USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Canterbury > History of the town of Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1727-1912, v. 1 > Part 30
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In 1832 "The First Congregational Society of Canterbury" was formed. This organization followed as a natural consequence the division of town and church, and the association was created for the purpose of providing for the expenses of the church, money being raised by assessment upon its members.
As early as 1824 the organization of a Sunday School was undertaken. This first effort probably failed of continued suc- cess, for there is a second vote in 1833 to the same effect that this branch of the church service be established. In 1834 eight members of the church were dismissed to form a church in Solon, Ohio.
Mr. Patrick's successor was the Rev. Howard Moody, who was born in York, Me., May 4, 1808. Until he was of age, he pursued his studies in the district schools and with the ministers of his neighborhood. Then for ten years he engaged in teach-
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
ing, afterwards entering the Gilmanton Theological School. He graduated in 1843. The Canterbury church was his first pas- torate, and November 22, following the completion of his theo- logical studies, he was ordained as its minister. He was dismissed at his own request December 19, 1860. For two years he supplied pulpits of New Hampshire. In 1862, he removed to Ohio, where he remained until 1864. Returning East, he later became acting pastor of the Canterbury church and continued as such until 1869, when he removed to East Andover, supplying the pulpit there until his death April 22, 1885. He was twice married, his first wife being Martha Garland. She died November 29, 1858. His second wife was Cornelia A. Clough.
Mr. Moody had a logical mind and was a deep reasoner. His sermons were argumentative and the creed of the church was usually his theme in the pulpit. In his day he was considered the ablest exponent of doctrines of any of the clergymen belong- ing to the Merrimack County Conference, and he was often chosen to elucidate some much discussed article of the creed at the annual meeting of the conference. His manner in the pulpit was deeply serious. He weighed well his words and his utter- ances were deliberate. Using no ornament or figures of rhetoric, his words went directly to the subject and he was very impressive. He was a fine singer, possessing a deep bass voice that was rich and melodious. A lover of good music, he did much during his residence in town to awaken and sustain a general interest in this subject.
Mr. Moody was highly respected as a citizen, taking an active interest in town affairs. He appears to have safely conducted the church through the stormy period of anti-slavery agitation and the Civil War, when so many churches were wrecked by the in- tense political feeling which at that time dominated everything. Additions were made to the church during his pastorate, but there was a gradual falling off in membership, due to causes for which he was not responsible. In 1850 there were 129 members; in 1860 the number was 110.
Rev. Josiah L. Armes, who supplied the pulpit during the time Mr. Moody was in Ohio, was a native of Salem, Mass., born January 22, 1811. He was a graduate of Hamilton College, New York. Beginning his labors in Canterbury April 1, 1863, he continued as the minister of the church for two years.
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THE CENTER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
It was several months after Mr. Moody's departure before a new pastor was secured. In February, 1870, the Rev. James Doldt was settled. He was then a man upwards of sixty years of age, having been born in Groton, Mass., September 30, 1809. Entering Gilmanton Theological School, he graduated in 1841. After supplying pulpits in Ossipee and Effingham, he was called to the church at North Wolfborough in 1843 where he remained five years. His next pastorate was at Milton, which lasted twenty-one years. Coming to Canterbury, he was in charge of the Center Church for sixteen years, being dismissed at his own request. He died October 31, 1886, soon after his dismissal. His first wife was Eliza Stevens, who died March 1, 1856, at the age of forty-five. His second wife, Lucia Chandler, was born April 23, 1816, and died June 14, 1888. Mr. Doldt and his wives are buried in the cemetery at the Center.
Like his predecessors, Mr. Doldt was of the old school of preachers in the form of his sermons and the manner of his delivery. His pulpit utterances were less of a doctrinal nature than those of Mr. Moody. He emphasized the love of God more than his retributive justice. There was no mistaking that he was a clergyman, his dress and dignity at all times indicating his calling. His greeting, however, was kindly and his apparent reserve disappeared in conversation.
These ministers of the Center Church preached two lengthy sermons every Sunday morning and afternoon, and frequently held evening service in school houses in outlying districts. Then there was often an additional mid-week meeting at "early candlelight" in some dwelling or school house.
