USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume II > Part 12
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THE METHODIST CHURCH AT PENACOOK. 787
Reverend Daniel C. Babcock, who was stationed at Penacook both as supply and by appointment from the fall of 1861 until the spring of 1863, writing his recollections of that time, says : "J. C. Emerson was appointed to Penacook in the spring of 1861, but went into the army the next fall. John Mclaughlin died in 1857. O. P. Pitcher was a student at Concord, and married a daughter of Bishop Baker. He and his wife are both dead. W. D. Cass was an old man when I joined the New Hampshire conference in 1861. Jacob Sanborn was an aged member of the New England conference but resided at . Concord. H. M. Loud was a student and joined the New England conference. James Pike was presiding elder at the time he entered the army as colonel of the Sixteenth regiment."
This seems to show that most of those mentioned by Mr. Babcock supplied or were appointed to this church prior to the Civil War. The roster of its ministers is, so far as known, substantially as fol- lows : Reverends Ebenezer Peaslee, 1847 -; 1850 to 1851, Mr. Knapp ; 1852 to 1855, supplied ; W. D. Cass, 1856; Daniel J. Smith, 1858; J. C. Emerson, 1861; Daniel C. Babcock, 1861-1863; Daniel J. Smith, 1863-1865; Nathan P. Philbrick, 1866-1869; Newell Cul- ver, 1870-1871; Simeon P. Heath, 1872-1874; William H. Jones, 1874-1875; Lyman E. Gordon, 1875-1878; Lewis P. Cushman, 1878-1879; J. K. Shiffer, 1879-Acting; Harvey Woodward, 1879- 1881; Elisha R. Wilkins, 1881-1884; Charles W. Taylor, 1884- 1887; Anson C. Coult, 1887-1890; William C. Bartlett, 1890- 1894; Roscoe Sanderson, 1894-1895; Silas E. Quimby, 1895-1897 ; George W. Farmer, 1897-1899; Edwin W. Jarrett, 1899-1901. Reverend A. L. Smith, who is the son of Reverend Eleazer Smith, is the present pastor.
Among the men and women who were instrumental in organizing the society, or who bore the burden of its early struggles, were Mr. and Mrs. Ira Sweatt, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob B. Rand, Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Lowwater, Mr. and Mrs. Abram Hook, Mr. and Mrs. Luther A. Shedd, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Page, Phila Scott, Nancy R. Williams, Charlotte Goodwin, Nancy Beckworth, Eliza Upton, Harriet Upton, Eliza J. Cross, Elmira Little, Margaret White, Robert Bert. Of these, Mr. and Mrs. Rand came here in 1848, and Mr. Rand at a later date put on record his recollections of the early years of trial of the church.
Meetings were held in the summer months of 1848 in Washington hall, connected with the Washington House, the entrance to the hall being through the hotel. As this was objectionable to the society they hired Hosmer hall, afterwards known as Granite hall, in what is now Taylor's block, in the fall of that year. Collecting a little
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788
HISTORY OF CONCORD
money, they built some pine seats, and with a table for a pulpit, Sunday services were regularly maintained. The preacher was with them only Sundays, and the conduct of the weekly meetings devolved upon the members of the society. For a time prayer-meetings were held every night in the week, and the earnestness of the members attracted a large attendance. Fifty conversions were soon made, and the society bade fair to become a thriving one. But this ingath- ering came near wrecking the society. In the spring of 1849 those of the converts who leaned toward the Free Will Baptist and Advent faiths, and such as they could influence, broke away and united in forming another society, hiring a Christian Baptist preacher, and starting meetings in Washington hall. This secession was most dis- couraging, but those who remained persevered and at the end of a year were rewarded by finding their own accommodations too small. The Washington hall society afterwards dissolved.
Fisherville was not mentioned in the minutes of the New Hamp- shire Conference until 1850. That year there is no report of either the number of members of the society or of its financial condition. The officers and teachers of the Sunday-school are given as six, number of Bible classes four, total scholars fifty-three, and volumes in the library one hundred.
That year the society resolved to build a church, and took a bond for a deed of Asa Morrill, for the sum of five hundred dollars, for the land on which to build it. Only a small part of this was sub- scribed beforchand, and the erection of the church was attended with seemingly no end of difficulties. The contract was let to Isaac K. Conner of Warner, who, in order to get the building enclosed before winter, was obliged to build faster than money could be collected to pay him. In the fall and winter of 1850 creditors of the society began sueing it and putting attachments on its meeting-house. " It was so thickly covered with attachments," says Mr. Rand, "that there was little danger of the roof leaking."
