USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections: containing I. The Reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church. Vol I > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Eluthier Hopkins,
Katherine Bruce,
Warren Bruce,
Mary Ann Streeter,
Julia Leach,
William Dalrimple,
Elvira Leach,
Dialther Lamb.
Thirty-six members.
A committee was now chosen to make arrangements for the dedication of their new meeting-house.
The meeting was now adjourned to one o'clock, P. M., to the meeting-house, for the services of dedication ; at which time the house was dedicated in presence of a numerous audience, when the council was dissolved.
The house was built in 1836-'37 ; its dimensions are forty by fifty-two feet; it has a gallery for the choir, and a steeple and bell. It has fifty four pews, and will seat between three and four hundred. Warmed by a furnace. It has a vestry beneath the church.
The meeting-house was built by subscription, and deeded to the deacons of the church and their successors, in trust, for the religious worship of the society forever.
March 13, 1838, this church gave a unanimous call to the Rev. A. Smith Lyon to become their pastor.
This call was accepted by Mr. Lyon, and he entered at once upon his labors here.
Soon after the settlement of Mr. Lyon with this church his labors were highly blessed. Nearly forty persons were hope- fully converted.
March 28, 1847, after a pastorate of about nine years, Rev. A. S. Lyon, having been called to another field of labor, at his request, the church granted him a dismission.
This church, on the 3d of June, 1847, gave a call to Rev. Solomon Gale. This having been accepted by him, Mr. Gale entered upon his pastorate forthwith. Another revival
231
OXFORD.
occurred with the people of this church in January, 1848, and it was blessed with other converts.
Mr. Gale closed his pastorate here in June following.
The Rev. J. N. Hobart now supplied preaching here occa- sionally, when, on the 23d of December, 1848, the church gave him an invitation to become their pastor; which invita- tion being by Mr. Hobart accepted, he now commenced his pastorate.
On March 2, 1850, the church adopted the following strin- gent resolution, to wit :
" That no person who uses ardent spirits as a beverage, shall here- after be admitted to membership with this church."
April 25, 1852, by his own request, Mr. Hobart received a dismission, to become pastor of the Baptist church in Bristol, Rhode Island.
The Rev. Joseph Hodges was called to the pastorate, June 3, 1852, and accepted. Mr. Hodges labored with this people acceptably for three years, and was dismissed on March 3, 1855.
On June 30, 1855, the Rev. J. E. Wood was called, and accepted ; he continued his pastorate to May 24, 1857, when his labors closed here. Rev. A. Joy now preached to this people about six months acceptably.
In March, 1857, a call was given to Rev. C. M. Herring. He accepted the pastorate, and began his services on the second Sabbath in May following. Mr. Herring was much appreciated ; his services closed here in October, 1859.
November, 1859, the church gave a unanimous call to Rev. Holmes Chipman, of Machias, Maine, to become their pastor ; he accepted the call in December following, and entered upon the duties of his charge. At this date the members of this church were 121 in number.
The following remarks are, by Mr. Chipman, added to the foregoing :
232
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
"It is due to all the previous pastors of this church to say they labored faithfully in their calling.
Signed, H. C."
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first sermon preached by a minister of the Methodist denomination here, was by Rev. Joseph Ellis, in the Univer- salist meeting-house, in the winter of 1835.
Other sermons were delivered by ministers from neighbor- ing towns ; but there was no regular preaching until after the session of the New England Conference, held the same year, when the Rev. Benjamin Paine commenced preaching in the Universalist meeting-house, which he was permitted to occupy for one year by a vote of the society.
On the 15th of September he had formed a class of twenty members, which increased in numbers so that at the next an- nual meeting of the New England Conference he reported, in full connection and on probation, eighty-one members.
At the Conference of 1836 Rev. Benjamin Paine was re-appointed, and it became a regular appointment, called " Oxford Station." By permission of the Universalist Society he continued to preach in their house.
At the Conference of 1837 Rev. Thomas W. Tucker was appointed pastor, and was re-appointed at the Conference of 1838.
·At the Conference of 1839 Rev. Luman Boyden was ap- pointed pastor.
At the Conference of 1840 Rev. Win. E. Stone succeeded Mr. Boyden as pastor in charge; during this year a church edifice was erected at a cost of $1,400. In the year 1841 Rev. Freeman Nutting was pastor ; this year the new house was dedicated, and the society enjoyed spiritual prosperity.
