USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Warner > Historical discourse delivered at the centennial celebration of the Congregational Church in Warner, N.H., June 12, 1872 > 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 W24hu 1779115
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1
GG
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01188 5297
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 1
DELIVERED AT
1
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
IN WARNER, N. H.,
JUNE 12, 1972,
BY
HENRY S. HUNTINGTON,
PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE EXERCISES OF THE DAY.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
CONCORD : 1872.
328000210 TA TROTZIH
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou00hunt 0
F 84291:42 2d copy
1779115
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
entennial iversary
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHI,
WARNER, N. H.
1872.
·デ
24231 .42
1
Huntington, Henry Strong;
Historical discourse delivered at the centennial cole- bration of the Congregational church in Warner, N. H .. June 12, 1872, by Henry S. Huntington ... With a brief account of the exercises of the day. Concord N. II. 1872. 61 p. 2130m.
SHELF CARD
1. Warner, N. H. Congregational church.
6-40522
2912 Library of Congress
F44. W21H9
10000 $."
ACCOUNT OF THE EXERCISES OF THE CENTEN- NIAL CELEBRATION.
The 5th of February completed one hundred years of the existence of the Congregational Church in Warner, N. H. At a meeting prior to that day, a vote was passed to observe the Centennial, and the time fixed upon was the 12th of June. On the evening of the anniversary, however, a pray- er-meeting was held, and the covenant of the early church and extracts from the records were read.
On the June day appointed, a large congregation of towns- people, former residents, and friends from near and far, came together to commemorate the event.
The church edifice was beautifully decorated with flowers about the pulpit, and festoons and wreaths of evergreen on the walls, and the names of the nine pastors were arranged in the form of a cross between the dates 1772 and 1872. Above them were the words, "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations," in evergreen, and opposite, along the gallery, "Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone."
Rev. Mr. Jewett of Fisherville made the invocation pray- er, and Rev. Dr. Bouton the one before the address; and Psalm CXXII, and the last eight verses of Ephesians II were read by the former. ' The anthem : " They that trust in the Lord," and the hymn: "I love thy kingdom, Lord," were sung. After which came the address by the Pastor, Rev. Henry S. Huntington, a brief recess being taken, during
4
which the congregation joined in singing "Glorious things of thee are spoken."
After the close of the exercises in the forenoon, an ample and elegant collation was served in the vestry and ladies' room, in the basement of the church; and then the people re-assembled, and Stephen S. Bean, Esq., was called to the chair. Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Bard of Dunbarton, and various sentiments and responses, interspersed with singing, occupied the next two hours.
Rev. Dr. Bouton of Concord, in the most cordial terms, expressed his gratification at being present, and interested every one with his reminiscences of the pastors of the church in Warner, with every one of whom, except the first, he had been personally acquainted. He had assisted at the ordina- tion or installation of seven out of the nine. He said that in connection with the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Woods, the church had an influence all over New Hampshire; for in the General Association his example was brought up of gathering the children into a Sabbath-school, and this was recom- mended for adoption in all the churches. At the ordination of Mr. Wellman, "the council met in the evening, in a lit- tle one-story house, to examine the candidate, all strangers to him, an humble, sincere, conscientious and successful min- ister." "Then the seasons of refreshing, when the Spirit moved over the hearts of the people like waves of harvest. Thank God for those memories."
He spoke of the name of the town, Warner, (the only one so named in the United States,) called after Col. Daniel Warner, one of His Majesty's Councillors. (It was after- wards said that this officer gave forty dollars towards build-
5
ing a bridge, on condition that the new town should bear his name.)
Rev. Mr. Buxton of Webster had the training of children for his theme. "If you train a child in the way he should go, his religion is secure. Dedicate your children to God ; train them in infancy, and trust to His covenant."
"The Bible and the Hymn Book" was the sentiment to which Rev. Mr. Jewett responded, alluding to the Psalm- singing Puritans, and to Oliver Cromwell, whose soldiers marched into battle singing psalms. The Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, and Paradise Lost were three books on which our fathers fed.
