USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Haverhill > History of the town of Haverhill, New Hampshire > Part 12
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The women wore close, short-waisted dresses of "silk, calico, muslin and gingham" with a full muslin kerchief or broad standing ruffle at the neck. The girls wore also white vandykes, but these were worn by the wealthier class, or by the common people only on holiday occasions. The ordinary dresses of the women were made of material of their own manufacture. There was the plain or plaided flannel for winter use, the striped or checked linen and linsey-woolsey for other seasons. But they did like to dress up on occasions. Many a buxom lass has lengthened out the summer day with her spinning and the winter evening with her knitting, in order to earn, in the time that was her own, the money that was to purchase the gay flowered India calico, to be worn to the next quilting, or to the ball at the tavern. Women wore large bonnets of straw or silk; sensible bonnets they were, covering the head and protecting the face from the sun and wind.1
The chief centres of social life were the meeting house and the tavern. The influences radiating from the former were not wholly and entirely religious. All the people were church goers. No light excuses, based on wind and weather, kept them at home. Some of them lived at long distances from the meeting house, but for these horses were put in requisi- tion, the man riding on the saddle and the good wife on the pillion behind him. In the intermission between the two services, those who came from any considerable distance gathered in knots to eat the lunch they had brought, while they discussed the sermon, the news of the day, and other things. The meeting house was really a meeting place, a social centre. All this was pleasant in the summer time, but a bit strenuous in the winter when the congregation, some of whom had come from a long distance through the driving storm or biting cold, sat through the long services in a room without stoves, which were then unknown, and desti- tute of fireplace. The women had footstoves to warm their feet, the use of which was shared with the younger children, while men and boys disturbed the easy flow of the minister's prayer or sermon by rapping their boots together in the effort, not always successful, to warm their half frozen feet. Social life as found at the tavern was not always the best, but the men mingled with each other, and from travelers learned of
1 Conn. Valley Hist. Society, Proceedings, pp. 227, 228.
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the life and the trend of affairs in other towns and communities. Sunday evening was the great time for neighborly visiting. More social calls were then made than in all the rest of the week. Holy time was over at sunset, but in most cases the work of the week did not begin till Monday morning. It was the leisure evening. The best or Sunday clothes had not been discarded, and people are usually at their best when best dressed. Many an "engagement" dated from a Sunday evening call, or a Sunday evening "sitting up," and, were all the facts known, the making of many a local political slate might be traced to a quiet Sunday evening confer- ence of a few leading citizens. Strange as it may seem funerals were social events. They called together great numbers, for it was a mark of respect for the dead to follow them to the grave, as well as a testi- monial of sympathy for the living. The house was always filled to overflowing, and frequently numbers stood outside. There was prayer at the house, and then the coffin was placed on the bier, the bearers of which headed the long procession to the old graveyard, where there was again prayer and an appropriate address by the minister. The event was usually "improved upon" in the next Sunday sermon. The day of the funeral was a holiday, a serious one, indeed, but a holiday just the same.
Then they were the great festivals of Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and the General Muster or Training Day. Christmas, Lent and Easter were observed in general non-observance. The house and barn raisings were events which brought together the men from far and near. There was hard lifting to be done, but there was mirth and jollity, aided by the flip and cider which circulated unsparingly. The work done, the heavy frame in place, there were the usual athletic contests.
In the way of amusements there were the corn huskings (who has not heard of them, with their romance of red ears?), the apple paring bees when the fruit was prepared for drying, and the quilting parties where the quilt with its mysterious and wonderful patchwork cover was put upon the frames in the morning, and marked with its pattern of shells, or herringbone, all ready for the work to begin, finished in the afternoon, before the young men began to arrive for the bountiful supper and the festivities of the evening, and last but not least the "Seeing Nellie home." There was also the occasional tea party for the women, antedating the sewing circle, and meetings of the ladies aid, when the women plied the inevitable knitting needle, sipped their favorite beverage, discussed the last sermon of the parson, talked over the news of the neighborhood, and the newest goods received at the store. It was gossip perhaps, but innocent gossip, and the busy, hard working women of 1800 had few or no outside interests and little recreation of any kind.
