USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > The history of Ludlow, Massachusetts > Part 10
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First, I am to Show what we are to understand by y Injunction in \" Text "work out ' Salvation," &c., but before we enter upon a Discussion of the Command, it may be pertinent to premise a few Things; and old iate some objections w 4, if allowed, it would follow that the Proposition is of no Manner of Importance; being either wholy void of Meaning, or else requiring an utter Impossibility : but granting
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These, one or the other, it will appear of no great Weight, and not, as in Truth it is, "worthy of all Acceptation"; and demanding our highest Concern:
Some may alledge, and say, that inasmuch as God sees and determines all y" Actions, wch are done by any of his Creatures thro' the Universe, they & their Ways being entirely under his Inspection, and at his Disposal. None of them can do anything voluntarily, but altogether by Necessity; not being able to perform any Operation spontaneously, and according to the Dictates of Reason.
To such suggestions as these we reply, and say: that Altho' we allow that God is infinite in Knowledge and Power ; sees and determines all events in the Kingdom of Nature and Providence; yet we suppose this doth by no means hinder the Liberty of Will in the Creature; but they may act as freely, this notwithstanding, as tho' they were absolute, and independent Beings; and had the entire Disposal of their Wills.
The drift of thought very plainly indicates that Mr. Steward was Arminian in view.
Ile lived on the Adelbert L. Bennett place, now owned by the City of Springfield, near the Springheld Waterworks. The house is torn down but the cellar hole is still visible. He had two daughters, one of whom married Dr. Sylvester Nash, and the other, a Bardwell of Belchertown, and was mother of the late Oramel Bardwell, well known to our towns- people, and to whom we are indebted for most of these facts.
The ministry of Mr. Steward did not prove acceptable to all the people, for in 1799 a committee was chosen "to signify to Rev" M' Steward that the town are willing that he should be disconnected from the people in this place, if he should be willing himself." On March 10, 1800, a committee is instructed "to confer with the Rev. Mr. Steward, to agree with him to relinquish his claim of salary after the first day of June, and the town shall demand no further services of Mr. Steward, and all arrearages shall be paid by the 27th of November next, and at the same time there shall be paid from the treasury of the town the sum of SSO, as a gratuity or free gift from said town as a token or mark of the sincerity of the inhabitants of the town in their peaceable directions to their committee and as a pledge of their Benevolent conduct toward their minister in future." Said agreement was approved and signed by the committee and Mr. Steward. The committee also assured Mr. Steward "that it is the invariable disposition of the inhabitants of this town to cultivate peace, love, concord and good agreement among themselves
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and a good understanding towards their minister." Mr. Steward still continued with the people.
The next movement appears to have been made by the friends of the pastor, asking in 1801 for a reconsideration of the action just before taken, but the movement failed in securing approval of the town, at least openly. Some sort of a truce must have been made, however, for the incumbent is still here in October, and foils by his influence, evidently, movement of the opposition " to hire a candidate to preach the gospel." The "ins" are almost always better than the "outs," and possesion gave tenure another year, when again the warrant bristled with the notes of war. The presence of even an errant presiding elder would have been welcome, doubtless, for things had come to such a pass that the town father's felt constrained to try a desperate alternative, even " to see what the town will do relative to the Continuance of the Key' Antipas Steward among us in the manner in which he stays at present, and to make such measures as shall be thought proper to Cause M' Steward to be Dismissed from any further care of the Church and People in said They had stripped from him his revenues, but an insatiate crowd demanded also his miter, and in December, 1802. went so far as "10 choose a Committee of five members to join a Committee of the Church or any part thereof, to take the most effectual measures to remove M Antipas Steward from the Church and People in this town." Two day - later the troubled minister received a suggestive note which has been preserved
To the Key Antipa- Steward. Pastor of the Chh in Ludlow.
Rov. Sir
Whereas the Situation of the Pastor and Church in this place is such " we Suppose need advice and counsel this is to Request you to call a meeting of the Church to see if the pastor chh and town can agree upon a mutual council to advise and direct us what is expedient to be done in our present circumstances
Ludlow, Decly S. 1802.
