USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > Canton Baptist memorial : being a historical discourse delivered before the Baptist Church in Canton, Mass., at the celebration of their fiftieth anniversary, Wednesday, June 22, 1864 > Part 4
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
£
-
1821.]
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
31
The Sextonship.
Choir.
Elder Thomas Barrett.
Enos Upham appointed to wait upon strangers who may at- tend our meeting from time to time, and furnish them with seats," - an excellent and most politic provision always, to say nothing of the Christianity of it. Often the size of a Sabbath
congregation depends less upon the preacher than upon the manner in which the ushers magnify their office.
While the house was building, the people listened for a time to the preaching of Rev. Edmund Billson, an Englishman. He was an able speaker; but some rash expressions uttered . by him in his discourses made them so out of conceit with him, that they refused to allow him to minister in their new sanc- tuary, and he left them to return no more.
All debts and demands against the church, on account of their building, were promptly paid or compounded. A choir was organized ; and Elder THOMAS BARRETT, who had occa- sionally officiated before in the parish, (26) was invited (D) to divide his ministerial labors between Canton and Sharon, re- ceiving as his portion from this half of his " diocese " one hun- dred and fifty dollars for one year. He continued to reside in Sharon, where he had been laboring for some time already ;
not such as to warrant a great Sunday congregation. Indeed, the census of the previ- ous year showed that the number of inhabitants in Canton had decreased nearly a hundred since 1:10.
-
32
. CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1821-2.
Sunday School.
Dismission to a Methodist Church. Elder Barrett.
but, during the year 1821, this church counted him her pastor.
In June of the same year, a Sunday school was added to the other means of grace ; (29) Deacon Ezra Tilden being appointed the first superintendent. The Baptist Sunday school in Canton really began eight or ten years before, in the Old North School- house, at which place a few faithful men and women were wont to gather with their children on Sabbath days to study the Bible and Catechism ; but there seems to have been little or no organization to their efforts until the above date.
The church numbered but forty-five at the time they entered their new house of worship. In the spring of 1819, they had numbered fifty ; but, during that year and the next, three were dismissed to Randolph, and two died. During El- der Barrett's ministry, some were added, both by baptism and by letter ; but, several cases of severe discipline occurring, the membership of the church was reduced in a year and a half to forty-three. The fathers meant to guard well the heritage of God, and were not often chargeable with slighting their work ; yet those who criticise the strictness of the older Baptists, and complain (no doubt in some cases justly) of the harshness of the early discipline of the church, will be surprised at a letter of dismission, bearing date June 3, 1822, which certifies " that our beloved sister Mary Hunt is a member in good standing in the Baptist Church in Canton; and, upon her request, we dismiss her, to unite with the Methodist Church in Boston, ·hoping that she will continue to honor the cause of the dear Redeemer." (31)
.
Elder Barrett left his charge here in the spring of 1822. He was a preacher of much power, generally choosing short, pithy texts, and using with great effect those passages of Scripture which are best adapted to awaken the conscience. His prevailing temper of piety, however, was gloomy ; and, be- ing very self-depreciative and distrustful, he failed to derive the proper vigor and hopefulness from the love of Jesus. This disposition produced deep religious melancholy, and finally insanity, which terminated in suicide. He ended his days in
-
£
33
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
1821-2.]
Elder Barrett.
First Salary Offered.
Thomas Ford.
Webster, Aug. 7, 1832, aged only forty years, having been born in Woodstock, Ct., Aug. 27, 1792. He studied for the ministry with the Rev. Antipas Steward, Rev. David Pease, and Rev. Thomas Rand, and was ordained in Grafton, June 12, 1816, making his term of pastoral labor sixteen years. There remains no portrait of him. He is described as tall and portly, with an impressive personal presence, and a complexion in- clining to sandy.
Thomas Barnet
The Baptists were now once more destitute of a stated ministry. Sensible of their need of the labors of a settled pastor, they made an effort to raise a sufficient sum of money to support one, and, by the first of June, they were able to offer three hundred dollars. "Elder Houghton, of Winthrop," was first invited to " preach on trial ; " but no engagement was effected with him, and the people contented themselves with chance supplies and alternate supplies till the following spring. Among the various preachers who dispensed the word here during the year 1822, the one who made his mark most de- cidedly of all was Bro. Thomas Ford, of Boston, the father of Daniel S. Ford, Esq., Editor of the " Christian Watchman and Reflector." He was a native Englishman, a prominent member of Dr. Sharp's church, and, like Ensign Lincoln, a licensed layman. Dr. Wayland, who was ever known to be a champion of lay-preaching, often referred to Bro. Ford, whom he heard in his younger days, as a noble instance of the efficiency of unordained talent in the pulpit .* In the
* A testimony equally significant and valuable to the power and unction of Brother Thomas Ford, as a preacher, came from a colored barber, who told how often he used to walk through the spring slush, to Charles Street from the extreme North End, to hear him talk in evening meeting -.
