F 74 
 ■S93 H4 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 First Congregational Church 
 
 STURBRIDGE : MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 By Gaorgc H. Haynas 
 
^isitorttal ^feettf) 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Jfirst Congregational Cljurtf) 
 
 STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 By GEORGE H. HAYNES 
 
 Read at the Dedication of the New Church 
 May 11, 1910 
 
 Worcester 
 
 The Davis Press 
 
 1910 
 

 WAR tOi«n 
 
V 
 
 Historical Sketch of the First Congregational 
 Church in Sturbridge, Massachusetts 
 
 By GEORGE H. HAYNES 
 
 Read at the Dedication of the New Church, May 11, 1910 
 
 The. settling of an orthodox minister and the promoting 
 of a land-development scheme! — To-day, no combination of 
 activities could seem much more incongruous. And yet, in 
 the record of a land grant by our Massachusetts General 
 Court is found the first point in the history of this Church of 
 Christ. For it is to be observed that land developing two 
 hundred years ago in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was 
 done with other methods and other objects than those com- 
 monly attributed to companies of shrewd men who secure 
 grants of the public domain yet remaining undeveloped, it 
 may be in Montana or in Alaska. 
 
 Three times a group of Medfield men petitioned the 
 General Court for a grant of land in this frontier wilderness. 
 Twice their prayer was rejected. The representatives at 
 Boston apparently doubted the ability of this inhospitable 
 region to support a settlement. But the promoters were 
 importunate. In their third petition — that of September, 
 1729 — they say: ''your petitoners Humbly begg Leave To 
 Inform this Hon''^^ Court That Although there Is Indeed 
 much poor Land Contained Therein, yett There is Also A 
 Considrable quantity of Good Land fitt for Settlements And 
 in our Humble Opinion a sufficiency To Enable your petitioners 
 by the Blessing of God, in Concurrence with Diligence And 
 
Industry, to Support the ordinary Charges of a Township. " 
 In granting this petition, the General Court made it one of 
 the essential conditions "that the Proprietors shall Settle an 
 Orthodox Minister And Lay out to him an Home Lott . . . 
 which Lott Shall Draw the fiftyeth Part of the Province 
 Land [10,000 acres] Now granted." 
 
 Though allowed seven years in which to comply with the 
 conditions, the Proprietors gave prompt attention to the 
 obligations thus imposed upon them. At their second meet- 
 ing (July 9, 1730) they accepted a committee's recommenda- 
 tion that the meeting-house should "Stand upon sutable 
 Land att or Near the Meeting of the Roads on the Land w''^ 
 was Gov' Saltonstalls farm on the West side of Sugar Brook. " 
 Their negotiations with the Saltonstall heirs were successful, 
 so that a year later they were ready to vote: "That the 
 propriety will build a Meeting House as soon as Conveintly 
 they Can"; "That the Meeting House Shall be fifty foot in 
 Length & fourty foot in Width And Two & Twenty foot Be- 
 tween the sells & plates" ; and to determine that the building 
 should be enclosed within a year and finished within two years. 
 To this object they devoted £540, — nearly all of that 
 sum being the total proceeds of "the Seven Supernum- 
 erous Lotts" not laid out to the original petitioners for the 
 land grant. Having by formal vote determined to "promote 
 preaching att New Medfield so Caled," the Proprietors de- 
 volved upon their "Annual Committee" the duty "to take 
 Care of & provide for preaching att New Medfield by pro- 
 curing a Minister or Ministers and Taking Care for his Enter- 
 tainment, " and a charge of 15 shillings was levied upon each 
 original Proprietor, "the Minister's Lott Exempted." Six 
 months later the Committee reported that they had paid Mr. 
 Cowell (apparently the first preacher of the Gospel in this place) 
 " £28 and Eight pound for his Boarding, " and thereupon it 
 was decided to raise a levy of 40 shilhngs upon each Proprietor's 
 right, to "promote preaching att New Medfield for the year 
 Insuing. " 
 
All these proceedings, it is to be noticed, took place at 
 Medfield, separated by fifty or sixty miles of hard travel from 
 the community which they concerned. In the autumn of 
 1735 the Proprietors discussed whether they should "Act 
 any thing Refering to the Calling of & setthng of a Minister, " 
 but decided that they would "waite upon the Inhabitants 
 three Months Longer from this Date." The meeting was 
 then adjourned to the eleventh of the following February, 
 when the Proprietors were to assemble at the meeting-house 
 in New Medfield at nine o'clock in the morning. In order to 
 attend this meeting, probably not a few of the Proprietors 
 made their first laborious journey, in midwinter, to this 
 frontier hamlet; then for the first time they saw the lands 
 which had been allotted them, and the meeting-house for 
 which they had been assessed. That building stood about 
 ten rods south of the place where you are now sitting, approx- 
 imately on the site of the District No. 1 school house. It 
 need cause no surprise that the record of that first gathering 
 of the Proprietors within that sacred edifice reads: "Uoted 
 to adjourn the Meeting on hour and then To Meete att the 
 House of M' Stacy." A meeting-house without fireplace 
 might be suitable for two or three long religious services on 
 a February Sunday, but for a business conference on a week- 
 day the Proprietors sought a more temperate climate. 
 Gathered around a roaring fireplace in a private house, they 
 promptly gave their official approval to "the Uote of the 
 Inhabitants of the Town of New Medfield That the first 
 Wednesday of March next be set Apart for prayer & fasting 
 to seek Du-ection for the making Choice of a Gospell Minister, 
 to settle in s*^ New Medfield," and voted that the pastors of 
 churches in Medfield (the mother town), Brookfield, Oxford 
 and Dudley be taken into council in "the affaire Referring 
 To the Making Choise of an orthodox Minister." 
 
 When the Proprietors next met, two months later, in 
 Medfield, it was reported that the deliberations of the settlers 
 here had resulted in a unanimous vote in favor of calling Mr. 
 
Caleb Rice. The Proprietors accordingly approved and con- 
 firmed "the joynt Agreement of our Children & others Dwelling 
 upon our Lands att a place Called New Medfield in Calling 
 M' Caleb Rice to settle . . in the work of the Ministry," 
 and voted to grant and settle upon him, his heirs and assigns, 
 "the severall Allottments & Right Laid out & Reserved for 
 a Minister in s*^ New Medfield," and to pay him £200 "in 
 bills of Creedett for settlement & Incouragement . . . Upon 
 Condition he settle & Continue During his Naturall Life in 
 s*^ New Medfield an orthodox Minister According to the per- 
 fect faith of the Churches in this Country as by our province 
 Law are Establisht." For the first three years his annual 
 salary was to be £110 and thereafter £120. Mr. Rice's reply 
 was that he considered the offer and proposals " in the Generall 
 To be handsom & generous." He demurred, however, at 
 the agreement's being made conditional upon his settling 
 and continuing "During Naturall Life" in the town, and the 
 Proprietors consented to the omission of the phrase. The 
 financial proposition he was ready to accept, but adds: "Yet 
 not being so thoroughly Acquainted with the Charges & 
 Expenses of Living, if in process of time my Circumstances 
 should Require & Call for More [he was but twenty-four years 
 old and recently married !] I should Depend & Rely upon 
 it that as I Give my selfe to the work of the Ministry; so I 
 should Receive a decent & hansom support." He requested 
 in addition to what had been offered "such a quantity of 
 fire wood Annually as shall be thought a Necessary & Con- 
 veinant Supply." This request seemed reasonable to the 
 Proprietors, and on these terms the contract was closed.* 
 
 *The Rev. Joseph S. Clark, — whose Historical Sketch has left all lovers of Stur- 
 bridge his debtors, and whose son, the Rev. Joseph B. Clark, D. D., a native of this 
 town, has just rendered a doubly filial service in preaching the sermon at the dedication 
 of this Church, — estimated that the financial proposition thus made to the first settled 
 minister in this town, reduced from bills of credit of 1736 to the money of 1836 meant 
 this: a settlement of $160; a salary of $96; 50 cords of firewood annually, and a farm 
 of about 500 acres. In considering these money payments, it should be borne in mind 
 that at that time corn cost but ninepence a bushel, and fourteen cents was a day's 
 wage. The land which fell to Mr. Rice was widely distributed. The writer is indebted 
 
The Proprietors ratified these financial arrangements 
 and the further action of ''our Children & others being In- 
 habitants Dwelling in New Medfield so Called" in fixing upon 
 the twenty-ninth of September, 1736, to be "set apart as a 
 Day for Imbodying a Church in s'^ place." On that day, 
 164 years ago, this Church was organized. The original 
 Covenant is still extant. It reads as follows : 
 
 NEW MEDFIELD CHH. COVENANT. 
 
 Sep'" 29 : 1736.— 
 
 We whose names are hereunto Subscribed apprehending 
 our Selves called of God into the Chh state of the Gospel do 
 first of all confess our Selves unworthy to be so highly fa- 
 voured of the Lord, & admire that free & rich Grace of his 
 which triumphs over so great unworthiness, & then with 
 an humble reliance on the aids of Grace therein promised 
 for them, that in a sense of their inability to do any good 
 thing, do humbly wait on him for all: we now thankfully 
 lay hold on his Covenant, & would Choose the things that 
 please him. 
 
 We declare our Serious Belief of the Christian Religion 
 as contained in the Sacred Scriptures, & with Such a view 
 thereof as the Confession of faith in our Churches has exhib- 
 ited ; heartily resolving to conform our lives unto the rules 
 of that holy Religion as long as we five in the world. 
 
 We give up our Selves unto the Lord Jehovah who is 
 the Father, & the Son, & the Holy Spirit, & a vouch him this 
 day to be our God, our Father, our Saviour, & our Leader & 
 receive him as our Portion forever. 
 
 We give up our Selves unto the blessed Jesus, who is 
 the Lord Jehovah, & adhere to him as the head of his people. 
 
 to Mr. Levi B.Chase, the best-informed student of Sturbridge history, for the following 
 data as to the probable location of some of these tracts: 1 . 100 acres, now mainly occupied 
 by the McKelvey place, Fairview Park and the Eastern part of Mr. William Farquhar'6 
 farm; 2. 68 acres, the part of the Fiskdale Mill Go's farm next to the Brimfield line 
 north of the road to Brimfield; 3 . 58 acres, included in the farm of the late A. H. Morse 
 in the southern part of Southbridge; 4. About 15 acres, now a part of the Southwick 
 farm on Fisk Hill. Within two years, Mr. Rice sold about 75 acres of his land for £100, 
 and before 1748 he had sold about 150 acres more, for £350, "old tenor." It seeins 
 clear that, considering the time and place, the provision made for the first minister in 
 Sturbridge was not niggardly. 
 
in the Covenant of grace, & rely on him as our Priest & 
 our Prophet & our King, to bring us unto eternal blessedness. 
 We acknowledge our everlasting & indispensible obli- 
 gations, to glorify our God in all the Duties, of a Godly, & 
 a Sober, & a religious life; & very particularly in the duties 
 of a Chh State, & a body of people associated for an obedi- 
 ence to him, in all the ordinances of the Gospel: And we 
 thereupon depend upon his gracious assistances for our 
 faithfull discharge of the duties thus incumbent on us. 
 
 We desire & intend, & (with Dependance on his prom- 
 ised, & powerful grace) we engage to walk together as a 
 Chh of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the faith & order of the 
 Gospel so far as we shall have the same revealed unto us: 
 Conscienciously attending the publick worship of God, 
 the Sacraments of this new Testament, the Discipline of 
 his Kingdom, & all his holy institutions, in communion 
 with one another, & watchfully avoiding sinfull stumbling 
 blocks & contentions, as becomes a people whom the Lord 
 hath bound up together in a bundle of life . 
 
 At the same time do we also present our offspring with 
 us unto the Lord, purposing with his help to do our part in 
 the method of a religious Education, that they may be the 
 Lords. 
 
 And all this we do flying to the blood of the everlasting 
 Covenant for the pardon of our many errors, & praying that 
 the glorious Lord who is the great Shepherd would prepare 
 & strengthen us for every good work to do his will, working 
 in us that which will be well pleasing to Him; To whom be 
 glory forever & ever Amen. 
 
 Caleb Rice Jonathan Perry 
 
 Henry Fisk Danell Thurstin 
 
 Moses Allen Ebenezer Stearns 
 
 Jonathan Fosket George Watkins 
 
 Joseph Baker Joseph Cheney 
 
 Joseph Mopfit Solomon Rood 
 
 Joseph Allen Daniel Fisk 
 
 Ezekiel Upham 
 
 Having complied with the conditions laid down by the 
 General Court and within seven years established here 50 
 families, each having "an House of Eighteen feet Square at 
 Least," and having "settled an orthodox Minister," the 
 Proprietors now petitioned for incorporation, and their 
 
 8 
 
prayer w'as granted, June 24, 1738, the new town being named 
 ''Sturbridge."* 
 
 With the incorporation of the Town, there began a series 
 of compHcated relations between Town, Church, and Pro- 
 prietors, which it would be as hopeless as futile for us to 
 attempt to unravel. An amusing illustration of the tangle is 
 found in the warrant for the very fu-st Sturbridge town- 
 meeting; the article relating to the election of town officers 
 is immediately followed by one which reads thus: "to furnish 
 M" Rices Desk with a Gushing." It is not profitable to 
 speculate on whether the ''Gushing" was desu-ed to ease the 
 pastor's hands or his hearers' ears; and to this day the record 
 leaves us in suspense as to whether it was or was not provided. 
 The parson's salary was a regular town appropriation, some- 
 times provided for by assessment, sometimes out of the land 
 tax. Each year the town made provision for cutting and 
 hauling Mr. Rice's firewood, in quantities varying from thirty 
 to fifty cords, sometimes electing a man to do this work, and 
 sometimes devolving it upon the selectmen.! The town chose 
 a person to "take Gare of theu* meeting house." Appro- 
 priations for such purposes had been made for several years 
 before the town came "into measures to provide a School," 
 — a proposition which was "voted in the Negetive" in 1740, 
 and not adopted till two years later. In 1740 the Proprietors 
 voted that the Town of Sturbridge should "have the property 
 
 ♦From this time on, the Proprietors' records are of little interest. Their meetings 
 were rare, sometimes held in Medfield, sometimes at "the Public Meeting House in 
 Sturbridge, " and later in the Baptist meeting-house, from time to time. In the next 
 few years one of their principal concerns was to relieve the necessities of John Comins, 
 who claimed to have suffered losses in building the Proprietors' meeting-house. The 
 benefit of a certain tract of land was granted to him, and after his death was admin- 
 istered for many years for his widow and children. 
 
 tThe Town Records contain warrants for payments to the minister, and receipts 
 signed by his own hand. e.g. 
 
 1741 /2 Februy — 26. M' treasurer please to pay to M' Caleb Rice two pounds ten 
 Shillings for getting his own wood from March to June in the year 1740, 
 as our order and advice 
 
 Isaac Newel 1 
 
 Joseph Bakeh ?■ Select-men. 
 
 Henry Fisk J 
 
the use and benifit forever of such roads and other lands given 
 by Saltonstalls hairs to the s*^ proprietors." This, by the 
 terms of the warrant for their meeting, included that land 
 which had been given by the Saltonstall heirs for "a meeting- 
 house place a burying place and a training feild together 
 with the high ways through the s*^ farm. " ; but it did not include 
 the meeting-house which the Proprietors had built at their 
 own expense. 
 
 In the twenty-three years of this first pastorate, the cost 
 of supporting the preaching the Gospel in Sturbridge was 
 again and again "Largely Debaited" in town-meeting. The 
 chief difficulty lay in the quite rapidly changing value of the 
 currency. In March, 1741—2, the town granted Mr. Rice 
 £20 additional, "In Consideration of Provitions being so 
 deer. ' ' Payment was made in ' ' old tenor, ' ' which was sin-ink- 
 ing in pm-chasing power. The sums were increased until 
 1747 when it was voted to "make a grant of Eighty pounds 
 old tenor addition To his Sallory for this prasent year and 
 that The Manif actorys of the Land To Be a Rule for us To act 
 By in order To our fulfilling our Contract maid with him 
 for his maintainance as our Minister." Yet only two years 
 later the sum was increased to "foure Hundred and Seventy 
 pounds Eleven Shilings and one peny for M" Rices Sallory 
 for the present year." In 1750—2 came an abrupt change; 
 "the Town maid a Grant of fifty pounds Lawful mony To 
 M' Rice for his Sallory the present year" and a like sum the 
 following year, the parson "finding him self his own fier wood 
 this was by a very Clear vote of the Town." In 1755 there 
 was long debate over the question whether "the Town Will 
 Settel a Cartain Sum of Mony for M'' Rices Yearly Sallory 
 and To State it upon Dollors or upon Provition." A com- 
 mittee of nine was chosen to discuss the matter with the par- 
 son, but at the next meeting it was decided " not to State M"" 
 Rices Sallory," but to grant "Sixty pounds to be assest upon 
 the poles and Estates in this town for M' Rice Seport the 
 present year his finding his own fierwood." [£21 was that 
 
 10 
 
year's appropriation for "Schooling the Children. "] Yet a 
 twelvemonth had not passed before the subject had to be 
 threshed out again in town-meeting. This time Mr. Rice 
 was summoned, and declared that £55 would satisfy him, 
 he furnishing his own fuel. After further debate, a com- 
 mittee was sent to inquire whether a smaller sum would not 
 content him, and reported that he "Said to them that If the 
 Town would Give him fifty three pounds Six Shillings and 
 Eight pence yearly for his Seport he Should be Intirely Con- 
 tent and Easey." Thereupon the question was put whether 
 the town would agree to pay this sum " unto M'' Rice . . . 
 for his Seport or Sallory Etch year he Shall Continue to preach 
 the Gospel to us in this Town, . . and it past in the Afirm- 
 mitive,"— and that fantastic sum, "in Lawfull Mony," con- 
 tinued to be appropriated annually until Mr. Rice's death 
 in 1759.* 
 
 Next to questions as to ministerial charges, the regulating 
 of the pews was the one which gave most difficulty. Tliree 
 years after the incorporation of the Town, it was voted that 
 persons to whom pews were assigned should "enjoye [note the 
 word!] them with their famelies Setting with them. During 
 their life time" and a widow should "enjoye the Same with 
 her family during her widdowhood," after which it should 
 revert to the town, "to be disposed of as they Shall think fit 
 the town paying the Cost of bulding the Same." A com- 
 mittee of three was then chosen to manage the affair of "lot- 
 ting out the room for the pews," having "a due regard to 
 
 *It is little to the credit of Sturbridge that wrangling over money followed this 
 worthy man to his grave. At a special town-meeting, Oct. 15, 1759, the question 
 whether the Town would "Receive the Accompts of the Funeral Charges of our Late 
 Paster Deceas<^" "was Largely Debaited upon & after the Particular articles of the 
 Funeral Charge of our Late Paster Decs'* ware again Read it was put to uote whether 
 the Town would allow the whole of the Accompts of Said Funeral Charge as then 
 Brought in; it past in the Negetive. " A grant of £8 was made, and it was then voted 
 that Mr. Rice's salary "Should Sease & Terminate at his Death." In considering 
 this apparently niggardly action, it should not be forgotten that Caleb Rice had had 
 the advantage of a fiftieth part of the land originally granted, and that an "addi- 
 tional parcel " had been given him at a later date. 
 
