USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Westerly > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 11
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Charlestown > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 11
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Hopkinton > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 11
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Richmond > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 11
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CHAPTER XIV.
THE HILL CHURCH.
WE come now to the history of a church in Westerly which was both a child and a strong supporter of the Great Revival. The con- spicuous and important part it acted in the great moral and intel- lectual movement that brought into the land priceless principles, which have now taken deep root, should give to it a permanent record in our honored annals.
Stephen Babcock was one of the constituent members, and a dea con, of the Presbyterian church under Rev. Joseph Parke; " but. in a few years after, he saw such opposition, in his minister and others, against what he believed to be the power of godliness, tha he withdrew, and set up a meeting at his own house." A like disaf- fection was existing in the Presbyterian churches in Stonington The New Lights from both towns affiliated. "On the the 5th c April, 1750, the Church of Christ in Westerly and Stonington i Union," as styled by the records, was organized. On the same da the body proceeded to ordain Stephen Babcock as pastor ; " Davi Sprague began and ended in prayer ; Solomon Paine gave the charge : Simeon Brown (in behalf of the church) gave the right hand of fe lowship." On the following day Simeon Brown and William Wo den were ordained as deacons. The first clerk was James Babcoc. . who served till May 29, 1784, and was succeeded by Oliver Helm
Simeon Brown had been a member of the Standing Order Stonington. Mr. Brown was converted by the preaching of Whit field. He went, with others, to hear the strange man, purposing t annoy him, and if possible to break up the meeting; but the arrow of truth stuck fast in his excited heart, and he went home to pra - Solomon Paine was the minister of a Separate church in Conne - ticut. The constituency of this new church was therefore peculi ..... - a part were Baptists and a part were New Lights, the sympathi natural between Baptists and Separatists constituting the bond union. In allusion to the part taken by Solomon Paine, Back states that this was the first instance in which Separatists and Ba: tists acted together in ecclesiastical matters. The fruitful results : this beginning we shall hereafter see.
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Opposite sentiments did not long dwell together in harmony. Dea. Simeon Brown became dissatisfied with the sprinkling imposed upon him in his infancy, sought believer's baptism, and, in 1765, was instrumental in founding what is now the Second Baptist Church in North Stonington, of which he was at the same time ordained pas- tor. This good man, who shone as a bright and steady light, died in 1815, at the advanced age of ninety-three years.
When Stephen Babcock was immersed on profession of his faith we are not informed; but his church was usually reckoned as a Bap- tist body, though it consented, at the time of its organization, to re- ceive sprinkled members, but only on the profession of their faith. Of necessity the body practised open communion. The articles of faith and practice adopted by the church, with the exception of the one on mixed communion, were fairly Baptist. Indeed, the allusion to baptism is intensely baptistic, namely, "Dipping the subject all over in the water." Backus states that Stephen Babcock was a Bap- tist before he was ordained.
We have given the proper name of the church from the records, - yet it has popularly been designated the "Hill Church," since its meeting-houses were located on the hill-top, east of the present vil- lage, near the now famous granite quarry. It was sometimes called the " Babcock church," since the pastor was so conspicuous a man. The first meeting-house was erected in 1786. It was unroofed in the gale of September, 1815.
The lot on which the house was built was a gift from James Rhodes, who also contributed for the house 3 pounds, 4 shillings, and 9 pence. The house measured 40 feet by 30, and was at first without plaster or stove. The cash subscribed was about a hundred . pounds. The location was then styled James Rhodes's Hill.
The second meeting-house, smaller than the first, was erected in 1845, and is still standing, but not occupied by any church.
Samuel Gardner was ordained as deacon of this church in 1772. He was at the same time authorized to assist the pastor, then feeble, by administering baptism.
This was now a large, active, influential body. Against prelati- cal assumptions its testimony was emphatic : "As to any Dignity, Power, or Authority, in Binding or Loosing, or in other words, Receiving, Retaining, or Excommunicating, etc., to be in any Elder, or Pastor, of a church, or any other officer in the church, or to allow to any other person whatever a negative voice or vote in the church, Wee Detest and Abhor as anti-christian Tyranny."
