USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Brockton > History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-1894 > Part 33
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Pennsylvania. After facing the enemy for a day or two, we went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. After the enemy evacuated Philadel- phia we moved with the main army under Gates, first to Danbury, then to Hartford, Conn., thence to Fishkill. There, and in the vicinity of West Point, N. Y., I was stationed with the regiment during the rest of my term of service. I was discharged the latter part of March, 1780, having completed the term of my engagement lacking a few days, an indulgence obtained through the courtesy of the colonel."
After leaving the military service, he fitted for college, graduated in the same class with Hon. John Quincy Adams, studied theology with Rev. Ephraim Briggs, and was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church in Winslow, Me., June 10, 1795, at the age of thirty- six, where he remained nearly twenty years. At a little later period after his settlement, he adopted the views of that branch of Congregational- ists called Unitarians. His ordination sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Whitman, of Pembroke, and the other services of the occasion were performed by Rev. Mr. Porter, of Roxbury ; Rev. Mr. Porter, of Rye, N. H .; Rev. Mr. Winthrop, of Woolwich, Me .; Rev. Mr. Ellis, of Topsham, Me. ; and Rev. Mr. Calef, of Canaan, Me. The church where his ordination took place not being large enough to contain the audience, a bower was made, covered with green boughs and supported by twenty pillars, interwoven at the sides, and, when filled with people, presented quite a unique and picturesque appearance. After his dis- missal from the ministry, which was not from any disagreement be- tween him and the parish, but from inability to support a minister, he continued to preach in that vicinity for a while, but never was installed over any society. He soon became an eminent political man, com- mencing by representing the county of Kennebec in the Senate of Massachusetts (of which Maine was then a part) in the political year 1810 ; represented the town of Winslow in the House of Representa- tives in 1811 and 1812 ; was elected on the Executive Council of Mas- sachusetts, but declined the office ; in 1819 was elected as representa- tive to Congress from the Kennebec District, and after Maine was separated from Massachusetts, in 1820, he continued in Congress for six consecutive years. In 1828 he was again elected from his district to the Senate, and in 1834 again represented his adopted town of
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Winslow in the House, and this was the last of his public services. " His course was run, his days were numbered." Being the senior member at the opening of the Legislature in January, 1834, it became his duty to call the House to order at its first organization ; but his health being feeble, he never took his seat again in that body. He died at his boarding-house Monday morning, January 27, 1834, aged seventy-five years. Immediately upon the opening of the two branches of the Legislature, the House voted to adjourn, and the members to wear black crape during the remainder of the session as a mark of re- spect to the memory of Hon. Joshua Cushman. And the Senate also adjourned from a regard to his services and worth. His funeral was attended by the members of both branches of the Legislature ; and, al- though the snow was extremely deep at the time, there was a large gathering, and the duty of following his remains was consequently fatiguing. He was interred at Augusta, Me., and a plain marble slab erected to his memory, bearing this simple inscription : " Our fathers, where are they ?" The Legislature of Maine afterwards, however, re- moved his remains to the tomb erected for the burial of those who died in the service of the government, and his name was engraved on the top of the tomb among those who had gone before him. He was a good scholar, was imbued with Christian and statesmanlike principles, and was a respectable speaker. Progress and reform were among the leading traits of his mind. The test of time and the judgment of men which truly tries the character and acts of all has pronounced its ver- dict-" A good and faithful servant."
Tranquil amidst alarms It found him on the field, A veteran slumbering on his arms, Beneath his red cross shield.
