USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 47
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It was our good fortune to be well acquainted with one of ,
the founders of this Universalist Society, one long connected with it, and a conscientious supporter and defender of its faith, - Samuel Chandler, who died in Canton, April 14, 1874, in the ninety-first year of his age. To most of the
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THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
inhabitants of Stoughton and Canton, Mr. Chandler, or "Father " Chandler, as he was familiarly called, was well known. For more than three quarters of a century he had been a respectable and esteemed citizen of Canton. His memory carried him back to the time when there was no town of Canton; he could remember going to the present First Parish Church when it was Old Stoughton Church, when, as a boy, eighty years ago, he went to the little red schoolhouse that stood near the fork of the road opposite the Canton Cemetery. He could describe the prominent men of Stoughton and Canton who have been dead for seventy years; and it was his delight to relate to those interested in historical matters the stories and traditions of the olden time. His memory was wonderfully retentive, and his word in regard to all old customs and legends was un- impeachable. He traced his ancestry back to one who emi- grated to this country in its earliest days, and he inherited the sterling virtues which were such distinguishing charac- teristics of those worthy men. Samuel Chandler was born in Canton (then Stoughton), March 28, 1784. The house in which he was born stood upon the site where the house in which he died now stands; and with the exception of a few years during his infancy, when his parents resided at Peterborough, N. H., he lived upon the old homestead. Like his grandfather, he kept a diary of deaths, from 1804 to 1850. Samuel Chandler married (1), Oct. 27, 1808, Betsey Billings, who was born Dec. 13, 1788, and died Dec. 23, 1811; (2) March 2, 1815, Sarah Dickerman. He had seven chil- dren. As a citizen, he did his share in all matters of public weal. He took a deep interest in the welfare of the town, and its prosperity was a pleasure and a delight to him. The cause of education enlisted his sympathies, and the "branch " [school] near his home had his encouragement and best wishes.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
CHAPTER XL.
REV. BENJAMIN HUNTOON, REV. ORESTES A. BROWNSON.
N the latter part of 1821 a committee from the First Con- I
gregational Church waited upon the Rev. John Pierce, D. D., of Brookline, and desired that he would recommend some suitable person to settle over them in the ministry. He replied, " Benjamin Huntoon is the very man for the place; but be careful, or he will steal away all your hearts." Benjamin Huntoon was born in Salisbury, N. H., Nov. 28, 1792. He fitted for college in his native town, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1817. In 1819 he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover. In 1820 he removed to Boston and took charge of Salem Street Academy, where his leisure hours were devoted to completing the best preparation he could for the ministry, with the aid of his friend, Henry Ware, Jr. While engaged in this occupation, having been approbated by the Boston Ministerial Association, he first came to Canton to preach. He rode on horseback from Boston, a method of travelling to which he was passionately attached all his life. He put up at the old Ponkapoag Hotel, and, Sept. 9, 1821, preached his first sermon in Canton.
At a church meeting at the house of Deacon Leonard Everett, Dec. 20, 1821, Mr. Huntoon was chosen as pastor of the church and society; and on the 14th of January, 1822, a committee was selected to write letters-missive to neigh- boring churches to assist at the ordination. The council was held at the house of Capt. John Tucker. Thaddeus Mason Harris, D. D., was chosen moderator, Rev. Luther Bailey, scribe. The council decided that all the proceedings of the church and society had been regular, and, being satis-
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REV. BENJAMIN HUNTOON.
fied with the qualifications of the candidate, were ready to proceed to the ordination. The Rev. Mr. Ritchie was selected "to wait upon the pastor-elect to the church, to be received into their number and fellowship." On the 30th of January, 1822, Mr. Huntoon was ordained. "The morning," he writes, " was pleasant, and the afternoon not unpleasant. The exer- cises were very fine, especially the right hand and the charge. There was a great concourse of people, as many as could get into the meeting-house conveniently. It was the stillest as- sembly of the kind I ever saw; the attention was good; the services were short, less than two hours. It was a day of great rejoicing among the people of Canton, especially with Messrs. Crane, Everett, French, Tucker." Thus was the new light set in an ancient candlestick. During the succeeding seven years he was actively engaged in parish work, labor- ing unceasingly. A contemporary says that he delivered more occasional discourses than almost any minister in the neighborhood.
