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 32
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And in whatever he undertook, he was almost recklessly unsparing of himself. His own convenience, interests, time and health, seemed literally the last thing he ever thought of. Hence he was led unquestionably to an unjustifiable excess of labor, which the remonstrances of friends were inadequate to restrain, and which brought him to an un- timely end.
" As a christian he was unusually spiritual. Should I select any trait as peculiarly striking, it would be his prompt, but loving and sweet submissiveness to God. Some of us remember the affecting remarks which he made on this subject, at the meeting of the conference at Shelburne, a few weeks ago. He spoke of free and confiding intimacy with God in Christ, comparing the christian to a little child flinging his arms around his parent's neck, and affectionately whispering his wants in his ear. I thought, at the time, that he was describing the habitual attitude of his own soul.
" As a preacher and writer, he had ability ; as his Prize Tract and his Report on the Desecration of the Sabbath show. But his peculiar characteristic was unction ; he was a son of consolation rather than a Boanerges ; a John rather than a Peter. He spoke to the heart; and the peculiar warmth of his soul glowed in his sermons and melted the hearts of his hearers. In doctrine he was incorrupt, holding forth those peculiar truths which of old have been the glory of our churches. He had a power of keen analysis and nice distinction, which we have seen exercised in private, and in his more profound investigations. But his preaching was aimed to awaken sinners and to edify the church, in the pre- sentation of the simple and affecting motives of the gospel.
" As a pastor, he felt an absorbing interest in his people. Truth would have allowed him to address them in the words of Paul : 'Being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted to you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.' And that body, worn out in labors for you, tells you what he
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was willing to do-what he has done-he has given you himself.
" In hours of stupor, during his last illness, I am told by his physician, that nothing would rouse him so quickly as the mention of any subject pertaining to the interests of his people. The physician and attendants repeatedly tried to rouse him, but in vain ; when, directly after, some of the people coming in and speaking of the interests of the church, it would rouse him at once.
" In his relation to the churches, generally, he was ever ready for counsel and for labor. He was one of the most active in forming and executing plans to promote the general interests of the churches of the county and their benevolent enterprises. Few men of only nine years' standing in the ministry had been called on so many councils, or had so great influence in them.
" How dear he was to the circle of ministers in which he moved ; what reason we all had to love and trust him ; what a sore bereavement we feel has come upon us ; I can- not trust myself to say. He was a true yoke-fellow. We did love him ! We are bereaved. God help us to say, Thy will be done."
The following epitaph is on his gravestone : " His uniform christian deportment, his zeal, fidelity and success in the cause of Christ, have engraven his memorial imperishably upon the hearts of those who knew him." "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." Mr. Cary left two children; and his widow has married Rev. Matthew Kingman of Bethel, Vt.
10. REV. HENRY B. HOSFORD was ordained as the tenth pastor of this church, May 28, 1850, and after a ministry of about three years was dismissed, March 2, 1853. Mr. Hos- ford was born in Williamstown in 1819; graduated at Wil- liams in 1843 ; was a tutor in Williams College from 1844 to 1848; studied theology at that institution ; was licensed by the Berkshire Association in 1847 ; after leaving Sunder-
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OF SUNDERLAND.
land removed to Williamstown, and supplied the place of Professor Tatlock in Williams College during the temporary absence of the Professor, till he was appointed to a Profes- sorship of Intellectual Philosophy and Rhetoric in the Western Reserve College, in the fall of 1853, and accepted the appointment.
11. REV. SERENO D. CLARK was installed as the eleventh pastor of this church, May 31, 1853, and is now pastor there. As Mr. Clark was formerly a pastor in Ashfield, a further notice of him may be found in the account of the pastors in that place.
This church has had more pastors than any other church in the county. Of its eleven pastors seven have been dismissed ; one was killed by the Indians ; one became a member of Congress ; three are living ; and the average length of their ministry in Sunderland was about nine years.
CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS WHO ORIGINATED FROM SUNDERLAND.
1 .* Rev. Edward Billings is supposed to have been a native of Sunderland ; and, as he was a pastor in Greenfield, a further notice of him may be found in the account of the pastors of the first church in that town.
