USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Westfield > Sermon commemorative of the two-hundredth anniversary of the First Congregational church of Westfield, Mass. > Part 2
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The form of the new building is somewhat more fully sug- gested than that of the old one. It was to be built " barn fation with a bell coney upon the middle of it fifty two foots in length and forty one foots in breadth."* It was probably remembered by many aged people who have gone to rest within a few years, as it stood until the early part of this century. Mr. Frederick Fowler, now living, remembers it and the fire that destroyed it. The bell, which was afterward procured, is said to have hung at the centre of the roof, and to have been rung by one standing in the middle of the ground floor. It was purchased in 1728 of Jacob Windel, in Boston, for one hundred acres of land in the south part of the town. Before it was procured the people were called together by a more primitive method, as is indicated by the following statement :
" The selectmen have agreed with Nath. Ponder to sweep the meeting house the year ensning and have promised him thirty five shillings for said service, and with John Negro to beat ye drum on the Sabbath days and others as ocation may serve. and have promised him twenty three shillings for said service,
*See Appendix D.
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and the first drum is to be beat against the Widow Moseleys house in good weather."
It is uncertain whether or not we are to infer from the last clause that they were habitually " fair weather christians." The building was paid for by the town, and a committee was ap- pointed to assign sittings according to their dignity, those near the pulpit being considered most honorable, a custom that pre- vailed as long as the building stood.
The arrangement for Mr. Taylor's support was always liberal. His salary was at first £50, raised in 1678 to £70, and in 1686 to £80; in addition to which he had a generous allowance of land both in, and outside of, the settlement. The people seem also to have been considerate of his wants in many ways. In 1692, whether from bad crops or some other cause, the people seem to have felt poorer than usual, for they voted him £80, with the desire that he would abate £10 thereof. The estimation in which he was held is indicated in various ways. He was consulted in all matters relating to the temporal and spiritual interests of the church ; as, for instance, it was voted to consult with him and see whether he were willing that some timber from the old meet- ing-house should be used in the new one.
Early in 1722 he began to show signs of advancing age, being then eighty-one years old ; and Deacon Noble* and Capt. Ashley were appointed " to go and discourse with" him concerning the selection of a colleague. " At the same meeting Dea. Th. Noble was chosen as a messenger to go in the towns behalf to give Mr. Brown" (of New Haven) " a call, and also voated to give Th. Ashley five or six shillings to encourage him to go and accom- pany Deacon Noble in his journey." Mr. Brown did not come, and the following year Mr. Isaac Stiles, who had been teaching here, received and declined a call. He was Mr. Taylor's son-in- law, and his son afterward became President of Yale College.
This must have been a rather trying time for the people in church affairs ;- their minister failing in health, their efforts to secure an assistant proving unsuccessful, and their new house of worship being uncompleted. They tried for several months to make an arrangement with Mr. Bull, who was teaching here, and " Nehemiah Loomis, John Root and Jonathan Ashley were
*See Appendix I.
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chosen to go and stir up the meeting house comitey to see that the meeting house be finished speedily." The next year, 1726, a house and lot were provided for the new minister, and " it was voted that the town will give Mr. Bull £50 for a year ensuing for preaching one half day each Sabbath, and to rise proportion- ally according to his preaching ;" a vote, as has been said, of rather doubtful construction. Finally, in May, 1726, a commit- tee was appointed to see whether Mr. Taylor " would lay down preaching." In September following, a committee was ap- pointed to arrange for Mr. Bull's ordination at the town's charge.
