”The old parish-church is St. Mary’s, one of the most venerable in the Protestant-Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and a precious memorial of the past. It took its rise in the conversion of one of the chief men of the village to Episcopalianism, nearly eighty years ago. Mr. Elbridge Ware, having learned to love the Episcopal service during a sojourn at Morristown, New Jersey, on his return to Newton Lower Falls induced John R. Cotting, a lay-reader, to come over from Dedham, and officiate frequently in the village school-house.”

Reference Data:

King's Handbook of Newton, Massachusetts, by Moses Foster Sweetser, 1889, page 226