USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 14
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The next minister who was settled was Rev. John Emerson. He remained but a few years. He is spoken of as "an eminent and faithful preacher." The Rev. Nicholas Webster was settled in 1698, and remained until 1715. But little is known of him. There is a tradition, however, that he filled the office well.
At a town meeting on Dec. 5, 1715, it was
Voted to have a minester to pretch the gospell to us as soone as we can conveniently in order to a furder setlement and a commete is chosen to look out for a minester and seack the advice of our neighboring minesters in the towns next to us which are as followeth Mr. Robbert Leach sener Samuell lee sener Samuell allin sener Aron bennet william hilton John bishop Beniemen Allen thomas pitman Samuell leach Robert warin John foster John lee junr & nathaniell
1 Town Records, i, 53.
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marsters which commete are hereby fully impowered to mete & agree with a minester to preach the gospell to us & to give such incorragement to him as they can agree for and the above sd commete are impowered to intreat our neigh- boring ministers to help us in keeping afast Day to seke of god a right way for ourselves and our children & so pray unto god that he would be pleased to send forth a faithful laborer into this little parte of his vineyard, etc.1
As the result of this action, Rev. Ames Cheever, a grandson of the celebrated Ezekiel Cheever, was ordained Oct. 4, 1716. The church was organized on Nov. 7 of the same year. The church members had been connected with the church in Salem up to 1677, when they were gathered in Beverly, until they were dismissed " in order to their coming into a church state by themselves." The names of those thus dismissed were, John Sibley and wife, John Lee, Robert Leach, Samuel Stone, Samuel Lee, John Knowlton and children (John, Joseph and Abigail), Benjamin Allen, Joseph Allen and wife, Jabez Baker and wife, Josiah Littlefield, Jonathan Allen.
With Mr. Cheever's ministry we emerge from a haze of antiquity, in which the forms of the earlier ministry are seen in shadowy outline. With Mr. Cheever commenced the history of the church. He was a man of good parts and highly useful in the formative period of the church's history. He took a warm interest in education, and appears from the records to have supplied in part by his private tui- tion a frequent lack in the public provision for schools. Mr. Cheever was pastor of the church for twenty- seven years, and died Jan. 15, 1756. His grave has
1 Town Records, i, 131.
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recently been located with reasonable certainty, and marked with a simple tablet erected by his descend- ants. Among Mr. Cheever's memoranda, brought to light a few years ago, mention is made of Eliza- beth Bennett, " an aged widow," who was the " first born in Manchester in 1644." She was " baptized " by Mr. Cheever in 1717, at the age of seventy-three years. Her maiden name was unknown.
Mr. Cheever's pastorate closed Feb. 27, 1743. The church was for nearly two years without a pas- tor. But they were not content long to remain so. The times might be hard, but our fathers in all their poverty and straitness did not feel that they could afford to be without the ministrations of the church. In 1744, the town voted " not to Chouse A Repre- santivie having ye Leberty of the Law so to Do," and a " Committy " was chosen to " apply themsevels to a Seuttebell Person to Prepare a Pretion to ye Generall Court for sum relese under our Decaing Surcomstances." At an adjourned meeting, to hear the report of a committee appointed to " Taek Advice in our Reselment of a Pastar," it was " voted to apply our savels to Mr Moses Hall In order to here him Prach sum time among us."
After hearing several candidates, in 1744 the town invited Mr. Benjamin Tappan to be their minister. A committee was chosen to arrange the terms of set- tlement. The original document, a somewhat lengthy paper, and in some respects curiously illustrative of the times, is in the possession of the Historical Society. The town agreed to give Mr. Tappan Four Hundred and Fifty Pounds, old tenor, towards
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his " settlement," and to pay yearly One Hundred and Forty-eight ounces of silver, or Bills of Credit equal to 148 ounces. They also promised " a suffi- ciency of fire wood for his own family," and declared it to be their "Intent and Design to cut and Hale" the same, though " not absolutely engaging to cut & Hale it, lest the same should come to be a Town charge." Mr. Tappan continued in the ministry until his death, May 6, 1790. An idea of his exact and methodical habits may be had from a communi- cation from him to the Town Treasurer, a fac-simile of which is given.
