USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Poultney > A history of the town of Poultney, Vermont, from its settlement to the year 1875, with family and biographical sketches and incidents > Part 11
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The present membership of this church is about seventy. An interesting and quite prosperous Sabbath school is now maintained. The superintendent, in Sept., 1875, had on his list the names of eight teachers and ninety-eight scholars. J. R. Dewey, after the separation, was elected deacon, and still holds that position in the East Poultney Baptist Church, and is alse clerk.
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128
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Philip Embury was the founder of Methodism in the United States. IIe removed from New York City to Camden, Washing- ton Co., N. Y. in 1770 and died there in 1773 or 1775. During these three or five years he journeyed northward, and in company with his spiritual mother. Barbara Heck, preached in the regions round about and organized societies in various places where Methodists could be found.
We learn from an entry in Bishop Asbury's journal that the Bisnop visited Hampton Hill, Washington Co., N. Y .. preached at the house of one Wheat, and administered the sacrament to a so- ciety which Philip Embury and Barbara Heck had organized. 'This is confirmed by the fact that records show that there were several Methodists there in 1783, the earliest date at which Meth- odist ministers were appointed by Conference to this territory in which Poultney was included.
At that time the total number of Methodist ministers in the United States was 166, and the total number of members was 37,- 354. The whole territory from New York City northward was created into one district entitled New York Distriet, of which Freeborn Garretson was the first Presiding Elder. The general minutes of this date mention no societies within this territory, nor do they give an intimation of there being any members. In the year 1788, already mentioned, Lemnel Smith was appointed to Cambridge Circuit and Samuel Wigdon to Lake Champlain, both Circuits embraced in the New York district, but being quite indefinite with regard to boundaries. Smith found members and classes at Ashgrove, Camden and Hampton, but whether Wig- don found any without fins and scales we will not say. They vis- ited Hampton together and were hospitably received by Samuel Bibbins, whose name thenceforward is prominent amongst the Methodists of this region for many years. From this date forward Methodist societies sprang up in various parts of the territory known as the New York District, and ministers multiplied rapidly. Methodism in Poultney first appears in history in cou- nection with Cambridge circuit.
In the original records of this Circuit there appears a list of the members in different places on the Circuit. The names appear to be all in one handwriting-that of Thomas Ashton, without doubt, of Ashgrove, who was the Magnus Apollo of Methodism north of
129
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
New York City at that time. The date at the head of the list is 1798. The last class in the list is Poultney, and the names are re- corded as follows :
William Gipson, Mary Ann Gipson, Stephen Holt.
Lurane Gipson, Rufus King, Drusilla Holt,
Daniel Gipson. Wm. Green,
Mary Preston,
Simcon Gipson,
Roswell Buckland,
Isaac Race.
Abigal Gipson, Elizabeth Buckland.
At a Quarterly Meeting Conference for Cambridge Circuit, held at Pittstown, April 13 and 14, 1799, in the list of contributions for the support of the Circuit preachers, Poultney is credited with nine shillings and sixpence by the hand of Daniel Gibson (this time spelled with a b). He seems to have gone all the way from Poul ney to Pittstown to attend a Quarterly meeting. The two foregoing records warrant the conclusion that a Methodist Society was not formed in Poultney carlier than 1798, for the records of Cambridge Circuit give the amounts of the contributions quarterly from different societies, beginning in 1791, including Hampton, Fairhaven, Whitehall and Wells, but not Poultney. Of course had a class existed in Poultney it woukl have been represented in these contributions. From 1798 onward, it is represented for sev- eral years without interruption. Confirmatory of this view is the following :
In 1797 Lorenzo Dow first visited this Circuit, traveling under the supervision of S. Hutchinson, the preacher in charge. The following is from his journal : " At Clarendon and Castleton the society were watching over me for evil and not for good. These two places I visited likewise from house to house; next to Fair Haven, where I met with hard speeches; then to Poult- ney, where was no regular preaching. Here lived a young woman whom I began to question about her soul, but met with cool answers. " Well," said I, " I'll pray to God to send a fit of sickness upon you, if nothing else will do, to bring you to good, and if you won't repent then, to take you out of the way, so that you shall not hinder others." Said she " If you'll pray for such things as this you can't be the friend you pretend to be to my soul ; and I'll venture all your prayers," and was much displeased, and so was her mother likewise. She soon began to grow uneasy and restless, and went into one room and into another, back and for h, then sitting down, but could get no relief. The whole fam- ily, except the father and son, began to grow outrageous towards
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY
me, which occasioned me to go seven miles late at night for the sake of family quietness. Shortly afterwards the young woman began to seek God, and with two of her sisters were found walk- ing in the ways of wisdom ; and a society was soon formed in the place." We cannot ascertain how long this class existed, but in- fer that the members became scattered and the society broken up prior to 1810, because Tobias Spicer in his autobiography says that there was no society here in 1810, at which time he got an appointment to preach in East Poultney. It is probable that the preaching of Mr. Spicer revived the society, for in 1811 Poultney again appears in the quarterly contributions, and from that time forth is credited with a collection in the records .f nearly every Quarterly meeting of the Circuit in which it was included.
