USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Wellfleet > Brief history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Wellfleet, Massachusetts > Part 3
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He was born in 1792, and commenced his ministry in 1818. After ten years of service he located, but was re-admitted the year he came to Wellfleet. In 1838 he again located. In most of his appointments he was in some measure useful; but his attention to outside business, in order to support his large family, greatly diminished his power and success. In his last days he said to his friends, "Death has no terrors to me: the place where my body shall rest looks as pleasant as a bed of roses." With such faith he died February 28, 1850. He has a brother, Rev. Jefferson Hascall, in the New England Con- ference.
Rev. Hector Brownson succeeded Brother Hascall the following year; and did a good work in feeding the flock, and making some preparations for the
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCHI,
reformation which came soon after. The Master has 1833. Brother Brownson was the sower. Most of said, " One soweth, another reapeth ; " and the reaping was done by his successor. The time is coming when both shall rejoice together.
Hector Brownson joined the New England Confer- ence in 1826, and located in 1838, but was soon re- admitted. He has been in the service of the American Bible Society for thirty-two years, as one of the most able and efficient financial agents which that society has ever had. He is now very aged, but vigorous, and the appointed District Superintendent of the American Bible Society for Eastern New York. He is on the list of superannuates in the New England Conference, and resides at Rhinebeck, N.Y.
Under the labors of Rev. Warren Emerson, there was a gracious revival in Wellfleet. We cannot ascertain definitely how many were con- 1834. verted ; but the minutes show an increase of twenty-eight in membership this year, and our record proves that many who have since been noble disciples of Jesus were then brought in. Brother Emerson was particularly efficient as a pastor, and is affection- ately remembered here.
The Sunday school was thoroughly re-organized, and a new constitution adopted this year.
One of the superintendents about this time, a man who was remarkable for piety and Christian zeal rather than for learning and correctness of speech, would frequently arise after all the other exercises had passed, and say, in his important way, " We will
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now close the school by singing the missionary hymn, -
'Oh ! when shall I see Jesus ?'"
A good man, he has long since gone to be with Jesus.
Through the next year Brother Emerson was faith- ful to the converts, and most of them held on, and came into the church. The people generally were possessed of the good spirit, and 1835. worked well with their pastor.
Warren Emerson was born in Malden (now Mel- rose), Mass., Feb. 6, 1796, converted in 1815, and received into the Conference in 1828. Until within a few years he has been in the active work, going where God and the bishops sent him, and blessing all the charges which he served. In 1848 he was a delegate to the General Conference. His wife, Susan Emerson, died at their home in West Thompson, Conn., Sept. 2, 1876. He is a little over eighty years old, and feels his loss very keenly. May the churches which he has served pray for him in his bereavement !
It was during this year that a new Methodist Epis- copal church was dedicated in South Wellfleet by Rev. Enoch Bradley of North Truro. 1
Rev. B. F. Lambord came again in 1836, and spent a very pleasant year. There were some con- versions, and all enjoyed the preaching of 1836. this servant of God.
1 See Appendix.
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
CHAPTER VIII.
Heman Perry. - I. M. Bidwell. - Horace Moulton. - Paul Townsend. - Jonathan Cady. - Great Revival. - Church removed and en- larged.
REV. HEMAN PERRY, who several years before 1837. was on Wellfleet Circuit with Revs. Edward Hyde and Leonard Bennett, was the sta- tioned preacher in 1837. There was some interest 1838.
during the year, and the pastor was well supported. His second was very like the first ; not altogether fruitless, and not remarkably successful.
He was born in Sandwich, Mass., in 1794, and : converted in a class-meeting in his father's house, in 1807. He very soon felt that the Spirit directed him to the work of the ministry ; and in 1821 com- menced travelling in the Conference. In 1841, after twenty years devoted to his chosen work, he was compelled to retire from the field, and, as a superan- nuate, went with his family to Monument, Mass. (the town of Sandwich), where he resided till the Saviour called him home. Though in great bodily weakness, he was often found supplying the pulpit which must otherwise have been unoccupied ; and his life through all these years was truly exemplary. He died peacefully, Feb. 14, 1867.
