USA > Vermont > Addison County > Cornwall > History of the town of Cornwall, Vermont > Part 16
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exterior and interior. The house was lengthened fifteen feet; in- stead of upper and lower tiers of windows, one tier of long win- dows was inserted, and the exterior style of finish made to corres- pond with modern taste in regard to such structures - the propor- tions of the building with its mode of finish, presenting many attractions to the observer. The interior was equally chang- ed. The side galleries were removed, leaving only convenient seats for singers, and the floor of the audience room slightly in- clined towards the pulpit, is seated with neatly finished slips to accommodate about five hundred persons, the aisles carpeted and the seats cushioned throughout. The proportions of the audience room are very nearly those which by architects are pronounced perfect. In the wall back of and above the pulpit is a slab of black marble, with the inscription in gilded letters-" The Lord is in his holy templo; let all the earth keep silence before him." Hab. II .: 20 ;- and in front of the gallery is a clock, the gift of Rev. Mr. Magill, who also presented a beautiful Bible and Hymn Book for the pulpit.
In the autumn of 1847, about one year from the dedication of the house, Mr. Magill deemed it necessary on account of threatening premonitory symptoms of pulmonary disease, to ask of his people either a dismission from his pastoral charge, or leave of absence for eighteen months, that he might seek in the employment of teaching in a southern climate, the restoration of his health. Regarding it as probable he should never return to his pulpit, he urged as mest conducive to the interests of his people, that they should consent to his dismission. But they thought otherwise, and indulging the fond hope that they might again enjoy his services, voted him " leave of absence, indefinitely, within a period of eighteen months." Thus the settlement of a successor, during this period, was pre- cluded, and the result-proved that the people, notwithstanding sev- eral attempts to settle a pastor, remained destitute for four years.
Mr. Magill became the principal of a female seminary, first at Greensboro', and afterward at Athens, Ga. His health having improved, and his dislike of slavery having become intensified, he resigned his post as teacher, removed to Connecticut, and soon
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
became the pastor of a Congregational Church in Waterbury, where he still remains. Some three or four years since, the Churches of Middlebury and Cornwall, about the same time, severally gave Lim a call, both of which invitations he felt it his duty to decline.
In November, 1851, a harmonious call was extended to Rev. GURDON W. NOYES, then pastor of a church in Portsmouth, Va., with the offer of $550 salary and the use of the parsonage. The invitation was accepted and Mr. Noyes removed to Cornwall in December following, though he was not installed till the 28th of April, 1852. At the installation of Rev. Mr. Noyes, Dr. Merrill, preached the sermon-his third sermon at the settlement of a min- ister in Cornwall. . Calvin G. Tilden and Eliphalet Samson, who had been chosen Deacons, were inducted into office in connection with the installation services. His pastorate continued somewhat less than two years, his dismission having occurred March 15th, 1854. Mr. Noyes was afterward settled as a colleague pastor of one of the churches in New Haven, Conn., where, until recently, he has remained.
In October following the dismission of Mr. Noyes, Mr. JOSEPH A. BENT, who had previously received a harmonious call from church and society, was ordained and installed Pastor. The sermon on the occasion was by Rev. Dr. Labaree of Middlebury College. His ministry was also brief. On account of the failure · of his health, he requested a release from his pastoral relations, and his request having been granted, he was dismissed by the action of an Ecclesiastical Council, August 12th, 1956. At the meeting, at which the Society signified their assent to his dismission, the following action was taken, as appears from the records :
" Resolved, that this society, entertaining undiminished confi- dence in the piety and. ability of Rev. J. A. Bent, regret the fail- ure of his health, and the necessity arising therefrom for the request he has presented for the dissolution of his relation to us as our Pastor."
After leaving Cornwall, Mr. Bent, became connected with Rev. Ovid Miner in an effort to establish a Christian Colony at Hoyle- ton, near Centralia, Ill., on the Chicago branch of the Illinois Con-
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
tral Railroad. In this enterprise, which contemplates the estab- lishment of a literary institution and an accumulation of facilities for moral and intellectual improvement, they are still engaged, with fair prospects of ultimate success.