In the Quarterly Conference records for Cambridge Circuit there is found another list of the societies with the number in each. The list is dated May, 1800. Castleton Vt is the farthest north and Pitts- town'N. Y. the farthest south. Poultney is set down as having 21 members, and the totai on that whole territory, extending north and south from Pittstown, to Castleton, and east and west from the Green Mountains to the Hudson River, was 704. The last time that Poultney appears on the Quarterly Conference records of Cambridge Circuit is May 30 and 31, 1801. An extract from the records of that date will be interesting. It was the last Quarterly meeting for the Conference year, and after giving the receipts and disbursements, the record ends with a summary in the following words and style :
" Total to ye preachers this year-
£.
8.
d.
Bro. Bostwick,
5
9
3
Bro. Camfield,
26
11
9
his expense,
1
10
4
Bro. Stevens,
53
3
7
Bro. Bishop for to months, his expense,
5
1
2
0
10
0
Bro. Heddin, 5 months,
12
10
5
his expense, -
0
14
10
105
11
4
Bro. Stevens' expense,
2
15
0
-
-
£108 68 4d
This is about $270 for the salary and traveling expenses of three
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
preachers a whole year, of one for 2 months and of one for 5 months. The Heddin here mentioned was Elijah, afterwards Bishop. The poorest paid preacher on this whole territory now receives probably more money per year than all five of the fore- going heroes did, while he does not performn so much labor nor endure a tithe of the hardships of any one of them.
In 1801 Cambridge Circuit was divided, and Poultney, with Whitehall, Wells, Castleton, Hampton, Rutland, Danby and Shrewsbury, were set off to Brandon Circuit. Previous to this, Brandon Circuit included the whole of Western Vermont north of Rutland. At this date its limits were Danby on the south, Salisbury on the north, Whitehall on the west, and the mountains on the east.
We can obtain but few facts further in regard to the Methodist Church in Poultney, until measures were taken to build a Meeting House ; nor have we been able to ascertain what Methodist minis- ter first preached in Poultney. The earliest record we have is found in the journal of Lorenzo Dow, already quoted, from which we learn that he preached here in the latter part of 1797 or the early part of 1798. Hisremark however that there was "no regular preach- ing," implies that other Methodist preachers had preceded him here. Rev. Tobias Spicer iu his autobiography says that in 1810 he got an appointment to preach in East Poultney. He has often told the writer of this article that he preached at the school house in East Poultney ; but we cannot find that there was any regular Metho- dist preaching in Poultney until after the Stone Church was erected, in 1822. At a Quarterly Meeting Conference for Brandon Circuit, held at Pittsford, Oct. 27, 1821, the following vote was passed : "That Samuel Draper circulate a subscription paper to build a Meeting House in Hampton, and report at t' e next Qrar- terly Conference." At this time John B. Stratton was Presiding Elder, and Samuel Draper, Moses Amadon and Jacob Beaman the Circuit preachers. The next Quarterly Meeting Conference was held at Hampton, Jan. 13, 1822, and Mr. Draper reported "that he had attended the business assigned him at a former Conference : to circulate a subscription for the purpose of building a Meeting House in the town of Hampton, and that his report was unfavorable to any probable success. A vote was called to dismiss the subject, and carried in the affirmative. Elder Draper informed the Con- ference he had drawn a subscription at the request of a number of
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
the inhabitants of the town of Poultney, to build a Methodist Meeting House in Poultney, with a prospect of success, under the re : ulations of the Methodist discipline. A vote was taken that Elder Draper be appointed in behalf of this Conference to further the desired object."