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Books and newspapers were scarce. Each family had its little store of devotional books which were read on Sunday, and by old people on other days, but the Bible and Watts Psalms and Hymns were more read than all the rest together. The weekly reading was confined for the most part to the Farmer's Almanac, and stray copies of the weekly newspaper which had begun to be published in the larger towns. News- papers were still numbered among the curiosities and luxuries-not necessities.
The new century opened auspiciously for Haverhill with a promise of prosperity which did not lack fulfillment.
CHAPTER VII
CHURCHES
OLDEST OF ORGANIZATIONS IN TOWN-THE CHURCH-MR. POWERS CALLED AS PASTOR IN 1765-TOWN DIVIDED INTO TWO PARISHES-HOUSE AT HORSE MEADOW BUILT FIRST-LADD STREET ORGANIZED IN 1790-DISCUSSION OVER TAX RATE FOR MINISTERS-DIFFICULTY SETTLED-CONTROVERSY WITH CHURCH AT NEW- BURY OVER TIMOTHY BARRON AND CAPTAIN WESSON-JOHN SMITH SETTLED BY TOWN AS MINISTER-GRANT POWERS-BOUGHT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT CORNER-"SMOOTH AS A BONE"-NORTH PARISH-PIKE-METHODIST EPISCO- PALIAN-FOUR CHURCHES-BAPTIST-UNION MEETING HOUSE, NOW ADVENTIST- PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL-UNIVERSALIST-EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION-MENTAL LIBERTY SOCIETY-PASTORS BORN IN HAVERHILL.
THE oldest institution in Haverhill next to its charter and town organ- ization is the church. No separate church organization for the town existed until 1790, but previous to this date although the first meeting house was on the west bank of the river the church was that of Newbury and Haverhill. The two towns were one parish. As has been previously stated the proprietors of Newbury and Haverhill united as early as 1763 to secure preaching, and Mr. Silas Moody, a graduate of Harvard College and a relative of Moses Little, came to Coös, preaching three Sabbaths in Newbury and two in Haverhill in September and October of that year, and was paid by the proprietors of the two towns. It was hoped that he might be induced to become the minister of the two towns, but being disinclined to settle, the choice of the leaders in the two settlements fell upon the Rev. Peter Powers of Hollis, who had for some six or seven years previously been the minister of Newent (now Lisbon), Conn. Mr. Powers came to Coös in May, 1764, remaining for several weeks, preach- ing in houses and towns to the acceptance of the settlers.
In September, 1764, the Newbury and Haverhill Church was organ- ized, and in January, 1765, Haverhill joined with Newbury in giving "a call to Mr. Peter Powers to become their gospel minister." Mr. Powers accepted the call and his installation as pastor of the Newbury-Haverhill Church took place on the last Wednesday in February. As there was no church within sixteen miles, its was deemed best to have the installa- tion ceremonies at some place where a council could convene, and these took place in the church at Hollis. Mr. Powers preaching his own instal- lation sermon from Matt. 22 : 8, 9. The ministers participating in the council were Rev. David Emerson of Hollis, Rev. Henry True of Hamp- stead, Rev. Abner Bayley of Salem, Rev. Joseph Emerson of Pepperell,
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Mass., and Rev. Joseph Goodhue. Mr. Powers removed his family to Newbury in March, and the work of the church was begun.
From the fact that he lived in Newbury and that the first meeting house was built there, the church is often spoken of as the Newbury church, but Haverhill contributed by public taxation to its support about £90 during the first three years, and after 1771 £35 annually till 1777 when its share became £37, 6s.
As has been previously stated, Mr. Powers continued to preach in Haverhill for some time after his labors in Newbury were finished. Haverhill and Newbury were fortunate in securing Mr. Powers as their minister almost coincident with the beginning of their settlement. His parish at the first was the entire Coos County, though there is no record that towns other than Newbury and Haverhill contributed to his support. He preached occasional sermons, officiated at weddings and funerals all the way from Hanover and Plymouth on the south to Lancaster on the north, and it is claimed that he preached the first sermon in no less than twenty-seven towns in Coös and vicinity. For a score of years the log meeting house and its successor on the great Oxbow in Newbury was the only building for public worship within a radius of many miles.
