B
vm
Ira
or
mm®
mm
R9TOU
zHmwte, BtKaofl BBS®
■ffiHiB
Hill
:•'■••.!•.'.•■.■■■»■
JHHHH
nHBpra
Hniv' .,
WMmBBxa
■
(ie IV|„ l
974.402 F555f v.4 1796109
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
urn r H-ijfii \<y | lf;fv-h (
3 1833 01095 5232
PROCEEDINGS
FITCHBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY
AND PAPERS RELATING TO THE
HISTORY OF THE TOWN
READ BY SOME OF THE MEMBERS.
VOLUME IV.
5W
fitchbur;g, MASS.:
PUBLISHED BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1908.
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 1908.
President, FREDERICK F. WOODWARD.
Vice-Presidents, Charles Fosdick, George A. Hitchcock
Secretary, Ebenezer Bailey.
Treasurer, Frederick A. Currier,
Librarian, James F. D. Garfield.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013
http://archive.org/details/proceedingsoffitv4fitc
CONTEXTS.
Officers for 1908,
Proceedings,
Separation of Church and State in Massachusetts,
By Ebcnczer Bailey, 18
First Half Century of the C. C. Church in Fitch BURG,
By George A. Hitchcock, Reminiscences Relating to the Second Meeting-House,
By E. Foster Bailey, 52 Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall, By E. Foster Bailey, 65
Rev. John Payson, Fitchburg's First Minister,
By James F. D. Garfield, BO Early Families of Fitchburg, By Ezra Scollay Stearns, A. M., B7
Early Real Estate Owners in Fitchburg,
By Harrison Bailey, 1 05
General James Reed By James F. D. Garfield, 113
Fitchburg Preparatory to the Revolution,
By Ultcnezer Bailey, 1'_T.
Old Militia Companies, ..... By Henry B. Adams, 13G
A Connecting Link in the Military History of Fitchburg,
By Henry A. Goodrich, 14-6
The Old Turnpike and Turnpike Days,
By Frederick A. Currier, 154-
Fitchburg Soldiers of the Revolution,
By James F. D. Garfield, 172
An Early Hospital of Fitchburg,
By Ezra Scollay Stearns, A. M., 233
An Early Workingmen's Association of Fitchburg,
By Ebenezer Bailey, 2-4-2
Ashburnham Reservoir Flood, . . By Sullivan W. Huntley, 253 Early History of the City Hall, . . By Ebenezer Bailey. 266 Index 277
PROCEEDINGS.
January 15, 1000.— The annual meeting of the society was held in the common council room, city hall building, President Willis in the chair.
The annual reports of the secretary, treasurer and librarian were read and accepted.
The report of the treasurer showed receipts for the year of $172.00 and payments of $168.02. Total assets, $105.20.
The librarian's report showed receipts of eleven bound volumes, forty-six pamphlets, and other material of a mis- cellaneous nature during the year.
Officers for the current year were elected as follows:
Clerk : James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee : Henry A. Willis, Henry A. Good- rich, Frederick F. Woodward, Atherton P. Mason and James F. D. Garfield.
Committee on Nominations (for three years) : Charles F. Ware.
Voted, that the president and secretary, in behalf of the society, petition the city government for an appropri- ation to continue the publication of the old town records.
At a meeting of the executive committee, held imme- diately following the annual meeting, the following offi- cers were elected :
President : Henry A. Willis.
Vice-Presidents : Henry A. Goodrich, Frederick F.Wood- ward.
Treasurer and Librarian : Atherton P. Mason.
February 19, 1000.— The regular monthly meeting of the society was held in the common council room, Presi- dent Willis in the chair. Mr. Henry F. Coggshall was elected a member of the society.
6 Proceedings.
The committee chosen at the annual meeting to peti- tion the city government in relation to the publication of the Fitchburg town records, reported that in response to their petition, the city government had appropriated $ for the purpose of continuing the publication during the present year.
Mr. Frederick A. Currier read a paper cm the "Old Stores and Storekeepers of Fitchburg," eovering a period from the incorporation of the town in 1 704- to the open- ing of the Fitchburg railroad in 184-5.
March 19, 1900.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Willis pre- siding. Mr. George A. Hitchcock was elected a member o( the society.
Prof. E. Adams Hartwell read a paper on the "Pearl Hill Pot Hole," explaining the theory of its glaeial origin, and giving in connection therewith an informal, hut very instructive talk on other pot holes, as found in Fitchburg and elsewhere.
April 16, 1900. — The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, Vice-President F. F. Woodward presiding.
The paper of the evening was by Prof. F. Adams Hart- well, the subject being ''The Stars, their Magnitude and Distances, their Size and Composition."
May 21, 1900. — The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, Vice-President Goodrich pre- siding.
Mr. F. A. Currier read his second paper on "Old Stores and Storekeepers of Fitchburg," covering the period from 1845 to 18G4-.
October 15, 1900.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair.
Prof. E. Adams Hartwell gave a lecture on "Eclipses," with special reference to the eclipse o( the sun witnessed by him in the month of May previous, at Norfolk, Va.
Proceedings. 7
November 19, 11)00.— The regular monthly meeting
was hold at the common council room, President Willis in the chair. Mr. Festus C. Currier, Mrs. Adaline Snow and Miss Lucy Fay were elected members of the society.
A paper was read by Mr. Henry B. Adams, on the "Old Militia Companies of Fitchburg and Vicinity."
December 17, 1900— The regular monthly meeting was held at the common council room, President Willis in the chair. The librarian reported the receipt of a partial tile of the Boston Daily Journal for 1864.
January 21, 1901.— The annual meeting of the society was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair. Mr. J. Milton Hubbard was elected a member of the society.
The annual reports of the secretary, treasurer and librarian were read and accepted.
The treasurer's report showed receipts of $89.80 and payments of $100.86. Total assets, $222.12.
The report of the librarian showed receipts of one hundred and forty-four bound volumes, one hundred and nine pamphlets and other miscellaneous material.
Officers for the current year were elected as follows:
Clerk": James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee : Henry A. Willis, Henry A. Good- rich, Frederick F. Woodward, Atherton P. Mason and James F. D. Garfield.
Treasurer and Librarian : Atherton P. Mason.
Committee on Nominations (for three years) : I^benezer Bailey.
The president and secretary were made a committee to petition the city government for an appropriation to continue the publication of the old town records.
At a meeting of the executive committee, held imme- diately following the adjournment of the annual meeting, the following officers were elected :
President: Henry A. Willis,
Vice-Presidents : Henry A. Goodrich, Frederick F. Wood- ward.
8 Proceedings.
Feiiruary 18, 1901.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Willis in
the chair. Several names were proposed for membership, but no paper was read.
March 18, 1901 —The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, Vice-President Goodrich in the chair. Elmer A. Onthank and Walter P. Stiles were elected active members, and Rev. George M. Bodge a cor- responding member of the society.
The secretary read extracts from a series of letters written by Rufus C. Torrey during the ten years subse- quent to his leaving Fitchburg (1836 to 1846), giving vivid pictures of life in the backwoods settlements of Mis- sissippi and Alabama.
April 15, 1901. — The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair. Thomas C. Sheldon was elected to membership.
Mr. Henry B. Adams read a paper on the "Early Ex- plorers of Boston Harbor."
The secretary read a letter from the Hon. Ezra S. Stearns of Rindge, giving a record of some of the old- time stage drivers, residents of Fitchburg.
A committee was appointed to see if measures could be taken to prevent the destruction of the boulder on Rollstone hill.
The secretary read a letter from Edgar L. Spafford of Watervliet, N. Y., giving the genealogy of that branch of the Spafford family, which at the time of the incorpora- tion of Fitchburg occupied the old Spafford garrison house on the easterly side of Pearl hill.
May 20, 1901.— At the regular monthly meeting, held in the common council room, no paper was read.
October 21, 1901.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair. Miss Mary Caroline Green of Dorchester and Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson of New York city were elected cor- responding members of the society.
Mr. Ebenezer Bailey read a paper on the "Separation of Church and State in Massachusetts."
Proceedings. [\
December 16, 1001.— The regular monthly meeting
was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair.
Miss Lucy A. Hay ward, Rev. Arthur W. Littlehcld and Frederick R. Houghton were elected active members of the society, and Ellery I. Garfield of Lexington, Mass., a corresponding member.
Mr. George A. Hitchcock read a paper, entitled "The First Half Century of the C. C. Church in Fitchburg."
January 20, 1902.— The annual meeting of the society was held in the common council room, President Willis in the chair. Mr. George P. Hitchcock was elected a mem- ber of the society.
The annual reports of the secretary, treasurer and librarian were read and accepted.
The report of the treasurer showed receipts for the year of $66.40, expenses $63. SO, and total cash resources of $284.84.
The librarian reported accessions for the year of twelve bound volumes, twenty-three pamphlets, eight manuscripts, and a variety of other material.
The secretary, in his tenth annual report, said :
"During these ten years, ninety-one meetings have been held,' at
which eighty papers of more or less historical interest — nearly all per- taining to local affairs, and including one elaborate historical address — have been prepared and read by one or another of the members.
The society has accumulated, largely by gift, but partly by exchange, a library of between six hundred and seven hundred bound volumes, be- sides pamphlets, estimated at from two thousand to three thousand."
The following officers were elected for the current year:
Clerk : Ebenezer Bailey.
Treasurer : Frederick A. Currier.
Librarian : James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee: Henry A. Goodrich, Henry A. Willis, Frederick F. Woodward, James F. D. Garfield, Ebenezer Bailey.
Committee on Nominations (for three years) : Charles Fosdick.
The president and secretary were chosen a committee to petition the city government for an appropriation to continue the work of copying and printing the old town records.
10 Proceedings.
A paper prepared by Mr. B. Poster Bailey was read, entitled "Reminiscences of the Second Meeting House in Fitchburg."
At a meeting of the executive committee, held suImk- quent to the annual meeting, the following officers were elected :
Pre si den t : Henry A . Go od rich .
First Vice-President : Frederick F. Woodward.
Second Vice-President: James F. I). Garfield.
February, 1902.— The regular meeting was omitted on account of a severe snow storm.
March 17, 1902.— The regular monthly meeting of the society was held in the common council room, President Goodrich in the chair. Hon. Ezra S. Stearns and Mrs. Rosa H. Brown were elected members of the society.
The secretar}' reported that the city council had acted favorably on the petition of the society for an appropria- tion to continue the publication of the old town records.
April, 21, 1902. — The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich in the chair.
The secretary read a paper, written by Mr. E. Poster Bailey, entitled "Reminiscences Relating to the Old Town HalL"
May 19, 1902. — The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich in the chair.
Mr. Willis, of the committee on the preservation of the Rollstone boulder, reported that he was authorized to state that the boulder would be moved to a location which would be satisfactory to the society and to the owners, without expense to the society, and it was voted that such action would be approved by the society.
President Goodrich read an interesting and valuable paper on "Church Organs and Some of the Early Build- ers in New England."
Proceedings. \ \
October 20, 1902.— The regular monthly meeting of
the society was held in the common council room, I 'resi- dent Goodrich presiding. The librarian reported among other gifts, the presentation by Dr. Jabez Fisher, of the records of the Fitchburg Farmers' Club from 1856 to 1871.
An interesting paper was presented by Mr. F. C. Cur- rier, entitled ''Recollections and Observations of the Nine- teenth Century."
November, 17, 1902.— The regular monthly meeting of the society was held in the common council room, ['res- ident Goodrich presiding. Rev. James DeWolfe Perry and
Mr. Marcus A. Coolidge were elected members of the society.
The paper of the evening was a continuation of Mr. F. C. Currier's reminiscences and observations of the nine- teenth century, with particular reference to religious and educational matters.
December 15, 1902.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Good- rich presiding. Mr. C. A. Batchelder was elected a mem- ber of the society.
The paper of the evening was read by the secretary. It was a short historical sketch of the Fitchburg Work- ingman's Association, which was organized in 1S44-, and continued in existence until the following May. The orig- inal record book of the association was presented to the society by Mr. E. Foster Bailey, its last secretary, and the only known surviving member.
January 19, 1903. — The annual meeting of the society was held in the common council room, Vice-President Woodward presiding. The annual reports of the secre- tary, treasurer and librarian were read and accepted. The report of the treasurer showed receipts for the year of $224.79, and disbursements of $207. SO. The report o\ the librarian showed the receipt during the year ot seventy- four bound volumes and fifty-seven pamphlets. The total collections of the society to date were more than seven
12 Proceedings.
hundred bound volumes, nearly seventeen hundred pam- phlets, twenty-three maps, more than three hundred man- uscripts, and six albums of mounted photographs.
The following officers were elected:
Clerk : Ebenezer Bailey.
Treasurer: Frederick A. Currier.
Librarian: James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee: Henry A. Goodrich, Frederick F. Woodward, Henry A. Willis, James F. I). Garfield, Ebenezer Bailey.
Committee on Nominations (for three years) : Charles E. Ware.
The librarian read an interesting letter from Mrs. Sara T. L. Robinson, widow of Dr. Charles Robinson, former governor of Kansas.
Voted to authorize the secretary to petition the city council to continue the publication of the old records of the town of Fitchburg.
A meeting of the executive committee was held, fol- lowing the annual meeting, and the following officers were elected :
President: Henry A. Goodrich.
First Vice-President : Frederick F. Woodward.
Second Vice-President: James F. D. Garfield.
February 16, 1903.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Good- rich presiding.
Harrison Bailey, Esq., read a paper, entitled " Early Real Estate Owners in Fitchburg." He described the large holdings of real estate in Fitchburg, held successively by Thomas Fitch, Andrew Oliver and Elias Haskell. He gave a detailed description of some eight hundred and fifty acres of said land, covering what is now a part of the thickly settled portion of the city, on the north side of the river.
March 1G, 1903.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich pre- siding.
Proceedings. \ .;
The paper of the evening was written by Mr. B. Fos- ter Bailey. It was a sketch of Ebenezer Whittemore, one
of the unique characters of Fitchburg who lived more than sixty years ago.
October 19, 1903.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich pre- siding. The secretary read a paper, entitled " Fitchburg Preparatory to the Revolution."
January 18, 1901.— The annual meeting of the society was held in the common council room, President Goodrich in the chair. Airs. Carolyn B. Tufts was eleeted a member of the society.
The annual report of the secretary was read and accepted.
The annual report of the treasurer showed receipts of $1.55.92 and disbursements of $152. 9cS, during the year.
The librarian's report showed that the society had received during the year thirty-nine bound volumes, fifty- one pamphlets and seven manuscripts.
The following officers were eleeted:
Clerk : Ebenezer Bailey.
Treasurer : Frederick A. Currier.
Librarian : James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee : Henry A. Goodrich, Frederick F. Woodward, James F. D. Garfield, Henry A: Willis, Eben- ezer Bailey.
Committee on Nominations (for three }'ears) : Harrison Bailey.
Voted, that the president and secretary be instructed to petition the city government to complete the publica- tion of the sixth volume of the old town reeords.
At a subsequent meeting of the executive committee the following officers were elected :
President : Henry A. Goodrich.
First Vice-President: Frederick F. Woodward.
Second Vice-President: James P. D. Garfield.
March 21, 1904.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich in the chair.
Proceedings. \ 5
The annual report pf the secretary was read and accepted.
The annual report of the treasurer, showing a balance on hand of $168.09, was read and accepted.
The annual report of the librarian was read and ac- cepted, showing eight hundred and fifty bound volumes, and from sixteen hundred to eighteen hundred pamphlets in the possession of the society.
The following officers were elected by ballot :
Clerk : Ebenezer Bailey.
Treasurer : Frederick A. Currier.
Librarian: James F. D. Garfield.
Executive Committee : Henry A. Goodrich, Frederick F. Woodward, James F. D. Garfield, Henry A. Willis, Eben- ezer Bailey.
Committee on Nominations (for three years): Charles Fosdick.
Voted, that the president and secretary be authorized to petition the city government to publish another volume of the old town records.
At a subsequent meeting of the executive committee, the following officers were elected :
President : Henry A. Goodrich.
First Vice-President : Frederick F. Woodward.
Second Vice-President : Charles Fosdick.
February 20, 1905.— The regular monthly meeting was held in Grand Army hall, on invitation of Post 19, G. A. R. Dr. Joseph W. Palmer and Miss Theresa N. Garfield were elected members of the society.
An interesting paper was read on "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln," by Mr. Wesley R. Batchelder of Boston, who was an e3re-witness of the event.
March 20, 1905.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich pre- siding.
Mr. Henry A. Willis reviewed and read extracts from a printed copy of an oration delivered in Fitchbnrg, July 4, 1803, in the old church on the common, by William Cunningham, Jr., who then resided on South street, on the " Burnap place."
16 Proceedings.
May 15, 1905.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich pre- siding'.
Rev. F. W. Martini read a paper on the "Impressions
of a Tourist," the result of a recent visit to that section of country between the Mississippi river and the Rocky
mountains.
October 16, 1905.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich pre- siding.
A paper was read by Hon. Henry P. Rockwell, on "Fitchburg Druggists, Past and Present."
December 18, 1905.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Goodrich presiding.
An informal talk, introduced by a short paper by the librarian, was held uporj the subject of early cotton and woolen manufacturing in Fitchburg. It was participated in by most of the members present.
January 15, 1906.— The annual meeting of the society
was held in the common council room, President Goodrich presiding.
The annual report of the secretary was read and accepted.
The annual report of the treasurer, showing a balance on hand of $224.61, was read and accepted.
The annual report of the librarian, showing receipt during the year of forty-five bound volumes, three hun- dred and thirty-three pamphlets, besides other miscellane- ous gifts, was read and accepted.
The following officers were elected :
Clerk : Ebenezer Baile}7.
Librarian : James F. D. Garfield.
Treasurer : Frederick A. Currier.
Executive Committee : Henry A. Goodrich, Henry A. Willis, James F. I). Garfield, Frederick P. Woodward. Charles Fosdiek.
Proceedings, \ 7
Charles E. Ware was elected a member of the nomi- nating committee lor three years.
An interesting paper on " Photography " was read by Mr. J. C. Moulton, who has been in that business in Pitch- burg since 1848.
A meeting of the executive committee was held, at which the following officers were chosen:
President : Henry A. Goodrich.
First Vice-President: Frederick F. Woodward.
Second Vice-President : Charles Foseliek.
April 16, 1906.— The regular monthly meeting of the society was held in the office of the mayor, President Goodrich presiding. »
A paper was read by Mr. George A. Hitchcock, enti- tled "A Colonial Patriot, Ancestor of an old Fitchburg Family." This colonial patriot was Robert Kinsman, who settled in Ipswich in 163T, and was one of the leading protestants in that town against the tyranny of Sir Wil- liam Andros, for which he was lined and imprisoned. Jer- emiah Kinsman, his descendant in the third generation, removed to Fitchburg at the close of the Revolution, and was the ancestor of many worthy citizens of that town and city.
May 21, 1906.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the assembly room of the High School building.
The Hon. George J. Burns of Aver delivered an ad- dress on the history and advantages of the Hoosae Tun- nel, an undertaking which owed its inception and comple- tion largely to the efforts and enthusiasm of the Hon. Alvah Crocker of Fitchburg.
October 15, 1906.— The regular monthly meeting was held in the room of the board of aldermen, city hall build- ing, President Goodrich presiding.
The evening was taken up with political and educa- tional reminiscences of a half century ago.
November 19, 1906— The regular monthly meeting was held in the common council room, President Good-
1 8 Proceedings.
rich in the chair. Rev. F. \V. Martini was elected a mem- ber of the society.
A pamphlet, entitled "Charles Robinson and the Kan- sas Epoch," which had been received from the widow of Ex-Gov. Robinson of Lawrence, Kansas, was read by the secretary.
THE SEPARATION OP CHURCH AND STATE IN MASSACHUSETTS.
•1 paper read at a meeting of the Society, October 21, 1901 BY EBENEZER BAILEY.
The best and truest history is not the relation of wars, the enumeration of battles and sieges, the acts of kings and emperors. It is the study of the social lite of a people, an analysis of causes, as well as a statement of effects. As a modifier of social life, and as a moving force in the history of nations, religion has been of vast impor- tance, and nowhere has it been more powerful and so interlocked with all the other state building forces as in the history of Massachusetts during the first two centu- ries of its political life.
It was a desire to found a state where they could carry out ideas of a biblical government and a righteous community, which led the Puritans to Massachusetts Bay. They did not seek religious freedom, but they did seek to found a religious state. At the time of their arrival there were various settlers along the coast whose religious standards were varied, and, in some cases, were o( very little account. These people were in a few months called to a common meeting place by the Puritan authorities, who proceeded to make known to them their future policy and method of government. A paper containing certain articles was given them to sign, "the purport of which was that the tenor of God's word was to be the basis upon which the law, civil and ecclesiastical, was to be administered." Banishment was the penalty for not sign- ing. Four j'ears later ii was decider ih&i "-;>:, men sh *
admitted to the freedom of this body politic, but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits ot
20
The Separation of Church and State.
the same." It is not surprising that Mr. William Black- stone, who had settled within the limits of Boston, should say, "I came from England because I did not like the
Lords Bishops, but I can't join with von because I would not be under the Lords Brethren, "-and he moved into the wilderness.
