USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Brimfield > Historical celebration of the town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass > Part 9
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The petition for a new parish was met by a Committee appointed by the town, 1800, August 20, who were in- structed to " make a true and fair representation of the situation," and directed to meet with any Committee from the opposition, to try to accommodate difficulties. With the understanding, as advised by a committee of the Legislature, that a Mutual Council should be called, and have full jurisdiction in all matters in dispute, the petitioners withdrew their petition. But the town re- fused to be made a party in the case, voting, 1801, March 9, that Rev. Clark Brown and the aggrieved should settle their difficulties by a Mutual Council at their own expense.
The Council met 1801, March 12, and continued its session till March 18. Rev. Eliab Stone, of the Second Church in Reading, Rev. Daniel Parsons, D. D., of Amherst, Rev. Samuel Kendall, of Weston, Rev. Samuel Austin, of Worcester, Rev. Jedediah Morse, D. D., of
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Charlestown, Rev. Hezekiah Goodrich, of Rutland, Rev. John T. Kirtland, of New South, Boston, and delegates from their churches, composed the Council. Their unani- mous opinion was in favor of terminating Mr. Brown's con- nection with this people. To this Mr. Brown published a bitter reply. But in accordance with the advice given, he finally presented to the town, 1803, March 23, a request for dismission. Mr. Brown had been chosen representative, 1801. May 4, and 1803, May 3, he was again chosen. But it was. plainly evident, however ardent admirers he may have had, (and one man in Wilbraham named one of his children after the Brimfield minister,) no good what- ever would result from persistency in retaining a min- ister against oft repeated expressions of dissatisfaction from the serious minded and Orthodox portion of the com- munity. 1803, September 2, in response to proposals sub- mitted by Mr. Brown, drawn up by General Eaton, the town voted " to dispense with the services of Rev. Clark Brown, after the third Sabbath in October next." 1803, October 23, the Church voted " to unite with the pastor in calling an Ecclesiastie Council, to carry into effect the object designed and expressed in the votes passed in this town on the 2d ultimo." A Council met, for there is record of the cost of entertainment provided, but no rec- ord of its proceedings is to be found. 1803, November 2. Mr. Brown was dismissed by vote of the church, at his own request, Rev. Aaron Bancroft acting as Modera- tor of the meeting. Mr. Morse, in his " Annals," sug- gests that this council . did not wish, by a regular and formal dismissal of Mr. Brown. to set aside the decision of the previous council respecting the irregularity of his installation." The termination of Mr. Brown's pastorate was as irregular as his installation. During the course of the controversies that marked and marred his connection with the people of Brimfield, five or six pamphlets were
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issued, now among the curiosities of literature in the Pas- toral library. " The Emigration of Popery : by Agatho- eles," written in vindication of the Council that installed Mr. Brown. 1798. June 19; " An Authentic Copy of the Result of the Council, 1801. March 12;" " Remarks on the Doings and Result :" " An Address to My Influ- ential Neighbors ; " " Reply to the Great 1."
Reference is made in one of these pamphlets to a cate- chism published by Mr. Brown. while at Machias, but no copy of it is known to be in existence.
After leaving Brimfield, Mr. Brown was never settled again. He preached at Montpelier, Vt., 1805, but though hired for a year, was requested, at the end of six months, to retire from the pulpit. He then started a weekly pa- per known as the Vermont Watchman. He preached in Swanzey, N. H., and Orange, Mass. There is in the Pas- toral library, a Thanksgiving Sermon, preached by him in both those places, and printed by request of hearers at Orange. He died in Maryland, 1817, January 12, aged forty-five. He was born in Stonington, 1772. His mother, Mary, wife of John Brown, was privately bap- tized, 1774. September 7. and October 2, owned the cov- enant, but did not join in full communion with the church till 1787, September 16, after the death of her husband. Iler two boys. Clark and John, were baptized on her ac- count, 1774, October 2. Clark Brown joined the church at Stonington, 1788, February 10. While living in Brim- field, he married, 1799, December 1. a daughter of Dr. Joseph Moffatt, of this town. D. P. Thompson, in his History of Montpelier, 1860, says that she went to Ore- gon and opened a school, which finally grew into the first college of that State. Two sermons, preached by Mr. Brown on the Sabbath succeeding Doctor Moffat's death, were printed, and are in the Pastoral library. He had two sons, born while he resided here; Orus, born 1800,
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September 4; Manthanus, born 1802, December 15. Mr. Brown seems to have been of a bright and active mind, sociable and impulsive disposition, but not distinguished for patience or prudence. He was an avowed unbeliever in those Evangelical doctrines, which this church has, during all its history, maintained as fundamental doc- trines of the Christian faith. He " did not graduate at Harvard, but received honorary degrees there in 1797 and in 18LI. as he did, also, at Dartmouth and several other colleges." (Am. Quar. Reg., Vol. 10.)
