USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 25
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Dr. Sawyer was superintendent in 1882, but resigned before the close of the year, and Thomas Carleton served as superintendent for the remainder of the year. Charles L. Clay was then elected superintendent, and served for the next four years. Oscar C. Hatch was elected secretary and treasurer, Lydia A. Cobb librarian. The average attendance was ninety-eight ; largest number, Janu- ary 7, one hundred and thirty, and the lowest, August 6, sixty- three. There were three concerts during the year. Sixty-five dollars' worth of books was added to the library.
At that time the teachers in the school were Rev. George W. Osgood, Mrs. Allen J. Church, Mrs. Henry F. Green, Charles D.
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Tarbell, Mrs. George Osgood, Mrs. John C. Goodenough, Caroline A. Brackett, Mrs. Charles L. Clay, Deacon John Merrill, Mrs. Edgar Aldrich, Mary B. Tilton, John F. Tilton, and others.
March 7, 1884, Nelson C. Farr, for many years superintendent, passed away. The funeral of Ella Page, a member of the school, was held March 30. Mrs. Lydia Burt, another member, died June 7.
Children's Sunday was observed this year with appropriate exercises. One hundred and forty were connected with the school, with an average of ninety. The school undertook the fur- nishing of a double room in Whitman College, and sent, beside bedding, some $33 for the purpose.
In 1885 Mary B. Tilton was elected secretary, and Marshall D. Cobleigh treasurer. Mrs. C. L. Clay was superintendent of the infant department. May 31 Deacon John Merrill, who had been so long identified with the school and all its interests, passed away. In 1886 Ellen I. Sanger was elected secretary, and George French treasurer. At the close of the year two hundred scholars were registered, with eighteen teachers.
In 1887-1888 Myron H. Richardson was superintendent, with Nellie Weeks secretary, and A. J. Church treasurer. The follow- ing year Thomas Carleton was superintendent, and Alice Nurse secretary. Socials were held during the winter. At this time the present constitution was adopted. June 30 an interesting cantata, "Under the Palms," was rendered by the school as an exercise for Children's Day. Mr. Carleton served until January 1, 1890, when he resigned, and Charles L. Clay was again elected superintendent and held the office until July, 1892, at which time Warren W. Lovejoy was elected and filled the position until January, 1898.
Since the year 1898 the following persons have served as super- intendents : Mrs. Henry Merrill, Rev. William Forbes Cooley, and Mrs. Mary B. Sherburne.
The following are or have recently been teachers : Rev. John H. Hoffman, Mrs. K. Chickering, Rev. F. G. Chutter, Julia A. Eaton, Myra G. Eaton, Mrs. C. F. Eastman, Mrs. George C. Furber, Mrs. M. D. Walker, Mrs. Charles R. Allen, Mrs. Charles F. Bing- ham, Mrs. John C. Goodenough, Hannah F. Merrill, and Mrs. George Walker, Mrs. Emily E. Gorham, Mrs. M. H. Richardson, Mrs. Ethel M. Miller, John F. Tilton. Total number of classes, 15 : 5 adult, 4 intermediates, and 6 primary classes. Total attend- ance, 160; average, 100.
The following notice of David Yeretsian, who received aid
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from the school in 1888 and 1889, appeared in the Littleton paper of July 17, 1895 : -
" An interesting episode was a part of the services at the Congrega- tional Church last Sunday morning. Mr. David M. Yeretsian, who is engaged in an evangelical canvass of the State under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., was invited to address the congregation. It was an agreeable surprise to the people, especially those interested in the work of foreign missions, that this young man was the beneficiary of the gifts of the Sunday-school and church at this place, and was thereby enabled to take a two years' course in a Protestant educational institu- tion in Armenia. The intermediary in this case was Mrs. Lizzie Cob- leigh Cole, a missionary now stationed at Bitlis, Asia Minor. She will be remembered as a daughter of this town. Mr. Yeretsian ex- pressed his obligations to this people in graceful and fitting terms. He is now a senior in Williams College."
The records are very incomplete in regard to the number who united with the church from the Sunday-school previous to the last fifteen years. During one year of Mr. George W. Osgood's pastorate twenty-five were added to the church from the Sabbath- school. In 1882 there were two ; in 1885, sixteen. Twenty-four united with the church in 1894.
