USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Brimfield > Historical celebration of the town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass > Part 8
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VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.
School exhibitions have been of regular annual occur- rence for nearly ten years. They have been found a source of both pleasure and profit. The money charged for admission has been spent by the High School scholars for such additions to the school apparatus as seemed at the time most suitable. But some are fond of recurring to the times when such exhibitions were something new. A famous good one was that given in 1828, when Mr. Thomas Patrick was teacher, and the Lincoln boys, the Foster boys, and others of their associates were in the hey-day of their youth.
The Olympus Club was started about 1857, as an or- ganization for the purpose of clearing the sidewalks from snow during the winter season. The snow plow, as it passes around after every storm, keeps open easy com- munication, and adds greatly to the comfort of the villa- gers. The Club ought to enlarge its sphere, and provide street lamps at night for the convenience of belated way- farers.
The Brimfield Thief Detective Society was started in 1857, for the protection of its members in case of loss by theft. It has a Board of Directors, and a Pursuing Com- mittee ; and a fund in cash amounting to $75, besides its permanent investment in railroad stock.
About 1820, the Brimfield Literary Association pos- sessed quite a collection of books. The shareholders at last became weary of the care and loaning of books, and the library was sold at auction. There is now a need and desire never felt so intensely before, for the estab- lishment and maintenance of a public library. It is a real and pressing want, which the town have taken the preliminary steps to meet, in the appointment of a Com- mittee to consider and report how best to make the dog fund, accumulated from the annual tax on dogs, most available towards securing a public library, either in co-
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
operation with the Trustees of the Hitchcock Free School, or in some other way .*
About the year 1835, the fashion prevailed of organiz- ing a " Lyceum," or public debating society. One was organized in Brimfield. Among the earlier members may be mentioned Gen. F. H. Warren, T. D. Lincoln, Fred- eric D. Lincoln, P. W. Paige, Dr. William H. Gardner, Judge Samuel T. Spalding. The meetings for debate were kept up winter after winter, till after the establish- ment of the Hitchcock school, when the town lyceum was merged into the Debating Society, now carried on by the teachers and pupils.
For general healthfulness Brimfield will compare favor- ably with any town in the State. Disease and death do their fatal work here, as well as elsewhere. But the av- erage age is kept at a high rate by the large number of octogenarians. Mrs. Groves, widow of Peter Groves, was born in Sturbridge, 1774, September 2, and is still living, sprightly and active, at the age of one hundred and two years. Her maiden name was Jemima Allen. Dr. Vaill mentions as a period of unusual mortality, especially among children, 1775-'6-'7. Within the present century there has been but one such period of extraordinary mor- tality, 1816, when " the spotted fever " prevailed. 1758, some stranger died of small-pox after fourteen days' illness. Inoculation was introduced by Dr. Israel Trask, 1776. He asked permission to set up a hospital, under regula- tions to be determined by a committee of seven. 1793, March 11, the town voted that " the small-pox be set up at Oliver Mason's one fortnite, to continue at Simeon Hubbard's and Thomas Bliss' one fortnite from this time and no Longer." After the fashion of inoculation and
# 1877, April 9, the town voted to establish a Public Library, and appropriated the Dog Fund, the accumulation of several years, amounting to $719, for that purpose.
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
pest-houses was done away (1810), the town appointed Superintendents for the cow-pox. Now, by statute law, all school children, on entering school, are required to bring a physician's certificate that they have been prop- erly vaccinated.
One of the conditions on which townships were granted was, that provision should be made for the erection of a house of worship, and for the settlement of "an able or- thodox minister." In their practical working, these con- ditions, though readily accepted by the original grantees, proved burdensome and restrictive to succeeding genera- tions of less homogeneous growth, and of increasingly divergent faiths." The purchasers and inheritors of the lands repudiated the conditions imposed by the General Court. The building and repair of meeting-houses is no longer a tax assessed upon the landed proprietors. Whether a town has an able and orthodox minister or not, the town assumes no corporate responsibility.
1736, June 23, David Shaw, one of the constables, pe- titioned the General Court for advice, claiming to be a member of the Church of England, and with others of like religious connection, unwilling to pay any of the taxes levied for support of an independent minister. His peti- tion was dismissed because not presented within the time allowed by law. The law of 1824, February 16, put an end to all taxations and assessments for religious expenses, except when voluntarily assumed.
