USA > Vermont > History of the Baptists in Vermont > Part 27
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A. W. Woodruff was pastor during 1872, A. M. Boardman in 1873, I. F. Heilner in 1879, W. S. Emery in 1881, I. P. Kellogg in 1884. These short pastorates, with intervals between, failed to keep the church. Meetings were discontinued in 1884, and never resumed.
ST. JOHNSBURY
A church was organized in St. Johnsbury, in 1874, fostered by the State Convention, and befriended in special manner by Levi K. Fuller, of Brattleboro. A chapel was dedicated, November 30, 1874, and a deed of the parsonage and the lot, on which both parsonage and the chapel stands, given by Mr. Fuller. Rev. E. T. Sanford became its first pastor, maintaining that relation for
O. H. HENDERSON, St. Johnsbury Auditor of the Convention
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fourteen years. During this ministry the church attained a membership of about one hundred and fifty. Mr. Sanford was succeeded, in 1891, by Geo. Webster, one year; F. R. Stratton, 1892; H. M. Douglass, 1894; A. C. Hussey, 1899; C. R. B. Dodge, 1902; F. S. Tolman, 1908.
NEWPORT
Organized in 1817, of twenty-eight members. Pastors, Har- vey Clark, ordained in 1829, five years; Prosper Davison, a part of the time one year; W. M. Guilford, part of the time one year; Simon Fletcher, one year.
Before the formation of the church, the people enjoyed a number of revivals and the converts joined the church in Coventry. One in 1798, one in 1816, which led to the organization of the church. In 1824, additions were twenty-two; 1831, twenty-four were added; 1834, 1837 and 1841, revivals were enjoyed and the church strengthened. In the first revival, Nathan Daggett was hopefully converted, and from that time devoted himself for the interests of the church. He held meetings for many years, and otherwise assisted in maintaining the worship of God. He was never ordained, but served as a deacon. Various ministers preached to them occasionally, among whom are named, Elders, Rogers, Marsh, Perkins, and Churchill, before the formation of the church. Then Elders, John Ide, S. Davison, M. Grow, L. Fisher and M. Cheney occasionally labored with them.
In 1859, there was a revival, adding twenty-two by baptism and six by letter. A new house of worship was completed in Bridge Village, in 1861.
Under a succession of faithful pastors, the church has developed in strength and influence.
Newport pastors: S. B. Ryder from 1842 to 1853, followed by Payson Tyler; W. H. Dean, S. T. Frost, C. V. Nicholson, A. J. Wilcox, J. H. Marsh, N. C. Saunders, G. B. Wheeler, J. Freeman, W. N. Wilbur, S. B. Nobbs, R. L. Olds, A. L. Wadsworth, C. H. Brown, J. J. Williams and H. B. Rankin.
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DERBY
Two years after the first church in Derby was dissolved, another church of nine members was organized, and soon after its organization was blessed with a revival, which increased its mem- bership from nineteen to sixty-seven. Moses Cheney, its first pastor, served six years; George B. Ide, Wm. M. Guilford and Noah Nichols, followed. Nathan Dennison was ordained, February 24, 1842, and remained till 1847. After brief pastorates by M. Merri- am and J. R. Green, A. Norcross was minister six years, 1850-1856; L. Kinney and J. Peacock, one year each; J. G. Lorimer was or- dained, October 6, 1861, and remained with them, greatly beloved, till 1878. Later pastors; N. C. Saunders, 1878; G. S. Chase, 1881- 1890; Chas. Gould, 1890; R. L. Olds, 1893-1897; H. S. Kilborn, 1897; F. D. Luddington, 1902; E. P. Hoyt, 1904; E. M. Holman.
In the enterprise of founding and sustaining Derby Academy, this church took an active and generous part and for a time sus- tained an unusual weight of responsibility in connection with the school.
