USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Wilbraham > The history of Wilbraham, Massachusetts; > Part 16
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ested himself in taking measures to detect them, which we learn have proved effectual, and the murderers are both com- mitted to gaol in Northampton."
From the Massachusetts Spy (Worcester) June 25th 1806.
"Execution of Daley and Halligan.
"On Thursday last, pursuant to their sentence, Dominick Daley and James Halligan were executed at Northampton. At half past 10 o'clock they were conducted to the meeting house, by the high sheriff and his deputies, with a guard, com- posed of a company of artillery and a detatchment of militia. An appropriate and eloquent discourse was there delivered to a very crowded auditory by the Rev. Mr. Cheverus, of Boston, from 1 John 3 : 15. 'Whoever hateth his brother is a murderer.' After the sermon the criminals were constantly attended by Mr Cheverus, with whom, during the greater part of the time, they appeared to be engaged in prayer. At 3 o'clock, sentence was executed by Major General Mattoon, sheriff of the county. Notwithstanding their protestations of innocence, in which they persisted to the last, it is believed that of the 15,000 sup- posed to be present, scarcely one had a doubt of their guilt. Daley and Halligan were natives of Ireland. Daley was about 34 years of age, and has been in this country two years; He has left a wife, a mother and a brother in Boston. Halligan was about 27 years of age; and we believe has no connections in this country, in which he has resided for four years."
This sad affair resulted in producing a long and realistic ballad, of which many knew a verse, and no one seemed to know it all. Miss E. O. Beebe has procured the following version of the quaint old rhyme.
MARCUS LYON BALLAD
Listen to me and hear me tell Of a young man and what him befell; Of his hard fate now take a view Most solemn and affecting, too.
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
A shocking story to relate; He on his way from New York state To Woodstock, to his native home, As far as Wilbraham he come.
'Twas some past noon on Saturday Two ruffians did this man waylay. They murdered him most barbarously, Then threw him in the river nigh.
A boy he see them on the ground; Where marks of violence were found. Blood in abundance to be seen. He tells the spot describes the scene.
He see them lead his horse away; The horse was found on the same day. Then constant search was made around; No owner for the horse was found.
On Sunday evening lights they took Along the river for to look -;
At nine o'clock his corpse was found With a huge stone to hold it down.
One says "Come here, I something see; A dead body there appears to be." And to it did attempt to get; The stone slipped from off his feet.
The stone slipped off, there did arise A bloody corpse before their eyes. Oh! what a scene: oh, what a sight, For to behold there in the night.
Four rods from where they murdered him They threw his body in the stream. One hand was on his bruised head; 'Twas thought 'twas there by him layed.
They in the current did place him Upon his face, his head upstream; The stone they did upon him lay Upward of sixty pounds did weigh.
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A jury then was summoned, An inquest held upon the murdered. His skull was broke, his side shot through; His face disfigured by a blow.
Papers with him did plainly show That Woodstock people did him know. And by the same did ascertain That Marcus Lyon was his name.
At dead of night the people sent This heavy news unto his friend. Before sunrise his mother had News of her son being murdered.
His mother says "Now in this way, I never thought my son to see I've husband lost, and children two; Trouble like this I never knew."
His friends then after him they went, Their hearts being filled with discontent. Those of his age some miles did go, His corpse to meet, respect to show.
On Wednesday was his funeral, Hard-hearted were those that could not feel Such bitter mourning never was Viewing the corpse and then the cause.
His mother lost a loving son; One only brother left alone. Three sisters to lament the fate Of their dear brother who died of late.
Amongst his mourning friends we find To mourn he left his love behind Who did expect the coming spring In mutual love to marry him.
Forsaken now, disconsolate, Ofttimes lamenting his hard fate, She wishes and she weeps again, Telling their cruelty to him.
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His age was nearly twenty-three; Was kind affectionate and free; Humane benevolent and kind His like you seldom ever find.
A pretty youth beloved by all, By young and old, by great and small; By rich and poor, by high and low, And every one that did him know ..
Ezekiel Terry, from whose account of this sad tragedy I have copied part of the foregoing account, was a printer, perhaps part of the time in Wilbraham.
I have been loaned a bound book, consisting mostly of a collection of orations delivered in this vicinity by different persons, and sometimes printed by different firms, which were collected and bound in one book by Ezekiel Terry. He lived for a time on the Old Bay Road, near the line between Palmer and Wilbraham, either in the last house in Wilbraham, or the first one in Palmer.
