History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 91

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 91

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The South Church .- Leaving out the considera- tion of the mooted and fairly debatable question raised by Mr. Vassall as to whether the church formed by him and those who agreed with him should be called the First or Second Church, and designating it as the South Church, its history will now be traced.

As we have seen, the persistent efforts of Mr. Vas- sall and his associates for recognition and justice were at last successful, and the South Church entered upon organized existence, with Rev. William Witherell for its pastor. Their first meeting-house was erected on the southeast side of the highway, on a hill a short distance northeast of Stony Brook. The lot was doubtless given to the church by either James Torrey or Thomas Robinson, who were very active and influ- ential in the movements leading to the establishment of this church. This meeting-house lasted during the entire thirty-nine years of Mr. Witherell's minis- try, or from 1645 to 1684. As Mr. Witherell is said to have been born in the first year of that century, he had attained the mature age of forty-five when he entered upon his ministry at Scituate, and continued in active and eminently useful service until more than eighty years of age. His ministry was evidently a very sucecssful one. That his mother was the daugh- ter of John Rogers, the martyr, is a matter of well- preserved and not improbable tradition.

It is stated by Mr. Deane that Mr. Witherell was a schoolmaster in Charlestown in 1635, and in Cam- bridge in 1636 and 1637, removing to Duxbury in 1638, where he resided until his removal to Scituate, seven years later.

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HISTORY OF SCITUATE AND SOUTH SCITUATE.

Mr. Witherell resided in his own house on Wilson Hill during his life in Scituate. He was evidently a learned man. tolerant of the opinions of others, not allowing slight differences to interrupt or hinder Chris- tian fellowship with real believers, plain, practical, and fearless in the administration of his office. He ex- acted from his people strict attention to religious duties, for when Mr. John Bryant-who was after- wards a deacon of the church, and married Mr. Witherell's daughter, Elizabeth-entered church late he was thus reproved by the pastor : " Neighbor Bryant. it is to your reproach that you have disturbed this worship by entering late, living as you do within a mile of this place. and especially so, since here is Goody Barstow, who has milked seven cows, made a cheese, and walked five miles to this house of God in good season." He was a man of some literary at- tainments, although his poetry was not such as to give him high rank as a poet. His elegy on the death of Governor Josiah Winslow, written when the author was eighty years of age, affords good evi- dence of his scholarship being good for his time, and the following extract therefrom is certainly good poetry :

"Slight grief has tears in troops, that ready stand To sally forth, and but expect command ; But deep ingulfing sorrow strikes men dumb As frosty winters do their joints benumb."

Mr. Deane said he was unable to trace him into England, but it now appears that he lived in Maid- stone, England, and was a schoolmaster, and came over in the " Hercules" with his wife, three children, and one servant. His children were Samuel, John, Theophilus. Daniel, Mary (wife of Thomas Oldham), Elizabeth, Sarah (wife of Israel Hobart), and Han- nah. Descendants of his still live in the town, but none bearing the name.

His ministry, which began in the midst of sharp controversy with a neighboring church, covered the perilous period of the Indian wars (and during which his people suffered much), and was in the last part thereof one of well-earned repose and prosperity. It is probable that he did not preach much after 1680, as in September of that year Rev. Thomas Mighill was associated with him, and the church " voted to allow £60 a year for a minister, and £10 to our Pastor, Mr. Witherell." Mr. Mighill preached to them, but was not ordained until Oct. 15, 1684, after Mr. Witherell's death. His ministry was not a long one, his death occurring in 1689, when his family removed.

The experience of the North River Church with

their next pastor, Rev. Deodate Lawson, was appar- ently a peculiar one. He was probably ordained in 1694. Of his ministry very little is known, except the circumstances leading to the installation of his successor. It seems that after two years of his min- istry had elapsed he left his people, and after two ycars of unexplained and evidently unjustifiable ab- sence they obtained the advice of the churches of Weymouth, Braintree, Newton, Hull, Milton, Dor- chester, Dedham, and Medfield, and, in accordance with that advice, sought out and called Rev. Na- thaniel Eells for their minister. This eminently suc- cessful minister was born in 1678, graduated from Harvard College in 1699, and was ordained as min- ister of the North River Church June 14, 1704. He was married, Oct. 12, 1704, to Hannah North. " She was the aunt of Frederick, Lord North, Prime Minister of England, during the American Revolu- tion." From Mr. Dcane, who had excellent facilities for learning Mr. Eells' personal characteristics, and from other sources, it is apparent that he was a tall, large man, of imposing appearance, and who strongly impressed men by the dignity of his character and bearing. His influence over his people was deservedly great. While not devoid of humor his mental char- acteristics were solid rather than brilliant, his preach- ing useful rather than sensational. His well-poised intellect made him always a safe leader. Possessing the judicial capacity of carefully weighing and cor- rectly deciding all matters submitted to him, he nat- urally became authority in matters of ecclesiastical law, and his assistance was sought and his influence largely felt in the ecclesiastical councils of his day. His life and ministry of eminent usefulness terminated Aug. 25, 1750, his age being seventy-two.