Of the constituency of the church they thus spoke : " Wee Believe that Believers in Christ Jesus, and none but believers, have Right to Gospel ordinances, that is to say, Church Membership, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper."
Being regarded as New Lights, the members were not slow to
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avow their sympathies with the struggling Separatists, with whom they mainly agreed in faith and practice. Unconsciously the Sepa- ratists verged towards the Baptists, agreeing with them in nearly every respect save that of sprinkling infants and enrolling them on the church records. In their attempts at coalition, the discussion of their differences led to important results. After Mr. Paine had assisted in the ordination of Mr. Babcock, these discussions multi- plied. In 1753, meetings for deliberation were held in Middle- borough, Mass., and Exeter, R. I. On account of sentiments ex- pressed, in May of the same year, Stephen Babcock refused to act with Mr. Paine in the ordination of Oliver Prentice, a Separatist, in Stonington, Conn. This led to a complaint against Mr. Babcock, so that, finally, Mr. Babcock and Mr. Paine joined in calling a large council at the house of Dea. Simeon Brown in Stonington, on the 29th of May, " to search into these matters, that the churches might come into a gospel settlement." "Elders and brethren from forty churches then met, viz. from twenty-four in Connecticut, eight in Massachusetts, seven in Rhode Island, and one in Long Island." Three days were occupied in council and discussion. Rev. Elisha Paine, brother of Solomon, " gave it as his mind, that the difficulty sprang from the nature of opposite principles; for sprinkling of infants upon the faith of their parents, and burying of believers upon the profession of their faith, are opposite principles." The differ- ences could not be harmonized. Many of the Separatists leaned to the Baptist side.
Another council was called to meet at Exeter, R. I. As the cita- tion was penned by Stephen Babcock, and reveals something of his spirit, we may give it entire.
"WESTERLY, KINGS COUNTY, COLONY OF R. I.
"Stephen Babcock, pastor of the Church of Christ Jesus in Stonington and Westerly in Union: To the united churches scattered abroad in New England; grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied amongst you. Great and manifest are the favors of Almighty God to us, in these goings down of the sun, in reviving his ancient work of convicting and converting souls, and calling us from vain conversation and all false worship, to follow our ever glorious Master, Jesus Christ, in the regeneration; at whose command we have separated from carnal churches, &c. 'And amongst all the divine favors and mercies we have been favored with, gospel fellowship is not the least; here the circumcised and the uncircumcised meet together; here all the de- nominations that are sound in principles, may meet and commune together. In very deed all heaven is contained in divine fellowship, Amen.
"At the request of fifteen of the united churches in the Exeter Associa- tion, I send forth this Citation, that you meet together at Exeter, on the sec- ond Tuesday of September. 1754, by two or more of your representatives, to consult the affairs of Christ's Kingdom, and to see what further may be done relating to the settlement between the two denominations, viz. Baptists and Congregationalists, and to consult all other matters that may be to God's glory, the advancement of His Kingdom in the world, and the good of the united churches. Amen. Into whose hands this citation shall come; you
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are hereby desired to send a copy, signed by your elder or clerk, to all the neighboring churches, and also to all Christian churches that have a desire to be enrolled in said Convention; farewell. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and my companions' sakes, I will say, Peace be within thee, amen and amen. Yours, but not my own,
"March 25th day, 1754."
STEPHEN BABCOCK.
Gradually the most of the Separatists became Baptists. For a long time, however, some of them remained on their peculiar ground. A few, when the State churches became strictly Congregationalists, returned to their former church relations.
It is not difficult for the thoughtful student of the past to dis- cover that the Separate movement was an important epoch, a transi- tion period in the history of New England and of our country. The principles involved, the large parties interested, the conventions assembled, the decisions given, the results achieved, gave the move- ment great character and abiding strength. It gave new form and education to the age. The associations, councils, discussions, and correspondence of so many struggling, independent churches throughout the land, became a providential school for advancing the great principles of Independence, and so prepared the way for inde- pendent churches, and the political independence of the country. We have, however, made the above brief records of the "New Light Stir " chiefly because the " Hill Church " so nobly stood in the front of much of the movement. The New Light standard was held high and strong on the hill-top, till the chief struggle had passed, and the priceless victory of free principles, first planted on Rhode Island soil, had been secured. Rev. Stephen Babcock, a bold, faithful standard-bearer in the trying, historic time, having nobly served his generation, by the will of God, was gathered to the fathers. He died Dec. 22, 1775.
