USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Exeter > History of the town of Exeter, New Hampshire > Part 19
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The interest felt by the members of the new society in its welfare may be inferred from the disposal which one of their num- ber, Nicholas Gilman, Jr., made of his property. At his death in 1746, he devised to his brother Peter Gilman, Samuel Gilman and Daniel Thing, his dwelling house, barn, orchard, and about twenty-two acres of land, to be improved by them for and towards the support of the minister of the church or for any other pions use. The house was pleasantly situated by the side of the river near the great bridge, just at the entrance of the present Franklin street, and facing towards Water street. It was occupied as the parsonage by the Rev. Mr. Rogers during his life ; and in 1786 after his death, the trustees were incorporated by act of the Legis- lature, and let the property for various terms until the year 1826, when they disposed of it by leases for the period of nine hundred and ninety-nine years. The income of the proceeds has been employed towards the support of the minister of the society, in repairs upon the meeting-house, and in other " pious uses," such as the distribution of Testaments, the support of young men designed for the ministry and the like.
In July, 1755, while the last petition for the incorporation of the new parish was pending in the Provincial Assembly, the two churches mutually agreed upon an ecclesiastical council, to which were referred the differences between them, in order to a reconcil- iation, though apparently without any expectation of effecting a reunion. The council censured the course of the separatists in certain particulars, but advised the old church to receive them into fellowship again, whenever they should accept the report and manifest their readiness to practise agreeably thereto. This the new church voted to do, but the old church required some further acknowledgment, which the former refused to make. After the
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incorporation of the new parish, however, on the ninth of Septem- ber, 1755, there was no collision between the two societies, and for many years no fellowship, but each went its way, in peace.
Mr. Rogers's connection with the Second parish terminated only with his life. It extended over the stormy political period of the American Revolution, but the relations between him and his people were always pacific. He died in Exeter in 1785, at the age of seventy-eight. He was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, August 8, 1707, graduated from Harvard College in 1725, and was tutor there from 1732 to 1741. He was married November 3, 1748, to Anne, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Foxcroft of Boston, on which occasion his church presented him with the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds. From middle life, when he came to Exeter, to his death at an advanced age, he labored assiduously for the welfare of his people, and to the entire satisfaction of church and congregation. For more than half a century he kept in interleaved almanacs a brief record of his daily life and employments, which show him to have been an amiable, faithful and devoted religious teacher. He was a warm friend and admirer of the Rev. George Whitefield to whom he attributed his own conversion, and had that eloquent divine twice to preach to his Exeter charge, first on the twenty-sixth of October, 1754, and again on the twenty-ninth of September, 1770, when Whitefield delivered his last discourse the day before his death.
In token of their esteem for their late pastor, his parishioners voted to bear the expense of his funeral. Ilis body lies in the old burying-ground on Front street, west of the railroad, and upon the massy tablet above it is the following inscription :
Here lie the remains of the Reverend Daniel Rogers, Pastor of a church gathered in this place 1748, who died December 9th 1785 aged 78 years. He had been many years a Tutor in Harvard College, was a faithful pious minister of Jesus Christ, and a worthy son of the Reverend John Rogers, pastor of the first church in Ipswich, who died December 28th 1745 in his 80th year; who was a son of John Rogers of the same place Physician and Preacher of God's Word, And President of Harvard College, who died July 2d 1684 aged 54 years ; who was eldest son of the Revd Nathaniel Rogers,
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who came over from England in 1636, settled at Ipswich colleague pastor with the Reyd Nathaniel Ward, and died July 2d 1655 aged 57 years ; who was son of the Reverend John Rogers a famous minister of God's word at Dedham, England, who died October 18th 1639 aged 67 years ; who was a grandson of John Rogers of London
Prebendary of St. Paul's, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's and Reader of Divinity, who was burned at Smithfield February 14, 1555, first martyr in Queen Mary's reign .*
Thou martyred saint and all ye holy train O be your honor'd Names ne'er read in vain,
May cach descendant catch your hallow'd fire And all your virtues all their breasts inspire. Prophets like you in long succession rise
Burning and shining, faithful firm and wise, And millions be their crown beyond the skies.