In August, 1858, Rev. A. A. BAKER, who had been for some years a missionary in California, but had been compelled to return on account of the ill health of his wife, was installed Pastor of the Congregational Church, with a salary of $750 and the use of the parsonage. Rev. Dr. Pease of the University of Vermont, preached the sermon. Mr. Baker was settled with much unanimity, and, entering with becoming devotion and energy into his appro- priate work, his labors have been appreciated by his people, and command their confidence and support.
The following is a list of the lay officers of the Congregational Church, from its organization.
July 15th, 1785, JEREMIAH BINGHAM was chosen Moderator and Register. At a later period, the oldest deacon was constituted standing moderator, in the absence of a pastor.
Oct. 5, 1787.
DEACONS. JEREMIAHI BINGHAM, HILAND HALL JEREMIAHI BINGHAM,
Designated to serve temporarily.
Chosen Deacons.
Dec. 7, 1798.
Oct. 31, 1788. HILAND HALL, WILLIAM SAMSON, JAMES PARKER. DANIEL SAMSON, ASAHEL BINGHAM, HORACE JANES, DAN. WARNER, 1852. CALVIN G. TILDEN, ELIPHALET SAMSON,
Jan. 6, 1832.
65
16
66
1859.
CHAMPION M. JANES,
₱42
1 L
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
CHAPTER XIX.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY CONTINUED-FORMATION OF BAPTIST CHURCH -- ITS FIRST PLACE OF MEETING AND FIRST PASTOR, ELDER EPHRAIM SAWYER - BUILDING ITS MEETING HOUSE, A UNION HOUSE - CONDITIONS OF THE UNION - ELDERS HENRY GREEN, BERIAH N. LEACH AND OTHERS - RECENT MEASURES FOR RE- BUILDING - DEACONS-THE METHODIST CHURCH-ITS HOUSE OF WORSHIP, PASTORS AND SUPPLIES-FREE CHURCH-ITS ORGNIZA- TION, CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND RULES OF DISCIPLINE - PAS- TORS, W. B. RANSOM, ISRAEL HUTCHINSON, C. B. CAMPBELL 'AND OTHERS.
Among the first settlers of Cornwall were several persons who had previously been connected with the Baptist denomination. Preferring not to be taxed for the support of Congregational preach- ing, some of their number early desired exemption from taxes which were raised by the town for this purpose, and their requests were readily granted. Though the law gave the town the power to tax for the support of such preaching as the majority preferred, all who could not produce evidence that they already helped to sustain preaching of some other denomination, no advantage was taken of it by the majority. Every man's rights of conscience were respected, and the demand for abatement of a tax for the support of preach- ing was of course granted, whenever based on conscientious scruples, or doctrinal preferences.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
'The first stated Baptist preaching in Cornwall, of which I am informed, was by Elder EPHRAIM SAWYER, who removed to town, and commenced preaching in 1792, in the vicinity of the bridge over Lemon Fair. His hearers erected a log meeting house, a few rods north of the present bridge, near the burying ground.
Elder Sawyer, as we learn from a biographical sketch of him, written by Whitfield Walker, Esq., of Whiting, was born in Leominster, Mass., but removed in 1778 with his father to West- moreland, N. H. - at that time a dense wilderness, broken only here and there, by the clearing of a hardy pioneer. Here they were exposed to all the privations of a new settlement, aggravated, in their case, by the outrages of merciless and malignant tories.
The naturally warm and impulsive temperament of Elder Saw- yer, led him to heed his country's call, now in her struggle for in- dependence, and promptly to respond by enlisting in her service .- His religious character instead of being damaged by his connection with the army, appears to have been chastened and improved. Al- though his bodily health was so far impaired by the exposures of camp life, that he was compelled to hire a substitute to fill out his term of service, he returned to his friends a more mature and earnest Christian.
After some three years spent among his friends in Westmoreland he removed to Charlotte, in this State, with the view of engaging in farming ; and from Charlotte, a few years later, he removed to Grand Isle, hoping to improve his secular prospects. Here his wife became the subject of fatal pulmonary disease, which rendered her desirous of revisiting her friends in New Hampshire. The journey was commenced, but she died within a day's ride of its completion.
