USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876 > Part 44
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Pittsfield he received the degree of Doctor in Divinity. He wrote a brief but very excellent historical sketch of the church. His successor, Rev. Mr. Spaulding, says of him :
Courtly in his manners, agreeable in his address, with a dignified and commanding presence, genial and scholarly in his work ; not pro- found, but thoroughly imbued with good sense, Lemuel Porter has left an impress upon this church, more lasting in its character, and more potent in its results, perhaps, than any other pastor during this century. Covering a period of eleven years and five months, his pas- torate, of a commendable and unusual length, bears upon it, all the way along, marks of great faithfulness and of distinguished zeal in winning souls to Christ. His eye was single to the ministry, and his hands knew no other employment. Souls must have hung heavy upon his heart, or baptisms would have never so filled his hands. Every year but one he was permitted to report baptisms to the Association ; and one year, the largest ever reported in any single year of the cen- tury- one hundred and two.
Doctor Porter was dismissed August 1, 1862. The later pas- tors have been Rev. Wayland Hoyt, August, 1863, to August, 1864; Rev. Prof. William C. Richards, January, 1865,-November, 1867 ; Rev. D. S. Watson, November, 1867,- January, 1871; Rev. C. H. Spaulding, August, 1871,- October, 1875.
In the year 1874-5 the church was very beautifully remodeled under the charge of a building-committee consisting of Deacons James Francis, and Almiron D. Francis, and Mr. S. T. Whipple, assisted by Frederick S. Parker, and D. C. Bedell. This remod- eling included an entire change of the front and the interior, mak- ing the external architecture of the church very unique and hand- some, and the audience-room remarkably attractive. A new organ, placed in the rear of the pulpit, was built at a cost of seven thou- sand dollars, and its tones are much admired. In connection with these changes, a chapel fifty by sixty feet in size and two stories. high was added to the rear of the church, upon land bought of the town for two thousand dollars. The seating-capacity of the audience-room is six hundred, and of the chapel two hundred and fifty. The entire cost of the remodeling, including that of the chapel and organ, was thirty-nine thousand dollars.
The church was re-dedicated on the 6th of April, 1873,-which being within one year of the hundredth after the organization of Valentine Rathbun's church - the pastor, Rev. Mr. Spaulding,
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preached a centennial sermon, from which we have quoted the passages attributed to him in the foregoing pages.
The architect upon whose plans the church was remodeled, was Charles T. Rathbun, a descendant of the first Baptist min- ister in Pittsfield.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The Methodists of Pittsfield, in the earlier years of their history, were notably a frugal, industrious and temperate people, distinguished for their zealous piety even in a strictly religious community. What their character was, in these respects, we have described in a former chapter. What it was among their fellow- townsmen, in the year 1828, will appear from a report of a com- mittee of the town, which included only two of their own number.
In March, of that year, a petition was presented to the town for a grant of land to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Society, to aid them in building a church. This petition was referred to S. M. McKay, H. H. Childs, M. R. Lanckton, T. B. Strong, Luther Washburn, Henry Hubbard, Sylvester Rathbun, John Pomeroy and Samuel Root, who, in May, reported in favor of the grant. Their report was recommitted to them, and in June, the committee reiterated their recommendation, sustaining it by an argument, in the course of which they say :
1
It is the object of the petitioners to establish, in this place, a station of the Methodist Circuit which embraces the whole county of Berk- shire, and a part of the county of Hampshire. The Methodist Episco- pal communicants, or church-members, in the circuit, now number six hundred and fifty-nine. It is the opinion of Methodist preachers and class-leaders that a permanent station at this place, where regular and constant preaching shall be maintained, would not only be well attended from abroad; but that it is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of their system, which has done so much for the interest of religion in the West and South.
It should be explained to the town that this system, throughout the United States, comprises in part the establishment of permanent sta- tions in every circuit, where there are places sufficiently populous and central to warrant the supply of regular and constant preaching.
The petitioners state that they believe that they have resources and . wealth enough to construct a suitable house for public worship. They,
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therefore, place themselves before the town, and ask the extension to them of that liberal policy which has been extended to other denomina- tions. In this connection, they presented for consideration, the number of their communicants actually resident in the town, which is one hun- dred and sixteen. They also present their respectable character, both as Christians and citizens, whose civil rights, considered personally, or in reference to the amount of their property, give them some claim upon the town for so much of the public land as has heretofore been appropriated for the accommodation of other religious societies. The number of regular members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (one hundred and sixteen) is exclusive of the Methodist Reformed or Dissent- ers;1 and it was stated to the committee that the Dissenters have no objection to the proposed station.
