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 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The friends of truth, a mighty moving host, Answering God's call and having dreamed, Or in the visions of the night been warned Of the great sacredness of the divine . In human life, will never brook, to see The clouds of error closing round our lives And shutting out the sun, that shining down The future, gives us glimpses of the life To be. This then our battle ground. The strife Waxes apace. The world moves bravely on And freedom's battle, never fought in vain Since first began, shall win the crown at last. The aggressive spirit of the church aroused, Working with God, shall move to victory, And conquer peace. Then when at last grown old, And the full measure of its years all full, Again shall sound the knell of the departing Century, we may look forward to millennial days. When all the strifes of men forgot in love, The leopard and the lion, symbols true Of those fierce passions that destroy the soul, With kid and lamb in quiet shall lie down, The child-like spirit of the Christ shall lead, And earth keep Jubilee a thousand years.
29
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Addresses.
Hamilton College and the Westmoreland Church.
HAMILTON COLLEGE, September 19, 1892. DEACON JAMES BELL.
Dear Sir: I thank you for the invitation to contribute to the literature of your centennial festival by furnishing a list of the graduates of Hamilton College, who may be said to be in close relation to the Congregational Church in Westmoreland, either as enrolled members, or as sons or grandsons of its former pastors or enrolled members.
If the following names are not found in the records of the Congregational Church in Westmoreland, it will be because they stand for sons or grandsons of its former pastors or members thus enrolled:
Francis Douglas, Class of 1817, Rev. Professor William Beardsley, 1823, Rev. James H. Eells, 1827, Rev. Leicester A. Sawyer, 1828, Samuel Eells, 1832, George Langford, Jr., 1838, Norton A. Halbert, 1842, Rev. Parsons S. Pratt, 1842, Rev. Edwin H. Crane, 1844, Rev. Dr. James Eells, 1844, Col. Louis H. D. Crane, 1845, Delbitt Langford, 1846, Rev. Dr. Moses E. Dunham, 1847, Dan Parmelee Eells, 1848, Henry G. Miller, 1848, Prof. Daniel J. Pratt, 1851, Rev. Henry M. Hurd, 1857, Alfred K. Seymour, 1857, Francis Loomis, 1858, Rev. Leicester J. Sawyer, 1859, Lorenzo S. B. Sawyer, 1862, Dr. George M. Loomis, 1863, Charles P. Eells, 1874, Rev. Willard K. Spencer, 1875, Howard P. Eells, 1876, George E. Dunham, 1879, Dr. Ward M. Beckwith, 1880, Rev. Lester R. Groves, 1881, Franklin A. Spencer, 1882, Edward M. Baxter, 1884.
This is a record of contributions, the working forces of Church and State, made directly or indirectly, with which larger and wealthier churches might be proud to adorn their
30
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
annals. Among the eleven clergymen on this roll of grad- uates, Rev. Edwin H. Crane was a foreign missionary to the Nestorians, and died at Garvor, in Persia, in 1854 ; Rev. Dr. James Eells was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1877, and a Professor in Lane Theological Seminary at the time of his death in 1886. Louis H. D. Crane and George M. Loomis were among the first to enlist in the war for the Union, and Colonel Crane was killed in the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 8, 1862.
The medical profession gained two practitioners of ster- ling worth by gaining Dr. George M. Loomis, who died at Easton, Missouri, in 1889, and Dr. Ward M. Beckwith, now of Oakland, California.
Among the sons of Westmoreland who have gained dis- tinction by their legal gifts, honestly employed, are Samuel Eells, of Cincinnati, Norton A. Halbert, of New York, Henry G. Miller, of Chicago, Lorenzo S. B. Sawyer and Charles P. Eells, of San Francisco. The only editor on the list is George E. Dunham, of the Utica Press. He can best explain why he prefers to do his preaching in a different way from that of Rev. Dr. M. E. Dunham.
Prof. Daniel J. Pratt brought honor to his birthplace by his twenty years of faithful service as Assistant Secretary of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. His death in 1884 was a heavy bereavement to the cause of higher education.
