USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > History of the churches and ministers, and of Franklin association, in Franklin County, Mass., and an appendix respecting the county > Part 29
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
351
OF SHELBURNE.
and generous and sympathizing heart he was led to open his hand wide to his poor brethren. These things, in the esti- mation of how many heaven only knows, have left an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. The influence of his labors upon that field of his choice, where he enjoyed the heart-felt delight of preaching the gos- pel to the poor, will never be but imperfectly realized till the heavens are filled with angels, and the plaudit is pronounced before assembled worlds, upon this toil-worn brother, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hun- gered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' In view of the change in the wil- derness which this brother has traversed, where he has wept and prayed, and preached the unsearchable riches of Christ, we may with wonder and delight exclaim, What hath God wrought ? The county is now teeming with a population of forty thousand. Churches are planted in almost every town- ship. The Spirit has descended like the early and the latter rain upon the earth. The little hills rejoice on every side, and are breaking forth into singing. * * In the closing scene of his days, he has exhibited an illustrious example of what it really is to continue to the end. Such patience, such fortitude, such cheerfulness have accompanied his long pro- tracted and fatal illness, it has been difficult to realize him to be a sick and dying man. So gently has he passed down life's rough declivities, we have hardly been able to contemplate and realize his entrance into the valley of the shadow of death. By example as well as precept, he has taught men how to live and how to die ; if indeed we can call his exit dying. Such have been the circumstances and manner of his disap- pearance, it must require an effort fully to realize that he has died at all. May we not in our fond recollections, think of . him as a star that never sets, but burns and sparkles and blazes on, till it has melted itself away into heaven ?"
352
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
After leaving college, Mr. Hubbard conferred with his pastor respecting what profession he should pursue. It was difficult for him to decide what choice to make. He said, there are three professions for educated men-the medical, the ministerial and the legal ; that he did not like to be a physician, that he was not good enough to be a minister, and that he thought he was hardly bad enough to be a law- yer. Still, sometime afterwards he commenced studying law with Jonathan Leavitt, Esq., of Greenfield, and contin- ued the study for some length of time. While pursuing his legal studies he called on Dr. Packard of Shelburne, who then had several students in theology with him, and in- quired if he might study divinity with him ; saying he had no hope that he was a christian, and that it would be wrong for him to preach if he was not a christian, but he had thought he should be as likely to become pious to study theology as not to study it. Accordingly he left the study of law for the study of theology, and in the course of a few months gave his theological instructor as good evidence of piety as any of his other students. He was ever afterwards distinguished for devoutness, sincerity, benevolence, kindness and faithful efforts to do good. He published one sermon on the divinity of Christ, which he preached in Shelburne in 1824, at the request of the people in the place. He has one child, a son who has been a Presbyterian pastor in Han- nibal, N. Y., and is now in Dansville, N. Y.
8. Rev. Giles Lyman was born in Belchertown, March 16, 1802, and the same year removed to Goshen, from whence he removed to Shelburne in 1809, where he con- tinued to reside till manhood. He was graduated at Amherst in 1827; and finished his theological studies at Andover in 1831; was ordained as pastor in Jaffrey, N. H., Jan. 11, 1832, and as a colleague with Rev. Laban Ainsworth ; was dismissed, May 10, 1837; then preached at Fowlerville, N. Y., and at Ashburnham and Gardner; and since 1840 has been preaching as a stated supply at Marlboro', N. H. Rev.
353
OF SHELBURNE.
Dr. Barstow of Keene, N. H., preached his ordination sermon. During his ministry in Jaffrey two revivals were enjoyed, and over 100 members were added to the church. Mr. Lyman is a nephew of Rev. Robert Hubbard, the first pastor in Shelburne.
9. Rev. Theophilus Packard, Jr., was born in Shelburne, Feb. 1, 1802, and a further notice of him may be found in the account of the pastors in Shelburne.