 11 
 
age, to the first beginning in the town and to their baring 
 Charges in the town, and to their usefullness. " Four or five 
 months later, March 1, 1741 — 2, the committee (Daniel Fisk, 
 Capt. Moses Marcy and Dea. Isaac Newell) appointed for 
 this fearsome task reported in town-meeting that they had 
 "planed Divided and Numbered Said room into Eighteen 
 parts for Eighteen pews, and have agreed to lodge Said plan 
 with, the town Clerk for a gide and rule in building Said pews, 
 . . . and we . . . did agree that according to the Instruc- 
 tions given us by the town, the following persons ought to 
 have the Several pew Spots and ther liberty of pitching in 
 the following order, viz. — Moses Marcy the first Choice, . "* 
 and so on down to the eighteenth, whose feelings even at this 
 late day must make some appeal to the sympathetic imagi- 
 nation. 
 
 In the early days the disposal of the pews of persons 
 who had removed from town was made in town-meeting 
 to specific individuals. Thus, it was voted. May 22, 1758, 
 that ''Jonathan Foskit have the pew Spot the north Side of 
 the West Dore upon Shuch Tarms as the other pews in Town 
 are built upon." Later it became customary to sell such 
 pews ''at Publick vendue to the highest bidder," withholding 
 them from sale unless they " fetched more than the first cost, " 
 which was to be paid to the heirs of the late pew-owner. 
 Meantime the town was paying for the care and ordinary 
 repairs of the meeting-house, and a sizable bill " for the bords 
 and nails for the Ministors pew old tennor" was ordered paid 
 out of the "Town Stock." 
 
 But what had the Church been doing during these years? 
 Its records are very meagre, and at the best could give little 
 idea of the most vital activities. They record the election 
 
 ♦Records of Sturbridge, Vol. I, pp. 35-36. It may be of interest to record that 
 this grading of these ancient Sturbridge worthies was in the following order: — 1, 
 Moses Marcy; 2, Henry Fisk; 3, Dea. Isaac Newel; 4, James Deneson; 5, Rowland Tailor; 
 6, Daniel Fisk; 7, Joseph Baker; 8, Joseph Cheney; 9, David Shumway; 10, David 
 Morse; 11, Moses Allen; 12, Joseph Allen; 13, Joseph Smith; 14, Hensdel Clark; 15, 
 Ezekiel Upham; 16, John Harding; 17, Caleb Harding; 18, Edward Foster. 
 
 12 
 
of deacons, and indicate the carrying on of the regular re- 
 ligious exercises. At the first business meeting of the Church 
 after its organization, it was voted to "move the matter of 
 furnishing the Communion Table with vessels proper for the 
 administering of the Lord's Supper ... to the Proprietors 
 of New Medfield to see whether they would contribute" 
 toward that purpose.* 
 
 A principal item of business at the annual meetings of 
 the Church — often the only item — was to vote that every 
 member pay to the deacon named three or four shillings apiece 
 to provide for the communion bread and wine for the ensuing 
 year. When Deacon Baker was asked, one year, to report 
 " what the state of the Church property is, " he reported simply 
 in regard to the receipts and expenditures for this one purpose. 
 
 Mr. Rice's labors were productive of a gradual increase 
 in the membership of the Church. During his twenty-three 
 years of service, 100 members were added to the original 
 fourteen. But there occurred, nevertheless, a notable se- 
 cession, which figured largely both in church and town debates. 
 As a result of a period of religious quickening, the "New Lights" 
 or "Separates" came out from many of the conservative 
 churches in the Province. In this vicinity about fifteen were of 
 the new persuasion and ceased attending service at the center 
 meeting-house, having built for themselves a house of worship 
 near what is now Globe Village. This number included two 
 who had held the office of deacon, and their withdrawal was 
 the occasion of anxious meetings of the Church. A com- 
 mittee of three waited upon Deacon Fisk to "discourse 
 with him, & see if he would return to the Chh. & serve still as 
 a Deacon, " but they reported that " he could not in conscience 
 join with the Chh. " As the secession grew, theChurch voted : 
 "thedesireof the brethren of the Chh. [is] that those persons 
 who are members of this Chh. & have separated from the 
 
 ♦Apparently these vessels were bought by the pastor, for twenty years later, after 
 his death, the Church voted to pay his widow £1, 3s., out of the Church stock, on this 
 account. 
 
 13 
 
public Worship of God . . . give reasons in wTiting." 
 Thirteen persons were notified by the pastor, and at the next 
 meeting of the Cliurch they presented the reasons for their 
 withdrawah These the Church declared not sufficient or 
 satisfactory, and put upon record ''the desire of the Chh. that 
 their eyes might be opened that they might see their error 
 they have run into." (March 24, 1748—9.) [A few years 
 later this group of seceders became the nucleus of a regular 
 Baptist church, with which fraternal relations were soon 
 established.] 
 
 The records of our Church contain no indication that 
 these her wayward children were disquieted by anything 
 else than their own consciences and the reproachful admon- 
 itions of the mother Church whom they had forsaken. But 
 "profane history" tells us that the Baptist preacher from 
 Brimfield, who caused this agitation in Stur bridge, was seized 
 by the constable for preaching here, dragged out of town, " and 
 thrust into prison as a stroller and a vagabond," and Deacon 
 Fiske and four other Sturbridge worthies were imprisoned 
 in Worcester gaol. That such pains and penalties fell upon 
 pious men was a consequence of the union of "Church and 
 State" which still prevailed in this Province. Not the the- 
 ological but the financial aspects of this revival made it the 
 theme of several heated town-meetings. These Separates 
 were bearing heavy burdens for maintaining their own re- 
 ligious services, and naturally wished exemption from paying 
 rates for the support of Mr. Rice, whose ministrations they 
 no longer desu-ed. But the letter of the Province law was 
 against them; the minister here at the center meeting-house 
 was clearly the one towards whose settlement and main- 
 tainance "all the inhabitants and ratable estates lying 
 within such town or part of a town, or place limited by law 
 for upholding the public worship of God, shall be obliged to 
 pay in proportion." Hence the town showed no disposition 
 to exempt these men, and upon their refusal to pay, sundry 
 of their goods and chattels were seized. Thus, in 1750 and 
 
 14 • 
 
1751 the assessors took from Deacon Fiske five pewter plates 
 and a cow; from Jonathan Perry a saddle and a steer; from 
 John Streeter a kettle and pothooks, and from Mr. Blunt a 
 trammel, shovel, tongs and a heifer. These forcible exactions 
 aroused bitter feeling.* The town records give evidence of 
 angry debates, and also of earnest and diplomatic efforts 
 to reconcile the opposing interests, and soon it came about 
 that ministerial rates ceased to be levied upon those whom 
 the assessors knew to be regular supporters of the Baptist 
 church organization. 
 
 In the two years which intervened between the death 
 of the first pastor and the settlement of his successor, it is 
 of interest to note the responsibilities assumed respectively 
 
 *A Massachusetts law, originally passed in 1728, and renewed for a period of ten 
 years in 1747, exempted Baptists and Quakers from ministerial rates or taxes, if these 
 dissenters from the Standing Order could show certificates that they were members 
 of and contributing to religious organizations of their own denomination, in the com- 
 munity in which they lived. Certificates for the members of this group of Sturbridge 
 "Separates" had been written by two leading members of the second Baptist Church 
 in Boston, but the Sturbridge authorities seem to have questioned whether these "Sep- 
 arates "were entitled to exemption as regular Baptists. Some details of this contro- 
 versy are to be found in Backus's " A History of New England, with Particular Refer- 
 ence to the Denomination of Christians Called Baptists, " 2d. Ed., p. 94, and notes 1 
 and 2. The editor refers to "Rev. S. Hall's 'Collection of Papers' in which is included 
 'The Testimony of a People inhabiting the Wilderness,'" — an account of the begin- 
 nings of the Baptist Church in Sturbridge written by Henry Fisk, brother of Deacon 
 David Fisk. 
 
 At least one special town-meeting was devoted to an effort to compose these 
 differences, March 27, 1752. "The Seperats was desir*^ To Sete them Selves in the Body 
 of Seets un the mens Side and the other in the Seets un the womans Side which they 
 Did: the modrator [Moses Marcy] then desiered that thire might be a frindly Conferrance, 
 and to See if by Sum means or other Wee Could not make up the deferance betwen 
 us Without going into the Law: and after a Long debate the Seperats Was askt Whether 
 If the Creators and all the Goods that was Taken from them by Destress for thire 
 Minister Rats in the year 1751 was Returned Would Satisfie them So that we might 
 I^ive to gether Like Cristen frinds and nabouers they answered it would Satisfie them 
 for that year with Resenable Satisfaction, and no further — then they ware desiered 
 to bring in in writing what would Content them which they Did, accordingly Which 
 was to Return from the years 1749 and one for the year 1748 which was John Streator. 
 It was then Earnestly requested of the Seperats that as wee then did and do now beleve 
 we had a good Righ to do as wee did yet for peace Sake that wee might meet one an- 
 other and agree but this was Refus"^ by them. " The Separates withdrew from the 
 town-meeting after the town had voted not to make restitution of "what had been 
 taken from them for Two years last past." The town chose a committee to "treet 
 further with them, " but there is no record of the result of their efforts. 
 
 15 
 
by the Town and by the Church. The town, at the same 
 meeting which acted in regard to the late pastor's funeral 
 charges, made a grant of half a year's salary, at the old figure, 
 to provide preaching at the center meeting-house, and chose 
 a committee to have the matter in charge. But in later 
 months the town did not hesitate to give very pointed in- 
 structions to this committee. Thus, "After Sum Consider- 
 able Debait" (January 7, 1760) it was "Put to note by 
 Diuideing the House & the Town all noted to Direct the Com- 
 mitee to M' Storrs for 4 Sabaths Preaching Saue onlely one 
 Man." A few months later, "After a Long Debate the 
 Question Was put Whether The town would Aply to M"^ 
 Whetney to preach any Longer with us and it past in the 
 negitive," and again the committee was directed to apply 
 to Mr. Storrs for further service. 
 
 Meantime the Church was seeking guidance in its mo- 
 mentous choice. In July, 1760, a fast was held; pastors 
 of neighboring churches were called on for help, and the 
 congregation were bidden to join in "seeking to God in Jesus 
 Christ for light and direction in the settlement of a gospel 
 minister, and to the Head of the Church to fit and qualify 
 one with his gifts and graces for to be a minister of Jesus 
 Christ for us." During the summer months the desu-ed 
 leading seems to have been felt, for when, in an October town- 
 meeting, the question was put "Whether the Town Directed 
 the Committee to Apply To M' Joshua Pain to preach with 
 us a longer time then he has as yet Ingaged for in order for 
 Settlement Try*^ By Deuideing the house and it past m the 
 afiremetive to a man 72 being present." In January the 
 Church appointed another day of fasting and prayer "m 
 order to give M' Joshua Paine a call to be our Minister." 
 This call was given unanimously, and a few weeks later, m 
 town-meeting, on the question of concurring with the Church 
 in this action, "thire was ninty three Vots brought in and al 
 for M' Joshua Paine." It was further voted to give him, 
 £200 for a settlement and an annual salary of £66, 13s., 
 
 16 
 
4d., while for the expenses attending his ordination there 
 was appropriated £13, 6s., 8d., — precisely the sum to a 
 penny which had just been appropriated for "schooling the 
 children in Town" for a year! On the seventeenth of June, 
 1761, upon a platform erected under the brow of this hill, 
 in the presence of a great throng, the Rev. Joshua Paine, 
 was ordained, and then began the longest pastorate which 
 this Church has ever enjoyed, a service of 38 years.* 
 
 At about this time there was frequent debate in town- 
 meetings over petitions for permission to build pews in the 
 meeting-house. Thus, in March, 1761, half a dozen men 
 requested "Liberty of Building apue over the mens Stairs," 
 and this was "Excepted upon the same Destrictions of the 
 other pues. " Two months later a petition of six men praying 
 " for Liberty to build a pew wher the hind Seat is in the front 
 Gallery for them and Wifes" was "Granted Resarueing 
 Room in Said pew for a Thything [man]t to Set." In 1762 
 there was presented a petition signed by fourteen women, 
 "Shewing that the Hind Seat in the Womans Side Gallery 
 is So Low that they Cannot See the Minister and that the 
 other Seats are full and Crouded that so that it is uery un- 
 comfortable Setting." "After Sum Debait" they were 
 granted "Liberty to build a Pew where the Hind Seat is." 
 
 The meeting-house, as these requests indicate, was be- 
 coming inadequate, and it was a constantly recurring question 
 whether it was worth while to make any repairs upon it. 
 In 1773 the town voted to build a new meeting-house, but 
 
 *Most unfortunately the records for a period of more than thirty years have been 
 lost. It is said that Mr. Paine's house was broken into, and the church book dis- 
 appeared with other things stolen. , 
 
 tThe tithingman in Puritan New England had other duties than the preserving 
 of order and decorum in the meeting-house. He was supposed to see that everyone 
 went to church, and that there was no travel on the Sabbath except in cases of neces- 
 sity or mercy. Throughout the week, as well as on Sunday, he had a paternal oversight 
 over family life and the orderliness of the community. For a comparison of the tithing- 
 man and the constable, see H. B. Adams, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian 
 Society, Oct. 21, 1881. Tithingmen were chosen in the first Sturbridge town-meetings, 
 and from two to five of these officers were annually elected until about 1840, — long 
 after ministerial rates had ceased to be levied in town-meeting. 
 
 17 
 
some months later this action was reconsidered and it "was 
 the Mind of the Town to omit for the present Building a new 
 Meeting House." For the next few years the thoughts of 
 the people were engrossed and their purses burdened by the 
 Revolutionary War, so that till peace was made no further 
 projects for building were brought forward. In April, 1783, 
 however, a committee "reported unanimously the meeting- 
 house was so decayed it was not worth Repairing," and May 
 13, 1783, by a vote of 50 to 13 it was decided to " Build a New 
 Meeting House near the Spot where the Old one Now Stands. " 
 
 Probably there is not one person in the assembly gathered 
 here to-day, to whom the great white meeting-house which 
 our forebears were then about to build did not come to seem 
 almost as much a natural, an inevitable feature of the Stur- 
 bridge landscape as is Fisk Hill. As a matter of fact, how- 
 ever, at every step in the locating, planning, and building 
 of that meeting-house there arose such a clash of opinions as 
 would seem to indicate that the belligerent energies formerly 
 directed against the British were here finding a new and much- 
 needed outlet.* 
 
 Again and again decisions were made by a single vote. 
 In the first place, there was opposition to building any new 
 church, and five times in the two years following the above 
 vote, that question was forced,t the last time (April 11, 1785, 
 — nearly a year after the frame was raised) the question being 
 "whether it was the mind of the Town that the Building 
 Committee should Desist from any further Compleating the 
 
 *A reading of the town records at the time of the building of the town hall deepens 
 the conviction that in the days of our grandsires, when building operations were con- 
 cerned, there was a high percentage of " cantankerousness " in the atmosphere of Stur- 
 bridge Common. 
 
 tOver-hasty action on the strength of one of these votes seems indicated by a 
 bill presented by Col. Crafts for charges against the Town in 1784. It contains the 
 following interesting items: 
 
 "to dinnering Master Paine 1784 when keeping School 66 din. s 1 . . 8 . . 
 for three days Service procuring a Master Workm" for the Meeting house 
 
 at 18/ receiv"^ an order for 9 / 9 . . 
 
 for Boarding him & horse 2 days — & Liquor 5 . . 
 
 to 2 dollars paid him for his disapointment 12 . . 
 
