USA > New York > Oneida County > Westmoreland > Exercises in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the First Congregational Church of Westmoreland, N.Y., Tuesday, September 20th, 1892 > Part 2
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Nov. 1, 1822, Thomas Halbert was elected deacon to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of his father.
It would seem that sometime during the latter part of the year 1824, Mr. Eells notified the church that as soon as they united upon some other person for pastor, he wished to re- tire. From that time the Rev. Abijah Crane spent his time with the church, until the 7th day of January, 1825, when they gave him a unanimous call to become their pastor, and soon after the release of Mr. Eells and the installation of
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Mr. Crane was consummated by a meeting of the Oneida Presbytery with the church. Mr. Crane's ministry was eminently a successful one, although the question of church government, with some very troublesome cases of church discipline, with quite a serious agitation on the subject of Free Masonry, of which order he was a member, occurred; yet hardly a sacramental season passed in which members were not received into the church. On one of these occa- sions, June 2, 1831, fifty-one persons were received.
On the 3rd day of March, 1832, the church elected Asaph Seymour, Warren Kellogg, and Lemuel L. Chester, M. D., deacons. It is presumed that Deacons Townsend and Bears, for some reason not stated, had ceased to act. Mr. Seymour soon after removed to Utica.
At a meeting held in the meeting-house on the 3rd day of April, 1832, for the purpose of incorporating the society, Eliphalet Bailey and Benjamin Buell were duly elected, by the members present, to preside at the election, receive votes of the electors, and return the names of the persons who shall be duly elected to serve as trustees of the society. Thomas Halbert, Eliphalet Bailey, Reuben Rose, William Newcomb, Erastus W. Clark, Benjamin Buell, Erastus Loomis, Parker Halleck, and George Langford were elected trustees. The following resolution was also adopted: "Re- solved, That the name or title by which this society shall forever be known shall be the First Congregational Society of Westmoreland."
Sometime about July, 1832, Mr. Crane was dismissed by Oneida Presbytery, at his own request, after"seven years of service, the church, by a special committee signifying their entire satisfaction with him.
The first parsonage, now standing on the south side of the street leading east, was built at the time Mr. Crane com- menced his work, on land which had formerly been a part of Mr. Eells' farm and was, in its day, a beautiful residence.
On the 3rd day of July, 1833, Edward Fairchild was in- stalled pastor by a committee of Oneida Presbytery.
At this date it is noticeable that the temperance question
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was prominent, in both the Presbytery and in the church, but in both cases in the use of ardent spirits only.
On May 4th, 1834, thirty-two persons were received into the church. On July 3rd, 1835, the committee to provide wine for the communion were directed in the future "to procure such as is made from raisins, without fermenta- tion;" and in September of the same year there was adopted "a pledge of total abstinence from everything as a drink that contains alcohol or that can intoxicate," and a large committee appointed to present it for signatures to all the members of the church.
In the midst of a protracted meeting, of great interest, under the charge of Rev. John Ingersoll, in February, 1836, in consequence of very serious reports touching the moral character of Mr. Fairchild, he, thinking best not to meet them, for reasons not given, severed, by leaving the place, his relation with the church, and never returned. The Pres- bytery expelled him, but afterwards the Synod reinstated him; his family joining him in due time. The meetings were in no way interrupted, Mr. Ingersoll assuming the entire control, and on the 26th of the same month there were added to the church, on profession of faith, about thirty members. About the same time new, and considerably modified, articles of faith were adopted.
Mr. Ingersoll continued for about two years to occupy the pulpit as stated supply. He was an able and attractive preacher; his audience never tiring on the account of long sermons, to which he was not a little liable. His forte was doubtless as an evangelist. Few men read character with the accuracy that he did. When he came here he was a widower with, I think, two sons and one daughter. Soon after he married into a prominent family in Manlius, Onon- daga County. He stayed this year out and removed his family to Ohio. He was the father of Colonel Ingersoll, and I am not without the hope that the Colonel will yet preach the Gospel. It was during his ministry that the church was called upon to meet that wide-spread craze of perfectionism, which it did effectually. This was a theory
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that Christ was in its subjects in such a way that they could not sin; which constituted a fundamental principle in Oneida Communism, where it was permitted to thoroughly and nauseatingly expend itself. During the time Mr. In- gersoll was with the church the subject of slavery was ser- iously agitated, resulting in its condemnation without any per se proviso.
