USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > Historical discourse commemorative of the centennial anniversary of the Congregational Church, Plymouth, N.H. : preached Dec. 24th and 31st, 1865 > Part 2
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There is much in this action which, after the lapse of a century, may instruct us. Observe the permanence of the relation in the ideas of the fathers. They had no thought that, after a few years, their pastor was to leave them for another field of labor. And the provision for his support was generous. An ounce of silver was reckoned at six shillings and eightpence; and, at this rate, his salary was $166.66, with three-quarters of a year's salary added, as an " encouragement." When increased, it would amount to $222. The right of land was sufficient for two good farms ; and this, with the wood and the smaller expense of living, makes it certain that few ministers in Grafton County to-day have as liberal a support as the fathers gave Mr. Ward. And they would take no advantage of a depreciated currency. Hard money, or its equivalent, they promised. When the Revolution came, with its Continental cur- rency, this provision would be like a gold salary, in these days of greenbacks, to a minister.
These overtures Mr. Ward accepted ; and, 23d April, 1765, the proprietors voted that David Hobart, John Brown, William Nevins and Stephen Webster be a committee to act in behalf of the pro- prietors of Plymouth, in respect to the ordination of Mr Ward. And, June 13, it was "voted to raise 17 pounds 15 shillings, old tenor, upon each right, for Mr. Ward's salary for the year ensuing : & 12 pounds 15 shillings upon each right for Mr. Ward's settlement, and 3 pounds on each right for ordination expenses." This whole sum, taking the legislative assessment of the value of wheat the same year, and reckoning old tenor at a quarter of the value of new tenor, would be equivalent to 400 bushels of wheat. An ounce of silver would, at that time, purchase four or five times as much provisions as it will now. Abel Webster was the collector.
Mr. Ward went to Newburyport for installation, July 10. He had there an influential friend, Ebenezer Little, who owned extensive rights of land around Livermore's Falls, and was thus interested in the development of Plymouth. "Hear him preach," was Mr. Little's suggestion to the council, when, not fully satisfied with his examina- tion, or remembering, perhaps, his Separatist ordination in Newton,
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they hesitated. And when he had preached, their doubts had vanished.
Who was this man? His ancestor, William Ward, came from England about 1646, and settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts. John, his son, removed to Newtown, now Cambridge, and there Joseph, the father of Nathan, was born and lived. He did not enjoy the advantages of early education ; but, led to Christ, under Whitefield's preaching, he found employment for his large natural endowments in the ministry. The friends of Whitefield, not sat- isfied with the position of some of the churches and ministers, organized new churches, known as Separatists; and Mr. Ward gathered such a church in Newton, and was ordained its pastor about 1750. They were called by their opponents, "New Lights," in derision, and encountered much ridicule and opposition. Although ordained clergymen were exempt from taxation, he was taxed; but remonstrated and sent a memorial to the town meeting in Newton, 1755, March 13, which does credit to his manly and Christian temper.
How long Mr. Ward remained at Newton is uncertain ; but, in 1760, he was preaching in Newcastle, Maine, and, for a year or two, negotiations were in progress looking to his settlement there. Rumors that his dismission from Newton, and, perhaps, his Separa- tist settlement there had been irregular, were investigated by a com- mittee ; their report (1761, January 16), was very favorable to Mr. Ward. They still endeavored to settle him, but the town was not strong enough to undertake his support; and the effort failed. Providence was reserving him for Plymouth, and guiding him thither ; and, at the appointed time, he was ready to put his hand to the foundations here.
He was no common man. Like his three immediate suc- cessors in office, he was tall, with a fine physique, and a voice of remarkable power. Tradition tells some rather incred- ible stories of the distance at which his preaching could be heard. It would be strange, in view of his lack of education, if he had been distinguished for scholarship ; but he was a hard-working minister, "eminent for piety, zeal and earnest inculcation of the doctrines of grace." For thirty-two years he stood at his post. Through all the hardships of the early years, all the perils of the Revolution, all the responsibilities of the succeeding years, he led his people faithfully,-a patriot, and true spiritual shepherd,
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winning souls and commending himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God .* The infirmities of age led him to ask release from pastoral care in 1798, after which he lived six years among his people, loving and beloved. Plymouth should hold his name in honor, and his grave, in the Baker's River Cemetery, should be a hallowed spot.
