USA > Vermont > Addison County > Cornwall > History of the town of Cornwall, Vermont > Part 13
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The doings of this committee were reported to the town at & "meeting beld June 18, 1802, and were approved by a majority, but not by a legal majority. So their labors were abortive. At a meeting held on the Sd of Feb. following, a legal majority was ob- tained on a motion to build a meeting house, in accordance with the recommendation of the committee, on the ridge about one hundred rods west of the site of the present house, upon the north and south road which has already been described, as once open, but now dis- continued.
During the summer following this action, Mr. Bushnell was em- ployed several weeks as a candidate for settlement. Those more particularly interested in terminating the protracted discussions respecting the location of a meeting house, resolved upon the ex- pedient of forming, in accordance with an existing law, a volun- tary association for the purpose of sustaining the Gospel, and at a meeting of the town, held pursuant to a warning dated Jan. 11th, 1803, preliminary action was taken.
The question was then referred to the town anew, whether the site for a meeting house, approved by the majority in Jan., 1802, "would do equal and exact justice to all parts of the town," and was decided in the negative. From this date, the question of loca- ting a meeting house seems to have been at rest. A meeting, was, however, called in April, 1803, in which the question of dividing the town into two Societies, was again discussed, and decided in the negative.
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Those interested in the early history of Cornwall, will of course desire to know the reasons of this protracted controversy. These do not appear on the record. Diversity of religious sentiment had something to do with it. Diversity of secular interests bad still more to do, as in a new settlement, the location of the principal house of worship is naturally supposed to draw around it a village, and thus to effect the value of lands. We can easily excuse local preferences in a town situated like Cornwall, arising from this cause. Diversity of taste as to the most desirable location of a house to accommodate the town, might influence many, while with many others, a conviction that justice to all required the selection of a site as near the geographical centre as possible, led them to take firm ground in reference to the location fixed upon by the last non-resident committee, and once decided upon by the town, i. e., the site west of the present house.
The Council which sanctioned the dismission of Mr. Wooster, bore ample testimony to his orthodoxy and faithfulness, assigning as the reason for their action, his diminished prospects of useful- ness. His ministry had evidently been useful to the town, having greatly strengthened the church by the addition of many worthy members to its communion, and by the maintenance of firm and steady discipline. During his ministry, in 1798, two brethren distinguished for their piety and discretion, - Daniel Samson and James Parker,-were chosen deacons.
REV. BENJAMIN WOOSTER was born in Waterbury, Conn., Oct. 29, 1762, and in his eighth year, was deprived of his father by death; when, to use his own language, " he and five other children were cast into the world with no inheritance but a wise, discreet and pious mother." From a sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. Wooster, by Rev. Worthington Smith, D. D., late of St. Albans, I gather the following sketch of his history : He possessed in childhood a hardy constitution, an ardent temperament and a fond- ness for adventure. With youthful patriotism, when only fourteen years of age, he enlisted for four months in the revolutionary army. In his fifteenth year he offered himself as a substitute for a neigh- bor who had been drafted for the defence of the sea coast: and
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having served out this engagement, he enlisted in his sixteenth year for three years. " Having received my bounty of twenty dollars in continental money," he says, " I returned home and delivered it to my mother. She wept, and said she was afraid I was an undone child. It affected me to see her weep, but I could not be denied the privilege of being a soldier. Indeed I knew nothing and feared nothing, and rushed into all the danger I could find."
" The regiment to which young Wooster was attached, joined the army in the Jerseys, under Washington ; and shared dreadfully in the hard-fought battles and extreme suffering from sickness and want of food and shelter, which that army heroically sustained .- His regiment, which consisted originally of one thousand men, and which was receiving a constant stream of recruits to supply its wastes, was reduced at last to three hundred. It was wasted by battle, by sickness, by small pox, by hunger and nakedness, and yet, I, a poor thoughtless sinner, was one of the few preserved ones. Strange, when I sought every place of danger, by some re- markable providence, I was kept alive through the whole."
