USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > Jericho > Centennial anniversary of the First Congregational Church of Jericho, Vermont, at Jericho Centre, June 17, 1891 > Part 2
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This meeting house was never painted outside or inside ; had no chimney, or any provisions for warming. Almost every fam- ily carried one or more small foot-stoves, which I presume all present have seen, getting the coals for warming them from the surrounding houses, I fancy in these modern times it would tax
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a Talmage to draw a congregation, and hold them through two services, to a church without furnace or fire-especially on some of our coldest winter days.
After stoves came into use one was put into the centre aisle, the pipe going out through the roof. The difference in the tem- perature which this stove made was largely one of imagination.
An important personage in those days was the tithingman. A tithingman, as Webster defines it, is " A parish officer annu- ally elected to preserve good order in the church during divine service, and to make complaint of any disorderly conduct, and enforce the observance of the Sabbath." They were elected by the town at their annual meeting, and in these early days dis- charged their duties most faithfully. The principal field of their labors during divine service was in those high backed pews in the gallery, where the youngsters, who were allowed to sit there, could hide out of sight. This officer, varying in number from one to four, continued to be elected until 1840, when the office was abolished.
The last public action of the town that had any reference to this first church building was at a town meeting held Jan. 27, 1836, from the records of which I copy as follows :
" Whereas the proprietors of the building heretofore denom- "inated the old meeting house in Jericho have sold or transferred "their interest in the same and the said house is about being " taken down whereby the said town will be deprived of the usual " place of holding town and freemen's meetings, Therefore Re- "solved, &c." The old meeting house was taken down the May following-May, 1836.
The result of this town meeting was that at a meeting held September 5, 1837, the town completed arrangements with the proprietors of the new meeting house whereby they secured the right to occupy the basement room of the same for all political meetings by the payment of two hundred dollars, and which they have occupied ever since.
After the Academy was built, about 1825, the lower floor of which was finished for meetings and public worship, the Baptists having the first right to the use and occupancy of it, this Society having the second right, so that, from that time until a very re- cent period, this Society used it, more or less, as a vestry room
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for weekly and evening meetings, and also for services on the Sab- bath for the few months between the taking down of the old meeting house, and the completion of the new one. This was always known and designated as the Conference room.
The first action towards providing for the building of the new or second meeting house was at a meeting of citizens called and held at the Conference room November 7, 1833, at which meeting preliminary steps were taken to form an association for that purpose, appoint a committee to draft a constitution, draw a plan, estimate the expense, &c. The committee appointed were David T. Stone, Nathaniel Blackman, Hosea Spaulding, Anson Field, Lemuel Blackman and Thomas D. Rood. This meeting was adjourned to November 28, 1833, at which time the following plan, substantially, was adopted, viz : that shares of $25 each be subscribed for ; that said house shall be built of brick, and shall be for the use of the First Congregational Society of Jericho, and shall not be applied to any other purpose or use ex- cept by the votes of two-thirds of all the proprietors, each share of $25 having one vote, which mode of voting shall obtain in all transactions relating to said house. Also, that when the house was finished the whole cost should be apportioned upon the sev- eral slips or pews by a disinterested committee, and sold at public auction ; no bid on any slip or pew to be received under the ap- praisal of the same ; each subscriber being obliged to take the amount of his stock in slips or pews.
The whole business of erecting and finishing said house to be managed by a Superintending Committee of three persons appoint- ed by the subscribers to the stock. Said committee not to pro- ceed to act until $2500 stock shall have been sold. Dr. Jamin Hamilton, Nathaniel Blackman and Hosea Spaulding were elec- ted building committee.
The year 1834 was spent in procuring subscriptions for stock, deciding upon a location, making the brick, and generally getting ready. The building was erected in 1835, and finished in 1836. The whole cost of the house was $4,017. 75. which was apportioned upon the slips by Wm. Rhodes of Richmond and Horace L. Nichols of Burlington, and they were sold October 6, 1836.