-1803-1808. During this period, various candidates were heard, and three were invited to settle, who all de- clined. Mr. Wesson, who afterwards settled in Hardwick. received a call, 1805, March 25; Mr. Elisha Rockwood, 1807. September 3; Mr. Newton Skinner, 1808, April 28. Yet while without a pastor, some interest in religious affairs must have been maintained, for the old meeting- house, built in 1722, was taken down in 1805, and re- placed by a far better building the next year.
V. 1808-1811. August 17, 1808, the church voted to call Mr. Warren Fay, and August 29, the town concurred in this action. The salary offered was $500 yearly, and twenty-five cords of wood. Mr. Fay was ordained No- vember 2, 1808.
Rev. Samuel Austin, of Worcester, with whom Mr. Fay had studied divinity, preached the ordination sermon from Eph. 6: 19. 20; Rev. Aaron Bancroft, of Worcester, gave the charge ; Rev. Alfred Ely, of Monson. the right hand of fellowship. These were published. Mr. Fay was a man of more than ordinary ability, but he found in this town a troublesome and unmanageable parish. It is not at all incredible, that under such circumstances he is said to have been intimate with some few persons, rather than to have cultivated a general acquaintance with his people. The church. from the first. sustained him heartily, and
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" Fay's Saints" was the common name given to his friends. 1810. September 4, the town voted that they were " not satisfied with Mr. Fay as their minister, and that a copy of this vote be laid before him." ISH1. May 16, it was " Voted, that the Church may agree with Mr. Fay, and appoint a Council to dismiss and recommend him." This the church voted not to do. May 23 June 26, Mr. Fay was dismissed by a Council, convened at his request and that of the church, which appointed a com- mittee for this purpose, June 14. The Council, in advis- ing his dismissal, protested against the summary and un- christian proceedings of the town. The town, May 11, 1812, a committee reporting that Mr. Fay was willing to preach until July, or longer, without expense to the town, he was so employed. September 4, the town voted to hire him to preach until the first Monday in No- vember, when the town voted not to invite Rev. Warren Fay to resettle here in the gospel ministry, fifty-one for, eighty-three against. He was installed at Harvard, 1814, January 26, and dismissed thence on receiving a call to the First Church in Charlestown, as successor to Rev. Dr. Morse, in 1820. In 1839, while pastor of the church in Charlestown, he was charged with immorality, and after trial on these charges by a Council, the fellowship of the churches was withdrawn from him. He subsequently re- sided at Northborough, Mass., and died there.
While living in Brimfield, one son was born, Samuel Austin, 1809, November 19.
-1811-1813. Various persons were engaged for vary- ing terms of service during the next two years, but none of them were invited to the vacant pastorate.
