USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > History of the First Baptist Church in Wakefield, Mass., 1800-1900 > Part 3
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During the time the meeting house was under- going repairs the conference meetings of the church were held in the chapel of the Congregational church, which had been kindly offered them, and the preaching services in the Town Hall.
In December of this year the church divided the town into five districts, and sent forth ten visitors, two in each district, who, going together, called on the people, conversing and praying with them and distributing religious tracts. We find no record of special results following this visitation of the town, although the committee seems to have been wisely chosen, as we find in the list the names of those whom this church holds in sacred memory for their consecrated ability and godly lives.
ERECTED IN 1836.
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WAKEFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH.
The intense feeling awakened in the northern states by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, and augmented by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, culminated in Massachusetts in the rendition to slavery of the fugitive slave, Anthony Burns, in Boston, June 2d of the latter year. A faint idea of the impression the event made upon this church and community may be obtained in the following record of that date in the church minutes : "Today Anthony Burns, a fugi- tive slave, has been remanded back to slavery. The whole community around, and the meeting, felt the influence. As the members came together for meeting, the bells were tolling sad notes as for Freedom's departure. Frequent reference was made to the transaction of the day, and we felt humbled before God that we were under the blighting curse of slavery."
In the spring of 1855 Dea. David Smith died, after a brief illness, at the ripe age of four score and three years. He was noted for his faithful attendance upon the services of the church, and that he made it a rule to be always present when the services began. It was a part of his religion not to disturb the worship of others by his late arrival. A beautiful example, worthy of imitation. He was a man of good judgment, and, as an officer of the church, calm and considerate, noted for the firmness of his principles and the gravity of his deportment.
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Soon after his departure steps were taken to fill the vacancy in the diaconate caused by his death. Zenas Eaton, who had been elected to the office in 1841, but had never served, was requested to offici- ate, but declined. Two candidates were then brought before the church for their choice, Edward Mansfield and Manning W. Sullivan. Brother Mansfield was elected. After mature consideration, in a beautiful letter to the church, breathing the fine spirit of the man, he gratefully declined the high honor bestowed upon him. Manning W. Sullivan was then chosen and accepted the office, the fourth of the worthy men who have served the church in this capacity.
The years 1856-57 seem to have been devoid of special interest. This church shared in the general apathy that pervaded the churches throughout the land. But in the spring of 1858 it felt the uplift of the great revival that was sweeping over this land, and eventually England and Scotland, and this year thirty-one were added to the church by bap- tism, besides many by letter and on experience. Among those baptized in the month of May, was brother Albert G. Sweetser. So high did he then stand in the estimation of his brethren, that in July following he, with brother Edward Mansfield, was elected deacon, both of whom declined to serve. The interest awakened in the church early in the year was not ephemeral, as the records show a marked interest and large attendance upon the meetings of the church to its close.
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WAKEFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH.
The year 1859 is marked by the passing away of two aged and esteemed brethren of the church. We quote from an unpublished historical sketch of the church by Jonas Evans : "In the spring of this year (1859) we lost brother Noah Smith, father of Rev. Francis Smith, of Rhode Island, and grand- father of Rev. James Wheaton Smith, D.D., of Philadelphia, Pa. Brother Smith fell dead while walking in Blackstone street, Boston, in the eighty- fourth year of his age. Within two weeks after Brother Smith's death, our aged and venerable Dea. Jacob Eaton died. He was one of the three young men who, in the autumn of 1789, planned and agreed to commence a religious Sabbath eve- ning meeting, which has ever since been held in this place, and though he was the youngest of the three he was the leading spirit among them. In the summer of 1853 these three aged friends met for the last time in this world, at the house of Dea. Eaton, a few rods from the spot where the above Sabbath evening meeting was planned. The old- est, brother Benjamin Smith, died the January following this interesting interview, in his ninetieth year, after an illness of but seven days. The next in age, Dea. David Smith, died the year following, also after seven days' illness, aged nearly eighty- four years. Dea. Jacob Eaton died after an illness of ten days, in his eighty-eighth year."
