USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > A century of history in the First Baptist Church in Waterbury, Conn > Part 7
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Who could tell how much would have been lost to the town and city if the songs here had been hushed even for a generation? Rejoice,
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that during the last hundred years God left not himself without a witness here, to testify to the truth of his gospel and to the genuineness of his ordinances.
Who can fully recount " the times that have passed over you "? There have been times of war and times of peace ; times of plenty and " hard times;" times of health and times of sickness ; times of spiritual refreshing from the presence of the Lord and times of sad drought in the gospel field ; times of death, when many precious ones heard and followed the Shepherd's voice to the upper fold, and times when "the wind of death's imperishable wings " was not suffered to chill your band. But, in all this variety of experience, the lamp-stand was never removed out of its place.
VARIEGATED HISTORY.
Doubtless some years among the hundred have been marked by a mightier testimony than others. We read in the Acts of a period of the early church in Jerusalem, when " with great power gave the apostles their testimony of the resur- rection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." In the year 1876 we celebrated a hundred years of American history, but none
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could forget that five of that hundred years were different from all the rest.
And five of those years were red As they turned on their awful path, With garments like them that tread In the wine-press of civil wrath.
Some of the years of your history are marked out and distinguished thus from the rest. They are rubricated years, they are illuminated capital letters in the volume of your life - red-letter years. Such are the years in which God has come among you in reviving and saving power. We read of Isaac that when he turned farmer the Lord blessed him. He sowed in that land, and gathered a hundred fold. You have had many blessed years of reaping, until, in literal truth, "the little one has become a thousand."
" CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, GO FORWARD."
Every anniversary day should be like the statue of Janus, with a face to look forward as well as backward. Let us trust that there are years ahead of you, as well as years behind you, and that the glory of the latter years shall be greater than the glory of the former, all of them " years of the right hand of the Most High."
LETTERS OF FORMER PASTORS.
READ BY DEA. D. L. SMITH.
As a matter of sympathetic interest between our Methodist brethren and ourselves, it may be well to state that our only surviving ex-pastors were both formerly preachers in the Methodist communion. It has often been noted that Metho- dist zeal united with Baptist conscience makes an excellent combination.
STAMFORD, CONN., Oct. 28, 1903. To the Officers and Members of the First Baptist Church, Waterbury, Conn.
DEARLY BELOVED : -
We send you Christian greeting and hearty congratulations. We regret our inability to par- ticipate with you in observing the one hundredth anniversary of your organization.
One hundred years! How much has trans- pired in that span of time. Doubtless, when the church was first formed, its constituent members felt that they were a feeble folk. They never dreamed of the present beautiful proportions ; nor the large accessions. They wanted to wor-
REV. J. W. RICHARDSON - pp. 122 and 165.
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ship God after the dictates of their conscience : and they did. They demanded a separation be- tween church and state: did their share of the work: and got the separation. They rebelled against taxation to support a standing church with which they were not in sympathy : and their grit contributed to the overthrow of the estab- lished order.
Your fathers were not popular ; your ministers were not well received by the fashionables in theology; and your doctrines excited hostility. Nevertheless your sires placed their hands in God's palm, persisted in the performance of their duty, and today religious freedom in Connecticut bears the imprint of their prayers, patience, and perseverance. And since then, as the years have unfolded, what a procession of men and women redeemed by Christ, have passed through your membership into the invisible choirs beyond. What volumes of influence have spread out from your center, until the four quarters of the globe have felt the sweet Christian uplift of the gos- pel, from hearts and hands that were first con- secrated to Jesus in your holy courts.
You may well celebrate the stupendous, incal- culable Christian work of one hundred years.
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It is not necessary for me to say much of my own pastorate with you. Those years will al- ways remain a cherished experience. God gave me many souls as seals of the work I tried to faithfully perform. You did uphold my hands : were sympathetic and loyal: may God still bless you for your faithfulness in those days. You have a habit of being good to your pastors.
Now: may the growth of the past, and the splendid efficiency of the present, be grandly trebled, and trebled, as the years shall unfold.
With the sincerest affection,
J. WILBUR RICHARDSON.
HIGHLAND, CAL., Oct. 26, 1903.
