USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sturbridge > Historical sketch of the First Congregational Church, Sturbridge, Mass. : read at the dedication of the new church, May 11, 1910 > Part 3
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Within a few weeks after Mr. Paine's death, the town voted "Unanimously to Come into some method to Settle a Gospel minister in the Center meeting house in Sturbridge," and when, a few months later, the definite question arose, what action the town would take for the encouragement of Mr. Otis Lane "to settle in this town in the work of the min- istry," it was voted that the town of Sturbridge should pay him $400 annually, "so long as he shall continue in the work of the ministry in this town." But a novelty was added in the proviso that in case a termination of the contract should be desired by Mr. Lane, or by "two thirds of the legal voters in this town of Mr. Lane's Society that are his hearers that pay taxes for his support," the party wishing the change should state reasons and give a year's notice, at the end of which time a Council might dissolve the relation "without making of it a question." Hitherto the settlement of a pastor had been for life. Did this new arrangement indicate. that during Mr. Paine's thirty-eight years of service a new generation had arisen that had been wanting a change? Be that as it may, the forming of this terminable contract with the new minister introduced a pastorate which was to prove full of discouragements. The atmosphere of town- meeting had become unsympathetic for the debate and de- cision of matters relating to the Church. The Baptist Society
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managed its own affairs by itself; but each year the question of Mr. Lane's salary came up in town-meeting, and a grudging grant was made of a sum "to be assessed upon M' Lane's hearers." Two or three times it was voted "not to raise money for the support of the Revª Otis Lane, " the evident intent being to throw the whole responsibility definitely upon the people of his own religious body; but apparently it was in each instance decided that the existing laws and the form of agreement at the time of the pastor's settlement required assessment of his salary by town authority. In 1811 it was voted that $100 for completing repairs on the center meeting- house be "assessed on M' Lane's hearers," as had come to be the case with the charges for care of the building. In the spring of 1815 Mr. Lane informed the town of his wish for a dissolution of the pastoral relation, giving as his reason: "the stipulated means of my support are found after a long and thorough trial to be greatly inadequate to the purpose. Hence have necessarily arisenembarrassments and perplexities evidently inconsistent with the office and a proper discharge of the responsibilities of a stated minister of Christ." To a town committee, which waited upon him "to hear his proposals," he replied, with unfortunate curtness, that "he had no proposals to make,"-a reply which apparently gave offence where none was intended, for at its next meeting, the following month, upon the article in the warrant, to see if the town would pay Mr. Lane a reasonable sum in view of the great increase in the cost of the "principal articles of use," it was voted to "allow him $200 in case he leaves town." With praiseworthy accuracy the town clerk adds the explan- atory note [the only one I have observed in the records cover- ing more than a century]: "The vote was passed in these words. I understand the meaning of the mover to be, when M' Lane ceased to be our Minister."
Months passed. Mindful of the terms of the contract, the town authorities summoned a special town-meeting to assemble one year and a day from the date of Mr. Lane's
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notice. It was an unprecedented condition which brought the voters to the meeting-house that day; a good deal of feel- ing had been aroused, and keen curiosity as to what the out- come was to be. But when the meeting was ready to listen to Mr. Lane, whose notice of a wish for dismissal had been for twelve months the talk of the town, he did not take the floor himself, nor did any representative of his speak a word in his behalf; whereupon the town voted "not to grant Revª Otis Lane any further assistance to enable him to continue preaching here." Almost another year had passed before Mr. Lane broke his silence, and then it was to withdraw his request for a dismissal,-a request which he had apparently made with no intent that it be granted, but merely in the hope that it might lead to the payment of a more adequate salary. In a thinly attended meeting of the Church, its members voted that they did not wish his dismissal, but in town-meet- ing a large majority, on a motion alleging "the divided state of the people," voted in favor of putting an end to Mr. Lane's pastorate. A church Council considered the situation, and declined to dissolve the pastoral relation; but a month later, the Church meantime having voted 7 to 3 that under existing circumstances it was expedient to dismiss the pastor, the Council did so, February 24, 1819, on the ground that the opposition to him was so great as to preclude his usefulness.