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The next year was somewhat interrupted by the failing health of the appointed preacher, Rev. Ira M. Bidwell. He came from Provincetown Cen- tre Church, having had two very successful 1839. year's with that people. He says, "I really broke down at Provincetown, but had to stop at Wellfleet." He was so completely worn out, that Rev. Horace Moulton came on to finish out the year.
There was no special interest. The church kept along with some degree of life, but not so much as at some other seasons.
Father Bidwell was converted in 1820, at seven- teen years of age, under the labors of Rev. John N. Maffitt ; and then united with the Methodist Epis- copal Church in Hartford, Conn. In 1823 he was licensed as a local preacher, and the following year joined the Conference. On his first circuit, with two other brethren, there were thirteen appointments ; and on all his fields of labor he worked hard in the name of the Lord. Since 1840, with the exception of one year, he has held a superannuated relation in the Providence Conference, preaching two or three years under the presiding elder, and occasionally when not thus employed. For the last four years he has been too feeble to do any ministerial work. God gave him many souls in the years of his service ; and now he writes, "I am resting in hope, and trusting the Lord for a glorious immortality." He resides in Norwich, Conn.
Horace Moulton was a very useful man. His stay , in Wellfleet was brief, and the apparent success of his labors was less than on almost any of his other
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
fields. He conducted, under God, many revivals, and organized many churches. For thirty-one years he sustained an effective relation to the New Eng- land Conference ; and through his life of self-denial and Christlike benevolence, devoting himself to the one work of saving souls, he saw a very large num- ber converted. He was superannuated for thirteen years, but never lost his intense interest in the progress and triumphs of Christ's kingdom. " His declining years were full of sunshine ; " and on the 11th of September, 1873, he entered into rest.
Rev. Paul Townsend was the next pastor. He was faithful in all his work, and very anxious to see sinners saved ; but through the first year
1840. there was little interest. In his second year, the revival came ; and it was the most glorious this 1841. town had enjoyed since its settlement. In the first two days of the extra services, Monday and Tuesday, there were about ten con- verted. On Wednesday evening ninety presented themselves for prayers, and thirty were converted. On Thursday evening there were one hundred and eighty inquirers, of whom thirty were saved. Friday evening two hundred and thirty said, "Pray for us," - filling all the wing pews of the church, and the body pews, except two or three back by the door ; and thirty-nine were converted. On Sunday, of two hundred seekers, twenty-five found the Sav- iour. Memorable week ! over one hundred and thirty souls born into the kingdom of Christ; some of whom have been bright and growing Christians ever since. During this revival, at least one hun-
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dred and seventy-five professed conversion, and gave some satisfactory evidence. The whole town was moved by the Holy Spirit; and there was a great change in very many homes. Many yet live (Janu- ary, 1877), who hold the servant through whom God spake in this season, in the most kindly Chris- tian affection.
Father Townsend was born in Barnard, Vt., Jan. 3, 1807; and born of the Spirit, Sept. 29, 1822. His first license to preach was given at a Quarterly Con- ference held at Woodstock, Barnard Circuit, Vt., March 4, 1826; and signed, in the absence of the presiding elder, by A. D. Merrill. " The following year," he says, "I was appointed by John W. Hardy as junior preacher on Weston Circuit, Vt., with Justin Spaulding preacher in charge. On the morn- ing of July 4, 1827 (memorable day !) I bade fare- well to parents, brothers, sister, and home, mounted my horse and saddlebags, and rode forty miles to Weston before the sun set." In 1828 he was re- ceived on trial in the New England Conference, and has ever been a true minister of Christ. He has been a revival preacher. In Stafford Springs, Conn., on Tolland Circuit, he saw many conversions, and the now large and thriving church organized. At Greenfield, Westfield, Wellfleet, and Provincetown, he led large numbers into the liberty of the gospel ; and in Provincetown he received one hundred and fifty into the church. He has been presiding elder seven years, and represented his Conference at the General Conference twice. With the exception of eighteen months when suffering from a throat trouble,
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCHI,
he has been preaching continually since first sent out by the presiding elder in 1827. For four years after this throat difficulty came on, he was superannuated, but preached as a supply three of them. In 1873 he was again compelled to take a superannuated relation ; but he continued to work as a supply, and is now (January, 1877) at Marston's Mills. His health is very poor ; but he must preach the gospel, if it be sitting in a chair before his congregation.
