History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 131

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 131
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 131

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The ministry of Rev. John Remele, not- withstanding his many estimable qualities, was not a success. During the more than eight years of his pastorate only thirteen members were added to the church. Grave charges were made against him on account of some social eccentricities, involving his moral character.

His ministry practically ended some time before his dismissal, which formally occurred October 10, 1791. He afterward removed to Orwell, Vt., taking with him all the church records existing at the time, which must have contained the doings of the council by which he' was dismissed, and consequently the evi- dences of his improper conduct, and, though much effort was made, they were never re- covered.

In December, 1803, a vote was passed recit- ing the facts in the case, and a committee, con- sisting of Jesse Wilcox, Uriah Wilcox, Samuel Hurd, Phineas Wilcox and Ezra Parmelee, was appointed "to attend to this business,"-i.e., the recovery or reconstruction of the church records. On the 28th of the following March the commit- tee reported that the call of the church was made in December, 1782, that it was concurred in by the town, and that, on January 17, 1783, the town, voted to have Mr. Remele ordained on January 22d. The report was accepted. This

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and a few loose papers, found in the archives of the society, partially restored the records.

The church was much weakened by these trials, but their courage was good, and at a meet- ing held July 3, 1791, at which the council agreed on the dismissal of Mr. Remele, it was "Voted, yt ye chh will reunite and go on together as a chh according to ye plan and constitution yt it first settled upon in discipline, &c."

After the dismissal of Mr. Remele the church remained without a settled minister some time over four years. In the mean time a good spirit prevailed. Jesse Wilcox was chosen a dea- con, and they had availed themselves of the services of itinerant preachers, or depended upon the ability local to the church, which was by no means of an inferior order.

A new town and meeting-house had been erected more commodious in its proportions, and it remained to place a desirable pastor over the church.

A painful accident occurred at the raising of the new meeting-house. A raising in those days, and particularly the raising of a meet- ing-house, was a matter of much importance and was liberally attended by people from the neighboring towns. Charles Seamans, a young man in the twentieth year of his age, had come over from New London, probably with others, to aid in the work and in so doing lost his life.

Backus, in his "History of the Baptists," states that,

" In June (26), 1793, an alarming Providence re- sulted in a revival of religion. The eldest son of Elder Job Seamans, Pastor of the Baptist Church in New London, came to Newport to assist in raising the frame of the Congregational Meeting-house. He fell from the top of it and soon died. The Spirit of God made use of it for good."

A common gray stone, standing in the "old burial-ground," bears record of this sad event as follows :

"In Memory of Mr. Charles Seamans, of New Lon- don, son of Rev. Job Seamans and Mrs. Sarah, his wife, who, on the 26th of June, 1793, fell from the

plate of the Meeting-house and expired in 4 hours, aged 19 years and 10 months.

" Behold and see as you pass by, As you are now so once was I, As I am now so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me."

On December 13, 1795, a call was extended to Mr. Abijah Wines to become the pastor of this church. Abijah Wines was a native of Southold, on the eastern end of Long Island, born May 28, 1766. His parents and other members of the family came to Newport in 1781. When about twenty years of age, Abijah Wines had married Ruth, the youngest daughter of Benjamin Giles. The youthful couple and newly constituted family settled on land a short distance north of the cross-roads, in later years and still known as the Aiken place. After some years of labor on the farm, Mr. Wines, who was studious in habits and religiously in- clined, felt called to a higher work than that of grubbing roots and tilling the ground. It has come to us that in this new departure he was advised and encouraged by his excellent wife, and that it was at her suggestion that he entered upon a course of study-probably at first under the tuition of Rev. Mr. Remele, and was finally graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1794. He was the first alumnus of that institution from the town of Newport. He afterward pursued a course of theological train- ing and study with Rev. Dr. Emmons, of Franklin, Mass. Returning to Newport, he ac- cepted the call and pulpit of the Congregational Church.

During this period of study and absence at college and in Massachusetts, Ruth, like her historic and Scripture namesake, who gleaned in the fields of ancient Boaz, with an energy that would appall the minister's wife of the present, wrought in her own fields, carried on the farm, personally superintending all the de- tails of its husbandry, selling the crops and paying her husband's expenses from the proceeds. It is said of her that she much preferred out-of-

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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

door work to the domestic labors of the house- hold. In the course of her life in Newport she also became the mother of ten children.