The committee, recognizing the justice of these claims, recom- mended the grant of a lot "of such dimensions, and upon such terms, as would secure the interest of the public, and at the same time meet liberally, in truth and spirit, the object of the donation." The town granted a lot from the burial-ground, commencing thirty feet north of Allen's book-store, and having a front of thirty feet on North street, and a depth of forty feet. The conditions were that whenever a building should be erected upon the lot - which was not to be occupied by the church -it should be an "elegant brick-structure with marble-trimmings, and at least two stories high ;" and that the church should be built within three-quarters of a mile of the Congregational meeting-house, and should be equal in elegance and durability to the Baptist house." In the latter part of November, 1829, the selectmen reported that these conditions had been complied with so far as the erection of the church was concerned, and trans- ferred the lot on North street to the trustees of the Methodist Society : James Foot, William Stevens, John Butler, Lyman Dewey, and Thomas A. Gaylord.
The church was commenced in the spring of 1829, and com- pleted and dedicated November 11th of that year; the services being conducted by Rev. Samuel Merwin, aided by Rev. Arnold Schofield. It was a plain brick-building, with a spire, and cost about three thousand dollars, half of which was raised after the dedication. Rev. Cyrus Prindle was pastor from May, 1829, until the spring of 1831; and in 1867 he stated that the effort to
1See Chapter VI.
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liquidate this debt was the first great financial struggle of his life ; and he went through many for similar ends. The Metho- dist Episcopal Church worshiped in this humble sanctuary until 1852; but, during the pastorate of Rev. Stephen Parks, in 1851 and 1852- and very much through his instrumentality - means were raised and a new church of wood built on the corner of Fenn and First streets. The lot cost fifteen hundred dollars ; and the church-a respectable building, with an audience-room capable of seating six hundred persons, and with chapel and class- rooms in the basement, cost seven thousand five hundred dollars. The building-committee were Rev. Stephen Parks, Levi Childs, T. G. Atwood, J. M. Holland and J. H. Butler. Mr. D. C. Morey, treasurer of the trustees, acted with the committee, and had the laborious task of collecting the subscriptions, and pay- ing the bills. The house was dedicated in the fall of 1852, Rev. Allen Steele, of Albany, preaching the sermon.
In 1866, the Methodists of Pittsfield were not behind their brethren in other parts of the country in the spirit with which they celebrated the centennial year of their church. But in their offerings for church-extension, they looked forward to the necessity of soon building a church of a costly character at home. During the year, the pastor, Rev. Mr. Brown, preached a glow- ing sermon, in which he set before the people a high ideal of what such a church should be. Three years afterwards, his suc- cessor, Rev. Dr. Wentworth - one of the ablest and most learned clergymen who ever filled a Pittsfield pulpit -having preached a sermon partly upon Solomon's Temple, suddenly changed the subject, and made an eloquent appeal to his people, in behalf of a proper house of worship for themselves.
The seed thus sown lay dormant for awhile in the minds of the people ; but in March, 1871, the church occupied by them having been partially burned, the official board resolved to sub- mit the question of the erection of a new house to the church and society; and at this meeting, Rev. Mr. Waters presiding, and E. H. Nash being secretary, it was voted nearly unanimously to proceed with the work at once.
The following committee were appointed to select and purchase a site, and contract for and superintend the building : William Renne, Charles E. Parker, C. C. Childs, Oren Benedict, T. R. Glentz, Charles T. Rathbun, Flavius P. Noble, James H. Butler,
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Samuel E. Howe and Henry Noble. Mr. Renne was chosen chairman, and Mr. Howe secretary and treasurer, of the com- mittec.
The committee was clothed with full power to act; but upon important points they consulted the official board, and sometimes the entire body of the church and society. After examining and ascertaining the price of several fine locations, they recommended the purchase of a site on the corner of Fenn and Pearl streets, where, by uniting lots belonging to three different parties, suffi- cient space could be obtained for an aggregate price of twenty- one thousand five hundred dollars. This recommendation was approved, and the land was bought.
