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 5
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OF BERNARDSTON.
" He showed his fondness for reading as long as he lived. Many hours he daily spent in listening to Baxter's Dying Thoughts, to various religious biographies, but especially to the Bible. The book of Job was read to him several times. He would inquire with the deepest interest the opinions of those around him on various texts. Sometimes he would look out at the window upon the thousand objects which had been so long familiar to his eye. 'God knows,' he said, ' that there are few who look with more delight than I do on the beauties of an opening spring. I thought it would please Him to let my eyes behold them once more, but it seems otherwise.' He planted various kinds of grain in glasses, and watched from day to day the beautiful blades which grew from them, and which continued to grow long after the hand that planted them was motionless in death. This resignation, so clearly shown by his manner, his coun- tenance and his voice, was sometimes lost in rapture, in reflecting on the perfect government of God. A verse of Watts's Sapphic Ode was often on his lips :
' Now to the goodness of my Lord and Master I will submit all I have or hope for ; Sweetly as babes sleep, will I give my life up, When called to yield it.'
He would converse with his friends and former parishion- ers who came to visit him, in respect to their spiritual good, forgetting his own weakness and disease ; and would urge them, in the most earnest manner, to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure.
" At one time he said, 'For a few months I have enjoyed much of the presence of Christ. It is wonderful that he gives me such sweet peace in contemplating his character.' The last week of his life he spent in more ease than any preceding one of his sickness. He was confined to his bed, and much of the time was under the influence of opiates. Yet his mind was occasionally clear, and he seemed to be as
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well aware as either of his friends that the hour of his de- parture was near. Every morning there was a more deathly paleness on his countenance. But the same peaceful sub- mission still appeared. Every pain, every struggle for breath, was met with the same heroic fortitude. Again and again would he minister consolation to his distressed chil- dren, and assure them of his perfect willingness to leave the world. When his mind was so clouded that he was unable to hold a connected conversation with his friends, his voice would be lifted up in prayer, and for some minutes every faculty of his soul, and every feeling of his heart, would seem to resume their former place. Even during the night before his death he seemed still conscious of his situation. ' I thought,' he said, ' that I was on a bed of roses, and they said that they would carry me safely through.' One of his last expressions was, 'I thank thee, blessed God, for these sweet thoughts.' Sunday morning, April 6th, he seemed to be in a dying state, and was apparently unconscious of what was passing around him during the day. About 5 o'clock, P. M., he was observed to swallow, which he had not done during the day. His youngest child, in the hope that con- sciousness was about returning, seized the moment with avidity, and said, 'Father, we think you are going to heaven. Mother, we believe, is already there. We will try to meet you there. Father, do you not hope you will meet all your children in heaven?' He turned on her his dying eye, and distinctly answered, 'Yes.' It was his last word. In a few moments his emancipated spirit, we cannot doubt, joined that blissful society where there is no more pain, and where tears are wiped from off all faces. Welcomed, we are sure he was, by not a few loved ones, who had gone before him, the wise, the good, the venerable, all washed in the blood of the Lamb, and, through eternity, to sing his praises.
" The funeral solemnities were attended by a large con- course of people. The sermon was preached by his excel-
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OF BERNARDSTON.
lent and greatly beloved brother and friend, the Rev. Pay- son Williston, of Easthampton."
2. REV. BANCROFT FOWLER was installed pastor, Dec. 21, 1836, and Rev. Roger C. Hatch of Warwick preached on the occasion ; and was dismissed Dec. 31, 1838. For further notice of him, see the account of the pastors of the second Congregational church in Northfield, where he was settled previous to his settlement in Bernardston. His ministry in Bernardston was about two years.
3. REV. FREDERIC JANES was installed pastor, Nov. 4, 1840, and Rev. Charles Wiley, of Northampton, preached the sermon. He was born in Northfield, May 6, 1808; pur- sued collegiate studies at Yale and Amherst, but did not graduate ; spent several years in teaching, and in studying theology ; preached in North Walton, N. Y., from 1837 to 1838, and in Colchester, N. Y., from 1838 to 1840; was dismissed from Bernardston, Nov. 9, 1843; installed in Pel- ham in 1844, and Rev. Richard M. Chipman preached the sermon ; dismissed from Pelham in 1845; the three follow- ing years was an agent of the American Protestant Society ; then had charge of a female seminary .one year, in Western New York ; then preached in Michigan a short time ; has been residing several years in New York city, and is now there, editing the " Christian Parlor Magazine." His minis- try in Bernardston was about three years. He was ordained as an Evangelist in New York city, Nov. 8, 1837, and Rev. Joshua Leavitt preached on the occasion.