Timothy Keyes Tyras Prait James Kendall Ilisha Hubbard Stephen Jones Moses Willer Leonard Miller
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The town committee was thus reinforced by Messrs. Keyes, Pratt, Jones, Wilder, and Miller, probably from the church, while John Jennings, Aaron Colton, and Timothy Nash, also appointed by the town, for some reason withheld their signatures. Of course there was little use to resist such an appeal, and the council met in due time and dismissed Mr. Steward in 1803, a little less than ten years from the date of his installation. (See Mr. Tuck's account of proposed texts, Part III.)
RESULT OF COUNCIL AT LUDLOW TO DISMISS REV. ANTIPAS STEWARD
At an Ecclesiastical Council convened at Ludlow, by letters missive, at the home of Mr. Stephen Jones, April 19, 1803.
The council was called by the Rev. Antipas Steward and the Brethren of the Church in that place, and was composed of the following Pastors and Delegates, viz .:
Pastors
Rev. Justus Forward,
Joseph Lathrop, D.D.,
David Parsons, D.D.,
Rev. Joel Hayes,
Dea. Silas Smith, South Hadley.
Rev. Bezaleel Howard.
William T. Pynchon, Springfield,
Rev. Moses Warner, Rev. Elijah Gridley.
Delegates
Jonas Walker, Belchertown, Moses A. Chapin, West Springfield, Dea, Seth Coleman, Amherst,
Dea. Enoch Burt, Wilbraham, Samuel Clark, Granby.
The Council made choice of the Rev. Justus Forward as moderator, and the Rev. David Parsons as scribe, and the Rev. Mr. Gridley as assistant scribe.
The Council was opened with prayer by the moderator. Upon this a paper was laid before the Council purporting to be an Agreement between the Rev. Mr. Steward and a committee of the town and signed by the parties of the following towns, viz. :
"We, the subscribers, being appointed a Committee to confer with the Rev. Mr. Antipas Steward, and to agree with him upon reasonable terms. to relinquish his claims upon the town for annual salary, have attended that service, and, after having maturely considered the circumstances of Mr. Steward and the society, have unanimously agreed to propositions made us by Mr. Steward, which are: that, from and after the first day of June next, the town and society shall demand no further services of Mr. Steward, and that Mr. Steward after that time shall demand or receive no further salary, but that the arrearages which shall be due or unpaid shall be wholly paid and discharged by the twenty-seventh day of November next ensuing, and that by the twenty-seventh day of November aforesaid Mr. Steward shall have received out of the treasury of said
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town the sum of eighty dollars as a gratuity or free gift from said town as a token of worth and of the sincerity of the inhabitants of the town in their peaccable directions to their Committee, and as a pledge of their benevolent conduct toward their minister in future.
Timothy Keyes, John Jennings, Aaron Colton, Moses Wilder. Pliny Sikes,
Committee."
We therefore, as a Council, being invested to assist and direct what is expedient to be done upon the present circumstances of this church and people and to endeavor to heal their divisions, and to persuade them to live peaceably together, or to separate in peace, as we, in our wisdom, may judge most consistent with the honor of the Deity and the welfare of the church, having fully considered the agreement made between the Rev. Mr. Steward and the town of Ludlow. the divided state of the church and people, and the improbability of Mr. Steward being further useful in the work of the ministry in this place, are unitedly of the opinion that the ministerial relation subsisting between the Pastor, the Church, and the People in Ludlow ought to be dissolved and hereby declare that it is dissolved.
While the Council feel themselves in duty bound to make that declaration, they are happy to find no allegations have been exhibited to the Council against the moral of ministerial character of Mr. Steward. and therefore, in justice to him, do recommend him to improvement in the Church wherever God in His Providence may open a door for it.
Still, they are of the opinion that the present state of this church and people is such that it will prove detrimental to the cause and interest of religion for Mr. Steward to minister to them, or to any part of them.
