USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Dunstable > History of the first church in Dunstable-Nashua, N.H. : and of later churches there > Part 3
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the first church in Dunstable-Nashua, N.H. : and of later churches there > Part 3
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No Sabbath bell " knolled them to church." The plain, unsteepled, barn-like meeting-house never resounded to an organ or to a profane instrument of any kind. The windows of the humble edifice, neither large nor numerous, were guiltless of a pane of glass for fifteen years. Neatness and propriety reigned without and within. A widow lady kept the meeting-house clean and took care that no damage came to the glass. The tything-man kept his eye on the boys in the broad aisle and the " hind seats " that they might be " watched over according to law." Loose stones were cleared away outside the house. A new horse block was set up. All persons were forbidden to tie their horses to the meeting-house ladder. No " faithful dog could bear his master company " within the sacred precincts, and every dog was sore afraid of Samuel Goold, who was " chosen dog-whipper for the meeting-house." Amongst this " pecu- liar people," rigidly conforming to laws and customs like these, Thomas Weld spent the greater part of his life,
:
OLD BURYING GROUND IN DUNSTABLE-NASHUA. Monument at the Right (distant from Gate) Marking Graves of Pastors Weld and Prentice.
15
Noble Character of Rev. Mr. Weld.
ministering faithfully to them in their homes and from the pulpit according to the Puritan idea of an able and Ortho- dox minister. He was in very truth as the " voice of one crying in the wilderness." On the 9th day of June, 1702, at the age of fifty years, the beloved pastor of Dunstable closed his ministry with his life. Accurate history dis- credits the tradition that he was killed by the Indians in an attack on his garrison. The record of his life is meagre and obscure. He was a native of Roxbury, Mass., and was born of a distinguished ancestry. He studied divinity with his uncle, Rev. Samuel Danforth, a celebrated minister; and came to Dunstable in 1678. Some years after the death of his first wife he married Hannah, the daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng, one of his fellow-citizens. Mrs. Weld survived her husband many years. The historian of the times says that he was a distinguished man, and esteemed for his fervent piety and exemplary life.
As we think of this first minister of ours, whose godly life and character was so interwoven with our history, and whose cultivated Christian intelligence did so much toward shaping the progress and securing the prosperity of the town, but whose name has been remanded to obscurity, with not even an inscription upon his gravestone, we associate his fate with that of the apostolic Robinson, the first minister of the exiled Puritans, to whose far-seeing wisdom we owe the inheritance of New England, but for whose mortal remains " the old world could not afford the allotment of a permanent grave."
A successor to Mr. Weld was not provided until 1720 - a period of eighteen years after the death of the first pastor, - but religious services were not suspended in the meantime, and several honest attempts were made to settle a minister. The vacancies occurred in distressful times, and the General Court granted generous sums for the sup-
16
Unsettled Ministers and Their Support.
port of preaching. The Rev. Samuel Hunt, a graduate of Harvard College, was the minister for about five years until he was ordered to a Chaplaincy in the expedition to Port Royal.
New Hampshire had been comparatively free from the wretched witchcraft delusion. Portsmouth had a few cases, but the panic was confined to that town. Had there been a witch in Dunstable, it would have been discovered; for the minister who succeeded Mr. Hunt was the Rev. Samuel Parris, who was previously settled at Salem, and in whose family the scenes of the tragedy commenced, and whose children originated the wicked acts which led to the death of so many innocent persons. Mr. Parris re- mained here four years. Public worship still continued through the aid given by the General Court. The last assistance was given in 1713. Peace was now restored, population increased, farms were extended, and the people were able to pay for their Sabbath service.
During the next seven years the town made three ineffectual attempts to settle a minister. Liberal offers were made to three graduates of Harvard, Rev. Messrs. Amos Cheever, John Pierpont, and Enoch Coffin. Mr. Cheever and Mr. Pierpont declined their calls. Mr. Coffin accepted the offer of a " settlement " of eighty pounds and ten acres of meadow land and two hundred acres of com- mon land, with an annual salary of eighty pounds; but he was never ordained.
