Abstract In February 1786, thirty-three members would form the First Congregational Church of Gardner, led by town physician Rev. Jonathan Osgood. In 1830, there was a split in the congregation which resulted in a separate, Evangelical Church. They would form together again in 1846, adopting the creed of the Evangelical Church. In the 1880s, the church started to take part in the Christian Endeavor movement and the Young Ladies’ Missionary Society began teaching English to the rising population of...