USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Gardiner > Christ Church, Gardiner, Maine : antecedents and history > Part 12
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From Interest and Parsonage lots sold, $37I
Legacy, IO2
Bank Dividends, 27
Rents of Pews given to the Parish in the New Church, devoted to special purposes, 185
$685
but sales have taken place which which will vary this item. The remaining lots on the Parsonage will probably add $120 to the in-
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HISTORY OF CHRIST CHURCH.
come. There are few Parishes where the people are so little bur- dened for the support of Public Worship.
In 1820 Maine was set off from Massachusetts, and was admitted into the Union as a separate state, by which it was supposed that the ecclesiastical connexion of Maine with Massachusetts was also dissolved. A correspondence upon the subject took place between the principal members of the only two Churches in Maine, Christ Church, Gardiner, and St. Paul's, Portland, which resulted in the call of a special convention, which was holden at Brunswick on the 5th Sept., 1820. At this meeting the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Maine was regularly organized and delegates were chosen to attend the approaching general convention and request the admission of Maine as a distant Diocese into the Union. As the case was novel, and as neither Massachusetts nor the Eastern Diocese had been consulted or had taken action upon this subject, much demur and some days' delay took place before the general convention acceded to the request of Maine, but it was finally granted with little opposition, and the delegates for the new dio- cese were admitted to seats in the convention.
On Wednesday, the 19th day of October, 1820, the new Church was consecrated. A large number of the Clergy and friends of the Church in other States were expected to attend, but, after a summer of severe drought, in the Friday night preceding the day of consecration, commenced a drizzling rain, which continued to increase till the rain fell in torrents, and, before Tuesday, every bridge and many of the Mills and dams on the Androscoggin had been carried away, and the freshets had been very destructive upon the Kennebec and its tributaries. Two clergymen, unable to cross at Brunswick, went up the River to Lewiston, and crossed the river but a short time before the bridge which they had crossed was carried away. In many places between this and Hallowell the road was impassible and travellers had to go into the fields to cross the brooks above, and in one place, near where Mr. Sheldon lives, the only mode of getting from one part of the road to another was by a ferry boat. Notwithstanding these circum- stances, and notwithstanding the weather continued wet and unpleasant, yet the House was filled at an early hour. Seven clergymen were present, including the Bishop, and the hearts of the congregation, after their long years of gloom and depression, gladdened at the prospect of worshipping with a Pastor in whom they had then full confidence, and in an appropriate edifice exclu-
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sively devoted to the service of God. In his usual performance of the service Mr. Olney did not confine himself to the order pre- scribed by the rubrics, but generally materially curtailed the ser- vice, and, though he did not formally exchange with clergymen of other denominations, he was in the habit of preaching in most of the Congregational meeting-houses in the neighborhood, and the Church was once shut up on Ash Wednesday, because Mr. Olney had engaged to preach at Vassalboro' on that day before an assem- bly of Congregational ministers.
The first circumstance that materially affected Mr. Olney's pop- ularity was the part he took respecting a dance given in the village. As soon as he heard that it was to take place, he was indefatigable in his endeavors to prevent it, or, at least, to keep all his flock from participating in it, and obtained promises, which were not all kept, from several professedly devoted to him, to take no part in the affair. The Ball took place, and one of those who had promised Mr. Olney not to attend, and who was a communicant, acted as manager. The communion was shortly afterward administered, and Mr. Olney forbid all those who had attended this dance to present themselves on that occasion at the Lord's table. This assumption of power gave great offence, as well to those who had not attended the dance as to those who had. The subject of the lawfulness of professed Christians engaging in worldly amusements had previously been brought before the general convention by petitions requesting the passage of a Canon prohibiting the administration of the communion to persons who attended dances, horse-races, and other worldly amusments; but after full discussion, the convention did not think it expedient to pass any law upon the subject, but left it to every man's conscience to judge how far he could, consistently with his Christian profession, mingle in pleasures, which, though not positively sinful, might tend to draw off the heart from God. Mr. Olney had therefore assumed a power not only not granted, but which had been positively refused to its ministers.
