The Christmas Tree Church

Committed to reform, Charles Follen became an ardent abolitionist. His wife, Eliza Cabot, of the prominent Massachusetts family, and friend John Greenleaf Whittier, later said that his outspoken opinions caused his firing at Harvard. 

Follen became a Unitarian minister and began planning an octagonal church in East Lexington. Returning from New York he died in a tragic fire on board the steamship Lexington. The Follen Community Church remains. Its annual Christmas tree sales benefit local charities.