Rev. Jonathan Cady followed Brother Townsend ; and it was his first work, to care for converts of the
1842. previous year. One hundred and twenty-
five were brought into the church, most of them to be acceptable and useful members. This is sufficient evidence of Brother Cady's faithfulness.
The house was again too small for the congrega- tion ; and many thought that a more convenient and pleasant location could be found. Brother Cady did all he could; and finally the present site was purchased of Abigail Higgins. In June of 1843, the work of pulling down and moving was begun ; and, with the arduous efforts of the pastor and those who were interested with him, it was completed in 1843. the following December; this house, sixty- seven by fifty-seven feet in dimensions, con- tained one hundred and eighteen pews, with galleries as before. The basement was of brick, with two vestries above ground, one seating three hundred, the other one hundred. The dedication services were held Dec. 5, Rev. Paul Townsend preaching the ser- mon, from Hag. ii. 9: 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of
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hosts ; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."
Up to this time the missionary collections had been very small; and, in addition to all his other work, Brother Cady undertook to instil a missionary spirit into the people, and so increase the collection. He tells of going with his horse, one morning, to the home of a brother living some distance from the village, who was noted for his caution about giving money to any enterprise : he went for the purpose of getting something for missions. The forenoon passed, and, although he made known his errand, no money came : so he had his horse put up, and staid to dinner. Through the afternoon he hinted his de- sire several times, but with no apparent success : so he staid to tea, and concluded to stop over night, rather than leave without the contribution to mis- sions. As the evening hours came on, the brother seemed rather uneasy, and at last handed the minis- ter two dollars, with which he joyfully returned to the parsonage. Whether the brother thought his pastor would board it out, or really imbibed the mis- sionary spirit, he did not say ; but his gift was large for him. Many others gave more largely than before.
Jonathan Cady was converted in the fall of 1814, in Thompson, Conn. In 1830 he began to preach, with a local preacher's license, in Providence, R.I. Two years later he joined the New England Confer- ence ; in which for twenty-two years he did good work as an effective member, and four years as super- numerary. In 1859 he superannuated, and still con- tinues in that relation. Almost seventy-five years
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
of age, residing in Providence, R.I., he says, " All is well. My faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ; ' my hope is glorious."
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CHAPTER IX.
G. W. Stearns. - J. Lovejoy. - C. C. Munger. - Samuel Fox. - John Howson. - Revivals. - New Parsonage.
REV. G. W. STEARNS came to Wellfleet in 1844, and found a large congregation, a membership of three hundred, and a very good life manifested. He reported. thirty conversions with twelve 1844. baptisms, a Sunday school of two hundred and fifty, and a net increase of eighteen in the church. His salary was four hundred dollars, and the missionary collection was twenty-two dollars. Three hundred and seventy-five dollars were paid on a parsonage debt, and thirty dollars collected for education.
His second year was less prosperous. There were many removals, and the general interest rather de- creased. He says, in the church record, " Our prosperity here has been hindered in a great I845. measure by a lack of mutual confidence in one another, through which the Devil has had a triumph. May it be short ! " This year seventy-five dollars were raised for missions. The preacher must have worked hard to secure such an advance.
Brother Stearns was converted in October of 1834, at Newbury Seminary, Vt .: " the oldest son, spiritu- ally, of that institution." He commenced preaching under the presiding elder in 1835, and joined the
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
New Hampshire Conference in 1837, of which body he was a member until 1842, when he located. Com- ing to Barnstable, Mass., he preached one year, and joined the Providence Conference in 1843, and filled various appointments, till he took a supernumerary relation in 1855. He is now practising medicine in New Bedford, Mass., but says, " I regard the itinerant life as the highest and best of earth; it was taking a long step down to enter and continue in my present work; but necessity was laid upon me, and still re- mains."
Rev. John Lovejoy followed Brother Stearns, and during the first year labored hard, with only a few con- 1846. versions. The people enjoyed his preaching, but the desired results of most of his efforts were not realized. In his second year there was some- 1847. thing of a revival, and quite a number were converted. Among them was one brother who has since been a class-leader for fifteen years, and sev- eral others who made solid members of the church.
