USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Kingston > Historical address on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the gathering of the Congregational Church, Kingston, N. H.: Sept. 28, 1875 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
GC 974.202 KEIK
Gc 974.202 K61k 1473584
M. L!
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
m
3 1833 01096 2444
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicaladdres1875mell
HISTORICAL ADDRESS 1
ON THE 150 th
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE GATHERING OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
KINGSTON.
N. H.
SEPTEMBER 28, (17, O. S.) 1875,
BY REV. J. H. MELLISH, A FORMER PASTOR.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXERCISES,
BY REV. J. CHAPMAN, THE PRESENT PASTOR.
AND TO WHICH IS ADDED AN APPENDIX.
PROVIDENCE : PRINTED BY THE PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY. 1876.
( )
..
1473584
CELEBRATION OF TIIE TRI-SEMI-CENTENNIAL.
THE 150th Anniversary of the gathering of the Congregational Church, Kingston, N. H., was observed September 28th, 1875.
The Introductory services, in the Church, were conducted by Rev. G. W. Thompson, pastor in 1840, and Rev. P. S. Boyd. A letter from Rev. S. By- ington was read by Rev. E. G. Sheet, and the secretary, D. & Bakie, read letters from E. G. Frothingham, Esq. and Calvin Thayer, son of Dr. E. Thay- er, who was ordained here ninety-nine years ago.
The discourse was by Rev. J. H. Mellish, and Rev. J. C. White made the closing prayer.
After the collation, at which it is said near five hundred persons sat down, the president, L. D. Peaslee, called the people to order, and under the direc- tion of the marshal, Ora Pearson Patten, a procession was formed and led by the Brass Band to the platform on the spot where the old three- story meeting- house stood for one hundred years. After some introductory remarks, the president called upon the following persons, who made brief and appropriate addresses :- S. W. Mason, Esq., of Chelsea, Mass., a son of a former minis- ter; Rev. A. B. Peabody, of Stratham; Rev. George E. Sheet, of Exeter; Rev. W. A. Patten, a native of the town; Rev. F. A. Warfield, of Greenfield, Mass .; Rev. W. Thompson; Dr. Eastman, of Hampstead; Deacon J. Dow, of Hampton ; Hon. Amos Tuck, of Exeter; and the marshal, O. P. Patten, made the closing address.
The speeches were interspersed with music by the band and the choir, as- sisted by Mrs. Stevens. One of the hymns (A) was written for the occasion, by F. B. Patten, a student of Harvard College and son of a former member of the Church.
In addition to the persons named, there were representatives from churches in the vicinity. From the Free Baptist Church in Danville, Rev. J. A. Low- ell, and delegate. From the M. E. Church, Kingston, Rev. James Cairnes ; from Atkinson, Rev. Jesse Page; from Plaistow, Deacon Kimball and Dr. Kelley; from West Amesbury, Mass., Rev. I .. Gregory and Mr. Sargent; from Hampton, Mr. Hobbs ; and many others.
G. W.
INTRODUCTION.
The reader will observe that matters which could not well be included in a brief address are to be found in an appendix: also that certain biographical statements, contained in the address as delivered, are transferred to this appendix.
Several dates are given with greater accuracy than was then attained. In respect to Style I have aimed to follow original authorities - Old Style to September, 1752. But where there is double dating for any YEAR before this, the latest, or that corresponding to New Style, is given. In a few instances of printed dates consulted, I have not felt certain which Style was employed.
Brevity of narration was necessary, in order to bring within due bounds this part of the exercises of the Tri-Semi-Centennial Celebration. Of course, the earlier portion of the history contemplated, so far as it could be recov- ered, had the first claim to attention on such an occasion. Indeed, no at- tempt is made to portray the ministry of pastors and other preachers who have succeeded Rev. Ora Pearson, a majority of whom are still living.
I have curbed a strong inclination to draw out the sentiments and reflec- tions which the study of the subject in hand suggested, in tracing various currents of influence and their operation through several generations of a local New England community.
Without further remark, a former pastor who affectionately remembers the people of his charge, dedicates to them this contribution to the grateful public recognition of the work, in our behalf. of those who have gone before us, with the prayer that there may be a rekindling of that holy faith which takes hold on the hand of God, and warrants the confident hope that a large measure of his favor will be bestowed in the future.
