USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sturbridge > Historical sketch of Sturbridge, Mass., from its settlement to the present time > Part 4
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The pecuniary support which Mr. Rice received from his people was truly liberal for that day, or indeed for any other, and shows that the fathers of this town well understood the arrangement, which an Apostle says "the Lord hath ordained ;" viz. " that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel"-an arrangement which has never been overlooked by their descendants. In addition to the several allotments of land, laid out and reserved for the minister according to the conditions of the grant, amounting in all to one fiftieth part of the whole township, " to be his, his heirs, and assigns," they voted as follows :- " £200 in Bills of Credit for settle- ment and encouragement, to be paid him, viz. £100 by the first day of May 1737, and £100 by the first day of May 1738." Also, " £110 in Bills of Credit Annually for his salary, at the value of 25 shillings an ounce in silver money : And at the expiration of three years after the said Mr. Rice's ordination, to add £10 to his salary, so as to make it £120, according to the aforesaid value of money annually."
In his answer to their call, speaking of the proposed settlement and salary, he says, "I esteem it to be handsome and generous, and accordingly do now accept it as such ; yet, not being so thoroughly acquainted with the charge and expenses of living, if in process of time my circumstances should require and call for more, I should depend and rely upon it, that, as I give myself wholly to the work of the ministry, so I should receive a decent and handsome support ;" -to which the people readily assented. In conclusion he added a suggestion touching his " fire-wood," which they were pleased to call " a reasonable proposal ;" and immediately voted to procure him " such a quantity of fire-wood annually as shall be thought a necessary and convenient supply." In pursuance of this vote they began with forty cords a year, and paid a man &£12 for bringing it. But soon finding that this quantity was not "a necessary and convenient sup- ply, they made it forty-five, and shortly after raised it to fifty cords a year, " to be delivered at Mr. Rice's door of suitable length for the fire."*
* If we estimate silver at a dollar an ounce, which is a trifle below its real value, it will be found that the support granted to the first minister in Sturbridge was a settlement of $160, a salary of $96, and 50 cords of wood annually, besides a farm of about 500 acres. The mo. ney, at first sight, appears to be an inconsiderable sum ; but it should be remembered that corn was ninepence per bushel and labor 14 cents per day ; so that a dollar at that time would go as far in procuring the necessaries of life as five or siz dollars will now ; and even farther, if the prices of other things, as is usually the case, corresponded with the prices of these.
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It were rational to suppose that a generation which had shown such remarkable promptness and liberality in providing the means of religious instruction, would not " forsake the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some is." The only sources of information that are open to us, touching this subject, are the recollec- tions of the aged, and such oral traditions as have come down from their fathers. From both these sources we have the most decisive evidence, that the early inhabitants of this town were emphatically a " Church-going people."
It is supposed, that during the first fifteen or twenty years from the beginning of its settlement, there was not an individual in town, of suitable age, who did not regularly attend on public worship, when circumstances would allow ; and oftentimes when we should think they were absolutely forbidding. For example, those who lived six or seven miles from the Sanctuary, as many did before the South Eastern part of the town was formed into a separate parish, found in that distance no sufficient reason for staying at home, although they must travel all the way on foot, fording the Quinebaug or crossing it on a fallen tree in the summer, and on the ice in the winter. When the snows were deep, the inhabitants of a neighborhood would sometimes all assemble in one place and set off to church in a com- pany, the men leading the way in single file and thus breaking a path for the women and children. These appear to have been the pre- vailing habits of the people till the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The consequence was, that the little Sanctuary which they had erected 40 feet by 50, became crowded with worshippers as soon as the population of the town was sufficiently numerous to crowd it; nd the business of providing accommodations in the house of God engrossed no small share of public attention in many a town meeting.