For nearly seven years after the death of Mr. Rogers the new parish was destitute of a settled minister. During that time there was a strong feeling in favor of a permanent reunion of the two parishes. In 1786 resolutions were passed by both expressing their desire for a restoration of their former relations, and in the latter part of 1787 when both were without pastors, they appar- ently united in hiring a temporary supply until the next annual meeting. On March 29, 1788, the members of the new church partook of the communion with those of the old, at the invitation of Deacon Samuel Brooks of the latter, and during that and the succeeding year both parishes joined in attendance upon public worship, which was maintained at their joint charge. In 1788 both societies united in a call to the Rev. David Tappan of New- bury, Massachusetts, to settle over them, but because the call was not unanimous, he declined it. Attempts were made to agree upon another candidate, but without success.
In 1790 the new parish invited the Rev. Samuel Austin of New Haven, Connecticut, to their pulpit for two months, and on the twelfth of July in the same year, gave him a unanimous call to a permanent settlement, at an annual salary of one hundred pounds. Mr. Austin did not accept, and on September 24, 1792, the parish
* The claim that this family was descended from the Smithfield martyr has of late years been disallowed, as based upon a mistaken belief.
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voted to concur with the church in giving a call to the Rev. Joseph Brown, who accordingly was installed over them on the succeeding twentieth of November. After a service of five years he was dis- missed at his own request, the twenty-eighth of August, 1797, the parish making him a gift of fifty dollars upon his departure. Mr. Brown was a native of Chester, in England, and was educated at the seminary of the pious Lady Huntingdon, whose chaplain was the Rev. George Whitefield. His ministration in Exeter was quite successful, and he was afterwards settled at Deer Isle, in Maine, and died there in 1804.
After the removal of Mr. Brown, the society not being readily disposed to provide themselves with a successor, its numbers grad- ually began to decline. Religious services, however, were kept up with more or less frequency, and the organization of the parish was regularly preserved. Every year a certain sum was voted to sustain public worship, and various clergymen were temporarily employed to conduct the Sunday services. Thus matters went on until about the year 1812, the church having dwindled until it became practically extinct, though the parish received accessions from time to time.
In 1811 the Rev. Hosea Hildreth came to Exeter as an instruc- tor in the Academy, and was employed to fill the pulpit of the society. This he continued to do most of the time for about five years, and until the society was provided with a settled pastor. On the twenty-fourth of December, 1812, the church was re-or- ganized, with a creed drawn up by Mr. Hildreth, which would admit those who questioned the doctrine of the trinity, of whom there were several in the society.
On December 2, 1816, the parish gave a unanimous call to the Rev. Isaac Hurd to become their minister at a salary of six hundred and fifty dollars, and he was installed over them Septem- ber 11, 1817. At the same time he was appointed theological instructor in the Academy.
On the thirty-first of March, 1823, the society appointed a com- mittee to report a plan for a new meeting-house, to replace the old one which had been in use nearly eighty years, and on the eigh- teenth of May following, Nathaniel Gilman, Joseph Tilton, Jere- miah Dow, Jotham Lawrence and Peter Chadwick were chosen to superintend the erection thereof. It was placed on land furnished by the trustees of the Academy for the purpose, and the master builder was Nathaniel Conner. It was completed in season for
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the next annual meeting of the parish in March, 1824, to be held therein, and has well answered the needs of the parish to the present time, with an addition to its length of about fifteen feet, which was made in 1863.
After a harmonious and successful ministry of nearly thirty years Mr. Hurd proposed to the society to settle a colleague with him, generously relinquishing all claim to pecuniary compensation thereafter. To this proposal the society, assuring their pastor of their undiminished affection and regard, assented, and in April, 1846, called the Rev. Robert S. Hitchcock of Randolph, Massa- chusetts, to the associate pastorate, but by reason of the state of his health he declined the invitation. The Rev. Samuel D. Dexter was subsequently invited, and, giving a favorable response, was ordained as colleague pastor with the Rev. Mr. Hurd December 2, 1847. His ministry was cut short, however, by his death April 20, 1857. He was a native of Boston, and a graduate of Harvard College. During his residence in Exeter his personal and religious character was such as to gain him a strong hold upon the people, and his premature decease, at the early age of twenty-four years, closed a career of bright promise.
