USA > Maine > Oxford County > Woodstock > History of Woodstock, Me., with family sketches and an appendix > Part 7
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
meeting, Perrin Dudley was Moderator and Sidney Perham Clerk; Joel Perham and Alfred Chase were elected Stewards.
1844. Perrin Dudley Moderator and Kilbon Perham Clerk ; Sidney Perham and Joshua Perham were elected Stewards.
July 29th, John A. Caswell was dismissed from the church. March 22, 1845, Joseph Whitman was dismissed.
1848, June 17. Perrin Dudley, Moderator and Kilbon Per- ham, Clerk ; Sidney Perham and Kilbon Perham, Stewards.
1850, June 29. Sidney Perham, Jonathan Perham and Kilbon Perham were chosen a committee to take into considera- tion the best method of raising funds to support preaching.
1857, April 18. Officers elected were Joel Perham, Jr., Mod- erator; Kilbon Perham, Clerk; Sidney Perham and Kilbon Perham, Stewards; Joshua Perham, Alexander Day and Kilbon Perham, Collectors. July 11. Voted to receive Sophronia Per- ham, Ann M. King, Alexander Day, Thomas B. Carter and A. P. Bowker as members of the church, and on the following day the right hand of fellowship was given by Rev. Zenas Thomp- son to the above named persons, and also to Sarah A. Gallison. . September 5th, Sidney Perham, Alexander Day, Kilbon Perham and T. B. Carter were chosen delegates to the Oxford Univer- salist Association, at Bethel.
1864, June 5. Frances L. Fuller, Henrietta D. Cummings and Martha J. Tuttle were baptized ; sermon by Rev. Z. Thomp- son.
1865, July 9. The ordinance of baptism was administered to Mrs. Hannah E. Hilton, Mrs. Eliza A. Jacobs and Mrs. Maria G. Day, by Rev. Zenas Thompson.
1867, April 14. This day Rev. E. W. Coffin began his labors with the church, and for the first time in the history of the church it had a settled pastor, and several members bought a parsonage.
These few extracts from the records will give some idea of the church. Its numbers were never large and its resources always limited. Its meetings, up to the time of building the
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town house, which was somewhere about the year 1850, were held in school houses, and generally in the one in the Chase District. They were then held in the town house until the church was built at Bryant's Pond. The society had long con- templated building a house of worship and had held many meetings in pursuance thereof. It was finally decided to build and the timber was hauled to the spot. The place selected was on the County road below.
But now the Grand Trunk Railway was building through the town, and it soon became apparent that a village would spring up around the station at Bryant's Pond, and so it was wisely determined to locate the house there. A fine lot was given by Mr. Joseph Frye, and the house was located in the Pine grove where it still stands. It was built by Mr. Moses Houghton and was very substantially made.
MINISTERS. D. T. Stevens was the first laborer in this field, and was greatly beloved by the early members of this faith. N. C. Hodgdon was also an occasional preacher here. After the meetings were held at the town house, John L. Stevens, who afterwards entered politics and has been a foreign minister for the last dozen or more years, preached here a portion of the time. T. J. Tenney, of Norway, preached frequently in Wood- stock and to great acceptance. In 1854, after the church edifice at Bryant's Pond was dedicated, Rev. Zenas Thompson, who was settled over the church in Bethel and resided there, engaged for half the time here. He was an able preacher, and the church was much strengthened under his ministry. Rev. A. G. Gaines, now at the head of the St. Lawrence University at Canton, N. Y., succeeded Mr. Thompson at Bethel, and also for one or two seasons preached a portion of the time at Bryant's Pond. After him came John Dore, O. H. Johnson, and finally, Ezekiel W. Coffin, a native of Maine, but long a resident of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, his last settlement before coming here being Jaffrey, N. H., came here with his family. Several of the members of the society united with him in the pur-
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chase of a building for a parsonage. The place selected was the one previously occupied by Joseph Moody and Wm. Ackley and others. He commenced his labors here in the spring of 1867, s stated in the records, and the society began to feel that it had taken a new departure and was on the high road to prosperity. But after preaching with as a year, Mr. Coffin became discontented, or at least his family did, and the society were surprised by the announcement that he had received and accepted a call to go to Orange, Mass. He has since deceased. The society was soon after weakened by the removal of quite a number of members from town. J. F. Simmons, who was settled at Bethel, has preached for the society since Mr. Coffin went away, and for some years they were without a regular supply. Quite recently, Rev. L. H. Tabor has moved here with his family, preaches here a portion of the time, and also in the adjoining towns.