Some of those thus repelled ceased to attend public worship, and others have ever since abstained from the communion ; and, when it was known, some years subsequently, that Mr. Olney had attended a large Ball at Washington on Saturday night, and remained till after midnight, those now repelled became still more estranged from the Church. Mr. Olney gradually lost his interest in the services. That beautiful voice, which at first could not go
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through the service without betraying the emotions of its possessor as it pronounced particular passages, gradually became languid and lifeless, and the same discourses which, at first, coming warm from the heart, reached at once to the heart of the hearer were latterly read without emotion, and heard with indifference. The congregation fell off and parishioners withdrew, and March 16, 1825, Mr. Olney voluntarily offered the relinquishment of $100 of his salary, which, at a subsequent meeting, the Parish accepted, assigning as a reason their diminished numbers ; and March 30th, 1825, Mr. Olney notified the Parish that he had neither "health, strength or spirits" to continue his labours, and that he should resign the following spring ; and March 31, 1826, Mr. Olney wrote to them that he should leave the 10th April, which, accordingly, he did.
When Mr. Olney came into Maine there were no Episcopal clergymen in the State. The Church at Portland had been closed for many years, and the Church here kept open only with lay read- ing, with congregations varying from 5 to 60, averaging perhaps not more than half the latter number. His preaching at Portland on his way here stimulated the people to resuscitate their Parish, and the following year they invited Rev. P. S. Tenbrock to be their minister, and here Mr. Olney attracted such numbers that the Old Church could not hold them, and the new Church was built under his auspices, and the communicants were increased 7 or 8 fold, and, tho' some subsequently drew back, yet the Parish acquired strength under his ministry, and he left it in a much better state than when he came. Mr. Olney had also, in conjunction with the laymen of St. Paul's and Christ Church taken an active part in get- ting Maine forward into a distinct diocese, and acknowledged by the General Convention as such. After Mr. Olney left Gardiner, he retired to a farm in Scarboro', given him by Mr. Clapp, and rarely attended the services of the Church, even when he was in Portland.
During the summer of 1826, Rev. B. C. Parker preached here for a number of weeks, and there was a strong desire in many to give him an invitation to settle, but, there being great diversity of opinion upon the subject, it was not brought formally before the Parish, and Mr. Parker's name does not appear on the records.
In the latter part of 1826, Rev. E. M. P. Wells was invited to preach here, and accepted the invitation, and the following March he was invited to preach for a year, or till such time during the
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year "that the Parish could offer him a permanent settlement." In August Mr. Wells thought that the Parish had had sufficient opportunity to become acquainted with him, and therefore asked their permission to leave. Two Parish meetings were called upon the subject, and, tho' there was a majority in favor of giving Mr. Wells an invitation to settle, yet the wish was not sufficiently gen- eral to render it expedient, and the Parish voted to express to Mr. Wells their regret that its state did not justify them in offering him a settlement. Mr. Wells was very zealous and devoted in the per- formance of his duties, but it was thought his eccentricities . were too great to allow him to become a useful Pastor. While officiat- ing here the Missionary Society asked and obtained permission of the Wardens and Vestry that Mr. Wells should go to Saco for a few Sundays, where it was said that there was an opening for the Church. Mr. Wells went and then laid the foundation of the society which still exists in that place.
After Mr. Wells left, we were again reduced to lay reading, but, in the autumn of 1827, the Rev. T. S. W. Mott came and preached. In Oct. he was invited to preach for three months, which invita- tion he accepted, but in Nov. he became alarmed on account of his health, and requested to be released from his engagement, that he might spend the winter at the South. This was granted, but with an understanding that, if his health permitted he would return to us in the Spring, and so acceptable had been his services that the Parish would not have been willing to settle anyone else as long as they could hope that he would return. (The Bishop sent the Rev. W. Horton to preach for us during the winter. He left early in the spring, when Rev. N. M. Jones preached a few Sun- days, and when he left was invited to return, but, when it was understood early in July that Mr. Mott would come back, the War- dens, by the direction of the Vestry, wrote to Mr. Jones that, as they considered themselves under a previous obligation to Mr. Mott, they wished, if agreeable to him that he would relinquish his expectations of returning to them.)