The Council are seriously impressed with the unhappy divided state of this church and people, fully believing that unless a change of temper takes place, there will soon be an end, in this place, of all ecclesiastical order. Christian fellowship, and religion. We do, therefore, at this time, earnestly recommend to all those who, for certain reasons, have been for some time opposed in sentiment, to coalesce, to lay aside their party prejudices, to embrace each other in the arms of friendship, and to unite in building up the church and cause of Christ here. You will be reminded, friends and brethren, of the observation of the Apostle, that "where contention and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work." The infinitely important interest of religion, of every other consideration, ought to arrest your attention, and prompt you to reach after unanimity, and a settlement of the gospel ministry as speedily as may be.
We wish grace, morey, and peace may be multiplied unto you and
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commend you to God and to the word of His grace, who is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
Voted unanimously by the Council. Justus Forward, Moderator.
A true copy attest.
David Parsons, Scribe.
At the close of his pastorate here in 1803, Mr. Steward retired from the active ministry and made his home for the remainder of his days with his daughter, the mother of the late Oramel Bardwell, in Belchertown, where he died in 1814, at the age of 80 years, and where his dust is buried.
The Ludlow Israel seems to have tired of a king for a season, for we hear of no attempts at settlement or propositions for protracted service for half a score of years. After the dismissal of Rey. Mr. Steward, the church again resorted to supplies, disregarding the advice of the council, and the condition of things became no better, but rather grew worse.
Money was raised each year to hire preaching, and from the records we learn that Rev. Laban Thurber, said to be a Baptist, supplied a while in 1805 and 1806. In 1808 Rev. Abner Phelps was hired to "preach out" the money granted by the town, which was $100. The amount allowed about this time was not to exceed five dollars per Sabbath-not a severe restriction either, as money was valued then. . reluctance to grant money for the support of the gospel is evident very soon, no doubt largely influenced by the primal sounds of the cry for the dissolution of church and state. Weshall see that the influence of the teachings of New England dissenters was beginning to be felt, even in Ludlow, as early as 1810.
In May, 1810, it was voted "to choose a Ministerial Committee, two from each denomination, to supply the pulpit with preaching and make the town no expense." The committee comprised Samuel Frost and Uriah Clough, representing the Methodists. Dea. Stephen Jones and Ezekiel Fuller, the Congregationalists, and Abel Wright and William Pease, the Baptists.
Elder Elijah Hedding, having been appointed presiding elder of the Methodist Church in the New London district, came to Ludlow to live that he might be more conveniently located near the center of his district. Finding the ecclesiastical affairs in so lamentable a condition in the town of his adoption, he set himself to remedy the same. Paying
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no attention to the unsuccessful designs of some to oust him from the town by proposing to have him warned out as having "no visible means of support," the good minister accepted an invitation to preach in the meeting-house on a Sabbath when he was at home. Gaining the good-will of the people, he supplied another Sabbath when at liberty, as his district work occupied his time but eight Sabbaths in a quarter. A very satisfactory arrangement was finally made whereby Mr. Wedding supplied the desk every Sabbath at his command, filling some of the others with the services of a talented local preacher, Joshua Crowell of Ware. Under this administration prejudices were disarmed very speedily, and all brought into sympathy with the minister who thus uniquely combined the duties of presiding elder in the Methodist church and stated supply in the Congregational. This arrangement lasted as long as Mr. Bedding lived in town- a year.
On November 2, 1812, the town voted to ask Elder Elijah Bedding to come and preach to them and voted to give him $300 a year, to be paid annually so long as he should supply the desk, and his performances were satisfactory. It was also voted that the above $300 should be raised as follows: first, the interest arising from the town fund should be applied as far as it would go, then the balance made up by a tax on the polls and estates in town. The conference session drew near, and with it the limitation of Mr. Hedding's agreement. The people were suited, desired him to stay, asked him to stay. It was a trial to him. On the one hand we're home and ample support, a satisfied and loving people-on the other, a life of wandering, with all the uncertainties and privations of the earlier itinerancy. Yet he did not waver, but took his next charge without murmuring.
