USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Pembroke > Ancient landmarks of Pembroke > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
The life of Mr. Smith was lengthened out to the good old age of eighty-two ; and he continued to preach until his death, which occurred 7 July 1788. During the last year, he had quite lost his sight, and was assisted by a colleague, the Reverend Kilborn Whitman; who became his successor. Of his large family of twelve children, several remained in Pem- broke, were prominent in public life and military affairs, and left to their posterity a noble character and a distinguished name. Their history has been written by Miss Susan A. Smith, formerly of North Pembroke-granddaugh- ter of Thomas Smith's sixth son, Nathaniel.
Soon after Mr. Smith's settlement at Pembroke, began the famous chain of events which was to result in the independence of these English provinces. The minister of Pembroke was a stanch patriot, and upheld steadfastly the rights of the colonies : but when the Revolution broke out, he had already reached the allotted three score and ten; and enthusiasm for the great enterprise was supplied by Doctor Hitchcock, minister of the West Parish. Between the years 1765 and 1775, there took place in Pembroke a series of famous town meetings- held, as were most others until 1786, in the East Meeting House. It is recorded that, from 1786 on, every third meeting was held within the limits of the West Precinct.
180
THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE
In the autumn of 1765, the town was startled by news of the famous Stamp Act; and on Monday, 21 October, 1765. a meeting was called to take action. 'This came to no decision ; but left the matter in the hands of a committee, and adjourned until evening. Just after nightfall, the citizens came together in the old Meeting House, dimly lighted by the unsteady flames of a few candles ; and listened to the report of the committee. Excitement was tense : feeling that a crisis was at hand, the Town adopted -- "by a great majority of votes"-a resolution instructing theil representative in General Court to use his utmost endeavor "to Pospone the introduction of said Act, until the unitted cries of the Whole Continant may have Reachd the ears of our most gracious King and the Parliment of Grate Brittain, and shall obtain from them, who wish neither the death nor loss of their colonies, an answer of Peace."
Years passed : the Stamp Act was repealed; but a course of oppressive measures followed in its train, until at last public opinion would endure no more. In December of 1772 - . three years before the war broke out, and four years before independence was resolved upon-a great meeting of all the townspeople was held in the Meeting House, and a resolution adopted whose every clause bears witness to the keen foresight and unyielding patriotism of its authors. After an array of British acts of oppression and the rights thereby infringed, and a strong statement of the relations which ought to sub- sist between Great Britain and her colonies, the Resolution closes as follows, more in sorrow than in anger: "Resolved that if the measures so justly complained of by this province are presisted in and enforced by fleets and Armies they must --- we think of it with pain -- they will in a little time issue in the Total Dissolution of the union between mother country and the Colonies to the infinight loss of the Former and regret of the Latter." These words are reputed to be the first public declaration contemplating political independence of Europe issued by an American assembly. We cannot but regret that the noble record which contains them, is
181
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
marred by a vote, passed in 1783, discriminating against the unhappy Tories.
The successor of Mr. Smith was Reverend Kilborn-later Judge-Whitman, ordained 12 December 1787: he continued to preach in Pembroke until 12 December 1796, and was succeeded in 1798 by Reverend James Hawley. Mr. Hawley died soon after; his gravestone is in the cemetery :
HERE LIES THE BODY OF REV JAMES HAW- LEY PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE ORDAINED MAY 23D 1798 WHO DIED AT BARNSTABLE OCTOBER 8TH 1800 AGED 31 YEARS
He was followed in 1801 by Rev. Morrill Allen, ordained December the ninth; who continued as minister through forty years, residing at Allen Farm not far from the church. The knoll whereon his house stands, was commonly called "Dancing Hill": for there-said village tradition-had been held, from time immemorial, the yearly corn-dance and other merrymakings of the Mattakese.
Soon after 1800 began in Pembroke the gradual separation of church and state. 'The Town Record for 1809 gives us, in a code of by-laws for the conduct of town meetings, an in- teresting picture of the good old days when the Meeting House was still the natural headquarters for transaction of all public business: "The Citizens shall be Seated except when preparing and giving in their Votes : they shall None of them Sit on top of the Benches or Pews: they may Stand or Sit and do private Business in the Wall Pews in the front of the Meeting House and the Ile adjoining: the broad Ile and the alleys leading from the Pulpit to either end Door shall be Clear and occupied by the Constables of the Town, and by None Other."
Such scenes were soon to be no more. In 1819 the Parish Committee was instructed to admonish the Selectmen that the Town's stock of powder must be removed from the Meet- ing House. The reason for this action is not wholly clear :
182
THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE
there can have been but little danger from fire, since not until 1823 was the building provided with a stove and pipes. It is probable that, with the growth of other religious societies, the line between Parish and 'Town had been yearly becoming more sharply defined. In 1833 the Town paid the Parish for the use of the church as a place of public meeting. In the autumn of that year. the Rubicon was crossed. As late as 1818, the Parish tax had been collected by the Town collector. Now the church ceased to receive support from public taxation, and had henceforth to rely wholly on the system of voluntary subscriptions.
