History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 65

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

town. An engine- house was creeted, and all the ap- paratus necessary for the successful operation of the company was procured. The company consisted of forty-eight members, to whom an elegant banner was presented by the ladies of the town September 25, 1850; and on the same day a silver trumpet presenta- tion to the company further evinced the good-will of the citizens in general. The occasion of these presentations was a holiday at the lakeside. The company was kept together several years. The en- gine is still owned by the town, and a company of forty members was organized March 24, 1887, with Otis P'. Brewer, foreman, and Fred P. Stanton, clerk and treasurer. When there has been no company, the fire-wards have had charge of the engine, and trusted to volunteer help to work it. This year (18-7), the town voted to appropriate fifty dollars for tire-books and ladders. In 1886, the fire department cost the town sixty-two dollars and eleven rents.

The permanent and more important organizations of the town, besides the two religious societies, are the Wenham Veteran's Association, organized May 30, 1876; Wenham Mutual Benefit Association, or- ganized August 19, 1876, and incorporated November 3, 1883 ; and the Female Benevolent Society, founded in September, 1×33.

Wenham has one periodical publication, The .Imerican Apiculturist, established in January, 1883. It is a monthly, thirty-two, double-column paged magazine, devoted to bee culture. Its publisher is Mr. Henry Alley.

The two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Wenham was publicly observed May 10, 1843, when an address on the civil history of the town was delivered by Rev. Daniel Mansfield, pastor of the Congregational Church.

A " History of Wenham," written by Dr. Myron O. Allen, who was the resident physician at that time, was published in a neat bound volume of two hun- dred and twenty pages in 1860.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY .- For the first three or four years after Wenham was first settled, the inhabitants probably attended church at Salem. We have al- ready mentioned the sermon preached by Ilugh Pe- ters at Wenham Lake. Mr. Peters was the successor of Roger Williams as pastor of the First Church in Salem : returning to England about 1642, he became a famous preacher, and was appointed chaplain by Cromwell; becoming conspicuous in the common- wealth, he was alleged to have been guilty of assist- ing in the death of Charles I., and was publicly be- tosalud therefor on Tower Hill after the restoration. The publie initiative towards a church here was probably in 1639. Rev. John Higginson, the minis- ter at Salem, in his church record, says : " There are divers quesages set down about three villages to go out of ye brethren of Salem church, considered of in wwweral church meetings, for several years together,

the first of which was 1639, August 24th. Mr. Down- ing and some with him were for one village (Dan- vers) ; other brethren for a village at ye pond (Wen- ham) ; and others for one at Jeffrey's Creek (Man- chester)."

As early as 1641 a small meeting-house was built, and Rev. John Fiske, who had assisted Hugh Pe- ters at Salem, came at about the same time and set- tled in Wenham. The most reliable tradition in- forms us that this building stood on a slight rise of ground near the present residence of Mr. Henry Tarr. A bell was added to it aboat 1650, and since that time Wenham has not been without its church- bell. The church was organized and Mr. Fiske in- stalled its pastor October 8, 1644. The church flour- ished until 1655, when Mr. Fiske, with a majority of his parishioners, removed to the new town of Chelms- ford, and became its first pastor. Mr. Fiske's remov- al was a great loss in itself. He was an excellent man, and was a physician as well as a clergyman, practicing the healing art to both body and soul. He died at Chelmsford January 14, 1676-77, aged sev- enty-six years. He was a son of a prominent and persecuted dissenter, and was born in the parish ot St. James, county of Suffolk, in England, in 1601. He was educated at Immanuel College, Cambridge, and preached for several years in his native land; but, at length, " on account of the severe restrictions upon nonconformists, he became a physician." He came to America in disguise, bringing with him ser- vants, husbandry and carpentry tools, and provisions sufficient to support his family for three years. He taught the Charlestown grammar-school, and after- wards the first grammar-school in Salem. Mr. Fiske was an earnest and successful preacher; he com- posed and published a catechism, entitled " Watering of the Olive Plants in Christ's Garden." His epitaph is as follows :

" Vixi, et quem dederas cursum, mihi Christe, peregi ;

Pertasus vitæ, suaviter opto mori." 1

Mr. Fiske's departure left the church and settle- ment small in numbers and means. The early set- tlers of Hamilton (then a part of Ipswieb) soon af- terwards came to this church, and it began to regain its former strength. The " neighbors," as they were called, are first mentioned as contributing to the sup- port of the church here in 1659.

