USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Greenfield > History of Greenfield : shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 38
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The First Church in Greenfield was without a pastor after the dismission of Mr. Woodbridge, for nearly nine years, being supplied during this time by Reverend Lincoln Ripley of Maine, Reverend Ebenezer Halping of Vermont, and the Reverends Messrs. Packard of Shelburne.
October 24, 1832, Reverend Amariah Chandler became the pastor of this church and his ministry was long and success-
479
REVEREND AMARIAH CHANDLER
1832-1864]
ful. He was born in the old ferry house at the foot of Pine Hill in Deerfield, October 27, 1782, he being the youngest of nine children born to Moses and Persis (Harris) Chandler.
He graduated at Burlington in 1807, studied theology with Reverend Dr. Packard of Shelburne, and was ordained to the ministry at Waitsfield, Vt., February 7, 1810. He remained pastor of the church in Waitsfield until 1830 and afterward supplied at Hardwick, Vt., until he came to this town. He was made a Doctor of Divinity by the University of Ver- mont, in 1846, and was a member of the Massachusetts Con- stitutional Convention in 1853. Mr. Chandler married Abi- gail Whitney of Shelburne, October 2, 1808, and she was the mother of his six children, of whom Susan, the wife of Elihu G. Arms of this town is the only survivor. As his second wife he married November 17, 1840, Mrs. Mary Nims Roberts, who died March 4, 1852. His third marriage was to Mrs. Eliza B. Gleason, of Colrain, who died January 1I, 1865. Dr. Chandler died, greatly venerated and beloved, October 20, 1864. The Franklin Association, after Dr. Chandler's de- cease, passed resolutions in which they described him as " A , man of superior abilities, an independent thinker, of a child- like beautiful simplicity, a lover of nature, of its sweetness as he said in his last sickness, free from false ambition and conceit, magnanimous, social in his nature, genial in spirit, humorous even in trouble, rich in affection and good will, mindful of children, thoughtful of others' feelings, sympathizing, a hater of oppression, deeply patriotic, a friend of his race, alive to the present, abreast of the age in its onward movements, one of nature's noblemen ; he died respected and beloved by all who knew him, comforted and upheld by the glorious truths which he had by word and example for fifty-six years, commended to his fellow-men."
" So, when a good man dies, For years beyond his ken The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the paths of men." -Longfellow.
480
REVEREND DANIEL H. ROGAN
[1863-1865
Mr. Chandler informed the writer that in his early youth he determined to be a soldier ; that in order to toughen him- self he voluntarily underwent great exposure, and during his college life his great frugality aided him much in finding means to finish his collegiate course. He also repeated to me the story told by Mr. Sheldon in the history of Deerfield, that when his father was living in the ferry house, it was the rendezvous of the leading Tories of the neighborhood during the Revolutionary War. The attic of the house opened on a sidehill path leading directly into the woods, thus furnishing a convenient way of escape in case of alarm. The Committee of Safety finally caused Mr. Chandler to be arrested, upon suspicion of his holding communication with the enemy by dispatches written in cipher, but when it was found that the treasonable dispatches were simply bills of good purchased in Albany and made out in the Dutch language, he was dis- charged.
When a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1853, Dr. Chandler declared that " if freedom ever dies, its last gasp will be upon the hills of Western Massachusetts."
In 1867, Thanksgiving Day: Reverend Dr. Chandler preached a sermon upon the " Times." He asked his people to reduce his salary from four hundred dollars to three hun- dred, as he could live on less than he was now getting. The parish refused his request.
The Reverend Mr. Halping, who preached in Greenfield, died on board the steamer War Eagle, on the Ohio river, of cholera, in 1849.
Reverend Daniel H. Rogan was installed the sixth pastor of the First Church, as colleague with Dr. Chandler, March 31, 1863. Mr. Rogan was a native of Tennessee, and his strong union sentiments made it necessary for him to remove to the loyal portion of the country. He was a graduate of Amherst, and had supplied in Bernardston for some time before he was called to this church, Reverend Mr. Dean of the Second
481
REVEREND CAREY H. WATSON
1890-1903]
Church preached the installing sermon, and the venerable Dr. Chandler made the prayer. Mr. Rogan was dismissed Sep- tember 27, 1865. Reverend Edmund S. Potter, a native of Leyden and then recently pastor of the First Church at Con- cord, supplied from December 1, 1865 to March 31, 1868. Reverend A. G. Loomis was the stated supply from April 1, 1868, for one year. Reverend Elijah Cutler supplied from June 1, 1869 to April 1, 1871. Reverend W. S. Kimball, from Newburyport, was installed pastor March 7, 1872, the installing sermon being preached by Reverend David Peck of Sunderland. He was dismissed October 4, 1875, at his own request. Reverend Dr. W. Belden supplied during 1876 and 1877, when the Reverend W. Newell began his services and remained acting pastor until October, 1886. During his connection with this parish his son, Horatio Newell, was ordained a missionary. Reverend H. S. Robin- son supplied from February, 1887, to August, 1890. Rev- erend Carey H. Watson has since that time been the success- ful settled pastor of this parish, and during his service much has been done to change the appearance of the church edifice and its surroundings.
THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY
Those citizens of the town who had been anxious that the meetinghouse might be erected in or near the village, at last became weary of trying to obtain a location which would be satisfactory to them, and deciding to organize a second parish, they prepared and forwarded to the General Court the fol- lowing petition :
" To the Honorable, the Senate and the House of Repre- sentatives in General Court assembled in Boston, in June A. D. 1816.
" The subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Greenfield, in the County of Franklin, beg leave to represent that a meeting house near the court house in said town, is much wanted for
3I
482
[1816
THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY
the accommodation of a large number of people, who can more conveniently assemble there for public worship, than at any other place-that the Congregational meeting house in said town was built more than half a century ago, when the town of Gill was a part of the town of Greenfield-that the house itself is old and much out of repair, and as a house of wor- ship is neither decent nor convenient, that there is but one dwelling house within about a half a mile of it, that the dis- tance from it to the court house, which stands in the centre of the village is one mile and a quarter, that being unable to agree among themselves where to erect a new meeting house, the Congregational society in said town on the 7th day of February last at a legal meeting made choice of the Honorable Ezra Starkweather, Eben" Mattoon and Sam1 Porter, as a committee to fix upon the spot-that they have attended to that service, and after viewing the whole ground and obtain- ing knowledge of all the circumstances, they are unanimously of the opinion that the new meeting house ought to be built within the village, as appears by their report, a copy of which is here unto annexed-that not withstanding this, a majority of legal voters appear to be indisposed to proceed in building- that this indisposition evidently results in a great measure from unwillingness to meet the expense :- Wherefore we humbly pray your Honors, that we, together with such as may associate with us, may be incorporated into a Religious society, with Parish privileges, by the name of the Proprietors of the Village Meeting House in Greenfield, for the purpose of erecting a new meeting house, at some suitable place, not more than 120 rods from the Court House, with a right to reimburse ourselves, if we can, the actual expense of build- ing such house, by the sale of pews; and if the pews should eventually sell for more than enough to defray the expense of building the house, the surplus to be appropriated towards the establishment of a Fund for the support of the minister who may be employed to
483
CHARTER MEMBERS
1816]
preach in said house; and as in duty bound, will ever pray.
" SAMUEL WELLS
and fifty others."
The society was incorporated December 5, 1816, and the church was organized January 15, 1817, the most of its forty-eight members withdrawing from the First Church, " purely on the ground of convenience, and the prospect of a rapidly increasing population."
December 17, 1816, the following named persons asked dismission 'from the First church that they might organize the Second Congregational church of Greenfield, which had been incorporated the fifth of that month :
Jerom Ripley.
Hooker Leavitt.
Samuel Wells.
Sarah Ripley.
Elijah Alvord, 2d.
Lydia H. Ripley.
Cornelia Hall.
Elizabeth F. Ripley.
Harriet Gilbert.
Mary Ann Ripley-
Rhoda Wells.
Hannah Newton.
David Fox.
David Ripley.
Christana White.
Orra Ripley.
Sarah Wells.
Charles Stearns.
Electa Wells.
Sally Stearns.
Clarissa Wells.
John Russell.
Patty Severance.
Electa Russell.
Tirza Severance.
Sophronia Newcomb.
Elihu Lyman.
Hannah Ames.
Ezekiel Bascom.
Ebenezer Billings.
Esther Billings.
Mary Pierce. Abner Wells.
Lucy P. Billings.
Elizabeth Wells.
Lucius Dickinson.
Elizabeth Clapp.
Rebecca Dickinson.
Lydia Grennell.
Jonathan Leavitt.
John Denio.
Emelia Leavitt.
Harriet E. Denio. .
Mary H. Leavitt.
Sabra Alvord. Nancy Leavitt.
Samuel Billings. Sarah H. Leavitt.
