USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Stockbridge > Historical sketch, Congregational, of the church in Stockbridge, Mass. > Part 2
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. The congregation was greatly increased under the ministry of Mr. Ser-
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geant. The Indians, through the blessing of God on his labors, and the labors of those associated with him, were rescued from various errors and vices, assumed to a good degree the habits of civilized life, acquired a stable character in society, and became regular attendants upon public worship. Fifty or sixty, who had become hopefully converted, were admitted to full communion by him, some of whom died in faith before him : 42 survived him. He baptized 182 natives, adults and infants. His services were also greatly useful to the English who settled here. He left a widow, the daughter of Col. Ephraim Williams, who was subsequently married to Brig .- Gen. Dwight; and three children,-Electa, who was married to Col. Mark Hopkins, and was the grandmother of Pres. and Prof. Hopkins ; Erastus, who was a distinguished physician in this town, and a deacon in the church; and John, who became a missionary to the Indians before they left this town, and went with them to Stockbridge in New-York.
At the date of Mr. Sergeant's death, there were twelve English families in town, viz .: his own family, the families of Timothy Woodbridge, of Col. Wil- liams, of Josiah Jones, and of Joseph Woodbridge; of Samuel Brown, of Samuel Brown, Jun., of Joshua Chamberlain, son-in-law of Samuel Brown, Jun., (from Spencer ;) of David Pixley, from Westfield; of John Willard, from Canaan, previously from Wethersfield; of John Taylor, and of Jacob Cooper, from West Springfield.
Mr. Hopkins, of Great Barrington, afterwards Dr. Hopkins, was first appointed successor to Mr. Sergeant ; but he declined the appointment, and, among other considerations, in the hope that the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, his theological instructor and particular friend, then recently dismissed from Northampton, would accept the service. He was next appointed, and was installed as pastor of this church, Aug. 8, 1751.
Mr. Edwards entered upon the same general course of instruction which his predecessor had pursued, though he was obliged to address the Indians through an interpreter ; and the prospect was exceedingly fair for a time of his being very useful to the Indians in this town, and to the Six Nations, families from which were expected to settle here, placing many children in the boarding-school. Directly after his settlement in this place, a large council from the Six Nations sat here, to consider the subject of sending their children to the school. After it was opened, Rev. Gideon Hawley, after- terwards missionary at Marshpee, it is understood, instructed for a time. "He taught a few families of Mohawks, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras." Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, who afterwards settled in Sharon, Conn., (father of the late Gov. Smith, of that State,) also instructed it for a season. But arrangements for managing the school were never very thoroughly made; and admirable as was the plan, and much as it promised, the occurrence of the second French war nearly destroyed it, so far as the Six Nations and their children were concerned.
Notwithstanding this unhappy issue, however, in this school, in connection with the school of Mr. Woodbridge, a considerable number of Indians received a good education. A few also were instructed at the Indian Cha- rity School, at Hanover, N. H., and Peter Pauquaunaupeet was graduated in
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1780, at the college in that town. This Sir Peter, as he was commonly called, was a man of good talents and character, and connected with Joseph Qua-nau-kaunt, Captain Hendrick Aupaumut, and Capt. John Konkapot, in a council which, after the death of King Solomon, regulated the affairs of the tribe : for it is to be borne in mind that the Indians still kept up something more than a semblance of their ancient form of government. The regal power, it is said, (and this must be understood of the subject by custom,) belonged to Joseph Qua-nau-kaunt ; but being a very modest and unassuming, as well as sensible man, he chose not to be king, but wished the tribe to be governed by a council. The speech of one of the chiefs to the Massachu- setts Congress in 1775, in Brigham's Columbian Orator, tendering his services in the Revolutionary War, may be taken as a specimen of the talent and oratory which some of them possessed.
But, unhappy as the second French War was, particularly to the pros- pects of the boarding-school, Mr. Edwards discharged the duties of a missionary with his wonted faithfulness, to the good acceptance of those who came under his charge, and to the satisfaction of the Commissioners. Besides the duties which he discharged more immediately to the mission, he here completed his greatest work, viz .: "The Inquiry concerning the Free- dom of the Will," which did more than any thing else to secure to him the reputation of being the greatest metaphysician which this country has ever produced. Here, too, he completed his treatise on Original Sin, and carried forward the " History of Redemption," and probably some other works. Had he remained at Northampton, it is questionable whether he would have been able to have prepared these important works for publication ; and this circumstance tends to show the wisdom of God in suffering him to be removed from that important station, where his labors had been blessed of Provi- dence to the spiritual good of a multitude of souls.
