USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Candia > History of the town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H., from its first settlement to the present time > Part 37
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At the time referred to neighborhood prayer meetings were held at private residences alternately. The exercises consisted of exhortations, prayer and the singing of hymns to the tunes of Arlington, Peterborough, St. Martin, Turner, Exhortation, Mear, Dundee and others, etc. The hymn beginning with the line, "The day is past and gone" sung to a pleasing melody, was a great favorite sixty-five years ago.
When an application for admission to the church was favorably received for consideration, the applicant was said to have been propounded. Once in two months, the sacrament of the Lord's supper was celebrated at the Con-
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
gregational meeting house. The members of the church sat together in the body pews, while those who were not members occupied the wall pews. Rev. Mr. Wheeler was the minister from 1819 to 1833, and stood at the commu- nion table below the pulpit and broke the bread and poured the wine into the sacramental cups from the shin- ing tankards, talked affectionately and impressively to his brethren counseling them to be faithful to their solemn vows, to lead pure and blameless lives before the world and rejoice in the hope and promise that, when their trials. and sorrows on the earth were ended, they should be ad- mitted to the realms of the blest in heaven, where sin and suffering could never enter. How deeply solemn, rev- erential and sincere were the countenances of Deacons Langford, Shannon and Daniel Fitts, Jr., as they walked softly and noiselessly through the aisles and passed to the communicants the emblems of the love and sacrifice of their dying Lord!
The most of the men and women who were members of the Congregational, the Free Will Baptist and the Metho- dist churches were faithful to the light which they had re- ceived concerning their relations to God and the future lite and endured their trials and disappointments with patience and becoming fortitude.
"Once they were mourners here below, And wet their couch with tears,
They wrestled hard as we do now, With sighs and doubts and fears."
The records of the churches of the town show that, in the course of many years, there were a few cases where members failed to conduct themselves in a manner con- sistent with their professions. Some were charged with intemperance, some with profanity, some with falsehood and some with unchaste conduct. The records also show that the officers and members of the churches always man- ifested a spirit of charity and forbearance towards their erring brethren which was worthy of the highest admira- tion of all good people. The offenders were only required to confess their sins and promise to lead pure and upright lives in the future. When the transgressors refused to
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
comply with these conditions, they were ex-communicated or rejected, as it was sometimes termed.
The ministers of the Congregational society often ex- changed with those of the neighboring towns. During Mr. Wheeler's ministry exchanges were made with Rev. Messrs. Arnold and Clement of Chester, Wells of Deerfield, McFar- land of Concord, Prentice of Northwood (whose slow and measured manner of speaking, solemn visage and deep, sepulchral tone were noticable), Burnham of Pembroke (a man of marked ability, who preached and prayed in an an- imated and colloquial manner very pleasing to his audi- ence), Farnsworth and Bailey of Raymond, Parker of Der- ry, Harris of Dunbarton (often called "the broad ax" from the sturdy manner in which he hewed arguments in defence of Orthodoxy), Church of Pelham and Carpenter of Chiches- ter. At a later date, exchanges were made with Rev. Mes- srs. Day and Wellman of Derry, Coggswell of Northwood, Thayer of Windham, Bouton of Concord, Wallace, Bartlett, Tucker of Manchester. In 1877, Rev. Mr. Tucker preach- ed one Sunday at the Congregational church. Among his auditors was a committee of the Madison Square Presby- terian Society of New York city, who came to Manchester the evening before to hear him preach from his own pulpit with the view of giving him a call to settle in New York if he made a favorable impression upon them. On Sunday morning they drove over to Candra and listened to his ser- mon with much satisfaction. A few weeks later, Mr. Tuck- er was settled as pastor of fhe Madison Square church, one of the richest and most fashionable in New York.
