USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Athol > History of Athol, Massachusetts > Part 10
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Rev. Linus H. Shaw
Rev. Stephen A. Barnard (Supply)
1844
Rev. E. J. Gerry (Supply)
1856
1859
(25) See L. B. Caswell's "Athol Past & Present," pub. 1899, pp. 52-54.
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CHAPTER XI DENOMINATIONS EVOLVE First Baptist Church 1767
TWO weeks before Christmas, 1770, those folk who had banded themselves together as Baptists since the arrival in 1765 of Isaac Estey from Connecticut, met at the home of Elder Whitman Jacobs on Chestnut Hill to install him as pastor over the initial parish to break from the First Church in Athol. These people had been waiting for some time for Rev. Jacobs to remove here from Thompson, Connecticut. To this council came delegates from the two nearest Baptist churches, Leices- ter and Sutton. The church then formed was known as the Baptist Church of Royalston and Athol, and is now the West Royalston Baptist Church.
Before 1770 the Baptists had erected a meeting house in the "Cripple Creek" section of Royalston, where the "Gassett Place" formerly stood, now in the upper reaches of the Tully Flood Control Reservoir. To this spot on the Sabbath Day in summer heat and winter snow, journeyed many Athol families, some coming from Lyon's hill and even farther south. Seth Twichell who lived just off the Petersham Road and John Oliver who resided even farther southeast both made this journey over nearly impassable roads. Daniel Davis has told me that when Deacon Estey came here from Connecticut, his wife Madam Estey was not physically able to ride horseback so the trip was made in a chaise. From Shutesbury to West Royalston two men accompanied her on foot, one each side to lift the wheels over the stumps and stones. It was over such roads as these that the first dissenters travelled weekly from six to nine miles.
Seth Twichell, John Oliver, and others had left the Church of Christ for definite reasons. They had come to disagree with the established church in Athol as a result of the fervent preaching of Rev. Isaac Backus of Middleboro who had jour- neyed through this region preaching, exhorting, and emphasiz- ing the particular tenets of the Baptist faith. Perhaps the incident that precipitated the break was the manner of con- ducting the singing. Up to this time the hymns had been
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"deaconed out," that is a line or two were read by the deacon, and then sung by the congregation, so on through the entire hymn. In 1773 the Orthodox Church voted 18 to 11 and the congregation 33 to 24 to provide themselves with psalm books and dispense with the deacon's services in this capacity.
This action so aggrieved some of the church members that an attempt was made to reconsider it. That failing, it was voted to read with singing half the time for four weeks if the unhappy parties would attend upon the worship. Thus a truce was made for a time but the matter was a sore trial to the church and resulted in the loss of some of its supporters. Deacon David Twichell resigned his office. Seth Twichell, Aaron Oliver and others sought sanctuary in the Baptist Church and were the subject of many protracted church meet- ings.
Solomon Goodale, Daniel Lamson, and Richard Morton, all residents of Athol, were received into the membership during the year 1773. Though we are lacking the names of all the early adherents, we do know that three years later, in 1776, Experience Eld, Ebenezer Ingols, Martin Morton, James Kelton, Rachel Ingols, Roxana Drake, Ebenezer Elliott, Sister Crosby, Jerusha Morton, Zadoch Howard, Experience Howard, Ben- jamin Dexter, Hannah Dexter, Leonard Lord, Lydia Crosby, John Ballard, Benjamin Powers, Seth Twichell, Jr., and Abner Twichell joined this church. A good majority of these names are connected with the early history of Athol. Hence we must assume that most of them were from Rev. Humphrey's church.
Nine harmonious years passed until one day in 1779 a council met at the house of Solomon Goodale to consider "a grievance" which arose between their pastor and a number of the members. The furor which ensued caused Elder Jacobs' dismissal in 1786 due to "a difficulty about his conduct." In quick succession Elder Jacobs left town, the Athol Church was estranged from the Baptist membership, the meeting house was removed close to the Warwick line, and all the Athol con- nections were severed forever.
