USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > Origin and annals of "The Old south," First Presbyterian church and parish, in Newburyport, Mass., 1746-1896 > Part 4
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THE CULMINATION OF OUR CHURCH.
It is no disparagement to the congregation of to- day for us to concede that thus far in its history our church reached its high water mark during the pas- torates of Drs. Stearns, Vermilye and Richardson, that is during the period of thirty-three years between 1835 and 1868. By agreement with our beloved guest, Dr. Vermilye this field is to be left for him to
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cover in his reminiscences. For the same reason I deny myself the pleasure of giving many of those personal anecdotes and bits of romance and humor that add fragrance and spice to the otherwise dry details of history. I must also for other reasons for- bear from entering the wide range of collateral history, concerning the civic, mercantile, commercial, political and educational career of our beautiful city by the sea; in all which our fathers shared like true men of enterprise, loval citizens and brave soldiers, but which belongs to the general history of the com- munity, rather than to any one congregation.
I knew Dr. Stearns personally, and loved him, as a boy might love the life-long friend of his father. The two men were always intimate and interchanged visits; and no other minister whom I ever saw left so vivid an impression of pure, spiritual loveliness, as was left on me by Dr. Stearns, that saintly man of God. After a fruitful and happy pastorate of fourteen years he resigned to accept a call to the Fourth Pres- byterian Church of Newark, N. J. At one time he was the Moderator of the General Assembly, and enjoyed many other merited honors. His address at the consecration of Oak Hill Cemetery, and his centennial address in 1846, were models of clearness, elegance and pathos.
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Of the seventh pastor, Dr. Vermilye, it might be more easy to speak were he not by my side. There is no need of our praising his ability as a minister of the Word, his loyalty as a champion of the truth, his vigilance as a pastor, his urbanity and culture as a christian gentleman, for all this is already and widely known. His ministry here had a somewhat stormy beginning because a faction was determined to change the ancient constitution of the church. But when that question had been settled the clouds cleared away, and no pastor ever succeeded better in winning and keeping the affection of his flock, or in extending a beneficent influence beyond its limits. We admire, honor and love this eminent servant of Christ, and pray that many happy years may be added to his earthly life before he enters on his heavenly reward.
Many of the most important improvements in the appearance of the meeting-house were made during his pastorate; especially the substitution of the long windows for those smaller ones that made the build- ing look like a two-story structure; and the elegant frescoing on the walls and ceiling that so many visitors have admired. It is to his fondness for his- torical research that we are indebted for much val- uable material that else might have been lost forever.
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Under the ministry of Rev. Richard H. Richardson this church lost none of its former prestige and influ- ence. Those were the palmy days when "a sea-captain sat at the end of every pew down the broad aisle," and when men were fortunate who could secure a pew anywhere in the sanctuary. Dr. Richardson came here after a varied ministry in Chicago, Rochester and elsewhere: and when he left this field, in 1868, it was to accept a call to an important charge in Trenton, N. J., where he spent twenty years of active and honorable service. His later years were spent in literary pursuits, particularly as one of the editors of the "Standard English Dictionary." His death took place in 1892; and his remains rest in our beau- tiful Oak Hill Cemetery. The story of his life may be found, together with numerous tributes from appre- ciative friends, in an exquisite memorial volume pre- pared as a labor of love by one who knew and loved him best. His ardor as a patriot, brilliancy as a pulpit orator, sympathy and generosity as a pastor, and diligence as a scholar, combined to make him a man widely known and universally beloved.
THE LATER PASTORS.