J. H. M.
NORTH SCITUATE, R. I., July, 1876.
ADDRESS.
- -
BELOVED FRIENDS :
When, in June last, I received an invitation from the Congregational Society in Kingston, to deliver a Historical address on this one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the gathering of the Church, the response of my heart was to go back in this way to the scenes of such dear asso- ciations.
Then the thought came to me of the necessary limitations which long absence and distant residence would impose upon me in an attempt fittingly to perform such a service.
But I had the kind encouragement of help from your beloved pastor in consulting for me town and church records, also of obtaining access to the valuable manuscript history by the late Mr. Colcord Patten. To your pastor, and to the heirs of Mr. Patten, my hearty thanks are due for this assistance.
I have gleaned from a variety of sources, and if the topics introduced are not treated so much according to their relative importance as accord- ing to my opportunities for research, I am sure of your kind indulgence in view of my short-comings in the presentation of the theme.
any
Although, in the year 1641, New Hampshire was united to Massachu- setts in colonial jurisdiction, it was never merged in Massachusetts, as the Plymouth colony came to be in process of time, but always retained its own distinctive character, and had some separate laws and usages and features of administration applicable to its own special conditions.
This political union continued for the space of a century, excepting that it was suspended by royal authority for about six years from 1680, and again for about ten years from 1692. .
6
During this last interval, a grant of a township of land, signed by John Usher, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, and dated New Castle, August 6, 1694, was made to James Prescott and others, of Hampton.
The charter for this grant provided that " the same be a town corpo- rate by the name Kingstown." Its territory is now nearly covered by the four towns, Kingston, East Kingston, Danville and Sandown.
Not long after the date of the grant, the beginning of a settlement was attempted. But about the same time, after a brief interval of peace with the Indians, as respects this and the neighboring parts of New England, there was a fresh outbreak of savage hostilities, which had so discouraging an effect that most of the settlers returned to their former homes.
In the year 1700 the commonners had a meeting to consult respecting the division of their lands.
The treaty of Ryswick, between France and Great Britain, was con- cluded in 1697, and a treaty of the colonists with the Indians in 1699 ; but war with the Indians broke out in a sudden manner in 1703.
In reality, in these and succeeding years, in this part of the country, the Indian wars that so grievously afflicted these towns were with the French power, for the Indians who took a part in them were mostly from Canada and Maine, and were instigated by French officials and Jesuit missionaries.
Some settlements on the river courses suffered most, but this whole region was in a continued state of anxiety and dread. Patrolmen and scouts were employed to be on the watch against savage incursions. At night it was the practice of families to go to garrisons for protection.
In 1705, some who had left the town, petitioned for leave to return to their lands. This was allowed on condition that a fort should be built in the centre of the town, a parsonage laid out, and a minister settled " within three years," Some cattle were killed by the Indians in 1706. Ensign Tristram Sanborn (E. 4), in one of these years, leaving his fam- ily at Hampton, built a camp of logs. One day, on returning from the Great Meadows, where he had been to cut his grass, he found that the Indians had reduced his camp to ashes. He afterwards built a garrison on his land, which was on Exeter road. Advantage was once taken of the absence of the men for an attack upon this garrison by a party of savages. The female inmates made a successful defence ; the assailants
.
7
retreated, and the next day the dead body of an Indian was found not far from the garrison.
In 1707 eight men left the town contrary to the provisions of a stat- ute respecting frontier towns, were complained of to the government by the inhabitants, and dealt with according to law.
July 22, Stephen and Jacob Gilman, on the road from Kingston to Exeter, had their horses shot under them, being attacked by a party of seven Indians. One of them escaped to a garrison in Exeter, and the other to a garrison in Kingston.
September 17, Henry Elkins was slain by the Indians. while seeking for a horse in the woods.
July 10. 1710. The Indians killed Samuel Winslow and Samuel Hun- toon, and captured Jacob Gilman and Philip Huntoon, whom they took with them to Canada. These last purchased their freedom by building a saw mill.
In 1712, Stephen Gilman and Ebenezer Stevens were wounded. Gil- man was taken and put to death.
This war lasted about ten years.
July, 1713, a treaty of peace with the Indians was concluded. The same year the treaty of Utrecht was ratified between France and Eng- land. Nine years cessation of Indian hostilities followed.
