USA > New York > Chenango County > Norwich > History of the first one hundred years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York, 1814-1914 > Part 4
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greatly. Then, whenever I went to the meeting, I led the singing and I often went solely to do this. But the church members got into a discussion whether it was right for any one to sing in meeting who was not con- verted and had not joined the church, and I gave it up. I felt that it was right for me to sing in the woods and fields, under the open canopy of Heaven, in the pres- ence of all created and uncreated beings, and I could not see how it could be wrong for me to sing in a meeting house to a few Presbyterians."
"We were never controlled in the least by the man we worked for. I often strolled away quietly and down by the Chenango-a beautiful river and flowing through the sweet valley in which the village of Norwich stood -in the meadows on its banks; under large apple trees scattered here and there that were planted by the In- dians. Sometimes others of the young lads were with me and we bathed in the clear river. We picked berries, ate apples, laughed, sang, and inhaled the sweet pure air of heaven after a week's work in the shop. In about eighteen months after entering the shop, I could do my day's work by the middle of the afternoon. Then I used to put away my work, wash and go to my room and read or study." (He studied grammar, geography, astronomy and history.) "Mr. Bright, seeing me su fond of reading history, bought me a fine edition and gave it to me." (The milk of human kindness was the food of some of these early pioneers most assuredly.) " Mrs. Bright was a truly good woman. Her religion being a principle of her daily life, governing her feel- ings and her practice. An old woman by the name of Snow used to visit her." (This was Mrs. Elizabeth Snow, mother of Mrs. John Randall. She was then not quite 50, but she probably seemed old to the young man.) " She was a kind of mother to all in the pretty village, having seen it spring up amid the wilderness, herself being one of the first settlers. She knew every-
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body and everybody knew and loved her. She could tell the history of the past, when few besides Indians dwelt in the borders of the Chenango River, and fished in its waters. I used to love to meet that kind Christian woman and hear her talk. She used to ask permission for me to come into the house that she might talk with me; and as much as I dreaded to have others talk to me about my soul, I was ever glad to hear her talk about anything. She spoke so kindly, so sweetly that it was pleasant to hear her. There was no awful holy manner, tone or look about her; no affectation, no sol- emn grimace, no making up religious faces at me; but she just entered into my feelings and answered my questions kindly and naturally, without any solemn and ominous shake of the head. She had much to say about the Bible; and though I had been taught to believe every chapter and verse of it to be the word of God, yet, I used to ask her how she knew it was? Her only answer was, ' I know it is for I feel that it is.' (A bit of Bergson philosophy born in the thought of this saintly woman nearly a half century before he was born.) When I asked her how she knew there was a God and another state of existence her ever ready and ever positive and only answer was, ' I know there is a future state and a God because I am conscious of it.' When I used to tell her that her feelings could be no evidence to me, she would ask me, "Do you not feel the same evidence that there is a God and a future state that you have of your own existence? I do, she would say, and can no more doubt the one than the other.' To this argument I could never find an answer. That kindly and truly Christian woman taught me many good things. She would insist that her consciousness was sufficient evidence to her of the truth and power of Christianity, and that if I ever felt that truth and power, then my feelings would become evidence to me. She used to urge me to read for myself the Bible,
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which I promised on one occasion to do, from beginning to end."