 18 
 
New Meetting House" this was "pased in the Negetive by 
 a very large Majority." 
 
 The second question over which differences arose was as 
 to the precise location for the new edifice. Opinions seemed 
 in irreconcilable conflict. Accordingly, "to Advise where 
 in their Oppinion a Meeting House ought to stand in order 
 to accommodate the Inhabitants," there was chosen a dis- 
 interested committee of distinguished citizens of other towns, 
 to "Senter the Town" and ''pitch upon a Spot for the New 
 proposed Meeting House," 'Hhe Town to abide by their 
 Judgment." At tliree different town-meetings the makeup 
 of this committee was changed. The last named upon the 
 records consisted of " Gen^ Putnam of Rutland, Cap* Simeon 
 Smith of Ashford, and Edward Rawson, Esq' of Leicester," 
 (March 29, 1784). The dimensions for the new building 
 were debated in town-meeting, determined, reconsidered, 
 and determined again. The first building committee of ten 
 was dismissed at the end of two months and a new one con- 
 stituted, having a minority of the members of the old one; 
 and its makeup was later changed. How the building oper- 
 ations should be financed was another anxious question. 
 After various other projects had been rejected, the town 
 made a grant of £300 to be levied on the " Polls and Estates 
 of the Inhabitants of the Town belonging to the Rev*^ M" 
 Paines Society for the purpose of Building the New Meeting 
 House," and a grant of £600 "to be leuied on the Pews." 
 This was reconsidered later, but seems finally to have been 
 carried into effect, after at least one committee on pew apprais- 
 al had been displaced by another.* 
 
 *In an undated document, headed "Estimation Paper, " 72 names are listed, and 
 against each name is written a sum of money which probably stood as a gauge of the 
 man's ministerial tax and as a basis for the allotment of pews in the meeting-house 
 that was soon to be built, in accordance with the vote: "He that paid most for Real 
 & Personal Estate in the last Ministerial Tax, to draw the first Pew." (Dec. 29, 1783.) 
 The sums range from £20 -1 4s -7d down to £4-14s-6d. In two or three cases a son 
 is grouped with his father. That this belongs to the years immediately following the 
 Revolutionary War and that the Rev. Joshua Paine ministered to a branch of the 
 Church Militant is indicated by the fact that this list of 72 names included one Colonel, 
 12 Captains and 11 Lieutenants, — one in every three bore a military titlel 
 
 19 
 
The massive frame of the new structure had been raised 
 in June, 1784, but it was nearly two and a half years later 
 before the building was ready to be dedicated. As it ap- 
 proached completion, the town authorized the building com- 
 mittee to "call on the Inhabitants of this Town who are Dis- 
 posed freely to afford their service with their teams" to 
 assemble on a stated day in the first week of November "to 
 Wharf e up the New Meeting House," — an admirable prece- 
 dent in co-operation, which has been followed here within 
 the past few weeks. There yet remained the task of examin- 
 ing the report of the building committee, and the town "went 
 largely into debate over the subject," at three or four town- 
 meetings, finally choosing for this auditing task "a committee 
 from the Baptist Society that were not Interested in the Center 
 Meeting House" ; and on the basis of their report, after further 
 debate at several meetings, an adjustment was made. With 
 the sale and removal of the old meeting-house, and with the 
 recording of the certificates of pew ownership in the town book, 
 this enterprise of many years was brought to a conclusion. 
 
 During the early years of Mr. Paine's ministry there 
 were constant distractions arising from the events which led 
 up to the separation from England and the Revolutionary 
 War. In the midst of these disturbances, Mr. Paine showed 
 himself a worthy leader of the church militant. He was 
 made chairman of the committee to "Draft Something bind- 
 ing For Every Individual in this Town to sign" pledging 
 strict observance of the Association (the non-importation 
 agreement). On the first Monday in December, 1774, on 
 the training-field there was a great concourse of the "Com- 
 panies of Foot, The Minuet Men, the Troop all belonging to 
 Town ; the Company of A. lar"" men, all Marched into the Meet- 
 ing House in good order. Haveing fixed themselves togather, 
 there being Silence & good order . . after Sollem Prayer 
 to God & Singing, the Rev^ M' Joshua Paine Preached a 
 Sermon from Psalms." Five months before the battle of 
 Lexington, our Sturbridge citizens in town-meeting v/ere 
 
 20 
 
already providing military stores, when Mr. Paine ''Proposed 
 to the Town that He would give one Half Barrel of Powder 
 to the Town as Soon as it could be procur*^," an offer which 
 was accepted with thanks. When it proved impossible to 
 secure this powder, he made a new proposition; "I find it 
 still my Duty to bare my part in the Calamities that are 
 Common to us," he wrote, and therefore he made the town 
 a present of £100 old tenor, and further offered, on security 
 from the town, to wait one year for what should be due on 
 his salary the following June, "and Longer unless Mortality 
 or Something Extraordinary prevents." 
 
 A few years later, June 17, 1778, the town voted "to a 
 man" that some consideration ought to be made to Mr. Paine 
 on account of the appalling depreciation of the Continental 
 currency, and two men were chosen from each school district 
 to collect subscriptions of money or "necessary Articles for 
 the Support of Life for M' Paine. " In 1779, when the town 
 was disposed to pay to Mr. Paine the money for which he 
 had offered to wait, a committee reported that "hayeing 
 Innumerated a number of articles of Necessaries Provisions 
 &c." . . "upon an everage of the above Mentioned articles 
 According to Calculation the amount is Twenty for one 
 increased Since the year 1775." Accordingly for the £53 
 which the parson relinquished in 1775 he was paid £1060 
 in the depreciated currency of four years later. During the 
 later years of his ministry, repeated adjustments of his salary 
 had to be made because of currency changes. Mr. Paine 
 died in the closing week of 1799. The town paid his funeral 
 charges and continued his salary to the end of his fiscal year. 
 In town-meeting a committee chosen to supply the pulpit, 
 was directed to consult Mr. Leonard, the highly respected 
 pastor of the Baptist Society, and during the winter months 
 under his ministrations a united people met once more in 
 the center meeting-house. 
 
 The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 went a long 
 distance toward divorcing Church and State by its requirement 
 
 21 
 
that "all moneys paid by the subject to the support of public 
 worship . . shall, if he require it, be uniformly paid to the 
 support of the public teacher . . of his own religious sect 
 or denomination, provided there be any on whose instruc- 
 tions he attends." Accordingly, in the town-meetings of 
 the following decade, petitions for the abatement of minis- 
 terial rates "since the Constitution took place" are frequent. 
 In 1782 a committee reported that "all . . who act from 
 principals of Religion mentioned in S*^ Requests who have 
 petitioned for abatement of Ministerial Taxes ought of Right 
 to be abated, upon producing proper Certificates as the Law 
 directs;" and they were bidden to bring their certificates to 
 town-meeting where from time to time discrimination was 
 exercised as between different petitioners.* 
 
 In the years 1780 to 1800 the relation in which the town 
 stood toward the center meeting-house was ill defined. There 
 was a growing tendency to shift over upon "the Society 
 belonging to the Centre Meeting House" or upon "M' Paine's 
 hearers" the cost of repairs upon the church building; yet 
 in many ways the town acted toward it as toward its own 
 property. Thus, October 30, 1786, the town voted "not 
 
 *The following certificates show the form in which liability for Ministerial Rates 
 was determined. 
 
 "To the Gentlemen Assessors of the Town of Sturbridge, — 
 
 The following is a list of those persons who have certificated themselves from 
 the Congregational Society in Sturbridge since the Last Retvirns. (Here follow 
 20 names.) 
 
 A true list from the Records of Sturbridge, Attest, David Wight, Town Clerk 
 Sturbridge, Oct. 4, 1828. 
 
 "Certificate for Universalists. 
 We, the Subscribers, Edward Turner, public teacher, of the religious sect or de- 
 nomination called Universalists, and of a Society of the same in the town of Charlton, 
 and Jabez Lathe and Ephraim Willard, Committee thereof, do hereby certify, that 
 Maj. Ephraim Morey, Capt. John Boyden, Isaac Hobbs, Lieut. Wilham Bowen, Stephen 
 Jones and Caleb Nichols, are regular members of said Society, and that they pay liber- 
 ally towards the support of preaching, and attend with us when able at our stated 
 times and places for religious worship. 
 
 Charlton, August 28th, 1807. Edward Turner, 
 
 Jabez Lathe, 
 Ephraim Willard. " 
 
 22 
 
to Build a Powder House," but ''to Deposit the Town Stock 
 of Ammunition in the uper part of the New Meetting House, 
 and that there be two Electrical rods provided and put up 
 at the New Meeting House and a good lock and key for the 
 Door leading in the upper part of s'^ House. " A year later 
 the selectmen were directed to store in the same place not 
 only the ammunition but also "the warlike tools" or "in- 
 trenching tools" belonging to the town. In 1799, however, 
 it was voted to remove the town's stock of powder, etc., to 
 an equally felicitous depository for explosives, the hearse 
 house, which the selectmen were instructed to put in "Com- 
 pleat order to receiving the town's magazine." 
 
 It was in town-meeting that Cap* Wheelock, on his 
 own petition, was given "liberty to take a seat in the elder 
 pew. " It was in town-meeting that a committee was chosen 
 in 1791 "to view and mark out the ground for warming 
 Houses and Horse Stables " near the meeting-house, — a sub- 
 ject which kept recurring, but on which nothing was done 
 for years. In 1794 it was voted: "there shall be no Stoves 
 [foot-stoves] left in the Center meeting house after the public 
 worship is over;" any found there "shall be forfeited to the 
 town." 
 
 In this same year the aesthetic began to make its appeal. 
 The town voted to "give Liberty to have the porch at the 
 west End of the Center meeting house taken away, and instead 
 thereof to have a Steeple or Bell Cony [balcony?] built," 
 provided this could be done by special subscription "free 
 from Laying any tax upon the town," and the steeple was 
 forthwith erected. Apparently a bell was also secured in 
 1794 by private subscription. In the first flush of joy over 
 this new acquisition, a committee reported the following 
 schedule of bell-ringing; "The bell to be rung ten minutes at 
 a time three times on each day beginning precisely at the 
 following hours viz in the morning at five of the Clock from 
 the first of April to the first of October and at six o Clock from 
 the first of October to the first of April, & at twelve Clock 
 
 23 
 
Sturbridge Common, in 1821. 
 
 This plot of the Common is here reproduced, on a reduced scale, 
 from the sketch on p. 465, of the Sturbridge Town Records, 1798-1824. 
 It gives an idea of the appearance and position of the Meeting-house when 
 it had three entrance porches, and before it was turned, in 1864, until 
 it faced southwest, instead of northwest, as in this sketch. 
 The inscription upon the chart is as follows : 
 "References. 
 A. Land of Abijah Prouty Containing 12 square rods, which he pro- 
 poses to exchange for the Lot B Containing 11 square rods, belong- 
 ing to the town. 
 D. Land of Capt. Perez Walker Containing 6 square rods, which he 
 proposes to exchange for the lot C Containing 7 square rods belong- 
 ing to the town. 
 This Survey was made May 3d 1821, by a Committee appointed by the 
 town for that purpose and exhibits a view of the Common and Bury- 
 ing Ground in the Town of Sturbridge. The Common lying North of 
 the Burying Ground Contains Six acres and Seventy rods including 
 all roads passing over it. This Plat was Laid down by a scale of 
 Eight rods to an inch. 
 
 Samuel Freeman Surveyor." 
 
 24 
 
at noon and at nine at night Except Saturday Evenings and 
 then at Eight o Clock." The schedule for Sundays, Fast 
 Day and Thanksgiving was elaborate. It was further pro- 
 vided: "When the Saxon is notified of a Death he shall toll 
 the bell fifteen minutes and after a pause of one minute if 
 the Deceased be a male he shall Toll one minute [stroke?] if 
 a female two minutes [strokes?] and after one other pause he 
 shall toll the year of the Deceased persons age and shall 
 toll the bell at the interment at town meetings as the 
 Selectmen shall order." 
 
 This report was accepted, but the record does not make it 
 plain whether its recommendations were put in practice. 
 A few months later it was voted that the bell be rung "on 
 Sundays and at all public meetings as usual and particularly 
 at Funerals." The inference may be that the other ringings 
 were to be dispensed with. But later, for a number of years, 
 by annual vote of the town the bell was rung "at twelve at 
 noon and nine at night, and tolled for deaths, and on all funeral 
 occasions, and rung for all town-meetings." A clock was 
 another acquisition from some private source, but neither bell 
 nor clock seems to have given satisfaction. Experiments were 
 made in "new-hanging the bell. "* Twenty years later the sum 
 of $100 was assessed upon the whole town for repairs on the 
 "Town Bell," but the results were still so unsatisfactory 
 that the town instructed its committee " not to pay any thing 
 for the bell in its present situation," and in 1819 the question 
 was referred to the committee on law-suits, with power to 
 act, whether the town should authorize the commencing of 
 
 *In 1807 minor repairs were made upon tlie frame of the bell carriage, etc. Some 
 receipted bills show that the wages of the townsman who assisted were $1.25 a day 
 while those of the man in charge were S2.00 The bill includes these two items: 
 
 D C 
 
 " to boarding Andrew Batchelder four days 1 00 
 
 to two mugs of tody 40" 
 
 The man who furnished the timber — he was for many years Town Clerk — sub- 
 mitted an itemized bill, which had been fully summarized when this separate item was 
 added as an afterthought: 
 
 "li mug Todd at Mr. Browns $0.30" 
 
 25 
 
action against certain parties named ''for the recovery of 
 Damage for a bad Town Bell." Five years later, April 5, 
 1824, the Town voted to exchange the old bell and clock for 
 "a good new warranted bell of equal weight to the old one, 
 hung & tried before the old bell and clock are delivered." 
 But the clock did not prove salable; eighty years later its 
 dismantled works were still standing in the belfry-tower. 
 For several years a blank dial bore witness to a bad bargain 
 in clocks, until 1831 when it was voted that ''the old clock 
 face be painted white with the rest of the house." It was 
 in 1833 that the Revere Bell was obtained, whose clear tones 
 once more gladden our ears. 
 
 Within a few weeks after Mr. Paine's death, the town 
 voted "Unanimously to Come into some method to Settle a 
 Gospel minister in the Center meeting house in Sturbridge, " 
 and when, a few months later, the definite question arose, 
 what action the town would take for the encouragement of 
 Mr. Otis Lane "to settle in this town in the work of the min- 
 istry," it was voted that the town of Sturbridge should pay 
 him $400 annually, "so long as he shall continue in the work 
 of the ministry in this town. " But a novelty was added in 
 the proviso that in case a termination of the contract should 
 be desired by Mr. Lane, or by "two thirds of the legal voters 
 in this town of Mr. Lane's Society that are his hearers that 
 pay taxes for his support," the party wishing the change 
 should state reasons and give a year's notice, at the end of 
 which time a Council might dissolve the relation "without 
 making of it a question." Hitherto the settlement of a 
 pastor had been for life. Did this new arrangement indicate 
 that during Mr. Paine's thirty-eight years of service a new 
 generation had arisen that had been wanting a change? 
 Be that as it may, the forming of this terminable contract 
 with the new minister introduced a pastorate which was to 
 prove full of discouragements. The atmosphere of town- 
 meeting had become unsympathetic for the debate and de- 
 cision of matters relating to the Church. The Baptist Society 
 
 26 
 
managed its own affairs by itself; but each year the question 
 of Mr. Lane's salary came up in town-meeting, and a grudging 
 grant was made of a sum "to be assessed upon M' Lane's 
 hearers." Two or three times it was voted ''not to raise 
 money for the support of the Rev*^ Otis Lane," the evident 
 intent being to throw the whole responsibility definitely upon 
 the people of his own religious body; but apparently it was 
 in each instance decided that the existing laws and the form 
 of agreement at the time of the pastor's settlement required 
 assessment of his salary by town authority. In 1811 it was 
 voted that $100 for completing repairs on the center meeting- 
 house be "assessed on M"" Lane's hearers," as had come to 
 be the case with the charges for care of the building. In the 
 spring of 1815 Mr. Lane informed the town of his wish for 
 a dissolution of the pastoral relation, giving as his reason: 
 "the stipulated means of my support are found after a long 
 and thorough trial to be greatly inadequate to the purpose. 
 Hence have necessarily arisen embarrassments and perplexities 
 evidently inconsistent with the office and a proper discharge 
 of the responsibilities of a stated minister of Christ." To 
 a town committee, which waited upon him "to hear his 
 proposals," he replied, with unfortunate curtness, that "he 
 had no proposals to make," — a reply which apparently gave 
 offence where none was intended, for at its next meeting, the 
 following month, upon the article in the warrant, to see if 
 the town would pay Mr. Lane a reasonable sum in view of 
 the great increase in the cost of the " principal articles of use, " 
 it was voted to "allow him $200 in case he leaves town." 
 With praiseworthy accuracy the town clerk adds the explan- 
 atory note [the only one I have observed in the records cover- 
 ing more than a century]: "The vote was passed in these 
 words. I understand the meaning of the mover to be, when 
 M' Lane ceased to be our Minister." 
 
