Ecclesiastical History. 



71 





EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST 



(PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL). 



Before the organi- 

 zation of any Epis- 

 copal mission or 

 church in Hingham, 

 there had been for 

 many years inter- 

 mittent services in 

 the town. 



In 1824, the first 

 services of the Epis- 

 copal Church were 

 held in Hingham, 

 and continued for a 

 time, with good at- 

 tendance, in a hall 

 fitted up for the purpose by Mr. Daniel Bassett, an ardent Epis- 

 copalian. 



The number of those interested for any length of time was so 

 small, however, that no attempt was made to establish a church 

 on a permanent foundation. 



From the Hingham Gazette we learn that Rev. Mr. Cutler 

 preached on the Sunday following Christmas, 1827 ; and from a 

 private letter that the Rt. Rev. Alexander Viets Griswold, S. T. D., 

 Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, preached in Hingham on an even- 

 ing in June, 1828, which was probably the first visitation of a 

 Bishop to Hingham. 



About the year 1841 Rev. Samuel Cutler, of Hanover, held 

 services in Bassctt's hall, being assisted by clergymen who chanced 

 to be in the vicinity during the summer season. 



The families of Daniel Bassett, Atherton Tilden, and Edward 

 Wilder were the only residents of the town, so far as can be as- 

 certained, at that time identified with the church. 



In 1843, services were again held in the same hall by Rev. John 

 P. Robinson, of Quincy. The hall was loaned for the purpose, 

 seats were put in, and prayer-books purchased, which were marked 

 upon the covers, " Episcopal Church, Hingham." Some of these 

 books are now in use. The services were abandoned after a short 

 time, as the number interested in them was small. 



Rev. Theodore W. Snow, a missionary in 1844, " visited many 

 places in the Diocese, and among others held one of more services 

 in Hingham." 



May 30, 1869, an evening service was held in Loring Hall, and 

 through the following summer continued regularly. The Rt, 

 Rev. Manton Eastburn, S. T. D., LL.D., Bishop of Massachusetts, 



