History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 63

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 63

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He remained at Stockbridge till January, 1758, when he removed to Princeton, N. J., having been elected president of the college-Nassau Hall-at that place in September, 1757. The former president of the college, Rev. Aaron Burr, married Esther, third daughter of Mr. Edwards, in 1752. He had presided over the college ten years, but died very sud- denly in the autumn of 1757, two days before commencement. The trustees immediately made choice of Mr. Edwards as his successor. On the 16th of February, 1758, Mr. Edwards was inaugurated as president of the college. At that time small- pox existed in Princeton, and President Edwards and his daughters were inoculated. He appeared to have the disease favorably, and it was thought that all danger was over, when a secondary fever supervened, and he died on the 22d day of March, 1758, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and just five weeks after assuming his official duties as president of the college. MIrs. Edwards did not long survive her husband, but died at Philadelphia, Oct. 2, 1758.

In person Mr. Edwards was tall and slender. He was a little above six feet in stature, and his countenance was strongly marked with benignity and intelligence. His voice, in public speaking, was rather feeble, and he made very few gestures. He was the father of eleven children,-three sons and eight daughters. President Edwards resided, while in this town, on King Street, the house standing near that belonging to the heirs of the late J. D. Whitney, Esq. In front of that mansion are two magnificent elm-trees, the largest of wbich is said to have been planted by the eminent divine with his own hands. President Edwards attached great dignity to the pastoral office, and always visited his parishioners in the canonical dress of his time. During his pastorate of twenty- three years, 495 persons were admitted to the church.

Installation of the Fourth Minister .- In 1753 the town united with the church in an invitation to Rev. John Hooker, offering him £266 13s. 4d. as a settlement. The salary was fixed at £80 for the first year, and an increase of £5 per year for four years ; £100 to be the permanent sum. In addition, £6 13s. 4d. were voted for firewood. Mr. Hooker accepted the call, but expressed his dissatisfaction with the amount allowed for firewood. The articles of agreement specified that the salary should be paid " in silver of sterling alloy at six shil- lings and eight pence by the ounce, or in Spanish milled pieces-of-eight, at six shillings by the piece."

Mr. Hooker was ordained on the 5th of December, the town having appointed a committee of six persons to order and direct the sittings of the people in the meeting-house on the day of ordination, and provided that the services should commence at ten o'clock A.M. The council consisted of ten ministers and delegates, viz. : " Rev. Mr. Williams, of Long- meadow, moderator, who made the first prayer at the imposi- tion of hands and gave the charge; Rev. Mr. Hopkins, of Springfield, who made the prayer after the imposition of hands; Rev. Mr. Raynolds, of Enfield, who made the prayer before sermon ; Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, of South Hadley ; Rev. Mr. Parsons, of East Hadley, who preached the sermon ; Rev. Mr. Ashley, of Deerfield ; Rev. Mr. Breck, of Springfield, who gave the right hand of fellowship; Rev. Mr. Ashley, of Sunderland ; Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, of Hatfield; Rev. Mr. Judd, of Southampton."

The expenses of' ordinations were always paid by the town, and ordination dinners provided. At the settlement of Mr. Hooker the town paid $21.43 for expenses, including nine shillings for winc.

REV. JOHN HOOKER was born in 1729, at Kensington, Conn., now a parish in the town of Berlin. He was great- grandson of Rev. Thomas Hooker, one of the founders of the colony of Connecticut, and first minister of JHartford. Graduating at Yale College in 1751, he came to North- ampton two years afterward, and remained pastor of the church till his death, which occurred in 1777. He was mar- ried, Dec. 5, 1753, to Sarah Worthington, sister of Col. John Worthington, of Springfield, one of the most eminent law- yers in Massachusetts. His ministry, following the stormy and tempestuous close of Mr. Edwards' pastorate, was quiet and peaceful. The asperity and bitterness of both parties were speedily merged in a mutual and common attachment to the new pastor. He seemed eminently fitted for the peculiar con- dition of affairs then existing here. "The gentleness of his deportment, his sound discretion, and instructive discourses in the pulpit, secured to him to such an extent the love and respect of his people that they were always satisfied to hear him, and did not care to hear anybody else." Hle particularly endeared himself to the youth of the congregation, and is represented as a man of most condescending, familiar, and winning manners. As a preacher he was earnest and attract- ive, stating the truth with simplicity and directness, and free from everything that had a semblance of affectation. Ilis death, from smallpox, occurred Feb. 6, 1777, at the age of forty-eight. Only two of his sermons were published. Mr. Hooker was pastor of the church twenty-three years, and during that time 409 members were added. At a meeting held November, 1787, the selectmen were instructed to " pro- cure a decent monument to be erected to the memory of the late Rev. Mr. John Hooker, at the cost of the town."