Rev. Mr. Terry of Plaistow, and Rev. Mr. Bullard of Hampstead, both of whose churches were represented in the first council in Warner, in 1772, spoke in a way which de- lighted the audience. The first mentioned many links of as- sociation between the two churches-the relationship runs down all through the century. He referred to the late Rev. H. O. Howland, a former pastor of the Warner church, as he knew him in Amherst College : "calm, quiet, studious, patient, noble-hearted, faithful, true." He spoke of the men of one hundred years ago, who laid the foundations in faith and hope and praver. "Did not these men show that they believed in God? Let one hundred years answer. What were they doing when they organized a church? Not one day's work, as it looked. . The church, founded on what the ministers preached and what the mothers taught, carried' education, free government, and sound principles, and. passed them over to coming generations. It was pledged. to God to do so."
6
Rev. Mr. Bullard spoke of the education of the young, contrasting some old and new notions in a racy and enter- taining manner. On the whole, he said, looking back over one hundred years, he concluded that there had been as much happiness in the old-fashioned Puritan families as could be found anywhere.
A sentiment referring to our country was responded to by ex-Gov. Harriman (who is a native of this town). He glanced at the Pilgrims, and then at the present; speaking of the results of ninety years of government, of our na- tional grandeur, prosperity and progress ; and at the close of his address, " America" was sung by the congregation.
A poem of much merit, written for the occasion by Alfred W. Sargent, a young member of the church, was read by him ; communications and letters were read by the chairman ; after which, the Sacrament was administered by Rev. Mr. Bullard and Rev. Mr. Terry.
In the evening there was a social reunion, at which many reminiscences were given, other letters were read, also, a poem, written by Mrs. L. K. Davis, a member of the church ; and remarks were made by several persons from abroad, among whom were Hon. Stephen C. Badger and Rev. Daniel Sawyer, formerly of Warner.
Among the letters read at different times were very inter- esting ones from Gov. E. A. Straw and Rev. I. D. Stewart and E. S. Hoyt of Portland, Maine (all natives of the town); from Rev. R. W. Fuller of Stowe, Mass., and Rev. J. W. Perkins of New Chester, Wisconsin (former pastors of the church); from Rev. Horace Eaton of Palmyra, N .- Y .; and from Gen. John Eaton of Washington, Commissioner of
.
7
Public Instruction, who made valuable suggestions in regard to the great obligations education is under to the church.
On the Sabbath evening following, there were supplemen- tary services in the church; prayer, singing, the reading of other letters, remarks by the pastor, and at the close, a most eloquent and earnest address by S. S. Bean, Esq., called forth by a communication from a lady member of the church, on the oneness and perpetuity of the Church of Christ, which was, in substance-That the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ does not exist in this world simply by the suf- ferance of men, for it owes obligation to no earthly power. It is not a chartered or licensed institution. Its laws are superior to any human statutes. It has a language and a people of its own; there is a speech known to all; and, however diverse, they yet are one. It knows no distinction of class or caste; riches and poverty lose their meaning ; there is neither male nor female, bond nor free, for all are one in Christ Jesus.
It is not fitting to close this account of the centennial ex- ercises without making mention of our obligations to the Great Head of the Church. We thank and praise Him for the band of men and women who first entered into the re- lations of a Christian church in this town, and for the many who have succeeded them ; for all those who have passed on up higher, and are now in the church triumphant above.
8
We thank Him for our inheritance, and for His unfailing care over us for one hundred years. We thank Him that we are identified with His cause, and bound with such vast numbers in all lands, in a solemn pledge to sustain and carry it forward till "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains."
Verily, the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
1
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
In the good providence of God, this Church is permitted to-day to celebrate its one hundredth anniversary. We are assembled here to recount, with grateful hearts, something of the way in which the Lord has led it during all these years. But the early history of this church, like most of the old New England churches, is so connected with the early history of the town, that the awakening of interest in one always renews interest in the other. Let us then, as preliminary to an historical sketch of the Church, look back at the early days of the town.
The territory which now constitutes the Town of Warner was granted by the Great and General Court of the Prov- ince of Massachusetts to certain inhabitants of Amesbury and Salisbury, in that Province, as early as 1785. These grantees, or proprietors, held their charter under certain con - ditions, which are named in a Report made to the General Court of Massachusetts, January 15, 1735, by Edmund Quincy, Esq., from the Committee of both Houses on Pe- titions for 'Townships, &c. These conditions were as fol- lows: "That each grantee build a dwelling-house of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud, at the least, on their resper- tive house-lots; to fence in and break up for ploughing, or clear and stock with English grass, five acres of land within three years next after their admittance; and cause their re- spective lots to be inhabited; and that the grantees do, with- in the space of three years from the time of their being admit- ted, build and furnish a convenient meeting-house for the pub- lic worship of God, and settle a learned Orthodox minister." It was required that the grantees be not less than sixty in num -
10
ber, and "that there be sixty-three house-lots laid out in as regular, compact and defensible a manner as the land will admit of; one of which lots shall be for the first settled min- ister, one for the second settled minister, and one for the school; to each of which an equal proportion of land shall accrue in all future divisions."
