USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Rindge > History of the town of Rindge, New Hampshire, from the date of the Rowley Canada or Massachusetts charter, to the present time, 1736-1874, with a genealogical register of the Rindge families > Part 14
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worship and special ordinances." Five more meetings were now held without action, except to add Rev. Seth Dean, Dea. John Lovejoy and Nathaniel Page to the committee to further treat with the absenting brothers and sisters. July 4, 1770, more than two years after the case was begun, it was finally voted "as to ye case of ye absenting brethren Ezekiel Jewett and Henry Godding ye church unanimously voted, for their long absenting themselves from public Worship and special ordinances and for their renouncing their infant Baptisms by being plunged into ye Water by a pretended minister and for their hard speeches respecting this church and ye church universal, and declared non communion with ye abovesaid Brethren and do abridge them all special church Privileges and ordered it to be committed to Record. As to ye absenting sisters their conduct in long withdrawing is at present bore with."
Mrs. Hammond soon removed from town. Twenty years later, at her request, Sarah Godding was restored to her former relations with the church. This feature of the early history of the church is passed without comment. The record is so plain that no one can fail to comprehend the animus and results of the proceed- ings. The church was united in the course pursued, and was left in a condition to enjoy and improve many years of peace and prosperity. Between the church and their pastor there is no evidence of discord or contention. The causes which led to his dismissal appear to be wholly connected with the town. The salary of Mr. Dean in the terms of the contract with the proprietors, in addition to a settlement of forty pounds sterling and the benefit of the ministerial lands, was "forty pounds sterling each year so long as he stands their minister and carrieth on
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the gospel ministry among them." When the town suc- ceeded to the management of public affairs, a proposition was made to him to release the proprietors from the former contract, and accept an annual payment from the town. The sum of fifty-three and one-third pounds lawful money was proposed, which was a fair equivalent to the forty pounds sterling named in the contract, but no definite time of payment was specified. The selectmen presented Mr. Dean with a copy of the vote : -
Reverend Sir.
We present the above Coppy of the Towns Vote For your Salery to you and Desire you Would Consider the Same and Give us an Answer in Writing as soon as Conveniently you Can, Whither the same is satisfactory to you And Whither you Will thereupon Release the said proprietors From their Vote and Contract that so We may be Enabled to make a Rate for your Salery for this Present year.
NATHANIEL RUSSELL Selectmen WILLIAM CARLTON of said Rindge.
To the Reverend Mr. Seth Dean.
The following curt reply immediately followed : -
Gentlemen.
Rec'd this proposal and considered the same and answered in the negative. Negatived for reasons which I am prepared to give when desired.
From Gentlemen Yours to serve SETH DEAN, Clerk.
To Nathaniel Russell and others selectmen.
August 12 1768.
In deeds and other legal papers the term "clerk " was formerly applied to the clergy to signify their profession, and official papers by them signed generally retained this
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designation. Mr. Dean appears to have been satisfied with the amount, but he was not slow to perceive that a proposal of so much "a year," with no guarantee when the sum was to be paid, might reduce his cash on hand, and increase the balance due from the town in a very unsatisfactory manner. The town soon after paid him the amount for the first year and a half with a promptness that was acceptable to their pastor; but no permanent agreement had been made. To this end the town proposed "to give their Reverend Paus- ture the Reverend Mr Seth Dean a yearly Salary of fifty three pounds six shillings and eight pence Lawful Money so long as he shall continue to Supply the Pulpit in said town. And to give the said Reverend Mr. Dean liberty to be absent four Sabbaths in each year, if occasion calls him away or through sickness, without taking any thing from his salary." A committee waited upon Mr. Dean and brought back his reply: -
The above is negatived by me for reasons why when requested.
SETH DEAN, Clerk.
Perhaps at the request of the committee, or as the result of a second thought, a postscript is added : -
The reasons why the above is not complied with are as follows :
Ist It is foreign from the covenant that is already made with me.
2d Neither is it agreeable with my ordination charges.
SETH DEAN, Clerk.
RINDGE September ye 24 1770.