Mr. Ward's sermon, alluded to above, was certainly the first preached in Grafton County ; and no other town in this region, if in the State, was as prompt in planting the church and the ministry as Plymouth. Haverhill and Newbury were occupied two years earlier ; but Mr. Powers, their first minister, did not arrive till the autumn of 1764,-five months later than Mr. Ward's coming to Plymouth. His call, too, must have been the first ; but the delay of his answer gave time for the installation of Mr. Powers, in February, before his own; and Mr. Powers was thus the first pastor in the county. In Lebanon, the church was not organized until 1768; in Orford, in 1770 ; and in Hanover and Lyme, in 1771.
In the Proprietors' Record, two other references are made to Mr. Ward. 1766, July 17, it was "Voted to give Mr. Ward the eleventh lot of intervale on Baker's River, instead of the Second in the great Horse Pasture, which was designed for the first settled minister." And, in . 1767, they "Voted to pay Abel Webster in common land, for the right he purchased for Rev. Mr. Ward's settle- ment." The place secured by this exchange to Mr. Ward, was that on which he lived and died, on Meeting-house or Ward Hill, a little beyond the old church and the store, and now (1865) belonging to Mr. Stafford, a lineal descendant. The great Horse Pasture was on the Pemigewasset Intervale, opposite the village. Most of it is now on the Holderness side of the river, as the channel has changed, formerly running near the bluffs, on the east side. The object of the exchange was probably to secure to the pastor a residence more central, and nearer the probable location of the meeting-house.
In 1767, the town voted to build a meeting-house. Until this was done, Mr. Ward must have preached from house to house, or, very probably, at Colonel Webster's, whose house was already a public house,-a prophecy, however humble, of the stately Pemigewasset, which has just been built on the same grounds.
After much discussion, it was decided that the new house should stand at the foot of Ward Hill. The road then ran south-east from
* In 1791, Dartmouth College conferred the honorary degree of A. M. upon him.
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that point, and came into the present river road, near the carriage- shop, below the village. The meeting-house faced south on this road, standing a few rods south of Mr. Harris's house. Behind it stood " the whipping-post and stocks, designed for those who were disorderly on the Sabbath, and who were guilty of other crimes ; but they proved such a terror to evil-doers that they were seldom if ever used." This house was rude in architecture, though, doubtless, superior to the dwellings of those who built it. It was of logs of uniform size, and hewed in the best manner ; fastened at the ends, neatly matched ; and the cracks were stopped with clay. It was about forty feet by fifty, and two stories high, with glazed windows. It had galleries on three sides. There was a square pew in each corner, and an elder's seat. The rest of the floor was occu- pied with long seats on each side of a central aisle. The right side and gallery were occupied by the women ; the left by the men. This house was first used in 1768, though not finished till 1770. It stood till November, 1787, when it was burned. The town had been talking and voting for three years about a new church, and the fire was supposed to indicate some person's unregulated zeal to hasten the building thereof. "This first church," we are told, " was well filled on the Sabbath, as it was disreputable to be absent from public worship, or to refuse to pay the minister's tax. None had to stay at home for want of clothes, as the men wore tow frocks and went barefoot, and the women wore their check and home-spun gowns"; and some of them went barefooted to the edge of the wood behind the old house, and there put on their Sunday shoes, which were taken off at the same spot on their return from meeting. The congregation was gathered from a circuit of nearly seven miles, in every direction. There were Ramseys from Rumney, Hazeltines from Hebron, Boardmans from Bridgewater, and Cooks and Merrills from Campton Bog. Indeed, in the earliest days, it was said, one or two families came from beyond Bristol ; and as late as 1830, Mr. Punchard's congregation represented nearly the same large circuit.