Rev. Antipas Newman, from Rehoboth, came very soon after Mr. Fiske's removal, being here in 1657. A new meeting-house was built in 1663, being proba- bly " twenty-four feet square, and twelve feet stud." It stood in the square near the soldiers' monument, on land purchased of Austin Kilham. The old meeting-house and lot were sold. At this time the church was newly organized and a new covenant

1 " I have lived, and the course which thon, Christ, gavest me I have finished ;

Weary of life, I long for death's sweet repose."

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adopted. Mr. Newman was ordained and the meet- ing-honse probably dedicated December 10, 1663. Here he continued his acceptable service until his death, October 15, 1672. He possessed an excellent religious character.

The next minister was Rev. Joseph Gerrish, who was ordained over the church January 13, 1674, after having preaching here about seven months. A gal- lery was added to the house the same year on account of the increase of the church. In 1688 a new meet- ing-house was erected on the site of the old one, which was sold and removed. The new one had a turret, and was probably built by Abraham Tilton of Ipswich.

In 1714 the Hamilton people formed a church of their own, and were dismissed from this church. Rev. Mr. Gerrish continued in his service here forty- six years. He died of apoplexy, at the age of seventy years, January 6, 1720. He was born in Newbury March 23, 1650, and graduated at Harvard College in 1669. He studied theology with Rev. Thomas Parker in his native town. He was a man of excel- lent piety, hospitable, gentlemanly and good. A parsonage was built for him soon after he was settled here, in which he resided. His salary was fifty pounds in money and twenty cords of wood, and the use of the minister's house and land.

The fourth minister was Rev. Robert Ward of Charlestown, who was ordained January 25, 1721-22. He faithfully and honorably served Christ here ten years, dying July 19, 1732, at the age of thirty-seven years. He was born in Charlestown September 23, 1694, and, graduating at Harvard College in 1719, taught the grammar-school at Charlestown for about a year before coming to Wenham. Ilis service here was quite successful.

The fifth pastor of the church was Rev. John War- ren, who was ordained January 12, 1733. He was born in Roxbury September 18, 1704, graduated at Harvard College in 1725, and began to preach as early as 1727. During his service here occurred the great revivals of 1740, in which he was prominent. He died here July 15, 1749, at the age of forty-four years, deeply lamented. The year before his death the fourth meeting-house was begun to be built, but was not completed until 1754. It was fifty-two feet long, forty-two feet wide, with twenty-foot posts, and stood on the site of the preceding church. The town voted that the committee appointed to build the mect- ing-house should " provide on the town charge six gallons of rum, eight pounds of sugar, two bar- rels of cider, two barrels of beer, one hundred weight of bread, one hundred weight of legs of pork, and forty pounds of cheese,-to be taken care of by said committee on raising day in the prndentest way they can for the end aforesaid."

The next minister, Rev. Joseph Swain of Reading, was ordained October 24, 1750. He was a native of Reading, and graduated at Harvard College in 1744.

Mr. Swain served as chaplain in the French and Indian war. He died June 29, 1792, at the age of seventy years, having been the pastor of the church forty-two years. He was a good writer, dull speaker, and reserved in his manners.

The seventh minister was Rev. Adoniram Judson of Malden, who was installed here December 26, 1792. He was born in Woodbury, Conn., June 25, 1751; graduated at Yale College in 1775 ; and was ordained at Malden, Mass., about 1787, where he remained until 1791, when he resigned. He asked for a dismis- sion at Wenham on account of the smallness of his salary, and was thereupon dismissed October 22, 1799. He was installed at Plymouth, Mass., May 12, 1802 ; and, having become a Baptist in his religious faith, resigned his pastorate August 12, 1817. He removed to Scituate, and died there November 25, 1826, aged seventy-five years. The distinguished missionary to Burmah of his name was his son.

After Mr. Judson's departure the church was so divided that another minister was not settled until July 10, 1805, when Rev. Rufus Anderson of North Yarmouth, Me., was installed. He was born at Lon- donderry, N. 11., March 5, 1765 ; graduated at Dart- mouth College in 1791; and ordained at North Yar- mouth, Me., October 22, 1794. He resigned in 1804, and came to Wenham. He continued here in his acceptable service until February 11, 1814, when he died, of pulmonic consumption, at the age of forty- eight. His funeral sermon, preached by Rev. Samuel Worcester, was published : the text was 2 Tim. i. 12. Mr. Anderson published sermons, and a treatise on baptism. Ile was blessed with pious parents, who trained, with the aid of the divine Spirit, his quick and strong passions. The following is his epitaph :-

"Piety, benevolence, integrity and fidelity were prominent virtnes in his amiable character.

