USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Rochester > History of the town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890, Vol. I > Part 9
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After Mr. Main's death, tradition says his remains were kept fourteen days before burial, as it was necessary to procure many articles from Portsmouth, and make suitable preparations that he might be interred with the honors and dignity due to his high position. The town paid the expenses, and the following items appear in the account of that year : -
" Paid Enoch Hoeg for six rings for Mr. Main's funeral, 15-17-3 Paid Stephen Evans for rum for the funeral, 11- 5-0 Paid for things at Portsmouth for the funeral, 47-10-0"
The rings were mourning rings for the six daughters. He was buried in the family lot now included in the common burying- ground on Haven's hill. Just beyond this place stood the par- sonage in which Mr. Main resided. Within a few years this family burial lot has been inclosed and a beautiful marble monument erected by his descendants, to the memory of the first Gospel Minister of Rochester.
A few days before the death of Mr. Main, after his recovery
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was beyond hope, the town voted to hire a minister for three months. The Rev. Samuel Hill was selected for this temporary supply. At the expiration of the time, " his doctrine and con- versation being unreprovable and he appearing to be a person able, learned and orthodox," it was decided to invite him to a settlement as pastor. Many formalities were observed, and all things proceeded according to exact system. A committee of ten of the foremost citizens, at the head of which were Dea. Berry and Capt. Roberts, were to treat with the candidate; a smaller committee to procure a parsonage lot of the proprietors; another, to draw up a covenant of agreement; and still another, to build a parsonage house. In the agreement they styled themselves a committee of " the freeholders and inhabitants of the town, church and congregation qualified to vote in town affairs." The contract with Mr. Hill was for fifty pounds sterling as a yearly salary, a house and barn to be built, the lot fenced, a well dug, and an orchard planted. All were to have a fair chance to pay their taxes in labor or in lumber such as was needed. Although the town was several years in building the house and fencing the lot, yet no time was lost in commencing the work. Sept. 29, 1760, the proprietors sold lot No. 25, of the first Division for the use of the ministry. Upon this lot was at this time commenced the parsonage house, still standing upon the very top of Haven's hill,
and now known as the Gershom Horne place. As Mr. Main's house and land was his private property, this was the first parson- age owned by the town, and is still a respectable edifice, which the people, doubtless, then looked upon with much pride. While waiting for the house, the minister boarded at Mrs. Main's. The town bought him a pew, and omitted nothing which his necessity or comfort required. Nothing is known of his personal history or that of the church during his pastorate. He was cut down by death after a short ministry of four years, and the people were called a second time to mourn the loss of a beloved pastor. The loss of the church records of this period, - the shortness of Mr. Hill's residence in Rochester, - and the dispersion of his family have deprived us of the usual sources of information in regard to his life and character.
SAMUEL HILL was born Oct. 17, 1714, in Malden, Mass., where his ancestors settled early in the history of New England. He
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graduated at Harvard University at the age of twenty-one, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Marshfield, Mass., July 16, 1740. Here he continued for nearly twelve years of successful labor, though somewhat interrupted by ill health. A revival occurred in 1742, resulting in eighteen additions to the church. No similar revival followed there till one hundred years later. Though his health incapacitated him for public preaching, his people were reluctant to let Mr. Hill go. 'He was sent on a trip to the eastward, but his health was not restored. A day of fasting and prayer on account of his weakness and inability to preach was observed by the church, and neighboring ministers were invited to attend. In February the church first met to consult in regard to the supply of the pulpit, but not till No- vember was his dismission recommended by a council convened to consider this subject. Their advice was accepted, and his dismission occurred on the twentieth of March, 1752. His people gave him, as a parting present, a "preaching Bible," - probably the one from' which he had been accustomed to preach. He removed to Biddeford, Me., where he resided for a time in the house of Capt. Samuel Jordan, whose daughter Mr. Hill had married in 1739. He and his wife were received into the church there, of which Rev. Moses Morrill was pastor, who had also married a daughter of Capt. Jordan. In 1754 Mr. Hill was chosen representative of the town of Biddeford. In 1755 his wife died, and two years after he married Elizabeth Shapleigh of Elliot, Me. In July, 1760, he received a unanimous invitation to settle in Rochester, where he was installed the 19th of November fol- lowing.
