USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > The history of Concord : from its first grant in 1725, to the organization of the city government in 1853, with a history of the ancient Penacooks ; the whole interspersed with numerous interesting incidents and anecdotes, down to the present period, 1885 > Part 57
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Woodbury, pastor of the society of which Mr. Hutchins was a mem- ber, preached an appropriate discourse from Job 5: 26: "Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season."
The masonic fraternity, of which Mr. Hutchins was a member, were also in attendance, dressed in their regalia, and the front of the Phenix Hotel was draped in mourning. Mr. Hutchins was a large, portly man, about six feet in height, of fair complexion - a little florid - blue eyes, and, on account of being near sighted, always wore spectacles. Attached himself to the Whig party, his hotel became the common boarding place of the Whig members of the Legislature ; but in it all men, of all parties and seets, received impartial attention and good entertainment .*
No. 3.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
A SUCCINCT ACCOUNT, IN THE ORDER OF THEIR RISE, OF THE SEVERAL CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN CONCORD, WITHI BRIEF SKETCHES OF MINISTERS.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
This church was formed November 18, 1730, of eight members, including Rev. Timothy Walker, who was the same day ordained pastor. The history of this church, until 1825, is incorporated with that of the town, and has been given already at sufficient length in preceding pages. From its first organization till the present time it has been distinguished for harmony and steadfastness.
During the ministry of Rev. Dr. Bouton, up to the present time, there have been added to the church 662 members, of whom 197 were received on recommendation, and 465 on profession.t
In April, 1833, at the request of members residing in the West Parish, twenty-seven males and sixty-one females were dismissed and recommended, to be organized into a new Congregational church, there located. In November, 1836, sixty-seven members, viz., twen- ty-two males and forty-five females, were, at their request, dismissed and recommended, for the purpose of constituting a new Congrega- tional church at the south part of Concord main village; and in March, 1842, forty-four members, living on the east side of the river-fourteen males and thirty females -requested to be dis- missed and recommended, to be organized into a new Congregational
* See " Hutchins family."
t See, for further particulars, Church Records, and printed Discourse on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination, 1850.
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ECCLESIASTICAL.
church in that section, which request was also granted. These suc- cessive changes-all which took place harmoniously, and with the hearty consent of the First church - reduced its members from about 540 to 252. In 1842 a new meeting-house was built for the use of the First Congregational church and society, which was dedicated November 23, 1842, and public worship on the Sabbath commenced November 27. The house has since been enlarged. Previous to which time - October 27 and 28-a farewell service was held by the four Congregational churches in the old North meeting-house, at which the pastors of the several churches were present and took a part. About 550 communicants of the four sister churches then partook together of the Lord's Supper. It is believed that public worship on the Sabbath has never failed to be observed by this church since its first organization in 1730. No difficulty has ever existed in it which required the advice and action of an ecclesiastical council. Its pastors who have deceased are all interred in the old burying- ground, and the average ministry of the pastors, till the present time, is about twenty-nine years .*
In the First Church the following persons have officiated as dea- cons, viz. :
Elected.
Died.
Age.
John Merrill,
December 17, 1730.
Ephraim Farnum,
August, 1731. .
1775 80
Joseph Hall.
George Abbot,
1746. .
1784
77
Jolın Kimball,.
. September, 1789.
1817
78
David Hall, .
September, 1789.
1821
82
Joseph Hall,
September, 1789.
1807
70
Jonathan Wilkins,
September, 1811.
1830 75
Abiel Rolfe,.
September, 1811.
1840
59
Thomas W. Thompson,
July, 1818.
1821
56
Nathaniel Ambrose,
July, 1818.
1849
85
Nathan Ballard, Jr., 1818, resigned.
Samuel Fletcher, 1825, dismissed to South ehureh.
Ira Rowell, 1829, dismissed to West church.
James Moulton, Jr., 1829.
John B. Chandler, 1833, dismissed to South church.
Samuel Morril, 1837.
Ezra Ballard, 1837, resigned.
Abner B. Kelly, 1842, dismissed to church in Warner.
Benjamin Farnum, 1844.