He was a member of the Second Baptist Church in Wilbra- ham, located east of Glendale.
About 1805, he had printed a book on "Restoration," which was not in accord with the belief of the church. Several meet- ings were held to consider the matter, and on March 8th, 1806, the Church "Voted unamously to send Ezeakel terry a letter withdrawing the hand of fellowship with our watch and care from him as a brother in the Chh with us." They evidently thought differently about it in a short time, for, on January 10, 1807, the record reads ;- "in the first place heard Brother Ezikel terry Exknodgement and Voted to receive him again into our fellowship as a member."
Ezekiel Terry was also a clergyman. For, in a list of ministers in Wilbraham, printed in "The Massachusetts Register for the year 1814," I find his name as the Baptist minister.
He died in 1829, and on his headstone in the Deacon Adams Cemetery, the name reads "Revd Ezekiel Terry." His daughter, Mary, was the second wife of James C. Pease, and
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mother of Jerome Pease, one of the oldest men now in our town.
The book to which I have referred is now owned by Mrs. Homer Tupper of Warren, Mass.
In this collection I find a few items of interest to our town, as follows:
AN ORATION Pronounced at WILBRAHAM On the 4th of July 1810. BY CALVIN PEPPER Palmer from the PRESS of E. TERRY
THE TRIAL OF MAJOR JOHN ANDRÉ Adjutant-General of the BRITISH ARMY. September 29, 1780. PALMER PRINTED BY EZEKIEL TERRY. FOR CAPT. JAMES WARNER,* WILBRAHAM. 1810
THE GOSPEL RANGERS.İ A SERMON DELIVERED at the ORDINATION OF ELDER HENRY HALE. BY DANIEL MERRILL, A.M. THIRD EDITION WILBRAHAM Printed By TERRY & LEARNED 1808
* Capt. James Warner was a son of "Clark" Samuel Warner.
+ This title is interesting to us because it seems to have been printed in Wilbraham.
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There is also
AN EULOGY
ON THE CHARACTER OF THE LATE GEN. GEORGE WASHINGTON
Pronounced at Brookfield on the 22nd of Feb. 1800.
BY PLINY MERRICK EsQ .*
HISTORICAL, SKETCH OF THE FIRST METHODIST SOCIETY ORGANIZED IN WILBRAHAM
In 1791, the Methodist preachers on Hartford circuit visited the South Parish, once in two weeks and held meetings, first, in Abner Chapin's kitchen, then in the schoolhouse. Some time in that year Charles Brewer heard one of them, Menzies Raynor, preach. He was deeply interested, and invited him to visit the North Parish and preach there. He consented to do so the next time he came round the circuit, on condition that Mr. Brewer and others would protect him and his colleague, Lemuel Smith, in case any violence should be offered them. Two weeks later, Lemuel Smith preached the first Methodist sermon in the North Parish. On August 29th, 1791, the first Parish "Voted that the Meeting House be moved on Charles Brewers lot the first day of May next." Three weeks later, or on September 12th, 1791, "Voted to rescind the vote about setting the Meeting House on Charles Brewers lot." The action of the parish in voting not to move the Meeting House onto his lot was very grievous to Mr. Brewer, and on December 28, 1792, he and twelve others withdrew from the first parish, and probably commenced the formation of the Methodist Society, and soon begun the erection of the first methodist meeting house on the same ground where the building is now standing.
* Pliny Merrick was a son of Rev. Noah Merrick of Wilbraham.
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
On December 20, 1794, he gave a lease of the ground to the Society. I copy part of the document.
"Know all men by these presents that I, Charles Brewer of Wilbraham in the County of Hampshire, Joiner for and in con- sideration of one pepper corn paid me yearly and every year by the Methodist Society in Wilbraham so called have and by these presents do demise Lease & to farm (?) let unto Abel Bliss of said Wilbraham, yeoman Agent for and in behalf of said
FIRST METHODIST MEETING HOUSE. 1794 to 1835.
Society for and during the continuance of said Society in said place the land hereafter mentioned and described lying and being in sd Wilbraham and on the east side of the public road sd land being part of said Charles's home lot and whereon the meeting house stands."
One of the interesting things in this lease, is the insignificance of the consideration to be paid annually by the Society. "One pepper corn."
