In the summer of 1651, the Indians built a framed edifice, which
answered, as is the case to-day in many small country towns, the double
purpose of a schoolroom on week-days, and a sanctuary on the Sabbath.
Professor C.E. Stowe once called that building the first known
theological seminary of New England, and said that for real usefulness
it was on a level with, if not above, any other in the known world.

It is assumed that two oaks, one of the red, and the other of the white,
species, of which the present Eliot Oak is the survivor, were standing
near this first Indian church. The early records of Eliot's labors make
no mention of these trees. Adams, in his Life of Eliot, says: "It would
be interesting if we could identify some of the favorite places of the
Indians in this vicinity," but fails to find sufficient data. Bigelow
(or Biglow, according to ancient spelling), in his History of Natick,
1830, states: "There are two oaks near the South Meeting-house, which
have undoubtedly stood there since the days of Eliot." It is greatly to
be regretted that the writer did not state the evidence upon which his
conclusion was based.

Bacon, in his History of Natick, 1856, remarks: "The oak standing a few
rods to the east of the South Meeting-house bears every evidence of an
age greater than that of the town, and was probably a witness of Eliot's
first visit to the 'place of hills.'" It would be quite possible to
subscribe to this conclusion, while dissenting entirely from the
premises. It will be noticed that Bacon relies upon the appearance of
the tree as a proof of its age. His own measurement, fourteen and a half
feet circumference at two feet from the ground, is not necessarily
indicative of more than a century's growth.

The writer upon Natick, in Drake's Historic Middlesex, avoids expressing