USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Sutton > The history of Sutton, New Hampshire : consisting of the historical collections of Erastus Wadleigh, Esq., and A. H. Worthen, part 1 > Part 24
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Ebenezer Cate.
Lydia Nelson.
Timothy Challis.
Mary Collins.
Samuel Dresser, Jr. John C. Little.
Ruth W. Nichols.
William T. Bean.
Sabrina Davis.
Gardner B. Gay.
Cynthia Nichols.
Henry Wheeler. Sarahı Parker.
Sally Johnson.
Lucy Davis.
Sally Wells.
Lois Wheeler.
Rebecca Davis.
Margaret Carleton. Lonisa Hall. Dorothy Carleton.
Polly Hunt. Sally Gile.
Elizabeth Austin. Sally Wheeler.
Abiah Roby. Mehitable Carr.
Sally Harvey (Col. John). Hannah Bean.
Betsey Richardson.
Lois H. Nichols.
Helen M. Kezar.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Polly Gunnison.
Dorothy H. Challis.
Mary Harvey (Col. Philip).
Dolly Little.
Hannah Felch.
Emmeline Cate.
Sally Cheney, 2d.
Lucinda Colby. Dolly G. Carleton.
Hannah Harvey.
Mary Challis.
'Maria Baldwin.
Sarah Messer.
Sarah Felch.
Sally Richardson.
Salome Little.
Lucy Messer.
Margery M. Gunnison.
Elizabeth Eaton.
Lucy Wells.
Dolly C. Dresser.
Syrena Strong.
Sylvia Davis.
Malvina Bean.
Esther Ambrose.
Mrs. Gardner B. Gay.
Died in 1838-Susanna Nelson, Mary Wells, Rachel Kimball. Died in 1839-Lydia Atwood, Sarah Parker.
August 29, 1840. Died since last Association-Daniel Wheeler and Esther Ambrose.
RESIDENT MALE MEMBERS IN 1860.
Pastor-Valentine E. Bunker.1 Deacons-J. Nichols, J. Felch.
Samnel C. Dresser.
Enoch P. Cummings.
Edmund Richardson.
Moses P. Cheney.
Joseph P. Chase.
Gideon D. Felch.
Nathaniel Cheney.
John Chadwick.
Joseph Pillsbury. George S. French.
William Taylor Bean.
Andrew J. Phelps.
NON-RESIDENT MALE MEMBERS IN 1860.
Amos Parker, New London or Wilmot. Nathan Phelps. Gardner B. Gay, Mason, N. H. Jonathan F. Williams. Matthew H. Sargent.
1 In the fall of 1863 Elder Bunker made a journey to the South and West to get the remains of dead soldiers.
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RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
NAMES OF FEMALE MEMBERS IN 1860.
Sally Harvey.
Joanna Morgan.
Sarah D. Bean.
Hannah Fifield.
Abigail G. Pillsbury.
Margaret Fifield.
Tabitha Chadwick.
Mary A. Kezar.
Malvina B. Felch.
Mary Ann Felch.
Judith R. Peaslee.
Roxana J. Bean.
Hannah Worth.
Elizabeth B. Chadwick.
Sabrina D. Bunker.
Mary C. French.
Elizabeth S. Towle.
Sally Wells, at the West.
Sarah W. Bailey.
Lucy Gay, Mason, N. H.
Catharine J. Sargent.
Mary A. Chadwick (Baker).
Rhoda Bunker.
Dolly C. Emery, Andover.
Mary J. Merrill.
Susan Morgan, at the West.
Joanna Phelps.
Harriet M. Muzzy, Newport.
Sarah Ann Jackman.
Jane Phelps.
Mary Marshall. Lucy W. Dresser.
Almira M. Harvey (widow of Jacob S. Harvey).
.Mary Wheeler, widow of Daniel Wheeler, died in Warner, 1862 or 1863.
