USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Hatfield > History of Hatfield, Massachusetts, in three parts: I. An account of the development of the social and industrial life of the town from its first settlement. II. The houses and homes of Hatfield, with personal reminiscences of the men and women who have lived there during the last one hundred years; brief historical accounts of the religious societies and of Smith Academy; statistical tables, etc. III. Genealogies of the families of the first settlers > Part 21
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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
Died of Wounds.
Harris, Judson W., Corporal, Co. G, 10th Mass. Inf., Alexandria, Va. Clifford, Elbridge G.,
Co. I, 21st Mass. Inf., 2d Battle of Bull Run.
Richards, John,
Co. G, 27th Mass. Inf., Cold Harbor.
Clark, Wells,
Co. G, 31st Mass. Inf., New Orleans.
Graves, Edwin, Sergeant, Covell, Elihu,
Co. F, 37th Mass. Inf., Gettysburg.
Vining, John H.,
Co. F, 37th Mass. Inf., Cold Harbor.
Bennett, Fernando B., Sergeant,Co. K, 52d Mass. Inf., Port Hudson.
Hoare, James,
Co. D, 22d Mass. Inf., Alexandria, Va.
McCue, James,
Co. H, 22d Mass. Inf., Battle of the Wilderness.
Hawkins, Lorenzo D.,
Co. B, 21st Mass. Inf., Fredericksburg.
Died in Prison.
Kleastner, Frederick, Richards, Joseph,
Co. A, 27th Mass. Inf., Andersonville. Co. G, 27th Mass. Inf., Andersonville.
Died of Disease.
Bolack, Anthony, Dennis, Alonzo,
Co. B, 31st Mass. Inf., Brashe City, La.
Co. B, 31st Mass. Inf., Fort Jackson, La.
Anderson, Ebenezer,
Co. K, 52d Mass. Inf., Baton Rouge, La.
Dickinson, Henry A.,
Co. K, 52d Mass. Inf., Baton Rouge, La.
Co. D, 27th Mass. Inf., Morehead City, N. C.
Frary, Thomas, Jr., Hathaway, Alpheus H.,
Co. C, 31st Mass. Inf., New Orleans, La.
Waite, Charles P., Hennessy, Michael,
Co. F, 37th Mass. Inf., White Oak Church, Va. Co. K, 21st Mass. Inf.,
Survivors at the Close of the War.
Warner, Jonathan D., Warner, George,
Company D, 10th Mass. Infantry. Company A, 10th Mass. Infantry.
Co. F, 37th Mass. Inf., Battle of the Wilderness.
232
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Bardwell, Charles L.,
Evans, Charles W.,
Company C, 10th Mass. Infantry.
Morton, Dwight,
Company G, 10th Mass. Infantry.
Puffer, Thomas,
Company B, 21st Mass. Infantry.
Babcock, Charles L., Sergeant,
Company I, 21st Mass. Infantry.
Morrissey, Patrick,
Company K, 24th Mass. Infantry.
Billings, Joseph, Sergeant,
Company K, 25th Mass. Infantry.
Bardwell, Henry F., Sergeant,
Company K, 25th Mass. Infantry.
Cowles, Edward C.,
Company K, 25th Mass. Infantry.
Abbott, Richard B.,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Abbott, Lyman B.,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Schaeffer, Simon,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Hitchcock, Henry M.,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Sweet, Cordan,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Morse, Alden F.,
Company A, 27th Mass. Infantry.
Smith, Obadiah,
Company G, 31st Mass. Infantry.
Company B, 32d Mass. Infantry.
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Hubbard, Charles E.,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
King, Jerome E.,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Seitz, Lorenze,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Vining, Oliver S.,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry. Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Field, Henry H., Corporal,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Chaffin, Lysander,
Company F, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Champney, William A.,
Company C, 37th Mass. Infantry.
