USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Reminiscences of Worcester from the earliest period, historical and genealogical with notices of early settlers and prominent citizens, and descriptions of old landmarks and ancient dwellings, accompanied by a map and numerous illustrations > 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 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
At the annual parish meeting held March 17, 1851, Judge Thomas Kinnicutt, moderator, it was voted to divide the $8000 received from the insurance on the house burned, between the parish and the holders of pews in the former house, $2447 of it to be retained by the parish, and the remainder to the pewhold- ers in proportion to the prices paid. A committee consisting of the following seven gentlemen were chosen to appraise the pews in the new house : Ex-Gov. John Davis, George T. Rice, Wm. M. Bickford, Albert Brown, John Hammond, Silas Dins- more, and D. B. Comins. Of the aggregate of $25,100 raised, $10,470 was from the thirty-six pews opening into the center aisle ; $6,290 from the thirty-six adjoining pews opening into the side aisles ; $4,570 from the thirty-six pews opening from the north and south walls into the north and south aisles ; $1,420 from the ten pews on the west end ; and $2,350 from the forty pews in the gallery. Hon. Stephen Salisbury, George T. Rice, and Dea. Alpheus Merrifield were chosen the commit- tee to make sale of the pews, the day following the dedication.
The new house was dedicated March 26, 1851, with the fol- lowing exercises : Introductory prayer by Rev. E. B. Wilson, then of Grafton, now of Salem ; reading of Scriptures by Rev. Hasbrouck Davis, son of Gov. John Davis, now deceased ; hymn, composed for the occasion by Rev. E. H. Sears, D. D., of Way- land, formerly of Lancaster, now deceased ; dedicatory prayer by Rev. Edward E. Hale, then of the Church of the Unity, Worcester ; concluding prayer by Rev. Samuel Clarke of Ux- bridge ; hymn, composed by Rev. John Pierpont of Medford ; benediction by the latter.
141
Reminiscences of Worcester.
The musical exercises on the occasion were under the direc- tion of S. R. Leland.
The vestry addition, or chapel, was dedicated Dec. 12, 1852.
THE FIRST PASTOR.
The first pastor, Rev. Aaron Bancroft, D. D., who officiated for nearly fifty-four years, until his decease, Aug. 19, 1839, aged nearly 84, was sole pastor for forty-three years, until the ordination of his colleague, Rev. Alonzo Hill, in 1827. Dr. Bancroft was a man of remarkable character for ability and in- fluence, and left the impress of his strong mind upon the age in which he lived, as well as upon the community in which he so long resided, as a theologian, scholar, and preacher of liber- al views, at the outset of the great controversy between Ortlio- dox and Unitarians, being himself one of the earliest pioneers of the latter. The next year after he was settled here, he was married, Oct. 24, 1786, to a member of his church, Lucretia Chandler, daughter of the last Judge John and Dorothy (Paine) Chandler, the nuptial ceremonies being performed by a distin- guished member of his church, Hon. Joseph Allen. They had thirteen children :
1. Henry Bancroft, born Oct. 8, 1787, died Oct. 26, 1817, was an East India sea captain, and as sailing master command- ed one of Commodore McDonough's ships when he gained the victory, Sept. 3, 1814, on Lake Champlain ; 2. John Chandler Bancroft, born June 27, 1789, was also an East India sea cap- tain, and died at sea in 1821; 3. Eliza Bancroft, born Feb. 17, 1791, died Jan. 24, 1872, married March 28, 1822, Hon. John Davis, for thirty years in public life as Representative in Con- gress, Governor and U. S. Senator, from 1824 to the year be- fore his death, April 19, 1854, their five sons being Hon. John C. B. Davis, assistant Secretary of State and U. S. Commis- sioner at Geneva,-Gen. Hasbrouck Davis who distinguished himself in the late war, and was wrecked in the "Cambria," Oct. 10, 1870,-George H., Horace and Andrew McFarland Davis ; 4. Mary Bancroft, born June 1, 1793, died Oct. 11, 1844; 5. Caroline Bancroft, born Apr.1 23, 1795; 6. Thomas Chandler, born 1796, lived in Paxton; 7. Jane Putnam Ban-
142
Reminiscences of Worcester.