The next minister to be installed over this church was the Rev. Lucien C. Kimball, a native of that part of Boscawen now the town of Webster where he was born June 5, 1858. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Andover Divinity School, he came to Canterbury when twenty-nine years of age. His installation occurred June 17, 1887. He resigned March 17, 1889, and was followed by the Rev. Henry P. Page, a native of Gilmanton, who was born February 12, 1839. Also a graduate of Dartmouth and Andover, he was ordained a minister in 1868. His pastorate lasted until March 8, 1891.
The Rev. Irving W. Coombs received a call to fill the pulpit and began his labors June 7, 1891, and remained until April 7,
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
1895. A native of Hebron, where he was born October 9, 1842, he was educated at Brown University and studied theology at Rochester, N. Y.
Mr. Coombs' successor was the Rev. Albert E. Hall, who served the society from June 16, 1895, to March 27, 1898. He was born in Windham, Me., February 14, 1837, and he was a graduate of the theological school at Lewiston in his native state. He was ordained to the ministry November 12, 1880.
The next pastorate was that of the Rev. Joseph Hammond, beginning November 6, 1898, and closing April 1, 1901. Born February 29, 1840, at LaChute in the Province of Quebec, he studied theology in Boston and was ordained August 27, 1871. From November 23, 1902, to January 31, 1904, the Rev. William Ganley ministered over the church. He was a native of Palmer, Mass., where he was born August 22, 1872, and he was ordained to the ministry September 2, 1897.
The second pastor of this church to pass away during his term of service was Mr. Ganley's successor, the Rev. Henry E. Loeh- lin a native of St. Louis, Mo., where he was born September 1, 1864. His pastorate continued not quite eighteen months. Coming to Canterbury May 1; 1904, he died September 19, 1905, after a short illness and was buried in the Center cemetery. For the next year the church was without a regular minister. Then from September 9, 1906, to April, 1907, the Rev. Albro G. Gates was acting pastor.
The Rev. Thomas B. Windross had charge of the church from March 1, 1908, to January 24, 1909. He was a native of White- haven, Cumberland County, England, where he was born Sep- tember 18, 1874. The present pastor is the Rev. Frank E. Rand. He succeeded Mr. Windross and his pastorate began May 1, 1909. Born January 4, 1849, he was ordained in 1882.
In 1898 a creed, rules of church government and rules of prac- tice were adopted.
The number of members of the church January 1, 1910, was forty-nine, of whom seventeen were non-residents. Its largest membership was probably at the close of Mr. Patrick's ministry, when one hundred and seventy-five were enrolled. The history of this society covers a period of about one hundred and seventy- five years. Few churches have passed through so many vicissi- tudes and survived.
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THE CENTER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The protracted delay of the early proprietors of the town in providing a suitable place of worship, the difficulty in securing a settled minister for this frontier community, the poverty of the early inhabitants, the dissensions arising late in the eighteenth century over differences in religious belief, the coming of the Baptists and Shakers with their more emotional form of wor- ship, the demand for another meeting house to accommodate people residing at a distance from the Center, and the struggle for relief from taxation for the support of the gospel, are all a part of the story of the first hundred years of the existence of the Canterbury church. Then it had a period of prosperity, to be followed by another struggle in combating the gradual decline in religious interest which in recent years has overtaken nearly all rural communities of New England contemporaneous with the decline of population. Almost pathetic as is its history, this church nevertheless has a record of great service to this com- munity in promoting its spiritual and moral welfare.
DEACONS OF THE CHURCH.
Ezekiel Morrill, died 1783, aged 80; David Morrill, son of Ezekiel, chosen 1793, died 1798, aged 65; Laban Morrill, son of Ezekiel, chosen 1800, died 1812, aged 63; Asa Foster, chosen 1773, died 1814, aged 81; Nehemiah Clough, chosen 1812, died 1825, aged 84; Jesse Stevens, chosen 1814, died 1829, aged 73; Joseph Ham, chosen 1816; Ezekiel, son of Marston Morrill, chosen 1826; John Clough, chosen 1834; Joseph Ham, Jr., chosen 1837; John A. Chamberlain, chosen 1837, died 1853, aged 59; Benjamin Whidden, chosen 1846, died 1872; Samuel Hill, chosen 1853; Alfred S. Abbott, chosen 1866; John Ham, chosen 1866; Lorenzo Ames, chosen 1882; George H. Gale, chosen for five years, 1884; George H. Gale, chosen for three years, 1898; George H. Gale, chosen for three years, 1909; George E. Wiggin, chosen for five years, 1884; George E. Wiggin, chosen for three years, 1898; Lyman A. Conant, chosen for two years, 1890; Lyman A. Conant, chosen for three years 1898, died 1903; James F. French, chosen for two years, 1890; James F. French, chosen for three years, 1909; Leroy A. Glines, chosen for three years, 1898; Moses C. Sanborn, chosen for three years, 1903; Alphonso B. Chute, chosen for three years, 1903; Louis D. Morrill, chosen for three years, 1909.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EARLY FREEWILL BAPTISTS. TRIALS AND PERSECUTIONS.