The death of this remarkable man calls for more than a passing notice. At the time of his baptism,
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in 1794, he united with the Baptist church in Wo- burn, where he was chosen deacon in 1799. At the organization of this church he became one of its constituent members. At the first Communion service after the organization, deacons not having been chosen, no one appeared to pass the elements. All eyes were turned toward Jacob Eaton. In reply to their mute inquiry he said: "It is not my place. I was a deacon of the church at Woburn, while I am only a private member here." A motion was made then and there, and passed unanimously, appointing him deacon .* And worthily he filled the office to which he was then called.
The following description of Deacon Eaton is taken from his Memoir written by Jonas Evans : "In person Deacon Eaton was about six feet tall, -proportionately large and firmly built. He was moderate and self-possessed in his temperament, though quick and comprehensive in his mental perception. He was disposed to look on the agreeable aspect of things, to be cheerful and hope- ful, and to enjoy the good gifts of Providence. In his manners he was modest and affable; and being naturally social and quietly facetious, his company and conversation, even in old age, was alike pleas- ing and instructive, both to the aged and the young. The portrait of him taken when seventy years old (a copy of which hangs in the vestry of
* See the church records under date of September 30, 1859.
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this church) is a very good resemblance of his features and indication of his traits of character."
The following are extracts from the address of his pastor, Dr. Phillips, at his funeral, May 29th :
"I knew Deacon Eaton twenty-seven years ago, when he was little past sixty. The young men at the Academy (South Reading) were agreed in the opinion that he was much such a man, both as to his bodily presence and mental characteristics, as the patriarch Abraham when he tended his flocks on the hills of Canaan. That impression has grown stronger with me till the present time. I also then, and have ever since, associated him with Andrew Fuller. The frames of both were massive and heavy, the features large and open, and the qualities of mind also were not unlike.
"I have some remembrance of the conference meetings when I first knew Deacon Eaton; and my conviction is that there were then many good speakers, as there have been ever since, yet I have retained no distinct impression of any one except Deacon Eaton. It was my opinion then, and I have not changed it since, that with the exception of a very few professional speakers, I never have heard his equal. I always was delighted to see him get up, for he was of goodly port,-not beau- tiful, but a person one would never tire to look at ; yet more was I pleased to see him stand up, because I expected something worth hearing and remembering ; for he was accustomed to speak of
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excellent things, and the opening of his lips were right things. His addresses had a beginning, middle and end to them. They were also new and fresh, and not wearisome repetitions of worn-out thoughts. He spoke because he had something to say, and he had always something worth saying laid up among his treasures. His mind was exceedingly well disciplined, though he was but slenderly indebted to schools or books. For a man who spoke so much as he did, the almost exhaustless variety of his addresses was very remarkable; and this peculiarity was often referred to with wonder by the students. There can be no doubt that he has influenced for good many ministers of the gospel. The chief characteristics of his public speaking were weight and solemnity. His voice was just what might be expected from such a broad, round chest-it was deep and sonorous. His thoughts flowed from him like a river with a broad and free channel. There was no declama- tion, nor coruscations, but thought-much thought, warm and living. He was often truly eloquent- if to impress and to move be criterions of eloquence. He grasped with great strength and clearness some of the mightiest elements of the new life, and they were to him not thoughts merely, but the felt powers of the world to come. They were wrought into his experience. His great thought, or sense, or conviction which principally made him what he was, was his entire accountability to God.
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"God called him by his grace and gave him to this church. And this church is much indebted to him for its high intellectual stamp."
Such was the first deacon of this church ; primus inter pares. Such were the men who laid the foundation of this church and were its leaders for nearly half a century, and left a deep impress upon their associates and immediate successors, through whom their influence is felt to-day, and to whom this church is deeply indebted for its present strength and stability.
It is well for the present generation to know that the fathers were not weaklings, that "there were giants in those days," and that we do well to emulate the purity of their lives and their excellen- cies of mind and spirit, and strive to maintain, if we cannot excel, the high standard of Christian living and church membership which they set before us.