At the Conference of 1842 Rev. Horace Moulton was preacher in charge. In the spring of 1843 the house was enlarged by the munificence of Jonathan Sibley, Esq.
233
OXFORD.
At the Conference of 1843, no pastor being appointed, the society was supplied with preaching by the Rev. Charles C. Burr.
Since which time the pulpit has been supplied by ministers appointed at the annual meetings of the New England Con- ference :
In 1844,
1845, -
- Newell S. Spalding. Charles W. Ainsworth.
1846-'47,
Rev. Amos Walton.
1850, -
Damon Y. Kilgore.
1851,
C. L. McCurdy.
1852, - - -
66 Mosely Dwight.
1853-'54,- -
Wm. A. Braman.
1855-'56,
Burtis Judd.
1857,
66 Wm. Gordon.
1858-'59,
66 Daniel Wait.
In April, 1860, the church membership was as follows:
In full connection, On probation,
127
5
132
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
On the second Sunday. after Trinity, July 19, 1863, services were commenced in Sanford Hall, Oxford, with a view to the establishing, in this town, a parish of the Protestant Episco- pal church. Different clergymen officiated from Sunday to Sunday, until the Rev. William F. Lloyd, of the diocese of Ohio, took charge of the enterprise on the 26th of October, being the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 1863.
On Tuesday, May 10, 1864, the parish was organized. On Tuesday morning, September 20, 1864, the corner-stone of the church edifice was laid by the Right Rev. Manton East- burn, D. D., the bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts.
The address was delivered by the Rev. Francis Wheaton (since D. D. and LL. D.), rector of St. Paul's church, Brook- line, Massachusetts, which was followed by a few words of
16
-
234
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
congratulation by the bishop. Several of the clergy of the diocese were present; there was also a numerous assemblage of the inhabitants of the town, and of church people of otherplaces.
On Wednesday afternoon, May 11, 1865, the parish having been organized for the space of one year, and, during that time held regular pulpit services, and having acceded to the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of Massachusetts, was admitted into union with the convention of the same at its seventy-fifth annual session.
On Thursday, November 16, the church edifice was conse- crated to the service and worship of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, by the Right Rev. Manton Eastburn, D. D., bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts, many of the clergy of the diocese taking part in the services.
There was present, on this occasion, a large congregation from the town, and also from the neighborhood. On Mon- day, May 6, 1867, the Rev. William F. Lloyd resigned the rectorship of the parish, which resignation took effect on Monday, July 1, 1867. On the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 20, 1867, the Rev. William Henry Brooks, D. D., began to officiate in the parish, and continues his labors here.
The church edifice, which is a very beautiful stone struc- ture, in the Gothic style of architecture, cost, including the furniture, about $1,800. The building and the ground upon which it is erected were fully paid for, and were free from lien or other encumbrance when the church was presented for consecration ; had it been otherwise, the edifice could not have been consecrated, as the usage of the Protestant Episco- pal church forbids the consecration of a church or chapel on which there is an encumbrance .*
* The foregoing brief history of Grace church, Oxford, was received by letter from the pastor, Rev. William Henry Brooks, D. D., July 24, 1868.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHAPTER V.
TIME has deprived those of the present age of much of the
materials relating to the early ministers of this town. That which remains is largely traditional, particularly that which refers to the first minister, the Rev. John Campbell.
He was a native of the north of Scotland, born in the year 1690. He received his education at the university of Edin- burgh, and, as reported, was a fellow-student there with Lord Loudon, and an intimate friend .*
The precise time when, and the circumstances which in- duced Mr. Campbell to come to New England, do not appear in any written evidence.
He, like most of the early Puritan ministers of these col- onies, was highly educated, and, though unpretending, was a person of more than ordinary ability, possessing a sound and discriminating mind, firm and steadfast in his convictions of truth, yet amiable in heart and manner.
He, as it appears by tradition, filled, besides his duties as
* Lord Loudon was John Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudon, Baron Manchlane, one of the sixteen peers of Scotland, born in the year 1705, and succeeded to the title on the death of his father, Hugh Campbell, the third earl, November, 1731.
This Lord Loudon, having served in various offices in the military line in Scotland,
previous to the year 1755, was appointed colonel of the 60th, or Royal American regiment, the 25th of December of that year, which was to be raised in Virginia, over which prov- ince he was appointed governor in February, 1756, when, also, he became commander-in- chief of all his majesty's forces in North America.
