USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 22
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250
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
A. J. Grout, Jared Smith, and John Keniston, second term, the present superintendent.
Whoever attempts to name the deacons during the ministry of Rev. Nathan Ward will regret the absence of the early church records, and if wise will approach conclusions with caution. It is certain that John Willoughby was a deacon from the completed organization of the church until his death in 1834. It was a long and an honorable service.
Francis Worcester came to Plymouth in 1768. He had been a deacon of the church in Hollis over twenty years. He was elected deacon soon after his removal to this town, and faithfully served the church until his death in 1800.
Joshua Fletcher was called to the office as early as 1794. He removed to Bridgewater 1802, and continued his connection with the church in Plymouth, and served as deacon until 1818, when he was dismissed to the church in Bridgewater.
In 1801 Benjamin Goold and Jotham Cummings, Jr., were elected. Deacon Goold died in 1804, and Deacon Cummings removed from town in 1811.
Asa Robbins and Ebenezer Bartlett were elected deacons in 1805. Deacon Bartlett died in 1832 and Deacon Robbins in 1835.
The following persons have succeeded: Deacon James Morri- son, 1831-36; Deacon Alvah McQuesten, 1834-67; Deacon David Clough Webster, 1856-62; Deacon Washington George, 1863-76; Deacon William Wallace Russell, Jr., 1868-92; Deacon Simeon Sanborn, 1872-78; Deacon Jason Clark, 1878-95; Deacon George Punchard Cook, since 1879; Deacon Lemuel L. Draper, 1880-99; Deacon Alfred Cook, since 1893; Deacon Sceva Speare, 1899, resigned 1900; Deacon William G. Hull, since 1900. Since 1891 the deacons have been elected for a term of four years and are eligible to re-election.
Stephen Webster, Stephen Webster, Jr., and Elisha Bean have been honored with a mention in the roll of the deacons. It is not probable, for reasons stated more fully in another chapter, that either of them at any time were members or deacons of this
251
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
church. They were Baptists. There was only one church in the town, and they probably attended the preaching of Mr. Ward and were at times chosen by the town on committees conducting parish affairs. Stephen Webster, often called Elder Webster, was a preacher of the Baptist faith, and Elisha Bean died in fellowship with the Baptist church in Rumney. Stephen Webster and Ste- phen Webster, Jr., were among the first to be excused by the town from the tax for the salary of Mr. Ward.
Since the close of the ministry of Rev. Nathan Ward the clerks of the church have been: Rev. Drury Fairbank, 1800-18; Jona- than Cummings, 1818-19; Rev. Jonathan Ward, 1819-29; Wil- liam Green, 1829-45; Rev. William Reed Jewett, 1845-62; Charles Hazelton, 1862-64; Rev. Henry A. Hazen, 1864-67; Deacon William W. Russell, 1867-79; William H. Raymond, 1879-84; Deacon William W. Russell, 1884-92; Mrs. Martha C. (Ward) Russell, 1892-97; Mrs. Annie A. (Huckins) Blais- dell, since 1897.
The pastor and the deacons for many years constituted the church committee. Since 1863 William H. Reed, Simeon San- born, James McQuesten, William G. Cook, Charles Hazelton, Jason Clark, Arthur Ward, George P. Cook, Frederic W. A. Robie, Henry Cummings, Frederick W. Ballou, Lemuel L. Draper, Perley Fossett, William Thornton, William H. Raymond, John H. Whitten, Alfred Cook, John Keniston, Alvah M. Merrill, Horace Alden, Joseph W. Atwood are former auxiliary members of the committee. The present members are J. E. S. Fifield and Solon Evans.
The following table presents an exhibit of membership, deaths, dismissal, additions, attendance at Sunday school, and collections for charitable objects, so far as facts are preserved, since 1819. During this period the whole number from whom fellowship has been withdrawn is twenty-nine. The contributions or collections are exclusive of all stated parish expenses.
