USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Acushnet > History of the Town of Acushnet, Bristol County, State of Massachusetts > Part 22
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Photo. by Jas. E. Reed, New Bedford
BAPTIST CHURCH AT LONG PLAIN
returned to the pastorate of this church, however, on the 1st of April, 1844, much to the pleasure of his former parishioners. Under his admin- istration the church continued to prosper and resulted in building the present church structure near the site of the old one. Meantime the society worshipped in the building of the Long Plain Boarding School. The present church was dedicated April 28, 1847. A month after the dedication of the new church Mr. Leland accepted a call to Lexington, Mass., and the society was again without a pastor. No settled minister was with the church till 1848. During this time the pulpit was supplied by Rev. Messrs. Ryder, Alden, Roberts and J. S. Whittemore. Mr. Whittemore was the settled pastor from 1848 to 1856. Among those who have been employed as ministers here since the latter date are W. W.
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Meech, 1857 to 1860; Abner D. Gorham, 1860 to 1862; Josephus W. Hor- ton, 1864 to 1868; Kilburn Holt, 1868 to 1871; John H. Learned, 1871 to 1872; Simeon P. Lewy, 1872 to 1873; Enoch M. Wilson, 1874 to 1886; Alexander H. Murray, 1887 to 1889; Chas. H. Sisson, 1889 to 1890; Brown E. Smith, 1890 to 1894; Samuel S. Frost, 1894 to 1896.
Since 1896 the pulpit has been supplied by student pastors from Newton Theological Seminary, as follows :
J. H. Davis, 1896; Chas. Schweikert, 1896; Eugene H. Stover, 1898; Frederic L. Boody, 1898; Mr. Wilson, 1899; D. M. McPhail, 1899; J. Bruce Gilman, 1900; Harry S. McCready, 1903; Ernest S. Potter, 1905; Henry A. Cook, 1906.
The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, which was or- ganized in 1894, has had for presidents : Miss Emma Gooch, 1894 to '96. Dennis Mason, 1896 to 1902. William E. Collins, 1902 to '03. Miss Emma F. Bennett, from 1903 to the present time.
About one hundred different persons have joined this church since 1837. The following have served the society as clerks: Edward Spooner ; Abial P. Robinson, 1838 to 1874; Walter A. Davis, 1874 to 1892; William E. Collins, 1892 to 1897; Henry L. Allen, 1897 to 1898; William E. Collins since 1898. Joseph R. Davis, deceased, was a most efficient burden bearer of this church for many years.
THE PERRY HILL The church organization whose house of wor- CHRISTIAN CHURCH ship is on Perry Hill is the direct successor of the First Christian church of North Fairhaven, as sketched in the above article on that society, and as stated there the date of its beginning was Dec. 28, 1850.
The record states that "the Persons who first Composed this Church are Lemual Perry, John Blackmer, William Gammons, Joseph Taber, John Perry, William Jenne, Betsey M. Coin, Sibel White, Jane Cathell, Rebecca Tabor, Amy Cook, Abigail Gammons, Patience Cory, and Lois Blackmer." William Jenney was chosen the first "Cleark" and treas- urer, and William Gammons collector. Nothing appears in the records regarding the date of construction of the present church building, but one who was employed in its erection says it was in 1851. Until its completion Sunday services were held in "De Perry's schol house." Only a little of the business of the society is recorded previous to Sept. 1, 1851, and none of it from that date till May 6, 1867, when the society was reorganized and a new covenant adopted. No records are found from 1867 to 1875, nor from 1876 to 1883. This omission is most unfortunate. There is abundance of evidence that the present house of worship was completed and dedicated in 1851. The society wisely voted in 1867 to extend the right of franchise to women on all church matters, and it is safe to believe this act has never been regretted.
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For obvious reasons it is impossible to compile a list of ministers who have served this parish. Recollections of elderly persons is all that has contributed to the following incomplete list, and such sources of information can never be perfectly reliable.
The first minister was evidently William D. Haley for he was or- dained here early in 1851 as elder and on the 12th of June of that year he received persons into church fellowship. Mr. Haley had been in town but a short time at this date and removed from here two years later, meantime having procured the title of Reverend, and secured a wife. The latter was Archeldama, daughter of Eben Gammons, and a relative of Archelus Taber, hence her unique Christian name. Others were A.
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Photo. by Jas. E. Reed, New Bedford
CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT PERRY HILL
Jackson, 1866; M. R. Patterson, 1867; A. H. Francis, James Pierce, 1875; Ephraim Burroughs, 1883; I. H. Coe; W. B. Flanders; B. S. Batchelor ; Elders Ward, Faunce, Greenwood and Frederick Tripp.
