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1800
Class
F74
Book
M62M74
-
TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
IN
MIDDLEBORO, MASS.
Historical Discourse BY GEORGE WARREN STEARNS
Oration
BY THOMAS WESTON
WITH
OTHER ADDRESSES, PORTRAITS, DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG, ETC.
MIDDLEBORO PUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH 1895
TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
2 5 6
OF THE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
IN
MIDDLEBORO, MASS. 11
Historical Discourse
BY GEORGE WARREN STEARNS
Oration
BY THOMAS WESTON
WITH
OTHER] ADDRESSES, PORTRAITS, DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG, ETC.
MIDDLEBORO PUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH 1895
By transfer OCT 25 1915
A 4
1
CONTENTS
PAGE
SERMON BY G. W. STEARNS .
8
ADDRESS BY N. T. DYER
31
LETTER FROM J. W. KINGSBURY
39
ADDRESS BY H. A. HANAFORD
40
ODE : "THE PILGRIM MOTHERS "
53
ORATION BY THOMAS WESTON
55
LETTER FROM GROVER CLEVELAND
ADDRESS : "THE OLD MEETING HOUSE," BY C. W. WOOD
78 79
ADDRESS BY JOHN EDDY
87
ADDRESS BY WILLIAM E. FULLER
93
LETTER FROM MORTON DEXTER
LETTER FROM JOHN D. LONG
ADDRESS BY LOUIS ELLMS
ADDRESS BY RICHARD G. WOODBRIDGE
100
LETTER FROM HERBERT K. JOB
107
ADDRESS BY HENRY E. COBB
108
LETTER FROM MERRILL E. GATES
109
LETTER FROM M. F. JOHNSON
IIO
ADDRESS BY BENJAMIN L. BOOMER
III
CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES . 115
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES CONCERNING PASTORS AND OTHERS
II6
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG OF CHURCH-MEMBERS
124
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE MEETING HOUSE IN 1894 Frontispiece Facing 15
PORTRAITS OF PASTORS PUTNAM, SAWYER, HIDDEN, SAWIN
24
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS WESTON
55
PORTRAIT OF JOSHUA EDDY .
66
73
PORTRAIT OF REV. CHARLES WILKES WOOD
79
PORTRAIT OF FRANCIS GREENLEAF PRATT, JR.
66
92
PORTRAIT OF ZECHARIAH EDDY
95
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS WESTON, SR.
66
120
3
97 98 99
PORTRAITS OF PASTORS DYER, HANAFORD, KINGSBURY, STEARNS .
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
AT a business meeting of the First Congregational Church in Middleboro, April 15, 1894, it was voted to provide for a suitable observance of the two hundredth anniversary of the organization of the church.
A strict reckoning from the original organization, December 26, 1694, - correcting the old style calendar, - would bring the bi-centennial celebration January 6, 1895. It was presently determined to hold the commemorative exercises not in mid- winter, but in a season favorable for the largest possible attend- ance of friends. The date chosen was August 26, 27, 1894.
On those days the celebration was accordingly held, and was highly successful, the weather being all that could be desired, and the meeting-house filled to overflowing. The current newspapers gave numerous details not here mentioned, ac- counts specially full appearing in the Boston Herald, the Middleboro Gazette, and the Middleboro News.
The church feels thankful to a very large number of our townspeople, as well as to many other friends who, by their presence, their letters, their spoken words, their gifts, or their other assistance, have laid us under lasting obligation to them for the success of the occasion.
The committee was later instructed to prepare a fitting memorial volume. The result of their pleasant work is now submitted to the public, in the hope that the host of friends of
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6
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
the First Church, though widely scattered, may find in these pages not only much interest, but a quickening of Christian longing for the triumph of Christ and his Church, and for the enrolling duly on earth of all those who hope to be enrolled in heaven.
G. W. STEARNS,
A. H. SOULE,
A. J. WOOD, R. F. THOMPSON, H. F. WOOD, C. F. CORNISH, CLARA A. COX, SARAH E. STEARNS, SARAH F. C. SPARROW, LUCY S. BLISS,
Committee.
1895, May.
EXERCISES IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE
TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 1894
The exercises of Sunday opened with a morning prayer- meeting at the parsonage.