Kingston had a share in the sufferings of the next Indian war, which began in 1722, and ended by a treaty with the Penobscots in 1725. This war had a like origin with the preceding ones, although England and France were then nominally at peace.
In May, 1724, Indians entered the town and captured Peter Colcord, Ephraim Severance, and two children of Ebenezer Stevens, taking them to Canada. The children were ransomed. Colcord, a smart active young man of nineteen, about six months later, made his escape and returned to his friends.
The last Indian tragedy which belongs to the history of Kingston, occurred on the borders of the beantiful pond in the rear of the church in which we are now assembled. In September, 1724, Jabez Colman and son, while gathering some corn-stalks, were attacked and killed.
But the simple mention of occurrences of this kind can give no ade- quate idea of the miseries and solicitude and fears that pressed upon the first settlers in this region.
The people here had in memory what happened at Oyster River, now
8
Durham, in 1694, and shuddered in 1708, at the fate of Haverhill, in Massachusetts, only twelve miles from Kingston Plains. They must be ever on their guard against a cunning and lurking foe. There were forays upon their cattle and depredations upon their crops, and the peo- ple impoverished by the increased taxes necessarily levied to provide for military expenses, as well as by the large diversion of their means and labor from the pursuits of peace.
In the month of June, 1700, there was a town meeting to see about hiring a minister, at which it was voted to have a minister if he could be obtained.
This was a subject which would receive attention from such a class of settlers as men of Hampton. For Hampton was as distinctively Puri- tan in its origin as were Salem and Dorchester and Roxbury in Mssa- chusetts.
Indeed, as early as 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts empow- ered Dummer and Spencer of Newbury to build a house in Hampton at the expense of the colony, doubtless with the hope of gaining some advantage in the adjustment of an intricate question of boundary ; and the settlers in 1638 received their act of incorporation from the same authority, and for many years Hampton was considered as belonging to Massachusetts. Its settlers were many of them Puritans from the coun- ty of Norfolk, England. John Sanborn, whose descendents are here very numerous, came to Hampton from Derbyshire, England, in 1636.
Besides the Hampton men, grantees of Kingston, those who joined them, chiefly from towns in Essex county, Massachusetts, had like relig- ious sympathies and associations.
To a community thus constituted it would be a matter of course that as soon as practicable public provision should be made for the regular maintenance of the preaching of the gospel.
In the town records for 1702, where lots are described, lot fourteen is assigned to the Parsonage. The next year there appears a grant of one hundred acres of land and a house lot to the first minister the town shall call and settle in the work of the ministry ; also, a vote determining the site of a meeting-house.
At a town meeting at Aaron Sleeper's garrison, December 12, 1705, one object of which was " to consider of some way to secure a minister to be with us," a committee was chosen " to look out for and agree with
9
a minister ; that the men thus chosen shall not exceed £40 a year, but shall agree with him as much under £40 as they can."
Voted, also, to build a meeting-house near the house of Moses Elkins. This was on the Plains, nearly opposite to what is now called Scotland road.
Sometime during the year 1707 the town built its first meeting-house. Ensign Tristram Sanborn, before mentioned, was on the building com- mittee.
October, 1707, Mr. Benjamin Choate (B. 1), was hired to preach on a salary of £50 a year :- £30 current silver money, and £20 in labor and provision pay. Also, a grant of land was voted to him by the town.
The record of a vote is found from time to time " that the town give Rev. B, Choate forty cords of wood this year." Mr. Clioate has in the records the title " Reverend" by courtesy, although it does not appear that he ever sought ordination to the ministry.
April 16, 1716, a committee was chosen to confer with Mr. Benjamin Choate, " upon terms of continuance with us in the work of the minis- try." Also, a vote to "add £10 to the salary, making the whole £60, at the end of two years £5 more, if he continues with us in the work of the ministry." Also, a vote that " £40 shall be presented to him when he builds a house in this town." Five voters entered their dissent from this last vote. Mr. Choate seems to have been the minister of the town for ten years or more.
February 16, 1721, the town gave a call to be their minister to Mr. William Thompson* (B. 2), with an offer of a salary of £80 a year ; - £40 money and £40 provision pay. Also, " a grant of land to Mr. Thompson provided he be our ordained minister, and continue with us in the work of the ministry ten or fifteen years, except God should take him away by death." Also, the use of the Parsonage meadow "during the term of his natural life." There is besides a record of a grant of land to him dated April 5, 1721.
