USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Ryegate > History of Ryegate, Vermont, from its settlement by the Scotch-American company of farmers to present time; > Part 16
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There is no record of any other meeting of session until Aug. 30, 1847, when one was held at the house of John McClure. About a year
AUTHORITIES. Historical sketch by Rev. John Bole, in 1861 .- Sketch by Rev. IV. A. Pollock .- Mr. Miller's notes .- Session records, and personal information, by Rev. Win. Wylie and others.
REV. W. J. MACDOWELL
REV. JOHN OLE
J.H.KENDALL D.D.
REY. S.A. JACKSON
REY.W.
LLOCK
P
REV. J.H.MCARTHUR
PASTORS R. P. CHURCH, SOUTH RYEGATE.
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
later, a meeting was attended at the "old meeting house," of which Rev. Mr. Patterson was moderator. On the 30th there was a congregational meeting, at which a unanimous call was made to Rev. Robert A. Hill to become pastor of the church.
It is understood that previous to that time, preaching had been held in the old meeting house at the Corner, and in school houses in other parts of the town, and in Newbury and Barnet. Mr. Hill was ordained . and installed in 1848, and remained upwards of three years. He was an able and devoted pastor, generally esteemed for his excellent personal qualities, as well as for his ability as a preacher. During his ministry the present house of worship was built. At that time South Ryegate con- tained only five dwelling houses, but there was no church building in that part of the town, and it was also convenient for the attendance of several families in Newbury who were connected with the congregation.
It would appear that meetings were also held in Barnet, as the ses- sion met in that town, Sept. 29, 1849, when nine persons were admitted as members, and on June 19, 1851, at the "Union Meeting House in Ryegate," when "Peter Buchanan and Archibald Bachop, elders from Barnet," met with the Ryegate elders .*
Mr. Hill demitted the charge in 1852, and in 1853, Mr. John Bole came here from Scotland-and began preaching, received a call, and was ordained and installed December 24th of that year. The congregation is then mentioned as under the care of the Northern Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bole was very successful in his ministry, and was considered one of the most able ministers in this part of the state. A more complete account of Mr. Bole and his family ap- pears later. He resigned his charge June 2, 1862. At that time there were 135 members on the church roll.
Rev. Wm. J. McDowell began his labors early in the following year, and was installed June 17, 1863, and began a faithful and successful min- istry of ten years, resigning in 1873.
During the interval between his resignation and the installation of Rev. J. H. Kendall, July 13, 1876, the church was supplied by several ministers, and in that time occurred the disruption and the formation of another church, to which over 30 members withdrew. Mr. Kendall's ministry was a successful one, and closed Jan. 1, 1886. Later pastors have been : Rev. Samuel A. Jackson, Jan. 1, 1892-May 1, 1901; Rev. J. H. McArthur, 1901-1905; Rev. Wm. A. Pollock, July, 1907, to date. With the possible exception of Mr. Hill, more complete sketches of each of these ministers will be given later.
* NOTE. The Barnet congregation was organized in 1847 and Mr. Bole was ordained pastor of "the congregations of Ryegate and Barnet." In 1854 Mr. Bole demitted the charge of the Barnet congregation, which is not now in existence.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
The first absence of an elder from session meetings in twelve years was Feb. 12, 1855, when Mr. Symes was absent. In June, 1855, Wm. Mclaughlin and Wm. McClure were chosen elders, and on June 30, 1858, the name of Andrew Laughlin first appears. Dr. Perry met with the session for the last time June 1, 1865, having been clerk for 22 years. Rev. Mr. McDowell served as clerk for three years.
On April 25, 1867, John Smith, Andrew Dunnett, T. J. McClure and James Dickey were elected. Mr. Dickey was chosen clerk, Aug. 27, 1868, and served seven years, followed by Andrew Dunnett who served six years. John McClure was a member of the session 32 years, and there is no record of his being absent from any meeting in that time.
Oct. 27, 1876, Robert Henderson, John A. Miller, James Renfrew and Andrew Wylie were chosen. The first mentioned was chosen clerk, Oct. 6, 1881, served about eight years, and was a member of session 14 years.
On March 24, 1889, Andrew Buchanan, Wm. T. George, and Wm. A. Gibson were ordained elders, and Mr. Buchanan was chosen clerk, serv- ing 18 years, having been a member of session 21 years.
