USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Hampstead > A memorial history of Hampstead, New Hampshire, Congregational Church 1752-1902, Volume II > Part 16
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1843.
Apr. 9, Harriet Frances, infant daughter of Rev. Francis Welch.
Sept. 3, Mary Danforth, daughter of Dr. Tewksbury.
8, Emma Alice, infant daughter of Mr. Joseph Chase.
Nov. 19, Mary Abbie, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Simon Merrill.
.. Sarah Ellen, daughter of Jacob Irving.
1844.
Jan. 4, Charles Richards, son of Capt. Jesse Ayer, on account of his wife.
Mary Elizabeth, Albert Warren, Julia Ann, children of widow Merrill .*
Sept .. Susan, infant daughter of Rev. J. M. C. Bartley, bap- tized by the Rev. Mr. Bodwell of Sanbornton.
Albert Cushing, son of Mr. Moody H. Brickett.
1846.
June 28, Mary Elizabeth, infant daughter of Joseph Chase.
July, Jacob HI., infant son of JJacob Irving.
Oct .. Clara Whitman, infant daughter of Dr. Isaac Tewks- bury.
1847.
Sept., Hannah Eliza, daughter of Simon Merrill, aged 3. 3, Mary Stevens, Eliza Frances, Josephine, children of Mr. Jesse Davis.
*John Merrill, b. in Bradford, Mass., Sept. 20, 1788; married Ruth Gould, b. in Topsfield, Mass., Ang. 20, 1833. Their children were: Mary Elizabeth, b. Apr. 9, 1833; Albert Warren, b. Nov. 23, 1834; Julia Ann, b. Nov. 4, 1836; all deceased but the youngest. Sent by Mrs. (). F. Summer, Goffstown, N. H., a niece of the above, March 4, 1902.
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1848.
Feb. 29, Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Kent. Sept.,
Albert Emerson, son of John and Mary Bradley of Danville.
1850.
June,
Joseph, son of Joseph Chase, baptized by Rev. Mr. Page of Atkinson.
July,
Clara Louisa, Charles Edwin, children of Jona. and Ann Kent, baptized by the Rev. Mr. Princhild of South Boston.
1852.
June,
.John Bartley, infant son of Rev. J. M. C. Bartley, baptized at the altar by the Rev. Mr. Daniel Decker. Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Wm. and Lois Sanborn.
1853.
July,
Twins, infant children of John and Mary Bradley of Danville.
Sept.,
James William, infant son of William and Lois San- born. -, daughter of Mr. Drew of Derry. C'alvin Webster, son of Moody H. and Laura Brickett.
66
66
1857.
Sept.,
Susan Emma, daughter of Wm. and Lois Sanborn.
June,
1861. Eugene Meader, infant son of Rev. T. C. Pratt.
May 5, Laura Annette, daughter of Daniel H. and Sarah B. Emerson, on account of the mother.
1862.
July 6, Ella Boardman, infant daughter of Rev. T. C. Pratt.
1864. July 6, John Calef, son of William and Lois (Calef) Sanborn. Lucy Jane, daughter of Mrs. Adams. Nov. 6, Albert Wallace, infant son of Rev. T. C. Pratt.
Oct.,
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH HISTORY.
1866.
Sept.,
Charles Stacy, son of John S. and Hannah E. Titcomb.
1872.
July 7, Henry Irving, son of John S. and Hannah E. Titcomb.
" Emma Lizzie Tenney, child of Silas and Mary E. Tenney.
1876.
May 7, Albert Priestley Watson, son of Rev. Albert Watson and Miranda, his wife.
1878.
Sept. 1, Carrie Elsie Davis, daughter of Wm. H. Davis and wife, Jane R.
1879.
May 14, Maurice Woodburn Dickey, son of M. P. and Louise S. Dickey.
1880.
July 4, Henry Clinton, son of William and Jane R. Davis. 1882.
" 2, Mary Garland, daughter of Wm. and Jane R. Davis.
-1890.
6, Ray Everett Fitts, son of W. Amos and Mary Etta Fitts.