The Rev. Charles S. Durfee, born at South Ded- ham, in 1844, graduated from Williams College and
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Hartford Seminary, came to this pastorate as his first settlement, and after four years of faithful ministry accepted a call to Troy, N. Y. Subsequent labors were at Geneseo, Liverpool and East Bloomfield, where he died, December 24, 1887, lamented by his many friends. His memorial by Rev. S. A. Freeman, speaks of him as "a Puritan of Puritan stock, with a Puritan's keen discernment of right and wrong, the Puritan's strong attachment to the right as he saw it, and the Puritan's intense aversion to whatever he be- lieved to be wrong, whether in himself or others, in public or in private life." It cannot be denied that his out-spoken frankness excited antagonism from which he might otherwise have been spared. He was a firm champion of righteous reform; his last public act was to vote the Prohibition ticket; and his dying charge to his sons was that they should do their full share in what he regarded as the great struggle between the kingdom of Christ and of Satan. Yet the testimony of his co-laborers was that he was determined everywhere and at all haz- ards to "preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
We have so recently and in the most public man- ner observed the obsequies of Rev. William Newell, Jr., who followed Mr. Durfee, as to make it hardly necessary for me now to do more than to remind
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you of what was then said as to his excellent quali- ties as a man and a minister. His pastorate extended from May, 1874, to June 18So, when waning health made it necessary for him to seek a foreign clime, and his remaining work in life was done amid the American students in Paris, France. The prime aim of his ministry here and elsewhere was to win souls: and in that work he was eminently successful. He was welcome everywhere, among the most re- fined and the roughest; fond of the sea and a favorite with fishermen; generous to the poor, and systematic in his liberality; eminently Scriptural in his sermons, and always aiming at immediate results, it is not to be wondered at that he gathered many converts. He showed rare tact in dealing with the types of charac- ter found in this unique community. He was one of the promoters, if not among the founders of the Young Men's Christian Association here .* And in- deed it is not too much to say that his zeal cost him
*The Young Men's Christian Association in Newburyport was originally started under Dr. Richardson's pastorate, with Philip II. Lunt, president, James Horton, secretary, and George HI. Stevens, treasurer. It was formed mainly for evangelistic work, ind had its head-quarters in the second story of 13 Market Square. It was re-organized, in its present form, during Mr. Newell's ministry, March 31, 1874, and held its meetings in the same locality. There was a long break, between 1877 and 1883, when it took a new lease of life with Dr. F. A. Hale as president, and Alexander Dixon as vice-president. From that time to this it has had a course of uninterrupted activity. In fixing dates by the above pastorates it is not meant to claim any more than belongs to us as sharers in a work that concerned the religious public generally.
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his health and shortened a pastorate that his people would have gladly prolonged. His mantle has fallen on his three sons, who are consecrated to the Gospel ministry. The entire period of Mr. Newell's labors in Paris covered sixteen years. At first he was active in the McCall Mission, but afterwards he min- istered in St. Luke's Episcopal Chapel, better known as the "Students' Church" which was built up by his agency in the Latin Quarter, where his funeral took place, and whence his remains were carried to repose in Montparnasse cemetery.
His successor here was Rev. Charles C. Wallace, D. D., who was installed in 1881, and resigned in 1888. Dr. Wallace was decidedly a New York man. He was born in that city June 3, 1832; was a graduate of the New York University, and of Union Seminary; was ordained by the Third Presbytery of New York; received his honorary doctorate from Rutgers College; held three pastorates in the State of New York before coming to Newburyport, be- sides one in New Jersey, and one in California; and twice he had the honor of serving as the Moderator of the Synod of New York. Dr. Wallace was an earnest worker in the ministry, a staunch defender of orthodoxy, and held tenaciously to his convictions on every subject. He was a frequent writer for the
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religious journals and magazines, and several of his sermons appeared in pamphlet form. His his- tory of Presbyterianism in New England, still in manuscript, is unquestionably the most complete work of the kind yet prepared, and through the kind- ness of his family it has been freely consulted in the preparation of this discourse. Dr. Wallace's health failed about the time that he left here, and he died, December 22, 1889, at Westfield, N. J. His family reside at Newbury, Vermont.
Next came the Rev. Brevard D. Sinclair, a native of Charlotte, N. C., who began public life as a lawyer, but after a few years decided to enter the ministry. Accordingly he studied theology at Alle- gheny and at Princeton, being graduated from the latter Seminary in 1887. He preached for two years at Fowlerville, N. Y., and then accepted a call to Newburyport, where he was installed May 1, 1889. He resigned in 1892, and went to the Pacific coast, where he was employed in ministerial work first at Seattle, Wash., and afterward at Placerville, Cal. His marked personality, social qualities, orthodoxy, magnetic power and ability in the pulpit have been generally recognized. His career here, however, is so recent as hardly to need, as yet, to be traced by the pen of history.
