USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Bennington > Memorials of a century. Embracing a record of individuals and events, chiefly in the early history of Bennington, Vt., and its First church > Part 24
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When the Rev. Mr. Foot preached his revival sermons in Bennington, and took extreme ground in favor of human activity in conversion, Dr. Bigelow remarked, " He leaves nothing for me to pray for."
On Oct. 5, 1858, owing to ill-health, which obliged him to relinquish active professional duties, he went to Spring- field, Mass., to reside with his son, Edmund Bigelow. He
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however continued, so long as his strength permitted, to practise as consulting physician, and received marked re- spect from the medical profession there. He continued at Springfield his wonted labors as a member of the church, removing his church-relationship to that place.
At his funeral there his pastor, Rev. Mr. Parsons, said, " As I look around upon this assembly, I see ten physicians, and I wish to say to them that Dr. Bigelow always found time to attend church, and also to attend to his patients."
He revisited Bennington nearly every summer after his removal from this town, aud passed a winter with his daughter, Mrs. John Squires, in Troy, N. Y. Upon his de- cease, according to his request, his remains were brought and interred here. He died in Springfield April 13, 1863.
XVI. GAY R. SANFORD, and his wife, HANNAH, daughter of Capt. Brown, of Southbury, Conn., united with this church Nov. 6, 1831; both invalids for years, and called to endure great bodily suffering, yet unflinch- ing in resolution, proverbially cheerful, rejoicing in the prosperity of religion, devoted to the happiness and wel- fare of their children, and remembered with much affection and esteem for their generous hospitality and many vir- tues. They came here to reside, from Harwinton, Conn., in 1829. Mr. Sanford was successfully engaged in mercan- tile pursuits with his brother-in-law, Hon. S. H. Brown. Mr. Sanford deceased Nov. 9, 1853 ; his wife, Oct. 23, 1859.
XVII. HON. JOHN H. OLIN was the son of Hon. Gid- eon Olin, of Shaftsbury, and resided in Shaftsbury. He was born in Rhode Island, Oct. 12, 1772, and came to Shaftsbury, in his father's family, in 1776, and died there June 17, 1860. He was two years judge of probate, and eight, from 1817 to 1825, one of the judges of the County
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NOTE BY THE WRITER.
Court. He united with the Bennington First Church March 3, 1839. A little more than a year before his de- cease he was with this church at its celebration of the Lord's Supper, and, thinking it might be the last time, as it was, he rose in his place, and, in a very feeling and ap- propriate manner, expressed his attachment to his fellow- members of the church, and testified to his faith and hope in Christ. He endeared himself to others by the warmth and frankness of his nature, and his intelligent and genial conversation, and was widely respected and esteemed.
In referring to the fact of joining the Bennington First Church, the writer finds there has been constantly an unconscious use of the terms, " the church," and " this church ; " partly because he has written from his own stand-point as pastor of the church named, partly to avoid the more cumbrous repetition of the distinctive title, but chiefly because most of the instances adduced date back of the existence of other churches in the town.
In the above numerous personal notices it cannot be but that mistakes have occurred, which kind readers will be most likely to notice so far as their own families are concerned; these can readily correct such mistakes in their own copies, and the copies of others most interested.
In bringing the personal notices to a conclusion, the writer de- sires to express the sincere wish that it had been better done; but he has also to say that he has done what he could. This part of the volume has occasioned him more labor and anxiety than any other; particularly he regrets not to have been able to em- brace to a greater extent, in these sketches, persons, who, since the organization of the other churches in town, have deceased in connection with those churches and parishes respectively. This he could not do without extending this volume and his labors beyond all practicable limits, nor even then to any good purpose, for want of suitable information.
CHAPTER XXIV.
EDUCATION.
OMMON SCHOOLS. In the town plot granted by charter of the governor and council of New Hampshire, Jan. 3, 1749, one of the sixty-four lots was for schools. On Jan. 19, 1763, it was voted at a proprietors' meeting,
"To send a petition to the General Court of the province of New Hampshire, to raise a tax on all the lands in Bennington, resident and non-resident, to build a meeting-house and a school- house, and mills, and for highways and a bridge." "May 9, 1763, voted to raise six dollars on each right of land in said Ben- nington for building a meeting-house and school-house."