VI. 1814-1833. One of the young men of Brimfield, Ebenezer Brown, at the time a student in Yale College, recommended to the people a recent graduate, Joseph Vaill, Jr., and he preached several times with such general
Posefor Pcult-
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acceptance, that 1813, November 19, the church gave him a call. The town united in this the same day, voting " to give him annually $550, provided the contract close when he on the one hand, or a majority of the town on the other, become dissatisfied, a year's notice being given " Only one vote was against his settlement, and that avow- edly given to save him from the woo of having all men speak well of him. When he was ordained, February 2, 1814, his father, Rev. Joseph Vaill, of East Haddam, preached the sermon from the text I John 3:8. Rey. Micah, Stone of Brookfield, gave the charge; Rev. Otis Lane. of Sturbridge, the Right Hand of Fellowship. The young pastor, for he was only twenty-three years old, commended himself during a pastorate of twenty-two years to the respect and affection of his people, by his genial manners, his judicious zeal. his consistent piety. his earnest diligence in promoting the general welfare of the community. During his ministry, there were several sea- sons of extraordinary religious interest. The first revival, in the autumn of ISIS, was not without opposition from some of the baser sort, who disturbed the evening meet- ings by noise and missiles. These " night meetings " were at the time a novelty, but met a felt want for a more social type of religious life than that which had up to that time prevailed. An attempt was made to turn the tide of re- ligious feeling by a vote of the town, allowing the church to be occupied for religious services at such times as not required for that purpose by Mr. Vaill. Prominent preachers of differing faith were procured, but the people did not respond to such measures, and as no opposition was made, these efforts were unsuccessful. More than one hundred united with the church as the result of this revival. Specially marked instances of conversion were those of Lucy Bishop. Joseph Blodget, and Christopher Ward. Lucy Bishop's joyful feelings at the time were so
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marked that neighbors came to hear her utterances of rapturous delight. She was an exemplary Christian till death removed her to a holier sphere : vet this uncommon ecstatic joy at the moment of her conversion was the main point in which hers differed from ordinary experience in the Christian life. Joseph Blodget had been an avowed unbeliever in Christian truth. He accepted the Old Tes- tament, but derided New Testament teachings. Casually present at a neighborhood prayer-meeting, his feelings of remorseful agony were so intense that he threw himself into the fire. He was drawn back immediately without suffering any serious harm. The next morning he went to the store, bought a New Testament, and ever after- wards carried it next to his heart. Christopher Ward, an old Revolutionary soldier, who at first was opposed to the movement, after he had attended an evening meeting at Dr. Vaill's house, was in such distress of mind when he returned home, that a messenger was sent for Dr. Vaill late at night to come and pray with the anxious penitent. His conversion was a radical and permanent change of character, so marked as to attract the attention and com- mand the respect of all.
In 1825 there was another marked season of religious interest, mainly among the young, and forty-five were added to the Church. This was not attended with so much overpowering religious emotion as in 1818. The minister adopted different methods and the church mem- bers were more self-controlled. In 1832, another time of ingathering was enjoyed. September 16. 1834. Mr. Vaill was dismissed at his request. and accepted a unanimous call to the Second Church in Portland, Maine. Perhaps one reason for his wish to terminate his pastorate was, that some of the most earnest members of the church became believers in the doctrine of Perfectionism, so called. which discouraged both pastor and the church.
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VII. 1835-1837. After an interval of only a few months, Rev. Joseph Fuller was called to the pastorate, and installed 1835, March HI. He was born in Vershire. Vt., December 18, 1806. His father was Rev. Stephen Fuller, of North Mansfield, Conn .; his mother, Phebe Thurston, of Hollis, N. H. He pursued his preparatory studies at Clinton Academy, Easthampton. L. I .; graduated at Mid- dlebury College, 1827, and at Andover Theological Sem- inary, 1830. He was first settled in the ministry at Ken- nebunk, Me., 1830, September 30; dismissed 1834, July 16. His ministry in Brimfield was a brief one. He was
considered a good preacher, but in his social relations with the people out of the pulpit, found himself at length so embarrassed as to lead him to tender his resignation, 1837, May 4 ; and he was dismissed by Council, June 7. He was afterwards settled at Ridgefield, Conn., 1838, where he remained till he was dismissed, 1841, May 1. He preached at different places in Connecticut and Massachu- setts, until in May, 1853, he was settled at Vershire, his native town. He continued in the pastoral office till 1860, when he resigned, though he still continues to reside in the place.
VIII. 1837-1841. Mr. Vaill's second pastorate was from 1837, November 1, to 1841, October 19.
Mr. Vaill resigned his pastoral charge in 1841 to act as financial agent for Amherst College, for which he had collected funds at various times during his pastorate. In this agency he continued four years. His labors were successful in saving the institution from financial ruin. He then accepted a call to Somers, Conn .. where he was installed 1845. August 6. He resigned this charge to seek another not requiring such drafts on his physical and mental powers. He was dismissed from Somers 1854, December 1, and installed pastor of the Second church at Palmer, Mass., 1854. December 6. There he died 1869,
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February 22, and as he had often desired, was buried in the cemetery at Brimfield, the third of the pastors of this church that sleep with former friends and associates in that congregation of the dead. He was born 1790, July 28, at Hadlyme. Conn., where his father was for more than fifty years pastor of the church. He graduated at Yale. in the class of ISI1, having among his classmates Roger Sherman Baldwin, of Connecticut. Francis Gran- ger. of New York. Rev. Prof. Emerson of Andover. Rev. Dr. Spring, of New York City, and Dr. Joseph E. Wor- cester, the lexicographer. Sidney E. Morse. the founder of the New York Observer, was his room-mate.