This unfortunate experience, the weary length of the Revo- lutionary War, and the suit of law concerning payment of bounty between Eli Jacobs-the Elder's minor son-and the Town of Athol suppressed Baptist interests which became dor- mant for some years. (26) But differences in thought along the lines of religious creed were becoming more prevalent in New England. In response to this prevalence a considerable group
(26) W. G. Lord's "History of the First Baptist Church," pp. 10, 11.
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of our people continued to be non-conformists to the estab- lished faith. A Methodist circuit rider appeared here and a considerable number flocked to that faith, the result of which was the organization of the Methodist Church in the easterly part of Orange, which church was eventually the foundation of the present Methodist Church in Athol.
Then another apostle to the Baptist faith came among us. He was Elder Ebenezer Burt of Hardwick. Soon he gathered a group about him which was ultimately the nucleus of the present Athol Baptist Church. Among those who were attracted to this preaching were two former members of the West Roy- alston Church, "Uncle" John Ballard and Asa Smith. John Ballard lived on the old road leading from Lyons Hill to Pleasant Street west of Petersham Road. The present house on his farm being numbered 559 Petersham Road and was built by John Ballard's son, Joshua Ballard, in 1806. John Ballard had passed to his reward before the present organization was effected. Asa Smith, greatgrandfather of J. Clarence Hill, who lived in a house still standing at No. 35 Moore Hill Road and who was accepted into the Royalston Church in 1775, lived to become a constituent member of the organization as a branch church.
Others who were attracted to this faith were Aaron Oliver and brothers Isaac and Levi Briggs. Natives of Taunton, the Briggs brothers removed here about 1792 and were baptized on May 22. 1802 by Elder Burt. During the first ten years of the last century these men with several others became mem- bers of the Baptist Church in Templeton. In 1810 those mem- bers of the Templeton Church residing in Athol asked to be constituted into a branch church which was granted on the Lord's Day, June 24. 1810. This practice of establishing branches instead of independent bodies seems to have been considered the proper way of extending the principles of the faith during the first half of the last century.
Without a church building and without a minister the founders of our faith here. Asa Smith, Isaac Briggs, Aaron Oliver, Lucy Oliver, Benjamin Fairbank, Nancy Fairbank, Mary Mendall, Ruth Phillips, Violet Turner, Levi Briggs, and Seth Phillips met at various houses. Probably there were others but their names were never recorded on the church book.
Disagreements arose within the church over the War of 1812 which brought about its organization as an independent body, still without either a pastor or a church building. For seven years the church carried on in this fashion, meeting
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mostly in private homes but subsequently on alternating Sab- baths in School House No. 2 at about 1878 Pleasant Street and in the Brick School House pictured on page 61 which stood on the site of the present Main Street School.
But rarely they had the service of an ordained clergyman, and the meetings were in most part conducted by the Deacons Isaac Briggs, Aaron Oliver and later Levi Briggs. At length regular pastoral services were much wanted. Since Isaac Briggs had shown by his work that he possessed literary qualifications and much religious zeal, it was decided in the fall of 1820 that he should be ordained to this ministry.
A blacksmith, residing in the extreme southeast corner of the town, he was solemnly ordained a Baptist minister in his fifty-ninth year and installed as the first pastor over the Athol Baptist Church. It is said of him while conducting his services he would exhort until exhausted. Then while someone else took the floor he would sit in the corner and enjoy a smoke in the presence of his congregation.
Aaron Oliver, a convert at the early Methodist meetings and a power in this church for many years, was clerk of the first branch meeting, moderator of subsequent meetings, agent of the branch to settle with the Templeton Church, and deacon of the branch and the church from December, 1810 to his death on January 23, 1826.
One of the early converts to our church was Dr. Joshua Morton who lived at 457 South Main Street. Dr. Morton was son of Samuel Morton, one of the first settlers of our town. This story is told of him. As was the custom of the time, he mixed his own medicines and is said to have departed often from the usual method in treatment of a disease, much to the disgust of other local physicians. Whenever in the preparation of medicines he had a superfluous stock, he cast the remnants into a stone jar in his office room and whenever he was unable to diagnose any case he prescribed liberally from the stone jar as he was sure there was variety enough there to hit almost any case.