REV. NAPHTALI SHAW-was the son of William and Hannah (West) Shaw, born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, June 20, 1764. His ancestors, as far back as he had any knowledge of them, were pious people. When a lad he had but little time for reading, excepting on the Sabbath, then he read the Bible and religious books. He was re- ligiously educated, and from such works as he had he early received religious impressions which proved of the greatest value to him. Of
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the divine authority of the Scriptures he never had a doubt, and at an early period of his life he had determined to make them the rule of his faith and practice. At the age of fifteen he enlisted in the service as a soldier of the Revolutionary war, for a special service at Rhode Island, and again the next year, with his two older brothers, marched to the call of his country to aid in suppressing Shay's rebellion and a threat- ened assault on one of our maritime places. In all this he did not have to engage in battle. He was, however, always through life patriotic. When he came back from military service the last time, being then seventeen years of age, he prevailed upon others in his native town to unite with him in purchasing a social library, and the first book he selected was " Mason on Self-Knowledge," which he always thought was of great value to him, and one that no person could study without profit. After preparation for college, under the care of Dr. Crane, a physician of Titicut parish, and Rev. Dr. John Reed, of West Bridge- water, in 1786, at the age of twenty-two, he entered Dartmouth Col- lege, Hanover, N. H., where, after applying himself closely to his studies and after a hard struggle arising from limited means and a new state of things in the vicinity of the college. he graduated with honor in 1790, receiving the bachelor's degree. After this he taught school in Easton, Mass , and Boston, as an assistant of Mr. Caleb Brigham, an instructor of great celebrity. After studying theology seven months, he was ap- probated (as it was then called) by the Plymouth Association of Min- isters August 1, 1792. He pursued the study of theology under the care of Rev. Zedekiah Sanger, D D., of Bridgewater, who was in the habit of instructing young men for the ministry. Immediately after he was licensed to preach, he received a call to preach at Kensington, N. H., where they had already heard more than twenty candidates. He was ordained at that place January 30, 1793, as pastor of the Congre- gational Church, then at the age of twenty-nine years. He remained in that place till January 13, 1813. when, his health failing him, he had to ask his resignation. His ministry was pacific and useful, peace and harmony were restored, and the cause of education, morals and religion were promoted. Upon his resigning his pastoral labors, his health con- tinued such that he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He pur- chased a farm in Bradford, Vt., where he continued during the remaining
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forty years of his life, giving up preaching entirely. In due time he united with the Congregational Church in Bradford, Vt., and to the day of his death continued a most worthy and exemplary member, highly respected by all who knew him. Although an educated man, he was far from being dictatorial or overbearing or fault- finding, but habitually exhibited that meek, humble and quiet spirit that manifested itself in all his actions, and which, in the sight of God, is of great price.
REV. THEOPHILUS PACKARD, D.D., was the son of Abel and Esther (Porter) Packard, and was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, Mass., March 4, 1769. When he was five years old he removed with his father's family to Cummington, Mass., the western part of the State, where he lived until he entered Dartmouth College. His early years were spent in working upon his father's farm. At the age of twenty- one he began to fit up a farm for himself; but, by overtasking his bodily powers, he disabled himself in a great degree for that kind of labor. Shortly after this his mind became deeply exercised on the sub- ject of religion ; and at length so far settled that he became a member of the church. He began now to meditate the purpose of devoting himself to the Christian ministry ; and, with a view to this, commenced his preparation for college under the instruction of his pastor, the Rev. James Briggs. He entered college in 1792, and graduated in 1796. Immediately after his graduation he commenced the study of theology under the Rev. Dr. Burton, of Thetford, Vt., and at the end of six months was licensed to preach by the Orange Association, to which his theological teacher belonged. His first labors as a minister were among the churches in the region in which he was licensed. He went to Shel- burne, Mass., to preach as a candidate, early in the autumn of 1798. He was ordained on the 20th of February, 1799, the sermon being preached by the Rev. John Emerson, of Conway, Mass. The honorary degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Dartmouth Col- lege in 1824. Dr. Packard continued in sole charge of the church at Shelburne until March 12, 1828, when his son Theophilus was ordained as his colleague. The charge was given to the young pastor by the Rev. Jonathan Grout, of Hawley, who had performed the same service in connection with his father's ordination twenty-nine years before. From this time, the father and son continued to support the pulpit alter-
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nately till February 20, 1842, when Dr. Packard gave notice to his peo- ple that he should relinquish all pastoral service, and from that time he never received from them any compensation. He was, however, not dismissed, but retained the pastoral relation till his deathi. During the fourteen years in which the two were associated in supplying the Shel- burne pulpit, they both labored extensively in destitute parishes in the neighborhood, and were instrumental, in several instances, in preparing the way for a stated ministry. Dr. Packard, having reached the age of seventy-three, and finding the infirmities of age were rapidly increasing upon him, went, in the spring of 1846, to live with a widowed daughter in South Deerfield. Here he remained four years, but returned to Shelburne in the summer of 1854. His last sermon was preached in Deerfield in November, 1847. He suffered severe injury from a fall upon the ice in the early part of January, 1855, and from that time was confined to his house, and mostly to his bed. He was afflicted by a complication of maladies, from which, during the last few weeks of his life particularly, he experienced intense suffering. He died on the 17th of September, 1855. The Franklin County Church Conference and Benevolent Anniversaries having been appointed to be held on the 18th and 19th, his funeral took the place of the conference exercises on the afternoon of the 19th, a very large number of ministers being in attend- ance. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, late president of Amherst College. He was married to Mary, daughter of Isaac Tirrill, of Abington, Mass., February 9, 1800. He had eight children, one of whom, Theophilus, was graduated at Amherst College in 1823, and, as has been already noticed, was associated with his father in the ministry. Mrs. Packard was living in 1856. Dr. Packard, in the course of his ministry, instructed thirty-one students in theology, all of whom became preachers of the gospel.