croft, born Nov. 12, 1798, married Oct. 2, 1828, Donati Gher- ardi of Northampton, and had five children ; 8. Hon. George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, born Oct. 3, 1800, grad- uated at Harvard in 1817, studied in Germany, and traveled extensively in Europe, has been Secretary of the Navy, minis- ter to England, Prussia, &c., married first Sarah Dwight, and second, Betsey Davis, widow of Alexander Bliss, law partner of Daniel Webster, and has had five children, one of whom, Aaron Bancroft, was lieutenant and master in the United States Ship Niagara at the laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable in 1858 ; 9. Lucretia Bancroft, now the only surviving daughter, born May 19, 1803, married, 1852, Welcome Farnum, an exten- sive manufacturer, at Blackstone, Mass. ; 10. Charles Bancroft, born Feb. 18, 1805, died Dec. 23, 1838; 11. Sarah Bancroft, married, Jan. 21, 1836, Hon. John R. Blake of Brattleboro, Vt .; 12. Dorothy, died young ; 13. Anne Bancroft, born Oct. 31, 1809, married Dr. Charles Ingalls, professor in Jackson College, Louisiana.
Besides his well known work, " Life of Washington," and a volume of twenty-nine doctrinal discourses, Dr. Bancroft pub- lished some thirty six of his discourses, orations and sermons, delivered on public occasions, including one on the termination of fifty years of his ministry, Jan. 31, 1836.
Dr. Bancroft was a member of the Board of Trustees of Leicester Academy for thirty-one years, from 1800 to 1831, and President of the Board during the last thirteen years of that time ; President of the Worcester County Bible Society, and of the American Unitarian Association from its organiza- tion in 1825 till 1836; and of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Piety and Charity ; Vice President of the American Antiquarian Society from 1816 to 1836, and an officer of various other similar organizations. He received the degree of D. D. from Harvard University in 1810.
John Adams in a letter dated Jan. 24, 1823, expressed him- self as follows in regard to a series of doctrinal discourses, just preached by Dr. Bancroft, which had been printed, and a copy sent to the venerable Ex-President at Quincy, then in his 88th year : "I thank you for the gift of a precious volume. It is a chain of diamonds set in links of gold. I have never read, nor
143
Reminiscences of Worcester.
heard a volume of sermons better calculated and adapted to the age and country in which it was written. How different from the sermons I heard and read in the town of Worcester from the year 1755 to 1758. Your twenty-nine sermons sent to me, have expressed the result of all my reading, experience and re- flections, in a manner more satisfactory to me than I could have done in the best days of my strength."
Dr. Bancroft resided first in the house now occupied by the family of the late Hon. J. S. C. Knowlton on Salisbury street, afterwards in the house now of John B. Pratt on the same street, and lastly and for much the longest period on the east- erly side of Main street, between Thomas and Central streets, the latter estate being now owned by L. R. Hudson, who re- modeled the old mansion many years ago, for stores.
THE FIRST BAPTISMS.
The first children christened were, Oct. 30, 1785, Martha, daughter of Hon. Levi and Martha (Waldo) Lincoln, (after- wards wife of Hon. L. M. Parker of Shirley, and mother of Mrs. F. H. Kinnicutt and Mrs. Joseph Mason of Worcester,) and Elizabeth, daughter of Maj. William and Mary Treadwell. This being previous to the organization of the church and the ordination of the pastor, the ceremony was performed by Rev. Timothy Harrington of Lancaster. Among the earliest chris- tened by Dr. Bancroft were, May 21, 1786, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Dorothy Allen, and Naney, daughter of Dea. Nathan and Anna Heard ; and subsequently the following chil- dren of Hon. Joseph Allen : Nov. 29, 1789, Samuel ; Dec. 19, 1790, William ; Feb. 5, 1792, George ; Aug. 11, 1793, Maria ; Oct. 12, 1794, Charles, member of Congress, Judge, &c .; and Jan. 20, 1799, James. Of these we have the happiness to have one still among is, the venerable Rev. George Allen. Dr. Bancroft's daughter Eliza, (wife of Gov. Davis,) was christened Feb. 20, 1791, and her brother George (the historian) Oct. 5, 1800. Of the late Gov. Lincoln's brothers, Daniel Waldo was christened March 10, 1784 ; John Waldo, July 8, 1787 ; Enoch, (afterwards Governor of Maine), Jan. 4, 1789; William, the historian, Oct. 4, 1801. Gen. Nathan Heard, son of Dea. Nathan and Anna Heard, was christened by Dr. Bancroft,
144
Reminiscences of Worcester.
