USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Exercises at the 50th anniversary of the Evangelical Congregational Church, Gloucester, Mass., Nov. 18, 1879 > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01065 8075
.
EXERCISES
AT THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY 50%
OF THE
EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
GLOUCESTER, MASS.
NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
November 18, 1879. 1
GLOUCESTER : CAPE ANN BULLETIN PRESS, WOODBURY & HASKELL, PRINTERS.
1880.
1822120
1829 -- 1879
SEMI-CENTENNIAL
OF THE
EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONAL,
CHURCH
GLOUCESTER, MASS
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO!
1:
D . GLOUCESTER, MASS. EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
2844312 .3 Exercises at the fiftieth anniversary of the Evangelical Congregational church, Gloucester, Mass., November 18, 1879. Gloucester, Cape Ann bulletin press, 1880. 75p.
Cover-title: 1829-1879. Semi-centennial of the Evangelical Congregational church, Glouces- ter, Mass. Includes list of members. "Historical ad- dress [by, Rev. Frank G. NL 38-5349
:3738 Clark": p. : 3 _- 37.
JEinn. 1901
a
R. 11549
Preparations for the Semi-Centennial.
At a church meeting held April 15, 1879, the following named per- sons were chosen a committee, on behalf of the church, to make ar- rangements to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of this church, viz. :- Rev. Frank G. Clark, Joseph O. Procter, Solomon Poole, Jacob Bacon, Peter D. Smith, John K. Dustin, Jr., Alexander Pettigrew, Jolm J. Pew, David L. Davis, N. H. Phillips, Stephen P. Andrews, L. D. Nash and Samuel Hodgkins.
The society were invited to join in the celebration, and at a meeting held for that purpose, the following persons were chosen to unite with the committee chosen by the church, viz. : William H. Haskell, N. D. Cunningham, Albert Dodge, Nath'l Babson, Aaron Parsons, James T. Seaver and John Cunningham.
The first meeting of the general committee was held May 26, 1879, and organized by choice of Joseph O. Procter as chairman, and Aaron Parsons, secretary ; and it was voted that the exercises of the semi-cen- tennial be held on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 1879. The following sub-com- mittees were appointed : On Address-Rev. Frank G. Clark, Jacob Bacon, Sam'l Hodgkins, N. HI. Phillips, Joseph O. Procter, L. D. Nash, and Solomon Poole. On Music-N. D. Cunningham, Solomon Poole, and John. Cunningham. On Refreshments-John K. Dustin, Jr., James T. Seaver, Alexander Pettigrew, Nath'l Babson, Stephen P. Andrews, D. L. Davis, and L. D. Nash. On Decoration of the Church-Mrs. David Y. Tucker. On Literary Exercises-Aaron Parsons, Peter D. Smith, John J. Pew, N. II. Phillips, and Rev. Frank G. Clark. On Finance-David L. Davis, Albert Dodge, Nath'l Babson, John J. Pew, and Peter D. Smith. On Printing and Invitations-Joseph O. Procter, Peter D. Smith, William H. Haskell, Jacob Bacon, Samuel Hodgkins, John Cunningham, and Rev. F. G. Clark. On Reception-N. D. Cun- ningham, James T. Seaver, Albert Dodge, Alex. Pettigrew, John K. Dustin, Jr., and Aaron Parsons.
13788
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
REV. FRANK G. CLARK.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1829, there was launched at Gloucester Harbor, the Gospel ship christened "The Evangelical Congre- gational Church." Its timbers, few in number, were taken from a more pretentious craft, whose seaworthiness had been questioned by a high commission of ecelesiastical authority. Its keel was laid with many prayers, its masts were set with a thorough spirit of consecration, and its sails were spread with unwavering faith in the God of their fathers, upon whose blessing their hopes were cen- tered. It set sail when the winds of sectarian prejudice were con- trary and tempestuous, so that many looked upon the voyage with suspicion and prophesied an umtimely wreck. But the timbers though old were sound and strong, the crew though small was united and courageous, and it was chartered by the advice of some of the wisest and best counselors of the denomination.
To-day, after fifty years of service, as it furls its sails long enough to take its reckoning, review its history, and recount its mercies, it finds abundant reason to thank God and take courage.