REV. JONAS PERKINS was the oldest son of Josiah and Anna (Rey- nolds) Perkins ; was born in the North Parish of Bridgewater, now Brock- ton, October 15, 1790. At the age of seventeen he commenced fitting for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., having from the time of his conversion, at the age of ten, a strong desire to devote himself to the ministry of the gospel. He enjoyed the instruction of Rev. Mark Newman and John Adams at the academy, and when examined for ad- mission to Brown University, offered himself as a candidate for advanced
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standing, and was received as a member of the sophomore class. He graduated at this institution with distinguished honor in 1813. He im- mediately commenced a course of theological studies under the instruc- tion of Rev. Otis Thompson, of Rehoboth, Mass., was licensed by the Mendon Association, October 1I, 1814, and was invited to preach as a candidate for the Union Society of Weymouth and Braintree at the age of twenty- four. After preaching a short time he received a unanimous call to become their pastor, which call he accepted, and was ordained June 14, 1815. With this society he has labored for forty-six years, prosperous, united, and happy, and the church under his care has been constantly increasing in numbers. At the annual meeting of the so- ciety in 1861, he gave them notice that he should resign his pastoral charge at his seventieth birthday, the 15th of the following October. Accordingly, he preached his farewell sermon on the Sabbath following that day, and by the mutual consent of pastor and people and approved of a council, his official connection with them was dissolved. At a meeting of the church and parish which was held soon after, the follow- ing resolutions were passed, showing the estimation in which his labors were held by them :
Resolved, That we recognize with devout gratitude the goodness of God to this society in preserving the life and continuing the labors of our pastor, Rev. Jonas Perkins, so many years.
Resolved, That the union and prosperity of this church and people during his pastorate testify to his fidelity and success as a minister of Jesus Christ.
Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt thanks to him as the shepherd of this flock, for his constancy and his unwearied efforts to promote our spiritual and temporal good.
Resolved, That while the dissolution of this relation awakens many tender and painful emotions, we are comforted and cheered by the thought that he and his beloved com- panion are to spend the evening of their life with us, and that we shall still enjoy their counsels, the light of their example, and their prayers.
Resolved, That we assure him and his family of our continued respect and love, and that we fully reciprocate the wish expressed in his farewell discourse, for a mutual and truly Christian remembrance until death.
Mr. Perkins preached his farewell sermon October 21, 1861, taking for his text, Ephesians iv. 2, " He gave some apostles, and some proph- ets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers."
He was twice offered a professorship of mathematics in one. of the colleges of New England, but declined because he thought it his duty to continue in the ministry.
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He continued to live at the old homestead in East Braintree, until his death, June 26, 1874.
Upon the monument which his children erected over his remains in the Weymouth cemetery, is inscribed the following, taken from his writ - ten farewell to his family :
With great satisfaction I testify, that in the doctrines of grace which I have uni- formly preached during all my ministry, I have unwavering faith as being taught in the Holy Scriptures.
And also the following :
Descended from a pious ancestry, he became a hopeful subject of divine grace at the age of ten years, and ever after maintained a consistent religions character ; was pure and gentle, self denying and generous in private life ; and wise, faithful, loving, earnest and successful as a minister of Christ. "He walked with God."
He married Rhoda, daughter of Simeon and Molly (Cary) Keith, of Bridgewater, June 12, 1815 ; she was born February 16, 1790, and died at the old homestead, in Braintree, March 22, 1878. She was in every situation the model woman, wife, mother and friend. Her husband in a note preliminary to his will, wrote :
With devout gratitude I reflect on the many years I have lived with my beloved wife, whose fidelity and kindness, counsels and labors, have done me good all the days of my life ; with whom I have so many times walked to the house of God in company, and enjoyed sweet communion at the table of our blessed Lord.