HARDWICK
In 1831, a church was organized with thirty-one members; Marvin Grow, pastor, serving till health failed some three years later. Aaron Angier was second pastor. The growth of the church was rapid. In 1839, about thirty were added. In 1841, a meeting- house was built, and ninety-two added to the church. In three years the church increased from forty members to one hundred and thirty-five and became one of the most flourishing churches in northern Vermont. Angier's pastorate closed after four years. He was a man of remarkable ability. From Hardwick he removed to Middlebury, where he published a paper called the Vermont Observer. After a stay of two years, he removed to Poultney and thence to Ludlow, where he was associate and leading editor of a paper named, The Genius of Liberty-the first paper pub- lished in Ludlow. He moved to Cavendish, where he sojourned
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two years and in the spring of 1850, went to Cato, Cayuga County, New York, where he lived three years and accepted an agency for the Bible Union, and moved his family to Elbridge, New York. This, however, he retained but a year, and in 1854, became pastor of the Lamoille Baptist church, Illinois, where he lived for four years, when he died on the third of September, 1854, in the forty- eighth year of his age.
Other pastors, who have served the Hardwick church, are N. Dennison, W. Cooper, S. Smith, E. Evans, P. Tyler, A. N. Woodruff, J. C. Carpenter, J. H. Marsh, A. V. Clark, G. B. Wheel- er, H. V. Baker, O. N. Bean and M. S. Tupper.
By the aid of the State Convention, the church has maintained services and filled an important place in the community and Association.
CHAPTER XIX
PIONEER AND EARLY CHURCHES IN FRANKLIN AND LAMOILLE COUNTIES.
The first permanent settlement effected in this part of the State, was in Colchester, on the banks of the Winooski River, near where Winooski village now stands. The first family was that of Remember Baker; it consisted of himself, wife and three children. He was a joiner and millwright by trade. In connec- tion with his cousin, Ira Allen, he was preparing to erect mills at Winooski Falls, when the war of the Revolution commenced, and he and his family were compelled to flee for safety. He was afterward killed by an Indian near St. Johns, C. E. The same year that Mr. Baker came to Colchester, Mr. Thomas Chittenden commenced settlement near Williston. The next year there was a little open- ing made in the forest, and a few log huts erected, in what is now the north part of the city of Burlington. About the same time, Mr. Isaac Lawrence and family, from Canaan, Connecticut, went to Hinesburg, cut down a few trees in the wilderness and built a log house. The family for some time lived on "dried pumpkins without any other food whatever," and his wife did not see "the face of any other woman for ten months." In 1774, Messrs. Messenger, Rood and Brown commenced a settlement at Jericho. Mr. Brown settled on the flats near Underhill, on what is now called Brown's River. In the autumn of 1780, the family, com- posed of himself, wife, two sons, and one daughter, were surprised and made prisoners by a party of Indians. The Indians killed the cattle, sheep and hogs, set the house on fire, took their prisoners and started for Montreal. On their arrival at St. Johns, the pris- oners were sold to British officers for eight pounds per head.
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They remained in bondage nearly three years, enduring almost every variety of hardship. They then returned to Jericho, and the sons lived and died on the farm, where they were made prisoners.
The settlements named, were all that were attempted in what is now the territory of the Lamoille Association, previous to the Revolution, and all these were abandoned during the war, so that, really, settlements did not commence until after the Revolution. Immediately on peace being declared in 1782, settlements were commenced in Burlington, Colchester, Milton, St. Albans and Jericho. In 1783, several families located themselves in Essex, Hinesburg, Cambridge, Fairfax and Fairfield. In 1784, small beginnings were made in Georgia, Westford, Fletcher, Johnson and Waterbury, and before the close of the next ten years, most of the towns had more or less inhabitants.
As far as is now known, Benjamin and Stephen Holmes, and their wives, who came to Georgia in 1788, were the first Baptists that settled within the bounds of the Association.
The first religious meeting held by Baptists, and perhaps the first held by any people, was holden in Fairfax, in the spring of 1790, by Mr. John Crissey, who came from Bath, N. H.
"In the vigor of manhood he came to Fairfax, when the town was an almost unbroken forest, covered with large maple and beech timber. He possessed an axe weighing more than seven pounds (made for his special use). With this monster implement, wielded by giant arms, the huge trees of the forest fell with aston- ishing rapidity. It is related that this man owed Captain Buck a day's work. One day, very late in the morning, he made his appearance (with his little hatchet) to do a day's work. Mr. Buck, a little impatient to think that he had not come earlier, said to him, 'This is a pretty time of day to commence a day's work.' The man simply said, 'Mr. Buck, will you show me where to strike in?' Mr. Buck told him where to go. Relating the incident, Mr. Buck said, 'during the remainder of that day from that hill- side was heard one continuous roar and crashing of falling timber, and at sun-down on that day, forty square rods of those huge trees in that forest lay prostrate, all cut up into logs, and the brush
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piled.' The Captain said he always felt guilty, when he thought how he had chided that man for coming late."
