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THE OLD MEETING HOUSE
AND
FIRST CHURCH IN ROCKINGHAM VERMONT
HAYES
Gc 974.302 R59ha 1415122
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
M. L.
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 3164
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/oldrockinghammee1787haye
THE OLD ROCKINGHAM MEETING HOUSE AND THE TOWN TOMB
The OLD C Rockingham Meeting house Erected 1787
AND
The First Church in Rockingham, Vermont 1773-1840
BY
LYMAN S. HAYES Author of History of the Town of Rockingham, Vt. AND WILLIAM D. HAYES
THE PUBLIC
HAM
V
E
OLD TOWN MEETING HOUSE-178;
R
IONT.
SETTLED . IN .
1753
BELLOWS FALLS, VT. 1915
1
Copyright 1915, by L. S. Hayes
Photographs by R. C. BRISTOL and WILLIAM D. HAYES
Marginal Illustrations by MISS MARY E. BAKER
DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY THE P. H. GOBIE PRESS BELLOWS FALLS. VT.
1415122
TO THE MEMORY
OF
REV. SAMUEL WHITING
THE FIRST SETTLED MINISTER OF THE TOWN OF ROCK- INGHAM, WHO BY WORD AND EXAMPLE EXERTED SUCH A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THE TOWN THROUGHOUT HIS PASTORATE FROM 1773 TO 1809, DURING THE CRITICAL PE- RIOD OF THE WAR OF THE REVO- . LUTION AND THE PERIOD OF CONSTRUCTION IMMEDI- ATELY FOLLOWING IT;
AND
PROF. FRANKLIN W. HOOPER, PH. D., LL. D.
PRESIDENT OF THE OLD ROCKINGHAM MEETING HOUSE ASSOCIATION FROM ITS ORGANIZATION UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1914, WHO WAS SO LARGELY RESPON- SIBLE FOR THE PRESENT DAY KNOWLEDGE OF, AND INTEREST IN, THE OLD ROCK- INGHAM MEETING HOUSE,
THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED
BY THE AUTHORS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
FOREWORD
9
THE CANDLE IN THE CHOIR, by Percy MacKaye (poem) .
II
I. THE MEETING HOUSE
I5
Planned by the Original Proprietors of the Town at their First Meeting in 1753-Allotment of Land-Site Chosen near Geographical Centre of Town-Small Temporary Structure Erected, 1774-Present Meeting House Started about 1787-Not Completed until 1801-Used both for Church Services and Town Meetings-One of the Finest Examples in New England of Colonial Church Architecture-Keepers of the Key-The Burying Ground.
II. THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION
26
Temporary Preachers until 1773-First Church in Rockingham Organized and Rev. Samuel Whit- ing Ordained October 27, 1773-Records of The First Church-Supported by a Tax Levied by the Town-Many Citizens Escape Tax by Filing Certificates-Mr. Whiting Dismissed at his own Request, 1809-Reorganized 1818 as the "Con- gregational Church of Christ in Rockingham"- Support of Town withdrawn-Organization Ab- andoned, 1840-Discipline of Members-Cove- nants-Communion Service Destroyed by Fire.
III. THE MINISTER.
Rev. Andrew Gardner and Rev. Elisha Harding early Preachers for the Town-Rev. Samuel Whiting, First Settled Minister, 1773-1809-Rev. Elijah Wollage, 1818-1822-Rev. Samuel Mason, 1837-1838-Rev. Broughton White, 1839.
IV. THE MEETING HOUSE RESTORED Abandoned for Regular Church Services in 1839- Used for Town Meetings until 1869-Interior Changed for Town Meetings and Small Parts Removed by Curio Seekers-Restored to Orig- inal Condition by Town and Private Subscrip- tion in 1906-Re-dedicated, August 17, 1907- Tablet to Dr. Reuben Jones-Pews of Early Wor- shippers Marked by Plates.
PAGE
44
5I
Contents
V. THE OLD ROCKINGHAM MEETING HOUSE ASSOCIATION.
· Organized 1911 to Arrange Annual Pilgrimages to the Old Meeting House-Officers-Member- ship.
VI. ANNUAL PILGRIMAGES TO THE OLD MEETING HOUSE. 61 Each Year since 1907-Arranged now by the Association-Addresses by Prominent Men- Attract Large Numbers from Far and Near.
APPENDIX
I: Members of the First Church in Rockingham .. . 66
II: List of Those Filing Certificates with Town Clerk to
73
A: Organization of the First Church in Rock- ingham, October 27, 1773 .
77
B: Letter from Rev. Samuel Whiting to Town, January 13, 1783 .
