A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume I, Part 60

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 930

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Then on a later Sunday this same preacher would welcome the enthusiasm of the younger and more liberal portion of the congregation, telling them that in them rested the hope of the future; that changes in religious ideas were inevitable, and that many were feeling that there should be some modifications of ancient ideas ; and having thus won their attention and confidence, he would forthwith remind them tactfully that there had been some wisdom in the world before they arrived on the scene; that after all, we were greatly indebted to the fathers in Israel for the great fundamentals of our faith; and that care- ful reflection would reveal in every one of the old doctrines some kernel of sacred truth; and it was well to take care not to reject the substance of ancient faith while becoming impatient with the shell of outworn ceremony or form or profession. And so the younger and more liberal among the congregation would go home from that sermon, gratified by the recognition of their pro- gressiveness, but reflecting that the old fellows might have some merit after all !

Somewhat after this manner, sometimes expressed with incisive and critical emphasis but with that characteristic genial and winning personality which many of us still know and enjoy, Mr. Croft, during nearly four years as acting

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pastor, steadily welded this people together again, until it became apparent that it was probably safe to try a new regular minister.

For that splendid work of reconciliation and reconstruction, the people of this parish owe a deep debt of gratitude to Charles P. Croft; and that the peo- ple of the parish still feel this sense of gratitude is evidenced by the fact that he is still called here frequently to preach and to counsel.

Then came Charles Allen Dinsmore (he began preaching here January 1; installed February 17, 1891), who possessed the rare faculty of clothing the old-time fundamentals of the faith in modern language, and thas he soon won the confidence of both factions-factions no longer, and all responsive to the truth in Christ Jesus, as Dinsmore would express it. He was a deep thinker, and sometimes they said he preached over the heads of his people; but his tremendous earnestness availed to drive home the vital truths of the gospel, and before long the people were awakened to the fact that a preacher of unusual spiritual power was among them. His influence upon practical business men was marked, and he showed the vital necessity of religious faith in daily living. He built, broad and deep in this church and community, a strong and abiding faith in God and in Christian brotherhood.

In November, 1895, Mr. Dinsmore received a call to the Phillips Church in South Boston, which he accepted. He resigned December 8th, to take effect January 1, 1896. Doctor Dinsmore has become one of the leading ministers of the Congregationalist faith; and a religious philosopher of world-wide repu- tation, especially as a student and interpreter of Dante. His books on Dante have been used as text-books in England and on the Continent, and his "Life of Dante," issued in September, 1919, is pronounced by eminent critics the best life of Dante in any language. He has done much to bring about a more popular appreciation of the meaning of the philosophy of the mythical Flor- entine, and it was this fact that led one of the Boston critics to declare, "Great is Dante, and Dinsmore is his prophet !"

It is worth while to tell here the remarkable story of how Mr. Dinsmore came to be a Dante scholar. Humanly speaking, it was an accident; our good old grandmothers would have called it "providential"; and certainly the out- come may well strengthen our faith in the proverb that there is a divinity that shapes the fate and fortunes of men. While on a vacation from the Phillips Church in South Boston, whence he was called from Willimantic, he was visit- ing at the home of a friend; and wishing to escape from the excessive heat of an August afternoon, he sought from his friend's library some light or even frivolous book to take with him into the shade of neighboring woods. But chance or destiny put his hand upon a translation of Dante's Inferno; and as he had for many years a latent desire to know more of that great if not greatest of poets, he took the volume along with him into the woods. He became intensely interested at once, and read with a fascination that caused him to forget the heat and even the passing hours. That was the beginning of an interpretation of Dante which has now brought to Doctor Dinsmore the reputation of being one of the foremost of Dante scholars among English-speaking peoples. His books have been also translated into Chinese.