Sally Johnson, consort of Elder Isaac Peaslee, died April, 1863. Sabrina Chase, wife of Bro. Joseph Chase, died in July, 1863.
NAMES OF THOSE WHO HAVE UNITED WITH THIS CHURCH SINCE 1860.
James M. Sargent.
Lucinda Parker.
Prof. E. Knight.
Sarah H. Carner.
Milton B. Wadleigh.
Fannie Porter.
Rev. Timothy B. Eastman.
Sarah Bailey.
Jonas Foristall.
Caroline P. Eastman.
Allen O. Crane.
Anna Whittier.
Rev. William Libby.
Lizzie M. Parker.
Mary Addie Felch. Flora M. Crane.
Annie Little.
Abbie J. Eastman.
Hannah B. Fisk. Emogene Keyser.
Carrie Libby.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
EARLY BAPTIST CHURCHES AND WARREN BAP- TIST ASSOCIATION.
The first church of the Baptist order in America was constituted at Providence, R. I., in 1639, by Roger Williams, only nineteen years after the land- ing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. The first in Massachusetts was in Swansea, organized in 1663; in New Hampshire, in Newton in 1755; in Maine, in Kittery in 1682, but soon broken up, and no other formed in Maine till 1768, at Berwick.
So fierce and determined was the persecution against these unlawful and dangerous innovators, as they were considered by the "standing order," i. e., the Congregationalists, that their growth as a denomination was exceedingly slow. Such was the severity of their persecutions here that they received very few accessions from the fatherland, and of the few who came some returned. They were subject to great oppression in England, but their condition there was tolerable when compared with what it was here, where whipping, fines, and imprisonment awaited them. And yet, concerning the first Baptists in this country Cotton Mather kindly says,-" Many of the first settlers in Massa- chusetts were Baptists, and they were as holy, and watchful, and fruitful, and heavenly a people as perhaps any in the world."
In 1739, a century after the formation of the first church, there were in all the land but thirty-eight Baptist churches, eighteen of which were in New England. But from this period there commenced a very rapid increase of the denomination. White-
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field and his associates were the instruments of breaking up the formalism of the " standing order," and of originating a revival of religion which con- tributed indirectly to the spread of Baptist senti- ments and the multiplication of Baptist churches. These evangelists and their converts were soon . proscribed, and under the name of Separates, or New Lights, subjected to the same penalties of fines and imprisonment as the Baptists. A sympa- thy of suffering therefore naturally drew them towards the Baptists, and the result was that a very large number of ministers and some whole churches embraced Baptist sentiments. Hence it was that in 1783, less than half a century from the last men- tioned date, the thirty-eight churches of the Baptist faith in our land had increased to three hundred and nine-more than eight fold. By this time the persecution against them had sensibly weakened, and there were rights for which the Baptists had dared to contend in the provincial courts.
One powerful agent in enabling them to defend their privileges, and, to some extent, to escape tax- ation for support of Congregationalists, was the formation, Sept. 8, 1767, of the Warren Baptist Association, the object of which was mutual help between the churches against injustice and oppres- sion, as well as to unite and quicken each other in religion. The following description of the objects, methods, and successful operations of this noble and useful body is gathered from the "History of the Baptists of New England from 1602 to 1804, by Rev. Isaac Backus, A. M." He says the War- ren Baptist Association, so called from Warren,
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Mass., where it arose, was the first one in Massa- chusetts, and probably the first in New England. " In a few years it extended over all the old colony of Plymouth, and over Massachusetts as high as Connecticut river, and into three other states. Its benefits soon became visible to others."
In 1771 they began to print the Minutes of their proceedings, by which means mutual acquaintance and communion have been preserved, errors in doctrine or conduct exposed and guarded against, false teachers have been detected, and warnings published against them. Destitute flocks have been occasionally supplied, the weak and oppressed have been relieved, and many have been ani- mated and encouraged in preaching the gospel through the land, and in new plantations in the wilderness. A missionary society is formed to collect money for the support of travelling ministers, and to instruct and direct them therein according to their best discre- tion, and several of them have visited many destitute flocks, and some have gone even into upper Canada with good acceptance.