To the First Baptist Church of Waterbury, Conn. DEAR BRETHREN :
It is a far cry from Highland, California, to Waterbury, Connecticut, and yet if it were pos- sible, I would gladly journey all the way for the joy of greeting you all, and sharing with you the fellowship of the great occasion. And yet I shall be with you not only by letter, but in the spirit also, for I am sure that I can say with Paul: " For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding
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your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ." Col. 2: 5. And thus am I with you today, and all the days, in a very true and real way. I have never divorced my heart from the dear church that I once served for eight and a half years : and I believe that every day since I have borne you in my supplication before God.
Indeed, in this spiritual way I find myself much more in your company since I came into my exile in this far land. My wife and I are living in a little town among the foothills, some eighty miles from the coast, after wandering here and there in search of the best climate. This we think we have found, and expect to make home here until we go to the Father's house. The nearest Baptist Church lies seven miles away, where we have our membership, although usually worshiping with the little Congregational or Methodist Church here.
My eyesight is entirely gone now, and my health is still infirm, although I am much better than when I came here. I have gotten where I have the joy of preaching the word now and then, but for the most part I muse, and live over in thought and feeling the pleasant old times with the good old friends.
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Since reading Deacon Smith's letter of invita- tion, I have been going over the battle roll of the old Church, as the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews in the eleventh chapter goes over the battle roll of the ages: only so far as this letter goes I must begin with "the time would fail me to tell of -. " I am reminded that among the veterans who come up to this memorial day there are only two ex-pastors who have not been mustered out, and gone home. I am glad that Pastor Richardson is your neighbor once more in the land of steady habits. Him I know well, and with him I have fellowshiped full many a time. Of other pastors I never met but two. I remember meeting the sainted Pastor Folwell at roll call that we held one year. The last time that I met Pastor Parry was at the farewell service that we held over the remains of dear Deacon James McWhinnie, of blessed memory. I was quite a helpless invalid when, not a year later, Pastor Parry himself suddenly went into the glory. I bless God that he lived long enough with you to do such good work, and lay such good foundations for days to come. And I feel that I almost touched Pastor Haywood. You may remember that I had the privilege of spend-
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REV. W. P. ELSDON - pp. 124 and 160.
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ing my last Sunday in Connecticut with you, and I occupied the pulpit when Clerk Sanford read your present pastor's letter accepting your call to service. How my heart has been uplifted again and again by the reports of the abundant success attending his labors among you. " What hath God wrought!" We go back over the century and touch the time when about twenty were united in the formation of the First Baptist Church of Waterbury, and later built their first house of worship in the woods: and today from the handful of corn on the top of the mountain the fruit shakes like Lebanon, and they of the city flourish like grass of the earth.
May God bless you more and more, and give you continuous harvests in the years to come, and grant us each to stand before Him at the last, our bosoms filled with sheaves, and hear the " Well done."
Always faithfully yours,
W. P. ELSDON.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF MY CON- NECTION WITH THE FIRST BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL.
PAPER BY DEACON D. L. SMITH.
My first recollec- tion carries me back to the time when, a lad of eight years of age, my mother first took me to this Sun- day-school. I was a timid , little fellow, and well remember as though it were but DEACON D. L. SMITH. yesterday the superin- tendent coming down the aisle to meet me. He held out the first fin- ger of his hand and I grasped it as he led me to a class. I do not remember who were in the class, but so strong are the impressions made in childhood that, although over half a century has elapsed, I have but to close my hand to feel in imagination that finger still, and to see the face
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of Timothy Porter, Jr., my first superintendent. Of my early teachers I have no recollection. The first teacher whom I do remember was Thomas Porter, brother of the superintendent, who by his earnest, loving words showed that he had the eternal welfare of the members of his class at heart. Later I was in a class of boys who had arrived at an age when they thought they were a little smarter than their parents. We had Dea-
con Timothy Porter for a teacher, and, although he bore with us patiently, I have no doubt he was often sorely tried by our foolish sayings and acts, but, nevertheless, I always felt a great respect and reverence for him; in fact, when I was a young lad and read the story of the prophet Elijah, I pictured him in my mind as Deacon Porter, and that childish fancy has always remained with me.
