USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > West Brookfield > Historical discourse delivered at West Brookfield, Mass., on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Church in Brookfield, October 16, 1867 > Part 5
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This house was again thoroughly retouched in 1549, and yet other alterations made a few years later, in the early part of the ministry of Mr. Byington, through the enterprise and
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energy of the ladies, as evinced by the following: At a meeting of the directors of the " Union Society" of West Brookfield in the Spring of 1854, it was
" Voted, That the said Society present, gratuitously, to the parish all the improvements they have made in the interior of the meeting-house, and embracing the pulpit, fourteen globe lamps, and clock."
In response to which the parish
"Resolved, That they accept the same ; and that, in consideration of the courtesy and generosity of the Union Society in thus presenting those valuable and ornamental fixtures, the thanks of the parish be ten- dered to said Society, and that this resolve be entered on the records of the parish."
During the present year also, a few hundreds of dollars have been expended upon the exterior for painting and other needed repairs. The work of thoroughly renovating and beautifying the now marred and dingy interior has been re- served till after the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary only because the anniversary came one year too soon. It is confi- dently expected that the year 1965 will find us within a sane- tuary rendered far more elegant and attractive by the intro- duction of some of the more modern improvements in church architecture.
MINISTERS FROM THE CHURCH AND PARISIL
Enos Hitchcock was born in 1744: was graduated at Harvard College in 107 : and was settled as colleague pastor with Rev. Mr. Chipman of Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1771. where he continued nine years.
In 1750 he became chaplain in the revolutionary army. which office be held till 1753. In that same year. ( October Ist. ) he was installed pastor of the Benevolent Congregational Church of Christ, in Providence, Rhode Island, which after-
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wards became a Unitarian church. In 1765 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1802 his health failed. and on the 27th of February of the following year, consumption terminated his life, at the age of fifty-nine. in the twentieth year of his ministry at Providence.
Dr. Hitchcock prepared a catechism, called " The Parent's Assistant," and published several books upon education. Among his publications is "A Discourse delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. Jonathan Gould to the ministerial office in the Christian Church, at Standish. September 1. 1793." He also preached the sermon at the dedication of this house, November 10, 1795.
Joshua Crowell, son of Joshua and Mary ( Field ) Crowell, was born September 15, 1777. His parents were both mem- bers of this church until their death. He studied for a time at Leicester Academy, and also at Salem. He was converted under the labors of Rev. Elijah Bachelor, a Methodist minis- ter who preached on circuit at the house of Widow Crowell. (Joshua's mother, ) on " Ragged Hill ;" soon became a Meth- odist itinerant preacher, and labored successfully for a number of years in several of the New England States, until 1509. soon after which he removed to Ware, where he resided for many years, partly engaged in secular pursuits. The last few years of his life were spent with his daughter in Stur- bridge, where he died July 21, 1858, in the eighty-first year of his age, and fifty-seventh of his ministry. He was one of the founders and trustees of the Wesleyan Academy. Wilbraham.
Asa Kent was born May 9, 1780. Early consecrated to God by a devotedly pious mother, in the hope that he would become a preacher of the gospel, at the age of eighteen he
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yielded his heart to Christ : at twenty-one was licensed to exhort, and was immediately employed on the circuit in Ver- mont. The following year he was placed on another circuit in the same State, and revivals in various places attended his labors. Afterwards he was stationed at various points in Vermont : still later in Lynn. Massachusetts, and Bristol. Rhode Island.
In 1814 he was made Presiding Elder over the New Lon- don District, which office he held four years. Subsequently he preached at several important centers, as Providence. New Bedford, Newport, Charlestown, until 1838, when increasing infirmities compelled him to abandon the labors of a ministe- rial charge. He removed to New Bedford, where he lived, beloved and revered, the remainder of his days.
In 1940 he was chaplain to the house of correction in New Bedford, and after that, for four years, preached regularly once a Sabbath in some of the churches, and gave instruction in a Sabbath school. During his life he often enriched the columns of the Methodist religious journals with the produc- tions of his ready pen. His days were filled up with useful- ness : and, calmly trusting in the atonement of Christ, he died at New Bedford. September 1, 1960, aged eighty.
