USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 27
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Following 1820 some interesting revivals took place at the Shute neighborhood and on Mann's Hill. It is probable that so many Methodists could be reported in the "Register" of 1822 because of those revival seasons. Several young men were licensed as exhorters and went about into neighboring towns holding meet- ings. Among these were Otis Albee, Joseph Robins, Jr., Lindsey Wallace, Edward Kellogg, his brother, Charles Kellogg, and Free- man Palmer. The second Kellogg and Lindsey Wallace became regular preachers. In these revivals great interest was shown,
1 The Kilburn or Goodall farm.
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History of Littleton.
the services on Mann's Hill being frequently so affecting that persons would lose their strength and fall prostrate. Such scenes did not attend the meetings in the Shute neighborhood. In this latter region David Webster and Otis Albee were prominent Methodists, doing much to sustain meetings. In Joseph Robins, Jr., till his brief life was cut short, they found an able helper. He went to Maine, and in 1829 entered that conference on trial, preaching one year at Atkinson, but seems to have gone no farther in that relation, owing to his ill health. Returning to Littleton, he soon died. Mr. Fletcher, father of Arad Fletcher of North Littleton, was also an active Methodist. The Methodists had a certain right with other denominations to the use of the old meeting-house at the centre of the town, but the itinerants used it sparingly, if at all, doubtless preferring private houses among the Methodist people.
The reports for the State in 1825 show nineteen circuits and thirty-two hundred and eighty-nine members. Benjamin R. Hoyt was made Presiding Elder of this region and continued four years. This year Maine was set off as a conference by itself, thus making two conferences in New England. From the early years of the circuit, Landaff reported the largest returns of any charge in the State. In 1826 this circuit, owing to its contiguity, was put into the Danville, Vt., District, and Haskell Wheelock was in charge. This year Duncan Young, who was stationed on this circuit in 1823, died at his former home in Lisbon. He was de- vout, studious, and an able pulpit orator. His last station was Cambridge, Mass. The preachers in 1827 were Isaac Barker and John J. Bliss. In 1828 Charles Cowen was admitted to the con- ference on trial, and sent to Columbia .. Landaff reported six hundred and thirty members, the preachers being L. Frost and Isaac Barker. This year Bethlehem was set off from Landaff into a circuit with Joseph Barker in charge, and it is probable, from that time till Littleton was made a separate station in 1850, the statistical history of Methodisni here was reported in connection with Bethlehem. In 1829 the preachers at Bethlehem were Moses G. Cass and Abel Heath, with a report of one hundred and twenty- six members. Mr. Cass is remembered to have preached in a school-house which stood at the southwest corner of Pleasant and Cross Streets in Littleton. N. W. Aspenwall and Salmon Gleason were at Landaff. This year New Hampshire and Vermont were set off from the New England Conference and made into a separate conference. The Plymouth District - the second in the State - was organized with the circuits of this part of the State included in
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Ecclesiastical History.
it. The next year the preachers at Bethlehem were Charles Cowen and Harry W. Latham ; at Landaff, N. W. Aspenwall and Otis Dunbar. All the circuits in northern New Hampshire were growing rapidly, while the whole State returned over six thousand members. Occasionally in these years Ozias Savage from Lisbon preached for the Methodists in the old church at the centre of the town and in the Congregational Church in the village. In 1831 the preacher at Bethlehem was Jonathan Hazelton, and those for Landaff Charles Cowen and C. Kendrick. In 1832 this conference decided on a shorter name than the one covering two States, and was thenceforward known as the New Hampshire Conference, though for many years to include Vermont. At Bethlehem, Hol- man Drew and Clinton W. Lord were the preachers, who reported the membership at two hundred and fourteen. They frequently preached at Mann's Hill. At one of these times, when one of the itinerants was to preach in the school-house in that district, the school committee locked the doors of the house, refusing to let them enter for that purpose. But the wife of Father Berkley would not submit to that, and found a way to open the house, and they had their meeting. A justice of the peace was appealed to by the school committee to issue papers to punish the recusant lady for the illegal act. The justice refused, saying that Father Berkley paid more taxes to support the school-house and school than any person on Mann's Hill, and told the complainant he would better go home and the next time attend the meeting himself. The increase in the conference was very rapid; thus in 1831 the net gain was 804; in 1832 it was 2,011; the next year 1,133.