I am going to take the liberty to tell here a little incident which illustrates the very human side of Charles Allen Dinsmore. One summer day, soon after his first Dante book appeared, he came down from Boston to New London for a meeting of a committee of the National Congregational Council. Late in the

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afternoon I met him on the street in New London, and as he was to remain overnight in the city, I persuaded him to go out with me to Pleasure Beach, where my family was stopping. The next morning early we went out in an old sharpie to try our luck for blackfish or porgies or even cunners-whatever might bite! Often reticent in those days, Dinsmore said little that morning, and after several ineffectual attempts to draw him into conversation about ordinary affairs, I gave it up, and we sat fishing in silence, as I suppose all true fishermen should.

Observing the apparent deep preoccupation of Dinsmore, I thought to my- self, "Well, even if he would talk, probably I couldn't keep my end up; I don't know anything about Dante"; and then Dinsmore rose up in the boat, silently drew in his fifty feet or more of line, put a fresh clam on the hook, and then, swinging the heavy lead sinker around his head in the usual manner, he flung it far out over the water and broke out, "Do you love me, Molly darling ?" and without further sound sat down and resumed his fishing and silent meditation.

Doctor Dinsmore was born in New York City in 1860, son of L. H. Dins- more, M. D. He attended schools in Woodstock, Vt., Monson Academy, was graduated at Dartmouth '84, Yale Divinity School '88. Dartmouth gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1906 and Yale in 1916. Two of his books have been translated into Japanese and two are published in England.

The notable concrete achievements of his Willimantic pastorate were three : First, revision of the requirements for church membership, eliminating much of the old-time doctrinal phraseology, and asking only a simple pledge of "desire to follow the teaching and example of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ," and leaving the matter of "beliefs" to individual interpretation. He pointed out the injustice of the notion prevailing with some that they were "not good enough to join the church," and insisted instead that because of our. human weakness we needed the pledge and associations of the church to make us better by the constant influence of its ideals in our daily lives. "Do you believe in the church ?- not as a doctrine, but as an institution for the welfare of humanity and for the inspiration and upbuilding of life and character"-he would ask of non-members. Of course the reply was, yes. "But so far as you are con- cerned, if a non-member, there would be no church. You are failing to sustain and uphold the institution you believe in. Why not join, for its influence upon your own life and also because of your obligation to help maintain this vital institution ?" The appeal was effective with many who had not before realized this point of view.

Secondly, he replaced the old-time Sunday evening meeting of "prayer and conference" by "the Young Men's Sunday Evening Club," with popular pro- grammes of high class and entertaining music, with some special feature of soloists or quartet, with rousing congregational singing, and a fifteen-minute talk by the pastor, which never failed to inculcate a spiritual message of deep earnestness and of lasting influence.

Third, organization of the Boys' Brigade, with military drill and rules, real uniforms and real guns; hikes and camping, with games and sports; and one requirement to secure and retain membership in the brigade was regular attendance at Sunday-school.

Mr. Dinsmore also introduced the plan of systematic giving to church organizations and activities, and introduced a new hymnal. The membership of the church was more than doubled under his leadership and altogether he did

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a remarkable and enduring work of reconstruction on broad lines but with the essentials of the faith preserved and strengthened.

The masterly scholarship and deep spiritual inspiration of his thought, with his ability to make the divine message plain to the rank and file of the people- the same qualities which he was developing here at Willimantic-have in later days won recognition from centers of religious education at Harvard and at Oxford, and have now resulted in a call to become professor of religious educa- tion at Yale University, to accept which he has resigned his Waterbury pastor- ate (May, 1920). It is not too much to say that Charles Allen Dinsmore is among the foremost of those of his day and generation who, amid the wreck and despair following "the greatest of all wars," are now helping to remold and retain and advance the great essentials of faith in spiritual immortality which have ever been the confident reliance of "man's unconquerable soul."

After the departure of Mr. Dinsmore, there came again the task of hunting up a new pastor. It was fine to have picked out one who had been so signally successful in the work of modern reconstruction; it was something of a job to find a worthy successor, but it is to be said that the record indicates that this First Congregational Church of Willimantic has been very successful in this regard.