The first district school-house stood about four rods west of the present residence of Mrs. S. H. Blackmer. Mr. Bancroft, referring to a period of time as early as 1765, states that the inhabitants of Bennington, at that time, had provided " three several public schools." 1
" As the settlements extended, new schools were opened, and they have been ever since kept in all parts of the town, so that a convenient opportunity has at all times been afforded to all the children and youth within its lim- its to obtain instruction in the common English branches of education." 2
The earliest, as well as all the records, both of the town and the church, are remarkably free from those monstrosi-
1 Vol. v., p. 291. 2 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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EDUCATION IN THE STATE.
ties in spelling and grammar which are so apt to charac- terize the antiquarian documents of town and church histories.
II. EDUCATION IN THE STATE. - As it may be assumed that the Bennington early settlers, being also pioneers in Vermont, may have had some influence on the character of the educational institutions of the State at large, it may not be irrelevant to adduce the early history of the State with reference to this subject. In the first constitution (1777) is the following article : -
" A school or schools shall be established in each town, by the legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth. . One . grammar school in each county, and one university in this State, ought to be established by direction of the General Assembly."
In accordance with this instrument, we find at an early date, and subsequently among the statutes of the State, efficient school laws. An act, passed in 1787, is at hand for example : -
"For the due encouragement of learning, etc. : that each town shall be divided, when necessary, into convenient school districts ; one or more meet persons, together with the selectmen, to be trus- tees of the schools in the town; a district committee to be ap- pointed at a meeting of the district, who shall be empowered to raise one-half of the money necessary for building and repairing a school-house, and supporting a school, etc., by a tax on the in- habitants of the district; the other half of the expenses to be provided for in a meeting of the district, either by a tax, or by a subscription in proportion to the number of children any person shall send to such district school."
The following remarks, by Dr. Williams, respecting the interest of the early settlers of this State in education, are so creditable to them, and so intrinsically just, they are in- serted here : -
29
1
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" The aim of the parent is not so much to have her children acquainted with the liberal arts and sciences, but to have them all taught to read with ease and propriety; to write a plain and legible hand; and to have them acquainted with the rules of arith- metic, so far as shall be necessary to carry on any of the most common and necessary occupations of life. All the children are trained up to this kind of knowledge. They are accustomed from their earliest years to read the Holy Scriptures, the periodical publications, newspapers, and political pamphlets ; to form some general acquaintance with the laws of their country, the proceed- ings of the courts of justice, of the General Assembly of the State, and of the Congress, etc. Such a kind of education is common and universal in every part of the State. And nothing would be more dishonorable to the parents or the children than to be with- out it. One of the first things the new settlers attend to is to procure a school-master to instruct their children in the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic; and where they are not able to procure or hire an instructor, the parents attend to it themselves." 1
From 1780, the time of the incorporation of Clio Hall in Bennington, until 1807, twenty-five county grammar schools and academies were incorporated in the State.2 Vermont University was chartered in 1791, in connection with a dona- tion of four thousand pounds from Ira Allen, but was not immediately organized. Middlebury College was chartered in 1800, and went into immediate vigorous operation. Vermont University was organized soon after at Burling- . ton, the institution of learning at Norwich in 1820 ; Castle- ton Medical College, 1818 ; Vermont Medical College, 1827.3
The highly esteemed pastor of the writer in his boyhood, in Derby, Conn., Rev. Zephaniah Swift, was a Vermonter by birth, and received a portion of his academical, and, it is believed, his theological education in Bennington. A
1 Hist. Vermont, Walpole, 1794, pp. 224-25.
2 Tolman's Statutes, 1808, Appendix.
3 See lists of colleges and other seminaries oflearning with officers, graduates, and students, in Thompson's Vermont.
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CLIO HALL.
subsequent pastor of the same church, while the writer's home was still there, the Rev. Hollis Read, the missionary and author, was a Vermonter by birth, and at the least came to Bennington for his wife. When the writer was settled as pastor in Stamford, Conn., every neighboring Congrega- tional pastor, and at least two other pastors, distinguished members of the same ministerial association, were either grad- uates of Vermont colleges or natives of this State. This is by no means an isolated illustration of the fact that Ver- mont has nobly contributed to the clerical profession as well abroad as at home. If in Connecticut, how much more in the new States of the West? The following reminiscence, furnished to the " Bennington Banner " by Deacon Stephen Bingham, is so much in point, it shall be given here : " Mr. Sanders, the author of an excellent series of school-books, was at my house several years ago, in order to introduce some of his books into the schools. A minister of this town, formerly from Massachusetts, was there also. During the interview Mr. Sanders said, 'I have been through all the middle, the western, and south-western States, to intro- duce my books ; and I find more teachers from Vermont than from any other State.' The minister exclaimed in surprise, ' What ! more than from Massachusetts?' 'Yes,' replied Mr. Sanders, ' more than from Massachusetts. For I seldom go into a place where there are two or three schools but I find at least one teacher from Vermont.'"
