Sterling was originally part of the town Lancaster.  Early residents took a long, uncomfortable trip to Lancaster every Sunday to attend church as was required by law. 

1742

Lancaster denied a request from the residents of the Chocksett area of Lancaster (today Sterling) to secede from Lancaster and establish a new town.  The same year Lancaster did allow residents of Leominster, Bolton and Boylston to form new townships. 

Lancaster, however, gave permission for the establishment of a second precinct/parish so that the residents of Chocksett could worship locally rather than traveling to Lancaster every Sunday.

To accomplish this goal, Elias Sawyer deeded about three acres of land to “the west precinct in Lancaster” (the second precinct) to build a church for “the worship of God”.  Within two weeks of deeding the land, Sawyer himself became one of the committee of three that built the first church building on the site he had given for this purpose.

1742-1782

All municipal (town) meetings were held in Lancaster. Those with voting rights living in Chocksett had to travel to Lancaster to participate in the town government.

1744

The church was founded upon the calling and ordination of a minister, John Mellon, to serve the Second Precinct. At the time under Massachusetts’ law, a church/parish was incorporated upon the calling of a minister. Eighteen members signed the original church covenant.  The parish/church, a corporation with perpetual succession, has operated continually since that time on the land deeded to it by Elias Sawyer.

1780

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was ratified on June 15, 1780 and became effective on October 25, 1780.  Today, it is the oldest continuously functioning written constitution in the world. In 1780, Article III of the Bill of Rights of the constitution authorized and required “the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality, in all cases where such provisions shall not be made voluntarily.” The state required the public to support the church. Separation of church and state came much later in Massachusetts with subsequent amendments to the constitution.

1781

Lancaster voted to allow Chocksett to secede. The new town called itself Sterling. In keeping with the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 requirement that towns maintain public worship, Sterling assumed management of the church property and its finances. This relationship continued until 1836.

How we voted ourselves free of Lancaster to form a new township after about 50 years of unsuccessfully trying to do so is one of the great stories of Sterling history. The day of the Lancaster town meeting was cold and stormy with snow falling.  Once again, an article asking to allow the Chocksett area to secede from Lancaster to form a separate town was on the warrant.  The determined residents of Sterling in mass braved the bad weather and distance to attend the meeting in Lancaster and vote their cause, while many Lancaster voters living much closer stayed safely at home by their warm fires. Thus, Sterling won its long sought independence and Lancaster lost some of its most valuable lands.

1833

Article 11 of Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution’s Third Article of Bill of
Rights was passed which allowed/required the separation of church and state.

1835

The Town of Sterling, to accommodate for town use and meetings, buys land in the center of town across from the church, on which to build a town hall. The building of what is now called the1835 Town Hall was complete by the end of the year.

This act by the Town of Sterling clearly acknowledged that the church owned all of the land Elias Sawyer had deeded to Precinct Two for the purpose of “the worship of God”.  There was no library building south of the church at this time and that location would have been the logical choice for the town hall had the town owned the church’s common lands as a few are presently arguing today.

1836

The Town of Sterling now able to manage town functions from its own building, the church withdrew from town support and incorporated as a legal entity separate from the Town of Sterling using the procedure set forth by Article 11. The church once again assumed full financial management of its affairs and its property, as had been the case between 1742-1781 when the church was Precinct 2 of Lancaster.

The first Parish book entry date January 14, 1836 is a request by “the subscriber members and legal voters of the First Congregational Society of the Town of Sterling” to one of the Justices of the Peace to “Issue a warrant…for the calling a meeting of said society for the purpose of organizing the same agreeably to the law and of acting on the following items:

    Article 1 To choose a clerk, moderator, and other such officers as such society shall deem necessary and proper.

    Article 2 To determine the mode of calling future meetings of said society…

    Article 3 To adopt such By Laws for the regulation of said society as may be deemed proper.”

On January 16, 1836 the Justice of the Peace issued the warrant for the requested meeting   that was held on February 7, 1836.

1843

The Town of Sterling asked the church if it could set out shade and ornamental trees upon a section of the church’s common land.

From the parish records of that year, Article II of the church meeting warrant “To see if the parish will grant leave to set out shade and ornamental trees upon the common, or act in any way respecting the same.”

The church “Voted that the parish grant leave to set out ornamental trees on the common.

Voted to choose a committee to ascertain the boundaries of the Common and to place stakes where trees shall be set.”

1857

The Town of Sterling asked the church if it would give permission to enclose a section of the church’s common land.

From the church records, April 24, 1857 Article 2nd “To see what action the Parish will take with regard to the proposed enclosure of a part of the common.” 

It was “Voted that the Parish consent to the enclosure of a part of the common, provided it be done under the direction of a committee of the Parish.” The church also “Voted that the Parish Committee with the addition of Capt. Moses Sawyer and Capt. Eli Kilburne be a Committee to see that the proposed enclosure of a part of the common is made in accordance with the rights of the Parish.”