On the 24th day of November, 1736, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a vote empowering Deacon Thomas Stevens, of Amesbury, to assemble the grantees of Township No. One [now Warner,] for the purpose of making arrange- ments to allot and divide their lands. The meeting thus authorized was held April 25, 1737, and it was voted to di- vide the intervale equally among the proprietors, according to quantity and quality; also to divide the upland lots "where it may be thought most eligible for settlement." As carly as June 23, 1738, sixty-three house-lots, containing about five acres each, had been laid out. These lots were in the vicinity of Gen. Aquila Davis's mills. Previously to this, in 1736, a division of upland, into sixty-three forty acre lots, had been made, which division, though at the time unauthorized by the Great and General Court, was afterwards legalized.
On March 21, 1739, the proprietors voted to pay Orlando Colby, Joseph Jewell and John Challis, Jr., £120 in Prov- ince bills of the old tenor, te build a good saw-mill. The mill was accepted in 1740. It was at Davisville. The men who built it camped near the stone watering-trough below that village. In the hut which they used as a camp, the proprietors held their first meeting in the town.
The proprietors endeavored to induce settlers to move into the town by offering, August 29, 1740, £20 to cach man who would settle upon the conditions of the grant. As early as January 26, 1749, four houses had been built, at the cost of the proprietors, on the five-acre building-lots in Da- visville. These lots were probably just this side of Charles
-
-
11
Sawyer's, stretching along on the five-acre lots. The persons employed to build them were Thomas Colby, Moses Mor- rill, Jarvis Ring and Gideon Straw.
Soon after this, the French and Indian war commencing, put an end for the time to all projects for settlement. The saw-mill and the four houses which had been erected were burned by the Indians, and the progress of civilization was stayed for a dozen years.
Soon after 1740, the lands comprising this Town were purchased under * the name of Jennistown, by sixty inhabi- tants of Rye, of persons who derived their title from John T. Mason, to whom a part of New Hampshire was granted in 1622. This led to controversies between the Rye proprie- tors and the Amesbury proprietors, which were settled by a grant, Dec. 24, 1769, from the Rye proprietors to the Ames- bury proprietors, of all claim to the land, on condition of the payment of a certain sum. Controversy still continued as to the sum to be paid, but it was ended in 1773 by the appoint- ment of arbitrators, who awarded £140. The General Court of Massachusetts, to remunerate the Amesbury proprietors, gave them one-half of the townships of Solon and Poland, in Maine.
The terms of this grant from the Rye proprietors to the Amesbury proprietors, indicate the same care for religion and education which we have seen in the charter granted by Massachusetts. Some of these terms were that the grantees " lay out three rights or shares of land, one for the use of the first minister of the gospel who shall be ordained or set- tled there; one for the use of the ministry in the town for- ever; and one for the use of a school, for and towards the support thereof forever ;- cach of said rights to be laid out in lots as the grantees manage the other rights, and to be free from the charge of settlement or any public taxes to that end." Also, "that they build a meeting-house, and main- tain constant preaching there from and after the term of three years from the date hereof."
1.2
The first actual settlement was made in 1762, by Daniel Annis and his sons-in-law, Reuben Kimball and Daniel Floyd. Isaac Waldron, his two sons Isaac Jr. and Theo- dore, and Paskey Pressy, moved into town with their fami- lies the year following.
Mr. Annis's house was in Dimond's Corner District, on the south side of the highway, a little west of where Paine Davis now lives. Reuben Kimball at first lived near by, on the north side of the highway. Daniel Floyd (or Flood ), after- wards known as Captain Floyd, lived on Dana hill, or, as it was then called, Floyd Hill, where Gardiner Davis now re- sides. Annis, Kimball, and Floyd all came in under the Rye proprietors, and had probably lived in the neighbor- hood of Rye.