I cannot ascertain whether the venerable pastor continued to preach occasionally afterward, but it is probable that he did ; for the people, among whom he had labored for more than half a century, would have been glad to see him in his accustomed place and hear his familiar voice. He never fully recovered from a severe fit of sickness that prostrated him a few years before his death, which occurred June 24th, 1729, in his eighty- seventh year, after he had served this church, before and after its organization, nearly fifty-seven years. His is an enviable record, and he has transmitted to a large number of descendants, some of whom still hold land here that he owned, his unimpeach- able character. There is said to have never been a scoundrel among them. Three of his daughters married ministers. Anna was the wife of the Rev. Benjamin Lord, D. D., of Norwich, Ct. ; Naomi, of the Rev. Ebenezer Devotion of Suffield, Ct .; and Keziah, of the Rev. Isaac Stiles of North Haven, Ct. He was buried in the old cemetery, where his tombstone may still be seen, bearing the following quaint but expressive epitaph :
" Here rests the body of ye Rev'd Mr Edward Taylor ye aged, Venerable, Learned & Pious Pastor of ye church of Christ in this town, who after he had served God & his generation faithfully for many years fell asleep June 24 1729 in ye 87 year of his age."*
The events of this first pastorate have been thus explicitly detailed because it is in many respects the most remarkable of the church's history. They were days of anxiety and hardship, but also of labors cheerfully undertaken and sacrifices patiently endured. The foundations were then being laid for a structure
*See Appendix C.
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that has honored the Divine Architect and its human builders. Had those early settlers proved indifferent to the interests of Christ's kingdom, while seeking to build homes and establish a town, subsequent generations would not have had the reason they now have to rise up and call them blessed, and we would not have had such a record of successful work for God as we now review.
As has been intimated already, efforts were made several years before Mr. Taylor's death to secure a colleague. In the latter part of 1724 the church sent to Mr. Nehemiah Bull, who had been teaching on Long Island, to serve them in that capacity. According to his own record in the church book, he first preached here on the 17th of January, 1725, from the text-I. Corinth- ians, viii., 4-" For there is none other God but one." For a year and a half he assisted Mr. Taylor and taught school. Ne- gotiations with him having been finally concluded, he was or- dained October 26th, 1726, one hundred and fifty-three years ago this month. Six churches were invited to take part in the Council, the three in Springfield, and those from Hatfield, Enfield, and Suffield, respectively.
Mr. Bull has left a detailed account of the exercises. All the ministers and delegates caine on the evening preceding the day appointed, as was customary in those times of primitive methods of traveling, except Mr. Devotion of Suffield :
" And being gathered together it was thought by them a good thing to do what business they could that night yt they might not be hindered next day and thereupon they thought convenient to examine into what opposition there was (for there had been as the ordination drew on a great stir) therefore they sent for the principal man who was so confident yt he could have a great party on his side if there was a Town-meeting if the elders de- sired there might be a Town-meeting next morning And the Town were asked if they desired y' Mr Bull should be ordained or that the ordination should go on that day to vote for it and the vote was so clear yt ye Rev. Elders judged yt the barr was clearly taken out of the way, wherefore they proceeded to sol- emnize that affair and those that managed the work were the Rev. Mr. Taylor &c in this order viz. The Rev. Mr. D. Brewer began the solemnities with prayer, the Rev. Mr. W. Williams preacht and then they proceeded to set me apart by laying on of hands the Rev. Mr. E. Taylor, Mr. T. Woodbridge and Mr. W. Williams laying on hands and then the Rev. Mr. T. Wood-
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bridge made the first prayer and gave charge & then the Rev. Mr. W. Williams made the last prayer and then the Rev. Mr. E. Devotion did that which stood in the room of the right hand of fellowship and they were done. I was directed to name a Psalm to be sung after wh I was (according to the custom in these parts) directed to bless the congregation in the Father Son and Holy Ghost and so the solemnities were finished."
Soon after this event, and before the death of Mr. Taylor, ev- idence is given in the church record that the beginnings of that movement which resulted in what has been known as the Half- Way Covenant, and so seriously disturbed the churches of New England, were felt here; and Mr. Bull had become securely enough established to take the lead in presenting to the church the following questions :
"1. Whether such persons as come to enter into full com- munion may not be left at their liberty as to the giving the chh. an account of the work of saving conversion i. e., whether Rela- tions shall not be looked upon as a matter of indifferency, and the chh desired some time of consideration, so the matter was deferred till the next Lord's Day, when it was voted in the affirm- ative. 2. Whether a confession of faith drawn up in shorter and more general terms should be used instead of the Assembly's Catechism. 3. Whether all Baptized Persons who were come to years of understanding and were capable of discipline belonging to this congregation should be lookt upon subjects of discipline, and voted in the affirmative. 4. Whether 5 men should not be chosen by the chli to meet and consult with me about the issuing cases of difficulty upon immergent occasions, this voted in the affirmative."
