USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 33
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In 1899 he resigned, and the Rev. J. B. Goodrich returned priest- in-charge, and has labored faithfully. This church is not strong in numbers, but in devotion to the cause and in zeal for its work its fifty communicants are a power that is felt for good in the community.
The Rev. Jolin Edgar Johnson, a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and minister of the Theatre Congregation in Philadelphia, Pa., is a summer resident of Littleton, and one of its real-estate owners, having within a year purchased the old Annis farm on Mann's Hill, where he makes his home several months of each year. The congregation over which he presides is constituted of people who have no abiding church home and who, but for this opportunity, would seldom join in the services of the church.
Though born in Lowell, Mass., in 1843, the Rev. Mr. Johnson is of New Hampshire lineage, both his parents being of this State. He was educated at Dartmouth College. His degrees are those of B.S. received in 1865 and of B.A. conferred the following year. He studied at Cambridge University Divinity School, U. S. A.,
1 It would require an extensive bibliographical list to give the titles of the pub- lished reports, compilations, sermons, and books that have come from the pen of Dr. Waterman. The two best known of his works are " The Post-Apostolic Age," 1898, and " Tables Illustrating the Transmission of the Episcopate in English and Ameri- can Lines for the Space of Twelve Hundred Years," 1903.
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and Heidelberg University, Munich. He was ordained deacon at Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., April 14, 1872, and for a few months was located at Green Island (Troy), N. Y .; then for four years and four months at Hoboken, N. J. (1872-1877). Since the close of that service the Rev. Mr. Johnson has been a resident of Philadelphia.
Within recent years he has sought health and recreation among our mountains, having passed several seasons at Woodstock, where, in addition to his services as a minister, he became greatly in- terested in the beneficent work of preserving the remnant of forests that once adorned the mountain slopes. In the last two years he has passed much of his time in Littleton, and has occasionally officiated at All Saints Church.
The Rev. Mr. Johnson is a preacher of fine ability and accom- plishments, and a pleasing writer, who has the great merit of readily adjusting his style to the understanding of those whom he wishes to influence. Numerous sermons and addresses delivered before the Theatre congregation have been published and widely circulated ; they are couched in plain, every-day language, such as those who listened might use and could easily understand ; then we have " An American Pilgrimage to a Quaker Shrine " and " A Prowl in the Fleet," printed in pamphlet form, which have the flavor of the classics, while the " Boa Constrictor of the White Mountains " is an appeal calculated to awaken the indignation and arouse to action the lovers of nature who would save from the manufacturer's axe the woods that are threatened with extinction. His residence adds something more than one individual to the community, for beside the " improvements " incident to the " com- ing of the summer citizen " he brings a keen and richly cultivated intellect.
The Sunday-school numbers forty, and the teachers are six. All Saints Guild is an organization of women who never rest from their labors. They have helped to pay for the organ used in the church, and have reduced the debt of $3,000 incurred by repairs on the Rectory to less than $300 in five years, besides paying the running expenses of the church outside of the salary.
The church has never maintained a salaried choir. In earlier years it was in the main composed of communicants who made the service of song a part of their worship. Among these were Mrs. Charles Hodgman, Mrs. F. F. Hodgman, Mrs. F. G. Weller, Mrs. Wm. A. Richardson, Chauncey H. Greene, Henry L. Tilton. In 1895 Mr. Davis organized a vested choir of twenty men and boys, which was later supplemented by female voices, all giving
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voluntary service. Mrs. Chauncey H. Greene was organist for more than a quarter of a century, and was succeeded by her niece, Rena Lovejoy, who has since faithfully officiated in that capacity, the services of both being gratuitous.
The first rectory owned by the parish was the second house on Pleasant Street above High Street. This was sold soon after the removal of the Rev. Mr. Graves, and the property adjoining the. church was purchased of Mr. Hartshorn, for use as a rectory. The building was erected at the corner of Maine and School Streets by George W. Ely, and after him had been occupied suc- cessively by Moses P. Little, Samson Bullard, William J. Bellows, and Charles Hartshorn. It was moved to its present site, where it was occupied by Mr. Hartshorn up to the time he sold it to the parish. It was "modernized " by the Rev. Mr. Waterman, and remodelled in 1899 at an expense of $3,500. This considerable indebtedness has been discharged, with the exception of $250, through the agency of All Saints Guild. It is now a well-appointed residence.
