USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > North Adams > Addresses and papers presented at the Diamond Jubilee, 1827-1902, May 11-14 (First Congregational Church of North Adams) > Part 3
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I would like to name others did time permit; Dr. Lawrence, kindest of friends and best of household doctors, a true professional man, who honored his profession in
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serving humanity; Mr. Freeman and Mr. Johnson, men of large affairs, but not too busy to go to church every Sun- day, men of generous ways and good manners and kind hearts. Nor can I forbear speaking of Mr. Bracewell- also a man of large affairs; big-hearted and vital to his finger tips; a commanding and moving force wherever he was; immersed in business, but alive also to the Kingdom of God, and himself a humble believer in Jesus Christ as his Master; the truest of friends and full of kindness to all men. We fail to measure the loss of such a man to the church and the community until he is gone from us.
There is another of whom I would say a word, whose memory stays with us as sweet as the flowers she so loved. In Mrs. Swift there was the rarest combination of gentle- ness and strength, of the ideal and the practical ; so pure that she hardly seemed to touch the earth, but so human that no duties were too lowly if they might assuage the troubles of others; beautiful in person and with manners born of the soul-both the outward signs of an inner life fed by water that flowed from under the throne of God. She always seemed to me a spiritual miracle and yet most human. What a soul returned to God when she left you ! What a servant of humanity was lost to the city when she no longer labored on its charities! What an example of beautiful womanhood faded upon earth when she went to heaven !
Nor will I close without paying my tribute to the memory of my dear friend, James Paul. If he were alive -old as we are-we would climb Greylock tomorrow. If such a thing is granted to the dead, he still haunts those heights as of old. James Paul was a remarkable character. I think he could be best described as an embryonic poet
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and a full born saint. He was simplicity itself. There was not a false note in him. He was not broad except heavenward. Whatever he loved and believed in, he did with an intensity that knew no bounds. Pure in life and heart, and seeing God in all nature-especially the hills and woods, and in little children; a humanitarian to the extent that he loved his neighbor better than himself ; so devoted to his ideals that he treated his external life with neglect-a day in the woods was better than two in the fields, and yet he was not indolent; dwelling in the peace of God and in God himself ;- so I remember him and think of him along with those of whom Christ said that their angels do always behold the face of the Father in heaven.
There are others who, like those I have spoken of, were a part of the history of this church, of whom I would like to speak if there were time; but the hour is nearly over. How pathetic the recollection of them today! How does everything except what was good and dear die out, leaving in our hearts only gratitude and love and honor !
In closing, I would say that if I were to name the chief characteristic of this church in all its history, it would be -a deep interest and quick responsiveness in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community. This indeed may be said of all the churches here, among which there has always been a sincere fellowship and no rivalry. But this church, although not deeply rooted in the Puritan soil -being only seventy-five years old-has not lacked in the Puritan sense of responsibility for the general well-being of the town. Few communities have been more thoroughly dominated by the churches. The pulpits have shaped public sentiment and guided public action. In fulfilling
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this true function of a church, our own has not been a laggard. Whenever a call came from the people for any good thing or any high service it has not been the last to respond nor the first to give over.
If I might close this rambling chapter of reminiscence with a word of exhortation, it would be a summons to even a higher degree of devotion in the same line of public ser- vice. For what else does the church exist but to make the people in and about it better through its own way ;- to fix high standards of conduct and hold the people up to them to teach them to live by the eternal laws of love and righteousness ; to fill it with a true sense of life-its nature and its destiny ; to breathe through it a spirit of reverence toward God, and to teach it to hate evil and to love good- ness ?
Our Lord said in regard to those about Him, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself." He could do nothing for them; nor for the world except as He had sanctified Him- self; then He was full of saving power. It is not different with us. Here lies the secret of Christ, and of the church, and of our individual lives. It is a small question as to what we do or do not do; the real question is what we are. The world is full of theories and schemes for overcoming evil and securing better conditions; this may be well enough and even necessary, but it does not fill out the Christian idea. The first and last work of a Christian is to make himself good as the only possible condition of making others good. There are some things in our religion that change-in form at least, but this never changes and will forever remain the same,-even as the pure fountains in these hills will always send out sweet waters.
May such be the history of this church in the future as it has been in the past,-conquering the evil about it in the name of Him who sanctified Himself in order to sanctify others.
1
THE FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP Dedicated November 11, 1828
The Young People's Association of the Congregational Society
A SKETCH WRITTEN BY MRS. W. W. BUTLER FOR ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY, 1889, AND READ BY W. W. BUTLER AT OUR 75TH ANNIVERSARY.
This association was formed nearly twenty-one years ago under the pastorship of Dr. Washington Gladden. The causes which led to the formation of such an association, it seems to me, are best represented by the words of one of its first members, who has said that the main factor in calling the young people together was "that the young people thought that the best things in their lives belonged to the church and that their best efforts should be directed toward the support of the church."