IO
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A few facts may now be given concerning his suc- cessor without infringing on propriety, in order to complete this historical survey of pastorates. The present pastor took his academic course at Wabash Col- lege and his diploma in theology from Lane Seminary. His original purpose was to spend his life in scien- tific pursuits, and he has the distinction of belong- ing to several of the national scientific societies. But the strong sweep of God's loving providence carried him into the active work of the Gospel ministry. Among his later charges previous to coming here were those at New Haven, Minneapolis and Bridge-
port. He preached his first sermon in Newburyport on the 18th of December, 1892, and occasion- ally supplied the pulpit during the Winter. He was duly installed, May 9, 1893, by the presbytery of Boston. It must be left for some other hand to sum
up the final results of the work thus begun. My heart bids me testify to the loyalty and fidelity of the people among whom my lot has now been cast. May the God of our Fathers, who has brought us safely thus far, help us, as people and pastor, to make the current history worthy in every way of that which has already been recorded.
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THE ROLL OF MEMBERSHIP.
A grateful tribute, however brief, should be paid to the rank and file of the sacramental host, of whom those whose names are blazoned on yon mural tablet were but the standard bearers. What could the latter have done without the aid of the noble army of godly men and women who followed their leadership ? Every faithful member of this church has done his part in making up its history. Selecting a single in- stance from the many that might be cited, how indispensable, in the early days, was such a man as Ralph Cross. He served as a Ruling Elder here for forty-one years, besides holding several other offices in Church and Parish. He gave generously toward the building of the sanctuary and the support of the Gospel. It is said that he actually boarded the first pastor gratuitously for three years. It was he who gave the old "Whitefield Bible" that was used in this pulpit until it was laid aside for the more modern one presented by Elder Moses Pettingell, when the older copy was reverently laid amid the treasures of the society. This reminds me to say that the usual Puritan custom was to refrain from the public reading of the Scriptures, which was not allowed in the Third Parish till 1750, nor in the First till 1769; but in our
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public services the Word of God was always read. And what is known as King James' version is the one that has always been in use; although in the elegant chapel Bible recently given by the late Miss Phoebe Harrod, both the old and new versions ap- pear-the latter being regarded simply as a commen- tary on the former.
In 1862 Mr. Moody Cook delivered a Genealogical Address giving a history of the parishioners and founders of this Church from 1745, with the names of their then living descendants in the parish; to which you are referred for many of those particulars that we would gladly make room for here were it practicable. I wish we might call the long roll of ruling elders, deacons, committee-men, treasurers and collectors, choristers and organists, tithing-men and sextons, Sunday-school officers and teachers, who have done so nobly towards maintaining the vi- tality and energy of this society.
The entire church membership, from the begin- ning has been exactly eighteen hundred and seven, omitting duplicates. That may not represent a rapid growth; but it is substantial and stands for an aver- age addition of one new name a month from the first until now. More names might have been added had not our standard been high and our discipline strict
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Then remember the fact that this church has thrice swarmed; thus carrying away from our bounds sev- eral hundreds who might have otherwise stayed in our communion ; and although we love them we miss them numerically and in every way. Ours would probably be today the largest church in the common- wealth, could we only have held on to what rightly belonged to us. Then again, many of our younger people have gone to seek their fortunes in the West, or the South, or in larger Eastern cities than this. It is likewise a painful fact that death has. of late, sadly thinned the ranks of our older members. When I came here there were, by count, fifty parishioners who were over seventy years of age; and such saints on earth are rapidly nearing Heaven.