Fifth Minister Called .- The church and society did not long remain without a pastor after the death of Mr. Hooker. At a meeting of the town, held in March of the succeeding year, the committee to provide preaching were directed to apply to Rev. Mr. Williams to know whether he was willing to have a church-meeting called relative to a settlement here, and desire him to preach and lecture the next week. On the 30th of March, 1778, the town voted-192 to 2-to coneur with the

203

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

church in the choice of Mr. Williams as pastor. In May he accepted the call and £300 were voted for a settlement, to be paid in three annual installments. His salary was to be £100 for the first year, with an inerease of £5 per year till the sum should reach £120. As in other similar cases, the salary was based on the current price of wheat, rye, and corn, and varied in accordance with the price of those commodities. Firewood was also furnished, and nothing in the vote was to be under- stood as debarring payment in gold or silver. Mr. Williams was ordained June 4, 1778. The council was composed of Rev. Eliphalet Williams, of Hartford ; Rev. Richard Salter, of Mansfield; Rev. Timothy Kine, of Goshen ; Rev. Jonathan Judd, of Southampton; Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of Hadley ; and Rev. Joseph Lyman, of Hatfield. The customary ordi- nation dinner was provided, and 105 pounds of beef, pork, and veal furnished, but the town paid for no liquor.

REV. SOLOMON WILLIAMS was the son of Rev. Eliphalet Williams, of East Hartford, Conn., at which place he was born July 25, 1752. The family of Mr. Williams is of Welsh origin, and came from Norwich, England. It has probably furnished more ministers than any other family in this coun- try. Mr. Williams was the sixth in descent from the original settler, all but one being ministers. It is a remarkable fact that four of these ministers-the great-grandfather, the grand- father, the father, and the son-should each have preached a half-century sermon from the time of his settlement. Mr. Williams spent his youth with his grandfather, Rev. Solomon Williams, of Lebanon, Conn. He was graduated at Yale College in 1770, appointed tutor in 1773, and in 1778 ordained as successor to Mr. Hooker, whose daughter he married. IIe died Nov. 9, 1834, at the advanced age of eighty-two. His success as a preacher was quite remarkable, and during his pastorate more than 900 were admitted to the church. After preaching thirty-eight years, when sixty-four years of age, it became necessary, owing to the infirmities of the pastor, to provide him an assistant, and the town authorized the select- men, in 1816, to hire a preacher to aid Mr. Williams when- ever, in their opinion, the good of the town required. Three years after, a vote was passed to settle a colleague and invite Rev. Samuel P. Williams to assist the pastor. Mr. Williams was first employed in 1816, and from year to year for three or four years, but was never settled as colleague. In 1820 he had a salary of $500, and the same year $200 was added to the salary of Rev. Solomon Williams, making his compensation $700. It was not till 1824 that a colleague was actually settled. In that year Rev. Mark Tucker was installed to that office. At this time but one religious society existed ; elements of dissatisfaction, however, had appeared when Mr. Tucker was settled. The town voted unanimously, in extending an invitation to Mr. Tucker, that this society are willing that the colleague who may be settled " should exchange with, or in- vite to preach in the desk, any pious clergyman of any de- nomination of Christians," and Mr. Tucker endorsed this action. He afterward declined to invite Unitarian clergy- men to preach, and the second society was formed. At the March meeting, 1824, the town, " in consequence of the great pressure of their pecuniary concerns at this time," voted to accept the offer of Mr. Williams to relinquish $200 of his salary toward the maintenance of a colleague. Mr. Tucker's salary was fixed at $1000. The Second Congregational (Uni- tarian) Society was formed Feb. 22, 1825. Separate religious worship was held, however, Dec. 5, 1824, when Rev. Mr. Pea- body, of Springfield, preached. Within the following ten years were formed the Episcopal, Baptist, and Edwards churches.

