History of Salisbury,Chapter 2 :Merrimack County, New Hampshire

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The following history is from "The History of Merrimack and Belknap 
Counties, New Hampshire". Edited by D. Hamilton Hurd and Published in 
1885.


BY JOHN J. DEARBORN, M.D., TOWN HISTORIAN.
CHAPTER II
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

The Masonian proprietors exercised great discretion when, in giving grants 
of land, they provided that the ordinances of religion should be maintained. 
One of the essential duties of the grantees was to provide "a place of public 
worship" and maintain a learned and "orthodox minister."

In the grant to Stevenstown, 1749, a right of land equal in amount to each of 
the other shares was assigned to the first minister, which he was not only at 
liberty to use while he continued to preach the gospel to the people, but on 
his settlement the share became his property. Another share was "set apart 
for the support of the gospel ministry forever." Ten acres of landwere to be 
laid out "in some convenient place, as the major part of said grantees shall 
determine, for a meeting house, a school-house, a musterfield, a 
burying-place, and other public uses."

This ten acres of land was situated on the north side of Searle's Hill, about 
midway of the town. The earliest record we have of a meeting-house is from 
an early map of the Merrimack Valley, which shows the location of a 
meeting-house in the vicinity of the old Salisbury fort. If this building ever 
existed, it must have been erected by the first grantees (Bakerstown).

In the spring of 1768, the frame was erected, boarded, shingled and the 
lower floor laid. The 7th of April of that year two pews were sold, and on 
the following 25th of May sixteen pews. Among these first purchasers was 
Hon. Josiah Bartlett, Governor of the State in 1790. The highest priced pew 
brought £6 3s. The meeting-house was used until the summer of 1790, 
when the town voted to sell it at auction, the sum realized to satisfy the 
demands of the pew-owners and the rest to be used for schooling. Some 
time between this date and the next ensuing April the present Congregational 
Church was erected at South Road village.

In 1835 changes were made in the church, which have been mainly 
acceptable to the present day.

The Rev. John Elliot was the first minister invited to settle in the town, 
January 14, 1771, at a salary of forty pounds a year, increasing five pounds 
a year until it reached fifty pounds, and there remain for three years. 
Preparations were made to ordain Mr. Elliot the following September, but 
before the time arrived he asked for a dismission, and on July 8, 1771, his 
request was granted.

The Rev. Jonathan Searle, the first settled minister, preached in Salisbury in 
the summer of 1768. At a town-meeting held October 11,1773, it was 
voted to accept Mr. Searle's letter " of acceptance," and Captain Ebenezer 
Webster, John Collins and Captain Matthew Pettengill were chosen to call a 
council. It was " Voted, to give Mr. Searle fifty pounds, L. M., for two 
years, and then rise four pounds, L. M., a year till it comes to sixty pounds, 
and there stand during his labor in the work of the ministry in said town ; 
also twenty-five cords of wood at his house yearly."

Twenty dollars were devoted to defray the ordination expenses; the 
ordination occurring on the 17th of November, 1773, Rev. Mr. Jewett, of 
Rowley, Mass., preaching the sermon from 1 Corinthians, chap, iv., verse 1. 
After a pastorate of nearly twenty years, May 31, 1790, a church-meeting 
was called by the pastor to act on the question of his dismission. A 
settlement was made agreeable to all parties, and he was freed from his 
ministerial work August 15, 1790.

Eleven persons signed the covenant on the formation of the church, and 
thirty-three united with the church under his pastorate.
Rev. Mr. Searle was born in Rowley, Mass., November 16,1746, and 
graduated at Harvard College in 1765; married Mrs. Margaret Tappan 
(nee) Sanborn. He died December 2, 1818.