While at Marshfield, Mr. Hill acquired a passion for gunning, and was in the habit of hunting wild fowl, which were found in abundance at a place called Brant Rock. Upon one of these excursions to this rock he was wounded, by the accidental dis- charge of his gun.
The unpublished diary of the Rev. Josiah Cotton contains the following in reference to his dismission from Marshfield :-
" A more pitiable case has happened at Marshfield, namely, - the dismission of Rev. Mr. Hill from his ministry. A good man and a good preacher, but very crazy and infirm, and otherwise in poor circumstances. The Lord provide for him and his."
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The craziness here meant is simply bodily : there is no intima- tion that his mind was affected. "A good man and a good preacher " is the testimony of his contemporary. It is eulogy suf- ficient. No odium rests upon his character, and as a preacher he was popular.
Probably his constitution was so much broken by ill health before his settlement in Rochester, that the labors of the ministry were too great for him to endure. He died of dropsy on the nineteenth of April, 1764, at the age of fifty. The town defrayed the expenses of his funeral, as in case of Mr. Main. His remains were interred in the burying-ground close by the church in which he had been accustomed to preach. No marble monument, - no lettered stone informs us of the spot of his burial. Tradition, even, does not attempt to point it out. Among the many name- less graves of the people with whom he made a brief sojourn, his ashes repose, " but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day."
For a year and a half after the death of Mr. Hill, the church remained without a pastor. The people were lukewarm. Although frequently called together to consider ministerial affairs and urged " to attend for a short space and solidly debate these questions," yet they continued in a state of indifference. One minister after another was hired to preach "on approbation," and one after another failed to give satisfaction, or to excite any permanent interest. For weeks and months candidates supplied the desk, uncertain of the wishes of the people, and when a decision was demanded, it would be voted to "seek further for some orthodox man." Among those who preached was Rev. Mr. Bowen, who soon after became pastor of the New South Church in Boston, and who was father of Bishop Bowen of South Carolina.
At length, Nov. 6, 1765, an invitation to settle was given by the church to the Rev. Avery Hall, who had preached only a few Sabbaths. The town united in the call on the thirteenth of Jan- uary following, and appointed John Plummer, Esqr., Ens". Ed- ward Tibbets, and Dec". James Knowles a committee to present the same. Mr. Hall signified his willingness to accept, if they would make suitable provision for his support. They offered a salary of seventy pounds, which he thought insufficient. They increased the offer to seventy-five pounds, and the committee
7
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" discoursed " with Mr. Hall; but he still thought the sum not " honorable." They refused any further increase. Town meetings were continued by numerous adjournments during the next three months, till on July 7, 1766, it was voted "to give Mr. Avery Hall the Sum of eighty Pounds lawful Money as his annual Sal- ary," and Capt. William Allen, Deacon James Knowles, Jabez Dam, Lieut. David Cops, and Thomas Brown were appointed to treat with Mr. Hall and " perfix the time of Ordination." His letter of acceptance is as follows: -
"To the Church of Christ in Rochester & to the Congregation in sd Town Avery Hall sendeth Greeting. Dearly beloved in our Lord Jessus Christ,
· Where as in your destitute State, being deprived of a settled Gospel Minister, GOD in his Providence hath pointed out me, to preach ye Gospel to you, & you have made choice of me (1. as ye least of all Saints) to be your gospel Min- ister, To take the charge of your Souls; Seeing your Unanimity, & having im- plored ye divine Guidance in this important Affair, & being moved as I humbly trust by the Spirit of God, I think it my Duty to accept the call ; & I do freely accept ye Call to ye Work of the gospel ministry among you & stand ready to be introduced into ye Sacred Office according to gospel Order in a convenient time, confiding in your Goodness that you will be ready to afford me all needful helps & Assistances, for my comfortable Support among you; expecting also that you allow me a suitable time for Journeying once a year to visit my Friends abroad. - & now I beseech ye God of all Grace to bless us with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus; and that ye Word of the Lord may have free Course & be glorified among us.