Feb. 19, 1876, M. F. McDonald, J. D. Grant, and Wm. N. Gilfillan were chosen, and on Jan. 27, 1910, Donald A. Morrison, James Vance and Chas. H. Grant were chosen elders. Mr. Gilfillan was chosen clerk Aug. 17, 1907, and by his patient research we are informed of the names of the elders and their dates of accession, as far as they can be ascer- tained. The membership of the church is now about 80 and it is sup- posed that about 500 persons have been members of the church. At a meeting called for that purpose Feb. 3, 1909, the church voted to become a United Presbyterian church and to enter the Vermont Presbytery of the same. The change was completed June 8, 1909, at a meeting of the U. P. Presbytery of Vermont which met at St Johnsbury, W N. Gilfillan being commissioner acting for the congregation in conjunction with the pastor, Rev. W. A. Pollock.
The first congregational meeting recorded was held at South Ryegate, Aug. 13, 1848, at which William and James McClure of Ryegate, William Graham of Barnet and James Halley of Newbury were chosen trustees. The present trustees are Tait Ritchie, D. A. Morrison, Edgar Taplin, George Beaton, F. J. Doe, and George Lackie. William McClure was clerk of congregation more than eighteen years, his successors being A. Buchanan, John Henderson, F. J. Doe, W. T. George and C. H. Grant. The present Sunday school superintendent is C. H. Grant; assistant, Tellis Cole; secretary, I. H. Gilfillan; assistant, Edith Lackie; treasurer, Mrs. C. H. Grant. The Sunday school is comprised of several departments. Connected with the church is a Christian Endeavor Society, with a junior department, and a Ladies' Aid Society, which supplements and amplifies the general work of the church.
REV. J. J. HALL.
REV. WM. S. WALLACE. PASTORS OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT SOUTH RYEGATE.
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .*
The youngest church in Ryegate, which is known by the above name, and locally called the "new " church, was organized by the Presbytery of Boston, Nov. 11, 1875, and is affiliated with the General Assembly branch of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, which is the largest and most influential of the churches in this country which are embraced under the name Presbyterian.
The foundations of the church in America were laid by Francis Maken- zie, a native of Ireland, but educated in Scotland, who began his work in America with the organization of the Presbyterian church at Snow Hill, Maryland. The first Presbytery was formed in 1705-'06, at Freehold, N. J., the first Synod was instituted in 1717, and the first General Assem- bly met at Philadelphia in 1787.
The local church was the organized expression of the desire on the part of many in the "Old," or Reformed Presbyterian church, for more personal liberty in worship, especially in the offering of praise to God in the use of Hymns as well as Psalms. The members of the original ses- sion were: Samuel Mills, Sr., Robert Dalrymple, James Arthur, Wm. John Nelson, James Davidson and James Dickey. Soon after its organi- zation it reported 53 members. At that time Rev. F. S. Finney was sup- plying the pulpit, and services were held in the depot hall until the erec- tion of the church edifice.
Rev. John Loyd was pastor from June, 1878 to Sept. 1879; Rev. Mr. Boyd was stated supply for a short time; Rev. James W. Flagg was installed June, 1882, and resigned in 1887; Rev. Charles K. Canfield was pastor from 1888 till his death here, March 18, 1891; Rev. J. J. Hall was installed Nov. 3, 1871, and resigned in the spring of 1899 and was succeeded in Jan. 1900, by the present pastor, Rev. Wm. Seward Wallace, who was installed in the May following. More complete accounts of the life and work of these pastors are given elsewhere.
The present house of worship was erected in the summer of 1880, and dedicated near the close of the year, the building committee being Dr. J. B. Darling, George Cochran and James White. In 1885 a congre- gational meeting appointed James White, M. F. Sargent and Josiah A. Keenan a committee to purchase land and erect a parsonage, which was completed under the direction of William J. Nelson, Mr. White and Mr. Keenan. In 1895 largely through the instrumentality of the Endeavor Society, under the direction of a committee composed of J. D. McAllister, Miss Marion Hall, and George Cochran, a commodious vestry was added to the church. Within the past twelve years the church has been re-
* From Historical Sketch by Rev. W. S. Wallace.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE VERMONT.
painted, repaired and fitted with electric lights; the vestry has been re-arranged and re-fitted, the parsonage renovated, and other improve- ments made.
Two strong auxiliaries of the church have been the Endeavor Society and the Ladies' Aid Society. The former was instrumental in building the vestry, and the latter has raised and expended $3,200, more than one-half this sum within ten years.
The elders chosen at the organization of the church were: Samuel Mills, Robert Dalrymple, James Davidson, James Dickey, James Arthur, W'm. J. Nelson. Those of later election have been: 1879, W. J. Hender- son and Josiah A. Keenan; 1889, Andrew Wylie, A. H. Park; 1890, F. R. McColl and W. A. Davidson; 1893, H. J. Park ; 1896, D. H. Eastman ; 1900, Wm. Stephen; 1901, Alexander Renfrew; 1908, N. A. Park; 1909, A. R. Bone.