Our total living membership today is two hundred and seventy souls; and our Sunday-school, including all departments, has about the same number enrolled. Many others worship with us whose friendship and co-operation we value, and yet who have not entered into covenant with us. We have flourishing Christ- ian Endeavor societies, both senior and junior; our Ladies' Board of Missions is vigorous and useful; the Whitefield Circle cares for the chapel building; the Greenleaf Circle makes a specialty of sending boxes to home missionaries and the Freedmen; the
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Ladies' and Gentlemen's Association takes care of the parsonage; our regular Female Prayer-meeting has been kept alive for one hundred and fifty years; we contribute to all the benevolent boards of the denom- ination and take a commendable interest in many outside religious causes. The parish property is estimated at $30,000, and we are free from debt. We know not what the Lord may have in store for us as a congregation; but we feel sure that we may have a future equal to, if different from, our favored past; provided that we have the wisdom, tact and grace to adapt ourselves to our modified circum- stances. We do this in secular matters, and why not in religious affairs? There was a time when, as Hon. Caleb Cushing tells us, there were actually owned here in Newburyport, forty-one ships, sixty-two brigs. sixty-six schooners, besides other craft not enumerated; a time when a hundred vessels were building at once in our ship-yards, thus supporting thirty-two distinct trades, and several hundred hardy workmen with their families. And those were the days, so often referred to, when a sea captain sat at the end of every pew down our broad aisle. Will those days ever return?
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THE OUTLOOK.
It is generally conceded that our maritime glory has gone into history and will stay there. But our citizens are men of enterprise and thrift and strong common sense; and they do not sit idly deploring those palmy days that have departed. They foster local trade and home industries; they invite the building of factories; they improve their streets and parks and charming environs, thus attracting hither people of taste and culture who can appreciate the various advantages offered by this city by the sea. The result is that we have today more homes and more people than ever before. And while church- work differs from what it formerly was, there is as much need of it as ever, and it is as vital as ever that it should be of a style and quality to fit immortal souls for the life that now is and for that which is to come. It still is possible for us to help to shape the destiny of our nation and of mankind, fully as much as did our fathers in whom we glory, if we are only as faithful as they to the truth as it is in Jesus, and as loyal to the trust the Master has committed to our hands.
We honor the First Presbyterian Church of New- buryport for its noble history; and we may well do
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SO. But this historical occasion will surely fail of its highest and grandest end, unless it shall quicken the heart-beats of those whose history is yet to be made. We stand at this hour on an eminence whence we can survey the future as well as the past. Let us turn toward it with a mighty courage and brave resolve. We glory in the fathers; and may we live so well that our children may glory in us when they come to celebrate, as we hope they may do, the two hundredth anniversary of this beloved church.
I have not sought to make this altogether a denomi- national address; being aware that we have with us as guests those representing every denomination ex- isting here. But allow me, in conclusion, to remind those most deeply concerned in this anniversary, that we stand for an idea which our church has tested for one hundred and fifty years. We are eminently American Presbyterians. We are not Genevans, nor Huguenots, nor English, nor Scotch, nor Scotch-Irish ; we are Americans, who hold that the power is with the Lord's people, and that it may rise from them to the higher and representative courts, such as the Presbytery, the Synod, and the General Assembly. Ours is neither an irresponsible independency, nor a lordly hierarchy. The fathers, at great cost, shook off the foreign yoke; let us never put it on again.
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And we have as much right as any others to lay aside the clumsy armor of the ancient champions of our cause, and to fight for it with the keenest modern weapons of truth. We are conservative, yet not in- flexible; we cling to our standard, yet would fain lift it higher into the light of God.
Our Calvinism is modified from what was taught three centuries ago at Geneva and Edinburgh; yet its keynote is as clear as ever-the absolute sovereignty of God in harmony with the freedom of man. We believe as firmly as did the fathers that the righteous and merciful purposes of the Triune God are "vea and amen, in Christ Jesus." Ours is a church mili- tant when its heritage is assailed; but none excel it in practical humanitarian enterprises, nor in a gener- ous support of educational and reformatory work. No church has done more for civil and religious liberty. We seek to hold all truth, not harshly and rigidly, but wisely and tenderly, mindful of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the master-thought underlying the histori- cal facts given today. Our fathers wrought, and we work. for this congregation, as a part of that universal Church of Christ, which transcends all sectarian limitations, and which is the true Kingdom of God. We work and worship, toil and pray, "looking for
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that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ."
"Amen: even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. AMEN.
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Very truly yours,
1850-1962
"Retracing the Old Paths."
REMINISCENCES
OF THE
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
BY A FORMER PASTOR,
REV. ASHBEL G. VERMILYE, D. D ..