No specific contract was ever made between Mr. Dean and the town. The proposed sum was voted each year, and paid with reasonable promptness and regularity, and apparently to his acceptance, until during the war, when
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the value of the currency began rapidly to decline, but a disposition to make up this loss was manifested. In the month of October, 1777, thirty pounds additional compen- sation was voted to make good the depreciation for that year, which appears to have been satisfactory to Mr. Dean. The following year a grant of one hundred and six and two-thirds pounds, paper money, was made. This sum was far from an equivalent to his original salary; and Mr. Dean soon reminded the town of the fact by refusing to receive any part of it. Another meeting was called, and the town adhered to their former vote, but acknowledged their incon- sistency by proceeding to pledge themselves to raise three hundred pounds for the ensuing year if that sum would be accepted. The selectmen were requested "to wait upon Mr. Dean for his acceptance or non-acceptance." The dismissal of Mr. Dean, although two years deferred, is now plainly foreshadowed, and the cause-probably the only one - of the separation is made intelligible.
The selectmen reported that he refused to accept of that sum, whereupon the town immediately issued the following manifesto : -
In consideration of not having obtained the most distant hope of a peaceful settlement with the Rev. Mr. Dean for his late services although the same being sought for by our Selectmen and otherways both for the last as well as for the present year & to prevent any further difficulty or dispute in law or otherwise with the said Rev. Mr. Dean, (as in such case he could by no means be serviceable to this church and people) it is voted to chuse a Committee to treat with the Rev. Mr. Seth Dean in the name & behalf of the Town upon a final Seperation & to agree with him for the time past of the present year, in such a sum as they shall think proper. - chose Enoch Hale Esqr. Dea. Francis Towne,
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Edward Jewett, Mr. Jonathan Sherwin, Mr. Richard Kimball, Colo. Nathan Hale & Capt. Daniel Rand - a Committee aforesaid.
The meeting was adjourned for the purpose of hearing the report of this committee, who made known to the town that Mr. Dean accepted the proposed terms, and the town, according to the promise recently made, voted to raise the three hundred pounds, and the separation was deferred. When the time came to make a grant for another year, the sum of nine hundred pounds was voted. In the autumn of 1779, when this sum was proposed, it was a reasonable substitute for his original salary; but such was the rapid decrease in value, that by the time the payment was to be made it failed to be a fair remuneration for his services, and in March following the town proposed to grant in room of this sum his old salary of fifty-three and one-third pounds to be paid in commodities at their nominal value, "stating rye at four shillings, Indian corn at three shillings and four pence per bushel, beef at twenty shillings per hundred weight, and other things in proportion." This proposition possessed an air of substance and stability that must have been refreshing after his experience for the past two years. But he was not suffered to taste the fat of the land, for his dismissal occurred before the corn and the rye were brought to his granary, or the beef added to his store, to say nothing of his anticipations of "other things in proportion." The salary for this year, concerning which there had been so much legislation, was finally paid with paper money, and forty-eight hundred pounds was given as the salary of a single year, which is suggestive of the fleeting value of the currency during the Revolutionary War.
Mr. Dean, anticipating that a future support was uncer- tain, and in consideration of the great hardships and the
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burdens of general taxation which rested upon the people, perhaps impossible, now asks for a dismission. At a meet- ing held August 28, 1780, the town at first voted in the negative ; but during the meeting, Mr. Dean sent in a communication, stating that the article was inserted in the warrant at his request, and subsequently came personally before the town and gave his reasons for such a course, whereupon the town "Voted at the request of Mr. Dean to dismiss him from his Pastoral Office in the Town of Rindge." The church concurred in this action of the town on the seventh of September, when it was also voted "to recommend their Reverend Pastor as a minister in regular standing, and continueing in the administration of special ordinances." A committee was chosen, at this meeting of the church, to prepare and sign a letter of recommendation to be delivered to him on Monday, September 11, 1780, when the connection between the pastor and the church would be dissolved.
Rev. Seth Dean, son of William and Sarah (Olcott?) Dean, was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, August 7, 1715; was graduated at Yale College in the class of 1738, and licensed to preach by the Windham County Association of Congregational Ministers August 28, 1739, and was there- fore fifty years of age when he entered upon his labors in this town.
