Our Church Heritage

Early Religious History of Graniteville

Bob Oliphant

Rev. Edwin R. Hodgman in his 1883 History of Westford says of Graniteville, “this village owes its existence to its water power and to the building of the railroad in 1847… Its development is chiefly due to one man [Charles G. Sargent] who came there in 1854.”

Westford’s 1730 map shows what are now North Main, River and North Streets, but only one home in what would become Graniteville. By the 1780s there was a grist mill and saw mill on the north bank of Stony Brook about where the C. G. Sargent house now stands, with another grist mill located downstream of the present mill dam. The 1795 Prescott map shows these 3 mills, but the 1831 Hales map shows only one, along with 3 unnamed buildings. The water of Stony Brook powered these mills.

As late as 1847, Hodgman says there were only two or three homes where the village now lays. In 1847 the Stony Brook Railroad was built, and Benjamin Palmer started the first quarry on Snake Meadow Hill, which rises above Stony Brook to the north. The quarries of Samuel Fletcher of Groton (1848) and the brothers William and David Reed of Acton (1853), all men active in the early affairs of our church, soon followed. Graniteville, originally called Stone Quarry, takes its name from these extensive granite quarries.

The village was originally part of School District No. 3. On March 26, 1851, it was set off as School District No. 10. A small wooden schoolhouse was built by Nov., located in a triangle of land in the intersection of West Road and N. Main St. The growth of the village is mirrored in the attendance at the Graniteville District schoolhouse, which increased from 31 in 1851 to 113 in 1868. During the summer of 1869 the town built a new District No. 10 schoolhouse, now the home at 88 N. Main St., and it was used for worship by our church in 1870.

At the first annual meeting of the district March 9, 1852, it was voted “to have the schoolhouse opened for public worship.” Rev. Miner Evans says “this commenced what we may call the religious history of Graniteville.” However, until 1856 there was no regular preaching, though several persons, “mostly Methodist,” on occasion preached in the schoolhouse. In March 1856 a subscription was taken up (a popular way of financing church functions in the 1800s), and Rev. Naylor, a Methodist from W. Chelmsford, was employed to preach in the schoolhouse. “This was the first regular service ever held in the place;” but the services ceased when cold weather arrived. Mr. Naylor returned the following spring but suffered from ill health and another Methodist from W. Chelmsford took his place.

The first Sabbath school was started in 1857, and a Mr. Mead was elected superintendent. The school had 30 pupils divided into four classes taught by the Supt., Mrs. Prescott, Mrs. John Knowles and Miss Nancy Hill. The school continued the next two summers, although there was no regular preaching.

In 1860 Rev. Leonard Luce (1799-1884) began holding regular services in the schoolhouse. He had been the first minister (1829-1852) of the Union Congregational Church in Westford Center and later served as Town Clerk. Rev. Luce reorganized the Sabbath school and served as its superintendent. In 1862 Arthur Wright restarted the Sabbath school and was elected Superintendent. Mr. Wright would become a trustee of the new church in 1869 and would serve as its Secretary and Treasurer for many years.

In 1863 Rev. Howarth of Lowell held services on Sunday afternoons. He reopened the Sabbath school and soon suspended the afternoon service to devote the time to the Sabbath school, which flourished. Unfortunately, it was discontinued the next two summers. In 1864 Rev. George M. Rice, the Unitarian minister (1858-1866) from what is now First Parish Church, preached in the schoolhouse at 4 o’clock on Sundays.

In Nov. 1866 Rev. Edwin Spence, Congregationalist minister (1865-1867) from Westford, held a prayer meeting in the Graniteville schoolhouse. “To everybody’s surprise the house was crowded, 49 persons being present. At the close of the meeting, all who desired to become Christians were requested to arise, and most every one arose.” Clearly by 1866, the people of Graniteville were thirsting for regular religious services. In 1867 a group called the “Young Christian’s Prayer Meeting” was formed and held regular meetings. Arthur Wright began teaching a Bible class, which grew to become a Sabbath school. There was no regular preaching after Mr. Spence left, although the Adventists, Messrs. Graig and Newton, held occasional meetings.

During the autumn and winter of 1868 meetings were held in the schoolhouse, probably a continuation of the “Young Christian’s Prayer Meeting.” There was no minister. Meetings “were opened with prayer, after which the people, who crowded the school even to its utmost capacity, were entertained by readings.” Hattie (aged 22) and Abbie (aged 18) Sargent, daughters of C. G. Sargent, read such books as Throne of David, Prince of the House of David, and Pillar of Fire. These books are by Joseph H. Ingraham (1809-1866), an Episcopal clergyman from Mississippi. Early in his career he wrote a number of sensational romances, such as Lafitte: the Pirate of the Gulf and Captain Kyd, “all of which were very popular and quite worthless as literature,” according to A Dictionary of American Authors (1901). He entered the Episcopal ministry in 1855 and later wrote these three religious romances, “as popular as the others and almost as valueless.” The Prince of the House of David sold over 4 million copies.

In June 1869 the Union Sabbath school was organized with Josiah K. Proctor as superintendent, the first school that ever survived the winter. A subscription was taken to buy a musical instrument, which was done at a cost of $75 (one wonders what it was). This brings us to the appointment of Rev. Evans as the first pastor and to Mr. Sargent’s gift of the site, as discussed in a previous article.

Thus Methodists, Congregationalists, Unitarians, Adventists and probably others all contributed to the religious awakening in Graniteville.

Graniteville grew rapidly after the formation of Calvert & Sargent in 1854.

Our congregation worshipped in the District No. 10 schoolhouse in 1870, now this home at 88 N. Main St. (photo courtesy of June Kennedy).

Rev. Luce preached in Graniteville in 1860 (photo from Edwin Hodgman’s History of Westford).

[UMCW December 1999 newsletter]