In 1822 there was a reconstruction of Circuits, and Poultney passed from the Brandon to the Whitehall Circuit. Its first Quar- terly Conference was held in a school house near William Hotch- kiss's, Aug. 24, 1822. J. B. Stratton was Presiding Elder, and Orrin Pier and Philo Ferris, Circuit preachers. Its fourth Quar- terly Conference was held at the Stone Church, in Poultney, May 24, 1823. This is the first record of any meeting held in the Stone Church in Poultney. Although it was not then finished it doubtless had been used for meetings, and continued to be so used although in an unfinished state, for several years.
Poultney remained connected with the Whitehall Circuit until 1827. In the records ofa Quarterly Meeting Conference for White- hall Circuit, held in the Meeting House in Poultney, Nov. 5, 1825, Poultney is recognized as a Station, and Seymour Landon is called "Stationed Preacher.". The Circuit preachers were Dillon, Stevens and a Mr. Ladd. The Presiding Elder was Buel Goodsell. At this meeting Stacy Potter and George Orr were appointed Stewards.
The first Quarterly Conference for Poultney Station, of which we have any record, was held Nov. 6, 1826, Buel Goodsell being Presiding Elder, and John C. Green "Stationed Preacher." So there seems to be an entire year, viz. : from Nov. 1825 to Nov. 1826, without any record. Poultney does not appear however in the general minutes as a Station proper un il 1827. It is probable, indeed certain, that it was a Station during 1825 and 1826, only by a mutual arrangement among the preachers.
Although there had for several years been occasional preaching in Poultney by the Methodist itinerante, while it was embraced in Brandon and Whitehall Circuit, there does not seem to have been any organized effort to make it a regular appointment and to sup- port a minister until the spring of 1826. The "Stone Church" had been occupied by the Circuit preachers for meetings but it was unfinished, and on the 13th day of April, 1826, the leading citi- zens of West Poultney, together with a few Methodists in other parts of the town, and with several Methodists in Hampton, N.
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
Y., to the number of 36 in all, united to form a society whose ob- jects are set forth in the following
Compact .- We, the subscribers, inhabitants of Poultney, County of Rutland and State of Vermont, and of Hampton, in the State of New York, do hereby voluntarily associate and agree to form a society under the name of the Methodist Episcopal Society of Poultney, for the purpose of building or furnishing a meeting house, paying and supporting ministers and procuring a parson- age, house and lot, for their accommodation ; of holding, to our- selves and our successors, such estates, rights and interests as we may hereafter acquire by purchase or otherwise, and the same to sell and transfer for the benefit of the society according to the first section of an act, entitled, An Act for the support of the Gospel ; passed Oct. 26, 1795. And it is hereby expressly understood and agreed that no money is ever to be raised by this society. for any purpose whatever, except by voluntary subscription or donation, Lor is any vote or by-law ever to be passed repugnant to the con- stitution and laws of this State, or to the economy and order of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In witness whereof we do hereby set our hand. Dated at Poult- ney this 13th day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
Daniel Mallary,
Moses Lynch,
Henry Stanley,
Seymour Landon,
Alanson Rice,
Seth Patee,
Welcome Phillips,
Thads. Sheldon,
Joel Beaman,
Anthony Austin,
Benj. Rice,
John W Austin,
Newton Sanford,
Rufus Maynard,
Seth Hunt,
Samuel Cleveland,
Lorenzo Ward,
Alanson Richards,
William Wells,
John Stanley,
Joseph Chandler, Noah Wells,
Isaac Taylor,
Nathaniel Bartow,
John Allen,
Ziza Densmore,
Isaac Pierce,
Edmund Mott,
Alby Sheldon,
Stasa Potter,
Oliver Thayer,
George C. Morris,
Smith Austin,
Hiram Sheldon,
Peter Smith,
Augustus Austin.
At the time the foregoing Compact was entered into, Rev. Sey- mour Landon, who is still (Sept. 1875) living, and an honored member of the N. Y. East Conference, was the preacher in charge of the Circuit. At some time during the next year, 1827, there was a large accession to this Compact, as appears by the following :
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY
We, whose names are hereinafter written, having become ac- quainted with the tenor of the Compact and by-laws of the Meth- odist Episcopal Society of Poultney, and entertaining a good opinion of the society in general, do hereby freely associate and unite ourselves with said society, to be governed by the laws, rules and regulations of said society the same as though we had been present when the society was formed. In witness whereof we hereunto set our hands. Poultney, 1827.
Benjamin Lincoln, Jabez Hyde,
Eleazer Prex,
Ziba B. Rayder,
Alexander Orr,
John C. Churchill,
William Hotchkiss, Joel Hyde,
Timothy Marshall,
F. W. Smith,
Alexander Martin,
Chester IIorsington,
Ichd. Marshall,
James Early,
Abner Ryder, Justus Barker,
Anson Wyman,
Alınon Warenr,
Asa Warren,
Lucian B. Meacham.