III. ACADEMIES .- Clio Hall was the first incorporated academy in the State. The act of incorporation was passed Nov. 3, 1780. The building stood on the corner where the present meeting-house stands. It was for long in a flourishing condition. Mr. Eldad Dewey, grandson of the Rev. Jedi- diah Dewey, was principal for several years. A notice of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Bennington
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battle, in the "Vermont Gazette " of Aug. 20, 1787, shows that educational interests, and Clio Hall in partic- ular, were not forgotten in the making up of the programme. A place in the procession was assigned to the rector and students, and the quarterly examination of the students was held both forenoon and afternoon, in connection with the other public exercises, in the meeting-house. In 1803 the Clio Hall building was destroyed by fire.
William S. Cardell, educated at Williams College, and with scientific and literary acquirements of a high order, resided in the North Bennington village 1805 to 1806, and took pleasure in imparting instruction and promoting a taste for learning among the youth of the village and neighborhood.1
Union Academy, in the east village, was incorpor- ated about 1816, and a building erected. The brick building in the centre village, called Bennington Acad- emy, was erected in 1821, " in which the higher branches were successfully taught for many years." The institution now called Mount Anthony Seminary was established in 1829. This and the Bennington Academy were rival schools from 1829 until 1837. The teachers in the " semi- nary " have been Mr. - now Rev. - Addison Ballard, Rev. Gurden Hayes, Mr. G. W. Yates, and now Mr. Yates in partnership with Mr. S. Benjamin Jones. The list of teachers in the Bennington Academy is not at hand, - Prof. W. H. Parker, now of Middlebury College, was one. A high school was commenced and a new academy building erected in the east village in 1833. "It enjoyed the patron- age of the Baptist denomination of the town and vicinity, and was for several years in a flourishing condition under the successive charges of Messrs. Adiel Harvey, Horace Fletcher, Justin A. Smith, William G. Brown, and others."
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
COLLEGE GRADUATES AND OTHERS. 341
Miss Eliza M. Clark and sisters opened a young ladies' board- ing-school in the east village, Bennington village, in 1859.
In North Bennington a building, which had been erected for a Universalist church, was, in 1849, purchased by the citizens, and fitted up for an academy. Mr. Carpenter, Messrs. Knight and Gould, and others have taught the higher branches in this school.1
IV. COLLEGE GRADUATES AND OTHERS. - Eldad Dewey, Nathan Robinson, Esq., William A. Griswold, Esq., and one of the Harmons, are recollected by an old citizen as members of Dartmouth College, all at the same time. Jonathan E. Robinson, Esq., David Robinson, Esq., and Governor John S. Robinson were graduated at Williams Col- lege. Martin, a promising son of Jesse Field, went to col- lege and died there. Governor Tichenor was a gradu- ate of Nassau Hall. The successive pastors of the Ben- ninton church, after the first pastor, have all been college graduates. We have not at hand materials for making out a complete list of college graduates, or of the sons of Ben- nington who have distinguished themselves without a col- lege education, in the professions, in public office, and in mercantile or other business life. A great number of names will be found connected with some more or less particular notice of them throughout this volume. Bennington has a long list of sons, of whose talents, energy, and success in the world she may justly be proud. And her present impetus in enterprise, wealth, and taste, - an augury of a bright future, - doubtless, in no small degree, worthily represents the energy which, for forty years or more of her early history, made her a controlling town in the State, and an evidence that educational influences fitted to foster and promote energy of mind have not been wanting.
1 See the article on Education in Vermont Ilist. Mag., p. 163. 29*
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CHAPTER XXV.
CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN BENNINGTON SUBSEQUENT- LY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BENNINGTON FIRST CHURCH.
1762-1862.