The preachers for 1833 were Holman Drew and J. Dow. The missionary collection reported for this circuit was fifty cents ; for the whole conference, $950.12. On the Landaff circuit S. P. Williams and two others were stationed. The Bethlehem circuit reported three schools, sixteen teachers, sixty scholars, and thirty library books. A committee appointed by the conference reported this year in favor of a Conference Academy, to be located at New- bury, Vt. The people of that town agreed to pay half the sum ($6,000) needed for the buildings. This school yielded its benefits for many years to the people of northern New Hampshire and other sections of the country.
In 1833 a young Englishman in almost destitute circumstances came down afoot from Canada, and after living some months in the family of Colonel Briggs, a Baptist, he taught school in the Shute neighborhood and later in the Briggs neighborhood. He
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History of Littleton.
was devout, carnest, and ready for work as the Master opened ways for it. Attending a meeting at a private house in the Pea- body neighborhood where Father Berkley preached, the latter. called on the young Englishman to offer prayer. He was so earnest and eloquent in that prayer that the people said he prayed like a minister and must preach, and so he did. That was the introduction of Daniel Wise to the ministry. From that day to the end of his life he was an important factor in Methodism, and continued to advance until by his writings he was known the world over. He was in Littleton and contiguous towns, teaching and preaching, for two or three years. In company with Charles H. Lovejoy he held meetings in school-houses in the west part of the town, where many were converted. Some of the time he preached regularly on a local circuit, including Lyman Centre. In 1834 he preached one-third of the time in the village church at Bath. In 1835 he improvised a circuit extending into Swift- water, Lisbon, Landaff, and Franconia, co-operating by this means with the regular circuit preachers. Dr. Wise recalls with grati- tude those years in these regions, the kindness and devotion of the people ; the homes open to him everywhere ; the " four days' meet- ings " which were times of power and salvation ; the devoted labors of Father Berkley and others. From here he passed into the greater currents of Methodist life, to find ways wide enough for his great genius and deep consecration. The next year (1834) F. F. Dailey was stationed at Bethlehem, and was continued the second year. In 1836 Holman Drew was the preacher again, and next after him J. H. Stevens, and for 1838 D. Wilcox and an assistant. Opposite the present site of Ira Parker's residence on Main Street, was for some time an unfinished house in which the Methodists held meetings. Afterwards it was removed to the site of the Bellows store. Previous to 1840 Ezekiel Kellogg, a brother of Charles Kellogg, and Levi Hildreth, who died in 1833, were exhorters in this town.
In 1838 John Brodhead passed to his reward. He began preach- ing in Pennsylvania, but was sent to New England in 1796, and remained here till his death. In 1804-1807 he was on this dis- trict as Presiding Elder, and from 1813 made Newmarket, N. H., his home. He preached several years in stations contiguous to his home, was four years in Congress, several times in the State Senate, and a man respected by all the people. His ministerial life covered forty-four years, many of the carlier being passed in a region where he had to travel extended circuits, often swimming large streams on horseback and preaching in his saturated cloth-
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Ecclesiastical History.
ing. These exposures laid the seeds of disease that finally brought him to his death.
A glimpse at the financial report made by the Bethlehem cir- cuit in 1838 would convey an idea of the way things were done. The salary, which was not paid in full, was arranged as follows : Travelling expenses, $18 ; house-rent, $12; quarterage (salary), $200; fuel, $6, making a total for the minister and his assistant of $236. A mission, called the Androscoggin, was joined to the Landaff circuit. In 1839 Lisbon was organized as a distinct charge, with J. Smith the preacher. For Bethlehem E. Pettengill was the preacher.
From 1839 onward, the tables 1 will show the reports from this circuit and the names of the preachers stationed on it. Let it be borne in mind that the statistics reported any year are not the ones given by the preacher, whose name is put down for the ap- pointment for that year. Thus the report for 1839 is made, not by Mr. Pettengill, appointed that year, but by Mr. Wilcox, who was the preacher the year before and who brought his report to the conference of 1839.
This year was the centenary of the existence of Methodism. The conference took due notice of this event, voting to raise $20,000 as a thank offering. An earnest appeal also was made to the stewards of the various circuits and stations to begin the second century of Methodism by meeting the full apportionment of the preacher's salary. During those years the missionary spirit largely increased, the principal financial report, after the preach- ers' salary, being for missions. Resolutions, which did not end with the conference session, were passed by that body, and were followed with zeal in the cause of missions. Women impelled by a sense of duty gave their jewelry ; others did sewing, - one, over eighty years of age, making thirteen shirts, valued at $6.60, for missions. On this circuit in 1840 the collections taken were for the Bible Society Missions and the Tract Society.
