USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Historical collections of Piscataquis County, Maine, consisting of papers read at meetings of Piscataquis County Historical Society, also The north eastern boundary controversy and the Aroostook War, V. I > Part 6
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and Zenas Hall assisted these brethren considerably, and in 1818 a special work of grace among them made it possible to organize an independent church, and on the date above named they were duly organized with sixteen members. Peter Cummings and Joshua Coburn were made the deacons of the new church. Zenas Hall had been licensed by the Guilford church, and the people of Parkman becoming attached to him, he was invited to become the pastor and on the 14th of January, 1819, he was ordained. He received a salary of from $60 to $100 per year and the minister's lot of land, a part of which he afterwards relinquished to the Universalists and the Methodists.
Notwithstanding this the Baptists seem to have been the only ones that held religious services in the town, and as the showers of divine grace were frequent the growth of the church was steady and its life healthy. Their present house was dedicated Dec. 20, 1831, during the sessions of a quarterly meeting that was being held with them, at which time also a special work of grace was begun among them and not a few were brought into the church, and in the years 1839 and 1843 great showers of blessings came upon them and the church was much enlarged.
Mr. Hall, the pastor, was unceasing in his labors, not for his own town alone but for the other parts also. The churches in Dexter and Blanchard owed their exist- ence to Mr. Hall and the members of the Parkman church. This brother was also active in his interest in the matter of politics and was clerk and selectman of his town, and was also sent to the Legislature and was withal a very active and useful man. At the time of the great temperance movement in the town Mr. Hall took no part and those that were carrying it on did not consult him, which would have been a very wise thing to do because
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of his prestige and the benefit it would have been to the cause. He was as great in confessing his faults as in the other elements of his character. His political views being such as they were he opposed the war of secession but after moving to Ohio he changed his views on this point, and when he returned made full confession of his change of political faith on that point. He probably opposed the Maine law and the town of Parkman rolled up a larger vote against that measure than any other town in the county. Mr. Hall was, however, always temperate in his personal habits.
The church in Parkman had in 1845 two hundred members. In after years when it was somewhat weak- ened, it made an arrangement with the Free Baptists to occupy the house of worship with them. Still later, the Free Baptists having failed somewhat in keeping up the arrangement, they made terms with the Maine Baptist Missionary Convention in 1890, by which they relin- quished the use of their house and gave up their own society on condition that the Baptists hold regular serv- ices in the church. Rev. W. H. Clark was the first pastor under this arrangement, and the work carried on by him and his talented wife was successful. At the present time this church is an example of what help can be given through the wise expenditure of denomina- tional funds. While at the present time it is not large it may be called a strong church. About three years ago the church bought a parsonage.
The next in the order of seniority is the church in Monson. Like many of the other churches the reason for the organization of a church there was the immi- gration of Baptists from other towns, but we are not told from where. The church was organized August 10, 1827, consisting of fourteen members. It only had occasional supplies till 1842, when the Rev. Lebbeus
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Kingman became the pastor. In 1845 a house of wor- ship was built and the Rev. Lucius Bradford was from this time the pastor for six years. In 1853 Rev. Dudley P. Bailey became the pastor, spending half the time in other places in preaching the Gospel; the length of his pastorate being eighteen years. From 1871 to 1880 there were several short pastorates. In connection with these Rev. W. S. Knowlton's name appears three times in the annual minutes of the association, and the name of Rev. J. S. Bicknell once. Since that time have been such men as Rev. E. C. Long, the sainted B. F. Shaw, D. D., Revs. A. C. Chipman, C. F. Whitcomb, E. M. Bartlett, H. C. Speed and E. S. Drew. At the present time the church is without a pastor. It reports one hundred and one members. The last few years have been on the whole fruitful ones, and the pastors have done well for the church.
