History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-1894, Part 34

Author: Kingman, Bradford, 1831-1903. 4n
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Brockton > History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-1894 > Part 34

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Not constitutionally inclined to controversy, he opposed error, not so much by direct attack as by giving his hearers an opportunity to detect it for themselves in the light of the truth which shone upon it. Against

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every violation of divine law, whether in the private walks of life or in the high places of public authority, by individuals or communities, he bore his honest and fearless testimony, esteeming it comparatively a light thing to be judged of man's judgment, and mainly anxious to be free from " the blood of all men," even should his faithfulness as a re- prover provoke the displeasure of those whose friendship he most highly valued, and whom he was most reluctant to offend. At length he- having received the impression that he could no longer be useful as a pastor-resolved that for their good he would seek employment in some other vineyard. His pastoral attachment, however, still survived, mak- ing a request " that his last sermon to them should be from his silent lips, and that his dust might lie among those with whom he had taken sweet counsel, and with whom he hoped to meet in the sanctuary above." Mr. Packard was not long allowed to remain idle. He was dismissed from his people in Spencer in September, 1853, and was set- tled over the Congregational Church in Woonsocket, R. I., in Decem- ber of the same year. Here he labored about one year From that time he gradually failed, through the withering power of pulmonary disease, until his death, which took place at Stafford Springs, Conn., January 11, 1857. The most remarkable characteristic of Mr. Packard may be designated as honesty. In whatever he said or did he was sincere, frank, and guileless. No one could hear him preach without coming to the conclusion that he felt what he said. There was no room for suspicion, and for simplicity of character he may be considered as a model ; and during all his last long sickness, says one who was seldom absent from his bed of languishing, " he has given us a bright pattern of patience and quiet submission to his heavenly Father's will."

Servant of Christ, well done ! Praise be thy new employ ; And while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Saviour's joy.

REV. AUSTIN CARY was the son of James and Hannah (Wales) Cary ; born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, October 1, 1809. His early life was marked with amiableness and morality, and as is usual with children of pious parents, he was from his early years the subject of serious impressions. The first he distinctly remembered was when he

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was about seven years old; but, as he advanced in youth, he left the Sabbath-school, as is the dangerous custom of many lads when they begin to approach manhood. From that time, though extremely fond of reading, he neglected the Bible and lost a relish for it. He also, for the pleasure of showing what he could say, and of provoking discussion, allowed himself to advance objections against its divine origin. As the result, he became skeptical, and ultimately an atheist, entirely cal- lous to religious impressions. His recovery from this state was peculiar and striking. Returning home late at night, he had fallen asleep in the wagon, as he was wont to do when thus kept abroad by business. His thoughts had not been turned to the subject of God's existence, or any kindred subject, either then or for some time before. The night was cloudy. As he awoke and looked on the dim objects about him, a strong and instantaneous impression was on his mind,-" There is a God. He keeps myself and everything in being ; he is here, he is everywhere." This sudden and abiding conviction he ascribed to the Spirit of God. From that time he became the subject of frequent re- ligious impressions. He re-entered the Sabbath-school now as a teacher ; but the employment only made him wretched by conscious unfitness. These occasional impressions and periods even of wretched- ness he concealed. In this state he continued about two years; at the end of this time, and near the close of a protracted meeting, he finally and forever gave his heart to Christ, and openly avowed himself his disciple. Soon after this, in the spring of 1832 and in the twenty-third year of his age, he began fitting for college with the hope of entering the ministry. In 1833 he entered Waterville College, Me., from which, in the sophomore year, he moved to Amherst, where he graduated with honor in 1837. The same year he entered the Theological Semi- nary at East Windsor, Conn., where he completed his theological course in 1840. He soon after received calls from three churches. He ac- cepted that from Sunderland, where he was ordained November II, 1840. Here he labored with great fidelity and success. He enjoyed two special revivals in 1843 and 1849, and one hundred and thirty-six were added to the church during his ministry.

