USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Danvers > Exercises in celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Church, Congregational, Danvers, Massachusetts: October 8th to 15th, 1922; with an address at the centennial of the Sunday School, November 17th, 1918 > Part 4
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Anyone then, wishing to behold a likeness of the "Old white church," should make a pilgrimage to the South Church of Ipswich.
Dr. Braman closed his work in 1861. His successor did not take up his ministry till 1863. As this brings us close to the bi-centennial mark, a convenient if arbitrary date, let us turn back for a little and note some characteristics of the parish of those first two centuries.
The church has been fortunate from the first in the quality and personal force of many of its laymen. Nathaniel Inger- soll, one of the first deacons, thirty years in office, was the first citizen of the community in his day, valued by all for his qualities of grace and wisdom. Though he was not free from the general misunderstanding regarding witch-craft he did all he could to abate the severities of persecution and was a mighty healing force after the wave had swept by. Edward Putnam, his companion in office, was also a man sent by God to serve the church in the formative era. He was a deacon forty years. Deacon Putnam was the uncle of Gen. Israel Putnam, who was born in Salem Village and baptized in this church, and the grandfather of Gen. Rufus Putnam, also of revolutionary fame. Edward Putnam had many suc- cessors of his own name in the diaconate. Of the twenty-three men who held that office within the period 1689 to 1872 fifteen were Putnams. Perhaps this preponderance of Dea- cons Putnam, while indicating the religious character of the family, is also partly accounted for by its numerical superiority in the parish. A skit quoted by Judge Alden P. White gives the names of some of them as they used to sit in the old brick meeting-house. There were-
"Benjamin and Joseph, Timothy and Eleazer,
Philemon and Hiram, James and Ebenezer,
Amos and Stephen, Seth and Simeon,
Israel and David, Peter and Gideon,
Phineas and Matthew, Ezra and Nathaniel,
Moses and Samuel, Jesse and Daniel."
Who could fail to find good deacon material in such an array of Bible characters ?
A man who falls about midway down the stream of the
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first two centuries is Samuel Holton, for forty years treas- urer of the church. His name is unmatched in the history of the town for civic distinction, and would give luster to the story of any town in any commonwealth. A practicing physician, a valued counsellor of friends and neighbors, a man of true perception in matters of patriotic import, an instigator of patriotic life, an advisor of heads of the State, a member and president pro tempore of the Continental Con- gress, a member of the Massachusetts Senate and of the Gov- ernor's Council, and a distinguished judge, even this list of worthy characteristics and honorable offices scarce serves to tell the reverence with which his memory is cherished.
The fact of such a service does not stand alone. Men like Judge Holton are made fully as much by the life into which they are born as by native bent or talent, and, in some measure at least, his career is witness to the character of this church and community.
What shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of the many others, starred in our memory, who both in church and parish, contributed of their strength and love to make the chapter which we hold so dear.
In the olden time in New England the church held a com- manding position in the life of the community. Great con- gregations were the rule, as witness the immense auditoriums of some old meeting houses. It is not alone that churches were fewer and served larger constituencies but rather that the call of the sanctuary was heeded by a larger proportion of the people than at the present day. This fact of course has a partial explanation in the paucity of other interests and the imperative of public sentiment against which one rebelled at his peril. But beyond these influences there was without doubt a sturdy religious life which occasioned the magnitude of the worshiping throngs.
People went further to church than is common today. Be- fore the beginning of preaching in Salem Village some at least of the inhabitants worshiped with the church in Salem, for the most remote a distance of eight or nine miles. In the times of our church Bray Wilkins came regularly from "Will's Hill," now Middleton Square, some three and a half miles, while the Flints and Popes and Phelpses faithfully
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travelled the four miles from the region of Phelps' Mill.
Nor was distance the smallest item of hardship in the Sab- bath program. The meeting-house was for many generations unheated in winter, stoves having been first used, in the Brick church, in 1821. Previous to that time the ministers had in extreme weather preached in ulster and mittens and the people had shivered through the services with only such relief from the cold as was afforded by foot stoves in the pews.