The successor of Stephen was his son, Oliver Babcock, who re- ceived ordination Sept. 18, 1776. The services are thus named : prayer by Isaiah Wilcox; charge by Gamaliel Reynolds; hand of fellowship by Zadock Darrow ; prayer by Silas Burrows. Oliver's ministry covered the stormy, trying period of the Revolution, in which he and his people, and the inhabitants of this town, took full proportion of losses. But of the Revolution we purpose to speak in a separate chapter. As a representative of the town in the Gen- eral Assembly, as well as in his own church, Rev. Oliver Babcock was esteemed and honored. Scarcely had the patriot struggle ter- minated, when he was called from the field of his labors. The good and faithful man, leaving a memory that is yet fragrant of virtue, died Feb. 13, 1784, in the forty-sixth year of his age. His widow, Sylva Babcock, so eminent for piety and ability as to win the appel-
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lation of " Elder Sylva," zealously cared for the church, which often met at her house, till a successor to her husband was chosen.
In 1785 was formed the Groton Union Conference, an association of New Light churches, that is, of Separate churches, and such Bap- tist churches as affiliated with them. It embraced churches in Con- necticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. In the noon of its history, 1810, it numbered about twenty churches, with near three thousand members. The experiment it made is highly instructive, and demands record for the benefit of other generations. Its deca- dence was the consequence of the impracticable theory of marrying opposite principles of baptism and of church-building, and practis- ing open communion on that basis. While the Separatists and Baptists were engaged together for their common liberty, they omitted the serious consideration of their differences; but when the day of liberty came, they saw that their separation was inevitable. Most of the Separatists, however, became Baptists. Many Baptist churches had a Separatist birth. For nearly thirty years the "Hill Church " was a strong and conspicuous member of this Conference.
The third pastor of the church was Rev. Elkanah Babcock, cousin to Oliver, ordained April 18, 1787 : prayer by Benjamin Gavitt ; charge by Amos Crandall ; hand of fellowship by Joseph Davis. "James Babcock and Ezekiel Gavitt laid on hands with the council." At this period the records often bear proof of the votes of the church in giving certificates to such as resided in Connecticut, but worshiped with this body, that they might be excused from pay- ing the rates or taxes levied by Connecticut for the support of the Standing Order. It may be interesting to read specimens of these certificates.
"WESTERLY, December 3d, A. D. 1788.
" These certify that Adam States, of Stonington, doth attend the public worship of God, and hath for a number of years past, with the Baptist Church of Christ in Westerly, that was under the pastoral charge of Elder Babcock -said church consists part of Westerly and part of Stonington, in union; and that the said States hath freely contributed to the help of said church.
"Signed in behalf and per order of the church, per me,
GEORGE FOSTER."
"WESTERLY, Dec'r 3d, 1788.
" These certify that Nathan Hinkley, of Stonington, doth attend the pub- lic worship of God, and hath for a number of years past, with the Baptist Church of Christ in Westerly, consisting part of Westerly and part of Ston- ington, in Union. that was under the pastoral charge of Elder Babcock; and that the said Hinkley has freely given to the help of sd church.
"Signed per order of the Church, by me,
GEORGE FOSTER."
"These certify that William Vincent, Junr., doth attend the public wor- ship of God at the Baptist Church of Christ, in Westerly and Stonington, in
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Union, and hath for a number of years past, and that he hath freely given or contributed to the help of the church.
"Signed per order and in behalf of the church, per me,
GEORGE FOSTER. "WESTERLY, the 14th February, 1789."
" These certify that Elijah Hinkley doth attend the public worship of God at the Baptist Church of Christ in Westerly, &c., per me,
GEORGE FOSTER. "14th Feb. 1789."
Certificates were given to Prentice Frink, Jonathan Weaver, and Samuel Chesebrough.
A prominent man and faithful clerk in this body was George Foster.