The story of his ignorance of Latin and the trap set for him is also familiar. Being unsuccessful in the treatment of a case he called two of his more liberally educated associates in counsel and when they advised a warm bath (using the Latin phrase therefore) Dr. Morton who always carried his medicines in his pockets, remarked that he was just putting his hand
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into his pocket to get that very thing, but he thought so powerful a medicine should be given in very small doses.
Not until October, 1828 was the first church building at 1782 Main Street dedicated. Soon after this achievement in- ternal dissensions depleted their ranks because of a general uprising throughout the United States against Freemasonry, engendered by the Morgan excitement which was sweeping the country.
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BAPTIST CHURCH, 1782 MAIN STREET, 1828-1848 CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1855-1883
From remote antiquity it had been considered an honor and advancement by Christian men to become associated with the membership of this most ancient craft and our church had doubtless swelled with pride as we recognized that our revered "Father" Andrews and some others of our membership were members of the Masonic orders. Almost in the twinkling of an eye this pride was changed to animosity and the heretofore envied ones were hailed before the church as traducers of the faith and summarily suspended from church privileges. It was thirty-five years before this church again openly counte- nanced Masonic membership. This anti-Masonic excitement
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coupled with Temperance, and finally in 1843 Millerism all but wiped out this the second religious society in Athol.
With much reluctance the church accepted the aged Elder Briggs' resignation as pastor on March 11, 1832 because of failing physical powers. The names of subsequent pastors, with their dates of service, follow the history of this church.
No special action was taken with regard to the Washington Temperance Movement during the life time of the revered Elder Briggs. After his death on July 12, 1837 the church soon took up the matter and eventually required that its members subscribe to the total abstinence pledge. Two members at that time were Mr. Stillman Stockwell and Jane, his wife. Mrs. Stockwell assented to the temperance pledge and lived more than seventy years a beloved member of this church. But Mr. Stockwell, although in no sense an intemperate man, refused to assent to this stricture upon his liberty and was expelled from membership. Mr. Stockwell had been an ardent worker in the building of the church and lived to an advanced old age, a respectable citizen of Athol. He subsequently affiliated with the Second Advent Church.
Moses Briggs, son of the first pastor, did not take kindly to the Temperance Movement and for a time felt that he must relinquish his membership as he knew "he could never get through haying without something to take." But by much prayer and persuasion he was won over and he remained a loyal member until his death.
The Second Advent Church, the outgrowth of this Millerism excitement, drew somewhat from the Unitarians, the Evangel- ical Church, and compelled the Baptists practically to cease functioning for several years. In fact the Baptist Church never re-established itself uptown.
Elder Lysander Fay exerted a powerful influence over the church for many years although never its regular pastor. Baptized into this church in 1828, ordained by it, and placed in charge of its South Orange Branch in 1834, he came to its aid in many an emergency. Later he was pastor at Royalston Center, and at New Boston, also preaching in Petersham and during the trying times from August, 1846 to May, 1848, when we were without a regular pastor, he officiated much of the time while he carried on his farm and saw mill interests.
Prominent in the early development of Athol, Job Fry was .another to whom this church owes much. As deacon, church
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DENOMINATIONS EVOLVE
clerk, and Superintendent of the Sunday School he was for a long time as near a dictator as is often found but it was a welcome service to the church.
About the time the iron horse made its triumphal entry into. town, the "Factory Village," now Athol business section, began to assert itself. It had the new depot, a store, a tavern, and a half dozen little industries but no church. The spirit of com- mercialism was rapidly making inroads into the traditions of all our Massachusetts' towns, and everywhere the quiet, sedate, residential beauty spot was in strong competition for its exist- ence with the hustling manufacturing village. Overtures were. made to the Baptist people to move here, the church and the community to share equally in the expense of a new building.
Depleted in membership, sorely in need of money, and des- titute of a pastor, our church treated with the new community (for such it virtually was) and arranged to abandon its house of worship erected a score of years before at the cost of so much deprivation and to cast its lot in with the residents of the lower village. The disused building was sold in 1855 to the Roman Catholic Church for $1000. Until 1884 it was used by them and then abandoned forever as a house of worship.
