FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

The first meeting of the organizers of the First Universalist Church was held in 1842, in the loft of a sawmill located on Fifth Street near Broadway. The first church building, at the corner of Chestnut and Fourth Street, was erected and dedicated in 1850. In 1862, the church was enlarged giving it a seating capacity of 1200. On Sunday April 12, 1908, this great edifice was completely destroyed in the great Chelsea fire; one of thirteen houses of worship to burn that day. Immediately, planning began for the erection of a new church. Offers of help and generous donations came from all over the state and from the Universalist General Convention. In the meantime, weekly services were held in the Odd Fellows Hall on Reynolds Avenue. The estate of Samuel P. Tenney, a former Mayor of Chelsea, located on the corner of Clark and Cary Avenue was purchased by the church. A house on the estate was moved up from the corner and used as the rectory. First Universalist Church - 1850 The cornerstone for the new church was laid on October 3, 1909. The church, much smaller in size, was completed and dedicated in January 1911. When completed it was entirely free of debt. The man responsible for the church's recovery and rebuilding was it's Pastor, Reverend R. Perry Bush. Bush came to Chelsea from Provincetown at a very early age. It was while working as a clerk in Small's Grocery store on Winnisimmet Street, that Bush decided to study for the ministry. Perry Bush entered Tufts in 1875 and graduated in 1879 with a Doctor of Divinity degree. New First Universalist Church - 1911  Reverend Bush was ordained in the Universalist Church, Chestnut and Fourth Street July 30, 1879. Reverend Bush's first assignment was in Everett where he stayed for thirteen years. On March 1, 1892, Reverend Bush was assigned to the Chelsea church, where he remained until his retirement in 1922. Reverend Bush was active in the community as well as church affairs; serving twenty six years as a member of the school committee and as chaplain to a number of organizations. Reverend Bush passed away April 2, 1926. Vannevar Bush, the son of Reverend Perry Bush, was President Franklin Roosevelt's chief scientific advisor and head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II. Vannevar Bush graduated from Tufts with a Bachelor of Science degree and in 1913 with a Master of Science degree. In 1916, Bush received a Doctorate in engineering from both Harvard and the Massachusett Institute of Technology {M.I.T.} During World War I, Bush did important research for the U. S. Navy on submarine detection devises earning the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Bush became a professor on the faculty at M.I.T. serving as dean of engineering from 1932 to 1938. While at M.I.T. Bush developed a differential analyzer, called "The Machine That Thinks" and what became the forerunner of the analog computers of today. It was in 1938 when Bush became president of Carnegie Institute. In the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Bush supervised the early stages of the atomic bomb program. Vannevar Bush passed away June 28, 1974. The First Universalist Church on Clark and Cary Avenue was sold and demolished in 1969. Today a red brick apartment building occupies the site.
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