USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > Historical review. One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Church of Christ in Amherst, Massachusetts. November 7, 1889 > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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CHURCH AND MANSE. BUILT 1867.
AN HISTORICAL REVIEW. ¿
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
- - - OF THE
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST
Forbes Library.
IN
AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS.
NOVEMBER 7, 1889.
AMHERST, MASS. : PRESS OF THE AMHERST RECORD. 1890.
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. PUBLIC LIBRARY.
1241110 CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Preface, 5
Historical Address by Rev. G. S. Dickerman, 9
Presentation of Portraits by John H. Washburn
and their Acceptance by Rev. D. W. Marsh, D. D., 34
Address. The First and Second Pastors, by Rev. Chas. H. Williams. 36
Address. The Relation of the Church to the Educational Institutions of Amherst, by Prof. Wm. S. Tyler, D. D., LL.D., 43
Address. Representative Men of the Parish, Church Buildings and Finances, by W. A. Dickinson. 50
Address. The Material Progress of Amherst, by Henry F. Hills, 67
Reminiscences of Former Pastors : Paper by Rev. Aaron M. Colton, 71
Paper by Rev. E. S. Dwight, D. D., 78
Goodspeed
Letter by Rev. F. F. Emerson,
88
Address by Rev. E. P. Blodgett,
91
Correspondence,
94
Hymn, by Dr. V. W. Leach, 99
Old Documents, 100
Appendix to Historical Address :
A. Ancestry and Families of the Founders, 103
B. Petition against Building Two Meeting Houses, 112
C. Origin of the Second Church and Parish. 117
Statistical Tables, 122
$ 2,50
Letter by Rev. Henry L. Hubbell, D. D., 83 86
- 00 Address by Rev. Jonathan L. Jenkins, D. D.,
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE. Frontispiece
Church and Manse,
Portrait of Dr. Parsons,
Portrait of Mrs. Parsons,
34 35
Second Meeting House and Old Parsons House, 53 Third Meeting House, 57
PREFAGE.
At a meeting of the Parish connected with the First Church of Amherst, February 11, 1889, the Pastor, Rev. G. S. Dickerman, made an informal presentation of the subject of commemorating in a suitable manner the Origin of the Church at the approaching One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary. It was thereupon voted to make suitable arrangements for the Celebration and Messrs. L. D. Hills, George Cutler and H. D. Fearing were appointed to nominate such Committees as they should think advisable and report at the Annual Meeting of the Parish in March.
At a meeting of the Church, similar action was taken and a Com- mittee was appointed and authorized to cooperate with that of the Parish. By them committees were nominated, and these were chosen at the Parish Meeting, March 12, 1889, and were accepted by the Church. After certain modifications they stood as follows :
Historic Research.
Entertainment.
REV. G. S. DICKERMAN,
OLIVER D. HUNT,
JAMES I. COOPER,
E. D. MARSH.
Invitations.
Decorations. MORRIS KINGMAN,
GEORGE MONTAGUE,
HENRY F. HILLS,
WM. W. HUNT,
Anniversary Exercises.
Portraits and Antiques.
REV. G. S DICKERMAN,
REV. D. W. MARSH,
FLAVEL GAYLORD,
GEORGE GRAVES.
WOLCOTT HAMLIN,
P. E. IRISH,
J. A. RAWSON,
MISS FANNIE P. CUTLER,
MISS CARRIE T. HUNT.
These Committees subsequently met for joint action, appointed additional Committees as seemed advisable and made the necessary preparation for the celebration.
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ORDER OF EXERCISES.
THURSDAY MORNING, 9-30 O'CLOCK.
1. ORGAN PRELUDE.
2. ANTHEM.
3. READING OF SCRIPTURES, PSALM CXXII.
4. HYMN. Tune " Dundee."
" Let children hear the mighty deeds, Which God performed of old; Which in our younger years we saw, And which our fathers told.
Our lips shall tell them to our sons, And they again to theirs, That generations yet unborn May teach them to their heirs. "
5. READING OF THE ANCIENT COVENANT OF THE CHURCH,
6. LORD'S SUPPER.
Rev. Rowland Ayres, D. D., Rev. Chas. H. Williams.