This time they soon heard of a brainy young fellow by the name of George who was preaching up in Newport, Vt., near the Canada line. He was very highly commended by Prof. Lewis Brastow of the Yale School of Religion. As a result of this visit and recommendation, the Rev. E. A. George was called to' succeed Mr. Dinsmore. He was a son of Postmaster Charles H. George of Provi- dence, R. I., and a graduate of Yale, '85 and Yale Seminary '87. He accepted the call February 28, 1896, began preaching Easter Sunday, April 5th, was installed June 18th.

Mr. George very soon manifested an especial interest in the younger people of the parish, and set out to arouse in them a new and active interest in the church. Interest in the mid-week prayer meeting and in the Sunday evening prayer and conference service seemed at low ebb; and he also felt that the Sunday school could not do its best by studying only the set "quarterlies." So he changed the programme of the mid-week meeting to a series of practical talks on scriptural themes as related to everyday life, inviting informal expres- sions from those attending, in lieu of the old-time "prayer and praise"; and he made marked changes in the Sunday evening programme and in the Sunday school lessons.

He appointed a special committee from the Sunday school to cooperate with him in preparing a special series of lessons which should make the practical every-day meaning of the Bible more intelligible and effective in the lives of the children. This committee met with him at his home, and the new lessons there prepared by him and approved by the committee were printed and used in the Sunday school with marked increase of interest among the teachers and pupils.

For Sunday evenings, he instituted the "Pleasant Sunday Evening Hour." .He invited the young people especially, saying frankly that the future of the church rested with them; and yet he assured the older ones that they would be no less welcome, and he believed they would find the meetings interesting and helpful. At the first of these "Pleasant Sunday Evening" meetings, the attend- ants found that the usual arrangement of settees had been changed, some of

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them set back against the walls of the vestry, and an informal array of chairs and settees drawn up in an attractive informal way about a center table, which had a bright red cover and a big bright center reading lamp, with song books and other interesting volumes scattered around. All who entered were greeted cordially and very informally by the pastor, and they chatted together in groups while others were coming, being invited to seat themselves as they chose. One of the young ladies sat down at the piano and played several selections of a high-grade but attractive sort, and soon the pastor suggested a "sing." The pastor made an earnest prayer, then read a selection from the Bible, having in mind a certain topic; and as he read he would suddenly ask some question suggested by the reading, and very soon the entire company, which at first was small, was earnestly talking together, and without realizing it, became inter- ested and would talk in an intimate personal way of some of the deep spiritual things of life.

As these meetings proceeded, on successive Sunday evenings, the pastor encouraged discussion of personal problems; drew out some of the objections or misunderstandings as to what some of the young people felt to be old- fashioned notions of belief and doctrines and the customary prayer meetings and the like. Intense interest in the spiritual life was developed; the meetings grew in attendance and influence; and finally the attendance became so large that their original character was somewhat overshadowed. As a result, the pastor was finally able to transfer the meetings to the main auditorium of the church, and by broadening the programme to include more of popular interest, the Sunday evening service was given new life. But the best result was that a number of the leading young men and young women of the parish were led by those earlier informal meetings to join the church. Another result was a deepening spiritual interest on the part of the pastor himself.

During the first two or three years of his pastorate, his sermons, though entertaining and instructive, and of a peculiar didactic quality which left a marked impression, were yet characterized by some as "more intellectual than spiritual." It was during this earlier period, also, that the pastor was some- what criticized by the elder or more "orthodox" portion of his people because he was so active in the newly-organized Willimantic Golf Club. Some of these thought that he would better spend his time making parish calls, or even "pray- ing with unconverted souls, as ministers used to do." One dear old lady, whose early training had taught her that the minister's chief business was to "cry aloud and spare not" and "bring sinners to the mercy seat," was quite incredu- lous when they told her that "our minister has been chosen president of the golf club." But it soon appeared that the minister was getting a strong hold on the young people; the Pleasant Sunday Evening Club was getting in its work, and the final results were proving the wisdom of the pastor's move. Mr. George frankly attributed his own renewed spiritual inspiration, in the latter years of his Willimantic pastorate, not only to his deepening realization of the needs of his young people, but to a certain session of the Yale Convocation of Ministers, where sermons of special impress were preached by Lyman Abbott and other religious leaders. At all events, the latter half of his Willimantic ministry was marked by a deepening spiritual influence upon his parish, and the young people with whom he was so companionable and whom he led into the church still hold him in fond affection.