Again, the service was not so inviting as this generation requires. The efforts at music were for a great many years devoid of power to entertain or inspire. The hymns were "deaconed," the leader speaking the lines in couplets and the congregation laboriously singing after him. This method was used, at least in the communion service, if not in the services as a whole, we are told by Samuel Preston, as far down as the first quarter of the 19th century. The first rec- ord of a choir is in the early years of Dr. Wadsworth's min- istry. Ultimately instruments came to be used, though I find no record of their first employment. By the decade 1840-50 an orchestra was in full blast. Mr. Arthur A. Put- nam, giving his recollections of that time, says: "The instru- ments played were at times several clarinets, the bass viol, the trombone and the bassoon." He also mentions a "fiddle." Just when an organ was installed I have not been able to learn but by the Bi-centennial, a beautiful, sweet-toned in- strument was lending its aid to worship in the old white church. The choirs and leaders of that day have become a tradition which our older people fondly cherish.
But to return to ancient times-the minister had no mercy on the people in the length of his sermon. Three-hour dis- courses were not unknown in old New England and the pas- tors of Salem Village were not behind others in giving spir- itual nutriment to their congregations. This excessive length continued, with some abatement, down to Dr. Braman's day. And it is even recorded that within the last fifty years ser- mons of an hour and a half have on occasions cheered the people on their way.
Now add the fact that from the earliest day until recent times there was an afternoon service as lengthy and formal
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as that of the forenoon, the valor and loyalty of the old- time church-goer will be clearly seen.
In a poem read at the centennial of the setting-off of Dan- vers, 1852, the Andrew Nichols of that day gave a vivid pic- ture of the Sunday in ancestral times. The account opens with the morning service in the first meeting-house to stand upon this site.
Good Parson Clark, in pulpit preaching there, Gives full two hours to sermon and to prayer ; And the long psalm, by lined-out couplets sung, The tune more model'd by the nose than tongue, Make a protracted meeting in cold weather More penance-like than pastime altogether. The morning meeting o'er, good boys and men, Who cannot well go home and come again To worship in the afternoon, repair To Mrs. Cross' and eat luncheon there, Which they have brought from home, but buy and sip A mug of toddy or of well spiced flip; Some gingerbread or biscuit; thus they give Some compensation for what they receive. Here the long sermon well they criticize,- Discuss the various topics which comprise The lore of village farmers,-get the news, And useful knowledge seek, acquire, diffuse. Albeit reverence for the holy day Puts all light thoughts and vanities away. By girls and women too the noontime's spent At Mrs. Dempsey's, who is well content To gather round her fire the shivering dames, For they bring with them what will feed its flames. Here as they pack away their bread and cheese They give imprisoned thoughts a free release- The current scandals of the day con o'er. Dispatch the old and manufacture more. The little bell now calls them in again To shiver two hours more in seat or pen ; Then some on foot go wallowing through the snow, Two on one horse or many in a sleigh, To their dear homes, whose firesides warmly glow,
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And supper waits; there sanctify the day. And to confirm their faith in their own ism Read Bible, Psalm-book and the catechism ; And thus secure a week's supply of good, Hard to digest, tough theologie food.
One would say that the old Puritan Sabbath was taxing enough and yet, as if to assert the supremacy of the spirit over the flesh, the Sunday School, when it came into being in the early nineteenth century, was added to the already crowded schedule, being sandwiched in between the services of the morning and afternoon. And, as if that were not sufficient, about 1835 an evening meeting in the nature of a prayer service was added. It would seem that our for- bears took their religion seriously and were willing to pay the price for the support of its organized life.