Rev. Thomas Worcester was employed three months on trial in the spring of 
1791, and in the following September was invited to settle. One hundred 
and twenty pounds was voted him as a settlement and eighty pounds yearly. 
This was quite a salary at that time for a young man only twenty-three years 
of age. He was ordained November 9, 1791, by the same council which 
had dismissed Mr. Searle on the day previous. The congregation which 
attended upon his preaching was for many years very large. He was a 
faithful and laborious pastor; his pulpit addresses were attractive, earnest 
and direct. During his ministry there were several seasons of the special 
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. An extensive revival occurred soon after his 
settlement, and over eighty were received into the church. In December 
1792, thirty young converts made public profession of their faith. His 
brother, Samuel Worcester, united with the church February 13, 1793. 
William Webster, uncle to Daniel, united with the church September 
8,1796. Daniel Webster united with the church September 13, 1807. 
Another revival occurred about 1815, when more than sixty persons made 
public profession of their faith.

Under his pastorate 268 united with the church; he administered the 
sacrament of baptism to 322 children, solemnized 307 marriages and 
attended 25 ecclesiastical councils.

He was dismissed by a mutual council April 23, 1823, and continued to 
reside in Salisbury until his death, December 24,1831, aged sixty-three 
years. In 1806 he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
Dartmouth College.

Rev. Mr. Worcester was a son of Noah and Lydia (Taylor) Worcester; 
born in Hollis November 22, 1768, and was one of five brothers, all 
distinguished as orators and writers for the religious press. March 11,1792, 
he married Miss Deborah Lee.
Rev. Abijah Cross settled over the church December 23, 1823. At the time 
of his settlement there were one hundred and eleven resident members and 
thirty-nine non-resident, making, at the time of Mr. Worcester's dismission, 
a total number of one hundred and fifty. Under Mr. Cross' pastorate there 
were added to the church seventeen members and nine dismissed. He 
administered the sacrament of baptism to fifteen. He was dismissed April 
1,1829.

It was during his ministry that an effort was made by Rev. Benjamin 
Huntoon, a native of Salisbury, to organize a Unitarian Society in town; but, 
not finding a very large congregation, he continued in town but one year.

Rev. Andrew Rankin was settled over the church July 11,1830, and dismissed
in October, 1832. During his pastorate seventeen were added to the church by
profession, eleven by letter and about twenty converted by his preaching.

Rev. Beniamin F. Foster was settled Nov. 13,1833, and dismissed July 23,1846.
Eighty members were admitted to the church during his ministry in Salisbury.

Rev. E. H. Caswell succeeded Mr. Foster, June 28, 1848. and was dismissed
the following February. Four were admitted to the church under his pastorate.

Rev. Erasmus D. Eldridge was settled January 12, 1849. and was dismissed 
November 1,1854. During his ministry twenty-six were received into the 
church.

Rev. Thomas Rhatray was installed May 7, l856, and dismissed April 15, 1857.

Rev. Horatio Merrill was installed March 17, 1858, and dismissed March 15,
1864.

Rev. Usal W. Condit was installed March 14, 1864, and dismissed January 
13,1869. During his ministry nineteen united with the church.

Rev. Joseph B. Cook was installed January 13, 1869, and dismissed May 19,
1876.

Rev. William C. Scofield came to Salisbury in the fall of 1875, continuing 
until 1877.

Rev. George W. Bothwell spent five months, between his junior and senior 
year (1879) in Yale Theological Seminary, at Salisbury, in which time five 
were added to the church. He is now supplying the Congregational Church 
in Portland, Mich.

Rev. Samuel H. Barnum graduated from Yale College in 1875, and from Yale
Theological Seminary in 1879, removing to Salisbury November 9, 1879, where
he remained until May, 1882, when he received a call to go to Durham, where
he was ordained and installed April 24,1883, and still continues.

Rev. Chas. E. Gordon removed to Salisbury in Nov., 1882, and supplied the
pulpit in Salisbury and Webster, only a few miles apart, and Oct. 4,1883,
was installed pastor over both churches. The installation took place at the
Webster Church. He resides at Salisbury.

THE BAPTIST SOCIETIES.---The earliest information we have of the 
Baptist faith in the town was on May 25, 1789, when a meeting was held at 
the school-house at the Centre Village, and the society organized by the 
choice of Daniel Brottlebank moderator, and Jonathan Cram clerk. 
Lieutenant Joseph Severance, Jonathan Cram and Lieutenant Moses Clough 
were chosen a committee to procure preaching. On the 23d of the following 
June seventy-six persons adopted and signed a covenant.