" Sleep precious dust while here confined in earth, Till the glad spring of nature's second birth. Then quit the transient winter of the tomb, To rise and flourish in immortal bloom."

The ninth minister was Rev. John Smith of Salem, N. H., who was installed November 26, 1817. He was born in Belchertown, Mass., March 5, 1766, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1794. He was afterwards honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was ordained at Salem, N. H., January 2, 1797, and resigned November 21, 1816. From the church in Wenham, having asked therefor, he was dismissed September 8, 1819, and became a professor of theology at the Bangor Theological Seminary. He died in Bangor, April 7, 1831, at the age of sixty-five. Mr. Smith studied theology with Rev. Dr. Emmons, of Franklin, and was himself possessed of a strong logical mind. He had an impediment in his speech, and was also faulty in manner and style. He dis- charged his duties faithfully ; and was sympathizing, kind and pious, possessed of a firmness of purpose and great perseverance.

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Dr. Smith's successor in the pastoral service here was Rev. Ebenezer Peck Sperry, who was installed March 29, 1820, He was born in New Haven, Conn., June 3, 1785, graduated at Middlebury College in 150%, and also at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1510. Hle was ordained at Dunstable (now Nashua), N. IL., November 3, 1813, and resigned in April, 1819. It was during Mr. Sperry's service here that the Sabbath-school originated. "In 1815 Miss Elizabeth Shaw taught a day school and a Sabbath elas», in the ancient house west of the town hall." The manual of the church goes on to say, that "she married a Rev. Mr. Nichols, and went as missionary to India; and that the first record of an organized Sabbath-school appears during Mr. Sperry's ministry, although it is stated that a school had been com- menced as early as 1818 under Mr. Smith." It was organized in May, 1822, and at first held dur- ing the summer months only, but was soon con- tinued the whole of the year. During Mr. Sperry's service was formed also the Baptist Church of Wen- ham, in 1831, and the Congregational Parish was or- ganized in 1833. Mr. Sperry was dismissed, April 30, 1837, and became chaplain to the South Boston House of Correction, where he remained a little more than a year. He was subsequently settled as pastor at l'eru, and afterwards at Lyme, Ohio. Ife died at Lyme, January 1, 1853, at the age of sixty-seven years. lle was a successful minister, fifty-nine per- sons being believed to have been converted in one re- vival in 1826.

The eleventh pastor was Rev. Daniel Mansfield of Lynnfield, who was ordained July 26, 1837. Hle was born in Lynnfield Angust 8, 1807 ; graduated at Am- herst College in 1833, and at the Andover Theologi- cal Seminary in 1836. It was during his ministry here that the present parsonage was built, in 1840, at a cost of two thousand dollars. The present church was also erected during his ministry. It was built by Mr. T. P. Dodge, and was sixty feet wide and forty- five feet long. being situated on land purchased by Dencon Moses Foster, and was dedicated December 20, 18443. Its cost was four thousand dollars. An ad- dition was made to it in 1854. The bell then put in was made by Henry Hooper of Boston, and its weight was about one thousand pounds. Mr. Mansfield died. from the effects of general ill-health, April 8, 1847, nged thirty-nine years. He published two historical discourses delivered at the second centennial anni- versary of the organization of the church, and another preached at the dedication of the new church. He was possessed of good talents and sound judgment, and was much appreciated for his modesty, gentleness and tidlolity in his Master's service. His parishioners erected a monument to his memory above his grave.

Mr. Mansfield's successor was Rev. Jeremiah Tay- for, 1.1, who was ordained October 27, 1817. His onlinition sermon, delivered by Rev. O. A. Taylor of Manchester, was published. He was dismissed

August 19, 1856, to accept a call from the First Con- gregational Church in Middletown, Conn., where he afterward settled in the ministry. We believe he is now preaching at Providence. Mr. Taylor's enter- prise secured the church organ, in 1852, and also the row of elms which line Main Street. He was an able and faithful minister here, and the church and Sun- day-school flourished under his guidance.

Rev. John Smith Sewall, D.D., was the thirteenth minister of the church. He was ordained April 20, 1859. After preaching here eight years, he was dis- missed April 28, 1867, to accept the professorship of rhetoric and oratory in Bowdoin College. In 1875 he entered upon the professorship of homiletics in the Bangor Theological Seminary. Mr. Sewall was born in Newcastle, Me., March 20, 1830. While preaching in Wenham, for three months in 1864 he was chaplain in the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment. lle had a happy temperament, and entered into all the interests of the people.

