USA > New York > Chenango County > Norwich > History of the first one hundred years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York, 1814-1914 > Part 16
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just the same as he did at the former meeting. Mrs. Mitchell played the organ, as she had done at the former assemblage. There was a very large attend- ance; but thanks to Mr. Scoville, we still had a church big enough to hold them-an audience room with ample capacity; and open homes and cordial open hearts enough to entertain them royally, so that every one of the large delegation was comfortably housed and abundantly fed, so everybody was full of good cheer and every face wore a smile. Not by any means least of the pleasure evident all through the large gathering was the marked smoothness with which the convention was run. Mr. Klock was the moving spirit in the prep- arations of the details. He had done a great amount of very hard work in making ready. Everything was thoroughly worked out before the convention as- sembled; and he was everywhere watching with the precision of a general every detail. Indeed, the ab- sence of any jar in the machinery was so evident that a delegate put it very patly when he said: " It runs just like Klock work."
Thursday evening, as a fitting close to the con- vention, which had given so much pleasure to all, the service opened with an organ recital by Mrs. Mitchell; then by an address by Dr. Lyman Abbott, and closing with a Communion service led by Rev. Edson Rogers of Cincinnatus, N. Y. He was a very close friend of Mr. Scoville and had been the pastor of the Congre- grational Church at that village for many years.
June 17, 1900, Mr. Klock gave notice that he had given his resignation to the trustees to take effect July 1. On that day, being Sunday, the usual Com- munion was held and one new member was received. In the evening was a union meeting at which Mr. Klock preached his farewell sermon. At the close many took him by the hand and said "Good-bye, and God bless you." He left town Tuesday morning, July 3. Mrs.
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Klock had gone to the Vermont home some days be- fore. Mr. T. D. Miller met Mr. Klock at the train and as he said " Good-bye," handed him an envelope con- taining $60.00 in gold. He was very much surprised and could only say " thank you."
Mr. Klock was born March 28, 1862; and a few days later baptized. January 13, 1891, he married Miss Minnie Laselle Stafford. She was born June 18, 1863. He united with this church by letter from Con- gregational Church, Middlebury, Vt., and she from the Congregational Church, Wallingford, Vt. They took letters from this church to the church in Walling- ford, but they went from here to North Stonington, Conn., and Mr. Klock became the pastor of the Con- gregational Church at that place.
Their first child, a son, was born a few weeks after they were settled at North Stonington. He is preach- ing now in Bristol, Vt.
REV. DANIEL WEAVER DEXTER.
July 2, 1900-and again the church faces the prob- lem of securing a new pastor. Again a committee was elected, and the pulpit was supplied from Sunday to Sunday. One of the supplies was Rev. Samuel Sco- ville, September 23. He preached at morning service. The evening was a Union service, but Mr. Scoville preached, The service was given this form so that all the people could hear Mr. Scoville once again.
Rev. Mrs. Annis Ford Eastman from Elmira occu- pied the pulpit November, 11.
The plan of " candidating " adopted by the com- mittee, worked the same as it has so many times be- fore whenever it had been tried-out of the long list of men four finally gave promise of being available; but the committee was at loggerheads. The four were entertained by four different members of the commit- tee and each of the four were very much in favor of
REV. DANIEL WEAVER DEXTER. The Eighteenth Pastor of First Congregational Church, Norwich, N. Y., 1901-1907.
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the man he entertained and would not vote for any- one else-" and there you are." Several meetings were held and "nothin' doin'." One of the four finally had grace enough in his heart to realize that he was wrong; so he moved that they wipe off the slate and start on a new tack. This caused quite a good deal of discussion, which ended in a unanimous vote in favor of the idea. It was rather hard on the four ministers; who were to all appearances available men, who would have made good pastors; but it was the only way out of the dilemna. It had to be done; but the committee had learned something by experience.
