At first glance, the piled-up stones look like just that, merely a heap of stones from long ago, when fields were cleared by hand and horse. And yet, when you take a closer look, they form an encircling wall not quite like that around a well but quite suitable, if one thinks about it, for an aspiring preacher to stand inside. This is the pulpit or Parkhurst’s Pulpit, which can be seen near 10 Robin Hill Road and where, history and legend tell us, young John Parkhurst (1789 – 1875) stood to practice his speaking while also keeping an eye on his father’s cows in the pasture that spread all around him on the slope of the hill.
Young John was the son of Samuel Parkhurst, who, at age 16, went off to join the Minutemen at Concord Bridge and Bunker Hill, later marching with the troops to Ticonderoga, where he gained possession of a British sword, still in the Historical Society’s collection. John went to school in Chelmsford and then on to Harvard, intending to become a Unitarian minister, but he later changed his mind and accepted the Baptist ministry instead.
In 1821, John became pastor of the First Baptist Church in South Chelmsford and remained there until 1845, when he left to become pastor of the new Central Baptist Church. He took part in many local affairs, such as the town meeting, and offered a prayer at the dedication of the Revolutionary War Monument. He remained with the new church, which first met in the Classical Academy building later used as the parsonage until 1868.
Rev. Parkhurst lived for many years with his wife and 11 children at what is now 147 Robin Hill Road not too far from his birthplace (#75) and the pasture where he learned to speak in the earnest, sometimes blazing, way for which he was noted.
Credit goes to Eleanor Parkhurst as it was her newspaper article I used for this blog post.
