USA > New York > A history of the purchase and settlement of western New York : and of the rise, progress and present state of the Presbyterian Church in that section > Part 32
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CHAPTER XXI.
Biographical Notices of Deceased Ministers .- Rev. Jedidiah Chapman : Rev. David Higgins : Rev. Henry Axtell, D.D. : Rev. Matthew L. R Perrine, D.D. : Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, D.D. : Rev. James Richards, D.D. : Rev. Beriah Hotchkin.
WE have in different parts of this work noticed the labors and character of several deceased ministers, whose exertions have been instrumental in raising Western New York to its present state of moral culture and religious prosperity. We might notice many more who had lived, and labored, and died on this field, and whose memory is embalmed in the hearts of survivors. But with respect to most of them the acquaintance of the author is not suf- ficiently minute to enable him to give their biography, nor will the limits of this work permit it. A few only will be noticed in this chapter.
REV. JEDIDIAH CHAPMAN .- If the writer has been correctly in- formed, Mr. Chapman was born at Chatham, in the State of Con- necticut, in the year 1741. Respecting his youthful appearance the writer has no information. He received his first degree at Yale College, in 1762, and soon afterwards was licensed to preach the gospel, but by what ecclesiastical body is not known to the writer. It is supposed that soon after his license he was ordained, and installed pastor of the Presbyterian church of Orangedale, in New Jersey, where he continued to perform the duties of the pastoral office till 1799 or 1800. In the last named year he re- moved his family to Geneva, in Western New York, having received an appointment from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, to labor as a missionary one half of the time for four years in the frontier settlements. It was also made a part of his duty to make himself acquainted with the whole field, to communicate information to the Assembly, and to exercise a super- intendence over the whole missionary concerns of the Assembly, in the region of Western New York. His missionary appoint- ments were renewed from year to year, for periods varying from two to six months, to the time of his death. That portion of the time not spent in missionary service, was employed principally in ministering to the congregation of Geneva, which was then dis- persed over a large extent of territory. On the eighth day of July, 1812, in connexion with Rev. Henry Axtel, he was installed, by the Presbytery of Geneva, collegiate pastor of the church and congregation of Geneva, a relation which was dissolved by his decease, May 22d, 1813. Mr. Chapman, at the time of his decease, was seventy-two years of age, and had entered upon the fifty-
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second year of his ministry. The Sabbath previous to his departure he had preached to the people of his charge ; and thus his active ministry terminated only with his life.
Mr. Chapman was an active, laborious minister, whether en- gaged in the duties of the pastor, or the more laborious ones of a missionary in the wilderness. In the latter employment he some- times suffered severely in fulfilling engagements previously made. As a specimen we may take an extract from his Journal, under date of Dec. 23d, 1803: "I rode to Ovid about twenty-four miles in a most dreadful storm of hail and rain. My course was in the face of the wind, and before I had gone two miles my cloak was frozen so stiff with ice that it would have stood up." As a mis- sionary he was permitted to see the fruit of his labor in the con- version of souls, and their ingathering into the visible fold of Christ. A number of churches were gathered by him, and nursed with the affection of a pastor for a number of years. He was a man of ardent piety, of pure morals, urbane in his manners, sound in the faith, instructive in his preaching, possessing a highly cul- tivated mind, and an acceptable mode of address, though not an orator in the ordinary acceptation of the term. In his theological views he embraced what at that day was denominated the system of the New School. He was very far from being a bigot. He labored with all his powers to effect a complete union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in Western New York, and lived to see it accomplished. He possessed a sound judgment, and stood high in the estimation of his brethren. As indicative of the confidence placed in him, and the estimation in which he was held, it may be noted that at the meeting of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, in 1787, he was elected moderator of the Synod, and the next year preached the sermon at the opening of the meeting. The Synod at that period represented the whole body of Presbyterians in the United States. When the Synod of Albany was set off from the Synod of New York and New Jer- sey. Mr. Chapman was appointed to open the first meeting with a sermon, and preside until a moderator was chosen. His appoint- ment as a permanent missionary with a general supervision of mis- sionary concerns, is highly indicative of the confidence placed in his judgment, integrity, and diligence. It may truly be said of him, that he was "accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed."
REV. DAVID HIGGINS.