The following transaction, while it illustrates the foregoing views, is instructive in several other respects .- It appears that the house of worship at first had no pews, but was fitted up with temporary seats, each worshipper being at liberty to sit, or stand, wherever he could find a convenient place. At length there was inserted in the warrant for a town meeting to be holden Oct. 14, 1741, the following article, viz. " To see whether the town will lot out the room in the Meetinghouse under the galleries, and come into some measures to do and accom- plish the same," -- an article which would be utterly unintelligible to us, were it not for the record of what was done with it. From that
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record it seems, that " to lot out the room," was neither more nor less than to divide it into squares of convenient size for pews. The town readily came into the measure, and voted that these several lots, should be assigned to as many heads of families ; that whoever re- ceived a lot should have the privilege of building a pew thereon, and of occupying it with his family during the time of his natural life ; that if he left a widow she should enjoy the same privilege ; and that on her decease the pew should revert to the town, the town paying the original cost of building it. The business of making the as- signment was committed to three men with the following instruc- tions ;- " to have due regard to age ; to the first beginning in town ; to their bearing charges in town, and to their usefulness; and to dis- pose of the room for pews to such persons as they shall think fit." The committee to whom was intrusted this delicate business-no less delicate than to make out a scale of merit for the town-were Daniel Fiske, Moses Marcy, and Isaac Newell. At the next March meeting they made their report, stating that they had " planned, divided, and numbered said room into 18 parts for 18 pews," & c. But the most mate- rial circumstance in their report is the following ;- " We, the said Com- mittee, met on the 9th day of February, 1742, and did agree, that, ac- cording to the instructions given us by the town, the following per- sons ought to have the several pew-spots, and the liberty of pitching in the following order, viz. Moses Marcy the Ist choice, -Henry Fiske the 2d,-Dea. Isaac Newell the 3d,-James Denison the 4th, -Roland Taylor the 5th,-Daniel Fiske the 6th,-Joseph Baker the 7th,-Joseph Cheney the Stli,-David Shumway the 9th,-David Morse the 10th,-Moses Allen the 11th,-Joseph Allen the 12th,- Joseph Smith the 13th,-Hinsdale Clark the 14th,-Ezekiel Upham the 15th,-John Harding the 16th,-Caleb Harding the 17th,-Ed- ward Foster the 18th." This report was accepted by the town and ordered to be put on record.
From this transaction I think we may learn, -1. The high estima- tion in which public worship was held at that time,-2. The compa- rative standing of at least eighteen of the principal inhabitants,-3. The quiet spirit which then prevailed throughout the community, no one uttering a word of complaint at this assignment. It is impossi- ble to conjecture what would be the fate of such a report, on such a subject, at the present day.
The Rev. Mr. Rice closed his ministry and his life together on Lord's Day, Sept. 2d, 1759, in the 47th year of his age. He was a
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native of Hingham, was graduated at Harvard University, and was Pastor of the Church in Sturbridge 23 years. In Whitney's History of Worcester County his character is thus briefly sketched : "IIc was a pastor after God's heart ; sound in faith ; a good preacher, en- dued with excellent ministerial gifts, and very exemplary in life, as well as social and benevolent in his deportment." He seems to have retained a strong hold on the affections of his people. Five times they increased the nominal amount of his salary, that they might keep it equal to the real amount on which he was settled, graduating it by the prices of agricultural produce ; and at his death they voted £8 Lawful Money, or nearly 827, to defray the expense of his fune- ral. The number gathered into the Church during his ministry, including the fourteen with which it was organized, was 114. Fif- teen of these, however, near the close of his ministry, separated from what was called the " standing order," and established a meeting by themselves. The circumstances of this affair deserve some notice, not only as properly belonging to the Ecclesiastical history of that period, but also as standing related to important events of subsequent occurrence.
The original cause of this separation, (which took place in the year 1747,) was a religious awakening that prevailed in many other places at that time, the subjects of which were generally known by the name of New Lights. In this town they were called Separates, or Separatists, and had for their minister Mr. John Blunt, who was afterwards killed in the French war, at the battle of Lake George. They erected a small house of worship which stood within the pre- sent limits of Southbridge, not far from the Globe village. As was very natural, they felt that it was enough for them to maintain their own minister, and therefore refused to be taxed for the support of any other. But not being incorporated into a separate Society, the civil law of that day refused to release them, and this brought the affair to a most unhappy issue.
