USA > New Hampshire > The New Hampshire churches : comprising histories of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches in the state, with notices of other denominations: also containing many interesting incidents connected with the first settlement of towns > Part 31
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311
WINCHESTER.
rejoice to find the church united in their approbation of Mr. Porter, and, without a dissenting voice, and as far as we can discover, without a dissenting feeling, recommending him to the communion and service of the church, and that the very allegations of his opposers will still further recom- mend him to serious minds, and we unite with the church in most cordially commending Mr. Porter to the service of the churches, not only as undeserving the opposition he has received, but as having been instrumental in advancing reli- gion in this place. We would direct the eyes of this church to her glorious King for protection and support, and we would call upon each member of this society to be united to the Redeemer, and to remember that as enemies he will treat the enemies of his friends, his cause and his truth."
The short ministry of Mr. Porter was a memorable point in the history of the church and the truth in this place. It was a battle with Arminianism, dead formalism, and all the wicked passions of the natural heart. The victory was won for the church. She was saved. His coming, under God, revivified her, as the older members affirm ; 44 were brought into the church during his short stay of less than two and a half years. It was a time of decisive results in the lives of many individuals. Many embraced evangelical doctrines with all their hearts. Others turned away from such views with bitter hostility and remained thus opposed till their death. Mr. Porter's ministry was probably the crisis in their lives, as it was the crisis in the history of the church.
Mr. Porter was a graduate of Dartmouth college in the year 1803. After his removal from this town he was settled n Belchertown, Ms. in 1812, as colleague pastor with Rev. Mr. Forward. He remained there thirteen years-was dis- nissed in 1825, and died in Lebanon, his native place, in 1828. While at Belchertown his people were visited with wo remarkable revivals. The first was in 1812 and brought nto the church 107 persons. The second was in 1818 and resulted in the addition of 208 persons to the church-more were added during his stay there than during the eighty years in the previous existence of the church.
Mr. Porter was the last minister hired by this town. For more than seventy years the whole town was united in one religious society-the Orthodox Congregational. But before Mr. Porter's day, individuals came forward and petitioned, rom time to time, to have their ministerial tax abated in consequence of entertaining views different from the "stand- ng order." Such petitions were granted. Upon the com- ng of Mr Porter these differences of religious opinions were
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CHESHIRE COUNTY.
sharply defined and strongly brought out. The "iron and the clay" could no longer cohere. Accordingly, before a call was extended to Mr. Porter, 131 persons signed a protest against his settlement because of his views, from which they said they dissented. They gave notice, as they were per- mitted by statute, that they would take no part in his set- tlement, support or dismission. From this movement arose the Methodist and Universalist societies. The Methodist church embraces over 200 communicants.
After the dismission of Mr. Porter the Congregational (. church remained without a pastor seven years and eight months, having the services of Rev. Broughton White, Rev. Mr. Howe, Rev. Phineas Cooke and others. The town no longer undertook the support of the gospel. The means of grace were henceforth to be sustained by voluntary societies. The ministerial tax of those willing to support the gospel was of course considerably increased, and the fears of those who subjected themselves to this increased expenditure were somewhat amusing: One man of large means being called upon for $ 6, or $8, for the preaching, expressed his appre- hensions that his whole estate would have to go for the sup- port of the minister. The Meeting-house now began to be claimed a part of the time by the other denominations. It was finally voted to allow the use of the house one half of the time to the other denominations, especially the Univer- salists and Methodists ; the other half was secured to the. Congregational church and also those Sabbaths of the other half when it was not used by the other societies. The result was that henceforth the house was occupied by this church about half the time. When excluded from the Meeting- house they worshiped in the Tavern Hall near by, and in the hall of the Academy which was afterwards the district school house of the central village.
