USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Georgetown > Georgetown: story of one hundred years, 1838-1938 > Part 3
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And as for courage, the early ministers are not to be surpassed. Braman's first pastorate had been in East Medway, but there was so much opposition to him that he remained only six months. Opposition did not trouble him, however, as he faced the Georgetown situation. When a petition of remonstrance signed by twenty-one men of the parish was shown him at the Council session, and the probable consequence argued, he was unmoved, declaring his fixed intention to be ordained. He fought his way along year after year under conditions which would have meant defeat to a less determined man. He was a delightful companion, witty and instructive. He was doctrinal and scholarly in his preaching (and the sermons are good reading today). He elaborated all his sermons, and in his later years held his manuscript before his eyes with no attempt at gesture.
Mr. Braman's pastoral calls were regularly made and eagerly anticipated. He was supposed to receive bread and drink at every home. Often his step would betray the particular kind of hospitality he had received. On his departure from a parishioner's house he not infrequently embraced the hostess. A Braman kiss was a badge of honor, at least to the women. (There is no record that the husbands objected.) Women wondered for a long period whether they alone were particularly favored by the embrace, hoped they were and dared not intimate their joy for fear that other women were experiencing like pastoral favor and therefore their supposed distinction might be worthless.
On September 10, 1858, Mr. Braman (affectionately called "Father" for years) suffered an attack of typhoid fever and on December 26, he died. He was buried, as Chandler had been, in the old cemetery, the parish defraying the funeral expenses.
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An Old Shrine Still Sound
F
Boynton House, opposite the Union Cemetery, owned by Ebenezer Boynton in 1726
Oldest House In Town
Brocklebank House, East Main Street, said to have been built in 1670 by Captain Samuel Brocklebank, and long used as a Tavern
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THIRD CHURCH PERIOD
T HE next church and parish period was as significant and important as the other two. It really began a few years before Mr. Braman's death, for in his advanced years he was unable to carry on the affairs of the parish without an assistant. The period marked the advent and termination of the pastorate of Rev. Charles Beecher, brother of Henry Ward Beecher, and the great schism of 1864 which resulted in the formation of the Orthodox Congregational Church (popularly known as the Peabody Memorial Church).
The entire Braman pastorate had been marked by the attempt to secure the rigid adherence to church discipline that had been maintained, at least in great measure, during the Chandler administration. As late as 1833 charges were preferred against a member who had attended a theatre in Boston and he was suspended for awhile. In 1839 the church held meetings to discuss temperance and it was voted: "It is the duty of the church to put away entirely the use of all intoxicating drinks as an article of beverage and as an article of trade with the expectation of its being used as a beverage."
That this doctrine was not generally accepted may be assumed from another record passed by a small majority, "that the church considers the moderate use of cider as a moral evil." It appeared to be the sense of the church that a moderate use of this beverage should not subject the members to discipline.
As Mr. Braman, in his later years, had experienced a hostile attitude toward his preaching, as Chandler had, it was decided to engage a colleague. In 1842 Rev. Enoch Pond, Jr., was called and ordained. He remained until his health failed. He died of consumption at the age of twenty-six, and was buried in Harmony Cemetery. For five weeks during Mr. Pond's illness Rev. John Prince, Jr., had preached and he was extended a call. But there was opposition on the part of forty-seven persons who told him of their preferences for another. Mr. Pond wondered why they had not expressed themselves before the call. He became colleague pastor February 3, 1847.
It was in that year that the church celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Mr. Bra- man's ordination. The program included, besides Mr. Braman's lengthy address, two anthems and two original poems. In 1858 Mr. Prince retired because of his health, and Rev. Mr. Beecher was called. Again there was opposition, the vote standing seventeen in favor and thirteen against. But Mr. Beecher accepted after he had received a letter addressed to him by seventy-five young men urging him to come and expressing their pleasure and benefit from his services among them as a candidate.
ADVENT OF MR. BEECHER
After a lengthy session the council voted for Mr. Beecher's installation. The next year Mr. Braman died and Mr. Beecher was in full charge of this ancient church. That he was in conflict with many of the church members from the first is disclosed in the records. The people were not ready for his advanced views and his independence. Feeling increased and in 1863 a petition was filed asking that a Council be called to listen to the protests against such doctrines as Mr. Beecher had expounded on the pre-existence of the human soul, the atonement, the state of souls after death and Divine sorrow.
