USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 26
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The church edifice has been enlarged and remodelled several times. The first considerable change, made at the time of the building of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been referred to in the annals of the period. At that time the building was en- larged by the addition of a section to its south end and the build- ing of the granite basement, in which was finished a room for the Sunday-school and social and week-day meetings. The original pews were provided with doors, which were a source of confusion during the assembling of the worshippers and often after the com- mencement of the service by the entrance of belated persons. The old pews at this time gave place to those of modern construction. The old church was heated by two box stoves, which were inade- quate for their designed purpose in extreme cold weather, and a change was made to a furnace at that time. The architectural character of the early Puritan meeting-house was one of severe simplicity. This first village church departed from the rule of two centuries by the use of the gothic window; in all other respects it adhered to the ancient form.
The changes of the following years were confined to restoring the natural wear and tear of the building until 1874, when an entire reconstruction of the edifice was made which changed its
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physical appearance. The old box-like belfry was replaced by two spires -- one one hundred and ten, the other seventy feet in height - which added much to its form. At the same time the interior was refurnished and the walls frescoed. When completed, it was rededicated, October 29, 1874. The sermon on the occasion was by the Rev. J. Q. Bittenger, of Haverhill ; his text was from 1 Corinthians iii. 21.
Following these substantial improvements, a chapel was erected on the church lot west of the edifice in 1882. This building con- tains a suitable auditorium for meetings of both church and society, a kitchen and other rooms required for social purposes. Funds bequeathed by Mrs. William Condon amounting to $1,100 were used to aid in its construction. It is a substantial and handsome edifice.
While the Rev. John H. Hoffman was acting pastor of the church, he proposed to replace the plain glass windows with those of a more ornamental character, and invited various persons to contribute such windows as memorials. His retirement soon after, however, closed the incident.
In 1900 the pastor, the Rev. W. F. Cooley, in co-operation with D. C. Remich, proposed an entire reconstruction of the interior of the church edifice, and a special committee, consisting of Frederick G. Chutter, Charles F. Eastman, and Isaac B. Andrew, was con- stituted to supervise the work, which was begun in September, 1901, and completed in March, 1902.
When the renovation was complete, not a vestige of the old interior was visible. The walls were replastered and redecorated, the old floor covered with one of hard wood and new woodwork replaced the old, while a panelled ceiling of steel with handsome electroliers was substituted for one of decorated plaster.
On Sunday, March 16, the church was rededicated with appro- priate service, which, in addition to extended exercises of worship, included an address by the pastor and addresses of presenta- tion by the donors of the several memorial windows, or their representatives.
The window dedicated to the memory of the Rev. David Goodall, the founder and first regular supply of the church, was the gift of his descendants, among whom Richard W. Peabody, of Chicago, Ill., a grandson, Caroline G. Walmsley, and Mrs. Lillian Carpenter Streeter, great-granddaughters, were active in the affair, and Frank H. Mason, of Akron, Ohio, a great-grandson, was the principal contributor to the fund raised for its purchase. Mr. Peabody, then ninety-three years of age, was present, and an ad-
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, REMODELED : 1874.
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dress of presentation prepared by him was read on the occasion. He referred to the fact that at about the time of his birth all the living members of his grandfather's family were residents of this town or of Lyman and Bath, while in 1902 but one of his descend- ants was a resident of Littleton; others were scattered through thirteen States, the District of Columbia, British Columbia, Mexico, and the Philippine Islands.
