Historical Sketch

In 1630, the Rev. John White and a group of 140 individuals formed a church in England, calling themselves Puritans. Although they originally established themselves as reformers rather than separatists, increasingly intolerable conditions in England caused them to emigrate. They set sail in the 400-ton ship Mary and John and landed first at Hull, and later at a place called "Mattapan" by the Indians. The Puritans named their new home "Dorchester Plantation."

In 1631, a rude log cabin was built to serve as the first meeting house. The building also served as a fort, storehouse, schoolhouse, and town hall. The second church, originally built on the same site, was moved to Meeting House Hill in 1670. On that site, four more churches were constructed, in 1678, 1743, 1816, and the most recent after a fire in 1896.

For its first five years of existence, the parish had two ministers, John Warham and John Maverick. They were followed by Rev. Richard Mather, who served from 1636-1669. Mather, for whom a room in the Parish Hall is named, is perhaps one of church's most renowned ministers. He is best remembered for helping to produce the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in the colonies.

Other ministers of long-standing tenures included Revs. John Danforth, who served from 1682-1730; Jonathan Bowman, 1729-1773; Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1793-1836; and Nathaniel Hall, 1835-1875. During Harris' tenure, the church evolved from a Trinitarian Congregational church to the Unitarian denomination, although Harris himself never believed in denominational titles. (Harris then proceeded to serve as Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1837-1842.)

Until the 1830s, when a true separation of church and state occurred on the local level, town taxes were used to support the church. As a result, church and civic matters were inextricably linked. The town of Dorchester was annexed by the city of Boston in 1870.

Despite these changes, relationships between the church and the community continued. The Female Benevolent Society, formed in 1842 as a branch of the National Alliance of Unitarian and Other Christian Women, later sewed clothing for soldiers in the Civil War, as well as providing aid to the local destitute.