USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 28
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Minister. As soon as a house of Publick Worship had been provided
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for, steps were taken to secure a minister. At the second precinct meet- ing, held Sept. 21, 1750, it was voted, "That the sum of £13. 6. 8. be raised and assessed upon the polls and estates of the Precinct, to supply the Precinct with preaching, so far as it will go : and that Capt. Eben" Witt, Samuel Gould and Lieut. Benj. Gilbert supply the Precinct with preaching." Mar. 4, 1751, 540 was raised, and Capt. Wm Ayres, Thomas Hale, Benj. Adams, Samuel Gould and Benj. Gilbert were appointed a committee to procure preaching the year ensuing." Sept. 23, the committee was instructed to hire Mr. Darby, Mr. Taft, Mr. Welch and Mr. Forbush, to preach four Sabbaths each, on probation.
Jan. 14, 1752, the precinct voted to apply to three neighboring min- isters for their advice in giving a call to Mr. Eli Forbush to settle with them in the work of the Gospel Ministry. The advice was as follows : " These therefore may certify, that Mr. Eli Forbush (who has for some time been preaching with them), so far as our acquaintance has been with him, together with his general good character, and his approbation by an Association of worthy ministers : We cannot but esteem of him as a gentleman well qualified for the work of the Gospel Ministry ; and apprehend the people of this Parish to be in the way of their duty to proceed in giving him an Invitation to settle with them in the work of the Ministry
Signed
JOSHUA EATON ISAAC JONES ELISHA HARDING."
Mr. Forbush received a unanimous call to settle in the precinct ; with the offer of £53. 6. 8 lawful money, as a yearly salary ; and the sum of £120 lawful money, as a settlement - to be paid, one-half within one year, and the other half within two years of his acceptance. It was also voted to give him £4 additional, to supply him with wood ; and a fur- ther addition to his salary of £3. 6. 8, to commence in 1757, and a further sum of £3. 6. 8, to be added in '58, so that from and after 1758 his yearly salary shall be £64. At Mr. F.'s desire, the terms were altered, so that the Parish should deliver to him yearly 30 cords of wood, and that from and after 1767, his salary should be £66. 13. 4 per annum.
The call was accepted ; and the Parish (no church having been organ- ized) sent Letters Missive to the Churches invited to compose the ordain- ing council ; and Mr. Forbush was ordained June 3, 1752.
Organization of the Church. After the arrangements for the settlement of a pastor had been made, but before the ordination, viz. May 28, 1752, a church was organized, under the title of The Second Church of Christ in Brookfield. Forty-eight persons, 26 males and 22 females, signed the
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ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
Covenant : Eli Forbush, John Watson, Jabez Ayres, Ebenezer Witt, Noah Barns, John Cutler, Benj. Adams, Abram How, Ammiel Weeks, Ichabod How, Abner Tyler, Thomas Hale, Uriah Gilbert, Joseph Stone, Moses Ayres, Charles Adams, Moses Barns, Jason Biglow, Nathan Stevens, Thomas Taylor, Ephraim Cutler, Daniel Newell, Jonathan Gilbert, Aaron Barns, Isaac Cutler, John Witt : Esther Watson, Mary Tucker, Martha How, Sarah Stone, Abigail Cutler, Rebecca Witt, Mary Witt, Abigail Gilbert, Hannah Barns, Rebecca Ayres, Esther Gilbert, Elizabeth Gil- bert, Miriam Newell, Sarah Ayres, Rebecca Adams, Persis Adams, Naomi Taylor, Annah Barns, Phebe How, Mary Hale, Mary Stevens, Hannah Bartlett.
The following extract from the Church Records, shows that this church, from the first, claimed the right of the laity to vote on all ques- tions pertaining to its own polity and work. The practice had obtained in many of the Congregational churches of Massachusetts, to determine all matters by " silentius vote "; i.e., no question could be brought be- fore the church without the pastor's consent ; and he, as moderator, put the motion in a form which required only a silent assent - no one contradicting, because no show of hands was called for either for or against.
Jan. 30, 1753. At a meeting of the Second Church in Brookfield, I. the Question being asked whether any thing short of a hand vote should be looked upon as valid in said church - it passed in the neg- ative.