10 .* Rev. Levi Pratt was born in Cummington, Oct. 17, 1799, and removed with his parents to Shelburne in Febru- ary, 1802 ; graduated at Amherst in 1826 ; finished the theo- logical course at Andover in 1829 ; was ordained as pastor at Hatfield, June 23, 1830, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Humphrey, then President of Amherst College ; was dismissed from there, May 9, 1835; was installed as pastor in Medford, Aug. 19, 1835, and Rev. Daniel Crosby preached on the occasion ; and died while pastor at Medford, Aug. 9, 1837, in the 38th year of his age. On his tombstone at Medford is the following epitaph : " Of cultivated under- standing, sound judgment, consistent piety and progressive usefulness, he lived esteemed and died lamented by all who knew him."
The American Quarterly Register thus speaks of him : " He died suddenly of the typhus fever. He was a man of an excellent spirit, greatly devoted to his ministerial work, an able and practical sermonizer, lived greatly beloved and died lamented by all who knew him. He hopefully experi- enced religion at the time of the first revival of religion in Amherst College, in 1823." His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. J. A. Albro of Cambridge. Mr. Pratt, previous to his settlement in Hatfield, supplied for several months the pulpit of the Rev. Dr. Codman of Dorchester. He married a grand-daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Lyman of Hatfield, and buried his only child at the age of six months, in 1837. His widow died several years since.
Of the ten Preachers reckoned in the preceding sketches
45
354
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
as sons of Shelburne, seven were natives of the town ; nine were graduates ; nine have been ordained ; one had been a Home missionary, and one a Foreign missionary ; two re- ceived doctorates ; one was appointed a Professor in a Theo- logical Institution ; and seven are living.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
BAPTISTS. The first Baptist church that existed in Shel- burne, was called the Deerfield and Shelburne Baptist church. It seems to have been a Union church, consisting of members belonging to the two towns, and held their meetings alternately in Deerfield and Shelburne. The Bap- tist church in Deerfield (Wisdom) was first formed by itself, as its records show, Feb. 26, 1787. At a meeting of the church, May 31, 1792, it was voted, "that this church shall be known in future by the title of the first Baptist church of Christ in Deerfield and Shelburne." The church met, Aug. 24, 1832, and voted to divide the church into two bodies, according to the residence of the members in the two towns ; and one was called the Deerfield Baptist church, and the other the Shelburne Baptist church. The Shelburne division of the church was dissolved by vote, April 11, 1839. Elder David Long was ordained as pastor of this church, Sept. 21, 1792, and continued their pastor till his death, on the 13th of May, 1831, at the age of 79. Since his death, preaching was supplied in 1832 by Rev. Anthony Case ; in 1833-4 by Rev. B. F. Remington, and afterwards by Elder Dalrymple and others.
The second Baptist church, which is now the only Baptist church in Shelburne, was organized at Shelburne Falls, Nov. 6, 1833, with 19 members, and its members in 1853 num- bered 240. Rev. John Alden supplied this church from 1835 to 1840 ; Rev. William Heath from 1841 to 1844; Rev. Gaius Smith from May 1844 till about the time of his death, Sept. 16, 1844; Rev. Edgar H. Gray from 1844 to 1847 ; Rev. William H. Parmlee from 1848 to 1850; and Rev. E.
355
OF SHELBURNE.
H. Gray since 1850. One Baptist preacher, Rev. Zephaniah Crossman, originated from Shelburne.
METHODISTS. The Methodist church in Shelburne was formed at Shelburne Falls in October, 1842, with 12 mem- bers. This people have a meeting-house just without the limits of Shelburne, on the Buckland side of Deerfield river. They have been supplied by the following preachers, viz., Revs. G. W. Green, H. Clark, A. A. Cooke, W. Ward, Mr. Taylor, S. Cushman, A. G. Bowles, S. W. Johnson, William Butler, and John Burke in 1853, who became a Baptist minister by ordination, Oct. 11, 1853; and since then Mr. Hemenway has supplied them. One Methodist minister, Rev. Stephen Taylor, originated from Shelburne.
