History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 121

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 121

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Without attempting to go into the numerous details of the case, it is sufficient for our present purpose to say that the people voted, July 9, 1798, with the con- currence of Mr. Sargeant, to call a mutual council to consider their condition and give advice. The coun- cil convened September 25, 1798. After an address from a joint committee of the church and parish to the persons composing it, and due deliberation, the council gave their result. In view of the very com- plicated and threatening circumstances of the parish, they unanimously advised Mr. Sargeant to "ask for dismission on condition that the Church and peo- ple of his charge shali pay him nine hundred dollars, that sum being judged no more than a reasonable compensation for his relinquishing his contract." At the same time the council bore their testimony to the good moral character of Mr. Sargeant as a man, as a Christian and as a minister, which they declare to be unimpeached, "no charges having been offered of any immoral conduct, false doctrine, or criminal de- linquency in office."

The council concluded by addressing wholesome and timely admonition and advice to the people, and commending them and the pastor to the blessing of God.

This result, especially in its recommendation of a compensation of $900 to Mr. Sargeant, was not ac- cepted by the people. After nearly a year of addi- tional agitation, a compromise was made which put an end to the controversy, and Mr. Sargeant was accordingly dismissed, May 27, 1799, after a ministry of a little more than fourteen years.1

Rev. Samnel Sargeant was born in Worcester, No- vember 6, 1755. By the author of the " Descendants of William Sargeant," he is said to have been of the Malden family of Sargeants, but no very definite account of him is attempted. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1783, and studied theology under

Rev. Professor Ripley, of Hanover, N. H. He was or- dained at Woburn March 14, 1785, and dismissed May 27, 1799.2

According to a tradition in the Thompson family, he boarded, for some time, in the family of the widow of Daniel Thompson, the martyr-hero of Lexington and Concord, whose well-known house still stands on Main Street, corner of Clinton Street, Central Square. There is reason to believe that he subsequently lived in a house standing on the east side of Main Street, near the present residence of Dr. J. M. Harlow, or perhaps nearer the spot now occupied by the Episco- pal Church. It is not known that he published more than one sermon, but a " Right Hand of Fellowship," which he gave to Rev. F. Raynolds at his ordination in Wilmington, October 29, 1795, was printed, with the sermon preached on the same occasion by the Rev. Charles Backus, of Somers, Conn., and the charge to the pastor by the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Emmons, of Franklin, and is still extant.

After Mr. Sargeant was dismissed from the church in Woburn he removed to Chester, Vt., and without being settled over any church, he preached in various places and in different States, under the direction of the Connecticut and Massachusetts missionary socie- ties. For several years he had also charge of the church in Chester, whose pulpit he regularly sup- plied, though not as a settled pastor. He died in Chester, June 2, 1818, at the age of 63.3

Rev. Samuel Sargeant married, May 10, 1787, Miss Nabby Blaney, of Malden, and four children were born to them in Woburn :

1. Nabby, born February 6, 1788; 2. Jabez, born February 1, 1789; 3. Phineas Osgood, born February 29, 1792; 4. Benjamin Blaney, born August 9, 1793.

From Sargeant's work on " Descendants of William Sargeant," we learn that Rev. Samuel Sargeant had a family of five sons, though the record is confessedly imperfect. The names given are-1.'Jabez, a lawyer in Windsor, Vt .; 2. Samuel, who went West ; 3. Ben- jamin ; 4. Blaney ; 5. Phineas O.good.

December 18, 1889. Since the foregoing was writ- ten the writer has been informed by a letter from a friend in Chester, Vt., that Benjamin Blaney Sar- geant died in that town November 29th, in his ninety- seventh year. The writer adds that for many years he was a sheriff, and that he once took the census of Windsor County, traversing the hills on foot.

Rev. Joseph Chickering .- During the interval be- tween the dismission of Mr. Sargeant and the settle- ment of his successor nearly five years elapsed. Calls were, in the mean time, extended to Mr. Joshua Lane in 1801, and to Mr. Humphrey Moore in 1802, to assume the pastoral charge, but in each case the answer was in the negative.

At a meeting held December 5, 1803, the church

1 Sewall's " Ilistory, " pp. 433-446.

2 " Descendants of William Sargent."

