USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America. > Part 58
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In 1734 the inhabitants of the easterly portion of the town made an unsuccessful attempt to be set off into a separate parish, but the action was not consummated till 1743, immediately after which measures were taken for the erection of a church, and though so far finished as to be occupied for preaching the same year, it was many years in
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becoming fully finished, and was not really completed till a few years before it was torn down, which was in 1838.
As soon as the house was ready for occupancy, the record says the parish invited the neighboring ministers to pray with them "for ye divine direction, in order to give a Person a call to settle among them in the work of the ministry," and the 6th of September, 1744, set apart for that service, when the Rev. Benjamin Parker was the shep- herd mentioned in the recommendations, a son of Daniel Parker, of Bradford. It is very probable the newly organized parish had be- come peeuniarily embarrassed in their efforts to provide suitable ac- commodations for religious worship, and after voting to erect a par- sonage-house for their new minister, a committee waited on him, asking if he could consent to some delay in its construction, to which the record says his prompt reply was, "No, he would not," and the house was at once built. It is evident that the spirit of exaction was the disagreeable peenliarity of Mr. Parker, exhibited in his early in- sisting upon prompt compliance with all contraets, which was shown in his demand for the payment of his salary. Out of this came an unpleasant feeling, which led to greater trouble, and to his dismissal. He further alienated the members from him by withholding his en- couragement and sympathy from the patriots of the Revolution, to the extent of his being regarded as a Loyalist or "Tory,"and when in 1775 the parish requested him to abate some of his salary, his answer was that he would not, but " would stand for the whole of it." The strait- ened condition of the struggling inhabitants led to a repetition of their request, in answer to which his desire was that "the parish would not trouble him with any committees' hereafter, for he would not hear them."
Following this, the records of the parish show that action was prompt and deeisive. The record says : " It was put to vote by the moderator to see if the Parish will have the Reverend Mr. Parker to preach to them any more for the futur or not, it passed in the affirmative - they would not have him." The second vote was as recorded : "It was put to vote by the moderator to see if the Parish will Shut up the meeting house Dors and fasten them up for the time to come - it passed in the affirmative." Capt. Daniel Johnson, An- thony Chase, and Samuel Ayer, Jr., were then chosen "a committee to fasten up the meting house dors on Monday the 8th of January instant - 1776."
After the performance of this patriotic deed, matters remained in that situation a year. The doors of the church were closed, and so were the lips of their "spiritual adviser," at the expiration of which time an ecclesiastical council dissolved the connection, and Mr. Parker, retiring from the ministry, removed to his farm in the parish.
There was no preaching in the meeting-house for more than two years. After that the pulpit was variously supplied till 1797, when Rev. Isaac Tompkins, son of Christopher Tompkins, of New Bedford, having accepted the invitation of parish and church, was ordained as their pastor. During the long suspension of preaching and the irregu- lar supply, the church died out, and only one member resided in the parish in 1796. The retiring minister had captured the records, which, according to Chase, " were conditionally returned to one of the deacons of the church by a daughter of Mr. Parker," a few years ago. Under Mr. Tompkins, the reconstructed church flourished, and the founda- tion was laid anew for its usefulness and permanence. Mr. Tompkins died Nov. 21, 1826, at the age of sixty-five, he being the last of what may be termed the pioneer ministers. Since that time the history of the parish has only been of the ordinary character and interest.
The clash of sectarian interests does not appear to have been very sharp in this parish, their chief trouble being a conflict between the patriotism of the people and the Loyalty or " Toryism " of the minister, and that was sun marily brought to an end by the decisive action of the former.
The Baptists began to be somewhat numerous in 1817, and frequent meetings were held in the school-house on the Common. In 1821, the Second Baptist Society in Haverhill was formed, the inhabitants of Ames- bury joining in the movement. Cutting Moody, Samuel Pillsbury, and William D. S. Chase were the leading men in the organization. In 1822, a meeting-house was erected, which was thoroughly remodelled in 1857, and a bell placed on it. In 1823, the Rev. William Bowen became the first pastor of the society.
CHAPTER IX.
CHANGES IN THE FIRST PARISH - THE "SEPARATISTS " - NEW SOCIE- TIES - THE BAPTISTS - RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS.
