| 1669/00/00 |
Pilgrims |
Custodian |
Puritan congregation build their first wooden meeting house on the site of the Old South Meetinghouse as the "Third Church" in Boston. |
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| 1688/08/19 |
Rev Dr Joseph Sewall |
Faith |
Joseph Sewall is baptized by Mr Willard in the Old South Meeting House, Boston. |
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| 1697/01/17 |
Samuel E Sewall |
Assistant Magistrate |
At the Old South Meeting House (razed), Minister Samuel Willard reads Samuel Sewall's apology for his involvement in the Salem witch trials. Sewall ask for both man's and God's forgiveness. |
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Salem Witch Trials |
| 1706/01/17 |
Benjamin Franklin |
Faith |
Benjamin Franklin is baptized at Old South Meeting House on January 6, 1706 (old style date) when he was just a few hours old. |
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| 1707/00/00 |
Samuel Phillips |
Faith |
Samuel Phillips joins the Old South Church in Boston. |
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| 1729/00/00 |
Robert Twelves |
Architect |
Designed by Robert Twelves and built by Joshua Blanchar, the "Third Church" in Boston is replaced with the brick meeting house that still stands today. |
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| 1745/04/06 |
William Dawes |
Born |
William Dawes is born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was baptized at the Old South Meetinghouse. |
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| 1769/00/00 |
Rev Dr Joseph Sewall |
Vocation |
From 1713 until 1769, Reverend Joseph Sewall labors as pastor of the South Church (razed), Boston, Mass. |
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| 1773/00/00 |
Phillis Wheatley |
Author |
Phillis Wheatley's book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, is published under the patronage of Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. Wheatley was inspired by her attendance of services at the Old South Meeting House as a child. |
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| 1773/11/29 |
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Faneuil Hall meeting of the body of the people moves to the Old South Meeting House to accommodate the crowd. Dr Thomas Young proposes that the only way to get rid of the dreaded tea was to throw it overboard. |
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Boston Tea Party |
| 1773/12/16 |
Samuel Adams |
Ringleader |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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American Revolution - From Protest to Revolt |
| 1773/12/16 |
John Spurr |
Participant |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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American Revolution - From Protest to Revolt |
| 1773/12/16 |
Amos Lincoln |
Patriot |
American Patriots assemble at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. |
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Boston Tea Party |
| 1773/12/16 |
Paul Revere |
Ringleader |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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American Revolution - From Protest to Revolt |
| 1773/12/16 |
Samuel Adams |
Ringleader |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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Boston Tea Party |
| 1773/12/16 |
John Spurr |
Participant |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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Boston Tea Party |
| 1773/12/16 |
Paul Revere |
Ringleader |
More than 5000 American colonists meet at the South Meeting House to decide the fate of three ships (BEAVER, ELEANOR and DARTMOUTH) loaded with tea docked at Griffin's Wharf |
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Boston Tea Party |
| 1775/03/05 |
John Hancock |
Speaker |
Samuel Adams moderates an anual meeting at the Old South Meeting House commemorating the Boston Massacre. Speakers included Dr Joseph Warren, John Hancock, Benjamin Church and James Lovell. |
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| 1775/03/05 |
Dr Joseph Warren |
Speaker |
Samuel Adams moderates an anual meeting at the Old South Meeting House commemorating the Boston Massacre. Speakers included Dr Joseph Warren, John Hancock, Benjamin Church and James Lovell. |
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| 1775/03/05 |
Samuel Adams |
Patriot |
Samuel Adams moderates an anual meeting at the Old South Meeting House commemorating the Boston Massacre. Speakers included Dr Joseph Warren, John Hancock, Benjamin Church and James Lovell. |
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| 1776/00/00 |
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William Bradford's original manuscript, Of Plymouth Plantation, is stored in the tower of the Old South Meeting House in Boston during the American Revolutionary War. |
Of Plymouth Plantation (book) |
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| 1783/00/00 |
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During the British occupation of Boston, the Old South Meeting House is turned into a stable and a riding school for British troops. It was not restored as a place of worship until 1783. |
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| 1801/00/00 |
Paul Revere and Son |
Foundry |
Samuel Parkman commissions Paul Revere to cast a bronze bell for his father, Rev Ebenezer Parkman's Westborough MA church. The bell was installed in October of 2011 in the Old South Meeting House. |
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| 1801/00/00 |
Samuel Parkman |
Benefactor |
Samuel Parkman commissions Paul Revere to cast a bronze bell for his father, Rev Ebenezer Parkman's Westborough MA church. The bell was installed in October of 2011 in the Old South Meeting House. |
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| 1872/11/10 |
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Kearsarge Steam Fire Engine 3 from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, saves the Old South Meeting House from burning down. The coal fired, horse drawn engine has been fully restored and is now on display at the main Cental Fire Station, Portsmouth, NH. |
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Great Boston Fire of 1872 |
| 1876/06/08 |
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South Meeting House is sold for $1,350: All the materials above the ... the sidewalks except the Corner Stone and the Clock in the Tower... will be disposed of .... The spire is covered with copper... and the roof is covered with imported Welch slate. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Benefactor |
As copper is removed from the roof of Old South Meetinghouse, a group of 20 Boston women organize to buy the building and enlist Ralph W Emerson, Julia W Howe, Henry W Longfellow, Louisa M Alcott and Wendell Phillips to rally people to pledge funds. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Julia Ward Howe |
Benefactor |
As copper is removed from the roof of Old South Meetinghouse, a group of 20 Boston women organize to buy the building and enlist Ralph W Emerson, Julia W Howe, Henry W Longfellow, Louisa M Alcott and Wendell Phillips to rally people to pledge funds. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Mary Tileston Hemenway |
Benefactor |
Mary Tileston Hemenway volunteers $100,000 to save Old South Meeting house and challenges her Boston Brahmin friends to contribute the remaining funds. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Mary Elizabeth Sawyer Tyler |
Benefactor |
Mary Sawyer Tyler donates a pair of socks her mother had knitted from her lamb's wool. The socks were unraveled and bits of them were sold along with Tyler's autograph to benefit the Meeting House. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
Benefactor |
As copper is removed from the roof of Old South Meetinghouse, a group of 20 Boston women organize to buy the building and enlist Ralph W Emerson, Julia W Howe, Henry W Longfellow, Louisa M Alcott and Wendell Phillips to rally people to pledge funds. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Wendell Phillips |
Benefactor |
As copper is removed from the roof of Old South Meetinghouse, a group of 20 Boston women organize to buy the building and enlist Ralph W Emerson, Julia W Howe, Henry W Longfellow, Louisa M Alcott and Wendell Phillips to rally people to pledge funds. |
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| 1876/07/00 |
Louisa May Alcott |
Benefactor |
As copper is removed from the roof of Old South Meetinghouse, a group of 20 Boston women organize to buy the building and enlist Ralph W Emerson, Julia W Howe, Henry W Longfellow, Louisa M Alcott and Wendell Phillips to rally people to pledge funds. |
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| 1877/00/00 |
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The twenty women of Boston raise over $400,000 - an enormous sum in the 1870's - and open the Old South Meeting House as a museum and meeting place. It is one of the nation's earliest museums of American history. |
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| 1878/03/30 |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
Author |
Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers a lecture at the Old South Church. It was published as "Fortune of the republic" in 1880. |
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