In 1843-1844 J. S. Loveland, who preached at Bethlehem, White- field, and Littleton, lived in this town part of the time, occupying the Hinds house at the south side of the bridge at one time, and then the house on the west side of Pleasant Street, just above the present church. It is reported that 110 stated preaching by the Methodists took place in this town until 1843, but long before this, two classes were organized, - one on Mann's Hill, the other in the Shute neighborhood. Probably one was also formed in the Carter neighborhood. In connection with these nuclei services were held
1 See table covering Methodist Church.
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History of Littleton.
by the itinerants and their various local assistants. In North Littleton the Rev. S. P. Williams, who married Miss Persis Par- tridge, of Littleton, and who was at one time Presiding Elder, lived for some years and sustained preaching near his home. During this time he was Bible Agent for New Hampshire. In 1850 he was transferred to the Troy Conference and died in 1874 at Marengo, Ill. In 1846 Rev. Holman Drew, who was connected with this town as the preacher at Bethlehem, died at Landaff, and as he had longed to do, passed away in his pulpit. He had settled in that town after many years of hard work on the circuit of this part of the State. He was a very successful preacher, with a peculiar gift for pastoral visiting, building up churches and winning souls to Christ.
In the region between Lower Waterford Bridge and Monroe along the Connecticut River valley, was a district called the Car- ter neighborhood, which became a stronghold of Methodism. As far back as 1820, and probably before, services were held in that region, generally in the school-house. Three brothers, Daniel, Eliphalet, and Thomas Carter, and their sister, Mrs. Huse, with their families were all Methodists. Many of their descendants followed in the faith of their ancestors. Among these were Mrs. Amasa Knapp and Mrs. Dewey, daughters of Thomas Carter. The son of Thomas Carter, Jr., died while studying for the ministry at the Concord Biblical Institution. His wife was sister of Judge Ross of St. Johnsbury, Vt. Later she married another minister by the name of Arthur, whose ministry has been in the West. Another brother, Enoch, moved to Peacham, Vt., when his son Truman was a child of five. This son became a Methodist minister, and in 1865-1866 was the stationed preacher at Littleton. A brother of Truman also became a preacher, as did also a son of Amasa Knapp, Rev. William C. Knapp, born in that neighbor- hood, whose ministry has been in Illinois. Mrs. Briggs, with whom Daniel Wise found a home, was of the same family, a sister of Daniel Carter and the others. Her husband was a Baptist, but she was a Methodist.
There was also another brother of the original Carter family in this town named Moses, whose descendants became Methodists. His son Ebenezer, who lived near Partridge Pond in the Shute neighborhood, was always a Methodist, he and his family helping vigorously to sustain the interests of the work in that locality. His son Ellery H. Carter is now of this town. Another son, Alba B., became a preacher, of whom mention will later be made. Still another son of Moses Carter, Nathan, lived in the same re-
REV. HENRY B. MEAD.
REV. JOSEPH W. PRESBY.
REV. DANIEL WISE.
REV. HUGH MONTGOMERY.
REV. JOHN A. MAGOON.
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Ecclesiastical History.
gion as Ebenezer, and with his family did much for the church of their choice. Services were held in the school-house just beyond the corner, near the Hastings farm. The services were greatly indebted to Michael Shute, whose name was attached to the dis- trict, and he was probably the " class-leader " - " a whole-souled Christian," says one who knew him. Charles Cowen, Mark Streeter, Father Berkley, and others used to preach there. By about 1860 so many Methodist families had moved away from these two neighborhoods that meetings were seldom held. Many of the older people had been gathered home to rest.
The conference which had included both New Hampshire and Vermont was divided in 1844, each State thenceforward consti- tuting a separate conference. In 1845 the Seminary, now located at Tilton, was organized at Northfield, across the river from Til- ton, and from that time this region was greatly indebted to that school for its excellent educational advantages. A committee had been appointed the year before at the conference session at Ports- mouth to seek a location for their seminary. Northfield offered to erect buildings to secure it there ; that proposition was ac- cepted and the buildings at once erected, so that in the year 1845 it opened with one hundred and thirty students, In 1852 the charter was enlarged to include a female college. The school prospered greatly under its successive presidents. In November, 1862, the buildings were burnt, and the more commodious brick ones on the north side of the river were at once put up. These were at length outgrown, and in 1887 Seminary Hill was crowned with the magnificent building which now offers its advantages to the Methodists of New Hampshire.