March 28, 1790, and still survives in his 88th year, the oldest male resident in Worcester, except one. George Curtis, son of David and Susanna Curtis, and father of George William Curtis, was christened March 6, 1796.
THE SECOND PASTOR.
The second pastor, Rev. Alonzo Hill, D. D., was ordained and installed as colleague with Dr. Bancroft, March 28, 1827, on which occasion the exercises were: Invocation and reading of Scriptures by Rev. Alexander Young, D. D., of Boston ; prayer by Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, D. D., of Dorchester ; sermon by Rev. John Brazer, D. D., of Salem ; ordaining pray- er by Rev. John Thornton Kirkland, D. D., President of Har- vard University ; charge to the pastor-elect by the senior pas- tor, Rev. Dr. Bancroft ; right hand of fellowship by Rev. George Ripley, then of Purchase Street Church, Boston, now of the New York Tribune, and the only surviver of those who took part in those exercises of half a century ago ; address to the people by Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, D. D., of Lancaster ; concluding prayer by Rev. Isaac Allen of Bolton.
Dr. Hill was born in Harvard, June 20, 1800, son of Oliver Hill. He was prepared for College at Groton Academy, grad- uated at Harvard University in 1822, was then tutor in Leices- ter Academy till 1824, and graduated for the ministry at Har- vard Theological School in 1826.
In order to accept of the invitation to settle here, Dr. Ilill declined similar invitations which he had received from the Unitarian Societies of Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C. He officiated as sole pastor, with unusual acceptance, during the long term of forty two years, and as senior pastor with his colleague and successor, Rev. E. H. Hall, two years more, until his decease, Feb. 1, 1871, making forty-four years in all, which, added to the long pastorate of his predecessor, Dr. Bancroft, constitutes the long period of ninety-eight years served by both, including the twelve years from 1827 to 1839 during which they officiated together as senior and junior pastors.
On the last Sunday, Feb. 7, 1869, previous to the installa- tion of his colleague, Dr. Hill preached an interesting discourse, on the close of his active ministerial labors, comprising an
.
145
Reminiscences of Worcester.
earnest and feeling sketch of his forty-two years of service, making appropriate allusion to the fact as indicative of unity, that during the eighty-four years since the formation of the church, only two pastors had been settled. Alluding to the changes which had taken place since his own installation, he said that of a church of 180 families in 1827, he could count only seven men and seven or eight women still living in 1869.
Dr. Hill received the degree of D. D. from Harvard College in 1851, and was one of the Board of Overseers of that institu- tion from 1851 to 1854, besides filling other prominent posi- tions. He published some twenty-five sermons and discourses delivered on public occasions, in his own pulpit and elsewhere, including one on the close of his pastorate of a quarter of a century, in 1852, and another on his fortieth anniversary, in 1867.
Dr. Hill married, Dec. 29, 1830, Frances Mary Clark, daugh- ter of Hugh Hamilton Clark of Boston. His widow and a daughter and a son survive him, the latter, Hamilton Alonzo Hill, born in 1832, being a resident of Hyde Park, and a men- ber of the mercantile firm of Hill, Clark & Co., of Boston.
The first child christened by Dr. Hill, was, May 6, 1827, Caroline Cutler, daughter of Capt. Ephraim and Caroline Mower.
