THE PARISH BECOMES UNITARIAN

Portrait of William Newell. From the Archives of the First Parish. Click for text Order of Services at the Dedication of the Church December 12, 1833. Click for text

William Newell (1804-1881) was a minister for thirty-eight years, from 1830 to 1868. In 1833 an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth abolished the old system of taxation for the support of public worship. The First Parish was no longer a territorial parish, with power to assess all inhabitants not supporters of such recognized religious groups as the Episcopalians, Baptists, Universalists, or Catholics. Newell was therefore not only the first Unitarian minister of the parish, but the first minister no longer supported by taxation on all the inhabitants of the territorial parish. His successor wrote of Newell: "His parish was not an easy one. A certain section of his congregation were village folk of plain and practical habits. Another section was academic, and cherished a somewhat severe and scrupulous literary taste. Still another section of his auditors then, as now, consisted of retired ministers who had come to settle in the university town. Mr. Newell succeeded to a remarkable degree in satisfying the claims and needs of this diversified congregation... In personal intercourse, he had a sunny and playful humor, a sweetness of temper and simplicity of manner which diffused sunshine about him." Map of Cambridge in 1830, showing growth of the City. Cambridge Historical Commission. Click for enlarged image

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