Billings, Henry P., 2d Lieutenant,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Abels, Dwight G.,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Anderson, Henry F.,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Bardwell, Caleb D., Sergeant,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Beck, John,
Company K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Bristol, Lambert J.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Brown, Jeremiah,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Chandler, George,
Company K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Cooley, Myron D.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Cooley, Whitney F.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Cowles, Augustus D.,
Company
K, 52d K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Dinsmore, Alvin D.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Field, Lucius,
Company
Company K, 52d
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Marsh, George L.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Morton, Josiah L.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Morton, Charles K., Corporal,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Strong, Alvin L.,
Company
K, 52d
Mass. Infantry.
Waite, John E.,
Company K, 52d
Wells, Daniel W.,
Company K, 52d
Rutgers, Lewis,
Company C, 57th Mass. Infantry.
Shea, James,
Company E, 57th Mass. Infantry.
Radesy, Oscar,
Company C, 58th Mass. Infantry.
Bliss, George W.,
Averill, Philetus,
White, Eben,*
Sykes, Lewis,
Berden's Sharpshooters. Berden's Sharpshooters. 1st Conn. Artillery. 2d Mass. Infantry.
Carter, Peter,
Lynch, James,
O'Sullivan, Jeremiah,*
Company H, 2d Mass. Infantry. 2d Heavy Artillery.
Mass. Infantry.
Doane, John E., Sergeant,
Company
K, 52d Mass. Infantry.
Hallett, Alonzo,
Mass. Infantry.
Kingsley, Seth W.,
Company
27th Mass. Infantry.
Eaton, William H., Corporal,
Company D, 30th Mass. Infantry.
Graves, Dwight M., 2d Lieutenant,
Covell, Emerson L., Sergeant,
Covell, Calvin N.,
Curtis, David B.,
Warner, Oliver,
Strong, Dwight S., Musician,
Company C, 10th Mass. Infantry.
Veteran Reserve Corps. Regular Army.
Hanscom, John H.,
Mass. Infantry. Mass. Infantry.
233
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Evans, Frederick, Stutton, Alva A.,*
2d Heavy Artillery.
Company E, 4th Cavalry.
Jebo, Luke,*
Wemit, Francis,*
Company E, 4th Cavalry. Company E, 4th Cavalry.
Hooker, Christopher D.,*
Hooker, William H.,*
Rogers, E. Raymond,*
Baldwin, William,*
Burke, Michael,*
Halligan, James,*
Company G, 4th Cavalry. Company G, 4th Cavalry. 2d Cavalry. 2d Cavalry. 30th Mass. Infantry. 27th Mass. Infantry.
Those marked thus * were non-residents, hired to take the places of those drafted or to fill required quotas.
HATFIELD'S NAVAL QUOTA SERVING IN THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865.
(All of these were non-residents, hired to fill quotas.)
Chipman, George C., Acting Master's Mate, 1863, Ship Maratanzo.
Canon, William E., Acting Master's Mate, 1863, Ship Princess Royal.
Chase, S. Warren, Acting Master's Mate, 1863, Ship Tuscarora and Po- tomac Flotilla.
Crosby, James E., Acting Master's Mate, 1863, Ship Honduras.
Laighton, Mathew,
Seaman, 1864, Ship Circassian.
Luchenbauch, Francis,
Seaman, 1864.
Long, William,
Seaman, 1864.
Murphy, Jeremiah,
Seaman,
1861, Ship Minnesota.
Messer, James,
Seaman, 1861, Ship Minnesota.
Murphy, Thomas,
Seaman, 1861, Ship Minnesota.
Pease, William R.,
Acting Master's Mate, 1862, Ship G. W. Blout.
Pease, John N.,
Shea, James,
Acting Master's Mate, 1862, Ship Canandaigua. 1864.
CHAPTER XVIII. A PERIOD OF CHANGES, 1865-1910.
" Whate'er of good the old time had Remains to make our own time glad."
