USA > Vermont > Windham County > West Brattleboro > God's delight in the gates of Zion : a second discourse on the early history of the Congregational Church and Society in West Brattleboro, Vt., coverint two pastorates--25 years, or from 1794-1819 > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01798 1959 OB
GENEALOGY 974.302 W47G
GOD'S DELIGHT IN THE
GATES OF ZION.
JUN 18 1947
A SECOND DISCOURSE
ON THE
EARLY HISTORY
OCT. 11,1974
ITEM ON ROLL
CAMERA NO.
CATALOGUE NO, 962800
Congregational Church and Society
IN
WEST BRATTLEBORO, VT.
. COVERING TWO PASTORATES-25 YEARS,
OR FROM 1794 TO 1819. GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
BY THE REV. LEWIS GROUT.
33950
-:-
WITHDRAWN From the Family History Library
NEW HAVEN :
TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
1894
984.3 A1 # 6
U.S. +CAN 974,3 A1 no. 6
23% SLL16
OF THE
DATE MICROFILM
71339
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١
DISCOURSE
PS. 87:2. THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION MORE THAN ALL THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB.
The "gates " of a town, as used in the Scriptures, often signi- fied a place of concourse. It was here that the priests sometimes delivered their sacred addresses, here the prophets sometimes pro- claimed their predictions. It was here that ordinances were sometimes promulgated, and the law read ; hence it came to signify a place for the worship and service of God, as where the Psalmist calls upon all to "enter into his gates with thanksgiv- ing, and into his courts with praise." " Zion," too, being used at first to denote a hill, sometimes called a " holy hill," in Jerusa- lem, came at length to be spoken of as a place "which the Lord had chosen for himself," "where he would dwell," "his habita- tion," "his tabernacle," "where the people appeared every one of them before him ;" and so it came to signify, virtually; what we now call a church, or the place where God was wont to draw near to men by special manifestations of himself, and where the people were wont to draw specially near to him in worship and service ; thus answering to what, in our day, is called " a house of worship," "the meeting house," or "sanctuary." Hence, as the Lord took a special delight in the gates of Zion in the days of old at Jerusalem, so in the church of our fathers, with all it involved or symbolized, and in every true, christian church of to-day, must we believe he takes a similar delight. As the public worship of God in the sanctuary in the olden days of Zion, was more costly, and required more of time, exertion, and sacrifice, than individual home worship in the dwellings of Jacob ; so, in the generations of a century ago, such united, public worship was more costly, and required more of time, exertion, sacrifice, in the church of our fathers, than common home worship in the dwellings of men. And, in its naturally indicating, as this public worship did, in our fathers, the greater love of the supreme Object of worship, so it was naturally the more pleasing to that great Object, and brought the greater blessing upon the worshiper.
The worth and glory of the sanctuary, whether we call it the temple of the Lord, a meeting house, or a church, are seen in its being a memorial sign of Divine grace, a symbol of God's pres- ence and favor, or, as the apostle says, "the pillar and ground of the truth." In the persevering efforts of our fathers to erect a meeting house, keep it in repair, enlarge it, improve it, whether on yonder Hill, or in this lovely vale, and in their continuing to gather in it from sabbath to sabbath through all the years for worship, they not only signified their faith in the being and grace of God, and in the saving power of his Gospel, but they bore
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witness, also, to their belief in the church, as fitted to have a' most happy influence on every good element and interest in society, and thus boldly, plainly, recognized the church as the place where God is wont to draw specially near to men, and so a place specially fitted for working out some of the grandest issues of life, whether personal or public, here on earth.