-
252
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
MEMBERS.
BAPTISMS.
DATE.
Male.
Female.
ADDITIONS.
DISMISSED.
DEATHS.
Adults. Infants.
SUNDAY
SCHOOL.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
ABSENT.
1819
41
1820
21
44
1821
23
48
1822
27
61
1823
27
61
1824
20
52
1825
20
52
1826
19
51
1827
19
50
2
1828
18
47
1829
22
66
19
1830
42
78
33
1831
51
94
28
1832
71
117
46
1833
No return
1834
66
1
122
7
00
3
2
1835
No return
1836
68
144
23
3
16
$162
1837
62
121
2
2737
7
1
1839
65
127
5
3
5
2
1841
53
102
11
9
3
1842
53
102
93
3
CO
1843
No return
1844
1845
1846
44
98
0
2
1
10
1848
49
114
21
52
11422742
1
4
1850
47
121
4
1
3
1851
46
124
5
1852
46
120
1
3
15
1
1855
41
107
8
1
6
455
1857
39
100
6
1
1
4
300
1858
30
78
7
4
1
4
160
34
1860
30
70
3
1
1
165
32
1862
33
104
1
3
22
5
140
480
33
1866
30
93
10
28129
3624
52
2
160
443
29
1869
26
90
32
1870
41
115
26
1871
34
119
13
2
2393
6
233
370
28
1872
29
116
9
1873
33
116
8
1
3
1
150
200
27
450
36
34
1861
36
103
1
3
24
130
32
1863
34
94
36
1864
35
94
31
1865
33
100
33
1867
31
97
1868
30
91
6
20
130
285
34
1853
45
120
1
4
1854
42
116
4
1856
40
96
428311
6
3
1847
42
104
11
2
46289867767
313
1838
63
136
8
4
1840
62
126
3
1849
48
120
12
4
5
2712
165
1859
30
74
5
4
1
140
460
150
295
34
136
115
233
311
24
1
25112779
6
160
170
160
7
253
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
MEMBERS.
BAPTISMS.
DATE,
Male.
Female.
ADDITIONS.
DISMISSED.
DEATHS.
Adults.
Infants.
SUNDAY
SCHOOL.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
ABSENT.
1874
34
121
20
3
5
16
167
131
25
1875
32
129
10
2
7
4
260
158
30
1877
31
135
INTE
4
2
23
1
175
255
34
1879
47
159
15
4
3
1
125
247
39
1880
49
158
7
2
6
4
150
302
36
1881
47
157
1
3
4
H
150
225
36
1882
46
154
10
7
4
4
150
91
35
1883
44
153
1
6
7
2
1
148
63
54
1888
37
115
6
1
138
26
49
1889
35
110
2
128
130
51
1890
34
110
3
2
82291929
3
217
1442
17
1895
32
100
7
3
4
242
265
12
1896
35
103
13
4
2
272
490
12
1897
39
106
9
1
1
3
272
524
14
1898
41
103
2
3
280
300
16
1899
46
110
17
1
4
9
co
301
330
17
1900
46
108
9
5
3
5
299
445
15
1901
41
104
A
7
LA
3
12
280
289
15
1903
36
104
8
3
4
2
Co
272
298
16
1904
31
126
7
7
2
0
0
193
147
11
2
1
co
200
41
35
1886
38
120
7
6
4
3
13
180
117
51
1891
36
101
11
3
32
1892
32
99
14
15
1893
31
98
4
1
210
706
17
1894
31
100
6
2
4
2
145
86
38
1885
32
127
3
6
6
00
125
233
29
1876
34
136
1
1
250
284
28
1878
44
151
1884
45
149
167
64
1887
37
121
3
198
3
186
221
201
271
16
1902
38
103
3
5
2
274
341
15
109
51
254
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
XVII. THE METHODIST CHURCH.
M ETHODIST churches were organized in many towns in this vicinity about 1800. In outline features the history of Methodism in different towns is very similar. The several communities were instructed by the same preachers, moving from town to town and laboring under a common control or supervision. The result was cohesion and symmetry. Everywhere the pioneer preachers of Methodism were inspired with equal and unfailing zeal and courage, and everywhere they met the indifferent opposi- tion of the worldly, and at best a qualified welcome of the existing, churches.