UNITARIANS. A Unitarian society was organized in Shel- burne, April 14, 1828; and a Unitarian church was formed in October, 1841, with 17 members. The following preachers have supplied them, viz., Rev. Dan Huntington, Rev. Winthrop Bailey, Rev. Henry Colman, Rev. Dr. Samuel Willard, Rev. Luther Wilson, Rev. Crawford Night- ingale, and Rev. George F. Clark. They have never had a meeting-house, but have occupied halls and other places for their meetings, and have had but little preaching for several years past. Mr. Joseph Anderson of Shelburne was licensed as a Unitarian preacher, but preached only for a short time, and is now engaged in agricultural pursuits in Shelburne.
UNIVERSALISTS. A Universalist society was organized at Shelburne Falls, Feb. 26, 1853. Rev. J. H. Willis has sup- plied them as their preacher since March, 1853. They have no house of worship, but meet in a hall.
SHAKING QUAKERS. Barber's History of Massachusetts says : " The Shakers came into this town in 1782 ; they con- tinued here about three years, when they removed to New Lebanon ; a Mr. Wood was their elder or leader. The oldest house now standing in Shelburne Falls village was built by these people." This house was occupied by them for their religious meetings and ceremonies.
356
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
The Adventists have occasionally held meetings since 1843, in the vicinity of Shelburne Falls. They are few in number. EPISCOPALIANS. Rev. Levi H. Corson lived in this town several years in early life, and was ordained as an Episcopal minister at Hartford, Ct., Jan. 16, 1831.
SUMMARY of preachers who originated from Shelburne : Orthodox Congregationalists, 10. Baptists, 1. Methodists, 1. Unitarians, 1. Episcopalians, 1. Total, 14.
SHUTESBURY.
" The town was first settled mostly by people from Sud- bury in 1738, and was at that period called Road Town." It was incorporated, June 30, 1761, and was named Shutes- oury in honor of Governor Shute, who gave an elegant Bible, still preserved by the town. Its population in 1850 was 912. Three churches have been organized in Shutesbury, viz., one Congregational, one Baptist, one Methodist, and a Universalist society.
CONGREGATIONALISTS.
CHURCH. The Congregational church in Shutesbury was organized, according to the records on the original proprie- tors' books, Oct. 27, 1742. The churches in Deerfield, Hat- field, and Sunderland were represented in the council for the organization of the church. After the dismission of the first pastor, the church was destitute of a settled ministry for a long time, and became greatly reduced. An ecclesi- astical council, composed of members from six neighboring churches, was convened in Shutesbury, Feb. 4, 1806, to resuscitate or reorganize the church. The reorganization took place at that time. According to the result of that council, transcribed into the records of the church, " Eliza- beth Cady, the only surviving resident member of the Con- gregational church, formerly under the pastoral care of the late Rev. Abraham Hill, the first minister of the town," with
357
OF SHUTESBURY.
twenty other persons, was recognized as the Congregational church in Shutesbury. The records of the church during the ministry of the first pastor are not to be found. A daughter of Rev. Mr. Hill informed the second pastor, that the church records were burnt by the family after they re- moved from Shutesbury. No records of the church are to be found beyond 1806.
A committee was appointed to build the first Meeting- house, Oct. 26, 1737 ; and it appears to have been built by 1740. This church and people worshiped for a time in a Union House, which was owned by several denominations, and was dedicated, Jan. 1, 1828, and is now occupied by the Baptists, and occasionally by the Universalists. The Congregational people built their present house of worship in 1836. Revivals have been enjoyed among this people as follows, viz., in 1816, and 19 added to the church ; in 1831, and 20 added ; in 1841, and 6 added ; in 1852, and 8 added. A Council was called for the settlement of difficulties, Dec. 9, 1813. This church and people began to receive aid for the support of the gospel in 1825, and have received $2,319. The amount contributed by this church and people for ob- jects of benevolence in 1852 was $20. The number in the Sabbath School in 1852 was 60. The church in 1853 numbered 48.