A list of persons who contributed to the support of the society a year previous, and during the ministry of Mr. Coffin, is given below : S. A. Brock, A. P. Bowker, F. A. Barstow, C. P. Berry, K. T. Bryant, J. C. Billings, H. C. Berry, Benj. Bacon, F. M. Bartlett, D. P. Bowker, Lawson Bryant, J. Churchill, Perrin Dudley, T. R. Day, Alex. Day, Elijah Day, Daniel Day, John Day, H. F. Cole, N. B. Crockett, Henrietta Cummings, A. T. Cummings, G. Cole, S. B. Doughty, Wm. Day, Caleb Fuller, G. G. Fuller, Artemas Felt, Elbridge Fifield, Granville N. Felt, Samuel B. Frost, Hannah Hilton, Levi J. Gilbert, J. C. Gallison, Sarah A. Gallison, Moses Houghton, E. M. Hobbs, J. M. Galli- son, Austin A. Gray, Aaron M. Irish, L. C. Jewell, Thaddeus R. Knight, Wm. B. Lapham, Danville J. Libby, Cyrus Millett, Sylvania Perham, Kilbon Perham, Joel Perham, Joel Perham, Jr., Joshua Perham, Joseph Pray, Andrew J. Perham, Rufus S. Ran- dall, Alanson M. Trull, David G. Swan, James Sheran, Mrs. Martha J. Tuttle, Chas. O. Whitman, Harrison S. Whitman, John C. Warren, Alanson M. Whitman, Geo. W. Whitman, Lyman York, Ansel Dudley, sixty-four in all.
The plans and specifications for the church edifice at Bryant's
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Pond were furnished by Ezra F. Beal, of Norway, October 10, 1851; it was commenced in the spring of 1852, and was for- mally dedicated February 2, 1853. It was the first church erected in town, and the first one in Oxford County north of Norway, owned exclusively by the Universalist denomination. The services of the dedication were conducted as follows : Read- ing of the Scriptures and invocation by Rev. John L. Stevens, of Norway; sermon by Rev. M. Goodrich, of Lewiston; dedi- catory prayer by Rev. D. T. Stevens, of Norway. In the after- noon, a sermon was preached by Rev. John L. Stevens. The meetings were largely attended, and much interest was manifested in the occasion. The building, all finished ready for use, cost about two thousand dollars, and the sale of pews liquidated the debt.
A social Library was organized in connection with the Universalist Society in Woodstock, Nov. 18, 1843. It was or- ganized by virtue of a warrant issued to Alden Chase from Robinson Parlin, a Justice of the Peace. At the first meeting, holden on the above day, Robinson Parlin was chosen Mod- erator and Sidney Perham, Clerk. Alden Chase, Robinson Parlin and Sidney Perham were appointed a committee to report a constitution. They subsequently made a report which was accepted. Robinson Parlin, Joel Perham and Sidney Perham were chosen managers, Alfred Chase, Librarian, and Sidney Perham, Alden Chase and Robinson Parlin a committee to purchase books.
The Constitution, which contained twenty-two articles, pro- vided for an annual meeting at the dwelling house of the Libra- rian on the first Saturday in December. Fifty cents were re- quired to be paid by each member on joining, and an annual assessment of not less than ten cents. Books were allowed to be kept twelve weeks, and only one volume could be taken out at a time by the same person. Article 19 provided that no book should be received into the library except such as a ma- jority of the Universalist members should approve. Article 20
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provided that the library should be kept within the limits of School District Number 3, in Woodstock. The memberships were not confined to Woodstock. Robinson Parlin was of Paris, and several citizens of that town became members. The library was intended to be sectarian, as a few of the titles from the list of books first purchased will show: Paige's Selections, Titles of Jesus, Life of Murray, Quinby's Exposition, Whitte- more on the Parables, Smith on Divine Government, Ballou's Select Sermons, Treatise on Atonement, Law of Kindness, Universalism vs. Partialism, Radical Hints to Universalists, Universalist Guide, Happy Death Scenes, Ancient and Modern History of Universalism, Compend of Divinity, Crown of Thorns, Paige's Commentaries, etc.