Of the inner spiritual life of the pastor and people during these seven years, few records remain; of the outward and temporal, many. The old meeting-house of 1747 was fast outgrowing its usefulness, and the pastor of two years was desirous of erecting a new one, which should be an honor to the parish and an ornament to the town. The Gothic de- sign came by the direction and influence of the pastor. "Rev. Mr. Huntoon's congregations, in the year of these distinguished doings, before any village of South Canton existed, or any factories were located at the Centre, had swollen to the very best which the parish ever knew. His was the conspicuous pulpit for Liberal Christianity. He had first brought the parish to the great step of building this, at the time, new-fashioned church."
At a parish meeting held on Dec. 3, 1823, Thomas French, Thomas Tolman, George Downes, William Tucker, and Frederic W. Lincoln, were appointed a committee to select a site for the new church, A committee, consisting of Thomas French, Leonard Everett, and Charles Tucker, were chosen to draw designs for a meeting-house, which was to be forty-
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
six by fifty-four feet. The committee visited Chelsea, and were so well pleased with the structure then recently erected there, that they substantially adopted the design. They reported that the cost of the building would not vary much from the first estimate, - $4,927.96, - and that two hundred dollars had been received from the sale of the old meeting- house. The work was begun, the ground prepared, and the frame raised on June 16, 1824, Capt. William McKendry being the contractor. The sale of the pews under the direc- tion of Leonard Everett, Isaac Fenno, and Thomas Tolman took place January 27; and a plan is still extant, showing the ownership of the pews at that time. An unfortunate error of two feet omitted from one of the sections marred the symmetry of the steeple, and detracted from the architectural harmony of the edifice.
Finally the meeting-house was finished, and we can imagine with what joy the young pastor wrote upon the record-book of the church the following words : -
" Dedication of the new church, - a joyful day ! How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! Arise, O Lord God, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength ! Let Thy priest here be clothed with salvation ; and let Thy saints shout for joy. This is none other but the house of God ; and this is the gate of heaven.
" Preached a discourse from Haggai, 2d chap. 9th verse. Doc- trine, 'Christianity is the greatest light of the world and the highest glory of society.' The house was crowded by a numerous and attentive audience. Much exertion has been used to erect this temple to the Lord. It has been mostly built by the subscriptions of individuals. The remaining expense is to be defrayed by a tax. The money for the pews is to be placed in a fund for the support of a minister of the Congregational order. This, together with the munificent legacy of Mr. William Wheeler, will constitute a fund suf- ficient for the support of the preaching of the gospel. The Lord has blessed us indeed. Three years ago we were in a feeble and dis- couraging state. Our prospects were dark and our number small. But our sanguine wishes have been more than realized. In building our temple the hammer of strife has not been heard. An unusual degree of unanimity and harmony has attended our councils ; and by the blessing of God we trust our Society is fixed on a foundation
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REV. BENJAMIN HUNTOON.
that will bid defiance to the attacks of sectarians and the exertion of the enemies of the gospel of Christ. 'Oh, Lord God ! the work of our hands, establish Thou it.' "
In consequence of the gift of William Wheeler, an Act was obtained from the General Court, incorporating Elijah Crane, Simeon Tucker, Thomas Dunbar, Isaac Fenno, and Charles Fenno, and their successors, as Trustees of the Ministerial Fund of the Congregational Parish and Society.1 In 1826 was introduced the third edition of the Cambridge Selection of Hymns and Psalms. In 1828 an Evangelical Congrega- tional Church was organized at the south part of the town, and a cheerful dismission was granted to those who desired to sever their connection with the old church and join the new. In the autumn of 1829 Mr. Huntoon was invited to preach the dedication sermon of the new Unitarian church in Ban- gor. This society prevailed upon him to resign his pastorate. During these years he says, " There is not a single individual of this church or parish with whom I have had the least per- sonal disagreement." But in the hope of equal usefulness in the Church of Christ in some other portion of his vineyard, and in the expectation of placing himself in a situation where he might obtain for his children the advantages of a better education, he left Canton. He preached his farewell sermon on the 26th of November, 1829.