4. REV. CHARLES KENDALL was installed Jan. 24, 1844, and Rev. T. Packard, Jr., preached the sermon. Mr. Ken- dall was born in Westminster, Feb. 14, 1813; graduated at Amherst in 1839; finished the theological course at the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1842 ; preached as stated supply at South Hadley Falls, previous to his set- tlement in Bernardston. He is still nominally a pastor in Bernardston, and in the tenth year of his ministry there, 7
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though he has not been with them since December, 1853, and is residing in Mercersburg, Pa.
Of the four pastors of this church, three were dismissed ; three are still living ; and the average length of their minis- try in Bernardston is about four years and a half.
CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS ORIGINATING FROM BERNARDSTON.
1 .* Rev. Samuel C. Allen was born in Bernardston, and having been settled as an Orthodox Congregational pastor over the first Congregational church in Northfield, a further notice of him is given in the account of the Orthodox pastors of that church.
2 .* Rev. Elijah Wollage was born in Bernardston, about the year 1769; graduated at Dartmouth in 1791; ordained at Guilford, Vt., March 13, 1793; dismissed from Guilford, April 10, 1797; settled in Cambridge, Vt., from 1805 to 1806 ; again preached in Guilford, Vt., for a time, and left there in 1818; settled as pastor in Rockingham, Vt., from 1818 to 1821 ; settled as pastor at Pultney, N. Y., about seven years ; supplied at Wheeler, N. Y., and at Rock Stream, in the town of Starkey, N. Y. ; and died at Rock Stream, town of Starkey, Yates County, N. Y., July 18, 1847, aged 78.
The following obituary notice of him was published at the time of his death :- " More than half a century he la- bored in the ministry with great acceptance and usefulness. As the pastor of various congregations in Vermont, during the space of thirty years, his 'praise is still in the churches ;' and for the last twenty-five years of his life in Western New York, with a mind unimpaired by age, and a body free from disease, he ever exemplified the truth he so earnestly preached to others, by his daily walk and conversation. He fell, as it were, with his armor on, being struck down by an acute and rapid disease, while preparing sermons for the ap- proaching Sabbath. A devoted minister, a good man, a kind husband and father, he has gone to his rest, and his works follow him." His funeral sermon was preached by Rev.
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OF BERNARDSTON.
Ethan Pratt. The following is the epitaph on his grave- stone, viz. : "For more than half a century he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and has now gone to receive his reward."
Of the two Congregational ministers who originated from Bernardston, both were natives of the town; both were graduates ; both became pastors; one left the ministry and became a Unitarian, and was a Representative to Congress ; and both are dead. Rev. Samuel H. Riddel passed a short period of his early life in Bernardston, but a longer period in Gill, in connection with which place, a further account of him is given. Rev. Alonzo Sanderson was born in Ber- nardston, but early removed to Deerfield. A notice of him is given in the account of Deerfield ministers.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
BAPTISTS. The first Baptist church, which was consti- tuted in 1789, existed only a few years, and was disbanded. Its only minister was Rev. Levi Hodge. The second Bap- tist church was organized in 1808, and in 1853 had 96 mem- bers; and the following ministers have supplied it, viz. : Revs. Josiah Richardson, Peter Rogers, Edward Green, Stephen S. Nelson, Benjamin F. Remington, Erastus An- drews, Aaron Burbank, Charles Farrar, John Green, George E. Fuller, and Calvin L. Baker in 1853. It is not known that any Baptist minister ever originated from Bernardston.
METHODISTS. A Methodist class was formed in 1799, and the church was organized July 1, 1852. They have had preaching only a portion of the time. Among the preachers who have supplied them, are Revs. Messrs. Bromley, Ward, J. S. Day, John Beckwith, Horace Smith, and Randall Mitchell in 1853.
UNITARIANS. The Unitarian church was originally an Or- thodox Congregational church, and organized in Deerfield, Nov. 25, 1741, and became Unitarian about half a century since, as stated in the account of Orthodox Congregation- alists in Bernardston.