He sailed for America in May following, and arrived in July, 1756. It is inferred, from circumstances to be hereafter given, that the Rev. Mr. Campbell and Lord Loudon were relatives.
236
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
pastor, gratuitously, that of physician among his people. He, in many respects, was clergyman, physician, and judge.
His practical good sense, and known integrity, caused him to be sought after by his townsmen for deciding matters of dispute and controversy between them; and his decisions were acquiesced in as a finality, and generally proved satis- factory to the parties concerned.
Among the many instances of this judicial character tradi- dition gives the following :
Two of his neighbors, A and B, who lived on the west side of French river, had fallen into a dispute arising from some petty trespass of cattle. The matter no sooner came to the knowledge of Mr. Campbell, than he appointed the day and the hour when he would come over, hear, and decide the case. The matter was examined, and judgment was given, that, as Mr. A was chiefly in fault, he should pay to Mr. B a certain sum in compensation, and that henceforth they should live in charity.
During the session, which extended into the evening, a vio- lent shower had fallen, and the foot-bridge, over which Mr. Campbell had passed, was carried away. As it was dark, the two reconciled neighbors accompanied their minister to the river, and, finding the bridge gone, it was mutually agreed that Mr. A, who was a muscular man, should take the minis- ter on his back.
Mr. A cheerfully assumed his charge, and had reached the middle of the foaming stream, when, by unwittingly stepping upon a rolling stone, he was compelled to deposit his burden in the river. After floundering for a time in the water, they arrived safely at the opposite shore. Mr. Campbell thanked his neighbor for his well-meant service, and reached home safe and sound, minus his hat and wig, which the current had borne away.
Some days afterwards a report came to the ear of the pas-
237
OXFORD.
tor, that Mr. B had accused A of an intention to throw the minister into the river, because he had decided the case against him. Whereupon, Mr. Campbell reproved Mr. B most severely for cherishing, and, much more, for giving ut- terance to such an ungenerous thought, assuring him of his fears that he was destitute of that charity that thinketh no evil.
The only production of Mr. Campbell's pen that has come down to us is a 12mo volume of 300 pages, printed at Boston in 1743, " dedicated to my well-beloved congregation, and much desired in our Lord Jesus Christ." The following is from the title-page :
" A Treatise on Conversion, Truth, and Justification, &c .; being Ex- tracts from Sundry Discourses delivered at Oxford, in the latter end of the year 1741 and beginning of 1742.
"By John Campbell, V. D. M., Pastor of the Church there, and now published at the desire of his constant hearers and others."
The following is an extract from the dedication :
" Dearly Beloved-Whatever treatment this work may meet with from the wicked enemies of these divine truths, never to be slighted nor re- jected, as the whole venture is immediately for your sakes, you are more especially obliged to answer the ends of it. You may, perhaps, show some candor and regard to me: but this is not enough for yourselves. If you go no further than a commendation of what you read in this or any other treatise of sacred things, and take no care to have them fixed in your hearts, and reduced into practice, our Gospel is naught, and you are lost. But, beloved, I am persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though I thus speak.
" The following work is offered to the world with all due deference and respect to the many excellent performances of this kind we are already blessed with, done by far better hands than mine.
" The things are not new, and by me first discovered, as if no man's writings could afford them for your use but mine.
" No, blessed be God, these are subjects profitably taught by divers others ; but every book cometh not to each man's hand; and, as in meats, the different kinds of dressing keep the appetite-the same meat prepared one way may content the stomach, which, in some other fashion, would not please; so, in books, the very self-same subject may better
238
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
satisfy in one special way of handling it than another. If anything of reading occur in the following sheets, I very willingly embrace this opportunity to present my humble thanks to our generous benefactors, who have made a collection of books for the use of the incumbent min- ister of this parish, which were of great help to me in composing this work. It is to be wished that other good gentlemen would follow their good example, in making a collection of this kind, for other poor parishes."
The following foot-note will explain the above allusion :
"The Honorable Judge Paul Dudlcy devised this liberal thing, and sedulously promoted it among gentlemen. The donors' names are in a catalogue of books, in perpetuam doni memoriam; I hope their names will be in everlasting remembrance with the Lord."