1865

The Town of Sterling voted on 3/12 to raise a committee to consider a monument (Civil War).

1866

The Town of Sterling on 2/17 voted money for said monument.  The church voted on 3/12 to allow a monument to be placed on the common as requested by the town.  The town on 3/15 instructed the committee to proceed at once to erect a monument.

1874

The Town of Sterling voted on March 16,1874, “that the town will erect a fence about the park as now enclosed provided that the town can obtain title to the ground from the First Parish for a nominal sum”. 

From parish records Article II of the warrant of church’s Annual Meeting held April 15, 1874 “To see what measures the parish shall take with regard to the tract of land now enclosed as a public park: if they will transfer the title to the town by which the society now holds said land, or empower a Committee to arrange the matter with a Committee appointed by the town to confer with the Parish with regard to fencing said tract.”

The meeting refused to consider sale of the land to the town but “Voted that the first Congregational Society in Sterling hereby permits the town to rebuild the fence around the public park as now enclosed.”

The town receiving permission built the fence. This is the present granite post fence with wooden rails that still surrounds the Common. Since that time, the town in exchange for the use of the Common has maintained it.  The fence requires regular maintenance and care by its owner the town.

1885

The town asked to place a library on church land.

Article 2 of the warrant of the church’s meeting of June 24,1885, “To see if the Parish will vote to allow a Public Library Building to be erected on the Common in front of the southerly row of sheds about halfway between the meeting house and the hotel.”

The church voted “not to give the consent of the Parish to allow the town to set a library building on the common in the location now indicated by stakes. Voted to give consent of the Parish to the location of a Library Building on the common between the church and the hotel provided the sheds in the rear of the building can be dispensed with and the building be carried back from its present location.”

Following the church vote on July 7, 1885, the town “Voted to locate the library building on the common south of the meetinghouse of the First Congregational Society…the consent of said parish being given on the 24th day of June 1885.”

1954

The First Church grants a written license to the Town of Sterling stipulating agreed upon usage terms for the Common by the town.  These are the Terms under which the Town presently has use of the Common.

1972

The town asked the First Church to deed the land that the library sat on to the town so that renovations to the building could be undertaken and funded by the town.  The church voted to give the land enclosed within the building’s footprint to the Town of Sterling for the sum of 1 dollar.

1984

The Town of Sterling asked the First Church to sell more of its common land, which surrounded the library, to the town so that a major new addition could be constructed. This would allow the library to remain in the center of town, and at the same time save the town considerable sums of money by incorporating the present building into an expansion plan rather than the town having to purchase a new site and construct an entirely new building. The church voted not to stand in the way of a library addition and that it would sell the town the necessary common land. A title search was completed for the church and the land eventually was sold to the town and the addition built.

2009

The Board of Selectmen formed an ad hoc Town Common Revitalization Committee.

Two members of the First Church were asked to serve on the committee to represent the church and to keep the church appraised of the plans being developed by the committee. The church would have to eventually vote on and authorize whatever plans the town proposed before any implementation could to move forward as agreed upon in the 1954 license agreement from the church.

2010

The Revitalization Committee developed a renovation plan for the Common that would cost about $66,000 to execute.  In exploring what grant money was available, it was found that the town would need to show ownership of the Common in order for it to apply for and receive such funding. However, this approach neglected to take into account the fact that any charitable organization (which includes the church) can apply for and receive MARP grants that are funded through the Massachusetts Historical Commission.  There were a number of better ways then and now to approach this seeming roadblock than to challenge in court the church’s longstanding ownership of the Common in an attempt to leverage it away from the Church.

The town hired a title attorney to research the title.  The title attorney’s preliminary report favored an unsupported belief of town ownership of the Common but requested information from town records to confirm and support the opinion.  A through search of town records did not find any information to confirm this assumption of town ownership.  Further, the title attorney did not approach the church to ascertain what name to search the record for title under. He also did not to inquire about the church’s written records that date back to 1836.

The church, in response to town assertions that the church did not own the Common, obtained legal counsel.  The Church’s counsel reviewed church records, deeds and case law to render an opinion that the common does in fact belong to the church.

Both the town and church’s attorneys appeared before the Selectboard to discuss their findings on ownership of the Common. The discussion indicated the property belonged to the church.

Doris Bennett, JD, a Sterling resident, presented a verbal statement at that time that she had hired a noted land court attorney whose research showed the property was the town’s.  Ms Bennett was asked by both the town and church to share her attorney’s research with their attorneys to see if it could help solve the dispute. She declined.

Thereafter, the town and church began to negotiate a MOU to replace the 1954 license agreement from the Church regarding common use and upkeep by the town. They were unable, however, to agree on a MOU due to the wording related to ownership. During that discussion some town officers and committee members stated the town should not be spending money on property it does not own indicating they wanted ownership established by the court.

2011

The town placed Articles 12 and 13 on the 2011 Town Meeting Warrant seeking funding for legal costs

SterlingCommon@gmail.com