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 55
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While the town voted, as above stated, certain sums " to hire preaching," there is some doubt whether the money was ever actually raised and expended. Through inability to obtain a minister, or some other cause, little or nothing may
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LITTLETON.
have been done. Only for an occasional Sabbath or two in a year was any one hired to preach, till after the completion of the Meeting-house in 1815, with the exception of one summer, during which there was preaching one half of the time. Meetings, however, were occasionally held on the Sabbath, when there was no preaching, the brethren of the church conducting them by reading sermons and offering prayer. The missionaries sent out by the State organiza- tions, occasionally visited the town and preached a Sabbath or two. It was these missionaries and ministers in neigh- boring towns that the people themselves hired, as above stated, to labor with them for an occasional Sabbath. It has already been remarked that the town voted in 1811, to subscribe $ 200 towards a house for religious worship. Moses Little, Esq. of Newbury, Ms. the principal land-proprietor of the town, had offered to give two acres for a building lot .- This offer was accepted, and preliminary steps were taken towards the erection of a house of worship. The house, however, was not finally completed till 1815, and it was to be occupied by the several denominations uniting in its erec- tion, in proportion to the amount they respectively owned. The first house of worship was located near the center of the town, some two miles away from the principal place for busi- ness where the village has grown up. In 1832, another house was erected in the village, costing about $ 2000 .- Some four years ago this house was enlarged and re-fitted, and furnished with a bell, at the cost of $ 2500. It will now seat about 500 persons, and is a neat and comfortable house.
It will be seen that the first settlers were neither generally religious men, nor religiously inclined. The smaller portion of the population only, had much desire for the institutions of the gospel. And this is still characteristic of the town. The main support of religion has been borne by the few ; and these few, not strong in wealth, have toiled hard and sustained heavy burdens.
The Congregational church was organized in 1803, by Rev. David Goodall, a citizen of the town, and Rev. Asa Carpenter, pastor of the church in Waterford, Vt. At its organization it consisted of about ten members. A few others were soon added, but, having no pastor and enjoying but little ministerial labor, its growth was very slow. In 1820, the time of the settlement of the first pastor, it num- bered 35. At the present time, the resident and non-resi- dent members in full standing, are 123. The whole number that have been connected with the church cannot be accu- rately given, but is not far from 250. The baptisms since 1820, have been of children 150, and of adults 76.
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GRAFTON COUNTY.
Rev. David Goodall, formerly of Halifax, Vt., and who was a citizen-farmer of the town, was the first stated supply. He preached, however, only one half of the time during a single summer. The next regular supply was Mr. N. K. Hardy, a licentiate, who preached one half of the time for nearly three years, and till the sickness which terminated his life in the summer of 1819. In the fall of this year, Rev. Drury Fairbank, lately dismissed from the church in Plym- outh, was invited to visit the town with reference to settle- ment. This invitation was accepted, and Mr. Fairbank was installed over the church in May 1820, and was the first pastor. After sixteen years of faithful labor, (preaching by agreement three-fourths of the time,) Mr. Fairbank, in con- sequence of feeble health, sought to be relieved from his labors, and Mr. Evarts Worcester, son of Rev. Leonard Wor- cester of Peacham, Vt., was obtained as a candidate for settlement. On the 13th of March 1836, Mr. Worcester was ordained to the ministry and installed as pastor of the church and people, Mr. Fairbank having been dismissed the day before by the ordaining council. Insidious consumption, however, cut short Mr. Worcester's labors, just as, with large promise of usefulness and amidst the affections of his people, he was entering upon them. He preached but five or six Sabbaths after his ordination, when, prostrated by hemor- rhage, he was carried home to his father's to die, where he expired in the following October. In the summer of the succeeding year, Mr. Isaac R. Worcester, brother of the late lamented pastor, entered upon his labors as a candidate for the place vacated by the death of his brother, and was ordained and installed over the church the 27th of September. Three years of ministerial effort forced him to suspend his labors for a season, and finally the church was reluctantly compelled to seek another minister. Rev. William With- ington of Dorchester, Ms., preached about six months as a stated supply ; Rev. Samuel Bean, afterwards settled at Great Falls, two or three months ; Rev. Mr. Fairbank, former pastor, occasionally ; Mr. Burchard, a licentiate, as candidate for settlement ; and finally the present pastor, Mr. E. Irvin Carpenter, entered upon his labors here in June 1842, and was ordained and installed over the church the 13th of December.
