Lucius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register

first Universalist.—On the ninth day of February, 1822, Peter Tufts, Jr., and thirty-three others were ‘incorporated and made a body politic and religious society by the name of the First Universalist Society in Cambridge.’¹ For some years previously, Rev. Hosea Ballou and others had occasionally preached in the school-house then standing on Franklin Street. Immediately after its incorporation the society commenced preparations for the erection of the meeting-house which now stands at the junction of Main and Front streets in Cambridgeport. The corner-stone was laid with masonic ceremonies by Amicable Lodge, June 24, 1822; and the house was dedicated to the worship of God on the 18th of the following December. The church was organized June 19, 1827.

The first pastor of this church was Rev. Thomas Whittemore, who was born in Boston, Jan. 1, 1800, ordained, June 13, 1821, and after preaching somewhat more than a year at Milford, commenced his labors here in April, 1822, but was not formally installed until April 23, 1823. He resigned the pastorate, and preached his farewell discourse May 29, 1831, but remained a citizen of Cambridge until the close of his life.

As early as June, 1828, he purchased the ‘Universalist Magazine’ (which was established July 3, 1819), and changed its name to ‘Trumpet and Universalist Magazine.’ This paper he conducted with consummate skill and energy until Feb. 18, 1861, about a month before his death, when he was compelled, by sheer exhaustion, to relinquish the charge. He represented the town three years in the General Court, and served the city one year in the Board of Aldermen. For many years he was President of the Cambridge Bank, and also of the Fitchburg and the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroads. He continued to preach, almost every Sabbath, until near the close of life. In 1837, he published ‘Songs of Zion,’ a volume of sacred music, a portion of which was original. He was the author of ‘Notes and Illustrations of the Parables of the New Testament,’ 1834; ‘A Plain Guide to Universalism,’ 1840; ‘Memoir of Rev. Walter Balfour,’ 1852; ‘Life of Rev. Hosea Ballou,’ in four volumes, 1854, 1855; and ‘The Early Days of Thomas Whittemore, an Autobiography,’ 1859. His first and last literary work was ‘The Modern History of Universalism,’ of which the first edition was published in 1830. He made large collections for a second edition, and published the first volume in 1860; but the completion of the second