Bishop Huntington's Communion Flagon

Resting on a shelf in the Bishop’s study is a small, unassuming silver flagon. It’s baluster form is simple and unadorned; the maker's mark (“Lincoln and Reed”) reveals it was made in Boston. An inscription on its belly simply reads “Frederic Dan Huntington, Jan 1st, 1845”. Flagons like this one were used and continue to be used in Christian churches around the world to distribute the wine consumed during Communion. However, it is difficult to say whether or not this particular flagon was ever actually used for such a purpose.

Shortly after graduating from Amherst College, Frederic Dan Huntington assumed the position of minister at the Unitarian South Congregational Church of Boston in 1842. He served in this role until he left to teach at Harvard as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in 1855. At some point during his time there, he received this silver flagon. The exact details are unknown, but it is quite likely the flagon was given to Frederic Dan as a gift from the congregation. It was not uncommon for wealthy members of a church to sponsor such a gift, or even for the congregation to purchase one collectively. Huntington was quite well liked by his congregation in Boston, and he seems to have returned the sentiment. He wrote this of them upon his departure from the church in 1855:

“It is not exceeded, I believe, by any in the land… for number, for harmony, for mutual kindness and consideration… and indeed for every attribute and quality which make up good parochial character in the eyes of the minister.”[1]

Bishop Huntington in his later years, 1871

Frederic Dan would teach at Harvard for only five years before his resignation and subsequent conversion to Episcopalianism. Even so, he continued to look back on his time as a Unitarian minister with great fondness. He writes of the “Dear old South Congregational” in this 1878 letter:

“How many honored and dear names I could mention of those who were with me from the beginning! And how much could be said of them! Give my love to all the children and kindred of those who have fallen asleep.”[2]

    Though the Flagon’s origins might not be clear, it is obvious that it represented a very important and memorable time in his life. It eventually came into the hands of his grandson, noted composer Roger Sessions, who in turn passed it onto his grandson, Roger Pease. It was Roger Pease who generously donated the Flagon to the museum in 2019, where it now has a home among countless other objects that serve as a testament to Bishop Huntington’s long and storied life.

Sources:

[1] and [2] Arria Sargent Huntington, Memoir and Letters of Frederic Dan Huntington: First Bishop of Central New York (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1906), 107, 108.