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 3
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"Great unanimity marked the ecclesiastical proceedings of the town while the people were united in one denomination," says Dr. Bouton. " There was never any disagreement between the parish and the church, nor between the church or parish and minister, nor between the members of the church themselves, so as to require the
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aid of the council; and no ecclesiastical council was ever called to the town except to settle or dismiss a minister according to congre- gational usages.
" The well-selected company that first settled in this remote planta- tion were men of remarkably pure morals, and their morals were the growth of their religious principles and habits. . For more than fifty years the worship of God was regularly attended in most of the families in town. The Sabbath was sacredly observed. Idle- ness was accounted a vice, and whoever was guilty of it was placed under guardianship. All vagrants and persons that came in of unpromising character were warned out of town. The men of the first and second generations were remarkably temperate, their food and drink being of the simplest quality. They used no ardent spirits except on certain public occasions and in time of harvest. From the commencement of the town to the present time (1830) no one vice has peculiarly marked the character of the people. Here no outrages upon decency and no gross violations of order are remen- bered to have taken place. Here the cry of murder has never been heard. Here no citizen has ever been convicted of any capital crime, and but one descendant of the original settlers has been a tenant of a state prison. One other person, a native of Concord, has been in the state prison. Both were young lads convicted of stealing."
Dr. Bouton estimated that the whole number of persons connected with the several churches at this time (1830) was about one fourth of the adult population and about one seventh of all the inhabitants. Not far from one third of the whole population attended, upon an average, every Sabbath; and seven eighths of the population were reckoned as church-going people.
The North Congregational society had been so successful in set- tling young men as ministers, and were so well satisfied with the pastorates of Parson Walker and Dr. McFarland, that the committee appointed by the society to engage a candidate betook themselves to Andover Theological Seminary. The professors of that institution recommended to the committee Mr. Nathaniel Bouton, who had just finished his theological studies there. The situation of the Concord parish was well understood at Andover, and it was regarded as one of the most important stations in New England. The society was the largest in the state, and with one or two exceptions the largest in New England. The committee did not meet Mr. Bouton on the occasion of their visit to Andover, but on the strength of the recom- mendations given him by the professors they wrote to him Septem- ber 27, 1824, to become a candidate for the pulpit. The invitation was accepted, and on the last Sabbath of October, 1824, he preached
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his first sermon in Concord. The system of candidating at that time was very different from that of to-day, for Mr. Bouton came to Con- cord and remained for seven weeks, preaching on the Sabbath, calling during the week upon the families composing the congregation, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with his prospective charge and permitting the people to get some idea of his social qualities. In speaking later of his social calls while a candidate, he says : "Such an acquaintance I now regard as of great consequence. It gives the candidate, on the one hand, and the people, on the other, an oppor- tunity more deliberately to judge of their fitness for each other; and no doubt one cause of the dissatisfaction which often exists between minister and people, and which issues in the dismission of the for- mer, is to be traced to a premature settlement."
If Mr. Bouton gave evidence of his sociability in calling upon the members of the society while a candidate, the society did not give him any undue encouragement of his candidacy by a reciprocation of these social amenities, for he afterwards stated that during the seven weeks of his preliminary stay in Concord he had only one caller, and he was a person who did not belong to the North church. Mr. Bouton had but four written sermons with which to begin his can- didacy, so that he was obliged to devote a large share of his time to preparing for his pulpit work. Closing his engagement as a candi- date, he returned to the Theological Seminary at Andover entirely in doubt what would be the result. In speaking of this afterwards he says: " I may be permitted to mention-what I did not at the time understand as a trait in the character of the people-that during the whole term of my candidateship I could gather nothing from any- thing that was said to me, or from attentions which I received, whether my services were acceptable or not. I had, indeed, met large and attentive audiences on the Sabbath; I had heard no com- plaints; only the senior deacon, walking home at the close of the last Sabbath service, remarked to me that ' he thought seven weeks rather a short period for a candidate.'"