At a meeting holden July 10, 1858, it was voted to move the library to the Universalist church at Bryant's Pond. Alfred Chase served as Librarian, with the exception of part of the year 1858, from the date of organization in 1843 to 1861, when Joel Perham, Jr., was chosen to succeed him. He served two years and was succeeded by Delphina Whitman, who served until 1868. The last recorded meeting of the proprietors was holden June 27, 1868. E. W. Coffin was chosen Moderator and Kilbon Perham Clerk. Joshua Perham, Perrin Dudley and E. W. Coffin were chosen managers. Soon after this the organiza- tion was dissolved and the books were divided among the mem- bers. It existed as long as most voluntary organizations of this kind do, and no doubt accomplished much good to the denom- ination, as it brought many valuable denominational books within the reach of those who were not able to own them.
THE METHODISTS.
The early Methodists of Woodstock were the families of David Ricker and Noah Curtis. Later, these were re-enforced by the Davis and Stephens families and others. The four named were strong and influential families, and left a numer-
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ous posterity, most of whom have adopted the religious views of their fathers. Jesse H. Stephens, son of Capt. Samuel, became quite a noted preacher of the Methodist denomination. For more than half a century they had no church edifice, but held their meetings, at first, in private houses, and in summer in barns, and later in the school houses. The first class was formed here about the year 1814, under the ministration of Rev. John Adams, and contained some fifteen members. This was the nucleus of the church and society which, next to the Baptist, became the most numerous religious society in town. The Fickett and Nute families, which came here from 1818 to 1820, were Methodists.
In 1856, a church edifice was erected in the lower part of the town, near Andrews' Mills, by the Methodists and Free Baptists. Subsequently, the Free Baptists built a house of worship at West Paris, and the Methodists became the exclusive owners of the church in Woodstock. The movers in the erec- tion of this church edifice and those who contributed the most liberally, were Adoniram Curtis and Orsamus Nute, both of whom have since left town, Chester D. Fickett, Nathan L. Marshall (a Free Baptist living in Paris), Joseph Davis and Rev. Levi Eldridge, who was at that time pastor of the Meth- odist church in Woodstock. The Methodists also had an in- terest in the church built mostly by the Baptists at Bryant's Pond, and for some years occupied it one-fourth of the time. Rev. George Briggs, who resided at Bryant's Pond, was the first minister under this arrangement. He has since deceased in Paris.
Woodstock has never been a circuit of itself ; it has been at different periods united with Bethel, Rumford and Paris. The Maine Conference was organized in 1824. The records of the Woodstock church are so incomplete that it is impossible to give a list of all the ministers that have supplied here. In 1830, the minister was M. Davis; 1831, J. Downing; 1832, B. Bryant; 1833, J. Stone; 1834, H. W. Latham; 1835, Dan
6
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Perry; 1836, W. F. Farrington; 1838, J. C. Perry; 1839, R. Mitchell; 1840, D. F. Quinby ; 1843, Jonathan Fairbanks. Since that time the circuit has been supplied, among others, by J. Lull, M. B. Cummings, T. Whittier, Joseph Mooar, J. L. Frazier, A. Turner, Geo. Briggs, L. Eldridge, R. H. Ford, Mr. Fogg, J. Collins and E. Gerry. The present incumbent is Rev. G. B. Hannaford, a native of Winthrop. The church is now in a flourishing condition.
MILLERISM.
There is one chapter in the religious history of this town which the historian, if governed by his own wishes, would leave unwritten, but which, as an impartial chronicler of events, he would not be justified in omitting. It may reflect no real dis- credit upon that portion of our population who embraced the delusion about to be described, but it certainly exhibits, in a strong light, the weaknesses of human nature when influenced by emotions of fear, or when under the influence of Intense religious excitement. Intelligence has little or nothing to do with it, for among the most fanatical of our town's people on this occasion, were those who had previously borne the highest character for sound judgment and practical common sense. In giving a brief account of the disreputable transactions which took place in this town during the year 1843, names will gen- erally be omitted.