The first deacons were: W. J. Henderson, T. W. Smith, Robert Nelson, W. J. Nelson, Robert Cochran and Josiah A. Keenan. Their associates and successors have been : 1880, George Cochran, Albert Hall, M. F. Sargent, M. H. Randall; 1883, F. R. McColl; 1889, J. D. McAllister ; 1895, William Terry; 1901, Archibald Park, N. A. Park; 1902, Orange Morrison, Alex. Beaton, Edwin Henderson; 1905, C. K. Gibson; 1909, Ernest Keenan.
The Sunday School superintendents, with the year of assuming ser- vice, have been: 1876, James Dickey; 1877, George Cochran; 1884, F. R. McColl; 1891, Wm. Terry; 1892, N. A. Park ; 1894, H. J. Park ; 1900, F. R. McColl; 1906, Wm. Stephen; 1907, F. R. McColl.
The superintendents of the primary department: 1895, Mrs. J. J. Hall; 1897, Martha J. Park; 1899, Jennie Craigie; 1902, Mrs. G. H. Roben ; 1904, Mabel Hall.
THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BARNET.
This society, locally known as the Walter Harvey church, is entitled to a place in the annals of Ryegate, as its house of worship is just across the Barnet line on the Hazen road. Many of its congregation reside in this town, and it is an offshoot of the Reformed or Covenanter church at Ryegate Corner. Rev. D. C. Faris, its pastor, has prepared an historical sketch of the church, and most of the particulars herein given are from his manuscript.
Before the erection of the church building, services were held by Revs. Gibson and Milligan in Barnet, sometimes in dwelling houses and some- times in a barn in the Roy neighborhood. About 1830, steps were taken for building a meeting-house and a half acre of land was secured from Walter Harvey who lived directly opposite, and the building has since gone by the name of the "Walter Harvey Meeting House," and the burial ground which is near as, the "Walter Harvey Cemetery."
REV. JAMES W. FLAGG.
REV. CHARLES KEELER CANFIELD.
PASTORS OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT SOUTH RYEGATE.
FORK BRARY
1
T
X AND INFORMATIONS.
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
The building was framed early in the spring of 1831, much of the work being given. John Hunter was the master workman. A disaster occurred at the raising, which was about the 1st of April. The frame of the body of the house was raised without accident, but when the roof timbers were piled upon the beams, the latter were not sufficiently propped, and gave way under the weight; all the men who were on the frame fell to the ground, mingled with the falling timber. Matthew Holmes, a promising young man in his 21st year, was so badly injured, that he died from his injuries, and from unskillful treatment of them, six weeks later. John Stewart, John Laughlin, David Wormwood, Isaac Moore and others were badly hurt, but recovered. The building was completed in that year. It has never had steeple or bell. In 1874 and 1891, extensive repairs were made, the old pews with their doors were removed, a new pulpit set and other changes were made and the interior modernized.
During the last year of Mr. Milligan's pastorate, and for thirty-three years afterward services were held alternately in this building and in the church at the Corner, the members owning pews and attending services in both churches, and the congregation was known as Reformed Presby- terian Church of Ryegate and Barnet. Rev. J. M. Beattie, who lived at the Corner did not fail an appointment in Barnet for twenty-eight years.
In the year 1872, a petition for a new organization to worship in the Walter Harvey Meetinghouse was presented to the session, on April 29th and transferred to Presbytery, as was, also, on May 12th, a remon- strance against that petition. The petition was, however, after due hearing, granted by that body and a commission of Presbytery met in the church to effect the organization. Seventy persons who, on July 8th were certified by the session of Ryegate and Barnet, together with three others, were organized July 9th, into a new society known as the "Bar- net Congregation." Rev. Mr. Beattie remained pastor of the church at Ryegate till released May 7, 1872.
The elders of the new organization were James and Robert McLam and Alexander Shields; the deacons were James McLam, William White- hill and Robert W. Laird. Of the members at least thirty-seven were residents of Ryegate, twelve of Groton, nine of Peacham, eight of Bar- net, and five of Monroe, N. H.