Mr. Dean married, about 1745, Mercy Fenner, of Provi- dence, Rhode Island, by whom he had several children. She died in Rindge about 1776, and he married, second, Widow Allen, of Brookline, Connecticut. Additional infor- mation of this family will be found in the second part of this volume.
Where Mr. Dean had preached previous to his settle- ment in Rindge is unknown. The fact that he was
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invariably referred to as Mr. Seth Dean previous to his ordination, and as Rev. Seth Dean after that event, is conclusive that this was his first settlement. Upon his dismissal from the church in this town, he removed to Connecticut, and supplied the pulpit in North Killingly - now East Putnam, - where he died April, 1782, a few months previous to the ordination of his successor.
The records of the church afford little information con- cerning the characteristics of the man. It is reasonably certain that during these fifteen years the affairs of the church were prudently and successfully managed. The very few and faint personal references to him that are to be found, are more suggestive of a successful ministry, and the preservation of a quiet and peaceful temper, than a greater notoriety which would have resulted from discord and contention.
In his intercourse with the town, he appears as an exact, dignified, and courteous gentleman, tenacious of his rights, yielding only for the sake of harmony, yet at all times ready to meet the inhabitants or their committees in friendly conference regarding questions that arose from time to time. Whenever his salary fell in arrears, the town was courte- ously reminded of its delinquency, and always in those well-chosen terms from which no offence could be drawn.
The duty of supplying the pulpit, until a call was to be issued, now fell entirely upon the town. Within a month after Mr. Dean's dismission, Dea. Francis Towne, Captain Solomon Cutler, and Mr. Richard Kimball were chosen "to hire preaching for four Sabbaths at a time," and in December following, two thousand pounds were appropri- ated for this purpose, "including the last eight Sabbaths that is hired." This sum of money was equivalent to about one-half of Mr. Dean's annual salary, and would
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secure preaching for several months. In March, 1781, two thousand pounds more was raised, and the same committee selected to supply the pulpit. Mr. Joseph Emerson was engaged by the committee, and continued to preach until near the date of his death, and was succeeded by Mr. Brown Emerson, who remained several months. Neither of them received a call.
Mr. Seth Payson, then a young man nearly twenty- three years of age, supplied the pulpit a few Sabbaths, when he received a call to settle. The votes of the church and of the town were as follows : -
July 9, 1781. "The church voted that Wednesday the 18th instant be appointed as a day of Fasting and Prayer in this town, to look to Almighty God for his Blessing and Direction, in particular for ye settlement of a gospel Minister in this town.
Also chose Messrs. Benjn Bancroft, Barnabas Barker, and Edward Jewett, a committee to desire them to attend on sd Day & join in Fasting & Prayer. viz : Revd Messrs. Farrar of New Ipswich, Payson of Fitchburg, Lee of Royalston, Cushing of Ashburnham, Brown of Winchendon, Brigham of Fitz William, and Fisk of Wilton."
July 18. "The above mentioned Ministers all attended and this day was held by ye chh. and congregation in Rindge as a Day of Fasting & Prayer."
July 24. "At a church Meeting in said Rindge ye chh. voted to give Seth Payson a call to Settle in this town as a Minister of ye gospel. Also Chose Messrs. John Lovejoy, Amasa Turner, Richard Kimball, Francis Towne & Edward Jewett, a committee to wait on said Payson & acquaint him of what the church had done. & if the town concur to present him with a copy of their vote."
