USA > Maine > History of the Baptists in Maine > Part 8
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for his valuable work he visited Maine and made personal investigations. The solution of the problem presented by these different statements is doubtless to be found in Ben- edict's General History of the Baptist Denomination in America. He does not raise any question as to the true date, but referring to the New Hampshire Baptist Association (Vol. 1, p. 319, Ed. of 1813), he says : "This body was begun under the name of a confer- ence in 1776, and did not assume the name and standing of an association until 1785." Referring to the part Dr. Shepard and Mr. Hooper took in the formation of the confer- ence, Dr. Benedict says : "At their first interview they were visited by Mr. Backus, the historian, who was then traveling through the country." This statement is important in connection with Mr. Backus' date of the organization of the association. He was present when the conference was formed in 1776, and he regarded that as the beginning of the association. There doubtless was a formal organization in 1785, as Benedict sug- gests, but he was wrong, it would seem, in saying that the conference, begun in 1776, did not assume the name of an association until 1785, for in the Minutes of the Warren Association for 1784 occurs the following : "A letter was received from the New Hamp- shire Association, consisting of six churches, containing nearly four hundred members, by the hand of Elder William Hooper, who gave a clear and satisfactory account of their faith and order. They were received into a brotherly connection with us, and Elder Edmund Pilsbury from thence was also received to act with us. Their next meeting is to be at Northwood on the second Wednesday in June next, and Elder Hezekiah Smith and Thos. Guir are appointed as messengers to them." Of course it is possible that the word association was used as a general term and not with reference to the actual fact.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
slight advance in the towns between Portsmouth and Falmouth.
The church at Shapleigh was admitted to the associa- tion at this meeting in Berwick. The town of Shapleigh was incorporated under its present name in 1785. But before this time, among the first settlers, a pioneer reli- gious work was done by Elder Tozer Lord and Mr. Abra- ham Pugsley, who assembled the people for public worship in barns and private houses. At length Mr. Nehemiah Davis settled in the place, and as he was accustomed to preach he took charge of the meetings. In 1787, Mr. Davis was ordained as a Baptist minister in the dwelling house of Edmund Coffin, near the corner. At Berwick in 1789, the church reported a membership of twenty-three, with Nehemiah Davis1 as pastor, and Abraham Pugsley as deacon.
At this meeting of the association a question was asked by the messenger from the church in Northword, "'Whether a member, neglecting his attendance on the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, repeated, ought to be suspended when he pleads darkness of mind, and his want of a suitable sense of religion as an excuse." In answer there is this record : "It is the judgment of this associa- tion that we ought as members of the church of Christ to act as rational creatures respecting his ordinances ; and as he has left the institution of his Supper to be observed in his church until his second coming, and enjoined it upon them to do it in remembrance of him, it follows that we ought, as worthy receivers, to have a suitable sense of the nature and importance of that sacred ordinance upon our hearts ; yet we do not think it absolutely necessary to
1 Rev. E. L. Krumreig, pastor of the First Baptist church in Shapleigh, in an Historical Address, Aug. 25, 1901, says Mr. Davis moved into the place in 1780 "and took the lead of the religious meetings, which resulted in the forming of a church, with deacons and clerk, in 1781." It is to be noted, however, that in the statistical tables of the early Minutes of the New Hampshire Association, chronologically arranged, the Shapleigh church fol- lows the Coxhall church, which was organized in 1782. In 1798 Mr. Davis sold his farm and moved to Ohio. A division of the flock followed soon after on account of "Freewill doctrine," and the Baptist church, somewhat weakened, took the name of the "Baptist church at Shapleigh Corner" in 1801, and appointed a committee to make arrangements for building a meeting-house. Mr. Krumreig's Historical Address, pp. 13, 14.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
have an extraordinary impulse or impression made on the mind, in order to qualify us for being worthy communi- cants. But at the same time, we think those who plead darkness of mind, and want of a due sense of religion, ought not to be suspended, but rather to be labored with in the spirit of love and meekness to bring them to a proper sense of their duty."
