USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Norton > History of the town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669 to 1859 > Part 22
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Rev. Pitt Clarke, speaking of the meeting-house, says that " the solemnities on the occasion [the ordi- nation of Rev. Mr. Palmer, Jan. 3, 1753] were the first religious exercises in it, - the only formal dedica- tion of the sanctuary."
" JAN. 26th, 1753.
" Voted, that Each Person that has Bought a place for a pew in ye sd. meeting shall have Liberty to Build their Pews themselves, provided they Build them according to the direction of the Commitee appointed for Building sd. meet- ing-house ; and that they shall be allowed forty shillings for Each pew they so build ; they to Provide all things needful for the Building their Respective pews.
" Voted, that the Committee aforesd. shall Lett those Per- sons, that shall so Build their Respective Pews, have what Boards and pieces of Boards they can spare for them, to Build sd. Pews with ; Reserving only what Boards they shall want for ye Building the Minister's pew, and ye pew the said precinct have voted the use of to Mr. Avery and his wife during ye sd. Precinct Pleasure.
" Voted, that the Committee for Building sd. Meeting-house shall provide meterialls suiteable for the finishing of said Meeting-house, and Build all the seets in ye Galery, as soon as Conveniently may be."
Then adjourned to Jan. 29. Then -
" Voted, that the Committee that were appointed for build- ing the New Meeting-house Go on to Build ye Pew that was voted for ye use of ye minister, and ye Pew that Mr. Avery and his wife was to have ye use of dureing ye Pre- cinct's pleasure, and the stairs up into ye Galery."
The committee appointed to sell the pews made a report at this meeting that they had sold, to the highest bidder, " Places for the Pews in ye New Meet- ing-House."
20*
234
MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
On the opposite page, we give a plan of the lower floor of the meeting-house, with the places for the pews marked out ; together with the names of the pur- chasers, and the price that was paid for the privilege of building a pew. There was a large sounding-board over the pulpit. It was of an hexagonal form, very tastefully made of panel-work, and supported by an iron rod. A portion of this old sounding-board is still in existence, though in a somewhat decayed state.
The galleries were arranged on three sides of the house ; and the seats gradually rose higher, one above the other. The cost of this house, when raised, was estimated at £101. 3s. 72d. The expense of finishing the house after it was raised, till first occupied, was £218. 17s. 11d. ; for work subsequently done upon the house, £85. 7s. 8d. The whole cost, £405. 8s. 4&d. It was, for many years, surrounded by large trees ; but Vandalism long ago destroyed them.
May 14, 1753, " It was put to vote, whether their should be pews built in the Gallery, behind the Seats ; and it passed in the negative."
A meeting was called to be on the 18th of June, 1753, "To vote what they think proper to be done with the places that are convenient to build Pews in over Each pair of the gallery-stairs, in the new meat- ing-house in said precinct; and also to vote whether the wiming shall have any part of the front Gallerey, and what part they shall have to sit in."
At the meeting "It was put to vote, whether the places over the gallerey-Stairs in ye new meating-house Should be for the negroes to Set in dureing the pre- cinct's pleasure ; and it passed in the affirmitive." Then the meeting was rather ungallantly dismissed, without any action relative to having "wiming" in the "front Gallerey."
Some of the elderly people who had no pew found it rather hard sitting upon the seats; and therefore were accustomed to carry chairs into the house, and occupy them.
235
THOMAS SHAW. £4-18-8.
WILLIAM STONE. £10-0-0.
GEORGE LEONARD. £10-13-4.
Pulpit
Stairs.
Pulpit.
Deacons' Seat.
Rev. Mr. PALMER.
JONATHAN LINCOLN. £8-0-0.
* GEORGE MOREY. £8-8-0.
JONATHAN HODGES, 2d. £5-10-8.
EPHRAIM LANE, jr. £6-10-8.
BENJAMIN TROW.
£4-2-8.
WOMEN'S SEATS.
Door.