EXPERIENCES OF VISITING ELDERS. ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH OF CANTERBURY. PASTORATE OF ELDER WINTHROP YOUNG. FIRST MEETING HOUSE. EARLY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. DR. JOSEPH M. HARPER. TROUBLE WITH THE OSGOODITES. THE DENOMINATIONAL NAME. ELDERS JOHN HARRIMAN, JOSEPH AND JEREMIAH CLOUGH AND JONA- THAN AYERS. ADVANCE GROUND ON TEMPERANCE AND SLAV- ERY. OPPOSITION TO A TRAINED MINISTRY. BUILDING A NEW MEETING HOUSE. ELDER ALPHEUS D. SMITH AND LATER PASTORS.
Only two Baptist churches, those at Newton in 1755 and at Madbury in 1768, had been planted in New Hampshire until the year 1770. Little perceptible gain in adherents had been made until after the last-named year. In 1770, however, there was an almost simultaneous visit made by a number of Baptist ministers to different parts of the state. The most prominent of these itinerants was the Rev. Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill, Mass. In May of that year a church society gathered at Brent- wood consisting of fifteen members with the Rev. Samuel Shepard, a former physician of Stratham, as pastor. This society in- creased with great rapidity and had branches later in Epping, Lee, Nottingham, Hampstead, Northwood, Salisbury, Canter- bury, Loudon, Chichester and several other places, and included within its compass nearly a thousand members.1 It was in 1780 that Mr. Shepard was instrumental in gathering churches in Canterbury, Loudon and Chichester and connecting them as branches with the society at Brentwood.2
This connection was hardly made before the church at Can- terbury and Loudon discarded the doctrines of Calvinism under the leadership of Rev. Edward Lock, who was preaching there at the time and who was ordained in March, 1780.3 Mr. Lock
1 Annals of Baptist Churches of New Hampshire by Rev. Ebenezer E. Cummings, page 7.
? Idem, page 9.
: History of Freewill Baptist Churches by Rev. I. D. Stewart, Vol. I, page 46.
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THE EARLY FREEWILL BAPTISTS.
was born at Rye in 1742. He removed to Gilmanton and united with the Baptist Church in 1775. Two years after he received a license to preach, and his labors were mostly in the adjoining towns of Loudon and Canterbury. Lock was never a Calvinist, nor were the people to whom he ministered. In December, 1779, he and others, including the Rev. Benjamin Randall, the founder of the Freewill Baptist denomination in New Hampshire, expressed before the Gilmanton church their dissent from its articles of faith. Lock requested permission to unite with the Free Church in Canterbury and Loudon. A council was called not only to consider his request, but one from the last-named church asking for his ordination. Three churches responded, and February 16, 1780, a majority not only refused to ordain him, but withdrew fellowship from him. A few weeks after this, he re- ceived ordination at the hands of a lay brother, and became a member of the society of Canterbury and Loudon.1
For two years Mr. Lock labored with the cordial support of his congregation. In 1782, however, news of the Shakers reached them. Two members of the church visited Con- necticut, and on their return were accompanied by Ebenezer Cooley, a Shaker from the society in New York. Almost immediately the people were captivated by the new doctrine, and Lock with most of the members of his congregation went over to Shakerism. Leavitt Clough of Canterbury and others labored in vain to prevent this catastrophe. Clough is said to have gone to Massachusetts and to have visited Ann Lee for the purpose of inquiry. The next year the remnant of the church at Canter- bury and Loudon appealed to the society at New Durham for help in the following letter : 2
"LOUDON, January 13, 1783.
"To Benjamin Randall and the Rest of the Church at New Durham.