Still, religion with them was not a kill-joy. They found time and place for the play of the social instinct. As already seen, the Sabbath services with their opportunity for greeting and conversation afforded incidentally the element of social interest which we today must strive hard to supply. But, entirely apart from that, we have record, way back in the primeval days, of "high jinks" at parish doings. At the ordination of Dr. Wadsworth joy was unconfined. As one has said, "all the houses in the parish were thrown open and feasting and dancing held full sway." Dr. Holton's account shows that "the company was regaled with fowls, geese and turkeys, New England rum, half a barrel of cider, etc., and for the horses a ton of hay was provided." The doctor closes-"The utmost Decency was preserved through- out the whole of the Solemnity and the Entertainment was generous and elegant, reflecting great Honour upon the Par- ish." So, even in the somber Calvinistic days, the church was lightened by human joy.
In 1832 the Ladies' Benevolent Society had its rise. This society has had a great deal to do with the religious and mis- sionary work here carried on, but its ministry to the social life of the parish has not been the smallest of its offices. As if to prove to future generations that the religious life of the day was not barren or unfruitful of social pleasures, there was held, August 10, 1842, a memorable picnic when
THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE, 1701 - 1785
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the women went to the home of the Hon. Daniel P. King in what is now West Peabody, blueberrying, and returned with laden pails to have supper on the tables spread "near Mr. Braman's." The men attended, "a choir of singers enlivened the company with their musical powers. Several toasts were drunk." And the account ends naively with the, to us, astounding words-"four hundred present." What- ever the case elsewhere, with us here the social aspects of church life have been recognized for no inconsiderable time.
In theology the church was, during the period under con- sideration, consistently Calvinistic. It was never a leader in theological reform but rather clung tenaciously to the traditional faith. But this did not prevent its moving for- ward with the advancing life of the Puritan church in its estimate of essential Christian values. The original confes- sion of faith was, as seen, the Boston Confession of 1680. In 1757 appears a confession peculiar to this church, prob- ably prepared by Rev. Peter Clark, who was then pastor. This confession indulged less in theological refinements than was characteristic of the time and placed emphasis upon the broad saving elements of the gospel as then conceived. In fact, so broadly did it incorporate those elements that it stood without essential change as the expression of the faith of the church almost down to the present day, appearing as such in the manual issued in 1879.
In periods of controversy the church was animated by a spirit of kindliness and charity which softened asperities and kept it from being a creator of or a participant in eccle- siastical feuds. This is seen signally in the ministry of Dr. Wadsworth. While he was very rigid in his theological views, he yet was a man of peaceful disposition with a desire to preserve the harmony of Christian love. When the Baptist Church of Danvers was organized in 1781, withdrawing from the parish a goodly portion of its constituency, the departing brethren, instead of being followed by condemnation and estrangement, as they might easily have been in a time of high theological contention, were accompanied with well- wishes and God-speed. The relations of the two churches have been cordial from the first.
So also as regards the so-called "liberal" movement of the
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later 18th and early 19th centuries. This arose and came to its fullness while Dr. Wadsworth was pastor. The situa- tion was instinct with possibilities for bitterness and enmity, possibilities unfortunately realized in many other communi- ties. But here there was little ill-feeling and no seceding body, those who withdrew doing so purely in their private capacity. This was due, as Dr. Rice brings out, partly to the gentle and kindly spirit of the pastor and of the people who remained in the parent body, and partly to the moderation and good sense of those who entertained the newer views. The chapter is one which reflects honor upon all concerned.
As we look back and contemplate that against which the liberals of that day revolted we can but recognize a large element of justice in their position. Some of the things they protested against were not true to the faith of Christ; some of the things they stood for were essential but neglected elements in Christianity. Their protest was wholesome and needed. But no body of believers, liberal or conservative, is ever entirely right in its every contention. Illuminating and prophetic as were the liberals they yet repudiated certain doctrines which had a core of essential value. It was nec- essary that these doctrines be conserved and adjusted to the thinking of the new age.