In 1813 war was being waged against Great Britain, and the people were in a state of excitement. All on the seacoast became nervous, and flocked to the inland regions in troops. Among these refugees from the dangers of the war with England was a small, bright-eyed man from Provincetown, on Cape Cod, who strayed into Ludlow in the fall. After severe defeats in the northwest, President Madison issued a proclamation for a day of fasting. It so happened that the Provincetown stranger arrived here at just about the day appointed for the fast service Ile inquired for a meeting, and was told that there was no minister in the town and no service had been appointed. He replied that he was a clergy man, and would be pleased to conduct worship if the people so
REV. ELIJAH HEDDING, D.D. Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
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desired. They gladly accepted the proposition, assembled, and listened to a flaming sermon from a Methodist local preacher on the fitting text : "The people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast." Among other good things he hoped that in the company there were " no immod- crate eaters and drinkers, no gluttons of wine-bibbers." Such was the advent of Alexander McLean into Ludlow.
So much pleased were the people with the sermon and the man, that arrangements were at once made for a trial service of four weeks as minister. The townsfolk then insisted that Mr. Mc Lean should be hired for a year, and he was engaged on the same terms as had been made with Mr. Hledding. Ludlow was henceforth his home. He lived in the long red house that once stood south of the highway, on the place now owned by Eugene Clark. The late James Kirke MeLean was his great grandson. Mr. McLean's facsimile is here presented :
Alexander M. Jean
Under his administration, which continued until 1816, matters went on quite smoothly, at least for a while. True, there were some who objected to the idea of a settled Methodist preacher, but as the town managed the ecclesiastical affairs, there was little room for objection. The causes of disquiet are easily surmised.
In 1814 there was a great mortality in the town, numbers of homes being made desolate. Ender the ministrations of evangelists and Mr. Mclean a powerful awakening followed. "more extensive," says our informant, "than ever was known in the town before." Large numbers professed a hope in God. Of course a question of church relationship arose. Intimately associated with this was another. Mr. MeLean was not, according to existent church rules, competent to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. Wordy altercations between the parties followed, which resulted in alienation of feeling. The Congregationalists signed a declaration of church relationship, and would no longer affiliate with the town's minister. In 1817 his official services seem to have terminated. Later in the year the town again authorized the three denominations to furnish the pulpit supply, but with the proviso that the money should be expended within the meeting- house. An unsuccessful attempt to press a call to Mr. Eli Moody
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indicates the presence of that gentleman a little after, while veterans spoke with animation of frequent supply from Rev. Mr. Johns of South Hadley.
In September, 1819, a call was extended to Rev. Ebenezer Burt Wright to settle in the gospel ministry. He was to have an annual salary of $350, in addition to the annual interest arising from the ministerial fund. The records state that "he shall give six months' notice at any time that he wishes to leave his charge, and that he shall have a right to leave on giving said notice. Mso the legal voters in his society can dismiss him whenever two thirds of said society desire his dismision." Mr. Wright's reply is as follows:
My Christian Friends:
I have seriously considered the invitation which you gave me to settle among you in the gospel ministry. I regret the disappointment that I may have occasioned by delaying my decision so long, but in case of so great consequence I could not prestime, and am persuaded you would not wish me, to decide hastily.
I am happy to state that my doubts are at length chiefly removed. There is a God who reigns. I have endeavored to ascertain llis will, and I dare not proceed contrary to what His will appears to me to be. I hope I do not mistake the path of duty in concluding to accept your call, from events that have taken place since I have been attempting to preach the gospel among you. I hope God designs to make me tunworthy as I and an instrument in building up the Kingdom of His Son in this place. Most cheerfully do I devote myself to a people in where welfare I feel much interest. For you I trust I shall heartily labor, and permit me to expect that my labors will be constantly assisted by your prayers.
Yours in the bonds of Christian affection, E. B. Wright.
Mr. Wright was born in Westhampton, and graduated at Williams College in 1814. He pursued theological studies at Andover, was licensed by the Salem Association at Danvers, April, 1817. He was a young man, full of fire and zeal, having a profound conviction of duty and a lofty reverence for his exalted office, when he came as a candidate to Ludlow. He was ordained and installed pastor, December 8, 1819.