The Rev. Asa Mann was installed as colleague, in the place of Mr. Dexter, November 19, 1851. During his term of service, the Rev. Dr. Hurd, on the fourth of October, 1856, at a ripe old age, beloved and honored for his amiable character, his Christian vir- tues and his faithful labors, went to his rest. Mr. Mann contin- ued in Exeter less than a year afterwards, being dismissed from his charge July 8, 1857. He was a native of Randolph, Massa- chusetts, and a graduate of Amherst College, and had been settled at Hardwick, Massachusetts, before he came to Exeter.
His successor in the pulpit of the Second parish, the Rev. Orpheus T. Lanphear, was installed February 2, 1858, and after a successful service of six years, on being called to a church in New Haven, Connecticut, was dismissed by council February 21, 1864. He was a native of West Fairlee, Vermont, and a graduate of Middlebury College, and had previously been the pastor of the High street church in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The Rev. John W. Chickering, Jr., began to preach for the society on the first Sunday of July, 1865, was invited to become their permanent minister, and was installed the fifth of the suc- ceeding September. He remained for five years, and was dis- missed July 18, 1870. During latter part of his pastorate the
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society purchased, enlarged and remodelled the dwelling house on Court street, which has since been occupied as the parsonage. Mr. Chickering left Exeter to accept a professorship in the Deaf Mute College in Washington, D.C. He was a native of Portland, Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin College, and had served as pastor of the church in Springfield, Vermont, prior to his coming to Exeter.
The eighth and present pastor of this society, is the Rev. George E. Street, who was installed March 30, 1871., He is a native of Cheshire, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College, and was the minister of the First church in Wiscasset, Maine, when invited to Exeter. Since his installation, the society have provided them- selves with a chapel for evening meetings and the like, situated on Elm street.
QUAKERS.
About the middle of the last century there were a few Quakers in Exeter, who held meetings for a time in a barn which stood on the southerly side of what is now Front street, just opposite the head of Centre street. Among them were Samuel and John Dudley, grandsons, it is presumed, of the Rev. Samuel Dudley. The Rev. Daniel Rogers's diary for the year 1753 shows that on the twenty-fifth of January, "the Quakers, Samuel Dudley, etc., came into our meeting and spoke;" that on March 7, "the Friends were carried to court this week," and on March 10, " Lord's day, John Dudley spake after the first singing, A.M."
The Friends who were carried to court were undoubtedly Eliza- beth, wife of Joseph Norris, and Joanna, wife of James Norris. The records of the Court of General Sessions show that at the March term, 1753, these two women were indicted for a breach of the peace and violation of the act for the better observance of the Lord's day. It is probable that their offence was the disturbance of the Sunday service in one of the meeting-houses. They were arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. When inquired of whether they would be tried by the court or the jury they resolutely refused to answer, probably having little expectation of an acquittal by either.
The court, upon hearing the testimony of witnesses, and the answers of the respondents themselves, found them both guilty, and they were ordered to pay a fine of five shillings cach, and to find sureties for their future good behavior.
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The fine and costs were at once paid, and no further account is found of Quakers in the town.
TIIE BAPTIST SOCIETY.
A Baptist church was organized in Exeter, October 17, 1800, consisting of ten members. The elders and brethren forming the council on the occasion, were from the churches in Haverhill and New Rowley in Massachusetts, and in Newton and Brentwood in New Hampshire. The Rev. Hezekiah Smith, D.D., was president of the council, and the Rev. Shubael Lovell, clerk. In the spring of 1801 a society was formed, in connection with the church, by voluntary subscription. The members were few in number and of means somewhat limited, so that for several years they were able to have preaching but a third or a half of the time ; but having those in their own church whose gifts of exhortation were acceptable to the congregation, and edifying to the brethren, meetings were regularly held on Sundays when no minister could be procured ; a practice which they found to be attended with the best results. Their first place of meeting was at the dwelling house of Harvey Colcord, and afterwards at the Centre school- house. In the year 1805, they built and dedicated their first meeting-house, situated on Spring street.
