USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 31
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Meanwhile a new meeting-house had been erected on land
* On this map the new meeting-house is numbered 120. See "Ould Newbury," pp. 392, 393. t Massachusetts Archives (Court Records), vol. xv., p. 82.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
in Woodman's lane, now Maple street, West Newbury. This new house of worship was dedicated January 5, 1816.
Rev. Mr. Kirby sailed for Charleston, S.C., in 1818, for the benefit of his health. The vessel in which he took passage
FOURTH PARISH MEETING-HOUSE.
BUILT IN 1815. REMODELLED AND ENLARGED IN 1856.
was wrecked on Ocracoke bar on the coast of North Carolina, and he was washed overboard and drowned December 5, 1818.
The town of Parsons was incorporated February 18, 1819; but by an act of the General Court passed June 14, 1820, the name of the town was changed to West Newbury, and subsequently, by a vote of the parish, the name of the Fourth
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
church in Newbury was changed to the Second church in West Newbury.
Since that date the pastors of the church have been : -
Name.
Ordained.
Dismissed.
Rev. Elijah Demond
March 7, 1821
September 3, 1826
Rev. Paul Couch
March 27, 1827
August 14, 1828
Rev. John Q. A. Edgell
September 17, 1832
October 27, 1853
Rev. Davis Foster
November 1, 1855
September 1, 1867
In 1856, during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Foster, the meet- ing-house was removed to its present location, near the junc- tion of Church street (West Newbury) and the Bradford road. It was remodelled and enlarged ; and on the twelfth day of March, 1857, it was reopened and rededicated to the wor- ship of God.
June 13, 1872, Rev. Seneca M. Keeler was ordained pastor : he was dismissed February 18, 1878.
September 18, 1888, Rev. William Slade was ordained pastor: he was dismissed April 22, 1891.
December 2, 1891, Rev. F. B. Noyes was ordained pastor : he was dismissed December 6, 1897.
Since that date the church has been without a settled minister.
Rev. Elbridge P. McElroy supplied the pulpit from March, 1870, to July, 1871.
Rev. M. A. Dougherty, from April, 1879, to January, 1884.
Rev. William P. Alcott, from February, 1884, to October, 1886.
Rev. F. H. Boynton, from November, 1886, to December, 1887.
Rev. C. F. Clarke, from January, 1898, to November, 1899.
Rev. George A. Martin, from December, 1899, to March, 1902.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Two years after the first visit of Rev. George Whitefield to Newbury, a few earnest and devout friends and followers of the great evangelist erected a small house of worship on the easterly side of High street, a few rods from the south- erly corner of King street, now Federal street, Newbury- port, and employed Rev. Joseph Adams, of Byfield, a gradu-
382
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
ate of Harvard College, to carry on the work of the ministry there. Although zealous and faithful, the young preacher was sometimes indiscreet, and failed to win the support and confidence of the people to whom he ministered.
November 25, 1745, more than one hundred members of the First Parish church, dissatisfied with the theological views of the pastor, Rev. Christopher Toppan, and the assistant pastor, Rev. John Tucker, signed an agreement to withdraw from communion with that church, and unite with the new society in extending a call to Rev. Jonathan Par- sons, of Lyme, Conn., to become their spiritual adviser and teacher.
On the third day of January, 1745-6, a few of the sub- scribers to this agreement organized a church, and mutually covenanted and agreed "to walk together as a church of Christ according to the rules and order of the gospel." The members of the First Parish church who were opposed to the settlement of Rev. Mr. Parsons in Newbury, and "objected to his officiating on the Lord's day to any of ye Brethren of this and the neighboring churches," appointed a committee, February 13, 1745-6, to confer with him upon the subject, and also to ascertain from the church at Lyme, Conn., the truth or falsity of some statements that had been circulated in regard to his theological views and the influence that he exerted while in the ministry there.
Without waiting for the consent or approval of the churches in Newbury, Rev. Mr. Parsons accepted the invitation that had been extended to him by the members of the newly organized society to become their pastor. The installation exercises were simple and impressive. At a meeting called for that purpose March 19, 1745-6, the pastor-elect delivered a sermon appropriate to the occasion. Some letters and testi- monials upholding his theological views were read. Then, standing with uplifted hand before the congregation, he said, "In the presence of God and these witnesses I take this peo- ple to be my people "; and the clerk, rising and speaking for the church and the congregation, said, " In the presence of God and these witnesses we take this man to be our minister."