1891.
Nov. 1, Lee Mahlon, son of W. Amos and Mary Etta Fitts.
1893.
May 7, Mabel Gertrude, daughter of W. Amos and Mary Etta Fitts.
" Otto Theodore Anderson, christened at home.
1894.
Sept., Charlotte Ruth, daughter of Forrest and Alice Merrill. 66 Janette Edith, daughter of Forrest and Alice Merrill.
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1895.
June 6, Clara Emma, daughter of W. Amos and Mary Etta Fitts.
1896.
June 6, Eleanor True Randall, dau. of Isaac and Alice Randall.
Maurice, son of Isaac and Alice Randall.
1900.
June 3, Evelyn, daughter of Isaac and Alice Randall.
Earl Haynes, son of Albert and Daisy Haynes.
1901.
Sept., Hollis, son of Albion and Mary G. Emerson. Marjorie, daughter of John C. and Annie Sanborn.
16, Ernest Colby, son of Frank and Alice Pillsbury.
1902.
Nov. 2, Roland C., son of Albion D. and Mary G. Emerson.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
CHURCH.
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE,
JULY 2ND, 1902.
150th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION.
The celebration of the 150th anniversary of Hampstead as a corporate town July 4, 1899 was an event ever to be re- membered by those who were present on that occasion. It broadened our lives, and made us realize that the town in a century and a half of growth, has reached out to the farther- most parts of the earth, and we trust has encouraged us, to feel that life means something even here in an ordinary New England town.
The incorporation of Hampstead in 1749 was followed by the organization of the church three years later in 1752. For ninety years town and church affairs were closely con- nected.
The church committee in the summer of 1901, with the Rev. Rufus P. Gardner as the leading spirit, acted upon the thought, that the celebration of the anniversary of the town would be recognized only in part, unless the church fittingly remembered its one hundred and fifty years of work, by observing with appropriate exercises the birthday of the church the coming year.
The removal from town of Rev. Mr. Gardner was a serious drawback to the plans, but May 14, 1902 the follow- ing committees were chosen to complete the arrangements for a reunion of the friends of the church.
Executive Committee .- Rev. Walter HI. Woodsum, Dea. Charles W. Pressey, Dea. William H. Davis, Dea. For- rest E. Merrill, John C. Sanborn, Miss Mary E. Spollett, and Mrs. John S. Corson.
Committee on Invitations. - Dea. Charles W. Pressey, Mrs. Mary E. Eastman, and William A. Emerson.
(217)
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MEMORIAL OF THE CHURCH OF
Committee on Music .- Dea. William H. Davis, Dea. Forrest E. Merrill, Mrs. Albert H. Little, and Mrs. Frank W. Emerson.
Committee on Reception .- Mr. and Mrs. Forrest E. Merrill, Mrs. Isaac Randall, and Mr. Charles Park Pressey.
Committee of Entertainment and Transportation .- John C. Sanborn, John S. Corson, Albion D. Emerson, Ammasa W. Hunt, Mrs. Clara Irving Davis, Mrs. William A. Emerson, and Mrs. James W. Sanborn.
Committee on Decorations .- Miss Mary E. Spollett, Miss Minnie M. Fitts, and Mrs. Charles O. Cass.
Committee on Banquet .- Mrs. John S. Corson, Mrs. Henry W. Tabor, and Mrs. William HI. Davis.
Wednesday, July 2, 1902, the day chosen for the celebra tion was a cloudless, cool July day. Invitations had been sent to past and present members, town people and their friends, also to the neighboring parishes, and invited guests to meet at the church in the afternoon and evening.