This is ye sincere Desire & prayer, of your Servant in Christ AVERY HALL."
Rochester, July 21, 1766.
" Sept. 2, 1766. Voted £15 to Defray the charge of Mr. Hall's ordination to be Raised out of the Hire of the Parsonage Land in said Town for two years Past and Dech James Knowles William Chamberlin Jabez Dam John Plummer Esqr Capt Jona Ham chosen a Committee to Provide the Materials for the ordination and the choice of the Place where the Provision is to be made for Entertaining of the Strangers is Left to said Committee to say where it Shall be."
The ordination occurred Oct. 15, 1766. The Sermon and the Charge were by Mr. Hall of Wallingford, Conn., probably a relative of the pastor-elect. The Ordaining Prayer and the Right Hand of Fellowship were by the venerable James Pike who had been pastor at Somersworth for thirty-six years, and was Moderator of the Coun- cil. The Introductory Prayer was by Mr. Dame, and the Concluding Prayer by Dr. Langdon of Portsmouth. The Rev. Matthew Meriam present from Berwick, Me., was a classmate of Mr. Hall. " After singing a Psalm & the Blessing was pronounced, the large Assembly was dispersed."
With some suitable sense of what was becoming to their improved
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circumstances, the people commenced a work of renovation. Be- ginning with the meeting-house, the broken glass was mended, the pews were changed, a bucket for the well, and a lock for the par- sonage house were bought. Such items as nails, lumber, glass, and "putte," again appear in the accounts. A spirit of reform seems to have seized the community. Some wanted to modernize public worship; and so, from mending the meeting-house, the town undertook to mend the singing, - a delicate matter, -somewhat hazardous at all times, and evidently, not without the common result, hard feeling, at this time. The town was asked to grant -
" the liberty of a seat, in some convenient place in the meeting house, to accom- modate the singers to sit together : " And it was voted " that A. B. C. have the lib- erty to build, at their own expense, a seat before the front gallery, so as not to hide the sight of the pews and those that sit back."
A committee of five was appointed-two of whom were the dea- cons - " to choose out the best singers and say who should be the A. B. C." No sooner, however, was the seat built, than the subject was reconsidered. The town concluded to take away the seat, pay the expense of building it, and try to reconcile all parties by providing a place for the singers below. The authority to choose out the best singers was renewed to the deacons, and those whom they chose annually were to have the privilege of sitting in the singers' seat. Thus, the first step towards the formation of a choir was taken by the town in public town meeting. The church soon took control of the matter. A year later, they held a meeting in reference to the singing, and chose Richard Wentworth, Paul Libby, Samuel Chamberlin, and David Place " to be with Deacon Walker as Choristers to Tune the Psalm."
Having repaired the meeting-house, and formed a choir according to the approved manner of that day, the business of setting things in order extended to the parsonage. This building commenced for Mr. Hill six years before, had never been completed. It was one condition of the contract with Mr. Hall that it should be made fit for him to occupy, and be kept in good repair ; yet, for another six years the work dragged slowly along, and at the end of that time the town was still deliberating whether or not the "ministerial house should be finished off."
The period of Mr. Hall's ministry is remarkable only for the sad divisions among the people of his charge. All the circumstances
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attending his call and settlement were inauspicious, and foreshad- owed the troubles which followed. The lack of interest, the long delays, the difficulty of agreeing about the salary, all show that the congregation had suffered so long for want of a spiritual teacher, that it was in ill condition to receive one. To the general apathy which prevailed at his settlement, a state of passion and excitement succeeded. Disputes arose which divided the church and people into angry factions. Accusations led to counter accusations, and bitterness took the place of harmony. When the contest was at its height, the estrangement between the members of the church was so great that those of one faction refused to partake of the sac- rament with those of the other. The deacons were on opposite sides. To increase the discord, the parties were very nearly equal, the strongest party in the church having a majority of only one vote upon all test questions. It is impossible, at this day, to write a com- plete history of this church war; even the causes of the troubles can not be fully ascertained. Written charges were brought against the pastor, but no record of them has been preserved. It is alleged that both the doctrine and the conduct of Mr. Hall were unsatis- factory to the people. The facts which are now known, lead to the opinion that the charges against his doctrine related to his position on the " half way covenant," while the charges against his conduct referred to the manner in which he conducted the controversy.
