USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > Historical review. One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Church of Christ in Amherst, Massachusetts. November 7, 1889 > Part 3
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During the year following Mr. Parsons' death the war ended and peace was restored. The soldiers came back from their campaigns and the interests of the home and community rose again into promi- nence.
Foremost of all questions was that of a new minister. Attention turned to the son of the old minister, David Parsons the third, now
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known as Dr. David Parsons. He had been graduated at Harvard ten years before and had preached in Roxbury and other places. Calls had come to him to settle, but he had declined them and was disposed to follow a business life. Soon after his father's death he was asked to preach here, and finally the people invited him. to the pastorate.
This action met with a strong and determined opposition. And now again, the division kept near to the old line. Especially con- spicuous in the opposition were certain of the returned soldiers and many of those who had been foremost in the war party. The number engaged in it was large, too, not falling very much below that of the party in favor of Mr. Parsons. Failing to prevent the call, this body withdrew from the church and as " aggrieved " members called an ex parte council for advice .*
Meanwhile the church had called a council to ordain Mr. Parsons. This had been assigned first to Oct. 9th, but was afterward changed to Oct. 2nd and came thus on the next day after the council of the "aggrieved " met. So that council adjourned for its members to attend the ordination and met again on Friday to prepare a result and dissolve.
This result seems not to have been satisfactory, for another council was called to meet Oct. 28th, which varied somewhat in its member- ship from the former. In that the churches represented were South- ampton, Williamsburg, Whately, Hatfield, Northampton and West- hampton, while in this they were Southampton, Montagne, Whately, Hatfield and Westhampton. This council took action looking toward a reconciliation of the two parties and adjourned to meet Nov. 11th ; and finally, at the adjourned meeting, advised the aggrieved party, " if their proposal of uniting in the choice of a mutual council was not complied with in four weeks to proceed to organize and settle a min- ister."
Our records show that the church sought a mutual council and took the necessary steps for calling one-even pressing it on the aggrieved party with great persistence. But the council was not called, and still the aggrieved did " proceed to organize."
This was the origin of the Second Church. The schism may well remind us of that in the Hartford Church which issued in the found- ing of Hadley. A similar strife had also arisen in connection with the separation of the Hatfield church from that of Hadley, and others
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not altogether unlike these have occurred in this region in later times. Perhaps this unyielding,-is it too strong to say contentious ?- dis- position may have been more closely related than we think to that great love of personal liberty and that indomitable persistence in fol- lowing their religious convictions which characterized the founders of New England from the time they left the mother country, and long before that. But in our retrospect we cannot but question whether these fathers might not have done their work even better than they did, if they had pondered more deeply these words of Jesus, " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
The pastorate of Dr. Parsons continued till Sept. 1st, 1819, a period of nearly thirty-seven years. He was then dismissed at his own request. He died May 18th, 1823.
Proofs are abundant that he was a man of remarkable abilities and highly gifted with those social qualities that make warm and con- stant friendships. The church greatly prospered under his care and increased in membership, notwithstanding the embarrassments with which he began his work. A new meeting-house was built in 1788 on the ground where the old one had stood and the people seem to have been harmonious among themselves and united in their esteem for the pastor.
We are to have a sketch of Dr. Parsons and of his father from a grandson who worthily represents the family to-day in the Christian ministry, and I leave to him the fuller account of their lives.