The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Wines continued until November 26, 1816, when he was dis- missed at his own request and accepted a pro- fessorship in the Theological Seminary at Ban- gor, Me., from which he retired at the close of the first year, and during the remaining years of his life was engaged in preaching the gospel on Deer Island, off the coast of Maine. Mr. Wines was a beloved pastor and a highly-esteemed and useful citizen. He died February 11, 1833, aged sixty-seven years.

The church continued without a pastor about two years, when, on December 2, 1818, Rev. James R. Wheelock, a grandson of the first and a son of the second president of Dartmouth College, was called to its ministry. Mr. Whee- lock was an able and scholarly man, as one would suppose from his genealogy-an earnest Christian worker and preacher. It was in his time that the first Sunday-school was organized in connection with this church. Soon after his ordination an extensive revival was experienced, by which one hundred and forty-eight new mem- bers were added to the church. Mr. Wheelock's pastorate continued until February 23, 1823, when he was dismissed by a mutual council.

Mr. Wheeloek had many friends in Newport who felt that he had not been fairly treated in matters leading up to the council. The charges against him were of the most trivial character and were not sustained before the council. He was dismissed as a matter of policy and not of personal right, and it is apparent that he left the church in a most inharmonious condition.

An ecclesiastical council was again called, with a view to correct this unhappy state of things. A fast was appointed on the 6th of November ; a paper was drawn up and signed by members containing mutual acknowledg- ments and on the 13th the church voted to extend a call to Rev. John Woods, who had already moved into town from Warner.

The call was accepted and he was installed January 24, 1824. His salary was fixed at four hundred and fifty dollars per annum.

It was in the year 1822, during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Wheelock, that the present brick meeting-house was erected.

Mr. Woods took possession of its pulpit with the improving confidence of his people. How well he acquitted himself in all the duties incumbent upon him through a period of more than twenty-seven years is still in the memory of the Congregational people. There were added to the church during his pastorate three hundred and twenty-nine members.

Mr. Woods was the pioneer in the temper- ence reform in this town. In 1841 the church adopted rules of total abstinence as a require- ment applicable to all members.

On July 16, 1851, an ecclesiastical council convened for the purpose of dissolving the pas- toral relation with Mr. Woods at his own request, and at the same time Rev. Henry Cum- mings, a late graduate of Andover Theological Seminary, was installed as pastor of the church with a salary of seven hundred dollars per annum.

The pastorate of Mr. Cummings continued for a period of fifteen years and was marked by an unusual degree of prosperity to the church and people,-one hundred and seventy new members were added.

Mr. Cummings resigned his charge to accept a call to another and wider field of labor, and was dismissed by a couneil in regular order July 25, 1866.

After the retirement of Mr. Cummings, Rev. G. R. W. Scott, also a graduate of Andover, supplied the pulpit for a time so acceptably that he was called to the regular pastorate of the church and duly installed September 17, 1868.

It was during this pastorate, in 1869, that the old-time, elevated pulpit and high-backed pews were removed and the auditorium reconstructed more in accordance with modern ideas of com-

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fort and convenience. A large and fine-toned organ was also placed in the choir, the gift of Deacon Dexter Richards, as a memorial of a beloved daughter who died in 1868, at the age of twenty years.

In 1871 an additional structure of brick, of fair architectural proportions, was erected partly in the rear and connecting with the main build- ing, for use as a chapel, with parlors and a cuisine arranged for social meetings and gather- ings of the church and society.

Rev. Mr. Scott was dismissed at his own request and accepted the pastorate of a church in Fitchburg, Mass., where he still remains (1885).

At his suggestion Rev. E. E. P. Abbott came to supply the pulpit of the church until another pastor could be established.

Mr. Abbott was a native of Concord, born September 20, 1841, was graduated from Dart- mouth College in 1863. He was for two years a student in the Theological Seminary in New York City and a graduate from Andover Theological Seminary in 1867. He was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church at Meriden, which he resigned in 1872, for the purpose of travel and study in Ger- many, where he spent a couple of years with his wife. His ministrations were so acceptable that he was finally called to the pastorate of the Newport Church and formally installed March 24, 1875.