In the following year (1860) another pillar of the church was removed in the death of Zenas Eaton, son of Dea. Jacob Eaton, at sixty-three years of age. Converted in the revival of 1820, for forty years he had been an active, zealous, member of the church, living a beautiful, conse- crated life. He seemed to live constantly in view of the celestial city and longed that all others should eventually share with him in its blessed- ness; and most fervent were his appeals to the unconverted.
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The indebtedness incurred by the church in the enlargement of the meeting house in 1853 was pressing heavily upon them when they received this year a generous donation of $2000 from Mrs. Edmund E. Wiley, now the widow of the Rev. Horace Eaton, enabling them to cancel the debt, thank God and take courage.
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WAKEFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH.
CHAPTER VI.
The year 1861 opened under the threatening clouds of the coming Rebellion. This church, like many others, sought the Lord for help and deliverance. The first of January was observed by them, both day and evening, in fasting and prayer; "especially for the blessing of God to rest upon the country and preserve the nation from anarchy and overthrow; for the President and officers of the government that they might rule in the fear of God; and for the present and incoming administrations that they might seek of God the wisdom to direct them in administering the affairs of a great people."
When, a few months later, the storm burst the loyalty of this church was unquestioned. In the record of those days in the history of the town we find prominently among the patriotic citizens active in support of the Government the names of Rev. D. W. Phillips and Edward Mansfield.
This church also sent forth her sons to the war. The first of these who fell in defence of the Union was Francis Sweetser, aged twenty-three, who was mortally wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks, June 25, 1862. He united with the church September 2, 1859. He was an earnest christian, the same in
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the army as at home, and bore the record of a brave and faithful soldier.
The chaplain of his regiment, Rev. A. B. Fuller, gave the following account of the closing scene of his life: "Private Francis Sweetser, Co. E, 16th Mass., lay wounded through the abdomen in much pain, but quiet and smiling, as though the hour were full of joy to him. 'Thank God,' he said, ' that I am permitted to die for my country ; thank God yet more that I am prepared.' Then he modestly added, 'at least I hope I am.' We who knew him, and his humble christian life in the regiment, have no doubt of the full assurance of his faith and that all he hoped is now realized in bliss. When he died he was in prayer, and in that position his body grew rigid and remained."
Nothing indicates more forcibly the loyal spirit of this church than the fact that seventy-nine members of its congregation enlisted in the Union army, ten of whom died in the service, and others returned bearing honorable scars, or suffering from diseases contracted by the hardships and expos- ures of army life.
In November of this year (1862) we find the first record of a union Thanksgiving service of the Congregational and Baptist churches. The meet- ing was held in the Baptist church and the sermon was preached by Dr. Phillips. Neither text nor theme are given, but we can safely assume that the sermon was intensely patriotic. Rev. Charles
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R. Bliss, pastor of the Congregational church, officiated in other parts of the service.
In January, 1863, the church felt the need of electing two deacons. At a very full meeting called for this purpose, on the 23d of the month, the two brethren who were elected to this office in 1858, but declined to serve, viz : Albert G. Sweet- ser and Edward Mansfield, were presented as can- didates. On proceeding to the election of each separately, in order that there might not seem to be any rivalry between them for the office, brother Mansfield "requested that his name should not be used in connection with the office," whereupon brother Sweetser was elected by a large vote. About two weeks later, February 5, Edward Mans- field was elected deacon by an equally decisive vote. These two brethren, elected practically at the same time, very nearly of the same age, and between whom existed a warm friendship through life, were permitted to serve the church together in their official relations for thirty-five years, until the death of Dea. Mansfield in 1898.
In the spring of this year Dr. Phillips resigned his pastorate to take charge of a school for colored pupils, under the auspices of the Baptist Home Mission Society, in Nashville, Tenn., and which was known later as Roger Williams University, of which he was president until his death.
