USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, including Grafton until 1735, Millbury until 1813 and parts of Northbridge, Upton and Auburn > Part 38
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Services continued to be held until 1858 or '59, and per- haps occasionally later than that date.
The church had but one minister, Rev. Mr. Fuller. It was his request that after his death the meeting-house should be sold, and the proceeds given to the Freewill Baptist Home Missionary Society, which was done. He died December 8, 1875.
It is fitting in this connection to say of him, that " in the public and private relations of life, he eminently illustrated the graces of the Christian."
UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY.
BY S. DEXTER KING.
In the summer of 1840 a paper was circulated asking those persons known to favor the views of the denomination known as Universalists, to meet for the purpose of organiz- ing a society, and about a dozen signatures were obtained.
Accordingly, on the eighth of August following, a meeting was held in the hall of Whiting's hotel, at which a majority of the signers were present, and a society organized with the following Preamble and Constitution for its government :
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Preamble: We the subscribers, being desirous to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," do hereby form our- selves into a society that we may be helps to each other, and that by our uni- ted energies we may better serve the purposes of religion and of truth, we cheerfully adopt and subscribe to the following Constitution as the basis of our government.
Article 1st. The name: First Universalist Society.
Article 2d. The object of the society: The promotion of truth among its members and in the world at large; also to support the preaching of the gospel according to the society's ability.
Article 3d. Its profession of faith.
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments con- tain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, interest and final destination of mankind.
We believe there is one God whose nature is Love, revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.
We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected, and that believers ought to maintain order and practise good works, for these things are good and profitable unto men.
Article 4th. How persons may become members of the society.
Article 5th. The duty of members defined.
Article 6th. States when the annual meeting shall be held, and the busi- ness to be transacted.
Article 7th. What the officers of the society shall be, and their duties.
Article Sth. Tells how the meetings shall be called.
Article 9th. Number of members to constitute a quorum.
Article 10th. How the constitution can be altered or amended.
At its organization the Rev. A. Bugbee of Charlton being present, was invited to take the chair, and the organization effected by the choice of the fol- lowing officers:
Clerk, Solomon D. King; Collector and Treasurer, Paris Tourtellot; Exec- utive Committee, Veranus C. Hooker, Pliny Slocomb, Stephen Marble.
The society had occasional preaching during the year. At the annual meeting held the next March, the committee were instructed to procure the services of the Rev. Alvan Abbott one-half the time for the ensuing year, provided he would move into the place, the society at Oxford desiring his ser- vices the other half.
The committee were able to arrange with Mr. Abbott as instructed, and he commenced his labors with the society the first of April.
The first season the meetings were held in the hall at West Sutton. The next year the same arrangements for preaching were made, and the meetings were held in the academy building. At the close of the year the society,
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having gained strength sufficient to pay expenses, employed Mr. Abbott all the time, and this continued for two years, the congregations in pleasant weather numbering from 150 to 200. A sabbath-school was organized and quite a library procured.
At the end of that time circumstances occurred which rendered it necessary for several of the more prominent members to remove from the place, which so weakened the society, not only numerically but financially, that it was thought best, in accordance with the wishes of the members at the east part of the town, to remove the meeting to the centre ; accordingly the Masonic hall was procured and fitted up in which to hold the meetings. At the same time Mr. Abbott had a call which he did not feel at liberty to decline, and his removal tended still farther to weaken them, and although moving to the centre added some to the congregation, it never was as strong as before. After Mr. Abbott left, the society gave a call to a young man by the name of Tingley, to become their pastor. He com- menced his labors in the spring of 1846, and was ordained here early in the fall, but his labors not being very success- ful, and the society becoming still farther weakened, at the close of one year he retired. After that, the society not being able to raise sufficient funds to procure a preacher all the time, held occasional meetings.
The last meeting of which there is any record was held April 5, 1847, which was an adjourned meeting from March 18th, and called to hear the report of Sylvanus Putnam in relation to procuring the services of Rev. B. H. Davis of Milford. He reported Mr. Davis engaged to supply at another place. Their failure to procure him seems to have discouraged them, and no farther effort was made.