Fearing that the meeting-house might pass from their control, the members resolved to hold at least one service therein, even if they were later ejected. So when the outside of the building was com- pleted and the cast half of the basement finished inside, they moved in with their scanty furniture taken from Hosmer hall. A little later they were tempted by an offer from another religious body to finish off the upper part of the building and pay the debts of the society for the privilege of occupying that part, the Methodists wor- shiping in the vestry. This was rejected, one of the sisters saying, " I don't think we shall consent to worship God under their feet just yet." Mr. Knapp, who was a theological student, was occupy-
789
THE METHODIST CHURCH AT PENACOOK.
ing the pulpit at that time. The society induced him to go to other places to ask for funds, and he proved to be a successful solicitor. When he could not get money, he took merchandise, and the society had on hand for sale, boots and shoes, platform scales, bass viols, chandeliers, hymn books, and many other things. Returning from one of these trips Mr. Knapp objected to applying the proceeds to lifting any of the attachments, "because," he said, "it would spoil my tale of woe."
March 22, 1852, the society hired five hundred dollars of Bishop Baker and Reverend Jacob Sanborn of Concord, paid for the church lot, and had it conveyed to the lenders.
In 1853 they resolved to finish off the upper part of the meeting- house. They advertised in Zion's Herald for second-hand pews, and soon heard of some taken from a Baptist church in Medford, Mass. They borrowed one hundred dollars of the old Mer- rimack County bank and started for the pews. Their cost was eighty dollars, and they were regarded as a bargain, being finished in good style, and trimmed with mahogany. But their joy was soon turned to sorrow when they found that the regular freight rates from Boston to Penacook were seventy-five dollars. In their perplexity they went to a railroad superin- tendent in Concord and told him that fifteen dollars was all they could afford to pay, but that they would finish off one good pew in the church which should always be kept for the use of the employees of his railroad. His reply was that the pew would be of no use to the road as its president always worked his men Sunday, but he did agree to bring the pews for sixteen dollars. The church was finished off with the pews thus purchased, with a pulpit from a church in Lowell, and with chande- liers and lighting apparatus from a Methodist church in Boston. The hymn-books in use were those which Mr. Knapp had collected.
Methodist Church, Penacook.
March 22, 1856, during the pastorate of Mr. Cass, Bishop Baker and Mr. Sanborn conveyed the building to Ira Sweatt, Luther A. Shedd, Abram Hook, Robert Bert, and Jacob B. Rand as trustees of the Methodist Episcopal society of Fisherville, the consideration being six hundred and sixty-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents. This was the first time the society had a deed of the property. When Mr. Rand removed to Concord in December, 1864, there was a debt on the church of two hundred dollars, and through his instru- mentality it was discharged a few weeks later.
The meeting-house becoming too small for the society, it was sold
790
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
to the Catholic church, August 14, 1867, for two thousand dollars, and Graphic Hall block was purchased. All that the society had after paying its debts was fourteen hundred dollars. Through Dea- con Almon Harris it was able to borrow seven thousand dollars of one of the Concord banks, giving a mortgage of the block as security. The trustees who signed the note were Ira Sweatt, Nathan Abbott, Fifield Tucker, Charles C. Bean, Lyman K. Hall, Abram Hook, J. W. Bean, Daniel Smith, and C. J. Ellsworth. This note was given August 14, 1867, and October 22, 1874, the bank was paid and the obligation assumed by the trustees.
From 1867 to 1877 the society appears to have prospered finan- cially and otherwise; for in the latter year the Conference minutes show the number of members as one hundred and eighty-eight, pro- bationers sixteen, salary paid the minister nine hundred and fifty dollars, value of church property ten thousand dollars, and value of parsonage three thousand dollars. There were one hundred and ninety scholars in the Sunday-school, twenty-eight officers and teach- ers, and four hundred and twenty-five volumes in the library.
In 1902 this society sold the building in which it had worshiped for thirty years, and voted to build a church on the corner of Summer and Centre strects. This step was taken on the strength of a suc- cessful canvass accomplished by the present pastor, for subscriptions towards the new edifice. All the other property, including the par- sonage, was likewise sold; and now with its debt of two thousand dollars liquidated this society is to have a church, and has a fund set apart towards the erection of a new parsonage.
