USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 21
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Rev. Henry A. Hazen, who was permitted to converse with persons who were born before the first meeting-house was de- stroyed, furnishes an excellent description of the building in the Centennial Discourses delivered in 1765. "It was about forty by fifty feet, and two stories high with glazed windows. It had galleries on three sides. There was a square pew in each corner and an elder's seat. The rest of the floor was occupied with long seats on each side of a central aisle."
Such were the general features and such was the manner of building the first meeting-house in Plymouth. It was the first building dedicated to the worship of God in Grafton County. If the house was small and unpretentious, and if from a modern standpoint it was rude in construction and unsightly in appear- ance, it was a vivid expression of the piety, self-denial, and saeri- fice of the builders .. Compared with the wealth of the settlement, and their limited facilities for construction, it was a more costly temple than the massive structures of modern times.
In this humble house the people worshipped twenty years. Here children's children were baptized and the virtues of the dead were the theme of funeral discourse. Here during the Revo- lution were offered fervent prayers for country and home, and here, when victory ended war, arose the praise of a grateful con- gregation to the God who moulds the fortunes of armies and directs the destiny of nations. Here in springtime at the sowing was observed a day of fasting and humiliation, and here at har- vest was heard the songs of praise and the voice of thanksgiving. The little log church at the foot of Ward Hill was an impressive
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expression of the piety and devotion, of the faith and sacrifice ' of the worthy fathers who founded Plymouth.
Scarcely had the immediate burdens of the Revolution been met and overcome before the people of Plymouth began to con- template the building of a new and larger house of worship. The town had increased in wealth and population, and to the argument of necessity was added the plea of convenience. The building of the second meeting-house could not long be deferred. The town meetings of any community echo the voice of public sentiment upon the issues of the time. An affirmative proposition to build was adopted in 1783, and Isaac Ward presented a lot on which to build the house. Through the delay of votes to amend, to re- consider, and to postpone, the decisive action was not secured until March, 1787, when the town voted "to proceed to build the meeting (house) upon the plan already accepted by the town and to raise £100 towards building the same to be paid in merchant- able wheat and pees at five shillings, rie at four shillings and Indian corn at three shillings per bushel by the twenty fifth day of December next." At a later meeting it was voted "that no person shall have liberty to pay more than one fourth part of their proportion in Pees." James Blodgett, Jr., was chosen to collect the tax, and William George, Capt. Benjamin Goold, and Lieut. Elisha Bean " to engage some person or persons to procure the whole of the timber for the meeting house, as cheap as they pos- sibly can, and to have said timber halled to the spot completely fit for raising."
The last meeting adjourned to meet Thursday, April 12, 1787. At this date the record proceeds : " Met according to adjournment and it being Fast Day the moderator [Francis Worcester] ad- journed the meeting to next day." At this meeting the town reaffirmed several former votes, and expressed a desire to prose- cute the work as speedily as possible. The town also ordered " that the dimensions of said house on the ground be fifty six by forty-four feet," and Jacob Merrill and Lieut. Richard Bayley were selected to " place the sills," and ample arrangements were
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made for the raising, which occurred in October, 1787. A few weeks later the first meeting-house was burned, and for a season meetings were held in a spacious barn of King George, near the present residence of Mrs. Solomon A. Smith on Rumney road and at the house of Col. David Webster, on the site of the Pemigewasset House. The original minutes of the town meetings which are preserved present the foregoing facts, and from other sources it appears that after the frame was raised the town selected a com- mittee, consisting of Samuel Emerson, Esq., Dr. John Rogers, and Maj. Stephen Wells, to complete the building. It was occu- pied as a house of worship about the close of the year 1788. Many of the following items concerning the cost and appearance of the building are credited to Historical Sketch of the Meeting Houses, prepared with great labor by Rev. Frank G. Clark, 1896.
