History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 190

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 190

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The Congregational Church in West Taunton .--- The division of sentiment in the First Parish at the close of Rev. Mr. Judson's ministry in 1790 led to a separation, all the church but three men and one woman leaving the parish, and worshiping apart .first in Deacon Isaac Tubb's barn, and afterwards in a meeting-house built in the west part of the town be- yond the Episcopal glebe, and not far from the Oak- land burial-place. This place of worship continued till 1824, when the present meeting-house in West- ville was built in what was considered a more central location.

Rev. Mr. Judson supplied the church for a time, followed by temporary supplies from Messrs. Preston, Wines, Farrington, and Ogdon. The last named died, and was buried in the churchyard, his stone bearing the following inscription : " In memory of Mr. Nath. Ogdon, A. B., of Fairfield, N. J., Preacher of the Gospel, who died July 11, 1796, aged 28. He had preached only seven Lord's Days when our high ex- pectations of his future usefulness were suddenly blasted."

Rev. Samuel W. Colburn was the first settled min- ister, his ministry extending only from 1809 to the latter part of 1812. On the 19th of April, 1815, Rev. Alvan Cobb was ordained and installed his successor, whose pastorate wasa long and most useful one, ex- tending to the period of his death in 1861, April 2, nearly forty-six years. He was contemporary and in- timately associated with Rev. Orin Fowler, of Fall River ; Rev. Sylvester Holmes, of New Bedford ; Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., of Mattapoisett ; Rev. Con- stantine Blodgett, D.D., of Pawtucket ; Rev. Thomas Shepard, D.D., of Bristol; Rev. Thomas Andros, of

The " Church Green," as it is called, is one of the : Berkley ; Rev. Philip Colby, of North Middlebor-

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ough ; Rev. Erastus Maltby, of Taunton ; and Rev. Enoch Sanford, of Raynham, all of whom but the last have passed away, and most of whom were for many years members of the Taunton Association of Ministers.

Mr. Cobb was considered the equal, if not superior of them all in theological learning and accurate Bib- lical scholarship. He had a theological school in his house in West Taunton, and many young men, of whom Rev. Mr. Richmond, his successor in the pas- toral office, was one, received their theological train- ing with him. The great influence of the man, not only in his parish but in other parts of the town and the adjoining country, well illustrated the power of a permanent ministry.

Mr. Cobb wrote considerably for the press, and sev- eral of his sermons were printed. From a manuscript historical discourse I learn, "The first Sabbath-school in Bristol County was organized in connection with this church in 1816. Several seasons of unusual re- ligious interest have been enjoyed,-the first in 1815, when seventeen were received to the church. In 1820 there was a still larger accession of thirty. In 1825 the new meeting-house of the society was dedi- cated by a memorable season of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when the whole parish was reached and nearly sixty brought into the church. Rev. A. Net- tleton was an honored instrument in doing great good at that time. In 1830-31, a fourth precious awaken- ing occurred ; as the fruit of it thirty-six professed religion, and united with the church. In 1838-39 there was a more limited season of refreshing ; twenty- six were added to the church. In 1840 there was a further addition of six."

Mr. Cobb was twice married, (1) to Mary Ingraham, of Pawtucket, who died Sept. 13, 1846; (2) to Abiah F. H. Cobb, of Boston, who died March 15, 1875. His only son, Alvan Emmons, is dead, leaving two sons, Zenas and Charles, who live in Attleborough, and are engaged in the jewelry business.

On the decease of Rev. Mr. Cobb, in 1861, Rev. Thomas T. Richmond, related through his mother to Rev. Mr. Tobey, long time preacher in Berkley, and who studied theology with Mr. Cobb, succeeded him in the gospel ministry. He was the choice of his predecessor as well as of the people, and the wisdom of their choice is proved by the permanency of the pastoral relation, which continues to the present time. Mr. Richmond's ministerial capacity had been tested in Dartmouth and Medfield, of this State, Newmar- ket, N. H., and other fields of labor, and 1882 con- pleted half a century since ordination vows were first assumed, making the West Taunton pastor the oldest in active service in the State. The first wife of Mr. Richmond was Relief, daughter of Mr. Jesse Smith, of Taunton. His present wife a niece of Mrs. Cobb and daughter of Mr. George J. Homer, an eminent merchant of Boston.