The auditorium of the church was entered through an arch of evergreen, bearing the inscription in large white let- ters nestled among the twigs of the beautiful hemlock, " Welcome Home." On the other side of the arch where it met the eye on leaving the church were the words "Come in '52 " formed of field daisies, In front of the new organ and about the pulpit were a mass of ferns and meadow rue, above which, filling the large room with their delightful fra- grance were 150 roses of rare varieties, 150 carnations and other beautiful blossoms from the conservatories of Mrs. Joseph H. White of Boston who with her sisters, Mrs. Coaker, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Hitchcock, sent the gift as a birthday remembrance to their former church home. On the piano, surrounded with roses and maiden hair ferns, was placed a picture of the church in Hampstead, England, loaned by Mr. J. T. Rhodes of Haverhill, Mass., a native of Old Hamp-
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
stead. In front of the new organ hung the word "150th Anniversary," in gilt and snowy white, trimmed with rock ferns and scarlet ramblers.
PROGRAMME.
Afternoon. 1 o'clock.
1. Organ Prelude-Extracts from Lohengrin, R. Wagner
Mrs. Frank W. Emerson.
2. Anthem-" O Give Thanks," Chorus-William HI. Davis, Director.
Gabriel
3. Reading of Scripture and Invocation.
4. Response Duet-" Through the Gates of Gold." Maud Anita Hurt Mrs. Albert H. Little. Miss Mary G. Davis.
5. Address of Welcome.
The Pastor, Walter II. Woodsum.
6. Reminiscences of Former Pastors.
1. Rev. Henry True, 1752-1782. By Henry True, Marion, Ohio.
2. Rev. John Kelley, 1792-1836. By Rev. George O. Jeuness, CharIton, Mass.
3. Rev. John M. C. Bartley, 1836-1857. By Rev. William T. Bartley. Ph. D .. Salem, N. H.
4. Rev. Theodore C. Pratt, 1859-1870.
5. Rev. Ebenezer W. Bullard, 1870-1875. Bullard, Larchmont. L. 1.
By Dr. William E.
6. Rev. Albert Watson, 1876-1893.
7. Rev. Rufus P. Gardner, 1893-1901.
7. Solo-" There is a City Bright." .
.1. F. Loud
Mrs. Forrest E. Merrill.
8. Historical Address.
Miss Harriette E. Noyes.
9. Singing-" While the Years are Rolling on." arr. by W. E. Hartwell Double Male Quartette, Forrest E. Merrill. Director.
10. Reminiscences of Past Preceptors.
1. Rev. Myron P. Dickey, Milton, N. 11.
2. Edward E. Bradley, Lincoln, Mass.
3. Forrest E. Merrill.
11. Solo-" The Gates of the West," Caroline Lowthian Miss Abbie F. Chandler, Haverhill, Mass.
12. Reminiscences of Past Members.
1. Miss Fannie B. Williams, Carney, Oklahoma.
2. Rev. Albert P. Watson, Bedford. N. H.
3. Henry C. Ordway, Winchester, Mass.
4. Rev. Kimball K. Clark, Fitzwilliam, N. II.
13. Singing-" Jerusalem the Golden," Quartette. Gabriel
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MEMORIAL OF THE CHURCH OF
14. Greetings from the Mother Church, Plaistow and No. Haverhill. Rev. Joseph Kimball.
15. Greetings from Friends.
Ilon. Lyman D. Stevens, Concord, N. II.
16. Song of the Day, James HI. Taylor, Dorchester, Mass. Congregation.
17. Organ Postlude-Polish Serenade, J. Kuffa Mrs. Frank W. Emerson. Social Greetings and Banquet.
Evening. 2.30 o'clock.
1. Organ Prelude-"Sunset Glow," E. L. Ashford Mrs. Frank W. Emerson.
2. Anthem-" Praise ye the Father," Chorus. . Gounod
3. Reading of Letters from Friends.
4. Singing-" He Knows it All," Double Male Quartette.
Finley Lyon
5. Poem of the Day. Rev. William T. Bartley, Ph. D.
6. Solo-" The Land of Home," Hamilton Gray Mrs. Albert II. Little.
7. Address, Rev. Burton W. Lockhart, D. D., Manchester, N. H.
8. Anthem-"Ye that Stand in the House of the Lord." Walter Spinney Chorus.
9. Prayer.
10. Anniversary Hymn, · James HI. Taylor
Congregation.