2. It being asked what method should be agreed upon for admitting members into full communion, the following was consented to and voted unanimously - That the candidate for admission should apply himself to the Pastor and communicate his desire, upon which the said Pastor is to examine into his knowledge of God; and the Christian religion ; his present acquaintance with it ; the Nature and Design of the Gospel Ordinances. And upon the Pastor's receiving satisfactory answers to any Question that may be asked under these heads above mentioned, he shall propound the desires of the said candidate to the church publickly : - On the third Sabbath, the said Pastor, upon receiving no objections to the contrary, shall recommend the person propounded to the charity of the church ; and for their further satisfaction, the said Pastor shall read to the church a Relation containing some general articles of Faith, and his experimental acquaintance with Religion, drawn up by the Candi- date's own hand, or by the Pastor at his desire and consent, and agreeable to what he past when under examination ; and that no person according to our present apprehension, should be admitted to what is called full membership without such Relation.
3. The Question being asked, who should serve the Lord's Table dur-
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ing the time that the church should be without Deacons, 'twas voted that brother Noah Barns and Benj. Adams, be the persons - who also consented to said vote.
Voted, that during the time that the church is without Deacons, Benj. Adams read, and Jason Biglow tune the Psalm in publick.
Attest, LEVI FORBUSH, moderator.
Dec. 26, 1753. John Cutler was chosen first Deacon, and Jason Biglow the second.
Building Pews, and Seating the Meeting-house. After the meeting- house had been covered in and a floor laid, a committee, viz. Ebenr Witt, Dea. Jason Biglow, Thomas Hale, Dea. Samuel Gould and Nathan- iel Woolcott, was appointed, to mark out and value the pew spots, and notify the tax payers, who, from their age and amount of taxable estate were entitled to the privilege, to make choice of their several pew spots, and give security for building their respective pews. The valuation of pew spots varied from £5, to £1. 6. 8, according to location. And it was voted that the several persons who accept said pews, shall build the same at their own cost, and ceil the side of the house against the same up to the foot of the windows, and case the windows against their respective pews, and give security to the Treasurer for the sums they are set at, within ten days, as aforesaid, payable within twelve months from this day. Twenty-two pews were laid out, around the walls of the house. The Minister's pew was on the right of the pulpit. The others were taken, in the order of their value, beginning with the highest, by Ebenr Witt, Josiah Converse, Esq., Obadiah Rice, Nathl Woolcott, Wm Ayres, Esq., Noah Barns, John Watson, John Hinds, Benj. Adams, Moses Ayres, wid. Sarah Lane, Samuel Gould, Abraham How, Jason Biglow, Abner Tyler, Corlis Hinds, John Witt, Thomas Bartlett, Jabez Ayres, Ammiel Weeks, Benj. Gilbert.
The floor of the house inside the pews, was laid out into twelve seats, six on each side of the broad aisle, the left hand row for women and the right hand for men, each seat to hold seven persons. These were plain benches with backs. The deacon's seat was directly in front of the pulpit. The pew owners occupied each his own pew : all others were assigned their respective places by a committee. The first "seating the meeting-house " took place in 1757; and the committee was instructed to assign each one his place, according to age, station in life, and what he paid for real and personal estate on the last two years tax lists. Voted, that the seating continue but three years.
Ministerial Fund. In 1761, a committee was appointed, to sell the Ministry Lands belonging to the Second Precinct, and invest the pro- ceeds, upon interest for the Precinct's use, benefit and behoof. The
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SCHOOLS IN SECOND PRECINCT.
amount of the Fund so raised was £83. 7. 4. 2. The income appears to have been used in part payment of the minister's salary.
SCHOOLS. - In 1756, the town voted that the proportion of School money raised in each of the three Precincts should be expended within said Precinct, according to its pleasure.
Under this vote, the Second Precinct assumed the right to levy a tax on its own inhabitants for the support of its own schools. Nov. 18, 1757, Voted, that a committee be chosen to provide a place to keep the school at next winter in said Precinct. Mar. 8, 1759, Voted, that the Precinct will build and finish a School House, about 25 rods from the meeting- house, on the east side of the country road and northerly of the road to Daniel Potter's, where said roads part, and complete the same by the last of October next - said house to be 25 ft. long, 20 ft. wide, and 7 ft. stud ; and that Joseph Stone, Thomas Ball and Samuel Hinckley be a committee to complete the same, with brick for the chimney, at the Pre- cinct's cost.
Voted, that there be granted to be raised and assessed on the polls and estates in said Precinct the sum of £25 to defray the charge and cost of building the school house.
