USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 43
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and it was equally manifest to them that civil liberty, or any government short of anarchy, could not exist unless it was founded and formed upon the corner- stone of religion and religious worship. Hence the first thing done was to lay the foundation and establish a form of civil government. This done, then they commenced to make provision for the support of public worship and for the enjoyment of Christian institutions and ordinances. This was also true of Ver- mont. In Bennington, which is the oldest of our chartered towns, in the rec- ords of their first proprietors' meeting the first act after the election of officers was the appointment of a " committe to look out a place to set the meeting- house." The same is true of the early settlers of Rutland. All through the early records of the town will be found votes in reference to the employment of preachers, providing places of public worship, and kindred subjects. To show the nature of these votes, we give the record of the town meeting of Jan- uary 4th, 1781 : -
" Voted, That Mr. Gideon Miner, John Johnson and Joseph Bowker, esq., act as a committee to endeavor to provide a preacher of the Gospel for this town.
" Voted, That the above committee apply to Mr. Mitchell of Woodbury as preacher aforesaid.
" A motion being put to know whether it was the minds of the town to settle a minister as soon as they can find one that they can be agreed on, it was voted in the affirmative."
The proper ecclesiastical history of Rutland may be said to have begun in 1773, when, on the 20th day of October, the first Congregational Church and society was formed in Rutland, with fourteen members, namely : Joseph Bow- ker, Sarah Bowker, William Roberts, Eben Hopkins, Samuel Crippen, Daniel Hawley, Charles Brewster, Abraham Jackson, John Moses, Enos Ives, Jehiel Andrews, Sarah Andrews, Annah Ives and Mehitable Andrews.
Over this church was settled the Rev. Benajah Roots. (See sketch of his life in former pages.)
There were here at that time about thirty families, and he was engaged here to preach for five years. In consequence of his settlement he also received a right of land, which by the charter was reserved to the first settled minister. He remained as pastor of this church until his death, which occurred March 16, 1787, in the sixty-second year of his age. As first constituted, there were only thirteen members, and there were six additions to it down to 1874-75, when there was a powerful revival, which brought into the church forty-five persons. We have not time now to speak of the result of his ministrations, but must pass to his successor.
Rev. Lemuel Haynes, in his day and generation, was one of the most re- markable men in Vermont. Fifty years hence it may be, and probably will be, difficult to apprehend the difficult position in which not only he, but also- the people of that parish were placed in employing such a clergyman to minis-
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ter unto them. Mr. Haynes was a partially colored man, his father being of unmingled African extraction, and his mother a white woman of respectable parentage. His name was that neither of his father or mother, but (probably) that of the family under whose roof he received his birth. He was born at West Hartford, Conn., July 18, 1753. When he was five months old he was carried to Granville, Mass., and bound out as a servant until he was twenty- one. During a revival he became a professor of religion, and being persuaded that it was his duty to become a preacher of the Gospel, he commenced the study of the ministry with Rev. Daniel Farrand, of Canaan, Conn., and on the 29th of November, 1780, he was licensed to preach. On the 9th of Novem- ber, 1785, he was ordained to preach at Torrington, Conn., the Rev. Daniel Farrand preaching the sermon. After remaining in Torrington a short time he took a missionary tour through Vermont, at the request of the Connecticut Missionary Society. The result of this trip was that he was invited to settle in West Rutland, where he remained till May, 1818, when he was dismissed. From here Mr. Haynes went to Manchester, where he remained three years, and in February, 1822, removed to Granville, N. Y., where he passed the last eleven years of his life, dying there on the 28th of September, 1833.
He was succeeded by the Rev. Amos Drury, who was born at Pittsford in 1792, and studied theology with the Rev. Josiah Hopkins of New Haven, and at the Auburn Theological Seminary. He was ordained at West Rutland, June 3, 1819, and dismissed in April, 1829. On the 6th of May following (1829) he was installed pastor of the Congregational Church at Fairhaven, where he remained until the 26th of April, 1837, when he was dismissed, and June 29, 1837, he was installed over the Congregational Church at Westhampton, Mass.
He was succeeded by the Rev. Lucius Linsey Tilden, who was born in Cornwall, in 1802, and graduated at Middlebury College in 1823, and after spending some time in teaching he commenced the study of theology at Ando- ver Theological Seminary, where he graduated, and was settled over this church in March, 1830, and dismissed in March, 1839.