" My acquaintance with her is a bright sunny spot in my mental horizon, so far as my mind has been exer- cised on points of theology. She directed me in fact to religion as a living principle in the soul-to God as an ever present, ever controlling guide to my youth- taught me to look to Him as a little child to a father. The spirit embodied in that woman seemed inex- pressibly lovely to me and I could not but wish that it might be mine." Mr. Wright continues : " I come to an important period, (I was at this time twenty years of age) a revival in the winter of 1817. A Presbyterian Church had been organized in the village (See pp 14 and 18.) Having no minister to do their work, they used to do their own singing and praying and preach- ing. Rev. John Truair, pastor at the Sherburne Con- gregational Church, was invited to spend a few weeks among them as an evangelist. He was an extraordinary man, middle aged, tall and erect, with piercing black eyes, foppish in his dress and manner, and had a habit of playing with his watch key and seal while preaching and praying. He was a man of stern brow, emphatic and determined tone of voice and thoroughly versed in the art of moving the feelings and producing an excitement in society. This man came, began to hold meetings; to sing, pray and preach; to go from house to house visiting families, talking to every individual about his or her soul and praying with them. Soon
rumor said that a revival had begun. The minister assured the people who flocked to hear his eloquence that " The Lord was about to visit that village and to gather into his fold the elect." This announcement had a startling effect, and led to the inquiry among many, ' Who are the elect ?' and many made up their minds to be among the chosen ones. Meetings were multiplied; praying and singing were more frequent and energetic; exhortations and appeals to the unconverted were more
REV. JOHN TRUAIR. Who was Pastor of First Congregational Church in Sherburne, N. Y., 1815-1820. He Conducted the Norwich Church during the Revival of 1817 and Preached the Dedica- tion Sermon July 16, 1816.
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earnest. Soon it was rumored about that this one and that one were under 'distress of mind' and people were asked in public to pray for them. Notes were pre- sented by individuals to the minister asking him and the church to pray for an unconverted relative or friend. These notes were read and commented on by the minister and all would be urged to put up prayers for such persons. Prayer and conference meetings and family visitations were multiplied. The excite- ment soon extended through the village and the sur- rounding neighborhoods. There was not a family or an individual that was not more or less moved by that excitement to approve or oppose. Converts began to appear. It was made public that such and such per- sons had found or experienced religion. It was expected that those who had been 'brought out' would at once bear witness to the fact by rising up in a prayer or conference meeting, tell their experience, make an exhortation to their old companions, telling them they could go no more with then that they had chosen a portion with the people of God.
Mr .Truair had been installed over the First Con- gregational Church of Sherburne, July 5, 1815, and was its third pastor. The Norwich Church was then a year old. It rather seemed to look upon Mr. Truair as a: sort of pastor at large of the church, for he came down quite often after the dedica- tion, at which he preached the dedicatory sermon; and when the signs of the revival of 1817 became noticeable, he was the one to whom the church turned for leadership. He had a good deal of native talent; but was educated only to the extent of the common school and Academy. He had, however, studied in them very persistently and had by sheer energy and will power gotton all that was possible out of them- then he took to preaching.
His father was a Spaniard and landed on the shores
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of America when not much more than a boy and owing the money for his passage; so that he was sold (as the custom was) for a time until it should be paid. This occurred probably not far from 1760 to 1770. The son was presumably about 30 when he came to Sher- burne.
During 1816 about 100 were added to the church; and in 1819-20 about 100 more. He left in 1820.
"From the first arrival of John Truair in town I had been greatly taken with the man, though I had not formed any personal acquaintance with him, nor did I wish to do it; yet I was spellbound by his preaching and praying before I had a thought of applying what he said to my own case. In his crowded meetings in the evenings, in private dwellings, or in schoolhouses, I used to get behind all others in some dark corner, where no one could be witness to my interest, and there I would sit completely fascinated as I heard the man pour forth his prayers and preachings. Often I felt overcome by them, but concealed my emotion lest I should be thought to be ' under distress of mind.' Converts soon began to appear. I conducted the sing- ing in the meetings when I was present. This I greatly enjoyed. Most rousing hymns were given out and I used to sing them to the most exciting tunes, so that the effect of the singing was not much less on the people assembled than the preaching and praying. The revival had come down on the whole village and was sweeping over it like a whirlwind. Nothing else was talked of. All amusements among the young people were aband- oned and the whole village flocked to the exciting scenes of the prayer and conference meeting. I certainly partook of that excitement in no ordinary degree. The man must have been of more than Indian hardihood and self-possession not to have been excited. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and yet there were times when it was not all enjoyment; but at first it was my enjoy-
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ment in seeing a whole community thoroughly aroused; in seeing them look, speak and act in earnest, as if urged forward by some irresistible impulse to the accomplishment of some great end. I could not have made merry with that scene; I did not wish to have it cease; the whole town was terribly in earnest in the pursuit of something which they deemed worthy to call forth their mightiest energies. The excitement went on rather increasing than diminishing. Several of the leading men and women of the village had been con- victed and converted. The conversion of a sedate, influential lawyer" (It was David Buttolph.) " was announced. I was at the meeting when he first made known the fact and gave a short exhortation. This ' brought out' others 'under distress of mind.' " After several weeks of distress of mind, the exercises of which he narrates, he was brought out, told his experi- ence and was happy.