In previous chapters mention has been made of the position occu- pied by the First Parish, the early narrowing of its limits of power by the ereetion of three additional parishes, and establishing worship in each of them. Following this, mention has been made of the change in religious sentiments with a majority of those who were entitled to vote in its affairs, thereby transferring the direction of its business into the hands of the Unitarians, and the subsequent withdrawal of the remaining Orthodox or evangelical portion, forming what is now the Centre Congregational Society.
Long before this last event, however, there were other things con- nected with the religious movements of the inhabitants, which were the source of solicitude with the " standing order," as the ruling and directing sect was called. In 1764, the Rev. Hezekiah Smith, an attractive, winning, and talented young clergyman, made a casual visit here, having recently graduated from Princeton College, N. J., and was immediately ordained to the Christian ministry. At first this successful preacher was admitted to the pulpits of the "standing order," but when converts began to multiply, and it appeared proba- ble they would be gathered under the banner of the "Separatists," as they were called, with this "New Light" leader as their shepherd, those pulpits were closed to him.
Mr. Smith was a magnetie man ; an inspiration pervaded the hearts of his converts, and events moved rapidly. On the 28th of June fol- lowing, the embryo church invited him to its pastorate, which did not appear to be answered or acted upon, till it was renewed on the 12th of November, 1766, though he was practically the pastor of the new church from the date of its organization. Mr. Smith became a mem- ber of the church, by letter from the Baptist Church in Charleston, S. C., and, immediately following the complete organization of the church, a large and commodious meeting-house, without a steeple, located near the present church, was erected and finished the same year, and a steeple was added in 1799.
None but residents of the town were received as members of the church, previous to July 1, 1767, in which year a desire became active to multiply members, and authority was given to the pastor and two members to receive into the church worthy persons residing clsc where. Missionary visits were made from time to time, by the pastor and lay- men, to the surrounding towns, and to distant localities in New Hamp- shire and Maine. In Methuen, Draeut, Chelmsford, Rowley, and other towns, a lively interest sprang up. Frequent calls were re- ceived for the pastor to administer the baptismal rite in distant locali- ties, and churches began to be organized, both in New Hampshire and Maine. In Rowley, a branch of the Baptist church of Haverhill was organized, with Samuel Harriman as its elder, becoming a separate church in 1785, and in the same year one was organized in Newbury- port by the withdrawal of members, who had joined here.
The " standing order," annoyed and alarmed by the increase of the " Separatists," began to perplex them. Members of the new churches were taxed for the support of the old one, their goods frequently dis- trained for payment thereof, and their religious meetings frequently disturbed and interrupted, while the " standing clergy " forbade the pastor to preach within parish bounds. In one instance, while he was delivering a week-day evening lecture, in a private house, a stone was hurled at him through a window, but without effect. All acts of this nature, and all restraints imposed, werc regarded in the light of perse- entions, and the new sect was benefited rather than harmed thereby ; and by vigorous efforts they soon succeeded in securing more perfect religious freedom by favorable legislation.
In 1793, the society received an Act of incorporation as The First Baptist Society in Haverhill.
Mr. Smith's manners and ability drew about him large audiences, and his sermons were very effective. He first preached in the West Parish ; but when it became known that he was a Baptist, that pulpit was immediately closed to him, and the smouldering fires in that some- what inflammable parish were kindled into a fresh blaze. He was early appointed one of the Fellows of Brown University, and in 1797 had conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was a successful pastor for over forty years, dying Jan. 24, 1805, in his sixty-eighth year.
This society made strenuous efforts to secure a share in the parson-
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age-lands in town, from 1796 to 1818, though without success ; but in 1820, a plan for a ministerial fund was adopted, and the fund raised by quarterly contributions and donations. The early contributors were Mrs. Sarah How, $1,000; Mrs. Annie Saltonstall, $500; Mrs. Rebecca Duncan, $500. In 1842, ninety-three acres of land, given by Mrs. Sarah How, came into the possession of the trustees.
Although the church has at times been distracted by divisions, it has been an instrumentality of power since its organization. The imme- diate successor of Mr. Smith was the Rev. William Batchelder, and after him the Rev. George Keeley. From 1836 to 1860, the Rev. Arthur S. Train, D. D., was its pastor, at which time he was appointed professor of sacred rhetoric in the Newton Theological Institution, which office he beld till his death. The present pastor of the society is Rev. George W. Bosworth, D. D.