But while pursuing his studies and labors in this sequestered spot and calm retreat, he was unexpectedly called, upon the decease of his son-in-law, the Rev. Aaron Burr, Sept. 24, 1757, to accept the Presidency of Princeton College; which he did, in conformity with the advice of brethren in the ministry, and was accordingly dismissed, Jan. 4, 1758. But he had scarcely time to arrive at Princeton, to be inducted into office, and to enter upon the duties of his new and important station, before the Lord called him, as there is abundant reason to believe, to a far higher station in the world of glory. He died on the 22d of March, 1758, in the both year of his age. The same grace which had sustained him in duty and in trial was sufficient for him in his closing moments.
No man has left behind him a fairer fame than President Edwards. No one did more to promote orthodoxy and piety in the American churches. The prominent traits of his character, clear intelligence and ardent piety, are those excellences which will shine for ever in the redeemed.
The records of the ministry of President Edwards in Stockbridge are lost. Great pains have been taken to find them, but without success.
While professors of religion, both English and Indian, were benefited by his ministry, the probability is, that some from both classes of people
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were converted under his instructions. At the time of his dismission, the Indian families were reduced to forty-two, while the English were increased to eighteen. The following had been added to those already men- tioned, viz .: the family of Elihu Parsons ; his son-in-law, from Northampton ; that of Stephen Nash, immediately from Westfield, but previously from Had- ley, who is said to have moved to this town from a desire to enjoy the ministry of Mr. Edwards ; that of Josiah Jones, Jr .; and those of James Wilson, from Spencer, Thomas Sherman, and Solomon Gleazen, from Wor- cester.
The wife of President Edwards was a daughter of Rev. James Pierpont, of New-Haven. They had ten children : Sarah, the wife of Elihu Parsons, of this town; Jerusha, who died in Northampton ; Esther, the wife of Presi- dent Burr; Mary, the wife of Col. Timothy Dwight, of Northampton, and mother of President Dwight; Lucy, the wife of Hon. Jahleel Woodbridge, of this town; Timothy, the late Hon. Timothy Edwards, also of this town ; Susanna, the wife of Eleazer Porter, of Hadley; Eunice, the wife of Thomas Pollock, of North Carolina ; Jonathan, President of Union College ; Elizabeth, who died unmarried ; and Pierrepont, a distinguished lawyer in New-Haven, and late Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Connecticut.
Soon after the dismission of Mr. Edwards, the minds of the people and of the Commissioners were drawn towards the late venerable Dr. Stephen West, son of Zebulon West, Esq., of Tolland, Conn. He was graduated at Yale College in 1755, where he had the reputation of a sound classical scholar. After leaving college, he taught a school in Hatfield, and studied theology with Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, of that place. The Association of Hampshire county licensed him to preach, probably in 1757, soon after which he was appointed chaplain at Fort Massachusetts, in Adams; and from that place he came to this town in Nov., 1758, where he was ordained, June 13, 1759.
For several years he communicated instruction, as his predecessors had done, both to the Indian and English inhabitants. His common practice was to preach to the Indians Sabbath morning by an interpreter, and to the English in the afternoon. But as it was very difficult to get a suitable interpreter, and as the English rapidly increased from abroad, and became capable of support- ing the gospel themselves, Dr. West, in 1775, relinquished the instruction of the Indians, and with it the income received from the Commissioners, to Mr. John Sergeant, son of the first missionary, who perfectly understood their language, and had received a respectable education at Newark, N. J. The Indian professors, however, were not immediately formed into a new church. But in 1785, as they were about to remove on to a tract of land given them by the Oneidas, called New-Stockbridge, they were formed into a church by themselves. The number of professors among them then was sixteen only. From this period, Mr. Sergeant regularly spent six months with them yearly, until 1796, when he moved his family and settled with them, and remained their minister until his death, Sept. 8, 1824, at the age of 77. Some years afterwards, they removed to Green Bay, where the little
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church still lives, has been visited by the Spirit of God, and has from time to time received some accessions from the world.