In the following year, 1790, the New Hampshire Asso- ciation met June 9th, at Gilmanton, N. H. The number of churches and ministers reported was the same as in the previous year, but there was a net gain of sixteen mem- bers. . The following question was asked at this meeting : "Whether it is the duty of Christians, having the gift of singing, to learn themselves, and instruct their children in the art of Psalmody, so that that part of divine worship may be performed with more decency and good order ?" This question was answered unanimously in the affirma- tive. Among those present at the association was Rev. Thomas Baldwin of Canaan, N. H., and with Zebadiah Richardson he prepared the Circular Letter, exhorting Christians to love and good works. A few weeks later, while on a visit to Massachusetts, Mr. Baldwin received a call to the pastorate of the Second Baptist church in Bos- ton, and in November following he entered upon his long and useful ministry in the New England metropolis.
In 1791, the association met in Brentwood, June 8th and 9th. Rev. Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill was present, and was chosen moderator. Reference was made in the Circu- lar Letter to "the glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit" in different parts of the land. The churches in the asso- ciation, still eight in number, had shared in the blessing and reported a net gain of sixty members and a total membership of 546.
A still greater blessing was shared by these churches in the following year. When the association met in Deer- field June 13, 1792, the membership was 807, a gain of 261.
Hardly less noteworthy was the gain reported at the meeting of the association in Northwood, June 12 and 13,
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
1793. Three churches were received into the association, all of them from the District of Maine, viz., the churches in Waterborough, Francisborough (Cornish) and Frye- burg, and the total membership was 1,066. The church in Waterborough was organized Oct. 27, 1791, in the house of Nathaniel Haines, with eight members. The pastor of the church in Coxhall and one delegate and the pastor of the church in Shapleigh and one delegate formed the council. Rev. Henry Smith became pastor of the church in 1794. Among the original settlers in Francisborough (Cornish) were several Baptists from Sanford. Meetings were held, converts were made and a branch of the church in San- ford was instituted. In 1792, this branch was recognized as a regular Baptist church, with J. Allen and Andrew Sherburne as deacons.1 Mr. Sherburne, later, became pas- tor of the Baptist church in Kennebunkport. Millet2 says there was a Baptist church in Fryeburg as early as 1787, of which Rev. Z. Richardson was pastor.
Rev. Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill was present at the meeting of the New Hampshire Association in 1793, preached the associational sermon and was elected moder- ator. In the Circular Letter, written by Rev. John Peak, there is this reference to the state of religion in the churches : "Trust prevails, our churches revive, converts
1 It was eight years before the hardy settlers, who were the founders of the Cornish church, were able to build a meeting-house. Dr. Cyrus Snell drafted the plan and Dea. Noah Jewett, who had been a carpenter in New Hampshire before he became a settler in Cornish, had charge of the erection of the building, a task requiring four full years. The work was done by slow, hand labor. "Every board and clapboard was hand planed. Every door, window frame and sash was handmade. The entire interior was sealed with pine lumber hand planed in panel fashion. Not a trowel full of mortar was used, for not an inch of it was plastered, nor was there any chimney or any possible means of warm- ing the building. The house was two stories in height, with enormous galleries upon their sides, and was intended to afford a seat for every man, woman and child in town. The pulpit was something like an ornamental beehive, high above the pews, entrance to which was gained by a flight of narrow, steep stairs. Entering the pulpit the minister closed a heavy door and sat down, the seat being so low and the pulpit so high that when seated he could not be seen by any member of the congregation. Over the pulpit, suspended in part by a big rod of iron, was a prodigious sounding-board. In front of the pulpit were the deacons' seats, places of high dignity and importance." This description of the Cornish meeting-house is from an article in Zion's Advocate March 2, 1904, by L. W. Small of Brooklyn, N. Y., who is a native of Cornish. The description is doubtless that of the better class of meeting-houses in Maine one hundred years ago.
" History of the Baptists in Maine, p. 45.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
are multiplied, additions are daily made to the churches of such as we hope shall be saved, and the spirit of persecu- tion is not suffered to rage as heretofore."
This record appears in the Minutes: "Whereas there are some persons baptized that have not given themselves members of any particular church, and live in neglect of the holy ordinance of the Supper,
"Voted, It is our opinion, that it is the duty of ordained elders that baptize, to hold in their fellowship, and as members of their particular churches, all persons by them baptized, until dismissed to some other church of the same faith and order-and not to baptize strangers belonging nigh to another Baptist church, without some special reason can be given."