3 Chester Town Record and Chester Church Manual.

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WOBURN.

voted a unanimous call to Mr. Joseph Chickering to hecome their pastor. In this call the town, on the 22d of the same month, unanimously concurred, and voted to give him an annual salary of $650.00 and fifteen cords of good hard wood. On the 26th of January, 1804, the town voted that when, by reason of old age or other infirmity, Mr. Joseph Chickering shall be unable to perform the work of the gospel ministry, he shall then receive one-half of the afore- said annual salary, to be equally apportioned on the money and wood during the time he shall stand in the connection of a gospel minister in the town of Woburn.1

On the 12th of February following, Mr. Chickering signified his acceptance of the invitation, and he was accordingly ordained March 28, 1804, by a large coun- cil of the pastors and delegates of fifteen churches, Rev. Jabez Chickering, of Dedham, father of the pastor-elect, preaching the sermon.2

It was during Mr. Chickering's ministry that the third meeting-house was destroyed by fire and a new house erected on the site now occupied by the Unita- rian Church. This house was dedicated June 28, 1809, the sermon, preached by the pastor, being pub- lished and still extant.

Mr. Chickering's ministry was attended by manifest tokens of Divine acceptance. He had warm friends ; the attendance upon his ministrations was full and increasing; new and earnest interest was awakened in the work of various benevolent associations, and a large number of persons were added to the church, there being, during his ministry, 164. To human view it seems as if this prosperity might continue indefi- nitely. But the last few years of his pastorate became, through an unfortunate business transaction between him and a prominent member of his society, a source of great disquietude to him and of anxiety to his people. All efforts intended to restore peace failed, and, at length, amid the tears and sobs of a large part of the congregation the beloved pastor read, January 28, 1821, his resignation, and he was accordingly dis- missed April 11th following. The council bore strong testimony to the moral, Christian and minis- terial character of the retiring pastor, and cordially recommended him to any Christian community, wherever the providence of God might call him. The council also commended the church for the Christian spirit which had actuated them in the trying circum- stances which had led to the severance of the tie that had bound them to a pastor whom they loved and, in other circumstances, would gladly have retained.

After leaving Woburn Mr. Chickering was in- stalled, Jnly 10, 1822, as pastor of the church in Phil- lipston, Mass., where he remained as pastor till July 16, 1835, when, at his own request, on account of enfeebled health, he was dismissed. He died in Phillipston, January 27, 1844.

Rev. Joseph Chickering, son of Rev. Jabez Chick- ering, was born April 30, 1780, in that part of Ded- ham which is now known as the town of Norwood, where his father was pastor of the Congregational Church. He graduated from Harvard College, 1799, studied theology with Rev. Professor Tappan, of Cambridge, and was ordained at Woburn, as before stated, March 28, 1804.3

Mr. Chickering was twice married. He married, first, September 1, 1805, Betsey, only daughter of Deacon John White, of Concord, Mass. They had five children :

1. John White, born March 19, 1808; gradnated from Middlebury College, 1826, and from Andover Theological Seminary, 1829; for many years a beloved pastor in Portland, Me. Married, November 9, 1838, Frances Evelina Knowlton, of Phillipston. Of his children, John White, Jr., graduated Bowdoin Col- lege, 1852; was a pastor at Exeter, N. H., and is now professor in the College for the Deaf and Dumb, at Washington, D. C. Joseph Knowlton, graduated Amherst College, 1869; for some time professor in that college, and now (1889) residing in Washington. Rev. John W. Chickering, D.D., died suddenly at the house of a friend in Brooklyn, N. Y., December 9, 1888, when on his way to his winter home in Washing- ton. 2. Joseph, born January 9, 1810 ; married at Phil- lipston, April 3, 1833, Emeline Jones, of Gloncester- who died September 25, 1886. Since 1835 he bas resided at La Harpe and Oqnawka, Ill. His present home is the latter place. 3. Ruth, born 1812; died October 27, 1815, aged three years and four months. 4. Henry, born 1814; died November 14, 1815. 5. Elizabeth, born October, 1815; died October 19, 1815. Mrs. Betsey (White) Chickering dying Novem- ber 3, 1815, Rev. Joseph Chickering married, second, Sarah Abbott Holt, daughter of Jacob Holt, of An- dover, and had other children : 6. Betsey, horn May 3, 1818; unmarried and residing in Pittsfield, Mass. 7. Henry, born September 3, 1819; married, first, Mar- tha, daughter of Ward Newton, of Phillipston ; second, Elvira P. Allen, of Barre. He resided in Athol, Barre, North Adams and Pittsfield, where he died March 5, 1881. He was a printer by trade; was for many years proprietor of the Berkshire County Eagle, and for twenty years was postmaster of Pittsfield. He was a deacon in the First Congregational Church in Pittsfield, where his widow still resides. His only surviving son graduated from Amherst College, 1871, and is a lawyer in San Francisco, Cal. 8. Abbott, born December 6, 1821 ; died at Phillipston June 11, 1842. 9. Benjamin, born in Phillipston November 18, 1824; married there, May 21, 1846, Deborah Louisa, daughter of Tilly Baldwin. She died in Pitts- field September 1, 1863, and he married, second, Oc- tober 5, 1865, Mary Safford Smith, danghter of Cyrus Smith, of Reading. Their only child, a daughter,

1 Parish Records.

2 Rev. S. Sewall.

3 Letter of Miss Betsey Chickering.

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died in July, 1874, at eight years of age. Mr. Chick- ering resided for many years in Pittsfield, where, for a considerable number of years, he was the principal of Chickering's Commercial College,1 and where he died August 3, 1889.

