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 3
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ministry, of about fourteen years, his habit was to occupy the forenoon of every Sunday with the exposition, in course, of a portion of Scripture, followed by prac- tical remarks and applications. In this way the entire New Testament, and consid- erable portions of the Old Testament, were brought under a critical and experimen- tal consideration, in the course of his ministry ; and these careful and systematic expository discourses he always regarded as the best and most effective part of his ministerial labors.
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PLYMOUTH, N. H.
awakened. But at this time the church did not seem as fully aroused as in the earlier season, and the blessing did not become as general as for a time it promised to be.
The question of a new meeting-house was now demanding atten- tion. In fifty years of use the old house had become uncomfortable, and must have repairs. It was owned by the town, which caused friction when improvements were needed. This, too, made it often the scene of hot political strife, not in keeping with God's house. And changes in population made it less convenient for the majority of worshippers. There was, of course, agitation and opposition ; but the result was the building of this house, which was first occupied in 1837, January 1, having been dedicated the week previous. In bidding farewell to the old house, the pastor preached an impressive and valuable sermon from Exodus xxxiii. 15, reviewing the history of it and the scenes it had witnessed. There the fathers worshipped for fifty years ; there the spiritual life of many had been awakened or quickened, and the Spirit had been poured out in. wonderful power. Hallowed associations should still cluster around it and the place and bill, " beautiful for situation," on which it stood.
The later years of Mr. Punchard's ministry were disturbed some- what by the local mutterings of the great anti-slavery conflict. The position of the majority of the church, and of the pastor, was not unlike that of the body of the churches. But some leading and able members came into ardent sympathy with men and opinions sincerely believed to be dangerous and infidel, and the strife assumed very trying phases in its heat. Mr. Punchard and the church were assailed in the newspapers, in the bitterest terms, and felt it their duty to separate themselves from three or four of the hostile members. It is too soon, even yet, for a thoroughly dispas- sionate estimate of those days ; but the light of recent events will help us to a better understanding of them. Mr. Garrison's position is certainly very much modified, and if death had spared his scarcely less able follower, N. Peabody Rogers, the sun of his life might have come to a different setting.
In the spring of 1842, Mr. Punchard's health became impaired, and his voice entirely failed. After six months' absence, he re- turned ; but soon found himself unable to resume pastoral labor. In March, 1843, he submitted to the church the alternative of dismis- sion or a year's release. Reluctant to lose their loved pastor, they chose the latter. But after a long voyage he was still disabled ;
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
and while he was again absent at sea the council met, which advised his dismission. He preached his last sermon in Plymouth, in December, 1844. Going to Boston he became joint proprietor and editor of the " Daily Evening Traveller " newspaper, and con- tributed to make it one of the best newspapers of the land. After eleven years he became Secretary of the N. E. Branch of the Amer- ican Tract Society for a time ; but afterwards returned again to the " Traveller." He has also continued the studies, begun in Plym- outh, into the polity and history of Congregationalism ; and his " View," and " History," in new editions, are already standards in our religious literature.
During Mr. Punchard's disability, and after his dismission, Rev. Enoch Corser supplied the church for a year or more. Rev. J. U. Parsons was also briefly employed. In 1845, March, Rev. William R. Jewett came to Plymouth. He had been six years pastor in Griswold Ct. His ministry here continued seventeen years. He was installed at Fisherville, 1863, September 16, and dismissed, 1874, September 10. Of his labors, so recent and familiar to you, it would scarcely be proper for me to speak particularly ; but you would expect me to recognize the learning, the zeal and the fidelity which characterized them. A very healthful spiritual con- dition marked the early years particularly, and in three years, from 1846, forty-eight members united with the church. The present vestry was built during his ministry in 1851.
His successor, Rev. Henry A. Hazen, came to Plymouth in October, 1862. The table of pastors appended [Note O] contains all I need say of him.
It would be pleasant to gather up and record many interesting memorials of good men and women, who have been members of this church, but space and time forbid. The field would afford rich gleanings. The officers, however, should have mention. The deacons have been Stephen Webster, Francis Worcester, John Wil- loughby, Benjamin Goold, Elisha Bean, Joshua Fletcher, Jotham Cummings, Asa Robbins, Ebenezer Bartlett, Jr., James Morrison, Alvah McQuesten, David Clough Webster, Washington George, William Wallace Russell, Jr., and Simeon Sanborn.
