Mothers Rest

One might think that the women of First Baptist Church Newton had their hands and hearts full with the founding of the Woman’s Baptist Missionary Society, The Baptist Home for Missionaries Children, and a vibrant, active Women’s Union. However, in the summer of 1900 they created what would become a beloved and well-known outreach to city women and their children.

They rented an “old town farm” in Waban where they offered to women and their children two weeks of rest, meals, and country living. The old farmhouse was fitted with fourteen bedrooms, dining room, kitchen and laundry, reception rooms, and a nursery outfitted with toys given by Newton children. During the first summer, 193 guests-78 mothers and 113 children were hosted. The first season saw 1439 quarts of milk consumed, half from the Normandy Farms in Newton Highlands. Five hundred garments for both mothers and children were provided and young women volunteers made garments for the babies so they would have a new dress to wear home.

So many books were donated that each child would also have a little gift to bring home.

The public response to Mothers Rest was enthusiastic and enduring. As years passed, it eventually became part of the City of Newton’s charitable outreach.