USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Brookline > History of Brookline, formerly Raby, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire : with tables of family records and genealogies > Part 24
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Service of Recognition.
Voluntary,
Choir.
Reading of Scripture and Invocation,
Rev. D. W. Morgan.
Welcome to the Pastor,
Rev. H. P. Peck.
Recognition Prayer,
Rev. George F. Merriam.
Right Hand of Fellowship,
Rev. S. L. Gerould.
Charge to Pastor,
Rev. George L. Todd.
Rev. F. E. Winn.
Charge to the People, Benediction,
Pastor.
Mr. Belanger's term of service lasted two years, eleven months and twenty-three days. He was a faithful shepherd over the little flock com- mitted to his charge, laboring early and late to advance in its midst the cause of the Master. During his ministry, sixteen new members were added to the church, of whom nine were received on profession of faith and seven by letter.
Mr. Belanger, like his immediate predecessor in the pulpit, was a radical temperance advocate and, like his predecessor, in advocating the temperance cause, he worked on radical lines, sparing in his advocacy neither friend nor foe.
Mr. Belanger resigned from his pastorate Dec. 29, 1898. On the day of his resignation the church, after voting to accept the same, passed a resolution in which it bore testimony-"To his more than common abil- ity as a preacher, his faithfulness as a pastor, and his manly Christian courage, doing with his might what his hands found to do." He went from Brookline to the church in Wallingford, Vt.
REV. JOSEPH ALPHONSE BELANGER was born in Quebec, P. Q., Oct. 9, 1857. He graduated at Boston University in 1895, and was ordained May 22, 1895. He was "recognized" and "inducted" into the
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pulpit of the Congregational Church of Brookline, Dec. 17, 1895; and dismissed at his request March 1, 1899. From Brookline he went to the Congregational Church in Wallingford, Vt.
Centennial Year of the Congregational Church and the Exercises Attendant upon the Celebration of the Same.
During Mr. Belanger's pastorate, on the 10th day of December, 1895, the church completed the one hundredth year of its existence. In anticipation of and with a view of properly observing this event, at a meeting holden January 3 of that year, the church appointed Rev. Fred E. Winn, Deacon Perley L. Pierce, J. Alonzo Hall, Miss Emily M. Peter- son, and Mrs. Nancy J. Daniels as a committee of arrangements for a centennial celebration. This committee was subsequently somewhat changed by substituting the name of Rev. J. A. Belanger for that of Rev. Mr. Winn, who in the meantime had resigned and left town, and also by the addition to it of Dr. Charles H. Holcombe. Under the supervision of the foregoing committee, the necessary arrangements for the celebration were made and subsequently successfully carried out.
This anniversary, an event in its history second in importance only to that of its organization, was most enthusiastically observed by the church and its friends, large numbers of whom, especially of its absent members, and of those who having formerly been included in its member- ship, were at this time residents and members of churches in other towns, returned to the home church; and by their presence and active partici- pation helped to contribute to the success of the celebration.
The exercises which occupied three days were conducted under the following
PROGRAMME.
Sunday, December 15th, 10.45 A. M.
Centennial Sermon by the Pastor, with Special Music.
5.45 P. M.
Reunion of the Sunday-school. Singing by the children. History of the School,
Mrs. Nancy J. Daniels.
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The Sunday-school Superintendent, Primary Work, Intermediate Work,
J. Alonzo Hall. Mrs. Wm. J. Smith. Mrs. Wm. H. Hall.
7.00 P. M.
Young People's Work. Addresses :
Miss Emily M. Peterson,
Miss M. L. Shattuck,
Miss Jennie M. Litchfield. Miss Mary E. Rockwood.
Monday, December 16th. 7.30 P. M.
Devoted to Woman's Work in the Church.
Scripture Reading,
Mrs. J. A. Belanger.
Prayer,
Mrs. N. J. Daniels.
Address,
Miss H. Juliette Gilson.
Social Work of Woman,
Mrs. Frank D. Sargent.
Address,
Mrs. Anna Kemp.
Rising Womanhood,
Miss Mary L. Brown.
Tuesday, December 17th. 10.30 A. M.
Doxology,
Congregation. Rev. F. E. Winn.