7. HYMN 820. " Let Saints below in concert sing."
8. HISTORICAL ADDRESS, - Rev. G. S. Dickerman. -
9. HYMN 329. "Coronation."
10. THE FIRST AND SECOND PASTORS, Rev. Chas. H. Williams.
11. HYMN 1060. "O God, beneath thy guiding hand."
BENEDICTION. COLLATION.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, 1-30 O'CLOCK.
1. ORGAN PRELUDE.
2. TE DEUM.
3. PRAYER. Rev. J. L. Jenkins, D. D.
4. RESPONSE.
5. THE RELATIONS OF THE CHURCH TO THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITU- TIONS OF AMHERST, Prof. Wm. S. Tyler, D. D., LL. D.
6. HYMN. Composed by Dr. V. W. Leach.
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7.
REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PARISH, CHURCH BUILDINGS AND FINANCE, Wm. A. Dickinson, Esq.
8. REMINISCENCES,
Rev. Aaron M. Colton, Rev. E. S. Dwight, D. D.
9. THE MATERIAL PROGRESS OF AMHERST, Mr. Henry F. Hills.
10. HYMN 757. "Oh, where are kings and empires now."
BENEDICTION.
THURSDAY EVENING, 7 O'CLOCK.
1. ORGAN PRELUDE.
2. ANTHEM.
3. ADDRESS,
Rev. J. L. Jenkins, D. D.
4. READING OF LETTERS FROM Rev. F. F. Emerson and Others.
5. ADDRESS, Rev. E. P. Blodgett. Rev. Chas. S. Nash.
6. PRAYER,
7. HYMN 1014. "Christ is coming ! Let creation
BENEDICTION.
The following is from an account of the Anniversary in the Hamp- shire Gazette of November 12, 1889 :
" The day was bright and sunny, an ideal Indian summer day, and the occasion brought together a large number from the four villages of Amherst, and from Hadley and other towns around. In the audience were seen many aged people, some of whom could cover with their memory half the space of time under review.
At the close of the historical address a pleasant surprise occurred, Mr. John H. Washburn of New York, a son of Rev. Royal Washburn a former pastor, and a descendant, through his mother, of the first and second pastors, was introduced, and in graceful words presented to the church the framed portraits of his grandfather and grand- mother Rev. Dr. David Parsons and wife. Rev. Dr. Marsh of Amherst accepted the portraits on behalf of the church.
At noon by the blowing of the self-same conch-shell that used to summon the people to church, the assembly was called to dinner, prepared by the ladies in the hall below. The Divine Blessing was invoked by Rev. Dr. J. M. Greene of Lowell. After which more than three hundred people were sumptuously feasted with good things.
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At the evening exercises a crowded audience assembled, the calm, moonlight evening being favorable for both driving and walking. After the opening anthem, finely sung by the choir, Rev. Dr. Jenkins, pastor of the church from '66 to '76, spoke in his usual bright and interesting manner, giving recollections of his pastorate, closing with a panegyric on the church, the church of New England, as being the conservator of all that is best and noblest in the state-a field of action for the best talent and executive ability of all.
Letters of regret were read from many who were invited to be present, among them J. H. Sweetser of New York, Mrs. Electa S. Boltwood of Kansas, Rev. Dr. G. L. Walker of Hartford, Rev. O. R. Kingsbury, Dr. J. C. Greenough and Mrs. Greenough of Westfield. Dr. E. S. Dwight was unable to be present, but sent an excellent letter, which was read by Rev. Charles S. Nash. Rev. Forrest F. Emerson of Newport, pastor from '80 to '83, expected until the last moment to be present, but pastoral duties that he did not feel at liberty to put aside, prevented his coming. His paper was read by Rev. Dr. Marsh.
Quite a collection of old and modern portraits and photographs of pastors and prominent men and women of the church and town, were displayed in the lecture room of the church. Some interesting relics were also shown, such as ancient books, manuscript sermons of the older pastors, musical instruments used in the choir fifty years ago, the manacles used to confine the famous Stephen Burroughs, etc. Among the portraits were those of Rev. Daniel Clark, Dea. Eleazer Gaylord and wife, Pres. Hitchcock, Edward Dickinson, Leonard Hills, Dea. Ayres, S. C. Carter, Aaron Belden. There were excellent photographs of Rev. H. Kingsbury, Rev. Dr. Hubbell, Dea. Sweet- ser and wife, Dr. Gridley, Dr. Smith, Miss Esther Cutler and others.