In the warrant for a town meeting May 22d, 1749, was the follow- ing article : "To see whether the town will pass a vote to exempt those people in this town that have separated themselves from the public worship of God on the Lord's Day at our Meetinghouse, from paying to the support of Mr. Rice." With our present feelings, and customs, and laws touching religious freedom, it would be one of the easiest things in the world to settle such a question. But if we throw ourselves back, in imagination, to that day, and look at the question in the light of usages and laws which then prevailed, we shall find the
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subject environed with difficulties. The legislative Act of 1692, which was still in force, not only told every qualified voter that he must pay his tax for the support of some " able, learned, orthodox minister, of good conversation," but even went so far as to tell him in pretty definite terms to whom he must pay it. After granting to " each respective gathered Church in any town or place within this Province the power, according to the directions given in the word of God, to choose their own minister" the Act then proceeds as follows : -" the person thus elected and approved, accepting thereof, settling with them, shall be the minister, towards whose settlement and main- tenance all the inhabitants and ratable estates lying within such town or part of a town, or place limited by law for upholding the public worship of God, shall be obliged to pay in proportion."
The wisdom of this Act has since been called in question, and the whole code of laws touching religious worship, essentially modified, But such was the law of the Province at that time. The case being thus, it became a serious question between the two parties, what should be done. The fact that there was public discussion and deli- beration upon it in town meeting, shows that there was room, at least for doubt, though at this distant day we may be unable to discover what the precise difficulty was. At their first meeting no vote was taken, though it appears from subsequent proceedings, that one party still refused to pay the ministerial tax, and the other still continued to enforce it by dint of law.
At length on the 18th of March 1752, the town held a special meeting, " to see whether the town will come into some method of agreement with the Separatists that were distrained upon for their minister rates." Moses Marcy was called to the chair. The excel- lent spirit which the venerable Moderator displayed on that occasion is worthy of all praise, and must have satisfied all parties, that, who- ever stood in the way of an amicable adjustment, he did not. IIe re- quested the Separatists to be seated on one side of the Meetinghouse by themselves, and the rest of the citizens on the other. "The mo- derator then desired that there might be a friendly conference, to see if by some means or other we could not make up the difference be- tween us, without going into the law : and after a long debate the Separatists were asked whether, if the creatures and all the goods that were taken from them by distress for their minister's rates in the year 1751 were returned, it would satisfy them, so that we might live to- gether like Christian friends and neighbors ? They answered, it
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would satisfy them for that year, with reasonable satisfaction, and no further. Then they were desired to bring in, in writing, what would content them ; which they did." The amount of this writing was, that they desired restitution to be made them from 1749, and one individual from 1748. " It was then earnestly requested of the Separatists, that, as we then did and do now believe we had a good right to do as we did, yet for peace's sake, we might meet one another and agree."
No agreement, however, was effected, and the meeting was brought to a close, after Nathaniel Walker, James Denison, Joseph Baker, John Tarbell and Moses Marcy had been appointed a Committee, " " to treat further with them." What success attended this negocia- tion does not appear from any surviving record. A candid and care- ful review of the whole subject, I think must convince any one, that, although it usually happens, when two parties are contending, that they are both in the wrong, these were both in the right ; one party having the authority of law on their side, the other being supported by the true and fundamental principles of religious freedom.
Twelve of those who separated from the Congregational Church, having for some time sustained a preacher of the same denomination, were at length baptized by immersion, together with their minister. Infant baptism, however, was not yet excluded from their Society, and open communion was still continued. A new separation at length was effected between them, and a regular Baptist Church was form- ed-one of the oldest and most respectable in the County. Those who still adhered to the peculiar views of the Separatists, held reli- gious worship by themselves but a short time after this subdivision, and then were disbanded ; some going to the Baptist Church, and some returning to the Congregational.
We now resume the history of the original Church, subjoined to which will be found a sketch of the Baptists from this date.
After the death of the Rev. Mr. Rice, two years elapsed before his successor in the pastoral office was settled. During this interval the pulpit was regularly supplied with preachers, among whom were Messrs. Storrs, Whitney, and Mills. On the 17th of July, 1760, the Church held a fast, in which the Congregation also joined, " to seek to God in Jesus Christ for light and direction in the settlement of a gospel minister, and to the Head of the Church to fit and qualify one with his gifts and graces for to be a minister of Jesus Christ for us ;" --- these are the words of the Church record. About six months af-
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ter this, another day was set apart for fasting and prayer, " in order to give the Rev. Mr. Joshua Paine a call."