After this old meeting-house was burned, worship was held in " King George's " barn, and at Colonel Webster's .* The second meet- ing-house, still standing on Ward hill, and recently sold at auction
* Forty years ago there were at least half a score of different families of Georges in different parts of Plymouth, and among them the excellent Mr. King George, so named for a respected ancestor. On the first Sabbath on which a young candidate preached to this people, a notice was put into his hands to the effect that there would
3
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by the town, which had to this time held its meetings there, was voted into being in 1783 ; but discussions of location and size were carried on till 1787. In March the town voted " to raise 100 pounds ($333) towards building, in merchantable wheat & pease, at 5 shil- lings ($1.65) per bushel, rye at 4 shillings, & Indian corn at 3, by December 25, next." No man was to pay more than one-fourth of his tax in "pease." It was no small sum for the town to raise in the poverty of the times. William George, Benj. Goold and Lt. Brown were a committee to provide a frame, fifty-six by forty-five feet, in complete order to raise. In August Esquire Merrill and Lt. Bailey were added to the committee " to place the sills." In Sep- tember another committee was chosen "to make arrangements for raising the house." They were to secure one hundred men, fix the time, and give notice. In October, 1787, the frame was raised "amidst the rejoicings of nearly the entire male population of the town." But the one hundred pounds would not finish the house, and the pews were sold at auction (or the right to build them in a chosen place), to raise more money ; no one being permitted to bid who had not assisted so far. More than the appraisal was paid for the pews ; the whole sum realized being about $1,500. The first choice be- longed to Mr. Isaac Ward, in payment for the land on which the house stands. The second was bid off by Esquire George for $40.
This house also was not finished for some years. A temporary scaffolding served for a pulpit : the singers occupied a long work- bench in the middle of the house, and rough board seats were used for some time. The pews were not put in the gallery till 1796. And stoves were not introduced for thirty or more years after ! !
The records of the church during Mr. Ward's ministry are unfor- tunately lost, and of the history little is preserved. But the fidelity of the fathers in laying the spiritual foundations here received early reward in a powerful revival in 1767, when twenty were gathered into the church. Compared with the population this must have been the most general revival Plymouth ever enjoyed ; and Capt. Samuel Dearborn, its first convert, was probably the first person who made a public profession of religion in Grafton County. The Revolution-
be a lecture at King George's on Tuesday evening. Supposing "King" was a nick- name, and not knowing that the town was full of Georges, the young minister, after some hesitation, announced that there would be preaching at Mr. George's on Tues- day evening, to the utter bewilderment of the people, who might as well have been told that there would be preaching "somewhere " on Tuesday evening .- [ Note by G.P.]
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ary period was very generally marked by spiritual declension among the churches, and no other revival is recorded here until 1790, and of this no details are preserved.
The Baptists, in 1780, secured by vote of the town exemption from paying minister's rates. In 1796 the town gave them the use of the meeting-house one-third of the time, but they did not long use it. A small church was organized in 1837, and for five years or more had some preaching in the school-honses ; but it soon became extinct.
In April, 1798, after Mr. Ward's dismission, a meeting was called " to see if the town will take some probable & effectual measures to procure an honest, learned, ingenious, & well qualified candidate for the Gospel ministry." Samuel Emerson, Lt. Josiah Brown, Dea- con Elisha Bean, and Capt. William Webster were appointed a committee for this purpose. They procured Mr. Daniel Hardy, who preached for some months, and received a call to settle in October, 1798. But for some reason, not recorded, he was not installed. In 1799 the same committee invited Mr. Drury Fairbank to preach here. He also received a " call," was offered a salary of 100 pounds ($333.34), accepted, and was ordained 1800, January 8. The churches represented in the ordaining council were Holliston, Mass., Rev. Timothy Dickinson, pastor ; Concord, Rev. Asa McFarland ; Thornton, Rev. Noah Worcester ; Boscawen, Rev. Samuel Wood ; Salisbury, Rev. Thomas Worcester ; Andover, Rev. Josiah Badcock ; Sanbornton, Rev. Joseph Woodman ; and Hebron, Rev. Thomas Page.
Mr. Fairbank continued in this pastorate eighteen years, and was a useful minister. Dr. Stone, of Concord, says of him : " He was a man of great native kindness and sociability, very fond of society, and he would at times be jocose and gay, but never undignified nor compromising his ministerial character. In talents he was respecta- ble ; in scholarship not above mediocrity ; but in common-sense, discernment of character, and knowledge of men and things, few excelled him. His preaching was not very methodical, but orthodox, spiritual, and pungent, often eccentric and striking. In pastoral duties he was faithful and abundant, having a word in season for all. His brethren esteemed and loved him." Mr. Punchard adds, "He was one of the most genial and kindly old men I ever knew."