In 1794, the New Hampshire Association was held in Gilmanton, N. H. The churches represented were the same as in the preceding year, except that Francisborough appears as Cornish, and the church in Salisbury, with Elias Smith as pastor, was received into the association and added to the list, making twelve churches with nine ministers and 1,126 members. Answers to two questions were requested : "The church in Northwood wish to know the opinion of this association respecting those who are by some called ruling elders in our churches; and con- fess themselves at a loss, whether there were any other officers in the apostles' days more than those who were ordained to preach the gospel, and deacons to serve tables. Answer. It is the opinion of this association that ruling eldership in distinction from teaching eldership is a scrip- tural example. In proof of which opinion we refer you to Timothy 5:17, 'Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in word and doctrine.' Here appears to be a distinction between those who both rule and teach, and those who rule only. And that there is a difference between this office and that of deacons, the duty and character of whom are particu- larly pointed out in Acts 6 :1, 2, 3, 4 and 1 Timothy 3 :8, &c., of whom, however, nothing is said about ruling."
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
"A question of the church of Cornish was proposed, viz., whether there be any, and what is the difference between foreordination and foreknowledge. Answer. If there is any difference, it is the opinion of this association that it consists in this, viz., that the scriptural idea of foreordination implies a divine appointment, or decree, which necessarily involves the purpose of divine agency in bringing about such appointment. And that foreknowl- edge implies a full and perfect understanding of events hereafter to take place, so that there can be no mistake in such knowledge, and therefore such events take place without fail, otherwise there would be a mistake in him that is said to foreknow; and of consequence it would cease to be foreknowledge. But yet, however, it is not supposed that foreknowledge always implies purpose of agency to bring about such events ; but a full and perfect knowledge of such beings as are the supposed agents ; so that foreordination and foreknowledge both precede cer- tain events (probably) with this difference, however, that foreordination supposes determination to bring about the supposed event by the immediate agency of him that foreordains. Foreknowledge does not always imply self- agency in bringing about the event, but a foreknowledge of the agent and event."
June 10, 1795, the association met in Salisbury and Rev. Eliphalet Smith preached from Eph. 3:20, 21. It was voted to join in the concert of prayer proposed and rec- ommended by the ministers of several denominations "on the first Tuesday in every quarter, at two o'clock P. M., beginning with January." A Circular Letter was read and approved, but as the author failed to hand it to the clerk, the clerk inserted in the Minutes one prepared by himself.
The next meeting of the association was held at Mad- bury, June 8 and 9, 1796. Rev. Hezekiah Smith of Haver- hill, Mass., was chosen moderator. The church in New- ton was received into the association. At this meeting the churches in the District of Maine, Berwick, Sanford, 7
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Wells, Coxhall, Shapleigh, Waterborough, Cornish and Fryeburg, presented a request for "dismission to be set off as a sister association." The request was referred to a committee selected from delegates not connected with the New Hampshire Association, viz., "Elders Hezekiah Smith, Isaac Case and John Crockett," who decided "that all things considered, it would not be for the glory of God and the prosperity of Zion : there to remain in one com- pact associated body we think will be a strong barrier against the inroads of an insidious enemy, who delights in dividing and sowing the seeds of discord; and also of establishing the cause of the Redeemer in the world. As we have weighed the reasons for and against the division, we hope the result of our deliberations will be agreeable to the feelings of our brethren, and will finally issue in the promotion of that cause, which should be dearer to us than our very lives."
This action evidently gave expression to the firm convic- tion of Rev. Hezekiah Smith, who had ever taken a deep interest in the association, and whose hand is easily recog- nized in the vote as recorded. Notwithstanding, there- fore, the firm convictions of those who favored a division of the association, it was voted to postpone the request of the Maine churches until the next meeting of the asso- ciation. Similar action was taken by the association at Waterborough in 1797.