After his graduation he taught school at Litchfield and at Salisbury, Conn., and studied divinity with his father. He entered upon his ministry at Brimfield under very dis- couraging circumstances. " In a town of sixteen hundred people, and only one religious organization in it, there were less than seventy professors of religion." Some of these were far from being soundly Christian in what the young pastor regarded as essential to Christian character. There was scarcely a solitary young person in the whole church. Mr. Vaill came to Brimfield from the midst of a revival in Lyme, Conn., in which he had been laboring with Rev. Mr. Nettleton, who, on going to other scenes, left the oversight of the whole work in his hands. He introduced into the churches of this vicinity a new style of preaching, the homiletie as distinguished from the didactic or dogmatical. In his youthful prime his preach- ing was with power, as Rev. Lyman Whiting, D. D., tes- tifies in an article in the Congregationalist.
He continued his active labors for the good of others till the very close of his life. Though he thought it best to resign the active duties of a pastoral charge when he was over seventy-five years of age, he continued his nom- inal connection as pastor with the church in Palmer, and
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preached whenever he had opportunity. Even at this advanced period of life he was remarkable for physical en- ergy and sprightliness. He was chosen representative by the Palmer district, for the Legislature of 1875. Expos- ure in the discharge of his duties was the occasion of the sickness, typhoid pneumonia, which ended in death. He was a warm friend of Amherst College. He secured from his parishioner, Mr. Samuel A. Hitchcock, when such large donations were more uncommon than now, a gift of $5,000, the first of a long series of such donations from Mr. Hitchcock. He was one of the Trustees of Amherst College, from 1821, until his death ; and received from that College in 1851 the degree of Doctor of Divinity . Seven of Dr. Vaill's sermons have been published, besides two or three addresses, and several smaller articles on va- rious subjects.
Dr. Vaill was twice married; first, 1813, December 7, to Miss Anne Kirtland, of Hadlyme. She died 1829, leav- ing six children : William Kirtland, b. 1815, April 29; Timothy Dwight, b. 1817, May 12; Joseph Ambrose, b. 1819, May S (died) ; Anne Elizabeth, b. 1820, May 22; Joseph Fowler, b. 1822, May 7; Henry Martyn, b. 1824, February 6; Edward Warren, b. 1826, April 6; Sarah Delia, b. 1829, January 26 (died). His second wife was Mrs. Nancy ( Pope ) Howe, of Ware, Mass., to whom he was married January 6, 1830. She survived her husband but a short time, dying 1871, February 3.
IX. 1842-1846. Rev. George C. Partridge succeeded Dr. Vaill. His father was Cotton Partridge, of Hatfield ; his mother was Hannah Lyman, daughter of Rev. Joseph Lyman, for fifty-six years pastor of the church in Hatfield. He was born at Hatfield, graduated at Amherst. 1833. and at Andover Theological Seminary, 1836.
He was ordained pastor of the church at Nantucket. 1840, September 11, and continued there about two years.
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He was installed here 1842. November 18, and dismissed 1846, April 11. After an interval of six months, he was installed at Greenfield, and continued pastor there till 1854. September 19. He then resigned, and removed to Rochford, Ill., where he engaged in business. His health improved so much, however, that he concluded to re-enter the ministry. He was settled at Batavia, Ill .. from 1860 to 1866. His health failing again, he served for a time as United States Revenue Collector. Since then he has been in trade and in the real estate business. He mar- ried, 1840, June 9, Sophia H. Johns, daughter of Rev. Evan Johns, of Canandaigua, N. Y. His wife died 1874. January 30. Of his three children, the son is in business in New York City, one daughter is living with her father, the other is the wife of Rev. A. J. Chittenden, of Boulder, Col.
- 1847-1849. During the year following Mr. Par- tridge's dismission, 1847, February 21, the meeting-house was burned. The fire started, it is supposed, in the gal- lery floor from an over-heated, not sufficiently protected stove-pipe. The present structure was built the same year, 1848. Rev. Charles Smith, then of Warren, preached the dedication sermon 1848, January 19.