REVIVALS .- Under the labors of Mr. Hardy who came to the place in the year 1816, there was some attention to religion, and some few conversions, but nothing which can properly be denominated a revival. In 1831-32, there were considerable awakenings, yet nothing like what prevailed in
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LYME.
many places. Nor have there been any revivals of marked extent and power since those years. Perhaps the best account that can be given of this matter, is a statement of the largest numbers that have been admitted to the church on single Sabbaths. July 1, 1821, seven were received ; Jan. 1, 1832, eighteen ; in March of the same year, seven ; Jan. 1840, six ; May 1843, six ; May 1851, five ; July of the same year, eight. And when we add to the language of these statistics, the remark that no other denomination has existed, as holding meetings regularly till since 1850, it will be seen that revivals have been few in number and limited in extent.
There have been occasional cases of discipline,-one some- what protracted and difficult case-but from the first to the last, the great body of the members have been harmoniously and firmly united. If they have not loved as brethren should love, they have not fallen out by the way, but have main- tained a kind and cordial walk. A weekly church prayer meeting has now been sustained, and quite a portion of the time pretty well sustained for several years. An evening meeting is, and has been for a long time regularly held in the village, and occasionally in other localities; there are meetings for conference and prayer. The amount annually contributed to benevolent objects is about $ 150. The average attendance of the people of the town on public worship, can- not be set down higher than 400. The population of the town is over 2000. It should be said, however, that there is no convenient center in the town, and, that while not more than one-fifth of the inhabitants are found in the house of God from Sabbath to Sabbath, more than that proportion attend public worship a portion of the time ; since some go one part of the day, others the other part, and some one Sabbath and others the next. The proportion that attend now, however, is less than in the earlier years of the town ; and yet greater than it was ten years ago. There is, proba- bly, as great activity in the church now as ever, and open wickedness is less.
LYME.
Rev. ERDIX TENNY.
Lyme received its grant for township 1761, and its first settlers April 1764, near the time that a large number of towns in this neighborhood was granted and settled. The
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GRAFTON COUNTY.
first town meeting was held at the house of Thomas Sum- ner, May 17, 1769, five years after the arrival of the first inhabitants. One of the principal items of business, at this first meeting, seems to have been, to make arrangements for procuring preaching, and it was voted, without opposition, to unite with Thetford, to hire preaching for the ensuing year. At a meeting Nov. 26, 1770, the town voted to invite Mr. Elisha Pearsons to preach as a candidate for settlement. The people enjoyed his labors for a season, but his settle- ment among them failed to be effected. After uniting with Thetford for some time, in hiring a minister, to divide his services between them, there was a proposition to unite with the latter, in settling Mr. Sumner ; but at a meeting Oct. 9, 1772, the town voted to decline the proposition, and to treat with Mr. Ripley, to preach with a view to settlement. The reason for this grew out of the difficulty of getting to Thetford for religious meetings, and of the impression that they needed the entire labors of a minister.
Sometime during this year, William Conant, a licentiate, from Bridgewater, Ms., with his father and brother, and some others, came to Lyme. The way was prepared, direct- ly on his arrival, for the services of Mr. Conant. The town voted, March 9, 1773, to give him a call to settle with them in the ministry, which he accepted, and was ordained Dec. 22, 1773, as the first minister of the place. By the efforts of Messrs. Pearsons, Ripley and Sumner, the attention of the people was turned to their obligation to constitute in the place a Christian church. The Congregational church was organized May 22, 1771, consisting of 21 members .- An addition of 13 was made to the church, previous to the settlement of the ministry. There were several early attempts to erect a house, suited to their Sabbath assem- blages. The town voted, May 1771, to build such a house. But in consequence of diversity of opinion, in reference to its location, and pecuniary inability, a house was not erected till 1781, when it was located a few feet only from the pres- ent place of worship. To this house, during the thirty one years of its existence, parents and their households, with more than common unanimity, and almost universally, went up to pay their vows to Jehovah. Mr. Conant, after his settlement, entered earnestly upon the duties of his profes- sion, and prosecuted them with apparent fidelity, for thirty six years and three months, when he was called to rest from his labors. The town voted, that the salary of Mr. Conant should be £ 45 annually for three years ;- that he should have £ 60 towards his settlement, besides the right of land,
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provided by charter for the first settled minister ;- that the salary should be paid in grain, at the estimated price of spec- ified individuals ;- and that after three years, it should increase with the grand list, till it reached £ 70, the ultima- tum.