The whole number that united with the society was forty- three, though there were others that attended the meetings and contributed to its support.
Of the members, twenty-four are dead, the present resi- dence of five is unknown; four reside in Worcester, three in Webster, two in Oxford, one in Southbridge, and four remain in Sutton.
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TOWN OF SUTTON.
BAPTIST CHURCH IN MANCHAUG.
Prepared by Rev. C. L. THOMPSON.
This church was organized May 18, 1842, with thirty members, and was named " The Manchaug Baptist Church." A few of the original members still survive and bear an honorable record.
Its house of worship is situated in the manufacturing vil- lage of the same name, and as most of its resident member- ship and of the congregation are employes and operatives in the mills, the Manchaug company have ever borne a noble and principal part in supporting the pastors. It has been supplied with earnest and faithful pastors, and though its membership is ever small, owing to the constant changes inci- dental to a manufacturing village, yet it occupies a very commendable place in the esteem of surrounding churches of all denominations.
Its early interest for the spread of truth and the salvation of souls is manifest, for we read a few months after its organization, that the church voted that it was " In favor of a series of religious meetings to be holden the last week in December, and a committee of arrangements was appointed."
Their trust in the Lord was not in vain, for within a year the records show an addition of twenty-four to its member- ship by baptism, and ten by letter.
Its liberal spirit toward churches of other denominations, in their membership relations, was likewise early, and has ever been continuously, manifest.
We read that July 5, 1846, it was voted to give two of its members " Letters of dismission and recommendation to
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any christian church where they may in providence be loca- ted." This has often been repeated, as the records show.
The noble attitude of the church against the curse of intemperance, appears from the fact that it voted to abstain wholly from all intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to use
BAPTIST CHURCH, MANCHAUG.
all suitable means to restrain others from the same. This was adopted as a part of their covenant on Dec. 3, 1859 ; and their continuous warfare against this vice is a bright mark in her history, and worthy of commendation.
The church has had repeated evidences of the presence and favor of God, in a goodly number of revivals and ingatherings or harvest seasons.
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TOWN OF SUTTON.
Including her original membership, her total of additions reaches two hundred and twenty, more than one-fifth of whom were received under the labors of the present pastor, Rev. C. L. Thompson. Of the total number, many have been dismissed to other churches, many have died, and a few excluded for disorderly walk. Our present number is less than one hundred members, and many of these non- residents. Its present resident membership constitutes a body of earnest workers ; and their influence in the church, in a sabbath-school of unusual interest, and in the com- munity generally, is such as to gain the church a welcome place in the hearts of all who love moral and spiritual progress. As is usual with such churches, the change of pastors has been frequent. Ten have served her in the pastoral office since the organization, besides a number of supplies during the intervals of change. The following is a list of pastors, with their terms of service, as nearly as can be readily attained by the records :
Rev. W. H. Dalrymple,
1 year, 2 months.
N. B. Jones,
Rev. George Daland,
1
60
6
60
Abial Fisher,
4
N. Chapman,
2
J. S. Harradon,
6
N. J. Pinkham,
1
66
7 66
Addison Browne,
D. A. Dearborn,
4
C. L. Thompson,
4
66
5
1
4
9
7
The time of the last includes two seasons of service in the pastoral office.
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CHURCHES OF THE
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WILKINSONVILLE.
BY REV. P. Y. SMITH.
This congregation was organized by the Associate Pres- bytery of Albany, N. Y., and continued from 1855 until 1858 in connection with that body ; when at the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed Churches, which took place in Pittsburg, Penn., May 26, 1858, it became one of the congregations of the United Presbyterian Church of North America.