The house was finished at that time except painting inside. I copy the following from the church records, viz : "January
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"25, 1837, at 10 o'clock A. M. the brick meeting house was ded- " icated to Almighty God for his worship. Sermon by Rev. Pres. " Wheeler of Vt. University." Signed E. W. Kellogg, Pastor.
The mason work on this church building was done by Reuben Rockwood, he making the brick for the same in the old brick yard below the now residence of George C. Bicknell.
The wood work, both framing and finish, was done by Jona- than Goodhue. The whole of the inside wood work was finished in panel and moulding, and all, as well as the sash and doors, were made by hand out of seasoned boards in the rough,-the planing, even, being done by hand. In these days, when almost everything is done by machinery, this would seem a formidable undertaking.
The change of this second meeting house to the present one is of so recent date that I presume the construction is generally remembered ; but for preservation, a brief description, on this Centennial occasion, may not be amiss, especially of that part which has been removed or changed. It was built of brick, 44×64 feet outside, with solid walls 18 inches thick to the galle- ries and 12 inches above, thus forming a shoulder on which one end of the gallery timbers was laid. There was no inside frame or lath, the side walls being plastered on the brick. The chim- ney was built inside the rear wall. There were two rows of square windows, and a modest steeple for a bell ; the bell was purchased with funds raised by subscription about the time of the comple- tion of the church, the cost of it not being included in the sum apportioned on the slips, and was, I think, the first church bell in town. There were two front doors opening into a lobby ; at the corners of this lobby, to the right and left of the doors, were the stairs leading to the gallery. From the lobby were two doors nearly opposite the front ones, opening into the audience room ; between these was the pulpit. From each of the doors an aisle run straight to the rear wall. The seats were slips or long seats, such as are now in general use, of which there were sixty-two- three in each corner at the right and left of the pulpit set parallel with the aisles ; a row of fourteen each set between the aisles and the side walls, running back to the rear wall, and facing the pul- pit, and a double row of fourteen each between the aisles. There
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was a gallery on the two sides and the end opposite the pulpit, with a double row of seats around it.
The provision for warming was, at first, two large stoves set in the front end of the basement, enclosed in brick-a sort of hot air furnace-the best known in those days, but which proved a failure. Afterwards two stoves were placed above in the aisles near the entrance doors, but they never proved a success in warming the house.
In the month of April, 1877, the pew owners and members of this church and Society held a meeting at which it was decided to repair the brick meeting house, and the result was the appoint- ing of Edgar HI. Lane, Edwin W. Humphrey, and Martin V. Willard a committee to superintend and direct such repairs. A subscription was circulated to raise funds. By a provision of the Statute the slips of all non-resident owners, and of resident owners who did not favor or consent to the repairs, were appraised May 29, 1877, by Andrew Warner, Stephen Dow and Gordon Smith, a committee selected for that purpose, and the very few who did not relinquish their claim to or pay for the repairs on their seats were paid the appraisal.
The repairing was done between June, 1877, and February 20, 1878, at a cost of $4900. The rededication of it was Febru- ary 20, 1878 : sermon by Rev. George B. Safford, then pastor of the College Street church in Burlington, from Psalm 73, v. 25.
In making the repairs the entire wood work, including the doors, windows and window frames, between the timbers overhead and the timbers under the floor, was taken out, and the belfry, as it was called, and shingles from the roof. Nothing of the old church remained ont the lower floor timbers, the overhead tim- bers and roof and the side walls, which were considerably torn out and filled in, in changing the style of the windows.
After the discussions and differences of opinions as to how and what should be built within the old walls left standing, usual in such cases, a condition of things, as we find in pursuing this history that cannot be claimed as a modern discovery, the result of the repairs, or rather rebuilding, is before you. The further description of it I leave for the person who shall write upon Church Edifices here in 1991.
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And now as we bring before us the beautiful, convenient and comfortable church edifices of to-day all over the land, and in imagination place them beside those of a century ago, I fancy the thought and feeling first and uppermost in the minds of all present is the same-not one of pride or boasting or supe- riority, but of deep, devout and sincere gratitude and thankful- ness to and veneration for those early pioneers, our ancestors, who, among their first acts, amid all their privations established the public worship of God, which made possible the churches of to-day.
