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 9
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Between 1818 and 1823, a combination of all sorts of people built an Academy, expecting by this means, to do something to weaken orthodoxy. But it has served a differ- ent and far better purpose, that of advancing the cause of education in Kingston and vicinity. Quite a number of young men have here enjoyed valuable opportunities. Some have thus fitted for college who would not otherwise have
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done so, and are now Congregational clergymen, instruc- tors in colleges, academies, and schools of different kinds, and men of business.
Mr. Ora Pearson was ordained March 7, 1827. In the revival of 1831-2 the church in Kingston shared. Admis- sions in 1827, three, one by letter ; in 1828, seven ; in 1829, two, one by letter; in 1830, two, one by letter; in 1831, eighteen ; in 1832 to July 1, forty-three. He was dismissed by a council Jan. 9, 1834 but supplied the pulpit till March, thus completing a ministry in Kingston of seven years. He is now living in Vermont, but has been for a long time blind or nearly so. After him Rev. Andrew Govan preached here two years.
Mr. Josiah L. Case was ordained Oct. 17, 1839 and died Nov. 15, aged 31 years. He preached but one Sabbath after his ordination ; a day or two after this Sabbath he was taken ill of a fever which proved to be his last illness. The church and community were much afflicted by this event. He had been acquainted with Kingston people some months before his ordination and won their respect and love. He was a graduate of Union college and of Andover Theo. Seminary.
Mr. George W. Thompson was ordained April 29, 1840, and dismissed August 29, 1843. There were four admis- sions to the church during his ministry. Mr. Thompson resides in Stratham. After his dismission the church re- mained without a pastor nearly five years. For three years Rev. Samuel Mason supplied the church. He afterwards removed to Newburyport, Ms. where he died of consump- tion. He was peaceful and happy in death.
Rev. John Smith was installed pastor of the church in Kingston July 26, 1848, and dismissed Sept. 18, 1850. Af- ter his dismission Rev. Charles Willey and others were em- ployed. While Mr. Willey was at Kingston there was some religious interest ; ten persons united with the church in the year 1851.
In the month of July 1854, Mr. John H. Mellish of An- dover Theo. Seminary preached at Kingston two Sabbaths. He went to Kingston from the Seminary, being invited by the committee to supply the pulpit for an indefinite period. In December the Church and Society voted unanimously to extend a call to him to become their pastor. The commit- tee gave him written notice of this in Jan. 1855, and he was ordained Feb. 14, 1855. His salary is $ 600. The number of persons now belonging to the church is sixty six. The oldest member is a female, the widow of Dea. Sanborn, aged 91. The oldest male member is Dea. Robert Smith
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87 years of age. The external circumstances of the society appear quite as good as they have been for many years .- The society has a pleasant house of worship, a good organ and owns a parsonage. Of the nine pastors who have pre- ceded the present, five have died in office. Seven of the nine were ordained at Kingston. Of the four who have been dismissed, all, with the exception of Mr. Turner, left their charge much against the wishes of the church and so- ciety. Besides the Congregational and Methodist Meeting- houses in the center, there is a Union Meeting-house in the south part of the town four miles from the center.
KINGSTON EAST.
Incorporated in 1738, it had a population of only 442 in 1820 ; in 1850, 532. A church of 14 members was gathered here Nov. 14, 1839, and Mr. Peter Coffin, born in Exeter in 1713 and a graduate of Harvard college in 1733 became the minister of the people on the same day. He continued in the pastoral office until 1772. Tradition says he was charg- ed before the council that dismissed him with driving his horse too fast up hill. One hundred and forty three were added to the church during his labors. He died in Exeter his native place. Seven members were here in the church in 1813 but it has at length ceased to be ; yet, while various influences have earnestly combined to produce this result, they cannot give the people the blessings of & permanent ministry of the truth.
LONDONDERRY. *
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The church in Londonderry is one of the few Presbyterian churches in New England. It is one of the ancient churches of the State ; and its history, could it be properly written, might furnish lessons of varied interest and instruction. But it must be premised at the outset that the records are ex- tremely deficient. The early records of the doings of Ses- sion are now all lost, and those yet extant date back only to 1823. When the Church was organized, of how many mem-
* Sketch by Rev. T. G. Brainerd, late pastor.
