USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Montclair > History of Montclair township state of New Jersey; including the history of the families who have been identified with its growth and prosperity > Part 14
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of this work - Qui is demonstrated by history of this denom-
The preliminary to the organization of movement, which led this church are briefly ical Sketch. ISTO- the " Manual of the Church of Christ. 1×90," as follows : of the Church having. the hearts of many in to worship God. and mune together in ac- principles laid down ment, and with the England Fathers, a ence to this end was December, A. D. of Joseph B. Beadle, ing persons were pres- Thomas HI. Bonden, D. Cro-by, Samuel Holmes, David B. Johnson, Edward S. Snyder, Samuel W. Wilde, Jr. At this interchange of views, resolved : That, be- stated in an " Histor- 183," published in First Congregational Montelair. N. .... "The Great Head as we trust, put into this region. the desire to aet, and to com- cordance with the in the New Testa- practice of our New meeting with refer- held on the Isth of 1869. at the residence at which the follow- ent : Joseph Beadle. Samuel Boyd. Samuel Holmes, William B. IInnt. Charles 11. Piney, Theodore L. Tubbs and Samuel meeting after a full it was unanimously FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH !. lieving that the interests of the cause of Christ in this place demand the organization of a new Church and Society. we do pledge to each other our mutual and hearty support in such an enterprise. A com- mittee on organization was then appointed. consisting of Samuel Holmes, Charles 11. Johnson, Samuel Wilde, Jr .. Joseph B. Beadle and Edward S. Pinney.
This committee made a report January 17. 1570. recommending a call for a meeting for organization, which was adopted. The following persons were then added to the Committee : Julius II. Pratt, James B. Pearson, and Rev. Daniel S. Rodman.
82
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
At a meeting held on the 29th of January, 1870, the Society was organized, and the following persons were elected Trustees : Samnel Holmes, Joseph B. Beadle, Charles Il. Johnson, Edward Sweet, Sammel Wilde, Jr., and Julius H. Pratt.
At this meeting Mr. Julius II. Pratt, by request, read a paper entitled " Montelair Prior to the Organization of the Congregational Church." in which he clearly established the " prior claims" of this "new Church and Society." AAfter briefly reviewing the history of the other religions denominations of Montelair, and his own work in connection with them, he says: "As Congregationalists we are not intruders, and we make no apology for being here, for we come only to claim a long neglected inherit- ance which is ours by indisputable right."
Referring to the little band of Connecticut colonists-30 in number-under the leadership of Rev. Abraham Pierson, who separated from the Church of Branford because of their unwillingness to accept the doctrine of the " half-way covenant," and removed to New Jersey, landing on the west shore of the Passaie, at a place which they named " Neworke "-new work-meaning the "new enterprise." Mr. Pratt says : " I have alluded to the extinct race of Congregationalists who once dominated the greater part of the State of New Jersey, and our time may be profitably employed in a rapid glance at the history of the New England pilgrims who first settled in this region when it was a primitive wilderness."
After a brief review of the events connected with their settlement Mr. Pratt says : "One of the earliest publie acts performed by this Puritanie Colony was the formal signing of the document entitled ' Fundamental Agreement,' by 64 heads of families, which document is still preserved among the publie records."
The agreement sets forth the desire of the Colonists " to be of one heart and consent through God's blessing, that with one hand they may endeavor the carrying on of spiritual concernments, as also of spiritual affairs according to God and a Godly government."
This original Declaration of Independence as to man and dependence on God declares (see " Atkin- son's llistory of Newark ") :
Deut., i : 13. " 1st. That none shall be admitted freemen or free burgesses within our town upon Exod., xviii : 21. Passaie, in the Province of New Jersey, but such planters as are members of some or Deut., xvii : 15. Jerem., xxx : 21. ] other of the Congregational churches.
" Nor shall any but such be chosen to any magistracy or to carry on any part of said civil jndica- ture, or as deputies or assistants to have power to vote in establishing laws, and making or repealing them, or to any chief military trust of office.
" Nor shall any but sneh church members have any vote in any such election."
The four Scriptural references in the foregoing are as follows :
" Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you " (Dent., i : 13).
