Rev. Horatio Wood

Reverend Horatio Wood served as the first minister of the Ministry-at-Large in Lowell—a free chapel established in 1842 that welcomed those unable to afford pew rentals or contributions to the collection plate, practices common in most churches of the time. The ministry’s mission was to carry out “religious, educational, and charitable work among the workers of Lowell.”

The church was supported by textile corporations and other churches. Wood not only provided religious instruction, but also organized and ran an evening school, developed a library, and supervised the distribution of relief money to the “worthy poor.” 

During the Civil War, when many mills closed, he and his wife were very active in collecting clothes and food for the impoverished.