" Elder " Stephen Webster (Note L) was born in' Chester, 1717-18, February 18, and the ancestor of all the Plymouth Websters. He taught the first school in town, and was a most worthy man. Francis Worcester was a man of high standing
4
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PLYMOUTH, N. H.
and character in Hollis ; often an officer of the town and moder- ator of its meetings, as he was also in Plymouth. There was scarcely a more valuable man among the first settlers. John Willoughby came with his father in the first exploring party who selected the location of Plymouth, and was here in May, 1764 ; per- haps had spent the winter in town. July 20 he set out for Monson, an old town, which in 1770 was divided between Hollis and Am- herst, to visit his family ; and 1765, October 5, he " came to Plym- outh with " his " family, in the 30th year of his age." No man has been longer or more honorably connected with this church. He died in 1834, June 22, aged 98, having been a member of the church sixty- nine years, and a deacon sixty-seven years. At his funeral his pastor said he was one of the most perfect examples of a blameless and holy old age he had ever known, and that every remembrance of him was pleasant and honorable. Joshua Fletcher was a man of good attainments and piety. In 1798 he removed to Bridgewater, and became acting pastor of the branch of Hebron church in that town- an office which he held for more than twenty years. His son, long the only deacon of that church, was buried from Holderness last Sabbath.
Deacon Bartlett was no common man. He came from Newbury- port, and was half brother of the founder of Andover Theological Seminary. He had a good mind and deep piety, excellent judgment, suavity of manner, and carried the savor of his profession wherever he went. He was so kindly, gentle and natural in manner that he talked with all on religious subjects without offence. "He always reminded me," Mr. Punchard says, " of the Apostle John, and I re- garded him as the purest and most lovable of men with whose acquaintance I was ever blest."
Deacon Robbins was an excellent man ; and David Clough Web- ster is entitled to a warm tribute in our memories to-day. His death, in 1862, was a loss which the church still and deeply feels.
Of the deacons still living, I must not say more than to bear testi- mony to their worth. Justly estimated, I think we should find no reason to say that " the former days were better than these." And there is one other name which deserves mention here : Mr. William Green was for twenty years the faithful, exact, and admirable clerk of the church. His records are neat and full, and whoever has occasion to trace the history of the church will wish that they had always been kept as well. He is the only layman who has long held
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
the office, and your experience should dispose you hereafter to entrust these duties to the hands of your layınen. And in the Sabbath school, tract distribution, and all charitable activity, the church needs more like Mr. Green,-earnest, devout, and ready workers.
Of ministers, this church has not been a fruitful mother. It began well with " Father Ward " and James Hobart, but only four other names can be added to the list.
For convenience I group these names with those of the pastors in a table [Note O], and add here a few words.
Jonathan Ward, Jr., son of Rev. Jonathan, was a young man of much promise, and his early death, three months after his settlement at Biddeford, was deeply lamented. James Wilson Ward, his brother, was a thorough scholar, a sound theologian, and an effect- ive preacher. His ministry in Abington was honored and useful. He was acting pastor in Lakeville, Mass., from 1863 to 1869, and resided there till his death. The Rev. William H. Ward, oriental scholar and editor of the " Independent," and James W. Ward, Jr., Andover, 1865, are his sons. Milton Ward, son of Benjamin, studied medicine, and practised in Windham. After the death of his first wife, he read theology, and was settled a short time pastor at Hillsborough. He then became a presbyter of the Protestant Epis- copal Church, and did mission service in many places,-in Lynn, Nashua, and Michigan,-and died at Detroit. He printed some ser- mons of merit, and published a volume of poems which were praised by so good authority as the "North American Review " (vol. 29, p. 49). Nathan Ward, son of Samuel, began life as a blacksmith ; then read medicine in Coventry, Vt., and went as a medical mission- ary to Ceylon in 1833. Besides medical duties, he superintended the mission schools. In 1846 he returned, practised his profession in Burlington, Vt., till 1853 ; received evangelist ordination, and was acting pastor at North Troy and Westfield till 1860. He then pro- posed to return to Ceylon, and sailed October 30, but died at sea, November 29. A faithful and a good man.
William J. Tucker was son of Henry and Sarah W. (Lester) Tucker, but nephew and adopted son of Rev. William R. Jewett. After a fruitful ministry of nine years in Manchester over the Franklin Street Church, he has just been installed, 1875, May 12, over the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in New York City.
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Three ministers have found their wives in Plymouth. Milo P. Jewett, LL.D., an eminent Baptist minister and educator, was mar- ried, in 1834, to Jane, daughter of Hon. Moore Russell. Rev. Cyrus Richardson married, 1871, Jan. 18, Annie, daughter of B. B. Dear- born ; and Rev. William J. Tucker, 1870, June 22, married Char- lotte H., daughter of John Rogers. To her it is only an act of justice here to say, that most of the labor of preparing the very complete tables in the Manual, published in 1867, was done by her.
