USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Sanbornton > Addresses and proceedings at the centennial anniversary of the Congregational Church, in Sanbornton, N.H., November 12 and 13, 1871 > Part 5
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The reference made to the kindly relations which had always existed between the different religious denominations reminds me to speak of the beautiful friendship which bound my father and " Elder Crockett " together for so many years. It was a friendship based on a mutual and high respect, and a warm affection. In their frequent intercourse they dwelt less on the things in which they differed, so comparatively unimportant, and more on the grander matters in which they were agreed ; and thus they journeyed onward, in a pleasant and mutually
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helpful fellowship, toward that happier country where all mists are dispelled from their vision, and the Lamb of God is their Light.
This house stands on the same granite underpinning which supported the other; and so we are on the same material foundations on which the fathers stood, and prayed, and wor- shipped long ago, and for many years : singing here to-day the same hymns which they sung, and firmly established on the same everlasting spiritual doctrines, and on the same Rock of Ages-Jesus Christ. In the year 1856, during the ministry of Mr. Boutwell, a new and more elegant pulpit was introduced, which is still here unchanged, and during the past season you have made extensive repairs, remodeled the singer's gallery, bringing it down from its former elevation, and replaced the small and very imperfect glass, which was trans- ferred from the old meeting house, with these ampler sashes through which the light shines upon us to-day.
On my return from England, in the autumn of 1850, after an absence of fourteen years, I found my father showing signs of the infirmities which come with advanced age. In the autumn of the next year, after much anxious thought, and at the cost of a severe struggle with his feelings, he rose in a meeting of the church and asked to be dismissed from the charge which he had sustained for the period of forty-five years. The church was surprised and troubled, and sat in silence. They had never been without a pastor for a single day, and they were afraid ; and they loved their aged pastor, whose life had been spent in their service. At length one of the fathers rose and said, " We are not ready ; the time has not come ; we are not prepared to take this step." Again they sat in silence : then voted unanimously not to accede to the request. The minister acquiesced for the time, inti- mating that the request would be renewed, and leaving them at full liberty to act in the matter whenever they felt ready. They saw plainly that the thing must come, and with a wise and wholesome dread of giving up one pastor until they had found another to take his place, they made inquiry, and con- ferred with their minister and among themselves. You know
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the result. The Rev. James Boutwell, of Brentwood, was called, and on the 24th of June, 1852, was installed by the same council which dissolved the relation that had united pastor and people in a most unusual harmony and love for almost forty-six years.
You remember with what a beautiful grace your old minister came down from the pulpit to the pew, and became thenceforth an attentive and most respectful hearer of the new pastor, and a faithful teacher in the Sunday School ; doing all in his power to hold up the hands of his minister ; preaching for him when- ever his doing so was requested as a favor, until, because of great infirmities, the physician positively forbade his preaching any more. How his life-long and beautiful meekness still wrapped him about, as a garment, you remember ; and how all the town, till the last, delighted to speak his name with reverent and loving benedictions, calling him " Father Bod- well, the peacemaker."
Fifteen years ago to-day, which was the fiftieth anniversary of his settlement, he preached in this house, by special request, a semi-centennial discourse, which was published in the sum- mer after his death, with his own few words of farewell, to which he put his name just twelve days before he breathed his last.
His last illness was brief, only a single week. He knew that he was passing away, and was steadfast in his reliance on Christ, filled with peace. He was wont to say that he had learned his theology as a system, from the study of the West- minster Assembly's Shorter Catechism; and to those grand cardinal truths which that symbol so finely embodies, and which, as you know, he so earnestly preaclied during the whole course of his ministry, he expressed to me his continued and strong attachment during that last short illness. On the 24th day of March, 1863, not long before the setting of the sun, and when his eighty-sixth year was nearly completed, he fell asleep ; and two days after we laid liim to his rest, very near the spot where the Rev. Joseph Woodman, his predecessor, was laid fifty-six years before, and in the lot where now are lying three of his daughters, and the much-loved wife of his youth, the mother of us all.