Well toward January 1, 1901, someone heard of a 2ª young man whose home was in Elmira, the son of a banker who had been Judge and Surrogate of Che- mung County. The young man had been thoroughly educated and had not yet been ordained. He was invited to take charge of the church for the month of January. He at once answered that he would come. He was soon on the ground. As the days went along the interest in the young man grew ; and he made a place for himself; and by the time that the close of his en- gagement drew near the church voted him a call to be the pastor. He accepted and at once began to plan for the ordination. A council was called to meet March 19, 1901, at which Mr. Scoville and Dr. Taylor were in- vited Rev. Samuel Eastman, the young man's pas- tor in Elmira, was invited to officiate at Communion February 1, postponed from January 1. He came and the young man assisted,. Mr. Eastman preached a short sermon.
This young man was Daniel Weaver Dexter, son of Judge Seymour Dexter, who was a banker of El- mira, who has since died. The family were very excel- lent people.
It was rather a singular circumstance that just at the beginning of bis pastorate, three funerals occurred
First Congregational Church History
of members of this church. He officiated at them all. Sunday, January 27, introductory to his sermon, he made a formal acceptance of the pastorate and said he had no form of theology to introduce, but should, like Paul, preach Christ and Him crucified.
March 19, the council convened at the church at 3 P. M. and at once organized for work. Mr. Dexter was called on for a statement of his religious experi- ence, his purpose in entering the ministry and his theological belief. He thereupon read a paper he had prepared, which was so clear, concise and compre- hensive that Dr. Taylor, when asked by the Moderator if he had any questions to ask, said: " There are no questions to ask; Mr. Dexter has covered the whole ground." Two or three perfunctory questions were, however, asked, but they were really of no import- ance, and the council withdrew for consultation; re- turning in a short time with a unanimous acceptance of Mr. Dexter's statement and a recommendation to ordination. The ordination occurred in the evening.
The service opened with music by Mrs. Mitchell and the choir. Sermon by Dr. Taylor. Invocation by Dr. Chambers. Ordination by Mr. Scoville. Charge to the pastor by Mr. Tweedy. Charge to the people by Mr. Scoville and benediction by Mr. Dexter.
At the close of the afternoon session, the ladies of the church gave a bountiful lunch to the council and some others.
Rev. Daniel Weaver Dexter was born in Elmira, N. Y., March 12, 1872. His parents were Judge Sey- mour Dexter and Mrs. Ella (Weaver) Dexter. Judge Dexter died May 5, 1904. The son was baptized in Park Church in Elmira by Rev. Thomas . K. Beecher. He does not know when conversion came, but he united with Park Congregational Church about 1892. He entered Princeton College in the fall of 1891. He grad- uated in 1895, and was a graduate student, 1895-6. He
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entered Chicago Theological Seminary and studied there about two years and a half and left to attend duties of a new church at Port Washington, Wis. He was there in 1898-1899. June 24, 1899, he went to Europe. While there studied in the Universities of Berlin and Marburg, one semister in each. Returned in August, 1900, and was licensed to preach, first, by Chicago Seminary and, second, by Susquehanna Association of New York, October, 1900. Came to Norwich January 1, 1901.
He married Miss Nellie Edna Johnson, daughter of Mrs. Lorezno R. Johnson, in Elmira, N. Y. They returned to Norwich from their wedding tour, August 31, 1903, and began living in the parsonage September 1. September 4, a reception was given them. Edward S. Moore made an address of welcome and presented them with a purse of $150.00 in gold, as a wedding present. A daughter, Dorothy, was born to them June 4, 1904; and a son, December 29, 1905.
June 19, 1904, the 90th anniversary of the church · was celebrated.
November 6, 1904, an individual Communion set was first used, given as a memorial in honor of Deacon James McCaw, who died May 28, 1902. It was pre- sented by his children, Robert McCaw, Mrs. Mary Ann (McCaw) Reed; Miss Agnes McCaw and William James McCaw. Since that time the set has been doing good service in the Communion services in the church and much enjoyed by the communicants. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed at the annual meeting November 15. At this meeting there was no auction at the checking of seats for 1905. They were taken at the appraisal.
April 21, 1907, the pastor, Mr. Dexter, read his resig- nation of the pastorate to take effect August 1. July 28 he preached his farewell sermon.