Professor Pratt, son of Amasa Pratt, was once asked what it was that inspired him with the desire and purpose to seek a liberal education. He replied that as he was go- ing to his daily toil in the fields of Westmoreland, the sound of the College bell set him thinking. He resolved to find out to what kind of an intellectual diet that bell was a summons. It cost him a hard, long struggle, but he worked his way through college, and his name will live most honor- ably in the annals of higher education.
With hearty greeting to the Church in Westmoreland,
Yours very truly,
EDWARD NORTH.
31
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
By Deacon J. S. Bliss, of Whitesboro, N. Y.
Deacon Bliss spoke on "Some Reminiscences." He said among other things : I was glad, Brother Bell, when you wrote inviting me to come to this centennial of the dear old church. I felt as I imagine the psalmist did when he said: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up to the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, oh ! Jerusalem." I rejoice to be here on this sacred spot, re- ·plete with so many hallowed memories ; here where I spent 36 years of the prime of my life. My heart swells within me as I call to memory some of the scenes that formed the panorama that was spread before me. I was born in the parish of which I am now a member, removed thence to Oriskany in early life, and remained there until I reached my majority. My father, in the meantime, sent me to school to the institute in this town, thinking to make some- thing of me, I never knew just what ; perhaps a judge or a minister. But he soon found out his mistake and withdrew his support, and consequently I withdrew from the school, not, however, until I had scored a point. I saw a young lady at school that pleased me well, and I remembered that Solomon said : "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing," and so I talked to this young lady about it, and she was agreeable. The Rev. I. A. Spencer was pastor in this church, and he tied the knot and made us one, and a strong one it was, and we have never been able to untie it however much we would, nor would we however much we could. It was not with me as it was with the one in the parable that Christ spake, where they were bidden to the supper, where one had married a wife and therefore he could not come, but I had married a wife and had to come. And so I came. In coming to this church I saw a membership of the gravest set of men I think I ever saw in any congregation. Elderly men of commanding presence, they would grace any judge's bench. But these passed away and their mantle fell upon other shoulders, honorable, efficient, younger men, of whom only four of this number are now alive and on the scene:
32
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Dr. Loomis, of Oneida, Captain Amos Barnes, of this place, who is in his ninety-fourth year, also C. H. Kellogg, of this place, and myself, the junior member. Some of those numbered among the list were prominent in the church and its work, such as Edward Stoddard, the sweet singer of Israel, and his brother, Sheldon W., who was deacon in the church the at time of his death. We all remember that Sabbath morn- ing when, arriving at church, the first news that saluted our ears was: Deacon Stoddard is dead. While we were riding in our carriages to the earthly sanctuary, he was wafted in a heavenly chariot to the church triumphant above. And we worshipped in sadness that day. There was one notable instance of falling from grace, not of any live member of the church, for such never fall away, but of a dead weight, which fell between two Sabbaths, as that is the time they gen- erally fall from grace. There was a very successful attempt at disturbing public worship on the Lord's day. One Sun- day, while engaged in singing praise in this house, there came from the regions above, all of a sudden, a crash, and presently, standing in Bela Allen's pew, close beside him, was a scantling that had been disengaged in the garret, and there it stood, measuring its height with Mr. Allen. Hither- to he had claimed that he was the longest thing that wor- shipped in that congregation. , On the other side of the house some of the sisters did not wait any further develop- ments, but made a very hurried exit, and perhaps not as dignified as on some more calm occasion. My experience overlaps the ministry of ten ministers, all of whom but two are living. And now, with prophetic eye, I seem to stand, and with that beloved disciple on the Isle of Patmos, see that innumerable multitude coming up before the throne out of every nation, tongue, tribe and people, and I see our own sainted dead there, and I recognize them.
.
33
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
By Rev. C. W. Hawley, of Clinton, N. Y.