In the spring of 1790, he removed to Whiting with the purpose still of continuing in agricultural labor. Here it became apparent that his bereavements had happily affected his religious feelings, and his Christian character was so developed as to attract the attention of his brethren. The directness and pungency of his exhortations, the aptness and power of his illustrations, the native vigor of his intellect, all indicated to them that he might be useful
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as a preacher, and they urged upon him entering the ministry, as a duty. To this he felt inadequate, as his advantages for education had been exceedingly limited, and he could not at his age hope to supply his deficiencies. He, however, seriously pondered the sub- ject, and with a growing conviction that it might be his duty, he applied himself to the study of theology with the best helps within his reach. His Bible was his main storehouse of instruction .--- This he carried with him to the forest, and while plying his axe in felling trees, he improved his moments of recess from labor, in reading and meditation. Having attempted, two or three times, to preach, but without the freedom and success which satisfied him that the ministry was his calling, he for the time gave up the in- tention of preaching.
He was now married the second time, and removed to Western New York, but the death of his wife and infant child, and his own severe illness induced him to abandon his purpose of a permanent settlement, and he returned to Whiting. After a few months' res- idence in Whiting and Orwell, his conviction returned that it was his duty to enter the ministry. With this intent he came to Corn- wall in the latter part of 1792, and commenced preaching near the Fair bridge. For the accommodation of the congregation, the people erected a log meeting house, in which Elder Sawyer was duly set apart for the ministry, by ordination.
When he closed his labors in Cornwall he removed to Granville, N. Y., where he resided about five years, after which he spent several months in itinerant labors in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and at length became located in Rehoboth, Mass., where, and in the vicinity, he continued five years. After closing his labors in this place, he preached during many successive years, as an evangelist, in most, if not all, the New England States, re- maining in his fields of labor for very unequal periods-from a few months to several years. His last labors were performed in New Haven, in this County, where he was residing at the time of his death. He was permitted to witness very gratifying results of his ministry, having baptized, as Mr. Walker assures us, about fifteen hundred persons.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
Elder Sawyer was a man of ardent feelings, tender sympathies and a measure of religious zeal which led him to delight in active service. Though as already intimated, his literary attainments were very limited, he possessed a knowledge of human character, a power to move the springs of human action, which, with his other qualities already named, gave him more than ordinary ability to control his hearers, and lead them captive by his eloquence .--- Perhaps he judged wisely in becoming as he did, an evangelist during the latter part of his ministry.
He evidently thought much more of spiritual than of secular things Indeed, to the latter he was so indifferent as sometimes to incur the reproaches of his creditors-an error into which, unhap- pily, some clergymen of all denominations allow themselves to fall. No man is bound more scrupulously to fulfill every pecuni- ary obligation, than the minister of the gospel.
I copy from the narrative of Mr. Walker, the following striking incident which he informs us he received from a daughter of Elder Sawyer, and which he regards as authentic. It would certainly seem to indicate that he was an object of special Providential protection.
" While traveling to meet an appointment, he had occasion to pass a high bridge, that was in a state of dilapidation, and deemed unsafe. He however passed over it in safety. On his return he hed to repass it, but did not reach it until the darkness of the night rendered vision impossible. On approaching it his horse stopped- he gently urged him forward, but he soon stopped again. He was about to alight from his carriage when the animal moved gently forward, and he resumed his seat. He shortly arrived at an inn, and the intense darkness induced him to put up for the night. His host inquired from what direction he came. He told him. The host replied, he must be mistaken, for that was impossible, -the covering of the high bridge having been removed that afternoon. The subsequent explanation satisfied him of the fact. In the morning he returned to the bridge, and found it even so. The horse took one string-piece, and the wheels two others, and he came safely over."
This borse, the narrator informs us, was the same which drew the hearse that conveyed his master's remains to the grave, and
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
had, at that time, been in his service twenty-one years. Elder Sawyer died Oct. 14, 1827, at the age of 71.
Of the particular results of his ministry in Cornwall, so far as I can learn, no record remains. Mr. Walker in his narrative in- forms us that it continued through nine years, during which period he preached occasionally in other towns in the vicinity, closing his labors here in 1801.
