Papers, 1842-1964
MC 171
5 boxes (1.66 cu.ft.)
About the First Unitarian Church of Manchester, N.H.
The first preaching in Manchester, New Hampshire of the doctrine belonging to the Unitarian faith was given in March 1841 by the Reverend S. Osgood, of Nashua, but it wasn’t until July 19, 1842 that an assembly met for the purpose of organizing a Unitarian church in the city at city hall. The first pastor, Rev. Oliver H. Wellington, was ordained the same day.
The society’s first place of worship, after it left city hall, was a small wooden chapel built in 1841 on the corner of Hanover and Chestnut Streets by the Second Methodist Episcopal society. In 1843, when the Methodists built their brick church on Elm Street, they leased this chapel to the Unitarians. Rev. Wellington first preached in it July 2, 1843. That same month, however, the society purchased and moved it to the corner of Merrimack and Pine Streets, the gift of the Amoskeag Company, enlarging it in the process.
In 1852, in his will, the Hon. Richard H. Ayer left the society a house on the corner of Chestnut and Central Streets, which was used as a parsonage and then sold in 1864. In 1859 the society exchanged its house for the one built by the First Freewill Baptist society on the corner of Chestnut and Merrimack Streets. This they sold in 1871 and in 1872 they dedicated a new house of worship on the corner of Beech and Concord Streets.
About the First Unitarian Church of Manchester, N.H. Papers
The Unitarian Church of Manchester, N.H. papers include record book ledgers and treasurers’ account books documenting the formation of the church, its membership and finances; a manuscript book on the formation of the Unity Club in 1872 with signatures of 150 of its members; a cash book of the Unity Club’s transactions in the 1890s, printed pamphlets, 34 photographs related to the church Sunday school’s activities, and 12 printing blocks.
Series Listing
Folder Listing
I. Church Records
| f.1 | Record Book, 1842-1896 (ledger, approximately 400 pages) Documents the formation of the church in 1842, its constitution, annual meeting minutes, other business, and treasurer’s accounts. |
| f.2 | Record Book, 1842-1874 (ledger, approximately 100 pages) Documents the history of the church up until 1874 – its formation in 1842, its business, various orders of services, pew rentals, and a contract for a new building in 1871. Includes a list of church members, births, deaths, marriages (1842-1861) and baptisms in back. |
| f.3 | Treasurer’s account book, 1902-1939 (ledger, 400 pages and, tipped in, printed financial reports for the years ending Oct. 1877, 1879, 1893 and 1915). |
| f.1 | Church membership list, 1842-1947 (ledger, 19 pages, 18 and, tipped in, a typed list, 1842-1942). |
| f.2 | Record Book, Unity Club, 1892-1896 (ledger, 55 pages) Documents the formation of the Unity Club in Sept. 1892, lists its members, and records its business. Includes two publications tipped in, Unity Clubs: or Mutual Improvement Societies in Town and Church by Emma Endicott Marean (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and Co., 1886) and Tract 4 of the National Bureau of Unity Clubs, Suggested Plans of Study and Work For Unity Clubs and Study Classes (Boston: Geo. H. Ellis, 1891) |
| f.3 | Treasurer’s account book for the Unity Club, 1892-1896 (ledger, 33 pages). |
| f.4 | Treasurer’s account book, 1906-1926, for the Women’s Alliance formed in 1906 (ledger, 132 pages) Includes a program for the 1914-1915 season of meetings of the Women’s Alliance of the First Unitarian Society of Manchester and two flyers advertising a chicken pie supper and an afternoon tea, all tipped in |
| f.5 | By-Laws of the Unitarian Society, 1894-1897 |
| f.6 | Mortgage deed, Nov. 27, 1929. For a sum of $2500 needed for repair of the church steeple, the First Unitarian Society mortgaged land to the American Unitarian Association in Boston |
| f.7 | Programs for various minister installations, 1905-1937 |
| f.8 | Receipts and notes, 1860-1883 |
| f.9 | Miscellaneous correspondence, 1861-1942 (8 letters) |
| f.10 | Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1932-1941 (includes an address by Ella Hope before the Alliance in 1932, reporting on Alliance Week at the Isles of Shoals; an historical address by Lauretta B. Sawtelle, Parish Historian, at the centennial meeting at Grace Church, Dec 2, 1941; notes on early religious education in the First Unitarian Society, n.d. (but ca. 1930); and various notes toward a history of the church, including a list of members on the original church roll). |
| f.11 | Miscellaneous printed items, 1872-1941 (including program for the dedication of the “new church edifice of the First Unitarian Church of Manchester, N.H.”, May 1, 1872; program for the fiftieth anniversary of the church, April 27, 1892; program of the “exercises in commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary,” Sept. 20-22, 1908; booklet containing services conducted for the fiftieth anniversary of the church building in 1922, historical addresses, constitution and by-laws, list of origin members, and other historical information; various programs of services; a typed report for the annual parish meeting, Jan. 12, 1933, and a program for the “Festival of the Arts,” Nov. 13-15, 1941). |
| f.12 | Various printed items concerning the exposition of the faith of Unitarians, undated, including cards and one-page sheets of the Creed, the scriptural belief, and cornerstones of the faith, probably for use in the Sunday school; Unitarian Catechism by M.J. Savage, 1890; a completed questionnaire from 1881; and a folio sized double-fold picturing the three hundred delegates to the convention that formed the Unitarian Layman’s League, April 11-12, 1919, with a list of names. |