 Months passed. Mindful of the terms of the contract, 
 the town authorities summoned a special town-meeting to 
 assemble one year and a day from the date of Mr. Lane's 
 
 27 
 
notice. It was an unprecedented condition which brought 
 the voters to the meeting-house that day ; a good deal of feel- 
 ing had been aroused, and keen curiosity as to what the out- 
 come was to be. But when the meeting was ready to listen 
 to Mr. Lane, whose notice of a wish for dismissal had been for 
 twelve months the talk of the town, he did not take the floor 
 himself, nor did any representative of his speak a word in 
 his behalf; whereupon the town voted ''not to grant Rev*^ 
 Otis Lane any further assistance to enable him to continue 
 preaching here." Almost another year had passed before 
 Mr. Lane broke his silence, and then it was to withdraw his 
 request for a dismissal, — a request which he had apparently 
 made with no intent that it be granted, but merely in the hope 
 that it might lead to the payment of a more adequate salary. 
 In a thinly attended meeting of the Church, its members 
 voted that they did not wish his dismissal, but in town-meet- 
 ing a large majority, on a motion alleging "the divided state 
 of the people," voted in favor of putting an end to Mr. Lane's 
 pastorate. A church Council considered the situation, and 
 declined to dissolve the pastoral relation; but a month later, 
 the Church meantime having voted 7 to 3 that under existing 
 circumstances it was expedient to dismiss the pastor, the 
 Council did so, February 24, 1819, on the ground that the 
 opposition to him was so great as to preclude his usefulness. 
 This unpleasant episode in our church annals has been 
 told in some detail in order to make clear the tangled relations 
 which still subsisted in many a Massachusetts community 
 between the Church as a religious organization and the town. 
 During his eighteen years of service here, this able and devoted 
 minister felt himself constantly hampered and beset. To 
 the embarrassments which were inherent in the situation, he 
 added by his ill-judged and hardly ingenuous request for 
 dismissal. Financial troubles were not the only discourage- 
 ments which attended his work. In the year 1801 this Church 
 suffered a secession of 20 of its members who later became 
 the Congregational Church in Southbridge. Interest in 
 
 28 
 
religious matters was at a low ebb in the town, and the pastor's 
 records— for in those days the pastor was also the clerk of 
 the Church — show that he was downcast. But at length 
 the long-delayed harvest began to appear. In the months 
 from February to June, ISlO—just one hundred years ago— 
 he baptized fifteen persons. In the margin of the record he 
 writes: ''To the praise and glory of Divine Grace be it spoken 
 and remembered that at this time God remembered mercy 
 & poured out his spirit on this Church & people." But re- 
 action followed: in the years 1814 to 1816 but one person was 
 admitted to the church. "None, it seems, says 'Where is 
 God, my maker?'" writes the disheartened pastor. Yet in 
 the last year of his ministry, despite the controversy which 
 had arisen, there began a deepening of religious feeling which 
 resulted in the addition of thui^y members to the Church. 
 
 During the summer of 1819 the Church determined to 
 extend a call to the Rev. Alvan Bond, a recent graduate of 
 Andover, who had been supplying the pulpit, and through 
 a committee requested the town to concur in their choice 
 and to make provision for his support. The warrant for 
 this special town-meeting summoned only "the freeholders 
 and other inhabitants of the town of Sturbridge qualified by 
 law to vote in the settlement of a Congregational minister. " 
 By a large vote it was decided that Mr. Bond should "be the 
 religious teacher of this Society." A salary of $600 was 
 voted to him, and the contract was to be terminable after 
 six months' notice at the option of either party. The new 
 pastor was greatly cheered by the large accessions at the 
 beginning of his service here. But soon the tide ebbed. In 
 1822 there was but one member admitted, and that person 
 came by letter. In the following year two were admitted 
 by letter and only one on confession of faith. The record's 
 margin contains the very human comment : "Here commences 
 a time of stupidity." In the next two years there were no 
 accessions: they are noted as: "Years of declension till Novem- 
 ber, 1825." But the pastor had been tireless in his labors, 
 
 29 
 
and the harvest now was ripe. In the year 1826, 55 persons 
 united with this Church, and the record's margin breaks 
 forth : '' This year God appears in his glory to build up Zion. 
 To him be all the glory ! " Five years later there was another 
 great revival which brought 44 new members into the Church. 
 In the midst of this time of refreshing, the pastor requested 
 a dismission that he might accept the professorship of Sacred 
 Literature in the Theological Seminary at Bangor, Me. His 
 devoted people granted his request, regretfully recognizing 
 his "call to a more elevated station of usefulness." 
 
 On the day before Mr. Bond's dismission a young man, 
 fresh from his studies at Andover, preached his first sermon 
 here, and when, a week later, the Society* voted to ''employ 
 a public Teacher of Religion," it was this Mr. Joseph S. Clark 
 whom they directed their prudential committee to employ 
 "as a candidate for settlement in the work of the Ministry, 
 if they can so agree with him." A month had not passed 
 before both Church and Society, by unanimous vote, were 
 ready to concur in extending to Mr. Clark a call to "settle 
 with them in the work of the Ministry as their Pastor and 
 Teacher." In his letter of acceptance, he wrote: "By the 
 good providence of God, I am now ready as much as in me 
 lies to preach the Gospel of Peace to you at Sturbridge." 
 Such was the auspicious beginning of a most harmonious 
 and fruitful pastorate. The young minister entered upon 
 his work with zeal. In a single year "94 were added to the 
 church by profession and 11 by letter. " An active campaign 
 was carried on, along many lines, against intemperance, with 
 the result that this vice which had been "the occasion of a 
 very great proportion of cases of discipline in the church and 
 more dishonor to religion than any other sin," was greatly 
 reduced. t In 1834 the town was divided into districts 
 
 *For the organization of the parish or Society, see p. 45. 
 
 tThe Church adopted a vigorous set of resolutions, May 15, 1834, including the 
 following: "That every Christian Church ought to practice entire abstinence from 
 ardent spirit as a drink, and that no person ought to be admitted into the Church of 
 Christ and no one shall hereafter be received into this Church but upon the practice of 
 entire abstinence from the use, the manufacture and the sale of ardent spirit as a drink. " 
 
 30 
 
embracing from 12 to 20 members, and to each of these were 
 assigned two brethren to visit from house to house, and hold 
 meetings. Results were soon apparent. In 1836 the mem- 
 bership of this Church reached its high-water mark, — 337, 
 of whom 115 were males and 222 females. The following year 
 was one of great industrial depression throughout the country, 
 and agitation over the slavery question was felt to be causing 
 "spiritual dearth" in this community ; yet the pastor's record 
 for that discouraging year reads: "The Sabbath School was 
 never known to be in a more flourishing state. . . The 
 number in the central School is increased to nearly 400; the 
 Infant School to about 60. A school was also gathered in 
 the Southern section of the town, numbering 50 or more, 
 which has been maintained through the season." When 
 ill health compelled Mr. Clark to seek dismission in December, 
 1838, he could record that during these seven years of service 
 in this, his only pastorate, "the Lord has added to this Church 
 203 by profession, and 56 by letters of recommendation, 259 
 in all. The whole number now connected with it is 325."* 
 i\Ir. Clark was the fu-st historian of Sturbridge. His 
 "Historical Sketch," an address delivered July 4, 1838, ten 
 days after the centennial anniversary of the incorporation 
 of the town, and his outline of Sturbridge "Ecclesiastical 
 History," delivered in his own church the following Sunday, 
 are addresses of exceptional merit, to which every later 
 student of Sturbridge history must tm'n with gratitude. 
 They reveal qualities of mind and heart which must have 
 added greatly to his effectiveness as a public teacher of 
 
 *Within six months after his regretted withdrawal from this pastorate, Mr. Clark 
 was appointed Secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, in which 
 position he rendered many years of efifective service. Twoof his children have continued 
 in missionary labors. His son, a native of this town, for many years Editorial Secretary 
 of the Congregational Home Missionary Society, we welcome here to-day as the preacher 
 of the dedicatory sermon (The Rev. Joseph B. Clark, D. D.) His daughter, Mrs. 
 Caswell-Broad, for seventeen years worked among the Seneca Indians in Western 
 New York, was then actively engaged in the North End Mission in Boston, and later 
 entered the service of the American Home Missionary Society as Secretary of the 
 Woman's Department. 
 
 31 
 
religion in this community. The annual " Summaries" which 
 he inserted in the Church records are very human documents. 
 After comparing the pages which bear his writing with the 
 records of the past forty years, I can not help deploring the 
 change by which the pastor ceased to be the clerk of the 
 Church. Within my own memory four men before the present 
 incumbent have served as pastors of this Church, yet except 
 for two sets of valedictory resolutions — not the most valid 
 material for the historian — I defy any man to detect in the 
 records or documents of this Church a trace of the personality 
 of these men who have been charged with the chief respon- 
 sibility in carrying on the work of the Church among us. 
 What have they sought to do? What methods have they 
 proposed and tried? What obstacles have they encountered? 
 What Christian co-operation have they received? What 
 has been effected? Hardly a hint to the answer to such 
 questions is to be found in the records. They are perfunctory 
 minutes of parliamentary proceedings and statistics of bap- 
 tisms, and of church membership. Interesting and signifi- 
 cant changes have been taking place in the spiritual life of 
 this town during these two-score years. I cannot help 
 thinking that it would have meant much not only for church 
 history but also for church life, if each of these pastors had 
 felt it incumbent on him to attempt the difficult task of 
 recording these changes, as they affected the life and work 
 of this Church. Nor can I doubt that a systematic and effec- 
 tive religious leader in such a community as this would find 
 it a stimulating if not always a cheering task, if at the end 
 of each year, he should follow the example of Pastor Clark, 
 and set down, for future generations to read, a "Summary," 
 an annual ''balance-sheet" of the work in that corner of the 
 Lord's vineyard committed to his charge. 
 
 With the withdrawal of Mr. Clark, there ended the fifth 
 pastorate of this Church. The service of those five men had 
 spanned two years more than a century. It is significant 
 of a wide-spread change in ecclesiastical relations that the 
 
 32 
 
next five pastorates filled but fifty years, while, since 1888 
 we have had four acting pastors, no one of whom has been 
 installed. It is impossible in the time at my disposal to 
 attempt more than the barest summary of what we might 
 call the mediaeval and modern, as contrasted with the ancient 
 history of this Church. 
 
 LATER PASTORATES. 
 
 Within a few weeks of the resignation of Mr. Clark, the 
 Church voted unanimously to extend a call to the Rev. 
 David R. Austin. The Society concurred, and on May 1, 
 1839, he began a pastorate of devoted service which continued 
 for twelve years and five months. In the first year of his 
 work here he recorded: ''The tone of religious feeling has 
 been very low during the year past. Oh that we may experi- 
 ence a refreshing from the presence of the Lord." Special 
 efforts resulted, the following year, in a growing number of 
 admissions to the Church. During his pastorate the access- 
 sions numbered 205, — 148 on profession of faith and 57 by 
 letter; but these were more than offset by the very large losses, 
 211,-86 by death and 125 by letter to other churches. "The 
 year 1849" he writes "may be regarded as a year of special 
 judgment to this Chh. and to the inhabitants of this town. 
 The pestilence that walketh in darkness and wasteth at 
 noonday has swept ten of our most highly esteemed and 
 valued members into eternity, ... all strong and polished 
 pillars in this Zion, 57 persons have died in this town during 
 the year, almost double the usual mortality. An epidemic 
 proved fatal to adults in the Spring and the dysentery to 
 children in the Summer. There has been no special attention 
 to religion in this Chh. during the past year; not one has been 
 added to its numbers by profession. " " Desirous of relieving 
 in some measure the burdens of those who remain," Mr. 
 Austin voluntarily relinquished $50 of his salary. In the 
 summer of 1851, his request for a dismission because of con- 
 tinued ill health was reluctantly granted. In his last entry 
 
 33 
 
in the Records he declared: "Great harmony and peace 
 have prevailed. . . Nothing but an imperious necessity 
 could induce me to leave so delightful a field of labor."* 
 
 For eight or nine months the Church remained without 
 a pastor, there being a feeling on the part of a considerable 
 number that it was "not expedient & in the circumstances in 
 which we are placed to give a call to any one. " June 2, 1852, 
 the Rev. Hubbard Beebe was installed; two years later 
 (October 24, 1854) because of the inadequacy of his salary 
 and the feeling that the labors and embarrassments of his 
 position were proving too severe a tax upon his strength," 
 he was dismissed at his own request, having made little 
 impress upon the Church or community.! 
 
 For nearly eighteen months the Church remained without 
 a pastor. Then the Rev. Sumner G. Clapp, who for some 
 time had been supplying the pulpit very acceptably, was 
 installed. He was a man of peace, who won the afi'ections 
 of his people. In 1862, mindful of the increasing financial 
 burdens of the community, as "a duty and privilege," he 
 voluntarily relinquished a considerable portion of his salary. 
 Because of advanced years and ill-health, at his own request 
 he was dismissed, Sept. 2, 1862, cherishing the most cordial 
 feeling for the people among whom he had labored. 
 
 His successor was the Rev. Marshall B. Angier, installed 
 July 1, 1863. During his pastorate of four years 84 persons 
 united with the Church on profession of their faith, 41 being 
 admitted on one Sunday (July 3, 1864). Benevolent con- 
 tributions were substantially increased and the meeting-house 
 was turned upon its foundation, and thoroughly renovated 
 at an expense of about $2500. But the pastorate, which 
 
 *Mr. Austin found in Soutli Norvvalk, Ct., a climate better suited to his health. 
 He continued in the pastorate in that place till 1865, and died there in 1879. 
 
 tMr. Beebe became pastor of the Congregational Church in West Haven, Ct. 
 Later he engaged in secretarial work successively with the American Sunday School 
 Union, the American Bible Society, and the American Seamen's Friend Society. He 
 died June 21, 1885. 
 
 34 
 
ended June 5, 1867, was a turbulent one, and left the Church 
 sadly divided.* 
 
 In the fall of the same year the Rev. Martin L. Richard- 
 son, who had been pastor of the neighboring Evangelical 
 Church in Globe Village, was engaged as acting pastor; he 
 was installed June 29, 1871. Knowing thoroughly the diffi- 
 culties through which the Church had been passing, he strove 
 earnestly to heal the breach. He proved himself a useful 
 citizen, serving the town as a member of the school committee 
 and as a representative in the General Court. He was a 
 musician of taste and skill, and a zealous helper in the work 
 of temperance and literary societies in the community. 
 Toward the end of this pastorate a radical change was made 
 in the Sunday program which had obtained for nearly 150 
 years : by vote of the Society in 1885 it was decided to have 
 but one preaching service on the Sabbath. Until that time 
 there had been a sermon both morning and afternoon, and 
 a less formal service in the evening. Mr. Richardson was 
 dismissed Oct. 14, 1888, having rounded out twenty-one 
 years of service of this Church and community. 
 
 These five later leaders, like their predecessors, here 
 fought the good fight, against foes often harder to vanquish 
 than many the first pastors encountered. For economic and 
 industrial conditions changed the whole aspect of the town. 
 In our shops and mills, yes and on our farms as well, the place 
 of families who for generations had worshipped in the old 
 meeting-house on the hill were taken by people whose race 
 and creed were such that this Chui-ch could not minister to 
 
 *It is something more than a coincidence that the Unitarian Society in Sturbridge 
 was organized during this pastorate, by persons who professed "a growing dissatisfac- 
 tion with the ministrations of Religion in Sturbridge, "—a feeling that those minis- 
 trations did not answer "the wants of individuals craving a higher form of intellectual 
 culture and a more comforting and encouraging dispensation of its truths. " Preamble 
 to report of the preUminary meeting, March 14, 1864. 
 
 After leaving Sturbridge, Mr. Angier held pastorates of Congregational Churches 
 in Haydenville, Ipswich and Foxboro. In 1892 he became acting pastor of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in Windsor, N. Y., and held that position at the time of his death, 
 Feb. 25, 1894. 
 
 35 
 
their religious needs nor enlist their membership and support. 
 Largely in consequence of these changes it came about that, 
 despite large accessions in two or three periods of revival, 
 the admissions to this Church on profession of faith and by 
 letter have fallen far short of making good the losses by death 
 and by removal from town. 
 
 There are those in this presence who recall every one of 
 these men. They have now all passed to their reward, with 
 the exception of Mr. Richardson, who, though retired from 
 the ministry, is still rendering efficient and valued Christian 
 service as one of the overseers of the poor in the town of 
 Montague, Massachusetts. We had all hoped that we might 
 have his benignant presence with us to-day, and that we 
 might hear again the noble voice which for so many years 
 led this people in prayer and in praise. Letters have been 
 received expressing his deep regret that he found it impossible 
 to participate in a service in which he has the keenest interest. 
 The following names complete the list of pastors of this 
 Church : 
 
 Theophilus Beaizley, 1888—1891. 
 
 Alexander Wiswall, 1891-1892. 
 
 Augustus M. Rice, 1893-1902. 
 
 John C. Hall, 1902 to the present time.* 
 
 ♦BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 
 Theophilus Beaizley: 
 
 Born in Tipton, Staffordshire, England, 1S33. Received his theological 
 training in the London Theological Seminary. He was sent to Australia by the 
 London Missionary Society in 1858. His longest pastorates were in Sydney, N. 
 S. W., and Woodland, California. Since leaving Sturbridge he held pastorates of 
 the Presbyterian Church at Anaheim and later at Fullerton, Cal. He died at the 
 latter place, Feb. 16, 1908. 
 Alexander Wiswall: 
 
 Born in Glasgow, Scotland, 1846. Graduate of Dartmouth College, 1873; 
 Bangor Theological Seminary, 1879. Since leaving Sturbridge he has held pastor- 
 ates of Congregational Churches in Upton and Uxbridge, Mass. 
 Augustus M. Rice: 
 
 Born in Granby, N. Y.; reared in Minnesota and served one year in Union Army 
 in cavalry regiment from that State. Graduated, University of Wisconsin, 1870; 
 Chicago Theological Seminary, 1873. Mr. Rice came to Sturbridge from the pastor- 
 ate of the Congregational Church in Royalston, and is now pastor of the Congrega- 
 tional Church in Dunstable, Mass. 
 