Before reviewing the history of this church for the last half- century, it may be well to consider briefly some of the changes which time has wrought in the political and material condition of our country. It will help us to appreciate the work of our fathers, if we glance for a moment at a picture of Gloucester Harbor fifty years ago.
In 1829, the population of the United States was only about twelve millions, and its territory was mostly cast of the Missis- sippi river. To-day, the population is estimated at fifty millions,
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and our territory extends, not simply to the Pacific, but to the Northern ocean. Then, not a railroad for carrying passengers was in operation in this country and there was but one locomotive in use. The papers had just begun to discuss the possibility of building a road from Boston to the Hudson river, and were appealing to the Commonwealth for aid, because no corporation would be able to take it upon its own responsibility. The experience of a gen- tleman who traveled three hundred and fifty-three miles in forty hours, nearly nine miles an hour, was quoted far and wide as a re- markable feat. Gloucester then boasted of a daily mail which left Boston at eleven and arrived here at four o'clock. For a little while in the summer, there was an extra stage which left Boston at seven o'clock, and its proprietors announced that a " business man could leave Boston in the morning and spend three hours and half in Gloucester and return the same evening ; " but there was no such convenience for country traders ; they had to stay over night in the metropolis. People desiring to visit Newburyport and Portsmouth " could take seats in the stage for Ipswich which left Gloucester Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at eight o'clock and returned on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at two o'clock." In those days postals and envelopes were unknown, and the postage was in proportion to the number of sheets used and the distance sent- ten cents to Boston, eighteen and three-fourths to New York and twenty-five to Baltimore or Washington, and double these rates if two sheets were used. As a part of the sheet had to be used as an envelope, letters of friendship and love were expensive luxuries, and such messages were usually sent by private conveyance or de- livered in person. It was in 1829 that the Government built the lighthouse, or monument as it was then called, on Eastern Point, and the same year the first steamboat, Tom Thumb, made the circuit of the Cape, to the wonder and delight of the whole com- munity. There were then three hundred and twenty-six Congre- gational churches in the State belonging to the General Associa- tion, and forty-two in Essex County, instead of five hundred and twenty-nine in the former and eighty-one in the latter, to-day. The population of Gloucester, including Rockport, fifty years ago, " was* 7513 ; about 3000 at the Harbor, 2000 at Sandy Bay, (now Rockport, ) 1600 at Annisquam, 400 at Uppertown and the rest at
*Rev. Robert Crowell.
5
West Parish." There were scareely any buildings on the east side of the harbor and only seven small wharves east of Vineent Cove, while Rocky Neek was a sheep pasture. The road to Roekport went over the hill instead of past the residence of Mr. John Pew, and in all that neighborhood there was but one house, and a small wharf reached by a lane on the other side of the hill. There was no street between Front or Main street and the water, and only a few sheds and eooper shops. There were no dwellings on the Fort or Commercial street, and only two or three on Western avenue beyond the Pavilion. Washington square and Summer street had no existenee, and Granite street had only two or three dwellings at its lower end, and had been known up to that time as Poor House lane. Mason street, Dale avenue and the ground now oeeupied by the City Hall was then an open lot through which a brook ran, affording musie in summer and sliding for the boys in winter. There were no streets or buildings north and east of Prospect except near Union Hill, where the Methodist meeting house had been built the year before. The seleetmen, in 1829, named the streets of the village, and mentioned twenty-three, where now are found more than eighty, besides eourts and lanes almost without number. Aeeording to this edict of the Fathers of the town, "Canal street extended from Gloucester canal to the hay seales, Front street from the hay seales to the town pump, Spring street from the town pump to the Methodist meeting house, and Prospect street from that point to the gunhouse." " Hereafter," says the lo- cal paper, " Poverty lane, Love lane and sundry other romantie names are to be extinct and known no more forever." The town then boasted of one apothecary shop and one hotel, the Gloucester House, now the Atlantic, and the Gloucester Telegraph had been published two years. The post office was in a small building in the rear of what is now F. W. Winter's grocery store on Main street. The letters were displayed in a window on the side of a small entry, where the superseriptions and post-marks were studied and diseussed to the great satisfaction of many an inquisitive mind.
