The History of St. Andrew’s Church

One of the historic sites featured in the recent Forge Village Walking Tour
By Jim VanBever

As the textile industry flourished in the United States skilled workers were needed  to operate its factories. Like other textile companies, the Abbot Worsted Company of Westford recruited and attracted workers from England to fill these positions.

   The English workers who came to Westford mostly belonged to the Episcopal Church also known as the Church of England. But when they arrived in Westford, they did not have a place to worship since there was no Episcopal church in town.

     Accordingly, on February 13, 1895, a committee in Forge Village sought out the services of St. Andrew’s Missionary in Ayer to assist them in establishing a place of worship. St. Andrew’s Missionary had come into existence because of the vision and leadership of Reverend Endicott Peabody who was founder and headmaster of the Groton School.

   With the help of the Abbot Company who allowed the fledgling church to use the second floor of Abbot Hall for their services and activities, St Andrew’s Mission Church of Forge Village began its long history in 1895. The Abbot Company also provided funds and building materials used for a new church which would open in 1903.

  The new church on Pleasant Street in Forge Village opened on October 3, 1903. Services at the new parish were on the second floor which accommodated about ninety parishioners. The Reverend Thomas Legate Fisher was the first   Priest of the new church, and Reverend Endicott Peabody was the parish Rector and presided over the dedication. For the next sixty years St Andrew’s in Ayer and Forge Village were under the same leadership.

  In 1962, St. Andrew’s Missionary in Forge Village had grown sufficiently enough to function without the assistance of St. Andrew’s in Ayer and thus it became St. Mark’s. St. Mark’s built a new church on its current location at the corner of Graniteville and Coldspring Road which opened in 1964. In 1967, St. Mark’s Church became a full-fledged parish.

The St. Andrew’s X

 If you look at the old St. Andrew’s church across from the Cameron Senior Center, you will notice a prominent letter X on the front of the building. The best explanation for the X is that “When St. Andrew one of the Apostles, was being crucified by the Romans in A.D. 60, it is said that he believed himself unworthy to be crucified on a cross like that of Christ, and so he met his end on a “Satire” or X-shaped cross (St. Andrew’s Cross) which became his symbol.

F.D.R. and St. Andrew’s

There is no hard evidence that President Franklin Roosevelt ever visited St. Andrew’s in Forge Village, but there are oral histories and anecdotal evidence that suggests he may have taken part in the early services at the Forge Village church.

 Franklin Roosevelt was a student at the Groton School and graduated from Groton in 1900. He was also a student of Endicott Peabody and thought a great deal of the founder of the Groton School. In fact, after Roosevelt had become president, he declared in 1934 that: “As long as I live, the influence of Dr. Peabody means and will mean more to me than that of any other people next to my father and mother.”

  Reverend Endicott Peabody did require that all his students visit local churches to teach and interact with local parishioners. In addition, the young Roosevelt “did join the Groton Missionary Society and was an organist in an itinerant church group that ventured out each week to bring divine worship to remote areas.”

 Another fact that we do know is that Franklin Roosevelt did visit the Rocky Hill School in Groton in 1899. In his papers, Roosevelt states “There was a lack of organ-players for the various mission houses in the neighborhood, so I volunteered and tonight I am to drive over with two other boys and Mr. Higley to hold a service at Rocky Hill.” The Rocky Hill School was at the corner of Route 225 and Gilson Road which is near the Forge Village line.

None of this proves Franklin Roosevelt ever visited Forge Village, but there is a good chance that he did. One can draw their own conclusion.

Sources:

Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Champion of Freedom, p. 24.

Compiled by Leighton H. Peeples, Jr., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 111 Years of the Episcopal Church in Westford. Pp. 3, 6, 11, 20, 60.

Ben Johnson, “The Two Flags of Scotland.”