Other memorials were the following: that in commemoration of Josiah Kilburn, Emily Bonney Kilburn, and Lydia A. Kilburn, his second wife, the gift of Benjamin W. and Caroline L. Kilburn, was presented by Daniel C. Remich ; that to Deacon Nelson C. Farr, in the small vestibule, given by Mrs. George Lewis, was presented by Deacon S. C. Sawyer ; one to the memory of Ellen I. Sanger Parker, in the main vestibule, the gift of her father and mother, was presented by Mrs. Sanger ; Mrs. Mary E. Lynch made the address in presenting the window designed to perpetuate the names of deceased members of the Redington family so long connected with this church, and that of the Rev. C. E. Milliken, a former pastor; the beautiful window designed as a memorial of Dr. Ralph Bugbee and Jennett C. Batchellor, his wife, given by their daughter, Mrs. Mary Bugbee Blake, was presented by Albert S. Batchellor ; William A., Edward D., and Harvey S. Brackett united in giving the window in memory of their mother, Julia Hutchins Brackett Eastman, which was presented by the Rev. F. G. Chutter ; that given by William Tilton and Mrs. M. F. Young to honor the names of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Tilton and their daughter Minnie, was presented by Deacon John F. Tilton, who was followed by the Rev. W. F. Cooley with brief remarks eulo- gistic of Miss Tilton ; Deacon Charles A. Farr presented the window given by Mrs. Emma Hall Farr and her daughter Stella, in memory of John Farr and the Rev. Evarts Worcester ; that donated by the heirs of Isaac Calhoun was presented by Daniel C. Remich ; James E. Henry, of Lincoln, was the giver of one in memory of his father and mother, Joseph and Mary (Calhoun) Henry. The Rev. F. G. Chutter made the presentation ; the win- dow near the pulpit, the gift of Mrs. Chutter, was presented by her in memory of her husband's pastorate.
While none of these works are original conceptions, they are re- garded as fine reproductions of famous paintings and a notable addition to the somewhat meagre memorial and decorative art of the town.
A century in its restless flight has brought many changes, and this church has kept pace with the progress of events. The plain
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meeting-house of the Puritan fathers is as inadequate to meet the physical wants of the present generation as their theology is to satisfy its spiritual aspirations. The first meeting-house and the last, the creed of 1803 and that of the present hour, mark two extremes in the church history of the town. To the Congrega- tionalist who organized the church, formalism was little short of a sin, and responsive readings would not have been tolerated, and Christmas and Easter, as now observed, were regarded as prompt- ings of Satan. The Rev. Mr. Carpenter was the last of the Puri- tans. The passionate religious controversies of two generations ago have mellowed to the vanishing point, and will soon disappear unless there is a revival of doctrinal sentiment in the church.
XXXIII.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY (Continued).
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
TT may be said that Methodism was sent to this region in 1794, when one circuit of the New England District was the whole of New Hampshire, Rev. John Hill being the preacher in charge. He reported at the end of the year that innumerable doors were opening to the evangelist in that wilderness. Earlier, however, than Mr. Hill's appointment, Jesse Lee, toward the end of August, 1791, visited the State at the southern part, as Presiding Elder of the New England District. No permanent results seem to have followed Lee's visit. As early as 1795 a Methodist Society was formed at Chesterfield by circuit riders from York State, and they were there some years before. In 1796 Chesterfield reported sixty-eight members, the following year ninety-two, and the third year one hundred and twenty-two. This is the report for all New Hampshire. In 1800 Landaff, having been organized by Joseph Crawford the preceding year, he being the preacher at Vershire and Windsor, Vt., appears in the minutes as a circuit, but reckoned as belonging to Vermont instead of New Hampshire. The preacher sent to the circuit was Elijah R. Sabin. Not knowing where to find his circuit, he says he had to go, making many inquiries as to the part of the world in which it was located. Methodist families were already in Littleton ; for this year Jesse Lee, having come from Maine by a route near where the Grand Trunk Rail- way now goes, reached the Connecticut River at Northumberland, and turning southward, must have passed through this town, first along the Connecticut, thence diagonally to the Ammonoosuc at Lisbon. In his journal he says : " I rode down the river through Lancaster, Dalton, into Littleton, where I was hailed and stopped by Josiah Newhall, an old acquaintance of mine, who had moved up into the country. I consented to stay all night with him, and was thankful to find a house, though but a small log-cabin, where
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I could lay my head in peace ; myself and horse were weary. It was generally loose and rich land near the river, though most of the settlements were new. The mountains on both sides of the river, and the rising grounds at a distance made a beautiful appearance. The country promises to be very fruitful, and I doubt not but religion will flourish in this country before long. Our preachers have lately formed a circuit there, called Landaff."