The second meeting-house stood on the lot immediately west of the schoolhouse on Ward Hill. The land was presented by Isaac Ward, a son of the first minister, and in consideration of the same he was awarded the first choice of a pew. The house cost £574 9s. 3d. There were forty-six pews on the main floor, and the pew rights sold for £428 2s. 9d. In 1796 thirty-six pews were built in the galleries. There was a porch at the east and west ends and an entrance at each porch, and also an entrance on the south side. A broad aisle led from the south door to the pulpit. There were two rows of windows of seven by nine glass, and the wood finish was plain and substantial. The pulpit, on the north side, was as solid as the tenets of a creed. The minister preached to two audiences, one upon the floor and another in the galleries, and the pulpit midway was approached by a stairway. In the centre of the audience-room and on three sides there were square pews, and between the side and the central pews there were three narrow aisles. To each pew there was a door and there was added the ancient finish of top rail and spindles. The singers occupied a section of the gallery opposite the pulpit.
The exterior of the house was covered with plain boards and remained without finish until 1806, when the town appropriated
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THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ON WARD'S HILL, 1830
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four hundred dollars and directed that the building be clap- boarded and that the exterior and interior be painted. At the same time an electric rod was procured and the inhabitants were given permission to erect a belfry without expense to the town. A belfry was subsequently erected by extending in height the west porch. The expense was paid by subscription. In 1827 a bell costing $382.27 was purchased with the voluntary offerings of the people. The bell was rung the first time November 12, and was tolled at the funeral of the widow of Judge Samuel Emerson, who was buried Nov. 23, 1727.
Concerning the lighting and warming of the two early meeting- houses there is no record or tradition of any event, unlike the story of nearly all the meeting-houses of the same time. Foot-stoves containing small pans of hot coals were in common use, and were passed from one to another during the long service of former generations. Stoves were procured for the second meet- ing-house in 1823. The meeting-house was jointly occupied by the church and by the town, in a manner and for purposes well understood, until 1836, when a new meeting-house was built in which the town had no interest or control. The second meeting- house was occupied for town purposes until 1865. It was then used for storage and sold at auction. In 1877 it was removed to Campton and used for a sawmill until it was destroyed by fire Feb. 19, 1884.
Until 1836 the Congregationalists of this town worshipped in the first and second meeting-houses on Ward Hill. Both houses were built by the town, acting in the capacity of a parish. The church and society possessed the right of holding stated religious services, and the town used the buildings for municipal meetings. This joint occupancy invited controversy concerning the use and the repair of the building. There was a growing sentiment in Plymouth and elsewhere that the audience-room of the church and the townhall should be separate. With the advent of Mr. Punchard, a young and a progressive man, the church and the society were strengthened and were animated with new hope and VOL. I .- 16
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enlarged ambition. The conditions suggested a new meeting- house and one owned and controlled by the society. The Con- gregationalists withdrew from the second meeting-house, leaving the town in sole occupancy of the building. The town was not called upon to take action in the premises, and for this reason there is no mention of the subject in the town records.
With the society acting for the church and congregation, the location of a new meeting-house was a subject of universal in- terest and grave import. Nearly seventy years the succession of worshippers had assembled from Sabbath to Sabbath at Ward Hill. The place was hallowed by memories both tender and grave. Here were the ministrations of Father Ward, Rev. Fairbank, and Rev. Jonathan Ward; here were baptized the infants of two generations; here had been spoken the funeral eulogy of many pious fathers and mothers; and here had arisen the prayer and the praise of many years. Added to every measure of sentiment, the location was central. In the meantime the village on the Pemigewasset had assumed considerable importance and an equal ambition to become the centre of affairs, as it was of trade.
The existing conditions concerning the location of the third meeting-house in Plymouth invited a bitter contest. Happily a war of preference and opinion was averted. The villagers were alert and won the victory before the opposition had prepared to resist. John Rogers, William Wallace Russell, and Noah Cum- mings, without submitting any propositions to the church or society, purchased a site and erected a meeting-house with a bold- ness and celerity that lessened the opposition and gained the friendly approval of very many.