78
c: Letter from Rev. Samuel Whiting to his Congregation, 1798.
D: Investigation by the Town of Charges against Rev. Samuel Whiting in 1799. . . .
79 80 82
E: Dismissal of Rev. Samuel Whiting, 1809. . .
F: Reorganization as the Congregational Church of Christ in Rockingham, Novem- ber 5, 1818.
85
G : Ordination of Rev. Samuel Mason, January 3, 1837 .
87
H: Dismissal of Rev. Samuel Mason, August 22, 1838
I: Entries in Church Records Bearing on Articles of Faith and Covenant of the Church, 1773-1818. .
88 89
J: Confession of Faith, Covenant and Rules of the Church after its Reorganization in 1818 The Meeting House Completed.
92 93
K:
IV: Bibliography Regarding the Old Rockingham Meeting House.
95
V : Constitution of the Old Rockingham Meeting House Association 96
57
Avoid Assisting in Support of the Town Church Extracts from Town and Church Records.
III :
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Old Rockingham Meeting House, and the Town Tomb. Frontispiece
Interior of the Meeting House, showing the old- fashioned Pews and the Pulpit. 16
Interior of the Meeting House, from the Gallery 22
Record Book of the First Church in Rockingham 28
The Pulpit. 36
Main Entrance of the Meeting House. 36
Communion Cups and Linen Used in the Old Meeting House. 42
The High Pulpit and Sounding Board. 42
The Minister's House
46
Heavy Roof Timbers in the Attic of the Meeting House. ..
46
The Dr. Reuben Jones Tablet.
56
Plate Marking Pew occupied by Josiah White. . .
56
The Meeting House Surrounded by the Burying Ground.
60
The Deacons' Seats. 60
The Old Meeting House, from across the Williams River Valley 64
First Floor Diagram 76
Second Floor Diagram 86
(1-17
FOREWORD
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
N a commanding eminence, in the almost geographical centre of the town of Rocking- ham, Vermont, overlooking the nearly deserted village bearing the same name, and surrounded by its burying ground, stands one of the finest examples of Colonial church architecture still remaining in New England. Without spire or other break in its severely plain, puritanical lines, excepting only a small "porch" or enclosed entry and stairway on each end, its high glistening white walls overlook for miles the beautiful Williams River valley, and serve as a reminder of the early thought-almost passion-of our forefathers for things religious and civil.
Erected by the town in 1787, at the close of the trying Revolutionary period, and replacing a temporary smaller structure built in 1774, it served for forty-two years-throughout the entire period of construction of this American republic-as the Meeting House for religious services of the citizens of the surrounding country; and for eighty-two years, as the town's meet- ing place for the decision of the weighty measures upon whose careful discussion and correct solution depended the substantial foundation and growth of one of the earliest settled and most important towns of the State of Vermont. With a local outlook, it has seen the town grow from a tiny settlement of farmers, whose interests centered around their meeting house, country store and post office, to a thriving town centered around its water powers at Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, and Cambridgeport; and it has seen the village of Rocking-
Foreword
ham grow to an important place in early days in the affairs of the vicinity and the entire State, and then dwindle, through the growth of manufacturing interests in other parts of the town to a tiny hamlet without even a store or post office. With a broader outlook, it has seen the State of Vermont grow from a collection of farming settlements, whose possession was disputed by two more populous states, and the Mother Country, through the period of entire independence, to a position as a sovereign state of these mighty United States, occupying a place in area small, but far from worthy of being despised.
Around this Meeting House in early days under the leadership of the town's first minister, Rev. Samuel Whiting, was gathered and organized the eighth Con- gregational church in Vermont, supported entirely by public taxation. At the withdrawal of civil support, the church organization was temporarily abandoned; later reorganized as the Congregational Church of Christ in Rockingham; and this organization, after twenty-one years of struggle, was abandoned because of the gathering of the population around the water powers in other parts of the town.
The building, its interior slightly changed for tem- porary uses and its movable parts gradually taken away for souvenirs, has lately been put back into its original austere simplicity, and is lovingly cared for by the town, which still owns it, and its citizens, who still love it. Each summer, it is the scene of an Annual Pilgrimage, under the Old Rockingham Meeting House Association, when people gather from far and near to pay their homage to the sturdy simplicity, self-sacri- ficing honesty and effort, and the far-seeing policies of the forefathers who built this country for us to enjoy.
P
THE CANDLE IN THE CHOIR
I
In Rockingham upon the hill The meeting-house shines lone and still: A bare, star-cleaving gable-peak, Broad roofbeamed, snow-ribbed, stark and bleak, As long ago their needs sufficed Who came from cottage fires to Christ, Sharing with frosty breath Their foot-stoves and their faith.