The Trinitarian Congregational Church, Broad-

way .- As the population in the central part of the town increased, and the few who attended the West- ville Church grew weary of the long distance, the proposition for another Congregational Church was favored, and accordingly organized Aug. 17, 1821, con- sisting of twenty-nine members, of whom twenty-five were women. They commenced public worship in the town hall, moved thence to the court-house, where they continued till the spring of 1833, when they took possession of their new meeting-house, standing nearly opposite the present City Hotel, and which was occupied as their place of worship for twenty years, when they removed to the costly stone church on Broadway.

Their first pastor was Rev. Chester Isham. He was born in West Hartford, Conn., in 1798, was graduated at Yale College in 1820, and was a classmate and room-mate of Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D., so long of New Haven. Mr. Isham's settlement in Taunton was Feb. 18, 1824, and he died in Boston, at the house of Dr. B. B. Wisner, of the Old South Church, April 25, 1825, the day after his return from a trip to Cuba, where he spent the winter, hoping to recover his health. Not only Taunton, but New Haven, Boston, and the country generally mourned the loss of a young minister of great promise. As the news reached Taunton, and the bells tolled, there was " great lamentation over him." His very dear friend, Dr. Bacon, preached the funeral sermon, and pre- pared the inscription on the stone which marks the place of his burial on "the Plain."

Mr. Isham was succeeded by Rev. Erastus Maltby, who died Wednesday, March 28, 1883, a pastor emer- itus among the people of his first love. Mr. Maltby was born in Northford, Conn., graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1821, pursued his theological course at An- dover, was ordained and installed pastor Jan. 18, 1826.

" The whole membership of the church at the time of his settlement," writes the compiler of the Manual of the church in 1881, " was seventy-one, and the congregation was very small. But they were deter- ! mined, and wrought and sacrificed vigorously. Giv- ing up from this time all aid from the Home Mission- ary Society, by the divine blessing on the efforts of pastor and people the church grew and the meeting- house filled up. Seventy-four were added the first year, and the next year the house was enlarged to accommodate two hundred more than formerly. From that time progress was assured. Ten years after the installation of Mr. Maltby the house was uncomfortably full, and no pews could be obtained. At this time the question of colonizing came up, and in January, 1837, forty-four members were dis- missed and organized as the Spring Street Church. This was the beginning of the Winslow Church. In 1850, after a revival which added sixty-nine to the church, the house of worship again proved inade- quate, and the corner-stone of the present stone edi-

TAUNTON.

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fice was laid Aug. 19, 1851. The house was finished in the ensuing year, and dedicated Sept. 29, 1852." In 1853 and 1868 members were dismissed to aid in constituting churches in East Taunton and Whit- tenton.

" In 1870," continues the Manual from which we have already quoted, " after forty-five years of ser- vice with the one church of his ministry, Mr. Maltby resigned the active duties of his pastorate. During his long service he had received eight hundred and sixty members into the church, and baptized six hundred and eighty-six persons. By vote of the church the pastoral relation was not formally dis- solved, and he still remained pastor emeritus.

" In 1871 the church extended a call to Mr. Stephen M. Newman, a member of the graduating class of Andover Seminary, and he was ordained October 17th.

" In 1872 a parsonage was erected on School Street, and in 1877 some important alterations and improve- ments were made in the audience room of the house of worship.

"Mr. Newman was dismissed in July, 1878, and removed to Ripon, Wis.

" After an interval of nearly two years, Rev. Her- man P. De Forest, of Westborough, Mass., accepted the call of the church and society, and was installed April 14, 1880.

" The whole number of admissions to the church during its history is one thousand and twenty-two."

The memory of some of the earlier members of the church, who were chosen its deacons, is still very precious,-Jezaniah Sumner, William Reed, Joseph Wilbar, Richmond Walker, Francis Richmond, Ben- jamin C. Hatch.

The Winslow Church .- The next church distinc- tively Congregational organized in Taunton was named, after the street where it worshiped, the Spring Street Church. Its membership of forty-four, with the exception of two from the West Taunton Church, came entirely from the Trinitarian Congre- gational Church, whose history has just been given. Its organization was in 1837, January 12th. S. Hop- kins Emery, who studied at Amherst and Andover, was ordained and installed its first pastor Nov. 23, 1837, continuing in that relation until called to Bedford, January, 1841. Rev. Lathrop Taylor, a graduate of Middlebury College in 1839, succeeded him May 16, 1843, and resigned in July, 1845. He has been many years a most successful minister of the gospel in Illi- nois. The first pastor of the church was recalled and reinstalled Jan. 6, 1847, remaining pastor until the latter part of 1855, when he left to take the pastorate of the First Congregational Church in Quincy, Ill., where he remained fourteen years, preaching after- ward for limited periods in Chicago, Providence, Bridgeport, Conn., and North Middleborough, Mass. He was called to Taunton for the third time, and is now serving as secretary and superintendent of the

Associated Charities of Taunton. The Spring Street Church on leaving its first place of worship in 1853, March 23d, for its new sanctuary, dropped its first name, and, in memory of Governor Edward Winslow, who in 1621 journeyed through the place, became the Winslow Church. Rev. Mortimer Blake, then the minister of Mansfield, was called to this church in 1855, and has remained its pastor twenty-seven years, with the manifest approval of heaven upon his labors.

