OUR HISTORY

In 1632, only twelve years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, some families had settled permanently in the Marshfield area. At their request, the church leaders allowed them to establish a congregation closer to their homes.

The Marshfield church was “the second church of God that issued out of the church of Plymouth,” the first being in Duxbury. The churches in Duxbury and Plymouth eventually switched to Unitarian Universalism, and are no longer Trinitarian Congregational churches. Other Trinitarian Congregational churches that were established by colonists who arrived in the New World after the Pilgrims also switched to Unitarian Universalism. As a result, the Marshfield congregation is now considered the oldest continuing Trinitarian Congregational church in America.

At first, our church met in homes, until our little congregation constructed its first building on land donated by William Thomas, near the present Winslow Cemetery. It was small and had a thatched roof. In 1706 the congregation constructed a meeting house in a more convenient location, a few yards to the east of the present site on Ocean Street. In 1759, a larger building was erected on the present site and eventually it was replaced with another. The current and fifth building was completed in 1838. Reverend Seneca White, whose portrait hangs in the narthex, became the tenth pastor at that time. Reverend White was a Trinitarian, and his calling as our pastor was in effect a vote to continue as a Trinitarian Congregational church, and not to switch to Unitarianism.

Edward Winslow, a Mayflower Pilgrim and governor of the Plymouth Colony, was a founder of the church. His marriage to the widow Susannah White in 1621 was the first in the colony. She was the mother of Peregrine White, the first child born to the Pilgrims in the New World on the Mayflower in 1620. Peregrine White became a member of the congregation in 1698. A son of Edward and Susannah, Josiah Winslow, later became the governor of Plymouth Colony.

The great statesman Daniel Webster attended the church for over twenty years. He owned two pews for his family in the front row and for his servant in the back. His funeral in 1852 was held on his estate, but at his request the service was conducted by Reverend Ebenezer Alden, then pastor of the church. The pew he occupied is marked by a plaque.

The Ladies Benevolent Society, the oldest social organization in Marshfield, was established in our congregation in 1848. The society raised money for and provided goods to the poor, and raised money to support the church. During the Civil War they provided medical supplies to the Soldiers’ Aid Society. They raised the funds to build a “concert hall” across from the church building in 1850. Eventually this was moved to the present location and became the front section of the Parish Hall. The “Fellowship Hall” section was added during the 1950s.