The history of the Baptist society in this town shows the opening of a new era in religions affairs, and the appearance of a religious organ- ization, so ably led and so zealously handled, as not only to secure a rapid local growth, but become able to possess and improve, as a mis- sionary field, the outlying country as far east as Portland, Me., and as far north as Concord, N. H., its leader, practically a "John the Bap- tist," preaching and baptizing, " in all the region round about," was an event which could not fail to make its mark in the religious history of the community.
The First Parish Church embodied the Puritanic ideas, the churches in the outlying parishes were only offshoots from it, and not its antag- onists. The Baptists were a new order, and met with bitter opposition from all the parish organizations, but the most formidable came from the First Parish, which naturally assumed to control the religions in- terests of the town. Gradually, however, its power declined, through the influence of broader views and more liberal feelings, cherished by many of its leading supporters. When the final revolution came, in 1832, and the Unitarians attained possession of the parish organiza- tion, much of its ancient control and sectarian sway was practically destroyed, and what remained of the element in closest sympathy with the early spirit, the early rights, and early rule of that parish with- drew, forming the Centre Congregational Church, taking position with other organizations, subordinate to the First Parish Society, which, under the Unitarian control, claimed the distinction of preaching " Love" with the abatement of the " Threatenings," and gradually became the nursery of the radical thought and utterance which, in later years, have distinguished its pulpit teachings.
There appears to have been a neighborly and friendly feeling exist- ing towards the retiring body, who conscientiously believed them- selves to be the custodians of religious truths, vital to the interests of man in the present, and in the future, and the rightful bearers of the "ark of the covenant," received by them from the fathers. The records of the time show that they first worshipped in the Universal- ist church on Summer Street, which arrangement might have been in some degree influenced by the notable courtesy extended to that class of believers by the First Parish, as early as 1811, in admitting the Rev. Hosea Ballou to its pulpit to preach the first Universalist sermon ever delivered in the parish.
The society was strong in its early organization, it having a hundred members, and the church, organized in 1833, consisted of ninety mem- bers. When the division became assured, Dea. Le Bosquet, one of the few of the members of the church who remained with the First Parish, having in his possession the communion service, carried it and delivered it to Dea. Ezra C. Ames, remarking that, "as it was a present to the church from Abigail and Lydia Marsh, and a few others, he considered the parish had no claim upon it, and as the church had chiefly withdrawn, he regarded the service as justly belonging to them." This appears to be a fair statement of the manner in which the service followed the church, and, as such, may properly pass into history.
A new house of worship was built in 1834, and the Rev. Joseph Whittelsey became the first pastor, remaining till 1837. He was suc- ceeded in 1839, by the Rev. Edward A. Lawrence, who remained till 1844. His successor, in 1845, was the Rev. Benjamin F. Hosford, who was an acceptable and successful pastor, being, in his theological opinions, of unquestionable soundness, as estimated by the evangelical standard. He remained till failing health compelled his resignation in 1863. The next minister was the Rev T. T. Munger, settled in 1863, and remaining till 1869. The Rev. C. M. Hyde followed him as pastor, in 1870, closing his labors in 1875. In 1876, the Rev. H. E. Barnes, the present pastor, assumed charge of the society.
During the existence of this society it has been subject to occasional internal divisions, the first appearing in 1839, when sixteen members
of the church withdrew, and with others joining them, organized the Winter Street " Union Evangelical Church." In 1858, other disturb- ing elements made their appearance, causing considerable internal commotion, finally resulting in the withdrawal of nearly a hundred members of the church, in 1859, and an organization immediately effected under the name of the " North Church."
In 1860, the church edifice was remodelled, improved, and rededi- cated, about which time large accessions were received from the late Winter Street Society, that edifice having passed to the control of the Free Baptists. In 1878 the church was again remodelled, the entire structure having been raised, and a chapel placed beneath it, combining all the facilities for the accommodation of the religious and social interests of the society.