The church in Abbot should be treated next. This was organized in 1829. This has been a small interest, and at the present time (1909) the light has nearly gone out. At the beginning of the life of the church they had nine members, coming from different parts of the settlement, they having only partial acquaintance with each other. Very soon the voice of young converts gladdened their hearts and the wilderness rang with the songs of praise. In 1831 Joseph Hall was qualified to preach, and until difficulties arose he was successful, but this pastorate lasted for only two or three years, and in 1835 the church nearly became extinct. Life was revived again by the efforts of Rev. Thomas Macomber of Guilford and William Oakes of Sangerville, who gave them help in 1836 and 1837. In 1840 they united with other denominations in building a church. Among these was the Free Baptist, which church has for some years been extinct. At the present time there are but very
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few members left and the matter of dropping them from the list of the churches of the association has several times been discussed. There are however one or two strong Christian believers left.
The church of Sebec claims for itself to have begun its organized life in 1836. But 1859 is given as the probable date, and I can find no record of its existence before that date, yet Rev. Thomas Macomber is said to have preached there, and he died in 1852. We shall have to say the beginnings in Sebec are doubtful so far as the exact date is concerned. No record of the exist- ence of the church is found in the reports of the asso- ciation for several years before 1878, when the church is supposed to have been reorganized. At this time a pastor was secured and the church building in the village belonging to the Congregationalists was secured and repaired. At times the outlook for the church has been regarded as hopeful. For more than twenty years it has been in a very weakened condition and has had no pastor for much longer than that, but has occasional supplies.
Baptist beginnings came in Milo in June, 1840. The church then had twelve members, the number of the twelve apostles, and the number of the associations in the State. Like almost every other church, the Baptists came here by immigration, some of them probably soon after the town was incorporated in 1823. Here, also, the Rev. Thomas Macomber did efficient service in the early days of the church, preaching monthly. These monthly services continued through 1842, when a revival came to them, and in 1843 they had preaching every third Sunday by Elder A. G. Tibbetts. They built a union meeting-house in 1853, uniting with the Free Bap- tists, and alternating with them in the use of the house. This church is now owned by the Free Baptists.
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In 1888 they built a very attractive church of their own, and then began their separate existence from other churches. They have been prospered in men and money, and the church and the work of the same, has grown and been strengthened. Because of increasing numbers they were obliged to enlarge, and therefore the present beauti- ful edifice was erected in 1907, being an enlargement of the structure built in 1888. This church has had a suc- cession of faithful pastors, and with the increase of the business that has come to the town within a few years, the church has kept pace. All departments of the church life are well kept up and it probably has one of the largest, if not the largest Sunday-schools in the county. As there are only three churches in the town, including Milo Junction, if rightly managed they are all bound to be progressive and useful and eminently suc- cessful. The church has a very convenient parsonage.
The church in Dover was not long in following the church in Milo in seeing the light. It came August 26 of the same year, 1840, two months later than the church in Milo. Members of this church came from the church in Foxcroft before referred to, and tradition has it that some came from the church at South Dover also referred to before. This church became necessary and possible because of the growth at the village commonly known as the "Falls." The council met in Foxcroft village schoolhouse on the above mentioned date and after discussion the church was organized under the name of the "Foxcroft and Dover Village Baptist Church," Rev. Z. Bradford being moderator of the council. The members were: William Farnham, B. B. Vaughan, Joshua Jordan, Dr. Samuel Laughton, John Ames, Benjamin T. Buck, Joshua Hazelton, Elizabeth Farnham, Almira Tucker, Martha Jordan, Rachel Rob- inson and Almira Buck, twelve members in all. The
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articles of faith and church covenant of Piscataquis Asso- ciation were adopted, together with a strong temperance pledge. After this the moderator of the council preached from John 21: 22, "What is that to thee? follow thou me." William Farnham was elected deacon and B. B. Vaughan clerk. The public services of the church were held in the schoolhouse, the vestry of the Congregational church and other places. It is quite likely the moderator of the council, Mr. Bradford, helped the church in a pastoral way for some time, but two histories assert that Rev. C. P. St. Clair became the first regular supply, who preached twice a month, and this was followed by an arrangement by which the church had preaching monthly. Rev. O. B. Walker came in 1843 and remained till 1846. The first church was built in 1842 and dedicated in