Lucius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register

[301] and ministerial duties, as heretofore, the Parish committee, on the succeeding day, closed the correspondence thus: ‘You do not owe any such duties as aforesaid to said Parish, and that said Parish refuses to accept from you any service, or services, as such minister, or pastor, thereof. Hereafter you cannot occupy nor use the pulpit of the meeting-house of said Parish, as it will be exclusively appropriated to such preacher, or preachers, as said Parish shall employ to supply it.’¹ On the next Sabbath, Dr. Holmes and those who adhered to him held religious services in the old Court House. They also called an ex-parte council, which assembled June 17, 1829, and, after a full examination of the case, agreed in this result: ‘In view of all the facts and evidence presented to this council, they are unanimously of the opinion, that the Rev. Dr. Holmes has not in any way forfeited his office as pastor of the first church and parish in Cambridge; and that he is still, according to ecclesiastical usage, the pastor and minister of said church and parish.’² As before stated, a majority of the church adhered to Dr. Holmes, and acknowledged him as their pastor; but the majority of the parish would never thereafter acknowledge such relationship, and the breach between the two has never been healed.

The minority of the parish organized a new society, and adopted the name of the ‘Shepard Congregational Society,’ with which the majority of the church, claiming to be the First Church, united to maintain public worship and the ordinances of the gospel. Dr. Holmes soon asked for a colleague, and his request was granted. Rev. Nehemiah Adams, Jr., was ordained Dec. 17, 1829. On account of physical debility, Dr. Holmes requested a dismission, which was granted by the church, and confirmed by a council. He preached his farewell sermon Oct. 2, 1831. He continued to preach occasionally until near the close of his life. He died, of paralysis, June 4, 1837, in the 74th year of his age. It is worthy of notice, that even during the unhappy controversy in the parish, no ‘railing accusation’ is known to have been heard against the moral and Christian character of Dr. Holmes; even the council, which determined that he had forfeited his ministry by a steadfast persistence in what he regarded as his duty contrary to the desires of others whose opinions differed from his own, bear a frank and manly testimony to his worth and sincerity as a Christian. His present successor in the ministry has thus described his labors and his character:

The ministry