USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Dublin > The history of Dublin, N.H. : containing the address by Charles Mason, and the proceedings at the centennial celebration, June 17, 1852, with a register of families > Part 30
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"'As one of the superintendents both of the Sabbath-school and of
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the common schools, I could not with propriety say less, and, as others present can speak to so much better purpose, I will not say more.'
"Rev. S. F. CLARK of Athol, Mass., being asked by the chair, then addressed the meeting. He said that he was happy to be present on this interesting occasion. He always loved to come to Dublin. His earliest recollections were here. Here were the scenes of his childhood. He loved the mountains and streams and beautiful lake, whose shores were hallowed by sacred associations. He loved the people, the schools, and the church, in which, under the guidance and teaching of our de- voted pastor, whom we have met to honor, he received his early in- tellectual and religious impressions. He was grateful for those influ- ences. The whole town must be grateful for the happy influences of the master mind, which has presided over and directed its educational interests, both intellectual and religious. He then went on to speak of the wise, untiring, but unostentatious efforts of Dr. Leonard for the welfare of this town, and the community at large in this vicinity. He had quietly exerted that judicious influence which controlled the edu- cational funds left to the town by his predecessor. It is sometimes said that funds are no benefit to a society or town, and it often is so; but Dr. Leonard so managed the funds of this town that no one would question their beneficial effects. Without his mind to superintend their appropriation, they might have been worse than useless; but his counsel, his efforts, his example, have placed the educational in- stitutions of Dublin in a rank second to the educational institutions of no other town in the state.
"Mr. Clark had had something to do with the superintendence of common schools and Sunday-schools in other places, out of this state, and in none had he become acquainted with a more practical and effi- cient system of instruction than that which emanated from Dr. Leonard, and which was so successful in its results in Dublin.
"Nor was his influence confined to this town or this county. Dr. Leonard was unpretending, and would never assume any prominence for himself, but the friends of education hereabouts know very well that to no man in New Hampshire is the cause of common school education so much indebted as to him. Nor is his influence confined to this state. The interest he has awakened could be stopped by the bound- aries of no state. His school-books have had a deservedly wide cir- culation. His North American Spelling Book has no superior, as a speller and a primary reading-book, in New England. Dr. Leonard understood young children's minds, and adapted his spelling-book to meet their wants as no other book does. In selecting books for the 'Juvenile Library,' he displayed the same superiority of judgment. Mr. Clark said that he had examined many libraries for children and he had never known one so well selected. The books were such as children could understand. They loved to read them. This was the secret of the universal love for reading in Dublin.
"The Christian Hymns, too, a book then so deservedly popular,
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owed its superior merits chiefly to Dr. Leonard. He was its originator and chief compiler. Its merits are known in nearly all the churches of the denomination to which Dr. Leonard belonged.
"Mr. Clark also referred to the private munificence of Dr. Leonard. Many and many an indigent child had been supplied with school- books by his silent benevolence. Students, plodding their weary way under difficulties, had been helped on by his wise counsel and material encouragement. But his work was done so modestly and quietly that we are hardly aware how much we are indebted to him for advantages, which, but for him, never would have been enjoyed. The rains and dews and sunshine of heaven fall upon the earth, which teems with fruits, and we reap bounties, all unmindful of the Great Giver. So it was with the fruits of Dr. Leonard's labors. Benefactors enjoyed them, hardly mindful of the source whence they came. Mr. Clark was glad of such an occasion to express gratitude to one whom to honor is an honor. He was glad to be present and feel the pulse of affection and gratitude beat so freely among the people. No one who duly appreciated his services would willingly be deprived of the privilege of participating in the gift, as a slight memorial of lasting affection and gratitude.
"Mr. Clark then described his first introduction to Dr. Leonard, in his study, when a child just learning to read. He received kind words, kind attentions, a gift of a little book, and another to read and return - the same also for his brother and sister. He alluded to this incident because his own experience was probably the experience of almost every child of the town. He then paid a heartfelt and merited tribute of regard to the former wife of Dr. Leonard, whose remains rest in our old burial ground on the shore of Monadnock Lake, whose crystal waters are a fit emblem of the Christian purity of her whose memory is sacred to the hearts of this people; and he closed by ex- pressing the desire that this humble gift might be handed down to the last generation of her posterity."