He was succeeded by the Rev. Aldace Walker, D. D., who was ordained and installed on the 30th of December, 1840, and was dismissed in 1862.
Aldace Walker was the son of Leonard Walker, who was born October 5, 1766, and whose lineage can be traced directly back through a line of remark- able men to Richard Walker, who came from England to Massachusetts only ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims. Leonard Walker lived in Strafford after he was a little more than thirty years old (1797) and died there in 1851 at the age of eighty-five. Aldace Walker was the youngest of thirteen chil- dren, frail in body, but active in mind, and everybody's pet in his youth. In his thirteenth year he was bound an apprentice to his older brother, Charles, at the blacksmithing and carriage-making trade in New Haven. Before his
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apprenticeship was finished he was released to begin his preparation for the ministry ; he began his studies at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., and went from there to Dartmouth College, from which he graduated with honor, to enter upon his theological studies, first for two years in New Haven, and finally for a year at Andover. He was called to the Congregational Church at West Rutland November 26, 1840, and was ordained December 30. Here he continued in a most successful pastorate until 1862, when he was dis- missed at his own request, on account of the breaking down of his health two years earlier. He removed to Wallingford, where he was over the Congrega- tional Church there for sixteen years. He died in Rutland July 24, 1878.
Next to Rev. Dr. Aldace Walker came the Rev. Henry M. Grout, a gradu- ate of Williams College in the class of 1854, who was ordained September I, 1858, and installed on the 26th of August, 1862. He removed to Massachu- setts in 1867, and was followed by Rev. George L. Gleason, who was ordained February 1, 1866, and installed at West Rutland October 17, 1867, and dis- missed on the 22d of March, 1869. There is no pastor installed over the West Rutland Church at the present time ; but the Rev. B. Fay Mills is preaching to the congregation. The Sunday-school is held regularly and comprises one hundred and twenty scholars. H. A. Smith is superintendent. The question of building a new church in this parish has been agitated for two or three years and finally culminated in a contract for the erection of a new house of worship, to be completed for occupancy in the spring of 1886. The deacons of the church are R. C. Thrall, H. A. Smith and C. A. Parker.
On the 22d of October, 1787, the town was divided into two parishes by the following bounds or division line : "Beginning at the center of the north line of said town, thence parallel with the east and west lines of the town till it strikes the Otter Creek, thence up the creek as the stream runs to the south line."
The church in the east parish was established October 5th, 1788, with thirty- seven members. Rev. Mr. Ball makes a minute, in what is now the first volume of their church records, that the only record found by him when he came here (in 1797) was a short note on the back of a confession of faith, signed by Augustine Hilbred, moderator, giving an account of the establishing of the church, in which Pittsford, West Rutland and Poultney with their mem- bers assisted, and that the church was established "upon the plan of the Con- vention of the West District of Vermont, which was supposed to be agreeable to the Gospel." They did not, however, adopt all of the articles of said con- vention, but made one or two exceptions. During the preaching of Dr. Will- iams " the half-way covenant," as it was called, was adopted, but was discon- tinued in 1797, as Dr. Ball says, because " it was supposed to be unwarrantable and defective."
The pulpit was supplied by different candidates till near the close of the
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year 1788, when Rev. Samuel Williams, LL. D., was employed. He contin- ued to supply the pulpit until October, 1795, when he relinquished preaching, and was succeeded by Rev. Heman Ball, D. D. Since the death of Dr. Ball there have been five pastors - Rev. Charles Walker, Rev. William Mitchell, Rev. Silas Aiken, D. D., Rev. Norman Seaver, D. D., and Rev. James Gibson Johnson.
Rev. Heman Ball, D. D., son of Charles Ball, was born in Springfield, Mass., July 5, 1764, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1791. He studied theol- ogy with the Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D. D., of West Springfield, Mass., and was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church here, February 1, 1797, the ser- mon being preached by Rev. Dr. Lathrop, and remained pastor until his death. In 1794 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Yale College, and that of D. D. from Union College in 1816, and was one of the trustees of Middle- bury College from its organization until his death. Several of his sermons were published, among which was one on the death of Washington, and an election sermon in 1804. Rev. Dr. Sprague says: " He was highly respected for his talents and virtues, and exerted an extensive influence in the church." He died here, December 17th, 1821, and was buried in the West Street Cemetery, and is the only clergyman who has died during his pastorate of this church.