The land owned by the society was purchased of the county, and is a part of the land sold to the county in 1822 by William Webster. The frame of the house was raised amid great rejoicing July 4, 1836, and was dedicated in December following. Rev. George Punchard preached the sermon, and the house was first occupied by the church in regular service Sunday, Jan. 1, 1837. During the early use of the new meeting-house a petition was
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preferred by King George, Arthur Ward, and a few others, who had not overcome their love for the old meeting-house, that service for their convenience and pleasure be held in the old meeting- house one-third of the time. The petition was dismissed, and no other reference to the subject appears in the records. In a search for material concerning the features of the third meeting-house, and an account of the repairs made with the progress of years, nothing is found not included in the Historical Sketch of the Meeting Houses prepared by Rev. Frank G. Clark and printed 1896. From this sketch the remainder of this chapter is quoted.
" The frame was seventy by forty-seven feet and of such huge dimensions that, if sawed, it would about furnish lumber enough to build a modern meeting-house. The windows were large and rectangular in shape, the pulpit was nearer the end of the audi- ence-room than at present, and box-like in shape, with a door on each side. There were two aisles, as now, with seventy-four pews, sixteen in a row and five on each side of the pulpit. These pews had doors that fastened with a button, with the design, it may be, to keep the children within proper bounds. The gallery over the vestibule was wider than now and extended over the back pews, thus providing space for four rows of pews at each end of it, and the middle portion was occupied by the choir. At first the church was heated by a stove at the west end of each aisle and near the pulpit; later they were removed to the east end of the church under the gallery and running through the partition, so that the stove doors were in the vesti- bule. This method was too much like a fire trap, and the stoves were soon placed in the rear of the middle of the audience-room. For years the stovepipes extended nearly the whole length of the church over the aisles, to the serious detriment of the carpet. As early as 1839 the society appointed a committee 'to see as to the propriety of building a furnace under this house if they think it expedient to build one,' but as no report is recorded they probably doubted the expediency of the plan. This house was a popular place for public assemblies of various kinds, and
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there was so much feeling at the beginning of the anti-slavery movement that for years the society had annually the following article in the warrant: 'To choose a committee to say on what occasions this house shall be opened and on what occasions it shall not be opened.'
"In 1844 the society appointed a committee to make some arrangements in regard to the musical instrument. This was a seraphine, and one hundred dollars, raised by subscription, was paid to Charles Austin for it. A little later the society voted two dollars for blowing the seraphine for a year and a vote of thanks to Mrs. Thompson for playing it for a year. This kind of pay was evidently unsatisfactory to the friends of Mrs. Thompson, and a handsome present was given her.
" In 1845 there is the first reference to the insurance of the building, and it was stipulated that in case of fire the money was to be paid to the society and not to the pewholders.
" In 1849 lamps were provided for the church at an expense of fifty dollars. For several years unsuccessful efforts were made to secure a chapel, but in 1851 a committee was chosen to select a place and build one, and the old chapel, as we now call it, thirty-three by twenty-four feet, was built on land of the county and continued to be used until Jan. 1, 1894. It was built by subscription and cost about six hundred dollars. The carpenter work was done by David Merrill and Sylvester D. Merrill, his son. " In 1855 the ceiling of the church was frescoed in panels and an arch represented in the rear of the pulpit.
" In 1865 some effort was made to repair the meeting-house, but nothing was done until the autumn of 1868, when one thou- sand dollars was raised by a tax on the pewholders and one thousand dollars was secured by subscription. The house was shingled and painted outside and in, the present Gothic windows were put in, costing forty-five dollars each, the gallery was made smaller, the doors of the pews were removed and arms substituted, the pulpit enclosure was removed and a pulpit procured. A carpet was purchased by the Ladies' Social Circle, also a large chande-
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lier and two smaller ones, with bracket lamps for the sides, the Circle expending five hundred dollars. Of this amount $143.35 was paid for the chandeliers. The committee on repairs were Deacon Washington George, Arthur Ward, Joseph A. Dodge, James McQuesten, and Deacon William W. Russell.