The treatise seems to have been written by Mr. Campbell more especially to guard his people against the acts of those denominated " New Lights." It evinces much and careful reading, and is thoroughly evangelical.
The sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. Campbell was in the hands of the late Dr. Bardwell. It was delivered by Rev. William Phips, A. M., pastor of the church in Douglas. (Mr. Phips afterwards became a citizen of Oxford, and died here. Some of his descendants are now in Auburn.) The text is Samuel II, 13. The following is an extract from the sermon :
"It is unsuitable, for various reasons, that I should undertake to give particular and exact account of his life and ministry, but duty and grat- itude (to God and his memory) calls me, I conceive, to say something concerning what he was; of his extraordinary endowments, and of the extraordinary diligence and integrity with which he appeared to improve them while he was with us. He was born in the north of Scotland, in the year 1690, according to his own account; had a liberal education, and the honors of the university of Edinburgh; came to New England, it is said, in the year 1717, and was ordained pastor of the church in this place, March 11, 1721, which office he discharged among you (breth- ren) with great industry and fidelity, more than forty years, but is now no longer suffered to continue, by reason of death. He was estecmed one of penetrating and discerning understanding, of a peculiarly saga- cious and enterprising genius, and of a very retentive memory, as furnished
239
OXFORD.
with embellishing arguments, and more especially for his acquaintance with the affairs of history and State policy.
"It was thought by some that were likely to know, that few gentlemen of his opportunity could excel him, as also for laying out the economy and inspecting the affairs of his family, and necessary secular concern- ments, with dispatch and prudence, and so as to consist with a diligent application to the duties of the ministerial office.
" Where was the man that could order and manage well so much business in so little time as he could?
" Touching his doctrines, they were strictly of the Puritan scheme. He was a real and steady, but very candid, Calvinist. In common con- versation he was peculiarly free and pleasant, but not vain.
" He was extraordinarily cautious and friendly to his acquaintance, and to all men, so far as opportunity occurred ; and that he was specially so towards and among you, brethren, his own people, how many of you are the grateful and ready witnesses. You know he became your pastor when it was the day of small things with you, and that then and ever since he manifested no small love to you and concern for you.
" When did you ever find him unwilling to serve and promote your true interests, whenever the door of opportunity opened ? Has he not kindly ministered to your bodies in distress, as well as to your souls ? And when was the day, when was the night, what was the weather, what were the storms, or what the way, which hindered him from being quickly with you in your distress, when his strength and health allowed it ? Yea, beyond it, of late. Has he not borne too hard upon his own firm constitution in his labors among you, and was he not willing, every way, as we may say, both to spend and be spent for you ? Surely you will own (many of you, especially) that he has been a father to you in civil kindness, as well as in his ecclesiastical ministry. His heart has been with you; and he could, I believe as sincerely as most, say with the Apostle, that ye were in his heart, to live and to die with you. He also has been a peace-maker and peace-seeker among you-remarkably so ; and, moreover, abroad in the land, and has been abundantly improved and blessed as a healer of difficulties and divisions in various parts of the country, for which, also, God had given him an extraordinary talent.
" Such a minister, and such a friend, brethren, you and we have lost, for such was Mr. Campbell. He has gone, and we shall see him no more. And is it a small loss ? But own it great; yet, perhaps, it may seem greater ; you may but begin to feel it. Surely, I conceive God has made a wide breach upon the churches in this vicinity, but more immediately upon the church and town of Oxford. Oxford! what thing shall I take to witness of thee ? What thing shall I liken to thee ? or what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee ? For the breach is great, like the sea ; who can heal thee ?"
240
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
The following obituary notice of the death of Rev. John Campbell appeared in the Boston News Letter, in Number 2971, soon after his decease:
" OXFORD, May 28th, 1761.
"On the 25th instant, died here, Rev. John Campbell, in the 71st year of his age, a gentleman generally beloved and esteemed. He came over to New England in 1717, was ordained pastor of the church here, Anno, 1721, where, with great wisdom and fidelity, he continued to dis- charge the several parts of his office for more than forty years. In his preaching he was strictly orthodox, much improved in ecclesiastical councils, and happy in the peace and harmony of the church here.
" In his last sickness he sustained the prospect of approaching death with great serenity, as knowing Him in whom he had believed. His remains were decently interred yesterday; the funeral was attended, not only by the people of this town, but by great numbers from adjoining towns, and, in following the remains to the grave, formed an unusually long procession.