Charles Gilbert, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Gilbert, was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1801. a classmate and intimate friend of Daniel Webster, with whom, after leaving college, he used to hold friendly correspondence. But death made him an early victini, and he died March 19, 1805, at the age of twenty-seven. His grave is in the Old Burying Ground. On his tombstone we read : " He had a collegiate education ; had completed his theological studies, and com- meneed a preacher of the Gospel with pleasing prospects
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of success and usefulness ; but they were soon blasted by death."
Caleb Sprague Henry, son of Silas Henry, was born at Rutland, Massachusetts, August 2, 1804, and removed with his father's family to West Brookfield in 1813. The main facts in his history are to be found in Appleton's New Ameri- can Cyclopedia. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1825; studied theology at Andover and New Haven: was licensed to preach by the Brookfield Association in 1828. and was settled the following year as Congregational minister, at Greenfield, Massachusetts. From 1832 to 1835 he was asso- ciate pastor with the venerable Dr. Perkins, at West Hart- ford, Connecticut. In 1834 he published a pamphlet on the "Principles and Prospects of the Friends of Peace." About this time he also established a journal called the " American Advocate of Peace," which, after the first year, became the organ of the American Peace Society. In 1835 he was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal Church, by Bishop On- derdonk of New York; soon after which he became Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy in Bristol College, Pennsylvania ; which position he retained until 1537, when he removed to New York City, and, in conjunction with Dr. Hawks, established the New York Review. The same year the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Geneva College, New York. He edited the Review until 1839, when he became Professor of Philosophy and History in the New York University. In 1847. in addition to the duties of his professorship, he took the rectorship of St. Clement's Church, New York. His health failing from over- work, he resigned the care of the church in 1851. retaining however his professorship, and performing, for some part of
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the time, the duties of the chancellorship of the University also. In 1852 ill health compelled him to resign his profes- surship. since which time, by the direction of physicians. he has lived in the country. Ilis present place of residence is Newburgh on the Hudson.
Dr. Henry has published, besides the works already men- tioned. a translation of Cousin's Lectures on Locke's " Essay on the Human Understanding." with notes and additional pieces, the work appearing under the title of " Cousin's Pay- chology," (1834.) and since revised and enlarged: also, a "Compendium of Christian Antiquities " (1-37): " Moral and Philosophical Essays" (1839) : an " Epitome of the His- tory of Philosophy," translated from the French (1545) : " Guizot's General History of Civilization, with Notes:" " Household Liturgy:" Taylor's " Manual of Ancient and Modern History," revised, with a chapter on the History of the United States (1-45); . Dr. Oldham at Greystones and his Talk There" ( 1-59) : " Considerations upon the Ele- ments and Conditions of Social Welfare and Human Progress" (1860) : an Oration on " Patriotism and the Slaveholder's Rebellion" (1861) : " Politics and the Pulpit." and many articles in the "Continental Monthly," and other journals, numerous addresses, etc.
Encins Watson Clark, son of James and Jerusha ( Marcy) Clark, was born in Mansfield, Connectient, July 2. 1501 ; re- moved with his parents to this place in 1-12: was converted under the ministry of Res. Mr. Phelps in the revival of 1-18. and mited with this church December 18, of that year. He was graduated at Brown University in 1-21: pursued hi- theological studies with Dr. Ide of Medway ; was licensed to preach by the Mendon Association in 1226; was ordained
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pastor of the church in Wilbraham, ( Massachusetts. ) in 1529, where he continued three years. He was afterwards, for five years pastor at Plymouth, and five years at Amesbury ; after which, on account of insufficient health, he labored only as temporary supply. Some cight or nine years previous to his death, he removed to Middlebury, Vermont, where he died of lung fever after only a few days' illness, January 2, 1:54.
From an obituary published in the Boston Recorder soon after his death, I take the following brief passage :- " As a man, a friend, a Christian, they only knew his worth, who knew him well. Reliable, conscientious, and generous even to a fault; frank in his words, transparent in his motives, steadfast to principle, and to duty ; kind, sympathizing, and true to his Master ; a meek, humble and prayerful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose carnest desire was that God be honored and men redeemed." Almost his last work on earth was to address a company of grieving mourners from the inspiring words, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : yea saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them."