After a ministry of about ten years' duration, he sent in his resignation, to take effect March 1, 1884. On Sunday, 24th February, the auditorium and galleries of the venerable South meeting-house were packed to their utmost ex- tent to listen to his farewell discourse previous to his departure for Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he now ministers over a Congregational Church.

After the retirement of Rev. Mr. Abbott a call was extended to Rev. Charles N. Flanders to become the pastor of the church, which was duly accepted and the installation services occurred on Wednesday, May 28, 1884. Rev.

G. R. W. Scott, D.D., of Fitchburg, Mass., was chosen moderator of the council and took a leading part in the exercises. Mr. Flanders is a native of Bradford, Vt., born April 1, 1844, was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1871 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1874. He came to the church from Wapping, Conn.

Before closing this sketch, it is fit and proper that we take a backward glance along the line to the beginning in 1779, and call up the names and memories of the worthy men who have filled the diaconate of this church, of whom are Josiah Stevens, Sr., Jesse Wilcox, Uriah Wilcox, Moses Noyes, Elnathan Hurd, Josiah Stevens, Jr., Joseph Wilcox, Henry Chapin, David B. Chapin, whose bodies are buried in peace, but whose names and memories still live, and whose works of usefulness still abide in the church for which they labored, and whose prosperity and beauty was dear to them and to the community they sought to benefit by their good example.

Our sketch now leaves the Congregational Church in the hands of Rev. C. N. Flanders, its pastor, and its present deacons, Dexter Richards and Rufus P. Claggett.

BAPTIST CHURCH .- During the year 1770 there came to this town and Croydon a number of settlers from Central Massachusetts. Some of them located on the high lands in the north- western part of Newport, and others on con- tiguous land in the southwestern part of Croy- deu, thus establishing an important neighbor- hood or colony across the line of the two towns.

These people were mostly from Worcester County, where Baptist Churches had for many years been established, and as they were nearly all Baptists, the locality soon came to be known as Baptist Hill, and so continues to this time.

Their centre of business, where they had a store, a school-house, a tannery and mechanic shops, and where in the course of time timber was drawn and deposited for the purpose of

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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

building a meeting-house, was on the road run- ning north from the present Northville ap- proaching and crossing the town line. The Wakefields, Havens, Metcalfs, Durkees, Cham- berlains and Wheelers of this town, and the Stows, Jacobs and others comprised this settle- ment-a thrifty and intelligent people, strong in the faith of their prototype, Roger Williams.

For eight or nine years they abode in this new settlement, clearing land, opening farms, building houses and barns and increasing in basket and in store.

Although scattered on the hill as sheep with- out a shepherd, they went not astray and fell into no neglect of their religious belief, failing not under any circumstances to gather in private houses and barns, and finally in the school-house after it was built, for religious services, depend- ing upon their own resources with the help of the Lord for edification and interest.

Their number and wants accumulated until about the year 1779, when some of their lead- ing men and women sought the good offices of Rev. Caleb Blood, of Marlow, pastor of the nearest church of their denomination, to procure for them a " qualified religious teacher."

At a meeting of the Warren Association (Rhode Island) of Baptist Churches, held at Leicester, Mass., September 8-9, 1778, a letter was read from Rev. Mr. Blood, setting forth the religious condition and necessities of this section of the country. This appeal, doubtless, reached the minds and hearts of former neigh- hors and friends, still living in the old county of Worcester, from which they had come, mem- bers of the Baptist Church in Leicester, which was then half a century old.

The following is copied from the minutes of that association for 1778 :

"A most presssing application being made in be- half of a vast extent of country to the northward al- most entirely destitute of ministerial helps, we have recommended it to our Elders, Jacobs, Ledoyt, Sea- mans and our Brother Ransome to visit and labor in those parts; and they have undertaken to go; and as the expense of their journey must be considerable, the

Churches are earnestly requested to contribute to their support and send it to our next Association."