The church had suffered its greatest excitement since its inception. For months the Beecher and anti-Beecher factions argued and scolded, exhorted and defied. The Council sat in due time, heard all the arguments and sustained the petitioners. A copy of the report is a part of the church records. Resolutions adopted by the church by a vote of twenty-seven to twenty-one defended Mr. Beecher and charged that the Council had
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exceeded its authority. Representatives of both sides attended the next meeting of the Essex North Association or Conference when a committee was appointed to visit the church and inquire into the controversy.
It is difficult for the present generation to envision the high emotional reactions of that exciting period. Heresy was the word of the hour, a word that has almost com- pletely disappeared from our modern lexicons. Mr. Beecher offered to resign in June, 1867, his letter indicating that fellowship with the churches was still withheld. Even the surrounding towns had declared against him. The church voted to give the pastor a leave of absence for an indefinite period. Later, the vote was rescinded and Mr. Beecher was requested to withdraw his resignation. In December, 1869, he again resigned on account of his health. The church granted him a leave of absence. Who preached during the next three years does not appear.
Despairing of getting rid of the pastor who so severely troubled them, eighty-three members withdrew and organized their own church. Two additional members had come from Rockport. The old church continued, however, and in 1872 extended a call to Rev. Thomas R. Beeber to become colleague with Mr. Beecher. The church feeling must have improved for the newly-formed church took part in the ceremonies. In three years Mr. Beeber, who had preached the final sermon in the old South Church, resigned.
The withdrawal of the disaffected members and the building of the new church building clearly indicate that religious inspiration was not on the wane in Georgetown as the result of the difficulties. Not a word appears in the church records concerning the building or the opening of the new First Church building. The work was carried on during the years 1873 and 1874 and the last service was held in the Old South Church on Sunday, December 14. The new church was dedicated Thursday evening, Decem- ber 18, of that year. At the closing service in the Old South Mr. Marsh of the Orthodox Memorial Church and Rev. Mr. Lyford of the Baptist Church assisted.
In June, 1876, Rev. Alfred Marsh was installed as pastor and in 1877 he resigned. In 1879 Mr. Beecher was in Georgetown to renew his resignation, but the church would not accept it. In the following year he again urged that he be dismissed and a new pastor installed at the time of the dismissal. He was then in poor health, hard of hearing but with a mind as keen as ever. Nobody ever had more loyal or devoted friends. For years the church had resisted the attacks upon it for retaining him, had been outlawed by the sister churches and had suffered a schism which struck at her very vitals. Few organizations, religious or secular, could have withstood so severe a trial.
Mr. Beecher's resignation was finally accepted and in February, 1881, Rev. Levi Rodgers was extended a call. In the following May the Council convened and Mr. Beecher was dismissed, thus terminating a pastorate covering twenty-five as turbulant years as any New England church ever suffered.
NEW MEMORIAL CHURCH
From 1867 to 1881 the Orthodox Memorial Church had been prospering. The first pastor, Rev. David D. Marsh, who had been installed September 16, 1868, was a very happy man in the anticipation of occupying his new pulpit in a beautiful brick church. Two years before George Peabody, the London philanthropist, had offered to build the new society a church in memory of his mother. The offer was accepted and it was opened about eight months before Mr. Marsh took charge, the date being January 8, 1868. Mr. Marsh enjoyed
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a long and brilliant pastorate, his resignation of 1888 taking effect on the twentieth year of that pastorate. The next pastor was Rev. George H. Johnson, a brilliant man, whose pastorate ended May 9, 1892. Other pastors were Rev. John Rounds Smith, who resigned in 1894; Rev. C. Julian Tuttle, who concluded his pastorate in 1901, and who is now in Atkinson, N. H .; Rev. D. Frank Atherton, who resigned in 1904 and Rev. L. R. Eckhardt, who remained until the summer of 1908.
It was during the latter pastorate that union with the parent church was most seriously debated and greatly accelerated by the pastor of the First Congregational Church, Rev. Warren Francis Low. For years the Memorial Church people had been having most serious difficulty in maintaining their property. Repairs were costly and spirit was dwindling. It was painful to bow to the inevitable, but there was apparently no other way. On September 8, 1908, reconciliation was affected, the two congregations coming together at a regular service. The trustees under the will of George Peabody took possession of the Memorial Church property and after prolonged negotiations with representatives of the town gave a conditional deed to the town. The town made certain repairs and held town meetings there. In October, 1920, the building burned.