Now, to return to the superintendents. I very much regret that there are no records avail- able back of the year 1867, and I do not seem to be able to call to mind who they were, with a few exceptions. Thomas Porter became superintend- ent after his brother went away to college. The next that I remember was Joseph B. Merriam, a man who threw his whole soul into his work. He was a fine singer, and years afterwards I met
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him again in 1861 in Darlington, Wis.,- the same active man that he was here, superintendent of Sunday-school and leader in the choir. He is still living at this writing, in his 86th year, and takes a deep interest in the old home church and its welfare. Mr. Merriam went west in the year 1855, and L. J. Atwood was elected to the posi- tion of superintendent. My remembrance of Mr. Atwood as superintendent is that he was a very easy speaker ; his words were always well chosen. I used to think of him as a man who had missed his calling, that he ought to have been a minister. I have since modified my opinion somewhat, for he has proven to be a very able and successful business man.
The next superintendent whom I remember was Deacon William S. Pickett, and I can truly say that he was my ideal of a superintendent : a man of a most loving, tender nature, who won the hearts of his school in a wonderful manner. I used to see him put his arm around some of the young men, and say a few words to them, and when they left him their eyes would be suffused with tears. The great tender heart would touch theirs in such a way that they could never forget it. Deacon Pickett became superintendent in
JOSEPH B. MERRIAM,
A natural musician, having a fine tenor voice. Chorister and S. S. Superintendent in the Waterbury Church and later chorister, S. S. Superintendent and Deacon in the Baptist Church in Darlington, Wis. An open-hearted, whole-souled man and faithful Christian. Deacon Merriam is still living, in his 86th year - p. 130.
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1866, and remained in that capacity until 1870, when his son, W. Stanley Pickett, was elected to the office. He held it, however, I think, for only one year, when the family removed to Chicago and the writer was chosen to the position. I ought to state at this point that Mrs. Susan Jacques was elected an assistant in 1869 and held the position continuously until April 1, 1882.
In looking over the old records, I find much that is of interest to me because it brings fresh to mind many who have moved to other fields of labor, some who seem to have forgotten the teachings of those earlier years, and the very large number who have gone home.
We did not have the International lessons in those old days, and it is interesting to read in the minutes under the head of "Lesson Taught " such subjects as these :
May 9, 1869, " Will any be lost who are truly regenerated ? "
May 16th, "What are the blessings flow- ing from regeneration? "
May 23d, " What is adoption ? " May 30th, " What is assurance ? "
Perhaps we have now gone to the other ex- treme and do not give sufficient attention to doc- trinal teaching.
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The writer was elected as superintendent on April 16, 1871, and with two exceptions, which will be referred to later on, has held the position up to the present time. I find by the records that during the last year of Deacon Pickett's adminis- tration, the attendance sometimes ran up to 205, with an average of about 175; but during the year following, with his son W. Stanley Pickett, the attendance rarely reached 150, with an aver- age of about 122. During the first year of my administration I find no change for the better. The few years which followed were dark and dis- couraging. Our pastor, after a lingering illness, died in a foreign land. He was succeeded in 1874 by the Rev. G. A. Starkweather. The mem- bership and attendance of the school began to increase gradually, owing largely to the visiting committee which was organized in the school, an earnest, faithful band which did a noble work for the Master.
About this time it became apparent that a mis- sion was needed in the southern portion of the town. Accordingly on April 12, 1874, I organ- ized a mission school in the schoolhouse at Hopeville, but we soon outgrew the accommo- dations afforded there. We then hired a hall
DEACON WILLIAM S. PICKETT -p. 130. Removed to Chicago in 1871.
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on the South Main Street side of Simonsville, but, although the hall was large and well adapted to our purpose, the surroundings were very unsatisfactory. We then decided to build a chapel, selecting the site on which now stands the Second Baptist Church. In the raising of funds for the building of this chapel, I was ably seconded by Deacon A. J. Shipley. The chapel was dedicated on May 10, 1876, and on the 2Ist of the same month, Deacon Shipley was elected superintendent. Mrs. W. F. Bronecke was elected secretary and still holds the position, after 28 years of service.
Before closing this account of the work in Simonsville, I wish to make mention of the serv- ices of Reuben F. Snagg, who is a deacon in the Second Baptist Church. He became superin- tendent in 1878, and still holds that position. He is a man loved and respected by all who know him.
I now return to the history of the main school. I remained superintendent until the spring of 1881, when I thought it best to decline a re- election, and Mr. W. F. Arnold was elected to the position.
In the spring of 1882 I was again elected super- intendent, with Mrs. J. W. Sanford as assistant.