2. Rev. Eli F. Cooley was born in Sunderland, Oct. 15, 1781, and in 1796 removed to Hartford, Ct .; graduated at Nassau Hall in 1806; studied theology at that institution with the President, Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Smith ; was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, N. J., in October, 1809; was ordained as pastor in Cherry Valley, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1811, and was dismissed from there about 1820; was in- stalled at Middletown Point, N. J., in September, 1820 ; and dismissed from there about 1823 ; was installed pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Trenton, N. J., June 4, 1823, where he now preaches. In 1846 Mr. Cooley had 7,500 copies of the ancient New England Primer, such as he studied in his childhood in Sunderland, printed for distribu- tion among the young of his flock and among others.
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3. Rev. Joseph Field was born in Sunderland, and was a pastor in Charlemont many years, and at length became a Unitarian. A further notice of him may be found in the account of the pastors of the church in West Charle- mont.
4. Rev. Alpheus Graves was born in Sunderland, and was settled as a pastor in Heath ; and a further notice of him may be found in the account of the pastors in Heath.
5 .* Rev. Horatio N. Graves was born in Sunderland, April 7, 1806; graduated at Yale in 1826; studied theology at New Haven ; spent a year as an agent in behalf of Sabbath Schools in Ohio and Michigan ; preached one year in Mid- dlefield ; was settled as pastor in Townsend, Vt., in Feb- ruary, 1833; was dismissed from there on account of ill health in September, 1848; resided four years at Hemp- stead, on Long Island, N. Y., and engaged in agricultural pur- suits and preaching occasionally, as his health would allow ; in 1852 removed to Orange, N. J., where he died Oct. 21, 1852, aged 46. He enjoyed the instruction, example and prayers of a pious mother. At five years of age he had read through the New Testament. In 1839, ninety persons were admitted to his church in Townsend, Vt. He married Miss Martha Arms of Conway, by whom he had four sons and one daughter; he buried one son in 1845. His ordina- tion sermon was preached by Rev. Tertius S. Clarke. His labors were highly acceptable and useful to the people of his charge. Although he experienced trials among them, strong and ardent attachment subsisted between him and them. He was naturally modest, diffident, and inclined to put a low estimate upon himself. Several times he was re- quested by his hearers to publish some of his sermons, but he would decline, saying, "They are of no merit." In his sickness he expressed great humility. At the approach of death he manifested strong confidence in Christ, saying, " I have committed all to him. To whom else shall I go." He died in peace, and in hope of a glorious immortality
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through faith in a crucified Saviour. Rev. Hollis Read preached his funeral sermon.
6. Rev. Austin O. Hubbard, was born in Sunderland, Aug. 9, 1800, and removed from there in 1804 to Stanstead, Canada East ; graduated at Yale in 1824; studied theology under the direction of the Baltimore Presbytery in Maryland, and likewise, after being licensed and ordained, spent some two or three years from 1830 as a student in the Seminary at Princeton, N. J. ; was licensed by the Presbytery of Baltimore in October, 1826, and, after preaching a year and a half, was ordained as a missionary to labor in Frederic County, Md., where he preached two or three years ; from 1833 to 1834 instructed in Biblical Literature in Princeton Seminary ; labored three years as a missionary in Melbourne, Lower Canada ; in 1841 was installed as a pastor in Hard- wick, Vt., where he remained as pastor about three years, and resided there about two years afterwards ; in 1845 took charge of a church in Barnet, Vt., where he remained as a preacher till 1851 ; since which time he has been employed as a teacher, and has occasionally supplied neighboring churches, residing still in Barnet, Vt. The late Rev. Dr. . Nevins of Baltimore preached his ordination sermon ; and Rev. President Wheeler of Burlington College preached his installation sermon. Mr. Hubbard has published a small English Grammar and five Discourses on the Sabbath.