A letter written by Mr. Tappan to his son Benjamin, dated Manchester, February 7, 1770, with the address, " For Mr. Benjamin Tappan, of Northampton, Goldsmith," is printed in the Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Tappan, p. 136. It shows Mr. Tappan to have been a most affectionate father, and deeply solicitous for his children's welfare. Its closing appeal reminds one of David's lament for Absalom, in its tenderness and pathos. It would seem that Mr. Tappan's character was one that has not always been fairly estimated. The more that is known of him, the more he appears to have been a most excellent and estimable man. He was probably somewhat reserved, and only children and near friends knew what depths lay beneath the calm exterior.
[ A picture of ecclesiastical affairs and Sabbath customs in Mr. Tappan's time will be found in Appendix A. See also Appendix B for a more detailed biographical notice of Mr. Tappan.]
After the decease of Mr. Tappan the vacancy was filled by Rev. Mr. Blake and Mr. Worcester until September, 1791, when a committee was chosen in behalf of the church and parish to give an invitation to Rev. Ariel Parish to settle with them. He accepted, and a committee of eleven were chosen to determine the conditions of settlement, and
March 12.178%.
Sear dir!
When I gave you a recept, uno the ninth mettant, for I wenty bound for the year 182, my meaning was to actnowlug a certifi, to you the reception of all which was das to be for mat gear. both as salary & a project - and to help no to wood. - And the Jane was and is The meaning of all and wary of the Necesito I have Juntofor given to you and formis Ireafaren. -. the any satisfaction, I am ready to pro- wise at the Tower of Man chuefter that sewer have a Semu audio of it, by liv or any of nueve, upor either bothof accounts, for any one of the year, for which Ihave Settles with the Treasures and grow recupto : - and this I so hereby procis- nexgay.
B. This provin is intended · to find me and mine for every year autocad ut to I wittun hundred eighty four-excepting 778.
nous d'inur friend, Ne
Benja Tappan
228
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Mr. Parish was ordained April 4, 1792, and labored dili- gently until May, 1794, when the church and the people were called to mourn his early. death. He died in the thirtieth year of his age, and in the third year of his ministry.
A writer of an obituary notice thus remarks :
" While he was decidedly one of the strictest of the Calvinistic school, no man ever manifested a more candid or placid temper towards those who had adopted a different creed. The uniform decision, with which he embraced his own opinions, led him as decidedly to yield the same privi- lege to others. His sermons were uniformly plain and prac- tical, without harshness of controversy or the show of ornament. His elocution in the pulpit was manly, distinct and pathetic, and doubtless had his days been prolonged, he would have risen to eminence. Whilst he lived, he was distinguished for his easy and social suavity of manners by which he won the affections and reigned in the hearts of his people; for he shared their joys and sympathized in their sorrows. A letter from a member of his church thus closes: ' He was cut off in the morning of life and the tears of many watered his grave.'"
Mr. Parish was the son of Elijah Parish, of Andover ; was born in 1764; he graduated at Dartmouth College, 1788 ; he married Hannah Chute, of Byfield, and had one daughter, who died in Manchester in 1793; another was born after his death.
Mr. Parish occupied the house now owned by Mrs. William Hooper, on Washington street. His grave is in the " Old Burial Ground," next to that of his predecessor, Rev. Benjamin Tappan. Mr. Parish's death was the second in the dreadful fever that almost decimated the little town.1 The early death of the young and beloved pastor must have caused a
1 Vide Appendix L.
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heavier gloom of sadness to fall upon the stricken village.
A vote passed by the town Jan. 12, 1792, gives a glimpse of a historic controversy in the New Eng- land churches. The vote reads as follows : " That Mr. Ariel Parish Baptize all Children who Shall be offered upon what is Called the Half Covenant." . From this it appears that the Church at this time held to the " Half-way Covenant." It was the re sistance of Edwards and others to this measure that finally led to the formation of the Unitarian and Orthodox parties in the Congregational , churches of New England in the early part of this century. It is a long-since extinct controversy, which we can now survey as calmly as tourists survey the burned- out crater whose active fires once carried devastation to many a smiling hamlet and fruitful vineyard.
From the death of Mr. Parish in 1794, to 1801, a period of seven years, the church was supplied by different ministers. The names of seventeen of these ministers have been preserved .? Through all this interregnum, it seems that there were watchful and jealous eyes upon the walls, lest some thief or robber should climb up some other way ; for in 1795, August 10, we are told, " The Methodists were for- bidden to worship in the Town house "; the fol-
1 The original document is in the possession of the Historical Society ; it is written in a handsome hand, and signed
" A Trew Coppy, Attested
Aaron Lee T Clerk."