" He has left a sorrowful widow, four sons, and two daughters. His death is a general loss; but especially so to the town, who well may be supposed to tremble when such a pillar fell. Zach. I, 5." "Your fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live forever ?"
The Rev. John Campbell married Miss Esther Fairchild, of Boston, who died at Oxford in 1777. It appears their bodies were deposited in a tomb, which has been preserved with great care by their descendants.
THEIR CHILDREN.
Mary, born Feb. 11, 1723, married Jacob Town.
John, 66 66 7, 1724, Isabella, 66 Mar. 27, 1726, died March 21, 1728.
Duncan,
" 27, 1727, married Elizabeth Stearns, of Worces-
ter, daughter of Thomas Stearns.
Isabella, 66 July, 26, 1728, married Josiah Wolcott, of Salem,
Elizabeth, 66 Aug. 14, 1730, died July 12, 1732.
Alexander, 66 Feb. 12, 1732,
married Lydia Stearns, of Worcester. daughter of Thomas Stearns.
William, April, 2, 1734,
Archibald " Aug. 6, 1736.
In further illustration of the family of the first minister, it is known that his son, Alexander, was the first physician in
241
OXFORD.
Oxford, and died there ; but two of his sons, both physicians, settled in Vermont, and, as understood, one at Putney, and the other at Rockingham.
From Mary Campbell, the eldest daughter, who married Jacob Town, is descended the late General Salem Town and his father, of Charlton. From John Campbell, the eldest son, are the Campbells of Otsego county, New York. From Duncan Campbell are descended Captain Stearns and Colonel Alexander De Witt, of Oxford, and also the late Archibald Campbell and the family of Campbells, of that town. Isa- bella, who married Josiah Wolcott, of Salem, but who became a resident of Oxford, raised up a numerous family, as will be given hereafter in this chapter. Alexander and Duncan both married daughters of Thomas Stearns, of Worcester, and resided in Oxford. William, who was afterwards captain, removed to Vermont ; his daughter, Sarah, married a son of Dr. Shaw, of Castleton, and was the mother of the Hon. Henry Shaw, of Lanesborough, and she, now, a widow, resides in Poughkeepsie, New York. Archibald Campbell was a clergyman, and, for a time, minister at Charlton ; removed to Vermont. Whether he had children or not, it has not been ascertained.
It is supposed by some of the descendants of the Rev. John Campbell, the first minister of Oxford, that for some reasons never made known by him, that their ancestor came to America to avoid either persecution for his religious opinions, or proscription for some political offense ; and this sentiment was shared likewise by many of his townsmen.
That he was regarded as the friend of Lord Loudon, it is related that his lordship, when Governor of Virginia, in pass- ing from that province to Boston, in discharge of his military duties, and being aware of the place of Mr. Campbell's resi- dence, advised him of his design to make him a visit.
When Mr. Campbell's people were informed of his lord-
242
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT,
ship's intentions, their fears were greatly excited lest there was some purpose inimical to the welfare of their pastor, in connection with the events of his early life, or reasons which brought him to this country ; but their minister assured them that the visit was simply the result of early acquaintance and friendship.
It was arranged that for the entertainment of his lordship while at Oxford, he should be the guest of Mr. Wolcott, his son-in-law, who, by his wealth and more aristocratic style of living, could better provide for him.
Mr. Wolcott's house was in close view, across the street from Mr. Campbell's.
Soon after the arrival of Loudon, with a single attendant, at the Wolcott house, Mr. Campbell left his more humble habitation, in full dress; his wig carefully arranged, to welcome his friend. Loudon saw him, and at once advanced to meet him. The little stone bridge, about equidistant from the two houses, was the spot where they met and embraced. They returned to the Wolcott house, and supped and passed the night together, uninterrupted by any other presence.
In the morning they separated ; the one to prosecute his civil and military duties, the other the more humble labors of his pastorate. Mr. Campbell's people were now convinced that their pastor was not deceived in his impressions that Lord Loudon owed him no ill-will .* Yet still, whatever of mys- tery that pertained to Mr. Campbell's exiling himself to this small interior town, then in the wilderness of New Eng- land, was not made known. The probabilities are, that the impelling motive was his non-conformity to the Eng- lish church, and perhaps displacement from a living, and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.