The Associate Church to which the Sutton United Pres- byterian congregation first belonged, was originally a seces- sion from the church or kirk of Scotland in the year 1733 ; and was known as the "Seceder Church," and had four ministers at first, viz. : Ebenezer Erskine, William Wilson, Alexander Mancrieft and James Fisher. The first mission- ary that came to this country was Alexander Gellatly, in connection with the Scottish Associate Church ; and he, and Andrew Arnott, a settled minister, formed a presbytery under the name of the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, subordinate to the associate anti-burgher synod of Scotland. The original founders of the Sutton United Presbyterian congregation were families from the province of Ulster, Londonderry county, Ireland ; and were from their earliest associations trained up in the Presbyterian faith, and when here, longed for the church of their choice, in which their children could be taught the shorter catechism, and other- wise instructed in the distinctive principles of that faith which they had carried with them from their home-land beyond the seas.
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TOWN OF SUTTON.
For several years before the present church building was erected, divine services were held in school-houses and in private dwellings in the villages around, extending from Millbury to North Uxbridge. The first settled minister was the Rev. James Williamson, who was installed February 1856, and continued in his pastorate nearly eight years. Mr. Williamson was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and was educated in the Glasgow college, and also studied the- ology under the celebrated Doctors McCrie and Paxton of Edinburgh, in connection with the original Seceder church. Mr. Williamson as a preacher, so say his co-presbyters, was a man of no ordinary ability, always preaching with great acceptance and edification, evincing in his pulpit exercises a logical train of thought, the result at all times of a well polished and educated mind. Mr. Williamson died in the house of his son, the Rev. James A. Williamson of Johnston, - Fulton county, N. Y., in March 1866, in, I think, his sixtieth year, deeply regretted among his friends and brethren. The elders or members of the session during the incumbency of Mr. Williamson were Messrs. William Gould, John Young, Alexander Brown, James Boyd, Matthew Caldwell and Andrew Kerr. The present pastor, the Rev. P. Y. Smith, was ordained and installed February 28, 1866, by the united Presbyterian presbytery of Boston, the Rev. William McLoren, D. D., of Fall River, preaching the ser- mon, and the Rev. Alexander Blaikie, D. D., of Boston, moderator, leading in the ordination prayer.
Mr. Smith was sent by the general assembly of the United Presbyterian Church to supply in the presbytery of Boston for six months, and was assigned by the Rev. John P. Robb of Providence, R. I., to occupy the pulpit of the Sutton United Presbyterian church one Sabbath, October 1, 1865, and has continued from that time until the present year (1877), making a pastorate of nearly twelve years. Mr. Smith was educated in the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and studied Hebrew and theology in the city of New York, and was licensed to preach the gospel by the second presby- tery of the United Presbyterian Church, New York City, September 15, 1863. This congregation has a membership
62
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of a hundred. The present members of the session are Messrs. William Gould, Andrew Kerr and James Young. The treasurer of the congregation is Mr. George Woodburn, who has held the office with great acceptance since 1866. The church building is of wood, built on a hill overlooking the Blackstone river, and cost about two thousand three hundred dollars, and is free of debt.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
PREPARED BY A FORMER MEMBER.
During the autumn and winter of 1852, a few families of the Methodist faith, desirous of worshiping in accordance with their belief, invited the Rev. Mr. Jones of East Doug- las to hold occasional meetings in Washington hall. The meetings were well attended and a good degree of interest manifested. A class-meeting was formed, with Mr. James Prentice as leader. The meetings were held weekly, and increased in numbers and interest to such a degree that they felt justified in petitioning the New England Conference, at its annual meeting in April 1853, to send them a preacher. The petition was favorably entertained, and the Rev. John W. Lee stationed here. Washington hall was procured, and he entered at once upon his labors, with a congregation not large, but constantly increasing. A church was organ- ized June 12th, which at the end of the year numbered thirty members, with twenty-seven on probation. A sab- bath school was organized, which, with the bible-class, embraced nearly the entire congregation. A library was procured, a part of the books being a gift from the Millbury Methodist Episcopal church. The ladies of the church and society established a sewing circle, the object of which was to
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TOWN OF SUTTON.
advance the interests of the church in a pecuniary point of view. They labored together with great unanimity and were very successful. At the end of the first year, the church finding they had been able to support their minister and meet all liabilities, felt encouraged to go forward in their work.