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
Under the law of the province of Massachusetts the mem- bers of the new society were compelled to pay taxes for the support of public worship in the parishes where they resided, unless, like Quakers, Episcopalians, and Anabaptists, they obtained permission to attend public worship elsewhere. Al- though vigorous efforts were made to amend or repeal the law, the General Court was not inclined to grant the relief asked for.
April 7, 1746, the newly organized church elected six ruling elders, and in the month of October following admitted thirty-eight members from the Third Parish church without credentials or letters of dismission from that church. These unusual proceedings were followed by the adoption of a reso- lution, September 15, 1748, to unite with the presbytery of Boston upon certain specified conditions. These conditions were accepted by the presbyters at a meeting held a few weeks later.
In the months of October and November following, several petitions were presented to the General Court asking that the inhabitants of Newbury might be released from the payment " of taxes and charges for the support of any minister of any society except for the support of the minister where they usually attend publick worship." Although William Shirley, then governor of the province, endeavored to secure for them the privileges asked for, the General Court, after a prolonged hearing, refused to grant the prayer of the petitioners.
During the next ten or fifteen years several attempts were made without success to obtain relief from the burden of "double taxation." The struggle was continued until after the adoption of the constitution of the state of Massachu- setts ; and some of the. questions involved in the controversy were not finally settled and disposed of until June 17, 1796, when the General Court passed " An Act authorizing the First Parish in Newbury to discharge from taxation, for the support of Public Worship in said Parish, such Persons within the limits of said Parish as attend Public Worship in any other Religious Society, and are willing to be subject to taxation in · such society."
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
Meanwhile a larger and more convenient meeting-house was erected on a lot of land on the corner of Chandler's lane, now Federal street, "and a way two rods broad," now School street, Newburyport .¿ The frame of this new house of wor- ship was raised July 5, 1756, and religious services were held in the unfinished building in the month of August following. The steeple was not completed until three or four years later. Samuel Pettingell, while at work upon it, fell to the ground September 10, 1759, and was instantly killed.
The meeting-house is still standing within the territorial limits of Newburyport. The large square pews, the high pul- pit, and the sounding-board, hung by rods from the ceiling, have been removed, and other alterations and improvements made, practically transforming the old edifice into a new one. The heavy oak frame, however, still remains undisturbed, showing no signs of weakness or decay.
Since the incorporation of Newburyport the church over which Rev. Jonathan Parsons was installed pastor in 1746 has been, and still is, known as "The First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport "; and its history from and after 1764 is identified with and forms a part of the history of that town.t
FIFTH PARISH CHURCH.
April 17, 1761, the territorial bounds and limits of the Fifth parish in Newbury were established by the General Court.# At that date services according to the ritual of the Church of England were held only once a month in Queen Anne's chapel, which was located near the centre of the new parish. Early in the month of June, 1761, a few persons in- terested in the organization of a Congregational church in that neighborhood met in the chapel without having asked or obtained permission to use the building. Rev. Edward Bass, in a letter dated June 9, 1761, protested against this dis- orderly conduct, and subsequently applied for advice and
# Essex Deeds, book cxlii., leaf 304.
t For a more extended account of the First Presbyterian church see "Ould Newbury," pp. 508-525 ; also, "The Origin and Annals of ' the Old South ' First Presbyterian Church and Parish in Newburyport," published in 1896 by Damrell & Upham, Boston.
# See ante, p. 233.
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
assistance to the governor of the province, who recommended the wardens and vestrymen to grant the inhabitants of the Fifth parish liberty to use the chapel when unoccupied until a new meeting-house could be erected, " they disclaiming all right to the church and disavowing the force that has been used by them." This recommendation was consented to and approved by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in London, February 19, 1762 .*
During the following summer a meeting-house was built on Meeting-house lane, now Noble street, Newburyport ; and July 22, 1762, the Fifth Parish church was organized. Rev. Oliver Noble, the first and only minister of the church, was settled September 1, 1762. The society was never very prosperous and for many years maintained a precarious ex- istence. Rev. Mr. Noble, in spite of many difficulties and discouragements resulting from some injudicious business transactions, in which he was involved, retained possession of his office until the spring of 1784, when, by mutual consent, a council was called to dissolve the connection between pastor and people. Only two churches responded to the call. The pastors and delegates of the church at Hampton Falls and the church at Greenland, assembled in Newbury for consulta- tion and conference, " not as an ecclesiastical council," but as individual churches, unanimously agreed April 28, 1784, that the separation should take place. A few months later Rev. Mr. Noble was ordained or installed minister of the church at Newcastle, N.H., where he remained until his death, December 15, 1792.
