USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Memorial history of Bradford, Mass. > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Then spake the pastor of the Haverhill flock, The learned, grave John Ward, who like a shock Of ripened corn stood in his fourscore years, With trembling voice, and pale face wet with tears, " Go forth, my children, blessed of the Lord, Build ye a church, established on his word, Bow in meek faith before his just decree, Stand in the strength of Christ who makes you free ! "
Thus, in the fear of God this work began. The youthful Symmes, devout and holy man, Was set apart, by prayer and fasting long, Teacher and Pastor, and, by faith made strong, His forty years of earnest labor bless Itis people with the works of righteousness.
O, age of simple faith and quiet ways, Give back again the sweet Arcadian days ! When humble labor filled the yeoman's hands With golden harvests from his rocky lands. When the good housewife, with deft fingers plied Her willing task, the busy wheel beside. When buxom damsels on the sampler wrought Those homely maxims, now alas, untaught. When, gathered round the ample, glowing hearth, Home voices mingled in good cheer and mirth. When country squire, in striding through the town
I57
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
Received the meek obeisance of the clown, And children grouped along the village street The reverend pastor's smiling face to greet.
Calm and serene, through twice a hundred years This Church of Christ her early faith reveres. No pastor in this pulpit called to preach, A weak, diluted gospel cared to teach ; No rich usurper, owning half the pews Has ever tried to ventilate his views And keep the minister " in durance vile " To give him chance to hold the reins awhile ; No crazy ranter, with a better way To save poor sinners than to " watch and pray," No awful threatener of the wrath of God Who loves himself to hold the avenging rod, No starveling pedant, with his rigid rules, All iron-clad, from cloister and from schools, No new disciple, with a scanty grain . Of modern science in his little brain,- Nay, none of these have here dissension wrought ; But truth instead, such as the Master taught, And messages of love in mercy sent To every lowly, burdened penitent.
O, happy church, that has no " crooked sticks," That knows no jars in party politics ; Whose wakeful deacons think no sermon long, Whose leading singer never trips in song ! O, blissful pastor when his people pay His quarter's salary on the very day, Whose ladies, sewing for the Jew or Turk Ne'er stitch a social scandal with their work. Thrice happy parish, where the past enshrines With fondest pride the names of old divines, Whose early records bear the deeds of them Who grouped those stately letters, " A. B. C. F. M." Whose richest pages glow with living flame Of Annie Judson's dear heroic name .- Great pioneer in that immortal band, The star of hope to distant Burmah's land !
158
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
Him first we hail, who, when his work was done, Bequeathed his spotless mantle to his son ! Here the sweet singer, Parson Allen taught, Here Ingraham poured out his glowing thought. Bowed with the weight of four score years and ten The saintly Hoadley lingers among men. Lo, like the Patriarch, o'er his staff he bends And Apostolic words in blessing sends. Names precious still these later days have blest, O, faithful servants, carly called to rest ! The learned, patient and devout Monroe, And he, strong preacher, with Isaiah's glow !
Upon the hill, in yon historic school Preceptor Greenleaf holds his rigid rule. Through the dim years his face again I see, Mark those gray eyes intently fixed on me, Meanwhile some stubborn task I blunder o'er, Or " speak a piece " upon the forum floor. Strong and incisive, both in thought and speech, Quick in his wit, by nature apt to teach, His smile we love, but tremble at his nod, Laugh at his jokes, but smart beneath his rod.
In that old room, across the entry-way, A stately woman sits in queenly sway Above a realm, excluded from our sight Save when some favored boys chance to recite In Milton's mighty epic. Then they go Into that presence, awkwardly and slow, And there a " Paradise Regained " they find. But should some luckless wight, with absent mind Stumble and blush in parsing Eve's lament, Quickly he's banished, through the entry sent, His heart all tingling with revulsive pain, And Paradise is lost to him again. O, rare Preceptor, learned, quaint and true ! How many hard and knotty sums he knew ; Yet in his life, or in, or out of school,
159
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
His parson and his doctor were his rule, In both he trusted, and in both believed- A bitter potion or a bitter creed. Yet should the parson mix, by slight mistake, Scripture and Shakespeare, with emphatic shake Of that great head, with whisper strong To all the nearest pews he'd say, " that's wrong!"