Rev. Charles Walker, D. D., was born in Woodstock, Conn., in 1791. He studied theology at Andover (Mass.) Theological Seminary, graduating in 1821. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church here, January 1, 1823, and was dismissed March 14, 1833. He was installed over the Congregational Church in (the east village of ) Brattleboro, January 1, 1835, and was dismissed February 11, 1846, and on the 27th of December of the same year was installed over the Congregational Church in Pittsford, and was dismissed December 6, 1864. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from the University of Ver- mont in 1823, and from Middlebury and Dartmouth Colleges in 1825, and that of D. D. from the University of Vermont in 1847. He delivered the annual election sermon before the Legislature of Vermont in 1829, which was pub- lished, as were also some of his occasional sermons. He died in Binghamton, November 28, 1870.
Rev. William Mitchell, son of John and Abigail (Waterhouse) Mitchell, was born at Chester, Conn., December 19, 1793, and graduated at Yale College in 1818. He studied at the Andover Theological Seminary, graduating there in 1821, in the same class with his immediate predecessor, Rev. Dr. Walker, and was licensed June 5, of the same year, by the Middlesex (Conn.) Association, and engaged as a home missionary in Northwestern New York. He was or- dained October 20, 1824, and was settled over the Congregational Church in Newton, Conn., from June, 1825, to May, 1831. He was installed pastor of the Congregational Church here, March 14, 1833, and dismissed June 2, 1846. He was acting pastor in Wallingford from August 8, 1847, to March 28, 1852.
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In the fall of 1852 he became agent of the Vermont Colonization Society, and served in that capacity three years; after this he served some two years as agent of the New York, and then of the New Jersey Colonization Society. In 1858 he removed to the residence of his son, John B. Mitchell, at Corpus Christi, Texas. About a year before his death he organized a Presbyterian Church at Corpus Christi, and by his own exertions secured the funds for a church building, which was partly erected at the time of his death. He died August 1, 1867, of the yellow fever, which also carried off two others of his household.
On the 21st of April, 1847, Rev. Henry Hurlburt was unanimously given a call to become pastor of the church. In pursuance of this call Mr. Hurlburt came to Rutland and preached some time, but on the 2d day of October, 1848, he informed them that owing to the condition of his health he must decline the call. He, however, remained here and occupied the pulpit some weeks longer.
Rev. Silas Aiken, D.D., son of Phineas and Elizabeth (Patterson) Aiken, was born at Bedford, N. H., May 14, 1799. and graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1825 with the highest honors of his class, being valedictorian. He studied theology with Rev. Bennett Tyler, D. D., and Professor Howe, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Amherst, N. H., March 4, 1829, and was dismissed March 5, 1837, having accepted a call to Park Street Church, Boston. He was installed over that church March 22, 1837, and resigned his pastorate and was dismissed in July, 1848. March 28, 1849, he was installed over the Congregational Church here, Rev. Benjamin Larabee, D. D., president of Middlebury College, preaching the sermon, and was dis- missed at his own request, July 1, 1863, from which time until his death he remained in Rutland without a charge. He had been at different times chap- lain of the Massachusetts Senate, trustee of Dartmouth College, member of the prudential committee of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, director of the Prison Discipline Society, etc. He received the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Vermont in 1852. He died here April 14, 1869.
Rev. Norman Seaver, D.D., son of Norman and Anna Maria (Bigelow) Sea- ver, was born in Boston, Mass., April 23, 1834, and was graduated at Williams College in 1854. He studied theology at the Andover Theological Seminary, graduating there in 1860. He was ordained here as colleague pastor with Rev. Dr. Aiken, August 29, 1860. On the resignation of Dr. Aiken, July 1, 1863, he became sole pastor, and was dismissed in September, 1868, at his own re- quest. December 30, 1868, he was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church (Henry street), Brooklyn, N. Y., where he remained seven years. He then accepted the pastorate of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Syracuse, N. Y., where he remained until the spring of 1885, when he resigned and is now pastor in one of the prominent churches in St. Paul, Minn. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Middlebury College in 1866.