The people of Brimfield have, from the very first, man- aged their church affairs with the same systematic, delib- erate thoroughness that has characterized the manage- ment of the town business. But the earliest church rec-
. 95 per cent. of the people of New England, in 1776, were of pure English de- scent. Most largely were Congregationalists in their religious faith and polity. But comparing the population of 1870 with that of 1750, when the first census was taken, 62 per cent. in the later period only, were native born, of native parentage ; 31 per cent. native born, of foreign parentage ; 14 per cent. were immigrants.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
ords, like the earliest proprietors' records, perished in the burning of the houses of the clerks.
I. 1725-1731. The first minister was Rev. Richard Treat. He was born in Glastenbury, Conn., May 14. 1694, and graduated at Yale College in 1719. It is sup- posed that the Church was formed when the minister was ordained, and November 18, 1724, is the probable date. He was granted one hundred and twenty acres for a set- tlement, with a full share in all the subsequent allotments of proprietors' land. His salary of €85 would seem to have been neither sufficient for his needs, nor ever promptly paid. June 8, 1733, a committee was appointed by the town to " Discourse with our Minister Concerning his uneasiness" His uneasiness arose, as is very fre- quently the case, from dissatisfaction with the compensa- tion he was receiving, rather than from disquietude at any apparent lack of spiritual prosperity. The committee's discourse had no satisfactory result. It was followed by a letter to the town from Mr. Treat. He was then in- vited to a personal interview. This, also, was of no avail, and then the town voted, September 19, 1733, "to call a Counsel to hear the Difficulties betwixt Mr. Treat and the town and to act thereupon." No record is extant of any such council, called by the town. December 31, the town " voted to give Mr. Treat &20 for the year en- suing towards his support in the ministry more than his Stated Sallery." To this he returned answer that he would accept " of what ye town had granted Provided the People were Easy and Contented." The final entry in regard to Mr. Treat in the town records, is the action taken upon his request for a " Discharge or Dismission by a vote of the town." " Whereas, a Counsel was chosen by Mr. Richard Treat and y" church in Brimfield, to make a decision of the Difficulties betwixt sd Mr. Treat and Church, January 15, 1733-4, and-
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" Whereas, sd Counsel being mett at sd Brimfield, March 25, 1731 : Did then at said meeting Dismiss and Separate s" Mr. Treat from his Pastoral Charge of the Church and people of said Brimfield: and now this 24th day of April, 1735, the inhabitants of sd Brimfield being mett together, Do by a Vote Concur with the sa Counsell's determina- tion."
Of Mr. Treat's nine years' ministry, as of his personal character, nothing is now known, nor of his subsequent history after his removal to Glastenbury, his native town.
The genealogical line of his ancestry has been traced back as follows:
I. RICHARD TREAT, res. Wethersfield, d. 1669. I .- Ch. Richard, Robert, James, Honor, Joanna, Sarah, Su- sanna, Catharine.
II. Richard, b. Engl. res. Wethersfield. m. Sarah, da. Thomas Coleman. Ch. Richard, Sarah, Mary, Thomas.
III. Lieut. Thomas, b. 1713, September 17. m. 1693, July 5, Dorothy, da. Rev. Gershom Bulkley. Ch. Richard, Charles, Thomas, Isaac, Dorotheus and Dorothy.
IV. Richard, b. 1694, May 14, grad. Yale College, 1725. m. 1728, August 7, Susanna, da. Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, of Hartford, Conn. One son was born in Brimfield, Thomas, 1732, October 27.
1734. When he removed from Brimfield, Mr. Treat sold his estate, about three hundred acres, for C800. to Benjamin Morgan, of Springfield, and 1743, January 23, sold for €10, to David Shaw of the Elbow Traet. all his remaining right to one-seventieth of the township.
-1734, 1735. During these two years, the church was without a pastor. Candidates do not seem to have thrust themselves upon the church as now. Various votes show the difficulty experienced in the endeavor " to provide a minister to preach the word of God." Several ineffectual calls were given to Mr. Noah Merrick, Mr. Sampson Stod-
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dard, Mr. Caleb Rice. The town voted pay for these ministers' services at ¿2 for each Sabbath.
II. 1736-1756. At length, January 29, 1736, Mr. James Bridgham was " called by a unanimous vote to set- tle in the work of the ministry." He was to have " £300 settlement in Bills of Credit as now passes between man and man ; " and " £120 Sallery Yearly in Bills of Credit as they now pass." 1736, March 23, it was voted, "after four years are expired, to Rise five pound in a Year, till it comes to €140, and that to be the Stated Sallery." Subsequently, it was further stipulated that the town should pay " one-third part of the Sallery after the rate of Silver at 27 shillings per ounce," the balance to be paid in grain, meat, and labor, at certain specified prices. .[15 were voted to defray ordination charges, at 2s. per meal.