I have hardly earned the privilege of occupying any of your time on this most interesting occasion, and shall ac- cept it, as an act of grace, to be best acknowledged by a very sparing use. In the history of every congregation, there are transition periods between pastorates, and in the most recent of these in your history you gave me the op- portunity, which I much enjoyed, of preaching to you, a few months, the common gospel which we love and by which we hope to be saved. Nor shall aught be laid up against you by the gap-man, that you filled the gap as soon as possible by a regular pastor, whose services you are now enjoying. May those services long continue and continual- ly increase in profitableness well into the second century of your history. You have judged that there can be no unfit- ness in allowing the church to which I belong a word to- day. I am glad to acknowledge, that, if there is anything genuine and sound in me, as a Presbyterian, it has come through a thorough and somewhat painful drill in the West- minster shorter catechism, in my boyhood under the roof of a Congregational deacon and the supervision of a Congrega- tional pastor in old Massachusetts. We are of the same household. We abide by the same standards. We rejoice in each other's prosperity, and, as to-day, in each other's longevity, if only the years and the centuries, as they pass, are so filled with loyal service to the Master as to make con- tinued existence a blessing to the world. Just about a hun- dred years ago,the Congregational and Presbyterian churches joined hands, and mingled polities in one united effort to build up the Kingdom of Christ in the new and scattered settlements of central and western New York. The Revolu- tionary war had closed and our independent national life had commenced. But many good men were almost in despair over the prospects of the republic. The war, as war inevit- ibly does, had in many ways wrought much harm to the spiritual life of the people, and greatly weakened the forces of the church; France, while rendering us generous aid, had
34
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
made an open door for the introduction of that irreligion and infidelity which was cursing herself; it was besides a period of great restlessness and continual movement, which scattered communities before they were well settled, and left many to grow up without any means of culture or grace.
New England was pouring into new York, New England with a sprinkling of Pensylvanians and foreigners, and New England soon manifested a lively interest in the spiritual welfare of those who so eagerly entered upon pioneer work on the ground which we now occupy. That the immigra- tion was impetuous is shown in the fact that while before 1784, when Hugh White settled in Whitesborough, "there was not a single spot cultivated by civilized man between the German Flats and Lake Erie, except the solitary Sted- man farm near Niagara Falls,yet in 1810 this region contained 280,319 inhabitants." Though a country without railroads or canals, and almost without roads of any sort, they came in summer and in winter. The Dutch citizens of Albany, the gateway of the then West, looked with wonder upon the processions of loaded sleighs and ox-sleighs which passed through their town in mid-winter-1,200 of them in three days-500 on a single day, the 28th of February, 1795. In the summer of the same year, 97 years ago, Rev. Eliphalet Nott, sent out by the Connecticut Missionary Society on a mission to the settlements, tarried for a night in Schenec- tady with John Blair Smith, the first president of Union College. They talked together, the staunch Presbyterian and the decided Congregationalist, and they agreed that it was not wise or Christian to divide the sparse population hold- ing the same faith into two distinct ecclesiastical organiza- tions, so that it would be better that mutual concessions be made and a common organization effected on an accommoda- tion plan. Then and there was started a movement that six years later led to the adoption of the "Plan of Union," thro the action of the General Assembly and the General Association of Connecticut. It was warmly welcomed in Connecticut by such men as Backus and Dwight and Strong. It gave a new impulse to the missionary work on this
35
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
ground. And however much some men afterward came to doubt its value, it stands to-day and will ever stand in the religious history of our country, as a bright example of Christian comity and charity, and a stinging rebuke to that narrow and narrowing vision which can see nothing good be- yond one's bare denominational palings, and find nothing grander in Christian activity than the upbuilding of sect. Would it not be most opportune to the pressing spiritual need of our own time to sweep away all obstacles to the closest and heartiest union of all disciples of Christ in do- ing the great work now calling for laborers.
As one hundred years ago the tide of French infidelity was checked and the spiritual condition of the people im- proved by a powerful revival, through united missionary effort under this "Plan of Union," might not a similar result now follow an effort similar in spirit, if not in form ?.
For three generations this church has lived and ministered to the spiritual life of this community. Each generation has needed it. The demand for the Bread of Life is constant. Every man that comes into the world, blindly if not .con- sciously, hungers for the Gospel. There is no substitute for it ; there can be none. There is need then of permanency in the church. Her work yet grows upon her year by year. And we are to-day impressed with the fact that the church of Christ is not a short-lived and ephemeral institution, but stable and lasting, having for her head One who is from "everlasting to everlasting," "the same yesterday, to-day and forever."
The fruitage of work here done and prayers here offered, it would be impossible to gather now -- imposible to estimate. Some of it was visible as the years went by, but much can be revealed only among the saints in light who through this instrumentality have won their crowns.