April 1854 Mr. Lee was returned to this charge. A good degree of interest was manifested, the congregation increased and it soon became apparent that the number inclined to worship with them would be too large to be accommodated in Washington hall. It therefore secmed advisable to erect a church edifice, if sufficient means could be procured for that purpose. A committee was appointed to ascertain what could be raised by subscription, and in a short time two- thirds the amount necessary was pledged, and it was thought safe, with such encouragement, to commence the house.
A lease of a lot for the church, upon the west side of the common, was granted by the town. See " Annals," 1854. After the usual preliminaries of choosing building commit- tees, trustees, etc., a contract was made with Andrew J. Morse to erect the building at a cost of thirty-four hundred dollars. The corner stone was laid on the fourth of July by Mr. Charles Taylor of Northbridge. A large number were present to witness the ceremony. The house was raised the tenth of November, completed in March 1855, and dedicated the twenty-second of the month. Rev. Miner Raymond of Wilbraham preached the dedication sermon. The house was very tasteful and commodious, the walls beautifully frescoed, and all were satisfied with their new home. The Rev. Mr. Lee had labored here earnestly and successfully for two years ; and, according to the usages of the Methodist Episcopal church at the time, could remain no longer, and preached his last sermon April 8th. The church then numbered sixty-three members, with eleven on probation. The Rev. George Prentice, D. D., professor of languages in the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and the Rev. Daniel C. Babcock of Philadelphia, district secretary of the United States temperance society, were members of this church. After leaving Sutton, Mr. Lee's
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CHURCHES OF THE
appointments were in the western part of the state, and at the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, he assisted in raising a company with which he went as captain. At the close of the war he received an appointment in the custom house at Boston. Mr. Lee was an Englishman by birth, but truly American in all his views and sympathies.
Rev. John H. Gaylord was his successor. He was an acceptable preacher, and the church was united and prosper- ous under his ministration. At the end of the year the church numbered fifty-nine members, with twenty-five on probation. In 1856 Rev. Rodney Gage was stationed here. Mr. Gage was an earnest preacher and devoted to his work. Mrs. Gage was a most estimable lady, of ardent piety, pleasing address and had a happy faculty of interesting the young. She gave life and animation to the sewing circle and the prayer meetings. Through her influence, and under her guidance, the young people gave an exhibition for the benefit of the church, which was quite a success. So well pleased were the people with the effort, that persons outside of the society requested its repetition. The Misses Putnam of Worcester kindly volunteered to sing and play for the occasion, which added much to the interest. Those who took part in that exhibition cannot fail to remember Mrs. Gage with interest and affection.
"A debt which it was impossible to meet, hindered the prosperity that might otherwise have attended the society. The church had also been weakened by the removal of some of it's most prominent and influential members. But in the midst of all discouragements Mr. Gage was cheerful and hopeful. At the end of the year the church numbered sixty members, with ten on probation.
The next year (1857) Mr. Gage was returned to this charge. His labors, trials and success were about the same as last year. On account of the great financial depression of this year, the society failed to meet the payment of his salary, a deficiency of one hundred and forty dollars remaining. The church numbered sixty members, with three on probation. The next year Rev. Newell S. Spaulding was the preacher in charge. He was an elderly man who had had much experience.
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TOWN OF SUTTON.
He was a successful preacher, but having other business he left in autumn or early winter, and his place was supplied by a young man by the name of Brown. At the end of the year the church numbered sixty-one members, with five on probation. In 1859 Rev. William A. Clapp was the preacher in charge. Mr. Clapp was a conscientious, good man, and a faithful worker in the cause he loved.
During this year a special effort was made to reduce the debt- which amounted to fourteen hundred dollars - with the hearty co-operation and sympathy of the presiding elder, Rev. Loranus Crowell. But on account of the great financial trouble it was impossible to raise money, some of the members became discouraged, all the church property had been mortgaged, and no way out of the trouble seemed to present itself.