The object of the association was to promote the re- ligious, mental and social welfare of its members. The permanent officers consisted of president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, all of whom, with an executive committee of four, constituted a board of control which subject to the supervision and approval of the association, directed all its affairs.
The executive committee consisted of the chairmen of the religious, literary, music and social committees. The chairman of each committee was requested to have not less than two or more than four assistants. Any person hav-
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ing attained the age of fourteen could become a member of the association.
In its early life meetings of a social nature were held every two weeks, and to show the character of these meet- ings I will give the program of one :-
CHAPEL, MAY 20, 1873.
Meeting opened by prayer, after which came
Piano duet,
Recitations,
Reading from "Our Paper,"
Singing,
Intermission of half an hour for social,
Singing,
Recitations,
Reading from "Our Paper,"
Piano,
Dialogue.
In addition to this, you will notice later on that the association assisted the pastor very much in religious work in the way of helping along the young people's prayer meeting and in assisting in the neighborhood prayer meetings.
There was a general co-operation of talents, and all seemed willing to do their utmost to aid in the work which the society was carrying on. In the course of two or three years the society was in a very flourishing condition, hav- ing largely increased its membership, thus the society proved to be of much help not only to the church but also to the community.
The 20th anniversary of the Y. P. A was celebrated, a full account of which appeared in the Transcript under date of September 12, 1889, at which time Dr. Gladden
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wrote: "You have my hearty congratulations upon the continued life and fruitfulness of the Y. P. A. I have heard from it often in the past twenty years; I believe it has always been a bond of union and a source of strength in the dear old church. Its hold upon life is much firmer now than it was twenty years ago. A society that has lived and thriven twenty years has established its right to live and has confirmed its hold upon life. I am sure that you are much more hopeful of celebrating your hun- dredth anniversary than you were in 1869 of celebrating your twentieth. I hope that you will live as long as the church lives, and that the church will live into and through the millennium. One reason of the success and permanence of this organization is the simplicity and directness of its methods. In both of the churches in which I have served since I left you we have copied the organization. Last evening the Y. P. A. of the First Congregational church, Columbus, held its first business meeting for the autumn, and its plan of work is exactly the same as yours. I hope it will live as long and do as good work."
Rev. Dr. Pratt wrote :- "When I received the request to 'write a word' for the occasion I was in the plight of the man whose eager boy came running to him one day-as was his wont-with, 'Oh, papa, I want to put some ques- tions to you before you go,' and then being restricted to two because his father was in a hurry and could wait 'only a second'-propounded these two to be answered in that second : 'How did Christ do the miracles?' and 'How do they make condensed milk.' I write 'a word' about the V. P. A .? No, if you had asked me to write two or three volumes about it, or to write the history of all my stay in North Adams, that would have been somewhat in harmony
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with the theme. That live, active, ever-growing association, that gathered around me so soon after I fairly got at home there; that filled the parsonage Monday evenings in the 'history class,' or the chapel in their own meetings; that went around with me in all the suburbs Tuesday in our 'neighborhood meetings; ' that was the open door into the church (do you know that over 130 joined the church from the association, while I was in North Adams?); that was always devising and doing new things, and that was the right arm of the church-no, I cannot write ‘a word about it.'
"I have given to several classes of theological students the plan of your organization as a kind of model for their work when they should become ministers; and in these days of Y. P. S. C. E.'s and C. S. L. C.'s I have formed here in my church in Norwich a V. P. A. instead of any of them ; so it is not for lack of reminders or interest that I feel incapable of writing 'a word.'"
Dr. Munger wrote :- "An institution that can observe a twentieth anniversary certainly must have some force in it. These twenty years are a guaranty for the future. Your youth-hood is nearly past, and your youthful haltings and stumblings will trouble you no longer. You are now ready for full and large action. I fully believe in such guilds as yours within the church; they are necessary to the idea of a church. Without them there is great danger lest the church will become an affair of mere preaching and hear- ing, sermon and song, and fail to be an aggressive, work- ing force."
From these extracts taken from letters of former pastors you have a better idea of the life and usefulness of our association than anything I can say. The mode of
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work is now quite different from that when the association was first organized. In place of meeting every two weeks a plan of work for the season is agreed upon and presented to the association at its regular meeting in September. In addition to the regular planned work, socials are from time to time arranged for.
During the season of 1888 and 1889 a class in the study of art was conducted by Mrs. John Bracewell and a class in current events or "How to read the newspapers intelli- gently" conducted by Mrs. W. W. Butler. Each class clos- ing its season's work by giving an entertainment in the direct line in which it had been studying.
The past year a series of musicals have been given, the art class continued under the direction of Miss Mary R. Cady ; a company of cadets formed ; two rooms in the chapel have been furnished and provided with the best literature.
