We are connected to those who paved the way for us. Here are some of our early church members who helped found our nation, our state, our city, our denomination, and produced other noteworthy achievements. They left this church for us.
Isiah Thomas (1749-1831)
§ Established the Massachusetts Spy newspaper in Worcester in 1775, which supported the Whig cause during the revolution.
§ Rode with Paul Revere and fought at Lexington and Concord.
§ Worcester’s first postmaster from 1775-1801.
§ Performed the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Worcester.
§ Founder of the American Antiquarian Society, which he incorporated in 1812.
§ Our church sits on land purchased from him in 1829 next to his print shop location.
Levi Lincoln I (1749-1820)
§ Appointed Attorney General by President Thomas Jefferson.
§ Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1807-1808.
§ Governor of Massachusetts
Aaron Bancroft (1755-1839)
§ Our first minister in 1825.
§ Founding president of the American Unitarian Association.
Levi Lincoln II (1782-1868)
§ Governor of Massachusetts (1825-1834).
§ U. S. House of Representatives (1834-1841).
§ A founder of the American Antiquarian Society.
John Davis (1787-1854)
§ Married Elizabeth Bancroft, daughter of Aaron Bancroft in 1833.
§ Elected to Congress in 1824 as a supporter of John Quincy Adams, served 4 terms.
§ 1833, elected governor of Massachusetts.
§ 1835, elected to U.S. Senate, then again 1847-1853.
§ Served as President of the American Antiquarian Society.
Wallace Atwood (1872-1949)
§ President of Clark University from 1920-1946.
§ At Clark founded the first graduate school of geography in the United States.
§ George Bancroft (1800-1891)
§ Son of Aaron Bancroft.
§ Wrote successful 12 volume History of the United States.
§ U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President James Polk in 1845.
§ Established U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Eldridge Boyden (1810-1898)
§ Architect who designed Mechanics Hall and buildings at Holy Cross and WPI.
Alexander Hamilton Bullock (1816-1882)
§ 1859 elected mayor of Worcester.
§ Worcester Public Library was established during his term.
§ Governor of Massachusetts 1865-1869.
Stephen Salisbury III (1835-1905)
§ Worcester Art Museum received the bulk of the Salisbury wealth, around $3 million.
John Woodman Higgins (1874-1961)
§ Established the John Woodman Higgins Armory, which housed one of the best collections of armory in the country...now at the Worcester Art Museum.
§ Mrs. Higgins was one of the founders of the Worcester Craft Center.
Rachel Harris Johnson (1887-1984)
§ In 1846 founded the Girls Club of America, Inc.
Hudson Hoaglund (1899-1982)
§ In 1944, with Dr. Gregory Pincus, founded and became the director of the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, which pioneered work with the birth control pill.
Source: The Fruits of Our Labors by Walter D. Kring