Most of the Evangelical Christians have believed that no person could be converted save by the special and mir- aculous influence of the Holy Spirit and that when a per- son was thus converted or regenerated he was perfectly conscious of the wonderful change. Sometimes there were cases when persons who had most anxiously desired to be converted waited in vain for the mysterious change, but were never consciously "born again," though they com- plied with all the conditions laid down by their religious teachers. Candidates for admission to the church were critically examined on this point and closely questioned in
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
regard to the manner in which they were "turned from · darkness to light."
Some very excellent persons, who had been church mem- - bers many years, were often sorely troubled by grave doubts as to whether they had been truly regenerated, and were dreadfully afraid to die. Their doubts were well ex- pressed in the following stanza of a hymn, which was of- ten sung to a tune in the minor key at conferences and prayer meetings :
'Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought; Do I love the Lord or no,
Am I His or am I not?
The late Samuel Fitts, who was one of the best and most spiritually minded men in town, was often afflicted with the fear that his name was not "written in the Lamb's book of life." His great humility prompted him to leave directions that there should be no words of eulogy or praise spoken at his funeral. This alone was the highest evidence that he was a man of exalted character.
In 1873, the custom of holding an afternoon service at the Congregational church was abolished. The Free Will Baptists continued to hold afternoon services several years longer.
It is well understood that at this time less than one-third of the people of the town of a suitable age attend the ser- vices at the churches on Sundays, whereas sixty years ago nearly all of the people, except infants and invalids, were in the habit of going to meeting. In accounting for the- changes in this respect it must be remembered that,Çin re -- cent years, the religious opinions of the people have been greatly modified by the teachings of Universalists, Unitari- ans, Adventists and Spiritualists as well as by the printed sermons of Henry Ward Beecher, Theodore Parker and the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Under these circumstan- ces, it is not strange that a very ordinary or inexperienced young clergyman cannot edify or instruct men and women who have thought deeply on the subject of their relations to God and the Universe, or to greatly interest people of much intellectual ability.
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
Sunday schools as they are now conducted were first established at the Congregational church about the year 1824. For many years previous to that time the young people were catechised at their homes and sometimes at the meeting house. The text books at that time were the New England Primer or Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism. In some cases the children were required to commit a few verses from the Bible or some stanzas from the hymn books. Some of the teachers in the public schools required their pupils to commit verses or hymns on Sundays to be recited at the opening of the school on Mon- day morning.
When the Sunday school was regularly established by the Congregational society, a library of a small number of books was purchased. The books, many of which were written in England were published by the American Sun- day School Union of Philadelphia. One of the first text books used was entitled Cummings' Questions.
PROGRESSIVE ORTHODOXY.
It is the belief of all evangelical Christians that no per- sons can be saved from eternal punishment except by sin- cere faith and trust in the personal Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem , as their Redeemer, and according- ly the many millions of people who have lived in heathen lands and have never heard or known of Him, will be for- ever lost. In 1887, the professors of the Theological Sem- inary at Andover, Mass., published a volume entitled "Progressive Orthodoxy" in which they endeavored to prove by scripture authority that all persons who have died with- out a knowledge of Christ will be afforded an opportunity to know and accept Him as their Saviour after death in a state of probation of greater or lesser duration before the final judgment day. This doctrine has been endorsed by a considerable number of the younger class of Congrega- tional ministers in the United States, while the majority of the older class, among whom are some of the ablest, re-
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gard it as a dangerous heresy. Many of the latter class of ministers refuse to take any part in the ordination of instal- lation of ministers who embrace those views.
FOREIGN MISSIONS.
