;;::~ ~pr.ead CHAPTER XI.

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1 CHAPTER X. ECCLESASTCAL HSTORY-METHODST EPSCOPAL CHURCH AND SOCETY. n 1793 John Langdon, of Vershre, Vt., becomng dssatsfed wth Calvnstc doctrne, was converted to Methodsm, and through hs nfluence the conference held at Thompson, Conn., n September, 1796, apponted a preacher for the Vershre Crcut, a somewhat ndefnte area that ncluded about twentyfve towns extendng from the Connectcut Rver easterly to Montpeler. Preachng n ths terrtory was for many years afforded only by tnerant preachers who covered wdely scattered settlements and held ther meetngs n school-houses, dwellngs or barns. n r8o4 the Barre Crcut was formed from a porton of the Vershre Crcut, and a class was organzed n Watsfeld wth preachng once n four or sx weeks. Not for eghteen years was a Methodst Epscopal Socety organzed, and t requres no stretch of the magnaton to pcture the struggles of the fathful few to keep the lamp alght. Relgous ntolerance was stll abroad n the land, and the new sect was vewed wth strong dsfavor by the orthodox church. There seems to be lttle evdence that ths hostlty was here carred to the extent that obtaned n some towns, and t s clear that Methodsm was not sngled out from other rregular denomnatons of that day, but we have record of at least one nstance where persstent "attendance at Methodst preachng" was held to be suffcent cause for excommuncaton. The ce thawed gradually, however, so that n the early "twentes" we fnd the Congregatonal Socety tenderng to the new church occasonal use of ts pwn meetng-house, and n 1833 the Congregatonal Church votng to recommend ts membes to "the Church of Chrst of the Methodst connecton.n One example of the gradual breakng down of prejudce may be of nterest. Dr. Smeon Stoddard and hs good wfe, who lved n the Southwest Dstrct, several mles from the Common, were ECCLESASTCAL. "S unable to attend tl)_e servces one Sunday. Ther chldren went, however, and learnng before ther return that Elder Wlder Mack was to preach that evenng n ther dstrct, rogushly reported that there was to be a lecture at the school-house. Mrs. Stoddard, who, had she known the truth, would have shunned the heresy, attended wth the chldren. Supposng that the preacher Was of her own persuason, she became nw tensely nterested n the dscourse, and when, upon ther return, her eldest son asked, "Mother, what sm do you call that, Congregatonalsm or Methodsm, or what?" she repled: call t gospelsm"-only to be told that she had been lstenng to the Methodst elder. Untl r822 Watsfeld remaned n the Barre Crcut, and ts people were mnstered to by the tnerant preachers on that rde. The names of these laborers n the feld, so far as they can be gathered at ths tme, were: ;;::~ ~pr.ead r8o9-warren Banster and George Gary. r8ro-eleazer Wells artd Squre Streeter. r8u-nathanel W. Stearns and Joseph Jewett. r8r2-ebenezer F. Newell and Joseph Dennett. r8j-r8r4-davd Klbourn. r8rs-r8r6-joel Steele. 18 r 7-r8-Leonard Frost. r8r9-thomas C. Perce. r82o-squre B. Hascall and E. Dunham Abraham Holloway. Durng a porton of the tme t would appear that Deacon Cowles worked n the town, as we fnd the followng upon the town r.ecords under date of November r, r8r4: / Deacon Amasa Cowles Creden-tal: ~ 11~w all men by these Presents, that, VVllam McKendree of the Methodst Epscopal Church n Amerca, under of Almghty God, and wth a sngle eye to hls the mposton of my hands and prayer, have ths day Amasa Cowles for the offce of a Deacon n the. sad Epscopal Church; a man whom judge to be well for that work; and do hereby recommend hm to all may concern, as a proper person to admnster the of Baptsm, Marrage and the Bural of the Dead, l)>l:>sence of an Elder; and to feed the flock of Chrst, so sprt and practce are such as become the Gospel.

