USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Hardwick > History of Hardwick, Massachusetts, with a genealogical register > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
In memory of Capt. Ebenezer Cox who died March ye 2ª 1768 in ye 42ª year of his age.
Beneath this stone a noble Captain's laid Which for his King and Country was displayed His courage that no terrors could disarm Nor when he fac'd ye foe his fears alarm But now he's conquer'd and ye silent grave
Can boast that power ye French could never have Under his care his soldiers were secure Equal with them all hardships he'd endure In six campaigns intrepid trod ye field Nor to ye Gallic Power would ever yield At last he's gone we hope where Wars do cease To spend a whole Eternity in Peace.
On a large head-stone, erected agreeably to a vote of the town, the following epitaphs are inscribed in parallel columns : -
1 It is not unlikely that the Rev. Eben- ezer Burt, who died at Athol, November 25, 1861, aged nearly 96, was buried here, preached the gospel for many years.
by the side of his wife and two sons, and near the spot where he had faithfully
171
CIVIL HISTORY.
Sacred to the memory of the Sacred to the memory of MRS. REVD DAVID WHITE who died SUSANNA WHITE consort of the Jany ye 6th 1784 in ye 74th year of REVP DAVID WHITE who died July his age. He was the first minister ye 17th 1783, in the 69th year of settled in the Town and faithfully her age. She lived a life of un- and conscientiously performed the exampled Piety and Virtue and sacred functions of his office for al- most 50 years to the great edification and enlargement of his Church and the universal peace & tranquillity of the Town. of the greatest Patience and Res- ignation under her long continued bodily indisposition and died in the firm hope of a Glorious Im- mortality.
Adieu to sickness pain and death Adieu to vanities and cares Submissive I resign my breath And rise to Bliss beyond the stars.
With heartfelt Joy I yield my breath And quit a life of pain and woe Rejoicing pass the scene of death To live where Joys forever flow.
Almighty Father hear my prayer And send salvation to this land May this my people be thy care And ever dwell at thy right hand.
New transports now inspire my frame With joys celestial and sublime O may you catch the heavenly flame And soar beyond the reach of time.
Hail kindred spirits of the etherial skie We come to visit your divine abode To spend a long Eternity on high To love adore and bless our Saviour God.
A large stone of peculiar shape stands near the centre of the cemetery, denoting the grave of a " beloved physician," and bear- ing this inscription : -
SPE SALUTIS ETERNE
In memory of Doct" CHARLES DOOLITTLE who died June 12th 1785 in the 37th Year of his age. Beneath this dust in ruin lies A man once virtuous just and wise He view'd his death approaching near And gave his life without a tear Now we commit with sacred trust His body to the mould'ring dust
His soul we trust has wing'd its way To realms of light and endless day.
At the grave of ROSAMOND WINSLOW, who died September 13, 1803, aged 18 (long commemorated by her contemporaries
172
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
as a maiden of remarkable beauty and amiability), a head-stone bears a stanza which expresses the idea so frequently found in early grave-yard literature, but clothed in a form of simplicity and tenderness which I do not remember to have seen else- where : -
Oh, my dear friend, I once like you Did stand such monuments to view ; But with me here you soon must be And others stand and read of thee.
CHAPTER XI.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Meeting-house and Ministry. - Mr. Ephraim Keith. - Church organized. - Rev. David White ordained. - First Meeting-house. - Sharp Controversy concerning the Location of the Second Meeting-house. - Unwillingness to contract Debts. - People seated anew in the Meeting-house. - Deacon Paige absents himself from the Communion and is censured. - Ecclesiastical Council. - Deacon Paige resigns Office, and unites with the Church in Petersham. - Deacon Robinson resigns Office, and becomes a Deacon in the Separate Church. - Changes in the Manner of Singing and also in the Versions of the Psalms sung. - Deacon Allen absents himself from the Communion, alleging a lack of Discipline in the Church ; but is afterwards pacified, and returns to his Official Duty. - Third Meeting-house, a Mag- nificent Structure. - Abortive Attempt to settle a Colleague Pastor .- Death and Character of Rev. David White, and of his Wife. - Deacon Allen elected Moderator of the Church. - Attempts to settle a Pastor. - Rev. Thomas Holt ordained. - Confession of Faith and Covenant. - Rev. Mr. Holt appeals in vain for an Increase of Salary ; his Dismission and subsequent Labors. - Pastorate of Rev. William B. Wesson. - Division of the Original Parish. - The Congregational Society settle Rev. John M. Merrick and Rev. John Goldsbury ; afterwards unite with the Universal- ist Society. - New Meeting-house .- Pastors. - The Calvinistic Society settle Rev. Martyn Tupper. - Confession of Faith. - Meeting-houses. - Pastors. - Deacons.