After he had completed his term of service, young Wooster returned to his mother ; and though his indigence was in no respect relieved by his earnings in his country's service, his ray like that of his comrades, being in Continental currency so nearly worthless that he paid his entire wages for nine months, for a single sheep, he devoted his energies to efforts for the comfort of the family. In this way he spent three or four years. He now began to feel the deficiencies of his early education, and with the purpose of sup- plying them, he went to the Academy at Lebanon, and while there received from the minister of the parish, with whom he became acquainted, the counsel to seek a college education. "This propo- sal occasioned him much perplexity. His funds were small ; there was no public provision to aid the exertions of indigent students ; and he regarded himself as utterly unfit for the ministry, the only profession which he deemed worthy of the expense and labor of a public education." "In this state of mind," he says, "I went with some of my school-fellows, one Saturday afternoon, to the river to bathe ; and strolling from the company, I found a retired
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shade-tree. Here I attempted to pray, and to spread my caso be- fore the Lord. I had much tender feeling-was very solemn-the tears flowed freely ; and my business was to confer with God on the subject of attempting to obtain a public education. Here I sol- emnly covenanted with God, if he would carry me through a col- lege course of study, that I would devote myself to the ministry. To this engagement, made under these impressive circumstances, Mr. Wooster held himself in after life morally obliged to adhere."
Mr. Wooster entered Yale College, in 1788, and it was during his college life that he received his first religious impressions, occa- sioned, as he averred, by the goodness and kindness of the people in their efforts to aid him in defraying the expenses of his educa- tion. It seemed all from the Lord, while he had made no due return. Deep conviction of guilt followed, and from his own ac- count of his exercises, the contest between conscience and his deprav- ity was protracted and severe. At length the stubborn heart yielded-"the war was over," said he, "God appeared right, let what would become of me. But my discovery was such, that I have never said a word since in favor of the carnal heart; and I am persuaded no person will, who has been to the same school."
After completing his college course, Mr. Wooster had presented by his friends several very strong inducements to engage in secular pursuits, but he firmly resisted them all, and commenced theolog- ical study with Rev. Dr. Edwards, then pastor of the first Church in New Haven. He also studied with Rev. Mr. Leavenworth, of Waterbury. Having received approbation to preach, his innate spirit of enterprise and fondness for adventure, led him to seek em- ployment as a missionary in new and destitute settlements. In this sphere of labor, he visited Vermont under the commission of the Connecticut Missionary Society, and Feb. 22, 1797, as we have already seen, he was settled in this town. Dr. Smith remarks that Mr. Wooster always spoke in the most appreciative terms of the people of Cornwall; and ever afterwards questioned the pro, dery of his course in resisting the first advice of the Council, that he should continue in the pastoral office. " I was separated," says he, "from the best people I ever knew." 19
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After he left Cornwall, Mr. Wooster labored in various destitut. congregations about three years, when he was settled in Fairfield, Vt., July 24, 1800. Here his labors were exceedingly varied and abundant; aiding in raising up and strengthening the feeble church- es throughout the region ; in organizing new ones ; in settling points of order and discipline, as well as in adjusting those unhappy dif- ferences that will from time to time arise. Possessing correc: theological views, a sound, discriminating judgment, and large experience in ecclesiastical usages, he rendered essential service in all these matters.
While Mr. Wooster was uniformly plain and faithful in admin- istering reproof and counsel, his manner was marked more by bluntness than by gentleness. A story is related as having occur- red while he was resident in Cornwall, which may perhaps be safely recieved as authentic, as the incidents are characteristic of both the persons concerned.
Father Marshall, an itinerant preacher noted for his eccentricities, was accustomed in passing to and fro, to call on Mr. Wooster, and sometimes received from him fraternal rebukes for his oddities. On one occasion he was Mr. Wooster's guest at a minister's meeting, and being requested to lead in prayer, in the course of the exercises, he said among other things, " Lord, thou knowest Br. Wooster, how he will use a beetle to brush off a fly from a man's nose, when a feather would do just as well. Let thy blessing rest upon him."