Mr. Conant had the reputation of a plain man. Some regarded him proud of this attribute, as he carried it to the extreme, in his dress,-in his common deportment,-in all his habits of public and private life. He paid little atten- tion, evidently, to the character of his style, or to the graces of oratory. If he bestowed labor upon the manner of expressing his thoughts, it must have been to render them direct and quaint. His sermons were doctrinal and practi- cal. His rebukes of prevailing vices were often direct and severe, and on the Sabbath following the practice of some flagrant sin, his reproofs sometimes, in language and tone, would resemble those of an angry parent, in the correction of a wayward son. But his evident sincerity, honesty and benevolent intention, rendered his reproofs effective and beneficial. His labors were much blessed, as cannot be doubted, in correcting the morals of the people, and deepen- ing the piety of the church. There were 158 additions to its members during his ministry. Mr. Conant was born at Bridgewater, Ms., 1743; graduated at Yale college, 1770 ; studied divinity with an uncle of the same name at Middle- borough, Ms., and died March 8, 1810.
Rev. Nathaniel Lambert, the successor of Mr. Conant, was born at Rowley, Ms., 1765; graduated at Brown uni- versity, 1787; was licensed to preach, 1789; settled in Newbury, Vt., 1790, and was dismissed in 1809. He was installed as pastor of the church in Lyme, 1811; was dis- missed, 1820 ; and died 1838, in the 74th year of his age .- Thirty nine members were added to the church during his pastorate. Mr. Lambert, in his personal appearance and habits, was the antipode of his predecessor. Neatness, precision and correctness were marked, in his person, in his conversation, in his business, in the construction and deliv- ery of his sermons, and in all his ministerial duties and labors. He was deemed by some, particular to a fault .- This attribute of his character had its influence in diminish- ing the warmth and power of his public performances. His visible success as a minister was not distinguished ; yet his efforts to correct prevalent vice, particularly the desecration of the Sabbath, though it subjected him, for a time, to reproach and censure, were evidently well intended, and to a good degree successful. It cannot be doubted, that his
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GRAFTON COUNTY.
labors as a minister contributed much to prepare the way for the religious reviving, in which he greatly rejoiced, that soon followed his dismission.
In the early settlement of New England, from sentiments of kindness, or from a conviction of their general poverty, ministers were usually exempted from taxation. Mr. Lam- bert grew up with the feeling, that they should not be taxed. He manifested reluctance to submit to what men of his profession had generally escaped, to be subjected to treat- ment so singular, thinking, it may be, that it would be the establishment of a precedent of extensive and unfavorable influence. This, with some other things, was made a pre- text, upon which some were ready to seize, for declining further assessment of the town for his support. His salary not being raised as usual, he made a proposal that was com- plied with, which resulted in the termination of his connec- tion with the people, as their religious teacher, and pastor of the church. Mr. Lambert continued his residence in Lyme till his death, eighteen years after the dissolution of his pastoral relation. The town evinced that they had not lost confidence in him, by sending him, directly after his dismission, for eight successive years to the State legislature as their representative. At his last election, he informed the town, that the honor they had long conferred on him should be given to some other, and that he must decline the further reception of their suffrages. His solicitude for the general good of his neighbors and townsmen, for the peace and purity of the church, and the universal prevalence of morals and religion, was distinctly and consistently exhibit- ed. As he was particular and precise in all his business and movements, some esteemed him penurious, but if this was ever true of him, it is believed he gradually triumphed over the passion, and increased in liberality as he increased in years. An eminent minister, who was intimately acquainted with him from the time of his settlement in Lyme till his death, remarked that he never knew a man, dismissed in such circumstances, and remaining in the place, whose conduct was so excellent as Mr. Lambert's,-a remark in which his successors, who had so fully his sympa- thy and cooperation, were prepared to concur. Some little time after the dismission of Mr. Lambert, the venerable Mr. Hobart of Berlin, Vt., came to Lyme, and visited the peo- ple, and preached with great fidelity and zeal, and his labors were attended with very beneficial results. The church was awaked from a long sleep-the minds of the people were religiously impressed ; some were making the inquiry of the
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jailer ; and some were rejoicing, as the Psalmist, in having had a new song put into their mouth.