The accompanying picture of this building was drawn from descriptions by Mr. O. J. Bigelow, Mr. Converse Ward and a few others. Ths new building erected on land donated by Sally Fish was fearful and wonderful to behold. Built jointly by the citizens of this village and dedicated on February 14, 1849, the upper story or present auditorium was for use of the church, the basement or present vestry (Union Hall) for use of the general public. This arrangement, however, did not tend to produce the best feeling. The original agreement allowed the vestry to be used by the church as a vestry room for any purpose the stockholders might think expedient, but not at any time when religious worship was being held upstairs. It is said that in later years when members of the church disap- proved of some of the events in Union Hall, they found it convenient to hold an abnormally large number of services up- stairs.
The lower part or public hall was entered by two side doors. On one occasion a travelling man advertised an exhibition there, admission to be twenty-five cents per family. Joe Fay of mirthful memory gathered all the boys in town and pre- sented himself as their leader at the door. After some argu- ment he explained that they all belonged to the h-h-human family and were entitled to admission on one ticket.
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HISTORY OF ATHOL
Mr. Lucien Lord has told me that as a boy he came over here one evening with his father and his uncle, Mr. Luna Richardson, to see how the work was getting along. The timber contributed by the various donors did not look good and the men who contributed labor to the enterprise were not all skilled workmen. The combined result to the eye of a crafts- man like Mr. Richardson was far from pleasing. After looking
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SECOND BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE 1847 -1859
around in silence for a time he snapped out, "Cracks are cheaper than boards; why didn't they make it all cracks?"
Prosperity came to this Baptist Church during the next twelve years in the Depot Village.
In 1853 Elder Otis Converse came to this pastorate from Worcester, broken in health and seeking renewed vigor in the country. A man of large frame and powerful voice, he was what is commonly called an "exhorter," and he seems
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to have been successful in his efforts to rattle the dry bones in this valley during his comparatively short stay. Seventeen members were added during the first year of his service, which brought the church membership for the first time in its history to over a hundred souls.
During the time from 1850 to the close of the Civil War there came to this town from New Salem, Prescott, and that vicinity, a number of Baptist families who were a marked addition to the business, social, and religious life of our town. Athol owes much to the Hunts, Packards, Bangs, Sloans, Kings, Leonards, Smiths, Hamiltons, and others who were in- cluded in this migration. Not all of these were members of the church itself but most of them attended these services and were affiliated with this society. At what time a parish or society was organized in connection with the church I have no means of knowing, but from records on the church book it seems certain that one was in existence in 1820, although we have no society records back of 1869.
No sooner had these people established themselves here when dissatisfaction with the crude architecture of the church building eventually prompted their calling Elbridge Boyden, a native of Orange, for a time a resident of Athol but then of Worcester, a competent architect of his time, to design a new front and graceful spire. On December 28, 1859 the re- modelled building was dedicated. Upwards of $5000 was spent and the building remodelled so that its exterior appear- ance was practically what it was on September 21, 1938 when the spire was levelled by the disastrous hurricane. Fol- lowing this 1859 remodelling there came to the church what I have called a new era of prosperity. It began with the pas- torate of Rev. Charles Ayer of Southboro who started a sys- tematic revision of the church roll which seemed to bring the membership into closer touch with each other rather than elim- inating any considerable number. During his pastorate the memebership list again contained over one hundred names.
Without disparagement to the earnest labors of others | think I can safely say that the next pastor, Rev. George L. Hunt of Barre who came here in April, 1864, was as brilliant a man as ever occupied the pastorate of this body. He took the church while still struggling for its very existence, still rent by dissensions and estranged from the sympathy of the com- munity, and set about in an orderly and business way to rem- edy these defects. Within three years, however, he was prac- tically forced from the pulpit and again it seemed clear that the church and society had very little in common, unable to
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HISTORY OF ATHOL
do business together successfully for the same cause. In con- sequence the society declined to take any further action re- garding the vacant pastorate. This forced the hand of the church and compelled it to take steps to organize a legal body.