On December 24, 1824, the church met and voted unanimously to call Mr. Bouton as their pastor, and on December 30 the society met and by an equally unanimons vote concurred with the church in their call, and proposed the terms of settlement. On January 29, 1825, Mr. Bouton gave an affirmative answer to the call. The time for ordination was set March 23 following. The council, consisting of 'eleven pastors with their delegates, met at the court room on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 22, where the examination was had, and on the morning of the next day moved in procession to the North church, then the only church in town with the exception of a
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small Quaker meeting-house. The day was fair and mild, the travel- ing favorable, and a very numerous assembly filled the house.
At the time of Dr. Bouton's ordination there was only one minis- ter of any other denomination settled in town, the Baptist. The Quakers, the Baptists, the Methodists, and Episcopalians, however, each had a small society. None had a fixed place of worship. The Baptists were erecting their church on State street. The people who met at the old North church were, therefore, gathered from the whole town. Some resided in Penacook, others near and beyond the Mast Yard, others as far out as the Hopkinton line, some at Garvin's Falls, and still others as far distant as the town lines of Canterbury and Loudon. After surveying his great field of labor, Dr. Bouton adopted this system: To devote five days each week to study and the preparation of sermons for the Sabbath. To attend a weekly lecture one day, commonly Tuesday, in some school district out of the main village, and spend that day in visiting the parishioners and others there resident. To institute Bible classes in different sec- tions of the town, in addition to Sabbath schools, namely : in the vil- lage at the West Parish, at Horse Hill, so called, and on the East side. These were attended one each week in succession. By this arrangement he was able to visit all the families of the parish at least once a year, besides meeting them at the weekly lectures, and becom- ing acquainted with the young people at Bible classes. This arrange- ment continued about seven years. At the same time, he held him- self in readiness at all times to visit the sick, whether sent for or not, to attend funerals, to preach occasional lectures, and perform other professional services as invited. In taking a retrospection of these early years of his ministry in Concord, Dr. Bouton says: "I desire to record that no part of my ministry has ever been more pleasantly performed than when my duties called me over this extended field. Mounted on horseback, the fresh air and exercise, the welcome from my parishioners which I never failed to meet in their houses, the full attendance at schoolhouse lectures, and the interest manifested in my Bible classes, at once gave elasticity to my spirits, vigor to my constitution, and joy to my heart."
The character of Dr. Bouton's preaching and of that of his time in Congregational churches is shown by his summary of his work on the occasion of the commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coming to Concord. He had then delivered forty sermons on systematic theology, twenty-two on the Ten Commandments, eighteen in explanation and defense of the Articles of Faith and Covenant, seventeen on " Fruits of the Spirit," seventy-one on the character, titles, and offices of Christ, mostly communion sermons, forty-six
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lectures on scripture characters, twenty-three lectures on scripture history and geography, twenty-two on the parables, twenty-one on the miracles, twenty on scripture antiquities, thirty-two on the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, sixteen to young people, eight con- troversial lectures and thirty on the words " woe " and " blessed " as applied in different passages of scripture.
In 1833 occurred the first formal separation from the North church. The inhabitants of the West Parish, then numbering about seven hundred, and averaging a distance of about five miles from the meeting-house, were able and desirous to support public worship by themselves. They accordingly erected their church, and the mem- bers residing in that section were, at their request, dismissed and recommended to be organized into a new church in April, 1833. The separation took place in perfect harmony, but with great regret on both sides. Immediately afterwards the common fund in the church treasury, amounting to ninety-four dollars, was divided and one third part paid over to the West Parish church. Previous to this division all the pews in the spacious North church were occu- pied, and the withdrawal of the West Parish people indicated at the time a loss which would not be immediately made good. Yet the old North society continued to increase in numbers so that at the close of 1836 the number of members was greater then when the West church was organized, the pews were all filled, and new-comers could not find accommodation. But just as this prosperity was at its height another separation took place. The increase of business and population in the south section of the village made it expedient and necessary, in the judgment of members there residing, that a new house of worship should be erected and a new church organized. In November, 1836, a communication was received from people in- terested in the movement, setting forth their reasons for the meas- ures they had taken, and requesting a dismissal which was granted. The church fund, ninety-six dollars, was again divided, and one third part paid to them ; and a similar division was also made of the Sab- bath school library.