In 1801 the circuit returned one hundred and ninety-two mem- bers. Mr. Sabin had a junior preacher, Mr. Felch. Josiah New- hall lived on the C. W. Bedell 1 place. Douglas Robins, the great-grandfather of Rev. J. E. and W. F. Robins, moved to this town in 1798, and was a Methodist, having come from Chester- field, where Methodism had been established several years. He was intimately associated with Josiah Newhall, and these two families were quite possibly the earliest Methodists in the town. When the Landaff circuit was formed, Littleton was included in its bounds, and so its inhabitants were thus early brought under Methodist influences. Some of its tireless itinerants were not well received. In 1801 John Langdon, of Vershire, Vt., accompanied by Rosebrook Crawford and the renowned Laban Clark, then a mere youth and recent convert, took an evangelistic tour through this region. At a certain place on the Landaff circuit Langdon preached to a large congregation one evening. " When he called on me," writes Clark, " to follow with an exhortation, many were weeping, and we could not close the meeting till near midnight; numbers appeared to be truly awakened ; some cried aloud for mercy, and a few rejoiced in the Lord. The next day we set off for Lunenburg, visited several families on our way in Landaff, Lisbon, and Littleton." Laban Clark was in the itinerancy half a century, became one of the most prominent among the great men of New England, and was indefatigable in the cause of educa- tion, being one of the chief founders of the Wesleyan University.
While on this trip Rosebrook Crawford was mobbed in Lancas- ter by some of the citizens, being drawn on his back across the Connecticut River through the slush over the ice and bidden to go his way in Vermont. For 1801-02 the Landaff circuit returned one hundred and sixty-four members, being included in the Ver- shire, Vt., District, of which John Brodhead was Presiding Elder. Two preachers travelled this circuit, Phineas Peck and Martin Ruter. One of these men falling sick, Asa Kent was sent in his
1 On what is now a part of the Bedell farm, but his log-cabin was on the old road which passed easterly from the old meeting-house south of the Bean place and around the hill beyond the barn on that farm. It was just over this hill that the Newhall cabin stood. It was northeast from the Bean place.
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place, helping nine months of the year. Mr. Kent relates an oc- currence which shows how determined the people of Lancaster and Littleton were to keep Methodism out of these regions. While riding from the former to the latter town, Mr. Kent was overtaken in the woods by a sleigh full of men and women, who, recognizing the itinerant, cried, " That's the Methodist minister ; let's run him down." They sent their horses full speed, when Mr. Kent turned his horse into the deep snow, letting them pass. After refreshing themselves at a tavern in Littleton, they over- took the preacher again, and, as before, attempted with loud shouts to run him down. He remonstrated with them, exhorting them to repentance and a better life, when most of them, the ladies especially, appeared to be ashamed, and they left him with sharp threats if he ever came to Lancaster again. But he did go there many times afterward with no great annoyance.
Nearly all the Upper Connecticut valley was included in the Landaff circuit. Ruter and Brodhead were to gain a renown as broad as Methodism, - the one as a successful educator and by his admirable Church History, the other by his remarkable activity and success in building up the kingdom of God in New England. Wentworth was added to Landaff in 1803, and the report was two hundred and fifty members with three preachers, T. Branch, P. Dustin, and S. Langdon. But the following year Landaff appears in the minutes alone, with Thomas Skeels and William Stevens in charge. New Hampshire, in the ten years after John Hill's single circuit, had been made a district of five great circuits, with John
Brodhead as Presiding Elder. In 1805 Landaff reported three hundred and eighty-two members, with Joel Winch the preacher in charge. The year following Asa Kent and Isaac Pease were the preachers. This year the records show a falling off in mem- bership of nearly a hundred on the Landaff circuit ; but as changes were constantly made in the bounds of the circuits, new ones form- ing to which parts of the Landaff were contributions, the loss was doubtless a gain somewhere. In 1807 Joel Burge was the preacher in charge, and the returns show decided gains. By act of the Legislature the Methodist Church in the State was recognized as a distinct sect or persuasion at this date. This almost limitless circuit began to be more and more restricted, since on the south Center Harbor and Hanover were each headquarters of a circuit, while on the north Lunenburg was the same. In 1808 Zachariah Gibson was the preacher, with a report at the end of the preced- ing year of two hundred and ninety-five members. The next year Joseph Peck was sent to Landaff, and had to aid him the follow-
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ing year a young man named David Crowell. The year seems to have been very successful, since at its end the members reported were four hundred and four, with large gains on contiguous cir- cuits. For the year 1811 John W. Hardy was in charge, with Joseph Peck as coadjutor. A prosperous year ensued. The whole of New Hampshire now returned over two thousand members.