Two seasons of spiritual refreshing blessed Mr. Fairbank's min- istry. One came soon after he was settled in 1800, and was quite
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extensive, resulting in more than thirty conversions. And in 1815 another revival added twenty to the church.
Mr. Fairbank was settled and supported by the town. But " minister's rates " were becoming unpopular, and many were restive under the charge. In 1818, therefore, when he found occasion to ask for an increase of salary or dismission, the town took the op- portunity to rid itself of the system, and for this, more than for any personal unpopularity, Mr. Fairbank was dismissed. The next year he removed to Littleton, where he was installed 1820, May 3. From this pastorate he was dismissed 1836, March 13, and retired to a farm on which the rest of his life was spent.
Rev. Jonathan Ward succeeded Mr. Fairbank. He was not installed, although the church desired it; but remained " acting pastor " for eleven years. A son of the first pastor, his first and only pastorate had been in Alna, Me., from which he was dismissed in 1818, July 22. He was eminently a faithful and devout minister, and the fruits of his labors here were doubtless more enduring than immediate. He sowed good seed, of which the harvesting was left to others. Not, however, that he did not himself see of the fruits. In 1820 a work of grace was enjoyed, and twenty-eight were added to the church soon after. And tokens of good were granted during the last year of his ministry, in which twenty members were received into the church.
The last years of Mr. Ward's ministry were also distinguished by the great temperance reform. Previous to that time "the whole region was steeped in rum." The farmers were involved in debt to the storekeepers, many of the farms were mortgaged, and men were everywhere sinking to ruin through intemperance or moderate drink- ing. This temperance reform was very extensive and thorough in Plymouth and the vicinity, and during the great revivals of the succeeding years brethren were accustomed to speak of it as the work of John the Baptist before the coming of Christ.
The first Methodist meeting-house was built in 1826 ; the old brick church in the west part of the town, which was taken down last spring. The church in the village was not built till 1833, and has been twice enlarged .* Until 1839 these churches were supplied with circuit preachers ; since that time preachers have been stationed in the town, and the church has been prospered.
* In 1872 this meeting-house was sold and a fine new house erected; a pleasant witness to the prosperity of this sister church.
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Mr. Ward preached his farewell sermon 1829, September 20. It produced a deep impression. The text was 2 Cor. xiii. 11 [Note N]. With great modesty, he reminded the church of his labors, his pray- ers and tears and watching, in earnest desire for their welfare. IIe spoke of his own infirmities, took blame to himself for the low estate of Zion, and said he was ready to unite with them in obtaining another pastor, who might with God's blessing be more useful. The hearts of the people were melted by his words ; every feel- 1 ing of alienation was overcome ; deep seriousness was awakened in many minds by the good man's earnest appeal, and the way was wonderfully prepared for the seasons of refreshing which quickly followed.
" Father" Ward was a man of superior powers and fervent piety. He was tall and slender ; " with large, striking features, and bright blue eyes ; in speech, modest, moderate and gracious ; singularly plain in dress, and absolutely unworldly in spirit ; eminent for variety and copiousness in prayer ; frugal, studious, reflective ; of heavenly temper, and so pure in life that no evil thing could be said of him." He was a man of prayer, and often spent much or all of Saturday night pleading for a Sabbath blessing. Once a Universalist called for argument, and, at his study door, overheard Mr. Ward praying for him. He soon renounced his former faith and found hope in the mercy of Christ. In the pulpit Mr. Ward's manner was bad, but the matter of his preaching was sound and strong. He was a clear and able reasoner, a thorough Calvinist. He had no worldly wisdom, but preached the strong doctrines of the Bible, with the utmost plainness. He went from Plymouth to Brentwood, where he supplied the church three or four years, and spent hi's closing years in the family of his daughter there, often preaching for sur- rounding churches. He was especially interested in the study of the prophecies, finding comfort and hope in the millennarian theory of Christ's second advent.
