USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Centennial memorial of the First Baptist Church of Hartford, Connecticut, March 23d and 24th, l890 > Part 10
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I wish that time would permit my loving and grateful mention of my · ministerial associates. Four of them are still with you, Drs. Parker and Twichell and Hodge and Father Hughes, all of them men whose names are precious to me. Then there were Drs. Turnbull and Bushnell and Hawes and Stowe and Washbourne and Spaulding and Doane and Aber- crombie and Calkins and Gould and Richardson and Jenkins and Gage and Sage and Emerson and the Andrews brothers. And then there was Dr. Burton, that loving hero, that genial giant, that anointed soul, so lately vanished into the heavens, who must have this sentence all to him- self. What a great thing it was that in my opening ministry I should
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LETTER OF DR. CRANE.
have been thrown into the company and fellowship of such men as these.
But I must cluster my memories a little more closely about your church. Of course, Dr. Turnbull comes to the front. I had seen and heard him once, and had read his singularly felicitious translation of Vinet's Sermons. I admired and venerated him. When I was in Hart- ford as a candidate for the pulpit of the South Baptist Church he met me most cordially. He presided at the council for my ordination, and in the public services that followed, gave me with loving words the hand of fellowship. He officiated with Dr. Murdock at my marriage. For ten years or more we were fellow pastors. Day by day he grew upon me. He was pure, true-hearted, poetical, generous, charitable, modest and humble, open, brave, godly. All these adjectives he deserves. Many times when I was over-worked he helped me by encouraging words and by pulpit exchange. He rejoiced in my successes as if they were his own. His service of the feebler churches in the closing period of his life had about it the charm of a singular Christian consecration. During his last sickness our infant son was at his request taken into his room. He laid his hands upon the little fellow's head, and blessed him in the name of the God of Israel. We all felt that the blessing would abide. When Dr. Turnbull died I knew that he had gone to heaven.
Dr. Sage, my old college friend, was Dr. Turnbull's worthy successor. He was a close student, a clear thinker, master of a most felicitous style, quick to get at the heart of his text, observant of proportion in the struc- ture of his sermons, thoroughly conscientious in all his work. For two days and two nights after hearing him preach, I felt that I could never preach again. On the third day I would comfort myself that I could do some things as well as he, and so would cheer up and trudge on.
.I wish I could say all that is in my heart of certain members of your church whom I knew, and who are now in the unseen holy. Rev. Gurdon Robins was a joy to me. He had large, thoughtful, loving eyes. He seemed a Christian Roman. He was as kind to me as if I had been his own pastor. Edward Bolles always interested and pleased me. He was quaint. He had his own ways of thinking and speaking. You always were curious to know what he would say next. He was a man who loved the Lord. James G. Bolles quite realized my ideal of a Christian gentleman. He was sympathetic, with all that is true and beautiful and good. He was another of your members that often en- couraged me in my work.
Then there are members of your church still living whom I most
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pleasantly remember. My relations with yourself personally were specially intimate, for the reason that we were for many years upon the Boards and in the Executive Committees at the State Convention and of the Academy of Suffield. I can bear testimony that neither of us ever spoke a sharp word to the other. And you can bear testimony that I was most easily led by any one who was bright enough not to let me see halter.
You have a man among you whose mother and sister were members of my own church, and I am still touched by his uniform and most en- couraging kindness to me. Because I belonged to his mother and sister, he seemed to think that I also belonged to him.
You have still with you another man, one who has so long dealt in granite that he has become himself granitic, occasionally hovering over this region which I now inhabit, a man who has taught us all that one can be engaged in large and exacting business and at the same time make one's self an authority in the realms of profound sholarship and liberal culture.
But I must not go on. I rejoice over the good and true men and women of former days, over the good and true men and women of to- day, of whom your ancient church may well be proud. I rejoice that your church has always been forward in promoting the prosperity of all Christian enterprises. I rejoice that your church has illustrated loyalty to truth and a genuine catholicity. I rejoice in your noble past, and in what I am assured will be your noble future.