It is difficult to ascertain the precise order in which the settlers came afterwards. In 1763, the proprietors voted to give each of the first ten settlers a forty-acre lot of upland, and five acres of intervale. Some engaged to settle on these, or similar conditions. Those mentioned above, and the fol- lowing persons, with their families, constituted nearly all the population in 1763, viz .: Thomas Annis, (from whom "Tom Pond" was named), Moses Annis, Solomon Annis, Lieut. Da- vid Bagley (town elerk for 39 years), Enoch Blaisdell, Elijah Blaisdell, Isaac Chase, Daniel Chase, Abner Chase, . Joseph Currier, Daniel Currier, Theophilus Currier, Moses Clark, Hubbard Carter, Moses Colby, Francis Davis, Elipha- let Danforth, Ebenezer Eastman, Stephen Edmunds, Datt- iel Flanders (first town clerk), Philip Flanders, James Flan - ders, Christopher Flanders, Jeremy Fowler, Jonathan, Fi - field, Joseph Foster, Richard Goodwin, Seth Goodwin, Eze- kiel Goodwin, David Gilmore, Robert Gould, Barnard Hoyt, Nehemiah Heath, Thomas Rowell, Samuel Roby, Joseph Sawyer, Theodore Stephens, Jonathan Smith, Nathaniel Trumbull, Jacob Tucker, Abner Watkins, Parmenas Watson, .and Daniel Young.
13
The residences of these first settlers, so far as known, were as follows: At Davisville, lived Davis and Gilmore; at Dimond's Corner, Thomas Annis, Moses Annis, Solomon Annis, and Fifield; at Bagley's Bridge, Bagley and Smith; at the Lower Village, Heath, Hoyt, Joseph Currier, Daniel Flanders, and Christopher Flanders; at Joppa, Daniel Cur- rier, Moses Clark, Watson, and Fowler; at Schoodac, Philip Flanders, Seth Goodwin, Trumbull, and Roby; on Kelly Hill, Abner Chase, Richard Goodwin, and Joseph Sawyer; in the Kimball District, Joseph Foster; on Waldron's Hill, Theophilus Currier, Ezekiel Goodwin, Gould, Stephens and Rowell; on Burnt Hill, Moses Colby and James Flanders; on Pumpkin Hill, Isaac Chase; on Tory Hill, Edmonds and Carter. Abner Watkins lived in the Gore; Daniel Young on the place now owned by Levi Bartlett; and Jacob Tacker in what is now the Centre Village.
Hannah, daughter of Daniel Annis, and wife of Reuben Kimball, came into Warner in 1762. She was the first En- glish female who ever lived here; and her son Daniel, born October, 1762, was the first English child born in the town. Mrs. Kimball died in Warner, Febuary, 23, 1823, aged 83. Old inhabitants all remember, as one of the early settlers, (though not among the first), a negro named Anthony Clarke, an old revolutionary soldier, who went by the name of "Tony," and lived in a hut near where the hotel stands. He died some twenty years ago, aged about 102.
In the year 1800, the inhabitants of Kelly Hill (as it was sometimes called), on which stood the first and second meeting-houses, were as follows: As you went up from the Lower Village, after passing the meeting-house, first on the left a little way up the hill, was Rev. Mr. Kelly's; next, Joseph Sawyer's; next, on the right hand of the road, the houses of Elliot Colby and John Colby. On the road leading towards Joppa, on the top of the hill, lived Reuben Kimball. Re- turning to the main road, as you went down the hill, on the
14
right lived Timothy Clough; beyond him (at the place so long occupied by Challis Kimball), was Challis Foote; across the brook, on the same side of the highway, Joseph Foster; then the school-house on the left; and Benjamin Foster's on the right. Next, up a long winding hill, on the left hand, John Pearsons and Edmund Sawyer. About a mile down through the woods was Major Joseph Hoyt; then Jedediah Peabody; then the Henniker line.
The town was very irregularly laid out. Several surveys and divisions of lots were made in different years, with little reference to each other or to the lines of the town.
In 1763, the proprietors voted to build another saw-mill; and also passed a vote which was doubtless acceptable to all industrious workers, viz., that the hands who work upon the mill " shall have three shillings and four pence per day, if they earn it"!