Says Mr. Wayland Shepardson, "I have been told by aged people, long ago, that this man, morally, mentally and religiously, was just what he was physically. I have often heard my parents and others say that in prayer and exhortation he was a marvel. He was familiar with the Bible and was a decided Baptist."
On coming into the settlements and finding no religious meet- ing, he appointed meetings on the Sabbath in his own log cabin, and invited the neighbors to attend. He conducted the exercises himself, would read the Bible, offer prayer and make remarks. His son was the only singer. After reading the hymn, Mr. Crissey would line it, according to the custom of the day. When he had read his hymn, the son, a very tall man, would rise, fold his hands, close his eyes, and when his father had repeated two lines, he would sing them, and so through the hymn. In this humble manner, public worship was here commenced. These meetings were con- tinued until the Baptist church in Fairfax was organized in Septem- ber, 1792.
The Second church was organized in Georgia, October 27, 1793. Rev. Henry Green, of Wallingford, Rev. Isaac Beals, of Caledonia, and Joseph Randall, of Wallingford, were present at the council and took part in the exercises. Joseph Call was moderator. The council was held in the house of Abraham Hathaway.
The church in Bolton, afterwards called the Richmond church, was organized in 1794. The churches in Westford, Cambridge, Fair- field, and Essex, probably soon after.
The church in St. Armand, C. E., was constituted in 1799; the church in Waterbury, 1800; the church in Hinesburg, 1810; the church in Colchester in 1816.
The first Baptist minister in this section was Rev. Joseph Call, an itinerant preacher, whose family resided in Woodstock, which was then the center of Baptist operations in that part of the State. In the fall of 1789, he is reported as pastor of the Wood- stoek church. In one of his missionary journeys northward, about 1790, he stopped at the house of Mr. Ezra Butler in Waterbury, for a night's lodging, as he was wont to do, and became instrumental
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in the conversion of Mr. Butler, whom he subsequently baptized. Mr. Butler afterward became a Baptist preacher and the Governor of the State. About 1791, Mr. Call preached in Cambridge, Fair- fax, Fairfield, Georgia and Milton. In the early part of 1793, probably in the month of January, he removed his family from Woodstock to Cambridge and preached for a time to a church composed of Congregationalists and Baptists. While pastor here he still engaged in missionary tours and during one of these, August, 1794, was the first to administer baptism in Bristol, and at that time gathered a Baptist church there, which still exists. In 1797, he was installed pastor of the Baptist church in Fairfax. On the records of the Fairfield church, his name appears as late as 1812. He was an able preacher, a pious and devoted man.
The second minister that labored in this field was Roswell Mears. He was born in Goshen, Conn., April 16, 1772; in 1782, his father and family removed to Poultney, Vt. In October, 1792, he left Poultney and came to Milton. The whole region was then but little else than one vast wilderness, with here and there a little opening. In most of the towns, a little beginning had been made and a few log huts erected; and these rude settlements were to be found by following marked trees or foot paths. Ros- well Mears was a young man of deep piety and fine talent, and for some time previous to his leaving Poultney, he had felt it his duty to preach the Gospel. But, having never received as much as a common school education, he shrunk from the responsibility, and came to this new country with the hope that these impressions might pass away. But on reaching these new settlements, he was frequently asked to preach, and to use his own words, he says, "after remaining some days, and finding that there was but one minister of any denomination within fifty miles, I finally yielded to the request of the people." His first regular appointment to preach was at Cambridge. He took his hymn-book and Bible, his whole library, left Mr. Mallary's, in Milton, on foot, and by aid of marked trees he found his way to Mr. Stephen Kingsley's, in Cambridge. The meeting in Cambridge was in the south part of the town, on the hill some two miles south of Cambridge Borough, in a little log hut.