WHEN the General Court, in June, 1732, granted to the pro- prietors of this township a little more than one third part of the territory which their ancestors had purchased from the Indians, the boon was conferred " on the conditions following, viz .: That they within the space of five years settle and have on the spot sixty families (the settlers to be none but such as are natives of New England), each settler to build a good and convenient dwelling-house of one story high, eighteen feet square, at the least, and clear and bring to four acres fit for improvement, and three acres more, well stocked with English grass, and also lay out three shares throughout the town, each share to be one sixty third part of the said town, one share for the first settled minis- ter, one for the ministry, and the other for the school; and also -
174
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
build a convenient meeting-house, and settle a learned and ortho- dox minister within the term aforesaid."
In conformity with these conditions, the proprietors voted February 21, 1732-3, "that ten acres of land be reserved, near the centre of said tract, to set a meeting-house on, and for a burial-place, and a training-field." On the next day they directed a committee to "lay out one hundred and eleven lots, . . . viz., four lots to each proprietor's share, sixty settlers, and the lots for the ministry, and school ; " also, " unanimously voted, that each settler pay into the hands of the committee, upon his draw- ing his lot, the sum of five pounds towards the defraying the charges of surveying, &c., and the further sum of ten pounds,1 each for the building a meeting-house within the space of three years after his being admitted." It was also voted, December 27, 1733, " That the proprietors pay the sum of forty-eight pounds, which is to be raised equally out of each whole share, to help pay a minister for preaching the gospel amongst the in- habitants there, for one year next after the 2d day of May next. Also voted that the settlers, both resident and non- resident, pay fifteen shillings each, as their part and proportion of a further encouragement for a minister to preach ; and that Mr. Timothy Ruggles be desired to procure some suitable person to serve them for the same."
The first person employed, under this arrangement, was ap- parently Mr. Ephraim Keith, who probably commenced his labors at the time specified, May 2, 1734, and continued through the year. At a meeting of the proprietors, September 10, 1735, it was " voted, that the parcel of land lying between Draper's lot, No. 1, and Esq. Willis's lot, No. 2, about fifty or sixty acres, be granted to the Rev. Mr. Ephraim Keith, for his preach- ing to the people at a place called Lambstown last year, in full discharge of his due from said proprietors, his accepting the same, and likewise a note of fifteen pounds ten shillings of Mr. Joseph Haskell, of Rochester, and he to have full power to receive the same." Whether he continued to preach here for a longer period does not appear. He was at Petersham a few Sabbaths in 1736,2 but soon abandoned the ministry, having
1 Ten pounds each for " sixty settlers," amounted to six hundred pounds, one half of which sum was expended before September 7, 1738, and the remainder, which was a fruitful source of difficulty between the settlers and the proprietors,
was afterwards styled the " three hundred pounds," or the " ten pounds," until the matter was fully settled, March 7, 1747-8. 2 " The first preaching in this place was probably in the month of May, 1736. On the 16th of June, of that year, Mr.
175
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
never been ordained. He was son of Joseph, and grandson of Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater, born in 1707, grad. H. C. 1729, and, after a brief service in the pulpit, returned to his native town, and devoted himself to agriculture. He was ap- pointed justice of the peace in 1762, and died about 1781.