EBENEZER GILBERT. £3-12-0.
ELEAZER CLAPP. £6-10-8.
NATHANIEL STONE. £8-10-8.
GEORGE LEONARD, jr. £7-12-0.
ISAAC HODGES. £7-1-4.
SIMEON WETHERELL. £6-10-8.
GEORGE MOREY, jr. £5-16-0.
GEORGE HODGES. £5-4-0.
Stairs to Men's Gallery.
PAUL COOK. £7-1-4.
SAMUEL CLAPP, jr. £7-14-8.
EDMUND HODGES. £10-13-4.
JOHN KING. £8-18-8.
Front Double Doors.
JONATHAN CLAPP, & DAVID WILLIAMS. £10-13-4.
THOMAS MOREY. £10-13-4.
SAMUEL MOREY. £6-8-0.
JOSEPH HART. £6-9-4.
JAMES GODFREY. £8-13-4. .
SETH GILBERT and JOHN COBB £4-17-4.
Door.
EAST.
* This is the pew reserved for Rev. Mr. AVERY and wife during the plea-
JOHN WILD, jr. £5-4-0.
JONATHAN EDDY. £7-6-8.
Stairs to Women's Gallery.
sure of the parish.
SOUTH.
GROUND-PLAN OF NEW MEETING-HOUSE IN 1753.
WEST .- Forty feet.
MEN'S SEATS.
CONGREGATIONAL PARISH.
NORTH. - Fifty-five feet.
236
MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
Nov. 28, 1753, the parish " Voted that the standing Comitte Shall take care of the meating-house, and keep it lokt; and also that theire be no chares seet in the alleys of sd. meating-house when the new seats are made Below."
A balcony, or sort of open porch, was erected over the front-door in 1765; for, on Oct. 2 of that year, the committee for finishing the meeting-house were directed " to go on, and finish the bellconey." There are those living who well remember this appendage to the house.
On the 16th of October, 1780, the parish " voted to mend the meeting-house ;" and at an adjourned meeting, Jan. 1, 1781, a committee were chosen " to procure shingles and other materials for reparing the meeting-house."
Dec. 11, 1780, it was " Voted to Sell so much of the floor in the meeting-house as to make Six pews Back of the men's and women's Body of Seats, and a roe of pews in the Back of the front galery;" and it was subsequently voted, that the six pews to be built below should conform, as near as possible, to those adjoining them ; and it was ordered that this pew-ground should be sold for silver money.
March 15, 1784, it was " Voted that one-third part of the front Galery be devoted for the wimen to set in, and be divided off."
Thus it will be seen that the old plan of keeping the women separate from the men was still adhered to. When the men and women learned to behave themselves, so as to be allowed to sit together, we are not informed.
Jan. 5, 1789, " Voted to sell the Ground for pews on the back-side of side-galarys, except about six or seven feet at the back-corner for negroes ; and also the Ground where the negroes' Seats now are."
This pew-ground was sold, Feb. 11, 1789, at " Pub- lick vendue," as follows, -" begining in the East Gallery, at the Northerly side : " -
237
CONGREGATIONAL PARISH.
No. 1. Mr. Samuel Hunt .
1 8
"
2. Mr. Isaac Hodges, jun.
1 10
3. Mr. Nathaniel Stone . 3 15
"
" 4. Mr. Jonathan Newland .
2 12
" 5. Mr. Samuel Copeland 4
1
"
7. Mr. Ebenezer Wetherell
4 8
"
" 9. Mr. Plyna Dean 1 18
"
11. Mr. Solomon Wetherell . "
3
1
12. Mr. William Wetherell .
5 0
"
13. Mr. Ebenezer Wetherell 2 13
"
14. Lt. Daniel Knap
2
6
March, 23, 1789, " Voted to sell so much of [the] floor of the meeting-[house] as to Make two pews at the north end of the men's body of seats, and two pews at the East end of the women's body of seats."
This vote was subsequently changed, so as to have only one pew built at the east and west end of the seats.