Thus, in 1728, we have the first mention of what corresponds with our church committee. Fifty years later, more definite action was taken to secure greater efficiency of discipline. The new confession of faith that was adopted was explicit enough as a matter of intellectual belief, but contains no reference to personal regeneration ; and while much longer than it, is in this respect far more objectionable than the Half-Way Covenant of the First Church of Springfield .*
During the pastorate of Mr. Bull, some of his flock became hostile to him, and carried their opposition far enough to threaten a serious breach in the church. The town passed a mild vote to the effect that there was cause of grievance against him; but
*See Appendix F.
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what it was, is stated neither there nor in the church record. The latter gives an extended account of the wise and christian way in which the difficulty was finally settled. He met the people in a church meeting, that continned two afternoons and nearly a whole night ; and, after friendly conference, they arrived at "an accommodation," and voted that all complaints against him should be dismissed. This was not entirely satisfactory to the disaffected ones, who shortly afterward raised a tumult and ab- sented themselves from the sacrament. Having again called the church together, he gave a quotation from " Hooker on Church Discipline," to the effect that " men may complain of y' Elders if yy consider 'mselves wrongd, but (says he) if ye complaint prove unjust and unreasonable be it at ye peril of him that complains, for he is to be censurd sharply & severely." Mr. Bull then added a fearful scriptural example : " We all know how dread- fully God testified his anger against Corah Dathan & Abiram for complaining & murmuring against Moses and Aaron & raising a tumult against them without any sufficient cause, & there is great Reason why a due testimony shoª be born all groundless Assaults made against ye ministers of Christ, be- cause such things tend to wound and destroy their good names, &c." He was, perhaps, somewhat improvident; for the town record shows that, though his salary was steadily increased, yet he fell into financial embarrassments, as indicated by the fol- lowing action : "November, 1735, £150 voted for salary ; Febru- ary 5, 1736, £125 voted to pay his debts." In 1738 and the year following, his salary was £240. His pastorate was cut short by death, April 14th, 1740, in the thirty-ninth year of his age, and the fourteenth year of his ministry. His family afterward moved to Sheffield, where his oldest son became a respected physician .*
Mr. David Parsons preached a short time as supply ; and in August, 1740, four months after Mr. Bull's death, the Rev. John Ballantine was called to fill his place. The provision for his sup- port is shown by the record. The house of the former pastor was to be bought for £700, of which a £500 interest was to be offered Mr. Ballantine to encourage him to settle.
" Also voted to give Mr. John Ballantine £200 in bills of credit of the old tenor or £200 in silver moncy at 28s and
*See Appendix E.
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4d per ounce as the bills now go and his firewood for his sallary from year to year annually as long as the said Mr. Bal- lantine carries on the work of the ministry with us."
This is the first time a particular sum was agreed upon for more than one year. Mr. Ballantine was a native of Boston, and descended from Scotch ancestors. He was graduated in 1735 at Harvard. The vote to call him to this church was passed unani- mously, after a season of " solemn fasting & prayer," and his letter of acceptance shows that he took a spiritual view of the work before him, and was deeply impressed by its responsibilities. The Committee selected to sign the letters missive, inviting neighboring churches to the Council that should ordain him, con- sisted of Deacon John Shepard, Capt. John Gunne and Thomas Ingersole, Esq., and each letter contained the following request : " You are desired to meet at the house of Lieut. Ashley, at nine of the clock in the morning." The Council was called for the 17th day of June, 1741 ; and before that time, answers having been received from two churches in Boston, declining their invi- tations, four churches in addition to those originally agreed npon were invited. This irregular proceeding, together with a dif- ficulty in regard to the First Church of Springfield, came very near preventing the Council from performing its work. Mr. Breck, the fourth pastor at Springfield, had been ordained a few years before in the face of opposition, on account of grave sus- picions cherished by some of the brethren that he was not strictly orthodox, and some of the ministry would not consent to sit in council with him and his church. The Council finally consisted of only three churches, Sunderland, Brimfield, and Springfield First. Mr. Breck made the opening prayer ; Mr. Rand preached and gave the charge ; Mr. Bridgham prayed and gave the right hand of fellowship; they sang the one hundredth Psalm, and were dismissed with a blessing.