Rev. David White seems to have commenced preaching as a candidate for settlement about July, 1736. At a meeting April 4, 1737, it was " voted that the sum of twenty-eight pounds and sixteen shillings be raised, to pay Mr. David White for his ser- vice in the ministry, for his victualling and horse-keeping, for the quarter of a year before his ordination ;" also " that the year wherein Mr. White's salary be paid begin the first of October." Also voted, " that the sum of fifty pounds be raised for the Rev. Mr. White, for his half year salary, beginning October the first Anno Dom. 1736." A permanent arrangement of the salary was made March 6, 1737-8, when it was voted "that the town give the Rev. Mr. David White for his yearly salary one hundred pounds per year, for five years successively, beginning at the first of Oct. Anno Domini 1736; and a further sum and sums from year to year for ten years next coming, namely, one hundred and five pounds to be paid at the expiration of the [ 1 ] year, from the aforesaid first of Oct. 1736 ; and to increase the said sum, five pounds a year, yearly, until his yearly and stated salary shall come to one hundred and fifty pounds : and that sum, namely, one hundred and fifty pounds to be paid him yearly during his continuance in the work of the Gospel ministry in this place ; and the said sum of money to be paid in the common currency of this Province, at the rate and in the proportion that Bills of Credit are now valued with silver money, namely, reckon- ing twenty-seven 2 shillings in Bills equal to one ounce of silver."
Soon after the commencement of Mr. White's labors, a church was organized in Hardwick (then called Lambstown), and on the same day he was ordained to the work of the ministry. These solemnities, together with the preliminary proceedings, are duly entered upon " The Church Record ; " to wit : -
" Lambstown, Oct. 20, 1736. The members of other churches, living in Lambstown, met together and concluded upon the fol- lowing particulars respecting Church Government, viz :
Ephraim Keith was paid fifty shillings a 22, 1746, when it was " voted to allow Mr. day for three days preaching past." Will- David White's salary to be at thirty-six son's Address at Petersham, July 4, 1854, p. 29.
1 Record mutilated.
2 A modification was made September
shillings per ounce for the present year." At a later day the salary was reduced to one hundred pounds per annum, exclusive of the income of the ministerial land.
176
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
" 1. That there should be no relation required of those that are received into the church.
"2. That after the minister has taken an account of the knowledge and faith of those that have a desire to come into the church, and is well satisfied therewith, that they shall be received into full communion in the church upon their making a public confession of their faith.
"3. That the power of calling church meetings lay in the power of the minister.
"4. That Messi. Christopher Paige and George Abbot should sign letters missive to the Pastor and Delegates of several churches, to gather a church in Lambstown and ordain Mr. David White Pastor thereof.
" November ye 17th 1736. A Church was gathered and im- bodied in Lambstown, and the members of the church publicly invited and chose Mr. David White to be their pastor. Accord- ingly, the same day, the said Mr. David White was ordained Pastor of the Church of Christ in Lambstown 1 by prayer and laying on of hands of the Presbytery.
"The names of the men that solemnly entered into a church state in Lambstown, that before were members of other churches : - Christopher Paige, George Abbot, Thomas Perry, Joseph Allen, John Wells, John Kidder, Richard Church. The names of the men that entered into a church in Lambstown, which before were not members in full communion in other churches, but were then received into the church : - Eleazar Warner, Nathan Carpenter, Experience Johnson, Samuel Robinson, Samuel Gillet.2
" Dec. ye 3ª 1736. The Church of Christ in Lambstown met together, and after a unanimous vote to choose two men to the office of Deacons in said church, Mr. Christopher Paige and Mr. Joseph Allen were chosen to the office of Deacons, by a majority of the votes of the church.
Williams), to him his heirs and assigns, forever."
1 The names of the Ordaining Council pears by the moderator, Mr. William are not recorded ; but the moderator was Rev. William Williams, probably pastor of the church in Hatfield, where Mr. 2 Whether it were the usual custom, at that period, to exclude females from par- ticipating in the organization of a church, or not, it is certain that several women White was born. The Proprietors voted, June 29, 1737, " that the two hundred acres of land, laid out by Mr. Timothy. Ruggles and Mr. Christopher Paige to were here at this time, who did not be- come members until two or three months later, although they were members of
the first settled minister, be settled on and recorded to the Reverend Mr. David White, now their settled minister (as ap- other churches, in good standing.