" The Ladies' Social Circle has been a strong arm of the church and society ever since its organization, March 11, 1858. At the time of these repairs just mentioned they raised large sums of money by fairs, lectures, and personal effort. Having done so much they were soon ready for still more vigorous cam- paigns in the work of the church. In January, 1872, inspired by their pastor, Rev. Cyrus Richardson, they were the leaders in securing a fine second-hand pipe organ for ten hundred and fifty dollars, from the first Baptist Church, Fall River. Mr. George W. Bailey was employed to build an organ recess in the rear of the pulpit, twenty-one feet wide and fourteen deep, with an arched roof, and to change the pulpit platform and arrange seats for the choir. About two thousand dollars were expended by the Social Circle at this time. The organ recess cost four hundred and fifty dollars, the pulpit fifty dollars, and the chairs ninety dollars. The committee of the society who had the oversight of the work were Arthur Ward, George W. Bailey, and Deacon William W. Russell. The next year, 1873, the society voted to build a par- sonage, and in the spring of 1874 a lot was purchased of John S. Tufts for eight hundred dollars and the present parsonage con- structed for forty-one hundred dollars, a total cost of nearly five thousand dollars. This large amount was raised by voluntary subscriptions. There was one pledge of one thousand dollars, one of six hundred, two of five hundred, one of three hundred, and one of one hundred dollars, and a large number ranging from five to twenty-five dollars. The Ladies' Social Circle contributed two hundred and fifty dollars, and the last eight hundred dollars were paid May, 1875, by the additional and generous gift of Mr. James McQuesten. The building committee were Arthur Ward, George W. Bailey, William W. Russell, Washington
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George, and James McQuesten. The house was built by John F. Maynard.
" The same year the meeting-house was provided with lightning rods.
" In 1881 the pewholders were taxed six hundred dollars for repairs, and the meeting-house and vestry were painted outside and in, the roof of the church was slated at a cost of one hundred and seventy-two dollars, and other minor repairs made amounting to about seven hundred dollars. The Ladies' Social Circle in 1882, Rev. Henry P. Peck, pastor, provided a new carpet for the church costing nearly four hundred dollars, and cushioned and upholstered the pews at an expense of four hun- dred and twenty-eight dollars. They held three fairs during the year and raised about eight hundred dollars. They also made extensive repairs on the parsonage at this time and paid the insurance on the church. This Ladies' Social Circle has always stood ready to help improve the condition of the Congregational church and society; it has lifted many financial burdens and made many impossible things possible. In 1890 it furnished the parsonage with a kitchen range and window shades, and the parish built a stable, woodshed, and carriage house; the buildings were thoroughly painted, the rooms papered, and a bathroom provided, Deacon William W. Russell giving largely to these improvements.
" For several years there was a prevailing feeling that the church was in sore need of better accommodations for prayer meetings and social purposes. The chapel was small and poorly ventilated and had no conveniences for social gatherings. The heating arrangements of the church were also unsatisfactory, and various plans were considered for remedying these discomforts ; but nothing definite was done until January, 1893, when Mr. George H. Guernsey, an architect and builder of Montpelier, Vt., was consulted, who submitted plans and estimates for raising the church about three feet and building a new chapel in the rear of the church and on land owned by the society. Pledges were circulated asking for six thousand dollars, to be used in making
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these proposed changes. At the annual meeting of the parish, March 15, 1893, this amount was reported as pledged, and the society voted to make the proposed improvements, provided no debt was incurred. The committee who had the oversight of the work were Deacon Jason Clark, Plummer Fox, Amos M. Kidder, and Rev. Frank G. Clark, the pastor.