When numbers and pecuniary resources are considered, the con- tributions of the worshippers in this church must be regarded as remarkable. The sums raised for the annual expenses of main- taining the services of the church, for repairs, for the purchase and improvement of the rectory, and incidentals must have been a heavy tax. Such, however, has not been the limit to their gen- erosity. In the matter of furnishings, including the organ, the church has been the recipient of gifts valued at hundreds of dollars. Mrs. Eames, wife of the Rev. Dr. Eames, gave the font ; the pupils of the Sunday-school its heavy brass-bound cover of ash, and sub- sequently a baptismal ewer of brass; the Bishop chair was pre- sented by Harry Bingham ; Mrs. Caroline Adelia Tilton and her sister, Mrs. Laura B. Haynes, gave a communion service when the church was consecrated. The beautiful altar-book was presented by Mrs. William H. Mitchell, and books for the prayer desk by Mabel Weeks. At the time of the formation of the vested choir Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Hatch gave a processional cross of richly orna- mented brass, and at a later time a paten ; the chancel chandelier was a gift from Mrs. Ida Goodrich, and the chalice from Mrs. Caroline Rice ; a minor gift was a pair of cut-glass communion bottles presented by Harry B. Jackson ; the Helping Hand Club, an association of young people organized under the direction of Mrs. O. C. Hatch, contributed funds for the decoration of the in- terior walls of the church and for the purchase of the bow window in the rectory.
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XXXV.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY (Continued).
THE FREE BAPTIST SOCIETY.
W WITHIN the space of about twenty years, in the first part of the century, the Free Baptists1 effected church organiza- tions and made permanent local establishments in several New Hampshire and Vermont towns in the immediate vicinity of Littleton. In the order of time they were as follows: Water- ford. Vt., 1802; Concord, Vt., 1805; Lisbon, 1811 ; Bethlehem, 1813; Jefferson, 1815; and Whitefield, 1821. The church at Franconia was not organized until 1834. The earliest Quarterly Meeting in this section took the name of Sandwich. In the three or four decades at the beginning of the century the Freewill Bap- tists seem to have obtained very slight foothold in Littleton. The inhabitants were for the most part not intensely religious, ecclesiastical organizations did not multiply, and the ones exist- ing made slow progress. In 1820 in a population of one thousand and ninety-six, the communicants in church connection were limited to four denominations in these proportions : Metho- dists, sixty-nine ; Congregationalists, forty-seven ; Calvinist Bap- tists, nine ; Free Baptists, six. Nevertheless the foundations for the Littleton Freewill Baptist Church of the distant future were being none the less surely laid in the religious convictions of the people of the adjoining towns, whose sons and daughters were destined at a later day to become a substantial element in the population of the coming mistress of the valley of the Ammonoosue. Latent influences were taking a direction and character which pointed to results in church .development not foreseen by the apostles and teachers of the new faith in this district.
The Free Baptists represented the reaction against the doc- trinal tenets of the Puritan churches as distinctly as did the Methodists ; and they were equally earnest in combating the
1 The name was changed from Freewill Baptist to Free Baptist in 1889, by a vote of the General Association, a national organization.
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theology of the ancient churches of New England. At the same time their system of organization was as democratic as was that which characterized the Congregationalist establishments. In this they were the antipodes of the Methodists, whose organization was centralized on a plan similar to that of of the Church of England, with governing bishops vested with ample powers and with a discipline which rendered the central legislative and executive authority superior over the general membership, in ecclesiastical relations. Unless, therefore, some considerable number of people in a community where both the Congregationalists and Methodists were established should be ripe for a religious. connection which fully recognized and prescribed the two essentials in faith and polity in which the Free Baptists differed from these two leading evangelical Chris- tian denominations, the prospects of success would not be assur- ing. That the Free Baptists made successful headway in almost every adjoining town, but meantime accomplished little in immedi- ate results in Littleton, is a historical fact. That the pioneer ministers made the effort is in evidence. In the " Life of Rev. John Colby," one of the most successful of the Free Baptist evangelists, it is noted that he preached in Littleton as he passed through from Waterford to Lisbon. Ever after, says Mr. Robins, he passed around and not through the town.1 Without speculat- ing upon the causes and conditions which isolated Littleton in this movement, we may recall the very terse and comprehensive speci- fication of the causes of the great measure of success and the partial failure which marked the first half-century of the history of the Free Baptists, in this connection for such application and comparison as may be appropriate to the study of the sectarian or denominational history of Littleton.