Rev. Solomon Williams was a man of medium stature, in manner plain and unpretending, and never addicted to dis- play. Ilis style of preaching was highly scriptural, his ser- mons well studied, perspicuous, polished, and searching. As a pastor he was untiring in his duties,-always ready to visit

the sick, and peculiarly happy in prayers, which were short, comprehensive, and appropriate. Ile was highly esteemed during his long pastorate of fifty-six years, and his memory is still cherished with veneration and respect. Quite a num- ber of his sermons were published, among them a historical sketch of the town, in 1815. That sermon is now quite rare and very valuable, a copy having sold in New York within a few years for $12.50. He resided on King Street, in the house so long occupied by his son, Hon. Eliphalet Williams.

REV. SAMUEL P. WILLIAMS, mentioned above, was a de- seendant of Rev. Solomon Williams, of Lebanon. He was born in 1780; preached here as assistant to Mr. Solomon Williams from 1817 to 1820. He afterward removed to New- buryport, where he died in 1826, aged forty-six. Mr. Wil- liams was probably hired by the selectmen, under the vote of ISIG, though his name is not on the town records till 1819. He is spoken of as an eloquent preacher.

First Five Ministers .- The church, since the settlement of the town, as in all New England villages, has borne a prominent part in the development. The pioneers of this region, allured by the fertile meadows, still valued above all tillable lands, in- tent " that the glory of God might be furthered," fostered, protected, cherished, and obeyed those divine precepts which formed the groundwork of their faith and the bulwark of their religion. The ministers in the original plantations of Massachusetts Bay were all men of superior education and great piety, very many of them possessing business talents of no inferior order. They were not only the spiritual, but often- times the secular, leaders of the communities in which they resided. Then ministers were settled for life. The pastoral relation was considered too sacred to be readily severed. When the pastor became old and infirm-unable to perform all his duties-a colleague was provided. The lives and labors of the first five ministers of Northampton are so in- terwoven with the history of the church and the town that the recital of the one is but a repetition of the other. They led the people through the early struggles of the plantation, assisted its growth and expansion to a town, sutlered with them the privations of frontier life, the dangers of savage warfare, the anxieties and perils of the Revolution, and saw the new re- public fairly launched on its career of success and prosperity.

Mather, the pioneer, laid broad and deep its foundations in the midst of the wilderness, when the unbroken forest stretched eastward to Worcester, northward to Canada, and westward to the Hudson. We can imagine with what fervid eloquence he spoke to the meagre congregation gathered in the rude log meeting-house, built before a church was formed or even a minister provided. The purity and earnestness of his daily life supplemented, illustrated, and enforced the religious prin- ciples inculcated from the pulpit. He it was that comforted the afflicted, encouraged the faint-hearted, and uttered words of assurance and courage when the savage foe hovered about the defenseless settlement.

Then followed Stoddard, the leader, business-man as well as preacher. A man of strong convictions, powerful in argu- ment, impatient of opposition, and stalwart to stand up for the truth, he was just suited to the times in which he lived. Imperious as a thinker, uncompromising as a reasoner, relent- less as an opponent, he won an influence second to none in all this region. To that reverence exacted by his sacred calling there was added that respect commanded by business talent, that reliance challenged by sound judgment, and that faith born solely of high endeavor. During the devastations and cruelties of King Philip's war he sustained and sympathized with his people, and never hesitated or faltered in his good work though an Indian musket gleamed in ambush from every thicket. The influence that he exerted has been con- tinued through a long line of descendants, whose names are closely interwoven with every period of the town's history, even to the present generation.

204

IIISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

Closely connected by family ties, and for years contempo- rary and colleague with him, was Edwards, theologian, meta- physician, missionary, president. Greatest of all and still without a rival, he made an impression for good upon the community that will never be effaced. The humble pastor of a village church, he has left a name that is honored and revered wherever the Christian religion is recognized. Conferring by his talents a lasting renown upon the church and congregation that drove him from their pulpit, he stands foremost among the clergy of his own or any other age. The immediate re- sults of his labors during seventeen years of his pastorate here have seldom if ever been surpassed by any elergyman in a similar field. Bitter strife and dissension, however, soon after severed the pastoral relation,-the first that had been dissolved in this community except by death,-and when he left the ele- ments of diseord were seething and boiling in unabated fury.

