USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 21
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County > Part 21
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1 His father, Samuel Austin, married Lydia Wolcot : they had two sons and a daugh ter, of whom Dr. Austin was the eldest.
187
REV. SAMUEL AUSTIN.
1830.]
tastes and habits, than were the government and support of the col- lege, and selecting a people at Newport, in Rhode Island, unable to afford full support, went among them as on a missionary charity, and was installed in 1822. Increasing infirmity of body and depression of spirits, compelled him to retire, in 1826, and he returned to Worcester. He afterwards preached at Millbury, and was solicited to resume the ministry by a new society in that place, but declined. The death of a nephew and adopted son, John W. Hubbard, Esq. and the separation of a family, where he might have expected to make a peaceful home, cheered by the kindness which soothes the heavy hours of sickness and despondency, involved him in affliction and engaged him in en- tangled affairs of business. Under the perplexities and beneath the oppressive burden of unaccustomed transactions, his mental energies gave way, and were, at length prostrated. Occasional aberrations of reason terminated in deep religious melancholy, and sometimes, paroxysms of hopeless despair clouded his declining days with gloom. After passing a year in the family of his brother in law, Mr. Hopkins of Northampton, he removed to that of a nephew, the Rev. Mr. Rid- del of Glastenbury, Connecticut, where he died, in an apoplectic fit, Dec. 4, 1830, aged 71.
He was one of the founders, with Drs. Emmons and Spring, of the Massachusetts Missionary Society ; active in originating the General Association of Massachusetts ; member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; one of the projectors and a con- tributor of the Panoplist, an able religious periodical ; and promoted with energy and zeal the objects of many public charitable institu- tions. In 1808, he collected and published the works of the elder President Edwards, the first and only complete and accurate edition of the writings of that celebrated theologian. He received the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity from Williams College. During his whole life he was an industrious and voluminous author.1
1 The printed works of Dr. Austin are the following : 1. Funeral oration in the chapel at Yale College, on the death of David Ripley, a classmate, July 11, 1782. 2. Sermon on disinterested love, New York. 3. Funeral sermon, Exeter, N. H. April 10. 1790. 4. Sermon on the sabbath following the author's installation, Worcester. Sept. 1790. 5. Sermon on the sabbath following the death of Miss Hannah Blair, 1792. 6. Thanksgiving Sermon. Worcester, Dec. 15, 1796. 7. Sermon on the Ordination of Rev. Samuel Worcester, at Fitchburg, Mass. Sept. 27, 1797, and again preached at the Ordination of Rev. Nathaniel Hale, Oct. 4, 1797, at Granville, N. Y. 8. Oration, July 4, 1798, at Worcester. 9. Sermon at the ordination of Rev. Leonard Worcester, Oct. 30, 1799, at Peachham, Vt. 10. Sermon al the ordinalion of Rev. Samuel Worcester, April 20, 1803, al Salem. 11. Sermon in a volume, ' Sermons Collected,' published at Hartford, 1803. 12. Sermon before Massachusetts Missionary Society, May 24. 1803,
188
FIRST PARISH. [1816.
A funeral discourse was pronounced at the interment of Dr. Aus- tin, by his friend, the Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Tenney of Wethersfield : from which many of these particulars have been abstracted. 'His in- tellect,' says that biographer, 'was superior. Its operations were marked by rapidity, vigor and general accuracy . .. . His classical attainments and extensive general knowledge, secured him a respect- able standing among the learned in our country As a writer for the pulpit, his mind was original and fertile ; his style at once copious and discriminating . . . . . In delivery he was animated and vehement . while, occasionally, he rose to high and powerful eloquence.'
Dr. Austin was of commanding stature. An austere air and se- vere countenance, were united with ardent feelings, and constitution- al susceptibility to external incidents and influences. In appear- ance, he might be supposed to resemble, as in fearless spirit and firmness he would have imitated, had occasion called to the trial, one of the reformers and martyrs of old.