On the same day, the selectmen issued a warrant for a town-meeting, to be held on the seventh of August, at
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which it was voted unanimously to second the call of the church, and a settlement of two hundred pounds was voted in case he accepted the invitation. This was to be paid in silver, at six shillings and eight pence per ounce, which gave it a definite value. This gratuity, as a settlement, in addition to the stated salary, was a common practice in the settlement of ministers at this date. It was also ordered that the salary be paid annually, but the amount was not named in the record of this meeting. Enoch Hale, Esq., Deacon John Lovejoy, Deacon Francis Towne, Edward Jewett, Mr. Jonathan Sherwin, Mr. Richard Kim- ball, and Mr. Ephraim Hunt were instructed to present Mr. Payson with a copy of the vote of the town. There is no record of his answer. The call was declined. Mr. Payson, however, continued to supply the pulpit; and, with occasional assistance in the administration of the ordinances in which he was not qualified until he had been ordained, it is probable he remained in this capacity until his ordi- nation. The next year the call was renewed; or, more accurately, at the unanimous request of both church and town he withdrew his former answer, and accepted the original invitation. The action of the church was on the fifth of September, and two days later, at a meeting pre- viously called, evidently in anticipation of this event, the town concurred in the request of the church. Both bodies chose the same committees that presented the call, to communicate to Mr. Payson their continued desires. Mr. Payson's letter of acceptance is dated October 17, and his ordination occurred December 4, 1782. The church and pastor-elect joined in invitations to the churches in Chelsea, Dedham, Fitchburg, New Ipswich, Wilton, Ash- burnham, Winchendon, Royalston, and Fitzwilliam. With the exception of the church at Dedham, the pastors of these
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churches were present. The church records furnish no information of the parts assigned to each ; yet the " History of New Ipswich " preserves the fact that the charge to the pastor was given by Rev. Stephen Farrar, of that place, and another record announces that the sermon was preached by Rev. Phillips Payson, of Chelsea.
The town selected the day of the ordination, and made ample arrangements for the occasion. In the true demo- cratic spirit, a town-meeting was called to give all a voice in these preliminaries, when it was "voted that the first Wednesday of December next be the day for the ordination of Mr. Seth Payson; also voted to choose a Committee of five men to provide for the Council, chose Capt. Solomon Cutler, Mr. Richard Kimball, Enoch Hale, Esqr., Mr. Jona- than Sherwin, and Mr. Benjamin Bancroft for said com- mittee ; also chose Capt. Othniel Thomas, Capt. Philip Thomas, Lieut. King Lapham, Lieut. Jacob Gould and Mr. Abel Perkins a committee to prop up the gallery & take care of the meeting house on sª day."
Lieut. Ebenezer Fitch was paid thirteen pounds and ten shillings "for entertaining the venerable council," and " Major Leme Page received three pounds for keeping forty horses one night for the council." It appears to have been a council of forty-horse power that ordained Dr. Payson. In those days such occasions were well attended, and called in many from the surrounding towns, who cheerfully braved the cold of December, and, without fire, endured the frosty air through the prolonged session, warmed only by their contemplation of the doctrinal questions proposed by the learned divines, or by an occasional speculation concerning the soundness of the views of the candidate.
At this late day it would be difficult to ascertain, with absolute certainty, the causes which prevented Mr. Payson
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from accepting the call when first issued. His refusal to settle may have been intimately connected with the prac- tice of owning the covenant, which the church at this time tolerated, and of which he never approved ; and it is certain that when he finally accepted their invitation, it was with the agreement that this practice should no longer prevail. The church may have hesitated the entire year between their preference for Mr. Payson and their desire to retain the covenant privileges before they consented to discard the latter, and open the way for an acceptance of the call.
The practice of "owning the covenant," which has been mentioned in connection with Mr. Dean's ministry, and with the settlement of Dr. Payson, consisted in per- mitting parents publicly to give their assent to the creed of the church, or "own the covenant " as it was styled, which gave them the privilege of presenting their children for baptism, but not of communion. These persons did not necessarily profess any moral qualifications of mem- bership, but simply an intellectual assent to the creed, and were generally styled "half way members." They were not amenable to church discipline, but sometimes, when received to these limited privileges, were required to con- fess any open fault or offence. Such confessions upon ancient church records do not prove full membership as many have supposed, and are quite as likely to refer to the one as the other class of admissions. This custom was nearly or quite universally accepted until near the close of the past century, and from this practice springs another term of similar origin, "admitted to full commun- ion," as formerly used in distinction from those admitted to the rites of baptism only.
During the ministry of Mr. Payson, the church was materially increased in membership. During the early
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period of his labors there were no revivals, and the apparent results of his preaching and influence are mani- fested in a constant and uniform growth, in an entire freedom from internal disturbance, and in overcoming a tendency of the times for new creeds and doctrines. From 1780 until 1790, the smallest number of additions in any year was four, and the largest was ten; during the second ten years, the aggregate was nearly the same. In 1797 there is no record of any admission, and this is the only year in which no new members were received. Through the first decade of the present century the average number is slightly increased, but the greatest numbers are recorded during the later years of his ministry. In 1812, there were twenty-seven; in 1816, there were twelve. The whole number of members added to the church in the term of his pastorate of thirty-seven years, was two hundred and thirty-one, and about four hundred and fifty children were baptized.