The next important milestone in the history of the First Congregational Church, after the dismissal of Mr. Beecher and the installation of Mr. Rodgers, who remained until 1899, was the call extended to Rev. Henry R. McCartney, who remained from April 15, 1891, until 1898. It is impossible, in this brief resume, to express full appreciation of the McCartney pastorate, which marked so distinctive an advance in church and community life. McCartney was hailed as a second Beecher in advanced views. He was a student of the higher criticism. If Beecher was a radical, what of McCartney? Ministers who attended the Council session which recommended installation were not only intellectually charmed by McCartney's exposition of religious philosophy, but by the breadth of his learning and the clarity of his interpretation of the gospels. He was termed a generation in advance of his time. Soon after he became settled, people who had not been to church for years attended both Sunday morning and evening services.
But McCartney was an intellectual whose influence was not confined to the pulpit. He expounded the value and the inspiration of collegiate education, the advantages of the public library, and all manner of civic interests. Today, as he enjoys a merited retirement, his great pleasure is in reviewing his Georgetown pastorate and noting the success of his influence among the young men of his time.
Mr. McCartney was succeeded by Rev. Frank P. Estabrook, who was pastor until 1901. He was another strong influence among the younger members of the parish, but not so popular among the older members. The opposition to him was manifest in the Council called to dismiss him and that body took action to express its disapproval of the conduct of both Church and Parish.
The next pastor was Rev. Warren Francis Low, who was installed July 17, 1902, and dismissed at the end of 1910. During his pastorate the church became free of debt and went ahead under the reconciliation before noted. Mr. Low was followed by Rev. Arthur S. Burrill, installed January 25, 1912 and dismissed August 31, 1916. Rev. David Pike came in 1916 and resigned late in 1920. Rev. Hugh Penney took up the work in June, 1921, and left in the winter of 1923. Rev. William O. Conrad was installed September 1, 1924 and nine years later was succeeded by Rev. Hammond I. Peterson. The present pastor, Rev. W. Irving Monroe, Jr., was the administrator for a year before his ordination recently.
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Bullets Made Here In 1775 - 76
Hazen House, East Main Street, built to face the South and ignore the street
Made Famous By Inventions
Dickinson House, Jewett Street, built before 1700 by James Dickinson, owned after 1704 by Samuel Dickinson
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HOW THE OLD TOWN LOOKED
T TO wake up some morning and find oneself in Georgetown in 1800, 1810 or 1838 would prove an interesting experience. The hamlet of the earlier year was, of course, very quiet and rudimentary, yet the population numbered 480. The village was beginning to thrive industrially in the next period, with the coming of the Littles. For the next quarter century there was steady growth, but no boom until within a few years of the incorporation.
Even as far back as the dawning of the century it might have seemed that the town would be built on Spofford's Hill, instead of in the adjoining lowlands. The Spof- fords were on the hill in large numbers and certainly did their part in making the territory popular for habitations.
New Rowley Corner from 1795 to 1808 contained only four or five buildings, and was just a spot on the map. The buildings included the hotel, or Pillsbury Tavern; the David Tenney House, removed in the early 70s; the Perley House, where the Odd Fel- lows' Building stands, and the Burbank House, which stood on the site of the old Phoenix Building, now occupied as a filling station.
Each of these places, however, included much territory now owned by scores of residents. The Perley estate included all the land between Pentucket Square and Library Street. The Brocklebank lands abutted and included the entire territory on both sides of Central Street to the beginning of the Chaplin estate. The town house lot, upon which the Central School stands was, with adjoining land, a sheep pasture.
Benjamin and Joseph Little moved into town from West Newbury, young and energetic fellows, who opened a store and a shoemaking place in a low building extend- ing from the old tavern of Dudley Tyler. and Solomon Nelson, near the Old South Meet- ing House. Shrewd Yankee traders as they were, they made money rapidly selling their store goods and exchanging them for odd lots of coarse shoes brought to them from the surrounding country. They made the parish lively, for one can imagine the group of young fellows clinging to their coat tails. At first the Littles considered their business as located in the centre of the village, but as the roads improved New Rowley Square proved a much more appropriate centre.