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Rev. James Gibson Johnson, sixth pastor, was born in Providence, R. I. He prepared for college at Washington, D. C., and entering Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., graduated there in the class of 1863. He studied theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, and graduated in 1866. He was ordained at Newburyport, Mass., December 27, 1866, and was settled over the Second Presbyterian Church in that city, where he remained until October 1, 1868, when he resigned. Immediately after his resignation he em- barked on a tour through Europe and the East, and was absent about a year. Returning October 7, 1869, he took up his residence in New York city, where he continued to reside until his acceptance of the call, April 1, 1870, to the pastorate of the Congregational Church in Rutland, and was installed April 21, where he remained until the fall of 1885. The church is at the present writing without a pastor.
In 1788 a petition was presented to the Legislature of Vermont from a part of the inhabitants of Rutland and Pittsford, being in what is known as " Whipple Hollow," asking for the establishing of a parish by the name of " Orange Parish." The petition was referred to a committee, and on their re- port the request was refused. They, however, organized themselves into a parish, built a meeting-house and employed the Rev. Abraham Carpenter as their pastor, who remained with them until his death. He was what was called " a strict Congregationalist," and in 1773 or 1774 was settled according to the rules of that denomination in Plainfield, N. H., without any action on the part of the town, in March, 1779. The town voted to accept him as the minister of the town, and by this action he received the right of land belonging to the first settled minister, consisting of three hundred and sixty acres, and worth prob- ably about the same number of dollars. He continued to preach there eight or ten years longer, preaching in his own kitchen, in private houses or in the open air, until he was dismissed and came to this town. He remained connected with the "Orange Parish " until his death, which occurred in September, 1797.
The first house of worship for this society was erected on the west side of what was long known as " Meeting-house Hill " at Center Rutland, and was used until 1787. When the parish was divided the East Parish had thirty-six members whose names were as follows : Reuben Harmon, Eunice Harmon, Mary Cushman, Charles Cushman, Abner Lewis, Oliver Harmon, William Post, John Andrews, Benjamin Risley, Mrs. Claghorn, Chaziah Post, Azubah Lewis, Eunice Risley, Sarah Cook, Mary Andrews, Jehial Andrews, Silas Wyllys, Roswell Post, Moses Sargent, Israel Harris, William Barr, William Barnes, Issachar Reed, Thomas Hale, Samuel Williams, Miles Baldwin, Eben. Andrews, Sarah Andrews, Mary Barr, Anna Baldwin, Thankful Himes, Mabel Andrews, Rachel Cook, Sarah Harris, Sarah Sargent, Mrs. Wyllys. Subsequently the West Parish erected an edifice opposite the present old brick church. The East Parish has erected three churches - the first being a framed building sit-
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uated on the southeast corner of the old Main street burial ground ; the second was on the east side of the same street on the site occupied by the late resi- dence of George A. Merrill. This church was built by Gershom Cheney in 1819 and cost about $10,000 ; it was occupied until 1860, when the present brick church on Court street was erected at a cost, including the chapel, of a little more than $54,000.
The present membership of the society is 670; the entire number of mem- bers received into the church since its organization is 1,311 ; membership of Sabbath-school, 502. The church officers are as follows; Deacons, John B. Page, Henry F. Field, Rockwood Barrett, John A. Sheldon and Sidney W. Curtis. Clerk, G. K. Montgomery ; treasurer, Frank W. Garry. Sabbath- school superintendent, Henry F. Field ; first assistant, D. K. Hall; second assistant, G. K. Montgomery.
Baptist Churches. - The Baptist Church, in Rutland, was organized in 1823, with Rev. Hadley Proctor as the first settled minister, commencing his labors in 1827, and remaining here seven years, until 1834. He was born at Marblehead, Mass., in 1794, was converted when seventeen years of age, and became a mem- ber of the Baptist Church at Newton, Mass. He was licensed by that church " almost immediately thereafter to preach." He commenced the study of the- ology with Rev. Dr. Chaplin and removed with him to Waterville, and grad- uated in 1823, in the second graduating class of that institution. From Wa- terville he went to China, Maine, and was ordained over the Baptist Church in that place in 1823, and remained there until he came to Rutland. From here he went to Brandon, and was the preceptor of the seminary until 1836, when he again became pastor of the church here. In 1837 he was again called to the Baptist Church in China, and remained with that people until his death, April 12, 1842.