Mr. Mott spent the winter in North Carolina, where he received and accepted an invitation to become Rector of a parish .- He returned to the North early in the following summer, and as soon as we heard of it, he was engaged to return here, which he did, and the Parish, not knowing of his engagement in North Carolina, invited him in August to become their Rector, with a salary con- tingent upon the number and wealth of the parishioners, but in
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HISTORY OF CHRIST CHURCH.
no case to exceed $800. Mr. Mott was instituted Rector by Rev. C. Burroughs, who had previously officiated at the institution of Rev. G. W. Olney .- The services upon the occasion, from the depth of feeling shown by Mr. Mott, and the interest felt in him by the people, were uncommonly interesting. The next Sunday Mr. Mott preached upon the duties of a Parish to its minister, and told the people that the following Sunday he should preach upon the reciprocal duties of a pastor to his people, but in the evening of the former day he was taken with a slight bleeding at the lungs, and became so alarmed that he left the next day for the South, promising to return in the spring.
The Rev. Lot Jones was engaged to supply Mr. Mott's place during his absence. His preaching was not popular, but the pur- ity and excellence of his character and his conscientious devotion to his duties gained him universal respect and esteem. Mr. Mott had written to the Parish that he should not be able to return in the summer of 1829, but left it with them to continue or dissolve the connexion as they should deem most expedient, and, at a meeting of the Wardens and Vestry in May, it was voted not to dissolve the connection with Mr. Mott, but to invite Mr. Jones to continue his services. This, however, he declined.
In June, 1829, Rev. Isaac Peck came, and preached for 3 months, at the expiration of which period he was invited to preach for three months more, and in March, 1830, Mr. Mott wrote the Parish that he no longer indulged the hope that his health would bear the rigors of a Northern climate, and therefore requested to relinquish the Rectorship of Christ Church, and the resignation was accepted. Notwithstanding Mr. Mott's inability to say no, which involved him in conflicting engagements, he seemed well calculated to build up a Parish and obtain the affection of the peo- ple. His sermons were well written, and commanded the atten- tion of his hearers, and great benefits were expected to result from his ministry. As soon as Mr. Mott's resignation had been accepted, a Parish meeting was called and Ap. 19th, 1830, Rev. Isaac Peck was elected Rector, with a salary of $600, he to relinquish the use of the Parsonage house and lot. Mr. Peck accepted the invitation, and was soon after regularly instituted, though he never considered this as his abiding place, but as a step to a most extensive field of usefullness. Mr. Peck was a man of good talents, and wrote excel- lent sermons, with which he took great pains. The Church, how- ever, did not grow much under his ministry, and in October, 1831,
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having obtained an invitation to Troy, N. Y., he notified the Parish that he resigned the Rectorship to take effect the following Ist November.
In the spring of 1832, the Rev. Joel Clap of Woodstock, Vt. preached here a few Sundays, and on the 8th May received an invitation to settle as Rector, with a salary of $700 and the parson- age house, provided the subscription list with the other funds would amount to that sum, after paying the necessary current expenses of the Parish. Mr. Clap accepted the invitation, and a subscription was raised to aid in furnishing the parsonage and pre- paring it for his reception, and he was instituted Rector of the Parish. During the early part of his ministry the parish exhibited symptoms of growth, but the congregation diminished, as did the list of those who had agreed to support public worship. The Rector attributed this to the fact that a majority of the pews were held by a single individual, and that, if this evil could be remedied, the Parish would at once recover and show increased vigour. As soon as the proprietor of these pews heard the suggestion, he informed the Parish that he would most cheerfully convey to them all the pews he owned in the Church, excepting those required for the convenience of himself and family.