Changes in the population .- The tobacco and onion industries .- Livestock. -The creamery .- Horses .- Manufactures .- Caleb Cooley Dickinson .- Samuel H. Dickinson .- Memorial Hall .- The Public Library .- The Village Improve- ment Society .- Highway improvement .- Street lighting .- Water supply .- Sewers .- The trolley road .- The growth of 250 years .- Rev. Robert M. Woods, D. D.
The period since the close of the Civil war has seen more changes than any other period of Hatfield's history. The pop- ulation, which was 1,600 in 1875, steadily declined from that time till 1900 and since the beginning of the present century has steadily risen. Most of the increase has been due to the influx of people from southern Europe, chiefly Poles from Austria and Russia, till the old town has become exceedingly cosmopolitan for a quiet farming community. Bohemians, Slovaks, and Lithuanians are also numbered among the inhabitants and English is the native tongue of scarcely two thirds of the people. Though entirely unac- quainted with free institutions of government and differing far more from the native stock in social customs than other immigrants, these new arrivals are possessed of the same industry and thrift that have characterized Hatfield settlers of every generation, of whatever race or creed. For the most part they have been peaceful and law-abiding. None have as yet taken upon themselves the duties of citizenship, though many have acquired property and become permanent residents.
Great changes have also come over the industrial life. The use of machinery has revolutionized farm operations. Mowing machines were not used till about 1857. The to- bacco industry has grown till over 1,500 acres are devoted to that crop and large packing houses give employment in
235
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
winter to all the men who work on the farms in the summer time. Among the larger growers of tobacco, having from 20 to 30 acres each, are F. H. Bardwell, W. H. Belden, L. A. and S. F. Billings, P. T. Boyle, A. H. Graves, Thaddeus Graves, F. P. Jones, G. E. Morton, B. M. Warner, and the Whalen brothers. Tobacco warehouses and assorting shops are operated by Oscar Belden & Sons, R. L. Belden, G. A. Billings, Roswell Billings, M. W. Boyle, P. T. Boyle, Jacob Carl, J. L. Day, A. H. Graves, Thaddeus Graves, F. P. Jones, J. W. Kiley, John McHugh, Jr., H. W. Marsh, G. E. Morton, L. L. Pease, L. R. Swift, and C. L. Warner.
Onions have become an important crop, to which a con- stantly increasing acreage is devoted and between five and six hundred carloads are shipped annually. Two large
-
AN ONION STORAGE WAREHOUSE.
storage warehouses have been built, one at the station at North Hatfield, owned by the Sunderland Onion and Fer- tilizer Company, the other on the farm of Oscar Belden & Sons at Bradstreet. This building is of hollow concrete blocks with a five-inch dead air space through the entire wall and double shutters, inside and out, at the ventilating windows. It is 120 feet long and 60 feet wide, with a shed extension on the east side, and has a capacity of 35,000 bushels of onions. It was built in 1909 at a cost of $10,000, the first structure of the kind in New England for storage purposes. The firm, which is composed of Oscar Belden,
236
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
George S. Belden, and Oscar E. Belden, raises nearly 70 acres of onions each year.
The live stock industry, once so prominent, has declined almost to the point of passing away. Not many cattle are fattened now and rarely are sheep kept. A few of the farmers in the north part of the town produce milk to supply the Boston market. The cattle industry, however, was of considerable importance till the '80's. In 1878 a creamery was established which did a prosperous business for about eight years. It was in the house now owned and occupied by George Saffer. The managers were Webster A. Pease, John W. Jackson, and Nathaniel T. Abels, in order. Jon- athan D. Porter was president of the company and Joseph S. Wells secretary.
The business of breeding horses has occupied the atten- tion of some of the Hatfield farmers during the last half century. Alfred H. Graves and his son, Murray B. Graves, conducted a stock farm for several years. William C. Dickinson gave much of his time to this part of his business and since his decease the Connecticut Valley Stock Farm has been operated by Barnabas Fralic. Electmont, 2.2214, was bought by Mr. Dickinson from C. J. Hamlin of Village Farm in East Aurora, N. Y. He has sired Lady Sealskin, 2.0614, Doddie K., 2.1312, Sidney Carton, 2.10, Electrine (3 year old), 2.28, and Snip, 2.28. Another noted stallion owned by this farm is Earl of Chatham by Bingen.