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He was at this time about nineteen years of age and wore a sailor jacket and trousers. He preached his first sermon from the words, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" The next day he preached in the east part of the town. At the close of the evening service, several of the brethren collected in a room by themselves, and agreed to say to him, they believed him called to preach. And there in a private room, in the deep, dark forest, Mr. Mears, at the hands of a few lay brethren, received his first license to preach among men. At that time, all the professors of religion in Cambridge were either Baptists or Congregationalists, and as there were but very few, they had united in one church. Soon after this they separated and formed two churches. In the fall and early part of the winter of 1792, Mr. Mears preached with great success in Bolton, Cambridge, Johnson and Williston. Dur- ing the winter he preached: visited Poultney; preached before the church, and received his license in due form, and returned to Cambridge. Becoming satisfied that he had never been baptized, and feeling it to be a duty binding upon him, he was baptized in Cambridge, by Rev. Joseph Call, in April, and united with the Baptist church in Fairfax, that being the only Baptist church in existence in this region.
Concerning these early meetings of Elder Mears, Elder Sabin, in his Recollections written in 1860, in his eighty-seventh year. says, "I have heard several old persons speak of the meetings that he held in their log cabins, crowded as full of people as they could be crammed. It would seem that every person was anxious for the salvation of his soul, and as Father Bucar said, 'It seemed as if the foundation of the cabin was shaken.' "
On Tuesday, the second day in January, he was ordained in Fairfax. In February, 1796, he removed to Groton, N. H. Dur- ing the four years that he labored in this section, he preached in Cambridge, Jericho, Waterbury, Bolton, Fairfax, Fairfield, Georgia, Milton, Richmond and Williston, and perhaps it is not too much to say, that he did more toward laying the foundation of the Bap- tist churches in this section than any other minister that ever preached here.
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In 1807, Mears removed from New Hampshire to Georgia, Vt., and took the pastoral care of the church, which position he re- tained till 1825, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Rev. Alvah Sabin. After his resignation, he still remained in Georgia, preaching as his health would allow, to the church in Georgia in the absence of their pastor, and to destitute churches in the vicinity. On the twenty-fifth of December, 1855, he departed this life, in the triumphs of faith. Father Mears was sociable and agreeable in his manners, he was an excellent singer, and an able preacher and eminently qualified to do good. He entered upon the ministry without education, but he had a refined taste and a strong memory. He was studious in his habits, scholarly in his appearance and really became quite a scholar. He acquired a thorough knowledge of English, and obtained also some insight into the Greek and Hebrew. He also obtained some knowledge of the sciences and became better educated than many who have obtained a college diploma.
The personal recollections of Elder Mears' grandchildren give us a vivid picture of this remarkable man in his old age. Mrs. Anna Sabin Darwin writes, "My earliest recollections of my Grandfather Mears, are of how he looked as he stood under the pulpit in the 'Old White Meeting-house' at Georgia Center. I remember how white he was, his face and lips and hair like snow,- his garments, nicely fitting and black. I had great reverence for him, a feeling almost of awe. I was very little acquainted with him, and it was hard to realize that he was my sainted mother's beloved father. My father, who preached then, always called on him to make some remarks and offer the closing prayer. I thought they were very long. I thought sometimes that he critieised my father's sermons, but I know my father bore his criticisms with gratitude, for he had great confidence in his wisdom. Grandfather and grandmother seemed very contented and happy in their two small rooms. I did not like very well to go into their rooms, for as soon as we were seated around the fireplace, grandpa questioned us upon passages of Scripture and always asked me to pray. He was very fond of music. When Mr. Sterritt taught singing sehool in Georgia, he had nearly all of the singers in his class. They
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learned many fine and difficult anthems, which grandfather greatly enjoyed. He enjoyed specially an alto solo that Katie Holmes used to sing. I can hear it now and see her as she looked in that high gallery, and grandpa, as he stood between the carved pillars, almost transported by the inspiring notes.
"He used to make chairs to help out on his small salary. I remember a large green one, made from a hollow tree, and sta- tioned under a spreading willow, where he used to sit and read and write. He wrote several tracts, and one upon baptism. He felt very badly when father went to Congress. He thought it was too wicked a place for a Gospel minister, forgetting that when the righteous rule, the people rejoice."
Another grand-daughter, Mrs. H. I. Parker, says, "One thing about grandpa impressed itself upon me so that I have never forgotten it, his great desire to have young christians know what the passages they read and committed to memory meant, and this made me dread to call on him, as he would invariably ask me some questions about this, not so much of my own experience as a christian, but what the Bible taught about certain things in our lives. He seemed rather critical to us then, but now I know it was because he loved us and was so interested in our christian lives, and not because he was fault-finding."
