Historical Sketch

King's Chapel was the first Anglican church in Boston, established under the authority of the Lord Bishop of London, Henry Compton. The Bishop chose and licensed the first minister of King's Chapel, Reverend Robert Ratcliffe, who arrived in Boston on May 15, 1686, and conducted a public service of the liturgy at the Boston Towne House on June 6. On June 15, 1686, a meeting was held at the Towne House which established King's Chapel. Two churchwardens were chosen to conduct meetings, call the minister, hire employees, and serve as treasurers.

On June 30, 1689, a small wooden meeting house was dedicated for Chapel services. The vestry of the Chapel was formed at a meeting of the congregation held April 11, 1699. The vestry consisted of nine men, selected to represent the congregation and advise the minister and wardens on all church matters. Chosen annually, the size of the vestry varied from 9 to 28 members during the 18th century, and the colonial governor and lieutenant governor served as ex officio members. Later, as Chapel membership increased, the wardens and vestry delegated some tasks to committees organized to solve particular problems or take particular actions.

The minister of King's Chapel conducted regular services; lectured on catechism; performed marriages, baptisms, and burials; visited the sick and troubled; and corresponded with the government of the Church of England. On March 4, 1698/9, Reverend Christopher Bridge arrived from England to serve as assistant minister to Reverend Samuel Myles. Selected and ordained by the Lord Bishop of London and given the title of King's Lecturer, Bridge conducted Sunday afternoon services, visited the sick, and sometimes gave catechism lectures. Because his salary of £100 a year came directly from the Crown, the King's Lecturer often acted independently of the minister, wardens, and vestry of the Chapel, leading to frequent disputes throughout the 18th century.

When Thomas Brattle died in 1713, he bequeathed his organ to King's Chapel. William Price, a member of the congregation, agreed to play the organ until the arrival of Edward Enston, an organist from England. The first church organ in New England was thereby assembled in King's Chapel on March 2, 1714, and the first service with music was held there. King's Chapel organists were primarily responsible for playing the organ, but gradually assumed the responsibilities of choirmaster as well. The first concert of the Handel and Haydn Society was held at King's Chapel on December 25, 1815.

When King's Chapel was built, congregants sat on formes, or benches, rather than pews. Box pews were built in 1712, and the sale of pews, their rents, and taxes were regulated by the wardens and vestry. Beginning in 1733, voting rights, formerly determined by church attendance, were granted only to proprietors of pews. Between 1747 and 1920, the proprietors of pews undertook many of the major duties of the Chapel. They selected the wardens, the vestry, and the minister; collected pew rents and kept pew records; appointed committees; and set policies for the church.

In the early 1750s, the original wooden church was replaced by a larger stone building, designed by architect Peter Harrison. The congregation of King's Chapel included wealthy Boston merchants, local officials, British army and navy officers, and a number of prominent Tory families. Because the Chapel represented the established Church of England in Boston, the American Revolution and events in Boston between 1773 and 1776 had a profound effect on the church. In 1774, loyalists, including a number of members of the Chapel, began fleeing Boston to Halifax, Quebec, and England. On Sunday, March 10, 1776, Reverend Henry Caner held a final service at the Chapel before embarking for Halifax, Nova Scotia. With him he took the communion service; the register of baptisms, marriages, and burials; and the first book of church records. In 1776-1777, with its minister gone and its congregation depleted by one-third, King's Chapel merged with Trinity Church in Boston and offered services at Trinity under Reverend Samuel Parker. Between 1777 and 1781, the Old South Society held services at King's Chapel while their church was being restored.

In 1782, the King's Chapel wardens asked James Freeman to officiate as lay reader until he could be ordained. Freeman delivered sermons and conducted services twice every Sunday, but his views diverged from the traditional Anglican dogma to embrace Unitarianism. When he sought ordination from American Episcopal churchmen, he was refused on several occasions. Finally, on November 18, 1787, the proprietors of pews ordained Freeman in the presence of the congregation of King's Chapel, effectively terminating the Chapel's Episcopal affiliation.

The 19th century saw many changes in the administration of King's Chapel. The position of King's Lecturer ceased with the separation of the colonies from Great Britain. In 1803, the wardens and vestry called Joseph Stevens Buckminister to accept the position of assistant minister. Buckminister declined, but Reverend Samuel Cary eventually accepted the position, serving as assistant minister from November 1806 to June 1807. The assistant minister conducted weekday services, delivered sermons and catechism lectures in the absence of the minister, undertook parish calls, and taught Sunday School. On January 1, 1809, Cary was ordained as colleague pastor at King's Chapel. In 1824, the procedure for appointing an assistant minister was formalized, and the proprietors voted to create the position of "associate minister," appointing Francis William Pitt Greenwood to the post. At the end of the nineteenth century, the church also hired a parish visitor, an individual with social work training to assist the minister in his parish duties.

On December 22, 1861, Henry Wilder Foote was ordained as minister of King's Chapel. Although the Chapel took no position on the issue of slavery until the Civil War was declared, Reverend Henry Wilder Foote and the congregation as a whole participated in Reconstruction efforts. As early as 1868, King's Chapel raised money for the education of freedmen in the south, supporting such institutions as the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, the Calhoun Colored School, and the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. The Chapel endowed the Mary Foote Hospital at Hampton and supported a scholarship fund for Indian children at Tuskegee.

In 1907, an indenture was written which established a board of three trustees, to be elected by the proprietors of pews. The purpose of the indenture, ratified by the faculty of Harvard Divinity School, was to ensure the continuation of Christian worship at King's Chapel. In the absence of such worship, King's Chapel would become the property of Harvard Divinity School.

By 1918, the number of proprietors had dwindled considerably, and communicants who were not proprietors sought a voice in the governance of the Chapel. The Society of King's Chapel was formed in 1920 and consisted of all communicants who signed the membership book of the Chapel. The Society, a policy-setting body that votes on important issues such as the election of ministers, wardens, and vestry, the hours and frequency of services, and the acceptance of gifts and bequests, meets annually on Easter Monday or when called by the senior warden. Other administrative tasks are the responsibility of the wardens and vestry. The senior warden serves as the chief administrative officer of King's Chapel.