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 4
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place. Seven years later he was directed to a Vermont field, a church which had sent forth scores of pastors or lay founders of churches into New York and other states, but the loss of whom was not seriously regretted because of the advantage to the larger kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that same church has to-day the happy distinction of the longest continued active pastorate of any church in the state, a pastorate now lasting nearly thirty-seven years. Their pastor is a child of your church, and brings you to- day the greetings of your elder sister and in some sense fostermother. He brings his own grateful acknowledge- ments of your lessons, prayers and examples of fifty years ago, and for so much of benign influence as went into his early preparation for the holy ministry. Please pardon any seeming egotism of this paper; you asked for my reminis- cences; personal memories are not easily detached from personal experiences.
By Rev. M. E. Dunham, D. D.
Rev. Dr. Dunham, of Whitesboro, delivered a very scholarly and interesting address, of which the following is the substance:
We wander to-day in the shadowland of memory. Over the dusty path of an hundred years we search for incidents, facts, reminiscences, out of which to construct befitting ser- vices for the one hundredth anniversary of this church. Many things we find of an interesting character, much that is instructive, and more which, from lack of record and from the death-sealed silence of eyewitnesses or personal partici- pants, can only be brought into seeming reality by the magic power of imagination. The real history of no church can be fully written except by the recording angel; for that history is made up of the visible and of the invisible; of that
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which words can express and of that which words cannot express; of the outward act and the revealed thought and of the inner life and hidden spirit; but of the two the inexpres- sible is by far the most effective in shaping results and in determining usefulness. 'Owing to our dullness of spiritual sight we can treat only of the visible; but how the thought of the invisible presses upon us ! Looking over the church record we find the names of those who, moved by the touch of the divine spirit or influenced by the Godly lives of the true servants of the Master, came out before the world and registered themselves openly as soldiers in the army of the Lord, gladly making profession of faith in Christ; but who can number the larger class whose names never appeared on the church roll, but whose lives were molded and shaped by the unseen influences which have gone out from this sanctuary? In the final estimate these unrecorded ones will have more weight in determining the real work by this church accomplished than will the list of its church mem- bers; for the unrecorded will tell more truly what this church has been to the community in which it has existed and to the world at large. The value of a church is not so much in the visible harvest it gathers as in the extent of seed-sowing it has done for after generations to reap; not so much in harvesting as in preparing for future harvests. Many a small, plain church, with a small roll of membership, simple in service, but warm and true in heart, working with- out ostentation or display, has done more for the world than other churches, turreted and spired and tinseled within and without, costly in appointments of chancel and of choir, elaborate in ceremonies and formal before the throne of grace.
Well, here is a country church of an hundred years, which has kept on its quiet way through three generations of births and of burials, content to do the Master's work, and to do it without seeking for the praise of men. To the weary it has brought rest; to the heartbroken, comfort; to the sin-sick, healing; to the returning prodigal, welcome; and to the dying, the hope of heaven and an eternal home
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of rest. To its altars the babe has been borne to be christ- ened; from its altars the aged have been borne to be glori- fied. Bridal song has alternated with funeral note along its arches as the changing scenes of life and of death were enacted within its walls. To-day it stands hallowed by a thousand memories gathered out of three generations, and to it are linked the sweet, sad recollections of many a home; for the church is the one treasure-house of the joys and the sorrows of its parishioners; of their bridals and of their burials; of their births, spiritual and temporal; of their feastings and of their fastings.
This is especially true of the churches of past days; and this church-what a record it must have gathered out of an hundred years! For, until caught by the spirit of these modern and, some would say, degenerate days, it dil- igently observed its feast days and its fast days, and to its courts the people were wont to come with their songs of re- joicing and wails of grief. The church was the Mecca of all their hopes and of their highest expectations; the source of their comfort and the foundation of their consolation; the one power whose benediction they most sincerely desired and whose curse they as sincerely feared. All this has been greatly modified by modern ideas, but it is a question whether this modification has not taken something valuable out of human experience.