For a time the society held meetings at private houses and in a school-house 
which they had bought of the town. The congregation rapidly increasing, on 
the 9th of October, 1790, it was "Voted to build a meeting-house."

March 17,1791, it was " Voted to build the meeting-house 52 feet long and 
40 feet wide, and to be finished throughout as early as 1794. Chose 
Jonathan Fifield, Joseph Fifield, John Clement, Benjamin Pettengill and Abel 
Elkins a committee to erect the frame, and Benjamin Pettengill, Jr., Abraham 
Fifield, Samuel Bean, David Pettengill, Edward Fifield, William Eastman, 
Benjamin Pettengill, Reuben True and Bailey Chase a committee to sell 
pews." The house was erected within the specified time, and stood just 
north of the present location, the main entrance being on the east side. On 
each end was a porch, supporting small steeples similar to the one standing 
on the north end, but not so high. In each of these porches was an entrance. 
In the north tower was a bell. The interior was like most of the churches at 
that time,—box pews, a large pulpit on the west side of the house, a gallery 
opposite and on the two sides. An upper and lower set of windows 
furnished light. In 1839, Deacon William Parsons remodeled the church to 
its present general style.

Elder Elias Smith, was the first settled minister and preached the first sermon 
in the new church in the spring of 1791, taking his text from 1 Kings viii 27. 
In November, 1792, he again visited Salisbury and baptized nine persons. 
January 7,1793, he returned, and in February was invited to become the 
pastor of the church. Accepting the invitation, he permanently remained until 
1796, when the enthusiasm began to abate and new doctrines were accepted by
some of the members. In the latter part of the year he left his Salisbury
pulpit and preached at Woburn, Mass.; but in February, 1798, he returned,
remaining until the following January, when, with his family, he returned to
Woburn. As early as 1801 he opened a store in Salisbury, which did not prove
of pecuniary benefit. In 1808 he began the publication of the Herald of Gospel
Liberty, the first religious newspaper published in the United States. He died
at Lyme, Conn., June 29,1846, aged seventy-seven years.

Rev. Otis Robinson, the second settled pastor, was invited to settle in the 
fall of 1809, and was ordained in the spring of 1810, and continued for 
sixteen years. In 1826, after a very gratifying revival of religion, in which 
many were added to his church, Mr.. Robinson was dismissed from his 
pastoral charge at his request and continued to reside in town until his death, 
March 1,1835.

Rev. Ebenezer E. Cummings, D.D., was ordained and installed September 
17,1828. Old church troubles existed among the members of the church. 
The pastor labored assiduously for the union and harmony of his people, 
and knowing that no good could come of a church which was divided 
against itself, he refused to longer remain. He asked a dismission, which was 
granted January 5, 1831. The leading members of the two churches which 
then existed met in consultation, decided to forget the past and to go on 
together in a Christian life. A new church was formed January 19,1831, and 
an invitation extended to Mr. Cummings to become its pastor. In a letter, 
bearing date June 4,1831, he consented to remain, but was not installed. In 
the spring of 1832 he removed to Concord, where he was settled over the 
First Baptist Church, March 2,1832, continuing till January 11,1854. Still 
resides at Concord. The records of the society have not been kept in a 
manner to afford reliable information; consequently we shall give only the 
following:

Rev. John Learned, installed in September, 1838, remaining one year; Rev. 
John Burden, came in the fall of 1839; Rev. Stephen Coombs, occupied the 
pulpit from July, 1853, to January, 185, Rev. Samuel H. Amsden, installed 
In 1856; Rev. Joseph B. Damon ; Rev. Thomas B. Joy. 1863; Rev. Albert 
A. Ford, 1864-66; Rev. Joshua Clement, 1866-67 ; Rev. Joseph Storer ; 
Rev. J. Q. Sinclair, one year; Elder Hiram Stevens; Elders Boswell and Elias 
Dane; Elder Peter M. Hersey ; Rev. A. H. Martin, 1869-75.