It was not long before many of the new settlers found that they could not endure the autocratic government of the magistrates, and there was a large emigration west- ward to the Connecticut. All but eleven families left Cam- bridge for Hartford between 1885 and l,s.">7. There was also a migration from Roxbury, under the leadership of William Pynchon, to Springfield. This Pynchon wrote a book on the atonement, which was publicly burned in the market place in Boston.
Not only did the Puritan leaders believe in this auto- cratic kind of government on its religious side, but in a purely political way they were far from believing in democracy. Said John Cotton, " Democracy is no lit gov- ernment, either for State or for Commonwealth; and John Winthrop wrote, "The best part i> always the least, and <T thai part the wiser is always the Ir.sKrr." Aimllni thing was said by Winthrop, which probably relLeud the sentiments of the magistrates and ministers. "The safety of the Commonwealth is the supreme law, and if, in the interests of that safety it should be found necessary to renounce the authority of Parliament, the colonists would be justified in doing so." He meant that government by Puritan church members was necessary to the safety of the Commonwealth.
Here, then, on Massachusetts soil, was a government set up, which not only recognized a state church, hut the government was the church, and the ride of law and the standard of conduct was the Bible. The magistrates and the ministers were to enforce the word of God, and if no one had ever challenged their infallibility as to its inter- pretation, their ideal might have been realized without a struggle, but there grew up among the people and even among the ministers, a tendency to controversy on points of theology, and a habit of private interpretation ot the Scriptures. This Wcis really the one weakness of 1 Totes-
The Separation of Church and Stale. 2 1
tantism as against Catholicism, and it was especially the weakness of Congregationalism. The Puritan leaders felt it to be a necessity to strengthen their weakest point.
The controversy with Anne Hutchinson, who main- tained that most of the ministers and magistrates were under a covenant of works, while she and her followers were under a covenant of faith, brought the authorities to the point of persecution. The points around which the conflict raged were such line theological ones as to seem almost ludicrous to us. Winthrop said that Mrs. Hutch- inson "brought into New England two dangerous error-. first that the person of the Holy Ghost dwells in a justi- fied person; and, second that no sanctifieation can help to evidence to us our justification." At any rate she eon- verted all the women and most of the men of the Boston church, to the great disgust of its pastor. The magis- trates and the ministers succeeded in having her east out of the church and banished from the colony.
Of the persecutions of the Quakers and of Roger Wil- liams it need only be said that they were the logical re- sult of the theor\' of government which had been set up. That is, a government in which heresy was destructive of authority. It was believed that if men of weak minds were allowed to interpret the Bible in a different way from the magistrates, they were overturning the foundations of government, which was founded on the correct interpre- tation of the word of God ; and the safety of the govern- ment required their immediate suppression. The success of their little Commonwealth really required many of the harsh measures which were used.
The theory that we are right and everybody else is wrong is not, however, a practical working theory for public or private life. It may do to hold it, but it is dis- astrous to live up to it. Our Puritan ancestors were be- fore long obliged to relax their restrictions on citizenship. Given an intelligent, self-reliant people, such as were the Puritans, men who were familiar with the stimulating lit- erature of the English Bible, so favorable to independent thought, and no man-made system of theology could long hold them all in its bonds. So it happened that there were
90
The Separation of Church and State.
in a generation or two many who did not wish to nib- seribe to all the tenets of the state church. At one time nearly four-fifths of the adult males in Massachusetts were disfranchised because they could not participate in the
Lord's Supper. Why should men of good character and religious principle be denied political rights? It could not be allowed that men should vote who were not church members, but this must either be done or the doors to church membership must be thrown more widely open. They chose the latter alternative, and allowed all persons of good moral character, who had been baptized in in- fancy; to be considered members of the church, although they were not allowed to participate in the Lord's Supper. This was called the "Halfway Covenant," and did inn come about without great opposition. With the accession of William III. to the English throne, and a new charter, political privileges were still further enlarged— no qualifi- cation of church membership being required for voting. A property qualification was substituted.
The "Halfway Covenant," the influence of the French and Indian wars, the increasing interest in trade and commerce, and a natural reaction from the intense spirit. ual exaltation of earlier times, brought about a general indifference and dullness of religious feeling in the churches. It was felt that a great spiritual awakening was needed ; and, indeed, a great revival of religion occurred, spreading throughout the state about the year 1735. This was largely due to the influence and preaching of the great Jonathan Edwards, who laid the foundation of the Cal- vinistic theology of New England. About five years later the great Methodist preacher of England, George White- field, came to New England. He preached to crowds in Boston, Worcester and other towns. Unlike Wesley, he believed in Calvinism, and he had the sympathy of the New England churches. The following is an extract from his diary at the time of his visit to Worcester, in company with Gov. Belcher, in 1740:
"Wednesday, Oct. 15.— Perceived the Governor to be more affection- ate than ever. After morning prayer he took me by myself, kissed me, wept, and exhorted me to go on stirring up the ministers; 'tor,' said
The Separation of Church and State.
he, 'reformation must begin at the house of God.' As we were going to meeting, says he, 'Mr. Whitefield, do not spare me any more than
the ministers, no, not the chief of them.' I preached in the open air to some thousands. The word fell with weight, indeed, it earned all be- fore it. After sermon the Governor said to me, 'I pray Cod I mav ap- ply what has been said to my own heart. Pray, Mr. Whitelield, that I may hunger and thirst after righteousness.' Dinner being ended, with tears in his eyes, he kissed and took leave of me. Oh that we may meet in heaven! I have observed that I have had greater power than ordinary whenever the Governor has been at public worship. A sign, I hope, that the Most High intends effectively to bring him home and place him at his right hand. ****** {'reached at Leicester in the afternoon, with some, though not so much power as in the morning."
This great religious awakening in New England, while
it stirred up and strengthened the orthodox in the churches, was the cause of a stricter line being drawn between the two theological parties, the Calvinists and the Arminians. Harvard college was becoming Arminian, while Yale was the stronghold of Calvinism, and these revivals of religion strengthened both parties. The forces were at work for a dissolution of church and state.
Political events were soon forcing the colonies into the Revolution, and theology was pushed for awhile to the background. At this thne the majority in most of the churches and of the parishes were Calvinistic. In 1785 a portion of the church in Worcester wished to settle the Rev. Aaron Bancroft, who held Arminian or Unitarian views, but the parish refused. A new church and society was formed which settled Mr. Bancroft, but there were but two ministers in the county whom it was deemed safe to invite to the ordination, the Rev. Timothy Har- rington of Lancaster, and Rev. Zabdiel Adams of Lunen- burg.
It was about this time that the Rev. Thomas Goss of Bolton had the misfortune to become unsatisfactory to a majority of his church, and they proceeded to dismiss him without a council. This was not to the liking o\ the other ministers, as it was an unusual proceeding, and they called upon their churches to withhold fellowship from the Bolton church. The members of that church determined to find out whether their excommunication was effectual,
24
The Separation of Church and State.
and six of them went to Sterling oil a certain Sunday and presented themselves at communion. Thereupon the pastor, Rev. John Mellen, refused to go on with the com- munion service unless they withdrew; hut the church voted that the brethren should remain. The pastor then exerted what was called the right of "eldership," or veto. He annulled the vote of the church and refused to go on with the communion. This veto power was often exerted by the ministers; in some cases at an even later date.
There was a Presbyterian church organized in Oak- ham as early as 17G7. It is said that at the time of its organization much objection was made to the character and habits of most of the proposed members. Things were at a standstill, till a Scotchman exclaimed, "Weel, it the Laard wants a church in Oakham, he must take them such as they be." The church lived, though with diffi- culty, for sixteen years. In the Orthodox church of that town there arose a controversy as to whether they would settle a pastor who would not baptize the children of those who were not members of the church. The same question troubled other churches.
But while throughout the closing years of the eight- eenth century most of the ministers and church members continued to hold to the theology of Jonathan Edwards, Unitarianism gained ground among the people. There were also many little societies of Baptists, Methodists and Universalists.
When the constitution of Massachusetts was adopted in 1780, it provided that towns should make suitable provision at their own expense for the public worship o( God, and the support and maintenance of public Protes- tant teachers of piet\r, religion and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily. But the constitution also provided that if any person paid his money to the support of public worship, he might have his money applied k4to the support of the public teacher or teachers of his own religion, sect or denomination."
Therefore it was the custom for Baptists or Metho- dists to give notice to the town authorities that they were regular attendants at one of such churches or societies.
The Separation of Church and State. 2fi
and that they desired their ministerial tax set off to thru society; and such requests grew more and more frequent every year.*
The town parishes were still strong, but their founda- tions were Crumbling; for not only were they being weak- ened by the inroads of these new religious societies, which would once have been summarily suppressed, but there- was a general tendency to dissolution. There were three parties in the town parishes. First, the Calvinists, who were the supporters of the theology of Jonathan Edwards. Second, the Arminians, or Unitarians, who held different doctrines as to regeneration and the Trinity. Third, those who cared nothing for theology and little for religion, but who were obliged to pay their ministerial tax. The ma- jority of the members of the church in most places were Calvinists.
Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of the nineteenth century with reference to Massachusetts town parishes. The ministers were, in general, striving to strengthen the church creeds and covenants, and were preaching good sound Calvinistic doctrine. Under the cir- cumstances it is not strange that in so man}' of the towns a majority of the voters did not like the preaching of such strong religious doctrine; or, if the preaching was not of a sound, orthodox nature, a majority of the church mem- bers were dissatisfied. So it came to pass that one after another the churches and parishes divided. Usually a ma- jority of the church went off and formed a new society.
*As a sample of the notification given to the town authorities, we insert the following:
AsiinuKMiAM November the 21d 1796 We the Subscribers do hereby Certify to all inquirers that Samuel Gibson of Fitchburg hath been a member of the Baptist Church in Ash- burnham upwards of Twelve years and that he hath contributed yearly to the Support of the Publiek Teachers ol* our Denomination
Oliver Stone Willard Lane
FiTcmuKG December 17th 1799 Heed of Ebenr Thurston Town Treasurer ten Dollars ,\: seventy-five cents in full of my minister Tax for the years liDG & 1T'.»7
Samuel Gibson
2G The Separation of Church and State.
This was going on through the first quarter of the cen- tury. The election of Rev. Henry Ware as Hollia I'roi.s sor of Divinity at Harvard college in 1805, which was regarded as a victory for the Unitarians, precipitated this
secession movement.
Legal questions arose where these divisions occurred,
as to the ownership of property which had been given to the church, and also as to the church records. The point at issue was, whether the remaining or the seceding body was the church, in cases where the latter was a majority of the members.
The case of Baker et al vs. Pales, (Town of Dedham), was argued before the supreme court at its October term, 1820. Daniel Webster was counsel for the church. Bui the court decided against him. The title in the Massa- chusetts Reports reads as follows:
"Where a majority of the members of a Congregational church sep- arate from the majority of the parish, the members who remain, although a minority, constitute the church in such parish, and retain the rights and property belonging thereto."
" Probably," said the court, "there was at first [that is, in the very early history of the New England churches,] no very familiar distinction between the church and the whole assembly of Christians in the town. We have no evidence that the inhabitants were divided into two bodies, ot church, and society or parish, keeping separate records nnd bavin;: separate interests, but if the fact be otherwise than is supposed, lino- is no doubt that most of the inhabitants of the town were church members at that time. * * * * * It is not till 1641 that we find any legislative recognition of the right and power of churches to elect ministers. Before that period, without doubt, the whole assembly were considered the church, or so great a portion of it, that no necessity ot any regulation could exist. Hut in that year the right to gather churches under certain restrictions was established, and the power ot electing church officers, comprehending without doubt ministers, was vested in the church. Mow the ministers before that time were sup- ported does not appear, but it is probable by voluntary contribution, for it does not appear that any legal obligation was created before the year 1G52.
"In 1658 it was provided that no person should preach publicly and constantly to any company of people, whether in church, society, or not, where two organic churches, council of state or general court, shall declare their dissatisfaction, either in reference to doctrine or prac- tice, and in case of ordination of any teaching elder, timely notice there- of was to be given to three or four of the neighboring organic churches, for their approbation. This, probably, was the origin of councils.
The Separation of Church and State.
"An act was passed by the Legislature about 1670, vestin- appointment of ministers in the inhabitant* of the town By this the power of the churches, as a distinct body, to choose the m
seems to have been entirely taken away. Hut another statu;. passed not long after, practically annulling this, giving the church right to elect, but the parish must concur." But the court goes on to say:
"That the parish have the constitutional right here contended for cannot be questioned by those who will peruse the clause of the third article of the Declaration of Rights, upon which the claim is (inserted It is there provided 'that the several towns, parishes, precincts ami other bodies, politic or religious societies, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. All pre-existing laws or usages must bow before the fundamental expression of the public will, and however convenient or useful it might be to continue the old form of electing or settling a minister, whenever a parish determines to ass-rt
its constitutional authoritv there is n
o power in the state to oppose
their claim.' "
As regards the vital question, whether a seceding body could still be the original church, the court said:
"But as to all civil purposes the secession of a whole church from the parish would be an extinction of the church, and it is competent to the members of the parish to institute a new church, or to engraft one upon the old stock, if any of it should remain, and this new church would succeed to all the rights of the old in the relation to the parish No particular number is necessary to constitute a church. * * * * . • The only circumstance, therefore, which gives a church any legal char- acter is its connection with some regularly constituted society, and those who withdraw from the society cease to be members of that par- ticular church, and the remaining members continue to be the identical church,"
A passage from the history of the Shepard Congrega- tional .church of Cambridge, of which the Rev. Dr. Mc- Kenzie is now pastor, shows the result in one case of this decision. It seems that this church was founded and built up by the Rev. Thomas Shepard, after the exodus from Cambridge, under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Hooker, of so many of the people to Hartford, Conn. In course of time, as in so many other churches, a diversity of opinion grew up which led finally to a separation, and almost the entire church withdrew in 1830. In their hands was a large amount of personal property, which consisted o\ a valuable communion service, purchased by church funds
28 The Separation of Church mid State.
or by the gift of individual friends, and also a fund of about $4000, which had been raised by contributions .'it
the communion. Under the decision of the court the old society claimed and obtained this plate and the money. While smarting under what seemed to them a great injus- tice, chance threw in their way a manuscript autobiogra- phy of the reverend and esteemed Thomas Shcpard, their first minister. Immediately a plan was formed to obtain a communion service by the publication and sale of this valuable manuscript, and the plan was crowned with suc- cess. The Rev. Nehemiah Adams, pastor of the church at this time, wrote the preface or "Advertisement," as it is called. In it he says :
"It requires no effort of the imagination to conceive of the feelings of Thomas Shepard were he permitted to see how that being dead, lie yet spake to us. We were therefore consoled in a measure for the ^p'.il ing of our goods, knowing that we are surrounded by such great wit- nesses, and in the belief that an exception, filed by him at the Great Tribunal to the treatment of his and other churches, will come up for a hearing at the great and final day."
The Rev. Mr. Shepard 's autobiography is an exceed- ingly interesting and valuable little book. The sincerity and plain speaking of the writer impresses itself deeply on the reader, and it throws much light on the social and religious condition of the times, both in Old England and New England. Especially remarkable is his implicit belief in the watchful care of a Divine Providence, making him to see in every event of his life the hand of God, bestow- ing upon him love and favor or just rebuke and punish- ment. He writes as follows of Henry Dunster, the first president of Harvard college: "A man pious, painfull and fit to teach and very fit to lay the foundations of the domesticall affairs of the Colledge ; whom God has much honored and blessed." This is interesting in view of the fact that Mr. Dunster was soon after dismissed from office on account of his religious opinions.
The history of the church in Pitch burg during this period of controversy between Calvinism and Unitarian- ism was of considerable importance, lor it was among the first to go through with what became the common experience, and its proceedings, which took place before
The Separation of Church and State.
any decision of the court, were the occasion of brill] into prominence differences of feeling and of principle which proved to be irreconcilable, and they also firmly established the rules and methods of ecclesiastical pro ure. The Rev. Alfred Emerson spoke of this contest be- tween the church and the parish as the Gettysburg ol Congregationalism, and an eminent clergyman of the time characterized it as "the great crisis in the history of the Congregational churches, beyond anything since they were planted on these shores." The various councils were participated in by churches beyond the borders of Pitch- burg, and its interest and effects were certainly fell throughout the state.
There were no articles of faith in the first church in Fitchburg, and the half-way covenant was in use for membership, and even this was very loosely administered, so that it was ver}' easy for any one of good character to obtain full church membership. At the close of the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Payson, the theological tenets and spirituality of many of those whose names were on the church rolls were vague and weak. The long contro- versy over the' location of the new church building was going on while the health of the pastor was failing, and they were without a pastor for two years previous to the completion of the new meeting house. Under these circumstances it is likely that the spiritual condition of the church was at a very low ebb.
Two ministers who were invited to succeed Rev. Mr. Payson declined, and the Rev. Mr. Noyes, whom the church voted to "call," was not acceptable to the town. Then it was that the Rev. Samuel Worcester, who was proposed by the town by a vote of 4-3 to 24, was ac- cepted by the church, and he was ordained in September, 1797, eight months after the dedication of the new church building. The new minister was a faithful, earnest Cal- vinist, and one of his first acts was to secure the adop- tion of articles of faith and a new covenant, by the church ; but it was provided that these new articles of faith should not apply to those already members of the church. 'I his action was soon followed bv a revival ot religion.
ao
The Separation of Church and State,
This revival increased the zeal and activity, as well as the number, of the members of the church. They folic
the leadership of their minister; they wished to retain him. The parish, (or town,) however, was not satisfied,
and wished him to go. In 1801 he was willing to leave, but claimed the right (with the church) of appointing the
council. The town claimed a right to share in the ap- pointment of that body. Mutual and ex parte councils were called, all resulting in a recommendation that Mr. Worcester remain. Finally the town voted him dismissed, and the doors of the church were closed, to be opened only by order of the selectmen. This did not settle t la- matter, for the church claimed that he was not properly dismissed, and Mr. Worcester received his salary until he was regularly dismissed by a mutual council in June, 1802.
Much bitter and lasting personal feeling had been en- gendered by the events of the last two years, and it was not to be allayed. The friends of Mr. Worcester were called Hopkinsians, and they constituted a large majority of the church. The number of voters in the town was one hundred and thirty-one, of whom fifty-seven were Ilopkinsian, but they were outnumbered by the other party and they 'determined to withdraw. In March, IHO-1, liny protested to the town against further taxation I'm religious purposes. In the same month a committee of the town made a report recommending the settlement of Rev. Rlisha Clapp, but proposing that if after settlement there should be a wish to dismiss him, it should require the votes of two-thirds of the voters; but, after four years, it should only require a majority. "To prevent misunder- standing the church shall not be regarded as in any man- ner distinct from the town."
The seceding members regarded themselves as the First Church, and apparently maintained that contention for nine years, or until they reunited with the First Parish. In 1S05 they succeeded in obtaining an act of incorpora- tion which specifically mentioned them as "the church lately under the care of the Rev. Samuel Worcester." This act was not obtained without opposition, and a written protest from the town, November 5, 1804, in which it was
REV. SAMUEL WORCESTER.
The Separation of Church and State. .;1
stated that the valuation of those who applied for tin- act was $1579, while the valuation of those- who remained was $4-203. Later the town seems to have consented to
the incorporation. The act reads as follows'
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and five An Act to incorporate a number of the inhabitants in mm.
TOWN OF FlTCHBURG, IN THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER, IXTO A RELI- GIOUS SOCIETY BY THE NAME OF THE CaLVJNISTIC CONGREGATI
Society of Fitchburg.
Whereas, The Congregational Church in Fitchburg, lately under ibe pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Worcester, now under that of the Rev. Titus T. Barton, together with those who meet with said church lor the worship of God have petitioned this Court to be incorporated into
a distinct religious society for the reasons expressed in their petit ion. and it appearing reasonable to this Court that the prayer thereof lie granted.
Section 1. Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same that the church aforesaid and such inhabitants of Hie Town ■»! Fitchburg as meet with them lor the worship ol God, with lllril p. .11-, and estates, be and hereby are incorporated into a Society by Lite name of the Calvinistic Congregational Society in Fitchburg, with all the powers, privileges and immunities which other religious Societies in this Commonwealth are entitled to by law, they paying the taxes that have already been assessed upon them for the support of public worship.
Section 2. Be it further enacted that any of the inhabitants of the Town of Fitchburg who may desire to join said society shall have full liberty thus to do at any time previous to the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and six, provided they signify in writing under their hand, to the clerk of said society, their wish and determi- nation of being considered as members of said society and they shall accordingly be recorded as such by the clerk of the said society, and any member of the said society shall have the right to leave the same at any time before the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and six by leaving a written determination with the clerk ot said society, whose duty it shall be to record the same, and such member shall thence afterward be considered a member of the society to which he originally belonged.