Mr. Thompson's answer to this call, in the affirmative, is given in full on the town book (B. 2, end), but I have found from no source the least hint of what prevented his ordination and settlement here in the minis- try, nor have I been able to find out how long he preached here. In 1724, he declined a call to settle as pastor in Wells, Maine. As late as. 1725, the town of Kingston paid him a small sum for preaching. On.
*The correct orthography is Tompson.
On the Town Recovery
2
The name is spelled Tomson.
10
the Kingston Church book, October 30, 1728, is the marriage of the " Rev. Mr. William Thompson to Anna Hubbard, by Rev. Ward Clark."
Coming to the year 1725, let us take a view of the settled part of the Province of New Hampshire.
It was, perhaps, about two-thirds of what is now Rockingham county ; and, in Stratford county, Dover, and several adjoining towns, and Dur- ham, all belonging to the original grant of that old town-Dover. There were two or three other settlements which a change of the boundary line has brought into New Hampshire, but which were then in Massachusetts.
Originally the borders of the Merrimac, in Massachusetts, and to some extent in New Hampshire, as far north as the neighborhood of Concord, and points between the Merrimac, in Massachusetts, and the southern part of the boundary between Maine and New Hampshire, were occupied by affiliated tribes, or, more properly speaking, sub-divis- ions of one tribe of Indians, sometimes called Pawtuckets, the name of that part whose headquarters were at Wamesit, exactly where the city of Lowell now stands, and sometimes called Pennacooks, the name of those whose headquarters were at Concord. One thousand is believed to be a liberal estimate of the total number of all these Indians twenty years before Kingston was incorporated. From various causes, by re- moval and otherwise, their number diminished rapidly, and in 1725, there could have been but a few scores of them, all told.
All the northern and all the western part of what now constitutes New Hampshire, excepting one settlement in the south-west corner, was at that time nearly destitute' of inhabitants. In Vermont there was a very small isolated tribe of Indians in the north-east corner, and one . white settlement, about a year old, in the south-east part.
Here was a vast tract of solitary wilderness, extending northward many leagues beyond the southern boundary of Canada, unvisited save by the adventurous hunter or when crossed by the savage warrior.
Prior to the organization of this church, there were ten churches of the Congregational order in Rockingham county, and that of Dover and Stratford county.
A Presbyterian church was organized in Derry, in 1719, and the Friends had societies in Dover and in Seabrook.
April 19, 1725, marks the date of the call of the town of Kingston to Mr. Ward Clark (B. 3). He was not only to be the minister of the
11
town, but the first pastor of the church :- £80 salary was voted and £10 added before settlement.
One hundred and fifty years ago to-day-"The Church was gathered September 17, (O. S.) 1725,"-this date being equivalent to September 28, New Style. Twenty-three members,-twelve males and eleven fe- males,-were united together in Church covenant. (C.) It is known that nine of these brought letters from Hampton, and that on September 12, seven persons were dismissed from the Church in Hampton Falls, to become connected with a church to be formed in Kingston.
Besides the people of Kingston, according to its ancient boundaries, who were to welcome the new pastor, the early settlers of Chester came ten miles on horseback, to attend meeting here.
Then, the day of an ordination was a great day not only for the place itself but for all its vicinity.
Mr. Clark was ordained September 29. The sermon was preached by Rev. John Odlin, of Exeter, the step-father of the candidate. The text was from I. Timothy, 6 : 11, 12. The subject was-" Christian courage necessary for a Gospel Minister." It was afterwards printed at Boston, and " Prefaced by two of the Reverend Presbyters who assisted at the Ordination." The two members of the Council referred to, were Rev. Caleb Cushing, of Salisbury, Mass., and Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, of Hampton.
In this preface it is observed that the sermon was preached " not by the young gentleman who was then ordained, but by one of his fathers in the ministry."
It is also stated "that the general and grateful acceptance which the sermon met with, when preached," had " provoked many to subscribe for the printing of it."*
A list of the heads of families in Kingston, when Rev. Ward Clark took charge of the Church, is given in the Church book. There were in all, eighty-one. (D.) Fifty surnames are found in this list. Six heads of families had the name Sleeper. Aaron Sleeper, called here " the aged," had seventeen children by his first wife, and two by his second wife.
The names Bean, Sanborn, and Webster, are represented by four families each.