When Dr. West was ordained in this town, there were about twenty log huts in Pittsfield; but with that exception, the whole country northward was a wilderness to Canada. To the west, there were some Dutch settlements near the Hudson and on the Mohawk; but westward, there were no English settlements quite onward to the Pacific Ocean, and but few French settle- ments, and those distant from each other. Wild men and wild beasts held dominion over almost the whole of this vast region. But in the southern part of Berkshire there were some English settlements, and four settled ministers, viz .: Jonathan Hubbard in Sheffield, Thomas Strong in New-Marl- borough, Adonijah Bidwell in Tyringham, and Samuel Hopkins in Great Barrington. With Mr. Hopkins, who was nearest to him, he early con- tracted an intimate and, as the result shows, a very happy friendship. Their minds were similar : both were fond of research and discussion. Dr. West was dissatisfied with what his predecessor, "President Edwards, had written on the freedom of the will, and on many points relative to the distinguishing doctrines of grace." These became the subjects of free and repeated conversation ; and the effect was, (like the effect of the communica- tions between the Rev. John Newton and Dr. Scott, though the mode was different,) that Dr. West gave up his hope of a personal interest in Christ, which he had long entertained, and was convinced that, while he had under- taken the charge of souls, his own soul had been neglected. His sense of sin was deep and pungent, his solicitude strong, and at times almost over- whelming. But the Lord was pleased soon to relieve him, to make him the subject of new views and affections, and to give him a good hope through grace. The reality and greatness of this change readily appeared in the solemnity, fervency, and pungency of his preaching, and in the humility and goodness of his subsequent life, which was extended to an unusual period.
This change, so far as man was concerned, is traceable to the faithfulness of the celebrated David Brainerd, whom we have had occasion to mention as missionary to the Kau-nau-meek Indians, while he was a student at Yale College. Dr. Hopkins, a student at the same time, had made a profession of religion, but knew not the preciousness of the Saviour. While in conversation with him, Mr. Brainerd observed that it was impossible for any man to be a real Christian who was not sometimes deeply affected in contemplating the character of Christ. This, Hopkins could not but admit to be a truth ; but he was conscious of no such love; and the impression did not leave him until he found joy and peace in believing in Jesus. By this change he was - prepared to be the means of the conversion of Dr. West.
Soon after the conversion of the latter, he most carefully examined the doctrines of revelation, with a mature and cultivated understanding, and with an ardent desire to know the truth as it is in Jesus. And what he learned he communicated. IIe preached, particularly, a series of discourses in which he dwelt extensively upon the character and government of God, and upon the dependence and accountability of man; the substance of
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which was first published in 1772, and republished with an appendix in 1794. The fame produced by this essay induced young men who were looking forward to the ministry to repair to him for guidance and assistance in their studies immediately preparatory to their entrance upon the sacred office. These were so pleased with his instructions, piety, and exemplary conduct, that they were followed by others ; so that for the space of thirty- five or forty years, some students were under his care. Most of these were graduates of the colleges then existing in New-England; one or more werc graduated at Princeton ; some of them were eminent in the ministry, and generally they honored their calling. Some settled in towns in this county. Among these clergymen, we may mention Samuel Spring, of Newburyport; Seth Swift, of Williamstown ; Gordon Dorrance, of Windsor ; Jacob Catlin, D. D., of New-Marlborough ; Elijah Wheeler, of Great Barrington ; Samuel ยท Whelpley, Gamaliel Smith Olds, LL. D., and Thomas Robbins, D. D.
These facts imply that Dr. West had great influence. Placed over the church in Stockbridge while most of the county of Berkshire was unset- tled, and all of the adjoining towns except Great Barrington, the pious who early settled in the neighborhood looked to him as a counsellor and a father. He assisted in the formation of new churches, and in the ordination of many of the first pastors of them. For many years he was the standing Moderator of Berkshire Association, and was venerated by all the members. When Williams College was granted in 1793, he was named as one of the trustees; and when the corporation first met, he was elected Vice-President of the Institution.