December of that year, the land being bought of Messrs. Harmon and Douglass for one hundred dollars. The pastors of the church besides Mr. Walker have been Rev. S. Adlum, Rev. J. M. Follett, Rev. C. M. Herring, Rev. A. D. F. Palmer, Rev. A. B. Pendleton, second pastorate of J. M. Follett, Rev. E. A. Van Kleek, Rev. S. P. Pendleton, Rev. George E. Tufts, Rev. Thomas N. Lord, Rev. C. C. Tilley, Rev. William J. Clouse, Rev. T. M. Butler, Rev. H. R. Mitchell, Rev. H. B. Tilden, and the present pastor, Rev. F. H. Pratt, who came here in 1901. The first church, which was built in 1842, was used as a part of the present People's Baptist church that now stands on the old lot. The vestry of the present church is a part of the old church, which however had in 1851 been enlarged. The new church was built in 1886 and 1887, and the part containing the present auditorium and tower was entirely new, the entire cost of rebuilding amounting to $5,375.75. The church was dedicated September 21, 1888, G. D. B. Pepper, D. D.,
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L. L. D., president of Colby University, preaching the sermon. The building committee was G. A. Meder, Daniel S. Dexter and H. J. Dexter; James T. Roberts being the treasurer of the building committee. This church is modern in all its appointments, and now after more than twenty years, stands as a model of church architecture, having the largest seating capacity of any church in the town. The annual reports of 1908 give the church a membership of 188, the largest of any church of the same order in the county or the asso- ciation. It ought to continue to be one of the strong village churches in the State. During the pastorate of Rev. H. R. Mitchell, a parsonage was built, costing $3,500 above the foundation.
The church in Wellington was organized in 1896. Rev. A. A. Walsh was quite instrumental in the organi- zation of the church, he being at the time pastor of the church in Cambridge. A neat church was built at about this time, also one at "Burdin's Corner" so called in the same town. The church holds its services in the former that is located at what is called "Wellington Stores." Mrs. A. A. Walsh, the wife of the man who organized the church, is the pastor at the present time, he being engaged in evangelistic work in different parts of the State and country. They report a membership of thirty-three. While young, they are rich in faith, and while they are small in numbers as yet, they entertained the quarterly meeting of Piscataquis Association in the summer of 1908.
This completes the churches in the Baptist denomi- nation belonging in Piscataquis County. But this history, to be of the greatest use, particularly of the church above named, should contain the history of Piscataquis Association. This will be referred to later.
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Other churches that should be referred to are in the main as follows :
The first of these to deserve mention is the church in Cambridge. This church is located in Somerset County and is one of the two belonging to this association that are located in that county. This church was organized in 1822. The name of the town was formerly "Ripley," and before that "No. 5." In the winter of 1808 Rev. Thomas Macomber, while doing mission work under the Maine Mission Society, passed through the place visiting the different openings in the forest, and called at the house of Mr. Jacob Hale for the night. He found them sympathetic with the work he had come to perform, and he was asked to preach that evening, and word being sent to their nearest neighbor, who lived four miles away, he preached to the two families. In 1809 Rev. H. Kendall visited the place and reported that at this time there were two pious families in the place and they lived a mile apart and a swamp between them in the midst of which they used to meet and pray. About two years after this Mr. Kendall again visited the place and bap- tized Mr. Hale and his wife, the first to receive the ordinance in Ripley. In 1822 Rev. Isaac Case, the man famous for the preaching of the Gospel in many parts of the State and a man of great power and influence, visited the opening in the forest. He reported there had been a revival, the fruits of a pious school-teacher, and Mr. Case reported "The new settlement resounded with the praise of God." Before Mr. Case left, the present church was organized, and Jacob Hatch became the pastor, he being ordained for the purpose, under whose pastorate the church gradually increased. In 1828 Deacon Forrest Hatch was ordained pastor and was very successful until his death in 1834. During his pastorate he baptized twenty-two persons, his sister, daughter and
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aged father being among them. The church has seen its days of prosperity and adversity, but after these many years it still sheds forth its light and is a very useful church of Christ, and I believe has never in its history received any outside aid towards its financial support. Many years ago a very useful house of worship was built and later a tower was built and a bell placed in position. The fruit of this church may be seen when it is under- stood that the present secretary of the Maine Baptist Missionary Convention, I. B. Mower, D. D., came from this church; also Rev. B. F. Turner, another useful pastor in this State; and Rev. T. E. Ham, who lives in the place, and has on many instances at present supplied the church, beside the fact of preaching to many surrounding churches. This is one of our good rural churches.