Dr. Blake, born in Pittston, Me., but early removed to Franklin, Mass., graduated from Amherst College in 1835, and studied theology with Rev. E. Smalley, D.D., of Franklin, afterward of Worcester and Troy, N. Y. He was first installed in Mansfield Dec. 4, 1839, and over the Winslow Church Dec. 4, 1855.

The membership, at first but forty-four, has since increased to four hundred and ninety-four, of whom more than half have died or removed, leaving now two hundred and ten members. The church build- ing was enlarged in 1872 to accommodate its growing congregation, and was repaired and modernized within in 1882. It has been from the beginning a strong and united body, ready for every good word and work. There are names in its early history which should never be forgotten,-Roswell Ballard, John, William, and Hodges Reed, Philander W. Dean, and their wives, with others of precious memory. The present deacons of the church are Edgar H. Reed and An- drew S. Briggs.

The Congregational Church1 (Trinitarian), East Taunton .- This was the next church of this order in Taunton. Organized with thirteen members the 16thı of June, 1853, it has been served by pastors as follows :

Rev. N. Richardson, who commenced labor in a school-house in the month of April prior to the or- ganization. He continued with the church only one year, preaching in a chapel built by the Old Colony Iron Company.

He was followed by Rev. James R. Cushing, who began his ministry May 7, 1854, and closed it in 1861. A church edifice was built and dedicated early in his ministry, which, with some alterations, is still in use.

From 1861 to 1863 the pulpit was supplied, princi- pally by Rev. Mr. Harding, of Boston, without be- coming a resident pastor.

Rev. G. G. Perkins commenced his ministry May 5, 1863, and closed it in May, 1866, removing to the West.

Rev. Frederic A. Recd, a native of Taunton, after supplying the pulpit three months, became pastor Nov. 1, 1866, and so continued till June, 1876.

He was followed by Rev. H. P. Leonard, who began his ministry in September, 1876, and closed it Aug. 31, 1879.

Rev. William H. Wolcott, the present pastor, entered upon his labors with the church Feb. 1, 1880.

1 For the facts in this notice I am indebted to Rev. W. H. Wolcott, present pastor.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The present membership of the church is seventy- six.

In June, 1861, E. W. Cain and Cyrus Caswell were chosen deacons, Deacon Cain having served in that capacity from the beginning without formal appoint- ment. Deacon Caswell died Feb. 11, 1875. D. C. Wentworth was chosen to that office March 7, 1875.

The Union Congregational (Trinitarian) Church1 in Taunton was organized in the year 1868. For many years efforts had been made to sustain public worship in Whittenton and vicinity, the Baptist and Methodist denominations having occupied the ground at different times. At a meeting held Nov. 14, 1867, the Union Society of Whittenton was formed for the maintenance of public worship, and a constitution was adopted. At a meeting of this society held Dec. 25, 1867, it was voted to invite Rev. Isaac Dunham, of Westport, Mass., to preach the gospel here. Mr. Dunham accepted the invitation, and commenced his labors early the following year, and steps were at once taken towards the regular formation of a Church of Christ.

At a meeting held March 16, 1868, at the house of Charles L. Lovering, Rev. Isaac Dunham, chairman, and C. L. Lovering, scribe, on motion of Barnes L. Burbank, it was voted to adopt a confession of faith and covenant which had been drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Dunham. The substance of this confession and covenant is the same as that usually adopted by churches of the same faith. It was then voted to send invitations to the Trinitarian Congregational, Winslow, and West (Taunton) Churches, to the church in Assonet, and to the Second Congregational Church in Dorchester, and also to the Rev. Henry B. Hooker, D.D., of Boston, to assemble in council here at some appointed date to give advice, and to take action, if expedient, in the matter of the formation of a church.

It was also voted that a committee, consisting of Rev. I. Dunham, B. L. Burbank, and N. N. Gleason, be appointed to issue the letters missive, and to make other necessary arrangements for the' formation of a church.