Section 3. Be it further enacted that if any person who may here- after settle within the limits of said Town shall be desirous to join the society aforesaid he shall have full liberty to do it at any time within twelve months from his settlement in the Town by signifying his deter- mination of the same in the manner pointed out in the second section of this act.
32
The Separation of Church an, I Stair.
SECTION 4. He it further enacted that all young ;. limits of* the Town aforesaid when they Income twenty U shall have full liberty at any time within twelve inonthi alter in- come twenty-one years of age to join with their pulls and cither of the said societies by signifying their determination in writing I i clerk of the society they may desire to join.
SECTION 5. Be it further enacted that Joseph Pox, Ksi|uin-. or other justice of the peace in the county of Worcester be and he i-. by authorized to issue his Warrant directed to some member ol tl,. Calvinistic Congregational Society requesting him to warn the memliers of the said society qualified to vote in parish affairs to assemble at some convenient and suitable time and place as shall be expressed n, said warrant, to choose such officers as parishes are by law required to choose in the month of March or April annually, and to transact all other matters and things necessary to the well being of the said So
In the House of Representatives, June 13th, 1805. This Hill having had three several readings passed to be enacted.
Timothy Rig BLOW, Speaker
In Senate, June 14th, lS0f>. This Hill having had two several read- ings passed to be enacted.
II G. Oris, President June 14th, 1805.
By the Governor approved.
I* A i.i:n Si i'< iNt; A t rue copy : At test
John Avoky, Secretary.
This practically dissolved the relations between church and state, so far as Fitchburg was concerned, for those who refused to identify themselves with the Calvinistic Society met August 26, 1805, organized under the name of the First Parish, chose parish ollicers and began a parish book of records. From that time parish affairs were not considered in town meeting. For nine years these two societies were in existence, when they again united, mainly through the influence of Rev. William Ras- com, the pastor of the First Parish, or Unitarian Society. The act incorporating the Calvinistic Congregational So- ciety of Fitchburg was repealed by an act of the Legisla- ture February 3, 1814, and the said Society was joined with the First Parish. This state of affairs continued till 1823, when a final separation took place, and another Calvinistic Congregational Society was organized October 31, 1823, which purchased the meeting house ol the for- mer society, corner of Alain and Rollstone streets, which it occupied and on which location it has since remained.
i I
The Separation of Church and Stair.
Tliis seceding church, as before, comprised nearly ail the church members and they took with them that portion of the church records and other personal property which
had been in their possession previous to the reunion in 1814. This property and the records were, however, giv. n up, on demand of the First Parish, notwithstanding advice that the same could be retained, on the ground <>! a vote passed at a church meeting just previous to sepa- ration, as follows:
"Voted, unanimously, that those vessels and records which formerly belonged to the church under the care of the Rev. Win. Kascom ■hall lie
left for the use of those who may wish to remain with the ]'it>t I'arisb and the remainder to be taken for the use of those who unite with the C. C. Society."
As we have before stated, this separation of the two societies was final, and the practical separation ol parish and town affairs was accomplished, as, indeed, it really had been in Fitchburg since 1805. As in Pitch burg, so throughout the stale, for the division of llu- inhabitants of a town into two nearly equal societies iii.hU- it ueecs sary that parish affairs should be kept out of town meeting.
When the eleventh amendment to the state constitu- tion was adopted in 1833, legally dissolving the relation of church and state, that relation was already dissolved.
We have thus, in an inadequate manner, sketched the history of the union and dissolution of church and state in Massachusetts. At first the church was the state, and its authority was supreme, but in process oi time the state assumed authority over the church and the church rebelled: The church of the Puritans and the theology of the Puritans persisted, but the descendants of the Puri- tans again became Separatists, even as their forefathers two centuries before. In these later separations ot the nineteenth century the legitimate successors of the early churches generally left a minority in possession and, though they set up their abodes in other places they were, ecclesi- astically speaking, still the First Churches and in the line of ecclesiastical succession from the churches o( the fathers. Notwithstanding this, by virtue of a decision ot the Su-
34
The Separation of Chureh and Stair.
preme Court, they were not legally the original churches,
but became new churches joined to new parishes. Relig- ious soeieties were formed under slate laws, to take the plaee of the old town parishes, and practically the same relation exists to-day between church and parish, as did
formerly between church and state.
1786109
THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE CA VINKSTIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Read at a meeting of the Society, December 10, 1901 15 Y GEORGE A. HITCHCOCK.
In the paper entitled "Separation of Church and State" already presented by Mr. Bailey, may be found a vcrv able and the legitimate introduction to this historical ac- count of one of the dominant forces which have made our city a beneficent power in the Common wealth; and we trust the purpose suggested by our president to have those of our different churches presented, may be fulfilled.
The doctrine of regeneration, or the second birth, is one of the vital tenets of the Calvinistic faith. In har- mony with this tenet the Calvinistic Congregational church is singularly furnished with two birthdays. The official organ of the denomination, the Congregational Year Book, gives the date 1768, while our local authorities give it as 1823!
Of the first date it may be said that the claim as presented by Rev. Alfred Emerson in his centenary address in 1808- is generally held as the correct one, by those who have taken the pains to investigate; while the record of the first permanent organization furnishes the date ol October 31, 1823.
The record of the First Church of Fitchburg, organ- ized January 7, 1708, and of its struggles during the follow- ing quarter of a century is part of the oft-written history of the town, and its recital is not necessary here. The writer is inclined to take neither of these dates, but one midway between them, as the natural and legitimate one.
Just one hundred years ago next summer, August 29, 1802, Rev. Samuel Worcester preached his farewell sermon to a very large congregation of the old church. This date marks most significantly the final dissolution of church
36
The First Ha If -Century of the
and state, in our town at least. His subsequent < furnishes us with a clear understanding ol the charactei of the man who did much in moulding the Calvinistic church, and he may very appropriately he considered its godfather. A few words at this point concerning him may not be out of plaee. About the time of his dismission a messenger from Salem came to Fitchburg. As he rode into town he met a man of good appearance whom he stopped for inquiries. "Do you know Mr. Worcester, sir? We want a minister for the Tabernacle in Salem. How would he do for us?" "Why," said the respondent, "I don't like the doctrine of Mr. Worcester, but he is a man of talents, a good scholar and a gentleman. I! you like his doctrine you will like him— but I don't." The answer was all that was desired and he made the fame of the Tabernacle church of Salem secure, as the Antioch of For- eign Missions.
While Samuel J. Mills was the originator of the move- ment which led to the formation of the American Hoard, Dr. Samuel Worcester was the founder of the Board itself. It was on the old road from Andover to Bradford that he first suggested the plan to Dr. Spring of Newburyport, and these two adopted the idea and rested not until it was carried out. The nieniory of this great service of Dr. Worcester to the church and to missions should be kept green. No finer tribute has been paid to him than this from a leader of that denomination whose tenets he so strenuously withstood, Dr. A. P. Pcabody. He says :" Dr. Samuel A. Worcester, a pioneer in the cause, whose pre- scient mind saw in its very inception its destined triumph, and whose plastic and organizing ability was second to no agency in its early success and rapid growth. Though a keen controversialist he was pre-eminently a man of beatitudes, uniting with the hardiest features of character a strenuous purpose and indomitable will— all the ameni- ties of a Christian gentleman."
Following his departure in 1802 a considerable body withdrew from the new meeting house and continued Sabbath-day services in the "Farwell house" on West Main street, with Rev. Titus T. Barton as pastor. Dur-
to incorporate
ing this time, in 1805, an act was passed
Calviuistic Congregational Church.
37
a number of the inhabitants of the town of Fitcbbure in the county of Worcester into a religious Society in Pitch- bin- by the name of the Calvinistic Congregational Church m FitchbuKg," as the following preamble indicates.
"Whereas the Congregational Church in Fitchburg, together with those who meet with said church lor the worship of God, have pet.- tioned this Court to be incorporated into a distinct religioui society lor the reason expressed in their petition, and it appearing reasonable to
this Court that the prayer thereof be granted.
* * * * * * * * %
June 14-, 1S05. By the Governor approved.
Caleb Si bong.
"This may certify that we the subscribers, being inhabitants of the Town of Fitchburg, wish to belong to the religious Society in said Town about to be incorporated by the name of the Calvinistic Congrc- gational Societ}'."
This was the legal christening of the infant church, so that we may consider the following eighteen or twenty years' experience of the life of the two branches interwo- ven—sometimes together, sometimes apart— like a pair of twins, children of the same parent stock; inclined as healthy boys usually are, to have their quarrels, bat growing into maturity side by side, united in the grand purpose to furnish divine ideals to the community.
Concerning the name "Calvinistic," which has given occasion for heated discussion from time to time in later years, it may be said that the founders of the church had no intention of affixing this name upon it in the same sense that metropolitan churches are now named, neither did they necessarily claim to bind it to the doctrines of John Calvin to the exclusion of other divines of equal worth and ability. It was the common name of all the churches in this neighborhood — the Calvinistic church of Westminster, of Leominster and elsewhere, by which they were distinguished from those from which they had sepa- rated. In the case of these churches, necessity did not require the retention of any distinguishing name, while here in the rapidly growing town, with various churches of different orders springing up all around it, the name became a fixture — very properly so, because it was so in- corporated. It would be well for the present generation
38
The First Half -Century of the
to consider this very just estimate which Fiske, the histo- rian, has given. lie says:
"Perhaps not one of the mediaeval popes was more despotic in tem- per than Calvin, but it is not the less true that the promulgation >,( bil theology was one of the longest steps that mankind have taken to
personal freedom. Calvinism left the individual man alone in the enee ot his God. His salvation could not be wrought out by pi ritual, hut only by the grace of Cod abounding in the soul. In en] ing it upon men's minds with that keen-edged logic which he used with such unrivalled skill, Calvin made them feel, as it had perhaps never been felt before, the dignity and importance of the human soul. In a church, moreover, based upon such a theology there was no room for prelacy. Each single church tended to become an independent eola- tion of worshippers, constituting one of the most effective schools that has ever existed for training men in local self-government."
It is unnecessary for us to endorse all the stern fea- tures of his doctrines which was begotten by those stren- uous times, but taking this broader view of the impress he made upon the Congregational polity of the New Eng- land churches, a defence of or an apology lor the name Calvinistic is hardly neeessar}', The abbreviated title by which the church is now designated — C. C. church— is a most convenient cloak under which is hidden past ecclesi- astic disputes. Even inquisitive youth sometimes imagine it has some reference to the traditional noon-hour lunch of Crackers and Cheese, which our grandfathers enjoyed under the old horse-shed, now gone forever. The first record in the books of the C. C. church is self-explana- tory, and is as follows :
"The Deacons of all the several churches not being episcopal churches, being by an act of the commonwealth passed the 20** of Feb- ruary 17SG constituted so far bodies corporate as to take in succession all grants and donations made to their several churches, and to sue and Defend in all actions touching the same And there having been made to the Church of Christ in Fitchburg of which we the Subscrib- ers are the Deacons, Donations to the amount of nearly six thousand of Dollars in money by Sundry well-Disposed persons who recpiest that the sums they gave should always be kept at interest and the in- terest applied to the support of the Pastor of the church while time shall last. We the Deacons of the aforesaid church met on the lf>*h oi May 1805 to transact business relative to our legal trust and the bet- ter to carry into effect the desires of the liberal donors to the church and to promote the interest of the church which is thus done accord- ing to the act of the Legislature above mentioned."
Calvinistic Congregational Church.
30
[The latter part of the record is the usual form of ft I of <aganiz.-,- tionj.
"Signed Kendall Uoutel i / ><;<< om
Daniel Putnam oi tht
EUENEZKK ThI'KSTOM | above nninni John THURSTON Jk ) Church "Voted and chose John Thurston Jr Cleark. Bbenezer Thui Treasurer "
The list of donors, which may properly be called the founders of the C. C. church, is herewith appended,* but
for sake of brevity the writer will only say that among this list are found six Thurstons, live Batons, live Lowes, three Boutells, three Messengers, three Downes, three Far-wells, two Kinsmans and one each of the following names: Damon, Pool, Putnam, Pratt, Upton, Lawrence, Simonds, Hutchinson, Whiting, Perkins, Phillips, Kimball, Parker, Allen, Brown, Daniels, Goodridge, Hall, Barton, Fuller, Houghton and Wheeler.
These donations were committed to the deacons, the legal trustees of the property of the church, who immedi- ately loaned the same back to the same parties, taking securities for the same. This was done, be it remembered, because there were no savings banks or loan societies in existence here at that time.
* FIFTY-FOUR FOl
Timothy Damon Thomas Eaton Rev. Titus T. Barton Ebenezer Thurston Aaron Eaton Amos Lawrence Stephen Thurston Joseph Simonds Thomas Thurston, Jr Calvin Messenger Ebenezer Hutchinson Bethany Whiting Thomas Eaton, 3d. Seth Phillips Joseph Downe Kendall Boutell, Jr. John Far well, Jr. Asaph Boutell
NDEKS OF CALVINIST
CHURCH. Simeon Farwell Phineas Allen Venn Daniels Asaph Goodridge Elias Messenger John Farwell Moses Hall Aaron Houghton Timothy F. Downe Thomas Thurston James Fool Daniel Putnam John Pratt, Jr. John Upton Nathaniel Boughtell Jonathan Lowe, Jr. John Thurston Jeremiah Kinsman, Jr.
1C CONGREGATIONAL
John Messinger
Widow Mary Lowe Widow Abigail Lowe Palmedus Perkins Ephraim Kimball Benjamin Parker Jonathan Lowe Benjamin Parker, Jr. Kendall Boutell Joel Eaton Phineas Brown Thomas Eaton, Jr. Jeremiah Kinsman Isaac P. Lowe John Thurston, Jr. Amos Wheeler Xehemiah Puller Joseph Downe, Jr.
40
The First I Id //-Century of the
Concerning this first "temple of sacred worship," we quote from a very interesting paper written by Mrs. Da- vid B. Silsby in 1895, which was read on the occasion of
the last service in the second meeting house before its
demolition.
"This edifice was by no means beautiful, neither was it comfortable lor young and old. Our great grandfathers never saw the dime list. of the purse carried at the present day and doubtless their - . looked as beautiful to them as we anticipate ours will be. The enti to their church was from Main street by long steps made of wood The pews had very high backs with long seats fastened to them with binge*. At each end of these seats was a short one for the children. In was a chair which served a convenient place for men's and bov»' hat?, During the Sabbath school this chair was occupied by the teacher. Thw certainly was a very comfortable arrangement for the teacher, but foi the children on the high-backed seats, the spinal column must have been straightened rather more than nature intended.
"It was the custom of the congregation to rise during prayer. In that case all the long seats were raised in order to give more room to those standing. The desk in the pulpit was so high that a number of blocks were provided for the convenience of the minister who should happen to be so unfortunate as to be unable to reach the top of the desk. One very short man found it needful to use all the blocks on one occasion. He was repeating the text, 'A little while and ye shall sec me and again a little while and ye shall not see me,' when for some reason, the foundation he had built gave way, and suddenly they did not see him."
Stringed instruments for the sinjiers
'o
gers accompaniment, and foot-stoves for the comfort of the mothers in Israel; these, by reason of their constant need of replenishing, were a source of vexation to the janitor, whose stove was unceasingly robbed of coals and floors littered with ashes. The janitor at that time was Stephen Dole, the grandfather of the present one, Thomas R. B. Dole.
Mr. Barton was dismissed in February, 1813, and the First Parish made overtures for a reunion of the two societies, which were accepted the latter part of that year. Mr. Bascom, the pastor of the First Parish, was dis- missed about this time, and for more than a year there was no settled pastor, but in August, 1815, Rev. William Eaton accepted a call and preached until June 30, 1 823, when he was dismissed at his own request. This truce between the two wings was finally broken Oct. 31, 1823,
Calvinistic Congregational (hurt I,.
11
a truce which was made, doubtless, by financial iti for a self-supporting church was at this time an untried experiment, and the task must have seemed a stupendous
one.
It was during this decade that Asa Thurston educated and embarked as one of the pioneer missionaries to the Sandwich Islands. A son of Thomas Thnr one of the founders of the C. C. church, he was born ' I ber 12, 1787, graduated from Yale College in 1816, from Andover Seminary in 1819, and sailed from Boston with others, who formed the first hand of missionaries sent to the Sandwich Islands, October 23, 1819. Alter a voyage of over five months he reached his destination March 31, 1820, to find the inhabitants in greater depths of hea- thenism than those other pilgrims found, who sailed into Massachusetts Bay two hundred years before. For more than forty years he remained at his post, never again revisiting his native land.
The first record of the C. C. church after its final sep- aration from the First Parish is interesting history.
"Friday, Oct. 81, 1823. The church assembled agreeably to notice
given the preceding Sabbath. Brother Abel Thurston signified his ac- ceptance of the office of Deacon, to which he had been chosen at a pre- vious meeting.
"The particular object of. this meeting was then stated bv the moderator and after much consultation and deliberation on the sub- ject it was moved and seconded that this Church remove its connection from the First Parish and unite with the Congregational Society (formed this day) in the town of Fitchburg.
"The above motion being put by the moderator, twenty out of twenty-five voted in the affirmative. Those who did not vote in the affirmative were then Severally enquired of their reasons for not voting; to which different answers were given. They were then particularly requested to state whether the}' wished the church to delay or adjourn on their account and each for himself stated that he did not. The idea was then suggested that a part of the church would choose to remain with the First Parish. In that case, an adjustment of the concerns oi the church relative to the furniture and records which they now hold in Common would be very desirable that no unhappy differences might hereafter arise.
" Voted unanimously that those vessels and records which formerly belonged to the church under the care of Rev. William Baseom shall be left for the use of those who mav wish to remain with the First Par-
42
TJic First Half-Century of the
ish and the remainder be taken for the use of those who unite with the C. C. Soeiety.
Attest Walter Johnson, Ch. Clerk."
These church records kept by Walter Johnson, its first clerk, were written in a remarkably distinct and beautiful penmanship.
Three weeks later Rev. Rufus A. Putnam was called as pastor and was ordained February 4th, 1824. lie re- mained seven years, officiating at communion for the last time April 24, 1831.
He was a man of very lovable character and deep piety, and only the inability of the society to pay an ade- quate salary appears to be the cause of his departure. In 1SG4 he was living in Pembroke, N. II., where he re- sponded to an invitation from the centennial committee of the town to be present at its celebration.
March 19, 1824, hardly a month after the settlement of Mr. Putnam, a committee was chosen "to take into consideration the subject respecting the establishing of a Bible Class and Sabbath School;" which found fruition a year later, and on March 28, 1825, the school was estab- lished, with Jonathan Thurston as superintendent, four assistants and twenty-seven teachers.
The constitution provided that it should be called The Sunday School Society of Fitchburg, and that the school should begin on the second Sunday in Alay and close on the second Sunday in October. The first Sunday school which our oldest citizens remember in Fitchburg was held in a school house at the corner of Blossom and Creseent streets, about 1816, when on Sunday . mornings a few children would gather and recite verses from the Bible.
This C. C. Sunday school, however, which was estab- lished in 1825, has continued uninterrupted until the pres- ent time, always in a nourishing condition, to furnish the greatest single factor in the Christian life ol the church, as well as contributing almost continuously lor the sup- port of students, either in foreign mission schools and colleges, or in colored schools of the South, and in planting new schools in the West.
The first assistant in this school was Abel Thurston, and soon succeeding Jonathan Thurston, he held the office
\
\
REV. RUFUS A. PUTNAM.
Calviuistic Congregational Church. \%
of superintendent nearly forty years, until the dav of his death.
The following persons have served as Btipcrintendcnl
in order of succession:
Jonathan Thurston, Albert C. Brown, Edwin A. Harris,
Abel Thurston, Samuel Whitney, Bli A. Hubbard,
John M. Harris, Alvin M. Sawyer, Henry P. Coggihall,
Henry F. Coggshall, Edward M. Rockwell, David 15. Silsby,
Charles Partridge, Clarence M. Converse, Albert C. Brown.
Henry M. Francis, George A. Hitchcock,
The controversy between the two parishes which rent many New England churches during these years found ex- pression here on account of the division of the church fur- niture and records. After sundry meetings, seeking advice of ecclesiastic council and employment of legal advice, the C. C. society yielded all, and a committee consisting of Joseph Richardson, Abel Thurston, Jonathan Thurston, Walter Johnson and Abel Downe was chosen to collect and deliver the aforesaid property, which they did imme- diately after the close of this meeting, taking a receipt therefor. One month later Dea. Thurston presented a com- munication to the C. C. church from Nathan Ordway, signed by him as clerk of the First Parish, making a gift of certain records and furniture to the C. C. church, and at a meeting held November 5, 1824-, it was voted "that the further consideration of this communication be indefi- nitely postponed."
On the 31st day of March, 1S2G, one month before the birth of the American Home Missionary Society, the church established its first missionary organization, known as the " Auxiliary Tract Society of Fitchburg," "for the purpose of promoting the circulation of moral and relig- ious Tracts in this vicinit}' and of aiding the American Tract Society in the extensive distribution of Tracts through the most destitute parts of the United States and of the Continent of America."