In the autumn of 1849 it pleased God to send distressing sickness on all the members of his family, which interrupted his public labors. The

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last time he. preached, he went from the bedside of his wife, then scarcely expected to recover, and preached extemporaneously from these words: " We all do fade as a leaf." His last public act was on a Sabbath subsequent to his last sermon, when he left his sick family long enough to baptize six children As his family became slightly better, worn out himself with fatigue and anxiety, he was attacked by hemorrhage from the lungs, followed by three similar attacks. He be- came, however, more comfortable, and his physician entertained the liope that, after a few months, he might be restored to a measure of comfortable health ; but a typhoid fever set in, and he died soon after, on Tuesday, November 27, 1849, at ten o'clock P.M., aged forty years, after a ministry of nine years. He was remarkably winning in his manners, speedily securing the interest of a stranger, which was usually increased and consolidated into friendship by further acquaintance. He was always modest and unassuming ; he was ardent in his feelings, firm and trustworthy in his friendships ; he was social, frank, and generous above all shadow of meanness ; he was eminently manly, and remarkably unselfish. Before experiencing religion, he was becoming more and more absorbed in the love of money ; he was bent upon being rich, but grace had effected a complete triumph over this ; his heart was not set on property ; money flowed from him freely for every good ob- ject. He was firm in his decisions, and in the least as well as the great- est matter, where principle was at stake, absolutely inflexible, and yet he maintained his convictions and carried through his purposes with such suavity that they who yielded to his decision seemed almost to suppose that he had yielded to them. He possessed sound judgment and strong common sense. With all his warmth of feeling, he had great self-control, and few, if any, have seen him thrown off his guard by even a momentary passion. He had immense energy, and what he undertook he would at all hazards accomplish, and this, with his scru- pulous fidelity, caused any matters pertaining to the interests of the church which were entrusted to him to be done seasonably and thor- oughly, and in whatever he undertook he was almost recklessly unspar- ing of himself. He own convenience, interests, and health seemed literally the last thing he ever thought of. Hence he was led unques- tionably to an unjustifiable excess of labor, which the remonstrances of

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friends were inadequate to restrain, and which brought him to an untimely end. As a preacher and writer he had ability, as his prize tract on dancing and his report on the desecration of the Sabbath show. His peculiar characteristic was unction ; he was a son of consolation rather than a Boanerges; a John rather than a Peter. . He spoke to the heart, and the peculiar warmth of his soul glowed in his sermons and melted the hearts of his hearers. As a Christian he was unusually spiritual. He spoke of "free and confiding intimacy with God in Christ, and comparing the Christian to a little child flinging his arms around his parent's neck, and affectionately whispering his wants in his ear."

As a pastor, he felt an absorbing interest in his people. In his last hours any reference to the interests of the church seemed to arouse him when nothing else would. He was one of the most active in forming and executing plans to promote the general interests of the churches in the country ; and few men of nine years' standing in the ministry had been called on so many councils, or had so great an influence in them. The following epitaph is on his gravestone :

His uniform Christian deportment, his zeal, fidelity, and success in the cause of Christ, have engraven his memorial imperishably upon the hearts of those who knew him.

Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh. shall find so doing.

REV. ZACHARIAH HOWARD-Was the son of Robert and Abigail (Snell) Howard ; born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, May 21, 1758. For a short time he was a soldier in the Revolutionary army ; graduated at Harvard College in 1784; settled in the ministry as suc- cessor of Rev. Samuel Dunbar, over the First Church in Stoughton,' 1787, where he died in 1806, leaving no children. His widow died at Canton March II, 1856, aged ninety-five years.

REV. NATHANIEL WALES-was the son of Thomas and Polly (Hobart) Wales; born in North Bridgewater (now Brockton), April 2, 1793; studied theology at Bangor Theological Seminary; settled in the ministry at Belfast, Me., September 26, 1827. At the time of his entering the ministry, the church over which he was settled was sup-

1 That portion of Stoughton where this church is located was incorporated into a town by the name of Canton February 23, 1797.

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ported partly by missionary aid, and was in a neighborhood where he met with an unusual opposition from those who differed from him in their belief. They were unusually hostile to the faith his church pro- fessed. The wealth, fashion and influence of the place were arrayed against its young men, who were early taught not to frequent their house of worship. Seldom has a church sprung up with such a strong opposition as the one over which he was placed. To breast this influ- ence and make progress against it they needed a man of strength of mind and moral courage. In Mr. Wales the church found such a man. He, having entered the ministry late in life, had the advantage of ma- ture years. He had no fear of man; for having been called of God to preach the everlasting gospel, he shunned not to declare the counsel of God, however received by men. He warmly embraced the " faith once delivered to the saints "-the faith of the Pilgrim fathers-not doubting that its faithful exposition and enforcement were God's appointed means of spiritual profit. His was no time-serving policy ; he had not learned that to win souls the offensive features of divine truth must be ignored or kept out of sight.