The conference session of 1846 passed pronounced but well- considered resolutions on slavery, repudiating the abolitionism of tlie " Garrison Party," but reiterating the words of the Discipline that slavery was "a great evil and ought to be abolished."
In 1848 Littleton first appears among the appointments by name, withi C. Cowen as a supply. Preaching services were held in Brackett's Hall. The next year Littleton was joined with White- field, but the succeeding year, 1850, it was named as a mission with Bethlehem, in charge of Sullivan Holman as pastor, when its separate history as a station begins. The following was the finan- cial allowance, which he had to report $50 short at the end of the year : Travelling expenses, $25; house-rent, $60;1 quarterage,
1 This was the amount paid as rental for the Paddleford, or Dr. Tuttle place, which then included a large tract of land now occupied by buildings on Main and Meadow Streets.
VOL. II .- 17
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History of Littleton.
$224; fuel, $16; table expenses, $50 - total, $375. He reported one hundred members and forty-one probationers for the two places, with two Sunday-schools, twenty-six teachers, and two hundred and thirty scholars. Mr. Holman was here two years, during which time the church was erected. It was located on the northeast corner of Main Street and the Mann's Hill road, now known as Pleasant Street. The land was sold in 1850 by John Gile to Levi F. Ranlet, the deed bearing date of March 28, 1850. The deed by which Mr. Ranlet transferred it to the First Methodist Episcopal Society of Littleton bears date of August 12, 1851. The price paid by Mr. Ranlet was $500. The lot was about one hundred and thirty feet on the Mann's Hill road, fifty feet on the north end, and about eighty feet long on the eastern side. The spot had long been known as the Curtis or Red Store lot. A subscription paper was circulated, dated May 20, 1850, pledging each subscriber to take one or more pews at a cost to cover the expense of building the new church. Mr. Ranlet put up the house at his own expense, and was reimbursed by the price of the pews sold. In this way nearly sixty pews were taken, many of them by persons still living or whose descendants are now in Littleton. The cost of the structure, after deducting some bills allowed by Mr. Ranlet, was $4,658.82. The trustees to whom he submitted his accounts, and who reported them as being most satisfactory, were George B. Redington, E. S. Woolson, Daniel Wilcomb, and Charles Kellogg. The old bills, subscription pa- pers, plan of the audience room and pews, etc., soiled and worn, still remain, treasured, eloquent mementos of a series of labors which will not be forgotten. Mr. Ranlet's proposition follows :
Original Proposition to build the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Littleton, N. H., dated 1850.1
Levi F. Ranlet proposes to build a meeting-house in the village of Littleton, the spot to be designated by the majority of the subscribers for pews at a meeting called for that purpose, the house to be built according to the plan annexed and fully completed in as substantial manner as may be, using all reasonable despatch.
When completed, the house is to be occupied as a place of public
1 It has been claimed that this church was built with a condition attached simi- lar to those embodied in the agreement for the erection of the first meeting-house and the Congregational Church, to the effect that it should be open to the use of all denominations according to the amount of their pew-holdings. Such was not the fact. It was built for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church Society only.
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Ecclesiastical History.
worship by the Methodist Episcopal Society in said village, and the interest acquired by the said Ranlet in the land whereon it stands is to be conveyed to said society if organized or otherwise to trustees appointed by a majority of the pew-holders, to hold said land for the benefit of said society.
Upon the completion of the house, the price of the pews is to be fixed by said Ranlet at a sum not exceeding in the aggregate the actual cost of the house and ground, conducted in a reasonable and prudent manner, graduating the price of each pew according to its character and position.
And therefore public notice shall be given that the choice of such pews at the price fixed as aforesaid among the subscribers for the pews will be sold at public auction at said house at a time named in the notice, and such right of choice shall then be sold and upon the pur- chasers designating the pews by them selected respectively in the manner aforesaid and paying therefor the price fixed together with the sum bid for choice, he or she shall be entitled to a valid conveyance thereof to be made and delivered at the time of said payment.
With the further provision that in case the sums realized from the sale of the pews together with the prices bid for choice, shall exceed the actual cost of the house and ground, then the surplus shall be ex- pended in furnishing the house with stoves and other necessary articles for the accommodation of the house.
To induce the said Ranlet to erect the said house, we the subscribers hereby engage and bind ourselves to take and pay for the number of pews therein set opposite our names, respectively, the pews to be selected and the prices fixed in the manner above described.1
Feb'y 20, 1850. .