This unpleasant episode in our church annals has been told in some detail in order to make clear the tangled relations which still subsisted in many a Massachusetts community between the Church as a religious organization and the town. During his eighteen years of service here, this able and devoted minister felt himself constantly hampered and beset. To the embarrassments which were inherent in the situation, he added by his ill-judged and hardly ingenuous request for dismissal. Financial troubles were not the only discourage- ments which attended his work. In the year 1801 this Church suffered a secession of 20 of its members who later became the Congregational Church in Southbridge. Interest in
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religious matters was at a low ebb in the town, and the pastor's records-for in those days the pastor was also the clerk of the Church-show that he was downcast. But at length the long-delayed harvest began to appear. In the months from February to June, 1810-just one hundred years ago- he baptized fifteen persons. In the margin of the record he writes: "To the praise and glory of Divine Grace be it spoken and remembered that at this time God remembered mercy & poured out his spirit on this Church & people." But re- action followed: in the years 1814 to 1816 but one person was admitted to the church. "None, it seems, says 'Where is God, my maker?'" writes the disheartened pastor. Yet in the last year of his ministry, despite the controversy which had arisen, there began a deepening of religious feeling which resulted in the addition of thirty members to the Church.
During the summer of 1819 the Church determined to extend a call to the Rev. Alvan Bond, a recent graduate of Andover, who had been supplying the pulpit, and through a committee requested the town to concur in their choice and to make provision for his support. The warrant for this special town-meeting summoned only "the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Sturbridge qualified by law to vote in the settlement of a Congregational minister." By a large vote it was decided that Mr. Bond should "be the religious teacher of this Society." A salary of $600 was voted to him, and the contract was to be terminable after six months' notice at the option of either party. The new pastor was greatly cheered by the large accessions at the beginning of his service here. But soon the tide ebbed. In 1822 there was but one member admitted, and that person came by letter. In the following year two were admitted by letter and only one on confession of faith. The record's margin contains the very human comment : "Here commences a time of stupidity." In the next two years there were no accessions : they are notedas: " Years of declension till Novem- ber, 1825." But the pastor had been tireless in his labors,
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and the harvest now was ripe. In the year 1826, 55 persons united with this Church, and the record's margin breaks forth: "This year God appears in his glory to build up Zion. To him be all the glory!" Five years later there was another great revival which brought 44 new members into the Church. In the midst of this time of refreshing, the pastor requested a dismission that he might accept the professorship of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary at Bangor, Me. His devoted people granted his request, regretfully recognizing his "call to a more elevated station of usefulness."
On the day before Mr. Bond's dismission a young man, fresh from his studies at Andover, preached his first sermon here, and when, a week later, the Society* voted to "employ a public Teacher of Religion," it was this Mr. Joseph S. Clark whom they directed their prudential committee to employ "as a candidate for settlement in the work of the Ministry, if they can so agree with him." A month had not passed before both Church and Society, by unanimous vote, were ready to concur in extending to Mr. Clark a call to "settle with them in the work of the Ministry as their Pastor and Teacher." In his letter of acceptance, he wrote: "By the good providence of God, I am now ready as much as in me lies to preach the Gospel of Peace to you at Sturbridge." Such was the auspicious beginning of a most harmonious and fruitful pastorate. The young minister entered upon his work with zeal. In a single year "94 were added to the church by profession and 11 by letter." An active campaign was carried on, along many lines, against intemperance, with the result that this vice which had been "the occasion of a very great proportion of cases of discipline in the church and more dishonor to religion than any other sin," was greatly reduced.t In 1834 the town was divided into districts
*For the organization of the parish or Society, see p. 45.
tThe Church adopted a vigorous set of resolutions, May 15, 1834, including the following: "That every Christian Church ought to practice entire abstinence from ardent spirit as a drink, and that no person ought to be admitted into the Church of Christ and no one shall hereafter be received into this Church but upon the practice of entire abstinence from the use, the manufacture and the sale of ardent spirit as a drink."
