Many records in this series have been photocopied because of mildew damage to the originals. They consist of both church and society records as well as proprietors' records. Materials appear to have been randomly retained and do not form a complete record of church administration. A large number have also been copied into the church record books in Series I.A.

Seventeenth and eighteenth century records include property deeds, church meeting minutes, committee records, wills and legacies, deacons' and proprietors' correspondence, rental agreements, subscriptions for meetinghouse maintenance and repair, a 1743 list of church silver, 1740s committee meeting minutes pertaining to seating the new brick meetinghouse, and a large amount of correspondence related to the church's invitation to William Emerson to serve as minister in 1799.

Records dated from 1807 to 1808 are related to the church's land and rental houses on Summer Street. Other early nineteenth century records include ministers' correspondence, largely that of Nathaniel Frothingham; meeting minutes of the Standing Committee and proprietors; sheriff's notices pertaining to delinquent pew payments; the church's March 1829 Act of Incorporation; correspondence related to pew payments and leases; 1831 applications for the position of sexton; copies of church votes; committee reports; correspondence related to leasing the Summer St. houses; and 1842 pew tax evaluations. Oversize records include 1814 and 1821 fire insurance policies and copies of Summer St. property deeds dating from 1842 and 1846.

Records dated from 1876 to 1895 include copies of votes of the proprietors and Standing Committees; an 1876 quitclaim deed from the city of Boston to the church for land on Berkeley and Marlborough Sts.; and insurance policies. Subjects include the search for ministerial assistance for Rev. Ellis (1883); a memorial for Rev. Ellis (1885); the ordination of Rev. Stopford W. Brooke (1886); payment of church debt (1890); changing the church's service to the King's Chapel liturgy (1892), and the resignation of sexton C. H. Lord (1894). Correspondence is largely that of ministers Rufus Ellis and Stopford W. Brooke, treasurers George L. DeBlois and Arthur B. Ellis, and members of the Standing Committee. Included are letters from church members about the payment of pew taxes and relinquishing pews; letters from the minister and sexton requesting their monthly salary; elections to the Standing Committee and other committees; the care of church records and communion silver; memorials for church members; and requests for use of the church.

Later records include a small amount of vital records; the 1924 report of First Church funds; 1955 and 1969 bylaws; and records related to the hiring of Rhys Williams as minister (1959-1960). Also included are treasurer's reports as presented to annual meetings in 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1960, and 1961. After 1970, administrative records are those of the First and Second Church, primarily treasurer's and trustees' records (1976-2001) including annual reports, treasurer's agendas for trustees meetings, and financial statements. Also included are records of the ministerial search committee (2000-2001).

The bulk of receipts and accounts are photocopied because the originals were damaged by mildew.

Loose records include the accounts and receipts of proprietors, deacons, and various committees, largely those of the building committee and standing committee. They include records of building materials and the construction, maintenance, and repair of the meetinghouse; wood for the use of the minister; sacramental wine; maintenance and repair of the minister's house and rental houses owned by the church; minister's, sexton's, organist's, and singers' salaries; pew taxes and rentals; pew tax collectors' commissions; legal fees; paper, binding, and printing for the church's records and notices; insurance premiums; city and state tax bills; newspaper advertising; city water and gas bills; Sunday School expenses; hymn books; carpeting and seat cushions; and other materials and sundries for the church's use. A large number of receipts date from 1808 to 1810, and document the construction of the church building on Chauncy Place. In 1830, receipts document major construction and repair of the church's rental property at 39 Summer St. There are no receipts between 1846 and 1851.

Bills and receipts from 1867 to 1885 are largely those collected by Rev. Rufus Ellis in his ministerial duties, including Christmas festival expenses; care of the communion silver; printing expenses for church services and Sunday School; payments for subscriptions to religious and educational periodicals; and other expenses for Easter, Christmas, and various church celebrations. Later records, the bulk dated from 1889 to 1895, are primarily the records of treasurer Arthur B. Ellis.

Scrapbooks include receipts for salaries, furniture, utilities, cancelled checks, choir payroll, printing, and advertising. Receipts are arranged chronologically. All three volumes were compiled by Treasurer J. G. Francis.

Vols. 44 through 47 are account books that record the incoming contributions collected at church services, payments from special legacies, and donations; and outgoing expenses for the sacraments and distributions to the poor. Sacramental expenses include those of bread, wine, funeral expenses, and cleaning of the sacramental pewter or silver. Accounts of distributions to the poor are occasionally referenced by name. Vol. 47 has been photocopied due to extensive mildew damage.

Vol. 48, "Records of charitable assistance for families in Roxbury," lists families by name and address, the number of family members, employment history, financial situation, and other social details. An account for each family lists the date and type of contribution – often wood, coal, groceries, or shoes for specific family members. Although unidentified, these records were most likely part of First Church's Sunday School families program, in which an employee of the church would visit indigent families of the congregation and distribute funds for their use. Additional records from this program can be found in Subseries B. - Loose records, which document visits from 1881 to 1886 and from 1923 to 1926.

Pews were taxed by the church on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis and the funds were used for the daily expenses, maintenance, and repairs of the church. Volumes typically contain lists of pews by number, the name of the pew holder, the amount of weekly pew tax or rent, and debits or credits to the pew holder's account. Some are cash books, listing pew payments by date, pew number, and owner or tenant. The bulk of the loose records are photocopies of originals that have been damaged by mildew. They include pew assessments, lists of pew numbers and owners, some receipts for pew taxes, and special assessments of pew holders for money to fund the minister's salary and meetinghouse repairs.