Rev. B. E. Hale was engaged as acting pastor from No- vember, 1847, to February, 1849. Mr. Hale had previ- ously been editor of a paper at Lowell, and also active in the Temperance Reform. During his residence in Brim- field, he did much in advocacy and maintenance of tem- perance principles, and on leaving Brimfield went to Hartford as agent of the Connecticut Temperance Society. He has since been engaged in business at Beloit, Wis .. and Chicago., Ill., and is now a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y.
X. 1849-1861. Rev. Jason Morse was next ordained pastor, and continued in the faithful and successful dis-
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, ERECTED IN 1847.
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charge of his duties till his death. His father was a farmer of the same name as this son, as his own father and grandfather had been before him. Rev. Jason Morse was born at Southbridge 1821, March 9. He was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Samuel Morse, who came from England in 1635, settled in Dedham, and then removed to Medfield. He fitted for college at Monson Academy ; taught school during the junior year at South- ampton, Mass .; graduated at Amherst 1845. After spend- ing one year as assistant teacher in Monson Academy, he completed the course of theological study at Andover, 1849. He went almost immediately from the Seminary to Brimfield, where he was ordained 1849, December 12. To this people he gave his whole after-life, and they regarded him with fullest confidence and increasing affec- tion. His pastoral care was pervasive, elevating and sym- pathetic. His pulpit ministrations were instructive, ear- nest, and comprehensive. In his social relations he was influential, ever ready to promote the general welfare of the community, foremost to devise and advocate methods of social advancement. In his personal intercourse he made the impression of a consistent, honorable, faithful, devout spirit. While there was no general revival of re- ligion during the period of his ministry, there were sea- sons of special religious interest, and no year passed with- out some additions to the church. During his pastorate there were added in all one hundred and eleven members, thirty-seven by letter, twice as many by profession. His last illness was very brief. His physical frame, over- wearied by the continuous strain of unintermitted labor and constant care, suceumbed almost at once to an attack of typhoid fever. He died October 14, 1861, at the early age of forty years. He married. 1850, January 9, Miss Abbie Parsons, daughter of Thomas Parsons, of South- ampton. But she was soon taken from him, dying sud-
15
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denly 1852, July 17. His second wife was Miss Sophia Parsons, of the same family, an older sister. Their three children were Jason. b. 1857, September 17 ; Abby Par- sons. b. 1859. August 20; and Sophia, b. 1861, July 9.
XI. 1862-1870. After Mr. Morse's death, the pulpit was supplied by members of the Brookfield Association, who kindly proffered their gratuitous services as a tribute of respect for their departed brother, and a temporary relief to Mr. Morse's widow. Rev. Charles MCEwen Hyde, of New York city, was ordained as pastor, 1862, August 18. Rev. Dr. Vaill, of Palmer, was Moderator of the Council, Rev. E. Carpenter, of Southbridge, Seribe. The sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Hopkins, president of Williams College. It was published with the other ad- dresses delivered on the occasion. In the spring of 1864 the pastor had planned to spend six weeks in the army, in the service of the United States Christian Commission. But in view of his departure, such unusual religious inter- est was manifested in the young people's meeting, which he had for several months conducted, that the work at home could not be laid aside. Sixteen young persons united with the church at the communion in November. Then the pastor went to City Point, Va., and spent six weeks in service in the field hospital at that place. Dur- ing the long, protracted war of secession, the church ob- served the last Sunday of every month as a day of special prayer for the country. Again and again were large con- gregations of sympathizing friends gathered to pay the last tribute of respect to one and another of the noble band who had met death in defence of the country's. in- stitutions. In the winter of 1864-5, the pastor, in con- nection with Dr. Vaill, of Palmer, inaugurated a series of monthly conference meetings with some one of the neigh- boring churches, on the first Tuesday of each winter month. In the last months of 1867, the weekly afternoon
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meeting every Thursday was given up, and in its place there was begun a weekly Friday evening meeting. With the opening of the following year the church began more direct and special effort for the religious welfare of the community. Henry F. Durant, Esq., of Boston, a lay preacher and evangelist, was invited to assist the pastor. January 17, 1869, he conducted the Sabbath services, and a series of meetings for three days following the Sabbath. During these meetings, when opportunity was given for personal inquiry and conversation, from fifty to eighty went into the inquiry room. The accessions to the church were numerous, and a new zeal animated the hearts and lives of many.
May 8, 1870, after an eight years' pastorate, the pastor tendered his resignation, and by vote of council, held May 24, the dissolution of the pastoral relation was duly ef- fected. During his pastorate one hundred were added to the church, seventy-one by profession.
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