As we look around and see on every hand, not alone that refined taste that leads us to make beautiful the places of our worship, but the numerous Christian Associations that throw around the young, wherever they are, the restraint and protec- tion of the Christian home,-the Sabbath School, a branch of worship training and fitting the young for more intelligent chris- tian manhood and womanhood-the many and various organized charitable efforts to reach, help, lift up and save all of every grade and condition who need help, inspired by that unselfish love taught by Him who gave Himself for us,-all these, and more, the growth and fruit of that early planting of the public worship, -(and, for want of a better place, in some convenient house or barn,)-of Him who was born in a manger, our emotions find fitting utterance in that doxology, more than two centuries old, -
" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him, all creatures here below, Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
HYMN-"How Beautiful are Thy Dwellings."
BY THE CHOIR.
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L
Remarks at Communion Table, by Dr. Wilson B. Parmalee.
It is, dear brethren and friends, a somewhat singular fact that with all my associations with this church, in my early life, this is the first opportunity I have ever had of sitting with you at the table of our Lord. I do rejoice that on this interesting cen- tennial occasion this privilege is accorded me, of commemorating Christ's love with the church of my fathers. And as I come to this table I am again impressed, as often before, with the beau- tiful simplicity of this ordinance. It was beautiful in its sim- plicity as instituted by our Saviour ; it was beautiful when stripped by our Puritan fathers of the unmeaning rites and ceremonies which had gathered about it. Our ancestors of Puritan stock, when they planted the church here in the wil- derness, preserved this same simplicity in the observance of this ordinance. One Hundred Years ago, when, at the founding of this church, only nine first gathered about this table, we have reason to believe, they commemorated Christ's love just as we their children are doing to-day. During this Century there has been no addition to and no subtraction from the methods of the fathers in celebrating this ordinance.
Another thought which comes to me is this : How many since that day have here sat at this table of our Lord ? How many hundreds at stated seasons have gathered here during all these years to feel the inspirations of Christ's love, to gain new strength and hope for the conflicts of life ? But to-day we see not their faces, we hear not their voices. Having fought a good fight, having kept the faith and finished their course, they have gone to wear the crown-they have joined the general assembly and church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven-they have gone up to the heavenly communion of which this is only a type and foretaste. May we not believe they are looking down upon us on this occasion with the keenest interest, marking the progress of this church and its loyalty to Christ ? Can we for a moment imagine that because they have passed up to the church triumphant they have ceased to feel a lively inter-
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est in the church militant with which they struggled through so many years ?
May we not then say, amid these sacred surroundings, and with the precious memories which here press upon us-" Seeing then we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus."
Animated by the thought that we here at this table are com- passed about by many of our fathers and friends who passed from the communion of this church into heaven, who are watch- ing us with the intensest interest, to see how we are discharging the solemn trust committed to us, let us renew our pledge of loyalty to this church and to our blessed Lord-keeping an eye on the Cross as the sign by which we are to conquer, following the lead of the great Captain of our Salvation with unflagging zeal and a manly courage. May we fight the good fight of faith and at last be gathered to the fathers, to join with them in singing the songs of redeeming love.
ANTHEM,-by the choir-" Benedictus."
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* Afternoon Session. *
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After an organ voluntary by Miss Jessie B. Cilley, the con- gregation joined in singing the following
entennial
.
BY FRANCIS B. WHEELER, D. D.
TUNE-HADDAM.
Our earthly years, O God, Are at Thy sole command ; And paths by mortals trod Are from Thy mighty hand. Our history a passing dream, A mystery and fitful gleam.
And yet, O God supreme, Our years are not in vain, But richer than they seem, In solid, lasting gain. Along the years, we live for Thee,
In joy and tears we build for Thee.
One hundred years have fled Since here our fathers wrought ; And lo, their work not dead, For lives the Church they sought. Thy Church, O God, preserved by Thee, Thy work, O God, all praise to Thee.