In the summer of 1872, a plan remarkable for grandeur and beauty was submitted by Charles T. Rathbun, and accepted. The foundation and first floor were built in the fall of 1872, the mason-work being done by Haskell Dodge, and the wood-work by James H. Butler; the aggregate price being ten thousand dollars. The contract for building the superstructure was awarded to Mr. Butler, who contracted with Mr. Dodge, and with the firm of Butler, Merrill & Co., of which he was the senior partner, for the wood-work; the aggregate price being fifty-six thousand dol- lars. This was exclusive of the glass for the windows, the pews, pulpit, heating and lighting apparatus and some other small items.
Steam-heating apparatus was afterwards put in by Robbins, Gamwell & Co., for three thousand dollars. The glass cost fif- teen hundred dollars. An organ was built by Johnson & Co., of Westfield, for five thousand dollars. And the cost of the land and foundation, with minor items, carried the entire cost of the work to one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.
Work upon it was begun in the spring of 1873, and the corner-stone was laid April 22, 1873, Rev. Dr. Wentworth offici- ating, assisted by Rev. Mr. Clymer. The church was completed and dedicated May 5, 1874, Bishop J. T. Peck, of California, preaching the sermon. During the day, under the persuasive eloquence of Rev. B. I. Ives, D. D., of Auburn, N. Y., a suffi- cient sum was subscribed to cancel the debt for the construc- tion of the building. The ladies-who had pledged three thou- sand dollars towards this purpose, and had also defrayed the expense of upholstering, and in part furnishing the church - on
.
1.BRADLEY CE
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
MASSACHUSETTS AGRIC " "RAL [ ) . . .. = =
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the day of dedication, entertained hundreds of guests with excel- lent free dinners in their parlor over the chapel. 1
The church is built of Philadelphia pressed brick, with rich trimmings of light-drab freestone, from the Amherst, Ohio, quar- ries. The style is Gothic, and the ground-plan is cruciform, the arms, however, being quite short. The extreme external length of the main building is one hundred and sixty two feet, and its width seventy-two feet. It has three spires ; the highest of which surmounting a tower which forms the main entrance, is a hun- dred and seventy-six feet high. The effect of the grand contour of the building, with its numerous spires and pinnacles, is very striking ; much more so than that of any other building in the town.
The main audience-room is one hundred and one feet long, sixty- eight wide, and forty-eight high. The chapel - which opens into the main room by sliding-doors, of its whole breadth - is ninety-six feet long by forty-eight wide. Over it are ladies' par- lors and class-rooms. The audience-room is handsomely fin- ished, and is lighted by eight windows of stained glass of elegant designs. It has a seating-capacity of fourteen hundred, and, with the chapel, which can be easily thrown into one room with it, it will furnish seats for nineteen hundred persons. Twenty-one hundred were in the two rooms on the day of the dedication.
The architect and builders were all citizens of Pittsfield, a fact of which the Methodist people were proud; this being the first time that a work of such magnitude had been accomplished with- out aid from abroad. The architect and contractor were also members of the parish.
The contrast between this noble building and that on East street which the town required to be so "elegant and durable," well illustrates the progress of Methodism in Pittsfield, between 1829 and 1875. The projectors of the East-street church did not exaggerate the harvest which might be expected from the seed sown in it. The number of Methodist communicants in Pitts- field, at the latter date, was six hundred.
The influence of individual-pastors of the Methodist Church upon the town is less than that of some clergymen of other
1The largest original contribution to the fund for building the church was Mr. William Renne; who gave eleven thousand five hundred dollars. Mr. Renne's services on the building-committee were also of great value.
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denominations, who have filled long pastorates in it. Their brief residence forbids it; but perhaps the aggregate power which they have exercised in molding the character of the place has been as great as that of any other class of preachers. We append a list copied, principally, from a manual prepared by Rev. Dr. Carhart.
PREACHERS ON PITTSFIELD CIRCUIT FROM ITS FORMATION IN 1792 TO 1876.
1792. D. Kendall, R. Dillon and J. Rexford.
1793 to 1795. J. Covel and Zadoc Priest.
1795 " 1797. Timothy Dewey, Cyrus Stebbins and Ebenezer Stevens.
1797 " 1799. Joseph Sawyer, Reuben Hubbard and Daniel Brumley.
1799 " 1801. Michael Coate and Joseph Mitchell.
1801 " 1803. Joseph Mitchell, Oliver Hall, Moses Morgan and Elias Vanderlip.
1803 " 1805. Elias Vanderlip, E. Ward, R. Searl, Elijah Chichester and Nehemiah W. Tompkins.
1805 " 1807. William Anson, Richard Flint, John Robinson and James M. Smith.
1807 " 1809. Noble W. Thomas, Eben Smith and John Crawford.