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embracing from 12 to 20 members, and to each of these were assigned two brethren to visit from house to house, and hold meetings. Results were soon apparent. In 1836 the mem- bership of this Church reached its high-water mark,-337, of whom 115 were males and 222 females. The following year was one of great industrial depression throughout the country, and agitation over the slavery question was felt to be causing "spiritual dearth" in this community; yet the pastor's record for that discouraging year reads: "The Sabbath School was never known to be in a more flourishing state. . . The number in the central School is increased to nearly 400; the Infant School to about 60. A school was also gathered in the Southern section of the town, numbering 50 or more, which has been maintained through the season." When ill health compelled Mr. Clark to seek dismission in December, 1838, he could record that during these seven years of service in this, his only pastorate, "the Lord has added to this Church 203 by profession, and 56 by letters of recommendation, 259 in all. The whole number now connected with it is 325."*
Mr. Clark was the first historian of Sturbridge. His "Historical Sketch, " an address delivered July 4, 1838, ten days after the centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town, and his outline of Sturbridge "Ecclesiastical History," delivered in his own church the following Sunday, are addresses of exceptional merit, to which every later student of Sturbridge history must turn with gratitude. They reveal qualities of mind and heart which must have added greatly to his effectiveness as a public teacher of
*Within six months after his regretted withdrawal from this pastorate, Mr. Clark was appointed Secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, in which position he rendered many years of effective service. Two of his children have continued in missionary labors. His son, a native of this town, for many years Editorial Secretary of the Congregational Home Missionary Society, we welcome here to-day as the preacher of the dedicatory sermon (The Rev. Joseph B. Clark, D. D.) His daughter, Mrs. Caswell-Broad, for seventeen years worked among the Seneca Indians in Western New York, was then actively engaged in the North End Mission in Boston, and later entered the service of the American Home Missionary Society as Secretary of the Woman's Department.
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religion in this community. The annual "Summaries" which he inserted in the Church records are very human documents. After comparing the pages which bear his writing with the records of the past forty years, I can not help deploring the change by which the pastor ceased to be the clerk of the Church. Within my own memory four men before the present incumbent have served as pastors of this Church, yet except for two sets of valedictory resolutions-not the most valid material for the historian-I defy any man to detect in the records or documents of this Church a trace of the personality of these men who have been charged with the chief respon- sibility in carrying on the work of the Church among us. What have they sought to do? What methods have they proposed and tried? What obstacles have they encountered? What Christian co-operation have they received? What has been effected? Hardly a hint to the answer to such questions is to be found in the records. They are perfunctory minutes of parliamentary proceedings and statistics of bap- tisms, and of church membership. Interesting and signifi- cant changes have been taking place in the spiritual life of this town during these two-score years. I cannot help thinking that it would have meant much not only for church history but also for church life, if each of these pastors had felt it incumbent on him to attempt the difficult task of recording these changes, as they affected the life and work of this Church. Nor can I doubt that a systematic and effec- tive religious leader in such a community as this would find it a stimulating if not always a cheering task, if at the end of each year, he should follow the example of Pastor Clark, and set down, for future generations to read, a "Summary," an annual "balance-sheet" of the work in that corner of the Lord's vineyard committed to his charge.
With the withdrawal of Mr. Clark, there ended the fifth pastorate of this Church. The service of those five men had spanned two years more than a century. It is significant of a wide-spread change in ecclesiastical relations that the
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next five pastorates filled but fifty years, while, since 1888 we have had four acting pastors, no one of whom has been installed. It is impossible in the time at my disposal to attempt more than the barest summary of what we might call the mediaeval and modern, as contrasted with the ancient history of this Church.
LATER PASTORATES.