There was great religious interest here the winter of 1866-67. Elder B. S. Batchelor extended the right hand of fellowship to twenty-seven persons in May, 1867.
The officers of the society in 1889 were William Washburn, deacon; George H. Fuller, collector and treasurer; Lucy H. W. Ellis, clerk; and in 1906 they were Thomas J. Robinson, deacon and treasurer; Lucy H. W. Pratt, clerk.
The Sunday School was reorganized in April, 1876. The following persons have served as officers since this date :
Superintendents : Christian Ruchert, 1876; Geo. W. Hathaway,
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1879-82; Thos. J. Robinson, 1880-1883-98-99-1900-01-02-03-04; Rev. Ephraim Burroughs, 1884-05; Ann H. Snow, 1886-87; Emma F. Lapoint, 1888-89-90; Mrs. Ann H. Perry, 1891-92-93; Emma F. McInnis, 1894-95-96; Chas. D. Bennett, 1897. The office of secretary and treasurer has been filled by Thos. J. Robinson, 1876-79; George A. Fuller, 1880; Emma F. Taber, 1882-83; Emma F. Lapoint, 1884; Ann H. Snow, 1885-86; Clara L. Sherman, 1887-88-89 ; Lizzie Bennett, 1890; Marshall C. Tripp, 1891-92-93; Eunice Bumpus, 1894; Mabel F. Bumpus, 1895; Edith M. Robinson, since 1905.
THE ADVENT The missionary efforts of Elder Daniel Hix RELIGIOUS SOCIETY . throughout this town more than a century ago have been related above. It is reliably stated that he baptized over 400 persons in the southern part of Bristol County in 1807.
Photo. by James E. Reed, New Bedford
CHAPEL OF THE ADVENT SOCIETY
Among this number was Phineas White and others of the White's Fac- tory neighborhood. Religious interest in that locality gradually in- creased. Services were held in the schoolhouse and in dwellings. This led to the formation of "The North Fairhaven Advent Society." With this came the desire for a meeting house and a determination to erect one. Subscription papers were circulated and sufficient pledges of money were made to encourage the management to call a meeting to act on the ques- tion of building, at No. 3 schoolhouse in the Whelden neighborhood,
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on the west side of the town, Feb. 8th, 1858. This was fully attended and much interest was manifested in the undertaking. The meeting chose Augustus White, secretary, and appointed the following committees. Building and finance: George P. Morse, Augustus White and Hervey B. Keen. Trustees : Joshua Morse, Jr., Henry B. Keen and Augustus White. The building committee purchased a lot of Philip Omey, and a building of Augustus Harrington, formerly used by him as a tan house, which was moved to the lot. The process of construction commenced at once, men and boys of the place assisting in the work. Contributions from friends at Fairhaven and New Bedford aided and encouraged the people.
John W. Crabtree was the minister at the time of building. No regular pastor was stationed here till 1888. Since then the following ministers have served the society, some of them for a continuous period of four years : F. S. Stratton, O. L. Waters, John W. Goodwin, Sr., Mary S. Ransom, James E. Seamans, H. C. Smith, M. MeFadyen and N. L. McFad- yen.
The original members of the society were Augustus White, Betsey W. White, Joshua T. and Roby T. Snow, Daniel V. and Martha A. Smith, and Ruth W. Merrihew. Others joined soon afterwards.