Nineteen members of the First church have become ministers of the Gospel, viz. : James Scales, f Timothy Walker, Jr., } Ephraim Abbot, George H. Hough, David Kimball, James Walker, f Joshua T. Russell, ; Jeremiah Glines, Samuel G. Tenney, William Clark,
* The present pastor is a native of Norwalk, Conn. ; son of William and Sarah Bouton, and the youngest of fourteen children -- born June 20, 1799. At the age of 16 he united with the Congregational church in Bridgeport, Conn., under the care of Rev. Elijah Waterman ; fitted for college chiefly with Hawley Olmstead, Esq., of Wilton, Conn,. now of New-Haven. A graduate of Yale, in 1821, and of Andover Theological Seminary in 1824. He married for his first wife, Miss Ilarriet Sherman, [see page 404,] who died leaving two children ; for his second wife, Miss Mary Ann P. Bell, who deceased, [see page 442,] leaving five children ; for his third wife, Miss Elizabeth Ann Cilley, eldest daughter of the late Horatio G. Cilley, of Deerfield, who has had six children, of whom the three youngest have deceased.
* Deceased.
Sec SS ?
606
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Henry Wood, Moses Kimball, Henry S. G. French, (deceased,) Horace Herrick, John LeBosquet, Luther Farnum, Ezra E. Adams, William A. Patten, Ezekiel Dow.
FRIENDS' MEETING .*
" A few individuals in Coneord, having become convinced of the truth as professed by Friends, a meeting for religious worship was set up by Weare Monthly Meeting the 24th of 10th month, 1805, which was to be under the care of, and subordinate to that meeting. The meeting was held for a time in the dwelling-house of Ruth Turner and Sarah Sweatt. In 1814 a lot of land was purchased where the State House now stands, and Friends at Concord, with the assistance of Weare Monthly Meeting, and a donation from William Rotch, of New-Bedford, erected a meeting-house on the same. This lot, being considered a desirable location for the State House, it was sold, and their house removed to a lot given to the Friends for that purpose by Benjamin Hannaford, at the North end. In 1840 the members of that meeting, having many of them removed to other parts, and several of them deceased, it was concluded to discontinue the meeting, and the house was sold to the inhabitants of the school distriet in which it stood, for a school-house.+
" Following are the names of persons who composed the meeting at different times : Ruth Turner and her daughter Lucy; Sarah Sweatt and her children, Mary E. and Benjamin ; Lydia Dunlap, Sarah Arlin; Levi Hutchins, and Phebe, his wife, and children, Ruth, Anna, Harriet, Mary, Luey, William, Ednah and Samuel ; Elizabeth Yates, one of the family ; Bethiah Ladd and her son, Wil- liam M .; Abel Houghton and wife, Sarah, and children, Seba, Abel, Nestor, Mary, Sarah, Lydia and George ; Daniel Cooledge and wife, Ruth, and children, Phebe, George F. and William P .; James San- born and wife, Mary, and children, Nestor H., Sarah E. H., Mari- anna M., Caroline A. and Charles II .; Josiah Rogers and wife, Sarah, and children, Sarah and Dana ; Israel Hoag and wife, Abigail, and children, Martha and Mary; Ruth Hazeltine and her children, William, Lucy F., John C. and Timothy; Thomas W. Thorndike and wife, Ruth G., and children, Henry, John, Wilson, Mary, Charles H., Lucy P. and Anna D.
" Several others have attended the meeting at different times who had not a permanent settlement here."
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Worship according to the Liturgy of the Episcopal church was commenced in this town in 1817, at which time a few individuals "agreed, and did associate and form themselves into an Episcopal church and congregation, under the name and style of St. Thomas' chapel." The agreement was signed by eighteen individuals, of
* Furnished by Thomas W. Thorndike, now of Weare.
t The building is occupied for the primary department in School District No. 11, in the rear of the brick school-house.
607
ECCLESIASTICAL.
whom eleven were heads of families. In 1818 the Rev. Charles Burroughs was appointed rector, and occasionally officiated ; occasional services were also conducted by Rev. Messrs. Andrews and Searle, 1817, '18, '19; and in 1819 to 1823 by Rev. John L. Blake, who was appointed rector. During a part of the first year of the formation of the society, public worship was attended in the hall over the Concord Bank ; subsequently, about two years in the town hall, and afterwards a chapel was fitted up over a store, called the "Green store," standing where the American House now stands.
Rev. Mr. Blake leaving here in 1823 the meetings of the society were discontinued, except occasionally, until July, 1835, when a new organ- ization was formed and subscribed by twelve individuals, under the name and style of the " Wardens and Vestry of St. Paul's church," and the Rev. Moses B. Chase, of Hopkinton, chosen rector, who officiated here a part of the time for one year.
