USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Fortieth anniversary, Lowell, Mass., May 9th and 11th, 1879 > Part 3
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PUBLICATIONS.
Nearly ninety publications are known to have been issued by the pastors and members of this church, in some cases at the request of the church. About thirty sermons and addresses were given to the press by the pastor emeritus.
EDUCATION.
Between thirty and fifty members of this parish have been engaged in the work of instructing the young in public and private schools. Among them let me not forget to speak of Mrs. David T. Kimball.
CHARITIES.
The last item demanding notice is benevolent gifts. The church has aided with a marked degree of liberality the great variety of charitable institutions, and especially the established societies for home and foreign missionary work. As nearly as can be estimated, the church has given more than $25,000 to the cause of Christ, at home and abroad. This does not include the amount contributed by the Ladies' Benevolent Society, nor by the Sabbath school.
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Our lives are inseparable from the cherished past. Others have labored; day by day we are entering into their labors. One soweth, and another reapeth. God has sent many of ns to reap that whereon we have bestowed no labor. We are still living on the fruits garnered in former years, on the grain that has matured from the seed planted twenty, thirty, and forty years ago. Is this all? Will the momentum which this church gathered in its early days, carry it down the ages with unchecked speed? My brother, my sister, God requireth of you that which is past. We are under bonds to keep it sacred and inviolate.
We call this hallowed ground !
" What's hallowed ground? "Tis what gives birth To sacred thoughts in souls of worth ! Peace ! independence ! truth ! go forth, Earth's compass round ; . And your high priesthood shall make earth All hallowed ground."
Will these forces spread unbidden? No. They go as you and I carry them. They are vital with impression upon others, as you and I are impressed by them. Let us guard zealously the eternal verities of the Word of God. Let us be living witnesses for Christ. Let us take courage and hold to the truth our fathers loved. Let this anniversary occasion quicken us to more aggressive labors, and to brighter hopes. Let ns faithfully perpetuate these hallowed memories for future generations.
ADDRESS OF REMINISCENCE.
BY REV. E. B. FOSTER, D. D.
IN coming to Lowell from Pelham, N. H., I was led, as it seemed to me, by providential indications. On the first Sabbath of October, 1852, I had agreed upon an exchange of pulpits with Rev. Dr. Child, of the First Church in this city. A great rain was falling on the morning of that day. As the same horse was to convey us both to our respective places of labor, and as I was suffering from influ- enza and hoarseness, I thought it not wise to sally forth. The exchange took place on the last Sabbath of the month. Two days previous, Daniel Webster died, and on the Sabbath lay in his shroud. The event was referred to in nearly every pulpit in the land, with emotion everywhere, with tearful emotion throughout New England. I stopped with Hon. Linus Child, and some words of mine, I know not what, touched his great heart and his great mind. . It was through his recommendation that I was introduced to the John Street pulpit. When the Committee came to urge me to accept the call, he was with them. I recollect most vividly the reasons urged by him, and by Hon. Joseph White, Dr. Allen, A. L. Brooks, Deacon Bancroft, Rufus Rogers, and Jehiel Todd, as to the relations of this church to the city ; as to the smiles of God upon its historys, as to the character of helpers in the church and congrega- tion ; as to the temporary abode here of youth from other States, and their swift flight, like migratory birds, all over the land, carrying elsewhere, for the blessing of many circles and of many generations, treasures of truth and knowledge, of piety and virtue, here acquired. I have always felt that the rain-storm, and the death of the great statesman, and the friendly interest of Mr. Child - events of which I had no anticipation, and over which I had no control - were the pivotal hinges, on which the whole question of my pastoral relations at that time depended.
4.