With so much uncertainty and indecision in ecclesias- tical affairs during this long period, we do not wonder at the facetious remark of Col. Taylor to Gov. Burnet - who was a staunch Churchman and unaccustomed to the long graces at the tables of the Colonists, - and who, on his first journey from New York, to assume his Gover- norship of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, inquired of
Money Stress, -Second Regular Minister. 17
Col. Taylor when the graces would shorten. The Colonel replied, " The graces will increase in length until you come to Boston; after that they will shorten until you come to your government in New Hampshire, when your Excellency will find no grace at all."
But the grace of preaching was restored to the town in 1720, when the Rev. Nathaniel Prentice was ordained as the second regular pastor of Dunstable. He, too, was a son of Harvard, of the class of 1714. The fathers learned wisdom from their experience with Mr. Coffin, and stipu- lated that Mr. Prentice should not " enter upon his salary " until after his ordination. Soon after, it was voted " that when Mr. Prentice comes to keep house and have a family and stands in need of a larger supply, then to add Reasonable Additions to his salary, if our abilities will afford it." Mr. Prentice soon after was married to Mary Tyng, a daughter of Judge William Tyng; and according to promise he was allowed " a large supply of wood," or ten pounds of passable money " in lew thereof yearly."
About this time (1721) there was a universal scarcity of money; and the General Assembly of Massachusetts issued bills of credit to the amount of £50,000, " to be distributed among the several towns in proportion to the public taxes." This popular mode of making money induced the Assembly over six years afterward to issue £60,000 more. The share that fell to Dunstable was loaned to Rev. Mr. Prentice " to be applied in payment of his future salary as it shall become due." Money was plenty; and, as the old meeting- house had grown so old and out of repair as not to be " decent," it was voted that it would be unwise to " rectify " the old one, but that a new one should be built about four rods westward of where the meeting-house then stood. The house was not built, however, until 1738, after the death of Mr. Prentice.
18
Growing Luxury and Freedom.
The financial prosperity of the town brought a spirit of worldiness into the settlement. The families of the royal officers in the colony introduced extravagant fashions and styles of living from England. Religion began to be as twelve, and the world as thirteen. Puritan sim- plicity gradually assumed the airs of luxury and ambition. The little society in Dunstable was afflicted by it. It was voted that Lieut. Henry Farwell and Joseph Blanchard should have the liberty to erect for themselves two pews on their own charge at the west end of the meeting-house. It proved to be a dangerous precedent. The example was contagious, and within two months it was voted that " there be four pews erected in the meeting-house; " and Sergeant Colburn, Sergeant Perham, Nathaniel Cummings and Oliver Farwell each took up a pew and could now worship God and claim. the favor of Heaven on an equality with Henry Farwell and John Blanchard.
Mr. Prentice was a very popular minister and remained with his people until his death. He was possessed of fine social qualities and excellent talent. An early historian says that he was " a man of wit and a good sermonizer." Not a little of his popularity was due to his wife. In that forest life she was the Diana of the region. Her engaging manners, activity, and courage were much admired by her parishioners; and their pride in their " minister's wife " was increased by the reputation she had made for herself beyond their own limited social circle. In what small esteem she held the conventionalities of life may be in- ferred from her fondness for gunning. Mary Prentice was a good shot. She was always present at a shooting- match. A fowling piece is still in possession of the Prentice family which she won at a target-shooting, where the gun was set up for a prize. The parson was present at the time and participated in the sport. We have no record that he ever wrote a work on " The Perfect Gun."
19
Third Regular Minister.
Mr. Prentice's life was not a long one. He died in 1737 at the early age of forty. In his will he bequeathed nearly all his property to Mary, his wife;“ as I had of her six or seven hundred pounds which she let go to pay my debts, and the rest she spent in the family to keep us alive, I think I am in conscience bound to give her an equivalent." A worthy successor of Mr. Weld, he rests near his predeces- sor in the Old South burying ground, with no stone or in- scription to mark his resting-place.
We now enter upon the second phase of the ecclesias- tical history of Dunstable. The leading peculiarity of this period is the spirit of disunion which appeared to disturb the harmony and peace that had prevailed amidst all the vicissitudes of half a century.