REV. DAVID HIGGINS Was born at Haddam, in the State of Con- necticut, August 6th, 1761. He was early taught the truths and duties of Christianity, but these instructions, he says, made but a
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faint impression on his mind till he was about eighteen years of age. His opportunities for school education in childhood were but scanty. Three months in the year was generally the extent of the term in which a district school was taught, and he had to experi- ence days, and sometimes weeks, of intermission in the course of the term, being called off to attend to domestic concerns, or the business of the farm.
"In 1779," Mr. Higgins says, "as well as I can remember, some of the Christian people living about my father's agreed and set up a prayer meeting or religious conference. The time of the meet- ing was spent in reading the Scriptures, prayer, singing, exhorta- tion, and reading sermons. At one of these meetings a sermon of President Davies' was read. The text, 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we look, not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' The attempted description of eternity had a powerful effect on my mind, which continued for some weeks. Truth, applied by the Holy Spirit, produced a strong conviction. A sense of sin and guilt grew more and more deep and pungent. I had such an overwhelming sense of the evil of sin, that appetite was, in a measure, destroyed ; sleep was taken away. The Bible was read daily, and frequently every day, and so atten- tive was I to the Scriptures, that parts of the Bible were usually carried with me in my pocket into the field, to which I adverted at every leisure moment. Prayer with me was a new business, but no opportunity for the duty was suffered to pass without the at- tempt. Retirement, as to place and season for prayer, was care- fully sought. I strove to conceal my feelings of concern from others, even from the family ; but the state of my mind was soon discovered, and I was numbered among the awakened. The divine law appeared just and right, but my feelings were opposed to it because it condemned me. I found that sin stained and polluted all my motives and exercises. It appeared an evil which God abhorred and must punish. Such a sight of sin and such a weight of guilt lay upon my mind and pressed my conscience, that I wished myself a brute, nay, annihilated. I sought relief by dis- puting the truth and authenticity of the Bible. I called in question the origin, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the accountability of man. For three or four weeks, I waded through these deep waters of distress and difficulty. I had to meet many temptations and encounter many assaults and allurements of the enemy. I tried to make my heart better, and patch up a righteousness of my own that would give me relief and peace : all of which I found to be perfectly in vain. At times I was ready to resolve all into fatality, and take no more concern on the subject : but this was impossible. I was envious at good people ; thought God was partial, unjust, severe. Wearisome days and nights were
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appointed me. I could ask for mercy in my own language, but not with submission. On a day, when busily at work alone in the field, my mind deeply occupied and involved on the subject of my salvation from my present state of woful distress, I looked on the works of God around me ; I considered the course of his operations ; I thought of the wonders revealed in his word; I looked at the character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, his love in giving himself for the world, and the way of salvation through his power and grace. On such contemplations I had spent some hours of the afternoon. My mind had been withdrawn from thinking on my own condition, not inquiring whether I was going to heaven or hell. In the course of this scene of meditation, such serenity per- vaded my mind, such harmony appeared in all the works and ways of God, such fitness and beauty in the character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that I was in a great measure abstracted from myself, and wholly involved in the sublime and pleasing subject. I had understood that a new heart, a change of character, was essential in experimental religion ; but it never came into my mind at the time that this could be that change. It was some days be- fore I could persuade myself that I had passed from death unto life. For two or three weeks I could not believe a change was wrought ; the blessing was so great, and my own sin and ill desert were so appalling. Those words of the Saviour I read, and they seemed to be appropriate-' While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.' By and by hope began to dawn, and it operated like the dawning light of the morning."
Such is the account which Mr. Higgins gives of his transition from a state of nature to a state of grace. Some time in the autumn of that year, he made a public profession of religion, and joined the church in Haddam, under the pastoral care of Rev. Eleazar May. In the spring of 1780, he commenced the study of the Latin lan- guage under the tuition of Mr. May, for the purpose of preparing to enter college, having the gospel ministry in view, and in the month of November, 1781, he was admitted a member of the Fresh- man class in Dartmouth College. Here he continued somewhat more than two years, and then changed his relation to Yale Col- lege, where he graduated in September, 1785. With respect to his support while at Dartmouth College, he says, "I did considerable towards my support, by labor,-by sawing lumber, by tending ferry, and I can look back to the two years which I spent at Dart- mouth among the happiest portions of my life."