On the 15th of July, 1816, the Rev. Charles A. Goodrich was in- vited to settle, as colleague with Dr. Austin until the latter should be regularly dismissed from office, and thenceforward as sole pastor, by 64 of 66 members of the parish, and this was confirmed, August
Boston. 13, 14. Two Sermons in the Columbian Preacher, published at Catskill, N. Y. 1808. 15. Examination of the representations and reasonings contained in seven ser- mons by Rev. Daniel Merrill. 12mo. pp. 108. 1805. 16. Mr. Merrill's defensive armor taken from him, a reply to his twelve letters to the author, on the mode and subjects of Baptism. 12mo. pp. 58. 1806. 17. View of the economy of the church of God, as it existed under the Abrahamie Dispensation and the Sinai Law, and as it is perpetua- ted under the more luminous Dispensation of the Gospel, particularly in regard to the Covenants. 8vo. pp. 328. 1807. 18. Sermon at the ordination of Rev. John M. Whiton, Sept. 28, 1808, at Antrim, N. H. 19. Sermon at the dedication of a new mee- ting house, Nov. 3, 1803, at IIadley, Mass. 20. Sermon at the ordination of Rev. Warren Fay, Nov. 1808, at Brimfield Mass. 21. Fast Sermon, April 11, 1811. Wor- cester. 22. Sermon at the ordination of Rev. John Nelson, March 14, 1812, at Leices- ter. 23. Sermon on the Special Fast, July 23, 1812. Worcester. 24. The apology of patriots ; or the heresy of Washington and peace policy defended: Sermon on the National Fast, Aug. 20, 1812. Worcester. 25. Sermon at the ordination of Rev. Ga- maliel S. Olds, Nov. 13, 1813, at Greenfield. 26. Inaugural Address on indnetion into office as President of the University in Vermont, July 26, 1816, Burlington, Vt. 27. Election Sermon, Oct. 10, 1816, at Montpelier, VI. 28. Protest against proceedings of first church in Worcester, June, 1821. 29. Oration, July 4, 1822, at Newport, R. I. 30. Sermon on the dedication of the Calvinist Church, Oet. 13, 1823, at Worcester. 31. Diseourse at the 15th annual Meeting of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, Sept. 15, 1824, at Hartford. 32. Address, July 4, 1825, at Worces- ter. 33. Dissertations upon several fundamental articles of Christian Theology. 8vo. pp. 260. Worcester. 1826.
189
REV. CHARLES A. GOODRICHI.
1820.]
26, SS to 2. A salary of $ 900 was offered. The ordination took place, Oct. 9. The prayer was by the Rev. Benjamin Wood of Up- ton : sermon by Rev. Samuel Goodrich of Berlin, Conn. father of the pastor : consecrating prayer by Rev. Edmund Mills of Sutton : charge by Rev. Mr. Smith of Durham, Conn : exhortation to church and people by Rev. Joseph Goffe of Millbury : address and right hand of fellowship by Rev. Jolm Nelson of Leicester : concluding prayer by Rev. Mr. Whittlesey of Washington, Conn.
The opposition manifested to the call of Mr. Goodrich, grew stron- ger after his ordination, and was much increased by the dismission of his colleague. Twenty eight members of the church protested, before the ecclesiastical council convened by the assent of Dr. Aus- tin, Nov. 18, 1818, against the dissolution of the then existing rela- tions. That body, on the 23d of December, separated the connec- tion of the senior pastor. Objections of a personal nature to the ministration of Mr. Goodrich, and to the discipline and proceedings of the church, led to long and acrimonious controversy. The dis- affected, and those who considered themselves aggrieved, withdrew, or were dismissed, and joined the Baptist Society, or united them- selves to other religious associations, and were finally formed into the Calvinist Church. The troubles of this period have too recently been laid before the public in voluminous tracts, to require repetition of the narrative. 1
Mr. Goodrich asked and received dismission, Nov. 14, 1820.
The Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, was a native of Berlin in Connec- ticut, son of the clergyman of the parish of Worthington, in that town, and graduated at Yale College, in 1815. After his removal from Worcester, he returned to his native place, and has since been engaged in literary labors.
The Rev. Aretius B. Hull, invited to settle as the successor of Mr. Goodrich, by a vote of 101 to 3, was ordained May 23, 1821. Rev. Dr. Reuben Puffer of Berlin, made the introductory prayer : the sermon was preached by Rev. Nathaniel W. Taylor of New Ha-
1 The full history of these difficulties, and discussions of their leading points are con- tained in a series of publications : 1. Origin and Progress of the lale difficulties in the First Church in Worcester, containing all the documents relating to the subject. 2. Remarks on the late publication of the First Church in Worcester, relating to the origin and progress of the late difficulties in that church. 3. Result of a Mutual Ecclesiastical Council, Nov. 14, 1820, to consider the expediency of granting the request of Rev. Charles A. Goodrich lo be dismissed. 4. Protest against the proceedings of the First Church in Worcester, by Samuel Austin, D. D. 5. Communication from the Brook- field association, to the Ecclesiastical Council who ordained Rev. Loammi Ives Hoad- ly, over the Calvinist Church, in Worcester.