As a sample of the quaint way in which he was wont to fortify his utterances with texts of Scripture, it is related, that on one occasion, when a young, and not very promising candidate preached before Dr. Sharp's church for a license, he was called upon, after an embarrassing silence at the close of the sermon, to give his opinion in
-
08-1981
34
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1823.
Second Revival.
Elder Eliot: Elder Moore. Church Joins Boston Ass'n.
spring of 1823, Elder George Evans, their beloved evangelist, made the people a visit, (35) on his return from the West, and preached among them, much to the joy and reviving of their hearts.
Bro. Henry Stanwood, a young licentiate, next supplied the pulpit for some time, and his labors proved very accepta- ble and useful. During his stay, the church was blessed, souls were converted, and, in the summer and fall of 1823, fourteen were received into the communion ; Elders Benjamin Putnam, of Randolph, and Joseph Eliot, of Roxbury, administering the ordinance of baptism. This was the second revival in the church.
Elder Eliot was a preacher of considerable note at that day, possessed of a good person, engaging manners, and excellent oratorical powers. Being unhappy in his settlement, he frankly told the church in Canton that he would be glad to become their pastor. Many felt an inclination to settle him here; but that was finally overruled, partly by special rea- sons existing in the minds of the people, and partly by his own subsequently changed views of the matter. Observing to them that an extended field would better suit him than this " small garden," he turned their attention to Rev. FORRIS MOORE, a young " up-country " clergyman, whom he had bap- tized, as being a fit person to serve them in the ministry, he having a much smaller family, and health sufficient only for limited labors. The result was, that Elder Moore came to Canton, and Elder Eliot moved into his place, at New Ips- wich, N.H .*
This year the church, upon request, was dismissed from the old Warren Association, and joined the Boston Association. Aid had been received from abroad at different times, in sup- port of the Baptist cause in the place ; and record is made this
the case, and expressed himself as follows: " I believe the young brother to be a very good man; but, if I were to advise him as to his entering the ministry, I should say to him much as Eli said to Samuel, ' Go and lie down, my son, till the Lord calleth thee. '',
* The same conveyance that brought the goods of one carried away the goods of the other. It was remarked in a pleasant way by one of the sisters here that " Mr. Eliot unseated Mr. Moore, and sat down in his chair."
Tornis Moon
35
1774637
1824-6.]
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
Elder Forris Moore.
O. Tracy supply.
summer of a vote of thanks to the Norfolk Domestic and For- eign Mission Society, and also to certain liberal brethren in the town of Randolph, for sums of money forwarded in the in- terest of this church. (37, 38)
Elder Moore commenced his labors here on the 19th of July, 1824 .* When he came to the church, there were fifty-five communicants in it, and four were added by baptism during his stay of about a year. He was compelled by feeble health to resign his charge, and left Canton in June, 1825. This faithful and suffering minister was born in Putney, Vt., Dec. 31, 1796. He indulged a hope in Christ when thirteen years of age, but did not profess religion till the summer of 1816, when he was baptized in Rockingham, of his native State, by Elder Eliot, who was then pastor of the Baptist Church there. After this he studied at Phillips' Academy, Andover, Mass., and while there his system was prostrated by two severe at- tacks of illness, which left him an invalid for life. He was ordained at Keene, N.H., Dec. 30, 1819, at which place, and at New Ipswich, of the same State, he performed the duties of a pastor until his settlement over this church. He died in South Lee, April 7, 1858. He ardently loved the work of the ministry, and honored the calling by his devout and godly life. His mind was clear and well balanced, and his heart, whether interested as a minister, a husband and father, or as a citizen and a Christian, was always warm and true. He labored in pain ; but his almost forty years of tearful seed-sowing yielded him many sheaves. He is said to have been the first Baptist preacher in Canton who used notes.
Rev. Oren Tracy, of Randolph, was next called to the pas- torate here, but never came otherwise than as an occasional supply ; and the return of Elder George Evans occurring in the following August, the people enjoyed the welcome minis- trations of a beloved former evangelist until spring.