May 14, 1792, as the parish were having candidates for settlement in the vacant pulpit, they thought it best to brush up the house a little; and therefore voted " to paint the window-frames at present, and no more." But, as the time of ordaining the pastor elect drew near, it was whispered round that the inside of the house needed a little attention. Accordingly, May 20, 1793, the parish " Voted to paint the inside of the meeting-house, and whitewash the same ; " and the committee chosen for this purpose were admonished to look after the " sills," " the bottom-board and cor- ner-boards, and window-frames and doors :" all of which, we presume, was attended to in due form. At the same meeting, it was voted to sell " Ground for two pews on the lower floor ; " and it was also decided to sell four feet in breadth, at each end of the front gallery, for two pews; and the remainder of the front gallery was to be built, at the parish's expense, into a
S.
6. Mr. Nathaniel Freeman 1 18
"
8. Capt. Ephraim Lane 4 18
10. Lt. Seth Smith 4
5
238
MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
pew for the use of the singers during the pleasure of the parish.
Sept. 5, 1803, it was voted to sell pew-ground on the lower floor, on both sides of the " front alley," "where the two front-seats are ; " also to sell ground for three pews on each side-gallery, at the northerly end ; and likewise the ground for pews " below and above where each pare of stairs are."
Jan. 15, 1804, it was voted to make the two seats behind the new pews on the lower floor into long pews ; and also to sell the ground in the side-galleries for two pews, where the seats were left for the negroes, leaving the back seats for said negroes.
Nov. 26, 1804, it was voted to sell "the alley-ways at the east and west doors for pews."
As we shall soon see, these last votes were passed in consequence of a previous vote to build a belfry at one end of the meeting-house, and a porch at the other, in which stairs were to be built leading to the gal- lery.
At the meeting, Nov. 26, it was ordered that the " ground where the blacks set, at the east end of the meeting-house," should be sold for pews. Thus it will be seen how the seats, both above and below, gave way to the more aristocratic pews.
At a meeting of the parish, Sept. 5, 1803, -
" Voted to build a belfry with a steple at one end of the meeting-house, and a porch at the other end of sd. meeting- house.
" Voted, that all the work of Building the sd. Belfery & porch, and repairing the meeting-house, be Compleated and finished in fourteen months from this Date.
" Voted, that the meeting-house be Claboarded on the front and both ends."
Previously, it had been shingled on the outside.
Jan. 15, 1804, five hundred dollars were raised, in addition to that which was expected from the sale of pew-ground, for building the belfry, steeple, porch, &c.
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239
CONGREGATIONAL PARISH.
In the warrant for a parish-meeting on the 25th of March, 1805, there was an article "to see if said parish will vote to purchase a bell for the meeting- house." At the meeting, they raised two hundred and thirty dollars to complete the repairs on the house, and "Voted to pass the article about the bell."
The vote to raise two hundred and thirty dollars was annulled March 31, 1806; and it was then de- cided to take a hundred and fifty dollars out of the fund, to pay for repairs on the meeting-house.
We find nothing more relating to a bell, on the parish-records, till March 26, 1810, when it was -
" Voted to accept of the present made to the Parish, of a bell, and give leave that said bell be hung on the meeting- house in said Parish; and that the first ringing of the bell, on Sunday mornings, be at nine O'clock."
I have been told that this bell was purchased by subscription ; and I have found papers which substan- tiate this statement. Very soon after the vote "to pass the article about the bell," on the 25th of March, 1805, a movement was made to secure a bell by voluntary contributions, as the annexed document will show : -
"The Subscribers, takeing into Consideration the advan- tages that would arise in haveing a good Bell, of about 800 wt., in the meeting-house of the Congregational Parish in Norton, do, for the Purpose of Purchaseing sd. Bell, agree & Promise to pay the sum we set to our names, Provided a sum sufficient shall be subscribed for that Purpose.
"The money to be paid to a Committee appointed by the majority of the subscribers to receive the same and to pur- chase sd. Bell.