What memories arise From out the misty past ! Glad visions greet our eyes, And sorrows, shadows cast. O Christ, our King, Thy love so great, We grateful, sing and celebrate.
From out the gate of years, Along the King's highway, We march through stormy fears, To reach eternal day. Our watchword, Christ, Humanity : The world for Christ, in loyalty !
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Mr. Thomas S. McGinnis, of Jericho, being called upon for remarks, spoke substantially as follows :
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :
Your committee have asked me to make a few remarks in regard to the choirs connected with this church.
My memory takes me back to the year 1833, when but a lad, I first heard the choir sing in this place, though not in this house. It was in the old meeting house which stood in the centre of the "green." At that time, the Rev. Harvey Smith was the pastor, and Mr. John Lyman was the chorister. I remember some who constituted that choir ; on the left of the leader were Mr. Erastus Lyman, who sung bass, and Dea. Howe, who played the bass-viol ; on the right were the three Misses Lane,-Valencia, Minerva and Melissa. There were many others, whose names I do not at this time recall.
In the winter of 1837-38 the Church and Society procured the services of Mr. J. C. Ide in teaching a singing school. He being an excellent teacher, the school was very successful, and a fine large choir was formed, which maintained good singing for many years .* After the departure of Mr. Ide, Mr. John Lyman was again chosen leader of the choir, and took the charge of sing- ing in this church for twenty-five years. He was well fitted for a leader, having a fine, powerful voice, and taking a great interest in the singing. He was never absent but two half days on the Sabbath, during his long service as chorister.
Afterwards, the choir chose as their leaders, successively, Mr. Edgar A. Barney, Dr. Fred F. Hovey, Mr. Charles H. Lyman, and Mr. Edgar II. Lane. All of these leaders proved themselves well qualified for the position to which they had been chosen, and rendered, by their faithfulness and efficiency, a lasting benefit to the choir and the church.
These five were choir leaders for nearly sixty years ; three of their number have passed over the river to join the choir above, viz : Dr. Hovey, Mr. John Lyman and Mr. Charles Lyman. Mr. Charles Lyman lived more remote from the church than any other
* Mr. McGinnis stated that he had sung in the old meeting house in a choir of forty or fifty voices.
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of the choir leaders, but through storm and sunshine was always in his seat in the choir.
I am happy to say that the singing by the choir to-day, in proportion to their number, sustains well the high reputation which belonged to the choir in the days that are past. I am of the opinion that so important a branch of divine worship as singing in the house of God, ought not to be done by a few voices, only. There should be a well trained choir, sufficiently large to perform a fine, full chorus, and at times the whole congregation should unite with the choir, to give that grand effect which is so desira- ble in the house of the Lord.
After singing, by the choir, the anthem "The Lord is Watching o'er His People," the Rev. Edwin F. Wheelock, of Cambridge, responded to his name in a bright informal talk, full of reminiscences, only a few of which can be given here-this, as all the other unwritten exercises, having been transcribed from memory, as, unfortunately, no reporter was present during the day. Mr. Wheelock said, ---
In the fall of 1845 I came to Jericho Centre as a teacher in the old Academy ; I found a most intelligent and prosperous people, and a united, living church here. The students, who came mostly from the pleasant homes in the immediate neighbor- hood, were extremely courteous young people, and many of them have since attained to positions of great usefulness-and of such I may speak the names of Hon. Cyrus M. Spaulding, the two Humphrey brothers, Homer Bartlett, a distinguished physician, and Miss Mary Lyman, now Mrs. M. L. Bingham, of Chicago.
The most unique character in the church at that time was Elias Bartlett ; he was a man of ideas and force ; he thoroughly mastered the Greek Testament after he was fifty years old. There was a Bible Class in the church, of which he was the teacher, and, farmer as he was, few men could unfold the Holy Scriptures as he did. Many of the young men of the parish, I think, date their best impressions of a true life from the earnest and intelli- gent instructions of this plain and faithful Bible teacher.
Mr. Bartlett's orthodoxy was of the soundest kind. In after years I came to preach in this church by way of exchange. The
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text was, " And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." There was a quotation in the sermon from Whittier :
" I know not where His islands lift Their proudest palms in air ; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care."