The records of the year 1826 are a mournful memorial of
* He lived in the large old yellow house behind the two great willow-trees, at Canton Corner, still known as "the old Haynes House," and which continued to be a sort of parsonage for several years.
....
36
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1826.
Elder Adlam called.
Francis Mason.
suspensions, expulsions, and death. The church enjoyed preaching only on alternate Sundays until fall, when, on the 15th of September, Elder SAMUEL ADLAM, an Englishman, was " unanimously and affectionately " called from Dedham. He remained here through the fall and winter; and it was at his hands that Francis Mason, now Dr. Mason, the distinguished Karen Missionary, received baptism.
The subsequent career of Mason, and his prominence in the Christian world, render it proper that he should receive a special notice in this history, even aside from the fact of his connection with this church. Francis Mason was born in York, England, April 2, 1799. At the age of nineteen, he availed himself of the offer of an uncle in America to pay his passage hither, and landed in Philadelphia in May, 1818. His uncle took him to Cincinnati, but died there soon after, leav- ing him a stranger and alone. He became a wanderer, and for nearly six years roamed up and down in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi, " living without an object." While staying at Natchez, he rejected a good oppor- tunity to acquire a medical education, believing it better, he said, " to be a good shoemaker" (which he already was) " than to be a bad doctor." At length, while on a visit to New Or- leans, he saw a ship bound to Boston, and immediately en- . gaged a passage in her. He arrived in Boston in the summer of 1824, and remained in that city about a year ; but his life there, according to his own testimony, was wretched, aimless, .and unhappy. Like Judson, he became a frequenter of play- houses, and having tried these, with nearly every other variety of diversion, without any satisfaction to himself, he came to feel that his very existence was a gift not worth the having. One day, while in this state of mind, he said laughingly to some of his associates, " I will go into the country, become religious, and settle down for life in the Bay State." The careless remark proved partly prophetic ; and the year 1825 found him in Randolph, surrounded by the very influences which were to make him a faithful and efficient servant of God. JIe boarded in the family of Elder Benjamin Putnam,
1
88
37
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
1826.]
Francis Mason.
His Conversion and Baptism.
and followed his trade of boot-making. Elder Putnam was faithful to set before him the importance of religion, and urge upon him the necessity of a change of heart. He was scepti- cal, but took instruction kindly, and through the influence of Miss Lucinda Gill, a young woman of earnest piety, and a · member of this church,* who resided in Elder Putnam's family, and to whom he became devotedly attached, he began to read and study the Bible. Subsequently (in December, 1825) he married Miss Gill, and removed to Canton, where he boarded in the family of Deacon Tilden. His study of the Bible was faithfully continued. At his hours of work, he would place the holy book in the open drawer of his work- bench, where his eye could catch the words; and, when a visitor entered the shop, he would push the drawer in.
This honest perusal of the Scriptures, with the immediate effect of the kind exhortations of Rev. George Evans,t brought him at last, in the early part of the year 1826, to the light of a joyful hope in Christ. Spots in the woods, neigh- boring to the old Tilden homestead, bear witness, this day, to the fervor of Mason's first prayers. Thoroughly interested now in the matter of the gospel, he spared no pains to put himself in the way of listening to its teachings; and on Sab- bath days, when there was no preaching in Canton, he often walked with Deacon Tilden to Dedham.# There he be- · came acquainted with Bro. Adlam, and his preaching, his nearness of age, and the strong attraction of a common nation- ality, drew Mason towards him in deep and lasting friend- ship. There is little doubt but it was Mason who procured his call to Canton. The future missionary was baptized in Reservoir Pond, a little above Pleasant Street, in the month of October, 1826; being the first candidate to whom young Adlam ever administered this Christian rite. At the same time, he received the hand of fellowship to this church, in . whose communion he still remains. Surprising as it may
* See page 21.
t Memoir of Elder George Evans, p. 52; Mason's Autograph Reminiscences.
# West Dedham.
--------
38
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1827.
Studies for the Ministry. Ordination and Departure. His Wife and Child.
seem, no record of this transaction was made on the church- book; neither was Mason's name ever entered on the church- roll. Were it not that the parties are still living, the facts and dates would probably never have been verified.