To some of us, who have come to the maturity of age, and have it in our power to go back in memory to the sabbath scenes and services of our early years, the very associations of the Lord's house are a most happy help to the culture of the religious senti- ment and character. As one has said : "We are creatures of association. We are often moved more profoundly than we think, by our surroundings. The recollection of our experiences in the house of God are among the most precious treasures that memory hoards. The prayers we have heard there ; the old hymns of the fathers, some of them redolent with the incense of a thousand years ; the services which have moved us ; the Serip- tures read and expounded ; certain texts which were new to us, and most timely ; the light of the sun streaming in at the win- dows and seeming almost the glory of God's countenance ; the seat where the mother sat, holding our childish hand, or the cor- ner from which the father turned his loving eye upon us in mild reproof ; the pews from which sainted men and women have gone to their rest,-oh, there are holy forces in such reminiscences ! They are 'golden vials full of odors.' They come back upon us in after years, 'trailing clouds of glory.' They make the very walls of the house of God eloquent. The stone cries out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber answers it. The very silence of the place on a week day is more potent than angels' voices." Oh thou hallowed meeting house of my childhood and youthful days, still standing, as thou art, and in sacred use, God bless thee, and continue to make thee, as thou hast been, the gate of heaven to many souls ; that when the Lord shall come to count and write up the people, he may say of thee, "This and that man was born there."
Such being the nature, design, influence, of a church, whether we look at it as a place of worship, or as a company of worshipers, it can but be, as I think, well-pleasing to God and becoming in us to look still further into the history of that which was first set up here in Brattleboro a century and a quarter since. For us to gather up, record and remember valuable facts in the lives and labors of our fathers is but a worthy service, due alike to them, to the God they served, to ourselves, their children, for whom they toiled and prayed, and to those who shall soon take the places which both we and our fathers have occupied. There is force, truth, and beauty in the motto of our former " Discourse," that, "In treasuring up the memorials of the Fathers we best manifest our regard for posterity ;" not unlike to which is this other, that, "He who is not proud of his ancestors, either has no ancestors to be proud of, or else he is a degenerate son."
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For us to be interested in this West Brattleboro Congregational Church is but yielding to a general law of our nature, and honor- ing the source of instruction given us of God in his Word. We are so made that both pleasure and profit invite to a study of the beginnings and early history of things. Builders, authors, inven- tors, battlefields, birthplaces and wedding days have ever been regarded as objects of notable interest. Those who make great discoveries in physical science, or in other secular and material directions, are generally counted benefactors and held in honor. And yet, in no way second to anything of this kind is the ground we have for a deep and abiding interest in the origin and early growth of the christian institutions our fathers planted for us. A study of the beginnings and unfoldings of religious enterprises is always attractive, profitable, to the thoughtful mind. History and narrative make a large part of the Bible. Take the historic element from the writings of Moses, from the Psalms, from the prophecies, from the gospels, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from the labors of Paul, and we have but a remnant left ; nor would that remnant be very intelligible. The same spirit which planted churches in Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and Rome, eight- een centuries since, planted institutions of the same kind more than a hundred years ago here in Vermont, the town of Brattle- boro not excepted. And if God's way of setting up his kingdom in Palestine was instructive, how can a note of that way, as seen in the lives and labors of our own ecclesiastical fathers be devoid of interest to us ? And, especially, of present interest to us of to-day, should be some account of that particular part of God's way of church-building, which dates back just one hundred years from this ; when, in April, 1794, these fathers of ours began to take steps looking to the calling and settling of the Rev. William Wells to be their spiritual teacher, their pastor, and gospel preacher.
In "A Discourse* on the Early History of the Congregational Church in West Brattleboro, Vt., delivered Dec. 31, 1876," the narrative began with the earliest information we had concerning the incoming of civilization in this region, the chartering and organizing of the town, the gathering of a church, and the calling of the Rev. Abner Reeve to the charge of it. From this we went on to give a sketch of the life and labors of the church under Mr. Reeve's pastorate of about twenty-five (25) years, or down to the early part of 1794, when steps began to be taken to engage the Rev. William Wells as his successor.
Mr. Wells was born in Biggleswade, England, 1744, and edu- cated at Daventry. He was settled as a dissenting minister, for 23 years, at Broomsgrove, in Worcestershire, Eng. Leaving that field, he came to this country, and landed with his family in Boston, June 13, 1793. From thence he came to Brattleboro in March, 1794, and settled on a farm, now a " Summer Retreat " for the Insaue, on the West River Road, about a mile north of'
* See Appendix I.