In 1860 Rev. J. J. Woodbury was in charge. Not being able to obtain the minutes of the conference, the writer can give no statistics. In 1861 Rev. Charles W. Macreading, jr., was in charge. He was a very acceptable preacher, and the young people were deeply interested in him. Amid discouragements consequent upon the debt, he left for a few weeks, and his place was supplied by the Rev. Horace Moulton.
Mr. Macreading subsequently returned, and remained through the year.
In 1862 and '63 Rev. S. O. Brown was in charge. He united the profession of homeopathic physician with that of preacher. It became evident that the church could not meet its liabilities, and the conference in 1864 transferred all the members to the Millbury church. The church property was given without reserve into the hands of the creditors.
Mr. Paris Tourtellott held a mortgage upon the house, and Mr. Ezra Jones of East Douglas, and Mr. Joseph Dudley of Northbridge, had mortgages on the personal property.
Messrs. Jones and Dudley divided the property. Mr. Jones, who was a member of the church, retained the Sab- bath-school library and communion service as a part of his share. The library he gave Elder Willard Fuller for the use of his sabbath-school.
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CHURCHES OF SUTTON.
After Mr. Fuller became so feeble as to be obliged to abandon preaching, he gave the library to the Methodist church at East Douglas. The communion service, which it is said was a gift from George W. Putnam, a prominent member of this church, but now of Anoka, Minnesota, was kept by Mr. Jones, and is now in possession of his widow. The tent was sold to the Brookfield church. -
The house was sold at auction, and purchased by the late Stephen B. Holbrook, which he moved and made into the beautiful house that his heirs at present occupy.
THE SCHOOLS OF SUTTON.
The common schools of this country were commenced and sustained on two distinct plans. In one section the neces- sity of educating the children of all, irrespective of rank or condition in life, was recognized, and schools were estab- lished by law and attendance upon them made compulsory. In other sections no provision was made by law for the establishment of schools, but the whole matter of education was left to the inclination or caprice of the people. Each plan has its advocates now, as in earlier times. The first has been attended by results which show the wisdom of its adoption ; the latter by evils which reveal its short-sighted policy.
The first settlers of this state were the founders of the free school system. They had received some inspiration from the schools of learning in Europe, established for the favored classes, and more from revelation. They did not believe that knowledge, power and wealth were intended for the few, but that the avenues to their attainment should be open to all. They believed in civil and religious freedom.
It was because they saw no hope of securing to themselves and their posterity their God-given rights, that they crossed a stormy ocean, seeking a home as remote as possible from opposing influences made strong by long continued growth and prejudice ; and here in this western wilderness, amid the toils, anxieties and perils attending a new settlement
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so remote from sources whence supply of almost every want, aside from food, must come, they inaugurated a system of education for the masses, which, improved from time to time, gradually extended through the New England states and over a large portion of the country.
In 1642 a law was passed requiring that those chosen to manage " the prudentials of every town in the several pre- cincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their neighbors, to see, first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them to read perfectly the English tongue, and a knowledge of the capital laws, upon penalty of twenty shillings for each neg- lect therein."
It was not, however, until 1647 that a law was enacted ordering the establishment in every town of fifty household- ers of a public school, in which the children should be taught to read and write, and, when the families shall have increased to an hundred, of a grammar school in which the young men might be fitted for the university. A fine of five pounds, to be paid to the next school, was imposed in case of neg- lect to conform to the above requirements.
Great importance was attached to the moral and religious training of the young.
In 1654 it was ordered by the general court that the selectmen of the town take care that no teachers unsound in the faith be employed.
In 1671 the law imposing a penalty of five pounds upon towns neglecting to provide grammar schools, was re-enacted. This fine was afterward increased to ten pounds.
In 1683 an addition was made to the school laws, requiring towns consisting of more than five hundred householders to sustain two grammar schools and two writing schools. The penalty for failure to provide schools as the law directs was increased from ten to twenty pounds where there were two hundred families.
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