In 1812 Robert Hayes and James Jaques were sent to Landaff circuit. The following year Thomas Branch, on this circuit in 1803, passed to his eternal reward. He was an able, tireless, de- vout man, worn out early, as most of those itinerants were, by ex- posure and ceaseless toils. The preachers here for that year were Jacob Sanborn and Benjamin Burnham. Solomon Sias, subse- quently editor of the " Herald," formerly on this circuit, was Pre- siding Elder of New Hampshire from 1811 to 1814 inclusive. In 1814 the work of the circuit demanded three men, and the follow- ing were sent here : I. Emerson, J. Payne, and D. Blanchard. The years of the wars with England seem to have been unsuccessful for the church, as the membership shows a falling off. For 1815 two strong men were sent here, Jacob Sanborn and John Lord. One for- merly on this circuit, David Kilbourn, was made Presiding Elder.
In March, 1816, died Bishop Francis Asbury, a man standing in relation to American Methodism much as John Wesley stood to that of Great Britain. Asbury never was in northern New Hampshire, but passed through its central regions. He was abundant in labors, devout, and wise in administration. For half a century, when travelling was mostly done on horseback or in rude carriages, he went from one end of the land to the other, meeting conferences, preaching, organizing churches, overseeing the work, ordaining ministers, and doing other duties. It is thought that no other man in the Christian Church ever ordained so many men to the ministry as he. The next year Jesse Lee, to whom reference has been made as passing through this town from Maine and stopping with his friend Newhall, also passed to his reward. More than to any other man, was New England Methodism indebted to him. The preachers on the Landaff cir- cuit for 1816 were Walter Sleeper and Hezekiah Davis. After the ending of the war and its immediate results, prosperity again re- turned to the churches. The circuit reported four hundred and twenty-one members. Jacob Sanborn was the preacher for 1817, and for 1818 Lewis Bates1 and Samuel Norris, two able, successful men, to whom New England Methodism was much indebted. Mr.
1 Lewis Bates was the grandfather of the present governor of Massachusetts, John Lewis Bates.
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Bates used to preach in the house of Ebenezer Cushman, the old Bowman house. Mr. Cushman, the father of Hon. Francis Asbury Cushman, late of Lebanon, was for years a resident here and a prominent Methodist. The preaching of Mr. Bates was so loud that an aged resident of this town says he dreaded to listen, as it made his head ache.
The New England Annual Conference, of which this State was a district, had held up to this time four of its sessions in New Hampshire, - at Canaan in 1806, where Bishop Asbury presided ; at Winchester in 1810; at Unity in 1815; and in 1817 at Con- cord, now Lisbon. For this circuit in 1819 Lewis Bates was con- tinued, with Richard Emery as helper. They seem to have made a good proof of their ministry, as they reported five hundred and twenty members and all through the State there was decided increase. Jacob Sanborn, who had served this circuit as preacher in charge, was travelling this country again, as Presiding Elder, during the years 1820-1822.