" Moreover thou shalt provide ont of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness ; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens " (Exodus, xviii : 21).
" Thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set King over thee : thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother " (Deut., xvii : 15).
" And their nobles shall be of themselves and their Governor shall proceed from the midst of them " (Jer .. xxx : 21).
" Among the signatures to this Congregational charter are the names of Crane. Pierson, Ward, Ilarrison, Davis, Bauldwin, Morris, and others whose descendants became a century later, and have ever since continued, the standard bearers and pillars of the Presbyterian Church of New Jersey. No human purpose was ever more clearly defined than that of these early settlers to adhere rigidly to the Congrega- tional faith and order.
83
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
" It is a eurions question, not fully explained by any historical records. How did it happen that in less than 150 years all the early vows of devotion to Congregational ideas had become broken, and all these churches professing that faith had been swept into the vortex of Presbyterianism, an organization which struck its first roots into the New Jersey soil fifty years after the advent of the Connecticut Colony ?"
Mr. Pratt then reviews the history of Presbyterianism, and shows how by degrees Congregationalism became united with and gradually merged into Presbyterianism. Continuing, he says :
" This fatal union which soon embraced all. or nearly all. the churches founded by the Congrega- tionalist settlers in New Jersey proved to be the union of the lion and the lamb, with the lamb inside. which by the succession processes of degintition, digestion, absorption and assimilation added immensely to the stature and strength of a constitution favored by the accession of a new and rich blood.
" The process of digestion was going on from about 1720 to 1736, when by the . Adopting Acts.' so called, the present system of Presbyterianism was established on the Western Continent, and the early Congregational Churches of New Jersey thus vanished away.
" What is the lesson taught us by such a distinctive dispensation ?
" That the old testament religion is not adapted to modern life-that the new gospel of universal charity must erush all barriers of seet. and exterminate all theological dogmas of human invention.
" The old Puritans had great virtues and great faults. The good in them was transmitted to their posterity. and to-day shines forth in glorious Instre from our Presbyterian churches. Their illiberal and narrow prejudices, which were the fruit of a hard and persecuted life, were swept away by the free breezes of our new World. Now, on the same soil where the old Congregational policy perished, a resuscitated life asserts it-elf. and with the spirit of . malice toward none and charity for all,' Congrega- tionalism only seeks the opportunity of joining hands with Christian brethren, of whatever seets, in the great work of regenerating the world."
On the evening of February 19th. 1570. a committee consisting of Rev. Daniel S. Rodman, James B. Pearson, Alexander M. Clerihew. David B. Hunt, and Samuel D. Crosby, was appointed to prepare by-laws and business rules for the society, and on the 29th of March following the basis of Union and By-Laws were adopted.
At a meeting held at the residence of Edward Sweet. April 5. 1970. it was voted that measures be taken toward the organization of a Church, and that the Committee on " By-Laws for the Society " be a Committee on Organization, and to prepare and submit for consideration Articles of Faith and a Covenant.
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
LIST OF MEMBERS IN THE CHURCH WHEN ORGANIZED. May 20, 1870, arranged as originally signed, with subsequent additions in chronological order.
Samuel Holmes. By letter from The Broadway Tabernacle Church. New York City.
Mary G. Ilolmes. Jane A. Hemingway. Mary M. Me Laughlin.
Lewis S. Benedict. Ilarriet J. Benedict. Sarah Benedict, Minnie H. Benedict.
John W. Taylor.
..
..
Charles J. Pearson.
Angeline Horton,
Margaret A. Hamilton,
John W. Pinkham,
Cornelia F. P.nkhan. Josiah T. Wilcox,
Helen M. Wilcox.
George W. Leonard. ..
Mary J. Leonard. Julius II. Pratt, ..
Adeline F. Pratt, Gertrude C. Pratt.
Mary C. Crane, Abbie F. Crane.
Henrietta G. Chittenden.
Daniel S Rodman,
Lucy W. Rodman. Nathan T. Porter. Mary C. Porter,
Nettie M. Bradbury.
Amory H. Bradford.
Julia S. Bradford. ..