Saint Paul named all Christians saints. As my theology is Pauline, I will do as Saint Paul did, and venture the prediction that your new pas- tor, your Saint James, will lead you in the greenest of all pastures and beside the stillest of all waters.
Most sincerely yours, CEPHAS B. CRANE. Concord, N. H., March, 1890.
1790
1890
PRESENT AUDIENCE ROOM.
LETTERS.
LETTERS
OF
REGRET AND CONGRATULATION.
Among the letters received were the following :-
From the Rev. Dr. WALKER, Pastor of the First Con- gregational Church, Hartford, Conn.
March 22, 1890.
MY DEAR SIR :- It is an occasion of sincere regret to me that I am not able to be with the good people of the First Baptist Church in their cen- tennial anniversary.
I should, personally, enjoy meeting with them, and I shall still more rejoice in the expression which might in some modest sense be given by my presence as pastor of the First Church of Hartford to the great and, as I think, blessed increase in these latter days of the spirit of fellow- ship and brotherhood among Christians of different names.
When I look back on the difficulties experienced by our brethren of the Baptist churches in getting a footing in this colony of Connecticut, as in New England generally, and think of the sincerity of their faith, and the purity of their works, I bless God that we are fallen on times of more liberality and largeness in the interpretation of the will of God and the mind of Christ concerning the unity there is in our common Lord.
Your church may well congratulate itself on its hundred years of his- tory in this place. They constitute a century of honorable memories. Every interest this place has, is better for the presence here of the faith- ful pastors and the godly brethren and sisters who have given name and power to your church in this community. It certainly must be the hope and prayer of all who love the cause of Christ and the souls of men that your second hundred years may be prosperous and useful in the natural development and fruitage of your past.
With hope for the happy progress of all your anniversary exercises,
I am, truly yours,
GEO. LEON WALKER.
12
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LETTERS.
From the Rev. JAMES R. BOISE, D. D., of The Baptist Union Theological Seminary.
MORGAN PARK, ILL., March 17, 1890.
MY DEAR BROTHER :- Accept my thanks for your kind remembrance. It will be impossible for me to be present at the coming anniversary ; but I am glad to send the assurance of my Christian love. Perhaps Bro. Dimock will remember the poor little timid country boy, baptized in May, 1831, by the pastor, Gustavus F. Davis.
" All the way my Saviour leads me, What have I to ask beside ?"
We shall all soon meet where there will be no more parting, no sin, no sorrow ! Death cannot enter there !
With most affectionate greeting to all,
Your brother in Christ,
JAMES R. BOISE.
From the Rev. LUCIUS E. SMITH, D. D., editorial staff of The Watchman.
NEWTON, MASS., March 17, 1890.
DEAR SIR :- Your committee's invitation to be present at the centen- nial service of the First Baptist Church of Hartford was gratefully re- ceived. It would give me very great pleasure to share personally in the enjoyment of that interesting occasion. My connection with the church did not exceed two years, but that relation and other incidents of my Hartford sojourn continue fresh in my memory, and are among my most pleasing recollections. Dr. Turnbull, Rev. Gurdon Robins, Deacons Bolles and Gilbert, and other officers and members of the church will never be forgotten while life and memory last. I should greatly enjoy your commemoration, but circumstances make it necessary to forego the gratification.
Yours, with grateful regard,
LUCIUS E. SMITH.
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LETTERS.
From the Rev. Dr. WAYLAND, Editor of The National Baptist.
1420 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, March 19, 1890.
MY DEAR MR. JAMES :- I am very much obliged to you and to the com- mittee for the courtesy of an invitation to the centennial, and regret that the pressure upon my time will not permit me to be present. The First Baptist Church of Hartford has had a most honorable history. I have had some acquaintance with its ministers and some of its members for, I shudder to say, forty years. Rev. S. M. Whiting, our honored mis- sionary in Assam, was one of my earliest friends. With many of the pastors, those now living and those who are departed, I have had a most pleasant acquaintance, as also with that excellent layman, Governor Howard, whose reputation is one of the treasures of the host of God's baptized children throughout America.