These brethren proceeded to the task as- signed them. Benedict, the Baptist historian, tells us, that Elders Job Seamans of Attleborough, Mass., and Biel Ledoyt, of Woodstock, Conn., traveled up the Connecticut River as far as Woodstock, Vt., preaching on both sides of the river, but mostly on the New Hampshire side. Their coming was refreshing to the hearts of many, and an evident blessing fol- lowed their zealous and evangelical labors.

Elder Ledoyt visited Newport and Croydon among other places, and preached to the little community of Baptists on Baptist Hill. It was undoubtedly through his influence that they were encouraged to associate themselves together in church fellowship, and in May, 1779, the Baptist Church of Newport and Croydon was organized. It was, however, soon after- ward known only as the Baptist Church of Newport.

There were eight constituent members, as follows :

Seth Wheeler. Elias Metcalf.

William Haven. Ezekiel Powers.

Mrs. Seth Wheeler. Mrs. Elias Metcalf.

Mrs. William Haven.

Mrs. Nathaniel Wheeler.

It will be seen that this church was organized in the midst of the Revolutionary period of our country, when the minds of the people were absorbed in political affairs, the movements of armies, American and British, campaigns and battles, questions of victory or defeat; and every neighborhood had its representative in the ranks of the patriot army. The church, however, seems to have made some progress, for at the close of the war, 1783, though destitute of pastoral care, it had twenty-two members, a gain of fourteen during the first four years.

Seth Wheeler, who is said to have been a man of decided ability and highly respected in the community, was chosen its first deacon, and for its general prosperity the church is greatly in- debted to his offices. Elias Metcalf was after-

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ward associated with him in the diaconate, and, under the leading of these good and wise men, it continued to flourish several years without a pastor other than those occasionally coming to them from other and more prosperous places.

Their principal strength came from meeting together for prayer and Christian conference and exhortation, and the Spirit that is promised where two or three are gathered together.

It would seem that Elder Ledoyt continued to hold in remembrance the church he had been instrumental in founding in this destitute re- gion, and that he revisited the places where he labored in 1778-79, to strengthen and establish the brethren in the faith.

Be this as it may, after a lapse of twelve years he accepted a call to the pastorate, and was installed as first pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport. The sermon on the occa- sion was by Rev. Job Seamans, who afterward became pastor of the Baptist Church in New London.

It is unfortunate for our sketch that we can- not give the exact dates and all the attending circumstances connected with this matter, from the fact that, on the night of January 11, 1816, the dwelling-house of Philip W. Kibbey, an officer of the church and the custodian of its records, was destroyed by fire, with much of its contents, including the archives of the Baptist Church and society, covering the first forty-five years of its existence.

The following passage from Backus' "History of the Baptists " will furnish some idea of the character of that old soldier of the cross, Elder Ledoyt, the " qualified" founder and first pastor of this church.

September 16, 1793, he writes in a letter to a friend :

"It hath been a long, dark and cloudy night with me and people here, but glory to God, the clouds are dispersing fast. His work is begun among us : New- port and Croydon are greatly blessed. There have been forty souls hopefully converted in a few weeks among us. I have baptized twenty-nine in four weeks.

The work appears still going on. I cannot be idle. It is out of my power to answer all the calls I have at this time; but I endeavor to do all I can. Being favored with health and the spirit of preaching, I as- cend the mountains easy.

"There is a prospect of a glorious reformation in these parts. O may it spread far and wide! God hath remembered my family also for good. My three eldest daughters I hope are converted, -- the oldest seventeen years, the youngest ten years old are bap- tized. O bless the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together ! I never more sensibly needed wisdom than at present.

" You will not cease to pray for me, O dear brother, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might."

In 1795 the church reported a membership of eighty-nine. Hitherto, as stated, it had wor- shiped in private houses, barns and the school- house.

A barn is still standing by the river-side where Thomas Baldwin, afterward the dis- tinguished Baptist divine of Boston, preached a sermon which made a deep impression upon those who heard it.

In 1798 the first meeting-house, in size forty by forty feet, was erected on land adjoining the cemetery grounds on the south at North New- port.