An event of no little importance during the latter part of this period was the coming of Noah Webster and his family in 1812 to make their home here. This is a proof of the attractiveness of Amherst at that time to people of culture ; and this family in their coming brought reinforcements to all the better life of the community. I have no need to dwell upon the intellectual gifts of one whose name is a household word wherever the English language is spoken. But it would be a faulty sketch of the church's history if I should say nothing of his home as a center of religious life. Dr. Webster. his wife und three daughters, at their coming united with the church by letter From New Haven. Afterward two other daughters and a son united by confession of faith. The family thus gave their influence to the cause of Christ. And this influence was positive. These young ladies were ictive, as I have been told, especially in the revivals of their time, aking pains to seek their young friends and guide them into the new ife. By reason of their intellectual and social gifts they were lead-
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ers of society and this leadership was beautifully given to the service of Christ. Individuals now living speak in terms of grateful affec- tion concerning the interest thus manifested in their personal welfare and testify to the salutary power they exerted in the village. Prob- ably this household was a considerable factor in giving to Amherst the religious earnestness for which it was conspicuous at the time of the establishment of the college. The Websters remained here ten years, until 1822, when they returned to New Haven. A part of the work of these years is in the great Dictionary, but there is another part whose record is above.
The third pastor was Rev. Daniel A. Clark, who had been previ- ously settled at Weymouth, Mass. and at Southbury, Conn. He was installed Jan. 26th, 1820, and was dismissed Aug. 5, 1824.
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During his time the movement which had long been preparing for the establishment of a college came to its culmination and the college was founded. In this enterprise our church bore a conspicuous and honorable part. Indeed it hardly seems an overstatement to say that the First Church was the mother of Amherst College. Dr. Parsons in his day had been reputed one of the most judicious instructors in New England and his home had been a favorite place for the faculty of Harvard College to send such students as needed to spend a time in the country. Also under his supervision and generous patronage the old Academy had been established. Thus a beginning had been made for the greater institution now proposed. To that work pastor and people alike gave their hearty zeal and united exertion, sparing no pains to start the College on its prosperous way. Of this we shall hear more fully from Prof. Tyler.
Mr. Clark was a preacher of great power. Three volumes of his 38 the sermons were published, had a wide circulation and were regarded as among the ablest sermons of the times. In one of these volumes is Rer. a biographical sketch by Rev. Dr. George Shepard of Bangor, from which I derive most of the information that I have concerning him. His style was " bold, original, pungent, direct." "His sermons were filled with thought, often original, always concisely and strikingly expressed." "He eminently excelled in Biblical instruction." " While in Amherst, he was in the maturity and full strength of his faculties and it was here that he prepared and preached some of his ables1 sermons." "Mr. Clark's person, voice, and entire manner were it perfect keeping with his style; a large masculine frame ; a voice harsh, strong, capable of great volume, though not very flexible ; al
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action, for the most part, ungraceful, but significant and natural ; a countenance bearing bold, strongly marked features at every opening of which the waked and working passions would look intensely out : -altogether gave the idea of huge, gigantic power."
Again, Mr. Clark was an aggressive reformer. One of our old cit- izens tells me that he was especially earnest in the temperance reform and made himself unpopular by his constant agitation of the subject.
Those were the early days of the warfare against strong drink, and it cost a man something to do what the popular sentiment of a com- munity now requires.
Mr. Clark remained in Amherst a number of months after his dismis- sion, then became pastor of the church in Bennington, Vt. : whence he went to the First Presbyterian Church in Troy, N. Y., and after that to Adams, N. Y. He died, March 3, 1840, in New York City, re and his dust was laid to rest in the cemetery at New Haven, Conn. His entries on our record book close with these words, "Here I drop my pen. May God bless the people to whom I have ministered and build them up for heaven and give them all, my friends and my foes, in an inheritance among them that are sanctified."
Early in Mr. Clark's ministry the church in South Amherst was organized, Oct. 14, 1824, and four years later, at the beginning of the next pastorate, the church in North Amherst, Nov. 15, 1826. The occasion for these new churches seems to have been the growth of the sections in which they were planted. Their members went From the First Church and the Second alike, and both were weakened. hough I think not seriously, by the losses thus involved.
On the 5th of January, 1846, Rev. Royal Washburn was installed haus the fourth pastor, and continued in the office till his death, Jan. 1, Ja 833. He was married in 1847 to Harriet Parsons the daughter of Rev. Dr. Parsons, who survived her husband many years and became the wife of Hon. David Mack.