| f.13 | Pen and ink drawing of the First Unitarian Church, Manchester by Margarete Gravas, n.d. |
II. Publications
| f.1 | Unitarian publications: Unitarian Annual Illustrated, 1894-1895, The Unitarian Club, Boston The Unitarian, Vol. XII Number 11, Nov. 1897 Services and Hymns for Alliance Meetings, The Alliance of Unitarian and Other Liberal Christian Women, Boston, 1914 Star Island Chronicles (Unitarian), Summer 1916. First issue. Unitarian News Letter, (headline: “When Star Island Calls”), May 1932 The Fulfilment of Citizenship, Boston: American Unitarian Association, n.d. |
| f.2 | Sermons: A Discourse in Vindication of Unitarianism From Popular Charges Against It by Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, delivered in the First Unitarian Church in Manchester, N.H., May 14, 1848 Discourse Occasioned By The Death of Hon. Richard Hazen Ayer, Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, delivered in the First Unitarian Church in Manchester, N.H., Feb. 13, 1853 The Spirit of Human Liberty As One Among The Democratic Issues of Christianity and Another Sermon by William Leonard Gage, First Unitarian Church in Manchester, N.H., Nov. 2, 1856 A Discourse Occasioned By The Death of Dr. Warren F. Chamberlin, Pastor of the Unitarian Society, Manchester, Nov. 30, 1856 An Easter Sermon by Rev. C.W. Heizer, First Unitarian Church in Manchester, N.H., April 17, 1892 The Simplification of Life by Samuel McChord Crothers, Minister of the First Parish and First Church in Cambridge (Cambridge: The Co-operative Press, 1900) William Makepeace Thackeray by Rev. Chas. J. Staples, Lecture delivered before Section E of the Manchester Institute of Arts & Sciences, January 15, 1901 A Sermon: The Divineness of Christ, The Divineness of Manhood by Rev. Chas. J. Staples, First Unitarian Church in Manchester, May 12, 1901 The Spiritual Vision of Human Life: A Sermon by Frank Abram Powell, Delivered in the Pulpit of the First Unitarian Church, Helena, Mont., Oct. 29, 1912 |
| f.3 | Miscellaneous: “The London of Dickens,” fold-out flyer, n.d. The Old March Meeting Day, poem by John Foster, read by John Foster at the Amoskeag Old Home Day, Aug. 26, 1905 Eric Alton Dyer Presents…, publicity flyer “Centennial Hymn,” words by Herman Christophe, music by Blanche Hayes Cornell, part of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the First Unitarian Society celebrations, April 24, 1942 |
| f.4 | Newspaper clippings, 1850-1942 |
| f.5 | New Hampshire Book Fair publicity flyers and posters, 1939-1942 (held at the First Unitarian Church) |
| f.6 | Programs for the Branch Alliance, First Unitarian Society, 1916/17-1921/22 |
| f.7 | Programs for the Branch Alliance, First Unitarian Society, 1923/24-1932/33 |
| f.8 | Programs for the Branch Alliance, First Unitarian Society, 1934/35-1938/39 |
| f.9 | Programs for the Branch Alliance, First Unitarian Society, 1939/40-1954/55 |
| f.10 | Programs for the Branch Alliance, First Unitarian Society, 1955/56-1963/64 |
III. Photographs
(all sepia except e.34, most glued on board)
| e.1 | Altar at Christmas |
| e.2 | Church organ decorated for Harvest Festival |
| e.3 | Interior view of church showing aisle, altar, church organ and arches |
| e.4 | Interior shot of church |
| e.5 | Church door in winter |
| e.6 | Interior view of church showing aisle, altar and church organ (close-up) |
| e.7 | New Hampshire Book Fair display in the vestry of the church. The dining room at the back was called “The Christmas Tea Shoppe” in which The Women’s Allaince served tea and a light supper |
| e.8 | Children who attended one of the children’s sessions at the New Hampshire Book Fairs |
| e.9 | Reverend George E. Hathaway |
| e.10 | Chapel, Star Island, Isles of Shoals (glued on board); closer view (3×5) |
| e.11 | Group of boys outside church |
| e.12 | Group pictured outside church door in winter |
| e.13 | Older woman pictured on church steps |
| e.14 | Unidentified trio inside church |
| e.15 | Mrs. Copadis, a Greek lady who spoke to the church school about her native land |
| e.16 | Pageant: The Spirit of Truth, six of the virtues and three of the pages who participated in the Easter Pageant, “The Consecration of Sir Galahad” |
| e.17 | Pageant: Three photos: The Spirit of Truth, “Love,” and Love and Sir Galahad |
| e.18 | Pageant: The Spirit of Truth, four boys |
| e.19 | Pageant: The Spirit of Truth, girls and young women |
| e.20 | Pageant: Knights at “The Consecration of Sir Galahad” |
| e.21 | Pageant: “The Consecration of Sir Galahad” (played by Lloyd Kendall) |
| e.22 | Pageant group photo outside church |
| e.23 | Pageant group photo inside church |
| e.24 | Five children with perfect attendance at Sunday school: Willard Huntress, Phyllis Daniels, Wendel Walton, Jr., Barbara Daniels, and Romola Huntress. |
| e.25 | Group of older women |
| e.26 | Women and children eating at picnic table |
| e.27 | Children at lakeside picnic table |
| e.28 | Women and children posing at picnic table |
| e.29 | Group photo at picnic |
| e.30 | Five boys in Miss Ayer’s Sunday school class standing next to a Temple of Goodwill |
| e.31 | Children with Santa Claus in front of Christmas tree |
| e.32 | Children seated on sofa |
| e.33 | Schoolchildren with their guest, Miss Rachel Hefterman, young daughter of the local Rabbi, who had just given a talk on her trip to Palestine |
| e.34 | Women’s Alliance at home of Grace and Margaret Wallace, Nubble Light, York Beach, Maine, summer 1942 (b& w, 3×5) |
IV. Printing blocks
| Printing block, 6×7 |
| Printing blocks: four 5×7, one 6×6, six smaller blocks |