In these days of surfeit in literature, both religious and secular, it is difficult to realize what hunger there was for just such reading as this society was able to put into the secluded homes of America by means of the Christian col- porteur, who was as truly a missionary as any who crossed oceans; and it was fallow ground which later Idled our
44
The First Half-Century of the
colleges with material for missionary work the world around.
At the close of this meeting Walter Johnson resigned
the office of church clerk, and Alpheus Kimball was chosen to the office; a man who was prominently identified in town affairs, whose sons have since become actively iden- tified in affairs of town, city, state and nation. His home was on West Main street where now stands the Dea. Wheeler house, and it was here that the meetings and business were held until the first chapel was built. There- after for sixteen years we find his name appended to every record of the very active life of the C. C. church.
On January 4, 1827, the first steps were taken to or- ganize a Department for Home Charities for the purpose of relieving the "temporal wants of their brethren and sisters who may be reduced to poverty." And this organ- ization has been continued uninterruptedly to the present time.
The grand total of gifts by these and kindred societies since organized in the church amounts to more than $150,000, exclusive of all church and parish expenses, and is an assurance of its divine union.
It is hardly necessary to refer to the various eases of discipline which burdened the books of these earlier years. The deep responsibility which the church felt for the ac- tions of its members may be the key by which to under- stand its spiritual strength and virility, which we might profitably consider.
May 9, 1832, Rev. John A. Albro was settled as pas- tor. At this time the society's books show the names of one hundred and forty-nine persons who were taxed for its support. He came at a time when the harmony of the church was disturbed over the acrimonious controversy between two prominent members whose case had been be- fore the church and had created a division in the church. A council called to advise in the matter closed its findings with these words: "The case is now resting entirely on them [the two offending members] ; the question whether peace and harmony are to be restored and the candle oi the Lord to shine here as in times past, or whether this
Calvinistic Congregational Church.
- '
church is to be still distracted by di vision, and thus be come like Admah and Zeboim, depends now upon the spirit in whieh this result is received." 'the quarrel was lor the time-being suppressed but burst forth later and, as a result, Mr. Albro resigned the pastorate alter only a short term of two years and eight mouths, settling over the Shepard Memorial Church of Cambridge, where 1. mained until his death in 1866.
He was a man of culture and considerable literary ability. During his first year with the church, 1832, n prosperous revival was the occasion of adding fifty mem- bers to its rolls (many of these names would be familiar if read), but only one of all this number is now living, and this is our beloved and honored Dea. Ala-am hole, the oldest living member.*
The next pastor called was Rev. Joshua Emery, a recently graduated member of Andover Theological Semi- nary, who remained only two years, resigning on account of the long-standing contention.
It may seem like revealing the family skeleton to thus refer to these difficulties, but in the rebuke whieh the dis- missing council gave the church, is discerned the first hint of the greatest upheaval which the century saw, and which a quarter of a century later burst forth in t he- great Civil War. The closing words of this rebuke were:
"Brethren, our heart's desire and prayer to God is, that you may lie kept from the fearful desolations whieh have come over some oi the fairest portions of Zion by the indulgence of party strife, and that \>>u may be sometime united again in the resettlement of the gospel minis- try and made joyful by the goings of our God in the midst of you."
In this hour of her humiliation the C. C. church turned her face toward the devout and peace-loving pas- tor, Rev. Rufus.A. Putnam, desiring him to come back to guide, but this was not so to be, and after a whole year of waiting, the Rev. Ebenezer W. Billiard was called and ordained July 1, 1838.
Mr. Bullard was born in Sutton, Mass., educated in Amherst College and Miami University, Ohio, where he graduated in 1834, and from Lane Theological Seminary,
Dea. Abram S. Dole died October 12, 1U0I, aged R4 years 8 months.
4G
The First Half-Century of the
Ohio, in 1837. These facts may have had a bearing in the conflict, which began very early in his ministry,
the slavery question, .and which soon resulted in a sepa- ration and formation of another church. Although of New England birth, his educational training at the age
when opinions are permanently formed was on the Ma- son and Dixon line, where he doubtless was surrounded with those influences antagonistic to our positive New England opinions upon this question.
Mr. Bullard was a man of very attractive personality, a courtly gentleman, which graces won for him a large and earnest following, while his lukewarm attitude toward the anti-slavery movement created for him a stubborn opposition.
At the beginning of the year 1840 a church meeting was held where a determined effort was made under the leadership of Thomas Eaton, Alpheus Kimball and others, to place the church on record as in sympathy with the anti-slavery movement. This purpose was defeated by the plea that the church should not interfere in polities. This action was followed by several cases of disciplining those who absented themselves from communion because " the church did fellowship with slaveholders" and on account of the church's action at the aforesaid meeting. These persons were all excommunicated with two exceptions. Benjamin Snow, Jr., and wife, who had been active work- ers in church affairs, having requested letters ot dismission and recommendation to a church in Troy, X. \ ., the ac- tion on these requests having been deferred, he sent the following statement to the church: "I have thought of asking a letter of recommendation to a church in Troy. I now wait the action of this church, as I am not sure that the church with which I wish to be connected would not consider an excommunication a better recommenda- tion, knowing the circumstances." The church at once voted to comply with his request and issued the letters called for. If the feeling was so intense in one church over this question, what must it have been all over the land?
Two years later the church voted to rescind the non- interference act and chose the following committee to take
REV. EBENEZER W. BULLARD.
Cahinistic Congregational Church.
17
the subject of slavery under consideration and report at a future meeting: Abel Thurston, Jacob H. Merriam, Daniel Lowe, Thomas Eaton and William Downe. The p;
was afterward added to the com mi tier.
But this action had been taken too late, for on Janu- ary 12, 1843, twenty-three heads of families presented n letter requesting dismission from the church for the pur- pose of forming the Trinitarian church, which letter was granted.
It may be claimed that this secession of a considerable body of the church's most devoted members foreed the church to take the pronounced stand which it immediately did. It may be allowed, and yet thereby the great under- current of thought and belief was crystallized, which her loyal sons of the present day are proud to record and recall her firm stand for libert}'.
March 3, 1843. The pastor requested to be excused from acting with the committee, which reported as fol- lows :
"The committee chosen to consider the subject of slavery, having received notice that the pastor declined serving on that committee and having proposed to our brethren who had absented from us on account of the slavery question; that if they were pleased to unite with us in preparing resolutions to be passed by the church we would resign and have a new committee appointed; and having been informed that they declined said proposal so long as the present pastor remains with us; have proceeded to prepare the following Preamble and Resolutions as expressing the views of this church on the subject of Slavery.
"While we deem it the dut}' of Christians at all times to oppose and denounce sin in whatever form it may appear, we feel called upon in a special manner as a church of Christ to raise our voice and exert our influence against any evil which by its magnitude or enormity may threaten any portion of our land, and particularly when such evil claims the sanction of Christianity itself
"Therefore Resolved.
"l«t That the instution of slavery is an evil o( great magnitude. alike cruel, unjust and oppressive to the slaves, and detrimental to the Master: conducive of unmixed evil to the country and an abominable sin against God, and as such, ought speedily to be abolished, and that as Christians we can in no way countenance or uphold it, but deem it our duty in all suitable ways to exert our inlluence and use our best endeavors to put an end to it in our land.
"2nd Resolved that we can have no connection with this unfruitful work of darkness and therefore we will not invite to our communion
48 The First Half -Century of the
table and that our pastor be requested not to invite to the desl person who is guilty of the sin of slave-holding.
Signed Abel Thurston
Thomas Baton
William Downs Committee" Daniel Lowe Jacob II. Merriam
This report was accepted and adopted without a dis- senting vote, and the pastor requested to forward a copy of these to the offices of the Boston Recorder and New England Puritan for publication.
There has been a common impression upon the minds of many, that during these years and leading up to the time of the Civil War, the C. C. church was lukewarm, if not actually hostile, to the anti-slavery movement. Whatever may have been individual opinions at that time, the stand thus taken by the C. C. church was un- mistakable, which twenty years later was sealed by the blood of many of her members and their children.
It is also significant that we are able to record the fact of another great ingathering, immediately following this action, whereby seventy-four names were added to the church rolls.
December 8, 184-3, the church officially approved the action of the society in the undertaking to build a new church. The old church was at once sold and removed to I lie corner of Main and Laurel rIivHh, where if wn«* usril loi business purposes until Llie eieeLioi) ul Lite prcbciil Dickinson block.
The new house of worship was dedicated January 22, 1845, and the basement was utilized for business purposes, being known as Granite Row on account of the material used in its construction. By this union in the service of God and Mammon as well as by the accession of many strong financial helpers, the society prospered in a mate- rial way while the strong undercurrent of spiritual lite held the church to the ideals which the fathers had as- pired to.
Yet, as with the individual life, so with the church, which is no less the individual collective, the struggle ot warring elements was felt during the following decade. The tension upon the all-absorbing slavery question was
DEA. ABEL THURSTON.
Calvinistic Congregational Church.
19
so great as to tax all the wisdom of the leaden ol the
church. It was during these days that Harriet Becchef Stowe was setting the nation aflame with her serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin, gathering its opening scenes from own home-locality around Lane Seminary, Ohio whose president was her father, Dr. Lyman Beeeher. It was dur- ing these days that Rev. Mr. Bullard's sister— the wile ol Henry Ward Beeeher— records the way by which her hus- band aroused the conscience of the nation when from Plymouth church pulpit, one Sabbath morning, he sold the slave girl into freedom, and by his ringing den unci at ton of the nation's crime. With such family connections the course of the C. C. pastor may seem incomprehensible, vet it only the more vividly illustrates the divine evolution ol great questions of right and wrong.
On July 1st, 1852, the council which dismissed Mr. Bullard closed with these words: "The council would also fervently pray that God would overrule this important crisis through which the Church is now passing to the ad- vancement of His own glory."
April 19, 1853, the church extended a call to Rev. G. Buckingham Wilcox, who accepted it and was installed June 15, 1853.
We have imperfectly completed a recital of some of the events of the first half century of the church's life. The latter half is so rich in results and events which fire inter
\A<»V(II III III.' I'ily'tt III* <K> !<» lli'll'l olK Iimiii limiting ill.
attempt.
One department of church worship which has held prominent interest ever since Moses and his sister Miriam established the service of praise with the children of Israel in the wilderness, calls for brief mention — music. This fact is evidenced in connection with the C. C. church as we read the first item in the first treasurer's book :
"Dec 1824- Paid Walter Johnson for providing for singing and for money advanced to Rev Mr Putnam $3®?.n This is followed by entries of various amounts, paid to Amos Sheldon, Alpheus Kimball, Isaiah Putnam, Amos Durant and others. The amounts paid were modest as compared with those of to-day. For instance: "Paid
50
The First Half-Century of the
C. II. Searle for services as chorister for 1820 "MO""; Capt. Durant services in singing same year v7""'; Joseph Upton *5°_°; W Johnson *3°_°."
The only musical instrument mentioned in these records previous to 1845, when the new church was dedicated, was the bass-viol. "Paid Capt. Durant for repairing bass- viol" ■'; "Paid Alvah Crocker for use of his bass-viol tour years"; and in 1841, "Paid John T. Farwell for use of his double-bass-viol and strings"; "Paid Leander Thurston for playing bass-viol."
In 1831 Alvah Crocker was engaged as chorister .'it the munificent salary of $13.00 a year, who held the po- sition four years and was succeeded by Joseph Upton, Jr., who remained for fifteen years, and was followed suc- cessively by his brothers John, Thomas and Edwin Upton. Then came George Kimball, a talented New York musi- cian, and N. A. Merriam. Once more Joseph Upton as- sumed the leadership for a short time; Prof. E. H. Frost, James P. Putnam and Simeon Fuller following.
A few years previous to the establishment of the or- gan in the new meeting house in 1815, Roby Safford was employed as "musician."
For many }^ears John A. Farwell, eldest son of Dea. John T. Farwell, was organist, also his sister Maria, An- drew Whitney two years, Prof. S. H. Long until 1860, when Miss Ellen Eveleth, now the wife of Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D. D., assumed the position. She was suc- ceeded by Miss Mary Upton, and later Prof. 15. II. I la i Icy.
With Calvin Upton occupying the position of organ- blower, Capt. Joseph Upton and six of his children as members of the choir, it may be understood that the Up- ton family contributed very materially and efficiently to this branch of worship.
Mrs. Thomas Hale, a sister of Uncle Cyrus Thurston, was the earliest leading soprano, followed by Miss Doro- thy Kimball, the present Mrs. F. Foster Bailey, then Mrs. Abel F. Adams, Airs. Joseph Baldwin and Miss Ruth Trask. Mrs. James P. Putnam (also of the family of Up- tons) was the leading contralto during these earlier years.
Calvinistic Congregational Church.
'A
About the year 1830 the society employed Alvah Crocker as teacher of its annual singing school. Thii grew to be an essential institution of the church winch contributed for more than thirty years to exert great influence on the soeial and esthetic side of the church's life.
The introduction of musical
instruction in public
schools has superseded the denominational singing school, with the result of a professional quartette replacing the
choir of voluntary singers. .
The delightful memories of the old singing school have a tinge of sadness, yet we believe we can discern in the change the evolution of truer ideas of worship whereby the quartette of educated singers may be the nucleus around which the worshiping congregation may more intelligently unite in praise service.
The following names indicate the character and influ- ence which the C. C. church and society held in the com- munity fifty years ago, all of whom were actively identi- fied in its interest :
Goldsmith F. Bailey, Amasa Noreross, Alvah Crocker, Rodney Wallace, all of whom have served in the United States Congress; Drs. Alfred Hitchcock, James R. Well- man, Levi Pillsbury, Alfred Miller; Gen. Moses Wood. William H. Vose, Stephen Shepley, Ephraim Whitman and Lowell Miles, of Whitman & Miles Manufacturing Co., Sylvester C. Wright, founder of Fitehburg Machine Co. In mercantile pursuits Charles Ide, Jaeob II. Fairbanks, Ezra B. Roekwood, Charles Sawtell, John Upton, William E. Wallace, William O. Brown, Abel Simonds, Thomas 1'almer. Col. Edwin Upton, Alfred Wetherbee, Elijah M. Dickinson, David Boutelle, Abel F. Adams, Henry F. Kenney, who by his remarkable executive ability a few years later elicited the commendation of President Lincoln for successfully and promptly moving the immense Union armies into Washington during the Civil War. These, with as many more which might be named, have made the Calvinistic church and society a tower of strength which we delight to honor.
REMINISCENCES RELATING TO THE SECOND MEETING-HOUSE IN FITCHBURG.
Read at a meeting of the Society, January LJo, I DDL'. WRITTEN BY E. FOSTER BAIJLEY.
The subject assigned to me is, "Reminiscences Pertain- ing to Fitehburg's Second ■Meeting-House,"—- the building which now stands on the corner of Main and Circle streets; and which was formerly located just in trout ot the pres- ent Unitarian church. It is to the pre-existing state of that old building before its transformation from sacred to sec- ular uses that this paper is devoted.
My first acquaintance with it dates back to the year 1826, when I was six years old. On a certain bright, sunny day in the early part of March of that year, imme- diately succeeding a moderate snow storm, might be seen, threading its way towards Fitchburg, up and down the long, steep hills over the old Westminster road, (then the shortest and best traveled way between Fitchburg and Westminster,) a horse and sleigh, with a woman, two little boys and a youthful driver. One of these boys— the elder — was myself; the other was my brother, and the woman was my mother; while the driver was the late Samuel M. Dole. That morning's ride took us over what was then called Cowdin's hill, nearly a mile long; then by Asa Sawyer's to Factory hill — a descent so steep that it was the dread of all women and of some men; then over the old road to Daniels hill— a hill nearly as precipitous as the former and some longer; then by Thomas Baton's, the father of the late Daniel S. Eaton; down the long hill to Jonas Marshall's; thence down West street into the village.
Second Meeting-House in Fitchbtl
re.
This was my first look at Fitchburg. We had comc-
our little family of three-as adventurous emigrants from a little hamlet in New Hampshire to this thriving town to make it our home, and to make hue a livelihood out of the possibilities of the future. We were landed by our driver at the residence of Air. Benjamin Snow, whose house then occupied the spot where now stands the resi- dence of Mrs. C. J. Billings. This house, then owned and occupied by Mr. Snow, has since been removed, and now stands in Newton place, and to this day I never look upon it without being stirred with a tender regard lor the venerable structure which so kindly sheltered me upon my first advent into Fitchburg. Our household goods arriv- ing in a day or two, we were soon located in a small house directly west of and adjoining the house now occu- pied by Mrs. Sylvester Litchfield, then owned by Dr. Abel Fox. This small house, our first home in Fitchburg, long since disappeared to make room for its successor.
The old meeting-house, (afterwards the town hall,) the subject of our narrative, stood but a lew rods from our new home, and became a permanent factor in our eastern landscape view. Our juvenile mind was more cap- tivated with the magnitude of the structure than with its architectural lines of beauty. It was a large, nearly square building, very plain, with front entrance on the south side; with no steeple and no ornamentation of any kind- being rather barn-like in general appearance, save for the two porch projections, one on the east and one on the west ends, which served for entrances and stairways. It stood somewhat askew to the street and surrounding buildings, giving a unique awkwardness to the general aspect. This was the result of a vote of the town to have the house face exactly south, instead of directly down the street, as originally designed. This vote was engineered through town meeting by the disgruntled party which had fought persistently for ten years for its location farther westward. It was their "last kick" and the final ending of the ten years' meeting-house controversy. It was said that so interesting were the proceedings of those town meetings that people from surrounding towns came in crowds to see the show. In 18137 a great improvement
54
Reminiscences Relating to tin
was made in the building by the construction of a to and belfry to receive a bell, the donation of Mr. j Marshall. This was a timely and useful gift, and b used for both parish and town purposes was highly ap- preciated by the whole people. I have a dim recollection of seeing the men standing on a staging and pulling a short rope, sending the wave sounds pealing over the hills and along the valleys of Fitchburg, announcing to the people that a new institution had come to town. An in- stitution, indeed, it was, convenient and useful, for it informed the people of every case of death, specifying the sex and age, and when the funeral was in process. It in- formed the farmers every Sunday morning at nine (/clock when they should make preparations for their Sabbath day's journey, when to arrive at the meeting house and when to take seats in the pews. It designated the proper time for dinner and when to go to bed. It also sounded the fire alarm and aroused the inhabitants from their mid- night slumbers, when the fire fiend was abroad,— calling forth both men and women with bucket and pail in hand to form their lines to the river for the passing of water to quench the devouring element. The donation of such H y\\\ ivnH indeed a benefaction.
Mr. Marshall, the author ol this benefaction, eauic in town when eleven years old, and by industry and shrewd purchases of land became the richest man in town, except, perhaps, the rich merchant of the Old City, Joseph Fox, Esquire. He not only knew how to acquire property, but also, what is as important in the race for riches, he knew how to .keep it. I never heard of his losing by any in- vestments he ever made except his venture in Maine lands during the famous eastern land speculation, sometime in the thirties, and in which he had plenty oi company. While economical, he was also regardful of the necessities of the worth}' poor. The Rev. Mr. Lincoln lived in his family in the first years of his settlement in town. Mr. Marshall was a firm adherent to the Unitarian faith, and a zealous advocate of its doctrines. Although a Unitarian, he was possessed of some of the stalwart elements of the Puritan character. The square and plummet were the
Second Meeting-House in Fitchburg*
instruments by which he tested himself and other! in the conduct of business. The strict fulfillment of agreements, the prompt payment of debts, and a careful regard for the legal prerogatives and limitations of property rtghti were his creed. The rules, the performance of which be exacted from others, he was scrupulously careful to prac- tice himself. When a young man he had occasion to bor- row a few hundred dollars of some one in the west part of the town, by the name, I believe, of Hilton. The interest on the note given he paid, for a series of years, exactly on the da}' it became due, although sometimes he had to travel miles on foot to do it. He abhorred usury, and later, when he himself became a loaner of money, his rate of interest was six per cent., — no more and no less; and under no circumstances or temptations could he 'he in- duced to deviate from the rule. I remember very well the astonishment he manifested upon hearing that a good Baptist friend was taking seven per cent, interest. Ik- was a constant attendant of church services, and when in advanced age he had become so deaf that he could hardly catch a word of the sermon, he still, with the same punc- tiliousness, continued his attendance— all for example's sake. Independent in dress, as in other things, and re- gardless of changing customs and the dictates of fashion, he persisted in wearing knee breeches long after the fash- ion had passed away, and wore his hair in a cue to the end of his life.
The ground on which the meeting-house stood was used by the public as a training field for the military and for gatherings on holidays, and was the constant resort of children of all ages for their various plays and sports. During the spring and summer months when the schools were in session, the flying feet of juvenile exuberance af- forded a slim chance for the grass to grow. Our main playground was the upper part of the common, it being near the school house, which was on the corner of Me- chanic street; and besides, the old church building afforded us conveniences for some of our plays, such as "gool, ' "I spy," and "hail-over." There were in vogue many games of ball, such as "long ball," "square ball," "drive
56 Reminiscences Relating to the
ball," "hail-over" and "hole-ball," and the outcry bawlt
consequent upon accident or conflict; such as "fall d bawl," and "push down bawl." This constant tread ol youthful feet made it impossible for vegetation of any to assert itself above the earth. The modern sign-board,
"Keep off the Grass," with a policeman at hand to en- force the command, had not then been invented, so that the grounds around the church were generally innocent ol that verdure of green so assiduously cultivated at the present day. Our fathers had little time or inclination to raise grass for esthetic purposes. The only adornments in sight were the sticks and stones which the boys had left from their plays.