Scripture and Prayer,
Hymn by the Choir of Long Ago.
Addresses of Welcome,
Dr. C. H. Holcombe.
Historical Address,
Rev. J. Alphonse Belanger.
Brookline Church
Twenty-six Years Ago, Rev. F. D. Sargent.
Brookline Church
of the Future,
Rev. Geo. L. Todd.
1.30 P. M.
Banquet, Rev. F. D. Sargent, Toast-master.
4.30 P. M.
Convening of Ecclesiastical Council to examine the new Pastor.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
7.30 P. M.
Brookline Church among its Neighbors,
Centennial Poem,
Rev. A. J. McGown. Hon. E. E. Parker.
8.15 P. M.
Recognition Services.
The exercises on this occasion were all of the most interesting char- acter. The entire proceedings were subsequently published in pamphlet form. Their reproduction in these pages would form one of the book's most interesting chapters, but want of space forbids it. It has, however, been thought best to insert the address of Rev. F. D. Sargent, and the Centennial Poem delivered by Hon. E. E. Parker. The address, because of its historical nature, in that it dealt with the lives and characteristics of some of the men and women connected with, and the events transpiring in, and happening to, the church and society during the twenty and more years immediately preceding the celebration; and the poem because of its significance in connection with the Old Meeting-house, the Church and society's first place of worship.
THE BROOKLINE CHURCH TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO. By Rev. Frank D. Sargent.
Your church! Our church! My church! Twenty-six years ago last January a young man from the seminary at Andover stood for the first time in the pulpit of your church. He came and, so far as he knew, went away as other students had come and gone. Eight months later the same young man stood before the same people, but he had changed the phrase "your" church to "our" church. Twenty-six years go by, and that same man, no longer young, nor yet old, changes again the pronoun, and now, as for many years past, he speaks of this as "my" church. Say what we will, there are experiences in life that stand out like headlands on the coast, promontories that rise above the surrounding country. Life is not a monotonous level, neither is it so devoid of the unusual as to be un- eventful. Especially is this true of pastoral life. While Dr. Smith Baker of Boston may be riglit when he says, "Every new people with me has been better, richer, more desirable than the preceding," yet to the average
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pastor one church, one pastorate, one period of ministerial life will be, Saul like, head and shoulders above all others in point of interest and affection, and this will not necessarily be the last one. It matters not how commodious and beautiful the other churches may be, how cultured and wealthy their congregations, how influential their membership, the relation with the one church which we denominate with the personal pro- noun "my" will be intimate more than all the others.
Associations and conditions play a large part in the make up of every life. As some of you have heard me say, there is a little schoolhouse in northern Vermont, with desks old-fashioned, and showing the marks of many a schoolboy's knife, floors worn through in spots, walls disfigured, woodwork unpainted, yet that little room is more beautiful to me than any palace that art ever contrived, or fancy fashioned, because in that building the dear old Mother heard the first and only sermon which she was ever permitted to listen to from the lips of her boy, whom she loved as she loved her life. When a year after her death, I went again to that country hamlet and visited the schoolhouse on the hill, not even the Holy of Holies of the ancient tabernacle could have been more sacred to the Israelites than was that place to me as I knelt beside the seat where Mother sat. Nothing but association could develop such sentiments as these and, yet because of associations, this and like experiences become marked and influential.
I esteem it a privilege to speak of this as my church, not to the det- riment of others with which I may have been connected, but because of the peculiar interest that twenty years of ministerial life and labor has engendered. This church is not altogether unnoted in her past. I would not be pessimistic in regard to the present, nor unmindful of the fact that the last quarter of a century has been throbbing with that which goes to make men better, and the world more Christlike. I do not believe that this period of time that has witnessed, so far as this community is con- cerned, the introduction of the telegraph and telephone, the iron horse, improved educational advantages and wider business influences, have been so many triumphs for Satan, and consequently so many steps back- ward, yet is it not true that temporal prosperity may not always be able to be utilized by spiritual forces. Bright as may be the membership of this church today, full of life and vigor as may be her determination, yet she is not now in membership and influence what she was a quarter of a century ago.