John C. Nichols, son of Isaac and Abigail ( Cutler ) Nichols. was born November 17, 1801. In the summer of 1815, he united with this church, and is still a member of it, having never removed his relation. He was graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1824; pursued his theological studies at New Haven ; was licensed by the New Haven West Association in 1-80. and, for three years following, was a Home Missionary in Canada. In the meantime, -in 1831. - he returned to the states, and was ordained in North Brookfield for his mission- ary work.
In 1834 he was installed pastor of the Second Church in
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Stonington, Connecticut, and was dismissed in 1889. In 1840 he became pastor of the First Church in Lebanon, Connee- tieut, where. in 1855, he discontinued his labors on account of' failing health. Soon afterwards he removed to Old Lyme. Connecticut, and there he has remained ever since, teaching and preaching. as health and opportunity have permitted.
Sewall Lamberton, son of Samuel D. and Lucy E. Lam- berton, was born August 6, 1515. He was hopefully con- verted at the age of thirteen, and, the following year, was admitted to the communion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the years 1535 and 1536 he held license as an exhorter, and, in that capacity, labored more or less in different towns. AApril 24, 1837, he was licensed to preach at Chicopee Falls : after which his time was devoted to study and the work of the ministry, laboring at South Hadley, Palmer and Wilbraham, this State: and in Norwich, Enfield. East Windsor, Colchester, Haddam, and South Windsor, Connecticut, until bodily infirmity obliged him to relinquish, for the most part, ministerial duties.
In connection with his earlier labors, he spent two and a half or three years at the Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham. In July, 1541, he became connected with the Providence Conference, and received his first ordination by vote of that body. Much of the time for twenty years past, he has been unable to perform regular ministerial service. Within that period he has spent several years in Southwick, preaching more or less for the different churches of that town. For the last five years he has lived in Westfield, where he still continues to preach occasionally.
Solomon B. Gilbert, son of Ezra and Ruth ( Barnes ) Gil- bert, was born January 25, 1-11 ; entered Amberst College
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in 1832, where having remained one year, he went to Bingor. Maine; studied for a time in the preparatory department. then entered the Theological Seminary in that place, where he was graduated in 1837. He was licensed to preach a short time previously by the Penobseot Association in Ban- gor. He was ordained as an Evangelist at Lyman, Maine, November 15, 1837. From thence he went to Newfield in the same State, where he was installed pastor in the spring of 1841. Three years later he accepted a call to Kenne- bunkport, Maine, where he preached without settlement till the spring of 1847, when he removed to Western New York and had charge of the church in Parma and Greece two years, and of the church in Fairport three years. In 1-52 he returned to Massachusetts; subsequently spent a few months in Augusta, Maine, for the benefit of his health. acting meanwhile as city missionary, and in February. 1853. was installed pastor of the church in Prescott, Massachusetts, where he remained one year, when he accepted a call to Wendell, Massachusetts, and was installed in November. 1-54. In December of the following year he went to Lyme, Ohio, where he preached until May 1857, when he was taken sick with congestion of the lungs, and died on the twenty-second of that month, after an illness of but one week. His remain, repose in the cemetery at Lyme. Through life of a delicate constitution, his bodily sufferings during his last sickness were great, but his soul was at peace, and "he died praising the Lord."
William B. Bond, son of Thomas and Jemima ( Bush ) Bond, was born January 12, 1815 : removed to Springfield at about the age of eleven years ; fitted for college at Westfield Academy, and at a boarding-school in South Hadley, the
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principal of which was Rev. David R. Austin, afterward pastor of the church in Sturbridge. It was in this school that he experienced religion, in the summer of 1831. He was graduated at Amherst College in 1535 ; studied theology two years in Lane Seminary, Ohio, and graduated at New York in 1839; was licensed to preach by the Third Presby- tery in New York, April 8, of the same year, and ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Lee, Massachusetts, March 18, 1840, where he labored successfully during a ministry of about seven years, and was permitted to see a general revival of religion, as the result of which nearly one hundred persons united with the church by profession of their faith. He was installed pastor of the Second or North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, October 15, 1847, where he remained about eleven years, during which time the church was blessed with two seasons of special religious interest. and about one hundred and twenty- five persons were added to its membership. On account of a failure of health, he was unable, for several years there- after, to assume any charge. In February, 1865, he became acting pastor of the First Congregational Church, in Palmer, in the village of Thorndike, which still continues to be his field of labor.
