As you look around this beautiful church, I’m sure you’ve seen many marble and brass plaques, memorial gifts, and other historical items with the names of past church members. Someone once said to me it would be interesting to know who some of these people were. I agreed, so today I’d like to honor one of those names, as today, November 9th, holds a significant event in our church’s history.
As you know we’ve had 14 settled pastors. The first being Rev. Jesse Page who came to us in 1835 and the last was Rev. Debra Adams who retired in 2024. Our longest serving Pastor was the Rev. Clinton Carvell who served this church for 43 years. Rev. Carvell and his wife Helen Scobey Carvell settled into the Parsonage on Main Street in May 1924.
Mrs. Carvell, was born in 1890 in Lambertville NJ. She graduated from Vassar College in 1913 and married Clinton, August 26, 1919. Like her husband she was an integral part of not only this church but the community as well. In this church she served as the President of the Women’s Union, President of the Ladies Benevolent Society, and Chairman of the Second Mile Committee. She was the first President of the North Andover Women’s Club, a trustee of the Steven’s Memorial Library, and members of the North Andover Improvement Society, the Roundabout Club and the North Andover Historical Society. She was frequently called upon to give talks, or present a story or two at various women’s groups. She was consulted for her sound judgement and her book reviews delighted her listeners and drew many attendees. She was admired for her talent in writing poetry and prose, and had a section specifically dedicated to her contributions in the Trinitarian weekly bulletin. She was deeply interested in China and its people, and was devoted to the cause of missions. She was a dedicated member of this church, loved its people as they loved her, and not surprisingly, attendance at services each week greatly increased.
On Tuesday evening, November 6, 1946, Mrs. Carvell left the parsonage and walked up Main Street to Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church to attend one the many groups she participated in. As she left the meeting and walked back home, she was struck by a car and sadly passed away the next day. Today, November 9th is significant in the history of this church as Mrs. Carvell’s funeral was held 69 years ago on this very day at 2pm. She lay in state here in the sanctuary from Friday night to Saturday morning with hundreds of people attending her funeral paying tribute to her kind and gracious life. In her honor the front the church was adorned with so many flowers it seemed as though you were in a beautiful garden. Mrs. Carvell was laid to rest in Ridgewood Cemetery on Salem Street.
After her death the members of this church wanted to do something to honor and remember this remarkable lady who made such a difference in their lives. So, a group of church members formed the Memorial Lights Committee and through funds raised commissioned Henry Wolfers Studio in Boston to create these 4 beautiful lights that grace our presence each week. On April 11, 1948 these lights along with the plaque at the back of the church were dedicated in her memory during a moving dedication ceremony. It was such a fitting tribute to pick lights as a memorial gift and this is a passage taken from the dedication program “We are honoring the memory of a beloved friend, whose life among us seemed symbolical of lights whose radiance gave us a mental and spiritual enlightenment that we shall remember and cherish. These lights have been designed with the idea that they should be memorial lights in honor of Helen Scobey Carvell. The intention in the design was to show dignity, simplicity, and whose brilliance would remind us of the quiet, unassuming but effectual life of this dear departed friend.”
So now you know the name Helen Scobey Carvell, who she was, and what her life meant to this church, its history, and its people.
In honor of Mrs. Carvell, today, we are using the collection plate dedicated in her memory by the members of the _____________________ as well as the following hymn that was played during her funeral service, Oh Holy Savior, Friend Unseen.