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bers composed, and when or by whom the first minister was set over it, are points which have not been ascertained.
The Parish records were begun Sept. 7th, 1736, more than three years before the act of incorporation was passed by the General Assembly of the Province, constituting the inhabitants and territory of that part of the town a body politic under the name of " the West Parish of Londonder- ry." This charter gave power to levy taxes for the support of schools and the gospel, upon all taxable persons and prop- erty ; and conferred on all who were entitled to vote in town affairs the right to vote in parish meetings. This is the present charter, though the power of taxation has been wholly taken away, while that of voting remains in full force. This act bears date Feb. 25th, 1739-40.
The act of incorporation by the Legislature could not constitute the church, though it imparted a legal existence to the religious society previously formed. This society originated in a voluntary association of certain persons living in the westerly part of the township, eleven years after the first settlement in the easterly part, and appears to have been strenuously opposed both at home and in the General Court. Their language is, " Yet, notwithstanding the great opposition and discouragements that they meet with, pro- ceed to act and do what they thought was necessary, incum- bent, and their duty, to promote the gospel among them by making choice of the Rev. Mr. David McGregore to be their minister ; who by virtue of a call from that society of people that adhered to him was ordained the second Tuesday in October following." The records show that the "call" to Mr. McGregore was first made out March 14th, 1733; that his ordination took place the second Tuesday in Oct. 1736, and that the Charter was granted Feb. 25th, 1739-40.
In consequence of a disagreement in regard to the location of the Meeting-house, a division early sprung up among the inhabitants of the West Parish; and in consequence of a settled dislike toward their minister, the Rev. Mr. Davidson, and a strong attachment to the Rev. Mr. McGregore, the son of their first pastor, a division arose in the East Parish. In the act of incorporation therefore a proviso was inserted " that 40 families in each parish might have permission to belong to the other parish than the one in which they re- sided." This liberty was improved, and the division was maintained till the death of most of the original parties.
Mr. McGregore died May 30th, 1777, and his funeral charges were paid by the parish, after a pastorate of above 7
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40 years. Attempts were made to settle a Mr. Jewett, and also the Rev. Robert Annen, but without success.
At a parish meeting March 4th, 1782, it was voted, "to give a call to Mr. William Morrison to be their minister ; and that his settlement shall be 800 silver dollars, or an equal sum in gold, to be paid 400 dollars in three months after his ordination, and 400 dollars in twelve months after that time ; and that £90 in the same specie be paid yearly as a salary for his ministerial services." A committee was appointed, and $40 appropriated to provide for Presbytery at the ordination. Also, a committee was appointed "to fix the Meeting-house and a committee to keep order, the time of the ordination, that it may be carried on with de- cency." For some five years the parish had been without a minister. But this period was one of great commotion and of pecuniary embarrassment. It was during the hard strug- gle for our country's independence. The deranged state of the currency is evinced by the fact that at the annual parish meetings in 1780 and 1781, it was "voted that £ 6000 be raised to meet the yearly expenses of the parish." Dr. Morrison was ordained Feb. 12th, 1783, and died March 9, 1818, after a pastorate of about thirty five years. At a parish meeting March 30th, 1818, $70 were voted to defray his funeral expenses ; $75 to purchase tombstones ; and 400 copies of the sermon preached at his funeral by the Rev. Dr. Dana to be printed for the parish.
Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., President elect of Dartmouth college, was installed pastor of the church Jan. 16th, 1822, and had been previously settled at Newburyport, Ms. At his own request he was dismissed in April, 1826, after a pastorate of a little more than four years.
Mr. Amasa A. Hayes was ordained as pastor here June 25th, 1827, and died Oct. 25th, 1830, after a ministry of but little more than two years. Mr. John R. Adams was or- dained Oct. 5th, 1831. After failing to obtain, at his re- quest of the Presbytery in April, a dissolution of the pastoral connection, he left abruptly Aug. 10th, 1838, and was regu- larly dismissed by Presbytery in Oct. following. His pas- torate was not quite seven years in duration.
At a special meeting Sept. 8th, 1840, a call was voted to Mr. Timothy G. Brainerd. He accepted and was ordained Nov. 5th, 1840. After a ministry of nearly fifteen years he was at his own request dismissed April 26th, 1855, to take charge of one of the early Pilgrim churches in Massachusetts.