The inscription engraved on the monument to the memory of Mrs. Perkins, is as follows :
RHODA KEITH, Widow of Rev. Jonas Perkins, Born in Bridgewater, Feb. 16, 1790, Died in Braintree, March 22, 1878. In early life a successful teacher, Married June 12, 1815, For sixty years a worthy member of the church of Christ. As a wife, faithful and affectionate, As a mother, kind, loving and judicious, As a friend, ready for every good work and word. Blessed is her memory.
Their children were as follows :
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I-Mary Ann, born April 2, 1816, married Rev. Daniel Wright, jr., of Scituate, Mass., April 28, 1851 ; died October 26, 1853.
II-Martha Bond, born December 20, 1817, married first John Vick- ery, March 31, 1841, resided in Weymouth, Mass., Fishkill, and Roches- ter, N. Y., where he died February 3, 1863. She married second Hon. John W. Loud, of Weymouth, Mass., August 24, 1865 ; he died April 22, 1874. She resides at the old homestead in East Braintree, Mass.
III-Josiah, born December 31, 1819, resides in Weymouth ; mar- ried Hannah Ayers Kingman, of Weymouth, November 20, 1850.
IV-Jonas Reynolds, born February 18, 1822. Graduated at Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1841 ; studied law with Timothy Cof- fin at New Bedford, and practiced law there ; in September, 1849, he sailed from Boston for California ; returning, arrived at New York, July I, 1852, resumed practice of law at North Bridgewater, now Brockton ; appointed judge of the First District Court, Plymouth County, June 16, 1874. Married first Jane Avery Holmes, of New Bedford, June 22, 1854 ; she died July 31, 1858. Married second Mary Elizabeth Saw- yer, of Boston, October 26, 1859.
V-Nahum Simeon Cary, born June 19, 1824; married Mrs. Mary Moore, of Providence, R. I., November 25, 1845, a machinist and manu- facturer. Resides at Norwalk, O., and is an elder in the Presbyterian church.
VI-Rhoda Keith, born November 3, 1826. Graduated at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Married Col. Joseph W. Porter, of Lowell, now residing in Bangor, Me., January 5, 1851. She died in Burling- ton, Me., November 30, 1875.
VII-Sidney Keith Bond, born April 14, 1830. Graduated at Am- herst College, 1851 ; studied theology at Bangor, Me., Theological Seminary, graduating in 1857. Is a Congregational clergyman, a suc- cessful pastor at Glover, Vt., eighteen years. Removed to South Roy- alton, Vt., 1876. Married Laura L. Brocklebank, of Meriden, N. H.
MR. PERKINS AS AN INVENTOR .- Besides being a person devoted to his profession, he was a man of remarkable ingenuity and mechanical talent. Old Capt. Thomas Thompson, the next neighbor of his father, who made spinning wheels, large and small, for cotton and flax, for all the country around about Bridgewater, used often to tell that when
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"Jonas was just out of petticoats, all the little brooks near his father's house run all sorts of mills, and all sorts of gear were attached to in- numerable wind mills, which buzzed so loud that no one could sleep in a windy night." His father thought his son wasted too much time, but when he believed that his " perpetual motion was sure to succeed," he gave up to the boy to operate as much as he pleased.
In 1804 he invented a power loom. In 1806 he wove his mother some towels by only turning a crank. His inventions were the wonder of every one in the vicinity of his home. In 1807, when about to leave home, he packed his machine in a barrel, making his mother promise not to show it to any one. Not long after two very polite gentlemen rode up in a nice chaise, and overpersuaded her to show them the proofs of her son's genius. She finally consented, and they spent nearly two hours in looking it over. Years after, when she told the circumstances to her son, she said that at the time "she thought it took them a good while ?" When in college, which he entered as a sophomore in 1810, he called on Mr. Slater, the great manufacturer at Pawtucket, and talked with him about the importance of such a loom. After some conversa- tion, during which Mr. Slater asked him where he lived, and the names of his parents, Mr. Perkins began to declare that he had accomplished the fact, and invented a power loom ; whereupon Mr. Slater drew him- self up to his full height, and said : " Do you think you, a little Yankee, can do what all England has been trying to do for centuries ?" Upon this the young man felt insulted, and left. Whether Slater or some other man sent emissaries to discover the secret is not known ; but Mr. Perkins always said that the first power loom he saw in operation had some clumsy and homely attachments he had on his, only because he had not the materials or means to employ any others, which he esteemed as proof positive that the looms he saw were patterned directly from his. He never applied for any patent, because the country was in such a con- fused condition, and he had determined to fit himself for a preacher of the gospel.