Dr. Leonard did not often come to Dublin after this festival in his honor. He supplied the pulpit occasionally in person, at other times sending substitute preachers, until the installation of the colleague pastor, on the thirteenth of June, 1855. After this, he very rarely appeared in the pulpit, although he re- mained the pastor emeritus until his death. Not long before his spirit winged its flight, he occupied the desk, to speak the last words to his people. Rev. John C. Learned of Exeter, a native of Dublin, was with him, to assist in the service. Al- though very feeble, Dr. Leonard succeeded in finishing the dis- course which he had prepared. It was one of the most solemn and pathetic church services ever held in town. Realizing that their beloved pastor would never occupy the pulpit again, re-
.
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calling his long life of loving devotion to duty in their commu- nity, the congregation, most of whom had known no other pastor, except his colleague, were stirred with the deepest emotions, as they hung breathless upon every word which fell from the lips of him from whom they were listening publicly for the last time.
Dr. Leonard died at Exeter, Dec. 12, 1864. There was a funeral service in that town for the benefit of kindred and neighbors. The body of Dr. Leonard was brought to Dublin, where a very impressive funeral service was held in the church, on Jan. 4, 1865. The introductory prayer and the reading of the Scriptures were by Rev. William Orne White of Keene; hymn number 503 of the Cheshire Collection, principally compiled by Dr. Leonard, was sung; the sermon was by Rev. John C. Learned of Exeter, a native of Dublin, and a friend of Dr. Leonard from boyhood; an address was delivered by Rev. George Faber Clark of Stow, Mass., whose youth was passed in Dublin; hymn 509 of the collection mentioned was sung; prayer was offered by the junior pastor, Rev. William F. Bridge; and hymn 547, from the book already named, was read by Rev. C. B. Ferry of Peterborough, and sung by the congregation.
The grave of Dr. Leonard in the Dublin cemetery is marked by a granite obelisk, fourteen feet in height, which, with the accessories and curbing, cost between six and seven hundred dollars, which sum was contributed by former parishioners of Dr. Leonard, many of whom were then not living in Dublin. The monument was consecrated, Nov. 10, 1867, the public services being in the church. Rev. George M. Rice, the pastor, offered prayer. Brief tributes to the memory of Dr. Leonard were offered by Deacon Jonathan K. Smith, and by the pastor, who recalled his acquaintance with Dr. Leonard, and spoke of the high estimate of his character which was held by all of his brethren in the ministry. The monument is of hammered Fitzwilliam granite. Agreeably to his well-known wishes, the inscription was made quite simple, and reads: -
LEONARD.
LEVI W. LEONARD, D.D., Born, June 1, 1790; Harvard College, 1815; Settled at Dublin, Sept. 6, 1820; Died at Exeter, Dec. 12, 1864.
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On the same monument we also read: -
ELIZABETH M. SMITH, wife of REV. DR. LEONARD, Died, Sept. 13, 1848, Ae. 42 yrs.
From the time of Dr. Leonard's leaving Dublin, until the be- ginning of October, 1854, he occupied the desk occasionally, but more frequently sent other preachers. During the winter of 1853-54, the desk was occupied by Mr. Samuel Abbot Smith of Peterborough, who was born in that town, April 18, 1829, and graduated at the Harvard Divinity School, in 1853. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1849, and received the degree of A.M. in 1853. After leaving Dublin, he was called to West Cambridge (now Arlington), Mass., where he was ordained, June 22, 1854. He continued the pastor of that church nearly eleven years, until his death, May 20, 1865. He was a rare young man, of sound scholarship and marked piety.
Rev. WILLIAM FREDERICK BRIDGE, the fourth pastor of the church, was born in Lancaster, Mass., Feb. 15, 1821. He grad- uated at Harvard, with the degree of A.B., in 1846; A.M. in 1850. He was ordained in the Follen church at East Lexington, Mass., Nov. 7, 1849, where he remained until the close of No- vember, 1853, although supplying at intervals until the first of January in 1855. On Oct. 8, 1854, Mr. Bridge began sup- plying the Dublin pulpit. Near the beginning of 1855, the parish held a meeting to consider the matter of extending a call to him, but he informed the society that he desired to preach three months before considering a call. On April 11, 1855, he received a unanimous call to become the colleague pastor, which he ac- cepted on April 23, following.
The installation of Mr. Bridge as the colleague pastor oc- curred, June 13, 1855. The churches represented in the council were those of Portsmouth, Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D .; Wilton, Rev. John N. Bellows; Peterborough, Rev. Charles Robinson; Keene, Rev. William Orne White; Hampton Falls, Rev. Asarelah Morse Bridge; Charlestown, Rev. Jaazaniah Crosby, D.D .; Concord, Rev. Artemas Bowers Muzzey. Rev. Dr. Leonard was present and acted as the moderator of the council, and Rev. Mr. White was the scribe. The sermon was by Dr. Peabody, and the charge to the people by Dr. Leonard.