The immigration to northern New Hampshire was from the south and the southeast. One hundred years ago the immigration from Grafton County was mainly to Vermont and to Canada. Rowing against the current of immigration, the early Methodist preachers came to this vicinity from Vermont and from New York. In this instance the course of empire was not westward.
The early Methodist preachers came at an opportune season. The harvest was ripe and the reapers were ready. In nearly every community there was one church of the standing order, which had been founded soon after the settlement of the town. It was a sole occupant of the field. Over each of them " the learned orthodox minister " was settled for life and preached without a rival. He was an earnest and a solemn laborer. Austere in manner, pure in mind, and diligent and faithful as a pastor, he dedicated the years of his devoted life to his Master and labored for his people according to the models and standards of his time. His counsel was the voice of wisdom, but his sympathy and fel- lowship were congealed in the solemnity of his presence. With
255
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
formal precision he visited the sick and comforted the mourner in learned phrases which grief could not accept and the mind comprehend. His sermons, the full product of hours of prayer and study, were pure and instructive. Measured by the standard of his school, they were free from heresy, and to the emotional element of his hearers, they were equally free from the gentle, tender words of love and sympathy. Even on the Sabbath he was removed from his people and preached to them from the altitude of an old-time pulpit, with deacons in sculptured solemnity seated at the corner posts. Nothing could add to the rigidness of the surroundings except a tithingman, and he was ever present with a staff of office.
The old-time minister, in the annals of New England, is a grand and noble character. He filled his mission with precision and served his generation with devotion and an exalted purpose. The altitude of the old-time pulpit was not a freak of architecture. It was an apt expression of the people to raise a pedestal for their minister. Here they placed him while preaching, and through- out the week their attitude compelled him to walk upon an even plane above them. They addressed with reverence, and if any loved him, they loved him with an element of awe that suffered no passage of the gulf that separated him from the hearts of his people. In this rigid expression of the time the people were more blamable than the minister. In all their relations his heart was as hungry and as unsatisfied as their own. So far as the minister was faithful and the people were reverent they lived up to the standard of the time, but alas, they bereaved themselves of the solace of friendship and the flavor of brotherly love.
Such were the conditions prevailing in many towns when the pioneer preachers of Methodism, the heralds of a new creed, announced their message to their fellowmen. Their early success arose more from the zeal and manner of the preacher than from the matter of the discourse. They lived among the people, they were entertained in their homes, and when not engaged in preach- ing they organized classes and secured the service of associated
256
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI.
effort. They preached in dwellings, in barns, and in the groves, and while preaching they stood among their hearers. Wisely assuming that the learned clergy had instructed the people in a knowledge of the Bible and of the Christian religion, they asserted the tenets peculiar to their church. If they appealed to the emo- tions of men, they satisfied a hunger of the soul which doctrinal and learned sermons could not appease, and if at times they be- came fervid and impassioned in manner, they felt a responsive emotion in the worship of the multitude.
These conditions and results attending the early Methodist preachers in many places were not fully developed in Plymouth. The reason is apparent. The early settlers were Congregational- ists. Rev. Nathan Ward, their devoted pastor, was affectionate and sympathetic, and while he moulded and solidified the char- acter of a generation, he avoided contention and intercepted dis- integration. Methodist churches were established in near-by towns several years before one was founded in Plymouth.