In the early part of his ministry was built the third meeting-house of this church. It had even then out- grown its old home. The Second Church, which stood and was large enough to accommodate the worshipers only during the short ministry of Mr. Mighill and Mr. Lawson, was erected, about the time of Mr. Withercll's death, on the east side of the high- way, a short distance northeasterly from the entrance of the Union Bridge road. But under the auspicious ministry of Mr. Eells a larger building was needed, and after much difficulty and some delay in fixing upon and obtaining a suitable location, another west- ward move was made. The new house of worship- fifty feet in length and forty feet in width-was erected on the common lands on the hill ncar the junction of the two roads. This was their place of worship during the ministry of Mr. Eells, Mr. Darby, and part of Mr. Barnes. Near the same place the

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

next and also the present meeting-house of this parish was erected.

Rev. Jonathan Darby was ordained Nov. 13, 1751. He was a young man of great promise, and he made himself very acceptable to his people, but he died April 22, 1754, at the early age of twenty-eight, and in the third year of his ministry.

On the 27th day of November, A.D. 1754, began the long pastorate of Rev. David Barnes. His min- istry lasted fifty-seven years, closing with his life, April 26, 1811. Few ministers have been so fortu- nate as Dr. Barnes. He must have been a man of extraordinary powers of mind, which he used so well and with such wisdom and circumspection that al- though his ministry embraced that period of great suffering to himself and people, the eight years of the Revolutionary war and the fierce theological contro- versies attendant upon the establishment of Unitarian Churches, he passed through it all without losing in any degree his hold upon the affection and esteem of his people.

When ordained, in 1754, there can be no doubt but what he and his people were Trinitarians and Calvin- ists in belief, but before his ministry closed they and he had substantially changed their faith and became in fact, if not in name, Unitarians. This complete and harmonious transfer of the faith of so large and prosperous a church could have been accomplished under the ministry of no man who did not possess unusual excellence of personal character and great powers of mind.

Mr. Dcane's eulogy upon him could not have been overdrawn. Of his descendants none seem to have resided in Scituate. He had three children,-Ra- chel, who married Josiah Cotton, clerk of the courts at Plymouth ; Hon. David L. Barnes, who became judge of the United States District Court for Rhode Island ; and Anna, who married William Jackson, of Plymouth.

The next pastor of this church was Rev. Samuel Deane, who was ordained Feb. 14, 1810, and enjoycd a most successful pastorate of over twenty-four years, and until his death, in the summer of 1834. In 1831 he published a history of Scituate, which has always been regarded as among the best works of its kind. It was among the first of our town histories, and showed an amount of hard and discriminating work and historical ability rarely bestowed upon works of that kind in his day. The more it is studied the greater the surprise at the accuracy of its state- ments, and the amount of labor it must have involved. Those who can trace their lineage to this old town can never be grateful enough to Mr. Deane for having,

as he did and when he did, preserved in such perma- nent form the record of so much which, but for his work then, would have eluded all scarch. This pulpit, which was singularly fortunate in the number of marked men who occupied it, was next filled by Rev. Samuel J. May, the eminent philanthropist and anti-slavery advocate. The power for good which he cxerted in that community was very great. His labors in the temperance cause were wonderfully po- tential for good and widely felt, but in that place he so impressed the idea of total abstinence upon the people that the influence may still be recognized. He took great interest in education, and his presence in the school-room in his visits as school committee was a benediction. Few men ever possessed so fully the power of attracting the affections of both young and old as this good and genial pastor. On his re- moval to Syracuse he was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Mosely for a few years. The next pastor was the Rev. Caleb Stetson, a man of a large brain and large heart. He was a descendant of Cornet Robert Stet- son, who, in the early days of the colony, was a pillar both in Church and State. After a successful pas- torate of many years, the advance of old age led him to retire to the beautiful town of Lexington, where he closed his greatly useful career. His successor was the Rev. William Fish, a learned preacher, to whom his people are greatly attached, and whose uscful pas- torate they devoutly hope and trust may endure for many long years to come.