I most heartily congratulate you on the past success, and unite with all who shall be present in the hope for another century of constantly deepening spirituality and constantly increasing usefulness.
With very sincere regard,
Very truly yours,
H. L. WAYLAND.
From the Rev. A. E. DICKINSON, D. D., Editor of The Religious Herald.
III7 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA., March 18, 1890.
MY DEAR BRO. JAMES :- Please do me the kindness to express to the brethren and sisters of your noble old church my heartiest congratula- tions and best wishes, now that they are celebrating their centennial. For a church to have lived one hundred years is a great thing, but to have lived them so well, to have sent forth, over sea and land, such holy, uplifting influences as have gone out from your church, is a far greater thing.
I have recently been looking into the history of your church, under the guidance of your own honored and venerable Joseph W. Dimock, and
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my heart went up to God in thanksgiving for the mighty work his grace and strength had enabled you to do. Speaking for Virginia and the South, I greet you in the name of our common Master ! We owe you thanks for what your church has done for this South land. The names of some of the grand men you have given the denomination are house- hold names among us. Your senior member, Mr. Dimock, in giving his reminiscences, may not tell of how he lived and toiled for Christ in Richmond and Petersburg and Raleigh, long years ago; but what he did in these Southern cities, when he was a young man, is still bearing fruit. And when your James L. Howard shall arise to make his opening address, it will be natural enough for your people to say, with hearts swelling with thanksgiving, "He is ours !" And yet all over the South, wherever his name is mentioned, there is in the heart of every loyal Baptist the feeling " he is mine too." He belongs to us all, as do your James G. Batterson, your G. F. Davis, your W. S. Bronson, and many more among you, whose names are in the Book of God.
God bless you, dear brethren, and may the next century bring your church far greater prosperity, and may its history grow brighter and better, until time shall be no more !
Affectionately and truly yours,
A. E. DICKINSON.
From the Rev. J. N. MURDOCK, D. D., Cor. Secretary American Baptist Missionary Union.
BOSTON, March 22, 1890.
MY DEAR BROTHER :- I thank you for the invitation to be present at the commemoration of the centennial of the First Baptist Church in Hartford. It is wise and every way becoming to review the long and honorable history of an organization which has been a potent factor in the social and religious progress of the community in which it is planted. The personal character and qualities of the men whose lives have consti- tuted an important part in its annals, would entitle your venerable body to the most honorable distinction. Men like John Bolles, Dea. Joseph B. Gilbert, Edward Bolles, James G. Bolles and other laymen, who have borne its burdens and contributed to its prosperity, and Cushman and Eaton and Sears and Davis and Turnbull, and others who taught and
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trained its members in Christian truth and Christian living, are commem- orated in its records and exalted in the praises of all the churches, while through its pecuniary gifts and the personal labors and sacrifices of its members, its lines have gone out into all the earth. In short, in all the respects in which there can be growth and progress in a Christian church there has been a steady advance from the first day until now ; while in the things which cannot be moved, that is, in doctrine, in ex- perience and in practice, you abide on the sure foundation of apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the Chief Corner stone. Blessed is the people that is in such a state.
Sincerely regretting my inability to share in the sacred festivities of your commemoration, and praying that the blessing of God may abide with you, and that all your work may prosper,
I am, yours in the One Hope through the One Name,
J. N. MURDOCK.
From the Rev. P. S. MOXOM, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston.
March 20th, 1890.
MY DEAR SIR :- I have to acknowledge your invitation to attend the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of your church. This I do with most hearty thanks. It would give me very great pleasure to accept your invitation were not my duties on the 23d and 24th instants such as to prevent. But I do send you warmest congratulations. My regard for the First Baptist Church of Hartford is great ; partly because among its members are some dear and honored friends ; partly because all I have learned of the church's history has aroused my admiration and respect. It is a noble church that now completes its first century of earthly life and labor. How much of toil and trial and hope and achievement that century includes. You have a right to celebration ; a right to the glad and grateful, and to make the day memorable in the lives of all who are permitted to join in the festivities.