" During the year the church was raised two and one-half feet, a cellar excavated, and a solid stone foundation laid. Two new chimneys were built, and brick foundations for the furnaces were laid in cement. Drainpipe was laid entirely around the cellar, also Akron pipe was laid from kitchen and toilet-rooms, and all were connected with the street sewer, and hydrant water. was brought into the building. Two of Richardson and Boynton's furnaces were put in to heat the church and chapel. At the west end of the church a building was erected, covering the organ loft, wide enough to provide a passageway from the church to the chapel on each side of the organ, with a cloak-room for the choir and another for the minister. There was also provided a hall- way in the rear of the organ, with a stairway leading to cloak and toilet rooms above. Beyond this hallway was built the chapel, fifty-six by thirty-six feet, with a truss roof, thus providing a large audience-room that can be made into three by means of draperies. Ash finish was used, a hardwood floor laid, and the room, which will seat three hundred, was furnished with chairs, rubber tipped, and having racks for hats and books. The best of ventilation was secured by an open fireplace. Over these rooms was provided a large dining-room, kitchen, and china closet with ample cupboards and shelves, all finished in spruce. The rooms above and below are all well lighted and cheery, and well supplied with electric lights. The piano, window shades, pulpit, clock, chairs, umbrella holders, cook stove, table silver, and other kitchen and dining-room furniture were donated by individuals; the choir, Sunday-school classes, and the Christian Endeavor Society and the Ladies' Social Circle did their full share of the good work. The amount expended at the time may be approximately stated as follows : -
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Carpenter work and material
$4,110.00
Stone work, raising the church and excavation
2,723.00
Mason work and material
500.00
Painting
115.00
Furnaces, plumbing, furnishings, including electric lights
1,460.00
Total
$8,909.00
" When this work on the chapel and basement of the church was completed, and the bills paid, it was found to the disappointment of all that there was no money left to renovate the audience-room, though much more money had been pledged than the estimated amount required, and almost every pledge had been promptly paid - a remarkable record, considering the hard times of 1893. The chapel was used for the first time Jan. 6, 1894, for a preparatory lecture, and the next day, Sunday, the Sunday school met there.
" The times were such that it did not seem possible to raise any more money, and the outlook was discouraging. To add to the difficulty, it was found that the top of the church tower was in an unsafe condition, and must be rebuilt at once. If this was to be done there were those who felt that it was better to make a special effort to raise funds sufficient to secure all of the neces- sary improvements. Feb. 5, 1895, pledges were circulated ask- ing for two thousand dollars additional for this purpose. The pledges were so prompt and generous that work on the audience- room began March 25. A contract was made with W. L. Wedger & Co. of Boston to provide and decorate a metal ceiling and walls for the audience-room and vestibule at a cost of $1,169.83. A tower of larger dimensions was built by H. W. Sweetzer of Camp- ton, and all the buildings were thoroughly painted by Fifield and Kelley. Electric lights were furnished, the seats of the pews were made a little wider, the pulpit platform was improved, and the steps to the choir gallery removed, and other minor improve- ments made. The Ladies' Social Circle provided a new carpet and new railing and drapery for the front of the gallery, and renovated the upholstering of the pews.
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" The amount expended for improvements in this last effort is a little over twenty-two hundred dollars. The total amount paid for running expenses and improvements in the three years 1893, 1894, and 1895 is over sixteen thousand dollars, an average of over five thousand dollars a year and over one hundred dollars for each week. It seems almost incredible that so large a sum should have been raised, as free gifts, in a town of this size, and it abundantly shows that the people were enthusiastic and united in their efforts and willing to make many personal sacrifices in the interests of the church. The enthusiasm extended to former resi- dents and natives of the town, who aided generously in the work, thus showing loyalty to the home and church of their childhood. Our meeting-house is now convenient, commodious, and comely. That which was so earnestly desired for so many years has been secured. The money for the work has been provided with willing minds, and nearly every family in the parish has helped to bear the burden. The smallest amount, pledged by a child, was twenty- five cents, and the largest sum, pledged by a family, was two thou- sand four hundred and twenty-five dollars."
Under the auspices of the Congregational Church, Bible lessons for the young were maintained each Sabbath in the schoolhouses for several years during and succeeding the ministry of Rev. Jonathan Ward. In 1837, under the encouragement of Rev. George Punchard, a Sunday school was established. The ses- sions were in the meeting-house during the intermission between the morning and the afternoon service. The school has been main- tained until the present time, and since 1858 a record of attend- ance has been preserved. The smallest number of scholars was 125, in 1875, and the same number in 1879. The largest number was 301, in 1899. The superintendents have been William Green, William W. Russell, Sr., Alvah McQuesten, David C. Webster, Washington George, William W. Russell, Jr., Silas H. Pearl, Rev. David Connell, Ambrose P. Kelsey, William H. Raymond, Rev. George H. Scott, Rev. Henry P. Peck, John Keniston, Wil- liam W. Russell, Jr., second term, Frank E. Alden, Sceva Speare,
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