11.21.11 .....
IM .. 11
-
II
In Rockingham above the hill The stars are few, the winds are shrill; And pale as little clouds, the prayers Pulse upward round the pulpit stairs, Where silent deacons upright sit Among the gusty shadows, that flit From hands upholding higher Faint candles in the choir.
III
Seven candles make a shining dim To mark the psalm and find the hymn; Seven candles from the choir rail throw Their blessing on the pews below; Seven candles make a glimmering heaven Of righteousness, but one of seven Shines in the hand of her: Elvira Pulsifer.
IV
High on its place of holy fire The towered pulpit fronts the choir, From whence the pastor's hand may strow The penfolds of his flock below, Or sign, from under level brows, Toward them-the seven of his house Who sing with one accord The service of the Lord.
(This poem, based on a family tradition, was written by Percy Mackaye especially for the Rockingham Meeting House Association, and was read by the author at the Sixth Annual Pilgrimage, August 4, 1912. The "Elvira Pulsifer" referred to was the mother of Prof. Franklin W. Hooper, president of the Association. The poem is taken from "Uriel and Other Poems" (Houghton, Mifflin Co.) and is here published by per- mission of the Author.)
V
Gaunt looms the shepherd in his gown: "O Lord, Lord God, who lookest down Serene from Sinai's dazzling height On deeps of everlasting night- Deeps where Thy scorching ire hath streamed Like lava on the unredeemed-
Be merciful to her, Elvira Pulsifer!
VI
" Thou art our Father, Lord, Lord God! And they who kiss Thy shining rod And break Thy bread and keep Thy tryst- They walk this bitter world with Christ; All else with dire Apollyon dwell .- O save her tender soul from Hell, And with Thy Pity stir Elvira Pulsifer!
VII
" Brethren, the thirty-second Psalm! And let your solemn voices calm The secret fiend from his intent, And make a virgin heart repent!"- Thin from the dark the pitch-pipe sounds
Its note, faint stir the crisping gowns, While the dim shepherd there Creaks down the frosty stair. VIII
A shrilling sweet of childish throats, With sombre bass of elders, floats Around him through the raftered room, And elvish from the outer gloom Seven candles on the little panes Sway to the choir's subdued refrains, As down the aisleway floor He seeks the entry door.
IX More faintly now, as if more far, He hears them through the door ajar, While from the entry, climbing soft, He flurries to the choir loft: Here to a darkling privacy He beckons-so her glance may see- God's errant worshipper: Elvira Pulsifer.
X
Candle and hymnal in her hands, She comes to where the shepherd stands- Her shepherd who hath labored sore, With venerable neighbors more, To lead her spirit to the fold Where all her kinsfolk came of old: All them she loved full well, But not-their fear of hell. XI
Anxious they whisper in the aisle (The shrilling voices swoon the while And boom like cymbals in her ears): "Our Lord and Father, child, He hears The cry of sin's repentant heart; O obdurate, walk not apart With one who darkens all, But come to Christ His call."
XII
"Our Lord He is our Father, yes, And He hath come in tenderness To me, in hours both bright and dim.
There is no one at all but Him; And so I cannot walk apart Nor cry with a repentant heart, Nor heed another's call, For God is good to all."
XIII
"His wrath it is eternal, child. Who fear it not they are defiled. They may not sit in choir or pew, Defiant, with His chosen few. The hymn is ended, now return: But nevermore His light to spurn!" Dark, dark, she turns about: Her candle-he hath blown out.
XIV
O elvish from the outer gloom Six little flames they leer and loom, And elvish on the frosty panes Six candles mock the choir's refrains. But one all dark, by inward grace Shines on unseen, and lights the face Of Christ His worshipper: Elvira Pulsifer.
-PERCY MACKAYE.
Nº
CHAPTER I
The Meeting House
T HE history of practically every New England town shows that among the first matters to be taken up by the original proprietors or the early settlers, was the erection of a town meeting house and the establish- ment of public worship, or action looking to both in the early future. The records in the Town Clerk's office show that Rockingham, Vermont, was no exception in this regard.
At the first meetings of the Proprietors of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont, in 1753 and 1754, steps were taken looking toward both the hiring of a regular minister and the building of a meeting house. The first building, a small temporary structure, was erected in 1774; and the present Meeting House was started in 1787 or 1788. But these ends were not attained with- out great sacrifice on the part of the few settlers in the town at the time, especially when it is remembered that the War of the Revolution and the subsequent forma- tion of a new country severely taxed both their time and finances.