At the meeting-house, which had been tastefully adorned with flowers and bunting, the worship began at 10.45, with the following order : -
ORGAN VOLUNTARY, " Laus Deo " . Morrison By the Organist, Miss Nellie F. Wood
DOXOLOGY and GLORIA
By the Choir and Congregation
PRAYER
By the Pastor
RESPONSIVE READING, Psalms 86, 87
By Pastor and Congregation
ANTHEM, " Gloria," from Twelfth Mass . By the Choir
Mozart
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS, from Isaiah 62, and Ephesians 3 By Rev. H. A. Hanaford
HYMN-ANTHEM, "Jerusalem, my Glorious Home "
Lowell Mason
Quartet and Chorus
PRAYER By Rev. N. T. Dyer CHORAL RESPONSE, "Grant, we beseech Thee, Merciful Lord" . Gounod HYMN, " O where are Kings and Empires now?" Tune, "Tappan" . Coxe By Choir and Congregation
OFFERTORY, " Cross and Crown " Dana SERMON
By the Pastor
7
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FIRST CHURCH, MIDDLEBORO
TWO CENTURIES IN GOD'S WORK
. " What must we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus . . answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." JOHN vi, 28, 29.
MEN have ever been believers in God. The tendency to believe in him is everywhere apparent, as a characteristic of the race. It is true that in fiery periods of persecution, ages before this ancient church was gathered, the early Christians were charged with being atheists, because they had no idols. And it is true that the prince of Greek philosophers, for a reason not very different, was cruelly condemned to drink the hemlock, though the falsity of the accusation is abundantly proved by what his beloved disciples, Plato and Xenophon, have told of their illustrious teacher, for Socrates, like our Savior, left no writings, and, again strangely like him, fur- nished to his followers a large part of the luster of their names.
Even of barbarians, as well as cultivated nations supposed to believe in many gods, it is well established that some one among their divinities was supreme. Under some name - Zeus, or Jove, or Joss, or the great spirit Manitou, of the Indians whom John Eliot so wonderfully Christianized in this very region two hundred and fifty years ago- human beings have steadily borne their witness to the Jehovah who made them in his image.
Whoever believes in God might naturally be found raising the question which was put to the Master in the Capernaum syna- gogue. Our Lord had just counseled men to work not for perishable food, like loaves and fishes, but for something better. Then came the question, blunt but not unwelcome, " What must we do that we may work the works of God?" as if they reasoned, "We believe in God; perhaps he has some work for us to do ; we have but a short time to stay here, and
1
9
BICENTENNIAL SERMON
ought to make no mistake about that work; this wonder- working teacher might tell us just what constitutes such work ; we will ask him."
Some would have answered as it is often said now, "God's work means giving bread to the hungry ; it is helping your poor neighbors to clothing and shelter, or perhaps to mental food, like books." And they would point to Christ's own words about a cup of cold water, and about being hungry, sick, or naked, and then relieved.
But such a reply is obvious. "These ye ought to have done," indeed, but there was a certain other vital thing not to be left undone. One need not preach to common men the duty of not flying at each other's throats. But ordinary people may well be counseled against certain real dangers ; for instance, cherishing hateful feelings. Therefore Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, instead of merely repeating the commandment, " Thou shalt not kill," preaches against a hateful spirit, effec- tively showing that the familiar rules about murder, adultery, etc., had more meaning than was on their surface. Only a hardened wretch would withhold literal bread from the starv- ing. That ordinary men would leave undone their duty in that connection there was, and is, little likelihood. There was, however, great danger of men failing to see the work of God in a certain aspect which Christ proceeded at once to reveal.
The claim is often made that there has been a sweeping and fun- damental change in preaching, and that the old doctrines are no longer believed, and in proof it is alleged that certain sterner features of Bible teaching receive less emphasis or find less fre- quent utterance than formerly. Yet the modern is not "another gospel." It would be more truthful to say that the alert church seeks in every epoch to choose out of the wealth of her treasury of Christian truth such ideas as Milton might style
" ... wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best ";
in other words, such as are best suited to the varying condi- tions of the particular age, and therefore most likely to be
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FIRST CHURCH, MIDDLEBORO
effective. So a queen may select from her wardrobe the gar- ment most becoming the special occasion ; or take from her jewel-case whatever gem is most adapted to the time, but by no means throws away those not then used.
Accordingly, when Jesus hears the simple question, couched in terms so plain, "What is God's work?" instead of uttering truths which any one's common sense would suggest, and say- ing, "Relieve the distressed," he replies : "God's work is to believe on him whom he hath sent." When James wrote his New Testament letter, the same spirit must have whispered to him to make his description of pure religion include not simply the obvious features, such as helping the class typified by the widow and fatherless, but also keeping unspotted from the world. The former duty is plain ; the second might easily be neglected. In a word, one must attend to spiritual cleansing - a work, it will be discovered, which can be done only by the blood of Christ.