 36 
 
Of these later pastors, Mr. Beaizley died, a few years 
 ago. It is a gratification to us all that both Mr. Wiswall 
 and Mr. Rice have found it possible to accept the invita- 
 tion to take part in this service which means so much for the 
 people among whom they once labored. 
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Beneath the murmuring pines in the burying-ground 
 yonder for scores of years have rested from their labors the 
 first tiiree pastors of this Church. Standing as a boy before 
 then- quaint and crumbling headstones, my imagination used 
 to picture them as grave and venerable leaders of a staid 
 and sober flock. But the record reveals them in a different 
 light. As Caleb Rice was the first, so he was also the youngest 
 of the pastors of this Chiuch. He signed the covenant as 
 one of the fourteen original members of the Church in "New 
 Medfield" at the age of twenty-foiu-,— a young man with 
 young men; for it should be remembered that this frontier 
 community was settled mainly by the children of the Pro- 
 prietors and by other youthful pioneers who had pushed 
 forward to this remote hamlet to grow up with the country. 
 The average age at which the first four pastors began their 
 service here was twenty-seven years. 
 
 Yet their youth did not make them disposed to be lax 
 in matters of Church discipline. Applicants for membership 
 in the Church were required to make a statement to the 
 whole Church of as much of their Christian experience as 
 they deemed proper, or to give the Church satisfaction in 
 some other way. The Church chest contains scores of these 
 so-called "Experimental Relations," belonging to the second 
 pastorate. They show an anguished searching of heart 
 
 John C. Hall: 
 
 Born in Washington, Me , 1859. Graduated from Bowdoin College, 1885; from 
 Bangor Theological Seminary, 1889; graduate student, 1889-90. Mr. Hall was 
 pastor of the Congregational Church in Sutton, Mass., 1891 to 1902. His service 
 in Sturbridge began in the summer of 1902. 
 
 37 
 
which some of us to-day might call deplorably morbid intro- 
 spection. Some of these ancient "relations" cannot fail to 
 make a profound impression upon the reader, for they show 
 strong personalities grappling with life's deepest problems. 
 But it must be confessed that in many of them the similarity 
 of arrangement and identity of phrasing arouse the suspicion 
 that in making their statement before the Church these would- 
 be members were virtually adopting as their own what had 
 become a pretty thoroughly conventionalized "experience." 
 It is probable that many of these statements which show 
 similarity were written in conference with the pastor, if not 
 by his own hand. 
 
 EXPERIMENTAL RELATIONS. 
 A. L., Read Dec. 16, 1761. 
 
 "I haue grate reson for to bless God that I was borne in Land of gospell lite and 
 was fauered with a good educasion and besides that many coles (calls?) of deuine prou- 
 idence and at times was under conuictions but my euell hart and an inticing world 
 senaed to make aU proue in a fecttuall but after a concidrabell time I was under stronger 
 eonuict tions and after a conciderbell time I immagened that I receiued sum comfort 
 but after sum time my fears ware beyond all my hoops and vuing my selfe in a very 
 misirabell condision these wordse came to my minde why are thou cast doune o my sole 
 and why art thou disquiatted within me hoop thu in God for thou shalt yet prase him 
 and heare upon I took grate incoreaedment and suposed my mounting stood strong 
 for concedrabell time but after sum time prouidence cast a book in my hand titeled 
 Cases of conshanc and wreding hou far a person mite goo by natrull 
 conuiction I thare upon thought that was my very case and all was counterfit 
 and no hoops no promis for me I all most in despare but blesed be god who 
 hath all pouer in his own hande so ordered that a book was cast into my hand titeled 
 Looking to Christ by fath and reading there in found this grate promis Ezekel 36 : 2627 
 A nu harte also will giue you and a nu sperit will I put with in you and I will take away 
 the stony hart out of your flesh and I will poot my sperit with in you and heare upon I 
 took incorigement and hearing a sarmon preched from the 50 of Isaiah 10 who is among 
 you that feareth the Lord that obayeth the voise of his-sarvant that walketh in darkness 
 and hath no Ute let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his god and hear 
 upon I tuck forder incorigement and hearing a sarmon preached Luke 19 : 17 come for 
 all things are now ready and heare uppon I trust I am coled uppon by the sperit of god 
 he sayed this du in rembrence of me. 
 
 trusting and believing that the Spirit of the Bride Say Come I Do in the fear and Pres- 
 ence of God offer myself to full Communion with this Church of Jesus, asking your 
 Charitable Reception of me and Prayers for me, that I may be Deliuered and kept 
 from all Sin and walk as a worthy Member of the Mistical Body of + and that when 
 I have Eat and Drink in his Presince I may not be Disowned by him. A. L." 
 
 M. H. 
 
 "I desier to bless god that I was born in the land of lite and liuead under the 
 preaching of the gospel all my days and that I descended of shuch Parence that gave 
 me up to god in baptism in my infancy but I have rebeld against god and my parence 
 
 38 
 
in liuing in all most all manner of Sin in Sabath braking and Company Keeping and 
 in disabaying my parnce good Counsel and in Structions that they gaue me in telhng 
 of me it was my duty to Seek to god in prayer and Keep his commands thay told me 
 that I must renew my baptismal covanant I being young thought it time Enough but 
 it has pleased all mytey god to a waking me [by the pourful preaching of a samon by 
 the re mr haven hosea 10 and 12 and maney outhers that I haue hard; and it Came to 
 mind] for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to 
 himself not discerning the lords body; which was a discouragement to me and then a 
 nother place came into my mind which is incouraging Isaiah 55 and 1 and I hop dont 
 a low my self in the omission of aney none duty nor in the commission of any none fern 
 and I desire your prayers for me and your axceptance of me that I may walk acording 
 to the Professon that I haue maid. • • 
 
 Another "Relation, "in the same handwriting, is signed "The wife of M. H/' 
 It is a literal copy of the above, except for the part included in the brackets The 
 woman's ' ' Relation " reads: ' ' it has pleased all mytey god to a waking me by thunder 
 many a time which is terrifying to me and puts me in mind of my duty: but I have 
 been afraid if I should offer myself to come to the table of the Lord that I should come 
 unworthily, for he that " as in the above. 
 
 T> TLT 
 
 •'•I desire to bles god that i was born in a land of gospel Ught and that i was early 
 didicated unto god in the ordinance of baptizem and for many instructions and warmngs 
 from my parents ^et haue Shamfully neglected my duty til of late i was brought to 
 concider of my ways and was thoughtfuU about my futer estate whareuponi heard a 
 Sermon from these Words and ye will not cume to me that ye might haue hfe which 
 lay upon mv mind much whareas i Saw that i neuer had been Willing to be Saued from 
 my Sins but only in mv Sins about this time i laboured under Sum temtasions and 
 douts whether or no i had not cummitted the unpardonable Sin and the like whereupon 
 these words came to my mind why art thou being the Kings Son lean from day to day 
 wilt thou not tell me which aforded me Sum incuragement and also a reproofe then i 
 began to Sit up great resolusions for a while but then i found Strength began to fail 
 and as i thought the Spirit of god had withdrayn and that which i had greatly feared 
 was now come upon me the view i had of eternity was dreadfull all hope faild and none 
 could i blame but my Selfe for god apeared iust and where to go for releaf beter i cold 
 not tel then to go to god who is mercifull as well as iust where upon douts and fears 
 semed to uanish and i felt much reioyced but not continewing long heare i Sune fel 
 into douts and fears and began to Scrupel all being afraid of Sum false hope and joy 
 and So went douting for a concidrabel time yet not quite with out hope untill a more 
 greater decouery of gods goodness and mearcey did apeare then all doutes and Screws 
 uanisshed away and those words in Samuel came to my mind So the woman went her 
 way and did eat and her countenance was no more Sad but this i am confident in bo 
 far as i Know my own heart that i haue a greater desire and loue for the wais of god 
 then formerly i had and i do acknoledg the many Sins and erars which i haue been gUtd 
 of and ask forgiueness of god and of this Church asking your prairs to god for me any 
 do now ofer my Self to your comunion 
 
 The following "Relation" is indorsed "this was read & voted into the Chh Sept. 
 11 • 1757 " and is apparently in the handwriting of the pastor, Joshua Paine. 
 
 "I Desire to acknowledge the wonderfuU compassion & Patience of God towards 
 me that He hath Born so long with me, when I have done so much to Provoke Him 
 to come out against me & cut me do wn as a Cumberer of the ground : I must acknowl- 
 edge I have been too careless & negligent about the things of my peace which indeed 
 should have been the most regarded by me: but tho' I have so greatly sinned against 
 God, grieved His holy Spirit, so that God might Justly have left me to perish in my 
 
 39 
 
sins; yet I trust He hath not left off striving with me nor left me to perish without hope; 
 I hope God hath opened my eyes, and awakened me to see my sin & misery, bro't me 
 to Consider my ways that have not been right in His sight. I have had loud Calls & 
 warnings not only from Gods holy word, but by His providence, particularly in that 
 dispensation of God's holy providence in the death of my Consort: in which Gods voice 
 to me was be ye also ready; & tho' I with Him but a little before his death made a pro- 
 fession of Christ & his rehgion; & both joined together in giving up our Children to God 
 in Baptism yet I am sensible that I ought not to stop there; but to come to the other 
 ordinance even that of the Supper of the Lord: & which indeed was the advice & Council 
 my Deceased Husband gave me when on his death bed giving me it in charge then not 
 to neglect my duty in this respect: & lamented his neglect of duty in this particular, & 
 determined had God spared his life & raised him up again to have come to His duty in 
 this regard; Such Counsel & the dispensations of divine providence have been so sanc- 
 tified & set home upon me, as I hope aright to stir me up to my duty; & accordingly 
 I do now desire to join with this Chh; praying that God would freely pardon all my 
 sins for Christs sake, & enable me to come aright, & asking your forgiveness of what 
 you have seen amiss in me; & your prayers for me, that I might be a welcome guest & 
 find acceptance with God thro' Christ. S. H " 
 
 When Abigail applied for membership, in the 
 
 first year of Caleb Rice's ministry, the Church voted: "Con- 
 sidering the stories that have been about said Abigail 
 
 we do think it proper to make searching inquiry thereto." 
 A month later she was received into the Church, after having 
 made open confession of gossiping and divers other indiscre- 
 tions. But the exercise of discrimination as to the admission 
 of members soon proved a less cause of anxiety to the Church 
 than keeping watch over the walk and conversation of those 
 already within the fold. Hardly a year had passed when 
 the Church was given grave concern over the case of Lieut. 
 
 Hezekiah , who was charged with having "taken 
 
 up Rum upon Cap* Marcy's account at Leicester," and with 
 having "indulged in vain talk." Twice it was voted that 
 
 "the church are not in charity with said , so as to 
 
 communicate with him at the holy sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper, till such time as the matter is set in a clearer light," 
 
 and Parson Rice was instructed to correspond with 's 
 
 former pastor in regard to it. Some time later, 
 
 craved forgiveness, and the Church voted that "we are now 
 satisfied therewith, and look upon him in a regular state," 
 but soon they were forced to affirm anew that they were 
 "not in charity with him." 
 
 40 
 
During the first pastorates there were an appalling 
 number of instances where the Church stopped after lecture 
 to attend the confession of Brother A. and Sister B. for sins 
 which almost exhaust the list of the Decalogue. The "Rules 
 for the Regulation of this Church," adopted July 15, 1802, 
 required that confession for "known, open, scandalous sins" 
 and for absence from communion should be made before 
 the Church only, "unless the offense be of so gross and pubUc 
 a nature that in the view of the majority of the Church present 
 at a meeting on the subject it should appear more for the 
 honor of the Chh and the interest of religion to have the 
 confession more public, then in that case, it shall be made 
 both before Chh and congregation."* The most frequent 
 
 ♦CONFESSIONS AND DISCIPLINE. 
 
 "Whereas I the Subscriber have been left to be guilty of the breach of the Eighth 
 Commandment whereby I have dishonoured God & Justly offended the people of God, 
 I desire to be sorry therefor, & to ask forgiveness of God & all his people whom I have 
 offended & pray that I may be enabled in all things to adorn the [illegible] of God our 
 Saviour. U. W." 
 
 Indorsement: "Sep: 10: 1749 This was read to the Chh & voted to be Rec** as 
 satisfactory & the Chh in charity with him &c. " 
 
 "I acknowledge that I am naturally inclined to rebel against God, & that I am too 
 apt to give way to Passion & to be overcome thereby: I have been left in my Passion 
 to abuse Cap*. C. & as an aggravation of the matter it was in his own house, for which 
 I am sorry & as I have asked his forgiveness for what has then been amiss in me, so I 
 desire now to ask forgiveness of God & the charitable forgiveness of Gods people, & 
 your prayers for me that I might be enabled to walk for the future more agreable to 
 the profession I make of the X° religion. 
 
 Sturbridge Octo 22 : 1753. R. C. 
 
 this was read Octo'' 27: 1753 & accepted by the Chh. " 
 
 "Whereas we whose names are hereunto Subscribed have been left to fall into 
 sin & have transgressed God's holy commands, we desire in a Suitable manner to be 
 humbled before God & would take Shame to our selves for all our sins; more particularly 
 we acknowledge we have been left to fall into the sin of fornication, a breach of the 
 7th Command whereby we have greatly dishonoured God, have Justly provoked him, 
 & given Just occasion of offence to the Chh & people of God: 
 
 We hope God has in some good measure shewn us the evil of our ways & doings; 
 we desire to ask forgiveness of God for Christs sake for all our sins more particularly 
 the breach of the 7"^ Command we desire the Charitable forgiveness of the Church & 
 people of God in this place & of all Gods people & that God would assist & enable us 
 to behave our selves according to the rules of the gospel for the future. 
 
 D. C. 
 S. C. 
 
 this was read to the Chh & accepted March 17 : 1744 / 5. " 
 
 41 
 
offence was continued absence from church ordinances. This 
 led to suspension; satisfactory excuses were required to be 
 submitted in writing, or other evidence of contrition shown, 
 otherwise it was declared that the erring member should be 
 no longer "considered under the watch and care of this 
 Church as a member thereof." In 1801 a considerable num- 
 ber of such delinquents were called upon for explanations. 
 Some pleaded unworthiness ; others, "perplexities in their 
 minds"; one replied that her reasons "are of such nature 
 that at present she does not choose to disclose them." A 
 committee of the Church requested an interview with one 
 absentee; when this was refused, they sought the brother out, 
 but the only reason he then assigned for his absence from 
 communion for more than a year was that "the meeting house 
 had been repaired and altered against his will." This was 
 not deemed satisfactory, and he was suspended from church 
 privileges for the space of six months. In the first fifty 
 years of this Church, a breach of the seventh commandment 
 was the sin which a surprisingly large number of penitents 
 confessed they "had been left to commit." In the first 
 decades of the nineteenth century, drunkenness, which had 
 caused an occasional lapse in the earlier years, became alarm- 
 ingly prevalent. A deacon of the Church, after having been 
 suspended and affectionately admonished, at the end of his 
 
 "I whose Name is here unto Subscribed. Do humbly Acknowledge before God 
 and his People my Manifold Sins in the agravated Nature thereof, and in Particulal 
 by Injuring the Charector of M" R. by Sajnng that whereby it has been Reported that 
 She has Infringed the 7* Command, whereby I Do acknolede I have offended God and 
 his People, and Do first and a bove all ask forgiveness of God. and M'^R. and this Chh. 
 asking your Prayer to God for me that I may for the future Live more agreeable to 
 my Profession and my whatch over my thoughts words and actions, and be an honour 
 to Religion and this Chh. 
 
 D. W." 
 
 "To the Jentlemen Committe of the Church of Christ in Sturbridg, Breatheren 
 
 whare as I have Ben Called on to Shew Caws if any there Be why I have not attended 
 the Communion for Some time past I answer that I have Ben Useed in a very un Chris- 
 tien Like Maner By Some of the membrs of this Church therefore I have with Drawn 
 my Self from them and Desire to Be Dismised from them. 
 
 Yours &C 
 Sturbridge September 12th 1798 O. M. " 
 
 42 
 
probation had to be excommunicated on the ground that he 
 had exhibited no evidence of reform. Charges were sustained 
 against Sister J. that "it was very apparent that she was 
 disguised with the use of ardent spirit," and Sister C. was 
 "so intoxicated with spirituous hquor that she was unable to 
 walk or stand." There are present to-day members of this 
 Church who heard from their mother's lips the story of a 
 scene in the old meeting-house which those who witnessed 
 it could never forget. An honored member of the Church 
 had yielded to his besetting sin. He appeared before a 
 Church meeting at the house of one of the members and— 
 as the record reads— "made his concessions for the sin of 
 intoxication which he had recently in a wicked and thought- 
 less manner committed. The brethren voted that they 
 were satisfied with his concessions and that his acknowledg- 
 ments be read before the congregation on next Sabbath." 
 But he replied that his offense had been public and his con- 
 fession should be no less public. There was a solemn hush 
 in the meeting-house that Sunday morning, when this univer- 
 sally esteemed and beloved village doctor walked up the 
 broad aisle, turned, faced the congregation and confessed his 
 fault . Sins of slander and of Sabbath-breaking were confessed . 
 Again and again quarrels between members were brought 
 before the Church for adjustment, and in some cases appeal 
 was made to councils in which churches in neighboring towns 
 were represented by pastor and delegate,— as in the contro- 
 versy arising in 1777, in which one of the complaints was 
 that "Cap* P. Did Condemn S*" C. (using a hard word) to be 
 a Tory." The investigators declared it "not sufRtiently 
 Proved that P. Ever Used such a hard word as is Mentioned 
 in the Complaint Calling S*" Craft a Damned Tory," and the 
 parties to the controversy were earnestly exhorted, in that 
 time of public distress, to lay aside all contention and live 
 as brothers.* 
 
 *The tone of an eighteenth century Admonition may be indicated by the following 
 extracts from a letter drafted by the seconr' pastor of this Church. It is not dated. 
 