*There is a copy in Brown University Library-Ord. Serm. Vol. 52. also Lit, of New York Historical Society, New Yor Etc.
At The Sanborns are of one stock, It is said That the Websters in is near Kingston are of three distinct stocks know of new tradition (1875) which arrests relationship between The several families before their amiga tin from
12
Most of these fifty surnames, are now found in the families of this and the neighboring towns.
One man is described as a Quaker-the solitary exception, it should seem, of any householder in this town, having connection with any re- ligious society not of the Congregational denomination.
Samuel Welch, in this list, had a son, Samuel, born Fedruary 13, 1711,* who died at Bow, April 5, 1823 ; thus attaining the age of more than one hundred and twelve years.
So far as I am informed the only other native of Kingston, deceased, who has lived more than one hundred years, is Abigail Sanborn, who belonged to the Society of Shakers, and died at Canterbury, at the age of one hundred and one years.
From this time Kingston received frequent accessions of new families.
Mr. Clark was an active public-spirited man, beloved as a pastor by his parishioners, and much attached to the people of his charge. Some of the noble elms that beautify the spacious green here, are said to have been planted by his hand, For several years the amount added to his regular salary by vote of the town, was £20. The town also made to him liberal grants of land.
During his ministry the town built, in 1732, its second meeting-house. (F.) A tower, one hundred feet in height, was built for it some years later. A bell is said to have been presented by the King of England, of which tradition avers that it came no farther than Boston, from which place an inferior one was sent here as a substitute.
The first meeting-house stood for many years after the erection of the new one. It was used for holding town meetings as late as 1764. The bell was used not only during Mr. Clark's ministry, but that of his suc- cessor. In 1768, the town voted " to buy a larger bell for the meet- ing-house."
In June, 1735, a terrible disease called " the throat distemper," first made its appearance in Kingston. Of the first forty seized with it not one recovered. In about fourteen months one hundred and thirteen died, ninety-six of whom were under ten years of age ;- this included nearly all the young children in the town. The wife of Rev. Ward Clark and his two children were among the victims of this scourge.
. Note,-in the Church book at the end of the year 1735,-"This mor- tality was by a kanker quinsey, which mostly seized upon young people,
*This date is from the family list on the Town book. The date given in N. H. Col. His. and Mis. 1823, (September 1, 1710,) makes his age too great by a few months.
13
and has proved exceeding mortal in several other towns. It is supposed there never was the like before in this country." Prof. William Frank- lin Webster, (K. 31.) once told me, that when he was in Germany, he found in a German medical work, the statement that the first recorded instance of the appearance of this specific disease in the whole world, was in this town.
Mr. Clark died in Exeter, after a long sickness, May 6, 1737, thus ending a ministry of more than eleven years and a half.
In his will he left a bequest, the same being a considerable portion of his estate, "to the beloved people of his charge," the income of which was applied to the support of the gospel.
During his pastorate one hundred and thirty persons were received to the church, and four hundred and seventy-one baptized.
June 9, 1737, the month succeeding the death of Mr. Clark, the town gave to Mr. Peter Coffin, a call to settle in the ministry. Eighteen voters recorded their dissent and the settlement was not effected.
August 10, 1737, Rev. Joseph Seccombe (B. 4) was invited to preach at Kingston, by a committee appointed by the church.
A little more than two months after he began, the church voted heart- ily and unanimously, October 17, 1737, to invite him to take the charge as pastor. This was followed, one week later, October 24, by a unani- mous vote of the town that he should be their minister.
In a very cordial letter of acceptance, he mentioned, as matters of thanksgiving, "the universal attendance upon public worship," and " the diligent and serious attention to the word of God."
The day appointed for installation services was November 23. Letters were sent to pastors of twelve churches, one of them being Dr. Sewall, of the 'Old South, Boston, seven of Essex county, Mass., and four of New Hampshire. Mr. Seccombe himself preached the sermon from Mark 7: 37.
. This was a time of rapid increase of population, and soon other churches were colonized from the church here.
The town of East Kingston was set off and incorporated in 1738, and a church organized there, December 19, 1739. The month preceding, November 4, ten persons were dismissed from Kingston to join there, and the next year, thirty-three. Still, there were many who did not like to give up attending worship at Kingston Plains, and in 1740, forty- three persons " requested to still belong to the old Parish."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.