" Dear Brethren:
" With a sorrowful heart I sit down to inform you of our diffi- culties. If I mistake not, all of our elders and deacons have left us and joined the Shaking Quakers (so called) and with them a great part of the church. Most of the rest seem to be in a cold, dull, melancholy state. Dear Brethren, we are in want of your prayers. We want your help. The first Monday
1 History of Freewill Baptist Churches by Rev. I. D. Stewart, page 49.
2 Annals of Baptist Churches of New Hampshire by Rev. Ebenezer E. Cummings, page 69.
·
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
in this month we held a church meeting and concluded to send you this letter desiring Brother Randall would attend with us on Sabbath 27th of this month to have the Lord's Supper administered. Will he not come the Friday before and have a meeting on said day? Come without fail if the Lord wills.
"BENJAMIN SIAS, Clerk. "To the Baptist Church of Christ at New Durham."
Mr. Randall being absent could not visit them as requested, but he went to their relief later, and by his aid they were kept together until the church could be reorganized. For the next eleven years the faithful few struggled against disintegration. In August, 1794, Mr. Randall visited Canterbury and baptized seven, who with others previously baptized were embodied as a church.1
The records of the Canterbury society begin with an account of a monthly meeting held at the house of Samuel Jackson,2 April 1, 1794. Winthrop Young was chosen "Clerk of the Church," and it was "Voted to give Winthrop Young, Elijah Matthews, Samuel Jackson, James Lyford, Noah Sinclair, William Berry, and John Kinney certificates."
The monthly meetings were held at the house of John Kent from the May following until March, 1797. It was at this dwelling and at those of other members of the church that Sunday services were conducted until the first Baptist meeting house was completed early in 1803. It has been seen in a previous chapter that their efforts to obtain the use of the North Meeting House in Hackleborough were futile,3 owing to the intolerance of that period. In the history of the denomination, to which reference has been made, and in their own records in Canterbury the term "church" is used by the Baptists to designate their organization rather than their place of meeting.
The monthly meetings were held with continued regularity after April, 1794. The records of these meetings express the alternate hope and despair of those attending. The people were occasionally cheered by visits from Elder Benjamin Randall and other elders of the denomination who labored to sustain the con- fidence of the faithful and to win new converts. The Rev.
1 Annals of Baptist Churches of N. H. by Rev. Ebenezer E. Cummings, page 147.
2 In Hackleborough.
& Chapter VII.
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THE EARLY FREEWILL BAPTISTS.
John Buzzell who came in the year 1795 has left on record a vivid account of his reception. He says:
"The converts sat themselves close around me and received the word with gladness, while opposers mocked, made faces at me, twisted their bodies and limbs into all kinds of postures, and some even sat on the floor grinning at me, and every little while giving me the lie and charging me with false doctrine." 1
"Few Churches, " says the Rev. I. D. Stewart, "have struggled through greater conflicts than the one in Canterbury. The old church in 1779 was the first to declare for free will and free salvation. Then came the Shaker delusion that took both pastor and people, leaving but a small remnant. In later years the Osgoodites made great disturbance, and popular sentiment was greatly against the church and its members. It was made disreputable to attend their meetings otherwise than from curi- osity, and as a sect they were regarded as religious outlaws whose meetings might be disturbed with impunity."
The foregoing accounts for the action of the society at its monthly meeting August 6, 1794, when it was "Voted Brother Seth Tirrell to keep order in meetings of worship."
A church gathering was held at John Kent's October 3, 1795, at which Elder Benjamin Randall, Aaron Buzzell and John Shepard "convened with the brethren by appointment at our last quarterly meeting." Elder Randall was elected moderator and John Shepard, clerk. Winthrop Young and his wife were received into "visible fellowship." The church then numbered twenty-one members, and the visitors gave them the right hand of fellowship as members of the New Durham quarterly meeting. Mr. Young was chosen a ruling elder and David Kent a deacon "on trial."
From this time the society in Canterbury had a fearless and indefatigable leader in Elder Young, though the reports of his gifts of prayer and exhortation that came from other places he had visited were received at first with some incredulity by his neighbors and brethren. At the monthly meeting February 4, 1796, a letter from the quarterly meeting was read. The record then goes on to say that "The brethren think it will be to the glory of God to rest the matter until we have a more visible knowledge of Brother Young's gift."