Within a few weeks of the resignation of Mr. Clark, the Church voted unanimously to extend a call to the Rev. David R. Austin. The Society concurred, and on May 1, 1839, he began a pastorate of devoted service which continued for twelve years and five months. In the first year of his work here he recorded: "The tone of religious feeling has been very low during the year past. Oh that we may experi- ence a refreshing from the presence of the Lord." Special efforts resulted, the following year, in a growing number of admissions to the Church. During his pastorate the access- sions numbered 205,-148 on profession of faith and 57 by letter; but these were more than offset by the very large losses, 211,-86 by death and 125 by letter to other churches. "The year 1849" he writes "may be regarded as a year of special judgment to this Chh. and to the inhabitants of this town. The pestilence that walketh in darkness and wasteth at noonday has swept ten of our most highly esteemed and valued members into eternity, . . all strong and polished pillars in this Zion, 57 persons have died in this town during the year, almost double the usual mortality. An epidemic proved fatal to adults in the Spring and the dysentery to children in the Summer. There has been no special attention to religion in this Chh. during the past year; not one has been added to its numbers by profession." "Desirous of relieving in some measure the burdens of those who remain," Mr. Austin voluntarily relinquished $50 of his salary. In the summer of 1851, his request for a dismission because of con- tinued ill health was reluctantly granted. In his last entry
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in the Records he declared: "Great harmony and peace have prevailed. . . Nothing but an imperious necessity could induce me to leave so delightful a field of labor."*
For eight or nine months the Church remained without a pastor, there being a feeling on the part of a considerable number that it was "not expedient & in the circumstances in which we are placed to give a call to any one." June 2, 1852, the Rev. Hubbard Beebe was installed; two years later (October 24, 1854) because of the inadequacy of his salary and the feeling that the labors and embarrassments of his position were proving too severe a tax upon his strength," he was dismissed at his own request, having made little impress upon the Church or community. t
For nearly eighteen months the Church remained without a pastor. Then the Rev. Sumner G. Clapp, who for some time had been supplying the pulpit very acceptably, was installed. He was a man of peace, who won the affections of his people. In 1862, mindful of the increasing financial burdens of the community, as "a duty and privilege," he voluntarily relinquished a considerable portion of his salary. Because of advanced years and ill-health, at his own request he was dismissed, Sept. 2, 1862, cherishing the most cordial feeling for the people among whom he had labored.
His successor was the Rev. Marshall B. Angier, installed July 1, 1863. During his pastorate of four years 84 persons united with the Church on profession of their faith, 41 being admitted on one Sunday (July 3, 1864). Benevolent con- tributions were substantially increased and the meeting-house was turned upon its foundation, and thoroughly renovated at an expense of about $2500. But the pastorate, which
*Mr. Austin found in South Norwalk, Ct., a climate better suited to his health. He continued in the pastorate in that place till 1865, and died there in 1879.
+Mr. Beebe became pastor of the Congregational Church in West Haven, Ct. Later he engaged in secretarial work successively with the American Sunday School Union, the American Bible Society, and the American Seamen's Friend Society. He died June 21, 1885.
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ended June 5, 1867, was a turbulent one, and left the Church sadly divided .*
In the fall of the same year the Rev. Martin L. Richard- son, who had been pastor of the neighboring Evangelical Church in Globe Village, was engaged as acting pastor; he was installed June 29, 1871. Knowing thoroughly the diffi- culties through which the Church had been passing, he strove earnestly to heal the breach. He proved himself a useful citizen, serving the town as a member of the school committee and as a representative in the General Court. He was a musician of taste and skill, and a zealous helper in the work of temperance and literary societies in the community. Toward the end of this pastorate a radical change was made in the Sunday program which had obtained for nearly 150 years: by vote of the Society in 1885 it was decided to have but one preaching service on the Sabbath. Until that time there had been a sermon both morning and afternoon, and a less formal service in the evening. Mr. Richardson was dismissed Oct. 14, 1888, having rounded out twenty-one years of service of this Church and community.
These five later leaders, like their predecessors, here fought the good fight, against foes often harder to vanquish than many the first pastors encountered. For economic and industrial conditions changed the whole aspect of the town. In our shops and mills, yes and on our farms as well, the place of families who for generations had worshipped in the old meeting-house on the hill were taken by people whose race and creed were such that this Church could not minister to
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*It is something more than a coincidence that the Unitarian Society in Sturbridge was organized during this pastorate, by persons who professed "a growing dissatisfac- tion with the ministrations of Religion in Sturbridge, "-a feeling that those minis- trations did not answer "the wants of individuals craving a higher form of intellectual culture and a more comforting and encouraging dispensation of its truths." Preamble to report of the preliminary meeting, March 14, 1864.