7 .* Rev. Jonathan Hubbard, it is supposed, was born in Hatfield, about 1702, and removed in early life to Sunder- land where he lived till manhood; graduated at Yale in 1724; was ordained as pastor at Sheffield, Oct. 22, 1735 ; was dismissed from there in 1764; continued to reside in the town, and died there, July 6, 1765, in his 62d year. He had seven sons, all of whom were carried to the church and baptized when they were eight days old. Says a cor- respondent, " He owned considerable land, and at one time came near being dealt with by the church for being so worldly-minded as to raise twenty bushels of potatoes in one
50
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year, which was a new thing in those days." His widow died, March 28, 1776. The following epitaph is recorded on his gravestone in Sheffield, viz. : " The Rev. Jonathan Hubbard was the first pastor of the church in Sheffield. He was blest with a lively genius and solid judgment. His public discourses were judicious, and his conversation in- structive." He was Moderator of the Council that tried the case of President Edwards at Northampton, and dismissed him from that church, June 22, 1850.
8 .* Rev. Ochus G. Hubbard was born in Sunderland, Jan. 7, 1805 ; graduated at Amherst in 1829; finished the theological course at Andover in 1832 ; was ordained as a pastor in Leominster, May 23, 1833, and Rev. Dr. John Brown, then of Hadley, preached the sermon ; was dismissed from there, June 17, 1851; then preached at Wolfboro', N. H., at Erving, at Cape Elizabeth, Me., and at East Fal- mouth ; at the last named place he died, Aug. 14, 1852, aged 47. Previous to his settlement at Leominster, he preached at Sunderland, and was invited to settle there. During his ministry at Leominster, his congregation in- creased from 80 to 300. His remains were removed from East Falmouth to the cemetery in Leominster, and interred in presence of a congregation of five or six hundred people. His former church and society have erected a beautiful mon- ument to his memory, at an expense of $130. Upon it is inscribed the passage, "Remember the words I spake while I was yet with you." Mr. Hubbard published a dedication sermon. He married Miss Martha, a daughter of Deacon Jacob Smith of Hadley, by whom he had five children, three of whom are living.
The following extract of an obituary notice of him was published in the Puritan Recorder : " Having completed his course of theological studies, he soon after settled over the Orthodox society in Leominster, and continued there about nineteen years. The church and society, at first small and feeble, were greatly increased and prospered under his min-
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istry. His amiable disposition, and uniformly consistent, dignified, and christian deportment, won for him the respect and confidence even of those who differed from him in their religious views ; and he was often associated with them in the superintendence of schools, and other important matters relating to the general interests of the town. He was a dis- criminating and successful preacher, a wise counselor, and a safe guide to the inquirer after the way of salvation. The various objects of christian benevolence found in him a faith- ful and efficient friend.
" His course was ever onward ; but he was not given to innovation and change, and never adhered to custom without reason, nor was he willing to destroy foundations, for the sake of laying others by his own hand. He was not one who defeats his object by the measures pursued ; but with a well disciplined mind and comprehensive views, he ju- diciously and faithfully sought to do good. His piety was deep and ardent, and his character was a beautiful exempli- fication of the simplicity and godly sincerity of the gospel, and calculated to convince those who were acquainted with him that he was sincere, earnest, true to the cause of his divine Master. In his last moments he calmly and con- fidently reposed in the covenant faithfulness of God, and his end was peace.
" The beloved and affectionate people of his charge have met with a severe, not to say an irreparable loss. After passing through many trials in regard to the ministry, they had just begun to concentrate their affections on him, whose loss they now deplore. May they look to the great Shep- herd, who is able to provide, that he would send them a man after his own heart to break to them the bread of life. For their kindness and sympathy with the deceased and his family, they will not lose their reward." " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ; they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them."
9. Mr. Rodolphus B. Hubbard was born in Sunderland in
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September, 1803; lived for a few years in childhood in South Deerfield, and then returned to Sunderland ; gradu- ated at Union in 1829; studied theology with Rev. Nathan Perkins of East Amherst ; was licensed by the Hampshire Association in 1837 ; preached for short periods in South Deerfield, Hatfield, Leverett, and several other places, but for several years past has relinquished preaching. He was never ordained. He has been employed considerably in teaching. He has been a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and of the Executive Council. He resides in Sunderland.
Of the nine preachers reckoned as sons of Sunderland, eight were probably natives of the town ; eight were grad- uates ; eight have been ordained ; one became a Unitarian ; and five are living.