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2 r.. t ;,~ \~ \{ (: ; fr\ : :, j! f. J,. t :,, r,: ::!!, : : _:;,;:: l.! "6 HSTORY OF WATSFELD. n Testmony Whereof have hereunder set my hand and seal ths fourth day of June, One Thousand Eght Hundred and Fourteen. W. McKendree L. S. Durham Conference, Mane. n 1822 Rev. Wlder Mack was apponted by the Vermont Conference to the "Mad Rver" crcut and n June of that year, the tme seemng rpe for the formaton of a relgous socety of the- Methodst fath, a formal agreement was entered nto by the sgners whose names appear below: "We the subscrbers, nhabtants of Watsfeld, do hereby voluntarly assocate and agree to form a socety by the name of the Methodst socety n Watsfeld, for the purpose of supportng a mnster accordng to the frst secton of an act enttled An act for the Support of the Gospel, passed Oct. 26, n Wtness Whereof we have hereunto severally set our hands. Dated at Watsfeld ths 24th day of June, n the year of our Lord Lyman Spaldng Farly Persons James Baldwn Wllam Wat 2nd. Edmund Rce Rufus Barret Jesse Carpenter Ard Barns Rchard Gale Lews Holden Wells Htchcock ra Rchardson Jacob Tnkham ra Burdck Abjah Cuttng Charles Perkns Foster Dana Olver Colton Joel Scott Olver Wood Samuel Bowman Solomon Brown Moses W. Rce Joel Foster Slas Jones saac Tewksbuy Job House JohnS. Poland Lev Wat Amos Robartson (Robnson) Chester Butterfeld John Walton" Meetngs of ths socety were held for some years n the Southwest Dstrct school-house. Wells Htchcock was ts frst clerk, and Rufus Barret, who, from hs zeal n buldng up ths church, has been often called the Father of Methodsm n Wats.. feld, was most often moderator n the early years. Elder Wlder Mack became the frst preacher of the new socety. The scale of yearly church expenses may be noted from the followng:,, ECCLESASTCAL. Wlder Mack-table expenses " " ~travelng expenses " " ~quarterage. John Lndsey-F. E. travelng expense " " ~quarterage " " -table expense $4.oo ro.oo ss.74 :so $r2o.46 n r824 the Montpeler Crcut, whch n r823 was set off from the Barre Crcut, was dvded, and Mddlesex, Moretown, Fayston, Watsfeld and Warren be~l.me the new Moretown Crcut, over whch Charles D. Cahoon was apponted preacher. That year wtnessed a revval n the new church, whch started n a South Fayston school taught by Solomon Gleason (a brother of Dea. Huzzal Gleason of Watsfeld) who held a local preachers lcense. From that tme untl June, 1844, when \Vatsfeld became a separate charge, the followng preachers were assgned to duty on. the Moretown Crcut: r825-]ohn Foster and Darus Barker saac Barker and Lemuel Harlow Davd Lesle Davd Lesle and John Cummngs Ashur Smth and John Cummngs. r83o-abel Heath. r83-2-]oseph Baker. r833-nathan Howe and E. G. Page. r834-]ohn Nason and E. G. Page. r moses Sanderson and srael D. Rust Cyrus Lscomb and E. Copeland. r838-cyrus Lscomb and A. C. Smth. r839-p. Masol, and. Bea1 d. r84o-p. Mason:O,L Beard and Eleazer W. Tucker Henry]. V~\ooley, John Perrn and Cornelus Fuller. r842-henry J. Wooley and Albert Carter. r843-wllam Blake and Ots M..Legate. Durng the summer of 1829 two young grls, Abgal Wlder Lyda Bxby, decded to organze a Sunday School n South Flfayston where half the pre.:chng servces of the Watsfeld were held (once n four weeks n each place). On ~H,nttays when there was preachng the school met at noon,. Otherwse the pupls gathered at the school-house at 5 P. M. ul.tl the followng year, when the preacher organzed a School for the crcut, was t possble to procure a few books and about a dozen lbrary books. Untl a 127