Ten years after, when bowed down with grief at the loss of his wife, and far away in a land of strangers, he received from Canton a letter, from which the following is an extract : -
" I have heard that you intend returning to the North, but whether to remain or not I am not informed. . Nor do I know the state of your health, or whether you intend to continue in the ministry ; will you inform me in these particulars? I have flattered myself that pos- sibly you might be induced once more to resume your old office as our friend, our teacher, our minister of the Gospel."
In 1840 Mr. Huntoon returned to Massachusetts, and in October engaged to supply the pulpit of the First Congrega-
1 See chap. 141 of Acts of 1824.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
tional Church and Parish in Canton for six months; and in March, 1841, he received a unanimous call to settle over his old congregation. In accepting he writes, -
" That a minister who has once been dismissed from the pastoral relation with his people, should be invited and induced to resume that office, after years of absence, is not only a rare occurrence in the history of our churches, but one highly creditable to both pastor and people, as testifying a strong attachment and reciprocal confidence, conferred by past offices of kindness, forbearance, and fidelity."
He was installed March 13, 1841. On the 10th of March, 1841, Mr. Huntoon caused a copy of the New Testament to be bound with additional leaves at the end. The following was written upon the first page, and signed by the members of the church : -
" For the support of the institutions of Christianity, and the enjoy- ment and edification of its ordinances, we covenant with each other as the body of communicants within the First Congregational Church and Parish in Canton, by subscribing our names to the New Testa- ment, which we receive and adopt as the only inspired and divinely authorized creed and confession, standard and platform, constitution and by-laws, of the Church of Christ."
During the next nine years, aside from his ministerial work, a portion of Mr. Huntoon's time was occupied in the education of his children and the cultivation of his flower- garden ; the rest he gave to the public. He belonged to many charitable societies, was a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow, ever ready to speak on the subjects of antislavery or temperance. Month after month he worked in adorning and beautifying the cemetery. By the highway he planted trees, which to-day give shade to his grandchildren ; above all he loved the children. In the schools he was especially interested, and was willing to spend and be spent in their service. For many years nearly all the labor of examining teachers and visiting schools fell upon him.
It was during his second pastorate in Canton that those exciting questions arose which prepared the way for the con- flict of arms which subsequently took place. In the discus-
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BENJAMIN HUNTOON.
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REV. BENJAMIN HUNTOON.
sion of these questions Mr. Huntoon followed fearlessly his own convictions of right. He did not mingle in politics; but as an apostle of the Prince of Peace, he felt it his duty not merely to rebuke the barbarism of past ages and the crimes of other nations, but to say something about the sins of the present day and people. Making the sacrifice to which such a course of conduct often led, and becoming estranged on account of these political differences from those who had been his stanchest friends, he left Canton in 1849, and removed to Marblehead.
In the fall of 1860, having a desire to return to the people over whom he had been twice settled, he went to Canton, and refitted and repaired his old homestead. During the stirring times of the war, he was ever ready with voice and pen in the cause of the Union and Freedom. Here he had passed the happiest years of his life; here had been the home of his early manhood, full of tender and hallowed associations and remembrances; here he had been first con- secrated to the work of the ministry; here he had dedicated the church in which his people worshipped; here he had consecrated and helped to beautify the cemetery where the forms of many of his people and his household rest, and here it was his wish to die; here he spent the declining years of his life, blessed with the love of those who had known him in his early years, - a constant worshipper and an occasional preacher in the church which had been built through his exertions; and here, amid cherished remem- brances, sustained by Christian faith and hope, surrounded by loving friends, and watched with affectionate care, he con- tinued in declining health until, on the morning of Tuesday, the 19th of April, 1864, he was again suddenly smitten with paralysis, and passing gently away, entered on his rest, realiz- ing what he had so beautifully expressed: " May our faith in God, our love to Christ, our devotion to conscience and to heaven, prepare us for death, our great and last change ! May we so live that we may not fear to die! Come to the last hour in God's own time. A good life and a glorious hope shall make it welcome. Come the hour of reunion
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
with the loved and lost on earth, and the passionate yearn- ings of affection, and the strong anticipations of faith shall bear us to their blessed land! Come death to this body, this burdened, tempted, frail, failing, dying body; and to the soul, - thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, - come freedom, light, joy, and life immortal and everlasting."