When I was returning home the next morning, as I went by Mr. Bartlett's house, he was waiting for me, and coming out to me said, at once, " You have come down here and preached a Universalist sermon, and I want you to come down again and preach an antidote to it. Whittier may be a delightful poet, but his orthodoxy is not sound." Two or three years after this I was at Jericho Corners on Sunday, and at the close of the service Mr. Bartlett came to me and said " I came all the way over here to- day to hear you, and to apologize for my discourtesy the last time I saw you." Here was the true, honest man, and this Century- old church of Jericho has had many such ornaments, not only of this church but of the State as well.
In truth, these children of the fathers who are so joyful here this Centennial day, can sing "We have fed in pastures large and fair, of love and truth divine ;" and may your children's children, at the close of the incoming century, sing with still greater joy and gladness, "We have had an ear for every call, and a hand Almighty to defend."
Mr. Myron W. Skinner, of Northfield, Minn., than whom none received more hearty welcome to his old home, spoke sub- stantially as follows :
Mr. President and Friends :
When I learned that Dr. Wheeler, and Dr. Parmalee, and my friend Rev. Lester H. Elliot, and many others whose business it is to talk, were to be here, I did not suppose that a western business man, who had never made a speech in his life, would be called upon. But I am glad of an opportunity to say a word. My friends, I am happy to be here. I have come some fifteen hundred miles to be with you to-day. I felt I needed the inspi- ration of this occasion. Next to my own church home, I love this church. It is the church my grand-father Chapin helped to
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establish : to which my father and mother belonged, and also my aunt, Harriet Chapin, of sainted memory, to whom, after my parents, I owe more than to any other person. I was baptized here in infancy, and here is my earliest recollection of attending church and Sunday school.
The remembrance of these things, and of my godly ancestry who worshipped here, has been an inspiration to me. As I look about this attractive church to-day, with its beautiful decora- tions, and above all feel the christian atmosphere that prevails here, I feel that the work started a hundred years ago is being sustained by earnest, faithful laborers, and I rejoice to see evi- dences of a spiritual, working church.
'Thirty-five years ago I went to my Minnesota home. There was no church organization, or building, there. Now we have a church of some four hundred members, and a commodious edifice. We also have a christian College (Carleton), whose influence is becoming world-wide.
Again let me say I am glad to be with you. I feel well paid for coming, and I am proud to be a son of Vermont, and of be- longing, by birth and education, to the First Congregational Church of Jericho.
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ISTORICAL
D ISCOURSE.
BY REV. AUSTIN HAZEN, OF RICHMOND.
DEUT. 32.7. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations ; ask thy father, and he will shew thee ; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
We have come from our widely scattered homes to-day to obey this passage of Holy Scripture. As when the weary traveler gains the height of some o'erlooking hill, he turns back and sees all the way he has trod in climbing, so we stand to-day on an eminence, and look over the way this church has traveled for one hundred years. We remember the days of old, when it began its struggles in the wilderness. We consider the years of many gen- erations, and mark its labors, its trials, its growth, its revivals. We ask the fathers, and they will shew us by what steps it advan- ced. We ask our elders, and they shall tell us how the vine of God's planting has been blessed with His care ; what laborers the church has had, what sons and daughters she has trained for ser- vice here, or elsewhere,-the records of the fathers, the teaching of the elders, will be found both interesting and instructive. Such a history is full of valuable lessons.
The Town of Jericho was chartered in 1763 ; in 1774 three families settled within its limits-two on Winooski river, and one on Brown's river. The early settlements were broken up by the Indians, and the Revolutionary war. In 1783 they began again, and increased rapidly. The first christian man to settle in town was Dea. Azariah Rood. He bought a large tract of land on the western line of the town, and moved his family here from Lanes- boro, Mass. With others, he had great trials during the war ; was driven off by Indians, and lost his property. He was at the battle of Bennington as a helper, not a soldier, and was taken
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captive. After the war, in 1783, he came back to Jericho, and began life again on the frontier.
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