Allow me to picture the church and people as I first knew them. In those days the building in which we worshipped was far from pleasing
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architecturally. A neighboring pastor in a fit of possible jealousy de- nominated it a "spiritual butterbox." It was sixteen feet shorter than now, and the auditorium was twelve feet nearer the ground. The front steps were so close to the street that very little detour was needed to bring the churchgoers to the very doors. It had broad, plain windows, blinded on the outside; plain straight-backed pews, grained in colors so gloomy and style so unutterable that it was not necessary to shade the windows in order to get the "dim religious light" that is supposed to be so helpful to religious meditation; the pulpit of mahogany, flanked on either side by pillars or ornamental bases of a like material; the long lines of stovepipes through which the heat was flashed from roaring fires in the box stoves in the front corridor that made that place somewhat like the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, "seven times hotter" than such places are wont to be; and last, the choir gallery, with its ancient melodeon and bassoon, with now and then a bass viol as an accompaniment, and the singers so separated by the arched roof and high balustrade from the rest of the congregation that much of their praise reached neither the heavens above them, nor the earth below. Such was the church as I remember it twenty-five years ago, and yet we loved that old building and, when in 1875, after serious and careful consideration, we voted to remodel and beautify the same, not a few regrets were expressed, and on the last Sab- batlı that we worshipped in the oid edifice the whole day was given up to reminiscence, and grateful recognition of the goodness of God in connection with church life.
Primitive as the church building may have been, the people who worshipped within its walls were neither lacking in culture nor ambition. As I write I picture tham as they appeared Sunday after Sunday, each in their accustomed places. On my right hand, in the old wing pews, sat Asher and Beri Bennett, the latter, with elbow on the back of the seat in front of him, eagerly taking in the thoughts of the young minister who was, to him at least, a veritable messenger from God. I remember the loyalty of these two men to their pastor, and their pride in him which they did not try to conceal. Do you wonder that they are not forgotten by us, when I tell you that upon the very first Sabbath of the new pas- torate, just as we were entering the church a trifle late, Brother Beri, his face all aglow with satisfaction, turned to Asher and in a stage whisper, audible in nearly every part of the room, said, "Here comes our dear pastor and his cunning little wife." Honest as the day was long, almost childish in their likes and dislikes, old-fashioned in their notions, they
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were more dear to us than many whose ideas and station were more modern.
Right in front of the pulpit sat another man with his family, always there, and always in season. I should as soon have thought of the heavens falling as to even dream that John Burge would not be in his place in church at least fifteen minutes before the bell tolled. More than once have I passed the church door on my way to exchange with a minister in a neighboring town, and met Brother Burge driving into the churchyard. Blunt, decided, humorous, almost rough in his expressions, he was ever ready to stay up the hands of the pastor, and do his part in the labor and contributions of the church.
Intimately associated with Brother Burge was James H. Hall, a man who used his wealth for the good of the church and the glory of God. I should do violence to my own conscience if I did not place a personal tribute above the memory of this man, who had so much to do with the shaping of my early ministry. A man with faults like humanity everywhere, yet his faults seemed to make his virtues even more pro- nounced than they otherwise would have been. For years it was his custom each quarter to bring to the pastor $50 as his share of the salary. To this he also added the rent of one-quarter or one-half of the parsonage. Not infrequently, in fact generally in winter this long sleigh drawn by two horses would be filled with his family and neighbors, thereby adding materially to the number of the congregation. The prosperity of this church was due in no small measure to the faithful and assiduous labors of this man of God. Well did the pastor say at his death, "A prince has fallen in Israel."
Another man, younger than the others, in fact the youngest of the active men of the church, was George Peabody. Wonderfully gifted in prayer and testimony, quick to think, apt in remark, versatile in ability, his sudden and terrible death made a deep and lasting impression upon the community. At the time of his decease, he was superintendent of the Sunday school, leader of the choir, deacon in the church, an officer in the society, and the pastor's right-hand man. I doubt if his place in this church has ever been made good, even though worthy men have followed him.