Two ministers have been invited to settle as pastors who were not settled, viz .: Rev. Mr. Hubbard, after the dismis- sion of the first pastor, who at first accepted the call, and afterwards recalled his acceptance of it, and was subsequently settled in Ohio; and Rev. Martin Cushman, in 1837, who declined the call on account of ill health. After the dismis- sion of the first pastor in 1778, but little Congregational preaching was enjoyed in Shutesbury, till the settlement of the second pastor in 1816. Rev. Joseph Smallidge, the Baptist minister of the place, was employed to preach for them at different times, particularly in 1785 and 1789. Rev. Jotham Waterman preached for them in 1826, 1827, and
358
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
1828. Rev. Silas Shores supplied them more or less from 1830 to 1833. Rev. Joshua Crosby preached for them some part of the time from 1833 to 1836. Rev. Martin Cushman was their supply principally from 1836 to 1842. Rev. Lot B. Sullivan preached for them from 1842 to 1846. Since the dismission of their last pastor, Rev. James Tisdale has supplied them, and is still their stated supply.
The ministerial lands granted for the support of the first settled minister of the town, were sold according to a vote of the town, passed in December 1784. The property orig- inally designed for the support of the Congregational minis- try in Shutesbury was many years since divided among the different denominations in the town.
In the one hundred and eleven years since this church was formed, it has had settled pastors about 44 years, and has been destitute of the settled ministry about 67 years. This church has had three pastors.
PASTORS. 1 .* REV. ABRAHAM HILL was ordained as the first pastor of this church on the day of its organization, Oct. 27, 1742. Mr. Hill was born in Cambridge in 1717 ; graduated at Cambridge in 1737 ; and after his dismission from Shutesbury, removed to Oxford, where he died, June 8, 1788, aged 71. After a ministry of thirty-five years and four months in Shutesbury, he was dismissed, Feb. 27, 1778. During the time of the political troubles of our country in the war of the revolution, he had great difficulty with his people from political causes. From 1783 to 1787 he pur- sued legal measures for the recovery of the arrears of his salary, and obtained his case in the courts. The American Quarterly Register says : " Mr. Hill and his people were alien- ated from each other, in consequence of his imbibing political sentiments hostile to American liberty. This led to a sus- pension of his labors for two years, after which he was regularly dismissed."
Rev. Martin Cushman, having access to the town records of Shutesbury, and having conversed with citizens of the
359
OF SHUTESBURY.
town well acquainted with Mr. Hill, has furnished the follow- ing account of him : " Mr. Hill was a rank tory, and a very active one. About the commencement of the revolutionary war, three young men, the celebrated Daniel Shays who then lived in Shutesbury, Jeremiah Cady, and a Dickinson, met at Cady's house one evening to take into consideration whether it was their duty to enlist as soldiers. Mr. Hill, on hearing the fact, went to Cady's house, entered it hastily, and said to the young men, ' I understand you think of taking up arms against your king. The king can send a company of horse through the country and take off every head ; and in less than six weeks you will be glad to labor a week for a sheep's head and pluck. This was too much for the young patriots, and they intimated to him, that he had better be off ; upon which he left. The young men continued their delib- erations and reading history until morning ; and adopted the resolution that they had better die than labor a week for a , sheep's head and pluck ; and subsequently entered the army, and were all promoted. At another time, when the whigs were erecting a liberty pole, Mr. Hill made his appearance in company with two other tories, one from New Salem and the other from Pelham. The whigs stood in a ring, and opened on the side Mr. Hill and his companions were approaching, and let them enter ; when Mr. Hill called them rebels and commanded them to disperse three times, while the other tories began to insult Shays and others. They then said to Mr. Hill, that he had better go home ; and on his refusing to do so, Cady took him up and threw him about a rod. He then went home. Mr. Hill continued to assume a great deal of authority, endeavoring to defeat all the public measures for safety, till the people impounded him, and threw herrings over to him to eat ; he was not, however, kept in this condition over night, and probably was kept there but a few hours. Mr. Hill continuing this course, it was thought unsafe to allow him full liberty ; and finally, I think by a vote of the town, he was forbidden to leave his
ยท
360
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
own house, and any one who should see him out was author- ized to shoot him." Daniel Shays, referred to above, after- wards changed his political sentiments, and was the leader in the famous " Shay's Insurrection."