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the present "Brattleboro Retreat " (late "Asylum "). On his arrival here, the clerk of the town was requested to call a meet- ing to see if his services could be secured for the desk of the church ;* thus : " We, the Subscribers, Inhabitants and Free- holders of the Town of Brattleboro, impressed with a sense that it is of the utmost importance to the welfare of ourselves and families, and highly essential to the peace and good order of the inhabitants in general, that the precepts of christianity and the rules of morality should be publickly and uniformly inculcated among us,-do hereby request you to warn a meeting of said inhabitants to, be holden on Wednesday, the 2d day of April (1794)"-to see, among other things, "whether said inhabitants will agree to employ the Rev. William Wells to preach with us at present, and what sum of money they will raise for that pur- pose." Signed : Wmn. Harris, Jonathan Dunklee, Lemuel Dicker- man, C. Harris, Samuel Greenleaf, Jonas Knapp.
At this meeting the town voted to employ Mr. Wells, and allow him 30 s. per sabbath for his services. At another meeting, held December 8, the town voted to raise the sum of £54, on the polls and ratable property, to pay him up to that date .; and ap- pointed a committee to get his terms for the future. On the 30th of December the town voted to offer him £60 a year, and chose Messrs. Jonathan Goodenough, Samuel Warriner, and Doct. Lemuel Dickerman a committee to see if he would accept this amount. March 31, 1795, a meeting being called to see if the town would agree on any method to procure preaching in "Abner Reeve's congregation," and raise money for said purpose, they voted to employ Mr. Wells the ensuing year, and appointed a committee to report to him their action, and ask him to preach in the meeting house on the next sabbath. The next meeting was held September 30, 1795, " at the house of Rutherford Hays, Inn-keeper," to see about building a belfry, partly by " private subscription."t In this and in other things, we now begin to see the conting in of new ideas as to the proper way of managing and supporting religious interests, though the transition from the town to the society is gradual.
The following year, April 20, 1796, it was voted that the town clerk is a proper and legal elerk to serve in society business (as respecting the minister), and voted to employ Mr. Wells on a salary of £80 the ensuing year ; the salary to be assessed on the list of 1796 and paid by the first of June, 1797. A meeting of the "Town or Society " heing called for May 1, 1797, to see if
* The church or "meeting house" in which the people worshiped during the period of which we now speak, was built. that is, by a vote of the town, a frame was put up, enclosed and made ready to be occupied, in 1785 ; although the changing of benches for pews, building a belfry, and some other things were not done and finished till some ten or twelve years later (see my " Discourse" of 1876, p. 14). This house stood where the road now runs, nearly in front of the present meeting house, and close by where the octagon, on the northeast side of the street now stands; being "60 feet long, northwest and southeast, 48 feet wide, fronting southwest, and two stories high." This was the only meeting house in town at that time, or till 1816, when another was built and dedicated in the east village. + See my " Discourse " of 1876, p. 14.
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the "Town or Society " will take measures to procure preaching, it was voted to "improve " [employ ?] the Rev. William Wells as a preacher the ensuing year, or until the Town shall or may procure a candidate for the gospel ministry in this Town, (if such a thing should happen to be within a year); if the said Wells shall agree to preach at the rate of £80 a year, the same to be raised by assessments. The following year, 1798, the same amount was voted for the same purpose, to be raised in the same way.
A meeting of the inhabitants of the town, except those ex- empted by law from paying ministers' taxes, having been called for April 15, 1799, and action taken to have preaching the ensu- ing year, it was voted to hire a candidate to preach on probation for settling, and raise $400 salary-42 votes in the affirmative and 21 in the negative. Messrs. David Horton, Jonathan Townsend and Samuel Warriner were chosen a committee to take " measures for engaging a candidate for six sabbaths on probation ; the Rev. Mr. Wells to be engaged to preach until a candidate could be employed.
A distinct Society, aside from the Town organization, for the support of the gospel, seems now to have come into being and operation, as witness the following record : "April 15, 1799 : Whereas, the inhabitants of the Congregational Society have voted to hire a young candidate on probation, to preach in this place, therefore voted unanimously that the Rev. William Wells be presented with the grateful thanks of said Society for his former eminent and useful services, together with an expression of their highest wishes for his future happiness and prosperity." A committee having been appointed to wait on Mr. Wells with the above, it was voted that the Town clerk, treasurer, and col- lector, be the clerk, treasurer, and collector for the Society, and that the selectmen be the assessors for the Society.