With respect to engaging in the work of the ministry, he ob- serves,-"I had ever thought the work of the ministry a solemn and arduous business ; that the man who well and faithfully performed the work, was truly a happy man ; but he who was lazy, unfaith- ful, and regarding the fleece more than the flock, was a despicable and wretched man. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the work,
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my intention had long been to study divinity, and preach the gos- pel." In the accomplishment of this object, Mr. Higgins, soon after he left college, went to reside with Dr. Smalley of New Britain, to study theology under his tuition, and at the same time, as a means of support, taught a district school. Here he continued till June; 1786, when he was licensed to preach the gospel by Hartford South Association. Subsequent to his licensure, he spent several weeks in the study of theology with Dr. Lyman of Hatfield, Mass.' After preaching for short terms in several places, he was invited by the people of North Lyme to preach to them with a view of settlement. He commenced luis labors with them in April, 1787, and, on the 17th day of October of that year, he was ordained and installed pastor of the church and congregation by an ecclesiastical council convened for the purpose In the latter part of the year 1792, and beginning of the next year, God was pleased to visit his congrega- tion with the special influences of his Spirit, and though the work was not great, some souls were hopefully converted unto God. In 1794, he performed a missionary tour of four months' continuance, in the service of the Connecticut Missionary Society, to the new settlements in New Hampshire and Vermont. In June, 1801, the pastoral relation between him and the people of Lyme was dis- solved by mutual consent. In September of that year, he received an appointment from the Trustees of the Missionary Society of Connecticut, to go on a mission for four months to the new settle- ments in the State of New York. In fulfilment of this appointment, he went as far west as the Genesee river. After the close of his mis- sion, he preached for several months at Onondaga Hollow, East Bloomfield, and Aurelius, from each of which places he had a call to settle. He finally accepted the call from Aurelius, and in July, 1802, removed his family from Connecticut, and settled them where the city of Auburn now stands. In September he was installed pastor of the church by an ecclesiastical council convened for the purpose. In 1808, the pastoral relation was dissolved, but Mr. Higgins con- tinued for a season to minister to the church of Auburn, which had been formed from the church of Aurelius.
In Nov., 1812, he received a call from the congregation of Bath, to become their pastor. In January following he removed his family to Bath, and in July succeeding was installed as pastor of the church and congregation. Here he continued to labor from year to year with various degrees of success. He was encouraged and blessed with some seasons of special attention. In 1831, God visited the congregation with a revival of considerable extent, and as the re- sult, thirty-six united with the church. Previous to the commence- ment of this work of grace, revivals were frequent and powerful in Western New York. Some members of the congregation of Bath seemed to think that new measures and a new minister were essen- tially necessary to produce a revival of religion. They therefore
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thought and said that they must dismiss their minister and get a new one. While this measure was under operation, Mr. Higgins con- tinued his usual course of services on the Sabbath, and weekly prayer meetings. At the opening of the spring there was increased solemnity throughout the congregation. This continued for several weeks. The presence of God was most manifest ; Christians were awake, and active, and prayerful; sinners were thoughtful, and some inquiring what they must do to be saved. Under these cir- cumstances, a protracted meeting was proposed, and attended. It continued for several days, and during the course of it a considera- ble number were hopefully converted. In the course of a few weeks, from forty to fifty gave evidence of a saving change.
On the twenty-first day of June, 1831, the pastoral relation be- tween Mr. Higgins and the congregation of Bath was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Higgins continued in this part of the country about four years after his dismission from Bath, during which period he preached regularly the most of the time. One year he preached at Painted Post, and was blessed with a gracious outpouring of the Spirit under his labors. For more than a year he preached at Ken- nedyville and Avoca, nearly a year at Big Flat, and occasionally at other places. In May, 1835, he left Western New York with his family, and removed to Norwalk, in the State of Ohio. Mr. Higgins at this period was nearly seventy-four years of age. He considered himself too far advanced in life to take the charge of a church, but in consequence of the want of ministers in the region, he continued to preach most of the time for some years longer. He supplied for stated terms, at Norwalk, Milan, Huron, Brunson, Mon- roville, Peru, and Paris. For the two last years of his life, he preached only occasionally.