Mr. Parish, we are told, was opposed to this measure. Brief History, Articles of Faith, etc., 1851, p. 11.
2 They are Hall, Neal, Wood, Kimball, Merritt, Jackson, Tompkins, Stone, Page, Crafts, Coffin, Dow, Spofford, Long, Flint, Mercy, Dana.
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lowers of John Wesley then being objects of almost universal suspicion and dislike. What would the fathers have thought if they could have cast the horoscope of a century ? Under the same date it was ORDERED, that " the article in the warrant respecting a Hopkentian minister be passed over," a reminder of the Hopkinsian controversy between the disciples of Samuel Hopkins and Jonathan Edwards that was then at its height.
May 23, 1801, Abraham Randall, of Stow, "the fortieth candidate," accepted an invitation to settle as pastor. He was ordained Sept. 2, 1801. He had a " settlement " of five hundred dollars, and a salary of three hundred and thirty-four dollars, with the " improvement of the ministerial land." Mr. Ran- dall was born in Stow, 1771 ; graduated at Harvard, 1798, and studied divinity under Prof. David Tap- pan of Cambridge and Rev. Dr. Dana of Ipswich. He was dismissed, Aug. 17, 1808.
The next pastor was Rev. James Thurston, who was settled on Jan. 10, 1809, with a salary of five hundred and fifty dollars, and " the use of the par- sonage property." Mr. Thurston's pastorate was marked by an extensive and powerful revival of religion during its first year, illustrating the princi- ple, " One soweth and another reapeth." In 1810, one hundred and ten were added to the church.1
In the same year, a Sunday school was organized, being one of the earliest formed in New England. The origin of the school was due to two young
1 An account of this revival was published in the Panoplist, vol. III, p. 550.
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ladies who afterward became famous as Harriet Newell and Ann Haseltine Judson, two of the earli- est of American missionaries to the East. It was through their influence that Miss Eliza Tuck, Mrs. Martha Lee, Miss Mary Bingham, and Miss Abby Hooper undertook what was then an almost untried experiment, which proved so successful that the school soon gained the confidence of pastor and church, and became in a few years large and flourish- ing. The years from 1837 to 1843 are spoken of as " palmy days " in the history of the school. On one Sunday, the number present was 355. The ages of the scholars ranged from three to eighty years. Mr. Andrew Lee was an earnest worker in the school. Dea. John Price was Superintendent about thirty years. " One hundred names appear on the records of persons who recited the Assembly Catechism, and received a Bible as a reward." This was during the period from Feb. 2, 1848, to May 17, 1857.
On June 24, 1885, the Sunday school celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. There were present two ladies who were present at the first session of the school, three quarters of a century before - Mrs. Lydia Osborne, aged eighty-three, and Mrs. Hannah Colby, aged eighty-two.
The beginning of Mr. Thurston's pastorate seemed bright with promise; the large additions to the church and the interest in the new department of the Sunday school augured well for the future. But the day that dawned so bright, was soon clouded, and Mr. Thurston's pastorate was on the whole a stormy one. An unfortunate cause of mis-
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understanding arose, criminations and recriminations followed, and witnessing angels sorrowfully turned their faces aside. The contention resulted in the dismissal of Mr. Thurston, July 9, 1819.
On July 27, 1821, the church and society united in calling Rev. Samuel M. Emerson, a graduate of Williams College, as pastor. They offered him a salary of four hundred and fifty dollars, fourteen cords of wood "at the house," and "the improve- ment of all the parsonage land." Mr. Emerson was installed, Sept. 12, 1821. The commencement of Mr. Emerson's pastorate was a somewhat troublous one owing to dissensions in the church; but his wise, energetic and peace-making administration re- sulted in a restoration of harmony. He labored as- siduously and acceptably until his health began to fail in the spring of 1839, and in September follow- ing he asked for a dismissal, which was granted.
