Social: Bertha’s Church Life

For many years here in the USA, church life has taken center stage in people’s lives.  In colonial times, church basically was the governing institution, especially in New England.  As time went on and church and state became separate, church was the touchstone for not only religion, but a strong part of everyday life.  

This was no exception for my great-grandmother Bertha Colomy and her family.  I knew from reading the newspaper articles about her running off with Percy St. Clair that the family did attend church.  Since learning about this, I’ve found so many more articles that point to her involvement in the Christian Church at 38 Silsbee Street in Lynn (yes, that was the name of the church).  I also saw her cousin Augusta (“Gussie”) Goodwin and aunt Fannie (White) Burns mentioned!

“Christian Church, Silsbee Street,” NOBLE Digital Heritage, accessed May 6, 2022, https://digitalheritage.noblenet.org/noble/items/show/1438.

Not surprisingly, Bertha was mostly involved in various music programs at the church, whether playing piano, singing or both from about 1889 to 1897.  She even trained the children’s Sunday School for their Christmas Concert in 1896 and did a fine job.  Bertha was involved in other ways:  she was a member of the S.O.L.O. Club, the Sewing Circle and was even the secretary of the church’s Young People’s Society Christian Endeavor.

The most fascinating story, however, took place on May 26, 1892.  Bertha threw a party for her mother Jennie, inviting about thirty people over and having cake and ice cream and extensive entertainment.  The pastor of the Christian Church, A.A. Williams, made a speech on Bertha’s behalf and a presentation of a gift of money from Bertha to Jennie.  No, it wasn’t Jennie’s birthday or other special occasion.  What wasn’t mentioned in this article, but in another later article, was that Jennie was having problems paying the mortgage since Frank was out of town at this time.  This money was probably the result of Bertha’s piano lessons.

As of this date, however, Bertha was going to have a new source of income:  she was just hired by Percy St. Clair to be a bookkeeper in his piano shop.  Perhaps Percy was even at the party, since I know he had been to the Colomy home prior to the trouble he would be dragging Bertha into just two weeks later.