Religious services were held in the meeting-house of the Fifth parish for several years after the resignation of Rev. Mr. Noble ; but the congregation gradually diminished in num- bers, and before the beginning of the nineteenth century services were discontinued, and the church was practically extinct. In 1808, during a violent storm, the neglected and weather-worn meeting-house was blown down and completely destroyed.
Meanwhile the Fifth parish, by the incorporation of New
* " Life and Times of Edward Bass," by Rev. Daniel D. Addison, pp. 65-67.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
buryport in 1764, became the Fourth parish in Newbury. A few individuals, anxious to revive and re-establish the Con- gregational church in that parish, agreed, January 8, 1807, to build a new meeting-house. They selected a lot of land, owned by Dr. Micajah Sawyer, on High street, near the corner of Poore's lane, or Moody's lane, now Woodland street, Newburyport,* and erected a house of worship that was dedi- cated November 24, 1807.
" The Proprietors of a New Meeting House in the Fourth Parish in Newbury " were incorporated by a special act of the legislature passed March 4, 1808 .; The old church was re- vived, or a new one organized, previous to April 2, 1808. Rev. James Miltimore was installed pastor April 21, 1808. The meeting-house was struck by lightning and completely destroyed April 1, 1816. A new one was built without delay, and dedicated November 7, 1816.
In 1819, the town of Parsons, now West Newbury, was in- corporated ; and the name of the parish in which Rev. Mr. Miltimore officiated was again changed to the Second parish in Newbury. Rev. John C. March was ordained assistant pastor March 1, 1832. After the death of Rev. Mr. Milti- more, March 23, 1836, Rev. Mr. March had entire charge of the church and parish until his decease, September 26, 1846.
Rev. Daniel T. Fiske was installed pastor August 18, 1847. In 1851, the parish, with some additional territory, was set off from Newbury and annexed to Newburyport ; and the name of the church was changed to " The Belleville Congregational Church and Society of Newburyport." January 8, 1867, the meeting-house was destroyed by an incendiary fire. A new house of worship was erected during the following summer, and dedicated December 24, 1867.
Rev. Dr. Fiske was relieved, at his request, by a vote of the parish in 1887, from some of the burdens and active duties of his office; but, at the earnest solicitation of friends, he consented to remain as senior pastor of the church, and still retains that position. The fiftieth anniversary of his ordina-
* Essex Deeds, book clxxxvii., leaf 172 ; also, book cxciii., leaf 79.
t See chap. 86, Acts of 1807-08.
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
tion was celebrated by appropriate and interesting public ex- ercises September 14, 1897.
Rev. Willis A. Hadley was installed active pastor of the church November 30, 1887. He resigned June 1, 1891, and was succeeded by Rev. Albert W. Hitchcock, who was in- stalled December 15, 1891, and resigned December 8, 1900.
The present active pastor, Rev. Richard Wright, was in- stalled June 5, 1901.
FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Rev. John Adams, commonly called " Reformation John," a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of the New England Annual Conference, came to Newbury in 1819 and made many converts, who subsequently became connected with the Salisbury Conference, and assembled for re- ligious worship from week to week in a school-house then stand- ing on Marlborough street. Rev. Moses B. Lewis, Rev. S. B. Haskill, Rev. Amasa Buck, and other ministers of the Metho- dist church preached to those who would listen, and gradually added to the number of converts until the year 1825, when Newbury was made a station by the Salisbury Conference, and Rev. John Adams was appointed to carry on the work of the ministry there.
During that year land was purchased and a meeting-house erected in a field on the northwesterly side of Marlborough street, midway between that street and South street, now Bromfield street, Newburyport. The building was completed, and dedicated to the worship of God October 5, 1825 .* A few years later Adelphi street, now a continuation of Pur- chase street, was laid out, in order to give a convenient and unobstructed way to the meeting-house.
Rev. Mr. Adams remained pastor of the church until 1826, when he was succeeded by Rev. Bartholomew Otheman. The ministers who have been stationed there since that date are as follows : -
* The Life of " Reformation " John Adams, published in 1853, vol. i., p. 198.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
Rev. John Foster in 1827.
Rev. Jotham Horton in 1828.
Rev. Davis Barker in 1829.
Rev. A. B. Kinsman for a part of the year 1830, and Rev. R. D. Easterbrook for the remainder of that year.
Rev. La Roy Sunderland in 1831.
Rev. William R. Stone in 1832.
Rev. Newell S. Spaulding in 1833.
Rev. J. E. Risley and
Rev. William Radman in 1834-35.
Rev. Fred P. Tracy in 1836-37.
Rev. B. F. Lombard in 1838-39.