Two newly organized churches from the District of Maine, Limerick and Parsonsfield and Newfield, were added to the association in 1797. Limerick reported twenty-eight members and Parsonsfield and Newfield fifty-one. According to Millet, the church in Parsons- field was gathered about the year 1792, and Levi Chad- bourn became pastor. His labors extended to Limerick and Newfield. As early as 1788 there were Baptists in Limerick, and in that year they were awarded their share of the town tax for preaching. A Baptist meeting-house was erected in 1792, and it is thought that the Baptists in Limerick became a branch of the Parsonsfield church
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
in 1793. Three years later measures were adopted for the organization of a Baptist church in Limerick. Such an organization was effected Aug. 25, 1796, by a division of the church in Parsonsfield, the one to be called "the church of Christ of Limerick; the rest to be called the church of Parsonsfield and Newfield." The first pastor of the Limerick church was Ebenezer P. Kinsman.1
The high standard of Christian living set before the churches at this time is indicated in the Circular Letter of the association in 1797. "Let us not be content with a nominal profession only, but let us ever be found walk- ing in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless ; that they who are of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us. May it ever be our steady and uniform endeavor through grace, as parents and children, ministers and people, to fill our sta- tions with usefulness and duty. Take encouragement to persevere in our holy warfare in the midst of abound- ing errors and profaneness, from a consideration of the excellency of the Christian religion." In other words, as church members they were to be so many witnesses to the power and value of Christian faith.
The additions to the churches reported at the association in 1798 were 116. Of these thirty-three were reported by the church in Waterborough and twenty-three by the church in Sanford. "A great blessing of God succeeded our last association at Waterborough which a few, very few years ago, was a waste howling wilderness." This is a statement in the Circular Letter : and at this meeting at Berwick there was "a sound of abundance of rain."
The rain of grace came. At the meeting of the asso- ciation at Wells, June 12 and 13, 1799, one hundred and thirty-nine additions by baptism were reported. Of these sixty-nine were reported by the church in Sanford.
At the association at Berwick in 1798 it was again voted to postpone the request of the churches of the District of
1 Historical Sermon by Rev. G. B. Ilsley at the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Lim- erick Baptist Church, Aug. 25, 1896, pp. 4, 5.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Maine with reference to a division of the association until the next meeting of the body.
At this meeting of the association in 1799 it was voted to dismiss this request, evidently in the hope that agita- tion in reference to the matter would cease for a time at least.
At this meeting of the association it was "Voted to have the ordinance of the Lord's Supper administered at our next association." This was the custom in similar meet- ings among the Congregationalists, but it had not been a custom among Baptists in such assemblies, the ordinance being regarded by them as a church ordinance solely. At the next meeting of the association the action of the pre- ceding association in this matter was referred to a com- mittee of seven ministers, Samuel Shepard, John Peak, Henry Smith, Elias Smith, William Batchelder, Shubael Lovel and Otis Robinson. They reported that such a celebration of the ordinance would not be expedient and the report was adopted.
At the association in 1799 it was voted "to send a mis- sionary to preach and administer the ordinances of the gospel in the Eastern Country." It was also voted to raise money in the churches for this purpose. Twenty dollars were contributed at the meeting, and Rev. Henry Smith was chosen treasurer of the association. A com- mittee also was appointed "to employ and agree with a suitable person to travel in the Eastern Country." This was the beginning of associational gospel mission work in Maine. Rev. Isaac Case was present at this association. He was about to resign the pastorate in order to devote himself wholly to missionary service. He knew the desti- tution of the eastern portions of the District of Maine, and doubtless his earnest words and fiery example moved the brethren to take this important step.
At the close of the century the New Hampshire Asso- ciation consisted of sixteen churches. with 1,420 mem- bers. Ten of these sixteen churches, -Berwick, Sanford,
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Wells,1 Coxhall (Lyman), Shapleigh, Waterborough, Cor- nish, Fryeburg, Limerick and Parsonsfield, -were in the District of Maine. The Sanford2 church had the largest membership, 114, and the total membership of the ten churches was 618.
The following table shows the growth of the association to the year 1800 as given in the Minutes we have been able to find :
Ministers.
Churches.
Additions.
Dismissed.
Excluded.
Died.
Members.