To collect and arrange the historical materials of a church which has existed for fifty years requires no small diligence and patience, beeause so few things are recorded which are the most valuable as matters of history. There is no record by the church or society
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to show who preached for nearly two years after the church was organized, and no account of the first meeting-house except the appointment of a committee to build it. There is no record of its dedication, and none of the council that dismissed the first pastor. In view of these facts, the writer heard with great satis- faction that there was at the Congregational library in Boston, a history of all the Congregational churches of New England in six volumes of manuscript, but he found the history of this church condensed into the following statement : " The Evangelical Con- gregational Church of Gloucester Harbor was organized in 1829." The columns of the local paper were searched for an account of the dedication of the first meeting house, and this was the result : " The new Orthodox meeting-house was dedicated on Thursday ; sermon by Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Salem. We were not present, nor have we heard of any of the particulars, but presume the cer- emonies were similar to other dedications."
Had it not been for the private journal of Miss Judith Parsons, one of the original members of this church, many facts of interest would have been lost. A portion of a journal kept by her has been very helpful in locating early ministers, and in securing the text at the dedication of the meeting-house and the ordination of the first pastor.
The history of this church goes back fifty years, but the history of Orthodox preaching in Gloucester goes back two hundred and thirty-seven years, when the first church was probably organized. As this church is all that is left of the First Orthodox church in Gloucester Harbor, it will not seem out of place to give here a brief outline of its record. The first minister of whom there is any definite record was Rev. Richard Blynman, a native of England and a minister in Cheapston in Monmouthshire, who came from Plymouth to Gloucester in 1642 and remained seven years. Rev. William Perkins, formerly of London, came from Weymouth and preached from 1651 to 1655. He afterwards preached in Tops- field, where he died in 1682. Rev. John Emerson, a graduate of Harvard College, was ordained over the church Oct. 6, 1663, and died in office, Dee. 2, 1700. Rev. John White (Harvard, 1698) was ordained April 21, 1703, and died after a pastorate of fifty-seven years, Jan. 17, 1760.
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Previous to 1738, the church was located at what is now called Meeting-house Green, but in that year seven members of the par- ish built a meeting-house at the Harbor, on the spot where the Unitarian church now stands, and from that time it was regarded as the First Parish, the worshippers in the old meeting-house tak- ing the name of the Fourth Parish, by act of the General Court.
Rev. Samuel Chandler, of Andover, (Harvard, 1735) was in- stalled Nov., 1751, and died in office, April 16, 1775. Rev. Eli Forbes ( Harvard, 1751) was installed June 5, 1776, and died Dec. 15, 1804. Rev. Perez Lincoln, of Hingham, ( Harvard, 1798) was ordained Aug. 7, 1805, and continued pastor until his death, June 13, 1811. Rev. Levi Hartshorn, of Amherst, N. H., ( Dart- mouth, 1813) was ordained Oct. 18, 1815, and died Sept. 27, 1819. Rev. Hosea Hildreth, ( Harvard, 1805) who had been a teacher for many years in Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. II., was pastor from Aug. 3, 1825, to Dec. 31, 1833. It was during his ministry that the Evangelical Church was organized, but the reasons that led to this action had a much earlier origin. A writer* well ac- quainted with the circumstances made, in 1831, the following statement : " The ancient church, the first planted in the town, was long sound in the faith, and was blessed with a holy ministry and with revivals. But before the coming of Universalism, the church had begun to decline and come under the care of a less effi- cient ministry. Thus the soil was prepared for the taking root of that fearful error. And from that time to the present, with a soli- tary and short-lived exception, the ministry here maintained has been highly latitudinarian. The ancient parish connected with this church has become very much reduced in respect of numbers, having dwindled within twenty years from more than two thousand to less than six hundred." This statement is confirmed by this record of the First Church, made Aug. 8, 1830: "During the preceding five years, three new meetings were set up, viz :- a Methodist, Baptist, and a meeting of two males and five females dismissed from this church and organized by a council into a sepa- rate church, called, I believe, The Evangelical Church."
At this time the parish was much larger than the church and less orthodox, so that when a successor to Rev. Mr. Hildreth was se- lected, the parish gave the call and appointed the day for ordina-
* Rev. Robert Crowell.