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Rev. Timothy F. Rogers was ordained over the church, Sept. 20, 1809, and died while pastor in B., Jan. 26, 1847, aged 66 ; Rev. Asarelah Bridge was installed colleague pas- tor, Feb. 18, 1846, and preached his farewell sermon, March 31, 1850 ; Rev. Thomas Weston supplied from December, 1850, to January, 1852; Rev. William W. Hebbard began to supply in April, 1852, and still continues to supply this church and people. No Unitarian minister is known to have originated from Bernardston ; but Rev. Hon. Samuel C. Allen, who was for a short time a pastor of the first Congre- gational church in Northfield, after leaving the ministry, be- came a Unitarian. For a further notice of whom, see the account of the Congregational pastors in Northfield.
UNIVERSALISTS. The Universalist society in Bernardston, was established June 19, 1820; and its preachers have been Revs. John Brooks, Aurin Bugbee, R. S. Sanborn, William S. Ballou, Orrin Perkins, and Hymen B. Butler in 1853.
In the centre of Bernardston, within a circle of a radius of forty rods, are five Meeting-houses belonging to Unitarians, Orthodox Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, and Uni- versalists.
SUMMARY of Preachers originating from Bernardston-Or- thodox Congregationalists, 2. Total, 2.
BUCKLAND.
A part of the territory of this town was taken from Charle- mont ; and the first settlements were made on the Deerfield river, and in the south part of the town. A Mr. White and Captain Nahum Ward were among the first settlers. The town was incorporated April 14, 1779. Its population in 1850 was 1,056. Three churches have been organized in Buckland, which are still in existence, viz., one Congrega- tional, one Baptist, and one Methodist.
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OF BUCKLAND.
CONGREGATIONALISTS.
CHURCH. The Congregational church was organized in October, 1785, with eighteen members. The first Meeting- house was built in 1793, and was rebuilt in 1846. Previous to the erection of their house of worship the congregation for some time held their meetings in a barn. Eight revivals have been enjoyed, resulting in the addition of about two hundred and thirty to the church. The first in 1799 and seventeen added ; in 1808, and eighteen added; in 1816, and fifteen added ; in 1822, and sixty-six added ; in 1831, and twenty-seven added ; in 1842, and forty-four added ; in 1849, and seventeen added ; and in 1851, and twenty-five added. A council was called to settle difficulties, Oct. 21, 1800. In the 68 years since the organization of this church, it has had a settled ministry about 58 years, and has been des- titute of the same about ten years. The church gave an in- vitation to Rev. John Keep, in 1848, to settle as their pastor, but he did not become their pastor. The charitable contri- butions for 1853 amounted to $266 89. The number in the Sabbath School in 1852 was 200. The number of members in the church in 1853 was 190. This church has had four pastors. Previous to the first pastor, Rev. Jacob Sherwin, of Ashfield, and Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, of Heath, preached as supplies.
PASTORS. 1 .* REV. JOSIAH SPAULDING was installed pas- tor of this church, Oet. 15, 1794. He was born in Plainfield, Ct., Jan. 10, 1751; graduated at Yale in 1778; studied theology with Rev. Dr. West, of Stockbridge ; was licensed to preach, Jan. 7, 1780 ; ordained as pastor in Uxbridge, Sept. 11, 1782, and dismissed from there, Oct. 2, 1787. The dismissing council say, "They view Mr. Spaulding's chris- tian character in a fair and amiable light, and hope Christ will use him as an instrument of speedily building up his gospel, and promoting his cause in the world." He was in- stalled in Worthington, Aug. 21, 1788, and dismissed from
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there, March, 1794. He was next settled in Buckland, where he died while pastor of the church. The death of his wife occurred about two months previous to his own, and he preached a sermon on the occasion, March 2, 1823. The sermon, with an obituary notice of Mr. Spaulding, written by Rev. Thomas Shepard, then of Ashfield, was published. From that biographical account the following extracts are taken :
" Mr. Spaulding received the afflictive dispensation, which deprived him of his wife, as a solemn call of Providence to set his house in order for a speedy departure from this vale of tears. His health had for some time previously been evi- dently declining, and now, though he mourned not as those who have no hope, yet every remaining tie to this world seemed to be loosed, and his arrangement of his domestic concerns, his conversation, his preaching, indicated in him a strong premonition that his work on earth was soon to close. Nothing, however, appeared alarming in regard to his health until the 27th of April, when, after having preached with un- usual strength and animation in a neighboring pulpit, he was attacked very violently with a disease to which he had before been occasionally subject. On Wednesday following, he was so far revived as to be carried home, with favorable symptoms of recovery. His disorder, however, soon re- turned with a violence that baffled all medical skill; and, on the morning of May Sth, exhausted nature ceased to struggle, and he calmly fell asleep in the arms of Jesus, in the 73d year of his age. As a minister, Mr. Spauld- ing held a very respectable standing in the church. His powers of intellect were of a superior class. To extensive reading he added much thought. He became familiar with the great and distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, not by admitting the conclusions of others without examination, but by bringing his own mind to a patient and laborious investi- gation of them. He was habitually a student. His percep- tion of truth was not intuitive. He did not comprehend his
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OF BUCKLAND.