In 1814 the Littles moved, erecting a building which has since been known as the Little lot and on which the Odd Fellows' building was erected in 1871. Three or four years later Benjamin Winter and William Perley opened a store in a building nearby which was moved across the street years afterward and is thought to be the building occupied by Louis R. Merrill.
It was in the year 1830 that a building boom started in various parts of the town, particularly on Elm Street, where several houses were quickly erected near the meeting- house. In 1836 the Manufacturers' Bank of Rowley, with Benjamin Little as president and George Foot as cashier, was established. From 1830 to 1838 building went on at a rapid rate, eight or ten houses being erected each year, and more than fifty houses and stores in 1839. In 1840 a visitor wrote a brief sketch of the town, saying, "Georgetown is a pleasant and a very flourishing place. Its growth has been more rapid than any other village in the county."
Much credit must be given to Major Paul Nelson and Lewis Hatch for George- town's early business activity. Nelson is described by Miss Emery, a niece of the Littles, as a "smart young man carrying on considerable business." He operated a large tannery and had a small shoe-makers' shop near the Square. In 1808 the major had rented the shop to Hatch, who became, without a doubt, the pioneer shoe manufacturer of the
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town. It was probably Hatch who induced Joseph Little to settle in town, for the two became partners. When Benjamin Little appeared he joined the other two. They hired the entire premises of Major Nelson except the tannery. They knew shoes and how to sell them, and it was said at the time that the Littles could sell anything at a profit. The main point to be stressed, however, is that they were indefatigable workers and knew how to save the money they had earned. Little's store, the first grocery store in town, and also the place of the first post-office established in 1824, had customers for miles around. When the original Littles died their mantle worthily descended to their nephews, Samuel Little and John Coker.
Going back to the beginning of the century, and accepting Dr. Jeremiah Spofford's account written in December, 1879, we are asked to visualize a village of sixty houses on farms of twenty to 120 acres each, all but a few flax-colored. The Centre schoolhouse was new and painted red, with white trimmings. The old meeting house was considered remarkably handsome, although it was a particularly ugly structure by later standards.
If Spofford's Hill had not received its name from John Spofford, the first settler of Georgetown, there were plenty of excuses as time rolled on for such a designation.
As one ascended the hill, in the year 1800, the first house on the right was occupied by Moses Boynton and his wife, son and four daughters, mother and sister. Boynton was a carpenter and bridge builder, kept a good farm and was prosperous.
Next on the left, opposite the Marietta Spofford house, lived Daniel Thurston and wife, son Stephen and wife, and three children. The house was old at the time, but had been remodeled. It contained eight square rooms. It was sold to Rev. Isaac Braman, with abouty forty acres of land, who occupied it for years.
Next on the right lived Dr. Moses D. Spofford, with wife and child, in a house bought of David Thurston in 1795. Thurston moved to Maine and left a numerous family. Next on the left were Col. Daniel Spofford and wife, and Dr. Amos Spofford, wife, seven sons and three daughters. The colonel was a house and church builder and active in the Revolution. The doctor had an extensive practice and operated the largest farm in town.
The ancient proprietors' schoolhouse stood in the so-called Warren road and on the left was the farmhouse, a one-story house, owned by the first parish, and leased to Greenleaf Dole, who was a farmer in summer and a school teacher in winter. Next on the right was Jacob Spofford, his wife, three sons and six daughters. He bought the house about 1798 and was a carpenter and wheelwright. The home reverted to William Spof- ford, who had purchased the house and farm of Richard Dole about 1797. The house was built by Eleazer Spofford about 1764.
Next house on the right was occupied by William Spofford, wife, three sons and three daughters. He was a large farmer and mill owner. His neighbor, also on the right, was Joseph Spofford, who lived there with his wife, two sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Paul, went to New York, became a millionaire in business and eventually owned not only the old Mighill house, later to be known as Baldpate Inn, but a large part of Baldpate Hill. The next house on the right was occupied by Moses Spofford, wife, two sons and three daughters. They engaged in farm work and shoemaking.