Things not material ever run a risk of being ignored. One side of a truth is so vividly seen that men hastily deem it the only side. The temporal necessities of men are so imperiously thrust upon our attention that many a good and intelligent man allows himself to suppose that the main mission of the church in the world is to furnish material aid to the destitute; as if to be heart-hungry were not worse. A recent startling book, 1 written by a devoted Christian, would seem to foster the impression that humanitarianism is the sum of the gospel. When we contemplate the fierce pressure of congested misery, poverty, and sin, such as every great town discloses, we can be excused for a temporary mistake. Yet is there not a plain contrast between the shallow and the profound answer to the question : What constitutes God's work in the world ?
Hushing the din of past centuries' debating about faith and works, comes the statement of Jesus which many people have strangely overlooked. The work of God is to believe on
1 " If Christ came to Chicago," by W. T. Stead.
€
11
BICENTENNIAL SERMON
Christ. Here is something worthy of study, and one can indorse the word of old John Selden in his "Table Talk," when in deploring the unhappy division of faith and works, likening them to the light and heat of a candle, he said, "Nay ; in a right conception, fides est opus ; if I believe a thing because I am commanded, that is opus."
If this is true, it follows that helping others to believe on Christ is also God's work, for his Son's final and memorable order was to go and make disciples of all the nations, teach- ing them to observe all his commands.
Such a work, then, - believing and helping others to believe on Christ, - is what for two centuries this historic church has been doing. In a spirit far from boastful do we throng this meeting-house to-day. It is glory enough for any or all men to have done humblest services for our Lord. Yet we feel a proper pride in the thought that for these many generations our ancestors and ourselves have been really, though humbly, doing God's work in holding up the cross of Christ, like a beacon that ever shines while it "stands and waits." Whatever our church has left undone, - and doubtless that is much, - will any one deny that she has stood for righteousness, for God, and for God's work, ever since that winter day in 1694, when those nine women and eleven men organized under the leader- ship of revered Samuel Fuller, whose dust on yonder hill-top is yet awaiting the Master's word to arise ?
It is a blessed thing, not to be underrated, simply to take a stand before the world as a servant of God. That even score of honored fathers and mothers in our Israel were like brave sailors who nail their flag to the mast, lest by accident it even seem to be lowered in surrender. Not many churches in our republic have raised and kept the banner of the cross upheld longer than it has been done in this ancient town. And be it not forgotten that those churches which, in the vicissitudes of time, have become no more, have as a rule gone down as the "Cumberland " sank in Hampton Roads, more than thirty years ago, with the colors still waving above the place where
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FIRST CHURCH, MIDDLEBORO
the ship was a wreck. It is our happy lot to have been sus- tained in healthy existence all these ages while God's truth has been marching on. Like Paul at the Three Taverns, let us to-day thank God and take courage. Substantially the same idea possessed the mind of your illustrious minister, when, fifty years since, he bade his people, including some of you who are spared to this day, see in the preceding century and a half of their history a proof of the psalmist's words which to-day adorn yonder wall : "Great is Thy faithfulness."
After so interesting and thorough a harvest of historical matter as was published soon after Dr. Putnam's well-known discourses, there is little left for the gleaner to bring from that early period, rich though the history proves to be. Let it speak for itself. We may well be embarrassed by the magnitude of our task. To review two hundred years in any way that shall be satisfactory and yet not weary all patience demands gifts which none of us can furnish.
Two centuries ! Think what they mean. But the other day, as it were, we were celebrating the ever famous event of 1492. Our church dates back almost precisely half way to the discovery of America; more than half way back to the martyrdom of the famous Florentine, Savonarola, in 1498. The grandfather of our first pastor might have seen Martin Luther and John Calvin, who died in 1546 and 1564. His father may have known Shakspere or Cervantes ; Mr. Fuller himself may have met John Milton, who was somewhat his senior, and John Bunyan, who was a little younger than he. Local chroniclers delight to record that one member of our church is said to have actually seen Oliver Cromwell, and witnessed the beheading of Charles I, in 1649. This was the venerable Luke Short, for whom yonder street where his home stood is named, and who attained the wonderful age of one hundred and sixteen years.
Perhaps we may more vividly locate the date 1694, if we recal some famous names. William and Mary were then on the English throne ; bishops Berkeley and Butler were boys, growing up in England to help the famous Locke Christianize
.