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In 1883, the school had grown to such propor- tions that Mr. J. H. Tripp was elected as first assistant, Mrs. Sanford continuing to act as sec- ond assistant until 1886. These were days of great prosperity to the school, our attendance running up to 250. Our only difficulty was that we were so cramped for room that we could not grow faster. Mr. Tripp remained assistant until 1887, and with but one or two short intervals has conducted the singing up to the present time.
In 1891 I again declined to serve as superin- tendent, and W. C. Myers was elected to the office. I thought then that my work in that capacity was at an end, but Mr. Myers was not successful in business and removed from the city. I was then again called to the position, which I have held to the present time. In 1895 we en- tered our present large and commodious Sunday- school rooms, designed by our brother, Architect Edwy E. Benedict, and the two or three years which followed saw a large increase in our mem- bership and attendance, which was in fact the largest ever known in our history until now.
At our last election Mr. C. E. Clift was elected as active superintendent, and it would seem that a wise choice has been made. But the school in-
JAMES H. TRIP, Church Precentor - p. 134.
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sisted that I should still act as supervising super- intendent, which I consented to do, as it throws the responsibility on the other fellow, while I can do all the fault-finding and criticising, which is the usual course when one has nothing else to do.
In 1881 an incident occurred which, although insignificant in itself, may be worth recording, owing to the publicity given it. We had a Sun- day-school entertainment of some kind, and while preparations were being made the children be- came very noisy, and some of the ladies came to me and said, " Mr. Smith, can't you do something to quiet these noisy children?" So I gathered them together and told them we would form a procession, and forming them in line, we marched up one aisle and down another, I at the head, sing- ing " Hold the Fort." Looking at the next verse I read, " See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on." Not fancying the rôle to which these lines seemed to assign me, I immediately called a halt, and said to one of the larger boys, " Now you take the lead, and I will stand here and re- view the procession." The mighty host ad- vanced, but I was not leading it. I related this incident at a Sunday-school convention in New Haven as an illustration of the importance of
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resourcefulness in a superintendent's work. A reporter who was present wrote it up for his paper, and the result was that it has been pub- lished over the whole country, and even places have been mentioned where the incident was said to have occurred; but the facts in the case are as I have here given them.
If space allowed I would be glad to add an "Honor Roll" of teachers connected with the school. I will, however, give a few of the names of officers past and present as they occur to me. As assistant superintendents, Mrs. J. J. Jacques, Mrs. L. Milleaux, J. H. Tripp, Robert Green- wood, Sidney Risdon, V. M. Shaw. As second assistants, Mrs. Susan Sanford and Mrs. E. W. Smith. Mrs. Smith has been second assistant for 16 years and still holds that position. As secretaries, Mrs. F. E. Stanley, U. G. Dillon, and Louis Pichard. Mr. Pichard has been secretary since 1897. As principals in the primary depart- ment, Mrs. W. E. Peck, who was superintendent for 12 years, Miss Jennie Fiske, Mrs. I. W. Mon- tague, Mrs. J. Littlejohn, and Mrs. V. M. Shaw. Mrs. Shaw has been superintendent for 9 years, and under her management, with Mrs. L. R. Carter as her able assistant, this department has
DEACON NEWTON C. SMITH.
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grown to be a good-sized school in itself. Our last reported attendance was : In the main school, 270, and in the primary department, 163, making a total of 433.
The following list of officers and teachers has been handed in by Mr. Louis Pichard, the secre- tary of the School :
Officers in the Main School.
President - REV. OSCAR HAYWOOD.
Superintendent - DEA. D. L. SMITH.
First Assistant - C. E. CLIFT.
Second Assistant - MRS. E. W. SMITH.
Secretary - LOUIS PICHARD.
Assistant Secretary - LESLIE SMITH.
Treasurer - V. M. SHAW.
Precentor - J. H. TRIPP.
Teachers.
Dea. Wm. O'Neil, Mr. C. E. Clift, Mr. Adrian Mulloy, Dea. Newton Smith, Mr. E. D. Stanton, Mr. Sweet, Mr. Charles Haight, Mr. Will Dixon, Mr. E. W. Thomas, Mr. Charles Littlehales, Mr. Walker, Mr. F. J. Parry, Mrs. John Lines, Mrs. Olivia Wickwire, Mrs. Emeline Bennet, Mrs. Dewitt French, Mrs. Charles Haight, Mrs. Anna Hine, Mrs. Charles Littlehales, Miss Margaret McWhinnie, Miss Ella Chandler, Miss Bessie
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White, Miss Mary Turnbull, Miss Sophia Turn- bull, Miss Adelaide Frost, Miss Minnie Frost, Miss Clara Thomas, Miss Jennie Cook, Miss Grace Jones, Miss Lena Wood, Miss Lottie Hart- ley, Miss Alice Bradley, Miss Marion Walker, Miss Annabel Hanna.