In 1836 the committee for Domestic Missions constituted this place a missionary station, and the Rev. P. S. Ten Broeck was invited to accept the appointment of missionary, (which he did for two years,) and to become the rector. Mr. Ten Broeck officiated here until October, 1844. In 1836 a subscription was started, to procure funds for building a church edifice, in which the late John West, Esq., took an active part. He suddenly deceased, on the 17th of October of that year, aged 48. In 1838 the effort was successfully renewed by a committee, consisting of Albe Cady, Leavitt C. Virgin and Isaac Hill, and on the 1st of January, 1840, the present church edifice was dedicated by the venerable Bishop Griswold, who, on the follow- ing day, instituted the Rev. Mr. Ten Broeck the rector of the parish. On the 6th of July, 1843, Albe Cady, Esq., for many years senior warden of the church, deceased, aged 73. Mr. Cady was one of the first movers (1817) in the effort to establish the services of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this town. In the absence of a rector he usually read the service on the Sabbath. He was highly esteemed for his integrity as a man and his usefulness as a citizen. His death was deeply deplored by the church, to which he was ardently attached.
Mr. Ten Broeck having resigned his charge in October, 1844, the Rev. Dairus R. Brown succeeded him the 24th of November, of the same year. The number of communicants in the church in June, 1845, was forty-five ; the number of the families in the parish, thirty, and the number of persons attending public worship, from one hun- dred to one hundred and fifty. Mr. Brown resigned in 1846, having accepted an invitation to Newport, R. I. He was succeeded imme- diately by the Rev. Thomas Leaver, who deceased, after a short ill- ness, on the 23d of December, 1847, aged 33 years. Mr. Leaver was born in Slough, in the county of Buckingham, Eng., January 23, 1815. His parents were members of the Church of England. In carly youth he became connected with the Baptist denomination, and at the age of about 20 he entered Stepney College with the view of preparing himself to labor in the missionary field. In 1837 he went to the Bahamas, to join the Baptist mission in those islands.
608
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
After laboring there about two years he came to this country, and was settled over a Baptist church in Newport, R. I., where, enjoying the confidence and affection of the people, he remained till 1846, when he felt constrained by convictions of duty to resign his charge, and, after a suitable time of study, to offer himself as a candidate for the ministry of the Episcopal church. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Henshaw, in Zion church, Newport, in August, 1846, and about three months afterward came to Concord, where he preached just one year. During the brief period of Mr. Leaver's ministry he proved himself a faithful shepherd, and his death was a deep affliction to the parish. His funeral sermon was preached by the bishop of the diocese, Rev. Carlton Chase, D. D. The ministers of the town attended as bearers. His remains were interred in the old burying- ground in Concord, and a suitable monument has been erected over them by the Baptist church in Newport, of which he was formerly pastor, and who claimed this privilege as an opportunity of testifying their unabated love of his memory. Mr. Leaver left a wife and five children, who, having the sympathies of the entire community, still continue their residence in the place.
On the 27th of February, 1848, the present rector, Rev. Newton E. Marble, D. D.,* was elected ; at which time the number of com- munieants was forty-four, and the number of families thirty-three. "At this present time the condition of the parish is very encourag- ing - free from debt, with a church edifice in excellent repair, and an increasing congregation. It may be regarded as permanently es- tablished."
Relative to Rev. Mr. Ten Broeck, whose services in the ministry of the church here closed in 1844, it will be interesting to his nu- merous friends to add, that Mr. Ten Broeck was born in Albany, N. Y., January 26, 1792, and was baptized in the old Dutch Reformed church by the Rev. Mr. Westilow. He was a lineal descendant, on his mother's side, of the last Dutch governor of New-York, Peter Stuyvesant, 1647. His parents removing to New-York city, he there pursued preparatory studies. He graduated at Columbia College ; studied theology with the Rev. Nathaniel Bowen, D. D., and was ad- mitted to deacon's orders June 30, 1816, in St. Anne's church, Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1817 he was rector of Trinity church, in Fish- kill, and had charge also of St. Philip's church, at Philipstown, and of St. Peter's church, in Peekskill, N. Y. In 1818 he was chosen to the rectorship of St. Paul's church, in Portland, Me., in which place he married Miss Lucretia M., daughter of the Hon. Levi Cut- ter, of that city. Resigning his charge in 1831 he subsequently officiated at Cape Elizabeth, in Falmouth, and at Saccarappa, in the town of Westbrook, Me. His next field of ministerial labor was Concord, where he continued from 1836 to 1844. Resigning his charge on account of impaired health, he purchased a beautiful resi- dence in Danvers, Mass., whither he removed with his family, and remained without parochial charge, but preaching occasionally, as he
* See "Parker Family." Mr. Marble was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1834.