Josiah Addison Cary, son of Deacon Josiah and Betsey ( Henry ) Cary, was born March 29, 1818. He united with this church September 2. 1527. when but fourteen years of age. He prepared for college at Hadley and Amherst acad- emies, and was graduated a Amherst College in 1-32, rank- ing among the foremost of his class for talent, scholarship. and piety. He had set his heart upon the missionary work, but the providence of God ordered otherwise. Soon after
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leaving college, he was appointed a professor in the New York Institution for the deaf and dumb. While thus engaged in that Institution, he, at the same time, carried on his theolog- ical studies, and was graduated at the Union Seminary in 1837. In 1839 he was licensed to preach by the Third Pres- bytery of New York; was ordained as an Evangelist at the Mercer Street Church in 1844; and installed in 1549 pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church, worshiping in Bleeker Chapel, New York, still continuing, however, to discharge his duties as instructor of the deaf and dumb. But these combined labors overtasked his strength, and after a little more than a year he was obliged to resign his pastorate in consequence of impaired health. In the spring of 1851 he visited the Island of Cuba, whence returning after an absence of two months with little benefit to his health, he was induced, by the hope that a change of residence might prove beneficial, to accept the appointment of superintendent of the Ohio Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Columbus. But this hope was a delusive one : for he had discharged the duties of his new and import- ant trust less than one year, when he was thrown upon a sick bed from which he never rose. He died greatly lamented, at Columbus, August 7, 1852, having given nineteen years, or just one half of his life, to the instruction of the unfortunate deaf mute. Mr. Cary was a man of more than ordinary ex- cellence of mind and character. In what estimation he was held by those who knew him is shown in various articles published, and resolutions passed, soon after his death. At a convention of the instructors of the deaf and dumb held at Columbus, among other resolutions that were adopted, were the following :-
"Resolved, That we deeply deplore the death of the Rev J. Addi-
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son Cary, the Superintendent of the Ohio Deaf and Dumb Asylum. both on account of his many amiable qualities which were so constantly manifested in all the relations of life, and that distinguished success which had attended his labors for the intellectual, moral and religious improvement of deaf mutes.
" Resolved, That we will ever treasure among the most sacred trusts of our memories the virtues of the departed, believing that his life pre- sented a model as teacher and superintendent, rarely equalled, and never surpassed."
By the Board of Directors of the New York Institution in which Mr. Cary was for many years professor, it was
" Resolved, That in the lamented decease of Professor Cary, in the midst of his career of usefulness, the science of deaf mute instruction has been deprived of one of its most able and accomplished advocates. the cause of Christian benevolence of an earnest and devoted supporter. and the circle of his attached friends of one universally beloved for the many virtues of his personal character."
He died in the triumphs of faith, testifying, in the hour of his dissolution, to the sustaining power of the Christian reli- gion. A son of Mr. Cary is now a member of Yale College.
William B. Stone, son of Francis and Hannah Stone, was born in North Brookfield, January 21. 1511. He removed with his parents to this parish when he was six years old. Through the inthience of a Christian mother his mind was often seriously impressed, yet he experienced no deep and permanent change until, at the age of sixteen, under the preaching of Rev. Mr. Foot, his heart yielded to the claims of Christ, and he, together with twenty-four others, united with this church March 4. 1-27. From the time that he consecrated his heart and life to God, he had a strong desire to preach the Gospel, but was not permitted to commence preparation for that work during his minority. At the age of twenty-two he began the study of Latin and Greek in
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preparation for college, teaching or laboring, meanwhile. a portion of each year, in order to procure pecuniary means for his education. He pursued his preparatory studies, for the most part, at Hadley Academy ; and was graduated at Am- herst College in 1839. He studied theology for a time at Andover, and completed his theological studies with Rev. George Trask of Warren. He was licensed to preach by the Brookfield Association in 1841; was ordained pastor of the Evangelical Congregational Church, Gardiner, Massachusetts. February 23, 1842, where he remained until August. 1550. when, partly by reason of ill health, and partly in conse- quence of the solicitation of his parents, he retired from the ministry, and took up his residence in this town. where he still lives, and is known as a thorough-going and prosperous farmer.