In Nov., 1839, Mr. Clap communicated to the Vestry a letter which he had received from Bishop Hopkins of Vermont, inform- ing him that his old Parish at Woodstock were anxious that he should return to them, and expressing his own desire that he would comply with their wishes. The Vestry, in reply, expressed their willingness that he should act according to his own sense of duty. During the winter Mr. Clap kept up a correspondence on the subject with his friends in Woodstock, and in the spring wrote a letter to the Parish, stating the invitation he had received, and tendering his resignation ; and, at a Parish meeting held March 25th, 1840, the resignation was accepted, at the same meeting the Parish voted, that he should be requested to continue his min- istrations till the succeeding Ist July, to which he acceded.
Tho' there was a falling off in the Parish during the latter part of Mr. Clap's residence here, yet it had, upon the whole, grown and strengthened under his ministry, and he left it in a healthy state. The number of communicants had increased, the general seriousness of the members had improved, and the congregation, upon the whole had not diminished. Mr. Clap met a warm wel- come from his old friends at Woodstock, and it is gratifying to his 19
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many friends here to know that he is now very pleasantly situated in a good Parish at Bellows Falls, lower down Connecticut River.
During his ministry the Swedenborgians, almost all of whom belonged to the Parish, and some of whom were among the most active members of the society, seceded in a body. The doc- trines of Swedenborg were first brought into this place in 1810, by Mr. Savels, for many years a Warden of the Church. From him, the opinions slowly but gradually extended to other members of the society, and, tho' the converts still continued to attend Church, and some of them the communion, yet they had their private meet- ings, where the works of Swedenborg were read aloud, and they gradually increased till they had attained sufficient strength to form an independent society.
In 1839 the Parish voted to build a lecture room, provided a sufficient sum could be raised by subscription to defray the ex- pense. In March, 1841, the young ladies' society presented to the Parish the sum of $550, towards defraying the expense of the lecture room. They had previously, in 1837, presented the Church with the very beautiful Oxford edition of the Bible now on the reading desk. They had also presented the large chandelier hang- ing in the centre of the Church. At a Parish meeting held the 20th March, 1841, Mr. Richards presented a plan for the lecture room which was approved, and he offered to build and furnish it, provided the sum of $1,000 could be raised for that object. Mr. Richards' proposal was accepted and he was appointed the com- mittee to raise and collect the subscription. Before doing this Mr. Richards commenced work upon the lecture room, which cost considerably more than the estimated expense, and the subscrip- tion never amounted to $1,000. The differences were paid by Mr. Richards. Much objection was at first made to the present loca- tion of the Lecture Room, on account of interfering with the graves and burying ground, but, by the conciliatory course adopted by the Parish, the unpleasant feeling subsided, and no evil arose from the present location.
Previous to Mr. Clap's leaving, the Wardens and Vestry chose a committee to invite some clergyman here, with a view of his becoming that gentleman's successor ; and one of that committee being in New York in June, and having also a commission from the Parish at Augusta to look out for a clergyman for them, engaged Rev. Wm. R. Babcock, about to graduate at the General Theological Seminary, to come down to Kennebec, with a view to
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taking one of these situations .- Mr. Babcock came down early in July, when the Rev. Mr. Salter was preaching acceptably at Augusta. Although Mr. Babcock had not then taken orders, and of course did not preach, the people were so much pleased with his conciliatory manners, and he was so highly recommended by those clergy and professors at New York who had been well acquainted with during his seminary course, that they gave him an invitation to become their Rector. Mr. Babcock's friends knew nothing of Maine, and were very averse to his coming here, but, before leaving the seminary, he had determined to commence his ministry by one or two years of missionary duty, and no mis- sionary field appeared to him more promising than that of Maine, and he accepted the invitation to take effect upon the following Ist of October.
Mr. Babcock's ministry was unusually blessed among us. Tho' coming fresh from the seminary without experience, yet his sym- pathy with the feelings of others, his kindness, his gentlemanly manners, but, above all, his uncommon practical sound sense, united with great independence of action and deep piety, imme- diately gained him general confidence, the respect of the com- munity at large, and the strong affections of a large portion of his parishioners. Mr. Babcock's influence was not like the torrent, sweeping all before it, but like the gentle dew, felt, not seen. Under his ministry the progress of the Parish was constant. The number of communicants was doubled, and a great increase of seriousness among those who had not yet acknowledged publicly their Christian obligations, and there was a continued increasing attendance upon public worship. During his ministry the ladies carpeted the Church.