609
ECCLESIASTICAL.
was able, until his death, which occurred January 21, 1849. In the funeral discourse preached by the Bishop of Massachusetts, the char- acter of Mr. Ten Broeck was set forth in the following words : " Ile failed not, in dispensing the Gospel, to declare to his hearers those cardinal doctrines, of man's fallen condition by nature; his need of the new birth by the Spirit, and the great doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. By his life, moreover, he commended what he taught."*
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
There had been occasional preaching by the Methodist preachers appointed in the Pembroke circuit, from 1816 to 1822. Mr. Phil- brick Bradley, on the Mountain, was the first man who opened his door for these meetings. In 1822 a class was formed in the vicinity of Stickney hill, by Rev. Jotham Horton and Ezekiel W. Stickney. Meetings were mostly held in school-houses and private dwellings. For quarterly meetings the town hall was occupied.
The first legal society was organized in 1825, and Rev. John « Brodhead, a member of the Legislature from Newmarket, frequently preached here. In July, 1830, Concord became a station, and Rev. Samuel Kelley was the first stationed preacher; at which time there were two small classes - one at Stickney Hill, and the other on the east side of the river - both numbering less than twenty-five mem- bers, scattered ten miles apart. Mr. Kelley also officiated as chaplain at the State Prison, and was allowed one dollar a Sabbath for his services there, - his whole compensation in town for the year being about one hundred and sixty dollars. During the year 1830 the present Methodist church, or chapel, was built. At the close of the year there were thirty-four members in church. Mr. Kelley was reappointed in 1831, but his health failing, his place was supplied by Rev. D. J. Robinson and others.
The other preachers stationed in Concord since 1831, are Rev. John G. Dow, 1832; George Storrs, 1833-4; Samnel Hoyt, 1835; James W. Mowry, 1836; James M. Fuller, 1837-8; William H. Hatch, 1839-40; John Jones, 1841 - 2; Converse L. McCurdy, 1843 ; Eleazer Smith,+ 1844; C. C. Burr, 1845 ; Ebenezer Peaslee, 1846-7; Charles Adams, 1848. Mr. Adams was a Professor in the Biblical Institute. Frederic A. Hewes, 1850 -1; Warren F. Evans, 1852-3; Samuel Kelley, 1854-5. Stationed here again, after an
* To the note on the preceding page should be added that Rev. Dr. Marble was born at Bradford, Mass., Sept. 1, 1808. After graduating, in 1834, he was preceptor of Hampton Academy, and of Franklin Academy, in Dover; in 1838, was instructor in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the Classical Institute at Peterborough, Va., and subsequently Princi- pal of the same ; studied Theology in the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in New-York, and afterwards in Philadelphia ; admitted to Deacon's Orders Sept. 7, 1843; to Priest's Orders in 1844; was minister of Trinity Church, in Bridgewater, Mass., till May, 1845, when elected Rector of Christ's Church, Salmon Falls; was Principal of a Classical School in Taunton, Mass., in 1846; married Sarah HI., daughter of Asa Freeman, Esq., of Dover, 1847; and elected Rector of St. Paul's Church, in Concord, in 1848.
t Rev. Mr. Smith's health failed towards the close of the first year; and after partially recovering, he received the appointment of chaplain to the State Prison, and was annually reappointed until June, 1855.
39
610
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
absence of twenty-two years : at the close of the year 1854, he re- turned two hundred and seven members and twenty-six probationers .*
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
On the 20th of May, 1818, a number of persons residing in Concord, and belonging to different Baptist churches, met at the house of Mr. Richard Swain, in said town, for the purpose of ascer- taining what degree of fellowship existed among them in the faith and order of the gospel ; and also to consider what were the prospects of forming a church agreeable to the principles and practice of the apostles of our Lord. After a free and full consideration of the first object before them, the following persons gave to each other an ex- pression of their christian fellowship, viz., James Willey, John Hoit, Sarah Bradley, Deborah Elliot, Sally Swain and Nancy Whitney.
On the 28th of the same month, the record says, "an adjourned session of the same meeting was held at the house of Mr. Nathaniel Parker, at which meeting three sisters related their Christian experi- ence, and made a brief statement of their views of Christian doctrine, after which those present expressed to them their Christian fellow- ship."
The next act of that meeting was "to listen to the Christian expe- rience of Mr. Oliver Hoit, and to agree to receive him to the fellow- ship of the church, when he shall have been baptized." At this meeting brethren from the church in Bow were present by invitation, to advise in reference to the constitution of a church. The brethren, having examined the subject, unanimously advised this small band of disciples to embody and organize. On the 23d of September, 1818, a council of neighboring churches was held at the house of Rev. William Taylor, and a church was constituted, of fourteen members. The public services on the occasion were attended at the "Green house." Elder Gibson preached ; Elder Robinson gave the hand of fellowship, and Elder Veascy offered prayer.