177
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
" Oct. ye 9th 1737. The Church voted, that no person living in Lambstown, formerly belonging to another church, shall have liberty to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper without a letter of recommendation, after they have had a sufficient time to get one, without a good and sufficient reason why they have not done it." 1
Having organized a church, and settled a pastor with a fixed salary, it became necessary to devise ways and means for the regular payment of that salary. By a vote of the Proprietors, February 22, 1732-3, each settler was bound to pay fifteen shillings per year, " to help pay a minister for preaching the gospel," and each of the twelve proprietors was pledged to con- tribute four pounds for the same purpose. But these several sums, namely : forty-eight pounds by the proprietors, and forty- five pounds by the sixty settlers, amounted to no more than ninety-three pounds, while the salary promised was one hundred pounds, with a prospective increase to one hundred and fifty pounds. At the present time, such a small deficiency may seem scarcely worthy of notice ; but in the " day of small things," it was a matter of great importance to the pioneers. The settlers, not yet fully incorporated as a town, had no power to tax the unimproved lands, and the proprietors did not impose such a tax. Indeed, it would seem that they discontinued their annual contribution of forty-eight pounds, after partial town privileges were granted to the inhabitants.2 The burden was heavy, and an appeal was made to the General Court for authority to tax all the land in the township, whether improved or not, and whether owned by resident or non-resident proprietors; also for incorpo- ration as a town, with full authority to raise money for all lawful purposes, by taxation. The Court records do not indicate whether the petition for liberty to impose a tax was granted, or rejected ; but it is certain that the proprietors secured a delay of incorporation for one year. The inhabitants became impatient ; and at two meetings, October 19, and November 2, 1738, resolved on another effort for incorporation, and liberty to tax the lands of all proprietors. Their agent, Mr. Christopher Paige, presented their petition December 8, 1738. A committee of the proprie- tors remonstrated. But on the 15th day of the same month the
1 Thus far, I have copied the Church Record in full.
2 The town appointed a committee, November 6, 1741, " to adjust accounts
with the committee which was empowered to sell land for the payment of the three forty-eight pounds towards the support of the minister in this town."
12
178
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
petition was granted ; a tax of three half pence per acre on all the land in the township was authorized to be assessed annually for three years, to be applied " one half thereof to the Reverend Minister there for his better encouragement and more comfort- able support, the residue for building and finishing a handsome Meeting-house, for the better accommodating the inhabitants in attending the public worship of God ;" and the agent was em- powered to bring in a bill for the incorporation of the township. This bill, having passed both Houses, received the Governor's approval, January 10, 1739.
It does not appear from the Records when the first meeting- house was erected ; but the inhabitants held a meeting in it February 9, 1736-7. It was probably not very large or elegant. The bills allowed for materials and labor appear to have been less than fifty pounds. It was not entirely finished until after August 8, 1738, when it was "voted that the town will finish shingling the old meeting-house, and finish the seats, and make forms as shall be needed, and build the minister's pew."1 Its size and value may be estimated by the fact that the town voted, March 1, 1742-3, to dispose of it " at a vendue, and accordingly sold it to James Robinson for sixteen pounds, old tenor." This first meeting-house was erected on the "ten acres " originally devoted to public use, and probably stood on the easterly side of the old road, long ago discontinued, running southerly from the present residence of Mr. John W. Paige, nearly parallel with the turnpike, to the road to Ware. It is not unlikely that the pre- cise spot was about midway between the two points last indicated, at the northwest corner of the "ten acres," the spot which was afterwards given by the proprietors, for a similar use, to " those people called the separate Society in Hardwick." 2
Wherever this house stood, like those generally erected by
1 The town had voted, January 16, tion I do not remember. I consulted 1737-8, to "build a new meeting-house; " but the controversy concerning its loca- tion was so sharp, that it was not erected until more than three years after that date.
2 In my address at the Centennial Celebration in 1838, it was stated that this meeting-house "stood on the Com- mon, about midway between the two present meeting-houses; " and that the new house, erected in 1741, was " placed within ten feet of the old one," pp. 19- 21. From whom I received this tradi-
several of the " oldest inhabitants," more than forty years ago, and gathered from them much traditional lore ; but in this case I was misinformed. The town voted July 29, 1740, to " set the meeting-house on the ten acres, on which the old meet- ing-house stands." But the present Com- mon was not a part of the " ten acres " as has already been stated. The old meeting-house, therefore, did not stand on the present Common, but probably about half a mile northwesterly from it, near the summit of the hill.