After him came Ilooker, the peacemaker. By suavity of temper, gentleness of demeanor, and ability as a preacher, he calmed the tempest and assuaged the troubled waters of con- troversy. To the young he rendered himself peculiarly attraet- ive, and soon won the love and esteem of all parties. He labored through the years preceding the Revolution, and helped kindle those fires of patriotism that burst into flame in 1776. He lived only through the first year of the struggle, but his noble words and bright example remained, influencing his people through all those years of strife.

Williams, fifth in order, took up the burden, and nobly car- ried it through fifty-six memorable years. His fervor, faith, and piety supported the drooping spirits of his townsmen through the long struggle with Great Britain. During the succeeding years of destitution and poverty he bore with his people without complaint all the hardships of the time, and rejoiced with them in the return of prosperity. To education and the schools he gave his best energies. His memory is still venerated in this community, and the outpourings of the IIoly Spirit vouehsafed to his labors are still remembered.

It is seldom, perhaps, that such continued family ties among its pastors have prevailed in any community as have existed here. The first three ministers were all connected in close re- lationship. Mr. Stoddard married the widow of his predeces- sor, and the father of Mr. Edwards was son-in-law to Mr. Stoddard. Mr. Williams married the daughter of his prede- cessor, Mr. Hooker, and the present pastor, Rev. Mr. Leavitt, is grandson to Mr. Williams.

Fourth Meeting-House .- The third meeting-house, after an existence of nearly seventy years, became not only old and di- lapidated, but ill suited to the wants of the now large and prosperous town. The question of building a new one was in agitation many years. There was a large minority in favor of it, and the subject was repeatedly presented in town-meeting. The times, however, were not propitions for such an under- taking. Trade was depressed, business dull, and foreign affairs complicated and threatening. It is not strange, then, that a town with but 2631 inhabitants should long hesitate before committing itself to an expenditure of from $15,000 to $20,000. In 1806 a committee reported in favor of a new meeting-house, but the town refused to accept the report, and the next year voted down a similar proposition. The need of a new house became so imperative, and the determination to procure one so fixed, that in 1809 the town was requested to give the old house to any individuals who would engage to build a new one and convey part of it to the town. After long and ani- mated debate on this proposition it was decided to erect a new meeting-house, and pay for it by a tax upon polls and estates. A committee of fifteen was subsequently appointed to devise suitable measures for carrying this vote into effect. This com- mittee reported at a meeting held Jan. 7, 1810, and its recom- mendations were discussed paragraph by paragraph. A vote was passed first to reconsider the former vote assessing the cost upon the tax-payers, and then to build after a plan already prepared

by Mr. Asher Benjamin, provided $16,000 worth of pews should first be sold. Labor and any articles useful in the build- ing were to be accepted in payment, at fair eash prices. A com- mittee of three persons was also appointed to sell the pews, who were put under bonds of $20,000 for the faithful performance of their duty. This committee afterward reported, April 2, 1810, that they had disposed of two-thirds of the pews for $16,000 and located the house on land partly owned by Dr. Hunt, for which they had agreed to pay $3000, of which sum $1800 had been subscribed by citizens, and $1200 was to be paid by the town. They had also contracted for about three- fourths of the foundation-stone, and asked of what material the house was to be constructed. The town voted to appropriate and assess $1200 for the purchase of the land, and gave the com- mittee full power as to material.

This purchase from Dr. Hunt embraced all the land from Main Street to what are now State and Park Streets. The upper portion of this lot, extending ninety feet beyond the rear of the meeting-house that was to be built, was deeded to the town in consideration of the payment of $1200. The resi- due of the land was conveyed to Judge Joseph Lyman, and that portion of it on which the town school-house stands on Centre Street was given by him to the town for school purposes in 1835.