The constitution adopted in 1865 served until the spring of 1889, when another was drawn up which has been used since that time.
The first library was connected with the Sunday-school in the village in 1826. It was obtained soon after the opening of the school by each attendant furnishing a certain amount of money. Mr. Dodge, the superintendent and librarian, used to carry the books to and from his house in an old-fashioned hair-covered trunk. The library was not replenished by the addition of a few books from time to time as at present, and they were read and re-read.
The books were given away or exchanged several times pre- vious to 1876. At that date the library contained about three hundred volumes, which were kept in a dark closet in the entry of the church. The Methodist Sunday-school asked to exchange these books for those contained in their library. The request was granted. A few years after the books thus obtained were sent to a Western Sunday-school.
Soon after $150 was raised by subscriptions and new books were bought. In June, 1867, the secretary reports three hundred volumes in the library and $75 paid for new books.
In 1878 Mr. B. W. Kilburn offered to divide the proceeds of
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two evenings' entertainments with a magic lantern between the Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational Sunday-schools. Thirty- three dollars were received and expended for books for the library.
About 1888 or 1889 Mr. Kilburn gave the Congregational Sunday-school $100, which was the beginning of the fine library of some seven hundred volumes that the school has to-day. At this time the books were numbered and catalogued. In the year 1900 a further addition of an " exchange " library of fifty volumes was made.
For many years during Mr. Milliken's pastorate the "Well Spring," a Sunday-school paper, was taken by the school. This paper was published for years by that great Sunday-school worker, Asa Bullard, and is still used by the school.
The first year of the school the contributions were collected by the boys passing contribution boxes ; when there was any special call, the superintendent secured the money.
When the first missionary ship, " The Morning Star," was built in 1866, nearly every scholar took a share in it, receiving a cer- tificate of stock on the payment of twenty-five cents. A few years after a building was erected by issuing certificates of stock in the same way.
In 1868 the manner of taking the collections was changed, the treasurer receiving the collections from the teachers in boxes, each class having a box. From the year 1876 to about 1880 the collections increased considerably, there being quite a contest as to which would give the most and be the banner class for the month. Twenty-five dollars a year for several years was sent to Mrs. Lizzie C. Cole in Turkey to educate a native boy.
In 1893 money was contributed to build a school-house in India. In 1894 the school assumed the tuition of a colored boy at Hamp- ton, Va. Since 1899 the sum of $125 has been paid there for various missionary objects.
The members of the school have hardly been satisfied without helping those who did not have the privileges they enjoyed. We learn that Levi B. Dodge started a Sunday-school at West Little- ton early in the fifties, and was the superintendent. On two dif- ferent occasions, years after, persons have come to him asking " if he used to keep the school over at West Littleton," and told him that some word spoken by him first led them to a better life. After Mr. Dodge moved to Lyndon, Vt., he was a teacher in a school there. Some years ago one of the young ladies of the village school opened one at the Scythe Factory, or Apthorp, as it
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is now called. She acted as superintendent, procured the teachers, and took entire oversight of the school for a time.
There have also been schools at North Littleton at different times. Mr. Charles D. Tarbell took a deep interest in one at Wil- lowdale, and was successful in having a good school for several seasons, and they raised quite a sum of money which was put into a library which is still in use.
Nothing can be ascertained in regard to the attendance previous to 1858, except for the year it was opened in the village in 1826, when the number of scholars was twenty.
The school on the Meadows ten years before had ten scholars. From 1858 to the present time we are indebted to the record con- tained in the Congregational Year Book. In 1858 the school num- bered 135; in 1859, 150; 1860, 180; 1861, 180; 1862, 190; 1863, 200; 1864, 200; 1865, 160; 1866, 159; 1867, 160; 1868, 160; 1869, 140; 1870, 148; 1871, 165; 1872, 172; 1873, 165 ; 1874, 165; 1875, 150; 1876, 175, average 110; 1877, 175, aver- age 110; 1878, 180, average 114; 1879, 160, average 85; 1880, 140, average 82; 1881, 150, average 106; 1882, 200, average 100; 1883, average 125; 1884, average 101; 1885, 145, average 100; 1889, 145; 1890, 120, average 90; 1891, 120, average 90; 1892, average 72; 1893, 77; 1894-1896, average 75; 1897, aver- age 75; 1898, average 90; 1899, 125, average 75; 1900, 110, average 56; 1901, 122, average 66; 1902, 75, average 60.