The only church belonging to the association in Penobscot County is the church in Dexter. The pastor of the Parkman church, Elder Zenas Hall, amid the very busy life he lived found time to do much religious work at Dexter as well as at many other points. For many years this interest was carried on as a branch of the Parkman church, Mr. Hall giving a part of his ministry to that church. It became independent in 1825, and from 1826 to 1832 Elder Jacob Hatch was its pastor, coming here from Cambridge, but from 1830 he gave them only a part of his time, Elder W. Marshall taking his place.' In 1839 they built their house of worship; later a vestry was built on the same level as the floor of the church, and still later a splendid parsonage was also built, and after this the church was remodeled. The present pastor is Rev. J. Chester Hyde, coming to them from Newport, R. I. The present membership is 158 and it is one of our progressive and hopeful churches.
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The last church to be mentioned is the church in Hart- land. This is also in Somerset County. This was organized somewhere between 1843 and 1849 and has usually been one of the weak churches so far as men and means are concerned. In 1854 it reported only sixteen members. Many of its years have been sad ones, but the last few years have been more prosperous, it having called to its pastorate, Rev. H. L. Caulkins, bought a parsonage, and is enjoying a state of prosperity seldom before known.
Among the Baptists the State organization is known as the Maine Baptist Missionary Convention. The object of this organization is to support the weak churches by collecting from all and distributing to those in need. Existing under this convention are the associ- ations of which there are twelve. The association to which the churches here belong takes its name from the county and is known as Piscataquis Association. For the most part the churches composing it belonged to Penobscot Association. The churches composing it were dismissed from that association in 1838 and the first meeting was held in Parkman in 1839 where the asso- ciation was organized with the above name. Including the churches that were received at this time that had been but a short time organized, together with the older ones, the association contained sixteen churches, ten ordained ministers, two licensed preachers and 807 mem- bers. Rev. Joshua Millett in his book, "Maine Bap- tists," says concerning the churches of the association : "There is no cause of benevolence or wide spreading sin that receives the attention of other associations, that is indifferently passed over by this body. Their resolutions are copious and spirited and their zeal corresponds to their resolves. In their minutes of 1843 instead of the usual long list of resolves published by the associations
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almost annually, they inserted the following one as expressing the will and spirit of the churches: Resolved ; That our views in regard to all the benevolent operations have not changed, nor our zeal abated. And we recom- mend more of the book of Acts and less of the book of resolves. Although the association has usually been small as to numbers of the churches and the aggregate membership they have always maintained the spirit as above."
At the present time there is a movement to bring the Baptist and the Free Baptist churches together. This will doubtless be consummated in a few years at the most. When this is done it will be a very desirable union of forces between two bodies that are very much alike, the differences that divided them about one hundred years ago having largely disappeared. The intended union will include all the bodies in the entire nation in so far as each individual church chooses to unite with it, which will be very far-reaching.
Universalism in Piscataquis County
By Rev. A. Gertrude Earle
T HE history of Universalism in Piscataquis County antedates the organization of the county itself.
Universalism had its beginning in Maine in the later years of the eighteenth century, in the towns of New Gloucester, Gray, Turner and Norway.
The Eastern Association of Universalists was organized in 1799, later merged into the State Convention at its organization in 1828. Soon after the beginning of settlements in this part of the State, Sylvanus Cobb and other Universalist preachers paid visits here and were heard by large numbers. Rev. William Frost was the first minister to live in the county.
On March 7, 1825, an informal meeting was held at the schoolhouse in District Number 1, of such of the inhabitants of Dover, Foxcroft and Sangerville as were desirous of forming themselves into a Universalist society. This resulted in the organization of a society on April 4, 1825. Nathaniel Chamberlain was the moderator of this meeting and Isaac Allen the clerk. A committee was appointed to enact by-laws, and a dele- gate to the General Convention to be holden the follow- ing July was chosen. It was voted to meet every Sab- bath whether we have preaching or not.
