USA > Maine > History of the Baptists in Maine > Part 34
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Mrs. Fidelia Coburn Brooks also went to Africa for missionary service, but as her work was largely on the home field, an account of her labors will be given in the following chapter.
The next to hear the call to service in the foreign field was Lyman Jewett. He was born at Waterford, March 9, 1813, was graduated at Brown University in 1843 and at Newton Theological Institution in 1846. For awhile, as a supply, he served the Baptist church in Webster, Mass. But it was his purpose to engage in foreign mis- sionary work, and having received an appointment from the American Baptist Missionary Union in 1847, he was assigned to service in connection with the Telugu Mission in India. Mr. Jewett was ordained in Boston Oct. 6, 1848, and sailed from Boston, with Mrs. Jewett, Oct. 10, 1848. He was stationed at Nellore from 1848 to 1873, and at Madras from 1878 to 1885. Already, when Mr. Jewett went to India, the question of the abandonment of the mission had been raised, so unresponsive were the Telugus to the teachings of the missionaries. The question was again raised in 1853 at the annual meeting of the Mis- sionary Union in Albany, N. Y. One of those who took part in the discussion at that meeting, presumably Rev. Edward Bright, D. D., one of the secretaries of the Union, said he would never write the letter calling for the blot- ting out of the "Lone Star" on the map of India. Rev. S. F. Smith was so impressed by these words that in the
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
following night he wrote his famous hymn, "The Lone Star," commencing
"Shine on 'Lone Star !' thy radiance bright Shall spread o'er all the eastern sky,"
and read it at the meeting the next morning, when it was resolved to continue the mission. At the meeting of the Union in Providence, R. I., in 1862, this question was again considered, and it was decided to await the return of Dr. Jewett, then on his way to this country on account of impaired health. When the question was brought to the attention of Dr. Jewett, he stoutly opposed the abandon- ment of the mission. "Well, Brother Jewett," said Dr. Warren, the foreign secretary of the Union, "if you are resolved to return to India, we must send some one with you to give you a Christian burial in that heathen land." The story of the Ongole prayer meeting in 1854, of the reinforcement that came to this mission in the appoint- ment of John E. Clough in 1864, and of the great ingather- ing in 1878 in connection with the work of the Telugu mission, is too well known to be repeated here. In addi- tion to his missionary labors, Dr. Jewett translated the New Testament into the Telugu language, and his trans- lation is still in use in our Telugu mission. Dr. Jewett returned to this country in 1885, and his remaining years were spent in Fitchburg, Mass. He died Jan. 7, 1897.
At the meeting of the Maine Baptist Convention at East Winthrop, June 17, 1845, Rev. William Dean, a mission- ary to China, temporarily in this country, was present, the first missionary from the foreign field to appear at one of our Maine Baptist anniversaries. He "presented a pun- gent and deeply interesting appeal" in behalf of foreign missions, and it was recommended to the several associa- tions by the Convention that "they raise funds for the support of as many foreign missionaries and native assist- ants as they possibly can, and that the money be collected between the sessions of the several associations and the first of October, 1846." It was also proposed by Rev.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
L. B. Allen that one thousand dollars be raised, in shares of twenty-five dollars each, for the purpose of sending out a new missionary as a reinforcement to some one of our Asiatic missions, payable within a month after the board shall give notice that a missionary is ready to go. A large amount was pledged on the spot. This was fol- lowed, according to the Minutes, by a deeply interesting discussion, in the course of which the fact came out that a brother in the house, a pastor of one of the Maine churches, was ready to go to the foreign field, provided he could be sent; and others in the State, it was added, had a like purpose.