The salary of Dr. Payson for several years was eighty- five pounds. This sum he continued to receive until 1795, when his salary was paid, for the first time, in Federal money. At this time, $283.33 was paid as a sub- stitute for the former amount. Before another payment fell due, his salary, by vote of the town, had been increased to $333.33, which sum was paid him until 1816, when it was again increased, and from this date $500 was paid to the close of his pastorate, and was continued, in fact, several months beyond his death. The payment for the last year was made to his widow. The salary of Dr. Payson should be brought into comparison with the salaries of the clergymen of his time rather than of the present. If the amount was not large, it was paid with unusual regularity, and during his prolonged ministry was never
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suffered to fall in arrears. Dr. Payson built and owned the house in which he resided. After his death, his son, Henry Payson, as administrator of the estate, sold the house and thirty acres of land to the town, which soon after became the property of the society connected with the Congregational Church, and has been retained as a parsonage to the present day.
Rev. Seth Payson, D. D., was the youngest son of Rev. Phillips Payson, of Walpole, Massachusetts. Rev. Phillips Payson, a son of Samuel and Mary Payson, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was born in February, 1705, graduated at Harvard University 1724, and was ordained over the church at Walpole September 16, 1730. He married, December 5, 1733, Anne Swift, daughter of Rev. John and Sarah (Tileston) Swift, of Framingham, and sister of Rev. John Swift, of Acton. She died about 1756, and Mr. Payson married October, 1757, Kezia (Bullen) Morse, widow of Deacon Seth Morse, of Medfield, and daughter of John and Mehitabel (Fisher) Bullen. Four of the sons of Rev. Phillips Payson were ministers. Rev. Phillips Payson, born January 18, 1736, graduated at Harvard 1754, ordained over the church at Chelsea, Massachusetts, October 26, 1757, and died January 11, 1801. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Rev. Samuel Payson, born April 26, 1738, graduated at Harvard 1758, ordained over the church at Lunenburg, Massachusetts, September 8, 1762, and died February 14, 1763. Rev. John Payson, born January 6, 1746, graduated at Harvard 1764, ordained over the church at Fitchburg, Massachusetts -the first settled minister in that town, - January 16, 1768, was dismissed by a mutual council on account of his infirmities May 2, 1794, and died May 21, 1804. Rev. Seth Payson, only child of the second wife, was born September 30, 1758, graduated at Harvard
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1777, ordained at Rindge December 4, 1782, received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth College 1809, and died February 26, 1820.
The father and his sons were able ministers and excellent men. Eminently successful in their profession, they also evinced a lively interest and exerted a great influence in civil affairs. Of that member of this illus- trious family, who labored so many years in Rindge, Rev. Isaac Robinson, D.D., has written : -
Little is now known respecting his early youth except that he had a feeble constitution and was subject to epilepsy, which threatened him with loss of reason and premature death. He was, however, free from that malady during the greater part of his life, and enjoyed vigorous health till within less than a year of his death. In 1773 he entered Harvard College, where he enjoyed the esteem and affection of both his instructors and fellow students. Possessed of a versatile and comprehensive mind, and a habit of intense application, he made rapid progress in the acquisition of knowledge; and when he graduated in 1777, he received one of the highest honors of his class.
It is universally conceded that Dr. Payson possessed much more than common abilities. His intellect was sharp and vigorous, his imagination lively, and his memory highly retentive. His acquisitions were extensive and varied; and there were few subjects on which he could not converse with intelligence, and no class of men that were not interested in listening to him. He was known as a distinguished civilian in New Hampshire, and held a seat in the Senate of that State, and was regarded as one of its ablest members. But, though he paid considerable attention to political economy, and was somewhat in political life, yet theology was his favorite study, and the ministry his favorite work. As his ideas were all admirably arranged in his own mind, so he was able to communicate them to others with great clearness and force. His brethren in the ministry were always gratified and edified by
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