HE REV. J. HIBBARD AND HIS PEOPLE. - For a portion of the time during the ministry of Mr. Dewey, Rev. Ithamar Hibbard resided in the west part of the town ; and, for a short time, was minis- ter of a congregation which assembled at his house. The site of his residence is well known as the Hib- bard lot. It is on the north-western slope of Mt. Anthony. At that time a road wound round the mountain nearer its base than the road now does, and passed along the border of the Hibbard lot. There are few traditions and still fewer recorded particulars of this congregation. There is reason to believe that it was an attempt at a more radical Separa- tism than the Bennington church, as a body, approved. There are two brief entries, and only two, concerning it, in the Bennington church records : "November 12, 1772. The church being met by appointment, the meeting being opened by prayer, agreed to send for a council, on condi- tion Mr. Hibbard and his people would drop Mr. Frothing- ham ; and, for ourselves, chose Mr. Miller and Mr. Park." This Mr. Frothingham might have been Rev. Ebenezer Frothingham, first pastor of the Separate (now South) church, in Middletown, Conn., 1747-1788. The Mr. Miller
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BENNINGTON CHURCHES.
was, doubtless, Rev. Alexander Miller, pastor of the Sepa- rate church in Plainfield, Conn. The other, Rev. Paul Park, pastor of a Separate church in Preston, Conn. " De- cember 31, 1772. The church having met by appointment, the meeting being opened by prayer, voted to send an epistle to the churches concerning Mr. Hibbard and his people ; their setting up as a church in the manner they have done, and their conduct thereupon."
The following particulars of Mr. Hibbard's history are from a "Fiftieth Anniversary Discourse," delivered at Poultney, in 1852, by Rev. John Goadby : "This little church " (the Baptist church of Poultney) " in its infancy united with the Congregational church in supporting the gospel, in worship, and in communion, under the pastoral care of Ithamar Hibbard, who had been a chaplain in the army of the Revolution. He was the first settled minister in the town, and, it is supposed, came with an organized church from Bennington. In 1785 or 1786 some difficulty arose among the Congregationalists in relation to their pas- tor, some informality connected with his ordination being alleged as the ground of dissatisfaction. The
result was the organization of another Congregational church." "It was expected by Mr. Hibbard's friends that the newly organized church intended to take advantage of the alleged informality in his ordination to dispute his right to the lands appropriated to the first settled min- ister. To preclude the attempt, a council was called about the year 1788, when he was ordained according to the Con- gregational order. His previous ordination was according to the strict Congregational order." In 1796 the two churches were united, and Mr. Hibbard, who had continued pastor of his own church up to this time, was moderator of the meeting at which the union of the two churches was effected. In 1798 he became pastor of the church in Hubbardton, and
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died there March, 1802. Before his dismission from the Poultney church "he became a free-mason, which was a trial to many."
Mr. Hibbard was a member of the Vermont General As- sembly, in 1778, from Wells ; also in 1779, as appears by the journal.
He is spoken of as an orthodox and sincere man, and of respectable attainments, with a voice which in preaching and prayer could be distinctly heard at the residence of Aaron Hubbell. Several verses, entitled " The Death of the Saint desirable," printed by Anthony Haswell in a collec- tion of anonymous pieces, have been assigned by tradition to Mr. Hibbard as their author.
One of his sons was the first settled minister in West Haven, Vt.
With the above slight exception, if exception it can be called, the Bennington church was alone until April 11, 1827. It was not designated by any denominational title. Its simple name was THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN BENNING- TON. Up to this time the present house of worship in Ben- nington Centre and its predecessor were the only houses of worship for the whole town. At the close of this period the Protestant population of the town was nearly as large as it is now.
II. THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 1 was organized April 11, 1827 ; its first meeting-house crected in 1830, and dedicated July 7 of that year. Its pastors have been as follows : The Reverends F. Baldwin, June 28, to October, 1830 ; Thomas Teasdale, until February, 1832 ; Jeremiah Hall, for three years, until April, 1835 ; Samuel B. Willis, for one year, ending June, 1836 ; Stephen Hutchins, 1836-41 ;
1 The following statistics are taken chiefly from the Vermont Hist. Mag., pp. 162-3.
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BENNINGTON CHURCHES.
William W. Moore, for one year, ending in 1843 ; Cyrus W. Hodges, from the fall of 1843 to that of 1848 ; Edward Conover, 1849-52 ; Mr. Conover was succeeded by the Rev. A. Judson Chaplin, and he by the Rev. Warren Lincoln ; the Rev. E. B. Palmer preached one year ; the Rev. William S. Apsey succeeded him. The number of members, at the close of the year 1862, was one hundred and forty-seven ; the number at its organization, thirty-two.
III. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, in Bennington Village, was organized in May, 1827; its meeting-house erected in 1833. The following named clergymen have been stationed here since May, 1827, for two years each : The Reverends Cyrus Prindle, John M. Weaver, Wright Hazen, Henry Burton, Henry Smith, - Hubbard, C. R. Wilkins, Jesse Craig, J. W. Belknap, H. B. Knight, R. Wescott, C. R. Wilkins, Merrit Bates, H. R. Smith, Ensign Stover ; 1856-57, J. E. Bowen ; 1858-59, C. R. Morris ; 1860-61, S. P. Williams ; 1862-63, Jonas Phillips. The number of mem- bers at the close of 1862 was one hundred and seventy, and thirty probationers.
IV. ST. PETER'S CHURCH (Episcopal) was organized July 24, 1834, under the ministry of the Rev. Nathaniel O. Preston, and a church edifice built of brick in 1836, which was consecrated July 22, 1839. The Rev. Mr. Preston con- tinued in charge of the parish until the fall of 1844, and was succeeded by the Rev. C. L. Todd for one year, and by the Rev. E. F. Remington for a few months. The Rev. George B. Manser, D.D., became rector in February, 1850, and deceased Nov. 17, 1862, aged fifty-nine years and three months. Dr. Manser was widely respected, and his death felt to be a public loss as well as a sore bereavement to his flock. His successor was the Rev. Duane S. Phillips. The
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number of communicants, at the close of 1862, was one hun- dred and twenty-six.
V. THE HINSDILLVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was or- ganized Nov. 1, 1834, by a colony from the First (Congre- gational) Church. The Reverends Messrs. Kenney, Johnson, and Nott were successively pastors. The church ceased its active existence in 1842, and the members, who originally numbered seventy-five, mostly returned to the church from which they had colonized.
VI. THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, being also a colony from the old church, was organized April 26, 1836, and soon afterward the Rev. Aretes Loomis became its pas- tor. He continued in the pastorate until Nov. 6, 1850, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Rev. Andrew Bever- idge, for a short time.
The Rev. Mr. Loomis, after his dismission, continued to preach in various places with acceptance and usefulness until a short time before his decease, which took place in Bennington, where he resided. He was logical, clear in his style, conscientious, and faithful, and enjoyed the highest confidence of all as a minister, a Christian, a man, and a citizen. Two of his sons and a son-in-law are ministers of the gospel.
The Rev. C. H. Hubbard commenced his ministry here in 1851, and still continues. The number of members, at the close of 1862, was one hundred and ninety-seven.
VII. A UNIVERSALIST MEETING-HOUSE was erected in North Bennington in 1836. The Reverends Messrs. G. Leach, Bell, Warren Skinner, and others successively offi- ciated as clergymen. In 1849 the building was purchased for an academy, and has been since occupied as such.
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BENNINGTON CHURCHES.
VIII. THE BAPTIST CHURCH at North Bennington was organized in July, 1844, and in 1845 a neat and convenient house of worship erected. The Rev. Justin A. Smith became pastor in 1844, and continued in that relation for nearly five years, until July, 1849. He was in a few months succeeded by the Rev. J. D. E. Jones, who continued in charge of the church until the spring of 1855. Then the Rev. William Hancock was the pastor for one year, and the Rev. Jay Huntington, for four years, 1856-60. His suc- cessor was the Rev. Jireh Tucker. The church numbered, at the close of 1862, ninety-five members.
IX. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, in Hinsdillville, was organized in the spring of 1858, and the old house of worship, built in 1835 for the Presbyterian congregation, was purchased and repaired for their use. The Rev. J. E. Bowen was stationed there, 1858-59. His successor was the Rev. Mr. McChesney. The Rev. G. Cuyler Thomas, 1861-62, with a membership of ninety-four.
As long ago as'1836 a small chapel had been built about half a mile from the present church, which was supplied with preaching in connection with another Methodist Epis- copal society in Hoosick. Among the clergymen who thus officiated here were the Reverends A. A. Farr, in 1840; F. D. Sherwood, in 1841-42 ; C. Barber, in 1843-44; William Henry, in 1845 ; A. Jones, in 1846-47; and J. Sage, in 1848-49. After this, regular preaching was suspended until the new organization in 1858.
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