For several years my lot was cast with this church and its people. Pleasant those years were in their associations and pleasant they still arc in memory. During my pastorate this church was prosperous, with a large congregation, a flourishing Sunday school, and a full treasury. A spirit of harmony, of personal interest, of willingness to work and to give, prevailed. Here I found some of as warm and truc friends as have ever fallen to my lot, and I trust they are my friends still, though to-day I look in vain to see some of their faces. Indeed, since I ministered in this church, death has reaped a large harvest. Where are the Brighams, the Stoddards, the Browns, the Clarks, the Newcombs, the Bishops, the Millers, the Merrills, the Kelloggs, the Drapers,
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the Lymans, and a score of others who filled these pews in days of my pastorate? Some of their descendants occupy their places, but they have passed into the invisible. Are they here to-day? Why not? Have they lost their interest in the welfare of this church? Does not this one hundredth anniversary stir any emotions in their hearts? Who that believes in the reality of spirit life, can believe that the so- called dead have no touch of sympathy with the living; no power of mingling in their society? I fancy the old saintly pillars of this church are invisible pillars still, here, now, to- day, having lost none of their interest in its welfare; nay, having an intensified interest; and, surely, if in the spirit life they have learned any new or higher truth, any broader conception of God's love and mercy, any wider sweep of hu- man sympathy and brotherhood, any sweeter hope, they will be eager to teach all these to their living descendants. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?" asked the great apostle Paul, and surely I am warranted to draw the logical conclusion from Paul's teaching on this very point; and so I fancy this church edifice to-day is full of spirits gathered here, at this anniversary, to recall the scenes of their past labors. No doubt their songs of rejoicing mingle with ours and the mingled strain swells even to the temple in the golden city, the New Jerusalem. Why not? For though this church is localized here, its membership, its real con- stituency, extends over into the spirit land, and to compass its roll it would be necessary to canvass heaven, as well as earth.
An hundred years of record and the books are not closed. An hundred years of work for God and for humanity, but the end is not yet. Only the morning is past, but the full day yet remaineth. The work of no church is done so long as there are sorrowing, suffering hearts to be comforted, or sinful hearts to be healed. Churches should never die; never grow old; rather intensify in youth and vigor; broaden in sympathy and effort; live forever. Creeds may change; old errors be eliminated; new conceptions of the truth sup-
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plant the old; but the real life of the church changeth not, because that life is of God in Christ, the life eternal. Never was this life so active, so powerful, so onsweeping in the world as it is to-day. True, it is taking on new forms of expression. We are learning that true worship of God does not consist in doing homage to creeds, nor in bowing down to ceremonies, nor in exclusive churchism, but that it does consist in the Christ-spirit of going about doing good to all men. We are learning that he serves God best who serves his followers best. May this church be abounding in this service and may its two hundredth anniversary outshine this as the full risen sun outshines the dawning twilight of the morning.
By Rev. Samuel Manning.
When God, by his miraculous power, had brought the Israelites across the Jordan into the promised land, he com- manded Joshua to build at Gilgal a monument of the twelve stones taken from the channel of the river to remind the people of what he had done for them. And when their children, prompted by curiosity, should ask, "what mean ye by these stones?" the fathers were commanded to tell them the marvellous story of their entrance into Canaan under the guidance and protection of the ark of God.
That monument at Gilgal helped to keep alive the thought of God among the chosen people. There is a religious significance in all monuments which commemorate national events. Our nation began by the Declaration of Independence. We celebrate it every year, recalling the free and heroic spirit of our fathers who threw off a foreign yoke; fought for freedom and won it. The battles and vic- tories which followed are marked by memorials which tes- tify to each generation what their freedom has cost. But
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for the stones of Gilgal there would have been no Bunker Hill. Nor would our national monuments long remain if they did not remind the people of what God had done in bringing the nation into being and preserving its life.