The congregation was supplied by the Presbytery for some months, and in March, 1873, Mr. Daniel C. Faris came, received a call to become pastor on April 29th, was ordained and installed June 25th, and, still in charge, has held a longer pastorate than any other minister in this part of New England. The son of Rev. James and Nancy (Smith) Faris, he was born near Bloomington, Ind., June 21, 1843, graduated from Indi- ana State University, 1863, taught one year in a Freedman's school near
136
HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
Natchez, Miss., attended the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Semin- ary at Alleghany, Pa., four winters, and was engaged in home mission- ary work and the supply of vacant churches till his settlement in Ver- mont. He married Nov. 15, 1870, Miss Mary A. Russell of Round Prarie, Minn.
Besides the elders chosen at its organization, the office has been held by David Lang, William Whitehill, A. W., and J. A. McLam, William M. Hunter, James Shields and John Gates. The following in addition to those chosen at the beginning have served as deacons: A. W. McLam, W. S. Orr, J. R. Hunter, W. A. Whitehill, W. J. Caldwell, J. C. Morrison and E. S. Manchester. Of the present members thirteen live in Ryegate, fourteen in Barnet, fifteen in Peacham, and the others in various places. Robert McLam was clerk of session till Dec. 19, 1879, since which date A. W. McLam has been clerk.
A Sunday School has been sustained from the first, nearly all the congregation being members of the school. David Lang was superin- tendent till Nov. 1, 1875, Robert McLam for some time and since that, the pastor.
This congregation retains more of the customs of the ancient Cov- enanter churches in Scotland than any other in this vicinity. The old Scotch version of the Psalms is sung without accompaniment; the com- munion service is held twice in each year, consisting of meetings on four days besides the Sabbath, and "tokens," as in the old days in Scotland, are still used on those occasions, in which the pastor is assisted by a Covenanting minister from another congregation. Some of the most prominent clergymen in the denomination have been his assistants on these occasions.
"This congregation has from its beginning always loyally maintain- ed the dominant principles of the Covenanters faith, viz: That Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and Head over all things to the Church, and that His will as revealed in the Bible, a supreme law for all man- kind, for the individual, the family, the church and the state, and that the individual cannot be morally bound by any law that requires the violation or ignoring of the law of God."
Societies and organizations for the advancement of various causes there have been in Ryegate from early days. The Ryegate and Barnet Anti-Slavery Society was in existence as early as 1825, Rev. James Milligan being President. A temperance organization of some kind was addressed by Rev. David Sutherland in 1817, according to a report of the occasion in the North Star. But how many people now living ever heard of the " Rvegate Ameliorating Society?" Yet such a society did exist, and was formed Sept. 21, 1825, with Rev. James Milligan, Presi- dent; Robert Whitelaw, Vice President; James Whitelaw, Secretary; Dr.
R. P. CHURCH, SO. RYEGATE ERECTED 1849.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SO. RYEGATE ERECTED 1880.
THE NEW YORK MIBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR LEMOX AND TO DEN FOUND" INS
137
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
Eli Perry, Treasurer; with Hugh Laughlin, Miss Mary Orr, James Esden' Dea. James Whitehill and William Whitelaw as managers. Its records show that sixty-three persons were members during that year, and $35 was subscribed for the objects of the society. The title of their organi- zation would seem to imply that conditions existed in Ryegate at that day which needed ameliorating, and such conditions may still exist. But we are informed by the constitution of the Society that the object was the amelioration of the condition of the Jews, although we are not informed that the Jews in Ryegate were in especially desperate circum- stances at that date. It seems to have been auxiliary to a parent society, to which the funds were to be remitted. There is no record of proceed- ings after April 3d, 1826, by which we may suppose that the condition of the Jews in Ryegate needed no further ameliorating.
This society was, however, the local manifestation of a movement which was made about that time toward the amelioration of the con- dition of the Jews in Europe and their conversion to Christianity. A publication called "Israel's Advocate," had several subscribers among the members of the Association.
NOTE. After this chapter was printed the following concerning the building of the Walter Harvey Meeting House was discovered in the North Star for Jan. 18, 1831, by Herbert H. Roy of Barnet.
"NOTICE: It is proposed to build a framed Meeting House near the house of Walter Harvey in Barnet, to be 48 by 40 feet. Any person wishing to contract for the whole or any part of the building of the same, can see the plan and terms at the house of the aforesaid Walter Harvey any time until the 28th day of Janni- ary, instant, at 11 o'clock, forenoon, at which time the job will be let. Offers to be made in writing.
WALTER HARVEY, WM. OLIVER, WM. HARVEY, - Directors.
Barnet, Jan. 7, 1831."