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I am reminded, in review of the past, of the ministers with whom I have been associated in counsel and in toil, and whom I remember with profound gratitude and esteem. I mention those who are deceased, - Dr. Bouton of Concord, N. II., Dr. Burnham of Pem- broke, N. H., Dr. Day of Hollis, N. II., Dr. Swain of Providence, Dr. Davis of Westfield, Rev. Messrs. Hosford of Haverhill, Coggin of Tewksbury, Drummond of Springfield, Parker of Derry, Show of Lawrence, Rev. Horace James, and Rev. Drs. Blanchard, Child, and Cleaveland of this city. I have been immeasurably helped by their instructions and criticisms, by their kindness and piety, by their power to present the truth of God. Permit me one word of testimony with regard to Rev. Dr. Blanchard, so early, so long, so distinguished a laborer in promoting the cause of Christ in this community. It was said of Rufus Choate, that he had four qualities, which in their proportion and combination were probably unprece- dented in this country, -logic, learning, emotion, imagination. I think Di. Blanchard had these four qualities in unusual degree. If you add two other excellencies, equally marked in his life, -- the power of winning visitation, and the power of Gospel faith, -- you have a servant of God like Bunyan's Greatheart, a true, Christian guide. The stamp of his refinement, scholarship, and genius, of the grandeur of his aims, of the far-reaching discernment of his mind, of the loveliness of his character, will be upon this city and its institutions as long as time shall last. I desire to say of one living clergyman, Rev. Owen Street, with whom I have been longer associated than with any other minister, living or dead, that I know of no interruption or break in our sympathy of opinions from the beginning. I thank God for this, and for the great usefulness of this dear brother, counsellor, and friend.
Words are feeble to express my sense of indebtedness to the two predecessors of my ministry here, - the one of my first pastorate, the other of my second. The first was bold as a lion, energetic, progressive, unwearied in work. If there was any Baal of idol worship, any Dagon of the Philistines, any Ahab of cruelty and oppression, any Agag of the heathen, he was sure to hew him in pieces before the Lord. My other predecessor was rich in thought, . powerful in argument, gifted in persuasion. So pure was he in life, so sound in doctrine, so faithful in every duty, that he left an indelible impression on the church and congregation. Through. all the difficulties and toils of my ministry, through its joys as well as sorrows, I have been greatly quickened and cheered, as I have
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attempted to follow on in the luminous pathway of these honored brethren.
My heart goes out to the deacons of this church. Thirteen of them I have known and labored with personally. Four of them are now dead, five of them out of office living, four of them now in office, all of them faithful, prayerful, earnest servants of Christ. We have still the influence abiding with us of Deacons Wetherbee, Allen, Bancroft, Woodward. They are in heaven, but their prayers are as precious odors in golden vials, before the throne; their memory is as the sunlight, shining on mountain-tops, after the orb of day has gone down. Deacons Kimball, Woodworth, Pray, Crosby, Thompson, three still in our church, two at the West, are not moved simply by the obligations of office to serve Christ. The whole spontaneity of the soul is awakened. Mind, heart, will, hand, tongue, pen, substance, all are given to the work of the Lord. The deacons now in harness, Wing, Benner, Osgood, Morey, fall not behind the others, and the pastor, who now has their service, himself dwelling on the mount, has his strength renewed by the prayers of these men, who tarry by his side to hold up his hands. We have found a great spiritual benefit from the appointment of deaconesses. Their work is unostentatious, their influence often silent as the dew, but more powerful than thunders or storms.
I should be glad to speak with more particularity of incident and reflection than is now possible, of the work of the Sabbath school, and of the faithfulness of its superintendents, past and present. Their labors have been simply indefatigable. Prayers, and thanks, and love, and esteem, are the smallest compensation we can offer for such gratuitous service. From four of these men, Dr. Nathan Allen, Ilon. George Stevens, Mr. Robert L. Read, Mr. Ezra B. Adams, you have heard to-day, - one of them known widely in the land, and even in other lands ; another recognized as a power in the city and the State; all of them eminent for wisdom, for executive talent, for aptness to teach, for consecration to Christ.
I must refer to one other of these superintendents (often spoken of to-day in terms of high regard), Mr. A. L. Brooks. I owe to him the warmest acknowledgments. Such were his tenderness and sympathy towards me, such the kindness of his appreciation, such the efficiency of his help and the constancy of his love, that, like the prayers of my mother in childhood, of my father in youth, of the bosom companion of my college life, his tones, his counsels, his
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noble acts, will abide with me when other recollections fade. He had, in a remarkable degree, the enthusiasm of humanity.
" Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase) Awoke one morn from a deep sleep of peace,"
because the angel of the heavenly mercy had written down his name as one that loved his fellow-men. Mr. Brooks belonged to that tribe. I can not doubt that often, in his chamber of meditation, where he rested from his great toils, where he planned his great benevolences, where he humbled himself before God, where he fell into dreams, the antepast of Heaven, the angel often came to him with "a great wakening light,"- the light of truth and hope, the light of prophetic anticipation, the light which shines from heavenly communion, and from loving, holy deeds. Mr. Brooks did not allow his right hand and his left to hold converse together upon their generous acts, and much of his liberality was unknown to the world. But we know that he gave largely for the support of Oberlin College, for other colleges, for the salary of Rev. Dr. Finney, for the emancipatien of the slave and the education of the freedmen, for the deliverance of the drunkard, for the uplifting of the degraded, for the salvation of the heathen. And what is more than gifts and professions, the spirit of charity, the power of prayer, accompanied his donations.