The progress of the school has been of a most gratifying char- acter taken as a whole. Like the church itself, there have been periods of retrogression and discouragement, but these have been of a temporary nature, and the spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to the sacred cause the school was established to promote has always been renewed, and the work of the school carried on with increased success.
The delicate subject of church music, as connected with this church, has been treated in an admirable sketch prepared by Mrs. Caroline Brackett Merrill, who had the benefit of the large and accurate fund of personal knowledge and tradition on the subject possessed by the late Mrs. John Merrill.
Ages before David or Solomon, or whoever the redacteur of the Psalms may have been, prepared his liturgical hymn-book for use in the temple service at Jerusalem, music had been a most impor- tant factor in all religious rites and ceremonies, and so it will probably continue to be until the end of time.
Under the Puritan rule of early New England, stripped as it was of all its accessories, psalmody was reduced to its simplest
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form, and seems to have aimed more at expressing the religious sentiments of the worshippers in form more or less poetical than at lifting the soul heavenward on the strains of its melody.
Doubtless it is because of this very humble position which music occupied in the early church of Littleton that we are able to ob- tain so few facts with regard to its modus operandi. Before the year 1815, while the few scattered worshippers gathered in barns, school-houses, or any available place for religious service, the music was almost entirely vocal, any other instrument than the tuning-fork savoring too much of the world. An amusing anec- dote is told, on the authority of Mrs. Samuel Goodwin, of an incident of that time. On one occasion some progressive soul introduced into one of these assemblies an instrument known as a " bag fiddle," whereupon a certain Mistress Rankin, whose religious convictions would not allow her to countenance such an innovation, arose to her feet, and, forgetting St. Paul's in- junction that "the women keep silence in the churches," she boldly declared that either she herself or that " bag fiddle " should leave the "meeting." As the obnoxious instrument remained, the worthy lady drew herself to her full height and majestically retired, only pausing at the door to remark in a tone that showed the positive views which she held with regard to the future state, "I will have you to know that there will be no bag fiddles in heaven."
Although the church edifice was completed in 1815, there was no pastor settled over the church until 1820, and probably there was no organized choir. The first that we get any trace of was led by William Brackett, probably in the year 1820, but possibly not until 1821. During the years in which what is known as " the old meeting house " was in use for religious purposes, there seems to have been little of interest in the musical line. Some of the sing- ers whose names have come down to us are Job Pingree and his sister Dolly, Aaron Brackett and his wife Mary, Moses, Guy C., and Wilder Rix, and Mrs. A. Gile (Harriet Rix), Clarissa Rankin, Caroline Ely, Walter Charlton, Silas Morse, Douglas and Lydia Robins, Marquis L. Gould, Maria, Lydia, and Ebenezer Wheeler, Martha and Celinda Hughes. In fact, the choir was a movable and changeable body. Every one who attended singing-school was expected to sing in the choir. Oliver T. Brown, a lawyer of Water- ford, Vt., who afterwards married a daughter of Priest Fairbank, was " singing-master," and occasionally remained in town over the Sabbath day to assist in the choir. The hymn-book used during this time was the early edition of " Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual
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Songs " of good old Dr. Watts. Probably most of the readers of this article are somewhat acquainted with the grim theology taught therein, but possibly it would not be out of place to quote a couple of stanzas from a hymn entitled " The Last Judgment." After sending forth the summons and calling together the nations, the judge is represented as issuing the command : -
" Stand forth, thou bold blasphemer, and profane Now feel my wrath, nor call my threat'nings vain. Thou hypocrite, once drest in saint's attire, I doom the painted hypocrite to fire. Judgment proceed, hell trembles, heaven rejoices ; Lift up your heads, ye saints, with cheerful voices.
" Behold my terrors now ; my thunders roll, And thy own crimes affright thy guilty soul. Now like a lion shall my vengeance tear Thy bleeding heart, and no deliverer near; Judgment concludes ; hell trembles, heaven rejoices ; Lift up your heads, ye saints, with cheerful voices."
