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North Church (Salem, Mass.) Records, 1745-1837, 1862-1901

 Collection
Identifier: EC 59

Scope and Content Note

The North Church of Salem records consist of administrative, financial, and pastoral records of this Salem, Massachusetts, church. It includes correspondence, deeds, receipts, reports, subscription lists, a plan of the pews, lists of members, and catalogs of the books in the church library. The collection has been arranged chronologically.

Dates

  • Creation: 1745-1837, 1862-1901

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Historical Sketch

In the spring of 1770, the minister of the First Church in Salem, Rev. Thomas Barnard (1748-1814) became paralyzed and unable to work. His son stepped in and fulfilled his duties until the annual meeting of the parish. Several votes were taken; the members of the church became split on who to call as their next minister. One group wanted the current minister's son, the Rev. Thomas Barnard, Jr. Another group wished to call the Rev. Asa Dunbar. Since no agreement could be reached, the church divided into two. The First Church called Rev. Dunbar as its minister and the newly formed North Church in Salem selected the Rev. Thomas Barnard, Jr. as its first minister.

In February 1772, forty-two associates bought land on the corner of North and Lynde Streets in Salem. The Proprietors of the North Meeting House met on March 3, 1772, and voted to build a meeting house. It opened in August of 1772, and was used until 1836, when a new meeting house was built. On May 16, 1772, the First Church voted to grant the request of the 52 people who asked for a dismission so that they might become a church connected with this society.

The First Church and North Church reunited in 1923, and moved to the second meetinghouse of the North Church on Essex Street, its current home.

North Church Succession of Ministers

Thomas Barnard, Jr. 1772-1814

John Emery Abbot 1815-1819

John Brazer 1820-1846

Octavius Brooks Frothingham 1847-1855

Charles Lowe 1855-1857 Edmund Burke Willson 1859-1895

George Dimmick Latimer 1893-1907

Theodore Davenport Bacon 1907-1923

Extent

1.75 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The North Church of Salem records consist of administrative, financial, and pastoral records of this Salem, Massachusetts, church.

Physical Location

Phillips Library Stacks

Provenance

The Rev. John Emery Abbot papers were donated by Miss Willson. The provenance of the rest of the collection is unknown.

Bibliography

Barz-Snell, Jeffrey. "The Long History." The First Church in Salem, The First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist, http://www.firstchurchinsalem.org/the-long-history/

The First Centenary of the North Church and Society in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem: Salem Press, 1873.

Related Collections

East Church (Salem, Mass.) Records, EC 57

First Church (Salem, Mass.) Records, EC 58

The documents listed below have been digitized by the Congregational Library and Archives in Boston, Massachusetts and can be found here: http://www.congregationallibrary.org/nehh/series1/SalemMANorth

Act of incorporation of North Meeting House, 1802, Box 1 Folder 4

Report of Thomas West, Treasurer, 1831, Box 1 Folder 13

Copy of the original covenant of the First Church, undated, Box 1 Folder 20

North Church records, 1772-1813, kept by lay officers and Rev. Thomas Barnard, Jr., undated [before 1813], EC 58, Box 1 Folder 7

Processing Information

Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, August 2018.

Title
NORTH CHURCH (SALEM, MASS.) RECORDS, 1745-1837, 1862-1901
Author
Processed by: Tamara Gaydos; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Phillips Library Repository

Contact:
Peabody Essex Museum
306 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley MA 01969 USA