These strange pages of our records have not been laid 
 open here with the purpose of pointing the finger of scorn at 
 the sins of our forebears. Their sins were those of their 
 time and of a frontier community. Both by the young 
 pastors and by the Church those sins were openly, vigorously 
 and in large measure successfully combated. We affect to 
 be amused or shocked by the weapons and methods of that 
 godly warfare. In our day, drunkenness, stealing, and 
 breach of the seventh commandment are not prevalent among 
 church members as they were here in the first century of 
 this Church. But it may well be questioned whether the 
 twentieth-century church is waging more successful battle 
 against the sins characteristic of its own day than did our 
 grandsires. In the middle of the last century, by unanimous 
 vote this Church declared that one of its members be 
 "excommunicated from the Church and no longer be regarded 
 or treated as a Christian," because he did not comply with 
 the requirement of the Church that he confess before the 
 whole congregation his " sins of Sabbath-breaking and the use 
 of profane language." To-day these sins seem to be looked 
 upon as venial, — indeed, rather difficult of definition. Church 
 
 Letter of Admonition to E. A. 
 
 The Church of Christ in Sturbridge Sendeth to Mr. E. A. this Letter of Admonition. 
 
 We the Church of Christ in Sturbridge, acting for Christ, Do in the Name of the 
 most glorious Lord our Saviour, whose Name you have Dishonoured by Serving against 
 Him, Admonish you of and for these your Sins and in Perticular for 
 
 1 Your Unchristian Conduct towards your Brethren. 
 
 2 for your Pride and Self Sufficiency. 
 
 3 for your Varying from the Truth. 
 
 4 for your wicked and unchristian Reflection upon members of the Church of 
 
 Christ in your Reasons for your Separation, wherein you Sugest and Say the 
 Bread is Delt out to Dogs. 
 
 5 fifthly we admonish you for your unchristian and unscriptural Reflections upon 
 the Chh of Christ. 
 
 O be wise to Resive this admonition that Cornea from the Chh of Jesus Christ. 
 Repent and be Reformed before it be too Late. 
 
 this from those that wish your Soul 
 may Prosper and be in helth. 
 Joshua Paine Pastor 
 
 in the Name of the Church. " 
 
 44 
 
lists to-day are full of dead-wood,— members who never 
 come to the Lord's table, and whose sole tribute to the faith 
 they once professed consists in the payment of a few sordid 
 dollars, which some one else must put to use. The besetting 
 sins of church members to-day, as compared with those of 
 a century ago, are less those of the body, more those of the 
 mind and heart. Are they on that account less menacing, 
 less difficult to root out? In the old days the watch and 
 ward of this Church were a vital force, following the member 
 in his wanderings far beyond the borders of this town and 
 making searching inquiry into his standing and daily walk. 
 Under the censure of the Church sinners showed forth works 
 meet for repentance. From a deathbed here in Sturbridge 
 came a pitiful plea that the offender might "be forgiven and 
 restored to communion and fellowship that he might die in 
 peace and in good standing with the Church." To-day 
 many a church carries upon its roll the names of members 
 who would greet the notice of their censure by the Church 
 with a cynic's smile or with a yawn. 
 
 THE CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY IN 
 STURBRIDGE. 
 
 The first four pastors of this Church were "settled" by 
 the Town, although during the third and fourth pastorates 
 ministerial affairs were dealt with not at regular but at special 
 town-meetings. Such a meeting, for example, was held in 
 the early part of 1831, to which were summoned "the Inhab- 
 itants of the Parish and Congregational Society in the Town 
 of Sturbridge qualified by law for the purposes of voting in 
 the choice of parochial officers and other Parochial matters"; 
 and the Town records show that the voters there provided 
 for the pastor's salary and for painting "their meetinghouse." 
 But a few months later, without any formality that has left 
 a trace on the record, the town-meeting machinery was given 
 up. In the dismission of Mr. Bond and in the calling and 
 
 45 
 
settling of Mr. Clark it was ''the Society" which concurred 
 with the Church. April 27, 1831,* begin the "Records of the 
 Congregational Society in Sturbridge." For nearly seventy 
 years this was the organization which took charge of the 
 financial or business side of church administration. t 
 
 Its organization underwent some change from time to 
 time, and seems never to have been very systematically 
 regulated. In 1834 the rule was adopted that "all persons 
 who may wish hereafter to become members of said parish 
 shall be recommended by the Prudential Committee thereof. " 
 Probably this was thought to savor too much of a close cor- 
 poration, for half a dozen years later (April 20, 1840) it was 
 voted that any person wishing to become a member of the 
 Society might do it by applying to the Clerk. But ten years' 
 experience led to the declaration that "the welfare and inter- 
 
 *A little later (September 7, 1835) the completeness of the separation is indicated 
 by the Society's vote not to give their consent to have town-meetings held in their 
 meeting-house, after the present alterations shall have been completed. 
 
 tBut for a time the Commonwealth still stood back of the finances. There is still 
 extant an order, given in the name of the Commonwealth, by the Assessors of the Con- 
 gregational Society in Sturbridge to Benjamin Bullock, Collector of that Society, direct- 
 ing him to collect the sum of $600. from persons named in the accompanying list, and 
 authorizing him, in case any of those persons should refuse or neglect to pay on his 
 demand, to distrain their goods or chattels, and sell the "distress" at public vendue, 
 retaining the amount needed to meet the assessment charges. In the absence of any 
 such goods upon which levy might be made, the Collector was authorized to "take the 
 body of such person so refusing or neglecting, and him commit unto the Common Jail 
 of the County aforesaid there to remain, until he pay the same or such part thereof as 
 shall not be abated by the Assessors of said town for the time being, or by the County 
 Commissioners for the County aforesaid. 
 
 "Given under our hands and seals by virtue of a vote of said Society passed on the 
 twenty-eighth day of April last, this twenty-eighth day of October, 1831. 
 
 David Wight, "j 
 
 Erasmus Holbrook, > Assessors of said Society." 
 
 Caleb Weld, Jr. J 
 
 Imprisonment for debt was not then obsolete. In April, 1828, a deacon of this 
 Church was committed to jail for debt. His creditors, after some weeks, were per- 
 suaded to allow him to come out, upon payment of his board and other charges amount- 
 ing to about $50. This sum two members of the Church agreed to become responsible 
 for, at the solicitation of the deacon's wife, on security of some household goods and 
 promissory notes. A few weeks later, the deacon's wife left town in the middle of the 
 night, taking, as was alleged, some of the pledged goods with her to New York State, 
 where she thereafter lived. This episode gave rise to some diflScult questions as to 
 church discipline. 
 
 4^) 
 
ests of this Society require a thorough reorganization of the 
 same, so that the legal members of said Society may be 
 known." January 14, 1852, the following "Preamble for 
 By-Laws" was adopted: "Any person or persons who are not 
 members of this Parish or Society may become such by signing 
 their names to the following declaration : — 'We the subscribers 
 consent to become members of the Congregational Society 
 in Stur bridge.' " On the page bearing this record and on a paper 
 pasted at its end stand the names of 97 men who were mem- 
 bers of the Society in 1852, or then or thereafter "consented" 
 to become members. Doubtless such signature was sufficient 
 to constitute legal liability, but it is singular that nothing 
 on the records sets forth definitely the objects of the Society, 
 nor was there any explicit statement on the part of the signer 
 of his devotion to the ends of the organization or pledge 
 of financial support for the Society of which he "consented" 
 to become a member. It was a very loose organization, 
 subject to sudden expansion or shrinkage, for, in accordance 
 with the Constitution, of Massachusetts, membership in such 
 a body could be terminated at any time by the member's 
 requesting the clerk to remove his name from the list. The 
 unfortunate working of this arrangement was seen some 
 forty years later, when eight members of the Society withdrew 
 within two years of their having joined it, the debt meantime 
 having reached very large proportions. The notes represent- 
 ing this debt were gradually taken up by the Church. In April, 
 1897, a new rule of membership was adopted: "Any person 
 twenty-one years old may become a member of the Society 
 by vote of the Society at any regularly called meeting and 
 signing the By-Laws." The records do not indicate that 
 any member was ever admitted under this rule, for, six 
 months later, November 5, 1897, the Church became incor- 
 porated as the First Evangelical Congregational Church 
 OF Sturbridge. The new corporation was empowered 
 to hold real and personal property and promote every 
 object for which the Congregational Society had served. 
 
 47 
 
The Church having agreed as a corporate body to 
 assume and pay all lawful debts of the Congregational 
 Society and to meet all the obligations thereof forever, 
 the final record reads: (September 5, 1898) "The First 
 Congregational Society of Sturbridge this day trans- 
 ferred by deed, through their Committee, duly chosen and 
 appointed for that purpose, all the real and personal property 
 in their possession, with the records and papers, to the First 
 Evangelical Congregational Church, and was, as per vote of 
 the Society, thereupon disbanded and ceased to exist as a 
 corporation." 
 
 Until the end of Mr. Bond's pastorate, money for the 
 maintaining of public worship at the center meeting-house 
 was raised by taxes assessed on the inhabitants belonging 
 to that society. In 1831 their collection was "put up to the 
 Lowest Bidder," and struck off at $9. In the first year of 
 Mr. Clark's pastorate, 1832, "the Society voted to try the 
 experiment of raising money the present year by subscrip- 
 tion, and the trouble of passing a subscription paper through- 
 out the town be put up to the Lowest Bidder." It was 
 struck off for $4.50, and the ringing of the bell and care of 
 the meetinghouse with sufficient wood for the stove went 
 to the man who bid $13.00. By 1851 a heavy debt had been 
 incurred, which was raised by subscription. In that year a 
 movement took form to secure the pews for the Society, by 
 purchase or by gift, in order that their annual rental might 
 yield the necessary revenue for parish expenses. A consider- 
 able number were given up, and in 1852 began the annual 
 sale of choice of seats and their rental for a stipulated sum. 
 In 1855, after much preliminary negotiation and the calling in 
 of two disinterested committees of out-of-town men as ap- 
 praisers of pews, the consent of the old pew-owners was 
 secured, and alterations were made in the plan of seating which 
 furnished "more and better seats than it supplied before." 
 The former pew-owners were compensated by being given title 
 to new "slips," and the additional pews were sold. Under 
 
 48 
 
date of March 10, 1856, there is recorded an appraisal of each 
 of the 75 pews, at rentals ranging from $4.00 to $47.50.* 
 It was arranged that a subsequent appraisal should be made 
 by three disinterested men from out of town. In 1861 a 
 debt which had reached nearly $1900 was cleared off, the 
 donors being shown informal assessments on their property, 
 when asked to subscribe. In 1863 it was voted to raise the 
 appraisal of the pews to $1500. In 1879 it was determined 
 to raise $1300, to pay current expenses, by rental of slips and 
 by weekly offerings. In 1893 the plan of raising money for 
 current expenses by pledged weekly offerings was definitely 
 adopted, and the following year it was voted that the sittings 
 in the church be free. 
 
 In 1835 the meeting-house underwent a thorough modern- 
 izing, and the old-fashioned square pews were removed. f 
 October 18, when the Church and congregation assembled 
 for the first time after this transformation, the church " was 
 dedicated anew to the service of God." In 1856 the interior 
 of the meeting-house was remodeled by placing the pulpit 
 at the East end and reversing the slips. Eight years later 
 the church building was again somewhat remodeled, and 
 turned a quarter way around, so that its front was made 
 
 *The pastor's record reads; "The Meeting House has been repaired and remodeled 
 and the slips made Parish property and rented for the support of the Ministry. " 
 September, 1856. 
 
 tin a letter accompanying his donation toward the building of the new church, 
 and dated on his eightieth birthday, (Sept. 26, 1909) Mr. C. H. Merrick of Ottumwa, 
 Iowa, writes: "My memories of the departed Church reach back a little more than 
 three-quarters of a century to the time when it had externally three entrance porches 
 and internally the old-fashioned square pews with the spindle railings around their 
 tops, although these memories are somewhat dim, for the modernizing of the Church 
 was done I am quite certain before I was five years old. 
 
 "That modernizing, however, I remember very well, and how, during the summer 
 when it was done, services were held at the old yellow Vestry, which was enlarged for 
 the purpose by taking out its windows and building lean-tos on its sides supported by 
 rough tree-trunks set in the ground and seated with plain planks, the backs to the seats 
 having been omitted to economize space or money or possibly both. 
 
 "I remember, too, when the Church was well filled, the Walkers coming from the 
 North, the Potters and Plimptons from the South, the Porters, Wheelocks and Stones 
 from the East, and the Wights and Holbrooks from the West." 
 
 49 
 
parallel with the main highway. In 1897 the old stoves 
 were removed and a furnace installed. Six years later the 
 "electrical rods" were removed from the building. In the 
 summer of 1908 the "vestry" was moved from its former 
 site, with the intention of joining it to the meeting-house 
 at the north end and adapting it more fully to the social 
 and religious service of the Church. But these alterations 
 were never completed.* 
 
 WOMAN'S WORK IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 It is impossible to give statistics of membership for the 
 whole period of this Church'^life for the reason that the records 
 of Mr. Paine's pastorate of nearly forty years have been lost. 
 They are said to have been stolen from his house. Taking 
 the record of admissions for the rest of the period from 1736 
 to 1910, they number 1250 of whom 411 have been males 
 and 839 females. 
 
 It will be remembered that of the original fourteen mem- 
 bers of the Church of Christ in New Medfield all were men. 
 
 *It is desirable that there should be placed on record a brief statement as to the 
 other real estate which has been owned by this Church and Society. 
 
 The original grant of land to Caleb Rice was to him as an individual and not as a 
 permanent holding of the pastor of this Church. Most of this land he sold within a few 
 years. His successors bought or rented houses suited to their needs. Thus, Mr. 
 Austin bought the house now occupied by Mr. R. W. Gifford, and for some years after 
 his own resignation, he rented this house, which was known as the "parsonage," to 
 at least one of his successors. Twenty years later it became diflScult for the pastor to 
 rent a conveniently located and comfortable house; for about a year Mr. Richardson 
 had to rent a house in Snellville, a mile and a half from the church. Accordingly, 
 March 30, 1868, the Society voted unanimously to buy a half-acre lot and build a house 
 for a parsonage, and it was forthwith erected where it now stands. Fifteen years later, 
 1883, a barn was built for the parsonage, as a gift from Mr. Chester Walker. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Bond was greatly interested in stimulating the young people of the 
 community, and through his urging the "Vestry" was built to give an opportunity for 
 social and literary gatherings, as well as for prayer-meetings and other week-day reli- 
 gious exercises. Several years after its erection, the land on which it stood was deeded 
 (March 2, 1831 ) by Capt. Perez Walker to the deacons of the Church and their successors, 
 for the uses of the Church; it was to revert to his heirs and assigns, when it ceased to be 
 so used. For nearly four-score years the Vestry was the scene of some of the most 
 earnest and fruitful activities of the Church. Then, in the summer of 1908. it was 
 moved to the rear of the meeting-house, but before the proposed alterations were com- 
 pleted, both buildings were destroyed. 
 
 50 
 
It was not the habit of the seventeenth century to accord 
 much initiative in pubhc affairs to the "weaker vessel." 
 But the next year seven women were admitted and only 
 two men, and from the fourth year of the life of this Church 
 the men, as is true in most churches, have been in hopeless 
 minority. In the early years the women doubtless did their 
 full share of the genuinely religious work in this community, 
 but their activities were for the most part in the background. 
 They occupied separate galleries and sections in the meeting- 
 house, and it was an occasion for "large debate" in town- 
 meeting, when a dozen of them petitioned for permission to 
 build a pew where they could see the minister. In the church 
 records of the first hundred years, except for the lists of those 
 admitted to the Church, and except also for their considerable 
 proportion of the cases of discipline, there is hardly any 
 mention of women. 
 
