USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 2 > Part 18
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 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
The estimated value of real estate belonging to the Church is $1,- 233,440, and of invested funds $178,853.68.
The Episcopal Church in Rhode Island, in common with several other Christian bodies, stands for the Ancient Faith, as contained in the Apostles' Creed, for the acceptance of the Scriptures as the Word of God and of the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and, more distinctively, for Three orders of the Ministry, Bishops, Pricsts and Deacons, and a ritual form of worship. Perhaps its chief note is Conservatism. It is especially instant in benevolent work, as shown by its institutions of charity-St. Mary's Orphanage, the St. Elizabeth Home for Incurables and Convalescents, and St. Andrew's Industrial School for Boys. It is active in mission work throughout
181
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
the State and contributes liberally to support missionaries, in the United States at large and in the foreign field.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
After the foundation of the Baptist Church and its branches and the Society of Friends in Rhode Island in the middle of the seven- teenth century, and that of the Congregational and Episcopal Church- es near its close, about a hundred years passed by before any addi- tional religious body was introduced permanently into the State. Entirely through the tranquil first portion of the eighteenth century and the stormy second part until almost its very end, these four organ- izations stood side by side, in unchallenged possession of the ground.
Then entered upon the scene the vigorous young Society, founded by the Apostle of Methodism, John Wesley, in England, earlier in the century. There is something most interesting in the introduction of the Methodist Church into Rhode Island, because of its mode, so diverse from that of its predecessors and so singularly in literal ac- cordance with the injunctions of the Master to his disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," "And as ye go, preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand".
The watchword of early Methodism was "Go!" Its genius was Itinerancy. The system was brought hither by an Itinerant, who preached as he went and whose footsteps were marked by a series of Methodist churches which have continued unto this day. The name of this pioneer of "The Gospel according to the Methodists" was Jesse Lee, a man whose soul was all aflame with the love of God and of his fellowmen. Mr. Lee was born in Virginia in 1758. When only twenty-one years of age he began to preach and at twenty-six accom- panied Asbury on an extensive tour.
In 1789 he was sent to New England, where he traveled for six years unceasingly, preaching in private houses, in barns and on the highways, forming new circuits and directing the labors of his assist- ants. In September, 1789, he recorded in his Diary: "Thursday 3d, I passed through Stonington and crossed the Pawcatuck into Rhode Island State and went to Mr. Stanton's, who kept the coffee-house in Charlestown, Washington County". Here or in the vicinity, appar- ently on that very day, Mr. Lee delivered what is asserted to be the first Methodist sermon ever preached by an itinerant in this State. Shortly afterwards he is said to have spoken in East Greenwich and the following year, without question, in Newport, Bristol and Warren.
182
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Later Mr. Lee preached in Cranston, Providenee and Cumberland, as well as in Wickford.
Other distinguished and useful early preachers in the State were Daniel Smith, Bishop Asbury, Lemuel Smith, Bishop Coke and Eze- kiel Cooper. It is asserted, on apparently good authority, that Charles Wesley, one of the originators of Methodism along with his brother John, once preached in Newport. Ten churches were the fruit of the early zeal of Methodism in its first fifteen years in Rhode Island.
Bristol .- The Methodist Church in Bristol elaims to be the first of the order formed in this State and the second earliest in New England ; to that at Lynn having been, it would seem, generally eoneeded the honor of being the choir-leader east of New York. It is asserted that George Whitefield preached in Bristol in 1740, but, if so, no out- ward result appears to have been produced. There exists in an old letter a curious reference to "Love Feasts" held in the town as early as 1787, but by whom and under what auspices is not recorded.
When the evangelist already referred to, the Rev. Jesse Lee, was traveling from Newport to Boston, at the beginning of July, 1790, his course lay through Bristol. He does not, however, seem to have contemplated making any tarry there. But a certain Capt. Daniel Gladding had heard of the power and unetion, with which he preached the gospel, and in some way eoming to suspeet that one of two horse- men, who were passing out of the north end of the town, was Lee, was scized with such a desire to hear him that he went in pursuit and actually brought him baek. Like Jaeob wrestling with the angel at Peniel, he declared, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me", and as a result there was established one of the strongest and most fruitful ehurehes in Rhode Island.