The General Association of New Hampshire has three times met in Plymouth-in 1813, 1835, and 1849. In 1813 the Moderator was Rev. Isaiah Potter, of Lebanon, and Scribe, Rev. John H. Church, of Pelham. Subjects of discussion and action were the report of the Committee upon the measures which resulted in founding Kimball Union Academy, the Religious Tract Committee, the Plan for the Widow's Charitable Fund ; also to establish a cotton factory, and by its profits secure funds for the Missionary Society ! More practicable than the last were the Temperance Resolutions, one recom- mendation being to the Ministerial Associations and Ecclesiastical Bodies to exclude the use of ardent spirits from their meetings. Sermons were preached by Rev. Eli Smith, of Hollis, Rev. Wm. F. Rowland, of Exeter, and Rev. James Murdock, of Massachusetts.
At the meeting in 1835, Dr. Barstow, of Keene, was Moderator, and Rev. Samuel Harris, of Windham, preacher ; 2,158 additions to the church were reported ; more than 2,000 by profession. Tem- perance, the baptized children of the church, and the use of the Catechism, and the Sabbath, were among the subjects of discussion. The Trustees of Gilmanton Academy and of Holmes Plymouth Academy came before the Association for support in their plans to establish theological schools ; but the Association wisely declined to assume responsibility for either. The Gilmanton plan went for- ward to a short-lived and doubtful success. The Plymouth Trustees appointed Rev. B. P. Stone, of Campton, Professor of Theology ; but no class was formed, and the enterprise died.
An incident of this meeting is recorded by Dr. Bouton. "The celebrated lecturer on slavery,-George Thompson, of England, the guest of N. P. Rogers, Esq.,-was present, and a request was made that he might be allowed to speak on the subject. A sudden and intense excitement arose ; most of the audience were on their feet. Even the calmness and meekness of the venerable Secretary, Dr. Church, was disturbed. Rising in his place with the decision and
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
authority which could be better assumed by him than any other man (he had been Corresponding Secretary from the beginning, in 1809, and remained so till his death, in 1840), he said, ' That subject is inadmissible here !' And it was not then admitted." .
In 1849, John M. Whiton, D.D., was Moderator. Preachers : Thomas Savage, of Bedford, and Professor D. J. Noyes, of Dart- mouth College. The topic of Christian union was considered, and resolutions were passed upon the subject of slavery, and commend- ing the position of the A. B. C. F. M. upon it.
Plymouth has always had musical talent for the service of song. More than fifty years ago, Jacob Merrill was the zealous and good leader of the choir, and his children's children to-day are only true to their family history in the fidelity with which they assist the praises of God's house.
The Sabbath school was established here during Mr. Jonathan Ward's ministry. Probably a good lady had such a school earlier ; but it was not permanent. At first it was held in the school- houses, and in the morning. The present arrangement, between the services, was not adopted till 1837. Since that time its super- intendents have been William Greene, Wm. W. Russell, Deacon McQuesten, Deacon George, and Deacon Russell, and its work has been done with efficiency.
In the enterprises of Christian benevolence, Plymouth has always taken much interest. The monthly concert was early established, and long held on Monday afternoon. It then secured a more general attendance, and the collections then taken made a larger proportion of all that was given to the cause of missions. In 1830, these col- lections averaged $4.45 per month; in 1831, $8.56. This year, they have been $5.17. In 1834, the whole sum raised for benevo- lent objects was $683, half of it for the Education Society. In 1841, $361 were reported; last year, $480. Not the progress, certainly, which the calls of Providence and the prosperity God has given demands.
In the national conflict, which has issued in rebellion and emanci- pation, this church has given no uncertain sound. Its sympathy for the slave found early and energetic expression, and in the war we have done what we could, both by prayer and labor, for the triumph of justice and liberty. In the various charities which the needs of the soldiers and the suffering have evoked, we have gladly borne part. We rejoice, with deep and devoted thanksgiving to
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the God of battles, in the return of peace, the salvation of the Union, and the overthrow of slavery ; and we trust that the God of our fathers will be with their children, and make the future of our dear country more beneficent and glorious than the past has ever been.
POSTSCRIPT, 1875.