Francis B. Littlejohn,
Harry Littlejohn, Agnes L. Littlejohn. John Habberton, Alice L. Habberton.
Dorman T. Warren,
Harriet C. Warren,
Henry L. Crane, Louisa De Lyons.
Lucy M. Brown,
Mary Jane Adams.
March 5, 1871.
James Baker.
By profession of faith.
May 7, 1871. By profession of faith. By profession of faith.
Theodore Taylor, Ry letter from New England Church. New York City. ..
Mary B. Taylor,
July 2, 1871.
Charles A. Hopkins. By letter from Tabernacle Church, Jersey City, N. J.
Sarah L. Hopkins. . .
Alexander M. Cleribew. ..
Emily F. Clerihew,
..
..
. .
..
Amelia Benedict Taylor. Samuel Boyd, Sylvia C. Boyd. Edward S. Pinney,
Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. N. Y.
Presbyterian Church, Montelair.
N. J.
. .
..
First Congregational Church, Jer- sey City, N. J.
Presbyterian Church, Montclair. N. J.
First Reformed Church. Hoboken. N. J. ..
..
Congregational Church. Yale Col- lege. New Haven. Conn.
The Broadway Tabernacle Church. New York City.
Presbyterian Church. Montelair. N. J.
First Presbyterian Church, Bloon1- field. N. J. Presbyterian Church. Montclair. N. j.
Plymouth Church, Milwaukee, Wis. Presbyterian Church. Montclair. N. J.
Elm Place Congregational Church. Brooklyn, N. Y.
First Congregational Church. Jer- sey City, N. J.
Presbyterian Church, Montclair. N. J.
Madison Square Presbyterian Church. New York City.
..
Lee Avenne Reformed Church. Brooklyn, N. Y. Presbyterian Church, Montclair. N. J.
Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church. Louisville, Ky.
Presbyterian Church, Montelair,
N. J ..
Congregational ( 'hurch, Williams' Bridge. N. Y,
.. Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. N. Y. Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. First Congregational Church, Jer- sey City, N. J.
David B. Hunt. By letter from Presbyterian Church. Montelair, N. J.
Mary A. Hunt, Mary C. Hunt,
David B. Hunt, Jr .. Helen E. Terry.
..
..
..
Congregational Church. North- ville, L. I .. N. Y.
Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. New York City.
Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church Brooklyn. N. Y.
Presbyterian Church. Montclair, N. J. Lee Avenue Reformed Church. Brooklyn, N. Y. Presbyterian Church, Montelair. N. J.
Elsie P. Pinney. Charles E. Baker. E. Louise Baker. Thomas H. Bouden. ..
Lucy A. Bouden. ..
Samuel Wilde. Jr ..
Mary E. Wilde, William II. Wilson.
Cynthia Wilson, Charlotte L. Wilson, George S. Merriam.
William B. Holmes.
Mary H. Holmes, Nehemiah O. Pillsbury.
Mary K. Pillsbury,
Adra E. Bradbury,
Amanda F. Bradbury,
Israel Crane, Anna B. Crane. Anna B. Lloyd, Frances J. Platt,
Evelyn S. Platt, Charles H. Johnson, ..
Nettie H. Johnson, ..
Joseph B. Beadle, Laura A. Beadle.
..
Edward Sweet.
..
Carrie W. Sweet. Anna C. Bull, Fannie H. Harrison, ..
..
Henry Nason, . .
Anna G. Nason, Abbie Y. Smith, Theodore L. Snyder.
..
Julia L. Snyder, Samuel D. Crosby.
Fannie D. Crosby, Mary N. Crosby, Jesse HI. Lockwood,
Sarah R. Lockwood. Susie G. Shafer, First Congregational Church. Jer- sey City. N. J.
Samuel W. Tubbs. Ruth Emma Tubbs,
..
..
..
N. Y. The Broadway Tabernacle Church. New York City. ..
..
Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. N. Y
January 1, 1871. By letter from Presbyterian Church, Montclair, N. J.
Second Baptist Church. Savannah. Ga. St. Luke's Church. East Green- wich. R. I. Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City.
Henry White,
Henrietta H. White.