In 1834 and 1835 Rev. Samuel Eastman was pastor of the church.
After the second removal of Mr. Proctor, Rev. Arus Haynes was called to succeed him, and was ordained pastor of the church in the fall of 1837, and dismissed in 1840. He was born in Middletown, in this county, in August, 1812, and graduated at Brown University in 1837. In 1842 he was settled over the Baptist Church in Jersey City, N. J., and remained there until 1848, when he became pastor of the church in East Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1851 he made a journey to Europe in hopes of restoring his lost health, but not suc- ceeding, he returned to this country, and in 1852 resigned his pastorate. In the winter of that year he went to Key West, Florida, and died March 31, 1853, while on his return home.
The next pastor was the Rev. Joseph M. Rockwood, who was ordained and settled February 9, 1842, and dismissed in September, 1849. He was born at Bellingham, Mass., in 1818, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1837, studied theology at the seminary in Waterville, Me., and at the Newton The- ological Seminary.
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He was succeeded by Rev. Leland Howard, who was settled in 1852, and dissolved the pastoral relation in 1860. He was born at Jamaica, Vt., October 13, 1793, and was baptized in Shaftsbury, by Rev. Isaiah Mattison, when about seventeen years of age, and from that time commenced to preach. In 1814 he commenced the study of theology with Rev. Joshua Bradley, of Wind- sor, and closed his studies with Rev. James M. Winchell, of Boston. He was ordained November 16, 1817, at Windsor, in this State, and settled as pastor of the Baptist Church in that town, and remained until 1823, when he became pas- tor of the First Baptist Church in Troy, N. Y. In 1828 he returned to Windsor and remained until 1833, when he was installed over the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn ; he left there in 1837, and preached a year in Meriden, Conn., and in 1839 was settled in Newport, R. I., and in 1840, at Norwich, N. Y. From 1843 to 1847 he was pastor of the Fifth Street Baptist Church in Troy, and from there, in 1847, he went to Hartford, N. Y., where he remained until he came to Rutland. In addition to his regular pastorate here, he, from time to time, supplied the pulpit in the absence of a regular pastor. He was chaplain of the House of Representatives of Vermont in 1831, and of the Senate in 1861. He died May 5, 1870.
The next pastor was the Rev. Francis Smith, who commenced his labors on the first Sunday of May, 1860, and preached his farewell sermon July 27th, 1862. He was born at South Reading, Mass., July 12, 1812, and graduated at Brown University in 1837, and pursued his theological studies at Newton Theological Seminary, graduating there in 1840. He came to Rutland from Providence, R. I., and after closing his labors he returned to that place.
Rev. Mr. Smith was succeeded by Rev. J. C. Fernald, of Cambridge, Mass. He was ordained to the ministry here, March 23, 1864, and became pastor of the church. He remained but a short time.
Rev. Orlando Cunningham supplied the pulpit from November, 1865, to August 5, 1868. He was born in Rockingham, Vt., January 31, 1814, and after studying theology with different clergymen, was ordained at Princeton, Mass., in November, 1841, and was settled over the Baptist Church in that place, and remained there until 1843, when he went to Sterling, in the same State, and was pastor of the Baptist Church until 1850. In 1850 he was settled at Middlefield, Mass., and remained until 1855, when he received and accepted a call to the Baptist Church in Lebanon, Conn. In 1865, on account of a failure of his eyesight, he resigned his pastorate and came to Vermont to recuperate. During the summer and a portion of the fall of that year, and until he came to Rutland, he supplied the pulpit of the Baptist Church in Bellows Falls.
Mr. Cunningham was succeeded by Rev. Edward Mills, who commenced his labors as pastor of this church November 1, 1868. Rev. Edward Mills was born in Rochdale, England, June 30, 1828, and came to the United States in January, 1831, studied theology with his pastor, Rev. Henry F. Lane, of Law-
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rence, Mass., and was licensed to preach by the First Church of Lawrence, May 1, 1860, and was ordained pastor of the church at Hermon, N. Y., June 20, 1861. He resigned July 9, 1862, and immediately became pastor of the church of Adams Center, N. Y., where he remained until May 1, 1865, when he was settled at Westminster, Mass. From here he removed to West Troy, N. Y., and remained pastor of the Baptist Church in that place until his settlement over the Baptist Church in Rutland.
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