Another source of amusement for us young children was the watering trough. On a roadway running from West Alain street to Mechanic street, close by the rear ol the old church, lay this plain and rustic receptacle tor water. To the best of my recollection it was a good. sized log, hollowed out by the adze and chisel, with a hole at the bottom to receive the lead pipe in which was in- serted a piece of pipestem,— the small aperture being favor- able to economy in the supply department. We never lircd of watching (he little fishes ris llicv Riioiird in I Ik water, cir lay iiicj'tiuiilcgta ill the vviiiiii rays •>! ilia: t»uii, And then there was the amusement of gathering the waste water in the roadway into little channels, which we called the river, across which we built dams and flooded them with water, and after placing our water wheels and im- agining the existence of factory buildings, we were ready for business. Then, having drunk in to satiety the de- lights of construction, we turned around and took our till of destructive delights by trampling down our dams, spill- ing the water, breaking our water wheels and mill ma- chinery in pieces, and with noise and confusion ending up in a state of general bankruptcy. In winter the old trough, by the freezing of its waste water, afforded us lots of fun on the smooth patches of ice in the roadway. Sliding on our feet on the ice was a very fascinating amusement, but very detrimental, not only to the soles of our shoes but also to the souls of our parents when
Second Meeting-) louse in Fitchbnrg.
67
they came to settle the shoemaker's hills. Still another amusement was furnished by the old trough when we conceived the idea of embarking in the shipping busi with chips and little pieces of hoard for our vessels pebble stones and such-like for freight. We imagined the trough of water to be the Atlantic ocean, over which our ships crossed back and forth laden with the commer. the world— with no intermeddling tariff to disturb the normal relations of exports and imports. Those were the halcyon days of free trade— an era of prosperity.
This ancient relic— the watering trough,— long since- passed from human view, but I find in memory's book its name recorded as the children's friend. And now, my dear old friend, permit me to recount your many virtues. If I could I would immortalize thy memory. No school girl ever gazed on thy placid face without a smile from thee. No boy ever came to paddle in thy cooling waters with- out thy kindly greeting, and for every thirsty soul that sought thy side for a cooling draft thou hadst a generous welcome, whether it was horse or ox or cow or dog. If the giving of a little cup of water makes the giver meri- torious and entitled to reward, what is thy merit and what will be thy reward, who dispensed through many years the cooling draft to thirsty thousands in unstinted measure ?
Having given some idea of the church building and the grounds around it, I will try to describe its interior. I have already made mention of the main entrance and of the two porches on the east and west ends that furnished entrances . to the lower floor and stairways to the gal- leries. Pews occupied the space next the walls, and be- tween the pews and the ver}' front of the galleries were two rows of bench seats. Those on the south, with a portion on the east and west, were assigned to the sing- ers. The remainder were used for the overflow of the pews below, consisting generally of the younger members of large families, whose family pews were insufficient for their accommodation, and for indigent people who could not afford to own a pew or hire a seat.
58
Reminiscences Relating: to the
The pulpit was on the north Bide— midway— and just
opposite the front entrance of the church, with the ancient sounding board suspended above, to perfect the ncc properties of the building. In the arrangement of the lower floor, wall pews encircled the whole room, leaving space for entrances from without on the east and sides. From the front door to the pulpit ran the bi aisle, and on either side were two rows of pews which were generally appropriated by the elite of society. the financially prosperous portion of the community. A passage-way encircled the four rows of pews, affording ac- cess to all the wall pews and one-half of the central pews— the other half being entered from the broad aisle. The stairs for the pulpit were on its west side, with a proper landing at the pulpit door. It was well boxed up and elevated, and when the door was closed the minister was well secured against the gaze of the people below, but open to the inspection of the boy in the gallery, whose mouth would water with envying sweetness when he espied the preacher taking his lump of loaf sugar during the singing of the hymn preceding the sermon. The pews. as I recall them now, were square, with openwork sur- rounding the top, made of little turned sticks in spindle form, Ihioiijdi which Ihr little fnlltH could \wv\\ find Imlil sxjiHe boi I o! spiriLual conversation with Llk-ii lillle liicmls in the adjoining pew. The seats, uncushioncd and hung on hinges, were raised by the worshipers as they arose at the opening of prayer, and were slammed down by the small boy at the close, in chorus with the concluding Amen.
The wall pews, especially those against the loosely fitted windows and gaping cracks by the doorways, were not particularly comfortable sittings in winter in zero weather. The old box stove, although crowded to its utmost capacity with the best of fuel, would make no more impression on the temperature of the remote wall pews than glints of sunlight on the frozen mosses oi the Arctic regions. The old stove, save for its warming influ- ence in its immediate localit}', was chiefly useful in fur- nishing live coals for the little tire-pots in the foot-stoves
Second Meeting-House in Fitchh
mrg.
59
of the shivering women who had travelled miles to atf the Sabbath service. It was a comfort to these Christian souls, who had left their homes and faced the rigor* of the weather for the sweet enjoyments of divine worship, to have the dying embers in the little foot-stoves ex- changed for living coals. But their robust and hardy husbands, inured to cold and exposure, who kindly brought forth the little stoves and made the desired exchang the mouth of the old box stove, would tor themselves reject with scorn such feminine comforts.
I remember that Mr. Joseph W. Mansur in delivering some address in this same building, after it had become the town hall, spoke of some English writer who, instituting a comparison of the England of the then present and the past, said, "In former times the houses were made of wil- low, but the men were of oak, now the houses are of oak and the men of willow." I think Emerson somewhere in his writings— perhaps in a representative way— speaks of those ardent and heroic souls who crave pain as a lux- ury and pastime.
In such a community as the one of which we write, not yet enervated by ease and luxury, whose members made so much of worship and so little of personal priva- tion, there was no occasion for resorting to costly sing- ing, sensational sermons and club contrivances to induce the people to come to church.
For two or three of the first Sundays after our settle- ment in town I attended this church and sat in the pew of Mr. Benjamin Snow, on the east side of the broad aisle, the third or fourth from the pulpit. I have an imperfect recollection of the presence of Rev. Calvin Lincoln in the pulpit, — of his benignant look and reverend mien ; but my remembrance of the text and sermon is nil. I presume my attention was largely taken up with 1113- \roung friend, William Hall Snow, whose acquaintance I had previously made in one of the river towns of New Hampshire. The old veteran of song, Cyrus Thurston, then a young man, led the singing. The thing that made the deepest and most abiding impression upon me was that large and mys- terious sounding board above the pulpit. At that tender
GO
Remi
niscences Relating to tlic
age I was innocent of all knowledge of the science oi
acoustics, and was puzzled to know its use and pui ; After pondering the question for some time I Bought iti solution of some older boys, who very seriously told me that its purpose was to keep a cheek on the preachei if he should dare to tell the people anything different from what the Lord commanded him to say, the iron rod which held the structure to the timbers above would part and let fall the avenging canopy upon the head of the offender. This revelation was startling, and I felt that I would not wish to be around when such a catastrophe should occur.
In this state of mind I was willing to go with my mother and cast in my lot with the C. C. church, the pul- pit of which stood unguarded by any such terrifying ap- paratus. I joined the Sunday school, the late venerable Justin Stearns being my teacher, and of him I took my first lessons in pictorial theology, beginning with the fall of man in the garden of Eden. Our textbook was the Evangelical Primer and Catechism, by Rev. Joseph Emer- son, the father of Rev. Alfred Emerson, who so acceptably ministered as pastor to the C. C. church for about ten years, mostly in the sixties. At the top of each page in lliis little lex 1 hook wen* I \vu wuoik'iilH which, though m»| artistic to modern eyes, were to my childish fancy the essence of beauty. The remainder of the page was devoted to questions and answers, which constituted the dry por- tion, requiring too much hard study to be pleasurable. But the pictures were my delight and I never tired of looking at them. The first represented the garden of Eden, in which were Eve and the serpent; the serpent erect on the end of his tail, pouring into the unsophisticated ear of the woman his anarchistic doctrine of disobedience ami treason. The second was Cain and Abel — Cain, witli the uplifted club, ready to strike the fatal blow, while the in- nocent Abel, with uplifted hands, was pleading to be spared. And so the pictures extended through a series of pages, illustrating the principal events of Old Testament history. And now I am reminded of the three lines oi doggerel I used to hear, invented, I suppose, by some waggish divine,
Second Meeting-} r louse in Fitcfiburg.
61
to illustrate the doctrine of the solidarity of the common race with the specific, individual Adam:
"In Adam's fall we sinned all; In Abel's murder we sinned finder; In Koran's sin we all jined in."
There may have been originally another line; if so, I have forgotten it. From this time my attendance at the old church was occasional and infrequent. The denomina- tional fences in those days were pretty high and the bars were well put up.
The doors of the old church were generally kept locked on week days, but occasionally one would be left ajar, which, when discovered by juvenile eyes, became the sub- ject of investigation. Reinforced by numbers, we would push open the door and with timorous feet enter and look around in expectancy for the personal visibility of the sol- emn old hobgoblins we had conjured up in our imagina- tions. Seeing none, and becoming familiarized with our surroundings, we were ready to take our play with our usual abandon.
What a wonderful thing is a child's imagination! Prom whence came it, and what is its use? Did vou ever observe with thoughtful care the little girl in the room corner set apart for her play house, surrounded by her dolls and playthings? how she will personify the inani- mate things about her — giving them life and intelligence, fit for communion and companionship? how she will talk to them and with them — asking them questions and re- ceiving their answers? how she assigns to each its respec- tive part in the little playr to be performed, and brings the performance to a close with encore and applause? Thus. in one short half hour she creates whole pages of dramatic art, containing frequently amusing originalities in details, which for ease and spontaneity more than equal the plod- ding efforts of the adult intellect. What is the interpreta- tion of this phenomenon of child life, if it be not one o\ those processes in the evolution of childhood's mental growth whereby, under the tutelage of angels and by the
62 Reminiscences Relating to the
imaging power of symbols, the emotional element* of be- ing are translated into intellectual perceptions— a pi which, like the kingdom of Heaven, cometh not with servation? Fortunate is that child who is allowed hi. full term in this unseen training school, without int. enee by the presumed wisdom of older minds; for, as in the development of the chick within the shell, Nature km her own business best.
It was easy for us children, passing through this in- teresting stage of our intellectual development, to take our play among the pews of the old church and imagine that the church was the city of the New Jerusalem, that the aisles and passageways were the streets and alleyways, and the pews the bright mansions for the habitation o( angels; while the pulpit was the Great White Throne. While playing our game of tag among the aisles we im- agined we were fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah viii. 5, "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." When tired of tag we would take up hide and seek, hiding away in the dark cor- ners of the silent pews and making believe that we were concealing ourselves under the angels' wings.
Rev. Mr. Lincoln, the pastor, was a classmate in col- lege of Rev. Rufus Putnam, pastor of the C. C. church. They were on very friendly terms, and their social inter- course was marked by acts of kindness and courtesy fill
ill v v 1 1 i * * 1 1 I mi < I (i v»'i v Irivoifihli inllin n n. ,i i . 1 1 1 1 1 r mill
allaying those asperities which still existed in tht Lwcj par- ishes, as the residuents of past conflicts. Rev. Calvin Lin- coln was a man who might be called a natural-born cler- gyman. His mien and speech and the structure oi his mind were clerical through and through. His characteris tics as a Christian man and a pastor were of a high order. He abounded in natural goodness, and the benig- nity which shone in his face was as the pleasant light of the sun. Although totally devoid of the spirit of personal domination or self-assertion, yet such was the dignity o\ his virtues that no evil thing could long remain at ease in his presence. In his intercourse with his people he accorded to all the same affability in his greetings, and the same
REV. CALVIN LINCOLN.
Second Meeting-House in Fitchbitrg.
respectful regard; whether they were high or low, rich or poor. Though manifesting the- spirit of that charity
which thinks no evil, and Which, in a sense, coven a mul- titude of sins, which the worldly-wise are sure to regard as a mark of unsophisticated weakness, lie had a keen sense of the differences of personal character, rind he w: used it to gather for future use such knowledge of personal peculiarities as would enable him to adapt his labors to individual cases. His gentle and sympathizing ways pecu- liarly adapted him to the ministrations of the sick room, bringing repose to the restless, relief to the anxious, and solace to the suffering; while his wise selection of scrip- ture and adaptation of remarks imparted light to the be- clouded mind, and brought to the sick chamber the fore- gleams of immortal life. As a preacher, he used written sermons, scholarly in construction, unsensational and prac- tical, which he delivered in a smooth, flowing voice, with a clear and distinct enunciation, and with deliberation and little variety in tone, but withal earnest and imj sive. His pastorate in Fitehburg covered, I think, nearly or cpjite thirty years, during all of which time he held the love of his people, and I do not now remember of hear- ing of any instance of jar or friction between pastor and people. It was as impossible for any one to pick a quar- rel with Mr. Lincoln or get up a personal dislike against him, mm ii would be lor n fiu'iuci In mii.umI with \\i< grilled rays «►! the vernal sun.
The influence of his amiable life and personal virtues extended beyond the limits of his own parish, and he had the esteem of all the people of the town. When a boy I have heard more than one good Orthodox church member say in substance that if it was possible for Unitarians to be saved and admitted into the kingdom of Heaven, they were sure that Mr. Lincoln's name would head the list. His nature was not aggressive. He was not born to be the bold reformer. He didn't try. He knew his mission better. His whole nature shrank from controversy and conflict. It was an impossibility for him to strike the mighty blows of Luther, or even to act the role of John the Baptist; but rather of the gentle Christ who came
G4
Second Mecting-House in Fitchbnw
after, and whose life he sought to imitate, save, perhaps, in one particular. I do not think he would have the whip of cords to drive out those desecratori who by trade and barter profaned the Holy Temple.
Such living is called weakness by this striving, rush- ing, pushing world, that would create a universe in n day, and right all its evils in one short moment, forget- ting that thorough work requires more time; that (',<><]', ways are not as man's, for lie himself is never in a hur- ry, and has throughout the wide circle of his creative realm forever linked fineness in the product with slowness in the grinding. But, if weakness, it is that weakness which the Father uses to confound the wisdom of the wise, and which in Paul was Christian strength. Mr. Lincoln's type of strength was not the heaving earth- quake or the roaring wind, but rather the mild, warm and silent rays of the vernal and summer sun, which con- tinued, day by clay, week by week, and month by month, brings fruitage to the fields; or that silent, penetrating force that draws upward in the young tree the vital sap from its buried roots, for its sustenance and growth through many years, till in maturity of vital strength it gives back as its reward its ripened fruit on laden boughs.
REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD TOWN 1 1 A J.I
Read at a meeting of the Society t April U 1 , 1902 WRITTEN I5Y E. FOSTER BAILEY.
Prosperous towns with a steady growth in popula- tion will gradually come to feel the pressing necessity for
further accommodation, and not infrequently will two or more such public needs make themselves manifest at the same time. Such was the case in Fitchburg in the year 1836. For some little time the conviction had been grow- ing among the people that a town hall was an urgent necessity. Indeed, as early as 1814, some pioneer in mu- nicipal progress had an article put into the warrant for town meeting, as follows: "To see if the Town will pur- chase of its proprietors the Meeting House in which the late Calvinistic Congregational Society worshiped, and turn it into a Town Hall or Academy." But this seems not to have met the approval of the town, as the meet- ing was dissolved without taking any action thereon.
The First Parish (Unitarian) had in 1836 taken the initiatory steps for the building of a new meeting-house; and School District No. 1 was in need of a new school house. So a plan was talked up for the school district and town to unite and erect a building that would fur- nish accommodation for both town hall and school pur- poses. The First Parish, being about to erect a new building, would naturally wish to dispose of the old one to the best advantage. It was plainly evident that the time had come, and now was the opportunity to move for a town hall.
Accordingly a town meeting was held December 31, 1836, at which the following vote was passed :
"Voted to choose a committee with authority to build a Town House, or to contract for and superintend the construction oi such a building, either in conjunction with School District No. 1, or alone, as they may think for the interest of the Town."
60
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall.
The members of the coi
mmittee were David Boutclle,
Jonas Marshall, Amos Durant, William Carlcton and Jo- seph Townsend. This committee rejected the proposition to unite with School District No. 1, and purchased the
old First Parish meeting-house, and also a lot of laud on which to plaee it, at the corner of Circle and Mam streets, as appears by the reeord of the first town meeting held in the town hall, November 13, TS37. The committee reported the eost of the town hall as follows:
For the site on which the building stands, purchase of the old meeting house, " moving the same, " stone work, including thresholds, " painting, " labor and materials, " 2 stoves and funnel,
Cr.
liy old porches and odd stuff sold,
Net
$1000.00 410.00 200.00 518.00 1 10.00 639.86 fc3.87
$2951 T.'i SL'U.IG
I remember that one day in the summer of 1S37 I saw, on its plank way, pointing towards Cirele street, the old First Parish meeting-house, ready to take its ad- venturous journey to another locality to be used by dif- ferent owners for different ends. For forty years its walls had echoed to the services of worship — of prayer and praise. They had also echoed Lo I he wrangles ol Filehburg town meetings, which last echoes were in prospect of continu- ance, and which we may suppose made the coming transi- tion less abrupt and painful. That summer day, which witnessed the venerable old building ready to make its journey, we may presume marked the division line of its metempsychosis, and henceforth we will call it the town hall.
The contractor for moving the building, as I remem- ber him, was past middle age, and was undoubtedly pos- sessed of considerable experience in such work. I think he lived somewhere in the southern part of the county. 1 do not recall his name, but he successfully accomplished his job with the use of no other power save that of pure man
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall.
67
muscle, operated on wood rollers, with iron bars. It tool: quite a number of men, and when they were duly placed on the two sides of the building, each to his respective roller, with his bar in its socket, it was necessary, in order to secure the best results, that all should pull in unison When everything was thus ready, the old man, every inch a commander, would give the signal in voice unmistaka- bly loud and energizing, tor a long pull and a pull all to- gether, and the building would move perhaps three or four inches; then, with a replacing of the bars and another pull, three or four inches more might be gained. And so the great building marched slowly and surely to its desti- nation, furnishing another proof of the maxim that "large- bodies move slowly."
The building was made into two stories. The upper story was the hall for town meetings, public gatherings, lectures, etc., and was arranged as follows: The desk was at the southerly end of the room, midway; a floor space occupied about one-third of the width of the building from the desk to the doors opposite. This space was filled with settees when the space was needed for seatings, but these could be taken out when needed for standing room. On either side of this space were arranged stationary seats, rising towards the walls by steps of some six or eight inches, facing the opposite side of the room instead of the desk, which made the settees the more desirable seats. The stove was on the north side, between the doors. The entrance from the street, and the stairways, were far from being commodious, the stairs being steep and the entry-way- rather contracted. The lower story of the building was made into two apartments for business pur- poses, though I believe the Fusiliers occupied one oi them for their armory.
The first lecture I remember of attending in the town hall was in the winter of 1838-39, and was given by a Frenchman, whose name I do not now recall, on the sub- ject of animal magnetism, now called hypnotism by its new advocates, in expectation, I presume, that a change o\ name would impart to the old rose a sweeter fragrance. After the lecture the new force was illustrated by a Mr. Locke of Westminster, wdio had for his subject a boy ot
6*8
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall.
some ten or twelve years of age, from the same town. Mr. Locke put his subject into the somnambulic state
by passing his hands repeatedly from the head downward along the arms, and when the unconscious state was in. duced he was ready to be submitted to the tests of the
skeptics. There was present that evening Charles II. Cragin, teacher in the academy, who was also studying medicine with Marshall & Abercrombie, and he was deter- mined to satisfy himself as to the reality ol this alleged abnormal sleep, and particularly whether the boy was in- sensible to pain, as was claimed. So, when the boy was submitted for examination, Mr. Cragin placed himself be- hind the chair occupied by the subject, in such a position that he was sure that not the least motion of the mus- cles could be made without being detected, and then he plied the boy with a pin to that extent that he was cer- tain that no one in a normal condition of sleep could en- dure it without making some manifestation. Mr. Cragin went home that night in the full belief of the boy's hon- esty and with his own skepticism badly shaken.
During the months of January and February, Ts3(J, some of the young people of the town busied themselves in getting up some amateur theatricals, and in March gave an exhibition in the town hall, where they presented to the Fitehburg public the tragedy ol ,4 Brutus" for two 01 three nights in succession, and the hall was well tilled each night. Some of the actors were: Ira Carleton, in the part of Brutus; Thomas Oakman, as Titus; James Peirce, as Sextus Tarquin ; Asa Farwell, as Collatinus; Miss Caroline Benjamin and Miss Eliza Oakman also had parts, while Deputy Sheriff Horace Newton stood behind the scenes and manufactured thunder and lightning with sheet iron and gunpowder. After the tragedy a comedy was enacted, in which Charles S. Litch had the leading part and made the play a success.