An aged aunt, who used to live in Elder Sabin's family, writes: "His salary must have been small. A brother minister once called, near their dinner hour. Though he did not see how a suitable meal eould be prepared, he invited his guest to his study. When dinner was served it was much better than he expected. There was a nice platter of fresh meat and other things to go with it. When the guest was gone, his wife told him she did not know who brought it. A boy rode up and handed it to her and left with- out speaking. They regarded it as a special providenee."
The first minister ordained within the limits of the Lamoille Association was Elisha Andrews. He came from the state of New York to Fairfax, in January, 1793, a few months after Elder Mears came to Milton. He was ordained at Fairfax, October 3, 1793. The services were held in the open air, about two miles north of the village, near the house long owned by Deaeon Silas
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Safford, and where he died. Between his house and the barn was a flat rock on which the speakers stood. There in the open air, on this flat rock, beside the log cabin, in the midst of a vast wilderness, the first man in this region was set apart by solemn prayer and the laying on of hands to the great work of the christian ministry.
The day was fine. The new settlers gathered from a great distance, the services were solemn and impressive. The great Master was there to witness the scene, and to the few faint and trembling disciples, he might have said, "Fear not, for on this rock I will plant my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The salary was provided for the first year in the following manner: Deacon Thurston engaged to board Mr. Andrews and his wife; the other members of the church agreed to raise for him five dollars to purchase books and for spending money, and also to furnish wool and flax sufficient for their clothing, and his wife was to spin and weave it. By some strange over-sight, this ar- rangement made no provision for the hat or the boots; the result was that before the year closed, they had become the worse for wear, and one of his boots and one of his shoes failed; therefore he often preached with a boot on one foot and a shoe on the other.
Mr. Andrews continued to preach in Fairfax till the winter of 1795, when he removed to Hopkinton, N. H. Thence, after four or five years, he removed to Templeton, Mass., the field of his widest influence. After his settlement in Templeton he became a member of the Leyden Association. In this manner, many of the churches of Windham County had the benefit of his wise counsels and rich experience. He continued to preach to destitute churches in his vicinity, till near the close of his life. An attack of paralysis in January, 1833, deprived him of the use of his right hand and, although sixty-three years of age, he learned to write legibly with his left hand. He preached little after this. His last labors were given to the church in Royalton, Mass. February 3, 1840, he passed to his rest.
In personal appearance he was about middle height, thick set, without any marked peculiarity. He might have been called a grave man, but his intimate friends always found him sociable and communicative. He enjoyed good health and had uncommon ca-
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pacity for labor and power of endurance. His taste for reading and habits of study he maintained through life, by means of which he obtained an amount of information and secured a degree of culture not attained by many college graduates. Besides attaining no inconsiderable proficiency in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, he could read German with ease and was well versed in theological lore.
He never seemed to care much about his dress or personal appearance or even the conventional rules of life. Without any- thing of studied refinement, he had still a natural grace that made him sufficiently at home in any circle. He was not prodigal of words, but he used them with great care and often with great power. Nothing ever escaped his lips that involved the slightest departure from justice or delicacy. He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Brown University, in 1803.
Mr. Andrews was well known not only as a preacher, but also as a vigorous writer, chiefly in his own denomination in defense of their faith. The following is a list of his publications: "The Moral Tendencies of Universalism," "Winchester's Dialogues on Uni- versal Restoration," "A Vindication of the distinguishing senti- ments of the Baptist against the writing of Messrs. Cowles, Miller and Edwards." These were all issued from the press of Manning & Loring, of Boston, a searly as 1805. In 1810, he published "A Brief Reply to James Bickerstaff's Short Epistle to the Bap- tists." At a later period, "A Review of one of John Wesley's tracts on falling from Grace." In 1823, "Strictures on the Rev. Mr. Brooks' Essay on Terms of Communion." He contributed many articles to the Christian Watchman, chiefly on the Unitarian controversy, over the signature of "Gimel." He prepared for the press a "Bible Dictionary," also a work entitled "Racovius" or the Rational Christians, containing dialogues on the Unitarian controversy, but they were not published.
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