A Sabbath school was organized at the time the chapel was built and has been in continuous and profitable operation ever since, at times num- bering forty members. Augustus White has been superintendent of the school since its formation, and one of the foremost, efficient workers in the whole movement since its incipiency: His interest in the religious and moral welfare of the community, especially where the chapel is located, is manifested in many ways.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT ACUSHNET VILLAGE
Regular church worship and system of government of the Congregational type had not existed at Acushnet vil- lage and vicinity after it ceased in the ancient precinct church near Parting Ways, till 1828. There had no doubt been much talk of reviving it, as a number of the congregation of the old church and descendants of others lived here who were not in full sympathy with the other religious societies existing here, the Methodist and Friends. The proposition did not materialize, however, till on a Lord's Day in the month of February or March of the above year, when religious services of the Congregational order were held morning, afternoon and evening in the Phoenix school house, standing on the north side of Bridge street, a little east of the present dwelling house of Humphrey H. Swift, whose grandfather, Deacon Jonathan Swift, was one of the leaders in the enterprise, and whose resi- dence was the next house east of this schoolhouse. That the movement was favorably received is indicated by the fact that forty-four persons were present at one of these services. That these were heartily inter-
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ested in it is assured by the statement of persons who were present and in close touch with it for many years, that seventeen of them became members of the church that was evolved from this meeting within the next nine years, and fourteen more within the subsequent four years. The following are the names of the original seventeen: Joel Packard, Harmony Packard, Mary Russell, Susan Mayhew, Lucinda Taber, Mary Perry, Louisa Taber, Caroline Wagner, Jabez Hathaway, Hannah Hath- away, Samuel Savory, Nancy Snow, Katherine Pope, Annah W. Ball, Deborah Hathaway, Susan P. Mayhew, Mary Borden. Fourteen women and three men. The others of the historic forty-four were: Alden W. Ball, Abbie Russell, David Russell, John Lumbard, Mary Russell, Isaac
Photo. by Jas. E. Reed, New Bedford CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT ACUSHNET VILLAGE
and Margaret Case, Lois Perry, Joan and Louisa Taber, Jonathan Swift, Susan and Nancy Snow, Duncan I., George and Leonard Perry, Sophronia and Maria Clark, Mary Briggs, Mary and Abbie Bourne, Sarah Pope, Hannah Hathaway, Jane Waggner, Lucy Nye and Varidda Mosher. Eight men and nineteen women. Then as now!
Congregations grew and the interest increased in such a measure that the schoolhouse was soon insufficient for the needs, and only two years elapsed before a church building was constructed on the spot where the present Congregational church stands on Acushnet avenue. This was originally a one-story building. It was later raised and a vestry built under it. It was destroyed by fire on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 5, 1865. The fire was first discovered in the wainscot of the audience room. But a few moments elapsed before the Hancock engine, whose house was
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across the way, was pouring water into the building. At the end of two hours' heroic work of the company the devouring elements were appar- ently under control, but at this point the supply of water gave out. While the engine was moving the fire gained the mastery. The belief was that the fire caught from the furnace. The society at once erected the present attractive building, which was dedicated Jan. 10, 1867. It was renovated, beautified and made more comfortable within in 1889 and rededicated Sept. 15 of that year.
The church has had an almost unbroken succession of pastorates, the longest being that of Daniel C. Burt, twenty-eight years. The follow- ing persons have served the parish as pastors :
Pardon G. Seabury, 1830 to 1835. Daniel C. Burt, 1839 to 1857.
Asahel Cobb, 1857 to 1870.
Wm. B. Hammond, 1870 to 1878. Samuel C. Bushnell, 1879 to 1889. Dalmer E. Craft, 1890 to 1891.
Edw. C. Fellows, 1891 to 1895. Geo. W. C. Hill, 1895 to 1898. F. Lincoln Davis, 1899 to 1901.
Henry B. Dyer, 1902 to 1903.
Wm. C. Martyn, 1904 to present time.
The following are some of the past and present officers of the church :
Deacons .- Thomas P. Potter, Gillira Kendrick, James H. Paige, Wil- liam S. White, Frederic B. Hawes.
Clerks of the Church .- Pardon G. Seabury, 1830 to 1835; Daniel C. Burt, 1835 to 1857; Jones Robinson, 1857 to 1870; William B. Hammond, 1870 to 1878; Frank C. Terry, 1878 to 1892; Edward C. Fellows, 1892 to 1895 ; Frederic B. Hawes, 1895 to the present time.
The present officers of the society are George A. Cobb, treasurer; Clifford P. Sherman, clerk. Trustees, Jonathan C. Hawes, Horatio N. Wilbur, George A. Cobb, Clifford P. Sherman, Frederic B. Hawes.
Cyrus E. Clark was for many years clerk of the society and a guiding hand in its affairs. Clifford P. Sherman succeeded Mr. Clark to this office and has held it since.
The three laymen, who have each covered long periods of time as Sunday School superintendents, are Jones Robinson, Daniel W. Kendrick and Frederic B. Hawes.
THE LEWIS MEETING HOUSE
References have been made to the Lewis meeting house and this seems to be the place to give some of its recorded and unwritten history. The organ- ization was one of the outcomes of the wave of religious interest which prevailed in the northerly section of Old Dartmouth under the zealous efforts and wise direction of Elder Hix, a famous Baptist minister of the last half of the eighteenth century. A brief sketch of this religious enter- prise is given here because the house stood near the Acushnet line and Abner Lewis, the minister, and many of the supporters of the church resided in this town. The following extract from Backus' History of the
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Baptists, Vol. II, page 447, is a helpful introductory to this article.