For a time, thanks to the great regard in which Mr. Allen was held, its prosperity suffered little from the change. A farmer himself, the "Old Man of Dancing Hill" became extremely popular with his farmer neighbours, and entered heartily and sympathetically into their joys and sorrows. No man loved better than he those gleams of rustic wit that light up a tedious day of labor in field or garden. His men were served regularly with their customary eleven o'clock and four o'clock, and thereby hangs a tale. One afternoon, as Mr. Allen passed to Peleg Cook a rather scant three fingers of rum, "Peleg," said he, "that liquor is twenty years old." Peleg squinted through his glass against the sunset: "Par- son," he responded, "'tis devilish small of its age!" It is noteworthy that the first temperance reformer in the village was not its minister, but its physician-Doctor Anthony Collamore of North Pembroke; who stopped the practice of dramming on his farm, when he became convinced that it was injurious alike to mind and body.
Late in Mr. Allen's ministry the present meeting house was built. Towards autumn of 1836, the old structure which, through its long history of a hundred and ten years, had heard the discourses of Lewis, and witnessed grave delibera- tion and fiery eloquence in Revolutionary days, was condemned, and ordered to be taken down. The order was passed on December nineteenth. In January following, the Parish granted certain proprietors liberty to build a new
183
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
meeting-house, with all the privileges necessary for that purpose. In April the old house went at auction, for $155, to Christopher Oakman of Marshfield. The present building was erected upon its site: and unlike its predecessor, was surmounted by a large. square belfry to the east; which rose high in air above the windy hill of Pembroke Centre, com- manding a wide view of the upper valley of North River and the stretches of evergreen forest beyond. The interior has been little changed. There was a high old-style pulpit at the back, flanked by pews on either side: and a narrow gallery above the entrance; where were stationed the choir and, later, the organ. Clock and bell were installed in the belfry.
After the resignation of Mr. Allen in 1841, minister followed minister in quick succession. Joshua Chandler, the next pastor, was dismissed in 1844; and left behind him a reputation for eccentricity unsurpassed. We hear of wonder- ful "pulpit handkerchiefs," and prayers that would have wearied a follower of the Prophet. Said Mr. Allen on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination : "We feel confident that if, in those years. a man had been settled who possessed decent pulpit talents, and whose deportment and conversation in social life had been tolerable ; he might have remained in office till the weaknesses of age should have admonished him of the propriety of resigning." That dismissal, however, cost the Parish some of its most active and influential members. Numbers continued to decrease, and subscriptions to wane ; until Mr. Allen could say, with sorrow, in 1851: "Allow me to hope that the members of this society will brace themselves to the work of its support. Here where sweet counsel was taken with your fathers, and where we walked in company to the house of God for the space of forty years, let me not be afflicted, in old age, with sorrowful evidence that the altar of so many prayers, confessions, and praises, is to be deserted : the place left desolate where Lewis in unwearied labours from a small beginning built up a respectable church and society ; where the good work was continued by his succes- cors Smith, Whitman, and Hawley, down to the time when the speaker engaged in the responsible task, 1801."
184
THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE
Rev. Preserved Smith was minister 1845-1849; and Rev. William L. Stearns, 1850-1856. In 1856 the Parish accepted from the Proprietors all their right, title, and interest in the Meeting House and its lot. William Bicknell during his pastorate. 1857-1861, took upon himself the adornment of the Common, hitherto bare and neglected; and out of the fullness of his heart, planted our famous Pine Trees, whose inerits have lately come into the limelight of public dis- cussion. Rev. Theophilus Pipon Doggett was the next minister, and continued from 1861 till 1874. He was a scholarly and cultivated man; and though his best work had been done before he came to this place, was much liked as a preacher. He kept a private school on the site of the present parsonage, and many anecdotes are told of him by his pupils.
In the course of his ministry occurred the Organ Quarrel -hardly less disastrous to the society than its forerunner of a century earlier. In the autumn of 1868, a fine organ was presented to the parish, through the enterprise of the Organ Fund Society. It proved at first productive of more discord than harmony in the Meeting House. Several prominent parishioners seceded; and for this unpatriotic act, were scored by the Parish Committee in their report for 1869: "We are satisfied to take the lowest seat in the synagog, and labour there as best we can. But we cannot afford to leave the ancient citadell, the honoured Temple where our Farthers loved to worship: for the sake of the few ancient patriarks who love to view it from afar, and those who enter its portals for christian consolation and strength in their declining years, will we sustain it; for our own, and the generations' who are to come after us, will we love, cherish, and sustain it."