The aim of this association has been to do earnest work in all the lines indicated by its by-laws or constitution, and above all to give loyal support to its pastor, and we trust that a beginning of work has been made, the usefulness of which will increase year by year.
المستوية جـ
-
PRESENT CHURCH, ERECTED IN 1863-4
The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
[WILLIAM RITCHIE, PRESIDENT.]
On Sunday evening, October 22, 1893, at the call of Dr. Coyle, the young people of the church met and re- solved to form an Endeavor Society, to take the place of. the defunct "Young People's Association." Mr. T. K. Ladd was elected president, and till the close of the year the new society busied itself getting acquainted with the working methods of the organization.
On January 25, 1894, the society definitely organized, electing Mr. F. J. Barber as president, and assigning all the members to duty on the various committees; the soci- ety was also elected about this time to membership in the Greylock Union of Christian Endeavor Societies. The constitution of the society np till 1901 called for the elec- tion of officers and committees every six months, and as there was a decided disposition on the part of the members to change the officers at every election, and especially the chief officer-the president-it consequently follows that the society has been served by no fewer than twelve presi- dents, this number, strangely enough, corresponding to the number of pastors the church has had since its organiza- tion in 1827.
In the latter half of 1894 Miss Annie Rawlinson was president. During this period the prayer meeting was
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held at the close of the Sunday evening preaching service. Records appear which show the society to have furnished a scholarship in Colorado College.
Mr. Andrew Cleghorn succeeded Miss Rawlinson as president, beginning the year in 1895. Dr. Coyle had at this time resigned from the pastorate of our church, leav- ing behind him the sweet fragrance of a consecrated man- hood as the inspiring heritage of the young society, under whose fostering hand it had evolved into being. Alas ! how sad the record that meets our gaze under the date, February 2, 1895-a special meeting of the society to draw up resolutions on the death of Dr. Coyle.
The first valiant member of our beloved communion had passed to his reward, in the very flower and vigor of his chastened manhood and usefulness, and the hearts of those he had so tenderly led were pierced with bitter sor- rows, as affectionately they sought to convey to his loved ones their profoundest sympathy and prayers in the hour of their deepest need. What indescribable pathos is im- parted to this record as we reflect on the circumstance that F. J. Barber, the chairman of this committee on resolu- tions, should himself be the next brother of our society to follow Dr. Coyle.
In 1895 the society sent its first delegate to the Boston International Christian Endeavor Convention, who brought back an inspiring report regarding the advance of Chris- tian Endeavor methods and ideas, as gleaned from the speeches of the great leaders of the movement From July to December, 1895, Mr. E. A. Bond was president, in which period various improvements in the working methods of the society took place, which tended to augment the mem- bership and render more helpful the influence of the organ- ization upon the church as a whole.
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The year 1896 opened with Mr. R. L. Chase as presi- dent. While the society had been contributing from the first to various worthy objects, with the advent of Mr. Chase to the office of president a new emphasis was laid upon the importance of "giving" as a Christian duty, by the adoption of what is known as the two-cent a week plan, whereby each member pledged themselves that amount for the support of home and foreign missions; and thus was awakened a practical zeal and enthusiasm for the extension of God's kingdom. The constitution and by-laws were also revised and amended during Mr. Chase's administration, all of which work, admirably planned and executed, made the task of administering the affairs of the society con- siderably less irksome and difficult for Mr. Chase's imme- diate successors in office.
Miss Julia I. Bates was president following Mr. Chase, and during her term of office the first removal by death took place of a sister of our society in the person of Miss Agnes Hutton. Miss Josephine Fuller was our next pres- ident. The chief mark of progress recorded during her occupancy of the office was the inauguration of the beauti- ful and gracious custom by which the society, through its flower committee, sent regularly on the first of each month a bouquet of flowers to each patient in our city hospital.
Mr. C. F. Potter was president succeeding Miss Fuller. The society adopted during this period the present system of monthly collections at the consecration meeting.
Miss Annie S. Coyle held the office of president in the opening months of 1898; being compelled, however, to leave town during her term of office, she resigned from the presidency and was succeeded by Mr. E. A. Bond. On January 21 of this year the death is recorded of Mrs. Minnie
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Hocomb, a member of the society, and fitting testimony was borne to her Christian character. Mr. E. A. Bond con- tinued as president till the close of 1899. This period was marked by many interesting events in the society's history, Mr. Bond exerting himself unremittingly in his desire to promote the best interests of the society. Through his influence many of the best young men from Williams Col- lege were frequently heard at our prayer meetings, and zeal in the cause was stimulated. Perhaps the crowning triumph of Mr. Bond's leadership was the consummate skill with which he planned for the Berkshire County conven- tion, which took place at North Adams on September 4 (Labor Day), 1899. Brilliant speaking and large audiences, combined with ideal weather, made the event one to be remembered in the annals of our local society.