A word of praise ought to be spoken in regard to the music interspers- ed throughout the exercises. Much time and thought had been spent upon the preparation of suitable pieces, and the choir and their leader Mrs. Sanderson, won well-deserved laurels in their execution, espec- ially in the Te Deum, the Dona Nobis, and the time-honored " Strike the Cymbal." A quartette from the Agricultural College rendered the chant " Remember now thy Creator" in a most accurate and very impressive manner. The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary is over and now the church takes its strong and steadfast march along towards its two hundredth year."
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NORTHAMPTON, Mass. PUBLIC LIBRARY.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
BY G. S. DICKERMAN, PASTOR.
Occasions similar to this on which we meet are growing familiar. A trait of our times is love of the retrospect with endeavor to repro- duce the life of a former period.
The past interests us as showing the fountain head of streams that are flowing in the present ; and often we are led to wonder at the depth and majesty of these streams as we trace them back to a quiet, secluded spring.
We are interested, too, in the life of the past. It is so unlike that of the present, not only in outward circumstances, but in many essen- tial features, in modes of thinking, in ideas of duty, in the sentiment and practice which prevailed. This gives a peculiar zest to studies which might otherwise seem dull and covers them with an air almost of romance.
But such a review is more than entertaining : it can teach us much. There are lessons here to make us wise and strong, to raise our cour- age and kindle our ardor. For how can we call to mind the deeds of those who have gone before us and be unmoved? How can we reflect on their high purpose, their fidelity to conviction, their steadfast endurance in the way they believed to be right, with the far-reaching results that have ensued, and not be made truer and better for the work we have to perform?
In our old record book the first entry is, " Novbr 1735, I Began my Ministry at Hadley." Then immediately below we read " Noybr 7. 1739, David Parsons Jun. was ordained Pastor of the Chili of Christ in Hadley 3ª Precinct, which was gathered on that Day & consisted of the Persons hereafter mentioned : "
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David Parsons, Pastor
Nathel Kellogg
John Ingram Samel Hawley
Ebenezer Kellogg Jonathan Smith
Eleazer Mattun
John Nash
Pelatiah Smith Ebenezer Dickinson
Nathel Smith Joseph Clary
Jonathan Cowls &
Richard Chauncey."
Here are the names of sixteen men. The youngest of these was the pastor whose age was twenty-seven and who was as yet unmarried. The other fifteen were all householders and fathers of children, their ages ranging from thirty-four to seventy-eight.
The method of founding a church through a band of chosen men had prevailed from the beginning of the New England settlements. In earlier times the number had been fixed at seven and these were named pillars in allusion to the text of Proverbs, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." So the churches at New Haven, Northampton and Westfield were organized and probably most of those belonging to that period, though in many cases no record is left of the event. But the usage with respect to number was gradually modified to suit the exigency, and in the orga- nization of this church the founders seem to have included all the men, with a single exception, who intended to become members.
Having started in this manner, the next step was to receive into the body such other Christians as might be ready to join them. This was done on the first of January following, when twenty-eight persons " were added by recommendation from other churches."
One of these was David Smith, a man somewhat younger than any of the founders but the pastor, and perhaps unmarried though, he seems to have taken his wife not far from this time. These reasons may account for his not being among the founders.
Besides him were twenty-seven women, the mothers, wives and sisters of the men I have named. Among them were three recently bereaved widows whose names remind us of Zechariah Field, Samuel Boltwood and John Ingram Jr., who had come with their families to the settlement and had fallen thus early before the exposures incident to life in a new country.
Zechariah Field had been a leading man and among the foremost in the movement for a new precinct and the establishment of a church. His name headed the second petition to the General Court for this
John Cowls
Aaron Smith
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object, and when the petition was granted, the first meeting of the precinct was held at his house. Samuel Boltwood had also been prom- ineut in the movement and was one of the earliest officers of the precinct, while young John Ingram was so related to a number of the families that his death, like that of the other two, must have caused universal mourning.
The elder John Ingram was the patriarch of the settlement, his age being seventy-eight, and, besides his son, he had four daughters who were wives of founders and themselves members of the church. His own wife was the sister of Ebenezer Dickinson, and the widow of his son was a daughter of Samuel Boltwood.