Immediately after his conversion, Mason's soul was fired with the zeal of an evangelist. He would go to India, and he set himsen at once to study for a preparation. Elder Adlam taught him the Greek and Hebrew alphabet, sitting beside him on the shoe-bench; and he afterwards took lessons in the Greek classics, two or three times a week, of Mr. Huntoon, the pastor of the Unitarian Church. He was licensed here on the 1st of October, 1827, and, after two years of theologi- cal study at Newton," was ordained by the Baldwin-place Church, Boston, May 23, 1830. The next day he set sail, with Kincaid, for Calcutta.+
Mrs. Mason died here, soon after her husband's graduation at Newton.# She was an excellent woman, and her husband trusted in her. He testifies, " She had much to do, in God's providence, with my conversion. Blessings on her memory !" She left a little son, a fine, promising boy, to the care of her sister Abigail (now Mrs. Capen, of West Bridgewater). With her faithful attentions the child thrived, and bade fair to grow up an honor and a joy to his devoted father, and to the cause whose sacrifices had been his first inheritance. As appears
* His graduating essay (1829) was entitled " The Man of Sin."
t Baptist Magazine, vol. xiv. pp. 409-10.
# She died Nov. 18, 1829, aged thirty-three. Her first infant, Wayland Putnam, died two years before in Milton, aged one year and eleven months.
88
S. Adtam.
39
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
1827.]
Removal of Adlam.
Moses Curtis settled.
from letters written at that date, * Mr. Mason had set his heart on his being a missionary, and succeeding him in Bur- mah; but God willed it otherwise. Disease set in at the time he was vaccinated; and he sank under it, in spite of all the love and vigilance of his nurse, being only two years old when he died. Rev. Lucius Bolles, D.D., then Secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, came from Boston, and officiated at his funeral, Jan. 12, 1831, at the residence of his aunt, the house now owned by the Blake heirs, and stand- ing on the north side of Pleasant Street, about a. quarter of a mile east of Reservoir Pond. A little mound close to the grave of his mother, in the cemetery in Canton, now covers the child of promise, - the dust of Francis Wayland Mason.
Elder Adlam left this people early in 1827. He was born in Bristol, Eng., Feb. 4, 1798; and was well acquainted with Dr. Ryland, and knew Foster, Jay, and Robert Hall. He studied with Dr. Wayland, then pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston, and, some years after his pastorate in Can- ton, completed a theological education at Newton. He still lives, and preaches in Newport, R.I.
After his departure, dismissions, deaths, and discipline again reduced the members of the church; and, by August of this year, there were but forty-eight upon the roll. Previ- ous to this date, however, they had secured a pulpit supply in the person of Brother MOSES CURTIS, - a young man from Providence, of modest manners and evident piety. As early as April, a letter was sent to Elder Stephen Gano to inquire "respecting his moral and religious character;" and the strong recommendation of this good man, seconded by their own knowledge of his worth,t determined the church to ordain him. They made arrangements to do so on the 29th of August. Meantime they fixed the salary of Brother Curtis at three hundred and fifty dollars, moved his furniture to Canton, and
Letters from F. Mason to Miss Nabby Gill, Oct. 22, 1830; Nov. 3, 1830; Nov. 2, 1831.
t Being a native of East Stoughton, and acquainted with all the Baptists of Can- ton from his boyhood, Mr. Curtis had given the church ample opportunity to know him, and form a correct estimate of his character.
40
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1827-8.
Church Fund.
Third Revival.
received him and his wife into church-fellowship. At the time of his ordination, he had supplied the church nearly four months. At the ordaining-services, on the 29th of August, Rev. James D. Knowles preached the sermon, and Elder Elisha Williams offered the ordaining prayer; the charge to the candidate was given by Elder Gano, his former pastor; Rev. Oren Tracy proffered the hand of fellowship; and Elder Benjamin Putnam, of North Randolph, gave the charge to the people.(51) No more interesting services had been witnessed in the new meeting-house since it was opened for worship. Brother Curtis commenced his pastorate, with a flock few in number, and feeble in means; but they were united in him, and the faith of both minister and people made them strong together.