The Universalist Society .- It might have been reasonably expected of the South Parish that, remem- bering its early history, it would have pursued a liberal course towards the people of West Scituate when they sought to form a separate organization. But the exactly opposite course was taken.

In 1767 South Parish voted against their request for preaching occasionally in their part of the town. Meantime the people at the west end appear to have built a house of worship, but the intolerant spirit of the majority crops out in the following vote in 1770 : " It was put to vote whether the Rev. Mr. Barnes should preach in the Meeting-House, near Joshua Jacobs, while our new house is building, and passed in the negative." They would neither allow them to form a new parish nor let Mr. Barnes preach in that part of the town, although at that time they were without a meeting-house. In 1771, Joshua Jacobs and others petitioned the General Court for incorpo- ration, but the efforts of the committee appointed by the South Parish to oppose them were effectual. In 1792, Mr. Barnes was consulted in reference to his willingness to preachi a part of the year at the West

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HISTORY OF SCITUATE AND SOUTH SCITUATE.

meeting-house, to which this great-hearted man re- plied that he should be glad to gratify them. It was accordingly voted that he should preach there one Sab- bath in each month from April 1st to December 1st. Bnt the next year (1793) the parish by vote withdrew this privilege. Up to this time there was no differ- ence in doctrinal belief separating the two sections. If their just request had been granted at this time, a Congregational Church would have been formed at West Scituate that would like its parent have become a Unitarian Congregational Church or have remained a Trinitarian Congregational Church. But the treat- ment they had received did not tend to augment their regard for their old church and its faith, and having a meeting-house they used it, though compelled to pay taxes for preaching elsewhere. Under these circum- stances they were not confined to the teachings of regularly recognized ministers. Their minds were open to the reception of new ideas. Universalism was beginning to be preached in this county. Rev. Mr. Ballou and others, Universalist preachers, readily found access to this unappropriated pulpit. As a result, in 1812, they petitioned the General Court for incorporation as a " Universalist Society," and their petition was granted. This society had in it first-rate material for making the enterprise successful, and its early history was one of great prosperity.

Its ministers have been Rev. Messrs. David Pick- ering, Samuel Baker, Joshua Flagg, Benjamin Whit- temore, Robert L. Killam (who enjoyed a long pastor- ate, and made his home among that people for the remainder of his honored and useful life,-he was a good man), H. W. Morse, John F. Dyer, J. E. Burn- ham, John Stetson Barry (the historian), M. E. Hawes. Horace P. Stevens, Robinson Breare, - Recsord, Henry C. Vose, - Perry.

The names of the original members of this society were Enoch Collamore, Loring Jacobs, Ichabod R. Jacobs, John Jones, Jr., Calvin Wilder, James H. Jacobs, Charles Totman, Charles Jones, Isaac N. Da- mon, Joshua Bowker, James Jacobs, Abel Sylvester, Charles Simmons, William Hyland, David Turner, Samuel Randall, Samuel Randall, Jr., Joshua Damon, Ebenezer Totman, Jonathan Turner, Enoch Colla- more, Jr., Benjamin Bowker, John Gross, Josiah Witherell, Samuel Simmons, John Joncs, Peleg Sim- mons, Seth Stoddard, George Litchfield, Elisha Gross, Reuben Sutton, T. Corttrell, Edward F. Jacobs, Eli- sha Barrell, Stephen Jacobs, Edward Curtis, and E. Barrell, Jr.

Episcopal Church .- Mr. Deane and others state that the first Episcopal services in Scituate thus orig- inated : "Rev. Timothy Cutler, of Christ Church,

Boston, came to Scituate during an absence of Rev. Mr. Bourn, minister of the North Parish, by the in- vitation of Lieut. Damon (then at variance with Mr. Bourn) and another gentleman of large estate, and performed divine service in the Church form at the North Meeting-house."

This may be truc, but that Lieut. Zachary Damon, thien seventy-three years of age, should actively inter- est himself in having services which he did not be- lieve in performed in that house is hardly credible. .

Certain it is that Episcopacy never got any foot- hold in the North Parish of Scituate. But in the extreme south part of the town, near Hanover, where Mr. Miller, of Braintree, seems to have preached from time to time, it received some favor, and in 1731 a church edifice was erected on what has ever since been known as Church Hill. This building was enlarged in 1753.

The Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent out a man from England as rector for this church, who served them as such from 1733 to 1736. Rev. Mr. Brockwell was rector from 1737 to 1739.