How greatly the contributions of the Baptists of Maine for foreign missions were increased from 1830 to 1845, appears in the following table :
1830,
$1,191.63
1838,
$1,142.89
1831,
775.22
1839,
2,005.61
1832,
1,045.27
1840,
3,178.53
1833,
1,161.88
1841,
1,466.81
1834,
1,548.15
1842,
1,553.43
1835,
1,522.92
1843,
1,303.00
1836,
1,592.16
1844,
3,420.44
1837,
2,775.45
1845,
3,368.27
Adoniram Judson, D. D., on his first return to this coun- try, arrived in Boston Oct. 15, 1845. On the return voy- age he had buried at St. Helena his wife, Sarah Boardman Judson, who died on shipboard, near that island, Sept. 1, 1845. In order to visit the Boardmans Dr. Judson came to Maine. He reached Bath the latter part of March, 1846. On a raw, chilly afternoon the stage stopped at a house on High street, near Oak, now known as the Gannett house, but then the home of the pastor of the Baptist church, Rev. Handel G. Nott. A stranger alighted, and walking slowly up to the door inquired for Mr. Nott, saying, "My name is Judson. I have stopped in Bath to see Mr. Nott, as he bears the name, and I have learned from mutual friends in Boston is a cousin, of Rev. Samuel Nott, who went to India with me." Mr. Nott, however, was not in
FIRST CHURCH, WATERVILLE.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
town. Dr. Judson expressed great disappointment, but accepted an earnest invitation to spend the night in Mr. Nott's home. After tea he consented to meet a few Chris- tian friends. Mr. Nott's sons, Richard and Kingman, were sent to summon some of the members of the Baptist church; also to the lecture rooms of the Congregational churches, where meetings were held that evening, with messages for the pastors and deacons. As soon as possi- ble those thus summoned hastened to the home of Mr. Nott, eager to meet the "American apostle" of whom they had heard so much, but whom they had never expected to see in the flesh. Dr. Judson, as unpretentious as a little child, received them in the northeast front room with a pleasant greeting, and said a few words to the little com- pany, diverting attention from himself to the condition of the heathen and to the commission given by his and their Lord to promulgate the gospel among all peoples. But the little company saw that he was weary, and felt that they ought not to tarry. They went away, however, not as they came, but sadly, some in tears, with slow step, glancing backward for one more look at the good man, and like the friends of another Paul, "sorrowing most of all . that they should see his face no more."1
From Bath Dr. Judson proceeded to Waterville, where he remained over Sunday. He was present at the service in the church in the morning, but his physician had for- bidden his addressing a large audience. He consented, however, to address the students at the college Sunday afternoon. Rev. A. K. P. Small, D. D., was then in the first year of his college course and retains a very distinct recollection of that memorable hour as the students assem- bled in one of the recitation rooms at the college and Dr. Judson, standing in the midst, addressed them. "The crowded room was hushed into the most death-like still- ness in order that not a syllable should be lost to any ear; and as the low, earnest, melodious tones fell upon
1 From an account in Zion's Advocate communicated by a member of Mr. Nott's family.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
us, it seemed hardly sacrilegious to be reminded of the 'still small voice' that addressed the prophet Elijah."1 Of course the topic Dr. Judson pressed upon the attention of those who so eagerly listened to him was the claims of foreign missions. There was no appeal to romantic sen- timent. "I have seen so much of the trials and responsi- bility of missionary labors," he said, "that I am unwilling to urge anyone to assume them. The urging must come from a higher source." Incidentally he alluded to the grand motive which decided him to become a missionary. Some one, not long before, had asked him whether faith or love had influenced him most in going to the heathen. "I thought of it awhile," he replied, "and at length con- cluded that there was in me but little of either. But in thinking of what did influence me, I remembered a time, out in the woods back of Andover Seminary, when I was almost disheartened. Everything looked dark. No one had gone out from this country. The way was not open. The field was far distant and in an unhealthy climate. I knew not what to do. All at once that 'last command' seemed to my heart directly from heaven. I could doubt no longer, but determined on the spot to obey it at all hazards, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my dear brethren, if the Lord wants you for missionaries, he will set that command home to your hearts. If he does so, you neglect it at your peril."
One suggestion made by Dr. Judson had reference to the ruling motive in those having the Christian ministry in view. "Let not your object," he said, "be so much to 'do your duty,' or even to 'save souls,' though these should have a place in your motives, as to please the Lord Jesus. Let this be your ruling motive in all that you do." Dr. Small says Dr. Judson was exceedingly impressive as he urged this consideration upon his student hearers.
1 The late J. C. Stockbridge, D. D., was at that time pastor of the Baptist church in Waterville, and this extract, and other interesting incidents connected with Dr. Judson's visit to Maine, are taken from an article written by Dr. Stockbridge and published in The Standard not long before Dr. Stockbridge's death.