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The ministry of Mr. Boutwell extended over a period of thirteen years, commencing in 1852, and terminating, by his death, in 1865. The sermon at his installation was preached by his intimate friend, the Rev. Erasmus D. Eldredge, of Salis- bury. The other principal parts were by the Rev. Messrs. Leach, Savage, Curtice, and Dr. Young.
Mr. Boutwell was a graduate of Dartmouth College, of the class of 1836, and of the class of 1840 in Andover Theological Seminary. He was a man of great decision of character, positive in his convictions, and fearless in expressing them. A fine personal appearance, and a clear, strong voice, gave impressiveness to his pulpit ministrations. He soon became known and respected among all the neighboring churches. During the thirteen years of his ministry, Mr. Boutwell admitted sixty persons to the fellowship of the church, bap- tized thirty-two, infant and adult, united thirty-six couples in the bonds of matrimony, and attended ninety-four funerals.
His latest labors were beyond his strength, and were dis- charged by virtue of a resolute will. Consumption had laid hold of him with inexorable grasp, yet he struggled against it and hoped against hope, willing to labor yet longer, if God would permit, for the people of his charge and his numerous young family. When all hope was given up, and he had entered his pulpit for the last time, on the first Sabbath in March, 1865, and administered the Sacrament and given his farewell words, I saw and conversed with him repeatedly, and he expressed no wish but that the will of God should be done. His death occurred on the 21st of April, 1865, and, at the age of fifty, he was gathered to his fathers, the two former pastors of this church, in the graveyard on the hill, where they all will rest till the morning of the resurrection.
The death of Mr. Boutwell left the church in a condition entirely new. From the day of its organization, on the 13th of November, 1771, to that 21st of April, 1865, the long period of ninety-four years, it had not been a single day without a pastor. But the God of our fathers did not forget his core- nant. You do not any the less acknowledge the peculiar mercy of the dispensation, because the bracing air of these
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glorious hills, and hardly less, perhaps, an eye to see and a soul to appreciate their wondrous beauty, first attracted to Sanbornton the man in the enjoyment of whose able pulpit ministrations, and faithful and loving pastoral oversight, you are so blest and happy. God grant the day may be far distant when it will be a thing in season to sum up HIS labors, or to attempt his portraiture. He is dearer to my heart, as I doubt not he is to yours, for the reason that, short as the time is, comparatively, since he first set foot in Sanbornton, he has told us much more of the magnificent mountains round about us than we ever knew before. It is required of me to say, also, that for the things of chiefest value in this address, I am largely indebted to his enthusiastic interest in this centennial day, and his patient and discriminating research in the records of the church and the town.
The voice of your present pastor was heard by you, preach- ing Christ from this pulpit, for the first time, on the first Sabbath in October, 1865. The question of health in the highly bracing atmosphere of these everlasting liills, was, as you know, a vital question with him ; and so it came about that, as you found in him so much more than can reasonably be expected from a stated supply, and he seemed to you so like a pastor, the matter of his settlement was suffered to be in abeyance, and he was not installed till the 11th day of June, 1868. On that day, almost sixteen years from the day of the settlement of his predecessor, the Rev. Moses Thurston Runnels was consti- stituted your pastor by solemn service of installation in this house. The sermon was preached by the Rev. H. M. Stone ; the Rev. Liba Conant offered the prayer of installation ; the Rev. W. T. Savage, D. D., gave the charge to the pastor ; the right hand of fellowship was by the Rev. Joseph Blake, and the address to the people by the Rev. C. Burnham.
Mr. Runnels has been with you, therefore, six years as your minister, and about three years and a half as your pastor. During the entire period, thirty-one persons have been received by him into the fellowship of the church, to fourteen of whom the ordinance of baptism was administered. Fourteen chil- dren have also been baptized by him, making the total number
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of baptisms twenty-eight. He has united twenty-one couples in holy matrimony, and officiated at the funerals of fifty-four persons, the age of the youngest being six hours, and of the oldest, ninety years ; twenty-four were above seventy years of age ; ten were above eighty, and one, as has been said, was above ninety, while the average age of the whole number was fifty-six years.