The early Methodist preachers were zealous laborers. They visited many towns and preached many sermons in New Hamp- shire, of which a record is not preserved. Probably the first Methodist preacher in Grafton County was the eccentric Lorenzo Dow, who preached in several towns in this county, including Hebron, in 1797. In the autumn of 1802 Dow came again to Grafton County and visited Plymouth. He records the event in his journal : -
I came over the river into New Hampshire where I met Martin Ruter going to form a circuit. I saw Elijah R. Sabin who had been a zealous and useful preacher, but was now broken down and married and about to locate. I had meetings in Haverhill, then rode to Plymouth and Holderness and Meredith and Gilmanton, and the melting power of God seemed to be present in many places.
Concerning the dates of the organization of the early circuits, districts, and conferences, the historians of the Methodist church are not always in exact agreement. One gives the date of an act in the progress of organization and another dates from a subse-
257
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
quent event, but in general outlines all are in substantial agree- ment. In the early days of Methodism New Hampshire was included in the New London district of the New York conference. In 1801 a record appears of the Hawke, Chesterfield, Hanover, and Landaff circuits in this State. The Landaff circuit included Lancaster, Haverhill, Rumney, Bridgewater, and several adjoin- ing towns. It is certain that the boundaries of the circuit were not clearly defined, and that the circuit preachers were expected to labor wherever called. Rev. John Brodhead was the presiding elder, and the circuit preachers were Elijah R. Sabin and Asher Smith. During the year Mr. Smith organized a class in Bridge- water, now Bristol. The proof is not preserved, but it is probable that Mr. Sabin or Mr. Smith preached in Plymouth in 1801. In 1802 the Vershire district of the New York conference, including eight circuits in Vermont and New Hampshire, was formed. Rev. John Brodhead was the presiding elder. The Bridgewater circuit included Bridgewater, Plymouth, Hebron, Groton, Alex- andria Hill, Danbury, Salisbury, Andover, Holderness, New Hampton, Sanbornton, and Northfield. Reuben Jones was the circuit preacher. In the reorganization of 1803 the Bridgewater circuit of the New York conference was in the Vermont district, with Rev. Joseph Crawford presiding elder. Rev. Elijah Hedding was the circuit preacher.
The New England conference was severed from the New York conference in 1804. It embraced the New England States, except the part of Connecticut west of the Connecticut River. At the same time the New Hampshire district was organized, with Rev. John Brodhead presiding elder. Rev. Lewis Bates and Rev. Caleb Dustin were appointed to the Bridgewater circuit, including Plymouth. The Methodists of this town remained in the same circuit district and conference until the close of the year 1825, when Plymouth was severed from the Bridgewater circuit and many hallowed associations were interrupted. The preachers on the Bridgewater circuit were earnest and zealous men, and several are prominent in the annals of the church.
VOL. I .- 17
258
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Rev. Elijah Hedding, D.D., was born at White Plains, N. Y., June 7, 1780. In 1791 his parents removed to Starksboro, Vt. He was ordained a deacon July 4, 1803, and appointed that year to the Bridgewater circuit. He rode many miles each day preach- ing constantly. He was unable to endure the self-imposed hard- ship, and was an invalid several weeks in New Chester. He rode to Plymouth, and while in this town he was prostrated with inflammatory rheumatism and was kindly attended in the home of Elder Ebenezer Blodgett, where he remained four months. He was subsequently a presiding elder, and a bishop in 1824. The degree of D.D. was conferred by Augusta College, 1829, by Union College, 1837, and by University of Vermont, 1840. He was president of the Biblical Institute, Concord, several years. He died at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., April 9, 1852. There is a current tradition that Rev. Dr. Hedding preached the first sermon under the auspices of the Methodist church in this vicinity. The tradi- tion is not probable. Mr. Hedding preached his first sermon March 26, 1800, and until he was appointed to the Bridgewater circuit he labored in western Vermont and in Canada. Rev. Asher Smith and Rev. Robert Jones had preached on the Bridge- water circuit two years before Rev. Elijah Hedding arrived in this vicinity. The tradition probably has an origin in the fact that Rev. Mr. Hedding, while filling the Bridgewater circuit in 1803, made an appointment to preach at a schoolhouse in Holder- ness, and when he arrived he was denied admission. He retired a short distance and, standing upon a large boulder, delivered a memorable sermon from the text: "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Rev. John Brodhead was born in Lower Smithfield, Pa., Oct. 22, 1770. He was an able preacher in the Middle and New Eng- land States several years, and was presiding elder of the New London, Conn., district in 1800 and 1801 and of the Vershire, Vt., district in 1802. In 1803 he was stationed at Hanover, and in 1804-06 he was presiding elder of the New Hampshire district, and the two years following of the Boston district. His subse- quent appointments were in Rockingham County. He resided
259
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
several years in Newmarket. He was chaplain of the legislature, a State senator 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1825, 1826, representative in congress 1829-33. He died at Newmarket, April 17, 1838.