What happened in consequence of this last vote, is told in the follow- ing Petition to the General Court, dated April 1760: "This Petition Shews - That the town of Brookfield never did nor could agree to build any one or more school house or houses in said Town,1 by which the good laws for schooling have been too much evaded, and the people too much deprived of their natural privileges : But at a meeting of the inhabitants in Oct. 1756, they voted that each Precinct should have the town schools kept in their respective Precincts their equal proportion, and the places to be stated by the inhabitants of each of these respective Precincts -
The inhabitants of the Second Precinct, encouraged by said vote, in March 1759, unanimously agreed to a place near their meeting-house and to build a school house, which was finished, and a school has been and is now kept in said house to the great satisfaction and advantage of the Precinct, who in Nov. last granted a sum of £25, to be assessed on their polls and estates, which was done, and committed to Wm Ayres, 2d., constable, to collect, to defray the cost of the house, &c. But pains have been taken to prevent the collection of the said tax, as not being in the power of a Precinct to grant money for any use but to build meeting-houses and support ministers -
Wherefore we pray that the constable may be impowered to collect said tax ; and further that said Second Precinct may be impowered to
I A school house was built, about 1735, near the territorial centre of the town; but it may have been done by individual enterprise, and not with the town's money.
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SECOND PRECINCT-NORTH BROOKFIELD.
grant and collect such sums of money for the future, to be applied to the schooling of their children in the remoter parts of said Precinct, as said Precinct shall agree to."
Apr. 22. On this petition the General Court ordered, "that the con- stable to whom the above named assessment was committed be and hereby is fully authorized and impowered to collect the tax men- tioned."
School Districts. In 1765, the people living in the outskirts were formed into societies or districts, as they severally could agree, each to have the benefit of its respective part of the school money ; but " any such remote tax-payer whose son inclines to learn the Tongues other than the English, may have liberty at the Middle school, they having a Grammar School Master." [This is the earliest mention of a Grammar School. It is again referred to in 1798, and also in 1809, and appears to have been maintained constantly, except during some years of the Revolution.] As early as 1770, school houses began to be built in the out districts. In 1771, the Precinct raised its school money by taxa- tion of its own people, the amount this year being 24 pounds. In 1781, the school money granted was 24 pounds hard money; in 1791, 35 pounds ; in 1792, 45 pounds ; in 1798, 50 pounds ; in 1810, $400, (the two last named amounts appear to have been town grants).
In 1791, the Precinct was divided into seven School Districts. The several school houses were then located as follows : the Centre, near the meeting-house ; the North West, by Samuel Cheever's ; the North, by Theophilus Potter's ; the North East, by Nathan Moore's ; the East, by Daniel Forbes' ; the South East, at the corner near Thomas Hatha- way's ; the South West, near Wm Ayres, 2d.
School Committee. In 1792, the Precinct chose a committee of seven, "to provide and take care of the several Schools in the Precinct," viz. Benj. Adams, Isaac Church, Nathan Bartlett, Abijah Cutler, Jesse Cutter, Samuel Cheever, and Rufus Hamilton. In 1795, the school committee were : Dea. Benj. Adams, Roger Bruce, John Edmands, Josiah Witt, Thomas Kendrick, Nathaniel Dodge, Jr., Silas Stevens and Isaac Moore. This practice continued till 1805, when the Precinct voted, "To relinquish the right of choosing School Committee men, and leave it to each district to appoint its own." But in 1809, the practice was resumed, and Thompson Rawson, Humphrey Gilbert, Paul Haskell, Luke Potter, Josiah Bush, Kerley Howe and Silas Haskell were chosen school committee, " to furnish the schools in the several districts in said Precinct with teachers, and apply for the money."
LOTTERY SPECULATION. - At a Precinct meeting Mar. 7, 1791, it was voted, " That the treasurer be directed to sell the Old Continental Money now in his hands, amounting to 2,148 dollars, for specie, and that Lt.
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REV. ELI FORBUSH.
Wm Ayres and Capt. John Waite assist him in the disposal thereof ; and they are directed to lay out the proceeds of the same in tickets in the Mass. monthly State Lottery, for the benefit of the Precinct." The Committee was further instructed, "to continue in the Lottery the num- ber of tickets that the said Old Money shall purchase, provided the first drawing shall produce to the Precinct a sum sufficient for the purpose ; and the overplus, if any, shall from time to time, be deposited in the Precinct treasury."
REV. ELI FORBUSH. - As before stated, Mr. F. was ordained pastor of the Second Precinct church June 3, 1752.