subject at a glance. He was deliberate, made sure his progress by carefully weighing every argument that related to the point before him, and, in a way peculiar to himself, rendered his conclusions clear and convincing. In his work on Universalism, in the hands of the public, there may be, in the opinion of some, an unnecessary expansion of argu- ment and diffuseness of style, yet no candid and patient reader can lay down the book without being convinced that it contains an unanswerable refutation of the dangerous doctrine therein considered. There was little in Mr. Spaulding's person or manner in the pulpit that would be called commanding. He possessed not the graces of elocu- tion, yet he was an instructive preacher. The weight of sentiment, with which his discourses were fraught, could scarcely fail of gaining the attention of the thinking part of his audience. There was a solemnity in his manner, and not unfrequently an ardency of feeling, that was calculated to affect the heart. His ministry was blessed with several seasons of religious revival. * * *
" As a christian, Mr. Spaulding must be considered as preeminent. The doctrines of grace which he believed, and which he preached, had a truly sanctifying influence on his own heart. He aimed to be a living example of the renovating and purifying power of religion. He was a man of prayer. The solemnity, pertinence and fervency with which he approached the throne of grace, in public, in the family, or by the bed of sickness, evinced to all that heard him, that prayer was the delight of his heart, and his com- munion with God uninterrupted. The permanent derange- ment of his only son, whom he designed to educate at college, and upon whom he had hoped to lean in declining life, was a sore affliction, but evidently instrumental of weaning his affections from earth, and placing them on the immutable source of all good. His conversation was spiritual and edifying ; he was always ready to impart counsel to the young, consolation to the afflicted, and wholesome advice to
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all with whom he had intercourse. No one, whose heart was devoted to the interests of religion, could visit him in his family without coming away impressed with the con- viction that there dwelt a man of God. During his last sickness, while reason remained, and at lucid intervals after it was impaired, his conversation was such as became a minister of Christ in his dying moments. He expressed himself with diffidence in regard to his hope of heaven, but seemed to have the most exalted and consoling views of the character of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
" As a parent, Mr. Spaulding was tender, affectionate and faithful. His children were near his heart, and he ceased not daily to bear them in the arms of faith to the throne of grace, that ' they might know the Lord.' He submitted patiently to the chastisement of God, in relation to his de- ranged son, and, while struggling under the embarrassment of a small income, he went far beyond his means in support- ing him while confined in his own house for more than eleven years. * His church and people have been be- reaved of an affectionate, pious and able minister of Christ. His brethren in the ministry have been bereaved of one whom they highly respected and loved, and whose faithful services they will long remember with gratitude to the great Head of the church."
The following account is from Rev. Mortimer Blake's History of Mendon Association, and was furnished by Rev. Asa B. Smith, a successor of Mr. Spaulding in the ministry in Buckland :
" His ministry in Buckland was a successful one. There were several seasons of special religious interest during his ministry, the last of which was the year before he died, when there was probably the most powerful revival ever enjoyed among this people. Mr. Spaulding was a sound, doctrinal preacher, who instructed his people well in the great truths of the Bible, and laid the foundations so thoroughly that they remain to this day. The fruits of his
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OF BUCKLAND.
ministry still exist in the church, and they form its strongest pillars. * * As a preacher, his manner was rather dull and uninteresting ; but what he lacked in manner he made up in matter. On his death bed he was visited by some of his people, who came to confess the wrong they had done him. He felt that he could not die without an interview. When it was over he said he could die in peace. His memory still lives among the people. They looked up to him as their father, and when they now speak of him, they usually give him the title of 'father.' "
The account given by Mr. Smith narrates the case of Mr. Spaulding's unfortunate and only son Josiah, as follows : " Bearing his father's name, the pride of his parents, and designed by them for the ministry, he has been a raving ma- niac for forty-four years. He is now almost 65. For some two years after he became deranged, he was not confined ; but his father's life was repeatedly endangered, and he was chained for some two years. For the last forty years he has been shut up in a cage. No clothing can be kept on him. He remains constantly in a sitting posture, with a blanket wrapped about him, and only leans back against the cage when he sleeps. He has remained in this position so long that his limbs cannot be straightened. Before he became deranged he had been for many months in an interesting state of mind, and his parents entertained a hope for him. He was nearly or quite prepared to enter college, and was teaching school when the first signs of insanity appeared. He appears to become more and more demented."