Elkanah Babcock's ministry was not a harmonious one. He seems to have been somewhat wavering in his views, and hence intermit- tent in his labors. On his account the church felt great solicitude, and were much impeded for a time in their progress. He inclined to the theory of universal salvation, yet never fully affirmed it. For a season he was absent in the West. On his return he heartily renounced his error, and again with zeal and effect preached his early faith. He died June 27, 1821, at the good age of eighty-four. His wife Esther died Oct. 2, 1831, aged ninety years.
Many are the deserving names on the roll of this church. It embraced members living in other towns and at great distances. Gen. Nathan Pendleton resided in the northeastern part of North Stonington, since called Pendleton Hill. He died Oct. 15, 1827.
Among the gifted female exhorters of this church were Mrs. Nancy B. Robinson, Mrs. Joanna B. Wibur, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Cross, Lotty Babcock, Nancy Babcock, and Delight B. Vose.
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Through the door of open communion, disturbing elements entered the body, and it was finally rent by what is known as the " Smith and Hix schism," a movement compounded of Arminianism and Unitarianism, directed by Elias Smith and Daniel Hix. The move- ment was rebuked by the Groton Union Conference at their session with this church in 1810. Hix was pronounced guilty of "embra- cing the Unitarian doctrines of Elias Smith." He and most of his church (in Dartmouth, Mass.) afterwards joined the Christian denomination. Smith led off Hix and his people, being an avowed Christian preacher, but finally became a Universalist.
After the death of Elkanah Babcock, Robinson Ross received ordination, but afterwards became a Universalist. The meetings were now mainly conducted by members of the church, securing regular preachers only occasionlly. For nearly thirty years the leader of the meetings was Mr. William Vincent, a man of upright- ness, industry, punctuality, firmness, and devotion, favored with a
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remarkable memory, which he exercised particularly in the Scrip- tures. He died in March, 1854, aged ninety.
Some record should be made of Cuffy Stanton, a black man of sacred memory, whose songs and words of experience and warning still live in the breasts of those who heard him. Verily he was one of the witnesses of Westerly. He was the slave of the wife of Mr. Job Stanton, of Stonington, Conn., but nobly earned his freedom by entering the army in the Revolution as a substitute for his master. He sometimes visited and addressed the Niantics in Charlestown, and the remnant of the Pequots in North Stonington, Conn. He was a famous exhorter, and his experience was his great resource. On one of his tours, he was misapprehended by a company of frol- icking young people, for a strolling colored fortune-teller, and urged to cast their horoscope. Seizing their mistake as his opportunity, he entered the house, and, securing their attention, gravely said, " I can certainly tell your fortunes ; now listen and I will tell them altogether : Except you repent and believe the gospel, you shall perish." He was an honored member of the " Ilill Church." He once owned a small house and lived in the village a little east of the present Congregational church. ITis first wife was Olive ; his second, Dinah. He had thirty-two children.
Mention should also be made of Mr. Ebenezer Brown, a pervert from Methodism, and never after a member of any church. He was a talented, studious, eccentric man. He had a large frame, a John- sonian presence, a stentorian voice, a strong memory, and an inflex- ible will. Some of his discourses were logical, able, and effective ; always, however, more mandatory than persuasive. Some are confi- dent that he labored under mental aberration. He often spoke to the Hill Church and in the village. Some of his ideas were as incon- sistent as parts of his life. While denouncing the idea of paying salaries to ministers, he complained of not being compensated for his preaching, and, in allusion to this neglect of his hearers, once said; " I had rather go to hell honorably, than go to heaven meanly ; though, strictly speaking, both are impossible." Mr. Brown died March 16, 1855.
The roll of the church was thinned by the Revolution. It num- bered in 1791, 70; in 1800, 127; in 1807, 162; in 1810, 170. The delegates to the Groton Conference in 1810 were Dea. Samuel Gard- ner, Nathan Breed, John Tifft, and George Foster. Endeavoring to hold to its old ground, which, though when first taken was an ad- vanced position, had now been passed by the people in their prog- ress, the church began to wane in its strength, as did all the churches that held to open communion. Schisms followed the decay of strength. In 1843, a number seceded and organized the Christian church in the village.