Dr. Phillips was a strong man; probably one among the ablest and most scholarly of the men
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who have held the pastorate of this church, and second to none in the inculcation of Biblical truth. One who sat under his ministry, and was well qualified to judge, says of him: " With a shade of melancholy in his temperament he was a devoted student ; had an uncommon share of metaphysical taste and acumen, and was fond of minute and extended investigations, less calculated to interest the masses than more condensed and animated addresses."
A portion of the time he was here he taught a Bible class of adults who met him on week day evenings. Often the discussions waxed warm be- . tween members of the class over obscure passages or points of doctrine. At such times, we are told, the doctor would sit in silence, with closed eyes, and let the disputants entangle themselves till they would appeal to him for deliverance. Then the doctor in a few sentences would clear the atmos- phere, state the subject under dispute correctly, and present the truth concerning it, and the neces- sary conclusion, so lucidly as to secure the assent of all.
The writer quoted above also adds, "He was remarkable for his discreet and exemplary deport- ment. His daily christian life won the respect of all who knew him, and his affectionate sympathy with the suffering and bereaved has left tender memories in many hearts."
A warm friendship grew up between him and Rev.
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Reuben Emerson of the Congregational church, and at the request of the latter he was his constant religious attendant during his last sickness in 1860.
Rev. Daniel W. Phillips was born in South Wales, June 7, 1809, and died in Nashville, Tenn., April 13, 1890. His parents were very poor and he had but little schooling in his native land. His thirst for knowledge led him to come to this country, unacquainted with our language, when about twenty years of age. Three or four years later we find him a student in South Reading Academy, rooming in the house of Jotham Walton on Eaton street, with another student by the name of Brayton who died last year in Burma, after a long period of missionary service, tenderly loved by his disciples, and known by them as Father Brayton. These young students were very poor and boarded themselves, living on mush and milk and roasted potatoes, with the occasional luxury of a loaf of brown bread. Leaving the Academy Mr. Phillips pursued courses of study in Brown University and Newton Theological Institution, receiving from Brown University, in 1874, the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity. He was ordained in 1838 and settled in Medfield, Mass., from which church he came to the pastorate here.
Probably no pastor of this church ever held so large a place in the confidence and esteem of this community as Mr. Phillips through his noble qualities of mind and heart and long residence among this people.
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In the fall of this year brother Manning W. Sullivan died, aged forty-seven years, having served the church as deacon a little more than eight years. "He was esteemed a modest, amia- ble and conscientious man." A talented son of his, Rev. Frank L. Sullivan, is field editor of the Pacific Baptist, printed in Portland, Oregon.
In January, 1864, Rev. George Bullen entered upon the pastorate of the church.
In the summer of 1865, Dea. Martin Stowell died, aged seventy-six. He had been a member of the church fifty-one years, and served as deacon forty-seven years. He was a good man, remark- able for his devotional spirit and his faithfulness in conversing with others on the subject of per- sonal religion. An honest man, a sincere friend, one who endeavored to live in peace with all men, who let his light shine as a disciple of Christ, and sought "a better country, that is a heavenly."
A remark of his is well worthy of preservation. " The influence of a true christian is already felt in three worlds; not only in this, but in heaven where it is gratefully recollected by those who have been benefited by it, and in the world of woe it is painfully remembered by those who had opposed or despised it."
He, too, like Dea. Sullivan, left a worthy son who entered the ministry, Alfred S. Stowell, who was licensed to preach by this church in 1871, and was ordained in Salem, N. H., in 1875. At the present writing he is a pastor at Berlin, N. H.
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WAKEFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH.
In January, 1866, passed beyond this life the last constituent member of the church, sister Eunice Eaton, widow of Dea. Jacob Eaton, in the eighty-sixth year of her age.
She was deeply impressed while witnessing the first baptism in this town in Lake Quannapowitt in 1794, and was herself baptized in the lake five years later. Others, too, were impressed while witnessing the ordinance on that memorable occa- sion, and in the house where the candidates had returned, and when the administrator, Dr. Bald- win, was taking refreshments, in another room a christian brother was conversing and praying with those who were "pricked in their hearts " at the water side, this sister among the number.
