USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Bennington > The one hundred year old meetinghouse of the church of Christ in Bennington, Vermont: being a record of the centennial of the same held in the meetinghouse, August the 19th and 20th, 1906 > Part 4
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In 1853 my father became your pastor, re- maining with you until his death in 1887, a period of over thirty-four years.4 It fell to his
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lot to preach for you the discourse commemora- tive of the one hundredth birthday of this church organization, and later to prepare the " Memo- rials of a Century," from which we all draw so many facts of interest regarding the early history of this church and town. You will not expect me, nor is it necessary for me to remind you of the incidents of that pastorate, nor of the more recent ones of Mr. Severance 1 and Mr. Morse; 2 all three of whose pastorates remain distinctly imprinted on your memories.
During these years it may be mentioned that many men of note have spoken from this desk: men of the pulpit, as old Dr. Griffin, President of Williams College; that "Prince of Preachers," his successor, Dr. Mark Hopkins; his brother Albert, and Drs. Bascom and Perry ; Drs. Storrs, Stone, Robinson, Thompson, Taylor, Kirk, Beman, Vincent, and many others, while in the lecture-field, or as orators, Rev. John Leland, the famous Baptist clergyman of Cheshire, Mass., was one of the first (in 1808) to give from the old high pulpit the oration usually pro- nounced on the sixteenth of August in the long ago; for down to the thirties, at least, it was the annual custom to have some recognition of that day, in which sooner or later the people repaired
SIX OF THE FATHERS
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to this meeting-house for an address.1 On other occasions, too, great lecturers as John B. Gough and his confrères, Henry Ward Beecher, Dr. E. H. Chapin, Horace Greeley, and many more have delighted and instructed thronged houses here.
From this church, too, have been carried to yon burying-ground many men of local and wider note,2 and the history of all the scenes of joy and sorrow which it has witnessed would be full of interest, but too long for this occasion.
I wish, too, I had time to do some justice to the men and women who have made the church, borne its burdens, paid its bills, and maintained its covenant through the years, - stalwart men and women who loom larger as the years go by, but I must hasten on.
You will expect me to tell you more of the history of this edifice : its changes and evolution.
At first, as has been said, there was no bell in the steeple, but a horn summoned the people to church. In 1820 Governor Tichenor, having promised the church a bell, secured one from the foundry of J. Hanks in West Troy. This is said to have been rung formally for the first time at the dedication of Mr. Peters, and to be the first church bell rung in Vermont. It proved,
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however, to have some flaw in it, and was re- turned to the foundry, being sent back here in 1823, and hung again, as the inscription on it tells us, for on one side the legend, "I. Tichenor, Donor, 1823," and on the other, "J. Hanks," preserve for us the brief history.1 We would like to know the date and origin of the nine o'clock Sunday morning ringing but are unable to find it. It is tradition that this was also a daily custom at first.2 The tolling of the age of some citizen who had passed away and the similar tolling as the long procession wound through the village street to the burying-ground are familiar memories. This bell also had some- thing to say on joyous occasions, night or day, for it used to be a custom, seldom honored by the omission, to let the people know that the fourth of July or the sixteenth of August had come, and twelve o'clock midnight had struck, by tones from its brazen throat, and this even though the fathers had taken all precautions to prevent it. There it has hung for eighty-three years, at least, its voice never silenced through all the years, when it had something to tell. Hardly another voice connected with this church has this record.3
Let us now turn to some of the repairs and
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changes which have been made in this meeting- house for its preservation and greater accom- modation. The quarter of a century from the resignation of Mr. Marsh, through the pasto- rates of Reverends Peters, Clark, and Hooker, was a period of active, vigorous life in the church, disclosing large growth in numbers, sturdy ad- herence to opinions, which were sometimes opposed to one another, conflict with the en- croachment of the allurements of secular life, and difficulties arising from increasing expense caused by advancing demands of the people, and the changes occurring within the membership itself.