Though I cannot be with you, I shall thank God for you and with you ; and I wish for church and pastor every blessing that Christian hearts can receive or even desire.
Most sincerely yours, in the love and service of our Lord Jesus Christ,
PHILIP S. MOXOM.
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LETTERS.
From the Rev. Dr. KING.
ALBANY, N. Y., March 19, 1890.
Hon. J. L. HOWARD.
MY DEAR BROTHER :- I thank you for the invitation to be present at the Centennial of your honored church. It would give me very great pleasure to accept it, and join with you in the delightful services, if it were pos- sible for me to do so. I can only send you my sincere congratulations over a history so rich in honored names, in noble sacrifices, and in blessed successes. Your memories will be most precious and inspiring. The faces of beloved pastors, and faithful deacons, and devoted brethren and sisters, a great cloud of witnesses who have ascended to the church on high, will seem to look down upon the occasion, and encourage the living to renewed fidelity to Christ and to the church of Christ, with which are connected many of the most hallowed associations of earth. How poor we should be, and how little we could accomplish for God or man, were it not for the fellowship which we have in our church-home, and the opportunities which it furnishes us for united and well-directed Christian activity !
I thank God for all that the history of your dear old church includes of labor, of prayer and of rejoicing, of toil expended and of truth defended, of characters matured and perfected, and of souls garnered home ; and I rejoice that the church, though venerable with years, is still vigorous with youth and the strength that is unwasting. The evening of the old century brings you to the morning of a new century, and the symbol of your church will be, not the setting sun of an accomplished work, how- ever well achieved, but the morning star of a brighter and richer future.
I do not forget that the First Baptist Church of Hartford once highly honored me by calling me to its pulpit. You, perhaps, never knew what a narrow escape you had. I certainly have often thought how happy would have been my life, and how successful must have been my labors, seconded by your generous support, if the pillar of cloud had only gone that way. But I suppose I should have reached the promised land too soon. I need not say that that pleasantly remembered courtship, when you were younger than you are now, and not so wise (the church I mean), has left in my heart an abiding interest in your prosperity,-an interest which will follow you with many prayers and all best wishes as you em- bark upon the voyage of another century.
Most sincerely yours,
HENRY M. KING.
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LETTERS.
From the Rev. H. W. KNAPP, D. D.
BROOKLYN, March 19, 1890.
DEAR SIR AND BROTHER :- I have delayed my reply to your Commit- tee on Invitation to the Centennial of your church, trusting that I might be present on the two days of the feast. But I find at this late hour that I cannot do so. The memories of fifty years ago are very vivid, and most precious to me, as they recall Pastor Eaton, Rev. Gurdon Robins, Deacons Gilbert, Clapp, Dimock, Howard, A. T. Hast- ings, Davis and others, and later, that saintly name, Dr. Turnbull, with a precious company of Masters in Israel, whose devotedness and fidelity honored the Master. Never can I praise God enough for the influence of your dear church over me. Had I only yielded to her advice, and obeyed her counsel, I would have been saved an interim of back- sliding, and gained at least years to my Lord.
I know it will be a rare and glorious centennial to the church and all who meet with her, and I pray God it may be a day of his power, a day of deep spiritual blessing and salvation. My heart will be with you, as my prayers also, and may the God of peace make it " the beginning of months," a harvesting time of great abundance.
I am, yours in Jesus,
HALSEY W. KNAPP.
From the Rev. H. H. BARBOUR.
CHICAGO, March 20th, 1890.
MY DEAR BROTHER :- I am grateful to the Committee for the kind in- vitation given me to be present at the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the First Church, and deeply regret that I cannot participate in the enjoyable occasion.
I often think of the church, and the happy days that came to me through its instrumentality in the years gone by. To my boyish imagin- ation, kindled by the zeal of a young convert, the whole world seemed to be Beulah land, and the newly-erected meeting-house a veritable temple in which the glory was ever discernible.