" During a long illness this aged disciple exhibited, to an exem- plary degree, a chastened and subdued spirite While he lost noth- ing of that shrewdness of mind, of that force of resolution, and even of the facetious turn that was native in him, at the same time his constitutional sternness was softened, his impatience tempered, and a spirit of meckness, forbearance and tenderness was mani- festly the pervading element of his heart. He forgave, and prayed for forgiveness ; and spent his last days, it is believed, in peace and charity with all the world.
His anticipations of death and the eternal world, were, for the most part, of a consolatory and cheering kind. These, however, all proceeded from a simple reliance on " Him who loved us, and gave
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himself for us," and in no degree from his own merits or services. " My soul, " he says, "I commit to God through Jesus Christ, to keep against that day when redeemed sinners will stand before God, rejoicing in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ is all in all to me." To a visitor who was taking her leave of him, a few weeks before his death, he said, " Pray for poor sinners, and then you will remember me." A friend invited him, on a certain occa- sion, to go and make home with him at his house for a few days, if he should be able ; to whom he replied, pointing to the grave-yard, " there is my home." On his friend's expressing a hope that he would not be impatient, he observed, " I shall try to acquiesce in God's time. When asked at another time, by a brother in the min- istry, how he did, his reply was, "waiting to die." In conversation with another brother about heaven and the occupation of saints in- glory, he exclaimed, "Oh ! I long to be up there, that I may know what they are doing. And again, sometimes I long to be gone." And gone at length he is - gone, we trust, to the bosom of his Savior-to his long-desired rest !"
An incident in the life of Mr. Wooster, may be mentioned, which by a few was censured, but by many was admired at the time of its occurrence. In Sept., 1814, when a British fleet had appeared on Lake Champlain, and a British army had invaded our borders, with the avowed purpose of ravaging the territory adjacent to the Lake, the call was issued for men to meet and repel the invaders. Discovering that his people were irresoluto, Mr. Wooster promptly offered himself as a volunteer, and called upon them to follow him to the rescue. The ranks were now speedily filled - a large com- pany was organized, and he, a veteran of a former war, was chosen their captain. These events tool: place, as his church were assem-
bling to hear a preparatory lecture. The Pastor met his flock, commended them to God, and with tears bade them farewell. Be- fore sunset he and his comrades were far on their way toward Plattsburgh. The fatigues and exposures of this excursion affected his health most unfavorably. " Yet," said he, with his character- istic self-devotion, "if I should die a little sooner for this heating and cooling, I think I shall never be sorry for making the sacrifice." For this signal service, Gov. Tompkins, of New York, presented on cleg ~ letter of thanks, in t'
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perusal of which, as well as of Mr. Wooster's reply, most readers will, I doubt not, be interested.
Letter from Gov. Tompkins to Mr. Wooster.
ALBANY, April 21, 1815.
REVEREND SIR :- General Strong, who commanded the intrepid volunteers of Vermont, on the memorable 11th of September, 1814, has made me acquainted with the distinguished part you bore in the achievements of that day.
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A portion of your parishioners, roused by the dangers which hung over our invaded country, generously volunteered in her de- fense, and chose you, their Pastor, for their leader. You promptly obeyed the summons, and placing yourself at the head of your lit- tle band, repaired with alacrity to the tented field. There you endured with patient fortitude, the vicissitudes of the camp, spurn- ing the proffered indulgences which were justly due to the sancity of your character. In the hour of battle you were found with your command, in the ranks of the regiment to which you were at- tached, bravely contending for the imperishable honors of victory. The invaders being expelled, you quietly returned with your small but patriotic troop, to the duties of your sacred calling, and there inculcated by precept those principles of morality, patriotism and piety, of which you had just given a practical demonstration.
At a period, Sir, when principles inconsistent with what we owe to ourselves, our country and our God, had gone abroad, your ex- ample on the occasion alluded to. could not fail to carry with it an irresistible influence. It illustrated the perfect compatibility of the injunctions of patriotism with the duties of religion, and was a striking and affecting instance of that attachment and self-devoted- ness to the cause of a beloved country, which ought always to dis- tinguish the conduct of the virtuous and the pious in times of peril and of war.
As a memorial of my veneration for your distinguished, noble and patriotic conduct on the 11th of September, 1814, and of my grateful sense of the eminent benefits which this State and Union have derived from your example and exploits, I request your acceptance of this Sacred Volume, and by you, to convey to your brave associates the assurance of my high estimation of their pat- riotism and signal services.
DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.
To the Reverend Benjamin Wooster,
Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont,
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REPLY
To His Excellency Daniel D. Tompkins,
Governor of the State of New York :
SIR :- Last evening my sensibility was awakened by the recep- tion of Brown's Gilt Family Bible, which your excellency was pleased to forward by the politeness of Colonel Anthony Lamb, Aid-de-Camp to your Excellency.
If the stores of Heaven had been unlocked, your Excellency could not have found a more precious gift than the Word of God, except you could have bestowed the very God of the Word. And, as if it were possible to enhance the value of the present, your Excellency is pleased, in & lotter dated Albany, April 21st, 1815, to bestow many encomiums on me and my intrepid band, for our conduct at Plattsburgh on the memorable 11th of September, 1814.
You are pleased to observe that "General Strong, who com- manded the intrepid volunteers of Vermont, had made you acquaint- ed with the part I bore in the achievements of that day."
I did not, Sir, expect to be particularly noticed by Gen. Strong, nor by the Governor of the first State of the Union; but, by this, I have another assurance that our patriotic fathers delight to search out and reward the honest attempt to deserve well of our country. Should a candid public consider your very handsome encomiums too freely bestowed, I hope they will also believe, that nothing but the speedy flight of the invaders could have prevented our deserving all which your Excellency has been pleased to say.
The calls of a sister State for help in a common cause, wafted to our ears by the western breeze, were powerful. The Governor of Vermont called for volunteers. Fourteen thousand British pressed upon Plattsburgh ; the shock was like electricity, and the language of the brave was, "I will go !"' The act looked like temerity in the eyes of the over prudent. The event was dubious and hung in awful suspense ; but our lives had no value when our country was in danger.
My aged brethren and sisters, whom I loved as my life, then collected to hear a sermon, preparatory to the sacrament, from my lips, expressed their fears that I was depriving them of a Pastor forever. They said, " Will you not preach with us this once ? We expect to see you no more ! Come, go with us into the house where the church are collected." Fearing what effect so tender a meeting might have upon my mind, I bade them a tender adieu, embraced my family in tears, kissed my clinging babes, and set out immedi- ately for Plattsburgh. The conduct of my men on that hazardous expedition, will endear them to me while my heart beats for my country, or the blood remains warm in my veins.
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Your Excellency is pleased to observe "that I obeyed the sum- mons- repaired to the tented field, and. then endured the vicissi- tudes of the camp, spurning the proffered indulgences which were justly due to the sanctity of my character."
The sanctity of my station, Sir, I would sedulously preserve .- But, I have yet to learn that sanctity of character will make bon- dage sweet, dangers unbecoming, or justify idleness, when it is the duty of every man to act. Law and custom rendered me exempt : but my conscience and my country forbade such an appeal. Hard indeed bad been my lot to be chained by custom to a bed of down, when Gen. Strong and his men were braving the dangers of the field of honor. How could my heart endure, when my people were in danger, and yet could not find me dividing their dangers by their side ? I grew up with the principle, Sir, that dangers lessen by being divided -- that States are strengthened by Union, and that regular armies and fleets are invigorated by seeing citizens contend by their side for the honors of victory. Hard is the lot of the soldier, when they who should be his friends, whose battles he fights, whose prosperity he defends, are idle and regardless of bis fate.
The Sacred Volume alluded to above, your Excellency is pleased to present as a memorial of your veneration " for my distinguished conduct on the 11th of September, 1814." Gratefully I receive it as such, and beg leave to remind your Excellency that this same Holy Book taught me to march for Plattsburgh, and told me how to behave while I was there.
You are pleased to request me to convey to my brave associates, the assurance of your high estimation of their patriotism and sig- nal service. It shall be done : and your Excellency may be as- sured, that should such a day as the 11th of September, 1814,ever return while we have life, the same men-nay, more, will appear in the field as volunteers from Fairfield.
BENJAMIN WOOSTER.
Fairfield, June 15, 1815.