During the period under consideration important man- ufacturing industries have grown up, which are treated in a chapter in Part II.
One of the most striking features of the last half century is the number of large fortunes accumulated by Hatfield citizens which have been devoted to educational and charit- able foundations. The gifts of the Smith family receive special attention in Part II. Two of the other public bene- factors have borne the name of Dickinson, both descendants of the first settler, Nathaniel Dickinson.
Caleb Cooley Dickinson, son of Aaron and Experience (Phelps) Dickinson, was born at Hatfield, Nov. 25, 1804, and died unmarried Sept. 16, 1882. He was a prosperous farmer, conducting the old homestead in company with his brother, Aaron. He left the bulk of his fortune of $97,000 to
237
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
found Dickinson Hospital in Northampton in the interests of the towns of Northampton, Hatfield, and Whately.
Samuel Huntington Dickinson was born in Hatfield, Jan. 28, 1816, the son of Solomon and Hannah (Huntington) Dickinson. He was never married. He was educated in the public schools of Hatfield and in Greenfield Academy. Then he entered Amherst College, but was obliged to leave on account of delicate health. He inherited a large fortune from his father and was himself a successful farmer and
SAMUEL H. AND CALEB COOLEY DICKINSON.
fortunate in his investments. He died April 6, 1897, and his estate inventoried at $97,000. After legacies to friends, for he survived all near relatives, the will devoted about $80,000 to the American Bible Society, the American Home Missionary Society, and the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions. Before his death he gave $14,000 for the construction of a Memorial building in Hat- field, in the construction of which he was greatly interested.
The Dickinson Memorial Hall was built in 1892-93 and dedicated on Memorial Day in 1894. The exercises took place in the Congregational church in the afternoon, pre-
238
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
sided over by William H. Dickinson. The building was presented to the town in behalf of the donor by Samuel P. Billings, a lifelong associate of Mr. Dickinson, and the response for the town was made by Daniel W. Wells. On the walls of the entrance hall bronze tablets contain the names of Hatfield soldiers who served in the Revolutionary and Civil wars. In a room at the north, where are exhibited the historical collections and relics, is a bronze tablet with the letter of Benjamin Waite telling of the success of his mission to Canada to ransom the captives. Another room on the first floor is the office of town clerk. In this room are placed the town archives in safes and the public docu- ments printed by the state. The whole upper floor is devoted to the use of the public library. The building is of fireproof construction, of brick with steel beams and tile floors.
The Hatfield Public Library now contains about 7,000 volumes. A social library was started as early as 1806, the funds being raised by subscription. It was a circulating library and the headquarters were for a long time the house of Roswell Billings, now the home of David Billings. In 1860 Sophia Smith gave $500 for the purchase of books. The library was then located in a room over the store kept by David F. Wells, where J. T. Burke's residence is, and was used in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association. The farmers of the town had by cooperation secured quite an extensive agricultural library. In 1873 the town made its first appropriation for library purposes and a room on the lower floor of the Academy building was set aside for the books of the combined associations, the library being made free. John H. Sanderson was for a long time librarian. He died in 1904. The library was then for short periods in charge of Miss Marian C. Billings, Miss Louise Billings, Miss Ruby Bardwell, and Miss Margaret Allaire. The present librarian, Dr. Chester M. Barton, began his duties in 1905.
Other public structures that have been built since the Civil war are Smith Academy, 1872; the brick schoolhouses, 1869-74; the West Hatfield chapel, 1889; and St. Joseph's church, 1892.