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
In Bishop Asbury's Journal, under the date of Sunday, August 17th, 1794, there is the following entry. "I came to the new chapel at Wilbraham, forty by thirty-four feet, neatly designed . ... I preached to about four hundred people . .
"The 'Standing Order' have moved their house into the street not far from ours." There is much more in the journal, but I have only quoted what seemed to be of some historical importance. Charles Brewer died in 1836. The inscription
OLD BREWER INN SIGN.
on his monument, in the Woodland Dell Cemetery reads, "Mr Charles Brewer was the first person who introduced Methodism into this parish, and his house was made the home of Methodism and Methodist Preachers, and a place for preaching for the two years following."
He was the first child to be baptized in the meeting house on Wigwam Hill, December 28, 1748. It is a strange coincidence that the first child baptized in the meeting house of the "stand- ing order," should, about forty-five years later, be the first
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
person to introduce another denomination. He lived on the west side of our Main Street, about 14 rods north of Springfield Street and kept an Inn there. The sign that hung in front of his place, and which was painted in 1810, is still in existence, and is displayed there this anniversary day. The house in which he lived, was taken down in 1893, and a new one erected, which has since been my home.
On the 24th of September, 1794, the New England M. E. Conference, consisting then of about a dozen members, con- vened in the new chapel. The conference, though small, had mighty men in its ranks. Jesse Lee, Geo. Roberts, Wilson Lee, Daniel Ostrander, Geo. Pickering, Enoch Mudge, Joshua Taylor, and Joshua Hall were there; men whose influence on the churches of New England can never be effaced, and ought never to be forgotten. Francis Asbury presided. Saturday was the great day of the feast. The three principal men of the occasion, Asbury, Roberts, and Jesse Lee, preached with power to the multitude that thronged to hear them.
The New England Conference again held its session in this church, in the year 1797 and on the one hundredth anniversary of that session in 1897, the Conference was held in the Methodist Church in this town. And on June 7th, 1826, the Conference was held in this church.
A petition was presented to the Legislature in 1795 for incorporation, as follows:
"Petition For Methodist Society In Wilbraham
"Commonwealth of Massachusetts
"To the Honbl Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled in Boston, on the fourteenth Day of January, in the year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and ninety-five.
"Humbly show the inhabitants of the Town of Wilbraham, in the County of Hampshire, that, Your Petitioners are of the Denomination of Christians called Methodists, and are con- scientiously of the persuasion; and are of Sufficient number and Ability to support a Teacher, and defray the Expenses of upholding public Worship among themselves; they therefore pray that they may be admitted to the Rights and Benefits of
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
the Constitution in this Respect; that they, and such others as may here after join them, in such manner as shall be prescribed by Law, may be incorporated into a Parish, by the Name of the Methodist Parish in Wilbraham, and be invested with the Powers, Privileges, and Rights which by the Law and Consti- tution of this Commonwealth, Parishes ought to have and enjoy.
"And as in Duty bound shall pray.
"Lemuel Smith, Elder in the Robert Coffin. Methodist Church.
Justice Stebbins.
Abel Bliss.
Asa Jones
Charles Brewer.
Ezra Barker, Jr.
Silas Bliss.
Matthew Grover.
Ephraim Fuller.
Aaron Frost.
Gaius Brewer.
Frederick Stebbins.
John Russell.
Abner S. Brewer.
Augustus Sisson.
Joseph Abbot.
Phineas Stebbins.
Anson Brewer
Moses K. Bartlet.
Cesar Tyler
Ethan Warriner.
Abner Chapin.
Solomon Warriner, Jr.
William Sweetser? Brewer.
Elijah Stebbins.
Elisha Walden.
Cyrus Stebbins.
John Loud.
Walter Stebbins.
Thomas Howard.
James Hammond.
Timothy Stebbins."
Abel Bliss, Jr.
This Petition was referred to the Committee on Parishes, which reported January 31, 1795, the usual order, notifying "the several parishes" in town, "that they appear and show cause, if any they have, why the prayer of said Petition should not be granted," at the first session of the next General Court, to be holden in May and June following.
The South Parish made answer, June 12, 1795, by "John Bliss and Phinehas Stebbins, that the parish have made no objections against the prayer of the petition being granted."