Indeed even now, when I wish to be perfectly happy, I try to imagine myself a youngster again, in one of the church prayer-meetings, listen- ing to Dr. Turnbull, Deacon James G. Bolles, Deacon Howard or Super-
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intendent Bronson, seeing good old brother Arthur dozing in his accus- tomed place, and hearing, above all other voices in the singing of the favorite hymns, those of "Corney" Wells and Alfred Hanmer. Of these, most vividly remembered by me in the church life, only brethren Howard and Bronson are left. But how rich heaven is, and how much we shall feel at home there !
That the second century may bring to the First Church the divine blessing in fullest measure is the prayer of my heart.
Sincerely yours,
H. H. BARBOUR.
In addition to the above, letters or telegrams were received from the following, beside many others, members of this church :--
The Rev. G. M. Stone, D. D.,
Hartford.
66 J. Kittredge Wheeler,
H. M. Thompson, 66
66 C. D. Hartranft, D. D., 66
Geo. Williamson Smith, D. D., 66
Graham Taylor, D. D., 66
E. C. Bissell, 66
J. Aspinwall Hodge, D. D., Floyd W. Tomkins, Jr., 66
66 H. H. Kelsey, 66
66 Wm. DeLoss Love, 66
66 Clark S. Beardslee,
66
James E. Holmes,
66 George R. Warner,
66 Frank R. Shipman,
66 Rabbi Meyer Elkin,
66 H. J. Gillette,
66
Prof. W. R. Harper,
New Haven.
The Rev. G. S. Goodspeed,
66
E. M. Jerome,
66 Eben C. Sage,
Julius Bond,
J. B. Connell, James G. Ditmars,
Cromwell. Bridgeport.
John R. Gow,
66 B. B. Gibbs,
Bloomfield.
66 A. M. Harrison,
66 Joseph McKean,
66 Plantsville.
New London. Niantic.
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LETTERS.
The Rev. E. W. Potter,
66 D. D. Read,
Walter Scott,
J. R. Stubbert,
J. F. Temple, O. P. Gifford,
Rockville. Plainville. Suffield. Putnam. Preston. Brookline, Mass. Bucknell University. Philadelphia.
President John H. Harris, The Rev. William H. Conard,
R. M. Luther, D. D., William Ward West,
Joseph L. Barbour, Esq.,
L. E. Browne,
George H. Burdick,
Uriah Case, 66
J. Crocker, Mrs. J. H. Davis, " Miles W. Graves,
L. B. Haas,
Mrs. E. C. Hansell,
Homer Hastings,
George M. Hersey,
Miss Niles, Mary E. Rose,
66
James R. Stevens,
F. A. Thompson, Mrs. D. W. Tracy,
66
H. M. Ventres,
Mrs. Delia B. Ward,
William H. Wiley,
S. H. Wilson,
M. E. Arthur,
Albert Barrows, A. P. Carroll,
C. W. Cook,
Wm. D. Emerson,
Ralph L. Gilbert, R. F. Hodge,
Mrs. P. S. Kelley, " J. T. Lee, Matilda S. Lord, Sarah C. Mather, M. R. Shumway, Sarah M. Sibley, Mrs. M. E. Smith, " Mary E. Whiting, Mary A. Belt, Lizzie M. Barnard,
Willimantic. Norwich. Yalesville. Rockville. Hebron. Rainbow. Madison.
Colchester. Deep River. Mansfield. Meriden. Colchester. New Haven. Boston, Mass. Sturbridge, “
Pittsburg. Hartford.
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LETTERS.
Charles C. Farnham,
Mrs. Stedman Garfield,
Randolph, Mass. Springfield, ", Henry G. Granger, Mrs. Mary B. Gladwin,
" Anna W. Hakes, " G. F. Hickmott,
Worcester, 66 Newton, 66
Maria M. Woodbury,
Groton, 66
Mrs. Fannie A. Bradstreet,
Royalston, Vt.