8
tion before notifying the church of its action. This was regarded by the church as a mark of contempt, and Nov. 8, 1834, it voted to have " nothing more to do with the parish." It retained its or- ganization until most of its members had been dismissed to other churches, many of them to the Evangelical church, and in 1837, it disbanded. As no other church has ever been organized in its place, it seems as though the church whose jubilee we celebrate to-day has some claim to the . history and the records of the mother church.
Soon after the settlement of Rev. Mr. Hildreth, a few of the members began to be dissatisfied with his ministry as deficient in the leading doctrines of christianity. They reported to the Sa- lem Association for advice, but were exhorted to wait in patience and try to be satisfied. The following record of the First Church of the date May 21, 1829, shows their feeling in the matter :-- " A meeting of the church, regularly called and notified, was held at the house of the pastor. The pastor stated to the church that two of the brethren and deacons of the church, Babson and Par- ker, had applied to the Salem Association in consequence of dis- satisfaction with the pastor. Brothers Babson and Parker admitted the fact, whereupon it was voted unanimously 'that it is disorder- ly for a member or members of the church to go abroad and make complaints of difficulties in the church, or with the pastor, instead of first endeavoring for a reconciliation at home.' After much con- versation, the meeting was amicably closed in the usual manner." At a meeting of the First Church held Nov. 2, 1829, the follow- lowing request was presented :-
GLOUCESTER, Oct., 1829.
To the First Church of Christ, Gloucester :
BRETHREN :- We, the undersigned, members of the First Church in Gloucester, have found for a considerable time past that we could not be instructed and edified by the preaching of our pastor. Having taken the subject under serious and prayerful consideration, we are brought at length to this conclusion, that it is our indispensible duty to request of yon a dismission and recommendation to be organized into a separate church. The idea of being separated from the church estab- lished by our Pilgrim Forefathers nearly two centuries since, and with which many of our kindred, now in the dust, were once happily united in Christian fellowship, has been to us like separating the joints of our own body ; and nothing but a full conviction that the true Gospel ac- cording to our view is not now preached to us would have brought us to
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this painful decision. In our trying and affecting situation, we hope that the church will feel for us and readily grant our request. We remain, your aggrieved brethren and sisters,
[ Signed by]
ANDREW PARKER, NATHANIEL BABSON, JUDITH PARSONS, ELIZABETH J. STEVENS, SARAH HARRADEN, ANNA HARRADEN, PAMELIA STACY.
The church seems to have been somewhat surprised by the com- munication and appointed a committee of conference, and at anoth- er meeting held a few days later, we find this record : ".After a serious and deliberate discussion concerning the course which duty requires the church to take on the subject of request for dismission, it was voted that the, following communication, signed by the moderator, be sent to Dea. Andrew Parker, Dea. N. Babson, and sisters Parsons, Stevens, Harradens and Stacy :
DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS :- We have received your request to be dismissed from the First Church in Gloncester for the purpose of be- ing organized into a separate church. It is a cause of great grief that you can not remain happily united with us. But before we take any further measures relative to your request, we ask for an explicit answer in writing to the following questions, viz. :
.
In saying that for some time past, you have not been instructed and edified by the preaching of our pastor, do you mean that our pastor now preaches different doctrine from what he formerly preached ?
In expressing your full conviction that the true Gospel according to your views is not now preached to you, do you mean that our pastor has changed his religious sentiments since his settlement among us, and that he now preaches false doctrine ?
. November 11, the following reply to the communication voted on the sixth inst. was presented by the moderator, and read to the church :
To the First Church in Gloucester :
DEAR BRETHREN :- We received your communication of Nov. 6, and in answer to the same, whether we understood our pastor's sentiments when he was settled or not, we are now satisfied that we cannot be in- structed or edified by his preaching, and therefore do not wish to en- ter into any controversy on the subject, but must request an immediate dismission.
Voted unanimously by the church that although the above reply is evasive, yet it is inexpedient to insist on a more explicit answer. Voted unanimously that Dea. Andrew Parker, Dea. Nathaniel
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Babson, and sisters Judith Parsons, Elizabeth J. Stevens, Sarah Harraden, Anna Harraden and Pamelia Stacy, members of this church in regular standing, be by their urgent request dismissed from this church and commended by us to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the hope that they will be united with some other church in which they may be edified, happy and useful."
It is worthy of record that the church which had been so weak- ened in previous years should now so promptly and kindly dismiss its two deacons and the others with them, though it took a sixthi of its male members and a tenth of its total membership.