The author subjoins the few following disconnected items in the history of Rev. Mr. Spaulding. The result of the council that settled him at Uxbridge, says : " An objection being offered by Mr. Preston against this doctrine, or at least that he did not understand it, viz., God's foreordination of every thought, word, and action ; voted by the council that said objection hath no weight." In conversation with a minister, who objected to the doctrine of God's decrees, and
8
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said the doctrine made man a machine, Mr. Spaulding re- plied, "Well, let man be a machine ; but he is an intelli- gent, voluntary, accountable machine." Being invited on one occasion to preach in a part of Buckland where minis- ters had preached to great acceptance without notes, he preached a sermon from memory. His audience were de- lighted, and argued, that as Mr. S. usually preached with notes, and at that time had no notes, and preached so won- derfully, God must have inspired him for the occasion, and thus showed his approval of that method of preaching. Mr. S. replied that all the inspiration there was in the case con- sisted in his having committed to memory the sermon he had preached. Rev. Noah Cressey says of him : "Mr. Spaulding was a moderate, grave, candid, humble man. He preached clearly and forcibly the good old Calvinistic doctrines. He might be called a reformation preacher, to shake the dry bones. He did not love money as many do. Once he married a couple, and the bridegroom gave him only a dollar. He demanded another quarter, (the lawful fee,) and, when he got it, gave the whole to the bride."
He published quite a number of valuable sermons. He had prepared a theological work of considerable extent for the press at the time of his death. The manuscript being lost, it was never published. His work on Universalism is among the references in the Andover course of Theological Study. He married Miss Mary Williams, daughter of Judge Williams of Taunton, with whom he lived over thirty-nine years, and by whom he had five children, four of whom, daughters, are dead. Three of his daughters married and left children.
He died in Buckland, May 8, 1823, aged 72. Rev. Sam- uel Taggart, of Coleraine, preached his funeral sermon. The following epitaph is inscribed on his gravestone, viz. : "Merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." "Of the forty-one years of his ministry, five were spent at Uxbridge,
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OF BUCKLAND.
six and a half at Worthington, twenty-eight and a half at Buckland."
2. REV. BENJAMIN F. CLARKE was ordained as pastor of the church, Feb. 4, 1824, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Charles Jenkins, then of Greenfield, which was pub- lished. Mr. Clarke was born in Granby, Jan. 18, 1792; previous to his preparation for college, studied medicine ; graduated at Williams in 1820; finished the theological course at Andover in 1823; dismissed from Buckland, May 2, 1839 ; installed pastor in Chelsea, Nov. 20, 1839, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Storrs of Braintree, and he was dismissed from Chelsea, Aug. 3, 1842; installed pastor at Rowe, June 7, 1849, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Samuel Harris then of Conway, and he was dis- missed from Rowe, Oct. 23, 1850; then resided at West Hawley ; in the spring of 1852 began to supply at North Orange, where he still preaches. His ministry in Buckland was about fifteen years.
3. REV. PRESTON CUMMINGS was installed as pastor of the church, Jan. 1, 1840, and the sermon was preached by Rev. John Ferguson of Whately. Mr. Cummings was born in Seekonk, May 1, 1800, and afterwards lived in Attleboro'; graduated at Brown University in 1822; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Park, then a Professor in Brown University ; ordained as pastor in Lebanon, N. Y., Aug. 22, 1825, and the sermon was by Rev. John D. Pierce, of Sangerfield, N. Y., and dismissed from Lebanon in February, 1827; in- stalled pastor of the first church in Dighton, Dec. 26, 1827, and the sermon was by Rev. Dr. Calvin Park, then of Stoughton; and dismissed from Dighton, Dec. 31, 1835; installed pastor of the North Church in Wrentham, July 6, 1836, and the sermon was by Rev. Dr. Jacob Ide of Med- way; and dismissed from Wrentham in March, 1838; and dismissed from Buckland, Dec. 31, 1847 ; then resided sev- eral years in Holden ; and now lives in Leicester, with his only surviving son, who is a physician in that place. In
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