Moreover, the liberal movement disregarded certain things in attitude and emphasis established by the experience of the church as vital to efficiency and progress. A church may be doing God's work-not infidel to the prophetic spirit-which in such a situation strives to conserve those elements and carry them along. The service of this church was along both these lines; that is, in cherishing vital ancient doctrines awaiting only readaptation to unfolding knowledge and in preserving those emphases demonstrated to be requi- site to the largest power and success. It was so under Dr. Wadsworth; it was equally so under Dr. Braman. The last named held as strongly as his predecessor to the "faith once delivered to the saints." The work accomplished by him was not, except by gradual and unconscious tendency, in the way of the recognition of certain great things in the liberal teach- ing which today we all concede and rejoice in. It was rather in the enforcement upon the public mind of the great and
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essential values which the new movement either denied or laid too little stress upon. His mind, as that of his op- ponents, necessarily moved under the categories of his gen- eration. The bases of his thought, as of theirs, new knowl- edge and philosophy do not always sustain. Yet, in contend- ing for the fundamentals either opposed or neglected by the liberal movement, Dr. Braman helped to preserve in the mind and heart of the church large and necessary elements in the ultimate religious philosophy. While his effort, like that of his predecessor, was more in the way of assertion and defense than adaptation, we must recognize the great value of his work in helping to keep the traditional thought strongly in the mind of the church until the day of ap- praisal and adjustment should come. As regards emphasis and method of spiritual endeavor, the church throughout the whole period of disturbance relaxed nothing of its old-time evangelical character.
Dr. Braman closed his work as pastor in 1861. From the day of Mr. Green, following the subsidence of the witch-craft disturbance, down to that time, the church had enjoyed a unified history. The work had been carried on throughout on the old foundations and the story was one of gradual organic development. The period we have been studying brings us so close to the Bi-centennial that we may, without doing violence to the merits of the case, turn forthwith to the consideration of the half-century closed by the observ- ance of today.
It is well for our study that we have this convenient point of departure, for the last fifty years form a period in the evolution of the Christian church separate and distinct from all that had gone before. It has witnessed more changes in theology and social outlook in the church as a whole than all the two hundred years we have surveyed. Even the liberal movement of a century ago did not involve so complete a de- parture from established principles and conceptions as has come about within the period named. For the liberal move- ment originally registered more a change in interpretation and appraisal of values than a cutting under of the old foun- dations; while within the last half-century the method of approach to religious truth has become radically different
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throughout the Christian world. The change has been wrought primarily, not by the protest of recusant ecclesi- astical faction, but by the discoveries of physical science, with the accompanying domestication of the scientific view- point in the mind of the church. A priori theory has to a degree withdrawn into the background. The first question has come or is coming to be "what are the facts upon which faith must rest." A direct consequence has been the general recognition of evolution as God's method in every realm of creation and life. This in turn has led to the revival of the immensely helpful New Testament doctrine of the divine indwelling; has given us the historical view of the Bible, at once enlarging and stimulating; has brought Jesus closer to us as the friend and brother of men; has transformed our whole thought as to salvation and, to a considerable extent, our speculation as to the destiny of the human race. Grow- ing out of this transformation there has come a more positive stress upon the kingdom of God on earth and the office of the church in relation thereto. There has also resulted log- ically and inevitably a lessened emphasis upon particular forms of belief as prerequisite to Christian living and re- demption and a stronger assertion of the spirit of Christ as the one indispensable requirement for salvation and service.
Within this period the old Salem Village church has meas- urably accommodated itself to the unfolding discoveries, without change in its essential attitude and spirit. It has been tenacious of the old, determined not to surrender vital values, and yet has not shut itself away entirely from new influences and conceptions. Naturally it has at times been slow to accept new articles of faith which have ultimately found a permanent place in Christian thought. But the attitude of mind which brought this about has not been alto- gether at fault Men and movements must prove themselves. The church, made up as it is, of all sorts and conditions of people, will at times fail to keep abreast of the idealist and the prophet. The work of the teacher must be done over considerable tracts of time. And when the whole story is told it will be seen that the element of conservatism has helped to make safe the transition from the old to the new, insuring against loss of ancient insights and effecting the
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acceptance of only the spiritually true and helpful in the newer forms of faith.
To a large extent this is what has taken place here during the period of the so-called "intellectual revolution." The old foundations have held. Advance has been, as in the long generations of the first two centuries, homogeneous and without break. The one word which fitly characterizes the life of the church during this time is-fulfillment.