Austin Phelps, son of Rev. Dr. Eliakim and Mrs. Sarah (Adams) Phelps, was born in West Brookfield January 7. 1820. He was fitted for college by Rev. Dr. Dewey of Pitts- field, and Rev. Justus French of Geneva, New York: entered college at Geneva in 1833, when but thirteen years old. and was graduated with the highest honors at the University of Pennsylvania in 1837.
He was hopefully converted under the ministry of Rev. Al- bert Barnes, of Philadelphia, and joined the church of which he was pastor, in the summer of 1838. He studied theology partly in private, but mainly at the Seminaries in New York. New Haven, and Andover. He was licensed to preach by the Third Presbytery, of Philadelphia, in 1839, and on March 31, 1842 was ordained pastor of Pine Street Church. Boston, and closed his labors there in May, 1848, which was his only pastorate.
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In September of the same year he was inaugurated Profes- sor of Sacred Rhetoric at And over and has held that position ever since with marked ability and success : during which time more than five hundred pupils have enjoyed his instrue- tions. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Amherst College in 15 16. when only twenty-six years of age.
He was married in September 1542 to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Professor Mores Stuart of Andover. She died in November 1952. She was the authoress of " The Sunny Side," &e .. and a writer of great promise. In April. 1-55. he was married to her sister Mary Stuart, who died in September. 1556. His present wife, to whom he was married in June. 1.5%, is Mary. youngest daughter of Samuel Johnson, Esq .. of Boston, and grand-daughter of Captain Howe. formerly well known as a citizen of South Brookfield.
Although yet in middle life, the productions of Professor Phelps pen are already somewhat numerous, and by no means wanting in merit. He was joint editor, with Pro- fessor Park and Dr. Lowell Mason, of " The Sabbath Hymn Book," which is now used in the " Service of Song " by more than a thousand churches: joint author, with Professor Park and Rey. D. L. Parler. of . Hymns and Choirs," which is a History and General Discussion of Hymnology.
Thet valuable little look. " The Still Hour, or, Commun- ion with God " is also from his pen. It was originally a sermon prepared for his people in Boston in the ordinary course of his ministry there. The great popularity of this work i hown by the tet that it has had a circulation of more than forty thousand in this country, and more than sixty thought in lineLad and France.
I more recent publication of his is " The New Birth."
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Add to these, various articles in the Bibliotheca Sacra; an oration before the Porter Rhetorical Society of An lover; a sermon before the Pastoral Association of Massachusetts : a sermon before the Massachusetts Convention of Congrega- tional Ministers, and the Election Sermon before the Legisla- ture of Massachusetts in 1861.
Besides, Professor Phelps has frequently preached at Ordi- nations, Dedications, and on other public occasions. And yet, with characteristic humility, he writes : " A retrospect of one's life, from the ' silent shore' on which I seem to my- self to have been walking, in my infirmity, these five years past, does on awaken self-gratulation." His religious history. he says, " contains nothing of value to others but the old story of a faithful Saviour." He adds : "My purpose to be a min- ister, I trace back distinctly to my earliest years in Brook- field. It was breathed into me by the example and prayers of my father and mother. As Gibbon says of Christianity, 'it was in the atmosphere' of my carly home. In fact, I sus- pect that I was born with it."
Nathaniel Spear, eldest son of Nathaniel and Sarah ( Ar- nold) Spear, was born September 4, 1814. From the age of sixteen he served an apprenticeship of five years to the tai- lor's trade, at the expiration of which time he commenced a course of study, and at the age of twenty-four was prepared for college. But, on account of the failure of his health. he abandoned his purpose of gaining a liberal education. Ile removed into Western New York, where he was largely in- strumental in establishing a new church. After a time he was called to labor in the employ of the Bible Society, and at length, under the auspices of the American Tract and Bible Societies in conjunction, he was engaged for six years in
presenting the cause of these Societies among the churches of north-eastern Pennsylvania, since which time the Pres- bytery of Northumberland, Pennsylvania. ( O. S .. ) has ordained him pastor of three churches within the bounds of that Presbytery, and under the care of the Domestic Mis- sionary society. These churches are at Rohrsburg. Sugar Loaf and Orangeville, the latter being his place of residence.
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