3 <>8 HSTORY OF WATSFELD. meetng-house was bult n r836 the school-house was used for the meetngs, and as t was small there was but one class, led frequently by the resdent preacher~s wfe. Rufus Barret was the frst superntendent, and later the duty was assumed by Roderck Rchardson, jr., under whom the school ncreased greatly n numbers and effcency, a woman assstant beng apponted to see that pupls were present and classes suppled wth teachers. Stll later Hosea Newcomb became the superntendent, and after hm came Cyrus Lscomb, ra Rchardson, Stephen R. Grggs, Thomas Poland, ra C. Taylor, Dan Boyce, George 0. Boyce, Jacob Boyce, Plyna F. Carroll, Fred Fsk, Azro D. Bragg, Frank A. Bragg, Mrs. Wllam T. Mller, Julus E. Berry, and Charles J. Greene. From the begnnng the school has been an effcent ad to the general work of the church. On October, 1824, the recently organzed Moretown Crcut voted "to buld a house for preachers agreeable to the descrpton drawn by Elder Klburn," and Stephen Herrck, Nathanel Stearns and ra Rchardson were chosen a commttee to select a ste. Ths commttee reported n Aprl, r825, n favor of locatng the buldng on the Barret farm n \flatsfeld, and Rufus Barret, Bro. Randall, Bro. Dana, Bro. yser and Stephen Herrck were chosen trustees. Ths parsonage was erected just northerly of the locaton later occuped by the meetng-house, and now forms a. part of the resdence of the late Merden L. Rchardson. t was completed n January, r829, at whch tme the trustees reported a debt of $26.05 due thereon. Some ten years later the Crcut added a barn, and nstalled a cow theren, as may be gathered from the fact that n r84r Rufus Barret and George W. A. Htchcock were chosen a commttee "to dspose of the parsonage cow and procure another for the same." Da><l ft~da!l Matn,Fk.h~rd.. n Wll~., fl~b, ECCLESASTCAL M!nbte~~ Pew r\\lf..,&rret Wcllo.H!tehO<>d\ Hooe~ Newe<>mb R.Ela~crl J.H.erown JGhn C.Grg;" R.Rlch~rdoon JQhnW..,ton 5arnuol Rchard~on r\u~oell5teere Johnw.ste~G ~~~~on Tmet~ Reed Rce M.stc""t W""_Ne\!S,Omb CMreoNeweomb Rllc~ M~nsfteld flodk.fl\ohurdo?!! C!,,,(.,~ NeV<OQm), Da (dc.jo,~jon,je~~ec.,.,p,.nt~r "9 Lomucl N.!nt as Ru~ell Loe~woo.; E:l.sha Fo::~ter Joe) Fo~ter E.P~COPAL Mt:t:.TlNG Hou!r:

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4 ~. - ; jrl,, : l :.::,, l.;., 1., l f HSTORY OF WATSFELD. By r832 the socety had entrely outgrown the schoolhouses, and was frequently compelled to hold ts servces n "Squre" Barrets spacous barn. Need of a sutable meetnghouse was mperatve, and under the lead of Mr. Barret the work was undertaken n r833, when a plan of a house to be 36 x 46 feet n sze was prepared and the followng agreement ndorsed thereon for sgnature: "n consderaton that Rufus Barret of Watsfeld, Bulder, causes to be Bult A Meetng House on the spot of ground Lyng between the Parsonage lot and Joel Fosters Lne (t beng n Watsfeld) For the use and accommodaton of the Methodst Epscopal Church n Watsfeld and Fayston as a House of Publc Worshp and secures the same to the Methodst Epscopal Church n Watsfeld by Deed-Sad House to be thrty Sx Feet by Forty Sx