In some minds, there is an undercurrent of sadness to- day. It was voiced in my hearing by a few faltering words from an aged disciple who feels keenly the absence of nearly all of the associates of seventy years ago. Well, it cannot be long before these few, lone disciples will be called
36
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
'to most blessed reunions in the general assembly of the church of the first-born in heaven. Shall this church continue another century ? God only knows ; and it matters little, if only while it has a mission, its work is done faithfully and well.
By Parsons S. Pratt, of Dorset, Vt.
As a dutiful child of the, now venerable, church of West- moreland, I give some of my recollections of its former days. At my earliest recollection it had nearly completed its first third of a century. It was thirty-two years of age when its mothering wings were spread upon my infantile life. My reception here when about two years old was in this wise; I only recite a pleasant tradition of our family. In the autumn of 1824 it happened that, both in one day, perhaps, there was an accession to this parish of two young Christian families. My parents came in from Sauquoit, my father's birth place and my own, and pitched their . taber- nacle in the upper part of South Street. In fitting conjunc- tion there came also from near the Vermont line, as I sup- pose, a newly ordained preacher of the Gospel and his young wife, destined for your parsonage. It may be safely assumed that this new pastor, Rev. Abijah Crane, had very little trouble with his parishioner, but for eight years an at- tentive hearer of the word and a willing helper, and after his dismissal and to the close of his life, the most cor- dial relations were maintained between the two families, and on the part of the three sons of each family friendly memories long existed. I deem it a special kindness of the Lord that all my early childhood days were spent under a pastorate which so commanded our confidence, reverence and affection. Whatever short-coming in the pastoral re- lation may elsewhere have been observed, never has this
37
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
conviction been yielded, that happy association between a reasonable people and a sensible, faithful pastor, is not only possible, but should be confidently expected.
I well remember the old home of the ex-pastor, Rev. James Eells, and had slight acquaintance with his sons, one of whom was my schoolmate for a short time.
My second decade, including later boyhood, and acad- emy and college life, was largely spent in Westmoreland or vicinity. It was a notable period in church and state, and the times and discussions were, for an interested youth, a lively preparatory school for public life. There was some earnest thinking in our community, and some decisive ac- tion on questions of morals, public justice, religious doc- trine and Christian conversion and living. Not all may have been wisely thought, said or done in these matters, yet I deem it fortunate for me that there was so much of freedom of thought, honest sentiment, and of high-toned purpose and position in our town. We were not afraid to express an opinion or practically to commit ourselves for total ab- stinence, or negro emancipation, or new school theology, or revival measures.
It was no damage to me to have lived from infancy in a house whose cellar never took in a barrel of cider for bev- erage, and where was organized the "South Street Juvenile Temperance Society," before I entered my teens. Years before the voting age my voice was publicly given for the liberation of the slave. There was an improved theology in those days, in the freedom and stimulus of which my good father was brought into more active service in the church, and at length entered the ministry. Licensed to preach at thirty-seven years, he was yet privileged with thirty years of laborious, fruitful and joyful service in the pulpit. Our churches in that period had faith in frequent revivals, and therefore there was frequent effort in that di- rection. The results were sometimes disappointing, but with churches maintaining household religion, Bible study and careful living, these revivals proved enlarging and up- lifting. The preaching and personal influence of Charles G.
38
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Finney was an inspiration in this town and the whole re- gion, as afterwards widely in America and England. I came in contact with him once only, and when a small boy. Some Christian women of South Street had their prayer meetings. Returning from school one day with the usual urgency of an empty and impatient stomach, my brothers and I besieged the parlor door which separated our bread giver from us. After what seemed a long waiting to us, the door suddenly opened and there stepped out a vigorous man with two great soulful eyes at whose gaze we were mute. He only said to us, "Boys, have you any religion here?" and went his way. The question was not forgotten; I think we all early sought, and found the bread of heaven which giveth life to the soul. I was about twelve when Mr. Fairchild was aided for a few days by Mr. Sedgwick, of Rome, and a good impression made in South Street. If I mistake not, Charles Bailey, afterwards a preacher in Mich- igan, and others had a boys' prayer meeting. In my four- teenth year I was one of a large number who united with this church in connection with revival meetings conducted by Mr. Ingersoll. The names of those who joined with me are entirely gone from my memory; but few of them may be among the living.