I remember a Whig political meeting in the hall in the autumn of 1840. This was the year of that most extraor- dinary campaign which elected William Henry Harrison president — the campaign in which the Whigs so neatly and completely stole the thunder of the Democratic party
Reminiscences of tlie Old Town llnll.
and turned it with telling effect on their <>\<\ em-, Soon after Harrison's nomination sonic very indiscreet Democratic editor came out with an article to show Mr. Harrison's incompetency for the duties of president, call'
111!
him an "old granny," and representing him as living in a log house, decorated with coon skins, where he daily sat and drank cider with his friends. The Whig editors were not slow to see their opportunity and to use it. Harrison's military and political life was a matter of written history, and could not be wiped out, but this Democratic description fairly placed him in regard to his daily life among the ranks of the common people. The Whigs accepted this description and represented Van Bu- ren as an aristocrat riding in a splendid imported equi- page, and living in princely style, with his dining table ablaze with silver dishes and gold spoons. Thenceforth log cabins, copn skins and hard cider tilled the Whig papers and became the battle-cry of the party, and, also, to speak figuratively, became the "spike team" which carried the party to power and swept the political field as by a whirlwind.
I remember this meeting in Fitchburg was preceded by a procession, with some torches. The speaker of the evening was a gentleman from an adjoining town, who had been a lawyer and was now a farmer. He had his speech well prepared and delivered it in good style. He seems to have caught the keynote of the campaign, for he made it his great point to identify his party, as well as himself, with the common people, and in speaking he- stood on the floor of the hall instead of at the desk as usual. I remember that in the course of his address, stretching out both hands to show their full size, he said with much emphasis, "These huge paws minister to my daily necessities."
Shortly after the Democrats held a meeting in the town hall, at which Nathaniel Wood, Esq., was the speaker. He referred to the speech made at the Whig meeting, noticed some of the arguments, and spoke oi the seeming anxiety of the orator to appear very demo- cratic. Mr. Wood said, "I stand here in this desk because it is more convenient for me and for vou, but he, tor
70
R
cminisccnccs of the Old Town HalL
effect, chose to stand down on the floor where that gfl spot is." Those were the days of oil light*, and the tor had carelessly spilled some oil on the floor, just in the right place to give peculiar aptness to the remark, which brought out a round of applause. I am unable to bring to mind any other political meetings in the town ball during that fall, though I presume there were others But I remember very well the November town meeting for the election of state officers and presidential electors. In the early morning of that day the bell was heard to ring, and the people who came out to see what was the mat- ter found on the common, in front of the town hoilf nice little log cabin, some three feet square, made of round sticks of about one inch and a half in diameter, tipped up on one side to an angle of say thirty degrees, and be- neath a figure 4 arrangement like a rat trap. On the end of the spindle was a miniature eider barrel, on which was written, "A trap to catch Whig votes." During the fore- noon Charles Leverett, a young clerk in Mr. Snow's store, wrote on a sheet of paper in large letters, "To let after the fourth of March," and pasted it on the log cabin, which remained on the common all day, and was the occasion of much fun and some hard jokes.
During the nntuinn of 1MI1 and Llic winter ami spring following there were numerous temperance meetings held in the town hall. Amid the tumult and excitement of the phenomenal political campaign of 1840, in the city of Baltimore was being developed in a quiet, unobtrusive way, a movement destined in two years to sweep the country with a revolution in the temperance cause more astounding than the political change which carried the Whigs into power. Six men in Chase's tavern in Balti- more, where they were accustomed to meet for tippling and carousal, suddenly determined to quit their drinking. They wrote out and signed a pledge to abstain from all intoxicants, and organized under the name of the Washing- tonian Temperance Society. In a short time they had in- creased to one hundred members, and during the year to one thousand. New York heard of the movement in Bal- timore and asked for a delegation to come and work in that city, which was done with very great success. On
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall.
71
leaving New York this band of six Baltimoreans divided into pairs— two going south and two going we»t, while John II. Hawkins and his companion came on to Boston to work the held in New England. Old Marlboro ch
was made their headquarters, and meetings were held daily and drunkards were brought daily in large nun,; to sign the pledge. Every evening new converts were on hand to relate their experiences, and in a few weeks the public sentiment of Boston was changed.
In September, 184-1, Mr. Hawkins came to Fitchburg. On the afternoon of his arrival the Fusiliers were on pa- rade, and Mr. Hawkins gave them an invitation to come to his meeting in the C. C. church in the evening, which they accepted and were present, occupying the body of the house. Mr. Hawkins' fame had preceded him, and the church was crowded. He had remarkable powers of persuasion, and his style of weaving together humor and pathos was very effective. But it was in relating his ex- perience as a drunkard, in depicting the resistless force of appetite, that his great heart manifested in voice and emo- tion his yearning love for the "poor, unfortunate drunk- ard." This latter was a phrase which he repeated time and again in every address. This was a new kind of talk for that class of people wdio had heretofore been consid- ered castaways, to be blamed and not pitied. Sympathy was a new element in the work of reforming the drunk- ard, and its success was marvelous.
A Washingtonian pledge was prepared and offered for signatures at the desk. This obtained but few signatures that night, but the next day quite a number of hard drinkers placed their names to it. A Fitchburg Washing- tonian Total Abstinence Society was soon organized. I think at a meeting called for that purpose in the town hall. Jeduthan M. Gibbs was elected president, and Seth B. Hall secretary. They established headquarters, with a reading room, in a building which stood where The Phoe- nix now is ; but their public meetings were held in the town hall and were generally addressed by reformed men from Boston and other places, who sometimes related very thrilling experiences. But few speeches were made by Fitchburg men, though I remember on two occasions lis-
72
R
emrniscenccs of tlic Old Tuwu Hall.
tening to Seth B. Hall and William C. Elleck. Commit- tees in every school district were appointed to circulate the pledge, and some six hundred names of men were i secured. The women very zealously supplemented the work by organizing a Martha Washington Total Abstinence ciety, which had a large membership. So wonderful was the success of the new movement in changing public sen- timent and in winning signers to the pledge that the old laborers for temperance felt that the millennium for their cause had arrived, and surrendered their work into the hands of the Washingtonians and went into other lines of philanthropy— largely into the anti-slavery movement. W. C. Elleck, who succeeded Seth B. Hall as secretary, became the editor of a new paper which was established as the organ of the society by the name of The Cold Water Cup, but which went out of existence in less than a year for lack of support. As the novelty and excite- ment gradually wore away, zeal lagged, and the larger part of the reformed men went back to their cups; but I believe that most of the men who were moderate or occa- sional drinkers, who took the pledge during that temper- ance revival, kept it faithfully during life.
In the spring of 1842 a Liberty Party association was formed at a meeting in the town hall, by Rev. Hiram ( ' ummiiij'H, who had previously j'ivru niltlrcHHCN in I lie llnphsl, Metlioilisl and C C. chinches. Tills WHS a licv> movement for the anti-slavery cause, making political action its main work, and antagonizing, in this respect, Mr. Garrison's views, who utterly ignored politics and pronounced the constitution a "covenant with death and an agreement with hell." Mr. Cummings in his lectures set forth the facts and principles which seemed to call for the formation of an anti-slavery political party. He went into the economics of the slave system, showing it to be an impoverishing institution. Wealth and prosperity, he said, are the result of labor, and especially of skilled labor, which the North had, and which was here respected, while the South regarded labor as degrading; hence her laborers were ignorant and unskilled. Almost every one in the North was in a sense a producer, while less than one-half of the South could be said to be such. The result was
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall.
73
that the South fell behind financially every year, and it was customary for the planters to mortgage their crops one year ahead, to provide the means to (any on their plantations, besides buying all they could of northern mer- chants on credit, and settling every few years by pa; fifty cents on a dollar. He held that the law of econom- ics was that when any part of a community or a nation became non-self-supporting the deficit had in some way to be made up by the prosperous portion; that the South, by superior skill in political management and having ample leisure for such study, had continued to control the gov- ernment and to fill the important offices of the nation. She had furnished presidents for ten terms out of the four- teen since the adoption of the constitution, and the rem- edy was to build up a party that should make the ques- tion of freedom paramount, just as the South put the interests of slavery foremost.
This view of the question met the approval of many who had heretofore been indifferent to the cause of the slave, or who disapproved of the views and principles of Mr. Garrison. The Liberty party increased in numbers and soon held the balance of power, so as to prevent the election of a representative by either of the other two parties, the majority rule being in force; so that, in order to secure a representative from Fitchburg, these parties were obliged to unite, sending a Whig one year with the help of Democratic votes, and a Democrat the next by the aid of the Whigs. Mr. Cummings had announced that when the party should grow to such numbers as to hold the balance of power, the smaller of the two old parties would wheel into line with the Liberty party, to bring defeat to their ancient enemy. Now this result was contrary to Cummings's prediction, but it showed that the new party was a force which must be taken into account on election days. However, Mr. Cummings's pre- diction was fulfilled when, in 1850, the Free Soilers and Democrats united and made George S. Boutwell governor. and put Charles Sumner into the Senate of the United States.
In November or December of 1843 a Lyceum was formed for lectures and the discussion of questions oi gen-
74
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall
eral interest. Since the death of the old Philosophical Society Fitehburg had been without such an institut
and the people were generally interested to attend. Tin- meetings were held in the town hall during the winter. Of the list of officers I remember none hut Rev. Mr. Lin- coln as president, and Abel Thurston vice-president. The disputants were appointed in alphabetical order. My name being among the B's, I came into the first debate, with a medical student for my coadjutor, and for oppo- nents another medical student and a surgeon dentist. I do not remember the question for discussion, but 1 know it involved the permanency of our republican form of gov- ernment. On the night of the meeting the hall was well filled, and I was anxious as to my personal fate, being fearful of a breakdown, as it was my first attempt to face an audience in debate. One thing, however, gave me hope and braced me up. A friend, boarding with the gen- tleman—my opponent— who was to open the discussion, and whom I was to follow, acquainted himself with the line of argument the gentleman had proposed for himself, and informed me. My opponent's opening justified the truth of my friend's information, and when I arose it was with more confidence than might otherwise have been the case, and I closed with the feeling that I had at least made one or two good points. But the next morn- ing I felt far less satisfied with myself, when my friends called around to congratulate me on the success of my maiden speech, for I knew they were praising me for spe- cial abilities which I did not possess. My emotions were very like- those of a man who was conscious of having obtained goods under false pretenses.
Upon the occasion of my next appearance in debate the subject for discussion was capital punishment— " Ought Capital Punishment to be Abolished?" Rev. Mr. Bullard and myself were appointed on the negative of the ques- tion, and a young man— one of Mr. Ballard's church mem- bers— was appointed on the affirmative and opened the debate. In his attempt to anticipate the scriptural argu- ment which he presumed his pastor would pursue, he commented on the severity of the penalties attached to the violation of the old Jewish laws, and characterized
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall
75
them as a Draconian code. When the reverend gentl came to make his argument he took occasion to call the young man to account for his irreverence toward* the Holy Scriptures, and gave him quite a " spanking." It was but natural that his pastor should consider it his duty to rebuke his young church member for the sin of irreverence, but I was surprised to see how obsequiously he took his punishment. As for myself, although mv as- signment was in contravention of my convictions, I, lor the time being, relegated my personal beliefs to oblivion and tried to the best of my abilities to get the prisoner hung. In this lyceum and in others which followed in the town hall for seven or eight years, I believe I always ac- cepted every assignment made for me, and did my best to make plausible that side of the question. I remember very well that on one occasion, when the disputant who was to follow me failed to put in an appearance, and some difficulty arose in filling the vacancy, I was finally ap- pointed my own opponent. I accepted the appointment, and proceeded forthwith to annihilate myself by tearing to pieces my own argument, which I had so laboriously constructed, and with fair success,— showing how much easier it is to tear down than to build up.
My first acquaintance with Dr. Charles Robinson was at one of our lyceum meetings in the town hall. The question up for discussion was one involving the consti- tutionality of slavery. During the evening the doctor par- ticipated in the debate, taking, according to the best of my recollection, the Garrisonian view of the question, for I think he was naturally inclined to prefer that side of any question which would draw out the most opposition. I remember that Ivers Phillips raised a point of order against the doctor, that his remarks were not germane to the question. Some of us that evening caught a partial revealment of Mr. Robinson's leading characteristics, cool- ness, courage and sagacity, which distinguished him in after years on larger fields and amid tragic scenes.
I remember but few of the lectures delivered before those lyceums. I believe Charles Sumner's lecture on the "Law of Progress," and Wendell Phillips' lecture on "The Lost Arts," were lyceum lectures. Rev. E. II. Sears also
7G
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall
gave a lecture, and for home talent we had Charles Cum- mings on the Crusades and J. R. Rollins on the "Advan- tages of Knowledge." Some of the active members were Dr. T. S. Blood, Rev. F. W. Bullard, Milton Whitney, William B. Towne, Charles Shepley, Goldsmith P. Bailey, Charles Robinson, David H. Alerriam, C. H. Mcrriam, W. F. Stone, Goodwin Wood, E. C. 'fainter, Solomon ftar- field, Amasa Norcross, Henry Farwell, Charles Cumtnings, John Andrews, Rev. Elnathan Davis, James F. Stiles, Rohy R. Saffbrd, Ward B. Farrar, W. H. II. Hinds, Alfred R. Ordway, L. G. Fessenden.
I am sure that these lyceum discussions were quite an educational force in the community in training young men to think and to speak, and they were a good school in which to develop spry thinking and ready expression. Young lawyers, especially, readily improved the opportu- nity, and did much to make the debates interesting. Among the young men who graduated from our little training school, two became members of Congress, one governor of Kansas, and one a prominent lawyer of Baltimore. Md.
Among all the debating associates of those early days, I know of but three or four who are now alive. Mr. Gar- field has the records of two debating clubs. One was a private affair, with meetings in the school-house on School street, during the winter of 1844--4-5; the other also began as a private club, with meetings held in a building where The Phoenix now stands, in a room then occupied by Ste- phen Holman for a private school. The club was formed curly in lHlf>, and its beginning seemed auspicious; but soon its- attendance fell off and the disputants shirked their appointments; so, after considering numerous de- vices to secure better attendance, among which was the proposition to fine the members for non-attendance, the club decided to drop the private feature and make its ex- ercises public. It thenceforth held its meetings in the town hall, with invitation to all the people of the town to at. tend and participate in the discussions. This was a suc- cessful move and secured a general good attendance throughout the winter.
I was a member of both these clubs, and on looking over the names which appear on the records I find quite
R
emini scene cs of t lie Old Town Hall
::
I
a number of whom my memory gives me no trace— and
yet I must have known them well at the time- showing that personal memory, however valuable, has its In.
Among our debaters was one, W. p. Stone, a ear;, ter by trade, who came from Groton and, as I was told, had just passed through an experience in Millerism, advo- cating its claims. He was one of our best speakers. Mil- ton Whitney was, for fine debating qualities and graceful delivery, one of our very best. He had alertness and logi- cal instinct to seize on the important points, and to hold on to them with tenacity; and, although of a nervous temperament, he had coolness and poise. I am told that he obtained eminence at the Baltimore bar. He read law in the office of Wood & Torrey, and my brother Gold- smith came into the same office as a student during the last half of Mr. Whitney's studentship. I made a general acquaintance with him upon his coming to Fitcbbure. He was a pleasant companion, gentlemanly and very bright. Though I was not an intimate associate, our relations were always very friendly. Our convictions on the political and reformatory questions of the day were antagonistic— the movement for the ten-hour law beim: the exception— though I think we must have made our conjunction on that issue by different roads. I belonged to the radical side of all these questions, and he to the conservative side, and we sometimes engaged in the pas- time of exchanging views. I well remember how we once held an improvised lyceum on the sidewalk upon the tem- perance question. He had tenacity, and I had zeal and stubbornness, and, although the attendance was small, the discussion was interesting. But these little antago- nisms never lessened our friendly relations. Indeed, I think he rather liked me all the better for it.
The people of Ashburnham, the native town of Mr. Whitney, had become favorably impressed with his youth- ful talents and were interested in his success. Soon after his admission to the bar, and his location in an office in the Old City, he had a case in Ashburnham to try. with Nathaniel Wood, Esq., as opposing counsel (the man ot whom he had learned his profession). The whole town
78 Reminiscences of t lie Old Town Hall.
was astir with the deepest interest to be present at the legal tournament, and the wager ran high in faTOf of Ashburnham's favorite son. The room in which the trial was held was crowded, and Whitney was am hi turns to show his native townsmen the best that was in him. At a place in his argument where lie had scored a good point, an old farmer leaned forward to a neighbor in a seat in front, and in a very loud whisper broke out: "Mr. Wood has raised up a lawyer in Fitehburg who will scratch his eyes out."
Mr. Whitney had fine social feelings which contributed largely to his popularity, and, from what I have heard of his boyhood, he must have been possessed of a good deal of filial affection. Family ties with him were strong. I recall to mind very vividly the last time I ever saw him. It was near the close of his life. He had come on from Baltimore to spend a little time amid the scenes of his early life. It was in the bookstore in the Fitehburg Sav- ings Bank Block, where we happened to meet. Disease had already made sad inroads in his physical system, and I remember well how he pulled up his coat sleeve, to show me his wrist, so attenuated that it seemed that an infant's hand might encircle it. He told me of his bereave- ment, in the loss of his son, whom he so loved and idolized; how he was broken down by sorrow, and how he yearned with all a father's heart to know the where and the con- dition of the boy ; how he was induced to interview a lady spiritualistic medium, and that he believed he had com- munication with the departed. He told me of the sweet peace which flowed into his mind as he became assured of the realities of the immortal life, and that it was well with his boy. As I took my leave and looked once more on his attenuated form, I felt somewhat as though I was standing by his open grave.
The following story was related to me by Benjamin Snow, Jr.:
"In the primal years of the nineteenth century Leom- inster had a debating society. The question for discussion at one of its meetings was, "Which town possesses the most politeness, Leominster or Fitehburg?" and Fitch-
Reminiscences of the Old Town Hall,
1'.)
burg was invited to participate. P>y the rules of the BO- ciety the president was required at the close of the debate
to review the arguments and announce his decision. At the close of this discussion the president made this deliv- erance: "Gentlemen of the Lyceum, it appears from the debate that the two towns started with the same amount of politeness, and further, that Leominster has used hers and Fitehburg has not, consequently, Pitchburg has the most left."
REV. JOHN PAYSON, FITCHBURG'S FIRS'
MINISTER.
Read at a meeting of the Society, February 17, tftOG. BY JAMES F. I). GARFIELD.
Previous to the incorporation of the town of Fitch- burg its territory was included in the limits of Lunen- burg; and to the centre of Lunenburg the scattered in- habitants of this section went to transact the town busi- ness. There, Sabbath after Sabbath, with a regularity unknown to the present generation, they congregated for public worship; and thither they carried their dead for burial, over roads at best mere cart paths— or, more prop- erly, bridle paths— for the saddle and the pillion served in the place of vehicles, on ordinary occasions, and slowly, on horseback or on foot, they made their way, through brook and stream, over hill and through valley, along the rough and often dangerous ways.
When, in 1757 the inhabitants of this westerly part of Lunenburg sought to become a separate town, as a remedy for the inconveniences of (heir situation, I In- cust- < 1 1 v portion pillowed (i ilcr'iilril iippoiiil inn , Iml nl l<n;-ili, in 17<>l, tliey gave their assent, the western section was set off, and the name of John Fitch, at the head of the petition to the General Court for an act of incorporation, perhaps suggested a name for the new town. The terri- tory thus erected into a town contained about two hun- dred and fifty inhabitants, numbering some forty-three or forty-four families, widely scattered over these hills and valleys. According to Torrey, but a single house had at this time been erected in wdiat was afterwards known as the "Old City," and in all the rest of the valley where after- wards the houses became so thickly clustered there was not a house to be seen; and he adds: "The winds which
Rev. y<thn Pay sou, Fitchbnrgfs hirst Mi
Ulster.
-I
swept down through the valley of the Nashua sighed through the pines which here formed a dense forest."
In 1764, the year of the incorporation of the town,
the inhabitants voted to have preaching for six weeks!
The services were held in the tavern of Samuel Hunt, on what is now Pearl street. The preacher was Rev. Peter Whitney, afterwards for many years the minister of North- borough. These meetings, so far as we know, were the first religious services ever held in the town.
In 17G6 the town voted to build a meeting-house. It was an humble edifice, small in size and severely plain in its architecture. It was several years in building— in fact, it is said never to have been thoroughly finished. It was built at odd jobs, as the resources of the people would allow. First the frame was raised and covered with boards; after a time a floor was laid and the outside fin- ished; windows were later supplied, or, as the record says, the house was "glassed" and finally colored, which being interpreted means, it was painted yellow. A pulpit was erected "for the minister to preach in," galleries were built with stairs leading to them, the pew ground was "dignified," and the house "seated." This meeting-house was built on a lot given by Capt. Thomas Cowdin, was located on what is now Crescent street, and was always unsightly, and always uncomfortable; but the people built according to their means, being few in number and of resources slender; for with them pay as you go was the only practical way.