Let us return to the interim between the close of Mr. Hun- toon's first pastorate and the beginning of his second, - 1830-40. In April, 1831, the Rev. George Whitney was invited to settle over the First Parish, but declined. In September following, the Rev. Henry Edes accepted the invitation extended to him, and was ordained Oct. 26, 1831. Mr. Edes, the eldest son of Rev. Henry Edes, D. D., was born in Providence, R. I., Aug. 8, 1808, graduated at Brown University in 1828, attended the Theological School at Cam- bridge, graduating in 1831, when he came to Canton and remained here until Oct. 28, 1833, when he dissolved his con- nection with the Canton Parish, and was installed at Nan- tucket in 1834. Here he remained eight years; thence he removed to Plymouth, and taught a school for young ladies from 1843 to 1847. A part of his ministerial life was passed at Woburn and Eastport, Me., and in the supply of pulpits until 1866, when he preached during the three succeeding years at Sturbridge. In 1869 Mr. Edes was at Barnstable. For a few years before his death he resided at Mattapan. He died in New York, March 13, 1881. Mr. Edes built, in 1832, the house on Pleasant Street long occupied by Mrs. Joanna Jordan, and owned by the heirs of her brother, Com- modore John Downes. Mr. Edes, in order to set a good example, had declared that there never should be any rum in his house. The builders, hearing this, sent to George Downes's store for a pint of New England rum, and securing it behind the laths, covered it with plastering. Mr. Edes and his wife were very much interested in Sunday-school work, and under their care the Sunday-school, which had lan- guished after Mr. Huntoon left, soon started into new life. It was at her suggestion that the Ladies' Sewing Circle was originated. The parish parted from her with keen regret,
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REV. ORESTES A. BROWNSON.
and gave her a silver porringer as a memento of their love and esteem.
Orestes Augustus Brownson was installed pastor of the First Congregational Parish, May 14, 1834. The sermon was preached by the Rev. George Ripley. Dr. Brownson was born near the town of Stockbridge, Vt., Sept. 16, 1803. Mr. Brownson resided in the house on Pleasant Street known as the Jordan house. May 28, 1835, saw the termination of Mr. Brownson's connection with this church and parish. As a preacher he was impressive in manner and appear- ance; his voice, though husky, was well managed; his utter- ance forcible ; the muscles of his large face worked convul- sively as he spoke.
In 1836 Dr. Brownson organized a society for Christian Union and Progress. In 1838 he established the Boston "Quarterly Review," remaining its proprietor and almost sole writer for the five years of its existence. By a reaction in thought and feeling, hopeless of accomplishing the reforms or establishing the religious views which he advocated, Dr. Brownson began to look to the Roman Catholic Church for rest and shelter, and entered that communion in 1844, when he established " Brownson's Quarterly Review," which for twenty years he conducted with signal ability and earnestness in defence of the tenets of that church.
Brownson says of himself during the latter part of his life, -
" I have, and I desire to have, no home out of the Catholic Church, with which I am more than satisfied, and which I love as the dearest, tenderest, and most affectionate mother. My only ambition is to live and die in her communion. I love my Catholic brethren ; I love and venerate the bishops and clergy of the Catholic Church, especially of the church in my own country. I am deeply indebted to them, be- yond any power of language of mine to express. I hope I am grate- ful to them, but only God can adequately reward them."
Dr. Brownson died in Detroit, April 17, 1876. His works, published in 1882, edited by his son, make seventeen large volumes.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
Between July 1, 1836, and the return of Mr. Huntoon, March 1, 1841, no pastor was settled; but the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Jones, from May 7, 1837, subse- quently by the Rev. William Henry Knapp, Sept. 17, 1838. This latter gentleman, some time before his death (1878), published an autobiography, in which he gives us a glimpse of the early New England factory life as it was at Presbrey's factory; and later, his experience in Canton as a clergyman. His connection with Canton ceased in the spring of 1840. I select the following passages from Mr. Knapp's auto- biography : -
"November, 1837. At Canton, successor of the celebrated Dr. Brownson. Parish small and scattered over the whole town ; salary, six hundred dollars ; family, wife and three children. Moved into the only house that could be obtained, and this the owner wanted to sell, and might want for his own use at any time, so under this uncer- tainty could not give myself unreservedly to my work.