The council called by these letters missive was convened at Whittenton, Thursday, April 2, 1868, and consisted of the individual and the pastors and delegates of the churches already indicated. Rev. E. Maltby was chosen moderator of the council, and Rev. F. H. Boynton scribe.

The usual steps being taken, the persons desirous to constitute a new church, twenty-four in number, bringing letters from other churches, were consti- tuted an Evangelical Christian Church.

The fellowship of the- churches was extended to this new church by Rev. M. Blake, D.D. Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Hooker, and Rev. T. T.

Richmond gave the charge. On the same day an evening service was held, and a sermon preached by Rev. E. Maltby.

At a meeting of the church held April 17, 1868, B. L. Burbank was chosen deacon ; Rev. I. Dunham, clerk ; and Messrs. Dunham, Burbank, and Lovering were chosen to prepare by-laws and make regulations for the government of the church, which by-laws and regulations were duly prepared and accepted.

Rev. Isaac Dunham resigned his office as acting pastor of the church Jan. 6, 1873, and Rev. H. Morton Dexter was called to the pastorate, his ordination and installation taking place April 30, 1873. At the same time also the new and beautiful house of wor- ship, at the corner of Britannia and Rockland Streets, was dedicated with appropriate services.

The affairs of the church, temporally and spirit- ually, have been prosperous from the first. At one time twenty-four persons were added, at another time twenty-five, and on another occasion forty-seven. This increase was almost wholly "on confession."

Rev. Mr. Dexter resigned his office November 10th, and was dismissed by council Nov. 25, 1878.

Rev. John W. Ballantine was ordained to the min- istry, and installed pastor of this church March 18, 1879, and was dismissed Nov. 8, 1881.

Rev. Edward N. Pomeroy was invited to serve the church as acting pastor for six months, commencing Jan. 1, 1882, at the expiration of which time he ac- cepted an invitation to the pastorate, and was in- stalled Oct. 18, 1882.

William Holmes was elected deacon Nov. 26, 1873, and Elijah Tolman, Nov. 23, 1876. The clerks of the church have been Rev. Isaac Dunham, Rev. Morton Dexter, Rev. John W. Ballantine, and Frank L. Fish. Samuel W. Grimes has been the clerk of the society. Charles L. Lovering has been the superintendent of the Sunday-school.

The whole number of names npon the church rolls is (Jan. 1, 1883) two hundred and thirty-seven. The actual membership is one hundred and eighty- five. The membership of the Sunday-school is two hundred and twenty-five. The number of families connected with the congregation is one hundred and fifty. -

We have alluded to the separate meetings set up in the new towns set off from Taunton in 1711, 1712, 1725, 1731, 1735, and 1736, but these were all of the Congregational order. Other forms of polity and faith found favor with the people in due time, and in different parts of Taunton other denominations of Christians became known. Some of these have dis- appeared and their history is all in the past. Early as 1720, Rev. Mr. Danforth, in a letter to Cotton Mather and other Boston ministers, alludes to a meet- ing distinct from his own " in a corner" of his parish. This was a meeting of a Society of Friends, which has not existed for many years. The Sandemanians

1 The present pastor, Rev. E. N. Pomeroy, has kindly furnished the history of this church.

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TAUNTON.

had a meeting in 1785, of whom Mr. Daniel Brewer was a leading member. This has long ceased to exist.

A Six-Principle Baptist Church was organized in 1789, holding their meetings first in North Rehobothı, and afterwards in West Taunton, to which Rev. Josephus W. Horton preached a considerable length of time. But this church and their meetings have come to an end.

So also in the present century the Christian Bap- tists built a church and worshiped many years on Trescott Street, but the organization no longer ex- ists, although their place of worship remains the property of Mr. O. S. Wilbur.

The Free-Will Baptists for some years struggled to sustain a meeting in their new church at the corner of Weir Street and Somerset Avenue, but relin- quished the field to the Methodists.

The St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church. -Fortunately the foundation laid in about 1700 by Capt. Thomas Coram for a Protestant Episcopal Church was for many generations. Coram had a ship-yard in South Dighton. Things did not go to suit him in this new land, and he returned to the mother-country, founding in 1739 in the city of Lon- don a hospital " for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children." Nor did he forget New England. Before he left it he " em- ployed Mr. Attorney-General Newton, of Boston, to prepare amply strong and in due form" a deed making over certain lands to the inhabitants of Taun- ton should they ever become " sufficiently civilized to want a Church of England built among them." That time came at length, and even in Coram's lifetime, and he forwarded to the church from England a library gathered from various sources, a portion of which is still preserved, including a "Book of Com- mon Prayer, given by the Right Honorable Arthur Onslow, Esq., Speaker of the Hon. House of Com- mons."