" JUNE 7th, 1805.
" George Leonard, Fifty Dollars; Laban Wheaton, twenty Dollars ; Lysander Makepeace, Seven Dollars; Jacob Shep- herd, ten Dollars."
The project did not meet the favor of the people generally ; and hence, for a time, was abandoned. But, in a few years, it was revived. Here is the proof : -
240
MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
" JANUARY, 1810.
" As the above subscription did not obtain, we who have subscribed this agree to pay the sum affixed to our names for the purpose above mentioned; viz., to procure a meeting- house Bell for the Congregational Society in Norton, over which the Rev. Mr. Clarke is now a settled minister."
As an inducement for people to subscribe towards the bell, the following obligation was entered into by the pastor of the parish : -
" As some persons are willing to subscribe for a Bell only on the condition they can be free from the expense of ringing it, I hereby obligate myself, for my part, to be at the expense of ringing it on Sabbath & Lecture days, so long as I am allowed the surplus of the Parish Fund, as I have been some time past. Tho' this may be more than my equal proportion, I am willing to do it to encourage what would contribute so much to the honor of the Parish, & to the convenience & utility of those who are the united members of it.
"JAN., 1810.
"PITT CLARKE."
To this paper are attached the names of twenty- seven persons, whose subscriptions ranged from one to twenty dollars ; the whole amount being sixty-six dol- lars and fifty cents. But, as we have been unable to find the names of the other subscribers, we shall not publish the above twenty-seven.
We have found the bill of purchase ; from which it appears that the bell was bought at Boston, March 30, 1810, of Paul Revere and Son; that its "nett weight" was eight hundred and seventy-five pounds ; and that it cost forty-two cents per pound, or three hundred and sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents. For some needed fixtures, there were paid six dollars and thirty cents ; making the whole cost three hundred and seventy-three dollars and eighty cents.
The makers of the bell entered into the following agreement with the purchasers : "If it Breaks within one year, and judges say the cause was in the manu- facture, we agree to make it good."
241
CONGREGATIONAL PARISH.
I am told that " a yoke," on which to hang the bell, was procured : but, not being very suitable, an attempt was made to purchase another of the Misses Woodward, who lived in the southerly part of the town ; but they would not sell it. Some persons, however, determined to have it at any rate ; and therefore went and cut the tree, and carried off what was needed, leaving the other yoke instead ; and justified themselves for the act on the ground that " exchange was no robbery." No one can doubt, however, that it was a rather questionable proceeding.
We have found a bill of articles furnished "the Committee for Purchasing the Bell," by George Gil- bert; and among the items were a quarter-gallon of West-India rum, a quarter-gallon of cherry, and one- eighth gallon of brandy. We presume these articles were needed as help to raise the bell into the belfry.
This was the same bell that now belongs to the Con- gregational parish.
It was the practice of the early settlers of the country to build their meeting-houses without means of warm- ing them, either by fireplaces or stoves. Why they did so, we are unable to say; but it will be obvious to every one, that it must have been a pretty severe penance for the sins committed during the week, to be obliged to sit on a cold winter's day, in an un- warmed house, and listen to the long sermons of those times. Many of the gentler sex, who could not so well endure the icy atmosphere of the house as their more hardy lords, obviated the difficulty somewhat by carrying with them to the house of God little " foot- stoves," filled with coals. Even with these helps to keep the temperature of the body above the freezing- point, there was, no doubt, much suffering from the piercing cold. Few, we fear, would be the worship- pers of either sex at the present day in an unwarmed house of prayer.