She was a worthy wife of the noble man whose name she bore, and for three score years had been a "mother in Israel," sympathizing in the afflic- tions of the church and rejoicing in its prosperity. Like Phebe of old she was a true "servant of the church," and like the household of Stephanas she gave herself "to the ministry of the saints."
In the autumn of this year, Dr. Bullen resigned because of illness which prevented his preaching a large part of the year, although he was enabled to perform pastoral and other duties. The church accepted his resignation with keen regret, express- ing their deep sympathy with him in his affliction and testifying to the high esteem in which he was held by them because of the christian qualities he had exhibited.
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His pastorate was marked by cordiality and harmony, notwithstanding severe cases of disci- pline which his equanimity and tact prevented from disturbing the church. Although the records of the church furnish but little material for this period, happily reminiscences of Dr. Bullen's pas- torate, which he has kindly furnished the writer, are all sufficient, and are as follows :
PASTORAL REMINISCENCES OF DR. BULLEN.
First of all, it should be said, that my short pastorate in Wakefield was a very pleasant one. The church had been much divided for some time, but it became united, and was very happy. I loved the church, and felt that the church loved me.
One of the leading men told me, soon after my settlement, that when he first saw me, he said to himself -it had been like him to say it to others also-" none of us, neither uncle - nor any other can manage that man." How this impression was made I hardly know. The preacher had never thought himself very lordly or commanding. But none tried to manage him, and it is hoped he did not try in an unbecoming manner to manage the church.
One thing impressed me favorably at the very first, namely, the promptness of the people at the services, a cardinal virtue, still exercised, I trust.
DEACON EDWARD MANSFIELD.
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WAKEFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH.
The prayer meetings were always a strength to me, large, warm, intelligent. Young disciples. could hardly fail of a symmetrical development in such an atmosphere. No heresies, no hobbies, no serious clashing of thought ; they were very enjoy- able and very edifying. Referring to the prayer meeting, I may mention a special external feature, the elevated rear row of settees, on which brother Newhall Sweetser always sat. Here he could oversee all. Moreover nothing escaped his mental eye, and nothing was heard with theological indif- ference.
A single suggestion of the pastor - not a very important one-failed of sufficient favor to be adopted. The choir was located in the gallery in the rear of the congregation, and the people were accustomed at the time of singing to turn and face the choir. The pastor did not approve of this habit, and asked that it might be changed. But public sentiment was against the proposed change, a few persons were very pronounced in opposition, and it was not made. New England conservatism had a fresh illustration.
On two occasions the pastor felt obliged to take command of the social meeting. An intelligent man, who had been excluded from the church many years before, sought the freedom of this ser- vice for the ventilation of views not regarded with favor by th epeople. He was not checked the first time, but his second attempt was at the very
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beginning so unbecoming in manner, in spirit, and evident persistence, that the pastor decided to check him. "I would like to say," he continued, "you had better not," was the pastor's response. "I wish to explain, I was misunderstood," he continued-"you had better not," replied the pastor ; "if you will not allow," he added - "you had better not speak, sir." The episode was over. The vestry was full, the people very quiet, the sensation deep. But the man's purpose to vindi- cate himself, and in the vestry too, was not aban- doned. One of his friends informed the pastor that he was "not through," to whom the pastor replied, "he is through," and he was. Doubtless the friend advised him that he would not be allowed to speak.
The other occasion was the social afternoon service on a Fast day, in the time of the war of the rebellion. A clash came between two repre- sentatives of the two strong moral forces,-an occurrence not uncommon in those days,- conser- vatism, that had almost more affinity with the South than with the Union, and radicalism, that could not tolerate anything short of absolute, out- and-out loyalty to the government, a loyalty born or strengthened, it might almost be said, of anti- slavery conviction. Both had had their say, and the pastor saw that a cyclone was at hand if sum- mary measures were not adopted. He at once arose, expressed his dissent from both positions
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