Preceptor and Preceptress, those old halls Have long since vanished. Statelier walls Arise, secure on learning's broader base. But time nor change shall e'er efface The lines, that, chiselled by your deed and thought, Into this life of ours are nobly wrought !
But, ah, what tongue or pencil e'er can trace The mighty record of the Kimball race ? From out the myriad faces, one I see Lifted serene in holy charity. He walked with God, and loved his fellow men, Who when reviled answered not back again, Whose hands unstained by petty trick or fraud Polluted not the vessels of the Lord. Type of a race that God has deigned to bless, Whose feet are in the ways of plenteousness, O, name prolific, prosper and increase And fill the coming centuries with peace !
What words of honest praise for him await- The true and tried, physician good and great ! With what impelling force, what purpose strong His work of half a century moves along. With what a subtle power his life has wrought Into the very fibre of our thought. O, men and women of the coming age Enbalm this name, a precious heritage, To children's children yet the story tell, " 'Twas here he lived, so wisely and so well."
I60
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
Dear elder church, not thus serene has been Thy checkered story, told by pious men ; - How on that First Day morn of bitter woe The brave Rolfe perished by the savage foe. How thy old walls received those dreadful shocks From teachers counted not quite orthodox. How Barnard left the Athanasian creed, And thought Arminius equal to his need. How in his turn the fervid Abbott preached That by good works salvation might be reached. How the mild Dodge in wisdom tried to hold These varying forces in his restless fold.
Then Phelps arose, young, strong and eloquent, Who took the stern old creeds that Calvin sent And hurled them naked at the people's heads. Who tore all opposition into shreds, And, with more zeal than wisdom, thundered down The wrath of God upon the little town.
From out this bitter strife the church uprose, Strong and serene above her direst foes. Good men stood forth, with true heroic names, Behold among them tireless Deacon Ames. Whose wiry shoulders every burden took, Who read his pastor like his spelling-book ; Who loved and honored and believed him true, And still the right reserved to scold him too, But thought whene'er he " changed " for half a day, The other parish good round boot should pay.
O, matchless worker, show us by what power You filled appointments at the unvarying hour, HIeld up the timid, made the lazy work, Pitied the feeble, goaded on the shirk, Helped out the sexton, made the singing go, But ne'er was known to pitch a tune too low ! Unlock the casket where the secret lies Of giving freely in self-sacrifice ! Show us the alchemy that could combine That iron will, and woman's heart of thine !
161
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
Still other lines, O memory's pencil trace ! Behold sweet Harriet Newell's pensive face From out the background of the past arise, Her young life beautiful in sacrifice ! Companion-saint with her who shares with thee The Christian wreath of immortality !
Calm, strong and wisely just, again are seen Those modest brothers twain, who walk serene In the plain, narrow path their fathers trod, Their only guide, the oracles of God.
Fashioned in Nature's rarest, finest mould, With keenest wit, and thought of purest gold, The sainted Hosford fills his chosen place ; A gleam of glory radiates his face ! Like that disciple whom the Master loves Close to the Saviour's heart he lives and moves. O, thrice exalted spirit we implore, Look out upon us from the heavenly shore ! Lift up our drowsy souls from these dull ways, And with thy genius fill our later days !
I hear a voice :- " The sands are nearly run, The work of two long centuries is done." On newer canvas with fresh tint appears The sharp-lined contrast of these later years.
. Instead of meeting-house so rudely made, Behold the fluted shaft, and Greek fagade. Where frugal toil gave back a scanty fare, Behold the merchant and the millionaire. The farmers' daughters leave the wool and flax, And paint instead on saucers and on plaques, And boys too soon the easy lesson learn To spend the money that their fathers earn. Where once the Doctor rode the country through In single gig-behold the coach and two ! Two solid sermons on the holy time Onr sires demanded, with a faith sublime ; In heat or cold, with never flagging powers
162
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
They listened gravely through the lengthened hours. The sons say, " thirty minutes at the best, Give us more time to study, and digest." The second sermon has been set aside, And now we have the time to read-and ride !
O, rambling fugue, by strident voices set, Give way for organ pipe and trained quartette ! No more shall fervid deacon dare to raise His semi-quavers to his Maker's praise. No more shall rosy daughters rise to view In bright array along the singing pew.