Having a fine taste in music, and being very fond of it, he was desirous that the Church should have a better Organ. A sub- scription was opened for the purpose, and Mr. Babcock headed the paper with his own name for $100. He had it built at New- buryport for $1550, but the instrument was said to be such as $2000 are usually paid for. Besides his own subscription, Mr. Babcock made several journeys to Newburyport on account of it at his own expense. Mr. Babcock was in feeble health when he came here to commence his labors, and, with very few discourses prepared for the pulpit, and having very little opportunity to ex- change, the preparation of sermons occupied a large portion of his time. He had also adopted the opinion, that, however useful a
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clergyman may make his instructions from the pulpit, that he can make himself stlll more useful by visiting from house to house, and in social intercourse leading the minds of his people, as occasions offered, to those subjects which concern their everlasting peace. This was done with great judgment, but it took much time, so that he had none left for study or recreation, and notwithstanding his summer vacation, during which, however, he could never wholly free his mind from the cares of his Parish, he frequently com- plained that his incessant labour was prostrating both mind and body, and that he felt that the respite of a year from care and men- tal labour was requisite to restore the vigor of his mind and con- stitution.
Accordingly, in April, 1847, he wrote to the Wardens that, how- ever painful, he was constrained to relinquish the Rectorship of the Church. The correspondence on file shows the real feelings of the parties. It is difficult to express the grief and dismay felt by a large portion of the Parish when the contents of Mr. Bab- cock's letter were first known. Many could not sleep for nights, and most felt that a very tender tie was about to be severed. As Mr. Babcock's intention to resign was known some days previous to the Easter meeting, time was given for reflection on the best course of action to be adopted, and it was thought that it might afford an opportunity of obtaining what had been so repeatedly and strongly recommended by our provisional Bishop, Dr. Hen- shaw, in his pastoral addresses, a chief shepherd for our diocese. A lingering hope was also entertained that, after the recovery of his health, Mr. Babcock might return. The Parish, therefore, at their annual meeting, requested Mr. Babcock to withdraw his resignation, and continue Rector of the Parish till the Autumn, when they hoped, if he felt his health sufficiently re-established, he, would return to them, and, if he did not, that the diocese would then probably have the members and presbyters canoni- cally requisite for the choice of a Bishop who might become the rector of our Church. From letters received from Mr. Babcock during the summer it became evident that he would not come back here, for he observed that his large stock of sermons, which would be nearly useless if he returned here, would save him a vast amount of labor in a new Parish.
The clergy of the diocese intimated to different members of the society that the Rev. Dr. Burgess, of Hartford, would be the per- son whom they should select to preside over the diocese, if it
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would meet the approval of the Parish that he should become their minister, for which situation they considered him eminently qualified. The suggestion was acted upon, and Sept. 15, 1847, Dr. Burgess was unanimously chosen Rector with a salary of $1000 per annum ; and, at a special convention of the diocese holden at Portland for the purpose, at which there were present delegates from all the Churches, and from most of them the full number. Dr. Burgess was unanimously elected Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Maine, and God, who so frequently over- rules apparent evils for the spiritual good of his people put it into the heart of the Bishop-elect to sever his relations with a people whose pastor he had been for many years, and who were devotedly attached to him, and accept the invitations given him in Maine, and where the prospect of increased usefulness could be the only inducement for leaving so many powerful and interesting asso- ciates. What therefore appeared to us a year since as a very great calamity has been overruled for our good, and our former beloved Pastor has the prospect of greater usefulness in his new sphere of labour at St. Peter's, Salem, where he still feels a deep interest in his former flock, of whose welfare, collectively and indi- vidually, he desires to be kept constantly informed. Dr. Burgess was consecrated Bishop of the diocese of Maine at Hartford, Oct. 31, 1847, and entered upon his duties as Rector of this Parish the following Sunday.
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