Elizabeth S. Ashwell,
Providence, R. I. New York.
Mrs. Barker,
Elijah Bliss,
F. W. Brewster,
Emma Caulkins,
William H. Cotton,
60
Mrs. A. F. Hastings,
" Higgins,
Danford Knowlton, L. B. Page,
66
Mrs. Simmons,
66
Margeret St. John,
66
Estelle F. Taylor,
L. P. Brockett, .
Brooklyn.
William G. Fulton,
Mrs. S. C. Law,
66
Mrs. Witter,
66
John Northrup,
Helen Frances Sage,
Edward J. Brockett,
Frank L. Moore,
Mrs. M. J. Chase,
A. M. Greene,
Miss Mary Grew,
66
Hiram Hoffman,
George Scatchard,
Dr. C. S. James,
Allentown, Pa.
Lottie M. Barber,
Cleveland, Ohio.
W. E. Thompson,
Milwaukee, Wis.
E. S. Ballard, Davenport, Iowa. C. S. Goodman, San Francisco, Cal.
Mrs. A. A. Goodman, " William G. Allen, John S. Hudson, Mrs. John M. Bates,
San Jose, “ Aiken, S. C.
Orlando, Fla. Valentine, Neb.
C. W. Dunlap,
60
Fannie A. Ormsbee,
Ithaca, N. Y. Vassar College. East Orange, N. J. Chatham, Philadelphia.
66
William Roth,
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
PASTORS OF THE CHURCH.
I. STEPHEN SMITH NELSON, - 1796-1801.
2. HENRY GREW, -
- 1807-18II.
3. ELISHA CUSHMAN, -
. 1812-1825.
4. CYRUS PITT GROSVENOR, 1825-1826.
5. BARNAS SEARS, - 1827-1829.
6. GUSTAVUS FELLOWES DAVIS, - 1829-1836.
7. HENRY JACKSON, - 1836-1838. -
8. JEREMIAH SEWELL EATON, - 1839-1844.
9. ROBERT TURNBULL, -
1845-1869.
IO. ADONIRAM JUDSON SAGE, - 1872-1884.
II. LESTER LEWIS POTTER, - 1885-1887.
12. JOHN SEXTON JAMES, -
- 1889.
STEPHEN S. NELSON.
ELISHA CUSHMAN.
HENRY JACKSON, D.D.
JEREMIAH S. EATON.
EARLY PASTORS.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
In the year 1611, under the reign of James I., in the old town of Litchfield, England, Edward Wightman, a Baptist minister, who was accused by the dominant hier- archy of almost every heresy, and, worst of all, the denial of the divine authority of infant baptism, was burned at the stake. A little less than a hundred years after, in 1705, a descendant of this noble martyr, Rev. Valentine Wightman, planted at Groton the first Baptist church in the " Province" of Connecticut, from which other various churches, in due time, have been formed. Among her first children was the First Baptist Church in the town of Suffield, occupying for its site of worship that well-known elevation, "Zion's Hill." Of this church Joseph Hastings was pastor. John Hastings, his son, succeeded him. He was a man of unusual mental vigor and fervid piety. Several churches originated from this Zion's Hill, whither the scattered tribes of our Israel, in former days, delighted to go up and worship God in the beauty of holiness. Among them was the First Baptist Church in this city.
On a pleasant Sunday morning, something more than one hundred years ago, might be seen a little group wending their way from Hartford through the green
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
woods and meadows of the Connecticut valley toward the little church on Zion's Hill. Among them was a man of small stature, something like Zaccheus of old, of erect gait, bright eye and agile movement. Though living eighteen miles from Suffield, he was wont, on pleasant days, to walk the whole distance, beguiling the way with devout meditation, or, if some younger brother chose to accompany him, with pleasant talk about the things of the kingdom. This was Deacon John Bolles, brother of the Rev. David Bolles, and uncle of the late excellent Rev. Matthew Bolles, and the Rev. Dr. Lucius Bolles, so well known in connection with the cause of foreign missions.
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