Sonorous chest tones revel in low " G," And paid sopranos strike the highest " C," While fresh composers give us in their score Snatches from Martha and from Pinafore !
And yet the grand old faith remains the same, Proclaimed in the divine Redeemer's name By faithful pastors, eloquent and true. The Haverhill Church, her eldest neighbor too Stand on the Rock the fathers built upon ; May coming centuries rise and say-" Well done !"
THE CHURCH IN ITS FELLOWSHIP.
Address by Rev. S. J. Spalding, D. D., of Newburyport.
Mr. President and Friends :
I am told that it is customary in Germany to desig nate the eldest born daughter of the family as the "little mother." The Bradford church is the eldest born of all the churches now constituting the Essex North Confer- ence. Its original membership came from the church of old Rowley. The first churches in Newbury and Ips-
163
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
wich are older in organization, but they were made not born. And most wisely, most kindly, and most faith- fully has this church discharged the duties of its hon- ored and responsible position. One of the offices of the "little mother" is to lead the other children. This lead- ing requires forecast, patience, fidelity and devotion. Too often it is done with petulance and unsteadiness. The younger children are forced, not led, or they are rudely pushed forward, and sometimes driven, by arbi- trary authority. From its beginning, the Bradford church has had a high place in the esteem of its sister churches. The character of the men who founded it, and the char- acter of the ministry it maintained, secured to it this place. It has been my duty to minister as Pastor to one of the younger churches of this fraternity, so that I have known somewhat of the influence of this church in council and in conference. This leading has been uniformly conciliatory, kindly, graceful and pleasant.
Another duty of the "little mother" is to dispense favors to the other children of the household. And of all christian obligations there is no one which requires more wisdom than that of making gifts, of bestowing benefactions. Such is the power of sin in our natures that almost all our charities are flecked with haughtiness and self-gratulation. A gift properly bestowed is of double worth. Indeed its inherent worth may be insig- nificant and yet it may be so given as to be of inesti- mable value. In this regard the Bradford church has shown itself wise and magnanimous.
Again, the " little mother" has much to do in set- tling disputes and adjusting differences among' the other children of the household. There ought never to be a division or a strife in the churches of Christ, but from the days of Paul until this day, such divisions and strifes have existed, and often they have been most sharp and disastrous. Some church quarrels in Essex county have been notable, and none more so than some
164
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
?
in this pleasant valley of the Merrimac. The Bradford church has borne a most honorable part as peacemaker and healer of breaches in these contentions of Christian brethren. I cannot now recall a single instance in which I have been associated with this church in the adjust- ment of difficulties, that the desire for peace and har- mony has not been prominently manifested. I was once called to an ex-parte council of which the Rev. Dr. Withington was expected to be a member. I asked him if he should attend. He replied, " I think not, and for this reason, I have little hope that any council can adjust difficulties which the good sense and piety of the people will not adjust for themselves. And when I know not what to do, I will not do I know not what." It is vastly important that in serving as peacemaker a church should not itself become a contestant or be infected with the fatal virus of contention. The wisdom of the breth- ren of this church has avoided in all these past two hun- dred years both dangers. And you must have noticed that in the interesting history to which we have listened this morning, there was scarcely an allusion to any dis- cords in this church.
Again, the " little mother " is to set a good example. Neighboring churches, like children of the same house- hold, are greatly influenced by what is placed before them for imitation. The record of this church in maintaining a high standard of righteousness, devotion and benevo- lence is one to which we all can look with profit as a record full of suggestions. It is because of this record that it has kept its hold on the town, and is to-day the only church in it.
Again, the " little mother" must show herself sympa- thetic with the other members of the household. And in this regard we must speak with gratitude of the kind- ly offices of this church and its pastors. I have known three of them, and their terms of service extended over nearly 50 years. When I came to Newburyport Mr.
165
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
Munroe was here but with infirm health. He loved this church with the entire devotion of his nature. I know of nothing dearer to him. He loved this people. He loved the very hills and valleys and trees of Bradford. And many here to-day know much better than any neigh- bor how faithfully, and how untiringly he wrought in the ministry here.