At that visit Mr. Lee preached in the court-house on July 2d. In 1791 he came again to Bristol and preached in a private house where a elass of about sixteen was formed, including Capt. Gladding, John Gladding, William Pearse, Allen Wardwell, Jonathan Peek, Nathaniel Munro, Sylvester Munro, and William Throope Waldron, the way having, in the mean time, been farther prepared by the labors of the Rev. Menzies Rainor and the Rev. Lemuel Smith, who became in the following year the first regular preacher in the town.
These events in 1791 appear to have resulted in the foundation of a church. The First Quarterly Meeting of the society was held in 1792. The first presiding elder to visit the Bristol Church after its formation was the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, who on Sunday, December 1, 1793, ad- ministered for the first time in the town the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Bishop Coke visited Bristol in 1803.
183
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
In the earlier days of the Methodist services they were held in the court-house, "not", it sounds strange to us now to hear, "without much annoyance from the rabble".
But in 1805 the infant parish was able to build, upon a lot conceded to it by the town authorities upon the Common, a plain but comfort- able church, with galleries on three sides. In 1812 a remarkable revival of religious interest, begun under Bishop Griswold in the Episcopal Church, was awakened in the Methodist Church likewise, about one hundred members being as a result added to it, more than four hundred uniting at that season with the connection at large in the State. Again in 1820 another period of spiritual quickening oc- curred, when more than two hundred expressed a trust that they had been converted. Indeed periodic seasons of powerful religious revival have been, throughout its history, characteristic of the Bristol Church, inany of the most eminent and worthy of the preachers of the order having ministered at its altar. But in 1832 there occurred an event which crippled the organization for years. The minister, for the time being, was tried for the crime of murder.
In 1856 the Bristol Church completed and dedicated its present large and handsome house of worship, with a spire that is visible over all parts of Narragansett Bay. When the church was formed in 1791 it consisted of eighteen members. In 1880 there were three hundred and twenty-seven, with three hundred and ten persons in the Sunday School. In 1900 the number of members was two hundred and twenty- one. Beside the preachers, who have served in Bristol already men- tioned, there should not be forgotten the Rev. Joseph Snelling, abont 1800; the Rev. Asa Kent, at the time of the Revival of 1812; the Rev. Thomas W. Tucker at the time of that of 1820, who found the church comparatively weak and left it strong; and the Rev. Isaac Bonney, who five times was stationed here. The famous "Father Taylor", the eccentric but devoted "Sailor Preacher""', ministered in Bristol in 1826.
Warren .- It must be recorded at the outset that the Methodist Church in Warren, like that at Bristol, lays claim with considerable reason to being the first society of that denomination formed within this State and therefore the "mother church" of the order in Rhode Island. Indeed it regards itself, also, as the earliest organization within the bounds of the New England Southern Conference. The first Methodist service in Warren was held in a private house in 1789 by the Rev. Lemuel Smith. In the summer of 1790 the Rev. Jesse Lee, on his way from Newport and Bristol to Boston, preached at Warren, repeating his visit several times during the following years.
184
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
In 1791, whether under the inspiration of Mr. Lee or of the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper cannot now be ascertained, there was formed the Warren Methodist Society, with twelve or fourteen members, the majority of them having been Free Will Baptists worshiping formerly in Rehoboth. On September 24, 1794, Jesse Lee dedicated for the parish its new house of worship, the first building of the kind in Rhode Island and the third in New England, the other two having been built at Redding, Connecticut, and at Lynn, Massachusetts. Some idea of the vigor of this young church may be gained from the statement that after an existence of nine years it possessed, in 1800, one hundred and twenty-three members. Then followed a period of depression, during which the hope of its continued existence caused great searchings of heart. But from this trial the Warren Church emerged in triumph and, with occasional times of adversity, has re- mained generally prosperous and always beneficent in its influence to the present day. The dignified church edifice. is one of the most spacious belonging to the order in Rhode Island, holding easily one thousand people. The time is within the memory of worshipers now living when this edifice used to be filled. But the town, in common with many other manufacturing places, has seen its native inhabitants to a considerable degree supplanted by those of foreign birth, attached to a different form of religion, and the Methodist Church of Warren has been in consequence somewhat depleted, while still nobly sustain- ing its ancient traditions.