Thus it appears that their enquiries respecting a candidate were directed, first of all to God, afterwards to those who were in a course of preparation for the ministry ; and that the leading qualifications for the pastoral office, in their view, were such gifts and graces as the Head of the Church bestows. When will the Churches again " ask for this old path and walk therein ?" It cannot be doubted, that by so doing they would be in a fairer way to " find rest for their souls," than by the hasty, if not the prayerless manner in which this important affair is despatched at the present day.
Mr. Paine was ordained June 17th, 1761. The settlement of a pastor in those days was not that common occurrence which it has now become. The contract between him and the people, like the marriage covenant, was for life; and it was deemed just about as im- proper and lawless in the one case as it was in the other, for the par- ties to put each other away "for every cause." It seldom happened that one generation witnessed two ordinations in the same place. The Ecclesiastical Councils, therefore, were large,* and the con- course of people immense. Mr. Paine was ordained on a platform erected under the brow of the Meetinghouse hill, the house itself being unable to contain the vast assembly that came together on that occasion.
As to the Meetinghouse it may here be observed, that by this time it poorly accommodated even the regular congregation on the Sabbath, if we may judge from the frequent petitions sent into town meetings by men and women, t for leave to build pews here and there, above and
* In proviling entertainment for the Council on this occasion the town voted £13 6s. 8d. Lawful Money, or $4-1,50-a sum, which at that time would purchase an entertainment at least three times as bountiful as can be furnished for the same money now. It was, in fact, just equal to the amount raised that year for the support of all the public schools in town !
t The following extract from the records of the March Meeting in 1762, is here given as a specimen .- " 'Then there was a petition from Hannah Allen, Elizabeth Hooker, Rhoda Clark, Dinah Allen, Abigail Mason, Susannah Solis, Lois Johnson, Mary Mason, Abigail Fay, Elizabeth Allen, Abigail Allen, Deborah Faulkner, Hannah Chub, and Elizabeth Chickering, shewing that the hind seat in the women's side-gallery is so low that they cannot see the min- ister, and the other seats are full and crowded, so that it is very uncomfortable sitting ;- pray- ing favor of the town, that the town would grant them liberty to build a pew where the hind seat is" &c .- " The petition was read, and after some debate thereon," was granted.
Whatever difference of opinion may exist in the community respecting the propriety of " women's petitions" to Congress, for the redress of national grievances, certainly no one in Christendom can discourage the weaker sex from making known their request in a grievance like this.
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below, wherever a nook or corner could be found for a pew to stand. It is reported by those who remember that house, that even the galle- ry stairs were scated from the bottom to the top with children and youth.
The subject of a new Meetinghouse began to be agitated in town meeting soon after Mr. Paine's ordination, and in 1773 there was a " clear vote" taken to build one ; which vote, however, was afterwards reconsidered, and the whole subject deferred, on account of the ini- pending contest with Great Britain. No sooner had the Revolution- ary war been brought to a close, than the Meetinghouse came again into remembrance. After various attempts and many long debates, the work was undertaken, and the frame of the present Congrega- tional Church was raised on the 20th and 30th days of June, 1784. It was not finished and dedicated to the worship of God till the expi- ration of two years and six months,-many embarrassments having been thrown in the way of the building committee by those who lived in parts of the town remote from the centre. The inhabitants of that part which is now included within the limits of Southbridge, in particular, made strenuous opposition ; and not without reason ; for many of them were obliged to travel from four, to seven miles, in coming to Church. This inconvenience, however, was remedied be- fore many years had elapsed by the erection of another house of wor- ship in that section of the town, and the organization of a distinct Society.