As a speaker Mr. Wales was bold, emphatic and impressive. He grasped the truth with a strong hand, and sent it forth on its mission all glowing with the ardor of his own intense feeling. His honest pur- poses, his ardent desire to do good savingly, to bless those to whom he ministered, could not be doubted. He sought to make his influence tell upon the eternal well-being of his people. He was abundant in labor, preaching much in the surrounding towns, striving to win and save wherever he went. He was an earnest student, an able preacher, a faithful pastor, cheerfully spending and being spent, that he might enlarge the boundaries of the Redeemer's kingdom and bring glory to Him on whom all his own hopes reposed; nor did he labor in vain. While his ministry was too brief to reap large results, he still made an impression on the community in favor of the true gospel and a faithful ministry whose influence is felt to this day; so that the once feeble church has, under his and his successors' instrumentality, gathered courage and strength till it has grown to be one of the able churches of that vicinity. In stature Mr. Wales was above the medium ; he had a manly countenance and dignified bearing; the sight of him inspired

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respect In the warm season of 1828, while returning home from a public meeting, he took a severe cold, which fastened upon his lungs and brought on consumption. His disease baffled medical skill and the most assiduous care. He gradually declined till, on the 20th day of January, 1829, he sank peacefully to rest, and a rising light was thus early quenched. His early death was one of those mysterious provi- dences that try the faith, and one which was sincerely mourned by the people of his charge and by numerous friends. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." "The memory of the just is blessed." Says one who was an intimate friend :

" My recollections of Mr. Wales are very pleasant, and I cherish great respect for his memory, and as being a man of more than ordin- ary power."

REV. MATTHEW KINGMAN-Was the son of Eliphalet and Zilpha (Edson) Kingman, born in Brockton, February 24, 1807. He was en- gaged in early life in teaching school; studied theology at Gilmanton, N. H .; was afterward agent of that institution for one year ; was or- dained in the ministry June 26, 1845, at Bethel, Vt. ; dismissed from there April 19, 1854; was installed pastor of the First Congregational Church in Charlemont, Mass., June 6, 1854 While preaching at Bethel the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. He died of old age at Amherst, Mass., May 23, 1892, aged eighty-five years and three months.

THOMAS JEFFERSON SNOW-Was the son of Jonathan and Huldah Snow ; born February 21, 1802, in that part of North Bridgewater, now Brockton, called Northwest Bridgewater, or West Shares, now Brock- ton Heights. He had early in life acquired a fondness for books, and his parents, discovering that he had more than ordinary thinking powers and a desire for learning, decided to give him a collegiate education ; he fitted for college under the tuition of Dr. Caleb Swan, of Easton, Mass, and Thomas Tolman, esq., of Canton, Mass .; he entered Brown University, Providence, R. I., a year in advance, and graduated in 1825 with the usual honors. His natural inclinations were of a literary order. He never published works of any kind, but was fre- quently employed to deliver lectures. The most of his life was spent in teaching, with the exception of three years. He was a very success-

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ful teacher. He was first principal of Hingham Academy ; afterwards principal of Franklin High School in Nantucket, Mass .; he then accepted the principalship of the Milton Academy, Milton, Mass., where he taught six years, and was elected honorary member of Har- vard College. This position he resigned for the purpose of removing West, which was in 1835, when he removed to Michigan City, in the northern part of Indiana ; from thence he removed to Kentucky, where he resided twelve years, teaching and educating his sons ; but fearing to have his sons brought up and coming under the influence of slavery, he removed to Illinois in 1851. He opened a school the same year in Peoria, where he taught till his death, October 6, 1851, aged forty-nine years. He was buried in the Masonic Cemetery with the honors of that order. He held the office of Royal Arch Mason. He left a wife and seven children to mourn his loss as a kind friend, a good teacher and good counselor ; he was a warm receiver and firm advocate of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church. His eldest son, Hector O. Snow, was formerly professor in Shelbyville College; also professor in the commercial colleges, Chicago, and was principal of the Tazewell High School, Tazewell county, Ill .; his second son, Orin T. Snow, was principal of Batavia High School, Kane county, Ill. ; Croyden P. Snow was principal of the Second District Grammar School, Peoria, Ill. ; Her- man W. Snow was a teacher in the last named school for seven years, when he resigned to enter upon the profession of law, and was settled in Peoria, Ill., attorney-at-law, member of Peoria bar.