It is somewhat remakarble the number of deaths
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which occurred during the last year of Mr. Dexter's pastorate among the men and women who had been very prominent in the work of this church. Mr. Upton died November 20, 1901, aged almost 50; Mrs. Matilda M. Mair died January 20, 1902, aged 76; Mrs. Gertrude L. D. Johnson died January 31, 1902, aged 59; Mrs. Isabella Cowan died February 18, aged 81; Rev. Samuel Scoville died April 15, aged 67; Deacon James McCaw died May 28, aged 85; Mrs. Julia A. B. Lewis died August 7, aged 65; Deacon Emory L. Smith died September 12 aged 60; Rev. Edward Taylor, D. D., died November 4, aged 81; Gregory Wick died November 13, aged 40; and Mrs. Julia Frances (Foote) Thompson died December 12, aged 88-three of the best known pastors; two of the best known deacons; two of the best known Sunday school workrs. Added to these losses was the resignation of the then pastor, Mr. Dexter.
One of the very important events which transpired during Mr. Dexter's pastorate was the death of Mr. Scoville, which took place at the Presbyterian Hospital, Philadelphia, April 15, 1902, at about 9 p. m., as stated above. He had been for about a year assistant pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, the church which his renowned father-in-law had built up by his great name, and which the son-inlaw was entirely familiar with and had a very great affection for; he therefore put all his energy and heart and soul into the work; and, too, it was work that he loved better than anything else he could do-helping the helpless, visiting and comforting the sick and afflicted; being strength for the weak-in a word being a father to everybody. When he was young he could have done it without overstrain; but a man at 67 has not the physical strength nor endurance which he had at 40; but he would not give up until dis- ease fastened upon him. In his weakened condition there was not much to build on. He had waited too
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long. The time for help had gone by "and he was not, for God took him."
In the evening of the same day that the news came by wire, the Prudential committee of this church with the trustees, met in Mr. Newton's office, appointed a committee on resolutions and a commitee of three-T. D. Miller, C. R. Johnson and W. P. Chapman, to attend the funeral to be held in Plymouth Church, Thursday evening at 8 o'clock. The committee attended and were given seats with the family. The pastor, Rev. Dr. Hillis took charge of the services, which were held in the large audience room, which was filled. The rela- tives and delegates assembled in the lecture room and marched in and were seated in the front pews just back of the casket. Gen. Horatio King played the organ and a selected choir sang hymns which were favorites of Mr. Scoville. Dr. Hillis spoke about five minutes, giving a most beautiful tribute to " Dr. Scoville," as he called him. I thought it would be in the papers next day, but none of them gave it. They all had columns about the funeral and Mr. Scoville, but they all failed to get that. I wrote Mr. Hillis, with also the help of Dr. Raymond, but as it was entirely extemporaneous he could not recall enough of it to write it out.
He introduced Dr. Raymond who gave a very excel- lent address which is given in this volume as part of the Memorial, which will be explained later.
The body next day was taken to Stamford, where a second funeral was held in the large Congregational Church in which he had preached for over 20 years and was filled to overflowing with people of all denomina- tions and of no denominations by whom he was known and loved.
The body was then taken to West Cornwall, where he was born, where the third funeral was held, at which the people from all the county-side flocked to pay honor to him whom they loved and revered. He was buried
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in the country cemetery by the side of his father and mother and others of the family; and to which I sent later the remains of his three children who died in Norwich.
In Norwich, November 20, at Sunday morning serv- ice, the pastor, Mr. Dexter, read a memorial, written by E. S. Moore and reported from the committee ap- pointed April 16. After the reading it was adopted by a rising vote. This was followed by a sermon by the pastor suggested by the life of Mr. Scoville.
In the evening a Union meeting was held in the Congregational Church. The firemen were present in a body. Mr. Albert Cary, with whom Mr. Scoville formed a very intimate acquaintance almost as soon as he began his pastorate in Nowich, and for whose remarkable voice he had great admiration, acted as precentor and Mrs. C. B. Chapman was at the organ. As the firemen entered Mrs. Chapman played " The Dead March in Saul," by Handel, and the choir opened the service with "Come Ye Disconsolate," one of Mr. Scoville's favorite hymns. The various pastors of the village assisted in the services as did also George A. Thomas, John H. Hicks, W. P. Chap- man and Judge A. F. Gladding. Mr. Thomas offered a preamble and resolutions of respect and love from the people of Norwich, which were adopted by a rising vote by the audience which filled every available space in the great auditorium.