Rev. Martin Ruter, D.D., was born in Charlton, Mass., April 3, 1785, and was licensed to preach by the New York conference 1801. He was a learned man and an eloquent preacher. He was appointed to the Bridgewater circuit 1805, and four years later he was the presiding elder. Subsequently he filled many appoint- ments with great ability, and was a leader in the educational work of the church. He founded a seminary at Newmarket, and was an able agent of the Western Book Concern, and president of several educational institutions. He died at Washington, Tex., May 16, 1838. Rev. Lewis Bates, the author of Memorials of Methodism, born 1780, was appointed to the circuit with Caleb Dustin, 1804. He was an able preacher, an earnest laborer, and for many years a distinguished minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died in Taunton, Mass., March 24, 1865. John Lewis Bates, former Governor of Massachusetts, is his great-grandson.
Rev. Benjamin Bishop, formerly a blacksmith of Lancaster, preached several years with a considerable measure of success. He was appointed to the Bridgewater circuit with the accomplished Martin Ruter, 1805.
In 1825, with some change of territory, the circuit was called the Bristol and Plymouth circuit, and in 1827 Plymouth was severed from Bristol and became a principal preaching station in the Plymouth circuit. By a division of the New England con- ference in 1829 the New Hampshire and Vermont conference was organized, and two years later, without change of territory, the name was changed to the New Hampshire conference. The Plymouth district, including several towns in Vermont, at this time was created, and the town of Plymouth belonged to the Plymouth district until 1840, to the Haverhill district until 1855, and since the close of that year to the Concord district of the New Hampshire conference. Plymouth remained a preaching station in a circuit, and ministers were appointed to Plymouth and to one or more adjoining towns until 1838, and since that date
260
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Plymouth has been a station and the church has enjoyed the undivided ministrations of the pastor.
The brick church, located near the present residence of Orrin W. Fletcher at West Plymouth, was built in 1823. Elder Ebenezer Blodgett, a local preacher, Oliver L. Marston, and others were zealous promoters of the enterprise. The house would seat about three hundred, and was occupied by the Methodists of this town about forty years. After preaching was established in the village the ministers appointed to Plymouth preached at both places for several years. The brick church was removed in 1865, and nothing remains but a knowledge of the effort and the sacrifice of those who built it, the record of the faithful labors of the preachers, and the sacred memory of the faith and the devotion of successive worshippers.
The first stated Methodist preaching in Plymouth village was by Rev. William Nelson in 1831. The meetings assembled in a hall owned by Nathan Harris, which stood at the corner of High- land and Langdon streets. Rev. Mr. Nelson and Rev. Matthew Newhall were the ministers appointed to the Plymouth circuit that year. The first Methodist meeting-house in Plymouth village was built during the pastorate of Rev. Schuyler Chamberlain in 1833. It stood on the site of Mason's Block. It was of wood, and cost about one thousand dollars. In 1850, while Rev. George W. H. Clark was preaching here, the house was enlarged, and again in 1857, during the pastorate of Rev. Elijah R. Wilkins. It was occupied until 1872, when the present commodious and substan- tial edifice was erected a short distance south of the former build- ing. At this time Rev. Morris W. Prince was the pastor. Including the site and the furnishings, the building cost twenty thousand dollars.