In 1743 the society in England appointed Rev. Ebenezer Thompson as their missionary rector to this church, and he remained in that office until his death, in 1775, a period of thirty-two years. His ministry was evidently a popular one.

During the Revolutionary war this churchi had no rector. Up to this time this church had apparently been supported as a missionary church by the society in England. In 1783, Rev. William W. Wheeler be- came rector. He was the last rector who officiated in the church at Scituate, as he died in 1810, the same year the church voted to remove to Hanover and build a church there. This was done in 1811, before the settlement of the next rector, and the history of this church in Scituate ceased.

The Baptist Church .- " At a meeting of persons favorable to the formation of a Baptist Church held July 8, 1825, it was voted to call a council for organ- ization and recognition, to be held August 10th. Ac- cordingly, on that day, the council convened with Rev. Daniel Sharp, D.D., of Boston, moderator, and Rev. Willard Kimball, of Abington, scribe. The church was formally recognized with the following constituent members : Rev. Amos Lefavor, Henrietta Lefavor, Abiel Cudworth, Joanna Cudworth, Joseph Gannett, Betsey Gannett, Judith Briggs (Gannett), Nehe- miah Curtis, Mercy L. Curtis (Jenkins), Jaazaniah Bates, Nathaniel Damon, Anna Bates, Rachel White (Brown), Sally Jenkins (Daniels), Nancy Jenkins, Betsey Otis, Cynthia Nichols, Hannah Collier, Han-

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

nah W. Bailey, Mehitable Hyland, Lucy Briggs, Sophia Briggs (Prince), Hannah James, Hannah Briggs (Otis), Rachel Litchfield, Lettice Vinal, Lucy Collier (Jenkins), Thankful Rich, Betsey Col- lier (Barrelle), Xoa Clapp (Litchfield).

Abiel Cudworth and Nathaniel Damon were chosen as deacons, Aug. 12, 1825.

The only surviving members are Mrs. Sophia Pierce, of North Scituate, aged ninety-three ; her sister, Miss Lucy Briggs, aged eighty-five ; and Mrs. Xoa Litchfield, of South Scituate, seventy-nine years.

Pastors .- Rev. Amos Lefavor continued as pastor until May 14, 1826. He was followed by Rev. Adoniram Judson (father of the distinguished mis- sionary of that name), who, after about nine months' services, died in Scituate, Nov. 26, 1826. Forty-three years before, being then a Congregational minister, he had preached as a candidate to the Congregational Church there, and had received a call, which for some reason he did not accept. He was for many years pastor of the Congregational Church in Plymouth. He was a man of catholic, Christian spirit, and in dying requested that his funeral might take place from the Congregational Church, and that Congregationalist as well as a Baptist minister might officiate. It is not recorded whether his request was complied with.

Rev. Asa Niles settled Aug. 5, 1827; dismissed 1829. In January, 1830, Rev. Edward Seagrave became pastor; dismissed 1835. Rev. John Hol- brook came October, 1836; dismissed April, 1838. Rev. Warren Cooper, June 2, 1838, left in November of the same year. Rev. Caleb Brown became pastor June 1, 1839; dismissed May, 1841. A young man, Franklin Damon, labored with the church sev- eral months, and Oct. 15, 1842, was ordained as an evangelist, and the next year left to pursue further study. In September, 1843, Rev. Thomas Conant be- came pastor, and continued until July 10, 1853. He died at his home in Scituate Oct. 23, 1870. Rev. Stephen Cutler, July, 1853; dismissed June 5, 1854. Rev. George Carpenter settled July, 1854 ; dismissed May, 1857. Rev. Timothy C. Tingley settled June, 1857 ; dismissed 1864. Rev. Lewis Holmes settled September, 1864 ; dismissed December, 1867. Rev. William H. Kelton, July, 1858; died April 4, 1871. Rev. Thomas L. Rogers settled December, 1871 ; dis- missed April, 1874. Rev. C. W. R. Mcacham, Sep- tember, 1874 ; dismissed April, 1879. Rev. William A. Spinney settled March, 1880; dismissed Septem- ber, 1882. Rev. T. W. Sheppard settled in Jan- uary, 1883, is present pastor.

