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Cambridge, Massachusetts. First Church of Cambridge, UCC. Records, 1783-1945.
- Collection Information
- Organizational History
- List of Ministers
- Scope of Collection
- Detailed Description and Container List
| Title | Church Records |
| Creator | First Church of Cambridge, UCC |
| Dates | Records, 1783-1945 |
| Physical Description | 18 boxes, 10 linear feet |
| Collection number | RG 4935 |
| Access Restrictions | none |
| Copyright | Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the archivist or librarian. If use is restricted differently at the series level, see below. |
| Language | English |
| Collection processed by Jessica Steytler, 2010 | |
Abstract
Records donated by First Church by way of Harvard's Houghton Library. The majority of the records were created by auxiliary groups and ministers.
Acquisition Information
Records had been kept at the Houghton Library at Harvard for a number of years and were transferred to the Congregational Library in 2010.
Organizational History
The church has a comprehensive timeline on their website
From Worthley’s Inventory, (p. 135):
"A church was gathered at Cambridge (then called Newtown) on or shortly before Oct. 11, 1633. Three years later, the pastor, the teacher, and many of the church members removed to Hartford, CT establishing themselves there."
"Those who remained at Cambridge, together with newcomers, gathered a new church on Feb. 1 1635 (1636). In 1733, following the incorporation of a Second (Menotomy) Precinct -- now the town of Arlington -- by the General Court, the part of Cambridge not set off, namely, "the southeasterly part," was organized as the First Precinct (later First Parish) of the town of Cambridge."
"Separation into Unitarian and Trinitarian bodies came in the year 1829. The Trustees of the Ministerial Fund in the First Parish in Cambridge, continuing under the Unitarian auspices, had been incorporated in 1818. The Shepard Congregational Society, representing the orthodox, was incorporated in 1829."
List of Ministers
| Thomas Shepard | 1636-1649 | ||
| Jonathan Mitchell | 1650-1668 | ||
| Urian Oakes | 1671-1681 | ||
| Nathaniel Gookin | 1682-1692 | ||
| William Brattle | 1696-1717 | ||
| Nathaniel Appleton | 1717-1784 | ||
| Timothy Hilliard | 1783-1790 | ||
| Abiel Holmes | 1792-1831 | ||
| Nehamiah Adams | 1829-1834 | ||
| John Adams Albro | 1835-1865 | ||
| Alexander McKenzie | 1867-1912 | ||
| Raymond Calkins | 1912-1940 | ||
| John Leamon | 1940-1962 | ||
| Wells Grogan | 1962-1976 | ||
| Allen Happe | 1977-1998 | ||
| Mary Luti | 2000- |
Scope of Collection
Includes records created by ministers: sermons, letters, notes, autobiographical writing, and journals (latter two by Alexander McKenzie); Sunday school; young people’s groups; women’s groups; mission work.
Arrangement
Arranged by subject and chronologically within each section.
Related Material
Records at Harvard Divinity School’s Andover-Harvard Theological Library
| Cambridge, Massachusetts. First Parish in Cambridge. | ||
| Records, 1658-1993. (bMS 300) | ||
| Records, 1804-2008. (bMS 604) | ||
These collections include records that pertain to this collection / the Trinitarian church.
Records at the Congregational Library
Local Church Collection call number: 17.11.1 C14.24 FIRC
The life and times of Alexander McKenzie by Raymond Calkins (1935), Call Number: M19.72C
Access Terms
Church records and registers - Massachusetts - Cambridge.
First Church (Cambridge, Mass.)
Detailed Description and Container List