1809 " 1811. Elijah Woolsey, Phinehas Cook and Seth Crowell.
1811 " 1813. Samuel Cochran, C. H. Gridley, James M. Smith and F. Draper.
1813 " 1815. Billy Hibbard, Beardsley Northrop and John Finne- gan.
1815 " 1817. Datus Ensign, John Finnegan, Lewis Pease and James Covel.
1817 " 1819. William Ross, T. Benedict, Elisha P. Jacob and John Matthias.
1819 " 1821. Bela Smith, Daniel Coe, T. Clark and Daniel Kilby.
1821 " 1823. T. Clark, David Miller, William Anson and Smith Dayton.
1823 " 1825. Cyrus Culver, Samuel Eighmey and Robert Jarvis.
1825 " 1827. Gershom Pierce, John J. Matthias, Phinehas Cook and John Nixon.
1827 " 1829. Bradley Sillick, Peter C. Oakley.
1829 " 1831. Cyrus Prindle, Charles F. Pelton and Noah Bigelow.
1831 " 1833. J. Z. Nichols.
1833 " 1835. T. Benedict and Oliver Emerson.
1835 " 1837. F. W. Smith.
1837 " 1839. Henry Smith.
1839 " 1841. Luman A. Sanford.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD.
1841 to 1842. John Pegg.
1842 " 1843. Peter M. Hitchcock.
. 1843 " 1845. D. D. Wheedon.
1845 " 1847.
Andrew Witherspoon.
1847 " 1849.
Z. Phillips.
1849 " 1850. Sanford Washburn.
1850 " 1852.
Stephen Parks.
1852 · 1854.
Bostwick Hawley.
1854 " 1856.
H. L. Starks.
1856 " 1858.
R. H. Robinson.
1858 " 1860. D. Starks.
1860 " 1862.
J. F. Yates.
1862 " 1864. J. Wesley Carhart, D. D.
1864 " 1867. William R. Brown.
1868 **
C. F. Burdick.
1869 " 1871. Erastus Wentworth, D. D.
1871 " 1872. W. G. Waters.
1872 " 1875.
J. F. Clymer.
1875 “ - David W. Gates.
WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH.
When the Methodist Episcopal congregation removed to their new church on Fenn street, some twenty members united to maintain divine worship in the old brick-sanctuary; but the design was frustrated by the sale of the building to T. G. Atwood. Mr. James Foote, one of the original builders and trustees, "feeling a great reluctance to see the house of worship, which had become endeared to him by many sacred incidents, converted to secular uses, purchased it of Mr. Atwood, and imme- diately it was opened for worship again."1
Rev. Cyrus Prindle, who had preached in the church the first year after its erection, visited Pittsfield in September, 1852; and having become a minister of the Wesleyan Methodists, was urged by Mr. Foote and others to remove to Pittsfield, and attempt to build up a congregation of that order. Before the plan was matured Mr. Foote died, but provided in his will that the church be leased for the simple interest upon eight hundred dollars. The enterprise found friends ; a few assumed the responsibility of inviting Mr. Prindle to become pastor of a new congregation, and he commenced his labors in October, 1852.
1 Rev. C. Prindle's statement.
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The building was refitted and re-dedicated, Rev. Dr. Harris of the South Church preaching the sermon, and Rev. Drs. Todd and Porter, Rev. Messrs. Harrison and Prindle, taking part in the exercises. The church maintained an existence until the removal of Mr. Prindle from town, and did a great deal of valuable mis- sionary-work. After his removal, it languished, and when the building was demolished, in the year 1867, it had not for some time been used for religious purposes.
ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCHI.
"The Episcopal Religious Society of Lenox, Pittsfield, Lee and Stockbridge," which was incorporated in 1805, seems to have become extinct, so far as its Pittsfield members were concerned, on the removal of Henry Van Schaack to Kinderhook. An attempt to establish an Episcopal parish during the political troubles of the First Parish failed; and no further efforts to that end were made until the year 1830. Hon. Edward A. Newton was, however, known to be a devoted member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, although tolerant of other religious denomina- tions, and for several years superintendent of the Sabbath- school of the First Congregational Church. About 1830, circum- stances arose which induced him to desire the establishment of a parish of his own faith; and he undertook the foundation of one, with unbounded zeal and untiring exertion.