Another who was advanced in life was Nathaniel Kellogg, then in his seventieth year. His wife was the sister of Samuel and Solomon Boltwood. One of his sons had married Elizabeth Ingram and a daughter was the wife of Ebenezer Dickinson.
Of the children of Zechariah Field two were married to Samuel and Joseph Hawley, another to Moses Warner, and his son John to a daughter of Samuel Boltwood.
In this way all the families of the settlement were closely interre- lated .*
In the list of Christian women there are six whose husbands were not in the church. Part of these afterwards had the joy of seeing their husbands take the covenant and enter into "full communion."
The whole number of families represented in the church by either husband or wife was twenty-four. There were several others in the settlement besides these-in all about thirty families.
A remarkably full record of these old families is to be found in Judd's History of Hadley to which I am greatly indebted for the statements I here present.
I have intimated that the church was composed of adult members. There were only three or four besides the pastor who were unmarried, and only two of these who could be called, according to our way of speaking, young people. These two were Elizabeth Smith and Ruth Boltwood, maidens of seventeen. But let no one suppose that there was a lack of the youthful element in this community or in the congregations that gathered here for worship. I find the number of sons and daughters in this group of families to have been over one hundred and ninety, or an average of six to each household. I do not mean by this that there were so many at the time the church was organized, or at any one time. Some died early, some were born at
*Appendix A.
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a later date, while a number were grown to maturity. But leaving out these, a fine company remains of children and youth, not less than eighty or ninety as I count them, of all sizes from the babe in his cradle to youth and maidens whose lives were opening into man- hood and womanhood. And these, we may be sure, played no small part in this new enterprise. Then as now parents were intent on the welfare of their children, and their first thought was of their religious training.
It is contained in the records that four days after the church was started, the pastor baptized Jonathan, the son of Jonathan and Sarah Cowls, and that in less than a month later, he baptized three more children presented by their parents. There is not a little meaning in this, and as you read on down the long list of five hundred and eighty- three baptisms, nearly all of children, in that one pastorate, and then continue with the still longer list of the second pastorate, the meaning becomes more impressive with every added name. During this eighty years ministry of father and son there were baptized upwards of fourteen hundred persons (1447), of whom not less than thirteen hundred were children upon whom their parents sought the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.
This speaks volumes for the family life of the place. The family filled the people's minds. And the life of each home was the stronger and deeper for the whole community's being so much like a single family, so bound together in ties of kinship.
There were no foreigners here then, and there were few who had not been all their life in this particular society. We can hardly comprehend this at the present day, when our communities are full of strangers from various parts of the world : especially is it hard to understand of a frontier settlement gathered in the woods.
But let us go back a step. Ask whence these thirty families came. We find they were from old Hadley village and from Hatfield, and there they belonged to a society whose kinships and common interests were the same as we have seen here, only on a larger scale. Hadley and Hatfield were almost like one community, and they had kept on their way together from the time of their common origin eighty years before.
They had been planted as follows. The colony of Hartford, which Thomas Hooker had founded with the company he led through the wilderness from Dorchester, was in discord. Their great leader had died, and the church to which he had ministered was rent
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into two factions headed on the one side by the "teaching elder," Rev. Samuel Stone, and on the other by the "ruling elder," William Goodwin. A detailed account of this quarrel is given by Dr. Walker in his History of the First Church in Hartford. I need only say that the strife was intensely bitter, and continued for some five or six years. The most strenuous efforts for reconciliation were made by the neighboring churches, and by those more distant in the colonies of New Haven and Massachusetts ; but they failed to heal the schism. William Goodwin and those attached to his party under- took to withdraw and unite with the church in Wethersfield. This was not sanctioned by the council called in the case. Nor did any measures avail, till it was finally decided that the minority should leave Hartford and establish a new settlement.
It was this minority which removed to our immediate neighborhood and founded the settlement of Hadley and Hatfield. They built on both sides of the river, as had been done in Hartford, and hence in time became two communities.
This immigration took place in 1659, and with it the settlement began. It was not, however, a wholly unanticipated event. Six years before, a number of men from Windsor, Hartford and Spring- field petitioned the General Court to grant them a plantation at Nonotuck,-the Indian name for the Connecticut Valley north and west of the mountains. Following this was a purchase of the land from the Indians and the location of two prospective plantations, one on either side of the river. Then came the settlement of North- ampton by colonists from Springfield and Windsor in 1654. But there was a pause in the movement from Hartford till the schism in the church precipitated it and made it much more extensive than it would otherwise have been. Hence, if there was at the end impulse and swift action, it was only after years of careful planning.