The history of the past ten years would record the ministry of Mr. Richardson, during which the church was repaired and greatly improved, and an excellent organ procured; the establishment of the State Normal School in Plymouth, bringing some increase of strength and congregation, and more of responsibility to the church, and a pleasant gain in the number of church-members, forty-nine being received, thirty-eight by profession. Since the ordination of Mr. Scott, thirty have been added to the church, twenty-five by profession. A parsonage was built in 1874; and the members reported in the Minutes were 155-males, 34; females, 121; with 25 non-resident. Altogether, the outlook of this church for the future is one which may cheer its members, while it incites them to renewed fidelity. May the next centennial record still more glori- ous fruits of Christian labor, more assured progress towards the coming and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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NOTES.
NOTES.
NOTE A (page 5). - William Little, Esq., of Manchester, author of the valuable History of Warren, has investigated the conflicting accounts of Captain Baker's expedition with eare, and I am indebted to his work for the substantial correctness (as I believe) of the narrative given. Cap- tain Thomas Baker was born in Northampton, 1682, May 14. In 1709, February 27, he was captured by the Indians, and taken with them up the Connecticut River to Lake Memphremagog. He was ransomed in 1710. In Canada, he no doubt met a young English woman, who, when three months old, was taken captive with her mother, named Otis, at Dover, in 1689, at the time of the great massaere in which Major Wal- dron was killed. She had accepted her fate, been educated by the priests, and married an Indian. But, in 1714, her husband having died, the desire sprang up, awakened, perhaps, by her acquaintance with Baker, to return to her friends. She was permitted to do so, married Captain Baker, and united with the church in Northampton. A Catholic priest sent her a long letter, in the hope of reelaiming her, which, with a reply written by Governor Burnett, of Massachusetts, is published in "New Hampshire Historical Society's Collections," vol. 8, p. 405. They after- wards removed to Dover, where Captain Baker died, about 1753, and his wife in 1773. Their son, Col. Otis Baker, was a leading man in Dover, and often represented the town in the Assembly. .
NOTE B (page 6) .- See " New Hampshire Provincial Records," vol. vi .. pages 161, 199, 321, and passim.
These Records are of great value, and their publication is creditable to the State, which is fortunate in the services of so competent an editor for the work as Dr. Bouton. It should be carried to completion, in the same thorough and liberal spirit which has prosecuted it so far.
NOTE C (page 7) .- See Powers' " Coos Country," p. 17 and ff. The undoubted value of this little volume is impaired by the freedom with which it takes statements on trust without careful comparison with accessible records. Its errors are numerous.
NOTE D (page 8) .- Captain John Hazen, the first settler of Grafton County, was descended in the fourth generation from Edward Hazen, who came from England and settled in Rowley, Mass., in 1648 He was son of Moses Hazen, and nephew of Richard, the surveyor of the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and was born in Plaistow, N. H., 1731, August 11. In the French and Indian war he was an efficient
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PLYMOUTH, N. H. :
officer, and in the Crown Point expedition of 1757 he was first lieutenant in Captain Jacob Bailey's company, Colonel Meserve's regiment. In 1758 he was a captain under Colonel Hart. In 1760, Colonel John Goffe raised a regiment for the expedition to invade Canada, in which Hazen was again captain, and David Webster was in his company. This force spent forty-four days in cutting a road from " No. 4" to the Green Moun- tains, which they crossed, " packing or hauling their stores over the mountains on horse-barrows."
After his return he removed to Haverhill, Mass., but soon joined his friend, Colonel Jacob Bailey, in the enterprise, which the war had sus- pended and modified, of settling the " Cohos Country," and obtained the charter of Haverhill, N. H. In a few years he removed to St. Johns, Canada. Here he amassed a competence, but, espousing the patriot cause, he was forced to leave the country with General Sullivan's re- treating army, and his fine residence was burned to prevent its affording shelter to the enemy. He raised a battalion of his French neighbors and others, and did such good service for his country that he was advanced to the position of a general officer. This last statement rests on the authority, generally excellent, of Colonel C. E. Potter's Military History of New Hampshire, above referred to. But I have a suspicion that some- thing of General Moses Hazen's later experience has been credited to Captain John Hazen. He settled in Albany, where he suffered from par- alysis in 1785, and died a few years after. General Moses Hazen, who' cut and gave his name to "Hazen's Road" through northern Vermont in 1779, was his brother, born 1733, June 1. He passed through a similar experience in Canada. He commanded a regiment in the Revolutionary War, which was selected by Congress to receive all foreigners who were willing to serve, was known as 'Congress' Own,' and was independent of any state connection. He was made brigadier- general by brevet, 1781, June 2. Died in Troy, N. Y., 1803, February 4. See " Adjutant-General's Report, New Hampshire," 1866, vol. 2, p. 211, and " Governor and Council," Montpelier, Vt., 1873, vol. 1, p. 218.