179
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
pioneers it was small and inconvenient, designed only for tempo- rary use ; moreover its location was unsatisfactory. Accordingly it was voted, January 16, 1737-8, "that the town will build a new meeting-house : that said meeting-house be built fifty feet long, and forty feet wide, and twenty-two feet between joints, and set two feet from the ground : that Joseph Allen, John Wells, Christopher Paige, Benjamin Smith, and Benjamin Rug- gles, be a committee to see to the building or letting out said frame, and finish the outside, and glaze the same with square glass set in wood, according to their discretion." A week later, under a warrant " to see whether the town will choose a man to go down to the Proprietors' Committee to see whether they have power to dispose of the three hundred pounds that was voted to build the meeting-house," and for other purposes, it was voted January 23, 1737-8, " that Deacon Christopher Paige be chosen to carry a letter to the Proprietors' Committee, and to bring an answer back : - that the new meeting-house be raised by the first of July next, provided the three hundred pounds come from the Proprietors : - that the meeting-house be set on " Gamblin's Lot,1 on the east side of the Great Meadow Brook." At the next meeting of the Proprietors, September 7, 1738, it was " Voted, that the Proprietors are willing that a new meeting- house be built, provided it be set on the spot of land already agreed upon by the Proprietors and settlers : 2 and that a com- mittee be chosen out of the.Proprietors to join with the committee that the settlers shall choose, to agree upon the dimensions of the house, and other things necessary in order to effect the building a convenient house for the public worship of God there: and that the remaining part of the six hundred pounds, which is three hundred, formerly agreed upon by the Proprietors, to be for the building a meeting-house, be applied to that use and no other whatsoever." The town appointed a committee, October 2, 1738, " to join with the Proprietors' committee, to agree upon the di- mensions of the meeting-house," etc., and another committee
1 " Gamblin's Lot," on the easterly road to Gilbertville, about a mile south- easterly from the Common and marked " J. Marsh " on the R. map, was after- wards the homestead of Timothy Paige, Esq., and is now owned by Mr. E. L. B. Wesson. Like the northwesterly corner of the "ten acres," where the first meet- ing-house probably stood, on the brow of a hill, it commanded an extensive pros-
pect in every direction, and was a more eligible site for a meeting-house than that which was finally selected, except that it was not so near the centre of the town- ship.
2 What action was had by the proprie- tors in the subsequent controversy does not appear, as their records from Septem- ber 7, 1738, to April 6, 1743, have been destroyed.
180
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
November 2, 1738, "to agree with the Proprietors' committee upon things necessary in order to effect the building of a conven- ient meeting-house in Lambstown ; and that the said committee may give to the Proprietors a discharge from building said meet- ing-house, upon their giving good security to the town of Lambs- town for the payment of the three hundred pounds appropriated for the building of the aforesaid meeting-house."
The vote, adopted January 23, 1737-8, "that the meeting- house be set on Gamblin's Lot," occasioned a sharp controversy between the east and the west sections of the town, which con- tinued two years and a half, until a compromise was effected by abandoning both the "ten acres " and the Gamblin Lot, and placing the house on the present Common. The violence of the contest, and the extreme measures adopted by one of the parties for the accomplishment of its favorite purpose, distinctly appears in the proceedings of a town-meeting, held in June 1739, under a warrant, " (1.) To see whether the town is willing and ready to set off the west part of the town, beginning at Rutland 1 Corner, and so to run a straight line to Muddy Brook, where the road runs over said Brook to go to Quoben ; 2- and then to run by said Brook to the south line of the town; and said land to be laid to Quoben. (2.) To see whether the town will choose a committee to go down to Boston, to treat with Quoben Com- mittee on the affair," - it was " Voted, That the town is willing and ready to set off the land on the west side of Muddy Brook, and said land to be laid to Quoben : - that Benjamin Smith, Constant Merrick, Cornelius Cannon be a committee chosen to go down to Boston, to treat with Quoben Committee, or the Rev. Mr. Timothy Ruggles and John Foster Esq., on the affair : that the committee shall have but one man's pay for going to Boston aforesaid. Note. That Samuel Robinson hath entered his detest against the first and second articles in the warrant. Note. That David Sabin hath entered his detest against the first and second articles in the warrant. Note. That John Wells hath entered his detest against sending a committee to Boston. Note. That Experience Johnson hath entered his detest against sending a committee to Boston. Note. That Phinehas Powers hath en- tered his detest against sending down a committee to Boston." The proposition to " set off the west part of the town " to Quo- ben was persistently opposed and finally defeated. After wrang- ling for somewhat more than a year longer, the former decision 1 Rutland West Wing, now Barre. 2 Or Quobbin, now Greenwich,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.