The Sabbath succeeding Mr. Ward's farewell, Mr. George Punch- ard was engaged to supply the pulpit. But he was suddenly attacked with brain fever, and months elapsed before he was able to visit Plymouth. In the emergency, Rev. James Hobart, then on a visit to his native town, was employed. He entered at once, with all his characteristic earnestness, into the labors for which Father Ward had prepared the way, and went from house to house, preach- ing in every neighborhood, and pleading with men to be reconciled
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to God. And when Mr. Punchard was able to come to Plymouth, he really found a revival of religion in progress.
Mr. Hobart, though never a pastor, has good title to be remem- bered in Plymouth. One of the first born children of the town, a son of James Hobart, and a ministerial child of this church, he was called at this time to do Plymouth a service, which, though not protracted, was of inestimable value. He had just been dismissed from a pastorate of thirty years, at Berlin, Vt., where he gathered a Congregational church and labored with fidelity and success. Three powerful revivals blessed his ministry there, in one of which fifty-six united with the church, and he left it with more than a hundred members. His later years were given to labors in the home missionary fields of Vermont and New Hampshire ; too many to be catalogued here. I doubt if the full list is recorded any- where, except on high. He seemed to know no weariness of body or mind, if he might preach Christ to men. After he was ninety years old he preached on one Sunday in three places, walk- ing from his home seven miles to the first, then five to the next, and five more to the last. And a month before his death he walked seven miles on his way to Norwich, Vt., to the General Convention [Note J].
Mr. Punchard was ordained 1830, March 11, and begun his mem- orable ministry. By God's blessing it was more fruitful than any other which Plymouth has enjoyed. The way was prepared for his coming ; and the times were propitious, in that it was a period of extensive and powerful revivals. But the fact should still be em- phasized, that for the rich and peculiar mercies granted to this church, much was due to the earnest and faithful preaching, and the wise pastoral labors of Mr. Punchard. Although he is still living, his ministerial work ended in Plymouth more than thirty years ago, and may therefore be properly regarded as a matter of history. He was a sound and acceptable preacher, understood men well, and had great practical sagacity. His piety was genuine and natural, and he was devoted to his work; a true shepherd of the flock. He not only worked himself, but he knew how to inspire others, and develop their activity ; and under his training, the church was led to unusual practical efficiency .*
* One peculiarity of Mr. Punchard's ministrations at Plymouth, was the introduc- tion of expository discourses into the regular Sunday services. During his entire
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The spiritual work which had really begun before Mr. Ward's farewell, continued in power, and for six years the church enjoyed almost a continuous revival. The first protracted meeting was held soon after Mr. Punchard's ordination. Ministers were present from neighboring churches for thirty or forty miles around, of whom Dr. Nathan Lord of Dartmouth College, Rev. Samuel Goddard of Norwich, Vt., Rev. Robert Blake of Piermont, and Rev. Daniel Sutherland of Bath, all men of wonderful powers, are specially remembered. Of this meeting I can give some descriptive words, from Mr. Punchard's sermon, when bidding farewell to the old church :-
" The scenes which we witnessed, and the influences which many of us felt, in this house, can never be forgotten. On the last day of that meeting, par- ticularly, there were tokens of the divine presence in this place such as I have rarely if ever since witnessed. Who that was present, will ever for- get the last afternoon ! The stillness of death reigned. Those who were not convinced, were awed. The arrows of the Almighty had been fastened in many hearts ; the church trembled, lest they should be drawn forth, and the wounds healed by other hands than His who made them. But their fears were groundless ; God was present. He gave wisdom to the simple, and power to the weak. . . . It was felt to be holy ground ; and the place of our assembling was shaken by the hand of Him whose presence filled it. The Holy Ghost came down upon us (I had alnost said), like a mighty rushing wind, and filled all the place. ... Language can hardly exaggerate the deep solemnity and thrilling interest of the last hours of that meeting,"
The whole town was moved. The men of influence in the parish were nearly all converted. People came from far to attend the meetings,-eight and ten miles and more. More than one hundred members were received to the church in 1830 and 1831. The influences of the good work were lasting, and bless us still.
In 1832, again, the Holy Spirit's influences were specially manifest. And 1835 was also a year of comparative prosperity. A protracted meeting was held in the early part of the year, and Christians were deeply interested. In August the General Association met in Plymouth, and left gracious influences. The impenitent were much
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