Feet-one story and A Half hgh wth A gallery for sngers--the frame to be rased and enclosed before the frst day of December n the year of our Lord one thousand Eght Hundred and thrty-four f Made of tmber, but f of brck to be brought to the same state of forwardness by the above mentoned tme~to be fnshed before the frst day of December n the year of our Lord one thousand eght hundred and thrty-fve-vve the subscrbers promse and ~ngage to take the Pew or pews n whch we set our names respectvely at the prce or prces now affxed to such pews n the Plan of the House hereunto annexed,-and that we wll pay sad sum or sums to Rufus Barret or hs order one half n Money and the other half n good Merchantable gran or Neatstock n two equal payments~fn Money and gran the frst by the frst day of January one thousand Eght hundred and thrty f1ve, the second by the frst d~y of January one thousand Eght hundred and thrty sx-; f the one half to be pad n gran or Neatstock be pad n Neatstock t shall be pad by the frst day of October r834 and the frst day of October r835 n equal payments." Ths agreement was executed by each subscrber placng hs sgnature n the space on the plan whch represented the pew of hs choce. Land for ths edfce was gven by Mr. Barret, and the work proceeded promptly to completon n accordance wth the contract. The buldng, whch s stll standng, was a plan, unpanted, barn-lke structure wth an nteror as devod of ostentaton as was the exteror. t served untl 1852, when the buldng was remodeled, panted, and a spre added. At ths tme many members of the church desred to have t removed to the Vllage as a more central and convenent locaton, ECCLESASTCAL. 3. but so many members of the church resded n South Fayston that after much dscusson t was deemed nexpedent to make the Ghange, and n consequence qute a contngent wthdrew and organzed a Wesleyan Methodst Socety, of whch menton s made elsewhere. Wth the growth of the church, servces became more frequent. n 842 the plan of the Moretown Crcut called for preachng at Watsfeld three-fourths of the tme, and at South Fayston one-fourth of the tme. Consequently n June, 1844, Watsfeld and Fayston were consttuted a staton, and Rev. Wlder Hemngway was placed n charge as statoned preacher. James C. Fargo was desgnated as local preacher, and Samuel Dana as exhorter, whle John R. Spauldng, Hosea Newcomb and Lucus S. Grggs were selected as stewards. From that date the fojlowng pastors have been placed n charge of the Watsfeld church: r845-6-harvey Htchcock. r847-8-homer T. Jones. r849-dyer Wlls. rsso-plyna N. Granger. r85r-2-andrew]. Copeland. r853-4~charles W. Kellogg, whose servce was marked by a great relgous awakenng. r8ss--wllam ]. Kdder. r856-7-peter Merrll. rsss-9-nathan W. Scott. r86o-r-harvey Webster C. S. Buswell and Frank H.. Roberts were apponted "Watsfeld name. and Warren," and the charge has snce borne Lews Hll-the frs.t pastor to reman three years. r866-benjamn P. Spauldng. r867--n. M. Granger Frederck M. Mller-remembered as the frst to preach a sermon especally for the chldren, and the to ntroduce sngng-books n the St.tnday School. 87o-r-]oseph Hamlton Elsha Folsom. r875-6-]oseph A. Sherburn. t877-8-charles H. Leverton. ::879-8o-8r-George L. wens-under whom the growth of ~---church was very marked. 4--Galeb P. Tapln. ~lbert S. Maxham. Y:~ rvme D. Clapp.