I have given the story of his inventions, much of it as he used to tell it occasionally to his intimate friends. Thirty years ago it was a mat- ter susceptible of absolute proof. It is not now too late to give him the credit due him for his invention. Judge Mitchell, in his History of Bridgewater, page 59, says :
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The Hon. Hugh Orr, * invited Robert and Alexander Barr, brothers, from Scotland, to construct carding, spinning and roping machines, at his works in East Bridgewater ; and the General Court, Nov. 16, 1786 (Mr. Orr himself then being onc of the Senate), allowed them two hundred pounds for their ingenuity. * * These were the first machines of the kind ever made in this country. Mr. Slater, with the late Mr. Moses Brown, of Providence, came to examine them on Mr. Slater's first ar- rival in this country, and before he had commenced any establishment of the kind. The circumstances of the visit were communicated to the writer (Judge Mitchell), by Mr. Brown himself, who at the same time added that these were the first machines of the kind ever made in the United States.
So that it is possible that not only the spinning machine, but the power loom also came from Bridgewater.
REV. ELIPHALET P. CRAFTS was the son of Rev. Thomas and Polly (Porter) Crafts; was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, No- vember 23, 1800. At an early age he, with the rest of the family, re- moved to Middleboro', where he received his early education ; fitted for college with his father ; graduated at Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1821 ; studied theology at the theological school of Cambridge, where he graduated for the ministry. He was first settled at East Bridgewater in 1828, where he enjoyed a happy ministry for seven years, and was dismissed at his own request. After regaining his health he was installed over the First Congregational Church and Society at Sandwich, Mass., in 1839, ministering to a harmonious and affectionate people for about fifteen years. Receiving a dismission, at his request, he removed to Lexington, Mass., where he has been engaged in edu- cating young Spanish gentlemen, also supplying vacant pulpits in Lex- ington and vicinity.
REV. LEVI PACKARD was the son of Levi and Ruth (Snow) Packard, born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, Mass., February 4, 1763. His early days were spent under the parental roof in the discharge of filial and fraternal duty. At the age of fourteen he became the hopeful subject of renewing grace, and was received into the communion of the church in his native town. Here he gave himself up to God, it is be- lieved, with a " purpose of heart to cleave unto him," which was never relinquished. His thoughts were early turned towards the Christian ministry, and he longed to devote himself to the work of preaching that gospel which he had found so precious ; but his circumstances were un-
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favorable, and for several years he endured a painful mental conflict on the subject. Still he urged the anxious inquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " cherishing the hope from year to year that thie Sav- iour whom he loved would yet permit him, as an under shepherd, to feed his lambs. Having at length attained his majority, he felt at lib- erty to devote the avails of his personal labor to the object which lay nearest his heart, and which years of doubt and difficulty had but ren- dered more and more dear to him. His preparation for college was re- tarded by the expedients which he was constrained to adopt for defray- ing its expenses ; but at length, at the age of twenty-eight, his efforts and sacrifices were rewarded, and he graduated with the highest honors at Brown University. He then continued his theological studies under private instructors, and after having preached temporarily in several places, he was ordained at Spencer, Mass., the 14th day of June, 1826. A ministry of twenty-seven years in that place leaves but little need of any testimony to his personal or official character. He had learned the truths of the gospel experimentally, and he preached them in a corres- ponding manner. He preached plainly, directly, affectionately, unre- servedly, practically. Though he sought not literary distinction, or the gratification of intellectual pride, he was not wanting in originality of thought ; he was not a retailer of other men's ideas; his sermons were his own,-the fruits of his own inquiry, solemn meditation, and earnest prayer. He shunned no subject on account of its difficulty or its un- popularity, but aimed to declare the whole counsel of God. The cross was ever prominent in the religious instruction which he gave ; yet, while determined not to know anything among his people save Jesus Christ and him crucified, he ever remembered that the object of the Lord's coming was to destroy the works of the devil, and that the gos- pel develops and enforces principles and rules of action applicable to all the relations, obligations, and interests of social life. While desirous that every sermon should have a Savior in it, he endeavored to give each doctrine and precept of revealed religion its place and proportion in the Christian system.
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