The First church in their action upon the petition of their seceding brethren expressed great regret that so many of its members should feel a separation necessary, but informed the petitioners that when they had been organized into a new
484
REVEREND CHARLES JENKINS
[1820-1824
church that the First church would consider that the peti- tioners' relations with the First church were dissolved, their communication ending in these words : "and shall exercise that Christian Charity and fellowship towards you as becomes sister churches professing the same faith and order of the Gospel."
The new society held their meetings in the old courthouse until the completion of their meetinghouse, the Reverend Dan Huntington, then considered orthodox, being their stated supply. The original house of worship-a handsome brick edifice-stood where the present building does, and was dedi- cated November 3, 1819. Reverend Mr. Huntington preached from Revelations, XXII. 9, " Worship God."
Reverend Dr. J. A. Albro, Reverend Dr. George B. Cheever and Reverend E. O. Daggett each declined an in- vitation to settle in the new parish. Reverend Charles Jenkins of Barre, became the pastor of the church, May 19, 1820. Mr. Jenkins was born in Barre, August 28, 1786, was graduated at Williams in 1813, and was a teacher there from 1816 to 1819. In 1824, charges framed by mem- bers of his church (principally by men who soon after formed the Unitarian society in Greenfield) were made against him, and investigation by an Ecclesiastical Council was had, and Mr. Jenkins was honorably acquitted. He however soon made an arrangement with his society for his dismissal, and was settled as pastor in Portland, Me., in 1825. He died there, December 29, 1831. He was greatly lamented by his people, and the Christian Mirror in a lengthy obituary notice says : " We have been called to announce no death since that of the beloved and venerated Payson, with so op- pressive a sense of loss which has been sustained by Congrega- tional ministers and churches in Maine."
Mr. Jenkins's first wife died while he was pastor in Green- field, and he married a daughter of Honorable Jonathan Lea- vitt, of Greenfield, for his second wife.
485
REVEREND CALEB S. HENRY
1826-1829]
Reverend William C. Fowler became the second pastor of this church, August 31, 1825, the installation sermon being preached by Professor Fitch, of Yale College. Mr. Fowler, born at Killingworth, Conn., in 1793, was graduated at Yale in 1816. He remained pastor at Greenfield about two years, and after his dismissal was for ten years Professor of Chemistry at Middlebury College, and Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Amherst from 1838 to 1843. He was a member of the General Court from Amherst in 1851, and visited Europe in 1852. Dr. Fowler died in Durham, Conn., aged eighty-seven years.
Reverend Caleb S. Henry, D.D., was ordained third pastor of this church January 21, 1826, Reverend Dr. William B. Sprague preaching the sermon. He was born in Rutland, Mass., in 1804, studied at Amherst, but was graduated at Dartmouth in 1825. He remained in Greenfield about three years, was two years at Cambridge and was settled at West Hartford, Conn., in 1833. He became a minister in the Episcopal church and was for some time Professor in the New York University. He was given the degree of D. D. by Ge- neva College in 1838. He died at Newburg, N. H., in 1883.
The fourth pastor of this church was Reverend Thomas Bellows, ordained March 12, 1833. He was born in Walpole, N. H., in 1807, graduated at Dartmouth in 1827, and only remained here one and one half years.
Reverend Samuel Washburn was the fifth pastor, and was installed August 2, 1837, Reverend Dr. John Todd preach- ing the sermon. Mr. Washburn was a native of Minot, Me., where he was born January 1, 1807. He never graduated at any college, but was made M. A. by Amherst in 1839. Mr. Washburn suffered from bleeding at the lungs, and was dis- missed November 23, 1841, after he had left for a sea voyage for the recovery of his health. He died September 13, 1853, in New York city. He was fearless, independent, and de- cided, as the following incident will show : " On one occasion
486
REVEREND LORENZO L. LANGSTROTH
[1843-1848
while pastor at Greenfield, the choir of his congregation de- clined to sing after he had read the hymn. After waiting a short time he arose and remarked that sacred music was an important part of public worship, and, as that part was not to be performed, he should at that time dispense with perform- ing the other parts, and left the house, and the congregation followed."
Reverend Lorenzo L. Langstroth was installed the sixth pastor of this church, December 20, 1843, the sermon being preached by Reverend Dr. Leonard Bacon. He was born at Philadelphia, Pa., December 25, 1810, was graduated at Yale in 1831, was settled at Andover in 1836, and came to Greenfield 1839, as a teacher in the Greenfield High School for Young Ladies. He stayed in Greenfield as a pastor until Febru- ary 15, 1848. For four years after his dismissal he taught a young ladies' school in Philadelphia, then returned to Green- field, and supplied at neighboring towns for some years. Later he moved to Ohio. He was celebrated for his knowledge of the honeybee, and was the author of several valuable works relating to the raising and care of the bee. He fell dead in the pulpit of the Wayne Avenue Presbyterian church at Dayton, Ohio, October 6, 1895.