In this interesting state of things, Mr. Baxter Perry, a licentiate from Andover, came to Lyme September 1820 .- He entered into this work, with his characteristic ardor and energy, and was eminently prospered in his endeavors. He was permitted to commence his ministry with a powerful baptism of the Holy Ghost, and to prosecute it long, amid the outpourings of the Spirit, and ingathering of souls, in large numbers, into the fold of the Great Shepherd. Mr. Perry was born at Worcester, Ms., April 16, 1792-gradu- ated at Cambridge 1817, and at Andover 1820. He was settled at Lyme Jan. 3, 1821, and died Jan. 18, 1830, after a ministry of nine years ; 172 members were added to the church during his ministry. Mr. Perry had not the plain- ness that rendered him the subject of remark abroad, as the first minister of Lyme ; neither was he particular and precise like his immediate predecessor. Efforts in the temperance reformation were employed in Lyme, earlier than in any other place in the vicinity, and soon after the commence- ment of the reformation in the country. His labors in the cause, in connection with the memorable temperance address" in the town hall, Jan. 6, 1827, and which has gone the world over, gave a blow to intemperance in Lyme, that , stunned the monster ; a blow, the influence of which has not ceased to be felt, and which, through the continued endeav- ors of temperance men, in the face of not a little opposition, has, to a great extent, triumphed in its suppression. Since the settlement of the town, fourteen young men have enter- ed the ministry. Not long after the settlement of the first minister, there came to Lyme a class of men who appreciated the institutions both of education and religion-men who looked upon these institutions, as did the Puritan Fathers, as lying at the foundation of prosperity, as inseparable from all political, intellectual, moral, and religious elevation .- Through their influence, attention was turned, more than before, to the education of the youth, and an influence was felt in this direction, which continued to increase, not rap- idly, but gradually, till common schools were thoroughly organized, and conducted with a good degree of fidelity and interest. From the beginning of its settlement, attention was directed to the establishment and maintenance of reli- gious institutions. And this attention did not diminish, as resources and numbers increased. These institutions they must have in some form, and they did have them. If they
* Kittredge's Address.
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GRAFTON COUNTY.
could not procure for themselves a commodious and tasteful structure, as a place of worship, they could resort, in mild seasons, to the barn, and in inclement weather to a humble private dwelling, to offer their sacrifices. They must build somewhere their public altars. These altars were not only built, they were visited, and upon them the fire was kept burning. All available means to get to the place of their religious assemblages were resorted to. The weak and the infirm, the aged and the young, no less than the middle aged and the strong, must be there, though the sled and oxen must be called into requisition for the purpose. The frame of the barn, where the first minister was ordained, and where the first settlers were accustomed to meet for public worship, has been carefully preserved by one of their excellent descendants, and is standing, as a monument of their religious habits, in the very place where the incense of their devotion went up to Heaven. The impression of these fathers relative to the influence of the institutions of education and religion, was consistently developed, and through its development they have left their mark. The impressions, in regard to religion and education, of the early inhabitants of Lyme, were probably deepened by the labors of Eleazer Wheelock, the first president of Dartmouth col- lege, which, through his occasional missionary visits, they had the privilege of enjoying. His was a sun whose beams of light were shed upon this whole horizon ; his, a benevo- lence, a zeal for education and religion, that was felt, that was diffusive ; whose salutary influence blest not this vicin- ity only, but New England, and the world. To these im- pressions of the early population of Lyme and the mode of their expression, must be attributed the general harmony of feeling, the habits of industry, and secular prosperity, with which the people of the town have been distinguished, in the different periods of its existence. The successor of Mr. Perry, Rev. E. Tenny, was settled one year after his decease, Jan. 5, 1831. Since that time, there have been received into the church 482 individuals, making in all, of which it has been constituted, during the eighty three years of its existence, 842 members. These were nearly all received by profession, while a large proportion of those that constitute the churches in fast growing villages and cities, are added by letter. June 2, 1819, the town voted that Abel Frank- lin, David Conant, Moses Flint, and their associates have liberty to be incorporated into a religious society, by the name of the First Calvinistic Baptist Society of Lyme .- The society was organized, and went into efficient and suc-
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ORFORD.