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Early in the pastorate of Mr. Bridge occurred one of the most important events in the history of the church, or even in the history of Dublin. It was the suit brought by the Trinitarian Congregational Society of Dublin to obtain possession of the income of the Sprague fund, which was left for the benefit of the First Congregational Society. In his will, Rev. Edward Sprague made this bequest, upon the condition that the income of the fund should be used towards defraying the salary of the minister of that society, provided he was a regularly ordained minister.
We read in the church records that, on Jan. 1, 1856, "A copy of a bill of complaint, entered by the Trinitarian Congre- gational Society of Dublin and its pastor, was served upon the pastor of the First Congregational Church and Society, re- quiring him to show himself to be the pastor of a Congrega- tional church, regularly ordained, in order to prove his right to enjoy the income of the Sprague fund."
The court proceedings to which this suit led have all been printed in full. It would be too tedious to the most of our readers to present here even an abstract of it. It is, however, intensely interesting to the oldest inhabitants of Dublin, as well as to students of ecclesiastical polity. The contest was a long one, and pursued with much bitterness of feeling. It will probably answer the purposes of this history to say that, in the end, it was the decision of the court that a legacy left to a specific society, for a particular purpose, was to be forever en- joyed by the specified society, notwithstanding any changes of covenants, creeds, or individual opinions, which might have been made. The suit was brought on the ground that the doc- trines then held by the First Congregational Church and So- ciety, as organizations, as well as by their pastor, were not like those of Mr. Sprague. It was clearly shown in the court pro- ceedings, and was indeed a well-known fact, that Mr. Sprague represented the philosophy of the Arminian thinkers, and was not at all in sympathy with the ultra Calvinistic doctrines of the Trinitarian Congregationalists. However, that really made no difference, for the court decided that the old First Congrega- tional Society was entitled to the enjoyment of the income of the fund, irrespective of any changes of opinion which had taken place in the society or the church or among the individual members.
This case, known far and wide in ecclesiastical circles as the "Dublin case," was a test case for the decision of similar con-
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troversies. A large number of the old Congregational churches espoused the Unitarian cause, and the greater portion of the earlier churches of that denomination had been units of the old New England Congregational body. Contests over the possession of funds, as well as of communion plate, were not infrequent.
Mr. Bridge asked for dismission in 1865, which was granted, in the usual courteous manner. He delivered his farewell sermon, Oct. 29, 1865, and administered the communion. In the records, the last words from his pen are: "God's benediction rest on church and society alike."
After leaving Dublin, Mr. Bridge was settled in Peterboro, N. Y., as a teacher and pastor, Dec. 3, 1865, to June, 1871. He was a teacher at Little Falls, N. Y., from August, 1871, to De- cember, 1875. He then went to Antioch College, Ohio, as prin- cipal of the preparatory department, 1875-1877; and as pro- fessor of moral philosophy, 1877-1878. He died at Foster, Ohio, Feb. 20, 1892.
Rev. GEORGE MATTHIAS RICE, fifth pastor of the church, was born in Danvers, Mass., June 28, 1814; graduated at Hobart College, N. Y., as A.B., in 1832; and was a graduate of the Divinity School of Harvard University in 1835. He was or- dained at Watertown, Mass., Nov. 11, 1840, as the pastor of the church in Lexington, Mass., of which he was the pastor from that date until April 30, 1841. Subsequent pastorates were in Chelsea, Mass., Sept. 18, 1844, to 1845; Mendon, Mass., April 20, 1845, to July, 1846; Eastport, Me., May 7, 1848, to June 29, 1851; Lancaster, N. H., Jan. 15, 1854, to Nov. 1, 1857; and Westford, Mass., June 1, 1858, to April 1, 1866.
Of the beginning of his ministry in Dublin he writes in the records: "After Mr. Bridge left, the pulpit was supplied by sev- eral candidates, to one of whom a call was extended; the vote to do which being afterwards reconsidered and annulled. I com- menced preaching here [in Dublin], Feb. 11, 1866, being the pastor of the First Congregational Society in Westford, Mass. On March 15, 1866, I received a call to settle over the society [in Dublin], as its pastor, on a salary of $800, after supplying as a candidate three Sundays. I accepted the same on March 26, to begin my labors on the first Sunday in May."