On Sabbath, June 18th, 1842, in the morning Mr. Higgins com- plained of not being as well as usual, but attended public worship in the former part of the day. He came home after the service, conversed cheerfully, but concluded not to attend in the afternoon. After taking some refreshment, he sat in his arm-chair with his head resting on his study table. Mrs. Higgins noticed that he sank down. She spoke to him, but he did not answer. With the as- sistance of her daughter she laid him down ; he breathed a few times, and expired without any struggle or the least contraction of muscles. On Tuesday following, the precious remains were at- tended to the tomb by a large concourse of sympathizing spectators, and by most of the ministers in the vicinity. The Sabbath next ensuing, Rev. Alfred Newton, pastor of the church of Norwalk, preached a sermon with reference to the event from Genesis v. 24. " And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Immediately after the funeral, the church of Norwalk met and adopted the following Preamble and Resolutions, viz.
" WHEREAS it has pleased Almighty God in his wise Providence,
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to remove suddenly, by death, the Rev. David Higgins, thus de- priving his family of its head, this church of its counsellor and friend, and society of one of its useful and exemplary members :
" Therefore, Resolved, in this severe dispensation of Divine Provi- dence, we deeply feel that the church has met with a great and ir- reparable loss, that we have been deprived of a spiritual father and guide, and that we shall long remember his many and affectionate counsels and instructions both in the pulpit and house of prayer, and trust that his holy example may ever serve as a light to lighten our path. It yet becomes us, as a church, while lamenting this sud- den bereavement, to humble ourselves under the exhibition of the mighty hand of God.
Resolved, That in consideration of the late interesting labors of the deceased with this church, and as an expression of our high es- timation of the Christian conduct and deportment, and of our respect for his memory, we will esteem it a great privilege to be permitted to defray the expenses of his funeral, and erect a monument over his remains."
The Presbytery of Huron, of which he was a member, at their next meeting after his decease, expressed their high sense of his worth by the subjoined Preamble and Resolutions, viz.
" WHEREAS God, in his wise and holy Providence, has suddenly removed by death our venerable and beloved father in Christ, the Rev. David Higgins, thereby depriving us of the light of his holy example, and the benefit of his judicious counsel :
" Therefore, Resolved, That while we bow to the solemn Provi- dence, with resignation to the divine will, we do most deeply feel that we, as a Presbytery, have sustained a great loss in his death, and we are assured that the good influence which the deceased ex- erted in our ecclesiastical body, and in the churches under our care, while he continued to reside with us, will ever endear him to our memory.
" Resolved, That we do most heartily sympathize with his afflict- ed family, who have thus been suddenly deprived of their head, and we do affectionately commend them to the grace of that God who was the hope and stay of their beloved father and guide."
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REV. DAVID HIGGINS Dicò Inne 19, 1842, In the 81st year of his age, And the 55th of his Ministry.
AS A PREACHER HE WAS SOLID AND INSTRUCTIVE, AS A PASTOR DEVOTED AND FAITHFUL, AS A CHRISTIAN CONSISTENT AND HUMBLE.
Servant of God, well done, Rest from thy loved employ ; The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy.
Erected by the First Presbyterian Church in Norwalk.
REV. HENRY AXTELL, D.D.