In preaching, he dwelt principally upon the doctrines of grace, the value of which he deeply felt, and which he longed to have others enjoy. He was much in the habit of giving instruction in an expository form ; and dur- ing his ministry, he passed three times through the New Testament, expound- ing the sacred oracles verse by verse, "with a propriety, an acuteness, and vigor," says Mr. Samuel Whelpley, who studied theology with liim, and was a very competent judge of ministerial effort, " of which this country has seen no parallel." In his expositions he was not so much confined to notes as in his sermons; and warmed by his subject, and by the impulses of the moment, he was sometimes truly eloquent. By this kind of instruction his people were greatly aided in the study of the Scriptures. Another method by which their religious knowledge was greatly advanced, was the establishment of meetings on week-days, in which the young were invited to write and speak on subjects or on passages of Scripture previously given out, and in which he met with them. In these they were greatly interested. Hence the church acquired a high reputation for intelligence. I once heard the late Gov. Smith, of Connecticut, (whose father has been mentioned as teacher for a time in the Stockbridge Mission, and who himself resided here in his youth, when Dr. West was making his greatest efforts,) say, that the church in Stockbridge was the best indoctrinated church in the country.
Nor did instruction fail of a sanctifying effect. Dr. West was wise in win- ning souls. There was a revival here in the years 1773, 1782, 1790, '91, '92, and 1799. But the most extensive revival which occurred during his minis-
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try was in 1813, when he had the assistance of a colleague, Rev. Ephraim G. Swift, whom he had instructed in theology, as he had also done his father, Rev. Seth Swift. This colleague was ordained Sept. 26, 1810; and after this date the duties of the ministry were discharged by them jointly. Things passed along in this manner for some time to their mutual satisfac- tion, and to the satisfaction of the people. At length, however, a complaint was brought into the church against one of the members, attended with peculiar circumstances, about which the pastors and the members of the church entertained different opinions, and which produced for a time unhap- py divisions, and much trouble. One effect of this was, that both pastors were dismissed at the same time, August 27, 1818.
After this event Dr. West was rarely able to appear in public, though on the first Sabbaths in November and January following, he administered the Lord's Supper to the church, and on the 10th of February attended a funeral. From the last period, he was confined to his house, and mostly to his bed, until Saturday, the 13th of May, 1819, when he expired, in the 84th year of his age.
Mr. Swift is still living. For eleven years he preached at Humphreysville and Bethany, in Connecticut, and on the 11th of December, 1833, was installed pastor of the church in North Killingworth, in the same State. The people had been unhappily divided; but under his ministry they were harmonized, and through the influences of the Divine Spirit, the church was enlarged. In 1850, advancing years and infirmity induced him to signify to his people that he must leave them, and he used his influence to secure to them a successor. This object was attained in November of the same year, when, in connection with his dismission, Rev. Hiram Bell, who had been min- ister in Marlborough, was installed pastor of the church. Mr. Swift has since lived generally in the neighboring town of Chester.
Rev. David D. Field, D. D., native of East Guilford, now Madison, Conn., graduate of Yale College, who studied theology with Dr. Charles Backus, of Somers, and who had been pastor of the First Congregational Church in Haddam, from April 11, 1804, until April 11, 1818, was installed in Stock- bridge, Aug. 25, 1819, and remained pastor of the church until Feb. 12, 1837; when, having been invited back to the charge of his former church, he was dismissed at his own request, and installed in Haddam, April 11, 1837, where he continued pastor seven years, viz .: until April 11, 1844 ; after which, he was stated supply generally to the congregation in Higganum, in the same town, until July 1, 1850. In the spring of the following year, he returned to Stockbridge, which is his present residence. During his min- istry in Stockbridge there were three seasons of unusual attention to the concerns of the soul. The first and most extensive of these was in 1821, when the First Church and congregation embraced all the Congregationalists in the town, and when almost all the ministerial services were performed by the pastor. As fruits of this revival, 94 were added to the church, while a few in the north-east part of the town, being much nearer to churches in Lenox, are believed to have made a profession there.