The early settlers of Londonderry were men of a decidedly religious character ; and came from or near Londonderry,
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LONDONDERRY.
Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. They were Scotch Irish, staunch Protestants; and who either them- selves or their fathers, had suffered at the memorable siege of Londonderry in defence of civil and religious liberty. Next to the Pilgrims this Scotch Irish stock is perhaps the best which has emigrated to the New World. For wherever they have planted themselves in our country, or in any of the British possessions the world over, they have carried with them and established the institutions of learning and religion. They were Presbyterians, and their descendants have for several generations retained that form of church government. In faith they symbolized with the Kirk of Scotland; and the Assembly's Larger and Shorter Cate- chisms were diligently taught both in the family and the parochial school. And there were those who could repeat accurately, not only the Shorter, but the whole of the Larger Catechism with all the proof-texts. When deprived of their pastor by death, in 1777, that dark and troublous period of our nation's history, and in which eventful struggle they bore a noble part, they sent even to Nova Scotia to procure another religious teacher. When Morrison was ordained in 1783, they gave him as a settlement the generous donation of eight hundred dollars in silver or its equivalent in gold, worth more than three times that sum now. This liberal, whole-soul spirit their sons may well emulate.
Since the decease of Dr. Morrison in 1818, four pastors have been settled. One of these after a brief ministry died, and the other three, all of whom are now living, resigned their charge and were settled elsewhere. Till the time of Dr. Morrison all persons who resided within the limits of the parish were accounted members of the Presbyterian Society. But before his death some disaffection sprung up, a Baptist church and society were formed, and a house of worship was subsequently built by them in the northwest part of the town. It was during Dr. Dana's ministry that the tem- perance movement began. His spirit was grieved by the customs and habits of the people in respect to the use of intoxicating drinks. He saw great need of reform, and labored hard to effect one. A few facts and anecdotes may here be admissible. On the day of Dr. Dana's installation, at a store near by the church, the keeper of it says a hogshead of rum was sold and drank. In one part of the house in which Dr. Dana resided was a tavern, where spirit was sold and drank on the Sabbath by members of the church. This was a common practice, nor was it then con- sidered disreputable. Indeed one is said to have remarked,
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY.
"I do not see how I can worship God acceptably when I feel so very thirsty." On a Sabbath preceding a State Fast, Dr. Dana urged his hearers to give him a full house on that occasion, as he had for them a special message from the Lord. Fast day came, and the house was very well filled to listen to the message. It was a plain searching discourse on Temperance. A member of the church who was known at times to be the worse for strong drink was seen to rise and stand up, as was then sometimes practiced by persons when they felt sleepy. But he was observed by a neighbor to be wiping, first with one hand and then with the other, great drops of perspiration from his face. That neighbor saw him a few days afterwards, and inquired how he liked Dr. Dana's Fast day discourse. The reply showed the strongest opposition to the instructions of the pastor. An- other member of the church said, " Dr. Dana may preach to empty seats and naked walls" (as he complained he had to) " for all my going to hear sich doctrine." On one occasion this same man was found on the road sitting in his wagon from which his horse was detached and gone; and when asked how he was getting along, answered, "jist jogging along slowly." Though much opposition and disaffection were excited by his decided treatment of this hydra-headed evil, yet great and permanent good was the final result of his efforts. These facts are not set down as showing pecu- liar depravity in this people. Many churches and pastors had similar trials.
It is believed that the names of the church members were never reduced to writing and recorded till some time in Dr. Dana's ministry. Nor are there any known records of infant baptisms earlier than the same period. While Mr. Adams was the minister-near the close of his stay-a new house of worship was erected on a new site about a mile further west- ward than the old one. This change of location was unsat- isfactory to many ; and more than forty members withdrew and formed the Congregational church and society in Derry lower village. During the latter part of Mr. Brainerd's ministry the Baptist church and society had become feeble and inactive; and a Methodist church and society were organized. In the early part of his ministry and several times previous, it is understood that a Methodist church was formed. How many men have been furnished for the minis- try cannot be stated with certainty. But quite a number ; and there are now living and in active service five or six. By deed of gift and by legacy a fund of more than nine thousand dollars was given to the parish by Major John
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LONDONDERRY.