The North Parish by their Committee, James Shaw, Reuben Sikes, and Chileab B. Merrick, made an elaborate reply to the petition. They represent, that on the division of the town into two parishes, the meeting house was one mile south of the centre of the parish, and that they could not persuade the
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
owner to sell the central lot on which all were agreed; that while they were waiting, the roof of the meeting house became so leaky as to render its use and preservation impossible, and that they permitted it to be new shingled at expense of indi- viduals; that this "exasperated the leading and principal part of your petitioners to a great degree; they accordingly assembled and entered into a solemn written agreement to separate from the parish, be no longer connected with them, and formed themselves into a distinct society, as they termed it; the next Sabboth they went in a body, headed by one of the principal Baptists in the parish, to the Baptist meeting; they fell off gradually, and at length all left that meeting; at this time not one of them had ever heard a Methodist preacher; but the preachers of that order, ever willing to fish in muddy water, came among them; they swallowed the bait, and are now as they say conscientious Methodists;" that soon after, a number of the principal inhabitants of said parish "met and invited the petitioners to attend and give their reasons for their conduct; that they came and said, that if we would dismiss our Minister (who by this time they had taken a dislike to), and remove the Meeting-house they would give up all thoughts of a separation;" but a contract had been made with the minister and could not be annulled without his consent; yet they would remove the meeting-house just as soon as possible, "using all exertion within the bounds of reason. ... More than a year ago the selected spot was obtained, a meeting-house has been built just where they wanted it, the minister has been dismissed at his request, mostly, as he said, on 'account of these people;' yet they are as far from being satisfied as ever." The respond- ents also say that "more than six of the petitioners are minors; Cesar, the negro, is a transient person, already out of the State; Lemuel Smith, who in the petition styles himself their elder, is not here but once a month, nor that much of the time; and will not stay long probably; Grover has left the State; two others wish they had not signed the petition; so that there are only twenty-five of any weight. Their ability may be known by the portion they pay of the town tax: that tax is
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
£136 1s. 2d .; they pay £14 4s. 5d." They forbear to draw any inferences and leave the whole subject to the General Court.
To this, the petitioners reply, June 6, 1795, by their Com- mittee, Gaius Brewer, John Russel, and Ephraim Fuller, in substance as follows:
"That shingling the meeting-house is but one cause; they were forever opposed to the settlement of their minister, and threw in their objections before his ordination, yet he was settled in spite of the remonstrance of twenty-seven persons; they never consented to return but utterly refused to do so on any condition; Nor did their minister ask a dismission on our account, but because his health was so poor that he could not continue; nor is Lemuel Smith absent from us as they say,- his family is here, and when he is removed another minister will come. There are but five minor petitioners, and they are 'capable of choosing and practising the truth.' No one wishes his name taken off. As nearly all of us are of the North Parish, it is not just to estimate our ability by the town Tax; the Parish tax for building the Meeting-House is £343, and we pay £90. We are not fickle, nor do our ministers 'fish in muddy water.' "
"The parish voted, February 14, 1794, that all who belonged to the Methodists should be exempt from taxes, but afterwards changed, and rated the Methodists to build their meeting- house, when they had their own to build and a minister to support. They submit their case:
'Not doubting but your Honors feel the spirit of republican- ism, that liberty, civil and religious, might be established within the American shores.'"
The act of incorporation was not passed at that time.
"We learn nothing farther of special interest in the history of this church till 1814, when a camp-meeting was held. The following year another was held. These meetings were a great blessing to the church. Its members were quickened in spiritual life, a large accession made to its numbers, and the attention of the community aroused and called to the subject of religion. Inspirited by this influence, they immediately raised money enough, not only to finish the church in comfortable style, but had about three hundred dollars remaining in the treasury. At this time a stove was procured for warming the house. This was a great innovation on the customs of the age; and not till
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
a number of years afterwards did any other church in town follow this example."
An act of incorporation was probably passed at the session of the Legislature in 1832, and the first corporate meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Society was organized under a warrant issued by William Knight, Esq., of Wilbraham, at the petition of Abraham Avery and ten others, and was held in the Methodist meeting house, August 29th, 1832.
In September, 1833, A. Avery circulated a subscription paper among the members of the society, for the purpose of taking stock in shares of fifty dollars each, to build a new meeting house. Thirty-three shares having been taken, it was agreed to proceed to build a house forty-two by sixty feet with a tower. The society voted to purchase slips to the amount of its funds, some three hundred dollars.
William Farnham was the builder, after a plan furnished by Rev. John Lindsey, of Boston.
The cost of the house was limited to three thousand dollars, except for the steps, bell, and some outside expenses. And the house cost within the limit. It was, by the contract, to have been finished by the 20th of October, 1834; but was not com- pleted till May of the following year. It was dedicated by the Rev. Dr. Fisk about the 19th of May, 1835.