In connection with the officers of the church and the Sunday school, I must not forget the place of the Bible class and its 'leaders. Two men, its teachers for nearly thirty years, are here to-night. Bro. E. G. Richardson is still with us, and laboring with the carnestness of his intense nature, and of his great love to Christ. For ten years or more, Hon. Joseph White gathered in this audience-room, every Sabbath, sixty or seventy or eighty men and women, and opened to them the Scriptures. With a singular ' reach of insight into principles of truth, duty, and salvation, with rare historical, geographical, theological knowledge, with great fertility of thought and richness of argument and illustration, he led this company of mature and strong minds heavenward. I have heard of Bible classes becoming infidel, because their teacher could not dispel their doubts, nor answer their cavils. The Bible is its own argument, and a candid student is as little likely to be plunged into scepticism by reading it, as a bird is to be plunged against a rock, because the wind blows free. If there was an honest doubter
---
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in this congregation twenty years ago, or a puzzled inquirer, seeking truly after the solution of difficulties, I think one season's course in Mr. White's class would have enred him, under God, of infidelity, of mental bewilderment, of indifference, of impenitence.
Did time permit, I should be glad to refer, more in detail, to the mothers of our Israel and the daughters of our Zion, now deceased. I have written down the names of thirty-seven, - names like Mrs. Homer Bartlett, Mrs. Dr. Fox, Mrs. Sarah H. Allen, Mrs. Henry Smith, Miss Dorothy Maynard, - and often in my meditations do I review the list, with thanksgivings to God, and with memories of gratitude and joy. They were self-distrustful, and even timid, but refined, gentle, thoughtful, instructed. Disinterested in their benevolence, unwearied in their labors, with intuitive sagacity discerning the wisest methods of action, they were true ministerial helpers. Their lives of saintly beauty, their words of persuasiveness, their influence of ever-extending power, their spiritualityand faith and prayer, formed, as I never doubted, one of the chief agencies by which my own prayers were to find access to God, one of the main channels by which blessings were to come down from heaven to the congregation.
Let me express the deep sorrow of my heart awakened by the death of young men. Fourteen of them, taken away in the brightness of early promise, hopes unfulfilled, plans baffled, loving friends well-nigh heart-broken, are on my record, - some of them swept off in a moment by disaster and by swift disease; some of them dying with a heavenly charm belonging to their character, a celestial halo of light, of hope, of victory, of sweet tranquillity, around their head. My first sermon from this pulpit (as you have heard to-day) was from the text: "Run, speak to this young man." I have endeavored, for twenty-one years, from month to month, from week to week, to carry out the spirit of this text. I have preached, in seven separate courses, containing from ten to fifteen sermons each, at least one hundred discourses specially addressed to youth, prepared with careful elaboration, with intensity of thought, often with gushing tears. Some testimonies have come to me encouraging the hope that these sermons were not withont fruit. I will not repeat them here.
I can not refrain from allusion to deaths of little children, like the beautiful and sainted danghter of our brother Carter, of brother Ames, of Mr. Marshall Clough; like the infant children of Deacon Woodworth, of Dr. Osgood, of Deacon Morey, of Mr. George M.
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Elliott. They were blossoming flowers of intellectual and moral beauty, too delicate and tender for the frigid atmosphere of earth. They are transplanted to the Paradise of God above, where no malarial airs can blight their life, where no cold winds can chill their fragrance, where no dark storms can destroy their promise. Their parents, walking in the assurance of Christ's love, and in the hope of a glorious immortality, will yet again clasp their children in their arms, thanking God for deep pangs of earthly affliction, as well as for countless joys.
I would be glad to describe the power of our prayer meetings, - wherein it consists; by whom sustained ; with what results. But I can only say that there has been exercised in this church a speaking talent, and a praying talent, and a devotion correspondeut to the talent, such as often to lift my soul as on wings. If this fidelity shall continue in the future as in the past, and I doubt not it will, those who are willing to attend may be sure they will sit "in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
For eighteen years of my ministry here, until the failure of my health, I maintained a weekly inquiry meeting, at which were usually present from four to ten or fifteen persons, anxiously seeking to know the way of eternal life. After conversation with each individual, with careful instruction and tender entreaty, after prayers with them, tearful and importunate, I have risen from my knees, and made to them one final appeal: "Are you not in the valley of decision ? Is not this the auspicious hour for surrendering the heart to Christ?" With what a thrill of unspeakable joy, with what gratitude to God, have I heard the frequent response from one . to another : " I am resolved; I will be a Christian."
