First Free Methodist Church Of Seekonk, Ma. Celebrates 100 Years!

The history of the First Free Methodist Church of Seekonk, MA, began in late spring 1924, when 15-year-old Amelia Lincoln asked her mother and grandmother, “Why don’t we go to church?” “The answer was complicated," she was told.

Annie Elderkin, Amelia's aunt, stated in a 1970s newspaper article that they “were poor and did not have good clothes.” It also costs money to go to church. In those days, the church charged a pew fee; it solicited donations, and sometimes special donations for purposes such as mortgage payments, church maintenance, and mission work in distant places. There was also the problem that they were Indians. They were of Seaconke Wampanoag descent and had no history of Christian belief.

Amelia decided to address these problems herself. That summer, she walked from Arcade Ave to the Holy Mission in Rumford, R.I., where Pastor Robinson from the Attleboro Free Methodist Church led outreach meetings for poor farm communities. These Saturday meetings encouraged attendance at Sunday services in Attleboro. Amelia discussed these meetings with her mother, Mabel Lincoln, and grandmother, Amelia Elderkin. Amelia asked that they attend a Saturday meeting and meet a couple of friends she had made at the Holy Mission. Those friends were Reverend Charles Ross, his wife Gertrude Ross, and their young daughter.

The Ross family had just moved to Rumford, RI. Reverend Ross was the head of the New England Conference of the Free Methodist Church. The Rosses had just spent a couple of years in Clinton, MA, where they had built a congregation and a church from the ground up. Reverend Ross came to this area to help the floundering Providence Free Methodist Church, which had been founded in 1911. Relocating to the East Providence community would give him and Gertrude the opportunity to meet people in the community, help the Providence church grow into a larger congregation, and, hopefully, build a physical church as a permanent home. Amelia Elderkin was very interested in meeting the Rosses and going to the Holy Mission. Amelia had been widowed for four years. She and her husband, Charles Henry Elderkin, had eleven children. Three were grown, married, and had children of their own. Eight children were still at home; one, William Archibald, was seriously injured in the Great War, World War One.

Amelia worried that her sons could be honorable family men and hold jobs to support their lives and families. They worked on farms from spring planting through harvest and were day laborers in the winter. In 1919, prohibition had become the law of the land. The Elderkin men also made moonshine. Now her sons were violating the law and could be imprisoned if caught.

The 1924 Tent Meeting
In the fall of 1924, the community gathered for a significant tent meeting on harvested farmland at the corners of Ledge Road and Arcade Avenue in Seekonk. The meeting, led by Reverend Charles Ross and supported by families such as the Elderkin and Lincoln families, drew a large crowd of local residents. This assembly gave Reverend Ross the opportunity to share his message directly with the people of Seekonk, Rehoboth, and East Providence.

The tent meeting was more than a religious event; it was a turning point for the community. Amelia Elderkin invited Reverend Ross to hold meetings at her home on Chestnut Street, welcoming not only her family but also any neighbors interested in attending. The gatherings quickly outgrew the Elderkin home, with attendees spilling out beneath the trees in the yard. These meetings were instrumental in inspiring many, including members of the Elderkin, Lincoln, Peck, Jennings, and Chaffee families, to embrace Christianity.

Mrs. Gertrude Ross saw the impact of these gatherings and recognized that the growing group of believers was sufficient to establish a new church in Seekonk. This realization marked the beginning of the journey to build the First Free Methodist Church, setting the stage for a century of faith and community in Seekonk.
Reverend Ross was physically worn; he was traveling throughout New England and working hard locally to help the Providence church. He was suffering from tuberculosis and did not know what the future might hold for him and Gertrude. In prayer, he decided that if it be God's will that this community have a church, he would give every effort to make it so.

Building The Church
The Elderkin family was excited to embrace Christianity and take up the work of building a physical church. Reverend Ross spread the word among the Pennsylvania, New York, and New England Free Methodist conferences of churches that an Indian community in Seekonk had accepted Christ and was endeavoring to build a church of its own. Soon, those communities began raising money to support the construction of this new church. They saved and sent Indian-head pennies to Seekonk as support and a symbolic gesture of welcome.

Reverend Ross purchased the property between Back St. and Taunton Ave in Seekonk. Unfortunately, Reverend Ross’s health was in decline, and he was soon bedridden. Still of sound mind and with a strong, supportive wife, he worked to give direction to the men of the Elderkin family on how to build the church. Construction began in the winter of 1925 and concluded in early 1926. The first Sunday congregation meetings were held in May 1925, while the church was being built around them. Upon the conclusion of construction, the date of Sunday, 28 February 1926, was set as the first day they would open the doors of the church to the public.

That day came with great sadness. The first public event would be a funeral for Reverend Charles E. Ross, who died of tuberculosis on February 24, 1926. Ministers and congregants attended from across New England, New York, and Pennsylvania.

When the congregation first began meeting in the unfinished church in May 1925, Gertrude Ross served as pastor. Mrs. Ross went on to become one of the first female ordained ministers in the country. She was followed by Reverend Fred Van Sickle that September.

The First Free Methodist Church of Seekonk, MA, located at 453 Taunton Ave, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 10am. Everyone in the community is warmly invited to join the festivities, which will include a sermon from longtime pastor James Wills, a presentation on the church's history, and performances by the church choir. All are welcome!

More information on the history of the Seekonk Methodist Church may found at:
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