Mr. Backus describes the manner and means of admitting churches to the association, which seem to be the same as are used by similar bodies at the present day, making it evident that the church fathers of a hundred and twenty years ago made no blundering experiment.
When any church desires to join with them they send messengers and a letter to the Association, showing when their church was formed, the faith and order of it, and their number of members. If satisfaction is gained they are received by a vote of the Association, and the moderator gives the messengers the right hand of fellowship. Each church is to send messengers and a letter, or a letter at least, to the annual meeting of the Association, to give an account of the state of their church, and how many have been added, dismissed, or excluded, or that have died in the year. If this is neglected for a number of years, or if the church departs from her former faith, she is left out of the Association.
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RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
The first Baptist church in this state was formed at Newton in 1775; another was formed at Mad- bury, and also one at Weare, in 1768. In 1770 several Baptist ministers entered our state as itin- erant missionaries, and made many converts. The number of churches increased rapidly, and new Associations were formed. The New Hampshire Association, embracing churches in Maine and the eastern part of this state, was formed in 1785, and the Woodstock, in which the churches in Vermont and the western part of New Hampshire were in- cluded, was formed about the same time.
Rev. Caleb Blood, who had been laboring for several months in the town of Marlow as a mission- ary, in 1779, being about to go elsewhere, addressed a letter to the Warren Baptist Association, show- ing the great need of missionaries to labor in the western part of this state. Among those who came in response to this appeal were Elder Job Seamans, who after some years located in New London, and Elder Samuel Ambrose, who, after laboring as a missionary in our vicinity, in 1781 took up his residence in Sutton.
SAMUEL AMBROSE.
The death of Mr. Ambrose in 1830, at the age of 77, fixes the date of his birth at 1753. As a young man he was a resident of Hollis, N. H., but his name is not found on Hollis records of births. There is some reason to believe that Exeter was the place of his nativity. He was a member of the "Hollis Young Men's Religious Association "
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
before the Revolution, and of Hollis Militia Com- pany in January, 1775, and also was a soldier from Hollis in the army at Cambridge in the fall of that year. At that time he, with others from Hol- lis, volunteered, in response to the urgent call of Gen. Sullivan-then in command at Winter Hill, near Boston-to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety for reinforcements to supply the places of the Connecticut troops, whose term of enlistment had expired, and who refused to serve any longer. In answer to this call, New Hampshire sent thirty- one companies of sixty-three men each. These troops continued in service till March, 1776, when the British evacuated Boston.
Samuel Ambrose married Mary Goodhue, of Hollis, February 20, 1776, and soon removed to Plymouth, N. H., which town was largely settled by colonists from Hollis. While there he studied for the ministry, and from there removed to Sutton.
He is spoken of, by an early writer of Sutton church history, as being " considered sound in doctrine, and an able and energetic man in the field and in the pulpit." Said one who remembered him well,-" He always worked, even to the last day of his life,-worked, with the other men in his dis- trict, repairing the highway near his own house, and died before morning." Says another, who remem- bered him,-" During the many years of his resi- dence in Sutton, after he ceased to be the town's minister, he never failed to sit, by invitation, in the pulpit with the other minister, and usually made some remarks at the close of the sermon, showing, by his allusions or by his review of it, that the schol-
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RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
arly habit of close attention and systematic arrange- ment had not, in the least, failed him."