11. Benediction.
12. Organ Postlude-March from Tannhauser, Mrs. Frank W. Emerson. · R Wagner
At one o'clock the spacious room was filled to overflow- ing. The exercises opened by an organ prelude, by Mrs. Frank W. Emerson, followed by anthem, "O give thanks " by chorus director, Wmn. H. Davis ; sopranos. Mrs. Albert H. Little, Mrs. Forrest E. Merrill, Misses Annie L. Kimball, and Ethel H. Spinney ; altos, Mrs. Henry W. Tabor, Mrs.
221
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Frank E. Darling, Misses Mary G. Davis, and Edith Foss : tenors, William H. Davis, Forrest E. Merrill, John S. Cor- son. and Lowell M. Clark : basses, Eugene L. Spinney, H. Clinton Davis, C. Park Pressey, and Albion D. Emerson ; reading of scripture and invocation by Rev. A. B. Howard, pastor of the First Free Baptist Church, Danville, N. H. : response duet, " Through the gates of gold," Mrs. Albert H. Little and Miss Mary G. Davis.
Rev. Walter H. Woodsum then greeted the visitors with the following words of welcome.
"I think it was Tennyson who said, 'Words partly re- veal and partly conceal the soul that is within.' I fully appreciate the inadequacy of words to express the sublime sentiments that surge in our hearts as we extend to you this welcome to the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of organized work for God in Hampstead, for what expressions of words can do justice to the grandeur of a century and a half of gospel labor of love and self sacrifice ?
And yet what an honor to extend a welcome in so glori- ous a cause, for surely the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands pre-eminently the grandest that ever engaged the feeble efforts of men.
And what a pleasure, also, it is to welcome you here to- day back to the old familiar haunts, to the recollections of childhood days, to the sacred precinets of God's house, hal- lowed by memories of devotion and holy worship, where was learned reverence for God, love for His Son, and true service for one another.
Truly it gives us genuine pleasure to welcome you to-day here in this house, and to our homes, our friendships, and our hospitality, such as we are enabled to give.
We welcome you, pastors of the past, we glory in the record of noble unselfish service to God and man, which you have made, and I pray God that as we reap the benefits of the heritage of good works, so when we shall have closed our labors as pastor of this people, the standard of service shall not have been lowered.
We welcome you, the posterity of those early pastors, who laid the foundations, and stood like the very bulwarks of
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MEMORIAL OF THE CHURCH OF
God against the assaults of the enemy, truly an ancestry to be proud of.
We welcome you, the preceptors of the high school, which in the wise provision of its founder is in close connection with the church, and the cause of righteousness, to instruct in knowledge, in righteousness and in christian principle is the especial province of the church of Christ.
We welcome you, the members of former years. What a foretaste is this of the great family reunion in the kingdom of God, when from north and south, and from east and west, the children of God in all the ages shall sit down with Abra- ham and Isaac in that blessed land and talk of all the won- derful goodness of God.
We welcome you, the representatives of our parent church. Surely no greater work can be done by the church of God than the giving of birth, as it were, to children churches who shall carry the glorious gospel into the regions beyond.
And we welcome you, friends and neighbors, one and all. "Come, let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord : " " Come, behold what great things the Lord hath wrought," and let us each one contribute in honoring the past, in giving in- spiration to the present and to enlarging the hope for the future.
I extend the welcome to you in behalf of the Executive Committee who have been untiring in their efforts to do jus- tice to this occasion.
I also welcome you in behalf of the church organization standing in its entirety of one hundred and fifty years, and of over seven hundred and seventy members, "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
And finally I welcome you in behalf of the community, which has always done its part willingly and gladly, and has ever shown its respect and esteem for the church to which it should belong, and its regard and reverence for the true religion of Jesus Christ, which it should more emphatically and definitely espouse."
Number six of the programme " Reminiscences of former pastors," followed.