He then relates this incident: "Several young men in the place were determined to arrest the excitement. To this end they set on foot a ball. They made great efforts; bespoke the best hall in the place; engaged a famous musician to do the fiddling; issued their cards; prepared for their supper and intended to have a splen- did dance. The evening came and the fiddler, but there were few dancers, male or female. There had been a powerful excitement about the ball among those who sympathized with the revival. Their zeal became bolder and more intense than ever. The minister gave one of his most terrible sermons against it, as an atheistical design (as he expressed it) ' to drive the Lord away from Norwich.' A meeting was appointed the evening of the ball and near where it was to be, in order that those who chose might have an opportunity to plead with the Deity not to gratify the wishes of the impious dancers by leaving the place. The young con- verts caught up the cry put forth by the minister, that
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those who got up the ball were seeking to 'drive the Lord away from the village.' So the prayer meeting was pitted against the ball-the latter to drive the Lord away and the former to keep him there; and when it was known how signally the ball had failed, the remark was made that the dancers had found the Lord too strong for them."
About this time, Mr. Wright says, he went to visit his brother in Pennslyvania and returned at the end of three weeks. He then writes: " When I returned to Norwich, the excitement had subsided greatly. The different churches were gathering in the new converts. I found the village calm. Meetings were continued, but nobody seemed excited; all were engaged in their employments as if nothing had happened. Soon after my return I ' came forward,' as it was called, to join the church. A meeting was to be held to examine can- didates for admission to The Presbyterian Church. Over sixty came forward, myself among the rest. There I again told my story of my conversion and detailed the process through which I had passed. I was accepted with the rest on condition of my declaring my belief in all the tenets put forth in the Westminster Catechism. The minister, elders, deacons and members were satis- fied. I was, with the rest, formally propounded to be admitted; and a few Sundays after, we were all taken into the church." This was done January 19, 1817. Mr. Wright continues the story in a letter to his father on that date :
" It is with great satisfaction I now relate, and it will undoubtedly be a great consolation to you to learn what God has done for your son. It gives me heartfelt pleasure to inform you that this day there has been about fifty converts admitted into the Presbyterian Church-the most part of them young people from the ages of twelve to twenty-four. Last Sabbath (January 12, 1817) there were about thirty taken in the Baptist
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Church, of which Elder Jedediah Randall has the care. There is no settled Presbyterian minister in this place, but Rev. John Truair, pastor of the First Con- gregational Church of Sherburne has been with us here for several weeks, in which time there have been meet- ings held two or three times a week, and conferences held almost every night in the week, and the general inquiry is: ' What shall I do to inherit eternal life!' I have seen no records showing what part Elder Randall and the Baptist church took in this revival; but they must have had something to do with it, from what Mr. Wright says above; also the Norwich Journal of January 15, says that on the date above " Elder Ferris of that church baptized thirty-three."
Elder Ferris was pastor at Plymouth and had come down to assist Elder Randall who had an injury to his arm so could not baptize any one.