cessful operation. It has had the services of several able and faithful ministers. It has been blessed with revivals of religion. Large numbers have been added to the church.
In the light of this account we see that the early impres- sions upon a place, like the first impressions of a civilized upon a savage tribe of men, will be deep and abiding. We see too, our obligations, gratefully to recognize the divine hand in the occurrences that may be traced in the history of the town, and to be conformed to what is excellent in the spirit and practice of the fathers, that have given form and coloring to the institutions and habits of the place.
ORFORD .*
The settlement of this town was commenced in 1765, by five or six families which removed to it from Connecticut. Others soon followed them. In April, 1767, a plantation meeting was called, and the inhabitants organized them- selves into a civil community by the choice of town officers. They prized religious institutions ; and in April 1769, raised £ 20 to support preaching, and selected a committee to hire a minister. On the 27th of August, 1770, a church was or- ganized, on the Presbyterian platform, by Rev. Peter Pow- ers, of Newbury, Vt. It consisted of twenty members. In the former part of 1771, a Mr. Hurlburt preached here a few Sabbaths. In the autumn, Nov. 5, Mr. Obadiah Noble was ordained as pastor of the church and town. The terms of- fered him by the town were, £ 60 settlement, and £ 40 sal- ary for the first year, to be increased by £2 annually till it should reach £60. The scarcity of money in these early times caused most business to be done by barter, and a bar- gain to be estimated by the value of produce. It was hence provided that the £ 60 settlement of Mr. Noble should be paid in materials for building, and labor ; and his salary in wheat at four shillings per bushel, rye at three shillings, corn at two shillings, and oats at one shilling and three pence. He was also to be furnished with twenty cords of good fire- wood annually. At his settlement, the town appears to have received encouragement from the proprietors of land in the township of assistance in supporting him, which was not realized, and, as a consequence, in December, 1777, he was dismissed. Little is now known of the events which oc- curred during his ministry, except that a few months before
* Sketch by Rev. Jotham Sewall.
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GRAFTON COUNTY.
his dismission, the church adopted what is called "the half way covenant," granting to persons of outwardly moral lives, who assented to the Articles of Faith, the privilege of bap- tism for their children. Previous to June, 1782, (but at what time is not known,) six members had been added to the church.
In 1781, a Mr. Noah Miller was requested by the town to settle ; but for some reason, his settlement was not effected. Various other efforts were made for a number of years, and with more or less success, to procure preaching. In 1787, on the 3d of October, Rev. John Sawyer was ordained pastor. The provisions made for his support strikingly illustrates the necessities of the times, and the prevalence of barter transac- tions. His salary was to be two hundred and forty bushels of wheat, at six shillings per bushel, increased, after the first year, by eight bushels annually till it amounted to three hun- dred and thirty six bushels ; and a settlement of six hundred and sixty seven bushels, to be paid in four annual instal- ments. Mr. Sawyer was a son of one of the earlier settlers, and was a lad when his father removed to the place. He graduated at Dartmouth college in 1785. On the 6th of June previous to his settlement, the church re-called the vote which had placed it on the ground of " the half way cove- nant ;" and on the 23d of April, 1789, it withdrew from the Grafton Presbytery, with which it had been connected, and became Congregational.
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