With a meeting-house in sight, the next thing was to secure a minister. In May, 1767, the town voted to ob- serve a day of fasting and prayer, to ask the divine guid- ance in giving some one a call to settle in the gospel min- istry. A call was first given to Rev. Samuel Angier, who declined the invitation to settle.* In November of the
* Samuel Angier, son of Rev. John Angier of Braintree, and grand- son of Rev. Samuel Angier of Rehoboth and Watertown, was born in Bridgewater 1723, graduate of Harvard University 1763, He was set. tied as colleague with his father at Bridgewater, 1767, and was sole pastor there after the death of his father (17S7) until his death. Janu- ary 18, 1805. He married Judith Smith, a daughter oi Rev. Josiah Smith of Pembroke. No children.
82
Rev. John Payson, Fitchburgs First Minister.
same year Rev. John Payson was given a call, and be consented to become their pastor. Mr. Payson, born Jan- uary 6, 1746, was a son of Rev. Phillips Payson, ol \V;d- pole, Mass., and a younger brother of Rev. Samuel Pay- Son, the much lamented minister of Lunenburg, who had died several years previously, alter a brief pastorate ot less than six months. The town now had a meeting- house and a pastor-elect.
On the 7th of January, 17GS, a church was organized and the Cambridge Platform was adopted as the rule of church discipline. On the 27th of the same month Mr. Payson was ordained. As to the articles of faith and covenant of the church, the record is silent; but the Syn- od which framed the Cambridge Platform unanimously recommended the Westminster Confession of Faith to the churches, as the rule of their faith; and it is fair to pre- sume that the Westminster Confession and Catechism fairly represented the religious sentiments of the first minister and the first church of Fitchburg. That Mr. Payson was a Calvinist, of the strictest sort, there can be no question.
The sermon at his ordination was preached by his brother, Rev. Phillips Payson, pastor of the church in Chelsea. The sermon was printed, and this Society has the good fortune to own a copy (the only one of which we have any knowledge), which was very appropriately presented as the first donation to the Society's collections. Perhaps I shall be pardoned for quoting an extract or two. Near the close of the sermon, addressing himself to the candidate, he says :
"No business or concern in life is so momentous as the pastoral care; no profession or order of men bound by such sacred and solemn ties. * * * With a mind deeply impressed with the importance of the thing, let me particularly address myself to you, my dear brother, that are now entering into this sacred and important office. * In
preaching the gospel labor to do it by manifestation of the truth, com- mending yourself to every man's conscience in the sight ot God. Let purity of doctrine and fervency of address distinguish your preaching. And as to the more intricate doctrines of revelation you will endeavor to preserve them pure in the words of inspiration; and never set up your own reason above Scripture, nor your own sentiments as a stand- ard for others; but as far as your influence may extend, endeavor to cultivate a candid and charitable spirit.
Rev. y&hn Pay son, Fitchburg's bust Minis
hr.
-
"In your faithful care of souls, never forget your own, but 1,., as well as preach, the gospel. Never suiter your fancy to lly away with your reason; nor your humour, interest or passion to blind or bribe your conscience.
"Sensible of your own mortality, you will be quickened to imp] every talent, every moment of time. Nor can I forbear here minding you and myself of our own dear brother deceased, that in this view is a most solemn monitor to us both. His untimely death being by thi* occasion brought fresh to mind, we are now led by the feeling! of hu- manity to drop a tender tear into his moldered urn; should your time for labor be no longer than his!— but I forbear. 1 most heartily, mv dear brother, wish you every good; but wishes seem to be too slender tokens of the affection of my mind; I therefore, with mv whole soul commend you to him who can bless you and make you a blessing, keep you from falling, and finally present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."
Then addressing himself to the people:
"Beloved of this church and society, suffer me to recommend to vour remembrance what you have been hearing of the importance of the ministry; * * and should my brother be faithful among you, you will never withhold your friendship from him; and always esteem his repu- tation too sacred to sacrifice to common fame or your own humours. * * * The comfort of his life, and the success of his ministry under God, lay much with you. You may easily harass his mind, and involve yourselves in broils, and give Satan an advantage against you, which he will readily improve to your ruin. But we hope better things. Vour peace and harmony will always be your beauty and strength."
Mr. Payson was settled on a salary of £60; and it is related that in the stormy times of the Revolution, though his salary was always promptly paid, yet owing to the depreciation of the currency and its worthlessness as a circulating medium, he was reduced to a destitute condition. In March, 177S, a subscription paper was passed among the inhabitants, that they might contrib- ute of "the necessaries of life anything that they pleased" for his support ; in acknowledgment of which he expressed himself well satisfied witli what the town had done. In 1780 the town voted to pay him eleven thousand dollars (of course in the depreciated currency) to make up the loss which he had already' sustained.
Rev. John Payson married in Lynn, Mass., November 18, 1772, Anna Perkins. She was a daughter oi William and Sarah (Stearns) Perkins and was born in Lynn. Sep- tember 29, 1742. She died in Fitehburg April 8, 1802. They had four children, John, William, Anna and Sarah.
84
Rev. John Payson, Fitchburgs First Minister.
Torrey's history, in a notice of Rev. Mr. ['a/son, says he was "a man o( respectable talents, of a peaceful de- position, and of devoted piety. Me was fortunate in hav- ing secured, for a long period, the love and respect of his people. Fond of the peaceful walks of his profession, he- knew but little of the affairs of the world, and was ill calculated to sustain its buffets. The latter yens of his ministry were embittered by the inroads made among his people by the Methodists, Baptists and Universalis^. " So early as 1787, seventeen "professed Baptists" were ex- empted by the town from paying any tax toward the support of Mr. Payson, on the ground that they had preaching among themselves. "These circumstances, to- gether with a constitutional infirmity of mind, caused a great depression of spirits, which finally settled in con- firmed insanity. * * * Yet he continued to preach for several years. He would go through with the public ser- vices on the Sabbath with perfect propriety, when fre- quently there did not occur another lucid interval during the week." One who remembered him during the last years of his ministry related that he would sometimes enter the pulpit, and then, as if conscious of his mental infirmity, would apologize to his people for not being in condition to preach — and then descend to the deacons' seats in front of the pulpit, and there go on with the services.
"Ilifi iiiliimilv iut'i'emviiig upon him, in I In ulliniiici ■<! 171)3, both the church and town united in calling a coun- cil to take into consideration their ecclesiastical affairs." After a ministry of twenty-six years, in May, 1704-, Mr. Payson was regularly dismissed. He continued to reside in Pitchburg, but still the victim of insanity, until May 21, 1804-, when he died by his own hand, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His death occurred in Leominster, at the residence of his brother-in-law, while there on a visit. His remains repose in the old cemetery on South street, where a large horizontal slab bearing an elaborate inscrip- tion in Latin was erected to his memory.
It is not known that any sermon or other literary effort of Rev. Mr. Payson has been preserved in print; but during the past month a manuscript sermon in his
A PAGE OF REV. JOHN PAYSON'S MANUSCRIPT. [Sec patfc Kf», sixtli Hue from bottom.]
Rev. John Payson, Fitchburgs First Minister.
-
peculiar hand-writing has come to light, and through the courtesy of Mr. E. B. Rockwood we have been permitted
to make a copy of it. It has seemed worth the while to puzzle over the almost indecipherable manuscript, to be able to get a glimpse of the kind of preaching under which the forefathers and mothers of this hamlet sat in the days when all were expected to attend divine service- regularly, or be disciplined for neglect of duty.
This sermon is dated September S, 17<SG, and must have been preached at the little meeting-house on the hill, between Blossom and Mt. Vernon streets. The closely- written pages, covering the paper to the very edge, in- dicate a careful economy in the use of writing material. During the period of Mr. Payson's ministry there were very few paper mills in the country; and the process of manufacture being entirely by hand, paper was a some- what expensive commodity. A brief extract may serve to show something of the style and character of Mr. Pay- son's work.
"This is an argument that has often been used to prove the divinity of Christ— that all those works which the Supreme God only can do a re- attributed to him in the Word of God. * * * The evangelist from whom is our text, said, in the first chapter, that all things were made by Christ, and without him was not anything made that was made. * * * I might also show you that the preservation and government of the world are, in sacred writ, ascribed to Jesus Christ. It is therein said that by him all things consist, and that he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and as none can do these works but God — almighty in power and infinite in knowledge — their being attributed to Christ proves that he has the divine nature. * * * And, surely, never did the natu- ral son of an earthly parent resemble him more than our Lord Jesus— as his character is drawn in the Evangelists— does the God of Nature ; for, does the Supreme God appear from the works of nature to be a be- ing of infinite knowledge and wisdom, and did not our Lord Jesus in his conduct and conversation in the world appear to be possessed of such a divine wisdom? * * * And how much like that adorable Being who said, 'Let there be light and there was light,' does our Lord Jesus appear, when he said to the leper, 'I will— be thou clean,' and immedi- ately his leprosy departed from him ! And when he said to the tempest- uous winds and seas, 'Peace, be still;' and suddenly there was a great calm? What a complete resemblance of our beneficent Creator was he who went about doing good! How like him who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, was he who cried on the cross concerning them that persecuted him— ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!'
86
Rev. yohn Pay son, Fitchburg s First Ministe
In 1786, when this sermon was written, Fitchbtirg had increased from a population of two hundred and fifty to probably not far from a thousand inhabitants. Toi gives a description of the village as it appeared at this
time. He says :
"A traveler approaching from the east or south would first behold the tavern of Thomas Cowdin. Upon the hill to the northwest might be seen a small, yellow, and rather mean-looking meeting-house. In front would appear the red store of Joseph Fox, Esq , and in the rear of that his dwelling house, with large, projecting eaves. The mills and dwelling house of Dea. Ephraim Kimball were just below, and over the bridge were two houses more. Casting his eyes up the hill he would sec the house of Rev. Mr. Payson [later known as the Dea. Samuel liurnap place]. This was all that could be seen, and all that then constituted the village of Fitchburg. Thence proceeding westward over a crooked and rough road the traveler would next see the house built by David Gibson [about where the city hall now stands], and opposite to that Mr. Gibson's baker's shop. He would then come on to the present com- mon. Here his sight would be greeted by small, stunted pine trees, and such bushes as grow upon the poorest land. A straggling log fence here and there might serve to diversify the scene."
Such, in 1786, when the sermon was written from which we have read, was the forbidding aspect of what is now the busy and thriving city of Fitchburg.
Four of the sons of Rev. Emillips Payson of Walpole were ministers. The eldest, Rev. Phillips Payson, Jr., was a distinguished minister of Chelsea, Mass., a graduate ot Harvard, 1754, and received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Rev. Samuel Payson, a graduate of Harvard, 1758, ordained over I lie elinreh ill Lunenburg, 1702, died February M, 1 7<i.'l, ul tin- iigc «.i twenty-four, after a ministry of less than six months. Rev. John Payson, born January G, 1746, graduated at Harvard, 1764, became the first minister of Fitchburg, and Rev. Seth Payson, the youngest and only son by a second marriage, graduated at Harvard, 1777, was or- dained at Rindge, N. IF, in 1782, (and received the degree of D. D. from Dartmouth college in 1809. He died Feb- ruary, 1820, after a ministry of thirty-seven years. Both father and sons, says Stearns in his History of Rindge. are reported to have been able ministers and excellent men. Eminently successful in their profession, they evinced a lively interest and exerted a great influence in civil affairs.
EARLY FAMILIES OF FITCHBURG.
Read at a meeting of the Society, April 'JO, 1908. BY EZRA SCOELAY STEARNS, A. M.
Among the many valuable papers which have been read before the Fitchburg Historical Society and printed in the volumes of proceedings-, is an admirable paper by Mr. Henry A. Willis, entitled "The Birth of Fitchburg." In the biographies of the men and the record of the fam- ilies living here at the date of incorporation, we find evidence of intelligent research and a liberal knowledge of the founders of Fitchburg. I have read the article many times, and always with a constant appreciation of its merit and its value to present and future students of local history.
Of the Goodrich, Kimball, Putnam, Lowe, Gibson and other families who, through succeeding generations, have been potent factors in the development o( Fitchburg, Mr. Willis has written at considerable length. It is the prov- ince of this paper to present additional record of several of the residents in 1764 of whom our present knowledge is more limited.
Mr. Torrey, in "stating the place of residence of each family living in the town when it was incorporated." gives a list of forty-three names. Of these Air. Willis omits Charles Willard and Phineas Goodell, and adds to Mr. Torrey's list the names of John Fitch, Joseph Lowe, John Buss, John Buss, Jr., Nathaniel Walker and William Flagg. These amendments by Mr. Willis are sustained by the evidence of the records. Leaving for some other occa- sion the discussion of any additional amendments to the list of men living in this town in 1764-, I will attempt to give some added information of a few of the founders of Fitchburg.
88
Early Families of Fitchburg,
Isaiah Witt married in Marlborough, MaMacbnsetl February 28, 1748, Deborah Stewart, a daughter of Dan-
iel and Persis (Witt) Stewart. She was born in Marl- borough February 18, 1727. They moved to Lunenburg about 1753 and settled on Pearl Hill, where James Ed- ward Putnam now resides. There he lived until 1 TT.'i , when he sold the farm and buildings to Daniel Putnam. He died probably in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where his sons had settled, but a record of his death has es- caped inquiry.
The Cunningham genealogies of Lunenburg families state that he died before 17G7, and that his widow mar- ried Ebenezer Harrington. It was a daughter, and not his widow, who became the wife of Ebenezer Harrington. Isaiah Witt was chosen a warden in 1705, selectman in 1767, constable in 1771, and was appointed on several committees in the conduct of town affairs. As a constable in 1771 he personally warned three town meetings, and in the year 1772 he contracted with the town to sup- port one of the poor of Fitchburg.
They had six children: —
I. Martha, born Marlborough, August 30, 1750, mar- ried in Fitchburg, November 2G, 1767, Ebenezer Harring- ton, born in Lexington March 16, 1743, son of Richard Harrington. He was first taxed in this town in 1765. He was a soldier in the Revolution from Fitehlmi \\, mifl I hey lived line until I /.HO, when liny removed l»> \\\ M morelancl. Four children were born in this town.
II. Artemas, born Marlborough, August 30, 1750, lived in Fitchburg until 1773, when he removed to Westmore- land. He served in the Revolution from Westmoreland. Soon after he removed to Chesterfield, where he died April 26, 1823, leaving a widow and five children.
III. Persis, born Lunenburg, now Fitchburg, Septem- 1755.
Moses, born August 19, 1759, lived in Westmore-
ber 21, IV.
land. V. VI.
Infant, baptized June 6, probably died young. Levi, baptized Fitchburg, April 16, 1769.
Early Families of Fitch!) my.
-'•
Joseph Spofford, a son of Jonathan and Jemima (Freethe) Spofford, was born in Rowley, Massachuft July 13, 1720. He was a brother of John and Jonah Spofford, who lived for a season in Lunenburg. He came
to this town about 1750, and remained here nearly thirty years. To the excellent sketch by Mr. Willis of the I and of his homestead, nothing can be added. A lew ad- ditional items of his family follow. He married in Boxford, September 3, 1745, Sarah Eames, who became the mother of two children. She died about the time of his removal to this town, but a record of her death is not found. He married second, 1757, Mary Marble of Stow. About 1780 he removed to Weathersfield, Vermont, where he died March 13, 1803. His wife, Mary, died June 25, 1801. Six children:
I. Hannah, born Rowley, 1746. II. Mary, born Rowley, June 29, 1747.
III. John, born Lunenburg, February 19, 1758, lived at Weathersfield, Vermont. He died about 1803, leaving a family.
IV. Sarah, born Lunenburg, June 25, 1761. Married Asa Grout, born February 3, 1753, a son of Hilkiah and grandson of John Grout of Lunenburg. In his infancy Asa Grout, with others of the family, was captured by the Indians and taken to Canada. After his marriage he- lived in Weathersfield, Vt.
V. Judah, born in Lunenburg, August 25, 1762, mar- ried Elihu Grout, born February 17, 1700, a brother of Asa Grout who married her sister Sarah.
VI. Joseph, born in Fitchburg, April 4, 1770, married Rachel Wright, and lived in Weathersfield, where he died May 24, 1831.
Thomas Dutton, a son of Thomas and Hannah (Burge) Dutton, was born in Billerica, August 2S, 1713. He mar- ried May 10, 1737, Mary Hill, and settled in Westford. He removed to Lunenburg about 1744. His wife, Mary, died about 1755. He married second Sarah Fitch, born in Boston, May 8, 1731, a daughter of Joseph and Mar- garet (Clark) Fitch. She was a sister of the wife of William Downe, Esq. He removed in 1766 to Rockingham, Vt..
90
Early Families of Fitchburg.
and died probably in Grafton, Vt. Mr. Willis locate! nil residence on the lawn of the Normal School and presentl a record of eight children. There were three older children who were born before the family removed to this town.
I. Mary, born Billerica, December 14, 1737, married May 8, 1755, Henry Ilodgkins, and settler! in Winehendon. She died soon and he married second, November 17, 1702, Jemima Ball, and lived, several years at least, in or near Walpole, N. H.
II. Silas, born Westford, 1789, married March 3, 1763, Sarah Whitney, a daughter of Zaehariah and Sarah (Boynton) Whitney of Lunenburg. He removed with his father to Rockingham.
III. Sarah, born Westford, 1741.
Robert Wares, a son of Ephraim and Hannah (Her- ring) Wares, was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, April 28, 1699. He was one of the numerous family of Ware, but he and a few of his immediate relatives wrote the name Wares. He married in Boston, December 22, 1727, Dorothy Parker. To the record of marriage is added, "both of Needham. " They settled in Needham and there lived about thirty years, and there seven children were born. lie re- moved to the part of Lunenburg which was included in Fitchburg about 1760. He lived on the Wanoosnoc Road. Mr. Willis has given full information of the location. When Fitchburg was incorporated, he was I he oldesl man in llic I mvvii, (Hid 1 1 in tif-M r m Hon I In ■ a i It • • 1 1 1 iiiilil ill y on vU*c. I •• 1761 he deeded a parcel ul land Lo his son Robert, and in 1766 another parcel to his daughter Mary. The latest deed of land was to his son Jonathan, in 1769. He died in 1780. His wife survived him. Their children were:
I. Dorothy, born September 7, 1729, died October S, 1729.
II. Mary, born January 8, 1731. She was not married. Beginning in 1790 she was supported by the town several years. She died in this town December 15, 1817.
III. Robert, born August 27, 1733. He resided in this town only a few years. Before the Revolution he settled in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, where he died March S. 1814, leaving a family.
Early Families of Fitehburg.
"1
IV. Sarah, born November 17, L736. She married May 27, 17G0, Nathaniel Kingsbury. They did not I
to Fitehburg.
V. Jonathan, born August 4, 1738. He lived in this town many years and probably died here. He was a sol- dier in the Revolution, and held minor town office. He married April 11, 1769, Hannah Battles. Six children were born in Fitehburg. His daughter Lydia and hi Jonathan and David were not married. His daughter Hannah married John Battles. His son Samuel married Abigail Bailey, and lived in Leominster. His son James married Rachel Wood. He lived in Fitehburg and in Leo- minster.
VI. Lydia, born September 9, 1742. She married De- cember 26, 1765, Jeremiah Gay, Jr. In the record of mar- riage she was of Fitehburg and he of Need ham. I have not found a record of his death, but in 1770 she returned to Fitehburg bringing a daughter Beulah, who was born January 4, 1768. The daughter Beulah married July 9, 1789, Edward Hammond, a prominent and wealthy man of Natick. They were the parents of the noted fifer, John Hammond, of Framingham, whom the military men of a former generation were delighted to honor.
VII. Moses, born February 13, 1747. He was first taxed in Fitehburg, 1768.
Nicholas Danforth, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hosley) Danforth, was born in Billerica, December 8, 1734-. He married March 30, 1758, Elizabeth Jaquith, born in Billerica, February 26, 1740, a daughter of Abraham and Hannah (Farley) Jaquith. She was a sister of the wife oi" Paul Fitch and of Abraham Jaquith, who lived several years in this town. Nicholas Danforth removed to Fiteh- burg in 1763. Mr. Willis has given an excellent account of this man to which reference is made. A few additional facts are added. About 1780 he removed to Hartland, Vt.. where he was living in 1790. Later he removed to Still- water, New York, where he died about 1810. His widow died four or five years later. They had eleven children. His sons Samuel and James were soldiers in the Revolution. enlisting at Fitehburg. Their son Isaac remained in Fitch.
92
Early Families of Fitchburgt
burg a few years after the removal of the family. He
married Rebeeca Taylor. Me died at Hoosick, New York.