1 History of Freewill Baptist Churches by Rev. I. D. Stewart, Vol. I, page 147.
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
Elder Winthrop Young came to Canterbury in 1787 and settled on the farm lately owned by Jeremiah Smith, something over a mile from Hill's Corner towards Hackleborough. He was born in Barrington in 1753, and married a sister of Micajah Otis. His name appears with that of Micajah Otis among nine petitioners from the Stratford church to New Durham in November, 1782, asking help on account of the Shaker agitation of that period which had wrecked many churches. Mr. Young became a school teacher and it is not improbable that he taught some of the early schools in Hill's Corner district. After he came to Canterbury, he served in the state militia and was chosen captain of a company. Converted under the ministry of Elder Benjamin Randall, he became deeply interested in religious work. He was ordained in the Freewill Baptist ministry June 28, 1796, and entered upon a useful pastorate of thirty-five years. His labors were not confined to Canterbury, for it was chiefly through his efforts that a church with sixty-four members was organized at New Hampton, which within eight months increased to a membership of one hundred and fourteen. Elder Young was a man of commanding figure, of strong mind and of deep piety. Eloquent in speech and prayer, he was prominent in the Freewill Baptist denomination of New Hampshire for many years. At the age of seventy, he was still active in the work of the ministry, though seven years later Elder John Har- riman was made his assistant at the church in Canterbury. He died suddenly June 6, 1832, in the eightieth year of his age.
· The Rev. Thomas Perkins who was long associated with him says: "As a preacher, he did not excel in elucidating his text or in a logical presentation of his subject, but when he came to the practical or experimental part of his discourse, he moved like a giant applying the truth and carrying everything before him. Oftentimes there was such crying out in all parts of the audience that, had it not been for his stentorian voice, not a word could have been heard. Powerful as he was in preaching, he was still more so in prayer." Elder Randall is quoted as saying, "We have no man among us who can pray like Brother Young."
The monthly meetings continued to show the character of the struggle that the small band of followers encountered to preserve their integrity as an organization, laboring in season and out of season to keep members from backsliding and to win converts.
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THE EARLY FREEWILL BAPTISTS.
"We appear to be in a low condition, a very broken state" writes the clerk. Again his comment is, "In general a great trial is on us all because our brother is in prison." Whether the incar- ceration of the brother was physical or spiritual the records do not indicate. Occasionally there is a cheering note like this: "There was a searching among the brethren, some confessing their faults, and a measure of honesty appeared. We had a comfortable time. There was unison and fellowship in the spirit of love." But there is a dreary sameness in the records of the appointment of committees to labor with this brother and that sister for not attending monthly meetings. At the gathering held June 2, 1796, it was "Voted that no brother or sister shall leave the meeting on the first day of the week to go to any other meeting without leave of the branch."
Secular affairs intruded upon the spiritual and the troubles of neighbors and the adjustments of their differences are scrupu- lously recorded by the clerk. As with all pioneers of a new religious faith, these early Baptists held peculiar views regarding the political concerns of the town. They were especially averse to accepting office and taking the oath prescribed by law. David Kent had been elected a hogreeve at the annual election in 1797 and had been sworn to the discharge of his duties. He was immediately called to account by the church. The record reads, "Had a conference at Brother (Winthrop) Young's upon a difficulty that arose on account of Brother Kent's going to town meeting and desiring and taking the berth of hogreeve, and holding up his hand with the profane and taking a solemn oath, when a Christian God tells him to swear not at all," etc.
Brother Kent appears to have been obdurate for a time, declar- ing, "If they had twenty meetings, he would not attend." Some two weeks later another conference was held and "the brethren labored with him from ten in the morning till the sun went down, and then he confessed that he was wrong." It was by such persistent effort and rigid discipline that the church was held together.
From November, 1797, to March, 1798, there is no record of monthly meetings. At the first one in the new year the clerk makes this entry: "It appeared to be a very low time," but a month later four were baptized and added to the church. At
22
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
least twenty-five more were brought into the fold before the year closed. The next five years were also fruitful in converts, and towards the close of 1802 the society felt itself strong enough to undertake the building of a place of public worship. The mem- bers met at the house of William Tirrell for this purpose, and it was "Voted to build a meeting house forty feet square, as near by Joshua Boynton's corner by the road as is most convenient for the society."
The plan of the church drawn by Mr. Tirrell was accepted, and he, David Kent and Jonathan Davis were appointed a building committee. The pews were to be sold at public vendue Decem- ber 23, Joseph Clough acting as vendue master or auctioneer. The following is a list of those who bought pews and the prices paid for them.
No. 1 John Small . $24.00
No. 17 John Fletcher. $40.00
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