The church had been without a pastor only two years after the death of Mr. Prentice when it welcomed to its pulpit with pardonable pride a baptized son of the church - Josiah Swan. He had grown up among them, and had been educated for the ministry at Cambridge. By his ordina- tion in 1738, he became the third pastor of the church. Like both of his predecessors, he found his wife among the daughters of the church; yet unlike them, he did not find her among the Tyngs, but sought her among the Blanch- ards, - and Jane Blanchard became his wife the following year. The new minister began his ministry in the new meeting-house - which had been voted for, six years before, but had not been built until his agreement to settle. It stood near the old burying-ground not far from the State line, having been built for the accommodation of the origi- nal township. During the six years previous to Mr. Swan's ordination great municipal changes had been at work. The township was dismembered. One after another, new townships were set off from the original grant, and Hudson, Litchfield, Merrimack, Hollis, and Brookline, sprang into
20
Disintegration of Old Dunstable.
existence as separate incorporations; until, by 1740, old Dunstable was reduced to the limits of what is now known as Nashua, Tyngsborough, and Dunstable, Mass. After violent struggles, which generally attend the separation of common interests, old Dunstable was severed nearly in the middle; and in 1741, Nashua of the present, with a large majority of the inhabitants, was set off to the upper Province, and was called Dunstable, New Hampshire.
The church was naturally affected by the animosities and controversies. A single church could no longer stretch its wings over so many districts, and the loss of many former members rendered it difficult to support a minister.
Another consequence of the division of the town was the necessity for a new meeting-house. The population was widely scattered. A diversity of interests prevented the selection of a location satisfactory to all parties; and the town finally voted, in June, 1746, to have the preaching in Ephraim Lund's barn. Jonathan Lovewell, a brother of the famous Capt. John Lovewell, of " Lovewell's Fight," proposed, in company with others, to build the meeting- house at their own expense, provided they could sell all the wall pews for their own benefit. After much warm discussion, the town accepted the proposal, and the church was built in 1747, a few rods north of the Old South Church.
Other causes of dissension had arisen within the church, which the present difficulties only helped to aggra- vate. Not long after Mr. Swan's settlement the quiet enjoyment of uniformity in faith, method, and practice, was invaded by an unusual religious excitement. The eloquence of Whitefield, who came into New Hampshire in 1744, affected the entire population of the State. So fascinated were the people that they forsook their ordinary occupations, laid aside their worldly schemes, and fol- lowed the wonderful preacher from place to place. The
21
Growth of Sectarianism.
professors at Cambridge, and many of the clergy, opposed and vilified him; but he bound the hearts of the people to himself with the most enthusiastic devotion.
Religion and theology, which for years had lost some- thing of the old Puritan vividness in the minds of the colonists, now burned with increased ardor. They be- came the absorbing subjects of discussion. The churches were "infected with lay exhorters, who had undertaken to play the bishop in another man's diocese," as the regular clergy complained. New revelations and interpretations of Scripture were promulgated. The disputed points were discussed and decided in town-meetings.
One of the ablest advocates of the "New-Light" doctrines was Daniel Emerson, a famous skater and wres- tler, who had recently become the first pastor in the new town of Hollis. Under the powerful preaching of White- field he forsook a wild life at Cambridge College and fol- lowed the great preacher from place to place. He received into his own strong, ardent and impulsive nature the in- fluence of the mighty man of God. The disciple, in his turn, became a flaming New Light. He was a kind of Congregational Bishop in his region. No man in southern New Hampshire was so extensively known, and his in- fluence was powerful on the surrounding ministers and churches. Mr. Swan's society did not escape the contagion, and a division followed. The pastor himself was a very prudent, thrifty man, but could not be called eminent for spirituality. His lack of sympathy with the zealous min- ister at Hollis, and with the New-Light doctrines in general, estranged from him many of his pious hearers who had em- braced the new faith. The differences in the church, the township controversies, and the religious excitement of the times, all combined to render Mr. Swan's position a difficult one. With his temperament and training, he was
22
Church Dissensions.
hardly equal to the exigencies of the hour; and failing to unite the opposing parties, he was dismissed.
Soon after his dismission he returned to Lancaster, Mass., where he had taught school previous to his settle- ment in the ministry. He resumed his former occupation, and became an eminent teacher. Here he remained until 1760; and then removed to Walpole, N. H., where he died.