All through the town Brother Lovejoy was . es- teemed a good, sound preacher. He knew the Scrip- tures, and used them in his preaching as few ministers can. In addition to his regular work, he gave several lectures on physiology, which were well appreciated.
Some remember his efforts to arouse the sleepy hearers. Certain brethren who worked very hard during the week were habitually drowsy on the sab- bath ; and sometimes they would lean their heads for- ward on the backs of the pews before them. Brother Lovejoy endured it for a time, but soon determined to break up the habit. So the next sabbath, when
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several of the regular sleepers were in their usual position, he stopped his discourse to shout, " Heads up, heads up here !" and they looked up in a wonder- ing way, and decided to sit up and hear the word. After that, whenever he saw them in their sleepy position, he shouted " Heads up!" until they were well disciplined to give attention to the sermon.
John Lovejoy was born in Lancaster, N.H., in 1806, and converted in 1818. His conversion was brought about by no apparent human agency. The Holy Spirit " took of the things of God," and brought them to his mind, till he was " set in heart and soul to seek God." He was attending school ; and one day he was so depressed that he asked permission to leave the room, having concealed a Bible under his coat. Retiring to a barn, he read the Word, and prayed ; "and," he says, "it seemed as if I should be in hell if God did not interfere." Soon another boy, rude and thoughtless, found him in the attitude of prayer, and stood looking on. He was invited to pray, but said he could not, had never prayed, he would kneel as an earnest seeker after Jesus. They both knelt together and wept, and God blessed them. Within a few minutes after their return to the schoolroom, the whole school seemed to feel the power of conviction wrought by the Spirit; and from that time a revival progressed, until one hundred were converted. A Methodist Episcopal church soon fol- lowed, and is now a pleasant appointment in the New Hampshire Conference. Brother Lovejoy says, " From the Bible I learned to pray, and after a time to believe : I was saved, and I knew it."
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCHI,
He commenced to hold meetings when but seven- teen years of age, and joined the New England Con- ference in 1827, since which time he has been in active service, with more or less success in his appoint- ments. He is now (1876) stationed at Norwich Town, Conn.
Rev. Cyrus C. Munger was the next preacher. Although he was thought by some to be a man of
considerable ability, he was not so success- 1848. ful here as most of the preachers have been. There were few, if any, conversions; and there was not so much interest among believers as they had before manifested.
Brother Munger was the oldest son of Rev. Philip Munger, a Methodist itinerant for nearly half a cen- tury. Converted at the age of fifteen, he immedi- ately joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1827 entered the Maine Wesleyan Seminary. In 1833 he joined the Maine Conference, in which he remained until poor health induced him to locate in 1840. After living in Portland two years, he removed to Woonsocket, R.I., and supplied that church. In 1844 he came into the Providence Conference, and for seven years was an active member. Then the disease which afterwards resulted in his death began to develop, and he located. He died very suddenly in Worcester, Mass., Feb. 4, 1856, aged forty-four years.
Rev. Samuel Fox met a spirit of fanatical opposi- 1849. There were some of the official brethren who tion in a few members in his first year. feared it would make a division in the church ; but he
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dealt with it in a calm, decided way which crushed it out, and prepared the way for the work of grace in the following year.
In the Methodist and Congregational societies there were one hundred and fifty conversions ; and Brother Fox reported at the Conference sixty 1850. probationers.
He says, "I was never troubled with a heavy, dragging conference-meeting during the two years. Sometimes few and sometimes many were gathered ; but there was always true spiritual life. When I have had opportunity to confer with our ministers preceding and succeeding me, they have given simi- lar testimony. It was not a perfect church, but hav- ing more of godliness than any other I have watched over." And then he asks, "Do the mantles of the fathers and mothers clothe the children ?" Would that we could say unqualifiedly, " They do " !
Samuel Fox is now (1876) stationed at East Thompson, Conn. ; and this is the thirty-third year of his ministry. He was converted in New Bedford, Mass., in 1838, and commenced preaching in South Yarmouth, Mass., in 1843. For two years, 1860 and 1861, he was a superannuate ; and one year, 1874, he held a supernumerary relation. God has blessed him in all his work.
