Congregational Church¹

Created in 1828, when its founding members broke with the Unitarian Church, at the home of Catherine Hartwell and gained support from the regional congregational council that pledged $1,000 to the building of a church in the town. By 1830 land was purchased and a church constructed on Neponset Street. The church had difficulty raising funds to support a minister and there were a series of preachers who remained for one to two years before leaving the town discouraged by the lack of financial support and in the late 1830s, due to lack of financial funding there were no congregational services in Canton. In 1844 the Rev. William Hammond became the church's first permanent minister. In the late 1850s a new site was purchased for the church, located on Neponset Street on a site obtained from Jedediah Morse for $1. The new building was constructed by John Ellis Seavey and Hugh MacPherson at a cost of $6,895. In 1961 the church officially changed its name to the United Church of Christ and during this period it became apparent that the 100 year old church was not meeting the needs of the increasing size of the community and land was purchased at 1541 Washington Street for the construction of a new church that cost $150,000 and was dedicated in 1968.

Ministers of the Congregational Church (1828-1997)²

Resources^{1 ans 2}

Canton Comes of Age, 1797-1997, 88-93 by Canton Bicentennial Committee.

A Postcard from Canton: Stories and images from another time and place in Canton, Massachusetts, “The Congregational Church,” http://cantonhistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/congregational-church.html.

United Church of Christ in Canton Massachusetts, “Home Page,” http://www.uccincanton.org/.