After Mr. Sewall's dismission, Rev. William R. Joyslin preached here about a year. The next set- tled pastor was Rev. Will Converse Wood, who was installed October 13, 1870. Hle served here six years, being dismissed on the sixth anniversary of his in- stallation. He was a graduate of Harvard College and the Andover Theological Seminary, and had preached two years at Lanesville, in Gloucester. Ile was a writer of marked ability, and the author of " Five Problems of State and Religion."

After Mr. Wood's departure from the town, Rev. Samuel W. Clarke preached for about a year, and he was followed by Rev. Alexander C. Childs, who also remained about a year. The next minister was Rev. John M. Hart, who was ordained December 11, 1878. HIe was dismissed, after less than a year's service, August 4, 1879, with reluctance, to accept a call from a church in California, which he felt bound to accept on good grounds, especially the ill health of his wife, who could not endure the rigor of a New England climate. Mr. Hart was a graduate of Yale College and of the Union Theological Seminary, New York l'ity.

From 1880 to June, 1884, the pulpit was supplied by Rev. James H. Childs, who came from South By- field. He was followed, June 26, 1884, by Rev. John C. Mitchell, who preached as the supply of the church until November 1, 1886, when his services were discontinued, because he had imbibed liberalism and departed from the faith of the church. He has since preached occasionally in the town hall to per- sons who have similar theological inclinations, and is now in Danvers.

The present pastor, Rev. George Masters Wood- well, from Dover, N. H., was ordained here Septem- ber 14, 1887. He was born in Norwalk, Ohio, May 13, 1857, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1884, and at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1887.

The Sunday-school of the church is quite large, and

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has a good-sized library of interesting books. Sev- eral gifts have been made to the church at different times. Thomas Fiske, of Wenham, in his will, which was proved in 1723, gave the church ten pounds, and the same year Captain Thomas Fiske donated a com- munion enp, which is still in existence. It is in- scribed, ---

" The Gift of Cap't Thomas Fiske to the Church in wenham : 1723."

Benjamin Fiske, of Wenham, in his will, which was proved in 1742, gave the church five pounds. In 1820 the church received a donation of five hun- dred dollars for the support of the gospel here from Edmund Kimball of Newburyport. In 1827, the same gentleman gave to the church " six elegant sil- ver cups, bearing his name and the date of the year."

The clock in the tower of the church was erected in May, 1867, by the enterprise of some of the citi- zens, who gave it to the town about two years after- wards.

BAPTIST CHURCH .- The Baptist church in Wen- ham can trace the history of its origin to a movement begun and carried on by Miss Rebecca Goldsmith, a yonng lady from Haverhill, who was teaching school in the Wenham Neck district, at the close of the eighteenth century. She was a Baptist, and by her earnestness persuaded others to embrace her religious belief. The converts, for several years, attended ser- vices at the Baptist church in Danversport. A Bap- tist church was organized at Beverly in March, 1801, and the Wenham Baptists worshipped there for a quarter of a century. A revival in Wenham in 1826 caused the number of Baptists here to increase, and a meeting-house, fifty-one feet long, and thirty-eight feet wide, surmounted by a tower and steeple, was erected about two miles east from the centre of the town, on the site of the present Baptist church, by Joseph Edwards, at a cost of about two thousand dollars. A bell was added to the tower sometime afterwards. The Baptist society was organized March 23, 1831. The church was founded October 12, 1831, with twenty-five members, eleven males and fourteen females, all dismissed from the First Baptist church in Beverly. The church edifice, free from debt, was dedicated on the same day by appro- priate exercises. The sermon at the organization of the church was delivered by Rev. Cyrus P. Grosvenor of Salem, from the text, Amos vii. 12. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Jonathan Aldrich of Beverly, from Eccl. v. 1. Shortly after the church was organized, several persons were dismissed from the Congregational church to this, and within a year the membership had increased to forty-eight.

The first minister was Rev. Charles Miller, a native of Scotland, who supplied from April 4, 1833, until he was dismissed, April 9, 1835, to become pastor of one of the churches in Boston.

Mr. Miller's successor was Rev. Henry Archibald, who was informally installed Augnst 4, 1836. His

pastoral relation with the church and society was dissolved August 3, 1837.

The next minister was Rev. Joel Kenney, a gradu- ate of Bowdoin College, who was ordained June 20, 1838. He was dismissed April 13, 1840, and removed to Sturbridge, where he labored successfully until his health failed. In 1844 he took charge of the church in Conway. In 1846 he became pastor at West Springfield, where he stayed but a year. In 1849 he retired from the ministry, and afterwards made his home in Springfield, where he died July 28, 1880, at the age of seventy-three years.