I am thankful and glad that I can state that the relations of this church and parish have always been harmonious. Here' are men, not members of the church, of noble aspirations and aims, who are sustaining the institutions of religion; who are educating their children for the service of Christ; who are wise in counsel with regard to our finances, our securities, and many of the methods of sacred action ; who are sending out truth and salvation, on the wings of the wind, to the ends of the earth ; who are inquiring: " What shall we do to be saved?" We lay our thanks at their feet. We trust them for their fidelity, their love, their stainless probity, their large generosity, their intellectual acumen. We could not prosper without them. You will pardon me if I do not rehearse the list of worthy names.
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I must close. It is related of Gen. Winfield Scott, at the battle of Lundy's Lane, that in the midst of the conflict he was wounded - that after that, with his arms and neck and breast all bathed in gore, he rode up to a group of athletic, brave young men (a portion of them his staff), and said to them: "I am weak and faint with loss of blood; I request one of these vigorous young men to mount my horse before me, and allow me to cling to him for support, while we ride forward once more to encourage the army, and complete the victory begun." One of these young men, valiant and strong, obeyed the request. General Scott put his arms around him, and they plunged again into the battle. Three years ago I endeavored to secure, and through the favor of God, through the generosity of this people, through the consecration of my beloved young brother to a great work, I did secure a wise, strong, sympathetic soldier, ardent in his love to the cause, and in his devotion to the church, to hold me up. He has nobly done it thus far, but he could not do it longer, and no one could. Wounded, and faint, and fallen, I lie before this church, and there, in all human probability, I must lic till the end shall come.
SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL.
BY GEORGE STEVENS.
THE first Bible class in Lowell was organized in the winter of 1823-4, and held its sessions in the house of William Davidson, on the Merrimack Corporation. We may presume that he was the originator and teacher, as the other members, at first, were women only. This Bible class was greatly prospered.
In the summer of 1823, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company had built a school-house two stories high, on the lot next westerly of the lot about where the Green School-house now stands. The lower story was designed for common day schools, and the upper story for public religious worship.
On the sixth day of March, 1824, Rev. Theodore Edson came into town, having been hired by the Merrimack Company to conduct religious worship in the upper story of the school-house above named. Rev. Mr. Edson, learning from Mr. Davidson that there was a Bible class in existence, invited him personally to come, and bring other members of his Bible class to assist him (Mr. Edson) in forming a Sabbath school. To this invitation, Mr. Davidson and many members of his Bible class yielded a glad acceptance.
Thus was formed the first Sabbath school in Lowell. This was called a union Sabbath school, and continued and prospered until Feb. 21, 1828, when the First Congregational Church organized a Sabbath school at its own house of worship.
This seems to have been the beginning of Sabbath schools in Lowell, and Dea. William Davidson is probably entitled to be considered the pioneer in the cause.
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THE JOHN STREET SABBATH SCHOOL.
On the twenty-eighth day of March, 1839, the volunteers from the First Church and the Appleton Street Church, who had left their respective churches for the purpose of organizing the John Street Church, met in convention, in the vestry of the First Church, pursuant to an adjournment at a previous meeting; and among other measures adopted towards the establishment of the new church, determined to form a Sabbath school, whose first session should be held on the first Sunday on which the first religious services were to be had by the new congregation. Selwin Bancroft was chosen superintendent.
Previous to this, the old city hall had been secured as a place of worship, until the new church, then in contemplation, should be built. A preacher, the Rev. William I. Budington, had been engaged for six months, who was to commence his labors on the first Sunday in April. It was determined to hold the first session of the school upon this Sunday.
The Sabbath school was to consist of two departments, the adult and juvenile. Miss Philena Farr was chosen the "conductor " of the juvenile department.
The Sabbath school, thus organized, accordingly held its first session in the city hall, on the first Sunday in April, 1839, being the first day on which public worship was had by the new congregation. The Sabbath school, in its organization, thus antedates the church about one month.
This session of the school, according to a vote, was held at 9 o'clock in the morning. There were present three hundred and eighty schol- ars, divided into forty-five classes, and, together with the forty-five teachers and the officers, constituted a school of four hundred and twenty-seven members.