The influence of such a man in the town could not fail to be salutary in the highest degree. The little band of church members, reduced to about half a dozen when Mr. Steward left, had been, to be sure, increased by revival influences and accessions from other towns. Yet, with no
E 13 Wright
Minister of the Town for Sixteen Years,
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organizer and leader, healthy growth was almost impossible. Mr. Wright's ministry was well qualified to induce confidence in the society not only mutual confidence among his own people, but a feeling of respect on the part of the scattering numbers of Baptists and slowly increasing company of Methodists, as well as outsiders. When the town had at length commenced the process of divorcement from the church, we see from year to year the records of the clerk referring, probably in accordance with the verbiage of the day, and yet with real or fancied fondness, to "Rev. E. B. Wright's society." No one ever questioned his sincerity or purity. The Wilbraham historian appreciat- ingly speaks of "that saintly man, Ebenezer B. Wright." (Stebbins' History, p. 150.) On two occasions (1823 and 1827), having been made acquainted with the real or imaginary weakened financial ability of the town, he relinquished a hundred dollars of his salary. His honesty was proverbial at times almost leaning to credulity. On account of ill health he found himself obliged to ask in 1830 a release from his labors for one year, relinquishing his salary.
In May, 1833, on account of Mr. Wright's health, a colleague was settled, Rev. David R. Austin of Norwich, Conn., a graduate of Union College, New York, of the class of 1827. He continued with the church until July, 1837, winning friends by his carnestness and geniality. He was the last minister hired by the town, the First Parish having been formed in 1835.
Although Mr. Wright remained in office until 1835, he was unable to preach for about three years. He was afterwards settled in Chicopee and Norwich. We learn from the records that he was given a call to become pastor of this church again in 1837. He replied that he could not consistently accept the kind invitation of the church and society. He died at Huntington, August 17, 1871, aged 76, and his remains are interred in the Ludlow Center Cemetery.
Mr. Wright lived in the house later owned by Albert Fuller, and now (1911) owned by Mr. Hatch. It was known as the "Parson Wright place."
The parish continued without a settled minister for nearly two years. At a parish meeting held June 18, 1838, it was "voted unanimously to give the Rev. Alonzo Sanderson a call to settle with us in the gospel ministry, at an annual salary of $550." Mr. Sanderson's reply was accepted at a meeting December 10, and is as follows:
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To the First Church and Congregation in Ludlow,
Dear Brethren and Friends:
The call you have given me to become your pastor and minister I have made a subject of much reflection and prayer, and have endeavored to examine it in its various bearings, both as it regards the good of the parties concerned and the general interest of the cause of Christ. In examining the subject I have tried to look at it as a matter of duty, endeavoring not to be influenced by worldly considerations any further than warranted by the word of God. and now though it is with trembling that I reply to your call, knowing the responsibility that rests upon me, yet feeling it to be my duty. I answer in the affirmative. The remunera- tion you have offered for my services. I regard as generous and with ordinary prosperity as sufficient for my support. Upon this point, however, I feel no anxiety, believing that I am among those who will not suffer me to want while I labor among them in the ministry. In giving my answer I have thought it proper to make the following requests: 1) that my salary be paid semiannually; (2) that should I think it necessary, I may be released from supplying the desk four Sabbaths a year, but with the understanding that should my circumstances be such as to enable me to supply every Sabbath. I am to do it without further remuneration.
Praying that the Lord may be our guide, and bless us in the contem- plated union 1 am, dear brethren and friends,
Affect. yours in Christian bonds. Alonzo Sanderson.
Mr. Sanderson was ordained and installed January 2, 1839. By vote of the parish his yearly salary was to begin the first of March. He was born in Whately and graduated at Amherst in 1834. He afterwards studied theology at Andover, and, like Wright and Austin, came to Ludlow with the flush of youth upon his brow. He is remembered as an earnest, pious, and devoted minister, with broad Christian views.
In 1813, on account of some difficulties between the church and Mr. Sanderson, it was agreed to call an ecclesiastical council, and their report is as follows:
At an Ecclesiastical Council convened at the Congregational Meeting- house in Ludlow. March 30, 1843, by letters missive from the Congre- gational Church and its Pastor, for the purpose of investigating diffi- sulties, and the dismission of Res. A. Sanderson, if deemed practicable. Present from the First Church in Springfield, Rev. Samuel Osgood, D.D. pastor, and Brother John B. Kirkham, delegate; from the Church in
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