THE PLEASANT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.
This church is the child of the First Baptist church,-an under- taking born within the membership of the latter, and starting out with the good will of the parent church. Several years before Dr. Cummings, so long the pastor of the First Baptist church, resigned his pastorate, the idea of starting a second Baptist church in Concord was cherished by some members of his flock, but it was not until 1852 that definite action was taken to organize another society. At a Friday evening meeting, November 5 of that year, Reverend C. W. Flanders, who succeeded Dr. Cummings as pastor, read a paper, stating that some members of the church believed that a second Bap- tist church was needed in the city, and asking their co-operation in furthering the enterprise. A committee of fifteen was unanimously appointed to consider the project and report. This was the initiative, and the advance was rapid. Apparently without waiting for formal organization as a society, some enterprising individuals secured a lot,
791
THE PLEASANT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.
-the present site,-and contracts were soon after made for erecting thereon a house of worship. This was in the spring of 1853.
Just a year to a day from the appointment of the first committee to consider the organization of a new society, a meeting of the First Baptist church was held to act upon the request of thirty members to be dismissed for the purpose of uniting to form a new organization under the name of the Pleasant Street Baptist church. This request was cordially granted. A week later, November 12, 1853, these thirty members met at the house of David M. Dearborn and organ- ized by the choice of David M. Dearborn as moderator and James S. Crockett, clerk. A declaration of faith and covenant was adopted. It was then voted to extend a call to Reverend E. E. Cummings, D. D., to become pastor of the church, a call which he very early accepted.
December 8, 1853, at a meeting held at the house of Mr. Cum- mings, the Pleasant Street Baptist society was organized by the election of Charles Brown as moderator and James Morgan as clerk. The society was the corporate body for holding property and admin- istering finances, while the functions of the church organization were purely religious. The two organizations continued until March 18, 1889, when the society transferred the title to the church building and all other property to the church, the church becoming a regular incorporated body. The society was then discontinued, and since that time the church is the organization holding all property and adminis- tering all matters both financial and religious.
The work of erecting the house of worship had gone rapidly for- ward, and early in January, 1854, it was ready for occupancy. The lot had cost one thousand dollars, and the building nine thousand dollars more. Over six thousand dollars of this amount were raised at the first sale of pews; and September 6, 1854, the church was able to report to the Salisbury Baptist Association, in its application for membership, that the building and lot were paid for except two thousand five hundred dollars, "which is provided for by unsold pews." A year later the church reported that all expenses of build- ing and furnishing its house of worship had been paid. Contribu- tions from people outside of the society aided in the furnishing, and testified the general good will felt for the new church organiza- tion.
The dedication of the house of worship occurred Jannary 11, 1854, the following clergymen participating : Reverend C. W. Flanders, Reverend F. Damon, Reverend E. E. Cummings, and Reverend Nathaniel Bouton, pastor of the First Congregational society of Con- cord. In the afternoon of the same day the recognition and fellow-
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
ship of the church took place, and in the evening Rev. Dr. E. E. Cummings was formally recognized as the first pastor.
The church during its first nine months had a congregation rang- ing from one hundred and fifty to three hundred, and a Sunday- school of fourteen classes and teachers with an attendance ranging from sixty-eight to one hundred and fourteen, according to its first report to the Baptist Association at Salisbury.
Four years after the dedication a commodious chapel was built adjoining the church ; the cost of this was one thousand five hundred dollars, and it was dedicated November 25, 1858. Prior to its erec- tion the church held its social meetings in the firemen's hall on Warren street.
Dr. Cummings's pastorate lasted over four- teen years. There were times of discourage- ment, but growth in membership was steady. During this period the society raised and ap- propriated for church and missionary work thirty-one thousand dollars, not to speak of those charities which were never a matter of record. On October 6, 1867, Dr. Cummings offered his resignation, but the society refused to accept it. Six months later he renewed his request, and the society reluctantly acced- ed to it. On Sunday, April 19, 1868, Dr. Cummings preached his farewell sermon. It was commemorative of the close on that day of a ministry of forty years, thirty-two of which had been spent in Concord. He had come to this society when it was few in numbers, without a house of worship, and he left it in possession of a commodious church and chapel, free of debt, and with a membership five times that in the beginning.