Still again, in March, 1842, a communication was presented, signed by forty-four members living on the east side of the river, stating that a new house of worship had been erected there, and asking to be dismissed and recommended for the purpose of being organized into . a new Congregational church. This request was also unanimously voted. Another division was made of the funds in the church treas- ury and of the Sabbath school library. In the twenty-five years from 1825 to 1850 there had been added to the church 621 members,-on profession, 439 ; by recommendation, 182. There had been dis-
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missed to the West church in Concord, in all, 102,-to the South church, 95; to the East church, 47; to other Congregational and Presbyterian churches, 187. There were dismissed on request,-to the Baptist church in Concord, 5; to the Episcopal church, 7; to the Methodist church, 1; withdrawn to the Unitarian, 2; excommu- nicated, 26; died, 142; total, 614. In 1850 Dr. Bouton reports that there were living in town 208 members of the North church, residing out of town, 44; total, 252. Of the 252, only 28 were members at the time of his settlement.
Dr. Bouton resigned his pastorate March 23, 1867, the forty- second anniversary of his settlement, and was dismissed by the council September 12, 1867. Ilis ministry was characterized by unity, stability, and growth. He was not only a faithful minister but a citizen of acknowledged influence during a period of growth and prosperity in Concord, and he bore for a generation an active part in questions of reform and public weal both at home and abroad. A friend of learning and its institutions, he was elected a trustee of Dartmouth college in 1840. He was an active member of the various ecclesiastical bodies in the state and of numerous charita- ble and benevolent organizations. In 1856 he published a History of Concord, for the compilation and writing of which he had devoted the greater part of the spare time of his long and arduous ministry. From this work has been drawn much valuable material by the writers of the present history, and this earlier history of Concord is a lasting tribute to Dr. Bouton's industry and public spirit. August 31, 1866, Dr. Bouton was appointed state historian. He compiled ten volumes of Provincial and State Papers, which were published by the state. After nearly eleven years of labor in this office he resigned. He enjoyed rest for a short season, and then, at the re- quest of his children, wrote an autobiography. Soon his strength began to fail, and after an almost painless illness, he died June 6, 1878, at the age of seventy-nine years, honored and beloved by all who knew him.
On the same day that Dr. Bouton was dismissed by the council the Reverend Franklin D. Ayer was installed as minister of this church. Mr. Ayer was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and was a gradu- ate of Dartmouth college in 1856 and of Andover Theological semi- nary in 1859. It was during his pastorate that the society lost its house of worship by fire. It had been dedicated November 23, 1842. In 1848 it was enlarged by the addition of twenty new pews. In 1869 the gallery was lowered to make room for a new organ, and the inside of the building was repainted and the walls frescoed. It con- tinued without further change until Sunday morning, June 29, 1873,
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when it was completely destroyed by fire. The chapel in the rear of the church, which was erected in 1858 and enlarged in 1868, was seriously injured but not destroyed. After repairs it was used until May, 1883, when it was decided to build a new chapel, and this building was sold and removed from the lot.