Rev. Thomas G. Brown in 1840-41.
Rev. Amos Walton in 1842-43.
Rev. Horace Moulton in 1844.
Rev. Willard Smith in 1845-46.
During Rev. Mr. Smith's pastorate the meeting-house was raised, remodelled, painted, and a new vestry built in the base- ment. It was subsequently moved back ten or fifteen feet from the street, the stairway and vestibule enlarged, and other needed improvements made.
Rev. John M. Merrill was pastor of the church in 1847-48, Rev. William R. Stone in 1849, Rev. Nathaniel J. Merrill in 1850, and Rev. William Gordon in 1851.
March 5, 1827, John Adams, Cutting Pettingell, Josiah P. Noyes, Joseph L. Thurlow, of Newbury, Elias French and Caleb Pike, of Salisbury, and Benjamin Brown, of Newbury- port, were incorporated " Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Newbury and Newburyport." The meeting-house was built in that part of Newbury which was annexed to Newburyport in 1851. The legal name and title of the church was subsequently changed to "The People's Metho- dist Episcopal Church of Newburyport." It is still flour- ishing and prosperous under the pastoral care of Rev. Henry G. Alley ; but the details of its growth and influence since 1851 are not given in this sketch, as they do not properly belong to the history of Newbury.
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
Members of the religious society, or sect, commonly called Quakers visited Newbury at a very early date, on their way to other towns in Maine and New Hampshire. In 1663, Lydia Wardwell, of Hampton, N.H., was sentenced by the court at Salem to be severely whipped "for coming naked into Newbury meeting house," and at the same court John Emery was indicted " for entertaining Quakers " at his house in Newbury .*
The Society of Friends held "quarterly meetings" in Hampton as early as 1697, and "monthly meetings" in 1699.1
In 1701, they built a meeting-house in that town, and mem- bers of the society residing in Salisbury, Amesbury, and New- bury, as well as Hampton, assembled there on the first day of the week for public worship .¿
Judge Sewall wrote in his diary, May 23, 1704, "Went early to Salem, convers'd with Mr Noyes told him of the Quaker meeting at Sam Sawyers a week ago, profaneness of the young Hoags professing that heresy." §
Samuel Sawyer was a son of William Sawyer, one of the early settlers of Newbury ; and "the young Hoags " were sons of John Hoag, who married April 21, 1669, in Newbury, a daughter of John Emery.
In 1705, a meeting-house was erected in Salisbury, new town, now Amesbury, for the better accommodation of the Quakers residing there and in the neighboring towns.||
At the "Friends Monthly Meeting " held at Amesbury in the year 1714 the members of that association were granted liberty to meet in Newbury "every 3ª first day ye week in every month." "[ After that date, meetings of the society were frequently held in Newbury in private houses. In 1743, a meeting-house was erected on the southwesterly side of the
* See ante, chap. III, pages 124, 150.
+ History of Hampton (Dow), vol. i., p. 393.
# History of Amesbury (Merrill), p. 150.
§ Samuel Sewall's Diary, vol. ii., p. 102 (Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Fifth Series, vol. vi.).
|| History of Amesbury (Merrill), p. 156. T Ibid., p. 166.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
country road, now High street, Newburyport, between Moody's lane, now Woodland street, and Pillsbury's lane, now Ashland street. June 6, 1743, Stephen Sawyer, " In consider- ation of that good will & affection which I bear to my well respected Friends Robert Rogers, Daniel Sawyer, Stephen Sawyer, Jun., yeomen & Samuel Fowler, Richard Collins, Hezekiah Collins & Samuel Coker, shipwrights & Humphrey Sawyer & Hathorn Coker, Jun., Blacksmiths, all of Newbury," conveyed to the persons above named the land on which the meeting-house was built .*
Stephen Sawyer was a brother of Samuel Sawyer, at whose house the Quaker meeting was held in 1704. He was born in Newbury, April 25, 1663, and married Ann, daughter of William Titcomb, March 10, 1687. By his will dated Febru- ary 20, 1753, and proved July 23, 1753, he gave his dwel- ling-house " on the country road," with about forty acres of land adjoining the same, to his sons Daniel and Enoch Sawyer.t
Samuel Coker, shipwright, and Hathorn Coker, jr., black- smith, named in the deed of conveyance from Stephen Sawyer, were owners or part owners of about three square rods of land, now known as the Quaker burying-ground, on Washing- ton street, Newburyport, which was originally a part of the bequest made by Richard Bartlett in his will, dated April 19, 1695, to his daughter, Tirzah Bartlett, who subsequently married Hathorn Coker.#
On the land owned by Stephen Sawyer, on the south-
* Essex Deeds, book lxxxvii, leaf 263.
t Probate Records, book cccxxxi., leaf 429.