Rev. Mr. McCollom I knew before coming to New- buryport. He was a genial and kindly friend, a ready helper, a faithful and earnest preacher. Few men are so intent on making each sermon a power for good as he was. I remember him as one of the three who placed his hands upon my head in ordination, and as one who in seasons of sorrow was full of the tenderest sympathy. But I must not detain you longer. You have my best wishes for your continued prosperity, and may all the rich promises and hopes of the past be more than realized in the future. And may the God of the fathers be your God and portion unto the latest gener- ation.
THE NEW ENGLAND MINISTRY.
Address by Prof. Edwards A. Park, D. D.
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen :
I have been invited on account of my great age to describe the ancient clergymen of New England. I think that I have some right, on the ground of my many years, to speak on this theme. I saw the celebrated missionary, Adoniram Judson, before he was seen and recognized by the oldest man now living in Bradford. I saw him before he ever came to Bradford. He sought me out. I did not seek him out. He uttered some pleasant words in regard to my prospects in life. My
I66
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
prospects then were brighter then than they have been since, for I was then only a few days old. Such facts as this warrant me in speaking of the clergy who lived one and two hundred years ago.
Many of those New England pastors came into their office under peculiar advantages. From early life they had been trained for responsible positions. An uncom- monly large proportion of them were the sons of min- isters. The youngest of the Mayhews was the fifth in one unbroken line of clerical ancestors ; Ralph Waldo Emerson was the eighth in another unbroken line. Some who were not the sons of ministers were the sons of men who were the special friends and companions of the clergy. The boy was familiar with the habits, and was educated by the conversation, of the pastor. Such facts as these account for the rare dignity which characterized the manners of the old cler- gymen. They were " to the manner born." The com- mon people stood in awe of the men who, from their earliest years, had moved in a sphere above the common people.
As some of the ancient pastors were trained for their office under peculiar advantages, others were trained un- der peculiar disadvantages, but they converted obstacles into means of success. They derived their power from their conflicts with poverty. They obtained aid from 110 charitable funds. They depended on themselves and their God. I call to mind one of them who was wont to walk barefoot with his shoes and stockings in his hands, from his father's house to the college and from the college to his father's house, -a distance of fifteen miles. In those walks he learned self-denial and gained strength. I call to mind another of them who com- plained that he nearly ruined his memory by learning the whole Latin Grammar in the Latin language before he could understand a word of it. Still this man, with his well nigh ruined memory, could in subsequent life
+
167
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
repeat hundreds of Virgil's lines without having endeav- ored at any time to learn them by heart. These two men became eminent in the clerical profession. One of them exercised a great influence over our statesmen, particularly over John Hancock.
There is another fact connected with the early ministers of New England. Men of strong intellect were attracted to the ministerial office by the strong discourses which they heard on the Sabbath day. Some of the pastors were patient and persevering students. I have been in- formed of one rural pastor who would be a hundred and forty-five years old if he were living today, and I have been astonished at his indomitable industry. At eight o'clock in the morning he entered his study and did not leave it until twelve. At one o'clock in the afternoon he re-entered it, and did not leave it until six. He en- tered it again at seven and did not leave it until nine in the evening. In this regular habit he persevered for more than a half century. I have read of another elergyman who was accustomed to visit a seientifie physician in a neighboring town and spend a day and a night in the- ological debate. On one evening the clergyman mounted his horse to return home ; the physician stood by the horse after the clergyman had mounted it. "A new topic was started ; the horse walked on a few steps and stopped ; then a few steps more, the friends being still earnestly engaged in discussion. At last they were alarmed at the appearance of a fire in the east, which, after a short time, they found was the break of day." It was not very uncommon for the old-time ministers to meet for important discussions and to spend whole nights in their work. These discussions were stimulating and strengthening. It is said the libraries of the clergymen were not large ; still they were solid, and were " circulat- ing libraries" in one sense. Each minister borrowed from his brethren such books as he did not himself own, and was as free to lend as to borrow. It is said that
I68
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
the signal instances of hard work which are recorded of our ministers were striking exceptions to the general rule. Of course they were exceptional, yet they illus- trate the fact that industry was a common virtue of our clerical fathers.