Rev. Joseph Bennett .- On the 19th of November following Mr. Chickering's dismission a unanimous call to settle, as his successor, was extended by church and parish to Mr. Joseph Bennett, then a recent grad- uate from the Theological Seminary at Andover. Having signified his acceptance December 6th, he was ordained by a large council, January 1, 1822. Like similar occasions elsewhere at that time, it was a memorable day. Assembled on the Common, from all quarters, was an immense crowd of people, not one- fourth part of whom could find room for them in the church, even if they had desired it. The whole as- pect of the place was that of a gala day. A proces- sion of the council and members of the church and parish marched into the meeting-house, preceded by instrumental music, the players on instruments also performing at intervals select pieces during the pro- tracted exercises.

The ministry of Mr. Bennett, continuing nearly twenty-six years, is so recent and so well remembered by a large number of the people yet living, that it seems unnecessary to go into details in an account of it. Mr. Bennett was a man of marvelous energy. Inher- iting a perilons amount of nervous force, he was the Boanerges of the Woburn pulpit. There were occa- sions when he was like a war-horse on the field of battle. His commanding figure and his strong voice made him the " observed of all observers." On several occasions, when, in a crowded and somewhat tumult- nons miscellaneous assembly, the moderator failed to secure a proper degree of order, he rose, and, with an air of majesty and a tone of startling significance, commanded silence, and instantly there followed a great calm, and business was quietly resumed.

The revival of religion, which began in the autumn of 1826, and continued through two years or more, was one of wondrous power, and resulted in an ad- mission, during a single year, of 225 persons, and during the next year, 62, or 287 in two years, to the church. During his ministry in Woburn there were 760 additions. A new meeting-house was erected in 1840, and signs of external and internal prosperity were visible on every hand.

Doubtless it should be distinctly understood that no small part of the success attributed to Mr. Ben- nett was due, humanly speaking, to his excellent wife. She was a woman of rare qualities, always calm, self- poised and self-possessed, and, in every respect, just the helpmeet for such a man. She was often called, and admitted by him to be, his "balance-wheel." Having a remarkable control over him, she could, by a single quiet word, and often by a look, still his un-

due excitement and soothe his unsteady nerves as by a lullaby. And it was a sad day for him when death snatched her away. His work was done. He survived her for a short time, and even married again. But his excited nerves were never again quieted. His inherited and long approaching insanity led him at last, Nov. 19, 1847, to take his own life.

Rev. Joseph Bennett was born in Framingham May 13, 1798; graduated from Harvard College in 1818; studied theology at Andover ; was ordained at Woburn Jan. 1, 1822 ; and, during the month of Feb- ruary following, married Mary Lamson, of Charles- town. He lived first in the historic house at North Woburn of late known as the Wheeler house, then in the historic Clapp house at Central Square. But his home, during most of his ministry, was in the house on Pleasant Street next to the new railroad depot. He had only two children,-

1. Joseph Lamson, born Nov. 8, 1823; graduated Amherst College, 1845 ; Andover, 1848 ; was pastor of Churches, at Hannibal, Mo., East Cambridge, Mass., Lockport, N. Y., Indianapolis, Ind., Springfield, O., Suspension Bridge and Spencerport, N. Y. He married Eliza Ann Tilson, of Boston, had four chil- dren, and died May 22, 1882.

2. Mary Lamson, born Sept. 14, 1829; married Rev. Thomas Morong, who graduated Amherst College, 1848; Andover, 1853; has been pastor at Pepperell, Mass., Iowa City, Iowa, Ipswich and since 1878 at Ashland, Mass. They have two children, one of whom, Arthur Bennett, graduated Amherst College, 1871, and is a physician in Boston.2

Rev. Jonathan Edwards .- During the month of March, succeeding Mr. Bennett's death, the church and society extended a unanimons call to Mr. Jona- than Edwards, of Andover, to the pastoral charge. On the 26th of May following the call was accepted, and Sept. 7, 1848, the pastor-elect was publicly or- dained. The sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. E. N. Kirk, of Boston; the charge was delivered by Rev. Dr. Justin Edwards, of Andover, and the address to the people by Rev. Dr. John W. Chickering, of Port- land, Me.