Deacons .- Howard White was chosen, April 2, 1842, successor to Nathaniel Damon; removed to

Marshfield. Sept. 1, 1855, George W. Bailey was appointed successor to Deacon White (deecascd), and in February, 1864, Charles E. Bailey was chosen successor to Deacon Cudworth (deceased). The old meeting-house at the Centre needing extensive repairs, and the membership of the church having increased more north of that location than south of it, it was decided to build a new edifice on a site farther north. Oct. 6, 1870, a commodious church, with vestries and anterooms, was dedicated free of debt. A par- sonage was also built, the total expenditure being about seventcen thousand dollars. The present mem- bership of the church is one hundred and eighty- scven. Membership of the Sunday-school is one hundred and fifty-six.

The Congregational Church .- In 1824, during the ministry of Rev. Nehemiah Thomas, considerable dissatisfaction arose in his church, and an effort was made by a majority of the church to have adopted and observed a covenant and confession of faith, and secure a stricter observance of what they deemed essential church requisites. In this movement the pastor did not co-operate, and held himself aloof from a series of church meetings, in the course of which the old covenant of the chunch was reaffirmed and adopted. This was done by a decided majority of the church. These proceedings created a breach which continually widened between the church and pastor, the majority adverse to him apparently dimin- ishing so that when it finally culminated April 29, 1826, in a vote of what they claimed was a majority of the church, that the relation between the church and its pastor, Mr. Thomas, be dissolved. This action was taken by advice of an ex parte council, which had been called by this majority, as they claimed to be, of the church. Mr. Thomas, who was sustained by a part of the church and a great majority of the parish, and held possession of the records of the old church, never recognized this action of what he called a minority of the church. The records of the church thus constituted assume that, being the majority, they remained the First Church,-the church over which Chauncey and his successors were settled. As twelve members of the church thus stood by themselves and only ten adhered to Mr. Thomas, as it claimed the question is more in- teresting than practical, as to which held the organi- zation called the First Church. Rev. Paul Jewett was installed as pastor Nov. 16, 1826, and remained as such until 1833. Rev. Luke A. Spofford was in- stalled May 20, 1835, and resigned on account of ill health, Mareh 12, 1836. Rev. Phincas Smith was installed Sept. 2, 1840, and remained only one year. Rev. Danicl Wight, Jr., was installed Sept. 28, 1842,

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HISTORY OF SCITUATE AND SOUTH SCITUATE.

and continued in the pastorate of that church until 185S. He was an able preacher, of decided literary taste and ability, won the respect and love of his people, and had a successful ministry. Rev. Alexan- der J. Sessions was installed June 25, 1863, and was pastor until Oct. 3, 1869. He was an able and faith- ful minister of the gospel. Rev. T. S. Robie preached to this people in 1870 and 1871 ; Rev. W. B. Greene from 1872 to 1877 ; Rev. William C. Wood, an able, positive, and live preacher, from 187S to 1883 ; and Rev. Mr. Page in 1884. The last four ministers, it is said, were not installed over the church. The names of the twelve members of this church who called Rev. Paul Jewett to be their pastor in 1826 were Deacon Israel Litchfield. Calvin Jenkins, Ward Litchfield, Eleazer Peakes. Rowland Litchfield, James Jenkins, Levi Vinal, Jacob Vinal, Charles Curtis, Augustus Cole, James Turner. Stephen Mott. The deacons since 1826 have been Israel Litchfield, Ward Litch- field, Calvin Jenkins, Israel Cudworth, John H. Young. and Russell Cook. This church erected a meeting-house in 1826 at the centre of the town, still in use.

Methodist Church .- About 1825 a Methodist Church was organized and has had a prosperous career. Among some of the earliest preachers there were Revs. Messrs. Taylor, Avery, Barker, and Keith. The discipline of this church provides for such frequent changes in the pastors that there is great difficulty in getting a full and accurate list of all who have served this church, and it will not be attempted.

Roman Catholic Church .- A large number of Roman Catholics having settled near the harbor, in this town, since 1850, with the commendable religious zeal and enterprise which everywhere distinguishes them, they have erected a church and hold services.

Methodist Church in South Scituate .- At Church Hill, about 1845, a Methodist Church was formed, and has had a very prosperous life. They have a fine meeting-house.

Quakers .- No Quaker Church was ever built in this town, but near North River, in Pembroke, one has stood for generations. Some Scituate people in all the generations have been Quakers until the pres- ent. There are no Quakers now left in the town. The last residents there were Daniel Otis and wife, in South Scituate. In the early history of the town Quakers were numerous and among the most useful citizens. Edward Wanton, one of the best and most enterprising men in the place, was a Quaker. The Plymouth Colony has the deserved credit of not falling into the foolish and wicked witchcraft delusion

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 91

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706