On the Haverhill Road, first on the right, lived Moody Spofford, wife and six chil- dren. He was a large farmer and also church builder. In his shop he had several appren- tices and there was constructed the model of the first arch that spanned the Merrimac, the Piscatequa, the Kennebec, the Schuylkill and the Potomac. A neighbor, Jeremiah Spofford, wife, one son and four daughters, occupied a large house. He was a surveyor and a carpenter. He framed the old church in the spring of 1796 which served the town of Jeffrey, N. H., for sixty years.
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On the old Salem road was John Smith and wife and a son. Smith was a cooper and small farmer. His neighbor was William Ross, who had a wife and six children. He was a native of Ipswich and a soldier in the Revolution. He moved to Bradford about 1800 and the house was demolished. David Poor, wife and two children, and Daniel Poor, wife and two children, lived in the house.
On Bailey Lane, about fifty rods from the Hill Road, stood the house built by Dr. Amos Spofford on a corner of the old Plumer farm. In the Bailey house lived Asa Bailey, wife and two children; Isaac Tyler, wife and children, and others. The house was removed by Joseph Nelson to a lot on the Weston holdings. Further down Bailey Lane stood the Dodge house, sold by Jeremiah Dodge, about 1795, and occupied by Jonas Warren. On the opposite road were living in 1800 Silas Dole, wife, two sons and three daughters. They were farmers. Next was the spacious old farmhouse of Captain Moses Dole, left by both of his sons but held by the aged widow, who, with the assistance of Cuffe, once a slave, lived for many years. Still further south was David Mighill, who had one of the largest and best farms in the region on the southern slope of Baldpate Hill.
It is said that at least forty oxen were used in farming on the hill at that time and at least fifty cows. More than sixty of the sixth generation from John Spofford were born in Georgetown. Many reached adult age.
On the Boxford Road beyond Lovering's Corner was the mansion of Benjamin Adams (Tanner Adams), the first house in town to be painted white. Beyond, near the Boxford line, was an old house occupied by Burnham and Blaisdell. Up Jew (or Nelson) Street stood the ancient house of Abraham Adams, later to be occupied by Benjamin Adams, Jr., who about 1815 built the present house occupied by the Shutes. Other houses on this road were those of Major Asa Nelson, Amos Nelson, and his son Moses; Nathan Perley and David Mighill. Northerly on the same road were the farms of Widow Ruth and Silas Dole, later owned by Mr. Guptill.
East of the old meeting-house was the house of Rev. Mr. Chandler and back on a lane lived Amos Pillsbury, blacksmith. In the house of Mr. Brocklebank lived John Tenney. Marlboro Village consisted of the houses of Deacon Thomas Merrill, John Palmer, William Searle and Benjamin Scudder.
On the Byfield Road from Marlboro stood the house of Deacon Jeremiah Searle and the house of Samuel Johnson, who sold to Dudley Stickney, who rebuilt the house and sold to Benjamin Merrill. On the nearly impassable road leading over Long Hill was the house, shoe shops and farm of Richard Tenney, made busy by the industry of his sons.
In Rooty Plain there lived the families of Phineas Dodge, Phineas Dodge, Jr., Wil- liam Dickinson, Nathan Phillips and Caleb Jackson. Phineas Dodge operated a saw and grist mill. On the northerly borders of the parish were the homes of Daniel and Asa Pingree, Nathaniel Burpee and Moses Merrill. On the place for many years owned by Benjamin Mclaughlin was William Perley, who set up a tanyard, grinding bark by water, and a saw mill by Hazen.
On Haverhill Street lived William Dole, painter and joiner; Benjamin Adams, law- yer; Abel Dodge, cooper; Enoch Harriman, farmer, who sold to Samuel Weston; and Samuel Holmes. In the Hampshire woods lived Stephen Hardy.
Between the Corner and the Baptist meeting-house which at that time stood at Mill Street, there was but one house, the Parsonage, occupied by Rev. Shubael Lovell. Then came the house of Paul Stickney, farmer and miller; Solomon Chaplin and Peter Cloulin.
On the North, or Brandford Road, by the pond, lived Samuel Plumer, Jonathan Harriman and Jonathan Searl. Near the Bradford line lived Elder Samuel Harriman, a pillar of the Baptist Church. North of Pentucket Pond stood the house of Israel Adams. The house was sold to Jacobs of Danvers and the road was later known as Jacob's Road.
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