In view of the fact that all save the Divine Man have "sinned and come short of the glory of God," it is hard to conceive how even the saints, believing in such a God of vengeance, could be ex- pected to "lift cheerful voices." But that they did is proven by the fact that music continued to flourish and the " singers' seats " were well filled. We might quote from many of the hymns that were in common use less than a century ago to prove how like and yet how unlike are society and its sentiments under the develop- ment of time. Here is a "Magistrate's Hymn," in which that functionary is made to declare, -
" In vain shall sinners hope to rise By flatt'ring or malicious lies ; And while the innocent I guard The bold offender sha'n't be spar'd."
The popular funeral hymn was " Hark from the Tomb a Doleful Sound," etc., and it seems to have been sung on most occasions without regard to age, sex, or the circumstances of the deceased.
For the regular Sabbath service the chorister selected the anthem, if one was sung, and appropriate music for the hymns. In 1830 the " Bridgewater Collection of Church Music " was a fa- vorite "tune book." At this time Job Pingree was chorister and played the tenor viol, while the bass viol was played by Aaron Brackett.
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Mr. Brackett, sometimes called the " little Major," was a member of the choir from the time he came to Littleton in 1820 until his death in 1868, a longer period of service by far than that of any other member. He had a bass voice of little power, but very true. He always kept time with his head and his book. Aside from keep- ing his neighbors on the key, his chief office is said to have been to keep peace in the choir. It would seem from this bit of history that disturbances in church choirs are not a modern invention, and then, as now, it was often necessary to pour oil on the troubled waters. In the " old meeting house " the congregation sat during the singing and stood during prayers. The singers' seats were in the gallery opposite the high pulpit and " deacons' seats."
This was also the location of the choir in the new church, which was built at the village in 1832. In this latter edifice the more modern pews having taken the place of the old-fashioned square ones with seats facing both ways, the congregation arose and turned about in their pews to face the choir during the ren- dering of each hymn. After moving to the new church Major Brackett continued to play the bass viol, and later a " bull fiddle," or double bass viol, was introduced, and a " silver-keyed flute," which was played by John Senter, one of the principal workmen in the Scythe Factory. Some of the leading members of the first choir in this church were Mr. and Mrs. Prescott White, Mr. and Mrs. Truman Stevens, Mrs. Moses P. Little, and Mrs. George Little. These two last-mentioned ladies are still, at the present day, remembered by a few, who speak with enthusiasm of the rich, finely trained voice of Mrs. George Little, and the striking personal beauty of Mrs. Moses Little, which, added to a fine voice, made her a most attractive member of the choir. Perhaps there is no time in the history of chorus singing in the church that the music attained a greater degree of excellence than at this period. Either at this time or a little later, Henry A. Bellows, afterwards Chief Justice of New Hampshire, and his sister Frances, who had a very sweet contralto voice, and Cyrus Eastman, were iden- tified with the choir. The first reed instrument was a small, portable melodion, which the performer held in his lap, working the bellows with the elbows while performing on the keys with the fingers. This instrument was afterwards fitted into a frame and rigged with a treadle. It was played at one time by S. G. Miner, at another by Abigail B. Little.
At just what date " Watts' Entire " was discarded for " Watts and Select," we have not been able to ascertain, but when the church edifice was repaired in 1850, among the gifts to the
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church was a hymn-book for the desk. This book was given at the suggestion and by the effort of Matthew Hale, son of Deacon James Hale. It was bound in morocco, and on the fly leaf was inscribed " Cong. Church. Presented for the Desk by a number of Young Men." This was the new edition of " Watts and Select," published only that year, and it contained the "key of expres- sion," which consisted of certain symbols placed in the margin to indicate " the requisite variations of movement, quantity and tone of voice." This was considered a great advance in correcting the " defects in our public psalmody," and the press notices of the book stated that wherever the key had been practised, music had become more respectable and delightful. At this time (1850) Mrs. William C. Brackett began playing the melodion, which was soon replaced by a seraphine, which instrument she continued to play most of the time for thirteen years. Her place was occasionally filled by her daughter, Mrs. Atwood, or by Emily Eastman or Adelia C. Brackett. During the years between 1850 and 1863, while Mrs. Brackett played the seraphine, the choir was led successively by Luther T. Dow, Charles S. Hazeltine, and Wesley Alexander. Some of the singing-books used were Boston Sacred Melodist, Sabbath Bells, Modern Harp, Cantica Laudis, and The Hallelujah. At different times during this period there were various musical instruments used aside from the seraphine and bass-viol. At one time there was added to the two latter a double bass-viol played by Henry H. Lovejoy, a tenor viol by Charles S. Hazeltine, and a French horn by Frederick Hazeltine. At this time the two leading soprano voices were so well matched that it was difficult to decide which was the better. By tacit consent the one who arrived first in the " singers' seats " on Sabbath morning was entitled to the seat of honor. So strong did the rivalry become between these two young ladies that early on Sunday morning, it is said, they might be seen hurrying to the church, each hoping to arrive first and install herself in the " end seat." It was but natural that the rest of the choir should be anxious to be at hand to encourage the rivals, and doubtless dur- ing that reign the organist was spared the necessity of playing long voluntaries to kill time while the singers were gathering. In 1860 the Rev. C. E. Milliken became pastor of the church. Being a musician himself, he took great interest in the music, and seems after a time to have given to it a new impulse. Through his influence, after considerable opposition, the "Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book " was introduced, in which, as the name indicates, the hymns and tunes were combined. In the early part of his
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pastorate the church would be obliged at times to resort to congre- gational singing. At such seasons the seraphine was brought from the gallery and placed in front of the pulpit, and the pastor, equal to the occasion, would himself lead the singing, and, when neces- sity required, come down from his pastoral chair to play the instrument.