Like the other Rhode Island churches of the connection, it has en- joyed the services of many godly and able ministers, whose labors have been blessed with gracious out-pourings of the Holy Spirit. In 1897 the number of members was one hundred and sixty-two, and it continued at substantially that point up to 1900.
East Greenwich .- There seems little doubt that the church in this town is entitled to the third place in order of organization among those in Rhode Island. Although Jesse Lee is believed to have preached here in 1789, East Greenwich does not appear upon the list of circuit appointments until 1792, when the Rev. Lemuel Smith was the pastor.
Seven ladies composed the first class, among whom were Mrs. Ruth Mumford, Mrs. Joseph Greene and Mrs. James Sweet: In 1797 and 1799 and for several years afterwards East Greenwich was connected with the Warren Church, the circuit being visited in 1800 by Bishop Asbury and Richard Whatcoat. In 1822, when Lewis Bates and John E. Risley were the circuit preachers, the church enjoyed a revival with
185
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
an addition of some forty, who professed conversion. Up to about 1831 the Methodists of East Greenwich had no place of worship except the court-house, but at that date they felt able to erect a building, which still stands upon the Main street of the village, although re- peatedly enlarged and improved. The original trustees were Oliver Wickes, Daniel Greene, Ezra Pollard, Robert B. Hall, Thomas G. Allen, F. J. Hill and David W. Hunt. Soon after the erection of the church an extensive revival was enjoyed, and in 1850 and 1851, during the pastorate of the Rev. Richard Livesey, one hundred and twenty were gathered into the fold, the interest, with large additions, contin- uing through the following two years under the ministrations of the Rev. William Cone. The number of members in 1897 was one hun- dred and thirty, little change having occurred since.
The East Greenwich parish has always possessed an added promi- nence from the presence in the town of the Conference Academy, to which farther allusion will be made below. This fact has caused some of the most acceptable preachers to be stationed here and the congre- gations, during the sessions of the school, are naturally much larger than the ordinary reports of membership would indicate. The church music, also, has generally been exceptionally good, by reason of the aid coming from teachers and pupils of the academy.
Portsmouth .- Although there is no record of the preaching of Jesse Lee at Portsmouth on his journey through Rhode Island in 1790, yet the speedy establishment of a Methodist church there may well have been one of the results of his earnest setting forth of the gospel in the neighboring city of Newport and, in any case, he must have passed directly by the spot where the house of worship now stands.
In the first two or three years of its existence as a preaching station Portsmouth was a part of the "Providence Circuit", it being claimed that services were held there as early as 1791 or even 1790. It was in 1792 that it first appears upon the list of appointments, with the well-known Rev. Lemuel Smith as the preacher.
A Methodist society was formed in the year 1793, the house of Mat- thew Cook, who, with his wife, was one of the organizing members, being used as the place of assemblage. Soon Bishop Asbury, Jesse Lee, John Chalmers and Zadok Priest were numbered among the occa- sional preachers in Portsmouth and the people began to feel the need of a church. The first house of worship was a building altered about 1798 from an unfinished dwelling-house. In 1838 the prosperity of the society was such that a larger church was needed and the present neat and appropriate structure, lately enlarged and improved, was
186
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
erected. As is the case, perhaps, more commonly in the Methodist Denomination than in others, by reason of the periodic large additions through revivals with intervening seasons of comparative spiritual in- action, this church has been subject to great changes in its interest and membership. But it was never larger than in the closing portion of the nineteenth century, after an existence of more than a hundred years, and its future seems promising. In 1900 there were seventy- four members reported, with one hundred and seven teachers and scholars in the Sunday School.