The dismission of Mr. Swan did not allay the troubles, nor did the settlement of Mr. Bird (1747), who was an openly pronounced New Light. The choice was far from being satisfactory, and the division of sentiment was nearly equal. The New-Light party, headed by Jonathan Love- well, built the new meeting-house according to the plan before described, and the church government was that of a one-man power.
Col. Blanchard, who led the opposition, refused to pay a minister whose doctrines openly subverted the faith of the Pilgrims. All who were dissatisfied with Mr. Bird were excused from the "minister-tax." The history of church dissensions now repeated itself and found a new illustration. Col. Blanchard and other orthodox members claimed to be the original church; and, separating them- selves from the New Lights, resumed worship in the old meeting-house near the State line, - where they were joined by their former friends in Tyngsborough and Dun- stable, Mass.
This new "Lovewell's Fight " was not confined to the battle-ground in the church. Here again history re- peats itself. The contest concentrated itself into an in- tensely bitter party spirit, and pervaded the whole body politic. For a century after, the Blanchard party and the Lovewell party were pitted against each other in all matters of church and state. The petition of the Pine Hill resi-
23
Dunstable, under a N. H. Charter.
dents to be set off to Hollis clearly reveals one phase of the hostility. "Each party," says the petition, " courted Pine Hill's assistance, promising to vote them off to Hollis as soon as the matter was settled. And so Pine Hill was fed with sugar plums for a number of years, till at length Dunstable cast off the mask and now appears in true colors. She wishes to keep us as a whip for one party to drive out every minister that comes there."
Soon after the secession it occurred to Blanchard that the town-meeting which called Mr. Bird was an illegal one; for, as yet, the Legislature of New Hampshire had not recognized Dunstable, N. H., as an incorporated town. Massachusetts had no jurisdiction over a town in New Hampshire; therefore the proceedings of the town-meeting held under a Massachusetts charter were null and void. The Legislature of New Hampshire sustained Blanchard; the transactions of that town-meeting were declared con- trary to law. This decision led to the legal organization of the township under its New Hampshire charter, and a new town-meeting was called. The Blanchard star was now in the ascendancy. Mr. Bird did not enjoy his new religion in Dunstable, and migrated to a more congenial . clime in New Haven, Conn.
When we look on these estranged party leaders, once such strong friends, and united by the common bond of perils past and jointly encountered and overcome, we sym- pathize with Coleridge's lines:
"Alas! they had been friends in youth; But whispering tongues can poison truth; Each spake words of high disdain And insult to his heart's best brother;
They parted - ne'er to meet again! But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining;
24
A New Meeting-House.
They stood aloof, the scars remaining, Like cliffs which had been rent asunder; A dreary sea now flows between; But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder, Shall wholly do away, I ween, The marks of that which once hath been."
At this distance from the strife, it would relieve us to know if Joseph Blanchard and Jonathan Lovewell ever shook hands and mutually bade by-gones be by-gones, and agreed to "let the dead past bury its dead." We may at least hope that long ago they saw eye to eye on the peace- ful plains of Heaven. That there was a little softening of the bitter feeling appears in the fact that the New-Light leader was appointed by the town to hire preaching. The new meeting-house formerly occupied by Mr. Bird, and then the only one in New Hampshire Dunstable, again sheltered both parties.
Six years afterwards, in 1753, the town voted to build a new meeting-house at the crotch of the roads near Jona- than Lovewell's. Lovewell's house was two miles below the present City Hall, and was known to many of us as Gibson's tavern. It is now owned by Alfred Godfrey, Esq.
The new meeting-house was partly composed of the materials of the old meeting-house near the state line, built during Mr. Swan's pastorate. The "Bird " meeting- house was bought by Jonathan Lovewell and converted into a dwelling house, whose ancient associations of Chris- tian warfare are fitly perpetuated by its being the residence of our gallant Col. Bowers.
A second long period of twenty pastorless years now succeed the building of the new church. Preaching was not suspended; but the spirit of contention prevailed through- out, and there was only the form of godliness without its power. Earnest efforts were made to settle a minister.
25
Prolonged Dissensions.