Whether from his own previous teaching, or some other reason, he found many ready to sympathize with him; and, on an invita- tion published in the Argus, a considerable number of "persons interested in the establishment of the Episcopal Church in Pitts- field, or desirous of uniting with a parish of that communion," met at Pomeroy's coffee-house1 on the evening of June 25th. Inhabitants of neighboring towns, not already in connection with Episcopal parishes, were also invited to attend, and they were informed that arrangements were completed for carrying the object into immediate effect, "free of any tax for the current year."
As a result of this meeting, on the 6th of July, Hon. Henry Hubbard, a member of the parish, issued his warrant, reciting that Benjamin Luce and twenty-four others had "united to form
1The old Campbell coffee-house, then kept by Mr. John Pomeroy, who was himself an Episcopalian.
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a religious society according to the doctrine, discipline and wor- ship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, under the title of St. Stephen's Church, Pittsfield," and calling a meeting for the choice of officers at Pomeroy's coffee-house. No record remains of the action of that meeting; but, under the organization then effected, public worship was con- ducted for one year, and the first rector was elected. Afterwards, in 1832, a special act of incorporation was obtained.
In the meantime, the lecture-room (old Union Church) was hired by the parish, and here the first religious service was held in the afternoon of August 1, 1830; Rev. Theodore Edson, of Lowell, officiating. Here, too, the first Christmas-eve and Christmas-day services were held; the lecture-room being styled in the public notices, "the Episcopal Church."
In the Sun of March 17, 1831, " the committee appointed by the united parishes of St. Stephen's, Pittsfield, and of St. Luke's, Lanesboro, to procure the permanent services of a clergyman for said parishes," gave notice that they had obtained Rev. George T. Chapman, D. D., and that the church in Pittsfield would be open for divine service on the afternoon of Easter Sunday; and that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper would be administered at Lanesboro.
Rev. George Thomas Chapman, D. D., son of Thomas and Charlotte (Carnzu) Chapman, was born at Pilton, a suburb of Barnstaple, Devonshire, England, September 21, 1786; came to the United States in 1795; and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1804. From 1808 to 1815, he practiced law at Bucksport, Me., where he married, in 1811, Alice, daughter of Ebenezer Buck. In 1815, he resumed the study of theology, which he had previously pursued, and was ordained by Right Rev. Bishop Griswold, deacon in 1816, and presbyter in 1818. For several years he preached in various places ; among the rest, in the year 1819-20, at Lanesboro, Lenox and Great Barrington ; his parish thus covering whatever of Episcopacy there was then in Berkshire county. In July, 1820, he became rector of Christ's Church, Lexington, Ky., and from 1825 to 1827, while holding that pastorate, was Professor of History and Antiquities in Transyl- vania University. In 1830, he resigned his charge at Lexington, and came to Pittsfield.
Doctor Chapman was a rare man. In the opinion of those best
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qualified to judge, the church had few such preachers. A volume of his sermons, entitled "The Ministry, Worship, and Doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church," published many years ago, has become a standard work in the literature of the church. Of this book, Rev. George D. Johnson, rector of St. Paul's Church, Newburyport, said in his funeral-discourse : "The multitude of men brought into the church by its simple clearness of argument, is most wonderful. Many prominent clergymen, several bishops, and a host of useful laymen attribute their first clear knowledge of the church and its teachings to Doctor Chapman's sermons ; and, not only this, but men of actually godless lives, having no con- nection with any religion, from an accidental (if we may use the word where God orders all) perusal of his works became Chris- tians and churchmen ; giving their time, their money and their lives to show the sincerity of their convictions."
Doctor Chapman also published a volume of twenty-seven "Ser- mons to Presbyterians of all Sects," and another of sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, which is highly prized for its faithfulness and accuracy. His style, both in the pulpit and in books, was singularly terse and lucid, but not without passages of pathos and sentiment. His logic did not obtrude itself form- ally, as logic. Choosing as a theme some religious truth or some fact in sacred history, it was his wont to clear away the non-essential incidents which might becloud it; and then to state it with such perspicuity, that, while the listener was unconscious of any process of reasoning, the truth which the speaker sought to inculcate stood out clear, well-defined and self-evident. His discourses were brief, and the unwearied hearer always carried away a distinctly-impressed lesson.
In his varied pastorates, and in his many intervals of detached missionary service, Doctor Chapman saw much of the world and numbered among his parishoners many eminent men ; among them Henry Clay, whose memory he most cherished. But, living in the world, he had kept himself unspotted from the world, and maintained a wonderful simplicity of character. No child was ever more free from guile.
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