The next week, April 9th, at a meeting called expressly for the purpose, and after a lengthy debate, the town voted to re- consider and annul all votes heretofore passed upon the snb- ject of building a new meeting-house. Such a vote, after the town had so far committed itself, was no doubt quite unex- pected, and shows that there was yet strong opposition to the measure. In November it was voted not to choose a committee on the subject of a new meeting-house, and the town-clerk was directed to deliver up the bonds of the former committee and return the notes given for pews.

In December the subject was again brought up, and referred to a committee of eleven persons. This committee made a report agreeing substantially with the action already taken by the town, and annulled with reference to selling pews, purchasing land, loeating the buikling, and raising such sums as should be needed by taxation. The report was accepted by a vote of 116 to 50. On the 7th of January, 1811, the town treasurer was authorized to pay $245 toward the purchase of the Hunt lot, receive a deed for the same, and give a note of $1200 in payment therefor. The committee to sell pews were instructed to appraise them at a rate not less than ten per cent. below the appraisal of the previous year. This committee reported in 1812 that they had sold pews to the amount of $13,068, and that there remained unsold pews to the value of $576. A building committee, consisting of Joseph Cook, Abner Hunt, and Oliver Pomeroy, was chosen by ballot, and instructed to give bonds in the sum of $20,000.

The fourth meeting-house was located partly on what was then a highway, and partly on land purchased of Dr. Hunt. At that time there were no houses from Pomeroy's tavern (Warner House) to the Whitney building (Northampton In- stitution for Savings). The house of Samuel and Eli King was near the intersection of Court and Gothic Streets, but farther down the hill. A barn of Mr. Ilunt stood near the highway, in the rear of the old meeting-house, and another, belonging to Asahel Pomeroy, quite near it, so that it became necessary to remove both before locating the new house. The building stood on the spot now occupied by the stone meeting- house erected in 1877.

A contract was made with Mr. Peleg Kingsley, of Brattle- boro', to build the house above the foundations for $16,000, according to the plans of Mr. Benjamin, and he was put under $30,000 bonds for the faithful performance of the work. The foundation-stones were furnished by citizens of the town at a specified price. The dressed stone for the underpinning was supplied by Moses Burt and Pynchon Bliss, of Wilbraham.

205

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

The timber and lumber were obtained in Vermont and New Hampshire, and floated in rafts down the Connecticut River to the Hadley bridge, thence transported to the common near the cemetery on Bridge Street, where the framing was done. The foundation and stone-work were laid during the summer, and on the 24th of September, 1811, the work of raising the frame was commenced. Raising a building in those days was an im- portant occasion, and, of course, in raising the meeting-house the whole town would be interested. The business centre of the village presented a holiday appearance. Flip, the popular beverage on such occasions, circulated freely. Mr. Asahel Pomeroy, who kept the tavern afterward known as the War- ner llouse, spread a table free to all. A little more than a week was occupied in raising the body of the house. In No- vember, when the building was well under way, another con- tract was made with Mr. Isaac Damon, which superseded that previously made with Mr. Kingsley, and Mr. Damon com- pleted the building. A few changes were made relative to finishing the interior, and the sum agreed upon with him was $12,000. The cost of this meeting-house was much greater than had been anticipated, considerably exceeding the archi- tect's estimate. In 1818 a committee were appointed to ex- amine the accounts and report the expense of the new meeting- house. This report contains a complete list of all payments, shows who were employed, who furnished lumber and other material, and the prices paid for everything. In summing up they reported $3053 as expended under direction of the build- ing committee ; $16,000 paid Kingsley and Damon ; $1169.84 extras paid Damon, making the " whole cost of the new meeting-house itself, without the land on which the same is erected, or charges of the building committee for their services, $20,223.43." Of this sum the purchasers of pews paid $13,115; the remainder-$7108.43-was raised by taxation. To the above amount there is to be added the sum of $1200 paid by the town for the land, and $740.50 paid to the building com- mittee for their services, making the entire cost of the new structure $22,173.93.

The house was completed within the time stipulated in the contract, and dedicated Oct. 28, 1812. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Williams, from the text Genesis xxviii. 17: " And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place ! It is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." The first prayer was made by Rev. Jos. Lyman, of Hatfield, and the last prayer by Rev. David Parsons, of Amherst. Although the day was stormy, 1400 persons were present.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 63

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700