After leaving Sturbridge, Mr. Angier held pastorates of Congregational Churches in Haydenville, Ipswich and Foxboro. In 1892 he became acting pastor of the Pres- byterian Church in Windsor, N. Y., and held that position at the time of his death, Feb. 25, 1894.
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their religious needs nor enlist their membership and support. Largely in consequence of these changes it came about that, despite large accessions in two or three periods of revival, the admissions to this Church on profession of faith and by letter have fallen far short of making good the losses by death and by removal from town.
There are those in this presence who recall every one of these men. They have now all passed to their reward, with the exception of Mr. Richardson, who, though retired from the ministry, is still rendering efficient and valued Christian service as one of the overseers of the poor in the town of Montague, Massachusetts. We had all hoped that we might have his benignant presence with us to-day, and that we might hear again the noble voice which for so many years led this people in prayer and in praise. Letters have been received expressing his deep regret that he found it impossible to participate in a service in which he has the keenest interest.
The following names complete the list of pastors of this Church :
Theophilus Beaizley, 1888-1891. Alexander Wiswall, 1891-1892. Augustus M. Rice, 1893-1902. John C. Hall, 1902 to the present time .*
*BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
THEOPHILUS BEAIZLEY:
Born in Tipton, Staffordshire, England, 1833. Received his theological training in the London Theological Seminary. He was sent to Australia by the London Missionary Society in 1858. His longest pastorates were in Sydney, N. S. W., and Woodland, California. Since leaving Sturbridge he held pastorates of the Presbyterian Church at Anaheim and later at Fullerton, Cal. He died at the latter place, Feb. 15, 1908.
ALEXANDER WISWALL:
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, 1846. Graduate of Dartmouth College, 1873; Bangor Theological Seminary, 1879. Since leaving Sturbridge he has held pastor- ates of Congregational Churches in Upton and Uxbridge, Mass.
AUGUSTUS M. RICE:
Born in Granby, N. Y .; reared in Minnesota and served one year in Union Army in cavalry regiment from that State. Graduated, University of Wisconsin, 1870; Chicago Theological Seminary, 1873. Mr. Rice came to Sturbridge from the pastor- ate of the Congregational Church in Royalston, and is now pastor of the Congrega- tional Church in Dunstable, Mass.
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Of these later pastors, Mr. Beaizley died, a few years ago. It is a gratification to us all that both Mr. Wiswall and Mr. Rice have found it possible to accept the invita- tion to take part in this service which means so much for the people among whom they once labored.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
Beneath the murmuring pines in the burying-ground yonder for scores of years have rested from their labors the first three pastors of this Church. Standing as a boy before their quaint and crumbling headstones, my imagination used to picture them as grave and venerable leaders of a staid and sober flock. But the record reveals them in a different light. As Caleb Rice was the first, so he was also the youngest of the pastors of this Church. He signed the covenant as one of the fourteen original members of the Church in "New Medfield" at the age of twenty-four,-a young man with young men; for it should be remembered that this frontier community was settled mainly by the children of the Pro- prietors and by other youthful pioneers who had pushed forward to this remote hamlet to grow up with the country. The average age at which the first four pastors began their service here was twenty-seven years.
Yet their youth did not make them disposed to be lax in matters of Church discipline. Applicants for membership in the Church were required to make a statement to the whole Church of as much of their Christian experience as they deemed proper, or to give the Church satisfaction in some other way. The Church chest contains scores of these so-called "Experimental Relations," belonging to the second pastorate. They show an anguished searching of heart
JOHN C. HALL:
Born in Washington, Me , 1859. Graduated from Bowdoin College, 1885; from Bangor Theological Seminary, 1889; graduate student, 1889-90. Mr. Hall was pastor of the Congregational Church in Sutton, Mass., 1891 to 1902. His service in Sturbridge began in the summer of 1902.
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