The name of Mr. Washburn is held in precious remembrance. All he allusions ever made to him in my hearing have been full of affec- ion and praise. He combined the gifts of a good preacher with those f a good shepherd of the flock in a completeness that is unusual. and is ministry, though laborious and hampered with disease, was happy nd fruitful. Prof Fiske in his Obituary Address names as conspic- ous traits of his character "unaffected simplicity and modesty," forgetfulness of self," " cautious and sound judgment," "affability nd cheerfulness," " warm and generous benevolence," and to com-
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plete the whole " harmony and consistency of character." Very touch- ing are the words Mr. Washburn uses in a farewell address to his people a little before his death. "Have you all felt, since you have thought of obtaining another Pastor, that such gifts are from the Lord Jesus? ' He gives some Pastors.' Christian friends, have you prayed to Christ with great earnestness, that he would send you a Pastor? Listen to the last, and what you should regard as the dying words of your Pastor. Lay aside all division and coldness, and as a united church, loving one another, and loving the Redeemer, bow before him in humble confession and penitence, and pray with earnest importunity that he would look graciously upon you and provide you an under-Shepherd. My beloved flock, I feel unable to say much more to you, but I cannot close without entreating you to live at peace among yourselves. Let no root of bitterness spring up-it wounds the blessed Saviour, and destroys the peace and usefulness of the church. And now brethren, farewell. The God of all comfort be with you, through Jesus Christ. Amen."
In less than a year after Mr. Washburn's death the church extended a call to the Rev. Matthew T. Adam, a native of Kilmarnock, Scot- land, who had been educated at Glasgow and London. He was installed Dec. 28, 1833, and was dismissed Dec. 10, 1834. His pre- vious ministry had been under conditions very unlike those he found in Amherst and he seems to have wanted the tact to adapt himself to this New England people. For this reason chiefly his pastorate was short. At his dismission the Council testified to his personal worth as follows. "He has been unwearied in his labors, faithful and con- scientious in the discharge of his ministerial duties and above all sus picion as to high moral and Christian character."
After this the church was without a pastor for over two years and then called the Rev. Josiah Bent, who had been previously settled at Weymouth. He was installed April 19, 1837, and died in office Nov. 19, 1839. His ministry was short but fruitful and he i remembered as a faithful, consecrated man who did not spare himsel for the Master or for the people whom he served in the gospel. Hi wife continued her membership here and her undiminished interest i the welfare of this church, till recently she passed from a life of pro tracted suffering to join him who had entered into rest before her.
It is fifty years ago this month that Mr. Bent died. With hil closed the first century of this church's history. A half century ha passed since. And in review of this, we find occasion for great jo
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in that all the pastors during this period, with one exception, are still living. Some of them we welcome with glad hearts to-day, to this their old field of seed-sowing and harvesting, and from others whom we had hoped to see we receive greetings warm with the interest and love of other years, which dull not with the lapse of time, nor become weakened with the creeping on of infirmities. Fathers and brethren, Colton, Dwight, Hubbell, Jenkins and Emerson, God bless them each und every one. In this place a grateful people "esteem them very highly in love for their works sake." And may it be long before we shall have to say of any of them, "They rest from their labors and their works do follow them."
But there is one recent pastor of whom even now we have to speak these words, Howard Kingsbury. How well I remember his form as [ used to see him in the college choir at New Haven ! And how well you, who loved him as your pastor, remember him! The man of gentle mold, with fine, poetic spirit attuned like a harp to vibrate at the lightest touch and make music as under the sweep of angel's hands,-too soon as it would seem to us, he went from earth "to join the choir invisible," but not too soon for you to have found out his vorth and thanked God for so rare a treasure.