He was the father of twelve children, of whom his son David inherited the homestead. The wid- ow of David, several years ago, supplied the follow- ing sketch for this work :
" The accommodations of the first Baptist minis- ter in Sutton were rather poor, his house being no better than the houses of other settlers, except so far as the labor of his own hands made it so. For a long time the house had no chimney, save one made up, about six feet, of stones, and topped out with sticks and clay ; while the house was so open that it was not impossible to catch a glimpse of the sky through the roof. And yet, for many years, before any meeting-house existed in town, the church of Elder Ambrose's gathering held most of their Sunday meetings at this very house in the win- ter, and in his barn in the summer. Often people used to come up from Warner on ox-sleds to attend these meetings. Elder Thomas Baldwin, then of Canaan, N. H., but afterwards the widely known Dr. Baldwin of Boston, was a friend and associate of Elder Ambrose, and occasionally stayed all night at his house, where, with next to nothing between him and the heaven he aspired to, he, according to his own account, found delight in counting the stars through the roof."
Elder Ambrose was rather proud to call the attention of the " Association " to this church that he had gathered in the woods, and, on one occa- sion, induced that body to hold their anniversary on his own premises. The religious services were
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
held in his barn. On this occasion were present Elder Baldwin, Elder Job Seamans of New Lon- don, Elder Otis Robinson, and others perhaps quite as worthy, though less known. On the night. succeeding this meeting twenty-five persons, who could not reach their homes that night, slept in Elder Ambrose's barn.
EPITAPH ON THE GRAVESTONE OF REV. SAMUEL AMBROSE.
The holy counsels that he gave- The prayers he breathed, the tears he wept- Yet linger here. O may I sleep in couch as fair, And with a hope as bright as his.
WILLIAM TAYLOR
was son of Capt. James Taylor and Anna (Corn- ing) his wife; was born, probably, in Beverly, Mass., in 1783 or 1784; moved into this town with his parents when he was a boy, and, in common with other settlers at that period, endured priva- tions, and did his share of hard work. Coming of age, he married Sarah, daughter of Dea. Asa Nel- son; erected a house in the centre village in Sutton, and there resided, working at the coopering busi- ness and at farming until after he had commenced the ministry.
The following facts regarding Mr. Taylor's con- version and baptism were recorded by Mr. Samuel Dresser, and were communicated to him by Miss Abiah Roby, an aged lady of wonderfully retentive memory. She stated that she was baptized at the same time with Mr. Taylor, and that it took place
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in the summer of 1803, when the noted evangelist, Samuel Applebee, labored in this town. This Mr. Applebee, according to the account of aged profes- sors of religion, was one of the most devoted and successful evangelists that ever preached in this town, from its first settlement to the present time. One anecdote of him, illustrative of his entire ab- sorption in his religions labors, will not perhaps be without interest in this connection.
During his sojourn in Sutton, he, by invitation, made his home at the house of Benjamin Wadleigh, Esq. (father of Judge Wadleigh), for two or three weeks. In that time he was never heard to say anything about the things of this world except once, his conversation being altogether upon religious subjects. The one exception was, when going out early one morning he heard the cry of a loon, and, coming in, he remarked,-" You have loons here."
Rev. William Taylor was baptized, with ten others, by an Elder Webster, who was a Baptist, minister living at that time in Hopkinton, N. H., and who soon after removed to the eastward. Among those baptized with Elder Taylor were his honored father and mother and two brothers. It is known that three of William Taylor's brothers be- came clergymen; and it is not without interest to us to learn that any, and perhaps all, of them were started in their Christian course in Sutton.
According to Miss Roby's account, Elder Apple- bee was present on the occasion of this baptism; also, Rev. Uriah Smith, who preached from these words: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? "
25
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
At the time of this baptism there was no recog- nized Baptist church in Sutton, the early church of 1782 having been disbanded in accordance with ad- vice of a council. (This is the only mention yet found of the dissolution of that church.)
The following note concerning the formation of the early Baptist Church in Sutton is found in "Farmer & Moore's New Hampshire Gazetteer," year 1823, and is here inserted as being the only record yet found of the formation of that church, as Miss Roby's statement, recorded by Mr. Dresser, is of its dissolution. At the date of that Gazetteer, 1823, Mr. Ambrose was living, and perhaps fur- nished the items himself. Others, also, were living whose memory must have been able to reach back to 1782. The note is as follows:
"A Baptist church was formed in Sutton in April, 1782, and in October of the same year Rev. Samuel Ambrose was ordained."