UNION MEETING HOUSE is located at the southwest part of the town 
and west of Blackwater River. As early as 1791 the residents of the west 
part of the town had their share of the minister fund paid to them, which they 
used towards defraying the expenses of a minister. In 1832 they decided to 
erect a union house of worship, each denomination to occupy the pulpit one 
Sunday in succession through the year.

February 26,1834, a meeting was held to "take action in relation to the 
erection of a place of worship." A committee, consisting of John Couch, 
Paul True, David Hobbs, David Stevens, Benjamin Scribner, Israel B. 
Bean, William Couch, Daniel Watson and David Harvey, was appointed to 
confer upon the most judicious ways and means of building the house. They 
selected the present site.. Forty-two persons pledged themselves twenty 
dollars each towards building and finishing the house. Joshua S. Bean, Caleb 
Smith, John S. Eaton and John Couch (3d) were the church committee. The 
house was completed and dedicated at once.

So far as known, each denomination has had the following permanent 
ministers: Christian, 10; Methodists, 11; Congregationalists, 2; Universalists, 
2.

EAST VILLAGE (or FRANKLIN) CHURCH.---For years there was no 
church in Pemigewasset, East Republican village or Salisburyville, in that 
part of Salisbury now included in Franklin. To attend religious services the 
people were obliged to go to Searle's Hill, subsequently to South road, or to 
Sanbornton or Northfield. As the village increased in population and wealth, 
the necessity of permanent ministrations of the gospel was plainly seen. In 
Feb., 1820, it was decided to establish a Congregational Church, and erect 
a meeting-house. The lot on which the house now stands was selected.

A subscription paper was circulated for the purpose of raising money to 
build the house. On this paper were the names of the most active citizens of 
that village, and over four hundred dollars were subscribed. The lot was 
given by Ebenezer Eastman, one of the most influential men in the place. The 
organization was effected March 20, 1820. Parker Noyes, Esq., was 
chosen clerk; Captain Blanchard and Messrs. Hale, Ladd, Clark, Haddock, 
Sanborn and Samuel George were chosen a committee to construct the 
house. The work of completing the house after the erection of the frame was 
awarded to Benjamin Rowe for three hundred and sixty dollars. He did not 
finish his contract, and Captain Blanchard, James Garland and Richard 
Peabody were appointed to finish the house. On three sides of the interior of 
the church galleries were built, which contained thirty-two pews. The pews 
were sold July 4, 1820. The Rev. Thomas Worcester, then pastor of the 
church at South Road, delivered a patriotic oration which was received with 
great enthusiasm. William Haddock sold by auction the choice of pews, as 
represented on a plan which he held in his hand. The sum received from the 
sale was $2202.25. The church was completed by November 25,1820, 
and dedicated December 13th, Rev. Asa McFarland, of Concord, 
preaching the dedication sermon.
The church was organized June 11,1822, under the advice and direction of 
Rev. Samuel Wood and Rev Mr. Price, of Boscawen; Rev. Thomas 
Worcester, of Salisbury; and Rev. Abram Bodwell, of Sanbornton. A 
church covenant and confession of faith was adopted and signed by fourteen 
persons, Paul Noyes was the first deacon. The church had no settled pastor 
before the organization of Franklin.

Rev. William T. Savage, D.D., for a -long time pastor, in his twenty-third 
aniversary sermon, delivered in 1872, said,---
" In the department of preaching, the church and society for some six years 
from the beginning seems not to have had a regular pastor. In formal 
documents and loose papers allusion to the following ministers as having 
occupied the pulpit for one or more Sabbaths are found : Rev. D, Dana, 
Rev. M. B. Murdock, Rev. Abel Wood, of Warner; Robert Page, 
missionary; Rev. David McRitchie; Steader and Holt, missionaries; and Rev. 
Moses Bradford, of Francistown. In 1826, Rev. Abijah Cross, pastor of the 
church at South Road, preached fifteen Sabbaths. In 1827 Rev. George 
Freeman officiated eleven Sabbaths, and in 1828, Rev. Reuben Farley 
sixteen Sabbaths."