I conclude this sketch of Mr. Wooster, with the following tribute from the sermon I have already quoted : - " Who that remembers the stern and iron structure of his frame, -the ardent and impet- vous temperament of his mind-the strength with which he grasped all subjects of high interest - the firm, resolution with which he pursued all his plans, would be likely to seek in him for that gentle spirit, and that soft persuasive address which belong to men of a - Who that has closely surveyed him during the 1. 1,1 9
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long period that he has stood before the eyes of the public-follow- ved him in his arduous and ill-requited labors, as an ambassador of God, through every parish in this region, -- felt the beatings of his warm and generous beart-seen bim melt into sympathy with the afflicted -- ardent in the support of every cause which had justice or mercy to recommend it-liberal of his pains, of his property, of his health and life even, when the safety or the good of the public required his aid-who that remembers these things, will not forget his frailties ? Who that remembers them, is not constrained to acknowledge that the light of useful and rare qualities has been quenched in the death of this man ?- Oh ! there was in his soul a fountain of good intents - of kind and generous affections --- of noble and disinterested feelings, the like of which we may look far and wide to find again."
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CHAPTER XVII.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY CONTINUED-FORMATION OF CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY-ITS PRINCIPLES OF UNION -- SETTLEMENT OF MR. BUSH- NELL-HIS MINISTRY AND CHARACTER.
The town adopted the following vote, Jan. 24th, 1803,-" That we form ourselves into a Society for supporting the Gospel, called and known by the name of the First Congregational Society in Cornwall, forty-nine being in the affirmative, and twenty-six against it.'' It does not appear that the Society was instituted by this action though its formation soon followed ; and from that time, the town ceased to act in the calling or supporting of a minister; or building a house of worship, though as late as 1815, we learn from the records, that Choristers were chosen by the town, for both the Congregational and Baptist Societies.
The Congregational Society was organized under a statute of 1797, with the usual formalities. Joel Linsly was appointed Clerk. Jeremiah Bingham, David Foot and Ethan Andrus were appointed a Prudential Committee, to prepare the necessary articles of Asso- ciation, and to do the duty of Assessors ; Wm. Slade, Treasurer, and Aaron Delong, Collector. The leading features of the compact were, that all 'meetings should be warned at least twelve days before their occurrence ; that the annual meetings should be held in No- vember ; that the expenses of supporting the Gospel should be assessed and collected like town taxes - a usage which still contin-
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ues-that the vote of a majority of the members should determine the action of the Society in all cases, except in settling and dismiss- ing a minister, and building a meeting house, in which cases, a majority of two-thirds should be requisite ; and that any member removing from town, or desiring to withdraw himself from the So- ciety, shall have liberty to do so, provided he first give notice thereof, by lodging a certificate with the Clerk of the Society in the month of December, and pay all arrears of taxes -standing against his name. With some unimportant variations, the conditions of the compact remain unchanged.
It is to be regretted that no records nor papers are known to exist relative to the building of the meeting house, commenced in 1803. It is impossible, therefore, to determine whether a subscrip- tion was raised; whether the Society assumed the responsibility, remunerating itself by the sale of the pews; or whether, with the approbation of the Society, certain public-spirited men, undertook the work, and pushed it forward to completion, trusting to a sale of the property to save themselves from loss. That this was the mode of proceeding, we are perhaps warranted in inferring from the following article in the Society's records, in connection with a warning for the annual meeting, Nov. 7, 1834 :
" The Proprietors of the meeting house are hereby notified to meet on the same day as above, to see if they will take any meas- ures to compensate Jeremiah Bingham, who was one of the Com- mittee that built the meeting house, for fifty dollars, which he paid towards its building, and for which he has as yet received no com- pensation."
The Society assumed the entire responsibility of calling and pro- viding for the support of Mr. Bushnell, the Church having pre- viously acted harmoniously in inviting his settlement among them. The remark will be appropriate here, that, from the beginning it has been the usage in Cornwall, for the Church to take initiatory action in calling a minister, their doings having been referred, in the case of Mr. Tolman and of Mr. Wooster to the town, and in the case of Mr. Bushnell and his successors to the Society for appro- bation and co-operation.
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