Dr. Hill's funeral, Feb. 4, 1871, in the church, was attended by a large concourse of citizens, among those who took part in the services, being Revs. Edward E. Hale and Rush R. Shippen of Boston, formerly of the Church of the Unity in Worcester, and the pall bearers were from the oldest members of his con- gregation, Dea. John P. Kettell, Hon. Stephen Salisbury, Capt. John Barnard, Charles A. Hamilton, Dr. George Chandler, F. H. Kinnicutt, Walter Bigelow, and Charles H. Whiting. On the following day, (Sunday) a memorial discourse was preach- ed by his colleague, Rev. Edward H. Hall.
Dr. Hill's residence, while pastor, was on the beautiful estate on the easterly side of Lincoln street, next south of that of Gov. John Davis. His delightful grounds were the scene of numer- ous Sunday School and other gatherings of members of his congregation, which will be long remembered.
19
146
Reminiscences of Worcester.
THE THIRD AND PRESENT PASTOR.
Rev. Edward Henry Hall, (son of Rev. Edward Brooks Hall, D. D., settled minister in Providence from 1832 to 1836,) grad- uated at Harvard University in 1851, and at Harvard Divinity School in 1855, traveled in Europe a few years, and was ordain- ed at Plymouth in 1859, where he preached till 1867. He came to Worcester in 1869, and was installed colleague pastor with Rev. Dr. Hill, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, with the following exercises : Original anthem, " Awake, put on thy strength," composed by C. C. Stearns, organist and director of the choir, and inscribed to the new pastor ; reading of Scriptures and introductory prayer by Rev. A. M. Knapp, successor of the late Rev. Dr. Hall at Providence ; sermon by Rev. Nathaniel Hall of Dor- chester, uncle of the pastor-elect, from Acts 4: 32; installing prayer by the senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Hill ; right hand of fel- lowship by Rev. Rush R. Shippen, pastor of the Church of the Unity. In consequence of the illness of Rev. Edward E. Hale of Boston, who was to deliver the address to the people, that part of the exercises was omitted, and the concluding prayer was offered by Rev. Joseph Allen, D. D., of Northborough. Subsequent to the services in the church, the congregation re- paired to the vestry, where, after a collation had been partaken of, brief addresses were made by Rev. Dr. Hill, Rev. Dr. Allen of Northborough, Rev. E. A. Horton of Leominster, Rev. R. R. Shippen and S. S. Green, Esq., of Worcester.
Mr. Hall has given on Sunday evenings several series of very able lectures on doctrinal, practical and moral topics, one series of which, entitled " Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Christian Church," were printed in 1874, comprising a volume of 212 octavo pages.
The salaries of the pastors of this church have aggregated from year to year, about the same as at the first parish, at the same period, having gradually risen from the $500 originally paid to Dr. Bancroft, to $3000 at the present time to Mr. Hall.
THE DEACONS.
The first two deacons, elected May 17, 1786, were Samuel Bridge and David Bigelow, the former serving thirteen years.
147
Reminiscences of Worcester.
and the latter twenty-one years, until their decease ; the next, Nathan Heard, (father of the present Gen. Nathan Heard,) eighteen years from 1799; Wm. Trowbridge, twenty years from 1807 ; Jeremiah Robinson, ten years from 1817 ; Alpheus Merrifield, twenty years from 1827 ; Benjamin Butman, thir- teen years from 1827 ; John P. Kettell, thirty-five years from 1839, until his decease in 1874, the longest term of any ; Chas. A. Hamilton, sixteen years from 1847 ; and Phinehas Ball and John C. Otis, the present deacons, since Nov. 1, 1863.
Dea. Wm. Trowbridge was nephew of Edmund Trowbridge of Newton, successively Attorney General and Chief Justice of Massachusetts from 1749 to 1775. Dea. David Bigelow was brother of Col. Timothy Bigelow.
PARISH CLERKS.