It was the preaching and writings of William Miller, who, from a study of the Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse, and a system of figuring' not easily described, worked out and pro- claimed the second advent and the winding up of all things terrestrial in 1843. Miller was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1780, and died in 1849. He was a farmer, moved to Low Hampton, N. Y., and began to preach his peculiar doctrines in 1833. He traveled and preached and wrote, and his followers
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at one time were reckoned about fifty thousand. Though pro- claimed for some years, the startling doctrines of Miller do not appear to have had any marked effect upon the people of this State until the year prior to the time when, if the doctrines were true, these great events were to take place. In 1842, lecturers who had embraced Miller's views came into this town, and spoke in the school houses, sometimes to quite large audi- ences, drawn out more from curiosity than anything else. At these lectures, charts were exhibited, with figures of the monsters described by the prophet Daniel, and intended for effect. Whether sincere or not, these speakers appeared to be terribly in earnest, as the writer can bear witness, who attended several of these lectures. To the superficial mind, their reasoning and reckoning appeared plausible, and this was the first class to embrace the delusion. After this, it spread like wildfire, making proselytes in every part of the town, and, as the time drew nigh, the excitement grew more and more intense. The proselytes to the new faith were mostly from the Methodist denomination, but there were many in other denominations who, while taking no active part, felt that the doctrine might be true. The result was that the cause of religion was stimulated in all denomina- tions. The Baptists largely increased their number of com- municants, and a Free Baptist church sprung up on the Gore and at North Woodstock, with nearly a hundred members. The most hardened disbelievers, under the immense pressure brought to bear, became temporarily softened, confessed their sins and joined the church. It may be added (for this Free Baptist church will not again be referred to) that in a little more than a year it began to melt away, and in eighteen months from the date of its organization no vestige of a church was left. Its pastor, during its ephemeral existence, was a Rev. Mr. Kennerson, a young man who came here from New Hampshire. Rev. Mr. Hazeltine, of Bethel, also preached on the Gore, more or less, about that time. The Universalists, who do not believe in a future second advent, organized a church near the beginning
:
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of 1843, as a conservative movement, with a view, not so much of staying the progress of the delusion, for this was impossible, but of so influencing it that the town would receive the least possible harm from it.
But the Millerites, as the time drew near, or many of them, seemed to be literally insane with excitement. Most of the farmers put in the seed for a crop in the spring of 1843, but many of them refused to harvest it in the autumn, and the town authorities wisely took the matter in hand and harvested the crops, and thus averted a partial famine. Work was neg- lected or suspended on many farms all through the season; meetings were constantly held, and ascension robes were pre- pared for many. One of the peculiar tenets of the sect was a literal interpretation of the New Testament, where the multi- tude are told that they must become as little children. A large tent was erected on the land of Benjamin Stephens, on the County road from Paris to Rumford, where their meetings were held, and where the most ludicrous, not to say disgusting proceed- ings were had. The floor was covered with straw, and upon it men and women, boys and girls would roll and tumble promis- cuously, imitating, to the best of their ability, the language and acts of young children. If they were traveling upon the high- way and happened to meet anyone not of their own belief, they would get down on their hands and knees and creep in the sand, imitating the sounds and motions of children who were too young to walk. Feet washing was one of the observances in the tent, the hair being used as a towel. Sometimes a person would wake up in the night, pretending to be impressed with the duty to go and wash somebody's feet in a distant part of the town, and, faithful to the impression, he would immediately go to the place indicated, call the person up, perform the ceremony and return home. One man lost a child by death, and kept the remains in the house several months, with the expectation of being able to raise it from the dead. This man became violently insane and died by his own hand, a sad commentary on the form of faith
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he had embraced. But while these things were transpiring, there was a strong conservative element developed in town, which at length became aggressive, and determined that these disgusting scenes should be stopped. So strong was the pres- sure brought to bear, that many of their foolish practices were abandoned, and when after several days had been set for the final consummation of all things sublunary, and the world continued to move upon its axis, and day continued to follow night in the usual way; and finally when the year had passed away with- out bringing the world's crisis, their faith began to weaken, the excitement to subside, and gradually most of the deluded ones returned to their usual vocations. But the effects of the ex- citement showed themselves in various ways for some years after. Some of the families who had embraced the creed of Miller, returned to the bosom of the church from which they had strayed, but others adopted a modified form of faith, call- ing themselves Second Adventists, and continue to be known as such to the present time. It is but fair to say that they are respectable members of society, and none of them pretend to justify the performances growing out of the insane delusions of 1843.
TEMPERANCE.