..
Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. Second Congregational Church. Stonington, C'onn. ..
From Baptist Church. Waterbury, Conn. By letter from Second Congregational Church, New London, Conn.
November 6, 1870.
By letter from Presbyterian Church. Bloomfield. N. J. Congregational Church. Charlotte. Mich. Presbyterian Church. Clinton.
..
..
..
..
..
..
James B. Pearson.
Ellen J. Pearson.
First Congregational Church. Fair Haven. Conn. Presbyterian Church. Montelair. New Jersey.
66
Hattie M. Hopkins,
Frederick G. Hastings,
Congregational Church, North-
ampton, Mass.
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
The following officers were chosen in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Church : I.acons Samuel Holmes, Joseph B. Beadle. James B. Pearson and David B. Hunt. John W. Taylor was chosen Clerk. and Lewis S. Benedict. Samnel D. Crosby, and Samuel Wilde, Jr .. members of the Standing Committee.
A hall was seeured on Bloomfield Avenne, near Fullerton Avenue, in the third story of a building since destroyed by fire. This was fitted up as a place of worship, and on the morning of June 5, 1870, the first meeting of the church was held, at which service Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D., of New Haven, Conn .. preached the sermon and administered the rite of Baptism to three children, viz .: Grace Pinney. Lucy Rodgers Bouden, and Edwin Mortimer Harrison. On the afternoon of the same day this church by invitation united with the Presbyterian Church in a union Communion service. Rev. Dr. Bacon and Rev. Dr. Berry presided at the table, and the deacons of each church officiated in the service.
On the Sth of Inne, 1-70. at three and a half o'clock p. M., a conneil was convened by invitation in the Presbyterian Church to examine the steps taken in the formation of this church, and to consider the propriety of its formal recognition. The following representing their several churches assembled in conneil :
Orange Valley Church Rev. George B. Bacon, Pastor: Deacon A. Carter, Delegate. Second Valley Church, Orange-Rev. T. Atkinson, Pastor : Mr. A. Baldwin, Delegate. Belleville Avenue Church. Newark-Rev. C. B. Hulburt, Pastor; Mr. William D. Russell. Delegate. Grove Street Church. East Orange-Mr. R. D. Weeks, Delegate. First Congregational Church, Newark-Rev. William B. Brown. Pastor : Mr. J. P. Jube, Delegate: Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N. Y .- Mr. T. II. Bird. Delegate. Church of the Puritans, Brooklyn, N. Y .- Mr. T. H. Taylor. Delegate. Broudiray Tabernacle Church, New York City-Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, D.D., Pastor: Deacon W. II. Thompson. Delegate. First Congregational Church, Jersey City -Rev. G. B. Willcox, Pastor ; Deacon II. D. Ilott. Delegate. Also Rev. G. W. Wood, D.D. and Rev. D. B. Coe, D.D.
The Church pre-ented a statement of the steps it had already taken, its Articles of Faith, its Covenant, and the By-Laws of its Ecclesiastical Society, which were unanimously approved. On the evening of the same day. by appropriate services in the Presbyterian Church, this Church received formal recognition, and was welcomed to the Fellowship of the Churches. The exercises of the evening consisted of Prayer-by Rev. William B. Brown; Siemon-Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, D D. ; Reading of the Articles of the Church-Rev. G. B. Willcox (the Church assenting by rising): Prayer of Rerog- nition-Rev. Henry M. Storrs, D.D .; Fellowship of the Congregational Churches- Rev. George B. Bacon; Response in behalf of the Church-Deacon Samuel Holmes; Fellowship of the Churches in Montelair-Rev. J. Romeyn Berry. D. D. Benedictine.
The regular weekly Prayer and Conference Meeting commenced on Thursday evening, June 16, 1870.