In the spring of 1838, Rev. Nathaniel Hurd commenced his ministry as stated supply and continued his labors about three years, during which time the church tendered him a call to become their pastor, which, however, was never ac- cepted. He was an able, faithful minister, whom the church appreciated. Nov. Ist, 1839, Amasa Pratt and Bushnell Bishop were elected deacons. It was during Mr. Hurd's ministry that the church withdrew from the Presbytery. In the year 1840 the church contributed to foreign missions $92.21.
In the year 1841, Rev. F. A. Spencer commenced his la- bors as stated supply, and was soon after ordained by the Oneida Presbytery and elected standing moderator of the church. He was a native of the town of Verona, and a graduate of Oneida Institute, having received his ecclesiastic- al training at Union College. He was installed pastor in Sep- tember, 1850, by a council of ministers called for that pur- pose. He buried his wife, who was a charming woman, a year previous. Afterwards he was married to Elizabeth King, a member of the church, in public on the occasion of his installation. He was full twelve years pastor; years of fair and quiet prosperity; being dismissed at his own re- quest, by a council called for that purpose, on the 27th day of May, 1853. There were at that time 183 members. He died at Clinton a few years since, and was buried by the side of his wife in Union Cemetery. He was a man of great en- ergy of character, devoted to the right, frank and earnest in its defence. He always occupied a front rank in all moral movements of the day, and was not afraid to take them into the pulpit. He believed in Bible total abstinence
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and did stalwart work in its defence. No moderate or tem- perate use of wine for him.
For the next two years Rev. John Barton, of Clinton, was employed; coming over and preaching on the Sabbath, and on other occasions, when called for.
Early in January, 1855, Rev. L. A. Sawyer, a member of the Oneida Association, was ordained pastor of the church by that body. He, by his own request, was received into the church as a member; and, in due time, received a letter to a Congregational Church in Boston. Mr. Sawyer's pul- pit qualifications were of a high order. He was a scholar, and of a studious turn of mind, and was considerably en- gaged in literary pursuits. During his pastorate the church united with the Oneida Association. September 11, 1858, after a little more than three years of service, he tendered his resignation and the church, after passing resolutions of regret and confidence, joined him in applying to the Asso- ciation for his dismissal, and now, at eighty-five years of age, he is quietly living in Whitesboro.
Number of members in communion, January 31, 1858, 160.
Rev. Jeremiah Petrie associated with the church as pastor early in the year 1859. He was pastor full three years, and as such was faithful and true; closing his services quite early in 1863. He moved to Herkimer County, and, event- ually to Pompey Hill, Onondaga County, where he has been doing good service in the cause of the Master.
The church voted in February, 1863, that the pastor or stated supply, should have his faith and ecclesiastical con- nection in harmony with the Congregational system. In November, 1861, Sheldon W. Stoddard was ordained deacon in place of Deacon Pratt.
The Rev. M. E. Dunham now occupied the position of pastor, commencing about June, 1863, and closing not far from May Ist, 1867, about four years of satisfactory and successful work. The next year after he entered upon his duties, the Sabbath School effected a regular business or- ganization, which has continued to be an agency of much good, and in which he took an active part as a teacher also.
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The school since that period has annually raised consider- able sums of money, at one time putting in a new library at an expense of two hundred dollars. Sending to Har- poot, Eastern Turkey, at one time, one hundred and forty dollars. Number of scholars aggregating one year two hun- dred and sixty-four. Mr. Dunham is now a pastor in Utica.
Rev. James Deane now, after a few months, became the pastor, and after more than eleven years of faithful service, preached his farewell sermon on the 22nd day of December, 1878. He was both a member of the Association and of the church. He received a letter of dismissal to the church in Phoenix, Oswego County. During Mr. Deane's pastorate the church was very prosperous. In the year 1875, a very earnest revival occurred, in the conduct of which he was assisted by the Rev. Mr. Jones, an evangelist. Over thirty persons united with the church during its continuance and a communion service seldom passed during the remaining three years of his ministry in which there were not admis- sions to the church. A very earnest missionary spirit was also developed during the latter part of his ministry. Mr. Deane was a grandson of Judge James Deane. His father was the first white male child born in the town. His pas- torate was a very satisfactory and successful one.