When the proposition came, as it did at last, to in- troduce some warming apparatus into the sanctuary, it met with a strong opposition from some who, for
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242
MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
years, had shivered through the sermons of many a freezing Sunday. But the car of progress is ever onward, and finally triumphant. The year 1818 is memorable in the annals of Norton as the year when the people submitted to the monstrous innovation of warming the meeting-house. In January of that year, a subscription-paper was started, headed by the vene- rable Judge Leonard, -then verging upon his ninetieth year,-to purchase stoves for the meeting-house. . The subscriptions varied from five dollars to twenty-five cents. The number of subscribers was sixty-seven, and the amount raised was eighty-four dollars and twenty- five cents. On the 5th of February, 1818, two stoves were bought of Joseph Howe for twenty-seven dollars. He was also paid, for two hundred and forty-three feet of funnel, and other articles needed about the stoves, forty-five dollars and forty-seven cents ; making the whole amount for stoves and fixtures, seventy-two dol- lars and forty-seven cents. The remainder of the money was used to purchase wood, and to pay for making the fires, &c.
After having enjoyed the luxury of a warm house one Sunday, no one has since been anxious to go back to the good old time when the penitential tears would freeze in their journey down the repentant's cheek before the altar of God.
Having made the inside of the house comfortable, the parish think it best to have the outside respectable ; and therefore, on the 21st of June, 1819, three hun- dred dollars were raised to paint and repair the meeting- house and belfry. This proved to be the last brushing- up the house received from the hands of the parish.
After the lapse of a few years, various causes con- spired to make a new house desirable. The venerable pastor, who for forty years had broken the bread of life, and taught, by precept and example, the living truths that fell from the lips of Jesus, took a deep interest in this movement. On the thirty-first day of March, 1834, a committee was appointed to ascertain what repairs the old house needed, and what would be
-
ETAYLOR- ADAMS
Congregational Meeting-House. Erected 1835.
243
CONGREGATIONAL PARISH.
the cost of a new one. The committee made a report on the 28th of May following: and, on that day, the parish " voted to remove to a new Meeting-house to worship, provided there should be one built in the manner proposed ; that is, put into shares." A com- mittee was also chosen to see how many shares could be disposed of.
At an adjourned meeting, Sept. 27, 1834, these votes, and several others subsequently passed relating to a new house, were rescinded. It was then -
" Moved and Voted, that this Parish build a new Meeting- house by the sale of the Pews and individual donation, & set it on the ground gratuitously offered by Mrs. Peddy Bowen, according to her direction, near the front of this house ; and said house shall be for the use of the Congrega- tional Incorporated society of which the Rev. Pitt Clarke is the present Minister, or his successor in office. 28 for, 6 against."
Mrs. Bowen not only gave the land whereon to set the new house, but also gave " all the timber for it, on the condition that it should be cut and carried from her land according to her particular direction." At the meeting, Sept. 27, 1834, the parish voted that the cost of the house should "not exceed four thousand dollars." They also chose John Sweet, Daniel Lane, Cromwell Leonard, Leonard Hodges, jun., and Elisha Crossman, a Building Committee. It was subsequently directed that the house should be sixty-two feet long and forty-two wide; and Oliver Clapp and Earl Hodges were added to the Building Committee.
During the summer of 1835, the house was built, in part, after the plan of a house at Ipswich. The pulpit is at the entrance-end of the house ; the singing- seats at the opposite end; and a narrow gallery on each side, originally with one row of seats in the front of it (which were taken down in 1847), and a walk in the back part, leading from the entrance-end of the house to the singing-seats. The house was dedicated to the worship of the one living and only true God, Dec. 23, 1835.
244
MEETING-HOUSES.
The following account of the dedicatory services we copy from the "Christian Register" of Jan. 9, 1836 : -
" On Wednesday, Dec. 23rd, the new and beautiful Church erected for the use of the First Congregational Society in Norton was solemnly dedicated to the public worship of Al- mighty God. The services on this occasion were as follows : Introductory prayer by Rev. Mr. Sweet, of Kingston ; Read- ing of the Scriptures by Rev. Mr. Bridge, of Cambridge ; Dedicatory prayer by Rev. Mr. Bigelow, of Taunton; Ser- mon by Rev. Mr. Hall, of Providence ; concluding prayer by Rev. Mr. Sayward, of Mansfield."