If we were even to mention the names of those who at various times have been members of the choir of the Congregational Church, which was for so long the only church in Littleton, we should exceed the limit of the space allotted to this topic. Many of the young people of each generation as they came along craved the privilege of sitting in the gallery. A good proportion of these had but small musical ability, and the seats in the gallery were hard and uncushioned, but the restraints of the sanctuary were not quite so strictly enforced in this retired corner, and in ex- change for the liberty of action thus afforded many a one was willing to make the most of his small talent. In February, 1863, Mrs. Brackett resigned the place that she had filled acceptably so many years, and Mr. Frank Thayer became her successor. Very shortly after this a young man by the name of Frank Hodgman, a nephew of Francis Hodgman, so long identified with this town, became a member of the choir. The old seraphine, which possibly was never very sweet-toned, had seen its best days, and Mr. Hodg- man lost no opportunity of urging the purchase of a pipe organ. At last the other musicians became inspired with the idea, but the question of funds proved a formidable one. At this juncture " The Ladies' Sunday School Sewing Society " responded to the need, as that society, under whatever name it has existed, has never failed to do from that day to this. They promised to stitch out $200 at their fingers' ends, if the rest could be raised by voluntary contri- bution. After various discouragements and much anxiety and labor, the requisite $600 were raised. The organ was built by Nutting, of Bellows Falls, Vt. In 1864 it was placed in the gallery, and Mr. Frank Thayer installed as organist. Singing then received a new impulse and flourished finely for a time. Occasionally, for want of a suitable leader, there would be a lapse. Mrs. Adaline Owen Kilburn was for a long time the leading soprano, and Mrs. Noah W. Ranlett her able assistant, the latter singing either soprano or contralto as occasion required. When the church was rebuilt in 1874, the organ and singers' seats were re- moved to their present position in the rear of the pulpit, and a quartette choir was organized, consisting of Stella L. Burnham, soprano, Miss Sophia Stevens, contralto, Mr. Ira Stevens, tenor,
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Mr. Henry L. Tilton, bass. Previous to this, the services of both the instrumental and vocal performers had been purely voluntary. Mr. Thayer had given his services as organist for about thirteen years, taking the liveliest interest in everything that pertained to the music of the church. With the reorganization of the choir, the church was deemed to be in a sufficiently prosperous condition to pay the organist a small salary, which they accordingly began doing, and shortly after, when Mr. Tilton withdrew and Mr. Moses Harriman took his place, it was decided that the singers should be paid for their services. In 1881 a very fine pipe organ, built by Hook & Hastings of Boston, was placed in the church, in mem- ory of Richard Taft, by his wife and daughter. In the summer of 1892, owing to other pressing duties which occupied his time, Mr. Thayer was obliged to resign his place as organist, a position which he had filled for a period of more than twenty-nine years, with the exception of one year during which Mr. Henry H. Lovejoy occupied the position. So long had Mr. Thayer been the leading spirit in the choir, both as organist and musical director, that his services seemed almost a necessity ; but shortly after his resigna- tion the church was fortunate in securing Mrs. Charles F. Bingham to preside at the organ, a place which she has filled very acceptably to the present writing.
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