Category: People of Old North
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The People in the Pews: Robert Newman
Robert Newman is perhaps the most famous sexton ever to serve Old North due to his participation in the fateful events on the night of April 18, 1775. Robert Newman was born on March 20, 1752 in Boston. He had an interesting and complex family tree. Robert Newman’s great-grandfather, Rev. William Burroughs, was accused of…
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The People in the Pews: Joseph Warren Revere
Joseph Warren Revere, son of Paul Revere, attended the Old North Church in the early 19th century. He sat in Pew #54 with his family. Joseph Warren Revere was born in Boston on April 30, 1777, to Paul Revere and Rachel Walker Revere. He was the third of eight children from Paul Revere’s second marriage…
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The People in the Pews: Dr. Greaves and Rev. Charles Wesley
One of the least known facts about the Old North Church is that in the year 1736 minister Charles Wesley, the co-founder of Methodism visited Boston and preached here. His presence in the American colonies started a year earlier. Wesley left England in October 1735 for the Georgia colony after being appointed secretary of Indian…
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The People in the Pews: The Bay Pew
Near the very front of the Old North Church is a plush, velvet-lined pew dedicated to the “Gentlemen of the Bay of Honduras.” It is a curious feature for a church built in Boston, and the faded brass marker on “The Bay Pew” reveals a dramatic chapter in the rich history of New England, the…
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The People in the Pews: Mary Gibbs
“With an extension of her allusion religious activities can be seen as a means used by New England women to define self and find community, two functions that worldly occupations more likely performed for men.” – Nancy F. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood Forever stamped on the brass plate of Pew No.8, the name Mary…
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The People in the Pews: Capt. William Maxwell
In the center aisle of Christ Church (Old North) hang two ornate brass chandeliers, gifts to the church by one of its members, Capt. William Maxwell. Maxwell owned pew #29. They were first lit on Christmas Day in 1724. For many of us living here in New England today, December is a month filled with…
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The People in the Pews: Dr. Thomas Kast
Thomas Kast, a renowned doctor with an interesting story, attended Old North Church in the 18th century and owned Pews #6 and #27 while he lived on Hanover Street. Dr. Kast was born in Boston on August 12, 1750. He graduated from Harvard College in 1769 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Shortly after college,…
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The People in the Pews: Upper Level Gallery
“And who sat up there?” This is a question often received in reference to Old North’s upper gallery. From the lower level, the pews above seem miles away; a looming set of white rows disconnected from the world below. This observation, perhaps, points directly to the answer of who occupied those pews. The gallery was…
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The People in the Pews: Rev. William Thomas Smithett
Reverend William Thomas Smithett served as the Rector of Christ Church from 1851 to 1859 and owned Pew #19. His tenure as Rector undoubtedly ranks among the most disgraceful, embarrassing, and litigious periods in Old North’s nearly 300-year history. Rev. Smithett was serving as the minister of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Rondout,…
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The People in the Pews: The Pulpit – Rev. William Croswell
One of the ministers to preach from this wine glass pulpit was Rev. William Croswell. Church historian Mary Babcock described Croswell as “the very pulse of the machine…animating and vitalizing the whole fabric from bells to altar.” But while other Old North ministers have become well-known leaders in the history of the Episcopal Church, Rev.…