It would be interesting to know whether this worthy plan was carried out, but the records do not tell us.
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Rev. William Frost is the only minister mentioned in this early period. At one annual parish meeting he was invited to preach one half the time, at another, such part of the year as the funds would permit.
In 1827, assistant clerks were chosen, William Campbell for Sangerville and Nathaniel Chamberlain for Foxcroft.
The constitution of this early society is interesting. Its opening paragraphs read as follows :
"Whereas the Almighty has manifested the most per- fect order in all his works it is reasonable that we, his offspring, should pattern after him in all that we do. Under this impression we, the undersigned, have formed ourselves into a society to be known by the name of the First Universalist Society of Dover, Foxcroft and Sanger- ville, and have adopted the following rules for our own government and regulation.
"Ist. Any person may become a member of this society who professes a belief in the doctrine of Uni- versal Salvation by Jesus Christ, and supports a good moral character.
"2d. There shall be a committee chosen annually for the purpose of admitting members, whose duty it shall be to examine all who apply to them for membership as to their sentiments and moral character and to report the names of all they admit to the clerk, who shall record the same in a book kept for that purpose, whereupon they shall become members.
"3d. It shall be the duty of the standing committee to admonish disorderly members in love and meekness."
The signers are William Frost, John Spaulding, Seth Spaulding, Artemus Spaulding, Allen Dwelley, Bela Hammond, Thomas Rose, Asa Sprague, Henry Coy, William Campbell, Isaac Beaver, David Bryant, Moses Buck, William Thayer, Pelham Bryant, Nathaniel Chamberlain, Daniel Brown, Jonathan S. Plummer,
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M. H. Plummer, Adoniram Blake, Benjamin Spaulding, James Call, Moses Sawyer, Zarah Hammond, Daniel Buck, Owen Record, Isaac A. Thayer.
Meetings were called at the schoolhouse in District Number 1, at Potter's store, at J. S. Philbrick's hall and at Patten's store. There is no record of the place where preaching services were held, but it is perhaps fair to assume that it was the schoolhouse. This was undoubtedly the first schoolhouse built in Dover village, on the lot where the Blethen House now stands.
These earliest records end with 1830. The next record which has been preserved is of the organization in 1837 of a society called the Dover and Foxcroft Universalist Society. The meeting for this organization was called at "the Meeting House in Dover upper village." This must be the meeting-house which stood on the lot now occupied by the Dover schoolhouse. The land was given by John Merrick and Charles Vaughan, proprietors of the town. No records of the erection of this church are preserved, but an old Bible in the Thompson Free Library records that it was dedicated in 1833 by Rev. George Bates of Turner.
This old Bible has the following list of ministers :
J. R. Fulmer, 1834
Gibson Smith, 1835
Joel Miller,
B. Tasker, 1836
A. A. Richards, )
Joel Miller, 1837
Joel Miller, 1838
J. M. Dennis,
1839-41
E. B. Averill, 1842-45
W. A. P. Dillingham, 1850-51
Other information enables us to add the names of W. C. George, W. W. Wilson and Hiram P. Osgood.
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No mention in records or in print is found of a minister named Burnham, but some of the older people tell of a minister of that name who lived in a house just beyond the Dover bridge. The tradition is that he wore a full beard, which was an offense to the congre- gation. In deference to opinion he shaved and con- tracted a cold which led to his death.
Some interesting items appear in the records. Mr. Tasker was engaged for one half the time at Dover, one fourth at Guilford and one fourth at Charleston. A. A. Richards came from Milo and was engaged for six or seven Sabbaths at six dollars a day.
The ministry of that period was itinerant in its methods. The "Gospel Banner" of the thirties and forties mentions many different preachers who visited the Dover church, preaching at the same time in the neigh- boring towns. In 1851, the care of the meeting-house, sweeping, building fires, etc., for the ensuing year, was let out to the lowest bidder. It was bid off by E. B. Averill for $6.75. It is related that it was a son of that gentleman who did all the work, and evidently the lad thought the price too low, for the next year the amount voted was $12, and the name of the son, George Averill, appears as the recipient. If a boy must work for so small pay, surely he would prefer to receive the money in his own name.
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