In September 1817, Mr. Salmon Bennett was ordained over the church and remained till 1823, when he was dis- missed by an ecclesiastical council. He was thoroughly evangelical in his preaching ; and though no striking events or special revival occurred during his ministry, yet it was under him that the Sabbath School was organized, and the Monthly Concert established. Mr. Bennett gathered 27 into the communion of the church. After his dismission the church was again without a pastor for more than eight years ; but in the meanwhile they engaged the services of Rev. William Ely, Rev. Mr. Ward, Rev. Mr. Taylor and Rev. Mr. Arnold. Mr. Ely came in July 1824, and remained till May 21, 1825, about ten months. But this short stay
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313
WINCHESTER.
was memorable for a very pleasing and extensive revival .- Through him a large number of the older members of the church were gathered in. The only record of this revival on the church book is in the hand writing of Mr. Ely, and is this : "The revival commenced in the spring of 1824. During the four months beginning with August 28, a part of the society employed Mr. Wiswell, a Unitarian preacher, in opposition to the church. The church and a great por- tion of the society during this period assembled in the hall of the Academy." The result of his short labors was the addition of 59 to the church-the greatest number ever received to it in so short a time. Mr. Ely was a graduate of Yale and of Andover. He died in 1850 at Easthampton, Ms. He was succeeded by Rev. Solomon G. Ward, a stated supply, who came in 1826 and remained about a year. He was from the South and returned thither when he had closed his labors. Rev. Sereno Taylor followed him, also a stated supply. He came in the fall of 1827 and continued his labors till the fall of 1829. During his stay the church experienced another season of revival, which brought into its communion 46 persons. But though it was a time of revi- val, it was also one of commotion and division occasioned by Mr. Taylor's views on baptism, which, it was thought by some in the church, rendered it inexpedient to employ him as a minister of a Congregational church. Some of the friends of Mr. Taylor left the church after his departure, and connected themselves permanently with the Methodist church. Rev. Joel H. Arnold followed Mr. Taylor. He came in May 1830, and left in December of the same year. He was a graduate of Dartmouth in 1824.
At length, a call was extended to Rev. Francis Danforth of Greenfield, and he was ordained Aug. 18, 1831. He was a graduate of Dartmouth and Andover. The labors of Mr. Danforth were valuable in promoting the order and disci- line of the church, and in establishing the members in the doctrines of the gospel. The church had been so long with- out a settled pastor that many things in its discipline and purity had been neglected. The work Mr. Danforth accom- plished in giving order and stability to the church was neces- sary to its prosperity. To this work he seemed to be fitted by his accuracy, his business habits and by his general good abilities. During his ministry also the present Congrega- tional house of worship was built, for which the society were ndebted much to his zeal and counsel. It was dedicated Nov. 25, 1834. His ministry was not destitute of the pres- .ence of the Spirit's reviving power-81 were gathered into the 21
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church during his eight years ministry. He received a call to the church in Hadley, Ms. He accepted it, and was dis- missed 26th Nov. 1839. He remained a year at Hadley and was dismissed. He afterwards preached in the western part of Massachusetts a short time, and then removed to Clarence, N. Y. and became pastor of the Presbyterian church in that place, where he died in 1844.
Rev. John Thompson was installed pastor of the church May 27, 1840. He had been a missionary of the American Board among the Cherokees of Georgia, having graduated at Middlebury in 1825, and at Princeton theological semina- ry in 1828. He was a fellow sufferer with Worcester, Butler and others, in Georgia in 1831. He labored chiefly at Carmel. When that station was broken up by the removal of the Cherokees, he left the mission on account of the health of his family, and came to Ohio. Having labored in the ministry three years there, he removed to Vermont and from thence he came to Winchester. He continued his ministry here six years, when he died April 3, 1846, at the age of 46. Mr. Thompson was zealous and abundant in his labors .- Revivals more or less extensive were enjoyed during his min- istry. The church was considerably enlarged, the number added during his stay being 128-a number greater than under any previous pastor.
Rev. John P. Humphrey, the present pastor, commenced his labors in Sept. 1846 ; was ordained and set over the church Feb. 3, 1847. He was a graduate of Dartmouth 1839, and of Andover 1844. The number of admissions to the church up to this date, (Feb. 1855,) is 50 persons. The present number of members is 187, and the whole number of mem- bers, 705. The number of infant baptisms have been 975. The average attendance on public worship in evangelical churches is about 400. The number of members compared with the population, at the beginning of the century, as near as can be ascertained, was about one to thirteen ; the pro- portion now, considering the population 2600, which is less than the census estimate, is about the same; but, if the members of the Methodist church are included, the propor- tion is one to six or seven. The annual amount of charita- ble contributions is about $ 300. Three men have been furnished for the ministry from this place.