But the move for a new minister does not seem to have been successful. For, the next year, March 29, 1800, " The Society for the support of the gospel in this town," having been convened at the meeting house, it was voted to hire the Rev. Mr. Wells for the ensuing year, and raise $260, the same to be assessed, for the expense of preaching ; a committee being chosen to carry this resolve into effect and take care of the prudential affairs of the Society. A year later, March 6, 1801, the Society having met and taken about the same action in respect to a minister and his salary, and having chosen Messrs. Lemuel Whitney, John W. Blake and Doct. G. H. Hall a prudential committee, it was voted to dismiss the fourth article of the warrant in relation to the raising of money for " the encouragement of social worship so far as it respects singing."
The first record of the Congregational Church in West Brattle- boro, as distinct from the Society or Association of covenanters for the support of the gospel in this town, bears date, the 12th day of June, 1799, at which time "a meeting of the Congrega- tional Church was held at the meeting house, Dea. Samuel
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Warriner being moderator and Stephen Greenleaf, Jr., clerk ; and one of the items of business transacted was a vote to give the widow E. Rogers, formerly of this town, a letter of dismission and recommendation from this church to some other. The second record bears date November 30, 1802, and speaks of a meeting of the church at the Hall of Mr. Rutherford Hays, where it was opened with prayer by the Rev. Wm. Wells, and a committee, Benj. Baker and Dea. Joshua Wilder, chosen to con- sider a case of discipline. This case, together with others, con- stituted the chief business for the next three meetings, though at one of these meetings the clerk was instructed to purchase a Book in which to keep a record of the proceedings of the church at their meetings. It was also voted that the Rev. Wm. Wells be requested (on communion days) to invite any members of regular standing in other churches to commune and partake with this church at the Lord's Table.
At a meeting of the church in January, 1803, which the Rev. Wm. Wells opened by an address to the Throne of Grace, a com- mittee was chosen with discretionary powers to invite such per- sons of the Baptist persuasion in this town and others who may make application and who are of regular standing in the Baptist Church, to commune and partake with this church at the table of our common Lord. At a previous meeting, December 28, 1802, it was voted almost without a dissenting voice that their opinion of the method of admitting church members is briefly but clearly expressed in the following observations :- "As to candidates for church membership giving an account of their experience, in a minute and circumstantial manner, to the whole body of the church or to a committee appointed by the church,-as it has no foundation (as we can find) in Scripture, it is putting persons to an unnecessary piece of mortification, hurts the modesty of the most diffident and humble, gratities the spirit of vanity and pride of such as value themselves upon their religious knowledge and attainments, and is the occasion of preventing many worthy persons from church communion." This action of the church was followed by two pages of remarks and explanations by the pastor.
The time had now come for a still further separation to be made between the ordinary and proper affairs of the town and those of the Congregational Society. This is seen in the fact that, with the opening of the following year, 1803, a record of the proceedings of the latter was made in a book of its own, pro- cured for the purpose, and by a clerk of its own appointing. In 1799 the warrant calling a meeting to provide for preaching was addressed to all the inhabitants of the town except those who were legally exempted from paying taxes for this purpose. But the practice of levying a tax upon all except this class, annually, for raising the salary, which had prevailed now some eighteen years, was attended with both difficulty and more or less of dis- content ; and from this time onward the notification and warrant
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is addressed only to the inhabitants and members of the Congre- gational Society, and the assessment made only upon such mem- bers.
The first entry in the " Records of the Congregational Society," as made in their new book, bears date, " Brattleboro, 7th April, 1803," and is, for substance as follows :- Pursuant to a legal request, the inhabitants of the Congregational Society were noti- fied and warned to convene at the meeting house on the 19th of April, inst., at 2 P. M. The meeting, being opened agreeable to warning, proceeded to choose Lemuel Whitney, Esq., moderator, Stephen Greenleaf, clerk, Valentine Harris, treasurer, Messrs. Asa W. Burnap and S. Greenleaf, assessors, and Benj. Baker, collector. Voted to have preaching the ensuing year, to employ Rev. Wm. Wells, and raise $300 for salary and other expenses ; the same to be assessed on the valuation list of 1803, and paid into the treasury on the first day of March, 1804. Rutherford Hays, Esq., Waitstill Orvis, Esq., and Samuel Warriner, Esq., were chosen a committee to have care of the prudentials of the Society, abate such taxes as they might deem necessary, make such repairs in the meeting house as they might think proper, and take such measures with any person or persons, who may do any injury to the mecting house, as they may think expedient. The number of votes in respect to the minister and his salary, as above noticed, was more than twenty-five in the affirmative. The next year, 1804, the number was twenty-nine. In 1807 the number of votes in the affirmative was thirty, being the whole meeting.