Pinkerton, an elder of this church, who gave a like sum to the East parish, and also endowed Pinkerton Academy. There are no records to show the early contributions of the people to the cause of benevolence. For the last fifteen years, the average annual collections for all charitable relig- ious purposes will equal about three hundred dollars.
With what revivals of religion this church has been blest cannot now be well ascertained. Tradition says that there was an interesting work of grace under the first pastor. Certain it is that Mr. McGregore favored the "Great Awa- kening"-as the time of precious spiritual refreshing is called that passed over New England in the early part of his ministry. His ministry no doubt gave a truly evangelical character to the church, and imparted to her distinguishing doctrines of grace a vital power, the savor of which even " the half way covenant" did not destroy. Under Dr. Mor- rison the church received accessions, but it is not known that it was blest with any season of special religious atten- tion. In the controversy of Dartmouth college and the State he took part with the latter, and received his honorary de- gree of Doctor in Divinity from the university and not from the college. He preached an "Election Sermon," and the funeral sermon of Major John Pinkerton, both of which, it is believed, were published. The Session records of his minis- try and his predecessors were lent to a gentleman in Stone- ham, Ms., and are supposed to be irrecoverably lost. The late venerable Dr. Woods thus spoke of him: "He was a warm-hearted evangelical Scotchman." Dr. Dana's ministry so far as pertains to an increase of the church was compara- tively a barren one-only six were added by profession, and one by letter. But he did a noble work here in breaking up fallow ground. In Mr. Hayes' short pastorate nine were added by profession, and four by letter. While Mr. Adams labored here, several showers of divine mercy seem to have descended. At one time 36, at another 15, and in all 126 were received on profession, and 32 by letter. During Mr. Brainerd's pastorate there was one extensive and powerful effusion of the Holy Spirit on this field. Many souls then gave good evidence of having passed from death unto life, and became new creatures in Christ Jesus. In the course of his ministry, about 100 adults and children received the ordinance of baptism, about 70 were admitted to the church on profession, and 25 by letter. The church now numbers 173, and has paid a salary of $ 600.
Some peculiar usages prevailed in this church, or at least usages rarely to be found in Congregational churches. One
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY.
of these was congregational singing. It was the privilege of every one to sing, whether he possessed any voice or ear for music, or could distinguish one tune from another or not. Every one might make "a joyful noise unto the Lord." It is said there was one man in the assembly, of Herculean form and stentorian lungs and voice, who used to sing aloud unto the Lord, the songs of Zion in the house of the Lord, but who always ground out all metres in one tune. The regula- tion of the subject of singing was a difficult matter, and often came up and was acted on as a part of the authorized business of parish meetings. Much trouble was experienced after choir singing was introduced, in providing seats for the singers. It had been a custom from earliest days to "deacon the hymn," that is, the precentor read two lines and then all sung them, and so to the end. As late as 1802, there was an article in the Parish Warrant, "To see if the Parish will agree to have the singing carried on in future without read- ing the line." It was referred to the minister and session to decide. Tradition says the matter was disposed of as fol- lows: On a certain Sabbath the worthy precentor occupied his accustomed seat under the pulpit and endeavored to maintain his ancient rights; but the choir in despite of all his efforts sang right over him, sang him down, carried the day triumphantly and so remained masters of the field. The Lord's Supper was celebrated but twice in the year-Spring and Autumn-and it was then kept with almost the solemn- ities of the Jewish Passover. All secular labor was laid aside by all the inhabitants, and it was a time of holy con- vocation. Besides the Sabbath, all day Thursday, Saturday afternoon and Monday forenoon were spent in public relig- ious services and as strictly observed as holy time. On such occasions several ministers were usually present to aid the pastor in his arduous labors. Previous to the Sabbath it was the usual custom to give out the " Tokens," with one of which every communicant was required to be furnished. These were small pieces of lead of an oblong shape, and marked with the letters L. D. On the Sabbath-the great day of the feast-tables stretching the whole length of the aisles were spread, at which the communicants sat and re- ceived the consecrated elements. The tables were "fenced," which was a prohibition and exclusion of any from commu- nicating who had not a " Token." It was in the power of the Elders who had the distribution of the Tokens to with- hold one from any professor whose life had been irregular or scandalous. Unleavened bread, prepared in thin cakes of an oval form has always been used in this ordinance. The
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NEW CASTLE.