The morning of the burning of the third meeting-house, church service was held in the city hall, and the society worshiped there until the new building was ready for occupancy in March, 1876. On the evening of Monday, June 30, 1873, the day following the fire, an informal meeting of the society, fully attended, was held at the city hall, and it was unanimously resolved to proceed at once to the building of a new church. A committee was chosen to devise a scheme for raising funds, and another committee to procure plans and estimates of the cost for a new house of wor- ship. At a legal meeting of the society, held July 21, it was voted to rebuild on the old site. Plans were soon adopted, a part of the money was raised, and contracts were made, so that the corner-stone was laid with appropriate ser- vices July 25, 1874. The total cost of the new building with the furnishing, including the value of the lot, was fifty thousand eight hun- dred eighty-three dollars and eighty-six cents. When finished the church was paid for, and on the first day of March, 1876, it was consecrated to religious worship. A large organ, costing five thousand dollars, was later placed in the rear of the pulpit.
North Congregational Church.
In 1883 the society voted to accept an offer from Mr. William Abbot to give, upon certain conditions, twenty-five hundred dollars toward the erection of a new chapel. A beautiful and commodious building was the result of this offer and the undertaking of the soci- ety, and. it was opened with appropriate services by the pastor June 20, 1884. The entire cost, including furnishings, was seventy-five hundred dollars. This chapel has been recently enlarged, at an ex- pense of four thousand dollars.
The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the society was celebrated Thursday, November 18, 1880. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers and plants. The exercises, which began in the afternoon, included a historical discourse by the pastor, the history and description of the four meeting-houses by Joseph B. Walker,-from which many interesting facts have already
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been taken,-an original hymn by George Kent (who was a member of the society fifty years before, and who wrote a hymn for the one hundreth anniversary), and a history of the Sabbath school by John C. Thorne. In the evening a historical sketch of the "Music and Musical Instruments used by the Society since its Organization " was given by Dr. William G. Carter, the organist. The evening's exer- cises closed with speeches and the reading of letters from absent members and others.
Mr. Thorne says that Sunday-schools were first established in Con- eord in 1818. Instruction of a religious character had been regularly inculcated in families and in the public schools by the first settlers of the town and their deseendants. For at least eighty years after the settlement of the first minister the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism was recited in the schools on Saturday forenoons, and the minister for years visited the schools and tested the chil- dren's knowledge of its teaching. During the years 1816-'17, as other denominations began to rise in Concord, the catechism was gradually dropped from publie schools. It was about this time that Charles Herbert used to gather small children of his neighborhood in the kitchen of his father's house after the service on Sunday after- noon and teach them the catechism, verses of scripture, and hymns. In the summer of 1817 when Miss Sarah T. Russell, a teacher in the distriet school at the corner of Main and Church streets, opened a school on Sunday, one who was invited to attend says, "I won- dered what kind of a school it would be on the Sabbath."
In the spring of 1818 four different Sunday-schools were opened in town, one at the Old Town House, superintended by Joshua Abbott, one at the schoolhouse at the South end, superintended by Thomas W. Thompson, numbering forty-four scholars, one at the West Parish with forty-seven scholars, and one at the East side with forty scholars. The schools at East and West Concord had no superintendents. The school on the East side was continued only a few years, while that at the West Parish was united with the church organized there April 22, 1833.
In 1825 there were seven such schools meeting in their respective schoolhouses, with fifty teachers, and three hundred and thirty-four scholars. In 1826 there were twelve schools, seventy teachers, and four hundred and eighty scholars. In 1832 there were sixteen schools conducted by the North church, and the whole number con- nected therewith was nine hundred and twenty-five. Prior to 1825 the scholars of these schools were mostly children not above fifteen years of age, but in that year Bible classes for adults were started by Dr. Bouton. The Sunday-school library was started in 1826, and
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the next year the volumes on its shelves numbered three hundred and thirty-six. Until the winter of 1827-'28 the schools were held only in the summer season, but at this time a school was continued the entire year at the meeting-house.