Mr. Bridgham was born in Boston, March 21, 1707, and graduated at Harvard, 1726. He is said to have been a man of respectable talents, regarded as an evan- gelical preacher, and remembered with affectionate es- teem. During his forty years' pastorate, one hundred and thirty-nine were added to the church. Seven hun- dred and sixteen baptisms are recorded by his hand. He died in this town, September 19, 1776, aged sixty-nine, and was buried here. For some time previous to his death, failing health prevented the full discharge of his official duties. Dissatisfaction arose, aggravated by changes in the currency, that made constant fluctuations in his sal- ary. 1770, March 12, a vote of the town fixed the salary at £58. A memorial, presented by his son, 1777, March 18, represents that this salary had not been paid at all, for two years and five months, preceding his death. Councils were called to adjust matters, but without the desired result. Finally, Mr. Bridgham's written consent was obtained to the installation of another pastor. He
*
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
appears to have continued, nominally, senior pastor for a year and a half prior to his death.
He was twice married, and had nine children, five of whom lived to mature age. His son James continued to reside at the old place some time after his father's decease. Capt. Henry Bridgham, the first of the name in this coun- try, was a tanner, who came to Dorchester, 1641, removed to Boston 1614. He had a numerous family, Jonathan, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Hopestill, Nathaniel, Samuel,
Nathaniel, . James. The children of Joseph, Jonathan, Henry, Samuel, and of Joseph, Jr., are entered upon the records in the office of the City Register, Boston. So, also, is the birth of James Bridgham, son of James Bridg- ham and Mercy Stoddard, who were married, 1705, Au- gust 20. By his wife, Martha -, Rev. James Bridgham had James, born 1741, June 20; Samuel, 1743, February 17; Ebenezer, 1745, February 13; Mercy, 1747, June 30; Martha, 1750, March 5; Powning, 1752, May 1; Jonathan, 1754, June 23; Powning, 1757, April 22. By his second wife, Mary -, Thomas, born 1764, Septem- ber 14.
III. 1775-1796. The people were fortunate in secur- ing for their pastor, Mr. Nehemiah Williams, the first minister with whom, on account of Mr. Bridgham's fail- ing health, and with his consent, they had made engage- ment for the supply of the pulpit. October 27, 1774, the town voted to give Mr. Williams a call, offering £200, lawful money, for his settlement; £70. salary yearly. December 23, 1774, it was voted that after six years, the salary should be increased to .280. Mr. Williams was ordained, February 9, 1775. He was the son of Rev. Chester Williams, of Hadley, where he was born February 24, 1749. He graduated at Harvard college, 1769. His sister was the wife of Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., of Franklin, Mass. He married Persis Keyes. Mr. Williams
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
had ten children, Peggy, born September 10. 1776 : Ebenezer, born November 24, 1777; Stephen Keves, born February 25. 1779; Nehemiah, born June 7, 1780 ; Samuel Hopkins, born January 22, 1782; Lewis, born September 16, 1784 ; Persis, born May 31, 1786 ; Charles, born August 16, 17SS; William, born May 16, 1790; Sarah Porter, born July 22, 1792, some of whom became prominent citizens in town. He died November 26, 1796, aged forty-eight, and was buried here. " He was emi- nently judicious in his preaching and practice." While an acceptable preacher, he probably gained his greatest in- fluence as a wise and reliable Christian pastor. After his best efforts in the pulpit, his hearers felt that there was more in the man to be revered and loved, than they had seen or heard in the sermon. After his decease, a volume of his sermons was published, a copy of which is in the Pastoral library. The early part of his ministry was dur- ing the Revolutionary war. There was continual embar- rassment in regard to his salary, owing to the continual depreciation of the Continental Currency. 1778. May 13, £130 were voted. 1779, January 14, £430. 1779, November 29, that the salary for the last two years be £1,500. 1781, March 26, it was fixed at £95 in silver. 1795, March 9, it was voted to add £30. In the twenty- one years of Mr. Williams' ministry, one hundred and twenty-five were added to the church ; three hundred and sixty-two baptized. No disaffection whatever seems to have arisen during his pastorate of almost a quarter of a century. Yet he died comparatively young, and his death was a loss deeply deplored. His widow continued to reside in town and died here.