393
HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Dr. Stockbridge accompanied Dr. Judson in the visit that he made in the next few days to the Boardmans in New Sharon. Rev. Sylvanus Boardman, the father of George Dana Boardman, had died March 16, 1845, a little more than a year before ; but other members of the family were still living in the old Boardman homestead. "It may be imagined," wrote Dr. Stockbridge, "how warm was the welcome extended to Dr. Judson by those who recognized him as the husband of the widowed wife of their own beloved 'George Dana.'"' Many a sacred recol- lection must have been awakened in the heart of Dr. Judson, as well as in the hearts of the members of the Boardman family, as guests and hosts talked together by the fireside in that quiet New Sharon home! This was Dr. Judson's first and last visit to Maine.1
At the meeting of the Convention at Damariscotta, in 1848, Rev. J. H. Vinton, who had just returned from Burma, was present and addressed the Convention with reference to the reinforcement of the Karen mission. Rev. J. M. Haswell of the Burman mission was present at the Convention in Bloomfield in 1851, and made an address. In the following year Mr. Haswell and Dr. Bright, foreign secretary of the Missionary Union, were present at the Convention held in Belfast. Earnest mes- sages they brought, and the missionary spirit was greatly quickened by these representatives of the work abroad. In 1853, at the meeting of the Convention at Saco, Rev. J. R. Scott, who had been pastor of the First Baptist church in Portland, but had accepted an appointment as a missionary to France, was present, and by an address
1 Dr. Judson's father, Rev. Adoniram Judson, was the first pastor of the Baptist church in Damariscotta. He had been a Congregational pastor at Plymouth, Mass., but became a Baptist in 1817, and having been received from the Second Baptist church in Boston as a member of the Damariscotta church (then the Second Nobleborough church), he was re-ordained Sept. 30, 1819. Mr. Judson served the church as pastor only a short time, however, retiring in 1821, the church reluctantly consenting to the sever- ance of the ties uniting pastor and people, but he was now upwards of seventy years of age, and doubtless already felt the need of withdrawing from the active duties of the pastorate. He returned to Plymouth, Mass., his former home, and died at Scituate, Mass., Nov. 25, 1826, aged seventy-six years.
394
HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
awakened much interest in the work to which he had been called by the Missionary Union. Mr. Scott was to have charge of the mission church in Paris, and he was also to instruct theological students connected with the French Baptist mission. The appointment seemed to offer a field of great usefulness, and Mr. Scott asked to be released from his pastorate in order that he might enter upon this service. The request was reluctantly granted, the church bearing witness "to the rare ability, kind feeling and fidelity which had distinguished his labors in Portland, making a sacrifice at the call of the missionary board to which no consideration could reconcile them save the belief that the great head of the church may have required it." It was so ordered, however, that Mr. Scott did not go to Paris, but continued in the work of the pastorate in this country, though not in Maine.
The next to offer himself for service in the foreign field was Henry A. Sawtelle. He was born in Sidney, Dec. 11, 1832, was graduated at Waterville College in 1854, and at Newton Theological Institution in 1858. July 8, 1858, he was ordained as pastor of the Baptist church in Limerick, where he remained a year, and then received from the American Baptist Missionary Union an appoint- ment as a missionary to China. Thither he went, with Mrs. Sawtelle, and was stationed first at Hong Kong and subsequently at Swatow. Failing health, however, com- pelled him to return to this country in 1861. At length he returned to the pastorate. He was in San Francisco, Cal., 1862-76 ; Chelsea, Mass., 1877-82; Kalamazoo, Mich., 1882-84, and again in San Francisco 1884-85, and died at Waterville, Me., Nov. 22, 1885. Dr. Sawtelle was a man of scholarly attainments, deep consecration to his Master's service and greatly beloved by all who knew him.