The first allusion to a Baptist Society in Cornwall, has already been noticed on page 153, with the action of the town respecting it. This was doubtless the Society to which Elder Sawyer minister- ed. Respecting the period from his removal in 1801, to the crec- tion of the Baptist Meeting House in West Cornwall, there are no authentic records either in reference to the place of meeting, or to those employed as preachers. The fact, however, as furnished by those whose memory extends back to that period, is that most of that time meetings were kept up, with more or less regularity, near the Fair bridge, until provision was made for their better accom- modation by the structure above mentioned.
For the erection of this meeting house, the incipient measures were adopted in 1805. The first meeting for this purpose was held at the house of Seth Abbot, Jr., October 17, 1805. Dea. Asahel Field was Moderator, Richard Miner Clerk, Benjamin Stevens Treasurer, Amos Pennoyer Collector. Asahel Field, Benjamin Stevens and John Hamlin, a business committee. It was soon ascertained that the means of the Baptists, unaided, were inadequate to the con- struction of such a house as they desired, and that certain of their Congregational friends were willing to lend a helping hand. A conference was held, which resulted in the adoption of the following
" ARTICLES relating to the building of a meeting house, and the use and occupation of the same."'
Whereas, the Baptist Society in Cornwall have agreed to erect a Meeting House, for the purpose of public and social worship, and have agreed on the place for the same; and, whereas, sundry per- sons of the denomination of Congregationalists, are desirous to unite with their Baptist Brethren in building said Meeting House ;- it is hereby agreed and determined, that the people of the Congrega- tional denomination may build and own one-half of the said meet-
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
ing house, or if they shall not be able to build one half, then such lesser share as they shall be able to build, under the following regulations :
Ist. The house shall be forty-eight feet in length, and forty- four in breadth, without any porch or steeple, and shall be built on the spot heretofore agreed on by the Baptist Society, on the green, a short distance north of Joshua Stockwell's house in Corn- wall.
2nd. The house shall be built as soon as may be, under the direction of a committee to be appointed for that purpose.
3d. Money shall be raised by subscription, by each of the afore- said denominations. to erect the frame and enclose it; then the pews shall be sold at vendue to raise money to complete the house, and whatever sum any person shall subscribe and pay as aforesaid, shall be credited on his subscription or included in his bid.
4th. The house, when built, shall be considered as the joint property of the aforesaid denominations, in proportion to the money which each shall have expended in building.
5th. The house shall be occupied by each of the said denomina- tions in proportion to their share in the same ; that is to say, if the Congregationalists shall be at the expense of building one-half of the house, or shall own one-half of the same, they shall be entitled to use and occupy the house one equal half of the time, and in the same proportion for a quarter or less share. And the Baptists shall use and occupy the house according to the same rule.
6th. The house shall be designated by the name of the United Baptist and Congregational meeting house, and the clerk of the Baptist Society shall have power to warn a meeting of the Propri- etors of the house, on the application of five or more of said pro- prietors, by posting up a notification for that purpose, on the guide post near the place for building said house, at least ten days before the time of meeting ; which shall be as soon as the subscription papers are filled up, so that it shall be thought best to proceed ; and the said clerk shall warn all future meetings relating to the said meeting house, in the same manner as he is authorized to warn the meetings of this society.
7th. It is understood that in occupying the house according to the 5th Article, the two denominations shall, unless they agree otherwise, in future proceed as follows, viz : The Baptist Society shall occupy the house one Sabbath, and the Congregationalists the next, and so on, alternately ; provided the two societies own equal shares in the house. If not, they shall procced according to the same rule, in proportion to their respective shares ; but they shall not carry the division so far as to divide a Sabbath.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
Sth. It is further agreed that the house may be occupied by any other denomination of Christians, at all times, when the joint soci- eties shall not want to improve it."
The ground on which the house stands, was leased to the Pro- prietors in the usual form, by James Walker; the conditions being "As long as they may want to occupy it for a meeting house. If this house should be burned, or rot away, the proprietors may have the right to build another, but not to occupy it as any other than for a meeting house." The lease bears date August 21st, 1806. Benjamin Stevens and Abner Hall were appointed a committee to superintend the building of the house, and David Foot, Benja- min Stevens and Benjamin Sanford a committee to superintend the selling of the pews.