Pleasant Street Baptist Church.
May 18, 1868, the society gave a unanimous call to Reverend Henry G. Safford of Amesbury, Mass. He accepted and began his pastorate June 7, following. Public recognition of his pastorate for- mally occurred September 7, 1868. During the summer of 1872 he was granted three months' leave of absence by the society to travel in Europe, and the pulpit was supplied by Dr. Cummings. Mr. Saf- ford's pastorate continued nearly eight years. It was characterized by thorough and substantial work. The society raised and appropri- ated to all objects during his ministry nearly twenty thousand dol- lars. October 1, 1875, Mr. Safford's pastorate closed by his resigna- tion. For eight months the church was without a settled minister. A part of the time Mr. Safford supplied, but usually the supplies
793
THE PLEASANT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.
came from Newton Theological seminary. Three months of this time the meeting-house was occupied Sunday afternoons by the First Bap- tist society, during the repair of their house of worship. Mr. Safford went from here to the Baptist church of Framingham, Mass.
In the month of March, 1876, the society called Reverend Edward C. Spinney of the Newton Theological seminary,-a call which was accepted,-and Mr. Spinney entered upon his duties the third Sab- bath of June, 1876. An earnest and enthusiastic worker, he proved to be a most popular pastor. During his ministry the auditorium and chapel were remodeled and repaired at an expense of five thousand five hundred dollars, and large additions were made to the church membership. January 5, 1879, Mr. Spinney observed the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the church by preaching a historical sermon. At the same service, letters were read from all of the for- mer pastors, giving a history of their work in its behalf. During the first quarter-century of its existence the church had contributed sixty-four thousand dollars for home expenses and outside objects. Failing health compelled Mr. Spinney to resign April 30, 1880, the resignation to take effect June the 1st, following. The society offered him a long leave of absence, but feeling that a change of climate would be beneficial he insisted upon the acceptance of his resignation, and accepted a call to Burlington, Iowa.
From June to September the pulpit was supplied, part of the time by Reverend Luther S. Barrett of South Boston, Mass., who was called to the pastorate and accepted, beginning his labors September 1, 1880. His work appears to have been fruitful to the society, and in its reports to the Salisbury Association his labors were repeatedly complimented. He tendered his resignation July 12, 1884, to take effect the first of September, following. Acceptance followed, and from that time until January 1, 1885, the pulpit was supplied.
The next pastor was Reverend James K. Ewer of Reading, Mass., who was called in November and accepted, to begin his minis- try the first of the following year. He was duly recognized as pas- tor Thursday evening, January 22, 1885. During his pastorate, the church gave evidence of growth and prosperity. The debt of two thousand two hundred dollars, which had been incurred, was paid. Repairs were made to the house of worship, and contributions for religious purposes increased. After nine years of faithful service, Mr. Ewer resigned to accept a call to Providence, R. I., much to the regret of the church and congregation. On the last Sunday of Feb- ruary, 1894, he preached his farewell sermon.
The church was then without a pastor for cight months, when by unanimous vote Reverend Joseph H. Robbins was called. Accepting
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
the call, Mr. Robbins began his work on Sunday, October 14, 1894. His service of more than seven years was earnest and effective. In the summer of 1899 the church edifice was greatly improved by put- ting in a steel ceiling, stained-glass windows, and other repairs, cost- ing two thousand dollars. Besides his parish labors, Mr. Robbins was actively engaged in temperance reform work. During his pastorate the church pews were made free. These pews were originally held as private property by individuals. In July, 1877, the society bought the pews, most of them being transferred for a nominal considera- tion. From this time until January, 1900, the pews were rented to the worshipers at an annual rental, the income therefrom forming a part of the regular revenue of the church for the pastor's salary and other expenses. In January of the latter ycar the church voted to do away with the pew rent system and make the seats free, and now it raises all funds by purely voluntary offerings. Mr. Robbins re- signed his pastorate March 1, 1902, and was succeeded by Reverend John B. Wilson, the present pastor.
The Pleasant Street Baptist church is approaching a half century of existence, and its record is one of earnest and faithful work. During this time its contributions for church and philanthropic work amount to nearly one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and it should be kept in mind that these were the offerings of a people of moderate means.
