USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Sheepscot > The history of ancient Sheepscot and Newcastle [Me.] including early Pemaquid, Damariscotta, and other contiguous places, from the earliest discovery to the present time, together with the genealogy of more than four hundred families; > Part 22
USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Newcastle > The history of ancient Sheepscot and Newcastle [Me.] including early Pemaquid, Damariscotta, and other contiguous places, from the earliest discovery to the present time, together with the genealogy of more than four hundred families; > Part 22
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1778. At the March meeting, on account of the scarcity of money, it was agreed to pay Mr. Whiting €50 of his salary, this year, in " such things as the town produces, and he stands in need of, at the same price such articles went at when he was ordained ; " the year to begin " this day, " March 16th. They also decided to do nothing about a Meeting house " at present. "
At a Meeting held May 28th, the town, in view of the depreciation of the currency, and the rise in price of articles, voted to give Mr. Whiting £220 in addition to his yearly salary which ended July 10, 1778. The vote gave dissatisfaction, and at a Meeting held the 2d of July of that year, an attempt was made at reconsideration ; but without effect. The town adhered to its vote. 1779, the town voted him the same amount. An attempt however
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was made at a subsequent meeting to reduce this sum, but it failed. The town adhered to its former vote.
July 7. Town voted to give Mr. Whiting £600 "in con- sideration of his labors, from July 1778 to July 1779," deducting from this sum, according to the time he had been absent from town. And in Oct. 26th, they voted to give Mr. Whiting £150 for his labors, from July to the 10th of October. Mr. Whiting had as yet been paid in Amer- ican currency which had become almost worthless. And in May 24, 1780, the town voted to give him what was equivalent to £80, lawful money. They however agreed to pay him his salary in articles of produce, at his own honse, at the following prices : Corn per bushel, 4s, Sd ; rye, 5s, 4d; barley, 4s; peas, 8s; English hay, 40s per ton ; beef, 2d, 3f, per pound ; pork, 53d, per pound ; veal and mutton, 3d, per pound ; butter, 91d ; sheep's wool, 1s, 93d, and flax at 93d, per pound. His wood came from the Parish lot ; and his friends and parishioners used to make a "bee" in winter and draw it to him, free of expense to himself. This was a most generous and necessary cus- tom ; and the people continued in this good way, even while I resided in Newcastle, a period of twelve years. Every winter, the men would willingly "turn out," and with their teams and axes, would, in a portion of a day, cut and draw me wood enough to keep my fires going the entire year. My heart is warmed even to this hour, for their acts of generosity and kindness.
1780. On the 4th of September, the town voted to raise for Mr. Whiting, the sum of £4,800, old tenor, which was only equal to £80, lawful money ; and in March 1781, the town decided that Mr. Whiting's salary be the same as the year before.
When Mr. Whiting came into Newcastle, it was with unbounded popularity and success. He was young, ardent and fired with a zeal for his country's deliverance and independence. He was received by a unanimous vote ;
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the town became Congregational at his decision ; and whatever differences there may have been among the inhabitants respecting the location of Meeting houses and other causes, they were all united in him. The people thought they had got the right man at the last ; and a long and prosperous settlement was before him. But they were doomed to disappointment. Scarcely had five and a half years passed away, before he asked his dismission. This was at a meeting of the town held Oct. 3, 1781. But the town did not see fit to comply with his request.
From the scanty records of those times, there evidently had been a growing dissatisfaction between Mr. W. and the people for some time. There had been difficulties about the salary ; and it is to be feared that Mr. W. hardly met the expectations and wants of the people, either as a minister or a man.
The author of the "Frontier Missionary" Rev. Jacob Bailey, who preached for a time in Pownalboro, Me., thus delineates his character. "About the beginning of this summer," 1777, he writes, "one Whiting was engaged to officiate at the Court House," now Dresden. "This fellow, now 19 or 20 years of age, had been extremely notorious for his vicious and idle conduct, having first been expelled from the College, at Cambridge, and afterwards, it is reported, obliged to flee from the Seminary at Providence, for stealing the President's horse. He had been employed for some time as a schoolmaster in Kennebeck, but was represented as a person disposed to ridicule both religion and virtue; yet pretending to a sudden and miraculous conversion, and assuming uncommon zeal in the cause of liberty, he is conceived to be the happy instrument of carrying on the blessed work of ruining the Church ; and though it is affirmed he boldly preached the sermons of President Davies and other writers of a sprightly and fanat- ical turn, yet he was highly caressed by our leaders, and extolled as an angel from Heaven, to preach the everlasting gospel."