Pew deeds recorded the legal title to individual pews purchased from First Church by its members. Pew owners, known as "proprietors of the pews," were able to cast one vote in proprietors' meetings for each pew they owned. Although a few early deeds were written by hand, deeds were generally printed forms in which the name of the owner, pew number, and price paid for the pew are entered. Some contain notes on the verso recording the date the pew was relinquished or exchanged. A large number of pew deeds date from 1808, when the congregation moved from the Old Brick Church to the church on Chauncy Place. Many loose deeds have been photocopied because of mildew damage to the originals.

Rufus Ellis served as minister of First Church from 1853 to 1885. This record consists of a small notebook in Ellis's hand listing his sermons by date and title, numbered from #331 to #661.

Oversize records include three plans of the Chauncy Place church building surveyed by J.F. Fuller in 1858, and two copies of pew plans for the Marlborough St. church, one with names of pewholders written in, ca. 1868. Undated records include drawings of stained glass windows, a fence design, land surveys, and a schematic of the Marlborough St. church including the Hale Chapel and numbered pews.

This subseries contains a variety of records related to the history of First Church, including inventories of the records of First and Second Church dating from 1893 to 1870; a 1930 essay entitled "The First Four Churches;" various First and Second Church histories; lists of ministers affiliated with First Church; a list of sermons given in First Church; and other miscellaneous material. Most of the material is undated.

The First Church Club was a women's club that coordinated the flowers for church services, holiday decorations, care of the communion silver, and receptions for various church events. They held lectures and other programs to raise funds for these purposes. The club merged with the Women's Federation Unit of First Church in 1968. Records, largely handwritten, consist of meeting minutes and treasurer's reports.

This record consists of members' names and addresses.

The Records of the First Church in Boston, 1630-1868 was edited by Richard D. Pierce and published by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in 1961. This subseries contains Pierce's correspondence with William Stanley Parker, clerk of the Trustees of First Church, and with Fred Anthoensen of Anthoensen Press; an inventory of First Church records at Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company; and Pierce's notes and memo of "editorial problems."

Rhys Williams served as minister of First Church from 1960 to 2000. His papers include sermons given in 1954 and 2000, and undated sermon notes.

Records in this subseries include correspondence, sermons, and other papers of clergy who were unaffiliated with First Church.

Originally comprised of ministers from Worcester and Middlesex Counties in Massachusetts, the Evangelical Missionary Society was founded in 1807 to extend Christianity among the poor in new settlements in the District of Maine. In 1823, the society broadened its mission to include the "aid and encouragement of parishes and other religious societies within the United States." The 1917 bylaws further defined their goals as extending Christian knowledge and moral improvement by distributing religious books and tracts and supporting schoolmasters and ministers in areas where means for these purposes are lacking. Record books contain meeting minutes, financial records, missionary reports, and other corporate records.

Subject files consist of material related to various Boston churches, including the histories of King's Chapel, First Church of Roxbury, and Old South Church. Second Church of Boston records are primarily correspondence discussing the conviction that it was the site of Paul Revere's lanterns in 1775. Papers related to First Parish in Brighton document the dissolution of the parish and the transfer of its property to the Unitarian Universalist Society in 1966. They include correspondence, meeting minutes, and legal documents.

The Unitarian Service Pension Society was incorporated in 1910 to provide annuities for Unitarian ministers aged 65 and over who had served the church at least twenty years. Records include the agreement of association; early (pre-incorporation) records including the Society's fiduciary arrangement with the American Unitarian Society; annual meeting minutes; bylaws; Executive Committee and Nominating Committee meeting minutes; president's, secretary's, and treasurer's reports; financial statements that include "details of gifts;" and correspondence.

The Franklin Foundation was incorporated in 1909 to manage a gift of 1000 pounds sterling and its accumulation (about $490,000 in 1905) to the town of Boston under the will of Benjamin Franklin. Under the stipulations of Franklin's will, the original bequest could not be used until 100 years after his death (1891) and the accumulation could not be used until 200 years after his death (1991). Trustees included the mayor of Boston, ministers of the oldest Episcopalian, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches of Boston, and eight other citizens. First Church minister Charles E. Park served as a trustee or "manager" in this capacity. The board served as administrators for Franklin Union, an industrial night school for men that was established from Franklin's bequest, along with an additional gift of $405,000 from Andrew Carnegie in 1905. The school building was dedicated on 25 September 1908 on the corner of Appleton and Berkeley Streets with an enrollment of about 400 men, and a curriculum including mechanics, industrial electricity, architectural drawing, and other trades. The school would later become the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology.

Records include 1908 meeting minutes about the formation of the corporation; the 1909 Act of Incorporation; financial reports, and meeting minutes. They describe policy and scope of instruction for Franklin Union; instructors listed by name, subject, and pay; equipment; use of Franklin Union Hall by the public; and enrollment and attendance. Director's annual reports give details about the school, its curriculum, and its students.

The Unitarian Historical Society was founded in 1901 and incorporated in 1958. From 1960 to 1963, First Church minister Rhys Williams served as secretary of the organization, and these are most likely his records. They include lists of members, bylaws, dues statements, the 1960 treasurer's report, annual meeting minutes, executive committee meeting minutes, correspondence with the American Unitarian Association, correspondence related to the mailing and distribution of the Proceedings of the Unitarian Historical Society, and 1962 bylaws.