On Mr. Bond demitting office he was succeeded by Mrs. L. O. Whitman, who maintained during the year 1900 the high standard of leadership set by her predecessor as president. A change in the by-laws prior to the annual meeting of 1901 called for the election of officers for the term of one year instead of six months, as formerly.
Mr. William Ritchie was elected the first president under the new law, entering upon the duties of the office in January 1901. In some respects the year 1901 might be called the most eventful in the history of our local society. North Adams had furnished several presidents of the Greylock Union, and it just happened that the vice-presi- dent of our society, Supt. I. Freeman Hall, had the distinc- tion of holding that office during the year 1901. A state convention had to take place in Massachusetts, and for months the question was before us as a society as to whether we would be able to cope with such a formidable
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undertaking as providing for the spiritual and physical wants of the army of Endeavorers the convention would call together-should the executive committee name North Adams as a place of meeting. Mr. Hall was the moving spirit in fortifying our minds and wills to the arduous task. Committees were formed and all the machinery put in action to meet every exigency.
North Adams was named as the place of meeting. The success of the convention is a matter of such recent history as to require no recapitulation here. Protestants of every denomination vied with each other in extending the hos- pitality of a Christian welcome to the scores of Endeavorers who attended the convention. Nor must the banquet given by the society to the pastors of the city and all others who co-operated in the work of the committees to make the convention a success, pass without observation. It was a unique gathering when every protestant pastor in a city of 25,000 inhabitants gathered together with the flower of their church workers to indulge in happy and felicitous intercourse around the festive board, and incidently show to the world the realized vision of Interdenominational fellowship and good-will founded upon an intelligent ap- preciation and interpretation of the mind of our common Master, Jesus Christ.
We have sought thus far to present what seems to us the salient points of interest in the history of our organ- ization. The limitations of space alone render it impossible to enumerate the names of many of the most faithful and efficient workers in the interests of Christian Endeavor through the committees of our society; nevertheless they may rest assured that their labors have not passed unappre- ciated by those cognizant of their good works. It will not
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be considered invidious however if the fact is noted that Miss Susie Cleghorn has served as corresponding secretary since the society was organized and Mr. Edwin Barnard for the major part of the time has acted as treasurer. Mrs. F. J. Barber and Willie Taylor, former members of the society, both died during the past year which makes the total num- ber of removals by death five. The present membership is, active members 60, associate 4, honorary 26. The prospect for the future is bright as day if each member reasserts their determination (trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength) to consecrate themselves anew to Christ and the Church.
1894-REV. WILLIAM L. TENNEY-
Review of History of the First Congrega- tional Church, North Adams
WILLIAM L. TENNEY, PASTOR OF THE CHURCH SINCE SEPTEMBER, 1895*
The history of the North Adams Congregational church is radically different from that of the typical New England church. The early history of the establishment of Plymouth, of Salem and'of Boston was the history of the establishment of their respective churches. The early church had no struggles which were distinct from those of its vicinage, for the community was the church and the church the community. One of the most reliable sources of our early New England history is the church record.
As colonies swarmed from the earlier settlements, and Springfield, Greenfield, Deerfield and Pittsfield were set- tled, the same rule prevailed; and in spite of the appar- ently complete break of our fathers with the state church of England, we Congregationalists are the one denomina- tion in Massachusetts in which individual churches, by virtue of their origin and history, have the right, which they still maintain, to the title of the First Church of Pittsfield, or the First Church of Springfield, without a sectarian prefix.
*NOTE-The form which this historical review will take is shaped somewhat by the fact that detailed narratives of different periods of our church's history, of different movements inaugurated by the church, as well as sketches of the lives of its members will be given by others. This accounts for the omissions.
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The first church of the town of Adams was estab- lished in this natural way. The original proprietors of the town, Nathan Jones, Col. Elisha Jones and John Mur- ray, Esq., employed a surveyor in October, 1762, to lay out 48 settling lots of 100 acres each. In 1766 Israel Jones, Esq., one of the earliest settlers, was authorized to survey a further number of lots, not exceeding 20 of 100 acres each, and as agent of the proprietors to admit set- tlers to the number of 60. This number was mentioned because the conditions of settlement fixed by vote of the general court required the settlers when their number amounted to 60 to build a meeting-house and settle a learned Protestant minister .*
It is probable then that shortly after 1766 a meeting house was built for the First Church of Adams. Tradition tells us that it was made of logs and stood near the corner of the first cross road between our own North Village and the so-called South Village of Adams. The present town farm of North Adams includes the minister's lot, which was set aside for the Rev. Samuel Todd, the first and only minister of this First Church of Adams who fulfilled the requirement of the general court, of being a "learned pro- testant minister," having graduated from Yale College in 1734 at the early age of 15. +
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