Mr. Rice was installed, May 16, 1866. The churches repre- sented in the council were: West Church in Boston, Rev. Cyrus A. Bartol, D.D .; Westford, Mass., without a pastor, but repre- sented by the venerable Rev. Ephraim Abbot; Groton, Mass.,
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Rev. Crawford Nightingale; Pepperell, Mass., Rev. Charles Babbidge (who afterwards had the title of D.D.); Keene, Rev. William Orne White; Walpole, Rev. Nathaniel Seaver; Peterbor- ough, Rev. Charles B. Ferry; and Wilton, Rev. W. B. Buxton. Rev. Mr. Babbidge was chosen moderator, and Rev. Mr. Seaver, scribe. Dr. Bartol delivered the sermon; Rev. Ephraim Abbot, in his eighty-seventh year, offered the installing prayer; Rev. Mr. Babbidge gave the charge to the pastor; Rev. Mr. Nightin- gale gave the right hand of fellowship; and Rev. Mr. White addressed the people. Mr. Seaver offered the introductory prayer, Mr. Ferry read the Scriptures, and Mr. Buxton offered the concluding prayer.
The first recorded union service of the First Congregational (Unitarian) and Trinitarian Congregational Societies of Dublin was held on the occasion of the annual fast, April 4, 1867. Rev. Andrew J. Fosdick of the Trinitarian Congregational Church preached the sermon. Since that date, such union serv- ices have not been infrequent, and, of late years, are practically an annual custom upon the Sunday preceding the Thanksgiving Thursday.
Aug. 4, 1867, is the date of the first musical service, specifi- cally called a vesper service, of which we find any notice upon the records. Such services have not been frequent, because the parishioners live at such distances from the meetinghouse that it is not convenient to make the journey twice upon the same Sunday.
April 20, 1868, an abbreviated form of the church covenant in use was laid before the church at a special meeting, and was "acquiesced in by the members present."
About this time, many persons, each season, were coming to Dublin for the summer. Among them were many clergymen of the Unitarian denomination. The records of Mr. Rice contain many instances of labors of love performed by these visiting brethren. The custom has been continued until the present time, and, during the summer, the society is often favored with the preaching of clergymen who are highly esteemed as preach- ers. It would be too tedious to enumerate them all. The one most frequently heard in later years was Rev. Robert Collyer, D.D.
Aug. 9, 1869, the parishioners attending church witnessed a much more delightful audience room than they had before seen. Mr. Rice, in the records, notes: "Our church has been beautifully frescoed and painted, and the outside painted. The
George M. Rice
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vestry has been painted, papered, and whitewashed. For the interior decoration the ladies of the society raised most of the funds by fairs. Our friends from out of town (summer visitors) under the lead of Miss Lydia Dodge of Boston and Miss Kit- tredge of West Newton, gave us the proceeds of two dramatic exhibitions, and fifty dollars were received by letter, in answer to circulars sent by Deacon Smith."
Aug. 9, 1874, the first service of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Dublin was conducted in the Unitarian Church by Rev. Henry Mayer of Philadelphia, at 4 P.M. Mr. Rice, in re- cording the fact, adds: "By his request, I sat in the pulpit with him and read the selections from the Scriptures." On August 16, there was a similar service, Mr. DeBlois reading the Scrip- tures.
Under date of July 7, 1875, Mr. Rice records the fact that he had been seriously ill for the past three Sundays, and that the services in his church had been taken by the Rev. A. W. Jackson of Peterborough. The service was at 5 P.M. The records contain the following explanatory note: "The pastor had a slight shock of paralysis on the 15th ult. [June, 1875], but hopes to be able to resume his duties in the fall. 'All as God wills.'" He was indeed able to resume labor on the second day of November in that year, to the delight, though to the surprise, of his people. In the meantime many clergy- men gave him labors of love, and the desk was supplied every Sunday.
Aug. 19, 1877, the pastor (Rev. Mr. Rice) read from the pul- pit a note which was signed "A summer visitor" (really written by Mrs. Baring-Gould of New York), expressing gratitude for the hospitality of our church, and for access to its library, pro- posing to place a "strangers' box" in the porch of the church to receive contributions (from strangers only) for the library, or, when no designation of the use be made, to be placed in the hands of the parish committee to be appropriated as they think best.
On Oct. 7, 1877, after the Sunday-school service, a vote of thanks was tendered Miss Lydia Dodge of Boston for a generous donation of books for the library, purchased with the proceeds of a dramatic entertainment, given under her auspices, by persons mostly from abroad.