REV. SAMUEL FULLER DIKE-Is the son of Samuel and Betsey (Burrill) Dike; was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, March 17, 1815 ; fitted for college under the instruction of Rev. Daniel Hunt- ington, and at the Weymouth and Braintree Academy, Samuel T. Wor- cester instructor, and the Bridgewater Academy, Hon. John Shaw, instructor ; entered Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1834; graduated in 1838; was a preceptor of Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth Port, Mass., one and a half years ; studied theology with Rev. Thomas Worcester, of Boston; completed his studies for the ministry in 1840 ; was ordained as minister of the New Jerusalem Church at the session of the General Convention of New Jerusalem Churches at Philadelphia, June 7, 1840, by Rev. Thomas Worcester, of Boston ; commenced

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preaching as a candidate in Bath, Me., June 14, 1840. At the end of the same year he received a call to settle with the society where he now labors ; this call he accepted, and was duly installed Sunday, October 10, 1841. He has continued his labors of love to that church and society to the present time. On the Sabbath, June 13, 1847, he was made an ordaining minister of the New Jerusalem Churches by the General Convention holden in the city of New York. He has been president of the Maine and New Hampshire Association of the New Jerusalem Churches for nearly twenty years; also superintendent of the public schools of Bath for over twenty years, from 1847.

FREDERICK CRAFTS, A. M .- Was the son of Rev. Thomas and Polly (Porter) Crafts, born June 5, 1797. In early life he resided in the West Parish of Middleboro', Mass., of which his father was pastor ; he fitted for college at Pierce Academy, Middleboro'; graduated at Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1816; studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Plymouth county. He soon left the practice of law, and after teaching at Boston, Taunton, and other places was ap- pointed principal of the Bridgewater Academy, where he remained till 1861, when he resigned. He was a resident of Bridgewater at the time of his death, which occured at Milton, Mass., April 20, 1874.

Mr. Crafts first entered upon the study of. the law with Eliab Whit- man, Esq., who was in practice in North Bridgewater, Mass., now Brockton, in May, 1817; afterwards removed to Providence, R. I., returning to his native village in May, 1819. In 1821-2 he was in Marblehead, from whence he returned to his early home. In August, 1822, he entered the law office of Judge Hobart, of Hanover, Mass., and in November of that year was admitted to practice law throughout the Commonwealth, but finding it not sutited to his tastes, he turned his attention to teaching school, which he followed for about forty years. Among the many places where he taught, were Barnstable, Walpole, Duxbury, Pembroke, Fairhaven and Kingston, in Massachusetts, Provi- dence, R. I., North Hempstead, Long Island, Savannah and New Orleans. In 1819-20 he became master of the old Grammar School in Roxbury. July 1, 1828, he received the appointment of principal of the " Bristol County Academy," of Taunton, Mass., where he remained till June, 1837. Afterward taught the " High School " in that town in

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1838, remaining one year. Taught in the Hawes Grammar School in South Boston, as master, and was first master of the Bigelow School, for girls especially. Afterward taught a private school in East Lexing- ton, Mass., having a school for " Cubans." In 1855 he received the appointment of principal of the Bridgewater Academy, where he remained till the breaking out of the civil war in 1861, when he received the appointment of Deputy United States Marshal from Captain J. W. D. Hall, then Provost Marshal at Taunton. At the close of the rebellion he was in the Internal Revenue Department, until failing health com- pelled him to retire from all active employment. His death was caused by softening of the brain, the result of an accident some years previous.1

DEACON HEMAN PACKARD, born in North Bridgewater, now Brock- ton, about 1800; was the son of Levi and Ruth (Snow) Packard ; re- sided in that town teaching school for many years ; at length, his health being such that he could not reside in the northern climate, he engaged in traveling as colporteur ; for four years he distributed tracts up and down the Mississippi among the flatboat and raftsmen coming down the river. In the year 1842 he was appointed colporteur for the Ameri- can Bible Society in the city of New Orleans, afterwards receiving the agency of the Southwest Bible Society and American Sunday-School Union, also of the Presbyterian Board of Publication. He was a warm- hearted, devoted Christian man, whose whole aim and purpose seemed to be devoted to doing good, cheerfully giving of his time and substance to that object. He left his native town about the year 1838 or 1840, having spent about twenty years in his labor of love. He died January 12, 1858, at New Orleans.