In 1806 Mr. Barnabas Bates, afterwards distinguished as the advocate of cheap postage and otherwise, preached for the society for several months. In the spring of 1809 the Rev. Ebenezer L. Boyd became their preacher, and labored with them for two years with encouraging results. In 1814, and the two succeeding years, the Rev. Charles O. Kimball and the Rev. James McGregore sup- plied their pulpit a part of the time. In the winter and spring of 1817 the services were conducted by students from the theologi- cal school at Danvers, Massachusetts, then under the care of the Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin. To one of those students, the Rev. James Coleman, they gave an invitation to become their pastor, but, having determined to devote his life to missionary work, he declined.
In the year 1817 a Sunday-school was first commenced in con- nection with the society, which has ever since been continued. The first teacher was Deacon John F. Moses, who, for half a century, with little interruption, held the office of superintendent, and was, during his life, one of the principal pillars of the church and society.
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The society was incorporated by the Legislature of the State in 1818, and the same year had their first settled minister, the Rev. Ferdinand Ellis, who served them from June, 1818, to September, 1828. After the close of his pastoral eonnection he continued to reside in Exeter, and was, for a number of years, a successful school teacher. In the autumn of 1828, the Rev. John Newton Brown was settled over the society and remained until February, 1833. He resumed the pastorate again in 1834, and retained it until he was dismissed in April, 1838. It was during this period, in the years 1833 and 1834, that the society built their second meeting-house on Water street,* dedicated November 19, 1834, in which they held public worship until the erection of their present church on Front street. In the interim between the two settle- ments of Mr. Brown, from May 29, 1833, to February 16, 1834, the Rev. John Cannan, from Yorkshire, England, ministered to the society. After Mr. Brown's final departure, it was more than two years before another minister was settled, but for about half that period the Rev. J. G. Naylor regularly supplied the pulpit.
In November, 1840, the church gave an invitation to the Rev. Noah Hooper, Jr., to become their minister, which he accepted, and continued with them from December 1, of that year, until July 20, 1845. For nearly three years after this the church was with- out a regular pastor, though for about one-third of that period Mr. T. H. Archibald, licentiate, preached to them. Their next settled minister was the Rev. Elijah J. Harris, who remained from the spring of 1848 to April 7, 1850. Then the Rev. James French became their minister from January, 1851, to January 1, 1853. After his dismission, the Rev. Mr. Russell was employed as preacher for a time. The Rev. Franklin Merriam was the next settled minister, installed in September, 1854, aud dismissed in November, 1856. His successor was the Rev. James J. Peck, whose pastorate continued from February, 1857, to April, 1861.
On the first of July, 1861, the Rev. Noah Hooper was solicited to assume the pastoral charge of the society a second time, to which he assented, and filled the position until the autumn of 1871, when, at his repeated request, he was dismissed. He is still residing in Exeter, at a good old age, in the enjoyment of much bodily and mental vigor.
* The Water street building is still standing; and after serving the purpose of a military armory for some years, has now been transformed into an opera house.
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The Rev. John N. Chase was next invited to the pastorate of the society, and was received into that connection January 16, 1882, and still remains therein, having already served a longer time than any of his predecessors.
In December, 1854, twenty-two members withdrew from the Water street church, and formed themselves into a new society. They held their meetings at first in a hall on Water street, until they built themselves a house of worship on Elm street, which was dedicated October 1, 1856. Up to this time the Rev. J. B. Lane supplied them with preaching. Soon after their removal to their new house, the Rev. T. H. Archibald was settled over them. His term of ministerial service continued about two years. For some time after his dismissal their pulpit was supplied by students from the Theological Institution of Newton, Massachusetts, and afterwards by the Rev. Mr. Mayhew. About the year 1862 the Rev. Charles Newhall was installed as the pastor, and continued in the office some eight years. In 1871 the two Baptist societies resolved to reunite ; the Elm street organization was given up, and its members were merged again in the Water street society. Their meeting-house on Elm street afterwards passed into the possession of the Second Congregational parish, and is used by them as a chapel.