February 28, 1868, Jason S. Bliss was elected a deacon to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of Deacon Bush- nell Bishop from the town, and Austin S. Brown was elected an additional deacon. He was also for many years church clerk and treasurer.
Deacon Sheldon W. Stoddard died suddenly, July 9th, 1876, and James W. Manktelow was chosen deacon Novem- ber 3rd, 1876.
The church was now without a pastor until March, 1880, a little more than a year, the pulpit being supplied by dif- ferent ministers, when the Rev. H. P. Blair, a Congregation- alist minister became pastor, and a member of the church. His pastorate was of short duration, terminating in July, 1881.
After a vacancy of nearly two years, during which time
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the pulpit was filled by Rev. F. N. Greeley, I. O. Best and others, the church secured for pastor Rev. Nestor Light, who was ordained by a council of ministers invited by the church, on the 15th day of March, 1883. The new parson- age on Main street was built during his administration; he breaking ground for its foundation in the Spring of 1886. It was a source of regret to Mr. Light's many friends that he never occupied the parsonage his energetic and earnest effort was so instrumental in building. He closed his ser- vices in March, 1886.
Rev. Samuel Manning became pastor in September, 1886. Much earnest work was done during his pastorate. Through the influence and effort of Mr. and Mrs. Manning a Christ- ian Endeavor Society, which is yet doing its work, was or- ganized by the young people, October 31st, 1886. Mr. Manning was a Congregationalist and became a member of the church. His pastorate closed in December, 1890. Mr. Manning is at present pastor of the church at Bridgewater, N. Y.
December 31st, 1886, Deacon J. S. Bliss having resigned, C. H. Tyler was chosen for the vacancy. James Bell was elected deacon at the same time.
During a vacancy of about a year which now took place, reading services were conducted by different members of the church for a portion of the time. Afterward the ser- vices of Rev. C. W. Hawley, of Clinton, were secured, and very acceptable service was rendered by him until the be- ginning of the present pastorate.
Rev. W. C. Jones commenced his work in February of the present year, 1892, and it speaks well for the condition of the church, and the zeal and efficiency of the pastor, that each recurring communion season has witnessed accessions to the church, either by confession of faith or by letter, or both.
Deacon Austin S. Brown died in January, 1892, and E. W. Johnston was elected deacon July 2nd, 1892.
t.
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Let the present membership of this church rally round the old standard with fresh zeal and courage, remembering that these noble Christian men and women who, with the spirit of self-consecration and genuine heroism, erected it one hundred years ago, "being dead, yet speak" to cheer and encourage your work of love.
[ Note .-- Dr. Edward Loomis, the author of this history, is in his eighty-seventh year. He served the church as clerk from Jan., 1836, until July 5th, 1862. He was appointed sur- geon of the 117th Regt. (4th Oneida) N. Y. S. Vols., July 29th, 1862, resigning that position April 15th, 1863. He was always an active and influential member of the church. Having moved to Oneida he severed his connection with the church in Westmoreland April 23, 1864, taking letters for himself and wife to the Presbyterian Church of that place, where he still resides. ]
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Poem.
BY THOMAS E. MC ENTEE, OF CLARKS MILLS, N. Y.
We stand to-day
Upon the borders of two hundred years, The one, veiled with the mists of time, and on Its brow, deep wrinkled now, bearing the crown Of its accomplished years, is passing on To that dim realm where history is born. The other, fresh with the dews of morning, And heralded by that auroral light
Which gilds the dawn, comes on apace,
Eager to mount the throne and grasp the crown. With outstretched hand, inspired of memory, We cling awhile to that receding form Not willing to let drop its lessons grand Beneath oblivion's pall. With outstretched hand Inspired of hope, kindled by all the memories Of the past, we are beckoning on the new, Dreaming of brighter skies and balmier days, By conning o'er the annals of our birth, And tracing out the paths by which we came We may discern the sunshine-gilded heights Whereon we stand, and cast the horoscope, And gage the possibilities of that Oncoming century new born to-day. Inspire our hearts with thy divinest truth, Oh sacred muse! revive our memories, Illuminate our minds. that we may see And comprehend in all its grand results, And tell the tale of all our fathers wrought.