After the removal of Mr. Powers from Newbury in 1781, he continued to preach in Haverhill until the autumn of 1783. At a special town meeting held September 16, 1783, it was "Voted not to hire Mr. Powers to preach any more " and he soon afterwards went to Cornish, and later to Deer Island, Me. There was a period of religious depression for some years following the War of the Revolution and religious services were held very irregularly. At the annual meeting March 9, 1784 it was "voted £50 be paid out for hiring preaching the year ensuing, except £10, 10s for preaching paid the past year by the committee, which said £50 is to include the £40 voted last year." Charles Johnston, Ezekiel Ladd and Nathaniel Merrill were made a committee to hire preaching and provide place of meeting not below Col. Joseph Hutchins (at the Brook) nor above the Court house, the meetings to be held in two dif- ferent places in equal proportion. An article in the warrant for the annual meeting 1785, "to see how much money the town will raise to hire preaching" was dismissed.
At a special meeting January 10, 1788, it was voted to build a meeting house and to divide the town into two parishes, the dividing line to be on the south side of the Fisher farm in a straight course through the town, reserving to each parish an equal share of the ministerial right of land and of school and common lands. It seems from this vote that the meet- ing house which it was voted to build in 1771, and on which some work had been done as appears by subsequent votes had now been completed. This house was at Horse Meadow, and later, reduced in size and com-
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pleted, became the meeting house of the North Parish. At the annual meeting in 1788, notwithstanding the vote in January to build a meeting house, no action seems to have been taken to secure preaching, and at the annual meeting 1789, the proposition to hire preaching was nega- tived. The meeting house at Ladd Street was built so that it could be occupied for religious purposes in 1790, though it was not finished in the style of later years. The meeting house at Horse Meadow had been begun, and was partly built by town tax, but there is no evidence that the town ever acquired any right in the Ladd Street house. It appears to have been erected by the voluntary contributions of the original pew- holders.
For several years following the War of the Revolution and the removal of Mr. Powers there had been great religious depression, but coinci- dent with the erection of the Ladd Street house there was a great relig- ious awakening. Whether this followed the voluntary contributions of the people to erect a house of worship, or whether these contributions were a result of the awakening is not known, but this is certain that fol- lowing the erection of the house of worship and the religious revival the First Congregational Church in Haverhill was "gathered" October 3, 1790 by the Rev. Edw. Burroughs of Hanover, the Rev. Asa Burton of Thetford, Vt., and Rev. Mr. North. The covenant adopted and signed by the original members is of abiding interest, as indicating the pre- vailing theological belief, and attitude of members of the church toward each other:
We whose names are hereunto subscribed being hopefully persuaded each one for himself, and charitable for each other, that we have been made willing in the day of God's power: and that under these circumstances it has become our indispensable duty to subscribe ourselves with our hands unto the Lord and to surname ourselves by taking the name of Israel, by taking the vows of God upon us, in giving up ourselves to the Lord in the bond of his covenant and unto one another as according to his will, and under a solemn sense and conviction of his infinite and condescending compassion in admitting such vile worms of the dust to lay hold on his covenant :- We do this day avouch the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Ghost to be our God, and do give up ourselves to Him to be his and his only forever, most solemnly renouncing our own right- eousness as being but filthy rags and betaking ourselves from henceforth to the blood of sprinkling and the everlasting righteousness of our glorious Redeemer as the only ground of our confidence toward God for pardon and cleansing. And for the purpose of walking together in the faith and hope of the Gospel, and that our Heavenly Father may be glorified by our shining as lights in the world, we do now come under the solemn and awful vows of God and do bind ourselves by them to take His Word for the only rule of our faith and practice, meaning by such a purpose to make it our care to act out such a temper of love, humility and meekness as is according to the true spirit and plain meaning of the Word: and in our treatment of one another and in our conduct towards all men, that by the manifestation of such temper in our daily walk and con- versation, we may approve ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And we do moreover submit our souls to the authority of that Word which binds us to watch
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over one another in the Lord, and do call him to witness that in attending to this duty it is our desire and our governing purpose to condemn every branch of conduct in each other which the Word of God condemns, and to require that temper and conduct in each other which the Word of God requires, and this without partiality or respect of persons (or knowing any one after the flesh). And we do materially and jointly take refuge in sovereign mercy and rely upon the free and rich grace of our dear Redeemer that these principles may be written in our hearts, as with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond that in the issue it may appear that in this solemn transaction with God we have not flattered him with our mouth, nor lied with our tongues, but that our hearts are right with him and are steadfast in his covenant.