Under date of December 28, 1752, King George II, through Governor Benning Wentworth of the Province of New Hampshire, issued a charter for the Town of Rockingham to fifty-nine men, known as the Grantees or Proprietors. These men held their first meeting March 28, 1753, before there was any permanent settle- ment in town. At this meeting, they instructed a committee to set aside six acres of land "for a Meeting house place" .* At their second meeting in May, 1754,
*"'Proprietors Records" of the Town of Rockingham, in the office of the town clerk at Bellows Falls, Vt.
16
The Old Rockingham Meeting House
they specified that the six acres should be the "North End of House Lott Number three;" and assigned house lot No. 3, 10-acre meadow lot No. 13, and 3-acre meadow lot No. 14 to the first settled town minister. This was later increased by the following: Citydale lot No. 143, one acre; lot No. 6, range 3, ninety acres; lot No. II, range 6, ninety acres; lot No. 14, range 9, ninety acres; lot No. 30, range 9, forty-five acres.
These assignments make a total of three hundred and forty-nine acres set apart at the very first for the support of the town church when it should be estab- lished. Until a settled minister was chosen, the land was leased to various parties, and the income from it expended in public improvements, such as road building, and later directly towards the erection of a meeting house.
At a meeting of the proprietors held in 1761, lots Nos. I to 4 in the tenth range, and Nos. I to 3 in the ninth range were "Set of for ye Church and the Propurgating of the Gospel in forarn parts". These lots, located north of the village of Cambridgeport, are at least in part still owned by the town and the income from them goes to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Vermont, together with that from similar lots in nearly every town in this State. Thus, while the proprietors planned for the support of their own church, they did not forget the old-established Church of England.
In 1760, after the close of the French and Indian War, the danger of depredations from Indians was largely over, and the permanent settlement of the town was begun. The town government was organized in March, 1761, and from that date the story of the effort to build a meeting house and establish a town church is told in the records of the town in the Town Clerk's office.
In 1770, the question was considered by the voters
-
1907
---
THE OLD FASHIONED PEWS AND PULPIT
17
The Meeting House
of erecting a town meeting house, to serve both as a place for town meetings, and for public worship. Settle- ment had not progressed quite far enough at that time, however. The following year, the town voted to erect a building for this purpose and chose a committee to decide on a location. The committee's report was turned down at a town meeting in April, 1772, and the vote passed "that the meeting house be set on the hill west of David Pulsiphers house", which would be practically the location chosen in the end. In 1773, the town voted to build a "small house 35 feet long and 25 feet wide-till the town be able to build a Larger". Peter Evans, Jr., Samuel Taylor and John Lovell were chosen to build the house.
Rev. Samuel Whiting became the first settled minister, in October, 1773, and regular church services probably date from that time. Despite this fact, this committee did not build the house, and in the fall of 1774 a new committee was chosen, consisting of Oliver Lovell, Lieutenant Jonathan Burt, and Lieuten- ant Peter Evans, the size of the building increased by the addition of five feet in width and one foot ten inches in height, the location chosen in 1772 agreed upon again, and "voted that the trustees find four galonds of Rum to Raise and frame said house". The latter item, while in accord with old time customs, would excite some comment, at least, in the present day, especially when the building was to be used for church purposes.
This temporary structure, to be replaced in a few years by the present building, was erected in the fall of 1774, since a town meeting, December 12, was opened in the building. The combination of its unfinished condition and wind-swept location made it a trifle cool for a December day in Vermont, and after inspecting the building, the meeting was adjourned to the house of David Pulsipher nearby. They then voted to accept the building and "aLou the acompts".
18
The Old Rockingham Meeting House
For the present centres of population in the town of Rockingham, the location of the Meeting House where it was built would be decidedly inconvenient. At that time, however, the population was much more evenly scattered over the entire town; Bellows Falls and Saxtons River villages had been settled little, if any, and Rockingham village, the geographical centre of the town, was the proper location. On the other hand, it is quite probable that this village grew up around the Meeting House, rather than that the Meeting House was located at the village.
In voting to place the Meeting House on a hill, the town carried out the usual custom of early days of locating such buildings on some eminence, where they could be seen for miles around, and where, in addition, they would be strategically located for defense from hostile Indians.
The temporary building was thirty-five by thirty feet, and the arrangement of the interior was much the same as that of the first floor of the present building, since there was "a Roe of wall Pews Round the meeting house and Eight pews in the middle and three seats Each side the Alley next the pulpit". The pews were drawn by lot, with the proviso that the owners should seal the floor, glaze the windows, and build the pews. Record is found of a total of forty-seven pounds (about $234), raised by the town to build the building.