These things are embraced in the first hundred years of your history ; but the thing of deepest interest in relation to your present pastor, is the fact that he is the connecting link between two centuries. To you, brethren beloved of the church, with your deacons, Abraham Bodwell Sanborn and Joseph Emery; and Moses Thurston Runnels, your pastor, God has assigned the peculiar privilege to complete the old century and usher in the new.
Were it not that your pastor is present, there are some words which would seem to me fitting to put in this centennial discourse. I should not need to tell you, what you so very well know and appreciate, that his preaching is characterized, not only by marked intellectual ability and accurate and varied scholarship, but by a true spiritual insight, and a tender affec- tion for all the members of his flock. Neither do you need to be reminded how conscientious and true he is in his pastoral visitation, especially in the house of sorrow and the chamber of death. If it is true that the mantles of the departed fall on the living, then it would seem to me that the beautiful mantle of my father's meekness rests on him, and that, if my sainted father is permitted to look upon this church to-day, a more joyous note sounds from his golden harp, for that he sees the place where he stood so long, now occupied by a man peculiarly after his own heart. These things I would have said if your pastor had not been present.
You are entering on the second century of your existence as a church, in circumstances of peculiar hopefulness. The record of the past is such as should awaken devoutest thanks- giving. A hundred years ago to-day, seven earnest, Christian men subscribed their names to the covenant which stands on
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first page of your earliest records, were constituted a church of the living God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and received with thankfulness and joy their first ascension gift in the settlement of a pastor. Four hundred and sixty persons have been admitted to its communion as members since, making four hundred and sixty-seven in all. Of this entire number, and during the period of one hundred years, only twelve have been finally excommunicated. Your present number, as care- fully revised by your pastor, is one hundred and seventeen, of whom fifteen are absent, leaving one hundred and two resi- dent members. Strong attachment to the great doctrines of the Cross, a deep interest in Christian ordinances, and a steady maintenance of the monthly concert, the Sabbath school, and the weekly prayer meeting, have run, like so many golden threads, through all your history ; while stated contri- butions to the great benevolent enterprises of modern times have been hardly less a thing of course with you than the support of your own minister. While many other churches have been rent by strifes and divisions, bringing disastrous blight on their spiritual prosperity, to the great dishonor of Jesus Christ, and the destruction of the souls of men, you have been at peace among yourselves. Is it not a remarkable fact, calling for thanksgiving to God for his superabounding grace, that, in the entire period of one hundred years, a council has never once been called for the adjustment of difficulties in this beloved church ?
Four of your number have been preachers of the gospel and pastors of churches of the same faith and order as your own. Two of the four have gone to their rest and reward, and two are here to-day, to participate with joy in the exercises of this centennial anniversary. How many of your children, born, baptized, and converted here, have gone away to be active members or deacons in other Christian churches, I am unable to say. The number, we know, has not been small. Some of these, too, have come from their distant homes to visit once more their fathers' graves, and to mingle their thanksgivings and prayers with yours on this auspicious day. Those fathers' graves, and mothers', too: how inexpressibly
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dear to our hearts ! The time would fail us only to mention their names to-day. They are graven indelibly on our memo- ries, a goodly company. Their beautiful consistency, and their steadfast, patient, Christian life, we can never forget.
There are some of you, venerable fathers, with the com- panions of your youth, hastening to join that blessed company, who well remember that reverend man who was ordained first pastor of this church one hundred years ago to-day : how he placed his hands on your heads and blessed you. So there may be children of this church, yet unborn, who shall stand a hundred years hence where we stand now, the small rem- nant of a generation that shall have passed away, and point to the name, now last, but which will then stand full high on the list of pastors who will have preached Christ's glorious gospel in this place, and tell, with loving remembrance, how his kind hand was laid on their heads, and his pleasant voice carried words of heavenly wisdom to their hearts. We may not know. But there is a higher thoughit. It is, of the mighty changes which are surely coming among the nations, and in the kingdom of Christ, during the next one hundred years. In this, your centennial year, great events have happened, which we may not attempt to interpret, but which are full of significance. That Franco-Prussian war, with its untold horrors and rivers of human blood ; the humbling of the pride and beauty of that gay metropolis, whose sorceries have cor- rupted the nations ; the death-blow dealt to the hoary papacy, in the overthrow of the temporal power of its arrogant and impious head ; and, not least, the awful visitation of God in the destruction by fire of the Empire City of the West, simul- taneously with that of villages and immense forests far beyond ; in all these, assuredly, we must acknowledge signs of the coming of Him by whom and for whom this church exists, and of that happier day when the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.