On June 28th following, the Church and Society extended a unanimous call to the Rev. Amory Il. Bradford, of Andover Theological Seminary, to become their Pastor, which was accepted by him ; and on the 28th of September, 1570, he was, with appropriate services, ordained to the work of the Gospel Ministry, and installed as pastor of the Church by a council called for this purpose, consisting of Mr. William D. Porter, delegate from Orange Valley Congregational Church: Mr. F. L. B. Mahew. delegate from Second Valley Church of Orange: Mr. Richard A. Thorpe, delegate from Trinity Con- gregational Church of East Orange; Rev. Allan McLean, Grove Street Church, East Orange ; Rev. William B. Brown, First Congregational Church. Newark ; Rev. C. B. Hulbert, and Mr. C. C. Collins, Belleville Avenue Church. Newark; Rev. G. B. Willcox and Deacon Winslow Ames, First Congrega- tional Church, Jersey City: Rev. George Pierce and Mr. E. K. Rose, First Congregational Church, Paterson ; Rev. S. B. Rossiter, First Congregational Church, Elizabeth ; Rev. S. Bourne, First Congregational Church, Harlem, New York: Mr. W. Westerfield, Broadway Tabernacle Church, New York City; Deacon 1. C. Barnes, Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, N. Y. : Rev. John H. Brodt, and Mr. William Herres, New England Church, Williamsburgh, N. Y .: Rev. Edward Hawes and Mr. J. M. Edmunds, Central
86
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Church, Philadelphia. Pa. ; Rev. A. F. Beard, Plymouth Church, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Rev. B. F. Bradford. First Congregational Church of Charlotte, Mich. ; Rev. N. J. Burton, D. D., and Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D.
Rev. Edward Hawes was chosen Moderator, and Rev. S. B. Rossiter, Scribe. The order of exercises at the Ordination Service consisted of-Devotional Services-by Rev. J. Romeyn Berry, D.D. ; Sermon -Rev. N. J. Burton, D.D., Hartford, Conn. : Ordaining Prayer-Rev. Ray Palmer, D.D., Newark, N. J .: Charge to the Pastor-Rev.B. F. Bradford. Charlotte, Mich. ; Right Hand of Fellowship-Rev. G. B. Willcox, Jersey City, N. J. : Charge to the People-Rev. A. F. Beard, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Benedic- tion-by the Pastor.
The original place of worship selected by the Society was a hall in the third story of a building on Bloomfield Avenue, near Fullerton Street, and before the close of the first year these accommodations were found to be entirely inadequate owing to the Church, and a permanent to be an absolute and im- early in the year 1870 a raise the requisite funds and the erection of a four persons subscribed of over $6Teach. Allgave 20 their means, and some mite to earry forward this large building site was of Plymouth and Fuller- stone of the church was 1872, by the Pastor, Rev. SUST SCHOOL an address was delivered AND 1870 1890 of Orange Valley. Even- the Presbyterian Church. by Rev. William M. Tay- City. On the 15th of was dedicated with appro- original cost of the land the Church was about $25,000 where the prop- by the trustees provided debt. somewhat reduced tions from time to time, trustees until January. consent of the eongrega- rapid growth of the place of worship was felt mediate necessity ; and movement was started to for the purchase of a site church edifice. Seventy- $50,000, beingan average liberally according to even pledged the widow's great undertaking. A purchased on the corner ton Street, and the corner laid on the 30th of May. Amory H. Bradford, and THE L, RCH WILL by Rev. George B. Bacon. ing exercises were held in and the sermon preached lor, D.D., of New York October, 1873, the Church priate ceremonies. The and the erection of $75,000. A mortgage of erty and advances made for the balance. The by subsequent subserip- was carried along by the INTERIOR OF FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. JUNE 8TH, IS90. 1881, when, by a general tion, it was resolved to raise by subscription a sufficient sum to pay off the debt and procure an organ. This movement was made on Sunday, the 15th of February, 1881, under the direction of Mr. Roswell Smith, of New York City. The total amount required-835,000-was subseribed on that day, payable within a period of three years. The number of persons subscribing, was 111. many of whom were chil- dren paying small amounts. The largest sum subseribed was 83,200, the smallest sum being $1.50.
The organ, so long desired by the congregation, was purchased in April, 1882, which, together with the cost of erection, involved an outlay of $6,000, other changes and improvements made in the Church at the time increasing the amount to $10,000.