He entered Harvard University in 1744, at the age of 18. At the end of his first year he left college, and enlisted in the Provincial army, in the then opening French and Indian war. Through the influence of friends, he received a discharge, returned to Cambridge, and gradu- ated, 1751 ; and was settled in North Brookfield the next year. His taste for military life induced him to go as chaplain in the Army, in which rank he served from Mar. 31, to Nov. 15, 1759. [See ante, p. 217.] After his return from this campaign, he uniformly wrote his name Forbes. In 1762, he was requested by the Commissioners in Boston to undertake a mission to the Oneida Indians; and though his people were averse, he left home the first of June, with Asaph Rice, (afterwards minister in Westminster), and Elisha Gunn of Montague, as interpreter. He reached Onoquagie, on the Susquehanna river June 21, where was an Indian settlement of 300 people. His labors were successful, and he gathered a church, and started a school for children, and another for adults. He left the work in the care of Mr. Rice, and returned in Sep- tember, bringing with him four Indian children, whoin he educated, and sent back to their tribe.
The notices in the Precinct records lead to the belief that his pastorate was a successful one. There was some dissatisfaction growing out of his absences as chaplain, and missionary ; but nothing occurred to threaten a rupture of the pastoral relation, or to alienate his people, till the opening of the Revolution. Mr. Forbes was naturally conservative, and did not enter into this struggle with the fiery zeal of the more ar- dent patriots ; and some of his hearers went so far as to call him a Tory - then a term of great reproach, and on one occasion to offer him a personal indignity, i.e. to throw stones at his "chair " as he was riding in the highway. He at once asked for a dismission ; and, against the express wishes of his church, insisted on it. The case was referred to a mutual council ; and after two days deliberation, and without stating " any grounds of the pastor's uneasiness," the Council advised a disso- lution of the pastoral relation, and he was dismissed Mar. 1, 1775. That the accusation of toryism was groundless, is evident from his im-
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mediate settlement in a parish distinguished for its outspoken fidelity to the American cause.
Dr. Snell, in his Historical Discourse, says : "Dr. Forbes was a pop- ular preacher, apt, and sometimes striking in his remarks, rather than clear in his perceptions, forcible and convincing in his reasonings. His Sermons appeared better from the desk, than from the press, which is evidence that he more excelled as a pleasant speaker, than as a profound Divine and able reasoner. He held a very respectable rank among the clergymen of this vicinity. He possessed the talent of readily giving good and familiar instruction to children, and winning the affections of most people."
Mr. Forbes was installed over the First Church in Gloucester, June 5, 1776 ; and died in the pastorate there Dec. 15, 1804. He received the degree of S.T.D. from his alma mater the year of his death.
REV. JOSEPH APPLETON. - After the dismission of Mr. Forbes, Rev. Mr. Fisher was employed as a candidate for a few months; and Mr. La- ban Wheaton for a few weeks. Mr. Joseph Appleton of Ipswich preached as candidate 5 months. And at a Precinct meeting May 23, 1776, a call was given him to settle in the ministry ; with the offer of £133. 16. 8 as a " settlement "; and an annual salary of £70 for the first two years, and £80 per annum thereafter. The Church chose a council, and ap- pointed the time for the ordination, in which the Precinct concurred, and Mr. A. was ordained Oct. 3, 1776. The council was entertained at the home of Mrs. Hannah Gilbert, at the cost of £10. 12. 10, and the same was assessed upon the polls and estates of the Precinct.
So great was the depreciation of Province bills, that in Oct. 1779, the Precinct granted " for our pastor's support until Oct. 1780, in addi- tion to his stated salary the sum of two thousand four hundred and twenty pounds, as the currency now is."
Oct. 1781. The Precinct " voted, that the time of Intermission on the Sabbath, from the Ist of Dec. to the Ist of May, be one hour, and the rest of the year 1} hours; and that the moderator wait on the Rev. Pastor, and inform him of the foregoing vote."
Mr. Appleton graduated at Brown University in 1772, and died in the pastorate, after a short sickness, July 25, 1795, aged 44. Dr. Snell, in his Historical Discourse, says : " Mr. A. is represented to have been a very different man and preacher from Dr. Forbes. To most he was less acceptable as a preacher, and still more quiet, meek and unaspiring in spirit, and more steadfast in the doctrines of grace, which he con- stantly set forth with plainness. He is said to have been ardent in spirit, and animated in delivery. He loved his Saviour and his people, and preached the one to save the other. Pacific in spirit, and lowly in mind, he desired and strove for peace ; and would make great sacrifices, rather
Thomas Parell
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REV. THOMAS SNELL.
than contend. Though less distinguished as a student and a speaker, yet I am persuaded that he ought to be held in higher estimation as a man of God, than many who have been more celebrated as pulpit orators."
REV. THOMAS SNELL. - Among the candidates, employed after the death of Mr. Appleton, were Mr. John Fiske, who preached for several months, and received a call to settle ; Mr. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, after- wards of Kennebunk, who received two calls, both of which he declined ; Rev. Z. S. Moore, afterwards president of Amherst college ; and Rev. Charles Briggs, who settled in Rochester.