190
FIRST PARISH. [1821.
ven : the consecrating prayer offered by Rev. Daniel Tomlinson of Oakham : the charge given by Rev. Joseph Avery of Holden : right hand of fellowship extended by Rev. John Nelson of Leicester : ad- dress to the church delivered by Rev. Thomas Snell of North Brook- field : and the concluding prayer pronounced by Rev. Micah Stone of Brookfield, 'The venerable Dr. Sumner of Shrewsbury, presided in the Council.
The Rev. Aretius B. Hull, descended from a respectable family emigrating from the vicinity of Liverpool, in England, to New Ha- ven, at an early period, was born at Woodbridge, in Connecticut, October 12, 1788. Having been fitted by the Rev. Dr. Eli, he grad- uated at Yale, in 1807. Adopting the usual resource of young men indigent in circumstances, to acquire the pecuniary means of profes- sional education, he taught the academy at Wethersfield, for a short space after completing his collegiate course. The seeds of consump- tion were implanted in his constitution, and he sought relief from the genial climate of the Southern states. Returning with improved health, he accepted the appointment of tutor in his own college, in 1810, and remained in that station until the autumn of 1816, when he was licensed to preach. Although still suffering from the lurking complaint he officiated in Brookfield, Connecticut, and in other plac- es, until his ordination in Worcester, in 1821. The disease, which medical skill has not been yet able to arrest, in May 1825, interrup- ted his labors, and, on the 17th of May, 1826, terminated his exis- tence, at the age of 38.
' He possessed,' says the Rev. Mr. Nelson,1 'a mind of a very high order, and that mind was enriched with uncommon attainments of general as well as professional knowledge. His conceptions were clear, just, and discriminating. At the same time, a highly cultiva- ted taste, a refinement of thought and feeling, as pleasing as it was genuine, pervaded all his writings and all his conversation.'
After the death of Mr. Hull, Mr. Joseph Whiting was invited to settle as his successor, Nov. 16, 1826, but as there was apparent want of unanimity in the election, the call was declined.
The Rev. Rodney A. Miller, the present clergyman, received an
1 Sermon delivered at his funeral, May, 1826, by Rev. John Nelson, Pastor of the Church in Leicester. Mr. Nelson, was a native of Hopkinton, whence he removed with his father, Deacon John Nelson, sometime resident in Milford, to Worcester. He graduated at Williams College, 1807, was subsequently tutor there, afterwards pursued theological studies with the Rev. Dr. Austin, was ordained in Leicester, March 4, 1812, and still remains in that town, having the praise in the churches of an able and faithful minister, and enjoying the resdect and affection of his people.
191
REV. RODNEY A. MILLER.
1719.]
invitation, with a single dissenting voice only, to become Pastor of the First Parish, Feb. 19, 1827.
Mr. Miller, descended from a puritan family emigrating from Dev- onshire, in England, and settling near Hampton, on the east end of Long Island, son of Mr. Uriah Miller of Troy, New York, graduat- ed at Union College, 1821, pursued the usual course of professional studies at the Theological Seminary in Princeton, N. J. and was or- dained at Worcester, June 2, 1827. The exercises were these : in- troductory prayer by Rev. Edward Beecher of Park Street Church, Boston : sermon by the Rev. Warren Fay of Charlestown : conse- crating prayer by Rev. Micah Stone of Brookfield : charge by Rev. Thomas Snell of North Brookfield : right hand of fellowship by Rev. George Allen of Shrewsbury : address to the people by Rev. John Fiske of New Braintree : concluding prayer by Rev. Dr. Codman of Dorchester. 1
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
A church was gathered of the Scotch emigrants, soon after their arrival in this town in 1719. They were accompanied, it is said, by the Rev. Edward Fitzgerald, from Londonderry, in Ireland, who preached to the society during some months. They assembled for religious worship in the old garrison house, near the intersection of the Boston and Lancaster roads As the meeting house they at- tempted to rear was destroyed, it is probable, they continued to occupy this humble edifice.
Little care was taken to preserve the memorials of this unoffen- ding but persecuted people, whose history discloses only the injus_ tice and intolerance of our ancestors. Few facts can now be ascer- tained of their struggle with prejudices and hostility, which finally drove them away to seek asylum in other states.
The number of Presbyterian communicants is said to have been nearly equal to those of the Congregational church. Mr. Fitzger- ald, being unable to procure proper maintenance, removed, before the settlement of Mr. Burr. The members of the first parish had proposed an union, and the Presbyterian clergyman had once been invited to occupy the pulpit vacated by the dismission of Mr. Gard- ner, for a single sabbath, when no candidate could be procured. The request was not repeated, and no encouragement was held out to him to remain.