The clerks of the second parish, from the first, have been successively : Hon. Joseph Allen, Dr. Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Payson, (afterwards master of the Franklin Grammar School in Boston,) and Daniel Waldo, Jr., to 1800 ; followed by Samuel Allen, senior, Jeremiah Robinson, Enoch Flagg, Sewall Hamilton, and Samuel Allen, Jr., to 1816; William Jennison, fourteen years to 1830 ; Fred. Wm. Paine, Charles A. Hamilton, Edward Lamb, Edwin Conant, and Nathaniel Eaton, successively to 1839 ; George W. Wheeler, eighteen years to 1857; George G. Burbank, sixteen years to 1873 ; and Frederick W. Ward since the latter date.
THE MUSIC.
The first conductor of music in this church, after the pur- chase of its first organ in 1836, was Emory Perry, who also of- ficiated as organist until 1839, when S. R. Leland succeeded Mr. Perry as organist, and soon afterwards took his place as conductor, in which capacity Mr. Leland served for some twelve years. The latter was succeeded by Alexander Stocking in 1852, the choir being under his direction until 1867. The organists serving under Mr. Stocking were : Charles F. Cush- man, Henry W. Eades, Daniel W. Kimball, Eugene Thayer and C. Henshaw Dana, Messrs. Thayer, Dana, and Eades being very
148
Reminiscences of Worcester.
distinguished. Miss Ellen M. A. Whiting was the soprano for about eleven years, she being succeeded by Miss Jenny Twich- ell, (now Mrs. Kempton,) the latter being succoeded by Miss Emma Weeks of Lowell, all sopranos of the first order. Miss Delia Metcalf was contralto for some eight or nine years, and was succeeded by Mrs. Woodcock. F. J. Lawrence was basso eight years or more, also E. B. Fairbanks and Anson Cutting. C. C. Stearns succeeded Mr. Stocking as conductor and organ- ist for three or four years, when Mr. Stocking again took the conductorship, with Miss Fanny Childs as soprano, Miss Fanny Putnam as contralto, and Henry B. Keith as organist, the lat- ter being succeeded by C. P. Morrison as organist and conduct- or. The present conductor is B. T. Hammond, with Walter Ingalls as organist, Miss Anna Brierly as soprano, and Miss Agnes Stone as contralto.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
Previous to 1795, there were but three persons of the Bap- tist persuasion in the town of Worcester : the first Dr. John Green, son of the founder of the church in Greenville, Leices- ter ; Amos Putnam, a member of the Baptist Church in Charl- ton ; and Dolly Flagg, wife of Col. Samuel Flagg. In the spring of 1795, James Wilson, a member of the Baptist Church in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in England, removed to this country, in order that he might enjoy more fully the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and took up his abode in Worcester, mak- ing the fourth Baptist in the place, where he exerted a wide influence during his residence here of nearly forty years, being postmaster for thirty one years, and the first deacon of the church.
During the long period between 1795 and 1812, however, there appear to have been no new converts, here, to this faith, although there was occasional preaching at the house of James Wilson ; and the decease of the three others named left him the only Baptist in the town at the beginning of the year 1812. The preaching at the old South Church by Dr. Austin, was calculated to hinder, instead of advance, the progress of the new faith, he professing to consider it a dangerous, and even a ruinous heresy. Dr. Austin not only denied his pulpit to the preachers of this class of Christians, but frequently took occa- sion to declaim against their religion before his congregation.
During the year 1812, however, through the instrumentality and efforts of James Wilson, the attendance at Baptist gather- ings became more numerous, and great progress was made as the result of the preaching of Elders William Bentley of Tiver-
150
Reminiscences of Worcester.
ton, R. I., Caleb Green of Newport, John Leland of Grafton, Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Thomas Baldwin of Boston, Caleb Blood of Portland, Me., David Pease of Belchertown, Jason Livermore of Malden, and others, at the residences of James Wilson and William Rice,* and at various school-houses in the town, alternately. Sunday, May 31, 1812, Elder Bent- ley, then pastor at Tiverton, R. I., who had heen preaching here for several weeks, gave three discourses in the old school- house on the Common, which stood on the south-east side, fronting Salem Square, to a crowded audience, and during the afternoon Rebecca Parsons and John M. Hunt were baptized, this being the first time the ordinance of baptism by immersion was administered in Worcester. Two sermons against the Baptists followed on the next Sunday from Rev. Dr. Austin in the old South Church, t in consequence of which Elder Bent- ley was induced to return again to Worcester, and preached Friday evening, June 26, at the house of Wm. Rice, from Rev. 11 : 6, and at the school house on the Common the following Sunday, when the ordinance of baptism was administered in the afternoon, at Col. Samuel Flagg's mill pond, (on Green street,) to William Rice, Patty Rice, Thompson Kimberly, De- borah Kimberly, Hannah Hall and Solomon Parsons.