Officers in the Primary Department.
Superintendent - MRS. V. M. SHAW. Assistant Superintendent-MRS. L. R. CARTER. Secretary - MRS. W. J. SPENCER. Treasurer - MRS. LYMAN BALDWIN. Librarian - MRS. E. RUSSELL.
Assistant Librarians - MRS. E. L. TAYLOR, MRS. A. NUGENT, MISS C. ELDRIDGE.
Pianist - MISS MAUDE EGGLESTON.
Teachers.
Mrs. D. B. Neth, Mrs. J. A. Smith, Mrs. L. Smith, Mrs. Chase, Mrs. F. W. French, Mrs. R. Porter, Mrs. R. G. Roxburgh, Mrs. M. Congdon, Mrs. Booth, Mrs. Thomas, Miss Sarah Picker- ing, Miss Bertha Delay, Miss Nellie Smith, Miss Nellie Cross, Miss Ethel Wood, Miss Kate Wil- lets, Miss Lena Wood, Miss Mary Bannatyne, Mr. David Voorhees, Mr. Webster O'Neil.
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THOMAS PORTER,
Son of Deacon Timothy Porter, S. S. Superintendent and member of Church Committee. Afterwards member of Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York and later member and regular attendant of the Baptist Church in East Orange, N. J., though his home was four miles distant in Montclair - pp. 6 and 129. 1
REMARKS INTRODUCTORY TO PROF. PORTER'S PAPER.
When some weeks ago the writer informed an intelligent Baptist layman in a neighboring city that we were preparing for a centennial celebra- tion of the founding of our church, he asked : " Is it going to be a Baptist affair, or are you going to let the pedobaptist denominations take it all away from you so as to make it in effect a union-Con- gregational celebration ?" I replied that I thought there would be something somewhere in the ex- ercises that would mark it as distinctively Bap- tist. And in fact it seems to me that Baptists ought not only to be allowed, but expected, to speak their minds clearly and positively at least once in a hundred years. There can, indeed, be no harm at any time in a clear, positive expres- sion of Christian truth, or of Christian belief so long as it is honest, sincere expression.
And it may be fairly questioned whether the suppression of Christian truth in the supposed interest of Christian courtesy is not largely re- sponsible for such a devitalizing and emasculating of our present Christianity as seems to leave it but a goody-goody system of morality or moral phil- osophy, which the people are so tired of that many of them do not even care to attend the
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services in the churches they are obliged to sup- port. May not this consideration to a consider- able extent account for the state of things de- scribed in Dr. Anderson's able but sadly signifi- cant address ?
For my own part I believe it would be better that the churches should bristle with controversy in order to reach the truth and rid themselves of errors which impair their efficiency - for that I believe to be the ultimate, though perhaps not generally the immediate, result of such contro- versy - than that they should be resolved alto- gether into an invertebrate mass of ineffective neutrality. And if any of the papers or addresses which appeared in connection with our centennial exercises should cause a rattling of dry bones in Waterbury or elsewhere, that might perhaps at least be taken as a sign of returning life.
No thoughtful person can read Dr. Anderson's paper without becoming aware that it is a condi- tion and not a theory that confronts us, or with- out getting a pretty plain intimation of the results to which present courses are tending. The un- favorable evidence has all the more force from the fact that it is progressive and cumulative. And the condition revealed is one that is paralleled in most of our American cities. Is it not time then to throw off the lethargy of unconcern, with which we are so seriously affected? Is it not truth and plain speech that we want, and action in the name
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of God in accordance therewith, if we are to save our city and country for Christ? Polite phrases and compliments of mutual admiration between disagreeing and rival denominations will do us no good in the future any more than in the past. Now, if ever, we should put away partisan preju- dices, unscriptural traditions, and unauthorized deviations from the divine rule, and act with an eye sole and single to the interests of the King- dom of God.
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