Subscribers' Names.
No. of Pews Sub- scribed for.
Subscribers'
Names.
No. of Pews Sub- scribed for.
H. A. Bellows
One
Abijah Allen
One
Levi F. Ranlet
One
H. W. Merrill
One
E. S. Woolson
One
D. P. Sanborn One
F. W. Gile
Two
J. Bellows
One
John Lindsay
One
James Richardson One
Otis Batchelder
One
Wm. M. Morrison
One
Simeon S. Bidwell
One
Amos Wallace
One
William Durgin
One
James H. Angier
One
John L. Lougee
One
J. W. Hale
One
Arthur L. Russell
One
Oliver F. Nurse
One
1 The house contained sixty-two pews. Mr. Ranlet's plan contemplated that all should be pledged before work on the building was begun. The last pew remained on his hands when Frye W. Gile came to the rescue by making his subscription two. Not all subscribers fulfilled their pledges. John Gile died and John Bowman took over his right. J. W. Hale gave his to Gen. E. O. Kenney, John Lindsay disposed of his, the Lougees had left town. When the pews were auctioned off, the Reding- tons, who had furnished some of the lumber, took two additional pews in part pay- ment, and Levi F. Ranlet found five and half of another on his hands.
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History of Littleton.
Wm. Burns One
George Abbott One
(to be paid for in timber on my
Elanson Farr One
A. B. Miner One
lots called Bonney & Gilman Places)
A. & J. M. Quimby
One
Henry L. Thayer
One
Oliver Nurs
One
Ellery D. Dunn
One
Jonathan Nurs
One
James Dow
One
Levi Wheeler
One
Alonzo Weeks
One
L. Parker & Hill
One
Ebenezer Stevens
One
Charles Kellogg
One
Abram Mills
One
Noah W. Ranlet
One
Daniel Bean
One
Moses K. Wilcomb
One
C. M. Tuttle
One
James Gordon
One
C. H. Lovejoy
One
A. S. Annis
One
Albert Lovejoy
One
John L. Martin
One
J. J. Lovejoy
One
E. D. Lougee
One
John Gile
One
Douglas Robins
One
H. C. Redington & Co.
One
Stilman Batchellor
One
Amos S. Sanborn
One
Hollis M. Pearson
One
L. T. Dow
One
Samuel T. Morse
One
Wesley Alexander
One
P. Henry Paddleford
One
Lewis Graham
One
Alexander McIntyre (By L. F.
Elisha Burnham
One
Ranlet)
One
Calvin J. Wallace
One
62
May 1850. We consent that the place of the meeting-house may be so far varied as to conform to the plan drawn by Mr. Boyden and here- with exhibited.
H. A. BELLOWS
L. T. Dow
H. L. THAYER JAMES H. ANGIER
ALONZO WEEKS OTIS BATCHELDER
EBENEZER BURNS JOHN LINDSAY
H. C. REDINGTON & Co.
The lumber for the new church was sawed at the mill of P. H. Paddleford at South Littleton, Nathan Applebee, Jr., doing the work. Alexander McIntire went to the woods April 15, 1850, and drew the timbers for the rafters to the mill through a foot or more of new fallen snow. Alonzo Weeks, not only in building the church, but for years afterwards, did much to carry on the new enterprise.
The church was dedicated January 8, 1851, the Rev. Joseph E. King, then Principal of Newbury Seminary, now and for many years President of Fort Edwards, N. Y., Institute, preaching the sermon. It was a great day for the few Methodists of this town, and a signal triumph of devoted laborers. The aisle floors were
METHODIST CHURCH.
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Ecclesiastical History.
carpeted with hemp ; a fine bell was provided,1 together with a good clock and a wood furnace. To cushion the seats, Mrs. Holman did the sewing, while Mr. Holman cut a fine soft growth of rowen on Mr. Bowman's meadow, cured it in the sun, and he and Mrs. Holman made the cushions from this material. For his activity in temperance matters, he incurred the enmity of some people who threatened him in various ways, but Mr. Holman did not change his course and dared them to carry out their threats. They never accepted the challenge. In 1853 the trustees deeded the pew- holders the land on which the church was situated, which had been conveyed to them as representatives of the society by Levi Ranlet in 1851. Soon after the church was built, a row of borse-sheds was erected where the vestry now stands. When this addition was made, the leases where the sheds had stood were raised.2
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