Notice further, that Wethersfield was identified with Hartford, and that Windsor naturally joined in the emigration. The Goodwin faction had found sympathy in the Wethersfield church and recruits were easily enlisted there. Also the journey to the new country lay through Windsor and a number from that place were ready to join the company.
It would seem that the new colony in separating from the one at Hartford did not become estranged from the parent. Rather the bitterness of the old strife ceased from this hour. The settlers had gone into a new wilderness to meet hardships, to brave] dangers, and
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some of them to die by the hand of the savage. How could any feelings be cherished but those of kindness and mutual interest ! So it came to pass that relations of peculiar intimacy were sustained between the Connecticut towns and the dwellers in Hadley and Hatfield. Old acquaintanceships were continued. Social and busi- ness interchanges were as frequent as circumstance would allow. The men of the two regions served together in the Indian wars and their wives bore in mutual sympathy their sorrows and their joys. Brothers and sisters and cousins visited from one place to the other, and marriages back and forth were continually adding new family ties to those already existing. It was only four years after the emi- gration that the Rev. Samuel Stone's daughter, Rebekah, came with her husband, Timothy Nash, to join the Hadley colony. And it may be proper, in this connection, to note that among the original members of our church there sat side by side one who was a descendant of Rev. Samuel Stone (John Nash) and two others who were descended from Elder William Goodwin (David Smith and Mrs. Sarah Cowls).
The close connection with these Connecticut towns continued long. David Smith, that member of this church who was married near the time of the organization, went to Wethersfield for his wife. A few months later the pastor also went to Wethersfield and brought thence Eunice Wells to be the joy of his house. And in due time his son, the second pastor, betook himself also to Wethersfield and brought thence another rare jewel in the person of Harriet Williams.
And let me call your attention to a few facts that come out in an examination of those earliest families of Amherst. It is possible to trace most of their lines of descent back to the first settlements in New England. Thus we find that every one of the original members of this church was descended from some progenitor who came from Hartford or the adjoining towns .* We find, moreover, that the admixture with families from elsewhere is very small. We should surely suppose that Springfield families would have become greatly mingled with them, especially as that Springfield colony at Northampton was so near a neighbor. But it was otherwise. Of those first colo- nists from whom these founders sprung, three out of every four, or more than forty in all, whose names are known, were of these Connecticut towns. A few were of Springfield, while the rest were of New Haven, Stratford and five or six towns of Massachusetts Bay, with only one or two to each place. This shows that, with rare exceptions, the marriages during that whole period had kept within
*Appendix A.
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the circle of the families that were neighbors before the exodus to Hadley. And these families, we know were of those immigrants who came from England to Massachusetts at the first settlement of the country. The Hartford church was organized at Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass., in or probably before 1633 and removed in 1636 to their permanent settlement. The Windsor church was organized at Plymouth, England, in 1629 and came thence in a body to Dorchester where they remained till about the time of the immigration to Hartford, when they also removed. The Wethersfield church was organized at Watertown a few months later than the Windsor church and took the line of march through the wilderness in the same year. These three churches contributed in nearly equal proportions the elements of which the Amherst community was composed, though the larger part was from Hartford.
It was just about a hundred years after those immigrations from the vicinity of Boston to the Connecticut Valley, that this settlement was' begun. What a centennial our founders might have celebrated at that very hour, if it had been the custom to indulge in such festivities !
That had been an eventful century. But looking back upon it from the point of view at which we stand it seems like one of slow progress. The settlers in this region had been confronted from the beginning with one ever present danger, and a danger which remained for a score of years after this church was founded. When those families set out from Hartford for these Hadley meadows they little thought what a terror was to hang over their homes from the Indians, or how many lives were to be sacrificed in wars and massacres. This terror kept back the growth of the settlements. It made the people gather closely together in villages and forbade their reaching out, as in other parts of New England, to build their scattered farm-houses and occupy the country. So, after fifty years, the only towns in all this part of the state besides Hadley and Hatfield, were Springfield, Westfield, Northampton and Deerfield, and the only churches were the six belonging to these towns.
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