In 1874 the reunited Baptist society purchased a lot on the corner of Spring and Front streets, on which, in that and the fol- lowing year, they erected their present handsome brick church. Notwithstanding the liberality of the members of the society, it left upon them a heavy load of debt, which, however, by the strenuous, continued efforts of the people, supplementing the gen- erous gifts of Deacon John F. Moses and his son, Henry C. Moses, Esq., has since been fully discharged, and the seats of the church are made free.
THE UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY.
It is said that a society of Universalists was formed in Exeter as early as 1810, who supported public worship for ten years or more, when their organization was abandoned and the members were dispersed among the other religious societies. They had been incorporated by an act of the Legislature in the year 1819. Some years later their interest revived, and Sunday services were main- tained in the old court-house, by the Rev. Hosea Ballon and other able preachers of the denomination. On the twenty-sixth of May,
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1831, several of the leading men of the sect formed themselves anew into a society, erected a house of worship on the east side of Centre street, and soon supplied themselves with regular ministers. Among the earliest were the Rev. Theophilus K. Taylor and the Rev. William C. Hanscom, the latter of whom appears to have preached at Newmarket also. The Rev. James Shrigley of Balti- more, Maryland, was installed over the society June 16, 1837, and remained three years or more. He was a man of much ability, and became subsequently an officer of the Maryland Historical Society. The Rev. H. P. Stevens was the next minister, but continned only a year or two. Then the Rev. Henry Jewell assumed the pastoral charge, and under his administration the congregation increased to such an extent as to warrant the erec- tion of a new and larger church. Accordingly, the lot on the castern corner of Front and Centre streets was purchased, and upon it was built the structure which has served as a place of worship, successively for the Universalists and the Unitarians, and now is occupied by the Methodist society. It was dedicated December 18, 1845, Mr Jewell preaching the discourse on the occasion.
The next minister settled over the society was the Rev. R. O. Williams. He was a practitioner of the medical, as well as of the clerical profession. His stay was not very long, and his suc- cessor is believed to have been the Rev. John L. Stevens, who ministered to the society with ability for some years. He has since been distinguished as the editor of an influential political journal in the State of Maine, as a diplomatist and author. After his departure, the Rev. Silas S. Fletcher was the occupant of the pulpit, and the last of the preachers of Universalism settled in the town. In 1854 the society disposed of their church to the newly formed Unitarian society, and abandoned their separate organiza- tion. Mr. Fletcher continued to reside in Exeter until his death several years later.
TIIE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY.
The members of the Christian society were in the habit of holding meetings for religious worship in private houses, for some time prior to the year 1830. They aimed to free themselves from the constraint of theological dogmas, and so professed no creed but the Bible. Elder Abner Jones is said to have been the founder
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of the sect, and at one time lived in Exeter, and occasionally preached to the people. Their first permanent minister appears to have been Elder John Flanders, who remained five or six years. In the meantime, the congregation grew, a church was formed, and a chapel was built at the foot of Franklin street. Elder Eli- jah Shaw became subsequently the minister of the society, and published, in a little pamphlet, a sketch of the doctrines of his people, entitled "Sentiments of the Christians." About the year 1840 Elder Edwin Burnham had the pastoral charge, and this was apparently the culminating point of the society. The chapel had to be enlarged to accommodate the hearers. But soon after this, the noted William Miller, who predicted the destruction of the world in 1843, preached in Exeter, and many of the Christian Society became believers in his theory, and deserted their former associates.
This succession weakened the Christian society, but it still went on for nearly twenty years longer. Elder Simeon Swett, who was the compounder of several medical preparations which acquired popularity, Elder Julius C. Blodgett and, finally, Elder John W. Tilton, successively ministered to the society, but it never recov- ered fully from the loss of members which it sustained in 1842, and at length, toward the year 1860, came to an end. Its house was closed, and its records and papers are said to have been destroyed.
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