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Stratford County.
BARRINGTON.
Rev. THEODORE WELLS.
The town of Barrington formerly included what is now Barrington and Strafford. It was owned by proprietors in Portsmouth. The town was incorporated in 1722. One condition of the charter was that a house of worship should be erected within seven years, that two hundred acres of land be appropriated for a parsonage, and two hundred acres for the first minister. The house was raised near the center of the present town of Barrington, and was subsequently removed to within about two miles of the lower line of the town. Several appropriations were made by the proprietors of the town towards completing the house of worship. The Congregational church was organized by a council of ten regular churches, June 18, 1755, consisting of seven male members. At the same time Rev. Joseph Prince was or- dained pastor. He was dismissed in 1768. He was blind. He was noted for his religious fervor. Twelve or fourteen years after leaving Barrington he was settled in Candia.
Rev. David Tenney was ordained over the church in Bar- rington Sept. 18, 1771, and was dismissed, at his own request on account of ill health, Oct. 26, 1778. Having taken his final leave of Barrington, as he was proceeding to his friends in Massachusetts, he was suddenly attacked with illness at Durham and died immediately. The people were supplied with preaching a part of the time during the year, for several succeeding years, by different individuals.
August 25, 1784, Rev. Benjamin Balch who had been pre- viously settled in Dedham, Ms., was installed pastor here. Efforts appear to have been made to maintain strict disci- pline in the church in the early part of Mr. Balch's ministry. His connection with the church and society continued till his death, which occurred May 4th, 1815 at the age of 74 years. He supplied the desk till about the time of his decease, though his mind had become so broken, and his health so infirm, that the parish seems to have assumed the
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STRAFFORD COUNTY.
oversight of his affairs for several years. Finally, deeming it inexpedient that he and his family should continue at the parsonage, the parish voted to engage some suitable person to take the best possible care of Mr. Balch and his family for one year. An arrangement to this effect was made with his son-in-law who resided in town. After taking his last leave of the old parsonage, he set out on foot, (preferring to walk,) for the residence of his daughter, about two miles distant. He had nearly reached there, when he was seen to walk unsteadily and to sit down by the roadside. He died on the spot. The church now continued without a pastor thir- teen years. A strong leaven of Unitarianism was developed in the society soon after Mr. Balch's death, and it seemed doubtful, for a time, what influence would preponderate .- The desk was supplied with Unitarian preachers a part of the time, one or two of whom were employed as candidates for settlement. The scale was finally turned by one or two of the Unitarians, who preferred to have an Orthodox society and an Orthodox minister rather than division.
Rev. Cephas Kent was ordained over the church and soci- ety Oct. 22d, 1828. He was a native of Benson, Vt., and a graduate of Middlebury in 1824. While Mr. Kent was pas- tor the church took pretty decided action in the Temperance Reform. He preached the word faithfully. He was dis- missed May 3, 1830.
Rev. Samuel H. Merrill was ordained Feb. 23, 1831 .- During the few years of Mr. Merrill's ministry, there was considerable religious interest, and fifty two persons were admitted to the church on profession of faith. He was dis- missed at his own request Aug. 18, 1835. The people were now supplied a year and a half by the venerable father Ward.
Rev. Samuel Nichols was installed, Sept. 20, 1837. A council was called on the 26th of Oct. 1842, to dismiss Mr. Nichols at the request of the church and society, on account of an alleged inability to meet the current expenses, and pay off a debt which had been accumulating for several years. It was with reluctance decided that the dissolution should take place unless an arrangement could be made before the first of December. Mr. Nichols died a little more than a year after his dismission, at South Reading, Ms.
The present pastor, Rev. Theodore Wells, commenced preaching here in July 1843, and was ordained June 11th, 1845. The Congregational parish in Barrington was incor- porated by the State Legislature, in 1818. It has a fund of about $ 2,300, principally in bank stock, a parsonage, and
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317
DOVER.
twenty five acres of land. The fund was obtained in the following way: About 1790, a town collector becoming a defaulter, the town came into possession of his farm. A larger part of the claims were relinquished to the parish .- The rights of the remaining part were purchased by the parish, and by the liberality of individuals. This farm was sold and the money invested as a permanent fund. A new and commodious house of worship was erected in 1840, at a cost of about $ 2,400-having forty six pews on the floor. It has since been furnished with a bell. The congregation varies in pleasant weather from 100 to 150. The church numbers 45. The salary of the pastor is $ 450.