In the close of 1823, the subject of building a third house for public
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worship was agitated, and it was finally voted that this should be erected within a given number of rods of the ancient graveyard on the Plain. This location was dissatisfactory to a considerable number of the people in the north part of the town, and they withdrew from the worship of the church and congregation, and were formed into a separate church and congregation, before the new edifice was completed. Sixty-three members who were dis- missed from the first church, were formed into the new church on the 24th of Dec., 1824. The edifice built by the First Society being completed, it was dedicated on the 25th of January, 1825.
The feelings produced by the division of the old church and congregation at the time were unfriendly to the revival of religion ; but they gradually subsided, and we have reason to rejoice that they are nearly or quite gone from both churches and congregations. In 1827, the place was visited again by the renewing influences of the Holy Ghost. As fruits of this revi- val, fifty-five persons were received into the First Church. In 1831, as the fruits of another revival, twenty-nine were admitted ; while in other years, smaller numbers were received. The whole number admitted to the church by Dr. Field from the world, was 221, and from other churches on recom- mendation, 51; total, 272.
Rev. Tertius S. Clarke, a native of West Hampton, and graduate of Yale College in 1824, who had been settled in South Deerfield, and also in Had- dam, was installed in Stockbridge, June 15, 1837, where he remained pastor until May 5, 1850. During his ministry there were revivals in 1838, 1842, and 1849. The number admitted to the church by him was, from the world, 124, and from other churches, 67; total, 191. Since leaving Stock- bridge, Mr. Clarke has been settled at Penn Yan, N. Y., but is now settled at Franklin, N. Y.
Rev. A. H. Dashiell, Jun., the present pastor, born near Baltimore, graduated at Delaware College in 1843, and at the Union Theological Semi- nary in the city of New-York in 1847, was ordained in December of that year, in St. Louis. He was installed in Stockbridge, Dec. 11, 1850. The number admitted to the church by him is: from the world, 24; and from other churches, 7.
It has been already noticed how unsettled this county generally was when Dr. West was ordained in this place, with the exception of towns in the south. When scattered settlements were commenced in other directions immediately about the place, the people, so far as they regarded religious privileges, naturally sought instruction here; and therefore, when churches were formed in them, such as had been connected with this church were recommended to be constituent members of them. This was true of West Stockbridge, at first a part of this town. That place was incorporated as a town in 1774; a meeting-house was built in 1778, which still remains, and the Congregational Church was organized June 4, 1779, with ten members, seven males and three females. The people have generally been favored with preaching by pastors or stated supplies-to an unusual extent by the latter. Rev. Oliver Ayres, Joseph Edwards, John Waters, Nathan Shaw,
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Munson C. Gaylord, and Sydney Bryant, the present pastor, have been set- tled there.
The admissions to the church, including the constituent members, have been 397.
The Second Congregational Church in West Stockbridge, formed at the village, Dec. 25, 1833, consisted of 25 members: 13 from other churches, and 12 on profession. This has had three pastors, viz .: Rev. Charles Lester, John Whiton, and Nathaniel Lasell. The total of members from the begin- ning has been 162; 65 males and 97 females.
A little time before the close of the last century, a large numder of fami- lies moved from Berkshire county, and some from Stockbridge, to a portion of country in New-York called Chenango. Members from this church took letters to churches formed in that region.
About 1818, a number of families moved from this place to Brownhelm, Lorain county, Ohio. Nineteen persons, Jan. 25, 1819, were recommended from this church as suitable subjects for membership in the church about to be formed there.
The formation of the North Church in this town, now usually known as the Curtisville Church, has been already noticed. This has had the follow- ing pastors, viz .: Rev. Nathan Shaw, Joseph Hurlburt, Joel T. Headley, Ralph Smith, M. D., S. P. Giddings, and Winthrop H. Phelps.
Two hundred and eighty-seven members have been received into the church at Curtisville since its organization, making, with the sixty-three constituent members, 350. The congregation has been favored with several seasons of revival. But a large portion of the people being engaged in manufactures, the changes and fluctuations incident to manufacturing villages have affected the church. Many members have come in from other places, and been received here on letters, while they, or others, have been soon dis- missed. I'ence the present number of resident members is but sixty : nine- teen males and forty-one females. The total of members is somewhat more.
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