" In closing this period of our history (1780 to 1830) [says the historian of the church], the mind naturally returns to the scenes along our pathway, and asks the secret of failure or success. Local causes had their influence everywhere, and, in connection with general ones, some of which were peculiar to the policy of the fathers, their operation was various. With no disposition to complain of their work, but rather to appreciate their embarrassments and rejoice in their success, we may look at the disadvantages under which Free- will Baptists labored. And they are seen, -
1. In a depressing, slanderous influence, prevalently exerted against them.
'2. In their not establishing themselves in large towns and cities. 1 Address, Littleton Centennial, p. 195.
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These centres of influence were neglected, while rural districts received attention ; for Neander says " Christianity was diffused for the most part from the cities into the country."
3. In not perfecting their system of Itinerancy. Each minister travelled wherever his own convictions of duty directed, and thus were many churches undesignedly left with only occasional minis- terial labor.
4. In not calling to their aid the power of the Press. They published few books or tracts, and had no weekly organ for forty- five years.
5. In not interesting themselves in Education. The heart was cared for, but the mind was neglected, both in the ministry and the laity.
6. In not enforcing the Scripture doctrine, that the " laborer is worthy of his hire." Says Stephen Parsons, Esq., of Westport, Me., a son-in-law of Randall, " I have had an eye on the Freewill Baptist denomination from the Quarterly Meeting at Squam Island, in 1785, when John Whitney was ordained, to the present time (1855), and am quite certain that the greatest lack has been the want of able preachers ; and this has been caused by withholding from thein a suitable support, and the encouragements of education." Because of this, many left, and entered the ministry of other denominations.
On the other hand, the great secret of the fathers' success lay, -
1. In their consecration to God, and their reliance on his help.
2. In their having " a mind to work "- a spirit of Christian enterprise.
3. In the nature of their efforts. They were simple, direct, practi- cal, energetic ; and in the ministry, greatly self-sacrificing.
4. In the dissatisfaction of the people with ultra Calvinism, and their eagerness to hear and know a free and full salvation.
The early Freewill Baptists were but men ; they could not do every- thing, nor could they at once perfect everything they attempted. We only marvel that, under the circumstances, they were able to accomplish so much. Their devout spirit insured success, and such a spirit will be more or less successful wherever, whenever, and by whomsoever it is cherished."
The Freewill Baptist Meeting-House at Bethlehem was located in the east part of the West Hill District, on the main road leading from Littleton to Bethlehem Street. This part of the town was always closely allied with Littleton on account of its proximity to our principal village and in various social and business relations. That church in its beginning, in its pro- gress and in the final transfer of its visibility to Littleton Village, after fifty-six years of useful existence at the original seat in Bethlehem, has developed an important element in the ecclesiastical history of this town. Littleton may have been stony ground for the Free Baptist faith, as it was presented to
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the fathers, but by the transitions of ninety years the Free Baptist Church now established here is the more notable by the contrast with the early conditions. In strength, respecta- bility, usefulness, and promise it is second to none in its own . denomination in northern New Hampshire.
Reference has been made to the attitude of the town towards the Toleration Act of 1819, and the agitation which preceded it. The votes and influence of her representatives in the House of Representatives during the half-dozen years in which the contest was waged in the Legislature seem to be in direct antagonism to the position of the people as indicated by their action and votes in town meeting providing for the erection of a meeting-house as early as 1811. Their action at that time fully anticipated and discounted every demand embodied in the Toler- ation Act, and guaranteed to the professors of every religious faith full and equal privileges in the use and occupancy of the town meeting-house and in exemption from involuntary contribu- tions to the support of any ministry.
That this senatorial district was represented by Dan Young, a Democrat, a local Methodist minister, and a leader in this move- ment, was due in no inconsiderable measure to the extension of the influence of the Freewill Baptist denomination (contempo- raneously with the progress of Methodism) in this part of the State. They did not assume to reach the wealthy and aristocratic com- munities, but among the common people, especially in the less wealthy and less compactly populated sections, they were numer- ous and influential. This was also characteristic of the Methodists as a pioneer sect. They were perhaps more successful in reaching the people of the old towns and large villages than were the Free- will Baptists. Both, however, were necessarily allies in sentiment and interest with the new departure in the policies of the time, which had in Dr. Thomas Whipple and the Rev. Dan Young such capable and devoted leaders, and in the Act of 1819 such signal triumph.