It was during this period that at least six new organizations sprang up within the bounds of this church, four of them to-day strong churches,1 where hitherto it had stood practi- cally alone under the title of "The Church of Christ in Bennington," and this house of wor- ship, with its predecessor, were the only houses of worship in the entire town. During this period also occurred the rivalry, often referred to by the older members, between the schools at the Academy and in the Seminary.2 During this period here, as well as elsewhere, the church was using all its available enginery to stem the
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encroachments of the world from the outside. This was the period of the great temperance wave which swept the country.1 It was a time, also, when politics ran high in the community. Under all these conditions it is not to be won- dered at that there might be some difficulties in finding enough substantial harmony and strength to proceed with elaborate repairs on the church, though there is growing evidence of their need.
One of the first acts, which seems to have settled for the time, at least, a bothersome ques- tion, was the coming of this church into avowed Congregational line; for in 1832 a new organi- zation of the church and society was consum- mated under the title of "The First Congre- gational Church and Society of the Town of Bennington." 2 One of the articles of their con- stitution was, " That no member shall be taxed, without his consent, to raise any sum exceeding, in the whole, fifty dollars annually to carry into effect the objects of this society." A larger sum than this was very soon found to be necessary for current expenses. The problem thus raised was, Where shall we find money for repairs? It was proposed to lease the hitherto free or "pub- lic pews," "the money to be appropriated to the payment of stoves, stove-pipes, wood, and all
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other incidental charges for furnishing and re- pairing the meeting-house." This would nat- urally be found insufficient. It was argued that it was illegal, but this was overruled.
Then the device was conceived to lower the high pulpit, - this was needed in any case, - and so contract its base that more seating and consequently more renting room might be ac- quired, the rents accruing, if enough, to pay the charges. This was in 1837,1 and a subscrip- tion paper is in existence which seems to have been circulated, I should judge, as a citizen's movement, to raise money for repairing the court-house, a certain sum; the meeting-house $500, and to establish a female seminary, a larger sum. Of what came out of this move- ment at once we have no record, but it is re- membered that the pulpit was lowered and some blinds added about this time; for the glare from the windows had been a source of great inconvenience, which it had been striven to remedy by hanging something of the nature of curtains, and even by painting the glass of the upper or gallery windows white to render it more opaque.2
It was during these years that more and more attention was paid to the music, sums voted to
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pay for an instructor and to furnish the choir.1 This was just prior to the time of Frank Sly and his orchestra, so well remembered by the older members.2
This was also the time, I presume, - that is, somewhere about 1837-38, - that the Academy came into use as an adjunct for the social and business meetings of the church.3
It would be interesting and profitable to go more into detail for these years, but there is not time.4
The real repairs of the church, to which all these makeshifts had been pointing, finally took place, but not until 1849, and then not so com- pletely as was desired.5 The committee charged with estimating the cost returned a sum total of $1857.26. This was decided to be more than they could raise at that time, and, after cutting it in two, they proceeded with the changes, which involved the removal of the old pulpit, the substitution of slips for the pews, repair of the steeple, and reshingling.
The building committee consisted of Pier- point Isham, Uel M. Robinson, Isaac Weeks, Samuel S. Scott, and Aaron L. Hubbell, but he being unable to attend to the matter, Benja- min F. Fay was substituted in his place and
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Benjamin R. Sears was added to the commit- tee.
The actual cost of these repairs was $985, making a discrepancy between the amount sub- scribed and this of $81, which it was proposed to raise by selling public property of the church, meaning unowned pews or slips, for this purpose.
The exchange of pews for slips too proved a difficult one, in order to render to each his own or its equivalent, but it was ultimately adjusted amicably, though it is recalled that the confu- sion, at the first service after the change, was so great and of so long duration, that it seemed as though the purpose for which they had come together that day would have to be abandoned.1 The plan of readjustment is recorded in full upon the record books.
It would appear that these changes of 1849 were not quite sufficient, and naturally so, for you will remember that they cut the estimate in two, so we read of additional changes and im- provements in 1851, and we well recall the edifice as it appeared in my childhood, just as these repairs left it.