IV. 1798-1803. After the death of Mr. Williams, his widow, by vote of the town, supplied the pulpit for four months; the salary being paid to her, and she making such arrangements as she chose for preaching. 1797,
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
May 1; the Committee of Supply was instructed . to hire and procure the Rev. Clark Brown, to preach upon pro- bation." He had preached for the people the previous year, during Mr. Williams' sickness, and while he himself was taking a vacation, or as such a necessity of modern ministerial life was, at that time, unknown by name. we may better say, while he was absent from his people at Machias, Me. He seems to have troubled himself very little about form and order in doing what he chose to do. He had been ordained at Boston. 1795, October 7, pastor of the church in Machias. He resigned his charge of the church there by letter, was dismissed by vote of the town, May 10, and by vote of the church. (without the calling of a council. ) November 2, 1797. While pastor there, he " reformed the articles of faith, abrogating the doctrines of the Trinity and total depravity, and admitting persons to the Communion without any evidence of regeneration. About half of the Church refused to unite with it in its new form, and were suspended from Church privileges." ( Vide Hampden Pulpit, p. 74.)
1797. November 20, the town and church of Brimfield, both taking such action the same day, voted to give him a call. He was offered a salary of " £130 by the year, so long as he preaches," to be stated upon produce as it is now, and to rise and fall with it. November 20, this vote was reconsidered, and the offer was made $400, to be paid annually so long as he supplies the pulpit here. £100, also, were to be paid in labor and lumber, whenever he might wish to build him a house. In Mr. Brown's letter in reply, he makes his acceptance conditional on the sal- ary being paid "so long as he shall be minister," and " punctually " paid. He further stipulates that " when- ever a majority of the Church and Congregation wish to have my pastoral relation dissolved, it shall be. provided sufficient reasons are offered why it should not be contin-
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
ued." claiming also a similar privilege for himself ; " the reasons which may be offered by either of the parties, shall be considered by an Ecclesiastical Council. mutually chosen, by the Result of which we will abide." He adds, "the call is accepted under a full persuasion that the gentlemen of the town are convinced of the absolute no- cessity of erecting a new meeting-house." When the Council met, 1798, February 27, objections were made to his installation.
Nine specific charges were made, alleging erroneous re- ligious sentiments and unministerial conduct. The Coun- eil adjourned at mid-night, met at 6 o'clock the next morning, and unanimously voted that they " do not see their way clear to proceed to the installment of Rev. C. Brown. The Council chosen consisted of the standing ministers respectively of Brookfield, Western (now War- ren), Sturbridge, Monson, Palmer, Holland, and Stoning- ton, Conn., with their delegates. Rev. Mr. Woodbury of Norwich, and Rev. Mr. Abbott of Coventry, were also in- vited, but not present. The Council declare their unani- mous conviction that he was not orthodox in his religious · tenets, nor so decorous in his conduct as is justly expect- ed from a minister of the Gospel. Just before the ad- journment of the Council, Mr. Brown read a letter affirm- ing the despicable character of the persons who had brought forward the charges against him, withdrawing from the consideration of the Council his letter of accept- ance, and declaring that neither himself, the church. or the town " have any further business for this Council."
1798, March 12, the town voted to renew the call. The next day, the church voted not to renew the call, by a vote of eleven to nine. April 21, the church " voted to let all matters rest ; no members to be admitted until the church agree on some mode to proceed." Mr Brown, 1797, December 31, before the Council was invited to
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
assemble for his installation, had undertaken to alter the terms of admission to the church. He read a Confession of Faith he proposed to substitute for the old Covenant. The effect would have been to have revolutionized the whole basis of church fellowship, making it neither Cal- vinistie nor Evangelical, but so vaguely indefinite as to set aside any such distinctive characteristics for loose no- tions and looser practices. The church records were kept by Mr. Brown, and contain his interjected explanations as well as the customary minutes of votes passed. His record of the still more revolutionary vote of the church, 1798, January 12, read, " Voted, that there should be but one Form of a Covenant for the Admission of Members into the Church, whether they come up to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or not. By this vote, it is implied that all Persons who shall own this Covenant and Ac- knowledge the Confession of Faith, adopted by this Church, shall be considered, whether they come to the Lord's Table, or not, as Members of the Church ; And of consequence will be under the watch and Discipline of the Church, and shall have a right to the Ordinances and Privileges of the Church. The Church has agreed, ac- cording to the above explanation of the Vote, that Per- sons may join the Church, and have Baptism for their Children, though they may not consider it their Duty to come to the Lord's Supper at the time when they are ad- mitted." Mr. Brown's practice was more comprehensive than his explanation. He baptized the children of Martin Hersey, who had never owned the Covenant. Mr. Hersey was propounded by Mr. Brown for admission, but was not received by any vote of the church.