In 1810, the Congregationalists of the United States or- ganized a great national society called the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign missions for sending the gospel to heathen lands. Missions were established in various places to the end that the people there may be saved from perdition. These missions were supported by contributions from the Congregationalists in various cities and towns in the several states of the Union. During the past seventy years the members of the Congregational so- ciety in Candia have contributed a large sum of money in the aggregate to aid in providing liberal salaries for mis- sionaries of both sexes and their families. Some of the missionaries receive a salary of $1000 and upwards beside the expense of their transportation to" their fields of labor. For many years the Board has published,a monthly period- ical called the Missionary Herald, containing reports of the condition and progress of foreign missions fiom time to time. Several copies of this periodical were taken in Can- dia. At a prayer and conference meeting in the school house of old district No. 2, in the summer of 1829, Dea. Daniel Fitts made an earnest exhortation in the course of which he referred to the grand results of foreign missions. In his enthusiasm he said he had no doubt that some of the little boys and girls then present at the meeting would live to see the long promised millenium when the people of the whole earth will become believers in evangelical doc- trines and be fully regenerated and purified from all sin. Since that time a large number of missionaries have been sent out by the Board. The Methodists, Baptists and Epis- copalians in Europe and America have also established missions in various heathen countries. The members of the Free Will Baptist Society in Candia have coutributed liberally for the support of foreign missions many years.
At the New Hampshire Free Will Baptist Yearly Meeting
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
in Manchester, in 1890, Rev. F. C. Chase of Dover deliv- ered the annual address on Foreign Missions in the course of which he said that it is estimated there are now on the earth eleven.hundred millions of human beings who are unreached by Christian influences of any kind. He also said there are in the world thirty millions of Protestant church members and one million and a half of heathen converts to Christianity. He also stated that "the terrible influence of ungodly English speaking people is almost past belief. The vast quantities of liquors sent from America ruin more than the church can save. Boston alone sent in five years more than 1, 500,000 gallons of rum to Africa."
Rev. Dr.E. K. Alden, the present secretary of the American Board, in a recent letter to the author of this history, stated that it is estimated that the total pop- ulation of the world is now fourteen hundred and eighty millions, of whom four hundred millions live in nominal Christian countries and that there are about one million and a half of heathens who have abandoned heathen practices, about one half of whom, or seven hundred and fifty thou- sand, are communicants in native Christian churches.
According to the above estimates it appears that out of fourteen hundred and eighty millions of people now on the globe there are thirty one and a half millions who are members of Protestant Christian churches, including half a million of communicants in native heathen churches while the vast majority are still unconverted and unrecon- ciled to Christ according to evangelical standards. It would seem therefore, that good Dea. Fitts was somewhat over sanguine in his expectations seventy years ago as to the time of the coming of the millenium.
The Catholics of Europe and America long ago estab- lished missions among the heathen and in recent years the Unitarians and Universalists have sent out missionaries to India, Japan and other heathen lands. A Congregational minister who is well known to Candia people has been lo- cated as a missionary in Japan for several years. He re- cently reported to his friends in New Hampshire that the heathen in that country are often greatly bewildered and perplexed in their attempts to decide as to which class of
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missionaries they should believe and follow, one class telling them that there is an eternal hell for unbelievers in their doctrines and another class assuring them that there is no hell at all and that all mankind, however weak and er- ring they may be, will finally be brought safely to the bos- om of their Infinite Father and Creator who loves them better than earthly parents ever did or can love their chil- dren, while the Catholics tell them that they are the representatives of the only true Christian church.
Some of the missionaries to India have recently reported to the American Board that many intelligent Hindoos re- fuse to listen to the teachings of evangelical missionaries for the reason that, according to the doctrine that all who die without faith in Christ will be consigned to eter- nal punishment, implies that all their ancestors for untold generations have been suffering for ages, the torments of the damned.
In these latter days the people of Candia are tolerant and kindly disposed towards each other, notwithstanding their differences of opinion upon religious subjects. This state of things is in wide contrast with that which prevailed eighty years ago or more when the Free Will Baptists se- ceded from the Congregational church and were regarded as dangerous heretics by their former brethren because they believed in the doctrine of the Freedom of the Will and that immersion was the proper mode of baptism.