Referring to religious work in the locality which is now at the north- west corner of Acushnet, Backus writes that
"It pleased God to pour out his Spirit here in 1773, when many were hopefully converted, and joined the Second Baptist church in Middleborough. The next year they obtained preaching among themselves, and they built them a house for worship, and formed a church there September 13, 1775, being regularly dismissed from the church they had joined in Middleborough, and Mr. Abner Lewis was ordained their pastor June 26, 1776. He was born in Middleborough March 16, 1745, joined the First Baptist church there in 1765, began to preach in 1770 and had preached in Freetown two years before he was ordained; and such a blessing was granted among them afterwards as increased their church to a hundred and twenty-eight members in 1780. But the public difficulties in the country, with the unhappy temper of some of the members of the church, caused Mr. Lewis to ask a dismission from them, which he obtained in August, 1784; the behavior of some of this church has caused a number to ask and receive dismissions from it to other churches, while some have died and others removed away till they have become very small."
The date of the erection of the church building is given by another writer as 1780, but Backus' date, 1775, is confirmed by the testimony of one of a company of soldiers attending service there in the Revolu- tionary War on the day of their departure for Boston. My efforts to establish the exact spot on which the meeting house stood have not been successful. It was on the west side of County road leading from New Bedford to Taunton.
The approximate location of this house of worship is fixed by record evidence. Here is a copy of a bill of sale of a pew in this meeting house :
6 do Bargain Sell Set over and Deliver unto the sd Benjamin White Ą Pew in ye Anne Baptist Meeting House standing in the line between Freetown and Dartmouth a little Distance North Easterly from Benjamin Hathaway's, Called Mr. Lewis's Meeting House &c, Ebenezer Keen.
In the presence of Jnº Tobey.
This expression, "in the line," written more than a century ago in such conveyances often referred to objects located near a line. One who has been for the past twenty years postmistress at East Freetown, now nearly eighty years of age with an exceedingly good memory, related to the writer that her father, a prominent man in the community and a regular attendant at religious services in this house, pointed out to her where the building stood. This site is on the west side of County road about 750 feet north of the line between New Bedford and Freetown. This spot now shows evidence of having formerly been clear of underbrush and taller woody growth, which now flank it north and south 500 feet in each direction along the highway. It is said that Elder Lewis' residence stood on the east side of the road
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"on the town line." This is substantially confirmed by the following in- cident related to the writer by several persons who were born near the date of the decease of Elder Lewis. It is said that it was then illegal for a minister to marry persons in a town where he did not reside. Therefore Elder Lewis enjoyed a double patronage in this line as he could tie the knot in two towns at his fortunately located dwelling place. Land rec- ords show that Peregrine White, in 1778, sold to Abner Lewis 12 acres of land on the east side of the road and both sides of the town line. On this, elderly people say his dwelling stood. Again Nathaniel and Job Morton in 1795 sold to "Abner Lewis, Clerk," 60 acres on the west side of the road on both sides of the town line. Both of these tracts were conveyed by Abner Lewis in 1800 to William Trotter. The portion of this tract on the west side of the road extended nearly 800 feet north of the town line and the writer is satisfied the meeting house stood at the northeast corner of this portion. Lewis's deed to Trotter contains this clause :
"Excepting the old Meeting House standing thereon and the land on which it stands and two rods breadth of land around it, pro- viding the Proprietor of said House will sufficiently fence said lot on all sides and keep the same forever in good and lawful repair."
The "unhappy temper, and behavior" of some of the members of this church which led Elder Lewis to leave it in 1784, after nine years of service, was no doubt caused by the teaching of Elder Elias Smith, a disciple of the denomination called "Christians," which won Elder Hix and many others from the Baptist sect. This later also ruptured the Baptist church at Long Plain. Dissension and disagreement on doctrine and ecclesiastical polity continued till the life of the organization ended, the date of which may not be known. The last name on the member- ship roll is Isaac Howland, received Sept. 5, 1790. Elder Lewis went from here to Harwich, Mass., where he preached five years; from there to Attleboro in 1789, where he was stationed till 1794, when he returned to his old home here. Probably no records of the society are in existence. Andrews's "Memoirs of Elder Daniel Hix" alludes to the possibility of a "Lewis meeting house" at Long Plain. There is no tradition nor proof that there was such a house there. The religious society that succeeded this at East Freetown, some of whose members were residents of this town, was organized when the "Christian Brethren met Nov. 9, 1831, in School House in district No. 13, Mason's Corner, for the purpose of forming a church." They decided Dec. 28, 1832, to build in that locality, which they did and the house was first occupied Nov. 30, 1833. This building stood for half a century or more, when its successor was erected at the village of East Freetown, a few feet west of County road, where it now stands.