The original church building of this parish was on the glebe, in Oakland, West Taunton. It is remem- bered to have been there till 1815, when it was blown down in the September gale of that year and never rebuilt. The sacred inclosure, where lie the buried dead, marks the spot which should be held dear by the flourishing St. Thomas' Church, who now worship in a costly stone edifice elsewhere. The glebe was conveyed to the wardens of the church and their as- sociates by deed bearing date March 19, 1743. It was purchased by subscription " for the sole benefit and profit of the Rector, for the time being, of St. Thomas, standing near Three-Mile River, in Taun- ton." The subscribers to the glebe were twenty-six, to the amount of £528 10s. Thomas Cobb was the largest donor, his subscription amounting to £120. Rev. John Lyon was the "first resident minister." There were occasional supplies, of whom Rev. Jolin Graves is mentioned. Mr. Lyon's first recorded bap-

tism was in 1765, but he may have begun labor earlier. The people paid him his salary "to his good acceptance" we are told, an example of prompt- ness which was needed in those times.

The record of this ministry as given by Rev. Mr. Bent, in a historical discourse, reads well, -" A most estimable man and exemplary minister of Christ." He was mindful of the good morals of the community, distributing copies of a tract, entitled " Admonition to the Drinkers of Spirituous Liquors." He left some time before the Revolution and went South, where he died. His successor was ; Rev. William W. Wheeler, whose first recorded baptism was in 1786. He preached in other towns as well as Taunton,- "an estimable man and an intelligent divine," but crippled in his ministry by political causes, and at length removed to Scituate, where he preached, and died in 1810. The St. Thomas Parish had no resident rector from 1798 to 1829, when Rev. John West, a na- tive of Boston and a graduate of Cambridge in 1813, commenced labor with good success. His successors have been Rev. Messrs. Henry Blackaller, Samuel Hazzard, Edmund Neville, N. T. Bent, Theodore W. Snow, Edward Anthon, Edmund Neville, once more, Thomas H. Vaill, Robert C. Rogers, and the present rector, Charles H. Learoyd, who entered upon his rectorship April 1, 1872.

One member, and the last of the committee, ap- pointed in 1828 "to inquire into the expediency of establishing Episcopal worship in this town," has just passed away (Feb. 10, 1883), the Hon. Samuel L. Crocker. He and his brother William were largely instrumental in the reviving of the Epis- copal Church, which had slumbered since the pres- ent century came in, and it was through their influ- ence a church building was erected, at a cost of seven thousand five hundred dollars, and conse- crated in June, 1829. " Marcus Morton and Fran- cis Baylies were wardens of the parish," writes Rev. Mr. Learoyd in his " parochial history, embodied in a sermon preached the Sunday after Christmas, Dec. 28, 1879," and quoting from an earlier historical ser- mon by Rev. Mr. Bent, "then rector, delivered on Easter day, 1844."

It was during Mr. Snow's rectorship that, at the suggestion of Mr. Edmund Baylies, who promised one thousand dollars, a rectory was built on Harri- son Street; also more than thirty thousand dollars were subscribed toward a new church, which was not completed, however, till March 3, 1859, when its consecration took place during the rectorship of Rev. Mr. Vaill. When Dr. Vaill was called to the office of a bishop elsewhere, he records as the result of his ministry of five years and nine months in Taunton, the baptism of one hundred and forty-six infants, thirty adults, and the confirmation of one hundred and seventeen. The number of communicants on the register were two hundred and seventy-five.

In 1871, Christmas eve, a chapel and annex of the

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

church, which had been built at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, was opened with appropriate ser- vices. In 1873, during the rectorship of Rev. Mr. Learoyd, the church, which had been renovated and decorated at an expense of eleven thousand five hun- dred dollars, was reopened, the bishop of the diocese, with many of the clergy, being present.

The St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church .- " As early as 1863," writes Rev. Mr. Learoyd, " church services began to be maintained at Hopewell by a lay reader, and a Sunday-school was gathered of about fifty. This movement resulted in the formation of the parish of St. John's, and in building the fine church it now occupies. The money for that pur- pose, about twenty-five thousand dollars, was contri- buted within this city with the exception of about three thousand dollars." For the following facts I am indebted to Mr. Henry M. Lovering :

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 190

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818