In 1862, at the Convention at Skowhegan, Dr. Shailer called attention to the decrease in the churches' contribu- tions for foreign missions. These contributions had been as follows from 1846 :
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
1846,
$6,440.14
1855,
$5,434.46
1847,
4,676.82
1856,
5,103.21
1848,
5,388.23
1857,
4,604.63
1849,
6,052.28
1858,
3,987.16
1850,
4,506.87
1859,
3,761.54
1851,
5,072.49
1860,
3,790.69
1852,
5,899.93
1861,
3,553.69
1853,
4,666.86
1862,
3,530.78
1854,
5,537.92
Dr. Shailer had reference to the eight years 1855-1862. Not only had the sum contributed by the churches in this time decreased in amount, he said, but the number of con- tributing churches also had decreased, so that only about sixty-five churches had made contributions to the foreign mission cause during the preceding year. This was a retrograde movement which "should be checked," he said, "and we should put forth our most earnest endeavors not only to regain what has been lost, but also to advance beyond any point which hitherto we have attained." The advance was made. The contributions for the next ten years were as follows :
1863,
$3,522.58
1868,
$4,506.35
1864,
4,189.80
1869,
4,559.52
1865,
4,002.04
1870,
4,801.16
1866,
4,862.57
1871,
4,564.11
1867,
4,450.44
1872,
7,260.75
This contribution for 1872 is the largest from Maine the Missionary Union has ever acknowledged,1 and must have contained large items received by bequest. The amount reported by the Maine churches in 1872, in their own statistics was $3,850; but every year money is sent to
1 On page 348 the statement is made that in 1893 one hundred and ninety-six of the Baptist churches in Maine gave more than $14,000 for the work in foreign fields. This is the statement made in the report of the board of the Maine Baptist Missionary Conven- tion for that year (Minutes for 1893, p. 20), and was based on the report of the New Eng- land district secretary of the Missionary Union, who on page 222 of the 79th annual report of the Union (Missionary Magazine for July, 1893) reported receipts from Maine as follows : Donations, $8,660.09 ; legacies, $1,000.00 ; Woman's Society, $4,663.76; total, $14,323.85. Dr. Mckenzie's report under "Donations" evidently contained an error, occa- sioned, it may be, by hasty computation, as the figures of the treasurer's books give the amount of donations as $7,027.96.
396
HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
the Missionary Union from Maine which is not reported through the churches.
But there was not only an increase in contributions after 1862, but also in the number of missionaries from Maine. Evidently there was at this time a quickening of the missionary spirit in the churches.
Maine's next representative on the foreign field, Rev. D. A. W. Smith, was born in Waterville, June 18, 1840, where his father, the late Rev. S. F. Smith, D. D., author of "My country, 'tis of thee," was pastor of the Baptist church. Dr. Smith removed to Newton Center, Mass., in 1842, but the son returned to Waterville in 1854 and took the first year of his college course in Waterville College, graduating at Harvard College in 1859. After teaching a year in South Carolina, he entered Newton Theological Institution, and was graduated in 1863. July 26, 1863, he was ordained at Newton Center, and having been accepted as a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, he sailed for Burma, with his wife, a daughter of Rev. E. A. Stevens, D. D., of Burma. He was stationed at Rangoon from 1864 to 1866, while learning the Karen language, and then was engaged in missionary service at Henzada from 1866 to 1875. On the death of Dr. Binney, he was made president of the Karen Theologi- cal Seminary, which position he still holds. During his work of instruction Dr. Smith has translated and pub- lished Wayland's Moral Science, an extended treatise on Logic, a Commentary on the whole Bible in several vol- umes, also many other works, besides employing the press in various ways in giving a growing literature to the Bap- tists in Burma.
Rev. Alonzo Bunker, D. D., born in Atkinson, Jan. 30, 1837, soon followed Mr. Smith to Burma. He was grad- uated at Waterville College in 1862, and Newton Theolog- ical Institution in 1865. During his theological studies he had devoted himself to city mission work, but his eyes were upon the foreign field, as were those of his class-
397
HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
mates Cushing and Norris.1 He was ordained at East Winthrop, Aug. 3, 1865, and having been accepted as a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, he was assigned to service at Toungoo, Burma. Thither he made his way, and with characteristic energy entered upon his work. From Toungoo, as soon as he had com- mand of the language, he pushed out into the regions beyond with the zeal of an apostle, making his way through deep jungles, climbing high mountains, working among the hill tribes-a frontier missionary, always seek- ing to make new conquests for the Christ he served and always successful in the endeavor. Again and again he was compelled to return to his native land for renewed health and strength, but his heart was in Burma and thither again he hastened with some new, great purpose in his heart, which was aflame with love to God and men-an inspiration to all who are interested in the prog- ress of the Redeemer's kingdom at home and abroad. At present Dr. Bunker is in this country for rest and refresh- ment, having returned to the United States in the summer of 1903.
