Interred 9/14/1882
Rev. Chandler Robbins, DD, formerly and during many years pastor of the Second Church (Unitarian) in this city, died at Weston, Mass., this morning. Dr. Robbins was a native of Lynn, Mass., and was born February 14, 1810. He was graduated at Harvard University in the famous class of 1829, having as classmates such men as Rev. James Freeman Clarke, Judge George Tyler Bigelow, Rev. William Henry Channing, Judge Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Rev. Samuel May, Prof. Benjamin Pierce and Rev. S. F. Smith, DD. Supplementing his collegiate course by the usual period of study at the Cambridge Divinity School, he was graduated there in 1833, and on December 4 of the same year he was ordained as pastor of the Second Church as successor to the late Ralph Waldo Emerson. The sermon on the occasion of his ordination was preached by Rev. Henry Ware, DD, who had formerly been pastor of the church. Among his predecessors was the celebrated Cotton Mather. The pastorate of Dr. Robbins was of long duration and full of usefulness. It continued exactly 41 years and was terminated by his resignation of the pulpit, which he desired to have take effect on the forty-first anniversary of his ordination. The society accepted his resignation in a series of resolutions wherein testimony was given as to the zeal and industry with which during his long ministry he had discharged the duties of his high office, endearing himself to the members of his flock, awakening them to a spiritual realization of their religious duties and obligations and keeping up the church to its original standard. At the same time the standing committee was instructed to ask Dr. Robbins to sit for his portrait in his ministerial robes, in order that same might adorn the church parlor. At the time of his resignation Dr. Robbins was the oldest settled minister in the city proper. The late Dr. Putnam, at that time still in the pastorate of the First Religious Society in Roxbury, was three years his senior by ordination. Rev. S. K. Lothrop, DD, of the Brattle Street Church, although he had been a pastor of a church in Dover, N.H., before coming to Boston, was settled a year the junior of Dr. Robbins in Boston. The late Rollin H. Neale, D D, of the First Baptist Church, and Rev. C. A. Bartol, DD, still pastor of the West Church were settled in 1837, and Rev. James Freeman Clarke was settled in his pastorate of the Church of the Disciples, which continues to fill, in 1841. During the long pastorate of Dr. Robbins, the Second Church moved gradually from the North End of the city to the South End. It was located on Bedford Street a number of years, the church edifice being brown stone, comparatively playing in its architecture. Just previous to the resignation of Dr. Robbins the building had been taken down and erected anew upon the site in Boylston Street, where it now stands, the architectural features being in most respects unchanged.
Dr. Robbins was succeeded in his pastorate by Rev. Robert Laird Collier, DD, formerly of Chicago, who remained but a few years, and was succeeded by Rev. Edward A Horton, the present pastor, who was settled in 1880. A devoted pastor and preacher whose sermons bore the marks of broad culture and deep thought, Dr. Robbins was one of those ministers whose intidence, strong and of much an extent during his active labors, will long be felt in the circles wherein he moved and was known. In his religious views he was very conservative and belonged to that school of thought represented by such men as Dr. Channing, Dr. Gannett and Dr. Putnam of those who have passed away, and Dr. Rufus Ellis, who had been nearly 30 years the pastor of the First Church. Dr. Robbins was an author as well as a preacher, and published several works, including various papers in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of which he was a member. Among his published writings are "A History of the Second Church in Boston, with Lives of Increase in Cotton Mather;" two sermons on the death of Rev. Henry Ware Jr., DD, two historical discourses on taking down the "New Brick Church," Artillery Election Sermon in 1836, memoirs of Rev. Alexander Young and Honorable William Appleton, and Lectures on the Regicides, delivered before the Lowell Institute. He contributed articles to the Knickerbocker, Christian Examiner and other literary and religious periodicals, edited the works of Henry Ware Jr., in four volumes, and published a number of occasional sermons. In 1843 Dr. Robbins compiled "The Social Hymn Book," and in 1854 he compiled a "Hymn Book for Christian Worship." He was the author of two beautiful hymns.
Dr. Robbins received the degree of D. D. from Harvard University in 1855. He was twice married. His first marriage took place about 50 years ago, his wife being Eliza Frothingham, daughter of Samuel F Frothingham, a well-known bank president and sister of Samuel and Theodore Frothingham and Mrs. J Huntington Wolcott. Mrs. Robbins was in many respects a remarkable woman, and her death, which occurred about 12 years ago, was deeply mourned. By this marriage Dr. Robbins had six children; Mrs. Nathaniel L Hooper, Mrs. Hamilton A Hill, Mrs. E C Johnson, Mrs. C H Fiske, who died some years ago, Mrs. Edward L Davis of Worcester and Chandler Robbins Jr., who died a few years ago. About six years ago he married a second time, his wife being a daughter of A H Fiske of Boston and the widow of Major Sidney Willard, who was killed at Fredericksburg. By this marriage he had three children. Among the surviving lives is his brother, Rev. Samuel D Robbins, a retired clergymen now living in Wayland, who is well-known in the Unitarian denomination as the author of many beautiful hymns.
The illness which resulted in the death of Dr. Robbins was the nature of a summer complaint, and was of brief duration. He was well enough to be at church a week ago Sunday, and was seized with the fatal illness a day or two later. Funeral services will be held in the Second Church in this city, but the time is not yet announced.