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
7
8
470
1790
7
8
19
3
486
1791
8
546
1792
8
807
1793
11
11
215
50
1
1
1066
1794
9
12
81
126
3
8
1126
1795
11
12
53
6
9
4
1171
1796
12
13
27
71
2
8
1113
1797
11
16
41
41
3
8
1229
1798
15
16
116
11
5
14
1315
1799
14
16
139
13
13
12
1420
1 Nov. 1, 1797, Lemuel Hatch executed a deed by which he conveyed his homestead farm to the church, investing the fee in a board of trustees and their successors, reserving a life right for himself and wife. Feb. 26, 1798, Joseph Eaton was ordained to the gospel ministry, and in the summer of 1800 a house of worship was erected.
2 Rev. Otis Robinson became pastor of the church in 1798. A general revival com- menced with his ministry, and the membership of the church was greatly enlarged.
CHAPTER VII.
BEGINNINGS OF THE BOWDOINHAM ASSOCIATION.
At the eastward the Baptist movement made a more rapid advance. Here settlers from Massachusetts, and some emigrants from the old world, were making homes for themselves in the wilderness, and preparing the way for prosperous communities yet to be. With eagerness they were ready to welcome any servant of God who might visit them, and Case and Potter, full of evangelistic zeal, were not slow to take advantage of the opportunities thus afforded for preaching the glad tidings. In this way were laid the foundations of many churches which have had a noble history, and not a few of them, notwithstand- ing the decline in our rural communities during the past fifty years, are doing a good work at the present day.
During the early years of his pastorate at Thomaston, Mr. Case preached in Jefferson, Newcastle, Nobleborough, Waldoborough, Friendship, Cushing, Warren, Union, Cam- den, Castine and Fox Island, and converts in these places united with the Thomaston church. "From the year 1783 to 1785," writes Elder Potter, "I visited the following towns and plantations, and preached in them, viz., Litch- field, Readfield, Winthrop, Washington, Mount Vernon, Hallowell, Augusta, Dresden, Woolwich, Georgetown, Newcastle, New Milford [Alna], Edgecomb, Ballstown [Whitefield], Davistown [Montville], Harlem [China], Fairfax [Albion], Nobleborough and many other places. I went to some places by invitation, to the others by impression of mind ; but in general saints were revived and sinners awakened. I was frequently from home eight or nine weeks at a time. When my work was done I returned home satisfied."1
1 Narration, pp. 24, 25.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
January 20, 1785, the Baptist church in Harpswell was organized at New Meadows, now East Brunswick.
Mr. James Potter1 and other Baptists of Bowdoin united with this church. Mr. Potter was ordained by the Harpswell church Oct. 5, 1785. His own statement is, "I was ordained with liberty to travel." Rev. Isaac Case preached the ordination sermon, and Rev. Job Macomber assisted in the service. Mr. Potter soon accepted the pastorate of the Harpswell church, although he continued to make Bowdoin his home.
The churches in Thomaston, Bowdoinham and Harps- well, like the Baptist churches in the western part of the district, early recognized the need of co-operation, and May 24, 1787, delegates from these three churches met in. the dwelling house of Rev. Job Macomber in Bowdoinham, and organized the Bowdoinham Association. Besides the three pastors, Case, Macomber and Potter, there were present three lay messengers, two representing the Bow- doinham church, and one the Harpswell church. Bro. James Purington was invited to act with these pastors and delegates. "Elder James Potter preached a suitable dis- course from Luke 5 : 34, 35, 'Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast,' &c., after which Elder Isaac Case was chosen moderator, and Ebenr. Kinsman, clerk." Thomaston reported 103 members, Bowdoinham 30 and Harpswell 50, a total of 183.
The design in organizing the association was stated in these words: "In associating together we disclaim all pretensions to the least control on the independence of particular churches. Our main design is to establish a medium of communication relative to the general state of religion-recommend such measures, give such advice and render such assistance as shall be thought most condu-
1 "It is a little curious that his 'Narration' does not say whether he had been baptized before this time, or not until now. But this silence is only a parallel of that respect- ing the baptism of Christ's Apostles, and one could hardly read either the New Testa- ment or Potter's 'Narration,' and believe that the ordinance had been omitted by such unflinching Baptists as all these were." Rev. E. S. Small's Centennial Review of Bowdoinham Association, p. 9.
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