The land on which the building was erected was obtained from David Pulsipher, but the deed was not acknowledged before his death. It was purchased by William Simonds, David Pulsipher, Charles Richards and Nathaniel Davis, and presented to the town by them.
In 1786, three years after the end of the Revolution, the inhabitants of the town felt that the time had come for a more commodious meeting house, and they petitioned the General Assembly to grant a land tax
19
The Meeting House
in order to raise money for this purpose. This was evidently granted,* for at a town meeting held in the temporary building April 10, 1787, the following votes were passed providing for the new building:
"Voted that the Committee appointed by the Legislature of the state of Vermont to build a town house in Rockingham are Directed to sell pews in said house to the highest bidder for to raise money to be Laid out for the purpose of finishing sd House.
3 ly Voted that the Committee Build the town House Just as Large as Charlestown Meeting House as to the square of it.
4 ly Voted to Build two porches one at each end.
5 ly Voted to have the plan of the inside of sd House agreable to the inside of the Meeting House in Charlestown.
6 ly Voted that Every Person that Buys a pew in sd House shall Git a Bond-man to the acceptance of the Commettee.
7 ly Voted to have the Obligations that shall be given to the Commettee for the pews shall be half due by the first of December next and the other half due by the first of December then next.
8 ly Voted to have the pews finished which are sold with the money which is given for sd pews."
At an adjourned town meeting, held April 24, 1787, it was "Voted to reconsider the 3d vote (re- lating to the 'Bigness' of the town house). Voted to Build the town house forty-four feet wide and fifty-six feet long," which are the dimensions of the present structure. f
Positive proof is lacking of the exact date of the erection of the Rockingham Meeting House, which has stood for so many years as an emblem of the piety and civic pride of the early inhabitants. The question of this date was discussed at length by A. N. Swain in the Bellows Falls Times in 1884, and it was then definitely settled that the frame was raised June 9, 1787, largely
*A search of the records in the Secretary of State's office fails to show any action by the legislature or the personel of the committee chosen by them. +Town records, Vol. I, p. 95.
20
The Old Rockingham Meeting House
on the basis of a letter from Rev. Horace Allbee of this town, then in his eighty-eighth year, printed in the Times of October 2, 1884:
"MR. EDITOR: In corroboration of the state- ments which I made to you in regard to the date of the raising of the old church at Rockingham, which statement appeared in the Times of June 19, 1884, I offer the following evidence which I regard as indisputable: Mrs. Ezekiel Weston was the daughter of David Hazzleton, who was born in Rockingham in 1791. Mrs. Weston says that she distinctly remembers that her grandmother, Jane Hazzleton, wife of Richard Hazzleton, related to her that her eldest child, Urial (Mrs. Weston's uncle), was born on the 6th day of June, 1787, and that on the 9th day of June of the same year, before departing to the raising of the meeting house, her husband, Richard, came into the house and bade her and their baby, who was then only three days old, good-bye, expecting or fearing at least, that he might be killed at the raising, but on the contrary he returned in safety to his family after the house was raised. And further, my brother, E. W. Allbee, says he distinctly remembers hearing our father, Ebenezer Allbee, who was born on the 17th day of April, 1768, say that he was at the raising, being then nineteen years of age, and that it was in June, 1787, but does not remember the day of the month. The statement of Mrs. Weston fixes the precise date of the raising as June 9, 1787, of which there can be no doubt. Yours truly, HORACE ALLBEE."
Volume II, page 372 of the records in the Town Clerk's office, gives the date of the birth of Urial, oldest child of "Richard and Jenny Hazeltine" as June 6, 1788. The balance of probability is felt to be that the official record of the date of birth as 1788 is correct, which would place the date of the raising of the frame as June 9, 1788. However, since this record is not indisputable, and the date 1787 has been commonly accepted for over thirty years, it will probably be best to let it so stand, unless
1
FROM THE GALLERY
2I
The Meeting House
incontrovertible evidence to the contrary should be brought forward.
Rev. Mr. Allbee is also authority for the statement that "a wash tub full of toddy, made of rum and loaf sugar, was prepared and notice was given to the men to come down from the frame and drink" .*
The master-builder under whom the building was erected, was General John Fuller, a prominent resident of Rockingham at that time, living on a farm about a mile north of Rockingham village. The following anecdote is told of the raising:+
"After he got everything ready the old General (Fuller) took his bottle of rum in one hand, a tumb- ler in the other and stood on the plate of the bent on the south side, then gave the order to put it up in that position. He rode up on the plate, and he was a man weighing 200 pounds. When they had got it up, he stood on the plate, drank his health to the crowd below, then threw his bottle and tumbler down and called for the ladder, coming down amid loud and long cheering."
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