Rev. John Howson came here in April, 1851, and spent two years " with great peace and some pros- perity." There was something of a revival the first year ; and a new parsonage was 1851. built at an expense of thirteen hundred dollars, and paid for. In his second year, the quickening and
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
converting power was again felt; and the collec-
tion for missions was more than doubled, -
1852. one hundred and seventy-two dollars. He left an efficient church of three hundred and twelve members, with twenty probationers.
Father Howson was sixteen years a local preacher in England before coming to this country. An American by birth, his parents removed with him in his childhood to England, their native country. He came here in 1839. Many of our people remember hearing him say substantially, one Fourth of July, " You are Americans because you could not help it : you were born here. I came here because I preferred to live in this country : I am an American from choice. And, besides this, I am as much an Ameri- can as any of you ; for I was born in this country. So I am twice an American, - by birth and by choice."
In 1840 he joined the New England Conference, and was within the bounds of the Providence Con- ference when it was set off ; of which body he con- tinued an active member up to the spring of 1876, when he was returned supernumerary. He has been a very useful minister, filling good appointments, - some of the best, - and seeing prosperity under his watch-care. "God has been very good to me in all my stations," he says. "In many of them I saw gracious revivals ; to Him be all the glory !" He resides at Thompsonville, Conn.
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CHAPTER X.
J. E. Gifford. -- E. Benton. - E. K. Colby. - E. H. Hatfield. - J. Mather. - J. Howson. - A. N. Bodfish. - Revivals. - Church enlarged.
IN the spring of 1853, Rev. J. E. Gifford was sta- tioned here ; and it was a year of low religious life. He was imprudent in some things, and so failed to reach the hearts of the people, 1853. and secure their co-operation. On the record he re- ported that sixteen professed religion, and twenty were added to the church. Owing to the imperfect condition of the record, his return in the minutes, of three hundred and forty-one members, was con- siderably too large. Probably there were not three hundred resident members at the time.
Brother Gifford located in 1861.
Then came Rev. Erastus Benton, who remained two years. About thirty were converted, or re- claimed from a backslidden state, during his · pastorate ; and twenty-four joined the church 1854. on probation. Fourteen died, " leaving an evidence that death was gain." In his second year, more was raised for benevolence than in any previous 1855. year in the history of the church. There was general prosperity, and the people were much attached to their pastor. He says of them, " They
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HISTORY M. E. CHURCH,
endeared themselves to my heart. It would give me great pleasure to see them ; but I must wait till we meet in heaven."
For thirty-four successive years Father Benton was in the itinerant field; twenty-nine of which were spent in old Connecticut, and five in Massa- chusetts. He always did thorough work, and was much beloved on all his charges. He says, " As. I look back, I find some things to regret, and not a few to rejoice over. God has given me many friends, and permitted me to see many precious souls saved, whom I hope to meet in heaven." He was converted in 1815, at a neighborhood prayer-meeting in a pri- vate house in 'l'olland, Conn. In 1832 he received a local preacher's license, and began preaching. The next year he was received on trial in the New Eng- land Conference ; and, when the Providence Con- ference was formed, he was one of its members. Since 1867 he has held a superannuated relation in this body. In feeble health, he awaits the call, " Come home." His residence is Stafford Springs, Conn.
Through the next Conference year, a good, healthy interest prevailed and increased, while Rev. E. K. 1856. Colby was pastor. His social qualities,
rather than his pulpit utterances, made him quite popular, and gave him power over the people. He knew how to make everybody at home in his presence ; and he was familiar with all. He had a 1857. information gained mostly from observation ; good Christian experience, and considerable and he was plainly the servant of God among this
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people. In his second year there was an extensive ' revival, in which many were converted. Some good accessions to the church came from this work.
E. K. Colby was born at Epping, N.H., in 1812, and converted in 1832. In 1844 he joined the Maine Conference, and labored in its ranks till 1855, when he was transferred to the Providence Con- ference. In 1863 he again returned to Maine ; and is now (1876) stationed at Kennebunk Depot.
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