In 1842, the year of removing from the Old North church and of the starting of the East Concord society, the different Sunday-schools remaining under the supervision of the First church were consoli- dated and met the entire year at noon at the church, an arrangement which has since continued. There was a union Sabbath school cele- bration held in Concord July 5, 1841. The several schools of the village assembled at their usual places of meeting, and were arranged and ready to march at ten o'clock. They all proceeded to Park street and were formed in line in the following order: The North church, Methodist, Episcopal, South, Baptist, and Unitarian. The procession numbered about one thousand of all ages, and with ban- ners moved up Main street, preceded by the Concord brass band, to a grove near the residence of Richard Bradley. Here a collation was served, followed by speeches and singing.
The first singing of which we have any record, according to Dr. William G. Carter, was mainly congregational, without instrumental accompaniment, and identical with that style which prevailed every- where in the early New England church. It was led by the precen- tor, who read two lines of the hymn to be sung, then announced the tune, gave the key on the pitchpipe, and standing usually in the front of the pulpit, beat the time and sang with the congregation. The precentor was usually a deacon, hence the term "deaconing " the hymn. This method was pursued for some time, when it was proposed to the Reverend Mr. Walker to dispense with the "lining of the hymn," as it was called, but Mr. Walker did not think it prudent to first attempt it on the Sabbath, so it was arranged to make the change on Thanks- giving day. Although some singers sat in the front seats in the neighborhood of the leader, the majority were scattered throughout the congregation. Gradually it became apparent that the singing could be more effective by collecting the singers in a compact body, and accordingly the choir was formed and a choir master chosen. When the meeting-house was finished, in 1784, it was fitted with the singers' pew in the gallery opposite the pulpit. This was a large, square pew, with a box, or table, in the middle on which the singers laid their books. In singing they rose and faced one another, forming a hollow square. When the addition was made to the meeting-house, in 1802, the old square pew was taken away, but seats were assigned to them in the same relative position before the pulpit.
The first instrument in use was the pitchpipe, which was made of
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wood, an inch or more wide, somewhat in the form of a boy's whistle, but so constructed as to admit of different keys. Under the ministry of the Reverend Mr. Evans some instruments were introduced. This led to opposition, and according to tradition, there were a few who left the meeting-house rather than hear the profane sound of a " fiddle " and a flute. At the beginning of the second century of the existence of the church, the service of praise was sustained by a large choir accompanied by wind and string instruments, usually a violin, flute, clarionet, bass viol, and double bass, the two latter being the property of the society. The choir consisted of thirty persons of both sexes under the direction of the chorister, who was usually a tenor singer. This leader was the only individual who received com- pensation, and it was stipulated in his engagement that he should teach a singing-school, which any person in the society could attend. The singing-school was usually held in the court house, sometimes in the bank building, and its weekly meeting was an occasion which was eagerly looked forward to by the young people for its social as well as its musical advantages. Frequently the rehearsals of the choir were held at the homes of the singers. Concerts or musical entertainments were of rare occurrence. Consequently the weekly rehearsal, combining so much of social entertainment with musical instruction, was largely attended. On the Sabbath the choir promptly appeared at the church, bringing with them their music books, many of them their luncheon, and in cold weather their foot stoves, making themselves as comfortable as possible in the circum- stances. The interest in church music continued unabated during the later years of the occupancy of the old North church, and when the society transferred themselves to the new church in 1842, the choir filled the greater part of the gallery, which was finished for their accommodation.
Early in 1845 those interested in church music determined that all organ should be placed in the church. The subscription was started May 26, 1845, and the sum desired was one thousand dollars. This amount was not obtained without difficulty, but when secured Dr. Ezra Carter was authorized to go to Boston and close a contract for an organ. His contract provided that the instrument when finished and set up in the factory should receive the approval of a distin- guished professor of music in Boston. It stood in the center of the gallery opposite the pulpit, enclosed in a pine case grained in imita- tion of rosewood, with gilt front pipes and one manual or keyboard. This was the fourth organ in town, the Unitarian, Episcopal, and South church societies each having had one in the order named. It proved to be an excellent instrument, and was so thorough in its con-
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