Mr. Taylor, and the others baptized with him, united in what was called Christian Union.
The following November a Baptist Church was recognized, and Mr. Taylor, according to the church records, was received May 24, 1804, and soon be- came one of the leading members. In 1812 he was licensed to preach. At this time Rev. Pelatiah Chapin was the minister of the church in Sutton, and this gentleman greatly encouraged the young man to improve his gift as a preacher.
The ordination of Mr. Taylor took place March 17, 1814. At 8 o'clock on the morning of that day, an Evangelical Council met at the house of Deacon
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Benjamin Fowler, the members of this council being as follows, viz .:
From New London Church-Elder Job Seamans, Eller Samuel Ambrose, Dea. Ebenezer Hunting, Dea. Enoch Hunting.
From the Church in Salisbury-Elder Otis Robinson, Dea. James Severance, Dea. William Cate, Br. Mical Sargent, Br. Daniel Parker.
From the Church in Cornish-Br. James Hall, Br. Philip Spaul- ding, Br. Thaddeus Gage.
Voted, That Elder Job Seamans serve as moderator.
Voted, That Elder Otis Robinson serve as clerk.
Voted. That Elder Joseph Wheat, Elder Abraham Gates, Brother David Brown, Br. Philip W. Kibbey, Br. Simon Chamberlin, and Br. Elias Macgregory sit in the Council. Then proceeded to hear Br. William Taylor give a relation of a work of Grace in his heart, and call into the Gospel Ministry. After hearing Brother Taylor state his exercises, Voted, satisfied, and proceed to set apart Brother Taylor for solemn ordination in the following manner :
Voted, Elder Joseph Wheat preach the sermon.
Voted, Elder Job Seamans make the Ordaining Prayer.
Voted, Elder Otis Robinson give the Charge.
Voted, Elder Samuel Ambrose give Right Hand of Fellowship. Voted, Elder Abraham Gates make the Concluding Prayer.
Voted, to adjourn to the North Meeting House at 2 o'clock.
Met according to adjournment, proceeded to Divine worship, and performed the several parts of duty as above mentioned, with tokens of Divine approbation.
Signed, Job Seamans, Moderator. Otis Robinson, Clerk.
Copy attested by William Taylor, who was himself church clerk at the time of his ordination.
Mr. Dresser adds,-"My late aged father, who was present at this ordination, told me that Elder Wheat preached the sermon from the text, 'Preach the word.' The performance was considered never to have been outdone, or even equalled, by Elder Wheat on any occasion."
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IIISTORY OF SUTTON.
In 1812 Mr. Taylor was licensed to go forth publicly to preach, and for a year previous to his ordination he had preached as the stated minister of the church in Sutton. After his ordination he served two years, and it appears that he was a very successful pastor. In the year 1814 he baptized seventeen persons. Feeling continually, however, the want of more scholarly training than he had been able to obtain in Sutton, and finding also that his health demanded some change, he concluded to try his native air, and accordingly resigned his pas- torate and removed to Beverly, Mass., where he studied for several months with Rev. Dr. Chaplin, of Danvers.
After staying there a year or two he went to Chester, N. H., and preached about two years. From Chester he went to Concord, N. H., and there started a Baptist interest, and was instrumen- tal in the organization of a church of that order, and the erection of a meeting-house of brick, which is the same one where Rev. C. W. Flanders, D. D., ministered at a later period. While residing in Concord he had labored acceptably with the 2d Baptist church in Sanbornton, and in 1826 he be- came their settled minister, removing thither with his wife. Here he was highly esteemed by the people, and remained their pastor some nine or ten years. He afterwards went to Michigan as a home missionary, and finally removed his family to Schoolcraft, in that state, and there continued till his death in June, 1852.
