Unitarianism in America: A History of its Origin and Development

by George Willis Cooke

[[4]] See the Remains of Nathaniel Appleton Haven, with a Memoir of his life, by George Ticknor.

[[5]] The Hancock Sunday-school assembled at eight in the morning and at one in the afternoon, Moses Grant being the first superintendent.

[[6]] At the school of the Twelfth Congregational Society, Carpenter's Catechism was used for the small children. This was followed by the Worcester Catechism, compiled in 1822 by the ministers of the Worcester Association of Ministers, Dr. Joseph Allen being the real author. The Geneva Catechism in its three successive parts, followed in order. In the Bible class, use was made of Hannah Adams's Letters on the Gospels, under the immediate charge of the Pastor. A hymn-book issued by the Publishing Fund Society was in use by the whole school.

[[7]] Christian Examiner, March, 1830, VIII. 49.

[[8]] Ibid., May, 1838, XXIV. 182.

[[9]] Joseph Allen, History of the Worcester Association, 261-264.

[[10]] In 1852 was published a graded series of eight manuals of Christian instruction for Sunday-schools and families,--a result of the activities of the Sunday School Society. The titles and authors of these books were Early Religious Lessons; Palestine and the Hebrew People, Stephen G. Bulfinch; Lessons on the Old Testament, Rev. Ephraim Peabody; The Life of Christ, Rev. John H. Morison; The Books and Characters of the New Testament, Rev. Rufus Ellis; Lessons upon Religious Duties and Christian Morals, Rev. George W. Briggs; Doctrines of Scripture, Rev. Frederic D. Huntington; Scenes from Christian History, Rev. Edward E. Hale. Two other books connected with the early history of Unitarian Sunday-schools properly demand notice here. In 1847 was published The History of Sunday Schools and of Religious Education from the Earliest Times, by Lewis G. Pray, who was treasurer of the Boston Sunday School Society from 1834 to 1853, and chairman of its board of agents from 1841 to 1848. He was one of the first workers in the establishing of Sunday-schools in Boston, and he zealously interested himself in this cause so long as he lived. He compiled the first book of hymns used in Unitarian schools, and also the first book of devotional exercises. For twenty years he was superintendent of the school connected with the Twelfth Congregational Society, holding that place from its organization in 1827. In one of the concluding chapters of his book Mr. Pray gave an account of the early history of Unitarian Sunday-schools in Boston and its neighborhood. In 1852 was published a series of addresses which had been given by Rev. Frederick T. Gray at Sunday-school anniversaries and on other similar occasions. The volume contains most interesting information in regard to the origin of Sunday-schools in Boston, and the beginnings of the Sunday School Society, as well as the work of Dr. Tuckerman and his assistants in the ministry, at large.

[[11]] Memoir of James P. Walker, with Selections from his Writings, by Thomas B. Fox. American Unitarian Association, 1869.

[[12]] The first of these was Rev. Edward H. Hall's First Lessons on the Bible, which appeared in 1882; and it was soon followed by Professor C.H. Toy's History of the Religion of Israel.

[[13]] Among these were Religions before Christianity, by Professor Charles Carroll Everett, D.D., 1883; Manual of Unitarian Belief, by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D.D., 1884; Lessons on the Life of St. Paul, by Rev. Edward H. Hall, 1885; Early Hebrew Stories, by Rev. Charles F. Dole, 1886; Hebrew Prophets and Kings, by Rev. Henry G. Spaulding, 1887; The Later Heroes of Israel, by Mr. Spaulding, 1888; Lessons on the Gospel of Luke, by Mr. Spaulding and Rev. W.W. Fenn, 1889; A Story of the Sects, by Rev. William H. Lyon, in 1891. In 1890 appeared the Unitarian Catechism of Rev. Minot J. Savage, though not published by the Sunday School Society. These books attracted wide attention, were largely used in Unitarian schools, and were adopted into those of other sects to some extent. In 1886 the president of the American Social Science Association publicly urged the use of the ethical manuals of the society by all Sunday-schools. Several of these books were republished in London, and Dr. Toy's manual was translated into Dutch. The society also published a new Service Book and Hymnal, which went into immediate use in a large number of schools, and did much for the enrichment of the devotional exercises and the promotion of an advanced standard of both words and music in the hymns.