DOVER.
Rev. B. F. PARSONS.
The "First Church in Dover" is the second in point of age, now existing in New Hampshire. Unfortunately none of its records prior to 1718 are in existence, but cotempora- ry history and the voluminous records of the town's ecclesi- astical action, supply authentic history, and also show that the religious institutions of New Hampshire existed in Dover at least five years before their establishment in any other town.
Dover was settled in the spring of 1623 by Edward and William Hilton, two brothers, formerly fish-mongers in Lon- don, who emigrated in the service of the "Company of Laco- nia," a body which held the title to a large extent of territo- ry by grant from the English "Council at Plymouth." For ten years there were no public religious institutions here : the object of the settlement, which was not religious, but pecuniary ; the Episcopal sentiments of the founders resi- dent in England, and of one, at least, of the Hiltons; and the paucity of the inhabitants, who in 1631 had erected but three houses, conspired to cause this state of things. But when, after various sales, the ownership of the settlement passed into the hands of Lords Say and Brooke, George Willys and William Whiting, and under their auspices a number of families from the west of England, some of whom were persons "of good estate and of some account for reli- gion," were induced to come to Dover, the Puritan owners furnished for them a minister of their own faith. The com- pany left Gravesend in August 1633, landed at Salem Oct.
* Sketch by Rev. A. H. Quint.
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STRAFFORD COUNTY.
10th, and immediately proceeded to Dover, and at this period the ecclesiastical history of New Hampshire properly com- mences.
William Leveridge, the first minister of Dover and of New Hampshire, was a graduate of Emanuel college, Cambridge, England, receiving the degree of A. B. in 1625, and that of A. M. in 1631, and was probably never settled in England. He was "an able and worthy Puritan minister," was ardent, industrious, enterprising, and possessed a good deal of inde- pendence of character. He remained at Dover, owing to want of support, less than two years, and went to Boston, where, Aug. 9, 1635, he was admitted a member of the First Church. He is found afterwards at Duxbury, Sand- wich, Huntingdon, L. I., and Newton, L. I., at which last place he died in 1692. It was during his ministry, in 1633-4, that the first church edifice was erected ; it stood upon Dover Neck, on a site still pointed out.
He was succeeded by George Burdett, a former colleague minister in the established church at Yarmouth, Eng., from 1633 to 1635. Difficulties sent him to America, and in 1637 he came to Dover from Salem, Ms., where, for more than a year, he had resided, and part of that period had preached. It will be remembered that the original founders of New Hampshire desired to make it Episcopalian ; that the English owners who sent the colony in 1633, desired to make it Puritan. The conflict of these principles will explain much of the confusion which commenced under Burdett's ministry. Not committing himself at first, and being a man of fine address and talents, he became a popu- lar favorite. Restless, intriguing, and ambitious, in less than a year he prevailed upon the people to elect him Gov- ernor ; and immediately entered into correspondence with Archbishop Laud, the Puritans' deadly enemy. A discove- ry of this, by the opposite party, led to the loss of his office ; detection in adultery speedily followed; and in 1639-40 he made a hasty retreat to Agamenticus. A similar course there of usurpation, crime and injustice, led to a similar ex- pulsion ; he returned to England, joined the Royalists in the Revolution of 1640, was committed to prison by the Parlia- mentarians, and passed into forgetfulness.
Hanserd Knollys, his successor at Dover, born in Cawk- well, Eng. in 1598, a graduate at Cambridge, Eng., ordain- ed in the established church June 30, 1629, came to Boston in July 1638, and almost immediately, by invitation of indi- viduals, to Dover. Burdett, being then Governor, forbade his preaching ; but when Underhill succeeded to Burdett's
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DOVER.