 There have been various women's associations connected 
 with this Church, but most of them have been too informal, 
 too modest, or too unsystematic to keep records of their doings. 
 In 1812 there was formed the Sturbridge Female Society, 
 which adopted a quite elaborate constitution, introduced by 
 this preamble: "Impressed with a sense of the importance 
 of Vii-tue & Religion & desirous of promoting them by every 
 means in our power, we agree to unite together in a society, 
 for purposes of religious improvement." Meetings were to 
 be held the first Tuesday in every month for religious exer- 
 cises and improvement. Each member was to contribute 
 fifty cents a year for charitable and religious uses. It was 
 stipulated: "Whatever shall be said or done, by any one in 
 our Society shall not be made public." Beginning in 1812, 
 there are 73 names signed to the constitution, the last appar- 
 ently added in 1843, although there are records for two years 
 later. The meetings were held regularly at the house of one 
 of the members, who was paid two or three dollars a year 
 for her trouble in supplying a work-room. The proceedings 
 included prayer and reading from the Bible and from other 
 
 51 
 
books of devotion, quite a library of which was gradually 
 brought together by the Society, for use at the meetings and 
 to be loaned to members. There are still extant scores of 
 letters, written to be read at the meetings, by members 
 who were obliged to be absent or who had moved out of town.* 
 A committee was chosen each year to solicit donations, 
 which were made not only in money but in labor, in wool, or 
 in articles of clothing, etc. In 1829 it was voted: "That 
 in consequence of having cloth badly manufactured that but 
 two persons be employed in spinning our wool the present 
 year and that they be paid for their services unless it be 
 gratuitous." The following year the treasurer recorded: 
 "Paid Mrs. Dunton seven yards of flannel for spinning and 
 weaving our charity cloth." The disbursement of the 
 
 *These were intended to contribute to the religious improvement of the members. 
 Most of them detail the writer's own searchings of heart, and record her gratitude for 
 the help received from the Society's meetings. One gives details as to the hopeful 
 conversion of a frivolous young woman in Brimfield. Several report on the state or 
 religion in the towns to which they have removed. The letters are very long. Their 
 flavor may be indicated by one or two extracts. The first is from a much valued mem- 
 ber, who had made her home in Homer, N. Y. 
 
 (Jan. 15, 1827.) 
 "Dear Sisters in the Lord 
 
 Not all the flatteries of this vain world nor the kind attachments of surrounding 
 friends can make me forgetful of the ties which bind my heart to my distant Sisters of 
 Zion Little did I think when I received your kind token of friendship it would alain 
 so long unanswered but did you know the many changing senes and afflictions which 
 I have ben caled to pass you would not wonder and I presume you would excuse me if 
 you knew what a task it is for me to write but I must be short for I have to take the 
 midnight hours while my family are through the goodness of a devine pro teeter in health 
 and silent slumber I was in hopes to have had time to a given you a full account of 
 the out pourings of the holy spiret here among us the year past but I have not learnt 
 the correct number that has been hopefully converted in all our Churches but proverble 
 you will have the account in your panoplists [This was doubtless the "Panophst, or the 
 Christian'sArmory," "Conducted byan Association of the Friends of Evangelical Truth," 
 Boston.] this month, and as I expect you will receive these imperfect lines by the hand 
 of Brother J G if his life should be spaird to arrive at Sturbridge, dear Sister Plimpton 
 he will tell you more about our situations as it respect our religeous societies in twenty 
 menits than I can write in an hour. ..." 
 
 I must close with wishing you all the prosperity both in spirituale and temperal 
 affairs that this imperfect world can afford in hast please to answer this by Brother J 
 if convenient if not as soon as you can from your unworthy Sister in 
 the Lord P Goodell 
 
 I think if nothing happens I shall write again before long 
 
 To the Sisters of the female Society. " 
 
 52 
 
Society's donations was determined by vote at the annual 
 meeting.* Occasionally special aid was given to some needy 
 person in town. At the very first annual meeting, it was 
 voted that "two dollars thirteen cents be given for the sup- 
 port of the Bass Viol." Considerable contributions were 
 made to different organizations to constitute the pastor a 
 life member of them. But this Society of godly women 
 specialized on aiding young men in their preparation for the 
 ministry. Sometimes it was a Sturbridge youth who was 
 thus favored. For quite a series of years the principal record 
 was: ''Voted: To cloathe David T. Lane [son of the pastor, 
 
 sturbridge, Jan. 19"> 1813. 
 
 "To the Ladies of the Female Society in Sturbridge. 
 Dear Sisters, 
 
 Feeling impressed with a sence of the awful realities of etarnity I take this oppor- 
 tunity to address you with a short Epistle on the Subject. For a moment let us cast 
 our eyes on the ravages of time and consider how swiftly one after another passes away 
 no age nor order is exempt from this bold ravager call.d death wherever and whenever 
 it has has its commission it preys on the body without a moments delay, how oft have 
 we seen bereaved companions sinking under a load of grief resigning up the partner of 
 their youth and their dependance in, Old age, no bribe of gold, or appendage of honour, 
 or the tear of grief, or the prayer of the Soul, can save from this predetarmined hour; 
 how apt are we to promis or rather figure long life for a healthy child, we are apt to 
 forget the emphatical word thou shalt surely dye; when we see the form, plump, the 
 cheek rosy, the mental powers quick, and activ, the bodily organs performing with 
 ease their function, we are ready to forget mortality and deUght ourselves with this 
 mortal corruptable worm, which is as the flower which passes away, not suspecting the 
 fallacy of our hopes or discovering the rottenness of our structure untill by some blast 
 of sickness it falls motionless and inactive, never more to rise untill it shall be awaked 
 by the mighty sounding trumpet of the archange, which shall awake all nations from 
 their cold beds to the general judgment of the most high God; .... [After portray- 
 ing the contrast between the resurrection of the redeemed and of the lost, and exhort- 
 ing the sisters to watchfulness and prayer, she concludes:]" And may that God who 
 hears prayers have mercy on each member of this society and crown them with that 
 spiritual good which is life etarnal Patty Johnson. 
 
 Pleas to excuse the liberty I have taken in writing with the length of this Epistle 
 and errours in writing and shoul be glad to receiv a letter from each or any of you. " 
 
 *Payments in 1824. 
 
 
 Payments in 1826. 
 
 
 "Carding wool 
 
 
 .74 
 
 Making pantaloons 
 
 .50 
 
 Weaving 
 
 
 1.80 
 
 Carding wool 
 
 1.48 
 
 Dressing 15 i of cloth 
 
 
 3.03 
 
 Flag handkerchief 
 
 .92 
 
 Making pantaloons 
 
 
 00.58 
 
 Pantaloons 
 
 1.08 
 
 Coat trimmings 
 
 
 00.83 
 
 
 
 One pair of fine shirts 
 
 
 2.53 
 
 
 
 One pair of Shoes 
 
 
 2.00 
 
 
 
 W. Bullock in part for 
 
 making coat 
 
 2.00 
 
 
 
 $13.51 
 
 53 
 
from whom the Society received appreciative letters of 
 acknowledgement] and assist him as we are able." In 1828 
 it was voted "that David T. Lane have all the Cloth that he 
 needs, let it be more or less, and the remainder be sent to 
 the Education Society." This was "The American Society 
 for Educating Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry," which 
 that year sent to this Sturbridge band of women its receipt 
 for " One Piece Flannel of 21 yds, worth $10.50 as a Donation.' ' 
 Four years later the gift was more varied. The treasurer's 
 record shows that donations of wool had been received from 
 a dozen different persons, amounting in all to 22| pounds. 
 It continues: 
 
 "Made thirty-two yards of flannel and paid Miss Fay 
 for weaving thirty-two yards . 75 
 
 paid Mrs. Johnson for weaving twenty yards of flannel, 
 the wool for this last web was collected in 1831. 1.60 
 
 This fifty-two yards of flannel and a Box of Clothing 
 containing the following articles was sent to A, Education 
 Society. 2 Bed Quilts 2 pr Sheets 7 pr Pillow Cases, 9 pr 
 Stockings, 3 Shirts, 6 Collars & 1 Towel, and Twelve Dollars. 
 Received receipt. " 
 
 In 1833 Mr. Clark mentions as one of the events of the year 
 that a "Young Ladies' Reading Society had been formed 
 with very flattering prospects." For many decades the 
 Ladies' Benevolent Society has pursued its varied and useful 
 labors. In the early days their pious fingers sewed for young 
 men preparing for the ministry in Massachusetts academies 
 and colleges. Much has been accomplished by them for the 
 help of those in need in our own community.* 
 
 *A most interesting and cheering instance of bread, cast upon the waters, returning 
 after many days, has just been seen. Year after year, the women of this Church have 
 knit and sewed and given money that the Uttle children in the "parish," so to say, 
 of our good friend. Miss Remington, (the "Remington" settlement, Buffalo, N. Y.) 
 might share in the joy of Christmas. And now when we have been trying to build 
 again our Church home, little Italian children in Buffalo, by their grateful contributions 
 of a few pennies apiece, have made a substantial donation to this Church, —a gift which 
 must help to hallow these walls. 
 
 54 
 
Mention should also be made of the fact that the women 
 of this Society have proved excellent financiers. Again 
 and again the proceeds of their sales and suppers have cleared 
 off deficits, or provided needed repau-s or improvements; 
 they procured the first pipe organ and thek treasury has 
 contributed a liberal sum to the cost of building this Church. 
 
 For a century, though zealous in all good works, the 
 women seem to have obeyed the Pauline injunction as to 
 then- demeanor and part in public meetings. In 1832 there 
 is one record that looks far ahead: the Church was about to 
 ballot for the election of a deacon, when the motion was 
 carried that ''The Sisters of this Chh. be requested to vote." 
 I find no other indication of their voting or being asked to 
 vote until 1876, when the question formally arose whether 
 the By-Laws should be so altered as to "give the Female 
 members the right to vote in all Church matters." This 
 additional By-Law was then adopted: ''All Members of the 
 Church of the age of eighteen years and upwards, in good 
 and regular standing, shall be entitled to vote, on all business 
 that comes before the Church." Fifteen years later, (Sep- 
 tember 5, 1891) it was voted to add two women to the Church 
 Committee, and their representation in the management of 
 the Church's most important interests is now fully assured. 
 
 MISSIONARY INTERESTS AND ENDEAVOR. 
 
 This Church has not been unmindful of its duty to bear 
 its part in missionary effort. As early as 1808 it voted to 
 join as a body the Evangelical Missionary Society of Wor- 
 cester County, and to contribute $10 to its objects. Twenty 
 years later the Church became auxihary to the Society for 
 Mutual Assistance of the Churches, and for years this work 
 was included among the objects to be supported by the con- 
 tribution taken at the Lord's table. The proceeds of this 
 collection also covered the cost of the communion bread and 
 wine, the lighting and heating of the Vestry, and the "aiding 
 
 55 
 
of the poor of the Church. A gleam of worldly wisdom (or 
 a hint of some discouraging experience) is found in the vote 
 of 1835 that a previous resolution of the Church to "support 
 its own poor" be so modified as to limit its application to 
 those who have their legal settlement in the town of Stur- 
 bridge"; a few years later the vote to support the Church 
 poor was reconsidered and rescinded, thus making poor- 
 relief distinctly a secular charge. 
 
 From time to time the Church contributed considerable 
 sums to various educational institutions; thus, in 1834 about 
 $40 was given to ''the College in West Tennessee," and $50 
 was appropriated to assist young men of this town pursuing 
 theu' studies in Monson Academy." For a number of years 
 a most modern method was employed in administering our 
 missionary benevolences: this Church voted that the $100 
 appropriated by them for the use of the Home Missionary 
 Society be applied to the support of the Rev. Benj. C. Cressey 
 as this Church's Missionary at the town of Salem, Indiana. 
 Letters from this frontier worker were read here, and he is 
 repeatedly referred to in the records as ''the Missionary of 
 this Church in Indiana." 
 
 This Church felt the evangelizing impulse which led to 
 the forming of the "American Board." During the pastor- 
 ate of Mr. Bond, the Female Charitable Society was reorgan- 
 ized as the Ladies' Society, and a Men's Association was also 
 formed, the prime object of each being to develop interest 
 in and support of foreign missions. The movement met 
 with a surprising degree of success. Gradually foreign mis- 
 sions became the most appealing object of benevolence, 
 gaining while donations to other causes nearer at home were 
 dwindling. This Church made its largest contributions to 
 benevolent objects during Mr. Clark's ministry. In 1837, 
 — the year of the great financial panic — while the Home 
 Missionary Society was given only $69.25 in place of the 
 customary $100, out of a total of about $610 devoted to 
 benevolences there was contributed to the American Board 
 
 56 
 
$323.03. And this was the very year in which the Church 
 reconsidered and rescinded its earher vote to support the 
 Church poor. 
 
 CHURCH MUSIC. 
 
 In the early days, both Church and Town recognized it 
 as a duty to promote singing. Their activities in this regard 
 overlapped each other. At the third meeting of the Church 
 of Christ in New Medfield (March 17, 1737), it was voted 
 that Moses Allen ''Set the Psalm in the Congregation upon 
 the Sabbath day." What the substance of their tuneful 
 lays should be, was determined in 1765, when the question 
 in the warrant for the Church meeting "Whether we shall 
 sing any other portion of the Psalms than we now sing, and 
 if so whether tate and brady's with the Appendix of Hymns 
 or Watts version of the psalms" was decided in favor of the 
 former. In 1768 an article in the warrant for the town- 
 meeting was to "See if the Town will grant the Petition of 
 Sundry of the Inhabitants of the Town requesting they may 
 have the Liberty of takeing their seats in the Meeting House 
 in the front Gallery, or whare the Town Shall think proper, 
 in order to carry on the Deuty of Singing with more regularity 
 decency and good order." Permission was granted them to 
 take their seats in the front gallery "for the better Carrying on 
 Singing . . . Dureing the Town's Pleasure." Ten years 
 later (November 18, 1778) a town-meeting warrant reads: 
 "& whereas an uneasiness Subsists among a number of the 
 Inhabitants of this Town in Regard to Singing in Public 
 Worship on Sabbath Days, therefore: To See if the town 
 will Enquire into the Causes of Said uneasiness, & pass such 
 vote or votes as they in their wisdom may think most likely 
 to unite the minds of the People in that part of Public Wor- 
 ship." But "after some debate," it was voted not to act 
 upon this knotty subject. The Church, however, was not 
 deterred from acting upon the matter, and a committee 
 was appointed which after several weeks of investigation 
 
 57 
 
brought in a report setting forth clearly the differences which 
 had arisen between the Singers who aspired to sing " b}^ Rule" 
 and conservatives of the congregation who wished to continue 
 to make melody unto the Lord, each after his own fashion. 
 The records of the Church for that period are lost, so that it 
 is not known what action was taken upon this report, but its 
 admirable spirit must have helped greatly to relieve the 
 strained situation,* 
 
 ♦REPORT OF A COMMITTEE IN REGARD TO SINGING. 
 
 To the Rev'^ Joshua Paine, 
 
 To be Communicated to the Church. 
 Whereas there has been some very unhappy matters of Difficulty & uneasiness 
 in the minds of Some in this Town, with respect to Singing in the Worship of God 
 in our Christian Assembly, since the late Indeavours of Learning to Sing by Rule: 
 The Church Did at a meeting on the 15th of July last, being Deeply Impres*' with a 
 Sence of our unhappy Scituation with respect to Singing, it being more affecting con- 
 sidering the sore Distress & Calamity wee are under in this Land: The Church being 
 Desierous of Removing said Difficulties, cementing Differences, Restoring Peace & 
 Preposeing some Plan, whereby wee might Carry on that part of Public Worship in 
 Love & Harmony according to the Rules of good Order & Edifycation: the Church 
 Chose us, the Subscribers, a Committee for that Purpose: — 
 
 Your Committee have taken into their Sierious Consideration what appears to 
 them to bee the Principle matters of Complaint & uneasiness Since the late attempt 
 of a Reformation of Singing by Rule: on the one hand made by the Singers and on 
 the other, by those offended by the conduct of the Singers in some Respects & other 
 matters that have attended Singing; In the first place we Look upon it Necessary & 
 of Importance; that good & Necessary Rules, for the Singing of Psalm Tunes be Learned 
 & observed, & as a Likely means for this Purpose We Introduce the Noble Exhortation 
 given by our Godly Forefathers, Rev'^ Ministers of the Gospel, more than 58 years ago, 
 in their Preface to Mr. Walters Singing Book as follows: And we would encourage aU. 
 more particularly our Young People, to accomplish themselves with Skill to Sing the 
 Songs of the Lord, according to the good Rules of Psalmody: Hoping that the Con- 
 sequences of it will be, that not only the AssembUes of Zion will Decently & in order. 
 Carry on this Exercise of Piety, but allso it will be the more introduced into private 
 Families, & become a part of our Family Sacrifice. At the same time we would, above 
 all, exhort. That the main Concern of all may be, to make it not a meer Bodily Exercise 
 but Sing with Grace in their Hearts, & with Minds attentive to the Truth in the Psalms 
 which they Sing, & affected with them; so that in their Hearts they may make a Mel- 
 ody to the Lord. Signed by the Rev^ M" Increase Mather Cotton Mather Nehemiah 
 Walter, & others 15 in all. 
 
 & now as to the Diffeculties & Discouragements the Singers have Laboured under 
 since their vigorous Exertions of Learning to Sing by Rule often mentioned by them, 
 as their not being Propperly Encouraged, & so many being opposed to Singing by Rule 
 some People's leaving the Meeting House &c., as to Encouraging Singing we hope 
 matters of Discouragement that are really such will soon be removed; if any their be 
 who oppose Singing by Rule or Look upon it not necessary we hope they will weigh 
 that matter in their own minds without Prejudice. Read Said Mr. Walters Reasons 
 & Directtions, on that Subject, & whither or no it is even Possable that a Congregation 
 
 58 
 
In 1793 the town voted to "appropriate to the use of 
 the Singers the South East Square in the Gallery of the Center 
 Meeting house." At about the same time a grant of £3 
 
 Should Join togather in Singing & Carry it on in order, no one Knowing any Rule & 
 so none could observe any; we trust this will Sattisfy them. 
 
 another thing mentioned by the Singers is their Persons & Characters being In- 
 juriously Treated; as to this wee know not the Persons nor the Perticular Sircumstances 
 that have attended their offenses: wee hope those Persons will Seriously reflect on 
 their Conduct & See the Importance of their Paying a Sollem regard to that golden 
 Rule (of Doing to others as they would have others do to them) 
 
 a nother matter of Discouragement mentioned by the Singers is their not ha^^ng 
 Liberty to Sing once a Day without Reading Une by line &c as to this, the Singers as 
 Individuals have a Right of Private Judgment, they to gather think that is best, the 
 Church has the same Right, wee must strive to Enlighten each other, & hope we 
 shall be lead to do right. Nothing is more common than opposition & Discourage- 
 ment in a good work. 
 