Early in 1904 he received a call to the Presbyterian Church at Ithaca, N. Y.,

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and he resigned February 14, ending his pastorate here March 15th. Mr. George remained in Ithaca until about two years ago, when he resigned. He then preached for a time at Concord, N. H., in the church to which the Rev. Ashley Day Leavitt was called when he left Willimantic.

Recently Mr. George has been called to preach at the United Church in New Haven, while that society is seeking a successor to the Rev. Robert C. Dennison. In fact, Mr. George is developing a rare ability to follow the lines of construc- tive work so successfully done in former years by the Rev. Mr. Croft, as an interim pastor, and his services are so constantly sought for that valuable work that he is urged by the leaders of his denomination to continue therein.

A successor to Mr. George was promptly found. As soon as Mr. George had signified his intention to accept the call to Ithaca, the committee of church and society to secure a new pastor were advised to look up a brilliant young preacher who was assistant pastor of the Rev. Dr. Edwin Pond Parker at the South Church in Hartford. The impression of several visitors who went to hear him was uniformly favorable and within less than a month a call was sent (April 5, 1904) to the Rev. Ashley Day Leavitt, who accepted the call, and entered upon his new duties May 1st, being installed May 25th. The fine promise of his record at Dr. Parker's Church was fulfilled, and for four years he developed his unusual power as a preacher, to the great enjoyment of this parish. He and his wife, nee Myrtle Hart of Hartford, were very popular with the young people. Leavitt came of a family of preachers, and he has since steadily advanced in position and power and influence in the pulpit. He was called from Willimantic to Concord, N. H., resigning in January, 1908, council . of dismissal held in February. From Concord he was called to Portland, Me., and in October, 1919, was installed as pastor of the Harvard Church at Brook- line, Mass.

During Mr. Leavitt's pastorate here the church organ was rebuilt by funds primarily provided by the will of Miss Jennie Ford, a life-long member of the church. The individual communion-cup service was installed. Mr. Leavitt was active in civic relations, especially in addresses at Board of Trade meetings and at school graduations. For several consecutive years he was chosen to give the baccalaureate address to graduating classes at the high school.

An interesting and unusual situation developed during the quest for a suc- cessor to Mr. Leavitt. At the time Mr. George left, Mr. Dinsmore had suggested the name of Rev. William S. Beard, then at Durham, N. H., but an inquiry developed the fact that Mr. Beard was not ready to leave Durham. The prompt discovery of Mr. Leavitt also terminated further quest. But now the name of Mr. Beard was again brought into consideration. Committees visited his church and came back with very favorable reports; but also learned that he had just refused a $3,000 call to Boston, because he believed he was needed at Durham ; so it was inferred that the $2,200 salary at Willimantic would not attract him. An active inquiry was begun, and no less than forty clergymen, most of them candidates, were looked up, although in fact very little attention was paid to those who sought the job. The old-time plan of calling candidates to the home pulpit to preach on trial and undergo personal inspection had gone out of date many years before, as the committees had found it far more satisfactory to look up good men on the field where their work was in progress. Two or three favorable trails were followed without satisfaction or success. Finally the joint committee of church and society met one evening to face the fact that