Calls were made and accepted, but a nettling persistent minority would enter a protest and annul the entire pro- ceedings. Benjamin Adams, Elias Smith, Josiah Cotton, Jonathan Livermore, Thomas Fessenden - all, sons of Harvard, and able ministers of the gospel- were succes- sively called, and either declined settling in such a turbu- lent place, or were prevented from settlement by some member of the minority who had lived in Londonderry. The form of a protest entered at the call of Elias Smith has been preserved: --
" We the subscribers *
* protest against the choice of Mr. Elias Smith for our minister * * and for these reasons: first, because we are not of the persuasion he preaches and endeavors to maintain; we are Presbyterians and do adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith; * we are members of the Presbyterian church in Londonderry - some, eighteen years - some, fifteen years, - and have partaken of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper as frequently as we could * * and we cannot in con- science join in calling or paying Mr. Smith. Therefore we plead the liberty of conscience that we may hear and pay where we can have the benefit."
JOHN ALLD. JEREMIAH COLBURN.
Another party was more pointed in its dissent. "Mr. Smith's preaching favors the Arminian scheme, which tends to pervert the truths of the gospel and darken the counsels of God." In Mr. Cotton's case the call was accepted, the day of ordination appointed, the churches invited to assist in the services, - when another Presby- terian protest was entered, and the church again learned that there was " many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip."
26
End of Dunstable Theocracy.
Party feeling ran so high on this occasion that an Ecclesias- tical Council was called to settle the difficulty. Mutual explanations followed, and a compromise was effected.
It would have given joy to us to-day if we could have known that the two party leaders had then buried the hatchet; but Joseph Blanchard died in 1758, before the reconciliation was effected.
To prevent theological differences in the future, a town meeting was called in 1761, to see what doctrines the town would support; and the "New England Confession of Faith " was adopted.
A brighter day was soon to dawn upon the church, although the cloud rolled but slowly and heavily away. The silver lining appeared in Mr. Joseph Kidder, a late graduate of Yale College. He was offered a settlement of $450 and an annual salary of $180. This excellent minister was ordained March 18, 1767. His long pastorate of over fifty-one years was not without trials. Party spirit, al- though slumbering, was occasionally roused into energetic life, both on old points of dispute, and on new ones oc- casioned by the exigencies of the times. The difficulties culminated in 1796. The case was referred to a committee mutually chosen by the parties, which decided to end the civil connection between Mr. Kidder and the town. He was consequently the last minister paid and settled by the town; and here ended the Dunstable theocracy. - (See explanation on p. viii of Introduction.)
Scarcely had the internal dissensions settled down to comparative quiet under the wise counsels of Mr. Kidder, when the town was excited by premonitions of trouble with the Mother-Country. The spirit of opposition, aroused by the Stamp Act and the tea-tax, together with the evident purpose of the British government to place the churches of America under the control of the Church
27
Outbreak of Revolutionary War.
of England, culminated at last at Lexington and Bunker Hill. Town meetings were held in the church. The green in front of the meeting-house near Gibson's tavern was covered with excited Federalists discussing the events of the day and preparing for the contest. The people called upon the minister to search the Scriptures and declare to them the counsels of God; and we may be sure that Joseph Kidder responded with alacrity. Dr. Bouton of Concord relates an incident illustrating the patriotic spirit of the New Hampshire clergy during the Revolution. "One Sunday Col. Gordon Hutchins rode into Concord from Exeter, and, dismounting at the door of the church, entered in the midst of the service. The quick eye of Timothy Walker, the venerable pastor, caught sight of him; and, suddenly pausing, he called out, " Col. Hutchins, are you the bearer of any message? " "Yes! Gen. Burgoyne is on his march to Albany: Gen. Stark has offered to take command of New Hampshire men; and if all turn out, we can cut off his march." The old pastor instantly rejoined: " Those of you who are willing to go had better go at once." All the men in the meeting-house rose and went out. Many enlisted. The whole night was spent in preparation, and a company was ready to march the next day.
Beyond doubt, Capt. William Walker and the Dun- stable company - which comprised one-half the able- bodied men of the town - accoutred for battle, marched to church before going to Charlestown, and listened to a patriotic farewell sermon from Joseph Kidder, and were fortified in spirit by his strong and fervent prayers for the success and prosperity of the American armies. The psalm would be one of David's war songs: the text, brave Joab's words, " Be of good courage, play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth him good ": the sermon, adapted to the occasion
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