Their influence over their people is one indication of their personal worth. They could not have retained so great an influence if they had not been men of power. We may not justify the methods in which they sometimes used their power; these very meth- ods, however, indicate their superiority to the men around them. I have heard of a very aged pastor who was thought, by some of his parishioners, to need the help of Ruling Elders. The two deacons proposed to him that he should receive this aid. He suggested that the two deacons themselves should be appointed to the new office. They consented. He asked them what they supposed to be the duties of the Ruling Elders. They replied that he knew better than they, and they would do what he said. " Well then," he answered, " I should like to have one of them come up to my house before meeting on Sunday, and get my horse out of the barn, and then saddle him, and bring him up to the door, and hold the stirrup while I get on. The other may wait at the church door and hold him while I get off ; then, after meeting, he may bring him up to the steps. This is all of my work I ever ean consent to let the Ruling Elders do for me." The story adds that the office of Ruling Elders in that church has remained vacant until the present day. I do not deny that some of our eler- ical fathers retained their office too long, but they re- tained it. On the whole their long-enduring pastorates were more useful than the " stated supplies" of the present day.
There is one method in which some of the New Eng- land elergy exerted an educating influence on their par- ishioners. They wrote logical sermons, and trained their
169
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
hearers to think. In the forenoon of the Sabbath they explained and proved a great doctrine ; in the afternoon they drew inferences from it and thus revealed the con- nection between one great truth and another. One of the most eminent of these ministers, when ninety years of age, was riding through a town adjoining that of his own residence, and was stopped by an utter stranger who proposed the question : " Why do not ministers now [in 1835] preach as ministers did when you were in active service ?" The aged pastor asked: "Do not the modern ministers preach as their fathers did? In what respect do they differ ?" The stranger replied: "The old ministers divided their afternoon sermons into differ- ent heads, each one beginning with the words, 'if what has been said in this discourse be true, then it follows first-'; ' if what has been said in this discourse be true, then it follows, second-'; and so onward through several heads each one depending on the foregoing ; but I hear no such discourses from ministers now." The venerable pastor replied: "There are two reasons for this change ; one is that the ministers of these days have not said anything ; the other is, that if they had said anything, nothing would follow from it." By discoursing on the fundamental principles of religion,-on the nature of law, of justice, of moral government, especially of the atonement, the ministers trained the lawyers and the statesmen of the community. Judge Sedgwick, Judge Story, Judge Shaw, Judge Metcalf in our own Com- monwealth, have acknowledged their intellectual in- debtedness to the sermons which they heard in their early days. It is said that those sermons were often above the comprehension of the hearers. It must be remembered, however, that in the olden time there was an intellectual aristocracy in many a rural town- ship where now there is none. A select circle, includ- ing several families of culture, gathered around the cler- gyman, and they did much in diffusing the influence of
170
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BRADFORD.
his sermons among their less enlightened townsmen. Men learned that the truths of religion were linked with each other, and if one fell out a second and a third would fall out also ; that the whole system was to be preserved in its integrity, and that the welfare of the nation as well as of the church depended upon the truths of the gospel, all interlinked with each other.
While I was listening, a few hours ago, to the in- structive words of the Pastor of this church, I was reminded of the fact that Jonathan Edwards was the teacher of Joseph Bellamy, and that Joseph Bellamy was the teacher of Ephraim Judson, and that Ephraim Jud- son was the teacher of Jonathan Allen, and that Jona- than Allen was a defender of the identical system which was taught by Edwards and Bellamy. Parson Allen taught this identical system of truth to Deacon John Hasseltine of Bradford. Ann Hasseltine, a daughter of the excellent deacon, accepted the same system. She was an earnest reader of Dr. Bellamy's " True Re- ligion Delineated." The missionary Adoniram Judson was in his early life a firm adherent to the theology of Edwards, Bellamy and Hopkins. He was a nephew of Ephraim Judson the teacher of Pastor Allen. He was led by his theological sympathies, and also by the theological sympathies of his father, Rev. Adoniram Judson of Plymouth, to visit the parish of Mr. Allen and the family of Deacon Hasseltine. Adoniram and Ann were united in marriage. They gave an im- pulse to the missionary cause among the Congrega- tionalists of New England. Mr. Judson became a Baptist, and roused the missionary spirit among the Baptists of our country. In the providence of God he did more than perhaps any other man in awakening the great denomination of the Baptists to the enter- prise of converting the world. Thus a large part of the missionary enterprise in our land may be traced back to the churches of Bradford, Sheffield, Bethlem,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.