The Winter Street Society. an offshoot from the Centre Church, bad an existence from 1839 to 1860, a period of twenty-one years, passing through many severe trials, and supported by a self-sacrificing and earnest band of men and women. To the stranger there was always an open door, and special interest bestowed upon the rising generation. In 1860, after the organization of the North Society, the necessity for three Congregational churches was seriously questioned, and about that time a family feud was revived, which crept into the Winter Street Church, causing the secession of thirty-four members, which finally led to its disbandment, and its members were absorbed by the other churches. The church edifice was sold to the Free Baptists, who still retain it, and have built up a large and flourishing society.
The Winter Street Society was distinguished by the powerful revival work in which it was from time to time engaged. Its first minister was the Rev. Job H. Martyn, its founder and leading spirit, who re- tired in 1841. He was followed by the Rev. Charles Fitch, who soon adopted the Miller theory in regard to the second coming of Christ, preaching his farewell discourse to the society in 1842. His successor was the Rev. George W. Finney, a powerful revivalist, and under his ministry a remarkable revival excitement, coupled with the Miller delusion, took possession of the church, producing a shock, the evils of which lasted for many years. Among the immediate effects was the excommunication of ten members of the church, and nine others stricken from the roll, and from 1843 to 1853, no society record was kept. After Mr. Finney's release from pastoral duties, he became the agent of the State Temperance Society, and was much interested in the Washingtonian temperance movement. He finally settled in Cali- fornia, where he died. The Rev. D. N. Merritt was the society's pastor in 1846, and was succeeded by the Rev. E. J. Cummings in 1848. During his ministry the church was reorganized and received into Congregational fellowship. In 1853, the Rev. Leonard S. Parker was called to the pastorate, who remained till the breaking up of the church and society in 1860.
The organization of the North Church gave considerable strength to the Congregational interests of the town, a large and influential congregation of worshippers being at once gathered, and the founda- tions laid strong and deep for future growth and influence. The society was organized March 1, 1859, and the church established on the 30th of the same month. Immediate steps were taken for the erection of a house for public worship on the corner of Main and White streets. The cost of the structure and organ was $30,000, and the house was dedicated Feb. 21, 1860. Until the completion of the new church, the society worshipped in the First Parish Church. On the 8th of August, 1860, the Rev. R. H. Seeley, D. D., a native of Norwalk, Ct., but recently in charge of the American Chapel in Paris, was installed as pastor, in which relation he still continues.
In 1803 a new organization called the "Christian Church" came into existence, under the lead of the Rev. Elias Smith, then of Ports- mouth, N. H., who came here to do missionary labor. The first meeting was held in Bradford at the residence of John Morble. It had considerable prosperity, though with many the sect was unpopular and bitterly opposed. Divisions at length crept in, the love grew cold, and in 1816 the meetings were discontinued, having been entirely sustained up to that time by itinerant preachers.
All efforts to revive the sect proved abortive till 1823, when the church was reorganized by Elder Abner Jones, and the record says " this was followed by a glorious revival, in which, we trust about fifty were brought from darkness to light." Sufficient strength attended the movement to build a brick chapel on the west side of Washington Square, on the site now occupied by the Washington Square Hotel. In 1825 Abel Nichols and George W. Ayer were " selected for deacons upon trial," and Henry Plummer " selected as Bishop " of the church, and in 1826 he was ordained to the work of the ministry, and became the society's pastor, remaining such till 1843, when the relation was
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dissolved at his own request. His ministry was a successful one, the flock constantly increasing, which required the enlargement of the chapel.
In 1843, embracing the belief that " the second coming of Christ was near at hand," Eller Plummer withdrew from the Christian Union Society, accompanied by a number of the principal members, ereet- ing a building on Essex Street, known as the "Tabernacle," where he became the oracle of the new doctrine and the pastor of the Taber- nacle Society, continuing to preach that doctrine till 1855, when he resigned his charge to become an evangelist.
In 1856 Elder Plummer again became the pastor of the Christian Union Society, but resigued in 1857, and was succeeded by the Rev. L. B. Hatch, during whose pastorate the church was remodelled, and a steeple and bell added. Since, the march of business westward lcd to the sale of the church, and in 1874 the society removed to Wash- ington Street extension, building a new church there, and have now a flourishing society under the pastoral care of the Rev. C. A. Beck.
Elder Plummer was not a man for a salary, and never received one. HIc believed " the gospel should be free," and, thus believing, so he preached and practised. At the conclusion of his labors he passed to the unscen, beloved and respected by all.