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There is much more of the same sort; and he closes what he has to say about this man, in the following man- ner : "But Whiting was not the only Apostle of the Ken- nebeck. There was also one Alden an Ana-Baptist preacher from Great Britain."
Now whatever may have been the errors of Mr. Whiting's youth, or indiscretions after he entered the ministry, yet great allowance must undoubtedly be made for the warmth with which Mr. Bailey wrote, and the intemperate lan- guage that he used. Mr. B. was an Episcopalian ; and it is notorious that his sect, at that time, had no sympathy with the Revolutionary Patriots; he indulged in the bigotry of the party that persecuted the Pilgrims ; was no admirer of the Evangelical party ; and was evidently chagrined that a younger and truer man than himself, should stand better with the Patriot leaders than the "Frontier Missionary" did. And still, Mr. Whiting was not the man of our choice; and as a minister there is reason to believe he had but indifferent success. Reports unfavorable to his reputation undoubtedly reached the place ; and he was never settled in the ministry, after leaving Newcastle.
The Meeting house on the Ministerial lot had been framed and raised, but not boarded; and in one of the autumnal gales which occurred in the latter part of the year 1781, was blown down. Then the people npon the West side of the town were left without a house of worship. The old one, first built in town, and built when there were but few inhabitants, had been sold under the hammer of the anetioneer, for a trifle; and this one, designed to arise from its ashes as a glory and a joy, was prostrated to the ground by the winds of Heaven. Though a short time afterwards, an attempt was made, as a peace offering to the inhabitants at the Head of the Tide, to build one in the Woodbridge neighborhood, yet not till the year 1824, did the inhabitants on the Western side of the town see
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the spire of a Meeting house point to Heaven in their midst.
David Murray at the Town meeting Jau. 1782, was appointed to take care of the prostrated Meeting house frame. The only Meeting house that Newcastle then could call her own, was on the Eastern side of the town.
Greenleaf, in his Ecclesiastical Sketches of Maine, says, that at the time of the ordination of Mr. Whiting, a small Congregational Church was gathered there, though, it became extinct afterwards. This appears more than prob- able; for after the town's first refusal, Oct. 3, 1781, to grant Mr. Whiting's request for a dismission, the matter did not slumber. The request was again renewed Jan. 7, 1782 ; but the town voted to adjourn the matter to a meet- ing, to be held on the 31st inst. At that time, the ques- tion came up, as stated in the Warrant, "agreeable to the result of a council."
Now there had been a council, but it was not the action of the town ; and it must have been at the request of the church ; and there could have been no such request or action, if a church had not been in existence there.
The record of Jan. 31st, states that Mr. Whiting was dismissed. This must have been an error; he was not dismissed ; for in the Warrant for a town Meeting to be held the 19th of February there was an Article, to see if the town will "dismiss Mr. Whiting agreeable to result of Council, shewing two things ; that the Council had been held and advised a dismission ; and 2d, That the town had not yet complied with it. They however refused, at that meeting to vote Mr. Whiting's dismission. Immediately there was a protest signed by Job Day and 27 others. against this action of the town. They state, in their com- plaint, that there were persons that voted in that meeting who were not qualified according to law ; and therefore the vote for dismissing Mr. Whiting, was not legal ; more especially as it is against the result of Council and all Ecclesiastical authority.
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This protest was entered upon the town records. The opposition was too powerful. The friends of Mr. Whiting had acted injudiciously. Another meeting was called on March 7th, 1782, when the former vote was reconsidered and the second vote passed to dismiss Mr. Whiting, "agreeable to the result of Council ;" and he was dismissed.
Thus the unhappy controversey is ended, though its influence is felt for a time afterwards; and Newcastle is again withont a minister. It had one Meeting house, but none to stand in it and pour out unto the people the waters of salvation.