At the annual meeting the following year, April 6, 1808, a committee of twenty-one persons volunteered and were chosen to agree with Mr. Wells to supply the pulpit, and be responsible to him to make up any deficiency in the sum of $266.67, in case the collection thereof should be found impracticable ; namely, Samuel Warriner, Jonathan Goodenough, Lemuel Dickerman, John W. Blake, Rutherford Hays, Noah Bennett, Joshua Wilder, Samuel Elliot, Nathaniel Barker, Wm. Whipple, Calvin Harris, Jonathan Dunklee, Jonas Mann, Silas Reeve, Solomon Wilder, James Blakeslee, John Steward, Nathaniel Blakeslee, Safford Bennett, Jonathan Townsend, and Wm. Holton.
The amount raised for the salary and contingent expenses in 1809 was only $245. In 1810 it was voted to raise $300; and seventy-three persons, their names given in the Record, volun- tarily associated and covenanted, each with the other, by vote, to pay their proportion of all arrearages, in the manner heretofore noticed. In April, 1811, the "Cong'l Soc." met and passed the usual votes, and fifty-seven covenanted, as in former years, to pay arrearages. Similar action was taken in 1812.
At the annual meeting in April, 1813, they voted that the committee use their discretion in hiring some person to supply the pulpit the ensuing year, that two cents on the dollar of the list be assessed to defray expenses, and that the committee ascer- tain of Mr. Wells if he can supply the pulpit any part of the 2
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ensuing year. In . September, another meeting was called to inquire of the committee in relation to the past, and also in respect to future prospects, and to instruet them as to employing a preacher. This meeting having been adjourned, a committee was chosen to wait on Mr. Wells and have a full explanation with him upon his present connection with the parish, to learn from him his expectations and views about his continuing to supply the desk, solicit his aid in procuring a candidate, if agreeable, and to report to an adjourned meeting. Having met as adjourned, October 4, it was voted to employ some suitable person as a can- didate between this and the first of December next. At a meet- ing held December 6, a vote was passed to circulate a subseription paper and meet again in four weeks; but of this we find no report.
The following year, 1814,* April 4, the usual officers being chosen, it was voted to see if any measures could be adopted to unite the town in employing a candidate, and to raise money for his support. Having voted to raise the money and employ a candidate, they instrueted a committee to draft articles, and make assessments on valuation list of subscribers, also to receive dona- tions from those who do not associate, if donations should be offered. It was also voted that two-thirds of the people sub- scribing shall be sufficient to hire or dismiss a minister, and that the articles shall be binding on the subscribers no longer than during the life of the first settled minister. May 11, the Asso- ciates in covenant, or subscribers to articles of Association for supporting the gospel, met and voted, by large majority, to raise two cents on the dollar on valuation list of Associates, and in- strueted the trustees to use their endeavors and discretion to supply the pulpit the present summer.
Judging from the Records of the church, it would seem that matters of discipline had a large place in the proceedings of that body during these years. July 4, 1805, a case of discipline hav- ing been considered, it was voted that any occasional communi- cant shall be indulged to sit and commune with this church for the term of one year, after which time they shall be urged to remove their relations to this church, unless some special reason shall be assigned to the contrary. In 1809 there were two addi- tions to the church, which made a membership of 135. In 1811, October 13, a meeting was called by request of one of the mem- bers of the church, who submitted a paper to the effect that he regarded the system of doctrine called Calvinism, as set forth by some of the neighboring churches, to be according to the Scrip- tures, and that to explain away or deny any of these doctrines tends to unbelief and selfrighteousness ;- therefore requested that the church would commit him to the eare and fellowship of the church in Marlboro, under the pastoral care of Rev. G. C. Lyman. The petition was unanimously rejected by the church, but the petitioner allowed full liberty to commune with the church in
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