A new society was duly organized at the office of Charles Field, Esq. on May 9, 1867 and proved a successful and ben-
BAPTIST CHURCH 1859 - 1938
eficial one. Its records are full and complete, showing how the business interests were conducted for exactly a quarter of a century when the church having placed itself in position to transact its own business, the organization of the society was abandoned.
Marked by individual characteristics are the successful pas- torates of Rev. Darius H. Stoddard, quiet, sedate, and consid- erate, and Rev. J. C. Emery, whose mission was as much to
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arouse as his predecessor's had been to pacify. Almost simul- taneously with the close of Rev. Emery's service here in April, 1876 came the organization of the Second Unitarian parish to which a large group of our constituency flocked. Many of these people were avowed Unitarians but distance from a church of their own faith and the well known village rancor of those days had combined to keep them with us. When a church of their own became organized nearby they naturally went to it.
The pastorate of Rev. J. H. Cox in 1881 marked the begin- ning of modern times in our history. Though the old order was not at once swept away. it was eventually relegated to ob- livion. The plan of pew rentals was superseded by a method of voluntary weekly contributions, committees were chosen to take especial charge of the various branches of work, the an- nual church reunion and roll call were instituted, and much in- terior decoration of the church was done.
When the first wooden baptistry was built I cannot ascer- tain, although I well remember it. It must have been some .. time previous to the installation of the town water works in 1876 for it had no water connection except with the roof and was kept filled all of the time. During the first autumn of Mr. Cox's pastorate the present brick baptistry was installed and used for the first time on January 15, 1882.
The general overhauling of the church property was not brought about for some time although it was continuously agitated by the active members of the church and society. Eventually on June 8, 1885 the society appointed a building committee-Sereno E. Fay, Pardon D. Holbrook, and Augustus Coolidge-and appropriated $2500 for their use. The plans for the alterations were drawn by the veteran Elbridge Boyden and the inside of the auditorium was completely changed. One of the most noticeable changes was the installation of a new pipe organ where it stands today, thus doing away with the singers' seats in the rear of the room. New ceilings, side walls, pulpit arrangement, and pews also materially altered the appearance. The re-dedication of the building on October 1, 1885 was the great event of recent times for the church. Among the participants in this program were Revs. D. H. Stod- dard and E. M. Bartlett, and the honored Drs. George W. Bos- worth and Alvah Hovey of the Massachusetts Baptist Conven- tion.
During the latter part of Rev. Horace F. Brown's pastorate, steps were taken to incorporate the church under state laws.
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HISTORY OF ATHOL
It was felt that maintaining two organizations, church and society, was unnecessary and worse than useless. Aside from that, some of the church property was held by trustees which still further complicated the situation. During the summer of 1892 a charter was obtained, by-laws adopted, the property held by the various boards turned over to the new corporation, and the other organizations disbanded. This has proved to be of marked benefit to the church in the conduct of its business.
In the disastrous hurricane of September 21, 1938 the stately steeple which had been a land mark of beauty in this village since 1859 crashed to the ground. Repairs were hast- ily made but the steeple has not been restored, detracting greatly from the architectural beauty of the earlier building. In 1948-52 there has been a general repair program pursued, first to comply with more stringent restrictions on public as- sembly places, and later to make many needed repairs and al- terations.
An author is always torn between two decisions, one to ig- nore himself absolutely and all affairs with which he has been connected, and the other seemingly to emphasize his achieve- ments to comparative belittling of others. In this work I have attempted to follow a middle course and state without boast- ing the fact concerning my activities in this town for more than sixty years. I cannot refrain, however, from including here a commendation of my activities in this church which appeared in the local press, Athol Chronicle on November 27, 1931, the identity of the author of which I never knew.
"For thirty-nine years an active member in the Baptist Church, William G. Lord's guiding hand in its affairs has been of great worth. During the first few years of his membership his work was that of general service, here and there, but in 1904 he assumed an office which he has held continuously ever since, that of church treasurer. For years previous to this the financial affairs of the church had been conducted in a loose way and conditions had grown from bad to worse until a thorough reform seemed a necessity. Instead of making a strong and determined effort to raise the money needed, it was voted at that time to use certain endowment funds and this custom was followed until all of two endowments had been used.
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