civil office, Knollys did to his religious station. And in December 1638, (N. S.) under his care, the First Church was organized. Except that in Hampton, no church in New Hampshire is older. His ministry was short and trou- bled. Though a Puritan, yet, incensed against the Massa- chusetts government which had arbitrarily forbade him, on his arrival, to remain in its territory, he wrote a letter of bitter complaint ; but remembering that that government, arbitrary as it was, was the main bulwark against prelacy, he retraced his steps. He was thus made a little unpopular, when Thomas Larkham, a minister of prelatic tendencies and of brilliant talents, came to Dover (in 1640,) and became the popular favorite, and Knollys was discarded .- The "more religious" part-the Puritan-adhered, however, to Knollys. He re-commenced preaching, and a series of civil suits, avowed quarrels and ineffectual mediations, occurred between the factions,-a detailed account of which our limits forbid. They were not ended until Knollys, tired of the confusion, yielded to the entreaties of his aged father, and in the summer of 1641 left Dover to return to England. For fifty years afterwards, he lived a life of persecution, driven about, fined, imprisoned, but always showing himself a meek, devoted and self-sacrificing minister of Christ .- Time has removed the obloquy which interested parties cast upon his character in Dover ; and in England the name of a publication society of the Baptists whom he there joined, honors his memory.
Thomas Larkham, his successor, born in Lyme, Eng. May 2, 1601, a graduate of Jesus' college, Cambridge, had been settled in Northam, Eng., prior to coming to Dover, but had left that place on account of Puritan principles .- In Dover, however, he favored Episcopacy, using its liturgy in burial services, and inclining to its adherents. Like his predecessor he was an able and learned man, but was as turbulent as Burdett. A discovery of licentious conduct ended his ministry in 1642, and he returned to England, where he became a devotedly pious man, was ejected from the ministry at Tavistock, and died in concealment in 1669. He left many published works, a copy of one of which, viz .: "On the Attributes of God," published in 1656, a small quarto of 516 pages, full of ponderous learning, is now in possession of the writer of this article. The Puritan senti- ment at last prevailing in Dover, and the Massachusetts party succeeding in placing the town under that government in 1641, the people applied to the authorities in Boston to send them a minister. In answer, Daniel Maud became
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STRAFFORD COUNTY.
their pastor in 1642,-a man of "serious spirit, and of a quiet and peaceable disposition," a graduate of Emanuel col- lege, Cambridge, he was a learned man, and up to his going to Dover was schoolmaster in Boston. Under his care, till his death in 1655, the church prospered. In his time, in 1653, the second Meeting-house was built ; it was "forty foot longe, twenty six foote wide, sixteen foot studd, with six windows, two doores fitt for such a house, with a tile cover- ing, and to planck all the walls, with glass and nails for it." The salary of Mr. Maud was £50, with a house and land. In his day the inhabitants were summoned to church by the beating of the drum. His successor was John Reyner, who came to America in 1635, and had been settled at Plymouth from 1636 to 1654; in 1655 he settled in Dover, where he died April 21, 1669. He was a man of irreproachable char- acter, grave, conscientious, devout and learned. He was not without troubles ; in 1662 the Quakers or Friends appeared in his parish; being treated with severity, they rapidly increased, until at one time they numbered a third of the inhabitants. This society, which still preserves its integrity and respectability, built their first Meeting-house at Dover Neck, September 1700, and another at Cochecho (the present center of population) before 1720; their present one was erected about 1770; their first "meeting" was established about 1680; their "Monthly meeting" was commenced in 1702, and their "Quarterly meeting" in 1708. In parson Reyner's time (in 1665) the "drum" gave way to a bell which was imported by Maj. Waldron. In 1667 the church was surrounded by a fortification, in anticipation of those Indian troubles which afterwards made it perilous to go to the house of God ; it was made of logs built upon an earth- . en intrenchment, and was a hundred feet square, with pro- jections at opposite corners ; its remains are still visible .- Mr. Reyner's salary was, in 1658, £120, a part of which was payable in provisions at the following prices : beef at 3¿d. per pound, pork 4}d., wheat 6s. per bushel, malt 6s., peas 5s. A house was also given to him and his heirs in 1659 ; he was, besides, a man of property, owning an estate in Batly, Gildersone, County York. In his time (1656) a Meeting-house was built at Oyster river, near Durham, then a part of Dover, in pursuance of an arrangement made in 1651, by which it was agreed that £100 should be raised for two ministers who might "exchange as often as they should agree." The earliest deacon whose name is preserv- ed, appears in 1657, viz. John Hall.
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