2002.016.003

This series is a collection of five music books from the First Spiritual Church of Methuen. The first hymnal is titled , " The Hymnal." It was published by the Star Publishing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts.The book was priced at fifteen cents per copy. The book is a compilation of 243 hymn lyrics with a notation of the appropriate musical key. An index for the hymns is found at the back of the book. The second hymnal is titled," Gospel Hymns No. 5 with standard selections." The cover reads, " For use in Gospel meetings and other Religious Services." The compilers of the book are Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan, and George C. Stebbins. The book was published by The John Church Company of Cincinnati and New York and by Bigelow and Main of New York and Chicago. The book was copyrighted in 1887 by Bigelow and Main and the John Church Company. The book contains 234 hymns with lyrics and music. An index of titles is located at the end of the book. The third and fourth hymnals are copies of the same book. They are titled "Spiritualist Hymnal " and were published by the National Spiritualist Association of the United States of America, Washington, D.C. The copyright date is 1911. Inside the cover of these books is printed the "Declaration of Principles" and lists 8 principles. Also inside the cover is a list of "Definitions" as adopted by the Association in 1914 and 1919. The books contain 156 hymns with lyrics and music "specially adapted for Spiritualist meetings." An index of titles is found at the back. One copy has a brown, soft-cover with a taped binding and is stamped inside, " First Spiritual Church, Centre Street, Methuen." The green, hard-cover version has "Lena Bamber " written inside. The fifth hymnal is titled, " Treasury of Gospel Hymns and Poems - Edward MacHugh - Your Gospel Singer." The book was published by the Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Company in Winona Lake, Indiana. It has a copyright date of 1938. The book has 100 hymns with lyrics and music. It also has 36 pages of poems. Indices for the Poems and Hymn titles are located in the back of the book. A brief history of Edward MacHugh is found in the book as well as his photograph.

admin: Hymn singing was an important part of the Spiritualist meetings as well as part of the Lyceum meetings. Lena Bamber was a member of the Church and lived on Ashland Avenue in Methuen. She was a member and an officer of the Sunflower Club. Her parents were married at the Church in 1917 by Reverend Whitehead. Her father was born in Lawrence and her mother was born in England.

Collection came from Mary Hagopian.The records were given to the donor by Mr.Thomas Hadfield, President of the Spiritualist Church, 1 Peaslee Terrace, #2, Methuen, MA.

The first hymnal is a soft-cover book with 64 numbered pages in fair condition. The second hymnal is a hard-cover book with the a taped binding. The book has 208 numbered pages. The book is in fair condition. The third hymnal is in very poor condition with dog-eared pages, taped binding and water stains. The fourth hymnal, a hard-cover version of the third book, is in excellent condition. The fifth hymnal has a hard cover with gold lettering an is in very good condition.

An inventory created in October 2002 by B. Brown is located in the box. A second copy is in the archivist's office.

The first hymnal is a soft-cover book with 64 numbered pages in fair condition. The second hymnal is a hard-cover book with the a taped binding. The book has 208 numbered pages. The book is in fair condition. The third hymnal is in very poor condition with dog-eared pages, taped binding and water stains. The fourth hymnal, a hard-cover version of the third book, is in excellent condition. The fifth hymnal has a hard cover with gold lettering an is in very good condition.