Phenix .- The beginnings of Methodism in this vicinity are among the most engaging of the chronicles of the order. As St. Paul, in sending his greetings to the Roman Christians, Priscilla and Aquila, speaks of "The church that is in their honse", so at first the church in the Valley of the Pawtnxet was confined to a single devout family. Gen. Christopher Lippitt, whose attention had been turned during his service in the Revolutionary War to the spirituality and en- thusiasm of the Methodists by his brother in New York, made his house in Cranston a center of hospitality for all the preachers of the order who passed that way. As early as the autumn of 1791 Jesse Lee was led to the house of General Lippitt and preached to him and his family, from this time on the place being one of the best known homes of traveling ministers, Bishop Asbury speaking of the General as one who kept "an open house for Methodists".
F. G. Garretson, Daniel Smith and "Black Harry" were others who were gladly entertained there. In 1794 Mr. Lee again visited General Lippitt's and found Mrs. Lippitt and her daughter inquiring the way of salvation, having been awakened by one of his previous sermons. At that time a class was formed, a few from outside having become inter- ested, and the three Lippitts all became members. In 1800 the General built a chapel for the use of the Methodists upon his own estate, it becoming a favorite place for the holding of Quarterly Meetings. Sometimes at such gatherings Mrs. Lippitt is known to have lodged as many as thirty guests in her spacious mansion. At one time in 1802 Bishop Asbury and Richard Whatcoat ordained in that little chapel several preachers.
On Sundays, when no minister could be procured to hold the ser- vices, General Lippitt himself led the congregation in its devotions and read a sermon, generally from those of John Wesley. So pro- found was his reverence for sacred places that he was accustomed, before entering the desk. on such occasions, carefully to remove lis boots, in literal accordance with the angel's injunction to Moses at
-
187
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Horeb, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground". With his long white hair and silvery beard and his deeply devout manner, the venerable man looked in the eyes of the listeners like one of the Old Testament prophets.
As population increased in the Valley, services began to be held in some of the villages, where more people could be gathered than at General Lippitt's chapel. In passing through Lippitt and Phenix, in 1813, Bishop Asbury exclaimed, at the sight of the numerous houses. "What a population and what a good place to preach Christ !"
In 1824 a class was formed at Lippitt and in 1830 the first Quarterly Conference was held there, a Sunday School being organized in the following year.
In 1839 a Quarterly Conference was held in Phenix. In 1842 a board of trustees was organized, with Daniel Greene, Elisha Harris and Nathaniel Arnold as the officers. An old "Six-Principle Baptist" house of worship at Phenix, known as the "Tatem Meeting-House", from the name of an early pastor, was procured and used by the Meth- odists for several years. At length, in 1859, the present very tasteful and commodious structure was built. In the years between 1870 and 1880 the Methodist Church in Phenix attained its highest prosperity, attendance somewhat declining since, on account of the substitution of a larger foreign element for the original American population. As lately as 1897 great improvements were made in the edifice. The church has enjoyed frequent seasons of revival. In 1900 it had one hundred and twenty-five members.
Wickford .- The history of the Methodist Church in Wickford embraces an early period of considerable activity and the so far brief duration of a recent organization, separated from the foriner by years of apparent suspension of vitality. As we have already noted, Jesse Lee preached in the village in 1793. Peter Phillips, chancing to be in Bristol, heard Mr. Lee preach and was so delighted with him that, although himself one of the principal patrons of the Narragansett Episcopal Church, he invited him to visit Wickford. Mr. Phillips's house was the handsomest one in the village at that time, fronting the water and being surrounded by well-kept grounds. It was here that the first Methodist sermon was delivered.
The eccentric Lorenzo Dow also preached in Wickford for a number of times at that early period. In 1794 a class was formed and from that time for several years there were regular appointments for the village as a part of the Warwick Circuit. In 1815, among a number of other converts, a young man named Gideon S. Hunt, about twenty-
188
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
five years of age, became a devout Christian and continued as a class- leader for nearly fifty years, coming to be called "Father Hunt". He and other earnest members, often for long periods without any public services, kept the lamp burning through many otherwise dark days of feebleness and struggle for existence.