COUNTY CONFERENCE.---The Merrimack County Conference of 
Congregational Churches was an outgrowth of the Hopkinton Association, 
and was the result of a special meeting held at the dwelling-house of the 
Rev. Dr. Wood, of Boscawen, April 4, 1827. Among the articles presented 
was the following: " This Conference shall be composed of pastors and 
delegates from the Congregational Churches within the bounds of the 
Hopkinton Association. It shall assume no control over the faith or the 
discipline of the church."

The first meeting was held on the fourth Tuesday of June, 1828, at ten 
o'clock in the forenoon, in the Congregational Church at Salisbury, the Rev. 
Abijah Cross, then pastor. In 1838 the Association again met at Salisbury, 
and June 10, 1884, the Conference again assembled, Rev. C. E. Gordon, 
pastor, eleven churches being represented by their pastors and delegates, 
the session continuing two days.

EDUCATIONAL.---At the first town-meeting it was voted " to raise some 
money for school purposes." In 1772 twelve dollars was voted to support a 
school; it was also voted " to raise half a day's work on the single head, to 
be done on the south end of the sixty-acre lot, which was laid out for the 
school." This lot was situated on Searle's Hill, on the centre range-way, 
opposite the ten-acre meeting-house lot. The school-house was built in the 
summer of 1772 and was the first in town.

In 1778 the town was divided into four school districts. The school-houses 
were wooden-framed, boarded and shingled and furnished with windows 
and fire-places. One was located near Smith's Corner. It was built by 
Beniah Bean for three hundred and ninety-eight dollars. The second at 
South Road, built by Deacon John Collins for six hundred and eighty 
dollars. Another was situated at the Centre Road, nearly opposite F. W. 
Fifield's present residence, built by Edward Fifield for six hundred and 
seventy-eight dollars; and the last was at North Road. Mr. Andrew 
Pettingell receiving four hundred and ninety-four dollars for building it. Such 
buildings soon after could have been completed for less than half the cost of 
these. But money was so much depreciated that labor commanded eight 
dollars per day. The amount raised annually for schools at this time was 
about five hundred dollars, while three thousand dollars were appropriated 
for the improvement of roads.

In March, 1784, it was " Voted to sell all the school lands and put the 
principal in the bank and use the interest for the support of schools in the 
town annually." It was also voted at the same meeting "to sell the 
school-houses belonging to the sd town and the money be contributed to the 
use of the town."

The sale of the school-houses brought, in the aggregate, $63.75 each, and 
the land was sold to Ephraim Colby for three pounds, fifteen shillings and 
three pence per acre. In 1786 the town raised two hundred and ten dollars, 
in lawful money, for the support of schools, and ordered each district to 
provide its own schoolrooms.

In 1791 a school-house was built at the Lower village (now the Orphans' 
Home District in Franklin). In this building Daniel Webster attended school 
and later in life taught. The second school-house, at the South road, was 
built by subscription in 1787. After the academy was removed from its 
original location to South road the school was transferred to one portion of 
it and has since continued.

In 1819 the town was divided into eleven school districts and there were 
school-houses in nine of them. Changes were subsequently made, increasing 
the number to fourteen.

No. 1, located at South road, was organized in 1820.
No. 2, known as Centre Road District, was formed April 2,1823.
No. 3, called " Sawyer's," organized in 1820.
No. 4, located at Scribner's Corner, at the west part of the town.
No. 5, at the North road.
No. 6, the Mills District; school located there as early as 1806. In 1884 a 
new, commodious building was erected.
No. 7, at " Smith's Corner," at the west part of the town. The first 
school-house was erected in 1782. The second was twenty by twenty-five 
feet, erected in 1789. In 1825 the district was reorganized and a new 
school-house erected.
No. 8, located at " Thompson's Corner." The first school-house in town was 
on a site included within the limits of this district.
No. 9, on Lovering's Hill.   Established in 1826.
No. 10, " Watson District," on the southern spur of Kearsarge Mountain. A 
school-house was built here as early as 1812.
No. 11 is on Raccoon Hill, known as the " Shaw District." The 
school-house was built in 1847 and thoroughly repaired in 1876.
No. 12, located at " Shaw's Corner."   The second school-house was 
erected in 1820 and the third in 1881.
No. 13, situated at the Lower village (now the Orphans' Home in Franklin). 
The present building is of brick.
No. 14, at the East village in Franklin. Ebenezer Eastman gave the land for " 
educational purposes" in 1816. The first school-house in that part of 
Salisbury was built in 1805-6.