After Mr. Scoville became assistant pastor of Ply- mouth Church, Dr. Newton Dwight Hillis, the pastor, became better acquainted with him and came to have a very great admiration for him; and a very warm friendship sprang up between them, which Dr. Hillis was not slow to emphasize on all occasions. At some meeting of the officials, Dr. Hillis spoke several times of " Dr. Scoville." Finally some one said "Mr. Sco- ville is not a D. D. He has no title." Dr. Hillis in-
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stantly replied: " He ought to have one;" and from that time he called him " Dr. Scoville."
After the funerals were all past, I suggested at a meeting of the prudential committee that the four "churches unite in a small volume containing sketches of Mr. Scoville's work in each church, written by some one in each church, be printed and distributed in each church as a memorial of him. The idea met with the favor of the committee; and the matter was placed in my hands as clerk to propose to the other churches and if it met with their approval, to carry it out. They all reported as pleased with the suggestion and would gladly do their part.
In the course of a year the articles from the four churches were ready. Dr. Raymond was to see to the publication and Samuel Scoville, Jr., was to be. the editor and write a sketch of his father's early life. About that time Dr. Raymond was attacked with a nervous breakdown which laid him aside for months; and Mr. Scoville, Jr., was also unable to do much because of the serious illness of his son, who after a long and painful period of disease, died. These and similar causes have compelled the postponement of the publication of the book. It has, therefore, been thought best to print the Memorial in part as the last pages of this history.
From an hundred years of experience this church has demonstrated that there is no ideal way in Con- gregational polity for selecting a pastor. Burns says: " The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us naught but grief an' pain, For promised joy."
No two churches, people, organizations of any kind are alike, or do things in the same way; and it is foolish to try to; but this church has found out-and it has plenty of company-that the worst way to
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choose a pastor is to bring into the pulpit a lot of candidates of whom nothing is known and expect to select one from the lot who will be satisfactory. There will be almost as many cliques as candidates and no possibility of uniting on any one. Neither is it necessary absolutely to unite on a man. A fair sized minority may be a good thing. It will put the pastor on his metal.
The church has had nineteen regular pastors; and about five supplies, one of the latter staying about three years-the average length of the pastorates being not over four years and some of them much less than that. As a business man once said about taking a partner, " It is just like taking a wife; you take them for better or for ' worser,'" and that is just about what it is to take a pastor; and it is easier to take him than to untake him.
The last effort of this church in that line resulted well, however. The committee was made up of men such as are usually selected for that duty; but was unique in having one man on it who was a doctor of divinity; who from physical ailments was unable to take a pastorate. He had been in a bank, preaching occasionally; and worshiped in pew the rest of the time; so he had had experience at both ends of the line.
The committee first quietly got a list of men whom they were satisfied would measure up to what they thought would satisfy the church; then sent members of the committee to hear them and quietly investigate and report to the committee confidentially. If there was a reasonable prospect of success the man was investigated more carefully. Further investi- gation in this case only confirmed the expectation of the committee and a unanimous vote made it their duty to invite Mr. Allen to occupy the pulpit Octo- ber 3, 1907. He came and preached morning and
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evening. The next Sunday the committee, at a meet- ing of the church and society, reported that the com- mittee was unanimous in favor of Mr. Allen and requested the church to call him to the pastorate. The vote was unanimous. The call was sent and ac- cepted and Mr. Allen began the pastorate November 16. His family consisted of his wife and a daughter five years old.
Sunday the pastor preached in the morning. The, evening was a Union meeting in the Methodist Church. Wednesday evening a reception was given at the church for the pastor and family. It was very largely attended and a very enjoyable time.
Mr. Allen soon got hold of the reins and things began to run smoothly again; and no fault found with the pastor.
REV. PAUL RILEY ALLEN.
Mr. Allen was born on a farm in Lansingville, Tompkins county, N. Y. His father was born in Dry- den, February, 1838, and his mother in Lansing, Sep- tember, 1836. Mr. Allen was the son of George F. and Julia (Bower) Allen. They are now living in Slaterville Springs, where they have lived since they retired from the farm. All of these villages are in Tompkins County, the second county west of Chen- ango, and in the northern part of the county, near Cayuga Lake.