John Martin,
Cotton F. Warner,
Levi G. Potter,
Jefferson Rice,
Solomon Gould,
C. Parkhurst, John Pegg,
William J. Sheldon,
George Martin,
Cyrus Prindle,
William Babcock,
Lucius Ormsby,
Isaac Leffingwell,
John Osborn,
Wm. H. Goodrich,
Elam D. Root,
Ebenezer Gould,
David Nichols,
Hiram Chandler,
John Potter,
Elijah Hawes,
A. E. Knapp,
Jacob Hall,
Martin Hyde,
John Frazer,
J. Johnson,
George L. Lee,
John M. Weaver,
Sam'l P. Hooker,
A. M. Town,
Thos. B. Cushman,
David Simmons,
B. K. Seaman,
Garrett N. Hanson.
William Blakeley, Ich'd Babcock,
This society was not indifferent to the character of its members for one of its by-laws was : "Any member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church who is in good standing may become a memberof this society by signifying the same to the prudential committee and subscribing to the articles of our association, and any other man who supports a good moral character and feels friendly to this so- ciety may become a member " on the same conditions. The socie- ty also guarded its purity, for another by-law was, "Any member of this society whose conduct shall be such as to reduce him below the common level of a good moral citizen may be expelled froms the society by a vote of the same."
Fasset Cleveland,
W. N. W. Lawton,
Benjamin Case,
Thomas Gorham,
Willianı Burnam,
H. A. Crain,
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY. \
The records of the first meeting of this society bear the same date as the Compact.
John Stanley was appointed Moderator ; Henry Stanley, Clerk ; John Stanley, Treasurer ; Thad. Sheldon, George C. Morris, John Stanley, Moses Lynch and John Allen, Prudential Committee ; Alanson Rice and John W. Austin, Collectors.
At an adjourned meeting held April 27, 1826, Alanson Richards was appointed to take charge of the Meeting House key, and initial steps were taken towards procuring a parsonage. This society held its meetings annually, or oftener, as occasion required, until the 29th of May, 1837, which is the date of the last meeting of which there is any record. At this meeting the Prudential Com- mittee was dispensed with, and the Stewards appointed to serve in that capacity, while the Class Leaders were appointed to serve as Collectors. The records contain a warning for a thirteenth annual meeting, but no minutes to show that such meeting was ever held. The probability is that the religious department of the Church had become strong enough to bear the burden of church tempor- alities, and the secular society having fulfilled its mission, inform- ally ceased to exist.
The regular Church organization of Poultney Station of the M. E. Church was about simultaneous with the Methodist Episcopal Society above described, for the records of the first Quarterly Con- ference for Poultney Station, as already stated, bear date Nov. 6, 1826, Buel Goodsell being presiding elder, and John C. Green "Sta- tioned Preacher." The first stewards of Poultney Station were George C. Morris, Stacy Potter, John Allen, Alanson Rice and J. W. Austin. The records of Quarterly Meeting Conferences are con- tinuous from that time to the present.
The Methodist Episcopal Society held the title to the House of Worship until April 4th, 1829, at which time it was transferred to the Methodist Episcopal Church, agreeably to an act of the Le- gislature passed Oct. 30th, 1828.
At the first meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Society in Poult- ney, April 13, 1826, Thaddeus Sheldon, Geo. C. Morris. John Stan- ley, Moses Lynch and John Allen were appointed "a committee to manage the prudential concerns of the society ;" and at an ad- journed meeting. held April 27, 1826, a vote was passed "that the prudential committee get Mr. Mallary's terms for the purchase of his place as a parsonage, and if they think proper, to circulate sub-
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
scription papers for that purpose." This house was purchased. .It stood on what is now the open lot between the Poultney House and the premises facing Furnace street. It was occupied as a par- sonage until the. year 1832.