An excerpt from Stewart's " History of the Freewill Baptists " 1 will indicate the relations of the denomination to political events of that period : -
" Revs. Timothy Morse, Samuel B. Dyer, Joseph Boody, Jr., and Ruling Elder Joseph Young, were this year members of the Legislature, and all boarded at the same place. The following extract from a letter by Morse gives us a glimpse at these Christian legislators.
1 Pages 300, 301.
THE OLD BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE:
FREE BAPTIST CHURCH.
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arrived at Concord on Tuesday, and pitched my tent at Mr. Davis', where there were fifteen boarders, four of whom were preachers of the gospel. On Friday, at noon, we called a convention in our boarding- house, Elder Dyer chairman, and passed a vote to drink no ardent spirits till the session closes. Immediately after this I found the Spirit of God had admittance among us. At evening Elder Young sat and reasoned with the people on death, judgment, and eternity ; and it was a solemn hour. From that time Jesus has been allowed the first seat here, thanks be to God.' If we had more men of this devout spirit in our legislative halls, it would be better for the country. But whether ministers should turn their attention from their Divine calling to the official duties of civil and political life, is a question on which good men are divided in opinion.
" The year 1819 is noted for the passage of the Toleration Act. For thirty-nine years had the Freewill Baptists been untiring in their efforts for the removal of all legal obligations for the support of one religious sect to the neglect of all others, and their desires were now realized. All religious denominations were tolerated in the peaceful worship of God by this act, and were left equally dependent upon the voluntary contributions of the people for support. Most violent was the opposition, not only in the Legislature, but throughout the State. It was denounced as the repeal of the Christian religion. It was iterated and reiterated that ' the wicked bear rule,' the 'Bible is abolished,' &c. Never were the people in greater agitation, and the repeal of the Toleration Act was made the political test at next elec- tion. Religious views and interests now gave zest and direction to political action, and the people triumphantly sustained the law, which was soon universally approved."
It cannot now be easily determined who were the first families of the Freewill Baptist denomination that settled in the village of Littleton, nor when they came to this place. Churches of that denomination had an existence in neighboring towns at an early date in the present century, and from some of these localities, especially from Bethlehem and Sugar Hill, a few families had come at different times, some of whose members united with churches already established and others retained their connection with the churches in the towns from which they had removed.
In the year 1868 Mr. Washington Howland, formerly of Sugar Hill and still a member of the church at that place, believing that the time had come for the formation of a Freewill Baptist Church in this place, wrote to Rev. Elijah Guilford, then at Burke Hollow, Vt., asking him to visit the place with a view to gathering into a church the Free Baptists living in the
-
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village and its vicinity. The church formerly existing in Bethlehem, and worshipping in a meeting-house which at that time stood on the corner nearly opposite the present residence of Orville B. Hildreth, had become extinct, and many of its former members wished to unite in a new organization. After some cor- respondence Mr. Guilford came to Littleton to look over the ground, and in December of the same year (1868) took up his residence here and began regular ministerial work, holding ser- vices in Weeks' Hall. Meetings were continued during the winter, and in the spring a council was invited by those who desired the formation of such a church, to convene and organize in due form. On the 29th of April, 1869, such a council, consisting of the Rev. J. M. Durgin, of Franconia, the Rev. J. M. Russell, of Concord, Vt., and Deacon Orrison Harris, of Franconia, met in Weeks' Hall in this village, and organized a church according to the established usages of the Freewill Baptist denomination. It took the name given at the head of this chapter. Twenty-seven persons, whose names are given below, constituted the original membership of the church in this town : -
Phineas Wallace.
Eliza Willis.
John Norris.
Martha Crane.
Elijah Guilford.
Sarah Ann Annis.
Daniel B. Crane. Lyman Blandin.
Sarah Simpson.
Amoretta Crane.
Otis Crane. Ansel Kenney.
Mary Kenney.
Dolly Blandin.
Reuben Phillips.
Sarah J. Guilford.
Lemuel N. Phillips.
Abigail Burnham.
William A. Crane.
Viana Streeter.
Washington Howland. Polly Ladd.
Benjamin Burnham.
Caroline Bartlett.
Leonard Eudy. Jane Crane.