The following description of that church edifice and the worship and the habits of the people, as they appeared in 1810, is from the pen of the late Baron Stow, D.D., of Boston :

" I am in that plain edifice with a superabundance of windows, and a porch at each end; with its eleva- ted pulpit, sky blue in color overhung by the sound- ing-board; with the deacon's seat half-way up the pulpit; with the square pews occupied by families ; with a gallery containing one row of pews fronted by the singers' seats.

" There is the horse-shed; there is the horse-block ; there are the horses with men's saddles and pillions, and a few women's saddles, but not a carriage of any description.

"On occasions of baptism the whole congregation would go down the hill and, standing in a deep glen on the banks of Sugar River, would witness the cere- monies. Elias McGregor played the bass-viol. Asa,

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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

a brother, led the choir, and his sisters Lucy and Lois sang soprano and alto. In that choir were Asaph Stow, Moses Paine Durkee, Philip W. Kibbey and more than one Wakefield."

The church continued to prosper, and in the year 1800 nine were added by baptism.

In 1805 Mr. Ledoyt offered his resignation, which was reluctantly accepted, and thus closed a successful pastorate of about fourteen years. He returned soon after to his former home and field of labor in Woodstock, Conn. He is de- scribed as "a man of moderate education, but of unusual natural ability." He was a shoe- maker and plied his trade as he found opportun- ity with considerable skill. A story is told of an unregenerate hearer, who afterward became a Christian, who was greatly annoyed at the great length of the hymns in connection with the public worship, and suggested that if Elder Ledoyt would only carry his bench and work into the pulpit, he might top a shoe while the choir were singing a hymn.

Many people now living well remember when the Sabbath services continued to much greater length than at present, and when the sermons, forenoon and afternoon, furnished opportunity for the exercise of " an active patience."

Elder Ledoyt was an energetic worker, and considered one of the most devoted men in the gospel ministry. He often expressed the hope that he might not outlive his usefulness. His wish was granted : he was suddenly taken away, being found dead in his garden, where he had been at work.

We know very little of the Ledoyt family, other than what we are able to gather from the records of the church. They came, lived, loved, labored and passed away in the earlier days of the town far beyond the memory of this gene- ration.

There is, however, one other memorial of their presence here, to which we may refer, that appeals to our humanity,-a grave. It may be found in the southeastern corner of the first burial-place of Newport, and across an interval

of nearly a hundred years the record of a great sorrow may be read from that cold gray stone, as follows :

"In memory of Miss Esther, Daughter of the Rev'd Biel Ledoyt and Mrs. Joanna, his wife, who after a long sickness, died February 10, 1792, aged 20 years and 10 months.

" My loving friend, as you pass by On my cold grave pray cast an eye, As I am now, so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me."

In 1806 Rev. Thomas Brown was installed as second pastor of the church. He is said to have been a man of good ability, and highly respected in the community.

His pastorate was attended with a good de- gree of success. During the year 1810 sixty- six were baptized, and eighty-five in all were added to the church.

In 1812 the church reported to the Wood- stock Association, with which it was connected, a total membership of one hundred and eighty- three.

About this time some misunderstanding occurred between Mr. Brown and a number of his parishioners, which caused him to resign his pastorate in 1813.

In 1814, Rev. Elisha Hutchinson, formerly of Pomfret, Vt., and for some time a Congrega- tional minister, came to the pastorate of the church. He was a member of the first class that was graduated from Dartmouth College. He is said to have been a man of great zeal and piety. During his ministry the church was greatly troubled for reason as follows: In 1816 a young man, named Solomon Howe, settled on or about Baptist Hill. His religious sentiments were of the Arminian school, in con- trast with the Calvinistie views of Mr. Hutch- inson. Their open discussions on this ubject caused a division of the church. The disaf- fected and larger party withdrew and formed an " Independent Baptist Church," with Mr. Howe for their pastor.

The year following, two sets of delegates and

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the two ministers were present at the Associa- tion, which met at Mount Holley, Vt., each claiming to represent the Newport Church.

A committee was appointed by the associa- tion to visit Newport and investigate the matter. The following year, 1818, the church under the lead of Mr. Hutchinson was recognized as the legitimate church.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 131

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200