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CEMETERIES We are interested in locating not only the birthplace and the dwelling places of relatives and close friends, but where they were laid when the mortal had put on immortality.
Precinct Cemetery, one of the oldest historical landmarks in this section of the Commonwealth, is the graveyard at the top of "Burial Hill," so-called, near Parting Ways. Some of the headstones of this old colonial cemetery, established in the reign of Queen Anne, have dates nearly back to the seventeenth century. There are nearly six hundred and fifty tombstones with names and dates upon them, and more than one thousand unlettered ones. The latter mark the resting places not only of some of the earliest settlers of Dartmouth, but of Plymouth Colony. The land for this ancient burying ground was a gift of John Jenne (or Jenney as now spelled), a copy of which is given below.
It will be observed that Mr. Jenne did not make a legal conveyance of this lot till 1713-14, a half century after the early settlers came here, and as this was the only public graveyard within many miles of the spot when the transfer of the tract was made, suggests that Mr. Jenne may have verbally given the lot and it was used for that purpose several years before the deed of it was passed. The dates on the tombstones furnish no clue as to when the first burials were made, for without doubt there were no inscribed headstones erected to them. Grave diggers in this place one hundred years ago have assured friends of the writer that bodies have been found two deep in many places, and it is believed to have been long before 1700 when the first of these were buried there. It is said that some of the first comers here had relatives brought from their burial places at Plymouth and laid in this graveyard.
For many years previous to 1879 the spot was sadly neglected. Headstones were thrown out of position by the frost, and some were lying upon the ground. There was a perfect tangle of underbrush and briers, shrubbery and trees, and these prophetic words on one of the tombstones in the midst of this chaos:
"The living know that they must die, But all the dead neglected lie,"
had truly come to pass. A meeting of public-spirited men of the com- munity was held in the village Feb. 12, 1879, to consider the matter of renovating the sacred spot. This resulted in organizing a company for that purpose. The Grove Hill Cemetery Co. was suggested as the name of the organization, but it was decided to call it the "Acushnet Cemetery Association." The original officers were Cyrus E. Clark, president; John A. Russell, secretary, and Duncan I. Perry, treasurer. These and other philanthropic citizens undertook the renovation of this city of the silent dead. They did their work faithfully and received the public gratitude for it. Since that time it presents a far different appearance, and it is refreshing to see this old spot in a new dress. Although about one
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hundred trees were left, thirty-three cords of wood were cut out from the place, which can with double significance be called "God's acre." The balance of the trees were pruned, the unsightly briers and brambles removed, the ground all turfed over, and the headstones re-erected. Mr. Humphrey H. Swift, whose ancestors of more than a century ago lie there, caused the enlargement of the old cemetery by generously pre- senting to the association three and one-half acres of land in the rear of it, to give room for more graves and for private lots. A strip of land was purchased on the west for an avenue, which runs the whole length of the ground. On the east side of this is what was once the tomb of the George and Ellis Mendell families. The heirs presented it to the cemetery. It was brought from the Mendell homestead, which is some two and a half miles to the northeast of the village, and is now a public vault. The association became "The Acushnet Cemetery Corporation" in 1897, under the statutes of the Commonwealth. The officers of the company are now Clement N. Swift, president; John A. Russell, secretary ; Allen Russell, Jr., treasurer ; all of Acushnet. Lots in the new part are for sale, and perpetual care of lots is provided for.
The roadway along the south was on a level with the lot when the church was built on it. The stone wall along its front was not built, of course, till the grade of the road was lowered. There were no trees on the lot till after the church was removed, when they came into growth from seeds which birds probably brought there, and they thereby unconsciously contributed towards making this barren, cheerless place more attractive in appearance.
Many of the earlier coffins were "dug outs." A trunk of a tree was hollowed, the body placed therein, and pieces of board nailed on the ends or cap closed the receptacle.
Headstones with inscriptions to mark the graves were rare before the opening of the last century, and most of them were imported. Few could afford anything more expensive than a rough, unhewn field stone.
When funerals were held in a church that had a bell it was the prac- tice for the bell ringer to station himself in the belfry and watch for the approaching procession. At sight of it the bell struck three times if a child, six if a woman, and nine if a man. Then the number of years of the age of the deceased were tolled slowly, and repeatedly till the pro- cession was halted at the church. This practice has been observed by the writer. Religious services at a burial were very unusual before the year 1700. They were limited to distinguished persons and church officials.
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