Suffice it to say that the town suffered, in
common with all the early settlements, from the Indians, though not
extraordinarily; the usual precautions were taken to prevent assaults,
and considerable attention was paid to the maintenance of the military.
The whole civil history of the town has been one of steady prosperity,
of rather slow growth in population.
The first church in Hingham was formed in 1635, on the settlement of the
town, with Rev. Peter Hobart as its first minister.
The first house for public worship was erected by the first settlers of
the town, probably within a short time after its settlement in 1635. It
was surrounded by a palisado, and surmounted by a belfry with a bell,
and was undoubtedly a plain structure, so far as the scanty records give
any light upon it. It stood upon a hill, in front of the present site of
the Derby Academy, in the centre of what is now Main street. But the
chief curiosity of Hingham to-day is the second meeting-house, known as
the "Old Meeting-house." It is believed that no house for public worship
exists within the limits of the United States, which continues to be
used for the purpose for which it was erected, and remaining on the same
site where it was built, which is so old as this.
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