During the past twenty years the doctrines of total de- pravity, election, the perseverance of the saints and the eternal punishment of unbelievers in hell have been seldom alluded to in many of the evangelical churches in New Hampshire and in, many cases, those doctrines have been stricken from the creed. Many orthodox clergymen now preach the doctrine that no person can be supremely hap- py, either here or hereafter, without being freed from the dominion of their. animal passions and sins of every name and nature. Rev. Dr. Nichols, Assistant Protestant Bishop of California, in a sermon which he preached in Boston in 1892, said that the true mission of the Christian church was mot so much for keeping people from going to hell as it
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
was to keep hell out of them and not so much for getting" people into heaven as to get heaven into them. *
For many years the Baptist, Congregationalist and Methodist ministers refused to hold any relations of a. religious nature with Unitarian or Universalist ministers. At this time the latter class of ministers officiate at funerals and upon other public occasions in connection with those- who hold to orthodox doctrines, and in many cases Unitarian ministers are invited to preach in orthodox: pulpits.
It may be mentioned that there have been some persons- in Candia who have fully endorsed the great doctrine of "The Right of Private Judgement" in all matters pertaining to religion and our relations to the spiritual world as claim- ed by Luther and other leaders of the Protestant Reforma- tion. They, moreover, insist that all men are endowed with moral and spiritual instincts or intuitiors to a greater or less degree, which, when fully developed, will enable- them to discover at first hand the highest and grandest moral and spiritual ideas and principles; to know truth from, error and justice from injustice. They refuse to submit to- the authority of all persons or ecclesiastical bodies of any age or nation, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, Catholics- or Protestants, and they endeavor to follow the teachings. of Jesus, who said to his persecutors, "Yea, why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right," and the advice of Paul who said, "Prove all things and hold fast that which
* A few years ago the following anecdote appeared in the Editor's Drawer of Harper's monthly magazine of New York City.
In 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was about to leave his home in Springfield, Ill. to take the Presidential chair, an old Baptist minister of the place called upon. him to bid him goodby. In the conversation which ensued, the minister told the. President-elect that he was deeply concerned for the salvation of his soul and kindly warned him that unless he repented of his sins and fully believed on tlie- Lord Jesus Christ, he would be eternally punished in hell. Mr. Lincoln replied by saying that when he lived in Kentucky, he was acquainted with an eccentric man by the name of Lincum Todd who wrote an epitaph to be placed on his tomb- stone at his death. Mr. Lincoln remarked that the epitaph was a clearer and bet- ter expression of his sentiments upon the question of the future punishment of the wicked than any statement he had ever seen. He then repeated the epitaph. as follows :
Here lie the bones of Lincum Todd, Have mercy on him gracious God, He would on you if he were God, And you were only Lincum Todd.
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is good." Hence they believe that the intelligent soul is the supreme and final authority in the search for truth.
Such as these insist that honest belief in a dogma or doc- trine of religion, (and there can be no real belief which is not honest), depends upon the intelligence of an individ- ual and the evidence submitted, or -upon the influences which are brought to bear upon the mind and is, therefore, wholly involuntary; and yet, for ages, people have been taught that their salvation from eternal punishment depends upon their belief in certain doctrines or dogmas which may be true or false. They also claim that they have the mor- al right to criticize the sayings of every man and woman who ever lived and those contained in every book which was ever printed.
OFFICERS OF THE UNION BAPTIST CHURCH.
The following names of the officers of the Union Baptist Church were accidently omitted in the history of that or- ganization commencing on page 215 of this work:
DEACONS.
Abraham Bean, Samuel Dudley, Samuel Tuck, Richard Currier, Woodbury J. Dudley, Gordon Bean, John H. Fos- ter.
CLERKS OF THE SOCIETY.
Thomas Critchett, John Moore, John A. Cram, Jacob S. Morrill, Daniel B. Robinson, John Prescott.
CLERKS OF THE CHURCH.
Jeremiah Fullerton, Willlam Turner, Samuel Dudley, A. D. Dudley, Edgar S. Carr, W. J. Dudley.
CHAPTER XXXI.
TOWN OFFICERS.
REPRESENTATIVES TO THE PROVENCIAL CONGRESS AT EXETER.
Doct. Samuel Mooers.