It was not many years after his death that God called to himself his brother, Deacon John Peabody. He was not a man of great talent or re- markable genius. I do not recall a thing that he did that would warrant unusual mention, and yet I do not know of any life I ever touched that was so heartily and fully given to God as was his. He was a veritable
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Abraham, yea, in many respects the peer of the old prophet, for if God had asked his life, I believe he would have given it. If ever this church had an illustration of a perfect man, that man was Deacon John Peabody. I do not think that he ever, in his later life at least, did anything that his conscience did not approve, and many a sad heart and burdened soul, and toiling laborer here and elsewhere, have reason to praise the self- sacrifice of this man of God.
Another man who, on account of his years, was only occasionally seen in church, was Deacon Timothy Wright. Ignorant of books, some- what unfortunate in business, poor in earthly goods, yet upon him God had seemed to breathe the gift of prayer that was truly delightful.
One of the staunch supporters of the church, whose name was upon the church roll twenty-six years ago, but who was then a resident of Milford, was William Gilson. For many years he was thoroughly identi- fied with this church, and while afterwards connected with another fellow- ship, he still kept his interest in the old church homne. He was a frequent visitor both at the church service and other gatherings, and there were few improvements which required the outlay of money that did not bear his name. It was through his generosity, in part, that the church is in possession of its parsonage.
Another man upon whom the church depended for counsel and help in spiritual and social life was Deacon Jefferson Whitcomb. A busy man, hard working, almost intemperate in his industry, lie yet gave a large part of his vitality to the church. It was his voice that led the choir for years, while his help in the Sunday school as superintendent and teacher, and his efforts in the prayer meetings and social gatherings were decided and beneficial.
Never shall I forget another whom I saw at times in the congrega- tion, and who was familiarly known as "Uncle Jimmie." I hardly believe he would have known to whom you referred if you had addressed him as Mr. Pierce. I never met him only as I found him fairly bubbling over with good nature, expressing itself with a face wreathed in smiles and words accompanied with a chuckle that was simply indescribable. He was one of the few men that the minister loved to meet on "blue Monday."
Twenty-six years ago last July after a Sabbath of candidating, I met a company of fourteen or fifteen men who gathered in the home of Francis Peterson. Men they were who represented the life and talent, property and influence of the town of that day. Their object was to show me that the call of God and the need of the hour, so far as I was con- cerned, was the acceptance of the invitation to become their pastor. As
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I now regard it, I think that that little company of men, by their pres- ence, manhood, and evident sincerity, did more to shape the first twenty years of my ministerial life than all other forces put together. A part of those men are living today; many of them God has called to himself. The most modest and retiring of them, the truest and most loyal was Francis Peterson. He it was who with an eye to economy, with a heart that always beat in sympathy with the progress of the church, whose word in season and out of season was a stimulus to pastor and people who, not rich in the world's estimation practiced economy that he might be rich toward God, put his life into the spiritual and temporal fabric of this church and society. While by no means eloquent in remark or prayer, yet rarely a prayer meeting in the early days passed without his presence and participation.
I wish I had the time to speak of "Grandpa" Pettee, venerable with the multiplicity of years; of Joseph Hall, aged and feeble, yet rarely absent from the church service, and loving the prosperity of Zion; of Joseph Peterson, a man whose physical sufferings were almost indescrib- able, and yet who contributed to the upbuilding of the society; of Amos Gould who loved to be a little different from others, showing itself, for example, in his subscriptions when, instead of making a round number, he would place upon the paper the figures $49.99 instead of $50; of James French, crippled years ago with disease, battling with physical and other difficulties, yet trying in his way to live for God and truth; of John S. Daniels, keen and critical, kind of heart, informed upon many questions beyond his associates, living a life that touched us more than we knew; of Joseph Shattuck, a living witness of what camp exposure and the deprivations of war could do; of Willie Hodgman, modest and Christlike; these and others stand out in my memory today. Add to these the names of men who, while not members of the church, were con- tributors to its social and financial success: Gardner Shattuck, Andrew Rockwood, Joseph Tucker, Reuben Baldwin, Mr. Joseph Smith and son, Frank Hobart, whose early death was a sad blow to both family and community, Henry Pierce, Wm. Wallace, Joseph Sawtelle, and F. Shattuck.