 With respect to the matters of uneasiness in the minds of some Relative to the 
 Proceedings of the Singers in some respects Since the late Indeavours of Learning to 
 Sing by Rule in our Congregation in the first place the Singers Ariseing to To Set 
 the Psalm or Strike the Tune when the Quethiser or Quethisers, who were orderly 
 Introduced to do that Duty being Present attempting to do their Duty were Interrup- 
 ted, & this of the Singers was not as wee Suppose don on a Sudden by Supprise, but 
 by before Determination: further their proceeding to Sing without reading hne by lire, 
 no previous notice being given to those whose whose Duty it was to read, & haveing 
 no vote of the Church passed to Sing without Reading. 
 
 In this we Sincerely think many of the Singers are to Blame, Did not Proceed 
 according to the Rules of Decency & good order; by which they have brought a Blemish 
 on the good work they were Engaged in, for which they have good Reason to reflect 
 upon them selves wee hope they will do honour to them selves & the Cause of God: by 
 makeing Sutable Confession herefor. further it is our Real oppinion that their Intro- 
 duceing of Some New Tunes & Especially Omitting Some Old Tunes: whereby Some 
 who were Desirous of joining in Singing were Deprived of the Privilidge: was not for 
 the Peace & Edifycation of our Church & Congregation. 
 
 Upon the whole your Committe is Sencible there has been blame on both Sides, 
 wee would by no means Discourage what is good & Praise worthy in our Children & 
 young People in Learning good Arts Rules &c; & in Promoting Psalmody. Wee hope 
 none will, they observing the Rules of good order & Edifycation; any Conduct to the 
 contray wee look upon it to be our Duty to appear against, wee hope that wherein 
 any have Injured the Persons or Characters of the Singers or hendered them in Pro- 
 moting any good work, will be Sencible thereof, we hope we shall all be Inabled to 
 Look at Home in this time of Trouble & Diffeculty: to Know our own Duty & do it. 
 to seek after the things that make for Peac & wherby we may Edify one another. 
 
 as to futer Proceeding in Carrying on Singing in Public Worship wee are Sencible 
 that those that Lead need wisdom to Direct them: & that they will make use of Such 
 Tunes as will be for the Peace & Edifycation of our Assembly in General.— & further 
 that Psalms be Sung once on the Sabbath Days at the Concluding of the Divine Servis, 
 by Reading one verse or half stave at once, for the Space of four months next. 
 Sturbridge August the 21=*, 1779 
 
 John Morse, \ 
 
 Joshua Harding V Committee. 
 
 Ralph Wheelock j 
 
 59 
 
was made "to Encourage the Revival of Singing in this 
 town"; this was devoted to maintaining a singing school 
 under the direction of the selectmen. Five years later the 
 town voted its approval of a contribution to be taken in 
 church on Thanksgiving day by four specified persons, the 
 proceeds to be placed in the hands of the selectmen to be 
 delivered to "the Society of Singers when they Shall be under 
 the necessary Regulations to receive the same." In 1802 
 a committee which had been appointed to lay before the town 
 some method for encouraging singing reported: "That the 
 singers are Obliged to spend much time to acquire the art 
 so as to perform that part of public worship decently, & to 
 be at the expence of Books it is but reasonable that the town 
 should grant them the encouragement of paying the master, 
 & as there appears to be a number of Excellent voices that 
 only want Cultivating we recommend that the town grant 
 S60 to be laid out for that purpose to be assessed on the 
 whole town & that the new parish draw in proportion to 
 what they pay. " This recommendation was adopted. The 
 following year the Church requested the singers to nominate 
 such persons or persons as they "think most suitable for the 
 service of conducting the singing in public worship" and at 
 a later meeting proceeded to elect the four persons so named 
 "to stand as choristers in the order as they are nominated, 
 and also that the Chh. signify to the singing Society their 
 respects for their past services, and wishes for the further 
 continuance of said services in that important branch of 
 social worship." 
 
 In the first half of the nineteenth century the east end 
 of the gallery was made into seats for the singers, who seem 
 to have been accompanied by a goodly orchestra, including 
 violins, a flute, a clarionet, a bass viol and a double bass. 
 Judging from the treasurer's report, their performances for 
 the year 1842 were the most strenuous, for then the charge 
 "For bass viol Strings" mounted to $4.50. In 1840 the 
 practice was begun of raising $50 by subscription to com- 
 
 60 
 
The ''Old Center Meeting House." Built 1784-1789. 
 Its Site, after the Fire of August 5, 1908. 
 
pensate "the leader of the Singers"; later, appropriations 
 were made for this purpose among the regular parish expenses. 
 For many years this service was rendered by Charles Fuller. 
 About 1860 an innovation was introduced in the shape of 
 a melodeon, soon replaced by a heavier one. The first player 
 upon the new-fangled instrument was Theodore Snell, and 
 for three score years from that day to the present the musical 
 Snell family has been a chief dependence in this part of the 
 service of the Church. When a pipe organ was installed in 
 1876, mainly through the efforts of the Ladies' Benevolent 
 Society, it was erected in the alcove at the rear of the south 
 gallery, opposite the pulpit. Until 1902 the congregation 
 accorded recognition of the singers' efforts by rising, during 
 the second hymn, turning their backs upon the preacher 
 and facing the choir. 
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 Between twelve and one o'clock on the morning of 
 August 5, 1908, during a furious storm, lightning struck the 
 steeple of the old meeting-house and set it on fire. The bell- 
 rope was burned off almost immediately so that the bell 
 could not sound the alarm. The scenes of that night will 
 never be forgotten by those who witnessed them. The fury 
 of the storm, the high-leaping flames, the crash of timbers, 
 the fall of the bell were dramatic, indeed; but that was no 
 place for idle spectators. Willing helpers did all that man 
 could do to rescue every thing that could be removed, and 
 to save the Town Hall and Library, both of which were badly 
 scorched by the fierce heat. In a few hours there remained 
 above the ground hardly a vestige of that noble old meeting- 
 house where four generations of Sturbridge folk had been 
 wont to gather for worship. 
 
 In the gloom of the morning after the fire, the first word 
 of cheer was a letter of sympathy from a committee of the 
 Unitarian Society, cordially offering the use of their church 
 
 61 
 
building at any time we might wish to use it. That warm- 
 hearted invitation and its acceptance are both spread upon 
 the records of our Church. The grace of Christian hospitaUty 
 shown by our sister Society, in these months when we have 
 been homeless, will long be held in grateful remembrance. 
 
 The burning of the old meeting-house was a crushing blow 
 to this Church. The future looked dark. To rebuild seemed 
 a hopeless task. Weighty arguments were advanced against 
 the expediency of building a new church in a community 
 like this. And yet, there was gradually deepening the feeling 
 that we must have a house of worship of our own, — that, 
 however hospitable one's host may be, in church as in private 
 relations, there is no place like home. On the fourteenth of 
 October, 1908, after much anxious debating, it was voted 
 "that we proceed to build a church," and committees were 
 chosen to solicit funds and to consult and report to the Church 
 plans and costs of a suitable building. June 7, 1909, Mr. 
 George H. Clemence was chosen architect, and August 30, 
 Mr. Orrin J. Aldrich's bid for the building contract was 
 accepted. Friends of the old Sturbridge Church have given 
 liberally of money and of service. Money contributions 
 have been received from more than one hundred donors, 
 ranging in amount from one dollar to two thousand dollars. 
 Many, both within and without our church household, have 
 made specific gifts which will add much to the new building's 
 serviceableness. Thus it is due to the generous public spirit 
 of one of our citizens that the clear and cheering tones of the 
 old Revere bell are once more heard, and the tower clock 
 will be a boon to all within sight or hearing of this place.* 
 
 To-day, we see here the result of all this striving. It 
 has meant much of devotion, of hard work, of sacrifice. To 
 what end? Sentiment aside, this church family is far more 
 
 *The old bell, which had been badly cracked in the fire, was recast by the gift 
 of Mr. Alvin B. Chamberlain. It was erected by Mr. Henry D. Haynes, on a day long 
 to be remembered by the children of the Centre Schools, for their hands "manned the 
 rope" which raised the bell to the belfry. The tower clock was the gift of Mr. Melvin 
 Shepard. The chancel windows and choir screen were given by Mrs. Ellen Hill Fisher; 
 the west window, by Mr, Alvin Morse; the platform furnishings, by Mr. F. L. Chapin 
 
 62 
 
comfortably housed in this snug, convenient building than 
 ever before. But the love and loyalty which have built 
 this church have not been put forth primarily to enable this 
 church family to "sit at ease in Zion." The building of a 
 new church was a mistake, — a waste of money and of energy 
 sorely needed in other lines of Christian work, — unless this 
 new meeting-house shall be made to minister to nobler Chris- 
 tian living on the part of those who worship here and to a 
 more intelligent, a more generous service of the community. 
 Less than twenty years ago there was still much talk 
 of the doleful present and the yet more doleful future of the 
 hill town in Massachusetts. Sturbridge and this Church 
 have felt heavy discouragements. The town's population 
 dwindled and its elements shifted,— changes which were 
 pitifully reflected in the lonesome handful of a congregation 
 in the huge old meeting-house which sixty years ago used to 
 be tlironged by worshippers from the four corners of the town. 
 But the day for pessimism in Sturbridge is past. In many 
 ways life here has become far more comfortable and attractive 
 than it was twenty or even ten years ago. The change is 
 typified by this very building, in the convenience and com- 
 pleteness of its appointments in contrast with the bare and aus- 
 tere old meeting-house we all loved. The physical facilities 
 for the public worship and social activities of the Church are 
 vastly better here to-day than ever before. What of the 
 will? What of the spirit? The watchword of the new day 
 is co-operation. Close-grouped about our beautiful Stur- 
 bridge Common are our Library, our Town Hall, and two 
 Christian Churches. What may it not mean for the future 
 of this community, if the forces for good for which these stand, 
 are raised to their highest efficiency by cordial co-operation! 
 For you, who make this new meeting-house your church home, 
 in this struggle for the higher life in Sturbridge the question 
 is, are you eager to lend a hand? Are you ready, not to shrink 
 from the problem, but rather to rise to the opportunity, of 
 the Church in the country town. 
 
 63 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 Legacies and Memorial Gifts. 
 
 Aside from the donations connected with the building of 
 the new meeting-house, this Church, in the long years of its his- 
 tory, has received many gifts of money, of church furnishings, 
 and of service, which have borne witness to the filial devotion 
 of sons and daughters of this Church, or of those whose fore- 
 fathers worshipped here. Mention should be made of the fol- 
 lowing legacies and memorial gifts. The dates are given the 
 years in which the funds became available. 
 
 1844. Mrs, Sarah Harding made this Church her residuary 
 legatee. The legacy amounted to about $250. A part 
 of this sum was used to repair the Vestry, and the rest 
 to pay debts of the Society. 
 
 1864. Mrs. Ebenezer Howard's gift of $100 was used for putting 
 blinds upon the Vestry. 
 
 1886. James B. Bullock, Esq., of New York City, bequeathed 
 without restriction the sum of $5,000 to this Church, 
 "where his dear parents worshipped for so many years." 
 
 1890. A gift of $1000 was received "in memory of deceased 
 parents, who were earnest workers in and for the Church. " 
 "The interest only of this sum is to be drawn and used 
 for the support of the gospel in said Church." It was 
 the donor's special request that it should be credited 
 to "a native of the town, though a non-resident." 
 
 1891. Miss Sarah M. Wight bequeathed $250 to this Church. 
 At the discretion of her executors it was expended for 
 the painting of the meetinghouse. 
 
 1902. Emerson Wight's bequest of $2000 became available. 
 The interest only is to be used for the support of the Church. 
 
 1909. William Wight bequeathed the sum of $500 to constitute 
 the "WilUam Wight Fund," the interest of which is 
 to be used for the benefit of this Church. 
 
 64 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 Deacons. 
 
 The following is a list of those who have held the office of 
 Deacon since the organization of this Church. The dates indi- 
 cate the years when they began their service. The loss of the 
 book containing the records of Mr. Paine's pastorate makes it 
 impossible to assign dates in the case of Deacons who were chosen 
 during that period. The longest service was that of Deacon 
 Henry Haynes, from his election in 1853 to his death in 1899. 
 
 1736, Daniel Fiske 
 1736, Ebenezer Stearns 
 1741, Isaac Newell 
 1747, Joshua Baker 
 1749, Edward Foster 
 1764, Moses Weld 
 
 Joshua Harding 
 Job Hamant 
 Roland Clark 
 Eleazar Hebard 
 
 1807, Joel PUmpton 
 
 1808, Daniel Plimpton 
 1822, Ephraim Lyon 
 1826, Zenas Dunton 
 1826, George Davis 
 
 1832, James Chapin 
 1846, Perley Allen 
 1850, David K. Porter 
 1853, Melville Snell 
 1853, Henry Haynes 
 1863, Charles Fuller 
 1863, Henry E. Hitchcock 
 1869, Isaac Johnson 
 1886, William G. Reed 
 1894, Lucius Snell 
 
 1899, John F. Hebard 
 
 1900, Henry D. Haynes 
 1902, Charles W. Bradford 
 1904, Benjamin C. Weld 
 
 65 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 Programme of the Dedication of the First Congregational 
 Church in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. 
 
 Wednesday, the Eleventh of May, Nineteen Hundred and Ten, 
 at Half after Two in the Afternoon. 
 
 ORDER OF SERVICES. 
 
 Organ Prelude. — "Pilgrim Chorus . . . Wagner 
 
 Miss Viola G. Packard 
 
 Call to Worship. 
 
 The Pastor 
 
 Praise waiteth for thee, God, in Zion: and unto thee 
 shall the vow be performed. thou that hearest prayer, 
 unto thee shall all flesh come. O worship the Lord in the 
 beauty of holiness. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving 
 and into his courts with praise. 
 
 doxology. 
 
 The Congregation 
 
 Invocation. 
 
 The Rev. Alexander Wiswall 
 
 Quartet.— "Festival Te Deum" .... Buck 
 
 Responsive Reading. — Selection No. 4 
 
 The Rev. John C. Hall 
 
 Trio.— "The Lord will comfort Zion" . . . Brown 
 
 Sp^rmon. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph B. Clark, D. D. 
 
 Quartet.— "1 shall be satisfied" . . . Brown 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 Prop. George H, Haynes 
 
 66 
 
Hymn.— No. 177. 
 
 The Congregation 
 
 Ceremony of Dedication. 
 
 {The People standing and responding to the Minister.) 
 
 Being prospered by the good hand of the Lord our 
 God to finish the work, which in His providence we were 
 called upon to perform, 
 We do now, with gratitude and joy, solemnly consecrate this 
 
 church. 
 
 To the everlasting God, our heavenly Father; in whom 
 we live and move and have our being; from whom cometh 
 every good and perfect gift; and who so loved the world 
 that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem mankind; 
 
 To Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, 
 who has promised to be with us alway, even unto the end 
 of the world; 
 
 To the praise of the Holy Spirit, Source of life and 
 light, the Comforter whom the Father has sent to guide us 
 into all truth, to convince of sin, and to renew and sanctify 
 the heart, 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 
 For worship in prayer and song, for the ministry of 
 the word, for the celebration of the holy sacraments. 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 
 For comfort to those who mourn; for strength to those 
 who are tempted, for help in right living, 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 
 For the sanctification of the family, for the guidance 
 of childhood, for the salvation of men, 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 
 For the fostering of patriotism, for the training of con- 
 science, for aggression against evil. 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 
 For the help of the needy, for the promotion of brother- 
 hood, for bringing in the Kingdom of God, 
 
 We dedicate this house. 
 67 
 
As a tribute of gratitude and love, a free-will offering 
 of thanksgiving and praise, from those who have tasted 
 the cup of Thy salvation, and experienced the riches of 
 Thy grace. 
 
 We, the people of this Church and Congregation, now con- 
 secrating ourselves anew, dedicate this entire building in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 
 AMEN. 
 
 Gloria Patri. 
 
 Congregation 
 
 Quartet.— "Still, still with Thee" 
 
 Prayer of Consecration. 
 
 The Pastor 
 
 Quartet. — "Awake, my soul, to joyful lays" 
 
 Prayer and Benediction. 
 
 The Rev. A. M. Rice 
 
 POSTLUDE. 
 
 Gerrish 
 
 Schnecker 
 
 Selected 
 
 Mrs. Arthur P. Plimpton 
 
 The Wesley Quartet of Springfield 
 
 Miss Josephine E. Floyd, Soprano 
 Miss Josephine E. Floyd, Soprano Mr. J. H. Bailey, Tenor 
 
 Mrs. William Ritter, Contralto Mr. C. D. Monroe, Basso 
 
 Miss Viola G. Packard, Organist 
 
 68