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5 ,, :!!:.(;,! t" j;,:!jl: :1. :.. \ 1:!..!; 1\!/! f.\j,,! 1!\,! : u.,-,! d.l, l,ll..: :,,! t. r!,rl: :! \ l,.,,.. 1., 1 ". " \,:.,.,.,;...1 1U.. 11! 1.,,: 1... f:.l., h! \, l1,,,:. ~, :, l 3 HSTORY OF WATSFELD. r88g-go-gr~george 0. Howe-durng whose pastorate there was a revval n relgous nterest, and under whom the Sunday School became especally strong. r8g2-3-4-wllam E. Douglass-durng whose pastorate the present church edfce was erected Archbald B. Enrght g-Wllam T. Mller }. Edmund Badger }ames S. Allen s-Frederck M. Barnes Frank H. Roberts. Gradually the old church buldng n rasvlle was outgrown, and wsdom seemed to dctate a removal to some locaton n the vllage. A sutable ste upon the westerly sde of the man street was purchased n May, r868, and wth the openng of the year r87o, work was commenced upon the new buldng, whch n spte of many dffcultes was brought to a speedy concluson. Ths structure contaned an audence room capable of seatng about three hundred, wth ample provson on the basement floor for the Sunday School and other purposes. Calvn Fullerton, ra Rchardso11 and Jacob Boyce were the buldng commttee, and by a strange concdence the new bell tolled for the frst tme at the death of Mr. Fullerton. The removal of the centre of actvty made t essental that a new parsonage be secured, and n November, r872, the Socety purchased the dwellng now used by ts pastors. On February 24, r894, the second meetng-house was burned, but the Socety, under the effcent leadershp of Rev. Wllam E. Douglass, turned enthusastcally to the work of rasng funds, and before the close of the year the present modern buldng had arsen over the ashes of the old, and was dedcated on October r r, r 894, free of all debt. On November r6, r89o,chapter 4oro of the Epworth League was organzed n ths church wth a membershp of 51 whch was subseq;;_ently ncreased to 122. Zba H. McAllster was the frst presdent and the followng have served subsequently: Carre M. Greene, Charles J. Greene, Mrs. Alce Berry, Mrs. Archbald B. Enrght, Mrs. Lovna A. Palmer who served dstnct tmes and was presdent at her death, December 3, 1907 Frank A. Bragg and Anne L. Bragg. A Junor Epworth League was later organzed flourshed under the effcent leadershp of Mrs. Curts Guyette,; > ~

6 ee....~ee \,\ \\ 11 q \1 :,, \ 1:1:.!!ll!:\ \ 1.!: d;, \. " 1n f[,\ 1 lf f.\:. l~j], /:. ll\,_lll.. l!.,j.): ECCLESASTCAL. A lst of tlosewho have served as stewards of the Watsfeld Methodst Epscopal Church snce ts organzaton as a separate charge.n June, r845: John R. Spauldng Dan Boyce Hosea Newcomb George A. Berry Lucus S. Grggs Plyna F. Carroll Tmothy Reed Eastman R. Long Theophlus Bxby Frankln]. Greene Stephen R. Grggs Leonard C. Berry Charles Lscomb Moses E. Hadley John P. Souther Plna E. Lockwood Joseph Martn Lyman M. Learned Moses Stewart Henry B. Cady Nathanel Shepherd Allen Howe ra C. Taylor Mrs. Mram Boyce ra Rchardson Orlo Lnfeld Barnard Lawson P. Carroll Julus E. Berry George 0. Boyce Thomas D. Poland Henry T. J. Howe Andrew Long Seth Sterlng Moses Palmer A. H. Dutton Frank A. Bragg Azro D. Bragg Zba Hamlton McAllster George W. Nchols Joseph A. La Pont Eleazer Wells Tucker Charles ]. Greene Jacob Boyce W. B. Porter Oramel Smth Josln Charles H. Clay George B. Newcomb Mrs. Alce P. Kelsey W. P. Harmon Harry Hawley Pearl B. Gaylord James Nell Slas Eaton Mrs. Jenne Boyce Mrs. sabelle K. Rchardson A lst of persons lcensed to preach by the Methodst Socety n Watsfeld: James C. Fargo Satnuel Dana Thomas W. Kelsey H. C. Howe Robert Brown Eleazer VV ells Tucker Freedom Hll George F. Wells Orvlle C. Poland L. Oln Sherburn John C. Maxham Orlo Lnfeld Barnard 33

\ rf/7 EVANS, W. A..43HRD INTERVIEW 5043,

$\ rf/7 EVANS, W. A..43HRD INTERVIEW 5043,$ \ rf/7 EVANS, W. A..43HRD INTERVIEW 5043, 373 FOR\* 374 Indat- T \';"..c >fjl. - TTlRD INTERVIEW 5043. Feld porker's Ths report wad'? on (ta^" February 1, I.)3 7. *V' ~" * "" "" "" 1.. Name JL!^-?!!! 1^^