Mr. Hill joined the Hampshire Association at Suffield, Ct., which then extended into Connecticut, Oct. 13, 1747. As the records of the church in Shutesbury contained some things disagreeable to Mr. Hill and his family, they were destroyed by the family after their removal to Oxford. He buried one child in Shutesbury. At his death in Oxford, he left one son and one daughter. The son was a graduate of Harvard University, and was a physician, and removed about 1800 with a large family of sons to the State of Maine. His daughter married Rev. Ebenezer Sparhawk of Templeton. Mr. Hill preached occasionally in Oxford and the neighbor- ing places, and was buried in that town, but his grave cannot now be found.
2. REV. JOHN TAYLOR was settled as the second pastor of the church, Jan. 17, 1816, and Rev. Dr. Crane of North- bridge preached the sermon on the occasion, which was published. After a ministry of about six years and four months in Shutesbury he was dismissed, May 15, 1822, and has resided since then in Northbridge where he now lives. Mr. Taylor was born in New Salem, Aug. 6, 1781; gradu- ated at Brown in 1809; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Payson of Rindge, N. H. ; was licensed in 1812; supplied for short periods in Warren, (then Western,) in Warwick, and in various other places. He preached in Shutesbury two years previous to his ordination there. Since leaving Shutesbury, he spent one season in Pennsylvania, and preached one summer in North New Salem, where he was instrumental of preparing the way for the organization of the Congregational church in that part of the town, and where some revival of religion followed his labors. At three years of age Mr. Taylor removed to Sutton, where he lived ten years, and then returned to New Salem. He mar-
361
OF SHUTESBURY.
ried Hannah, the third daughter of Rev. Dr. John Crane of Northbridge. Since his residence in Northbridge, he has been employed chiefly in agricultural pursuits.
3. REV. EZRA NEWTON Was ordained as the third pastor of this church, March 1, 1848, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Austin Cary. After a ministry of about two years and six months he was dismissed, Sept. 10, 1850. Mr. Newton was born in Princeton, Sept. 30, 1818; graduated at Dartmouth in 1843; studied theology with Rev. Sewall Harding, then of East Medway ; was licensed to preach by Mendon Association, April 15, 1846 ; supplied from 1846 to 1847 in Dighton ; after leaving Shutesbury supplied in Kingston, N. H., Raymond, N. H., South Hampton, N. H., and taught school in Medway ; and acted as agent for the New Hampshire Bible Society ; and in 1853 was preaching in Dighton. Mr. Newton married Miss Clark of East Med- way. In 1847 he received an injury, which has seriously impaired his health, and more or less has debarred him from ministerial labors.
Of the three pastors settled over this church all were dis- missed, and removed from the town; two are living; and the average length of their ministry in Shutesbury was about fifteen years.
CONGREGATIONAL PREACHERS ORIGINATING FROM SHUTESBURY.