Reverend George C. Partridge, the seventh pastor, was in- stalled May 18, 1848. He was born in Hatfield, August 27, 1813, was graduated at Amherst in 1833, studied at Andover, and taught at Amherst until 1838, settled at Nantucket in 1839, at Brimfield in 1842, and afterward preached at Rochester, N. Y., and at Portland, Me. He was dismissed from the Greenfield church in May, 1854. He died at Batavia, Ill., November 8, 1893.
The eighth pastor was Reverend Phineas C. Headley. He was installed May 7, 1857, and dismissed July 1, 1861. Mr. Headley was a brilliant man, and the church during his min- istry received about one hundred and thirty-five additional members.
487
REVEREND SAMUEL H. LEE
1867-1872]
Reverend Artemas Deane was settled as the ninth pastor of this church October 3, 1861, and was dismissed March 6, 1866. At the council called to consider Mr. Deane's dis- missal, Judge Grennell spoke very highly of him, and Hon- orable Whiting Griswold said that the society was suffering from some peculiar disease, he did not know what to call it, unless it was " New Minister on the Brain."
Reverend Samuel H. Lee became the tenth pastor of this people June 18, 1867, and was dismissed April 2, 1872. Mr. Lee is president of a French College in Springfield, and still retains in a large measure the love and respect of the people of his old parish.
The corner stone of the present church edifice was laid July 28, 1868, at which time Judge Grennell, the senior deacon of the church, delivered an historical address. The church was dedicated June 22, 1870, Reverend Mr. Lee, the pastor, preaching a sermon taking as his text, John, IV. 22, “We know that we worship."
July 30, 1873, Reverend Franke A. Warfield was installed the eleventh pastor of this people, and remained until Janu- ary 18, 1876. Seventy-seven persons united with the church during his pastorate.
Reverend Edward O. Bartlett was acting pastor from April I, 1876 to October I, of the same year.
Reverend William A. McGinley was pastor from February 19, 1878, to November 5, 1879. He died May 25, 1896, aged sixty-five.
February 11, 1880, General Erastus Blakeslee was ordained to the ministry and installed pastor of this church. At the beginning of the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Blakeslee was a student at Yale College, and enlisted as a lieutenant and came out a brigadier general. He remained here until June 26, 1883.
Reverend David K. Nesbit was installed pastor May 15, 1884, and dismissed September 22, 1887, much to the regret of the church and parish. He died in 1893.
.
488
REVEREND G. GLENN ATKINS
[1895-1900
Reverend Henry Hyde, from Holyoke, became the pastor June 29, 1888. He remained with this people until June 19, 1894, having resigned his pastorate.
In October, 1894, the society engaged Professor G. Glenn Atkins of the Mount Hermon school to preach for a season, and the relations being mutually agreeable, on the 2d of Janu- ary, 1895, Professor Atkins was ordained to the ministry, Reverend S. P. Cook of Northfield preaching the ordaining sermon. Mr. Atkins became the stated supply of the society, which arrangement continued until May 6, 1900 when he re- tired to accept a call to the First Congregational church at Burlington, Vt. The removal of Mr. Atkins from Greenfield was greatly regretted, not only by the people of his charge, but by all the citizens of the town.
Reverend Charles E. Beals was installed as his successor, October 12, 1900, and resigned his pastorate in October, 1903.