David Ladd
Martha Ladd
Martin Phelps
Hannah Ladd
Carl Adams
Hannah Pearson
Joseph Ladd
Zilpah Ring
Ebenezer Gray
Abigail Cross
Ezekiel Ladd, Jr.
Anna Wood
Benjamin Young
Sarah Ladd
James Ladd
Sarah Johnston
William Locke
Betty Montgomery
David Young
Ruth Phelps
Lucinda Young
Betty Tarleton
Mehitable Cross.
Mr. Ethan Smith supplied the pulpit of the church a large portion of the time for a year or more, under the direction and with the assistance of Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Burton, before he became the first settled minister of the church. There were difficulties in the way of the settle- ment of a minister from the first. The people in the southern portion of the town desired to follow the custom of the time and support the ministry by a town tax, but this was strenuously opposed by the people at the northern end of the town. At the annual meeting of 1790 the sum of £40 was voted to hire preaching for that year, one half to be at the court house, the other half at the Ladd Street meeting house. At a special meeting held August 2 it was voted to select a minister and to have worship at the meeting house, and at the court house or some other place in Horse Meadow in proportion to the taxes annually raised for that purpose at each end of the town, making the south boundary of the Fisher farm the dividing line, and also to hire Rev. Mr. Bell to preach on probation. Charles Johnston, Nathaniel Merrill and Ezekiel Ladd were appointed a committee to carry this vote into effect.
At a special meeting October 27, 1791, it was voted to rescind all former rates respecting a division of preaching according to taxes received and "to hire Mr. Ethan Smith four Sabbaths on probation the one half to be preached at the meeting house and the other half at the Court house," Charles Johnston, Joseph Bliss and Dr. Martin Phelps were named a committee to treat with Mr. Smith. At another special meeting
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November 21, 1791, it was voted that meetings be held alternately at meeting house and court house, and also by a vote of 39 to 33, to give Mr. Ethan Smith a call to settle in town as gospel minister at a salary of £70, one-third part to be paid in money, the other two-thirds in produce equal to money in such articles as he will need in a family, provided he will settle and continue as minister. James Woodward, Dr. Martin Phelps and John Montgomery were appointed a committee to treat with Mr. Smith on the part of the town, this committee, it may be noted, was from the north end of the town.
The vote by which Mr. Smith was called was a narrow one. It does not appear that there was any objection to him, but the trouble was rivalry between the north and south ends of the town, and objection to support of the ministry by public taxation. The south end of the town was growing in importance and its residents objected to paying taxes for one half the preaching to be at the north end. Those at the north demanded half the preaching if they were to be taxed. Another special meeting was held January 3, 1792, at which it was then voted that all the people north of the church line of the Fisher farm shall be freed and exempted from paying any minister tax or salary to Mr. Ethan Smith, and that all the meetings for public worship on the Lord's Day be held at the meeting house at the lower end of Haverhill. Mr. Smith's response to the call as modified by this vote was as follows:
Whereas the inhabitants of the town of Haverhill have invited me to settle with them as a gospel minister, I do hereby comply with their invitation and do consent to take the pastoral charge of all those in said town, who desire to put themselves under my care, and I do comply with the proposal voted in town meeting January 3, 1792, viz .: to have all those persons who live north of the south edges of the Fisher farm exempt from pay- ing any part of my salary, which I do now consent to receive yearly, viz: £60 to be paid as the £70 which the town voted me, with the addition of twenty cords of hard wood per year, and to have the meetings for public worship, held on every Lord's Day at the meeting house at the lower end of Haverhill.
Joseph Bliss, Charles Johnston, John Montgomery, James Woodward, Dr. Martin Phelps and Ezekiel Ladd were appointed a committee to agree with Mr. Smith on a council in order to ordain him and to appoint a day of ordination.