The fervid and forceful preaching of this evangelist made natural impression on a young mind already consenting to Christian truth and duty, and a definite decision was made for the full faith and following of Jesus. But the method and temper even of effective work is not always to be fully endorsed. John Ingersoll, as a young man, lived in my present parish. His father's house, kept as a tavern, was near the summit of one of our principal mountain roads. There are free airs and wide views from those hill tops, favor- ing a sturdy personality and, unless disciplined, excessive feel- ing and utterance. Such like qualities were early developed. He studied awhile with Dr. Jackson, the pastor of our church. His learned and judicious teacher was not altogether pleased with the style of the young man, but gave him op- portunity to use his talents in neighborhood meetings and
39
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
out districts. He there encountered some scepticism and scoffing, and did not seem to have got the better of his im- passioned and perhaps unreasonably severe manner and spirit.
He has been characterized by some writers as "forci- ble, logical, eloquent, stern, uncompromising in presenting his views, in his manner, nervous, quick and impassioned." One of his sisters, Mrs. Dea. Gilbert, was a very superior woman, and the mother of several children who have been distinguished in the learned professions and in public life, of high moral worth. Great importance is justly attached to pious homes and Christian motherhood as an instrument- ality of early conversion and a well-balanced Christian life. I have pleasant testimony on this point in an old book of the records of the "Westmoreland Maternal Association." In April, 1834, Mrs. Fairchild, my mother and several other ladies organized this society, which was actively sus- tained for some time. The old manuscript testifies unmis- takably to the earnest and loving endeavor of these women to train their children in the fear of God, and for pure and useful lives. Monthly meetings were held for mutual in- struction and prayer, and continuous prayer during the fol- lowing month was offered for some designated household. The children were counted as members, and once a quarter were brought in for special exercises. The names of over twenty mothers, or praying women, and more than fifty children are enrolled on these pages. Many of these names are now widely known as of those who are or have been in their generation a blessing in the church and world. Ir one case indeed, as to Christian character, we are grievously disappointed, viz., of Robert J. Ingersoll. He was too early bereft of the presence and prayers of his Christian mother. Perhaps the surviving mothers of that praying band did not prolong their plea for him at the mercy seat. It may not be too late even yet for the praying church to plead for the change which came to Saul of Tarsus to be given to this generous but sadly perverted soul. The alms and prayers, the holy deeds and loves of the church of fifty years ago
40
WESTMORELAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
are registered above; most of those members are now prob- ably in Heaven. But are there not still visible such blessed fruits of their toils and tears as to engage us in eager emulation of the service of those who through faith and patience now inherit the promises?
These anniversaries and centennials disclose some of the waymarks of the course of church organization in this re- gion. Most of our churches in northern New England and Central New York have been formed during the past cen- tury. The processes of emigration and the building up of the Christian Society, beginning say in Connecticut, may be traced northward and westward, and all the way the pleas- ing relation of mother and sister churches unite us in a
sacred relationship. The streams are sometimes direct, sometimes circuituos. Westmoreland may have been con- stituted of settlers direct from Connecticut and Massachu- setts. But many of the members and ministers of this region came by the way of Vermont. Our church of Dorset was organized just eight years before yours, and that church and the ministerial association of Bennington County con- tributed largely to fill the pulpits and build up the churches of this region. From the old parish of Doctors Seth Wil- liston and William Jackson went Ira Manley to Boonville, Ralph Robinson to this neighborhood, and Deacon John Frost, father of the Whitesboro pastor. . From the Associa- tion went John Ingersoll, Nathaniel Hurd, Publius V. Bogue, at my baptism pastor of Sauquoit, and Abijah Crane, ordained by us Oct. 19, 1824, Dr. Jackson preaching the ser- mon from Mark 8:36. The great head of the church who once said, "Give and it shall be given unto you," himself orders some compensating exchanges of consecrated ser- vice. Under the conduct of His higher wisdom and holy providence, He does not suffer the fatal impoverishment in men or means of the churches which are zealous for the ex- tension of His kingdom. One of your sons, who in 1846 eagerly sought a home missionary field in the then far west, after two years heard an imperative injunction to return. He was at once set at work within an hour's drive of his birth-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.