EPISCOPAL
For a period of almost sixty years after the organization of the town, the parish and the town were identical, and all questions relating to parish affairs were decided in open town meeting. But in 1812 a few people interested in the Episco- pal form of worship held meetings, and September 24th of that year an Episcopal church was organized with five mem- bers. Among those who came to officiate at the exercises of the infant church was Titus Strong, then a candidate for Holy Orders, and on the 10th and 13th of October, 1813, he officiated as a lay reader at services in a room fitted up in the house of John E. Hall (the Hollister house), for the use of the small congregation. Mr. Strong was invited to take charge of the parish, and came from Dedham to this place, arriving April 7, 1814. Becoming qualified as a deacon, he (as he himself expressed it) " took upon him with much fear and trembling the charge of the parish." Having been unan- imously elected rector of the parish, on January 11, 1815,
489
REVEREND TITUS STRONG
1814-1855]
he was ordained a priest, and was instituted to his office by Bishop Griswold, May 25, 1815. Dr. Strong was born at Brighton in January, 1787, and this was his only parish. His labors for forty-one years among this people constituted his life work. He died at the rectory June 11, 1855, of a disease which caused him great suffering, the agonies of which he bore without complaint. He was greatly beloved not only by the people of his own parish, but by all the inhabitants of this vicinity who knew him, for he was a man of the people. Dr. Strong was particularly graceful in his manner, and was an earnest and impressive speaker, and at times in his earnestness became truly eloquent. The annual parish party at the rectory became an occasion to be looked forward to, not only by his own people, but by many of the citizens outside his particular flock. On these occasions Dr. Strong always read a short poem of his own composition, in which glowed re- fined expressions of his exceeding love for his friends. Bishop Williams, speaking of those days, says : "Another scene comes back to me. It is the old parsonage, the home for so many years of a frank, hearty hospitality, and in the spring- time of the year. The pastor is there, and his people gath-
ered around him. They have come with their gifts and greet- ings, and the fragrance of affection that fills the place is sweeter than all the sweetest airs of spring. The last hours of the day pass on in loving greetings ; and just as the twi- light begins to steal over the earth, and, in the hush of the closing day, the pastor reads the verses in which his heart has run out toward the people of his charge, and with words of prayer and blessing, sends them to their homes. Who that was ever at them can forget what we used to call the parish parties? How, in their simple cheer and kindliness, were holy bonds reknit and strengthened and how they lifted up the pastoral heart and gave it fresh courage for its lifelong work ! Priest, pastor, man of God, he dwelt among his people, while
490
REVEREND WILLIAM FLINT
[1855-1859
"' Along the cool sequestered vale of life He kept the noiseless tenor of his way.'
" That life may fill no great page in the world's story, but it was a record fairer than any earthly, even that written in the Lamb's own book of life."
Dr. Strong was the author of several popular school books, and always took deep interest in the welfare of the young people of the town. Both Williams and Dartmouth colleges conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M.
" He was a model of a country parson, a Christian gentle- man and scholar."
A beautiful tablet erected in memory of Dr. Strong adorns the chancel of St. James church, containing a tribute from Bishop Williams who was baptized in this parish.
Reverend William Flint succeeded Dr. Strong, but in 1858 his health began to fail, and on the 24th of March, 1859, he resigned his office of rector, to take effect at Easter. On the 12th of April he died, aged forty-five years. Dr. Flint began life as a printer ; studied medicine and practiced while fitting himself for his sacred office as rector. "He was a man of more than ordinary talents, a good writer, and of a genial and social temperament. He had many warmly attached friends in this town and vicinity." He was a member of the school committee and a Mason of high degree, being at the time of his decease deputy grand master of grand lodge of the state.
Other pastors of this church were Reverend S. Russell Jones, Reverend Julius H. Waterbury, Reverend Samuel Hollingsworth, S. T. D., Reverend Peter Voorhees Finch, Reverend Sidney Hubbell Treat, and Henry R. Wadleigh.
Reverend Mr. Finch was twice pastor of St. James church. He was born at Shrewsbury, N. J., March 19, 1835, was a clerk in a New York bank for a year or two, and was gradu- ated from Burlington College, N. J., in 1854, delivering the Greek oration. This college, of which Bishop Doane, Sr., was president, has gone out of existence. From it he received
491
REVEREND P. VOORHEES FINCH
1863-1871] 1879-1901]
the degree of M. A. in 1858. He became a priest at the hands of Bishop Williams, July 3, 1860. He was in Connecti- cut until he took the chaplaincy of the 16th Connecticut Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion. He was at Antietam and Fredericksburg. He escaped bodily injury during the war, but used to say that his dignity was considerably shaken by the shooting away of a portion of his coat during one of the battles in which his regiment was engaged. He was a great favorite with his brothers of the E. E. Day Grand Army Post, and his services were cheerfully given upon every call to attend the solemn services of Memorial day.
Mr. Finch came to Greenfield about Christmas, 1863, and supplied at St. James until Easter, 1864, when he was called to become rector of the parish. He gave good satisfaction and remained until October 1, 1871, when he resigned to accept a call to St. John's church in Pittsburg, Pa. He remained in Pittsburg for two years, and then went to Denver, Colo., where he became rector of St. John's church. Mr. Finch continued in Denver until he received a unanimous call from his old parish in Greenfield to return to them as their pastor. Mr. Finch arrived in town from Denver, December 8, 1879, and immedi- ately entered upon his work, being heartily greeted by his old parishioners as well as by the citizens in general.
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