But the end of the settlement had not yet been reached. Another special town meeting was held January 23, 1792, two days before the time set for the ordination and installation of Mr. Smith. It was then voted 34 to 30 to rescind the vote giving Mr. Ethan Smith a call to settle as a gospel minister in Haverhill and also the vote to give him £70 salary. All the votes passed January 3, 1792, at the special meeting respecting the settlement of Mr. Smith were also rescinded, and Moody Bedel, town clerk, was chosen to wait on Mr. Smith and inform him of
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these votes. It was left for the church to act on its own motion and responsibility in the matter of settlement which it proceeded to do and January 25, 1792, Ethan Smith was duly installed pastor, the church voluntarily assuming the entire responsibility for his support.
Mr. Smith's field of pastoral labor covered the entire town and also Piermont. While the preaching was at the Ladd Street meeting house some families from the north part of the town attended. Soon after his installation, eleven members of the church in Piermont not relishing the preaching of the pastor, Rev. Mr. Richards, who was accused of strong Arminian beliefs, withdrew from his church, and united with the church in Haverhill, conditionally, retaining the privilege of returning to Piermont whenever a majority of them so voted. At the time of Mr. Smith's dismission in 1799, nearly a third of the membership of the Haverhill church resided in Piermont, but the Piermont church having become extinct, thirty members of the Haverhill church resident in Piermont, availed themselves of this conditional membership, and with- drew to reorganize the church in their own town.
Mr. Smith's ministry was immediately greatly successful. At the end of its first year there had been fifty-three admissions to church membership, mostly by confession of faith. But there were discourage- ments. Discipline was strict, and there was a rigid adherence to the church covenant, and regard for the sacredness of its obligations. During Mr. Smith's pastorate numerous special sessions of the church were occupied with cases of admonition and excommunication. Five were excommunicated for adherence to the principles and faith of close com- munion Baptists, three for drunkenness, a number comparatively small, in view of the customs and habits of the time, others for "habitual want of Christian temper," one for "unchristian conversation with her neigh- bor," two others for neglect of church services, and neglect of mainte- nance of family prayer. May 3, 1799, "Brother John Montgomery sent in a confession to be read in public for his transgression in riding on two occasions on the Lord's Day, with humble acknowledgment of his sin, which was accepted."
The church records under date of 1794 contain this entry: "Voted, that fellowship with the church in Newbury be suspended." This was the result of a protracted controversy between the two churches which could not but have an injurious effect upon the religious life of both towns.
As has been noted, the sum of £40 was voted at the annual town meeting in March, 1790, to hire preaching for that year. There was opposition at the north end of the town to the organization of a Haverhill church, to the settlement of Mr. Smith as pastor, and to the raising of money by taxation for the support of the church; and several refused to pay their proportion of the £40 assessed for this purpose in 1790.
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Several members of the Newbury church residing at Horse Meadow and North Haverhill were among this number. The leading spirits were Ephraim Wesson and Timothy Barron, both members of the Newbury church, and both leaders in the movement to defeat the settlement of Mr. Smith. They attended church in Newbury, claiming the right of choice in matters of church attendance, and having paid for the support of the Newbury church, they held themselves to be exempt from the support of any other. They were both prominent in the affairs of Haverhill, and to bring the matter to a test they were arrested and committed to jail at North Haverhill till this delinquent minister tax should be paid. Just how long they remained in jail is unknown, but one day finding the jail door unlocked and the keeper out of sight, they quietly walked out and went home. They were soon rearrested and brought before the magistrates charged with the offense of breaking jail. To this they replied, that they had committed no violence; that finding their prison door unlocked they had simply gone out, being under no promise to remain there: further if the jailor had neglected his business it was none of theirs. When they were reminded that they had broken the law of the state and were liable to punishment additional to that for which they had been committed, they cited the example of the Apostle Peter, who, finding the door of his prison open, had walked out, claiming that what was right for Peter was also right for Timothy and Ephraim. This led to serious admonition for this irreverence in pre- suming to liken themselves to Saint Peter. They undoubtedly settled by paying the tax in question since there is no record of their being sent to jail again.
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