Among the historie societies, the First Universalist, or Summer Street Society, holds a worthy place, its founders and early support- ers being among the prominent and substantial men of the town, and its ministry among the ablest of the denomination. The Rev. Hosea Ballon first preached in this town in 1811, and there was occasional preaching of that kind thereafter; but no society existed till March 17, 1823, when fifteen persons met at the tavern of Asaph Kendall, organizing " The First Universalist Society in Haverhill and adjacent towns," choosing Barnard Goodridge moderator, and Thomas Meady clerk and treasurer.
The first sermon before the new society was preached by the Rev. Hosea Ballon, in old Masonie or Assembly Hall, Water Street, where services were regularly held till the brick meeting-house, in proecss of erection on Summer Street, was finished and dedicated, which took place April 12, 1826.
The Rev. Thos. G. Farnsworth, of Newton, became the pastor and was installed April 11, 1826, holding the relation till 1833. His sue- cessor was the Rev. Thomas J. Greenwood, in 1835. Following him was the Rev. Otis A. Skinner, in 1836, who was soon called to the Fifth Society in Boston. He was succeeded by the Rev. Matthew HIale Smith, during whose ministry a church was organized and pub- licly recognized in 1837, the deacons being John Crowell, Samuel Johnson, and John S. Fuller. Mr. Smith was sneceeded by the Rev. Henry Bacon, in 1838, and after him came the Rev. T. P. Abell, in 1841; the Rev. Massena Goodrich, in 1844; the Rev. L. B. Mason, in 1849 ; the Rev. J. E. Pomfret, in 1853; the Rev. Calvin Damon, in 1855 ; the Rev. William MeNiel, in 1859; and the Rev. J. W. Hanson, in 1860, who held the pastoral relation during the war, the society granting him leave of absence to serve as chaplain of the sixth regiment. He resigned in November, 1865. In November, 1865, the Rev. Calvin Damion was recalled to the pastorate of the society, and still retains the charge.
The church was rebuilt in 1856, to which has since been added a basement, which serves for a chapel and for social purposes. The society is large, united, and strong.
The society is identified with the carly conflicts in the First Parish by the union of some of its members with the Unitarian members of the First Parish to obtain control of its affairs. In that contest " thirty-seven members of the soeicty were dismissed to become mem- bers of the First Parish," by whose vote the disturbing questions then existing were put in the way of settlement by placing the Uni- tarians in control. After the withdrawal of the Centre Society there came a triangular contest for the division of the parish fund. There was a combination forming between the Unitarians and the Centre Society to ontvote the Universalists, who had then become a majority in the parish, and divide the funds equally between themselves; but before it could be perfected the Universalists offered the Unitarians better terms than those embraced in the arrangement with the Ortho- dox, which were accepted ; the taxes of sixty-eight Universalist mem- bers of the parish were abated, whereupon they withdrew, receiving four thousand dollars as their part of the funds in the hands of the Trustees, leaving the parish organization and the remaining funds in the hands of the " Congregational Unitarians," where it still remains. The amount remaining at that time was $7,296.48.
This action ended the long and sharp contest for the possession of
the First Parish fund, by the division of it between the Unitarians and Universalists, leaving the seceders without any share in the dis- tribution.
The Rev. John Wesley Hanson, A. M., D. D., was the war minister of the Universalist Society in the days of the Rebellion ; his pulpit utter- ances in defence of the principles involved in the contest were elcar and emphatic, and his support of the loyal cause enthusiastic and firin. In the nine months' campaign, 1862-63, and the hundred days' campaign, 1864, of the " Old Sixth " Regiment, he was the chaplain. He also visited cach Massachusetts regiment scattered from Washing- ton to Florida, from Jannary to April, 1864, under appointment from Gov. Andrew and from the Massachusetts Convention of Universal- ists. He was also the pioneer of the Soldiers' Mission, a benevolent organization of Universalists, supplementary to the Christian Com- mission, and war correspondent of the " New York Tribune " and " Boston Journal." Subsequently he became the author of the History of the " Old Sixth," and is also the author of several town historics and other works. He is now the editor and business manager of the " New Covenant," of Chicago, the Universalist denominational paper in the West.
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