Rev. Pindar Field was born in Sunderland, but removed at the age of one year to Hawley, and is reckoned among the ministers of that town. Rev. Eli Smith, late of Hollis, N. H., resided here for a time before entering upon the ministry. Rev. Samuel Fisher, D. D., was born in Sun- derland, but soon removed to Conway, and a notice of him may be found in the account of the Conway ministers.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
BAPTISTS. The Baptist church in the north part of this town, called the Sunderland and Montague Baptist Church, as a portion of the members reside in Montague, was organ- ized in 1822. The following ministers have supplied this church, viz., Revs. Hosea Trumbull, Elias Johnson, Elijah Montague, Erastus Andrews from 1831 to 1835, and from 1836 to 1839, and from 1844 till this time; Lorenzo Rice, Artemas Piper, and Samuel Everett. Rev. Noah Baker and Rev. Nathaniel Rice, Baptist ministers, originated from Sun- derland.
UNITARIANS. One Congregational minister originating from Sunderland, became a Unitarian, viz., Rev. Joseph Field of Charlemont.
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OF WARWICK.
SUMMARY of preachers who originated from Sunderland : Orthodox Congregationalists, 9 ; Baptists, 2 ; Unitarians, 1. Total, 12.
WARWICK.
According to Hayward's Gazetteer of Massachusetts, " the territory of this town was granted in 1736 to the descendants of thirty-nine soldiers who went from Roxbury and Brookline, under Captain Andrew Gardner, in an ex- pedition to Canada in 1690; all of whom perished, save one, by the name of Newell. The tract was called Roxbury Canada, until its incorporation by its present name in 1763, [Feb. 17.] It was first settled about 1744, and the first church was formed, and the first minister, the Rev. Lemuel Hedge, was settled in 1760. The Indian name of the terri- tory was Shaomet." The population of the town in 1850 was 1,021. There have been organized in this town three churches, viz., one Congregational church, that has become Unitarian within half a century, one Orthodox Congrega- tional, one Baptist, and a Universalist society.
ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONALISTS.
FIRST CHURCH. The first Congregational church in War- wick was organized, Dec. 3, 1760, with twenty-six members, on the day of the ordination of the first pastor. It became Unitarian since the beginning of the present century. "The first Meeting-house was raised, April 28, 1756, but was not finished so as to be occupied till the spring of 1760. The second meeting-house was erected probably in 1787, but not completed till the autumn of 1789. The third house of worship belonging to this people, and the one now occupied by them, was built in 1836." Between the death of the first pastor and the settlement of the second, Rev. John Mellens of Lancaster preached to this people several months. Just previous to the settlement of the third pastor, the late
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Rev. Phineas Cook preached for a time to this people. This church had existed about fifty-four years, when its third pastor, who was their first Unitarian pastor, was settled. In this time, the church had a settled ministry about fifty years, and was destitute of 'settled pastors about four years. Two pastors were settled over this church before it became Unitarian.
PASTORS. 1 .* REV. LEMUEL HEDGE was settled as the first pastor of this church on the day of its organization, Dec. 3, 1760. He was born in Hardwick about 1733; grad- uated at Cambridge in 1759 ; and, after a ministry of nearly seventeen years, died while a pastor at Warwick, Oct. 17, 1777, in the 44th year of his age. On his monument is the following inscription : " In private life he was cheerful, ex- emplary, and benevolent. In his ministerial character, faith- ful, solemn, and instructive. In full belief of the truths he preached to others, he fell asleep in Jesus, with the christian hope of rising again to eternal life."
His ordination sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Forbes. He was the father of Levi Hedge, LL. D., a professor in Cambridge College, and the author of Hedge's Logic.
Mr. Hedge appears to have experienced great trouble on account of political differences, as will be seen by the fol- lowing extracts. On the 6th of March, 1775, the town of Warwick voted, " The inhabitants do concur with the resolve and recommend of the Committee of Correspondence of Northfield, Athol and Warwick to disarm and confine the Rev. Mr. Hedge to the town of Warwick, without a permit from the Committee of Correspondence of said town."
" July 17. The meeting having assembled at the adjourn- ment, the committee on Mr. Hedge's matters made a report as follows : Mr. Hedge proposes that he will, upon the town's rescinding the vote to disarm and confine him to said town, pledge his honor that he will not influence or preju- dice the minds of the people against the common cause which the country is engaged in; and will join with the
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town in three proposals : 1st. To leave it to the General Assembly of the province ; 2d. To a mutual council ; 3d. To any set of judicious men the town and he would agree on. On the report's being made, a motion was made to re- scind the vote, but it passed in the negative."