Mr. Whiting's legal connection with the people of New- castle, terminated March 7, 1782. And on the same day he addressed a very kind and fraternal note to them, in which he professes the utmost friendship for them, and hopes " that with the dissolution of this relation all ani- mosities and parties which it has unhappily occasioned, may subside, and that from this date, the distinction of my friends and enemies may never be heard."
Mr. Whiting had ceased laboring as minister among the people on the 13th of December previous, and the town settled with him for services up to that date.
At a meeting held in June of that year, a vote was obtained to sell the Meeting house frame which had been raised on the ministerial lot, but had blown down, to the highest bidder, and it was accordingly done.
1783. The town refused to do anything about getting a minister ; but in 1784, they raised a committee of three for this purpose. The two following years, they raised com- mittees for this purpose, but it is believed without much, if any success, in the object sought. In 1787, an unsuccessful attempt was made to induce the town to build a Meeting house ; but on the 7th of April, 1788, the town agreed in building one meeting house "on Mrs. Cunningham's land, on the North side of the County Road, at the West end of
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Mr. Given's fence. " This was near the head of the Reach Road, and was the spot selected for that purpose by the committee that was chosen in 1772. They however refused to raise any money, or do anything farther about the mat- ter, at present. But the following August, this vote was reconsidered, and an attempt to build a meeting house near Mr. James Simpson's" failed, and so did the effort to repair the meeting house on the East side of the town.
1788. This meeting house was destined to be abandoned; and the feeling was increasing to unite in one meeting and one House. For, April 18, the minds of the town were so far harmonized as to pass the important vote : " To have a Meeting house built on the county road from Sheep- scot to Damariscotta, as near where the road parts, as there can be found a convenient spot for said Meeting house to stand on ; said Meeting house to be carried on by subscription, till the outside is finished ; and then the sub- seribers to sell the pews to pay for building and finishing said House, and if the pews do not amount to a sum suffi- vient to repay the subscribers for the same, " then each subscriber shall lose in proportion to the sum he has advanced.
1792. The building of the House commenced and went. on slowly but surely and on the 7th of May, the work was so far advanced as to bring the town to the following decision : "Voted to have the preaching this present vear in the new Meeting house, and at the Head of the Tide, where the inhabitants shall appoint ;" allowing them to have preaching in proportion to the taxes they pay, and all who lived to the North and West of Jesse Cooper's and David Murray's should be reckoned with the Northwest Parish.
In a former year, an attempt was made to divide the town into two Parishes, East and West ; the line to run as
* Where the Committee of 1772 had located it.
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near the middle as may be. It would have been the better course, if the town could have so agreed ; for the town has two sides to it, and two villages, and it came to that, at the last. But, at that time, all attempts of that kind failed. At another time, when they could not agree about the loca- tion of the Meeting house, some one proposed in Town meeting to draw a line from Damariscotta lower falls to Sheepscot falls, and that the house be placed as near the middle of this line as may be ; but this project failed.
At a meeting held May 7, 1792, an attempt was made to sell the old Meeting house at " Vendne, " but it failed. Then, the town was desired to lend the glass and sashes in the old Meeting house to be put into the new one ; but this the town refused. But, however, they came at the thing in another way ; reminding one of the old proverb : "There is more than one way to kill a cat." The town did em- power Major John Farley to lend the glass and sashes which were in his possession to Sanmel Nickels, Esq., that belonged to the town, and take his obligation to have them returned to the town whenever demanded, in as good order as when delivered.
On the 5th of October following, an unsuccessful attempt was made to sell the cid Meeting house, together with the acre of land on which it stands, and also the sashes and glass belonging to the town, to the highest bidder.
1794. The town during the years that had intervened between the dismission of Mr. Whiting and this, had chosen committees for the purpose of securing preaching : but it is supposed generally with little success. They had sought for a shepherd but had not always been able to obtain one. Their desire and constancy are commendable ; but from 1753 to 1797, a period of 44 years, they had had but two settled ministers, and both of their pastorates were short. Who wonders then that at times they should get a little remiss in this respect? And are we astonished that their own Clerk has left the record, that in May of that
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year, the town was together to consult as to the action to be taken, in the case of a prosecution brought against them, for not having the gospel statedly preached. Nath- aniel Bryant was chosen agent for the town's defence. That year however the services of Rev. Mr. Williams were secured for a time ; but how long he remained is uncertain. At the same time the town voted to build a meeting house, on the first high hill, to the Westward of William Waters. But this house was never built. The timber got out for the frame, was afterwards sold to Samuel Nickels at 9s. per ton.