The year of his ordination seems to have been a very pros- perous one for the church, sixty-nine members having been re- ceived on confession of faith ; a number unequaled in any previous year, and in any succeeding one until 1819, when one hundred and twenty-seven were received. The other years in our church history made memorable on account of large accessions, are 1842 and 1843, when one hundred and fifteen were added, and 1850, when the additions numbered sixty.
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Mr. Ballantine seems to have been a man well suited to his place as pastor in a small town, keeping track of all matters of interest to the people, and exercising a kind of fatherly super- vision over their affairs. For many years he kept a journal, in which were noted the results of his observation of current events relating to himself, his family, the church, the town, and the nation. The original manuscripts were fortunately discovered, after moulding in some obscure corner for more than half a century, and are now preserved, with other old documents of local interest, in that useful and beneficent local institution, the Atheneum. Extracts from them were published in successive numbers of the " Westfield Journal," in 1834, which show not only much of the man's character, but also give an interesting view of town life in those remote days. They are well worthy of perusal by any who have a taste for local antiquities. As they furnish about the only material from which to gain an idea of his life and ministry, I shall make such selections from them as seem most interesting on various subjects .*
During his ministry the church suffered much annoyance and perplexity by the action of the Separatists, who were a small body that withdrew from the services on account of grievances occasioned by the " half-way covenant." Some of them seem to have been sincere reformers, who were outraged by the reception of persons who did not give satisfactory evidence of regenera- tion, by the authority granted to the regular ministry, and by the method of taxing all citizens for the support of the church, whether or not they attended its services. About this nucleus of sincere and evangelical protesters against abuses, there gatlı- ered many others, tinctured with all sorts of wild notions, hold- ing divers absurd religious views. Mr. Ballantine was firmly convinced of the error of their ways ; for, though the church char- itably decided to consider such of their number as joined them simply no longer members of the church, instead of formally and publicly excommunicating them, yet he considered it wrong for the faithful ones who remained to run after them, as shown by the following entry :
" May 2nd, 1775. A query was proposed by a member of the church to day occasioned by one of our members attending the
*See Appendix G.
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separate meeting last Sabbath, whether it was not disorderly to attend a meeting of Separates. It was observed that we are to mark those that cause divisions and avoid them and that since the church had withdrawn communion from the preacher it seemed absurd to receive one as a teacher whom we cannot fel- lowship as a brother."
Yet he was extremely liberal toward all whom he considered true christians. Having attended a meeting at Agawam, where " the pedobaptists & anti-pedobaptists brought forward terms of coalescence previously prepared," he says :
" It was a rare instance of Catholicism. I was well pleased with it. It appears to me quite reasonable that we should hold communion with those with whom we hope to live in heaven though they differ with us in some non-essentials, as the subjects & mode of baptism. All true christians are members of Christ ; if one of the members of our body should be imagined by us to be out of order, or should be really so, should we neglect it, or cast it away ? should we not try to recover it? or if we had no hopes of that we should make ourselves easy with it. So should christians deal with each other. It is arrogance in any man to set himself np as the standard & condemn or approve others ac- cording as they appear when measured by this standard. I dis- claim infallibility in myself, and will not allow it in others."
He was either in advance of his church at this time in liberal- ity, or else they backslid from the high ground then occupied ; for, in 1788, twenty-seven years later, they refused to grant the request of Anna Phelps for a letter to the Baptist Church.
The plainness of his preaching, and his patience under injuries, are illustrated by the following entries : "I was insulted to-day by a principal man in town for a plain sermon delivered last Sabbath against idleness. May none of these things move me ; may I not be left to render reviling for reviling ;"-with more in the same strain.