His great ambition was to rear an institution at Kalamazoo, Mich., like that at New Hampton, in
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the successful establishment of which he had him- self been largely instrumental. For this end he sacrificed his time and his money, and laid the foun- dation of one of the most flourishing Baptist insti- tutions in the country.
His first wife, who as before stated was a Sutton lady, died in Schoolcraft, Mich., and he there mar- ried again. Had no children.
Mr. Taylor was a man of exemplary character in all the relations of life. As a minister he was con- sidered sound, mild, modest, and unassuming, and of undoubted sincerity and integrity, had much prudence and wisdom in managing the concerns of a church and society, and his influence in his de- nomination was very considerable.
Mr. Taylor's death, at the age of sixty-eight, was caused by dropsy, after an illness and debility of several months.
REV. NATHAN AMES
was born in New Boston, N. H., in the year 1785. Was originally a Congregationalist, but changed his views and became a Baptist. He was a man of considerable talent, firm and decided in character. He died in Jamaica, Vt., in 1848. His wife, Mar- garet Sweet, to whom he was married August 11, 1805, died August 31, 1853. Their children were seven in number, of whom the two youngest were natives of Sutton, viz., Celina, born April 24, 1819, died Oct. 2, 1836; Almedia C., born May 13, 1822, married Isaiah Howard, of Jamaica, Vt., Sept. 6, 1840, died Nov. 11, 1853.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
For a time after his marriage Elder Ames resided in Newburyport, Mass., where he was employed as a shoemaker. At the age of twenty-five he united with the First Baptist church in Newburyport, and about the year 1811 he was licensed to preach, and soon after was called to preach for a newly formed church in. Newbury, Mass., where he remained about three years. In 1816, owing to the inabilty of the church to give him a comfortable support, he retired from the ministry and resumed work at his trade. He was never satisfied with the change, but was continually under the conviction that it was his duty to preach the gospel. In 1819 he was invited to become pastor of the Baptist church in Sutton, and was here ordained, at the South meet- ing-house, May 31, 1820. He labored with this church six or seven years, removing to East Wash- ington in 1827, and became pastor of the Baptist church in that town, and thence to Jamaica, Vt., in 1835.
He was a successful preacher and popular pastor, and always made a fine appearance in the pulpit and out of it. A good degree of prosperity attend- ed this church for several years under the ministry of Elder Ames. In the year 1821 twenty-two were added to the church, nineteen of whom were heads of families, ten of these being males; and most of these new converts were at the age when they were necessarily in their best strength and capability, from twenty-five to thirty-five years old.
Elder Ames was dismissed from Sutton church at his own request.
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DR. CROSMON.
Rev. Abishai Crosman, or Crosmon, was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1752. Was a college graduate, had been settled at different times in Boston, Mass., in New Boston, and in Unity, N. H., and in some places in Vermont. He died in Unity in 1830. He preached some in Sutton about 1803, but was not settled as the pastor, though he was at that time a resident in town, and was a doctor as well as preacher.
REV. PELATIAH CHAPIN.
After the retirement of Elder Nathan Champlin from his ministry to the Sutton church in 1811, Elder Chapin supplied preaching a portion of the time for about two years. He was then about sixty years old, white-haired, but tall, straight, ruddy, and good-humored. He was shrewd, witty, and social, and was, of course, agreeable among all classes, young as well as old, being himself one of those who, whatever their age, are always young in spirit.
He was very faithful in visiting the people. An aged lady related the following incident to the writer: On one occasion, when she was busily churning, she was startled by a rap at the door, and on her opening it, the minister, Elder Chapin, en- tered. Respect for her visitor seemed to require her to discontinue her work, and she made a move- ment to put away the churn. The elder, however, felt differently about it. He desired her to let the churn remain, insisted on her bringing him an apron, which he immediately tied on, and, notwith-
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