1795. April 6, the town got a vote to sell the old Meet- ing house to the highest bidder. Nathaniel Bryant was the purchaser. Price $37. Six month's credit given. The Meeting house was afterwards taken down and Mr. Stetson built a barn from the materials. The barn stood in the field to the East of the "old Myrick house."
1796. October 10, the glass and sashes were sold to different individuals all interested in the new house, who had one month's credit. James Cargill was " Vendue mas- ter," and Moderator of the meeting. Samuel Nickels was a considerable purchaser of the articles.
At the time the town voted to sell the old Meeting house, they also appointed a committee, not inhabitants of the town, to examine the accounts for building the new one, and Thomas MeClure of Bristol, Captain William Patter- son of Edgcomb and Mr. Lemuel Doe were the persons . selected. They examined the accounts, made a fair state- ment of what each one of the builders had done and furnished, and rendered an impartial statement to the town. It was taken at the appraisal, and the house afterwards became the property of the town.
The Rev. Mr. Pickle was preaching here at this time and when the town was asked to express their wish, as to whether he should be employed after his present engage- ment had expired or not, they voted to leave it to the
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Selectmen to hire him or not, as they might think proper. Mr. Pickle's stay was brief.
1797. A memorable year. The committee for supplying the pulpit are chosen, and consist of Samuel Nickels, Samuel Kennedy and James Little. Fifteen years had passed away with comparatively little preaching ; the old Church had become extinet ; religion was low ; but a new Era had dawned ; the people were to be supplied with the gospel ministry, and the pulpit was not again to remain vacant, for the next quarter of a century. The Rev. Kiah Bailey arrives in town ; his services are secured ; a church is organized and he has a call to settle. David Murray, Samuel Nickels and Thomas Kennedy are the committee to present the "Call" and receive the answer. It is in the affirmative. October 4th, Mr. Bailey is ordained and remains their minister twenty-six years. And when he was gone, others came and proclaimed the same Gospel in which he believed.
The vote requesting him to settle, was pay May 10, on a salary of £100, and a settlement of £100. There were 51 votes in his favor and 8 against him. Mr. Bailey's answer to the " Call, " was returned September 4, in which he asks for an annual vacation of four weeks, that he might visit his friends who lived at a distance from him. Mr. Bailey's father resided in Newbury, Vt., and Mrs. Bailey was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The request was granted. The Church that was gathered consisted of three male members. The next year Mrs. Bailey and two other females united with it.
Wednesday, October 4th, was the day fixed for Ordina- tion. Samuel Nickels, David Murray and Thomas Ken- nedy, were the committee of arrangements. The Churches represented were near at hand.
Rev. Ezekiel Emerson, V. D. M. of Georgetown, preached the sermon. His text was, II Corinthians, IV : 2. It was clear, scriptural, pungent and convincing. The sermon
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was printed in Pownalboro', by Langhton & Rhoades, in 1798.
In the Church records I find the following entry, which commences thus :
" Newcastle, October 4, 1797. In consequence of letters missive from the Town of Newcastle in conjunction with the pastor elect of the Church thus convened in an Ecclesiastical Council for the ordination of the Rev'd Kiah# Bayley, the following churches by their Pastors and delegates, the first and second church in North Yarmouth, the churches of Harpswell, Georgetown, Bath, Hallowell, New Milford and Bristol. Some members of the Council having previously met at Newcastle in order to regulate matters in the church there and examine candidates for admission, gave an account of their proceedings to the Council which were approved of, in consequence of this a church embodyd- consisting of some members of the old church there and some new ones. The Pastor elect having given ample satisfaction to the Council respecting his con- version, call into the Ministry and his knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, the Council voted unanimously to ordain him and set him apart to the ministerial office in Newcastle, or wherever Providence may order his lot, and he was accordingly ordained and set apart by prayer and the laying on of hands of the Presbytery.