John Buss, a son of John and Hannah (Hosmer) Bum,
was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, April 2, 1712. 1 find no record of his marriage. I lis wife, Eunice, and possibly she was Eunice Wood, a daughter of John and Lucy (Lee) Wood, born in Concord, Massachusetts, March 8, 1712. He removed from Lancaster to Lunenburg in 1742 or 1743. He was a surveyor of highways in 1744, school committee 1749, selectman 1754, and was appointed on many town committees in Lunenburg. In the French and Indian war he was an ensign, in 1761, in Col. Joseph Wilder's regiment. When Fitehburg was incorporated Ins homestead was included, and he continued to render the services of a good citizen. His frequent election as a fire- warden suggests that he lived at some distance from the central part of the town, and there is evidence that his homestead was beyond the Stewart farms and in the southwest part of the town. He was not permitted to advise or serve in the Revolution. He died April 6, 1775. Nine children:
I. Eunice, born Lancaster, January 19, 1738-9, died February 13, 1738-9.
II. John, born Lancaster, January 3, 1739-40. ( See- forward. )
III /,» j ih mi inh, I I ,iiii< -muI « i , I »« i • -in In i "<'•, 1711 II-
cnlihUil lioni Lunenburg in l\\c spiing * * i 1<.>'j in Col. Oliver Wilder's regiment and died in the service.
IV. Stephen, born Lunenburg, March 8, 1743-4. He settled in Wilton, New Hampshire, where he died October 16, 1816. He married Phebe Keyes, daughter of John and Abigail (Livermore) Keyes. Among their descendants are Sally (Buss) Harwood, wife of Kilburn Harwood, late of this city, and the Honorable George A. Marden, of the Lowell Courier, and a former Speaker of the House ot Representatives.
V. Silas, born Lunenburg, May 27, 1746, lived in Wilton. His descendants are numerous.
VI. Eunice, born Lunenburg, September 27, 1748. VII. Aaron, born Lunenburg, March 27, 1751.
Early Families of Fitchburg,
VIII. Milliccnt, born Lunenburg, August 22, 1753, IX. Jonathan, born Lunenburg, December 30, 17;V;.
John Buss, Jr., a son of John and Eunice Buss, was born in Lancaster, January 3, 1739-40. In his childhood his parents removed to Lunenburg, now Fitchburg. He married in Fitchburg, January 1, 1767, Mary Wood, 21
daughter of David and Mary (Hovey) Wood. He was a soldier from Fitchburg in the Revolution, and in 1780, or within one year of that date, he removed from Fitchburg to Marlborough, New Hampshire. Five children were bom
in Fitchburg and three in Marlborough.
I. Zephaniah, born October 20, 17G7. II. John, born May 6, 1770.
III. Silas, born January 20, 1773.
IV. David, born February 30, (sic) 177r>. V. Daniel, born March 30, 1778.
VI. Mary, born July 27, 1781. VII. Pamelia, born June 30, 1788. VIII. Eunice, born November 30, 1790.
John White, a son of Josiah Jr. and Abigail (Whit- comb) White, was born in Lancaster, April 10, 1729. He was a descendant in the fourth generation of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, the generations being John4, Josiah8, Josiah'2, John1. His father, Josiah White, Jr., deeded
him the farm located bv Mr. Willis, N
ovemoer
3. l
married in Lunenburg, February 22, 1753, Mary Whitney, born September 28, 1728, a daughter of Moses and Eliza- beth Whitney and a sister of Ephraim Whitney who married Jane Bancroft. He lived a useful citizen in Fitchburg until
1773, when he sold his farm and removed to Canaan, Maine. He died January 20, 1815. His wife, Mary, died September 15, 1793. Six children.
I. Lydia, born March 5, 1755, married December 9, 1776, Edward Hartwell. They lived in Lunenburg until 1780, when they removed to Canaan, Maine. Thirteen children and very many descendants. He died March 30, 1844. She died April 21, 1837.
II. Betty, born March 19, 1757, married April 14,
1774, Dea. Ephraim Kimball, born February 15, 1752, son
94 Early Families of Fitehburg.
of Ephraim and Mary (Wetherbee) Kimball. Ik- livid in Fitehburg. He was an able, useful man. He died May <i, 1825; she died July 26, 1844. They had fourteen children. Their descendants bearing ninny names are numerous and are rilling honorable stations in Massaehusetts, Maim- and New Hampshire.
III. Salmon, born June 5, 1759. Died.
IV. Salmon, born April 3, 1761, married Nancy Springer. He lived in Canaan, Maine. He was a captain. He died April 21, 1837. His widow died October 6, 1845. Eight children. Among their descendants are several min- isters of good repute.
V. Mary, born September 17, 1763, married Samuel Weston, and lived in Canaan, where she died January 26, 1741. Thirteen children. Their grandson, Abner Coburn, was governor of Maine, 1862.
VI. John, born Fitehburg, May 15, 1706, lived in Ca- naan. He married Mary Fowler, who died October 8, 1841. He died April 20, 1858. Eight children. Several of their descendants married descendants of the Stewart families who removed from Fitehburg to Canaan.
Ezra Whitney, a son of John and Rebecca (Whitney) Whitney, was born in Shirley, August 24, 1731. He removed to Fitehburg about 1758, or six years before the date of incorporation. In 1761 his father gave him a deed of a tract of land containing sixty-six acres, described by Mr. Willis as opposite the estate of Dr. Jahrz Fisher. II*.- w;i>i the first occupant of the premises, and here he built a farm house and converted many acres of wild and forest land into a productive farm. In 1764 he was chosen a fire warden. July 29, 1766, he deeded the farm to Jacob Puffer, then of Templeton, but subsequently of Fitehburg. The deed conveyed a mansion house and sixty-six acres ot up- land and meadow. Soon after the sale of his farm he removed to Rockingham, Vermont, where he lived many years. In 1790 he was living in Athens, Vermont. He married Agnes Ross, and they had seven or more children. Two were born in Shirley, and the names are illegible. Two or more were born in Fitehburg. The three youngest
RaHy Families of Fitchburg, 96
were baptized at Rockingham, September 1, 1776, which was soon after the organization of a church in that tov n
!• > born Shirley < May 16, 1750.
H- , born Shirley, December IS, 1757,
^ III. Ezra, born in Fitchburg, November 29, 1700. Ib- lived in Rockingham, Vermont.
IV. Rebecca, born Fitchburg, January 2, 1702.
V. Moses. VI. Agnes. VII. Lucretia.
The Whitney Genealogy erroneously states that Lzra Whitney, son of Dea. James and Martha (Rice) Whitney, married Agnes Ross and lived a short time in Fitchburg.
Ephraim Osborn, a son of Ephraim and Elizabeth
(Ireland) Osborn, was born in Charlestown, Massachu- setts, September 24, 1731. His mother was a sister of Lieutenant Abraham Ireland of Lunenburg. In the French and Indian war he was a soldier from Lunenburg, 1757, in Capt. Thomas Wilder's company, and in Capt. James Reed's company. In the Revolution he served one or more enlistments. For a record of his marriage, the names of his children, and the location of his homestead, see the article by Mr. Willis.
Stewart. Of the two families of this name who were early residents of Lunenburg, only one has been repre- sented in Fitchburg. William Stewart (or Stuart), who married in Lunenburg, Nov. 10, 1736, Margaret Saunder- son, removed about 1750 from Lunenburg to Peterbor- ough, New Hampshire, where he died March 15, 1753. One son was slain in the French and Indian war, and three sons lived and died in Peterborough.
Solomon Stewart (or Steward) came to Lunenburg in 1737. It has been stated, and quite generally accepted, that Solomon and William were brothers, and that both were Scotch-Irish immigrants to this country. Mr. George S. Stewart, an accomplished genealogist and a descendant of this Lunenburg family, has established the record be- yond dispute that Solomon Stewart was of the third
9G
Early Families of Fitchburg
American generation and not a relative of William Stewart of Lunenburg and Peterborough.
Solomon Stewart, a son of James and a grandson of Duncan Stewart of Newbury and Rowley, was born in Rowley, July 24, 1698. He married at Andover, June 28, 1727, Martha Farrington, born 1702, a daughter of Ed- ward and Martha (Brown) Farrington of Andover. He lived in the part of ancient Salem now Peabody until 1737, when he removed to Lunenburg, where lie died February 28, 1758. His wife died November 1, 1777. He was an honest, intelligent man, and was esteemed by his townsmen. Five children were born before his removal and three were born in Lunenburg. Of these five were residents of Fitchburg.
I. Benjamin, born January 2G, 1728, married Januarv 9, 1751-2, Rebecca Taylor. He lived in Lunenburg and there died February 26, 1815. Two children.
II. Solomon, born January 14, 1730. See Mr. Willis's article.
II. Phineas, born March 27, 1732. See Mr. Willis's article.
III. Daniel, born November 21, 1734, married March 14, 1757, Mary Ireland, born 1739, a daughter of Lieu- tenant Abraham and Ann (Bird) Ireland. He lived in Lunenburg and later in Fitchburg, where he died June 2, 1802. He did not remove to this town in season to be considered in an account of the families of Fitchburg nt (lie dale of incorporation. Ivighl eh i Id rem
V. William, born March 14, 1737. See beyond. VI. James, baptized Lunenburg, August 19, 1739. Died young.
VII. Mary, born Lunenburg, September 7, 1740, mar- ried Samuel Pierce, which see beyond.
VIII. Jacob, born in Lunenburg, April 22, 1743. He was baptized April 17, 1743. One date is wrong. It is probable that the town record of birth should be April 2, 1743. He was a resident of Fitchburg and was taxed here in 1764. He was evidently omitted in the list of residents by Mr. Torrey and Mr. Willis because he was not the head of a family, but he soon qualified for the dignity and honor of domestic rule. He married November
Early Families of Fitchburg.
W
18, 17G6, Elizabeth Pierce, born March 25, 1748, a daugh- ter of Ephraim and Esther (Shedd) Pierce of Lunenburg.
He lived in this town several years, and returned to Lun- enburg, and later removed to Claremont, New Hampshire, where his wife died June 14, 1792. He was a soldier in
the Revolution, enlisting at Lunenburg. They had six or more children.
William Stewart, son of Solomon and Martha (Farrington) Stewart, was born in Salem, now Pea body, Massachusetts, March 14, 1737. In his infancy his parents removed to Lunenburg. He married July 25, 1758, Abigail
Ireland, born March 8, 1740-1, a daughter of Lieutenant Abraham and Ann (Bird) Ireland, of Lunenburg. About four years before Lunenburg was divided he settled in the west part of the town now Fitchburg and here lived until 1780 when, in company with his brothers Solomon and Phineas, he removed from Fitchburg to Canaan, Maine. For the location of his homestead and the names of his children, see the record of Mr. Willis. This William, son of Solomon Stewart, sometimes had been confused with William, son of William Stewart of Peterborough. William Stewart, Jr., of Peterborough, died in 1771, while William Stewart of Fitchburg is named in our records until 1780.
Charles Willard, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Tarbell) Willard, was born in Harvard, Massachusetts, August 30, 1734. He married in Stoneham, Massachusetts, in December, 1762, Sarah Seollay, a daughter of Grover and Ann Seollay. In the record of marriage he is styled Charles Willard of Harvard. In the French and Indian War he served in 1757 in a company of troopers. He is included in the list of residents by Torrey and not included by Willis. He became a permanent resident of Fitchburg during the year 1764, but was not here on the day of incorporation of the town. He was first taxed in 1765. On several occasions he was elected to office and was one of the school committee in 1784. He was one of the early Baptists of this town and was excused from paying taxes for the support of Rev. John Payson. Charles and Sarah (Seollay) Willard had five children :
08
I. II.
III.
IV.
V.
Early Families of Fitchburg.
Sarah, born March 26, 1701. John, born March 2 4, 1766. Joseph, born February 15, 1768. Anne, born November 21, 1770. Josiah, born September 1, 1 773.
John Scott was a Scotch-Irish emigrant who came
to Lunenburg about 1732 and here lived until his death in 1756. lie was born in the north of Ireland, 1702. He married in Boston, March 21, 1721), Lydia Thwing. She was born July 20, 1706, and died in Fitchburg, August 26, 1792. In the company of Capt. James \iw\ in Col. Timothy Ruggles's regiment in 1756 there were twenty men from Lunenburg, and of these John Scott, Jonas Tarbell, Thomas Brown and John Harriman were killed in action or died of disease. On the company roll the four men are marked, "dead." His will, dated June 7, 174-5, was probated De- cember 20, 1756. In the will mention is made of his wife Lydia and children Abraham, Edward, Mary, Benjamin, David and Jonathan. His daughter Elizabeth was born after the will was written. His homestead was later owned and occupied by his son Edward and the location is clearly defined by Mr. Willis. John Scott died nearly eight years before Fitchburg was incorporated. lie was one of the first settlers in this town. Eight children.
I. John, born in Boston, October 1 3, 1 730. Died young.
II. Abraham, no record of his liirtli e> found 111. Edward, born in Lunenburg, May 21, 1734. See- the notice by Mr. Willis. Elizabeth, his first wife, died Aug. ust 15, 1780. He married, second, October 22, 1781, Mary (Whitney) Gibbs, born May 29, 1744, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney and widow of Elijah Gibbs, all of Westminster.
IV. Mary, born Lunenburg, March 23, 1736. V. Benjamin, born Lunenburg, April 21, 1739.
VI. David, born Lunenburg, April 1, 174-2. VII. Jonathan, born Lunenburg, October 1, 1744. VIII. Elizabeth, born Lunenburg, August 3, 1747.
Thomas Demary, who was introduced by Mr. Torrey in his list of residents in 176-1, has been a puzzle many
Early Families of Fitchburg*
99
years to the students of local history. The name of Thomas Demary is not found in the records of Lunenburg
or Fitchburg, nor as a grantee or grantor of any real estate in this vicinity. There was a John Demary who lived a few years in the part of Lunenburg now Fitehburg, and who lived exactly where Torrey has located Thomas Demary. It is evident that Mr. Torrey was confused con- cerning the Christian name, and that we must accept John Demary as a temporary resident here and excuse Thomas Demary from further service.
John Demary, a son of Thomas and Hannah (New- comb) Demary, was born in Boston, about 172S. He married in Wilmington, May 24-, 1750, Rebecca Corneille, born June 7, 1728, a daughter of Feter and Rebecca Cor- neille of Billerica and Wilmington. Both were of French ancestry, and were of the third generation of their fami- lies in America. At the date of his marriage John Demary and his wife settled in Fitchburg, then a part of Lunen- burg. He lived on the old Lunenburg road, east of the Jesse French homestead, and not far west of the present town line. They were admitted to the church in Lunen- burg by letter from the church in Billerica, September 1, 1751. He removed to Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1763, a few months before Fitchburg was incorporated, but he did not sell his homestead until May 7, 1704, when he deeded the premises to Jonathan Holt, whom Mr. Willis locates in the same locality. For additional record, see History of Rindge.
Fiiineas Goodale (or Goodell), named in the Torrey list of residents, was a son of Benjamin and Hannah Goodale, and was born in Marlborough, Mass., May 1, 1713. He married, 1733, Rebecca Bruce of Woburn. In 1754 he served in Captain Melvin's company of the Shirley Expedition. He inarched from Concord, Mass., May 30. 1754. He was taxed 1764, and disappears from our records.
The earliest tax list of Fitchburg, the list of 1764, contains the names of fourteen persons not included in the Torrey or in the Willis exhibit. Some oi these were young
100
Early Families of Fitchbnrg
unmarried men who did not occupy a homestead and with- out doubt were intelligently and purposely omitted. Two or more were living in the corner of Pitchburg which in 17G7 was included in Ashby, and a few were temporary residents who were here only one or two years. The names of the fourteen are :
1. Jonathan Wakes. See notice of family of Robert
Wares.
2. Jacob Stewart. See family of Solomon Stewart in this article.
3. Thaddeus Harrington, born in Lexington, Sep- tember 9, 1736, a son of Richard and Abigail Harrington,
married in Lunenburg, April 6, 1758, Thankful Podge, born July 6, 1736, a daughter of Noah and Margaret Dodge. He lived in Fitchburg before and a short time after the town was severed from Lunenburg. lie removed to Shirley and was a soldier from that town in the Rev- olution. He was a brother of Ebenezer Harrington, who married Martha Witt, a daughter of Isaiah Witt.
4. Samuel Saunderson, a son of Abraham and Patience (Smith) Saunderson of Lunenburg, was born April 26,173 1. He married in Lunenburg, December 27, 1759, Sarah Gould, born April 6, 1735, a daughter of Jacob and Dorothy (Goodrich) Gould. He was here in 1761, but did not long remain here.
5. Paul Fitch, a son of John and Susannah (Gates) Pitch, was born in Lunenburg, January 4-, 1711-2. He- was living with his father and was taxed in Fitchburg, 1764. He was one of the five children of John Fitch who suffered captivity in 1748. He married in Billerica, July D, 1767, Mary Jaquith, born Billerica, June 26, 1747, a daughter of Abraham and Hannah (Farley) Jaquith. She was a sister of the wife of Nicholas Danforth and of Abra- ham and Benjamin Jaquith, at one time residents of Fitch- burg. Paul Fitch lived in Fitchburg 1764 to 1767 and in Ashby until 1770, when he removed to Lancaster. In 1775 he removed to Rindge and later lived in Peterborough, Jaffrey and Marlborough. He was a soldier from Rindge in the Revolution. His wife died in Jaffrey, February IS,
Early Families of Fitchburg,
101
1800. He married second, January 7, 1802, Joanna (\'\ Walker, born in Concord, Massachusetts, May 15, 174 a daughter of Ebenezer and Joanna (Townscnd) Pierce
and widow of Samuel Walker ofRindge. He died in Marl- borough, May 2, 1818, Paul and Mary Fitch had ni children.
ne
G. Thomas Stearns, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Burnap) Stearns, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, De- cember 22, 1717. He married in Lynn, November 4, 1740,
Lydia Mansfield, born Lynn, January 4, 1718, a daughter of Daniel and Joanna (Burrage) Mansfield. He lived in Lynn until 1744, when he removed to Lunenburg. He was taxed in Fitchburg, 1764. His homestead was within the limits of this town. Not many years alter 1704, he removed to Leominster, where he died February 5, 1811. His wife died February 26, 1791. Two children who died young were born in Lynn. The births of seven other children are recorded in Lunenburg, and to these add Tim- othy, born April 4, 1759, and Anna, born April 25, 1762. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War.
In the limits of this paper we cannot speak of his nu- merous descendants, and mention is made of only one of his sons.
Rev. Charles Stearns, born here July 19, 1753, graduat- ed at Harvard University in the class of 1773. He was ordained and installed over the church in Lincoln, Mas- sachusetts, November 7, 1781. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and joined with his ministerial labor he conducted the famous classical school of Lincoln. He received from Harvard the degree of D. D. in IS 10. He preached his last sermon only a few- days before his death. He died July 26, 1S26. Some member of our societ}' will find ample material in his life- work and ready inspiration in his ability and character for a sketch of this brilliant son of Fitchburg.
7. Ephraijvi Gibson, a son of Abraham and Mary (Wheeler) Gibson, was born in Stow, June 21, 1740. He married, 1761, Lucy Wyman, born in Lunenburg, Decem- ber 15, 1741, a daughter of Ezekiel and Abigail (Wyman) Wyman. At the time of his marriage he settled in Lunen-
8
102
Early Families of Fitchburg,
burg. His homestead was near the residence of John Pitch
and in the part of Lunenburg which was included in Fitchburg, and in 1767 included in Ashby. He died in Ashby about 1725; his widow died April 18, 1829. They
had no children.
From the incorporation of Fitchburg until the incor- poration of Ashby, he was a married man residing in this town. Torrey did not include John Fitch and Ephratm Gibson, whose estates were severed from Fitchburg and included in Ashby in 1767.
8. Stephen Gibson, a son of Stephen and Sarah (Gos
Gibson, was born in Stow, March 29, 174-5. He married Aprill 15, 1766, Rebecca Puffer. He was taxed in Fitch- burg, 1764, and lived here until the incorporation of Ashby. He was a member of the church of Fitchburg several years. Mr. Gibson embraced the Baptist faith and became a preacher. His connection with the church in Fitchburg was dissolved in 1783. He frequently preached in school- houses and last in the meeting-house which was in Fitch- burg, but near the line of Ashby. He died February \\, 1812. His wife was a daughter of Capt. Jabez and Hannah (Treadway) Puffer of Sudbury. She was born February 21, 1748, died October 7, 1815. Dr. Stillman Gibson of New Ipswich, was their son and the wife of Charles II . Brown, senior, is their great-granddaughter.
[). Abraham Fakwi:i,l, n son ol'Snuitirl ami Ivli/.aln-lli
(Moors) Furwell, was born in GroLoii, August 18, 1/1.5. He was taxed in Fitchburg, 17(3 1. He was a soldier in Capt. Kbenezer Bridge's company, 1775, school committee and highway surveyor from 1777 to 1790. He was an esteemed and competent citizen. He married in 1770, intentions recorded July 14, 1770, Priscilla Thurston, a daughter of Dea. John and Hepsibah (Burpee) Thurston. She died De- cember 30, 1837. Eight children. The record of their birth is found in the printed records of Fitchburg.
10. Geokge Hewitt (commonly written Huit) was a roving character. He was among the first settlers ot Rindge, and lived