THE SECOND ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Second Adventism in Concord owes its beginning to the great tent meeting here in 1842. It was the era of the Millerite awakening. The tent was first pitched on the summit of Holt's hill, near the site of the residence of Lyman D. Stevens, where a fierce wind blew down the tent and broke the pole, but no person was injured. The pole was spliced and the tent pitched again, this time on what is now Pine street, between Holt's hill and the old Whale-back. Then came a heavy rain-storm, which filled the tent with water. Luther Roby, who was at the head of the fire department, and Thomas Stuart put a hose into the water and pumped out the tent. The people who were gathered there, from Concord, from other towns of New Hamp- shire, and from outside the state, were cared for by neighbors, after the storm. Reverend Joshua V. Himes, father of Reverend W. Lloyd Himes of this city, was master of the tent. He afterward became an Episcopal clergyman, and died at Wolfeborough. He had with him, among others, Charles Fitch, a Congregationalist from Oberlin insti- tute, Ohio, and Josiah Litch, of Newburyport, Mass. Miller himself was a Baptist, but many of his followers were Methodists and Con-
795
THE SECOND ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
gregationalists. A general invitation to take part in this meeting had been given, and many ministers came from distant points. Many people were converted, among them the late Elder John G. Hook, who became an Advent evangelist.
Elder Hook was never settled with any church. He had a mis- sion in Boston for about eight years, and had charge of a church for a year or two in Philadelphia. His work was that of a missionary, and he preached from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in islands of both oceans. The extent of his travels made him the best-known Adventist in the United States; and his home being at Concord, he was generally thought to have organized the Adventists here, and to have been prominently identified with the society. Such, however, not the case. He became a preacher after his conversion in 1842, was and at different times, for half a century, officiated here,-but never at any one time for a long period. That he had a deep interest in the Advent church here was shown by his efforts at various times to secure a union of the various Advent organizations, but he is best known for his independent work as a missionary and revivalist.
Among the earliest Adventists of Concord were Eben Lane, Will- iam Gordon, and Dr. Charles Thompson. The last was for several years connected with the Thompsonian Infirmary, an account of which is given elsewhere. According to Elder Hook's recollections the Adventists began to worship in Athenian hall sometime during the year 1842, the use of the hall being given to them by its owner, Lorenzo D. Brown. Elder Eastman was one of the earliest preachi- ers. Immediately after this the meetings were held in a chapel on Spring street, afterward made into a house now owned by the heirs of William P. Ford. It is number 36 North Spring street, occu- pied by George W. Howe. The Adventists had no settled pastor. Elder Hook and other itinerants preached there. Dr. Thompson ap- pears to have owned the chapel, and he left it to the Adventists at his death. Here they worshiped for thirteen or fourteen years without formal organization. Dissensions, however, sprang up among them, and some seceded from this chapel on Spring street and built another chapel on Warren street. The seceders could not sustain themselves ; the new chapel was abandoned and afterwards fitted up for a dwelling-house.
In 1854 the second movement, as it is called, occurred. Two years later Thomas M. Preble, of East Weare, now living at Somer- ville, Mass., at an advanced age, came to Concord and purchased the Free Will Baptist church on the corner of Centre and Green streets, then vacated by the Baptists, who had removed to a new church on South State street. Elder Preble paid one thousand five hundred
796
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
dollars for the property. He formed a voluntary corporation, divid- ing the purchase into fifteen shares of one hundred dollars each. He sold seven shares to Albert Webster and William and Theodore Ford, retaining eight himself. The terms of payment for this prop- erty were five hundred dollars down and five hundred dollars a year for two years. These payments were duly made. In after years Albert Webster owned the larger part of the shares, and finally the ownership vested in Charles P. Rowell. In 1866 Theodore H. Ford, who owned a piece of land on the corner of Washington and Lyndon streets, where the residence of Charles W. Lynam now stands, built thereon a chapel called " The Bethel." There had been dissatisfac- tion in the Centre Street Advent society, and upon the completion of this chapel the dissatisfied gathered there, forming a new society. Associated with Mr. Ford in organizing the new society were John T. Kimball, V. R. Moore, Eben Lane, A. H. Saltmarsh, Lyman Lane, and Oliver Hart. This society was supplied by itinerant preachers. Services were held at The Bethel nearly every Sunday, and The Bethel society became a rival of the Centre Street society, which at that time had no settled pastor.
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