In contravention of the vote passed by the church, March 13, to let all things rest, a special meeting was called by Mr. Brown, May 21. the action of March 1: was annulled, and it was voted, fifteen to fourteen, to
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
renew the call to Mr. Brown. The majority was secured by counting as members, some persons who claimed member- ship by virtue of the vote of January 12. The town had voted. March 12. to renew the call, and a committee was appointed to choose an Ecclesiastical Council in order to install the Rev. Clark Brown. 1798, JJune 19, this Coun- cil assembled, and the next day installed Mr. Brown as they were expected to do. The Council was composed of ministers and delegates from six churches. The minis- ters' names were : Rev. Judah Nash, of Montague, Rev. Joseph Bancroft, of Worcester, Rev. Joseph Blodget, of Greenwich, Rev. William Emerson, of Harvard, Rev. Nathaniel Thayer. of Lancaster. Rev. John Jackson, of Gill. Abner Morgan, not at the time a member of the church, but only propounded for admission, signed on behalf of the church, blank invitations. These were taken by dif- ferent individuals to different ministers, and filled out when the minister's sentiments were ascertained to be favorable to Mr. Brown.
The Council met 5 P. M., at the house of Prince Aspin- wall, chose Rev. Mr. Nash, Moderator, and Rev. Mr. Em- erson, Scribe. They adjourned to the meeting-house. where the opponents of Mr. Brown objected to the valid- ity of the Council, on the ground that the majority vote to renew the call was improperly secured. The Council decided that this objection was not sustained. The next morning, 7 A. M., when the Council re-assembled, charges of erroneous belief and reprehensible behavior, were preferred against Mr. Brown. The Council voted that Mr. Brown's explanation of his opinions was satisfactory ; and that, the misconduct alleged was attributable to provo- cation and inexperience rather than maliciousness and folly. Rev. Mr. Bancroft preached ; Rev. Mr. Nash gave the Charge; Rev. Mr. Thayer gave the Right Hand of Fellowship.
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
In consequence of these proceedings, the aggrieved Church members, and other inhabitants under the lead of General Eaton, held a meeting, 1798, September 13, and appointed a Committee, Dea. Issachar Brown, Joseph Hoar, William Eaton and Philemon Warren, to ask advice of the Brookfield Association. They were advised to lay the matter before an Ecclesiastical Council. Such a Coun- cil was called, and met 1798, October 17, at General Eat- on's. In his handwriting are the records of the various proceedings of the aggrieved church members and citi- zens. Rev. Joseph Lyman, of Hatfield, Rev. Joseph Pope, of Spencer. Rev. Richard S. Storrs, of Longmeadow, Rev. Thomas Holt, of Hardwick, Rev. John Fiske, of New Braintree, Rev. Joseph Lathrop, of West Springfield, and the delegates from the churches named, composed the Council. A pamphlet entitled, " An Address to my Influ- ential Neighbors, Selectmen and Committee of Brimfield," was probably prepared by General Eaton, and read to the Council. They decided that the statement presented to them by the Committee of the aggrieved, was not suffi- cient basis for action. They sent a Committee to propose to Rev. Clark Brown a friendly conference. He replied in writing in the course of an hour, that he was under the necessity of refusing the invitation. Then the Council advised the aggrieved to secure, if possible, from Mr. Brown, joint action in calling a Mutual Council; if this failed, to bring their grievances before an adjourned meeting of this Council. A pamphlet rejoinder to Gen- eral Eaton, entitled. "A Reply to an Address Written by the Great I," was printed at the Spy office, in Wor- cester, October, 1798. A letter was sent to Mr. Brown. October 22, but met no response. 1799, February 28, request was made to the Church for a Mutual Council. but it was refused, as was also a similar request made to the town, 1800, January 2. 1799. July 3, the "aggrieved"
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
were recognized as the Gospel Congregational Church in Brimfield, though no list of members is given There is no record of this action other than this bare mention of their being recognized, yet not formally constituted. as a Church. by the ministers and delegates of Holland and Western. Mr. Bartholomew Brown's house on Tower hill (now occupied by Mr. Fay) was one of the places where they held their meetings. They had various preachers : Messrs. Bemis, Burt, Dickinson, Griswold, Groves, Lord, Moor, Sabin. 1803, December 7, a Com- mittee reported that $991.65 had been raised and spent by the aggrieved. $130 of this amount was for expenses in prosecuting a petition to the General Court, to be in- corporated as a new parish. Soon the " Gospel Church " disappears : " the aggrieved," probably without any for- mality, resuming their original status as members of the old church.
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