A Village, or Rural, Improvement Society was started in
239
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
1885 with these objects: "to cultivate public spirit, quicken the social and intellectual life of the people, promote good fellowship, and secure public health by better hygienic con- ditions in our houses and surroundings, improve our streets, roads and public grounds, sidewalks, and in general to build up and beautify the whole town, and thus enhance the value of its real estate and render Hatfield a still more invit- ing place of residence." One of the moving spirits of this organization was Eli A. Hubbard, a member of the state Board of Education, who was always interested in the wel- fare of the town in which he spent the latter part of his life. He was a descendant of one of Hatfield's early settlers. He was the first president of the Society. Rev. Robert M. Woods was vice-president till his death in 1909.
Much improvement in the appearance of the streets and grounds has been made under the direction of the Village Improvement Society. Fences have been removed and the lawns receive better care, trees have been set out, the ceme- teries are kept in good order, and in every way the resi- dents are encouraged to beautify their places.
The town has expended in recent years large sums of money in improving the condition of the highways. Every year sees some permanent roads of stone or gravel con- structed, and gravel or concrete sidewalks are being rapidly extended.
A beginning of street lighting was made about 1890, when lamp posts were erected at intervals along several of the streets in the center of the village and the lamps were lit and cared for by property owners on whose places they were located. In 1901 an acetylene gas plant was built for lighting the Congregational church. The plant was re- moved to Prospect Street in 1903 and greatly enlarged, giving service to many private houses and shops, and a con- tract was entered into in 1904 with the town for lighting the public streets where the gas mains ran. The stock of the Hatfield Gas Company was subscribed for chiefly by Hatfield capitalists. The Massachusetts Lighting Com- panies secured control of the company in 1909. Electric lights were made possible by the extension of the system of the Amherst Gas Company in 1907 and the next year they began to light the streets by electricity, extending their
240
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
system farther than was possible for the local company to carry the acetylene light.
An excellent water supply was secured by the town in 1896 from Running Gutter brook, a never failing source of supply, situated within the town limits. Water is carried to all parts of the town and the pressure is sufficient for adequate fire protection. There are six organized fire com- panies of volunteers. The watershed around the brook and reservoir is protected by ownership by the town of the forest lands on both sides of the brook to its source, forty acres in all. The system was built and is operated by the town. Bonds were issued for construction to the amount of $50,- 000, to be paid for from a sinking fund at the end of thirty years. The sinking fund in 1910 amounted to $14,735. The report of the Water Commissioners for the year ending March 1, 1910, showed that there were then 326 connections with private property, 90 hydrants, 5 water tanks, and water supplied to 5 schoolhouses and to Memorial Hall. It was voted at the March meeting in 1910 to put the water also in the town hall. The total cost of construction to that date was $56,485;18,781 feet of 8-inch pipe, 46,786 feet of 6-inch pipe, 32,596 feet of 4-inch pipe, and 13,048 of 2-inch or smaller.
The trolley road, built by the Connecticut Valley Street Railway Company, was opened between Northampton and Hatfield in 1900 and to Greenfield in 1903. This was a great accommodation to the people of the Center village and Bradstreet, who were before two miles from a railroad.
The first public sewer was built in 1904, draining the upper part of Main Street and emptying into the Connecti- cut river. The main trunk line was laid through Bridge Lane to the river in 1907, with branches on Main and Maple streets. The sewer system is being gradually extended.
And so from the little group of a half dozen houses built two hundred and fifty years ago the town has grown till 340 houses are required to shelter its inhabitants, who num- ber 2,000. The estates of all the inhabitants together the year of incorporation were probably not in excess of £30,000, while the assessors in 1909 reported the total assessed val- uation at $1,326,842; real estate, $1,113,203 ; personal, $213,- 639; 'with $97,860 exempt from taxation. The changes
241
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
wrought by passing years have been recorded. One thing remains the same. The town meeting has stood the test of time and is still the cherished institution of a self-reliant, self-governing people. Varied as have been the changes in the government of state and nation the people meet to order their local affairs as they have from the beginning and each man has his say.