Mr. Wright then finishes his story: " About three months after I had put myself under the watch and care of a Presbyterian Church, business being dull, Mr. Bright wished to reduce the number of appren- tices; so four of us at once made known to him our willingness to leave. I spent an evening with many of those who had been subjects of the revival. Once more we sang and prayed together and interchanged our thoughts and feelings, pledging our- selves to one another and to God, to be true and faith- ful to our allegiance to Him. But, alas! how soon were these pledges forgotten by some. Some four months afterward I returned to the place on a visit, and on inquiry found that several of those who were the most zealous in praying, exhorting and singing during the revival; and who had bid fairest to be bright and shining lights in the church, had gone far astray and had become tenfold more the children of evil than they were before. I spent an evening with my fellow ap- prentices. I was to leave next day. The next day I
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started off, accompanied a short way by Mr. Bright. He entered into conversation with me on religious matters in reference to himself. He said that the future was all dark to him and that he had little com- fort in looking at it; encouraged me to perserve in the straightforward and honest course I had pursued with him, and when he parted from me he asked me to forget and forgive any illtemper or unkindness he had ever shown me. The tears were in his eyes. We parted and I have never seen him since."
Young Wright went to his father's in Hartwick, and to a school for six months, taught by Isaac Col- lins, late a well-known citizen of Norwich. He then went out to find work as a hatter, intending to save his money and start a business of his own; but he found no work. So he went home and decided to study for the ministry. This was in the fall and winter of 1817-18.
David G. Bright did not become a member of the church, but Mrs. Rachel Bright, his wife, united with the church, November 4, 1815, so that Mr. Bright was a member of the society and was elected a trustee in 1817. He had a good business and was in good circum- stances. He was a very sociable man and very well thought of in the village. Like all very large men he was very kind-hearted, very jolly and good natured, very companionable and always laughing at the many jokes by himself and everybody else aimed at his obesity. The revival did not " bring him out," although, from Mr. Wright's narrative, we can see evi- dence that he had some " distress of mind;" but this did not bring definite results.
In 1820, he sold his business to David Grif- fing, and he and his family moved to Indiana, where, some years later, they died.
Hon. Samuel S. Randall, in some reminiscences of Norwich, relates this pleasantry about Mr. Bright, whom he knew very well: " The elephantine Bright
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transfered his residence to Indiana, from where his son, Jesse D. Bright was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1844. The preference given to the son over the father was, we believe, attributable to the fact that the Senate Chamber, was, at that time, regarded as too restricted an area to accommodate at the same time Dixon H. Lewis of Alabama, and David G. Bright of Indiana."
That Mr. and Mrs. Bright were whole-souled, kind- hearted people is evidenced by Mr. Wright's narrative. If all employers were like them, fewer young men would go astray. The boy's parents could not have been kinder to him. I am very happy to voice, even at this late day, one hundred years after, the apprecia- tion which will be accorded them by the members of this church.
I have quoted at length from Mr. Wright's auto- biography because it gives a minute description of the very early life and efforts of the members of this church, which, were it not for this record, would now be buried in the forgotten past. This book, of which only a limited edition could have been published, has been out of print for certainly a half century, and it is very doubtful if a copy, other than this one quoted from, is in existence at all. It is guarded with very jealous care by the members of the Wright family.
Second, we are especially thankful to read the record it gives of the two saintly women, Mrs. Eliza- beth (Hale) Snow and Mrs. Rachel Bright. Mrs. Snow was one of the constituent members of the church. She was a member of a church in the place she emigrated from which was Brookfield, Conn. She was a Christian of some years standing when she came to Norwich. Her talks with young Wright show that she had thought very deeply on religious matters, which had the effect of confirming her faith and establishing it on a very solid foundation; so that when Mr. Enos came to her for advice she knew just what to do to clear up his difficulties. I have said that Mr. Enos
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was responsible for the organization of this church; but it is undoubtedly true that had it not been for Mrs. Snow's very earnest endeavors in his behalf, he would not have become a Christian, at least, at the time he did; so that it was Mrs. Snow's great faith which inspired him to undertake the laborious task which he carried through so successfully, and thus, like so many important events in the world's history, a woman was the cause of this event-a woman who had held to her faith in spite of the discouragement that the whole village had been given over to irreligion and worldli- ness. None but a sublime faith could have stood in such an environment.