The number of pews in the house was sixty. Fifty- six of these were sold at auction on the 24th of De- cember, 1835, for three thousand seven hundred and two dollars and fifty cents. As the house drew near its completion, the disposal of the old house became a matter of interest.
Nov. 16, 1835, the parish voted to have the old meeting-house appraised by a disinterested committee, and to sell it at public vendue. Samuel Crocker of. Taunton, Zeba Bliss of Attleborough, and Simeon Green of Mansfield, were chosen to appraise the old house ; and it was subsequently sold to the town for a town-house.
In the year 1836, a chain-fence was erected around the meeting-house, and remained for some years. In 1850, the present fence, with iron rails and stone posts, was erected ; and a row of seventeen evergreen-trees set out inside of the fence around the house, and the walk made from the fence up to the front-end of the house.
But little change has been made in the house since its erection. In August, 1854, the inside of the house was repainted, the pews were grained, the pulpit lowered about one-half its previous height, the house newly carpeted, and a sofa and chairs purchased for the pulpit, &c. ; and the expense of the same was paid by the ladies of the parish.
245
MINISTERIAL FUND.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MINISTERIAL FUND, AND INCORPORATION OF THE CON- GREGATIONAL PARISH.
" This originated in the pious forethought of our fathers of the Plymouth Colony." P. CLARKE.
IN order to lay the foundation for the permanent sup- port of the ministry, the God-loving and God-fearing proprietors of the Taunton North Purchase conceived the idea of setting apart a portion of their lands for such a purpose. Accordingly, at a meeting of the North-Purchase proprietors, "Jan. 27, 1684-5, it was voted and agreed [to] Lay out a lot, in the most con- venient place, ffor the use of the ministry, - A Lot, Equal with one of our own, and Equal priviledges through the Whole purchase, never to be Allianated from the use of the ministry." 1 This vote was soon after carried into effect, and one hundred acres of upland and eight of meadow were laid out; but, for some reason, - perhaps because they anticipated the division of the North Purchase into two or more towns, - on the 6th of March, 1698-9, the proprietors voted -
" That the lot for the ministry aready pitched upon shall be let ffall, and one-halfe of it layed out nearer to Bridg- water, and the other halfe nearer to Chartley Ironworks ; 2 both where the Committee, with advise, shall Judg most Con- venient."
This vote was not at once carried into effect. Hence, on July 2, 1700, they ordered that the ministry-lot should be laid out in the two parts already spoken of,
1 North-Purchase Records, p. 9.
2 These were at the Judge Leonard estate.
21*
246
MINISTERIAL FUND, AND INCORPORATION
and one hundred acres more should be added to it. May 25, 1721, the vote was re-affirmed, that one-half of the ministerial land should be laid out towards the west end, and the other half towards the east end, of the North Purchase, " both in future and latter divi- sions." Lieut. Nicholas White, Ensign George Leonard, and John Smith, for the west end ; John Phillips, Tho- mas Randall, and Josiah Keith, for the east end, - were appointed a committee to lay it out. From the records, it appears that, up to October, 1744, there had been set apart for the ministry four hundred and fifty-three acres of land ; but, heretofore, no use had been made of it, except that Rev. Mr. Avery had cut off some timber, and used it in the building of his house. In 1747, a petition was sent to the Proprietors' Committee asking that a meeting might be called -
"To see if the Proprietee will give the Lands Layed out in the said Proprietee for the use of the ministree, to be dis- posed of by the town of Norton and Easton Respectively for the support of a Presbeterian or Congregationell ministry. The town of Easton have a mind to build thereon, and Im- prove sd. lands lying in sd. townships." 1
The meeting was held Dec. 14, 1747 ; but was forth- with adjourned to March 15, 1748. A committee was then appointed to view the lands, and report at the next meeting what was best to be done to make the lands most advantageous to the two towns for the sup- port of the ministry." 2 No report of this committee is to be found.
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