Dr. Bunker, in making Burma his field of service, was soon followed by Henry M. Hopkinson, who was born at New Sharon, Feb. 1, 1840. While a student at Water- ville College in 1863, he heard the call of his country and enlisted in the Sixteenth Maine Infantry, remaining with the regiment until the close of the Civil War. He then returned to his studies at Waterville, was graduated at Colby in 1868, and at Newton Theological Institution in 1871. Offering himself to the Missionary Union for ser- vice in the foreign field, he was ordained at Bangor Oct. 5, 1871, and sailed for Burma, where he was stationed at Bassein and did faithful service until 1876. Failing health then compelled him to return to this country, and he has since served as pastor at East Madison, Me., Halifax, Vt., West Wardsboro, Vt., Lebanon, Me., and Perkinsville, Vt.
1 Rev. James F. Norris, who was ordained in the First Baptist church, Portland, in 1865, and then went to Burma as a missionary, was not born in Maine, but in Danbury, N. H.
398
HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
The Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was organized in Boston, April 3, 1871. It was believed that by means of such an organization the interest of the women in our churches in foreign mission work would be enlisted in a far greater degree than would be possible without such an organization. And this proved to be the fact. Foreign mission circles were formed. The interest of chil- dren and young people was awakened and deepened. Miss Sarah Curtis of Hampden was made state secretary for Maine, and with a zeal that never flagged she devoted her- self to the task of bringing the women in our Maine Bap- tist churches to recognize their ability and responsibility in this work. Rev. J. L. Dearing, D. D., of Yokohama, Japan, writes : "How well I remember one Sunday after- noon, when in a certain home in Waterville, I, a student in the institute, first met Sarah Curtis and heard her talk of her interest in missions. She was one of the first per- sons I had ever met who seemed to talk of missions as a vital thing in which she believed. The heathen seemed as real to her as the people of Waterville. I listened with mingled wonder and amusement, but I never forgot the impression, and that afternoon undoubtedly had its share in leading me to mission work."
As state secretary Miss Curtis visited the churches, called the women together, and made known to them the needs of the work. At Thomaston, in 1877, she was able to report that mission circles had been established in about one-fourth of the Baptist churches in Maine. Miss Curtis had an humble estimate of her own abilities, but strong faith in God; and the steady increase in the contributions of the women in Maine to the treasury of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society from $199.86 in 1872, the first year of her service as secretary, to $2,085.52 in 1883, the last year of her service, is proof of her fidelity. In this last year-a year of weariness and suffering-Miss Curtis traveled five hundred and eighty-nine miles, wrote two hundred and fifty-five letters and postals, and distributed one thousand tracts and papers. She died June 24, 1883,
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
leaving her work to others who have carried it on in the same spirit of consecration. In memory of Miss Curtis, the Sarah Curtis Home of the Girls' School in Tokyo was erected not long after, and toward its erection the women of Maine contributed $4,000. The Sarah Curtis Home is not a Christian school only, but the center of much ear- nest, successful missionary work.
Among the first to respond to the call of the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was Sarah Boardman Barrows, daughter of a former pastor in Maine, Rev. Allen Barrows. She was born in Ellsworth, April 17, 1841, while her father was pastor of the Baptist church in that place. Missions were exalted in that home. One of her brothers was named William Carey, and this daughter received the sainted name Sarah Boardman. She united with the Baptist church at Newton Center while her brother William was a student at the seminary, and was baptized by Dr. O. S. Stearns. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society was organized largely by women con- nected with the Newton Center church, and Miss Barrows early in her Christian life became interested in the work of the Society. At length she offered herself for service in the foreign field in connection with that work. She was accepted May 7, 1872, and went to Burma in that year. At first she was stationed at Toungoo and was con- nected with the Tamil School. Afterward she was trans- ferred to Moulmein, where for a while she assisted Miss Haswell in the Morton Lane School. Then came a term of service in the Girl's English High School. In 1879, she began her work in the Burmese Boys' School, which she superintended for nearly fifteen years, and with marked success. Her strong personality, consistent Christian life, unswerving faith in God's Word, blended with uniform cheerfulness and ready wit, won the respect and love of her teachers and students. In 1885-86, she was in this country and was accompanied by one of her assistants, Mah Mhyah. Returning to Burma she resumed her work ; but her health failing at length she came back to this
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
country in 1898. On her return to Burma, she was placed in charge of the Zigon station. But she soon found that her strength was unequal to the task she had assumed, and reluctantly she returned to this country. She died at the home of her sister in Grafton, N. B., Dec. 21, 1902, and was buried at East Sumner, Me., by the side of her father and mother.
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