It was largely due to Methodism that the obnoxious laws by which a town could regularly assess taxes to support a settled minister were repealed. I have already spoken of the Methodists being recognized as a distinct sect or persuasion in 1807. But as the majority of voters in almost every town belonged to the " Standing Order," it is apparent that under the laws they could, if they wished, assess taxes to support only a minister of their own denomination, and while the Methodists under the State Constitution were not required to pay such taxes after being recognized by law as a distinct sect or persuasion, they and other " new lights," such as the Free-Will Baptists, Universal- ists, Baptists, and others, found it very difficult many times to evade the persistent tax-collector. The town officers, the local courts, the jurymen likely to be chosen, the lawyers, judges, and the whole machinery of government, being generally in the hands of Congregationalist church-members or adherents, there was a slim chance for sectaries. The laws against all outsiders were rigorously enforced. Governor Plumer, feeling deeply the indig- nities of such a course, freely volunteered to defend such as were prosecuted in any way under the rigorous laws and traditions of those times. Barstow, in his History of New Hampshire, tells of a case in which the cow of a poor laborer was sold at vendue in default of paying church taxes; nor was household furniture, or even dishes, exempted from the stern parish collector. Acts of incorporation would be refused other churches than the one already established by law. It is probable that the Methodists
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of this town were never compelled to pay taxes for the support of the "Standing Order " besides paying as their hearts would impel them to the church of their choice. In 1816 Dan Young, of Lisbon, a local Methodist minister, having been elected to the State Senate, brought in a bill repealing the old obnoxious laws by which a town could vote to settle a minister and then pay his salary by taxes ; and in place of this law offered a bill " by which all persons voluntarily associating themselves to build a house of worship, or hire a minister of the Gospel, should be held to the fulfilment of their contract, but no person should be compelled to go into such a contract." That year he was able to secure only three votes besides his own for the bill. The next year the bill received exactly one-half of the Senate. . The third year it went through by a large majority, but was tied in the House. In 1819, having been sent up again from the Senate, the House by a majority vote carried it, and thus the power was taken from the towns to assess taxes on all to sup- port the ministry, and relegate it to such as voluntarily en- tered the church or society. Dr. Whipple, of Wentworth, of the House had much to do in framing the bill and in its final success, so it is known in some authorities as the Whipple Bill. Men of the old régime deemed it a repeal of the Christian religion, thinking it meant also an abolition of the Bible and that they might as well burn that book. But experience erelong taught them the great worth of the separation of State and Church. The matter entered largely into the politics of the day, and as the " Standing Order " was almost unanimously of the Federalist party, the dissenters - Methodists, Baptists, and all - were about as unanimously of the progressive, radical Democratic party.1
In 1820 Lancaster first became a circuit, a slice from the wide- spreading Landaff circuit. There were now twelve circuits in the New Hampshire District, with Unity as the headquarters of a circuit assigned to Vermont District, and Conway and Exeter to Maine District. At the end of 1820 Landaff reported six hundred and thirty-three members, and Lancaster three hundred, showing the rapid progress made in this region. The next year J. A. Scarritt and William McCoy were sent to the circuit, reporting at the end of the year seven hundred and twenty-five members. They were followed by David Culver, Abraham D. Merrill, and S. Kelly. In 1823 the circuit included Orford, with these preach-
1 Barstow's History of New Hampshire, pp. 442-447 ; Life of Dan Young, ch. xii. ; Life of Plumer, pp. 185 et passim ; E. D. Sanborn's History of New Hampshire, p. 287; and History of the Free-will Baptists, p. 301.
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ers, Dan Young, David Culver, and Benjamin Brown. The next year Orford was made a circuit by itself, and to this circuit were assigned C. Dustin and Daniel L. Fletcher.
About 1817 William Berkley became a resident of this town, having moved from Lyman to Mann's Hill, upon the farm now occupied by Solomon Goodall.1 For a dozen years or more, while he was a resident, he sustained Methodist meetings in his neigh- borhood. At the time for holding "four days' meetings " he would kill a steer, so that all could have enough to eat and a hearty welcome. His attic was divided by curtains, the men and women occupying opposite sides for sleeping. Those special ser- vices were almost like our present camp-meetings. In the "New Hampshire Register " for 1822, among the returns of churches, the Methodists are reported as having sixty-nine members in Little- ton, with William Berkley the minister. He may have been assigned by the conference as an assistant of the circuit riders, but probably a mistake was made by the compiler of the " Reg- ister," in not understanding our polity of local preachers, which office William Berkley held and successfully filled, while all the time owning and conducting a large farm. He was an ordained local preacher, since those alone that are ordained are empowered by the Methodist Episcopal Church to solemnize marriages and baptize, both of which he did. He assisted the regular preachers in other places, sometimes being absent from home several weeks at a time. In his speaking he sometimes stuttered, but used to declare that unless he was backsliding he never did this. His house was the home of the itinerants, who in their constant pass- ing on horseback from one part of their wide circuits to another, lived among the people. The sharp denominational jealousies of those times were carried even into the choice of companionship, as was experienced by the young people of Mr Berkley's house- hold. Associated with Father Berkley on Mann's Hill were Jasper and Jason Bidwell, and also Shubael Stearns.
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