A large council was called of the most able ministers and church- es in Boston, Salem and the surrounding towns, and though some of them came on the ground with strong doubts as to the expedieney of forming a new church, yet, after consulting with the pastor of the First Church, hearing a full statement of the facts, and reviewing the whole ground, they came unanimously to the result, " that it is highly expedient to form a new church." The council was announced by the local paper as "an ecclesiastical council from Hanover St., Boston," probably in reference to its pastor, Dr. Lyman Beecher, who had at that time attained a wide reputation and who was prominent in the deliberations of the council. The council met and were entertained at the house of Mrs. Clarissa Rogers, who had just opened a boarding-house where M. L. Wetherell's apothecary store now stands, corner of Main and Pleasant streets.
The public services were held Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1829, in the Methodist meeting house which stood then on Prospect street, near Union hill. The severe storm which prevailed that day was thought by many to be the frown of Providence upon the under- taking. Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D., preached the sermon, fron the text, "Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleas- ure to give you the kingdom," Luke, XII : 32. Prayer was of- fered by Rev. Warren Fay, D. D., of Charlestown, reading of the articles of faith and covenant and recognition of the church by the moderator, Rev. Brown Emerson, of Salem. The right hand of fellowship was given by the scribe, Rev. Robert Crowell, of Essex, and concluding prayer by Rev. Samuel Green, of the Essex Street church, Boston. The other ministers on the council were
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Rev. David Jewett, of Sandy Bay, Rev. Samuel M. Emerson, of Manchester, Rev. David Oliphant, of Beverly, and Rev. J. P. Cleaveland, of Salem.
The articles of faith and covenant adopted were taken from those of Dr. Edward Payson's church in Portland, and have been but little changed since that time.
Of the members of that large council fifty years ago, no one re- mains ; Rev. David Oliphant dying in 1872, and Rev. J. P. Cleaveland in 1873.
All of the seven original members of the church have entered into the rest that " remaineth for the people of God." We have reason to-day to thank God for their devotion to the truths of re- ligion, their faith and courage in times that tried men's souls, their spirit of self-denial that led them to make great exertion to secure a church home and a ministry after their own heart.
NATHANIEL BABSON united with the First Church, Aug., 1823, was elected deacon of the same, Feb. 6, 1828, and performed the duties of deacon in this church until he died, Feb. 1, 1836. His death was a very severe blow to the church, as he had been from the first one of the most active and self-denying of its members, giving largely for the meeting-house, and was quoted in the neighboring towns as an example of liberality, for " he paid fifty dollars a year for the support of the Gospel."
ANDREW PARKER united with the First Church, Nov. 9, 1823, and was elected deacon of the same, Feb. 6, 1828. He performed the duties of deacon in this church until June 15, 1840, when as the record reads : " After much deliberation and prayer on the sub- ject, voted that two members of the church be selected as deacons. Andrew Parker and Jacob Bacon having been nominated, were appointed to the office." This position Deacon Parker held until he died, Oct. 11, 1877, at the age of eighty-six years. It falls to the lot of very few men to be officially connected with the church for so many years. In the church records, his name is found on almost every page ; he held the office of treasurer and collector for the parish for many years, and was the representative of the church to almost every conference and council, until prevented by the in- firmities of age. The church, at its meeting after his death, passed among others, the following resolution : " Resolved, that in the
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death of this, the last of the seven original members of our church, we sustain the loss of a staunch defender of the truth, a faithful standard bearer in the ranks of Christ's followers, a constant at- tendant upon the ordinances and services of the church, and so long as God granted him health and strength, an active supporter of them, and a devoted Christian man. As such, we affectionately cherish his memory, feeling that his many Christian virtues are well worthy of our imitation."
MISS JUDITH PARSONS was for many years a teacher of a pri- vate school for young scholars, and lived in a small house* at the west end of what used to be the Town Hall. She was very act- ive in the carly history of the church, and a female prayer meeting was held in her house for years. Many are still living who were her pupils, and who have a lively recollection of their struggles with the mysteries of the "Shorter Catechism" every Friday after- noon. A portion of a journal kept by her gives the text of nearly every sermon she heard from 1830 to 1835, with the name and denomination of the preacher. She died in 1846, but her works still bear fruit.
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