Rev. Jesse Temple was Mr. Doggett's successor; and though intemperance soon unfitted him for the work of the ministry, we must gratefully remember him and Mrs. Tem- ple as the founders of our reading club and library. In 1875 the Parish admitted women to membership.
The immediate successors of Mr. Temple in the ministry are as follows :-
185
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
Rev. J. H. Collins: 1877-1880
Rev. J. M. W. Pratt: 1881-1885
Rev. Henry Dana Dix : 1885-1887 Rev. Mr. Gardner: 1888
Rev. William H. Fish : 1888-1889 Rev. Mr. Barnhill : 1889
Rev. Mr. Perkins: 1890
Rev. Mr. Thompson : 1890
Rev. Mr. Bruuton : 1891-1892
Rev. Stanley M. Hunter: 1892-1893
In a heavy tempest, 8 April 1893, the belfry of the church was struck by lightning; which set fire to the wood-work, dismantled clock and organ, shook down the ceiling, and left the whole front in ruins. The fire was put out by a heavy rainfall : and steps were at once taken to repair the remaining damage. At this time the high pulpit was lowered; the gallery walled up; and the south-western corner of the house, next the pulpit, made an organ loft. Services were held throughout the summer in the Town Hall, and in the autumn the church was rededicated. During 1894 Rev. Martha Ait- ken was its minister.
In the spring of 1895, the parish called to its pulpit Rev. Edward C. Guild ; who preached about a year. He was a man of high scholarship and character; rich in human sympathy, and deeply read in literature : and his short stay here won for him the devotion of all his acquaintance. The remaining years of his life were, for the most part, spent in Germany, he died in Boston, 6 November, 1899.
He was followed, in 1996, by Rev. John W. Barker; who preached until the fall of 1897, when he removed to Water- ville in Maine. During 1898 and 1899, Rev. Charles W. Casson was minister : Mr. Barker returned to preach during 1900. The year 1901 was an interregnum of candidates.
Early in 1902, Rev. Henry A. Westall-a native of Caro- lina, and a graduate of Tufts College and Harvard Divinity School-became the twentieth minister of Pembroke. His resignation, which terminated a pastorate among us of five
186
THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE
years, took effect at the close of 1906. A practical man of scholarly attainments, Mr. Westall possessed from the first the respect and good-will of his fellow townsmen. He has guided this ancient church within sight of its two hundredth milestone. In scholarship, breadth of view, and true liberal- ism; in feeling for the vital things of belief; and in the sincerity and sympathy with which he spoke to us, the Fathers of old must have held him a worthy successor to the pulpit honoured in former times by Lewis, Smith, Whitman, and Allen.
Since Mr. Westall's resignation, the services have been conducted by students of Harvard Divinity School. During the summer of 1907 Rev. Palfrey Perkins of Salem fulfilled the duties of pastor with very great success. Memorable are the vesper services ; charge of which he shared with Rev. Harold G. Arnold, now minister of Bridgewater. After his return to Cambridge, Mr. Perkins most kindly continued to direct the supply of the pulpit: and the church, numbering its bicentennial, remains in his care.
These last years have seen the retirement from active service of our venerable sexton, Henry Baker. During the space of more than half a century, his hand has opened the meeting-house of a Sunday; wound the clock; tinkered the organ ; and rung the ponderous bell in the ceaseless clanging of alarm, the full measured strokes of the public meeting, or in the slow and broken tolling appropriate to the burial of the dead. It has always been the first pleasure of natives of Pembroke returning home after long absence, to recognize in the church doorway the familiar figure of Mr. Baker : and to hear, from his lips, some old-time anecdote by everyone else long since forgotten, or-it might be-a modern story of equal power. Few men have ever more truly endeared them- selves to a village than did Henry Baker; and his death was a grief and loss as great as his life had been a blessing. In closing for a while these histories, I cannot do better than acknowledge the generous contributions I owe to him, and thank him for them.
187
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
Clasp, Angel of the backward look And folded wings of ashen gray And voice of echoes far away, The brazen covers of thy book; The weird palimpsest old and vast Wherein thou hid'st the spectral past; Where, closely mingled, pale and glow The characters of joy and woe; The monographs of outlived years Or smile-illumed or dim with tears,
Green hills of life that slope to death, And haunts of home, whose vistaed trees Shade off to mournful cypresses With the white amaranths underneath. Even while I look, I can but heed
The restless sands' incessant fall,
Importunate hours that hours succeed. Each clamorous with its own sharp need, And duty keeping pace with all. Shut down and clasp the heavy lids; I hear again the voice that bids The dreamer leave his dream midway For larger hopes and graver fears : Life greatens in these later years; The century's aloe flowers today!
188
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.