1. Rev. Dyer Ball was born in West Boylston June 3, 1796, and with his father's family removed to Shutesbury when about six or eight years old; studied two years at Yale College, and one or two years at Union College, and graduated at the latter college in 1828 ; studied theology for a short time at New Haven, and was licensed in Connecticut in 1828; lived in Shutesbury in 1830 and 1831; preached some at Erving ; was ordained as an Evangelist at Shutes- bury, March 9, 1831, and Rev. Nathan Perkins preached on the occasion ; went as a home missionary to Florida in 1833 ; studied medicine at Charleston, S. C. from 1835 to 1837,
46
362
CHURCHES AND MINISTERS
and preached to the soldiers and to the colored people ; was ordained as a foreign missionary at Charleston, S. C. in 1837 ; embarked on his foreign mission, May 25, 1838, with his wife and children ; reached Singapore, Sept. 17, 1838; in 1841 went to China ; buried his wife in 1844, and his two sons in 1844 and 1845 ; went to Canton in 1845, and has resided there ever since. He acts both as a missionary and physician. His two daughters are married to missionaries in the service of the Presbyterian Board.
In a letter to the author, dated Canton, China, June 18, 1852, Mr. Ball says : " I am with a few others laboring in the largest missionary field of the world-certainly if we look at the numbers that fill this empire. We can report progress. Light is beginning to beam on this benighted land ; knowledge, religious knowledge is spreading. Some souls, we trust, are truly converted. But we work chiefly by faith. China is given to the Redeemer. It is in the uttermost parts of the earth, and will sooner or later be his spiritual possession. Hundreds of millions of this genera- tion, and of some succeeding generations, may go down to people an idolater's grave, and receive an idolater's reward. But China is destined to become a Christian land. It will yield to the influence of the gospel sent to the heart by the Holy Spirit. To it the church ere long will turn her eye, for its salvation put forth her united efforts, and spend her energies. God has her in training for this unparalleled work- the conversion of all China-the conversion of 350 millions of souls."
2 .* Rev. Oliver Hill was born in Bridgewater, Sept 12, 1781; in 1791 he removed with his parents to Shutesbury ; in his eighteenth year made a profession of religion ; never graduated at any college, but received the honorary degree of A. M. from Williams College in 1817; studied at the Academies in New Salem and Taunton; studied theology with Rev. David Gurney of Middleborough, and Rev. Dr. Nathan Perkins of West Hartford, Conn. ; was licensed by
363
OF SHUTESBURY.
the Plymouth Association, May 1, 1811; in 1813 went as a missionary of the Connecticut Missionary Society to Penn- sylvania ; was ordained as pastor of the churches in Laws- ville and New Milford, Penn., Feb. 16, 1814, and the ser- vices were held in a barn ; was dismissed from there in the spring of 1819 ; then preached at Great Bend, Penn. ; and one year as a missionary in that region ; was installed as pastor in Union, Broome Co., N. Y., in June, 1824 ; was dis- missed from there in 1830 on account of ill health. In his Journal, under date 1831, he says, he has preached twenty years ; been settled twice as a pastor ; preached in five States, in twenty-four counties, and in one hundred towns ; has en- joyed six revivals under his labors; received eleven com- missions from the Connecticut Missionary Society, and four commissions from the American Home Missionary Society. In 1827 he removed to Michigan, and in November 1837 was settled as pastor of the church in Augusta, Washtenaw Co., Mich .; and was dismissed from there in 1841 ; then preached in various places in that region, and was preaching in Oter- ville, Wayne Co., Mich., when taken ill with his last sick- ness ; and died at Augusta, Mich., Dec. 23, 1844, aged 63. The place of his last pastoral labors, and of his death, was in a part of the town of Augusta called Stoney Creek. At his settlement in Pennsylvania, Rev. Ebenezer Kingsbury preached the sermon. He seems to have belonged to the Bap- tist church in Shutesbury, for a time ; and was dismissed from it, April 30, 1807, and received to the Congregational church in that town, June 7, 1807. He buried his wife in February, 1838. He left his second wife a widow, and left three sons and one daughter, the most of whom live in Ypsilanti, Mich. One son, Rev. Samuel N. Hill, is a Presbyterian minister in Rochester, Michigan.
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.