1 Rev. Mr. Miller has published a thanksgiving sermon, at Worcester, Nov. 29, 1832, on the importance of religious influence to national prosperity.
192
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
[1736.
On the settlement of Mr. Burr, it was understood, that if the Pres- byterians would aid in his support, they should be permitted to place in the pulpit, occasionally, teachers of their own denomination, and the foreigners united with the other inhabitants. After some time, finding their expectations would not be realized, they withdrew, and the Rev. William Johnston, was installed as their minister.
It has been already stated, that they commenced the erection of a meeting house on the Boston road ; after the materials had been pro- cured, the frame raised, and the building was fast rising, a body of the inhabitants, assembled by night, hewed down and demolished the structure. The riotous act was sustained by the intolerant spirit of the day, and the injured foreigners were compelled to mourn in si- lence over the ruins of the altar, profaned by the hand of violence.
Being compelled to contribute to the support of the Rev. Mr. Burr, an appeal was made to the justice of their fellow townsmen, in 1736, for relief from a tax inconsistent with their religious privileges, but without avail. The recorded answer to their application, furnishes a curious specimen of mingled subtlety and illiberality.
' In answer to the petition of John Clark and others, praying to be [released] from paying towards the support of the Rev. Isaac Burr, pastor of the church in this town, or any other except Mr. Johnston, (or the ministry carried on after the Congregational way by the said minister of the church, according to the establishment of the Prov- ince, in this town) &c. the town, upon mature consideration, think that the request is unreasonable, and that they ought not to comply with it, upon many considerations :
' 1. That it doth not appear in the petition, who they are that de- sire to be set off, only from the names of the subscribers ; [therefore] it would be for the town to act too much at random, to set them off on such a general request :
'2. That it doth not appear, that the petitioners, or others joining with them, have been actuated by just reasons, or any such princi- ples of conscience as should at all necessitate their forsaking the as- sembling themselves with us : for, as to the Westminister confession of faith, which they say they promised their adherence to at their baptism, it is the same which we hold, maintain, and desire to ad- here to. And as to the worship, discipline, and government of the church, as set forth by the assembly of divines at Westminster, they are not substantially differing from our own professed principles : As they themselves well know, they may enjoy the same worship, ordi-
193
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
1736.]
ances, and christian privileges, and means of their spiritual edifica- ion, with us, as in the way which they call Presbyterian, and their consciences not be imposed on in any thing :
' 3. Inasmuch, also, as a number of those now withdrawing from is, were jointly concerned in the settlement of the Rev. Isaac Burr, our present minister, and joined with us in church fellowship and communion, and we know not why it should be contrary to their con- sciences to continue with us in communion and worship, but have rather reason to suppose that their separation from us is from some rregular views and motives, which it would be unworthy of us to countenance :
' 4. We look upon the petitioners and others breaking off from us as they have done, [as] being full of irregularity and disorder ; not to mention, that the ordination of their minister was disorderly, even with respect to the principles which they themselves pretend to act by, as well as with respect to us, to whom they stand related, and with whom they cohabit, and enjoy with us in common all proper social, civil, and christian rights and privileges : their separating from us being contrary to the public establishment and laws of this province, contrary to their own covenant with us, and unreasonably weakening to the town, whose numbers and dimensions, the north part being excepted by the vote from paying to Mr. Burr, will not ad- mit of the honorable support of two ministers of the gospel, and tend- ing to cause and cherish divisions and parties, greatly destructive to our civil and religious interests, and the peace, tranquillity and hap- piness of the town :
' Upon all which, and other accounts, the town refuse to comply with the request ;' and it was voted, by a great majority of the inhab- itants, that the petition be dismissed.
All efforts to obtain justice, and protection for religious freedom, having proved unavailing, many of the Presbyterian planters remov- ed. Some joined their brethren of the same denomination, who un- der the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Abercrombie, founded the town of Pelham, in Hampshire county, others united themselves with the society in Londonderry, N. H. and many emigrated to the colony on the banks of the Unadilla, in New York.
The Rev. Mr. Johnston was settled in Londonderry in 1747. His connection was dissolved in July, 1753,1 not on account of impro- priety of conduct or disaffection of the people : but because pover- ty prevented them from affording proper support.
1 Rev. Mr. Parker's Century Sermon. Londonderry, April 22, 1819. 25
194
SECOND SOCIETY. |1785.