# William Titcomb was appointed guardian of Tirzah Bartlett in 1698. He was discharged from the care of her estate February 8, 1708-9, " she having become of age, and married Ha- thorn Coker " (Essex Probate Records, book cccx., leaf 114). After her death, suit was brought in the Court of Common Pleas for Essex County by Hathorn Coker, Samuel Coker, and others, to recover possession of about four acres of land on the southerly side of Merrimack street, extending nearly to High street. The writ was returnable at the court held in Newburyport the last Tues- day in September, 1767. An agreement was then made "to dock the entail "; and March 23, 1768, an indenture for the division of the Coker field, so called, was duly executed.
" It was then Covenanted and agreed that nine rods of the premises being three rods Square at the north west Corner thereof shall be and enure to the use of the Several Persons to whose use the Residue of the premises as before mentioned is to be recovered for a Burying Place for them and their heirs forever, for themselves and their Families who shall have Liberty to pass and repass thereto forever" (Essex Deeds, book cxxv., leaf 91).
April 9, 1800, Washington street, extending from Winter to Boardman streets, was laid out by the selectmen of Newburyport, and accepted by the inhabitants of that town at a meeting held
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CHURCHES AND PASTORS
westerly side of High street, several members of the Sawyer family were buried previous to 1743. On the crest of the hill, in the rear of the meeting-house lot, a few worn and dilapidated gravestones are still standing. The only inscrip- tion now legible reads as follows : -
HERE LYES Ye BODY OF ELIJAH SAWYER SON OF DANIEL & SARAH SAWYER WHO DIED NOVEMBER 4, 1720 AGED 12 WEEKS.
Daniel Sawyer was also a son of Stephen Sawyer. He was born January 28, 1689, and married Sarah Moody, April 2, 1714. He was one of the grantees named in the deed of conveyance from Stephen Sawyer to the Society of Friends in 1743. In the division of his father's estate he came into possession of about twenty-five or thirty acres of land ad- joining to and including the family burying-ground .*
The meeting-house erected by the Society of Friends was a plain, unpretentious structure, about thirty feet wide, forty feet long, and two stories high. Religious services were held in the lower story, and occasionally the upper story was util- ized for the same purpose.
In the month of June, 1825, Paul Adams, of Newbury, and Stephen Sawyer and Robert Brown, of West Newbury, "being a committee of the Society of Friends in Newbury," duly au- thorized to sell the Friends' meeting-house and ground under
May 12, 1800. The entrance to the burying-ground is from the southwesterly side of Washington street. A low granite monument, that marks the enclosure, bears the following inscription : -
THE FAMILY CEMETERY OF HARTHORN COKER WHO WITH MANY OF HIS DESCENDANTS LIE BURIED HERE JUNE 5, 1865.
* Subsequently, Orlando B. Merrill, guardian of Elijah Sawyer, sold a part of this land to Moses L. Atkinson (Essex Deeds, book ccxxv., leaf 244); and March 31, 1821, Enoch Plumer sold to the said Moses L. Atkinson about six acres additional land, "from which is to be deducted the quantity now improved as a burying ground, being about twenty rods" (Essex Deeds, book ccxxxvi., leaf 80). November 6, 1855, John M. Atkinson sold to Eben Griffin about ten acres of land on North Atkinson street in Newburyport, "Reserving the Sawyer Burial Ground, so called, upon said lot" (Essex Deeds, book dxxi., leaf 269) .
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. HISTORY OF NEWBURY
and adjoining the same, " the said Paul Adams also being an overseer of said society, chosen by the Seabrook Monthly Meeting," gave to Josiah Little, of Newbury, a quitclaim deed " of the lot of ground on High street in said town on which the Friends meeting house now stands," with the building thereon, " being the same land which the Society of Friends have oc- cupied for a meeting house lot for eighty years past." *
At or soon after that date a meeting-house was built just beyond the limits of Newbury, in the neighborhood of Turkey hill, for the use of the Society of Friends. March 4, 1829, Robert Brown, of West Newbury, "in consideration of that good will & affection I bear to my well respected friends Ed- ward Gove, Jun. and Ezekiel Jones, overseers of the Society of Friends in Seabrook Monthly Meeting" conveyed to the said overseers, and their successors in office, land in West Newbury on which a meeting-house was then standing, " so long as the said society shall improve it for a meeting house and hold a meeting for the worship of God." }
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