Protestant Episcopalian services were held in the church, dur- ing the months of July and August, 1879, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Goodwin of the Episcopalian Theological School of Phila-
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delphia. The same clergyman conducted similar services in the months of July and August, in 1880.
The continued ill health of Mr. Rice induced him to resign, April 29, 1881, the resignation taking effect, July 31, 1881. He accepted an invitation to supply the desk through August and September, and preached his last sermon, Sept. 25, 1881. Be- ing, however, the Sunday immediately following the death of President Garfield, circumstances caused the sermon to deal principally with that melancholy event, with brief allusions to the closing of his pastorate.
Mr. Rice continued to make his home in Dublin until his decease, which occurred, Sept. 22, 1882, lacking but three days of a year from the time of his preaching his last sermon. His body rests in the same cemetery with those of Mr. Sprague and Dr. Leonard. His headstone bears the simple inscription: -
REV. GEO. M. RICE, Born, June 28, 1814, Died, Sept. 22, 1882. He giveth his beloved sleep.
Mr. Rice was very efficiently aided in his pastoral duties by the invaluable services of his estimable wife, whom a kind Prov- idence has spared to the present time (1916), and who still keeps the home endeared to Dublin people by the associations connected with its occupancy by both Dr. Leonard and Mr. Rice. Of late, she has passed the winters with her children and friends in Massachusetts. Mrs. Rice was, in every way, a model pastor's wife. Her refined manners, cultured tastes, her genial and sunny presence among the parishioners, her help- fulness to the sick and the afflicted, and her amiable and virtu- ous character, endeared her to all who knew her.
The sons and daughters of Mr. Rice were gifted with rare musical tastes, as were the ladies whom the sons married. They have sung in the choirs of large and influential churches, and, when in Dublin, have been very generous in singing for the edification of the community, both in church and at social functions.
Rev. Mr. Rice was a man of dignified bearing, a gentleman of the olden school, faithful in his parochial duties, edifying in his pulpit ministrations, sympathetic and encouraging to the afflicted, and helpful to the poor. When he entered upon his
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ministry many of the parishioners were living who could recall Rev. Mr. Sprague, and whose lives were a connecting link be- tween the founders of the church and the present. They have all passed on, and there are few living in town today who can recall Dr. Leonard. At the beginning of the writer's pastorate in Dublin, there was a single person in the congregation who could barely recall Mr. Sprague, as he remembered him in his earliest childhood, and who could distinctly remember the appearance of the first meetinghouse, near the cemetery.
Rev. HASKET DERBY CATLIN, the sixth pastor of the church, was born in New Brighton, N. Y., June 26, 1839, the son of Charles Taylor and Lucy Ann (Derby) Catlin. He graduated at Yale College, now Yale University, with the degree of B.A., in 1859, and received the degree of M.A. from the same insti- tution in 1862. Before beginning his ministry in Dublin, he had labored in three parishes: Neponset, Mass., May 1867-Oc- tober 1870; Northumberland, Pa., May 1873-October 1877; and Harlem, N. Y., 1878-1880. In beginning his labors in Dublin, he makes the following entries upon the church rec- ords: -
"The new pastor, having, in November, 1881, received and accepted an informal invitation from the executive committee, based upon an inquiry into the mind of the parish generally, to undertake the charge of the parish, began his work, the last Sunday of November [Nov. 27, 1881], the service being held on this and the following two Sundays in the vestry, on account of repairs going on above.
"Dec. 1, 1881. At a parish meeting held this evening, a formal call was extended to Mr. Catlin, which he, in a few days, formally accepted. A committee to confer with the pastor about a service of installation was appointed, but it was agreed to defer the service until summer.
The installation of Mr. Catlin, whose work began officially on Nov. 27, 1881, occurred on June 28, 1882. The introductory prayer was offered by Rev. William H. Walbridge of Peter- borough; the Scriptures were read by Rev. Charles G. Ames, then of Philadelphia, Pa., in the place of Rev. Albert Walkley of Keene, who was unable to be present; the hymn by Samuel Longfellow, "Before the power that asks not word," was then sung; the sermon was by Rev. Charles G. Ames; the installing prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Polk of the Universalist church in Marlborough, in place of Rev. Stephen H. Camp of Brooklyn, N. Y., who was expected, but was unavoidably pre- vented from attending; the charge to the pastor was by the Rev.
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