Concerning the story of the church during these last fifty years it deems unnecessary and superfluous for me to speak. The period has been full of life, of activities, of enterprise. But there are many here hat have had a share in these and can speak of them out of their own experience. And when there are eye witnesses to testify, the man who derives his knowledge from books and hearsay may well keep ilence. This is especially true with reference to personal sketches. Within the memory of those before me, many faithful men and women f remarkable gifts and eminent distinction have been connected with his church and borne a noble part in its life and work. Happily we hall be permitted to learn of them from others whose personal cquaintance will give the sketches an added excellence and vividness. There is one conspicuous fact that I have passed over and to which would call your attention, that is, the great revivals. I have spoken f the two at the beginning of the church's history. Follow on from that ime for seventy-five years and we come upon no other awakening to ompare with those. There were, indeed, seasons of religious interest. nd sometimes the accession of ten or fifteen persons to the church on a ingle occasion. But there was no movement to stir the community s a whole. But during the last seventy-five years there have been
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many of these great revivals. There was one, the first, under Dr. Parsons' ministry in 1815 ; others under Mr. Clark in 1820 and again in 1823 ; others under Mr. Washburn in 1827 and again in 1831; another in 1834 during the pastorate of Mr. Bent, and three others in 1841, '45 and '50, while Mr. Colton was pastor. Here is a period of forty years during which there were no less than nine great revivals. Other revivals have come in recent years but this period is especially it marked.
In a review of these awakenings, we may well observe the origin of G the first of the series. There had been in this church a man of great for faith and of a deeply prayerful spirit. For more than fifty years he for had lived a consecrated Christian life and for more than thirty years suc had been a deacon here. He was now an old man, past his seventieth year, and a great longing possessed him to see such a revival as hethis never yet had seen. For this he prayed, and he came to have so E confident a belief that his prayers would be answered that he told il some of his friends that " he expected to live to witness a great display rain of almighty power and grace." There came a revival in 1811, but he was not satisfied. He declared that the "assurances he had received from God were not yet fulfilled." And so he prayed on till the great revival of 1815. This refreshing visited both the churches and resulted in the addition of ninety to this church alone in a single day.
In the midst of this season and with his hope at last joyfully fulfilled the good man went to his rest. Over his silent body the two churches sorrowed and rejoiced together. The pastor of the Second Church the Rev. Nathan Perkins, preached the funeral sermon, and the old church with the new witnessed the triumph of one who had aspired to be a peacemaker and a child of God.
Such is the story of Dr. Seth Coleman's faith. You may connec it as you will with that great revival and with others that followed You may associate with his prayers the fidelity of pastors, the sancti fied culture of Christian homes like that of the Websters and the mora energy flowing from many other similar sources. But how profound and far reaching has been the influence of that one " corn of whea which fell into the ground and died " so many years ago we can neve know till all things are revealed.
And so of all the holy seed which has been sown during these on hundred and fifty years past,-or during the two hundred and fift years since our fathers and mothers first planted themselves in Ne England. Think of the limitless fruitage. Behold what God hat
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wrought, not only here, but throughout our land and throughout the whole world.
The backward glance is chiefly valuable in helping us to understand he present and to forcast the future. It magnifies and illumines the ife of to-day to connect it with those germinal beginnings from which t has unfolded. But the life of to-day holds the germinal beginnings of something larger and better still. Now, as in all former days, God's hand beckons to a kingdom that is coming. Our eyes are orward while faith and hope outrun our vision. We stand expectant or the divine thought to come out in grander meanings as fulfillment ucceeds fulfillment and anticipation realized rises into keener antici- ation of what is about to be. The Eternal One is our God, and in his is all promise.
Establishing here our faith, the steadfast purpose of the fathers vill animate their children and from a review of their work we shall ain wisdom to stand in our places and do with fidelity what falls to ur lot.
NOTE. On page 10, twelfth line from the bottom, read, "perhaps unmarried, though he ems." On page 19, fifteenth line from the top, read " one hundred and fifty years." On age 29, fourteenth line from the bottom, read " 1826." and twelfth line from the bottom ad " 1827."
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PRESENTATION OF PORTRAITS.