At a meeting of the Bible Society, held at New Orleans on the day of his death, resolutions were passed expressive of the sorrow for the friends of the departed, also, " that in his death the society has lost one of its best and truest friends and' servants. So long as he lived we al- ways felt that it had the earnest, faithful, effectual, and fervent prayers of a righteous man ascending to the throne of God's grace in his be- half."

! For a more extended memoir of Mr. Crafts, see an interesting volume published by a committee of the past-members of the Hawes Grammar School of South Boston, by Oliver B. Stebbins and others.

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REV. ABEL KINGMAN PACKARD is the son of Deacon Simeon and Harmony (Kingman) Packard ; was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, March 19, 1823 ; became a member of the First Congrega- tional Church in Brockton, November 6, 1836, graduated at Phillips Academy, Andover, August, 1841 ; entered Amherst College the same year, and graduated August 14, 1845 ; became principal of an academy at Millbury, Mass., where he remained two years ; graduated at An- dover Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass., September 4, 1850 ; was a resident-licentiate and student one year ; was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church at Yarmouth, Mass., December 16, 1851 ; was dismissed, at his own request, October 17, 1859, and removed imme - diately to Minnesota ; supplied the Congregational Church at St. An- thony six months, during the absence of their pastor, and was installed pastor of the church at Anoka, Minn., June 14, 1860, but now resides at Greeley, Col.

REV. LYSANDER DICKERMAN is the son of Lyman and Vienna (Sproat) Dickerman ; born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, June 8, 1825 ; began a preparatory course of study with the Rev. Paul Couch, of that town; entered Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., un- der the care of Samuel H. Taylor, LL.D. In the autumn of 1847 he entered the freshman class of Brown University, Providence, R. I., and graduated in 1851 ; was principal of Rockingham Academy, Hampton Falls, N. H., two years ; entered the Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass., in 1853, and graduated in 1856. And on leaving the seminary, his health being poor, he was not settled till April 29, 1858, when he was ordained and installed pastor of the Congregational Church in Glou- cester, Mass., was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council from the pas- torate of that church January 19, 1860, and was installed as pastor over the Congregational Church and Society in Weymouth, where Rev. Jonas Perkins had preached for forty-six years, January 17, 1861.

REV. ZENAS P. WILD was born in North Bridgewater, now Brock- ton, October 16, 1818 ; united with the church under the care of Rev. John Dwight, at Campello, Mass., 1837 ; fitted for college at Pierce Academy, Middleboro' ; became a member of the Baptist Church at North Randolph, Mass., and was there licensed to preach ; afterwards studied theology at Thomaston and Waterville, Me., also with Rev. E.

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B. Smith, D.D., of New Hampton, N. H., and Rev. John Newton Brown, D.D., graduating in 1844. He then received an invitation to preach at Unionville (now Ashland), Mass., where he was ordained in March, 1845. With this people he remained two years, laboring with great success, large numbers being added to the list of church mem- bers. He next became pastor of the Baptist Church in Marblehead, Mass., remaining there two years. Receiving a call to settle with the Baptist Church in Rowley, Mass., he remained with them three years, with satisfactory results ; was pastor of the Baptist Church in Billerica, Mass., two years; since then settled at West Boylston, Mass .; from thence he removed to New York, where he labored as pastor for four years, when, his health failing, he resigned the office of pastor and re- ceived an appointment from the City Tract Society as city missionary April, 1860, where he died in May, 1883. He bore an unblemished character and was an earnest and faithful preacher.

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History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-1894, Part 34

Author: Kingman, Bradford, 1831-1903. 4n Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Kingman, Bradford, 1831-1903. 4n
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1170