Caleb Davis Bradlee, 1831-1897
No. 22299 Caleb Davis Bradlee, dagueerotype from Harvard University Archives
https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/daguerreotypes-at-harvard/catalog/17-W97412_urn-3:HULARCH:32101
see Caleb Davis Bradlee, D.D., Ph.D. 1831-1897. In Memoriam. By Alfred Manchester. (Boston: Geo. H. Ellis, 1897), 76-77
Pastor pro tem, Pastor and Senior Pastor at Harrison Square Church
Bradlee (Bradley) was an old Dorchester name.
Caleb Davis Bradlee was educated in the schools of Boston except for a few months during which he was a pupil of the Rev. Richard Pike, of Dorchester while Bradlee was preparing for college. Bradlee entered Harvard University in 1848. In September 1852 he entered the Cambridge Divinity School. In 1855 he received the degree of A.M. from Harvard. He had been licensed to preach by the Boston Association of Ministers in June,1854. He served the Allen Street Church in North Cambridge from 184 to 1857. From 1857 to 1861 he served as a transient supply preacher for many churches, and from 1861 to 1864 he served the Church of Our Father in East Boston. From 1864 to 1872 he served the Church of the Redeemer in Boston. In 1873, the Christian Unity Society invited him to become their pastor.
July 1, 1875-June 1, 1890
Between the above dates Mr. Bradlee located three periods of his ministry: the eighth, from July 1, 1875, to March 5, 1876, when he supplied various pulpits, decided not to accept a call to Walpole, Mass, and had temporary care of the pulpit of the Unitarian church at Melrose; the ninth, when he was pastor pro tem. at Harrison Square, March 5 to June 4, 1876; and the tenth, June 4, 1876-June 1, 1890, when he was pastor and senior pastor at Harrison Square. This church was formerly called the Third Unitarian Society in Dorchester.
He writes thus of the Harrison Square Church: “In 1848 it was found that the church on the hill then under the loving care of that faithful and apostolic shepherd, Nathaniel Hall–was overflowing with numbers, and hardly large enough to accommodate the residents of all parts of Dorchester, and having no room for the new-comers who were perpetually choosing their homes in this delightful locality; and so, too many of the members of the old parish, who lived a great distance from the sanctuary, felt more and more the difficulty of attending service and the need of a temple nearer to their own dwellings. And at that time, also, political excitement ran high, and holy men belonged to all of the parties, and were equally conscientious and earnest, and of strong minds and of loving souls, and yet diametrically opposite in opinion, and advocating measures that could never be reconciled. And mainly for these three reasons I have named–the overflowing of the ancient meeting-house, the great distance of the homes of some of the old parish, and the mighty but sincere political antipathies–the Harrison Square Church came into life.”
In 1890 Dr. Bradlee offered to serve as pastor for one year at the newly-formed Norfolk Street Church in Dorchester.
No. 2485 Harrison Square Church, Thrid Unitarian Society in Dorchester