The greatest danger of the Israelites was that of losing the thought of God out of their lives and their history. This we are always in danger of doing. God has joined Himself in devout minds with all our history. Life is belittled to those who have divorced God in their minds from their own past. We build churches to testify of God. They are silent witnesses of his deeds in our civil and religious his- tory. Wood and stone may be quickened with thought, may confess and proclaim the sense of God's goodness and guidance, which is the source of order and peace in the hearts of men and in society Anniversaries are monuments to keep alive the remembrance of what God has done for his people. If the Israelites were commanded to recall by public act and formal service, events which commemorated God's guidance and protection, ought we not to celebrate events and periods in our church history which remind us of God's care and benediction, and which have as rightful and important a place among Christians as the stones of Gilgal had with Israel? We have come to the centennial day in the history of this church, and it is fitting that to-day this people should set up their Ebenezer, their stone of help, and joyfully and thankfully say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Let this anniversary be as the stones of Gilgal to remind you of what God has done for you' in bringing into being and preserving this church for one hundred years; to remind you that others have labored and you have entered into their labors; that it is because of the toils and sacrifices and prayers of those that preceded you, you have this goodly heritage.
We have listened to the address which has given us the history of this church for a century. But no human pen can write the full history of a church of Christ. As no ar- tist can transfer to canvas the glories of the sunset or the charming beauties of a magnificent landscape, so no histor-
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ian can commit to paper the complete history of this church. Between the dates 1792 and 1892 there is a history which, could we fully know it, would stir our souls with unutterable emotions.
The statement that this church was organized Sept. 20, 1792, and that certain persons have served it as pastors and elders and deacons, and that with more or less of outward change it has lived for a hundred years, is only a part, and the least valuable part, of its history. Its real and complete history has been written by the recording angel, and it will be fully known only when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. Could we read that angelic record as we read the human record which spans the century, we should see the toil and sacrifices of those who organized this church, their faith, which triumphed over the hind rances and dis- couragements which confronted them, their hope amid many dark and trying circumstances of brighter and better days, and their prayers for the benediction of heaven to crown their efforts. We should see how, as some laid down the burdens and entered into their reward, others gladly took them up and patiently and bravely bore them, and so through all the years of her history. this church has had those who loved her and labored and prayed for her pros- perity. We should see those seasons of gracious visitation from the Lord when there were confessions of sin,. plcad- ings for pardon, thanksgivings for mercies, rejoicings over sinners converted, and the countenances of God's people shone with a preternatural radiance from the spiritual glory within, as the face of Moses shone when he came down from the mount, or in faint likeness to their Master in the Mount of Transfiguration. All this we should see but a still wider vision would be granted us. We should see the whole number of those whose names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life, through the ministry and teaching of the word in this church, all the lives that have been ennobled by the Christian influence here exerted, and all the triumphant deaths of those who have gone to see the King in his beauty. Would not our hearts thrill
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under such a revelation ? How much that is most valuable in the history of a church must be unknown to us because it can never be written. The good accomplished by this church during the century can be known only as we know the utmost sweep of its influence in blessing the world and fulfilling the petition in our Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come."
How many sweet memories connected with the living and the dead are interwoven with the history of this church. Rev. Asa Bullard, in an interesting book which he has made the memorial of his own live, describes a closet in his boyhood home where, when he first consecrated himself to God, he used to retire for prayer. Many years after, while visiting his early home, he looked into that closet and found that his mother was in the habit of using the place for the same purpose. He says, "What a hallowed spot did it seem to me! A thrill of sacred awe came over me and I seemed to hear a voice saying : 'Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.'" As we think of all the sacred associations of the past, and seem to hear the voice of prayer and praise echoing back and forth across the century, may we not truly say, This is a hallowed spot? O, the precious memories which even death cannot destroy !
Permit me to say that the years I spent with you are among the pleasantest of my ministry and shall never be forgotten.