giving out of the Tokens and the Halfway Covenant, though now dispensed with, were both continued into Dr. Dana's ministry. Several tables were served during the administra- tion of the Supper and by different ministers ; and for some of the more aged members of the church tables were spread in Mr. Adams' day. The services of these occasions were often protracted till near the going down of the sun, nor were they deemed a weariness. Among the early settlers, not only at these interesting seasons, but on ordinary days, it was no uncommon thing for women to walk six or eight miles, and sometimes carry an infant child, that they might worship the Lord in his own house and among his people.
NEW CASTLE.
Rev. LUCIUS ALDEN.
New Castle is situated on an Island at the mouth of the Piscataqua River and at the entrance of Portsmouth harbor from which city it is about three miles distant. Its popu- lation is 891. Rye, Greenland, Newington, and Portsmouth, with it, originally, constituted one town, and here in 1623 was commenced the first settlement in New Hampshire. The leading object of the earliest emigrants appears to have been the acquisition of wealth, by means of trade and the fisheries, and hence, perhaps, their remissness in establishing the institutions of religion. The first church in this settle- ment was organized 'in the year 1671, and Rev. Joshua Moody ordained pastor. In 1693, agreeably to the petition of the inhabitants, New Castle was made a township by itself and a charter granted under the royal seal of William and Mary, which is still preserved in the archives of the town, in the old English black letter, fairly engrossed on parchment. In consequence of the loss of the records, the precise date of the organization of the church here cannot be ascertained, but as early as the year 1706 a Meeting-house was taken down and another erected in the usual style of that period, but finished with somewhat more than ordinary elegance. It was furnished with a bell of a fine tone sent over from England, decorated with a beautiful altar-piece, and supplied with silver communion service, to which was added a splen- ded silver cup, the bequest of Mrs. Jane Turell, sister of Sir Wm. Pepperell, Baronet. The pulpit was furnished with a large folio Bible, with illuminated letters, printed at the University of Oxford, the bequest of Madam Mary Prescott.
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY.
The following is a list of the pastors, who officiated in this ancient church, viz :
Ist. Rev. John Emerson, a native of Gloucester, Ms., son of Rev. John Emerson, senior, and grandson of Thomas Emerson of Ipswich-born 1670 and graduated at Harvard 1689. The same year, June 27th, "He providentially escaped with his life, by declining, though strongly urged, to lodge at the house of Major Waldron, in Dover, on the fatal night when the Indians wreaked their vengeance on the unsuspec- ting inhabitants of that place." He was the minister of Manchester, Ms., from 1695 to 1698. On the 24th of May, 1703, he was invited to settle in the ministry here, and soon after was ordained by Rev. Messrs. Cotton, Pike and Clark. His wife was Mary, daughter of Edmund Barter, of Salem, Ms. In 1708 he visited England, spent some time in Lon- don, and "was handsomely noticed by Queen Anne," who was then on the British throne. In 1712 he was dismissed, and March 23, 1715 was installed the first pastor of the South Church in Portsmouth. During his ministry 124 were receiv- ed into the church, 40 of whom soon after "the great earth- quake" Oct. 29, 1727, which he ever after noticed by an annual sermon adapted to the occasion. He died Jan. 21st, 1732, aged 62. He is said to have been "an agreeable companion and a faithful preacher of the gospel."
2d. Rev. Wm. Shurtleff, a native of Plymouth, Ms., born 1689, son of Wm. Shurtleff, who finally settled in Carver, Ms., and grandson of Wm. Shurtleff, of Marshfield, who in a terrific tempest 1666 was instantly killed by lightning, while a child in his arms, and two others leaning on him, escaped unhurt. Rev. Mr. Shurtleff was graduated at Harvard, 1707, and settled in New Castle, 1712. He died May 9th, 1747, aged 58. His remains rest beneath the Old South Church, in Portsmouth. One of his successors thus testifies concerning him : "His name will long be mentioned with respect, for his uncommon meekness and patience under great trials, and for distinguished piety as well as pastoral fidelity." Several of his sermons were published and are now extant-also a communication from him, published in " the Christian History," 1743.
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