Mr. Allen attended the High schools of both Groton and Dryden and went from there to Cazenovia Sem- inary. He cannot tell when he was converted any nearer than Deacon Chapman can; which shows the character of the home in which he was reared. He united with the Methodist Church when he was about 14 years old. Up to the time that he went away to college his only occupation was helping his father on
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the farm after he was 12, for he was a healthy, strong boy and rather large for his age.
He studied in New York University; was graduated from Drew Theological Seminary in 1902; took post- graduate work in Philosophy and Literature in New York University and Hartford Theological Seminary.
He felt early in life that he ought to preach, but was not willing to make it a vocation, so fought against the call for some years, intending to graduate from Cornell and study medicine with his uncle, who was a physician in Ithaca, and so make the practice of medicine his life work. But this did not seem to open up in a way that was possible for him to enter the profession. He turned then to the law, but with no better success, for he soon found that an embargo was placed on that also; so he gave up the fight, with his mind fully made up to become a preacher; and he says: " When that decision was finally made things began to come my way." This experience he is fully convinced was his "call to preach." Call it sentiment or even hallucination, if you will, but men do have such experiences-a call to preach; and no amount of will power changes the mental force which drives the one to whom it comes to the attainment of the end sought. When the call comes and is accepted, success is sure, at least in the amount of good one can accomplish.
June 21, 1899, he married Miss Annie Barbara Parker, in Coventryville, Chenango County. She was the daughter of Peter H. and Addie (Pearsall) Parker. Mr. Parker was a lumberman. She was born June 2, 1857. They had one child, Elizabeth, born 1902.
During the three years of his college course he had preached regularly at Newark, N. J., and at East Moriches, on the shore of Great South Bay, Long Island. Later in 1902, he was called to the Congrega-
REV PAUL RILEY ALLEN. The Nineteenth Pastor of First Congregational Church, Norwich, N. Y., 1907.
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tional Church at Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., and was ordained there in December by a Congre- gational Council. His first sermon was preached at Ludlowville, Tompkins County, near his home and in the same church in which Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler's first sermon was preached.
In 1904 he became pastor of the Congregational Church at Corning, N. Y. It was there that the com- mittee from the Norwich church found him. Prof. B. C. Van Ingen for the committee went there and spent a Sunday; heard him preach and made inquiries; returned and reported to the committee and the call ensued of course.
Mr. Allen had been connected with the Hudson River Association from 1902 to 1904; with the Susque- hanna Association, 1904 to 1907; and joined the O. C. & D. Association soon after coming to Norwich. He is now chairman of the Home Missionary Com- mittee; official representative of the Church Build- ing Society, and registrar of O. C. & D. Association. He is also trustee of the Congregational Ministers' Aid Fund; and a member of the the State Committee on Evangelism. He has twice been a delegate from O. C. & D. Association to the National Council.
Early in the Spring of 1910 Mrs. Allen's health became impaired and she steadily grew worse, and later was found to be incurable. It resulted in her death April 4, at the age of nearly 35. She was buried in Coventryville, near her old home. She had made many friends in Norwich and had made herself very useful, not only as a great help to her family and in her husband's work in the church, but had made a place all her own in the women's work in the church, by her efficiency and her gentleness and her cheerful dis- position. " None knew her but to praise."
One of the very important incidents of Mr. Allen's pastorate was the repairs and radical changes in the
.
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interior of the church building made in the summer of 1910. While some opposed the changes-now that they are an accomplished fact, it is conceeded by all to have been a very wise and necessary proposition. With seven churches in the village, the seating capac- ity was much too large, so that it took a " Union meet- ing " to kindle much " Spiritual Glow." The pastor very soon realized this and after he had put the feel- ing into words the Prudential committee and trustees began to realize also and there was very little argu- ment used against it.
Early in 1911 the pastor came to realize that there was a great need of a wife in the parsonage, not only for himself, but for his work. He felt the need of the home life, which a man is powerless to create. After some months of careful thought the announcement was made that an engagement had been made between Miss Gertrude Hicks and Pastor Allen, which, later, brought about the marriage, July 26. Miss Gertrude was the daughter of Judge John H. and Flora H. Hicks, at 22 Front street, Norwich.
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