In closing I can utter no better wish for you than that which Paul expressed for the Ephesian Church, "That God would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God."
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Letters from the Absent.
READ BY DEACON JAMES BELL, SECRETARY.
FROM DAN P. EELLS, CLEVELAND, O.
There is perhaps not a person now living in Westmore- land who would have any recollection whatever of me, and few who would remember my honored father. Yet I have a vivid remembrance of the little house where I was born, and of the old church which was my father's first and long- est pastoral charge .* I was born in the house occupied by my father during his entire pastorate which I presume is the present parsonage, on April 16, 1825, and was the young- est of six children, (five boys and one girl) who lived to maturity, and am now the only survivor of my father's family.
* The first fire I ever saw was the burning, one Sunday forenoon, when everybody was in church, of the only public house in the village, popularly called Bell's Tavern.
FROM MRS. DEBORAH S. CRANDALL, SYRACUSE, N. Y.
I would love to meet all of my old friends once more, but I am not able to attend this meeting. I am now 86 years old and the infirmities of old age and deafness prevent my going from home. I shall think of you all on that day, and many recollections of the past will come to my mind and I will wonder if there will be many of the old, old friends present.
FROM REV. ANSON J. UPSON, GLENS FALLS, N. Y.
In my boyhood that part of the town of Westmoreland where the descendants of the late Judge Deane still reside, was a paradise to me. There I spent many a happy summer and winter day. In driving from Utica, in those days, we passed through what was then the pleasant village of
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Hampton. I am glad you have changed the name and taken that of your native township. In my youth your old church was a landmark, and even then a venerable building, but far less attractive than your present house of worship. Yet I remember that the worshippers of those days, many of whom, like the Deanes, drove miles to the services did not suffer for the lack of light or fresh air. In later years, while a professor in Hamilton College, it was my privilege to deliver literary lectures and to preach frequently to your people. The audiences which gathered in your comfortable church were remarkable for their intelligence and, as I re- member them, for their patience. I wish I could recollect the names of all whose faces I so well remember; the gen- tle, faithful Deacon Brown, and Mr. Allen, and many others who are now worshipping in a temple not built with hands. To Dr. Beckwith and others, still living, I am indebted for many courteous attentions. How many able, faithful pas- tors have been the instructors of your people and have broken for you the bread of life ! What a roll of honor it is! The name of James Eells would be a jewel among the treasures of any parish. His distinguished son, the late James Eells, professor in Lane Seminary, was born, I be- lieve, in your parsonage. Franklin Spencer, that Boanerges in the pulpit, was not as gentle as the Apostle John, yet. you had the utmost confidence in him, for you knew him to be as sincere and true in his convictions, in his word and in his work as the author of the fourth Gospel. It may not be quite becoming for me to speak with freedom of my brother James Deane, still living, but in my judgment, you never had a minister more thoughtful, intelligent, wise and faithful to your best in- terest than he. Since my compulsory banishment from Oneida County, I have known less of your ministers and your people, but, from time to time, I have rejoiced in the evidences of your continued prosperity. It is my earnest hope and prayer that the second century of your history may be ever more spiritually and temporally prosperous than the one just closed.
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FROM REV. JAMES EELLS, ENGLEWOOD, N. J.
The church to which my grandfather ministered for twenty-one years (1804-1825) the church in whose seats my uncles and father sat as weary, yet brave little boys, during grandfather's seventeenthly, and improvement; the church with a history such as yours of usefulness to men, and praise to God ; surely such a church is worthy of all vener- ation and tenderest love. A full, round century of power and prayer ; a glorious congregation of those who have gone before joining with the congregation of those who wait for the "little while" to be accomplished ; heaven and earth linked together in the bonds of kindred and love. Yours is a magnificent privilege in being able thus to cele- brate the Centennial Day. I give you and the church heart- iest greeting. God bless you for the closing century, and in the blessing fit you for nobler years, and more consecrat- ed, yet to come.