OF ENGLEWOOD, N J.
ADDRESS OF REV. ASHBEL G. VERMILYE. D. D.
This is now the third time it has been my privilege to take part in a jubilee of this church. The first time in 1856, the centennial year of the building of the church; when I was myself the pastor and preached an historical sermon from the text: "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?" It covered many points of interest relating to the past. not included in previous printed histories. Behind me in the pulpit, were Rev. Dr. Dana, settled in 1794; Rev. Dr. Proudfit, settled in 1827; and my immediate predecessor, Rev. Dr. Stearns, settled in 1835-all the pastors since 1794, except Rev. Mr. Williams, settled in 1821. Today they are not living; and of my successors in the pastorate previous to ISS9. none are living. Of all who have here ministered, up to that recent date, I alone remain; and I was settled in 1850. Moreover, of the town ministers. the pas- tors in 1856, none now lives except Rev. Dr. Fiske- my senior in settlement by two or more years.
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The second occasion alluded to, was in 1870-the " centennial commemoration of the death of White- field." Rev. Dr. Stearns was the preacher, to a large assembly. None could have done it better. He understood Whitefield and his times, and had the gift of narrative portraiture in an easy and attractive style. It was throughout a fine celebration. And now today, during two days crowded with oratory and interest, another-to me, the third! And surely it is well to have it, well to recall and keep alive, among those who are coming after, by sermon and reminis- cence the story of the past; and thus to instruct their faith and continue their attachment to the old church. It is one around which clings, like an entwining vine, a special interest of very many people. You that live here scarcely know the estimation in which it is held. During my ministry the whole Methodist Conference (at the time in session in town) went down to see the bones of Whitefield; and then. before the pulpit, discussed Whitefield and Wesley! Visitors came, even from Europe; and one visitor (though at an earlier period.) as a precious and prized relic, actually stole a part of Whitefield's arm! It took nearly thirty years, till 1849, for his conscience to get him to the point of returning that silent bone, which in life had helped to awaken and reclaim so
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many sinners. When my own sermon, the addresses and proceedings were published. one bookseller in Philadelphia wrote for two hundred copies, and I had none to send. I may here say, that three histories of the church have hitherto been published, of which two, by Rev. Mr. Williams and Dr. Stearns, were previous to my own; both of them so well done and apparently so exhaustive, that when required to provide a third, it seemed to me impossible. Where should I glean the grain that had not already been gathered into their barns? Fortunately the church was under repair, to become what it at present is, outside and in; we were worshipping with Rev. Mr. Campbell and his people. in Prospect street; I had four months. From old people, in old garrets, from Dr. Withington, Dr. Dana, and other fruitful sources. I gleaned and found the yield of incident and event plentiful. You should have seen Mrs. Lucy Pear- son, then in her ninety-eighth year, bedridden and almost blind-the only one who had heard Whitefield; who, when sixteen, had walked with her mother from Rowley to Exeter to hear him; how her voice grew shrill and her thin frame almost tossed with excite- ment, as she described his preaching and its power! What must it have been, when, after eighty-two vears the recollection of it was so vivid. so exciting?
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That voice, how it still seemed to linger in her ears- as "the seashell of its native deep a thrilling moan retains;" a voice capable of all the inflexions of the sea, as it talks in storm tones or in ripples with the shore; behind which, and pressing for delivery, were thought and feelings grandly or gently moving, vari- able as the shifting winds, weighty as the tides! Was this the same man whom one citizen of the town described as a "cheery, a very cheery old gen- tleman;" and whom he had heard "joking mother Parsons (the minister's wife) about her old cap?" Yes certainly; a preacher genial, loving, open to the little playful incidents and things of life. The spirit of the gospel was in him, "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet when delivering his message of truth; truth so vital, for time and eternity, to the thousands of souls before him; there was no levity about Whitefield. He was then the electric storm in its passage over the surface of nature-with vivid dis- charges and rolling thunders and falling rain; which when past, leaves behind it a "great awakening," a great "revival" and "refreshing," even for "the dear little birds"-so he called children. No wonder he was remembered and his memory reverenced, this greatest of pulpit orators, as he was by Mrs. Pearson!
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