In February, 1849, under the leadership of Mr. Dudley Wilcox,
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an excellent, gifted, ardent young man, the church was reorganized, and became a regular Baptist church, and in the same year united with the Warren Association. Mr. Wilcox was the last licensed preacher of the body. He died deeply mourned, Oct. 16, 1853, at the age of thirty. Being now without a guide, and weak, the meet- ing-house being in an unfavorable location, while other churches had been planted and were flourishing in the village, this ancient body pined and finally expired in 1855. Only the deserted meeting-house remains, echoing the sound of the quarryman's hammer and the puff of the steam-engine.
For one hundred and five years this church stood as a witnessing body. With whatever faults it might have had, it bore a noble and influential testimony. It lifted the Evangelical standard in a dark and stormy day. The freedom for which it heroically battled is now the secure heritage of the country. Pen cannot describe the good it accomplished in its age. This and that man were born there, - born to serve worthily on earth, and to enter upon a higher ministry above.
The body, however, was too loosely organized. Its incautious charity exposed it to the inevitable assaults of error. Excessive liberty opened the door to license, and invited divisions. Its loose communion weakened its doctrinal standard, and confused the voice of its testimony. After the opening of the present century, and when society here began to start forward with new life, the church remained too immovable and inactive. Had it been more exact in adhering to New Testament law, and more observant of the open- ings of Providence, and yielded to the solicitations of the people to leave the hill-top and occupy the new meeting-house offered them in the village, while as yet no other church had been organized, it might to-day have been the leading church in the town.
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CHAPTER XV.
INCIDENTS OF THE REVOLUTION.
CONVULSIONS in nations come not by chance. They are not acci- dents. They are the results of law, no less than are tempests and earthquakes. Sometimes silently, or at least unobserved, and through a long period, the forces may be gathering and coming into line for the decisive struggle. Usually, however, admonitions pre- cede the hour of contest. Violations of laws in societies and states, no less than in individuals, will ultimately be avenged. To injustice and oppressions there are always convulsive and correcting reactions. The eternal laws of right cannot be suppressed or overborne by human passions or human combinations. The day of retribution is sure to come to all the workers of wrong.
The Revolution was the vindication of principles. Recognized rights had been abridged and denied. The people finally rose up to resist the tyranny ; and in resisting the grievous wrongs they had suffered, were unintentionally but inevitably drawn to occupy the bold, high, hazardous ground of revolution. England was covetous of revenue, and lost a continent. The colonists stood up to do bat- tle for principles, and were honored in being the founders of a won- derful nation. The Revolution was a grand step in the progress of mankind. We almost wish the limits of our present design allowed a more full consideration of the causes and successive developments. and final results of the struggle for independence. Never too much honor, surely, has been awarded to the actors in the great scene, and to the principles that inspired them.
In that historic scene, Westerly had her witnesses. She nobly avowed her sentiments, and bravely stood up to defend them. Her faith and works went hand in hand. The civic and military honors she wore were all worthily won.
We may begin our record in the mention of Gov. Samuel Ward, son of Gov. Edward Ward, of Newport. He was born at Newport, May 27, 1725; graduated at Harvard College in 1743; married Anna Ray, of Block Island, at the age of twenty, and removed to Westerly. He rose to the highest seat in the colony, being chosen governor three times, - in 1762, in 1765, and in 1766. The tide of
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party politics ran high in the colony on account of the popularity of the two leaders, Ward and Hopkins. It was also the exciting period of the Stamp Act, the beginning of irreconcilable differences with the mother country. Gov. Samuel Ward acted a cool, decided, noble part in resisting the aggressions of England. The papers that emanated from his pen are among our cherished records. At the opening of the Revolution, in 1774, he was chosen by the colony as colleague of Stephen Hopkins to represent Rhode Island in the first. Continental Congress at Philadelphia. To this office he was reap- pointed in 1775, and while in the laborious discharge of his duty, died in Philadelphia, March 25, 1776, deeply mourned by Congress as by his native colony. We present but this brief record of him here, since a full and faithful Memoir of him, from the skillful pen of Charles H. Denison, Esq., appeared in the Narragansett Weekly, published in Westerly, in 1859, running from No. 12 to No. 23 inclusive, - papers worthy of appearing in a volume; as, besides the good record of Governor Ward, they embrace much of the his. tory of his time, and much of the interior history of a portion of the colony.
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