After the pastor's address two portraits, one of the Rev. David Parsons, D. D., and the other of his wife, Mis. Harriet Williams Parsons, were presented to the Church by Mr. John H. Washburn, their grandson, whose father was the Rev. Royal Washburn the fourth pastor of the Church. Mr. Washburn spoke as follows :
MY FRIENDS :-
This is a part of the exercises not set down on the programme which you have in your hands, and I assure you that it is as unex- pected by me as by any of you. My purpose was to send these por- traits and have them placed in your hands without any further formality. And when this morning your pastor told me that I was expected to make a presentation speech and that arrangements to that end had been made, I asked him if my speech was written for me, as I was considered a fairly good reader, while I made no pretensions as a speak- er. He assured me that it was, and that it should be given in good time. Now I am sorry to cast any reflections upon your pastor, but he has not furnished me the promised speech, and so you will be obliged to go without it.
When I was a school-boy, in one of my Speakers was a selection putting an oration in the mouth of an Indian chief (Logan I believe) in which he spoke of visiting the hunting grounds of his tribe, over which for generations his forefathers had roamed ; and finding only their graves. In coming to Amherst I feel like him. In this place. where my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father lived and labored, not one of my kindred remains, save in yonder cemetery where so many of them repose. And yet, although my kindred are gone, and though my home is far away, I love this Church, and wherever I go the memory of it remains with me.
And why should I not love the Church where my fathers labored, to which they gave their lives, and which guards their graves? May my right hand forget its cunning when I forget thee, O Jerusalem !
DR. PARSONS.
MRS. PARSONS.
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In seeking to find what I might bring as my contribution to this celebration, I could think of nothing better, nothing more fitting the occasion, than the portraits of my grandfather and grandmother, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Parsons. Of my great-grandfather no portrait exists, nor is there one of my father, but these are treasured by the family. That of Dr. Parsons is said to be an excellent likeness ;- that of Mrs. Parsons I know to be so, and I take great pleasure in showing my love for this church and doing my part on this joyful occasion by presenting to you what I know you will prize so highly.
In behalf of the Church, the Rev. Dr. D. W. Marsh received the portraits and thanked the donor with these words :
For this First Church in Amherst with its memories of one hundred and fifty years, for its living officers and members I am requested to accept your beautiful gift.
These likenesses of a father and mother in your and our Israel take us back more than a hundred years, and by this venerable image of the second pastor link us to his father the very first pastor of this church. We are gratified that you have given us the picture of your grandmother as well as of your grandfather, for had there been no foremothers there would have been no family and no descendants.
The first two pastors were born Parsons but several of their descend- ants, by the gift of God and call of God's people and their own com- plying choice, have become parsons.
Your gift to us entitles you to honor from all. Dr. Johnson of England well expresses our indebtedness to you by saying " Whoever brings near the distant in time or space is a public benefactor." Pres- ident Mark Hopkins has said that words of the fathers " fall with weight as from the height of earlier times." These silent lips are speaking now. And when all the voices of to-day shall have died away into a long silence, then, by your kindness, these lips to other generations will still speak.
In the name of the church that never dies, we thank you.
FIRST AND SECOND PASTORS.
BY REV. CHARLES H. WILLIAMS.
" It is a reverend thing," wrote Lord Bacon, "to see an ancient castle or building not in decay, or to see a fine timber tree sound and perfect. How much more, to behold an ancient, noble family, which hath stood against the waves and weathers of time." These words may be fittingly applied to that family, of which the first two pastors of this church were honored representatives.
It was a prolific stock. "Few of our early settlers," remarks one historian, "are represented by more numerous families than those that perpetuate the name of this respectable stock." The Parsons tree, to borrow Lord Bacon's figure, has sent out its roots to the river and its boughs are as the goodly cedars.
Cornet Joseph Parsons, who came from England and settled at Springfield, Mass. in 1635, was the father of ten children, as was the son who bore his name. The grandson, David, had only five ; but to his eldest son and namesake, your first pastor, were born nine sons and daughters, while his son and successor was permitted to see elever olive-plants about his table.
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