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after weeks of inquiry they were without a prospect, and the outlook for find- ing the right man was discouraging. At this juncture Gen. E. S. Boss, chair- man, inquired : "What about this man Beard; they all speak well of him- why can't we get him?" It was found that no decided attempt had been made, as it had been assumed for the reasons above stated that he would not leave Durham. It was decided to address a letter to the Rev. Dr. E. C. Hall of Manchester, N. H., asking him to "sound out" Mr. Beard and see if he would not consider the Willimantic church. It was pointed out that his father and uncle had served long pastorates years before at East Killingly and Brooklyn respectively (these pastorates are sketched elsewhere in this volume), and that a Windham County field should appeal to him, and that there was peculiar opportunity for usefulness in the Willimantic field. It was suggested that he had been ten years in Durham, and if he was ever going to move to a larger field it was about time he was considering it. In response to this appeal, Dr. Hall sent for Mr. Beard to confer with him at Manchester, told him of the special appeal from Willimantic, and advised him to give it very careful con- sideration. Mr. Beard talked it over with his Durham people and decided to take the Willimantic inquiry into consideration. Meanwhile a member of the Willimantic committee had been delegated to write him direct. Mr. Beard thereupon wrote, expressing his appreciation, and stated certain definite plans for the cooperation of the people with the minister which, if approved, would form the basis of his favorable consideration of a call to Willimantic if it should . come.

Out of these preliminaries the Willimantic church and society not only framed a call to Mr. Beard, but by formal action pledged him definite support along the lines he had indicated. These facts are here recorded as indicating the basis of the unusual sucess of Mr. Beard's pastorate in Willimantic, because at the very outset both minister and people were pledged to a definite con- structive programme.

The call to him was dated June 8, 1904, and he accepted, naming September 20th as the date to begin his service. He was installed December 2d. He remained in Willimantic until February 20, 1916, resigning to accept a posi- tion as assistant secretary of the Congregational Home Missionary Society, with headquarters in New York City, a position he still holds, although the scope of his work has been much enlarged in recent years, and he is now active in promoting the church extension work in the national field. He was released from his duties at the New York office in the fall of 1919 to take charge of the campaign for the Pilgrim Memorial Fund in Connecticut, the quota of this state being $660,000 of the national total of $5,000,000. Mr. Beard met with signal success and with the hearty cooperation of a group of fellow clergymen, several of them just returned from service in France, he not only raised Con- necticut's quota, but carried the Connecticut pledges well beyond the $1,000,000 mark. He was then asked to go to Seattle to lead the campaign for the quota of Washington and Oregon for the same fund, where he met with similar suc- cess, returning to his New York duties April 1, 1920.

Some of us down in New Haven knew Vernon W. Cooke several years before you discovered him, and we could have told you that he was a pretty vigorous proposition to turn loose in Willimantic. He was a live westerner, a big foot- ball player, and while in Yale School of Religion did splendid service among my own clubs of Italian boys in teaching them clean hard-playing football and

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clean vigorous manhood, and in this relation I came to admire him greatly. He was certainly a noble influence among those impressionable Italian boys. He was very highly esteemed by church and parish during his two-years' pas- torate in Derby, and they were sorry to have him go. He was called from Derby to the Willimantic church, April 13, 1916, and began his duties here. He soon manifested his breezy western vigor. It did not take him long to realize the moral inertia prevailing in civic affairs in Willimantic. He began to rally the men of his church for a municipal house cleaning. He preached a notable sermon in which he told the plain truth about the local situation. It was pretty strong meat and caused local indigestion. Soon after America entered the war, Mr. Cooke resigned the local pastorate to enter Y. M. C. A. service in France. His resignation was read January 26, 1918, effective Feb- ruary 1st, and leave of absence for four months was granted by the church with continuance of salary. A council of dismissal was called for June 26th. Mr. Cooke sailed for France March 18, 1918, returned June 22, 1919. His service overseas was warmly commended by the National Council of the Y. M. C. A.

Cooke was born in Klickitat County, Washington Territory, October 25, 1882, attended Portland, Ore., Academy, graduated from Whitman College 1911, Yale Divinity School 1914; was pastor at Derby, Conn., before coming to Wil- limantic. He is now pastor of the First Congregational Church at Western Springs, Ill., just outside Chicago. He was married shortly before coming to Willimantic to Hazel Mildred Watts, whose home was near Portland, Ore., and they have a son Vernon Watts Cooke, born May 5, 1918.

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A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume I, Part 60

Author: Lincoln, Allen B Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Lincoln, Allen B
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke publ. co.
Number of Pages: 930