1882

Our first organist and music director, Silas Atkins Bancroft (1823-1886), retired after two decades of faithful service.  He is buried in Lot 2607 on the Mistletoe Path of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

B.S. Rotch (1817-1882) at time of our foundation. Photo courtesy of Boston Athenaeum.

Senior Warden Benjamin Smith Rotch died in office. A founding vestry member and warden since 1880, he was later memorialized with his wife Anne Bigelow Lawrence (1820-93) in our sanctuary’s reredos.

They are buried in  Lot 3004 on Bellwort Path in Mt. Auburn Cemetery.  His epitaph from Revelation 2:10 reads:  Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

1881

  • Emmanuel Chapel was established as a mission at 114 W. Canton Street in the South End.  After 1885, it became Chapel of the Ascension, then Church of the Ascension in 1890.
  • Enoch Redington Mudge, who had founded recently-dedicated St. Stephen’s Church, Lynn, died. Jr. Warden from 1865-72, he had been a vestryman during the Civil War, when he lost his son Charles Redington at Gettysburg.

    Enoch Redington Mudge (1812-1881)

1880

The Rev. Dr. William R. Huntington wrote “A Brief Sketch of the Early Days of the Church of the Good Shepherd”, Parish Journal of the Church, pp. 7-10.  Its title page lists as rector The Rev. George J. Prescott and as warden JDW French, who had come with founding priest WR Huntington from Emmanuel.  Also listed are warden Robert H. Richards and other founders, vestrymen, and sexton.

See also 1866

1878

The Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks became our third rector.TimeLineLeightonparksHead1

He requested free seats at afternoon services, which required releases of pew holders’ rights. For biographical information on Dr. Parks please see the chapter on him in Emmanuel Church, 1860-1960: The First Hundred Years.

 

The Dakota League was incorporated into the Massachusetts branch of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Episcopal Board of Missions, which had formed in 1871. Since its founding here in 1864, the League had raised $56K for Native Americans and $8500 for freedmen, according to the Boston Evening Transcript of 18 October.

1877

Richard S. Fay (1806-65), drawn in 1847 by Duane H. Hurd (History of Essex County MA, 1888).

Richard S. Fay , member of our founding vestry, helped found and manage the Cooperative Society of Volunteer Visitors to the Poor in response to high unemployment coupled with the devastating fire that had left many poor people homeless in Boston.  Having undergone name changes since then, the Society abides with us as Community Work Services, which provides job training to those with disabilities or living in poverty.  Under the direction of Rob Yeomans, trainees clean and maintain our facilities, which are enjoyed by the many groups of our community.

 

 

1876

Rand's orchid

Paphinia cristata var. Randi named for ES Rand, Jr. Painting by M. A Goossens, lithographed by P. De Pannemaeker. Lindenia – Iconographie des Orchidées (Ghent, 1887)

Edward Sprague Rand, Jr. published in New York Orchids: Description of the species and varieties grown at Glen Ridge.   Lucien Linden and Emile Rodigas in their collection of plates of orchids Lindenia:  Iconography of Orchids,  ed. Jules Linden (Ghent, 1885-1906) named a variety of Paphinia cristata for him (randi).

See also 1873.

 

 

1874

Our second rector, The Rev. Dr. A.H. Vinton, presided at the funeral of Benjamin Tyler Reed, a founder and early vestryman, who had served as warden from 1863-72. Pallbearers included John Cummings; founding vestryman and early warden Enoch Redington Mudge; our first senior warden, Edward Sprague Rand; Henry Winthrop Sargent; and Amos Adams Lawrence. Among the many in attendance were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Josiah Quincy, and Robert Charles Winthrop.  According to the April 3 Boston Evening Transcript, the cortege to Mount Auburn Cemetery comprised some twenty coaches.

1873

Several famous botanists were connected with our church.

  • Rhododendron “Edward S. Rand”. Photo credit: Tijs Huisman

    When Benjamin Tyler Reed retired as senior warden, Edward Sprague Rand served again as warden until 1875.  His son E.S. Rand, Jr. (actually III)  wrote many botanical works.   An orchid and a rhododendron are named for him (or perhaps his father).

  • Henry Winthrop Sargent (1810-1882) became junior warden. In 1859 and 1875, he published supplements to Downing’s reference work, A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1841).
  • Dec. 2.  Winthrop Henry Sargent (1840-1916, son of H.W. & Caroline Olmsted S.) married Aimee Rotch, daughter of Emmanuel charter members Benjamin S. and Annie Bigelow Rotch.  They lived at 207 Commonwealth Avenue.  Winthrop served for 30 years as warden of St. Luke’s Chapel, Fishkill-on-Hudson, NY, where the Sargents summered.  See also:
    •  Rotch Reredos
    • Henry Winthrop Sargent and His Family
    • Register of the Mass. Society of Colonial Dames of America: 1893-1905, (p. 83, #144) lists some of Aimee’s ancestors including Emmanuelites Amos & Nathaniel Lawrence.
  • The Rev. Dr. A.H. Vinton officiated at the wedding of Mary Allen Robeson (1853-1918), daughter of charter members Andrew (1817-1874) and Mary Allen Robeson (1819-1903), and Charles Sprague Sargent (cousin of H.W. S.), who founded the Arnold Arboretum and wrote many botanical works. Andrew and his wife Mary Allen Robeson lived at Holm Lea across from Fairsted in Brookline.  They were memorialized by their daughter Alice Robeson (Mrs. Stephen Van Rensselaer) Thayer in our windows depicting Simeon and Anna.  See also:
    • Register of the Mass. Society of Colonial Dames of America: 1893-1905, (p. 48, #41) lists Mary’s ancestors who served the Commonwealth.
    • Register of the Mass. Society of Colonial Dames of America: 1893-1905, (p. 57, #66) lists even more of Alice’s ancestors.

      Simeon & Anna lancets

      Simeon (Andrew Robeson, 1817-1874) & Anna (Mary Allen Robeson, 1819-1903) by Harry Eldredge Goodhue