[This Rev. James Eells was the son of James Eells, D. D., who was the son of Rev James Eells, who was the son of Rev. James Fells, who was the son of Rev. Edward Eells, who was the son of Rev. Nathaniel Eells, who was the son of Rev. Nathaniel Eells, a graduate of Harvard in 1696, and pastor during life of the Presbyterian Church in Scituate, Mass.]
FROM REV. L. A. SAWYER.
I send you an outline of my pastorate in Westmoreland. I visited the church as a candidate and preached my first sermons on the 8th and 15th of October, 1854. I received a call to settle with you, and I immediately brought on my family and entered on pastoral duties, but was not installed till Feb. 7th, 1855. Rev. Simeon North, D. D., of Hamilton College, preached the sermon. Rev. Dr. Vermilye, then pastor of the church at Clinton, made the installing prayer. Rev. Mr. Pratt, pastor of the church at Madison, presided . and charged the people, and gave the right hand of fellow- ship to the pastor, and Rev. Mr. Brace, Presbyterian minis- ter from Utica, charged the pastor. I have no remembrance of ever witnessing more impressive services than were those of that occasion. I labored with the church at Westmore- land five years, until the fall of 1858, when I was at my re-
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quest dismissed from my charge and from the Association, but my sincere affection for that charge and for the Asso- ciation has in all these years suffered no decline.
FROM MRS. F. A.SPENCER, ADRIAN, MICH.
To my husband, whose form lies in your quiet cemetery, no place was dearer than Westmoreland, and no church held so large a place in his affections and his prayers. Al- most the last office that he performed was to attend the burial service of one of the older members of the church, coming home weary, and feeling that the time would be short when he, too, should be laid to rest in the same place of repose.
For the sake of your dear mother, who was always a val- ued friend, and many others who hold a warm place in my memory, the church of Westmoreland will always be a sacred spot.
FROM REV. L. J. SAWYER, AMSTERDAM, N. Y.
For about four years I was a member of the Congrega- tional Church at Westmoreland; that was thirty-six years ago. When my father moved from Sacketts Harbor to Hampton I was living in Toledo, O. In December, 1854, I returned home to Hampton, and spent nearly two years in preparation for college at the school, then taught by Rev. Mr. Moody, at the Spring House. Those days shine in memory with the wondrous light and beauty of youth. Shortly after my coming to Hampton a gentleman by the name of Curry became chorister. At that time the church owned a parsonage and a few acres of land across the creek, and on the lower corner of the lot was a small cottage where a worthy old man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. White, lived. Having survived friends and relatives and become infirm they waited patiently for the summons that should bid them enter into the joy of their Lord. During father's pas- torate there occurred the struggle in Kansas to determine whether that state should be a slave state or a free state.
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At one of these conflicts between free state and pro-slavery . parties, John Brown's son was killed, and father preached a sermon one Sabbath morning defending John Brown, and denouncing what was called "border ruffianism." On the following Monday morning a committee called at our house and requested that the address be written out and given to them for publication, which was accordingly done. In think- ing of these days some names of friends connected with the church come to mind. Deacons Bishop, Townsend, Bliss and families, Drs. Loomis, Hardin, Halleck and families, Mr. Patton and family, several families of Clarks, and others whose names are not in my memory at this moment. The relations between the church at Hamp- ton and my father were of the most endearing kind. No harsh words were ever spoken by either party to mar the friend- ship which should bind pastor and people together as one family in Christ Jesus. And to-day you are assembled to remember the past century and look forward to the future. For one hundred years has the gospel been proclaimed from this centre of spiritual influence. How much of the joy and sorrow does this period of time witness in every fam- ily. The young grow old and enter into rest and their chil- dren's children meet here to-day. The years come and go and the centuries are numbered into eternity of the past, but the Christian church holds its appointed place in earth, and in heaven the same family of the redeemed.
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