The bell was purchased and hung in the tower in 1888, during the pastorate of Rev. Thomas Tyric. The cost was met by a legacy of John H. Gill. The first parsonage owned by the society was purchased in 1842, when Rev. Moses Chase was the pastor. It was located north of the present church, and was occupied by
THE METHODIST CHURCH, PLYMOUTH VILLAGE, 1850
-.
L
THE BRICK CHURCH (METHODIST), WEST PLYMOUTH, 1830
261
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
the successive ministers until 1872. The present parsonage, located on Highland Street, was purchased at an expense of twenty-five hundred dollars in 1876, and Rev. Joseph E. Robins was the first occupant.
The New Hampshire conference, Bishop Randolph S. Foster presiding, held the fiftieth annual session in Plymouth. The conference convened Wednesday, April 9, and was dissolved Mon- day, April 14, 1879. Rev. George Hale Scott of this town was the representative of the Congregational churches who presented the fraternal congratulations of his denomination.
The first legal society was organized April 13, 1830. It in- cluded the Methodists of Plymouth, Campton, and Holderness. The first meeting assembled in Campton. The following notice was published in the Republican of Haverhill: " Notice is hereby given to all concerned that we, the subscribers, and our associates of Campton, Holderness, and Plymouth, in the County of Grafton, State of New Hampshire, have formed ourselves into a religious society and have assumed the name of the First Methodist Society of Campton, Holderness, and Plymouth, agreeable to an act en- titled ' An act empowering religious associations to assume and exercise corporate powers' passed July 3, 1827. Jacob Adams of Campton was president, Oliver L. Marston of Plymouth sec- retary, and the executive committee were William Sanborn, Samuel Kimball, and John Smith."
Since the arrival in Plymouth of the first circuit preachers one hundred years have been added to the calendar and three genera- tions bearing the burdens have joined in the prayer and the praise of devoted worshippers. The little acorn of the class, planted here by the fervid and hopeful heralds of Methodism, has grown to the spreading oak of a vigorous church. Through succeeding years the pastors and the brethren have comforted the sick and have spoken words of love and consolation to the bereaved. In moulding the character and instructing men and women in their solemn duties to God and to their fellow-men, the good work of the church is dimly seen by mortal vision, but is written in charac- ters of light in the eternal records of another world.
262
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The briefest sketch of the Methodist church in Plymouth would not be complete without mention of some of the worthy fathers who have borne the heat and the burden of their time.
Ebenezer Blodgett, son of James and Sarah (Snow) Blodgett, was born in Plymouth, Feb. 9, 1777. The family were Baptists and frequent attendants at the Congregational church. In early manhood he embraced the faith of Methodism, and was through life a firm and consistent supporter of the church. He was active and helpful in building the brick church, and was a constant attendant at the week-day and Sabbath meetings of the Method- ists. He was a local preacher many years, and often preached in Plymouth, Bridgewater, Bristol, and wherever duty called him. He removed to Bristol 1835, and there died Sept. 28, 1854. The Methodist church is dignified in the memory of men like Ebenezer Blodgett.
John Hazelton Gill, son of William and Ruth (Hazelton) Gill, was born in Boscawen, Sept. 16, 1809. The family removed to Plymouth in 1830. He was a leader of the choir, and through life an earnest, devoted man, warm in his impulses and firm in his principles. In the example of a worthy life, and in the faith- fulness of his constant labor, he called others to the Methodist church, and in his death the sweet-toned bell, by him presented, is calling another generation to the sanctuary. He died July 30, 1888.
General Cyrus Corliss, who died, after many years of devoted service, Aug. 30, 1902, and Benjamin P. Merrill, who died Feb. 4, 1901, were constant and faithful in the councils and the activities of the church, and still live in the influence of devoted lives and zealous service.
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