In 1806, the labor of erecting the house was mostly accomplish- oil, and it was completed in the early part of 1807, the second Monday of June having been designated for the sale of the pews.
The precise time when Elder HENRY GREEN was employed by the Church, as the records are silent respecting it, cannot be deter- mined. He was settled in. 1809, and his ministry continued till 1824. Previous to his settlement in Cornwall he had been several years in the ministry, having labored for some time in Wallingford, in Rutland County.
Though his early education was deficient, some of the natural endowments of Elder Green were superior. Ardent in tempera- ment, earnest in the advocacy of any course in which his heart was interested, and possessing unquestionable patriotism, he sympathized deeply with the political excitements which were beginning to per- vade the country, when his residence in Cornwall commenced, and which, a few years later, became all absorbing in many ininds. In person well formed, and possessing a commanding voice, with an impassioned delivery, he often made impressions on his hearers, which inspired profound respect for his power as a public speaker. His stentorian voice, united with a fondness for the excitement of military parade, served to mark him as a military chaplain. The office of Regimental or Brigade Chaplain he held for a considerable period, and the writer remembers in his youth, to have heard the
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL,
voice of Elder Green, when offering a prayer in the midst of Brigade, sounding clear and loud above all the din and bustle the assembled multitude.
A few months after his removal, the society secured the services of Elder BERIAN N. LEACH, whose labors were so acceptable, tha at a meeting held October 4th, 1825, the Prudential Committer were directed to engage him for another year. The January fol. lowing, (1826,) a formal call was extended to him, which he accep- ted, and was duly installed Pastor of the Church. The connection however, was not of long duration, Mr. Leach having, in June. 1827, en account of deficiency in his support, asked and received a dismission. As evidence that the Society continued to cherish to- ward him the kindest feelings, they directed their clerk " to tender Mr. Leach a written acknowledgement of their thanks and respect accompanied with a certificate of honorable dismission from the Society."
The same year Mr. GEORGE B. IDE, then a student in Middle- bury College, but who has since became a distinguished preacher, was employed to supply the pulpit, but for how long a period the records do not inform us; neither do they inform us fully as to the supplies for the pulpit subsequently employed. It is known, how- ever, that following the labors of Mr. Ide, the pulpit was supplied about two years by Elder Hall, and for several months by Elder J. K. Wright.
After earnest and persistent, but unsuccessful effort to sustain the preaching of the gospel in their house of worship, the Baptist Society, at a meeting held May 12, 1829, adopted the following vote : " On motion, it was voted to dissolve the Society, or that the Society be dissolved on the first of January next."
The Proprietors, however, continued to control the meeting house as formerly, having, as early as 1823, made such a change in their constitution as authorized them to choose their own clerk in dis- tinction from the Society's clerk, by whom meetings of the pro- prietors should be notified. The Church also continued to exist, and to maintain public worship. By the vote of the proprietors as we shall have occasion to notice in the account of the Methodist
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f : and Free Churches those denominations were, for some time con- off jointly with the Baptists, permitted to occupy the house. For a few years past it has been allowed to fall into a condition which unfits it for use as a place of worship. It is gratifying, however, to be able to add, that during the year 1861, measures were adop- ted, by soliciting subscriptions, on the same principle as that which originally secured the funds for the erection of the house, to effect thorough repairs, and restore the building to its pristine beauty and convenience. The renovation has been commenced, and is now, 1862, in the process of completion, under the superintendence of George Smith of Middlebury.
METHODIST CHURCH.
From an early period, there were several persons in town who adopted Methodist sentiments, and occasional preaching of that denomination was enjoyed. The precise date of the organization of the Methodist Church, in the absence of all records, I cannot ascer- tain. The deed of the land on which the Chapel stands, was given by Reuben R. Wright to Milo Stow, Stephen Beach, John Crane, J. W. Langdon, Wyman Sherwood, Reuben R. Wright and Jared Bishop, stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Weybridge Circuit. It bears date April 30, 1885, and conveys a lot of ground 42 by 34 feet.
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