During the following month of July, the number of meetings at private residences and school houses increased, and Elder Bentley came again and preached on Sunday, July 29, in the school house at Tatnuck. As stated in the records of James Wilson, the first clerk as well as deacon, who did so much for the formation of the church here, the house was filled with at- tentive hearers, among them Dr. Austin, who rose after the ser- mon was finished, and said to the congregation that " the lead- ing doctrines of Elder Bentley, in the discourse just delivered, were the same he had preached among them for two and twen-
* This is the William Rice alluded to on page 49. He removed with his fam- ily to Hartford, Ct., in 1816.
+ In the first of these two sermons the Baptists were called "a sneaking set who hovered about the suburbs, not daring to come into the centre of the town," in allusion to their meeting in outer district school houses. In the oth- er discourse, (records Dea. Wilson) " the Rev. Dr. railed against what he was pleased to denominate the audacity of the Baptists in approaching the drop- pings of his sanctuary," alluding to their holding a meeting on the Common.
151
Reminiscences of Worcester.
ty years." Monday, July 30, the hall over the centre school- house was opened for public worship by the Baptists, with a discourse by Elder David Pease of Belchertown, and this place was occupied for their regular place of worship till their meet- ing house was built, the following year. Tuesday evening, Ju- ly 31, Elder Bentley preached in what was then known as Gates' school-house in the east part of the town, corner of Bloomingdale road and Plantation street, (afterwards known as the pond district,) and Dr. Austin, who attended, took excep- tion to the expositions of Scripture given by Elder Bentley, and a long discussion ensued, this being the last time Dr. Austin attended their meetings. Elder Bentley, in the course of his sermon, taking his text from the 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th verses of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, made the remark that " there would be a great shaking among the churches-that the whore of Babylon must come down. In the text, he said, two speakers were alluded to; first, Moses and the prophets, by whom God spake on earth,-and Christ and his apostles, by whom God spake from Heaven." Dr. Austin interposing, and being allowed to give his exposition of the text, a conference or discussion ensued, of which the following account is given by Dea. Wilson :
" Elder Bentley-The only difference between you and me is, that you conclude Moses spoke in his own name and strength, whereas I believe he spoke in the name and by the power of the Most High.
" Dr. Austin-You seem to have construed this remark of the apos- tle in verse 27, " Yet once more, signifieth the removing of things that are shaken," as alluding to the downfall of Babylon? Pray, sir, by this allusion to the downfall of Babylon, did you intend my church ?
" Elder Bentley-I intended no particular allusion to your church. I spoke only of the downfall of Babylon, and permit me to ask if you do not believe that Babylon will fall, and is even now falling ?
" Dr. Austin-Yes.
" Elder Bentley-So far, then, we agree.
" Dr. Austin-Do you consider my church a church of Christ ?
" Elder Bentley-I know nothing of your church.
" Dr. Austin-Why, Mr. Bentley, do you not answer me ?
" Elder Bentley-If you wish to know what I understand by the church of Christ, I will readily explain it to you. It is an association of believers who receive baptism by immersion. Now, sir, if your church corresponds with this explanation, it is then in my opinion a church of Christ.
152
Reminiscences of Worcester.
" Dr. Austin-Do you believe me to be a minister of Christ ?
" Elder Bentley-Were I to answer that question, sir, Solomon would call me a fool ; for I never heard you preach, nor have I ever seen a sermon of yours ; and Solomon says, " He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." How- ever, sir, I have understood from my distant friends, that you preach sound doctrines.
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.