In this brief narration of the happenings of the past much mention has been made of the services of the leading cit- izens. It cannot more fittingly close than with a tribute to a man whose influence has been second to none in securing that harmonious cooperation that at all times has united Hatfield people. The pastorate of Rev. Robert M. Woods was among the long ones that have been a marked charac- teristic of the church in Hatfield. Though "things ecclesi- astical and civil" had long been separated when he began his ministry he looked upon the whole town as his parish, its interests in all directions were his interests, his influence was wide. In a memorial address delivered in the Congre- gational church, Nov. 28, 1909, Pres. L. Clarke Seelye, D.D., of Smith College said of him :-
"In November, 1876, he was engaged by this church as a stated supply for one year. His services were so acceptable that he received, before the year was over, a unanimous call to become its settled pastor, and he was installed as pastor of the church in November, 1877, completing at his death last June a pastorate of nearly thirty-three years. It was my privilege to preach his installation sermon and my text then-'It is not ye that speak but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you'-was illustrated in his future ministry. In him was realized the old-time ideal of the New England minister,-the foremost citizen in ecclesiastical and civic affairs. He was truly the Bishop of Hatfield in the primal sense of the word, so controlling and pervasive was his oversight, and so respected and trusted was his personality. Men saw reproduced in him the type of country parson immortalized in the archaic words of one of our greatest English poets.
"'Wyd was his parisch, and houses fer asondur, But he ne lafte not for reyne ne thondur, In siknesse ne in meschief to visite The ferrest in his parissche, moche and lite, Uppon his feet, and in his hond a staf, This noble ensample unto his scheep he gaf, That ferst he wroughte, and after that he taughte, Out of the gospel he the wordes caughte, And this figure he added yit therto, That if gold ruste, what schulde yren doo?'
"Your minister also practiced the gospel which he preached,-striving faithfully to follow the example of his Master who went about doing good. "No inhabitant of the town was beyond the reach of his friendly aid and sympathy. In his ministrations he recognized no distinctions of social condi-
242
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
tions. The poor, the outcast, the victims of ignorance and intemperance as well as the prosperous and the learned found in him a friend whom they could trust and a counselor whose advice was most helpful. The foreigners who have come in recent years to Hatfield, so that now they form a large and important element in its population, were especially sought out by him that he might bring them under Christian influence and help them to become
REV. ROBERT MCEWEN WOODS, D.D.
good citizens. If they were Protestants, whatever may have been their pre- vious church connections, he sought to interest them in the church in Hatfield and to interest the church in them. They were persuaded to send their children to the Sunday School, and to place themselves under those influences which would help them to resist the temptations to evil which beset strangers in a strange land. With the Catholics of the town he was on friendly terms. When they were numerous enough to form a church of their
243
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
own persuasion, he was ready to aid them to establish it, believing it was far better for them in the present divergence between Catholics and Protes- tants to have a church in which they could conscientiously worship than to be without church fellowship. Their priest he treated as a brother minister, and he rejoiced to work with him to lessen the temptations to vice and to elevate the moral standards of the community, confidently expecting the time would come for which every true Christian prays, when the unhappy divi- sions which have long separated large bodies of Christians from each other would be removed and the unity of Christian believers, for which Christ prayed, might be realized. That unity his own catholic spirit did much to promote. Although preferring himself the Congregational polity, he was not in any sense a sectarian propagandist and was ready to hold fellowship with men, whatever might be their ecclesiastical preferences. Those who differed from him soon lost sight of their differences in his presence. He was so considerate and magnanimous in spirit, so free from intolerant bigotry or militant proselytism, that he speedily brought into spiritual union most of those who became acquainted with him. Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, and the various representatives of other ecclesiastical denominations gladly accepted his ministry and were numbered among his parishioners. There was no attempt to form another Protestant church of different polity during his pastorate, and few cared to seek spiritual aid and counsel elsewhere. The longer he lived here, the more he was trusted and esteemed. Men recog- nized in him a man who was sincerely striving with all his mind and heart to promote righteousness by leading men to love God and keep His com- mandments.
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