Lucy A. Allen.
Lyman Blandin was chosen clerk, Otis Crane deacon, and Rev. Elijah Guilford pastor, and the church entered upon its organic life. Land was immediately purchased for a church site, and during the summer the meeting-house now occupied by the society was built. It was dedicated on the first Saturday in November, 1869, at which time a session of the Lisbon Quarterly Meeting was held in it. The dedication sermon was preached by the Rev. George H. Pinkham, then pastor of the church at Whitefield. On Sunday following the pastor was installed, the sermon being preached by the Rev. L. B. Tasker,
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of Corinth, Vt. Mr. Guilford was born in Saco, Me., and being converted in early youth decided to enter the ministry. He began his studies at New Hampton, but his missionary zeal called him to the seat of war, and he served for several months under the auspices of the United States Christian Commission. His first pastorate was over a Union Church at Burke, Vt., and his second and last at Littleton, where he remained from 1868 till his deatlı, in 1873. During this time a strong and healthy religious interest prevailed in the society, and seventy were added to the membership of the church. For some months previous to his death Mr. Guilford's failing healthi made it necessary to employ a substitute in the active duties of the pastorate, and the Rev. Burton Minard served in this capacity. He was a young man, a native of Nova Scotia, and was studying for the ministry. In 1874 he resigned to pursue his studies in Bates College, and in 1878 was called to be pastor of the church at Littleton and remained one year. He married Emma J. Morrison, a native of Bethlehem, who died in 1879. After leaving his pastorate here, he was settled over several societies, and in 1889 went to St. John, N. B., and afterwards to Massachusetts. He lias labored as an evangelist and State missionary and has been a power for good wherever located.
When Mr. Minard went away in 1874, he was succeeded by the Rev. E. P. Moulton, who was ordained at the June session of the Lisbon Quarterly Meeting held in Littleton, the sermon being preached by tlie Rev. A. D. Smith. Mr. Moulton entered upon his first pastorate filled with zeal and an earnest purpose to do the work of the Master. He enjoyed a successful pastorate of two years, but received a call to Alton, N. H., and was settled there for two years. Since then he has had charge over several Freewill Baptist societies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Rev. Ira Emery became pastor of the church in the spring or summer of 1876 and remained two years. Mr. Emery was born in Industry, Me., in 1823, and was inclined to the ministry from his twelfth year. He says in a letter to a friend that in a revival in 1865 he consecrated himself " to the service of Christ and went into the active ministry in 1866. Not a sensational preacher nor a revivalist, but have been successful as a pastor, which seems to be my special calling. Have always actively engaged in temperance work. The cause of my success has been attention to business and God's blessing. I engaged somewhat in political affairs before I entered the ministry, but not much since only as an intelligent voter. In politics am
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a Republican - not a mugwump by any means." During his pastorate the parsonage was built and the society grew spiritually and numerically. Mr. Emery left Littleton to take charge of a society of this denomination in China, Me. In 1885 he left the Freewill Baptist denomination and became a Baptist, and later settled in Meredith, where he died in 1895. A man of winning manner and pleasing address, he was loved and respected wherever known.
In January, 1880, the Rev. Francis Hubbard Lyford was called to the pastorate, and began his labors in February of that year. Mr. Lyford was a man of uncommon ability and wide and varied experience. He received an academic education which began at Pittsfield in this State and ended in Keytesville, Mo., where he resided from 1836 until 1841. He returned to Pittsfield, his native place. He was among the early emigrants to California at the time of the discovery of gold in that State. . After a residence of three years there he returned to New Hampshire, where he continued to reside until 1857 .. During the Know-Nothing fiasco he was an influential member of the order. He had, in fact, been an active and popular worker in politics from a period antedat- ing his. majority, and as a Democrat represented Pittsfield in the Legislature in 1846 and 1847. At Manchester he was City Clerk and at the same time served as Railroad Commis- sioner for the term of three years. When, in 1859, he entered the Free Baptist ministry, the fervor of his political enthusiasm gave place in his ardent temperament to an equally enthusiastic zeal for the religious denomination whose cause he had espoused. He was settled over churches in Vermont, Maine, and at Hamp- ton, Laconia, Meredith, Contoocookville, and Woodstock in this State, and at Haverhill, Mass. He remained over the society in Littleton for five years. During this . time the church was re- modelled and the spiritual life of the people stimulated.
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