Mr. Thomas Snell preached his first sermon in North Brookfield, on the last Sabbath in October, 1797; and after 4 or 5 months' probation, was called to settle in the ministry, by a vote of 87 to 15.
The annual salary offered was $400 ; and the terms of settlement pro- posed were : "That if two thirds of the legal voters of the society should at any time be dissatisfied with the said Mr. Thomas Snell with respect to his Ministry or otherwise, and should signify their disaffection and the reasons of it to him in writing ; and if such matters of grievance cannot be removed, and an amicable compromise take place within the term of one year after such notice be given; and if at the end of the year two thirds of said Society, at a legal meeting called for that purpose, vote that the said Mr. Thomas Snell be dismissed, he shall consider him- self as discharged from his ministerial relation to said society ; and from that time shall relinquish any further demands for services performed among them.
2. That the said Mr. Thomas Snell shall have liberty to leave the Precinct and Society, when he shall see fit, by giving one year's notice for a compromise as above."
This " new departure " from the custom of settling ministers for life, is understood to have been suggested by Mr. Snell.
The call was accepted ; and the Precinct voted to concur with the church in the choice of a council, and the day for the ordination. A committee, viz. Lt. Thomas Bond, Lt. WVm Ayres, Thompson Rawson, Ens. Robert Cutler, Lt. Jason Bigelow, Eli Howe, Jabez Ayres, Lt. Jo- seph Bush and Wheat Gilbert, was chosen, "To superintend and conduct the council with propriety on the above said day "; and it was agreed to pay Wheat Gilbert $27.75, to provide for the council.
Mr. Snell was ordained June 27, 1798.
In his Historical Discourse, Dr. Snell says : "At the time of my ordina- tion, the church in the North Parish of Brookfield consisted of 80 members, most of them in the decline of life. No small portion of these So soon passed away, and the male members were reduced to a very small number. Twenty-five only acted in the matter of inviting me
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SECOND PRECINCT-NORTH BROOKFIELD.
to become their pastor, and two of those expressed a desire to hear further. Considering the small number embraced in the church, and the declining age of many, some gentlemen in the vicinity expressed a concern lest the church should become extinct ; and one individual advised me to introduce what was then called the half-way Covenant, i.e., that baptized parents of good morals, though without any preten- tions to experimental piety, might unite with the church, and have their children baptized, and be excused from coming to the Lord's Supper, because, unqualified in their own estimation to attend upon such a sol- emn ordinance, not considering that one ordinance is as sacred as the other. But this plan was never adopted by the Church."
A full account of Dr. Snell and his long pastorate belongs properly to a subsequent page of our annals.
SMALL Pox. - This town seems not to have shared in the prevalent prejudice against inoculation as a guard against virulent small pox. Probably it was due to the fact that two of our leading men, viz. Hon. Jedediah Foster and Wm Ranger, went to Esopus, N.Y., entered a hospital there, were inoculated, had the disease, and returned in health. Sept. 30, 1776, the town voted to establish a small pox hospital at the old Silas Walker house, to be in charge of Dr. Wm Thomas and Dr. Jacob Kittridge. A hospital was also established at the Joseph Cutler house. In 1777, John Watson's house was taken for the same purpose. In 1782, hospitals were established in each of the three precincts. In 1797, the town voted to open one or more hospitals, from Oct. I, to May I, next year. And the house of Thomas Ranger was taken for patients who should wish to be inoculated. This hospital was under the care of Dr. Francis Foxcroft of Brookfield and Dr. Daniel Baird of the West village. Patients came from the neighboring towns, and even as far as Worcester. Over 200 in all, of different ages, were treated ; and not a death occurred. On sunny days the convalescents used to go to the cave and ledges on Slate hill, to get fresh air, play cards, etc.
PICTURE OF OLD TIMES. - Dea. Freeman Walker says : "The contrast between the common articles of diet, 100 years ago, and now, is very striking. Tea was used in families only on Sundays, and special occa- sions. And flesh meat constituted a much smaller portion of the food of the people. Old Mrs. Hill (the mother of Kittridge Hill) has told me that owing to the scarcity of winter feed, the farmers kept but few cattle ; that they were a staple article, almost a legal tender for debts, and the use of their flesh was a luxury not generally enjoyed. She said that meat was usually cooked by boiling, as it was considered a great waste to either broil or roast it, as so much of the juice was lost. When boiled, the liquor was always used in the shape of bean porridge or broth, which were the common articles of daily food. She said that she once attended
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