Entering the house one would note, probably first of all, the great red frescoed curtains, with immense tassels, on the wall back of the pulpit,
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which then had no recess and no window as now. The rostrum was ascended by a right- angled flight of steps, first going east and then up on to the platform. On this was a settee or sofa covered with black haircloth, and at each end stood one of these armchairs, now standing in the open space before the desk, used then on Communion Sundays at the table, newly added at this time, and now standing in the Sunday- school room below.
Let me here insert the fact that the com- munion service -tankard, cups, and plates - which we shall use this afternoon was old at this date, its origin being lost in obscurity, though it is known that there was another one even prior to this. This one was used until su- perseded by the one now regularly in use, a me- morial gift by Col. George D. Harrington, a son of this town, though not then residing here, and son-in-law of Deacon George Lyman, an hon- ored officer of this church until his death. And while I mention this, memory prompts me to give the list of those honored men, now gone to their reward, who so often passed to the older of you the blessed elements of our Lord's death in this same service. Their loved forms and faces will come before some of you at least, as I read : Dr.
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OLD COMMUNION PLATE
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Noadiah Swift and Aaron Hubbell, Samuel Chandler and John F. Robinson, George Ly- man, John W. Vail and H. Hopkins Harwood. To these must be added, of later date, Alfred Robinson, Albert W. Harwood, and Robert T. Sharpe, all gone to their reward.
But to return. The desk was an oblong affair, painted white, with panels. It was about five feet long by two feet or less broad, with black walnut top and desk upholstered in red silk damask, with red cushion for the Bible. From the front corners of this cushion hung red silk tassels. There was a carved wreath in the front panel of this pulpit. On either side of it stood two square pillars of equal height with the desk, finished, as the desk, in black walnut, upon which were two immense astral lamps, as they were called in those days, with globes and prisms and gilded standards.
The slips were substantially as you see them to-day save that they had doors which shut with snap-catches, whose release was perceptible through the house a few seconds before the benediction was concluded. The windows at this time were covered with the present blinds, painted a straw color, and the floor carpeted with an ingrain carpet, whose figures were plaids
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of green, brown, and white, about four inches square. This was succeeded by a red and black one, which again, in 1890,1 was replaced, and the successor to that is the one on the floor now, placed there at the time of the very generous repairs of a few years ago by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Colgate, in memory of her father and mother. The first cushions, uniform throughout the house, were red moreen.2 It is an interesting item that the shingles put on at the time of these repairs of 1851, the first since the building, were purchased in Troy by Deacons Chandler and Robinson, both stalwart supporters of this old church in their day, and brought here on one of the first freight trains running over the old Troy and Boston road, or rather to North Benning- ton, for the branch to Bennington was not yet built.
Jumping now to June 28, 1864, shortly suc- ceeding the Centennial, we find on the records a motion made by Seth B. Hunt, Esq., "That measures be taken for raising the sum of five thousand dollars to be expended in the res- toration, renovation, and repairing of the First Congregational Meeting-House in Bennington." This was carried with the utmost unanimity and harmony, and, what is more, the sum and
JOHN FAY'S CHOIR
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more raised very soon. Messrs. A. L. Hubbell, S. H. Brown, and John W. Vail, as a committee for the purpose, nominated a committee to solicit subscriptions and carry this resolution into effect. This consisted of John W. Vail, Isaac Weeks, and Henry Patchin. For building committee the names chosen were Seth B. Hunt, Isaac Weeks, Henry Patchin, Benjamin R. Sears, Abram B. Gardner, Perez Harwood, and Aaron L. Hubbell.
These repairs occupied about one year, this house being again reopened with appropriate services on September 3, 1865, John Fay and his well-remembered choir furnishing the inspiring music. Meanwhile the services had been held in the court-house.