SALISBURY ACADEMY.---At the close of the last century Salisbury was 
the residence of an unusually number of prudent, intellectual and scholarly 
men. They had pride in the good name of the town, and looked forward 
with cheerful anticipation to a higher position which it might hold in the
State, and saw the advantages which would result from a permanent institution
of learning, and, at length, united in the establishment of an academy. The 
petition was presented to the Legislature for an act of incorporation at the 
winter session, in January, 1795, and the act of incorporation was granted 
December 22,1795.

The board of trustees, by authority of the Legislature, had the charge of the 
institution. The academy was erected on the ridge of Garland's Hill, and was 
two stories high. Soon after its erection the Fourth New Hampshire turnpike 
was built, which practically left the academy on an old road and away from 
the business portion of the town. It was proposed to move the building to 
South Road village and open it under new management, and for that 
purpose contributions were solicited, the removal taking place April 
29,1805.

In January, 1806, the district school began on the lower floor, the upper 
room being reserved for academical purposes. Extensive repairs have been 
made as needed, and in 1883 a projection was added to the south end of 
the upper story, new floor laid, the stairway made more convenient and the 
room fitted up into a fine hall. The academy has had three charters. For a 
long period it gained and sustained a reputation for good scholarship and 
excellence in all its departments. Its standing was not inferior to the best 
institutions of its kind in the State. Following are the list of teachers, so
far as known:

Thomas Chase was the first instructor when it was located on Garland Hill. 
He was succeeded by James Tappan, Rev. Samuel Worcester, Rev. Noah 
Worcester, D.D., Ichabod Bartlett, 1804; Hon. Richard Fletcher, 1809; 
Samuel I. Wells, Esq., 1813-16; Nathaniel H. Carter, A.M., 1811; Lamson 
Carter, 1815; Stephen Bean, Rev. Benjamin Huntoon, 1817-19; Rev. 
Daniel Fitts, D.D., 1819-22; Zachariah Batchelder, 1822; W. Bailey, 1813; 
Henry Greenleaf, 1822; Caleb Stetson, 1825-26; Henry Fitts, William 
Claggett, 1826-27; Alfred Kittredge, 1828; Caleb B. Kittredge, 1829-32; 
Rev. B. F. Foster, 1838-89; Charles T. Berry, 1840; Elbridge G. Emery, 
1842-43; David Dimond, 1843; Caleb P. Smith, William S. Spaulding, 
A.M., 1844-45; S. C. Noyes, J. H. Upton, -_____ Clark, Hon. William 
M. Pingree, Rev. E. S. Little, Dr. J. Q. A. French, Dr. Crockett, D. B. 
Penticost, Rev. E. D. Eldredge, John A. Kilburn, 1851; John W. Simonds, 
John R. Eastman.

SOCIAL LIBRARY.---Early in the year 1794 several of the citizens of 
Salisbury agreed to organize a voluntary association for the purpose of 
establishing and maintaining a library. The first regular meeting was held 
March 27th. Colonel Ebenezer Webster was chosen chairman and Andrew 
Bowers clerk. An act of incorporation was granted in 1798. Rules and 
regulations were adopted in March, 1799. In 1859 there were four hundred 
and ninety-six volumes in the library. It was this library that Daniel Webster 
referred to when he said that his early reading was gathered from a small 
circulating library.

LITERARY ADELPHI.---This society was organized June 25, 1813, when 
the academy was at the height of its prosperity. It was composed largely of 
members of the academy, who generally conducted its literary exercises. 
The last meeting of the society was held in June, 1819.