The growth of the Church has been phenomenal, far exceeding that of most suburban churches. Beginning, as has been shown, with a membership of 84 in 1870, the total number admitted up to January 1, 1893, was 1,002. Of this number at least 50 per cent. was by profession of faith. During the entire period of nearly twenty-three years only one member has been expelled. The loss by death and dismissal -230-leaving the total membership on the 1st of January. 1893-772.
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Soon after the celebration of its Twentieth Anniversary, steps were taken for the enlargement of the church editiee and erection of a chapel which should be suitable for the purposes of the Sunday school. It was decided that the audience room should be enlarged by the addition of transepts, which would make its seating capacity twelve hundred. Under the direction of J. C. Cady & Co .. architects, of New York City, work was begun. At the same time Mrs. Samuel Wilde, one of the original mem- bers of the church, generously consented to undertake the erection of a Memorial Chapel, which should be devoted to the purposes of the Sunday school. Before that Mrs. Edward Sweet had undertaken the building of one of the transepts, in which she has since placed a beautiful window in memory of her hus- band. A memorial window of beautiful design was also placed in the north transept by Mrs. Roswell Smith, in memory of her two grandchildren, sons of Mr. George Inness, Jr., and Mrs. Julia G. Inness, members of the chinreh. In about one year the improvements were completed, and the church property as it now stands represents an expenditure of about $175.000. The Memorial Chapel will comfortably seat one thousand people, and is admirably adapted for its purposes.
In 1592 the Pilgrim Mission Chapel was erected on Bloomfield Avenue. It is a beautiful building. perfectly equipped for its work, seating about four hundred people, and valued, including the land, at about $10,000. The land was the gift of Mr. James Beach, of Bloomfield. The Superintendent of the Mission is Mr. Louis Heckman, who was formerly a mechanic in the village, but who on his eonversion began an active Christian life, which has been singularly blessed. In 1993 the old Mission building was moved from Washington Street to the northwestern part of the town, and made a basis for work in a district needing Christian influences. So that the work of the church is carried on in the central church building and the two chapels.
Egbert J. Pinner, a child of the church, was organist for about seventeen years, but resigned his position in 1993. The work of the church is carried on in several different directions. It supports a missionary in Chihuahua, Mexico, the Rev. James D. Eaton, and has also been largely instrumental in the erection of the church of which he is pastor. It is deeply interested and constantly hearing a large proportion of the financial burden of the People's Palace work in Jersey City, which is its base of opera- tions in City Mission>. Both in the home church and in the Pilgrim Chapel are various organizations Christian Endeavor Societies, classes, etc. by which the work is carried on.
An interesting fart is that the Pastor preached for the church the very first Sunday after its organ- ization : that no other candidate was heard, and he has been with it from that time until the present.
There appeared in the Christian Union under date of December 12, 1891, an article entitled " Progressive Methods of Church Work," by Mr. John R. Howard, describing the methods, and giving au excellent summary of the work accomplished by this church during the twenty-one years of its existence up to that period. After a brief description of the then recent improvements, he says :
" This, however. is indicative only of the material prosperity of the First Congregational Church of Montelair, N. J .: and that, in so lovely a town, so near the metropolis, and growing so rapidly as it is. would not be especially noteworthy but for the fact that the church has always been particularly active. aggressive for good both at home and abroad.
" Of course this kind of activity-which shows itself also along the lines of good citizenship and all things valuable in the life of the town. in which the members of the Congregational church are everywhere forward and valued elements-presupposes a gathered society of vigorous-minded, intelligent. cultivated. devoted men and women. The original membership (many yet living and active in the church) comprised an nnusually large proportion of such, and Dr. Bradford has been greatly favored by that fact. Yet also. of course, much has depended on the man at the head of it all-the way in which it would hold or lose his people, and the kind of new comers that he would naturally gather about him. He has been tempted many times to go to larger places and ampler salaries-Albany, Boston, New York-and other open fields have again and again solicited him : but he has had the wisdom and the grace to stay where he was, and bring up his own family in his own way. He has grown, and his people with him, in their twenty-one years together. Ilis preaching is eminently practical, simple, emphasizing rather this life's duties than the
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