rev. Abel Patten was installed the first pastor of the new church and Society.

The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Patten continued until September 29, 1835, when because of the inability of the church and Society to raise a competent salary for his support, at his own request an ecclesiastical council was convened and a dissolution of the pastoral relationship was recommended and accomplished.

The second pastor settled over the church and Society was Rev. Preserved Smith. He was the unanimous choice of the church, and their action relative to finances follows: "Voted to give you four Hundred Dollars a year for your Sallary allowing you as many Sabbaths Annually as we may fail to make up that amount." The call was accepted, and arrangements