A project, which had for a good while occupied the minds of the church, for raising a permanent fund of two thousand dollars to aid in the support of preaching among them, as- sumed this year the form of a church-vote. Assurances of help had been received by the members from friends abroad, which justified them in believing that they could now raise this sum if they chose to make the effort; and accordingly, on the 14th of September, 1827, Jason Houghton, Ezra Til- den, Friend Crane, Nathan Tucker, Samuel Tucker, Francis Mason, and Clifford Belcher, were chosen a committee to so- · licit subscriptions. By July of the next year, the two thou- sand dollars was raised; and the church loaned it to the Second Baptist (or Baldwin Place) Church, Boston, then under the pastoral charge of Dr. Knowles. Their yearly interest from this loan, added to their other income for the support of the ministry, made out the voted salary of three hundred and fifty dollars. In the burning of Deacon Tilden's house some time afterwards, the note for this deposit was destroyed; but the church procured its renewal.(63)
The labors of Brother Curtis were soon blessed; and, dur- ing the year 1828, he had the happiness of baptizing six con- verts. In the following year, thirteen received the sacred seal at his hands; and in every thing the Lord seemed to bear wit-
-
1
-
-
Mares Cuentas
41
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
1814.]
Inadequate Salary.
Close of Mr. Curtis's Pastorate.
ness to the fidelity of his ministry. A very interesting Bible- class of thirty members, besides forty younger learners of the word of God, assembled every Sunday in the Sabbath school; and the letter to the Association, for 1829, reported the church "awaking under the influences of the Holy Spirit." The church is also credited seventy-seven dollars this year for benevolent objects .*
But, with all this, Brother Curtis did not receive sufficient salary to support him. There was no wealth in the church ; and, with all their willingness, the people probably went to the extent of their ability when they raised two hundred dollars outside of their fund. Besides, in the latter part of his min- istry, the stoppage of the Stone Factory, taking away, as it did, nearly five hundred from the population of the town,+ dimin- ished Brother Curtis's congregation, and rendered the burden heavier upon those who remained to maintain him. Under date of April 27, 1829, there is this vote: "That the salary of Brother Curtis be three hundred and fifty dollars; and that he have the liberty of being absent a sufficient length of time to obtain fifty dollars, in addition to the above salary, by laboring elsewhere. (58)}
But the spring of 1830 opened, and the days of his pastor- ·ate in Canton drew to a close. His last handwriting in the book of records is dated April; and in June he and his wife are. written as members of the church in Medfield. MosEs CURTIS was born in East Stoughton, Mass., July 2, 1795, and converted to Christ at the age of seventeen. He studied Latin and Greek in a grammar-school, in Providence, and afterwards with Rev. Charles Train, of Framingham; and was licensed to preach by the First Baptist Church in Providence. He now resides in Belchertown.§
The membership of the Canton Church was now sixty-four.
* Baptist Magazine, xiii. 216, 392.
t In 1837, there were two hundred and fifty operatives, half male and half female, in Canton Woollen Mills, - Hist. Coll. Mass.
# He preached in Sharon, and got the fifty dollars.
§ He visited this place, and preached, Oct. 16, 1864.
LE
42
CANTON BAPTIST MEMORIAL.
[1830.
Br'n Johnson and Hodges.
State of the Church.
Supplies.
Of this number, two young men, Charles Johnson, and Joseph Hodges, jun., were looking forward to the ministry; and, in December of this year, the church licensed the former to preach the gospel. (70) Brother Johnson was a son of Mr. Lewis Johnson, of Stoughton, who lately died at the advanced age of ninety-six. He received a theological education at Newton, and settled about the year 1835 in Maine, where he died. Brother Hodges, now also deceased, was licensed by this church in April, 1831. (73) He was also educated at New- ton. He resided with his father at the Stone Factory, in this village, until 1835, when he removed to Roxbury. As pastor at Newton Upper Falls, at East Brookfield, and Three Rivers, and, later, as Agent of the American and Foreign Bible Society, he was long familiar by name to the Christian public, and use- ful in the vineyard of the Lord.
After the dismissal of Pastor Curtis, the reader of the church-records enters upon another unsettled period, abound- ing in reports of special discipline, and confused with a mul- tiplicity of clerical names; showing that the church, what- ever may be said of the wisdom of its course, was at least not inactive, and that the means of grace were not neglected. The movement of the church at this time (68) to unite with Sharon in procuring a half-way ministry, after the old . plan, · does not give satisfactory evidence of progress; and indeed the church-letter for the year 1830 reports the state of reli- gion "low." It appears certain, nevertheless, that the mis- sionary spirit of the people, and their disposition to give to benevolent objects, was this year, and for a considerable time before and after, in advance of any thing exhibited here dur- ing all the earlier or later history of the church. There were then special reasons for this which cannot always exist; but it is due that the fact should be recorded.
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.