The names of the teachers present at this first session of the school, may properly be recorded. They are-
Otis L. Allen. Caroline Bonney. Amanda S. Burnap. Ethan Burnap. Alvah Blaisdell.
Dea. Seth Chellis. S. F. Dearborn.
Edward Fowle.
Samuel Fay, Jr.
Dea. Ephraim Fiske.
Miss Fuller.
Julia A. Gilman.
Mary A. Baker.
Emerson Gardiner.
Miss L. Heald.
Thomas HI. Hutchinson.
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1786367
Henry C. Johnson.
Timothy P. Putnam.
Thomas J. Knowles.
Henry P. Sweetser.
Isaac W. Ladd.
Miss Nancy Sweetser.
William B. Ladd.
Brooks Shattuck.
Ellen S. Lovering.
Dr. Benjamin Skelton.
T. L. P. Lamson.
Mrs. T. L. P. Lamson.
Jesse Stiles. William Taylor.
Erasmus D. Leavitt.
John Tuttle.
William S. Merrill.
Amos Upton.
George W. Merrill.
James Upton.
Dr. George Mansfield.
Dea. Hanamiah Whitney.
Samuel McLanathan.
Miss Tabitha S. Wells.
George Matoon.
Jacob A. Woodward.
Miss Priest (now Mrs. Jas. Lawton). Irene Wyman.
Upon the organization of the church, May 9, 1839, the Sabbath school came under the control of the church, and upon the fifteenth day of the same May, the church, among other officers, chose Selwin Bancroft superintendent of the Sabbath school, and, by appointment of the superintendent, Miss Philena Farr was retained as conductor of the juvenile or infant school.
Since the establishment of the church, the Sabbath school has ever been sustained, under the control of the church, and under the management of a superintendent, annually chosen by the church. There have always been two departments, an adult and juvenile ; and for most of the time there has been a Bible class, in a separate room, and for a part of the time, a class of quite young children, known as the infant class. The superintendent has had the appoint- ment of a conductor of the juvenile department, and of all the subor- dinate officers.
The superintendents of the school have been as follows :
From 1839 to 1849
Dea. Selwin Bancroft.
66 1849 " 1850
Artemas L. Brooks.
1850 1859 Dr. Nathan Allen.
1859 44 1861 Dea. Otis L. Allen.
66 1861 “ 1865 George Stevens.
1865 4 1867 Ezra B. Adams.
66 1867 4 1868 Artemas L. Brooks.
66 1868 4 1874 George Stevens. Robert L. Read. ¥ 1874 4 1879 1879
George Stevens.
In the early history of the school, for several years the numbers were quite large. The city was growing rapidly. Young people
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from all parts of New England and bordering States, assembled here in large numbers to find employment, and thronged our churches and Sabbath schools. The average annual attendance of our school, so far as can be ascertained, has been as follows :
Years.
Numbers.
Years.
Numbers.
Years.
Numbers .!
Years.
Numbers.
1839
300
1849
210
1859
...
1869
251
1840
420
1850
233
1860
...
1870
251
1841
390
1851
226
1861
215
1871
205
1842
1852
237
1862
222
1872
235
1843
520
1853
257
1863
215
1873
210
1844
450
1854
264
1864
213
1874
175
1845
422
1855
283
1865
207
1875
186 .
1846
240
1856
282
1866
235
1876
180
1847
302
1857
306
1867
212
1877
165
1848
230
1858
...
1868
210
1878
152
Of the superintendents of the school, Dea. Selwin Bancroft, Dea. Otis L. Allen and Artemas L. Brooks are dead; the others are all now living, and all residing in Lowell. A brief sketch of the lives of those who are dead would seem to be proper, that the school may know what sort of men have led it.
Deacon Bancroft was born in Warwick, Mass., Sept. 19, 1805. Ilis only education was in the schools of his native town. In 1822, at the age of seventeen years, he left his home, and went to Med- way, where he was employed in a manufacturing establishment. From Medway, he went to Stowe, Mass., and in 1826, he came to Lowell. He had the example and training of a Christian mother from childhood, and his mind was early favorably disposed towards the reception of religious truth. Before the organization of any Con- gregational Church in Lowell, he worked at the " Navy Yard," so called, and attended religious worship at the old meeting-house in Draent. He became a member of the First Congregational Church, in this city, May 27, 1827. In January, 1829, he joined Rev. Mr. Merrill's
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