Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 2.

[p. 50] the seventeen members from the First Church, with nine members of other churches, who had removed lately to Medford, and had brought with them letters of dismission, were organized into a church by an ecclesiastical council, of which Rev. William Greenough, of Newton, was moderator, and Rev. B. B. Wisner, of Boston, was scribe.

The church adopted a name which corresponded with that of the society, but June 25, 1857, changed it to the ‘First Trinitarian Congregational Church of Medford.’ In this narrative, however, it will, for convenience, be referred to simply as the ‘First,’ or ‘Mother Church.’ The society retained its corporate name till its disbandment after the union of the First and Mystic Churches in 1874.

A Sunday-school was at once organized, its first teachers being three Congregationalists and two Baptists. A movement was also made to erect a house of worship. A spot was chosen on High street, and paid for with money given to the society by the Hon. William Gray, of Boston.

The building, having been completed, was dedicated to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Sept. 1, 1824; and on the same day the Rev. (since Dr.) Aaron Warner, who had been supplying their pulpit for several months, was installed pastor of the church.

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Aaron Warner.

Doctor Warner was born in Northampton, Oct. 20, 1794; graduated at Williams College, 1815, and at Andover, 1819; and preached to seamen in Charleston, S. C., in 1819-23. His ministry continued here a little over eight years, till Oct. 2, 1832, when he was dismissed at his own request. In 1833 he became Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Gilmanton (N. H.) Theological Seminary. Resigning there, he became Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College, holding the position for nine years, and died in Amherst May 14, 1876.