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EXERCISES AT THE TOWN HALL.
[See Appendix, Note E.]
Blessing invoked at the table by the Rev. George D. Ballentine, of the First Baptist Church.
After dinner, the compass and chain by which the town of San- bornton was originally laid out, (1750-52), furnished by Dr. John H. Sanborn, of Meredith Village, were exhibited to the audience. Also the Treatise on Surveying, styled " Geodæsia, or the Art of Sur- veying Made Easy," and bearing the imprint of " London, 1753," by the aid of which Sergt. John Sanborn, the first who settled in town, was accustomed to " run his lines " in the capacity of " lot layer."
To show under what difficulties and hardships the new settlers labored, near the time of the organizing of this First Church, the " Petition of Jan. 1768," was read by Mr. Runnels, in which all the then inhabitants of the town, bewailing in pathetic terms their hard lot, pray of his Excellency, John Wentworth, Esq., Governor, &c., to be released for a year or two from paying the customary " Province Tax."
A copy of the " Association Test" of Sanbornton, furnished by Mr. Charles W. Colby, was also exhibited, in which all the citizens then in town but one (under date of July 3, 1776) pledge themselves to "oppose with arms the hostile attempts of the British Fleets and Armies."
The Marshal next delivered a brief address of welcome, stating the joy and satisfaction which it afforded the present members of the Church and Parish to greet and try to entertain their friends from abroad on this occasion. He wished to have all feel free, like chil- dren at a family re-union, and to indulge in their remembrances of the past.
Though he should call for the "regular toasts," prepared by the Pastor for this occasion, he would also invite volunteer sentiments, reminiscences or remarks at any time. He also stated that inasmuch as we have now assembled in the Town Hall the exercises might in
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in a measure partake of the more general character of a Town Cele- bration.
TOASTS.
[See Appendix, Note F.]
(1.) " The younger Congregational Churches of Franklin and of Tilton. They may well regard this Centenary Church of Sanbornton, in part at least, as the mother of them both. Though they must increase while she may decrease, yet let the bonds of a common faith and a common polity ever tenderly unite this trio of churches to one another, and to Christ."
Response by the Rev. Theo. C. Pratt, of Tilton, who began by saying that the Rev. Mr. Curtice, his predecessor, or the Rev. Dr. Savage, of Franklin, were they present, as had been expected, might more ap- propriately respond to this sentiment ; "for they have known you a quarter of a century or more, while I am but a babe of less than two years in my acquaintance with you. However, as children are al- lowed at family gatherings to say something, I would add, as a repre- sentative of the Church of Northfield and Tilton, that we are not ashamed of the mother church at Sanbornton Square, but rather proud of our connection with the noble men whose lives have been referred to so touchingly and appropriately in the address of the day."
In conclusion he reminded the company that little had been said of the mothers and sisters in Israel and much of the fathers and broth- ers ; he also playfully criticised the orator in this respect ; but being informed that the omission would be made good, he yielded the floor.
(2.) " Our sister churches of other names in Sanbornton and vicin- ity. May they cast the mantle of charity over that mistaken affec- tion which would have retained them longer than seemed desirable within the old family circle of the original Church.
Now, as for many years past, may we all as churches walk together ' in the unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace.'"
Responded to by Rev. Geo. D. Ballentine, of the First Baptist Church, Sanbornton, and Rev. E. P. Moulton, of the Free Will Baptist Church, Union Bridge.