This is attested by Alex. McLean, Scribe to the Council." Mr. McLean was, at the time pastor of the church in Bristol. The Records after this are in the handwriting of the new pastor and clerk of the church, Rev. Mr. Bayley.
The next entry is, their Confession of Faith and Cov- enant, sound, doctrinal and ample, which was adopted June 4, 1799, and to which the following names were attached, which, I suppose constituted the church at that time.
* I now spell this name as I find it on the records-Bayley.
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Kiah Bayley, Pastor,
Rosanna Little,
William Kennedy,
Phebe Tufts,
John Catland,
Abigail Bayley.
Thomas Kennedy,
In the Church Records of November 7, 1852, I find the following entry which I transcribe as it is directly to the point and shows how interested this people were in the Maine Charity School. "Wednesday, Conference .- Had a good meeting. Dea. George A. Thatcher, Treasurer of the Maine Charity School, was present and contributed to the interest of the meeting. He thanked the brethren and friends of the Seminary who have subscribed recently about $500.00 toward the endowment of two professorships."
"It is a fact worthy of remembrance that the Bangor Seminary had its origin with this church. The first sug- gestion, it is believed, came from Mrs. Bailey, the wife of Rev. Kiah Bailey, the first pastor of this church. The suggestion was taken up by Mr. Bailey and Father Sawyer (then minister at Boothbay) and by them followed up until by God's blessing, it resulted in this 'School of the Prophets,' from which many efficient and faithful ministers have already gone out to preach the gospel to famishing souls."
"The first money paid into the Treasury of the Bangor Theological Seminary, it seems was collected by Mrs. Bailey from the members of the Church in Newcastle. Let this be told as a memorial of her prayers and benev- olent labors as an encouragement to us to sow the incor- ruptible seed of God's truth, even upon a hard soil, being assured that in God's own time it shall yield a bountiful harvest."
Mr. Bailey was a faithful preacher and pastor, strict in Church discipline, and during his ministry 82 members were added to his Church.
When Mr. Bayley was settled here, the town constituted the parish ; but in process of time, individuals, to save the
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payment of a ministerial tax, began to poll off from the parish, till at last, the number became so small that the minister's salary could not be raised ; and in June 1823, the contract between him and the town was dissolved, inasmuch as they had failed to comply with the terms of settlement. In consequence of this, a council was called by the pastor and church which met at the Academy, Sept. 24, 1823, for the purpose of taking into consideration the dissolution of the connection between Mr. Bayley and his people. Rev. J. W. Ellingwood of Bath was chosen Moderator and Rev. D. M. Mitchell scribe. A committee of three, consisting of "Brothers W. Dodge, Sherman and Dn. E. Haggett," were present to represent the church ;- the town had no delegate, but "as one of the parish assessors was present"-name not given-"he was desired with consent of parties, to make any communication which he should think proper, relating to the subject under consideration."
The Council after mature deliberation, came to the fol- lowing conclusion :- "Painful, therefore, as the consider- ation is of leaving this church without a Pastor we feel constrained unanimously to advise that the pastoral rela- tion between the Rev. Mr. Bayley and his church be dis- solved ; and we further advise that if the Rev. Mr. Bayley request of the church a dismission and recommendation, as a private member, to any sister church, the church com- ply with his request."
Thus ended this ministry the last, I believe of town set- tlements in Maine. Mr. Bailey had been here twenty-six years and he had success in his work. The church was small when he commenced operations, but it grew under his ministry, and when he left it, the place it occupied was important among the Churches of Maine. Mr. N. S. S. Beman, the preceptor of the Academy at that time, after- wards Bev. Dr. Beman of Troy, N. Y., was received into it May 14, 1808.
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Mr. Bayley took a deep interest in the "Maine Charity School," what afterwards became Bangor Theological Semi- nary, and did what he could for its prosperity and support ; and on May 1, 1823, I find the church "Voted unanimously, that we consider it a privilege and a duty to unite, as a Body, in the great exertions which are making to build up the Redeemer's kingdom in our world; and that as the Maine Charity School is designed to prepare pious youths for the gospel ministry, we will raise for that Institution a sum equal to fifty cents a year for each member of this church which shall be paid to the collectors in May and September."
It is still farther added, "And if any member is not able to pay this sum, it shall be paid by the other members."
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