To us, looking back from the comforts of modern days, the life of those early settlers must ever possess a fascinating in- terest." They endured great hardships and privations, yet found much enjoyment in life. The early dwellings were rude and simple. In 1773, there were none but log houses. The first frame house was built at Bagley's Bridge, soon after 1773, by David Bagley. Among the earliest which followed it, were those of Francis Davis and Reuben Kimball. The first two-story frame house was that of Mr. Kelly. The first frame barn was built by Reuben Kimball. 1 Some of the first roads laid out in town were the main road to Sutton, (then Perrytown,) which ran over Dana Hill and south of Frank Bartlett's, crossing the Tory Hill road about a third of a mile up; the road to the North Village, by the first meeting- house and Levi Bartlett's; the one from the first meeting-house, by Mr. Kelly's, Elliot Colby's and Ed- mund Sawyer's to Henniker; the one through Joppa; the one through Schoodac, which crossed the river at Bagley's Bridge; and the Pumpkin and Burnt Hill roads. The first
1
15
bridge,-the one which Col. Warner, from whom the town was named, helped to build,-was at the Lower Village.
For the most part, however, in the early days, the path s were through the forest, marked by spotted trees. An old lady now living at the age of 93, remembers when it was one dense forest all the way from Waterloo to this village. Com- ing down through the forest path, the smoke of one solitary log-hut could be seen. It stood near where Dr. Leonard Eaton's house now stands, or a little farther back, and was oc- cupied by Cole Tucker. There was not another habitation of any kind in what is now the Centre Village.
Men carried heavy loads on their shoulders through the forest paths. Philip Flanders brought two bushels of pota- toes on his back from Concord, accompanied by Walker, who brought a bushel and a half in the same way. Stephen Edmunds brought a bushel of corn on his shoulders from Concord to his house on Tory Hill, where his descendent of the same name now lives. Captain Daniel Floyd used to carry two bushels of corn on his shoulders to Concord to be ground, and bring it back in the same way. He used to say that when he got tired, he took a pole from the fence and carried it awhile on his shoulders in addition to the load ; then when he threw that off, the bags would seem light! Afterwards the settlers went to Davisville to have their "grist" ground, carrying it in the same way. Bradshaw Ordway used to take it not only for himself, but for his neigh- bors. Jacob Collins, ancestor of some of the same name "over the Minks," carried the boards of which to build his rye-bins on his shoulders from Squire Bean's saw-mill in Waterloo, through the woods and over the hills to the edge of Bradford, because no team could go by the wood-path. By the same means of conveyance, he next year brought from Waterloo the bricks of which to build an oven in His house.
16
,
The women sometimes hoed the corn near the dwellings, while their husbands were cutting down trees and clearing the ground to make a place for the next year's planting.
Watches and clocks were few. When Edmund Sawyer built a large house on the hill in the S. K. Hoyt District, to replace his small one, he was so particular that it should stand square, that a compass was set to square it by, so that the sun might shine in at the front door when it was noon. They had no clock. but they had a nine o'clock mark, a one o'clock mark, and others.
The early settlers had plain and simple fare. Bean por- ridge, Indian corn, rye, pumpkins, turnips, fish and game, were the most common articles of food. Sometimes, in the scarcity of provisions, they used boiled beach-leaves. Yet a hardy race grew up, notwithstanding.
The principal recreation was social visiting. The testi- mony of all the old people is uniform as to the sympathy and kindly feeling which prevailed among the carly settlers. + May all the remnants of prejudice and social alienation which have since grown up be forever dissipated, and the people be one in friendliness, and one in effort for the public good.
Money was scarce. Its comparative value, as estimated by what it would purchase, may be judged by a few facts gleaned from the town records and other sources. It should be premised that the "pound" spoken of in the early history of the town was in the "new tenor" currency, which was six shillings to a dollar. A pound, therefore, was equal to $3.33, and a shilling to 163 cents. One of the stipulations made November 4, 1771, in regard to Mr. Kelly's salary, was to give him one hundred dollars in labor, at two shillings and six pence (413 cents) per day, or if dinners were found, then two shillings (33g cents) per day. March 29, 1785, work on the highways was reckoned at three shillings per day. March 22, 1791, the town voted to reckon work on the high - ways as follows: From the first of June to the last of Au-
1
17
gust, three shillings (50 cents) per day ; from the last of Au- gust to the last of September, two shillings and sixpence (41 } cents) per day ; from the last of September to the first of November two shillings (33} cents) per day; from that to the first of April, one shilling and six pence (25 cents) per day; and from then to the first of June, two shillings and six pence per day. December 28, 1797, the town voted to allow men for work in building bridges, two shillings per day to the last day of March, and after that three shillings per day until the bridges are finished. February 8, 1798, minute-men having been enlisted by the town, it was voted to make up to them ten dollars per month, while in actual service, including what they are allowed by Congress. A bounty of two dollars was also voted; which, in these days, would not be considered a very tempting offer.
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.