The changes which then took place added this recess back of the pulpit with these doors at either side and the Sunday-school room below, and installed here this present pulpit and com- munion table and chairs - this baptismal font, given by Mrs. Sarah Blackwell Clark as a memorial of Rev. Daniel A. Clark, sixth pastor of this church, was not placed here until 1886. Chairs were also substituted for the hitherto slips of the singers' gallery by the generosity of Mr. S. B. Hunt. Furnaces were placed under-
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neath the church and the stoves removed. Back of the desk and opposite back of the gallery, windows of stained glass were placed, the gift of Mr. Hunt. On the one here back of the pulpit was inscribed, "Holiness unto the Lord." This in time became impaired, and while in the hands of repairers in New York was destroyed by fire, an absolute loss, as there was no insurance upon it. The present window is Mr. Samuel B. San- ford's gift as a memorial for Mrs. Sanford, a daughter of the long-time honored and beloved physician and superintendent of the Sabbath- school, and active member of this church, Dr. William Bigelow.
I regret that there is not time to rehearse later changes and repairs to the edifice, but they are fresh in your memory and still awaken grateful thoughts, and to-day the old centenarian appears before you in robust health and rejuvenated hope because of this love and generosity of her children and children's children.
Thus far we have mainly concerned ourselves with the temporalities of the building. It was, however, built to signify and perpetuate spiritual things. I should not feel that I had done my duty unless I made mention of these before closing.
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I have no doubt that the "revival of 1803" was a very important factor in bringing to a head the long-delayed purpose of building a new edifice. All history agrees that the period about the beginning of the nineteenth century was one of very low moral and religious tone. Bennington seems not to have escaped the gen- eral tenor of the times.
From June 7, 1801, the church was without a pastor until the fall of 1804; but during the winter of 1802-1803 an awakened interest in religious things and in social elevation seemed to take possession of the people. Gatherings too large for the narrow dimensions of the old meeting-house drove the people out of doors for open air services. One three days' protracted meeting was held on the hillside just east of the barn owned by Miss Sanford on the Bank Road. The effect of these meetings was to add ninety-one to the roll of the church, while it is said nearly two hundred were hopefully con- verted at that time.1 At any rate, a great change took place in the character of society. A minister was secured, this meeting-house was built, and Bennington long felt the influence of this bless- ing.
In 1811, during the pastorate of Mr. Marsh,
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thirty-eight are recorded as being added in one year. Nine years later there was another in- gathering of thirty-three, under the just then begun ministration of Absalom Peters, and seven years later, in 1827, one hundred and one were added to the church under the ministration of Mr. Clark, while in 1831, - and the church was again without a pastor, -one hundred and thirty-one were added to its membership, the ingathering of the seed sown by Mr. Clark and brought to fruitage by the preaching of Dr. Kirk of Albany, and others, fired by the revival spirit abroad in the land. In 1834 ninety were re- ceived into the church, and in 1857 and 1858, eighty-one. These are mentioned as special seasons of ingathering, though the records show additions of a score, eighteen, seventeen, twelve, and lesser numbers for almost every year of the church's history until more recent times, and the shifting of the centres of population have made heavy drafts on the normal fields of the country church's work.
During this century, too, many young men, influenced by the teachings of this pulpit and this Sabbath-school, have gone forth to study and to ordination, to be bearers of the standard of the cross to heathen lands or to important
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churches of our own, builders of temporal and spiritual temples in this land. The length of the list precludes calling the roll. This stone underneath this pulpit, bearing the legend: "To the Triune God," originally the keystone over the main entrance to the Madison Avenue Memorial Church, is to-day a mute witness to the truth of this statement,1 and were I to call the names or mention the works wrought, they would suggest to you landmarks in the history of civilization, like the Christianizing of the Sandwich Islands,2 the interpretation of the perhaps unwritten and ungrammared language of some heathen tribe,3 putting the Bible within their reach, the teaching of scores of young men, who are to go to the pulpits of our country, 4 or the compilation of the church's songs and voices of inspiration,5 and all this, not to speak of many others who in various fields have each wrought a hero's work of struggle and victory, in state and rostrum, law and letters, business and civic affairs.