The church was without a minister for more than a year. The Rev. George W. Patch, a graduate of the Newton Theological Seminary, and a young man of talent and energy, was ordained October 20, 1841. He was dismissed February 27, 1843, to accept a call extended to him by the Baptist church in Sharon. From Sharon he went to Marblehead, in 1848, where he labored in the ministry for twenty-six years. He died in Cambridgeport December 24, 1875, aged fifty- eight years. He was a member of the State Legisla- ture in 1864 and 1865.

The next pastor, Rev. Josiah Keely, a native of England, and for many years resident in America, was ordained December 21, 1843. His pastorate con- tinued for nine years; and he was dismissed, at his own request, November 4, 1852. He afterwards set- tled at Saco, Me., where he preached some years. Under his care, the church here was prosperous. He was talented, and earnest in his work. Courteons in his manners and enlightened in his views, he was re- spected and esteemed by the entire town. To be a peace-maker was his most delightful service. He died while serving as a chaplain in the War of the Rebellion.

Mr. Keely was succeeded the next March by Rev. Isaac Woodbury, a native of Hamilton. He was dis- missed, at his own request, August 27, 1855, and re- moved to the West.

The next pastor of the church was Rev. Thomas Wormersly, who was ordained here February 20, 1856. He was a native of England, and a graduate of the Newton Theological Seminary, having been for many years a resident of America.

On the night of November 6, 1859, the church edi- fice was destroyed by fire. The friends of the church assisted in erecting a new one the following year, its dedication taking place on Christmas day. The ser- mon was preached by the pastor from Revelation v. 6. In the meantime preaching had been carried on in private bouses.

Mr. Wormersly was dismissed April 6, 1862. He was a faithful and beloved pastor, and under his min- istrations the church was increased in numbers and spirituality.

Mr. Wormersly's snecessor was Rev. Abner D. Gor- ham, who commenced his service here January 1, 1863, and still remains here, after twenty-five years

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of faithful labor. He is a native of Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, and was educated at Madison University.

The Sunday-school connected with the church was established at the same time. The library of the school consists of five hundred volumes.

The parsonage was built in 1524 at a cost of about fifteen hundred dollars. It is a neat and comfortable house, two stories in height, and situated in a quiet and pleasant spot. In 1873 a commodious chapel was built at a cost of about twelve hundred dollars, and was dedicated in August of that year, free from debt. Legacies have been left to the church by Mrs. Pru- dence Dinge and by Mis. Susan Lord of Beverly, a native of Wenham.

The tiftieth anniversary of the constitution of the church was observed in October, 188], by publie exercises.

MILITARY HISTORY .- Wenham had its military company at a very early date. Thomas Fiske was the leading military man for many years in the early set- tlement of the town. He was chosen "clerk of ye band to ye company 28: 9: 1654." October 10, 1683, the General Court "ordered that Thomas Fiske be captaine of the floot company at Wenham, Charles Gott he his leiftennt, & Wm. Fiske his ensigne." In 1789 Thomas Kimball was captain. The town-house now stands on the old training-field of two hundred years ago, whose western bonndary was the street. The town had its own military company until the old militia [throughout the State was disbanded, about 1840.

The first military conflicts in New England with which the settlers had to do were with the Indians. The most serious conflict that Wenham people took part in was the War of King Philip, in 1675 and 1676. The Indians saw the gradual encroachment of the English settlers upon their domains. They saw their favorite streams and ponds, their loved hunting- grounds and dwelling sites taken possession of, one after another, by the pale faces; and they sought by this war to exterminate the families already living here, and to prevent new settlements. To be sure, some of the tribes remained friendly to the English, but most of them joined King Philip in his last struggle to recover the possessions of their fathers. The savages might have accomplished their purpose had not that Power, that can give the heathen for an inheritance, come to their aid and gave the settlers steves The savages fought against hope and with the energy of despair. Hundreds of the whites were killed and town after town destroyed. Decisive measures were at length determined upon by the col- ontles and a torce of five hundred and fifty men were collected in Massachusetts 'olony. Some had volun- trered in Wenham, among whom were Thomas Abby and Caleb Kimball to join the little army, and five- Mark Batchelder, Richard Hutton, Thomas Kimball, Samhel Moulton and Philip Welch-were impressed I'm the Wenham Company by Thomas Fiske, who

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672