Notable Members

Benjamin Lincoln

One of the founding members of the Society was a native son of Massachusetts, graduate of Harvard, Major General in the American Revolution and second in command to George Washington at the end of the war. He has the distinction of being presented sword of British surrender at Yorktown: Lord Cornwallis, Commander of the British Forces, plead illness, and so did not attend the surrender ceremony, choosing instead to send his second-in-command, the Irish General Charles O'Hara. General Washington refused to accept Cornwallis' sword from O'Hara, directing O'Hara to present it instead to Lincoln, Washington's own second-in-command.  Where most places that are named Lincoln are assumed to be named after Abraham Lincoln, are in fact named after Benjamin Lincoln.

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Rev. Rhys Williams

Rev. Williams was quoted as saying; “Every person has the obligation to be a positive force in this era of accelerating change." And for four decades- he did just that.

As minister of the First Church, Boston, Rev. Williams quietly led and actively participated in a staggering number of important organizations. His unparalleled contribution to the arts, education, culture and ministry of Boston placed him at the center of a positive force that sustained organizations like Opera Boston, Franklin Institute, John Winthrop School, Emerson College, Colonial Society of Massachusetts and more than a dozen Unitarian Universalists organizations. In addition to all that, and more, Rev. Williams served as vice-president and president of the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America from 1975 to 2003.

The era of accelerating change made possible a new way to expand his ministry - when Emerson College starting broadcasting Sunday services from First Church in the 1980s.

“Rhys wanted people not to worry about the next life, but do what they could to make this life better for other people."  Said his wife Eleanor.

Making life better for all people was the hallmark of his ministry. His efforts to create and sustain the Hale-Barnard Corporation, started in 1965, which still provides housing and programs for senior citizens in the Boston area, is just one example of a myriad of programs he brought to life and nurtured during his remarkable life.