The man who was pastor when the half-century began was Charles Baker Rice. Dr. Rice was installed Sept. 2, 1863, and served till Sept. 2, 1894, thirty-one years to a day. He thus had opportunity to impress himself distinctly upon the life of the church and community. Dr. Rice differed in temperament materially from Dr. Braman, his immediate predecessor. So far from being a recluse engrossed in the intellectual phases of his ministry, he lived his life among men. He had a commanding interest in politics, was an influential member of the Republican party, spoke upon the hustings during Abolition times, might at one time have secured a nomination for Congress, an opportunity from which he voluntarily turned away. He wrote much for the Springfield Republican and was sought as a member of its regular staff. He felt strong inclination to the law and was forced to choose between that and the ministry as a life work. While pastor he gave much time and strength outside his calling, serving in the State Legislature in both House and Senate. For a number of years he was on the State Board of Education. He helped devotedly in the edu- cational work of his denomination, particularly in the case of Colorado College, which gave him the fitting honor of a Doctorate in Divinity. For many years he was a member of the school board of Danvers. He was a faithful attendant at town meetings and often participated in discussion.
When the Massachusetts Board of Pastoral Supply was in- stituted in 1894 by the Congregational churches of the state, Dr. Rice was looked to as the man to organize the new machinery for serving the ministry and the churches. He felt the drawing of his old parish and the call coming out of the years to finish his course, as so many had done before him, and die as the minister of this ancient church. But
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considerations of usefulness in the projected Pastoral Board at last held sway and he resigned the pastorate he had hon- ored, finishing his work here, as stated, September 2, 1894.
Dr. Rice's work in the place to which he went was of im- mense value. He made effective new methods of bringing together churches desiring ministers and ministers desiring churches. So wisely was the institution organized and admin- istered that a number of other denominations have adopted its plan and methods. Dr. Rice is thought of and will be, as one of the statesmen of the Congregational denomination.
Dr. Rice did a work of especial value in his Historical Address at the Bi-Centennial. He expended vast toil in getting his facts at first hand from the records of the church and parish and covered the detail of history for all time. Other historians must always build upon the foundation laid by him. But the work is much more than a narrative. Dr. Rice was possessed of a poetic nature, with sensitive appre- ciation of the memories and traditions of this ancient parish and town. While a man of the present and future he treas- ured the things of the past and lived so companionably with them that he saw them in their true significance. Conse- quently his work is at once a narrative and an interpretation. It was indeed fortunate that a man was in office here fifty years ago who could so summarize the centuries agone and bring the story down to the breaking of the new day.
In his relations with his parish Dr. Rice was a true shep- herd. He shared the sorrows and joys of his people. While outside activities at times claimed his devotion, the welfare of his flock was ever uppermost in his thought. He had an interest in individuals and was on terms of intimate personal understanding with all the members of his parish. His effort was always for peace and harmony and the continuing good will during his ministry was measurably due to his emphasis upon and exemplification of the spirit of brother- hood. While not an old man when he resigned, his term had been so long that he holds a secure place in the memory and affection of many here today as the summary and ideal of the old-time pastor.
But Dr. Rice was more than a pastor. He was a teacher in divine things and efficiently led the people during a critical
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period of transition. He was endowed with a reserve strength which enabled him to meet the increasing demand of a length- ening ministry. Dr. Samuel Harris, his instructor in Bangor Seminary, said of him when commending him to this church as a prospective pastor, that his "pond would not run dry," a prophecy which the event confirmed. He brought a wealth of culture in ancient fields of thought and history to the problems of his ministry-and was equally at home in the things of his own day. He knew thoroughly the contentions in the theological field and the ground of them. He had his convictions and stood by them, nor was he unduly con- servative with reference to the newer teachings. He believed in and espoused evolution far in advance of its broad accept- ance. He may have failed to embrace and expound articles now established as truth, but on the other hand he did not consider revelation as closed. He was essentialy a forward- looking man.
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