Passing reference here is appropriate to those who, though children of other churches in this town, are yet the descendants of sires who drew inspiration from this pulpit in the long ago, when this was the only church here, each doing
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his work and doing it well. We welcome you back here to-day for their sake and join with you about the old hearth to receive our common mother's centennial blessing.
Our devout ancestors do not seem to have regarded time given to services of worship, nor even multiplication of the same, as either wasted time or infringement on their obligations in other directions, nor do they seem to have mea- sured their worth by their peculiarly thrilling interest. They were ready to leave their horses standing in the furrow, or any other duty of an ordinary nature, to attend a week-day meeting, and on the Sabbath all work was laid aside that they might give their undivided attention to these matters. There were always two long sermons, one in the morning and one in the after- noon, an evening prayer-meeting or Sabbath- school, - these were held in the evening in the early twenties. There was a week-day lecture as well as a week-day prayer-meeting, sometimes at the houses of the people, sometimes at the meeting-house. Friday afternoon meetings were held from the inception of the church in 1762,1 continuing until 1835, when the Wednesday evening prayer-meeting was substituted. Then there were the mothers' meetings. The growth
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of the tendency to cut down the amount of time devoted to the social worship of God is a fa- miliar feature of the development of the past thirty or forty years. Those who are now grown ' to manhood recall with peculiar pleasure the old meetings for conference and prayer, the missionary concerts and Sabbath-school con- certs, which were held in the upper room of the old Academy building, in the fifties and sixties, and those will be precious memories for life.
And now the task I set myself is done. It may seem that I have been a good while about it, but it is worthy of a good while, and a good deal longer good while than I have been able to give to it. Even now memory is busy with the names of those who have been strong elements in the development of town and state and nation, whose faces are unknown to me, but whose names on the lips of earlier friends and on memorial tablets of yonder burying-ground are eloquent of conscientious, simple, though sturdy lives lived here for God and humanity. Others come back to me as the grandfathers of my childhood days, equally forceful in their day and genera- tion, and others still, then in the thick of the fight and bearing well the responsibility of a noble heritage.
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One cannot reflect on all the prayers and sacrifices for this old house and in it, all the solemn thoughts and penitent resolves awakened here, and all the generous and right purposings that through the years have gone upward and outward, even to the ends of the earth, to make men happier and better, without feeling that this old church has justified herself and is to-day a Mecca to which we may come back with a sense of obligation second only to that we owe our own firesides. Yes, perhaps even prior in importance to that, and though the tide of an active and strenuous civil life flows no longer about her altars, yet amid the quiet of this un- surpassed scenery, in the consciousness of a work well done, and in the belief that there is still more to be done, this dear old mother of us all welcomes you to-day, and hopes to welcome your descendants one hundred years hence - still clinging to the faith of their fathers.
NOTES ON HISTORICAL DISCOURSE
Page 22, note I. A township six miles square, situated six miles north of the Massachusetts line and twenty miles east of the Hudson, was set off from the territory claimed by New Hampshire, by its then governor, Benning Wentworth, and given, as a grant in the name of King George the Second, to certain persons, mostly of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 3, 1749. This town was called Bennington in honor of the governor.
Page 22, note 2. Here is indication of the predomi- nating influence of the church over these early settlers, at least, and that the Congregational Church; for this platform adopted at Cambridge, Mass., in 1648, was the unifying expression of Congregational principles, while the exception they (this church) took to certain articles was the prophecy of a coming separation which we shall see developing in the succeeding pages.
Page 23, note I. The owners of this township were denominated "Proprietors," and their town meetings "Proprietors' Meetings."
Page 23, note 2. In early days the wide road passing by this old meeting-house was called "The Parade."
Page 23, note 3. There is a tradition that the cost of the white oak of which it was built was five dollars. It is presumed that this was for the timber standing.
Page 24, note I. Previous to 1808 the legislature of Vermont had no fixed meeting-place. For thirty years
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from the adoption of its constitution its meetings were held thirteen times in Bennington, and here its first Council of Censors met in February, 1786.
Page 24, note 2. Vermont Historical Magazine, p. 136.
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