The Rev. Mr. Paine, having served God in the ministry of his Son for the space of 38 years, 6 months, and 11 days, rested from his labors on the 28th of December, 1799, in the 65th year of his age. He was a native of Pomfret, Ct. and a graduate of Yale College. He is represented as " a man of highly respectable talents, an im- pressive speaker, much estecmed by his people, and one who left be- hind him a salutary and lasting influence." The period of his labors in this place was one of peculiar discouragement to a minister. The public mind was kept in a state of agitation during almost the whole time-first, by the oppressive measures of Great Britain, then, by the Revolutionary war, and afterwards, by the pecuniary embarrassments consequent upon that exhausting struggle. So engrossing were the political affairs of the day, that vital religion lost, in a great measure, its power over the minds even of those who enjoyed the means of grace ; while a large proportion of the young men, who constitute the minister's brightest hope, were scattered through the land, as
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sheep without a shepherd, breathing the moral atmosphere of the camp and the battle-field.
The whole number gathered into the church during Mr. Paine's ministry cannot be definitely ascertained, as the records, embracing a period of 30 years, have unfortunately been lost. During the first 7 years of his labors, however, the number of the names was 54. There were found to be 112 resident members when his successor was settled.
Mr. Paine's pecuniary support, as fixed at the time of his ordina- tion, was a settlement of £200 Lawful Money, equal to 8666, and a salary of £66 13s. 4d. or $222. But the continual fluctuations in the value of money, rendered it necessary, almost every year, to change the nominal amount ; and amid all the distresses of the times, the records of the town show a determination, on the part of the people, to make good the value which they promised at first. They even continued the regular salary one full year to the widow of their de- ceased minister, besides raising money to supply the pulpit with stat- ed preaching. During a part of the year following his decease, they employed the Rev. Mr. Leonard, of the Baptist Church, and both congregations met once more in the same house --- a pleasing evidence of kind feelings, at that time, between the two denominations, which are not known to have been essentially interrupted since.
The Rev. Otis Lane, a native of Rowley, and a graduate of Har- vard University, was ordained as successor to Mr. Paine, Dec. 10th, 1800. The ordaining Council consisted of 18 Pastors and 26 Dele- gates-44 in all. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Abiel Holmes, D. D. of Cambridge, and was published soon after.
The conditions on which Mr. Lane was settled, left him at liberty to ask for a dissolution of the compact at any time when he might deem the reasons sufficient for doing it,-which reasons he was bound to communicate in writing to the other party at least one year before the final action thercon. The Society had liberty to do the same whenever two thirds of the legal voters should request it. This was the first instance in Sturbridge, and one of the first in the State, of any provision being made, in the settlement of a pastor, for dis- solving his connection with the people. It is now the common prac- tice. And although there is some diversity of opinion among good people respecting its utility, all must accede to the following proposi- tions .- 1. There may be causes which shall not only justify but de- mand a separation between the pastor and his flock. 2. When either
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party think that such causes exist, the separation will be effected, in some way or other, whether the contract makes provision for it or not .- 3. The more peaceably such an event can be brought to pass, the better it is for both parties. The truth of these propositions be- ing allowed, it seems to follow as a necessary inference, that there is reason for the modern practice, even if no other reason can be found than that which Christ has assigned for the Mosaic law of divorce, -the hardness of their hearts.
On the 30th of August 1801, a colony, consisting of 20 persons, took dismission from this church, for the purpose of being organized into what has since become the Congregational Church in Southbridge. I have already noticed the erection of a Meetinghouse in that part of the town. That house was commenced in 1797, and dedicated in 1800. The next year an Act was passed in the Legislature, " setting off a number of the inhabitants of the South East part of Sturbridge, the South West part of Charlton, and the West part of Dudley, into a Poll Parish, for the purpose of a Religious Society." These were of several different denominations, but they all came into an agree- ment, that each denomination should have their own minister a part of the time proportioned to the amount of money subscribed by each for the support of preaching. This arrangement continued for the space of 16 years, during which time 74 different ministers were em- ployed, embracing Congregationalists, Baptists, Universalists and Methodists. At length the Congregationalists, having sold their in- heritance in the Meetinghouse to the Baptists, were incorporated in- to a distinct Society, ordained a minister, and sustained public wor - ship by themselves in a private dwelling, till 1821, when they erect- ed the house in which they now worship God .*
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