The " half way covenant," as it was called, had been sanctioned by the practice of the New England churches from an early date. Persons who had been baptized in infancy, upon arriving at maturity with a good moral character and outward conformity to the require- ments of religion, were received into covenant, and were entitled to have their children baptized; yet they did not partake of the sacra- ment, nor make a confession of faith. This practice sprung in part from the tenderness which the church cherished towards its children. But a more powerful reason was found in the fact already mentioned, that church membership was necessary to entitle a person to vote or to render eligible to civil office. Union with the church, therefore, being sought for political objects, the door was gradually opened to the unworthy, whereby the church could not but suffer dishonor. The " half way covenant " was devised as a partial remedy for this evil, by giving moral men the civil standing conferred by church membership, while not admitting them to the full spiritual privi-
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leges of those who professed conversion. They were however sub- ject to some degree of discipline, as seen by the following vote.
" July 13, 1749. Voted by this Church that Such Persons as are In Covenant with ys Chh wo have not Joyned in full Communion with ye chh Shall be Dealt with from time to time In case of Publick Scandal or offence by ye chh Equally with those in full communion."
There were, therefore, two classes of church-members ; those in full communion, and those in covenant. A strong feeling of dis- satisfaction with this state of the churches had already arisen in many parts of New England. The great revival which swept over the country in 1741-2, did much to increase and extend this discon- tent. Jonathan Edwards, the most distinguished theologian of the country, had taken a decided position against the half-way cove- nant ;- a position which involved him in difficulties with his peo- ple, raised an intense opposition to his preaching, and finally resulted in his dismission from his pastoral office in Northampton.
In the third year of Mr. Hall's ministry, Dec. 7, 1768, a church meeting was called especially to confer upon the question -
" whether any should be received into covenant, that did not come into full communion, and the greater part gave in that they ought not to be received but into full communion, but it was not passed into a vote."
From this time members began to absent themselves from church meetings, and from the communion table, and those who were in covenant ceased to attend upon public worship. Committees were appointed to reason with the delinquents, and urge them to return. At a church meeting, July 1, 1772, having been pressed to give their reasons, they openly avowed their dislike to Mr. Hall's minis- try. Mr. Hall, as moderator, checked them, forbidding them to enumerate particular causes of complaint, until they had sought private satisfaction. A paper containing charges against the pastor, (prepared, as the record states, by the wife of one in covenant,) was presented by Deacon Knowles. The pastor refused to read it, and insisted that it should not be read. " A clamor was raised." The church being determined to hear it, the moderator was over- ruled, and the paper was read, but no further action was taken. An attempt to settle the difficulties in a private way proved unsuc- cessful. At the next church meeting, Dr. Langdon of Portsmouth was invited to act as moderator. After the subject had been dis-
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cussed at length, it was voted, by one majority, that the answer of the pastor to the charges was unsatisfactory. At a subsequent meeting a vote was taken upon the same question with the same result, the vote standing " nine against eight." " A. Christian con- ference " was called Aug. 12, 1773, at the pastor's house. The dissatisfied party were strongly urged to say what would satisfy them, but refused to do so. Then the observance of the sacrament was suggested, but the aggrieved members declined to participate. " So ye Meeting was brook up." The town took up the matter, and voted that they were dissatisfied with Mr. Hall's doctrine and con- duct, and that he should not supply the desk until he had cleared up his character ; but when the question of hiring another preacher came up, they hesitated, and declined to act. When a town by the concurrence of a majority of its legal voters had settled a minister, he had a life tenure in his office, and could not be removed except by action of a council or by legal proceedings. It was therefore no easy matter to get rid of an objectionable pastor. To the vote of dissatisfaction already passed, twenty-six voters entered an elaborate protest, founded upon technical objections to the notification, and want of power in the town. The town was still legally bound for the support of Mr. Hall. He continued to receive his salary, and maintained undivided possession of the pulpit.