The ministry of Mr. Edwards was characterized by a gratifying degree of prosperity. The uniform ur- banity and culture as well as fidelity of the pastor were met by respect, confidence and kindness on the part of the people. The salary was largely increased without solicitation, and nothing is known to have occured to jar or mar the mutual harmony.

But, after more than seven years of useful labor, Mr. Edwards received an urgent invitation to engage in a new enterprise elsewhere, which seemed to him to promise, on the whole, a more satisfactory degree of usefulness, and the people reluctantly consented, at his own request, to release him. He was accord- ingly dismissed Jan. 9, 1856.

3 Woburn Record of Births .- Biographical Record of the Amherst Alumni, p. 206, p. 227, p. 470.

1 Letter of Miss Betsey Chickering.

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WOBURN.

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, son of Rev. Dr. Justin and Lydia (Bigelow) Edwards, was born at Andover July 17, 1820 ; graduated from Yale College in 1840; studied theology at New Haven and Andover Theo- logical Seminaries, graduating from the latter in 1847. After spending an additional year at Andov- er as " Abbot Resident," and, in the mean time, ac- cepting a call to settle in Woburn, he was ordained, as before mentioned, Sept. 7, 1848. Leaving Woburn early in 1856, he became, Feb. 14th of that year, the first pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Rochester, N. Y. On the 1st day of January, 1863, he was installed pastor of the First Congregational Church in Dedham, Mass. Since 1876 he has been pastor of the Congregational Church at Wellesley Hills, Mass.

Mr. Edwards married, Aug. 31, 1848, at Augusta, Me., Frances Swan Bronson, eldest daughter of Hon. David Bronson, of Augusta. Their children, all born in Rochester, N. Y., are :

1. Augusta Bigelow, born Feb. 26, 1857 ; married Frederick W. Brooks Dec. 13, 1876.

2. Mary Newton, born Jan. 4, 1859.

3. Justin, born Nov. 30, 1861.1

Rev. Daniel March .- Rev. Daniel March, recently from Brooklyn, N. Y., was the immediate successor of Mr. Edwards. A unauimous call having been ex- tended to him August 18, 1856, he accepted it and was installed October 1st, following; the sermon . being preached by Rev. Dr. A. L. Stone, of the Park Street Church, Boston. This pastorate, like that of his predecessor, was a highly prosperous and happy one, and though short-between five and six years- was rich in results. As, however, Dr. March, after a ministry of several years in Philadelphia, Pa., re- sumed his former charge in Woburn, which he still retains, a more extended notice of his connection with the church and society is here deferred and will be given farther on. It need only be said here that it was during his first pastorate in Woburn, and not, as stated in Sewall's History, in Dr. Bodwell's, that the present spacious church edifice was erected.

Rev. Joseph C. Bodwell .- Dr. March having been dismissed February 17, 1862, Rev. Joseph C. Bodwell, then of Framingham, accepted a unanimous invita- tion, voted October 6th of the same year, to become his successor, and was installed November 11th fol- lowing. A written statement of his theological views and a verbal account of his personal experience were highly satisfactory, both to the council and to the people. Richly furnished by personal and profes- sional training and culture, Mr. Bodwell entered upon his work with rare promise of usefulness. During a part of his subsequent ministry his happiness was somewhat disturbed and his usefulness more or less abridged by an untimely, if not wicked, interference of a few persons, led on by men who did not accept

his theological views and were only transient resi- dents in Woburn. But the large majority of his people had the fullest confidence in him and, in va- rious ways, manifested for him a warm affection. That he was a man of unusual culture and ability, none could deny, and the council that dismissed him August 3, 1866, bore the highest testimony to his character, as a genial man, a sound theologian, an able preacher, a successful pastor and a wise winner of souls to Christ. The council also warmly com- mended the church and society for their steadfast sympathy with him, their "warmest attachment and unwavering confidence."

But the urgent call from the Board of Trustees of Theological Seminary at Hartford, Conn., to a profes- sorship in that institution, and considerations con- nected with the offered position, were accepted as unmistakable indications that God had for him there a more important field of usefulness even than the wide field in Woburn. And accordingly, amid the great regrets of his flock, he was dismissed and com- mended to those who were specially interested in his new sphere of labor.