" In this town of Canton my predecessor had been remarkable for his bold reformatory discourses ; and as I was deeply interested in all the exciting questions of the time, I followed up the work thus begun, and was allowed a greater freedom of expression than I expected. Of course there were in my congregation many persons more or less affected by the old Calvinistic dogmas, who missed the old tone and phraseology of the pulpit, - one, at least, who complained that I did not have enough to say about * a state of natur' and a state of grace ;' and another, who, when told that I was a suggestive preacher, and made people think, answered that she did not care for that, 'she wanted Sunday as a day of rest.' I have since often thought there might be a great number of such persons in all religious societies, and that recently they were fast finding a supply for their wants. I have, however, no reason to complain of my society at Canton. It was made up of all classes, and really liberal in thought and feeling.
" I remained at Canton two years, left in kind and friendly rela- tions with all, and have often returned to visit and preach in the dear old town of such early and various associations. I was obliged to move twice the last year, and moved away because I could get but half a house, and that not fit for winter use."
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PHYSICIANS.
CHAPTER XLI.
PHYSICIANS.
E BENEZER ALDEN, M.D., in an address published in 1853, entitled " Early History of the Medical Pro- fession in the County of Norfolk," in writing of Canton, says, -
"Dr. Belcher was the earliest resident physician, and tradition has made us better acquainted with his athletic exercises than in profes- sional pursuits. His minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunbar, had in his day a great reputation as a mighty wrestler as well as divine. It is said that although neither the clergyman nor physician were disposed to compromise the dignity of his calling by a public trial of skill, they sometimes retired to a lone spot in the forest, and there, far removed from the public gaze, renewed the sports of their youth."
This is the only account of Dr. Belcher which we have. We have seen bills receipted by him for services rendered, which bore the date of 1751 and 1752. In 1761 he took care of the French Neutrals. Mr. Elijah Dunbar records, Aug. 18, 1764, that he " had a tooth pulled this morning by Belcher." In 1743 he appears to have resided on the farm still known as the Belcher farm on Washington Street, a few rods south of Sharon line, afterwards, on the westerly side of the old Bay Road in Sharon, and he lies buried in the Chestnut Tree Cemetery. The following is the inscription on his gravestone: " Here lyes buried the body of Mr. Clif- ford Belcher, who departed this life April 26, 1773, in the 63d year of his age." Mr. Belcher, his wife, two sons, a daughter Betty, his wife's mother, Mrs. Jonathan Copeland, who had come to aid them in their sickness, all died of the dysentery. Though perhaps Dr. Belcher was the earliest resident physician, there were others whose names appear
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
upon town documents at a very early date. In 1729 Dr. Jirauld brought in a bill for " plaster balsam and cordials." He was a Frenchman, and resided on a farm in Medfield, which he cultivated by slave labor. He died Oct. 25, 1760. James Howard, styled " Doctor," attended the Rev. Joseph Morse in his illness, and in 1738 made charges for visits and medicines. Edward Esty, who is mentioned as a tavern- keeper, was often called "Doctor." He lived in what is now Stoughton, as early as 1717, and was one of the first settlers. He owned a saw-mill where French and Ward's factory now is, which he sold to John Withington, Sr., in 1730. His later residence was nearly opposite the Old Stoughton burying- ground. He died at the house of Gen. Nathan Crane in indigent circumstances, on the 6th of November, 1789, nearly ninety-eight years of age. Ralph Pope appears to have re- sided in our town at one time. He was sometimes called " Captain." He purchased twenty-four acres of land in 1731 on Dunbar's Lane, adjoining Vose and Endicott, the same year his negro Scipio was baptized. In 1740 he was one of our parish officers. He removed to Stoughton, where he erected a mill on the stream that runs southerly from Iron Mine meadow. His residence was on the right-hand side of the old road leading to the Westshires. He died Jan. I, 1750, at the age of forty-four years. There is a tradition that he would never receive a fee for services which he had rendered on Sunday. Dr. John Pitcher resided between 1759 and 1762 in what is now the village of South Canton. We know little about him, but find his charges for services in 1758, and on the surveyor's list he is styled " Doctor."
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