At the annual meeting of the said Methodist Episcopal Society, April 23, 1833, a vote was passed "that the preacher in charge of Poultney Station be a committee to circulate a subscription for the purpose of building a parsonage house ;" also, a vote "that the stewards of the Station be invested with discretionary power to sell the old parsonage, or otherwise to procure the building of a new house." At the eighth annual meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Society, Aug. 12, 1833, a vote was passed "that the stew- ards of the station be empowered to purchase a lot and build a honse for the use of the ministers who may from time to time be appointed to the Station." On the 4th of October, 1833, Tobias Spicer deeded to Stasa Potter, John W. Austin, Win. Hotchkiss, Geo. C. Morris and Alanson Rice, Stewards of the Methi dist Epis- copal Church, and to their successors in office, in consideration of one hundred dollars, "the west part of a lot bo't by said Spicer of Stasa Potter, on which lot the brick house now is." This brick house located on Main street and facing Maple street was for many years the District parsonage.
This house was rented for the Stationed Preacher Nov. 6, 1832, for ten months at forty-five dollars. Ang. 12, 1833, a cominittee was appointed to rent a house again. At a Quarterly Conference held Oct. 2, 1833, a vote was passed that measures be taken to build a parsonage, and a committee appointed to furnish a plan. Dec. 23, 1833, the committee reported and a building committee was appointed, consisting of John Stanley, Cyrus Prindle. Stasa Pot- ter, J. W. Austin and Alanson Rice. The house was built in 1833 and 1834, on the lot deeded to the Stewards as above stated. and continued to be occupied as a station parsonage until 1849, when it was sold to aid in liquilating a debt that had been created in building the new House of Worship. From that time the preacher lived in a rented house until 1856 when the present parsonage, located on the south side of Main street near its junction with Academy street, was purchased.
In October, 1830, the District parsonage, which was located at Charlotte, Vt., was destroyed by fire. Tobias Spicer, who was Presiding Elder, lost all his books and papers ; and for two years
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
thereafter resided in Middlebury, Vt. In 1832 the house in Poult- ney, already referred to, was purchased by Mr. Spicer for the Dis- trict, and continued to be the District parsonage until 1866, when it was sold by the District Stewards and another purchased at Fort Edward, N. Y.
The first Methodist Meeting House in Poultney was built, as we have already remarked, in 1822. From the introduction of Meth- odism into this region, Hampton had been much more prominent than Poultney, and the House would have been located there but for a contest which arose just at this time between Poultney and East Poultney, in regard to the Post Office. Citizens of the East village petitioned the Department at Washington to remove the office to that village, alleging as a reason, that all the Churches in town were in East Poultney. Citizens of the west village remon- strated, and assigned as their argument that the only grist mill in town was at or near West Poultney, therefore that location would accommodate the town better than East Poultney. The prayer of the petitioners was not granted that year. Meantime, the citizens of West Poultney said to the Methodists in Hampton, who as we have seen were then contemplating the building of a Meeting House, " If you will locate your House in West Poultney we will help you." The offer was accepted. The result was the establishment of a new Post Office at East Poultney, and the union of the Poultney and Hampton Methodists into one society, who continued to oc- cupy the House erected in 1822 until the completion of the present House of Worship, on Main street, in 1841. At that time the Meth- odists in Hampton separated from the Poultney society and built the House at Hampton Corners which they now occupy.
There is an item in the philosophical history of the present Methodist Meeting House in Poultney which is worthy of mention because it accounts for the House being built at the time when it was. The members worshipping in the Stone House on the hill came largely from Hampton and remote parts of the town of Poultney ; consequently the interval between services could not be over an hour. The Trustees of the Academy in Poultney re- quired persons connected with the Institution to attend Church both morning and afternoon of each Sabbath. An hour was found too short a time in which to return from Church, get dinner, and return for afternoon service. This became so serious an em- barrassment that in 1839 Rev. James Covel, the Principal of the
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
Academy, resolved to excuse the students from attendance at the Stone Church in the afternoon, and established chapel exercises at the Academy at 3 o'clock p. M. This of course reduced the atten- dance at the Meeting House in the afternoon mate ially. John Frazer, the Stationed Preacher, after ineffectual efforts to re- form the refractory Principal, brought complaint against him at the ensuing annual Conference, in 1840. The Conference, after hearing both plaintiff an Idefendant, acquitted Mr. Covel, but rec- ommended the society in Poultney to build a new House in some central part of the village, and the Trustees of the Academy to sub- seribe $600 towards it. The society immediately adopted meas- ures for this purpose. The building committee were Henry Stanley, Sherman Miner and Hiram Chandler. The perfection of the House is dne largely to their good taste, their self-sacrificing labors, and their characteristic liberality. They received valuable assistance and counsel from Isaac Leflingwell, who was originally one of the building com nittee, but was, at his own request, excus d from serving. The House was completed and dedicated in the winter of 1841-2. Truman Seymour, Presiding Elder,
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