In that great epoch of the world's great thought, When, aroused from the long sleep of ages, Men awoke to deeper sense of their own Fealty to God, and law and carved their way, Through fields baptized in blood to truer freedom And more perfect peace ; strong pioneers were they. Strong pioneers to mould from out the primal Forest and the desert wild, the naked earth,
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And map it into towns and commonwealths. True pioneers were they, for more than well They knew, endowed with broader views of freedom Than the world had known, wisely to build and well On those foundations firm which should endure. Imbued were they with the great central thought, From all the past's experience gathered up, By the true zeal of their own hearts inspired, That not because from tyrants free is freedom sure: That not alone of lands, and towns, and wealth, And splendid monuments, and palaces, And men who know of freedom by the name And only thus, are commonwealths built up. But only they are free whom truth, uplifting Into purer air, above the strifes of men, Makes free indeed. That only they build well, In home or state, in poverty's rude hut, Or in the temple's rich proportions vast, Who recognize in all things the divine Controlling power and build most lovingly To learning, liberty and God.
And so
It came to pass that, when our fathers lald In this rich soil the small beginning first, Of that great commonwealth that was to be, When with strong arms they hewed the forest down, And built them homes, where virtue, liberty, And truth might dwell, to guard, protect and bless; They reared this temple in the wilderness ; Not glittering, vast and grand, but firm and strong, On deep foundations laid, and on each part Inscribed, in characters that have not died, And cannot die, "Freedom to Worship God." The generations that have come and gone ; The quiet homes among these quiet hills, Where peace and plenty dwell; the noble influences Pervading all the land, and blessing all the earth, That had their birthplace here, proclaim in tones Not loud, but understood, our fathers builded well. Behold the fruit ! Here labor's hand, nerved by A zeal first born of God, transformed desert And wilderness into a smiling land, Where, warmed by a broad human sympathy, A sturdy manhood grew. A sturdy manhood With love of right and love of truth endued,
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That went, the pioneer of larger thought, To fashion other commonwealths to noble deeds, And stamp their influence on the nation's life. And so by love of God, and love of home, And love of liberty and fatherland, Heart-warmed, soul-fired, bold, daring champions they, To fight on any field where falsehood base And tyrrany upraised their impious hands To strike fair virtue down. And so, when all The world's base traitors did combine, in one Last, desperate effort to crush down And stifte the free-born uprisings of The soul, and plant their impious heel on Freedom's neck; when from the ground went up A voice to heaven, from a brother's blood, And asked atonement for the nation's sins, Which only blood could pay; the willing offering Was poured out till the foul stain was cleansed, And not a slave in all these wide-spread borders Clanked his chains.
Nor this alone, the world Looked on amazed, to see, before its eyes, The standard of its manhood lifted up, Its base oppressors shrinking back with awe, And all earth's countless hordes, groping in want, And ignorance, and degradation vile, Arising reinspired with a new hope At the fresh dawning of a bright new day. Our father's planted well; for from the seed Planted and nursed by them upsprung a tree That spreads its branches wide o'er seas and lands. Behold their sons, fresh from their contests with The powers that were, thronging to learning's halls To train their nobler powers to larger deeds, And fiercer contests with a world in sin, To win it back to rectitude and God. In that far distant east, where heathen lands Spread out, and God's own image bows to idols down, Their shadow has been cast. In those great halls To science sacred, and with learning crowned, Their silent forces and persuasive powers Have shed an influence that the age has felt ; And up and down, 'mid hills and valleys rare, To poor in spirit who are poor indeed Are full glad tidings of the gospel preached.
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A little girl, as 't were a day ago, Was bounding o'er these hills, in the full joyance Of her freedom glad. She at the mystic. Fount of learning. deeply drank till her full Rounded womanhood was full, and even now, From the rich treasure of her gifts poured out, Dispenses living bread to hungry souls, In a far distant island of the sea.
A boy we knew, if boy he might be called, Displaying manly powers beyond his years, In yonder classic halls with honor crowned, Who spared his gifts awhile for others' use, In Golden Horn, and academic shade. To science sacred and to learning true, And now, in the full measure of his powers, He wards away disease and bids the lame Rise up and walk, in that far land, toward The setting sun, where golden sands roll down Pacific's slope.