May 1775 | Walter Robie,
1780-81
Moses Baker,
Dec. 1775
Nathaniel Emerson,
1782
Dr Samucl Mooers.
1776
Ezekiel Knowles. 1783
Moses Baker,
1777
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
Abraham Fitts,
1784 | Voted not to send, 1861
Nathaniel Emerson,
1785-86
John Brown,
1862
Stephen Fifield,
1785-88
Gordon Bean.
Voted not to send,
1789-90
John Brown, 1863
Nathaniel Emerson,
1791-92
Gordon Bean,
Samuel Morrill,
1793-94
Alexander Gilchrist,
1864
Nathaniel Emerson,
1794-98
Cyrus T. Lane,
Thomas Wilson.
1799 to 1804
True French, 1865
Jesse Eatou,
1804-05
Alvin D. Dudley,
Richard Emerson,
1806
william D. Ladd,
1866
John Taylor,
1807
Alvin D. Dudley,
Moses Fitts,
1808 to 10
Joseph Hubbard, 1867
John Taylor,
1811-12
Benjamin Dearborn,
Samuel Anderson,
1813 to 15
Jesse W. Sargent,
1868
John Lane,
1816 to 18
Jolm W. Cate,
Jesse W. Sargent, 1869
Moses Bean. Peter Eaton,
1820-21
Andrew J. Edgerly,
Jesse M. Young, 1870
John Lane,
1823 to 28
Jonathan Pillsbury,
John Moore,
1833-34
Jonathan Pillsbury,
1872
Gilman Richardson,
1838-39
. Joseph Richardson,
1840
James R. Batchelder,
1874
James Smith,
1843-44
James R. Batchelder,
Jonathan Martin,
1845-46
Frank P. Langford,
1875
Austin Cass,
1849
Voted not to send,
1876
Rufus E. Patten,
1850
Voted not to send,
1877
Samuel Dudley,
1851-52
John W. Cate,
1878
Austin Cass.
Frank P. Brown,
1879
Francis Patten,
1854
Andrew J. Edgerly,
1881
Jon than H. Philbrick,
1856
Charles H. French,
1883
William Crane,
1857
George W. Whittier,
1885
William Crane,
1858
Voted not to send,
1886
Ezekiel Lane,
Voted not to send,
1887
Henry M. Eaton,
1859
T. Benton Turner,
1888
Elias P. Hubbard,
T. Benton Turner, 1889
Henry M. Eaton,
1860
Henry W. Moore,
1890
Elias P. Hubbard,
1847-48
James Adams,
Francis Patten,
1853
Isaiah S. Lang,
1880
Austin Cass,
A. J. Edgerly,
Jonathan H. Philbrick, - 1855
Charies H. French,
1882
Abraham Emerson,
1836-37
John H. Nutting,
William B. Thorne,
1873
Rufus E. Patten,
1841-42
William B. Thorne,
Jesse M. Young, 1871
Benjamin Pillsbury,
1835
Jacob L. Barker,
Moses Bean,
1822
Henry T. Eaton,
1829 to 32
Joseph C. Langford,
George W, Whittier,
1884
Ezekiel Lane
1819
-
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
MODERATORS.
Samuel Mooers, John Clay, Abraham Fitts,
1764
Benjamin Pillsbury, 1816
1765 Daniel Fitts,
1817
1766 to 1768 Henry Eaton,
1818
1769 Benjamin Pillsbury,
1819
1770 Henry Eaton,
1820-21
1771 to 1778
1779
1823 to 1829
Benjamin Cass, Walter Robie, Benjamin Cass, Walter Robie,
1781
1782
John Moore,
1834 to 1841
Abraham Fitts,
1783
Rufus E. Patten,
1842 to 1850
John Lane,
1784 to 1788
Jonathan Martin,
1851
Samuel Towle.