In 1882 fresh life came into the society. A new class was formed and hired a little store where services were maintained whenever a preacher could be secured. The church at one time had only nine members, but in 1884, under the ministrations of the Rev. J. E. Fischer, thirty-five additions were made. Thereafter a hall was occupied for worship until in January, 1886, a neat and convenient new building of its own was dedicated and occupied by the society. By 1897 the membership had risen to ninety-five. In 1900 it was eighty.
Chestnut Street, Providence .- The first Methodist sermon in Provi- dence is said to have been preached by Freeborn Garretson in 1787. At intervals other distinguished preachers, such as Bishop Asbury, Dr. Coke and Jesse Lee, visited the town and a class was formed in 1798. From 1792 Lemuel Smith and other circuit preachers served the embryotic church, but it was not until more than a score of years had passed that a fuller organization was attained under the inspira- tion of the Rev. Van Rensselaer Osborn. Mr. Osborn, chancing to be passing through the town, was invited to preach to the handful of Methodists who met in a school-house on Middle street, doing it with so much power that an ardent revival followed. He immediately resigned his charge in Massachusetts and began regular services in Providence on September 14, 1815.
In the following year, as a result of Mr. Osborn's zeal, a small house of worship was built, on the southeast corner of Aborn and Washing- ton streets, and dedicated on the 1st of June. So rapid was the growth of the society that in five years the corner-stone of a new church was laid on the corner of Chestnut and Clifford streets, it being dedicated January 1, 1822.
Thus was begun the honored Chestnut Street Church, which has become the mother of many others and has long remained one of the strongest Methodist societies in New England, with a membership in 1886 of four hundred. Frequently the meetings of the Conference have been held with this church and several times the building has been altered and beautified. Marked revivals have occurred under the ministries of Otheman, Merrill, Patten, Allen and Goodell, and the church has enjoyed the services of such other distinguished preacli- ers as A. D. Sargent, A. D. Merrill and Mark Trafton.
1
189
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Among the well-known Providence families which have been identi- fied with the Chestnut Street Church are the Lewises, the Fields, the Wardwells, the Anthonys, the Snows, the Potters and the Manchesters. It cannot but be a matter of regret that, after such a noble career, it should have been found expedient, in 1898, that this old society should be merged with that of the far newer Trinity Church, the two hence- forth to be known as Trinity Union. But the removal of many of the members to the western part of the city and the surrender of the vicinity of the old site to trade and manufactures seemed to compel such a change. Nor can there be any doubt that a most useful and even brilliant career is opening before it in its new form.
Arnold's Mills .- As in so many other cases, the first impulse towards this church was given by that chosen instrument of the Holy Spirit, Jesse Lee. In 1791 an inhabitant of the town of Cumberland, named Hathaway, attended a camp-meeting in Massachusetts and was so fascinated by a sermon of Mr. Lee's that he straightway invited him to cross the State line and preach in his house near the site of Arnold's Mills. In 1799 there was there a society sufficiently formed to be received into the Warren Circuit. Some of the itinerants who visited Cumberland in those days of small things were Joshua Hall, Thomas Norris, Van Rensselaer Osborn and Joshua Soule.
For many years services had to be maintained in private houses, especially that of a Free Will Baptist, Deacon Bishop, in a vacant Baptist church and in a school house. In 1827 the present house of worship was dedicated and twice since, after extensive repairs, it has been rededicated. Among those active in promoting the building of the church were the Walcotts, the Arnolds, William Sweetland and Columbia Tingley. From 1827 there has been a series of regular pastors, numbering not less than forty, and much activity, both spirit- ual and material, has been maintained. In 1900 there were eighty members.
Newport, First Church .- In 1790 Jesse Lee preached in Newport and gained a respectful hearing, no immediate outward result, how- ever, being apparent. A little later the town was included in Green- wich Circuit and afterwards in that of Warren, formed in 1794. In 1800 Joshua Hall preached in Newport and organized the first class. The real beginning of the Newport Church was in 1805, when the Rev. Reuben Hubbard came from Boston and preached in the First Baptist Church and later in the State House. So great was the interest awakened by Mr. Hubbard that a church edifice, the one still in use, was built in 1806 and dedicated in 1807. It was the first
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.