13
BICENTENNIAL SERMON
the wayward philosophy of Spinoza, then influential in Europe ; the poet-laureate, John Dryden, and in France La Fontaine, had won their fame in the world of letters; the great contem- porary names in natural science were Isaac Newton and the German Fahrenheit; the renowned artists, Rembrandt and Murillo, had but lately passed away ; of the acknowledged kings in the realm of music, Handel, aged ten years, was composing his first sonatas, and that other musical genius, Bach, was but a vear younger ; as an explorer, Bering the Dane was about to achieve his fame : while in our own country the Frenchman, Joliet, was exploring the Mississippi River, already visited by his countryman, Jacques Marquette, whose name and Christian character still live around the Great Lakes ; William Penn and Cotton Mather were in the midst of life ; Harvard College was but a child of fifty-five years, while six years must pass before old Yale would be born.
During Thomas Palmer's pastorate, Gibraltar came into English possession.
While youthful Peter Thacher, Jr., fresh from our American Cambridge, was writing sermons in Middleboro, in the mother- country, Addison, Defoe, and Pope were writing for the world.
Our fourth minister, Sylvanus Conant, went to Abraham's bosom the year before Rousseau and Voltaire, noisome blossoms of a century-plant of infidelity and coarseness, died and were buried. Mr. Conant was barely twenty-five years old when he came. His pastorate saw American independence achieved.
Joseph Barker, our fifth pastor, served us from 1781 to 1816, that stirring period when the violence of the French Revolution shocked the world with its atrocities; when our nation was again at war ; when Napoleon's boundless ambition was checked by the English arms at Waterloo. It was during this period that John Wesley was called heavenward, in 1791. Mr. Barker has been commended for his able, learned, and courageous work here, and we may thank God that then the good ship had a strong hand at its helm to keep it from being swept off its true
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FIRST CHURCHI, MIDDLEBORO
course by the contrary winds of Unitarianism, which in the early years of the nineteenth century were peculiarly strong.
Our sixth pastor, Emerson Paine, appears to have come hither directly from his student life, in 1816. Both he and his successor, William Eaton, had what in those days were called short pastorates, continuing respectively about six and ten years each. But the record of numerous new members whispers of faithfulness and ability on the part of these under- shepherds.
The records made during our seventh pastor's service show the church trying to keep herself pure. She disciplined mem- bers for drunkenness, "hauling wood on Sunday, " damming a brook to a neighbor's inconvenience, prolonged neglect of worship, etc. Some dead branches were wisely pruned away. In 1830 was observed a day of fasting and prayer 1 for the Sun- day school. It was in Mr. Eaton's day that the church joyfully entered into its present comely house, whose outlines of stain- less white seem to our fond eyes as fair as Ionian marble.
In 1835 came our eighth minister. We now approach a time so near to the present that to enumerate particulars revives many memories.
This very Sabbath day, perhaps this very hour, measures sixty years, save one, since a new face appeared in this pulpit.2 The stranger had a smooth-shaven countenance, was about forty- eight years old, and was evidently a gentleman and scholar. He was of medium stature, and had a benign, dignified bear- ing. Fifty-nine years ago last evening, seated probably in the ancient Sproat Tavern, which, till 1891, stood oppo- site the parsonage, he began a letter to his family, giving his first impressions of our town. He remarks the serene land- scape, and the roominess of the church environs. Never dreaming of the later publicity of his letter, he proceeded to record his feelings as he realized that his preaching on that August Sunday was destined either to soften or harden the
1 For answer, see page 20.
2 1835, Aug. 23, was the Sunday referred to.
I. W. Putnam R. M. Paruger
EN. Hidden
J. L. Jawin
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BICENTENNIAL SERMON
hearts of his hearers. When it is added that he had just driven from Portsmouth, N. H., I have said more than enough to reveal who was the strange preacher of that morn- ing. It was Israel Warburton Putnam, known and loved by thousands in this vicinity for his works' sake, and even now by hundreds remembered most affectionately.
Little thought Mr. Putnam, it is likely, as he first preached the words of life to the old church associated with the fame of Thacher, Conant, and Barker, that he himself was destined to add his own name with honor to that list of veteran ministers who had here preached thirty-six, thirty-three, and thirty-five years, respectively. But it was even so, and for a round score and a half of years it was his happy lot to tell the people of Middleboro and vicinity of the love and work of our Savior God.