DR. AXTELL was born at Morristown, in the State of New Jer- sey, in the year 1784. Of his childhood and youth, the writer has no information. He was educated at Nassau Hall College, and received his first degree in 1796. At what period in life Dr. Ax- tell's mind became religiously disposed is not known to the writer. After leaving college he spent a number of years in teaching the sciences, for which employment he was well qualified, and in which he was successful, and highly approved. He removed his family from New Jersey and took up his residence in Geneva, where for a season he was employed in teaching a select school. But this employment, though useful in a high degree, was not sufficient to satisfy his mind. He ardently desired to engage in the work of preaching the gospel of salvation to his dying fellow-men. With this object in view, he pursued a course of Theological study under the direction of Rev. Jedidiah Chapman, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Geneva to preach the gospel as a probationer, Nov. 1st, 1810. After his licensure he preached for short periods at differ- ent places, but the attention of the congregation of Geneva, where he had resided for several years in the capacity of a teacher of science, was turned to him as a suitable person to sustain the relation of
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pastor to them. Up to this period the church of Geneva had never had a regularly installed pastor. Mr. Chapman had resided in the village, performed missionary labor a part of the time, and minis- tered to the congregation of Geneva on annual agreements for the remaining part. In 1812, Messrs. Chapman and Axtell were by a unanimous vote invited to become co-pastors of the church and congregation, and on the twelfth day of July of that year, Mr. Axtell was ordained by the Presbytery of Geneva to the office of the ministry, and, in connexion with Mr. Chapman, installed pastor of the church. In this connexion, he continued for a period of almost seventeen years, till Feb. 11th, 1829, when the relation was dissolved by his death, at the age of forty-five years. At the period of his entrance into the ministerial office, he was of mature age and understanding, and well prepared for the work upon which he was entering. His piety was clear, consistent, and uniform ; and his understanding vigorous and discriminating. In his theo- logical views he was strictly Calvinistic according to the system held by those in the Presbyterian church, then denominated the New School. He loved the doctrines of that system, and was faithful in his exhibitions of them in his public preaching. Such was the plainness of speech with which he addressed sinners in his public ministrations, that some of his hearers were offended and called it " scolding." The writer does not believe that there was any ground for such a charge. Dr. Axtell was plain and earnest, but always appeared in his preaching to be of a right spirit, and never descended to coarseness and vulgarity. In the performance of pastoral duties he was diligent and laborious, and on this account was greatly beloved by the pious portion of his charge. He was most acceptable to his brethren in the ministry, punctual in his attendance on the meetings of the judicatories of the church, and esteemed as a wise counsellor in all subjects of difficulty which came before them. The honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the Trustees of Hamilton College. He felt a deep interest in revivals of religion, and in his own congre- gation, besides witnessing every year during his ministry some additions to the number of Christ's professed followers, he had the happiness to enjoy two memorable seasons of revival among the people of his charge ; the first in 1819, when nearly one hundred members were added to the church on their profession of faith ; the other in 1825, when a still larger number took the vows of God upon them. A short time previous to his departure he was attacked with bleeding at the lungs. This continued at intervals for a short period, and terminated his useful life on earth on the eleventh day of February, 1829. Respecting the manner of his death as it respects his mental views, the writer is not distinctly informed, any further than that he died in the full enjoyment of the Christian's hope.
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REV. MATTHEW L. R. PERRINE.
DR. PERRINE Was born in the town and county of Monmouth in the State of New Jersey, May 4th, 1777, where his carlier days were passed. Having completed his preparation, he was received as a member of Nassau Hall College, and was graduated there in September, 1797. He studied theology with the late Rev. Dr. Woodhull, of Monmouth, and was licensed to preach as a proba- tioner by the Presbytery of New Brunswick carly in 1800. In May of the same year he was appointed by the General Assembly a missionary for four months, with instructions to commence his mission at Wilksbarre on the Susquehannah river, and proceed up that river and the Tioga to Painted Post and Bath, and thence through the Genesee country and Military Tract to Fort Stanwix. This appointment he fulfilled, having, as the writer believes, re- ceived ordination as an evangelist previous to its commencement. In 1804, under a similar appointment, he performed a missionary tour of three months, mostly in Western New York. In 1802 he was installed pastor of the church in Bottle-Hill, N. Y., where he continued in the ministry about nine years. The blessing of God attended his labors, and many precious souls were brought into the kingdom through his instrumentality. In the autumn of 1811, he was removed from this charge and installed first pastor of the Spring Street Presbyterian church in the city of New York, Oct. 31st. This church had then recently been formed. He was dis- missed in June, 1820. He was elected, May 2d, 1821, Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Polity in the Theological Semi- nary of Auburn, and was inaugurated July 10th, 1821, at the very commencement of the Institution. In this station he continued to the time of his decease, which occurred Feb. 11th, 1836. The duties of this professorship he discharged with singular fidelity, and with great profit to the pupils, by whom he was greatly beloved and respected. For about two years from the commencement of the Institution, Dr. Perrine, in addition to the duties of his appro- priate professorship, performed those of the Professorship of Didac- tic Theology. Some time previous to his election to the professor- ship he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Meadville college in the State of Pennsylvania.
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