Rev. Henry True was represented by Henry True of Marion, Ohio, a great-grandson and namesake of the first
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
pastor, and his son, Harry Ayer True, who were pleased to be present, and spoke briefly in response. A grand-daughter, Mrs. Mary True Vose and her daughter, Helen A., also revered the memory of their ancestor.
Rev. George O. Jenness of Charlton, Mass., gave the fol- lowing tribute to the memory of Rev. John Kelly, grand father of Mrs. Jenness.
Ladies and Gentlemen :-
I have been invited to give you a five or ten minutes reminiscent address as a representative of the Rev. Jolm Kelly, the second minister of this town.
I suppose your committee who extended this invitation knew very well that I had no acquaintance personally with good old Father Kelly, but that they also knew that for the last thirty-two years, I have been on familiar terms with his grand-daughter ; and so they necessarily expect that what I shall say about him will be but an echo from her. So much has been printed and published in your excellent history of Hampstead concerning Father Kelly, there is very little of a biographical character left which would interest you.
There are, however, two or three very interesting facts about him to which I may, perhaps, call your attention appro- priately.
Mr. Kelly was very specially interested in little children, even down to his last years. He was never known to pass one by, even in the streets, without some signal indications of his special love for them.
He delighted to take them on his knees and tell them bible stories. All the children loved and respected him, and when on his pastoral rounds wherever he visited, the chil- dren of that home were among the most cordial to gather about and welcome him.
If, as has often been stated, the average minister of his times was generally inclined, like the early disciples who rebuked the Master for paying little children marked attention, and giving them a peculiarly warm place in his heart, it is a most beautiful tribute to the memory of your second minis- ter to be able to refer to him on such an occasion as this, as strikingly endowed with the Master's spirit who said, "Suf- fer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."
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MEMORIAL OF THE CHURCH OF
Father Kelly was also, I think, ahead of his brother minis- ters of his time, and indeed, I may say, ahead of the average christian man of the period, on the temperance question. On March 4th, 1841, when I was four years old, and he was seventy, he delivered a most remarkably strong sermon be- fore the Hampstead Temperance Society, and also, three years later, repeated the sermon, one evening in the Plaistow Town House, from the text, " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging."
Among other things in this sermon, he spoke of the dan- ger of being deceived and snared by using liquor, and also of the criminality of having anything to do in promoting its use in the common concerns of life.
On the first point mentioned, Father Kelly goes on to say, " There is one circumstance which has a great tendency to produce this deception, and that is when the intemperate man first takes down the deadly poison : he immediately feels better at his stomach, because the ingredient produces an excitement which he imagines to be renewed strength, whereas it is nothing more than a movement towards a fall."
When I read this from the pen of your second minister, I couldn't help thinking of that "tired feeling," and the promise of renewed strength in our day, by the Patent Medi- cine vender, who advertises a remedy and compounds it largely of intoxicating liquors.
And on the second point of the criminality of anything to do in promoting the use of intoxicants in the common con cerns of life, he asks, " Is it not a national crime that a large proportion, one third of the best land in France, is taken up in the culture of the vine instead of that of bread corn? And is it not a national sin that in this country men are suffered to turn bread corn into poison, and a greater sin to give a license to covetous and wicked ones to sell this same poison to whom it will turn the sweetest and best food in- to poison, and to the ruin of soul and body, or to urge it up- on others to the utter ruin of millions of individuals and families is a great sin, an aggravated sin."
Then your second minister was, I am persuaded, far in advance of many of his contemporaries, in his estimate of the importance of music in religious worship. I hold in my hand a sermon of his preached one hundred and two years
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
ago, to the singing school in Hampstead. In this discourse, he argues that music is a divine institution. He takes strong grounds in support of instrumental music as helpful in wor- ship. " Singing to the Lord before men," he says, " should be hearty and also reverent." Let me quote to you one or two of his sentences which might well be considered as most excel- lent advice to singers, even in these times. " It is granted by all," he says, " that regard is to be had to time, concord, dis- tinet pronunciation, and the variety of the subject, but what gives the grace to the music is the unaffected piety of the heart, glowing in the countenance and flowing on the tongue." The apostle says, " I will sing, saith the spirit, I will sing with the understanding also." " And so ought all thus to sing with grace in their hearts, by the assistance of the spirit of God, and with their own mind in spirit engaged in the work ; and according to rule, understanding themselves what they sing and how they sing, and as far as they are able singing to the understanding of others, by pronouncing distinctly and in plain language, what they sing." In his closing he says to this singing school, " You will permit me to express my satisfaction with the conduct of many youths in this place, that instead of being engaged in those frivolous occupations which neither improve the head nor the heart, you have turned your attention to one of the most improving and useful sciences, which by divine grace, will enable you to praise God, to aid His people in their devotions, and to enjoy much satisfaction yourselves."