Another, not content, Even in boyhood, with the things that were, But thirsting then for greater things to be, Wandered away in Delphian groves, and Consecrated halls and lit his longing soul With that celestial fire, which alway finds Its counterpart in human souls, and its Enthronement in the love of God.
And yet
Another. But we pause with reverence, And bow in presence of a venerable form. The crown of age sits on his brow with beauty, The shock of corn, ungathered yet, is ripe. We say his work is done, and echo answers back Well done. That noble life, with noble deeds All full, tells its own tale. We only pray, Let all the winds of heaven that blow, fan him, Henceforward lightly. Let kindly words and Kindly deeds, attend him gently onward, And strew his pathway to the grave with flowers.
Of all the toilers that have toiled in love, Of all the charities unseen, unheard, That have gone nobly on untold, unsung, Of all the holy prayers, from mother hearts,
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Prompted by mother love, that have a place Among the potent methods that have warped And moulded human character and life; Of all the wise and sacred influences That have spread abroad, of all the forces That have stirred and moved the world, to nobler Action, and to purer thought, we may not speak. They are not lost. The kindly word, spoken In love, though none may hear, lives on for aye. The good deed done, however small, for God And human brotherhood, becomes a part Of that great universe which God controls, And never dies.
Our fathers slumber well. The solemn sounding bell, in yonder tower, Has sounded forth their requiem, and passed Them on, to that bright summer land, which lies Beyond. The marble slabs, o'ergrown with moss, In yonder silent city on the hill,
Their good deeds, done with love to God and love To man, with many prayers, and many tears, Their monuments.
But we to-day-are we the noble sons Of noble sires, to prize at their high grade The countless blessings thus vouchsafed to us, And carry on their work to higher heights Of glory than they knew? Or sit we down In an ignoble ease, to banquet on The boundless feast they spread, nor even deign To comprehend the possibilities Of those bright years to come ?
"Unseal our ears,"
Anoint our eyes with some prophetic light, Oh muse divine inspired, that we may hear The echo of the voices yet to be, And gaze a moment down the vista of The years to come.
All things are possible ; And that transforming power, working through all And guiding human hands and busy brains In the development of its majestic plans ; That wrought such wonders in the wilderness, And brought our fathers on from small beginnings
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And from narrow creeds, up to the splendor Of a brighter day and broader life; Will be our cloud by day and fire by night, To guide us through the mysteries, and reveal What the great future has in store for us.
All things are possible : Oh not to-day Up the broad valley wild, whose very name Is but the music of a race that's gone, Comes on the busy commerce of the world By patient oxen and by rude bateau ; But with the forces of the air chained down And made subservient as the meekest slave, Moves as the symbol of advancing thought, Nor waits the heralding of time or tide.
Oh not to-day move the dull lives of men Along the vulgar paths of low desires, And rest content; but the free soul, new born, Basks in the sunshine of that higher world, Around us floating ever, yet unseen.
This then our starting point. It needs a poet's pen, Prophet inspired, to tell what we may be. If from the mountain heights we have attained, Leaving the light behind, and groping down, We seek the shadows of the vale below ; "Woe warth the hour!"
But if still gazing up, Longing for brighter sunshine and a wider range, We mount to higher summits than have been Attained in all the generations past ; "Ah well a day !"
If, building on the basis thus laid down, And feasting of our souls at that great spread Till we perceive the mystic ties that bind The human and divine, in one vast bond, And build, forgetting self, to human love, And human brotherhood, and lift, at length, The human to diviner life, we shall be heroes In the grandest contest that the world has seen, For the roused soul, knowing the errand vast On which 'tis sent, and thrilled with the great thought, "That there is work that it must do for God ; " Thrice arms the warrior, bold for truth and right, Who bravely dares to strike base error down.
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The forces of the wrong, blinded with rage, Victims of lust and superstition grim, Seeing the brightness of the new born day, Are marshalling their forces to resist The onward march of new awakened thought, And spread their pall of darkness o'er the earth. The contest between truth and error, means A fight, in which the strong battalion wins The day; and that battalion best, that nerves Its arm, and fires its zeal, with love of right, And a firm trust in God.
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