All attempts to settle difficulties in a private way having failed, a council was proposed with the approval of all parties. But how should it be called? Mr. Hall's friends demanded a mutual council called by the concurrent action of church and pastor. The other party insisted that as they were in the majority, the council should be called by the church, " as aggrieved with their pastor." It being impossible to agree, the dissatisfied party claiming to be the church by reason of having one majority, called a council in the name of the church. All the minister's friends could do was to remonstrate. When the council met, however, they allowed the remonstrants to invite an equal number of ministers and churches of their own selection, to unite with them; and so the council became mutual. The result of their deliberations was made known April 21, 1774. It advised that the pastor should ask a dismission, and that the town should pay him two hundred dollars as a compensation. Anxious to be freed from their minister on any terms, the town immediately accepted the result and voted the compensation. Mr. Hall declined
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to receive it. His friends claimed that he was not yet legally dis- missed, and alleged that unfair means were used to get the town to vote the compensation. They styled the charges against Mr. Hall cruel and unjust, and appealed to the result of council to show that they had not been proved. They accused their opponents of assum- ing the authority of the church when they were only a minor part of it; of appointing church meetings and calling in the assistance of mere covenanters to vote Mr. Hall's dismission ; and charged them with thus amusing the people and keeping them in a rage to answer their own ends. They proposed another council, but the proposi- tion was instantly rejected. Each party claimed to be the church and held its church meetings. One of these self-styled churches had voted the pastor's dismission. The other did not accept the result of council, but " signified their minds in writing, and desired the pastor to continue with them." The refusal to accept the decision of the council aroused the town. They appointed a com- mittee to prosecute Mr. Hall, if he attempted to preach, and to hire
a candidate to supply the pulpit. One of this committee was Deacon Knowles, an influential member of the church, and one of the most able and respected citizens of the town. More than one hundred persons protested against the proceedings of this meeting, and the votes were not carried into effect. In spite of all these measures, Mr. Hall continued to preach in the meeting-house for more than six months longer. He then proposed to ask a dismis- sion on condition that the town should give him " one year's salary, one hundred pounds lawful money, the use of the parsonage house, lot and barn, and a lot of land adjoining, and exempt him and all his interest from paying any public taxes in town during his natural life." The town met this offer with an emphatic negative, followed up by a vote to lock the meeting-house against him. A " stock lock" for this object is one of the charges in this year's account. The meeting-house locked against him, and a candidate hired to preach in his pulpit, Mr. Hall concluded to make the best terms in his power. A year had elapsed since the meeting of the ecclesias- tical council which recommended his dismission. He now received sixty pounds as a compensation, and agreed to ask that dismission. The following record of a church meeting, April 10, 1775, is the last record made by the hand of Mr. Hall.
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" Some unhappy Disputes having arisen in this Chh relative to your pastor, & disaffection in the Minds of many towards the Pastor still subsisting, to the great grief of your Pastor, & it having been advised to by an Ecclesiastical Council that I should ask a Dismission from my pastoral Relation to this Church, I now ask a Dismission of you ; If it be your Minds that my pastoral Relation to you, breth- ren, be now dissolved, & that I should commend your Souls to God who has com- mitted them to my pastoral Care, the Dismission is not from Office, but only from my pastoral Relation to you, please to signify it, &c., & it passed in ye Affire by one."
After endeavoring for two years to break the bonds between minister and people, the town, in the end, succeeded only by hiring the minister to ask a dismission. The conclusion of this unfortu- nate controversy and the final reconciliation of the parties in the church did not occur until the time of Mr. Hall's successor in office. Soon after the ordination of Mr. Haven, the church voted to hear the aggrieved brethren as to their grievances, - the words, " ag- grieved brethren," being now reversed in their application, and meaning those who had supported Mr. Hall. By the consent of all parties, the subject was referred to the Rev. Mr. Lancton of York, the Rev. Mr. Hemenway of Wells, and the Rev. Mr. Spring of Kittery, all in Maine. They met at the pastor's house, May 28, 1776, and continued their sessions two days. Upon the announce- ment of their report, which is not recorded, -
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