1789 Jonathan Martin,
Samuel Morrill,
1890
Rufus E. Patten, John Prescott,
1854 to 1860
Nateaniel Emerson, Walter Robie,
1794 to 1797
John Prescott,
1867
John Lane,
1798 to 1802
Moses Emerson, George Emerson,
1868 to 1875
Moses Fitts, John Lane,
1804-05
Moses F. Emerson,
1875
Daniel Fitts,
1806 to 1808
Austin Cass,
1876
Henry Eatou,
1809
Andrew J. Edgerly,
1877 to 1885
Danial Fitts,
1810
Frank P. Langford,
1886
Henry Eaton,
1811 1812 Frank P. Langford, Andrew J. Edgerly,
1888 to 1890
Samuel Foster,
1813
Dauiel Fitts,
1814-15
Frank P. Langford, Frank P. Langford,
1S92
SELECTMEN.
1764. Benjamin Bachelder, John Sargent, Jeremialı Bean. 1765-66. Samuel Mooers,
Jonathan Brown, John Lane, Walter Robie. 1779.
Walter Robie, Ephraim Eaton, Thomas Wilson. 1796.
Jonathan Hills, Moses Baker, 1767-68. Nathaniel Emerson, Abraham Fitts, Ichabod Robie. 1769, Nathaniel Emerson,
Nathaniel Emerson, Abraham Fitte, John Lane, 1781.
Abraham Fitts,
Ichabod Robie,
Nathaniel Emerson, Benjamin Cass. 17S2-83.
Jesse Eaton, Thomas Wilson. John Lane. 1800-01
John Lane, Samuel Morrill, John Clay. 1802.
John Lane, Walter Robie, Moses Fitts. 1803. Daniel Fitts, Jonathan Currier, Theophilus Clough. 1804. John Clay, Jonathan Currier, Theophilus Clough. 1805.
John Clay, John Lane, Henry Eaton.
Dr. Samuel Mooers. 1770. Walter Robie, Abraham Fitts, Benjanin Cass. 1771: Moses Baker, Theophilus Sargent, Nathaniel Burpee. 1772 to 75. Moses Baker, Walter Robie. Abraham Fitts. 1776. Nathaniel Emerson, Walter Robie, Moses Baker. 1777. Nathaniel Emerson, William Baker, Theophilus Clough.
Samuel Buswell. John Hills, Ephraim Eaton. 1784 to 87. Ephraim Eaton, John Clifford, Samuel Morrill. 1788. Jonathan Bagley, John Lane, Abraham Fitts. 1789 to 91 John Lane, Jonathan Brown, Eplıraim Eaton. 1792 to 94. Ephraim Eaton, Jonathan Brown. Walter Robie,
1795.
1778.
Nathaniel Emerson, Abraham Fitts, Isaiah Rowe. 1780.
John Clay, Abraham Fitts, Nathan Brown. 1797-98. Walter Robie, Thomas Wilson, Jesse Eaton. 1799.
1887
Daniel Fitts,
1891
Walter Robie,
1791-92
1793
Austin Cass,
1861 to 1865
1866
1803
Benjamin Pillsbury, Henry Eaton, John Lane, Benjamin Pillsbury,
1822
1780
1820-31
1832-33
1852
1853
Moses Baker, Abraham Fitts, Moses Baker,
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
1806. Joseph C. Smith, Jonathan Currier, Simon Ward. 1807. Daniel Fitts, Henry Eaton, Joseph Hubbard. 1808. Daniel Fitts, Henry Eaton, Theophilus Clough. 1809. Henry Eaton, Moses Bean, Moses Colby. 1810.
Henry Eaton, Moses Bean, John Lane, Jr. 1811-12. John Lane, Jr. Benjamin Pillsbury, Jonathan C. French. 1813. John Lane, Jr. Henry Eaton, Daniel Fitts. 1814-15. John Lane, Daniel Fitts,
Thomas Hobbs. 1816. Jacob Libbee, Peter Eaton, Jonathan Currier, 1817. Benjamin Pillsbury, Peter Eaton, Jonathan Currier. 1818. Peter Eaton, Benjamin Pillsbury. Moses Bean. 1819.
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