As I look back thirty years to the time when I left Hamp- stead, my memory recurs to the old singing seats where I used to sit with the Hampstead choir, many of whom have gone to sing the praises of God in the upper and more glori- ous sanctuary, that I cannot but feel that much of the suc- cess and interest which has been a distinguishing feature in the musical part of the Hampstead Congregational Church worship is largely due to the encouragement the singers of the olden days received from the long and faithful ministry of Father Kelly.
Rev. William Tenney Bartlett, Ph. D., pastor of the Con- gregational Church in Salem, N. H., and grandson of the third minister, Rev. John M. C. Bartley, 1836-1857, referred
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MEMORIAL OF THE CHURCH OF
briefly to his grandfather's life, mentioned dates, spoke of his relation to children, how he would question them on the street, " Do you want to be happy?" and finally would tell them, " Then you must be good "; spoke of his mild, but firm home government, in which the words " I guess I wouldn't" were well understood, and served to frustrate childish plans of which he disapproved. He referred to his grandfather's charity, as when he interested parents in the further education of their sons, or even paid a part of their tuition himself, or when he secured the free services of a Newburyport physician to remove cataracts from the eyes of an indigent parishioner, himself driving to Newburyport to bring the doctor, and driving back to return him to his home ; and of his last words, nearly the last, as, towards morning, after a night of sickness, in which he had paid little attention to surroundings, he asked the watcher who had spent the night at his bedside, " And how is your little family ? " adding almost immediately, " Of which the whole family in heaven and earth is named-one family," thus showing how closely his every day thoughts were with his holy ones.
In closing he suggested that it would be well for every one if the secular were so closely connected in his own life with the divine.
The fourth pastor, Rev. Theodore C. Pratt, was present, and spoke for himself, as follows:
" When the early spring sap runs from the rock maples it is sweetish. Boiled down it becomes delicious syrup or maple sugar. But this requires time and skill on the part of the sugar-maker. The same holds true of writers and speakers. Time and skill are required to produce the best thoughts in the fewest words. Whether I shall give you sap or syrup remains to be seen.
I came to this church and people after many men had been heard. Candidates and supplies had been tried for more than a year, until some thirty, more or less, had been tested.
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Unless a settled pastor was secured within the second year, certain funds in the possession of the Society would perhaps be forfeited. Was this the main reason for the choice they finally made ?
The war of the rebellion came on near the close of my second year. When the first gun was fired at Fort Sumter, my way became plain and clear. It had been my method when any important question came up to seek the advice of those wiser than myself. But I had no time nor inclination to confer with others. The government must be sustained, was my immediate deciston.
Then came those four years of conflict, of fierce struggles, of successes, and of final victory. This church in those four years never faltered. In God we trusted, and he gave us success.
I spoke out plainly and boldly, in and out of the pulpit, advocating freedom and every movement that aimed to im- prove the church and people.
In accepting the call to this pastorate I closed my letter with the assurance that I would preach what in my judgment was truth. Hence I was not trammelled. I could not be, if I remained a true man.
Just before the war broke out the people decided to build a new church, which in due time was completed. I preached the sermon of dedication from 1 Kings 8: 27, " And will God in every deed dwell on the earth ? Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee : how much less this house that I have builded." God accepted this house as his own, and here for forty years he has manifested his grace, his power to save souls.
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