Mr. Ballentine said : " Like my friend who has just preceded me, I feel that I am but a child in knowledge, so far as the history of the neighboring churches is concerned, having been a resident in town but a little over a year. But in behalf of my own church, and for myself,
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I can say that we most cordially extend to this church and their be- loved pastor, both our hearts and our hands in the great interests of our common Lord and Master. I can freely add that I have felt as much at home to-day, as I should have done at a similar gathering in my own denomination. I was deeply interested in the very able ad- dress made this forenoon by Dr. Bodwell, and think that this church has abundant reason to be thankful for the very remarkable degree of prosperity which they have enjoyed for the century which has just come to so successful a close."
Mr. Moulton's remarks not reported.
(3.) " The two first deacons of this Church, Benjamin Darling and Nathaniel Tilton. For both were we indebted to that part of the original parish which now holds up the name of one of the two-through his numerous and influential descendants-the name of 'Tilton.'"
The Rev. C. W. Millen, of the Methodist Church, Tilton, responded substantially as follows :
"This sentiment would more naturally fall upon some one of the descendants of the old Dea. Tilton, inasmuch as we have them with us. However, it gives me pleasure to have some part in the festivi- ties of this occasion. The eminence we occupy to-day enables us to survey one hundred eventful years in connection with this grand old town.
I observed in Dr. Bodwell's discourse that the Sanborns played a prominent part in its early history, and I have taken it for granted that the town took its name from them. In this section they resided, and here was the centre of commercial enterprise ; but the manufac- turing facilities of the valley drew the people thither, and at length the most populous part of Sanbornton was that portion now called Tilton, from the fact that the Tiltons were involved, to a great extent, in the prosperity of the village. In that part of old Sanbornton it seems the first deacons of this church resided. I am glad that a century ago the Tiltons were noted for their piety. They are now noted, at least, for their wealth. There is an intimate relation be- tween piety and prosperity ; even between the piety of parents and the prosperity of children. Deacon Nathaniel Tilton, I doubt not, was like Nathaniel of old, 'an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile.' His children, ' blessed after him,' I hope will yet become dea- cons'themselves ; at least be in every way qualified for the office- · grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.'
The other deacon was Benjamin Darling. It appears that he also
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lived in the same portion of the town. His descendants, I think, are not numerous in this section. I remember of having read of a dar- ling Benjamin, but this seems to have been a Benjamin Darling. I suppose as the former was the darling son of his father, so the latter was the darling father of a numerous offspring.
May the memory of each of these deacons-so green to-day-be cherished a hundred years to come."
Capt. Jonathan P. Sanborn, also from Tilton, corrected the impres- sion, in part entertained by the last speaker, that Sanbornton was so named because of the great number of settlers by that name; rather because many of the proprietors were Sanborns. He also stated the fact that during a portion of the first winter, his grand-father, Sergt. John Sanborn, already mentioned, spent in that part of Sanbornton, which is now Tilton, no less than five families were domiciled in the single room which he had finished off in his house, the beds being turned up in the day time and entirely covering the floor at night !
This prepared the way for the next sentiment. (See Appendix, Note G.)
(4.) "The Sanborns of our ancient town. Prominent alike among its original grantees, its earliest settlers and its most distinguished, useful and exemplary citizens, 'through all their generations.' Their name is most appropriately as well as permanently embalmed in the name of Sanbornton."
Response by N. H. Sanborn, Esq., of Franklin : "I should have been glad had some abler name-sake been called to respond to this sentiment.
I am proud of the family name of Sanborn you have so generous- ly honored, and I venerate the fathers for having left us so good a name. I rejoice to be numbered among the sons of " Old Sanborn- ton," and I still claim to be a citizen of Sanbornton as it was, al- though a more recent reconstruction of municipal lines places my resi- dence in a neighboring town. The name of Sanborn, so far as we are able to trace it, originated with John Sanborn, of Derbyshire, England. He was born about 1600, and married a daughter of Rev. Stephen Bachilor, by whom he had three sons.
Two of these, John and William Sanborn, better known as Lieut. John and Esq. William, settled permanently in Hampton; and from them have descended the large family of Sanborns in this country- their descendants numbering more than 5000. As a race they have been robust, industrious and frugal ; and although they may not have attained distinguished eminence, they have left us a family name
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