All these are dead, and yet their forms and faces were familiar in the early life of the parish. I do not need to speak of the living members, since most of them are with you today. True to their convictions at that time, they have been staunch supporters of the church. The future may bring enthusiastic supporters, but this church will never find more worthy contributors to its demands than the men and women now living who, twenty-six years ago and less, stood with their young pastor and pledged
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him their sympathy. I do not need to speak of the women of the church since they have been referred to in another paper, only to add this testi- mony that this anniversary could never have occurred, or, if celebrated, would have been lacking in enthusiasm only for the quiet, patient, self- sacrificing labors of its women.
We speak of the congregations that gather in this auditorium Sun- day after Sunday. Do you know that they do not compare numerically with those of a quarter of a century ago? Let me read a few figures from my record of those days. I take them from the month of August, 1870, as they come, morning and afternoon: 126, 136; 156, 128; 112, 122; 120, 305; 105, 114; 120, 122; 122, 112; 133, 122; 127, 143; 141, 145; 149, 148; and so on. These give you an idea of how people came to church in those days. They believed in church-going. It was not church in the morning and a ride or visit in the afternoon, but a service in the morning at 10.45, Sunday school at 12.00, preaching again at 1.15, outside meeting in one of the schoolhouses at 3.00 or 4.00, and a prayer meeting in the evening at 6.00 or 7.00 o'clock, according to the season of the year, and these services were largely attended by the same class of hearers.
Twenty-six years ago the church depended for the support of its pastor on Home Missionary aid. It did not require very many words from me to convince them that they were too strong to hold out the hand like a beggar, and, when once they became self-supporting, not even financial depression and almost bitter self-denial could tempt them to apply for aid. I do not know of an ecclesiastical society in this vicinity where the church held so large a place in the lives of its members as it did here in Brookline. Take the subscription list, and read the pledges of the few names that made up its roll, $200, $100, $80, $50, $30, $20, $15, $10, $5, $1, and this, too, from men who with one or two exceptions would be regarded as comparatively poor. I recall as though it were yesterday the feeling of shame that came over me when I thought of what was being done, and the feeling that prompted me to relinquish one hundred dollars of my salary was not altogether to my credit, but was a response to the greater sacrifice that they were making.
I wish that I might be permitted to speak all that is in my heart in recognition of what was done by the people who made up this congrega- tion twenty or twenty-five years ago. Think you that I can recall the past, and remember that first evening after I became their pastor, when the people gathered in the parsonage and in leaving placed in the young minister's hand a note with thirty or more names attached, and inside the package bank bills amounting to $400? Think you that I am un-
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mindful of the kindness of this people, or hesitate to declare them large- hearted and generous, when I look over my personal record and see items that in the aggregate make individual gifts to the amount of more than a thousand dollars? Think you that I can lightly regard the spirit of gen- erosity that influenced this church, when I take up another paper and read the following :
Brookline, N. H., Jan. 13, 1875.
We, the undersigned, agree to pay the sums attached to our names for the purpose of moving and remodelling the church.
To this are attached twenty names, aggregating pledges to the amount of between $4000 and $5000.
Think you that I altogether regret the little sacrifice I might have made when, instead of ignoring the kindness and devotion of this people, I turned my back upon flattering calls from larger fields? All honor I say to this old church whose centennial we celebrate today. I would that I had the ability to speak fittingly of the men who have been leaders in spiritual things, but who have now entered into their rest! Much of the prosperity of this people is due to Brother Daniel Goodwin, more if possible to Brother Sawin, while Brother Manning, whose early death was a sad grief to all, left his impress upon this church which will never be effaced. God bless these memories, and help those who remain to continue the work, relying upon Him who in every change of time and condition is a helper and advocate.
At the close of Rev. F. D. Sargent's address, C. H. Russell, a former member, came out of the pastor's room, bearing on a large tray a beautiful and costly silver communion service, the centennial gift of past and absent members. Mr. Sargent in a few well-chosen words, on behalf of the donors, presented to the church this beautiful gift and, turning to the present pastor, said, "We commit this, my brother, to your charge." Mr. Belanger was taken by surprise and, with emotion, accepted in be- half of the church the beautiful token of love in a few words to the effect "that whenever the church gathered around the Lord's Table our prayers would go up for our benefactors."
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