After his college days at Harvard and Dartmouth had ended, in 1809, he began to read law, but ere long, quickened spirit- ually, it is said, by contact with a youthful college mate, Daniel Poor, who later was an eminent missionary in Ceylon, young Mr. Putnam felt that mysterious pressure which Chris- tians commonly interpret as the Master's wish, in the direction of the ministry. At some sacrifice of temporary feelings (per- haps a greater sacrifice than the record shows), he yielded, and found the new choice blest. When he took up his resi- dence in this region of peculiar historic interest, he speedily formed warm friendships with the neighboring pastors, among whom in time he became a Nestor. He was young enough to bring ardent hopes and enthusiasm. He was sufficiently mature to profit by the wisdom gained from his twenty years of pastoral service in Portsmouth. The records of this church during his long stay are by his own hand, and they trip lightly over his own large share in molding the religious life of the town. Happily, there are too many of his friends surviving to make it difficult to learn how much his personal service meant. He was able, like Cæsar, to know the names of his soldiers ; nay, rather like the Good Shepherd, to know his own sheep
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FIRST CHURCH, MIDDLEBORO
and call them by name. He pushed the Christian work in neighborhood meetings. Deeming the chapel unsuited to evening meetings, he held them, as they are still frequently held, in cottages and school-houses, his familiar announce- ment being "at early candle-light." Once in two months there was a day prayer-meeting, and on the first Sabbath of each month a missionary concert of prayer for the conversion of the world. It has been said that he took considerable worldly satisfaction in his fleet horse and chaise, yet for every tongue mentioning that surely ten tell of his love for this church, for many of you who remember him, and for your sires.
Though Dr. Putnam was a firm believer in government by the people in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs, being therein thoroughly Congregational, he was a genuine bishop, ordained of God, if ever one was. And as such, this courtly combina- tion of aristocrat and democrat went about doing good unto all men. He baptized the children ; when they were grown they came from far and near to be joined in marriage by him ; he welcomed them, when they were ready, into the fellowship of the church ; in sickness and trouble he ministered to them ; and in this sacred place, and in nearly every home in this town, he bade hundreds of them farewell, who had winged their way from earth's fatigue to heaven's rest.
His ministry here had begun, it is said, in a somewhat dis- turbed, if not partly disaffected, parish. Though his advent was by no means like the feat of his redoubtable kinsman, Gen. Israel Putnam, famed for entering the wolf's den, yet it is greatly to his praise that he proved a " peacemaker."1 A note- worthy characteristic of our doctor angelicus was his tenderness of others' feelings. If anywhere, it must have been here that he erred - in being too gentle and considerate. Sometimes, instead of speaking, he would write a note about Christ to impart to some friend a special impulse, at once delicate and
I See Rev. N. T. Dyer's sermon in 1878, at the semi-centennial of the dedi- cation of the present meeting-house.
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BICENTENNIAL SERMON
effective. He was accustomed to mark his initials upon vari- ous articles of property on the parsonage premises. Those marks have mostly disappeared. Not so what he marked indelibly on the hearts of our townspeople. Here is a char- acteristic entry from his record in 1842, hinting plainly his high opinion of what the church should be. Twenty-eight men and fifty women had met at two o'clock in the vestry. " The brethren," we read, "made free disclosure of their feel- ings and their views of the prospects of religion among us. Generally their hearts appeared to be low. There were, how- ever, some exceptions. On the whole, the meeting was solemn, and I think important. I exhorted the church to awake from their sleep and call upon GOD."
So the years passed, bringing the peculiar blessings of a long pastorate. The Lord came into his garden several times with reviving power, as the modest records of the pastor could ill conceal, and pastor and people repeatedly rejoiced together over new Christians. A word-picture is given of a row of inquirers seated on the sofa at the south side of the parsonage parlor, and Dr. Putnam leaning forward, with a hand upon each arm of the chair which he had drawn up before them, earnestly asking all how it was with them.
One special wish of Dr. Putnam was fulfilled. He had said that if he could have his preference, he would choose, as a time to die, a period of revival. In just such a condition, when he was living retired in the old mansion yonder on Plymouth Street (then known as the Dr. Sturtevant house), when his successor, Mr. Sawyer, had become pastor, and a great revival was actually in progress, disease came upon him. Happily, he was able to share for a time in the joyful scenes. He de- lighted to learn the names of all the new believers. It is said by one of them that he would sometimes set forth ideals of the Christian life so exalted as almost to discourage the converts. While showers of blessing were still falling upon our town, the last enemy drew near, and began to rob Dr. Putnam of the remnants of his strength. Some weeks of pain and feebleness
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