By the persuasion of the Rev. Mr. Dunlop, about thirty persons had been induced to remove from Londonderry, in 1741, to Cherry Valley, in Otsego county, New York. After the dismission of Mr. Johnston, he emigrated, with a little colony, to Unadilla, on the east side of the Susquehannah, in what was then called the Old England district. The unfortunate foreigners were destined to endure suffer- ing every where. Escaping from persecution, they encountered the horrors of Indian warfare. The celebrated Brant, visited the plan- tation, in 1777, and having called together the military officers, with Mr. Johnston, demanded supplies of provisions. The power of the red warrior enforced compliance. The inhabitants, plundered of their cattle, soon after, abandoned the town, and with their fami- lies took refuge in places of greater security. Some of them were involved in the massacres which desolated the ancient county of Tryon.1
It is probable, Mr. Johnston was accompanied by some of his for- mer parishioners, and that the town of Worcester, at the south east corner of Otsego county, derives its name from their recollections of the place of their first American settlement.
CHAPTER XI.
Second Congregational Society. Separation from the first Parish. Difficulties. Church formed. Covenant. Rev. Aaron Bancroft ordained, 1786. Society incorporated 1787. Rev. Alonzo Ilill ordained, 1827. Votes of Parish and Church. Memoir o Rev. Dr. Bancroft.
The history of the second congregational society is more remark. able for strong principles than striking incidents.2 It was formed by the secession of members of the first parish. Difficulties, spring ing from efforts to settle a colleague with the Rev. Mr. Maccarty multiplied and increased in the selection of a successor after his de. cease. Fixed differences of sentiment, diversity of taste, and dis cordant and conflicting opinions, interposed insuperable obstacles to
1 Campbell's Annals of Tryon, 21. 27. 63.
2 Free nse has been made of two historical sermons of Doct. Bancroft, April 8, 1827 and January 31, 1836, in the notice of the second society.
195
SEPARATION FROM FIRST PARISII.
1785.]
union. Those embracing the doctrinal views of Mr. Bancroft, and desirous of attending his ministrations, after ineffectual attempts at reconciliation, withdrew from the religious community where the law had bound them. In a memorial to the legislature, they repre- sented, that ' town meeting after town meeting was productive or heat, contention, and unchristian struggles for a major vote : the di- vision reached in its influence to private affairs, and to the civil and prudential concerns of the town. This being matter of notoriety, respectable persons in the neighborhood, urged, from the largeness of the town, the number of its inhabitants, their ability, and the ex- tensive duties of a minister, the expediency and necessity of settling two [clergymen.] Your petitioners readily agreed to, and pressed the proposal, in the March meeting of 1785, which was then reject- ed by a majority of votes, as was, also, a request for the liberty of forming into a separate religious society by themselves. Under these circumstances, seeing no prospect of union, desirous of a minister whose sentiments they approved, wishing the same indulgence to those who differed from them, weary of unprofitable contention, and finding every thing was to be carried by a major vote, without any attention to the wishes or feelings of the minor part, your petition- ers, judging it for the peace and happiness of the town, by a separa- tion to put an end to disputes that might embroil for years, withdrew.' A voluntary association was formed, in March, 1785, for the sup- port of public worship. Sixty seven individuals, by a written instru- ment, agreed to form a religious society, under a proper covenant ; to endeavor to procure an act of incorporation ; to apply to Mr. Ban- croft to settle with them, as their minister ; and severally, to pay their respective proportions of the sum of £ 150 annually, each accord- ing to the assessment of town rates, as salary.
To this period, the inland parishes of Massachusetts had been marked out by geographical boundaries. The inhabitants within prescribed territorial limits, were united by the existing laws, with the society established within the precinct of their residence. Con- science was circumscribed by lines drawn on the map, and its exer- cise restrained by the monumental stakes and stones of civil jurisdic- tion. Voluntary association for religious worship, unsanctioned by the authority of government, was bold innovation, conflicting with the prejudices, as it violated the usages of the times.1 The erection
1 In 1757, a few families left the old parisli in Leominster, and formed a society un- der Mr. John Rogers. The seceders were incorporaled, as individuals, into a poll par- ish, without succession as a corporation. This body was dissolved on the death of the minister in 1789.
196
SECOND SOCIETY. [1785.
of a poll parish, bringing together those of similar opinions, with- out regard to local habitation, almost, if not entirely unprecedented, except in the metropolis, was strenuously resisted. The founders of the second society went forward, by one long stride, years in ad- vance of public opinion. They grasped firmly, and wrested from opposition, those rights, which, after the lapse of time, have been accorded as common privileges.1 It is to their honor, to have taken the first step in establishing those principles of religious freedom, of which their venerable pastor, from youth to age, has been the fearless assertor.
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