I trust that this church, in recognition of the sub- lime faith of this saintly mother in Israel, will soon, in some fitting manner, erect a tablet or other memorial in memory of her. A similar memorial should be erected in memory of Father Enos.
It is certainly a satisfaction to know that the infant church had in its membership such devoted people. Undoubtedly there were others who were devoted to the cause of the Master and to the building up of this church and who accomplished very much in their day, but now we have only their names left to us. There are no records and the generations who knew them have all been dead many years. The memory of them has faded with the passing decades. We are, therefore, thankful to Mr. Wright for the insight he gives us of the character and life of Mrs. Snow, and her efforts to lead the young people into Christian lives and into the desire to accomplish things which make for right- eousness, for good and the betterment of the world. It seems to have been the chiefest pleasure of Mrs. Snow, as well as her duty thus to preach the gospel; and there were, at least, two who " would rise up and call her blessed." Mrs. Snow was the mother of Henry Snow, an old merchant of Norwich; Capt. Wil-
First Congregational Church History
liam Snow, a sea captain; and Mrs. Hannah (Snow) Randall, wife of Col. John Randall, all of whom were well known fifty years ago, in Norwich. Mrs. Snow died in Norwich September 8, 1822, aged 57. Her hus- band's name was Abraham Snow. Nothing seems to be known about him. (I think she was a widow when she came from Brookfield, Conn.)
The revival stimulated somewhat the building of the " meeting house;" but various hindrances developed, which delayed the work. One by one these were removd and the work went on slowly, but surely. " April 22, 1817, Peter B. Garnsey and Polly, his wife, in consid- eration of two hundred and sixty dollars, current money of the United States of America, to them in hand paid, deeded to the trustees of The First Congregational Society of Norwich and to their successors forever," the land on which the church was to be built; now covered entirely by the eastern third of the present building. The frame was raised in July, 1817. Work was continued during 1818,, and the building was fin- ished in 1819. It was dedicated July 14 of that year.
The Baptist church was also begun in 1816, and was ready for use in 1818-the year before the Congre- gational; but it was never finished-except by the fire, August, 1845. The fire began in the night and by morning the building was all burned up. I have heard that the only thing saved was the large pulpit Bible used by Eld. Randall. The cover was all bnrned off and the edges were burned, but the reading matter was not harmed. The fire seemed to have started in the belfry, in which hung a large steel triangle, which was used as a bell. How the fire got there no one has ever told- if anybody ever knew. Three of the good brethren held a prayer meeting in the church the evening before, of whom D. Minor Randall was one. It was jokingly said to the effect that Minor thought that was the best way to end the dissatisfaction in the membership.
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The present stone church had been erected, but was not yet ready for use. Some of the members had very strongly opposed the building of the new church. Be- cause of their great affection for the old church, they thought they could not worship in any other building. In view of this division, the fire was in a very real sense a blessing.
The old church stood on the southeast corner of the present park, opposite the Piano building. Being on the park it could not have been allowed to remain there many years longer, so in that way the fire was advantageous. When the church was built, the mem- bership was largely made up of farmers. As a class the farmers were the well-to-do men of the town. Sev- eral of them came and paid their subscriptions with their labor, with the result that the building was erected at least six months earlier than it would have been ; but it was not finished, for it was not painted- either outside nor inside. As to the Congregational Church, it can be said that when it was dedicated, it was done.
I have not been able to find out anything regarding the bell. I am confident that there was none for sev- eral years, and it may not have been installed until the repairs which were made in 1835. The bell for the present Baptist Church was installed about 1848. I remember seeing it drawn up by a tackle. The power was supplied by fifty or more men on a long rope which extended out on the " Green," as the park was called then.
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