" May 20th, 1762. Married David Mosely. I asked none of the guests though the wedding was at my house. I preferred not to do much. Esq. Mosely made a supper and judged it better to invite the guests himself. May 24. Some pretend that we not only did not invite them but hindered their being invited to the wedding. What need of prudence has a minister ! It is a most seasonable caution, 'Be ye wise as serpents & harmless as doves.' "
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His heart was pained by the decline of religion in his day, though we are apt to think the old times were so much better than the new. When English recruits started to attack the French in Canada, he says: " May 16, 1759. The men who were enlisted marched to-day. There used to be a sermon or prayers with them, but nothing of the nature now ; as if they had come to the conclusion that it is vain to seek God." His anxiety must have diminished soon afterward, for, on the 28th of the next month, he notes : " Fast throughout the Province to seek God's blessing on the expedition against Canada." And the public spirit of the day was sufficiently virtuous to uphold con- viction and punishment for profanity ; for, in 1760: "James Wilson sentenced to sit in the stocks for profane swearing paid his fine." He did not hesitate to reprove popular sins, though lightly considered by offenders : " In consequence of finding in the contribution box the other day a pewter dollar and some other pewter coins I preached from Aets 5: 1-11,"-which is the account of Ananias and Sapphira.
Some of his comments are exceedingly pithy and bright, as note the following : " Ang. 17, 1762. Many law suits, the con- sequence of extravagance, imprudence, idleness, fraud & covet- ousness." "June 31, 1766. Attended the funeral of Deliverance Hanchett, aged 72. She was never married, maintained by the town, unhappy in her temper, provoking in her language, lived undesired, & died unlamented." This is perhaps more truthful than many epitaphs of the time ; though " the truth is not always to be spoken."
Mr. Ballantine must have been able to perform an immense amount of work ; for, on a day when detained from church by sickness, he says : " Have not been kept away but one day and a half for twenty years." The Rev. Mr. Atwater, his successor, had an experience almost as remarkable in this respect. In twenty years he was prevented from preaching one Sunday on account of illness, and two Sundays because of lameness. It was not then, as now, necessary for ministers to spend three months of the year in Europe to recuperate their wasted energies.
During the latter part of Mr. Ballantine's term of service, a long-continued case of discipline perplexed the church. It was finally suggested to call a mutual council, but each party wanted the other to bear its expense. Neither yielding, it was proposed
4
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that, if the offending brother should be adjudged guilty by the council, he should pay the cost ; but, if he should be acquitted, the church should pay it. The matter was finally compromised by each agreeing to pay one-half. Seven churches met, and spent three days trying to effect harmony ; but their work was done in vain, since he was afterward debarred from the Lord's table.
Mr. Ballantine died February 12th, 1776, aged sixty, after having served the church faithfully for thirty-five years. In the " Hampden Pulpit," compiled by the Rev. Dr. Davis, it is stated that three of his sons received a collegiate education ; that one of them, Ebenezer, became a physician, and was the father of Rev. Henry Ballantine, missionary to India, and Rev. Elisha, Professor in Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and after- wards pastor of a church in the city of Washington .* The Rev. Jolin Ashley was called after Mr. Ballantine's death, but was not settled.
The Rev. Noah Atwater was called from the position of Tutor in Yale College, (which he had held three years,) after preach- ing here as a supply ; and, after some hesitaney, accepted, and was ordained November 21st, 1781. He was a student of more than ordinary ability, as is evidenced by the fact that he was graduated from Yale College with the first honors of his class of 1774. After a pastorate of twenty years, he died quite sud- denly, his twentieth anniversary sermon having been the last he ever preached. It was published at the town expense, together with his funeral sermon delivered by Dr. Lathrop, who was pastor of the church at West Springfield sixty-five years. A copy (probably the only one now in existence) of the two sermons has been kindly loaned me for perusal by his grandson, Mr. William L. Atwater, of New York. Dr. Lathrop gives quite an extensive sketch of him. He says :
" He was blessed with superior abilities, a clear understand- ing, a capacious mind, and a solid judgement. He loved good men whatever name they might bear. He was a wise and pacific counsellor in the churches and studied the things which made for peace among his own people. He was remarkably tender of character, inclined to speak well of all when he could, and cautious not to speak evil of any but when he ought. His
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