In relation to the building of this meeting house I have copied a few items from the records of the society.
At a meeting of the Society held January 1st, 1834: "On motion of Mr. Foster, voted that the committee be instructed to sell the old Meeting-House, and the avails thereof be laid out for stock in a new Meeting-House."
At the same meeting it was voted "that the Three Hundred Dollars given by Moses K. Bartlett deceased, should be laid out for stock in a new Meeting-House by the Committee." (Moses K. Bartlett died October 29th, 1819.)
At a meeting held April 24th, 1834, Wm. S. Smith and Wm. E. Brewer were chosen a committee to obtain subscriptions for the meeting house in contemplation, to be invested in free
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
scats. On May 22, 1835, voted that the "committee be in- structed to sell the Old Meeting-House for any sum not less than three hundred and fifty Dollars." August 1st, 1835, the price was reduced to three hundred Dollars.
Probably the meeting, August 1st, 1835, was the last meeting of the society in the old meeting house. The record for the next meeting begins:
"Doings of a Parish Meeting held on Thursday the 21st day of April instant A. D. 1836, held at New Church of the M. E. Society of N. W."
"Voted that the Society accept of the doings of their Com- mittee in the negotiation with A. L. Brewer for the old House." May 5, 1836: "Voted that the Prudential Committee be instructed to examine the old slips, steps & Pulpit &c, in the Old House, and if thought best to reserve & remove the same before the sale of the House."
The house was sold to Anson L. Brewer, and the ground on which it stood, which it will be remembered was leased to the society, was sold by Charles Brewer to Anson L. Brewer, Esq., of New Lisbon, Ohio, October 23rd, 1835, and on October 28, 1841, it was sold to Wm. W. Merrick and remained in his possession, and that of his estate for 67 years, or until 1908, when it was sold according to the provisions of his will, and is now in my possession.
Twenty-five cents postage was paid on the letter which brought the Deed from New Lisbon, Ohio, to Wilbraham.
In order to raise funds, the society sold pews or slips to individuals by deeds which are recorded in the clerk's book. The first on the record is for "Pew or Slip numbered fifty one in the Meeting House lately erected for the use and benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Society in the north parish of Wilbraham," to "Samuel Warner for Sixty Dollars." Dated June 20th, 1835. If an individual sold his "Pew or Slip" to some other person, the deed was recorded in the clerk's book.
It seems that Clark B. Stebbins owned a pew in the church in 1845, and in that year the Chicopee Bank of Springfield
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THE HISTORY OF WILBRAHAM
obtained a judgment against him for the sum of $515.95, and the sheriff attatched his pew, No. 27, which was appraised by "three disinterested and discreet men" to be worth "sixty-five dollars." The record of the whole transaction covers two pages in the clerk's book, and it is no wonder that the society began to devise measures to eliminate such conditions, and on March 17, 1851, they chose "John M. Merrick, Sam1 Warner, Joel M. Lyman, a committee to consider the expediency & practicability of buying the slips of the Proprietors."
March 29th, 1843: Joel M. Lyman, P. P. Potter, Wm. E. Brewer were "chosen a committee to see if Land can be obtained on which to build Horse Sheds."
April 7th, 1843: "Voted that the society hold meetings on sabbath days only by day light & on no other occasions except extraordinary ones."
March 30, 1847: "Voted to purchase 2 cords of pine wood, 3 feet long, at 2.50 per cord, and 2 cords of oak wood, 3 feet long at 2.87 per cord.
At the meeting held on April 7, 1849, Mr. Lane and Wm. E. Brewer were chosen "a committee to draw a plan and make an estimate for a parsonage."
March 31, 1851: "Voted to raise five hundred Dollars to raise this house & finish off the Vestry." April 16, 1851, "Porter Cross, Samuel Warner, John M. Merrick be a committee to raise the house and finish off the vestry."
May 10th, 1851: "Voted that the committee be authorized to procure a furnace provided they in their judgement think proper."
March 19, 1855: a committee was chosen "to try to secure land for a parsonage & horse sheds."
At the same meeting J. W. Bliss was chosen a committee "to see what can be done towards raising money for the organ."
A parsonage was probably secured in 1856. The meeting house remained as a place for worship until about 1868, when it was removed off to the east, onto the Academy grounds and
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