NOTE In addition to the elders and deacons of the Reformed Presbyterian church records discovers the following: Mr. Miller mentions William Orr as a "Covenanting elder," James Beattie was a deacon from a very early date till his death, Charles B. Hazen was ordained deacon Feb. 2, 1860, and elder Nov. 10, 1372, and at the latter date William Bane and Samuel W. Clark were made elders. In Jan., 1877, David Lang was ordained an elder, William Whitchell was also a deacon and seems to have been chosen in 1869, Duncan Ritchie and John Davidson were made elders Dec. 5, 1880.
CHAPTER XV.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN EARLY DAYS.
PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS .- CLOTH AND ITS MANUFACTURE .- LUMBER .- RIVER TRAFFIC .- TAVERNS .- STAGE AND POSTAL ROUTES .- PASSUMPSIC TURNPIKE. -THIE BOSTON AND MONTREAL TURNPIKE.
T HE conditions of life in Ryegate in the earlier days will be better understood if we learn what people received for what they had to sell; the prices they paid for what they must buy; what were the most profitable products of the farms; how, and at what cost these products went to market ; the facilities and gradual improvement of the means of transportation both of merchandise and persons, and the transmission of intelligence.
We must remember that in those days there was little local demand for what the farmer had to sell; he might exchange, to a very limited extent, his potatoes, his wheat, or his butter, for the labor, in his own craft, of the blacksmith, the carpenter or the shoemaker, but there were only a very few articles for which cash was paid near home. In 1795, and for some years before and after, Col. Wmn. Wallace advertised in Spooner's Vt. Journal that he would pay cash-hard money-at his store in Newbury, for furs, gensing root, pot and pearl ashes. These latter were commonly called "salts," and their manufacture has been discon- tinued so long that few are living who can tell how it was conducted. Yet the records of a boating company, which operated a century ago between Wells River and Hartford, show that a large part of its down- ward freight was pot and pearl ashes. They began to be made soon after the settlement of the town, and there was a steady demand for them, mainly for export.
We must also remember that for the first sixty years after settlement began there were few large towns in the country and those were widely apart, and the immediate vicinity of each could supply its demands.
Consequently the people found it for their advantage to raise such articles as were in demand for the export trade, then rapidly increasing. At that time, what are now the great grain producing states of the west, had not begun to be settled, and all the grain produced for export was drawn from a section of the country which now produces no wheat at all, and its raising was very profitable even in towns as remote from the seacoast as Ryegate. James Johnston paid for a farin with the wheat grown upon it in a single season.
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SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN EARLY DAYS.
During the wars of Napoleon wheat and flour were in such demand that four dollars a bushel was paid at Salem, then the great shipping port of New England.
The farmer usually went to market with his wheat and such other articles as pork, butter, lard, hides and the like, in winter when the roads were at their best, with a kind of sleigh called a "pung," of which a few survive. They were solidly constructed and had a marvelous capacity for storage.
With the opening of the western country, and the rise of the great manufacturing towns, the production of butter and cheese with the raising of cattle and sheep for market, completely superseded the raising of wheat.
Cloth, both linen and woolen, was in constant demand, and the settlers of Ryegate brought from Scotland some new ideas about their manufacture, especially the coloring of woolen yarn, which caused the cloth made here to be much sought after. Before the invention of the power loom and the spinning frame, everything in the process of convert- ing a pound of wool into its equivalent in cloth was done by hand, and "fulled cloth," as the finished product of woolen goods for men's wear was called, brought, in 1810, from $2.50 to $3.00 per yard, and inferior cloth, or that requiring less skill in its manufacture, in proportion. Con- sequently it paid to work up into cloth all the wool produced on the farm, and thus employment was provided for all the family. Even a very little child could wind quills, the older girls were skillful spinners, the matrons plied the shuttle, and in many homes the spinning wheel and the loom were hardly silent from Monday morning till Saturday at e'en. Satinett, a kind of fancy cloth, made with cotton warp and woolen filling, brought from $2.75 to $3.25 per yard. A suit of clothes in those days cost much more than one does now, but its wearing quality was of a sort wholly unknown to the present generation. We have before spoken of the manufacture of tow and linen cloth. Some old account books show that at Haverhill Corner, in 1800, tow cloth brought about 37 cents per yard, while of linen the price paid varied from thirty cents to a dollar, according to its quality.
An account book of a store kept by Thomas Barstow, in 1814, in the "Franconia House" at Wells River, which appears to have been well patronized by Ryegate people, gives the cost of many articles in use at that time, and the prices paid for produce brought in for exchange. A careful study of its items makes one doubt if the common idea that a dollar would go further then than two dollars will go now, is strictly true. Mr. Barstow dealt in dry goods, groceries, drugs, books and ardent spirits-very much indeed of the latter.
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