NOTE E (page 8) .- This statement was made on the authority of Farmer & Moore's " Gazetteer," confirmed by the undoubted tradition in Plymouth that when the settlers first came to the town there was no other settlement between Haverhill and Stevenstown (Franklin). Rev. Isaac Willey's " Historical Discourse " at Campton, since published, claims a settlement in that town in 1762, but the evidence adduced is not conclusive, and I leave the account first given without change, except to add here an interrogation.
NOTE F (page 8) .- John Willoughby's statement to Rev. Mr. Punch- ard, preserved in his funeral sermon.
NOTE G (page 8) .- Proprietor's Record.
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NOTES.
NOTE H (page 8) .- Captain David Webster, carried in his mother's arms to Plymouth, assured Mr. Punchard that she was the first woman in town. But the notice of Colonel Webster, his father (in Farmer & Moore's " Collections," vol. 3, p. 270), says they began housekeeping, 17 November, 1764. Either some error of the month has crept into this date, or the emphasis on housekeeping is intended to suggest that the · arrival was earlier. The known facts of the progress made that year, make it incredible that there were not women in town before November ; and if their going had been so long delayed, they would probably have waited till spring, rather than faced a Plymouth winter for the first time at that season of the year.
NOTE I (page 9) .- It is due to these grantees and early settlers that their names should be recorded here. I give them alphabetically. "h" indicates residence in Hollis, or, in three or four cases, a town adjoining ; " p," settlement in Plymouth; and ." c," a member of the governor's council or legislature.
Grantees of Plymouth.
Ames, Stephen.h
Hildredth, Jacob.
Parker, Benjamin.h
Atkinson, Theodore.c
Hobart, David.h p
Parker, Oliver.
Atkinson, Theodore, Jr.c Blanchard, Joseph, Esq.h Blood, Elnathan.h Blood, Elnathan, Jr.h
Hobart, John.h Hobart, Jonathan.h
Phelps, John.b Phillips, Amos.
Brown, John.h p
Hobart, Peter.h (P ?)
Powers, Francis.b
Brown, Josiah.h p
Johnson, Jonathan.h
Powers, Nahum.b p
Cowan, James.
Keyes, Abner.h Keyes, Jonas. Lawrence, Oliver.h
Powers, Stephen.b Read, William.b Smith, Col. Joseph.c
Cummings, Jotham.b p
Lund, Phineas.
Temple, William, Esq.c
Cummings, Samuel.h
McCluer, William.
Underwood, James.c
Cummings, William.h Davis, Thomas.
Marsh, Onisephorus.
Warner, Joseph. Weare, Meshech.c
Emerson, David, Jr.h
Merrill, Moses.
Gaffield, Nath'l.
Merrill, Thomas.
Webster, Abel.h p
Goodhue, Samuel.h
Nabor, James.
Wentworth, Benning.c
Hale, Samuel.
Nevins, William.h
Willoby, John.h
Hartshorne, Ebenezer.h
Nutting, William.
Willoby, John, Jr.h p
Harvell, John.
Patten, Matthew, Esq.c
Wright, David.
Names on School Tax Bill in Plymouth, 1775.
Ambrose, Samuel.
Brown, John.h
Dearborn, Benjamin, Jr.
Barnes, James.
Brown, Lt. Josiah.h
Dearborn, Peter.
Bean, Elisha.
Brown, Silas.h
Dearborn, Samuel.
Blodgett, Ebenezer.
Calfe, John.
Dow, Moses.
Blodgett, Ebenezer, Jr.
Cowan, John.
Draper, Jacob.
Blodgett, James,
Cummings, Jotham.h
Durkee, David.
Blodgett, Jeremiah.
Dearborn, Benjamin.
Eliot, Edmand, of Campton.
5
Hobart, Gershom.h p
Parker, Zechariah.h p
Hobart, James.h p
Peirce, Richard.b
Cummings, Ebenezer.h
Cummings, Samuel, Esq.h
McCluer, Thomas.
Thompson, Samuel.
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PLYMOUTH, N. H.
Emerson, Dr. Peter.h
Merrill, Jacob, Esq.
Thompson, Amos.
Emerson, Samuel.h
McCluer, Thomas.
Ward, Enoch.
Evins, Edward.
Marsh, Onisephorus.
Ward, Jonas.
Fenton, John.
Marsh, Jacob.
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