Mr. Emerson's ministry was marked by several important events in the history of the church. In 1825, the articles of faith and covenant of the church were printed for the first time, with the names of the members. In 1833, the church put on record the following Minute, taking advanced ground in the matter of Temperance; for it must be remem- bered that no such stigma attached to the use of in- toxicating liquor as a beverage as at present; it was freely dispensed on all occasions, at ordinations, at weddings, at funerals ; it was used by ministers and deacons ; the " Washingtonian" movement was yet in the future. This vote has therefore special sig- nificance: -
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" Whereas the use of Ardent Spirits has been the fruit- ful cause of numerous evils, which admit of no remedy but that of total abstinence, and as it is the incumbent duty of the churches to maintain a high standard of Christian morality, it will from this time be required of all persons presenting themselves as candidates for admission to this church, to abstain from the use of Ardent Spirits in all its forms, except as a medicine."
In the winter of 1838-39, while Mr. Emerson was in feeble health, a revival occurred under the preaching of Rev. Leonard Griffin of Gloucester, a Methodist minister. Mr. Griffin was a man of power in the pulpit, and of a truly Christian spirit. The revival was conducted with wisdom, and resulted in large additions to the church. Mr. Griffin is still affectionately remembered by the few who remain who shared his evangelistie labors. Mr. Emerson preached a few months in Heath, Mass., after leav- ing Manchester, and died in that mountain town, July 20, 1841.
With regard to the dissolution of the pastoral re- lation, his daughter, Mrs. Mary Emerson Brown, writes under date, Nov. 21, 1894:
" Though but ten years of age when broken health obliged my father to leave his much loved charge, I have not forgotten those days, so sad to my parents, of parting from the many friends who during all the years of faithful ministry had become very dear to them. I remember hear- ing my mother say how very patient the people had been through all my father's protracted illness, hoping these months of waiting might result in ultimate recovery."
This is a testimony honorable alike to pastor and people.
The successor of Mr. Emerson was Rev. Oliver A.
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Taylor, who accepted the charge of the church, with a salary of seven hundred dollars. He was installed Sept. 18, 1839, and continued his labors until his death, Dec. 18, 1851. Mr. Taylor spent his boy- hood days in Hawley, Franklin County ; graduated at Union College, 1825 ; and studied theology at Andover. He was one of a remarkable family, both father and mother being distinguished for piety and character, and four of the sons becoming ministers of the gospel.
Mr. Taylor was somewhat noted among his min- isterial brethren as a scholar and a writer. His life, written by a brother, Rev. Timothy A. Taylor, shows him to have been a man of strong character, of well-disciplined mind, of large attainments, and thoroughly devoted to the work to which he had been called. He suffered for most of his life the drawback of ill health.
Mr. Taylor was a good Hebraist and was ac- quainted with the Arabic. And what was still more remarkable in his day, he was a good German scholar.
Mr. Taylor was not a man who loved controversy. He admitted that he "could not bear the cross-cuts and sharp retorts of debates." He was ill-fitted for the stormy era of anti-slavery discussion, and some- times seemed to his friends over-cautious and timid. But none ever doubted his sincerity and true good- ness of heart. When he finished his course, the town lost a faithful minister and a true man. His funeral was attended in one of the wildest winter storms that ever swept our coast.
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Rev. Rufus Taylor, a brother of the former pastor, was installed May 6, 1852. On his return from a voyage to Russia for his health, in 1856, he was " very cordially received," and presented with a purse of one hundred and twenty-five dollars by his parishioners. The next year, however, a growing dissatisfaction resulted in a sundering of the pas- toral relation. Mr. Taylor continued to preach in the meeting-house until late in the fall of 1857, when with a minority of the church and society he began to hold services in another building, "they claiming to be the First Congregational Church." A council, convened Dec. 16, 1857, decided " that neither party without the other had a claim to be the Congregational Church, and dismissed Mr. Tay- lor from all his church and parish relations." The number of seceding members was seventy-nine, the number who remained was one hundred. Mr. Tay- lor wisely accepted the decision of the council and left the town. He afterward received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and died at his home, Beverly, N. J., Aug. 18, 1894, at the age of eighty-three years and a few months.
The minority continued to maintain separate ser- vices, effected a church organization, and called Rev. Francis V. Tenney as pastor. He was installed Aug. 15, 1858, and the present Chapel was fitted for the use of the church and society. A reunion of the two churches was brought about in 1869, and the Chapel was presented by Mrs. Abby H. Trask to the original society by whom it is now used for social meetings.
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The successor of Rev. Rufus Taylor was Rev. George E. Freeman who was ordained October 5, 1858, and dismissed at his own request, November 18, 1862. Mr. Freeman's pastorate was not noteworthy in any particular. He had the con- fidence of the people as " a good minister of Jesus Christ."