Rev. Joseph Conner Bodwell, D.D., was born in Sanbornton, N. H., June 11, 1812, and was the son of Rev. Abraham Bodwell, pastor for many years of the Congregational Church in that place. He fitted for college mostly in his native town, where, at a very early age, he was a teacher. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1833, and during the following year taught the academy at Haverhill, N. H., and in 1835-36 the Woodman Academy in Sanbornton. Encouraged and advised by Rev. Mr. Gibbs, of Hav- erhill, a native of England, he pursued his theological studies in 1836-37, at Highbury College, London. On the 3d of April, 1839, he was ordained pastor of the Independent Church, Weymouth, Dorsetshire, from which he was dismissed in 1845. In June, 1847, he was installed at Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk. Dis- missed from this charge in 1850, he returned to the United States, and June 30, 1852, he was installed pastor of the Congregational Church at Framingham, Mass. Dismissed November 5, 1862, he was installed at Woburn November 11th, following. He was dis- missed from his charge in Woburn August 3, 1866, to become "Professor of Pulpit-Training and Pastoral Care " in the Hartford Theological Seminary, where he remained for seven years. He died of carbuncle at Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Me., June 17, 1876, and was buried in Sanbornton, N. H., by the side of his parents.

He received the degree of S.T.D. from his alma mater in 1864.

Dr. Bodwell published " A Pastor's Farewell to his Flock," preached in the First Congregational Church in Woburn, August 5, 1866; "The Preachers de- manded in Our Day, and How to secure them," inau- gural discourse as professor at Hartford ; “ Historical Address" at the centennial celebration of the San-

1 Letter of Rev. J. Edwards.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

bornton Congregational Church November 13, 1871. He was one of the founders of the American Theo- logical Review, and one of four original proprietors of the Boston Congregational Review.

Dr. Bodwell married, May 16, 1839, Catharine Sykes, only daughter of John Sykes, Esq., of High- bury Park, London. Their children were :

1. Joseph Conner, born February 29, 1840, in Weymouth, Eng. He graduated from Dartmouth College 1863 ; was admitted to practice in the courts of Massachusetts, at Cambridge, 1864; graduated from Hartford Theological Seminary 1871; ordained at Thompson, Conn., March 13, 1872; installed over the Congregational Church there in December fol- lowing; dismissed September 25, 1874, and installed over the church in Stockbridge, Mass., October 6th following. He has since labored in Leavenworth City, Kansas, two years, and has been, for some time, pas- tor of the Congregational Church in Bridgewater, Mass. He is now (1889) pastor of the Congregational Church in Lyndonville, Vt., where he was installed June 23, 1887. He married Lydia Anne, daughter of Deacon John R. Kimball, of Woburn, June 15, 1871; 2. Katharine Sykes, born in Weymouth, Eng., August 15, 1841; 3. Charlotte Elizabeth, born in Weymouth, Eng., September 3, 1843; 4. John Abra- ham, born September 13, 1844, died June 25, 1847; 5. Helena Jane, born in Islington, Eng., October 2, 1846, died November 27, 1846; 6. Herbert James Lovell, born at Bury St. Edmund's, Eng., June 24, 1849; 7. Albert Edward, born in Framingham, Mass., June 26, 1853.1

Rev. Stephen R. Dennen .- After the dismission of Dr. Bodwell, August 3, 1866, the church and society were without a pastor till June 24, 1868, when Rev. Stephen R. Dennen, who had accepted a call to suc- ceed him, was duly installed, Rev. Dr. Thatcher Thayer, of Newport, R. I., preaching the sermon from Matt. 5: 17. Mr. Dennen, like his predecessor, had the advantage of ripe experience in the pastoral office, and his power, as an able and impressive preacher, was soon felt and acknowledged. During the interval of nearly two years which preceded his installation, the parish, though without a pastor, had enjoyed unusual religious interest and about sixty persons, mostly young, had been admitted to mem- bership in the church. An encouraging degree of this interest continued for some time under the min- istry of the new pastor, and those of only recent Christian experience at the time, especially needed the strong and instructive discourses with which he fed them. A good degree of prosperity, in various ways, continued to crown the labor of both pastor and people from year to year. But with another field in view, which he thought, on the whole, promised more satisfactory results, the pastor resigned his posi- tion and, at his own request, was dismissed December 27,1871.

Rev. Stephen Rollins Dennen, D.D., was born in Poland, Me., November 6, 1826; graduated from Colby University in 1849; from the theological sem- inary at Bangor, Me., in 1852, and spent 1853 as resi- dent licentiate at Andover. He has been a pastor in Providence, R. I., in New Haven, Conn., and in Lynn and Watertown, Mass., and now (1889) resides in West Newton.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 121

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034