The church edifice was erected in 1825, and was opened for relig- ious worship January, 1826.+ The house stands on land given by the late Col. William A. Kent, on State street, and was originally seventy feet long and fifty wide, containing seventy-two pews on the floor, and thirty in the galleries. In 1835 it was remodeled, and eight more pews added. In 1845 the house was enlarged by the addition of twenty feet to the north end; the galleries removed ; modern windows inserted, and the whole inside newly finished. The house
* Mr. Kelley was a native of Salem, N. H., born February 1, 1802. His father, Richard Kelley, was out one campaign in the Revolutionary war; his mother was a adughter of Rev Samuel Fletcher, of the Baptist denomination. Samuel was the youngest of ten children. At the age of eighteen he professed religion. After studying a while at Atkinson and New- market academies, in 1822, he entered the travelling ministry, and has since spent the most of his time in New-Hampshire and Vermont ; having been stationed in Landaff, Sutton, Deering, Sandwich, Gilmanton, Newmarket, Concord, Nashua, Portsmouth, Great Falls, Dover, Manchester and Bristol, in this State, and at Athens, Newbury, Montpelier and Dan- ville, Vt.
t An excellent representation of the house and chapel is given on the opposite page.
THE FIRST BAPTIST MEETING-HOUSE AND CAHPEL.
612
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
is furnished with an excellent organ, a clock, and a chandlier lighted with gas.
Rev. William Taylor was settled as pastor of the church at its con- stitution, and continued in that relation until January, 1826, when he was succeeded by Rev. Nathaniel W. Williams. In April, 1831, Mr. Williams requested a dismission ; and, after being destitute of a settled minister for six months, the church invited Rev. Ebenezer E. Cummings, then of Salisbury, to become their pastor, and he was settled March, 1832.
During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Taylor, a period of seven years, the church admitted to its fellowship thirty members. During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Williams, a period of five years and a half, fifty-four were added. On the settlement of Rev. Mr. Cummings the church numbered one hundred. During his ministry, a period of nearly eighteen years, the number of members added was about six hundred. The whole number of members, December 1, 1849, was two hundred and eighty-four. Rev. Mr. Cummings having received a call to enter another field of labor, resigned his charge in May, 1850, and was succeeded by Rev. Charles W. Flanders, from Bev- erly, Mass., who was installed January 13, 1851.
In the year 1853 a beautiful and commodious chapel was built, and dedicated with appropriate services on the evening of December 1. In 1854 the meeting-house, for the third time, was improved more extensively and at a greater expense than at any former time. A new boll has since been added, and the house, which is well repre- sented by the accompanying cut, may be regarded as one of the best in the State. Under the ministry of the present pastor the church is in a flourishing condition, and numbers two hundred and eighty- eight .*
The first pastor, Rev. William Taylor, to whose labors and wise counsels the church must ever be greatly indebted, died in School- craft, Mich., June 7, 1852, aged 68. Rev. Nathaniel West Wil- liams was a man of singular prudence and knowledge of human nature. In younger life he had followed the sea, and was captain of a vessel. He was sound in doctrine ; an instructive and impressive preacher ; a faithful pastor, and an exemplary Christian. He died in Boston May 27, 1853, aged 69.
The following persons have served as deacons in this church, viz: : James Willey, f William Gault, f- Charles P. Crockett,; Benjamin Damon, John A. Gault, t and Abraham Prescott.
THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL, OR UNITARIAN SOCIETY.
The Second Congregational ( Unitarian ) Society in Concord, was formed on the Sth of August, 1827. The Society worshipped in
* Charles Worthen Flanders, son of Joseph and Anna Flanders, was born in Salisbury, Mass., February 9, 1807 ; was married to Mary II. L. O'Brien, of Boston, May 14, 1846; graduated at Brown University in 1839; passed his theological course under the instruction of Rev. John Wayland, then pastor of the First Baptist church in Salem, Mass. His first settlement was over the First Baptist church in Beverly, Mass., where he was pastor ten years. His second settlement was over the First Baptist church in this city.
t Deceased. # Furnished by Col. William Kent.
613
ECCLESIASTICAL.
the court room of the town hall until the completion of their meet- ing-house, which was dedicated on the 13th of November, 1829. Rev. Moses G. Thomas, who had for a few Sabbathis preached as a candidate, was invited to settle with the Society as their pastor. He accepted the invitation, and was ordained on the 25th of February, 1829. The services of ordination took place in the North meeting- house, which was kindly offered to the Society. A church was gathered the same day, consisting of 8 members, since which time to the present there have been added 169.
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