Rev. Edward P. Tenney became pastor, Nov. 3, 1862, and continued in that relation until Sept. 30, 1867. Mr. Tenney's pastorate included the greater part of the period of the Civil War, and was help- ful in many ways to the interests not only of the church but of the town. It is not invidious to say that Mr. Tenney's preaching was of an original order, suggestive and richly imaginative, reminding the more thoughtful of his hearers of the odor of far- gathered herbs and flowers. Since leaving the pas- torate, Mr. Tenney has been engaged in educational and literary work.
Rev. George L. Gleason succeeded Mr. Tenney ; he was installed April 7, 1869, and dismissed by council at his own request, Sept. 21, 1881. He is at present pastor in Haverhill, Mass. Mr. Gleason is pleasantly remembered by many not belonging to his particular sheep-fold as the genial minister and everybody's friend.
In recent years the changes have been frequent. Rev. D. O. Clark was installed April 20, 1882, and left Feb. 6, 1885. Rev. Daniel Marvin followed from March, 1886, to November, 1892. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. J. P. Ashley for about six months, and by Rev. Samuel Reid for about the same length
1
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of time. The present pastor, Rev. Francis A. Fate, was installed Nov. 1, 1894.
The later history is briefly dismissed, chiefly be- cause it lacks perspective. Events which seem un- important in the passing, stand out with bold relief very often when viewed through the lengthened vista of years. And men who are seen too close at hand do not always show their real stature and dimensions to us. We know men better, often, after they are dead than when they are living.
Names of the Deacons of the Church.
Benjamin Allen, Samuel Lee, Benjamin Lee, Jonathan Herrick, John Tewksbury, John Allen, Jacob Tewksbury, D. L. Bingham, Nathan Allen, Andrew Brown, Enoch Allen, Albert E. Low, Henry Knight, John Price, John Fowler, Oliver Roberts, Andrew Brown, Daniel Leach, F. A. P. Killam.
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MEETING HOUSES.
The meetings of the first settlers for religious wor- ship were probably held in private houses. In 1656, appears the following record:
" Ye 2d of ye 12 mo. It was at a general town meeting agreed upon that a meeting-house should be built, 18 feet long, with two Gable ends, to be set near the Landing-place, and the planters are to come and cut the timber this day fortnight. William Bennett, John Pickworth and Samuel Friend are to oversee the getting of the timber and if any man neglects to work he is to give a sufficient reason for his absence or pay 5 shillings for his neglect." 1
In 1691, the meeting-house was found too small and much in need of repair. The following record is dated " eighteenth day of January 169}";
" Whereas our old meeting house being the most part Considerable part of it Rottun and the sd house also being too small to Acomodate our people When Conveined to gether for the Worship and service of god It is therefore voted and fully agreed to have a new meeting hous built of these Dimentions [thirty by twenty-five feet, sixteen feet in height], with a -belvery on the top of sd house suteable for a good Bell of about a hundred Waight or more and three galeries to be built that is to say one on won side of the whole Length of sd house and the other tow at each end the whole breadth of sd house . . . the sd house be every ways Completely finished with seats and all other decent and suteable Apartainances theirto Convien- iant.2
This house was not fully paid for until 1695, when an assessment was made on forty-nine persons
1 This action on the part of the town anticipated by almost twenty years any compulsory legislation. It was in 1675 that it was enacted that a meet- ing-house should be erected in every town in the colony.
2 Toun Records, i, 44.
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to defray the cost, amounting to £111 16s. It was sold in 1720 for £12. In 1695, a Bell was pre- sented by George Norton; it was not hung, however, until the following year.
In 1696 a Committee was appointed
" to seate each and every parson from time to time as thare is ocation in the sd meting hous Acording to each and every persons proportion that he paid towards the building of the sd hous and allso According to what such Doe now pay to the ministry as nere as they can unless in case of any antient grave sober persons and of good conver- sation."
AN ANCIENT LANDMARK.
& CROSS BC
THIRD MEETING-HOUSE, 1720-1809.
Oct. 28, 1696, " it was voted and agreed to give to Ephram Jons one pound and fower shillings per year for to ring the bell and swepe the metting hous and to perform the office of a sacston acording to the orders of the sealect men."
This house seems not to have met the wants of the people, as in less than thirty years it was re-
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