When Woodstock was first settled, and for many years after- wards, the sale of intoxicating liquors was unrestricted, and the use of them was everywhere common. No building could be raised without rum, and liquor in some form was common in almost every household. The man who would furnish a gallon of New England rum for the use of those at work upon the highways, was credited a dollar on his highway taxes. The town furnished rum and whiskey at military trainings and for those employed on the repair of roads. The minister drank it, and it would have been deemed an act of inhospitality for the head of a family to allow the minister or a neighbor who had
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called upon him, to depart without offering him intoxicating beverage to drink. It was an almost universal panacea for all ills ; no one could be born without it, and no one could die without having it provided for his funeral. Of course there were moderate drinkers and those who drank to excess in Woodstock, the same as in other towns, but there were few, if any, in town who did not make use of more or less of it. It has been said that, as late as 1833, there was but one man in Woodstock who did not use intoxicating drinks, and that the only reason why he did not was because he loathed even the smell of it; and it is added that he himself regarded this as a great misfortune. This may or may not be true, but all accounts go to show that the early settlers of this town were given to drink, and not a few of them to excessive drinking. Liquors and a few groceries were often kept for sale in private houses long before any store was opened here. But Paris Hill . stores furnished the great bulk of the liquor drank during those years. The first restriction upon the sale of liquors that appears on the records was in 1823, and this could hardly be called a restriction, for it only required those who wished to engage in the retail business to take out a license. In 1823, Rowse Bisbee and John R. Briggs were licensed to retail "strong liquors," and the latter was licensed every year thereafter for seven years. Eleazer C. Shaw was licensed in 1830, and for three years after; Zephaniah B. Whitman and Learned Whit- man in 1833, William Cotton in 1834, and Welcome Kinsley, Edmund Chase and William Cotton in 1836. Briggs, Shaw and Kinsley were traders at Stephens' Mills, or " Woodstock Corner," as the hamlet was sometimes called, and this was the common resort for a majority of the male population of the town to assemble on Saturday afternoon and wrestle, pitch quoits, play ball, race horses and drink. These were the " good old days " that a few often referred to with regret after a large majority had realized the folly and wickedness of such a mode of life, and had banished intoxicating liquors from their homes.
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But Woodstock in its worst days was probably no worse than other towns in respect to its intemperance, and it reformed much earlier than some did.
As showing the character of the restriction placed upon a re- tailer of strong liquors by the terms of his license, the following is here given :
" Know all men by these presents, that we, William Cotton and Welcome Kinsley, within the town of Woodstock and County of Oxford and State of Maine, are holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto E. C. Shaw, Treasurer of said Woodstock, in 'the full and just sum of three hundred dollars, to be paid to the said E. C. Shaw, or his successors in said office, to the true payment whereof we do bind ourselves, each of us, and our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, by these presents. Sealed with our seals, dated the twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
The condition of this obligation is such that whereas the above named William Cotton, having been duly licensed as a retailer, in said town of Woodstock, to retail strong liquors, from the above mentioned date till the second Monday of September, 1837: now if the said Cotton shall in all re- spects observe and conform himself to such rules and regulations in refer- ence thereto, as may be prescribed by the bond granting said license, and shall in no respect violate any of the provisions of the act for the regula- tion of innholders, retailers and common victualers, then the above written obligation shall be void and of no effect, else shall abide and remain in full force and virtue.
" Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of us,
MELVIN POOL, WM. COTTON, [L. S.]
CHARLES COTTON. W. KINSLEY, [L. S.]"
The act here referred to was passed in 1833, and grew out of the efforts of the Maine State Temperance Society to stay the ravages which intemperance was making among all classes of our population. The licenses granted prior to this act were much less stringent, and in fact scarcely amounted to any re- striction at all. Where officers whose duty it is to enforce the law are themselves opposed to the law, and a frequent party to its violation, the law becomes a dead letter. So the early statutes to regulate the sale of intoxicants, while complied with so far as to require bonds of innholders and common victualers,
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were wholly disregarded in their spirit and execution. Training days generally brought out most of the people in the town, and even an election of officers was often attended by many who had no special interest there beyond that of mere lookers-on. On all these occasions, ardent spirits flowed freely. Newly-elected officers who did not " wet "-nay, " flood"-their commissions, were considered mean, and were bounced the first opportunity. So far was this spirit carried out that it became burdensome, and it was often the case that a person in the line of promotion was obliged to decline it on account of the expense it involved.
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