The American Quarterly Register makes this statement respecting Mr. Hedge : " He was much persecuted as un- patriotic, but his annoyance could not have been of long duration, as his life was cut off in its prime. Of his perse- cutions, a specimen is given in the following anecdote. A lawless company, forty or more, had taken him into custody and brought him to Northampton, with a view to his imprisonment there ; but their course being seen to be wholly without warrant, they were enforced to release him. The excitement and fatigue to which he was then subjected, were said to have occasioned the fever by which he was shortly carried off."
Rev. Preserved Smith, the third pastor of the church, has given the following sketch of Mr. Hedge : "At the time of his settlement the town was new and the population sparse, so that he was obliged, in some instances, in performing parochial duties, to find his way from house to house by the aid of marked trees. He is said to have been a man of good talents, of great energy of character, and of liberal views in theology. Those who recollected him and sat under his ministry, ever spake of him as an earnest preacher and strongly endeared to his people ; being ready to bear with them the sacrifices incident to building up a parish amid a primitive settlement. His ministry appears to have been highly blessed, as his church included nearly all the congregation, so far as the heads of families were con- cerned. If any such did not belong to the church, they were the exceptions and not the rule. When the revolution commenced he was suspected, by some who were ultra lib- erty men and violent and rash in their measures, of leaning towards the tory side of the controversy which agitated the
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country ; and the ill treatment which he received from that source so wounded his sensitive mind that it preyed on his health, and no doubt tended to accelerate the disease which terminated his life. His death was felt to be a great loss to his people, for he had been to them a father, counsellor and friend. They had shared in his tender and fraternal sympa- thies under all their hardships, privations and trials ; and the society which he had led by the hand, in its infancy, seemed to require his fostering care to give it a greater maturity and growth. But God, who does not forget his people, did not forsake this little flock. His friends did not think him enough of a tory to impair his patriotism. A letter from him was found in the pocket of his friend and classmate, Gen. Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill in 1775. In that letter he professed a sincere interest in the liberty of his country, though he had doubts as to the issue of the struggle in which his countrymen were about to engage."
2 .* REV. SAMUEL REED was settled as the second pastor of this church, Sept. 23, 1779, and after a ministry of about thirty-three years, died while a pastor at Warwick, July 31, 1812, aged 57. Mr. Reed was born in Middleboro' in 1755; graduated at Yale in 1777; and his funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Joseph Kilburn of Wendell.
Rev. Preserved Smith, his successor at Warwick, says of him: "He entered literally into the labors of his prede- cessor, and successfully continued the work which had been so well begun. He possessed an original mind, and had he enjoyed larger opportunities for literary and theological cul- ture, he would have held a high rank in his profession. He belonged to the Arminian class of divines ; and his preaching, it is said, was much of a practical character, seasoned with good common sense. He was a man of great social quali- ties, and his conversational powers were unusually brilliant. It was owing to his agreeable intercourse with his people, that he was so much indebted for the stronghold he had on their esteem and affections. His ministry was peaceful and
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prosperous, during which the town reached the acme of its population, and under which the church was much in- creased, numbering at the time of his decease one hundred and fifty. He died in 1812, in the 57th year of his age, and in the 33d of his ministry, deeply lamented by his be- reaved flock, who, in token of their respect for his memory, have erected a marble table over his grave, on which is graven a faithful delineation of his ministerial character and virtues." The following is the epitaph :
" He had strong powers of mind, Was bold in the defence of the truth, Severe against wickedness, Mild towards the humble, Pitiful to the distressed, Affectionate to his friends, Frank and sincere in all his professions, Rational and fervent in his piety, Faithful in his pastoral duties, He taught the christian doctrine in its simplicity and power, He maintained the freedom of the human mind,
The unchangeable obligations of moral duty, The impartial justice of God, and future retribution. Under the vital impression of this faith
He felt and communicated the cheering entertainments of life, And enjoyed the richest solace and triumph in death."
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